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244
THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY.
[AUGUST, 1895.
Then the Brahmana became possessed by Brahme Bhata. "O KOți ! O Channayya ! Offer to the god the present which you have brought," said ho.
A figure of Brahma was offered, and lakhs of Rupees, and Brahma made a steel ball in the bellies of Koți and Channayya. Thus they offered their present to Brahma Bhúta and took sandal.
“O Brahma, we must make you a present. Do you worship the god with flowers," said they. They then left the place and went onwards with the intention of getting a present and honor from the Edambúr Ballal. They stood under a small mango tree and called ont: - "O Edambur Kinnyanna! We have offered to the god a present and taken sandal. Now let us go! O Kinnyanna, we have been to the Edambúr Balla! in our childhood.
(To be continued.)
FOLKLORE IN THE CENTRAL PROVINCES OF INDIA.
BY M. N. VENKATSWAMI OF NAGPUR.
No. 1. - The Thousand-eyed Mother. ONCE upon a time, when Ammavaru, the goddess of small-pox, had been making fearful havoc amongst the inhabitants of a certain town, the fond mother of an only son, in whom all her affections and hopes were centred, with a view to escape the wrath of the angry Mâta, 3 Hled across hill and dale, wood and water, not knowing whither she was flying -- such was her fright - until, in a dense forest, she was met by an old woman, who was no other than the goddess herself in disguise. Said the goddess :
" Daughter, whither are you flying?"
Mother, I have only this son whom you see here, and I am trying to escape from the wrath of the goddess, who is devastating the whole town," replied the affrighted mother.
Receiving this answer to her question and seeming not to care anything more about the woman's flight, the old woman asked her to be kind enough to search for lice in her head, for, she added, she was very much pestered by them. The younger woman good humouredly began to search for the lice, both the women squatting themselves on the ground for the purpose, in the dishevelled hair of the old woman, when an extraordinary spectacle presented itself - the old woman's head was full of eyes! Very much surprised, the young woman exclaimed: --
"Your head is full of eyes, mother; may I know who you are ?"
"Daughter," said the other,“ do you not know who I am ? I am the Thousand-eyed Mother, and how can you think of escaping by flight from the vigilant watch of so many eyes?”
At this the young mother prostrated herself at the feet of the déví,and asked what should be done to save her only son, who was the object of her life.
"Return," said the goddess, "to the town, and no harm will befall either your son or yourself."
With these words the devtá disappeared, and the woman and her son, who had thas ingratiated themselves into her favour, pursued their course back to the town. The goddess, true to her word, preserved them in the midst of the pestilence, which raged on all sides, attacking all without any distinction.
I Narrated by Chinta Poetti, an old man of Naw&basti, Nagpur. ? This is a Telugu title of the goddess of small-pos.
Is a Telugu name for the goddess of small-pox. and are the Hindustani names of the goddess of small-pox. It may be remarked that diuta in Hindustan oftener means "god" than "goddess."-ED.)
