THE RELIGION AND CUSTOMS OF THE URAONS. 143 



See if you are as powerful as I am " ; and muttering some mantras he uprooted the 

 mango-tree and whirled it round their head with one hand as if it had been only a small 

 twig, and then put it back in its place. The disciples seeingt his could not resist the prompt- 

 ings of vanity and muttering some mantras in their turn : they picked up some loose earth 

 and threw it on the tree : instantly the leaves withered and died. Then pronouncing some 

 other mantras they threw again some mud at the tree and the leaves instantly became 

 green as they were before. This yielding to vanity was the seal of the doom of the 

 human race. Had they been able to resist the temptation and stick to their first assertion, 

 that they knew nothing, Mahadeo would have left their guru alive and they would have 

 been able to learn all his mantras, and men would have been immortal. As it was, 

 Mahadeo saw that he had made a mistake in divulging his secrets. " Well," said he to 

 himself, ' ; if this goes on, men will be as powerful as I am and will learn the secret of 

 immortality." He at once resolved to get rid of the guru. Accordingly he had him 

 bitten by a cobra. As soon as the man felt the poison taking effect he called his two 

 disciples and told them to go quickly and fetch the medicines of immortality. They ran 

 and again met Mahadeo, who ,, stopped them on their way and asked them where they were 

 running. They told him : " Our guru has been bitten by a snake, and we go to fetch 

 medicine for him. " Useless," said Mahadeo, " it is too late; he is dead." The dis- 

 ciples suspecting nothing ran back to see the body of their beloved guru. He was not 

 dead as yet, but it was too late to return and fetch the medicine. They told him what 

 had happened, and the^w^ said : " I see that Mahadeo wants me to die : never mind, let me 

 be, but when I am dead, carry my body to the riverside and eat first my liver, and then 

 my whole body. In doing so you will get possession of all my mantras.'''' Saying this he 

 died. The disciples carried the body to the riverside, opened it first, and taking out the 

 liver wrapped it in Sakhua leaves and put it close by. As they were cutting up the body 

 Mahadeo arrived and upbraided them : " You villians," said he, "what are you doing? 

 Shame ! Is that the way to treat your guru ; what an idea ! What a sin to eat the flesh 

 of your guru. Don't, burn it at once and throw everything into the river." They did so, 

 and got the smoke and steam into their mouths. In their hurry they picked up everything 

 that was on the ground and threw it into the river. The liver wrapped up in the sakhua 

 leaves remained floating, and finally arrived at the mouth of the Ganges. There lived a 

 mother with her twenty daughters : they were playing in a boat when the youngest of all 

 saw the leaves of Sakhua with the liver floating close by ; immediately she threw herself 

 in the water, caught the small bundle and hid it in the folds of her sari. All the others 

 surrounded her at once and wanted to know what it was, but she would not answer. A 

 struggle ensued, and the eldest caught hold of her arms whilst another snatched the liver 

 from her. They then all ate of it, and so got possession of nearly all the mantras of the 

 guru. Had the disciples been able to eat the liver and the body they would have been 

 even more powerful than the Dims. As it was, they swallowed only smoke and steam, 

 that is why their mantras are weak and they have to work the whole night to subdue a 

 bhut. These two disciples taught the Ojhas. 



As for the Dam Bisakis, namely the women who by their mantras communicate with 

 the Dams, there is a great mystery about them. The Uraons cannot understand how a 



