﻿OF THE niN'DUS, &c. 239 



'* ture, which is truth itself, this heveragc thus qiiaf- 

 ^' fed hecame a pmlific essence, the eternal organ of 

 ** universal perception, Indra's organs of sense, the 

 *' milk of immortality, and honey to the manes of 

 *' ancestors : ^fay this oblation to the planet Venus 

 ■' be etlicacious." 



7. " 3,L\Y divine Maters be auspicious to us for 

 *' accumulation, for gain, and for refreshing 

 *' draughts ; may they listen to us, that Ave may be 

 " associated with good auspices: May this oblation 

 " to the planet Saturn be efficacious." 



8. '* O Du'rva'*, which dost germinate at e^^ery 

 ** knot, at every joint, multiply us through a hun- 

 ** dred, througli a thousand descents : May thi:^ 

 *' oblacicu to the planet of the ascending node be 

 ** efficacious.*' 



9. ^' Be thou produced by dwellers in this 

 *' world to mvs knowledo;e to io;norant mortals, and 

 ** wealth to the indig-ent, or beautv to the u^jflv : 

 ■* May tliis oblation to the planet ot the descending 

 ■^ node be efficacious." 



I xow proceed to the promised description of 

 funeral rites, abridging the detail of ceremonies as 

 delivered in rituals, omitting local variations noticed 

 by authors uho have treated of this subject, and com- 

 monly neglecting the superstitious reasons given by 

 them for the v-ery numerous ceremonies which they 

 direct to be performed in honour of persons recently 

 deceased, or of ancestors long since defunct. 



A DYING man, when no hopes of his surviving 

 remain, should be laid upon a bed of cus'a grass, 

 either in the house or out of it, if he be a S'udra^ 

 but in the open air if he belong to another tribe. 

 When he is at the point of death, donations of cattle, 



land, 



* Agrostis linearis. Koenic* 



