﻿OF THE HINDUS, &C. 25/ 



subsequent time, the son, or other near relation, car- 

 ries tlic bones Avhicli Averc so buriecl to the river 

 Cxanges ; he batlies there, rubs the vessel witli the 

 five pio(hictions of kine, puts gold, honey, clarified 

 butter and tila on the vessel, and looking towards 

 the south, and advancing into the river, with these 

 words, •' be there salutation unto justice," throws 

 the vessel into the waters of the Ganges, saying, 

 " may he (the deceased) be pleased with nie.^" — 

 .Vgain bathing, he stands upright, and contemplates 

 the sun ; then sipping water, and taking up ciis'a 

 grass, tila and water, pays the priests their fees. 



So long as mourning lasts after gathering the 

 ashes, the near relations of the deceased continue to 

 offer water with the same formalities and prayers as 

 above-mentioned, and to refrain from factitious salt, 

 butter, &c. On tlie last day of mourning, the near- 

 est relation puts on neat apparel, and causes his house 

 and furniture to be cleaned ; he then -goes out of the 

 town, and after offering the tenth funeral cake in 

 the manner before described, he makes ten libations 

 of water from the palms of his hands ; causes the 

 hair of his head and body to be shaved, and his nails 

 to be cut, and gives the barbers the clothes which 



S • were 



fie\v by mistake, burnt themselves with the corpse of their son. The 

 scholiast of the Raghuva;is'a, in which poem, as well as in the Rama- 

 yan'a, this story is beautifully told, quotes a text of law to prove 

 that suicide is in such instances legal. I cannot refrain from also men- 

 tioning, that instances are not unfrequent where persons afHicted with 

 lonthsorae and incurable diseases, have caused themselves to be buried 

 alive, I hope soon to be the channel of communicating to the Asiatic 

 Society a very remarkable case of a leper rescued from a premature 

 grave, and radically cured of his distemper. I must also take this 

 occasion of announcing a very singular practice which prevails among 

 th^ lowest tribes of the inhabitants of Berar and Gondivana. Suicide 

 is not unfrequently vowed by such persons in return for boons soli- 

 cited from idols, and to fulfil his vow, the successful votary throws 

 himself from a precipice named Calabhaira'va, situated in the moun- 

 tains betv/een the Tapti and Nermadd rivers. The annual fair held 

 near that spot at the beginning of spring, usually witnesses eight or ten 

 vie tiras of this superstition. 



