THE RELIGION AND CUSTOMS OF THE URAONS. 177 



besmears every day with cow-dung. After some years this acquires tremendous propor- 

 tions, takes a yellowish hue, and, as he has to tie it, he seems to be walking with a small 

 bundle of hay on his head. Such a man becomes a sokha — a kind of clairvoyant of the 

 tribe. It is impossible to treat ex professo of the sokha. Like all the mysterious 

 personages of his kind he is a very reticent man, and what is going on between him and 

 bhuinphar must remain a secret. 



Enough of this digression. Every Saturday, after eating their evening meal, the 

 pupils spend the whole night in learning mantras and practising the jharna. The 

 next morning they &o to the jungle, where the guru shows them all the medicinal plants 

 they have to use, and explains their properties. As they have to fast, they do not go 

 home, and the whole day is spent with the guru. The amount they have to learn is 

 reallv incredible. They have to learn by heart more than two hundred mantras and 

 incantations, some of which are very long and often without any meaning. They must 

 know the name ofj all the gurus and deotas ; and these are very numerous. The names of 

 all the snakes ought to be very familiar to them, and they ought to know what kind of 

 medicine is to be used in every case. They learn all the tricks that are generally shown 

 by snake-charmers. They can make a cobra stand, raise its head, display its hood, 

 and crawl just as they like. They can make a snake come out of its hole by singing 

 incantations only : this takes a pretty long time, but with the nagdan, or the instru- 

 ment used by snake-charmers, they can make any snake come out quickly and follow 

 them. 



As the chief work of the ojha is the ghosna, so the work of the nagmotia is the 

 jharna, or the sweeping away of the disease or poison. The insignia of the ojha are a 

 winnowing-fan and a lamp, and the insignia of the nagmotia are a blade of long grass 

 {kher) one foot long and a nagdan. In the jharna the nagmotia keeps the blade of grass 

 in his hand, and, whilst he is chanting his incantations and muttering his mantras, he 

 passes it over the seat of the sickness and moves it, just as if it were a fan, with a down- 

 ward motion, giving a small jerk at the end, taking care not to touch the body. By this 

 means he brings down by degrees the disease or the poison, from the place originally 

 infected, to the toes or fingers, and from there make it pass into the ground as if it were 

 an electric current. Sometimes also he makes it pass into the blade of grass and blows it 

 into the air. They ascribe to the jharna the most powerful power, and the blade of grass, 

 like a magnet wand, seems to develop such magnetic power that it can draw anything 

 away. At the end of a year they have to pass their examination and have to prepare 

 themselves for it by a fast for two days. Every pupil's gun, or magnetic power, is 

 duly tested and literally weighed in the balance. But this is so extraordinary a perfor- 

 mance, that it is impossible to believe it, and the thing must be ascribed to a trick of the 

 guru to inspire his pupils with the most unlimited confidence and faith in their art. A 

 balance is brought in, and as many stones weighing exactly one seer (such as are used in 

 the bazar; as there are pupils. All are properly weighed and tested. Each pupil then 

 takes a stone and has to practice the jharna on it for three hours. They all, of course, try 

 their best and sweat over their task. At a signal given by the guru all stop, and the 

 stones are weighed again and the deficiency in weight made up with pice. They say 



