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JUNE, 1891.]
FOLKLORE IN SOUTHERN INDIA; No. 36.
225
extreme stupidity of the Punganur State! Morning dawned, and the old doctor with the messenger returned home, bringing with him his bag containing the rare medicines. He was no doubt a clever man in his profession, but his son, who had reached the Punganar standard of wisdom, reported to him the advice he had given. The father cursod himself for having begotten such a son, and his only thought now was how to rescue himself and his son from the consequences of the murder of the Raņi. Luckily, nothing was impossible in the kingdom of Punganar. So, hiding his confusion, he stood before the minister, who took him without the loss of a moment to the seraglio. There the body of the queen lay in its blood, minus its head.
"What do you say now? Pat the head straight at once and begin your cure," cried the minister.
" Alas! most mighty minister ! The maids have been a little careless in placing the severed head. It should not have been placed exactly opposite the trunk. The poison has taken the opportunity to travel into the head by the direct road left open ! There is no hope of life now! If they had kept the head in any other direction but that exactly opposite, I could have opened my bag and ground my medicine. Now even Dhanvantaris himself would find it impossible."
Thus said the old doctor, and put on a mournfal face. The minister believed every word he had said, and so did the maids, and fell to quoting the fatalistic argument that the queen had lived out her destined life. So what was the use of mourning over the past P The dead body must be cremated.
“The dead close their eyes in peace: the living have to undergo all the trouble and expense of cromating the body," As the proverb has it, argued the minister to himself. "The queen is dead. The king is now absent in the pursuit of Ekadasi. He won't return till that wretched tithi is caught. The corpse cannot wait till then. I cannot oremate it in the ground reserved for that purpose ; for this is not an ordinary corpse. The king might think himself insulted. She was his queen, while living. I shall not diminish her honour in death, but will cremate her body in the palace, at the very spot where she died. If a portion of the palace is burnt down, I can easily have it repaired; but it is impossible to repair the displeasure of an enraged king."
Thus pondering and pondering over the subject, the Panganûr minister gave orders for the funeral pile to be heaped npon the very spot where the queen had died, Sandal-wood, blackwood and every costly wood were used : ghf was poured on the pyre in profusion; and none had the courage to gainsay the orders of the minister, or the sense to foresee the evils they would produce. The body was set on the pile, and the fire lighted, and not only the pyre but the whole palace was in flames!
Now, it is considered the greatest of insults in Hindu society, to put out the fire of the funeral pyre until the body is consumed. So, not withstanding that the whole palace was in flames, the minister never thought of putting out the fire.
Pondered he: - "What would the king think of me if I, his minister, - his servant, - put out the fire before the body of the queen was consumed P Let the palace, or even the wbole town, be burnt down; but let no one dare to quench the funeral fire. Thus did he order, and almost half of the town was in flames by the time the body of the queen was entirely burnt. By that time, the fire raged so severely that no one dared to approach it. No amount of ordinary water could quench it. What was to be done ?
Just then a thought came into the mind of the minister, that it would be the winest course to break open the embankment of a big lake five kos long and flve kos broad, situated at the western end of the town and on a higher level! The order was executed in a moment, and a huge volume of water rushed down in full force, and in the twinkling of an eye had carried
6 The god of medicines.
