Prayaścittas are meant for the repentant beings. A person guilty of a major sin, deliberately done, can only purify himself by a fall from the precipice or by fire. Prayasoittas can remove only such sins as were unintentionally committed. Thus we find that Prayaścittas are efficacious in removing only such sins as are unintentional. 2 6 So the lawgivers were in the right when they prescribed that a girl who has been raped by a Mleccha, against her will, should observe a penance for the purification of her body as well as her soul. This done, I shall now cite a few examples from the Itihasas and the Puranas to illustrate the point involved. Mlecchas are general designations and we have the Asuras and the Rākṣasas here; and we are assured that it was a regular duty of the latter class of beings to violate the chastity of the womenfolk of other beings. 26 So these will serve our purpose. The Rāmāyaṇa supplies us with several instances of abductions and we are never told that the victims were disowned by their near and dear ones. 27 The most glaring instance is the abduction of Sītā by the Rākṣasa chief, Rāvaṇa, and we know it for certain that Rama received her once more back into his house after she had successfully passed through an ordeal by fire. 28 Again, we are told that a Daitya, Anuhlāda by name, abducted Saci with the connivance of her father. But Indra is said to have won her back by killing the victimiser." Rumā and Tārā, the wives of Sugrīva and Valin respectively were appropriated and disgorged by the brothers as a result of their victory and defeat in the course of the fatricidal wars 30 and it is to be noted that none ever thought of disowning his legal wife for being forcibly appropriated by the enemy. cf. Skanda Purāņa; Māheśvara Khanda Kedāra Khaṇḍa (15. 44-46). 20 Vamana, XI. 26; also cf. Rāmāyaṇa, V. 20. 5. "' Rāmāyaṇa, III. 49. 20. * Ibid. VI. 116-120. Ibid. IV. 39, 6-7. so Ibid. IV. 4. 27; IV. 26. 42; IV. 29. Candra is said to have ravished Tara, the wife of Vṛhaspati but returned her to the poor husband when 'pressed hard by the Devas led by Brahman. As Tārā was pregnant at that time Vṛhaspati refused to receive her. For this reason Tārā had to eject the fœtus. 31 Gautama's wife, Ahalya was deflowered by Indra in disguise, but she was reclaimed by the saintly husband on the expiration of the period of her repentance. 32 Similarly we are told that Lakṣmi who had been abducted by the Daityas under Jambha from the very presence of Dattatreya was rescued by the Devas and returned to her lord.83 The Danava Pātāla-Ketu is said to have abducted the beautiful daughter of the Gandharva Rāja, Viśvavasu. But she was later on rescued and married by Prince Kuvalayāśva. 34 In the reign of Rājā Uttama, while a poor Brāhmaṇa was sleeping inside his hut with the door open, the Rākṣasa Valāka carried off his wife. The Brāhmaṇa charged the king with the duty of recovering her. The Raja tactfully handling the whole affair, persuaded the Rākṣasa to return the woman to the love-sick husband.35 Again, we are told that Nala, a friend of Rājā Sudeva, outraged the modesty of the adorable wife of the Rși Pramati in the very presence of the Raja. The injured busband being angry reduced the offender to ashes, but never thought of divorcing his wife. 36 Again, Vṛhaspati is said to have ravished his brother's, the sage Utathya's, wife who consequently gave birth to Bhara-Dvāja.37 Similarly on the death of Kāma Deva, his wife Rati was abducted by the Daitya Samvara at the instigation of Narada. There she was known as Māyā 31 Śiva. I, 45. 22-27; Brahma Vaivarta, II, 58. aff; Skanda Avantya Khanda, 28, 81ff. etc. 32 Rāmāyaṇa, I, 48-49; Śiva. VI. 11, 3-16. 33 Märkandeya, XVIII. 37 ff. 34 Ibid. XXI. 95 Ibid. LXIX-LXX. 30 bid. CXIV. 26ff. "Skanda Kedāra Khaṇḍa, 21. 43ff, 1 Res. J. Vati. Later on she was rescued and married by Kṛṣṇa's son, Pradyumna. 38 Again, the princess Ratnavali along with her three companions was abducted by the Daitya Suvahu a denizen of the nether regions. But ultimately they were rescued by the prince Ratna-Cūḍa and married.39 Similarly Malayagandhini, the beautiful daughter of a Vidyadhara, was abducted by the Daitya Kankala-Ketu. But she was rescued and married by prince Amitrajit.40 41 The princess Kama-Pramodini who had been abducted by the Daitya Samvara, was later on married by the Ṛsi Māṇḍavya. Again, Indra, in disguise, is said to have violated Bapuṣṭamā, the charming wife of Janamejaya on the occasion of his Horse Sacrifice. But we are never told that she was rejected by her lord.42 Thus in former times our lawgivers made a distinction between sins that were intentional, and those that were unintentional, and that they recognised the fact that when a woman was abducted or violated by a man endowed with superior physical strength, the responsibility did not lie with her. For this reason they were definitely in favour of reclaiming such unfortunate girls and restoring them to the society that owes so much to womanhood. * Skanda, Kedāra Khaṇḍa, 21. 106ff. Viṣṇu, V. 27, etc. 3. Skanda Kāśī Khapḍa, 67, 34ff. • Ibid. 82. 1 Skanda Reva Khanḍa, 169ff. * Brahma Vaivarta IV. 14. 51-54. But cf. Śiva VI. 11, 17-20. VI.-Marriage Customs of the Oraons* By Rai Bahadur Sarat Chandra Roy, M.A., B.L., M.L.C. II.-The Wedding (Benja) Proper (1) Preliminaries On the night of the Kōha Pahi ceremony at the bride's house, a large number of small roundish wedding cakes (benjā lāḍḍu) are prepared by girls in the houses of both parties. These cakes are made of rice-flour moistened in water, made into small balls and boiled in water; these are distributed among the young men (dhangars) of the village, every young man (even married young men) getting his share of these cakes. Other articles made ready in the houses both of bride and bridegroom for the ceremony include one new winnowingbasket (keter), one new basket of a large size (dowra) and one of a small size (bōgi); one small new earthen pitcher (kānṛsābhanda), one new earthen lamp (tāṭṭi) with four grooved projections for holding wicks, some tender grass shoots (dubbāshachhi), a little vermilion (sindri), some sun-dried rice (ābdātikhil), some powdered arua rice (ābdā-tikhilgāhi-gūṇḍā), a little salt (bek), some mustard seeds (mani), a little raw turmeric. (khenā balka) with three or five bulbs each, a bundle of sheaves of paddy (khes) with straw (būsū) attached, some urid pulse (Phaseolus roxburghii), a little oil (mani-isung) that has been pressed out of mustard seeds by a female member of the house whose husband is living, and who has remained fasting until the oil has been extracted and two pots of beer (borey), one brewed out of rice another out of māṛuā (Elusine corocana). The sheaves of paddy used for the ceremony are specially selected and set apart for the purpose at the time of the preceding harvest. These sheaves are selected and made into a bundle by some young bachelors in the morning after they have satisfied *Concluded from Vol. XII (September 1926) F. 388, calls of nature; and they must not spit during the selection of the sheaves nor leave the place even temporarily before the selection is finished. None of these ceremonial articles may be touched by a widow. in the On the morning of the wedding day, the angan or open space in front of the house is cleansed with cowdung diluted in water, and the articles mentioned above are brought out to the angan. Three boys select fine long sheaves out of the bundle of the paddy sheaves mentioned above. The ārua rice, turmeric, tender grass and mustard seeds are placed the earthen pitcher kārsa-bhāṇḍā), and the selected paddy sheaves are also put into the pitcher in such a way as to make the upper portion containing the paddy, stick out of the pitcher; and the leaves attached to the sheaves are are plaited together at the mouth of the pitcher so as to cover it up like a lid. Over this lid is placed an earthen lamp with two wicks laid cross-wise so that their ends project outwards. The two ends of each of the twe wicks are lighted, being fed by oil and urid pulse placed in the lamp. In some villages a separate lamp-stand (chaumkā) with a similar earthen lamp is provided and similarly lighted. The small basket (bowgi or nāchuā) is covered over with sal leaves, and ropes made of the remaining sheaves of paddy are wrapped round it. In this basket are carried a new cloth (māi-sāṛi) for the bride's mother, a few measures of rice and oil and vermilion for the isum-sindri ceremony to be described presently. This basket and the kāṛsa-bhāṇḍā pitcher are arranged side by side on the courtyard (angan) cleaned with cowdung. The Pâhan or village priest anoints the basket and the pitcher with a little rice-flour moistened with water and marks each of them with three vermilion lines. The rice-beer in the two pots is now strained and poured into one vessel. The Pahan then ceremonially pours a little of the rice-beer over the basket and the pitcher, and invokes the Gaon-deotis or guardianspirits of the village, saying " You are the māliks (masters) of the village, O Gaon-deoti. May the wedding pass off successfully; See The Oraons of Chota Nag pur, pp. 298, 299. |