is he described with three heads. It clearly appears, therefore, that his name Triśira does not singnify that he had three heads.

A second raksasa of the same name is said to have been a son of Rāvana. Neither when Trisir a advised his father regarding the fight (VI. 69) nor when he actually fought with Hanuman (VI. 70) he is said to have had three heads and arms of double that number. But in verses 4 i to 48 it is said that his three heads were cut off by Hanuman. From the different metre in which these verses are found, it may be presumed that they were not of the original poet. Moreover it is said that the Rākṣasa is said to have fallen down senseless being struck on the chest by Hanumān. (VI. 70. 43.) Then again he got back his senses when he had heard the cry of Hanuman. (VI. 70.44.) It was at this time that it is said that his heads were cut off by the leader of the Vanaras. From these considerations it appears that it was the later interpolators that interpreted Trisira to mean 'one with three heads'. A careful study of the whole poem makes clear that Valmiki never meant that Rāvana had ten heads; yet the later poets played upon the words such as Daśagrīva and it was impressed on the popular mind that the Rākṣasa lord had ten heads and twenty arms. The same is the case with Triśira also.

Trisiraḥ' seems to be a mere name and does not signify that he had three heads. There is nothing to show the real meaning of the name. The name appears to be a modification of Tir-sea-rae which in Godaba, a dialect of savara, means 'high, devil' Tir means 'high or tall' and sē a rā e, a devil. Tir-searãe is an apt name for a raksasa. This being changed to "Triśirah' the original meaning was lost sight of and the poets took it to mean 'three heads'.

The other names are so far changed that it is impossible to trace out their origin. But the study of the names made above is sufficient to show that the region between the Ganges and Lanka was inhabited by tribes which are now called the Mündaris; but in the time of Valniki they appear to

have been known as the Sabaras or Savaras, Rākṣasas, and Niṣādas.

A study of the habits and customs of these tribes described in the epic will further strengthen their identification with the modern tribes.

V.-Impression of Five Fingers.

By Professor Kalipada Mitra, M. A., B. L.

The Hand in Magic.

In the Dadhivahana Jātaka (No. 186, Jat. ii. 104) we read that a mango tree bearing golden fruits of extraordinary savour was treated with great consideration ;-milkwater was sprinkled at its roots, gandhapañcangulikam was given to it, garlands were hung upon it, lamps of scented oil were lighted and it was screened round. In Jataka iii, p. 23, we read "rukkhe gandhapañcangulikaṁ datvā mālāgandhadhūpehi pūjetvā dīpam jāletvā..." The word gandhapañcangulam occurs in the Bhaddasālajātaka (No. 465) where the tree-wrights before felling an ancient sala tree (Shorea robusta) worshipped by people (mangalasālarukkham) make their excuses to it, saying that they are innocent and are only obeying the King's commands.1 They offer to it scented wreaths, give gandhapañcangulam on it (rukkhe gandhapañcangulam datvā), light lamps, etc. In V.V.A. (Ed. Hardy) III. 5 (pp. 142, 144) we read "Bhagavato cetiye gandhapancangulikam adāsi."

The word pañcangulikam occurs also singly. In the Matakabhattajataka (No. 18) the Brahmin asks his pupils : “tātā, imam elakam nadim netvā nahāpetvā kaṇṭhe mālam parikkhipitvā pañcangulikam datvā maṇḍetva anetha ti." Here at the "Feast of the Dead" the goat which is to be sacrificed is bathed in the

1 Cf. Frazer's The Golden Bough (Abridged Ed. 1923) p. 13: "In felling a tree they beg its pardon... In Jarkino the woodman craves pardon of the tree he fells......they recite some verses to the following effect, 'Be not uneasy, my friend, though we fell what we have been ordered to fell," and pages 116, 117. See also Tylor's rimitive Culture (192)) Vol. II. p. 217 and Crooke, An Introduction to the Popular Religion and Folklore of Northern India (Allahabad Ed. of 1894), p. 240. Cf. also slokas 25-29, Ch. 16 of Samanāngaṇa. sūtradhāra, Vol. I (1924) in Gaekwad's Oriental Series.

river, a garland is hung round its neck and pañcangulikam is given to it thus ornamented it is presented to the Brahmin for sacrifice. In the Dhammapada-aṭṭhakatha (DhA. iii. 374) we read, “dāso piʼssa ... suvaṇṇayuge suvannayottehi gone yojetvā ... goṇānam pañcangulikāni datvā ..." which is translated by Burlingame (H. O. S. 30 p. 137) thus: "His slave... yoked his oxen with golden yokes and golden straps... made marks of the spread hand with scented ointment on his oxen (taking the variant reading with the prefix of gandha). In Mahāvastu (ed. Senart, p. 269, 1. 14) occurs" Vedikāmcaiva stupeṣu kuryāt pamcāmgulāni ca."

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It also occurs in compound with lohita in Jat. iii. p. 160. Mahārāja rājasahassānam akkhīni uppālitvā kucchim phālet vā pañcamadhuramamsam adaya imasmim nigrodhe nibbattadevastaya balikammam katvā antavaṭṭīhi rukkkam parikkkipitvā lohitapañcangulikam karoma, evam no khippam eva jayo bhavissati."

We have thus seen that the word pañcangulam or pañcangulikam occurs both singly and in compound with gandha and lohita. What does it signify? Dr. Rhys Davids explains pañcangulikam occurring in the passage extracted from the Matakabhattajātaka as a measure of corn." In support of this Dr. Morris says: "In Wilson's Essays on the Religion of the Hindus, volume ii, page 271, we read that cows and bulls are washed and fed with part of an oblation first offered to Indra, being also painted and adorned with leafy and flowery chaplets." In the Hindu pūjā the animal to be sacrificed is, indeed, fed with corn and made to drink water, and even in the degenerate Buddhistic worship, namely in the Dharma cult of rural Bengal, the goat is ceremonially bathed, fed with grains of rice and wheat, made to drink water and worshipped with scent before sacrifice. But I do not think here. In the passage measure of corn kanthe malam parikkhipitvā pañcangulikam datvā manḍetva" from the

it can mean

2 J.P.T.S., 1884, p. 84.

• See Dharmapūjāvidhāna published by the Bangiya Sahityaparişat, pp. 170, 171, 174.

juxtaposition of manḍetvā it is evident that the mandanam (decoration) consisted in the combined process of (i) kanthe malam parikkhipitva and (ii) pañcangulikam datrā. Hence it is difficult to accept Dr. Rhys Davids's explanation of "a measure of corn." If it were so, perhaps the construction would have been "kanṭhe mālam parikkhipiivā maṇḍetvā pañcangulikam datvā.....” Besides, as it will be seen presently, Fausboll, Senart, Morris, Rouse and Hardy all are inclined to take it otherwise. In Dha it is the ceremonial decoration of the oxen with the spread hand.

Senart refers to Jat. i. 166. 21 (pañcangulikam datvā) and observes" Dans le deux cas pañcangula paraît designer un ornement dont j'ignore la nature exacte." It is an ornament, but then he does not know its exact nature. Dr. Morris opines that the ornament" was probably composed of shoots or sprouts of five finger-lengths, artificially scented, arranged in the form of a hand, and hung round some object of worship." In Bihar (and Bengal) on the day of Vijayā Dasamī priests come with sprouts of yava sown on the first lunar day of the bright fortnight, the day of the consecration of the ghata of Durga Devi (ghața sthapanam) and bless you with them. These sprouts are called jayanti (from yantrī?), the day is vijayā, and jaya, victory, will be to you, by the influence of sympathetic magic through analogy of names. But these are neither artificially scented nor arranged in the form of a hand.

Hardy explains gandhapañcangalikam as "a scented fivespray." The meaning, unhappily, is not quite clear. Another explanation is "perfumed garlands with five sprays." It is "perhaps a garland in which sprouts or twigs were arranged radiating like the fingers of a hand." In Jat. Translation Vol. I. page 71 we find it to mean gandhena pañcangulikam datvā making five-finger wreaths with scent."

I am, however, inclined to think that pancangulikam does not mean a garland with five sprays representing the five fingers. Mahāvastu, note, p. 579.

5J.P.T S., 1884, pp. 84, 85.

• Cambridge Translation of the Jatakas, ii. 72.