﻿OF THE HINDUS, &C. 305 



to his brothers. " 6. " Give thy heart to my religious 

 duties ; may thy mind follow mine ; be thou con- 

 sentient to my speech. May VrIhaspati unite 

 thee unto me." 



The followers of the Yajiirveda enlarge the first 

 prayer, and omit the rest, some of which, however, 

 they employ at other periods of the solemnity. " I 

 take thy hand for the sake of good fortune, that 

 thou mayst become old with me, thy husband : may 

 the deities, namely, the divine sun (aryaman')^ and 

 the prolific being (savitri,) and the god of love, 

 give thee as a matron unto me, that I may be a, 

 householder. I need the goddess of prosperity. 

 Thou art she. Thou art the goddess of prosperity. 

 I need her. I am the Saman [vMa.'] Thou art the 

 Rich \yeda.^ I am the sky. Thou art the earth. 

 Come : let us marry : let us hold conjugal inter* 

 course : let us procreate otfspring : let us obtain 

 sons. May they reach old age. May we, being 

 affectionate, glorious and well disposed, see during 

 a hundred years, live a hundred years, and hear a 

 hundred years."' 



According to the ritual, which conforms to the 

 SaynavMa^ the bridegroom sits down near the fire 

 with the bride, and finishes this part of the ceremony 

 by making oblations, while he names the three 

 worlds severally and conjointly. The taking of the 

 bride's hand in marriage is thus completed. In the 

 evening of the same day, so soon as the stars ap- 

 pear, the bride sits down on a bulFs hide, which 

 nmst be of a red colour, and must be placed with 

 the neck towards the east, and the hair upwards. 

 The bridegroom sits down near her, makes oblations 

 while he names the three worlds as usual; and then 

 makes six oblations with the following prayers, and 

 each time pours the remainder of the clarified butter 

 on the bride's head. 1. "1 obviate by tiiis full ob- 

 lation all ill marks in the lines [of thy hands,] in 



X thv 



