206 The Vdstu Yaga. [No. 3, 



Upapurdna, one of those interpolations, which has mixed the real 

 with the unreal, and has complicated our meagre historical data, 

 describes them as descendants of Nagas, much degenerated and 

 enfeebled. 



In the whole cyclopaedia of Hindu sacrifices and ceremonies, 

 no sacrifice connected with Nagas or Sarpas, is more frequent- 

 ly practised and with greater eclat than the Vdstu Yaga. It is, 

 indeed, considered a Vaidic rite, and without it no house, temple, or 

 tank is fit for divine or human use. It is a ceremony that every 

 Hindu has to perform, and without it none can inhabit a new 

 house. Vastu is partly a Yaidic god. He is the tutelar deity of 

 the house, and is regarded by the Hindu with a peculiar veneration ; 

 for the homestead has a sanctity in his eyes which is not met with 

 in other countries. To have the privilege of dwelling in the house 

 of his forefathers is an object of pride with him, and the greatest 

 misfortune that can happen to a Hindu is the loss of his domicile. 

 Few things appear more dreadful than when an incensed brahman 

 pronounces the awful curse " Let doves take possession of your 

 Vastu" (domicile), and an enemy vows vengeance by threatening to 

 sow sesamum in the Vastu bhita, or the site of the homestead, 

 that is to say, to reduce the homestead to a field under the plough. 

 Each Vastu, or domicile, is believed to have a representative snake, 

 called the Vastu- Sarpa, which is regarded with great awe. H the 

 Vastu-Sarpa is seen to abandon a house, it is an unlucky omen, and 

 the perpetuity of the house, the continuity of the race or family, is 

 believed to be endangered. 



The Vastu Yaga ceremony is performed in the manner described 

 below. 



Va'stu Yaga. — On the morning of the day previously fixed for 

 entering a new house, the owner performs the usual - morning 

 prayers and ablutions, and having thus purified himself, he 

 presents pieces of gold to brahmans according to his means. A 

 water-pot is filled with water, and on it are placed fruits, flowers, 

 and mango leaves. It is decorated by Brahmans with curd and 

 rice, under the usual mantras. The owner then touches respect- 

 fully the tail of a cow, crowns his head with garlands, anoints 

 his person with sandal- wood paste, and places his lawful wife on his 



