34 Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. |N.S.. XIII, 



second from east to west, and the third again from west to 



east. When, at the conclusion of his last circumambulation 



the celebrant again arrives at the south of the heap, he place 



the winnowing-basket on the ground in front of him and 



joining the palms of his hands together, makes a low obeisanc* 



to the stacked corn and mumbles any one of the following 

 prayers : 



§ *4* ftf^ II 



Translation. 



O god Syawadh ! 



Grant me a hundredfold good fortune 



Or, 



^H ^cTT^ft 



I 



«!sr kit ^t>^ n 



Translation 



O god of crops ! 

 Pardon my sins. 



Or, 



*rf^i*r tttsitsi ***ft 3*? rni w^r %3 



^*fjR ^T 



Translation 



Grosain Sahadewan! Make me prosperou is 

 the '•'■ Kin- of Merchants " {Raj Bayouhar)* 



Several points in the aforementioned prayers call for some 

 notice. In the first prayer, ti god Syawadh *rr*.* mfrTOit 



or the :< god of fertility" is invoked. He i apparently a male 



deity. But in the ceremony as performed in Karnal, Shaod 



MStS (Mother Shftod) , the goddess of fertility , is prayed to for 



granting prosperity to the worshipper. I think that Go in 

 • bahadewan invoked in the third praver is the same as ti 

 deity Syawadh of the first one. In the Beeond prayer, the go<l 

 of crops )^^^,^ ) himself is invoked. As regards I he " R&j 

 Bayouhar" (tot w*ta ) or "the King of Merchants" men 



tioned in the third prayer, I invite the reader's attention 1 

 the Beohar Baba* or « Lord of Merchandise" who is worshipped 



1 Supple,, at to the Ohtmrvof Indian Term*. By H. M. Elliot, B • 



o.t-.b. Agra: 1845. pp 130-132. 



v«./L«°r k ?- 8 /*tn ! n [ rod " ction '* the Popular Reii,,, , and Folklore 



Northern India (Allahabad Edition of 1894), p . 159. 



O 





