1870.] On the Funeral Ceremonies of the ancient Hindus. 253 



to Prajapati. A's 'valayana says nothing of the three trenches, hut 

 takes the people at once to the river to bathe, where " they im- 

 merse themselves, and on rising throw a handful of water into the 

 air while they pronounce the name of the deceased, and that of his 

 family. They then get out of the water, put on dry clothes, and 

 after once wringing those that they had on before, they spread 

 them out towards the north, and sit down there themselves till the 

 stars are seen. According to others, they do not go home before 

 sun-rise. Then the young ones walk first, and the old ones last, 

 and when they arrive at their home, they touch, by way of purify- 

 ing themselves, "the stone, the fire, cow-dung, grain, (tila seed,) oil 

 and water before they step in."* This part of the ceremony and 

 the mourning which follows, have been described by Manu, 

 Yajnavalkya and others, and need not be further noticed. The 

 Aranyaka is entirely silent on the subject. 



For the ceremony of burial, the first operation is, the collection of 

 the half-burnt bones. This should be done according to As'valayana 

 on the 11th, 13th or 15th day of the wane ; Baudhayana enjoins the 

 3rd, 5th or 7th from the day of cremation. The dates tritiyd, pan- 

 chami and saptami are, given in the feminine gender in the text, and 

 cannot imply day, as in ordinary acceptance they indicate the age 

 of the moon. As the ceremonies, however, of the tenth day are given 

 in a subsequent part of the work, and the Prayoga noticed above 

 names days, it is probable, that the morning of the 3rd, 5th or 

 7th day is meant, the elipse in the sutra being supplied by the 

 word tithi in the sense of a day. The first act is to sprinkle milk and 

 water on the cinders, and to strike on the heap with an udum- 

 vara staff to separate the bones. This is done while repeating 

 five mantras. The cinders are then collected and thrown to- 

 wards the south side, leaving the bones behind. Three oblations 

 are next offered to Agni with a sruva spoon. Thereupon the senior 

 wife is to come forward, and, with two bits of red and blue strings 

 to which a stone is tied, to draw out the bones with her left hand 

 saying : "Arise hence, and assume a (new) shape. Leave none of 

 your members or your body behind. Repair to whichever place 

 you wish ; may Savita establish you there. This is one of your 

 * Journal Royal As. Soc. xvi, 213. 



