Dravidian Gods in Modern Hinduism 95 



Adiseshudw, in her right hand. These are now represented by a 

 basket in the left hand and a stick in the right hand of the Matangi. 

 She also held the sun and moon as plates in her hands, and in one 

 caught the spilt blood and in the other the scattered brains. With 

 the blood she made the bottii, or sacred red mark, on the fore- 

 heads of the people who were still in a swoon. This is said to be 

 the reason that the Matangi now carries two brass plates containing 

 saffron and turmeric with which she marks the foreheads of the 

 worshipers. 



At last the king and his attendants awoke from their swoon, and 

 the goddess now became a maiden again and was taken to the 

 palace. She was afterwards married to the rishi, Jamadagni, and 

 became the mother of five sons of whom Parasu Rama was one.'* 



The story is continued in a variant of the legend of the behead- 

 ing of Renuka.^^ She went for water to the Gundlakamma, a 

 river of the Madras Presidency, and saw in the water the reflection 

 of the great warrior, Karthaviriyarjuna, with one thousand arms, 

 who happened at that moment to be flying across the sky. She 

 allowed her thoughts to rest on the beautiful warrior for a moment, 

 and then attempted to take home the water by rolling it into a ball, 

 as was her custom. But this time, try as she might, the water 

 would not form a ball, and she was obliged to return home empty- 

 handed. 



It was because of this lapse in her chastity that Jamadagni or- 

 dered her to be killed. When Parasu Rama shot the arrow which 

 severed his mother's head, it took off also the head of a Madiga 

 slave who was following her. 



When Parasu Rama secured the promise from his father that 

 his mother should be reanimated, he went himself to attend to the 

 matter. It was early morning and still dark. He found the 

 head and placed it on the trunk. He then sprinkled holy water 

 on the dismembered body, and it lived. He now saw another 



34 Thurston (Castes and Tribes of Southern India, Madras, 1909, IV, p. 

 297) gives another variation of the story in which the goddess appeared as 

 a golden parrot and sat on the ant-hill. 



35 See page 84. For still other versions of this popular story see 

 Thurston, Castes and Tribes of Southern India, IV, pp. 297, 300-303. 



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