The Religion and Philosophy of the Veda and Upanishads v2.c32.s5.8

v2.c32.s5.8

The death of a man can be, as in all lands, compassed thus in many ways: an image of him may be made of wax and melted or it may be pierced to the heart, or again his shadow, which is in some degree the man, may be likewise treated: again a chameleon may be killed and formally burned in mimicry of the rite of the burning of the dead man.⁶ The footmark of a maiden can be used as a means of winning her love:⁷ the footmark of a beleaguered king is scattered to the winds.⁸ Worms are generally to be banished by the crushing and the burning of twenty-one selected Uçīra worms.⁹ The running away of a slave or some other persons may be prevented by the idiotic rite of pouring round the person affected the urine of the performer from the horn of a living animal, a symbol of strength: the urine represents the person to whom the slave belongs, and thus the person in living presence is in the vicinity and prevents the slave from running away.¹⁰ The destruction of misfortune of any kind often takes the shape of the burning or throwing away in water of old things such as garments, sunshades or shoes.¹ To destroy the borer insect which is damaging crops, one of the species is buried, head downwards, the mouth closed with thread, to prevent further depredations.² When the Soma is being pressed, he who desires to destroy a foe should think of him as he pounds with the pressing stone: the pounding will directly affect the foe. More amusing is the device to be adopted to secure the transfer of a stream from one course to another: the new bed desired is watered, plants like the Avakā are put along it, and a frog is also put there. The stream will therefore follow the path thus laid down.³ The same principle is at work in the rule by which objects to be attained are often expressed in a speech as so won. Thus when the wife is given an offering to look at in the ceremony of the parting of the hair and is asked, 'What dost thou say?' she replies, 'Offspring.' Similarly in the rite to attain male offspring her answer as to what she drinks, in the magic drink given to her, is the producing of a son. The husband and wife on the fifth day after the wedding ask a young Brahman what he sees, to which he replies, 'Sons and cattle.'⁴ So in the rite of the animal offering the question, 'Is it ready?' has always the answer that it is; in the plough festival⁵ the question of the wife whether the ploughing has been accomplished receives an affirmative reply; and such cases are to be found in every important rite. A mode of divination can be made a mode of conveying good fortune in this way: thus a merchant, going on a journey, places balls of dung on the limbs of a friendly Brahman and asks what sort of day it is, to which the latter replies that it is good and lucky.⁶