Dravidian Gods in Modern Hinduism 121 



the following directions. " When you worship me you must cer- 

 tainly kill a buffalo in remembrance of this fight. The lambs 

 and sheep informed the buffalo that I went into the hill, so they 

 also must be sacrificed. If I see the eyes of the dead buffalo I 

 shall be afraid, so you must open its abdomen and with its fat 

 cover its eyes. If I see the mouth I shall be afraid, so you must 

 put the legs in the mouth. You must also put a light on its head 

 in honor of me." The king obeyed, and this has been the order 

 of worship ever since. 



This story does not seem to be very consistent. The fat spread 

 over the eyes and the legs crossed in the mouth of the dead buf- 

 falo surely do not decrease the unpleasantness of the sight. 

 Again, however, there seems to be no totemistic connection. The 

 sacrificed buffalo is a conquered enemy. 



When we turn to the Hindu and Puranic legends we find the 

 buffalo mentioned occasionally, and it is a marked coincidence that 

 in every case the buffalo is an enemy and is destroyed. In the 

 Ramayana^ the fierce buffalo, Dundubhi, is a demon incarnate. 

 He tore up with his horns the cavern of Bali, son of Indra, and 

 king of the monkeys. Bali seized him by the horns, and after a 

 terrible struggle dashed him to pieces. 



Another legend, as told in the Markandaya Purana,^ relates that 

 Diti, the mother of the Asuras, lost all of her sons in a fight with 

 the gods. Another son was born to her, and he took the form of 

 a buffalo in order to annihilate the gods. He was called Mahisa- 

 sura. The story goes on to tell of the terrible fight between 

 Durga and this buffalo. Durga at last conquered him, and cutting 

 off his head, drank his blood. 



A similar legend is connected with the defeat of the Rakshasas 

 by Renuka.'^ When she returned victorious to her father, she 

 brought the head of the chief Rakshasa in her hand. The Dravid- 

 ian version adds that his hands had been cut off and placed in his 



5 Griffith, The Ramayan of Valmiki, Bk. IV, Canto XI, pp. 335 sq. 

 « Durga Sapta Shati, in the Markandaya Purana, Bangalore, 1893, PP- 22 

 sq. (Sanskrit). 

 " See page 85. 



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