Life and Conditions of the People of Hindustan (1200–1550 A.D.) c7.s1.114

c7.s1.114

³ Compare a few facts on record for the inference. A copper piece was put into the mouth of the corpse wherewith to pay the ferryman on the waters of the Vaitarani, the Styx of the Hindus, for the passage of the spirit over the river. Temple, 222. Similarly a lamp was kept burning in the house to light the way of the departed soul in the darkness of the next world. Macauliffe, I, 349; the act of feeding on rice and milk for the vigour of the disembodied soul has been referred to. Abu’l Fazl makes it clear that the belief that the spirit of the husband needed a female attendant in the next world was widely prevalent. A.A., III, 191-2, also Pero Tefur, 90-1; also Crooke, Popular Religion, 153. The Suttee forms a link in a line of thought of similar animistic character.