206 The Vast a Yaga. [No. 3, 



Upapurdna, one of those interpolations, which has mixed th. 

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

 describes them as descendants of Nagas, much d- \ 1 and 



enfeebled. 



In the whole qyclopsadia of Hindu sacrifices and ceremonies, 

 no sacrifice connected with Nagas or Barpas, is more frequen% 

 ly practised and with greater telai than the VA I Yoga. It is, 



indeed, considered aVaidic rite, and without it no house, temp 

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

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

 house. Yastu is partly a Yaidie 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 th< 

 misfortune that can happen to a Hindu is the 1..-- of his domicile. 



Few tilings appear more dreadful than when an inoea bmasj 



pronounces the awful OUTSe '' Let dOYOS take | i of your 



Vastu" (domicile), and an enemy vows vengeance by tin-eaten; 

 sow Besamuxn 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 >nake, 



called the Fastu-Strp*, which is regarded with great awe. If the 

 Vastu-Sarpa isseen to abandon a house, it i> an unlucky omen, and 

 the perpetuity of the house, the continuity of the race or famil 

 believed to be endangered. 



The Yastu Yaga ceremony is performed in the manner desci . 

 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, flow 

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

 rice, under the usual manlras. The owner then touches 

 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 



