HINDU FASTS AND FEASTS - Forgotten Books

HINDU FASTS AND FEASTS

BY

A BH AY OH ARAN MU KE RJI , M .A .,

P R O F E S S O R ,M U lR C E N T R A L CO LLLLL L

A LLA H A B A D .

O ld sisters of a day gon e by,

Gray nurses, loving n oth ing n ew

Wh y should they miss their yearly dueB efore their time ? T hey too will die.

’

—T ennyson .

"S E CON D E D I T I ON .)

ALLAH ABAD

T H E IN D IAN PRE S S

1918

Allr ight: renew al" "Pr ice Re. 1 .

P rinted an d published by Apurva K rishna B ose, at th e I n dian P ress,A llah abad .

PRE FA CE

I n in troduc ing my lit t le book to the public , I fee lthat my firs t word should be a word of s incer e

grat i tude to th e B ou’ble M r . J . G. Jen n in gs, M .A .,

D irec tor of P ubl ic I ns truc tion , B i har and Orissa , towhom I owe not on ly the idea of wri tin g on such asubj ec t, but also h is kin d col laborat ion in the ac tualproduction of no fewer than seven of these essays.The kindness with which he gave me h is valuedassist ance and encouragemen t in the midst of h isheavy ofiicial dut ies as P r inc i pal , M uir Centra lColl ege , is cer tain ly worthy of a higher ackn owledgment than the mere formality of a word of thanks inthe P reface.I n their first form, these essays appeared

' asart icles in The Leader or The P ion eer , from t ime tot ime , during the years 1913 and 1914. I h ave n ow

re-wri t ten them , with large addi t ions , and arrangedthem in chronolog i cal order, with a v i ew to givingthem , if possi ble , a more permanen t form. Two ofthem—S itala S aptami and D asahra or Gan ga P ujaare appearing here for the firs t time .N 0 one can be more sensible of the shortcomin gs

of t h is lit tle book than myself. M y difficu l ties wereserious , and in many cases almos t insurmountable .I n the firs t plac e , it is impossible to writ e on a soc ial

2004702

ii P RE F ACE

or re lig ious subj ec t with absolute fairness and inthe case of the H indu society and re ligion thisfairness” is impossible in another sense , —the subjec titsel f is one wh ich lis u t terly incapable of any exhaustive or even adequate treatmen t. F or

,as S ir M onier

Wi l liams says in h is R eligious Life an d T h ough t in

In dia , R eligion is ever presen t to a H indu’s mind. I tcolours al l h is ideas . I t runs through every fibre of h isbeing . I t is the very Alpha and Omega of h is wholeearth ly career. H e is born re ligious, and dies re ligious .H e is re ligious in his eating and drink ing , in h is

sleeping an d waking, in h is dressing and un dressing , inh is rising up and sit t ing down , in h is work and amusement. N ay, religion attends h im in antenata l ceremonies long before h is birth , and fol lows h im in end lessofierings for the good of h is soul long after death .

”

E very word of this s tatemen t is as true to-day as itwas in S ir M on ier Wil liams’ time ; and the result isthat to write an exhaustive account of th e H indufasts and feasts is rea l ly equ ivalen t to writing a com

plete h istory of the H indu people from the Aryanimmigration in to I ndia down to the presen t day ; andsuch a task would be as stupendous as the famousH indu legend about the Churning of the Ocean bythe gods and gian ts in the earl iest infancy of theworld,—a task , therefore , that can fitly be under takenby one who is either a god or a giant .I n the second place , I had to con tend against the

difiiculty caused by the absence of writ ten au thoritieson a vast number of points touched in these pages.

Where wri tten authorities exi s t , they were sometimes inaccessible, sometimes conflic ting , somet imes

P RE F ACE iii

unauthen tic. I have , therefore , been obl iged to relych iefly on tradit ion and p ersonal experience , an d

where even these have fa i led , I have had to fall backupon that last resort of allwriters on F olklore con

jecture.

M y last word in the P reface must , li ke my firs t ,be a word of gra ti tude—of respec tfu l gra t i tude to theH onorab l e S ir James S corg i e M es tou , Lieutenan t -Governor of th e U nited P rov inces

, an d tothe H onorab le M r . C. F . de la F osse , M .A .

, D irec toro f P ub l i c I nstruct ion , whose k ind appreciation ofsome of these essays in th e P ress has grea tly eu

couraged me in my task of repub l i shing them in

book form .

M U I R COLLE GE , ALLAH ABAD A . C. M .

A p ril loth , 1916 .

CO NT E NT S

P A o n

I .—M AKARA S A N KRAN T I

I L—GAN E S HA CHA T U R T H II IL—BAS AN TA PAN CHAM IIV.—S H IVARA T R I

V.—H ou

VL—S IT ALA S AP T AMIVIL—RAMA N AVAM IVIII .

—DASAH RA on GAN GA PUJAIX .—N AG PAN CHAMI

X.—RAKS HA BAN BH AN

XL—KR I S H N A S H T AM IXII .

—ANAN TA CH AT U RD A S HIXIII .—M A H ALAYA A M AVA S YA

XIV.—DURGA PUJA

XV.—KOJA GARA LAKS HMI PUJA

XVI .—DIWALI os D IP M ALIKAXVII . JAMGHA T OR Bnnu m DWIT IYA

XVIII.—AKS H A YA N AVAM I

XIX—Dw arf s": E KA D A S HI

XX.-KARTIK1 P UB N AM A S HI

l

M akara S an kran ti

M akara S an kran ti, popu larly cal led Kh ich ri,

i s a fest ival held i n celebration o f the sun ’ s northerncourse i n the heaven s . Th is bending of the solarcourse takes place exactly at that poi n t of t ime whenthe sun enters the s ign of M akara o r Capricorn .

The precise moment varies from year to year . I nthe year 19 14

,for in stance , the exact t ime of the

sun ’ s change o f course was 12 hours , 8 minutes , 18seconds , Calcutta t ime . The Sanskri t termM akara ,

’ however, does not s ign i fy what the LatinCapricorn does : i t means an al l igator . ’ Butth is i s o n ly a d ifference i n nomenclature wh ich i simmaterial , for both names stand for the samesection of the astronomical heavens . M akarais also the Sanskri t name o f the month whichcommences with the sun ’ s entrance i n to the s ign

of the zodiac cal led by that name,—a month which

i s commo nly cal led M agh i n these provinces .M akara S an kran ti i s th us a kind of New Year ’ sfest ival

,marking the sun ’ s attainment o f the most

southern point i n th e ecl ipti c , and the commencement

2 HINDU FASTS AND FEASTS

o f the northerly course , o r what i n rel ig ious ph raseology i s cal led U ttarayan a .

" Astronomical ly,i t i s a

new year ’s day indeed,and i t occurs within two

weeks of the conventional New Year ’ s Day of thecivi l i sed world ; for M akara S an kran ti i nvariablyfal l s between the 12th and the 14th of January eachyear. A new year ’s day i s a day of rej oic ing everywhere in the world , and the H indus have always

observed thei r own i n the i r own customary style,

by a bath i n the Ganges , fo l lowed by sober feasting .

M akara S an kran ti ori g inal ly became a day ofrej o icing as marking the terminati on of the in auspicious month of P aus (o r P oos) which , i n I nd ia, o r atleast i n certain parts o f i t , i s regarded as a peculiarly i l l -omened month . For th i s reason , sacredceremon ies o f al l k i nds

,and even the undertaking

of j ourneys o r sh i fting abode from on e house to

another, are forbidden i n th i s month . Hence thelast day of th i s month , o r more preci se ly the fi rstday of the next , i s celebrated as a festival of goodcheer,

’ notably i n Bengal and in Southern I ndia, i nboth o f wh ich places the day is observed by freei ndulgence in the eating of cakes , sweets , puddings ,and o ther vegetarian de l icacies

,i n the preparation

of which the H i ndu matron i s a renowned special i st .These excel len t d i shes are known by a multip l ic i tyof cul inary names , but many of them have now become as myth ical as the i r origin , and survive on ly

MAKARA S A N KA RA N T I 3

i n thei r names . I n the Un ited P rovi nces , the festival i s popu larly cal led Kh ich ri,

’ after a wel l-knownI ndian dish consisting of a mixture o f ri ce andsome kind of da’ l

,and th is ar ticl e of food forms the

customary dish of the day . The Ind ian Kh ich ri’

has many grades o f qual i ty, from the humblest to

the h ighest,to su i t al l ranks . The Emperor Aurang

zeb is said to have been part icularly fond of o n evariety

,cal led Biryan i Kh ich r i. ’ Uncooked khi

chri i s al so g iven away to the poor, and o ffered topriests and Brahmans , accompan ied by presen ts ofcash and sweets . These sweets , too ,

are of a pres

cribed order : they must contain an ingredien t ofsesamum

,the eating o f which i n some form is espe

cially recommended i n the mon th o fM agh,probably

as a preventive again st ch i l l s .

M akara S an kran ti i s o n e of the great bath ingdays in the H i ndu calendar . A bath at the con flu

ence in P rayaga (A l l ahabad) on th i s day i s be l ieved

to be fraught with incalcu lable spir i tual meri t , andth i s bel ief i s perpetuated i n an old saying On theday of an ecl i pse , bathe at Kash i (Benares) o n the

day of M akara,at P rayaga and on the day of

Ram N avami, at Ayodhya these three baths beingpre -eminen tly the hol iest i n the whole year . M akara

S an kran ti i s the Open ing day of the annual rel ig iou sfai r at Al lahabad , offic ial ly cal led the M agh M ela ,which lasts for a whole month , during which the

4 H INDU PASTS AND FEASTS

orthodox bathe in the Triben i every morn ing beforesunrise

,abstain from grai n food dur ing the day

time,and res ide i n the close vicin i ty of the Ganges

i n thatch -bui l t h uts erected espec ial ly fo r th i s

purpose . These huts are bu i l t as near the water ’sedge as poss ible , and the whole month of M agh i soften spent i n camp l ife on the river’ s bank, whichi s p iously known as Kalpa The length ofres idence i s reduced i n special cases , such as that o fpeople who cannot affo rd

,owing to press i ng duties ,

to spe nd a l onger t ime out o f home ; and threedays are i n such exceptional c ases held to be asgood as th irty. The who l e month o f M agh i s abath ing season , but particular days are marked outabove the rest as especially importan t. These are ,besides the S an kran ti

, (l) the Amavasya o r n ew

moon of M agh , (2) B asan ta P an chami, or the fi fthday o f the l igh t hal f o f the same month , (3) A ch ala

S aptami, or the seventh day o f the same fortn ight,

(4) the E kadash i, or eleventh day , which i s always asacred day

,and (5) the M agh i P urn amash i

,or ful l

moon,after wh ich the assemblage of bathers begins

to break up .

The rel ig ious Observances connected with th i sgreat bath ing festival at P rayaga are laid down i nan ancien t work , cal led the P rayaga M aha tmya ,

which i s supposed to be a part of the Ma tsya P u

rcma , a work deal i ng with the l i fe and adventures

MAKARA S A N KRA N T I 5

o f the F i sh I ncarnation of Vishnu . The bath mustbe preceded by an equal ly obl igatory rite , theshaving of the head and face ,—hai r being con si

dered an unclean excrescence of the body whichmust be shaved off before a purificatory bath can be

o f complete efficacy. M en who have thei r fatheral ive a re exempted from the necess i ty of shav ing

o ff the moustaches , and women who have h usbands ,o r maiden s who are st i l l unmarried

,are not requ i red

to have the ir heads shaved . The same exemption

appear s to have been granted to person s who arepermanent res iden ts o f A l lahabad , presumably be

cause the i r hai r,whether cut at home or on

the banks of the holy stream , i s s ure to findits way into the waters of the Ganges sometimeo r other during the rainy seaso n . The P rayaga

M ah a tmya promises release from ten thousand re

b irths for every singl e hair above the ch i n wh ichfinds i ts rest i n the Ganges . But the thousands andten s of thousands who annual ly assemble at A llah abad to bathe in the Ganges i n M agh

,hardly ever

h ear the idea of spi ritual meri t as a d istin ctly conscio us end in thei r m inds ; they traverse mi les and mi les

o f rough country,cheerfu l ly enduring hunger

,

fatigue,and cold

,plodding on thei r path from

sunri se to sunset , for weeks together, lyi ng down by

the roadside o n the bare ground to pass the ch i l lyn ight under a tree

,with no cloth ing but a coarse

6 H INDU FASTS AND FEASTS

country blanket o r a tattered reza i (qu i l t) , notbecause they can accurately measure the quanti ty orval ue of the spi ri tual good they are to reap fromthese to i l some marches

,or from the bath which i s

to come at the end of them,but on ly because they

regard the whole as a s imp le duty—a duty thatthey owe to thei r neighbours and to thei r rel ig ion ,and from the performance of which

,therefore , they

expect n o remuneration or reward,here o r here

after. Ask any individual among the surging

multi tude as to why he has to come to bathe , andhe wi l l tel l you because he ought to bathe .

” Th is

word ‘ ought ’ possesses a solemn mean ing i n themind o f a devout H indu

,to whom a duty i s a duty

,

the why and the wherefore o f which i t i s not h isbusi ness to inqu i re into o r discuss . His whole duty ,i n the case of a duty , i s to do i t , without lookingwith i n for the mot ive , or without for the con sequen

ces,o r even around for the approval o r d isapproval

of the world . Let a H indu be told by proper

autho ri ty that such and such a th ing i s h is duty

(dh arma), and noth i ng wi l l shake h is resol ution ordaunt h i s Sp irit . D i fficul ty

,hardship , sel f-mo r tifi

cation—these act as allu remen ts on the p ious H induheart and to be convinced of th is paradox o n e hason ly to wi tness a M agh M ela and study the att itudeof the myriads that flock to P rayaga by everyavai l able route

,defying h unger and cold

,disease

MAKARA. S A N KRA N T I 7

and acciden t,for no other busi ness than to bathe at

the confluence and to v is i t the shri ne of Bharadwaja . For the one i s held to be incomplete withoutthe other, and hence throughout the bath in g seasonone can see an unceasing stream of pi lgrimspass ing between the Triben i and the temple ofP rayaga

’

s presiding sage , Bh aradwaja .

U ttarayan a i s al so commemorated as the day onwh ich B h ishma , the octogenarian leader of theKuru for ces i n the M ah abh a ra ta ,

after discours ingfo r many days o n the duties and mysteries o f Li feand D eath as he lay wounded on the battle- h eld ,pierced by i nn umerable arrows

,emancipated h is

soul from the thraldom o f flesh by an act of wi l l .Th is does not mean that he committed what in lawi s called suicide . The H indus bel ieve that , whilethe hour of death i s unal terably fixed by Fate i nthe case of the maj ority of men

,the piou s soul

that has al l th rough l i fe been i n commun ion with its

God , acquire s the power of releas ing itse l f from thebondage of the body a t milk—that i s , of prolongingl i fe up to any l im it i t chooses , and al so o f termin at

i ng i t at any poin t and cases of vol untary surrenderof l i fe (deh a -tyaga ) have been witnessed even i n th i s

sceptic age , among men who were ne ither sain ts

n or ‘sages ,’ but humble householders who did the i r

l i fe ’ s duties l ike other men , and , whi le l iv ing in theworld , l ived always above i t .

ll

Gan esh a Ch atu rth i.

Ganesha Ch aturth i i s on e of those H indu fest ival sthat are not honoured by a publ ic hol iday . Ganeshai s on e of the most popular dei ti es o f the H indus , so

much so that he i s worsh ipped before every important domestic occurrence and before every impo rtantpubl ic o r private worsh ip . H is name is also i nvokedat the beginn ing of every book i n the s imple stereotyped formula S ri Gan esh ai N amah I bow to

with wh ich every Sanskri t book open s .The name of Ganesha i s also uttered in p iousveneration at the t ime of starting on a j ourney , o r

l aunch ing a new venture,o r bu i lding a n ew house ,

or even drawing up a l i st of articles to be purchasedfor a happy ceremony that may be i n prospect . Thecharacter i n wh ich Ganesha figures most conS picuously i n I ndian legend i s that o f Vigh n a -n ashak

(o r remover o f untoward impediments) ; and he i s j ustas often i nvoked by another t i t l e , which on ly avoidsthe negative fo rm

,

—namely , that o f S iddh ida ta

o r bestower o f success . ’ These two epi thets havebeen so frequently associated with the character

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lo H INDU FASTS AND FEASTS

i s the rat . H is elephant ’s head has a ful l trunkcoi led arti sti cal ly about the throat and shoulder

,but

only o n e tusk , the other having been l ost in a scufflethat he had had with P arasurama . Th is P arasurama was a fanati c Brahman who became the deadlyenemy of al l Ksh attriyas , and who i n h i s racial

wrath made no less than three wholesale massacreso f the Ksh attriya race i n I ndia .

Every l i tt le detai l i n the figure of Ganesha, suchas we find placed in the n iche of a temple of Sh iva

,

has an emblemati c mean ing and a storied orig in that

can be traced i n on e o r other of the P u ran as. Thelegends that cluster round the personage of Ganeshaare many and var i ed

,and the most important of

them are recorded i n the Gan esha Kh an da (thechapter on Ganesha) o f the B rahma Vaivarta

P aran a . The same events are often di fferentlydescribed i n differen t legends . Even the accountof h i s b irth varies i n essential particulars i n variou sauthori ties . One legend represents that he sprangfrom the scurf o f Parvati ’s body. P arvati wasmarried some years to S hiva , but had no issue , andher heart began to yearn for a chi ld . One day, as

Sh iva had gone out to gather flowers on M ountKai lasa

,and Parvati was left at home

,she wished

to have a bath . Before pl ung ing i nto water,she

r ubbed her body with o il, and from the scurf thatdropped off her skin

,she made a l ittle h uman figure

GAN E SH A CH A T U RT H I 1 1

i n to wh ich she breathed l i fe . The dol l,th us

an imated,became a handsome boy

,and she named

h im Ganesha . She then asked th i s creation of

hers to guard the door of the house unti l shefin ished her bath . I t so happened that Sh iva him

sel f turned up at the door the very next moment .Ganesha ’ s orders were to guard the en trance , andhe took th i s to mean that he was not to al lowanybody to en ter, whoever i t might be , without anyfurther reference to h i s mother. He knew notS h iva ; he never suspected that it was h i s ownfather seeking to enter h i s own house ; nor did

Shiva e ither suspect who th i s strange boy mightbe . Sh iva at first tried to Coax the l i ttl e doorkeeper, and then mingled threats with caj ole ry ; butGanesha was quite clear about h is orders . Sh ivawas fi l l ed with wrath at th i s boyi sh obsti nacy andi n h i s rage he cut off Ganesha ’ s head and made aforc ible entry. When Parvati , coming out of herbath

,saw Ganesha lying murdered , she was fi l led

with grief and dismay, and i n her sorrow sherefused to speak to her h usband , i n s isti ng that theboy should be restored to l i fe . S hiva promised to

bring her son back to l i fe,and with that end he

despatched h is spi ri t-messengers to al l parts o f theearth wi th orders to bring the head o f the firstl iving creature (no matter of what species) thatshould be found sleeping with h is head turned

12 H INDU PASTS AND F B A S’

I‘

S

towards the north . S h iva ’s aerial messengersroamed about h i ther and th i ther for a long time ,but were unable to find any human creatures leep ing with head turned northwards . They at lastfound an elephant lying in that position

,and they

in stantly cut off h i s head and brought i t to Sh iva

wh o , fain to find a head for a head , fixed i t toGanesha ’s body , and Ganesha sprang forth to l i feagain , hal f man , hal f elephant . The above legendaccounts fo r the supersti tion that forbids H i ndus tos leep with the i r head towards the north—a proh ibi

t ion that i s b inding to th i s day. There i s , however ,a second reason for th is avoidance of the no rthernaspect i n sleep—namely, that i n th i s posi tion thefeet of the sleeping per son would be poin ted towardsthe regions of the dead

,and th i s would be an act

o f i rreverence to departed ancestors .The name ‘Ganesha ’ i s sometimes etymolog ical ly

spl i t up i nto two words , gan a and cash a lord of thespiri ts and th i s derivation has l ed some Europeanscholars to th ink that Ganesha i s on ly a tutelarydeity, a vulgar i ntermixture of the divine andthe demon iac . This notion has become corroborated

i n some minds by a strange verse from an ancien tver s io n of M anu , which purports to l ay down thatSh iva i s the god o f the Brahmans , Vishn u of the

Ksh attr iyas , Brahma of the Vaishyas , and Ganesha

o f the S udras .” There can be no doubt that th i s

GANESHA CH A T U RT H I 13

d ivi s ion and distri but ion i s absol u tely fanci ful there

i s n oth ing i n present-day rel ig ious practice to showthat any such al lotment of gods

,based on the fourfold

divi s ion o f the H indu people , was ever made o r

fo l lowed . Brahmans and al l other castes are asmuch worsh ippers o fGanesha as the Sudras

,whose

spec ial dei ty he i s supposed to be . Ganesha derivesh i s popular i ty from the fact of h i s be ing the son ofthe g reat god Sh iva ; and h i s mother, Parvati , i sno other than Durga , the goddess of victory , themighty M other of the Un iverse , the grand person ification of the pri ncipl e o f P ower or Fecundity i n

Nature . H ence Ganesha i s an object of devoutadoration for S haivas and S haktas al ike—al l those

,

i n fact, who care fo r the acquis it ion of wisdom andlearn ing , o r who , wanting i n these themselves , admire the same i n others . The characte r i n wh ichGanesha appears most frequen tly i n H indu myth ol ogy i s as the god of wi sdom

,the patron o f l etters

,

and the bestower of success i n d ifficul t and hazard

ous undertakings . H is e lephant ’ s head i s an em

blem o f al l-comprehen sive wisdom , and even h i s

vahan ,the rat

,i s wel l -known for i ts sagacity . There

i s a beauti ful myth i l l ustrating Ganesha ’ s precociou swisdom . Ganesha and h is brother, Karti k, had oncea boyish d ispute as to wh ich of them was the e lder

of the two , and the dispute was referred to Sh ivafor deci s ion . Sh iva did not know what to say ; for,

1 4 H INDU pas-rs AND FEASTS

i n truth , the question was hard to decide , Ganeshabeing a boy not born ’ i n the ordinary way at al l .He gave h is deci sion most impartial ly by rul i ng thatwh ichever of the two boys would make a tour roundthe wor l d i n the shorter t ime , would thereby provehimsel f the elder . Now,

Kartik’

s vahan i s the peacock , and thi s gave h im a decided superiori ty overthe rat-mounted Ganesha . S i tt ing on the back o fh is winged carrier, Ka rt i k flew off immediately tomake a circu i t of the world

,and i n a short time dis

appeared from view . But Ganesha , i n stead of

setting out o n the tour,qu ietly made a c i rcu i t round

h is parents,and bowing befo re them claimed the

prize of victory . But you never went round theg lobe

,

” said S hiva . No ,” repl ied Ganesha , but

I went round my parents who represen t to me al lthat i s comprehended in the term ‘world .

’ Thisb it of wel l - timed ph i losophy cl i nched the question

in dispute , and Ganesha was thereafter acknowledged as the eldest son o f S hiva .

Ganesha Chatur th i i s the day sacred to Ganesha .

I t i s observed o n the fourth day of the wan ing moono f M agh . By the common people the day is knownas S akat ,

’ which i s a corrupti on of the S anskri tword S an ka t

,mean ing difficulty .

’ Ganesha Chaturth i i s al so cal led S ankat Ch aturth i, i n al l usionto one of the chief attri butes o f Ganesha

,that of

r emover of di fficult ies . The festival i s,at least i n the

GAN E SH A CH A T U RT H I 15

Un ited P rovinces , observed almost excl usively bythe women -folk

,chiefly those wh o have sons , as the

observance of i t by a mother i s bel ieved to bri ng longl i fe and prosperi ty to the son . As Durga i s the idealo fmothers , so i s Ganesha the ideal o f son s , and byworshipping h im

,therefore , mothers hope to earn for

the i r own son s a fai r measure o f the sterl ing vi rtues

which distingu ish Ganesha among the gods . Theway in which women observe th i s festival i s bykeeping an absol ute fast for the whole day, and wo rsh ipping Ganesha at night , j ust at th e momentwhen the moon i s seen ri s ing above the easternhorizon . Th i s takes place between 9 and 10 o ’clockat n ight . The worship con si sts i n offering to thegod a kind o f dry pudding made of sesamum andunrefined sugar

,l oosely pi led upon a brass tray so

as to be of the shape of a min iature mountain , whi le

o n a wooden board or l ow stool , placed alongs ide of

th i s tray,are ranged together a number of con i cal

figures made o f cowdun g. The pi le o f sweetened

sesamum in the tray i s supposed to be a ram or

wo l f represented with a big head , which i s thensevered from the trunk with a blade of d ra ma grass .This i s usual ly done by a priest , who gets as h i s fee

the sesamum head of thi s emblemati c ram or wol f,together with a smal l cash present . The puj a beingover

,the women and ch i ldren o f the house si t to

gath er , and the oldest matron o f the fami ly then


reci tes the Katha , o r the legend appropriate tothe day

,and the others l i sten . The tale of Ganesha

Ch aturth i has varying vers ion s l ike every othertraditional story handed down from mouth to mouthfor countless generations . One vers ion , which the

present writer has l i stened to year after year i n h i s

own fami ly runs as fol lowsThere was once a poor Brahman householder

who made a precarious l iving on the chari ty of h isneighbours

,without making any attempt at earn i ng

a surer l ivel ihood by other means . When the

festival of Ganesha Ch aturth i came near, h is wifescolded h im for leadi ng an indolent l i fe at home ,and not making any effort to seek a l ivi ng by go i ng

abroad . We have not enough even for dai lybread

,said she

,how is i t poss ible for me to keep

the observance of our sacred fest ival s I cannotbecome so i rrel igious as to d ispense with the cus

tomary paj as enjo ined by our S h astra s : I would

much sooner dispense wi th a meal occasional ly thanabandon our fami ly gods . I must celebrate theworsh i p o f Gane sha o n the appoi nted day, but have

not the wherewithal to perform the ceremony—noteven a handfu l of sesamum o r a pinch o f sugar.You must therefore leave home in stantly, and getme the requ isite articles of worsh ip anyhow you can .

”

The Brahman cal culated that the handiest way of

procuring these would be by breaking i n to a B an ia ’

s


H INDU PASTS A N D FEASTS

stuff,came home to h i s wi fe with joy. And h is

wi fe worsh ipped Ganesha therewith , and through

the blessing o f the god , the Brahman was made

a happy and prosperous man .

There i s another popular story connected withthe festival of Ganesha Chaturth i, which , thoughsomewhat vulgar i n colouring , seems , i n the lessonsthat i t teaches

,to have had a cultured orig in . I t

te l l s u s that there were once two neighbours , o n e

wel l-to-do and the other poor. One day the poorman was discovered to have sudden ly become rich ,and his rich neighbour came to h im and asked h im

how he had grown so weal thy al l at once . Herepl ied that h i s wi fe had worsh ipped Ganesha onthe n ight of the Ganesha Chaturth i by offering tothe god j ust a handfu l o f sesamum and gur , andthat the god had become so pleased with theoffering as to vi si t h i s but personal ly . He and h iswi fe were sleep ing i n a room

,when they were

awakened by a voice speaking i n the l i ttl e closetwhere the puj a had been held but an hour o r so

ago : I am very pleased with you W h o i s thatcr ied out the wi fe i n alarm . I t i s I

,Chauth

Gosain,

” repl ied the voice . “ Well,

” said the wo

man . what do you want S h e suspected i t wassome th ief o r rogue that had broken into thehouse

,and she therefore wakened her husband , and

the two stood on thei r guard , keeping , however ,

GAN E SHA CH A T U RT H I 19

i n s ide thei r room The voice spoke again , I wantto ease mysel f. There cou l d be n o mistake now

it must be a l unatic that had en tered thei r houseand the poor couple though t i t best to humour thefel l ow. S o the woman r ep l ied , Wel l

,

—there arefour corners i n the room where you are , and youmay ease yoursel f i n one of those A few minuteslater

,the same voice Spoke agai n , I want to make

water ; and the woman gave the same reply . I twas now past midn ight . A l l possi bi l i ty of s leepwas gone , and man and wife kept broad awake ,expecting to see worse and worse forms o f the same

madness . I n the th i rd quarter o f the n ight,the

voice cried again , I want to weep .

” The samereply was of course agai n g iven

,as i t had at least

sati sfied the supposed l unati c so far as to preven th im from showing h i s madness i n a more aggres

sive form . I n the last quarter of the n ight,the

voice spoke fo r the last time , I want to l augh.

”

But the same reply was again given,although a

differen t o n e could have been tried , considering that

the dawnzwas already breaking i n the east , and hel pcou ld be more readi ly procured i n case the madmanattempted vi olence . But before i t was quite dawn

,

the madman had taken h is exit , and dayl ight reveal

ed a miracle i n each of the four corners of the closetwhere the supposed madman had played h i s supposedpranks . The l ittl e room was heaped with gold and

20 m N D u FASTS AND FEASTS

gems , and at the s ight of these the poor man andh is wi fe burst i nto tears o f repentance . The godGanesha h imsel f had vis ited the i r h umble dwel l i ng

,

and how discourteously they had treated H im whohad i n on e n ight co nverted thei r l i ttle but i n to atreasure -house . Now

,the rich neighbour l i stened

to th i s tale with eager i nterest , gaping with pro

found wonder at the thought of a poor man ’ s ris ingto such a fortune i n the course of a s ingle n ight.He questioned h im in detai l as to the exact procedurehe had adopted in the worsh ip of Ganesha on thatbl i ssfu l n ight , the exact kind of offeri ng he hadmade

,the exact quanti ty of each article , and so

on,determin ing i n h i s mind to do the same on

the next occasion of the puj'

a . He told al l th is

to h is wi fe , and the wi fe , too , vis i ted her neighbour’ s

wi fe,and personal ly verified al l the detai l s o f th e

ceremony that her husband had reported to her .And then she impatiently awaited the arr iva l ofthe sacred day. The days seemed i n her impa

tien ce to pass most languidly . Of course,she was

i n no needy ci rcumstances,but rather sufficiently

rich to have no hankering for more . But sti l l thes ight of her upstart neighbour gave ri se i n h erheart to the ambition o f outsh in i ng h im i n wealthand splendour ; hence the keen longing , the restl ess

impatience with which both she and her husbandlooked forward to the ausp ic ious day. And n ow

GANESHA a T U a i 21

the ausp ic ious day had come,and preparation s fo r

the puj a were made i n rig id con formity with the detai l s that had been fol lowed by the i r neighbour . J usta handfu l of sesamum , only a l ittle grain o f gurwere offered i n the worsh ip the smal lest room i nthe house was chosen for the ceremony and , after

the careful ly- studied ri tes were over,man and wife

betook themselves to s leep i n the next room , choosi ng to l i e down o n the bare ground

,because thei r

neighbour had done so . But nei ther of them cou ldsummon a wink of sleep i n expectation o f theblessed vis itati on . They had not to wai t l ong .

The expected voice was heard at the expected hour ;an d

,tru ly enough

,i t spoke the same words .

Natural ly,the same reply was g iven wh ich the

woman had so careful ly conned . Everyth ing happened exactly as had happened to her neighbour,the same voice speaking the same words , at thesame ho urs , and rece iving the same repl ies i n the

same semi -sarcasti c tone . F o r even the tone o f

the reply had been studiously cop ied by a year ’ s

rehearsal . The last reply was g iven j ust as thedawn was breaking i n the eastern sky. Everyth ing was now indeed complete : no detai l waswanting , and the woman

’s heart was l eaping with

joy as at dayl igh t she Opened the door of thel i ttle room to gather the heaps of gold and gems .But there was another kind o f miracle awaiting

H INDU FASTS A N D FEASTS

her eyes . I n stead of the gold and gems she

had expected to find , the who l e room was fi l ledwith human excrement , flooded wi th u r i ne

,and

giving forth a horrible stench"The woman washorrified , and fel l back i n her terror . Loudly shedenounced her i nnocen t ne ighbour for having

,as she

thought, del uded her with a concocted l ie . The nextmoment she blamed hersel f for putting fai th i n an

upstart ’ s words and the next moment stormed at herneighbour for practi s ing such a vi l lai nous trick uponher. The news soon leaked out

,and her neighbours

came , some to sympath i se wi th her others tolaugh at her fol ly . But there was o n e among themwho saw through the mean ing of the whole comictragedy . She explained that the faul t was neither inthe god

, n o r i n the neighbour who had told the truth ,but i n the si l ly woman ’ s own heart that had yie ldedto temptation when i t shou ld have res i sted i t

,that

had fal len a prey to avarice when it should haverested in conten tment

,that had entertained the vi le

ambit ion o f outsh in ing a neighbour i n weal th i nsteadof trying to excel h im in piety . She was already richand wel l -to -do

,and the proper way for h er to wo r

sh ip the god would have been i n a style befitting herwealth and posit ion . I nstead of doing that , she hadbl indly fol lowed the humble style of her humbleneighbour she had even had the audaci ty to speakto the god , knowing that i t was a god she was

GANESH A CH A T U RT H I 23

addressi ng , i n the same semi -sarcastic tone thathad been used by her n eigh boii r i n ignorance andshe had therefore wel l meri te d the pun ishmentwh ich had vis i ted her .

III

Basan ta Pan ch ami

Basanta Panchami i s the fifth day of the l ight-halfof M agh , and is so cal led because i t i s regarded asthe first day o f the I ndian spri ng Basanta beingthe S anskri t name of the spring season . The greatspring festival of I ndia is

,however, n ot the one that

bears the name of spri ng, but another which comes

off some six weeks later,

- namely,the Hol i . But ‘

the Hol i i s a spring festival i n the sen se that i t i s aday of popular rejoic ing , fol lowing closely upon or

immediately preceding the harvesting o f the springcrops ; whereas Basanta Panchami marks the commen cemen t o f the spring season from the astron omical poin t of view .

Why the advent o f the spring season should bea fest ive occasion i n a tropica l country

,i s not qu ite

obvious , for in n o part of the plai n regions of I ndia,where th i s fest ival i s honoured by some ki nd of

observance,are the rigours of the winter season at

any time so severe as to make the approach of

spring a looked-for event . The mi ld I ndian winterhas n o terrors for even the poorest I ndian peasan t,



The presumption that i t i s the ancient S anskri tpoets who have actual ly founded the Basanta festival ,i s corroborated by another custom wh ich prevai l s i nthose parts o f the Province where fami l ies of ‘B hats

’

are sti l l found . The B h ats are a class of i nd igenous bards

,who at one time possessed such poeti c

ski l l that they could s ing extempore songs on anysubject g iven to them , and could also carry on a

long dialogue in verse with a member of thei r ownfratern i ty . The custom among them is to present

sprays o f mango bloom to one another and to theirfriends , on the morn ing of Basanta Panchami .Thi s friendly present i s Sometimes accompan ied

by short poetical reci tations in praise of Spring,or

as a compl iment paid to the friend h imsel f. TheB h ats are by caste Brahmans whose ancestraloccupat ion was i n ancient t imes to compose songsand odes , and rec ite them on ceremon ious occasionsbefore publ ic and private gatherings . Some ofthem sti l l uphold the i r anc ient cal l i ng

,but have

adopted other pursu i ts i n addition , to serve as ameans of l ivel i hood . For the poet ’ s office

,which

was i n ancient I ndia a h ighly l ucrative one , i nconsequence of the patronage o f princes and nobles ,has now ceased to be an avenue to weal th o r

fortune .

I t i s probably our Indian poets , again , whohave connected Basanta Panchami with the worsh ip

‘

B ASANTA PANCH AM I 27

o f Saraswati,the goddess of speech and learn

ing , the goddess most i nvoked , most adored , byancien t wri ters . S araswati i s often styled theM i nerva of H i ndu mythology ; but th i s designationi s real ly too narrow ; she combines i n hersel f th efunctions of al l the n ine M uses o f Greek mythology

,

pres iding over the whole domain of letters , arts ,and sc iences , wh ich H indu ph i losophers have divided in to s ixty - fou r branches .

Some E uropean scholars have been led i nto another error i n tryi ng to understand the true characte r of S araswat i they have con founded the riverS araswati of Vedic l i terature with the goddessS araswati o f Brahman ical writi ngs . They speak asthough the latter had evolved o ut o f the former

,

and thei r on ly reason , besides the identi ty of the

two names,seems to be the fact that the goddess i s

a latter conception than the river-dei ty . D r . M ui rhas even endeavoured to furn i sh an explanation ofhow the river Saraswati became gradual ly transfigured into the goddess o f speech and learn ing .

He says : “ When once the river had acqu ired adivine character

,i t was quite natural that S h e should

be regarded as the patroness of the ceremon ieswh ich were celebrated on the margi n of her holywaves , and that her di rect ion and bless i ng shouldbe i nvoked as essential to thei r proper pe rformanceand success . The connection in to wh ich she was


thus brought wi th sacred rites may have led to thefurther step o f imag in ing her to have an influenceon the composi tion of the hymns which formed soimportant a part o f the proceedings

,and of indenti

fyin g her wi th Vach , the goddess of speech .

”

The above i s no doubt a very i ngen ious exposit i on of the orig in of the goddess S araswati but theH i ndu people sti l l regard the two S araswatis asabsol utely disti nct . The river S araswati o f theVedas and the goddess Saraswati of the P uran ashave noth ing i n common save the name

,nor did

the latter evolve o ut of the former, except i n sofar as we may say that the P aran as were evolvedout of the Vedas . That the river i s frequentlyspoken of as a goddess

,i s no proof that the river

deity was beginn i ng to undergo transformation i n tothe goddess o f l earn ing . Even i f the river-deity i si nvoked by the authors of Vedic hymns , th i s i s l i ttl eevidence to show that she i s be ing metamorphosedinto another goddess . The river Saraswati i s st i l lrevered as a goddess , on ly she has been relegatedto the same rank to which the Godavari o r theNarbada , o r the Krishna belong . A lmost everyI ndian river i s regarded as a sacred stream , and

per son ified as a god or goddess . There i s no doubtthat to the early Aryans the river Saraswati waswhat the Ganges i s to thei r descendants ; herwaters were in sti nct with divin ity in every i nch o f

B ASANTA PANCHAM I 29

her course and her i nfluence must have in spi redthe composers of the Vedic hymns . There is al sono doubt that she i s often i nvoked as the goddess ofSpeech and the patroness of science but th i s maybe only the l anguage of poetic person ification . TheSaraswati o f the P uranas i s a di stinct personagefrom the S araswati of the Vedas , and the confounding o f the one with the other only remindsone of the h istoric con fusion made by Burke

,i n

one of h is speeches on the impeachment of WarrenHasti ngs , between H afiz Rahmat Khan , ch ief of theRo h il l as , and the Persian poet Hafiz . The riverdeity i s now no longer recogn ised as a goddessentitled to practical adoration , amon g other reason sbecause the stream itsel f has practical ly dried up

.

Like other Vedic dei ties , such as Indra , or Agn i , o r

Vayu , she has long become too classical to sati sfythe modern demand for more and more personal ityand less and less abstraction i n the gods andgoddesses of the H i ndu rel ig ion .

Thus aro se the conception of S araswati as apersonal goddess

,a goddess presid ing over speech

and letters , and patron i s ing every branch of l i terature , sc ience , and art . S h e i s represen ted as amaiden of snowy white complexion , arrayed i n a clothof Spotless wh ite , and Sitting on a white fu l l -blownlotus . Everyth ing about her i s wh ite . Even hervaha n , the swan , i s famous for th e white puri ty of


i ts feathers . She has n o superfluity of l imbs,such

as , for in stance , the ten arms o f her mother D urga ,but i s p ictured i n every way l ike a human maiden

o f peer l ess beauty . S h e i s the daughter of S hivaand D urga , and the wife of Brahma , the Creator .I n on e hand she holds a book , i n the other a cin a o r

harp , fo r she i s al so the goddess o f music . Everyth ing white i s pleasing to her ; hence the flowersused i n worsh ipping her must be wh ite , as also thesandal paste . I n the puj a , she i s sometimes repre

sented by a c lay image,and sometimes on ly by a

d iagrammatic figure depicted on the s ide of a brasso r copper j ug fi l led wi th water, i n front o f whichare arranged i n neat order

,books

,pen

,i nk -stand ,

and other wri ting material s,except i n k ; o n e o r two

musical i nstruments l ike the guitar o r tambourinea l ighted ch irag , burn ing gh ee, not o il, etc . I nk i snot placed among the wri ti ng material s offered tothe goddess

,because i nk i s general ly of a black

colour,and black i s repul s ive to the goddess . The

pen offered i n the worsh ip of S araswati i s the old

I ndian pen , cut from a reed , and not the importedsteel pen o f our own day. The offerings are made

to th i s emblematic j ug,and the prayers of the wo r

sh ippers are l ikewi se addressed to i t . I n somehouses , of course , a clay image i s set up , and the

worship i s consequently on a much grander scale .

The offerings Spec ial to S araswati are unripe ears

B ASAN T A PANCH AM I 3 1

of barley and grai n s o f gram , and sprays o f mango

bloom,pl ums

,sweets prepared from white sesamum ,

and other edibles . After the j mj a proper , comeswhat i s cal led the P ushpanj ali, a ceremony whichconsi sts i n the offeri ng o f flowers to the goddess bya group of worshippers, wh o stand i n a semici rc lei n fron t o f the image or the consecrated j ug , andreci te a prescri bed prayer i n chorus to the leadingvoice of the priest o r the head o f the fami ly who

may be conducting the worsh ip . F o r the head o f

the fami ly h imsel f sometimes performs the j mj a ,

i f he i s a Brahman but i f he i s not a Brahman , heh as to cal l i n a priest to o fficiate at the ceremony.

The worship o f Saraswati i s not confined to anyparticu l ar caste , though orig inal ly the Brahmansalone had th i s privi l ege for, as i s wel l known ,al l learn ing was in former times confined to thepr iestly caste , perhaps more strictly i n I ndia than i nEurope i n the dark ages . No reading o r writi ng i spermiss ible on th i s day, and athletic sports , gymnastic exerci ses

,concerts

,theatri cal entertainments

,

&c . , are considered i n order. Stri ct fasting is oh

served by every one in the fami ly , unti l the worsh ipi s completely over, and th i s i s general ly about midday . Even l i ttle boys of seven o r eight joi n i nthe fasting , and do so most cheerful ly, hopi ng i nthis way to propit iate the goddess , and to reap ,as the ir reward

,a successfu l career at school

.


Saraswati i s now the favo urite goddess of the H industudent commun ity , and of al l others who are

engaged in the pursui t of knowledge . She i s l i kewise the ch ief goddess o f schoolmasters , and i nBengal i t i s the practice of every Pandit who keepsa school to set up an image of Saraswati and invi teh i s patrons and friends to witness the worsh ip anddo honour to the goddess . The attendance at theseceremon ies i s large or smal l , according to thePandi t ’ s ci rcle o f pa trons and friends , each of whommakes a cash offering to the goddess at the t ime of

bowing to her ; and the money thus col lected formsan important part of the Pandit ’s annual revenue .

A very curious supersti t ion connected with th i s

j mj a prevai l s among Hindu boys , who regard pl umsas absol utely forbidden frui t unti l after the S araswatipuj a i s over,—that i s , unti l some time after plumshave begun to ripen on the tree and to be sold i nthe bazaar. The bel ief i s that i f any boy eats a pl um

,

or even b i tes o n e , earl ier than the Saraswati puj a ,he i ncurs the severe displeasure o f the goddess andth i s di spleasure , i n the case o f a schoolboy , i s in ter

preted to imply fai l ure i n examinations and al l thenameless evi l s that fol low in its train . When o n ehas passed the school stage and has boys o f one ’sown , on e comes to know better what th is prohibitionmeans ; but alas "by that time the temptation forpl ums has ceased to act . Plums are a kind of fruit


34 mN D U FASTS AND FEASTS

any on e whose festiva l happen s to synchron ise withthe season for any particular crop o f fru i t o r vege

table o r grain .

Saraswati puj a i s al so the day on which H induboys begin thei r alphabet

,and quite a l ittle cere~

mony i s made of the matter, the ceremony be ingknown as

‘ Vidyarambh a .

’ The boy i s made to

repeat the letters of the Sanskri t alphabet , ascorrectly as he can im itate the sounds , and to trace

on e or two of them on the ground,with a piece of

chalk,h i s hand being guided by the priest

,o r by

the father o r guardian o f the boy. Th is i s donei n fron t o f the image of the goddess

,j ust be fore o r

j ust after or during the i nterval s of the worsh ip .

The Vidyarambha ceremony i s usual ly performedi n the fi fth year of the boy ’ s age , o r

,i n case

that i s , for any reason , rendered impracticable ,then , i n the seventh year, the even n umber six,as , i n fact , al l even n umbers , being con sideredun l ucky i n al l auspicious ceremon ies

,marriage

,

Upan ayan a , ton sure incl uded . With the revival o feducati on and learn i ng and the growth of knowledgethat i s taking place i n I ndia under Bri ti sh rule

,the

worsh ip o f the goddess Saraswati i s becoming moreand more un iversal , and i n Bengal , at any rate , shei s worsh ipped i n every H indu household

,of which

even a s ingle member has received a smattering o f

some kind of education ;

IV

S hivaratri

S h ivaratri i s a rel igious fast kept on the fourteen th day o f the dark fortn ight of the l unar montho f P halgun . Literal ly, the name means the n ightconsecrated to Sh iva .

’ Sh iva i s one o f the h ighest

gods of the H indu pantheon , and he i s d i stingu i shedfrom the l esser gods by the ti t le o f M ahadeva , or‘ the Great God .

’ He has countless other namescorresponding to h i s countless attributes , o r derived

from his equal ly n umerous exploits . Outside I ndiahe i s known as o n e of the three gods composingwhat has been erroneously cal led the H i ndu Trin ity ,i n wh ich Sh iva figures as the destroyer ." But th i s

con ception of S h iva has now become pale andfaded i n the l ight o f brighter conception s that arose

l ater,these representi ng h im as a ben eficen t deity ,

the eternal ly blessed on e,

’ and the causer of

bless ings . ’ His personal ity i s al so made moreinterest ing by h i s being represented as a humanhouseholder

,dwel l i ng with h i s wife Parvati , and

rearin g a fami ly o f four ch i ldren—two sons and twodaughters , the son s being Ganesha and Kartik , andthe daughters

,Laksh mi and Saraswati .


Sh iva i s a god transcending al l the other gods i nthe mul tiplex character of h i s personal ity. S ometimes h e i s regarded as the divine impersonation ofthe d is integrating powers of nature , the forces thatmake for disruption , decay, and death ,—in short ,as the dread Destroyer, who takes pleasure indestruction for i ts own sake . I n th i s character

,he

i s bel ieved to be fond of haunting burn ing-grounds ,of playing with the skul l s and bones of the dead

,

and of affecting the society of ghosts and gobl i ns .I n th i s character, too , he is represented as extremelyi rascible i n temper, prone to kil l i ng and slaughteron the sl ightest provocation , and having a wi ldnessand fiercen ess about h i s manners that i nspi res h isworshippers wi th more awe than reverence . On oneoccasion

,the sage Daksha held a great sacrifice to

wh ich he invi ted al l the gods,but omitted to ask

Sh iva and hi s wi fe , an d the god became so enragedat th is that he cut off the head of the sage andreplaced i t by that of a ram . On another occasion

,

he burnt up a n umber of gods by a flash of l ightn ingdarted from h is th ird eye

,and afterwards smeared

h i s body with thei r ashes , whence probably th e

rubbing of ashes on the body has become thedistinct ive mark of a devotee o f Sh iva .

S ometimes Sh iva is pictured i n a differentcharacter

,- as the divi ne agent of the reproductive

power of nature , whence he derives h is names of

S H IVA RA T R I 37

S ada-Sh iva,Shankara , and S hambhu . I t i s i n th i s

character that he i s represented by the fami l iar,but often misunderstood

,symbol of the Linga.

’

Sometimes , again , he i s regarded as the grand typeof an ascetic wh o has attained the h ighest perfect i on by prayer, penance , and privation . I n th i scharacter he i s p ictured as an ordi nary human

be ing i n the garb of a holy anchori te,with ash

besmeared body and matted locks gathered i n to aknot about the forehead

,wearing a stri p of bark o r

l eopard -skin about the lo in s , and si tti ng i n rapt

meditation in the shades of a tree . I t i s i n th i scharacter of an i nvi ncible asceti c that Sh ivascorched to ashes the wayward god of love , Kamadeva , who once endeavoured to seduce h im awayfrom hi s course o f sel f-mo rtification . T h en cefo r

ward Sh iva gained complete emancipation from thebondage of pass ion , and by h is example taughtmankind the way to gai n the height o f bl i ss byvoluntary torture of the flesh , by the subj ection of

turbulen t passions , and by undisturbed meditation .

Shiva i s sometimes represented with five facesand then he i s known by the name o f P an ch an an a ;

and he has always three eyes,the th ird be i ng

located in the centre of the forehead . These threeeyes are supposed to typi fy the god ’s omni scien ceh i s knowledge of the past , present and future . Heis said to have a bl ue -coloured throat

,whence h is


name of N i l-Kantha and he is sa id to havederived the hue from h is having drunk up the poisonwh ich foamed forth from the sea- surface

,at the

churn ing o f the ocean —a primordial occurrence ,

very frequen tly mentioned i n H indu mythology as

the originati ng cause o f a n umber of obj ects th a tfigure i n subsequent myths . His vah an i s the bul l

,

and hence an image of th i s creature i s to be ' seeni n every temple dedicated to Sh iva .

The month spec ial ly sacred to Sh iva i s S rava n

(J uly-August) the titki (phase o f the moon) favour

able to h i s worship i s the T rayodash i, o r the th i rteen th day of the dark fortn ight ; and the day o f the

week that i s p icked out for the keeping o f vows madeto him , i s M onday. S h ivaratri i s a sort of extraordinary occasion for the worsh ip o f Sh iva , who iscommonly worsh ipped every day i n a very simpleform—namely

,by the pouring of a j ug of water

over the Lin gum set up i n the nearest temple , o r,

simpler sti l l,by bath ing i n water any smooth stone

boulder that might have been placed by any piousminded rustic at the foot of a peepul tree anywhereon the roadside o r i n the m idd le o f a vi l lage grove .

The exact orig in of the S h ivaratri fast i s lost i nthe dimness of the past , but the fest ival happe ns tobe men tioned i n the Mah abh arata . Th is of cou rseby no mean s furn ishes any cl ue as to the date of itsorigin , for, apart from the fact that the chronol og ical

S H IVA RA T R I 39

val ue o f the epic i s greatly l ost by a multi pl i c i ty

of late r i nterpolat ion s , the fest iva l i s descri bed i n

o n e o f the concl uding books of the poem—the S h an tz’

P an za , which some authori ties bel ieve to be whol ly

apocryphal . As i t i s, a pretty detai led exposit ion ofthe Maha tmya (or re l ig ious efficacy) of the Sh ivara

tri vow i s put i nto the mouth o f B h ishma , the

octogenarian leader of the Kuru forces i n the greatba ttle of Kuruksh etra . B h ishma i s lying woundedon the battle -field , h is body resti ng o n a bed o f

ar rows , and i n th i s po sture he d iscourses to a ci rcleo f mourn i ng kinsmen o n the pri ncip les o f duty, thetruths of ph i losophy and the eternal mysteries o f l i fe

and death . Accordi ng to the legend thus put i ntothe mouth o f the dying hero ,

the fast of S h ivaratri

was first publ icly observed by King Ch itra Bhanu ,o f the Iksh vaku dynasty, who i s said to have been aking rul i ng over the whole o f Jambu -D wipa , the

most ancient name o f I ndia—a name even olderthan Bharata-Varsha , which i s derived from KingBharata . Ch itra Bhan u was a ki ng as renownedfor h i s piety as fo r h i s power, hel ping the poor,protecting th e weak

,and honouri ng Brahmans .

Now, once upon a t ime i t so happened that on theday of S h ivaratri

,as the k ing and queen were

keep ing th is holy fast,the sage Ashta-Bakra , accom

pan ied by some of h i s d isciples , came o n a visi t tothe court . The king gave them food an d gifts


befitting thei r posi tion . When the sage was preparing to depart

,he discovered that the king was

abstain ing from food and drink that day,and so he

asked,What sorrow has come upon thee that thou

hast not taken thy meal to -day Why art thouputting thy soul to further torture by thus abstaini ng from food and drink ? Know that the human

soul i s o n e with God , and i t i s by giving pleasure to

onesel f, and not by i nfl i cting pain , that on e can be stp lease God .

”The sage

,wh o by the way , was as

famous for h i s learn ing as for h is deformity of

body, being crooked ” i n eight different places

(whence h i s name of Ashta-Bakra), was anEpicurean i n faith , and held pleasure to be the pathto piety. F o r

,as i n Greek phi losophy

,there are

two disti nct school s of thought i n H indu ph i lo

sophy , corresponding broadly to the Stoi c and theEpicurean , the on e advocating sel f- i ndulgence , theother sel f-den ial . Chitra Bhanu

,thereupon

, pro

ceeded to explain why he was keeping a fast that day,and to do so , he had to recount some of the events ofh i s former birth . He told the sage that i n h i s previc us l i fe he was a hunter

,by name S uswar , wh o

made hi s l iving by ki l l i ng game birds and an imal s,

and sel l ing them in the bazaar. One day,as he was

wandering through the forest i n search of game ,he was overtaken by the darkness of n ight, andbeing unable to go back home , cl imbed up a bilva


42 HINDU FASTS AND F B A S T S

the man to abstain from meals o n that particularday

,but that he shal l not take any food even on

the next,unti l h e has first fed a Brahman ; and then

only i s the fast considered complete . Th is sequelto a fast i s cal led i ts P a ran ,

as i ts preparatory ri tesare cal led the S anj ut. The hunter , o f course , knewnoth ing of the fas t o r of the P aran beyond the factthat i t was a day o f pai nful starvation to h im andto hi s fami ly

,bro ught on by one o f the i nevitable

acc idents of h i s cal l i ng . But th rough th is un fore

seen mischance , as he certa in ly took i t to be at thet ime

,he had unconsciously earned not on ly the

merits o f the fast i tse l f, but those of the P aran as

wel l , The hunter l ived for many years after,with

out any idea o f h is spi ri tual gain s,unt i l , when the

hour o f death came, he beheld two spi ri t-messengers from the god S h iva , sent down for the expresspurpose of conducting the sou l o f the pious hunterto the abodes o f the blessed on mount Kailasa .

And there i t was that he learned for the first t imethat he had been so rich ly rewarded for h i s observance o f a fast on the day o f S h ivaratri

,and that ,

too,by an accident , as much beyond h i s contro l as

that swi ft sunset wh ich had overtaken h im i n the

depths of that dark forest, where on that d istant dayhe had been obl iged to spend a n ight of hunger and

tears among the d ry-droppi ng leaves of the bilua

tree .

S H IVA RA T R I 43

The Mahabharata legend adds that the h unter

l ived in the abode of Sh iva for thousa nds of years ,at th e end o f which he was translated to a h igherheaven

,cal led In dra Loka

,the home of I ndra , ruler

o f the skies , where , too , he spen t an enormouslength of t ime i n the enj oyment of i neffable bl i ss .

He was then promoted to a h igher heaven sti l l ,cal led the Brahma Loka , the abode o f Brahma , th eCreator and final ly be was elevated to Vaikun tha

,

the h ighest heaven , the celestial mansion o f Vishnu

h imsel f. After l ivi ng i n these other bl is sfu l regionsfor o ther long ages of t ime , the hunter was bornagain on earth

,as he ir to the ki ngs o f the Iksh vaku

dynasty , and then he came to hea r h i s present name

o f Chitra B hanu . By special favour o f the godSh iva

,Chitra Bhanu retained the memory of h i s

past l i fe and,i n h is new kingly guise , the h un ter had

made i t h i s rule to observe th i s annual fast,by the

unconscious observance o f which he had reapedsuch a ri ch harvest o f both earth ly and spi ritualfel ic i ty.

The S h ivaratri fast i s observed to th i s day i nthe form in wh ich king Chi tra Bhan u i s bel ieved tohave kept i t . Those who undertake i t abstain fromfood and drink dur i ng the day

,and at n ight they

worsh ip the god S h iva , either in thei r ow n house

or i n some neighbouri ng temple o f the god , themselves o r through the medium of a priest . T h e

44 H iN D U PASTS AND PH AS‘

I’ S

poor content themselves with pouring water on thehead o f an image of Shiva ; the rich accompanytheir elaborate rites with costly offeri ngs to the godand substantial g ifts to Brahmans . The offeringsthat are deemed essential are bilva l eaves , dh atura ,

rice and water, preferably Ganges water, or , fai l i ng

that, water from any other runn ing stream . At the

c onclusion of the worsh ip,wherever i t i s conducted

with some ceremony,the priest o r the head of the

family reci tes to the assembled company of wor

shippers the above legend of the hunter wh o becamea king , and the hearing of th i s tale i s bel ieved tobe fraugh t wi th bless ing .

V

H oli

Hol i i s the gayest of Hindu festival s . I t i s celebrated on the day of the ful l moon concl uding thel unar month o f P halgun ,

which roughly synchron ises with M arch . I t i s a fest ival o f unm ixed

rej oic ing , and commemorates , i n i ts mi rth andgaiety, the in nocen t frol ics o f the youth ful Kri shnawith the merry milkmaids of Bri ndaban . Krishnais bel ieved by H indus of al l castes and creeds tohave been a divine i ncarnation , who appeared o n

earth i n the D wapara age —the th ird of those grandcycles o r aeons i nto wh ich H indu th inkers havedivided Time in i ts relation to the mundane drama .

Some fol lowers of Krishna , who are general ly known

as Vaishnavas , do not reckon h im as one of th eA vatars or man ifestat ion s of the Supreme Being

,

but as the Supreme Being H imsel f i n human form .

I n tense fai th i n a person al god i s the disti ngu ish ingfeature of the Vaishnava creed , which i s broadlycontrasted with i ts rival creed , Shakti sm ,

or theworsh ip of P ower person ified i n a goddess

,or

the conception of the D ivi ne Being i n a female form .

4 6 H INDU PASTS AND FEASTS

The Vaishnavas and Shaktas represent two sectsbetween whom there i s sti l l a great deal of an tago

n ism , not in matters o f fai th on ly , but extendingi n to the practical affairs o f l i fe as wel l . The Vaishnavas

,for example , are vegetarians and teetotal lers

the S hakta creed does not forbid the use o f meatand wi ne . Hol i i s the most important Vaishnavafestival

,and ranks equal to the greatest of Shakta

festival s—the Durga ‘Puj a, which , l ike the Hol i , i s a

t ime of un iversal rej oic ing . But these two rivalfestivals have now forgotten the i r old rivalry

,an d

Vaishnavas and S haktas j oi n each other i n celebrati ng both with the greatest friendsh ip and amity , so

far at l east as the exterior forms of the worsh ipan d the social aspects o f each festival are con

cer ned .

Hol i i s the great spring fest ival of I nd ia , th ecelebration of i t not be ing confined to any particu larparts of the country

,but extending al l over the land .

I n th is respect , i t even excel s the D urga Puja ,which i s the great autumn festival o f the H indus .And spring and autumn are the two great harves tseasons i n I ndia , the time when the barns andgranaries are fu l l

,and when the hearts o f th e

agricultu ral populati on o f I ndia are for a timesuflicien tly rel ieved from the pressure of anxietyfor bread to permi t them to give themselves overto feasting and merriment . The harvest season

HOLI 47

is a festive season n ot on ly among the rural popula

ti on o f I ndia , but presumably among farmers of

every country,and

,figuratively, among other

commun ities as wel l , and even among the profes

sion al classes .The only rel igious element i n the Hol i festival i s

the worsh ip of Kri shna . An image of Krishna as ababe i s placed in a l i ttl e swing cr adle , and decoratedwith garlands o f flowers and pain ted with gulal—a

kind o f crimson powder, al so cal led abeer , the use o fwh ich by men

,women and ch i ldren i s a marked

feature of the H ol i ce lebration s even i n thei r soc ialaspe ct . The swing cradle accoun ts fo r the othername by which the Hol i i s sometimes known—D o"j utra ,

the word D ol l i teral ly mean ing a swing .

’

But the rel igious element i n th i s festival has , atleast i n these provi n ces

,disappea red altogether

from the external observance,and H ol i has now

become a purely secular fest ival characteri sed bymere rout and revel , with not even the men tion of

Kri shna ’s name,except i n amorous di tti es al so

cal led Hol i , relati ng to the gal lantries of that godwith the gopis o f Brindaban .

Probably the mos t ancient custom connectedwith the Hol i celebration i s the l igh t ing of a bonfire

early in the morn ing , an hour o r so before sunrise .

B on fires are i n every coun try associated in theminds of men wi th primitive times , and the Hol i


has the di sti nction of being the only I ndian festivalhonoured by a bonfire . These bonfires are l igh tedi n every vi l lage and at street-c rossings i n towns .The exact origi n of th i s custom of l ighting bonfirescannot now be traced with any degree of certainty.

There are two or three old l egends purport ing toindicate the orig in , but they only help to lead thei nquirer deeper and deeper i nto a maze for noton ly are these legends humanly i ncredible , but theyhave different vers ions i n d ifferent l ocal i ties .According to one legend , the bonfire represents theimmolat ion o f a ruth less Rakshasi (or femalefiend), named H olika

,from whose name the festival

derived its name of Hol i . This Raksh asi used tocarry o ff and devour the ch i ldren of the surrounding country, and so great was the havoc she causedamong the j uven i le population of the neighbourhood

of her home that the people formed a plot againsther

,and caught her and burn t her to death . The

legend,however

,does not tel l u s ei ther the name or

the geograph ical s ituation of th i s i l l- fated district .

N ow ,s ince the burn ing of th i s Raksh asi afforded

immun ity especial ly to ch i ldren , i t i s the youngerfolk who are espec ial ly enjoined in the S hastras tomake merry during the Hol i season .

Another legend says that th i s female fiend thati s burnt i n emblem on the morn ing of the Hol i

festival , was the s i ster of king H iran nya Kashyapu,


50 H iN D U FASTS AND FEASTS

but i t may also be true that some Vaishnava commen tator o f our rel ig ious books may have found anexcel len t orig in for the Hol i bonfire i n th i s story of

P rah lad , which i s to th i s day a household tale i nI ndia .

S ome authoriti es give a th ird explanation of thebonfire , which i n thei r Opin ion represents the deathof the old year and the commencement of the new.

F or , according to an ancien t legend , the world wascreated by Brahma o n the first day o f Chaitra ,

thati s , the day fol lowing the Hol i . I t does not appearprobable that the custom of burn ing a bonfire o n thelast day o f the year has been in existence s ince theday when Brahma , the Creator, gave bir th to theworld : more probably the custom orig inated in the

t ime o f Vikramadittya , Raj a of Ujj ain , the reputedfounder o f the S amvat era , for the S amva t yearterminates with the H ol i . The S amvat era , whichi s 57 years i n advance of the Chri st ian era , has sti l l

a very wide currency among the H indus of theU n ited Provinces , and the Benares publ i cation o f

astrological almanacs i s sti l l based on the S amva t

era . Th i s hypothes is that the Hol i bonfire repre

sents the pass ing away of the old S am'va t year,

gain s some weight from the fact that the bonfire i sas often cal led the burn ing of Hol i as the burn

in g of S am'vat. I f th i s conjecture be true , we

may extend our guess a l i ttle further and say that

H OLI 5 1

i t was probably Vikramadittya h imsel f who first

i nstituted the bonfire , e ither as a mere token of

po pu lar rej oic ing , o r as a state measure designedin the interests of publ i c health ; fo r the fire provideda ready receptacle for consuming the year ’s accumulated rubbi sh in every populated area , l arge o r

smal l . F or , we must n ot forget that the ancien tH indus wel l understood the hygien i c and san itaryvirtues of a blazing fire

,as i n al l importan t ceremo

n ies,domesti c o r otherwise , i n wh ich there i s

l ikel ihood of any overcrowding , they have invariablyprescribed a sacrificial fire , i n to which are th rownvarious kinds o f offerings

,the resu l ting smoke being

held to be extremely efficacious i n puri fying the at

mosph ere and th us ensuring a measure o f protec

tion to publ ic health .

There i s no end o f course to conj ecture,and

where the field of i nquiry happens to be a department o f Folklore , and the folk concerned , a peopleo f such ancien t orig in as the H i ndus , i t easi ly affordsscope to the wi ldest play of fancy. N o doubt

,fancy

is the on ly resort where fact i s hard to get at ; butfancy ,

once let loose,i s very unwi l l i ng to furl her

wings . One learned writer on the Folklore of

Northern I ndia feel s i nc l i ned , after comparing theHol i bonfires with s imi lar Observances in Europe

,

to th ink that they are Sun charms or magicalceremon ies i n tended to ensure a proper supply of

52 H INDU FASTS AND FE ASTS

sunsh ine for men,an imals and plants . He admits

that the cl imatic conditions of Northern India donot , as a rule , necess i tate the use of i ncantations toproduce sunsh ine but he caut ion s us to rememberthat the native o f the country does not look onthe fiercen ess o f the summer sun with the samedread as i s fel t by E uropeans ; and he also givesto the common I ndian vi l lager the credit o f knowingthat seasonable and sufficient rain fal l depends on

a due supply of sunsh ine . I t i s not qu ite obvious ,however, why the H indu orig inators of the Hol ibonfire should have been so anxious to ensure adue supply of sunsh ine i n that particular part ofthe year

,or i n th i s particu lar part o f the country

,

to which the custom is almost excl us ively confined,

seeing that , of al l other provi nces o f I ndia , thesehave always been most favoured by a plent ifu l sup

ply o f the brightest kind of sunsh ine .The Hol i bonfire i s regarded as a sacred obj ect.

Every family, res iding i n the neighbourhood of thes ite of a bonfire , considers i t i ts duty to contributeSometh ing ei ther i n cash o r i n kind—that i s , by presenting logs o f wood or basketful s of cowdung cakesfor fuel . By prescriptive right, based on immemo

rial usage , boys are al lowed to seize o r pi l fer fuel ofany kind for the sacred fire , such as the woodwork of deserted dwel l ings , old stakes and posts

,

broken furn i ture , and the l ike ; and the owner of

H OLI 53

these , when cogn i sant of such thefts , feel s i t h i s

duty to keep quiet . When the fire i s blazing , those

presen t walk round i t i n token of reverence ; andwhen it has died down , they pour water over theembers

,and

,before leavi ng the place , streak the i r

foreheads with the ashes , to bring them l uck duringthe coming year.The most importan t funct ion of the day i s theplaying with coloured water (ru ng kh eln a) . "uantit ies o f red-coloured l iqu id , made by mixing somesort o f red pigment i n water, are poured by friendsupon friends , i n friendly merriment ; an d there are

vi si ts from house to house , at each of which th i smutual exchange of the Sportive l iqu id takes place .

Sometimes , the j ovial flu id i s d ispen sed with , and adry red powder, cal led gulal o r abeer , often mixedwith tal c , i s smeared on the face as a more refinedsubst itute for the coloured water. But the smearingo f the face i s permiss ible on ly among equals , j un iorsi n age o r i n ferior s i n rank being only al lowed toplace a l i ttle of th i s dry stuff on the foot of thee lder o r superior, as a mark o f respect . The eldero r superior, i n return , streaks the forehead of theo ther with a pinch of the same stuff, as a symbol ofh i s blessing . Among the vu lgar, however, suchn icet ies of etiquette are qu ickly forgotten i n theexci tement of the hour. No on e i s spared , n ot

e ven women and chi ldren even domestic an imal s


are not exempted . As the morn ing advances th e

merriment i ncreases , and the compan ies of merrymakers swel l i n to crowds . I n the face of on e ofthese riotous crowds , i t i s as hard to escape a drenchi ng as to save one ’s l i fe before a pack o f hungrywolves . I t i s no use praying for exemption , o r

rendering tender apologies , o r making angry protests such attempts on ly help to bring on thedrench ing al l the more quickly, and with a vengeance . Among the vulgar, too , muddy water freely

takes the place of the coloured l iqu id , and i s squirtedthrough bamboo syringes , right and left , i n merci lessfash ion . Coloured water o f some sort i s deemed abso

lately essential by the i l l i terate masses,and since pig

ments and dye-stuffs are rather expens ive l uxuries, asol ution of street dust i s held to be a lawful subetitute . P eople of varied taste prepare rung i n al l

the colours of the rainbow, though , stri ctly, onlyred or p in k i s orthodox. The on ly people who

abstain from playing with rung ” are widows and

those who are i n mourn ing for the death o f a relat ive with in the year . Hindu widows are proh ibi tedfor the rest o f thei r l ives from wearing any colour,e ither i n the i r garments , or o n thei r skin ; andmourners must

,s imi larly, dress i n spotless white

from head to foot,during the period o f mourn ing .

The merriment . reaches i ts cl imax at mid -day, whenthe folks go home and bathe , have thei r breakfast

H OLI 55

and take some rest before beg inn ing the functionsof the afternoon . These cons ist i n vi s its to relativesand friends

,and during these vi s its i t i s customary

for parties to embrace one another. Old quarrel sare forgotten , old friendsh ips are revived , newacquaintances are created . Hindus do not obj ectto embracing even M oh amedan friends , j ust as ,during the M oh amedan festival o f I ’d , M oh amedan s

do not scruple to embracing thei r friends among

the H indus . The ignoran t consider i t a s i n tochange thei r red-stained Hol i garments for a weekafter the fest ival

, at the end o f wh ich another l i tt l efestival i s held i n some parts of the provi nce as asort of sequel o r ep i logue .

A curious custom has come to be associatedwith the Hol i festival , the custom of s inging obscenesongs i n publ i c places—a custom that would certain lybe more honoured i n the breach than i n the observance . These obscene songs are supposed to beaddressed to the same female fiend that i s burn t i nemblem in the bonfire ; but , unfortunately , they have

been diverted from thei r original aim and are n owflung at any young woman that might be pass ing by

the spot where a rude fel low happens to be i n a musical mood . These songs are known as kabeer

,probably

after the name of thei r author ; but th i s d i scredi tabl ecomposer could not have been the famous reformer o f

the same name , the rel ig ious fol lower of Ramananda ,


w h o conceived the bold idea of un iting H indus andM usalman s i n the worsh ip of on e common God .

Whoever th i s debauched bard may have been , be wel ldeserved to have been a kinsman of Dame H olika ,

i n whose honour he first employed h is metricalski l l .Hol i i s not on ly a day of Sportive merriment and

of ribald song , but al so a day of good cheer, thechoicest dishes of Hindu cuisine being prepared andpartaken on th i s day. Even the poorest must have atastefu l meal on the day of Hol i and those who cann ot afford to cook on e for themselves , wi l l go andbeg i t at the houses of the rich rather than gowithout i t on such a sacred day . For the meal

taken on the day of the Hol i fest ival i s real ly anew year’ s banquet

,and the bel ief i s that , i f they

have a hearty meal o n the first day of the year,they wi l l have a con ti n u i ty of such meal s throughthe rest of the year. M eat food i s , however, abso

lutely forbidden , even among those who are n ot

vegetarian s,and sweets prepared from m i lk and

curd are held to be in keeping with the dign ity of

the day.


58 H INDU FASTS A N D FEASTS

S i tala i s popular ly the goddess of the smal l -pox,and the season i n which her worsh ip begins synchron ises therefore wi th the begi nn ing o f the smal l -poxseason . I t i s wel l known that th i s dreadfu l epidemicvi si ts I ndia j ust at the commencemen t of the hotweather, and carrie s on i ts ravages al l through thesummer season , subsidi ng final ly when the rains havewel l set i n . I t i s therefore that the summer monthsfrom Cha itra to S ravan (M arch to J uly) have beenmade sacred to S i tala . Her worsh ippe rs be l i evethat i f the goddess i s properly propi tiated by prayerand offerings

,she wi l l avert smal l-pox ; whereas i f

she i s offended,she wi l l cause i t . The goddess i s

sometimes identified with the di sease itsel f ; hencethe particular sol ic i tude with wh ich a patient suffering from smal l-pox i s h umoured . Any food that thepatient may cal l for i s readi ly g iven , regardlesswhether i t i s l i kely to do him harm o r good anyth ingthat the patien t may say in h is del irious raving i sreverently attended to , as an utterance i nsp ired bythe goddess ; any parti cular kind of service or n ursing wh ich the sufferer may demand i s unhesi tati nglyoffered , as betoken ing a command o f the goddess .

No medici ne i s al lowed to be admin istered to thepatient , wh o i s left completely to the mercy of thegoddess . M edicin es are bel ieved to be offens ive tothe goddess

,as implying an agency claiming to

counteract the d iv i ne agency o f the goddess . The

S I T LA S AP’

I’

A M I 59

utmost clean l in ess i s observed not on ly in the s ickroom

,but everywhere el se i n the house , as fi l th

and di rt are l ikely to anger the goddess . Leaves

of the N eem tree are spread i n abundance al l over

and under the s ick bed , and al l about the floor o f

the s ick-room,not i n reference to any medic inal

properties of the N eem tree , but because th eN eem tree i s espec ial ly sacred to S i tala . Everyvi l lage boasts of traditions relati ng h ow i ndividuals

affl i cted with smal l-pox were cured by the special

i n tervention o f the goddess , who dictated throughthe l ips of the patien ts themse lves the spec ial forms

of propiti ation that were necessary i n those specialcases and hence , whenever a case of smal l-poxoccurs in a fam i ly , the female relat ion s of the pat ient at once make a vow to S i ta l a to offer such andsuch forms o f worsh ip to her when the suffere r

should recover and these vows are audi bly repeatedbefore the patien t constantly during h is i l l ness .S omet imes the goddess i s bel ieved to commun icateher wishes to some near kinsman o f the sufferer ina dream and strange as i t may seem

,such dreams

are often mandato ry , and i n such cases they arel i teral ly fu lfi l led . Some cases of cure are , i ndeed ,so wonderfu l as to seem miraculous

,and these are

i nvariably taken to be the resu l t of sudden and d irect

i ntervention o n the part of the goddess , who i sbel ieved to effect an instantaneou s cure whenever


she pleases to do so , simply by passing her handover the body of the su fferer . H ence a deeply

emotional woman sometimes professes to see anai ry hand moving to and fro over the bed of anuncon sc ious victim and bringing h im back to l i feand health .

I t i s th i s popular bel ief identi fying the goddessS i tala with smal l-pox, that i s respons ible fo r the

practice , prevai l ing i n some parts , of not burn ingthe bodies o f those who die of th i s di sease . I t i sal so an expansion o r corol lary of th i s same bel iefthat the goddess S i tala has been made the pres idingdeity of cholera

,and

,since 1897, of the Plague as

wel l . There are very few brick-bui l t temples rai sedto th i s goddess , and those that do exist are un imposing structures , l ow, narrow, and with no arch itectural pretension s of any kind . Her shrines aregeneral ly found outside the bounds of a vi l lage ,mostly under N eem trees , o r i n shady groves wherea mud platform and a tal l bamboo

,bearing a blood

red banner flutteri ng forlorn ly i n the wind , mark

the sacred spot where the vi l lage women gathertogether during seasons of sickness to offer flowera n d grain to appease the wrath o f the angry god

d ess .The name S i tala ’ l i teral ly means cool ,

’

al

th ough in her character she i s anyth ing but cool .She i s bel ieved to del igh t i n blood ; and hence a

S ITALA S A P ‘

I‘

A M I 6 1

goat-sacrifice i s often vowed to her by her worsh ippers . Hence

,too

,she i s represented as weari ng

blood- red garments , although the complexion of herface i s a pale yel low . She carries a bundle of reedsi n her hand and she i s mounted on an ass . The assi s the vah an of S i tala , but strangely enough , th i san imal i s despised as an unclean beast , and theh igher castes of H indus disdai n even to touch i t,and feel i t necessary to puri fy themse lves by a bathi f accidental ly they come in contact with an ass .

Probably the reason why the donkey i s cal led thevah an of the goddess of smal l -pox, i s that the mi lkof a she-ass i s , by H indu phys icians , declared to bea specific remedy in cases of smal l-pox .

S i tala i s known by other names as wel l , s uch asDevi , Bhawan i , and M ata . The last name means

simply a mother,’—an affectionate name given pro

bably to win her favour, o r al l uding to her being aman i festation of S hakti , the d ivine mother of theun iverse . Every town and vi l lage of NorthernI ndia has i ts local M other,

’ who is worsh ippedregularly twice every week, general ly on M ondaysand Fridays ; and o n these days there i s always al ittle local meta o r fair at every local shrine . The

local M other of A l l ahabad i s the goddess A l op i,a

name l iteral ly mean ing the on e that never disappears . S h e i s not represented by an image

,but

on ly by a stone slab on which the ofierings of


worsh ippers are made . One remarkable feature o f

the worsh ip o f A lopi—and th i s i s pe rhaps true of

o ther local M others—i s that M oh amedan bh istis o r

water-carriers are employed by H i ndu worshippersto pour down a mash ak of water in fron t of the

shrine , when the puj a i s over. Thi s pouring of

water on the ground sign ifies the cool ing of theearth ,

” the cool ing being probably an emblemat ic reference to the name o f the goddess S i tala , andal so a token of her vouch safin g domesti c peace and

quiet .The offerings spec ial to S i tala are betel leaves ,

flowers , preferably o f a red colour , and some variet ies oi cooked food , such as poori and gulgula , o r

o n ly parched grai n . I t i s another distinctive peculiarity o f the worsh ip of S i tala , that cooked foodforms part o f the offerings at a temple . The rulei s that cooked food , carried out o f the bounds o f the

ch owka or cooking place , becomes ipso facto un

c lean,and unfit even fo r respectable mortal taste ;

hence n o cooked food i s ever offered i n worsh ip atany publ ic temple , the priests alone having theprivi lege o f supplying the deity with h is usual meal sat the usual hours , during which the publ i c are shut

out from the temple and vi s i ts are disal lowed . But

i n the case of the goddess S i tala th is rule , which i srig idly en forced i n al l other cases, i s relaxed , andcooked food from the hands o f all castes i s freely

S ITALA S A P T A M I 63

a l l owed to come with in the very sanctum of the

temple . S ometimes the food i s cooked at home andbrought to the temple and offered sometimes i t i scooked on the grounds adjoin i ng the temple andoffered to the goddess and then partaken by herworsh ipper s but th i s l atter course i s adopted onlyi n cases o f a special vow to that effect .I t must be pointed out that M other-worship i n

these rather gross forms i s confined excl usively to

the female folk of the lower castes . These M othergoddesses are the most popular l ocal deities of

Northern India , i n the sense that they are publ i cly

worsh ipped oftener than any other gods o r goddes

ses . The on ly other deity that approaches them inpopularity i s the goddess S h ash th i, the goddess of

matern ity and offspring , whose sacred day is thesixth day of the bright half of practical ly every

month . Their immense populari ty i s probably dueto the fact that they are goddesses , man i festationso f the divine mother. When the human mother i svenerated as a kind o f divine personage , the reverence due to the divine mother must be proportionately greater. Another reason probably i s thatthey are bel i eved to be easi ly propitiated by prayers

,

vows , and offerings . But the real reason i s thatthey are bel ieved to be j aggra ta ,

wide-awake,

’ readyat al l times to l i sten to human prayer, and n ot l i kethe Epicurean gods lying beside thei r nectar

,

64 HINDU FASTS AND FE ASTS

careless of mankind , or smi l i ng in secret , l ooking over wasted lands

B ligh t an d famin e , p lague an d earthquake , roaring deeps,an d fiery san ds,

Clangin g figh ts, an d flamin g town s, and sin king sh ips, andprayin g h an ds.

”


66 H INDU PASTS AND FE ASTS

the wicked throve and prospered ; those wh o

honoured neither their parents nor thei r gods l ivedi n the enj oyment of fortune . The Earth wasdi smayed at th i s piteous persecution of everyth ingh igh and holy ; and the mythological accoun t of

the birth of Rama says that the Earth -mother,feel ing helpless , assumed the shape o f a cow , and

with tears made her plain t to the gods . The godssympath ised with her distress

,and asked her to go

to Brahma , the Creator, for redress . But Brahmasen t her on to Vishnu , and the lesser gods joinedthe ir own e ntreaties praying for speedy rel ief.Vishnu heard thei r prayer, and acknowledged i t bymeans of a divi ne voi ce announcing h is wi l l thus“ I wi l l mysel f descend from heaven , with myeternal spouse , and l i ft the whole of earth ’ sburden .

” At th i s assurance , the Earth forgot herwoes , and the gods danced for very j oy . They toohastened down to the world and took shape as monkeys

,awaiting the d ivine advent with bounding joy .

M eanwhi le , D asarath a had succeeded to thethrone o f Kosala , a powerful ancient k ingdom of

Northern I ndia,s ituated i n what i s now cal led

Oudh . He was a scion of the i l l ustri ous solar racewho claim descen t from the S ungod . The poet ofthe Ramayan a has eulogised the vi rtues of th i smonarch in a style heavi ly laden with oriental ornament ; but even after making due al lowance for poeti c

RAMA N AVA M I 67

exaggeration , we must admit that,h istorical ly

,he

was a most benevolent ruler,a father to h i s people

a sage and sain t i n private l i fe,a defender of the

fa i th . He had three queens, Kausalya being the

eldest and the queens too were as p ious and godlyas the king . But at heart th i s great ki ng was anunhappy man , because he had no issue by any ofthe three queens . One day the king repaired to

S ai nt Vasish th a , h i s guru or rel ig ious preceptor,and spoke of the sorrow he fel t at h i s con ti nuedchi ldlessness . The sain t advised h im to performa sacrifice , such as was prescribed i n the holybooks for the birth o f a son . I n the midst o f thesacrifice the F i re -god appeared in person , with anoffering in h i s hand , saying to D asarath a

,

“ Take

th i s oblat ion , 0 king , and divide i t among thyqueens , i n such proporti ons as thou pleasest .When the F i re-god van ished , the king sent for h i swives

,and distri buted the sacred oblat ion among

them,giving a hal f-share to Kausalya , the sen ior

queen,and d ividi ng the other hal f equal ly between

the o ther two . Thereafter were born the fourbrothers

,Rama

,Lakshman a , Bharata , and S atru

gh n a ,of whom the first, Rama , was the son of the

eldest queen,and so was recogn ised as the eldest o f

the princes .Ful l of del igh t was al l c reation

,an imate and

ina n imate,when Rama was born . On the n i nth

68 H INDU FASTS AND F B A S T S

day o f the holy month of Chaitra , i n the brightl unar fortn ight

,under A bh ij it, hi s favouri te constel la

t ion,on a seasonable day, ne ither hot n o r cold , a

holy time of rest for al l,with fragrant breezes

blowing,amidst the del ight of gods and rapture of

the sain ts,whi le the woods were ful l of blossoms

and every river flowed with nectar, God took bi rthas a man , i n a body formed at h is own wi l l—h e whoi s beyond al l form , or qual ity, or perception of thesenses . ’ I t i s i n these words that the Ramayan a

(Book I , B al-Kan da ) describes the birth of Rama ,and i t i s the birth of Rama that i s commemoratedi n al l parts of I ndia by th i s ann ual festival , cal ledthe Rama N avami.The subsequen t history o f Rama is recorded in

the same work which furn i shes u s with an account

of h is d ivine birth . The Ramayan a i s , as its namefitly denotes , a metrical biography of Rama , and not

merely an immortal epic It records every event ofh is l i fe

,down to the min utest detai l i t reports

every utterance of h i s l ips with the strictestfai thfu l ness ; i t ce lebrate s every explo i t of h i sarms i n strains of poetry that frequently soarabove the subl imest heights ever attained byun in spi red human composi tion . The seven Books

,

the five h undred cantos, the twenty-four thousand couplets that belong to th i s mon umentalp iece of writi ng , have but a s ingle theme—Rama

RAM A N AVA M I 69

the three thousand years during which th i s colossall i terary fabric has stood , have not touched a Singleleaf of i t with the fading hue of decay. TheRamayan a sti l l forms the basi s of a l iv ing faitha faith deep -drawn from the storied past, i n fused

with fresh vigour at many an i ntermediate stage,

and palpita ti ng wi th the breath of l i fe as warmlyto -day as i t did th rough the centuries left beh ind .

Thi s i s because the ideal s of character depi cted i nthe story are the ideal s ‘ that have ever appealedmost forc ibly to the mind of the H indu people , whopr ize the quiet domestic vi rtues far more deeplythan those uproarious qual it ies that are often soproudly paraded before the publ i c . The fi l i alobedience of Rama , the brotherly faith of Laksh

mana , the s incere sel f-sacrifice of Bharata,the

wifely devotion of S i ta , the unswerving loyal ty andal legiance of Hanumans ,

—these are ideal s of

imperi shable worth penetrating deeply i n to theminds of a people that have retained the primitivepurity of human vi rtues

,unal loyed by the later

vi rtues of a later civi l i sat ion .

Every event of Rama ’ s l i fe i s fraught with anu ndying lesson for the pious H indu . Rama is a

born prince,and then a king but i n thei r adorati on

for h i s character h i s wo rsh ippers fo rget h i s kinglyposition they take every deed o f h i s as done withth e express object of holding up a model before


thei r eyes they in terpret every word of h i s i n thel ight o f a gospel ; and i n thei r eagerness to dohonour to the hero they have accorded a duemeasure of honour to the hero -worsh ipper as wel l—the sain t ” Valmiki , the orig inal author of theRamayan a , and even to h is worshippers , those who

have translated the S anskri t epic i nto the differentvernaculars of India . M en l i ke Tulsi Das

,whose

tran slation i s the great classic of H indi l i terature,

are not bel ieved to have been ordinary mortal s,

but men divinely favoured , the elect of God . Forthe popular bel ief wi th regard to such rel igiouswri ti ngs i s akin to the M i l ton i c conception of thevocati on o f a poet,—that no one can dare to writeon such sacred themes un less he i s especial lyin sp ired by “ that E ternal Spiri t who can enrichwith al l utterance and knowledge

,and sends out

h i s seraph im with the hal lowed fire o f h is al tar totouch and puri fy the l i fe of whom he pleases .”

The importance of the Rama N avami festivalcannot be properly gauged un less we take accountof the veneration with which the H indus regard theRamayan a

—a veneration wh ich i s on ly a reflection

of that devouter sentiment with which they regardthe very name of Rama . One curious practice ,common among ignorant H indus , wil l i l l ustratethe bl ind fervour of faith wh ich they repose eveni n the bare name of Rama . They write the s imp l e

RAM A N AVA M I 71

name of Rama , or get i t wri tten by a pries t , athousand o r a hundred thousand times on a sheetof paper , which they afterwards cut up i nto as many

h its , and in sert each bit i nto a l ittle bal l o r globuleo f kneaded flour, and then cast these stuffed

globules i nto the waters of the Ganges or someother holy stream , to feed fish . Th is i s sometimesdone on ly as an act o f piety, but more often i t i sdone in fulfi lmen t of a vow made i n some season o f

difliculty o r distress . A sort of magic vi rtue i salso somet imes attached to the name of Rama , whichi s be l ieved to scare away evi l spi ri ts

,more eflective

ly than any exorc i sm . There i s no name more

constantly on Hindu l ips ; even the common form

of sal utat ion among the uneducated con si sts i nrepeat ing the name of Rama twice i n s uccession

,

and the sal utation i s returned by a fresh repetit ion

o f the same name . The same name serves as ap ious i nvocation at the commencement of everywork , and at i ts close the name i s agai n utte red i ntoken of piou s thanksg iving . An in sti nct of reverence for th i s name i s i nherited at the very bi rth o f

a H i ndu i n fant,and the i n stin ct grows stronger at

each step of i ts l i fe onward . The story of Rama i son e of the earl iest tales that the H indu ch i ld hearsi n the nursery ; when he goes to school he readsthe same story for h imsel f i n some popular vers ion

o f the great epic ; i n youth , the narrative of Rama’ s


exploi ts stimulate/

shis imagination and el ic i ts h i sadmiration ; i n manhood , he ponders reflectively

over the great truth s that he draws from that

S cripture ; i n age , he de rives spiri tual consolat ionfrom tel l i ng the name o f Rama on h is beads ; andlast , when h is l i ps are sealed by the hand of death ,i t i s the same holy name again that i s wh isperedi nto h i s ears and chanted i n a chorus as h is body i scarri ed to the river-bank for cremation .



sacred day i s the tenth day of the moonl i t hal f of

Jaistha (M ay-J une) , which i s , accordingly, on e of the

greatest bath ing -days of the H indu calendar .There are several legends describi ng how the

river Ganga fi rst came down to earth . There wasonce a king of Ayodhya

,named S agara , who had

two wives but no i ssue . Chi ldlessne s s be i ng o n e

o f the greatest curses that can ever fal l to the loto f a H indu , Sagara performed many a penance andoffered many a sacrifice with the des i re o f begett i ngoffspring . Thereafter, one of the queens becamethe mother o f a single son , named A shwaman jan ,

and the other bore so many as s ixty thousand . I nh i s j oy the king proceeded to celebrate the A shwamedh a ceremony, or the Ho rse-sacrifice , i n order todeclare h i s suzerai nty over the neighbouring kingdoms and principal i t ies . But I ndra

,king o f H eaven ,

stole the sacred steed out of j ealousy , and caused amost i nauspicious i nterruption to the holy ceremony .

The sixty thousand princes proceeded in al l directions to search the stolen steed , but found no traceof it on the surface of the earth . They therefore pro

ceeded to dig down below the surface , each prince

digging for the depth of a league,unti l they should

reach the centre of the globe . But before theycould accompl ish thei r task , they were consumedby a fire by the sage Kapi la , whom they found s itt i ng i n a deep underground cel l , with h is eyes closed

DASAHARA , OR GANGA P U JA 75

i n meditation,and with the stolen steed standing

beh ind h im . Without making any inqui ries as to

h ow the steed had come to be there , the princes

accused Kapi l a of theft . The sage , wh o d id notknow anyth ing of the theft

,fel l i n to a rage at th i s

unj ust accusation,and burnt the enti re company o f

princes to ashes with the fire of h is wrath . KingSagara was overwhelmed with grief at the loss o f h i ss ixty thousand sons

,and i n h i s d i stress he wen t

about from on e sage to another, seeking advice andcon solation . He was told that h i s s ixty thousand

son s would come to l i fe again and ascend to heaven ,provided the river Ganga could be brought d own toflow on earth . Bh agirath a , h is grandson—the sonof h is surviving hei r, A shwaman jan—thereuponundertook a c our se of prayer and penance withthe object of bring ing down the goddess Ganga andh is prayers were at last gran ted by Brahma

,w ho

directed the celestial stream to descend from theH imalayas . The descen t of the river was so tre

men dous i n force that the earth would have been

swept away had not the god Shiva broken the fal l ofthe waters by al lowing them to flow through h i smatted locks , which caused the river to spl i t i nto

seven streams . F or th i s service , S h iva has rece ivedthe t it le of Gangadhar,

’

o r Upholder of the Gan

ges . When the waters o f the Ganges reached theashes of the s ixty thousand slain pri nce s , their


spi rits rose to heaven and were admitted to eternalbl i ss . But there was sti l l o n e rude i nterruption tothe peacefu l course o f the Ganges o n earth . T he

sudden on rush o f waters d i sturbed the sage Jah n uas he was performing a holy sacrifice , floodingthe sacr ificial s i te , wetti ng o r drown ing many ofthe sacrificial offe ri ngs , putting out the sacrificialfire . Jah n u thereupon drank up the whole stream

,by making an ackman o f her—ackman being thesipping of holy water j u st before a rel ig ious rite .

But the sage afterwards relented , and al lowed theriver to flow out of o n e of h is ears hence the Gan

ges i s a l so known by the name o f Jah n avi, thedaughter o f Jah n u .

’

J ust as the name Dasahara , which properlyappl ies to the birthday o f the goddess Ganga , i s

g iven to the Vij aya Dasami by a popular confusion ,i n the same way , a sim i lar chance resemblance o fnames has connected the l i ttle i s l and (or rathereyot) of S agara , si t uated at the mouth o f the Gan

ges , and cal led S agara no doubt on account o f i tsproxim i ty to the sea , with King Sagara , th i s legendary king o f Ayodhya . Thi s i s land i s i nvested withgreat sancti ty and i s the seat of an annual pilgri

mage o n the day of Dasahara .

The legends that cl uster round the person of thegoddess Ganga are mostly i l l ustrat ive of her wonderfulpower of cleansing a man from sin . The extreme

DASAHARA , OR GANGA PUJA 77

case of her exercis ing such power was that of Raj aT risan ku , who had committed the three deadly s in sof ki l l i ng a cow ,

d isobeying hi s father, and eati ngunhal lowed meat . But even he was absolved fromhi s s in s by a bath in the Ganges . There wasanother sin fu l ki ng , who might be T r isan ku or someother

,who had committed the i nexpiable s in s of

murdering a Brahman , and marrying h is ow n stepmother and he , too , was simi larly saved from theeffects o f h is Sin s . A bath in the Ganges i s efficacious not on ly as a propitiation for past s in , bu t al sofor the purpose o f gain ing a store of spiritual meri tthat remains to one ’s credi t through many bi rthsand serves to counteract the evi l effect of other s in sincurred in the same or other l ives .

S ome legends represent the godd ess Ganga asthe daughter of H imavat and M ena , and as the wi feof King S an tan u , a descendant o f the i l l ustriou sKing Bharata , son of the immortal S akuntala . S an

tan u was , according to some legends , the father ofB h ishma , the aged ch ief who fought as leader of theKuru armies i n the M ahabharata war . H e was aking regarding whom it i s said that eve ry decrepi tman whom he touched with h i s hands became youngagain .

" He was also famed as sa tya-badi, the

truth - tel ler,’ and was remarka ble fo r h is devotion

,

chari ty , modesty , constancy, and resol ution .

Every Spot washed by the waters of the Ganges

78 HINDU FASTS AND F BA S T S

i s bel ieved to be holy ground , and some of thehol iest places of pi lgrimage are si tuated on thebanks of th i s river. Every i nch of the fifteenhundred miles of her length i s bel ieved to be insti nctwi th divin i ty ; her waters are credi ted not on ly withspiri tual absolution from sin , but al so with medici naland hygien ic properties , and modern chemistry hasadded to her ancient glories by declaring that herwaters are an effective germicide . The templesthat l ine her banks are countless i n n umber

,

and fresh additions are made year after year.These temples are not rai sed in honour of thegoddess hersel f, but belong to differen t dei ties ;the goddess Ganga i s not worsh ipped in any temple

reared by the hand of man,nor i s S h e represen ted

by any image of brass o r stone her temple i s hermaj esti c home of waters

,and her best image i s the

image of heaven she reflects on her broad bosom .

Li ke other gods and goddesses , Ganga has her

own special priests , who are known as Ganga -pu tras,sons o f the Ganges ,

’ and these priests form a veryexcl us ive fratern ity, who are found in n umbers

wherever a place of pi lgrimage i s s ituated on thebanks o f th i s river. M any o f them earn large incomes at each bath ing season , and , s eason o r noseason

,they always manage to make a l ivi ng out

of the dai ly gi fts they receive from customarybathers .

DASAHARA , OR GANGA PUJA 79

Ganges water i s needed dai ly for the everydayduties of a H i ndu ’s l i fe . I t i s required for themorn ing and even ing worsh ip ; i t i s needed at the

celebration of every domestic ceremony ; i t i s i ndi s~

pensable for every purificatory rite ; i t i s equal lyessential at the moment o f death , when it i s droppedon the l ips of a dying person as a sort of viaticum .

Even those who do not l ive i n the ne ighbourhood

of the Ganges take care to keep a bottl e o f i ts waterfor use on occasion s o f emergency. They eitherobtai n a supply from a trader—for there i s a regular trade carried on i n despatch ing Ganges wateri n smal l bottles to al l parts of I ndia ; o r they careful ly preserve the remnant of a supply they themselves o r thei r friends had brought from somepi l grimage . W hen , however, Ganges water i s notprocurable by any means , any water, such as thatfrom an ordinary wel l , can be sanctified by mean sof appropriate man tras ; and th i s i s actual ly doneby most people l ivi ng far from the Ganges , i n thecase of the water they use i n thei r dai ly worship .

M any other I ndian rivers are regarded as holy

streams,the ch ief of these being the Jamuna , the

Godavari , the Saraswati , the Narmada , the I ndus ,and the Kaveri . Of these

,the Narmada i s by some

people regarded as equal i n sancti ty to the Ganges ,i f not superior . These people say that according to

the Bhavishya P aran a (a sacred book contain ing a

80 H INDU P AST S AND FEASTS

record of s ibyl l i n e prophecies) , the sanctity of theGanges wi l l cease , by flux of time , on a certain dateduring the Kali Ynga (the present age), whereas thesanctity of the Narmada i s everlasting . Th is cer

tain date i s said to be five thousand years from

the commencement of the Kali Ynga .

” According

to certai n occu l t cal culations , th i s date was put downas the year 1895 of the Christian era . About thattime there was some commoti on i n rel ig ious ci rcles

over what they feared to be a national d isaster.But twenty years have elapsed since that dreadeddate

,and the Ganges sti l l retain s her ancient sanc

ti ty without the sl ightest abatement .One curious fact about the goddess Ganges i s

that the best of al l the hymns ever composed i n herhonour

,i s said to have been written by a Moh amedan

worshipper, named Darab Khan—a Bengal i M ohamedan i n al l probabi l i ty, for the above tradition i scurrent on ly i n Bengal .



sti l l i n exi stence,l iving deep down below the earth ’s

surface,i n a reg ion cal led ‘ P atala ,

’

o n e tract ofwhich i s for that reason cal led ‘ Nag Loka ’

(thewor l d o f Nags). They evidently lead a civi l i sedl i fe

,fo r they are represented as rul ed by k ings ,

the most renowned and supreme o f whom is S eshaNag

,a thousand-crested monster who supports

the “ flat d isc o f the ear th ”upon h i s thousand

heads,and whose coi l ed-up body forms the couch

o fVish n u during h is four month s ’ spe l l of s leepwi th in the bowel s of the earth . The waking up o f

the god from sleep forms the occasion o f a H indufestival , cal l ed D evotth an E kadash i.

Serpen t wor sh ip , as the practical part of ahuman creed , i s as old as the human race i tse l f,and much res earch has been made into the subj ecto f oph iolatry with a v iew to determin ing i ts exactorig in . The only certain concl usion wh ich scholarshave arrived at se ems to be that the real orig in ofth i s practice must ever remain uncertain . S omeauthorities are incl i ned to th ink that S nake-worsh ipwas the earl iest form of rel ig ion prevalent amongmen

,not on ly i n I ndia , but i n every country in

which snakes at al l i n spi re the human heart wi thdread . The reason they give for th i s opi n ion i sthat primitive man , unarmed as he was with anyefficien t knowledge o f medicine and surgery , natural ly fel t the greatest horror for “ a mysterious

NAG PANCHAM I 83

creeping creature , s i lent and steal thy i n i ts movements

,apparently qui te unprovided with the most

ordinary means of offence and defence,yet found

to have at i ts command the most deadly o f al l

known destructive weapons , and able to cause

almost i nstantaneous death by mere ly pricking theskin of its adversary . S uch seems at least to bethe Opin ion of S i r M on ier Wi l l i ams . But

,so far as

h i s statement may be taken to apply to India,i t i s

i nappl icable i n the case o f the primit ive Aryan s of

the Vedic period . For there i s no mention , noteven a sign ificant h i nt , o f serpent-worship anywhere ln the Vedas . The Ved ic dei ties are thepowers of Nature , the four E lemen tal Bei ngs , earth ,water, fire and air, personified under various namesand represented with vari ous attri butes . S erpentworsh ip must be taken to mark a stage later than

the Ved ic form o f faith . Whether th i s l ater stagerepresen ts an advance o r a decl i ne i n the l i fe o f theH indu rel igion

,i s a poin t upon wh ich i t i s impo s

s ible to arbi trate ; but i t seems that venerat ion forsnakes (n ot o f course pushed to practical adoration )mar ks that stage i n the development o f the H indurel ig ion when i t first became ful ly ‘ cathol i c ,

’

tolerati ng al l creeds , admitting al l manner o f

doctri nes , acknowledg ing al l sorts o f dei ties—thatform of Hinduism which sti l l s ubs ists , and whichshel ters under i ts protecti ng wings al l shades of

H INDU FASTS A N D FEASTS

human bel ief, rational and i rrational , from thegrossest form o f fetish ism to the subl imest mono

thei sm .

S erpents are i nseparably associated i n al l m indswith fear ; but there i s some ground for bel ievingthat the worship of serpents d id not whol ly arisefrom fear . Serpent-worsh ip , so far as i t i s notmerely a popular superstition

,enj oys some measure

of scriptural sanction i n addition to what impetusi t derives from the i nstinct of fear . The commonpeople o f course are i n thei r worsh ip actuated byfear alone ; but th i s i s so n o t only i n the case o f

serpent-dei ties , who are leg it imate obj ects of fearto bel ievers , non - bel ievers and disbel ievers al ike ,but even i n the case of the most ben ignant gods .

Others regard serpents as worthy of veneration ,because the great god S h iva , who heads on eof the most n umerous cu lts among the H i ndus , i srepresented as wearing a serpent round h is neck,with many others dangl ing along h is breast andback, o r coi l i ng graceful ly around h is waist , theseserpents symbol is ing to the eye of fai th the endlesscycle o f recurring years , the eternal revol utionof ages , the never-ceasing wh irl of atoms bringing

o n the perpetual d i ssol ution and regeneration ofthe races of mankind and al l else of l i fe or matterthat dwel ls on th is planetary system . This i s h ow

serpent-worship has i ntertwined itsel f with Shaivi sm

N AG p A N CH A M I 85

and thus found favour among a numerous class o f

H indus , l i terate as wel l as i l l iterate . I t has al so

penetrated i ts way into Vaishnavism through a verydark channel , for Vaish n avites say that thei r ch ief

god i s in th e habit of enj oying a fou r months’ spe l l

o f sleep on the coi led-up body of S esha Nag , deepdown in the centre o f the earth ; and blessed mustth i s proud creature be to render th i s service to the

great Preserver of the un iverse . At the same time ,we cannot help bel ieving that the worsh i p o f Nagsi s not absolutely unmixed with fear , even i n thecase of staunch Shaivas and enthusiasti c Vai shnavas

,i f th ey have an y i dea o f the formidable

stati stics of mortal i ty by snakebite publ i shed in

I ndia every year.I t wou ld be unnecessary to r efer here in any

detai l to the part played by snakes i n I nd ianfolklore . There are wel l -known myths relating to

snakes cu rren t i n every vi l lage o f I ndia , and thesestor i es are as popular among the younger folk as

ghost stories . There was in on e vi l lage a snakewho used to presen t a Brahman with two gold piecesevery n ight . There was another in another thatkept guard over a buried treasure lying underneathsuch and such tree . There was a th ird that had a

tongue of flame with which he set fire to wholefields , and sometimes h is flaming tongue was seensh in ing th rough the darkness away o n some lonely

86 H IND U FASTS AND FEASTS

heath scattered over with the bones of dead cattle.

A fou rth would bite a man to death one n ight andl ick th e poison back th e next morn ing

,on disbover

i ng that the man was i n nocent . A fi fth had the

power of changing h i s form myste riously/an d offlying through the ai r wi th the same ease with whichfishes swim i n water . These wonderfu l stories a re

obv iously fai ry tales invented by some vi l lage gen i usto amuse vi l lage u rch in s

,and also pr to set

l imits to thei r endless peregrinations t gh thevi l lage fields and groves

,which are j ust places

most haunted by snakes on summer hts and

throughout the rainy season . Not the le wonder

ful of these snake s tori es , but havi a morereal i sti c basi s , are stories of snake armers or‘

t as,

’ as they are sometimes cal le who effect

miraculous cures of patients dying fr the poi sonof snake -bite . These cures are sometimesmerely by mean s of magic but some .

t imes by the magic ian ’s su to h i s presence the very snake that caused the bite , and

compel l i ng i t,by appropriate spel l s

,( to suck backthe poi son from its victim ’ s body through thepuncture caused by the bi te . E at th is daythere are people i n al l parts of ln di ho can curecases of snakebite without the of a Singledrug , and without even making an sion in to anypart o f the patient ’s skin . They do th is only with

NAG PANCH AM I 87

the aid of man tras , and as a labour of love theycharge no fee , they accept n o remuneration , theyexpect no recompense . For these man tras are

gen er Illy l earned from the l i ps of holy devoteeswho t oi n the practi ce of th i s heal ing art as a

rel ig ions du ty upon thei r d i scip les , so that i f thelatter slould accept any repayment for such services ,they fea'

to i ncur the disp leasure of thei r preceptor,

and lose the efficacy of those man tras i n to the

bargain . Some cures are obtained by the use ofherbs an droots , and every H i ndu physic ian of theold schoo possesses a knowledge o f these , and i nsimple cas s effects s uccessfu l cures wi thout theass istance o f any surg ical appl iances . There areothers in w ilch accessory aids supplement the magicof man tras I remember to have witnessed a holysage pe rfo r rin g such cures long ago . A turban

cloth was weted and then twisted twofold or fourfoldso as to mke a sort of th ick lash

,and with th is

lash the palm o f the pat ient ’ s hands,the soles of

h i s feet , andthe crown of h i s head were struck , atfirst gently, all then more and more bri skly

,unti l ,

i n severe casesconsciousness re turned ; and thenthe mar: was fted up to a s i tting posture

,and h i s

back , too , was smilarly treated with the lash , the

strokes con timng i n the case of al l these parts ofthe body unti l theman began almost to cry for painand then h e “s made to stand up and to suffer

88 H INDU FASTS AND FEASTSl

another round o f l ash ing ; and final ly,he was made

to walk up and down,under support , for abou hal f

an hour,receiving at i n terval s a few f the

lash sti l l . The whole cure,i n bad cases , ied a

couple o f hours . The on ly d irection sgiven to the patient ’s attendants , when twas fin ished , were that the man must n ot al lowed to eat o r drin k anyth ing for at least twe hours

,

and that he must on no account fal l i n to ep fo r

the same length of t ime . I n cantation s usedat i nfrequent i ntervals duri ng the lash i theywere pronounced inaudibly , and al l that tator

saw or heard was the almost ceaseless n g andan occasional breath forcibly blown ou rough thel i ps o f the sage towards the patient , o t n eces

sar ily touch ing the patient’s body .

S erpen t-worsh ip has not yet d ied m India,

and though there i s reason to t at on e

time i t was pretty common , the h ing abo u ti t i s that there are few o r no temp dicated

'

to

serpents anywhere i n Northern except atA l l ahabad

,where

,i n Daraganj , far from the

banks o f the Ganges , there i s a te le contain i ngan actual stone image o f a s Th is snakegod i s Vasuki, a king o f t whose si ster

,

M anasa,i s the on ly Nag dei ty ed i n Bengal

,

—but not on the day o f Nag P an which i s a

festival unknown i n that presi There i s



the day is gram soaked i n water, which i s called

gh ugh ri, and i s eaten sometimes raw and sometimesfried i n mustard o il or ghee .

‘

Gh ugh ri’ i s al so pre

sented to Brahmans and given to menial s .The popular name of the festival , Gariya,

’ al l udesto one of the ceremon ies performed on th i s day

,j ust

at about s un set . A n umber of rude dol l s,made o f

rag and dyed i n a sol ution of turmeric,are th rown

down in to a pit , and the vi l lage lads beat these withsticks amid much boyish merriment . This ceremony i s probably emblemat ic of the destruction ofthe whole brood of serpents . The term ‘

Guriya ,

however,on ly means a dol l ,

’ and it i s th i s customo f beating dol l s with sticks on the even ing of NagPanchami that has g iven its popular name to thefest ival , Guriyon ha meta .

X

Raksh a Ban dh an

Raksha B an dh an , popularly cal led S alon o ,

’

is

the ful l moon o f S rava n a , and thus occurs exactlyten days after Nag P ancham i . S alon o i s a corruption of the Pers ian term S al-i-N au , the newyear and i t i s a name given to the fu l l moon o f

S ravan a , because i t marks the poin t of transi t ion be

tween the old and the new F asli o r agricu l tural year .

The class ic name , Raksha B an dh an , i s derived fromthe principal ceremony of the day—the tyi ng o f anornamental s i l k cord or cotton stri ng round thewri st . Thi s s i l k o r cotton cord i s cal led the Raksha ,

’

because i t i s i ntended to serve as an amulet guardingthe wearer from al l k inds of evi l . These sacred

stri ngs are u sual ly dyed i n yel low, the most auspicious colour among the H indus but sometimes theyare blazoned with a variety o f gaudy colours andornamented with tassel s , to s u i t i ndiv idual tastes .Usual ly , i t i s the family priest who , after con secrat

i ng a bundle of Rakshas by offeri ng th em in wor

sh ip to Vishnu , ties on e round the wrist of everymember of h i s cl ient ’ s family , more particularly

‘

th e


ch i ldren and the principal earn ing members . Buti n Brahman households the priest’s function i s oftenperformed by the head of the fami ly who ties theRaksha round the wrists o f h is dependants with appropriate blessi ngs . Among some Brahman commun ities, notably those of Gujarat, Raksha B an dhani s a festival i n wh ich the active part of the celebration i s performed by females

,who tie the sacred

amulet round the wri sts of thei r brothers and givethem o r receive from them presents o f cash and of

c loth ing , according as the brothers are younger o rolder than themselves ,—a ceremony analogous toB h ratri D witiya .

According to a popular n otion , Raksh a B an dh an

i s a d ist inctively Brahman festival , the privi lege o f

observing i t being confined to Brahman s al one . Thi snotion i s based on an ancien t saying , which enu

merates four ch ief denominational fest ival s , corresponding to the four ch ief divis ion s of the H indurace . Thus Raksha B an dh an i s the festival forBrahmans , Durga Puj a for Ksh attr iyas, D iwal i forVaishyas , and H ol i for S udras . The above classifi

cation i s no doubt a very i ngen ious on e , founded asi t i s o n a superficial s imi larity between the essentialnature of a festival and the distinctive character ofthe caste whose special privi lege i t i s declared to be .Thus , Raksha B an dh an i s unquestionably a Brahman festival , i nasmuch as Brahmans alone have


9 4 H INDU FASTS AND FEASTS

notion that Raksha B an dh an was orig inal ly a distin ctively Brahman festival , and whatever the o ri

ginal mode of celebrati ng i t might have been , therei s n o doubt that the presen t fash ion of observi ng i t i s l ittl e short o f a regular system of l evyingblackmai l . I t i s treated as a great harvest-day by

Brahman s of the priestly order,and the mendicant

class,who wander about the town al l day

,from

sunri se to sunset,carrying a bundle o f Rakshas

,

’

vi si ting the houses of the rich and wel l -to -do,

tying a Raksha round thei r wrist,wherever they

can,hanging on unt i l they have received a cash

present , and then departing to repeat the sameperformance i n as many more places as theycan go to . I f they happen to meet any of the i rcl ientele on the road

,they waylay h im there

,and

ins ist o n tv i ng a Raksha round h i s wri st,however

unwil l i ng he may be to be manacled i n th i s manneri n the publ i c streets . The merest chance of anacquaintance

,the most casual contact

,the

remotest connection i s enough to establ i sh a bond

o f relationsh ip between you and a Brahman of th i sclass

,entitl i ng h im to the privi lege of tying a

Raksha ’ round your arm,wherever he may happen

to catch you on th i s day . D i scharged cooks , whether of your own house or of that of a friend atwhose place you have once dined ; post and telegraph peons

,who happen to be Brahmans by caste

RAKSHA B ANDHAN 95

Brahman constables attached to the Pol i ce stationunder whose j uri sd i ction you l ive now o r ever l ivedi n the past ; nephew s of a former Ch aukidar o r

Chaprasi o f your office ; not to speak of all

Brahman members of your presen t domestic andoffice establ i shment , —al l these have a strong claimupon your wrist and your purse , a claim that theyexerci se not on ly by right of thei r Brahman ical blood ,but also on the strength of thei r or thei r ancestors ’

present o r past connection with you , i n your privateo r publ i c capaci ty, o r with on e of your own an ces

tors , i n h is private or publ i c capacity. I once ordered a pair of boots from a wel l -known local firm of

shoemakers . Thi s was i n the month of S eptember,some six weeks after the Raksha B an dhan festival .The boots were del ivered at my house by a Chaprasio f the firm . Next year , e leven months after theboots were made , and when I had hal f worn themo ut, th e same Chaprasi—or at any rate , he claimedto be the same , and I th ink tru ly, el se he wouldnever have known that I once committed the ind iscret ion of ordering a pair o f boots to be del iveredat my house by a Chapras i—wel l , the same Chapras i presented h imsel f before me , with a mostamiable smile on h is l i ps , and offered to tie aRaksha ro und my wri st. H e fel t a l i tt l e surpri sedat my bad memory when I stared blankly at h i sface ; and then he proceeded to remind me of the


happy circumstances under which I first made h isacquaintance . Neither o f us had time that day tomake o ur acquain tance any deeper, and so I badegood-bye to my friend with a smal l cash present ,which , whatever pocket i t might go into , was , i n sofar as i t went out of mine , so much added to theo riginal cost of my boots .

T h e fees which form the customary receipts ofBrahmans o n th is day are always paid in cash ,ranging from a pie to a rupee , according to themeans o f the giver or the rank of the receiver . Theact of tying the Raksha i s always accompanied bya classical ben edicdon , which , i n the mouth of

i l l i terate Brahmans , i s often un intel l ig ibly mispron o un ced , and which in its correct form runs asfol lows

an as? as? mu emit-fa? w as : I

ma m m nm : II a II

The mean ing of th i s stereotyped blessing i sThus I t ie the Raksha round your wr i st, —thesame which bound the arms of the mighty Bal i ,king of the D anavas . M ay the protection affordedby i t be eternal "

The reference i n the foregoing formula to RajaBal i woul d appear to g ive to Raksha B an dhan amost ancient origin , the exact date o f which cannotnow be determ ined ; but probably the name ofth i s legendary king i s i ntended to serve no other



worlds , the upper, nether, and surrounding air .Thereupon the gods , who were thus di spossessed

of thei r realms , appealed to Vi shn u for redress .

Vishn u l istened to thei r appeal , and i nfused aportion o f h i s essence i n to the body of a dwarf, andappeared o n earth as the Vaman a Avatara , o r the

Dwarf I ncarnation . N ow Raj a Bal i was i n thehabit o f giving away anyth ing to any on e wh o cameto ask fo r it,—a form of chari ty wh ich i s sti l l con si

dered the h ighest ; and Vishnu , knowing that theRaj a had bound h imsel f by such a vow , appearedbefore the king i n the shape o f a dwarf, and beggedas much land as he cou ld step i n three paces .The king thought i t was qu ite a trifl ing gi ft thatthe dwarf had sol ic ited—three steps o f ground ,measured out by the tal lest man , was not at al l aconsiderabl e g i ft for any king , much less , whenmeasured out by a l i ttl e dwarf. Bal i of coursegranted th e gi ft, but fel t rather amused at th i si nsign ifican t peti tion wh ich came with such a contrast after the mun ificen t gifts to which he hadbecome accustomed . J ust as h i s boon was granted

,

the dwarf swel led h imsel f i nto a giant ’s bul k andstature

,and i n two mighty strides stepped across

the whole o f heaven and earth , and then askedBal i i n what region he was to find the th i rd step o f

ground that he had been promised . Bal i repl ied,

I have n o more land to give than you have legs

RAKSHA B ANB HAN 99

to measure i t with . At th i s , Vishnu miraculouslyshot forth a th ird leg from his navel

,and Showing

i t to Bal i demanded the unpaid balance . F i ndingh imsel f qu ite vanquished , Bal i placed the th ird footupon h i s head , and Vishn u p inned h im down in tothe in terior o f the earth . The gods were n ow free

to re-ente r thei r realms ; but Bal i’ s last act of

charity , although it brought about h i s di sappearance from the world , did not go absol utely uure

warded ; for Vishnu made h im King o f Patala , o r

the nether world , where he i s bel ieved to be exer

cis ing h is sovere ignty to th i s day .

XI

Krish n ash tami

Krish n ash tami o r Krishna Jah ma Ashtami i sthe bi rthday o f Krishna , and is hence regarded ason e of the hol iest days i n the H indu calendar

,for

Krishna i s worsh ipped not as a mere A va tara , or

person ification of a s i ngle divi ne attri bute , but asGod H imsel f who appeared on earth i n h uman shapei n the D wapara Yuga . H is birth in mortal formtook place o n the eighth day of the wan ing moo n inthe dark fortn ight of B hadra , j ust at the hour ofmidn ight , and at the precise moment of the moon

’ sentrance into the asteri sm Roh in i. The event i scelebrated as a rel ig ious festival by H indus of al lsects and creeds , though only o n e of them , theVaishnavas , regard the iden t i ty of Krishna with theSupreme Being as part of thei r formal art ic les offaith

,—formal , because in practice every H indu re

cogn ises and worsh ips every god and goddess , behe a Shaiva o r a Vaishnava , or a S hakta , o r on e

unin itiated i nto any special sect . The customarymode of observing th i s sacred birthday i s a fast ,partial or total . A partial ’ fast cons ists i n a



gay procession was pass ing through the c i ty,a voice

from heaven smote Kansa ’ s ears , saying , Beware,

for the eighth ch i ld born to the princess i n the carthat thou art driving now, Shal l be thy SlayerKansa started to hear th i s i l l -omened prophecy

,and

h is first impulse was to put h i s s ister Devaki to instan t death , and thereby precl ude al l poss ibi l i ty o f

danger from that quarter . But Vasudeva pacifiedhi s impuls ive rage by a solemn promise to del iveri nto h is hands al l the ch i ldren that might be born toDevaki . Years elapsed , and when Devaki was ex

pected to be confined of her eighth ch i ld , Kansaremoved the mother to hi s own palace , and placedthe strictest guard over her person , l est an attemptshould be made to save the ch i ld by steal th . NowVasudeva had been forewarned by a divine messagethat the eighth ch i ld would be an i ncarnation ofGod ,and that he would be d ivinely favoured in everyattempt that he might make to have the ch i ld secretly transferred to a neighbour

’ s house to spare i t fromthe wrath of Kansa . The pain s of Devaki commen c

ed j ust before midn ight . The utmost precautionwas taken to keep the news from spreading beyondthe wal l s o f her chamber . Happi ly , the senti nel splaced to guard Devaki ’ s door were pl unged in Sleep ,—yoga -n iara , as the sacred h istorian puts i t, thati s , a kind of enchanted or hypnotic sleep inducedby supernatural agency. Rain was pouring i n

KR I S H N A S H T A M I 103

torrents , and l urid flashes o f l ightn ing were c l eavi ngthe sky , when at the hour of m idn ight Kri shna cameinto the world , i n the shape of a human i n fant of darkcomplexion and of uncommon beauty of form . I twas in al l us ion to h i s dark complexion that the childreceived the name of Kri shna , the word l i teral lymean ing black .

’ Now Vasudeva had come to learn

th at a female ch i ld had j ust about that hour been

born to h i s neighbour,Nanda , the cowherd king of

Gokul , whose palace was si tuated at a short di stance

from M ath ura on the other s ide o f the Jamuna .

With the i nfant Kri shna in h i s arms , Vasudevaboldly stepped forth i n to the midn ight

,and wading

through the flooded streets came to the bank of theriver Jamuna . The river was i n flood the heavymonsoon rai n had made the ford impassable noboat could be thought of on such a stormy n ightand for on e moment Vasudeva stood i n s i lence o nthe river-bank , plunged i n thought . S udden ly henoticed a j ackal wading through the river to theother s ide , and Vasudeva , encouraged by th i s un ex

pected discovery o f a ford , stepped into the water,gu iding hi s way by the g leams of l ightn ing wh ichsti l l flashed across the scowl ing sky . J ust as he wasi n mid-stream , says the story , the Jamuna fel t amaternal longing to c lasp the i n fant god once i nher arms , so that the l i ttle ch i ld accidental ly s l ippedi nto the water, but was immediately picked up again ,


and taken safely to the house of Nanda . WhenVasudeva reached the place he found the whole househushed i n sleep . Nanda ’s wi fe , Jasoda , who had j ustbefore been del ivered of a daughter, was ly ing in asemi-unconscious s tate , and Vasudeva had therefore n o difficul ty i n gain ing entrance into her roomand i n effecting a secret exchange of the two babes ,placing the infan t Krishna be side the breast o f

Jasoda, and carrying Jasoda’

s daughter i n h i s armsal l the way back to M athura and during the whol eof th i s t ime not a l iving creature knew anyth ing ofwha t was happen ing . I t was not unti l the changel i ng baby began to cry i n Devaki ’ s room that theroyal guards came to know that a babe had beenborn , and they l ost n o t ime i n sending a report tothei r master to tha t effect . That very n ight Kansarepaired to D evaki ’ s room and seized the in fant ,without suspecting anyth ing amiss . Coming out

of the room into the courtyard , he dashed the

babe against a stone slab , and thought h imselfn ow safe But j ust then a bo d i less voice criedo ut from abo ve , W

' hat boots it , crue l Kansa ,thus to slay a helpless babe on the bel ief thatthou hast destroyed thy enemy ? Thy enemysti l l l ives,—a mighty on e among the gods . NowJaso da

’

s daughter , she that was born synch ronouslywith Krishna

,was no human creature at al l , but

Jogamaya , the goddess of i l l usion , who had taken


106 H INDU FA STS AND FEASTS

frustrate the boy ’ s i ngen ious devices to get at thesetempting viands , whenever he was minded to do so .

One day Jasoda was churn ing mil k, and the boyrepeatedly toddled up to her

,attempting to seize

the butter, and the mother as repeatedly caughthold of the boy and seated h im away i n anotherroom , unti l she fel t obl iged to resort to stronger

measures . 8 0 she bound the chi ld ’s hands and feetwith a piece of cloth , and tethered h im to a

pi l lar . But 10 the very next moment the ch i ld hadfreed h imsel f from his fetters and was toddl ing upto the churn with a tri umphant chuckle .

This was , however, o n e o f the pettiest of h ismiracles . There was a mon strous serpen t i n theneighbourhood o f Gokul , known by the name of

Kal iya,and the youth fu l Kri shna , then on ly a boy

of s ix or seven , boldly seized i ts crest, and mountingi ts head danced upon i t with the gleefu l a ir of ach i ld . On another occasion , when Kri shna was

about ten years old , the people of M athura andBrindaban were visi ted by a plague of rain , sen tdown by the god I ndra , out o f spite for the growinghomage wh ich Krish na was receiving at the handsof those peop le , who were gradual ly renouncingtheir worsh ip of the older gods . The rai n poured

for seven days and seven n ights i n success ion , unti lthe whole local i ty was threatened with a seriousdeluge . Krishna l i fted up mount Gobardhan

,a

KRI S H N A S H T AM I 107

small h i l l wh ich sti l l stands i n the neighbourhood ofM athura , and held i t aloft o n the t ip of h i s l i ttlefinger to protect the affected area from in undation .

An earl ier miracle relates to a fearful Rakshasi ofthe time , named Putana . This sorceress crept i ntoKri shna ’ s room o n e day , when the ch i ld was asleep

i n hi s cradle , and with the in ten tion of ki l l i ng thechi ld , she proceeded to suckle i t with her poisonedmilk , which was so deadly that a s ingle drop wasenough to ki l l the health iest babe . But Krishnadrew her breast with such force that he drained off

her very l i feblood , and the wicked woman d ied onthe spot amid sh rieks o f agony .

But h is most importan t miracle was the one he

performed shortly before leaving M athura , —namely ,the s laying o f Kansa in a personal combat wi th inthe precincts of the royal palace i tsel f—the l ion i nh is own den . Kansa was holding a reception o f

pri nces and ch iefs i n h i s great audience hal l , andhe had del iberately excl uded Krishna from i nvitat ion . Krishn a fel t th is as a grave i n su l t , and to

clear h i s honour, he marched up to the palace , butcould not en ter, because the gates were guardedby a lordly tusker

,who swung h is head and trunk

backwards and forwards , barring al l i ngress .Krishna had therefore to knock o ff the head of th i sh uge senti nel , and then entering the king

’ s reception room , chal lenged h im to a private encounter


then and there . I t was no t long before he overpowered h is adversary, and with one sweep o f h ishand cut off the head o f the hatefu l tyrant , whosedeath had been the purpose for wh ich he hada ssumed mortal form . Kri shna ’ s miss ion was nowaccompl i shed , and shortly after that he l eft M athuraand migrated to Guj arat, of which place he became

king . There be fixed h i s cap ital at Dwarika,on the

seacoast, and conver ted i t i nto a flouri sh ing port .D warika i s n ow a famous place of pi lgrimage onthe west coast .The subsequent h istory o f Kri shna is i nterwoven

with the story of the M ah abhara ta . Worsh ippers

o f Krishna draw a distinction (without a difference)between Kri shna , the cowherd boy of Brindaban ,a n d Kri shna , the king of Gujarat , the friend andkin sman o f the P andavas , the counsel lor andcharioteer o f Arj una , i n the battle of Kuruksh etra ,

the preacher of the B hagavad Gita . Accordingto particular sects , i t i s th e boyhood of Krishna ,extending up to the age of twelve , that constitutes

a fit obj ect of contemplation and worship for thedevout sou l ; the latter part of Kri shna

’ s career i s ,they say, i n tended to present an ideal of manhoodto those who set action above contemplation , whoregard character as a more needfu l asset thanspiritual i ty, i n a word , those who seek God al ongthe broad h ighways o f l i fe , and not through th e



There i s a curious superstition that the H indushave derived from the birthday of Kri shna

,-namely

,

that as Krishna , who was born i n the asterism of

Roh im’

, proved to be the slayer o f h is maternaluncle , Kansa , so the birth of any male ch i ld i n thatconj unctio n of planets forebodes evi l to the maternaluncle o f that ch i ld ; and tradition says that therewere in stances in the old days where such i l l -fated

ch i ldren were secretly put to death .

As Rama N avami i s the ch ief festival o f the

votaries o f Rama , and as S h ivaratr i i s the mostsacred day among the fol lowers of S h iva , so i sKrish n ash tami the principal celebration u tsa '

va

among the Vaishnavas , though , i n these days , sincethe revival of the H indu rel ig ion after the decay o f

Buddhism , the festival i s observed as solemnly byother sects as by the most zealous members of the

Krishna cult . I t i s on e of those few fest ival s thatare observed al l over India , because i t i s assoc iatedwith a name that i s revered in every distri ct andevery province of th i s large conti nent . I f we wereasked to pick o ut two names that are most revered

,

from among the three -and-th irty crores o f namesheld in reverence by H i ndus al l over the world ,those two names would be Krishna and Rama

,

Krishna first , and Rama second ; the priority of

Kr i shna i n popular estimation being due to theposteriori ty o f hi s date of appearance among men

,

KR I S H N A S H T AM I 1 1 1

fo r the rule i n rel ig ion , as the H indu understandsi t, i s the same law of nature which makes thefresher seed produce the health ier crop .

XII

A n an ta Ch aturdash i

Ananta Chaturdash i, popularly cal led Anan ta,

i s a festival of the second order, - if on e may fitlycal l i t a festival , and if i t be not heresy to arrangethe H indu festiva l s i n a h ierarch ical series . I t i sheld every year o n the fourteenth day of the mooni n the l ight hal f of B h adra , that i s , three weeksafter the Janmash tami. I t i s more o f a puj a (aform of worsh ip) than a paroa (a festival) that i sto say, there i s noth ing social or corporate about theobservan ce o f i t ; i t i s on ly a day set apart for theworsh i p o f Vishnu

,Ananta (or the Eternal ) being

o n e of the n umerous names o f the Preserver. Thetrue orig in o f the observance cannot be stated withcertainty, any more than we could i n the case ofthe S h ivaratr i. Like the S h ivaratri, the presentfest ival finds a mention i n the M ahabharata , and i nthe same apocryphal book —the S han ti P aroa .

Like the S h ivaratri, i t was first publ ic ly i nauguratedby a king of the l unar race . There i s a resemblanceeven i n the names of the two kings who firsti nstituted the S h ivaratri and the Ananta festival ,


1 14 HINDU FASTS AND FE ASTS

H indu world . One can easi ly fancy th i s cleverVaishnava bard saying to himsel f I s Vishnu thePreserver to be beaten by Shiva the D estroyer Noi f S h iva has h i s Sh iva Chaturdash i, Vishnu shal lhave h is Ananta Ch aturdash i i f Sh iva receives h isyearly homage i n spring , Vishnu shal l have i t i nautumn i f S h iva ’s vrata was first promulgated byking Chitra Bhan u of the l unar race , Vishnu

’ s worsh ipshal l al so have roya l sanction from a king of thesame dynasty, and a queen too , and the king shal lbe one bearing nearly the same name—we shal l cal lh im Ch itran gada , and give to h i s queen the name o fChitra Rekha and i f Sh iva ’ s holy fast i s worthy ofcommemoration i n scripture , I wi l l not be backward in finding for Vishnu ’ s hol ier fast a place i nthe very same chapter and verse .

”

Thi s i s probably the correct orig in of the Ananta

fast . There can be no doubt that i f we bel ieve one

to be model led after the other, we must take Sh ivaratri to be the orig inal and Ananta the copy

,

because , h istori cal ly, Vaishnavism i s a later phase

of the H indu rel ig ion than Shaivi sm . There i s oneother possibi l i ty—that both accounts may have beenevolved out of the same head and inserted by thesame hand i n thei r presen t place . For the Mah a

bh arata , i n i ts present form , i s not the work of as ingle author, but a work that went on growingwith the growth of centuries an d as the late M r .

ANA N T A CH A T U RD A S H I 1 15

R . C . Dutt says , every generation o f poets hadsomething to add every distant nation i n NorthernI ndia was anxious to i nterpolate some accoun t o f i tsdeeds i n the old record of the i nternational war ;every preacher o f a new creed desired to have i nthe old Epic some sanction for the new truths heinculcated .

”

The customary Observances connected with theAnanta festival are o f the s implest kind , consistingch iefly i n wearing on the arm , j ust above the elbowjoin t , a holy thread , usual ly dyed i n ye l low,

andmade of cotton or si l k yarn twisted ornamental lyi nto fourteen knots—the fourteen being emblematicof the fourteenth day of the moon on which the festival i s held . Th i s holy thread , which i s al so cal ledAnanta , i s , previous to wearing , duly consecratedby offerings of tulasi l eaves (tulasi or holy Basi lbeing a plant sacred to Vi shnu , and being i tsel fworsh ipped as a de ity) , offerings o f flowers andl ibation s o f Ganges water, made to the accompan iment of proper man tras . I n the case of females

(for females are not excluded from th is holy fast , orfrom the S h ivaratri e i ther), the holy thread is tied

round the left arm , whereas i n the case of males i ti s fastened round the right arm . The fast observed

on th i s day i s n ot a total fast the on ly restrictionthat i s made i n the matter of food i s that sal ti s absol utely forbidden , but grain food i s n ot

H INDU FASTS A N D FE ASTS

disal lowed . I n th is respect the Ananta fast is farless rigid than its rival S h ivaratri, and th i s i s because i t i s a Vaishnava fast . For the Vai shnavasd iscountenance the practice o f those hard austeritiesthat the Shaivas regard ' as the on ly path to salvation . Vermicel l i boi led in milk and sugar i s held to

be the special d ish o n the day of the Ananta fest ival .

Of course,only on e meal i s taken during the day,

shortly after noon , and th is i s first offered to thegod o f the day and then partaken by the memberso f the fam ily as prasad (or sacred remnant of anyfood which i s bel ieved to have been first tasted bya god) , —by those members wh o are keeping the fastas wel l as by tho se who are not . Orthodox Vaishnavas keep the Ananta thread on for a whole year,that i s , ti l l the next season , when they discard the

o ld on e and put on a new .

The Mahabha rata l egend giving the orig in ofthe Ananta festival run s as fol lows —There was

,

i n the D wapara age , a ki ng named Ch itran gada ,of

the l unar race , who was unequal led i n piety, saveby h i s wi fe , Chitra Rekha . The king and queen

once received a direct commandment from Vishn uto observe the Ananta w ata . Straight the kingordered a magnificen t temple to be rai sed to Vishnu

,

and when the bui ld ing was completed , he cleared i twith h is own hands , and placed an image of the godtherein , and had the shrine and idol both duly



Creator to operation . He summoned Vishwakarma ,the sculptor of the gods , and said unto h im : M akeme the image of a maiden of such beauty that shemay i ndeed be peerless among earth ly creatures .”

Vishwakarma at once compl ied with the wi shes of

D wapara , and made a maiden of peerless beauty,whom he named M oh in i the captivating on e andwhen M ob in i , after being endowed with l i fe by theCreator

,presented hersel f before D wapara , the latter

asked her to go down to the world o f mortal s , takeher stand on M ount D ibya , and there hold Raj a

Ch itran gada i n remembrance , and , when sh e sawhim , dissuade him from observing the Ananta vra ta ,

n ot by threat o r persuasion , but by cunn ing stratagem .

The maiden did as she had been commanded . As thefates had pre -ordained , Ch itran gada happened j ustthen to be on a vis i t to the same mountain , i nthe course of a hunti ng expedi tion . S ee ing a lovelymaiden on the top of the h i l l , the Raja was captivatedby her beauty , and he stepped up to her and said ,Who are yo u , fai r maiden , and o f what high l ineage Where i s your home Tel l me truly, Ochaste on e . Your beauty i s simply ravish ing ; i t i sfi t to win the heart of I ndra and the other gods .But let me first i ntroduce myself—My name i sCh itran gada , and I am a king of the l unar dynasty.

My heart h as been fi l l ed with love for you . I pray

you, do consent to be my beloved queen .

”

ANANTA CH A T U RD A S H I 1 19

The maiden repl ied,I have n o father, n o

mother, being sel f-created , and th i s same mountaini s my lonely home . M y name i s M ob in i , and Iam wi l l i ng to offer my hand to you ,

—but on on e

condition , namely , that you make a solemn prom i se

always to do whatever I te l l you , and never to sayme nay

,even i f the three worlds were i n j eopardy.

”

The Raj a made a solemn promise to that effectwithout a moment ’ s delay , and the maiden thengladly consented to be hi s queen . The same n ightthe Raj a was wedded to th i s maiden on the h i l l-topby the ancien t priest of the l unar kings , named

Kan kayan . N ext day the k ing brought h i s newlywedded wife to h i s palace , and made her h i s ch ief

o r sen ior queen . D ays passed on i n happiness , andwhen the Ananta season came round i n due course ,the king and h i s old queen , Chitra Rekha , kept thei rusual fast , and observed the yearly ri te i n thecustomary style , by making g ifts o f l and and kineto Brahmans , and doles of grain and cash to thepoor . Sudden ly i t flashed upon the mind of M obin ithat she had been special ly commiss ioned—crea ted ,i n fact—to cause a viol ation of the king ’ s observance of the Ananta fast , and she at once ap

proach ed the Raj a and said to him , Why are you

keeping a fast to-day ? What i s the good of performing such an austere form o f penance ? Letme ask you to renounce i t , and to take your meal

120 H I NDU FASTS AND FE ASTS

i n the usual way, for, I tel l you , the greatest s in i sto perpetuate a sin .

”

These words fel l upon the Raja l ike a bol t fromthe bl ue he was first struck aghast at the blasphemy ,and then fel l i n to a rage , hi s eyes flaming withwrath and h is l ips qu ivering with emotion . But he

exercised h is wonted sel f-control , and regain ingh is cool ness he repl ied , You women are a s impleminded race , n ot g ifted with any capaci ty to understand these occult truths . Th is i s the AnantaVrata , famous al l over the world , observed by h ighand low al ike ,—and do you ask me to violate i t ?Wel l , women are an ignorant herd , rarely po ssessedof reason , and I do not know how to convince you

o f the rightness and wrongness o f th ings . Byobserving th is holy fast , al l trace of sorrow and s invan ishes for ever , and the bl i ss of heaven becomesassured . Now l isten to the story of my l i fe i n myprevious bi rth , so that you might know why I haveundertaken a vow to keep th i s fast every year . I nmy former birth I was a Sudra , addicted to vice ,hardened i n s in , a shameless vi l lain , a confirmeddrunkard , a habitual s layer of beasts and birds .M y evi l l i fe led my brethren to turn me out of theirfold . I n a fit of rage I betook myself to a darkforest where I soon began to die o f hunger andth irst . S uddenly I came upon a temple dedi catedto Vishnu , with in which I sought shel ter for the


122 H INDU FASTS A N D FE ASTS

repl ied , Lady, i t shal l never be my lot to break ananc i en t vow , o r to prove false to my own word . Ishal l much rather g ive up my l ife .

So saying the Raj a summoned h i s eldest son,

a n d making over the sceptre o f sovereignty to

h im , said , I am going to sacrifice my l i fe at thea l tar of Truth . The palace , the th rone , the kingdomare al l yours n ow . Rule j ustly, reverence the gods ,a n d pay due honour to Brahmans .”

With these words the king placed h imsel f i n a

posture of deep meditation (yoga ) and passed awayinto eternal bl i ss . After h i s death , a proclamationwas made throughout h i s terri tories to the effectthat no man should make a promise to h i s wi fe .

”

XII I

M ah alaya A mavasya

Amavasya i s the last day of the dark fortn ight

of a l unar month , and i s i n every season cons ideredby the H indus to be a day especial ly set apart fo r

the performance of rel ig ious ceremon ies i n honouro f the spir i ts of departed ancestors . Of al l

Amavasyas , the o n e that i s un iversal ly observed asthe ch ief day fo r the worsh ip of the dead , i sM ah alaya , the fi fteenth o r l ast day of the moonlessfortn ight of the month o f Kuar o r A swin (September-October). The whole o f the fortn igh t precedingM ah alaya i s col lectively cal led the Pitri Paksha ,o r the fortn ight sacred to the memory of departedancestors . Every day o f th i s fortn ight i s sacred

,

and witnesses the observance of various ceremon iesi n honour of the dead by thousands o f Hindus i nevery part o f I ndia . A wel l -known Sanskri t text

says , Each day of th i s holy fortn ight i s equal i npoint of sanctity to a day spent at Gaya ,

”—Gayabeing the place regarded as hol iest for al l kinds of

rel igious ri tes i n memory o f the dead . Whateverthe actual date of a man ’ s death may be , h i s

124 H I NDU FASTS A N D FEASTS

S raddh a (or annual worsh ip of h is departed spirit)must be performed on on e of the days of th is part icular fortn ight . I f a man ’ s father d ied , say, on anE kadash i (the eleventh day of the moon , waxing orwan ing) , the E kadash i o r eleventh day of th is holyfortn ight i s observed as a day of special rel igiousri tes i n h is memory, the gen eralworsh ip o f h is spi ri tbeing , however, contin ued throughout the fortn ight .And s ince there are only fifteen days of the moon

,

every day of this fortn ight i s a day of S raddha forsome i ndividual or other. S ometimes the day of theful l moon (P urn amash i) immediately precedin g thecommencement of the dark fortn ight i s i ncl uded in thePitri Paksha , which i s thus extended to s ixteen daysi n order to g ive a chance of perform i ng S raddha tothose who may have lost o n e o f thei r ancestors o nthe day of a ful l moon .

One day of th is ancestral fortn ight , namely, then inth , i s set apart for the worship of dead femaleancestors

,especial ly the mother ; and hence th i s day

is cal led ‘M atri N avami. ’ The annual oblations to al l

female ancestors must be offered on th i s n inth day ofthe moon , i rrespect ive of the titki of thei r death .

The first hal f of the month o f Kuar—the PitriPaksha—i s con sidered sacred to the memory ofdeceased ancestors i n accordance with a bel ief

,which

finds mention i n the H indu scriptures , that as soon asthe sun enters the s ign of Kanya or Virgo

,the spirits


126 HINDU FASTS A N D FE ASTS

H indus as a prel imi nary even to the worship of thegods .

The princ iples of ancestor-worsh ip are perfectlyi ntel l ig ible . The dead ancestor i s de ified into ahousehold god , and i s bel ieved to be sti l l protectingh is own family and receiving worsh ip and reverencefrom h is descendan ts as of old ; i ndeed , from hi spresent posit ion among the blessed sp irits , he i sregarded as wielding greater authori ty and enti tledto greater veneration that when he dwel t on earth .

Ancestor-worship i s o n e of the earl iest attemptsmade by the H indu mind to solve the problems ofl ife

,death , and etern i ty , and the old sol ution i s

none the worse for being so old ; for ancestorworsh ip sti l l forms a l ivi ng part of the dai ly fai th

o f the whole H indu world , the only exception s beingthose few who i n thei r headlong zeal for reformhave not scrupled to tran sgres s the barriers of

society and rel ig ion al ike.

Ancestor-worsh ip , such as i t prevai ls i n I ndia ,does not , however, mean that all the ancestors of aH indu are worsh ipped by h im during the ancestralfortn ight . I t i s on ly those who have lost thei rfather that owe th i s sacred duty those wh o havetheir father sti l l al ive are exempt from thi sobl igation . Thi s shows that the so -cal led an

castor-worship i s real ly the worsh ip of the spiri tof the deceased fath er alone , though as a matter

M A H ALAYA 127

of fact the grandfather and the next ancestor al socome in fo r thei r share of the offerings andoblation s . But these latter on ly derive thei r righ tfrom the father, and are worsh ipped after thefather . The father i s i n H indu households regard

ed as the earthly representative of God ; he i s thepresen t God—the vis i ble , l ivi ng incarnat ion o f theSupreme Being , and i s therefore an o bj ect o f dai lyworsh ip ; and the same father, when departed from

the world,conti n ues to be the prime obj ec t of

worsh ip as long as the son l ives , even after the sonh imself has become a father o r grandfather .

The ceremon ies customary i n th i s season are oftwo kinds ( l ) the S raddh a , which i s performed on

o n e day of th i s fortn ight , the day corresponding tothe titki of the death (2) the T a rpan a , o r offeri ngof water, which i s con ti n ued every day throughoutthe fortn ight . The term S raddha l iteral ly sign i

fies a gift offered with faith o r s imply a piousofferi n g —not necessari ly to an ancestor, but toany dead relat ion to whom th i s honour i s due .

There are twelve kinds of S raddha enumerated inthe Shastras , i n addit ion to the ann ual S raddhaperformed duri ng the Pi tr i Paksha , which , though

of yearly recurrence , i s i n no way less elaborate i nceremon ial than the obsequ ies performed on th eeleventh day after the actual death o f an ancestor,the only difference being that the latte r function i s

128 H I N DU FASTS A N D FEASTS

accompan ied by mul ti farious gifts of food , cloth ingand utensi l s , which are dispensed with i n the caseo f th is annual S raddha . I n al l forms of S raddhathe chief act i s the offering of pin da o r bal l s o f

cooked ri ce and l ibations of water to the accompan iment o f proper prayers .

The term ‘ Tarpana ’ l i teral ly means refreshment ,

’

o r more preci sely ‘ a refresh ing drin k of

water. ’ I t i s d ivided i nto three parts , as thel i bation s are offered first to the gods , next to ther ish is o r sages , and lastly to the ancestors . Thegods special ly named are Brahma , Vishnu , Rudra ,and Prajapati ; the sages too are mentioned byname

,and they are the pri ncipal sages honoured

by the whole H indu world,—B h rigu , Narad , Atri ,

Vasish th a , A n giras , M aricha , &c . The ancestorstoo must be mentioned by name , the father bei ngthe first to receive h i s share ; next comes thegrandfather , and then the great-grandfather ; thencome the mother, the grandmother, and the greatgrandmother,—making up s ix i n al l i n the paternall i ne . Then come the maternal ancestors , threemale and three female , —the females o f the lattergroup receiving on ly a single l ibati on , whereasal l others receive three each . After these come thecol l ateral ancestors

,and al l others (n ot spec ified by

name) wh o have died ch i ldless , and who have therefore no direct representative to offer oblation s to



These strict rules furn i sh the H indu with the wel lknown argument for the necessi ty o f marriage andthe procreation of male i ssue . The annual ceremon ies o f S raddh a and T arpan a are to be contin uedunti l the departed spiri t , i n whose honor these areperformed , attain s beatification , which usual ly takesplace after three generation s , and then the soulpasses i nto a state o f blessedness and ceases to

i nfluence the descendants for good or evi l . Thesacred grain s used i n the S raddh a and the T a rpa n aare barley and sesamum seed . Shavi ng or cuttingthe hair, o r even paring the nai l s , i s forbidden o n the

day of S raddh a , but some peop le abstain from theseduring the whole o f the Pitri Paksha, derivi ng th i s

practice from one popularly attri buted to a l egendary king , named Karna . The story goes that Raj aKarna made a vow that he would not break his fastdai ly unti l he had given a maund and a quarter ofgold to Brahmans . Afte r h i s death he wen t to heaven

,where he was lodged i n a palace o f gold

,and

was g iven noth ing but gold for h i s food and drink,

for i n h is l i fe h i s on ly g i ft i n charity had beengold . I n h i s di stress he asked as a boon to be

al lowed to go back to earth fo r fifteen days . T h e

boon was granted , and he occup ied h imsel f during h i st ime of grace i n g ivi ng away large quantit ies of foodto the hungry , and was so busy al l th is time thathe neglected to bathe, shave o r wash h is c lothes .

M A H A LAYA 13 1

The place which i s he ld to be special ly sacredfor purposes of S raddh a i s Gaya , a town about sixtymiles south -west o f Patna . The obj ect of the annual

S raddh a i s to hasten the progres s o f the sou lth rough the various stages of spi ri tual exi stence ;and i f the ceremony i s performed at Gaya i t i s believed that the length of these in tervi tal periodsi s cut short cons iderably , and the soul passes at abound into Vaikun th a , or the paradise o f Vishnu .

The P h algu river at Gaya is a stream sacred to the

Sp iri ts o f departed ancestors . I t i s o n the banks ofth i s river, o r at the Vish n upada Temple , that the

S raddha at Gaya must be performed , and i t i s saidthat at the concl us ion of the ceremony

,when the

cakes are reverently deposi ted i n the river,the

spi r i ts of the an cestors are actual ly beheld i n bodi lyform , rece ivi ng the p ious oflerin g with a smi le o fsati sfaction . The sacred portion of the same riveri s said occasion al ly to flow with mi l k, but the mi l knever appears to the eye o f unbel i evers o r thosewho are wanting in the necessary degree o f reverence . Even when the S raddh a i s performed elsewhere , the offered cakes are , at the end of the ceremony , directed towards Gaya by appropriateholy texts .

I l l usion s l ike the above may not be mere i l l us ion safter al l i t depends upon the sp iri t of the age andupon the faith o f the individual h ow these state

132 H I NDU FASTS AND FEASTS

men ts are i n terpreted . I f al l the vi sible and in vi

s i bl e phenomena o f the un iverse be reduced to mereman i festation s o f M atter and M otion , ancestorworsh ip i s i ndeed fut i le ; but i f M i nd be an agentworking unseen behind the scenes

,then probably

ancestor-worsh ipzmay be taken as a powerful sou rceo f divine inspiration i n moments o f difficu l ty, dark

ness , and doubt, and as on e o f the most potentfactors i n bringing about peace , and puri ty, andhol i ness i n human l i fe

H ow pure at h eart an d soun d in h ead ,W ith w h at divin e affection s bo ldSh ould be th e man wh ose th ough t wou ld h old

A n h our’s commun ion w ith th e dead .

In vain sh alt th ou , o r an y , callT h e spir its from th eir go lden day ,

E xcept , like th em , th ou too can st say ,

My spir it is at peace w ith all.

Th ey h aun t th e silen ce of th e breast ,Imagin ation s calm an d fair ,T h e memory like a cloudless air ,

T h e con scien ce as a sea at r est

B ut wh en th e h eart is full o f din ,

A n d doubt beside th e porta l waits,Th ey can but listen at th e gates ,

A n d h ear th e h ouseh old jar w ith in .

”

—Ten n yson I n M emor iam.



Being , and not merely, as he i s dimly represented i nthe Vedas , o n e of the tri n ity of Brahma the Creator,Vishn u the Preserver and Sh iva the Destroyer. Hei s al so regarded as iden tified with every form andforce i n nature , and yet thought of as a person alGod ,who possesses a bodi ly form , and can th ink, andfeel , and act . Vaishnavism i s aki n to S haiv ism i ni ts being a monothei sti c fai th and i n setti ng asidethe tr i une equal ity of Brahma

,Vish nu and Sh iva .

The Vaishnavas regard Vishnu alone as the on e trueGod , espec ial ly as man i fested i n the i ncarnation ofKr i shna . These two creeds agree i n di ssentingfrom the impersonal panthei sm o f earl ier sects

,

whose o n e God is the immaterial substratum ofevery th ing , an imate and inan imate . They alsoagree i n holding that th i s personal God—S h iva orVi shn u— i s a male being , but that , whenever he wi l l s

to put forth energy fo r the creation o f a worldexternal to h imsel f, h i s nature becomes duplex . Theidea o f th i s dual ity o f the d ivi ne nature gave birthto the conception of Shakti , the female co unterpart

of the Omnipoten t, —and th i s conception came i ntime to be more honoured and propitiated than the‘

male conception . Hence i t i s that the worsh ippers

o f S hakti became more fervent i n thei r faith andmore zealous i n thei r devotion than the worshippers

o f e ither Sh iva or Vi shnu . Shakti sm , however,underwent a series o f modificati ons , both i n doctri ne

DURGA PUJA 135

a n d i n ri tual , unti l i t reached i ts l owest phase i nthe hor rid rites of the Tantras . The objectionablee lements o f Tantri c ritual caused a violen t reactionin favour o f the rival creed wh ich Shakti sm hadsupplanted , and the resul t was a revival of Vaishn avism . The detai l s o f the Durga Puj a are governedby Tantric texts , but the Puj a i s on e of the purestforms o f the worsh ip o f Shakti . The prayers and

man tras repeated o n the occasion are taken fromth e Tantras , but the Tantri c forms o f drunkenness ,debauchery and witchcraft were at n o time associated with the festival .

Original ly the Durga Puj a was held for n ine daysi n success ion , commencing with the bright fortn ighto f the month of Ch aitra (M arch-Apri l) , the wholePuj a season being col lectively cal led the N avara tra ,

o r‘the n ine n ights,

’—m’

gh t, because being essential ly

a Tantri c form o f worsh ip i t used to be conductedi n the secrecy o f the n ight . But later on the date o fthe Puj a was sh i fted forward so as to take place inthe moon l i t hal f o f Kuar o r A swz

’

n (SeptemberOctober), and th i s i s the time the festival i s held sti l l .There can be no doubt that both these dates wereconnected with the cutting o f the harvest , as Kuaran d Ch aitra have always been the two principalharvest season s i n I ndia . But the worsh ip , as a worsh ip , has noth ing to do with any agri cul tural operation s . I t i s bel ieved that th i s change of dates was


made by Rama,King o f Ayodhya , the hero o f the

Ramayan a , who invoked the goddess D urga forsupernatural aid i n h i s campaign again st Ravana ,the demon -king o f Lanka . T h e earl ier N avara tra

that of the month of Chaitra—sti l l conti n ues i nvogue under a different name , Vasan ti Puja ; but itsimportance as a form o f worsh ip has now greatlydecl i ned , and the fest ive character o f the seasoni s en ti re ly lost .But whi l e the old spring festival has lost i ts

festive accompan iments , the new autumn festivalhas gained , at least i n Upper I nd ia , elements offestivity that never belonged to the old Puja . Theseelements o f festivi ty are due to the associatio n ofth i s Puj a with the victories o f Rama, and it has ,s ince the age of Rama , been the practice of thepeople to celebrate these v ictories annual ly in theform of spectacular displays cal led the Ram Lila .

The Ram Lila i s an open-ai r dramatic representationof the principal i ncidents o f the Ramayan a , design edto in struct ignorant audiences i n the moral teachingsof the great H indu epic . Every city and town ,every populous vi l lage and mart holds its own

annual Ram Lila , and there i s much friendly rival ry

between neighbouring parties i n the pomp an d

splendour with wh ich they can accompany thei r

celebrations . The Ram Li la i s usual ly he ld for tendays , commencing with the N ava ra tra , and the


138 HINDU FASTS AND F B A S T S

immense effigy, made o f bamboo latti ce -work pastedo ver with paper

,i s set fire to and blown up with

fireworks at the conclus ion o f the performance .Th i s takes place on the tenth day , which i s cal ledVij aya D ash ami the victorious tenth i n al l us ionto Rama ’ s final v ictory over Ravana , which wasa chieved o n th i s tenth day of the moon o f Kuar .

The Ram Lila , however, i s connected with theDurga Puj a on ly by the bonds o f association i tdoes n o t form a factor of the rel ig ious ceremony,fo r the two celebration s are held i ndependently o feach other , and i n some parts o f I ndia on e or theo ther on ly holds the field .

The Durga Puj a lasts nomina l ly for n ine daysa n d n ine n ights , as the term Navaratra denotes ;but the last three days alone are considered importa n t, every hour of these being fi l led wi th elaborateceremon ies and with a con tin uous round o f feasti nga n d mer ry-making , especial ly among the younger

folk . Of these three days again , the middle o n e i sregarded as the most sacred , and hence i t i s knownas M aha Ashtami the great eighth because i t i so n th i s day that the hol iest puj a , cal led the S an dh iP uj a , takes place .

D urga P uj a i s the statel iest o f Hindu puj as, andi s o n e of the few i n which the re l igious duties d i scharged by the worshippers are of a corporate orcongregational nature . Not on ly are the expenses of

DURGA PUJA 139

the Puj a defrayed by vol untary subscription rai sedfrom among the wel l -to-do people of the town orvi l lage , but there i s even the offering up o f acommon prayer to a common deity by a company ofworsh ippers standing together at one spot i n front

o f the image . The image i tsel f i s placed i n the

centre of a lofty structure o f wicker-work,with a

semi - ci rcular top con tain i ng l i ttl e spaces i n whichare arranged , according to a prescribed order , aseries o f dimin utive images representing a var i ety

o f minor deities . Durga hersel f i s represented asa tal l woman with a fai r yel lowish complexion ,yel low bei ng the most sacred o f al l colours . S h e

has ten arms , each holding ei ther a weapon , suchas a scimitar, a cl ub , a bow and arrow,

a battle -axe ,o r el se some other su itable symbol

,such as a

c onch shel l , a revolving discus , a lotus flower . I no n e o f her lower arms she holds a tuft o f hai rbelonging to the head o f an Asu r, o r demon ,upon whom she tramples with on e foot , theother foot resting on the back o f a l ion . TheAsur o r demon below her foot i s M ah ish asur , ad emon who terrori sed the earth i n the form of aferoc ious buffalo , and to crush whom was one of thespecial mission s that D urga undertoo k to executei n the wo r ld of mortal s . For th i s reason thegoddess bears al so the

’

name of ‘M ah ish -mardin idestroyer o f the buffal o -demon The l ion i s the

1 40 H IN DU FASTS AND FEASTS

vaha n o f Durga , and th i s fact accounts for anothero f her thousand names S i ngha Vah in i o r rider

o f the l ion .

’ The image i s clothed i n a silk sa ree,

and each l imb is adorned with t i n sel ornaments of

gold and s i lver ti nge . On the head i s placed amukut o r crown . surmounted with an aigrette setwith sparkl ing beads o f varied colours . On therigh t s ide of Durga , stand Saraswati , the goddessof l earn ing , and a step lower, Ganesha , the elephant

headed god o f wisdom . On th e l eft s ide , standLakshmi , the goddess of wealth and beauty , and astep lower down , Kartik , the commander-in ~ch ief o f

the army of the gods . S araswat i and Lakshmi arethe daughte r s o f Durga ; Ganesha and Kartik areher sons

,—al l sprung from her marriage with S h iva .

The images of these four are sl ightly smal ler thanthe central image , and each is suppl ied with h i s o rher d istinctive symbol o f d ivin ity— the lotus flowerand conch shel l o f Lakshmi , the vin a o r harp ofSaraswati wh ile Kartik s its astride on a peacock ,and Ganesha i s mo unted on h is vahan of a mouse .

Each o f these seeming trifles has a spirituals ign ificance attached to i t i n the D evi P uran a ,

which i s one of the ‘ authorized ’ treatises o n th e

subj ect of Shakti worsh ip .

The offeri ngs made i n the Durga Puj a incl udespecimens of almost eve ry product o f the earthbelonging to the an imal , vegetable and mineral


1 42 H I NDU FASTS AND FEASTS

i ndispen sable,

—if only in the offeri ng o f a mock

sacrifice and some Hindu sects i n Raj putana andNepal observe the custom o f worsh ipping theancien t implements o f war at th is t ime . Thesword i s al so one of the symbol s o f Durga

,and i s

worsh ipped along with her.

There i s a special hour for the offeri ng o f sacrio

fices , and th i s hour may vary from year to year, asi t has to be determ ined by astronomical calculat ions .

Such i s the case also with the hours o f the morn ingand even ing worsh ip . For example , i n the year 19 13the exact time for the commencement of the morn ingworsh i p was fifty-one min utes , forty- three secondspast n ine , o n the day of M ah ash tami, whi le the time

for beg inn ing the even ing worsh ip was 37minutes , 13seconds past eleven . At these preci se moments i t i sbel ieved that the spi ri t of the goddess l ights uponthe image for a very brief space of t ime as longas a mustard seed can stand o n the poin ted edge of

Thi s phrase , stripped of ornament ,a cow ’ s horn .

’

amounts real ly to a nonenti ty, but to the mind o f

bel ievers i t does sign i fy a l i ttle fraction of a moment ,which the pious H indu tries spasmodical ly to seizei n order to offer i n i t h i s devoutest prayers to thegoddess . The hours of worsh ip are g iven i n everyrel iable Panj ika or almanac, and are calculated andpubl ished several months i n advance. Due a l lowance

i s made for the different hours o f meridian at

DURGA PUJA 143

different places i n I nd ia , and the utmost punctuali ty is observed i n the commencement o f the holyservice , morn ing and even ing , on each of the threesuccess ive days of the Puj a . S imi larly the strictest

accuracy i s observed i n the repeti tion o f the holytexts by the priests , two or more o f whom associatetogether in conducting the worsh ip , each having acopy of the sacred book open before h im , i n orderthat each may supply an omiss ion or correct a mispronunciation made by the reci ti ng priest . For th ebel ief i s that i f i n the repeti tion o f a text o r prayerthe s l ightest error should take place

,though i t be

in the accidental om iss ion o r mispron unciation of as ingle syl lable , a dire calam ity i s sure to befal l th eworshipper o r h is household . Afte r each puj a prescribed for the day, the i nmates o f the house andthei r friends and guests s i t together and partake ofthe prasad , the gentlemen din ing separately from theladies

,and general ly at an earl ier hour . I n th e

houses of the rich the prasad consi sts of the choicestdel i cacies

,and the company si tting together at a

meal n umbers hundreds . I n fact the feasting is

contin uous from midday to midn igh t on each o f th e

three days of the puj a season , a fresh batch takingthe place of on e ri s i ng from a meal . The guestsi nvi ted to a P uj a have not on ly the priv i lege of

enjoying thei r host ’ s d inner, but have also thecorrespondi ng obl igation o f making an offering to

1 44 H I NDU FASTS AND FEASTS

the goddess , and th i s offering i s usual ly a cashpresent , which i s very conven ient t o both parties .

For the cash thus col l ected i s the property of thehouse owner, not o f the priest

,who only receives

h is stipulated fee,with perhaps a share o f the offer

i ngs i n ki nd .

The Durga Puja, as a puj a , concl udes at a fixedhour o f the n igh t o n the n in th day of the season .

On the tenth day, which i s cal led Vij aya D ash ami

o r Dasehra , the assemblage of images i s ceremon i

o usly dipped in to a river, th is ceremony beingknown as B isarian . At sunset , the images areborne to the river bank o n the shoulder of theyouths of the household o r o f the neighbourhood ,with a lo ng trai n o f fol lowers and bands of music ian s, ti l l the river bank i s reached and a hal t i smade . The images are then placed on board aboat and rowed to a spot a few yards away from thebank where the water i s deep enough for them to becompletely immersed . The images a re then stri p

ped o f the val uable part of thei r dress and ornaments , and pl unged i nto the water to the accompan imen t of enthusiasti c shouts o f Victory to theM other " Thereafter friends vis i t friends to wi sho n e another good l uck and happi ness

,and at each

house thus vi s ited they are requested to partake of

some sweets that are offered to them . The ex

c hange o f compl iments with friends abroad i s effect


XV

Ko jagara Lakshmi Pu ja

Lakshmi i s now the popular H indu goddess ofweal th and i ts attendant blessi ngs , and the worsh i pof her

,i n conj unction with her spouse Narayan ,

sometimes forms a prel im inary to certain rel ig iousceremon ies or to certain social functions, such asthe feeding of Brahmans . Orig inal ly , however,Lakshmi was a mere abstract conception , devoid ofform and figure , and denoting s imply good fortuneand i t i s i n th i s sense that the name i s used in theRigveda

,the oldest rel ig ious book of the H indus .

Later writers represent her as having sprung fromthe froth o f the sea at the time o f the churn ing ofthe ocean by the gods and giants ,—an even twh ich forms the subj ect of a famous H indu legendadumbrating the manner i n which were created

some of the obj ects that subsequen tly find a con s

picuous place in Puran ic mythology. Thi s H indulegend o f the S amudra man than , as i t i s cal led , i smentioned in the open ing chapters of the Ramayan aand the Mahabharata , and i n dim outl ine i t i s s im i larto the class ical legend o f the war between the gods

KOJAGARA LAKSHM I PUJA 147

and the giants . When Lakshmi first arose from

out the azure mai n i n al l the bloom o f etherealbeauty

,Vishnu took her as h i s bride , and i t i s as the

consort of Vishn u that Lakshmi i s sti l l conce ived

by the bul k of the H indu people . The Vaishnavas

are the only sect that di sc laim th i s relationsh ip , forthey admit no females i n thei r pantheon , and repudiate and even ridicu l e the idea that Vi shnu wasever married .

”S ome Vai shnavas , however, hold

that Lakshmi i s an ideal person ification o f the dei ty ’ smore femin in e attri butes the softer emotions o f

sympathy , l ove , and compassion whi le the moreph i losoph ical o f them contend that the H indu godsare represented with con sorts on ly to typi fy the

mystical un ion of the two eternal principles of

generation - Spiri t and M atter, P uru sh a and P ra

kriti, which are i nvolved i n the very conception o f acrea ted un iverse . These theological controvers ie shave long become echoes of the past , and Lakshmii s now worshipped as the goddess o f weal th and

good fortune by sectarian s and non -sectarian s al ike.Doctri ne and dogma have lost the i r sign ificance i nthe face of rite and ri tual . D ifferences between sectand sect are becoming more and more merged i ncommon forms o f worsh ip . Ever s ince wealth became an object of val ue i n the eyes o f man in society

,

Lakshmi has been an object of pious worsh ip by

H indus of every caste and creed,and espec ial ly by

.l48 H INDU PASTS AND FEASTS

the Vaishyas or trading clssses of the commun ity .

For, as has already been poin ted out i n an earl iersectio n , different H indu fest ival s are especial lyfavoured by different H i ndu castes

,though al l are

al lowed to j oi n i n the common worship and make

offerings to the god o r goddess o f the day .

Kojagara Lakshmi Puj a i s held on the n ight ofthe fu l l moon fol lowing the D urga Puj a , that i s , fivedays after the Vij aya D ash ami, and i t may hencebe regarded as a sort o f seque l to the Durga Puj a .

I t marks the close o f a succession o f re l ig ious formsand ceremon ies that are held from day to day praotical ly through the enti re l ight hal f of Kua r o r

A swin—the whole for tn ight being therefore cal ledthe D evi-P aksh a , o r the for tn ight devoted to theworsh ip of Devi or Shakt i . The D evi P aksha invariably commences j ust after the plose of the PitriPaksha , and th i s i s o n e proof that among the H industhe worshi p o f ancestors precedes the worship of thegods . Lakshmi i s worsh ipped again i n a more elabo rate form a fortn igh t later, —o h the n ight of theD iwal i and hence the presen t puj a i s cal led Koj a

gara Lakshmi P uj a , to d i stingu ish i t from the latterworsh ip

,which i s cal led the D wipan n it Lakshm i

Puja , or one accompan ied by an i l l umination . Theterm Kojagara i s an abbreviation of a sh ort

S anskri t sentence

mfiéa as tha t afmm gfit ad



th ings , probably i n remin i scence o f her original homeamid the waters of the ocean . But more probablythe association of the cowrie shel l with the god

dess Lakshmi has an economic origin . I n theearl iest times the cowrie shel l was probably theonly currency i n I ndia, and i n the sacred bookso f the H indus the values of th ings are frequen tlyg iven in cowries . Gifts i n cowrie shel l s are al sopermitted i n cases where gi fts i n kind are noteasi ly procurable o r are proh ibit ive accordingto the donor ’ s means . For these reasons a H induregards the cowrie as sacred , and would neverdefi le i t i n any way, such as by touch ing i t with h i sfoot , as th i s -i s supposed to offend Lakshmi . Thereare various th ings wh ich Lakshmi favours , andvarious others which she strongly disapproves

,and

H indu girl s i n educated fami l ies are taught to l earnthese with part i cu lar care , i n order that when theygrow up to be mistresses of households they mightbe assured of unbroken happiness and prosperi tyby virtue of thei r habitua l observance of thesesupposed commandments of Lakshm i . Among otherth ings

,talking i n a loud voice , swal lowing food i n

large mouthful s o r with strong avidity , walking witha hasty gai t

,s itting across the threshold of a door

o r at the entrance to a passage, tal k ing o r l i sten ingto scandal , want of personal clean l iness , picking

quarrel s,laz iness

,prodigal i ty , are vices wh ich Laksh

KOJAGARA LAKSHM I PUJA 15 1

mi looks on wi th spec ial abhorrence i n a female .

On the other hand , she promises never to desert awoman wh o always keeps hersel f and her housescrupulously clean who i s wel l -versed in , and whocan perform wi th her own hands , al l the domesticd uties pertain ing to a H indu household ; who speaksi n a sweet and low voice , walks with slow andnoiseless steps , and laughs an inaudible laugh whoreverences her elders and her gods , paying honour

wherever honour i s due ; wh o never s i ts idle foro n e moment , finding an hou r for every work and awork for every hour ; who dai ly l ays by a l ittle

store fo r the morrow ’s u se,spending what she can

fo r the present day ; who rises from sleep with thedawn and l ights the l amp j ust at n ightfal l . Thesewi se precepts are strung together i n the form of ametri cal hymn to Lakshmi , and th i s hymn i s rec itedo r chanted on the even ing of the Puj a i n thepresence of the female members o f the household

seated together . The conch shel l i s the favouri tei n strument o f Lakshmi ,—probably another remin iscen ce of her ocean home and i t i s on e of the

dai ly duties of a H indu matron to sound the conchshel l i n honour o f Lakshmi j ust after l ight ing thehouse lamp at dusk . The first place where theeven ing lamp i s l ighted i n a H indu house

,isthe

store-room,where al so the conch shel l i s sounded

,

and the reason of thi s obviously i s that al l the store '


i s taken to be the gi ft of Lakshmi,and that by

doing her honour amid these su r roundings she i sl i kely to gran t conti n uance to her gi fts and al so tobestow her bless ings i n greater abundance .

Lakshmi i s also cal led by the name o f VaraLakshmi , i n al l us ion to the power, credited by hervotaries , o f granti ng boons sol i c ite d by her worsh ippers . Hindu arti sts represent Lakshmi as amaiden o f peerless beauty

,seated on a ful l -blown

lotus floating in water, with an elephan t on eachs ide o f her , pouring water over her head fromgolden goblets held aloft i n the i r trunks . H er headi s adorned with a crown , h er neck hung round with awreath of never- fading flowers—the gi ft of the Oceanand her smooth round arms decked with heaven ly

gems of su rpassing bri l l iance wh ich she has taken

out of her “ treasures of the deep . She i s sometimes represented with four arms , but s i nce she i s

also the goddess o f beauty she i s general ly depictedwith only two . I n on e hand she holds a lotus bloom ,

the flower she holds dear above al l others ; i n theother, e ither a conch shel l or a sheaf o f paddy .

Lakshmi i s,and has ever been , a household dei ty,

and she has therefore no temples raised to her i nany part of I ndia ; but being the goddess o f abun d

ance and prosperi ty,she conti n ues to be the obj ect

of fervent -adoration by the female folk of the enti re

H indu commun ity.



o f city populati ons . B ut there are a few markedpoints of resemblance between these two festival s

,

d ue probably to thei r in tri ns ic importance . Asi n the Dasehra so i n the D iwal i

,a mixed variety

o f social customs and observances have cl usteredround the ch ief rel ig ious ceremony o f the season ,and i n both cases the rel ig ious growths havebeen overborne by a weight o f parasiti cal forms ,entirely uncon nected w i th rel ig ion . The D iwal ihas again , l ike the Daseh ra , assumed a dual aspectfor as i n the Dasehra we have the worsh ip of D urgaand the Ram Li la taking place s ide by side , so i nthe D iwal i , the worsh ip of Kal i and the worsh ip ofLakshmi are held s imultaneously on the same n ight ,though n o t perhaps under the same roof.The D iwal i season commences o n the fourteenth

d ay o f the dark fo rtn ight of Ka rtik (OctoberNovember) , th i s fourteenth day being cal led N arak

Ch aturdash i, because i t commemorates the victoryo f Kri shna over the demon N arakasura . The legendof N arakasura i s contained i n the B h agva ta , theKalika P arana

,and other mythologies of the same

period . According to these, N arakasura was a fear

fu l demon dwel l ing i n the country cal led P rag

jyo tish a ,which some authori ties identi fy with the

western portion of modern Assam . Thi s demoncarried o ff the ear- ri ngs of Aditi , the mother o f thegods . The gods thereupon declared war again st

D IWALI O R D I P MALIKA 155

the demon , but were unable to make a stand again sth im

,and so they appealed to Krishna for help .

Krishna fought with the demon , s lew h im , andbrought back the stolen j ewel s i n tri umph . Accordingto another vers ion , which i s more popular , Narakasura carried off the daughter o f Vishwakarma , thearch i tect of the gods , and i n sulted her . The demon

had been a notorious kidnapper o f girl s , and hehad been In the habi t o f seiz i ng and carrying off

any beauti fu l damsel that caught h is fancy . I n th i sway he had made for h imsel f a prodig ious harem o f

sixteen thousand mistresses . And now h e began tocast profligate eyes on the daughters of the godsthemselves . Noth ing daunted the i n trep id volup

tuary ; maidens , princesses , nymphs , goddesses wereal ike i n dread of h im . The women o f both theupper and nether worlds , therefo re , j oi ned togetheri n suppl icating Vishn u to destroy the demon andrestore the sanctity o f female honour . But Narakasura , with al l h i s weakness for the fai r sex, was ademon of great piety, and had , by penance and

meditation , accumulated such a ri ch store of sp iri tualmeri t that Vi shnu was for a time not on ly unwi l l i ngbut actual ly powerless to do h im harm . But whenthe load o f dai ly s i ns outweighed h i s previous store

of vi rtue , Vishnu gave leave to Krishna to marchupon h is stronghold and put h im to death . Buts ince spi ritual meri t

,once earned , can never be


total ly blotted out by any subsequent acts of s in ,N arakasura was al lowed to crave a boon at the

moment of death , and the boon he asked fo r wasthat the day o f h is death might ever be commemo

rated as a day of feasting i n the world . Be i t so ,

”

sa id Kri shna , and then with one blow o f h is swordhe made an end o f N arakasura and l iberated h i ss ixteen thousand impri soned mistresses i n o n e

moment . Such i s the legend of Narak Ch aturdash i,which i s al so cal led Bh oot Ch aturdash i, probablythrough a confused association o f the popularmean ings o f ‘ Narak hel l and BhootAnother explanation i s that the name Bhoot Chaturdash i al l udes to the darkness of the n ight , abh oot o r devi l being popu larly bel ieved to have apitch -black complexion . The ignorant people cal l

i t Ch oti D iwali, o r the Little D iwal i .Various l i ttl e observances are customary o n the

day of Li ttle D iwal i,and though these observances

vary i n detai l from provin ce to provin ce , they a re

i n the main un iform throughout I ndia . For example , i t i s u sual on th i s day for people to get upfrom bed as early as poss ible , and to have theirhead and body rubbed with perfumed o il beforetaking a bath . Every member of the household ,from the baby upwards , must have th i s perfumedbath

,which i s bel ieved to cleanse al l s i n s as effect

ively as a bath i n the Ganges . Even i n places


158 H I N DU FASTS AND FEASTS

popular abbreviati on of ‘ D ipavali’

(‘ a row of

and the festival i s so-cal l ed because atn ight there i s an i l l um ination i n every H induhouse . Acco rding to some authori ties the fest ivalwas orig inal ly held i n commemoration of thel iberation o f Raj a Bal i from the bondage of hel lthrough the i nterventio n o f the goddess Lakshmi .The legend of King Bal i has already been describedi n the secti on on Raksha B an dh an ,

’ and need notbe repeated here . The favour shown to him byVishn u who left h im h i s ki ngdom o f Patala , i n steadof se iz ing h is enti re domin io ns

,was done at the

in tercession of h i s spouse Lakshmi , whose goodwil lthe deposed monarch had previo usly won byapprop r iate prayers and penances . D iwal i wasthus orig inal ly the worsh ip of Lakshmi

,but later

o n i t came to be assoc i ated with the worsh ip ofanother goddess , Kal i , but how exactly the changecame about i s now a matter o f pure conj ecture .

I t seems that as Vaishnavi sm began to give waybefore the advance of Shakti sm , not on ly Vi shnu ,but h i s consort Lakshmi as wel l , began to losepopular favour , with the resu l t that forms of theS hakti began to take the place orig inal ly occupiedby the variou s man i festat ion s o f Vishnu , thePreserver. Such changes i n the orig in and sign i

fican ce of the H indu festival s are pretty common .

The Hol i , for example , was orig inal ly held i n

D IWALI OR D IP MALIKA 159

honour o f M adan,the god of love , but i t came

subsequently to be assoc iated with the gay sporting

of Krishna .

The most characteri stic feature of the D iwal i ,that which g ives i ts name to the festival , i s thei l l um ination s that take place at n ight . Every

H i ndu house,from the palace to the h ut , i s cleaned

and swept and wh itewashed o r mudwash ed a fewdays before the D iwal i , and at n ight the house

tops are l ighted up with rows o f ch irags or earthenlamps , the number of which o f course varies wi th

the means of the house-holder. The orig i n o f theD iwal i i l l um ination s i s contained i n a popularlegend wh ich seems now to be los ing ground i npopular memory . The legend tel l s u s how anastrologer once foretold to a Raj a that on the newmoon of Kartik (that i s , the D iwal i Amavasya), h i sfate or end (kal) would come at midn ight i n theshape of a snake ; that the way to escape fromdeath was that he should order al l h i s subjects toclean thei r houses and to i l l uminate the ci ty atn ight ; and that the king too should place a lampat h i s door and at the four corners of h is bed ,and sprinkle rice and sweets everywhere about thepalace . I f the door- l amp should go out, that wasa sign , said the astrologer, that the king was aboutto become uncon sc ious , and i n that event he shouldtake care previously to tel l h i s queen to s ing the

1 60 H INDU PASTS AND F B A S T S

prai ses o f the fata l snake when he arrived . These

di rections were carefu l ly fol lowed,and the snake

was so pleased with h i s receptio n that he told theRan i to ask any boon she chose . Of course the boonshe asked was that her h usband sho uld be spared .

The snake repl ied that i t was not i n h i s power to

grant such a boon , but promised to intercede

with Yama , god o f death , to grant a fresh lease ofl i fe to h er doomed husband . The snake further

a sked the queen to con ti n ue her watch over theRaj a ’ s body , whi le he h imsel f hurried away with thedisengaged so u l to the palace of Yama . When thepapers relating to the Raj a ’ s desti ny were put upbefore Yama

,h is age was denoted by a zero

,

mean ing that the Raj a ’ s l i fe had come to an endi n the natu ral course ; but the kindly snake , whohad been won over by the flattery of the queen

,

managed to in sert a seven before the nought andmade i t seventy . Yama looking at the papersexclaimed , “ Thi s mortal , I find

,has sti l l seventy

years to l ive : take h im back at once . Sothe snake brought back the soul o f the departedking , who ins tantly came to l i fe , and l ived seven tyyears more , and i nstituted thi s “ fest iva l o f l amps

(D iwal i) i n honour o f h i s resuscitation .

The above legend is , according to some authorit ies , of much later orig in than the D iwal i festival ,which , i n thei r opin ion , was orig inally i nstituted in



gone changes of form and ceremony, growing moreand more degenerate at every step ,—if on e may sayso without sacri lege—unti l i t assumed i ts worstform i n the drunken revel ry o f the Kapaliks . Thegoddess Kal i i s known by a mult ipl ic i ty of names

,

each sign i fyi ng a separate attri bute , but al l presenting her to the imagination of her votaries as an

obj ect of awe and dread . The appearance o f Kal i ,as she i s ordinari ly represented i n H indu temples ,an d as she i s described i n the Tantri c books , i s as

fol lows —She has a j et black complexion , and aterri ble gap ing mouth , through which he r red

tongue hangs out, dripping with the blood o f the

gi an ts she has slai n o r devoured , whose heads shehas s trung together i n the form o f a garland that

sh e wears around her neck. She has four arms ,in three of which she holds weapons o f war, andin the fourth , a human head . S h e tramples i necstasy upon the breast o f her husband M ahadevaor Sh iva , wh o l ies prostrate on the ground , and sheloves to haunt burn ing-groun ds , . roaming over themwith her long and uncombed hai r trai l i ng beh indh er back . The customary mode o f worsh ipping

h er is by offeri ng an imal sacrifices , but goats aloneare n ow deemed enough to appease her thi rst forbl ood . Among some S hakta sects , the offering of

spi r i tuous l iquors i s al so con sidered an essentialpart of the worsh ip of Kal i

,wh o is regarded by her

D IWALI o a D I P MALIKA 163

v otaries as the Un iversal M other, and is i nvokedi n the tenderest manner by the name of mother . ’

The worsh ip of Lakshm i , the other goddess ofthe day , i s n ot confined to Bengal , but i s commoni n every part of I ndia o n the n ight of the D iwal i .T h e form i n wh ich the wo rsh i p i s conducted fixesunmistakably i ts character as a Vaishya fest ival .Lakshmi i s represented , not by an image , s uch asKal i and Durga are , but by a gold co in , and i t i sto th i s gold coi n that the devotional offerings aremade . The coi n i s bathed i n the holy water o f as acred stream , o r i n m i l k, and adorned with flowersa n d sandal -paste to the accompan iment o f su itableforms of i nvocati on and prop itiation . I n poorerhouseholds , a s i lver coin , such as a common rupee ,d oes duty for the gold piece ; but the worsh ip of

the prec ious metal s i n some form is i nd i spensable,

a s th i s i s bel ieved to be productive of wealtha n d prosperi ty th rough the coming year . Thea ccount-books of the fami ly o r the firm are alsobrought out and worsh ipped , and many people opennew accoun t-books from th is date . A row of l igh tsi s placed i n fron t o f the consecrated coi n o r thea ccount-book , and lamps are also l ighted i n every

part o f the house , ch iefly at the door or entrance ;for i t i s bel i eved that Lakshmi rides about the worldo n her vah an , the owl, o n the D iwal i n ight, and thats h e i s natural ly i nc l i ned to enter a house wh ich i s

164 H INDU FASTS AND F B A S T S

brightly i l l uminated,i n preference to on e which is

dimly l ighted or enveloped i n darkness . I t i s probably th is bel ief that Lakshmi makes a tour o f inspection round the world o n the n ight o f the D iwalithat accounts for the custom o f i l l uminating ho useson th i s parti cular n ight of the year. There i s abeauti fu l l egend connected with th i s nocturnal tourof Lakshmi . There was once a Raj a who had fourdaughters . He cal led them together on e day andasked them wh o gave them thei r dai ly bread . The

first three repl ied,

Your majesty, o f course .”

But the youngest proudly declared that her own fatesuppl ied to her not on ly her dai ly bread but everyth ing el se that she dai ly en joyed or suffered . Theking was very much i n wrath to hear th i s unduti fu ld isavowal of the royal boun ty

,and in h i s rage he

ban ished h is ungratefu l daughter to the woods aftermarrying her to a beggarly Brahman who made aprecarious l iving on the chari ty o f h i s neighbours .

And the princess and the poor Brahman began tol i ve i n the woods , subsisti ng on whatever food o rmoney the latte r got i n alms from day to day.

The Brahman had been strictly enj oined by h is wifenever to return empty-handed , but even to p ick upany rubbish lying on the street, rather than returnhome absol utely wi thout anyth ing . I t so happenedthat on e day the Brahman got no alms at al l , andwas return i ng home i n great dej ection when


166 H INDU FAST S AND FE ASTS

cruelty with kindness . The very next day i t wasproclaimed by beat o f drum throughout the ki ng

dom that whoever could furn ish a clue leading tothe recovery o f the lost j ewel , sho uld be handsomely rewarded by the king . Hearing th is proclamation , the princess asked her husband to respondto the offer and stand forth as a candidate for th e

promised reward . The Brahman natural ly hesi tated ,not knowing anyth ing o f the missing necklace , andi t was on ly on h i s wi fe ’ s pers isten t urging that hecon sented to go . He was

,however, advi sed not to

accept the offered reward , but to demand the fulfil

ment of a certain condition wh ich he was to nameafter reference to h i s wi fe . The Brahman did as

he was advised . He undertook to restore the lostnecklace on condition that the king promised togrant a boon which he would name after consu l tation

with h i s wi fe . The king agreed and the Brahmancame home to receive further in structions fromhi s wi fe , who advi sed h im to say that the on lyreward he would accept was that the king should bya royal mandate forbid the l ighting of lampsabsol utely, even i n the royal palace , on the n ight o f

the approach ing D iwal i , for that on e year, but thatthe Brahman alone should be permitted to hold the

customary i l l um inations i n h i s own house i n th ewoods . The king was rather surprised to hear th isboon , but he gran ted i t most readi ly, and the

D IWALI oa D I P M ALIxA 167

Brahman came home once more and taking thenecklace from the princess

,gave i t to the k ing , wh o

forthwith i ssued a royal proclamation forbidding al l

il l umination s o n the n ight o f the D iwal i fo r that on eyear

,throughout h is kingdom

,i n every house and

but,except the Brahman ’s . D iwal i came , an d n ot

a l amp was l ighted anywhere th roughout the k in gdom

,except i n that lonely hut i n the woods occup ied

by the Brahman and the ban ished prin cess . Atabout m idn ight Lakshmi commenced her annualprogress with a view to vi si ting the houses of thosewho were her favouri tes ; but the whole world was

steeped in darkness that n ight. Rid ing o n her owl,Lakshmi thought o f entering the royal palace , butthe palace was n ot discern i ble i n the darkness.Both she and her va han were i n great perplexity,n ot knowi ng where to go or how to find the ir pathi n that d ismal darkness . Repeatedly did she askher va ha n to take her to the roya l pal ace as th e

on e spot where she thought there was sure to bel ight . But even the king ’ s res idence was buried

in darkness . Lakshmi therefore ben t her waytowards the forest where she discerned , o r thought

sh e d iscerned , a th i n stream o f l ight i ssu ing from

a cottage door, far i n the th ickness of the leafywood s . Towards th is cottage door she hastened ,an d i n to i t she stepped , finding some rel ief at

last after her darksome j ourney through the

168 H INDU FASTS AND P B A S I'

s

ben ighted country . Now th is cottage was the verysame i n which the ban i shed princess l ived . Shehad l ighted a few lamps i n her house i n the even ing

,

and had duly worsh ipped Lakshmi , and she knewnoth ing of Lakshmi ’ s arrival . She went to bed ather usual hour

,and rose next morn ing at her u sual

hour, and perce ived no change anywhere i n hersurroundings . But as the days passed on , theking decl i ned i n wealth and power and the ban ishedprincess rose i n the favour o f Lakshmi

,unti l the

splendour o f her position ecl ipsed the king ’ s fortunecompletely . F o r Lakshmi ’ s blessed vis i t to thelowly hut had the effect o f transforming it i nto alordly palace ; and what was before the lordly palacedwindled down i nto a lowly h ut

,and the haughty king

wh o had ban ished h i s pious daughter for bel ievingi n fate was

,by the working o f the same fate,

reduced to the posi tion o f the beggarly B rahmansuch as the on e to whom he had given the hand of

h is daughter as a pun ishment . Th i s story , whichi s i n tended to i l l ustrate the meritoriousness of wor

sh ipping Lakshm i and of i l l uminati ng the house on

the n igh t of the D iwal i , i s reci ted as a ka tha o r

parable i n the presence of the younger members of

the household at the concl us ion of the puj a . I t i s

a very old story , derived pu rely from traditionperhaps, an d unrecorded i n any of the holy bo oks ,so far as the presen t writer i s aware but modern



The D iwal i resemble s the Hol i i n yet anotherrespect . J ust as the immoral custom of s ingingobscene songs has become associated with the Hol i ,i n the same way the pern icious practice o f gambl inghas somehow received a semi-rel ig ious sanction i nthe D iwal i season . Not merely i s i t not consideredwrong to gamble , but gambl ing i s posit ively enj oi ned

on on e and al l , as a holy ri te that pleases the goddess Lakshmi , and u nder th i s excuse i t i s i ndulgedi n by al l cl asses . A l l monetary transaction s aresuspended i n the D iwal i season on the plea thatthey are forbidden by Lakshmi but probably the realreason o f th i s proh ibiti on i s that al l the avai lab lecash belong ing to a household i s i nvested i n playinggambl ing matches , so that none i s left for carryingon business . Hence the taking o f loans , the repayment o f l oans , the negotiation of loans are al l forh idden , and i n some households people are so

rigorous that they abstai n from cash payments of

al l k inds , even for purchased goods . Gambl i ng isfurther encouraged by a superst i t ious bel ief that he

who does not practi se i t on the n ight of the D iwali

becomes a loathsome mole in h i s next b irth , los i ngal l the store of rel ig ious meri t he might have accumu

lated i n the past . The low classes play gambl ing,

matches i n publ i c places, an d on the D iwal i n igh t, ason e wal ks through the brightly l ighted streets o f anyI ndian town o r vi l lage , on e may see shops and booths

D IWALI OR D IP MALIKA 171

thronged with groups of gamblers seated at t i nygaming-tables , the stake -ho lder shouting at frequen t

i nterval s E h lagawe cha r pawai stake on e , winfour to attract players from among the passersby . Sometimes people make pretty l i ttle fortunes

i n th i s detestable game . Even educated I ndiansare known to i ndu lge i n th is pastime , and o n e always

hears stories of fortunes made and fo rtunes marred

duri ng the D iwal i season every year. So bindingi s th i s ancien t custom bel ieved to be that even thelegal enactment again st gambl ing i s relaxed for threedays , as a special concess ion to the superst ition of

the Hindus .The D iwal i i s al so the day for women to prepare

what i s cal led Amawas ka Kaj al o r‘ l ampblack

deposi ted o n the new moon .

’ Lampblack—o f course ,that wh ich i s deposi ted by an open ch irag burn ingvegetable oi l—i s bel ieved to be a specific remedyagai n st various eye -d iseases , and H indu i n fants havethei r eyel ids painted wi th th i s l ampblack as part of

thei r dai ly to i let . But the lampblack deposited o nthe n ew moon o f D iwal i i s be l ieved to possess magicefficacy again st al l d isorders brought about by theevi l eye (which i s techn ical ly cal led n azar

lagn a and s ince not only l i ttle ch i ldren but adul tsalso may prove v ict ims to the evi l eye ,

” every on e ,young and old

,appl ies the D iwal i lampblack to h i s

eyel ids as a protection again st s uch affl i ctions . T h e

172 H INDU FASTS AND F BA S ‘

I‘

S

D iwal i lampblack i s produced by a large earthench irag , burn ing mustard oil, and the soot i s al lowedto settle on an earthen vessel shaped l ike a bel l ,placed j ust over the top of the flame, the l igh t beingkept burn ing al l n ight by an extra feed of oil, noton ly to produce an extra quanti ty of black

,but al so

to have at least on e l amp burn ing al l through thesacred n ight

,which i s bel ieved to be productive of

good fortune . The D iwal i Kaj al i s careful ly preserve d throughout the year to be used on occasions of

need , such as during the s ickness o f a ch i ld .

On the D iwal i day, too , i t i s customary for friendsa n d neighbours to exchange presents of sweetmeatsand parched ri ce Kh ilen

’5 the latter being a spe

c iality of the day,same as the gh ugh ri i s o f Nag

Panchami . D iwal i i s al so th e day on wh ich ch i ldrenmust fire crackers , and every pice they can savefrom swee tmeats i s carefu l ly invested i n the purchaseo f fire-works . I n the i l l umination of the house i tis the chi ldren agai n that take a prominen t part

,

a n d there i s much good-natured rival ry amongneighbours i n the matter of th i s form of display.

T h e D iwal i i l l uminati ons are seen at thei r best'

i nBenares

,where the beauty of th e spectacle i s height

ened by the si tuation of the c i ty on the bank o f theG anges , and the un ique contour of the temples an d

o ther bui ld ings l i n ing the river ’ s edge fo r m iles and

m i l es.


174 H I N DU FASTS AND FE ASTS

fact that the old account-books are closed , and thenew ones not yet opened , and the hol iday observed

o n the Jamgh at i s i n tended to give time to businessmen to check their cash balances before beginn ing

t h e new year ’ s entries . But i n gambl ing c i rcles the

hol iday is supposed to be g iven i n order to afford

t ime for gambl i ng,and gambl ing i s accordingly kept

up i n ful l swi ng at every hour o f the day and n ight .T h e vulgar name Jamgh at has a class ic equ i

valent , Gobardhan ,’ a name n ow fal l ing i nto di suse

an d pass ing gradual ly in to obl ivion , as the festiva lwh ich i t denoted i s l osing popu l ar favour year by

y ear . Gobardhan was at o n e time a most importan trural fest ival celebrated by the cow -herd caste

(A h irs) , wh o occupied a posi tion o f considerationi n the vi l lage commun ity o f ancient I ndia

,and some

of whom , such as Nanda , king o f Gokul , were crown

ed monarchs rul ing petty realms and principal i t ies .Except i n s uch parts of the Un ited Provi nces as are

n ot yet traversed by a ra i lway l i ne , thi s old festival

may be said to have become altogether defunct . I nthese rural tracts , however, far from the influences

o f modern civi l i zation , the fes tival i s sti l l celebratedin al l i ts rural s impl i ci ty, wi th n o admixture of elements drawn from the pol i shed l i fe of ci ties or

courts . The women construct a smal l mud plat

form in an open place ou ts ide the house , an d on i t

they erect a t iny c lay h ut, i n which they place

JA MGH A T A N D B H RA T R I DWITIYA 175

images of Gauri and Ganesh . They al so place there

some of the parched grai n made fo r the D iwal i , an dstick a few tufts of grass here and there i n to th e

mud platform,and then wave a rice-pounder (or

musal) roun d the whole , i nvoking bless ings on thei r

relation s and friends i n the fol lowing terms —“M ay

th is house grow l ike the sugarcane and expand l ike

the Ganges and the J umna .

” The waving of the

r i ce -pounder i s a ceremony emblematic of the expul s ion of poverty from thei r doors .

Gobardhan i s therefore a purely cattle feast, oh

s erved almost excl us ively by the Ah i r caste The

n ame Gobardhan suggests a poi nt o f associationbetween th i s festival and the early cowherd l ife o fKri shna passed i n the neighbourhood o f M oun tG obardhan , a l i ttle h i l l ock or stone mound nearM uttra , where the god spent h i s boyhood i n tending

h is foster-father’ s cattle . The ceremon ies connecte d with the festival are performed chiefly by thew omenfo l k of the commun ity, the male membershonou r ing the day mainly by large potation s o f

c ountry wi ne . There i s a current saying among thepoor that liquor a h undred years old wi l l be draine d o h the day o f D iwal i ,

” and experience has provedthat the saying i s founded on fact.I n other parts of Northern I ndia , the Gobar

d han festival i s celebrated somewhat differently.

T h e women make a cowdung figure of M ount Gobar


dhan , on which they place a l i ttle c lay image of Krishn a lying o n h i s back , surrounded by cowdun g cakes ,i n wh ich are stuck tufts o f green grass

,

—the cakesrepresenting cattle , and the tufts of grass standingfor trees , and the whole presenti ng a graph ic modelof Krishna’ s early l i fe when , as a cowh erd boy, heused often to l i e down on a bank o f grass wh i le h i scattle grazed around h im on the green pastures atthe foot of M ount Gobardhan . On th i s m in iaturecowdung h i l l the women place the churn-staff, a.bunch of crested sugarcanes , a handful o f parchedrice , and a l ighted ch irag i n the centre . The malemembers o f the vi l lage household are then cal ledin , and they bow the i r heads befo r e th i s Gobardhan , .

and are then feasted on rice and sweets . A priest

then picks up o n e o f the sugarcanes , crunches a

bi t of i t at one end , and declares the sugarcanecrop ripe fo r cutting . How confusedly th ings mixup in the hands of the I ndian peasan t i s besti nstanced i n the case of the Gobardhan festival ,which

,beg inn ing as a celebration i n honour of

Krishna’ s cowherd l i fe , ends as a ceremony prelimi

nary to the cutting of the sugarcane crop . I t i s also .

the practice for al l owners of cattle , res iding i n the .

vi l lage o r i n the ci ty,to dye the horn s o f al l their

cattle on the day of the Gobardhan festival , and thisi s bel ieved to act as a protection again st d i sease and.

acc ident .



parents,the ceremony o f the day becomes much

s impler,as the formal i ties of i ssu ing and accepting

invitation s are necessari ly d ispensed with . Theceremon ies of the day commence , as i s usual withal l H indu ceremon ies

,with a holy bath ,—the bath

special ly ordained on the day o f B h ratri Dwitiyabe i n g a bath i n the J umna ; but i f that be not

possibl e , any other river i s held to be as good asubsti tute , o r i f n o river i s at hand

,a bath at home

i s the last resort . B h ratri Dwitiya i s a great-

dayfor bath ing in the J umna

,and i n places s i tuated on

the banks of th i s river there i s always a mela on

th is day . Both brother and sister take thei r bathand keep a fast unti l the ceremony of the day i sover . Thi s con sists i n the s i ster ’ s presenting toher brother a new dh oti and dupa tta (wearing -clothan d scarf), which he has to put o n then and there ,and thus a tti red he takes h i s seat on a carpetspread o n the ground . The si ster then comes forward to do h im honour by bowing down to h im

,i f

the brother happens to be elder in age but i f he i syounger, i t i s he that bows down to her and rece ivesher bless ings . The s ister then places in the handof the brother a quantity of the best sweetmeats ,and i n add i tion makes a cash present , which i s,however

,i nvariably returned with su itable additions

from the brother’s own pocket . But the mostimportan t part of the ceremony i s the tilak, or

JA M CH A’

I‘ AND B H RA T R I Dwv 179

streaking the brother ’s forehead with holy pain t .Th i s i s always the s ister 's part

,which i s not

reciprocated by the brother. Every si ster has tog ive the tilak to eve ry brother, without d ist inctiono f age . The holy mark i s made with the l i ttlefinger o f the left hand

,

—fo r i n the case of womenthe left port ion o f the body i s used for a variety of

rel ig ious functions,as we saw in the case o f the

wearing o f the Ananta thread ; the si ster must al sobend hersel f o n the left knee whi le g iving the tilakand the brother must s i t with h i s face to the east .There i s a prescri bed formula wh ich has to berepeated by the si ster during the performance o feach tilak, and a su itable form of blessi ng aecompanying the offeri ng of a holy draught o f milk andhoney

,which the brother sips three t imes after i t i s

poured into the hol low o f h i s hand . The fo rmula

of the tilak ceremony,l i teral ly translated in to

Engl i sh,means Thus do I streak my brother ’ s

forehead , and thereby plant a thorn at the door of

Yama make h i s en trance i nto the abode o f thedead imposs ible) . As Jumna streaked the forehead o f her brother Yama , so do I i n the case o fmy own brother. As Yama i s immortal , so maymy brother he immortal l ikewise l”

I n H indu mythology , the river J umna i s indeedcal led the s i ster of Yama

,king o f the dead ; but n o

record i s found of her having ever streaked h is fore

180 HINDU PASTS AND PHAS’I‘S

head , except i n th is formula , which i s o f precariousorig in and unknown authorsh ip . Yama i s un den iably on e of the immortals , and J umna i s ascertain ly h is s i ster ; and th i s imaginary relationsh ipo f the two has g iven birth to a fest ival wh ich servesto strengthen and perpetuate among the H i ndus thebonds of affectio n between bro ther and sister

,

which , but for th i s periodic renewal , would tend toweaken and decay, after the s i ster has left thepaternal home and made for hersel f a new o n e i nperhaps a stranger land , where other and later and

as tro nger ties so o n fasten her heart and fetter herl imbs too heavi ly to g ive the ho usewife an d thematron many chances of vi s iting the ancestralroof and reviving the dear old associat ion s o f herg irl i sh days . I n the tilak ce remony , each sistertakes a part turn by turn

,and where the number

of brothers an d s i sters happen s to be a pretty large

on e , the ceremony becomes an imposing spectacleand occup ies several hours of the morn ing . Co usin s

,

both male and female , are also a l lowed to take parti n the ceremony

,and th i s i s r eal ly the rul e i n al l

j o in t H indu fami l ies,for the H i ndu makes l i ttl e

d i stinction between a brother and a cousi n o r between a s i ster and a cous i n i n domestic o r soc ialmatters . Even bro thers by courtesy ,

” such as thesons of one ’ s fathe r ’ s friends , are recogn ised as brothere o n th i s day , and are g iven presen ts o f sweet



The most i nteresti ng part o f the programme i s thatwh ich comes last

,usual ly about midday

,and th i s

i s the banquet. Rows of cups and dishes fi l l edwith the most tempting del i cacies are placed beforethe brother

,wh o i s expected to do j usti ce to a meal

that would ordinari ly su ffice for a dozen ; for thebanquet i s n ot only an outcome o f the s i ster ’ s affect ion

,but al so a token o f her husband ’s statu s i n

society,—with perhaps an added e l ement o f display

runn ing through the whole . I n many cases thes i ster cooks the day ’ s meal with her own hand

,as

far as she can ; but i n n o case do the brother andsi ster d ine together—no grown -up males and

females ever can do so i n any H indu household .

The formula repeated by the si ster during the

tilak ceremony i s , strangely enough , worded i n thevernacular

,not in Sanskri t . Th is shows that i t i s

not o f very ancien t orig in , or at least that i t i s nottaken from any of the recogn ised sacred books o f theH indus . But i t i s the vernacular garb that makesthe formul a repeated with such man ifest emotion ,and not i n the dry mechan ical manner in which

man tras i n Sanskri t are pronounced o r mispro

n oun ced by people ignorant of thei r mean ing .

XVII I

A ksh aya N av am i

A ksh aya N avami i s the n in th day of the l ight hal fo f Kartik, and occurs exactly o n e month after then in th day o f the Navaratra . Like the earl ier Navami

,it i s a day set apart fo r the worsh i p of the

Shakti ; but on the presen t occasion the worsh ipdoes not extend over n ine days and n in e n ights

,

but begin s and ends o n the same day. Nor i s theShakti worsh ipped o n th i s day under the name o f

Durga , the goddess o f victory, but under the more

dign ified appel l ation o f Jagaddh atri, the sustainer

of the world .

’ I t seems rather a redundancy forthe same Shakti to be worsh ipped twice more afterthe prolonged ceremon ies of the Navaratra , -once

o n the day of the D iwal i , and agai n n ine days after

the D iwal i . But the great difference between theDurga Puja on the o n e hand and the Kal i Puj a an d

the Jagaddh atri Puj a o n the other,i s that the

former i s a communal—on e might almost say n a

tion al—celebration , whereas both the latter, as faras the element of worsh ip goes

,are more o r l ess

i nd iv idual , confined only to particular households,


an d not j oined i n by the whole commun ity as a

commun ity . I ndeed , as in the case o f Kal i Puj a during the D iwal i season

,the worsh ip of Jagaddh atri

o n the day of A ksh aya N avami i s now practical lyunknown i n places outside Bengal . But the originalobj ect o f i n sti tuti ng a second festival

,the Jagaddh atri

Puja, and fixing the date o f i t on ly a month afterthe first , the Durga Puj a, was probably to g ive to

p ious people the chance of offeri ng to the Un iversalM other the first frui ts o f the late autumn cr0ps ,those , namely, that are not ripe for harvesting at thedate of the earl ier Puj a . F or , according to theprinciples of the H i ndu rel ig ion , n o article o f foodi s fit fo r human consumption unti l i t has beensanct ified by be ing offered to a god or goddess .Even i n the case o f the indiv id ual ’ s dai ly meal , i tmust be offered to the gods before he can take i t .

A ksh aya N avami i s stri ctly not a festival , but amere domestic r i tual ; i t i s therefore unattended byany of that pomp and ci rcumstance of worshipwhich accompan ies the Durga Puj a ; there i s no

i n terchange o f friendly greetings , n o soc ial reun ion ,no gay o r gaudy ri tes , no pop u lar festivities , nopubl ic rej oic ing . I t i s celebrated i n a quiet , unosten tatious manner i n the privacy of the home , andsometimes th e simpl ic ity o f form i s carried to sucha point that the goddess Jagaddh atri i s not evenrepresented by an image , but only by a brass o r



t radition again , i t was on th is day that the T retaYuga commenced . The T reta i s the second of thefour great ages into wh ich ancient H indu wri tershave divided the entire duration of Time i n its re

l ation to the world—the first being the Satya Yuga ,the popular conception of which i s very s imilar tot hat of the Golden Age .

’ These ages o r yugas

are , of course , as vaguely defined as i t i s naturalfor such immense tracts of time to be , and to mostH indus , therefore , the T reta Yuga i s best known asthe age of Rama , an d the D wapara as the age ofKrishna .

The special meri t resul ting from the worsh ip of

the Shakti on the day of A kshaya N avami, i s thatt h e worsh ipper i s rewarded with the attainment ofthe kingdom of peace wh ich i s free from al l toi l an dt rouble .

” There i s a special reward to be gaineda l so by those who take part i n the B isary

'

an ceremony, the ceremony o f pl unging o r immersing theholy image i n water at the concl us ion of the worsh ip ; and th i s reward consi sts i n the “ attainmen to f unrival led sovereignty, the begetti ng o f sons andh eirs , the possess ion of weal th , power, slaves , an dthe gain ing of complete emancipation from th e

bondage of s i n . So speaks the D evi P arana to

the faith of the devout Shakta. The same sacredbook al so lays down that the meri t obtained byworsh ipping the Devi on th i s on e day i s equal to

A KS H AYA NAVA H I 187

t h e cumulative meri t obta i ned by worsh ipping herfor four months conti nual ly.

The greatest characterist i c of th is holy dayt hat wh ich gives i t i ts di stin ctive ep ithet of Aksha

ya’ —is that gi fts bestowed on th i s part icular day

of the year conti nue to bear blessings for ever.

S imi larly any wron g or act of s i n comm i tted on

th i s holy day never ceases to bear evi l fru i t at anytime . This i s why thi s N avami i s cal led A ksh aya ,

which l i teral ly mean s i ndestructible .

’ A s imi lar

i nde struct ibi l i ty bel ongs to four other days underspecial conj unction s ,—(l) to an Amavasya, i f i t happen s to fal l on a M onday

,—hence the sanct i ty of

what i s cal led a “S omavati Amavasya ;

”(2) to a

S aptami, i f i t fal l s o n a Sunday ; (3) to a Chaturth i,i f i t fal l s o n a Tuesday ; and to an Ashtami , i f i tfal l s o n a Thursday . I n each o f these cases thed ay becomes A ksh aya ,

’ which i s defined i n astrological almanacs as mean ing a day o n which agood o r bad deed done by a person does n ot l oseits effect for s ixty thousand l ives . ’

The usual mode o f celebrati ng the A ksh ayaN avami festival i n Upper I ndia i s by making gifts toBrahmans . The gift especial ly appropriate to th i sd ay i s the gray gourd (or what i n H industan i isc al led petha ) . This vegetable i s seldom eaten asa vegetable ; i ts on ly use i s i n the preparation of ak ind o f sweetmeat or j am wh ich possesses n utri tive


and medici nal properties o f high value accordi ngto the Ayurvedic ph armacopoea . Sometimes a gifto f pan cha -ratua five gems accompan ies the gi ftof a gourd , by being in serted ins ide the centre o fthe vegetable i n such a way as to conceal i t fromthe eyes of the recipien t . The five gems are gold

,

s i lver, copper, coral , and pearl ; and the secreti n sertion o f these with i n a big vegetable beforebe ing given away to a Brahman consti tutes a mostmeri torious form of chari ty, known as Gupta D an

(‘ secret But i t i s not wi th in the mean so f ordinary fol k to earn th i s meri t by th i s ratherexpensive form of chari ty ; hence the common people observe th i s festival by s imply taking a bath i n :

the Ganges and giving away a few pice i n chari ty

to Brahmans on the river bank .

A ksh aya N avami i s al so associated with atouch ing episode of the Ramayan a , i n connection

with which there i s a special celebration held at

A l lahabad . I t was on th is day that Bharata meth i s brother Rama , when the latter was return inghome at the expiration of h i s fourteen years ’ ban ishment

,the concl uding portion of which was occupied

by the conquest o f Lanka and the slayi ng o f its

demon -king,Ravana . Rama

,S i ta, and Lakshman a

were travel l i ng i n an aerial car (Pushpaha ra tha ) ,

which belonged to Ravana , and which had beenpresented to Rama by B ibh ish an a i n gratitude for



o f teaching the holy scriptures to a band of adoringd isciples , who at on e t ime n umbered thousands an dconsti tuted a un ivers ity o f thei r own ,

long beforeS i r A l fred Lyal l conce ived the happy idea o f restor

ing to Prayag i ts anc ient seat of l earn ing .

XIX

D evo tthan E kadashi

D evotthan E kadash i i s not a feast, but a fast . It

occurs on the eleventh day of the brighten ing mooni n the latter hal f of Kartik, j ust two days after theA ksh aya N avami. The epithet D evotthan signifiesthat on th is day the god Vishn u i s bel ieved to wakeup from sleep

,the l i teral mean ing of the word being

the ris ing up of the god .

’ According to the P uran as,Vishnu sleeps fo r four month s i n the year, from theeleventh o f the l ight hal f o f A sarh (hence popu

larly cal led the Sayana E kadash i to the corres ’

ponding day of the month o f Kartik,on which h e

wakes up from hi s sleep—the whole period o f the god’

s

rest being cal led the Sayana .

’ The first of theseE kadash is i s not marked by any particular celebrations , except that i n some vi l lages the women markthei r houses with l i nes of cowdung, and observe apartial fast , eating only fru i t and sweetmeats i n theeven ing . During the four month s of the god ’

s

s l umber i t i s considered un l ucky to ho ld any auspicious ceremon ies , such as marriage , regeneration ,”

tonsure , and the l i ke . Even repairi ng the old thatch


o f the house o r re -string ing the household cots orch a rpoys i s deemed impro per. These four months ,i t wi l l be observed , cover the who l e o f the rainyseason , which , i n a tropical country l ike I ndia, i s themost unheal thy season and i s popularly cal led theChau -masa ,

the four (evi l) months .’ By a natu ral

associat ion the most unhealthy season has come tobe bel ieved as the most un lucky season of the year,i n wh ich al l domestic ri tes and duties are forbidden

o r at least deemed inauspic ious .Vishnu enjoys h i s l ong sleep , not i n heaven h is

u sual abode,nor o n earth , the scene o f h is s ucces

s ive i ncarnations , but deep down i n the i nterior ofthe earth , where the Nag -king S esha rules h i ss ubterranean realm . Sesha i s an enormo us serpento r python having a thousand heads

,representi ng

i nfinity , for which reason he i s al so cal led Anantathe endless which name i s again , by a hypal lage ,transferred to Vi shnu h imsel f. Th is serpent-kingforms both the couch and the canopy of Vi shn ud ur i ng h is four months ’ sleep . The S esha Nag i sa l so represented in H indu cosmog raphy as hearin go r supporting the globe on h i s thousand heads.S ometimes he i s spoken of as the ruler of P a tala ,

the nether world , and sometimes he i s bel ieved tohave impersonated h imsel f as Balarama , brother o fKr i shna . According to popular bel ief

,al l earth

q uakes are caused.

by th i s Snake ’ s occasional ly



i s the E kadash i fast bel ieved to be,that there i s no

difference between an E kadash i o f the brigh t fortn ight and on e of the dar k fortn ight

,both being

meritorious i n an equal deg ree . The merits ascribedto the E kadash i fast are o f the h ighest order many

o f them are stated i n an obviously exaggeratedform , but the obj ect of the exaggeration i s on ly toemphasize the value of the merits . For example

,

an E kadash i fast i s held tantamount to performingpenance for years ; i t i s al so equ ivalen t tomaking a gi ft of a thousand kine to Brahmans o r

feeding mil l i on s o f starving beggars , and so on . I ti s al so equal i n effi cacy to undertaking a n umber ofholy pilgrimages , o r wearing the body o ut by rig idausterit ies . I t g ives on e eternal fel ic i ty in the

h ighest heavens , and enables the pious so ul to attainal l i ts ends both i n th i s l i fe and i n the next .The above bel iefs wi th respect to th e incal cu labl e

spiri tual merit ari s ing from observance of the

E kadash i fast , are based on two legends contai nedi n the Mahabharata . One o f these relates to a sagenamed B h adrash ila ,

son of Galab M un i , who becamea devout votary of Vi shnu from early boyhood , andgave up the study of the Vedas and the practice ofthe customary rel ig ious ri tes i n order to devoteh imsel f whole-heartedly to the worsh ip o f Hari .From the same early age he solemn ly undertook toobserve the E kadash i fast twice every month . His

D BVO T’

I‘

H A N B KA D A S H I 195

father once asked h im why he preferred th i srigorous form o f devotion to the many easier onesl aid down in the holy books and declare d to beequal ly efficacious . The son repl ied that the meri taccru ing from the observance of the E kadash i fastwas l i teral ly infinite - as i nfin ite as the star- l i t skyo r the boundless ocean . He had had the goodfortune of rece iving a di rect revelation from God o nth i s subject, and he had , i n the same manner, beenlet i n to the secret o f h is former birth , an accoun t ofwhich he then proceeded to give to h i s father —“ I n

my fo rmer l i fe,

” said B h adrash ila , I was a powerful king oft he l unar race , and bore the name o f

D h armakir ti. As a man I was a wicked si n ner ; asa king

,a hated tyrant ; and i n both capac ities I

continued fo r many years to heap a growing load ofs i n upo n my head . One day I went o ut on a huntingexpedition , escorted by a regiment of soldiers. Soo nI Spied a love ly deer i n o n e of the fo rest brakes

,

and I ordered my attendants to make a cordon

round the an imal , and never to let the game escape ,o n pain of death . I t so happened that the deermade its escape at a poin t where I was mysel f stand ing o n guard . I could not blame my sold iers ; i twas my own negl igence that had al lowed the beastto b reak loose , and i n very shame I shot an arrowafter the flying deer ; but to my further shame , Im issed the mark , and i n a moment the fleet runner

196 H INDU PASTS AND F B A S T S

had bounded away out o f s ight. S tung by shame,

I gal loped my horse and pursued the fug itivegame right i nto the th ick of the forest ; but thesly beast was nowhere i n s igh t. I n the courseo f my hot search , my poor steed stumbled androl led down on the ground a l i feless carcass .The shades of even ing were closi ng around me and

envelo ping the dark forest i n a darker fold ; hungerand th irst were gnawing at my bowel s . Benighted

,

bewi ldered , bereft almost of sen se and motion , Ilaid myself down at the foot o f a tree , and when then ight advanced , and the forest beasts began to prowlaro und , the powers of Nature refused to sustain myl i fe any l onger , and I expi red . As soon as thebreath forsook my body , I beheld two emissariesfrom Yama standing bes ide me

,and sho rtly they

bound my sou l and carried i t to the abodes of thedead . On seeing my spiri t

,Yama was very angry

with h is servants for taking my sou l to h i s region,

fo r he said that I was abso lved from al l s in , i n thatI had breathed my last i n a state of fasting on anE kadash i day, —a fact of wh ich I mysel f had notthe faintest idea . So , i n stead o f subj ecting my sou l

to torture , Yama made o bei sance to me , and my

sou l was forthwith upl i fted from the nether region s

to the h ighest heaven of Vi shnu , bo rne al l the wayup i n an ethereal chariot special ly sent down for

that purpose . And i n th i s celestial abode I dwel t


198 HINDU P A S T s AND FEASTS

to the image o f the god , and then h ow h is headdown to the ground and fin ish h i s devotion s . Thenext th ing i s the fast , which must as far as possibl econsist i n total abstinence from both food an d dri nkfor the whole day and n ight . On the fol lowingday he should repeat the ear ly bath and the morning devotions , and then feed some Brahmans ,together with h is friends , relation s and guests ,befo re he breaks h i s own fast . The usual numbero f Brahman s fed o n such occasio ns i s twelve , andthe breaking of a fast , cal led the pa ran ,

i n properform is on ly one degree lower i n importance thanthe proper observance o f the fast i tsel f. And i fboth the fast and the breaking o f i t have beenobserved i n the manner spec ified above , the rewardi s “ freedom from al l so rrow .

’ Thi s i s a h igh rewardi ndeed , but what makes i t h igher st i l l i n val ue i s

that i t i s both divi s i ble and transferable at therecepien t

’

s option . The second legend i n theM ahabhara ta i l l ustrates th i s l as t po in t about theE kadash i fast . There was once i n S hantipur alearned Brahman , named D evamali

,who was the

owner o f a large fortune which he had amassed byvarious lawful means , such as farming , trading andbanking . But with al l h i s power and pel f, the Brahman was an unhappy man for want of a son . TheVedas say that the man who has no son , l ives h i s l i fei n vai n , bo th i n th is world and i n the next ; and the

D BVO T T H A N B RADASH I 199

feel i ng that the current of h is l i fe was about to loseitse l f i n a sandy desert , rankled constantly i n theBrahman ’s heart

,and made h im and h is wi fe ex

ceedin gly miserable . One day,as the Brahman was

si tting i n a sorrowful mood , the sain t Narada

happened to come on a vis i t to h im , and o n beingasked why he loo ked so melancholy, the Brahmanrepl ied that being a ch i ldless man he fel t h i s l i fe tobe a bu rden . Narada advi sed h im to ho l d a Yaj n ao r sacr ifice , assuring h im that by th i s mean s he wassure to be blessed with offspring even yet . TheBrahman accordingly held a great sacrifice , and 10 1o ut of the smo uldering embers o f the sacrificial firearose a pai r o f boys

,l ovely as cherubs

,and to al l

appearance of happy fortune . One of them wasnamed Yajn amali, the ch i ld of sacrifice the other

was named Sumal i , the ch i ld o f beauty .

’ Whenthe boys grew of age , thei r father D evamali settledh i s wealth and property on h is two son s in equalsha res , and renouncing the householder

’ s l i fe,wen t

into a forest on the banks of the Narbada , to spendthe remainder of h is days i n prayer an d meditation ;and h is faithfu l wi fe fol l owed h im to h is reti rement .I n the woods , the recl uses betook themselves to thehermitage of Jan an ti, a sage who was renowned fo rh is knowledge of the scriptures , and whom theyfound at that moment surrounded by a c ircle o f

admiring di sc ip les . Notic i ng a stranger, the sage


asked h im who h e was and what h is object was incoming there . The Brahman repl ied that h i s namewas D evamali, that he was Sprung from the l i ne ofB h rigu , and that he had come to learn the practiceof rel ig ious austeri ties with a view to obtain ingsalvation . Jan an ti made answer : S eek refugefrom thy s in s , not i n a forest , but i n Vi sh nu , thelord of the un iverse

,under whose protection al l

trace of s i n van ishes . No ear thly creature can dowithout h i s protection

,s i nce he i s the foun tai n of

l i fe, and the quintessence o f al l forms of being . Re

peat h i s name,worsh ip h i s sp iri t, obey h is com

man dmen ts ; reverence h im in thy hear t , serve himwith thy hands , name h im with thy l ips ,—and thoushal t steer safely across the troubled waves o f

mortal i ty .

”

The Brahman was very happy to receive h i sSpi ri tual gu idance

,and leaving the holy p resence o f

the sage , he repaired to the banks of the Jumna ,where he Spen t the remainder of h i s l i fe i n devotionto Vishnu . And when he d ied i n the ful ness of time ,h i s faith fu l wi fe immolated hersel f on the same pyrewith h im , and both were admitted i nto the paradiseof Vishnu . Now, o f h is two sons , born o f the holysacrifice , Yaj n amali grew up to be a man o f greatrighteousness and piety , Spending large sums o f

money i n private chari ty as wel l as on works ofpubl ic uti l i ty . I n course o f time he was blessed



i t was Sumal i , h i s own brother. S umali’

s unhappyfate deeply touched h i s brother ’s heart with pity

,

a n d he generously gave away a portion of h i s ownspiri tual meri t to h i s unfortunate brother

,whom

he thus released from the cr uel grasp of Yama’ semissaries , and the two brothers then entered heavenwhere they dwel t i n fel ici ty for in terminable ages

.

These legends go to prove the sancti ty o f

E kadash is i n general spec ial E kadash is have , overa n d above these general rewards

,rewards of a spe

cial nature assigned to them . Such special Ekadash i s are the N irjala E kadash i of the month of

Ja ish tha o r June, the Vaikun th a E kadash i o f Magh ,

a n d the D evo tthan E kadash i of Kartik. Of theseagain the best known is the last . The first i s socal led because i t i s customary for those who observei t not to taste even a drop o f water that day . Thes econd i s cal led Vaikun th a E kadash i because i tassures the bless ings of heaven to those who keepa fast on that day . The or ig i n of the nameD evotth an has al ready been explained .

D evotth an E kadash i, popularly cal led D eothan orD ithwan , i s n ow a purely rural festival , i f the namefestival may properly be g iven to ceremoniesdevoid of al l e lements of festivi ty o r mirth . Likethe Gobardhan

,i t h aS

.

degen erated i n to a buco l i cceremony inaugurati ng the cutting of the sugarcanec rop . I n vi l lages the people pain t the cane -press

D BVO T’

I‘

H A N BKA D A S H I 203

w i th a kind o f red pain t , and l ight a row of l amps

u po n i t even i n the day time . The owner o f the

c rop then worsh ips h i s ho usehold gods i n them iddle o f the field

,and breaks off some stalks of

s ugarcane which he places across the easternboundary o f the field . He then presen ts five canese ach to the v i l lage priest, the blacksm ith , the

c arpenter, the washerman and the barber—the fivemost important members of the vi l lage commun i ty ;and he also takes five canes home . There , on aw ooden board o r l ow stool , two images , on e ofVishnu , and the o ther o f Lakshmi , are drawn wi thghee and cowdun g. O n the same board are placeda l i tt le cotton wool , some fru i t and sweet ; a fire

s acrifice (agiya r ) i s then performed , and the fivec anes are placed round the sacred board a fewi nches apart , whi le thei r bushy tops are tiedtogether in to a tang led knot . When these pre

paratio n s are complete , the pri est i s cal l ed i n ,and he bri ngs the Sal igrama . The Sa l igramai s a smooth Spherical pebble , of j et b lack colour

,

o f the s ize o f an egg , which i s kept i n a large

percentage o f Brahman households as a handyemblem o f Vishn u o r Narayan , which can be movedabo ut from place to place , un l ike the other imageso r idol s wh ich cannot be removed from the shri ne si n wh ich they have been i n stal l ed wi th due ceremony. The ‘ Sal ig rama ’ i s worsh ipped by the

204 H I NDU PASTS AND FEASTS

priest wi th offerings of flowers , etc . and then th ewomen s ing songs o f prai se to Vishn u to wake h imup from Sleep and to i nduce h im to accept theirofferings . The knotted tops of the sugarcaneare then broken off, and wh i le the main stalks keepstanding round the sacrificial board

, th eirlbun dled

up crests are flung o n the roof of the house , andthere they remain at the mercy o f the weather

unti l the Hol i season , when they are th rown intothe bonfire and burnt . When the whol e ceremonyi s over, the pri est consu l ts h i s almanac , and dec lares the auspicious hour for commencing reaping

Operation s , which beg i n some time the same dayamidst much enthus iasm ,

—enthusiasm due not on lyto the prospect of a handsome return for the cr0p ,but to the mo re immediate prospect o f gettingj ugfu l s of the fresh sweet j u ice to dri nk . At n igh ti t i s customary in some places , s uch as Benares ,to have temples and pl aces o f worsh ip (T h akur

D waras) i l l uminated , much i n the same style as on

the D iwal i n ight .The D evotth an E kadash i i s general ly observed as

a c lose fast by al l H indus , and not on ly byVaishnavas . Some abstain from food and drinkthrough the who l e day and n ight ; others observeonly a par tial fast , and take a l ight meal usual lycon si sting of mil k

,sugarcane j uice , and boi led

shaka r han d , a ki nd o f sweet potato which the


Kartiki Pu rn amashi

Of al l the S ix season s that make up the I ndianyear, Spring and autumn stand out conspicuously asthe ch ief festive seaso ns o f the H indus . And th eexplanation o f th i s i s not far to seek ; spring andautumn are the two harvest season s i n I ndia

,and

the population o f the coun try having ever beenmain ly agricu l tural , i t i s natural that the harvestseasons shou ld al so be the festive season s o f th e

peopl e . Changes i n form and fash ion have takenplace i n the festi val s from age to age ; festivalshave i n some cases lost thei r orig inal s ign ificance

and acquired fresh ones i n the course of theirimmemorial h istory ; new festival s have occasional ly

been added on to the calendar ; but the da teso f the ceremon ies have i n al l cases remain edunchanged th rough these hundreds and thousandsof years . Th is i s doubtless due to the fact thatthe ancestral occupations o f the people , theircharacteristi c modes o f thought and feel i ng , andthe essen tial ly rel ig ious bend o f thei r m inds areto th is day j ust what they were when these festivals

KA R T I KI P U RN A MA S H I 207

were first i n st i tuted i n the misty past . F o r sucha people the harvest season i s the on ly time when

i t i s poss ibl e for them to ‘hold celebrat ion s of anyki nd , pub l i c o r private , rel ig iou s o r secu lar, thati nvolve any outlay o f money , as i n bestowing g iftson Brahmans

,o r makin g offerin gs to the gods , o r

giving banquets to the vi l lage brotherhood . Fromthe Anan ta Ch aturdash i starts a success ion o f

fest ival s , o f on e kind or another , commencing withthe fortn igh t dedicated to the worsh ip of ancestors ,fo l lowed immediately by the n in e days o f th e

Navaratra,and

,five days later, by the vig i l of the

Lakshmi Puj a , and a fortn igh t later again , by th e

i l l uminations o f the D iwal i , and term inatin g withthe tri o , A ksh aya N avami

,D evo tth an E kadash i,

and Kartiki P urn amash i. A Hindu proverb says,

there are twelve months i n the year, but th i rtee nfestival s ,

” and the saying wi l l appear by no mean sexaggerated i f we but l ook at the above l i st

,and

reckon the number o f ceremon ie s i t impl ies, all

crammed with in the short space o f two l unarmonths . Kar tiki P urn amash i bri ngs up the rearo f th i s gl i tte r ing array o f fest ival s , and then therei s a hal t i n the march . F o r the next month ,Agrahayan a , i s con sidered very i nauspic ious , at

l east i n these provinces , because i t was in th i s

month that Rama ’s fourteen years ’ ban ishmen ttook place . The whole month is con sequently s ti ll

208 H INDU P A S'

r S AND FEASTS

regarded as a period of mourn i ng by the H induso f the Un i ted P rovin ces

,who loyal ly abstain from

a ll kinds o f domesti c rej oicing i n th i s un l uckymonth . M arriages are absolu tely forbidden i n th i smonth , among al l castes , for the bel ief i s that

a marriage held i n th i s month i s s ure to proveu n fortunate

,for Rama ’ s own marr i age took place

in A grah aya n a , and n o marriage ever proved more

u nhappy . F o r on ly a few days later,came the

s entence of ban i shmen t upon Rama, fol lowed notlo ng afterwards by h i s wi fe ’ s captivi ty, her secondban ishment to the hermitage of Valm iki , and herfi nal d i sappearance from the scene of her woes .Kartiki P urn amash i i s one o f those festival s

w h ich have now deviated from thei r or ig i nal forma n d character. I n the earl iest ages

,when the cul t

o f Sh iva was the prevalen t form of fa i th , i t was a

festival held i n honour of S h iva ’ s vi ctory over thed emon T ripurasura . According to an old legend

,

there was once a war between the gods and the

d emons , who on being defeated appealed for hel pto M ai, a great magician , who gave them three

towers o f gold , Si lver, and i ron , with i n which thedemons concealed themselves , and from these safe

c overts they carried on an irregular warfare agai n st

t h e celestial s . The gods feel i ng power l ess appealed

fo r hel p to S h iva, the great god ,’ who personal ly

c ame to their succour, and di scharged such a


210 H I N DU FASTS AND FEASTS

the posture of dancing tri umphantly o n the bodyof the Slain T r ipurasura . For S h iva i s al so regarded as the lord of dancing (hence h is name of

‘N atteshwara dancing by male dancers , wh o

were at one time almost as n umerous i n I ndia as

Nautch g i r l s .The Kartiki P urn amash i has long ceased to be a

S haiva festival , and Sh iva’s vi ctory over T r ipurasura

has become a forgotten legend , rarely known evento H indu divi nes , except i n so far as i t accounts fo r

o n e of S h iva ’s wel l -known names—T ripurari. Ashas happened to many another H i ndu festival , theoriginal fac ial s tamp o f Shaivi sm , which Kartiki

P urn amash i bore i n ancient times , was worn off i ncourse of time , and a new impress pu t upon it bythe Vaishnavas , who appropri ated the festival tothemselves as commemorating the day o f Krishna ’ s

Ras Lila ,-a fest ival cel ebrating the mystical amor

ous dance of Kri shna i n the company’

o f the pastoral maids ’ of Brindaban . Later on , during theascendancy of S haktism , the festival had a th irdstamp affixed to i t, the Shaktas claiming i t as a daysacred to the goddess of the Ganges , and declaringi t as one o f the most important bath ing -days of the

year.The Ras Li la i s a subj ect wh ich has suffered

much from the cri t ic ism o f l earned commentators

wh o have been unable to perceive the al legory

KA RT I KI P U RN A M A S H I 21 1

runn ing underneath . The description of th i s Li lai s g iven i n the m in utest detai l i n Chapters 29 -33

o f the S rimad B hagavata , a rel ig ious treati se o f theh ighest authori ty

,written by the sage Vyasa, and

recited by S ukadeva before king P ar iksh it, grandsonof Raj a Jud h ish tira o f Hastinapur, who was o n e of

the heroes of the Mah abha ra ta war . The descrip

t ion i s heavi ly overlaid with sen suous imagery of

the most in flamin g Oriental type , and i t i s probablynatural that to the mind of an un sympatheti c o r

hypercrit i cal reader the p ictures should suggestvol uptuous thoughts

,and the whole of the sacred

narrative turned i nto a vivid sensual representation

o f what such a reader would be in cl ined to cal l the

heedless d i ssipat ion o f a reckless rake . But beforepassing any j udgment on the eth i cal character o f

the Ras Li la,every reader Should remember on e

s imple fact , wh ich i s unden iable, that wh i le at Bri ndaban

,that i s , at the date o f the Ras Li la , Kri shna

was on ly a boy of twelve,and physical ly too imma

ture to commit those excesses which have beencharged again st h im by hasty cri t i cs . Even supposo

i ng he were older, the n umber o f‘Gopikas (or

milkmaids) he i s supposed to have dal l ied withs ixteen th ousan d l—i s i tse l f too appal l in g a figureto warrant a l i teral i nterpretatio n o f these so -cal ledamours . The s implest mean i ng of the Ras Li la isthat i t i s a plain spi ritual al legory

,sign i fying the


happin ess enj oyed by Kri shna’ s fol lowers in h olding

loving i n tercourse with their d ivine master. TheSixteen thousand Gopikas represent the approximaten umber of h is adheren ts at that date and as fo rth e l oving i ntercourse , i t scarce ly needs mention

that th e rel ig ion of Kri shna i s whol ly and solely arel ig ion of l ove , and , as everybo dy knows , love i s a

feel ing the true essence of wh ich cannot be defined

except by poin ti ng to concrete i nstances o f the rel ati on subsi sting between master and se rvant

,o r

father and so n , or friend and friend , o r husbandand wife . And these are j ust the four types o f Lovesubsi sti ng between Kri shna and h is votaries—thel ast be i ng the hi ghest form o f l ove . Again , the

happi ness of l ove , according to al l ph i losoph ies ,consi sts i n i ts gratification , and the gratificationconsi sts i n un ion wi th the beloved and how can

the happiness of such a un ion be described o r com

mun icated i n matter-moulded forms of speech

except by borrowing i l l ustrations from the physicalworld Every studen t of Psychology knows thati n describing mental processes i t i s not on ly usual

,

but absol utely i ndi spensable , to make use of words

and express ion s properly appl icable to facts of the

material world . When thi s i s so i n the case of such

simple men ta l processes as apprehen sion , perception

or attention , how much more so i t must be i n thecase of the h ighe st and most complex of human



motives are overturned and forgotten . I f youorder us to go back , we are lame i f you cal l u Sunto you

,we fly Krishna finding that the i r pas

s ion fo r h im was sincere , took each of them in hi sarms and treated them with equal tenderness

, so

that al l the happiness and transport which are to

be found i n the world were col lected i n one place—in the hearts o f the Gopikas. Wherever they

turned , each fo und Krishna close to her, and thehappiness o f thei r l ove for Krishna was enhancedby the feel ing that Krishna l oved them equal ly inreturn . A l l of a sudden—j ust as thei r love wastinged with th i s touch of van ity—Krishna playedthem a trick he vanished from their company

,

l eaving them staring around i n aston ishment anddespair

,and i nterrogating every tree , flower, and

blade of grass , to obtai n i n formation of thei r ' runaway swain . After a ti resome search , they found

that another damsel , named Radha , was engaging

h is attent ions , and they became frantic with grieft i l l Kri shna , taking pity upon them , again made h isappearance , when they worsh ipped h im with flowers

,

and expressed thei r love to h im i n differen t action san d atti tudes . A l l th i s exceesive j oy terminated i na gay dance

,i n wh ich Kri shna mult ipl ied h i s form

i n proportion to the n umber of the Gopikas, andgiving each o f them a hand , caused each to bel ievethat he was close to her s

‘

ide . The exertion o f the

KART IKI P U RN A M A S H I 215

dance caused the moi sture of perspi ration to appearo n the cheeks of the G0pikas, whose j et-black tresses trembled over thei r shoulders as the i r hair l ayin di shevel l ed curl s beh i nd thei r heads .The above i s a summari sed tran slat ion of the five

chapters of the B h aga 'va ta treating of the Ras Lila .

Even'

i n th i s brief summary,the language i s sensu

ous enough . But the Spiritual s ign ificance o f thewhole , and o f every detai l of the narrat ive , i s notvery deep down

,and does not require much effort

to grasp . The beauti fu l fu l l moon o f an Indianautumn 3 selected by the poet as the t ime whenKrish na plays a rapturous note o n h is flute , to re

present the fact that scenes of natural beauty and

c almness are the fi ttest pl aces for the love -worsh ip

o f Krishna , so much so that Kri shna , as itwere ,in vites hi s votaries th i ther, and the votaries ( the

Gopikas respond to the i nvi tation so eagerlythat they forget everyth i ng of the world . The

Gopikas ,’ i n the al legory, stand for the votaries

o f Krishna,who may be of the male o r female sex

according to recogn ised earthly di sti nct ion s , but

who , i n thei r relation to Kri shna , must be represented as al l female , for, according to the ancien tH indu bel ief, the on e male , the only P urusha i n theun iverse , i s Kri shna , the Lord of Creation , to whomth e in fin itude of created worlds , especial ly h i s hel oved fol lowers , stand in the dearest of al l human


relations , that of husband and wife , such a relationsh i p being ih Vaishnava phraseology cal led Madh uriya , which properly means the tender feel ings ofa pass ionate maiden for her l ove .

’

The impass ioned exclamation of the Gopika whorepl ies to Krishna ’ s advice by saying when frenzyseizes the heart

,al l dutie s , al l earth ly motives , are

overturned and forgotten , —wi l l need no explanation i f on ly the word frenzy i s correctly i nterpreted to mean what i t does rel ig ious fervour. ’

The next sentence of Coleman , after th i s expla

nation , wi l l come eas ier. I t says , Krishna fin d

i ng that the i r pass ion for h im was sincere , took each

of them in h is arms , &c. Al l that i t means—andi t can mean noth ing el se fo r a boy of twelve—for weShould al so remember that the n umber o f GOpikas isput down at —al l that i t means i s that Kri shnaafter satisfy ing h imsel f that the d evotion of these

fol lowers was genui ne and s incere , acceptedthem for h is fol lowers . The phrase took them i nh i s arms i s on ly a graph i c phrase mean ing ‘

ad

mitted them to fel lowsh ip .

’ I n H indi the commonph rase used to denote an act o f l egal ly adopting aboy as hei r, i s taking i nto one

’ s arms ’—“

g6d len a .

"

Wherever they turned , each found Krishn aclose to her, etc . How can each member of a

huge assembly of fin d one and the samei nd ividual near to hersel f ? That i s a phys ica l


218 H I N DU P A S'

rs' AND P B A S T S

are on ly her handmaids. But st i l l they repre

s ent the highest form of devotional l ove , cu ltivatedat the sacrifice o f earth ly good , and they are therefore i n thei r turn preferred over other devoteeswho seek to attain Kri shna by other paths , such asthose of abstract contemplation o r reverence andawe .

Lastly,the dance i n which Kri shna is said to

have multipl ied h i s form , giving a hand to eacho f the Gopikas , i s obviously n ot an earthlydance o f the same typ e as an I ndian n a utch : i t i so nly a physical metaphor in tended to i l l ustrate theboundless rapture fel t by a tru ly devoted soul i n as tate o f ecstati c u n ion with i ts god . Those who have

ever witnessed such a rare soul i n such rare ci rcums tances

,wi l l have no d ifficul ty i n understanding

the mean i ng o f the dance ,’ and the correct sigdi

fican ce of the last sentence of the passage quotedfrom Coleman—that about the moisture of perspirat i on coming on the cheeks of the GOpikas , and thei r

d i shevel led hai r—for they wi l l remember that

e cstas ies, caused e ither by bodi ly transports o r

s piri tual raptures,always leave a temporary after

e ffect of nervous exhaust i on .

The above is the plai n mean ing of Ras Li la asu nderstood by an ordinary educated H indu , be he

a Va i shnava o r not . I t i s poss ible for a H indu to

d i smiss al l adverse criti c i sm of Krishna ’s so -cal led

KA RT I KI P U RN A M A S H I 219

gal lantries,by replying simply that Krishna i s God ,

th e S upreme Being H imsel f,and that canon s of

mo ral i ty which selfish man has i nvented to safe

guard h i s poor worldly i nterests , are clearly nota ppl icable to the case o f God , who is above al l l aw ,

above al l moral i ty , and not subj ect to any kind o f

j udgment . But such a defence i s hardly n eces

sary in the case : that the whole i s an al legory is

enough to Si l ence al l cri ti ci sms of Krishna ’ s so

c al led conduct i n the Ras Li la , which H indus

themselves regard as more o r l ess mystical .The Ras Lila i s annual ly celebrated i n some

H i ndu households i n the form o f an ordinary n autch

party , i n wh ich l i ttl e boys are decked as GOpikas,and one of them assumes the r61e of Krishna , andthere i s music and dancing o f a rude or refineds tyle , according to the taste of the actors and thehouseholder. This i s fol lowed o r preceded by thew orsh ip of Krishna

,much i n the same style as on

t h e day o f Jan amash tami. I t i s noteworthy that i na Ras Lila performance i t i s customary to erect a

sort of canopy o r awn ing over the spot where the‘dance ’ takes place , even though th i s may be i n sidea roofed hal l , the canopy be ing meant to s ign i fythat the gods above are not al lowed even to witnesst he performance

,much less to take part i n i t ; for

the Vaishnava bel ief i s that n o on e i s permittedto j oin i n the Li la wh o does n ot stand “

ln‘

th e

220 H INDU PASTS AND F BA S T S

relation of a Gopika to Krishna,—that i s

,who is

n ot an arden t , disi nterested worshipper of h im ,who

does n ot l ove h im for h i s own sake , i n utter obl iv iousn ess of h is own sel f. The Ras Lil a i s celebrated as a ‘ fest ival ’ on ly by ignoran t H indus

, wh o

do n ot know that i t does n ot mean a dance i n anysense of the word . The educated classes celebratei t by worshipping the image o r spiri t of Kri shnaon th i s hal lowed n ight when he loved to play athri l l i ng note o n h is pipe i n the moon l i t bowers of

Brindaban .

Kartiki P urn amash i i s al so a great bath ing-day.

At every place Situated on the banks o f the Gangesthere i s a mela on th is day ; but the chief centre ofbath ing i s Bithur, a vi l lage in the distri ct of Gawnpore, which i s regarded as on e of the hol iest spotsi n al l H industan , having been the res idence of

"

Valmiki and the scene o f the fight between Ramaand h is u nknown son s , Lava and Kusa . I n anearl ier age i t was the spot where Brahma

,the

Creator, completed the work of creati on by holding an A swamedha or horse-sacrifice , and the mark

of a horse ’s hoof on o n e of the stone steps leadingto what i s called the B rahmavarta Ghat, i s sti ll

shown to the p ious pi lgrim as an object o f devoutworship . The res idence o f Valmiki too i s sti ll

shown on the river bank , and a temple was bui l t i nh i s honour by the M ahrattas on a mound to the


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