216 The Vdstu Yaga. [No. 3, 



in a pot full of water. A boy is made to draw one out, and the name 

 that is drawn out first becomes the presiding deity of the tank. In 

 other words, the Naga aborigines being propitiated are entrusted 

 with the protection of the tank. The protecting Naga is then to be 

 well fed.* 



This was no doubt an ingenious method of meeting the difficulty, 

 when several Nagas presented themselves as candidates for the 

 guardianship. 



The Naga-yashti or the Naga flag-post, or the rod as it were of 

 the guardian Naga, is to be made of one of the following trees 

 common in the Naga hills. A piece straight and free from crooked 

 knots is preferred. 



The trees recommended are : Bamboo, Varuna, the Punnaga, 

 Messua ferrea, Mimusops elenchi, Azaddirachta indica, and Acacia 

 catechu. 



The Naga, it appears, has to plant the post on the banks of the 

 tank, so that no other Naga may come and interfere. The Naga yashti, 

 or P.uhi hatha, is now made upwards of 30 feet long, and is driven 

 into the ground at the geometrical centre of the tank. But such 

 practices, denoting a forgetfulness of the original motives, are not 

 at all rare among the Hindus. 



The Das'ahard is a festival in honour of the monsoons and the 

 first freshes in the river. It is, according to Hindu mythology, the 

 anniversary of the day when Bhagiratha, an ancestor of Rdvia- 



* *rTJir5rT*rg*mrTf*r %f^erTf^r s^¥^ i 



W ^T^TWtfT ^W ^ I 5^Tf*W 3pfl || 



3ffW I 



Having inscribed the names of the eight Nagas on separate leaves, drop them 

 into a pot filled with water, and raffle them with the Gdyatri mantra. On 

 taking out one leaf, the name of the (presiding) Naga appears. The Naga 

 whose name is taken out by the boy, is the guardian of the tauk. Worship the 

 said Naga with Chandana, &c, and give him milk and rice boiled in milk. 



