142 THE LATE REV. P. DEHON ON 



Zemindars and Rajas of the Native States. When a man has offered a sacrifice to Anna 

 Kuan she goes and lives in his house in the form of a small child. From that time his 

 fields yield double harvest. When he brings in his paddy he takes Anna Kuari, rolls her 

 over the heap to double its size. But she soon becomes restless and is only pacified by 

 new human sacrifices. At last after some years she cannot bear remaining in the same 

 house any more, and kills everyone. 



Khunt Nasan is the sept bhut. He is simply the personification or rather the 

 deification of Death, which is personified to the European mind in the shape of a skeleton 

 with a scythe in its hands. These people imagine that it is the sept bhut which they 

 have never been able to tame, and which has carried off all the members of that sept. 

 After all, all these bhuts and dcvtas are only deifications of good and evil. The 

 difference between us and these people is that we personify and they deify. Personifica- 

 tion implies no duty, whilst deification implies the duty of worship. Every year a 

 sacrifice is offered to Khunt Nasan consisting of three fowls — one black, one brown, and 

 a cock black and red. The eldest member of each family has to offer him a buffalo as a 

 sacrifice, at which all the members of the family have to be present. 



Dain. — It is difficult to give a direct definition of this bhut. Originally there were 

 twenty-one bhuts ; a mother and her twenty daughters who, by the strength of their 

 mantras, could cause anyone they wished to become possessed of any particular bhut 

 they desired. They are the most powerful among bhuts, and no one can resist them ; they 

 are the incarnation of mischief. Even Pat, the tutelary divinity, who forbids the bhuts 

 to do mischief, cannot resist their mantras, and becomes mischievous under their influence. 

 He becomes like a man intoxicated and forgets himself and his duties. 



Here is the story that will give a clear idea who these Dains are, and how they got 

 their tremendous power. It will also show at the same time what the relative status of 

 the Ojhas is. In the beginning Mahadeo had taught a man all the mantras and 

 medicines, whereby he became almost all powerful. He then set up a school to teach 

 others. At first, numbers of people flocked to him and were very eager to learn, but after 

 some time, seeing the difficulty of mastering all the mantras, they one by one dropped out 

 and left the school. Two of them, however, persevered, and their perseverance was 

 rewarded by a fair knowledge and consequent power. One day, after working very hard 

 in the fields, they were coming home witn their plough on their shoulder, Mahadeo 

 appeared to them under the form of a jogi and began to talk amicably with them saying : 

 " Poor fellows ! you have been working very hard and it is so hot. Are you not thirsty ? 

 You should take some rest : come, let us sit down in the shade of this mango-tree." 

 They put down their ploughs, stuck them against the trunk of the tree and sat down. 

 Mahadeo looked very kind and most interested in the two young men. " Well," said 

 he, " I am very glad to hear that you are the only two young men who have persevered 

 in the school of the guru. I congratulate you. By this time you must know a good 

 number of mantras and be powerful." The two disciples who had been taught by their 

 guru to be very discreet and prudent, did not give way at first to Mahadeo's flattery, but 

 answered — " Indeed, we have been studying, but we know very little as yet and can do 

 nothing.'" " Come, come," said Mahadeo, " don't be so humble, show what you can do. 



