76 



journal, r. a. s. (ceylon). [Vol. V1IL 



With red sandalwood, ground to powder, this stanza is written 

 on a rabdna, or the drum of a tom-tom ; — 



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By the receiving of perceptive power (in religious studies) these 

 three (false) pursuits, viz., worldly desires, doubts, and unorthodox 

 observances, are dispelled : he escapes from the sufferings of the four 

 hells : he is incapable of committing the six great sins. In the Sangha 

 this gem -like state is noble. By this truth may all (sentient) beings 

 benefit. 



A lamp fed by mUel (oil of the Bassia latifolia), which has 

 been hallowed by the recital of the gdthdiva over it, is placed in 

 the field inside a mal-pclak (temporary altar decked with leaves 

 and flowers). At dusk a man should walk round the field repeat- 

 ing the same stanza and beating the said tom-tom with a piece 

 of kayila-vela (creeper). This done, he must retire by the entrance 

 he came in at, closing it, and sleep that night in an untenanted 

 house. 



(5.) 



The K a mat a, or Threshing- Floor. 

 " When they are to tread their corn," writes Knox (p. 11), " they 

 choose a convenient adjoining place. Here they lay out a round 

 piece of ground, some twenty or five-aud-twenty foot over, from 

 which they cut away the upper turf. Then certain ceremonies are 

 used. First they adorn this place with ashes made into flowers 

 and branches and round circles. Then they take divers strange 

 shells and pieces of iron, and some sorts of wood, and a bunch of 

 betel nuts (which are reserved for such purposes) and lay all 

 these in the very middle of the pit, and a large stone upon 

 them." 



See also Mr. Brodie's Paper in C. A. S. Journal, 1849, p. 25, 

 and Davy's Ceylon, p. 275 (where a wood-cut is given). 



triad. Sometimes, however, the names of Brahma, Vishnu, Siva, and other 

 Hindu deities are found mixed with those of Buddha and other Buddhist 

 divinities in irretrievable confusion in the same charm. Nearly every charm, 

 Sanskrit, Sinhalese, or Tamil, ends with L'scdfi—a, corruption of the Sanskrit 

 SvdJm, corresponding to " Amen" in meaning. (C. A. S. Journ. 1865-6, p. 61.) 



