230 The Honey-Makers 



Madhuparka, as the name implies, is a mixture of honey 

 and curds. 



Its presentation is extremely ceremonious, and its recep- 

 tion by the guest is accompanied by the recital of the most 

 honeyed composition in Hindu, or any other, literature. 



The guest mixes the ingredients of the madhuparka 

 three times from left to right with his thumb and his fourth 

 finger, with the formula, — 



" What is the honied, highest form of honey, which con- 

 sists in the enjoyment of food, by that honied highest form 

 of honey may I become highest, honied, and an enjoyer of 

 food." 



He partakes of it three times with the formula, — 

 " I eat thee for the sake of brilliancy, of luck, of glory, of 

 power, and of the enjoyment of food." 



The guest is enjoined in the " Sutras " not to eat the whole 

 of the madhuparka, a dish of which the people were evi- 

 dently very fond, but to pass on the remnant to some 

 deserving neighbor, or to give it to a friend. 



The inmates of the house look at the madhuparka and 

 murmur, " May Indra come thither." 



Mention of honey occurs over and over again in those 

 parts of the books describing the sacrificial rites upon sacred 

 days — of which the Hindu calendar was full. Upon one 

 of these days, for instance, offerings were made thus : — 



" Having cooked milk-rice for Indra he sacrifices it, 

 mixed with curds, honey and ghee, to Indra, Indrani, the 

 two Aswins, the full moon of Asvayuga, and to the 

 autumn." 



At the ceremony of the cutting of the beard in the six- 

 teenth year of his age the youth takes upon himself a vow 

 which must be kept a year, a part of the vow being that he 

 shall avoid eating honey and flesh. 



