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DECEMBER, 1894.] SPIRIT BASIS OF BELIEF AND CUSTOM.
the holy basil, or tulsi, restored consciousness, removed pain in the ear, cured scratches, and ringworm, and destroyed krimi, or intestinal worms. They also perceived that the smell of the basil flower was sweet, and that the basil leaf, when eaten, was agreeable to the taste. They, therefore, held that the sweet basil scared spirits, and so was a Guardian. So they made garlands and necklaces of sweet basil leaves and stems; and the necklace was called tulsi-pat, a name still borne by a gold ornament worn by Hindu women. In the same way it was found that the darbha, or durva, grass was healing or spirit-scaring, and so paritris, or purifying rings of this grass, were worn on the fingers. In the Bombay Konkan, where rice is the staple food, it was considered to contain some divine principle. Four deities were supposed to live in rice: :- Brahma the creator, Ravi the sun, Sôma the moon, and the Marudganas the wind-gods. As rice was the abode of gods, it was thought to be a protection against unfriendly spirits. They, therefore, worshipped rice, and, to scare spirits, put into their ears fresh ears of the rice called bugdi, a practice which is preserved in the Hindu female earornament bugdi or mugdi.70
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In early times, especially in India, the cow was considered the most useful of animals. Its milk gave strength and vigour, its urine and dung were medicinal, and its head gave a yellow substance, called gôrôchan, which was found a valuable cure for child-diseases. Everything that appertained to the cow was taken to be sacred and spirit-scaring. So the word pútala in Sanskrit means "pale-red" or "cow-coloured," and hence the patal, or cow-coloured ornament worn by Hindu females. Again it was believed that the sacred thread of Brahmans kept off spirits, partly because it has several knots called Brahmá granthis: knots, or knotted things, being a spell against evil spirits. Hence the gunthalé, or knotted necklace, and the gantha,90 or knotted earring, worn by the low class Hindus.
Palm-leaves, beads, and certain teeth and bones were supposed to possess the power of dispelling spirits, and so the wearing of ornaments made of palm-leaves, beads and ivory came into fashion. Thus, the Hindu tanmant and kaligáthi ornaments, which are now made of gold or pearls, were formerly made of black beads, the word kaligáthi meaning black beads or black knots, and tanmani meaning beads of life. Similarly the chief neck ornament of married Hindu females, called galaárt or neck-luck, must, as a rule, be of black beads. Pitalis made of ivory are still worn by Hindu women, and are considered to be more auspicious than either gold or pearl ornaments.
With the working of metals came the discovery of the healing value of minerals. The Hindus considered lôhabhasmu, the ashes of iron, támrabhasma, the ashes of copper, and raupyabhasma, the ashes of silver, to be the elixir of life. Again, as branding the patient with an iron or copper rod was found an effective cure for certain diseases, which were supposed to be spirit-caused, the belief spread that metal was a great spirit-scarer. So they exchanged their ornaments of grass, tree-leaves, bones and beads for ornaments of iron, copper, silver and gold.
2. Ornaments scare Spirits.
The meanings of many of the ornaments worn by Hindu women support this view of the general history of personal ornament.
Among Head-ornaments are:- Kétaka, the Sanskrit kétaki,81 the flower of the Pandanus odoratissimus, a golden hair ornament worn by Hindu women. Kamal, the Sanskrit kamala, a lotus, a hair ornament resembling a lotus. Kuluka, the Sanskrit kalittha, Marathi kulita, a bunch of the Glycine tomentosa leaves, is worn on the hair: the word also means a golden hair ornament, which is otherwise called mida, the joy-giver. Chandani, the Sanskrit chandra, moon,
19 Molesworth's Marathi Dictionary. The bugdt resembles an ear of rice. 80 Sk. granthi, a knot. 81 Pandanus odoratissimus.
