No. 24. — 1881.] veddA songs, etc. Ill 



So far as having any Buddhist tendencies, they do not even show 

 the slightest outward respect in the presence of a Buddhist priest. 

 The other Vedda charms are, I believe, quite unlike those of the 

 Sinhalese." — Hon. Sec.~\ 



No. 9. 



I have found this mantra or charm in a collection of Vedda 

 songs and charms I procured at Badulla. The use in it, however, 

 of a Hindu-religious term, and the corrupted form of a Buddhist 

 metaphysical term, may raise a doubt whether this charm be a 

 genuine Vedda production or not. 



The Hindu term alluded to is O'm namd ! — 'Salutation to the 

 triune deity !' The following is the explanation given of this term 

 by Wilson in his Sanskrit Dictionary : — 



' 0'm\ — The mystic name of the deity, prefacing all the prayers 

 and most of the writings of the Hindus : A., a name of Vishnu, U., 

 of Siva, and M. of Brahma. It therefore implies the Indian triad, and 

 expresses the three in one.'' The Buddhist term is t$&3c,t)23&3®q 

 \_chhandachkande~], which is a corruption of the Sinhalese word esd^ej 

 zss&3®q \_pandaskande~\^hioh again is corrupted from the Sanskrit or 

 Sinhalese word a^9e^S5«a) \jpanchashandha\ ' the five constituent 

 parts of the human body.' These terms may have been interpolated 

 by the village Veddas, or more probably by their neighbours, the 

 Kandyan Sinhalese, but the contents of the charm are peculiarly 

 Vedic — if I may use the term — and the interesting information it 

 gives of the seats or localities of the various Vedda demons or 

 chieftains throughout the Island is unique, and is not now procurable 

 from any other source. 



The mantra also seems to afford information which may possibly 

 enable us to settle a long-disputed point in the early history of 

 Ceylon, namely, as to whence the aborigines (Yakkhos or demons of 

 the Mahawanso, who are doubtless the ancestors of the Veddas) 

 came to Ceylon. 



It will be seen that the Vedda demons are called here «>eD8<5 

 ©i§ <3>€>S3d9 \Kadavara Vedi che?idva~\. I cannot find the meaning of 

 the word Kadavara, but the expression shows that they are identical 



