pleased because they have taken no care to propitiate it. If the soul does not answer from the burial ground, or if there is no mark on the square of ashes, it is assumed that he has fallen into the hands of some Bhût or Pret, who has shut him up in the hollow stalk of a bamboo, or buried him in the earth; in any case there is a risk that he may return, and the rite is still performed as a precautionary measure.

Among the Kharwârs the holiest part of the house is the south room, where it is supposed that the Devatâ pitri or sainted dead reside. They worship the spirits of the dead in the month of Sâwan (August) near the house-fire. The house-master offers up one or two black fowls and some cakes and makes a burnt offering with butter and molasses. Then he calls out-" Whatever ghosts of the holy dead or evil spirits may be in my family, accept this offering and keep the field and house free from trouble!" Many of the Kharwârs are now coming more completely under Brâhmanical influence, and these worship the Pitri at weddings in the courtyard. The house-master offers some balls of rice boiled in milk, and a Brâhman standing by mutters some texts. They are now so advanced as to do the annual service for the repose of the sainted spirits at the Pitripaksha or fortnight of the dead in the month of Kuâr (August).

The other Drâvidian tribes follow similar customs. Thus, the Korwas worship their dead relations in February with an offering of goats, which is done by the eldest son of the dead man in the family cook-house. Their ancestors are said not to appear in the flesh after death, but to show themselves in dreams if they are dissatisfied with the arrangements made for their comfort. On the day on which they are expected to appear the householder makes an offering of cakes to them in the family kitchen. The Patâris think that the dead occasionally attend when worship is being done to them. At other times they remain in the sky or wander about the mountains. Sometimes they call in the night to their descendants and say'Worship us! Give us food and drink!" If they are not

N

propitiated they give trouble and cause sickness.

The Kisâns and Bhuiyârs of Chota Nâgpur adore their ancestors, "but they have no notion that the latter are now spirits, or that there are spirits and ghosts, or a future state, or anything." The Bhuiyas revere their ancestors under the name of Bîr or Vîra, "hero," a term which is elsewhere applied to ghosts of a specially malignant character. The Khariyas put the ashes of their dead into an earthen pot and throw it into a river. They afterwards set up in the vicinity slabs of stone as a resting-place for them, and to these they make daily oblations. The only worship per-> formed by the Korwas of Chota Nâgpur is to their dead relatives, and the same is the case with other allied races, such as the Bhîls and Santâls.'

SPIRITS MORTAL.

Most of these Drâvidian tribes believe that like themselves the spirits of the dead are mortal. What becomes of them after a couple of generations no one can say. But when this period has elapsed they are supposed to be finally disposed of some way or other, and being no longer objects of fear to the survivors, their worship is neglected, and attention is paid only to the more recent dead, whose powers of mischief still continue. The Gonds go further and propitiate for only one year the spirits of their departed friends, and this is done even if they have been persons of no note during their lifetime; but with worthies of the tribe the case is different, and if one of them, for example, has founded a village or been its headman or priest, then he is treated as a god for years, and a small shrine of earth is erected to his memory, at which sacrifices are annually offered. It is said that the Juângs, who until quite recently used to dress in garments of leaves, are the only one of these tribes who do not practise this form of

1 Dalton, "Descriptive Ethnology," 132, 133, 139,"160, 229; Campbell, "Notes," 2 sqq.; Tylor, "Primitive Culture,” ii. 117.

Hislop, "Papers," 16 sq.

worship.' But these races are particularly reticent about their beliefs and usages, and it is more than probable that further inquiry will show that they are not peculiar in this respect.

ANCESTORS RE-BORN IN CHILDREN.

Among many races, again, there is a common belief that the father or grandfather is re-born in one of his descendants. The modern reader is familiar with examples of such beliefs in Mr. Du Maurier's "Peter Ibbetson," and Mr. Rider Haggard's "She." Manu expresses this belief when he writes "The husband after conception by his wife, becomes an embryo and is born again of her; for that is the wifehood of a wife, that he is born again by her." The feeling that children are really the ancestors re-born is obviously based on the principle of hereditary resemblance. Hence the general feeling in favour of calling a child by the name of the grandfather or grandmother, which is about as far as the rustic goes in recognizing the ascending line. The Konkan Kunbis, and even Brâhmans, believe that the dead ancestors sometimes appear in children. Among Gujarât Musalmâns the nurse, if a child is peevish, says, "Its kind has come upon its head." The same idea is found among the Khândhs. Among the Laplanders of Europe an ancestral spirit tells the mother that he has come into the child, and directs her to call it after his name.' Another variant of the same belief is that common among some of the Drâvidian races that the ancestor is revived in a calf, which is in consequence well fed and treated with particular respect.

THE SRADDHA.

The ordinary worship of ancestors among Brâh

manized Hindu races has been so often described in wellknown books as to need little further illustration.3

1 Dalton, loc. cit., 158.

2 Campbell, "Notes," 5; Tylor, loc. cit., ii. 116.

'E.g. Monier-Williams, " Brahmanism and Hinduism," 278 sqq.

The

spirits of departed ancestors attend upon the Brâhmans invited to the ceremony of the Srâddha, "hovering round them like pure spirits, and sitting by them when they are seated." "An offering to the gods is to be made at the beginning and end of the Srâddha; it must not begin and end with an offering to ancestors, for he who begins and ends it with an offering to the Pitri quickly perishes with his progeny." The belief is common to many races that the spirits of the dead assemble to partake of the food provided by the piety of their relations on earth. Alcinous addressing the Phæacians tells them-" For ever heretofore the gods appear manifest among us, whensoever we offer glorious hecatombs, and they feast at our side sitting by the same board." And the old Prussians used to prepare a meal, to which, standing at the door, they invited the soul of the deceased. "When the meal was over the priest took a broom and swept the souls out of the house, saying"Dear souls! ye have eaten and drunk. Go forth! go forth!'"'1

The place where the oblation is to be made is to be sequestered, facing the south, the land of departed spirits, and smeared with cow-dung. The use of this substance is easily to be accounted for, without following the remarkable explanation of a modern writer, who connects it with the dropping of the Aurora.' "The divine manes are always pleased with an oblation in empty glades, naturally clean, on the banks of rivers, and in solitary spots." The ceremony is to be performed by the eldest son, which furnishes the Hindu with the well-known argument for marriage and the procreation of male issue. We have seen that the Dravidians also regard the rite as merely domestic and to be performed by the house-master.

The orthodox Hindu, besides the usual Srâddha, in connection with his daily worship, offers the Tarpana or water oblation to the sainted dead. The object of the annual Srâddha is, as is well known, to accelerate the

1 See Frazer, "Golden Bough," i. 177.

* Gubernatis, "Zoological Mythology," i. 279.

progress (gati) of the soul through the various stages of bliss, known as Sâlokya, Sâmîpya and Sârûpya, and by its performance at Gaya the wearied soul passes into Vaikuntha, or the paradise of Vishnu.

Hindus do not allow their sons to bathe during the fortnight sacred to the manes, as they believe that the dirt produced by bathing, shaving, and washing the apparel will reach and annoy the sainted dead. The story goes that Râja Karana made a vow that he would not touch food until he had given a maund and a quarter (about one hundred pounds) of gold daily to Brâhmans. When he died he went to heaven, and was there given a palace of gold to dwell in, and gold for his food and drink, as this was all he had given away in charity during his mortal life. So in his distress he asked to be allowed to return to earth for fifteen days. His prayer was granted, and warned by sad experience he occupied himself during his time of grace in giving nothing but food in charity, being so busy that he neglected to bathe, shave, or wash his clothes, and thus he became an example to succeeding generations.'

DEGRADATION OF ANCESTOR-WORSHIP.

The worship which has been thus described easily passes into other and grosser forms. Thus, in the family of the Gâikwârs of Baroda, when they worship Mahâdeva they think of the greatest of this line of princes. The temple contains a rudely-executed portrait of Khândê Râo, the shrine to the left the bed, garments, and phial of Ganges water, which commemorate his mother, Chimnâbâî. Govind Râo has an image dressed up, and Fateh Sinh a stone face.

In Central India Râjputs wear the figure of a distinguished ancestor or relation engraved in gold or silver. This image, usually that of a warrior on horseback, is sometimes worshipped, but its chief utility is as a charm to keep off ghosts and evil spirits.3

1 “North Indian Notes and Queries,” i. 95.

2 "Bombay Gazetteer," vii. 16 sq.

3 Malcolm, "Central India,” i. 144.