{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_43681/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_43681","id":"gutenberg_43681","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/43681","summary":null,"tags":["Ancestor worship -- India","Animal worship -- India","Category: Archaeology & Anthropology","Category: History - Other","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Folklore -- India","Hindu mythology","India -- Religion","Religion","Tree worship -- India"],"text":"THE POPULAR RELIGION\n                            AND FOLK-LORE OF\n                             NORTHERN INDIA\n\n                                   BY\n\n                            W. CROOKE, B.A.\n                          BENGAL CIVIL SERVICE\n\n\n\n                             IN TWO VOLUMES\n\n                                VOL. I.\n\n                 A NEW EDITION, REVISED AND ILLUSTRATED\n\n                              WESTMINSTER\n                       ARCHIBALD CONSTABLE & CO.\n                       2, Whitehall Gardens, S.W.\n\n                                  1896\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION.\n\n\nThe success of this book has been much beyond my expectations. That\na considerable edition has been exhausted within a few months after\npublication proves that it meets a want.\n\nI have now practically re-written the book, and have taken\nthe opportunity of introducing a considerable amount of fresh\ninformation collected in the course of the Ethnographical Survey of\nthe North-Western Provinces, the results of which will be separately\npublished.\n\nFor the illustrations, which now appear for the first time, I am\nindebted to the photographic skill of Mr. J. O'Neal, of the Thomason\nEngineering College, Rurki. I could have wished that they could have\nbeen drawn from a wider area. But Hardwar and its shrines are very\nfairly representative of popular Hinduism in Northern India.\n\n\nW. Crooke.\n\nSaharanpur,\nFebruary, 1895.\n\n\n\nPREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION.\n\nMany books have been written on Br\u00e2hmanism, or the official religion\nof the Hindu; but, as far as I am aware, this is the first attempt\nto bring together some of the information available on the popular\nbeliefs of the races of Upper India.\n\nMy object in writing this book has been threefold. In the first place\nI desired to collect, for the use of all officers whose work lies\namong the rural classes, some information on the beliefs of the people\nwhich will enable them, in some degree, to understand the mysterious\ninner life of the races among whom their lot is cast; secondly, it\nmay be hoped that this introductory sketch will stimulate inquiry,\nparticularly among the educated races of the country, who have,\nas yet, done little to enable Europeans to gain a fuller and more\nsympathetic knowledge of their rural brethren; and lastly, while I\nhave endeavoured more to collect facts than to theorize upon them,\nI hope that European scholars may find in these pages some fresh\nexamples of familiar principles. My difficulty has arisen not so much\nfrom deficiency of material, as in the selection and arrangement of\nthe mass of information, which lies scattered through a considerable\nliterature, much of which is fugitive.\n\nI believe that the more we explore these popular superstitions and\nusages, the nearer are we likely to attain to the discovery of the\nbasis on which Hinduism has been founded. The official creed has\nalways been characterized by extreme catholicism and receptivity, and\nmany of its principles and legends have undoubtedly been derived from\nthat stratum of the people which it is convenient to call non-Aryan\nor Dr\u00e2vidian. The necessity, then, of investigating these beliefs\nbefore they become absorbed in Br\u00e2hminism, one of the most active\nmissionary religions of the world, is obvious.\n\nI may say that the materials of this book were practically complete\nbefore I was able to use Mr. J. S. Campbell's valuable collection of\n\"Notes on the Spirit Basis of Belief and Custom;\" but, in revising\nthe manuscript, I have availed myself to some extent of this useful\ncollection, and when I have done so, I have been careful to acknowledge\nmy obligations to it. Even at the risk of overloading the notes\nwith references, I have quoted the authorities which I have used,\nand I have added a Bibliography which may be of use to students to\nwhom the subject is unfamiliar.\n\nThe only excuse I can plead for the obvious imperfections of this\nhasty survey of a very wide subject is that it has been written in\nthe intervals of the scanty leisure of a District Officer's life in\nIndia, and often at a distance from works of reference and libraries.\n\n\nW. Crooke.\n\nMirzapur,\nFebruary, 1893.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS.\n\n\n\n    CHAPTER I.                                              PAGE\n\n    The Godlings of Nature                                     1\n\n    CHAPTER II.\n\n    The Heroic and Village Godlings                           83\n\n    CHAPTER III.\n\n    The Godlings of Disease                                  123\n\n    CHAPTER IV.\n\n    The Worship of the Sainted Dead                          175\n\n    CHAPTER V.\n\n    Worship of the Malevolent Dead                           230\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nFOLK-LORE OF NORTHERN INDIA.\n\n\nCHAPTER I.\n\nTHE GODLINGS OF NATURE.\n\n\n                En men gaian eteux' en d' ouranon, en de thalassan\n                \u00eaelion t' akamanta sel\u00ean\u00ean te pl\u00eathousan,\n                en de ta teirea panta, ta t' ouranos estephan\u00f4tai\n                Pl\u00ea\u00efadas th' Hyadas te, to te sthenos \u00d4ri\u00f4nos\n                Arkton th', h\u00ean kai amaxan epikl\u00easin kaleousin,\n                h\u00eat autou strephatai kai t' \u00d4ri\u00f4na dokeuei,\n                oi\u00ea d' ammoros esti loetr\u00f4n \u00d4keanoio.\n\n                                                   Iliad, xviii. 483-88.\n\n\nAmong all the great religions of the world there is none more catholic,\nmore assimilative than the mass of beliefs which go to make up what\nis popularly known as Hinduism. To what was probably its original\nform--a nature worship in a large degree introduced by the Aryan\nmissionaries--has been added an enormous amount of demonolatry,\nfetishism and kindred forms of primitive religion, much of which\nhas been adopted from races which it is convenient to describe as\naboriginal or autochthonous.\n\nThe same was the case in Western lands. As the Romans extended their\nEmpire they brought with them and included in the national pantheon the\ndeities of the conquered peoples. Greece and Syria, Egypt, Gallia and\nGermania were thus successively laid under contribution. This power\nof assimilation in the domain of religion had its advantages as well\nas its dangers. While on the one hand it tended to promote the unity\nof the empire, it degraded, on the other hand, the national character\nby the introduction of the impure cults which flourished along the\neastern shores of the Mediterranean. [1]\n\nBut, besides these forms of religion which were directly imported\nfrom foreign lands, there remained a stratum of local beliefs\nwhich even after twenty centuries of Christianity still flourish,\ndiscredited though they may be by priests and placed under the ban\nof the official creed. Thus in Greece, while the high gods of the\ndivine race of Achilles and Agamemnon are forgotten, the Nereids,\nthe Cyclopes and the Lamia still live in the faith of the peasants of\nThessaly. [2] So in modern Tuscany there is actually as much heathenism\nas catholicism, and they still believe in La Vecchia Religione--\"the\nold religion;\"--and while on great occasions they have recourse to the\npriests, they use magic and witchcraft for all ordinary purposes. [3]\n\nIt is part of the object of the following pages to show that in\nIndia the history of religious belief has been developed on similar\nlines. Everywhere we find that the great primal gods of Hinduism have\nsuffered grievous degradation. Throughout the length and breadth\nof the Indian peninsula Brahma, the Creator, has hardly more than\na couple of shrines specially dedicated to him. [4] Indra has, as\nwe shall see, become a vague weather deity, who rules the choirs of\nfairies in his heaven Indra-loka: Varuna, as Barun, has also become a\ndegraded weather godling, and sailors worship their boat as his fetish\nwhen they commence a voyage. The worship of Agni survives in the fire\nsacrifice which has been specialized by the Agnihotri Br\u00e2hmans. Of\nP\u00fbshan and Ushas, V\u00e2yu and the Maruts, hardly even the names survive,\nexcept among the small philosophical class of reformers who aim at\nrestoring Vedism, a faith which is as dead as Jupiter or Aphrodite.\n\n\n\nThe Deva.\n\nThe general term for these great gods of Hinduism is Deva, or \"the\nshining ones.\" Of these even the survivors have in the course of the\ndevelopment of the religious belief of the people suffered serious\nchange. Modern Vaishnavism has little left of the original conception\nof the solar deity who in the Rig Veda strides in three steps through\nthe seven regions of the universe, and envelops all things in the dust\nof his beams. To his cult has, in modern times, been added the erotic\ncycle of myths which centre round Krishna and R\u00e2dh\u00e2 and Rukmin\u00ee. The\nsuccessive Avat\u00e2ras or incarnations mark the progressive development of\nthe cultus which has absorbed in succession the totemistic or fetish\nworship of the tortoise, the boar, the fish and the man-lion. In\nthe same way Rudra-Siva has annexed various faiths, many of which\nare probably of local origin, such as the worship of the bull and\nthe linga. Durg\u00e2-Dev\u00ee, again, most likely is indebted to the same\nsources for the blood sacrifices which she loves in her forms of K\u00e2l\u00ee,\nBhaw\u00e2n\u00ee, Chandik\u00e2 or Bhairav\u00ee. A still later development is that of\nthe foul mysteries of the Tantra and the S\u00e2ktis.\n\n\n\nThe Deot\u00e2.\n\nBut in the present survey of the popular, as contrasted with the\nofficial faith, we have little concern with these supremely powerful\ndeities. They are the gods of the richer or higher classes, and to\nthe ordinary peasant of Northern India are now little more than\na name. He will, it is true, occasionally bow at their shrines;\nhe will pour some water or lay some flowers on the images or fetish\nstones which are the special resting-places of these divinities or\nrepresent the productive powers of nature. But from time immemorial,\nwhen Br\u00e2hmanism had as yet not succeeded in occupying the land, his\nallegiance was bestowed on a class of deities of a much lower and\nmore primitive kind. Their inferiority to the greater gods is marked\nin their title: they are Devat\u00e2 or Deot\u00e2, \"godlings,\" not \"gods.\" [5]\n\n\n\nGodlings Pure and Impure.\n\nThese godlings fall into two well marked classes--the \"pure\" and the\n\"impure.\" The former are, as a rule, served by priests of the Br\u00e2hman\ncastes or one of the ascetic orders: their offerings are such things\nas are pure food to the Hindu--cakes of wheaten flour, particularly\nthose which have been still further purified by intermixture with\nclarified butter (gh\u00ee), the most valued product of the sacred\ncow, washed rice (akshata) and sweetmeats. They are very generally\nworshipped on a Sunday, and the officiating high-caste priest accepts\nthe offerings. The offerings to the \"impure\" godlings contain articles\nsuch as pork and spirits, which are abomination to the orthodox\nHindu. In the Central Indian hills their priest is the Baiga, who\nrules the ghosts and demons of the village and is always drawn from\none of the Dr\u00e2vidian tribes. In the plain country the priest is a\nnon-Aryan Cham\u00e2r, Dus\u00e2dh, or even a sweeper or a Muhammadan Daf\u00e2li\nor drummer. No respectable Hindu will, it is needless to say, partake\nof a share of the food consecrated (pras\u00e2d) to a hedge deity of this\nclass. Much of the worship consists in offering of blood. But the\njungle man or the village menial of the plains can seldom, except in\nan hour of grievous need, afford an expensive animal victim, and it\nis only when the village shrine has come under the patronage of the\nofficial priests of the orthodox faith, that the altar of the goddess\nreeks with gore, like those of the Dev\u00ees of Bindh\u00e2chal or Dev\u00ee P\u00e2tan.\n\nBut as regards the acceptance of a share of the offering the line is\noften not very rigidly drawn. As Mr. Ibbetson writing of the Panj\u00e2b\nsays: [6] \"Of course, the line cannot always be drawn with precision,\nand Br\u00e2hmans will often consent to be fed in the name of a deity,\nwhile they will not take offerings made at his shrine, or will allow\ntheir girls, but not their boys, to accept the offering, as, if the\ngirls die in consequence, it does not much matter.\" In fact, as we\nshall see later on, the Baiga or devil priest of the aboriginal tribes,\nis gradually merging into the Ojha or meaner class of demon exorciser,\nwho calls himself a Br\u00e2hman and performs the same functions for tribes\nof a somewhat higher social rank.\n\n\n\nS\u00fbraj N\u00e2r\u00e2yan, the Sun Godling.\n\nThe first and greatest of the \"pure\" godlings is S\u00fbrya or S\u00fbraj\nN\u00e2r\u00e2yan, the Sun godling. He is thus regarded as N\u00e2r\u00e2yana or\nVishnu occupying the sun. A curiously primitive legend represents\nhis father-in-law, Viswakarma, as placing the deity on his lathe\nand trimming away one-eighth of his effulgence, leaving only his\nfeet. Out of the blazing fragments he welded the weapons of the\ngods. S\u00fbrya was one of the great deities of the Vedic pantheon:\nhe is called Prajapati or \"lord of creatures:\" he was the son of\nDyaus, or the bright sky. Ushas, the dawn, was his wife, and he moves\nthrough the sky drawn by seven ruddy mares. His worship was perhaps\noriginally connected with that of fire, but it is easy to understand\nhow, under a tropical sky, the Indian peasant came to look on him as\nthe lord of life and death, the bringer of plenty or of famine. If\none interpretation of the rite be correct, the Hol\u00ee festival is\nintended as a means of propitiating sunshine. He is now, however,\nlike Helios in the Homeric mythology, looked on as only a godling,\nnot a god, and even as a hero who had once lived and reigned on earth.\n\nAs far as the village worship of S\u00fbraj N\u00e2r\u00e2yan goes, the assertion,\nwhich has sometimes been made, that no shrine has been erected in\nhis honour is correct enough; and there is no doubt that images of\nS\u00fbrya and Aditya are comparatively rare in recent epochs. But there\nare many noted temples dedicated to him, such as those at Taxila,\nGw\u00e2lior, Gaya, Mult\u00e2n, Jaypur, and in the North-Western Provinces\nat Indor, Hawalb\u00e2gh, S\u00fbrya Bh\u00eeta and Lakhmipur. [7] His shrine at\nKan\u00e2rak in Orissa near that of Jagann\u00e2th, is described as one of the\nmost exquisite memorials of Sun-worship in existence. [8] Mr. Bendall\nrecently found in Nep\u00e2l an image dedicated to him as late as the\neleventh century. [9] There is a small shrine in his honour close to\nthe Annap\u00fbrna temple in Benares, where the god is represented seated\nin a chariot drawn by seven horses, and is worshipped with the fire\nsacrifice (homa) in a building detached from the temple. [10]\n\nIn the time of Sankara Ach\u00e2rya (A.D. 1000) there were six distinct\nsects of Sun-worshippers--one worshipping the rising sun as identified\nwith Brahma; the second the meridian sun as Siva; the third the\nsetting sun as Vishnu; the fourth worshippers of the sun in all the\nabove phases as identified with the Trimurti; the fifth worshippers\nof the sun regarded as a material being in the form of a man with a\ngolden beard and golden hair. Zealous members of this sect refused\nto eat anything in the morning till they had seen the sun rise. The\nlast class worshipped an image of the sun formed in the mind. These\nspent all their time meditating on the sun, and were in the habit\nof branding circular representations of his disc on their foreheads,\narms and breasts. [11]\n\nThe Saura sect worship S\u00fbryapati as their special god. They wear a\ncrystal necklace in his honour, abstain from eating salt on Sundays\nand on the days when the sun enters a sign of the zodiac. They make\na frontal mark with red sandars, and nowadays have their headquarters\nin Oudh. [12]\n\nAnother sect of Vaishnavas, the N\u00eemb\u00e2rak, worship the sun in a\nmodified form. Their name means \"the sun in a N\u00eem tree\" (Azidirachta\nIndica). The story of the sect runs that their founder, an ascetic\nnamed Bh\u00e2skar\u00e2ch\u00e2rya, had invited a Bair\u00e2gi to dine with him, and had\narranged everything for his reception, but unfortunately delayed to\ncall his guest till after sunset. The holy man was forbidden by the\nrules of his order to eat except in the day-time, and was afraid that\nhe would be compelled to practise an unwilling abstinence; but at the\nsolicitation of his host, the Sun god, S\u00fbraj N\u00e2r\u00e2yan, descended on the\nN\u00eem tree under which the feast was spread and continued beaming on them\nuntil dinner was over. [13] In this we observe an approximation to the\nJaina rule by which it is forbidden to eat after sunset, lest insects\nmay enter the mouth and be destroyed. This over-strained respect for\nanimal life is one of the main features of the creed. As a curious\nparallel it may be noted that when an Australian black-fellow wishes\nto stay the sun from going down till he gets home, he places a sod\nin the fork of a tree exactly facing the setting sun; and an Indian\nof Yucatan, journeying westward, places a stone in a tree, or pulls\nout some of his eye-lashes and blows them towards the sun. [14]\n\nThe great Emperor Akbar endeavoured to introduce a special form of\nSun-worship. He ordered that it was to be adored four times a day: in\nthe morning, noon, evening, and midnight. \"His majesty had also one\nthousand and one Sanskrit names of the sun collected, and read them\ndaily, devoutly turning to the sun. He then used to get hold of both\nears, and turning himself quickly round, used to strike the lower ends\nof his ears with his fists.\" He ordered his band to play at midnight,\nand used to be weighed against gold at his solar anniversary. [15]\n\n\n\nVillage Worship of S\u00fbraj N\u00e2r\u00e2yan.\n\nThe village worship of S\u00fbraj N\u00e2r\u00e2yan is quite distinct from this. Many\npeasants in Upper India do not eat salt on Sundays, and do not set\ntheir milk for butter, but make rice-milk of it, and give a portion\nto Br\u00e2hmans. Br\u00e2hmans are sometimes fed in his honour at harvests,\nand the pious householder bows to him as he leaves his house in the\nmorning. His more learned brethren repeat the G\u00e2yatr\u00ee, that most\nancient of Aryan prayers: \"Tat savitur varenyam bhargo devasya\ndh\u00eemahi, Dhiyo yo nah prachoday\u00e2t\" (\"May we receive the glorious\nbrightness of this, the generator, the God who shall prosper our\nworks!\"). In the chilly mornings of the cold weather you will hear\nthe sleepy coolies as they wake, yawning and muttering S\u00fbraj N\u00e2r\u00e2yan,\nas the yellow gleam of dawn spreads over the Eastern sky. In fact,\neven in Vedic times there seems to have been a local worship of S\u00fbrya\nconnected with some primitive folk-lore. Haradatta mentions as one\nof the customs not sanctioned in the Veda, that when the sun is in\nAries the young girls would paint the sun with his retinue on the\nsoil in coloured dust, and worship this in the morning and evening;\n[16] and in Central India the sun was in the Middle Ages worshipped\nunder the local form of Bh\u00e2illa, or \"Lord of Life,\" a term which\nappears to have been the origin of the name Bhilsa, known to more\nrecent ages as a famous seat of Buddhism. [17]\n\nAt Udaypur in R\u00e2jput\u00e2na the sun has universal precedence. His portal\n(S\u00fbryapul) is the chief entrance to the city; his name gives dignity\nto the chief apartment or hall (S\u00fbryamahal) of the palace, and from the\nbalcony of the sun (S\u00fbrya-gokhru), the descendant of R\u00e2ma shows himself\nin the dark monsoon as the sun's representative. A large painted sun\nof gypsum in high relief with gilded rays adorns the hall of audience,\nand in front of it is the throne. The sacred standard bears his image,\nas does the disc (chang\u00ee) of black felt or ostrich feathers with a\nplate of gold in its centre to represent the sun, borne aloft on a\npole. The royal parasol is called Kiraniya, in allusion to its shape,\nlike a ray (kiran) of the orb. [18]\n\nAnother famous centre of Sun-worship was Mult\u00e2n, where, as we have\nseen, a temple dedicated to him has been discovered, and where the\ntribes of the B\u00e2las and K\u00e2this were devoted to him. The worship\ncontinued till the idol was destroyed by orders of Aurangzeb.\n\n\n\nSun-worship among the non-Aryan Races.\n\nThe Aheriyas, a tribe of jungle-livers and thieves in the Central\nDu\u00e2b of the Ganges and Jumna, have adopted as their mythical ancestor\nPriyavrata, who being dissatisfied that only half the earth was at one\ntime illuminated by the rays of the sun, followed him seven times round\nthe earth in his flaming car, resolved to turn night into day. But\nhe was stopped by Brahma, and the wheels of his chariot formed the\nseven oceans which divide the seven continents of the world.\n\nIn the lower ranges of the Him\u00e2laya Sun-worship is conducted in the\nmonths of December and January and when eclipses occur. The principal\nobservances are the eating of a meal without salt at each passage\nof the sun into a new sign of zodiac, and eating meals on other days\nonly when the sun has risen.\n\nAmong the Dr\u00e2vidian races, along the Central Indian hills, Sun-worship\nis widely prevalent. When in great affliction the Kharw\u00e2rs appeal\nto the sun. Any open space in which he shines may be his altar. The\nKis\u00e2ns offer a white cock to him when a sacrifice is needed. He\nis worshipped by the Bhuiyas and Or\u00e2ons as Bor\u00e2m or Dharm Devat\u00e2,\n\"the godling of pity,\" and is propitiated at the sowing season by\nthe sacrifice of a white cock. The Korwas worship him as Bhagw\u00e2n, or\n\"the only God,\" in an open space with an ant-hill as an altar. The\nKhariyas adore him under the name of Bero. \"Every head of a family\nshould during his lifetime make not less than five sacrifices to\nthis deity--the first of fowls, the second of a pig, the third of a\nwhite goat, the fourth of a ram, and the fifth of a buffalo. He is\nthen considered sufficiently propitiated for that generation, and\nregarded as an ungrateful god if he does not behave handsomely to\nhis votary.\" He is addressed as Parameswar, or \"great god,\" and his\nsacrifices are always made in front of an ant-hill which is regarded\nas his altar. The Kols worship Sing Bonga, the creator and preserver,\nas the sun. Prayer and sacrifice are made to him, as to a beneficent\ndeity, who has no pleasure in the destruction of any of his subjects,\nthough, as a father, he chastises his erring children, who owe him\ngratitude for all the blessings they enjoy. He is said to have married\nChando Omal, the moon. She deceived him on one occasion, and he cut her\nin two; but repenting of his anger, he restores her to her original\nshape once a month, when she shines in her full beauty. The Or\u00e2ons\naddress the sun as Dharmi, or \"the holy one,\" and do not regard him as\nthe author of sickness or calamity; but he may be invoked to avert it,\nand this appeal is often made when the sacrifices to minor deities have\nbeen unproductive. He is the tribal god of the Korkus of Hoshang\u00e2b\u00e2d;\nthey do not, however, offer libations to him, as Hindus do; but once\nin three years the head of each family, on some Sunday in April or\nMay, offers outside the village a white she-goat and a white fowl,\nturning his face to the East during the sacrifice. Similarly the K\u00fbrs\nof the Central Provinces carve rude representations of the sun and\nmoon on wooden pillars, which they worship, near their villages. [19]\n\n\n\nSun-worship in the Domestic Ritual.\n\nIt is needless to say that the custom of walking round any sacred\nobject in the course of the sun prevails widely. Thus in Ireland,\nwhen in a graveyard, it is customary to walk as much as possible \"with\nthe sun,\" with the right hand towards the centre of the circle. [20]\nEven to this day in the Hebrides animals are led round a sick person,\nfollowing the sun; and in the Highlands it is the custom to make the\n\"deazil\" or walk three times in the sun's course round those whom\nthey wish well. When a Highlander goes to bathe or to drink water\nout of a consecrated spring, he must always approach by going round\nthe place from east to west on the south side, in imitation of the\ndaily motion of the sun. [21] We follow the same rule when we pass\nthe decanters round our dinner tables. In the same way in India\nthe bride and bridegroom are made to revolve round the sacred fire\nor the central pole of the marriage-shed in the course of the sun;\nthe pilgrim makes his solemn perambulation (parikrama) round a temple\nor shrine in the same way; in this direction the cattle move as they\ntread out the grain.\n\nOne special part of the purificatory rite following childbirth is\nto bring the mother out and expose her to the rays of the sun. All\nthrough the range of popular belief and folk-lore appears the idea\nthat girls may be impregnated by the sun. [22] Hence they are not\nallowed to expose themselves to his rays at the menstrual period. For\nthe same reason the bride is brought out to salute the rising sun\non the morning after she begins to live with her husband. A survival\nof the same belief may be traced in the English belief that happy is\nthe bride on whom the sun shines. The same belief in the power of the\nsun is shown in the principle so common in folk-lore that to show a\ncertain thing to it (in a Kashm\u00eer tale it is a tuft of the hair of\nthe kindly tigress) will be sufficient to summon an absent friend. [23]\n\nThe mystical emblem of the Sw\u00e2stika, which appears to represent the\nsun in his journey through the heavens, is of constant occurrence. The\ntrader paints it on the fly-leaf of his ledger; the man who has young\nchildren or animals liable to the Evil Eye makes a representation of\nit on the wall beside his door-post; it holds the first place among\nthe lucky marks of the Jainas; it is drawn on the shaven heads of\nchildren on the marriage-day in Gujar\u00e2t; a red circle with a Sw\u00e2stika\nin the centre is depicted on the place where the gods are kept. [24]\nIn those parts of the country where Bh\u00fbmiya is worshipped as a village\nguardian deity his votary constructs a rude model of it on the shrine\nby fixing up two crossed straws with a daub of plaster. It often occurs\nin folk-lore. In the drama of the \"Toy Cart\" the thief hesitates\nwhether he shall make the hole in the wall of Charudatta's house in\nthe likeness of a Sw\u00e2stika or of a water jar. A hymn of the Rigveda\n[25] speaks of the all-seeing eye of the sun whose beams reveal his\npresence, gleaming like brilliant flames to nation after nation. This\nsame conception of the sun as an eye is common in the folk-lore of\nthe West. [26]\n\n\n\nMoon-worship.\n\nThe fate of Chandra or Soma, the Moon godling, is very similar. The\nname Soma, originally applied to the plant the juice of which was used\nas a religious intoxicant, came to be used in connection with the\nmoon in the post-Vedic mythology. There are many legends to account\nfor the waning of the moon and the spots on his surface, for the moon,\nlike the sun, is always treated as a male godling. One of the legends\ncurrent to explain the phases of the moon has been already referred\nto. According to another story the moon married the twenty-seven\nasterisms, the daughters of the Rishi Daksha, who is the hero of\nthe curious tale of the sacrifice now located at Kankhal, a suburb\nof Hardw\u00e2r. Um\u00e2 or P\u00e2rvat\u00ee, the spouse of Siva, was also a daughter\nof Daksha, and when he, offended with his son-in-law Siva, did not\ninvite him to the great sacrifice, Um\u00e2 became Sat\u00ee, and in his rage\nSiva created V\u00eerabhadra, who killed the sage. Soma after marrying\nthe asterisms devoted himself to one of them, Rohin\u00ee, which aroused\nthe jealousy of the others. They complained to their father Daksha,\nwho cursed the moon with childlessness and consumption. His wives,\nin pity, interceded for him, but the curse of the angry sage could not\nbe wholly removed: all that was possible was to modify it so that it\nshould be periodical, not permanent. In an earlier legend, of which\nthere is a trace in the Rig Veda, [27] the gods, by drinking up the\nnectar, caused the waning of the moon. Another curious explanation\nis current in Bombay. One evening Ganesa fell off his steed, the rat,\nand the moon could not help laughing at his misfortune. To punish him\nthe angry god vowed that no one should ever see the moon again. The\nmoon prayed for forgiveness, and Ganesa agreed that the moon should\nbe disgraced only on his birthday, the Ganesa Chaturth\u00ee. On this\nnight the wild hogs hide themselves that they may not see the moon,\nand the Kunbis hunt them down and kill them. [28]\n\nThere are also many explanations to account for the spots in the\nmoon. In Western lands the moon is inhabited by a man with a bundle\nof sticks on his back; but it is not clear of what offence this was\nthe punishment. Dante says he is Cain; Chaucer says he was a thief,\nand gives him a thorn-bush to carry; Shakespeare gives him thorns to\ncarry, but provides him with a dog as a companion. In Ireland children\nare taught that he picked faggots on a Sunday and is punished as a\nSabbath-breaker. In India the creature in the moon is usually a hare,\nand hence the moon is called Sasadhara, \"he that is marked like a\nhare.\" According to one legend the moon became enamoured of Ahaly\u00e2,\nthe wife of the Rishi Gautama, and visited her in the absence of her\nhusband. He returned, and finding the guilty pair together, cursed his\nwife, who was turned into a stone; then he threw his shoe at the moon,\nwhich left a black mark, and this remains to this day. The scene of\nthis event has been localized at Gondar in the Karn\u00e2l District. By\nanother variant of the legend it was Vrihaspati, the Guru or religious\nadviser of the gods, who found the moon with his wife. The holy man\nwas just returning from his bath in the Ganges, and he threw his\ndripping loin-cloth at the moon, which produced the spots. In Upper\nIndia, again, little children are taught to call the moon M\u00e2m\u00fb or\n\"maternal uncle,\" and the dark spots are said to represent an old\nwoman who sits there working her spinning-wheel.\n\nThe moon has one special function in connection with disease. One of\nhis titles is Oshadhipati or \"lord of the medicinal plants.\" Hence\ncomes the idea that roots and simples, and in particular those that\nare to be used for any magical or mystic purpose, should be collected\nby moonlight. Thus in Shakespeare Jessica says,--\n\n\n    \"In such a night Medea gathered the enchanted herbs\n    That did renew old Aeson.\"\n\n\nAnd Laertes speaks of the poison \"collected from all simples that\nhave virtue under the moon.\" [29] Hence the belief that the moon\nhas a sympathetic influence over vegetation. Tusser [30] advised\nthe peasant,--\n\n\n    \"Sow peason and beans, in the wane of the moon.\n    Who soweth them sooner, he soweth too soon;\n    That they with the planet may rest and arise,\n    And flourish, with bearing most plentiful wise.\"\n\n\nThe same rule applies all over Northern India, and the phases of the\nmoon exercise an important influence on all agricultural operations.\n\nBased on the same principle is the custom of drinking the moon. Among\nMuhammadans in Oudh, \"a silver basin being filled with water, is held\nin such a situation that the full moon may be reflected in it. The\nperson to be benefited by the draught is required to look steadfastly\non the moon in the basin, then shut his eyes and quaff the liquid at\na draught. This remedy is advised by medical professors in nervous\ncases, and also for palpitation of the heart.\" [31] Somewhat similar\ncustoms prevail among Hindus in Northern India. At the full moon of the\nmonth Ku\u00e2r (September-October) people lay out food on the house-tops,\nand when it has absorbed the rays of the moon they distribute it among\ntheir relations; this is supposed to lengthen life. On the same night\ngirls pour out water in the moonlight, and say that they are pouring\nout the cold weather, which was hidden in the water jar. The habit of\nmaking patients look at the moon in ghi, oil, or milk is common, and\nis said to be specially efficacious for leprosy and similar diseases.\n\nThere is now little special worship of Soma or Chandra, and when\nan image is erected to him it is generally associated with that of\nS\u00fbrya. In the old ritual Anumati or the moon just short of full was\nspecially worshipped in connection with the Manes. The full-moon\nday was provided with a special goddess, R\u00e2k\u00e2. Nowadays the phases\nlargely influence the domestic ritual. All over the world we find the\nidea that anything done or suffered by man on a waxing moon tends to\ndevelop, whereas anything done or suffered on a waning moon tends to\ndiminish. Thus a popular trick charm for warts is to look at the new\nmoon, lift some dust from under the left foot, rub the wart with it,\nand as the moon wanes the wart dies. [32] It is on the days of the new\nand full moon that spirits are most numerous and active. The Code of\nManu directs that ceremonies are to be performed at the conjunction\nand opposition of the moon. [33] Among the Jews it would seem that the\nfull moon was prescribed for national celebrations, while those of a\ndomestic character took place at the new moon; there is some evidence\nto show that this may be connected with the habit of pastoral nations\nperforming journeys in the cool moonlight nights. [34]\n\nHorace speaks of rustic Phidyle,--\n\n\n    \"Coelo supinas si tuleris manus,\n    Nascente Lun\u00e2 rustica Phidyle,\" [35]\n\n\nand Aubrey of the Yorkshire maids who \"doe worship the new moon on\ntheir bare knees, kneeling upon an earth-fast stone.\" Irish girls on\nfirst seeing the moon when new fall on their knees and address her\nwith a loud voice in the prayer--\"O Moon! Leave us as well as you\nfound us!\" [36] It is a common practice in Europe to turn a piece of\nsilver, which being white is the lunar metal, when the new moon is\nfirst seen. So Hindus at the first sight of the new moon hold one end\nof their turbans in their hands, take from it seven threads, present\nthem to the moon with a prayer, and then exchange the compliments\nof the season. In Bombay [37] on all new moon days Br\u00e2hmans offer\noblations of water and sesamum seed to their ancestors, and those who\nare Agnihotris and do the fire sacrifice kindle the sacred fire on all\nnew and full moon days. Musalm\u00e2ns on the new moon which comes after\nthe new year sprinkle the blood of a goat beside the house door. In\nBombay a young Musalm\u00e2n girl will not go out at the new moon or on a\nThursday, apparently because this is the time that evil spirits roam\nabroad. In Upper India the houses of the pious are freely plastered\nwith a mixture of earth and cow-dung, and no animal is yoked.\n\nA curious idea applies to the new moon of Bh\u00e2don (August). Whoever\nlooks at the moon on this day will be the victim of false accusations\nduring the following year. The only way to avoid this is to perform\na sort of penance by getting someone to shy brickbats at your house,\nwhich at other times is regarded as an extreme form of insult and\ndegradation. There is a regular festival held for this purpose at\nBenares on the fourth day of Bh\u00e2don (August), which is known as\nthe Dhela Chauth Mela, or \"the clod festival of the fourth.\" [38]\nWe shall come across later on other examples of the principle that to\ncourt abuse under certain circumstances is a means of propitiating the\nspirits of evil and avoiding danger from them. This is probably the\norigin of the practice in Orissa--\"On the Khurda estate the peasants\ngive a curious reason for the absence of garden cultivation and fruit\ntrees, which form a salient feature in that part of the country. In\nour own districts every homestead has its little ring of vegetable\nground. But in Khurda one seldom meets with these green spots except in\nBr\u00e2hman villages. The common cultivators say that from time immemorial\nthey considered it lucky at a certain festival for a man to be annoyed\nand abused by his neighbours. With a view to giving ample cause of\noffence they mutilate the fruit trees and trample the gardens of\ntheir neighbours, and so court fortune by bringing down the wrath\nof the injured owner.\" [39] We shall see that this is one probable\nexplanation of the indecency which prevails at the Hol\u00ee festival.\n\nMoon-worship appears to be more popular in Bih\u00e2r and Bengal than in\nthe North-West Provinces or the Panj\u00e2b. [40] The fourth day of the\nwaxing moon in the month of Bh\u00e2don is sacred to the moon and known\nas Chauk Chanda. It is very unlucky to look at the moon on that day,\nas whoever does so will make his name infamous. The story runs that\nTakshaka, the king of the snakes, stole the ear-rings of King Aditi,\nwho, being unable to discover the thief, laid it to the charge of\nKrishna, whose thefts of milk and cream from the Gop\u00ees had made him\nsufficiently notorious. Krishna, mortified at this false accusation,\nrecovered and restored the ear-ring, and as this was the day on which\nKrishna was wrongfully disgraced, the moon of that night is invested\nwith associations of special sinfulness. Some people fast and in\nthe evening eat only rice and curds. Br\u00e2hmans worship the moon with\nofferings of flowers and sweetmeats, and people get stones thrown\nat their houses, as further west on the day of the Dhela Chauth. On\nthis day schoolboys visit their friends and make a peculiar noise by\nknocking together two coloured sticks, like castanets.\n\nOne idea lying at the base of much of the respect paid to the moon\nis that it is the abode of the Pitri or sainted dead. This is a\ntheory which is the common property of many primitive races. [41]\nThe explanation probably is that the soul of the dead man rises with\nthe smoke of the funeral pyre, and hence the realm of Yama would\nnaturally be fixed in the moon. This seems to be the reason why the\nearly Indian Buddhists worshipped the moon. At the new moon the monks\nbathed and shaved each other; and at a special service the duties of\na monk were recited. On full moon days they dined at the houses of\nlaymen. On that night a platform was raised in the preaching hall. The\nsuperior brethren chanted the law, and the people greeted the name\nof Buddha with shouts of \"S\u00e2dhu\" or \"the holy one.\" [42]\n\n\n\nEclipses and the Fire Sacrifice.\n\nHindus, like other primitive races, have their eclipse demons. \"When\nonce the practice of bringing down the moon had become familiar to\nthe primitive Greek, who saw it done at sacred marriages and other\nrites, he was provided with an explanation of lunar eclipses; some\nother fellow was bringing down the moon for his private ends. And\nat the present day in Greece the proper way to stop a lunar eclipse\nis to call out 'I see you!' and thus make the worker of this deed of\ndarkness desist. So completely did this theory, which we must regard as\npeculiarly Greek, establish itself in ancient Greece, that strange to\nsay, not a trace of the earlier primitive theory, according to which\nsome monster swallows the eclipsed moon, is to be found in classical\nGreek literature, unless the beating of metal instruments to frighten\naway the monster be a survival of the primitive practice.\" [43]\n\nIn India, however, this earlier explanation of the phenomena of\neclipses flourishes in full vigour. The eclipse demon, R\u00e2hu, whose\nname means \"the looser\" or \"the seizer,\" was one of the Asuras or\ndemons. When the gods produced the Amrita, or nectar, from the churned\nocean, he disguised himself like one of them and drank a portion\nof it. The sun and moon detected his fraud and informed Vishnu,\nwho severed the head and two of the arms of R\u00e2hu from the trunk. The\nportion of nectar which he had drunk secured his immortality; the head\nand tail were transferred to the solar sphere, the head wreaking its\nvengeance on the sun and moon by occasionally swallowing them, while\nthe tail, under the name of Ketu, gave birth to a numerous progeny\nof comets and fiery meteors. By another legend Ketu was turned into\nthe demon Sainhikeya and the Arunah Ketavah or \"Red apparitions,\"\nwhich often appear in the older folk-lore.\n\nKetu nowadays is only a vague demon of disease, and R\u00e2hu too has\nsuffered a grievous degradation. He is now the special godling of\nthe Dus\u00e2dhs and Dh\u00e2ngars, two menial tribes found in the Eastern\ndistricts of the North-Western Provinces. His worship is a kind of\nfire sacrifice. A ditch seven cubits long and one and a quarter cubits\nbroad (both numbers of mystical significance) is dug and filled with\nburning faggots, which are allowed to smoulder into cinders. One of\nthe tribal priests in a state of religious afflatus walks through\nthe fire, into which some oil or butter is poured to make a sudden\nblaze. It is said that the sacred fire is harmless; but some admit\nthat a certain preservative ointment is used by the performers. The\nworshippers insist on the priest coming in actual contact with the\nflames, and a case occurred some years ago in Gorakhpur when one of\nthe priests was degraded on account of his perfunctory discharge of\nthis sacred duty. The same rule applies to the priest who performs\nthe rites at the lighting of the Hol\u00ee fire. It is needless to say\nthat similar rites prevail elsewhere, chiefly in Southern India. [44]\n\nIn connection with this rite of fire-walking they have another function\nin which a ladder is made of wooden sword-blades, up which the priest\nis compelled to climb, resting the soles of his feet on the edges\nof the weapons. When he reaches the top he decapitates a white cock\nwhich is tied to the summit of the ladder. This kind of victim is,\nas we have already seen, appropriate to propitiate the Sun godling,\nand there can be little doubt that the main object of this form of\nsymbolical magic is to appease the deities which control the rain\nand harvests.\n\nBr\u00e2hmans so far join in this low-caste worship as to perform the\nfire sacrifice (homa) near the trench where the ceremony is being\nperformed. In Mirzapur one of the songs recited on this occasion runs:\n\"O devotee! How many cubits long is the trench which thou hast dug? How\nmany maunds of butter hast thou poured upon it that the fire billows\nrise in the air? Seven cubits long is the trench; seven maunds of\nfirewood hast thou placed within it. One and a quarter maunds of\nfirewood hast thou placed within it. One and a quarter maunds of butter\nhast thou poured into the trench that the fire billows rise to the\nsky.\" All this is based on the idea that fire is a scarer of demons,\na theory which widely prevails. The Romans made their flocks and herds\npass through fire, over which they leaped themselves. In Ireland,\nwhen the St. John's Eve fire has burnt low, \"the young men strip to\nthe waist and leap over or through the flames, and he who braves the\ngreatest blaze is considered the victor over the powers of evil.\" [45]\n\nBy a curious process of anthropomorphism, another legend makes R\u00e2h or\nR\u00e2hu, the Dus\u00e2dh godling, to have been not an eclipse demon, but the\nghost of an ancient leader of the tribe who was killed in battle. [46]\nA still grosser theory of eclipses is found in the belief held by the\nGhasiyas of Mirzapur that the sun and moon once borrowed money from\nsome of the Dom tribe and did not pay it back. Now in revenge a Dom\noccasionally devours them and vomits them up again when the eclipse\nis over.\n\n\n\nEclipse Observances.\n\nEclipses are of evil omen. Gloucester sums up the matter: [47]\n\"These late eclipses in the sun and moon portend no good to us;\nthough the wisdom of nature can reason it thus and thus, yet nature\nfinds itself scourged by the sequent effects; love cools, friendship\nfalls off, brothers divide; in cities mutinies; in countries discord;\nin palaces treason; and the bond cracked 'twixt son and father.\" The\nHindu authority [48] writes much to the same effect. \"Eclipses usually\nportend or cause grief; but if rain without unusual symptoms fall\nwithin a week of the eclipse, all baneful influences come to nought.\"\n\nAmong high-caste Hindus no food which has remained in the house during\nan eclipse of the sun or moon can be eaten; it must be given away,\nand all earthen vessels in use in the house at the time must be\nbroken. Mr. Conway [49] takes this to mean that \"the eclipse was to\nhave his attention called by outcries and prayers to the fact that\nif it was fire he needed there was plenty on earth; and if food, he\nmight have all in the house, provided he would consent to satisfy his\nappetite with articles of food less important than the luminaries\nof heaven.\" The observance is more probably based on the idea of\nceremonial pollution caused by the actual working of demoniacal agency.\n\nFood is particularly liable to this form of pollution. The wise\nhousewife, when an eclipse is announced, takes a leaf of the Tulas\u00ee\nor sacred basil, and sprinkling Ganges water on it, puts the leaf in\nthe jars containing the drinking water for the use of the family and\nthe cooked food, and thus keeps them pure while the eclipse is going\non. Confectioners, who are obliged to keep large quantities of cooked\nfood ready, relieve themselves and their customers from the taboo by\nkeeping some of the sacred Kusa or D\u00fbb grass in their vessels when\nan eclipse is expected. A pregnant woman will do no work during an\neclipse, as otherwise she believes that her child would be deformed,\nand the deformity is supposed to bear some relation to the work which\nis being done by her at the time. Thus, if she were to sew anything,\nthe baby would have a hole in its flesh, generally near the ear;\nif she cut anything, the child would have a hare-lip. On the same\nprinciple the horns of pregnant cattle are smeared with red paint\nduring an eclipse, because red is a colour abhorred by demons. While\nthe eclipse is going on, drinking water, eating food, and all household\nbusiness, as well as the worship of the gods, are all prohibited. No\nrespectable Hindu will at such a time sleep on a bedstead or lie down\nto rest, and he will give alms in barley or copper coins to relieve\nthe pain of the suffering luminaries.\n\nSo among Muhammadans, [50] a bride-elect sends offerings of\nintercession (sadqa) to her intended husband, accompanied by a goat or\nkid, which must be tied to his bedstead during the continuance of the\neclipse. These offerings are afterwards distributed in charity. Women\nexpecting to be mothers are carefully kept awake, as they believe\nthat the security of the coming infant depends on the mother being\nkept from sleep. They are not allowed to use a needle, scissors,\nknife, or any other instrument for fear of drawing blood, which at\nthat time would be injurious to both mother and child.\n\nBut among Hindus the most effectual means of scaring the demon and\nreleasing the afflicted planet is to bathe in some sacred stream. At\nthis time a Br\u00e2hman should stand in the water beside the worshipper and\nrecite the G\u00e2yatr\u00ee. At an eclipse of the moon it is advisable to bathe\nat Benares, and when the sun is eclipsed at Kurukshetra. Bernier [51]\ngives a very curious account of the bathing which he witnessed at Delhi\nduring the great eclipse of 1666. In the lower Him\u00e2layas the current\nritual prescribes an elaborate ceremony, when numerous articles are\nplaced in the sacred water jar; the image of the snake god, stamped\nin silver, is worshipped, and the usual gifts are made. [52]\n\nIn Lad\u00e2kh ram horns are fixed on the stems of fruit trees as a\npropitiatory offering at the time of an eclipse, and trees thus\nhonoured are believed to bear an unfailing crop of the choicest\nfruit. [53]\n\nAnother effectual means of scaring the demon is by music and noise, of\nwhich we shall find instances later on. \"The Irish and Welsh, during\neclipses, run about beating kettles and pans, thinking their clamour\nand vexations available to the assistance of the higher orbs.\" [54]\nSo in India, women go about with brass pans and beat them to drive\nR\u00e2hu from his prey.\n\nOf course, the time of an eclipse is most inauspicious for the\ncommencement of any important business. Here again the learned\nAubrey confirms the current Hindu belief. \"According to the rules\nof astrology,\" he says, \"it is not good to undertake any business of\nimportance in the new moon or at an eclipse.\"\n\n\n\nStar-worship.\n\nThe worship of the other constellations is much less important than\nthose of the greater luminaries which we have been discussing. The\nHindu names nine constellations, known as Nava-graha, \"the nine\nseizers,\" specially in reference to R\u00e2hu, which grips the sun and\nmoon in eclipses, and more generally in the astrological sense of\ninfluencing the destinies of men. These nine stars are the sun\n(S\u00fbrya), the moon (Soma, Chandra), the ascending and descending\nnodes (R\u00e2hu, Ketu), and the five planets--Mercury (Budha), Venus\n(Sukra), Mars (Mangala, Ang\u00e2raka), Jupiter (Vrihaspati), and Saturn\n(Sani). This group of nine stars is worshipped at marriages and other\nimportant religious rites. Of the signs of the Zodiac (r\u00e2si-chakra)\nthe rural Hindu knows little more than the names--Mesha (Aries),\nVrisha (Taurus), Mithuna (Gemini), Karka (Cancer), Sinha (Leo), Kanya\n(Virgo), Tula (Libra), Vrischika (Scorpio), Dhanu (Sagittarius), Makara\n(Capricornus), Kumbha (Aquarius), and M\u00eena (Pisces). Practically the\nonly direct influence they exercise over his life is that from the\nopening R\u00e2si or sign in which he is born the first letter of the\nsecret name which he bears is selected. Still less concern has he\nwith the asterisms or Nakshatra, a word which has been variously\ninterpreted to mean \"coming or ascending,\" \"night guardians,\" or\n\"undecaying.\" As already stated, they are said to have been the\ntwenty-seven daughters of the Rishi Daksha, and wives of Soma or\nthe moon. The usual enumeration gives twenty-eight, and they are\nvaguely supposed to represent certain stars or constellations, but\nthe identification of these is very uncertain. One list, with some of\nthe corresponding stars, gives Sravishth\u00e2 or Dhanishth\u00e2 (Delphinus),\nSata-bhishaj (Aquarius), P\u00fbrva Bh\u00e2drapad\u00e2, Uttara Bh\u00e2drapad\u00e2,\nRevat\u00ee, Asvin\u00ee (Aries), Bharan\u00ee (Musca), Krittik\u00e2 (the Pleiades),\nRohin\u00ee (Aldebaran), Mriga-siras (Orion), \u00c2rdr\u00e2, Punarvas\u00fb, Pushya,\n\u00c2slesh\u00e2, Magh\u00e2 (Leo), P\u00fbrv\u00e2-Phalgun\u00ee, Uttara Phalgun\u00ee, Hasta (Corvus),\nChitr\u00e2 (Spica Virginis), Sv\u00e2t\u00ee (Arcturus), Vis\u00e2kha (Libra), Anur\u00e2dh\u00e2,\nJyeshth\u00e2, M\u00fbla, P\u00fbrva \u00c2sh\u00e2dh\u00e2, Uttara \u00c2sh\u00e2dh\u00e2, Abhijit (Lyra), and\nSravana. These are used only in calculating the marriage horoscope,\nand the only one of them with which the fairly well-to-do rustic has\nmuch concern is with the unlucky M\u00fbla. Should by an evil chance his\nson be born in this asterism, he has to undergo a most elaborate rite\nof purification.\n\nOthers stars have their legends. The Riksha or constellation of the\nGreat Bear represents the seven deified Rishis--Gautama, Bh\u00e2radwaja,\nViswamitra, Jamadagni, Vashishtha, Kasyapa and Atri. Dhruva, the Pole\nStar, was the grandson of Manu Swayambhuva, and was driven from his\nhome by his step-mother. He, though a Kshatriya, joined the company\nof the Rishis and was finally raised to the skies as Grahadh\u00e2ra, \"the\npivot of the plants.\" So Canopus is the Rishi Agastya who was perhaps\none of the early Aryan missionaries to Southern India and won a place\nin heaven by his piety. Orion is Mrigasiras, the head of Brahma in the\nform of a stag which was struck off by Siva when the deity attempted\nviolence to his own daughter Sandhy\u00e2, the twilight. Krittik\u00e2 or the\nPleiades represent the six nurses of K\u00e2rttikeya, the god of war.\n\nPart of the purificatory rite for a woman after her delivery is\nto bring her out at night and let her look at the stars, while her\nhusband stands over her with a bludgeon to guard her from the assaults\nof demons. One interesting survival of the old mythology is that in\nUpper India women are fond of teaching their children that the stars\nare kine and the moon their shepherd, an idea which has formed the\nbasis of much of the speculations of a school of comparative mythology\nnow almost completely discredited.\n\n\n\nThe Rainbow.\n\nThere is much curious folk-lore about the rainbow. By most Hindus it is\ncalled the Dhanus or bow of R\u00e2ma Chandra, and by Muhammadans the bow of\nB\u00e2ba \u00c2dam or father Adam. In the Panj\u00e2b it is often known as the swing\nof B\u00eeb\u00ee B\u00e2\u00ee, the wife of the Saint Sakhi Sarwar. The Persians call it\nthe bow of Rustam or of Shait\u00e2n or Satan, or Shamsher-i-'Ali--\"the\nsword of 'Ali.\" In Sanskrit it is Rohitam, the invisible bow of\nIndra. In the hills it is called Panih\u00e2rin or the female water-bearer.\n\n\n\nThe Milky Way.\n\nSo with the Milky Way, of which an early name is N\u00e2gavithi or the\npath of the snake. The Persians call it Kahkash\u00e2n, the dragging of\na bundle of straw through the sky. The Hindu calls it Ak\u00e2sh Gang\u00e2\nor the heavenly Ganges, Bhagw\u00e2n k\u00ee kachahr\u00ee or the Court of God,\nSwarga-du\u00e2ri or the door of Paradise; while to the Panj\u00e2bi it is\nknown as Bera d\u00e2 gh\u00e2s or the path of Noah's Ark. In Celtic legend it\nis the road along which Gwydion pursued his erring wife.\n\n\n\nEarth-worship.\n\nNext in order of reverence to the heavenly bodies comes the Earth\ngoddess, Dharitr\u00ee or Dhart\u00ee M\u00e2t\u00e2 or Dhart\u00ee M\u00e2\u00ee, a name which means \"the\nupholder\" or \"supporter.\" She is distinguished from Bh\u00fbmi, \"the soil,\"\nwhich, as we shall see, has a god of its own, and from Prithiv\u00ee, \"the\nwide extended world,\" which in the Vedas is personified as the mother\nof all things, an idea common to all folk-lore. The myth of Dyaus,\nthe sky, and Prithiv\u00ee, the earth, once joined and now separated, is the\nbasis of a great chapter in mythology, such as the mutilation of Uranus\nby Cronus and other tales of a most distinctively savage type. [55]\nWe meet the same idea in the case of Demeter, \"the fruitful soil,\"\nas contrasted with Gaea, the earlier, Titanic, formless earth; unless,\nindeed, we are to accept Mr. Frazer's identification of Demeter with\nthe Corn Mother. [56]\n\n\n\nWorship of Mother Earth.\n\nThe worship of Mother Earth assumes many varied forms. The pious\nHindu does reverence to her as he rises from his bed in the morning;\nand even the indifferent follows his example when he begins to plough\nand sow. In the Panj\u00e2b, [57] \"when a cow or buffalo is first bought,\nor when she first gives milk after calving, the first five streams\nof milk drawn from her are allowed to fall on the ground in honour\nof the goddess, and every time of milking the first stream is so\ntreated. So, when medicine is taken, a little is sprinkled in her\nhonour.\" On the same principle the great Kublai Kh\u00e2n used to sprinkle\nthe milk of his mares on the ground. \"This is done,\" says Marco Polo,\n[58] \"on the injunction of the idolaters and idol priests, who say\nthat it is an excellent thing to sprinkle milk on the ground every\n28th of August, so that the earth and the air and the false gods\nshall have their share of it, and the spirits likewise that inhabit\nthe air and the earth, and those beings will protect and bless the\nKaan and his children, and his wives, and his folk and his gear,\nand his cattle and his horses, and all that is his.\"\n\nThe same feeling is also shown in the primitive taboo, which forbids\nthat any holy thing, such as the blood of a tribesman, should fall\nupon the ground. Thus we are told that Kublai Kh\u00e2n ordered his captive\nNayan \"to be wrapped in a carpet and tossed to and fro so mercilessly\nthat he died, and the Kaan caused him to be put to death in this way,\nbecause he would not have the blood of his Line Imperial spilt upon\nthe ground, and exposed to the eye of heaven and before the sun.\" Even\nsome savages when they are obliged to shed the blood of a member of\nthe tribe, as at the rite of circumcision, receive it upon their own\nbodies. The soul, in fact, is supposed to be in the blood, and any\nground on which the blood falls becomes taboo or accursed. [59]\n\nThroughout Northern India the belief in the sanctity of the earth\nis universal. The dying man is laid on the earth at the moment of\ndissolution, and so is the mother at the time of parturition. In the\ncase of the dying there is perhaps another influence at work in this\nprecaution, the idea that the soul must not be barred by roof or wall,\nand allowed to wing its course unimpeded to the place reserved for it.\n\nIn the eastern districts of the North-Western Provinces there is\na regular rite common to all the inferior castes that a few days\nbefore a wedding the women go in procession to the village clay-pit\nand fetch from there the sacred earth (matmangara), which is used in\nmaking the marriage altar and the fireplace on which the wedding feast\nis cooked. There are various elements in the ritual which point to a\nvery primitive origin. Thus, one part of the proceedings is that a\nCham\u00e2r, one of the non-Aryan castes, leads the procession, beating\nhis drum the whole time to scare demons. When the earth has been\ncollected the drum is worshipped and smeared with red lead. There can\nbe little doubt that the drum was one of the very primitive fetishes\nof the aboriginal races. One, and perhaps about the most primitive,\nform of it is the Damaru or drum shaped like an hour-glass which\naccompanies Siva, and next to this comes the M\u00e2ndar, the sides of\nwhich are formed out of earthenware, and which is the first stage in\nthe development of a musical instrument from a vessel covered with\nsome substance which resounds when beaten. This latter form of drum\nis the national musical instrument of the Central Indian Gonds and\ntheir brethren. The Cham\u00e2r, again, digs the earth with an affectation\nof secrecy, which, as we shall see, is indispensable in rites of this\nclass. The mother of the bride or bridegroom veils herself with her\nsheet, and the digger passes the earth over his left shoulder to a\nvirgin who stands behind him and receives it in a corner of her robe.\n\nDust, again, which has been trodden on has mystic powers. In the\nvillages you may see little children after an elephant has passed\npatting the marks of his feet in the dust and singing a song. Among\nthe Kunbis of Kol\u00e2ba, when the women neighbours come to inspect a\nnewly-born child, they touch the soles of the mother's feet, as if\npicking some dust off them, wave it over the child, and blow the dust\nparticularly into the air and partly over the baby. [60] In Th\u00e2na,\nwhen a mother goes out with a young child on her hip, if she cannot\nget lamp-black to rub between its eyes, she takes dust off her left\nfoot and rubs it on the child's forehead. [61] So we read of the Isle\nof Man--\"If a person endowed with the Evil Eye has just passed by a\nfarmer's herd of cattle, and a calf has suddenly been seized with a\nserious illness, the farmer hurries after the man with the Evil Eye\nto get the dust from under his feet. If he objects, he may, as has\nsometimes been very unceremoniously done, throw him down by force,\ntake off his shoes and scrape off the dust adhering to their soles,\nand carry it back to throw over the calf. Even that is not always\nnecessary, as it appears to be quite enough if he takes up dust where\nhe of the Evil Eye has just trod.\" [62]\n\nEarth, again, is regarded as a remedy for disease. I have seen people\nin Ireland take a pinch of earth from the grave of a priest noted for\nhis piety, and drink it dissolved in water. People suffering from\na certain class of disease come to the tomb of the Saint Kadri at\nYemnur in Dharw\u00e2r and smear their bodies with mud that they may be\ncured of the disease. [63] There are numerous instances of the use\nof earth as a poultice and an application for the cure of wounds and\nsores among the savage tribes of Africa and elsewhere.\n\nIt is on much the same principle that among some tribes in India Mother\nEarth is worshipped as a Kuladevat\u00e2 or household goddess and appealed\nto in times of danger. The Hindu troopers at the battle of K\u00e2mpti, at\nthe crisis of the engagement, took dust from their grooms and threw\nit over their heads. At S\u00fbrat in 1640, in fear of drought, Br\u00e2hmans\nwent about carrying a board with earth on it on their heads. [64]\nSo wrestlers, when they are about to engage in a contest, rub earth\non their arms and legs and roll on the ground. As in the classical\nlegend of Antaeus, they believe that they derive strength from the\ntouch of Mother Earth.\n\nThe same principle, also, appears to be at the bottom of many similar\npractices. Thus the Hindu always uses earth to purify his cooking\nvessels, which he regards with peculiar respect. Mourners of the Jaina\ncreed on going home after a funeral rub their hands with earth and\nwater to remove the death impurity. In his daily bath the pious Hindu\nrubs a little Ganges mud on his body. The P\u00e2rsis cover the parings of\ntheir hair and nails with a little earth so that demons may not enter\ninto them. The Muhammadan uses earth for the purpose of purification\nwhen water is not procurable. For the same reason the ascetic rubs\nhis body with dust and ashes, which, as we shall see, is a potent\nscarer of demons. Though here there is possibly another theory at\nwork at the same time. The practice was common to the Greek as well\nas to the barbarian mysteries, and according to Mr. Lang, \"the idea\nclearly was that by cleaning away the filth plastered over the body\nwas symbolized the pure and free condition of the initiate.\" [65]\n\nLastly, it is perhaps on the same principle that many universal\nburial customs have originated. The Muhammadan phrase for burial is\nmatt\u00ee-den\u00e2, \"to give earth.\" The unburied mariner asks Horace for\nthe gift of a little earth. We ourselves consider it a pious duty\nto throw a little earth on the coffin of a departed friend. The\nsame custom prevails among many Hindu tribes. The Chambh\u00e2rs of P\u00fbna\nthrow handfuls of earth over the corpse; so do the Hal\u00e2l-khors; the\nLing\u00e2yats of Dharw\u00e2r follow the same practice. The Bani Isr\u00e2ils at\na funeral stuff a handful of earth into a pillow which is put under\nthe head of the corpse. [66] The same conception was probably the\nbasis of the universal custom of funeral oblations. Even nowadays\nin Scotland all the milk in the house is poured on the ground at\na death, and the same custom is familiar through many Hebrew and\nHomeric instances. The same idea appears in the custom prevalent in\nthe Middle Ages in Germany, that when a nun renounced the world and\nbecame civilly dead her relations threw dust on her arms. [67]\n\n\n\nEarth-worship among the Dr\u00e2vidians.\n\nAmong the Dr\u00e2vidian races of Central India earth-worship prevails\nwidely. In Chota N\u00e2gpur the Or\u00e2ons celebrate in spring the marriage\nof the earth. The Dryad of the S\u00e2l tree (Shorea robusta), who controls\nthe rain, is propitiated with a sacrifice of fowls. Flowers of the S\u00e2l\ntree are taken to the village and carried round from house to house\nin a basket. The women wash the feet of the priest and do obeisance\nto him. He dances with them and puts some flowers upon them and upon\nthe house. They first douse him with water as a means of bringing\nthe rain, and then refresh him with beer. [68]\n\nIn Hoshang\u00e2b\u00e2d, when the sowing is over, its completion is celebrated\nby the Machandr\u00ee P\u00fbj\u00e2, or worship of Mother Earth, a ceremony intended\nto invoke fertility. \"Every cultivator does the worship himself,\nwith his family, servants, etc.; no Br\u00e2hman need join in it. At the\nedge of one of his fields intended for the spring harvest, he puts up\na little semicircle or three-sided wall of clods about a foot high,\nmeant to represent a hut. This is covered over with green K\u00e2ns grass\n(Imperata spontanea) to represent thatch. At the two ends of the hut\ntwo posts of Pal\u00e2sa wood (Butea frondosa) are erected, with leaves\nround the head like those which are put up at marriage. They are tied\nto the thatch with red thread. In the centre of this little house,\nwhich is the temple of Machandr\u00ee, or Mother Earth, a little fire\nis made, and milk placed on it to boil in a tiny earthen pot. It is\nallowed to boil over as a sign of abundance. While this is going on,\nthe ploughmen, who are all collected in a field, drive their bullocks\nat a trot, striking them wildly; it is the end of the year's labour for\nthe cattle. The cultivator meanwhile offers a little rice, molasses,\nand saffron to Machandr\u00ee, and then makes two tiny holes in the ground\nto represent granaries; he drops a few grains in and covers them over;\nthis is a symbol of prayer, that his granary may be filled from the\nproduce of the land.\" Similar instances of symbolical magic will\nconstantly occur in connection with similar rites. Then he puts a\nlittle saffron on the foreheads of the ploughman and the bullocks,\nand ties a red thread round the horns of the cattle. The animals are\nthen let go, and the ploughmen run off at full speed across country,\nscattering wheat boiled whole as a sign of abundance. This concludes\nthe rite, and every one returns home. [69]\n\nMany similar usages prevail among the jungle tribes of South\nMirzapur. The Korwas consider Dhart\u00ee M\u00e2t\u00e2 one of their chief\ngodlings. She lives in the village in the Deoh\u00e2r or general village\nshrine under a S\u00e2l tree. In the month of Aghan (November-December)\nshe is worshipped with flowers and the offering of a goat. When she\nis duly worshipped the crops prosper and there are no epidemics. The\nPat\u00e2ris and Majhw\u00e2rs also recognize her as a goddess, and worship her\nin the month of S\u00e2wan (August). The local devil priest or Baiga offers\nto her a goat, cock, and rich cakes (p\u00fbri). She is also worshipped in\nthe cold weather before the grain and barley are sown, and again on the\nthreshing-floor before the winnowing begins. The flesh of the animals\nis consumed by the males and unmarried girls; no grown-up girl or\nmarried woman is allowed to touch the flesh. The Ghasiyas also believe\nin Dhart\u00ee M\u00e2t\u00e2. She is their village goddess, and is presented with a\nram or a goat or cakes. The offering is made by the Baiga, for whom the\nmaterials are provided by a general contribution in the village. The\nKharw\u00e2rs worship her at the village shrine before wood-cutting and\nploughing begin. In the month of S\u00e2wan (August) they do a special\nservice in her honour, known as the Hariy\u00e2r\u00ee P\u00fbj\u00e2, or \"worship of\ngreenery,\" at the time of transplanting the rice. In Aghan (November)\nthey do the Khar P\u00fbj\u00e2, when they begin cutting thatching-grass\n(khar). A cock, some Mahua (Bassia latifolia) and parched grain\nare offered to her. All this is done by the Baiga, who receives\nthe offerings, and none but males are allowed to attend. Similarly\nthe Pankas worship her before sowing and harvesting the grain. They\nand the Bhuiy\u00e2rs offer a pig and some liquor at the more important\nagricultural seasons. The Kharw\u00e2rs sometimes call her Dev\u00ee D\u00e2\u00ee, or\n\"Nurse Dev\u00ee,\" and in times of trouble sprinkle rice and pulse in\nher name on the ground. When the crops are being sown they release\na fowl as a scapegoat and pray--H\u00ea Dhart\u00ee Maht\u00e2r\u00ee! Kusal mangala\nrakhiyo! Harw\u00e2h, bail, sab bachen rahen--\"O Mother Earth! Keep in\nprosperity and protect the ploughmen and the oxen.\" In much the same\nspirit is the prayer of the peasant in Karn\u00e2l to Mother Earth:--S\u00e2h\nB\u00e2dsh\u00e2h s\u00ea surkhr\u00fb rakhiy\u00ea! Aur is men achchha n\u00e2j d\u00ea, to b\u00e2dsh\u00e2h ko\nbh\u00ee paisa den, aur S\u00e2h k\u00e2 bhi utar j\u00e2w\u00ea--\"Keep our rulers and bankers\ncontented! Grant us a plentiful yield! So shall we pay our revenue\nand satisfy our banker!\" [70]\n\n\n\nSecrecy in Worship of Mother Earth.\n\nWe shall meet other instances in which secrecy is an essential\nelement in these rural rites. This condition prevails almost\nuniversally. Notable, too, is the rule by which married women are\nexcluded from a share in offerings to the Earth goddess.\n\n\n\nThunder and Lightning.\n\nAs is natural, thunder and lightning are considered ill-omened. In the\nold mythology lightning (vidyut) was one of the weapons of the Maruts,\nand Parjanya was the deity who wielded the thunderbolt. Many legends\ntell that the soul of the first man came to earth in the form of the\nlightning. Thus Yama was the first man born of the thunderbolt, and he\nfirst trod the path of death and became regent of the dead. Many are\nthe devices to scare the lightning demon. \"During a thunderstorm it\nwas a Greek custom to put out the fire, and hiss and cheep with the\nlips. The reason for the custom was explained by the Pythagoreans\nto be that by acting thus you scared the spirits in Tartarus, who\nwere doubtless supposed to make the thunder and lightning. Similarly\nsome of the Australian blacks, who attribute thunder to the agency\nof demons, and are much afraid of it, believe that they can dispel\nit by chanting some particular words and breathing hard; and it is\na German superstition that the danger from a thunderstorm can be\naverted by putting out the fire. During a thunderstorm the Sakai\nof the Malay Peninsula run out of their houses and brandish their\nweapons to drive away the demons; and the Esthonians in Russia fasten\nscythes, edge upwards, over the door, that the demons, fleeing from the\nthundering god, may cut their feet if they try to seek shelter in the\nhouse. Sometimes the Esthonians, for a similar purpose, take all the\nedged tools in the house and throw them out into the yard. It is said\nthat when the thunder is over, spots of blood are often found on the\nscythes and knives, showing that the demons have been wounded by them.\n\n\"So when the Indians of Canada were asked by the Jesuit missionaries\nwhy they planted their swords in the ground point upwards, they\nreplied that the spirit of the thunder was sensible, and that if he\nsaw the naked blades he would turn away and take good care not to\napproach their huts. This is a fair example of the close similarity\nof European superstitions to the superstitions of savages. In the\npresent case the difference happens to be slightly in favour of\nthe Indians, since they did not, like our European savages, delude\nthemselves into seeing the blood of demons on the swords. The reason\nfor the Greek and German custom of putting out the fire during a\nthunderstorm is probably a wish to avoid attracting the attention of\nthe thunder demons. From a like motive some of the Australian blacks\nhide themselves during a thunderstorm, and keep absolutely silent,\nlest the thunder should find them out. Once during a storm a white\nman called out in a loud voice to a black fellow, with whom he was\nworking, to put the saw under a log and seek shelter. He found that\nthe saw had been already put aside, and the black fellow was very\nindignant at his master for speaking so loud. 'What for,' said he,\nin great wrath--'what for speak so loud? Now um thunder hear and know\nwhere um saw is.' And he went out and changed its hiding-place.\" [71]\n\nAll these precautions are well known to the people of Upper India. It\nis a very common habit to throw out axes and knives to scare the\nthunder demon, as we shall see is the case with the evil spirit of\nhail. The rule of keeping quiet and muttering incantations under the\nbreath is also familiar to them. They are particularly careful lest a\nfirst-born son may lean against anything and thus attract the demon\non himself. Thunder in a clear sky is much dreaded, an idea which\noften appears in classical literature. [72]\n\n\n\nEarthquakes.\n\nEarthquakes are also naturally an object of terror. Pythagoras believed\nthat they were caused by dead men fighting beneath the earth. The\ncommon explanation of these occurrences in India is that Var\u00e2ha, or\nthe boar incarnation of Vishnu, who supports the earth, is changing the\nburden of the world from one tusk to another. By another account it is\ndue to the great bull or elephant which supports the world. Derived\nfrom a more advanced theological stage is the theory that the earth\nshakes because it is over-burdened by the sins of mankind in this\nevil age. Colonel Dalton describes how a rumbling (probably caused by\nan earthquake) in the cave in which the bloodthirsty divinity of the\nKorwas was supposed to dwell, caused extreme terror among them. [73]\n\n\n\nRiver-worship.\n\nHigh on the list of benevolent deities of Northern India are the\ngreat rivers, especially the Ganges and the Jumn\u00e2, which are known\nrespectively as Gang\u00e2 M\u00e2\u00ee or \"Mother Ganges\" and Jumn\u00e2 j\u00ee or \"Lady\nJumn\u00e2.\"\n\nGang\u00e2, of course, in the mythologies has a divine origin. According\nto one account she flows from the toe of Vishnu, and was brought down\nfrom heaven by the incantations of the Saint Bh\u00e2g\u00eeratha, to purify\nthe ashes of the sixty thousand sons of King S\u00e2gara, who had been\nburnt up by the angry glance of Kapila, the sage. By another story\nshe descends in seven streams from Siva's brow. The descent of Gang\u00e2\ndisturbed the Saint Jahnu at his austerities, and in his anger he\ndrank up the stream; but he finally relented, and allowed the river to\nflow from his ear. By a third account she is the daughter of Himavat,\nthe impersonation of the Him\u00e2layan range. Another curious tale, which\nmust have been based on some Indian tradition, is found in Plutarch\n[74]--\"The Ganges is a river of India, called so for the following\nreason:--The nymph Kalauria bore to Indus a son of notable beauty, by\nname Ganges, who in the ignorance of intoxication had connection with\nhis mother. But when later on he learned the truth from his nurse, in\nthe passion of his remorse he threw himself into the river Chliaros,\nwhich was called Ganges after him.\" Another legend again is found in\nthe Mah\u00e2bh\u00e2rata. [75] The wise Santanu goes to hunt on the banks of the\nGanges and finds a lovely nymph, of whom he becomes enamoured. She puts\nhim under the taboo that he is never to say anything to displease her,\nan idea familiar in the well-known Swan Maiden cycle of folk-tales. She\nbears him eight sons, of whom she throws seven into the river, and her\nhusband dares not remonstrate with her. When she is about to throw\naway the last child he challenges her to tell him who she is and to\nhave pity upon him. She then tells him that she is Gang\u00e2 personified,\nand that the seven sons are the divine Vasavas, who by being thrown\ninto the river are liberated from the curse of human life. The eighth\nremains among men as Dyaus, the sky, in the form of the eunuch Bh\u00eeshma.\n\nIt is remarkable that, as in Plutarch's legend, the Jumn\u00e2 is connected\nwith a tale of incest. Yam\u00ee or Yamun\u00e2 was the daughter of the Sun\nand sister of Yama, the god of death. They were the first human pair\nand the progenitors of the race of men. It is needless to say that\nsimilar traditions of brother and sister marriage are found in Egypt,\nPeru and elsewhere. Yamun\u00e2, according to the modern story told on\nher banks, was unmarried, and hence some people will not drink from\nher because she was not purified by the marriage rite, and so the\nwater is heavy and indigestible. Another tale tells how Balar\u00e2ma,\nin a state of inebriety, called upon her to come to him that he\nmight bathe in her waters; and as she did not heed, he, in his rage,\nseized his ploughshare weapon, dragged her to him, and compelled her\nto follow him whithersoever he wandered through the forest. The river\nthen assumed a human form and besought his forgiveness; but it was\nsome time before she could appease the angry hero. This has been taken\nto represent the construction of some ancient canal from the river;\nbut Mr. Growse shows that this idea is incorrect. [76]\n\nThe worship of Mother Ganges is comparatively modern. She is\nmentioned only twice in the Rig Veda, and then without any emphasis\nor complementary epithet. Apparently at this time the so-called Aryan\ninvaders had not reached her banks. [77] There are numerous temples to\nGang\u00e2 all along her banks, of which those at Hardw\u00e2r, Garhmuktesar,\nSoron, Mathura, Pray\u00e2g, and Benares are perhaps the most important\nin Upper India. She has her special festival on the seventh of the\nmonth of Bais\u00e2kh (May-June), which is celebrated by general bathing\nall along the banks of the sacred stream. Ganges water is carried\nlong distances into the interior, and is highly valued for its use\nin sacrifices, as a remedy, a form of stringent oath, and a viaticum\nfor the dying. The water of certain holy wells in Scotland [78]\nand elsewhere enjoys a similar value.\n\nBut it is by bathing in the sacred stream at the full moon, during\neclipses, and on special festivals that the greatest efficacy is\nassured. On these occasions an opportunity is taken for making\noblations to the sainted dead whose ashes have been consigned to\nher waters. Bathing is throughout India regarded as one of the chief\nmeans of religious advancement. The idea rests on a metaphor--as the\nbody is cleansed from physical pollution, so the soul is purified from\nsin. The stock case of the merit of this religious bathing is that of\nKing Trisanku, \"he who had committed the three deadly sins,\" who is\nalso known as Satyavrata. The legend appears in various forms. By one\nstory he tried to win his way to heaven by a great sacrifice which his\npriest, Vasishtha, declined to perform. He then applied to Visvamitra,\nthe rival Levite, who agreed to assist him. He was opposed by the\nsons of Vasishtha, whom he consumed to ashes. Finally, Trisanku was\nadmitted to heaven, but he was forced by the angry saint to hang for\never with his head downwards. By another account he committed the\ndeadly sins of running away with the wife of a citizen, offending\nhis father, and killing in a time of famine K\u00e2madhenu, the wondrous\ncow of Vashishtha. By another story he killed a cow and a Br\u00e2hman\nand married his step-mother. At any rate he and the wicked R\u00e2ja Vena\nwere the types of violent sinners in the early legends; possibly they\nrepresent a revolt against the pretensions of the Br\u00e2hmans. At length\nthe sage Visvamitra took pity upon him, and having collected water from\nall the sacred places in the world, washed him clean of his offences.\n\n\n\nSprings Connected with the Ganges.\n\nMany famous springs are supposed to have underground connection with\nthe Ganges. Such is that of Ch\u00e2ngdeo in Kh\u00e2ndesh, of which Abul Fazl\ngives an account, and that at Jah\u00e2npur in Alwar. [79] It was at the\nvillage of Bastali in the Karn\u00e2l District that the sage Vy\u00e2sa lived,\nand there the Ganges flowed into his well to save him the trouble\nof going to the river to bathe, bringing with her his loin cloth and\nwater-pot to convince him that she was really the Ganges herself. [80]\n\n\n\nSacred River Junctions.\n\nWhen two sacred rivers combine their waters the junction (Sangama)\nis regarded as of peculiar sanctity. Such is the famous junction\nof the Ganges and Jumn\u00e2 at Pray\u00e2g, the modern Allah\u00e2b\u00e2d, which is\npresided over by the guardian deity Veni M\u00e2dhava. The same virtue,\nbut in a lesser degree, attaches to the junction of the Ganges and the\nSon or Gandak. In the Him\u00e2layas cairns are raised at the junction of\nthree streams, and every passer-by adds a stone. At the confluence of\nthe Gaula and Baliya rivers in the Hills there is said to be a house\nof gold, but unfortunately it is at present invisible on account of\nsome potent enchantment. [81] Bathing in such rivers is not only\na propitiation for sin, but is also efficacious for the cure of\ndisease. Even the wicked R\u00e2ja Vena, who was, as we have seen, a type\nof old-world impiety, was cured, like Naaman the Syrian, of his leprosy\nby bathing in the S\u00e2raswati, the lost river of the Indian desert.\n\nEven minor streams have their sanctity and their legends. The\ncourse of the Sarju was opened by a Rishi, from which time dates\nthe efficacy of a pilgrimage to B\u00e2gheswar. [82] R\u00e2ja Rantideva was\nsuch a pious king and offered up so many cattle in sacrifice, that\nhis blood formed the river Chambal. Anas\u00fby\u00e2, the wife of Atri, was a\ndaughter of the Rishi Daksha. She did penance for ten thousand years,\nand so was enabled to create the river Mand\u00e2kin\u00ee, and thus saved the\nland from famine. Her worship is localized at Ansuyaji in the B\u00e2nda\nDistrict. The sacred portion of the Phalgu is said occasionally to\nflow with milk, though Dr. Buchanan was not fortunate enough to\nmeet anyone who professed to have witnessed the occurrence. [83]\nThe Narmad\u00e2 was wooed by the river Son, who proved faithless to her,\nand was beguiled by the Johil\u00e2, a rival lady stream, who acted the\npart of the barber's wife at the wedding. The Narmad\u00e2, enraged at her\nlover's perfidy, tore her way through the marble rocks at Jabalpur,\nand has worn the willow ever since. [84] She is now the great rival\nof Mother Ganges. While in the case of the latter only the Northern\n(or as it is called the K\u00e2si or Benares bank) is efficacious for\nbathing or for the cremation of the dead, the Narmad\u00e2 is free from\nany restriction of the kind. The same is the case with the Son, at\nleast during its course through the District of Mirzapur. By some\nthe sanctity of the Narmad\u00e2 is regarded as superior even to that of\nthe Ganges. While according to some authorities it is necessary to\nbathe in the Ganges in order to obtain forgiveness of sins, the same\nresult is attained by mere contemplation of the Narmad\u00e2. According\nto the Bh\u00e2vishya Pur\u00e2na the sanctity of the Ganges will cease on the\nexpiration of five thousand years of the Kali Yuga, or the fourth age\nof the world, which occurred in 1895, and the Narmad\u00e2 will take its\nplace. The Ganges priests, however, repudiate this calumny, and it\nmay safely be assumed that Mother Ganges will not abandon her primacy\nin the religious world of Hinduism without a determined struggle. [85]\n\n\n\nIll-omened Streams.\n\nBut all rivers are not beneficent. Worst of all is the dread Vaitaran\u00ee,\nthe river of death, which is localized in Orissa and pours its stream\nof ordure and blood on the confines of the realm of Yama. Woe to the\nwretch who in that dread hour lacks the aid of the Br\u00e2hman and the\nholy cow to help him to the other shore. The name of one stream is\naccursed in the ears of all Hindus, the hateful Karamn\u00e2sa, which\nflows for part of its course through the Mirzapur District. Even\nto touch it destroys the merit of works of piety, for such is the\npopular interpretation of its name. No plausible reason for the evil\nreputation of this particular stream has been suggested except that it\nmay have been in early times the frontier between the invading Aryans\nand the aborigines, and possibly the scene of a campaign in which\nthe latter were victorious. The Karam\u00e2 tree is, however, the totem\nof the Dr\u00e2vidian Kharw\u00e2rs and M\u00e2njhis, who live along its banks, and\nit is perhaps possible that this may be the real origin of the name,\nand that its association with good works (karma) was an afterthought.\n\nThe legend of this ill-omened stream is associated with that of the\nwicked king Trisanku, to whom reference has already been made. When\nthe sage Visvamitra collected water from all the sacred streams of the\nworld, it fell burdened with the monarch's sins into the Karamn\u00e2sa,\nwhich has remained defiled ever since. By another account, the sinner\nwas hung up between heaven and earth as a punishment for his offences,\nand from his body drips a baneful moisture which still pollutes the\nwater. Similar legends of the origin of rivers are not wanting in\nfolk-lore. An Austrian story tells that all rivers take their origin\nfrom the tears shed by a giant's wife as she laments his death. [86]\nThe same idea of a river springing from a corpse appears in one of the\ntales of Somadeva and in the twelfth novel of the Gesta Romanorum. [87]\nNowadays no Hindu with any pretensions to personal purity will drink\nfrom this accursed stream, and at its fords many low caste people make\ntheir living by conveying on their shoulders their more scrupulous\nbrethren across its waters.\n\n\n\nOrigin of River-worship.\n\nIt is perhaps worth considering the possible origin of this\nriver-worship. Far from being peculiar to Hinduism, it is common\nto the whole Aryan world. The prayer of the patient Odysseus [88]\nto the river after his sufferings in the deep is heard in almost the\nsame language at every bathing Gh\u00e2t in Upper India, from the source\nof Mother Ganges to where she joins the ocean. The river is always\nflowing, always being replenished by its tributary streams, and\nhence comes to be regarded as a thing of life, an emblem of eternal\nexistence, a benevolent spirit which washes away the sins of humanity\nand supplies in a tropical land the chief needs of men. In a thirsty\nland the mighty stream of the Ganges would naturally arouse feelings\nof respect and adoration, not so much perhaps to those living on its\nbanks and ever blessed by its kindly influence, as to the travel-worn\npilgrim from the sandy steppes of R\u00e2jasth\u00e2n or the waterless valleys\nof the Central Indian hills. We can hardly doubt that from this\npoint of view Mother Ganges has been a potent factor in the spread\nof Hinduism. She became the handmaid of the only real civilization\nof which Hindust\u00e2n could boast, and from her shrines bands of eager\nmissionaries were ever starting to sow the seeds of the worship of\nthe gods in the lands of the unbeliever.\n\nThe two great rivers of Upper India were, again, associated with\nthat land of fable and mystery, the snowy range which was the home of\nthe gods and the refuge of countless saints and mystics, who in its\nsolitudes worked out the enigma of the world for the modern Hindu. They\nended in the great ocean, the final home of the ashes of the sainted\ndead. Even the partially Hinduised Dr\u00e2vidian tribes of the Vindhyan\nPlateau bring the bones of their dead relations to mingle with those\nof the congregation of the faithful, who have found their final rest in\nits waters since the world was young. The Ganges and the streams which\nswell its flood thus come to be associated with the deepest beliefs of\nthe race, and it is hard to exaggerate its influence as a bond of union\nbetween the nondescript entities which go to make up modern Hinduism.\n\nAgain, much of the worship of rivers is connected with the propitiation\nof the water-snakes, demons and goblins, with which in popular belief\nmany of them are infested. Such were K\u00e2liy\u00e2, the great black serpent\nof the Jumn\u00e2, which attacked the infant Krishna; the serpent King\nof Nep\u00e2l, Karkotaka, who dwelt in the lake N\u00e2gar\u00e2sa when the divine\nlotus of Adi Buddha floated on its surface. [89] At the temple of\nTriyugi N\u00e2r\u00e2yana in Garhw\u00e2l is a pool said to be full of snakes of\na yellow colour which come out at the feast of the N\u00e2gpancham\u00ee to\nbe worshipped. The G\u00e2rdev\u00ee, or river sprite of Garhw\u00e2l, is very\nmalignant, and is the ghost of a person who has met his death by\nsuicide, violence, or accident. [90] These malignant water demons\nnaturally infest dangerous rapids and whirlpools, and it is necessary\nto propitiate them. Thus we learn that on the river T\u00e2pti in Ber\u00e2r\ntimber floated down sometimes disappears in a subterraneous cavity;\nso before trying the navigation there the Gonds sacrifice a goat to\npropitiate the river demon. [91]\n\nAnother variety of these demons of water is the N\u00e2ga and his wife the\nN\u00e2gin, of whom we shall hear more in connection with snake-worship. In\nthe Sikandar, a tributary of the Son, is a deep water-hole where no\none dares to go. The water is said to reach down as far as P\u00e2t\u00e2la,\nor the infernal regions. Here live the N\u00e2ga and the N\u00e2gin. In the\nmiddle of the river is a tree of the Ku\u00e2lo variety, and when ghosts\ntrouble the neighbourhood an experienced Ojha or sorcerer is called,\nwho bores holes in the bark of the tree and there shuts up the noxious\nghosts, which then come under the rule of the N\u00e2ga and N\u00e2gin, who\nare the supreme rulers of the ghostly band.\n\nAnother Mirzapur river, the Karsa, is infested by a Deo, or demon,\nknown as Jata Rohini, or \"Rohini of the matted locks.\" He is worshipped\nby the Baiga priest to ensure abundant rain and harvests and to keep\noff disease. The Baiga catches a fish which he presents to the Deo,\nbut if any one but a Baiga dares to drink there, the water bubbles\nup and the demon sweeps him away.\n\nLike this Deo of Mirzapur, most of these water demons are malignant\nand wait until some wretched creature enters their domains, when they\nseize and drag him away. Some of them can even catch the reflection\nof a person as he looks into water, and hence savages all over the\nworld are very averse to looking into deep water-holes. Thus, the Zulus\nbelieve that there is a beast in the water which can seize the shadow\nof a man, and men are forbidden to lean over and look into a deep pool,\nlest their shadow should be taken away. There is a tale of the Godiva\ncycle in which a woman at Arles is carried off by a creature called a\nDrac and made to act as nurse to the demon's child. [92] In Scotland\nwater-holes are known as \"the cups of the fairies.\" And there is the\nTrinity well in Ireland, into which no one can gaze with impunity,\nand from which the river Boyne once burst forth in pursuit of a lady\nwho had insulted it. [93]\n\nIn India, also, dangerous creatures of this kind abound. There is in\nMirzapur a famous water-hole, known as Barewa. A herdsman was once\ngrazing his buffaloes near the place, when the waters rose in anger\nand carried off him and his cattle. Nowadays the drowned buffaloes\nhave taken the shape of a dangerous demon known as Bhains\u00e2sura, or the\nbuffalo demon, who now in company with the N\u00e2ga and the N\u00e2gin lives in\nthis place, and no one dares to fish there until he has propitiated\nthe demons with the offering of a fowl, eggs, and a goat. Another\nkind of water demon attacks fishermen; it appears in the form of a\nturban which fixes itself to his hook and increases in length as he\ntries to drag it to the shore.\n\nThere is, again, the water-horse, with whom we are familiar in the\n\"Arabian Nights,\" where he consorts with mares of mortal race. This\ncreature is known in Kashm\u00eer as the Zalgur. [94] The water-bull of\nManxland is a creature of the same class, and they constantly appear\nthrough the whole range of Celtic folk-lore. [95] Such again is the\nHydra of Greek mythology, and the Teutonic Nikke or Nixy, who has\noriginated the legend of the Flying Dutchman, and in the shape of Old\nNick is the terror of sailors. Like him is the Kelpie of Scotland,\na water-horse who is believed to carry off the unwary by sudden floods\nand devour them. Of the same kindred is the last of the dragons which\nSt. Patrick chained up in a lake on the Galtee Mountains in Tipperary.\n\nMany pools, again, in Northern India are infested by a creature known\nas the B\u00fbrna, who is the ghost of a drowned person. He is always on\nthe look-out for someone to take his place, so he drags in people\nwho come to fish in his domains. [96] He is particularly feared by\nthe Magahiya Doms, a caste of degraded nomadic gipsies who infest\nGorakhpur and Beh\u00e2r.\n\nMany of these demons, such as the N\u00e2ga and N\u00e2gin, have kingdoms and\npalaces stored with treasure under the water, and there they entice\nyoung men and maidens, who occasionally come back to their mortal\nkindred and tell them of the wonders which they have seen. These are\nakin to Morgan la Fay of the Orlando Innamorato, La Motte Fouqu\u00e9's\nUndine, and they often merge into the mermaid of the Swan Maiden type\nof tale, who marries a mortal lover and leaves him at last because in\nhis folly he breaks some taboo which is a condition of the permanence\nof their love.\n\nBut besides these dragons which infest rivers and lakes there are\nspecial water gods, many of which are the primitive water monster in\na developed form. Such is Mahish\u00e2sura, who is the Mahishoba of Ber\u00e2r,\nand like the Bhains\u00e2sura already mentioned, infests great rivers and\ndemands propitiation. According to the early mythology this Mahisha,\nthe buffalo demon, was killed by K\u00e2rttikeya at the Krauncha pass\nin the Him\u00e2laya, which was opened by the god to make a passage for\nthe deities to visit the plains from Kail\u00e2sa. The Kols, again, have\nN\u00e2ga Era, who presides over tanks, wells, and any stagnant water,\nand Garha Era, the river goddess. \"They,\" as Col. Dalton remarks,\n\"are frequently and very truly denounced as the cause of sickness\nand propitiated with sacrifices to spare their victims.\" [97]\n\n\n\nFloods and Drowning People.\n\nFloods are, as we have seen, regarded as produced by demoniacal\nagency. In the Panj\u00e2b, when a village is in danger of floods, the\nheadman makes an offering of a cocoa-nut and a rupee to the flood\ndemon. As in many other places the cocoa-nut represents the head of a\nhuman victim, which in olden times was the proper offering. He holds\nthe offering in his hand and stands in the water. When the flood rises\nhigh enough to wash the offering from his hand, it is believed that the\nwaters will abate. Some people throw seven handfuls of boiled wheat and\nsugar into the stream and distribute the remainder among the persons\npresent. Some take a male buffalo, a horse, or a ram, and after boring\nthe right ear of the victim, throw it into the water. If the victim be\na horse, it should be saddled before it is offered. A short time ago,\nwhen the town and temples at Hardw\u00e2r were in imminent danger during\nthe Gohna flood, the Br\u00e2hmans poured vessels of milk, rice and flowers\ninto the waters of Mother Ganges and prayed to her to spare them.\n\nIn the same connection may be noticed the very common prejudice\nwhich exists in India against saving drowning people. This is\nfamiliar in Western folk-lore. It is supposed to be alluded to in\nthe \"Twelfth Night\" of Shakespeare, and the plot of Sir W. Scott's\n\"Pirate\" turns upon it. Numerous instances of the same idea have been\ncollected by Dr. Tylor and Mr. Conway. [98] Dr. Tylor considers that\nit is based upon the belief that to snatch a victim from the very\nclutches of the water spirit is a rash defiance of the deity which\nwould hardly pass unavenged. Mr. Black [99] accounts for the idea on\nthe ground that the spirits of people who have died a violent death\nmay return to earth if they can find a substitute; hence the soul\nof the last dead man is insulted or injured by anyone preventing\nanother from taking his place. This last theory is very common in\nWestern folk-lore. Thus Lady Wilde writes from Ireland [100]:--\"It\nis believed that the spirit of the dead last buried has to watch\nin the churchyard until another corpse is laid there, or to perform\nmenial offices in the spirit world, such as carrying wood and water,\ntill the next spirit comes from earth. They are also sent on messages\nto earth, chiefly to announce the coming death of some relative, and\nat this they are glad, for their own time of peace and rest will come\nat last.\" So in Argyllshire, [101] it was believed that the spirit of\nthe last interred kept watch around the churchyard until the arrival\nof another occupant, to whom its custody was transmitted. This, as we\nshall see in connection with the custom of barring the return of the\nghost, quite agrees with popular feeling in India, and furnishes an\nadequate explanation of the prejudice against rescuing the drowning\nand incurring the wrath of the former ghost, who is thus deprived of\nthe chance of release by making over his functions to a substitute.\n\n\n\nKhw\u00e2ja Khizr, the God of Water.\n\nBut besides these water spirits and local river gods, the Hindus\nhave a special god of water, Khw\u00e2ja Khizr, whose Muhammadan title\nhas been Hinduised into R\u00e2ja Kid\u00e2r, or as he is called in Bengal,\nK\u00e2waj or P\u00eer Badr. This is a good instance of a fact, which will be\nseparately discussed elsewhere, that the Hindus are always ready to\nannex the deities and beliefs of other races.\n\nAccording to the Sikandarn\u00e2ma, Khw\u00e2ja Khizr was a saint of Isl\u00e2m,\nwho presided over the well of immortality, and directed Alexander of\nMacedon in his vain search for the blessed waters. The fish is his\nvehicle, and hence its image is painted over the doors of both Hindus\nand Muhammadans, while it became the family crest of the late royal\nhouse of Oudh. Among Muhammadans a prayer is said to Khw\u00e2ja Khizr at\nthe first shaving of a boy, and a little boat is launched in a river\nor tank in his honour. The same rite is performed at the close of the\nrainy season, when it is supposed to have some connection with the\nsaint Ilisha, that is to say the prophet Elisha. Elisha, by the way,\napparently from the miraculous way in which his bones revived the\ndead, has come down in modern times to Italy as a worker of miracles,\nand is known to the Tuscan peasant as Elisaeus. [102]\n\nAnother legend represents Khw\u00e2ja Khizr to be of the family of Noah, who\nis also regarded by rural Muhammadans as a water deity in connection\nwith the flood. Others connect him with St. George, the patron saint\nof England, who is the Ghergis of Syria, and according to Muhammadan\ntradition was sent in the time of the Prophet to convert the King of\nMaushil, and came to life after three successive martyrdoms. Others\nidentify him with Thammuz, Tauz, or Adonis. Others call him the\ncompanion of Moses, and the commentator Husain says he was a general\nin the army of Zu'l Qarnain, \"he of the horns,\" or Alexander the\nGreat. [103]\n\nOut of this jumble of all the mythologies has been evolved the Hindu\ngod of water, the patron deity of boatmen, who is invoked by them to\nprevent their boats from being broken or submerged, or to show them\nthe way when they have lost it. He is worshipped by burning lamps,\nfeeding Br\u00e2hmans, and by setting afloat on a village pond a little raft\nof grass with a lighted lamp placed upon it. This, it may be noted,\nis one of the many ways in which the demon of evil or disease is sent\naway in many parts of the world. [104] Another curious function is,\nin popular belief, allotted to Khw\u00e2ja Khizr, that of haunting markets\nin the early morning and fixing the rates of grain, which he also\nprotects from the Evil Eye. [105]\n\n\n\nThe Folk-lore of Wells.\n\nIn this connection some of the folk-lore of wells may be mentioned. The\ndigging of a well is a duty requiring infinite care and caution. The\nwork should begin on Sunday, and on the previous Saturday night little\nbowls of water are placed round the proposed site, and the one which\ndries up least marks the best site for the well, which reminds us\nof the fleece of Gideon. The circumference is then marked and they\ncommence to dig, leaving the central lump of earth intact. They cut\nout this clod of earth last and in the Panj\u00e2b call it Khw\u00e2jaj\u00ee,\nperhaps after Khw\u00e2ja Khizr, the water god, worship it and feed\nBr\u00e2hmans. If it breaks it is a bad omen, and a new site will be\nselected a week afterwards. Further east when a man intends to sink a\nwell he inquires from the Pandit an auspicious moment for commencing\nthe work. When that hour comes he worships Gaur\u00ee, Ganesa, Sesha N\u00e2ga,\nthe world serpent, the earth, the spade and the nine planets. Then\nfacing in the direction in which, according to the directions of the\nPandit, Sesha N\u00e2ga is supposed to be lying at the time, he cuts five\nclods with the spade. When the workmen reach the point at which the\nwooden well-curb has to be fixed, the owner smears the curb in five\nplaces with red powder, and tying D\u00fbb grass and a sacred thread to it,\nlowers it into its place. A fire sacrifice is done, and Br\u00e2hmans are\nfed. When the well is ready, cow-dung, milk, cow urine, butter and\nGanges water, leaves of the sacred Tulas\u00ee and honey are thrown in\nbefore the water is used.\n\nBut no well is considered lucky until the S\u00e2lagr\u00e2ma, or spiral ammonite\nsacred to Vishnu, is solemnly wedded to the Tulas\u00ee or basil plant,\nrepresenting the garden which the well is intended to water. The rite\nis done according to the standard marriage formula: the relations\nare assembled; the owner of the garden represents the bridegroom,\nwhile a kinsman of his wife stands for the bride. Gifts are given to\nBr\u00e2hmans, a feast is held in the garden, and both it and the well\nmay then be used without danger. All this is on the same lines as\nmany of the emblematical marriage rites which in other places are\nintended to promote the growth of vegetation. [106]\n\nIn Sirsa they have a legend that long ago, in time of drought, a\nheadman of a village went to a Faq\u00eer to beg him to pray for rain, and\npromised him his daughter in marriage if his prayer was successful. The\nrain came, but the headman would not perform his promise, and the\nFaq\u00eer cursed the land, so that all the water became brackish. But\nhe so far relented as to permit sweet water to flow on condition\nthat it was given to all men free of cost. In one village the spring\nbecame at once brackish when a water-rate was levied, and turned sweet\nagain when the tax was remitted. In another the brackish water became\nsweet at the intercession of a Faq\u00eer. In the Panj\u00e2b there is a class\nof Faq\u00eers who are known as S\u00fbnga, or \"sniffers,\" because they can\nsmell out sweet water underground. They work on much the same lines\nas their brethren in England, who discover springs by means of the\ndivining rod. [107] In one of the tales of Somadeva we have a doll\nwhich can produce water at will, which is like Lucian's story of the\npestle that was sent to fetch water. When the Egyptian sorcerer was\naway his pupil tried to perform the trick, but he did not know the\ncharm for making the water stop, and the house was flooded. Then he\nchopped the pestle in two, but that only made matters worse, for both\nhalves set to bring the water. This is somewhat like the magic quern\nof European folk-lore. [108]\n\nThe water of many wells is efficacious in the cure of disease. In\nIreland, the first water drawn from a sacred well after midnight\non May Eve is considered an effective antidote to witchcraft. [109]\nIn India many wells have a reputation for curing barrenness, which is\nuniversally regarded as a disease, the work of supernatural agency. In\nIndia the water of seven wells is collected on the night of the Diw\u00e2l\u00ee,\nor feast of lamps, and barren women bathe in it as a means of procuring\nchildren. In a well in Orissa the priests throw betel-nuts into the\nmud, and barren women scramble for them. Those who find them will have\ntheir desire for children gratified before long. [110] For the same\nreason, after childbirth the mother is taken to worship the village\nwell. She walks round it in the course of the sun and smears the\nplatform with red lead, which is probably a survival of the original\nrite of blood sacrifice. In Dharw\u00e2r the child of a Br\u00e2hman is taken\nin the third month to worship water at the village well. [111] In\nPal\u00e2mau the S\u00e2rhul feast is observed in the month of Bais\u00e2kh (May),\nwhen dancing and singing goes on and the headmen entertain their\ntenants. The whole village is purified, and then they proceed to the\nvillage well, which is cleaned out, while the village Baiga does a\nsacrifice and every one smears the platform with red lead. No one\nmay draw water from the well during the S\u00e2rhul. [112] Hydrophobia all\nover Northern India is cured by looking down seven wells in succession.\n\nIn the Panj\u00e2b the sites of deserted wells are discovered by driving\nabout a herd of goats, which are supposed to lie down at the place\nwhere search should be made. Some people discover wells by dreams;\nothers, as the Luniyas, a caste of navvies, are said, like the Faq\u00eers\nin Sirsa, to be able to discover by smell where water is likely to\nbe found. I was once shown a well in the Muzaffarnagar district into\nwhich a Faq\u00eer once spat, and for a long time after the visit of the\nholy man it ran with excellent milk. The supply had ceased, I regret\nto say, before my visit. The well of life which can survive even the\nashes of a corpse is found throughout the Indian folk-tales. [113]\n\n\n\nSacred Wells.\n\nSacred wells, of course, abound all over the country. Many of them are\nsupposed to have underground connection with the Ganges or some other\nholy river. Many of these are connected with the wanderings of R\u00e2ma\nand S\u00eet\u00e2 after their exile from Ayodhya. S\u00eet\u00e2's kitchen (S\u00eet\u00e2 k\u00ee raso\u00ee)\nis shown in various places, as at Kanauj and Deoriya in the Allah\u00e2b\u00e2d\nDistrict. [114] Her well is on the Bindh\u00e2chal hill in Mirzapur, and\nis a famous resort of pilgrims. There is another near Monghyr, and\na third in the Sult\u00e2npur District in Oudh. The Monghyr well has been\nprovided with a special legend. S\u00eet\u00e2 was suspected of faithlessness\nduring her captivity in the kingdom of R\u00e2vana. She threw herself into\na pit filled with fire, where the hot spring now flows, and came out\npurified. When Dr. Buchanan visited the place they had just invented\na new legend in connection with it. Shortly before, it was said, the\nwater became so cool as to allow bathing in it. The governor prohibited\nthe practice, as it made the water so dirty that Europeans could not\ndrink it. \"But on the very day when the bricklayers began to build a\nwall in order to exclude the bathers, the water became so hot that no\none could dare to touch it, so that the precaution being unnecessary,\nthe work of the infidels was abandoned.\" [115]\n\nAt Benares are the Manikarnika well, which was produced by an ear-ring\nof Siva falling into it, and the Jn\u00e2nav\u00e2pi, to drink of which brings\nwisdom. The well at Sihor in R\u00e2jput\u00e2na is sacred to Gautama, and is\nconsidered efficacious in the cure of various disorders. At Sarkuhiya\nin the Basti District is a well where Buddha struck the ground with his\narrow and caused water to flow, as Moses did from the rock. There are,\nagain, many wells which give omens. In the Middle Ages people used to\nresort to the fountain of Baranta in the Forest of Breclieu and fling\nwater from a tankard on a stone close by, an act which was followed by\nthunder, lightning and rain. [116] At a Cornish well people used to\ngo and inquire about absent friends. If the person \"be living and in\nhealth, the still, quiet waters of the well pit will instantly bubble\nor boil up as a pot of clear, crystalline water; if sick, foul and\npuddled water; if dead, it will neither boil nor bubble up, nor alter\nits colour or stillness.\" [117] Many other instances of the same fact\nmight be given. So in Kashm\u00eer, in one well water rushes out when a\nsheep or goat is sacrificed; another runs if the ninth of any month\nhappen to fall on Friday; in a third, those who have any special needs\nthrow in a nut; if it floats, it is considered an omen of success;\nif it sinks, it is considered adverse. At Askot, in the Him\u00e2laya,\nthere is a holy well which is used for divination of the prospects\nof the harvest. If the spring in a given time fills the brass vessel\nto the brim into which the water falls, there will be a good season;\nif only a little water comes, drought may be expected. [118]\n\n\n\nHot Springs.\n\nHot springs are naturally regarded as sacred. We have already noticed\nan example in the case of S\u00eet\u00e2's well at Monghyr. The holy tract in\nthe hills, known as Vaishnava Kshetra, contains several hot springs,\nin which Agni, the fire god, resides by the permission of Vishnu. The\nhot springs at Jamnotri are occupied by the twelve Rishis who followed\nMah\u00e2deva from Lanka. [119]\n\n\n\nWaterfalls.\n\nWaterfalls, naturally uncommon in the flat country of Upper India, are,\nas might have been expected, regarded with veneration, and the deity\nof the fall is carefully propitiated. The visitor to the magnificent\nwaterfall in which the river Chandraprabha pours its waters over\na sheer precipice three hundred feet high in its descent from the\nVindhyan plateau to the Gangetic valley, will learn that it is visited\nby women, particularly those who are desirous of offspring. On a\nrock beside the fall they lay a simple offering consisting of a few\nglass bangles, ear ornaments made of palm leaves, and cotton waist\nstrings. In Garhw\u00e2l there is a waterfall known as Basodh\u00e2ra, which\nceases to flow when it is looked at by an impure person. [120]\n\n\n\nSacred Lakes.\n\nThere are also numerous lakes which are considered sacred and visited\nby pilgrims. Such is Pushkar, or Pokhar, the lake par excellence,\nin R\u00e2jput\u00e2na. One theory of the sanctity of this lake is that it was\noriginally a natural depression and enlarged at a subsequent date\nby supernatural agency. \"Every Hindu family of note has its niche\nfor purposes of devotion. Here is the only temple in India sacred to\nBrahma, the Creator. While he was creating the world he kindled the\nsacred fire; but his wife Sawantar\u00ee was nowhere to be found, and as\nwithout a woman the rites could not proceed, a G\u00fbjar girl took her\nplace. Sawantar\u00ee on her return was so enraged at the indignity that\nshe retired to the height close by, known as Ratnagir\u00ee, or 'the hill\nof gems,' where she disappeared. On this spot a fountain gushed out,\nstill called by her name, close to which is her shrine, not the least\nattractive in the precincts of Pokhar.\" Like many of these lakes,\nsuch as are known in Great Britain as the Devil's Punch-bowls, Pokhar\nhas its dragon legend, and one of the rocks near the lake is known as\nN\u00e2gpah\u00e2r, or \"Dragon Hill.\" There is a similar legend attached to the\nLon\u00e2r Lake in Ber\u00e2r, which was then the den of the giant Lon\u00e2sura,\nwhom Vishnu destroyed. [121]\n\nMost famous of all the lakes is M\u00e2na Sarovara in Tibet, about which\nmany legends are told. \"The lake of M\u00e2na Sarovara was formed from the\nmind of Brahma, and thence derived its name. There dwell also Mah\u00e2deva\nand the gods, and thence flow the Sarj\u00fb and other female rivers,\nand the Satadru (Satlaj) and other male rivers. When the earth of\nM\u00e2na Sarovara touches any one's body, or when any one bathes therein,\nhe shall go to the Paradise of Brahma; and he who drinks its waters\nshall go to the Heaven of Siva, and shall be released from the sins\nof a hundred births; and even the beast which bears the name of M\u00e2na\nSarovara shall go to the Paradise of Brahma.\" It is said that the\nsons of Brahma, Marichi, Vasishtha and the rest of the sages proceeded\nto the north of Him\u00e2laya and performed austerities on Mount Kail\u00e2sa,\nwhere they saw Siva and P\u00e2rvat\u00ee and remained for twelve years absorbed\nin meditation and prayer. There was very little rain and water was\nscanty. In their distress they appealed to Brahma. He asked them what\ntheir wishes might be. The Rishis replied, \"We are absorbed in devotion\non Kail\u00e2sa, and must always go thence to bathe in the Mand\u00e2kin\u00ee river;\nmake a place for us to bathe in.\" Then Brahma, by a mental effort,\nformed the holy lake of M\u00e2nasa, and the Rishis worshipped the golden\nLinga which rose from the midst of the waters of the lake. [122]\n\nSo the Nain\u00ee T\u00e2l Lake is sacred to K\u00e2l\u00ee in one of her numerous\nforms. The goddess Sambr\u00e2, the tutelary deity of the Chauh\u00e2n R\u00e2jputs,\nconverted a dense forest into a plain of gold and silver. But they,\ndreading the strife which such a possession would excite, begged the\ngoddess to retract her gift, and she gave them the present lake of\nsalt. [123] The people say that the Kat\u00fbr valley was once a great lake\nwhere lived a R\u00e2kshasa named R\u00e2na who used to devour the inhabitants\nof the neighbouring villages. Indra's elephant Air\u00e2vata descended\nto earth at the place now known after him by the name H\u00e2thi Ch\u00eena,\nand with his mighty tusks he burst the embankment of the lake and\nthe water flowed away, so that the goddess Bhrawar\u00ee, whose shrine is\nthere to this day, was enabled to destroy the monster.\n\n\n\nThe Lake of the Fairy Gifts.\n\nIn the Ch\u00e2nda District of the Central Provinces is the lake of Taroba\nor Tadala, which is connected with an interesting series of folk-lore\nlegends. A marriage procession was once passing the place, and, finding\nno water, a strange old man suggested that the bride and bridegroom\nshould join in digging for a spring. They laughingly consented,\nand after removing a little earth a clear fountain gushed forth. As\nthey were all drinking with delight the waters rose, and spreading\nover the land, overwhelmed the married pair. \"But fairy hands soon\nconstructed a temple in the depths, where the spirits of the drowned\nare supposed to dwell. Afterwards, on the lake side, a palm tree grew\nup, which appeared only during the day, sinking into the earth at\ntwilight. One day a rash pilgrim seated himself on the tree and was\nborne into the skies, where the flames of the sun consumed him.\" This\npart of the story reads like a genuine solar myth. \"The palm tree then\nshrivelled away into dust, and in its place appeared an image of the\nspirit of the lake, which is worshipped under the name of Taroba, or\n'the palm-tree deity.' Formerly, at the call of pilgrims, all necessary\nvessels rose from the lake, and after being washed were returned to\nthe waters. But an evil-minded man at last took those he had received\nto his house, and from that day the mystic provision wholly ceased.\"\n\nThis legend of the fairy gifts which are lost through the selfish\ngreed of some mean-spirited man has been admirably illustrated by\nMr. Hartland. It is also told of the Amner Lake in Elichpur, of the\nKarsota Lake in Mirzapur, and of many other places. [124]\n\nMany of these lakes possess subaqueous palaces beneath their\nwaters. At Cudden Point in Cornwall, the unhallowed revelry of a\nparty of roisterers is heard from under the waves. [125] In one\nof Somadeva's stories the hero dives after a lady, and comes on a\nsplendid temple of Siva; Sattvasila falls into the sea and finds a\ncity with palaces of gold, supported on pillars of jewels; Yasahketu\nplunges into the sea and finds a city gleaming with palaces that\nhad bright pillars of precious stone, walls flashing with gold,\nand latticed windows of pearl. So in the sixth fable of the second\nchapter of the Hitopadesa, the hero dives into the water and sees a\nprincess seated on a couch in a palace of gold, waited on by youthful\nsylphs. The sage Mandakarni alarmed the gods by his austerities,\nand Indra sent five of his fairies to beguile him. They succeeded,\nand now dwell in a house beneath the waters of the lake called from\nthem Panchapsaras. At the Lake of Taroba, the tale of which has been\nalready told, on quiet nights the country people hear faint sounds\nof drum and trumpet passing round the lake, and old men say that in\none dry year when the waters sank low, golden pinnacles of a fairy\ntemple were seen glittering in the depths. This is exactly the legend\nof Lough Neagh, immortalized by Thomas Moore.\n\n\n\nThe Sh\u00e2hgarh Lake.\n\nA lake at Sh\u00e2hgarh in the Bareilly District is the seat of another\nlegend which appears widely in folk-lore. When R\u00e2ja Vena ruled the\nland, he, like Buddha, struck by the inequality of human life, retired\nwith his young wife Sundar\u00ee or Ketak\u00ee to live like a peasant. One\nday she went to the lake to draw water, and she had naught but a jar\nof unbaked clay and a thread of untwisted cotton. In the innocence of\nher heart she stepped into the lake, but the gods preserved her. After\na time she wearied of this sordid life, and one morning she arrayed\nherself in her queenly robes and jewels, and going to the lake, as\nusual, stepped on the lotus petals. When she plunged in her jar it\nmelted away, and the untwisted thread broke, and she herself sank\nbeneath the water. But she was saved, and thenceforward learned the\nevil of vanity and pride in riches, and the strength of innocence\nand a pure mind. And the lotus pool, in honour of the good queen\nSundar\u00ee, was called by all men the R\u00e2n\u00ee T\u00e2l, or \"the Queen's Tank,\"\nand is to be seen to this day just outside the town of K\u00e2bar, though\nthe lotus flowers have perished and the castle of Sh\u00e2hgarh has sunk\ninto dust. [126]\n\nThe same tale is told in Southern India of Renuk\u00e2, the mother of\nParasur\u00e2ma. In its Western form it is told in Switzerland of a pious\nboy who served a monastery, and in his innocence was able to carry\nwater in a sieve without spilling a single drop. [127]\n\n\n\nOther Sacred Tanks.\n\nThe number of lakes and tanks associated with some legend, or endued\nwith some special sanctity of their own, is legion. Thus, the tank\nat Chakrat\u00eeratha, near N\u00eemkh\u00e2r, marks the spot where the Chakra or\ndiscus of Vishnu fell during his contest with Asuras. [128] That\nnear the Satopant glacier is said to be fathomless, and no bird can\nfly over it. Bhotiyas presents offerings to the lake, requesting the\nwater spirit to keep the passes open and aid them in their dangerous\njourneys. As they are denied entrance into the temple of Badarin\u00e2th,\nit has for them all the virtue of Badarin\u00e2th itself. [129] Another\nfamous tank is that at Amritsar, \"the Lake of Immortality.\" A holy\nwoman once took pity on a leper, and carried him to the banks of the\ntank. As he lay there a crow swooped into the water and came out a\ndove as white as snow. The leper saw the miracle, bathed, and was\nhealed. The woman on her return could not recognize her friend, and\nwithdrew in horror from his embraces. But the Guru R\u00e2m D\u00e2s came and\nexplained matters, and the grateful pair assisted him in embellishing\nthe tank, which has become the centre of the Sikh religion. The Tadag\nT\u00e2l in the Hills is sacred to Bh\u00eem Sen, and the curious fish which\nit contains are said to be lice from the body of the hero.\n\nOne day a Br\u00e2hman was passing the Mandkalla tank and saw a marriage\nparty sitting before the wedding feast; but they were all most\nunaccountably silent and motionless. They asked him to join in the\nmeal, and he did so with some misgivings, which were soon justified\nwhen he saw the heads of the whole party fall off before his eyes,\nand they soon disappeared. [130] The R\u00e2ja R\u00e2ma Chandra Sena was once\nhunting near the site of the present Dhar\u00e2wat tank. He saw a crow\ndrinking from a puddle, and, being in want of water, he ordered the\ncourtiers to have a tank dug, the limits of which were to be the\nspace that his horse would gallop round when released. Fortunately\nfor them they selected a site close to some hills which checked the\ncourse of the horse. This reduced the tank to comparatively moderate\ndimensions. [131]\n\nThe tank at Lalitpur is famous for the cure of leprosy. One day, a\nR\u00e2ja afflicted with the disease was passing by, and his R\u00e2n\u00ee dreamt\nthat he should eat some of the conferv\u00e6 on the surface. He ate it,\nand was cured; and next night the R\u00e2n\u00ee dreamt that there was a vast\ntreasure concealed there, which when dug up was sufficient to pay\nthe cost of excavation. [132] So, at Qas\u00fbr is the tank of the saint\nBasant Sh\u00e2h, in which children are bathed to cure them of boils.\n\nOf the Rin Mochan pool the Br\u00e2hmans say that any one who bathes there\nbecomes free from debt. [133] Another at Pushkar turns red if the\nshadow of a woman during her menstrual period fall upon it. [134]\nS\u00eet\u00e2 proved her virtue by bathing in a tank. She prayed to Mother\nEarth, who appeared and carried her to the other bank, an incident of\nwhich a curious parallel is quoted by Mr. Clouston from the Gospel of\nthe pseudo Mathew. [135] In the legend of Chyavana, as told in the\nMah\u00e2bh\u00e2rata, the three suitors of Sukany\u00e2 bathed in a tank and came\nforth of a celestial beauty equal to hers. So in one of the Bengal\nfolk-tales the old discarded wife bathes in a tank and recovers her\nyouth and beauty. [136] It is a frequent condition imposed on visitors\nto these holy tanks that they should remove a certain quantity of\nearth and thus improve it.\n\nMany tanks, again, are supposed to contain buried treasure which is\ngenerally in charge of a Yaksha. Hence such places are regarded with\nmuch awe. There is a tank of this kind in the Bijaygarh fort in the\nMirzapur District, where many speculators have dug in vain; another\nforms an incident in L\u00e2l Bih\u00e2ri D\u00ea's tale of Govinda S\u00e2manta. [137]\n\n\n\nMountain-worship; the Him\u00e2laya.\n\n\"He who thinks of Him\u00e2chal (the Him\u00e2laya), though he should not behold\nhim, is greater than he who performs all worship at K\u00e2si (Benares);\nas the dew is dried up by the morning sun, so are the sins of mankind\nby the sight of Him\u00e2chal.\" [138] Such was the devotion with which the\nearly Hindus looked on it as the home of the gods. Beyond it their\nfancy created the elysium of Uttara Kuru, which may be most properly\nregarded as an ideal picture created by the imagination of a life of\ntranquil felicity, and not as a reminiscence of any actual residence\nof the Kurus in the north. [139]\n\nFrom early times the Him\u00e2layan valleys were the resort of the sage\nand the ascetic. Almost every hill and river is consecrated by their\nlegends, and the whole country teems with memories of the early\nreligious life of the Hindu race. As in the mythology of many other\npeoples, [140] it was regarded as the home of the sainted dead, and\nthe common source or origin of Hinduism. Its caves were believed to\nbe the haunt of witches and fairies. Demons lurked in its recesses,\nas at the Blockberg, where, as Aubrey tells us, \"the devils and\nwitches do dance and feast.\" [141] Many of its most noted peaks\nare the home of the deities. Siva and Kuvera rest on Mount Kail\u00e2sa;\nVaikuntha, the paradise of Vishnu, is on Mount Meru. The whole range\nis personified in Himavat, who is the father of Gang\u00e2 and Um\u00e2 Dev\u00ee,\nwho from her origin is known as P\u00e2rvat\u00ee, or \"the mountaineer.\" One of\nthe titles of Siva is Girisa, the \"mountain god.\" His son K\u00e2rttikeya\ndelights in the weird mountain heights.\n\n\n\nMountain-worship among the Dr\u00e2vidians.\n\nBut, deeply rooted as the veneration for mountains is in the minds\nof the early Aryans, there is reason to suspect that this regard for\nmountains may be a survival from the beliefs of non-Aryan races whom\nthe Hindus supplanted or absorbed. At any rate, the belief in the\nsanctity of mountains widely prevails among the non-Aryan or Dr\u00e2vidian\nraces. Most of these peoples worship mountains in connection with the\ngod of the rain. The Sant\u00e2ls sacrifice to Marang Bura on a flat rock\non the top of a mountain, and after feasting, work themselves up into\na state of frenzy to charm the rain. The Korwas and K\u00fbrs worship in\nthe same way Mainp\u00e2t, a plateau in the mountainous country south of\nthe Son. The N\u00e2gbansis and the Mund\u00e2ri Kols worship a huge rock as\nthe abode of the \"great god,\" Baradeo. [142] So, in Garhw\u00e2l in the\nChhipula pass is a shrine to the god of the mountain. At Tolma is a\ntemple to the Him\u00e2laya, and below Dungagiri in the same valley is a\nshrine in honour of the same peak. [143] In Hoshang\u00e2b\u00e2d in the Central\nIndian plateau, S\u00fbryabh\u00e2n or \"Sun-rays\" is a very common name for\nisolated round-peaked hills, on which the god is supposed to dwell,\nand among the Kurkus, Dungardeo, the mountain god, resides on the\nnearest hill outside the village. He is worshipped every year at\nthe Dasahra festival with a goat, two cocoa-nuts, five dates, with\na ball of vermilion paste, and is regarded by them as their special\ngod. [144] The idea that dwarfs, spirits, and fairies live on the\ntops of mountains is a common belief in Europe.\n\nAs in the Him\u00e2laya, one of the main peaks, Nand\u00e2 Dev\u00ee, has been\nidentified with P\u00e2rvat\u00ee, the mountain goddess, so the aborigines of\nthe Central Provinces have in Kattarp\u00e2r, the Kattipen of the Kh\u00e2ndhs,\na special deity of ravines, as Rhoea Sybeli was to the Etruscans. [145]\nIn the Mirzapur hills the aboriginal tribes have an intense respect for\nmountains. On the M\u00e2tra hill lives a Deo or demon known as Darrap\u00e2t\nDeo. When R\u00e2vana abducted S\u00eet\u00e2 he is said to have kept her on this\nhill for some time, and her palanquin, turned into stone, is there\nto this day. No one ascends the mountain through fear of the demon,\nexcept an Ojha or sorcerer, who sacrifices a goat at the foot of\nthe hill before he makes the attempt. So, in Garhw\u00e2l the peak of\nBarmdeo is sacred to Dev\u00ee, and none can intrude with impunity. A\nFaq\u00eer who ventured to do so in the days of yore was pitched across\nthe river by the offended goddess. [146] On another Mirzapur hill,\nChainpur, lives Kot\u00ee R\u00e2n\u00ee, who is embodied in the locusts which\nusually are found there. Similarly Pah\u00e2r Pando is a mountain deity\nof the Dhark\u00e2rs, a sub-caste of the Doms. Bansapt\u00ee M\u00e2\u00ee, who is half a\nforest and half a mountain goddess, lives on Jhurma hill, and if any\none dares to sing in her neighbourhood, he becomes sick or mad. These\nmountain demons often take the form of tigers and kill incautious\nintruders on their domains. On the Aunri hill are two dreaded demons,\nDeor\u00e2san and Birwat, the latter a B\u00eer or malignant ghost of some one\nwho died a violent death. They rule the hail, and at harvest time the\nBaiga offers a goat, and spreading rice on the ground, prays--\"O Lord\nMah\u00e2deva! May this offering be effectual.\" Mangesar, the rugged peak\nwhich frowns over the valley of the Son, is a popular local god of\nthe various Kolarian races, and a shrine to B\u00e2ba or R\u00e2ja Mangesar,\n\"the father and the king,\" is found in many of their villages.\n\n\n\nRespect Paid to the Vindhya and Kaim\u00fbr Ranges.\n\nThe Kaim\u00fbr and Vindhyan ranges also enjoy a certain amount of\nsanctity. On the latter the most famous shrines are those of Asthbhuja\nor \"the eight-armed Dev\u00ee,\" S\u00eet\u00e2kunda or the pool of S\u00eet\u00e2, and the\ntemple of Mah\u00e2r\u00e2n\u00ee Vindhyeswar\u00ee, the patron goddess of the range,\nbuilt where it trends towards the Gangetic valley. She has travelled\nas far as Cutch, where she is worshipped under the corrupted name\nof Vinj\u00e2n. [147] Her shrine has evil associations with traditions of\nhuman sacrifice, derived from the coarser aboriginal cultus which has\nnow been adopted into Br\u00e2hmanism. [148] There the Thags used to meet\nand share their spoils with their patron goddess, and her Pandas or\npriests are so disorderly that a special police guard has to be posted\nat the shrine to ensure the peaceable division of the offerings among\nthe sharers, who mortgage and sell their right to participate in the\nprofits, like the advowson of a living in the English Church.\n\nThese two ranges, says the legend, are an offshoot from the\nHim\u00e2laya. When R\u00e2ma was building the bridge across the strait to Lanka,\nhe sent his followers to Him\u00e2laya to collect materials. They returned\nwith a mighty burden, but meanwhile the hero had completed his task;\nso he ordered them to throw down their loads, and where the stones\nfell these ranges were produced. In the same way the Maniparvata at\nAjudhya is said to have been dropped by Sugr\u00eeva, the monkey king of\nKishkindhya, and the Irichh hills at Jh\u00e2nsi are described to have\nbeen formed in the same way.\n\nThere is another legend of the Vindhyas told in the story of Nala\nand Damayant\u00ee. They were jealous of the Him\u00e2laya, the peaks of which\nwere each morning visited by the earliest rays of the rising sun. The\nsun, on being appealed to, declared that it was impossible for him\nto change his course. Immediately the Vindhyas swelled with rage,\nand rising in the heavens, intercepted the view of the sun, moon,\nand the constellations. The gods, alarmed, invoked the aid of the\nsaint Agastya. He went, accompanied by his wife, and requested the\nVindhyas to sink and let him pass to the south, and not rise till\nhe returned. They agreed, and gave passage to the saint, but as he\nnever came back they have never resumed their former height. Agastya\nfinally settled on the Malayam or Potiyam mountain, not far from\nCape Comorin. He now shines in the heavens as the regent of the star\nCanopus, and to him is ascribed almost all the civilization of Southern\nIndia. The legend possibly goes back to the arrival of the earliest\nBr\u00e2hmanic missionaries in Southern India, and the name of the range,\nwhich probably means \"the divider,\" marked the boundary between the\nAryan and Dr\u00e2vidian peoples. A similar story is told of one of the\nranges in Nep\u00e2l. [149]\n\n\n\nOther Famous Hills.\n\nA mention of some other famous hills in Northern India may close\nthis account of mountain-worship. At Gaya is the Dharma Sila, or\n\"rock of piety,\" which was once the wife of the saint Mar\u00eechi. The\nlord of the infernal regions, by order of Brahma, crushed it down\non the head of the local demon. [150] The hills of Goghar k\u00e2 dh\u00e2r,\nin the Mundi State, have a reputation similar to that of the Brocken\nin the Hartz mountains on Wulpurgis night. On the 3rd of September\nthe demons, witches, and magicians from the most distant parts of\nIndia assemble here and hold their revels, from which time it is\ndangerous for men to cross the mountains. The spirits of the Kulu\nrange are said to wage war with those of the Goghar, and after a\nviolent storm the peasants will show the traveller the stones which\nhave been hurled from range to range. The last chief of Mundi was\na mighty wizard himself. He had a little book of spells which the\ndemons were forced to obey, and when he placed it in his mouth he\nwas instantly transported where he pleased through the air. [151]\n\nAnother famous hill is that of Govardhan, near Mathura. This is\nthe hill which Krishna is fabled to have held aloft on the tip of\nhis finger for seven days, to protect the people of Braj from the\ntempests poured down on them by Indra when he was deprived of his\nwonted sacrifices. There is a local belief that as the waters of\nthe Jumn\u00e2 are yearly decreasing in volume, so this hill is gradually\nsinking. Not a particle of stone is allowed to be removed from it,\nand even the road which crosses it at its lowest point, where only a\nfew fragments of the rock crop up overground, had to be carried over\nthem by a paved causeway. [152]\n\n\n\nThe Spirits of the Air.\n\n\"Aerial spirits or devils are such as keep quarter in the air, cause\nmany tempests, thunder and lightnings, tear oaks, fire steeples,\nhouses, strike men and beasts, make it rain wool, frogs, etc. They\ncause whirlwinds on a sudden, and tempestuous storms, which though\nour meteorologists refer to natural causes, yet I am of Bodin's mind\nthat they are more often caused by those aerial devils in their several\nquarters.\" [153] This statement of Burton is a good summary of current\nHindu opinion on this subject; and it is just this class of physical\nphenomena which civilized man admits to be beyond his control, that\nprimitive races profess to be able to regulate. As Dr. Taylor puts\nit--\"The rainfall is passing from the region of the supernatural to\njoin the tides and seasons in the realm of physical science.\" [154]\n\nThe old weather god was Indra, who wars with Vritra or Ahi, the dragon\ndemon of drought, whom he compels to dispense the rain. He was revered\nas the causer of fertility, and feared as the lord of the lightning\nand the thunder. He has now been deposed from his pre-eminence, and\nis little more than a roi fain\u00e9ant, who lives in a luxurious heaven\nof his own, solaced by the dances of the fairies who form his court,\none of whom he occasionally bestows on some favoured mortal who wins\nhis kindness or forces him to obey his orders. But his status is at\npresent decidedly low, and it is remarkable in what a contemptuous way\neven so orthodox a poet as Tulas\u00ee D\u00e2s speaks of him. [155] Mr. Wheeler\n[156] suggests that this degradation of Indra may possibly be due to\nthe fact that he was a tribal god notoriously hostile to Br\u00e2hmans;\nand it is certainly very suggestive from this point of view that he\nhas come to be regarded as the great deity of the Burman Buddhists. It\nis still further remarkable that at Benares, the headquarters of\nBr\u00e2hmanism, he has been replaced by a special rain god, Dalbhyeswara,\nwho perhaps takes his name from Dalbhya, an ancient Rishi, who must\nbe worshipped and kept properly dressed if the seasons are not to\nbecome unfavourable. [157]\n\n\n\nBh\u00eemsen, a Weather Godling.\n\nBh\u00eemsen, of whom more will be said later on, is regarded by the Gonds\nas a god of rain, and has a festival of four or five days' duration\nheld in his honour at the end of the rainy season, when two poles\nabout twenty feet high and five feet apart are set up with a rope\nattached to the top, by which the boys of the village climb up and\nthen slide down the poles. This is apparently an instance of rude\nsympathetic magic, representing the descent of the rain. [158]\n\n\n\nDemoniacal Control of the Weather.\n\nIt is an idea common to the beliefs of many races, that the spirits\nof the wind may be tied up in sacks and let out to injure an enemy\nand assist a friend. To this day the Lapps give their sailors magic\nsacks containing certain winds to secure them a safe journey. [159]\n\nAnother side of the matter may be illustrated from Marco Polo. \"During\nthe three months of every year that the Lord (Kublai Kh\u00e2n) resides at\nthat place, if it should happen to be bad weather, there are certain\ncrafty enchanters and astrologers in his train, who are such adepts in\nnecromancy and the diabolical arts, that they are able to prevent any\ncloud or storm passing over the spot on which the Emperor's palace\nstands. Whatever they do in this way is by the help of the Devil;\nbut they make those people believe that it is compassed by their own\nsanctity and the help of God. They always go in a state of dirt and\nuncleanness, devoid of respect for themselves or for those who see\nthem, unkempt and sordidly attired.\" Tim\u00fbr in his \"Memoirs\" speaks\nof the Indian J\u00e2ts using incantations to produce heavy rain, which\nhindered his cavalry from acting against them. A Yadachi was captured,\nand when his head had been taken off the storm ceased. B\u00e2bar speaks\nof one of his early friends, Khw\u00e2jaka Mulai, who was acquainted with\nYadagar\u00ee, or the art of bringing on rain and snow by incantations. In\nthe same way in Nep\u00e2l the control of the weather is supposed to be\nvested in the Lamas. [160]\n\n\n\nRain-making and Nudity.\n\nOne very curious custom of rain-making has a series of remarkable\nparallels in Europe. In Servia, in time of drought, a girl is stripped\nand covered with flowers. She dances at each house, and the mistress\nsteps out and pours a jar of water over her, while her companions sing\nrain songs. [161] In Russia the women draw a furrow round the village,\nand bury at the juncture a cock, a cat, and a dog. \"The dog is a\ndemonic character in Russia, while the cat is sacred. The offering\nof both seems to represent a desire to conciliate both sides.\" [162]\nMr. Conway thinks that the nudity of the women represents their utter\npoverty and inability to give more to conciliate the god of the rain;\nor that we have here a form of the Godiva and Peeping Tom legend,\n\"where there is probably a distant reflection of the punishment\nsometimes said to overtake those who gazed too curiously upon the\nSwan Maiden with her feathers.\" [163]\n\nThe Godiva legend has been admirably illustrated by Mr. Hartland,\n[164] who comes to the conclusion that it is the survival of an annual\nrite in honour of a heathen goddess, and closely connected with those\nnudity observances which we are discussing. The difficulty is, however,\nto account for the nudity part of the ceremony. It may possibly be\nbased on the theory that spirits dread indecency, or rather the male\nand female principles. [165]\n\nThis may be the origin of the indecencies of word and act practised at\nthe Hol\u00ee and Kajar\u00ee festivals in Upper India, which are both closely\nconnected with the control of the weather. Among the Ramoshis of\nthe Dakkhin the bridegroom is stripped naked before the anointing\nceremony commences, and the same custom prevails very generally\nin Upper India. The Mh\u00e2rs of Sholapur are buried naked, even the\nloin-cloth being taken off. Barren women worship a naked female figure\nat Bijapur. At Dayamava's festival in the Karn\u00e2tak, women walk naked\nto the temple where they make their vows; and the M\u00e2ng, who carries\nthe scraps of holy meat which he scatters in the fields to promote\nfertility, is also naked. [166] The same idea of scaring evil spirits\nfrom temples possibly accounts for much of the obscene sculpture to\nbe found on the walls of many Hindu shrines, and it may be noted in\nillustration of the same principle that in Nep\u00e2l temples are decorated\nwith groups of obscene figures as a protection against lightning. [167]\n\n\n\nRites Special to Women.\n\nConnected with the same principle it may be noted that in India, as in\nmany other places, there are rites of the nature of the Bona Dea, in\nwhich only women take part, and from which males are excluded. In some\nof these rites nudity forms a part. Thus, in Italy, La Bella Marte is\ninvoked when three girls, always stark naked, consult the cards to know\nwhether a lover is true or which of them is likely to be married. [168]\nA number of similar usages have been discussed by Mr. Hartland. We\nhave already noticed the custom of sun impregnation. Among Hindus,\na woman who is barren and desires a child stands naked facing the sun\nand desires his aid to remove her barrenness. In one of the folk-tales\nthe witch stands naked while she performs her spells. [169]\n\nThe rain custom in India is precisely the same as has been already\nillustrated by examples from Europe. During the Gorakhpur Famine\nin 1873-74, there were many accounts received of women going about\nwith a plough by night, stripping themselves naked and dragging\nthe plough over the fields as an invocation of the rain god. The\nmen kept carefully out of the way while this was being done, and it\nwas supposed that if the women were seen by the men the rite would\nlose its effect. Mr. Frazer on this remarks that \"it is not said\nthey plunge the plough into a stream or sprinkle it with water. But\nthe charm would hardly be complete without it.\" [170] It was on my\nauthority that the custom which Messrs. Frazer and Hartland quote\nwas originally recorded, and I do not remember at the time hearing\nof this part of the ritual. Later inquiries do not point to it as\npart of the rite in Upper India.\n\nIt may be well to adduce other instances of this nudity rite. In Sirsa,\nwhen a horse falls sick, the cure is to kill a fowl or a he-goat and\nlet its warm blood flow into the mouth of the animal; but if this\ncannot be done quickly, it is sufficient for a man to take off all\nhis clothes and strike the horse seven times on the forehead with his\nshoe. [171] Here the nudity and the blows with the shoe are means\nto drive off the demon of disease. In Chhattarpur, when rain falls\na woman and her husband's sister take off all their clothes and drop\nseven cakes of cow-dung into a mud reservoir for storing grain. If a\nman and his maternal uncle perform the same ceremony, it is equally\neffective; but as a rule women do it, and the special days for the\nrite are Sunday and Wednesday. Here we have the custom in process of\nmodification, males, one of whom is a relation in the female line,\nbeing substituted for the female officiants.\n\nAnother similar means of expelling the demon of disease is given\nby Mrs. Fanny Parkes in her curious book entitled \"Wanderings of a\nPilgrim in search of the Picturesque.\" [172] \"The Hindu women in a\nmost curious way propitiate the goddess who brings cholera into the\nb\u00e2z\u00e2r. They go out in the evening, about 7 p.m., sometimes two or\nthree hundred at a time, each carrying a lota or brass vessel filled\nwith sugar, water, cloves, etc. In the first place they make p\u00fbj\u00e2;\nthen, stripping off their sheets and binding their sole petticoat\nround their waists, as high above the knee as it can be pulled up,\nthey perform a most frantic sort of dance, forming themselves into\na circle, while in the centre of the circle about five or six women\ndance entirely naked, beating their hands together over their heads,\nand then applying them behind with a great smack that keeps time with\nthe music, and with the song they scream out all the time, accompanied\nby native instruments played by men who stand at a distance, to\nthe sound of which these women dance and sing, looking like frantic\ncreatures. The men avoid the place where the ceremony takes place,\nbut here and there one or two men may be seen looking on, whose\npresence does not seem to molest the nut-brown dancers in the least;\nthey shriek and sing and dance and scream most marvellously.\" Here\nwe find the rule of privacy at these nudity rites slightly modified.\n\nAnother instance of the nudity rite in connection with cattle disease\ncomes from J\u00e2landhar. [173] \"When an animal is sick the remedy is\nfor some one to strip himself and to walk round the patient with some\nburning straw or cane fibre in his hands.\"\n\nNudity also appears to be in some places a condition of the erection of\na pinnacle on a Hindu temple. \"The Temple of Arang in R\u00e2\u00eapur district\nand that at Deobalada were built at the same time. When they were\nfinished and the pinnacles (kalas) had to be put on, the mason and\nhis sister agreed to put them on simultaneously at an auspicious\nmoment. The day and hour being fixed by Br\u00e2hmans, the two, stripping\nthemselves naked, according to custom on such occasions, climbed\nup to the top. As they got up to the top each could see the other,\nand each through shame jumped down into the tank close to their\nrespective temples, where they still stand turned into stone, and\nare visible when the tank water falls low in seasons of drought.\" [174]\n\nOf the regular nudity rite in case of failure of rain, we have a\nrecent instance from Chun\u00e2r in the Mirzapur district. \"The rains\nthis year held off for a long time, and last night (24th July, 1892)\nthe following ceremony was performed secretly. Between the hours of\n9 and 10 p.m. a barber's wife went from door to door and invited all\nthe women to join in ploughing. They all collected in a field from\nwhich all males were excluded. Three women from a cultivator's family\nstripped off all their clothes; two were yoked to a plough like oxen,\nand a third held the handle. They then began to imitate the operation\nof ploughing. The woman who had the plough in her hand shouted,\n'O Mother Earth! bring parched grain, water and chaff. Our bellies\nare bursting to pieces from hunger and thirst.' Then the landlord and\nvillage accountant approached them and laid down some grain, water\nand chaff in the field. The women then dressed and went home. By the\ngrace of God the weather changed almost immediately, and we had a\ngood shower.\" [175] Here we see the ceremony elaborately organized;\nthe privacy taboo is enforced, and the ritual is in the nature of\nsympathetic magic, intended to propitiate Mother Earth.\n\nThe nudity rite for the expulsion of disease is also found in\nMadras. \"The image of Mariyamma, cut out of Margosa wood, is carried\nfrom her temple to a stone called a Baddukal, in the centre of the\nvillage, on the afternoon of the first day of the feast. A rounded\nstone, about six inches above the ground and about eight inches\nacross, is to be seen just inside the gate of every village. It\nis what is called the Baddukal or navel stone; it is worshipped\nin times of calamity, especially during periods of cattle disease;\noften women passing it with water pour a little on it, and every one\non first going out of the village in the morning is supposed to give\nit some little tribute of attention. The following day all men and\nwomen of S\u00fbdra castes substitute garments of leaves of the Margosa,\nlittle branches tied together, for their ordinary clothes, and thus\nattired go with music to the goddess.\" [176] Here the dress may imply\nsome form of nudity rite, or may be a reminiscence of the time when,\nlike the Ju\u00e2ngs of Chota N\u00e2gpur, they wore leaf aprons.\n\nThere can be little doubt that rites of this kind largely prevail in\nIndia, but, as might naturally be expected, they are very carefully\nconcealed, and it is extremely difficult to obtain precise information\nabout them.\n\n\n\nOther Rites to bring Rain.\n\nBesides these nudity rites there are many ways of causing rain to\nfall. In Kumaun when rain fails they sink a Br\u00e2hman up to his lips\nin a tank, and there he goes on repeating the name of R\u00e2ja Indra,\nthe god of rain, for a day or two, when rain is sure to fall; or they\ndig a trench five or six feet deep and make a Br\u00e2hman or a Jogi sit\nin it, when the god, in pity for the holy man, will relent and give\nrain. Another plan is to hang a frog with his mouth open on a bamboo,\nand the deity pities him and brings the rain. [177] In Mirzapur they\nturn a plough upside down and bury it in a field, rub the lingam of\nMah\u00e2deva with cow-dung, and offer water at the grave of a Brahm or\nbachelor Br\u00e2hman.\n\nAmong the Bh\u00eels in time of drought women and girls go out dancing and\nsinging with bows and arrows in their hands, and seizing a buffalo\nbelonging to another village, sacrifice it to the goddess K\u00e2l\u00ee. The\nheadman of the village to which the animal belongs seldom objects\nto the appropriation of it. If he does, the women by abusing and\nthreatening to shoot him always have their own way. [178] Analogous\nto this regular rain sacrifice is the custom at Ahmadnagar, where on\nthe bright 3rd of Bais\u00e2kh (April-May) the boys of two neighbouring\nvillages fight with slings and stones. The local belief is that if\nthe fight be discontinued, rain fails, or if rain does fall that it\nproduces a plague of rats. [179] At Ahmad\u00e2b\u00e2d, again, there is a city\nheadman, known as the Nagar Seth or \"chief man of the town.\" When rain\nholds off he has to perambulate the city walls, pouring out milk to\nappease R\u00e2ja Indra. [180] Here we reach the \"sympathetic magic\" type\nof observance under which most of the other practices may be classed,\nthough here and there we seem to find the germ of the principle of\nvicarious sacrifice. Thus in the Panj\u00e2b the village girls pour down\non an old woman as she passes some cow-dung dissolved in water; or\nan old woman is made to sit down under the house-roof spout and get\na wetting when it rains. Here the idea must be that her sufferings\nin some way propitiate the angry god. In the Muzaffarnagar District,\nif rain fails, they worship R\u00e2ja Indra and read the story of the\nMegha R\u00e2ja, or king of the rain. In his name they give alms to the\npoor and release a young bull or buffalo. Crushed grain is cooked\non the edge of a tank in his honour and in the name of the rain god\nKhw\u00e2ja Khizr, and some offering is made to Bh\u00fbmiya, the lord of the\nsoil. In Chhattarpur, on a wall facing the east, they paint two figures\nwith cow-dung--one representing Indra and the other Megha R\u00e2ja, with\ntheir legs up and their heads hanging down. It is supposed that the\ndiscomfort thus caused to them will compel them to grant the boon of\nrain. The Mirzapur Korwas, when rain fails, get the Baiga to make a\nsacrifice and prayer to S\u00fbraj Deota, the Sun godling.\n\nAnother common plan in Upper India is for a gang of women to come\nout to where a man is ploughing and drive him and his oxen by force\nback to the village, where he and his cattle are well fed. Another\ndevice is to seize the blacksmith's anvil and pitch it into a well or\nthe village tank. We have already given instances of the connection\nof wells with rainfall, such as the case of the well in Fargh\u00e2na\nwhich caused rain if defiled. [181] Mr. Gomme has collected several\nEuropean instances of the same belief. [182] The anvil is probably\nused for this purpose because it is regarded as a sort of fetish,\nand the blacksmith himself is, as we shall see later on, considered\nas invested with supernatural powers.\n\nIn the Panj\u00e2b, apparently on the principle of vicarious sacrifice\nto which reference has been already made, an earthen pot of filth\nis carried to the door of some old woman cursed with a bad temper,\nand thrown down at her threshold, which is a sacred place. If she then\nfalls into a rage and gives vent to her feelings in abusive language,\nthe rain will come down. The old woman is considered a sort of witch,\nand if she is punished the influence which restrains the rain will\nbe removed. [183]\n\nThere are numerous instances in which the king is held responsible\nfor a failure of the rain. In K\u00e2ngra there are some local gods whose\ntemples are endowed with rent-free lands. When rain is wanted, these\ndeities are ordered to provide it; and if they fail, they have to pay\na fine into the R\u00e2ja's treasury. This is the way the Chinese treat\ntheir gods who refuse to do their duty. [184]\n\nThe song of Alha and Udal, which describes the struggle between the\nHindus and the early Muhammadan invaders, is sung in Oudh to procure\nrain. In the Hills smart showers are attributed to the number of\nmarriages going on at the time in the plains. The bride and bridegroom,\nas we shall see in the legend of Dulha Deo, are particularly exposed\nto the demoniacal influence of the weather. In the Eastern Districts\nof the North-Western Provinces the people will not kill wolves, as\nthey say that wherever there falls a drop of a wolf's blood the rain\nwill be deficient.\n\nTo close this catalogue of devices to procure rain, we may note that it\nis a common belief that sacred stones are connected with rainfall. In\nthe temple of Mars at Rome there was a great stone cylinder which, when\nthere was a drought, was rolled by the priests through the town. [185]\nIn Mingrelia, to get rain they dip a holy image in water daily till\nit rains. In Navarre the image of St. Peter was taken to a river,\nwhere some prayed to him for rain, but others called out to duck him\nin the water. [186] A stone in the form of a cross at Iona was used\nfor the same purpose. [187] So in India the relics of Gautama Buddha\nwere believed to have the same influence. [188] In Beh\u00e2r in seasons\nof drought a holy stone, known as N\u00e2r\u00e2yana Chakra, is kept in a vessel\nof water; sometimes a piece of plantain leaf on which are written the\nnames of one hundred and eight villages beginning with the letter K\nand not ending in Pur is thrown into the water. [189] In the same\nway the lingam of Mah\u00e2deva, a thirsty deity, who needs continual\ncooling to relieve his distress, must be kept continually moist to\navoid drought. Not long ago when rain failed at Mirzapur, the people\ncontributed to maintain a gang of labourers who brought water to pour\non a famous lingam. The same custom prevails in Samoa. [190] There,\nwhen rain was excessive, the stone representing the rain-making god was\nlaid by the fire and kept warm till fine weather set in; but in time\nof drought the priest and his followers, dressed up in fine mats, went\nin procession to the stream, dipped the stone, and prayed for a shower.\n\n\n\nDevices to Cause Rain to Cease.\n\nIn England when rain is in excess the little children sing, \"Rain!\nRain! Go away! Come again on a Saturday!\"\n\nIn India there are many devices intended to secure the same object. One\nis the reverse of the nudity charm which we have already discussed. In\nMadras, a woman, generally an ugly widow, is made to dance, sometimes\nnaked, with a burning stick in her hand and facing the sky. This is\nsupposed to disgust Varuna, the sky god, who shrinks away from such\na sight and withholds the rain. [191] Other devices have the same\nobject, to put pressure on the deities who are responsible for the\nexcessive rain. Thus, in Muzaffarnagar the Muni or Rishi Agastya, who\nis a great personage in early folk-lore, is supposed to have power to\nstop the rain. When rain is in excess they draw a figure of him on a\nloin cloth and put it out in the rain. Some paint his figure on the\noutside of the house and let the rain wash it away. This generally\nbrings him to his senses and he gives relief. Another practice, which\nis believed to be employed by evil-minded people who are selfishly\ninterested in a drought, is to light a lamp with melted butter and\nput it outside when the rain-clouds collect. The rain god is afraid\nto put out the sacred light, and retires. Another way in use in the\nPanj\u00e2b is to give an unmarried girl some oil and get her to pour\nit on the ground, saying, \"If I pour not out the oil, mine the sin;\nif thou disperse not the clouds, thine the sin.\" In Mirzapur it is\nconsidered a good plan to name twenty-one men who are blind of an eye,\nand consequently ill-omened, and make twenty-one knots in a cord and\ntie it under the eaves of the house. In Kumaun many devices are used to\neffect the same result. Some hot oil is poured into the left ear of a\ndog. When the pain makes him yell it is believed that R\u00e2ja Indra takes\npity on him and stops the rain. Another plan is very like the Mirzapur\ndevice. Five, seven, or eleven grains of Urad pulse are placed in a\npiece of cloth, wrapped up and tied with a treble cord. Each grain\nbears the name of a blind person, known to the man who is carrying\nout the rite. This is known as the \"binding of the blind men.\" The\npacket is either buried under the eaves of a house where the water\ndrips, or put in a tree. The object is to excite the compassion of\nR\u00e2ja Indra by their sufferings. Others take seven pieces of granite,\nseven grains of mustard, and seven bits of goat-dung, parch them in an\noven, and then put them under the drip of the eaves. These represent\nthe demons, who are enemies of Indra, and he is so pleased at their\ndiscomfiture that he disperses the clouds. Others fix up a harrow\nperpendicularly where four roads meet. As this instrument is always\nused in a horizontal position, this indicates that gross injustice\nis being done to the world, and the rain god relents. Others when\nthe thunder roars in the rain-clouds invoke the saint Agastya, who\nonce drank up all the waters of the world in four sips; so all the\nclouds fear him and disperse when he is invoked.\n\nAnother favourite plan is to fee a Br\u00e2hman to make sixty holes in a\npiece of wood and run a string through all of them. While he is thus\n\"binding up the rain\" he recites spells in honour of the Sun godling,\nS\u00fbraj N\u00e2r\u00e2yan, who is moved to interfere. Others take a piece of\nunleavened bread, go into the fields and place it on the ground;\nor taking some sugar, rice, and other articles ordinarily used in\nworship to a place where four roads meet, defile them in a particularly\ndisgusting way. On such substances the rain is ashamed to fall. In\nBombay a leaf-plate filled with cooked rice and curds is placed in\nsome open spot where the rain can see it and avoid it. If the rain\nshould persist in coming, a live coal is laid on a tile and placed in\nsome open place, where it is implored to swallow the hateful rain. All\nthese practices are magic of the ordinary sympathetic kind. [192]\n\nRain-clouds are supposed also to be under the influence of the Evil\nEye, and will blow over without giving rain if the malicious glance\nfalls upon them. Hence, when rain is needed, if any one runs out of\na house bareheaded while it is raining, he is ordered in at once,\nor he is told to put on his cap or turban, for a bareheaded man is\napt to wish involuntarily that the rain may cease, and thus injure\nhis neighbours.\n\nEverywhere it is believed that the Banya or cornchandler, who is\ninterested in high prices, buries some water in an earthen pot in\norder to stop the rain.\n\n\n\nHail and Whirlwind.\n\nThe hail and the whirlwind are, like most of the natural phenomena\nwhich we have been discussing, attributed to demoniacal agency. The\nMaruts who ride on the whirlwind and direct the storm hold a prominent\nplace in the Veda, where they are represented as the friends and\nallies of Indra. Another famous tempest demon was Trin\u00e2vartta, who\nassumed the form of a whirlwind and carried off the infant Krishna,\nbut was killed by the child.\n\nMr. Leland [193] tells a curious Italian story of a peasant who killed\nthe church sexton with his billhook because he stopped ringing the\nbell and thus allowed the hail to injure his vines. This illustrates\na well-known principle that demons, and in particular the demon\nwho brings the hail, can be scared by noise. Thus Aubrey tells us:\n[194]--\"At Paris, when it begins to thunder and lighten, they do\npresently ring out the great bell at the Abbey of St. Germain, which\nthey do believe makes it cease. When it thundered and lightened they\ndid ring St. Adelm's bell in Malmesbury Abbey. The curious do say that\nthe ringing of bells exceedingly disturbs spirits.\" Hence one plan of\ndriving away the hail is to take out an iron griddle-plate and beat\nit with a bamboo. Here the use of iron, a well-known demon scarer,\nincreases the efficacy of the rite. It is also an improvement if this\nbe done by a virgin, and in some places it is considered sufficient\nif when the hail falls an unmarried girl is sent out with an iron\nplate in her hand. Possibly following out the same train of ideas,\nthe Kharw\u00e2rs of Mirzapur, when hail falls, throw into the courtyard\nthe wooden peg of the corn-mill, which, as we shall see, is considered\npossessed of certain magical powers.\n\nIn Muzaffarnagar, when hail begins they pray at once to two noted\ndemons, Ism\u00e2\u00eel Jogi and Non\u00e2 Cham\u00e2rin, and ring a bell in a Saiva\ntemple to scare the demon.\n\nAnother method is to put pressure on the hail demon by the pretence\nof sheer physical pain. Thus in Mult\u00e2n it is believed that if you\ncan catch a hailstone in the air before it reaches the ground and\ncut it in two with a pair of scissors the hail will abate. [195]\nNot long ago a lady at Nam\u00ee T\u00e2l, when a hailstorm came on, saw her\ngardener rush into the kitchen and bring out the cook's chopper,\nwith which he began to make strokes on the ground where the hail was\nfalling. It appeared on inquiry that he believed that the hail would\ndread being cut and cease to fall. [196] In Kumaun, where hail is much\ndreaded, there are many devices of the same kind. Some put an axe in\nthe open air with the edge turned up, so that the hailstones may be\ncut in pieces and cease falling. Another plan is to spit at the hail\nas it falls, or to sprinkle the hailstones with blood drawn from some\nfamous magician, a rite which can hardly be anything but a survival of\nhuman sacrifice. A third device is to call an enchanter and make him\nblow a conch-shell in the direction of the hail. Others put a churn\nin the open air when the rain is falling, in the belief that when\nthe hailstones touch it they will become as soft as butter. Others,\nagain, when hail falls, send out a wizard or one possessed by some\ndeity and make him beat the hailstones with a shoe. [197]\n\nThere are, again, certain persons specially in charge of the\nhail. Thus, \"at the town of Cleon\u00e6 in Argolis there were watchmen\nmaintained at the public expense to look out for hailstorms. When\nthey saw a hail-cloud approaching they made a signal, whereupon the\nfarmers turned out and sacrificed lambs and fowls. They believed that\nwhen the clouds had tasted the blood they would turn aside and go\nsomewhere else. If any man was too poor to afford a lamb or a fowl,\nhe pricked his finger with a sharp instrument and offered his own\nblood to the clouds; and the hail, we are told, turned aside from his\nfields as readily as from those where it had been propitiated with\nthe blood of victims.\" [198] In the same way the duty of charming\naway the hail is, in Kumaun, entrusted to a certain class of Br\u00e2hmans\nknown as Woli or Oliya (ola, \"hail\"). Their method is to take a dry\ngourd, which they fill with pebbles, grains of Urad pulse, mustard,\ngoat-dung and seeds of cotton. This is then tied by a triple cord\nto the highest tree on a mountain overhanging the village. Until the\ncrops are cut the Oliya goes to this place every day and mutters his\nincantations. If the crops are reaped without disaster of any kind\nhe is liberally remunerated. [199]\n\nAs has been already said, whirlwinds are the work of demons. The\nwitches in Macbeth meet in thunder, lightning and rain, they can loose\nand bind the winds and cause vessels to be tempest-tossed at sea. The\nsame principle was laid down by Pythagoras; [200] and Herodotus [201]\ndescribes the people of Psylli marching in a body to fight the south\nwind which had dried up their water-tanks. In Ireland it is believed\nthat a whirlwind denotes that a devil is dancing with a witch; or\nthat the fairies are rushing by, intent on carrying off some victim\nto fairyland. The only help is to fling clay at the passing wind,\nand the fairies will be compelled to drop the mortal child or the\nbeautiful young girl they have abducted. [202] A gentleman at Listowel\nnot long ago was much astonished when a cloud of dust was being blown\nalong a road to see an old woman rush to the side and drag handfuls\nof grass out of the fence, which she threw in great haste into the\ncloud of dust. He inquired and learned that this was in order to give\nsomething to the fairies which were flying along in the dust. So in\nItaly, Spolviero is the wind spirit which flies along in the dust\neddies. [203]\n\nIn the Panj\u00e2b Pheru [204] is the deity of the petty whirlwinds which\nblow when the little dust-clouds rise in the hot weather. He was a\nBr\u00e2hman, and a long story is told of him, how he worshipped Sakhi\nSarwar, was made Governor of Im\u00e2n\u00e2b\u00e2d by Akbar, but he abandoned\nthe saint and returned to his caste, whereupon he was afflicted with\nleprosy. When he repented he was cured by eating some magical earth\nand believed in the saint till he died. His shrine is at Miy\u00e2nk\u00ea, in\nthe Lahore District, and when a Panj\u00e2bi sees a whirlwind he calls out,\nBh\u00e2i Pheru, teri k\u00e2r--\"May Bh\u00e2i Pheru protect us!\" Another whirlwind\ndemon, the saint Rahma, was once neglected at the wheat harvest,\nand he raised a whirlwind which blew for nine days in succession,\nand wrought such damage in the threshing-floors that since then his\nshrine receives the appropriate offerings. On the same principle\nwhirlwinds are called in Bombay Bag\u00e2lya or devils. [205]\n\nAmong the Mirzapur Korwas, when a dust-storm comes, the women thrust\nthe house broom, which, as we shall see, is a demon scarer, into the\nthatch, so that it may not be blown away. The Pankas in the same way\nmake their women hold the thatch and throw the rice mortar and the\nflour-mill pivot into the courtyard. The wind is ashamed of being\ndefeated by the power of women and ceases to blow.\n\n\n\nAerolites.\n\nAll over the world people say that if when a meteor or falling star\ndarts across the sky they can utter a wish before it disappears,\nthat wish will be granted. The old Norsemen believed that it implied\nthat a dragon was flashing through the air. In Italy [206] the sight\nof such a body is a cure for blear eyes. In India it is believed that\nthe residence of a soul in heaven is proportionate to the charities\ndone by him on earth, and when his allotted period is over he falls\nas an aerolite. A falling star means that the soul of some great man\nis passing through the air, and when people see one of these stars\nthey thrust their five fingers into their mouths to prevent their own\nsouls from joining his company. Many of these aerolites are worshipped\nas lingams in Saiva shrines. One which fell at S\u00eet\u00e2marhi in Bengal\nin 1880, has now been deified, and is worshipped as Adbh\u00fbt-n\u00e2tha, or\n\"the miraculous god.\" [207]\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II.\n\nTHE HEROIC AND VILLAGE GODLINGS.\n\n\n                    Arma procul currusque virum miratur inanes.\n                    Stant terr\u00e2 defix\u00e6 hast\u00e6, passimque soluti\n                    Per campum pascuntur equi.\n\n                                                     \u00c6neid, vi. 652-654.\n\n\nThe Heroic Godlings.\n\nNext to these deities which have been classed as the godlings of\nnature, come those which have a special local worship of their\nown. The number of these godlings is immense, and their functions\nand attributes so varied, that it is extremely difficult to classify\nthem on any intelligible principle. Some of them are pure village\ngodlings, of whom the last Census has unearthed an enormous number\nall through Northern India. Some of them, like Hanum\u00e2n or Bh\u00eemsen,\nare survivals in a somewhat debased form of the second-rate deities\nor heroes of the older mythology. Some have risen to the rank, or are\ngradually being elevated to the status, of national deities. Some\nare in all probability the local gods of the degraded races, whom\nwe may tentatively assume to be autochthonous. Many of these have\nalmost certainly been absorbed into Br\u00e2hmanism at a comparatively\nrecent period. Some are in process of elevation to the orthodox\npantheon. But it will require a much more detailed analysis of the\nnational faith than the existing materials permit, before it will\nbe possible to make a final classification of this mob of deities on\nanything approaching a definite principle.\n\nThe deities of the heroic class are as a rule benignant, and are\ngenerally worshipped by most Hindus. Those that have been definitely\npromoted into the respectable divine cabinet, like Hanum\u00e2n, have\nBr\u00e2hmans or members of the ascetic orders as their priests, and\ntheir images, if not exactly admitted into the holy of holies of the\ngreater shrines, are still allotted a respectable position in the\nneighbourhood, and receive a share in the offerings of the faithful.\n\nThe local position of the shrine very often defines the status of the\ndeity. To many godlings of this class is allotted the duty of acting\nas warders (dw\u00e2rap\u00e2la) to the temples of the great gods. Thus, at\nthe Ashthbhuja hill in Mirzapur, the pilgrim to the shrine of the\neight-armed Dev\u00ee meets first on the road an image of the monkey\ngod Hanum\u00e2n, before he comes into the immediate presence of the\ngoddess. So at Benares, Bhaironn\u00e2th is chief police officer (Kotw\u00e2l)\nor guardian of all the Saiva temples. Similarly at Jageswar beyond\nAlmora we find Kshetrap\u00e2l, at Badarin\u00e2th Ghantakaran, at Ked\u00e2rn\u00e2th\nBhairava, and at Tungn\u00e2th K\u00e2l Bhairon. [208] In many places, as the\npilgrim ascends to the greater temples, he comes to a place where the\nfirst view of the shrine is obtained. This is known as the Devadekhn\u00ee\nor spot from which the deity is viewed. This is generally occupied\nby some lower-class deity, who is just beginning to be considered\nrespectable. Then comes the temple dedicated to the warden, and lastly\nthe real shrine itself. There can be little doubt that this represents\nthe process by which gods which are now admittedly within the inner\ncircle of the first class, such as the beast incarnations of Vishnu,\nthe elephant-headed Ganesa, and the S\u00e2ktis or impersonations of the\nfemale energies of nature, underwent a gradual elevation.\n\nThis process is actually still going on before our eyes. Thus, the\nfamiliar Gor B\u00e2ba, a deified ghost of the aboriginal races, has in many\nplaces become a new manifestation of Siva, as Goreswara. Similarly,\nthe powerful and malignant goddesses, who were by ruder tribes\npropitiated with the sacrifice of a buffalo or a goat, have been\nannexed to Br\u00e2hmanism as two of the numerous forms of Durg\u00e2 Dev\u00ee,\nby the transparent fiction of a Bhains\u00e2sur\u00ee or K\u00e2l\u00ee Dev\u00ee. In the\ncase of the former her origin is clearly proved by the fact that\nshe is regarded as a sort of tribal deity of the mixed tribe of\nK\u00e2nhpuriya R\u00e2jputs in Oudh. Similarly Mah\u00e2m\u00e2\u00ee, or the \"Great Mother,\"\na distinctively aboriginal goddess whose shrine consists of a low\nflat mound of earth with seven knobs of coloured clay at the head or\nwest side, has been promoted into the higher pantheon as Jagadamb\u00e2\nDev\u00ee, or \"Mother of the World.\" Her shrine is still a simple flat\nmound of earth with seven knobs at the top, and a flag in front to\nthe east. [209] More extended analysis will probably show that the\nobligations of Br\u00e2hmanism to the local cultus are much greater than\nis commonly supposed.\n\n\n\nHanum\u00e2n.\n\nFirst among the heroic godlings is Hanum\u00e2n, \"He of the large\njaws,\" or, as he is generally called, Mah\u00e2b\u00eer, the \"great hero,\"\nthe celebrated monkey chief of the R\u00e2m\u00e2yana, who assisted R\u00e2ma in\nhis campaign against the giant R\u00e2vana to recover S\u00eet\u00e2. Hardly any\nevent in his mythology, thanks to the genius of Tulas\u00ee D\u00e2s, the great\nHindi poet of Hindust\u00e2n, is more familiar to the Hindu peasant than\nthis. It forms the favourite subject of dramatic representation at\nthe annual festival of the Dasahra. There Hanum\u00e2n, in fitting attire,\nmarches along the stage at the head of his army of bears and monkeys,\nand the play ends with the destruction of R\u00e2vana, whose great body,\nformed of wickerwork and paper, is blown up with fireworks, amid the\ndelighted enthusiasm of the excited audience.\n\nIt is almost certain that the worship of Hanum\u00e2n does not come down\nfrom the earliest ages of the Hindu faith, though it has been suggested\nthat he is the legitimate descendant of Vrisha-kapi, the great monkey\nof the Veda. [210] Besides being a great warrior he was noted for his\nskill in magic, grammar and the art of healing. Many local legends\nconnect him with sites in Northern India. Hills, like the Vindhya\nand that at Govardhan, are, as we have seen, attributed to him or\nto his companions. The more extreme school of modern comparative\nmythologists would make out that Hanum\u00e2n is only the impersonation\nof the great cloud-monkey which fights the sun. [211]\n\nBut the fact of monkey-worship is susceptible of a much simpler\nexplanation. The ape, from his appearance and human ways, is closely\nassociated with man. It is a belief common to all folk-lore that\nmonkeys were once human beings who have suffered degradation, [212]\nand according to one common belief stealers of fruit become monkeys\nin their next incarnation. But the common theory that the monkey is\nvenerated in memory of the demigod Hanum\u00e2n is, as Sir A. Lyall [213]\nremarks, \"plainly putting the cart before the horse, for the monkey is\nevidently at the bottom of the whole story. Hanum\u00e2n is now generally\nsupposed to have been adopted into the Hindu heaven from the non-Aryan\nor aboriginal idolaters; though, to my mind, any uncivilized Indian\nwould surely fall down and worship at first sight of an ape. Then there\nis the modern idea that the god was really a great chief of some such\naboriginal tribe as those which to this day dwell almost like wild\ncreatures in the remote forests of India; and this may be the nucleus\nof fact in the legend regarding him. It seems as if hero-worship and\nanimal-worship had got mixed up in the legend of Hanum\u00e2n.\"\n\nAt the same time, it must be remembered that the so-called Aryans\nenjoy no monopoly of his worship. He is sometimes like a tribal\ngodling of the aboriginal Suiris, and the wild Bhuiyas of Keunjhar\nidentify him with Bor\u00e2m, the Sun godling. [214] It is at least a\npossible supposition that his worship may have been imported into\nBr\u00e2hmanism from some such source as these.\n\n\n\nHanum\u00e2n as a Village Godling.\n\nBut whatever may be the origin of the cult, the fact remains that\nhe is a great village godling, with potent influence to scare evil\nspirits from his votaries. His rude image, smeared with oil and red\nochre, meets one somewhere or other in almost every respectable Hindu\nvillage. One of his functions is to act as an embodiment of virile\npower. He is a giver of offspring, and in Bombay women sometimes\ngo to his temple in the early morning, strip themselves naked, and\nembrace the god. [215] Mr. Hartland has collected many instances\nof similar practices. Thus a cannon at Batavia used to be utilized\nin the same way; and at Athens there is a rock near the Callirrhoe,\nwhereon women who wish to be made fertile rub themselves, calling on\nthe Moirai to be gracious to them. [216]\n\nOn the same principle he is, with Hindu wrestlers, their patron deity,\nhis place among Musalm\u00e2ns being taken by 'Ali. Their aid is invoked\nat the commencement of all athletic exercises, and at each wrestling\nschool a platform is erected in their honour. Tuesday is sacred to\nMah\u00e2b\u00eer and Friday to 'Ali. Hindu wrestlers on Mah\u00e2b\u00eer's day bathe in\na river in the morning, and after bathing dress in clean clothes. Then\ntaking a jar of water, some incense, sweets, and red or white flowers,\nthey repair to the wrestling school, bow down before the platform and\nsmear it with cow-dung or earth. After this the sweets are offered\nto Mah\u00e2b\u00eer and verses are recited in his honour. Then they do the\nexercise five times and bow before the platform. When the service is\nover they smear their bodies with the incense, which is supposed to\ngive them strength and courage. Care is taken that no woman sees the\nathletes exercising, lest she should cast the Evil Eye upon them.\n\nOne special haunt of the monkey deity is what is known as the\nBandarp\u00fbnchh or \"monkey tail\" peak in the Him\u00e2layas. They say that\nevery year in the spring a single monkey comes from Hardw\u00e2r to\nthis peak and remains there twelve months, when he makes way for\nhis successor.\n\nHanum\u00e2n is a favourite deity of the semi-Hinduized Dr\u00e2vidian races\nof the Vindhya-Kaim\u00fbr plateau. \"The most awe-inspiring of their\ntremendous rocks are his fanes; the most lovely of their pools are\nsacred by virtue of the tradition of his having bathed in them.\" He\nwas known as Pawan-k\u00e2-p\u00fbt, or \"son of the wind,\" which corresponds\nto his older title of Marutputra, or \"son of the wind god.\" And the\nBhuiyas of Sinhbh\u00fbm, who are, as Colonel Dalton gravely remarks,\n\"without doubt the apes of the R\u00e2m\u00e2yana,\" call themselves Pawan-bans,\nor \"sons of the wind,\" to this day. [217] But in the plains his chief\nfunction is as a warden or guardian against demoniacal influence,\nand at the Hanum\u00e2ngarhi shrine at Ajudhya he is provided with a\nregular priesthood consisting of Kh\u00e2ki ascetics.\n\nThe respect paid to the monkey does not need much illustration. The\nordinary monkey of the plains (Macacus Rhesus) is a most troublesome,\nmischievous beast, and does enormous mischief to crops, while in\ncities he is little short of a pest. But his life is protected by a\nmost effective sanction, and no one dares to injure him.\n\nGeneral Sleeman [218] tells a story of a Muhammadan Naw\u00e2b of Oudh,\nwho was believed to have died of fever, the result of killing a\nmonkey. \"Mumt\u00e2z-ud-daula,\" said his informant, \"might have been\nKing of Oudh had his father not shot that monkey.\" In the Panj\u00e2b\nan appeal to the monkey overcomes the demon of the whirlwind. There\nis a Bombay story that in the village of Makarg\u00e2on, whenever there\nis a marriage in a house, the owner puts outside the wedding booth\na turban, a waist-cloth, rice, fruits, turmeric, and betel-nuts for\nthe village monkeys. The monkeys assemble and sit round their Patel,\nor chief. The chief tears the turban and gives a piece to each of\nthem, and the other things are divided. If the householder does not\npresent these offerings they ascend the booth and defile the wedding\nfeast. He has then to come out and apologize, and when he gives them\nthe usual gifts they retire. [219] The feeding of monkeys is part of\nthe ritual at the Durg\u00e2 Temple at Benares, and there, too, there is\na king of the monkeys who is treated with much respect. Instances of\nR\u00e2jas carrying out the wedding of a monkey at enormous expense are\nnot unknown. Where a monkey has been killed it is believed that no\none can live. His bones are also exceedingly unlucky, and a special\nclass of exorcisers in Bih\u00e2r make it their business to ascertain that\nhis bones do not pollute the ground on which a house is about to be\nerected. [220]\n\nThe worship of Hanum\u00e2n appears, if the Census returns are to be\ntrusted, to be much more popular in the North-West Provinces than\nin the Panj\u00e2b. In the former his devotees numbered about a million,\nand in the latter less than ten thousand persons. But the figures are\nprobably open to question, as he is often worshipped in association\nwith other deities.\n\n\n\nWorship of Bh\u00eemsen.\n\nAnother of these beneficent guardians or wardens is Bh\u00eemsen, \"he\nwho has a terrible army.\" He has now in popular belief very little\nin common with the burly hero of the Mah\u00e2bh\u00e2rata, who was notorious\nfor his gigantic strength, great animal courage, prodigious appetite\nand irascible temper; jovial and jocular when in good humour, but\nabusive, truculent and brutal when his passions were roused. [221]\nHe is now little more than one of the wardens of the house or village.\n\nIn parts of the Central Provinces he has become degraded into\na mere fetish, and is represented by a piece of iron fixed in a\nstone or in a tree. [222] Under the name of Bh\u00eemsen or Bh\u00eempen,\nhis worship extends from Ber\u00e2r to the extreme east of Bastar,\nand not merely among the Hinduized aborigines, who have begun to\nhonour Khandoba, Hanum\u00e2n, Ganpati and their brethren, but among the\nrudest and most savage tribes. He is generally adored under the form\nof an unshapely stone covered with vermilion, or of two pieces of\nwood standing from three to four feet out of the ground, which are\npossibly connected with the phallic idea, towards which so many\nof these deities often diverge. Bhiw\u00e2su, the regular Gond deity,\nis identical with him. Mr. Hislop [223] mentions a large idol of\nhim eight feet high, with a dagger in one hand and a javelin in the\nother. He has an aboriginal priest, known as Bh\u00fbmak, or \"he of the\nsoil,\" and the people repair to worship on Tuesdays and Saturdays,\noffering he-goats, hogs, hens, cocks and cocoa-nuts. The headman of\nthe village and the cultivators subscribe for an annual feast, which\ntakes place at the commencement of the rains, when the priest takes\na cow from the headman by force and offers it to the godling in the\npresence of his congregation. The M\u00e2riya Gonds worship him in the\nform of two pieces of wood previous to the sowing of the crops. The\nNaikud\u00ea Gonds adore him in the form of a huge stone daubed with\nvermilion. Before it a little rice is cooked. They then besmear the\nstone with vermilion and burn resin as incense in its honour, after\nwhich the victims--sheep, hogs and fowls--with the usual oblation of\nspirits, are offered. The god is now supposed to inspire the priest,\nwho rolls his head, leaps frantically round and round, and finally\nfalls down in a trance, when he announces whether Bh\u00eemsen has accepted\nthe service or not. At night all join in drinking, dancing and beating\ndrums. Next morning the congregation disperses. Those who are unable\nto attend this tribal gathering perform similar rites at home under\nthe shade of the Mahua tree (Bassia latifolia). [224]\n\n\n\nPillar-worship of Bh\u00eemsen.\n\nThe local worship of Bh\u00eemsen beyond the Dr\u00e2vidian tract is specially\nin the form of pillars, which are called Bh\u00eeml\u00e2th or Bh\u00eemgada, \"Bh\u00eem's\nclubs.\" Many of these are really the edict pillars which were erected\nby the pious Buddhist King Asoka, but they have been appropriated by\nBh\u00eemsen. Such are the pillars in the B\u00e2lagh\u00e2t District of the Central\nProvinces and at Kah\u00e2on in Gorakhpur. At Devadh\u00e2ra, in the Lower\nHim\u00e2laya, are two boulders, the uppermost of which is called Ransila,\nor \"the stone of war.\" On this rests a smaller boulder, said to be\nthe same as that used by Bh\u00eemsen to produce the fissures in the rocks;\nin proof of which the print of his five fingers is still pointed out,\nas they show the hand-mark of the Giant Bolster in Cornwall. [225]\n\nBh\u00eemsen is one of the special gods of the Bhuiyas of Keunjhar, and they\nconsider themselves to be descended from him, as he is the brother of\nHanum\u00e2n, the founder of their race. According to the Hindu ritual he\nhas his special feast on the Bhaimy Ek\u00e2dash\u00ee, or eleventh of the bright\nfortnight in the month of M\u00e2gh. The Bengal legend tells that Bh\u00eemsen,\nthe brother of Yudhisthira, when he was sent to the snowy mountains\nand lay benumbed with cold, was restored by the Saint Gorakhn\u00e2th,\nand made king of one hundred and ten thousand hills, stretching from\nthe source of the Ganges to Bhut\u00e2n. Among other miracles Bh\u00eemsen and\nGorakhn\u00e2th introduced the sacrifice of buffaloes in place of human\nbeings, and in order to effect this Bh\u00eemsen thrust some of the flesh\ndown the throat of the holy man. So though they have both lost caste\nin consequence, they are both deified. The saint is still the tutelary\ndeity of the reigning family of Nep\u00e2l, and all over that kingdom and\nMithila Bh\u00eemsen is a very common object of worship. That mysterious\npersonage Gorakhn\u00e2th flits through religious legend and folk-lore\nfrom post-Vedic to medi\u00e6val times; and little has yet been done to\ndiscover the element of historical truth which underlies an immense\nmass of the wildest fiction. [226]\n\n\n\nWorship of Bh\u00eeshma.\n\nIn about the same rank as Bh\u00eemsen is Bh\u00eeshma, \"the terrible one,\"\nanother hero of the Mah\u00e2bh\u00e2rata. To the Hindu nowadays he is chiefly\nknown by the tragic circumstances of his death. He was covered all\nover by the innumerable arrows discharged at him by Arjuna, and when he\nfell from his chariot he was upheld from the ground by the arrows and\nlay as on a couch of darts. This Sara-sayya or \"arrow-bed\" of Bh\u00eeshma\nis probably the origin of the Kantaka-sayya or \"thorn-couch\" of some\nmodern Bair\u00e2gis, who lie and sleep on a couch studded with nails. He\nwished to marry the maiden Satyavat\u00ee, but he gave her up to his father\nS\u00e2ntanu, and Bh\u00eeshma elected to live a single life, so that his sons\nmight not claim the throne from his step-brethren. Hence, as he died\nchildless and left no descendant to perform his funeral rites, he is\nworshipped with libations of water on the Bh\u00eeshma Ashtam\u00ee, or 23rd\nof the month of M\u00e2gh; but this ceremony hardly extends beyond Bengal.\n\nIn Upper India five days in the month of K\u00e2rttik (November-December)\nare sacred to him. This is a woman's festival. They send lamps to a\nBr\u00e2hman's house, whose wife during these five days must sleep on the\nground, on a spot covered with cow-dung, close to the lamps, which it\nis her duty to keep alight. The lamps are filled with sesamum oil,\nand red wicks wound round sticks of the sesamum plant rest in the\nlamp saucers. A walnut, an \u00e2onla (the fruit of the emblic myrobolon),\na lotus-seed, and two copper coins are placed in each lamp. Each\nevening the women come and prostrate themselves before the lamps or\nwalk round them. They bathe on each day of the feast before sunrise,\nand are allowed only one meal in the day, consisting of sugar-cane,\nsweet potatoes and other roots, with meal made of amarinth seed,\nmillet and buckwheat cakes, to which the rich add sugar, dry\nginger, and butter. They drink only milk. Of course the Br\u00e2hman\ngets a share of these good things, to which the rich contribute in\naddition a lamp-saucer made of silver, with a golden wick, clothes,\nand money. At the early morning bath of the last day five lighted\nlamps made of dough are placed, one at the entrance of the town or\nvillage, others at the four cross-roads, under the P\u00eepal or sacred\nfig tree, at a temple of Siva, and at a pond. This last is put in a\nsmall raft made of the leaves of the sugar-cane, and floated on the\nwater. A little grain is placed beside each lamp. After the lamps\nhanded over to the Br\u00e2hman have burnt away or gone out, the black\nfrom the wicks is rubbed on the eyes and fingers of the worshippers,\nand their toe-nails are anointed with the remainder of the oil. All\nthe articles used in the worship are well-known scarers of demons,\nand there can be little doubt that the rite is intended to conciliate\nBh\u00eeshma in his character of a guardian deity, and induce him to ward\noff evil spirits from the household of the worshipper.\n\nThere is a curious legend told to explain the motive of the rite. A\nchildless R\u00e2ja once threatened to kill all his queens unless one\nof them gave birth to a child. One of the R\u00e2n\u00ees who had a cat,\nannounced that she had been brought to bed of a girl, who was to be\nshut up for twelve years, a common incident in the folk-tales. [227]\nThis was all very well, but the supposed princess had to be married,\nand here lay the difficulty. Now this cat had been very attentive\nduring this rite in honour of Bh\u00eeshma, keeping the wicks alight by\nraising them from time to time with her paws, and cleaning them on\nher body. So the grateful godling turned her into a beautiful girl,\nbut her tail remained as before. However, the bridegroom's friends\nadmired her so much that they kept her secret at the wedding, and\nso saved the R\u00e2n\u00ee from destruction, and when the time came for the\nbride to go to her husband her tail dropped off too. So Hindu ladies\nuse the oil and lamp-black of Bh\u00eeshma's feast day as valuable aids\nto beauty. Such cases of animal transformation constantly appear in\nthe folk-tales. In one of the Kashm\u00eer stories a cat, by the advice\nof P\u00e2rvat\u00ee, rubs herself with oil and is turned into a girl; but she\ndoes not rub a small patch between her shoulders, and this remained\ncovered with the cat's fur. [228]\n\nThe worship of the heroes of the Mah\u00e2bh\u00e2rata does not prevail widely,\nunless we have a survival of it in the worship of the P\u00e2nch P\u00eer. At\nthe last Census in the North-Western Provinces less than four thousand\npersons declared themselves worshippers of the P\u00e2ndavas. The number\nin the Panj\u00e2b is even smaller.\n\n\n\nWorship of the Local Godlings.\n\nWe now come to the local or village godlings, a most nondescript\ncollection of deities, possessing very various attributes. There\nis good reason to believe that most of these deities, if not all,\nbelong to the races whom it is convenient to call non-Aryan, or at\nleast outside Br\u00e2hmanism, though some of them may have been from time\nto time promoted into the official pantheon. But Dr. Oppert, [229]\nwriting of Southern India, remarks that \"if the pure Vedic doctrine\nhas been altered by the influx of non-Aryan tenets, so have also the\nlatter undergone a change by coming in contact with Aryan ideas, and\nnot only have males intruded into the once exclusive female circle of\nthe Gr\u00e2madevat\u00e2s, but also a motley of queer figures have crept in,\nforming indeed a very strange gathering. The Gr\u00e2madevat\u00e2-prathishtha\nmentions as Gr\u00e2madevat\u00e2s the skull of Brahma, the head of Vishnu,\nthe skull of Renuk\u00e2, the figure of Draupad\u00ee, the body of S\u00eet\u00e2,\nthe harassing followers of Siva (the Pramathas), the attendants\nof Vishnu (P\u00e2rishadas), demons, Yogin\u00ees, various kinds of S\u00e2ktis\nmade of wood, stone, or clay; persons who were unsuccessful in\ntheir devotional practice, Sunasepha, Trisanku, Ghatotkacha, and\nothers; Devak\u00ee's daughter, multiform Durg\u00e2s and S\u00e2ktis; P\u00fbtan\u00e2 and\nothers who kill children; Bh\u00fbtas, Pretas, and Pis\u00e2chas; K\u00fbsm\u00e2nda,\nS\u00e2kin\u00ee, D\u00e2kin\u00ee, Vet\u00e2las, and others; Yakshas, Kir\u00e2tadev\u00ee, Sabar\u00ee,\nRudra, one hundred millions of forms of Rudra; M\u00e2tang\u00ee, Sy\u00e2mal\u00e2,\nunclean Ganapati, unclean Ch\u00e2ndal\u00ee, the goddess of the liquor pot\n(Surabhandeswar\u00ee), Mohin\u00ee, R\u00e2kshas\u00ee, Tripur\u00e2, Lankhin\u00ee, Saubhadev\u00ee,\nS\u00e2mudrik\u00e2, Vanadurg\u00e2, Jaladurg\u00e2, Agnidurg\u00e2, suicides, culprits,\nfaithful wives, the goddesses of matter, goddesses of qualities,\nand goddesses of deeds, etc.\" Through such a maze as this it is no\neasy task to find a clue.\n\nThe non-Br\u00e2hmanic character of the worship is implied by the character\nof the priesthood. In the neighbourhood of Delhi, where the worship\nof Bh\u00fbmiya as a local godling widely prevails, the so-called priest\nof the shrine, whose functions are limited to beating a drum during\nthe service and receiving the offerings, is usually of the sweeper\ncaste. S\u00eetal\u00e2, the small-pox goddess, is very often served by a M\u00e2li,\nor gardener. Sir John Malcolm notes that the Bhopa of Central India,\nwho acts as the village priest, is generally drawn from some menial\ntribe. [230] In the hill country of South Mirzapur, the Baiga who\nmanages the worship of Gans\u00e2m, R\u00e2ja L\u00e2khan, or the aggregate of the\nlocal deities, known as the Dih or Deoh\u00e2r, is almost invariably a\nBhuiy\u00e2r or a Chero, both semi-savage Dr\u00e2vidian tribes. Even the shrine\nerected in honour of N\u00e2har R\u00e2o, the famous King of Mandor, who met\nin equal combat the chivalrous Chauh\u00e2n in the pass of the Aravalli\nrange, is tended by a barber officiant. [231] Though the votaries of\nthe meaner godling are looked on with some contempt or pity by their\nmore respectable neighbours, little active hostility or intolerance is\nexhibited. More than this, the higher classes, and particularly their\nwomen, occasionally join in the worship of the older gods. At weddings\nand other feasts their aid and protection are invoked. Every woman,\nno matter what her caste may be, will bow to the ghosts which haunt\nthe old banyan or p\u00eepal tree in the village, and in time of trouble,\nwhen the clouds withhold the rain, when the pestilence walketh in\ndarkness, and the murrain devastates the herds, it is to the patron\ndeities of the village that they appeal for assistance.\n\n\n\nVillage Shrines.\n\nThe shrine of the regular village godling, the Gr\u00e2madevat\u00e2 or\nGanwdevat\u00e2, is generally a small square building of brick masonry,\nwith a bulbous head and perhaps an iron spike as a finial. A red flag\nhung on an adjoining tree, often a p\u00eepal, or some other sacred fig,\nor a n\u00eem, marks the position of the shrine. In the interior lamps\nare occasionally lighted, fire sacrifices (homa) made and petty\nofferings presented. If a victim is offered, its head is cut off\noutside the shrine and perhaps a few drops of blood allowed to fall on\nthe inner platform, which is the seat of the godling. These shrines\nnever contain a special image, such as are found in the temples of\nthe higher gods. There may be a few carved stones lying about, the\nrelics of some dismantled temple, but these are seldom identified\nwith any special deity, and villagers will rub a projecting knob on\none of them with a little vermilion and oil as an act of worship.\n\nSpeaking of this class of shrine in the Panj\u00e2b, Mr. Ibbetson writes:\n[232] \"The Hindu shrine must always face east, while the Musalm\u00e2n\nshrine is in the form of a tomb and faces the south. This sometimes\ngives rise to delicate questions. In one village a section of the\ncommunity had become Muhammadan. The shrine of the common ancestor\nneeded rebuilding, and there was much dispute as to its shape and\naspect. They solved the difficulty by building a Musalm\u00e2n grave facing\nsouth, and over it a Hindu shrine facing east. In another village\nan Imperial trooper was once burnt alive by the shed in which he was\nsleeping catching fire, and it was thought best to propitiate him by\na shrine, or his ghost might become troublesome. He was by religion\na Musalm\u00e2n, but he had been burnt, not buried, which seemed to make\nhim a Hindu. After much discussion the latter opinion prevailed,\nand a Hindu shrine with an eastern aspect now stands to his memory.\"\n\nTo the east of the North-Western Provinces the village shrines are\nmuch less substantial erections. In the Gangetic valley, where\nthe population has been completely Hinduized, the shrine of the\ncollective village deities, known as the Deoh\u00e2r, consists of a pile\nof stones, some of which may be the fragments of a temple of the\nolden days, collected under some ancient, sacred tree. The shrine\nis the store-house of anything in the way of a curious stone to be\nfound in the village, water-worn pebbles or boulders, anything with\neccentric veining or marking. Here have been occasionally found celts\nand stone hatchets, relics of an age anterior to the general use of\niron. In the same way in some European countries the celt or stone\narrow-head is worn as an amulet.\n\nLittle clay images of elephants and horses are often found near these\nshrines. Some villagers will say that these represent the equipage\n(saw\u00e2r\u00ee) of the deity; others explain them by the fact that a person in\ndistress vows a horse or an elephant to the god, and when his wishes\nare realized, offers as a substitute this trumpery donation. It was\na common practice to offer substitutes of this kind. Thus when an\nanimal could not be procured for sacrifice, an image of it in dough\nor wax was prepared and offered as a substitute. [233] We shall meet\nlater on other examples of substitution of the same kind. On the\nsame principle women used to give cakes in the form of a phallus to\na Br\u00e2hman. [234] At these shrines are also found curious little clay\nbowls with short legs which are known as kalsa. The kalsa or water\njar is always placed near the pole of the marriage shed, and the use\nof these beehive-shaped vessels at village shrines is found all along\nthe hills of Central India. [235] On the neighbouring trees are often\nhung miniature cots, which commemorate the recovery of a patient from\nsmall-pox or other infectious disease.\n\nAmong the semi-Hinduized Dr\u00e2vidian races of the Vindhyan range, many\nof whom worship Gans\u00e2m or R\u00e2ja L\u00e2khan, the shrine usually consists of\na rude mud building or a structure made of bamboo and straw, roofed\nwith a coarse thatch, which is often allowed to fall into disrepair,\nuntil the godling reminds his votaries of his displeasure by an\noutbreak of epidemic disease or some other misfortune which attacks\nthe village. The shrine is in charge of the village Baiga, who is\ninvariably selected from among some of the ruder forest tribes, such\nas the Bhuiya, Bhuiy\u00e2r or Chero. Inside is a small platform known as\n\"the seat of the godling\" (Devat\u00e2 k\u00e2 baithak), on which are usually\nplaced some of the curious earthen bowls already described, which\nare made specially for this worship, and are not used for domestic\npurposes. In these water is placed for the refreshment of the godling,\nand they thus resemble the funeral vases of the Greeks. In ordinary\ncases the offering deposited on the platform consists of a thick\ngriddle cake, a little milk, and perhaps a few jungle flowers; but\nin more serious cases where the deity makes his presence disagreeably\nfelt, he is propitiated with a goat, pig, or fowl, which is decapitated\noutside the shrine, with the national and sacrificial axe. The head\nis brought inside dripping with blood, and a few drops of blood are\nallowed to fall on the platform. The head of the victim then becomes\nthe perquisite of the officiating Baiga, and the rest of the meat\nis cooked and eaten near the shrine by the adult male worshippers,\nmarried women and children being carefully excluded from a share in the\noffering. The special regard paid to the head of the victim is quite in\nconsonance with traditions of European paganism and folk-lore in many\ncountries. [236] Lower south, beyond the river Son, the shrine is of\neven a simpler type, and is there often represented by a few boulders\nnear a stream, where the worshippers assemble and make their offerings.\n\nThe non-Br\u00e2hmanic character of the worship is still further marked by\nthe fact that no special direction from the homestead is prescribed\nin selecting the site for the shrine. No orthodox Hindu temple can be\nbuilt south of the village site, as this quarter is regarded as the\nrealm of Yama, the god of death; here vagrant evil spirits prowl and\nconsume or defile the offerings made to the greater gods. In the more\nHinduized jungle villages some attempt is occasionally made to conform\nto this rule, and sometimes, as in the case of the more respectable\nHindu shrines, the door faces the east. But this rule is not universal,\nand the site of the shrine is often selected under some suitable\ntree, whatever may be its position as regards the homestead, and it\nvery often commemorates some half-forgotten tragedy, where a man was\ncarried off by a tiger or slain or murdered, where he fell from a tree\nor was drowned in a watercourse. Here some sort of shrine is generally\nerected with the object of appeasing the angry spirit of the dead man.\n\nThese shrines have no idol, no bell to scare vagrant ghosts and awake\nthe godling to partake of the offerings or listen to the prayers\nof his votaries. If he is believed to be absent or asleep, a drum\nis beaten to awaken or recall him, and this answers the additional\npurpose of scaring off intruding spirits, who are always hungry and\non the watch to appropriate the offerings of the faithful. Here are\nalso none of the sacrificial vessels, brazen lamps and cups, which\nare largely used in respectable fanes for waving a light before the\ndeity as part of the service, or for cooling the idol with libations\nof water, and the instrument used for sacrificing the victim is only\nthe ordinary axe which the dweller in the jungle always carries.\n\nThere is one special implement which is very commonly found in the\nvillage shrines of the hill country south of the Ganges. This is an\niron chain with a heavy knob at the end, to which a strap, like a\nScotch tawse, is often attached. The chain is ordinarily three and\na half feet long, the tawse two feet, and the total weight is about\nseven pounds. This is known as the Gurda; it hangs from the roof of\nthe shrine, and is believed to be directly under the influence of\nthe deity, so that it is very difficult to procure a specimen. The\nBaiga priest, when his services are required for the exorcism of a\ndisease ghost, thrashes himself on the back and loins with his chain,\nuntil he works himself up to the proper degree of religious ecstasy.\n\nAmong the more primitive Gonds the chain has become a godling and\nis regularly worshipped. In serious cases of epilepsy, hysteria,\nand the like, which do not readily yield to ordinary exorcism, the\npatient is taken to the shrine and severely beaten with the holy\nchain until the demon is expelled. This treatment is, I understand,\nconsidered particularly effective in the case of hysteria and kindred\nailments under which young women are wont to suffer, and like the\nuse of the thong at the Lupercalia at Rome, a few blows of the chain\nare considered advisable as a remedy for barrenness. The custom of\ncastigating girls when they attain puberty prevails among many races\nof savages. [237]\n\n\n\nIdentification of the Local Godling.\n\nThe business of selecting a site for a new village or hamlet is one\nwhich needs infinite care and attention to the local godlings of the\nplace. No place can be chosen without special regard to the local\nomens. There is a story told of one of the Gond R\u00e2jas of Garh Mandla,\nwhose attention was first called to the place by seeing a hare,\nwhen pursued by his dogs, turn and chase them. It struck him that\nthere must be much virtue in the air of a place where a timid animal\nacquired such courage. [238] The site of the settlement of Almora is\nsaid to have been selected by one of the kings before whom in this\nplace a hare was transformed into a tiger. [239] Similar legends are\ntold of the foundation of many forts and cities.\n\nBut it is with the local godlings that the founder of a new settlement\nhas most concern. The speciality of this class of godlings is\nthat they frequent only particular places. Each has his separate\njurisdiction, which includes generally one or sometimes a group of\nvillages. This idea has doubtless promoted the rooted disinclination\nof the Hindu to leave his home and come into the domain of a fresh set\nof godlings with whom he has no acquaintance, who have never received\ndue propitiation from him or his forefathers, and who are hence in\nall probability inimical to him. But people to whom the local godling\nof their village has shown his hostility by bringing affliction upon\nthem for their neglect of his service, can usually escape from his\nmalignity by leaving his district. This habit of emigration to escape\nthe malignity of the offended godling doubtless accounts for many\nof the sites of deserted villages, which are scattered all over the\ncountry. We say that they were abandoned on account of a great famine\nor a severe epidemic, but to the native mind these afflictions are\nthe work of the local deity, who could have warded them off had he\nbeen so disposed. Hence when a settlement is being founded it is a\nmatter of prime necessity that the local godling or group of godlings\nshould be brought under proper control and carefully identified,\nso as to ensure the safety and prosperity of the settlement. The\nnext and final stage is the establishment of a suitable shrine and\nthe appointment of a competent priest.\n\nThere are, as might have been expected, many methods of identifying\nand establishing the local gods. Thus in North Oudh, when a village\nis founded the site is marked off by cross stakes of wood driven into\nthe ground, which are solemnly worshipped on the day of the completion\nof the settlement, and then lapse into neglect unless some indication\nof the displeasure of the god again direct attention to them. These\ncrosses, which are called Daharchand\u00ee, are particularly frequent and\nwell-marked in the villages occupied by the aboriginal Th\u00e2rus in the\nsub-Him\u00e2layan Tar\u00e2\u00ee, where they may be found in groups of ten or more\non the edge of the cultivated lands. So, among the Sant\u00e2ls, a piece\nof split bamboo, about three feet high, is placed in the ground in an\ninclined position and is called the Sip\u00e2h\u00ee or sentinel of the hamlet;\namong the Gonds two curved posts, one of which is much smaller than\nthe other, represent the male and female tutelary gods. [240]\n\nIn the Eastern Districts of the North-Western Provinces a more\nelaborate process is carried out, which admirably illustrates the\nspecial form of local worship now under consideration. When the site\nof a new settlement is selected, an Ojha is called in to identify\nand mark down the deities of the place. He begins by beating a drum\nround the place for some time, which is intended to scare vagrant,\noutsider ghosts and to call together the local deities. All the people\nassemble, and two men, known as the Mattiw\u00e2h and the Pattiw\u00e2h, \"the\nearth man\" and \"the leaf man,\" who represent the gods of the soil and\nof the trees, soon become filled with the spirit and are found to be\npossessed by the local deities. They dance and shout for some time in\na state of religious frenzy, and their disconnected ejaculations are\ninterpreted by the Ojha, who suddenly rushes upon them, grasps with\nhis hands at the spirits which are supposed to be circling round them,\nand finally pours through their hands some grains of sesamum, which\nis received in a perforated piece of the wood of the G\u00fblar or sacred\nfig-tree. The whole is immediately plastered up with a mixture of clay\nand cow-dung, and the wood is carefully buried on the site selected for\nthe Deoh\u00e2r or local shrine. By this process the deities are supposed to\nbe fastened up in the sacred wood and to be unable to do any mischief,\nprovided that the usual periodical offerings are made in their honour.\n\nThis system does not seem to prevail among the Dr\u00e2vidian races of the\nVindhyan plateau. Some time ago I discussed the matter with Hannu\nBaiga, the chief priest of the Bhuiyas beyond the Son, and he was\npleased to express his unqualified approval of the arrangement. Indeed,\nhe promised to adopt it himself, but unfortunately Hannu, who was a\nmine of information on the religion and demonology of his people, died\nbefore he could apply this test to the local deities of his parish. His\nwife has died also, and I understand that he is known to be the head\nof all the Bh\u00fbts or malignant ghosts of the neighbourhood, while his\nwife rules all the Churels who infest that part of the country.\n\nAt the same time, to an ordinary Baiga the plan would hardly be as\ncomfortable as the present arrangement. It would not suit him to\nhave the local ghosts brought under any control, because he makes his\nliving by doing the periodical services to propitiate them. Nowadays he\nbelieves fully in the influence of the magic circle and of spirituous\nliquor as ghost scarers. Both these principles will be discussed\nelsewhere. So he is supposed once a year at least, or oftener in case\nof pestilence or other trouble, to perambulate all round the village\nboundary, sprinkling a line of spirits as he walks. The idea is to\nform a magic circle impervious to strange and, in the nature of the\ncase, necessarily malignant ghosts, who might wish to intrude from\noutside; and to control the resident local deities, and prevent them\nfrom contracting evil habits of mischief by wandering beyond their\nprescribed domains.\n\nThe worst about this ritual is that the Baiga is apt to be very\ndeliberate in his movements, and to drink the liquor on the\nroad and to spoil the symmetry of the circle during his fits of\nintoxication. I know of one disreputable shepherd who was upwards of\na fortnight getting round an ordinary sized village, and the levy on\nhis parishioners to pay the wine bill was, as may easily be imagined,\na very serious matter, to say nothing of several calamities, which\noccurred to the inhabitants in their unprotected state owing to his\nnegligence. At present the feeling in his parish is very strong against\nhim, and his constituents are thinking of removing him, particularly\nas he has only one eye. This is a very dangerous deformity in ordinary\npeople, but in a Baiga, who is invested with religious functions,\nit is most objectionable, and likely to detract from his efficiency.\n\nIn Hoshang\u00e2b\u00e2d a different system prevails. When a new village is\nformed by the aboriginal Kurkus, there is no difficulty in finding the\nabode of the godlings D\u00fbngar Devat\u00e2 and M\u00e2t\u00e2, because you have only to\nlook for and discover them upon their hill and under their tree. But\nMutua Devat\u00e2 has generally to be created by taking a heap of stones\nfrom the nearest stream and sacrificing a pig and seven chickens\nto him. \"There is one ceremony, however, which is worth notice,\nnot so much as being distinctively Kurku, as illustrating the sense\nof mystery and chance which in the native mind seems to be connected\nwith the idea of measurement, and which arises probably from the fact\nthat with superficial measures, by heaping lightly or pressing down\ntight, very different results can be obtained. A measure is filled\nup with grain to the level of the brim, but no head is poured on,\nand it is put before Mutua Devat\u00e2. They watch it all night, and in\nthe morning pour it out, and measure it again. If the grain now fills\nup the measure and leaves enough for a head to it, and still more,\nif it brims and runs over, this is a sign that the village will be\nvery prosperous, and that every cultivator's granaries will run over\nin the same way. But it is an evil omen if the grain does not fill up\nto the level of the rims of the vessel. A similar practice obtains\nin the Narmad\u00e2 valley when they begin winnowing, and some repeat it\nevery night while the winnowing goes on.\" [241]\n\nThe same custom prevails among the Kols and kindred races in Mirzapur,\nwho make the bride and bridegroom carry it out as an omen of their\nsuccess or failure in life. By carefully packing and pressing down\nthe grain, any chance of an evil augury is easily avoided. We shall\nsee later on that measuring the grain is a favourite device intended\nto save it from the depredations of evil-minded ghosts.\n\n\n\nWorship of Dw\u00e2ra Gus\u00e2\u00een.\n\nA typical case of the worship of a local godling is found among the\nMalers of Chota N\u00e2gpur. His name is Dw\u00e2ra Gus\u00e2\u00een, or \"Lord of the\nhouse door.\" \"Whenever from some calamity falling upon the household,\nit is considered necessary to propitiate him, the head of the family\ncleans a place in front of his door, and sets up a branch of the\ntree called Mukmum, which is held very sacred; an egg is placed near\nthe branch, then a hog is killed and friends feasted; and when the\nceremony is over the egg is broken and the branch placed on the\nsuppliant's house.\" [242] Dw\u00e2ra Gus\u00e2\u00een is now called B\u00e2rahdv\u00e2ri,\nbecause he is supposed to live in a temple with twelve doors and is\nworshipped by the whole village in the month of M\u00e2gh. [243] The egg is\napparently supposed to hold the deity, and this, it may be remarked,\nis not an uncommon folk-lore incident. [244]\n\n\n\nWorship of Bh\u00fbmiya.\n\nOne of the most characteristic of the benevolent village godlings is\nBh\u00fbmiya--\"the godling of the land or soil\" (bh\u00fbmi). He is very commonly\nknown as Khetp\u00e2l or Kshetrap\u00e2la, \"the protector of the fields\"; Khera\nor \"the homestead mound\"; Zam\u00eend\u00e2r or \"the landowner\"; and in the hills\nS\u00e2im or S\u00e2yam, \"the black one\" (Sanskrit sy\u00e2ma). In the neighbourhood\nof Delhi he is a male godling; in Oudh Bh\u00fbmiy\u00e2 is a goddess and is\ncalled Bh\u00fbmiy\u00e2 R\u00e2n\u00ee or \"soil queen.\" She is worshipped by spreading\nflat cakes and sweetmeats on the ground, which having been exposed\nsome time to the sun, are eventually consumed by the worshipper and\nhis family. The rite obviously implies the close connection between\nthe fertility of the soil and sunshine.\n\nTo the west of the Province the creation of Bh\u00fbmiya's shrine is\n\"the first formal act by which the proposed site of a village is\nconsecrated, and when two villages have combined their homesteads\nfor greater security against the marauders of former days, the people\nof the one which moved still worship at the Bh\u00fbmiya of the deserted\nsite. Bh\u00fbmiya is worshipped after the harvests, at marriages, and\non the birth of a male child; and Br\u00e2hmans are commonly fed in his\nname. Women often take their children to the shrine on Sundays, and\nthe first milk of a cow or buffalo is always offered there.\" [245]\nYoung bulls are sometimes released in his honour, and the term Bh\u00fbmiya\ns\u00e2nd has come to be equivalent to our \"parish bull.\"\n\nIn the Hills he is regarded by some as a beneficent deity, who does\nnot, as a rule, force his worship on anyone by possessing them\nor injuring their crops. When seed is sown, a handful of grain\nis sprinkled over a stone in the field nearest to his shrine, in\norder to protect the crop from hail, blight, and the ravages of wild\nanimals, and at harvest time he receives the first-fruits to protect\nthe garnered grain from rats and insects. He punishes the wicked and\nrewards the virtuous, and is lord of the village, always interested\nin its prosperity, and a partaker in the good things provided on\nall occasions of rejoicing, such as marriage, the birth of a son,\nor any great good fortune. Unlike the other rural deities, he seldom\nreceives animal sacrifices, but is satisfied with the humblest offering\nof the fruits of the earth. [246]\n\nIn Gurg\u00e2on, again, he is very generally identified with one of the\nfounders of the village or with a Br\u00e2hman priest of the original\nsettlers. The special day for making offerings to him is the fourteenth\nday of the month. Some of the Bh\u00fbmiyas are said to grant the prayers\nof their votaries and to punish severely those who offend them. He\nvisits people who sleep in the vicinity of his shrine with pains in\nthe chest, and one man who was rash enough to clean his teeth near\nhis shrine was attacked with sore disease. Those Bh\u00fbmiyas who thus\nbear the reputation of being revengeful and vicious in temper are\nrespected, and offerings to them are often made, while those who have\nthe character of easy good-nature are neglected. [247]\n\nIn parts of the Panj\u00e2b [248] Khera Devat\u00e2 or Ch\u00e2nwand is identified\nwith Bh\u00fbmiya; according to another account she is a lady and the wife\nof Bh\u00fbmiya, and she sometimes has a special shrine, and is worshipped\non Sunday only. To illustrate the close connection between this worship\nof Bh\u00fbmiya as the soil godling with that of the sainted dead, it may be\nnoted that in some places the shrine of Bh\u00fbmiya is identified with the\nJathera, which is the ancestral mound, sacred to the common ancestor of\nthe village or tribe. One of the most celebrated of these Jatheras is\nK\u00e2la Mahar, the ancestor of the Sindhu J\u00e2ts, who has peculiar influence\nover cows, and to whom the first milk of every cow is offered. The\nplace of the Jathera is, however, often taken by the Theh or mound\nwhich marks the site of the original village of the tribe.\n\nBut Bh\u00fbmiya, a simple village godling, is already well on his way to\npromotion to the higher heaven. In Patna some have already begun to\nidentify him with Vishnu. In the Hills the same process is going on,\nand he is beginning to be known as S\u00e2im, a corruption of Svayambhuva,\nthe Bauddha form now worshipped in Nep\u00e2l. In the plains he is\nbecoming promoted under the title of Bh\u00fbm\u00eesvara Mah\u00e2deva and his\nspouse Bh\u00fbm\u00eesvar\u00ee Dev\u00ee, both of whom have temples at B\u00e2nda. [249]\nIn the Hills it is believed that he sometimes possesses people, and\nthe sign of this is that the hair of the scalplock becomes hopelessly\nentangled. This reminds us of that very Mab \"that plaits the manes\nof horses in the night and bakes the elflocks in foul sluttish hairs,\nwhich once untangled much misfortune bodes.\"\n\nIt was a common English belief that all who have communication with\nfairies find their hair all tied in double knots. [250] As we shall see\nlater on, the hair is universally regarded as an entry for spirits,\nperhaps, as Mr. Campbell suggests, because it leads to the opening\nin the skull through which the dying spirit makes its exit. Hence\nmany of the customs connected with letting the hair loose, cutting\nit off or shaving.\n\nNo less than eighty-five thousand persons declared themselves, at\nthe last census, to be worshippers of Bh\u00fbmiya in the North-Western\nProvinces, while in the Panj\u00e2b they numbered only one hundred and\nsixty-three.\n\n\n\nWorship of Bhairon.\n\nBh\u00fbmiya, again, is often confounded with Bhairon, another warden\ngodling of the land; while, to illustrate the extraordinary jumble\nof these mythologies, Bhairon, who is almost certainly the K\u00e2ro Bairo\n(K\u00e2l Bhairon) of the Bhuiyas of Keunjhar, is identified by them with\nBh\u00eemsen. [251]\n\nBhairon has a curious history. There is little doubt that he was\noriginally a simple village deity; but with a slight change of name\nhe has been adopted into Br\u00e2hmanism as Bhairava, \"the terrible one,\"\none of the most awful forms of Siva, while the female form Bhairav\u00ee\nis an equivalent for Dev\u00ee, a worship specially prevalent among Jogis\nand S\u00e2ktas. On the other hand, the Jainas worship Bhairava as the\nprotector or agent of the Jaina church and community, and do not\noffer him flesh and blood sacrifices, but fruits and sweetmeats. [252]\n\nIn his Saiva form he is often called Sv\u00e2sva, or \"he who rides\non a dog,\" and this vehicle of his marks him down at once as an\noffshoot from the village Bhairon, because all through Upper India\nthe favourite method of conciliating Bhairon is to feed a black dog\nuntil he is surfeited.\n\nOne of his distinctive forms is K\u00e2l Bhairon, or K\u00e2la Bhairava, whose\nimage depicted with his dog is often found as a sort of warden in Saiva\ntemples. One of his most famous shrines is at Kalinjar, of which Abul\nFazl says \"marvellous tales are related.\" [253] He is depicted with\neighteen arms and is ornamented with the usual garlands of skulls,\nwith snake earrings and snake armlets and a serpent twined round his\nhead. In his hands he holds a sword and a bowl of blood. In the Panj\u00e2b\nhe is said to frighten away death, and in R\u00e2jput\u00e2na Col. Tod calls\nhim \"the blood-stained divinity of war.\" [254] The same godling is\nknown in Bombay as Bhairoba, of whom Mr. Campbell [255] writes--\"He is\nrepresented as a standing male figure with a trident in the left hand\nand a drum (damaru) in the right, and encircled with a serpent. When\nthus represented he is called K\u00e2la Bhairava. But generally he is\nrepresented by a rough stone covered over with oil and red lead. He\nis said to be very terrible, and, when offended, difficult to be\npleased. By some he is believed to be an incarnation of Siva himself,\nand by others as a spirit much in favour with the god Siva. He is\nalso consulted as an oracle. When anyone is desirous of ascertaining\nwhether anything he is about to undertake will turn out according to\nhis wishes, he sticks two unbroken betel-nuts, one on each breast\nof the stone image of Bhairava, and tells it, if his wish is to be\naccomplished, that the right or left nut is to fall first. It is\nsaid, like other spirits, Bhairava is not a subordinate of Vet\u00e2la,\nand that when he sets out on his circuit at night, he rides a black\nhorse and is accompanied by a black dog.\"\n\nIn the Panj\u00e2b he [256] is usually represented as an inferior deity,\na stout black figure, with a bottle of wine in his hand; he is an evil\nspirit, and his followers drink wine and eat meat. One set of ascetics,\nakin to the Jogis, besmear themselves with red powder and oil and go\nabout begging and singing the praises of Bhairon, with bells or gongs\nhung about their loins and striking themselves with whips. They are\nfound mainly in large towns, and are not celibates. Their chief place\nof pilgrimage is the Girn\u00e2r Hill in K\u00e2thiaw\u00e2r. That very old temple,\nthe Bhairon K\u00e2 Asth\u00e2n near Lahore, is so named from a quaint legend\nregarding Bhairon, connected with its foundation. In the old days the\nDh\u00eenw\u00e2r girls of Riw\u00e2ri used to be married to the godling at Bandoda,\nbut they always died soon after, and the custom has been abandoned. We\nshall meet later on other instances of the marriage of girls to a god.\n\nAs a village godling Bhairon appears in various forms as L\u00e2th Bhairon\nor \"Bhairon of the club,\" which approximates him to Bh\u00eemsen, Battuk\nBhairon or \"the child Bhairon,\" and Nand Bhairon, in which we may\npossibly trace a connection with the legend of the divine child\nKrishna and his foster-father Nanda. In Benares, again, he is known\nas Bhaironn\u00e2th or \"Lord Bhairon,\" and Bh\u00fbt Bhairon, \"Ghost Bhairon,\"\nand he is regarded as the deified magistrate of the city, who guards\nall the temples of Siva and saves his votaries from demons. [257]\n\nBut in his original character as a simple village godling Bhairon is\nworshipped with milk and sweetmeats as the protector of fields, cattle\nand homestead. Some worship him by pouring spirits at his shrine and\ndrinking there; and on a new house being built, he is propitiated to\nexpel the local ghosts. He is respected even by Muhammadans as the\nminister of the great saint Sakhi Sarwar, and in this connection is\nusually known as Bhairon Jati or \"Bhairon the chaste.\" [258] But as we\nhave seen, he is becoming rapidly promoted into the more respectable\ncabinet of the gods, and his apotheosis will possibly finally take\nplace at the great Saiva shrine of Mandh\u00e2ta on the Narmad\u00e2, with\nwhich a local legend closely connects him. [259] All over Northern\nIndia his stone fetish is found in close connection with the images\nof the greater gods, to whom he acts the part of guardian, and this,\nas we have already seen, probably marks a stage in his promotion.\n\nHe has, according to the last census, only five thousand followers\nin the Panj\u00e2b, as compared with one hundred and and seventy-five\nthousand in the North-Western Provinces.\n\n\n\nWorship of Ganesa.\n\nOn pretty much the same stage as these warden godlings whom we have\nbeen considering is Ganesa, whose name means \"lord of the Ganas\"\nor inferior deities, especially those in attendance on Siva. He\nis represented as a short, fat man, of a yellow colour, with a\nprotuberant belly, four hands, and the head of an elephant with a\nsingle tusk. P\u00e2rvat\u00ee is said to have formed him from the scurf of\nher body, and so proud was she of her offspring that she showed him\nto the ill-omened Sani, who when he looked at him reduced his head\nto ashes. Brahma advised her to replace the head with the first she\ncould find, and the first she found was that of an elephant. Another\nstory says that Ganesa's head was that of the elephant of Indra, and\nthat one of his tusks was broken off by the axe of Parasur\u00e2ma. Ganesa\nis the god of learning, the patron of undertakings and the remover of\nobstacles. Hence he is worshipped at marriages, and his quaint figure\nstands over the house door and the entrance of the greater temples. But\nthere can be little doubt that he, too, is an importation from the\nindigenous mythology. His elephant head and the rat as his vehicle\nsuggest that his worship arose from the primitive animal cultus.\n\n\n\nThe Worship of the Great Mothers.\n\nFrom these generally benevolent village godlings we pass on to a\nvery obscure form of local worship, that of the Great Mothers. It\nprevails both in Aryan and Semetic lands, [260] and there can be very\nlittle doubt that it is founded on some of the very earliest beliefs\nof the human race. No great religion is without its deified woman,\nthe Virgin, M\u00e2y\u00e2, R\u00e2dh\u00e2, F\u00e2timah, and it has been suggested that the\ncultus has come down from a time before the present organization of\nthe family came into existence, and when descent through the mother\nwas the only recognized form. [261]\n\nWe have already met instances of this mother-worship in the case of\nGang\u00e2 M\u00e2\u00ee, \"Mother Ganges,\" and Dhart\u00ee M\u00e2t\u00e2, \"the Earth Mother.\" We\nshall meet it again in S\u00eetal\u00e2 M\u00e2t\u00e2, \"the small-pox Mother.\"\n\nIn the old mythology Adit\u00ee, or infinite space, was regarded as the\nEternal Mother, and Pr\u00e2krit\u00ee was the Eternal Mother, capable of\nevolving all created things out of herself, but never so creating\nunless united with the eternal spirit principle embodied in the Eternal\nMale, Parusha. There appears to have been a tendency on the part of\nthe Indo-Germanic race to look upon their deities as belonging to\nboth sexes at once, and hence the dualistic idea in Br\u00e2hmanism of\nArdhanari, or the androgynous Siva. [262]\n\nWe shall meet later on with the ghost of the unpurified mother,\nthe Churel, which is based on a different but cognate association of\nideas. Akin to this, again, is the worship of the Sat\u00ee, or model wife,\nto which we shall refer again, and that of the Ch\u00e2ran women of Gujar\u00e2t,\nwho were obliged to immolate themselves to prevent outrage from the\nKolis and other freebooters.\n\nThis worship, probably derived from one of the so-called non-Aryan\nraces, was subsequently developed into that of the female energies\nof the greater gods, a Br\u00e2hm\u00e2n\u00ee of Brahma, Indr\u00e2n\u00ee of Indra, and\nso on; and thus the simple worship of the mother has developed and\ndegenerated into the abominations of the Tantras. These mothers\nare usually regarded as eight in number, the Ashta M\u00e2tr\u00ee, but the\nenumeration of them varies. Sometimes there are only seven--Br\u00e2hm\u00ee or\nBr\u00e2hm\u00e2n\u00ee, Maheshvar\u00ee, Kaum\u00e2r\u00ee, Vaishnav\u00ee, V\u00e2r\u00e2h\u00ee, Indr\u00e2n\u00ee or Aindr\u00e2n\u00ee,\nor Mahendr\u00ee and Ch\u00e2mund\u00e2. Sometimes the number is nine--Br\u00e2hm\u00e2n\u00ee,\nVaishnav\u00ee, Raudr\u00ee, V\u00e2r\u00e2h\u00ee, Narasinhik\u00e2, Kaum\u00e2r\u00ee, Mahendr\u00ee, Ch\u00e2mund\u00e2,\nChandik\u00e2. Sometimes sixteen--Gaur\u00ee, Padm\u00e2, Sach\u00ee, Medh\u00e2, Savitr\u00ee,\nVijay\u00e2, Jay\u00e2, Devasen\u00e2, Svadh\u00e2, Sv\u00e2h\u00e2, S\u00e2nt\u00ee, Pusht\u00ee, Dhrit\u00ee, Tusht\u00ee,\nAtmadevat\u00e2, Kuladevat\u00e2. [263] They are closely connected with the\nworship of Siva and are attendants on his son Skanda, or K\u00e2rttikeya,\nand rise in the later mythology to a much greater number.\n\n\n\nMother-worship in Gujar\u00e2t.\n\nBut it is in Gujar\u00e2t that this form of worship prevails most widely\nat the present day. Sir Monier-Williams enumerates about one hundred\nand forty distinct Mothers, besides numerous varieties of the more\npopular forms. They are probably all local deities of the Churel\ntype, who have been adopted into Br\u00e2hmanism. Some are represented\nby rudely carved images, others by simple shrines, and others are\nremarkable for preferring empty shrines, and the absence of all\nvisible representations. Each has special functions. Thus one called\nKhodi\u00e2r, or \"mischief,\" is said to cause trouble unless propitiated;\nanother called Ant\u00e2\u00ee causes and prevents whooping cough; another named\nBer\u00e2\u00ee prevents cholera; another called Marak\u00ee causes cholera; Hadak\u00e2\u00ee\ncontrols mad dogs and prevents hydrophobia; Asapur\u00e2, represented by\ntwo idols, satisfies the hopes of wives by giving children. Not a few\nare worshipped either as causing or preventing demoniacal possession\nas a form of disease. The offering of a goat's blood to some of these\nMothers is regarded as very effectual. A story is told of a Hindu\ndoctor who cured a whole village of an outbreak of violent influenza,\nattributed to the malignant influence of an angry Mother goddess, by\nsimply assembling the inhabitants, muttering some cabalistic texts,\nand solemnly letting loose a pair of scapegoats in a neighbouring wood\nas an offering to the offended deity. One of these Mothers is connected\nwith the curious custom of the Couvade, which will be discussed later\non. [264] Another famous Gujar\u00e2t Mother is Amb\u00e2 Bhav\u00e2n\u00ee. On the eighth\nnight of the Naur\u00e2tra the R\u00e2na of Danta attends the worship, fans the\ngoddess with a horsehair fly-flapper, celebrates the fire sacrifice,\nand fills with sweetmeats a huge cauldron, which, on the fall of\nthe garland from the neck of the goddess, the Bh\u00eels empty. Among\nthe offerings to her are animal sacrifice and spirituous liquor. The\nimage is a block of stone roughly hewn into the semblance of a human\nfigure. [265]\n\n\n\nMother-worship in Upper India.\n\nIn the Hills what is known as the M\u00e2tr\u00ee P\u00fbj\u00e2 is very popular. The\ncelebrant takes a plank and cleans it with rice flour. On it he\ndraws sixteen figures representing the M\u00e2tr\u00ees, and to the right\nof them a representation of Ganesa. Figures of the sun and moon\nare also delineated, and a brush made of sacred grass is dipped in\ncow-dung and the figures touched with it. After the recital of verses,\na mixture of sugar and butter is let drop on the plank, three, five,\nor seven times. The celebrant then marks the forehead of the person for\nwhose benefit the service is intended with a coin soaked in butter,\nand keeps the money as his fee. The service concludes with a waving\nof lamps to scare vicious ghosts, singing of hymns and offering of\ngifts to Br\u00e2hmans. [266]\n\nAt Khal\u00e2r\u00ee, in the R\u00e2\u00eapur District of the Central Provinces, is a\nSat\u00ee pillar worshipped under the name of Khal\u00e2r\u00ee M\u00e2t\u00e2. According to\nthe current legend Khal\u00e2r\u00ee M\u00e2t\u00e2 often assumes a female human form and\ngoes to the adjacent fairs, carrying vegetables for sale. Whoever asks\nany gift from her receives it. Once a young man returning from a fair\nwas overtaken by a strange woman on the road, who said she was going\nto see her sister. She asked him to go in front, and said that she\nwould follow. Not wishing to allow a beautiful young woman to travel\nalone at night, he hid himself among some bushes. Presently he heard\na great jingling noise and saw a four-armed woman go up the steep,\nbare hill and disappear. It was quite certain that this was Khal\u00e2r\u00ee\nM\u00e2t\u00e2 herself. [267]\n\nIn many parts of the plains, M\u00e2y\u00e2, the mother of Buddha, has been\nintroduced into the local worship as the G\u00e2nwdev\u00ee, or village\ngoddess. Her statues, which are very numerous in some places, are\nfreely utilized for this purpose. In the same way a figure of the\nBuddha Asvaghosha is worshipped at Deoriya in the Allah\u00e2b\u00e2d District\nas Srinagar\u00ee Dev\u00ee. [268]\n\n\n\nThe Jungle Mothers.\n\nAs an instance of another type of Mother-worship we may take Por\u00fb M\u00e2\u00ee\nof Nadiya. She is \"represented by a little piece of rough black stone\npainted with red ochre, and placed beneath the boughs of an ancient\nbanyan tree. She is said to have been in the heart of the jungles,\nwith which Nadiya was originally covered, and to have suffered\nfrom the fire which R\u00e2ja K\u00e2si N\u00e2th's men lighted to burn down the\njungle.\" [269] She is, in fact, a Mother goddess of the jungle, of\nwhom there are numerous instances. In the North-Western Provinces she\nis usually known as Banspat\u00ee or Bansapat\u00ee M\u00e2\u00ee (Vanaspat\u00ee, \"mistress\nof the wood\"). Agni, the fire god, is described in the Rig Veda as\n\"the son of the Vanaspatis,\" or the deities of the large, old forest\ntrees. [270] Another name for her in the Western Districts is \u00c2saror\u00ee,\nbecause her shrine is a pile of pebbles (ror\u00ee) in which her votaries\nhave confidence (\u00e2s\u00e2) that it will protect them from harm. The shrine\nof the jungle mother is usually a pile of stones and branches to which\nevery passer-by contributes. When she is displeased she allows a tiger\nor a leopard to kill her negligent votary. She is the great goddess\nof the herdsmen and other dwellers in the forest, and they vow to her\na cock, a goat, or a young pig if she saves them and their cattle\nfrom beasts of prey. Sometimes she is identified with the Churel,\nmore often with a Havva or Bh\u00fbt, the spirit, usually malignant, of\nsome one who has met untimely death in the jungle. Akin to her is\nthe Ghataut of Mirzapur, who is the deity of dangerous hill passes\n(gh\u00e2t) and is worshipped in the same way, and Baghaut, the ghost of\na man who was killed by a tiger (b\u00e2gh). These all, in the villages\nalong the edge of the jungle, merge in character and function with\nthe divine council, or Deoh\u00e2r, of the local gods.\n\n\n\nOther Mother Goddesses.\n\nAnother of these divine mothers, M\u00e2t\u00e2 Januv\u00ee or Janam\u00ee, the goddess\nof births, is a sort of Juno Lucina among the R\u00e2jputs, like the Greek\nIlithyia, or the Carmenta of the Romans. Her power rests in a bead,\nand all over Northern India midwives carry as a charm to secure\neasy delivery a particular sort of bead, known as Kail\u00e2s Maura, or\n\"the crown of the sacred mountain Kail\u00e2sa.\" Difficult parturition is\na disease caused by malignant spirits, and numerous are the devices\nto cure it. The ancient Britons, we are told, [271] used to bind a\nmagic girdle, impressed with numerous mystical figures, round the\nwaist of the expectant mother, and the jewel named Aetites, found\nin the eagle's nest, applied to the thigh of one in labour, eases\npain and quickens delivery. Sir W. Scott [272] had a small stone,\ncalled a toad-stone, which repelled demons from lying-in women.\n\nOn the sacred plain of Kurukshetra there once stood a fort, known\nas Chakravy\u00fbha, and to the moderns as Chak\u00e2bu K\u00e2 Qila, from which to\nthe present day immense ancient bricks are occasionally dug. Popular\nbelief ascribes great efficacy to these bricks, and in cases of\nprotracted labour, one of them is soaked in water, which is given to\nthe patient to drink. Sometimes an image of the fort, which is in the\nform of a labyrinth or maze, is drawn on a dish, which is first shown\nto the mother and then washed in water, which is administered to the\nwoman. All through Nep\u00e2l and the neighbouring districts, the local\nrupee, which is covered with Saiva emblems, is used in the same way,\nand Akbar's square rupee, known as the Ch\u00e2ry\u00e2r\u00ee, because it bears the\nnames of the four companions (Ch\u00e2r-Y\u00e2r) of the Prophet, is credited\nwith the same power. There are numerous Mantras or mystic formul\u00e6\nwhich are used for the same purpose.\n\nDread famine has become a goddess under the title of Bh\u00fbkh\u00ee M\u00e2t\u00e2,\nthe \"hunger Mother,\" who, like all the deities of this class, is\nof a lean and starved appearance. [273] An interesting ceremony\nfor the exorcism of the hunger Mother is recorded from Bombay. The\npeople subscribed to purchase ten sheep, fifty fowls, one hundred\ncocoanuts, betel nuts, sugar, clarified butter, frankincense, red\npowder, turmeric, and flowers. A day previous to the commencement\nof the ceremony, all the inhabitants of the village, taking with\nthem their clothes, vessels, cattle, and other movable goods, left\ntheir houses and encamped at the gate or boundary of the village. At\nthe village gate a triumphal arch was erected, and it was adorned\nwith garlands of flowers and mango leaves covered with red powder\nand turmeric. All these things are, as we shall see, well known\nas scarers of demons. The villagers bathed, put on new clothes,\nand then a procession was formed. On coming to the triumphal arch\nthe whole procession was stopped. A hole was dug in the ground,\nand the village watchman put in it the head of a sheep, a cocoanut,\nbetel nuts, with leaves and flowers. The arch was then worshipped by\neach of the villagers. The village watchman first entered the arch,\nand he was followed by the villagers with music, loud cheering, and\nclapping of hands. The whole party then went to the village temple,\nbowed to the village god, and went to their respective houses. The\nblood of the ten sheep and fifty fowls was offered to the village god,\nand the flesh was distributed among the people. A dinner was given to\nBr\u00e2hmans and the rite came to an end. [274] The idea of the sanctity of\nthe arch is probably based on the same principle as that of perforated\nstones, to which reference will be made in another connection.\n\nGreatest of all the mother goddesses of the R\u00e2jputs is M\u00e2m\u00e2 Dev\u00ee,\nthe mother of the gods. She is thus on the same plane as Cybele Rhea\nand Demeter, the Corn Mother, who gives the kindly increase of the\nfruits of the earth. In one of her temples she is represented in the\nmidst of her numerous family, including the greater and the minor\ndivinities. Their statues are all of the purest marble, each about\nthree feet high and tolerably executed, though evidently since the\ndecline of the art. [275]\n\n\n\nWorship of Gans\u00e2m Deo.\n\nWe now come to consider some divinities special to the Dr\u00e2vidian\nraces, who touch on the North-Western Provinces to the south, across\nthe Kaim\u00fbr and Vindhyan ranges, the physical as well as the ethnical\nfrontier between the valleys of the Ganges and Jumn\u00e2 and the mountain\ncountry of Central India. The chief Gond deity is Gans\u00e2m Deo. Some\nvague attempt has been made to elevate him into the pantheon of\nBr\u00e2hmanism, and his name has been corrupted into Ghanasy\u00e2ma, which\nmeans in Sanskrit, \"black like the heavy rain clouds of the rainy\nseason,\" and is an epithet of R\u00e2ma and of Krishna. One legend derives\nhim from an actual Gond chieftain, just as many of the local godlings\nwhom we shall consider afterwards have sprung from real living persons\nof eminence, or those who have lost their lives in some exceptional\nway. It is said that this chieftain was devoured by a tiger soon after\nhis marriage. As might have been expected, his spirit was restless,\nand one year after his death he visited his wife and she conceived\nby him. Instances of such miraculous conceptions are common in\nfolk-lore. [276] \"The descendants of this ghostly embrace are, it is\nsaid, living to this day at Amoda, in the Central Provinces. He, about\nthe same time, appeared to many of his old friends, and persuaded them\nthat he could save them from the maws of tigers and other calamities,\nif his worship were duly inaugurated and regularly performed; and in\nconsequence of this, two festivals in the year were established in\nhis honour; but he may be worshipped at any time, and in all sickness\nand misfortunes his votaries confidently appeal to him.\" [277]\n\nIn the Hill country of Mirzapur, the shrine of Gans\u00e2m is about one\nhundred yards from the village site and without any ornamentation. Both\ninside and outside is a platform of mud, on which the deity can rest\nwhen so disposed. The only special offerings to him are the curious\nwater-pots (kalsa) already described, and some rude clay figures of\nhorses and elephants, which are regarded as the equipage (saw\u00e2r\u00ee) of\nthe deity. In the Central Provinces, \"a bamboo with a red or yellow\nflag tied to the end is planted in one corner, an old withered garland\nor two is hung up, a few blocks of rough stone, some smeared with\nvermilion, are strewn about the place which is specially dedicated\nto Gans\u00e2m Deo.\" [278]\n\n\n\nWorship of D\u00e2ntan Deo and Lalit\u00e2.\n\nTo the east of the Mirzapur District, there is a projecting mass\nof rock, which, looked at from a particular place, bears a rude\nresemblance to a hideous, grinning skull, with enormous teeth. This\nhas come to be known as D\u00e2ntan Deo or \"the deity of the teeth,\"\nand is carefully propitiated by people when they are sick or in\ntrouble. Akin to this deity is Lalit\u00e2, who is worshipped to the west\nof the Province. She is the sister of K\u00e2l\u00ee, and brings bad dreams. Her\nspeciality is her long teeth, and she has sometimes a curious way\nof blowing up or inflating the bodies of people who do not pay her\ndue respect.\n\n\n\nWorship of D\u00fblha Deo, the Bridegroom Godling.\n\nAnother great godling of the Dr\u00e2vidian races is D\u00fblha Deo, \"the\nbridegroom godling.\" In his worship we have an echo of some great\ntragedy, which still exercises a profound influence over the minds\nof the people.\n\nThe bridegroom on his way to fetch the bride, is, by established\nHindu custom, treated with special reverence, and this unfortunate\nbridegroom, whose name is forgotten, is said to have been killed by\nlightning in the midst of his marriage rejoicings, and he and his\nhorse were turned into stone. In fact, like Ganymede or Hylas, he was\ncarried off by the envy or cruel love of the merciless divine powers.\n\nHe is now one of the chief household deities of the Dr\u00e2vidian\npeople. Flowers are offered to him on the last day of Ph\u00e2lgun\n(February), and at marriages a goat. Among some of the Gond tribes\nhe has the first place, and is identified with Pharsipen, the god\nof war. In the native States of R\u00eewa and Sarguja, even Br\u00e2hmans\nworship him, and his symbol or fetish is the battle-axe, the national\nweapon of the Dr\u00e2vidian races, fastened to a tree. In Mirzapur he\nis pre-eminently the marriage godling. In the marriage season he is\nworshipped in the family cook-room, and at weddings oil and turmeric\nare offered to him. When two or three children in the same hamlet\nare being married at the same time, there is a great offering made\nof a red goat and cakes; and to mark the benevolent character of the\ndeity as a household godling, the women, contrary to the usual rule,\nare allowed a share of the meat. This purely domestic worship is\nnot done by the Baiga or devil priest, but by the Tik\u00e2it or eldest\nson of the family. He is specially the tribal god of the Ghasiyas,\nwho pour a little spirits in the cook-room in honour of him and of\ndeceased relatives. The songs in his honour lay special stress on the\ndelicacies which the house-mother prepares for his entertainment. Among\nthe Kharw\u00e2rs, when the newly married pair come home, he is worshipped\nnear the family hearth. A goat is fed on rice and pulse, and its head\nis cut off with an axe, the worshipper folding his hands and saying,\n\"Take it, D\u00fblha Deo!\"\n\nOn the day when this worship is performed, the ashes of the fireplace\nare carefully removed with the hands, a broom is not used, and special\nprecautions are taken that none of the ashes fall on the ground.\n\nGeneral Sleeman gives the legend of D\u00fblha Deo in another form.\n\n\"In descending into the valley of the Narmad\u00e2 over the Vindhya range\nfrom Bhop\u00e2l, one may see on the side of the road, upon a spur of\nthe hill, a singular pillar of sandstone rising in two spires, one\nturning and rising above the other to the height of some twenty to\nthirty feet. On the spur of a hill, half a mile distant, is another\nsandstone pillar not quite so high. The tradition is that the smaller\npillar was the affianced bride of the larger one, who was a youth\nof a family of great eminence in those parts. Coming with his uncle\nto pay his first visit to his bride in the marriage procession, he\ngrew more and more impatient as he approached nearer and nearer,\nand she shared the feeling. At last, unable to restrain himself,\nhe jumped from his uncle's shoulders, and looked with all his might\ntowards the place where his bride was said to be seated. Unhappily\nshe felt no less impatient than he did, and they saw each other at\nthe same moment. In that moment the bride, bridegroom, and uncle were,\nall three, converted into pillars, and there they stand to this day,\na monument to warn mankind against an inclination to indulge in\ncuriosity. It is a singular fact that in one of the most extensive\ntribes of the Gond population, to which this couple is said to have\nbelonged, the bride always, contrary to the usual Hindu custom,\ngoes to the bridegroom in procession to prevent a recurrence of this\ncalamity.\" [279]\n\nThis legend is interesting from various points of view. In the first\nplace it is an example of a process of thought of which we shall find\ninstances in dealing with fetishism, whereby a legend is localized in\nconnection with some curious phenomenon in the scenery, which attracts\ngeneral attention. Secondly, we have an instance of the primitive\ntaboo which appears constantly in folk-lore, where, as in the case\nof Lot's wife, the person who shows indiscreet curiosity by a look is\nturned into stone or ashes. [280] Thirdly, it may represent a survival\nof a custom not uncommon among primitive races, where the marriage\ncapturing is done, not by the bridegroom, but by the bride. Thus,\namong the G\u00e2ros, all proposals of marriage must come from the lady's\nside, and any infringement of the custom can only be atoned for by\nliberal presents of beer given to her relations by the friends of\nthe bridegroom, who pretends to be unwilling and runs away, but is\ncaught and subjected to ablution, and then taken, in spite of the\nresistance and counterfeited grief and lamentations of the parents,\nto the bride's house. [281] It may then reasonably be expected that\nthis custom of marriage prevailed among some branches of the Gond\ntribe, and that as they came more and more under Hindu influence,\nan unorthodox ritual prevailing in certain clans was explained by\nannexing the familiar legend of D\u00fblha Deo.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III.\n\nTHE GODLINGS OF DISEASE.\n\n\n                Kai gar toisi kakon chrysothronos Artemis \u00f4rsen\n                Ch\u00f4samen\u00ea ho oi outi thalysia goun\u00f4 al\u00f4\u00eas\n                Oineus rhex.\n\n                                                      Iliad ix. 533-535.\n\n\nWe now come to consider a class of rural godlings, the deities who\ncontrol disease.\n\n\n\nThe Demoniacal Theory of Disease.\n\nIt is a commonplace of folk-lore and the beliefs of all savage\nraces that disease and death are not the result of natural causes,\nbut are the work of devils and demons, witchcraft, the Evil Eye,\nand so forth. It is not difficult to understand the basis on which\nbeliefs of this class depend. There are certain varieties of disease,\nsuch as hysteria, dementia, epilepsy, convulsions, the delirium of\nfever, which in the rural mind indicate the actual working of an evil\nspirit which has attacked the patient. There are, again, others, such\nas cholera, which are so sudden and unexpected, so irregular in their\nappearances, so capricious in the victims which they select, that they\nnaturally suggest the idea that they are caused by demons. Even to\nthis day the belief in the origin of disease from spirit possession\nis still common in rural England. Fits, the falling sickness, ague,\ncramp, warts, are all believed to be caused by a spirit entering the\nbody of the patient. Hence comes the idea that the spirit which is\nworking the mischief can be scared by a charm or by the exorcism of\na sorcerer. They say to the ague, \"Ague! farewell till we meet in\nhell,\" and to the cramp, \"Cramp! be thou faultless, as Our Lady was\nwhen she bore Jesus.\"\n\nIt is needless to say that the same theory flourishes in rural\nIndia. Thus, in R\u00e2jput\u00e2na, [282] sickness is popularly attributed to\nKhor, or the agency of the offended spirits of deceased relations,\nand for treatment they call in a \"cunning man,\" who propitiates the\nKhor by offering sweetmeats, milk, and similar things, and gives burnt\nash and black pepper sanctified by charms to the patient. The Mahadeo\nKolis of Ahmadnagar believe that every malady or disease that seizes\nman, woman, child, or cattle is caused either by an evil spirit or\nby an angry god. The Bijapur Vaddars have a yearly feast to their\nancestors to prevent the dead bringing sickness into the house. [283]\n\nFurther east in North Bhutan all diseases are supposed to be due to\npossession, and the only treatment is by the use of exorcisms. Among\nthe G\u00e2ros, when a man sickens the priest asks which god has done\nit. The Kukis and Kh\u00e2ndhs believe that all sickness is caused by a\ngod or by an offended ancestor. [284]\n\nSo among the jungle tribes of Mirzapur, the Korwas believe that all\ndisease is caused by the displeasure of the Deoh\u00e2r, or the collective\nvillage godlings. These deities sometimes become displeased for\nno apparent reason, sometimes because their accustomed worship is\nneglected, and sometimes through the malignity of some witch. The\nspecial diseases which are attributed to the displeasure of these\ngodlings are fever, diarrhoea and cough. If small-pox comes of its\nown accord in the ordinary form, it is harmless, but a more dangerous\nvariety is attributed to the anger of the local deities. Cholera\nand fever are regarded as generally the work of some special Bh\u00fbt or\nangry ghost. The Kharw\u00e2rs believe that disease is due to the Baiga not\nhaving paid proper attention to R\u00e2ja Chandol and the other tutelary\ngodlings of the village. The Pankas think that disease comes in\nvarious ways--sometimes through ghosts or witches, sometimes because\nthe godlings and deceased ancestors were not suitably propitiated. All\nthese people believe that in the blazing days of the Indian summer\nthe goddess Dev\u00ee flies through the air and strikes any child which\nwears a red garment. The result is the symptoms which less imaginative\npeople call sunstroke. Instances of similar beliefs drawn from the\nsuperstitions of the lower races all over the country might be almost\nindefinitely extended. Even in our own prayers for the sick we pray the\nFather \"to renew whatsoever has been decayed by the fraud and malice\nof the Devil, or by the carnal will and frailness\" of the patient.\n\nLeprosy is a disease which is specially regarded as a punishment for\nsin, and a Hindu affected by this disease remains an outcast until he\ncan afford to undertake a purificatory ceremony. Even lesser ailments\nare often attributed to the wrath of some offended god or saint. Thus,\nin Sat\u00e2ra, the King Sateswar asked the saint Sumitra for water. The\nsage was wrapped in contemplation, and did not answer him. So the\nangry monarch took some lice from the ground and threw them at the\nsaint, who cursed the King with vermin all over his body. He endured\nthe affliction for twelve years, until he was cured by ablution at\nthe sacred fountain of Devr\u00e2shta. [285] As we shall see, the Beng\u00e2lis\nhave a special deity who rules the itch.\n\nFrom ideas of this kind the next stage is the actual impersonation of\nthe deity who brings disease, and hence the troop of disease godlings\nwhich are worshipped all over India, and to whose propitiation much\nof the thoughts of the peasant are devoted.\n\n\n\nS\u00eetal\u00e2, the Goddess of Small-pox.\n\nOf these deities the most familiar is S\u00eetal\u00e2, \"she that loves the\ncool,\" so called euphemistically in consequence of the fever which\naccompanies small-pox, the chief infant plague of India, which is under\nher control. S\u00eetal\u00e2 has other euphemistic names. She is called M\u00e2t\u00e2,\n\"the Mother\" par excellence; Jag R\u00e2n\u00ee, \"the queen of the world;\"\nPhapholew\u00e2l\u00ee, \"she of the vesicle;\" Kalejew\u00e2l\u00ee, \"she who attacks the\nliver,\" which is to the rustic the seat of all disease. Some call\nher Mah\u00e2 M\u00e2\u00ee, \"the great Mother.\" These euphemistic titles for the\ndeities of terror are common to all the mythologies. The Greeks of old\ncalled the awful Erinyes, the Eumenides, \"the well-meaning.\" So the\nmodern Greeks picture the small-pox as a woman, the enemy of children,\nand call her Sunchoremene, \"indulgent,\" or \"exorable,\" and Eulogia,\n\"one to be praised or blessed;\" and the Celts call the fairies \"the\nmen of peace\" and \"the good people,\" or \"good neighbours.\" [286]\n\nIn her original form as a village goddess she has seldom a special\npriest or a regular temple. A few fetish stones, tended by some\nlow-class menial, constitute her shrine. As she comes to be promoted\ninto some form of K\u00e2l\u00ee or Dev\u00ee, she is provided with an orthodox\nshrine. She receives little or no respect from men, but women and\nchildren attend her service in large numbers on \"S\u00eetal\u00e2's seventh,\"\nS\u00eetal\u00e2 K\u00ee Saptam\u00ee, which is her feast day. In Bengal she is worshipped\non a piece of ground marked out and smeared with cow-dung. A fire\nbeing lighted, and butter and spirits thrown upon it, the worshipper\nmakes obeisance, bowing his forehead to the ground and muttering\nincantations. A hog is then sacrificed, and the bones and offal being\nburnt, the flesh is roasted and eaten, but no one must take home with\nhim any scrap of the victim. [287]\n\nTwo special shrines of S\u00eetal\u00e2 in Upper India may be specially referred\nto. That at Kankhal near Hardw\u00e2r has a curious legend, which admirably\nillustrates the catholicity of Hinduism. Here the local S\u00eetal\u00e2 has\nthe special title of Turkin, or \"the Muhammadan lady.\" There was once\na princess born to one of the Mughal Emperors, who, according to the\ntraditions of the dynasty, when many of the chief ladies of the harem\nwere of Hindu birth, had a warm sympathy for her ancestral faith. So\nshe made a pilgrimage to Hardw\u00e2r, and thence set off to visit the holy\nshrines situated in the upper course of the Ganges. When she reached\nthe holy land of Badarin\u00e2th, the god himself appeared to her in a\ndream, and warned her that she being a Musalm\u00e2n, her intrusion into\nhis domains would probably encourage the attacks of the infidel. So\nhe ordered her to return and take up her abode in Kankhal, where as a\nreward for her piety she should after her death become the guardian\ngoddess of children and be deified as a manifestation of S\u00eetal\u00e2. So\nafter her death a temple was erected on the site of her tomb, and she\nreceives the homage of multitudes of pilgrims. There is another noted\nshrine of S\u00eetal\u00e2 at R\u00e2\u00eawala, in the Dehra D\u00fbn District. She is a Sat\u00ee,\nG\u00e2ndhar\u00ee, the wife of Dhritar\u00e2shtra, the mother of Duryodhana. When\nDhritar\u00e2shtra, through the force of his divine absorption, was consumed\nwith fire at Sapta-srota, near Hardw\u00e2r, G\u00e2ndhar\u00ee also jumped into\nthe fire and became Sat\u00ee with her husband. Then, in recognition of\nher piety, the gods blessed her with the boon that in the Iron Age\nshe should become the guardian deity of children and the goddess of\nsmall-pox in particular. Another noted S\u00eetal\u00e2 in this part of the\ncountry is the deity known as Ujal\u00ee M\u00e2t\u00e2, or \"the White Mother,\"\nwho has a shrine in the Muzaffarnagar District. Here vast crowds\nassemble, and women make vows at her temple for the boon of sons,\nand when a child is born they take it there and perform their vow\nby making the necessary offering to the goddess. One peculiarity of\nthe worship of the Kankhal goddess and of Ujal\u00ee M\u00e2t\u00e2 is that calves\nare released at her shrine. This can hardly be anything else but a\nsurvival of the rite of cattle slaughter, and this is one of many\nindications that the worship of S\u00eetal\u00e2 is a most primitive cult,\nand probably of indigenous origin.\n\nS\u00eetal\u00e2, according to one story, is only the eldest of a band of seven\nsisters, by whom the pustular group of diseases is supposed to be\ncaused. So the charmer Lilith has twelve daughters, who are the twelve\nkinds of fevers, and this arrangement of diseases or evil spirits in\ncategories of sevens or twelves is found in the Chaldaic magic. [288]\nSimilarly in the older Indian mythology we have the seven M\u00e2tr\u00ees,\nthe seven oceans, the seven Rishis, the seven Adityas and D\u00e2navas,\nand the seven horses of the sun, and numerous other combinations of\nthis mystic number. One list gives their names as S\u00eetal\u00e2, Mas\u00e2n\u00ee,\nBasanti, Mah\u00e2 M\u00e2\u00ee, Polamd\u00ea, Lamkariy\u00e2, and Agw\u00e2n\u00ee. [289] We shall\nmeet Mas\u00e2n\u00ee or Mas\u00e2n, the deity of the cremation ground, in another\nconnection. Basant\u00ee is the \"yellow goddess,\" so called probably on\naccount of the colour of the skin in these diseases. Mah\u00e2 M\u00e2\u00ee is merely\n\"the great Mother.\" Polamd\u00ea is possibly \"she who makes the body soft or\nflabby,\" and Lamkariy\u00e2, \"she that hasteneth.\" Agw\u00e2n\u00ee is said to mean\n\"the leader,\" and by one account, Agw\u00e2n, who has twenty-five thousand\nvotaries, according to the last census returns, in the North-West\nProvinces, is the son of R\u00e2ja Ben, or Vena, and the brother of the\nsmall-pox sisters. At Hardw\u00e2r they give the names of the seven sisters\nas S\u00eetal\u00e2, Sedal\u00e2, Runuk\u00ee, Jhunuk\u00ee, Mihil\u00e2, Merhal\u00e2, and Mandil\u00e2, a\nset of names which smacks of some modification of an aboriginal cultus.\n\nTheir shrines cluster round the special shrine of S\u00eetal\u00e2, and the\nvillagers to the west of the North-West Provinces call them her\nKhidmatg\u00e2rs, or body servants. Round many of the shrines again, as at\nKankhal, we find a group of minor shrines, which by one explanation\nare called the shrines of the other disease godlings. Villagers\nsay that when disease appears in a family, the housewife comes and\nmakes a vow, and if the patient recovers she makes a little shrine\nto the peculiar form of Dev\u00ee which she considers responsible for the\nillness. The Br\u00e2hmans say that these minor shrines are in honour\nof the Yogin\u00ees, who are usually said to number eight--M\u00e2rjan\u00ee,\nKarp\u00fbratilak\u00e2, Malayagandhin\u00ee Kauamudik\u00e2, Bherund\u00e2, M\u00e2t\u00e2l\u00ee, N\u00e2yak\u00ee,\nJay\u00e2 or Subh\u00e2ch\u00e2r\u00e2, Sulakshan\u00e2 and Sunand\u00e2. In the Gurg\u00e2on District,\naccompanying images of S\u00eetal\u00e2, is one of Sedhu L\u00e2la, who is inferior\nto her, yet often worshipped before her, because he is regarded as her\nservant and intercessor. Copper coins are thrown behind her shrine into\na saucer, which is known as her M\u00e2lkh\u00e2na or Treasury. Rice and other\narticles of food are placed in front of her shrine, and afterwards\ndistributed to Cham\u00e2rs, the currier caste, and to dogs. [290]\n\nLike so many deities of this class S\u00eetal\u00e2 is on the way to promotion\nto the higher heaven. In some places she is identified with K\u00e2lik\u00e2\nBhav\u00e2n\u00ee, and one list of the seven small-pox sisters gives their\nnames as S\u00eetal\u00e2, Ph\u00fblmat\u00ee, Chamariy\u00e2, Durg\u00e2 K\u00e2l\u00ee, Mah\u00e2 K\u00e2l\u00ee,\nand Bhadr\u00e2 K\u00e2l\u00ee. This has obviously passed through the mill of\nBr\u00e2hmanism. Of these, Chamariy\u00e2 is doubtless allied to Ch\u00e2mar, who is\na vaguely described low-caste deity, worshipped in the North-Western\nProvinces. Some say he is the ghost of a Cham\u00e2r, or worker in leather,\nwho died an untimely death. Chamariy\u00e2 is said to be the eldest and\nPh\u00fblmat\u00ee the youngest sister of S\u00eetal\u00e2. She, by the common account,\ntakes her name from the pustules (ph\u00fbl) of the disease. She brings\nthe malady in its mildest form, and the worst variety is the work\nof S\u00eetal\u00e2 in person. She lives in the N\u00eem tree, and hence a patient\nsuffering from the disease is fanned with its leaves. A very bad\nform of confluent small-pox is the work of Chamariy\u00e2, who must be\npropitiated with the offering of a pig through a Cham\u00e2r or other\nlow-caste priest. The influence of K\u00e2l\u00ee in her threefold form is\nchiefly felt in connection with other pustular diseases besides\nsmall-pox. Earthenware images of elephants are placed at her shrine,\nand her offerings consist of cakes, sweetmeats, pigs, goats, sheep,\nand black fowls. Bhadr\u00e2 K\u00e2l\u00ee is the least formidable of all. The only\nperson who has influence over K\u00e2l\u00ee is the Ojha, or sorcerer, who,\nwhen cholera and similar epidemics prevail, collects a subscription\nand performs a regular expiatory service.\n\n\n\nConnection of S\u00eetal\u00e2 with Human Sacrifice.\n\nIn her form as household goddess, S\u00eetal\u00e2 is often known as Thand\u00ee,\nor \"the cool one,\" and her habitation is in the house behind the\nwater-pots, in the cold, damp place where the water drips. Here she\nis worshipped by the house-mother, but only cold food or cold water\nis offered to her.\n\nThere is, however, a darker side to the worship of S\u00eetal\u00e2 and the\nother disease godlings than this mild household service. In 1817\na terrible epidemic of cholera broke out at Jessore. \"The disease\ncommenced its ravages in August, and it was at once discovered that\nthe August of this year had five Saturdays (a day under the influence\nof the ill-omened Sani). The number five being the express property of\nthe destructive Siva, a mystical connection was at once detected, the\ninfallibly baneful influence of which it would have been sacrilege to\nquestion. On the night of the 27th a strange commotion spread through\nthe villages adjacent to the station. A number of magicians were\nreported to have quitted Marelli with a human head in their possession,\nwhich they were to be directed by the presence of supernatural signs\nto leave in a certain, and to them unknown, village. The people on all\nsides were ready by force to arrest the progress of these nocturnal\nvisitors. For the prophecy foretold that wherever the head fell,\nthe destroying angel terminating her sanguinary course would rest,\nand the demon of death, thus satisfied, would refrain from further\ndevastation in that part of the country. Dr. Tytler says that on\nthat night, while walking along the road, endeavouring to allay the\nagitation, the judge and he perceived a faint light arising from\na thick clump of bamboos. Attracted to the spot, they found a hut\nwhich was illuminated, and contained images of five Hindu gods, one of\nwhich was S\u00eetal\u00e2, the celebrated and formidable Aul\u00e2 B\u00eeb\u00ee, 'Our Lady\nof the Flux,' an incarnation of K\u00e2l\u00ee, who it is believed is one day\nto appear riding on a horse for the purpose of slaughtering mankind,\nand of setting the world on fire. In front of the idol a female child\nabout nine years of age lay on the ground. She was evidently stupefied\nwith intoxicating drugs, and in this way prepared to answer responses\nto such questions as those initiated into the mysteries should think\nproper to propose.\" [291] There is much in this statement which is open\nto question, and it seems doubtful whether, as Dr. Chevers is disposed\nto believe, the case was really one of intended human sacrifice.\n\n\n\nSmall-pox Worship in Bengal.\n\nIn Bengal the divine force antagonistic to S\u00eetal\u00e2 is Shashth\u00ee,\n\"goddess of the sixth,\" who is regarded as the special guardian of\nchildren. The worship of Shashth\u00ee rests on a physiological fact,\nwhich has only recently been applied to explain this special form\nof worship. The most fatal disease of Indian children is a form of\ninfantile lock-jaw, which is caused by the use of a coarse, blunt\ninstrument, such as a sickle, for severing the umbilical cord. This\ndisease usually makes its appearance between the sixth and twelfth\nday of the life of the child, and hence we have the formal rites of\npurification from the birth pollution performed as the Chhath\u00ee on\nthe sixth and the Barah\u00ee on the twelfth day after delivery.\n\n\"In Bengal when small-pox rages, the gardeners are busiest. As\nsoon as the nature of the disease is determined, the physician\nretires and a gardener is summoned. His first act is to forbid the\nintroduction of meat, fish, and all food requiring oil or spices\nfor its preparation. He then ties a lock of hair, a cowry shell,\na piece of turmeric, and an article of gold on the right wrist of\nthe patient. (The use of these articles as scarers of evil spirits\nwill be considered later on.) The sick person is then laid on the\nMajhpatta, the young and unexpanded leaf of the plantain tree, and\nmilk is prescribed as the sole article of food. He is fanned with a\nbranch of the sacred N\u00eem (Azidirachta Indica), and any one entering\nthe chamber is sprinkled with water. Should the fever become aggravated\nand delirium ensue, or if the child cries much and sleeps little, the\ngardener performs the M\u00e2t\u00e2 P\u00fbj\u00e2. This consists in bathing an image of\nthe goddess causing the disease, and giving a draught of the water to\ndrink. To relieve the irritation of the skin, pease meal, turmeric,\nflour or shell sawdust is sprinkled over the body. If the eruption\nbe copious, a piece of new cloth in the figure of eight is wrapped\nround the chest and shoulders. On the night between the seventh and\neighth days of the eruption, the gardener has much to do. He places\na water-pot in the sick-room, and puts on it rice, a cocoanut, sugar,\nplantains, a yellow rag, flowers, and a few N\u00eem leaves. Having mumbled\nseveral spells (mantra), he recites the tale (qissa) of the particular\ngoddess, which often occupies several hours. When the pustules\nare mature, the gardener dips a thorn of the Karaunda (Carissa) in\nsesamum oil and punctures each one. The body is then anointed with\noil, and cooling fruits are given. When the scabs have peeled off,\nanother ceremony called God\u00e2m is gone through. All the offerings on\nthe water-pot are rolled in a cloth and fastened round the waist of\nthe patient. The offerings are the perquisite of the gardener, who\nalso receives a fee. Government vaccinators earn a considerable sum\nyearly by executing the S\u00eetal\u00e2 worship, and when a child is vaccinated,\na portion of the service is performed\"--a curious compromise between\nthe indigenous faith and European medical science. [292]\n\nThe special Tirh\u00fbt observance of the Jur S\u00eetal or \"smallpox fever\"\nfeast will be more conveniently considered in connection with other\nusages of the same kind.\n\n\n\nM\u00e2tang\u00ee Sakt\u00ee and Mas\u00e2n.\n\nWe have already seen that S\u00eetal\u00e2 is in the stage of promotion to the\nBr\u00e2hmanical heaven. Here her special name is M\u00e2tang\u00ee Sakt\u00ee, a word\nwhich has been connected with M\u00e2t\u00e2 and Mas\u00e2n, but really refers to\nDurg\u00e2-Dev\u00ee in her terrible elephant form. Mas\u00e2n or Mas\u00e2n\u00ee is quite\na different goddess. She resides at the Mas\u00e2n or cremation ground,\nand is greatly dreaded. The same name is in the eastern district of\nthe North-Western Provinces applied to the tomb of some low-caste man,\nvery often a Teli or oilman, or a Dhobi or washerman, both of whose\nghosts are generally obnoxious. Envious women will take the ashes\nfrom a cremation ground and throw them over an enemy's child. This is\nsaid to cause them to be \"under the influence of the shadow\" (S\u00e2ya,\nChh\u00e2ya) and to waste away by slow decline. This idea is familiar\nin folk-lore. All savages believe that their shadow is a part of\nthemselves, that if it be hurt the owner of it will feel pain, that a\nman may lose his shadow altogether and thus be deprived of part of his\nsoul and strength, and that vicious people, as in the present case,\ncan fling their shadow upon you and cause you injury. [293]\n\nM\u00e2tang\u00ee Sakt\u00ee, again, appears in at least eight forms--Rauk\u00e2 Dev\u00ee,\nGhrauk\u00e2 Dev\u00ee, Mel\u00e2 Dev\u00ee, Mandl\u00e2 Dev\u00ee, S\u00eetal\u00e2 Dev\u00ee, Durg\u00e2 Dev\u00ee and\nSankar\u00e2 Dev\u00ee, a collection of names which indicates the extraordinary\nmixture of beliefs, some of them importations from the regular\nmythology, but others obscure and local manifestations of the deity,\nout of which this worship has been developed. She is described as\nhaving ears as large as a winnowing fan, projecting teeth, a hideous\nface with a wide open mouth. Her vehicle is the ass, an animal very\noften found in association with shrines of S\u00eetal\u00e2. She carries a broom\nand winnowing fan with which she sifts mankind, and in one hand a\npitcher and ewer. This fan and broom are, as we shall see later on,\nmost powerful fetishes. All this is sheer mythology at its lowest\nstage, and represents the grouping of various local fetish beliefs\non the original household worship.\n\n\n\nJourney forbidden during an Epidemic of Small-pox.\n\nDuring a small-pox epidemic no journey, not even a pilgrimage to a holy\nshrine, should be undertaken. Gen. Sleeman [294] gives a curious case\nin illustration of this: \"At this time the only son of R\u00e2ma Krishna's\nbrother, Khushh\u00e2l Chand, an interesting boy of about four years of age,\nwas extremely ill of small-pox. His father was told that he had better\ndefer his journey to Benares till the child should recover; but he\ncould neither eat nor sleep, so great was his terror lest some dreadful\ncalamity should befall the whole family before he could expiate a\nsacrilege which he had committed unwittingly, or take the advice of\nhis high priest, as to the best manner of doing so, and he resolved\nto leave the decision to God himself. He took two pieces of paper and\nhaving caused Benares to be written on one and Jabalpur on the other,\nhe put them both in a brass vessel. After shaking the vessel well,\nhe drew forth that on which Benares had been written. 'It is the will\nof God,' said R\u00e2ma Krishna. All the family who were interested in the\npreservation of the poor boy implored him not to set out, lest the Dev\u00ee\nwho presides over small-pox should be angry. It was all in vain. He\nwould set out with his household god, and unable to carry it himself,\nhe put it upon a small litter upon a pole, and hired a bearer to carry\nit at one end while he supported the other. His brother Khushh\u00e2l Chand\nsent his second wife at the same time with offerings to the Dev\u00ee, to\nward off the effects of his brother's rashness from the child. By the\ntime his brother had got with his god to Adhart\u00e2l, three miles from\nJabalpur, he heard of the death of his nephew. But he seemed not to\nfeel this slight blow in the terror of the dreadful, but undefined,\ncalamity which he felt to be impending over him and the whole family,\nand he went on his road. Soon after, an infant son of his uncle died\nof the same disease, and the whole town at once became divided into\ntwo parties--those who held that the child had been killed by the Dev\u00ee\nas a punishment for R\u00e2ma Krishna's presuming to leave Jabalpur before\nthey recovered, and those who held that they were killed by the god\nVishnu himself for having deprived him of one of his arms. Khushh\u00e2l\nChand's wife sickened on the road and died before reaching Mirzapur;\nand as the Dev\u00ee was supposed to have nothing to say to fevers, this\nevent greatly augmented the advocates of Vishnu.\"\n\n\n\nObservances during Small-pox Epidemics.\n\nIn the Panj\u00e2b when a child falls ill of small-pox no one is allowed\nto enter the house, especially if he have bathed, washed, or combed\nhis hair, and if any one does come in, he is made to burn incense\nat the door. Should a thunderstorm come on before the vesicles have\nfully come out, the sound is not allowed to enter the ear of the\nsick child, and metal plates are violently beaten to drown the noise\nof the thunder. For six or seven days, when the disease is at its\nheight, the child is fed with raisins covered with silver leaf. When\nthe vesicles have fully developed it is believed that Dev\u00ee M\u00e2t\u00e2 has\ncome. When the disease has abated a little, water is thrown over the\nchild. Singers and drummers are summoned and the parents make with\ntheir friends a procession to the temple of Dev\u00ee, carrying the child\ndressed in saffron-coloured clothes. A man goes in advance with a bunch\nof sacred grass in his hands, from which he sprinkles a mixture of\nmilk and water. In this way they visit some fig-tree or other shrine\nof Dev\u00ee, to which they tie red ribbons and besmear it with red lead,\npaint and curds. [295]\n\nOne method of protecting children from the disease is to give them\nopprobrious names, and dress them in rags. This, with other devices\nfor disease transference, will be discussed later on. We have seen that\nthe N\u00eem tree is supposed to influence the disease; hence branches of it\nare hung over the door of the sick-room. Thunder disturbs the goddess\nin possession of the child, so the family flour-mill, which, as as\nwe shall see, has mystic powers, is rattled near the child. Another\ndevice is to feed a donkey, which is the animal on which S\u00eetal\u00e2\nrides. This is specially known in the Panj\u00e2b as the Jand\u00ee P\u00fbj\u00e2. [296]\nIn the same belief that the patient is under the direct influence\nof the goddess, if death ensues the purification of the corpse by\ncremation is considered both unnecessary and improper. Like Gus\u00e2\u00eens,\nJogis, and similar persons who are regarded as inspired, those who\ndie of this disease are buried, not cremated. As Sir A. C. Lyall\nobserves, [297] \"The rule is ordinarily expounded by the priests to\nbe imperative, because the outward signs and symptoms mark the actual\npresence of divinity; the small-pox is not the god's work, but the\ngod himself manifest; but there is also some ground for concluding\nthat the process of burying has been found more wholesome than the\nhurried and ill-managed cremation, which prevails during a fatal\nepidemic.\" Gen. Sleeman gives an instance of an outbreak of the disease\nwhich was attributed to a violation of this traditional rule. [298]\n\n\n\nMinor Disease Godlings.\n\nThere are a number of minor disease godlings, some of whom may be\nmentioned here. The Benares godling of malaria is Jvarahar\u00eesvara,\n\"the god who repels the fever.\" The special offering to him is what\nis called Dudhbhanga, a confection made of milk, the leaves of the\nhemp plant and sweetmeats. Among the Kols of Chaib\u00e2sa, Bangara is\nthe godling of fever and is associated with Gohem, Chondu, Negra and\nDichali, who are considered respectively the godlings of cholera,\nthe itch, indigestion and death. The Beng\u00e2lis have a special service\nfor the worship of Ghentu, the itch godling. The scene of the service\nis a dunghill. A broken earthenware pot, its bottom blackened with\nconstant use for cooking, daubed white with lime, interspersed with a\nfew streaks of turmeric, together with a branch or two of the Ghentu\nplant, and last, not least, a broomstick of the genuine palmyra or\ncocoanut stock, serve as the representation of the presiding deity\nof itch. The mistress of the family, for whose benefit the worship\nis done, acts as priestess. After a few doggrel lines are recited,\nthe pot is broken and the pieces collected by the children, who sing\nsongs about the itch godling. [299]\n\nSome of these godlings are, like Shashth\u00ee, protectors of children\nfrom infantile disorders. Such are in Hoshang\u00e2b\u00e2d Bijaysen, in\nwhose name a string, which, as we shall see, exercises a powerful\ninfluence over demons, is hung round the necks of children from birth\ntill marriage, and Kurdeo, whose name represents the Kuladevat\u00e2, or\nfamily deity. Among the Kurkus he presides over the growth and health\nof the children in three or four villages together. [300] Acheri, a\ndisease sprite in the Hills, particularly favours those who wear red\ngarments, and in his name a scarlet thread is tied round the throat as\nan amulet against cold, and goitre. Ghanta Karana, \"he who has ears\nas broad as a bell,\" or \"who wears bells in his ears,\" is another\ndisease godling of the Hills. He is supposed to be of great personal\nattractions, and is worshipped under the form of a water jar as the\nhealer of cutaneous diseases. He is a gate-keeper, or, in other words,\na godling on his promotion, in many of the Garhw\u00e2l temples. [301]\n\nAmong the Kurkus of Hoshang\u00e2b\u00e2d, Mutua Deo is represented by a heap\nof stones inside the village. His special sacrifice is a pig, and his\nparticular mission is to send epidemics, and particularly fevers, in\nwhich case he must be propitiated with extraordinary sacrifices. [302]\n\nOne of the great disease Mothers is Mar\u00ee Bhav\u00e2n\u00ee. She has\nher speciality in the regulation of cholera, which she spreads or\nwithholds according to the attention she receives. They tell a curious\nstory about her in Oudh. Safdar Jang, having established his virtual\nindependence of the Mughal Empire, determined to build a capital. He\nselected as the site for it the high bank of the G\u00fbmti, overlooking\nP\u00e2pargh\u00e2t in Sult\u00e2npur. And but for the accident of a sickly season,\nthat now comparatively unknown locality might have enjoyed the\ncelebrity which afterwards fell to the lot of Faiz\u00e2b\u00e2d. The fort was\nalready begun when the news reached the Emperor, who sent his minister\na khilat, to all outward appearance suited to his rank and dignity. The\nroyal gift had been packed up with becoming care, and its arrival does\nnot seem to have struck Safdar Jang as incompatible with the rebellious\nattitude which he had assumed. The box in which it was enclosed was\nopened with due ceremony, when it was discovered that the Emperor,\nwith grim pleasantry, had selected as an appropriate gift an image\nof Mar\u00ee Bhav\u00e2n\u00ee. The mortality which ensued in Safdar Jang's army was\nappalling, and the site was abandoned, Mar\u00ee Bhav\u00e2n\u00ee being left in sole\npossession. Periodical fairs are now held there in her honour. [303]\n\n\n\nHardaul L\u00e2la, the Cholera Godling.\n\nBut the great cholera godling of Northern India is Hardaul, Hardaur,\nHarda, Hardiya or Hardiha L\u00e2la. It is only north of the Jumn\u00e2 that he\nappears to control the plague, and in Bundelkhand, his native home,\nhe seems to have little connection with it. With him we reach a class\nof godlings quite distinct from nearly all those whom we have been\nconsidering. He is one of that numerous class who were in their\nlifetime actual historical personages, and who from some special\ncause, in his case from the tragic circumstances of his death, have\nbeen elevated to a seat among the hosts of heaven. Hardaur L\u00e2la, or\nD\u00eev\u00e2n Hardaur, was the second son of B\u00eer Sinha Deva, the miscreant\nR\u00e2ja of Orchha, in Bundelkhand, who, at the instigation of Prince\nJah\u00e2ng\u00eer, assassinated the accomplished Abul Fazl, the litterateur\nof the court of Akbar. [304] His brother Jhajh\u00e2r, or Jhujh\u00e2r, Sinh\nsucceeded to the throne on the death of his father; and after some\ntime suspecting Hardaur of undue intimacy with his wife, he compelled\nher to poison her lover with all his companions at a feast in 1627 A.D.\n\nAfter this tragedy it happened that the daughter of the Princess\nKanj\u00e2vat\u00ee, sister of Jhajh\u00e2r and Hardaur, was about to be married. Her\nmother, according to the ordinary rule of family etiquette, sent an\ninvitation to Jhajh\u00e2r Sinh to attend the wedding. He refused with the\nmocking taunt that she would be wise to invite her favourite brother\nHardaur. Thereupon, she in despair went to his cenotaph and lamented\nhis wretched end. Hardaur from below answered her cries, and promised\nto attend the wedding and make all the necessary arrangements. The\nghost kept his promise, and arranged the marriage ceremony as befitted\nthe honour of his house.\n\nSubsequently he is said to have visited the bedside of the Emperor\nAkbar at midnight, and besought him to issue an order that platforms\nshould be erected in his name, and honour be paid to him in every\nvillage of the Empire, promising that if he were duly propitiated,\nno wedding should ever be marred with storm or rain, and that no one\nwho before eating presented a share of his meal to him, should ever\nwant for bread. Akbar, it is said, complied with these requests, and\nsince then the ghost of Hardaul has been worshipped in nearly every\nvillage in Northern India. But here, as in many of these legends,\nthe chronology is hopeless. Akbar died in 1605 A.D., and the murder\nof Hardaul is fixed in 1627.\n\nHe is chiefly honoured at weddings, and in the month of Bais\u00e2kh (May),\nwhen the women, particularly those of the lower classes, visit his\nshrine and eat the offerings presented to him. The shrine is always\nerected outside the hamlet, and is decorated with flags. On the day\nbut one before the arrival of a wedding procession, the women of\nthe family worship Hardaul, and invite him to the ceremony. If any\nsigns of a storm appear, he is propitiated with songs, one of the\nbest known of which runs thus--\n\n\n    L\u00e2la! Thy shrine is in every hamlet!\n    Thy name throughout the land!\n    Lord of the Bundela land!\n    May God increase thy fame!\n\n\nOr in the local patois--\n\n\n    G\u00e2nw\u00e2n chauntra,\n    L\u00e2la desan n\u00e2m:\n    Bundel\u00ea des k\u00ea Raiya,\n    R\u00e2\u00fb k\u00ea.\n    Tumh\u00e2r\u00ee jay rakh\u00ea\n    Bhagw\u00e2n!\n\n\nMany of these shrines have a stone figure of the hero represented on\nhorseback, set up at the head or west side of the platform. From his\nbirthplace Hardaul is also known as Bundela, and one of the quarters\nin Mirzapur, and in the town of Brindaban in the Mathura District,\nis named after him. [305]\n\nBut while in his native land of Bundelkhand Hardaul is a wedding\ngodling, in about the same rank as Dulha Deo among the Dr\u00e2vidian\ntribes, to the north of the Jumn\u00e2 it is on his power of influencing\nepidemics of cholera that his reputation mainly rests. The terrible\noutbreak of this pestilence, which occurred in the camp of the\nGovernor-General, the Marquess Hastings, during the Pind\u00e2ri war, was\ngenerally attributed by the people to the killing of beef for the\nuse of the British troops in the grove where the ashes of Hardaul\nrepose. Sir C. A. Elliott remarks that he has seen statements in\nthe old official correspondence of 1828 A.D., when we first took\npossession of Hoshang\u00e2b\u00e2d, that the district officers were directed\nto force the village headmen to set up altars to Hardaul L\u00e2la in every\nvillage. This was part of the system of \"preserving the cultivators,\"\nsince it was found that they ran away, if their fears of epidemics were\nnot calmed by the respect paid to the local gods. But in Hoshang\u00e2b\u00e2d,\nthe worship of Hardaul L\u00e2la has fallen into great neglect in recent\ntimes, the repeated recurrence of cholera having shaken the belief\nin the potency of his influence over the disease. [306]\n\n\n\nExorcism of the Cholera Demon.\n\nMention has been already made of the common belief in an actual\nembodiment of pestilence in a human or ghostly form. A disease\nso sudden and mysterious as cholera is naturally capable of a\nsuperstitious explanation of this kind. Everywhere it is believed to\nbe due to the agency of a demon, which can be expelled by noise and\nspecial incantations, or removed by means of a scapegoat. Thus, the\nMuhammadans of Herat believed that a spirit of cholera stalked through\nthe land in advance of the actual disease. [307] All over Upper India,\nwhen cholera prevails, you may see fires lighted on the boundaries\nof villages to bar the approach of the demon of the plague, and the\npeople shouting and beating drums to hasten his departure. On one\noccasion I was present at such a ceremonial while out for an evening\ndrive, and as we approached the place the grooms advised us to stop\nthe horses in order to allow the demon to cross the road ahead of us\nwithout interruption.\n\nThis expulsion of the disease spirit is often a cause of quarrels and\nriots, as villages who are still safe from the epidemic strongly resent\nthe introduction of the demon within their boundaries. In a recent case\nat Allah\u00e2b\u00e2d a man stated that the cholera monster used to attempt to\nenter his house nightly, that his head resembled a large earthen pot,\nand that he and his brother were obliged to bar his entrance with their\nclubs. Another attributed the immunity of his family to the fact that\nhe possessed a gun, which he regularly fired at night to scare the\ndemon. Not long ago some men in the same district enticed the cholera\ndemon into an earthen pot by magical rites, and clapping on the lid,\nformed a procession in the dead of night for the purpose of carrying\nthe pot to a neighbouring village, with which their relations were the\nreverse of cordial, and burying it there secretly. But the enemy were\non the watch, and turned out in force to frustrate this fell intent. A\nserious riot occurred, in the course of which the receptacle containing\nthe evil spirit was unfortunately broken and he escaped to continue\nhis ravages in the neighbourhood. [308] In Bombay, when cholera breaks\nout in a village, the village potter is asked to make an image of the\ngoddess of cholera. When the image is ready, the village people go in\nprocession to the potter's house, and tell him to carry the image to\na spot outside the village. When it is taken to the selected place,\nit is first worshipped by the potter and then by the villagers. [309]\nHere, as in many instances of similar rites, the priest is a man of\nlow caste, which points to the indigenous character of the worship.\n\nIn the western districts of the North-Western Provinces the rite takes\na more advanced form. When cholera prevails, K\u00e2l\u00ee Dev\u00ee is worshipped,\nand a magic circle of milk and spirits is drawn round the village,\nover which the cholera demon does not care to step. They have also\na reading of the Scriptures in honour of Durg\u00e2, and worship a Sat\u00ee\nshrine, if there be one in the village. The next stage is the actual\nscapegoat, which is, as we shall see, very generally used for this\npurpose. A buffalo bull is marked with a red pigment and driven to the\nnext village, where he carries the plague with him. Quite recently,\nat Meerut, the people purchased a buffalo, painted it red and led\nthe animal through the city in procession. Colonel Tod describes how\nZ\u00e2lim Sinh, the celebrated regent of Kota, drove cholera out of the\nplace. \"Having assembled the Br\u00e2hmans, astrologers and those versed\nin incantations, a grand rite was got up, sacrifices made, and a\nsolemn decree of banishment was pronounced against Mar\u00ee, the cholera\ngoddess. Accordingly an equipage was prepared for her, decorated with\nfuneral emblems, painted black and drawn by a double team of black\noxen; bags of grain, also black, were put into the vehicle, that the\nlady might not go without food, and driven by a man in sable vestments,\nfollowed by the yells of the populace, Mar\u00ee was deported across the\nChambal river, with the commands of the priests that she should never\nagain set foot in Kota. No sooner did my deceased friend hear of her\nexpulsion from that capital, and being placed on the road for B\u00fbndi,\nthan the wise men of the city were called on to provide means to keep\nher from entering therein. Accordingly, all the water of the Ganges\nat hand was in requisition; an earthen vessel was placed over the\nsouthern portal from which the sacred water was continually dripping,\nand against which no evil could prevail. Whether my friend's supply\nof the holy water failed, or Mar\u00ee disregarded such opposition, she\nreached the palace.\" [310]\n\n\n\nCholera caused by Witchcraft.\n\nIn Gujar\u00e2t, among the wilder tribes, the belief prevails that cholera\nis caused by old women who feed on the corpses of the victims of the\npestilence. Formerly, when a case occurred their practice was to go to\nthe soothsayer (Bhagat), find out from him who was the guilty witch,\nand kill her with much torture. Of late years this practice has,\nto a great extent, ceased. The people now attribute an outbreak to\nthe wrath of the goddess K\u00e2l\u00ee, and, to please her, draw her cart\nthrough the streets, and lifting it over the village boundaries,\noffer up goats and buffaloes. Sometimes, to keep off the disease,\nthey make a magic circle with milk or coloured threads round the\nvillage. At N\u00e2sik, when cholera breaks out in the city, the leading\nBr\u00e2hmans collect in little doles from each house a small allowance of\nrice, put the rice in a cart, take it beyond the limits of the town,\nand there it is thrown away. [311]\n\nA visitation of the plague in Nep\u00e2l was attributed to the R\u00e2ja\ninsisting on celebrating the Dasahra during an intercalary month. On\nanother occasion the arrival of the disease was attributed to the\nEvil Eye of Saturn and other planets, which secretly came together\nin one sign of the zodiac. A third attack was supposed to be caused\nby the R\u00e2ja being in his eighteenth year, and the year of the cycle\nbeing eighty-eight--eight being a very unlucky number. [312]\n\nSo the Gonds try to ward off the anger of the spirits of cholera and\nsmall-pox by sacrifices, and by thoroughly cleaning their villages and\ntransferring the sweepings into some road or travelled track. Their\nidea is that unless the disease is communicated to some person who will\ntake it on to the next village, the plague will not leave them. For\nthis reason they do not throw the sweepings into the jungle, as no\none passes that way, and consequently the benefit of sweeping is\nlost. [313]\n\nAn extraordinary case was recently reported from the Dehra Ism\u00e2\u00eel Kh\u00e2n\nDistrict. There had been a good deal of sickness in the village, and\nthe people spread a report that this was due to the fact that a woman,\nwho had died some seven months previously, had been chewing her funeral\nsheet. The relatives were asked to allow the body to be examined, which\nwas done, and it was found that owing to the subsidence of the ground\nthrough rain, some earth had fallen into the mouth of the corpse. A\ncopper coin was placed in the mouth as a viaticum, and a fowl killed\nand laid on the body, which was again interred. The same result is very\noften believed to follow from burying persons of the sweeper caste in\nthe usual extended position, instead of a sitting posture or with the\nface downwards. A sweeper being one of the aboriginal or casteless\ntribes is believed to have something uncanny about him. Recently in\nMuzaffarnagar, a corpse buried in the unorthodox way was disinterred\nby force, and the matter finally came before the courts.\n\n\n\nThe Demon of Cattle Disease.\n\nIn the same way cattle disease is caused by the plague demon. Once\nupon a time a man, whose descendants live in the Mathura District,\nwas sleeping out in the fields when he saw the cattle disease creeping\nup to his oxen in an animal shape. He watched his opportunity and got\nthe demon under his shield, which he fixed firmly down. The disease\ndemon entreated to be released, but he would not let it go till it\npromised that it would never remain where he or his descendants\nwere present. So to this day, when the murrain visits a village,\nhis descendants are summoned and work round the village, calling on\nthe disease to fulfil its contract. [314]\n\nThe murrain demon is expelled in the same way as that of the cholera,\nand removed by the agency of the scapegoat. In the western part of\nthe North-Western Provinces you will often notice wisps of straw tied\nround the trunks of acacia trees, which, as we shall see, possess\nmystic powers, as a means to bar disease.\n\nK\u00e2si B\u00e2ba is the tribal deity of the Binds of Bengal. Of him it is\nreported: \"A mysterious epidemic was carrying off the herds on the\nbanks of the Ganges, and the ordinary expiatory sacrifices were\nineffectual. One evening a clownish Ah\u00eer, on going to the river,\nsaw a figure rinsing its mouth from time to time, and making an\nunearthly sound with a conch shell. The lout, concluding that this\nmust be the demon that caused the epidemic, crept up and clubbed the\nunsuspecting bather. K\u00e2si N\u00e2th was the name of the murdered Br\u00e2hman,\nand as the cessation of the murrain coincided with his death, the low\nHindust\u00e2ni castes have ever since regarded K\u00e2si B\u00e2ba as the maleficent\nspirit that sends disease among the cattle. Nowadays he is propitiated\nby the following curious ceremony. As soon as an infectious disease\nbreaks out, the village cattle are massed together, and cotton seed\nsprinkled over them. The fattest and sleekest animal being singled\nout, is severely beaten with rods. The herd, scared by the noise,\nscamper off to the nearest shelter, followed by the scape bull;\nand by this means it is thought the murrain is stayed.\" [315]\n\nK\u00e2si D\u00e2s, according to the last census, has 172,000 worshippers in\nthe eastern districts of the North-Western Provinces.\n\n\n\nOther Cholera Godlings.\n\nBeside Hardaul L\u00e2la, the great cholera godling, Hulk\u00e2 Dev\u00ee, the\nimpersonation of vomiting, is worshipped in Bengal with the same\nobject. She appears to be the same as Holik\u00e2 or Hork\u00e2 Maiyy\u00e2, whom\nwe shall meet in connection with the Hol\u00ee festival. We have already\nnoticed Mar\u00ee or Mar\u00ee M\u00e2\u00ee, \"Mother death,\" or as she is called when\npromoted to Br\u00e2hmanism, Mar\u00ee Bhav\u00e2n\u00ee. She and Hatth\u00ee, a minor cholera\ngoddess, are worshipped when cholera prevails. By one account she and\nS\u00eetal\u00e2 are daughters of R\u00e2ja Vena. About ten thousand people recorded\nthemselves at the last census as worshippers of Hatth\u00ee and Mar\u00ee in the\nNorth-Western Provinces. Among the jungle tribes of Mirzapur she is\nknown as Ob\u00e2, an Arabic word (waba) meaning pestilence. Mar\u00ee, as we\nhave said, has a special shrine in Sult\u00e2npur to commemorate a fatal\noutbreak of cholera in the army of Safdar Jang. In the Panj\u00e2b Mar\u00ee\nis honoured with an offering of a pumpkin, a male buffalo, a cock, a\nram and a goat. These animals are each decapitated with a single blow\nbefore her altar. If more than one blow is required the ceremony is a\nfailure. Formerly, in addition to these five kinds of offering a man\nand woman were sacrificed, to make up the mystic number seven. [316]\n\n\n\nExorcism of Disease.\n\nThe practice of exorcising these demons of disease has been elaborated\ninto something like a science. Disease, according to the general belief\nof the rural population, can be removed by a species of magic, usually\nof the variety known as \"sympathetic,\" and it can be transferred\nfrom the sufferer to some one else. The special incantations for\ndisease are in the hands of low-caste sorcerers or magicians. Among\nthe more primitive races, such as those of Dr\u00e2vidian origin in\nCentral India, this is the business of the Baiga, or aboriginal\ndevil priest. But even here there is a differentiation of function,\nand though the Baiga is usually considered competent to deal with\nthe cases of persons possessed of evil spirits, it is only special\npersons who can undertake the regular exorcism. This is among the\nlower tribes of Hindus the business of the Sy\u00e2na, \"the cunning man,\"\nthe Sokha (Sanskrit sukskma, \"the subtile one\"), or the Ojha, which\nis a corruption of the Sanskrit Up\u00e2dhy\u00e2ya or \"teacher.\"\n\nLike \u00c6sculapius, Paieon, and even Apollo himself, the successful\nmagician and healer gradually develops into a god. All over the\ncountry there are, as we have seen, the shrines of saints who won\nthe reverence of the people by the cures wrought at their tombs. The\ngreat deified healer in Beh\u00e2r and the eastern Districts of the\nNorth-Western Provinces is Sokha B\u00e2ba, who, according to the last\ncensus, had thirteen thousand special worshippers. He is said to have\nbeen a Br\u00e2hman who was killed by a snake, and now possesses the power\nof inflicting snake-bite on those who do not propitiate him.\n\nExorcisers are both professional and non-professional.\n\"Non-professional exorcisers are generally persons who get naturally\nimproved by a guardian spirit (deva), and a few of them learn the art\nof exorcism from a Guru or teacher. Most of the professional\nexorcisers learn from a Guru. The first study is begun on a lunar or\non a solar eclipse day. On such a day the teacher after bathing, and\nwithout wiping his body, or his head or hair, puts on dry clothes,\nand goes to the village godling's temple. The candidate then spreads\na white cloth before the god, and on one side of the cloth makes a\nheap of rice, and on another a heap of Urad (phaseolus radiatus),\nsprinkles red lead on the heaps, and breaks a cocoanut in front of\nthe idol. The Guru then teaches him the incantation (mantra), which\nhe commits to memory. An ochre-coloured flag is then tied to a staff\nin front of the temple, and the teacher and candidate come home.\n\n\"After this, on the first new moon which falls on a Saturday, the\nteacher and the candidate go together out of the village to a place\npreviously marked out by them on the boundary. A servant accompanies\nthem, who carries a bag of Urad, oil, seven earthen lamps, lemons,\ncocoanuts, and red powder. After coming to the spot, the teacher and\nthe candidate bathe, and then the teacher goes to the village temple,\nand sits praying for the safety of the candidate. The candidate,\nwho has been already instructed as to what should be done, then\nstarts for the boundary of the next village, accompanied by the\nservant. On reaching the village boundary, he picks up seven pebbles,\nsets them in a line on the road, and after lighting a lamp near them,\nhe worships them with flowers, red powder, and Urad. Incense is then\nburnt, and a cocoanut is broken near the pebble which represents Vet\u00e2la\nand his lieutenants, and a second cocoanut is broken for the village\ngodling.\" Here the cocoanut is symbolical of a sacrifice which was\nprobably originally of a human victim.\n\n\"When this is over, he goes to a river, well, or other bathing place,\nand bathes, and without wiping his body or putting on dry clothes,\nproceeds to the boundary of the next village. There he repeats the\nsame process as he did before, and then goes to the boundary of a third\nvillage. In this manner he goes to seven villages and repeats the same\nprocess. All this while he keeps on repeating incantations. After\nfinishing his worship at the seventh village, the candidate returns\nto his village, and going to the temple, sees his teacher and tells\nhim what he has done.\n\n\"In this manner, having worshipped and propitiated the Vet\u00e2las of\nseven villages, he becomes an exorcist. After having been able to\nexercise these powers, he must observe certain rules. Thus, on every\neclipse day he must go to a sea-shore or a river bank, bathe in cold\nwater, and while standing in the water repeat incantations a number\nof times. After bathing daily he must neither wring his head hair,\nnor wipe his body dry. While he is taking his meals, he should leave\noff if he hears a woman in her monthly sickness speak or if a lamp\nbe extinguished.\n\n\"The Muhammadan methods of studying exorcism are different from those\nof the Hindus. One of them is as follows:--The candidate begins his\nstudy under the guidance of his teacher on the last day of the lunar\nmonth, provided it falls on a Tuesday or Sunday. The initiation takes\nplace in a room, the walls and floor of which have been plastered\nwith mud, and here and there daubed with sandal paste. On the floor\na white sheet is spread, and the candidate after washing his hands\nand feet, and wearing a new waist-cloth or trousers, sits on the\nsheet. He lights one or two incense sticks and makes offerings of a\nwhite cloth and meat to one of the principal Musalm\u00e2n saints. This\nprocess is repeated for from fourteen to forty days.\" [317]\n\nFew rural exorcisers go through this elaborate ritual, the object of\nwhich it is not difficult to understand. The candidate wishes to get\nthe Vet\u00e2la or local demon of the village into his power and to make\nhim work his will. So he provides himself with a number of articles\nwhich, as we shall see, are known for their influence over the\nspirits of evil, such as the Urad pulse, lamps, cocoanuts, etc. The\ncareful rule of bathing, the precautions against personal impurity,\nthe worship done at the shrine of the village godling by the teacher,\nare all intended to guard him in the hour of danger. The common village\n\"wise man\" contents himself with learning a few charms of the hocus\npocus variety, and a cure in some difficult case of devil possession\nsecures his reputation as a healer.\n\n\n\nMethods of Rural Exorcism.\n\nThe number of these charms is legion, and most exorcisers have\none of their own in which they place special confidence and which\nthey are unwilling to disclose. As Sir Monier Williams writes\n[318]:--\"No magician, wizard, sorcerer or witch whose feats are\nrecorded in history, biography or fable, has ever pretended to be\nable to accomplish by incantation and enchantment half of what\nthe Mantra-s\u00e2stri claims to have power to effect by help of his\nMantras. For example, he can prognosticate futurity, work the most\nstartling prodigies, infuse breath into dead bodies, kill or humiliate\nenemies, afflict any one anywhere with disease or madness, inspire\nanyone with love, charm weapons and give them unerring efficacy,\nenchant armour and make it impenetrable, turn milk into wine, plants\ninto meat, or invert all such processes at will. He is even superior to\nthe gods, and can make goddesses, gods, imps and demons carry out his\nmost trifling behests. Hence it is not surprising that the following\nremarkable saying is everywhere current throughout India: 'The whole\nuniverse is subject to the gods; the gods are subject to the Mantras;\nthe Mantras to the Br\u00e2hmans; therefore the Br\u00e2hmans are our gods.'\"\n\nAll these devices of Mantras or spells, Kav\u00e2chas or amulets, Ny\u00e2sas\nor mentally assigning various parts of the body to the protection\nof tutelary presiding deities, and Mudras or intertwining of the\nfingers with a mystic meaning, spring from the corrupt fountain head\nof the Tantras, the bible of S\u00e2ktism. But these are the speciality\nof the higher class of professional exorciser, who is very generally\na Br\u00e2hman, and do not concern us here.\n\nA few examples of the formul\u00e6 used by the village \"cunning man\" may\nbe given here. Thus in Mirzapur when a person is known to be under\nthe influence of a witch the Ojha recites a spell, which runs--\"Bind\nthe evil eye; bind the fist; bind the spell; bind the curse; bind the\nghost and the churel; bind the witch's hands and feet. Who can bind\nher? The teacher can bind her. I, the disciple of the teacher, can bind\nher. Go, witch, to wherever thy shrine may be; sit there and leave\nthe afflicted person.\" In these spells Hanum\u00e2n, the monkey godling,\nis often invoked. Thus--\"I salute the command of my teacher. Hanum\u00e2n,\nthe hero, is the hero of heroes. He has in his quiver nine l\u00e2khs\nof arrows. He is sometimes on the right, sometimes on the left,\nand sometimes in the front. I serve thee, powerful master. May not\nthis man's body be crippled. I see the cremation ground in the two\nworlds and outside them. If in my body or in the body of this man\nany ill arise, then I call on the influence of Hanum\u00e2n. My piety,\nthe power of the teacher, this charm is true because it comes from\nthe Almighty.\" In the same way two great witches, Lon\u00e2 Cham\u00e2rin and\nIsm\u00e2\u00eel the Jogi are often invoked. The Musalm\u00e2n calls on Sulaim\u00e2n,\nthe lord Solomon, who is a leader of demons and a controller of evil\nspirits, for which there is ample authority in the Qur\u00e2n.\n\nBut it is in charms for disease that the rural exorciser is most\nproficient. Accidents, such as the bites of snakes, stings of\nscorpions, or wasps are in particular treated in this way, and these\ncharms make up most of the folk-medicine of Northern India. Thus,\nwhen a man is stung by a scorpion the exorciser says--\"Black scorpion\nof the limestone! Green is thy tail and black thy mouth. God orders\nthee to go home. Come out! Come out! If thou fail to come out Mah\u00e2deva\nand P\u00e2rvat\u00ee will drive thee out!\" Another spell for scorpion sting\nruns thus--\"On the hill and mountain is the holy cow. From its dung\nthe scorpions were born, six black and six brown. Help me! O Nara\nSinha! (the man lion incarnation of Vishnu). Rub each foot with\nmillet and the poison will depart.\" So, to cure the bite of a dog,\nget some clay which has been worked on a potter's wheel, which as we\nshall see is a noted fetish, make a lump of it and rub it to the wound\nand say--\"The black dog is covered with thick hair.\" Another plan in\ncases of hydrophobia is to kill a dog, and after burning it to make\nthe patient imbibe the smoke. Headache is caused by a worm in the\nhead, which comes out if the ear be rubbed with butter. Women of the\ngipsy tribes are noted for their charms to take out the worm which\ncauses toothache. When a man is bitten by a snake the practitioner\nsays--\"True god, true hero, Hanum\u00e2n! The snake moves in a tortuous\nway. The male and female weasel come out of their hole to destroy\nit. Which poison will they devour? First they will eat the black Karait\nsnake, then the snake with the jewel, then the Ghor snake. I pray to\nthee for help, my true teacher.\" So, if you desire to be safe from\nthe attacks of the tiger, say--\"Tie up the tiger, tie up the tigress,\ntie up her seven cubs. Tie up the roads and the footpaths and the\nfields. O Vasudeva, have mercy? Have mercy, O Lon\u00e2 Cham\u00e2rin!\" Lastly,\nif you desire an appointment, say--\"O K\u00e2l\u00ee, Kank\u00e2l\u00ee, Mah\u00e2k\u00e2li! Thy\nface is beautiful, but at thy heart is a serpent. There are four\ndemon heroes and eighty-four Bhairons. If thou givest the order I\nwill worship them with betel nuts and sweetmeats. Now shout--'Mercy, O\nMother Kali!'\" It would not be difficult to describe hundreds of such\ncharms, but what has been recorded will be sufficient to exemplify\nthe ordinary methods of rural exorcism. [319]\n\nWhen the Ojha is called in to identify the demon which has beset\na patient, he begins by ascertaining whether it is a local ghost\nor an outsider which has attacked him on a journey. Then he calls\nfor some cloves, and muttering a charm over them, ties them to the\nbedstead on which the sick man lies. Then the patient is told to\nname the ghost which has possessed him, and he generally names one\nof his dead relations, or the ghost of a hill, a tree or a burial\nground. Then the Ojha suggests an appropriate offering, which when\nbestowed and food given to Br\u00e2hmans, the patient ought in all decency\nto recover. If he does not, the Ojha asserts that the right ghost\nhas not been named, and the whole process is gone through again,\nif necessary funds are forthcoming.\n\nThe Baiga of Mirzapur, who very often combines the function of an Ojha\nwith his own legitimate business of managing the local ghosts, works\nin very much the same way. He takes some barley in a sieve, which as\nwe shall see is a very powerful fetish, and shakes it until only a few\ngrains are left in the interstices. Then he marks down the intruding\nghost by counting the grains, and recommends the sacrifice of a fowl\nor a goat, or the offering of some liquor, most of which he usually\nconsumes himself. If his patient die, he gets out of the difficulty\nby saying--\"Such and such a powerful Bh\u00fbt carried him off. What can\na poor man, such as I am, do?\" If a tiger or a bear kills a man,\nthe Baiga tells his friends that such and such a Bh\u00fbt was offended\nbecause no attention was paid to him, and in revenge entered into\nthe animal which killed the deceased, the obvious moral being that\nin future more regular offerings should be made through the Baiga.\n\nIn Hoshang\u00e2b\u00e2d the Bhomka sorcerer has a handful of grain waved over\nthe head of the sick man. This is then carried to the Bhomka, who makes\na heap of it on the floor, and sitting over it, swings a lighted lamp\nsuspended by four strings from his fingers. He then repeats slowly\nthe names of the patient's ancestors and of the village and local\ngodling, pausing between each, and when the lamp stops spinning the\nname at which it halts is the name to be propitiated. Then in the\nsame way he asks--\"What is the propitiation offering to be? A pig? A\ncocoanut? A chicken? A goat?\" And the same mystic sign indicates the\nsatisfaction of the god. [320]\n\nThe Kol diviner drops oil into a vessel of water. The name of the\ndeity is pronounced as the oil is dropped. If it forms one globule\nin the water, it is considered that the particular god to be appeased\nhas been correctly named; if it splutters and forms several globules,\nanother name is tried. The Or\u00e2on Ojha puts the fowls intended as\nvictims before a small mud image, on which he sprinkles a few grains\nof rice; if they pick at the rice it indicates that the particular\ndevil represented by the image is satisfied with the intentions of\nhis votaries, and the sacrifice proceeds. [321]\n\nThe Panj\u00e2b diviner adopts a stock method common to such practitioners\nall over the world. He writes some spells on a piece of paper,\nand pours on it a large drop of ink. Flowers are then placed in the\nhands of a young child, who is told to look into the ink and say,\n\"Summon the four guardians.\" He is asked if he sees anything in the\nink, and according to the answer a result is arrived at. [322] The\nmodus operandi of these exorcisers is, in fact, very much the same\nin India as in other parts of the world. [323]\n\n\n\nExorcism by Dancing.\n\nIn all rites of this class religious dancing as a means of scaring\nthe demon of evil holds an important place. Thus of the Bengal Mu\u00e2sis\nCol. Dalton writes [324]--\"The affection comes on like a fit of ague,\nlasting sometimes for a quarter of an hour, the patient or possessed\nperson writhing and trembling with intense violence, especially at\nthe commencement of the paroxysm. Then he is seen to spring from the\nground into the air, and a succession of leaps follow, all executed\nas though he were shot at by unseen agency. During this stage of\nthe seizure he is supposed to be quite unconscious, and rolls into\nthe fire, if there be one, or under the feet of the dancers, without\nsustaining injury from the heat or from the pressure. This lasts for\na few minutes only, and is followed by the spasmodic stage. With hands\nand knees on the ground and hair loosened, the body is convulsed, and\nthe head shakes violently, whilst from the mouth issues a hissing or\ngurgling noise. The patient next evincing an inclination to stand on\nhis legs, the bystanders assist him, and place a stick in his hand,\nwith the aid of which he hops about, the spasmodic action of the\nbody still continuing, and the head performing by jerks a violently\nfatiguing circular movement. This may go on for hours, though Captain\nSamuells says that no one in his senses could continue such exertion\nfor many minutes. When the Baiga is appealed to to cast out the\nspirit, he must first ascertain whether it is Gans\u00e2m or one of his\nfamiliars that has possessed the victim. If it be the great Gans\u00e2m,\nthe Baiga implores him to desist, meanwhile gradually anointing the\nvictim with butter; and if the treatment is successful, the patient\ngradually and naturally subsides into a state of repose, from which\nhe rises into consciousness, and, restored to his normal state,\nfeels no fatigue or other ill-effects from the attack.\"\n\nThe same religious dance of ecstasy appears in what is known as the R\u00e2s\nMandala of the modern Vaishnava sects, which is supposed to represent\nthe dance of the Gop\u00ees with Krishna. So in Bombay among the Mar\u00e2thas\nthe worship of the chief goddess of the Dakkhin, Tulj\u00e2 Bhav\u00e2n\u00ee,\nis celebrated by a set of dancing devotees, called Gondhalis, whose\nleader becomes possessed by the goddess. A high stool is covered with\na black cloth. On the cloth thirty-six pinches of rice are dropped in\na heap, and with them turmeric and red powder, all scarers of demons,\nare mixed. On the rice is set a copper vessel filled with milk and\nwater, and in this the goddess is supposed to take her abode. Over it\nare laid betel leaves and a cocoanut. Five torches are carried round\nthe vessel by five men, each shouting \"Amb\u00e2 Bhav\u00e2n\u00ee!\" The music plays,\nand dancers dance before her. So at a Br\u00e2hman marriage at P\u00fbna the\nboy and girl are seated on the shoulders of their maternal uncles\nor other relations, who perform a frantic dance, the object being,\nas in all these cases, to scare away the spirits of evil. [325]\n\n\n\nFlagellation.\n\nSo with flagellation, which all over the world is supposed to have the\npower of scaring demons. Thus in the Central Indian Hills the Baiga\nwith his Gurda, or sacred chain, which being made of iron, possesses\nadditional potency, soundly thrashes patients attacked with epilepsy,\nhysteria, and similar ailments, which from their nature are obviously\ndue to demoniacal agency. There are numerous instances of the use of\nthe lash for this purpose. In Bombay, among the Ling\u00e2yats, the woman\nwho names the child has her back beaten with gentle blows; and some\nbeggar Br\u00e2hmans refuse to take alms until the giver beats them. [326]\nThere is a famous shrine at Ghauspur, in the Jaunpur District, where\nthe Ojhas beat their patients to drive out the disease demon. [327]\nThe records of Roman Catholic hagiology and of the special sect of\nthe Flagellants will furnish numerous parallel instances.\n\n\n\nTreatment of Sorcerers.\n\nWhile the sorcerer by virtue of his profession is generally\nrespected and feared, in some places they have been dealt with\nrather summarily. There is everywhere a struggle between the\nBr\u00e2hman priest of the greater gods and the exorciser, who works by\nthe agency of demons. Sudarsan S\u00e2h rid Garhw\u00e2l of them by summoning\nall the professors of the black art with their books. When they were\ncollected he had them bound hand and foot and thrown with their books\nand implements into the river. The same monarch also disposed very\neffectually of a case of possession in his own family. One day he heard\na sound of drumming and dancing in one of his courtyards, and learnt\nthat a ghost named Goril had taken possession of one of his female\nslaves. The R\u00e2ja was wroth, and taking a thick bamboo, he proceeded to\nthe spot and laid about him so vigorously that the votaries of Goril\nsoon declared that the deity had taken his departure. The R\u00e2ja then\nordered Goril to cease from possessing people, and nowadays if any\nGarhw\u00e2li thinks himself possessed, he has only to call on the name\nof Sudarsan S\u00e2h and the demon departs. [328]\n\n\n\nAppointment of Ojhas.\n\nThe mode of succession to the dignity of an Ojha varies in different\nplaces. In Mirzapur the son is usually educated by his father,\nand taught the various spells and modes of incantation. But this is\nnot always the case; and here at the present time the institution\nis in a transition stage. South of the Son we have the Baiga, who\nusually acts as an Ojha also; and he is invariably drawn from the\naboriginal races. Further north he is known as N\u00e2ya (Sanskrit n\u00e2yaka)\nor \"leader.\" Further north, again, as we leave the hilly country and\nenter the completely Br\u00e2hmanized Gangetic valley, he changes into\nthe regular Ojha, who is always a low-class Br\u00e2hman.\n\nIn one instance which came under my own notice, the N\u00e2ya of the village\nhad been an aboriginal Kol, and he before his death announced that\n\"the god had sat on the head\" of a Br\u00e2hman candidate for the office,\nwho was duly initiated, and is now the recognized village Ojha. This\nis a good example of the way in which Br\u00e2hmanism annexes and absorbs\nthe demonolatry of the lower races. This, too, enables us to correct\na statement which has been made even by such a careful inquirer\nas Mr. Sherring when he says [329]--\"Formerly the Ojha was always\na Br\u00e2hman; but his profession has become so lucrative that sharp,\nclever, shrewd men in all the Hindu castes have taken to it.\" There\ncan be no question that the process has been the very reverse of this,\nand that the early Ojhas were aboriginal sorcerers, and that their\ntrade was taken over by the Br\u00e2hman as the land became Hinduized.\n\nIn Hoshang\u00e2b\u00e2d the son usually succeeds his father, but a Bhomka does\nnot necessarily marry into a Bhomka family, nor does it follow that\n\"once a Bhomka, always a Bhomka.\" On the contrary, the position seems\nto be the result of the special favour of the godling of the particular\nvillage in which he lives; and if the whole of the residents emigrate\nin a body, then the godling of the new village site will have to be\nconsulted afresh as to the servant whom he chooses to attend upon him.\n\n\"If a Bhomka dies or goes away, or a new village is established, his\nsuccessor is appointed in the following way. All the villagers assemble\nat the shrine of Mutua Deo, and offer a black and white chicken to\nhim. A Parih\u00e2r, or priest, should be enticed to grace the solemnity\nand make the sacrifice, but if that cannot be done the oldest man\nin the assembly does it. Then he sets a wooden grain measure rolling\nalong the line of seated people, and the man before whom it stops is\nmarked out by the intervention of the deity as the new Bhomka.\" [330]\n\nIt marks perhaps some approximation to Hinduism that the priest,\nwhen inspired by the god, wears a thread made of the hair of a\nbullock's tail, unless this is based on the common use of thread or\nhair as a scarer of demons, or is some token or fetish peculiar to\nthe race. At the same time the non-Br\u00e2hmanic character of the worship\nis proved by the fact that the priest, when in a state of ecstasy,\ncannot bear the presence of a cow, or Br\u00e2hman. \"The god,\" they say,\n\"would leave their heads if either of these came near.\"\n\nOn one occasion, when Sir C. A. Elliott saw the process of exorcism,\nthe men did not actually revolve when \"the god came on his head.\" He\ncovered his head up well in a cloth, leaving space for the god to\napproach, and in this state he twisted and turned himself rapidly,\nand soon sat down exhausted. We shall see elsewhere that the head\nis one of the chief spirit entries, and the top of the head is left\nuncovered in order to let the spirit make its way through the sutures\nof the skull. Then from the pit of his stomach he uttered words which\nthe bystanders interpreted to direct a certain line of conduct for\nthe sick man to pursue. \"But perhaps the occasion was not a fair test,\nas the Parih\u00e2r strongly objected to the presence of an unbeliever, on\nthe pretence that the god would be afraid to come before so great an\nofficial.\" This has always been the standing difficulty in Europeans\nobtaining a practical knowledge of the details of rural sorcery,\nand when a performance of the kind is specially arranged, it will\nusually be found that the officiant performs the introductory rites\nwith comparative success, but as it comes to the crucial point he\nbreaks down, just as the ecstatic crisis should have commenced. This is\nalways attributed to the presence of an unbeliever, however interested\nand sympathetic. The same result usually happens at spiritualistic\ns\u00e9ances, when anyone with even an elementary knowledge of physics or\nmechanics happens to be one of the audience.\n\n\n\nFraud in Exorcism.\n\nThe question naturally arises--Are all these Ojhas and Baigas\nconscious hypocrites and swindlers? Dr. Tylor shrewdly remarks that\n\"the sorcerer generally learns his time-honoured profession in good\nfaith, and retains the belief in it more or less from first to last. At\nonce dupe and cheat, he combines the energy of a believer with the\ncunning of a hypocrite.\" [331] This coincides with the experience\nof most competent Indian observers. No one who consults a Sy\u00e2na and\nobserves the confident way in which he asserts his mystic power, can\ndoubt that he at least believes to a large extent in the sacredness\nof his mission. Captain Samuells, who repeatedly witnessed these\nperformances, distinctly asserts that it is a mistake to suppose that\nthere is always intentional deception. [332]\n\n\n\nDisease Charms.\n\nNext to the services of the professional exorciser for the purpose\nof preventing or curing disease, comes the use of special charms for\nthis purpose. There is a large native literature dealing with this\nbranch of science. As a rule most native patients undergo a course\nof this treatment before they visit our hospitals, and the result\nof European medical science is hence occasionally disappointing. One\nfavourite talisman of this kind is the magic square, which consists\nin an arrangement of certain numbers in a special way. For instance,\nin order to cure barrenness, it is a good plan to write a series\nof numbers which added up make 73 both ways on a piece of bread,\nand with it feed a black dog, which is the attendant of Bhairon, a\ngiver of offspring. To cure a tumour a figure in the form of a cross\nis drawn with three cyphers in the centre and one at each of the four\nends. This is prepared on a Sunday and tied round the left arm. Another\nhas a series of numbers aggregating 15 every way. This is engraved on\ncopper and tied round a child's neck to keep off the Evil Eye. In the\ncase of cattle disease, some gibberish, which pretends to be Arabic\nor Sanskrit, appealing for the aid of Lon\u00e2 Cham\u00e2rin or Ism\u00e2\u00eel Jogi,\nwith a series of mystic numbers, is written on a piece of tile. This\nis hung on a rope over the village cattle path, and a ploughshare is\nburied at the entrance to make the charm more powerful. When cattle\nare attacked with worms, the owner fills a clean earthen pot with\nwater drawn from the well with one hand; he then mutters a blessing,\nand with some sacred D\u00e2bh grass sprinkles a little water seven times\nalong the back of the animal.\n\nThe number of these charms is legion. Many of them merge into the\nspecial preservatives against the Evil Eye, which will be discussed\nlater on. Thus the b\u00e2z\u00e2r merchant writes the words R\u00e2m! R\u00e2m! several\ntimes near his door, or he makes a representation of the sun and moon,\nor a rude image of Ganesa, the godling of good luck, or draws the\nmystical Sw\u00e2stika. A house of a banker at Kankhal which I recently\nexamined bore a whole gallery of pictures round it. There were Siva\nand P\u00e2rvat\u00ee on an ox with their son M\u00e2rkandeya; Yamar\u00e2ja, the deity\nof death, with a servant waving a fan over his head; Krishna with\nhis spouse R\u00e2dh\u00e2: Hanum\u00e2n, the monkey godling; the Ganges riding on a\nfish, with Bh\u00e2g\u00eeratha, who brought her down from heaven; Bh\u00eeshma, the\nhero of the Mah\u00e2bh\u00e2rata; Arjuna representing the P\u00e2ndavas; the saints\nUddalaka and N\u00e2rada Muni; Ganesa with his two maidservants; and Brahma\nand Vishnu riding on Sesha N\u00e2ga, the great serpent. Beneath these\nwas an inscription invoking R\u00e2ma, Lakshmana, the Ganges and Hanum\u00e2n.\n\n\n\nRag Offerings.\n\nNext come the arrangements by which disease may be expelled or\ntransferred to someone else. In this connection we may discuss the\ncurious custom of hanging up rags on trees or near sacred wells. Of\nthis custom India supplies numerous examples. At the Balchha pass in\nGarhw\u00e2l there is a small heap of stones at the summit, with sticks and\nrags attached to them, to which travellers add a stone or two as they\npass. [333] In Persia they fix rags on bushes in the name of the Im\u00e2m\nRaza. They explain the custom by saying that the eye of the Im\u00e2m being\nalways on the top of the mountain, the shreds which are left there by\nthose who hold him in reverence, remind him of what he ought to do\nin their behalf with Muhammad, 'Ali and the other holy personages,\nwho are able to propitiate the Almighty in their favour. [334]\nMoorcroft in his journey to Lad\u00e2kh describes how he propitiated the\nevil spirit of a dangerous pass with the leg of a pair of worn-out\nnankin trousers. [335] Among the Mirzapur Korwas the Baiga hangs rags\non the trees which shade the village shrine, as a charm to bring health\nand good luck. These rag shrines are to be found all over the country,\nand are generally known as Chithariy\u00e2 or Chithraiy\u00e2 Bhav\u00e2n\u00ee, \"Our Lady\nof Tatters.\" So in the Panj\u00e2b the trees on which rags are hung are\ncalled Lingr\u00ee P\u00eer or the rag saint. [336] The same custom prevails at\nvarious Him\u00e2layan shrines and at the Vastra Harana or sacred tree at\nBrindaban near Mathura, which is now invested with a special legend,\nas commemorating the place where Krishna carried off the clothes of\nthe milkmaids when they were bathing, an incident which constantly\nappears in both European and Indian folk-lore. [337] In Ber\u00e2r a heap\nof stones daubed with red and placed under a tree fluttering with\nrags represents Chindiya Deo or \"the Lord of Tatters,\" where, if you\npresent a rag in due season, you may chance to get new clothes. [338]\nThe practice of putting or tying rags from the person of the sick to a\ntree, especially a banyan, cocoanut, or some thorny tree, is prevalent\nin the Konkan, but not to such an extent as that of fixing nails or\ntying bottles to trees. In the Konkan, when a person is suffering from\na spirit disease, the exorcist takes the spirit away from the sick\nman and fixes it in a tree by thrusting a nail in it. We have already\nhad an example of this treatment of ghosts by the Baiga. Sometimes he\ncatches the spirit of the disease in a bottle and ties the bottle to\na tree. [339] In a well-known story of the Arabian Knights the Jinn\nis shut up in a bottle under the seal of the Lord Solomon.\n\nThere have been various explanations of this custom of hanging rags\non trees. [340] One is that they are offerings to the local deity\nof the tree. Mr. Gomme quotes an instance of an Irishman who made a\nsimilar offering with the following invocation: \"To St. Columbkill--I\noffer up this button, a bit o' the waistband o' my own breeches,\nan' a taste o' my wife's petticoat, in remembrance of us havin' made\nthis holy station; an' may they rise up in glory to prove it for us\nin the last day.\"\n\nHe \"points to the undoubted nature of the offerings and their service,\nin the identification of their owners--a service which implies their\npower to bear witness in spirit-land to the pilgrimage of those\nwho deposited them during lifetime at the sacred well.\" Some of the\nIndian evidence seems to show that these rags are really offerings\nto the sacred tree. Thus, Colonel Tod [341] describes the trees\nin a sacred grove in R\u00e2jput\u00e2na as decorated with shreds of various\ncoloured cloth, \"offerings of the traveller to the forest divinity for\nprotection against evil spirits.\" This usage often merges into actual\ntree-worship, as among the Mirzapur Pat\u00e2ris, who, when fever prevails,\ntie a cotton string which has never touched water round the trunk of\na P\u00eepal tree, and hang rags from the branches. So, the Kharw\u00e2rs have\na sacred Mahua tree, known as the By\u00e2hi Mahua or \"Mahua of marriage,\"\non which threads are hung at marriages. At almost any holy place women\nmay be seen winding a cotton thread round the trunk of a P\u00eepal tree.\n\nAnother explanation is that the hanging of the rags is done with the\nobject of transferring a disease to some one else. Professor Rhys\nsuggests that a distinction is to be drawn between the rags hung on\ntrees or near a well and the pins, which are so commonly thrown into\nthe water itself. It is noteworthy that in some cases the pins are\nreplaced by buttons, or even by copper coins. The rags, on the other\nhand, he thinks may be vehicles of the disease. To this Mr. Hartland\nobjects--\"If this opinion were correct, one would expect to find both\nceremonies performed by the same patient at the same well; he would\nthrow in the pin and also place the rag on the bush, or wherever its\nproper place might be. The performance of both ceremonies is, however,\nI think, exceptional. Where the pin or button is dropped into the well,\nthe patient does not trouble about the rag, and vice vers\u00e2.\"\n\nHe goes on to say that \"the curious detail mentioned by Mrs. Evans in\nreference to the rags tied on the bushes at St. Elian's well--namely,\nthat they must be tied with wool--points to a still further degradation\nof the rite in the case we are now examining. Probably at one time\nrags were used and simply tied to the sacred tree with wool. What may\nhave been the reason for using wool remains to be discovered. But it\nis easy to see how, if the reason were lost, the wool might be looked\non as the essential condition of the due performance of the ceremony,\nand so continue after the disuse of the rags.\"\n\nIn reference to this it may be noted that there is some reason to\nbelieve that the sheep was a sacred animal. In Western India high-caste\nHindus wear blankets after bathing. The Kunbis use a mixture of\nsheep's milk with lime juice and opium as a cure for diarrhoea. The\nParheyas of Bengal used to wash their houses with sheep's dung to\nscare spirits. And the use of woollen clothes in certain rites is\nprescribed in the current ritual.\n\nMr. Hartland is inclined to think that the rags represent entire\narticles of clothing which were at an earlier time deposited, and on\nthe analogy of the habit of the witch of getting hold of some part of\nthe body, such as nail-cuttings and so on, by which she may get the\nowner into her power, the rags were meant to connect the worshipper\nwith the deity. \"In like manner my shirt or stocking, or a rag to\nrepresent it, placed upon a sacred bush or thrust into a sacred well,\nmy name written on the walls of a temple, a stone or pellet from\nmy hand cast upon a sacred image or a sacred cairn, is thenceforth\nin constant contact with divinity; and the effluence of divinity,\nreaching and involving it, will reach and involve me. In this way I\nmay be permanently united with the god.\"\n\nIt is quite possible that some or all of the ideas thus given may\nhave resulted in the present practice in India.\n\n\n\nDisease Transference.\n\nDisease is also transferred in an actual physical way. Thus, in\nIreland, a charm or curse is left on a gate or stile, and the first\nhealthy person who passes through will, it is believed, have the\ndisease transferred to him. So, in Scotland, if a child is affected\nwith the whooping cough, it is taken into the land of another laird,\nand there the disease is left. [342] Similarly, in Northern India,\none way of transferring disease is to fill a pot with flowers and\nrice and bury it in a path, with a stone to cover it. Whoever touches\nthis is supposed to contract the disease. This is known as Chalauwa,\nwhich means \"passing on\" the malady. This goes on daily in Upper\nIndia. Often when walking in a b\u00e2z\u00e2r in the early morning, you will\nsee a little pile of earth decorated with flowers in the middle of\nthe road. This usually contains some of the scabs or scales from\nthe body of a small-pox patient, which are placed there in the hope\nthat someone may touch them, contract the malady and thus relieve the\nsufferer. In 1885 it was officially reported that in Cawnpur small-pox\nhad greatly increased from the practice of placing these scales on\nthe roads. At the instance of Government the matter was investigated,\nand it was found that in the early stages of the disease, the Diuli\nceremony is performed at cross-roads; and that at a later period the\ncrusts from smallpox patients mixed with curdled milk and cocoanut\njuice are carried to the temple or platform of the small-pox goddess\nand are dedicated to her. [343]\n\nOne morning, in a village near Agra, I came by chance on two old women\nfiercely quarrelling. On making inquiries, I found that one of them\nhad placed some small-pox crusts from her child on her neighbour's\nthreshold. The people agreed that this was a wicked act, as it\ndisplayed special animus against a particular person. If they had\nbeen placed on the cross-road, and any one had been unlucky enough\nto touch them and contract the disease, it would not have mattered\nmuch--that was the will of God.\n\nSome time ago an indigo planter, near Benares, was astonished by a\nrespectable native friend asking the loan of one of his geese. On\ninquiry he ascertained that his friend's son was suffering from bowel\ncomplaint, and that he had been advised by a native physician to get\na goose, place it in the boy's bed, and that the disease would be\ncommunicated to the bird, with the result of curing the patient. This\nremedy was known in Italy. One of the prescriptions of Marcellus runs:\n[344] \"To those who are suffering from a colic. Let them fasten a\nlive duck to their stomachs, thus the disease will pass from the\nman to the duck, and the duck will die.\" In the same way when any\none wants to set their neighbour's household at variance, a quill\nof a porcupine, which is supposed to be a quarrelsome animal, is\nthrown over the wall. On this principle in Italy a short and simple\nmethod of setting people by the ears is to buy some of the herb\nDiscordia and throw it into a house, when the result is sure to be\na vendetta. [345] In the Indian Hills, in case of illness a stake is\ndriven down into the earth where four roads meet, and certain drugs\nand grains are buried close by, which are speedily disinterred and\neaten by crows. This gives immediate relief to the sufferer. [346]\nHere the idea apparently is, that the disease is transferred to the\ncrow, a sacred bird, and in close communication with the spirits of\nthe sainted dead. So in cases of cattle disease, a buffalo's skull,\na small lamb, fire in a pan, vessels of butter and milk, wisps of\ngrass and branches of the Siras tree (Acacia speciosa) are thrown\nover the boundary of another village and are supposed to carry the\ndisease demon with them. This often causes a riot. [347] In the same\nway, killing buffaloes and putting their heads in the next village\nremoves cholera, and by pouring oil on grain and burning it, the\ndisease flies elsewhere in the smoke. This seems to be one of the\nprinciples which underlie the general practice of fire sacrifice.\n\n\n\nScapegoats.\n\nThis brings us to the regular scapegoat. At shrines of S\u00eetal\u00e2, the\nsmall-pox goddess, sweepers bring round a small pig. Contributions are\ncalled for from the worshippers, and when the value of the animal is\nmade up, it is driven by the people into the jungle, pursued by an\nexcited crowd, who believe that the creature has taken the disease\nwith it.\n\nGeneral Sleeman gives an excellent example of this custom. [348]\n\"More than four-fifths of the city and cantonments of S\u00e2gar had\nbeen affected by a violent influenza, which, commencing with a\nviolent cough, was followed by a fever and in some cases terminated\nin death. I had an application from the old Queen Dowager of S\u00e2gar,\nto allow of a noisy religious procession for the purpose of imploring\ndeliverance from this great calamity. The women and children in this\nprocession were to do their utmost to add to the noise by raising\ntheir voices in psalmody, beating upon their brass pans and pots\nwith all their might, and discharging firearms where they could\nget them. Before the noisy crowd was to be driven a buffalo, which\nhad been purchased by general subscription, in order that every\nfamily might participate in the merit. They were to follow it out\neight miles, where it was to be turned out for anyone who would take\nit. If the animal returned, the disease must return with it, and the\nceremony be performed over again. I was requested to intimate the\ncircumstances to the officer commanding the troops in cantonments,\nin order that the noise they intended to make might not excite any\nalarm and bring down upon them the visit of the soldiery. It was,\nhowever, subsequently determined that the animal should be a goat,\nand he was driven before the crowd. Accordingly, I have on several\noccasions been requested to allow of such noisy ceremonies in cases of\nepidemics, and the confidence the people feel in their efficacy has,\nno doubt, a good effect.\"\n\n\n\nDemons Scared by Noise.\n\nThis incidentally leads to the consideration of the principle that evil\nspirits are scared by noise. In the first place this appears largely\nto account for the use of bells in religious worship. The tolling of\nthe bells keeps off the evil spirits which throng round any place where\nthe worship of the regular gods is being performed. Milton speaks of--\n\n\n    \"The bellman's drowsy charm;\n    To bless the doors from nightly harm.\" [349]\n\n\nSo, the passing bell protects the departing soul as it flies through\nthe air from demoniacal influence. As Grose writes [350]--\"The passing\nbell was anciently rung for two purposes; one to bespeak the prayers\nof all good Christians for a soul just departing; the other, to drive\naway the evil spirits who stood at the bed's foot, and about the house,\nready to seize their prey, or at least to molest and terrify the soul\nin its passage; but by the ringing of that bell (for Durandus informs\nus evil spirits are much afraid of bells), they were kept aloof,\nand the soul, like a hunted hare, gained the start, or had what is by\nsportsmen called 'law.'\" The keening at an Irish wake is probably a\nsurvival of the same custom. But Panj\u00e2bi Musalm\u00e2ns have a prejudice\nagainst beating a brass tray, as it is believed to disturb the dead,\nwho wake, supposing the Day of Judgment has arrived. [351]\n\nAnother fact which adds to the efficacy of bells for this purpose,\nis that they are made of metal, which, as we shall see elsewhere,\nis a well-known scarer of demons.\n\nHence in Indian temples the use of the bell, or resounding shell\ntrumpet, is universal. The intention is to call the divinity and wake\nhim from his sleep, so that he may consume the offerings prepared for\nhim by his votaries, and to scare vagrant ghosts, who would otherwise\npartake of the meal. On the same principle the drum is, as we have\nseen, a sacred instrument. The same is the case with bells. The Todas\nof Madras worship Hiriya Deva, whose representative is the sacred\nbuffalo bell, which hangs from the neck of the finest buffalo in\nthe sacred herd. [352] The Gonds have also elevated the bell into\na deity in the form of Gh\u00e2garapen, and one special class of their\ndevil priests, the Ojhy\u00e2ls, always wear bells. [353] So, the Pat\u00e2ri\npriest in Mirzapur and many classes of ascetics throughout the country\ncarry bells and rattles made of iron, which they move as they walk to\nscare demons. Iron, it need hardly be said, is most efficacious for\nthis purpose. This also accounts for the music played at weddings,\nwhen the young pair are in special danger from the attacks of evil\nspirits. At many rites it is the rule to clap the hands at a special\npart of the ritual with the same purpose. The R\u00e2\u00ead\u00e2si Cham\u00e2rs and\nmany other people shout or sing loudly as they remove a corpse for\nburial or cremation, and there are few magistrates in India who have\nnot been asked for leave by some happy father to allow guns to be\nfired from his house-top to drive evil spirits from the mother and\nher child. Mr. Campbell records that they fire a gun over the back\nof a sick cow in Scotland with the same intention. [354]\n\n\n\nDisease Scapegoats.\n\nTo return to the use of the scape animal as a means of expelling\ndisease. In Ber\u00e2r, if cholera is very severe, the people get a\nscapegoat or young buffalo, but in either case it must be a female and\nas black as possible, the latter condition being based on the fact that\nYamar\u00e2ja, the lord of death, uses such an animal as his vehicle. They\nthen tie some grain, cloves and red lead (all demon scarers) on its\nback and turn it out of the village. A man of the gardener caste takes\nthe goat outside the boundary, and it is not allowed to return. [355]\nSo among the Korwas of Mirzapur, when cholera begins, a black cock,\nand when it is severe, a black goat, is offered by the Baiga at the\nshrine of the village godling, and he then drives the animal off\nin the direction of some other village. After it has gone a little\ndistance, the Baiga, who is protected from evil by virtue of his holy\noffice, follows it, kills it and eats it. Among the Pat\u00e2ris in cholera\nepidemics the elders of the village and the Ojha wizard feed a black\nfowl with grain and drive it beyond the boundary, ordering it to take\nthe plague with it. If the resident of another village finds such\na fowl and eats it, cholera comes with it into his village. Hence,\nwhen disease prevails, people are very cautious about meddling with\nstrange fowls. When these animals are sent off, a little oil, red lead,\nand a woman's forehead spangle are put upon it, a decoration which,\nperhaps, points to a survival of an actual sacrifice to appease the\ndemon of disease. When such an animal comes into a village, the Baiga\ntakes it to the local shrine, worships it and then passes it on quietly\noutside the boundary. Among the Kharw\u00e2rs, when rinderpest attacks the\ncattle, they take a black cock, put some red lead on its head, some\nantimony on its eyes, a spangle on its forehead, and fixing a pewter\nbangle to its leg, let it loose, calling to the disease--\"Mount on\nthe fowl and go elsewhere into the ravines and thickets; destroy the\nsin!\" This dressing up of the scape animal in a woman's ornaments\nand trinkets is almost certainly a relic of some grosser form of\nexpiation in which a human being was sacrificed. We have another\nsurvival of the same practice in the Panj\u00e2b custom, which directs\nthat when cholera prevails, a man of the Cham\u00e2r or currier caste,\none of the hereditary menials, should be branded on the buttocks and\nturned out of the village. [356]\n\nA curious modification of the ordinary scape animal, of which it\nis unnecessary to give any more instances, comes from Kulu. [357]\n\"The people occasionally perform an expiatory ceremony with the\nobject of removing ill-luck or evil influence, which is supposed to\nbe brooding over the hamlet. The godling (Deota) of the place is,\nas usual, first consulted through his disciple (Chela) and declares\nhimself also under the influence of a charm and advises a feast,\nwhich is given in the evening at the temple. Next morning a man\ngoes round from house to house, a creel on his back, into which\neach family throws all sorts of odds and ends, parings of nails,\npinches of salt, bits of old iron, handfuls of grain, etc. The whole\ncommunity then turns out and perambulates the village, at the same\ntime stretching an unbroken thread round it, fastened to pegs at the\nfour corners. This done, the man with the creel carries it down to\nthe river bank and empties the contents therein, and a sheep, fowl,\nand some small animals are sacrificed on the spot. Half the sheep is\nthe property of the man who dares to carry the creel, and he is also\nentertained from house to house on the following night.\"\n\nIt is obvious that this exactly corresponds with the old English\ncustom of sin-eating. Thus we read: [358]--\"Within the memory of our\nfathers, in Shropshire, when a person died, there was a notice given\nto an old sire (for so they called him), who presently repaired to the\nplace where the deceased lay, and stood before the door of the house,\nwhen some of the family came out and furnished him with a cricket on\nwhich he sat down facing the door. Then they gave him a groat, which\nhe put in his pocket; a crust of bread, which he ate; and a full bowl\nof ale, which he drank off at a draught. After this he got out from\nthe cricket and pronounced, with a composed gesture, the ease and\nrest of the soul departed, for which he would pawn his own soul.\"\n\nThere are other Indian customs based on the same principle. [359]\nThus, in the Amb\u00e2la District a Br\u00e2hman named Nathu stated \"that he had\neaten food out of the hand of the R\u00e2ja of Bil\u00e2spur, after his death,\nand that in consequence he had for the space of one year been placed\non the throne at Bil\u00e2spur. At the end of the year he had been given\npresents, including a village, and had then been turned out of Bil\u00e2spur\nterritory and forbidden apparently to return. Now he is an outcast\namong his co-religionists, as he has eaten food out of the dead man's\nhand.\" So at the funeral ceremonies of the late R\u00e2n\u00ee of Chamba, it is\nsaid that rice and ghi were placed in the hands of the corpse, which\na Br\u00e2hman consumed on payment of a fee. The custom has given rise to a\nclass of outcast Br\u00e2hmans in the Hill States about K\u00e2ngra. In another\naccount of the funeral rites of the R\u00e2n\u00ee of Chamba, it is added that\nafter the feeding of the Br\u00e2hman, as already described, \"a stranger,\nwho had been caught beyond Chamba territory, was given the costly\nwrappings round the corpse, a new bed and a change of raiment, and\nthen told to depart, and never to show his face in Chamba again.\" At\nthe death of a respectable Hindu the clothes and other belongings of\nthe dead man are, in the same way, given to the Mah\u00e2br\u00e2hman or funeral\npriest. This seems to be partly based on the principle that he, by\nusing these articles, passes them on for the use of the deceased in\nthe land of death; but the detestation and contempt felt for this class\nof priest may be, to some extent, based on the idea that by the use of\nthese articles he takes upon his head the sins of the dead man. [360]\n\nAgain, writing of the customs prevailing among the R\u00e2jput tribes\nof Oudh which practise female infanticide, Gen. Sleeman writes:\n[361]--\"The infant is destroyed in the room where it was born,\nand there buried. The room is then plastered over with cow-dung,\nand on the thirteenth day after, the village or family priest must\ncook and eat his food in this room. He is provided with wood, ghi,\nbarley, rice, and sesamum. He boils the rice, barley, and sesamum\nin a brass vessel, throws the ghi over them when they are dressed,\nand eats the whole. This is considered as a Homa or burnt offering,\nand by eating it in that place, the priest is supposed to take the\nwhole Hatya or sin upon himself, and to cleanse the family from it.\"\n\nSo, in Central India the Gonds in November assemble at the shrine of\nGansy\u00e2m Deo to worship him. Sacrifices of fowls and spirits, or a pig,\noccasionally, according to the size of the village, are offered, and\nGansy\u00e2m Deo is said to descend on the head of one of the worshippers,\nwho is suddenly seized with a kind of fit, and after staggering\nabout for a while, rushes off into the wildest jungles, where the\npopular theory is that, if not pursued and brought back, he would\ninevitably die of starvation, and become a raving lunatic. As it is,\nafter being brought back by one or two men, he does not recover his\nsenses for one or two days. The idea is that one man is thus singled\nout as a scapegoat for the sins of the rest of the village.\n\nIn the final stage we find the scape animal merging into a regular\nexpiatory sacrifice. Other examples will be given in another connection\nof the curious customs, like that of the Irish and Manxland rites of\nhunting the wren, which are almost certainly based on the principle\nof a sacrifice. Here it may be noted that at one of their festivals,\nthe Bh\u00fbmij used to drive two male buffaloes into a small enclosure,\nwhile the R\u00e2ja and his suite used to witness the proceedings. They\nfirst discharged arrows at the animals, and the tormented and enraged\nbeasts fell to and gored each other, while arrow after arrow was\ndischarged. When the animals were past doing very much mischief, the\npeople rushed in and hacked them to pieces with axes. This custom is\nnow discontinued. [362]\n\nSimilarly in the Hills, at the Nand Ashtam\u00ee, or feast in honour of\nNanda, the foster father of Krishna, a buffalo is specially fed with\nsweetmeats, and, after being decked with a garland round the neck, is\nworshipped. The headman of the village then lays a sword across its\nneck and the beast is let loose, when all proceed to chase it, pelt\nit with stones, and hack it with knives until it dies. It is curious\nthat this savage rite is carried out in connection with the worship\nof the Krishna Cultus, in which blood sacrifice finds no place. [363]\n\nIn the same part of the country the same rite is performed after a\ndeath, on the analogy of the other instances, which have been already\nquoted. When a man dies, his relations assemble at the end of the year\nin which the death occurred, and the nearest male relative dances\nnaked (another instance of the nudity charm, to which reference has\nbeen already made) with a drawn sword in his hand, to the music of a\ndrum, in which he is assisted by others for a whole day and night. The\nfollowing day a buffalo is brought and made intoxicated with Bhang\nor Indian hemp, and spirits, and beaten to death with sticks, stones\nand weapons.\n\nSo, the Hill Bhotiyas have a feast in honour of the village god, and\ntowards evening they take a dog, make him drunk with spirits and hemp,\nand kill him with sticks and stones, in the belief that no disease\nor misfortune will visit the village during the year. [364] At the\nperiodical feast in honour of the mountain goddess of the Him\u00e2laya,\nNand\u00e2 Dev\u00ee, it is said that a four-horned goat is invariably born and\naccompanies the pilgrims. When unloosed on the mountain, the sacred\ngoat suddenly disappears and as suddenly reappears without its head,\nand then furnishes food for the party. The head is supposed to be\nconsumed by the goddess herself, who by accepting it with its load\nof sin, washes away the transgressions of her votaries.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV.\n\nTHE WORSHIP OF THE SAINTED DEAD.\n\n\n                    Aipssa d' ikonto kat' asphodelon leim\u00f4na\n                    Entha te naiousi psychai, eid\u00f4la kamont\u00f4n.\n\n                                                  Odyssey, xxiv. 12, 14.\n\n\nAncestor-worship: its Origin.\n\nThe worship of ancestors is one of the main branches of the religion\nof the Indian races. \"Its principles are not difficult to understand,\nfor they plainly keep up the arrangements of the living world. The\ndead ancestor, now passed into a deity, simply goes on protecting\nhis own family, and receiving suit and service from them as of old;\nthe dead chief still watches over his own tribe, still holds his\nauthority by helping friends and harming enemies; still rewards the\nright and sharply punishes the wrong.\" [365] It is in fact the earliest\nattempt of the savage to realize the problems of human existence,\nas the theology of the Vedas or Olympus is the explanation which\nthe youth of the world offers of physical phenomena. The latter is\nprimitive physics, the former primitive biology, and it marks a stage\nin the growth of anthropomorphism when the worship of unseen spirits\nin general passes to that of unseen spirits in particular.\n\n\n\nAmong the Aryans and Dr\u00e2vidians.\n\nIt is admitted on all sides that this form of worship was general\namong the Aryan nations; [366] but it is a mistake to suppose, as\nis too often done, that the worship was peculiar to them. That such\nwas not the case can be proved by numerous examples drawn from the\npractices of aboriginal tribes in India, who have lived hitherto\nin such complete isolation, that the worship can hardly be due to\nimitation of the customs of their more civilized neighbours.\n\nThus, on the tenth day after a death in the family, the Ghasiyas of\nMirzapur, about the most degraded of the Dr\u00e2vidian tribes, feed the\nbrotherhood, and at the door of the cook-house spread flour or ashes a\ncubit square on the ground. They light a lamp there and cover both the\nsquare and the light with a basket. Then the son of the dead man goes a\nlittle distance in the direction in which the corpse had been carried\nout, and calls out his name loudly two or three times. He invites him\nto come and sit on the shrine which his descendants have prepared for\nhim, and to consume the offerings which they are ready to present. It\nis said that if the deceased died in any ordinary way and not by the\nattack of a Bh\u00fbt, he often calls from the burying ground and says,\n\"I am coming!\" After calling his father's spirit two or three times,\nthe son returns to the house and examines the flour or ashes, and\nif the deceased did not die by the attack of a Bh\u00fbt, the mark of his\nspirit is found on the flour or ashes in the shape of the footprint\nof a rat or a weasel. When this is observed, the son takes a white\nfowl and sacrifices it with a knife near the cook-house, calling\nto the spirit of his father--\"Come and accept the offering which is\nready for you!\" Some of them strangle the fowl with their hands, and\nbefore killing it sprinkle a little grain before it, saying--\"If you\nare really the spirit of my father, you will accept the grain!\" Then\nhe goes on to his father's spirit--\"Accept the offering, sit in\nthe corner and bless your offspring!\" If the fowl eats the grain,\nthere is great rejoicing, as it implies that the spirit has quietly\ntaken up its residence in the house. If the fowl does not eat, it is\nsupposed that some sorcerer or enemy has detained the spirit with the\nultimate object of releasing it some time or other on its own family,\nwith whom it is presumably displeased because they have taken no\ncare to propitiate it. If the soul does not answer from the burial\nground, or if there is no mark on the square of ashes, it is assumed\nthat he has fallen into the hands of some Bh\u00fbt or Pret, who has shut\nhim up in the hollow stalk of a bamboo, or buried him in the earth;\nin any case there is a risk that he may return, and the rite is still\nperformed as a precautionary measure.\n\nAmong the Kharw\u00e2rs the holiest part of the house is the south room,\nwhere it is supposed that the Devat\u00e2 pitri or sainted dead reside. They\nworship the spirits of the dead in the month of S\u00e2wan (August) near\nthe house-fire. The house-master offers up one or two black fowls and\nsome cakes and makes a burnt offering with butter and molasses. Then he\ncalls out--\"Whatever ghosts of the holy dead or evil spirits may be in\nmy family, accept this offering and keep the field and house free from\ntrouble!\" Many of the Kharw\u00e2rs are now coming more completely under\nBr\u00e2hmanical influence, and these worship the Pitri at weddings in the\ncourtyard. The house-master offers some balls of rice boiled in milk,\nand a Br\u00e2hman standing by mutters some texts. They are now so advanced\nas to do the annual service for the repose of the sainted spirits at\nthe Pitripaksha or fortnight of the dead in the month of Ku\u00e2r (August).\n\nThe other Dr\u00e2vidian tribes follow similar customs. Thus, the Korwas\nworship their dead relations in February with an offering of goats,\nwhich is done by the eldest son of the dead man in the family\ncook-house. Their ancestors are said not to appear in the flesh after\ndeath, but to show themselves in dreams if they are dissatisfied\nwith the arrangements made for their comfort. On the day on which\nthey are expected to appear the householder makes an offering of\ncakes to them in the family kitchen. The Pat\u00e2ris think that the dead\noccasionally attend when worship is being done to them. At other times\nthey remain in the sky or wander about the mountains. Sometimes they\ncall in the night to their descendants and say--\"Worship us! Give\nus food and drink!\" If they are not propitiated they give trouble\nand cause sickness. The Kis\u00e2ns and Bhuiy\u00e2rs of Chota N\u00e2gpur adore\ntheir ancestors, \"but they have no notion that the latter are now\nspirits, or that there are spirits and ghosts, or a future state,\nor anything.\" The Bhuiyas revere their ancestors under the name of\nB\u00eer or V\u00eera, \"hero,\" a term which is elsewhere applied to ghosts of\na specially malignant character. The Khariyas put the ashes of their\ndead into an earthen pot and throw it into a river. They afterwards\nset up in the vicinity slabs of stone as a resting-place for them,\nand to these they make daily oblations. The only worship performed by\nthe Korwas of Chota N\u00e2gpur is to their dead relatives, and the same is\nthe case with other allied races, such as the Bh\u00eels and Sant\u00e2ls. [367]\n\n\n\nSpirits Mortal.\n\nMost of these Dr\u00e2vidian tribes believe that like themselves the\nspirits of the dead are mortal. What becomes of them after a couple\nof generations no one can say. But when this period has elapsed\nthey are supposed to be finally disposed of some way or other,\nand being no longer objects of fear to the survivors, their worship\nis neglected, and attention is paid only to the more recent dead,\nwhose powers of mischief still continue. The Gonds go further and\npropitiate for only one year the spirits of their departed friends,\nand this is done even if they have been persons of no note during\ntheir lifetime; but with worthies of the tribe the case is different,\nand if one of them, for example, has founded a village or been its\nheadman or priest, then he is treated as a god for years, and a\nsmall shrine of earth is erected to his memory, at which sacrifices\nare annually offered. [368] It is said that the Ju\u00e2ngs, who until\nquite recently used to dress in garments of leaves, are the only one\nof these tribes who do not practise this form of worship. [369] But\nthese races are particularly reticent about their beliefs and usages,\nand it is more than probable that further inquiry will show that they\nare not peculiar in this respect.\n\n\n\nAncestors Re-born in Children.\n\nAmong many races, again, there is a common belief that the father or\ngrandfather is re-born in one of his descendants. The modern reader\nis familiar with examples of such beliefs in Mr. Du Maurier's \"Peter\nIbbetson,\" and Mr. Rider Haggard's \"She.\" Manu expresses this belief\nwhen he writes--\"The husband after conception by his wife, becomes\nan embryo and is born again of her; for that is the wifehood of a\nwife, that he is born again by her.\" The feeling that children are\nreally the ancestors re-born is obviously based on the principle of\nhereditary resemblance. Hence the general feeling in favour of calling\na child by the name of the grandfather or grandmother, which is about\nas far as the rustic goes in recognizing the ascending line. The\nKonkan Kunbis, and even Br\u00e2hmans, believe that the dead ancestors\nsometimes appear in children. Among Gujar\u00e2t Musalm\u00e2ns the nurse,\nif a child is peevish, says, \"Its kind has come upon its head.\" The\nsame idea is found among the Kh\u00e2ndhs. Among the Laplanders of Europe\nan ancestral spirit tells the mother that he has come into the child,\nand directs her to call it after his name. [370] Another variant of\nthe same belief is that common among some of the Dr\u00e2vidian races that\nthe ancestor is revived in a calf, which is in consequence well fed\nand treated with particular respect.\n\n\n\nThe Sr\u00e2ddha.\n\nThe ordinary worship of ancestors among Br\u00e2hmanized Hindu races has\nbeen so often described in well-known books as to need little further\nillustration. [371] The spirits of departed ancestors attend upon the\nBr\u00e2hmans invited to the ceremony of the Sr\u00e2ddha, \"hovering round them\nlike pure spirits, and sitting by them when they are seated.\" \"An\noffering to the gods is to be made at the beginning and end of the\nSr\u00e2ddha; it must not begin and end with an offering to ancestors,\nfor he who begins and ends it with an offering to the Pitri quickly\nperishes with his progeny.\" The belief is common to many races that the\nspirits of the dead assemble to partake of the food provided by the\npiety of their relations on earth. Alcinous addressing the Ph\u00e6acians\ntells them--\"For ever heretofore the gods appear manifest among us,\nwhensoever we offer glorious hecatombs, and they feast at our side\nsitting by the same board.\" And the old Prussians used to prepare a\nmeal, to which, standing at the door, they invited the soul of the\ndeceased. \"When the meal was over the priest took a broom and swept\nthe souls out of the house, saying--'Dear souls! ye have eaten and\ndrunk. Go forth! go forth!'\" [372]\n\nThe place where the oblation is to be made is to be sequestered,\nfacing the south, the land of departed spirits, and smeared with\ncow-dung. The use of this substance is easily to be accounted for,\nwithout following the remarkable explanation of a modern writer, who\nconnects it with the dropping of the Aurora. [373] \"The divine manes\nare always pleased with an oblation in empty glades, naturally clean,\non the banks of rivers, and in solitary spots.\" The ceremony is to\nbe performed by the eldest son, which furnishes the Hindu with the\nwell-known argument for marriage and the procreation of male issue. We\nhave seen that the Dr\u00e2vidians also regard the rite as merely domestic\nand to be performed by the house-master.\n\nThe orthodox Hindu, besides the usual Sr\u00e2ddha, in connection with\nhis daily worship, offers the Tarpana or water oblation to the\nsainted dead. The object of the annual Sr\u00e2ddha is, as is well known,\nto accelerate the progress (gati) of the soul through the various\nstages of bliss, known as S\u00e2lokya, S\u00e2m\u00eepya and S\u00e2r\u00fbpya, and by its\nperformance at Gaya the wearied soul passes into Vaikuntha, or the\nparadise of Vishnu.\n\nHindus do not allow their sons to bathe during the fortnight sacred to\nthe manes, as they believe that the dirt produced by bathing, shaving,\nand washing the apparel will reach and annoy the sainted dead. The\nstory goes that R\u00e2ja Karana made a vow that he would not touch food\nuntil he had given a maund and a quarter (about one hundred pounds) of\ngold daily to Br\u00e2hmans. When he died he went to heaven, and was there\ngiven a palace of gold to dwell in, and gold for his food and drink,\nas this was all he had given away in charity during his mortal life. So\nin his distress he asked to be allowed to return to earth for fifteen\ndays. His prayer was granted, and warned by sad experience he occupied\nhimself during his time of grace in giving nothing but food in charity,\nbeing so busy that he neglected to bathe, shave, or wash his clothes,\nand thus he became an example to succeeding generations. [374]\n\n\n\nDegradation of Ancestor-worship.\n\nThe worship which has been thus described easily passes into other\nand grosser forms. Thus, in the family of the G\u00e2ikw\u00e2rs of Baroda,\nwhen they worship Mah\u00e2deva they think of the greatest of this line of\nprinces. The temple contains a rudely-executed portrait of Kh\u00e2nd\u00ea R\u00e2o,\nthe shrine to the left the bed, garments, and phial of Ganges water,\nwhich commemorate his mother, Chimn\u00e2b\u00e2\u00ee. Govind R\u00e2o has an image\ndressed up, and Fateh Sinh a stone face. [375]\n\nIn Central India R\u00e2jputs wear the figure of a distinguished ancestor\nor relation engraved in gold or silver. This image, usually that of a\nwarrior on horseback, is sometimes worshipped, but its chief utility\nis as a charm to keep off ghosts and evil spirits. [376]\n\nThe aboriginal Bhuiyas of Chota N\u00e2gpur, \"after disposing of their dead,\nperform a ceremony which is supposed to bring back to the house the\nspirit of the deceased, henceforth an object of household worship. A\nvessel filled with rice and flour is placed for the time on the tomb,\nand when brought back the mark of a fowl's foot is found at the bottom\nof the vessel, and this indicates that the spirit of the deceased\nhas returned.\" [377] This is, as we have seen, common to many of the\nDr\u00e2vidian tribes, and we shall meet instances of similar practices\nwhen we consider the malignant variety of ghosts.\n\nA curious example of the popular form of ancestor-worship is given by\nGeneral Sleeman:--\"R\u00e2ma Chandra, the Pandit, said that villages which\nhad been held by old Gond proprietors were more liable than others to\nvisitation from local ghosts, that it was easy to say what village was\nor was not haunted, but often exceedingly difficult to say to whom the\nghost belonged. This once discovered, the nearest surviving relation\nwas, of course, expected to take steps to put him to rest. But,\"\nsaid he, \"it is wrong to suppose that the ghost of an old proprietor\nmust be always doing mischief. He is often the best friend of the\ncultivators, and of the present proprietor too, if he treats him with\nproper respect; for he will not allow the people of any other village\nto encroach upon the boundaries with impunity, and they will be saved\nall expense and annoyance of a reference to the judicial tribunals\nfor the settlement of boundary disputes. It will not cost much to\nconciliate these spirits, and the money is generally well laid out.\"\n\nHe instances a case of a family of village proprietors, \"who had for\nseveral generations insisted at every new settlement upon having the\nname of the spirit of the old proprietor inserted in the lease instead\nof their own, and thereby secured his good graces on all occasions.\" \"A\ncultivator who trespassed on land believed to be in charge of such a\nspirit had his son bitten by a snake, and his two oxen were seized with\nthe murrain. In terror he went off to the village temple, confessed\nhis sin, and vowed to restore not only the half-acre of land, but to\nbuild a very handsome temple on the spot as a perpetual sign of his\nrepentance. The boy and the bullocks all then recovered, the shrine was\nbuilt, and is, I believe, still to be seen as a boundary mark.\" [378]\n\n\n\nWorship of Worthies.\n\nFrom this family worship of deceased relations, the transition to\nthe special worship of persons of high local reputation in life,\nor who have died in some remarkable way, is easy. The intermediate\nlinks are the S\u00e2dhu and the Sat\u00ee, and the worship finally culminates\nin a creed like that of the Jainas, who worship a pantheon of deified\nsaints, that of the Ling\u00e2yat worship of Siva incarnated as Chambas\u00e2pa,\nor the godlike weaver Kab\u00eer of the Kab\u00eerpanthis. The lowest phase of\nall is the worship by the Halbas of Central India of a pantheon of\nglorified distillers. [379]\n\n\n\nThe S\u00e2dhu.\n\nThe S\u00e2dhu is a saint who is regarded as \"the great power of God,\"\nthe name meaning \"he that is eminent in virtue.\" He is a visible\nmanifestation of the divine energy acquired by his piety and\nself-devotion. We shall meet later on instances of deified holy men of\nthis class. Meanwhile, it may be noted, we see around us the constant\ndevelopment of the cultus in all its successive stages. Thus, in Ber\u00e2r\nat Askot the saint is still alive; at Wadnera he died nearly a century\nago, and his descendants live on the offerings made by the pious; at\nJalg\u00e2nw a crazy vagabond was canonized on grounds which strict people\nconsider quite insufficient. There is, of course, among the disciples\nand descendants of these local saints a constant competition going\non for the honour of canonization, which once secured, the shrine\nmay become a very valuable source of income and reputation. But the\nindiscriminate and ill-regulated deification of mortals is one of the\nmain causes of the weakness of modern Hinduism, because, by a process\nof abscission, the formation of multitudinous sects, which take their\ntitles and special forms of belief from the saint whose disciples\nthey profess to be, is promoted and encouraged. Thus, as has been\nwell remarked, Hinduism lies in urgent need of a Pope or acknowledged\northodox head, \"to control its wonderful elasticity and receptivity,\nto keep up the standard of deities and saints, and generally to prevent\nsuperstitions running wild into a tangled jungle of polytheism.\" [380]\n\nIt would be out of place to give here any of the details of the\nnumerous sects which have been founded in this way to commemorate the\nlife and teaching of some eminent saint. The remarkable point about\nthis movement is that the leaders of these sects are not always or\neven constantly drawn from the priestly classes. Thus the Charand\u00e2sis,\nwho are Krishna worshippers, take their name from Charan D\u00e2s, a Dh\u00fbsar,\nwho are usually classed as Banyas, but claim to be Br\u00e2hmans; Jhambaj\u00ee,\nthe founder of the Bishnois, was a R\u00e2jput; Kab\u00eer, whoever he may have\nbeen, was brought up by a family of Muhammadan weavers at Benares;\nN\u00e2mdeo was a cotton carder; R\u00e2\u00ea D\u00e2s is said to have been a Cham\u00e2r;\nD\u00e2du was a cotton cleaner; many of them are half Muhammadans, as\nthe Chhaju-panthis and Shamsis. It is difficult to estimate highly\nenough the result of this feeling of toleration and catholicism on\nthe progress of modern Hinduism.\n\n\n\nMiracle-working Tombs.\n\nThese saints have wrested from the reluctant gods by sheer piety and\nrelentless austerities, a portion of the divine thaumaturgic power,\nwhich exudes after their death from the places where their bodies are\nlaid. This is the case with the shrines of both Hindu and Musalm\u00e2n\nsaints. Many instances of this will be found in succeeding pages. Thus\nat Chun\u00e2r there is a famous shrine in honour of Sh\u00e2h Q\u00e2sim Sulaim\u00e2ni,\n[381] a local saint whose opinions were so displeasing to Akbar that\nhe imprisoned him here till his death in 1614 A.D. His cap and turban\nare still shown at his tomb, and these, when gently rubbed by one\nof his disciples, pour out a divine influence through the assembled\nmultitude of votaries, many of whom are Hindus. This holy influence\nextends even to the animal kingdom. Thus the tomb of the saint Nirgan\nSh\u00e2h at Sarauli in the Bareilly District abounds in scorpions, which\nbite no one through the virtue of the saint.\n\nHindu saints of the same class are so directly imbued with the\ndivine afflatus that they need not the purifying influence of fire,\nand are buried, not cremated. Their Sam\u00e2dhi or final resting-place\nis usually represented by a pile of earth, or a tomb or tumulus of\na conical or circular form. Others, again, like some of the Gus\u00e2\u00eens,\nare after death enclosed in a box of stone and consigned to the waters\nof the Ganges. These shrines are generally occupied by a disciple or\nactual descendant of the saint, and there vows and prayers are made\nand offerings presented.\n\n\n\nThe Sat\u00ee.\n\nThe next link between ancestor-worship and that of special deceased\nworthies is seen in the Sat\u00ee, or \"faithful wife,\" who, before the\npractice was prohibited by our Government, was bound to bear her\ndeceased lord company to the world of spirits for his consolation and\nservice. The rite seems to have at one time prevailed throughout the\nAryan world. [382] It undoubtedly prevailed in Slavonic lands, [383]\nand there are even traces of it in Greece. Evadne is said to have\nburnt herself with the body of her husband, Capaneus, and Oenone,\naccording to one account, leaped into the pyre on which the body\nof Paris was being cremated. There are indications that the rite\nprevailed among the Dr\u00e2vidian races, and it has been suggested that\nthe Hindus may have adopted it from them. Even to the present day\namong some of the Bh\u00eel tribes the wife of the dead man is carried\nalong with him on the bier to the burning ground, where she is laid\ndown. There she breaks her marriage necklace, and her ornaments are\nconsumed with the corpse of her husband, obviously a survival of the\ntime when she was actually burnt with him. [384]\n\nIt is unnecessary here to enter into the controversy whether or not\nthe rite was based on a misinterpretation or perversion of one of the\nsacred texts. That in old times the Sat\u00ee was treated with exceptional\nhonour is certain. In some places she went to the burning ground\nrichly dressed, scattering money and flowers, and calling out the\nnames of the deities, with music sounding and drums beating. In some\nplaces she used to mark with her hands the gateways and walls of the\nchief temple, and she sometimes marked in the same way a stone for\nher descendants to worship, a practice to which reference will be made\nlater on. On such stones it was the custom to carve a representation\nof her, and in many places a Chhatri, or ornamental cenotaph pavilion,\nwas erected in her honour. The small shrines in honour of the village\nSat\u00ee are found often in considerable numbers on the banks of tanks\nall over Upper India. They are visited by women at marriages and other\nfestivals, and are periodically repaired and kept in order. According\nto Mr. Ibbetson, [385] in the Delhi territory, these shrines take the\nplace of those dedicated to the Pitri, or sainted dead. They often\ncontain a representation in stone of the lord and his faithful spouse,\nand one of his arms rests affectionately on her neck. Sometimes, if he\ndied in battle, he is mounted on his war steed and she walks beside\nhim; but her worshippers are not always careful in identifying her\nshrine, and I have seen at least one undoubted Revenue Survey pillar\ndoing duty as a monument to some unnamed local divinity of this class.\n\nAmong the warrior tribes of R\u00e2jput\u00e2na, the Sat\u00ee shrine usually takes\nthe form of a monument, on which is carved the warrior on his charger,\nwith his wife standing beside him, and the images of the sun and the\nmoon on either side, emblematical of never-dying fame. Such places\nare the scene of many a ghostly legend. As Col. Tod writes in his\nsentimental way [386]--\"Among the altars on which have burnt the\nbeautiful and brave, the harpy or D\u00e2kin\u00ee takes up her abode, and stalks\nforth to devour the heart of her victims.\" The R\u00e2jput never enters\nthese places of silence, but to perform stated rites or anniversary\nofferings of flowers and water to the manes of his ancestors. There\nis a peculiarly beautiful Sat\u00ee necropolis at Udaypur, and the Sat\u00ee\nBurj, or tower at Mathura, erected in honour of the queen of R\u00e2ja\nBih\u00e2r Mal of Jaypur in 1570 A.D., is one of the chief ornaments of\nthe city. [387]\n\n\n\nThe Sat\u00ee and the Pitri.\n\nThe connection between the special worship of the Sat\u00ee and that of the\nPitri or sainted dead will have been remarked. In many places the Sat\u00ee\nrepresents the company of the venerated ancestors and is regarded as\nthe guardian mother of the village, and in many of the rustic shrines\nof this class the same connection with the Pitri is shown in another\ninteresting way. The snake is, as we shall see, regarded as a type\nof the household deity, which is often one of the deified ancestors,\nand so, in the Sat\u00ee shrine we often see a snake delineated in the\nact of rising out of the masonry, as if it were the guardian mother\nsnake arising to receive the devotion of her descendants.\n\nThe Sat\u00ee having thus secured the honour of deification by her\nsacrifice, is able to protect her worshippers and gratify their\ndesires. Some are even the subject of special honour, such as\nSakh\u00fb B\u00e2\u00ee, who is worshipped at Akola. [388] Even the Dr\u00e2vidian\nKaurs of Sarguja worship a deified Sat\u00ee, another link connecting\nthe cultus with the aboriginal races. She has a sacred grove,\nand every year a fowl is sacrificed to her, and every third year\na goat. Col. Dalton [389] observes that the Hindus who accompanied\nhim were intensely amused at the idea of offering fowls to a Sat\u00ee,\nwho is accustomed to the simpler bloodless tribute of milk, cakes,\nfruit and flowers. This is the form of the offering at Jilmili, the\nSat\u00ee shrines belonging to the local R\u00e2ja. The curses of a dying Sat\u00ee\nwere greatly feared. Numerous instances of families ruined in this\nway are told both in R\u00e2jput\u00e2na and in Nep\u00e2l, the last places where\nthe rite is occasionally performed. [390]\n\nThe arrangements for the cremation varied in different places. In\nWestern India she sat in a specially built grass hut, and keeping her\nhusband's head in her lap, supported it with her right hand, while\nshe kindled the hut with a torch held in her left hand. Nowadays in\nNep\u00e2l the husband and the Sat\u00ee are made to lie side by side on the\npyre. The woman's right hand is put under the husband's neck, and\nround her face are placed all kinds of inflammable substances. Three\nlong poles of undried wood are laid over the bodies--one over the\nlegs, the second over the chest, and the third over the neck. Three\nmen on either side press down the poles till the woman is burnt to\ndeath. There have been cases in which the wretched victim tried to\nescape, and was dragged back by force to her death.\n\nA curious modification of the practice of Sat\u00ee, which so far has been\ntraced only in R\u00e2jput\u00e2na, is what is known as M\u00e2 Sat\u00ee, or mother Sat\u00ee,\nwhere the mother immolates herself with her dead child. Colonel Powlett\n[391] remarks that in inquiring about it one is often told that it is\nreally Mah\u00e2 Sat\u00ee, or \"the great Sat\u00ee.\" He adds that there can be no\ndoubt that mother Sat\u00ee really prevails, but was confined to the sandy\nand desert tract, where domestic affection is said to be stronger\nthan elsewhere. \"In one large remote village I found five monuments\nto Mother Sat\u00ees, one a Chhatri or pavilion of some pretensions. A\nR\u00e2jput lady from Jaysalmer was on a visit to her father's family\nwith her youngest son. The boy was thrown when exercising his pony,\ndragged in the stirrup and killed. His mother became Sat\u00ee with her\nson's body, and probably her example, for she was a person of some\nrank, led to the subsequent practice of M\u00e2 Sat\u00ee in the same district.\"\n\n\n\nModern Saints.\n\nWe have already noticed some instances of the canonization in modern\ntimes of saints and holy men. Of worthies of this kind, who have\nreceived divine honours, the number is legion. This deification of\nhuman beings is found in the very early Br\u00e2hmanical literature. One\nof the most noteworthy ideas to be found in the Br\u00e2hmanas is that\nthe gods were merely mortal till they conquered Death by their\nsacrifices. Death, alarmed, protested to the gods, and it was then\narranged that no one should become immortal by the force of his piety\nwithout first offering his body to Death. Manu declares that \"from\nhis birth alone a Br\u00e2hman is regarded as a divinity, even by the\ngods.\" [392] Modern practice supports this by calling him Mah\u00e2-r\u00e2ja\nor \"Great king,\" and he rises to heaven as a deity, like many of the\nfamous kings of old. [393] In the same way the Etruscans had certain\nrites through which the souls of men could become gods and were\ncalled Dii Animales, because they had once been human souls. Quite in\nconsonance with Indian practice they first became Penates and Lares\nbefore they rose to the rank of the superior deities. [394]\n\n\n\nDeification in Modern Times.\n\nA few examples of modern deification may be given to illustrate this\nphase of the popular faith. Thus, one Gauhar Sh\u00e2h was quite recently\ncanonized at Meerut because he delivered a prophecy that a windmill\nbelonging to a certain Mr. Smith would soon cease to work. The\nfulfilment of his prediction was considered ample evidence of his\nsanctity, and the question was put beyond the possibility of doubt\nwhen, just before his death, the holy man directed his disciples to\nremove him from an inn, which immediately fell down. Another saint\nof the same place is said to have given five years of his life to the\nnotorious Begam Samru, who died in 1836, in all the odour of sanctity.\n\n\n\nShaikh B\u00fbrhan.\n\nShaikh B\u00fbrhan, a saint of Amber, was offered a drink of milk by Mokul,\none of the Shaikh\u00e2wat chiefs, and immediately performed the miracle of\ndrawing a copious stream of milk from the udder of an exhausted female\nbuffalo. \"This was sufficient to convince the old chief that he could\nwork other miracles, and he prayed that through his means he might no\nlonger be childless. In due time he had an heir, who, according to the\ninjunction of B\u00fbrhan, was styled, after his own tribe, Shaikh, whence\nthe title of the clan. He directed that the child should wear the cross\nstrings (baddiya) worn by Muhammadan children, which, when laid aside,\nwere to be deposited at the saint's shrine, and further that he should\nassume the blue tunic and cap, abstain from hog's flesh, and eat no\nmeat in which the blood remained. He also ordained that at the birth\nof every Shaikh\u00e2wat a goat should be sacrificed, the Isl\u00e2mite creed or\nKalima recited, and the child sprinkled with the blood.\" These customs\nare still observed, and the Shaikh's shrine is still a sanctuary,\nwhile his descendants enjoy lands specially assigned to them. [395]\n\n\n\nSal\u00eem Chishti.\n\nThe power of conferring male offspring has made the reputation of many\nsaints of this class, like the famous Sal\u00eem Chishti of Fatehpur S\u00eekri,\nwhose prayers were efficacious in procuring an heir for the Emperor\nAkbar. Up to the present day childless women visit his shrine and hang\nrags on the delicate marble traceries of his tomb to mark their vows.\n\n\n\nDeification of Noted Persons.\n\nBesides this sainthood which is based on sanctity of life and approved\nthaumaturgic powers, the right of deification is conferred on persons\nwho have been eminent or notorious in their lives, or who have died\nin some extraordinary or notorious way. All or nearly all the deified\nsaints of Northern India may be grouped under one or other of these\ncategories.\n\n\n\nHarshu P\u00e2nr\u00ea.\n\nWe have already given an instance of the second class in Hardaul L\u00e2la,\nthe cholera godling. Another example of the same kind is that of Harshu\nP\u00e2nr\u00ea or Harshu B\u00e2ba, the local god of Chayanpur, near Sahsar\u00e2m in\nBengal, whose worship is now rapidly spreading over Northern India, and\npromises to become as widely diffused as that of Hardaul himself. He\nwas, according to the current account, a Kanaujiya Br\u00e2hman, the family\npriest of R\u00e2ja S\u00e2liv\u00e2hana of Chayanpur. The R\u00e2ja had two queens, one of\nwhom was jealous of the priest's influence. About this time the priest\nbuilt a fine house close to the palace, and one night the R\u00e2ja and the\nR\u00e2n\u00ee saw a light from its upper story gleaming aloft in the sky. The\nR\u00e2n\u00ee hinted to the R\u00e2ja that the priest had designs of ousting his\nmaster from the kingdom; so the R\u00e2ja had his house demolished and\nresumed the lands which had been conferred upon him. The enraged\nBr\u00e2hman did dharn\u00e2, in other words fasted till he died at the palace\ngate. This tragical event occurred in 1427 A.D., and when they took his\nbody for cremation at Benares, they found Harshu standing in his wooden\nsandals on the steps of the burning Gh\u00e2t. He then informed them that\nhe had become a Brahm, or malignant Br\u00e2hman ghost. The R\u00e2ja's daughter\nhad been kind to the Br\u00e2hman in his misfortunes and he blessed her,\nso that her family exists in prosperity to this day. But the rest\nof his house was destroyed, and now only the gateway at which the\nBr\u00e2hman died remains to commemorate the tragedy. [396]\n\nHarshu is now worshipped as a Brahm with the fire sacrifice and\nofferings of Br\u00e2hmanical cords and sweetmeats. If any one obtains his\ndesires through his intercession, he makes an offering of a golden\nsacred cord and a silken waist-string, and feeds Br\u00e2hmans in his\nhonour. Harshu's speciality is exorcising evil spirits which attack\npeople and cause disease. Such spirits are usually of low caste and\ncannot withstand the influence of this deified Br\u00e2hman.\n\n\n\nRatan P\u00e2nr\u00ea.\n\nAnother worthy, whose legend much resembles that of Harshu, is Ratan\nP\u00e2nr\u00ea, who is venerated by the Kalhans R\u00e2jputs of Oudh. The last of\nthe race, R\u00e2ja Achal N\u00e2r\u00e2yan Sinh, ravished the daughter of Ratan\nP\u00e2nr\u00ea. He pleaded in vain to the wicked R\u00e2ja for reparation, and at\nlast he and his wife starved themselves to death at the gate of the\nfort. He too, like Harshu, spared a princess of the R\u00e2ja's house,\nbut he cursed the rest of his family with ruin. After he died his\nghost went to the river Sarj\u00fb and claimed her assistance in revenging\nhimself on the R\u00e2ja. She at last consented to help him, provided\nhe could get the R\u00e2ja into his power by inducing him to accept some\npresent from him. So he went to the R\u00e2ja's family priest and induced\nhim to take from him a sacred cord with which he was to invest the\nR\u00e2ja. When Achal N\u00e2r\u00e2yan Sinh heard to whom he was indebted for the\ngift he flung it away in terror. But soon after an angry wave rushed\nfrom the Sarj\u00fb, and on its crest sat the wraith of Ratan P\u00e2nr\u00ea. It\nswept away his palace and left not a soul of his household alive. [397]\n\n\n\nMahen\u00ee.\n\nThere is a similar case among the Hayobans R\u00e2jputs of Gh\u00e2zipur. In\n1528 A.D. their R\u00e2ja Bhopat Deva, or perhaps one of his sons, seduced\nMahen\u00ee, a Br\u00e2hman girl, a relation of their family priest. She burned\nherself to death, and in dying, imprecated the most fearful curses on\nthe Hayobans sept. In consequence of a succession of disasters which\nfollowed, the tribe completely abandoned their family settlement\nat Baliya, where the woman's tomb is worshipped to this day. Even\nnow none of the sept dares to enter the precincts of their former\nhome. In the same way, in the case of Harshu P\u00e2nr\u00ea no pilgrim will\neat or drink near his tomb, as the place is accursed through the\nmurder of a Br\u00e2hman. [398]\n\nThere are numerous other cases of this deification of suicide Br\u00e2hmans\nin Northern India. The forms in which they sought vengeance by their\ndeath on their persecutors are diversified in the extreme. There is\na case of a Br\u00e2hman in the Part\u00e2bgarh District who, when turned out\nof his land, to avenge himself, gathered a heap of cow-dung in the\ncentre of one of the fields and lay down on it till he was devoured\nby worms. This happened sixty years ago, but his fields still stand\na waste of jungle grass in the midst of rich cultivation, and neither\nHindu nor Muhammadan dares to plough them. [399]\n\nAt the last census of the North-Western Provinces over four hundred\nthousand people recorded themselves as worshippers of various forms\nof the Brahm or malignant Br\u00e2hman ghost. Most of these are R\u00e2jputs,\nwho were probably the most violent oppressors of Br\u00e2hmans in the\nolden days.\n\n\n\nN\u00e2har Kh\u00e2n.\n\nAnother instance of the same type may be given from R\u00e2jput\u00e2na. Jaswant\nSinh of M\u00e2rw\u00e2r had an intrigue with the daughter of one of his chief\nofficers. \"But the avenging ghost of the Br\u00e2hman interposed between\nhim and his wishes; a dreadful struggle ensued, in which Jaswant\nlost his senses, and no effort could banish the impression from his\nmind. The ghost persecuted his fancy, and he was generally believed\nto be possessed of a wicked spirit, which when exorcised was made to\nsay he would depart only on the sacrifice of a chief equal in dignity\nto Jaswant. N\u00e2har Kh\u00e2n, 'the tiger lord,' chief of the Kump\u00e2wat clan,\nwho led the van in all his battles, immediately offered his head in\nexpiation for his prince; and he had no sooner expressed his loyal\ndetermination, than the holy man who exorcised the spirit, caused\nit to descend into a vessel of water, and having waved it round his\nhead, they presented it to N\u00e2har Kh\u00e2n, who drank it off, and Jaswant's\nsenses were instantly restored. This miraculous transfer of the ghost\nis implicitly believed by every chief of R\u00e2jasth\u00e2n, by whom N\u00e2har\nKh\u00e2n is called 'the faithful of the faithful,' and worshipped as a\nlocal god.\" [400]\n\n\n\nGang\u00e2n\u00e2th and Bholan\u00e2th.\n\nTwo other godlings of the Hills owe their promotion to the tragic\ncircumstances of their deaths. Gang\u00e2n\u00e2th was a R\u00e2ja's son, who\nquarrelled with his father and became a religious mendicant. He\nsubsequently fell into an intrigue with the wife of an astrologer,\nwho murdered him and his paramour. They both became malignant ghosts,\nto whom numerous temples were erected. When anyone is injured by the\nwicked or powerful, he has recourse to Gang\u00e2n\u00e2th, who punishes the\nevil-doer. Of the same type is Bholan\u00e2th, whose brother, Gy\u00e2n Chand,\nwas one of the Almora princes. He had him assassinated with his\npregnant mistress, both of whom became malignant ghosts, and are\nespecially obnoxious to gardeners, one of whom murdered them. This\ncaste now specially worships them, and a small iron trident is\nsometimes placed in the corner of a cottage and resorted to in\ntheir names when any sudden or unexpected calamity attacks the\noccupants. [401]\n\n\n\nBhairwanand.\n\nSimilar is the case of Bhairwanand, the tribal deity of the R\u00e2ikw\u00e2r\nR\u00e2jputs of Oudh. He was pushed into a well in order to fulfil a\nprophecy, and has since been deified. [402]\n\nSo with the queen of Ganor, who killed herself by means of a poisoned\nrobe when she was obliged to surrender her honour to her Mughal\nconqueror. He died in extreme torture, and was buried on the road to\nBhop\u00e2l. A visit to his grave is believed to cure tertian ague. [403]\n\n\n\nVy\u00e2sa.\n\nNext come those mortals who have been deified on account of the glory\nof their lives. Vy\u00e2sa, the compiler of the Vedas, has been canonized,\nand there is a temple in his honour both at Benares and R\u00e2mnagar. In\nthe latter place he has been promoted to the dignity of an incarnation\nof Siva, whereas in Benares he has a temple of his own. His worship\nextends as far as Kulu, where he has an image near a stream. Pilgrims\noffer flowers in his name and set up a stone on end in commemoration\nof their visit. [404]\n\n\n\nV\u00e2lm\u00eeki.\n\nV\u00e2lm\u00eeki, the author of the R\u00e2m\u00e2yana, is worshipped in the same\nway. He has shrines at B\u00e2lu in the Karn\u00e2l District and at Baleni\nof Meerut. Baliya, the headquarters of the district of that name,\nis said to be called after him. The Aheriyas and Baheliyas, both\nhunting tribes of the North-Western Provinces, claim descent from\nhim, and he has now, by an extraordinary feat in hagiolatry, become\nidentified with L\u00e2l Beg, the low caste godling of the sweepers. [405]\n\n\n\nVarious Saints.\n\nMany other worthies of the olden time are worshipped in the same\nway. From the Him\u00e2laya to Bombay, Datt\u00e2treya, a saint in whom a\npart of Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva was incarnate, is worshipped by\nVaishnavas as a partial manifestation of the deity, and by Saivas as\na distinguished authority on the Yoga philosophy. He has temples both\nin Garhw\u00e2l and in the Konkan, like Par\u00e2sara Rishi, the reputed author\nof the Vishnu Pur\u00e2na, who wished to make a sacrifice to destroy the\nR\u00e2kshasas, but was dissuaded by the saints, and then scattered the\nfire over the slope of the Him\u00e2laya, where it blazes forth at the\nphases of the moon. [406] In like fashion the records of the last\ncensus have shown worshippers of the poets K\u00e2lid\u00e2sa and Tulasi D\u00e2s,\nas in Bombay their great writers Dny\u00e2nadeva and T\u00fbkar\u00e2m are deified\nby the Mar\u00e2thas. Nearly seven thousand people in the North-Western\nProvinces adore Vasishtha, the famous Rishi, and many others N\u00e2rada\nMuni, who is a well-known personage and generally acts as a sort of\nDeus ex machin\u00e2 in the folk-tales. On the whole in the North-Western\nProvinces over a quarter million people recorded themselves as votaries\nof these deified saints, devotees and teachers.\n\nThe same form of worship largely prevails in the Panj\u00e2b. Among other\nworthies we find Sy\u00e2mji, a Chauh\u00e2n R\u00e2ja who is said to have given his\nhead to Krishna and Arjuna on condition that he should be allowed to\nwitness the fight between the Kauravas and P\u00e2ndavas; Dhanwantari,\nthe physician of the gods; Drona Ach\u00e2rya, the teacher of military\nscience to the heroes of the great war. The Kumh\u00e2rs or potters worship\nPrajapati, the active creator of the universe; and the K\u00e2yasth scribes\nadore Chitragupta, who keeps the register of the deeds of men, which\nwill be opened at the last day. This is quite irrespective of a horde\nof tutelary saints, who are adored by various tribes of handicraftsmen.\n\n\n\nDeified Robbers.\n\nEven the thieving and nomadic tribes have as their godlings deified\nbandits. Such is Gandak, the patron of the Magahiya Doms, and Salhes,\nwho is worshipped by the Doms and Dus\u00e2dhs of Beh\u00e2r. He was a great\nhero and the first watchman. He fought a famous battle with Ch\u00fbhar M\u00e2\u00ee\nof Moh\u00e2ma, and is the subject of a popular epic in Tirh\u00fbt. With his\nworship is associated that of his brother Motir\u00e2m, another worthy of\nthe same kind. [407] At Sherpur near Patna is the shrine of Goraiya or\nGauraiya, a Dus\u00e2dh bandit chief, to which members of all castes resort,\nthe higher castes making offerings of meal, the outcastes sacrificing\na hog or several young pigs and pouring out libations of spirits on\nthe ground. But even here the primitive local cultus is in a state\nof transition, as in the case of Salhes, who, according to some, was\nthe porter of Bh\u00eem Sen. [408] Doubtless he and his comrades will some\nday blossom forth as manifestations of one or other of the higher gods.\n\nAnother bandit godling is Mitthu Bh\u00fbkhiya, a freebooter, worshipped\nby the Banj\u00e2ras or wandering carriers. He has a special hut, in which\nno one may drink or sleep, and which is marked with a white flag. The\ntribe always worship him before committing a crime. They assemble\ntogether and an image of the famous tribal Sat\u00ee is produced. Butter\nis put into a saucer, and in this a light is placed, very broad at\nthe bottom and tapering upwards. The wick, standing erect, is lit,\nan appeal is made to the Sat\u00ee for an omen, and those worshipping\nmention in a low tone to the godling where they are going, and what\nthey propose to do. The wick is then carefully watched, and should\nit drop at all, the omen is propitious. All then salute the flag and\nstart on their marauding expedition. [409]\n\nVindhya-b\u00e2sin\u00ee Dev\u00ee, the personification of the Vindhyan range,\nis, as we have seen, the goddess of the Thags, and the Dh\u00e2nuks, a\nthieving tribe in Beh\u00e2r, worship one of their chiefs who was killed\nin a skirmish with the Muhammadans six hundred years ago, and whose\nghost has since been troublesome. He is worshipped in a shrine of\nbrick, and one of the members of the tribe acts as his priest. [410]\n\n\n\nR\u00e2ja L\u00e2khan.\n\nWe have already spoken of Gans\u00e2m, one of the tribal deities of the\nKols. Another famous Kol deity in Mirzapur is R\u00e2ja L\u00e2khan. One story\nof him is that he came from Lucknow, a legend based, of course,\non the similarity of the name. But there can be no reasonable doubt\nthat he was really Lakhana Deva, the son of the famous R\u00e2ja Jaychand\nof Kanauj, who is known in the popular ballads as the Kanaujiya\nR\u00e2\u00ea. There is an inscribed pillar erected by him near Bhuili in the\nMirzapur District, and he was perhaps locally connected with that\npart of the country in some way. [411] Some say that he was taken to\nDelhi, where he became a Musalm\u00e2n, and the popularity of his name in\nthe local legends points to the theory that he was possibly one of\nthe leaders of the Hindus against the Muhammadan invaders. All this\nbeing granted, it is remarkable that he, a R\u00e2jput, and almost as much\na stranger to those primitive jungle dwellers as his Muhammadan rival,\nshould have found a place in the Dr\u00e2vidian pantheon.\n\n\n\nR\u00e2ja Chandol.\n\nAnother deity of the same race is R\u00e2ja Chandol, who is said to\nhave been a jungle R\u00e2ja of the Bhuiy\u00e2r tribe. He was attacked by\nhis neighbour the R\u00e2ja of Nagar, who overcame him and cut off his\nhead. Meanwhile the conqueror forgot his patron deity, and his temple\nwas overturned and the image buried in the earth. One day a goldsmith\nwho was passing by the place heard a voice from beneath the ground\nsaying that if he dug there he would find the idol. He did so, and,\ndigging up the image, which was of gold, cut it up and sold it. But\nhis whole household came to ruin, and then the R\u00e2ja of Nagar restored\nthe temple, and the Kols remembered R\u00e2ja Chandol and have venerated\nhim ever since.\n\n\n\nBel\u00e2.\n\nThe goddess Bel\u00e2 was the sister of Lakhana Deva, whose story has\nbeen already told. Once, the story goes, Siva went to pay a visit to\nHastinapura, and the bell of his bull Nandi disturbed the brothers\nArjuna and Bh\u00eema, who, thinking the god a wandering beggar, drove\nhim out of the palace. Then he cursed the R\u00e2jput race that among\nthem should be born two fatal women, who should work the ruin of\ntheir power. So first was born Draupad\u00ee, who caused the war of the\nMah\u00e2bh\u00e2rata, and after her Bel\u00e2, to whom was due the unhappy warfare\nwhich paved the way to the Musalm\u00e2n invasion. Bel\u00e2 now has a famous\ntemple at Belaun on the banks of the Ganges in Bulandshahr.\n\nWe shall come elsewhere on instances of the belief that human beings\nwere sacrificed under the foundations of important buildings. Nathu\nKah\u00e2r, the godling of the Oudh boatmen, is said to have been buried\nalive under the foundations of the fort of Akbarpur in the Faiz\u00e2b\u00e2d\nDistrict, where a fair is held in his honour. [412] At the last census\none hundred and twenty-four thousand persons recorded themselves as\nhis votaries.\n\n\n\nJokhaiya.\n\nJokhaiya, who had by the same enumeration eighty-seven thousand\nworshippers, was a Bhangi or sweeper, who is said to have been killed\nin the war between Prithiv\u00ee R\u00e2ja of Delhi and Jaychand of Kanauj. He\nhas a noted shrine at Paindhat in the Mainpuri District, where a\nsweeper for a small fee will kill a pig and let its blood drop on\nhis shrine.\n\n\n\nRam\u00e2sa P\u00eer.\n\nSo, the godling invoked by the Pindh\u00e2ri women when their husbands\nwent on marauding expeditions, was Ram\u00e2sa P\u00eer. He was a well-known\nwarrior killed in a battle at Ranuja, near Pushkar. Saturday is his\nday for prayer, on which occasions small images of horses in clay or\nstone are offered at his shrine. The figure of a man on horseback,\nstamped in gold or silver, representing the godling, was found on\nthe necks of many of the Pindh\u00e2ris killed in the great campaign of\n1817-18. It was worn by them as an amulet. He is now known as Deva\nDharma R\u00e2ja, which is one of the titles of Yama, the god of death,\nand Yudhisthira, his putative son.\n\n\n\nR\u00e2\u00ea Sinh.\n\nAnother local godling of the same class is R\u00e2\u00ea Sinh, whose legend is\nthus told by General Sleeman: \"At Sanoda there is a very beautiful\nlittle fortress or castle, now occupied, but still entire. It was built\nby an officer of R\u00e2ja Chhattar S\u00e2l of Bundelkhand about 1725 A.D. His\nson, by name R\u00e2\u00ea Sinh, was, soon after the castle had been completed,\nkilled in an attack upon a town near Chhatarkot, and having in the\nestimation of the people become a god, he had a temple and a tank\nraised to him. I asked the people how he became a god, and was told\nthat some one who had been long suffering from quartan ague went to\nthe tomb one night and promised R\u00e2\u00ea Sinh, whose ashes lay under it,\nthat if he could contrive to cure his ague for him, he would during the\nrest of his life make offerings at his shrine. After this he never had\nan attack and was very punctual in his offerings. Others followed his\nexample and with like success, till R\u00e2\u00ea Sinh was recognized universally\namong them as a god, and had a temple raised to his name.\" \"This is\nthe way,\" remarks General Sleeman, \"gods were made all over the world\nand are now made in India.\" [413]\n\n\n\nThe P\u00eers and Sayyids.\n\nWe now come to a more miscellaneous class--the P\u00eers and Sayyids. Some\nof these we have encountered already. We have also seen instances of\nsome holy men who, like Paul and Silas at Lystra, have been raised to\nthe rank of deities. These saints are usually of Muhammadan origin,\nbut most of them are worshipped indiscriminately both by Musalm\u00e2ns\nand low class Hindus. The word P\u00eer properly means \"an elder,\" but\naccording to S\u00fbfi belief is the equivalent of Murshid, or \"religious\nleader.\" Sayyid, an Arabic word meaning \"lord\" or \"prince,\" is probably\nin many cases a corruption of Shah\u00eed, \"a martyr of the faith,\" because\nmany of these worthies owe their reputation to having lost their lives\nin the early struggles between Isl\u00e2m and Hinduism. Mr. Ibbetson notes\nthat he has seen a shrine of some Sayyids in the J\u00e2landhar District,\nwho were said to have been Sikhs, who died in the front of the\nbattle. It took the form of a Muhammadan tomb, lying east and west,\nsurmounted by two small domes of Hindu shape with their openings\nto the south. Under each, in the face of the tomb, was a niche to\nreceive a lamp. [414]\n\nThis and many other instances of the same kind illustrate in an\nadmirable way the extreme receptivity of the popular belief. We\nhave here a body of saints, many of whom were deadly enemies of the\nHindu faith, who are now worshipped by Hindus. This is well put by\nSir A. Lyall--\"The 'Urs, or annual ceremony of these saints, like the\nmartyr's day of St. Edmund or St. Thomas of Canterbury, has degenerated\ninto much that is mere carnal traffic and pagan idolatry, a scandal\nto the rigid Isl\u00e2mite. Yet, if he uplifts his voice against such\nsoul-destroying abuses, he may be hooted by loose-living Musalm\u00e2ns as\na Wahh\u00e2bi who denies the power of intercession, while the shopkeepers\nare no better than Ephesian goldsmiths in crying down an inconvenient\nreligious reformer.\" [415] And the same writer illustrates the fusion\nof the two creeds in their lower forms by the fact that the holy Hindu\nnow in the flesh at Askot has only recently taken over the business,\nas it were, from a Muhammadan Faq\u00eer, whose disciple he was during\nhis life, and now that the Faq\u00eer is dead, Narsinh B\u00e2wa presides over\nthe annual veneration of his slippers. Similarly at the Muharram\ncelebration and at pilgrimages to tombs, like those of Gh\u00e2zi Miy\u00e2n, a\nlarge number of the votaries are Hindus. In many towns the maintenance\nof these Muhammadan festivals mainly depends on the assistance of the\nHindus, and it is only recently that the unfortunate concurrence of\nthese exhibitions with special Hindu holidays has, it may be hoped\nonly temporarily, interrupted the tolerant and kindly intercourse\nbetween the followers of the rival creeds.\n\nIn many of these shrines the actual or pretended relics of the deceased\nworthy are exhibited. Under the shadow of the Fort of Chun\u00e2r is the\nshrine of Sh\u00e2h Q\u00e2sim Sulaim\u00e2ni, of whom mention has been already\nmade. The guardian of the shrine shows to pilgrims the turban of the\nsaint, who was deified about three hundred years ago, and the conical\ncap of his supposed preceptor, the eminent P\u00eer Jah\u00e2niya Jah\u00e2ngasht;\nbut, as in many such cases, the chronology is hopeless.\n\n\n\nThe Panj P\u00eer.\n\nThe most eminent of the P\u00eers are, of course, the Panj P\u00eer, or five\noriginal saints of Isl\u00e2m. They were--the Prophet Muhammad, 'Ali, his\ncousin-german and adopted son, F\u00e2tima, the daughter of the Prophet and\nwife of 'Ali, and their sons, Hasan and Husain, whose tragical fate\nis commemorated with such ardent sympathy at the annual celebration\nof the Muharram. [416] But by modern Indian Muhammadans the name is\nusually applied to five leading saints--Bah\u00e2-ud-d\u00een Zikariya of Mult\u00e2n,\nSh\u00e2h Ruqa-i-\u00c2lam Hazrat of Lucknow, Sh\u00e2h Shams Tabr\u00eez of Mult\u00e2n,\nShaikh Jal\u00e2l Makhd\u00fbm Jah\u00e2niy\u00e2n Jah\u00e2ngasht of Uchcha in Mult\u00e2n,\nand B\u00e2ba Shaikh Far\u00eed-ud-d\u00een Shakkarganj of P\u00e2k Patan. Another\nenumeration gives the Ch\u00e2r P\u00eer or four great saints as 'Ali and\nhis successors in saintship--Khw\u00e2ja Hasan Basri, Khw\u00e2ja Hab\u00eeb 'Ajmi,\n'Abdul W\u00e2hid. Another list of P\u00eers of Upper India gives their names as\nGh\u00e2zi Miy\u00e2n, P\u00eer Hath\u00eel\u00ea, sister's son of Gh\u00e2zi Miy\u00e2n, P\u00eer Jal\u00eel of\nLucknow, and P\u00eer Muhammad of Jaunpur. It is, in fact, impossible to\nfind a generally recognized catalogue of these worthies, and modern\nIsl\u00e2m is no less subject to periodical change than other religions\norganized on a less rigid system. [417]\n\n\n\nCaste Saints.\n\nThe worship of the original saints of Isl\u00e2m has, however, undergone\na grievous degradation. We are familiar in Western hagiology with\nthe specialization of saints for certain purposes. St. Agatha is\ninvoked to cure sore breasts, St. Anthony against inflammation,\nSt. Blaise against bones sticking in the throat, St. Martin for\nthe itch, St. Valentine against epilepsy, and so on. So St. Agatha\npresides over nurses, St. Catherine and St. Gregory over learned men,\nSt. Cecilia over musicians, St. Valentine over lovers, St. Nicholas\nover thieves, while St. Thomas \u00e0 Becket looks after blind men,\neunuchs, and sinners. [418] So almost all the artizan classes have\neach their special patron saint. The dyers venerate P\u00eer 'Ali Rangrez,\nthe Loh\u00e2rs or blacksmiths, Hazrat D\u00e2\u00fbd, or the Lord David, because\nthe Qur\u00e2n says--\"We taught him the art of making coats of mail\nthat they might defend you from your suffering in warring with your\nenemies.\" The Mehtars or sweepers have L\u00e2l P\u00eer or L\u00e2l Beg, of whom\nsomething more will be said later on. In the Panj\u00e2b Sadhua Bhagat is\nthe saint of butchers, because once when he was about to kill a goat,\nthe animal threatened that he would revenge himself in another life,\nand so he joined the sect of S\u00e2dhs, who refrain from destroying animal\nlife. The barbers revere Sain Bhagat or Husain Bhagat. He is said\nto have been a resident of Prat\u00e2ppura in the J\u00e2landhar District, and\nhis descendants were for some time family Gurus or preceptors of the\nR\u00e2ja of Bandhogarh. One day he was so engaged in his devotions that he\nforgot to shave the R\u00e2ja's head, but when he came in fear and trembling\nto apologize, he found the R\u00e2ja shaved and in his right mind. Then it\nwas found that the deity himself had come and officiated for him. So,\nN\u00e2mdeo, the Chh\u00eepi or cotton-printer, became a follower of R\u00e2manand,\nand is regarded as the tribal saint.\n\n\n\nDomestic Worship of the P\u00eer.\n\nMuhammadan domestic worship is largely concerned with the propitiation\nof the household P\u00eer. In almost every house is a dreaded spot where,\nas the Russian peasant keeps his holy image, is the abode or corner\nof the P\u00eer, and the owner erects a little shelf, lights a lamp every\nThursday night, and hangs up garlands of flowers. Shaikh Saddu,\nof whom we shall see more later on, is the women's favourite P\u00eer,\nespecially with those who wish to gain an undue ascendency over\ntheir husbands. When a woman wishes to have a private entertainment\nof her own, she pretends to be \"shadow smitten,\" that is that the\nshadow of some P\u00eer, usually Shaikh Saddu, has fallen upon her, and\nher husband is bound to give an entertainment, known as a Baithak or\n\"session,\" for the purpose of exorcising him, to which no male is\nallowed admittance. At these rites of the Bona Dea, it is believed\nthat the P\u00eer enters the woman's head and that she becomes possessed,\nand in that state of frenzy can answer any question put to her. All\nher female neighbours, accordingly, assemble to have their fortunes\ntold by the P\u00eer, and when they are satisfied they exorcise him with\nmusic and singing.\n\n\n\nThe Pachpiriyas.\n\nBut it is in the eastern districts of the North-Western Provinces and\nBeh\u00e2r that the worship has reached its most degraded form. No less\nthan one million seven hundred thousand persons at the last census,\nalmost entirely in the Gorakhpur and Benares Divisions, recorded\nthemselves as Pachpiriyas or worshippers of the P\u00e2nch P\u00eer. It\nis impossible to get any consistent account of these worthies,\nand the whole cultus has become imbedded in a mass of the wildest\nlegend and mythology. [419] According to the census lists these\nfive saints are, in the order of their popularity--Gh\u00e2zi Miy\u00e2n,\nBuahna P\u00eer, Palih\u00e2r, Amin\u00e2 Sat\u00ee and Hath\u00eel\u00ea or Hath\u00eela. In Benares,\naccording to Mr. Greeven, there are no less than five enumerations\nof the sacred quintette. One gives--Gh\u00e2zi Miy\u00e2n, Amin\u00e2 Sat\u00ee, Suth\u00e2n,\n'Ajab S\u00e2l\u00e2r and Palih\u00e2r; a second--Gh\u00e2zi Miy\u00e2n, Amin\u00e2 Sat\u00ee, Suth\u00e2n,\n'Ajab S\u00e2l\u00e2r and Buahna; a third--Gh\u00e2zi Miy\u00e2n, Amin\u00e2 Sat\u00ee, Buahna,\nBhairon and Band\u00ea; a fourth--Gh\u00e2zi Miy\u00e2n, Amin\u00e2 Sat\u00ee, Palih\u00e2r,\nK\u00e2lik\u00e2 and Shahz\u00e2; a fifth--Gh\u00e2zi Miy\u00e2n, Suth\u00e2n, 'Ajab S\u00e2l\u00e2r, Buahna\nand Bahl\u00e2no. Among these we have the names of well-known Hindu gods,\nlike Bhairon and K\u00e2lik\u00e2, a form of K\u00e2l\u00ee. Among the actual companions of\nGh\u00e2zi Miy\u00e2n are, it is believed, Hath\u00eel\u00ea P\u00eer, who is said to have been\nhis sister's son, Miy\u00e2n Rajjab or Rajjab S\u00e2l\u00e2r, and Sikandar Diw\u00e2na,\nthe Buahna P\u00eer, who are all buried at Bahr\u00e2ich, and S\u00e2hu S\u00e2l\u00e2r,\nfather of the martyr prince, whose tomb is near B\u00e2rabanki.\n\nIn Beh\u00e2r, again, the five saints are Gh\u00e2zi Miy\u00e2n, Hath\u00eela, Parih\u00e2r,\nSahj\u00e2 M\u00e2\u00ee and 'Ajab S\u00e2l\u00e2r, and with them are associated Amin\u00e2 Sat\u00ee,\nLangra T\u00e2r, who is represented by a piece of crooked wire, and Sobarna\nT\u00eer, the bank of the Sobarna river. Here we reach an atmosphere of\nthe crudest fetishism. A little further west S\u00e2nwar or Kunwar Dh\u00eer,\nof whom nothing certain is known, is joined with them, and has numerous\nworshippers in the Gorakhpur and Benares Divisions.\n\n\n\nThe P\u00e2nch P\u00eer and the P\u00e2ndavas.\n\nIt has often been remarked that the five P\u00e2ndavas have strangely passed\nout of the national worship. At the last census in the North-Western\nProvinces only four thousand people gave them as their personal\ndeities, and in the Panj\u00e2b only one hundred acknowledged them. Now\nin the west the title of P\u00e2nch P\u00eer is sometimes given to five R\u00e2jput\nheroes, R\u00e2mdeo, P\u00e2bu, Harbu, Mallin\u00e2th and G\u00fbga, [420] and it is\nat least a plausible theory that the five P\u00eers may have originally\nbeen the five P\u00e2ndu brothers, whose worship has, in course of time,\nbecome degraded, been annexed by the lower Musalm\u00e2ns, and again taken\nover by their menial Hindu brethren.\n\nAs a matter of fact, the system of worship does not materially differ\nfrom the cultus of the degraded indigenous godlings, such as K\u00e2r\u00ea\nG\u00f4r\u00ea Deo, B\u00fbrh\u00ea B\u00e2ba, Jokhaiya, and their kindred. The priests of\nthe faith are drawn from the Daf\u00e2li or Musalm\u00e2n drummer caste, who\ngo about from house to house reciting the tale of Gh\u00e2zi Miy\u00e2n and\nhis martyrdom, with a number of wild legends which have in course\nof time been adopted in connection with him. An iron bar wrapped in\nred cloth and adorned with flowers represents Gh\u00e2zi Miy\u00e2n, which is\ntaken from door to door, drums are beaten and petty offerings of grain\ncollected from the villagers. Low caste Hindus, like P\u00e2sis and Cham\u00e2rs,\nworship them in the form of five wooden pegs fixed in the courtyard\nof the house. The Barw\u00e2rs, a degraded criminal tribe in Oudh, build\nin their houses an altar in the shape of a tomb, at which yearly in\nAugust the head of the family sacrifices in the name of the P\u00eers a\nfowl and offers some thin cakes, which he makes over to a Muhammadan\nbeggar who goes about from house to house beating a drum.\n\n\n\nGh\u00e2zi Miy\u00e2n.\n\nThe whole worship centres round Gh\u00e2zi Miy\u00e2n. His real name was Sayyid\nS\u00e2l\u00e2r Masaud, and he was nephew of Sult\u00e2n Mahm\u00fbd of Ghazni. He was\nborn in 1015 A.D., was leader of one of the early invasions of Oudh,\nand is claimed as one of the first martyrs of Isl\u00e2m in India. He was\nkilled in battle with the Hindus of Bahr\u00e2ich in 1034 A.D. Close to\nthe battle-field was a tank with an image of the sun on its banks, a\nshrine sacred in the eyes of all Hindus. Masaud, whenever he passed it,\nwas wont to say that he wished to have this spot for a dwelling-place,\nand would, if it so pleased God, through the power of the spiritual\nsun, destroy the worship of the material. He was, it is said, buried\nby some of his followers in the place which he had chosen for his\nresting-place, and tradition avers that his head rests on the image\nof the sun, the worship of which he had given his life to destroy.\n\nThere is some reason to believe that this cultus of Masaud may have\nmerely succeeded to some local worship, such as that of the sun, and\nin this connection it is significant that the great rite in honour of\nthe martyr is called the By\u00e2h or marriage of the saint, and this would\nassociate it with other emblematical marriages of the earth and sun\nor sky which were intended to promote fertility. [421] Masaud, again,\nis the type of youth and valour in military Isl\u00e2m, and to the Hindu\nmind assumes the form of one of those godlike youths, such as Krishna\nor D\u00fblha Deo, snatched away by an untimely and tragical fate in the\nprime of boyish beauty. So, though he was a fanatical devotee of Isl\u00e2m,\nhis tomb is visited as much by Hindus as by Muhammadans. Besides his\nregular shrine at Bahr\u00e2ich, he has cenotaphs at various places, as at\nGorakhpur and Bhadohi in the Mirzapur District, where annual fairs are\nheld in his honour. The worship of Masaud, which is now discouraged by\nMuhammadan purists, embodied, even in early times, so much idolatry\nand fetishism as to be obnoxious to the puritanic party; it fell\nunder the censure of the authorities, and Sikandar Lodi interdicted\nthe procession of his spear. [422] Nowadays at his festivals a long\nspear or pole is paraded about, crowned at the top with bushy hair,\nrepresenting the head of the martyr, which, it is said, kept rolling\non the ground long after it was severed from the trunk. [423]\n\n\n\nSakhi Sarwar.\n\nSakhi Sarwar, or \"generous leader,\" the title of a saint whose\nreal name was Sayyid Ahmad, is hardly popular beyond the Panj\u00e2b,\nwhere his followers are known as Sult\u00e2nis, and are more than four\nhundred thousand in number. [424] No one knows exactly when he lived;\nsome place him in the twelfth and others in the thirteenth century;\nbut there are other traditions which would bring him down to the\nsixteenth. Whatever be the exact time of his birth and death, he\nwas one of the class of Muhammadan saints, like Bah\u00e2-ud-d\u00een and\nShams Tabr\u00eez, who settled and practised austerities in the country\nabout Mult\u00e2n. Other names for him are L\u00e2khd\u00e2ta or \"the giver of\nl\u00e2khs,\" L\u00e2lanw\u00e2la, \"he of the rubies,\" and Rohi\u00e2nw\u00e2la, or \"he of the\nHills.\" His life, as we have it, is but a mass of legends. He once\ncured a camel of a broken leg by riveting it together. Miraculously,\nas so many of these saints do, he gave two sons to one Gannu of\nMult\u00e2n and married his daughter. The hill that overlooks his tomb at\nNig\u00e2ha in the Dera Gh\u00e2zi Kh\u00e2n District, at the edge of the Sulaim\u00e2n\nmountains, is said to have been infested by a fearful giant. This\nmonster used at night to stand on the hill-top and with a torch lure\nunwary travellers to their destruction. Against him Sakhi Sarwar and\nhis four companions waged war, but all except the saint were killed;\nand such was the fall of the monster that the hill trembled to its\nbase. Within an enclosure are seen the tombs of the saint, his lady,\nB\u00eeb\u00ee R\u00e2\u00ea, and a Jinn who fell before the onset of the hero. To the\neast is the apartment containing the stool and spinning-wheel of\nM\u00e2\u00ee 'Aeshan, Sakhi Sarwar's mother. It is a curious instance of the\ncombination of the two rival faiths, so constantly observable in this\nphase of the popular worship, that close to the shrine of Sakhi Sarwar\nis a temple of Vishnu, a shrine of B\u00e2ba N\u00e2nak, the founder of Sikhism,\nand an image of Bhairon, who appears in the legends as the servant\nor messenger of the saint. The tomb presents a curious mixture of\nMusalm\u00e2n and Hindu architecture. It was recently destroyed by fire,\nand two rubies presented by N\u00e2dir Sh\u00e2h, and some valuable jewels,\nthe gift of Sult\u00e2n Zam\u00e2n Sh\u00e2h, were destroyed or lost.\n\nThe Sult\u00e2ni sect, in large numbers, under the guidance of conductors\nknown as Bharai, make pilgrimages to the tomb. Near it are two dead\ntrees, said to have sprung from the pegs which were used to tether\nKakk\u00ee, the saint's mare. The walls are hung with small pillows of\nvarious degrees of ornamentation. Persons who suffer from ophthalmia\nvow gold or silver eyes for their recovery. They vow to shave the\nhair of an expected child at the temple, and its weight in gold or\nsilver is presented to the saint. Some childless parents vow to him\ntheir first child, and on its birth take it to the temple with a cord\nround its neck. There are numbers of sacred pigeons attached to the\nshrine, which are supported by an allowance realized from certain\ndedicated villages. The marks of 'Ali's fingers and the print of\nhis foot are still shown to the devout in consideration of a fee to\nthe guardians, and a visit is considered peculiarly efficacious for\nthe cure of demoniacal possession, exhibiting itself in the form of\nepilepsy or hysteria.\n\nBesides the shrine at Nig\u00e2ha, there are numerous other shrines of\nthe saint, of which the most celebrated are those connected with the\nannual fair at Dhonkal in Gujr\u00e2nw\u00e2la, the Jhanda fair at Pesh\u00e2war,\nand the Kadmon fair at An\u00e2rkali, near Lahore. At Dhonkal there is a\nmagic well which was produced by the saint, the water of which is\nmuch in request. At An\u00e2rkali a class of musicians, called Dholis,\ntake young children, who are presented at the tomb, and dance about\nwith them. In the neighbourhood of Delhi he is not held in so much\nrespect, but shrines in his honour are common, vows and pilgrimages\nto him are frequent, and Br\u00e2hmans tie threads on the wrists of their\nclients on a fixed day in his name. Under the name of L\u00e2khd\u00e2ta he\nhas become the patron deity of athletes, and especially of wrestlers.\n\nIn the central districts of the Panj\u00e2b, his shrine, an unpretending\nlittle edifice, is to be seen outside nearly every hamlet. \"The shrine\nis a hollow plastered brick cube, eight or ten feet in each direction,\ncovered with a dome some ten or twelve feet high and with low minarets\nor pillars at the four corners, and a doorway in front, opening out\ngenerally on a plastered brick platform. Facing the doorway inside are\ntwo or three niches for lamps, but otherwise the shrine is perfectly\nempty. The saint is especially worshipped on Thursdays, when the shrine\nis swept, and at night lamps are lit inside it. The guardians of the\nshrine are Musalm\u00e2ns of the Bharai clan, who go round on Thursdays\nbeating drums and collecting offerings. These offerings, which are\ngenerally in small change or small handfuls of grain or cotton, are\nmainly presented by women. Another method of pleasing the saint is by\nvowing a R\u00f4t; the R\u00f4t is made by placing dough to the extent vowed on\na hot piece of earth, where a fire has been burning, and distributing\nit when it is baked. He is also worshipped by sleeping on the ground\ninstead of on a bed. Wrestling matches are also held in his honour,\nand the offerings made to the performers go towards keeping up the\nshrine at Nig\u00e2ha. A true worshipper of Sult\u00e2n will not sell milk on\nThursday; he will consume it himself or give it away.\"\n\nSarwar is essentially a saint of the J\u00e2ts, and he is also revered\nby G\u00fbjars and Jh\u00eenwars, and women even of the Khatri and Br\u00e2hman\ncastes adore him. He has, according to the last returns, over four\nhundred thousand worshippers in the Panj\u00e2b, and eight thousand in\nthe North-Western Provinces.\n\n\n\nG\u00fbga P\u00eer.\n\nAnother noted local saint is G\u00fbga P\u00eer, also known as Z\u00e2hir P\u00eer,\n\"the saint apparent,\" or Z\u00e2hir D\u00eew\u00e2n, \"the minister apparent,\" or in\nthe Panj\u00e2b as B\u00e2garw\u00e2la, as his grave is near Dadrewa in Bik\u00e2ner,\nand he is said to have reigned over the B\u00e2gar or great prairies of\nNorthern R\u00e2jput\u00e2na. Nothing is known for certain about him, and the\ntales told of him are merely a mass of wild legends. According to some\nhe flourished somewhere about the middle of the twelfth century, when\nIndian hagiolatry was at its zenith. Others say that he was a Chauh\u00e2n\nR\u00e2jput, a contemporary of Prithiv\u00ee R\u00e2ja of Delhi, while by another\nstory he died with his forty-five sons and sixty nephews opposing\nMahm\u00fbd of Ghazni. He is said to have been a Hindu with the title\nof G\u00fbga B\u00eer, or \"the hero\"; and one account represents him to have\nbecome a convert to Isl\u00e2m. \"He is said to have killed his two nephews\nand to have been condemned by their mother to follow them below. He\nattempted to do so, but the earth objected that he being a Hindu, she\nwas quite unable to receive him till he should be properly burnt. As\nhe was anxious to revisit his wife nightly, this did not suit him,\nand so he became a Musalm\u00e2n, and her scruples being thus removed,\nthe earth swallowed him and his horse alive.\" [425] In another and\nmore degraded form of the legend current in Muzaffarnagar, he is\nsaid to have jumped into a pile of cow-dung, where he disappeared,\na series of stories which remind us of the Curtius myth. [426]\n\nAnother elaborate legend represents G\u00fbga to be the son of the R\u00e2n\u00ee\nB\u00e2chhal, and fixes his birthplace at Sirs\u00e2wa in the Sah\u00e2ranpur\nDistrict. About the time of the invasion of Mahm\u00fbd of Ghazni, she\nmarried Vatsa, the R\u00e2ja of B\u00e2gardesa, or the R\u00e2jput\u00e2na desert. By\nthe influence of that ubiquitous saint, Gorakhn\u00e2th, she conceived in\nspite of the intrigues of her sister, and her child was called G\u00fbga,\nbecause the saint gave to his mother, as a preservative, a piece of\ngum resin known as G\u00fbgal. His cousins attacked him and tried to rob\nhim of his kingdom, but G\u00fbga defeated them and cut off their heads,\nwhich he presented to his mother. She, in her anger, ordered him to\ngo to the place where he had sent her nephews; so he requested the\nearth to receive him into her bosom, which she refused to do until\nhe became a convert to Isl\u00e2m. He then went to Mecca, and became a\ndisciple of one Ratan H\u00e2ji, and on his return the earth opened and\nreceived him, with his famous black mare Jav\u00e2diy\u00e2. [427]\n\nThe mare has, of course, a story of her own. G\u00fbga had no children,\nand lamenting this to his guardian deity, he received from him two\nbarley-corns, one of which he gave to his wife and the other to his\nfamous mare, which gave birth to his charger, hence called Jav\u00e2diy\u00e2\nor \"barley-born.\" We find this wonderful mare through the whole range\nof folk-lore, but the best parallel to her is the famous mare of Gwri\nof the golden hair, and Setanta in the Celtic tale. [428]\n\nFrom Scotland, too, we get a parallel to the magic birth: \"Here are\nthree grains for thee that thou shalt give thy wife this very night,\nand three others to the dog, and these three to the mare; and these\nthree thou shalt plant behind thy house; and in their own time thy wife\nwill have three sons, the mare three foals, and the dog three puppies,\nand there will grow three trees behind thy house; and the trees will be\na sign, when one of thy sons dies one of the trees will wither.\" [429]\nIt is needless to say that this is a stock incident in folk-lore.\n\n\n\nG\u00fbga and Snake-worship.\n\nBut it is in his function as one of the Snake kings that G\u00fbga is\nspecially worshipped. When he is duly propitiated he can save from\nsnake-bite, and cause those who neglect him to be bitten. His shrine\nis often found in association with that of Nara Sinha, the man-lion\nincarnation of Vishnu, and of Gorakhn\u00e2th, the famous ascetic,\nwhose disciple he is said to have been. He is adored by Hindus\nand Muhammadans alike, and by all castes, by R\u00e2jputs and J\u00e2ts, as\nwell as by Cham\u00e2rs and Ch\u00fbhras. Even the Br\u00e2hman looks on him with\nrespect. \"Which is greater,\" says the proverb, \"R\u00e2ma or G\u00fbga?\" and\nthe reply is, \"Be who may the greater, shall I get myself bitten by\na snake?\" in other words, \"Though R\u00e2ma may be the greater, between\nourselves, I dare not say so for fear of offending G\u00fbga.\"\n\nHe is represented on horseback, with his mother trying to detain\nhim as he descends to the infernal regions. He holds as a mark of\ndignity a long staff in his hands, and over him two snakes meet, one\nbeing coiled round his staff. Both the Hindu and Muhammadan Faq\u00eers\ntake the offerings devoted to him, and carry his Chhar\u00ee or standard,\ncovered with peacocks' feathers, from house to house in the month of\nAugust. As is the case with godlings of this class all over India,\nit is significant of the association of his worship with some early\nnon-Aryan beliefs that the village scavenger is considered to be\nentitled to a share of the offerings presented at his shrine.\n\nAccording to the last census G\u00fbga had thirty-five thousand worshippers\nin the Panj\u00e2b and one hundred and twenty-three thousand in the\nNorth-Western Provinces.\n\n\n\nWorship of Tejaj\u00ee.\n\nAnother godling of the same kind is Tejaj\u00ee, the J\u00e2t snake godling\nof M\u00e2rw\u00e2r. He is said to have lived about 900 years ago. One day he\nnoticed that a Br\u00e2hman's cow was in the habit of going to a certain\nplace in the jungle, where milk fell from her udder into the hole\nof a snake. Teja agreed to supply the snake daily with milk, and\nthus save the Br\u00e2hman from loss. Once when he was preparing to visit\nhis father-in-law, he forgot the compact, and the snake appearing,\ndeclared that it was necessary that he should bite Teja. He stipulated\nfor permission first to visit his father-in-law, to which the snake\nagreed. Teja proceeded on his journey, and on the way rescued the\nvillage cattle from a gang of robbers, but was desperately wounded in\nthe encounter. Mindful of his promise, he with difficulty presented\nhimself to the snake, who, however, could find no spot to bite, as\nTeja had been so grievously wounded by the robbers. Teja therefore\nput out his tongue, which the snake bit, and so he died. He is now a\nprotector against snake-bite, and is represented as a man on horseback,\nwhile a snake is biting his tongue. [430] Tejaj\u00ee and G\u00fbga, as snake\ngodlings, thus rank with Bhajang, the snake godling of K\u00e2thiaw\u00e2r, who\nis a brother of Sesha N\u00e2ga, and with M\u00e2nas\u00e2, the goddess of Bengal,\nwho is the sister of V\u00e2suki, the wife of Jaratk\u00e2ru, and mother of\nAstik\u00e2, whose intervention saved the snake race from destruction by\nJanamej\u00e2ya. [431]\n\n\n\nWorship of B\u00e2ba Far\u00eed Shakkarganj.\n\nB\u00e2ba Far\u00eed Shakkarganj, or \"fountain of sweets,\" so called because he\nwas able miraculously to transmute dust or salt into sugar, was born\nin 1173 A.D., and died in 1265. His tomb is at P\u00e2kpatan, and he enjoys\nhigh consideration in Northern India. He was a disciple of Qutb-ud-d\u00een\nBakhty\u00e2r K\u00e2ki, who again sat at the feet of Mu\u00een-ud-d\u00een Chishti of\nAjmer, also a great name to swear by. Far\u00eed's most distinguished\ndisciple was Niz\u00e2m-ud-d\u00een Auliya, who has a lovely tomb at Ghay\u00e2spur,\nnear Delhi. Far\u00eed was very closely associated with B\u00e2ba N\u00e2nak,\nand much of the doctrine of early Sikhism seems to have been based\non his teaching. He is said to have possessed the Dast-i-ghaib, or\n\"hidden hand,\" a sort of magic bag which gave him anything he wished,\nwhich is like the wishing hat and inexhaustible pot or purse, which\nis a stock element in Indian and European folk-lore. [432]\n\nThe Emperor, it is said, tried to humble him when he came to Delhi, but\nhe answered in the famous proverb--Delh\u00ee d\u00fbr ast--\"Delhi is far away,\"\nthe Oriental equivalent to Rob Roy's \"It is a far cry to Lochow.\"\n\nThe Musalm\u00e2n Thags looked on him as the founder of their system,\nand used to make pilgrimages to his tomb. He is believed to have\nbeen connected with the Assassins or disciples of the Old Man of\nthe Mountain. [433] Every devotee who contrives to get through the\ndoor of his mausoleum at the prescribed time of his feast is assured\nof a free entrance into Paradise hereafter. The crowd is therefore\nimmense, and the pressure so great that two or three layers of men,\npushed closely over each other, generally attempt the passage at the\nsame time, and serious accidents, notwithstanding every precaution\ntaken by the police, are not uncommon. [434]\n\nHe comes in direct succession to some of the worthies to whom reference\nhas been already made. To Khw\u00e2ja Mu\u00een-ud-d\u00een Chishti succeeded Khw\u00e2ja\nQutb-ud-d\u00een Bakhty\u00e2r K\u00e2ki, and B\u00e2ba Far\u00eed followed him. They were\nthe founders of the Chishtiya order of Faq\u00eers.\n\nBesides his shrine at P\u00e2kpatan he has another famous Darg\u00e2h at\nShaikhsir in Bik\u00e2ner, which is called after him, and the J\u00e2ts used\nto esteem him highly until, as Col. Tod [435] says, \"The Bona Dea\nassumed the shape of a J\u00e2tn\u00ee, to whom in the name of Kiran\u00ee M\u00e2t\u00e2,\n'Our Mother of the ray,' all bend the head.\" Another legend fixes\nhis tomb at Gir\u00e2r, in the W\u00e2rdha District of the Central Provinces.\n\nThe zeolitic concretions of the Gir\u00e2r hill are accounted for as the\npetrified cocoanuts and other articles of merchandise belonging to\ntwo travelling dealers who mocked the saint, on which he turned their\nwhole stock-in-trade into stones as a punishment. They implored his\npardon, and he created a fresh supply for them from dry leaves, on\nwhich they were so struck by his power that they attached themselves\nto his service till they died. [436]\n\nIn the Western districts of the North-Western Provinces the\nfirst-fruits of the sugar-cane crop are dedicated to him.\n\nHe was a thrifty saint, and for the last thirty years of his life he\nsupported himself by holding to his stomach wooden cakes and fruits\nwhenever he felt hungry. In this he resembled Qutb-ud-D\u00een Ushi, who\nwas able by a miracle to produce cakes for the support of his family\nand himself. [437]\n\n\n\nMinor Saints.\n\nOf the minor saints the number is legion, and only a few instances\ncan be given. At Makanpur in the Cawnpur District is the tomb of Zinda\nSh\u00e2h Mad\u00e2r, who gives his name to the class of Musalm\u00e2n Faq\u00eers, known\nas Mad\u00e2ri. He is said to have been a native of Halab or Aleppo, and to\nhave come to this place in 1415 A.D., when he expelled a famous demon\nnamed Makan Deo, after whom the place was named. Low class Hindus and\nMusalm\u00e2ns worship him because he is supposed to save them from snakes\nand scorpions, and the Kah\u00e2r bearers, as they go through jungle at\nnight, call out Dam Mad\u00e2r! The saint is said to have had the power\nof restraining his breath, whence his name. In the holy of holies\nof his shrine no woman is allowed to enter, no lights are lighted,\nno hymns are chanted and no food is cooked.\n\n'Abdul Q\u00e2dir Jil\u00e2ni, who is said to take his name from Jil, a\nvillage near B\u00e2ghd\u00e2d, is another noted saint. He is also known as\nP\u00eer-i-Dastg\u00eer, P\u00eer-i-'Azam, Ghaus-ul-'Azam, and was born in 1078 A.D.,\nand died at B\u00e2ghd\u00e2d. Some say that he is identical with M\u00eer\u00e2n S\u00e2hib,\nwho is worshipped all over Northern India. He is said to have been a\nmagician, and to have subdued to his service a Jinn named Zain Kh\u00e2n,\nwhom he treated with great cruelty. One day the Jinn surprised his\nmaster in a state of uncleanness and slew him, but even then he was\nunable to escape from the influence of this arch-magician, who rules\nhim in the world of spirits. M\u00eer\u00e2n S\u00e2hib is said to be buried at\nAjmer, but he has Darg\u00e2hs at Amroha, in the Mor\u00e2d\u00e2b\u00e2d District, at\nBenares and at B\u00fbndi. By another account the tomb at Amroha is that\nof Shaikh Saddu or Sadr-ud-d\u00een, who was once a crier of the mosque,\nand near his are pointed out the tombs of his mother Gh\u00e2ziy\u00e2 or As\u00ea\nand of Zain Kh\u00e2n, the Jinn. The saint of Jalesar, Hazrat P\u00eer Zari,\nis also known as M\u00eer\u00e2n S\u00e2hib, and he is by some identified with the\nAmroha worthy. In Karn\u00e2l he is said to have led the Sayyid army against\nthe R\u00e2ja of Tharwa, and had his head carried off by a cannon ball\nduring the battle. He did not mind this, and went on fighting. Then a\nwoman in one of the R\u00e2ja's villages said--\"Who is fighting without his\nhead?\" upon which the body said--\"Haq! Haq!\" \"The Lord! the Lord!\" and\nfell down dead, calling out--\"What? Are not these villages upside down\nyet?\" upon which every village in the R\u00e2ja's territory was turned\nupside down and everyone killed except a Br\u00e2hman girl, the paramour\nof the R\u00e2ja. Their ruins remain to authenticate the story. Now the\nsaint and his sister's son, Sayyid Kab\u00eer, are jointly worshipped. We\nshall meet this headless hero again in the case of the D\u00fbnd, and it\nwill be remembered that a similar legend is told of Gh\u00e2zi Miy\u00e2n.\n\n\n\nVillages Overturned.\n\nOf these villages which were overturned by a curse we have many\nexamples all over the country. The ruins at Bakhira Dih in Basti\nare said to have been a great city which was overthrown because a\nR\u00e2ja seduced a Br\u00e2hman girl. At Batesar in Agra is the Aundha Khera,\nwhich records a similar catastrophe. So B\u00e2ngarmau in Un\u00e2o is called\nthe Lauta Shahr or \"overthrown city,\" because M\u00eer\u00e2n S\u00e2hib destroyed\nit to punish the curiosity of the R\u00e2ja who wanted to know why the\nrobes of the saint which a washerman was washing gave forth a divine\nperfume. So the town of K\u00e2ko was overwhelmed by the saint B\u00eeb\u00ee Kam\u00e2lo\nbecause the Buddhist R\u00e2ja gave her a dish cooked of the flesh of rats,\nwhich came to life when she touched them. At Besnagar in Bhop\u00e2l the\nking and his subjects clung to a heavenly chariot and were carried\nto the skies and their city was overthrown, and the saint Qutb Sh\u00e2h\noverturned the city of Sunit because the R\u00e2ja used to kill a child\ndaily to cure an ulcer with which he was afflicted. [438]\n\nAb\u00fb 'Ali Qalandar is hardly known beyond the Panj\u00e2b. He came from\nPersia and died at P\u00e2nipat in 1324 A.D. He is usually known as B\u00fb 'Ali\nQalandar, and it is said that he used to ride about on a wall. He\nprayed so constantly that it was laborious to get water for his\nablutions each time; so he stood in the Jumn\u00e2, which then ran past\nthe town. After standing there seven years the fishes had gnawed his\nlegs and he was so stiff that he could hardly move, so he asked the\nJumn\u00e2 to step back seven paces. She, in her hurry to oblige the saint,\nwent back seven Kos or ten miles, and there she is now. [439]\n\nMany other saints are said to have had similar power over rivers. So\nrecently as 1865 A.D., a miraculous bridge of sand was built over\nthe Jumn\u00e2 at Karn\u00e2l by the prayer of a Faq\u00eer, of such rare virtue\nthat lepers passing over and bathing at both ends were cured; but the\npeople say that the bridge had got lost when they came there. [440]\nIt was only the prayers of the saint Far\u00eed-ud-din Shakkarganj which\nstopped the westward movement of the Satlaj, and the intercession of\na holy Rishi changed the course of the river at B\u00e2gheswar. [441]\n\nB\u00fb 'Ali gave the P\u00e2nipat people a charm which dispelled all the flies\nfrom the town, but they grumbled and said that they rather liked\nflies; so he brought them back a thousandfold. He was buried first at\nKarn\u00e2l, but the P\u00e2nipat people claimed his body, and opened his grave,\nwhereupon he sat up and looked at them till they became ashamed. They\nthen took away some bricks for the foundation of a shrine; but when\nthey got to P\u00e2nipat and opened the box, they found his body in it;\nso he is now buried in both places, and there is a shrine erected\nover the place where he used to ride on the wall.\n\n\n\nMal\u00e2mat Sh\u00e2h.\n\nMal\u00e2mat Sh\u00e2h is treated with much respect in B\u00e2rabanki. The disciple in\ncharge of his tomb calls the jackals with a peculiar cry at dusk. They\ndevour what is left of the offerings, but will only touch such things\nas are given with a sincere mind and not to be seen of men. A religious\ntiger is also said to come over from Bahr\u00e2ich and pay an annual visit\nto the shrine. [442]\n\n\n\nMiy\u00e2n Ahmad.\n\nAt Qas\u00fbr is the tomb of the saint Miy\u00e2n Ahmad Kh\u00e2n Darvesh, on which\nthe attendants place a number of small pebbles. These are called\n\"Ahmad Kh\u00e2n's lions,\" and are sold to people who tie them round the\nnecks of children troubled in their sleep. [443]\n\n\n\nShaikh Sadd\u00fb.\n\nShaikh Sadd\u00fb has been mentioned in another connection. His visitations\ncause melancholy and hypochondria. He is exorcised by the distribution\nof sweets to the poor and the sacrifice of a black goat. He once found\na magic lamp, like that of Al\u00e2uddin, the powers of which he abused,\nand was torn to pieces by the Jinn. [444]\n\nThe list of these worthies is immense. We can only mention in passing\nSh\u00e2h Abdul Ghaf\u00fbr, commonly known as B\u00e2ba Kap\u00fbr, a disciple of Sh\u00e2h\nMad\u00e2r, whose shrine is in Gw\u00e2ly\u00e2r; M\u00eer Abdul 'Ala, the Nakhshbandi who\nis buried at Agra; Sult\u00e2n Bayaz\u00eed, who kindled a lamp which lighted\nthe world for one hundred and twenty miles, and thus drove the Jinn\nfrom Chatg\u00e2nw in Bengal, where he is worshipped; Shaikh Kab\u00eer, known\nas B\u00e2la P\u00eer, the son of Sh\u00e2h Q\u00e2sim Sulaim\u00e2ni of Chun\u00e2r, whose shrine\nis at Kanauj; Shaikh Muhammad Ghaus of Gw\u00e2liy\u00e2r; and Sidi Maula, who\npossessed the power of transmuting metals into gold. Lastly comes\nSh\u00e2h Daula, whose shrine is at Gujar\u00e2t in the Panj\u00e2b. His priest\nis able to confer offspring on childless people on condition that\nthey dedicate the first child to the saint, and this child is then\nborn with the head of a rat. Some wretched imbeciles with rat-like\nfeatures are found at his tomb. [445]\n\nThese wonder-working shrines belong to Hindu as well as Musalm\u00e2n\nsaints. In the Etah District is the tomb of Kaly\u00e2n Bh\u00e2rati, a\nHindu ascetic. He was buried alive at his own request about four\nhundred years ago. Before his death he announced that exactly six\nmonths after he was dead the arch of his tomb would crack, and so\nit happened. Now a mound of earth in the centre is supposed to mark\nthe head of the saint. The virtue of his shrine is such that if any\none take a false oath within its precincts he will die at once. The\ntomb is hence largely used for the settlement of disputes, and many\na wearied district officer longs that there were more such places\nthroughout the land.\n\n\n\nShrines Which Cure Disease.\n\nMany of these local shrines owe their reputation to notorious cures,\nwhich have been performed by the intervention of the local saint. At\nChhattarpur is the shrine of R\u00fbkhar B\u00e2ba, an ascetic of the Gus\u00e2\u00een\nclass, who has the power of removing fever and ague, and hence among\nthe many tombs of his brethren his is kept clean and white-washed,\nwhile the others are neglected. [446] A shrine in Ber\u00e2r is noted for\nits power in cases of snake-bite and scrofula. A large two-storied\ngate of its enclosure owes its erection to the gratitude of a wealthy\ntailor, who was cured of sore disease of the loins. [447] Recently at\nthe shrine of the saint of Fatehpur in the Sah\u00e2ranpur District, the\nFaq\u00eer in charge informed me that when the people bring sick children\nto him, he pulls off a leaf from the tree overhanging the tomb, blows\nupon it, and says to the disease, \"Begone, you rascal!\" and the child\nis cured. At the tomb of P\u00eer Jah\u00e2niy\u00e2n in the Muzaffargarh District,\npeople suffering from leprosy and boils get the incumbent to prepare\nbaths of heated sand, in which the diseased part, or the whole body\nis placed. The efficacy of the remedy is ascribed to the thaumaturgic\npower of the saint. [448] The tomb of Makhd\u00fbm S\u00e2hib in the Faiz\u00e2b\u00e2d\nDistrict is famous for the exorcism of evil spirits, a reputation\nwhich it shares with the shrine of Bair\u00e2m at Bidauli in Muzaffarnagar,\nand that of B\u00eeb\u00ee Kam\u00e2lo at K\u00e2ko, half-way between Gaya and Patna. [449]\n\nSo, in Bengal, the chief disease shrines are those of Tarakeswara in\nHughli, sacred to Mah\u00e2deva, of Vaidyan\u00e2tha in the Sant\u00e2l Parganas,\nand Gondalp\u00e2ra in Hughli, famous in cases of hydrophobia. \"The device\nfollowed at the last place is for the bitten person, after fasting,\nto defray the expense of a special service, and to receive a piece of\nbroad cloth impregnated with the snuff of a lamp-wick, and secreted\nin the heart of a plantain. As long as this charm is preserved and the\npatient abstains from eating of this variety of plantain, the effects\nof the bite are warded off. Another plan is for the patient to take\na secret medicine, probably cantharides, pounded with twenty-one\npepper-corns, before the twenty-first day. This causes the patient\nto throw off some mucus, known as 'the dog's whelp,' and this leads\nto cure.\" [450]\n\nIn the Part\u00e2bgarh District are to be seen here and there\nstrange-looking brick-built erections called K\u00fbkar Deora or \"dogs'\nhouse,\" in the shape of cupolas or pyramids. Some of them are supposed\nto be the treasure houses of the ancient races. If a man walks round\none of these seven times and then looks in at the door, he will be\ncured from the bite of a mad dog. [451]\n\n\n\nSayyid Y\u00fbsuf.\n\nDr. Buchanan gives a case at Patna of a certain Sayyid Y\u00fbsuf, who\nmanifested himself to a poor blind weaver and told him that he would\nrecover his sight next day. At the same time the saint ordered his\npatient to search for his tomb and proclaim its virtues. The weaver,\non recovering his sight, did not fail to obey the orders of his\nbenefactor, and he and his descendants have since then lived on the\ncontributions of the faithful, though the tomb is a mere heap of clay\nand has no endowment. [452]\n\nThe tomb at Faiz\u00e2b\u00e2d known as Fazl-ul-haqq, or \"Grace of God,\" brings\ngood luck if sweetmeats are offered every Thursday, and another, called\n'Ilm Bakhsh, or \"Wisdom-giver,\" causes boys who are taken there to\nlearn their lessons quickly. [453] The same result may be secured by\na charm which is found in the Samavidhana Br\u00e2hmana--\"After a fast of\nthree nights, take a plant of Soma, recite a certain formula and eat\nof the plant a thousand times, you will be able to repeat anything\nafter hearing it once.\"\n\n\n\nWonder-working Tombs.\n\nThere are other tombs which present special peculiarities. Thus,\nnot long since crowds of people assembled at Khetwadi, in Bombay,\nto see a shrine erected by some sweepers to Z\u00e2hir P\u00eer, which at\nintervals seemed to oscillate from its foundations. At Anjar in\nSindh are the tombs of a noted outlaw named Jaisar P\u00eer and his wife\nTur\u00ee Khatr\u00e2n\u00ee, who were originally buried apart, but their tombs\nare gradually approaching, and it is believed that at their meeting\nthe world will be destroyed. So there is a wall at Gurd\u00e2spur which\na Faq\u00eer saw being built, and asked the master-mason if he considered\nit to be firm. The mason said that he believed it to be substantial,\nwhereupon the holy man touched it and made it shake, and it has gone\non shaking ever since. At Faiz\u00e2b\u00e2d is the tomb of a saint, and some\ntime ago the metal top of one of the pinnacles took to shaking, and\nthe weaver population were so impressed that they levied a tax on the\ncommunity for its repair. At Jhanjh\u00e2na is the tomb of Sayyid Mahm\u00fbd,\nwho was buried next to one of his disciples. But the latter is too\nmodest to place himself on an equality with his master, so his tomb,\nhowever much it is repaired, always sinks to a lower level than that\nof his preceptor. At B\u00e2rabanki is the tomb of the saint Shaikh Ahmad\nAbdul-haq, who thought he could acquire some useful information by\nkeeping company with the dead. So he got himself buried alive, and\nafter six months his grave opened of its own accord and he was taken\nout half dead.\n\n\n\nThe Nine-yard Tombs.\n\nThere is another class of tombs which are known as the Naugaza or\nNaugaja, that is to say tombs nine yards long. In these rest the\ngiants of the older world. There is one of these tombs at N\u00e2gaur in\nR\u00e2jput\u00e2na, and several others have been discovered in the course of the\nArch\u00e6ological Survey. [454] Five of them at Vijhi measure respectively\n29, 31, 30 and 38 feet. Mr. W. Simpson calls these tombs Buddhistic,\nbut this is very doubtful. [455] The belief largely prevails among\nMuhammadans that there were giants in the early times. Adam himself\nis said to have been sixty yards in height, and there was a monster\ncalled 'Uj in the days of Adam, and the flood of Noah reached only\nto his waist. There is a tomb of Noah at Faiz\u00e2b\u00e2d which is said to\nhave been built by Alexander the Great, and not far off are those of\nSeth and Job. The latter, curiously enough, are gradually growing in\nsize. They are now 17 and 12 feet long respectively, but when Abul\nFazl wrote they were only 10-1/2 and 9 feet long. [456]\n\n\n\nShrines with Images or Relics.\n\nThe reputation, again, of many shrines rests on the assumed discovery,\ngenerally by means of a dream, that an ancient image or the bones of\na martyr were buried on the spot, and in their honour a shrine was\nestablished. Thus, the great temple at Bandakpur in the Damoh District\nowes its origin to the fact that a Pandit in 1781 A.D. dreamed a\ndream, that in a certain spot lay buried in the earth an image of\nJag\u00eeswar Mah\u00e2deva, and that if he built a suitable temple over the\nplace indicated, the image would make its appearance. On the strength\nof this dream the Pandit built a temple, and it is asserted that\nin due course of time the image developed itself without the aid\nof man. [457] So, the Bhairava temple on the Lang\u00fbr peak owes its\nestablishment to a cowherd having found on the spot a yellow-coloured\nstick, which on his attempting to cut it with an axe, poured out\ndrops of blood. Frightened at the sight, the cowherd fled, only to\nbe visited at night by the god in his terrible form, who commanded\nhim to set up his shrine here. A similar legend is attached to the\nN\u00e2r\u00e2yana image in Nep\u00e2l. [458] The celebrated shrine of Hanum\u00e2n at\nBeguthiya was discovered by a wandering ascetic, [459] and a G\u00fbjar\ncowboy is said not very long ago to have found in one of the Sah\u00e2ranpur\njungles the image of the goddess S\u00e2kambar\u00ee Dev\u00ee, which now attracts\nlarge numbers of worshippers. The Mah\u00e2r\u00e2ja of Balr\u00e2mpur some time ago\nnoticed a rude shrine of Bijleswar\u00ee Dev\u00ee, the goddess of lightning,\nand remarked that he would build a handsome temple in honour of her,\nwere it not for the sacred banyan tree which shaded it and prevented\nthe erection of the spire to the proper height. That very night the\ntree was uprooted by a hurricane, and a handsome temple was erected,\nthis manifestation of her power having made the goddess more popular\nthan ever. [460]\n\nMistakes are, however, sometimes made. This was the case some time\nago at Ajudhya, where certain images were discovered and worshipped,\nuntil a learned Pandit ascertained that they were actually the deities\nof the aboriginal Bhars, who used to sacrifice Br\u00e2hmans to them. They\nwere really Jaina images, but it is needless to say that their worship\nwas immediately abandoned. [461]\n\nAs is only natural, shrines which have been discovered in this way at\nthe outset rest under a certain degree of suspicion, and have to make\ntheir reputation by works of healing and similar miracles. If they\nfail to do so they sink into disrepute. Such was the case with a very\npromising shrine, supposed to be that of the saint Ashraf 'Ali, whose\nbones were found accidentally not long ago at Ahraura in the Mirzapur\nDistrict. It enjoyed considerable reputation for a time, but failing\nto maintain its character, was finally discredited and abandoned.\n\nContinuous respect is naturally accorded to ancient saints and local\ngodlings, who have long since established their claim to recognition\nby a series of exhibitions of their thaumaturgic virtues. But the\ncompetition is so keen and the pecuniary value of a successful\ninstitution of this kind so considerable, that the claims of any\ninterloper must be well tested and approved before it establishes\nits position and succeeds in attracting pilgrims.\n\n\n\nThe Curing of Barrenness.\n\nBarrenness is in popular belief mainly due to the agency of evil\nspirits. Sterile women were in Rome beaten with rods by the naked\nyouths who ran through the city at the Lupercalia. The barren,\nas Shakespeare says, \"Touched by this holy chase, shake off their\nsterile curse.\" In Bombay it is believed that the cause of not\ngetting children is that the man or his wife must have killed a\nserpent in their former birth, whose spirit haunts them and makes the\nwoman barren. To get rid of the spirit which causes sterility, the\nserpent's image is burnt and its funeral rites are performed. [462]\nThe desire for male offspring is so intense that some of these shrines\ndo a thriving trade in providing nostrums for this purpose.\n\nOne extraordinary method of procuring children, which long troubled\nour magistrates in Upper India, was for the would-be mother to burn\ndown the hut of some neighbour. The Panj\u00e2bi woman, who under the reign\nof British law is prevented from burning the house of her neighbour,\nnow takes a little grass from seven thatches and burns it. [463]\n\nIn another form of the charm the Kh\u00e2ndh priest takes the woman to\nthe confluence of two streams, sprinkles water over her to purify her\nfrom the dangerous influence of the spirit and makes an offering to\nthe god of births.\n\nSome special influence has been in many lands considered to attach\nto a person who has been publicly executed, and to the appliances\nused by the hangman.\n\nRecently at an execution in Bombay, the hangman was observed to\ncarefully secure the rope, and particularly that part of it which had\nencircled the neck of the culprit. He stated that he could sell every\nquarter inch of it, as it averted evil spirits and ghosts, and even\nprevented death from hanging. This idea accounts for the respect paid\nthroughout Europe to the mandrake, which is supposed to be generated\nfrom the droppings of the brain of a thief on the gallows. In Cornwall\na wen or strumous swelling can be cured by touching it with the hand\nof a man who has been publicly hanged. [464] According to the same\nprinciple, barren women in India bathe underneath a person who has\nbeen hanged, and women of the middle classes try to obtain a piece\nof the wood of the gallows for the same object.\n\nAnother practice depends upon the principle that creeping under\na bent tree or through a perforated stone expels the demon. Other\ninstances of this will be given in another place. Hence in Gujar\u00e2t,\nwhen an ascetic of the D\u00fbndiya sect dies, women who seek the blessing\nof a son try to secure it by creeping under the litter on which his\ncorpse is removed. [465]\n\nA rite carried out with the same object rests on a sort of symbolic\nmagic indicating fertility. Along the roads may often be seen trees\nalmost destroyed by a noxious creeper known as the Ak\u00e2sh Bel. Women\nin hope of offspring often transplant this from one tree to another,\nand are thus a decided nuisance to a district officer with a taste\nfor arboriculture.\n\nBut the most approved plan is to visit a shrine with a reputation for\nhealing this class of malady. There the patient is given a cocoanut,\nwhich is a magic substance, a fruit, or even a barley-corn from the\nholy of holies. Mr. Hartland has recently made an elaborate study of\nthis subject, and he points out the principle on which the eating of\nsuch substances produced the desired effect. \"Whether from an analogy\nbetween the normal act of impregnation and that of eating and drinking,\nor because savages had learnt that at least one mode of operating\neffectively on the organism, for purposes alike of injury and healing,\nwas by drugs taken through the mouth, this was the favourite method\nof supernatural impregnation.\"\n\nAnd again--\"Flowers, fruit and other vegetables, eggs, fishes,\nspiders, worms, and even stones, are all capable of becoming human\nbeings. They only await absorption in the shape of food, or in some\nother appropriate manner, into the body of a woman, to enable the\nmetamorphosis to be accomplished.\" [466]\n\nThe same idea constantly occurs in Indian folk-lore. The barren queen\nis given the juice of a pomegranate by a Faq\u00eer, or the king plucks one\nof the seven mangoes which grow on a special tree, or a beggar gives\nthe princess the drug which causes her to give birth to twins. [467]\nEven in the R\u00e2m\u00e2yana we read that R\u00e2ja Dasaratha divides the oblation\namong his wives and they conceive. Even nowadays in Florence, if a\nwoman wishes to be with child, she goes to a priest and gets from\nhim an enchanted apple, with which she repairs to Saint Anna, who\nwas the Lucina of Roman times, and repeats a prayer or a spell. [468]\n\nSome holy men, it must be admitted, do not escape the tongue of\nslander for their doings in this department of their business.\n\n\n\nHarmless Saints and Godlings.\n\nMost of these saints and godlings whom we have been considering, are\ncomparatively harmless, and even benevolent. Such is nearly always\nthe case with the ghosts of the European dead, who are constantly\ndeified. Perhaps because the S\u00e2hib is such a curiously incomprehensible\npersonage to the rustic, he is believed to retain his powers in the\nother world. But it is a remarkable and unconscious tribute to the\nforeign ruler that his ghost should be beneficent.\n\nThe gardener in charge of the station cemetery in Mirzapur some time\nago informed me that he constantly sees the ghosts of the ladies and\ngentlemen buried there coming out for a walk in the hot summer nights,\nand that they never harm him.\n\nBut with ordinary graves it is necessary to be cautious. As appears\nin the cycle of tales which turn on the magic ointment which enables\nthe possessor to see the beings of the other world, spirits hate being\nwatched. The spirit, for instance, often announces its wishes. When\nthe Emperor Tughlaq began to build the tomb of the Saint Bah\u00e2wal\nHaq, a voice was heard from below, saying, \"You are treading on my\nbody.\" Another site was chosen at a short distance, and the voice\nsaid, \"You are treading on my knees.\" He went a little further,\nand the voice said, \"You are treading on my toes.\" So he had to go\nto the other end of the fort, and as the voice was not heard there,\nthe tomb was built. If you visit an old tomb, it is well to clap\nyour hands, as the ghost sometimes revisits its resting-place, and\nif discovered in d\u00e9shabille, is likely to resent the intrusion in a\nvery disagreeable manner. So it is very dangerous to pollute a tomb\nor insult its occupant in any way, and instances have occurred of\ncases of epilepsy and hysteria, which were attributed to the neglect\nof these precautions.\n\nThus, there is nothing permanent, no established rule of faith in the\npopular belief of the rustic. Discredited saints and shrines are always\npassing into contempt and oblivion; new worthies are being constantly\ncanonized. The worst part of the matter is that there is no official\ncontroller of the right to deification, no Advocatus Diaboli to dispute\nthe claims of the candidate to celestial honours. At the same time the\nsystem, though often discredited by fraud, admirably illustrates the\nelastic character of the popular creed. Hinduism would hardly be so\ncongenial to the minds of the masses, if some rigid supervising agency\ndisputed the right of any tribe to worship its hero, of any village\nto canonize its local worthy. The steady popularity of the system,\nfor the present at least, shows that it satisfactorily provides for\nthe religious wants of the people.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER V.\n\nWORSHIP OF THE MALEVOLENT DEAD.\n\n\n                    Pr\u00f4t\u00ea de psych\u00ea Elp\u00eanoros \u00ealthen etairou,\n                    Ou gar p\u00f4 etethapto hypo chthonos euryodei\u00eas.\n\n                                                    Odyssey, xi. 51, 52.\n\n\nThese deified ghosts and saints whom we have been discussing, though\noccasionally touchy and sensitive to insult or disrespect, are, as\na rule, benevolent. But there is another class of beings at whose\nfeet the rustic lies in grievous and perpetual bondage. These are\nthe malevolent dead.\n\n\n\nSpirits of the Dead Hostile.\n\nIt is not difficult to understand why the spirits of the dead should\nbe regarded as hostile. A stranger is, in the belief of all primitive\npeople, synonymous with an enemy; and the spirit of the departed\nhaving abandoned his own and joined some other and invisible tribe,\nwhose domains lie outside the world of sense, is sure to be considered\ninimical to the survivors left on earth. As we have already seen, even\nthe usually kindly spirit of the departed household dead requires\npropitiation and resents neglect; much more those of a different\ntribe or family.\n\nAgain, those disembodied souls in particular whose departure from the\nearth occurred under unexpected or specially tragical circumstances\nare naturally considered to have been ejected against their will\nfrom their tenement of clay, and as for many of them the proper\nfuneral rites have not been performed, they carry with them to the\nnext world an angry longing for revenge. As Brand, writing of British\nghosts, says, \"The ghosts of murdered persons, whose bodies have been\nsecretly buried, are restless until their bones have been taken up\nand deposited in consecrated ground with the due rites of Christian\nburial; this idea being the survival of the old heathen superstition\nthat Charon was not allowed to ferry over the ghosts of the unburied,\nbut that they wandered up and down the banks of the river Styx for\na period of a hundred years, at the expiration of which they were\nadmitted to a passage.\" [469]\n\nThis conception of the state of the soul after death may be illustrated\nby the savage theory of dreams.\n\n\n\nSavage Theory of Dreams.\n\nMany savages believe that the evidence of dreams is sufficient to\nprove that the soul moves about during sleep, and that the dream is\nthe record of its experiences in hunting, dancing, visiting friends,\nand so on.\n\n\n\nThe Separable Soul.\n\nHence arises the possibility that in the temporary absence of a man's\nsoul his body may be occupied by some other person's spirit, or even by\na malignant ghost or demon. In the Panchatantra there is a story of a\nking who lost his own soul, but afterwards recovered it. A Panj\u00e2b tale\ntells how a Hindu was once asleep and his soul went on its travels as\nusual. During its wanderings it felt thirsty and went into a pitcher of\nwater to drink. While it was in the pitcher some one shut the lid, and\nit was imprisoned. His friends took the corpse to the cremation ground,\nbut some one happened fortunately to open the pitcher just in time,\nand the spirit flew into its own body, which awoke on the bier. [470]\nIn the same way, according to Apollonius, the soul of Hermotimos of\nKlazomenoe left his body frequently, resided in different places,\nuttered all sorts of predictions, and used to come back to his body,\nwhich remained in his house. At last some spiteful persons burnt\nhis body in the absence of his soul. In another tale of Somadeva the\nsoul of Chandraprabha abandons his own body and enters that of a hero\nunder the influence of M\u00e2y\u00e2 or delusion. [471]\n\nOn this principle Hindus are very cautious about awaking a sleeping\nfriend, lest his soul may happen to be absent at the time, and in\nBombay it is considered most reprehensible to play jokes on a sleeping\nperson, such as painting the face in fantastic colours, or giving\nmoustaches to a sleeping woman. The absent soul may not be able to\nfind its own body, the appearance of which has been thus changed,\nand may depart altogether, leaving the body a corpse.\n\nIt is a common incident of the folk-tales that the soul departs\nin a dream and falls in love with a girl. We have it in the common\ntale of the Rival Queens, where the king sees in a dream the most\nlovely woman in the world, and imposes on his courtiers the task of\nfinding her. The same idea is found more or less in Somadeva, and\nconstantly recurs in European folk-lore. [472] In the same way we have\nthe well-known tale of the instantaneous lapse of time in dreams,\nas that of the king who plunges his head into water, goes through\nwondrous adventures, and when he takes his head out of the vessel,\nfinds himself surrounded by his courtiers as before.\n\nThe rustic Hindu firmly believes that in the absence of a man's proper\nsoul in a dream his body is occupied by some strange and consequently\nmalignant ghost. Hence come the nightmare and evil dreams. Thus the\nKorwas of Mirzapur believe that a Bh\u00fbtin or dangerous female ghost\nnamed Reiy\u00e2 besets them at night under the orders of some witch, and\nattacks people's joints with the rheumatism. The Majhw\u00e2rs believe that\nthe R\u00e2kshasa attacks them in dreams. He comes in the shape of an old\nman with enormous teeth, brown of colour, with black, entangled hair,\nand sometimes swallows his victims. It is fear of him that brings the\nfever, and he can be exorcised only by the Baiga with an offering\nof rice and pulse. The D\u00e2no also comes in dreams, squeezes a man's\nthroat, and stops his breath. The Bhuiy\u00e2rs have adopted from the\nHindu mythology Jam or Yama as one of their dream ghosts. He sits\non his victim's breast in sleep, and it is impossible to shake him\noff or make an alarm. Sometimes these night ghosts come as tigers,\nwolves, or bears, and hunt a man down in his sleep.\n\nOn the same principle the shadow of a man is believed to be part of\na man's soul, and may be separated from him, injured or wounded by\nan enemy. Hence it is considered dangerous to tread on the shadow of\na man in the sunshine. Buddha is said to have left his shadow in the\ncave at Pabhosa, where he killed the N\u00e2ga. [473]\n\nThe same is the case with looking into other people's mirrors, because\nyou may chance leave behind your reflection, which is part of your\nsoul. As we have seen, this is the basis of much of the theory of water\nspirits, which lurk in water holes and seize the reflection of anyone\nwho looks into them. The Sunni Muhammadans in Bombay cover up all the\nlooking-glasses in a house when a person is sick, as the soul, which is\njust then on the prowl, may be absorbed, and leave its owner a corpse.\n\nLastly, the same theory accounts for the disinclination which rustics\nhave to being painted or photographed. Some of the soul goes out in\nthe image and does not return. There is a rest-house on the Asthbhuja\nHill at Mirzapur which was many years ago presented to the Europeans\nof the station by a wealthy banker. He was overpersuaded to allow\nhis picture to be painted, and fell into a lingering consumption,\nof which he soon after died.\n\n\n\nThe Bh\u00fbt.\n\nThe general term for these spirits is Bh\u00fbt, in Sanskrit Bh\u00fbta, which\nmeans \"formed\" or \"created.\" In the earlier Hindu writings the word\nis applied to the powers of Nature, and even to deities. Siva himself\nis called Bh\u00fbt\u00eesvara, or \"Lord of spirits,\" and, under the name of\nBh\u00fbt\u00eesvara Mah\u00e2deva, has a shrine at Mathura. But as the Greek D\u00e6mon\nacquired a less respectable meaning in the later ages of the history\nof the nation, so Bh\u00fbt has now come to imply a malignant evil spirit.\n\nBut Bh\u00fbt is a general term which includes many grades of evil spirits\nwhich it is necessary to distinguish. We shall first, however, deal\nwith certain characters common to Bh\u00fbts in general.\n\nThe proper Bh\u00fbt is the spirit emanating from a man who has died a\nviolent death, either by accident, suicide, or capital punishment. Such\na soul reaches an additional grade of malignancy if he has been\ndenied proper funeral ceremonies after death. This is one of his\nspecial wants which deprive the spirit of his longed-for rest. Thus,\nwe read in Childe Harold, \"Unsepulchred they roamed and shrieked,\neach wandering ghost.\" The shade of Patroclus appeared to Achilles\nin his sleep and demanded the performance of his funeral, and the\nyounger Pliny tells of a haunted house in Athens, in which a ghost\nplayed all kinds of pranks owing to his funeral rites having been\nneglected. This idea is at the base of the Hindu funeral ceremonies,\nand of the periodical Sr\u00e2ddha. Hence arose the conception of the Gay\u00e2l,\nor sonless ghost. He is the spirit of a man who has died without any\nissue competent to perform the customary rites; hence he is spiteful,\nand he is especially obnoxious to the lives of the young sons of\nother people. Accordingly in every Panj\u00e2b village will be seen small\nplatforms, with rows of little hemispherical depressions into which\nmilk and Ganges water are poured, and by which lamps are lit and\nBr\u00e2hmans fed to conciliate the Gay\u00e2l; \"while the careful mother will\nalways dedicate a rupee to him, and hang it round her child's neck\ntill he grows up.\" Mr. Ibbetson [474] suggests that this may have\nbeen the origin of the mysterious so-called \"cup-marks,\" described\nby Mr. Rivett-Carnac. But this is far from certain; they may equally\nwell have been used for sacrifices to Mother Earth, or in any other\nprimeval form of worship.\n\n\n\nShrines to Persons Accidentally Killed.\n\nMany of these shrines to persons who have died by an untimely death\nare known by special names, which indicate the character of the\naccident. We shall meet again with the Baghaut, or shrine, to a man\nkilled by a tiger. We have also Bijaliya B\u00eer, the man who was killed\nby lightning, T\u00e2r B\u00eer, a man who fell from a T\u00e2r or toddy tree, and\nN\u00e2giya B\u00eer, a person killed by a snake. General Cunningham mentions\nshrines of this kind; one to an elephant driver who was killed by\na fall from a tree, another to a Br\u00e2hman who was killed by a cow, a\nthird to a Kashm\u00eeri lady who had only one leg and died in her flight\nfrom Delhi to Oudh of exhaustion on the journey.\n\nBh\u00fbts are most to be feared by women and children, and by people at any\nserious crisis of their lives, such as marriage or child-birth. They\nalso attack people after eating sweets, \"so that if you treat a\nschool to sweetmeats, the sweetmeat seller will also bring salt, of\nwhich he will give a pinch to each boy to take the sweet taste out\nof his mouth.\" [475] Salt is, as we shall see later on, particularly\noffensive to evil spirits. [476]\n\n\n\nSecond Marriage and Bh\u00fbts.\n\nWomen who have married a second time are specially liable to the\nenvious attacks of the first husband. If in Bombay \"a Mah\u00e2deo\nKoli widow bride or her husband sicken, it is considered the work\nof the former husband. Among the Somavansi Kshatriyas, there is a\nstrong belief that when a woman marries another husband, her first\nhusband becomes a ghost and troubles her. This fear is so strongly\nrooted in their minds, that whenever a woman of this caste sickens,\nshe attributes her sickness to the ghost of her former husband, and\nconsults an exorcist as to how she can get rid of him. The exorcist\ngives her some charmed rice, flowers, and basil leaves, and tells\nher to enclose them in a small copper box and wear it round her\nneck. Sometimes the exorcist gives her a charmed cocoanut, which he\ntells her to worship daily, and in some cases he advises the woman\nto make a copper or silver image of the dead and worship it every\nday.\" [477]\n\nSo in Northern India, people who marry again after the death of the\nfirst wife wear what is known as the Saukan Maura, or second wife's\ncrown. This is a little silver amulet, generally with an image of Dev\u00ee\nengraved on it. This is hung round the husband's neck, and all presents\nmade to the second wife are first dedicated to it. The idea is that\nthe new wife recognizes the superiority of her predecessor, and thus\nappeases her malignity. The illness or death of the second wife or\nof her husband soon after marriage is attributed to the jealousy of\nthe ghost of the first wife, which has not been suitably propitiated.\n\nIn the Panj\u00e2b, on the same principle, if a man has lost two or three\nwives in succession, he gets a woman to catch a bird and adopt it\nas her daughter. He then pays the dower, marries his bird bride,\nand immediately divorces her. By this means the malignant influence\nis diverted to the bird, and the real wife is safe. [478] We shall\nmeet again with the same principle in dealing with the curious custom\nof tree marriage.\n\n\n\nFood of Bh\u00fbts.\n\nLike evil spirits all the world over, Bh\u00fbts will eat filthy food,\nand as they are always thirsty, they are glad to secure even a drop\nof water, no matter how impure the purpose may have been for which\nit has been used. On the other hand, they are very fond of milk, and\nno Panj\u00e2bi woman likes her child to leave the house after drinking\nfresh milk. If she cannot prevent it from going, she puts some salt\nor ashes into its mouth to scare the Bh\u00fbt. [479]\n\n\n\nPosture of Bh\u00fbts.\n\nBh\u00fbts can never sit on the ground, apparently, because, as has been\nshown already, the earth, personified as a goddess, scares away all\nevil influence. Hence, near the low-caste shrines a couple of pegs\nor bricks are set up for the Bh\u00fbt to rest on, or a bamboo is hung\nover it, on which the Bh\u00fbt perches when he visits the place. [480]\nOn the same principle the Or\u00e2ons hang up the cinerary urn containing\nthe bones of a dead man on a post in front of the house, [481] and\nthe person who is going on a pilgrimage, or conveying the bones of a\nrelative to the Ganges, sleeps on the ground; but the bones must not\nrest on the ground; they are hung on the branch of a tree, so that\ntheir late owner may revisit them if so disposed. Near shrines where\nBh\u00fbts are always about on the chance of appropriating the offerings,\nit is expedient to sleep on the ground. So the bride and bridegroom\nrest, and the dying man is laid at the moment of dissolution.\n\n\n\nTests of Bh\u00fbts.\n\nThere are at least three infallible tests by which you may\nrecognize a Bh\u00fbt. In the first place he casts no shadow. In the\nthird Canto of the Purgatorio, Dante is much distressed because\nVirgil, being a disembodied spirit, casts no shadow. In the second\nplace a Bh\u00fbt can stand almost anything in his neighbourhood but the\nscent of burning turmeric, which, as we shall see, is a well-known\ndemon-scarer. Thirdly, a genuine Bh\u00fbt always speaks with a nasal twang,\nand it is possibly for this last reason that the term for the gibberish\nin the medi\u00e6val plays and for modern English is Pis\u00e2cha Bh\u00e2sha, or\nthe language of goblins. [482] Some of them have throats as narrow\nas a needle, but they can drink gallons of water at a time. Some,\nlike the Churel, whom we shall meet later on, have their feet turned\nbackwards. Some, like Br\u00e2hman ghosts, are wheat-coloured or white;\nothers, like the K\u00e2fari, the ghost of a murdered negro, are black,\nand particularly dreaded. A famous ghost of this class haunts a lane\nin Calcutta, which takes its name from him.\n\n\n\nSpirit Lovers.\n\nMany denizens of the spirit land have connection with mortals. We\nhave the cycle of folk-tales known as that of the Swan maidens.\n\nUrvas\u00ee came and lived with Par\u00fbravas until he broke the curiosity\ntaboo. We shall see instances where Indra gives one of his fairies to\na mortal lover, and spirits like the Incubi and Succubi of European\nfolk-lore can be brought down by incantation.\n\n\n\nSpirit Entries: The Head.\n\nSpirits enter and leave the body in various ways. They often use the\nhead in this way, and in particular the tenth aperture of the body,\none of the skull sutures, known as Brahma-randhra. This is the reason\nwhy the skull is broken at cremation to open the \"crevice of Brahma,\"\nas this orifice is called.\n\nIn the case of one of the ascetic orders, who are buried and not\ncremated, a blow is given on the head with a cocoanut or a conch\nshell. Thus, when the chief teacher of the Br\u00e2hmans in Bombay dies,\nhis successor breaks a cocoanut on his skull and makes an opening,\nin which the sacred S\u00e2lagr\u00e2ma stone is laid. [483] This rite of\nskull-breaking, which is done by the next relation, is a recognized\npart of the Hindu cremation rite, and is known as Kap\u00e2lakriya.\n\nThe same theory that the head is an entry for spirits accounts for\nnumerous strange practices. Thus, when in Kumaun a man is bitten\nby a snake they pull three hairs from his scalp-lock and strike\nhim three times on the top of the head with the first joint of the\nmiddle finger, a kind of blow which in ordinary cases is regarded\nwith the utmost terror. So when a person has fever, they take a bone\nand fill it with grain, and, making the patient stand in the sun, dig\na hole where the shadow of his head falls, and there bury the bone,\nsaying, \"Fever! Begone with the bone!\" [484] At a Gond wedding, the\nold man who officiates knocks the heads of the bride and bridegroom\ntogether to scare the evil spirits, [485] and at a Hindu marriage\nin Northern India the mother of the youth, as he leaves to fetch\nhis bride, and as he returns with her, waves lamps, a brass tray,\ngrain, and a rice pounder, to drive off the Bh\u00fbts fluttering round\nhis head. It is on the same principle that the bridegroom wears a\nmarriage crown, and this also accounts for many of the customs of\nblessing by the laying on of hands and anointing which prevail all\nover the world. In the same way the hair has always been regarded\nas a spirit entry. Magistrates in Northern India are often troubled\nby people who announce their intention of \"letting their hair grow\"\nat some one whom they desire to injure. This, if one can judge by\nthe manifest terror exhibited by the person against whom this rite\nis directed, must be a very stringent form of coercion. For the same\nreason ascetics wear the hair loose and keep it uncut, as Sampson\ndid, and the same idea probably accounts for the rites of ceremonial\nshaving of youths, and of the mourners after death.\n\n\n\nThe Mouth.\n\nAs might have been expected, Bh\u00fbts are very fond of entering by the\nmouth. Hence arise much of the mouth-washing which is part of the\ndaily ritual of the Hindu, and many of the elaborate precautions which\nhe takes at meals. This will be referred to again in connection with\nthe Evil Eye.\n\n\n\nYawning.\n\nHence it is very dangerous to yawn, as two kinds of danger are to\nbe apprehended--either a Bh\u00fbt may go down your throat, or part of\nyour soul may escape, and you will be hard set to recover it. So if\nyou chance to yawn, you should put your hand to your mouth and say\nN\u00e2r\u00e2yan--\"Great God!\" afterwards, or you should crack your fingers,\nwhich scares the evil spirit. This idea is the common property of\nfolk-lore. [486]\n\n\n\nSneezing.\n\nSo, sneezing is due to demoniacal influence, but opinions differ as\nto whether it is caused by a Bh\u00fbt entering or leaving the nose. The\nlatter view is generally taken by Musalm\u00e2ns, because it is one of the\ntraditions of the Prophet that the nose should be washed out with\nwater, as the devil resides in it during the night. The sneezing\nsuperstition in India is at least as old as the Buddhist J\u00e2takas,\nwhere we have a remarkable tale about it, which describes how the\nfuture Buddha and his father Gagga went to pass the night in a place\nhaunted by a Yakkha, or Yaksha, and were very near being devoured by\nhim because they did not say the spell \"Live!\" when they sneezed. [487]\n\nSo, in Somadeva's tale of Sulochana and Sushena, the spirit of the\nair says, \"When he enters into his private apartments, he shall sneeze\na hundred times; and if some one there does not say to him a hundred\ntimes, 'God bless you,' he shall fall into the grasp of death.\" [488]\nIt is needless to say that the same belief prevails in Europe. As\nDr. Tylor says, \"Even the Emperor Tiberius, that saddest of men,\nexacted this observance.\" According to the Muhammadan rule, if a\nperson sneezes and then says immediately afterwards, Al-hamdu li'llah,\n\"God be praised,\" it is incumbent upon at least one of the party to\nreply, Yarhamu-ka 'llah, just as among the Jews the sneezing formula\nwas Tobkin Khayim, \"Good life!\"\n\nOn the whole, sneezing is considered auspicious, because it implies\nthe expulsion of a Bh\u00fbt. As a general rule, if a person sneezes\nwhen another is beginning some work, the latter stops for a while,\nand then begins afresh; if there be two sneezes in succession, there\nis no necessity for interruption. If a man sneezes behind the back\nof another, the back of the latter is slightly pinched. In Bombay,\nif a man sneezes during a meal, one of the party calls on him to\nname his birthplace. [489] The threshold in the folk-lore of all\nnations is regarded as a sacred place. It is here, according to the\nScotch and Irish belief, that the house fairies reside. Sitting\non the threshold is believed by Indian matrons likely to produce\nboils in children in that part of the body which touches it, and it\nis thought most unlucky to sneeze on the threshold. On the whole,\none sneeze is ominous, while after two work may be commenced with\nsafety. So it was in the days of Homer--\"Even so she spoke, and\nTelemachus sneezed loudly, and around the roof rang wondrously,\nand Penelope laughed, and straightway spoke Eumoeus winged words,\n'Go! call me the stranger, even so into my presence. Dost thou not\nmark how my son has sneezed a blessing on all my words?'\" [490]\n\n\n\nThe Hands and Feet.\n\nThe hands and feet are also means by which Bh\u00fbts enter the body. Hence\nmuch of the ablution at prayers and meals; the hand-clapping which\naccompanies so many religious and mystical rites; the passing of the\nhand over the head; the laying of the hands on the eyes to restore\nsight, of which we have many examples in the Indian folk-tales;\nthe hand-pledging at marriages; the drinking of the Charan-amrita,\nor water, in which the feet of a holy man have been washed; the\nceremonial washing of the feet of the bridegroom at a wedding by\nthe father of the bride. The stock case of the danger of the not\nwashing the feet at night is that of Adil\u00ee, whose impurity allowed\nIndra to form the Maruts out of her embryo. A man with flat feet is\nconsidered most unlucky, as in North England, where if you meet a\nflat-soled man on Monday you are advised to go home, eat and drink,\nor evil will befall you. [491] The chief basis of feet-washing is the\nidea that a person coming from abroad and not immediately carrying\nout the required ablution runs the risk of bringing some foreign,\nand presumably dangerous, spirit with him.\n\n\n\nThe Ears.\n\nAnd so with the ears, which are believed to communicate direct with\nthe brain, and are kept by the rustic carefully muffled up on chilly\nmornings. Hence the custom of Kanchhedan, or ear-piercing, which is\nin Northern India about the only survival of the world-wide rite of\nmutilation when males attain puberty, and of wearing ear-rings and\nsimilar ornaments, which is habitual with all classes of Hindus,\nand specialized among the Kanphata Jogis, who take their name from\nthis practice.\n\n\n\nVarieties of Bh\u00fbts.\n\nIn Bengal the ordinary Bh\u00fbt is a member of the Kshatriya, Vaisya,\nor S\u00fbdra class. The Br\u00e2hman Bh\u00fbt, or Brahmadaitya, is quite another\nvariety. The ordinary Bh\u00fbts are as tall as palmyra trees, generally\nthin and very black. They usually live on trees, except those which\nthe Brahmadaitya frequent. At night, and especially at the hour of\nmidnight, they wander about the fields frightening travellers. They\nprefer dirty places to those which are clean; so when a person goes\nto worship a Bh\u00fbt, he does so in some dirty, retired place, and gives\nhim only half-cooked food, so that he may not have time to gobble\nit up, and perchance rend his worshipper. They are never seen in\nthe temples of the gods, though they often, as we have seen, lurk\nabout in the vicinity in the hope of getting some of the offerings\nif the priest be not on the alert and scare them with his bell or\nshell-trumpet. They are always stark naked, and are fond of women,\nwhom they sometimes abduct. They eat rice, and all sorts of human\nfood, but their favourite diet is fish. Hence no Beng\u00e2li, except for\na considerable bribe, will talk about fish at night. Here they agree\nwith the fairies of Manxland. Professor Rhys [492] tells a story of a\nManx fisherman, who was taking a fresh fish home, and was pursued by a\npack of fairy dogs, so that it was only with great trouble he reached\nhis own door. He drove the dogs away with a stone, but he was shot by\nthe fairies, and had a narrow escape of his life. On the other hand,\nthe Small People in Cornwall hate the smell of fish as much as the\nsavour of salt or grease. [493] The best chance of escape from these\nBengal Bh\u00fbts is when they begin to quarrel among themselves. A person\nbeset by them should invoke the gods and goddesses, especially K\u00e2l\u00ee,\nDurg\u00e2, and Siva, the last of whom is, as already noted, the Lord of\nBh\u00fbts. [494]\n\nBh\u00fbts are of many varieties. Vet\u00e2la, or Bait\u00e2l, their leader, is\nfamiliar to everyone in the tales of the Bait\u00e2l Pach\u00eesi. He is not,\nas a rule, particularly offensive. More usually he is a vagrant Bh\u00fbt\nwhich enters the body of a man when the real spirit is absent. But\nhe often approximates to the Vampire as we meet him in Western\nfolk-lore. \"It is as a vitalized corpse that the visitor from\nthe other world comes to trouble mankind, often subject to human\nappetites, constantly endowed with more than human strength and\nmalignity.\" [495] Thus in one of Somadeva's stories the hero goes at\nnight to a cemetery and summons at the foot of a tree a Vet\u00e2la into\nthe body of a man, and after worshipping him, makes an oblation of\nhuman flesh to him. In another there is a Vet\u00e2la with a body made up\nof the limbs of many animals, who hurls the king to the earth, and\nwhen he sits on the Vet\u00e2la's back the demon flies with him through\nthe air like a bird and flings him into the sea. [496] The spirit\nentering the body of the dead man forms the leading incident in the\ntale of Fadlallah in the Arabian Nights, and there are many instances\nof it in Indian folk-lore. This disposes of the assertion which has\nbeen sometimes made that among races which bury their dead little\nis known of regular corpse spectres, or that they are special to\nlands tenanted or influenced by the Slavonians. [497] Most usually\nthe Vet\u00e2la appears as the spirit of some living person dissatisfied\nwith his lodgings on earth, which leaves his own body and occupies a\ncorpse in preference. He, in company with the Vasus, Yakshas, Bh\u00fbtas,\nand Gandharvas, has passed into the degraded Tantrika worship. [498]\n\n\n\nThe Pret.\n\nThe Hindu notion of the state of the soul between death and the\nperformance of the prescribed funeral rites agrees exactly with that\nof the older European races. They wandered about in a state of unhappy\nrestlessness, and were not suffered to mix with the other dead. The\nterm Pret or Preta, which simply means \"deceased\" or \"departed,\"\nrepresents the soul during this time. It wanders round its original\nhome, and, like the B\u00e2lakhilyas, who surround the chariot of the\nsun, is no larger than a man's thumb. The stages of his progress,\naccording to the best authorities, are that up to the performance of\nthe ten Pindas the dead man remains a Preta, through the N\u00e2r\u00e2yanabali\nrite he becomes a Pis\u00e2cha, and by the Sapindikarana he reaches the\ndignity of the Pitri or sainted dead. The term Preta is, however,\nsometimes applied to the spirit of a deformed or crippled person,\nor one defective in some limb or organ, or of a child who dies\nprematurely owing to the omission of the prescribed ceremonies during\nthe formation of the embryo. Here it may be noted that there are\nindications in India of the belief which is common among savages,\nthat young children, apparently in consequence of their incomplete\nprotection from the birth impurity, are under a taboo. Thus in India a\nchild is regarded as a Bh\u00fbt until the birth hair is cut. Some of the\njungle tribes believe that it is unnecessary to protect a child from\nevil spirits until it begins to eat grain, because up to that time\nit is nothing more than a Bh\u00fbt itself. Under the old ritual a child\nunder two years of age was not burnt, but buried, and no offering of\nwater was made to it. We are familiar with the same idea in England\nregarding unbaptized children, whose spirits are supposed to be\nresponsible for the noise of Gabriel's Hounds in the sky, really\ncaused by the bean geese in their southern flight.\n\nThe Pret is occasionally under provocation malignant, but as it\npartakes to some degree of the functions of the benign ancestral\nhousehold spirit, it is not necessarily malicious or evil-disposed\ntowards living persons. The Pret is specially worshipped at Gaya\non the Hill, known as Pretsila, or \"the rock of the Pret,\" and a\nspecial class of Br\u00e2hmans at Patna call themselves Pretiya, because\nthey worship the ghost of some hero or saint. [499]\n\n\n\nThe Pis\u00e2cha.\n\nNext comes the Pis\u00e2cha, which, as we have seen, is by one account\nonly a stage in the progress of the soul to its final rest. But more\nproperly speaking it is an evil spirit produced by a man's vices,\nthe ghost of a liar, adulterer, or criminal of any kind, or of one who\nhas died insane. But his attributes and functions are not very clearly\ndefined, and he merges into the general class of Bh\u00fbts. In some cases\nhe seems to have the power to cure disease. Thus we read in Somadeva,\n\"Rise up in the last watch of the night, and with dishevelled hair,\nand naked, and without rinsing your mouth, take two handfuls of rice\nas large as you can grasp with the two hands, and, uttering a form\nof words, go to a place where four roads meet and there place the\ntwo handfuls of rice, and return in silence without looking behind\nyou. Do so always until that Pis\u00e2cha appears and says, 'I will put\nan end to your ailment.' Then receive his aid gladly, and he will\nremove your complaint.\" [500]\n\n\n\nThe R\u00e2kshasa.\n\nThe R\u00e2kshasa again, a word that means \"the harmer\" or \"the destroyer,\"\nis of the ogre-vampire type. He goes about at night, haunts cemeteries,\ndisturbs sacrifices and devout men, animates dead bodies, even\ndevouring human beings, in which capacity he is known as Kravy\u00e2da,\nor carnivorous, and is generally hostile to the human race. He is\nemphatically a devourer of human flesh, and eats carrion. He is\noften represented in the folk-tales as having a pretty daughter, who\nprotects the hero when he ventures perchance into the abode of the\nmonster. Her father comes in, and with the cry of \"Manush gandha,\"\nwhich is equivalent to the \"Fee! fo! fum! I smell the blood of an\nEnglishman!\" of the Western tale, searches about, but fails to find\nhim. When Hanum\u00e2n entered the city of Lanka in the form of a cat, to\nreconnoitre, he saw that the R\u00e2kshasas who slept in the house \"were\nof every shape and form. Some of them disgusted the eye, while some\nwere beautiful to look on. Some had long arms and frightful shapes;\nsome were very fat and some were very lean; some were dwarf and some\nwere prodigiously tall. Some had only one eye, and others had only\none ear. Some had monstrous bellies, hanging breasts, long projecting\nteeth, and crooked thighs; whilst others were exceedingly beautiful to\nbehold and clothed in great splendour. Some had the heads of serpents,\nsome the heads of asses, some of horses, and some of elephants.\" The\nleader of them was R\u00e2vana, who is said to have been once a Br\u00e2hman and\nto have been turned into a R\u00e2kshasa, \"with twenty arms, copper-coloured\neyes, and bright teeth like the young moon. His form was as a thick\ncloud or as a mountain, or the god of death with open mouth.\"\n\nThe R\u00e2kshasa is the great Deus ex machin\u00e2 of folk-lore. He can change\ninto almost any form he pleases, his breath is a roaring wind; he can\nlengthen his arms to eighty miles; he can smell out human beings like\nGiant Blunderbore. He can carry a man leagues through the air; if his\nhead be cut off, it grows again. He is the Eastern type of the monster\ndragon which is subdued by St. George, Siegmund, Siegfried, or Beowulf.\n\nHis spouse, the R\u00e2kshas\u00ee, is a creature of much the same kind. In the\nfolk-tales she often takes the form of the ogress queen who marries\nthe king and gets up at night and devours an elephant, or two or\nthree horses, or some sheep or a camel, and then puts the blood and\nscraps of meat at the doors of her rivals, and gets them banished,\nuntil the clever lad discovers her wiles and brings her to condign\npunishment. [501] Often she besets a city and demands the daily\ntribute of a human victim. The king takes the place of the victim,\nand the R\u00e2kshas\u00ee is so affected by his generosity that she abandons\neating the flesh of men. In a case in the folk-tales a boy becomes\na R\u00e2kshasa by eating the brains of a corpse. [502] Like all other\ndemons, R\u00e2kshasas are scared by light, and one of the names of the\nlamp is R\u00e2kshogna, or \"the destroyer of the R\u00e2kshasas.\"\n\nThe idea of the R\u00e2kshasa comes from the earliest times. Some have\nthought them to be types of the early Dr\u00e2vidian opponents of the\nHindus. Nirrit\u00ee, the female personification of death, is a R\u00e2kshasa\ndeity in the Vedas, and Dr. Muir has traced the various stages\nby which the R\u00e2kshasa was developed into a godling. [503] Thus,\nin the Mah\u00e2bh\u00e2rata, Jar\u00e2 is called a household goddess; the great\nKing Jarasandha was born in two halves, and Jar\u00e2 united them; she\nis always represented as seeking to requite by benefits the worship\nwhich is paid to her. Manu prescribes a special oblation for \"the\nspirits which walk in darkness.\" The blood in the sacrifice is,\naccording to the old ritual, offered to them, though even here we\nnotice the transition from animal to corn offerings. [504]\n\nNowadays R\u00e2kshasas live in trees and cause vomiting and indigestion\nto those who trespass on their domains at night. They mislead night\ntravellers like Will-o'-the-Wisp, and they are always greedy and in\nquest of food. So, if a man is eating by lamp-light and the light\ngoes out, he will cover the dish with his hands, which are, as we\nhave already seen, scarers of demons, to preserve the food from the\nR\u00e2kshasa, and Bengal women go at night with a lamp into every room\nto expel the evil spirits. [505]\n\nThe R\u00e2kshasas are said to be always fighting with the gods and\ntheir blood remains on many of these ghostly battlefields. In the\nHills this is believed to be the cause of the red ferruginous clay\nwhich is occasionally observed, and the Loh\u00fb or \"blood-red\" river\nhas a similar origin. [506] The same idea appears in the folk-lore of\nEurope. In a Swabian legend the red colour of shoots of rye when they\nfirst appear above the surface is attributed to Cain having killed Abel\nin a rye-field, which thus became reddened with innocent blood. [507]\nOne species of feathered pink has a dark purple spot in it which people\nin Germany say is a drop of the blood of the Redeemer which fell from\nthe Cross. [508] In one of the Irish Sagas the blood of a murdered man\nfell on a white stone and formed the red veins which are still shown\nto the traveller. [509] In Cornwall a red stain on the rocks marks\nwhere giant Bolster died, and the red lichen in a brook commemorates a\nmurder. [510] Every English child knows the legend of Robin Redbreast.\n\nIn folk-lore R\u00e2kshasas have kingdoms, and possess enormous riches,\nwhich they bestow on those whom they favour, like T\u00e2r\u00e2 B\u00e2\u00ee in the story\nof Seventee B\u00e2\u00ee. In this they resemble the Irish fairies, who hide away\nmuch treasure in their palaces underneath the hills and in the lakes\nand sea. \"All the treasure of wrecked ships is theirs; and all the gold\nthat men have hidden or buried in the earth when danger was on them,\nand then died and left no sign to their descendants. And all the gold\nof the mine and the jewels of the rocks belong to them, and in the\nSifra or fairy house the walls are silver and the pavement is gold,\nand the banquet hall is lit by the diamonds that stud the rocks.\" [511]\n\nThe finger nails of the R\u00e2kshasas, as those of Europeans in\npopular belief, are a deadly poison, and the touch of them produces\ninsensibility, or even death. They often take the disguise of old women\nand have very long hair, which is a potent charm. Their malignity is\nso great that it would be difficult to avoid them, but fortunately,\nlike the Devil in the European tales, and evil spirits all the world\nover, they are usually fools, and readily disclose the secrets of\ntheir enchantment to the distressed heroine who is unlucky enough to\nfall into their power, and the victim has generally only to address\nthe monster as \"Uncle!\" to escape from his clutches. [512]\n\nThey are, as has been said already, usually cannibals. One of these\nwas Vaka in the Mah\u00e2bh\u00e2rata, who lived at Ekachakra and levied a\ndaily toll of food and human victims on the R\u00e2ja till he was torn\nto pieces by Bh\u00eema. Bh\u00eema also contrived to kill another monster of\nthe same kind named Hidimba. In the great Panj\u00e2b legend of Ras\u00e2lu,\nhe conquers the seven R\u00e2kshasas, who used to eat a human being every\nday, and there is a Nep\u00e2l story of the R\u00e2kshasa Gurung M\u00e2pa, who used\nto eat corpses. He was propitiated with a grant of land to live on\nand an annual offering of a buffalo and some rice. [513]\n\n\n\nPower of Lengthening Themselves.\n\nAll ghosts, as we shall see later on, have the power of lengthening\nthemselves like the Naugaza, whom we have already mentioned. For\nthis reason demons, as a rule, are of gigantic form, and many of the\nenormous fossil bones found in the Siw\u00e2lik Hills were confidently\nattributed to the R\u00e2kshasas, which reminds us of the story of the\nsmith in Herodotus who found the gigantic coffin seven cubits long\ncontaining the bones of Orestes. [514]\n\n\n\nNight Spirits.\n\nLike the ghost in Hamlet, the angel that visited Jacob, and the\ndestroying angels of Sodom, the R\u00e2kshasas always fly before the\ndawn. They invariably travel through the air and keep their souls in\nbirds or trees--a fertile element in folk-lore which has been called\nby Major Temple \"The Life Index.\" [515]\n\n\n\nR\u00e2kshasas as Builders.\n\nThe tales of Western lands abound with instances of buildings, bridges,\netc., constructed by the Devil. So the Indian R\u00e2kshasa is commonly\nregarded as an architect. Thus, at R\u00e2mtek in the Central Provinces\nthere is a curious old temple built of hewn stones, well fitted\ntogether without mortar. From its shape and structure it is probably\nof Jaina origin, though local tradition connects it with the name of\nHem\u00e2dpant, the R\u00e2kshasa. He is an example of R\u00e2kshasas developed in\ncomparatively recent times from a historical personage. He was probably\nthe Minister of Mah\u00e2deva (1260-1271 A.D.), the fourth of the Y\u00e2dava\nKings of Deogiri. According to the common story, he was a giant or a\nphysician, who brought the current Mar\u00e2thi character from Ceylon. The\nDakkhin swarms with ancient buildings attributed to him. [516]\n\nSuch is also the case with another class of demons, the Asuras,\na word which means \"spiritual\" or \"superhuman,\" who were the rivals\nof the gods. In Mirzapur the ancient embankment at the Karsota tank\nis considered to be their work. Once upon a time two of these demons\nvowed that whoever first succeeded in building a fort should be the\nconqueror, and that his defeated rival should lose his life. So\nthey set to work in the evening, one on the Bijaygarh Hill, and\nthe other on the opposite peak of Kundakot, about twelve miles\ndistant. The demon of Bijaygarh, having lost his tools in the dark,\nstruck a light to search for them. His adversary seeing the light,\nand imagining that the sun was rising and his rival's work completed,\nfled precipitously. The Bijaygarh fort was completed during the night\nand stands to the present day, while on Kundakot you see only a few\nenormous blocks of stone which was all the vanquished Asura had time\nto collect. The tales of demons interfering with the construction of\nbuildings are common in European folk-lore.\n\nMany other buildings are said to have been built in the same way. The\nB\u00e2rahkhamba at Shik\u00e2rpur in the Bulandshahr District was built by\ndemons; Baliya in Pilibh\u00eet was the work of Bali, the Daitya; the\ndemon Loha or Lohajangha built Loh\u00e2ban in Mathura. [517] In the same\nway the Cornish giants built chiefly in granite, and the Hack and\nCast embankment was constructed by them. [518] In Patna the Asura\nJar\u00e2sandha is the reputed builder of an enormous embankment which is\ncalled Asuren after him, and another demon of the same class is said\nto be the architect of an ancient fortification in Puraniya. [519]\n\nMany buildings, again, are attributed to personages who succeeded in\ngetting an Asura under their influence, and being obliged to find\nwork for him, compelled him to occupy his time in architecture. In\nthe \"Lay of the Last Minstrel\" Michael Scott got out of the dilemma\nby making the demons twist ropes of sand, and the same tale is told\nof Tregeagle in Cornwall. [520]\n\n\n\nModern R\u00e2kshasas.\n\nR\u00e2kshasas are developed even in these prosaic days of ours. In the\nfolk-tales many human beings lie under the well-founded suspicion\nof being Asuras or R\u00e2kshasas. [521] The ghost of some Musalm\u00e2ns is\nbelieved by some Hindus to become a most malignant R\u00e2kshasa. Such a\nghost is conciliated by being addressed by the euphemistic title of\nMamduh, \"the praised one.\" Visaladeva, the famous King of Ajmer, was\nturned into a R\u00e2kshasa on account of his oppression of his subjects,\nin which condition he resumed the evil work of his earthly existence,\n\"devouring his subjects,\" until one of his grandchildren offered\nhimself as a victim to appease his hitherto insatiable appetite. \"The\nlanguage of innocent affection,\" says Col. Tod, \"made its way to the\nheart of the R\u00e2kshasa, who recognized his offspring, and winged his\nflight to the Jumn\u00e2.\" [522]\n\nYoung men who are obliged to travel at night have reason to be\ncautious of the R\u00e2kshas\u00ee, as well as of the Churel, with whom she\nis occasionally identified. She takes the form of a lovely woman and\nlures her victims to destruction.\n\n\n\nBr\u00e2hman Ghosts.\n\nWe have already mentioned the Brahm or malignant Br\u00e2hman ghost. These\noften develop into R\u00e2kshasas, and are a particularly dangerous\nspecies. Thus the sept of Gaur R\u00e2jputs are haunted by the R\u00e2kshasa\nor ghost of the Br\u00e2hman Mansa R\u00e2m, who, on account of the tyranny\nof the R\u00e2ja Tej Sinh, committed suicide. He lives in a tree in a\nfort in the S\u00eetapur District, and no marriage or any other important\nbusiness in the family of the R\u00e2ja is undertaken until he has been duly\npropitiated. [523] So, at the mound of Bilsar in the Etah District,\nthere lived a R\u00e2ja whose house overlooked that of a Br\u00e2hman named\nP\u00fbran Mall. The Br\u00e2hman asked the R\u00e2ja to change the position of his\nsitting-room, as it was inconvenient to the ladies of his family,\nand when the request was refused, poisoned himself with a dose\nof opium. His body turned blue like indigo, and he became a most\nmalignant demon or B\u00eer, known as the Brahm R\u00e2kshasa, which caused\nthe death of the R\u00e2ja and his family, and forced his successors to\nremove to a distance from their original family residence.\n\n\n\nThe Deo.\n\nClosely connected with the R\u00e2kshasas are various classes of demons,\nknown as Deo, D\u00e2no, or B\u00eer. The Deo is a survival of the Devas or\n\"shining ones\" of the old mythology. It is another of the terms\nwhich have suffered grievous degradation. It was originally applied\nto the thirty-three great divinities, eleven of which inhabited each\nof the three worlds. Now the term represents a vague class of the\ndemon-ogre family. The Deo is a cannibal, and were he not exceedingly\nstupid could do much harm, but in the folk-tales he is always being\ndeceived in the most silly way. He has long lips, one of which sticks\nup in the air, while the other hangs down pendant. Like many of his\nkinsfolk all over the world, he is a potent cause of tempests. [524]\n\n\n\nThe B\u00eer.\n\nThe B\u00eer, who takes his name from the Sanskrit V\u00eera, \"hero,\" is a\nvery malignant village demon. In one of the Mirzapur villages is\nthe shrine of Kharbar B\u00eer, or \"the noisy hero.\" No one can give any\nsatisfactory account of him, but it is quite certain that if he is not\npropitiated by the Baiga, he brings disease on men and cattle. Gend\u00e2\nB\u00eer, a woman who was tired of life, and, instead of burning herself,\nthrew herself down from a tree, is worshipped at N\u00e2gpur. [525] Ker\u00e2r\nB\u00eer has, according to the last census returns, thirty-one thousand\nworshippers in the eastern districts of the North-West Provinces. He\nis said to have been a demon who resided on the spot where the present\nfort of Jaunpur now stands. He became such a pest to the country about,\nthat the great R\u00e2ma Chandra warred against him and overcame him. His\nhead and limbs he flung to the four corners of heaven, and his trunk\nin the form of a shapeless mass of stone remains as a memorial and is\nworshipped. Some allege that he was really some hero of the aboriginal\nBhar race who fell in battle with the Aryan. It is also alleged that\nwhen the British engineers attempted to blow down the fort their\nmines failed to disturb the shrine of Ker\u00e2r, whose importance has\nbeen much increased by this example of his prowess. [526] In Bombay\nthere are seven B\u00eers who go about together and scour the fields and\ngardens at night. [527]\n\n\n\nThe D\u00e2no.\n\nThe D\u00e2no represents the D\u00e2nava of the early mythology. Of these\nthere are seven also, and the leader of them is Vritra, who is\nthe ancestor of the dragons and keeps back and steals the heavenly\nwaters, on which account Indra slays him with his thunderbolt. Vala,\nthe cave in which the rain cows are hidden, is called the brother of\nVritra. No trace remains now of this beautiful weather myth. The D\u00e2no\nnowadays is hardly to be distinguished from the B\u00eer and his brethren,\nand at Haz\u00e2rib\u00e2gh he is worshipped in the form of a stone daubed with\nfive streaks of red lead and set up outside the house. [528]\n\n\n\nThe Daitya.\n\nSo with the Dait or Daitya, who is connected in nothing but name with\nthe demons of the olden world who warred with the gods. In Mirzapur he\nlives in a tree; in front he looks like a man, but seen from behind\nhe is quite hollow, only a mere husk without a backbone. In this\nhe resembles the Ellekone of Denmark, who is beautiful in front, but\nhollow in the back like a kneading trough. [529] So the Hadal or Hedali\nof Bombay is said to be plump in front and a skeleton behind. [530]\n\nAt midnight the Daitya shows himself in his tree in a flash of fire and\nsmoke, and sometimes flies off to another tree a short distance off.\n\nIn Mirzapur he is sometimes known as Daitra B\u00eer and is associated\nwith two others named Akata B\u00eer and Latora B\u00eer, all of whom live\nin trees and go out at night and dance for a while with torches\nin their hands. They are worshipped with an offering consisting of\nthe Kalsa or holy water-pots and some greens. [531] In one village\nthe Daitya is known as Beoh\u00e2r B\u00e2ba or the \"father of merchandise,\"\nas he is supposed in some way to guard merchants. Col. Tod describes\na place in the table-land of Central India known as Daitya k\u00e2 har or\n\"the demon's bone,\" on which those who are in search of ease jump from\nabove. Although most of the leapers perish, some instances of escape\nare recorded. The hope of obtaining offspring is said to be the most\nusual motive for the act. [532] Instances of religious suicides are\ncommon. One of the most famous places for this is behind the peak\nof Ked\u00e2r, where the P\u00e2ndavas devoted themselves and were carried off\nto heaven. The practice seems to have almost completely ceased under\nBritish rule.\n\n\n\nThe Headless Horseman.\n\nAt the present time the most dreaded of these creatures is, perhaps,\nthe Headless Horseman, who is popularly known as D\u00fbnd, or \"truncated.\"\n\nHe has many of his kindred in other lands. Sir Francis Drake used\nto drive a hearse into Plymouth with headless horses and followed\nby yelling hounds. Coluinn gun Cheann of the Highlands goes about\na headless trunk. A coach without horses used to career about the\nneighbourhood of Listowel when any misfortune was about to take\nplace. A monster in one of the German tales carries about his head\nunder his arm. [533]\n\nBy one account the D\u00fbnd took his origin from the wars of the\nMah\u00e2bh\u00e2rata. However this may be, he appears periodically in the form\nof a headless trunk seated on horseback, with his head tied before him\non the pommel of the saddle. He makes his rounds at night and calls\nto the householder from outside; but woe to any one who answers him,\nfor this means death. The belief in these visionary death summonses is\nvery common. The Irish Banshee howls at night and announces death. In\nMirzapur, B\u00e2ghesar, or the tiger demon, lives on the Churni Hill. He\nsometimes comes down at night in human form, and calls people by name\nat their doors. If any one answers him he becomes sick. The Beng\u00e2li\npersonifies Nisi or Night as the Homeric Greeks did. [534] She often\ncomes at midnight, calls the house-master, who when he opens the door\nfalls senseless and follows her where she will. Sometimes she takes\nhim into a tank and drowns him, or leads him into a dense forest and\ndrops him among thorns or on the top of some high tree. In fact it is\nalways very dangerous to speak to these spirits or ghosts. Falstaff\nknew this well when he said, \"They are fairies; he that speaks to\nthem shall die.\"\n\nThe D\u00fbnd makes occasional incursions throughout the country. He was\nin the neighbourhood of Agra in 1882, and some twelve years after\nappeared in Mirzapur. On both occasions the news of his arrival caused\nconsiderable alarm. Every one shut up their houses at sunset, and\nno one on any consideration would answer a call from outside after\nnightfall. It was shrewdly suspected at the time that this rumour\nwas spread by some professional burglar who made a harvest while the\nscare lasted.\n\nSomewhat akin to the D\u00fbnd is the spectral R\u00e2ja of B\u00fbndi who\noccasionally appears in the neighbourhood of Sah\u00e2ranpur. Some years\nago a Br\u00e2hman astrologer heard some one calling him from outside\none night. When he answered the summons he was told that the R\u00e2ja\nof B\u00fbndi wanted to have his horoscope examined and was then encamped\nnear the town. The Pandit proceeded to the place with the guide and\nsaw a splendid encampment, and the R\u00e2ja in his royal robes sitting\nin a tent ornamented with pearls. When he saw him the unfortunate\nastrologer knew that he was a R\u00e2kshasa, and he was the more convinced\nof this when he examined his horoscope and found that he was fated\nto live for ever. He told the R\u00e2ja that his life would be long and\nprosperous, and after receiving three gold coins as his fee went home\nmore dead than alive. Next morning he went to the place, but could\nfind no sign of the camp, and when he looked in his box the coins\nwere found to have disappeared.\n\nThere are numerous other versions of the Headless Horseman story\nin Northern India. In a fight at Kh\u00e2ndesh the G\u00e2oli prince engaged\nin personal conflict with the saint Sayyid Saadat P\u00eer, and struck\noff his head. The headless body continued to fight, and the Hindu\narmy fled in panic. The trunk then snatched up the head and led the\nvictorious troops to a neighbouring hill, where the earth opened\nand swallowed it. [535] So, in Oudh, Malik Ambar, the companion of\nS\u00e2l\u00e2r Masaud, was, it is said, killed with his master at Bahr\u00e2ich,\nbut wandering back from Bijnor, a headless trunk on horseback, he at\nlength reached the place where his tomb now stands, when the earth\nopened and received him and his horse. [536]\n\nThe D\u00fbnd is apparently a close relation of the Skandhah\u00e2ta of Bengal,\nwho goes about with his head cut off from the shoulders. He dwells in\nlow moist lands outside a village, in bogs and fens, and goes about\nin the dark, rolling about on the ground, with his long arms stretched\nout. Woe betide the belated peasant who falls within his grasp. [537]\n\n\n\nThe Ghostly Army.\n\nClosely connected with this are the numerous legends of the Ghostly\nArmy. Thus, at Faiz\u00e2b\u00e2d, the country people point out a portion of\nthe Queen's highway along which they will not pass at night. They say\nthat after dark the road is thronged with troops of headless horsemen,\nthe dead of the army of Prince Sayyid S\u00e2l\u00e2r. The great host moves on\nwith a noiseless tread; the ghostly horses make no sound; and no words\nof command are shouted to the headless squadrons. Another version\ncomes from Ajmer. There for some time past a troop of four or five\nhundred horsemen, armed and dressed in green, issue from a valley in\nthe neighbourhood of the city, and after riding about for some time,\nmysteriously disappear. They are believed to be the escort of the\nIm\u00e2m Husain, whose tragical fate is commemorated at the Muharram.\n\nThe same idea prevails all through India, and indeed all the world\nover. The persons killed at a recent disastrous railway accident haunt\nthe locality, and have caused the breakdown of other trains at the same\nplace. [538] The ghosts of the battle of Chili\u00e2nw\u00e2la began to appear\nvery shortly after the battle, and Abul Fazl mentions the ghosts of\nP\u00e2nipat in the days of Akbar. [539] In America the anniversaries of the\nbattles of Bunker's Hill, Concord, Saratoga, and even as late as that\nof Gettysburg, are celebrated by spectral armies, who fight by night\nthe conflict o'er again. [540] If you walk nine times round Neville's\nCross, you will hear the noise of the battle and the clash of armour,\nand the same tale is told of the battle of Marathon, which a recent\nprosaic authority attributes to the beating of the waves on the shore,\nwhile others say that these spectral armies of the sky are nothing more\nthan wild geese or other migratory birds calling in the darkness. [541]\n\n\n\nMas\u00e2n.\n\nMas\u00e2n, the modern form of the Sanskrit Smas\u00e2na, \"a place of cremation,\"\nis the general term for those evil spirits which haunt the place\nwhere they were forced to abandon their tenements of clay. So the\nmodern Italian Lemuri are the spirits of the churchyard and represent\nthe Lemures or Larv\u00e6, the unhappy ghosts of those who have died evil\ndeaths or under a ban, to which there are innumerable allusions in\nthe Latin writers. [542] In India Mas\u00e2n is very generally regarded\nas the ghost of a child, and we have already seen that some tribes\nregard an infant as a Bh\u00fbt. He is occasionally the ghost of a low-caste\nman, very often that of an oilman, who, possibly from the dirt which\naccompanies his trade, is considered ill-omened. By another account\nsuch ghosts prowl about in villages in the Hills in the form of\nbears and other wild animals. [543] Others say that Mas\u00e2n is of black\nand hideous appearance, comes from the ashes of a funeral pyre, and\nchases people as they pass by. Some die of fright from his attacks,\nothers linger for a few days, and some even go mad. \"When a person\nbecomes possessed of Mas\u00e2n, the people invoke the beneficent spirit of\nthe house to come and take possession of some member of the family,\nand all begin to dance. At length some one works himself up into a\nstate of frenzy, and commences to torture and belabour the body of the\nperson possessed by Mas\u00e2n, until at length a cure is effected, or the\npatient perishes under this drastic treatment.\" Khabish resembles Mas\u00e2n\nin his malignant nature and his fondness for burial grounds. He is\nalso met with in dark glens and forests in various shapes. Sometimes\nhe imitates the bellow of a buffalo, or the cry of a goatherd or\nneatherd, and sometimes he grunts like a pig. At other times he\nassumes the disguise of a religious mendicant and joins travellers\non their way; but his conversation is, like that of ordinary Bh\u00fbts,\nalways unintelligible. Like Mas\u00e2n, he often frightens people and\nmakes them ill, and sometimes possesses unfortunate travellers who\nget benighted. [544]\n\nChildren afflicted by Mas\u00e2n are said to be \"under his shadow\" (chh\u00e2ya),\nand waste away by a sort of consumption. Here we have another instance\nof the principle already referred to, that the shadow represents the\nactual soul. [545] This malady is believed to be due to some enemy\nflinging the ashes from a funeral pyre over the child. The remedy in\nsuch cases is to weigh the child in salt, a well-known demon scarer,\nand give it away in charity. The cremation ground and the bones\nand ashes which it contains are constantly used in various kinds\nof magical rites. It is believed when thieves enter a house, that\nthey throw over the inmates some Mas\u00e2n or ashes from a pyre and make\nthem unconscious while the robbery is going on. This resembles the\nEnglish \"Hand of Glory,\" to which reference will be made in another\nconnection. As to the influence by means of the shadow, it may be\nnoted that a Nep\u00e2l legend describes how a L\u00e2ma arrested the flight\nof a Br\u00e2hman by piercing his shadow with a spear, and the R\u00e2kshas\u00ee\nSinhik\u00e2 used to seize the shadow of the object she desired to devour\nand so drag the prey into her jaws. [546]\n\n\n\nTola.\n\nTola is a sort of \"Will-o'-the-Wisp\" in the Hills. According to one\naccount, he is, like the Gay\u00e2l, of whom we have spoken already, the\nghost of a bachelor, and other ghosts refuse to associate with him;\nso he is seen only in wild and solitary places. Others say that he\nbelongs to the class of children ghosts, who have died too young\nto undergo the rites of tonsure or cremation. They are, as a rule,\nharmless, and are not much dreaded. After a child undergoes the\nspecified religious ceremonies, its soul is matured, and fitted\neither to join the spirits of the sainted dead or to assume a new\nexistence by transmigration. The estate of the Tola is only temporary,\nand after a time, it, too, enters another form of existence. [547]\n\n\n\nAiri.\n\nAnother famous Hill Bh\u00fbt is Airi. He is the ghost of some one who\nwas killed in hunting. We have many instances of these huntsmen\nghosts, of which the most familiar example is the European legend of\nthe Wild Huntsman, who haunts the forest in which he used to hunt,\nand is sometimes heard hallooing to his dogs. So in Cornwall Dando\nrides about accompanied with his hounds. [548] The British fairies\nride at night on horses which they steal from the stables, and in the\nmorning the poor beasts are found covered with sweat and foam. [549]\nIn Southern India Aiyan\u00e2r rides about the land at night on a wild\nelephant, sword in hand, and surrounded by torch-bearers, to clear\nthe country from all obnoxious spirits. [550]\n\nThe companions of Airi are fairies, who, like the Churel, have their\nfeet turned backwards. He is accompanied by two litter-bearers\nand a pack of hounds with bells round their necks. Whoever hears\ntheir bark is certain to meet with calamity. Airi is much given to\nexpectoration, and his saliva is so venomous that it wounds those on\nwhom it falls. Incantations must be used and the affected part rubbed\nwith the branch of a tree. If this be not done at once, the injured\nman dies, and in any case he must abstain from rich food for several\ndays. We shall meet again with the magical power of spittle. Here\nit may be noted that in Western folk-lore it confers the power of\nseeing spirits.\n\n\"Those who see Airi face to face are burnt up by the flash of his eye,\nor are torn to pieces by his dogs, or have their livers extracted\nand eaten by the fairies who accompany him. But should any one be\nfortunate enough to survive, the Bh\u00fbt discloses hidden treasures to\nhim. The treasure-trove thus disclosed varies in value from gold\ncoins to old bones. His temples are always in deserted places. A\ntrident represents the god, and a number of surrounding stones\nhis followers. He is worshipped once a year by lighting a bonfire,\nround which all the people sit. A kettle-drum is played, and one after\nanother they become possessed, and leap and shout round the fire. Some\nbrand themselves with heated iron spoons, and sit in the flames. Those\nwho escape burning are believed to be truly possessed, while those\nwho are burned are considered mere pretenders to divine frenzy.\" [551]\nThis closely resembles the worship of R\u00e2hu already described.\n\n\"The revels usually last for about ten nights, and until they are\nended, a lamp is kept burning at the shrine of the god. Those possessed\ndye a yard of cloth in red ochre and bind it round their heads, and\ncarry a wallet in which they place the alms they receive. While in this\nstate they bathe twice, and eat but once in the twenty-four hours. They\nallow no one to touch them, as they consider other men unclean, and\nno one but themselves is permitted to touch the trident and stones in\nAiri's temple, at least as long as the festival lasts. The offerings,\ngoats, milk, etc., are consumed by the worshippers. The kid is marked\non the forehead with red, and rice and water are thrown over him. If he\nshakes himself to get rid of it, the god has accepted the offering,\nwhereupon his head is severed with a knife. If he does not shake\nhimself, or bleats, it is a sign that the offering is not accepted,\nand the victim escapes.\"\n\nThe same rule of testing the suitability of the sacrifice prevailed\namong the Greeks. The same practice prevails among other tribes. Thus,\nthe B\u00e2wariyas, when they sacrifice a goat, take a little water in the\npalm of the hand and pour it on the nose of the victim. If it shiver,\nits head is cut off with a single blow of a sword. The rule has\nelsewhere received a further development. Thus when the R\u00e2o of Cutch\nsacrifices a buffalo, \"as it stoops to eat, a few drops of water are\nscattered between its horns. If it shake its head it is led away as\ndispleasing to the goddess; if it nods its head a glittering scimitar\ndescends on its neck.\" [552]\n\n\n\nHill Demons.\n\nOther Bh\u00fbts in the Hills are Acheri, the ghosts of little girls,\nwho live on the tops of mountains, but descend at night to hold their\nrevels in more convenient places. To fall in with their train is fatal,\nand they have a particular antipathy to red colour. When little girls\nfall suddenly ill, the Acheri is supposed to have cast her shadow\nover them. The Deo are the regular demons already described; some are\nobnoxious to men, some to cattle. The R\u00fbniya moves about at night and\nuses a huge rock as his steed, the clattering of which announces his\napproach. He is the demon of the avalanche and landslip. Should he\ntake a fancy to a woman, she is haunted by his spirit in her dreams,\nand gradually wasting away, finally falls a victim to her passion. He\nthus resembles the Faun and the Satyr, the Incubus and Succubus,\nagainst whose wiles and fascination the Roman maiden was warned. [553]\n\n\n\nBirth Fiends.\n\nAnother of these night fiends is the Jilaiya of Bih\u00e2r, which takes the\nshape of a night bird, and is able to suck the blood of any person\nwhose name it hears. Hence women are very careful not to call their\nchildren at night. It is believed that if this bird fly over the head\nof a pregnant woman her child will be born a weakling. [554]\n\nHence it closely approximates to the birth fiends which beset the\nmother and child during the period of impurity after parturition. Thus\nthe Or\u00e2ons of Chota N\u00e2gpur believe that the fiend Chordevan comes\nin the form of a cat and tears the mother's womb. [555] The Br\u00e2hman,\nPrabhu, and other high-caste women of Bombay believe that on the fifth\nand sixth night after birth the mother and child are liable to be\nattacked by the birth spirit Satv\u00e2\u00ee, who comes in the shape of a cat\nor a hen. Consequently they keep a watch in the lying-in room during\nthe whole night, passing the time in playing, singing and talking\nto scare the fiend. The Mar\u00e2thas of N\u00e2sik believe that on the fifth\nnight, at about twelve o'clock, the spirit Sath\u00ee, accompanied by a\nmale fiend, called Burmiya, comes to the lying-in room, and making\nthe mother insensible, either kills or disfigures the child. The\nVad\u00e2ls of Th\u00e2na think that on the fifth night the birth spirit Sath\u00ee\ncomes in the form of a cat, hen, or dog, and devours the heart and\nskull of the child. They therefore surround the bed with strands of\na creeper, place an iron knife or scythe on the mother's cot, fire\nin an iron bickern at the entrance of the lying-in room, and keep a\nwatch for the night. The customs all through Northern India are very\nmuch of the same type. It is essential that the fire should be kept\nconstantly burning, lest the spirit of evil, stepping over the cold\nashes, should enter and make its fatal mark on the forehead of the\nchild. The whole belief turns on the fear of infantile lockjaw, which\nis caused by the use of foul implements in cutting the umbilical cord\nand the neglect of all sanitary precautions. It usually comes between\nthe fifth and twelfth day, and as Satv\u00e2\u00ee, or the Chhath\u00ee of Northern\nIndia, has been raised to the dignity of a goddess. All this is akin\nto the belief in fairy changelings and the malignant influences which\nsurround the European mother and her child. [556]\n\n\n\nThe Par\u00ee and Jinn.\n\nLittle reference has yet been made to the Par\u00ee or fairies, or the\nJinn or genii, because they are, in their present state at least, of\nexotic origin, though their original basis was possibly laid on Indian\nsoil. Thus we have the Apsaras, who in name at least, \"moving in the\nwater,\" is akin to Aphrodite. They appear only faintly in the Veda\nas the nymphs of Indra's heaven, and the chief of them is Urvas\u00ee, to\nwhom reference has been already made. Two of them, Rambh\u00e2 and Menak\u00e2,\nare shown as luring austere sages from their devotions, as in the\nIrish legend of Glendalough. They are the wives or mistresses of the\nGandharvas, the singers and musicians who attend the banquets of the\ngods. Indra in the Rig Veda is the giver of women, and he provides\none of his aged friends with a young wife. [557] Rambh\u00e2, one of the\nfairies of his court, appears constantly in the tales of Somadeva, and\ndescends in human form to the arms of her earthly lovers, as Titania\nwith Bottom in the \"Midsummer Night's Dream.\" Their successor in the\nmodern tales is Sh\u00e2hpasand, \"The beloved of the king,\" who takes the\nshape of a pigeon and kisses the beautiful hero. In one of the stories\nwhich appears in many forms, the youth with the help of a Faq\u00eer finds\nhis way to the dance of R\u00e2ja Indra, takes the place of his drummer,\nand wins the fairy, whom he identifies in spite of the many schemes\nwhich the jovial god invents to deceive him. These ladies are all of\nsurpassing beauty, skilled in music and the dance, with white skins,\nand always dressed in red.\n\nWith the Jinn we reach a chapter of folk-lore of great extent and\ncomplexity. They are probably in origin closely allied to the R\u00e2kshasa,\nDeo and his kindred. [558] They are usually divided into the Jann,\nwho are the least powerful of all the Jinn, the Shait\u00e2n or Satan\nof the Hebrews, the Ifr\u00eet and the M\u00e2rid, the last of whom rules\nthe rest. The Jann, according to the Prophet, were created out of a\nsmokeless fire. The Jann is sometimes identified with the serpent,\nand sometimes with Ibl\u00ees, who has been imported direct from the Greek\nDiabolos. The Jinn were the pre-Adamite rulers of the world, and for\ntheir sins were overcome by the angels, taken prisoners and driven to\ndistant islands. They appear as serpents, lions, wolves or jackals. One\nkind rules the land, another the air, a third the sea. There are forty\ntroops of them, each consisting of six hundred thousand. Some have\nwings and fly, others move like snakes and dogs, others go about like\nmen. They are of gigantic stature, sometimes resplendently handsome,\nsometimes horridly hideous. They can become invisible and move on\nearth when they please. Sometimes one of them is shut up in a jar\nunder the seal of the Lord Solomon who rules them. They ride the\nwhirlwind like Indian demons, and direct the storm. Their chief home\nis the mountains of Q\u00e2f, which encompass the earth.\n\n\n\nThe Ghoul.\n\nBesides these there is a host of minor demons, such as the Gh\u00fbl, the\nEnglish Ghoul, who is a kind of Shait\u00e2n, eats men, and is variously\ndescribed as a Jinn or as an enchanter. By one tradition, when the\nShait\u00e2n attempt by stealth to hear the words of men, they are struck\nby shooting stars, some are burnt, some fall into the sea and become\ncrocodiles, and some fall upon the land and become Gh\u00fbls. The Gh\u00fbl is\nproperly a female, and the male is Qutrub. They are the offspring\nof Ibl\u00ees and his wife. The Sil\u00e2t or Sil\u00e2 lives in forests, and\nwhen it captures a man makes him dance and plays with him, as the\ncat plays with the mouse. Similar to this creature is the Ghadd\u00e2r,\nwho tortures and terrifies men, the Dalh\u00e2m, who is in the form of\na man and rides upon an ostrich, and the Shiqq or Nasn\u00e2s, who are\nogres and vampires. But these are little known in Indian folk-lore,\nexcept that directly imported from Arabic sources. [559]\n\n\n\nThe Baghaut.\n\nAs an instance of the respect paid to the ghosts of those who have\nperished by an untimely death, we may mention the Baghaut. According\nto the last census returns some eight thousand persons recorded\nthemselves as worshippers in the North-Western Provinces of Bagahu or\nSapaha, the ghosts of people killed by tigers or snakes. The Baghaut\nis usually erected on the place where a man was killed by a tiger,\nbut it sometimes merges into the common form of shrine, as in a\ncase given by Dr. Buchanan, where a person received the same honour\nbecause he had been killed by the aboriginal Kols. [560] The shrine\nis generally a heap of stones or branches near some pathway in the\njungle. Every passer-by adds to the pile, which is in charge of the\nBaiga or aboriginal priest, who offers upon it a pig, or a cock,\nor some spirits, and lights a little lamp there occasionally. Many\nsuch shrines are to be found in the Mirzapur jungles. In the Central\nProvinces they are known as P\u00e2t, a term applied in Chota N\u00e2gpur to\nholy heights dedicated to various divinities. [561] They are usually\nerected in a place where a man has been killed by a tiger or by a\nsnake; sometimes no reason whatever is given for their selection. \"In\nconnection with these shrines they have a special ceremony for laying\nthe ghost of a tiger. Until it is gone through, neither Gond nor\nBaiga will go into the jungles if he can help it, as they say not\nonly does the spirit of the dead man walk, but the tiger is also\npossessed, for the nonce, with an additional spirit of evil (by the\nsoul of the dead man entering into him) which increases his power of\nintelligence and ferocity, rendering him more formidable than usual,\nand more eager to pursue his natural enemy, man. Some of the Baigas\nare supposed to be gifted with great powers of witchcraft, and it\nis common for a Baiga medicine man to be called in to bewitch the\ntigers and prevent them carrying off the village cattle. The Gonds\nthoroughly believe in the powers of these men.\" [562]\n\nI myself came across a singular instance of this some time ago. I\nwas asking a Baiga of the Chero tribe what he could do in this way,\nbut I found him singularly reticent on the subject. I asked the\nSuperintendent of the Dudhi Estate, who was with me, to explain the\nreason. \"Well,\" he answered, \"when I came here first many years ago,\na noted Baiga came to me and proposed to do some witchcraft to protect\nme from tigers, which were very numerous in the neighbourhood at the\ntime. I told him that I could look after myself, and advised him to\ndo the same. That night a tiger seized the wretched Baiga while he\nwas on his way home, and all that was found of him were some scraps\nof cloth and pieces of bone. Since then I notice that the Baigas of\nthese parts do not talk so loudly of their power of managing tigers\nwhen I am present.\"\n\n\n\nThe Churel.\n\nMore dreaded even than the ghost of a man who has been killed by\na tiger is the Churel, a name which has been connected with that\nof the Ch\u00fbhra or sweeper caste. The ghosts of all low-caste people\nare notoriously malignant, an idea which possibly arises from their\nconnection with the aboriginal faith, which was treated half with fear\nand half with contempt by their conquerors. The corpses of such people\nare either cremated or buried face downwards, in order to prevent the\nevil spirit from escaping and troubling its neighbours. So, it was\nthe old custom in Great Britain in order to prevent the spirit of a\nsuicide from \"walking\" and becoming a terror to the neighbourhood,\nto turn the coffin upside down and thrust a spear through it and the\nbody which it contained so as to fix it to the ground. [563] Riots\nhave taken place and the authority of the magistrates has been invoked\nto prevent a sweeper from being buried in the ordinary way. [564]\n\nThe Churel, who corresponds to the Jakh\u00e2\u00ee, Jokh\u00e2\u00ee, Muk\u00e2\u00ee, or Naval\u00e2\u00ee\nof Bombay, [565] is the ghost of a woman dying while pregnant, or\non the day of the child's birth, or within the prescribed period\nof impurity. The superstition is based on the horror felt by all\nsavages at the blood, or even touch of a woman who is ceremonially\nimpure. [566] The idea is, it is needless to say, common in India. The\nwoman in her menses is kept carefully apart, and is not allowed to do\ncooking or any domestic work until she has undergone the purification\nby bathing and changing her garments. Some of the Dr\u00e2vidian tribes\nrefuse to allow a woman in this condition to touch the house-thatch,\nand she is obliged to creep through a narrow hole in the back wall\nwhenever she has to leave the house. Hence, too, the objection felt\nby men to walk under walls or balconies where women may be seated and\nthus convey the pollution. From Kulu, on the slopes of the Him\u00e2layas,\na custom is reported which is probably connected with this principle\nand with the rules of the Couvade, to which reference will be made\nlater on. When a woman who is pregnant dies, her husband is supposed\nto have committed some sin, and he is deemed unclean for a time. He\nturns a Faq\u00eer and goes on pilgrimage for a month or so, and, having\nbathed in some sacred place, is re-admitted into caste. The woman is\nburied, the child having been first removed from her body by one of\nthe D\u00e2gi caste, and her death is not considered a natural one under\nany circumstances. [567]\n\nThe Churel is particularly malignant to her own family. She appears\nin various forms. Sometimes she is fair in front and black behind,\nbut she invariably has her feet turned round, heels in front and\ntoes behind. The same idea prevails in many other places. The Gira,\na water-spirit of the Konkan, has his feet turned backwards. [568]\nIn the Teignmouth story of the Devil he leaves his backward footsteps\nin the snow. Pliny so describes Anthropophagi of Mount Imoeus, and\nMegasthenes speaks of a similar race on Mount Nilo. [569]\n\nShe generally, however, assumes the form of a beautiful young woman and\nseduces youths at night, especially those who are good-looking. She\ncarries them off to some kingdom of her own, and if they venture to\neat the food offered to them there, she keeps them till they lose their\nmanly beauty and then sends them back to the world grey-haired old men,\nwho, like Rip Van Winkle, find all their friends dead long ago.\n\nSo the Lady of the Lake won Merlin to her arms. [570] The same idea\nprevails in Italy, but there the absence is only temporary. \"Among the\nwizards and witches are even princes and princesses, who to conceal\ntheir debauchery and dishonour take the goat form and carry away\npartners for the dance, bearing them upon their backs, and so they\nfly many miles in a few minutes, and go with them to distant cities\nand other places, where they feast, dance, drink, and make love. But\nwhen day approaches they carry their partners home again, and when\nthey wake they think they have had pleasant dreams. But indeed their\ndiversion was more real than they supposed.\" [571] So, the Manxmen tell\nof a man who was absent from his people for four years, which he spent\nwith the fairies. He could not tell how he returned, but it seemed as\nif, having been unconscious, he woke up at last in this world. [572]\nI had a smart young butler at Etah, who once described to me vividly\nthe narrow escape he had from the fascinations of a Churel, who lived\non a P\u00eepal tree near the cemetery. He saw her sitting on the wall in\nthe dusk and entered into conversation with her; but he fortunately\nobserved her tell-tale feet and escaped. He would never go again by\nthat road without an escort. So, the fairies of England and Ireland\nlook with envy on the beautiful boys and girls, and carry them off\nto fairyland, where they keep them till youth and beauty have departed.\n\n\n\nEating Food in Spirit Land.\n\nThe consequences of rashly eating the food of the underworld are well\nknown. The reason is that eating together implies kinship with the\ndwellers in the land of spirits, and he who does so never returns to\nthe land of men. [573]\n\nThe Churel superstition appears in other forms. Thus, the Korwas of\nMirzapur say that if a woman dies in the delivery-room, she becomes\na Churel, but they do not know, or do not care to say, what finally\nbecomes of her. The Pat\u00e2ris and Majhw\u00e2rs think that if a woman\ndies within the period of pregnancy or uncleanness, she becomes a\nChurel. She appears in the form of a pretty little girl in white\nclothes, and seduces them away to the mountains, until the Baiga is\ncalled in to sacrifice a goat and release her victim. The Bhuiy\u00e2rs\ngo further and say that little baby girls who die before they are\ntwenty days old become Churels. They live in stones in the mountains\nand cause pain to men. The remedy is for the afflicted one to put\nsome rice and barley on his head, turn round two or three times,\nand shake off the grain in the direction of the jungle, when she\nreleases her victim. The idea seems to be that with these holy grains,\nwhich are scarers of demons, the evil influence is dispersed. But\nshe continues to visit him, and requires propitiation. Among these\npeople the Churel has been very generally enrolled among the regular\nvillage godlings and resides with them in the common village shrine,\nwhere she receives her share of the periodical offerings. Any one\nwho sees a Churel is liable to be attacked by a wasting disease, and,\nas in the case of the D\u00fbnd, to answer her night summons brings death.\n\n\n\nModes of Repelling the Churel.\n\nThere are fortunately various remedies which are effective in\npreventing a woman who dies under these circumstances from becoming\na Churel. One way is that practised by the Majhw\u00e2rs of Mirzapur,\nwhich resembles that for laying the evil spirit of a sweeper, to\nwhich reference has been made already. They do not cremate the body,\nbut bury it, fill the grave with thorns and pile heavy stones above\nto keep down the ghost.\n\nAmong the Bhand\u00e2ris of Bengal, when a pregnant woman dies before\ndelivery, her body is cut open and the child taken out, both corpses\nbeing buried in the same grave. [574] In Bombay, when a woman dies\nin pregnancy, her corpse, after being bathed and decked with flowers\nand ornaments, is carried to the burning ground. There her husband\nsprinkles water on her body from the points of a wisp of the sacred\nDarbha grass and repeats holy verses. Then he cuts her right side\nwith a sharp weapon and takes out the child. Should it be alive,\nit is taken home and cared for; should it be dead, it is then and\nthere buried. The hole in the side of the corpse is filled with curds\nand butter, covered with cotton threads, and then the usual rite\nof cremation is carried out. [575] In one of the tales of Somadeva,\nSaktideva cuts the child out of his pregnant wife. [576]\n\nIn the Hills, if a woman dies during the menstrual period or\nin childbirth, the corpse is anointed with the five products of\nthe cow, and special texts are recited. A small quantity of fire\nis then placed on the chest of the corpse, which is either buried\nor thrown into flowing water. [577] Here we have the three great\ndemon-scarers,--fire, earth and water, combined. In another device,\niron, which has similar virtue, is used. Small round-headed iron\nspikes, specially made for the purpose, are driven into the nails\nof the four fingers of the corpse, while the thumbs and great toes\nare securely fastened together with iron rings. Most Hindus, it may\nbe remarked, tie the corpse to the bier, whatever may have been the\ncause of death, and in parts of Ireland a thread is tied round the\ntoe of the corpse, the object apparently being to secure the body\nand prevent an evil spirit from entering it. [578]\n\nIn the Hills the place where a pregnant woman died is carefully\nscraped and the earth removed. The spot is then sown with mustard,\nwhich is sprinkled along the road traversed by the corpse on its way\nto the burial ground. The reason given for this is twofold. First,\nthe mustard blossoms in the world of the dead, and its sweet smell\npleases the spirit and keeps her content, so that she does not long to\nrevisit her earthly home; secondly, the Churel rises from her grave\nat nightfall and seeks to return to her friends; she sees the minute\ngrains of the mustard scattered abroad and stoops to pick it up, and\nwhile so engaged cock-crow comes, she is unable to visit her home,\nand must return to her grave. This is another instance of the rule\nthat evil spirits move about only at night.\n\n\n\nCounting.\n\nThis counting of the grains of mustard illustrates another principle\nwhich is thus explained by Mr. Leland: [579] \"A traveller in Persia\nhas observed that the patterns of carpets are made intricate,\nso that the Evil Eye, resting upon them and following the design,\nloses its power. This was the motive of all the interlaces of the\nCeltic and Norse designs. When the witch sees the S\u00e2lagr\u00e2ma, her\nglance is at once bewildered with its holes and veins. As I have\nelsewhere remarked, the herb Rosaloaccio, not the corn poppy, but\na kind of small house leek, otherwise called 'Rice of the Goddess\nof the four Winds,' derives its name from looking, ere it unfolds,\nlike confused grains of rice, and when a witch sees it she cannot\nenter till she has counted them, which is impossible; therefore it\nis used to protect rooms from witchcraft.\" Sarson or mustard is,\nit may be noted, used as a scarer of demons. In all the principal\nHindu ceremonies in Western India, grains of Sarshapa or Sarson\n(Sinapts dichotoma) and parched rice are scattered about to scare\nfiends. Akbar used to have Sipand or Sarson burnt on a hot plate to\nkeep off the Evil Eye--Nazar-i-bad--from his valuable horses. [580]\n\nThough the Churel is regarded with disgust and terror, curiously\nenough a family of Chauh\u00e2n R\u00e2jputs in Oudh claim one as their\nancestress. [581]\n\n\n\nThe Couvade.\n\nIn connection with this subject of parturition impurity, the very\nremarkable custom of the Couvade may be referred to here. This is\nthe rule by which at the birth of a child the father is treated as\nan invalid, instead of or in addition to the mother:--\n\n\n    When Chineses go to bed,\n    And lie in in their ladies' stead.\n\n\nMarco Polo, writing of Zardandan, gives a good example:--\"When one\nof their wives has been delivered of a child, the infant is washed\nand swathed, and then the woman gets up and goes about her household\naffairs, whilst the husband takes to bed with the child by his side,\nand so keeps his bed for forty days; and all the kith and kin come to\nvisit her, and keep up a great festivity. They do this because they\nsay the woman has had a bad time of it, and it is but fair that the\nman should have a share of suffering.\" [582] Professor Rhys remarks\nthat the gods of Celtic Ireland used to practise the Couvade. [583]\n\nProfessor Max M\u00fcller thinks that it is clear that the poor husband\nwas at first tyrannized over by his female relations and afterwards\nfrightened into superstition. He then began to make a martyr\nof himself, till he made himself really ill, or took to bed in\nself-defence. The custom appears, however, to rest on a much more\nprimitive set of ideas. It partly implies, perhaps, the transition\nfrom that social state in which, owing to the laxity of the connection\nbetween the sexes, the only recognized form of descent was through\nthe mother, and partly, the kindred conception that the father has\nmore to do with the production of the child than the mother, and\nthat the father must, at the critical period of the baby's existence,\nexercise particular caution that through his negligence no demoniacal\ninfluence may assail the infant, [584]\n\nIt is curious that in India itself so few actual instances of the\nCouvade have been discovered. This, however, as Mr. Hartland shows,\nis not unusual, and the Couvade is not found in the lowest stage\nof savagery. But that the custom once generally prevailed is quite\ncertain, and in Northern India, at least, it seems to have been masked\nby special birth ceremonies of great stringency and elaborate detail,\nbut of distinctly later date than the very primitive usage with which\nwe are now concerned.\n\nOne instance of the actual Couvade is given by Professor Sir\nMonier-Williams. [585] Among a very low caste of basket-makers in\nGujar\u00e2t, it is the usual practice for a wife to go about her work\nimmediately after delivery, as if nothing had occurred. \"The presiding\nMother (M\u00e2t\u00e2) of the tribe is supposed to transfer the weakness to her\nhusband, who takes to his bed and has to be supported for several days\nwith good nourishing food.\" Again, among the Kols of Chota N\u00e2gpur,\nfather and mother are considered impure for eight days, during\nwhich period the members of the family are sent out of the house,\nand the husband has to cook for his wife. If it be a difficult case\nof parturition, the malignancy of some spirit of evil is supposed to\nbe at work, and after divination to ascertain his name, a sacrifice\nis made to appease him. [586] Among many of the Dr\u00e2vidian tribes of\nMirzapur, when the posset or spiced drink is prepared for the mother\nafter her confinement, the father is obliged to drink the first sup\nof it. Among all these people, the father does not work or leave the\nhouse during the period of parturition impurity, and cooks for his\nwife. When asked why he refrains from work, they simply say that he\nis so pleased with the safety of his wife and the birth of his child,\nthat he takes a holiday; but some survival of the Couvade is probably\nat the root of the custom. The same idea prevails in a modified form in\nBombay. The Pomaliyas, gold-washers of South Gujar\u00e2t, after a birth,\ntake great care of the husband, give him food, and do not allow him\nto go out; and \"when a child is born to a Deshasth Br\u00e2hman, he throws\nhimself into a well with all his clothes on, and, in the presence of\nhis wife's relations, lets a couple of drops of honey and butter fall\ninto the mouth of the child.\" [587]\n\n\n\nVarious Birth Ceremonies.\n\nThe same idea that the infant is likely to receive demoniacal\ninfluences through its father appears to be the explanation of another\nclass of birth ceremonies. In Northern India, in respectable families,\nthe father does not look on the child until the astrologer selects a\nfavourable moment. If the birth occur in the unlucky lunar asterism\nof M\u00fbl, the father is often not allowed to see his child for years,\nand has in addition to undergo an elaborate rite of purification,\nknown as M\u00fbla-s\u00e2nti. So, in Bombay, \"the Belgaum Chitpavans do not\nallow the father to look on the new-born child, but at its reflection\nin butter. The Dharw\u00e2r Radders do not allow the father to see the\nlamp being waved round the image of Satv\u00e2\u00ee, the birth goddess. If\nthe father sees it, it is believed that the mother and child will\nsicken. The Karn\u00e2tak Jainas allow anyone to feed the new-born babe\nwith honey and castor oil, except the father. Among the Beni Isr\u00e2els,\nwhen the boy is being circumcised, the father sits apart covered\nwith a veil. Among the P\u00fbna Musalm\u00e2ns, friends are called to eat\nthe goat offered as a sacrifice on the birth of a child. All join in\nthe feast except the parents, who may not eat the sacrifice.\" [588]\nProbably on the same principle, among most of the lower castes, the\nfather and mother do not eat on the wedding day of their children\nuntil the ceremony is over.\n\n\n\nPlaces Infested by Bh\u00fbts: Burial Places.\n\nThere are, of course, certain places which are particularly infested\nby Bh\u00fbts. To begin with, they naturally infest the neighbourhood of\nburial places and cremation grounds. This idea is found all over the\nworld. Virgil says:--\n\n\n    Moerim, saepe animas imis excire sepulcris,\n    Atque satas alio vidi traducere messes;\n\n\nand Shakespeare in the \"Midsummer Night's Dream,\"--\n\n\n    Now it is the time of night\n    That graves all gaping wide,\n    Every one lets forth its sprite,\n    In the church-way paths to glide.\n\n\n\nDeserts.\n\nAll deserts, also, are a resort of Bh\u00fbts, as the great desert of Lop,\nwhere Marco Polo assures us they are constantly seen at night. In the\nWestern Panj\u00e2b deserts, during the prairie fires and in the dead of\nnight, the lonely herdsmen used to hear cries arising from the ground,\nand shouts of M\u00e2r! M\u00e2r! \"Strike! Strike!\" which were ascribed to the\nspirits of men who had been killed in former frontier raids. Such\nsupernatural sounds were heard by the early settlers within the last\nfifty years, and, until quite recently, the people were afraid to\ntravel without forming large parties for fear of encountering the\nsupernatural enemies who frequented these uninhabited tracts. [589]\nSo, among the Mirzapur jungle tribes, the wild forests of Sarguja\nare supposed to be infested with Bh\u00fbts, and if any one goes there\nrashly he is attacked through their influence with diarrhoea and\nvomiting. The site of the present British Residency at Kathm\u00e2ndu in\nNep\u00e2l was specially selected by the Nep\u00e2lese as it was a barren patch,\nsupposed to be the abode of demons. So, in Scotland, the local spirit\nlives in a patch of untilled ground, known as the \"Gudeman's field\"\nor \"Cloutie's Croft.\" [590]\n\n\n\nOwls and Bats.\n\nThe goblins of the churchyard type very often take the form of owls\nand bats, which haunt the abodes of the dead. \"Screech owls are held\nunlucky in our days,\" says Aubrey. [591]\n\n\n    Sedit in adverso nocturnus culmine bubo,\n    Funereosque graves edidit ore sonos.\n\n\nThe Strix, or screech owl, in Roman folk-lore was supposed to suck the\nblood of young children. Another form of the word in Latin is Striga,\nmeaning a hag or witch. The Lilith of the Jews, the \"night monster\"\nof our latest version of the Old Testament, becomes in the Rabbinical\nstories Adam's first wife, \"the Queen of demons\" and murderess of\nyoung children, who is the \"night hag\" of Milton. [592]\n\nThe Kumaun owl legend is that they had originally no plumes of their\nown, and were forced to borrow those of their neighbours, who pursue\nthem if they find them abroad at daylight. Owl's flesh is a powerful\nlove philter, and the eating of it causes a man to become a fool and\nto lose his memory; hence, women give it to their husbands, that as\na result of the mental weakness which it produces they may be able\nto carry on their flirtations with impunity. On the other hand, the\nowl is the type of wisdom, and eating the eyeballs of an owl gives\nthe power of seeing in the dark, an excellent example of sympathetic\nmagic. If you put an owl in a room, go in naked, shut the door and\nfeed the bird with meat all night, you acquire magical powers. I once\nhad a native clerk who was supposed to have gone through this ordeal,\nand was much feared accordingly. Here we have another instance of\nthe nudity charm. In the same way in Gujar\u00e2t, if a man takes seven\ncotton threads, goes to a place where an owl is hooting, strips naked,\nties a knot at each hoot, and fastens the thread round the right arm\nof a fever patient, the fever goes away. [593]\n\n\n\nGhosts and Burial Grounds.\n\nTo return to the connection of ghosts with burial grounds. At Bishesar\nin the Hills, the Hindu dead from Almora are burnt. The spirits\nof the departed are supposed to lurk there and are occasionally\nseen. Sometimes, under the guidance of their leader Bholan\u00e2th, whom\nwe have mentioned already, they come, some in palanquins and some\non foot, at night, to the Almora B\u00e2z\u00e2r and visit the merchants'\nshops. Death is supposed to follow soon on a meeting with their\nprocessions. These ghosts are supposed to be deficient in some of\ntheir members. One has no head, another no feet, and so on; but they\ncan all talk and dance. [594]\n\n\n\nMutilation.\n\nThis illustrates another principle about ghosts, that mutilation\nduring life is avoided, as being likely to turn the spirit into a\nmalignant ghost after death. This is the reason that many savages\nkeep the cuttings of their hair and nails, not only to put them out\nof the way of witches, who might work evil charms by their means,\nbut also that the body when it rises at the Last Day may not be\ndeficient in any part. [595] This also explains the strong feeling\namong Hindus against decapitation as a form of execution, and the\ndread which Musalm\u00e2ns exhibit towards cremation. It also, in all\nprobability, explains the lame demons, which abound all the world\nover, like Hephaistos, Wayland Smith, the Persian \u00c6shma, the Asmodeus\nof the book of Tobit, and the Club-footed Devil of Christianity. The\nprejudice against amputation, based on this idea, is one of the many\ndifficulties which meet our surgeons in India.\n\n\n\nGhosts of Old Ruins.\n\nAnother place where ghosts, as might have been expected, resort is in\nold ruins. Many old buildings are, as we have seen, attributed to the\nagency of demons, and in any case interference with them is resented\nby the Deus loci who occupies them. This explains the number of old\nruined houses which one sees in an Indian town, and with which no\none cares to meddle, as they are occupied by the spirits of their\nformer owners. The same idea extends to the large bricks of the\nancient buildings which are occasionally disinterred. Dr. Buchanan\ndescribes how on one occasion no one would assist him in digging out\nan ancient stone image. The people told him that a man who had made\nan attempt to do so some time before had met with sudden death. [596]\nThe landlord of the village stated that he would gladly use the bricks\nfrom these ruins, but that he was afraid of the consequences. So,\nin Bombay, interference with the bricks of an ancient dam brought\nGuinea worm and dysentery into a village, and some labourers were\ncut off who meddled with some ancient tombs at Ahmadnagar. [597]\nGeneral Cunningham, in one of his Reports, describes how on one\noccasion, when carrying on some excavations, his elephant escaped,\nand was recovered with difficulty; the people unanimously attributed\nthe disaster to the vengeance of the local ghosts, who resented his\nproceedings. The people who live in the neighbourhood of the old city\nof Sahet Mahet are, for the same reason, very unwilling to meddle with\nits ruins, or even to enter it at night. When Mr. Benett was there,\na storm which occurred was generally believed to be a token of the\ndispleasure of the spirits at his intrusion on their domains. [598]\nThe tomb of Shaikh M\u00eena Sh\u00e2h at Lucknow was demolished during the\nMutiny, and the workmen suffered so much trouble from the wrath of\nthe saint, that when the disturbances were over they collected and\nrebuilt it at their own expense.\n\nThe same theory exists in other countries. Thus, in the Isle of Man,\n\"a good Manx scholar told me how a relative of his had carted the\nearth from an old burial ground on his farm and used it as manure\nfor his fields, and how his beasts died afterwards. It is possible\nfor a similar reason that a house in ruins is seldom pulled down\nand the materials used for other buildings; where that has been done\nmisfortunes have ensued.\" [599]\n\nIn the Konkan it is believed that all treasures buried underground,\nall the mines of gold, silver, and precious stones, all old caves and\nall ruined fortresses, are guarded by underground spirits in the shape\nof a hairy serpent or frog. These spirits never leave their places,\nand they attack and injure only those persons who come to remove the\nthings which they are guarding. [600] In short, these places are like\nthe Sith Bhruaith mounds in Scotland, which were respected, and it\nwas deemed unlawful and dangerous to cut wood, dig earth there, or\notherwise disturb them. In the same way the sites of ancient villages\nwhich abound in Northern India are more or less respected. They were\nabandoned on account of the ravages of war, famine, or pestilence, and\nare guarded by the spirits of the original owners, these calamities\nbeing self-evident proofs of the malignity and displeasure of the\nlocal deities.\n\n\n\nMine and Cave Spirits.\n\nWe have already mentioned incidentally the mine spirits. It is not\ndifficult to see why the spirits of mine and cave should be malignant\nand resent trespass on their territories, because by the nature of\nthe case they are directly in communication with the under-world. In\nthe folk-tales of Somadeva we have more than one reference to a\ncave which leads to P\u00e2t\u00e2la, \"the rifted rock whose entrance leads to\nhell.\" Others are the entrance to fairy palaces, where dwell the Asura\nmaidens beneath the earth. [601] Of a mine at Patna, Dr. Buchanan\nwrites: \"A stone-cutter who was in my service was going into one of\nthe shafts to break a specimen, when the guide, a Muhammadan trader,\nacquainted with the fears of the workmen, pulled him back in alarm,\nand said, 'Pull off your shoes! Will you profane the abode of the\ngods?'\" Under the same belief, the Cornish miners will allow no\nwhistling underground. [602]\n\nMr. Spencer suggests that the respect for caves is based on the early\npractice of burial in such places. [603] At any rate, the belief is\nvery general that spirits and deities live in caves. There is a whole\ncycle of fairy legend centering round the belief that some of the\nheroes of old live in caves surrounded by their faithful followers,\nand will arise some day to win back their kingdom. Thus, Bruce and\nhis enchanted warriors lie in a cave in Rathlin Island, and one day\nthey will arise and win back the island for Scotland. [604] The same\ntale is told of Arthur, Karl the Great, Barbarossa, and many other\nheroes. The same tale appears in Oriental folk-lore in the shape of\nthe Ash\u00e2bu-'l-Kahf, \"the companions of the cave,\" the seven sleepers\nof Ephesus. So the famous Alha of the Bundelkhand epic is said to be\nstill alive. He makes regular visits on the last day of the moon to\nDev\u00ee S\u00e2rad's temple on the Mahiy\u00e2r Hill, where he has been repeatedly\nseen and followed. But he sternly warns any one from approaching him,\nand the main proof of his presence is that some unknown hand puts a\nfresh garland on the statue of the goddess every day. [605]\n\n\n\nCave Deities.\n\nIn India many deities live in caves. There are cave temples of K\u00e2l\u00ee,\nAnnap\u00fbrna, and S\u00fbraj N\u00e2r\u00e2yan, the Sun god, at Hardw\u00e2r. Kumaun abounds\nin such temples. That at Gaur\u00ee Udy\u00e2r is where Siva and P\u00e2rvat\u00ee once\nhalted for the night with their marriage procession. Their attendants\noverslept themselves and were turned into the stalactites for which the\ncave is famous. Another is called from its depth P\u00e2t\u00e2la Bhuvaneswar,\nfrom the roof of which a white liquid trickles. The attendant of the\nshrine says that this was milk in the olden days, but a greedy Jogi\nboiled his rice in it and since then the supply has ceased. Another\nis called Gupt\u00e2 Gang\u00e2 or \"the hidden Ganges,\" whose waters may be\nheard rushing below. Hence bathing there is as efficacious as in the\nsacred river itself. [606] Among the Korwas of Chota N\u00e2gpur, their\nbloodthirsty deity has a cave for her residence. Mah\u00e2deva, say the\nGonds, shut up the founders of their race in a cave in the Him\u00e2layas,\nbut Lingo removed the stone and released sixteen crores of Gonds. Tal\u00e2o\nDaitya, a noted demon of K\u00e2thi\u00e2w\u00e2r, lives in a cave where a lamp is\nlit which never goes out, however violently the wind may blow or the\nrain may fall. Saptasr\u00ee Dev\u00ee, a much dreaded spirit in the Konkan,\nlives in a cave; such is also the case with the eight-armed Dev\u00ee\nat Asthbhuja, in the Mirzapur District. Her devotees have to creep\nthrough a narrow passage into what is now the shrine of the goddess,\nbut is said to have been, and very probably was, a cave. [607]\n\nWhen the Korwas of Mirzapur have to enter a cave, they first\narm themselves with a rude spear and axe as a protection against\nBh\u00fbts. There are two haunted caves in the Mircha and Banka Hills\nin Sarguja. The Mircha cave is inhabited by a demon called Mah\u00e2d\u00e2ni\nDeo, who is much feared. Not even a Baiga can enter this cave, but\nmany of them have seen his white horse tied up near the entrance,\nand green grass and horsedung lying there. In the cave on the Banka\nHill lives a D\u00e2no, whose name either no one knows or dares to tell. No\none ventures to enter his cave, and he worries people in dreams and\nbrings sickness, unless a Baiga periodically offers a cock with black\nand white feathers below the cave, makes a fire sacrifice and throws\nsome grains of rice in the direction of the mountain. When this Deo\nis enraged, a noise which sounds like Gudgud! Gudgud! comes from the\ncave. He is also heard shouting at night, and when cholera is coming\nhe calls out Khabard\u00e2r! Khabard\u00e2r! \"Be cautious! Be cautious!\" Any\none who goes near the cave gets diarrhoea. Captain Younghusband has\nrecently solved the mystery of the famous Lamp Rock cave of Central\nAsia, which is simply the light coming through a concealed aperture\nat the rear of the entrance. [608]\n\nMany caves, again, have acquired their sanctity by being occupied by\nfamous Hindu and Muhammadan saints. Such are some of the Buddhistic\ncaves found in many places, which are now occupied by their successors\nof other faiths. There is a cave at Bhuili, in the Mirzapur District,\nwhich has a very narrow entrance, but miraculously expands to\naccommodate any possible number of pilgrims. They say that when the\nsaint Sal\u00eem Chishti came to visit Sh\u00e2h Vil\u00e2yat at Agra, the stone seat\nin front of the mosque of the latter was large enough to accommodate\nonly one person, but when Sal\u00eem Chishti sat on it its length was\nmiraculously doubled. [609]\n\nThese cave spirits are common in European folk-lore. Such are the\nBuccas and Knockers of the Cornwall mines, [610] and the Kobolds of\nGermany. Falstaff speaks of \"learning, a mere hoard of gold kept by\na devil.\" Burton thus sums up the matter: \"Subterraneous devils are\nas common as the rest, and do as much harm. These (saith Munster)\nare commonly seen among mines of metals, and are some of them noxious;\nsome, again, do no harm. The metal men in many places account it good\nluck, a sign of treasure and rich ore, when they see them. Georgius\nAgricola reckons two more notable kinds of them, Getuli and Kobali;\nboth are clothed after the manner of mortal men, and will many times\nimitate their works. Their office is, as Pictorius and Paracelsus\nthink, to keep treasure in the earth, that it be not all at once\nrevealed.\" [611]\n\n\n\nBh\u00fbts Treasure Guardians.\n\nThis leads us to the common idea that Bh\u00fbts, like the Cornwall\nSpriggans, [612] guard treasure. Ill luck very often attaches\nto treasure-trove. Some years ago a Cham\u00e2r dug up some treasure\nin the ancient fort of Atranji Khera in the Etah District. He did\nhis best to purge himself of the ill luck attaching to it by giving\naway a large portion in charity. But he died a beggar, and the whole\ncountry-side attributes his ruin to the anger of the Bh\u00fbts who guarded\nthe treasure. Some time ago an old man came into my court at Mirzapur\nand gave up two old brass pots, which he had found while ploughing\nabout a year before. Since then he had suffered a succession of\ntroubles, and his son, who was with him when he found the property,\ndied. He then called a conference of sorcerers to consider the matter,\nand they advised him to appease the Bh\u00fbt by giving up the treasure. He\nfurther remarked that the Sark\u00e2r or Government doubtless knew some\nMantra or charm which would prevent any harm to it from taking over\nsuch dangerous property. Occasionally, however, the Bh\u00fbt is worsted,\nas in a Kumaun tale, where an old man and his daughter-in-law tie up\na Bh\u00fbt and make him give up five jars full of gold. [613]\n\nTreasure is often thus kept guarded in sacred caves. In Jaynagar is\nsaid to be the treasury of Indradyumna, sealed with a magic seal. He\nwas king of Avanti, who set up the image of Jagann\u00e2tha in Orissa. The\nspot presents the appearance of a plain smooth rock, which has been\nperhaps artificially smoothed. It is said that Indradyumna had\na great warrior, whom he fully trusted and raised to the highest\nhonours. At last this man began to entertain the idea of asking his\nmaster's daughter in marriage. The king, hearing this, was sorely\nwroth, but his dependent was too powerful to be easily subdued. So\nhe contrived that a cavern should be excavated, and here he removed\nall his treasure, and when all was secured he invited the warrior to\nthe place. The man unsuspectingly went in, when Indradyumna let fall\nthe trap-door and sealed it with his magic seal; but he was punished\nfor his wickedness by defeat at the hands of the Muhammadans. [614]\n\nIn Ireland the Leprehaun, a little cobbler who sits under the hedge\nand whose tapping as he mends his shoes may be heard in the soft\nsummer twilight, is a guardian of treasure, and if any one can seize\nhim he will give a pot of gold to secure his escape. [615]\n\n\n\nFairy Gifts.\n\nIn connection with these treasure guardians, we reach another\ncycle of folk-lore legends, that of gifts or robberies from\nfairy-land. Professor Rhys, writing of the Celts, well explains the\nprinciple on which these are based. [616] \"The Celts, in common with\nall other peoples of Aryan race, regarded all their domestic comforts\nas derived by them from their ancestors in the forgotten past, that\nis to say from the departed. They seem, therefore, to have argued\nthat there must be a land of untold wealth and bliss somewhere in\nthe nether world inhabited by their dead ancestors; and the further\ninference would be that the things they most valued in life had\nbeen procured from the leaders of that nether world through fraud\nor force by some great benefactor of the human race; for it seldom\nseems to have entered their minds that the powers below would give\nup anything for nothing.\" Hence the many tales which thus account\nfor the bringing of fire and other blessings to man.\n\nOf the same type are the usual tales of the fairy gifts. Thus, in\none version from Patna we read that one day a corpse came floating\ndown the river, and a Faq\u00eer announced that this was Ch\u00e2n H\u00e2ji. He\nwas duly buried and honoured, and in many places he used to keep\nsilver and gold vessels for the use of travellers. If anyone wanted\na vessel, he had only to say so, and one used to float out of the\nwater. But a covetous man appropriated one, and since then the supply\nhas ceased. [617] The same legend is told of the great Karsota lake\nin Mirzapur, and of numbers of others all over the country. The\nculprit is generally a Banya, or corn-chandler, the type of sneaking\ngreediness. The same story appears constantly in European folk-lore,\nas is shown by Mr. Hartland's admirable summary. [618]\n\nAnother version current in India also corresponds with the Western\ntradition. This is where a person receives a gift from the fairies,\nwhich he does not appreciate, and so loses. Thus, in a tale from\nR\u00e2\u00eapur, in the Central Provinces, the goatherd used to watch a\nstrange goat, which joined his flock. One day it walked into the\ntank and disappeared. While the goatherd was looking on in wonder,\na stone was thrown to him from the water, and a voice exclaimed,\n\"This is the reward of your labour.\" The disappointed goatherd knocked\nthe stone back into the water with his axe. But he found that his axe\nhad been changed by the touch into gold. He searched for the stone,\nbut could never find it again. [619]\n\nIn another tale of the same kind, the cowherd tends the cow of the\nfairy, and, following the animal into a cave, receives some golden\nwheat. In a third version, the fool throws away a handful of golden\nbarley, and only comes to know of his mistake when his wife finds\nthat some fuel cakes, on which he had laid his blanket, had turned\ninto gold. [620] So, at Pathari, in Bhop\u00e2l, there lived a Muni, or\na P\u00eer, in a cave unknown to any one. His goat used to graze with the\nherdsman's flock. The shepherd, one day, followed the goat into the\ncave and found an old man sitting intent in meditation. He made a\nnoise to attract the saint's attention, who asked the object of his\nvisit. The herdsman asked for wages, whereupon the saint gave him a\nhandful of barley. He took it home, and, in disgust, threw it on fire,\nwhere his wife soon after found it turned into gold. The herdsman\nwent back to thank the old man, but found the cave deserted, and its\noccupant was never heard of again. The shepherd devoted the wealth,\nthus miraculously acquired, to building a temple. [621]\n\n\n\nUnderground Treasure.\n\nThis underground kingdom, stored with untold treasure, appears in other\ntales. Thus, K\u00e2fir Kot, like many other places of the same kind, is\nsupposed to have underground galleries holding untold treasures. One\nday a man is said to have entered an opening, where he found a flight\nof steps. Going down the steps, he came to rooms filled with many\nvaluable things. Selecting a few, he turned to go, but he found the\nentrance closed. On dropping the treasure the door opened again, and\nit shut when he again tried to take something with him. According to\nanother version he lost his sight when he touched the magic wealth,\nand it was restored when he surrendered the treasure. [622]\n\nAnother tale of the same kind is preserved by the old Buddhist\ntraveller, Hwen Thsang. [623] There was a herdsman who tended his\ncattle near Bh\u00e2galpur. One day a bull separated from the rest of the\nherd and roamed into the forest. The herdsman feared that the animal\nwas lost, but in the evening he returned radiant with beauty. Even his\nlowing was so remarkable that the rest of the cattle feared to approach\nhim. At last the herdsman followed him into a cleft of the rock, where\nhe found a lovely garden filled with fruits, exquisite of colour and\nunknown to man. The herdsman plucked one, but was afraid to taste it,\nand, as he passed out, a demon snatched it from his hand. He consulted\na doctor, who recommended him next time to eat the fruit. When he\nagain met the demon, who as before tried to pluck it out of his hand,\nthe herdsman ate it. But no sooner had it reached his stomach than it\nbegan to swell inside him, and he grew so enormous, that although his\nhead was outside, his body was jammed in the fissure of the rock. His\nfriends in vain tried to release him, and he was gradually changed into\nstone. Ages after, a king who believed that such a stone must possess\nmedical virtues, tried to chisel away a small portion, but the workmen,\nafter ten days' labour, were not able to get even a pinch of dust.\n\nThese treasure rocks, which open to the touch of magic, are common\nin folk-lore. [624]\n\n\n\nGhosts of Roads.\n\nBh\u00fbts are also found at roads, cross-roads, and boundaries. It is\nso in Russia, where, \"at cross-roads, or in the neighbourhood of\ncemeteries, an animated corpse often lurks watching for some unwary\ntraveller whom it may be able to slay and eat.\" [625] Thus, in the\nHills, and indeed as far as Madras, an approved charm for getting\nrid of a disease of demoniacal origin is to plant a stake where four\nroads meet, and to bury grains underneath, which crows disinter\nand eat. [626] The custom of laying small-pox scabs on roads has\nbeen already noticed. The same idea is probably at the root of the\nold English plan of burying suicides at cross-roads, with a stake\ndriven through the chest of the corpse. In the eastern parts of the\nNorth-West Provinces we have Sewanriya, who, like Terminus, is a\nspecial godling of boundaries, and whose function is to keep foreign\nBh\u00fbts from intruding into the village under his charge. For the same\nreason the Baiga pours a stream of spirits round the boundary. This\nis also probably the basis of a long series of customs performed,\nwhen the bridegroom, with his procession, reaches the boundary of the\nbride's village. Of the Kh\u00e2ndh godling of boundaries, we read:--\"He\nis adored by sacrifices human and bestial. Particular points upon the\nboundaries of districts, fixed by ancient usage, and generally upon\nthe highways, are his altars, and these demand each an annual victim,\nwho is either an unsuspecting traveller struck down by the priests,\nor a sacrifice provided by purchase.\" [627]\n\n\n\nGhosts of Empty Houses.\n\nBh\u00fbts particularly infest ancient empty houses. If a house be\nunoccupied for any time, a Bh\u00fbt is sure to take up his quarters\nthere. Such houses abound everywhere. The old Fort of Agori on the\nSon is said to have been abandoned on account of the malignancy\nof its Bh\u00fbts. Not long ago a merchant built a splendid house in the\nMirzapur B\u00e2z\u00e2r, and was obliged to abandon it for the same reason. The\nCollector's house at Sah\u00e2ranpur is haunted by a young English lady;\nthere is one in the Jh\u00e2nsi cantonment, where a Bh\u00fbt, in the form of\na Faq\u00eer, dressed in white clothes, appears at night. Fortunately he\nis of a kindly disposition.\n\n\n\nGhosts of Flowers.\n\nBh\u00fbts occasionally take up their abode in flowers, and hence it is\ndangerous to allow children to smell them. In Kumaun the Betaina\ntree (Melia sempervivens) is supposed to be infested by Bh\u00fbts, and\nits flowers are never used as offerings to the gods. [628] But,\non the other hand, as we shall see elsewhere, flowers and fruits\nare considered scarers of demons. Bh\u00fbts, it is believed, do their\ncooking at noon and evening, so women and children should be cautious\nabout walking at such times, lest they should tread unwittingly upon\nthis ghostly food and incur the resentment of its owners. [629] In\nthe same way the Scotch fairies are supposed to be at their meals\nwhen rain and sunshine come together. In England, at such times the\ndevil is said to be beating his wife, and in India they call it the\n\"Jackal's wedding.\" [630]\n\n\n\nThe Hearth.\n\nAmong the many places where Bh\u00fbts resort comes the house hearth. This\nprobably in a large measure accounts for the precautions taken by\nHindus in preparing and protecting the family cooking-place, and\nsmearing it with fresh cowdung, which is a scarer of demons. The\nidea was common among all the Aryan races, [631] but it is found\nalso among the Dr\u00e2vidian tribes, who perform much of the worship\nof Dulha Deo and similar family guardians at the family hearth. In\nNorthern India, when a bride first goes to the house of her husband\nshe is not permitted to cook. On an auspicious day, selected by\nthe family priest, she commences her duties, and receives presents\nof money and jewellery from her relations. Among the low castes,\nat marriages a special rite, that of Matmangara, or \"lucky earth,\"\nis performed, when the earth intended for the preparation of the\nmarriage cooking-place is brought home. The women go in procession\nto the village clay-pit, accompanied by a Cham\u00e2r beating a drum,\nwhich is decorated with streaks of red lead. The earth is dug by the\nvillage Baiga, who passes five shovelfuls into the breast-cloth of\na veiled virgin, who stands behind him. So, in Bih\u00e2r, after bathing\nthe bride and bridegroom, the mother or female guardian brings home\na clod of earth, out of which a rude fireplace is prepared. On this\nbutter is burnt, and paddy parched on the threshold of the kitchen,\nwhere the spirit is supposed to dwell. A goat is sacrificed at the\nsame time, and some of this parched paddy is reserved, to be flung\nover the pair as they make the marriage revolutions. [632]\n\nFor the same reason great care is taken of the ashes, which must be\nremoved with caution and not allowed to fall on the ground. We have\nseen that it is used to identify the spirits of the returning dead,\nand ashes blown over by a holy man are used to expel the Evil Eye. In\nBombay a person excommunicated from caste is re-admitted on swallowing\nashes given him by the religious teacher of the caste.\n\nMost Hindus particularly dislike being watched at their meals,\nand make a pretence of eating in secret. If on a walk round your\ncamp you come on one of your servants eating, he pretends not to\nrecognize his master, and his hang-dog look is the equivalent of the\nordinary salaam. This is an idea which prevails in many parts of the\nworld. The Vaishnava sect of R\u00e2m\u00e2nujas [633] are very particular in\nthis respect. They cook for themselves, and should the meal during its\npreparation, or while they are eating, attract the looks of a stranger,\nthe operation is instantly stopped, and the food buried in the ground.\n\n\n\nGhosts of Filthy Places.\n\nBh\u00fbts, again, frequent privies and dirty places of all kinds. Hence\nthe caution with which a Hindu performs the offices of nature, his\naversion to going into a privy at night, and the precaution he uses of\ntaking a brass vessel with him on such occasions. Mr. Campbell supposes\nthis to depend on the experience of the disease-bearing properties\nof dirt. [634] \"This belief explains the puzzling inconsistencies\nof Hindus of all classes that the house, house door, and a little in\nfront is scrupulously clean, while the yard may be a dung-heap or a\nprivy. As long as the house is clean, the Bh\u00fbt cannot come in. Let\nhim live in the privy; he cannot do much harm there.\"\n\n\n\nThe House Roof.\n\nLastly comes the house roof. We have already seen that the Dr\u00e2vidian\ntribes will not allow their women to touch the thatch during a\nwhirlwind. So, most people particularly object to people standing on\ntheir roof, and in a special degree to a buffalo getting upon it. It\nis on the roof, too, that the old shoe or black pot or painted tile\nis always kept to scare the Bh\u00fbts which use it as a perch.\n\n\n\n                             END OF VOL. I.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nNOTES\n\n\n[1] On the assimilation by Rome of Celtic faiths, see Rhys, \"Origin\nand Growth of Religion as illustrated by Celtic Heathendom,\" 2 sq.\n\n[2] Lang, \"Custom and Myth,\" 178.\n\n[3] Leland, \"Etruscan Remains,\" 9.\n\n[4] At Pushkar and Idar. Monier Williams, \"Br\u00e2hmanism and Hinduism,\"\n566 sqq.\n\n[5] Devat\u00e2 in Sanskrit properly means \"the state or nature of a deity,\ndivinity,\" without any very decided idea of inferiority. In modern\nusage it certainly has this implication.\n\n[6] \"Panj\u00e2b Ethnography,\" 113.\n\n[7] Cunningham, \"Arch\u00e6ological Reports,\" ii. 114, 342, 353; iii. 110,\n112; xiii. 63; \"R\u00e2jput\u00e2na Gazetteer,\" ii. 160; F\u00fchrer, \"Monumental\nAntiquities,\" 6, 50, 145, 286.\n\n[8] Hunter, \"Orissa,\" i. 188; Jarrett, \"A\u00een-i-Akbari,\" ii. 128.\n\n[9] \"Asiatic Quarterly Review,\" ii. 236.\n\n[10] Sherring, \"Sacred City of the Hindus,\" 59, 157; Bholan\u00e2th Chandra,\n\"Travels,\" ii. 384.\n\n[11] Monier-Williams, \"Br\u00e2hmanism and Hinduism,\" 342.\n\n[12] Wilson, \"Essays,\" ii. 384.\n\n[13] Growse, \"Mathura,\" 180. The story of Joshua (x. 12-14) is an\nobvious parallel.\n\n[14] Frazer, \"Golden Bough,\" i. 25.\n\n[15] Blochmann, \"A\u00een-i-Akbari,\" i. 200-266.\n\n[16] Max M\u00fcller, \"Ancient Sanskrit Literature,\" 53, note.\n\n[17] Hall, \"Vishnu Pur\u00e2na,\" ii. 150; \"Journal Asiatic Society, Bengal,\"\n1862, p. 112.\n\n[18] Tod, \"Annals,\" i. 597.\n\n[19] Dalton, \"Descriptive Ethnology,\" 130, 132, 133, 141, 157, 159,\n186, 223; Elliott, \"Hoshang\u00e2b\u00e2d Settlement Report,\" 255; Hislop,\n\"Papers,\" 26.\n\n[20] \"Folk-lore,\" iv. 358.\n\n[21] Gordon Cumming, \"From the Hebrides to the Him\u00e2layas,\" ii. 164;\nBrand, \"Observations,\" 126; Henderson, \"Folk-lore of the Northern\nCounties,\" 61; Tawney, \"Katha Sarit S\u00e2gara,\" i. 98, 573.\n\n[22] Frazer, \"Golden Bough,\" ii. 234; Grimm, \"Household Tales,\"\nii. 493, 524; Leland, \"Etruscan Roman Remains,\" 160; Hartland,\n\"Legend of Perseus,\" i. 99, 139, 170.\n\n[23] Knowles, \"Kashm\u00eer Folk-tales,\" 3; fire is used in the same way;\nTemple, \"Wideawake Stories,\" 32, 271; \"Legends of the Panj\u00e2b,\" i. 42;\n\"Folk-lore Journal,\" ii. 104.\n\n[24] Campbell, \"Notes,\" 70.\n\n[25] i. 50.\n\n[26] Grimm, \"Household Tales,\" ii. 415.\n\n[27] x. 85, 5.\n\n[28] \"Bombay Gazetteer,\" xiii. 93.\n\n[29] \"Merchant of Venice,\" v. 1; \"Hamlet,\" iv. 7.\n\n[30] \"Five Hundred Points of Good Husbandry, February;\" see other\nreferences collected by Frazer, \"Golden Bough,\" i. 318.\n\n[31] Mrs. M\u00eer Hasan 'Ali, \"Manners and Customs of the Muhammadans of\nIndia,\" i. 275.\n\n[32] \"Folk-lore,\" ii. 222; iv. 355.\n\n[33] \"Institutes,\" vi. 9; Wilson, \"Vishnu Pur\u00e2na,\" 145, 275 note.\n\n[34] Ewald, \"Antiquities of Israel,\" 349 sq.; Goldziher, \"Mythology\namong the Hebrews,\" 63.\n\n[35] \"Odes,\" iii. 23, 1, 2, and compare Job xxxi. 26, 27; Psalm\nlxxxi. 3.\n\n[36] Lady Wilde, \"Legends,\" 205 sq.\n\n[37] Campbell, \"Notes,\" 187.\n\n[38] Sherring, \"Sacred City,\" 221; \"Panj\u00e2b Notes and Queries,\" ii. 42.\n\n[39] Hunter, \"Orissa,\" ii. 140.\n\n[40] Sarat Chandra Mitra, \"Vestiges of Moon-worship in Bih\u00e2r and\nBengal,\" in the \"Journal Anthropological Society of Bombay,\" 1893.\n\n[41] \"Folk-lore,\" ii. 221; Monier Williams, \"Br\u00e2hmanism and Hinduism,\"\n343.\n\n[42] Hardy, \"Eastern Monachism,\" 149.\n\n[43] \"Folk-lore,\" ii. 228.\n\n[44] Oppert, \"Original Inhabitants of Bharatavarsa,\" 97, 98, 40.\n\n[45] Ovid, \"Fasti,\" iv. 728; Lady Wilde, \"Legends,\" 113; \"Folk-lore,\"\nii. 128; Dalton, \"Descriptive Ethnology,\" 326; \"Indian Antiquary,\"\nii. 90; iii. 68; vii. 126 sqq.; Wilson, \"Essays,\" s.v. \"Hol\u00ee;\"\nLeviticus xviii. 21; 2 Kings xxiii. 10; Herklot, \"Q\u00e2n\u00fbn-i-Isl\u00e2m,\"\ns.v. \"Muharram.\"\n\n[46] Cunningham, \"Arch\u00e6ological Reports,\" xvi. 28.\n\n[47] \"Lear,\" i. 2.\n\n[48] \"Brihat Sanhita.\" Manning, \"Ancient India,\" i. 371.\n\n[49] \"Demonology,\" i. 45.\n\n[50] Mrs. M\u00eer Hasan 'Ali, \"Observations,\" i. 297 sq.\n\n[51] \"Travels,\" 301.\n\n[52] Atkinson, \"Him\u00e2layan Gazetteer,\" ii. 913 sq.\n\n[53] \"North Indian Notes and Queries,\" i. 38.\n\n[54] Brand, \"Observations,\" 665; Aubrey, \"Remaines,\" 37, 85.\n\n[55] The Celtic form of the myth is given by Rhys, \"Lectures,\" 140 sq.;\nthe Indian legend in Muir, \"Ancient Sanskrit Texts,\" ii. 23.\n\n[56] \"Golden Bough,\" i. 331 sq.; and see Lang, \"Custom and Myth,\"\nii. 262.\n\n[57] Ibbetson, \"Panj\u00e2b Ethnology,\" 114.\n\n[58] Yule, \"Marco Polo,\" i. 291, with note ii. 543.\n\n[59] For instances, see Frazer, \"Golden Bough,\" i. 179.\n\n[60] \"Bombay Gazetteer,\" xi. 55.\n\n[61] Campbell, \"Notes,\" 79.\n\n[62] \"Folk-lore,\" ii. 298.\n\n[63] \"Bombay Gazetteer,\" xxii. 790.\n\n[64] Fryer, \"Travels,\" 418; Campbell, \"Notes,\" 81.\n\n[65] \"Custom and Myth,\" i. 285; ii. 229, note.\n\n[66] Campbell, \"Notes,\" 78 sqq.\n\n[67] Gregor, \"Folk-lore of North-East Scotland,\" 206; Aubrey,\n\"Remaines,\" 37; Ewald, \"Antiquities of Israel,\" 34; Spencer,\n\"Principles of Sociology,\" i. 259, 314; Grimm, \"Teutonic Mythology,\"\nii. 643.\n\n[68] Dalton, \"Descriptive Ethnology,\" 261.\n\n[69] Elliott, \"Settlement Report,\" 125.\n\n[70] \"Settlement Report,\" 168.\n\n[71] \"Folk-lore,\" i. 153.\n\n[72] Virgil, \"Georgics,\" i. 487; \"\u00c6neid,\" vii. 141; Horace, \"Odes,\"\ni. 34, 5.\n\n[73] \"Descriptive Ethnology,\" 229.\n\n[74] \"Peri Potam\u00f4n.\"\n\n[75] i. 3888 sqq.\n\n[76] \"Mathura,\" 179 sq.\n\n[77] Duncker, \"History,\" iv. II, note; Romesh Chandra Datt, \"History\nof Civilization,\" i. 94.\n\n[78] Gregor, \"Folk-lore of North-East Scotland,\" 41.\n\n[79] Jarrett, \"A\u00een-i-Akbari,\" ii. 224; \"R\u00e2jput\u00e2na Gazetteer,\" iii. 219.\n\n[80] \"Karn\u00e2l Gazetteer,\" 31.\n\n[81] Buchanan, \"Eastern India,\" i. II; Madden, \"Journal Asiatic\nSociety, Bengal,\" 1847, 228, 400; Wright, \"History of Nep\u00e2l,\" 154, 163.\n\n[82] Madden, loc. cit., 233.\n\n[83] Loc. cit., i. 14.\n\n[84] Sleeman, \"Rambles,\" i. 17.\n\n[85] \"Central Provinces Gazetteer,\" 264.\n\n[86] \"Folk-lore,\" iii. 32.\n\n[87] \"Katha Sarit S\u00e2gara,\" i. 374.\n\n[88] \"Odyssey,\" v. 450; and for other instances see Tylor, \"Primitive\nCulture,\" ii. 213; Campbell, \"Notes,\" 325 sqq.\n\n[89] Growse, \"Mathura,\" 55; Tod, \"Annals,\" i. 675; Oldfield, \"Sketches\nfrom Nep\u00e2l,\" ii. 204.\n\n[90] Atkinson, \"Him\u00e2layan Gazetteer,\" ii. 788, 832.\n\n[91] \"Berar Gazetteer,\" 35.\n\n[92] \"Folk-lore,\" i. 152, 209; iii. 72.\n\n[93] Rhys, \"Lectures,\" 123.\n\n[94] Knowles, \"Folk-tales,\" 313.\n\n[95] \"Folk-lore,\" ii. 284, 509; Hunt, \"Popular Romances,\" 194;\nCampbell, \"Popular Tales,\" ii. 205; Conway, \"Demonology,\" i. 110 sq.;\nSir W. Scott, \"Letters on Demonology,\" 85; Spencer, \"Principles\nof Sociology,\" i. 219; Farrer, \"Primitive Manners,\" 366; Aubrey,\n\"Remaines,\" 30; Gordon Cumming, \"From the Hebrides to the Him\u00e2layas,\"\ni. 139; Tylor, \"Primitive Culture,\" i. 109 sq.; ii. 208; Gregor,\n\"Folk-lore,\" 66 sq.; Lady Wilde, \"Legends,\" 216; Tawney, \"Katha Sarit\nS\u00e2gara,\" i. 58.\n\n[96] Tylor, \"Primitive Culture,\" i. 109.\n\n[97] \"Descriptive Ethnology,\" 188.\n\n[98] \"Primitive Culture,\" i. 108 sq.; \"Demonology,\" i. 205.\n\n[99] \"Folk Medicine,\" 28 sq.\n\n[100] \"Legends,\" 82 sq.\n\n[101] Brand, \"Observations,\" 480.\n\n[102] Leland, \"Etruscan Roman Remains,\" 242.\n\n[103] Herklots, \"Q\u00e2n\u00fbn-i-Isl\u00e2m,\" 21, 66 sq, 292; Hughes, \"Dictionary\nof Isl\u00e2m, s.v.\n\n[104] Frazer, \"Golden Bough,\" ii. 185.\n\n[105] Ibbetson, \"Panj\u00e2b Ethnography,\" 114; \"Panj\u00e2b Notes and Queries,\"\nii. 1; iii. 7; iv. 68.\n\n[106] Frazer, \"Golden Bough,\" i. 102.\n\n[107] \"Sirsa Settlement Report,\" 178.\n\n[108] \"Katha Sarit S\u00e2gara,\" i. 258; Clouston, \"Popular Tales,\" i. 118.\n\n[109] Lady Wilde, \"Legends,\" 124.\n\n[110] Ball, \"Jungle Life in India,\" 531; \"Panj\u00e2b Notes and Queries,\"\nii. 166; Temple, \"Legends of the Panj\u00e2b,\" i. 2; Lady Wilde, \"Legends,\"\n236 sqq.\n\n[111] Campbell, \"Notes,\" 404.\n\n[112] Forbes, \"Settlement Report,\" 41.\n\n[113] Knowles, \"Folk-tales of Kashm\u00eer,\" 504, with note; \"Katha Sarit\nS\u00e2gara,\" i. 499.\n\n[114] F\u00fchrer, \"Monumental Antiquities,\" 80, 134.\n\n[115] \"Eastern India,\" ii. 43.\n\n[116] Rhys, \"Lectures,\" 184.\n\n[117] Hunt, \"Popular Romances,\" 292.\n\n[118] Atkinson, \"Him\u00e2layan Gazetteer,\" ii. 793, 798.\n\n[119] Ibid., iii. 38.\n\n[120] Atkinson, \"Him\u00e2layan Gazetteer,\" iii. 26.\n\n[121] Tod, \"Annals,\" i. 814 sq.; Conway, \"Demonology,\" i. 113;\n\"Ber\u00e2r Gazetteer,\" 169.\n\n[122] From the \"M\u00e2nasa Khanda\"; Atkinson, \"Him\u00e2layan Gazetteer,\"\nii. 308.\n\n[123] \"R\u00e2jput\u00e2na Gazetteer,\" ii. 131.\n\n[124] \"Science of Fairy Tales,\" chapter vi.; \"Ber\u00e2r Gazetteer,\" 148.\n\n[125] Hunt, \"Popular Romances,\" 194.\n\n[126] \"Bareilly Settlement Report,\" 20; F\u00fchrer, \"Monumental\nAntiquities,\" 26; \"Bhand\u00e2ra Settlement Report,\" 47; Temple, \"Legends\nof the Panj\u00e2b,\" i. 39.\n\n[127] Oppert, \"Ancient Inhabitants,\" 467; Grimm, \"Household Tales,\"\nii. 466.\n\n[128] F\u00fchrer, loc cit., 290.\n\n[129] \"Him\u00e2layan Gazetteer,\" iii. 27.\n\n[130] \"Arch\u00e6ological Reports,\" iv. 192.\n\n[131] Ibid., viii. 39.\n\n[132] Ibid., xxi. 175.\n\n[133] Ibid., xiv. 76.\n\n[134] Oppert, \"Original Inhabitants,\" 289.\n\n[135] \"Popular Tales,\" i. 176.\n\n[136] L\u00e2l Bih\u00e2ri D\u00ea, \"Folk-tales of Bengal,\" 281; \"Ber\u00e2r Gazetteer,\"\n158, 176; \"Panj\u00e2b Notes and Queries,\" iii. 42; Wright, \"History\nof Nep\u00e2l,\" 135; \"Bombay Gazetteer,\" v. 440; \"R\u00e2jput\u00e2na Gazetteer,\"\nii. 220.\n\n[137] i. 17.\n\n[138] \"M\u00e2nasa Khanda\"; Atkinson, \"Him\u00e2layan Gazetteer,\" ii. 271.\n\n[139] See the remarks by Lassen, quoted by Muir, \"Ancient Sanskrit\nTexts,\" ii. 337.\n\n[140] Spencer, \"Principles of Sociology,\" i. 200 sq., 210, 336.\n\n[141] \"Remaines,\" 18; Sir W. Scott, \"Lectures on Demonology,\" 135.\n\n[142] Dalton, \"Descriptive Ethnology,\" 188, 210, 223, 230, 135, 186;\nLubbock, \"Origin of Civilization,\" 306.\n\n[143] Atkinson, \"Him\u00e2layan Gazetteer,\" ii. 832.\n\n[144] \"Settlement Report,\" 121, 254.\n\n[145] Atkinson, loc. cit., ii. 792; Hislop, \"Papers,\" 14; Leland,\n\"Etruscan Roman Remains,\" 139.\n\n[146] Atkinson, loc. cit., iii. 48.\n\n[147] \"Bombay Gazetteer,\" v. 252.\n\n[148] Human sacrifice to the Durg\u00e2 of the Vindhyas occurs often in\nIndian folk-lore. See Tawney, \"Katha Sarit S\u00e2gara,\" i. 64.\n\n[149] Oppert, \"Original Inhabitants,\" 24; Wright, \"History of Nep\u00e2l,\"\n178.\n\n[150] Buchanan, \"Eastern India,\" i. 51 sq.; Tawney, \"Katha Sarit\nS\u00e2gara,\" ii. 333.\n\n[151] Griffin, \"R\u00e2jas of the Panj\u00e2b.\"\n\n[152] Growse, \"Mathura,\" 278, where all the local legends are given\nin full.\n\n[153] \"Anatomy of Melancholy,\" 123.\n\n[154] \"Primitive Culture,\" ii. 261.\n\n[155] Growse, \"R\u00e2m\u00e2yana,\" 318.\n\n[156] \"History of India,\" chapter iii. 21, 330.\n\n[157] Sherring, \"Sacred City,\" 129.\n\n[158] Hislop, \"Papers,\" 18.\n\n[159] \"Folk-lore,\" iii. 541.\n\n[160] Yule, \"Marco Polo,\" i. 292, 301; Oldfield, \"Sketches from Nep\u00e2l,\"\nii. 6.\n\n[161] \"Notes and Queries,\" v. Ser. iii. 424; Farrer, \"Primitive\nManners,\" 70; Frazer, \"Golden Bough,\" i. 16.\n\n[162] Conway, \"Demonology,\" i. 267.\n\n[163] Ibid., 224.\n\n[164] \"Science of Fairy Tales,\" 71 sqq.\n\n[165] Campbell, \"Notes,\" 101 sq.\n\n[166] \"Bombay Gazetteer,\" xviii. 416; xxi. 180; \"Journal Ethnological\nSociety,\" N. S. i. 98. In the \"Katha Sarit S\u00e2gara,\" i. 154, the queen\nKavalayaval\u00ee worships the gods stark naked.\n\n[167] Wright, \"History,\" 10.\n\n[168] Leland, \"Etruscan Roman Remains,\" 148, 301.\n\n[169] \"North Indian Notes and Queries,\" iii. 31, 35.\n\n[170] \"Golden Bough,\" i. 17; \"Panj\u00e2b Notes and Queries,\" iii. 41,\n115; Hartland, \"Science of Fairy Tales,\" 84.\n\n[171] \"Settlement Report,\" 207.\n\n[172] I cannot procure this book. The quotation is from \"Calcutta\nReview,\" xv. 486.\n\n[173] \"Settlement Report,\" 135.\n\n[174] Cunningham, \"Arch\u00e6ological Reports,\" vii. 162.\n\n[175] \"North Indian Notes and Queries,\" i. 210.\n\n[176] Oppert, \"Original Inhabitants,\" 476, quoting Mr. Fawcett.\n\n[177] \"North Indian Notes and Queries,\" iii. 134.\n\n[178] \"Bombay Gazetteer,\" iii. 221.\n\n[179] \"Indian Antiquary,\" v. 5.\n\n[180] \"Bombay Gazetteer,\" iv. 114.\n\n[181] Jarrett, \"A\u00een-i-Akbari,\" ii. 408, quoting Alberuni, chapter viii.\n\n[182] \"Ethnology in Folk-lore,\" 94.\n\n[183] \"Panj\u00e2b Notes and Queries,\" i. 102.\n\n[184] Ibid., ii. 41; Lyall, \"Asiatic Studies,\" 136.\n\n[185] Leland, \"Etruscan Roman Remains,\" 369.\n\n[186] \"Golden Bough,\" i. 14.\n\n[187] Brand, \"Observations,\" 753.\n\n[188] Beal, \"Fah Hian,\" 78.\n\n[189] \"Panj\u00e2b Notes and Queries,\" iv. 218.\n\n[190] Turner, \"Samoa,\" 45.\n\n[191] \"North Indian Notes and Queries,\" i. 101; Aubrey, \"Remaines,\"\n180; Henderson, \"Folk-lore of the Northern Counties,\" 24.\n\n[192] Aubrey, \"Remaines,\" 180; Henderson, \"Folk-lore,\" 24; \"Panj\u00e2b\nNotes and Queries,\" i. 65, 75, 109, 126.\n\n[193] \"Etruscan Roman Remains,\" 217.\n\n[194] Brand, \"Observations,\" 431.\n\n[195] \"Arch\u00e6ological Reports,\" v. 136.\n\n[196] \"North Indian Notes and Queries,\" i. 13.\n\n[197] \"North Indian Notes and Queries,\" iii. 135.\n\n[198] \"Folk-lore,\" i. 162.\n\n[199] \"North Indian Notes and Queries,\" iii. 106.\n\n[200] \"Folk-lore,\" i. 149.\n\n[201] Ibid., iv. 173.\n\n[202] Lady Wilde, \"Legends,\" 128; \"Folk-lore,\" i. 149, 153; iv. 351.\n\n[203] Leland, \"Etruscan Roman Remains,\" 79.\n\n[204] Temple, \"Legends of the Panj\u00e2b,\" ii. 104 sqq.; iii. 301.\n\n[205] \"North Indian Notes and Queries,\" i. 39; Forbes, \"Oriental\nMemoirs,\" i. 205.\n\n[206] Leland, loc. cit., 272.\n\n[207] \"Arch\u00e6ological Reports,\" xvi. 32.\n\n[208] Atkinson, \"Him\u00e2layan Gazetteer,\" ii. 762.\n\n[209] Cunningham, \"Arch\u00e6ological Reports,\" xvii. 141.\n\n[210] Barth, \"Religions of India,\" 265.\n\n[211] Gubernatis, \"Zoological Mythology,\" ii. 99 sq.\n\n[212] See instances collected by Tylor, \"Primitive Culture,\"\ni. 376 sqq.\n\n[213] \"Asiatic Studies,\" 13 sq.\n\n[214] Buchanan, \"Eastern India,\" i. 467; Dalton, \"Descriptive\nEthnology,\" 147.\n\n[215] Campbell, \"Notes,\" 260.\n\n[216] \"Legend of Perseus,\" i. 173.\n\n[217] \"Descriptive Ethnology,\" 140.\n\n[218] \"Journey through Oudh,\" ii. 133.\n\n[219] Campbell, \"Notes,\" 260.\n\n[220] Buchanan, \"Eastern India,\" ii. 141 sq.; \"Panj\u00e2b Notes and\nQueries,\" iv. 9.\n\n[221] Dowson, \"Classical Dictionary,\" s.v.\n\n[222] \"Gazetteer,\" 323.\n\n[223] \"Papers,\" 16.\n\n[224] Ibid., 23 sq.\n\n[225] Madden, \"Journal Asiatic Society Bengal,\" 1848, p. 600; Hunt,\n\"Popular Romances,\" 73.\n\n[226] Buchanan, \"Eastern India,\" iii. 38.\n\n[227] Frazer, \"Golden Bough,\" ii. 225 sqq.; \"Panj\u00e2b Notes and Queries,\"\niii. 181 sq.\n\n[228] Knowles, \"Folk-tales from Kashm\u00eer,\" 10.\n\n[229] \"Original Inhabitants,\" 455.\n\n[230] \"Central India,\" ii. 206.\n\n[231] Tod, \"Annals,\" i. 67; for other examples see Buchanan, \"Eastern\nIndia,\" ii. 131, 352, 478; \"Central Provinces Gazetteer,\" 110.\n\n[232] \"Panj\u00e2b Ethnography,\" 114.\n\n[233] Frazer, \"Golden Bough,\" ii. 83.\n\n[234] Tawney, \"Katha Sarit S\u00e2gara,\" i. 8.\n\n[235] \"Bombay Gazetteer,\" iii. 220; \"R\u00e2jput\u00e2na Gazetteer,\" iii. 65.\n\n[236] Gomme, \"Ethnology in Folk-lore,\" 34 sq.\n\n[237] Frazer \"Golden Bough,\" ii. 233.\n\n[238] \"Bhand\u00e2ra Settlement Report,\" 51.\n\n[239] Ganga Datt Upreti, \"Folk-lore of Kumaun,\" Introduction, vii.\n\n[240] Dalton, \"Descriptive Ethnology,\" 220, 281.\n\n[241] \"Settlement Report,\" 257.\n\n[242] Dalton, \"Descriptive Ethnology,\" 268.\n\n[243] Risley, \"Tribes and Castes of Bengal,\" ii. 58.\n\n[244] Temple, \"Wideawake Stories,\" 399.\n\n[245] Ibbetson, \"Panj\u00e2b Ethnography,\" 114; \"Oudh Gazetteer,\" i. 518.\n\n[246] Atkinson, \"Him\u00e2layan Gazetteer,\" ii. 825.\n\n[247] Channing, \"Settlement Report,\" 34.\n\n[248] Maclagan, \"Panj\u00e2b Census Report,\" 103 sq.\n\n[249] F\u00fchrer, \"Monumental Antiquities,\" 146.\n\n[250] Sir W. Scott, \"Letters on Demonology,\" 143.\n\n[251] Dalton, \"Descriptive Ethnology,\" 147.\n\n[252] Wilson, \"Essays,\" i. 21; \"Bombay Gazetteer,\" xvi. 568.\n\n[253] Jarrett, \"A\u00een-i-Akbari,\" ii. 159; F\u00fchrer, \"Monumental\nAntiquities,\" 153.\n\n[254] \"Annals,\" ii. 15.\n\n[255] \"Notes,\" 147.\n\n[256] MacIagan, \"Panj\u00e2b Census Report,\" 107.\n\n[257] Sherring, \"Sacred City,\" 119.\n\n[258] \"Panj\u00e2b Notes and Queries,\" i. 35.\n\n[259] \"Central Provinces Gazetteer,\" 259.\n\n[260] For the Celtic Mothers see Rhys, \"Lectures,\" 100, 899; for\nArabia, Robertson-Smith, \"Kinship,\" 179.\n\n[261] Lubbock, \"Origin of Civilization,\" 146; Starke, \"Primitive\nFamily,\" 17 sqq.; Letourneau, \"Sociology,\" 384.\n\n[262] Benfey, \"Panchatantra,\" i. 41-52; quoted by Tawney, \"Katha\nSarit S\u00e2gara,\" ii. 638.\n\n[263] Monier-Williams, \"Sanskrit Dictionary, s.v. M\u00e2tr\u00ee\"; for the Nep\u00e2l\nenumeration, Oldfield, \"Sketches,\" i. 151; for Bombay, \"Gazetteer,\"\nxvii. 715. In the \"Katha Sarit S\u00e2gara\" (i. 552), N\u00e2r\u00e2yan\u00ee is their\nleader. There is a very remarkable story of the gambler who swindled\nthe Divine Mothers (ibid., ii. 574 sqq.).\n\n[264] Campbell, \"Notes,\" 311; \"Athen\u00e6um,\" 6th December, 1879;\n\"Folk-lore Record,\" iii. Part i. 117 sqq.\n\n[265] \"Bombay Gazetteer,\" v. 432 sq.\n\n[266] Atkinson, \"Him\u00e2layan Gazetteer,\" ii. 884.\n\n[267] Cunningham, \"Arch\u00e6ological Reports,\" vii. 158.\n\n[268] Growse, \"Mathura,\" 116, 125; F\u00fchrer, \"Monumental Antiquities,\"\n27, 132.\n\n[269] Bholan\u00e2th Chandra, \"Travels of a Hindu,\" i. 38.\n\n[270] \"Rig Veda,\" viii. 23, 25.\n\n[271] Brand, \"Observations,\" 331.\n\n[272] \"Border Minstrelsy,\" 466.\n\n[273] Tod, \"Annals,\" ii. 363 sq., 763; Conway, \"Demonology,\" i. 54.\n\n[274] Campbell, \"Notes,\" 145.\n\n[275] Tod, \"Annals,\" i. 708; ii. 670.\n\n[276] Hartland, \"Legend of Perseus,\" i. chap. iv.\n\n[277] Dalton, \"Descriptive Ethnology,\" 232.\n\n[278] \"Gazetteer,\" 276.\n\n[279] \"Rambles and Recollections,\" i. 123.\n\n[280] Stokes, \"Indian Fairy Tales,\" 140 sqq.; Temple, \"Wideawake\nStories,\" 109, 302; \"Indian Antiquary,\" iv. 57; Grimm, \"Household\nTales,\" ii. 400.\n\n[281] Dalton, \"Descriptive Ethnology,\" 64; other instances in\nWestermarck, \"History of Human Marriage,\" 158 sq.\n\n[282] \"Gazetteer,\" i. 175.\n\n[283] \"Bombay Gazetteer,\" xvii. 200; xxiii. 12; Campbell, \"Notes,\"\n12 sqq.\n\n[284] Dalton, \"Descriptive Ethnology,\" 97, 60, 46.\n\n[285] \"Bombay Gazetteer,\" xix. 465.\n\n[286] Grimm, \"Teutonic Mythology,\" ii. 1161; Tylor, \"Early History,\"\n143; Spencer, \"Principles of Sociology,\" i. 229; Sir W. Scott,\n\"Lectures on Demonology,\" 105.\n\n[287] Risley, \"Tribes and Castes of Bengal,\" i. 179.\n\n[288] Leland, \"Etruscan Roman Remains,\" 153.\n\n[289] Ibbetson, \"Panj\u00e2b Ethnography,\" 114.\n\n[290] \"Indian Antiquary,\" viii. 211.\n\n[291] Chevers, \"Medical Jurisprudence for India,\" 415 sq.\n\n[292] Risley, \"Tribes and Castes,\" ii. 62.\n\n[293] Spencer, \"Principles of Sociology,\" i. 115; Frazer, \"Golden\nBough,\" i. 141 sqq.\n\n[294] \"Rambles and Recollections,\" i. 207.\n\n[295] N\u00fbr Ahmad Chishti, Y\u00e2dg\u00e2r-i-Chishti.\n\n[296] \"Panj\u00e2b Notes and Queries,\" iii. 42, 167.\n\n[297] \"Asiatic Studies,\" 57 sq.\n\n[298] \"Rambles and Recollections,\" i. 208.\n\n[299] \"Calcutta Review,\" xviii. 68.\n\n[300] Hoshang\u00e2b\u00e2d \"Settlement Report,\" 119, 255.\n\n[301] Atkinson, \"Him\u00e2layan Gazetteer,\" ii. 833, 816 sq.\n\n[302] \"Settlement Report,\" 254 sq.\n\n[303] Sult\u00e2npur, \"Settlement Report,\" 42.\n\n[304] Blochmann, \"A\u00een-i-Akbari,\" Introduction, xxiv.\n\n[305] The chief authorities for Hardaul are Cunningham, \"Arch\u00e6ological\nReports,\" xvii. 162 sqq.; V. A. Smith, \"Journal Asiatic Society of\nBengal,\" 1875.\n\n[306] \"Settlement Report,\" 451 sq.\n\n[307] Ferrier, \"Caravan Journeys,\" 451 sq.\n\n[308] \"Allah\u00e2b\u00e2d Pioneer,\" 10th March, 1891.\n\n[309] \"Bombay Gazetteer,\" xxii. 155.\n\n[310] \"Annals,\" ii. 744.\n\n[311] \"Bombay Gazetteer,\" xvi. 520; Campbell, \"Notes,\" 96.\n\n[312] Wright, \"History,\" 221, 267, 268.\n\n[313] \"Central Provinces Gazetteer,\" 276.\n\n[314] \"Gurg\u00e2on Settlement Report,\" 37.\n\n[315] Risley, \"Tribes and Castes of Bengal,\" i. 132.\n\n[316] \"Panj\u00e2b Notes and Queries,\" i. 1; iv. 51; \"Oudh Gazetteer,\"\ni. 355, 517; Tod, \"Annals,\" ii. 75.\n\n[317] Campbell, \"Notes,\" 192 sqq.\n\n[318] \"Br\u00e2hmanism and Hinduism,\" 201.\n\n[319] Numbers of such charms are to be found in vols. i., ii., iii.,\n\"North Indian Notes and Queries.\"\n\n[320] \"Settlement Report,\" 256.\n\n[321] Dalton, \"Descriptive Ethnology,\" 188, 257.\n\n[322] \"North Indian Notes and Queries,\" i. 85.\n\n[323] Yule, \"Marco Polo,\" i. 71 sq., with note; Tylor, \"Primitive\nCulture,\" i. 127; Lubbock, \"Origin of Civilization,\" 237; Farrer,\n\"Primitive Manners,\" 159 sq.\n\n[324] \"Descriptive Ethnology,\" 232.\n\n[325] Campbell, \"Notes,\" 72 sq.\n\n[326] Cooper, \"Flagellation and the Flagellants,\" passim; Dalton,\nloc. cit., 256; Campbell, loc. cit., 44 sq.; for restoration to life\nby beating, Tawney, \"Katha Sarit S\u00e2gara,\" ii. 245.\n\n[327] \"Nineteenth Century,\" 1880.\n\n[328] Atkinson, \"Him\u00e2layan Gazetteer,\" ii. 833, 823.\n\n[329] \"Hindu Tribes and Castes,\" i. 36.\n\n[330] \"Settlement Report,\" 256 sq.\n\n[331] \"Primitive Culture,\" i. 134; and compare Lubbock, \"Origin of\nCivilization,\" 251.\n\n[332] Dalton, \"Descriptive Ethnology,\" 232.\n\n[333] \"Him\u00e2layan Gazetteer,\" iii. 38.\n\n[334] Ferrier, \"Caravan Journeys,\" 113.\n\n[335] \"Travels in the Him\u00e2layas,\" i. 428.\n\n[336] O'Brien, \"Mult\u00e2n Glossary,\" 218.\n\n[337] Clouston, \"Popular Tales,\" i. 191.\n\n[338] \"Gazetteer,\" 191.\n\n[339] Campbell, \"Notes,\" 239.\n\n[340] \"Folk-lore,\" iii. 13, 380; iv. 410; Hartland, \"Legend of\nPerseus,\" ii. chap. xi.\n\n[341] \"Annals,\" ii. 717.\n\n[342] Gregor, \"Folk-lore of N.E. Scotland,\" 46, 157.\n\n[343] \"Panj\u00e2b Notes and Queries,\" ii. 42.\n\n[344] Leland, \"Etruscan Roman Remains,\" 293.\n\n[345] Leland, \"Etruscan Roman Remains,\" 330; for other instances,\nsee Hartland, \"Legend of Perseus,\" ii. 101.\n\n[346] Madden, \"Journal Asiatic Society, Bengal,\" 1848, p. 583.\n\n[347] \"Panj\u00e2b Notes and Queries,\" i. 64.\n\n[348] \"Rambles and Recollections,\" i. 203.\n\n[349] \"Penseroso,\" 83, 84.\n\n[350] Brand, \"Observations,\" 424.\n\n[351] \"North Indian Notes and Queries,\" i. 16.\n\n[352] Oppert, \"Original Inhabitants,\" 187.\n\n[353] Hislop, \"Papers,\" 6, 47.\n\n[354] \"Popular Tales,\" Introduction, lxviii.; \"Calcutta Review,\"\nApril, 1884.\n\n[355] \"Panj\u00e2b Notes and Queries,\" iii. 81.\n\n[356] \"Panj\u00e2b Notes and Queries,\" i. 27.\n\n[357] \"Settlement Report,\" 155.\n\n[358] Brand, \"Observations,\" 447.\n\n[359] \"Panj\u00e2b Notes and Queries,\" i. 86, ii. 93.\n\n[360] With this compare the Karnigor of Sindh--Hartland, \"Legend of\nPerseus,\" ii. 295.\n\n[361] \"Journey through Oudh,\" ii. 39.\n\n[362] Dalton, \"Descriptive Ethnology,\" 170.\n\n[363] \"Him\u00e2layan Gazetteer,\" ii. 851 sq.\n\n[364] Ibid. ii. 871.\n\n[365] Tylor, \"Primitive Culture,\" ii. 113.\n\n[366] Hearn, \"Aryan Household,\" 18; Spencer, \"Principles of Sociology,\"\ni. 270 sq; Whitney, \"Oriental and Linguistic Studies,\" 1st Ser. 59;\nMommsen, \"History of Rome,\" i. 73.\n\n[367] Dalton, \"Descriptive Ethnology,\" 132, 133, 139, 160, 229;\nCampbell, \"Notes,\" 2 sqq.; Tylor, \"Primitive Culture,\" ii. 117.\n\n[368] Hislop, \"Papers,\" 16 sq.\n\n[369] Dalton, loc. cit., 158.\n\n[370] Campbell, \"Notes,\" 5; Tylor, loc. cit., ii. 116.\n\n[371] E.g. Monier-Williams, \"Br\u00e2hmanism and Hinduism,\" 278 sqq.\n\n[372] See Frazer, \"Golden Bough,\" i. 177.\n\n[373] Gubernatis, \"Zoological Mythology,\" i. 279.\n\n[374] \"North Indian Notes and Queries,\" i. 95.\n\n[375] \"Bombay Gazetteer,\" vii. 16 sq.\n\n[376] Malcolm, \"Central India,\" i. 144.\n\n[377] Dalton, \"Descriptive Ethnology,\" 148.\n\n[378] \"Rambles and Recollections,\" i. 269 sqq.\n\n[379] \"Central Provinces Gazetteer,\" Introduction, cxxi.\n\n[380] \"Berar Gazetteer,\" 191.\n\n[381] For an account of this worthy see \"North Indian Notes and\nQueries,\" i. 163.\n\n[382] Spencer, \"Principles of Sociology,\" i. 187; Lubbock, \"Origin\nof Civilization,\" 284; Tylor, \"Primitive Culture,\" i. 458 sq.\n\n[383] Ralston, \"Songs of the Russian People,\" 327.\n\n[384] Hislop, \"Papers,\" 19; Appendix, iii.\n\n[385] \"Panj\u00e2b Ethnography,\" 115.\n\n[386] \"Annals,\" i. 79.\n\n[387] Ferguson, \"History of Indian Architecture,\" 470; \"R\u00e2jput\u00e2na\nGazetteer,\" iii. 46; Growse, \"Mathura,\" 138.\n\n[388] \"Ber\u00e2r Gazetteer,\" 191.\n\n[389] \"Descriptive Ethnology,\" 138.\n\n[390] Tod, \"Annals,\" ii. 544, 546, 676; Wright, \"History of Nep\u00e2l,\"\n159, 212.\n\n[391] \"North Indian Notes and Queries,\" ii. 199; \"Panj\u00e2b Notes and\nQueries,\" iv. 44 sq. In the \"Katha Sarit S\u00e2gara\" (Tawney, ii. 254),\na mother proposes to go into the fire with her dead children.\n\n[392] \"Institutes,\" xi. 84.\n\n[393] Frazer, \"Golden Bough,\" i. 8.\n\n[394] Leland, \"Etruscan Roman Remains,\" 202.\n\n[395] Tod, \"Annals,\" ii. 430 sq.\n\n[396] Cunningham, \"Arch\u00e6ological Reports,\" xvii. 160 sqq.; Buchanan,\n\"Eastern India,\" i. 488; \"North Indian Notes and Queries,\" ii. 38.\n\n[397] \"Oudh Gazetteer,\" i. 540 sq.\n\n[398] Oldham, \"Memoir of Ghazipur,\" i. 55 sq.\n\n[399] Baillie, \"N.-W.P. Census Report,\" 214.\n\n[400] Tod, \"Annals,\" ii. 40.\n\n[401] Atkinson, \"Him\u00e2layan Gazetteer,\" ii. 817; \"North Indian Notes\nand Queries,\" iii. 5.\n\n[402] \"Oudh Gazetteer,\" i. 284.\n\n[403] Tod, \"Annals,\" i. 659 sq.\n\n[404] Sherring, \"Sacred City,\" 118, 174; Moorcroft, \"Journey to\nLadakh,\" i. 190.\n\n[405] \"Panj\u00e2b Notes and Queries,\" i. 1; \"Indian Antiquary,\" xi. 290;\n\"Gazetteer, N.-W.P.,\" vi. 634; \"D\u00e2bist\u00e2n,\" ii. 24 sq.\n\n[406] Atkinson, loc cit., ii. 805; \"Bombay Gazetteer,\" xi. 300, 302.\n\n[407] Cunningham, \"Arch\u00e6ological Reports,\" xvi. 28; Grierson, \"Beh\u00e2r\nPeasant Life,\" 407; \"Maithili Chrestomathy,\" 3 sqq.\n\n[408] Risley, \"Tribes and Castes,\" i. 256.\n\n[409] \"Ber\u00e2r Gazetteer,\" 199 sq.\n\n[410] Buchanan, \"Eastern India,\" i. 83.\n\n[411] Cunningham, \"Arch\u00e6ological Reports,\" xi. 129.\n\n[412] \"Oudh Gazetteer,\" i. 517.\n\n[413] \"Rambles and Recollections,\" i. 116.\n\n[414] \"North Indian Notes and Queries,\" iii. 200.\n\n[415] \"Ber\u00e2r Gazetteer,\" 195.\n\n[416] The Persian version of the play has been translated by Sir\nLewis Pelly. See Hughes' \"Dictionary of Isl\u00e2m,\" 185 sq.\n\n[417] The five P\u00eers give their name to the P\u00eer Panj\u00e2l pass in Kashm\u00eer\n(Jarrett, \"A\u00een-i-Akbari,\" ii. 372, note). For another list of the\nP\u00eers see Temple's \"Legends of the Panj\u00e2b,\" ii. 372, note.\n\n[418] See Brand, \"Observations,\" 197.\n\n[419] For a very complete account of the cultus, see Mr. R. Greeven's\narticles in Vol. I. \"North Indian Notes and Queries,\" afterwards\nrepublished as \"Heroes Five.\"\n\n[420] \"Panj\u00e2b Notes and Queries,\" iv. 64.\n\n[421] For instances see Frazer, \"Golden Bough,\" i. 279.\n\n[422] Briggs, \"Farishta,\" i. 587.\n\n[423] For the history of Masaud, see \"Oudh Gazetteer,\" i. 111 sqq.;\nSleeman, \"Journey through Oudh,\" i. 48; Elliot, \"Supplementary\nGlossary,\" 51.\n\n[424] Maclagan, \"Panj\u00e2b Census Report,\" 132; \"North Indian Notes\nand Queries,\" ii. 182; \"Calcutta Review,\" lx. 78 sqq.; Ibbetson,\n\"Panj\u00e2b Ethnography,\" 115; Oldham, \"Contemporary Review,\" xlvii. 412;\n\"Panj\u00e2b Notes and Queries,\" ii. 181 sq.; Temple, \"Legends of the\nPanj\u00e2b,\" i. 66 sqq.\n\n[425] Ibbetson, loc. cit. 115 sq.\n\n[426] Temple, \"Legends of the Panj\u00e2b,\" i. 121 sqq.; iii. 261 sqq.; Tod,\n\"Annals,\" ii. 492.\n\n[427] \"Indian Antiquary,\" xi. 33 sq.; Cunningham, \"Arch\u00e6ological\nReports,\" xvii. 159; \"Panj\u00e2b Notes and Queries,\" ii. 1.\n\n[428] Rhys, \"Lectures,\" 502.\n\n[429] Campbell, \"Popular Tales,\" i. 72.\n\n[430] \"R\u00e2jput\u00e2na Gazetteer,\" ii. 37.\n\n[431] \"Bombay Gazetteer,\" v. 218; Risley, \"Tribes and Castes of\nBengal,\" i. 41.\n\n[432] Miss Roalfe Cox, \"Cinderella,\" 484; Temple, \"Wideawake Stories,\"\n423; Knowles, \"Folk-tales of Kashm\u00eer,\" 21; Clouston, \"Popular Tales,\"\ni. 117; Tawney, \"Katha Sarit S\u00e2gara,\" i. 14, note, 571.\n\n[433] Yule, \"Marco Polo,\" i. 132 sq.\n\n[434] Ibbetson, \"Panj\u00e2b Ethnography,\" 115.\n\n[435] \"Annals,\" ii. 199, note.\n\n[436] \"Central Provinces Gazetteer,\" 197 sq., 515.\n\n[437] For the History of Far\u00eed, see \"Indian Antiquary,\" xi. 33 sq.;\nThomas, \"Chronicles of the Path\u00e2n Kings,\" 205; Ibbetson, \"Panj\u00e2b\nEthnography,\" 115; Sleeman, \"Rambles and Recollections,\" ii. 165;\nMaclagan, \"Panj\u00e2b Census Report,\" 193.\n\n[438] F\u00fchrer, \"Monumental Antiquities,\" 69, 270; \"North Indian Notes\nand Queries,\" ii. 21, 56, 155, 189.\n\n[439] \"Karn\u00e2l Settlement Report,\" 153.\n\n[440] \"Karn\u00e2l Gazetteer,\" 103.\n\n[441] \"North Indian Notes and Queries,\" iii. 17.\n\n[442] \"Oudh Gazetteer,\" i. 92.\n\n[443] \"Panj\u00e2b Notes and Queries,\" iii. 81.\n\n[444] Mrs. M\u00eer Hasan 'Ali, \"Observations on the Muhammadans of India,\"\nii. 324.\n\n[445] Maclagan, \"Panj\u00e2b Census Report,\" 198.\n\n[446] \"North Indian Notes and Queries,\" iii. 18.\n\n[447] \"Ber\u00e2r Gazetteer,\" 192.\n\n[448] O'Brien, \"Mult\u00e2ni Glossary,\" 146.\n\n[449] \"Oudh Gazetteer,\" i. 334; Cunningham, \"Arch\u00e6ological Reports,\"\nxvi. 5. For the Chanod shrine, \"Bombay Gazetteer,\" vi. 160.\n\n[450] Risley, \"Tribes and Castes,\" i. 367.\n\n[451] \"North Indian Notes and Queries,\" iii. 144.\n\n[452] \"Eastern India,\" i. 82 sq.\n\n[453] \"Panj\u00e2b Notes and Queries,\" iii. 143.\n\n[454] \"Reports,\" i. 98, 130; xiv. 41; xxiii. 63.\n\n[455] \"Journal, Asiatic Society of Bengal,\" xiii. 205; \"Panj\u00e2b Notes\nand Queries,\" i. 109.\n\n[456] \"Oudh Gazetteer,\" i. 11 sq.\n\n[457] \"Central Provinces Gazetteer,\" 175.\n\n[458] Atkinson, \"Him\u00e2layan Gazetteer,\" ii. 777; Wright, \"History,\"\n114, 124.\n\n[459] \"Oudh Gazetteer,\" i. 38.\n\n[460] \"Oudh Gazetteer,\" i. 210 sq.\n\n[461] Ibid., i. 8 sq.\n\n[462] Campbell, \"Notes,\" 366.\n\n[463] \"North Indian Notes and Queries,\" i. 50.\n\n[464] Hunt, \"Popular Romances,\" 378.\n\n[465] Forbes, \"R\u00e2s M\u00e2la,\" ii. 332, quoted by Campbell, \"Notes,\" 15.\n\n[466] \"Legend of Perseus,\" i. 72, 207.\n\n[467] L\u00e2l Bih\u00e2ri D\u00ea, \"Folk-tales of Bengal,\" 1, 117, 187; Tawney,\n\"Katha Sarit S\u00e2gara,\" i. 52, 172, 355, 382; ii. 216; Knowles,\n\"Folk-tales of Kashm\u00eer,\" 131, 416.\n\n[468] Leland, \"Etruscan Roman Remains,\" 246.\n\n[469] \"Observations,\" 625; and see Frazer, \"Golden Bough,\" i. 150;\nLubbock, \"Origin of Civilization,\" 220; Tylor, \"Primitive Culture,\"\nii. 27; Spencer, \"Principles of Sociology,\" i. 215 sq.; Sir W. Scott,\n\"Letters on Demonology,\" 90.\n\n[470] \"Panj\u00e2b Notes and Queries,\" iii. 166.\n\n[471] Tawney, \"Katha Sarit S\u00e2gara,\" i. 21, 420; Miss Cox, \"Cinderella,\"\n489; Clouston, \"Popular Tales,\" i. 437.\n\n[472] \"North Indian Notes and Queries,\" iii. 31; Clouston, loc. cit.,\nii. 228; Tawney, \"Katha Sarit S\u00e2gara,\" ii. 588.\n\n[473] F\u00fchrer, \"Monumental Antiquities,\" 144.\n\n[474] \"Panj\u00e2b Ethnography,\" 116.\n\n[475] Ibbetson, loc. cit., 117.\n\n[476] Aubrey, \"Remaines,\" 121; Lady Wilde, \"Legends,\" 44, 233.\n\n[477] Campbell, \"Notes,\" 171.\n\n[478] \"Panj\u00e2b Notes and Queries,\" i. 13; \"North Indian Notes and\nQueries,\" i. 4.\n\n[479] \"Panj\u00e2b Notes and Queries,\" iv. 57.\n\n[480] See Cunningham, \"Arch\u00e6ological Reports,\" xvii. 147.\n\n[481] Dalton, \"Descriptive Ethnology,\" 261.\n\n[482] \"Panj\u00e2b Notes and Queries,\" iv. 51; L\u00e2l Bih\u00e2ri D\u00ea, \"Folk Tales,\"\n199; \"Govinda S\u00e2manta,\" i. 109, 152 sq., 157; \"North Indian Notes\nand Queries,\" i. 83.\n\n[483] \"Bombay Gazetteer,\" xv. 150; Campbell, \"Notes,\" 172.\n\n[484] \"Panj\u00e2b Notes and Queries,\" iv. 5; \"North Indian Notes and\nQueries,\" ii. 9; iii. 74.\n\n[485] Hislop, \"Notes,\" i. 3.\n\n[486] \"Panj\u00e2b Notes and Queries,\" ii. 114, 167; Tylor, \"Primitive\nCulture,\" i. 102; Aubrey, \"Remaines,\" 177, 194; Campbell, \"Notes,\" 177.\n\n[487] Fausb\u00f6ll, \"J\u00e2taka,\" ii. 15 sq.; Ibbetson, \"Panj\u00e2b Ethnography,\"\n118.\n\n[488] Tawney, \"Katha Sarit S\u00e2gara,\" i. 254.\n\n[489] Campbell, \"Notes,\" 177.\n\n[490] \"Odyssey,\" xvii. 541 sq.; Yule, \"Marco Polo,\" ii. 351; Aubrey,\n\"Remaines,\" 177.\n\n[491] Henderson, \"Folk-lore of the Northern Counties,\" 117.\n\n[492] \"Folk-lore,\" ii. 289.\n\n[493] Hunt, \"Popular Romances,\" 109.\n\n[494] L\u00e2l Bih\u00e2ri D\u00ea, \"Gobinda S\u00e2manta,\" i. 115 sqq.\n\n[495] Ralston, \"Russian Folk-tales,\" 306.\n\n[496] Tawney, \"Katha Sarit S\u00e2gara,\" i. 231, 543.\n\n[497] Ibid., ii. 208.\n\n[498] Wilson, \"Essays,\" i. 26.\n\n[499] Buchanan, \"Eastern India,\" i. 65, 166.\n\n[500] Tawney, \"Katha Sarit S\u00e2gara,\" i. 256 sqq.\n\n[501] Knowles, \"Kashm\u00eer Folk-tales,\" 43; Clouston, \"Popular Tales,\"\ni. 135.\n\n[502] Tawney, \"Katha Sarit S\u00e2gara,\" i. 210; ii. 318.\n\n[503] \"Journal Royal Asiatic Society,\" N.S. ii. 300; \"Ancient Sanskrit\nTexts,\" iv. 247; Wilson, \"Rig Veda,\" i. 107.\n\n[504] Manu, \"Institutes,\" iii. 90; Haug, \"Aitareya Br\u00e2hmanam,\" ii. 87,\n90 sq.\n\n[505] \"Panj\u00e2b Notes and Queries,\" ii. 132; Lai Beh\u00e2ri D\u00ea, \"Govinda\nS\u00e2manta,\" i. 117; Campbell, \"Notes,\" 24 sqq.\n\n[506] \"Journal Asiatic Society Bengal,\" 1847, p. 582.\n\n[507] \"Folk-lore,\" iii. 323.\n\n[508] Grimm, \"Household Tales,\" ii. 381.\n\n[509] Hartland, \"Legend of Perseus,\" i. 16.\n\n[510] Hunt, \"Popular Romances,\" 75, 270.\n\n[511] Miss Frere, \"Old Deccan Days,\" 41, 198; Wright, \"History of\nNep\u00e2l,\" 175; Lady Wilde, \"Legends,\" 257.\n\n[512] Miss Frere, loc. cit., 82, 58, 62, 208, 268 sqq.; Knowles,\n\"Kashm\u00eer Folk-tales,\" 47.\n\n[513] Atkinson, \"Him\u00e2layan Gazetteer,\" ii. 352, note; Cunningham,\n\"Arch\u00e6ological Reports,\" ii. 21.\n\n[514] Tylor, \"Early History,\" 316; Herodotus, i. 68.\n\n[515] Campbell, \"Popular Tales,\" ii. 95; \"Wideawake Stories,\" 404 sqq.;\nMiss Stokes, \"Fairy Tales,\" 261; Tylor, \"Primitive Culture,\" i. 161;\nFrazer, \"Golden Bough,\" ii. 300; Tawney, \"Katha Sarit S\u00e2gara,\" i. 42,\n47; Hartland, \"Legend of Perseus,\" ii. chap. viii.\n\n[516] \"Central Provinces Gazetteer,\" 428; Cunningham, \"Arch\u00e6ological\nReports,\" ix. 142; xviii. 5; \"Indian Antiquary,\" vi. 360; \"Bombay\nGazetteer,\" xii. 449; compare Tylor, \"Primitive Culture,\" i. 394 sq.;\nWright, \"History of Nep\u00e2l,\" 175; \"Folk-lore,\" i. 524.\n\n[517] F\u00fchrer, \"Monumental Antiquities,\" 7, 40, 103.\n\n[518] Hunt, \"Popular Romances,\" 43, 75.\n\n[519] Buchanan, \"Eastern India,\" i. 88; iii. 56.\n\n[520] Grimm, \"Household Tales,\" ii. 413; Hunt, loc. cit., 136.\n\n[521] Knowles, \"Folk-tales of Kashm\u00eer,\" 423.\n\n[522] Annals, ii. 382, note; Wright, \"History of Nep\u00e2l,\" 86.\n\n[523] \"North Indian Notes and Queries,\" iii. 71.\n\n[524] L\u00e2l Bih\u00e2ri D\u00ea, \"Folk-tales,\" 257; Miss Stokes, \"Fairy Tales,\"\n273, 291; Tylor, \"Primitive Culture,\" ii. 98 sq., 378; Hunt, \"Popular\nRomances,\" 55.\n\n[525] Cunningham, \"Arch\u00e6ological Reports,\" xvii. 1.\n\n[526] \"North Indian Notes and Queries,\" ii. 1.\n\n[527] \"Gazetteer,\" xi. 308.\n\n[528] Risley, \"Tribes and Castes of Bengal,\" i. 303.\n\n[529] Grimm, \"Teutonic Mythology,\" ii. 449.\n\n[530] Campbell, \"Notes,\" 150.\n\n[531] \"North Indian Notes and Queries,\" iii. 57, 80, 130.\n\n[532] \"Annals,\" ii. 681.\n\n[533] Hunt, \"Popular Romances,\" 145, 244; Campbell, \"Popular Tales,\"\nii. 101; \"Folk-lore,\" iv. 352; Grimm, \"Household Tales,\" i. 346.\n\n[534] L\u00e2l Bih\u00e2ri D\u00ea, \"Govinda S\u00e2manta,\" i. 9; \"North Indian Notes\nand Queries,\" iii. 199.\n\n[535] \"Bombay Gazetteer,\" xxv. 457.\n\n[536] \"Oudh Gazetteer,\" i. 308, 311.\n\n[537] L\u00e2l Beh\u00e2ri D\u00ea, \"Govinda S\u00e2manta,\" i. 158.\n\n[538] \"North Indian Notes and Queries,\" iii. 180.\n\n[539] Cunningham, \"Arch\u00e6ological Reports,\" xx. 96.\n\n[540] Leland, \"Etruscan Roman Remains,\" 213.\n\n[541] Henderson, \"Folk-lore of the Northern Counties,\" 308; Grote,\n\"History of Greece,\" iv. 285; \"Folk-lore,\" i. 167.\n\n[542] Leland, loc. cit., 95.\n\n[543] Traill, \"Asiatic Researches,\" xvi. 137 sq.\n\n[544] Atkinson, \"Him\u00e2layan Gazetteer,\" ii. 820.\n\n[545] Tylor, \"Primitive Culture,\" i. 428 sq.\n\n[546] Wright, \"History,\" 153; Frazer, \"Golden Bough,\" i. 142.\n\n[547] Traill, \"Asiatic Researches,\" xvi. 137 sq.; \"North Indian Notes\nand Queries,\" ii. 27.\n\n[548] Hunt, \"Popular Romances,\" 223.\n\n[549] Brand, \"Observation,\" 571.\n\n[550] Oppert, \"Original Inhabitants,\" 505.\n\n[551] Atkinson, \"Him\u00e2layan Gazetteer,\" ii. 825 sqq.; Madden, \"Journal\nAsiatic Society Bengal,\" 1847, p. 599 sqq.\n\n[552] \"Panj\u00e2b Notes and Queries,\" i. 120; iii. 171.\n\n[553] Traill, \"Asiatic Researches,\" xvi. 137; Atkinson, loc. cit.,\nii. 831; Leland, \"Etruscan Roman Remains,\" 101.\n\n[554] Grierson, \"Beh\u00e2r Peasant Life,\" 408.\n\n[555] Dalton, \"Descriptive Ethnology,\" 251.\n\n[556] Campbell, \"Notes,\" 387; Hartland, \"Science of Fairy Tales,\"\n93 sqq.\n\n[557] \"Rig Veda,\" iv. 17, 16; i. 51, 13.\n\n[558] Burton, \"Arabian Nights,\" i. 9, note.\n\n[559] Hughes, \"Dictionary of Isl\u00e2m,\" s.v. Genii; Burton, \"Arabian\nNights,\" passim.\n\n[560] \"Eastern India,\" i. 106.\n\n[561] Dalton, \"Descriptive Ethnology,\" 132.\n\n[562] \"Central Provinces Gazetteer,\" 280.\n\n[563] Hunt, \"Popular Romances,\" 253.\n\n[564] Ibbetson, \"Panj\u00e2b Ethnography,\" 117.\n\n[565] Campbell, \"Notes,\" 149.\n\n[566] Frazer, \"Golden Bough,\" i. 185, 187; ii. 238.\n\n[567] \"North Indian Notes and Queries,\" iii. 204.\n\n[568] Campbell, \"Notes,\" 156.\n\n[569] Tylor, \"Primitive Culture,\" i. 307; Pliny, \"Natural History,\"\nvii. 2.\n\n[570] Rhys, \"Lectures,\" 156.\n\n[571] Leland, \"Etruscan Roman Remains,\" 158.\n\n[572] \"Folk-lore,\" ii. 288; Lady Wilde, \"Legends,\" 7, 39.\n\n[573] Tawney, \"Katha Sarit S\u00e2gara,\" ii. 198; Hartland, \"Science of\nFairy Tales,\" 42.\n\n[574] Risley, \"Tribes and Castes,\" i. 94.\n\n[575] Campbell, \"Notes,\" 488.\n\n[576] Tawney, \"Katha Sarit S\u00e2gara,\" i. 227.\n\n[577] Atkinson, \"Him\u00e2layan Gazetteer,\" ii. 932.\n\n[578] \"Folk-lore,\" iv. 363.\n\n[579] \"Etruscan Roman Remains,\" 337.\n\n[580] Blochmann, \"A\u00een-i-Akbari,\" i. 139.\n\n[581] \"Oudh Gazetteer,\" ii. 418.\n\n[582] Yule, \"Marco Polo,\" ii. 70, with note.\n\n[583] \"Lectures,\" 626 sq.\n\n[584] The most recent authority on the subject, Mr. Hartland, sums\nup the matter thus: \"It is founded on the belief that the child is\na part of the parent; and, just as after apparent severance of hair\nand nails from the remainder of the body, the bulk is affected by\nanything which happens to the severed portion, so as well after as\nbefore the infant has been severed from the parent's body, and in our\neyes has acquired a distinct existence, he will be affected by whatever\noperates on the parent. Hence whatever the parent ought for the child's\nsake to do or avoid before severance it is equally necessary to do or\navoid after. Gradually, however, as the infant grows and strengthens\nhe becomes able to digest the same food as his parents, and to take\npart in the ordinary avocations of their lives. Precaution then may\nbe relaxed, and ultimately remitted altogether,\"--\"Legend of Perseus,\"\nii. 406.\n\n[585] \"Br\u00e2hmanism and Hinduism,\" 229.\n\n[586] Dalton, \"Descriptive Ethnology,\" 191; Risley, \"Tribes and\nCastes,\" i. 323; Tylor, \"Primitive Culture,\" i. 84.\n\n[587] Campbell, \"Notes,\" 410.\n\n[588] Ibid.\n\n[589] \"Sirsa Settlement Report,\" 32.\n\n[590] Wright, \"History,\" 15; Yule, \"Marco Polo,\" i. 203; Spencer,\n\"Principles of Sociology,\" i. 249 sq.; Henderson, \"Folk-lore of the\nNorthern Counties,\" 278.\n\n[591] \"Remaines,\" 109 sq.; Spencer, loc. cit., i. 329; Farrer,\n\"Primitive Manners,\" 24, 225 sq.\n\n[592] Isaiah xxxiv. 14; Mayhew, \"Academy,\" June 14th, 1884; Conway,\n\"Demonology,\" ii. 91 sqq.; Gubernatis, \"Zoological Mythology,\" ii. 202.\n\n[593] Campbell, \"Notes,\" 59.\n\n[594] \"Journal Asiatic Society Bengal,\" 1848, p. 609; Benjamin,\n\"Persia,\" 192; Tylor, \"Primitive Culture,\" i. 451.\n\n[595] Frazer, \"Golden Bough,\" i. 204; Tylor, loc. cit., ii. 230;\n\"Early History,\" 358; Cox, \"Mythology of the Aryan Nations,\" ii. 327;\nConway, \"Demonology,\" i. 18.\n\n[596] \"Eastern India,\" i. 414.\n\n[597] \"Bombay Gazetteer,\" xii. 13; xvii. 703.\n\n[598] \"Oudh Gazetteer,\" iii. 286.\n\n[599] \"Folk-lore,\" iii. 83.\n\n[600] Campbell, \"Notes,\" 150 sq.\n\n[601] Tawney, \"Katha Sarit S\u00e2gara,\" i. 446, 558; ii. 197.\n\n[602] Hunt, \"Popular Romances,\" 431.\n\n[603] \"Principles of Sociology,\" i. 201.\n\n[604] Lady Wilde, \"Legends,\" 86.\n\n[605] \"North Indian Notes and Queries,\" ii. 27.\n\n[606] \"North Indian Notes and Queries,\" ii. 106; iii. 147.\n\n[607] Atkinson, \"Him\u00e2layan Gazetteer,\" ii. 321 sq.; \"Bombay Gazetteer,\"\nviii. 660; xi. 383.\n\n[608] \"North Indian Notes and Queries,\" i. 103 sq.\n\n[609] Ibid., ii. 3.\n\n[610] Hunt, \"Popular Romances,\" 82.\n\n[611] \"Anatomy of Melancholy,\" 126.\n\n[612] Hunt, loc. cit., 81.\n\n[613] Ganga Datt Upreti, \"Folk-lore,\" 10.\n\n[614] Cunningham, \"Arch\u00e6ological Reports,\" x. 117.\n\n[615] Lady Wilde, \"Legends,\" 56; Henderson, \"Folk-lore of the Northern\nCounties,\" 320 sq.; \"Folk-lore,\" iv. 180.\n\n[616] \"Lectures,\" 265.\n\n[617] \"North Indian Notes and Queries,\" ii. 58.\n\n[618] \"Science of Fairy Tales,\" chap. vi.\n\n[619] \"Arch\u00e6ological Reports,\" xxiii. 91.\n\n[620] Ibid., xvii. 31; x. 72.\n\n[621] \"North Indian Notes and Queries,\" II. 174.\n\n[622] Ibid., II. 29.\n\n[623] Julien's \"Translation,\" i. 179.\n\n[624] Miss Cox, \"Cinderella,\" 498.\n\n[625] Ralston, \"Russian Folk-tales,\" 311.\n\n[626] \"North Indian Notes and Queries,\" i. 100.\n\n[627] Macpherson, \"Khonds,\" 67 sq.\n\n[628] Ganga Datt, \"Folk-lore,\" 97.\n\n[629] \"Panj\u00e2b Notes and Queries,\" iv. 132.\n\n[630] Campbell, \"Popular Tales,\" ii. 63.\n\n[631] Hearn, \"Aryan Household,\" 55 sq.\n\n[632] Risley, \"Tribes and Castes,\" i. 456.\n\n[633] Wilson, \"Essays,\" i. 39.\n\n[634] \"Notes,\" 169.","title":"The Popular Religion and Folk-Lore of Northern India, Vol. 1 (of 2)","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":105325}