THE POPULAR RELIGION
AND FOLK-LORE OF
NORTHERN INDIA
BY
W. CROOKE, B.A.
BENGAL CIVIL SERVICE
IN TWO VOLUMES
VOL. I.
A NEW EDITION, REVISED AND ILLUSTRATED
WESTMINSTER
ARCHIBALD CONSTABLE & CO.
2, Whitehall Gardens, S.W.
1896
PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION.
The success of this book has been much beyond my expectations. That
a considerable edition has been exhausted within a few months after
publication proves that it meets a want.
I have now practically re-written the book, and have taken
the opportunity of introducing a considerable amount of fresh
information collected in the course of the Ethnographical Survey of
the North-Western Provinces, the results of which will be separately
published.
For the illustrations, which now appear for the first time, I am
indebted to the photographic skill of Mr. J. O'Neal, of the Thomason
Engineering College, Rurki. I could have wished that they could have
been drawn from a wider area. But Hardwar and its shrines are very
fairly representative of popular Hinduism in Northern India.
W. Crooke.
Saharanpur,
February, 1895.
PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION.
Many books have been written on Brâhmanism, or the official religion
of the Hindu; but, as far as I am aware, this is the first attempt
to bring together some of the information available on the popular
beliefs of the races of Upper India.
My object in writing this book has been threefold. In the first place
I desired to collect, for the use of all officers whose work lies
among the rural classes, some information on the beliefs of the people
which will enable them, in some degree, to understand the mysterious
inner life of the races among whom their lot is cast; secondly, it
may be hoped that this introductory sketch will stimulate inquiry,
particularly among the educated races of the country, who have,
as yet, done little to enable Europeans to gain a fuller and more
sympathetic knowledge of their rural brethren; and lastly, while I
have endeavoured more to collect facts than to theorize upon them,
I hope that European scholars may find in these pages some fresh
examples of familiar principles. My difficulty has arisen not so much
from deficiency of material, as in the selection and arrangement of
the mass of information, which lies scattered through a considerable
literature, much of which is fugitive.
I believe that the more we explore these popular superstitions and
usages, the nearer are we likely to attain to the discovery of the
basis on which Hinduism has been founded. The official creed has
always been characterized by extreme catholicism and receptivity, and
many of its principles and legends have undoubtedly been derived from
that stratum of the people which it is convenient to call non-Aryan
or Drâvidian. The necessity, then, of investigating these beliefs
before they become absorbed in Brâhminism, one of the most active
missionary religions of the world, is obvious.
I may say that the materials of this book were practically complete
before I was able to use Mr. J. S. Campbell's valuable collection of
"Notes on the Spirit Basis of Belief and Custom;" but, in revising
the manuscript, I have availed myself to some extent of this useful
collection, and when I have done so, I have been careful to acknowledge
my obligations to it. Even at the risk of overloading the notes
with references, I have quoted the authorities which I have used,
and I have added a Bibliography which may be of use to students to
whom the subject is unfamiliar.
The only excuse I can plead for the obvious imperfections of this
hasty survey of a very wide subject is that it has been written in
the intervals of the scanty leisure of a District Officer's life in
India, and often at a distance from works of reference and libraries.
W. Crooke.
Mirzapur,
February, 1893.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I. PAGE
The Godlings of Nature 1
CHAPTER II.
The Heroic and Village Godlings 83
CHAPTER III.
The Godlings of Disease 123
CHAPTER IV.
The Worship of the Sainted Dead 175
CHAPTER V.
Worship of the Malevolent Dead 230
FOLK-LORE OF NORTHERN INDIA.
CHAPTER I.
THE GODLINGS OF NATURE.
En men gaian eteux' en d' ouranon, en de thalassan
êelion t' akamanta selênên te plêthousan,
en de ta teirea panta, ta t' ouranos estephanôtai
Plêïadas th' Hyadas te, to te sthenos Ôriônos
Arkton th', hên kai amaxan epiklêsin kaleousin,
hêt autou strephatai kai t' Ôriôna dokeuei,
oiê d' ammoros esti loetrôn Ôkeanoio.
Iliad, xviii. 483-88.
Among all the great religions of the world there is none more catholic,
more assimilative than the mass of beliefs which go to make up what
is popularly known as Hinduism. To what was probably its original
form--a nature worship in a large degree introduced by the Aryan
missionaries--has been added an enormous amount of demonolatry,
fetishism and kindred forms of primitive religion, much of which
has been adopted from races which it is convenient to describe as
aboriginal or autochthonous.
The same was the case in Western lands. As the Romans extended their
Empire they brought with them and included in the national pantheon the
deities of the conquered peoples. Greece and Syria, Egypt, Gallia and
Germania were thus successively laid under contribution. This power
of assimilation in the domain of religion had its advantages as well
as its dangers. While on the one hand it tended to promote the unity
of the empire, it degraded, on the other hand, the national character
by the introduction of the impure cults which flourished along the
eastern shores of the Mediterranean. [1]
But, besides these forms of religion which were directly imported
from foreign lands, there remained a stratum of local beliefs
which even after twenty centuries of Christianity still flourish,
discredited though they may be by priests and placed under the ban
of the official creed. Thus in Greece, while the high gods of the
divine race of Achilles and Agamemnon are forgotten, the Nereids,
the Cyclopes and the Lamia still live in the faith of the peasants of
Thessaly. [2] So in modern Tuscany there is actually as much heathenism
as catholicism, and they still believe in La Vecchia Religione--"the
old religion;"--and while on great occasions they have recourse to the
priests, they use magic and witchcraft for all ordinary purposes. [3]
It is part of the object of the following pages to show that in
India the history of religious belief has been developed on similar
lines. Everywhere we find that the great primal gods of Hinduism have
suffered grievous degradation. Throughout the length and breadth
of the Indian peninsula Brahma, the Creator, has hardly more than
a couple of shrines specially dedicated to him. [4] Indra has, as
we shall see, become a vague weather deity, who rules the choirs of
fairies in his heaven Indra-loka: Varuna, as Barun, has also become a
degraded weather godling, and sailors worship their boat as his fetish
when they commence a voyage. The worship of Agni survives in the fire
sacrifice which has been specialized by the Agnihotri Brâhmans. Of
Pûshan and Ushas, Vâyu and the Maruts, hardly even the names survive,
except among the small philosophical class of reformers who aim at
restoring Vedism, a faith which is as dead as Jupiter or Aphrodite.
The Deva.
The general term for these great gods of Hinduism is Deva, or "the
shining ones." Of these even the survivors have in the course of the
development of the religious belief of the people suffered serious
change. Modern Vaishnavism has little left of the original conception
of the solar deity who in the Rig Veda strides in three steps through
the seven regions of the universe, and envelops all things in the dust
of his beams. To his cult has, in modern times, been added the erotic
cycle of myths which centre round Krishna and Râdhâ and Rukminî. The
successive Avatâras or incarnations mark the progressive development of
the cultus which has absorbed in succession the totemistic or fetish
worship of the tortoise, the boar, the fish and the man-lion. In
the same way Rudra-Siva has annexed various faiths, many of which
are probably of local origin, such as the worship of the bull and
the linga. Durgâ-Devî, again, most likely is indebted to the same
sources for the blood sacrifices which she loves in her forms of Kâlî,
Bhawânî, Chandikâ or Bhairavî. A still later development is that of
the foul mysteries of the Tantra and the Sâktis.
The Deotâ.
But in the present survey of the popular, as contrasted with the
official faith, we have little concern with these supremely powerful
deities. They are the gods of the richer or higher classes, and to
the ordinary peasant of Northern India are now little more than
a name. He will, it is true, occasionally bow at their shrines;
he will pour some water or lay some flowers on the images or fetish
stones which are the special resting-places of these divinities or
represent the productive powers of nature. But from time immemorial,
when Brâhmanism had as yet not succeeded in occupying the land, his
allegiance was bestowed on a class of deities of a much lower and
more primitive kind. Their inferiority to the greater gods is marked
in their title: they are Devatâ or Deotâ, "godlings," not "gods." [5]
Godlings Pure and Impure.
These godlings fall into two well marked classes--the "pure" and the
"impure." The former are, as a rule, served by priests of the Brâhman
castes or one of the ascetic orders: their offerings are such things
as are pure food to the Hindu--cakes of wheaten flour, particularly
those which have been still further purified by intermixture with
clarified butter (ghî), the most valued product of the sacred
cow, washed rice (akshata) and sweetmeats. They are very generally
worshipped on a Sunday, and the officiating high-caste priest accepts
the offerings. The offerings to the "impure" godlings contain articles
such as pork and spirits, which are abomination to the orthodox
Hindu. In the Central Indian hills their priest is the Baiga, who
rules the ghosts and demons of the village and is always drawn from
one of the Drâvidian tribes. In the plain country the priest is a
non-Aryan Chamâr, Dusâdh, or even a sweeper or a Muhammadan Dafâli
or drummer. No respectable Hindu will, it is needless to say, partake
of a share of the food consecrated (prasâd) to a hedge deity of this
class. Much of the worship consists in offering of blood. But the
jungle man or the village menial of the plains can seldom, except in
an hour of grievous need, afford an expensive animal victim, and it
is only when the village shrine has come under the patronage of the
official priests of the orthodox faith, that the altar of the goddess
reeks with gore, like those of the Devîs of Bindhâchal or Devî Pâtan.
But as regards the acceptance of a share of the offering the line is
often not very rigidly drawn. As Mr. Ibbetson writing of the Panjâb
says: [6] "Of course, the line cannot always be drawn with precision,
and Brâhmans will often consent to be fed in the name of a deity,
while they will not take offerings made at his shrine, or will allow
their girls, but not their boys, to accept the offering, as, if the
girls die in consequence, it does not much matter." In fact, as we
shall see later on, the Baiga or devil priest of the aboriginal tribes,
is gradually merging into the Ojha or meaner class of demon exorciser,
who calls himself a Brâhman and performs the same functions for tribes
of a somewhat higher social rank.
Sûraj Nârâyan, the Sun Godling.
The first and greatest of the "pure" godlings is Sûrya or Sûraj
Nârâyan, the Sun godling. He is thus regarded as Nârâyana or
Vishnu occupying the sun. A curiously primitive legend represents
his father-in-law, Viswakarma, as placing the deity on his lathe
and trimming away one-eighth of his effulgence, leaving only his
feet. Out of the blazing fragments he welded the weapons of the
gods. Sûrya was one of the great deities of the Vedic pantheon:
he is called Prajapati or "lord of creatures:" he was the son of
Dyaus, or the bright sky. Ushas, the dawn, was his wife, and he moves
through the sky drawn by seven ruddy mares. His worship was perhaps
originally connected with that of fire, but it is easy to understand
how, under a tropical sky, the Indian peasant came to look on him as
the lord of life and death, the bringer of plenty or of famine. If
one interpretation of the rite be correct, the Holî festival is
intended as a means of propitiating sunshine. He is now, however,
like Helios in the Homeric mythology, looked on as only a godling,
not a god, and even as a hero who had once lived and reigned on earth.
As far as the village worship of Sûraj Nârâyan goes, the assertion,
which has sometimes been made, that no shrine has been erected in
his honour is correct enough; and there is no doubt that images of
Sûrya and Aditya are comparatively rare in recent epochs. But there
are many noted temples dedicated to him, such as those at Taxila,
Gwâlior, Gaya, Multân, Jaypur, and in the North-Western Provinces
at Indor, Hawalbâgh, Sûrya Bhîta and Lakhmipur. [7] His shrine at
Kanârak in Orissa near that of Jagannâth, is described as one of the
most exquisite memorials of Sun-worship in existence. [8] Mr. Bendall
recently found in Nepâl an image dedicated to him as late as the
eleventh century. [9] There is a small shrine in his honour close to
the Annapûrna temple in Benares, where the god is represented seated
in a chariot drawn by seven horses, and is worshipped with the fire
sacrifice (homa) in a building detached from the temple. [10]
In the time of Sankara Achârya (A.D. 1000) there were six distinct
sects of Sun-worshippers--one worshipping the rising sun as identified
with Brahma; the second the meridian sun as Siva; the third the
setting sun as Vishnu; the fourth worshippers of the sun in all the
above phases as identified with the Trimurti; the fifth worshippers
of the sun regarded as a material being in the form of a man with a
golden beard and golden hair. Zealous members of this sect refused
to eat anything in the morning till they had seen the sun rise. The
last class worshipped an image of the sun formed in the mind. These
spent all their time meditating on the sun, and were in the habit
of branding circular representations of his disc on their foreheads,
arms and breasts. [11]
The Saura sect worship Sûryapati as their special god. They wear a
crystal necklace in his honour, abstain from eating salt on Sundays
and on the days when the sun enters a sign of the zodiac. They make
a frontal mark with red sandars, and nowadays have their headquarters
in Oudh. [12]
Another sect of Vaishnavas, the Nîmbârak, worship the sun in a
modified form. Their name means "the sun in a Nîm tree" (Azidirachta
Indica). The story of the sect runs that their founder, an ascetic
named Bhâskarâchârya, had invited a Bairâgi to dine with him, and had
arranged everything for his reception, but unfortunately delayed to
call his guest till after sunset. The holy man was forbidden by the
rules of his order to eat except in the day-time, and was afraid that
he would be compelled to practise an unwilling abstinence; but at the
solicitation of his host, the Sun god, Sûraj Nârâyan, descended on the
Nîm tree under which the feast was spread and continued beaming on them
until dinner was over. [13] In this we observe an approximation to the
Jaina rule by which it is forbidden to eat after sunset, lest insects
may enter the mouth and be destroyed. This over-strained respect for
animal life is one of the main features of the creed. As a curious
parallel it may be noted that when an Australian black-fellow wishes
to stay the sun from going down till he gets home, he places a sod
in the fork of a tree exactly facing the setting sun; and an Indian
of Yucatan, journeying westward, places a stone in a tree, or pulls
out some of his eye-lashes and blows them towards the sun. [14]
The great Emperor Akbar endeavoured to introduce a special form of
Sun-worship. He ordered that it was to be adored four times a day: in
the morning, noon, evening, and midnight. "His majesty had also one
thousand and one Sanskrit names of the sun collected, and read them
daily, devoutly turning to the sun. He then used to get hold of both
ears, and turning himself quickly round, used to strike the lower ends
of his ears with his fists." He ordered his band to play at midnight,
and used to be weighed against gold at his solar anniversary. [15]
Village Worship of Sûraj Nârâyan.
The village worship of Sûraj Nârâyan is quite distinct from this. Many
peasants in Upper India do not eat salt on Sundays, and do not set
their milk for butter, but make rice-milk of it, and give a portion
to Brâhmans. Brâhmans are sometimes fed in his honour at harvests,
and the pious householder bows to him as he leaves his house in the
morning. His more learned brethren repeat the Gâyatrî, that most
ancient of Aryan prayers: "Tat savitur varenyam bhargo devasya
dhîmahi, Dhiyo yo nah prachodayât" ("May we receive the glorious
brightness of this, the generator, the God who shall prosper our
works!"). In the chilly mornings of the cold weather you will hear
the sleepy coolies as they wake, yawning and muttering Sûraj Nârâyan,
as the yellow gleam of dawn spreads over the Eastern sky. In fact,
even in Vedic times there seems to have been a local worship of Sûrya
connected with some primitive folk-lore. Haradatta mentions as one
of the customs not sanctioned in the Veda, that when the sun is in
Aries the young girls would paint the sun with his retinue on the
soil in coloured dust, and worship this in the morning and evening;
[16] and in Central India the sun was in the Middle Ages worshipped
under the local form of Bhâilla, or "Lord of Life," a term which
appears to have been the origin of the name Bhilsa, known to more
recent ages as a famous seat of Buddhism. [17]
At Udaypur in Râjputâna the sun has universal precedence. His portal
(Sûryapul) is the chief entrance to the city; his name gives dignity
to the chief apartment or hall (Sûryamahal) of the palace, and from the
balcony of the sun (Sûrya-gokhru), the descendant of Râma shows himself
in the dark monsoon as the sun's representative. A large painted sun
of gypsum in high relief with gilded rays adorns the hall of audience,
and in front of it is the throne. The sacred standard bears his image,
as does the disc (changî) of black felt or ostrich feathers with a
plate of gold in its centre to represent the sun, borne aloft on a
pole. The royal parasol is called Kiraniya, in allusion to its shape,
like a ray (kiran) of the orb. [18]
Another famous centre of Sun-worship was Multân, where, as we have
seen, a temple dedicated to him has been discovered, and where the
tribes of the Bâlas and Kâthis were devoted to him. The worship
continued till the idol was destroyed by orders of Aurangzeb.
Sun-worship among the non-Aryan Races.
The Aheriyas, a tribe of jungle-livers and thieves in the Central
Duâb of the Ganges and Jumna, have adopted as their mythical ancestor
Priyavrata, who being dissatisfied that only half the earth was at one
time illuminated by the rays of the sun, followed him seven times round
the earth in his flaming car, resolved to turn night into day. But
he was stopped by Brahma, and the wheels of his chariot formed the
seven oceans which divide the seven continents of the world.
In the lower ranges of the Himâlaya Sun-worship is conducted in the
months of December and January and when eclipses occur. The principal
observances are the eating of a meal without salt at each passage
of the sun into a new sign of zodiac, and eating meals on other days
only when the sun has risen.
Among the Drâvidian races, along the Central Indian hills, Sun-worship
is widely prevalent. When in great affliction the Kharwârs appeal
to the sun. Any open space in which he shines may be his altar. The
Kisâns offer a white cock to him when a sacrifice is needed. He
is worshipped by the Bhuiyas and Orâons as Borâm or Dharm Devatâ,
"the godling of pity," and is propitiated at the sowing season by
the sacrifice of a white cock. The Korwas worship him as Bhagwân, or
"the only God," in an open space with an ant-hill as an altar. The
Khariyas adore him under the name of Bero. "Every head of a family
should during his lifetime make not less than five sacrifices to
this deity--the first of fowls, the second of a pig, the third of a
white goat, the fourth of a ram, and the fifth of a buffalo. He is
then considered sufficiently propitiated for that generation, and
regarded as an ungrateful god if he does not behave handsomely to
his votary." He is addressed as Parameswar, or "great god," and his
sacrifices are always made in front of an ant-hill which is regarded
as his altar. The Kols worship Sing Bonga, the creator and preserver,
as the sun. Prayer and sacrifice are made to him, as to a beneficent
deity, who has no pleasure in the destruction of any of his subjects,
though, as a father, he chastises his erring children, who owe him
gratitude for all the blessings they enjoy. He is said to have married
Chando Omal, the moon. She deceived him on one occasion, and he cut her
in two; but repenting of his anger, he restores her to her original
shape once a month, when she shines in her full beauty. The Orâons
address the sun as Dharmi, or "the holy one," and do not regard him as
the author of sickness or calamity; but he may be invoked to avert it,
and this appeal is often made when the sacrifices to minor deities have
been unproductive. He is the tribal god of the Korkus of Hoshangâbâd;
they do not, however, offer libations to him, as Hindus do; but once
in three years the head of each family, on some Sunday in April or
May, offers outside the village a white she-goat and a white fowl,
turning his face to the East during the sacrifice. Similarly the Kûrs
of the Central Provinces carve rude representations of the sun and
moon on wooden pillars, which they worship, near their villages. [19]
Sun-worship in the Domestic Ritual.
It is needless to say that the custom of walking round any sacred
object in the course of the sun prevails widely. Thus in Ireland,
when in a graveyard, it is customary to walk as much as possible "with
the sun," with the right hand towards the centre of the circle. [20]
Even to this day in the Hebrides animals are led round a sick person,
following the sun; and in the Highlands it is the custom to make the
"deazil" or walk three times in the sun's course round those whom
they wish well. When a Highlander goes to bathe or to drink water
out of a consecrated spring, he must always approach by going round
the place from east to west on the south side, in imitation of the
daily motion of the sun. [21] We follow the same rule when we pass
the decanters round our dinner tables. In the same way in India
the bride and bridegroom are made to revolve round the sacred fire
or the central pole of the marriage-shed in the course of the sun;
the pilgrim makes his solemn perambulation (parikrama) round a temple
or shrine in the same way; in this direction the cattle move as they
tread out the grain.
One special part of the purificatory rite following childbirth is
to bring the mother out and expose her to the rays of the sun. All
through the range of popular belief and folk-lore appears the idea
that girls may be impregnated by the sun. [22] Hence they are not
allowed to expose themselves to his rays at the menstrual period. For
the same reason the bride is brought out to salute the rising sun
on the morning after she begins to live with her husband. A survival
of the same belief may be traced in the English belief that happy is
the bride on whom the sun shines. The same belief in the power of the
sun is shown in the principle so common in folk-lore that to show a
certain thing to it (in a Kashmîr tale it is a tuft of the hair of
the kindly tigress) will be sufficient to summon an absent friend. [23]
The mystical emblem of the Swâstika, which appears to represent the
sun in his journey through the heavens, is of constant occurrence. The
trader paints it on the fly-leaf of his ledger; the man who has young
children or animals liable to the Evil Eye makes a representation of
it on the wall beside his door-post; it holds the first place among
the lucky marks of the Jainas; it is drawn on the shaven heads of
children on the marriage-day in Gujarât; a red circle with a Swâstika
in the centre is depicted on the place where the gods are kept. [24]
In those parts of the country where Bhûmiya is worshipped as a village
guardian deity his votary constructs a rude model of it on the shrine
by fixing up two crossed straws with a daub of plaster. It often occurs
in folk-lore. In the drama of the "Toy Cart" the thief hesitates
whether he shall make the hole in the wall of Charudatta's house in
the likeness of a Swâstika or of a water jar. A hymn of the Rigveda
[25] speaks of the all-seeing eye of the sun whose beams reveal his
presence, gleaming like brilliant flames to nation after nation. This
same conception of the sun as an eye is common in the folk-lore of
the West. [26]
Moon-worship.
The fate of Chandra or Soma, the Moon godling, is very similar. The
name Soma, originally applied to the plant the juice of which was used
as a religious intoxicant, came to be used in connection with the
moon in the post-Vedic mythology. There are many legends to account
for the waning of the moon and the spots on his surface, for the moon,
like the sun, is always treated as a male godling. One of the legends
current to explain the phases of the moon has been already referred
to. According to another story the moon married the twenty-seven
asterisms, the daughters of the Rishi Daksha, who is the hero of
the curious tale of the sacrifice now located at Kankhal, a suburb
of Hardwâr. Umâ or Pârvatî, the spouse of Siva, was also a daughter
of Daksha, and when he, offended with his son-in-law Siva, did not
invite him to the great sacrifice, Umâ became Satî, and in his rage
Siva created Vîrabhadra, who killed the sage. Soma after marrying
the asterisms devoted himself to one of them, Rohinî, which aroused
the jealousy of the others. They complained to their father Daksha,
who cursed the moon with childlessness and consumption. His wives,
in pity, interceded for him, but the curse of the angry sage could not
be wholly removed: all that was possible was to modify it so that it
should be periodical, not permanent. In an earlier legend, of which
there is a trace in the Rig Veda, [27] the gods, by drinking up the
nectar, caused the waning of the moon. Another curious explanation
is current in Bombay. One evening Ganesa fell off his steed, the rat,
and the moon could not help laughing at his misfortune. To punish him
the angry god vowed that no one should ever see the moon again. The
moon prayed for forgiveness, and Ganesa agreed that the moon should
be disgraced only on his birthday, the Ganesa Chaturthî. On this
night the wild hogs hide themselves that they may not see the moon,
and the Kunbis hunt them down and kill them. [28]
There are also many explanations to account for the spots in the
moon. In Western lands the moon is inhabited by a man with a bundle
of sticks on his back; but it is not clear of what offence this was
the punishment. Dante says he is Cain; Chaucer says he was a thief,
and gives him a thorn-bush to carry; Shakespeare gives him thorns to
carry, but provides him with a dog as a companion. In Ireland children
are taught that he picked faggots on a Sunday and is punished as a
Sabbath-breaker. In India the creature in the moon is usually a hare,
and hence the moon is called Sasadhara, "he that is marked like a
hare." According to one legend the moon became enamoured of Ahalyâ,
the wife of the Rishi Gautama, and visited her in the absence of her
husband. He returned, and finding the guilty pair together, cursed his
wife, who was turned into a stone; then he threw his shoe at the moon,
which left a black mark, and this remains to this day. The scene of
this event has been localized at Gondar in the Karnâl District. By
another variant of the legend it was Vrihaspati, the Guru or religious
adviser of the gods, who found the moon with his wife. The holy man
was just returning from his bath in the Ganges, and he threw his
dripping loin-cloth at the moon, which produced the spots. In Upper
India, again, little children are taught to call the moon Mâmû or
"maternal uncle," and the dark spots are said to represent an old
woman who sits there working her spinning-wheel.
The moon has one special function in connection with disease. One of
his titles is Oshadhipati or "lord of the medicinal plants." Hence
comes the idea that roots and simples, and in particular those that
are to be used for any magical or mystic purpose, should be collected
by moonlight. Thus in Shakespeare Jessica says,--
"In such a night Medea gathered the enchanted herbs
That did renew old Aeson."
And Laertes speaks of the poison "collected from all simples that
have virtue under the moon." [29] Hence the belief that the moon
has a sympathetic influence over vegetation. Tusser [30] advised
the peasant,--
"Sow peason and beans, in the wane of the moon.
Who soweth them sooner, he soweth too soon;
That they with the planet may rest and arise,
And flourish, with bearing most plentiful wise."
The same rule applies all over Northern India, and the phases of the
moon exercise an important influence on all agricultural operations.
Based on the same principle is the custom of drinking the moon. Among
Muhammadans in Oudh, "a silver basin being filled with water, is held
in such a situation that the full moon may be reflected in it. The
person to be benefited by the draught is required to look steadfastly
on the moon in the basin, then shut his eyes and quaff the liquid at
a draught. This remedy is advised by medical professors in nervous
cases, and also for palpitation of the heart." [31] Somewhat similar
customs prevail among Hindus in Northern India. At the full moon of the
month Kuâr (September-October) people lay out food on the house-tops,
and when it has absorbed the rays of the moon they distribute it among
their relations; this is supposed to lengthen life. On the same night
girls pour out water in the moonlight, and say that they are pouring
out the cold weather, which was hidden in the water jar. The habit of
making patients look at the moon in ghi, oil, or milk is common, and
is said to be specially efficacious for leprosy and similar diseases.
There is now little special worship of Soma or Chandra, and when
an image is erected to him it is generally associated with that of
Sûrya. In the old ritual Anumati or the moon just short of full was
specially worshipped in connection with the Manes. The full-moon
day was provided with a special goddess, Râkâ. Nowadays the phases
largely influence the domestic ritual. All over the world we find the
idea that anything done or suffered by man on a waxing moon tends to
develop, whereas anything done or suffered on a waning moon tends to
diminish. Thus a popular trick charm for warts is to look at the new
moon, lift some dust from under the left foot, rub the wart with it,
and as the moon wanes the wart dies. [32] It is on the days of the new
and full moon that spirits are most numerous and active. The Code of
Manu directs that ceremonies are to be performed at the conjunction
and opposition of the moon. [33] Among the Jews it would seem that the
full moon was prescribed for national celebrations, while those of a
domestic character took place at the new moon; there is some evidence
to show that this may be connected with the habit of pastoral nations
performing journeys in the cool moonlight nights. [34]
Horace speaks of rustic Phidyle,--
"Coelo supinas si tuleris manus,
Nascente Lunâ rustica Phidyle," [35]
and Aubrey of the Yorkshire maids who "doe worship the new moon on
their bare knees, kneeling upon an earth-fast stone." Irish girls on
first seeing the moon when new fall on their knees and address her
with a loud voice in the prayer--"O Moon! Leave us as well as you
found us!" [36] It is a common practice in Europe to turn a piece of
silver, which being white is the lunar metal, when the new moon is
first seen. So Hindus at the first sight of the new moon hold one end
of their turbans in their hands, take from it seven threads, present
them to the moon with a prayer, and then exchange the compliments
of the season. In Bombay [37] on all new moon days Brâhmans offer
oblations of water and sesamum seed to their ancestors, and those who
are Agnihotris and do the fire sacrifice kindle the sacred fire on all
new and full moon days. Musalmâns on the new moon which comes after
the new year sprinkle the blood of a goat beside the house door. In
Bombay a young Musalmân girl will not go out at the new moon or on a
Thursday, apparently because this is the time that evil spirits roam
abroad. In Upper India the houses of the pious are freely plastered
with a mixture of earth and cow-dung, and no animal is yoked.
A curious idea applies to the new moon of Bhâdon (August). Whoever
looks at the moon on this day will be the victim of false accusations
during the following year. The only way to avoid this is to perform
a sort of penance by getting someone to shy brickbats at your house,
which at other times is regarded as an extreme form of insult and
degradation. There is a regular festival held for this purpose at
Benares on the fourth day of Bhâdon (August), which is known as
the Dhela Chauth Mela, or "the clod festival of the fourth." [38]
We shall come across later on other examples of the principle that to
court abuse under certain circumstances is a means of propitiating the
spirits of evil and avoiding danger from them. This is probably the
origin of the practice in Orissa--"On the Khurda estate the peasants
give a curious reason for the absence of garden cultivation and fruit
trees, which form a salient feature in that part of the country. In
our own districts every homestead has its little ring of vegetable
ground. But in Khurda one seldom meets with these green spots except in
Brâhman villages. The common cultivators say that from time immemorial
they considered it lucky at a certain festival for a man to be annoyed
and abused by his neighbours. With a view to giving ample cause of
offence they mutilate the fruit trees and trample the gardens of
their neighbours, and so court fortune by bringing down the wrath
of the injured owner." [39] We shall see that this is one probable
explanation of the indecency which prevails at the Holî festival.
Moon-worship appears to be more popular in Bihâr and Bengal than in
the North-West Provinces or the Panjâb. [40] The fourth day of the
waxing moon in the month of Bhâdon is sacred to the moon and known
as Chauk Chanda. It is very unlucky to look at the moon on that day,
as whoever does so will make his name infamous. The story runs that
Takshaka, the king of the snakes, stole the ear-rings of King Aditi,
who, being unable to discover the thief, laid it to the charge of
Krishna, whose thefts of milk and cream from the Gopîs had made him
sufficiently notorious. Krishna, mortified at this false accusation,
recovered and restored the ear-ring, and as this was the day on which
Krishna was wrongfully disgraced, the moon of that night is invested
with associations of special sinfulness. Some people fast and in
the evening eat only rice and curds. Brâhmans worship the moon with
offerings of flowers and sweetmeats, and people get stones thrown
at their houses, as further west on the day of the Dhela Chauth. On
this day schoolboys visit their friends and make a peculiar noise by
knocking together two coloured sticks, like castanets.
One idea lying at the base of much of the respect paid to the moon
is that it is the abode of the Pitri or sainted dead. This is a
theory which is the common property of many primitive races. [41]
The explanation probably is that the soul of the dead man rises with
the smoke of the funeral pyre, and hence the realm of Yama would
naturally be fixed in the moon. This seems to be the reason why the
early Indian Buddhists worshipped the moon. At the new moon the monks
bathed and shaved each other; and at a special service the duties of
a monk were recited. On full moon days they dined at the houses of
laymen. On that night a platform was raised in the preaching hall. The
superior brethren chanted the law, and the people greeted the name
of Buddha with shouts of "Sâdhu" or "the holy one." [42]
Eclipses and the Fire Sacrifice.
Hindus, like other primitive races, have their eclipse demons. "When
once the practice of bringing down the moon had become familiar to
the primitive Greek, who saw it done at sacred marriages and other
rites, he was provided with an explanation of lunar eclipses; some
other fellow was bringing down the moon for his private ends. And
at the present day in Greece the proper way to stop a lunar eclipse
is to call out 'I see you!' and thus make the worker of this deed of
darkness desist. So completely did this theory, which we must regard as
peculiarly Greek, establish itself in ancient Greece, that strange to
say, not a trace of the earlier primitive theory, according to which
some monster swallows the eclipsed moon, is to be found in classical
Greek literature, unless the beating of metal instruments to frighten
away the monster be a survival of the primitive practice." [43]
In India, however, this earlier explanation of the phenomena of
eclipses flourishes in full vigour. The eclipse demon, Râhu, whose
name means "the looser" or "the seizer," was one of the Asuras or
demons. When the gods produced the Amrita, or nectar, from the churned
ocean, he disguised himself like one of them and drank a portion
of it. The sun and moon detected his fraud and informed Vishnu,
who severed the head and two of the arms of Râhu from the trunk. The
portion of nectar which he had drunk secured his immortality; the head
and tail were transferred to the solar sphere, the head wreaking its
vengeance on the sun and moon by occasionally swallowing them, while
the tail, under the name of Ketu, gave birth to a numerous progeny
of comets and fiery meteors. By another legend Ketu was turned into
the demon Sainhikeya and the Arunah Ketavah or "Red apparitions,"
which often appear in the older folk-lore.
Ketu nowadays is only a vague demon of disease, and Râhu too has
suffered a grievous degradation. He is now the special godling of
the Dusâdhs and Dhângars, two menial tribes found in the Eastern
districts of the North-Western Provinces. His worship is a kind of
fire sacrifice. A ditch seven cubits long and one and a quarter cubits
broad (both numbers of mystical significance) is dug and filled with
burning faggots, which are allowed to smoulder into cinders. One of
the tribal priests in a state of religious afflatus walks through
the fire, into which some oil or butter is poured to make a sudden
blaze. It is said that the sacred fire is harmless; but some admit
that a certain preservative ointment is used by the performers. The
worshippers insist on the priest coming in actual contact with the
flames, and a case occurred some years ago in Gorakhpur when one of
the priests was degraded on account of his perfunctory discharge of
this sacred duty. The same rule applies to the priest who performs
the rites at the lighting of the Holî fire. It is needless to say
that similar rites prevail elsewhere, chiefly in Southern India. [44]
In connection with this rite of fire-walking they have another function
in which a ladder is made of wooden sword-blades, up which the priest
is compelled to climb, resting the soles of his feet on the edges
of the weapons. When he reaches the top he decapitates a white cock
which is tied to the summit of the ladder. This kind of victim is,
as we have already seen, appropriate to propitiate the Sun godling,
and there can be little doubt that the main object of this form of
symbolical magic is to appease the deities which control the rain
and harvests.
Brâhmans so far join in this low-caste worship as to perform the
fire sacrifice (homa) near the trench where the ceremony is being
performed. In Mirzapur one of the songs recited on this occasion runs:
"O devotee! How many cubits long is the trench which thou hast dug? How
many maunds of butter hast thou poured upon it that the fire billows
rise in the air? Seven cubits long is the trench; seven maunds of
firewood hast thou placed within it. One and a quarter maunds of
firewood hast thou placed within it. One and a quarter maunds of butter
hast thou poured into the trench that the fire billows rise to the
sky." All this is based on the idea that fire is a scarer of demons,
a theory which widely prevails. The Romans made their flocks and herds
pass through fire, over which they leaped themselves. In Ireland,
when the St. John's Eve fire has burnt low, "the young men strip to
the waist and leap over or through the flames, and he who braves the
greatest blaze is considered the victor over the powers of evil." [45]
By a curious process of anthropomorphism, another legend makes Râh or
Râhu, the Dusâdh godling, to have been not an eclipse demon, but the
ghost of an ancient leader of the tribe who was killed in battle. [46]
A still grosser theory of eclipses is found in the belief held by the
Ghasiyas of Mirzapur that the sun and moon once borrowed money from
some of the Dom tribe and did not pay it back. Now in revenge a Dom
occasionally devours them and vomits them up again when the eclipse
is over.
Eclipse Observances.
Eclipses are of evil omen. Gloucester sums up the matter: [47]
"These late eclipses in the sun and moon portend no good to us;
though the wisdom of nature can reason it thus and thus, yet nature
finds itself scourged by the sequent effects; love cools, friendship
falls off, brothers divide; in cities mutinies; in countries discord;
in palaces treason; and the bond cracked 'twixt son and father." The
Hindu authority [48] writes much to the same effect. "Eclipses usually
portend or cause grief; but if rain without unusual symptoms fall
within a week of the eclipse, all baneful influences come to nought."
Among high-caste Hindus no food which has remained in the house during
an eclipse of the sun or moon can be eaten; it must be given away,
and all earthen vessels in use in the house at the time must be
broken. Mr. Conway [49] takes this to mean that "the eclipse was to
have his attention called by outcries and prayers to the fact that
if it was fire he needed there was plenty on earth; and if food, he
might have all in the house, provided he would consent to satisfy his
appetite with articles of food less important than the luminaries
of heaven." The observance is more probably based on the idea of
ceremonial pollution caused by the actual working of demoniacal agency.
Food is particularly liable to this form of pollution. The wise
housewife, when an eclipse is announced, takes a leaf of the Tulasî
or sacred basil, and sprinkling Ganges water on it, puts the leaf in
the jars containing the drinking water for the use of the family and
the cooked food, and thus keeps them pure while the eclipse is going
on. Confectioners, who are obliged to keep large quantities of cooked
food ready, relieve themselves and their customers from the taboo by
keeping some of the sacred Kusa or Dûb grass in their vessels when
an eclipse is expected. A pregnant woman will do no work during an
eclipse, as otherwise she believes that her child would be deformed,
and the deformity is supposed to bear some relation to the work which
is being done by her at the time. Thus, if she were to sew anything,
the baby would have a hole in its flesh, generally near the ear;
if she cut anything, the child would have a hare-lip. On the same
principle the horns of pregnant cattle are smeared with red paint
during an eclipse, because red is a colour abhorred by demons. While
the eclipse is going on, drinking water, eating food, and all household
business, as well as the worship of the gods, are all prohibited. No
respectable Hindu will at such a time sleep on a bedstead or lie down
to rest, and he will give alms in barley or copper coins to relieve
the pain of the suffering luminaries.
So among Muhammadans, [50] a bride-elect sends offerings of
intercession (sadqa) to her intended husband, accompanied by a goat or
kid, which must be tied to his bedstead during the continuance of the
eclipse. These offerings are afterwards distributed in charity. Women
expecting to be mothers are carefully kept awake, as they believe
that the security of the coming infant depends on the mother being
kept from sleep. They are not allowed to use a needle, scissors,
knife, or any other instrument for fear of drawing blood, which at
that time would be injurious to both mother and child.
But among Hindus the most effectual means of scaring the demon and
releasing the afflicted planet is to bathe in some sacred stream. At
this time a Brâhman should stand in the water beside the worshipper and
recite the Gâyatrî. At an eclipse of the moon it is advisable to bathe
at Benares, and when the sun is eclipsed at Kurukshetra. Bernier [51]
gives a very curious account of the bathing which he witnessed at Delhi
during the great eclipse of 1666. In the lower Himâlayas the current
ritual prescribes an elaborate ceremony, when numerous articles are
placed in the sacred water jar; the image of the snake god, stamped
in silver, is worshipped, and the usual gifts are made. [52]
In Ladâkh ram horns are fixed on the stems of fruit trees as a
propitiatory offering at the time of an eclipse, and trees thus
honoured are believed to bear an unfailing crop of the choicest
fruit. [53]
Another effectual means of scaring the demon is by music and noise, of
which we shall find instances later on. "The Irish and Welsh, during
eclipses, run about beating kettles and pans, thinking their clamour
and vexations available to the assistance of the higher orbs." [54]
So in India, women go about with brass pans and beat them to drive
Râhu from his prey.
Of course, the time of an eclipse is most inauspicious for the
commencement of any important business. Here again the learned
Aubrey confirms the current Hindu belief. "According to the rules
of astrology," he says, "it is not good to undertake any business of
importance in the new moon or at an eclipse."
Star-worship.
The worship of the other constellations is much less important than
those of the greater luminaries which we have been discussing. The
Hindu names nine constellations, known as Nava-graha, "the nine
seizers," specially in reference to Râhu, which grips the sun and
moon in eclipses, and more generally in the astrological sense of
influencing the destinies of men. These nine stars are the sun
(Sûrya), the moon (Soma, Chandra), the ascending and descending
nodes (Râhu, Ketu), and the five planets--Mercury (Budha), Venus
(Sukra), Mars (Mangala, Angâraka), Jupiter (Vrihaspati), and Saturn
(Sani). This group of nine stars is worshipped at marriages and other
important religious rites. Of the signs of the Zodiac (râsi-chakra)
the rural Hindu knows little more than the names--Mesha (Aries),
Vrisha (Taurus), Mithuna (Gemini), Karka (Cancer), Sinha (Leo), Kanya
(Virgo), Tula (Libra), Vrischika (Scorpio), Dhanu (Sagittarius), Makara
(Capricornus), Kumbha (Aquarius), and Mîna (Pisces). Practically the
only direct influence they exercise over his life is that from the
opening Râsi or sign in which he is born the first letter of the
secret name which he bears is selected. Still less concern has he
with the asterisms or Nakshatra, a word which has been variously
interpreted to mean "coming or ascending," "night guardians," or
"undecaying." As already stated, they are said to have been the
twenty-seven daughters of the Rishi Daksha, and wives of Soma or
the moon. The usual enumeration gives twenty-eight, and they are
vaguely supposed to represent certain stars or constellations, but
the identification of these is very uncertain. One list, with some of
the corresponding stars, gives Sravishthâ or Dhanishthâ (Delphinus),
Sata-bhishaj (Aquarius), Pûrva Bhâdrapadâ, Uttara Bhâdrapadâ,
Revatî, Asvinî (Aries), Bharanî (Musca), Krittikâ (the Pleiades),
Rohinî (Aldebaran), Mriga-siras (Orion), Ârdrâ, Punarvasû, Pushya,
Âsleshâ, Maghâ (Leo), Pûrvâ-Phalgunî, Uttara Phalgunî, Hasta (Corvus),
Chitrâ (Spica Virginis), Svâtî (Arcturus), Visâkha (Libra), Anurâdhâ,
Jyeshthâ, Mûla, Pûrva Âshâdhâ, Uttara Âshâdhâ, Abhijit (Lyra), and
Sravana. These are used only in calculating the marriage horoscope,
and the only one of them with which the fairly well-to-do rustic has
much concern is with the unlucky Mûla. Should by an evil chance his
son be born in this asterism, he has to undergo a most elaborate rite
of purification.
Others stars have their legends. The Riksha or constellation of the
Great Bear represents the seven deified Rishis--Gautama, Bhâradwaja,
Viswamitra, Jamadagni, Vashishtha, Kasyapa and Atri. Dhruva, the Pole
Star, was the grandson of Manu Swayambhuva, and was driven from his
home by his step-mother. He, though a Kshatriya, joined the company
of the Rishis and was finally raised to the skies as Grahadhâra, "the
pivot of the plants." So Canopus is the Rishi Agastya who was perhaps
one of the early Aryan missionaries to Southern India and won a place
in heaven by his piety. Orion is Mrigasiras, the head of Brahma in the
form of a stag which was struck off by Siva when the deity attempted
violence to his own daughter Sandhyâ, the twilight. Krittikâ or the
Pleiades represent the six nurses of Kârttikeya, the god of war.
Part of the purificatory rite for a woman after her delivery is
to bring her out at night and let her look at the stars, while her
husband stands over her with a bludgeon to guard her from the assaults
of demons. One interesting survival of the old mythology is that in
Upper India women are fond of teaching their children that the stars
are kine and the moon their shepherd, an idea which has formed the
basis of much of the speculations of a school of comparative mythology
now almost completely discredited.
The Rainbow.
There is much curious folk-lore about the rainbow. By most Hindus it is
called the Dhanus or bow of Râma Chandra, and by Muhammadans the bow of
Bâba Âdam or father Adam. In the Panjâb it is often known as the swing
of Bîbî Bâî, the wife of the Saint Sakhi Sarwar. The Persians call it
the bow of Rustam or of Shaitân or Satan, or Shamsher-i-'Ali--"the
sword of 'Ali." In Sanskrit it is Rohitam, the invisible bow of
Indra. In the hills it is called Panihârin or the female water-bearer.
The Milky Way.
So with the Milky Way, of which an early name is Nâgavithi or the
path of the snake. The Persians call it Kahkashân, the dragging of
a bundle of straw through the sky. The Hindu calls it Akâsh Gangâ
or the heavenly Ganges, Bhagwân kî kachahrî or the Court of God,
Swarga-duâri or the door of Paradise; while to the Panjâbi it is
known as Bera dâ ghâs or the path of Noah's Ark. In Celtic legend it
is the road along which Gwydion pursued his erring wife.
Earth-worship.
Next in order of reverence to the heavenly bodies comes the Earth
goddess, Dharitrî or Dhartî Mâtâ or Dhartî Mâî, a name which means "the
upholder" or "supporter." She is distinguished from Bhûmi, "the soil,"
which, as we shall see, has a god of its own, and from Prithivî, "the
wide extended world," which in the Vedas is personified as the mother
of all things, an idea common to all folk-lore. The myth of Dyaus,
the sky, and Prithivî, the earth, once joined and now separated, is the
basis of a great chapter in mythology, such as the mutilation of Uranus
by Cronus and other tales of a most distinctively savage type. [55]
We meet the same idea in the case of Demeter, "the fruitful soil,"
as contrasted with Gaea, the earlier, Titanic, formless earth; unless,
indeed, we are to accept Mr. Frazer's identification of Demeter with
the Corn Mother. [56]
Worship of Mother Earth.
The worship of Mother Earth assumes many varied forms. The pious
Hindu does reverence to her as he rises from his bed in the morning;
and even the indifferent follows his example when he begins to plough
and sow. In the Panjâb, [57] "when a cow or buffalo is first bought,
or when she first gives milk after calving, the first five streams
of milk drawn from her are allowed to fall on the ground in honour
of the goddess, and every time of milking the first stream is so
treated. So, when medicine is taken, a little is sprinkled in her
honour." On the same principle the great Kublai Khân used to sprinkle
the milk of his mares on the ground. "This is done," says Marco Polo,
[58] "on the injunction of the idolaters and idol priests, who say
that it is an excellent thing to sprinkle milk on the ground every
28th of August, so that the earth and the air and the false gods
shall have their share of it, and the spirits likewise that inhabit
the air and the earth, and those beings will protect and bless the
Kaan and his children, and his wives, and his folk and his gear,
and his cattle and his horses, and all that is his."
The same feeling is also shown in the primitive taboo, which forbids
that any holy thing, such as the blood of a tribesman, should fall
upon the ground. Thus we are told that Kublai Khân ordered his captive
Nayan "to be wrapped in a carpet and tossed to and fro so mercilessly
that he died, and the Kaan caused him to be put to death in this way,
because he would not have the blood of his Line Imperial spilt upon
the ground, and exposed to the eye of heaven and before the sun." Even
some savages when they are obliged to shed the blood of a member of
the tribe, as at the rite of circumcision, receive it upon their own
bodies. The soul, in fact, is supposed to be in the blood, and any
ground on which the blood falls becomes taboo or accursed. [59]
Throughout Northern India the belief in the sanctity of the earth
is universal. The dying man is laid on the earth at the moment of
dissolution, and so is the mother at the time of parturition. In the
case of the dying there is perhaps another influence at work in this
precaution, the idea that the soul must not be barred by roof or wall,
and allowed to wing its course unimpeded to the place reserved for it.
In the eastern districts of the North-Western Provinces there is
a regular rite common to all the inferior castes that a few days
before a wedding the women go in procession to the village clay-pit
and fetch from there the sacred earth (matmangara), which is used in
making the marriage altar and the fireplace on which the wedding feast
is cooked. There are various elements in the ritual which point to a
very primitive origin. Thus, one part of the proceedings is that a
Chamâr, one of the non-Aryan castes, leads the procession, beating
his drum the whole time to scare demons. When the earth has been
collected the drum is worshipped and smeared with red lead. There can
be little doubt that the drum was one of the very primitive fetishes
of the aboriginal races. One, and perhaps about the most primitive,
form of it is the Damaru or drum shaped like an hour-glass which
accompanies Siva, and next to this comes the Mândar, the sides of
which are formed out of earthenware, and which is the first stage in
the development of a musical instrument from a vessel covered with
some substance which resounds when beaten. This latter form of drum
is the national musical instrument of the Central Indian Gonds and
their brethren. The Chamâr, again, digs the earth with an affectation
of secrecy, which, as we shall see, is indispensable in rites of this
class. The mother of the bride or bridegroom veils herself with her
sheet, and the digger passes the earth over his left shoulder to a
virgin who stands behind him and receives it in a corner of her robe.
Dust, again, which has been trodden on has mystic powers. In the
villages you may see little children after an elephant has passed
patting the marks of his feet in the dust and singing a song. Among
the Kunbis of Kolâba, when the women neighbours come to inspect a
newly-born child, they touch the soles of the mother's feet, as if
picking some dust off them, wave it over the child, and blow the dust
particularly into the air and partly over the baby. [60] In Thâna,
when a mother goes out with a young child on her hip, if she cannot
get lamp-black to rub between its eyes, she takes dust off her left
foot and rubs it on the child's forehead. [61] So we read of the Isle
of Man--"If a person endowed with the Evil Eye has just passed by a
farmer's herd of cattle, and a calf has suddenly been seized with a
serious illness, the farmer hurries after the man with the Evil Eye
to get the dust from under his feet. If he objects, he may, as has
sometimes been very unceremoniously done, throw him down by force,
take off his shoes and scrape off the dust adhering to their soles,
and carry it back to throw over the calf. Even that is not always
necessary, as it appears to be quite enough if he takes up dust where
he of the Evil Eye has just trod." [62]
Earth, again, is regarded as a remedy for disease. I have seen people
in Ireland take a pinch of earth from the grave of a priest noted for
his piety, and drink it dissolved in water. People suffering from
a certain class of disease come to the tomb of the Saint Kadri at
Yemnur in Dharwâr and smear their bodies with mud that they may be
cured of the disease. [63] There are numerous instances of the use
of earth as a poultice and an application for the cure of wounds and
sores among the savage tribes of Africa and elsewhere.
It is on much the same principle that among some tribes in India Mother
Earth is worshipped as a Kuladevatâ or household goddess and appealed
to in times of danger. The Hindu troopers at the battle of Kâmpti, at
the crisis of the engagement, took dust from their grooms and threw
it over their heads. At Sûrat in 1640, in fear of drought, Brâhmans
went about carrying a board with earth on it on their heads. [64]
So wrestlers, when they are about to engage in a contest, rub earth
on their arms and legs and roll on the ground. As in the classical
legend of Antaeus, they believe that they derive strength from the
touch of Mother Earth.
The same principle, also, appears to be at the bottom of many similar
practices. Thus the Hindu always uses earth to purify his cooking
vessels, which he regards with peculiar respect. Mourners of the Jaina
creed on going home after a funeral rub their hands with earth and
water to remove the death impurity. In his daily bath the pious Hindu
rubs a little Ganges mud on his body. The Pârsis cover the parings of
their hair and nails with a little earth so that demons may not enter
into them. The Muhammadan uses earth for the purpose of purification
when water is not procurable. For the same reason the ascetic rubs
his body with dust and ashes, which, as we shall see, is a potent
scarer of demons. Though here there is possibly another theory at
work at the same time. The practice was common to the Greek as well
as to the barbarian mysteries, and according to Mr. Lang, "the idea
clearly was that by cleaning away the filth plastered over the body
was symbolized the pure and free condition of the initiate." [65]
Lastly, it is perhaps on the same principle that many universal
burial customs have originated. The Muhammadan phrase for burial is
mattî-denâ, "to give earth." The unburied mariner asks Horace for
the gift of a little earth. We ourselves consider it a pious duty
to throw a little earth on the coffin of a departed friend. The
same custom prevails among many Hindu tribes. The Chambhârs of Pûna
throw handfuls of earth over the corpse; so do the Halâl-khors; the
Lingâyats of Dharwâr follow the same practice. The Bani Isrâils at
a funeral stuff a handful of earth into a pillow which is put under
the head of the corpse. [66] The same conception was probably the
basis of the universal custom of funeral oblations. Even nowadays
in Scotland all the milk in the house is poured on the ground at
a death, and the same custom is familiar through many Hebrew and
Homeric instances. The same idea appears in the custom prevalent in
the Middle Ages in Germany, that when a nun renounced the world and
became civilly dead her relations threw dust on her arms. [67]
Earth-worship among the Drâvidians.
Among the Drâvidian races of Central India earth-worship prevails
widely. In Chota Nâgpur the Orâons celebrate in spring the marriage
of the earth. The Dryad of the Sâl tree (Shorea robusta), who controls
the rain, is propitiated with a sacrifice of fowls. Flowers of the Sâl
tree are taken to the village and carried round from house to house
in a basket. The women wash the feet of the priest and do obeisance
to him. He dances with them and puts some flowers upon them and upon
the house. They first douse him with water as a means of bringing
the rain, and then refresh him with beer. [68]
In Hoshangâbâd, when the sowing is over, its completion is celebrated
by the Machandrî Pûjâ, or worship of Mother Earth, a ceremony intended
to invoke fertility. "Every cultivator does the worship himself,
with his family, servants, etc.; no Brâhman need join in it. At the
edge of one of his fields intended for the spring harvest, he puts up
a little semicircle or three-sided wall of clods about a foot high,
meant to represent a hut. This is covered over with green Kâns grass
(Imperata spontanea) to represent thatch. At the two ends of the hut
two posts of Palâsa wood (Butea frondosa) are erected, with leaves
round the head like those which are put up at marriage. They are tied
to the thatch with red thread. In the centre of this little house,
which is the temple of Machandrî, or Mother Earth, a little fire
is made, and milk placed on it to boil in a tiny earthen pot. It is
allowed to boil over as a sign of abundance. While this is going on,
the ploughmen, who are all collected in a field, drive their bullocks
at a trot, striking them wildly; it is the end of the year's labour for
the cattle. The cultivator meanwhile offers a little rice, molasses,
and saffron to Machandrî, and then makes two tiny holes in the ground
to represent granaries; he drops a few grains in and covers them over;
this is a symbol of prayer, that his granary may be filled from the
produce of the land." Similar instances of symbolical magic will
constantly occur in connection with similar rites. Then he puts a
little saffron on the foreheads of the ploughman and the bullocks,
and ties a red thread round the horns of the cattle. The animals are
then let go, and the ploughmen run off at full speed across country,
scattering wheat boiled whole as a sign of abundance. This concludes
the rite, and every one returns home. [69]
Many similar usages prevail among the jungle tribes of South
Mirzapur. The Korwas consider Dhartî Mâtâ one of their chief
godlings. She lives in the village in the Deohâr or general village
shrine under a Sâl tree. In the month of Aghan (November-December)
she is worshipped with flowers and the offering of a goat. When she
is duly worshipped the crops prosper and there are no epidemics. The
Patâris and Majhwârs also recognize her as a goddess, and worship her
in the month of Sâwan (August). The local devil priest or Baiga offers
to her a goat, cock, and rich cakes (pûri). She is also worshipped in
the cold weather before the grain and barley are sown, and again on the
threshing-floor before the winnowing begins. The flesh of the animals
is consumed by the males and unmarried girls; no grown-up girl or
married woman is allowed to touch the flesh. The Ghasiyas also believe
in Dhartî Mâtâ. She is their village goddess, and is presented with a
ram or a goat or cakes. The offering is made by the Baiga, for whom the
materials are provided by a general contribution in the village. The
Kharwârs worship her at the village shrine before wood-cutting and
ploughing begin. In the month of Sâwan (August) they do a special
service in her honour, known as the Hariyârî Pûjâ, or "worship of
greenery," at the time of transplanting the rice. In Aghan (November)
they do the Khar Pûjâ, when they begin cutting thatching-grass
(khar). A cock, some Mahua (Bassia latifolia) and parched grain
are offered to her. All this is done by the Baiga, who receives
the offerings, and none but males are allowed to attend. Similarly
the Pankas worship her before sowing and harvesting the grain. They
and the Bhuiyârs offer a pig and some liquor at the more important
agricultural seasons. The Kharwârs sometimes call her Devî Dâî, or
"Nurse Devî," and in times of trouble sprinkle rice and pulse in
her name on the ground. When the crops are being sown they release
a fowl as a scapegoat and pray--Hê Dhartî Mahtârî! Kusal mangala
rakhiyo! Harwâh, bail, sab bachen rahen--"O Mother Earth! Keep in
prosperity and protect the ploughmen and the oxen." In much the same
spirit is the prayer of the peasant in Karnâl to Mother Earth:--Sâh
Bâdshâh sê surkhrû rakhiyê! Aur is men achchha nâj dê, to bâdshâh ko
bhî paisa den, aur Sâh kâ bhi utar jâwê--"Keep our rulers and bankers
contented! Grant us a plentiful yield! So shall we pay our revenue
and satisfy our banker!" [70]
Secrecy in Worship of Mother Earth.
We shall meet other instances in which secrecy is an essential
element in these rural rites. This condition prevails almost
universally. Notable, too, is the rule by which married women are
excluded from a share in offerings to the Earth goddess.
Thunder and Lightning.
As is natural, thunder and lightning are considered ill-omened. In the
old mythology lightning (vidyut) was one of the weapons of the Maruts,
and Parjanya was the deity who wielded the thunderbolt. Many legends
tell that the soul of the first man came to earth in the form of the
lightning. Thus Yama was the first man born of the thunderbolt, and he
first trod the path of death and became regent of the dead. Many are
the devices to scare the lightning demon. "During a thunderstorm it
was a Greek custom to put out the fire, and hiss and cheep with the
lips. The reason for the custom was explained by the Pythagoreans
to be that by acting thus you scared the spirits in Tartarus, who
were doubtless supposed to make the thunder and lightning. Similarly
some of the Australian blacks, who attribute thunder to the agency
of demons, and are much afraid of it, believe that they can dispel
it by chanting some particular words and breathing hard; and it is
a German superstition that the danger from a thunderstorm can be
averted by putting out the fire. During a thunderstorm the Sakai
of the Malay Peninsula run out of their houses and brandish their
weapons to drive away the demons; and the Esthonians in Russia fasten
scythes, edge upwards, over the door, that the demons, fleeing from the
thundering god, may cut their feet if they try to seek shelter in the
house. Sometimes the Esthonians, for a similar purpose, take all the
edged tools in the house and throw them out into the yard. It is said
that when the thunder is over, spots of blood are often found on the
scythes and knives, showing that the demons have been wounded by them.
"So when the Indians of Canada were asked by the Jesuit missionaries
why they planted their swords in the ground point upwards, they
replied that the spirit of the thunder was sensible, and that if he
saw the naked blades he would turn away and take good care not to
approach their huts. This is a fair example of the close similarity
of European superstitions to the superstitions of savages. In the
present case the difference happens to be slightly in favour of
the Indians, since they did not, like our European savages, delude
themselves into seeing the blood of demons on the swords. The reason
for the Greek and German custom of putting out the fire during a
thunderstorm is probably a wish to avoid attracting the attention of
the thunder demons. From a like motive some of the Australian blacks
hide themselves during a thunderstorm, and keep absolutely silent,
lest the thunder should find them out. Once during a storm a white
man called out in a loud voice to a black fellow, with whom he was
working, to put the saw under a log and seek shelter. He found that
the saw had been already put aside, and the black fellow was very
indignant at his master for speaking so loud. 'What for,' said he,
in great wrath--'what for speak so loud? Now um thunder hear and know
where um saw is.' And he went out and changed its hiding-place." [71]
All these precautions are well known to the people of Upper India. It
is a very common habit to throw out axes and knives to scare the
thunder demon, as we shall see is the case with the evil spirit of
hail. The rule of keeping quiet and muttering incantations under the
breath is also familiar to them. They are particularly careful lest a
first-born son may lean against anything and thus attract the demon
on himself. Thunder in a clear sky is much dreaded, an idea which
often appears in classical literature. [72]
Earthquakes.
Earthquakes are also naturally an object of terror. Pythagoras believed
that they were caused by dead men fighting beneath the earth. The
common explanation of these occurrences in India is that Varâha, or
the boar incarnation of Vishnu, who supports the earth, is changing the
burden of the world from one tusk to another. By another account it is
due to the great bull or elephant which supports the world. Derived
from a more advanced theological stage is the theory that the earth
shakes because it is over-burdened by the sins of mankind in this
evil age. Colonel Dalton describes how a rumbling (probably caused by
an earthquake) in the cave in which the bloodthirsty divinity of the
Korwas was supposed to dwell, caused extreme terror among them. [73]
River-worship.
High on the list of benevolent deities of Northern India are the
great rivers, especially the Ganges and the Jumnâ, which are known
respectively as Gangâ Mâî or "Mother Ganges" and Jumnâ jî or "Lady
Jumnâ."
Gangâ, of course, in the mythologies has a divine origin. According
to one account she flows from the toe of Vishnu, and was brought down
from heaven by the incantations of the Saint Bhâgîratha, to purify
the ashes of the sixty thousand sons of King Sâgara, who had been
burnt up by the angry glance of Kapila, the sage. By another story
she descends in seven streams from Siva's brow. The descent of Gangâ
disturbed the Saint Jahnu at his austerities, and in his anger he
drank up the stream; but he finally relented, and allowed the river to
flow from his ear. By a third account she is the daughter of Himavat,
the impersonation of the Himâlayan range. Another curious tale, which
must have been based on some Indian tradition, is found in Plutarch
[74]--"The Ganges is a river of India, called so for the following
reason:--The nymph Kalauria bore to Indus a son of notable beauty, by
name Ganges, who in the ignorance of intoxication had connection with
his mother. But when later on he learned the truth from his nurse, in
the passion of his remorse he threw himself into the river Chliaros,
which was called Ganges after him." Another legend again is found in
the Mahâbhârata. [75] The wise Santanu goes to hunt on the banks of the
Ganges and finds a lovely nymph, of whom he becomes enamoured. She puts
him under the taboo that he is never to say anything to displease her,
an idea familiar in the well-known Swan Maiden cycle of folk-tales. She
bears him eight sons, of whom she throws seven into the river, and her
husband dares not remonstrate with her. When she is about to throw
away the last child he challenges her to tell him who she is and to
have pity upon him. She then tells him that she is Gangâ personified,
and that the seven sons are the divine Vasavas, who by being thrown
into the river are liberated from the curse of human life. The eighth
remains among men as Dyaus, the sky, in the form of the eunuch Bhîshma.
It is remarkable that, as in Plutarch's legend, the Jumnâ is connected
with a tale of incest. Yamî or Yamunâ was the daughter of the Sun
and sister of Yama, the god of death. They were the first human pair
and the progenitors of the race of men. It is needless to say that
similar traditions of brother and sister marriage are found in Egypt,
Peru and elsewhere. Yamunâ, according to the modern story told on
her banks, was unmarried, and hence some people will not drink from
her because she was not purified by the marriage rite, and so the
water is heavy and indigestible. Another tale tells how Balarâma,
in a state of inebriety, called upon her to come to him that he
might bathe in her waters; and as she did not heed, he, in his rage,
seized his ploughshare weapon, dragged her to him, and compelled her
to follow him whithersoever he wandered through the forest. The river
then assumed a human form and besought his forgiveness; but it was
some time before she could appease the angry hero. This has been taken
to represent the construction of some ancient canal from the river;
but Mr. Growse shows that this idea is incorrect. [76]
The worship of Mother Ganges is comparatively modern. She is
mentioned only twice in the Rig Veda, and then without any emphasis
or complementary epithet. Apparently at this time the so-called Aryan
invaders had not reached her banks. [77] There are numerous temples to
Gangâ all along her banks, of which those at Hardwâr, Garhmuktesar,
Soron, Mathura, Prayâg, and Benares are perhaps the most important
in Upper India. She has her special festival on the seventh of the
month of Baisâkh (May-June), which is celebrated by general bathing
all along the banks of the sacred stream. Ganges water is carried
long distances into the interior, and is highly valued for its use
in sacrifices, as a remedy, a form of stringent oath, and a viaticum
for the dying. The water of certain holy wells in Scotland [78]
and elsewhere enjoys a similar value.
But it is by bathing in the sacred stream at the full moon, during
eclipses, and on special festivals that the greatest efficacy is
assured. On these occasions an opportunity is taken for making
oblations to the sainted dead whose ashes have been consigned to
her waters. Bathing is throughout India regarded as one of the chief
means of religious advancement. The idea rests on a metaphor--as the
body is cleansed from physical pollution, so the soul is purified from
sin. The stock case of the merit of this religious bathing is that of
King Trisanku, "he who had committed the three deadly sins," who is
also known as Satyavrata. The legend appears in various forms. By one
story he tried to win his way to heaven by a great sacrifice which his
priest, Vasishtha, declined to perform. He then applied to Visvamitra,
the rival Levite, who agreed to assist him. He was opposed by the
sons of Vasishtha, whom he consumed to ashes. Finally, Trisanku was
admitted to heaven, but he was forced by the angry saint to hang for
ever with his head downwards. By another account he committed the
deadly sins of running away with the wife of a citizen, offending
his father, and killing in a time of famine Kâmadhenu, the wondrous
cow of Vashishtha. By another story he killed a cow and a Brâhman
and married his step-mother. At any rate he and the wicked Râja Vena
were the types of violent sinners in the early legends; possibly they
represent a revolt against the pretensions of the Brâhmans. At length
the sage Visvamitra took pity upon him, and having collected water from
all the sacred places in the world, washed him clean of his offences.
Springs Connected with the Ganges.
Many famous springs are supposed to have underground connection with
the Ganges. Such is that of Chângdeo in Khândesh, of which Abul Fazl
gives an account, and that at Jahânpur in Alwar. [79] It was at the
village of Bastali in the Karnâl District that the sage Vyâsa lived,
and there the Ganges flowed into his well to save him the trouble
of going to the river to bathe, bringing with her his loin cloth and
water-pot to convince him that she was really the Ganges herself. [80]
Sacred River Junctions.
When two sacred rivers combine their waters the junction (Sangama)
is regarded as of peculiar sanctity. Such is the famous junction
of the Ganges and Jumnâ at Prayâg, the modern Allahâbâd, which is
presided over by the guardian deity Veni Mâdhava. The same virtue,
but in a lesser degree, attaches to the junction of the Ganges and the
Son or Gandak. In the Himâlayas cairns are raised at the junction of
three streams, and every passer-by adds a stone. At the confluence of
the Gaula and Baliya rivers in the Hills there is said to be a house
of gold, but unfortunately it is at present invisible on account of
some potent enchantment. [81] Bathing in such rivers is not only
a propitiation for sin, but is also efficacious for the cure of
disease. Even the wicked Râja Vena, who was, as we have seen, a type
of old-world impiety, was cured, like Naaman the Syrian, of his leprosy
by bathing in the Sâraswati, the lost river of the Indian desert.
Even minor streams have their sanctity and their legends. The
course of the Sarju was opened by a Rishi, from which time dates
the efficacy of a pilgrimage to Bâgheswar. [82] Râja Rantideva was
such a pious king and offered up so many cattle in sacrifice, that
his blood formed the river Chambal. Anasûyâ, the wife of Atri, was a
daughter of the Rishi Daksha. She did penance for ten thousand years,
and so was enabled to create the river Mandâkinî, and thus saved the
land from famine. Her worship is localized at Ansuyaji in the Bânda
District. The sacred portion of the Phalgu is said occasionally to
flow with milk, though Dr. Buchanan was not fortunate enough to
meet anyone who professed to have witnessed the occurrence. [83]
The Narmadâ was wooed by the river Son, who proved faithless to her,
and was beguiled by the Johilâ, a rival lady stream, who acted the
part of the barber's wife at the wedding. The Narmadâ, enraged at her
lover's perfidy, tore her way through the marble rocks at Jabalpur,
and has worn the willow ever since. [84] She is now the great rival
of Mother Ganges. While in the case of the latter only the Northern
(or as it is called the Kâsi or Benares bank) is efficacious for
bathing or for the cremation of the dead, the Narmadâ is free from
any restriction of the kind. The same is the case with the Son, at
least during its course through the District of Mirzapur. By some
the sanctity of the Narmadâ is regarded as superior even to that of
the Ganges. While according to some authorities it is necessary to
bathe in the Ganges in order to obtain forgiveness of sins, the same
result is attained by mere contemplation of the Narmadâ. According
to the Bhâvishya Purâna the sanctity of the Ganges will cease on the
expiration of five thousand years of the Kali Yuga, or the fourth age
of the world, which occurred in 1895, and the Narmadâ will take its
place. The Ganges priests, however, repudiate this calumny, and it
may safely be assumed that Mother Ganges will not abandon her primacy
in the religious world of Hinduism without a determined struggle. [85]
Ill-omened Streams.
But all rivers are not beneficent. Worst of all is the dread Vaitaranî,
the river of death, which is localized in Orissa and pours its stream
of ordure and blood on the confines of the realm of Yama. Woe to the
wretch who in that dread hour lacks the aid of the Brâhman and the
holy cow to help him to the other shore. The name of one stream is
accursed in the ears of all Hindus, the hateful Karamnâsa, which
flows for part of its course through the Mirzapur District. Even
to touch it destroys the merit of works of piety, for such is the
popular interpretation of its name. No plausible reason for the evil
reputation of this particular stream has been suggested except that it
may have been in early times the frontier between the invading Aryans
and the aborigines, and possibly the scene of a campaign in which
the latter were victorious. The Karamâ tree is, however, the totem
of the Drâvidian Kharwârs and Mânjhis, who live along its banks, and
it is perhaps possible that this may be the real origin of the name,
and that its association with good works (karma) was an afterthought.
The legend of this ill-omened stream is associated with that of the
wicked king Trisanku, to whom reference has already been made. When
the sage Visvamitra collected water from all the sacred streams of the
world, it fell burdened with the monarch's sins into the Karamnâsa,
which has remained defiled ever since. By another account, the sinner
was hung up between heaven and earth as a punishment for his offences,
and from his body drips a baneful moisture which still pollutes the
water. Similar legends of the origin of rivers are not wanting in
folk-lore. An Austrian story tells that all rivers take their origin
from the tears shed by a giant's wife as she laments his death. [86]
The same idea of a river springing from a corpse appears in one of the
tales of Somadeva and in the twelfth novel of the Gesta Romanorum. [87]
Nowadays no Hindu with any pretensions to personal purity will drink
from this accursed stream, and at its fords many low caste people make
their living by conveying on their shoulders their more scrupulous
brethren across its waters.
Origin of River-worship.