462 
za flenceon Brabed, the lord of creatures. 
After various other ceremonies, the priett 
Sprinkles water ali round the fire, while 
he pronounces this text; ‘* Generous fun! 
approve this rite; approve the performer 
et it, that he may thare its reward, May 
the celeilial luminary, which purifies the 
intelectual foul, purify our minds, May 
the lord of fpeech make our prayers ac- 
eeptable l” 
Holding c#s-@ grafsin both, he then 
recites an expiatory prayer, and throwing 
away the gra{s, he thus finifhes the hal- 
lowing of the facrificial implements: a 
ceremony which neceilarily precedes all 
other religious rites. Another oblation 
to fre, confilts of facrifice to the nine 
planets, accompanied by as many pray- 
ers. 
We now proceed to a defcription of 
funeral rites: When a man has no hopes 
of furviving, he is laid on a bed of cus-a 
gra{s, either in or out of the houle, if he 
be 2 Sudra; but in the open air if he be- 
long to another tribe. When he is at the 
int of death, donations of eattle, land, 
gold, filver, or other things, according to 
bis ability, fhould be made by him, or by 
fome other perfon in his name. His head 
fhould be fprinkled with water, drawn 
from the Ganges, and {meared with clay 
brought from the fame river. A Sala- 
gréma* Kone ought to be placed near the 
dying man; holy ftrains from the Veda 
er from facred poems fhould be repeated 
aloud in his ears, and leaves of holy bafil 
muft be jcattered over his head. When 
be expires, the corpfe mult be wathed, 
perfumed, and decked with wreaths of . 
Sowers ; a bit of tutenag, another of gold, 
a gem, and a piece of coral, fhould be put 
inio the mouth of the corpfe, and bits of 
gold in both noftrils, both eyes, and both 
ears. The corpfe muft be preceded by 
fire and by food, and be accompanied with 
mufical infrumen:s; a perfumed cloth 
muft be thrown over it, which is the per- 
quilite of the firft who officiates at the fu- 
neral, ‘The corpfe is egrried out by the 
fouthern gate of the town, if the deceafed 
were a Suara; by the weftern, if he were 
a Brabmana; by the northern if he be- 
* The Silagramas are black ftones, that 
are commonly perforated by worms, or, as the 
Hindoos believe, by Vithnu, in the thape of 
a reptile. According to the number of per- 
forations, and of fpiral curves in each, the 
fone is fuppofed to contain Vithni in vari- 
eus characters. The Salayrama is found, 
wpon trial, not to becalcareovs: it ftrikes 
&re with fcel, and eferveices a little with 
acids. 
Proceedings of Learned Societies. 
[June ly 
Tonged to the military clafs ; and by the 
eaflern portal, if he {prung from the mer- 
cantile tribe. Should the road pafs 
through any inhabited place, a circuit 
mult be made to avoid it; and when the 
proceffion has reached its deftination, the 
corpfe mult be laid on a bed of eés-a. 
The relations having prepared the funeral 
pile with a {ufficient quantity of fuel, it 
is to be lighted with any fire, except what 
is taken from another funeral pile, or from. 
the abode of an auteaft, or of a man be- 
longing to the tribe of executioners, of a 
woman Who has lately born a child, or of 
any perfon who is unclean. For a prieft, 
the funeral pile muft be lighted with con. 
fecrated fire. ) 
When the body is laid on the pile, a 
relation of the deceafed takes a lighted 
brand, and exclaims, ‘** Maythe Gods 
with flaming mouths burn this corple !”° 
he then walks thrice round the pile, with 
his right hand towards it, and fhifts the 
facrificial cord to his right fhoulder. The 
fire mutt be fo managed that fome bones 
may remain for the fubfequent ceremony 
of gathering the afhes. While the pile is 
burning, the relations of the decealed take 
up feven pieces of wood, which they throw 
over their fhoulders upon the fire, faying, 
** Salutations to thee, who doft confume 
flefh.**: 
The body of.a young child under two. 
years old muft not be burnt, but buried. 
It is decked_ with wreaths of fragrant 
flowers and carried out by the relations, 
who. bury it ina clean fpot, while a prieft 
chaunts the foog of Yama. 
When funeral rites are performed for a 
perfon who died in a foreign country, or 
whofe hones cann@f be found, a figure is 
made with three hundred and fixty leaves 
of the butea, or as many woollen threads 
diftributed fo as to reprefent the feveral 
parts of the human bedy; round the whole 
mutt be ticd a thong of leather, from the 
hide of a black antelope, and over that a 
woollen thread; it is then fmeared with 
barley meal mixed with water, and mult 
be burnt as an emblem of the corpfe. 
After the body has been burnt, all who 
have touched it muft walk round the pile, 
keeping their left hands towards it, and 
taking care not to look at the fire. They 
then walk in procefiion, according to fenio- 
rity, to a river, and after wafhing and 
again putting on their apparel, they ad- 
vance into the ftream. They then afk 
the deceafed’s reprefentative, ** Shall we 
prefent water?” If the deceafed were an 
hundred years old, the anfwer-muft be 
Gimply “ Do fo; but if he were net fo 
+ aged, 
