lOO Wilber Theodore Elmore 



CHAPTER X 



The Shepherds' Purana 



The stories in the preceding chapter are connected with the 

 gods upon which the outcastes have especial claims, gods which 

 probably originated with them. There is another line of legends 

 belonging especially to the shepherd caste. These legends do not 

 deal primarly with the origin of their gods, but they help to 

 throw light on this question as well as on the motives and objects 

 of Dravidian worship.^ 



The chief goddess of the shepherd caste is Gangamma. She 

 has all the characteristics of the other Dravidian deities, and her 

 origin is certainly not Br^hmanic. Her story is much confused. 

 Ganga is the name of the Ganges river, and means originally 

 "water." One explanation commonly given for her worship is 

 that she is the symbol of water, one of the elements essential to 

 life. There seems to be nothing either in her worship or in the 

 stories connected with her to indicate any connection between her 

 and the Ganges river. One of the ancestors of the shepherds 

 was named Ganga Razu, and it seems more likely that the name 

 of the goddess came from him than from the river. 



The story of the origin of Gangamma, as commonly told by the 

 shepherds, relates that she was in heaven and came down as a 

 spring of water to bless the earth in the Kali Yugamu.^ She then 

 was born in Madurapuri, in the Madura District. For some 

 reason the king wanted to kill her and so she ascended into the 

 sky, and later hid herself in a cave called Amboji.^ Here she 

 was found by six thousand shepherds. 



1 The shepherd caste is undoubtedly of Dravidian origin. It is a branch 

 of the Sudra caste. Their legends have not been printed, but are found on 

 palm-leaf books, which are jealously guarded. These legends are com- 

 monly called the " Shepherds' Purana." They are of comparatively recent 

 origin. 



2 Yuganiu means age. The Hindus divide all time into four ages, the 

 Krita, Treta, Dvapara, and Kali yugamus. The Kali Yugamu or iron age 

 is considered to be a time of distress and troubles. It is the present age. 



3 Ambhojamu is the Sanskrit term for lotus. 



lOO 



