Indian Antiquary Vol 28

Author(s): Richard Carnac Temple
Publisher: Swati Publications

Page 92

78
THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY.
(MARCH, 1899.
aud Gandharvas. O goat's hora (ajassingi), goad (ajt) the Rakshas, drive them all away with thy smell! The Apsaras (nymphs) ... shall go to the river, to the ford of the waters, as if blown away! Thither do ye, O Apsaras, pass away, since ye have been recognized! Where grow the asvattha (ficus religiosa) and the banyan-trees, the great trees with crowns, thither do ye, 0 Apsaras, pass away, since ye bave been recognized! Where your yold and silver swings are, where cymbals and lutes chime together, thither do ye, O Apsaras, pass away, since ye have been recognized. The Apsaras, you know, are your wives; ye, the Gandharvas, are their husbands. Speed away, ye immortals, do not go after mortals!"
According to Teutonic belief, also, fragrant herbs (e. g., origanum, antirrhinum, hypericum perforatum, and especially thyme) are excellent means for frightening away devils and witches as well as nymphs and elves. In Teutonic charms, also, the "maer," i. e., the nightmare, is told to leave the houses of mortals, and to repair to the waters and trees, which proves the character of these spirits to be the same as that of the ancient Hindu Apsaras and Gandharvas. Like the latter, the nymphs and elves of Teutonic mythology are particularly fond of music and dancing, by means of which they allure mortal men and women,
That the godlings of Nature, especially the spirits of trees and waters, are occasionally identified with the spirits of disease, may to some extent account for the hoaling power ascribed to water and trees. In fact, the far-spread custom of transferring diseases to trees seems to have originated from a desire of infecting the spirit of a tree with a disease which may have been caused by the same or an allied spirit. Amalets as a protection against diseases, hostile sorcery, evil eye and other calamities are frequently taken from trees. Thus, an amulet consisting of splinters from ten kinds of holy trees is considered as a potent remedy against hereditary disease, and also against possession by demons. Nine kinds of wood are used for a similar purpose in German witchcraft. A very powerful amulet is derived from the l'arana tree, i, e, cratava roxburghii. But its great power seems to rest solely on the supposed etymology of Varana from a root var, meaning to ward off. The following powerful cbarm is recited on the occasion of tying this Varana-amulet: “Here is my Varana-amulet, a bull that destroys the rivals: with it do thon close in upon thy enemies, crush them that desire to injare thee! Break them, crush them, close in upon them : the amulet shall be thy van guard in front! With the Varana did the gods ward off the onslaught of the demons day after day. This thousand-eyed, yellow, golden Varana-amulet is a universal cure; it shall lay low thy enemies : be thou the first to injure those that hate thee! This Varana will ward off the spell that has been spread against thee; this will protect thee from human danger, this will protect thee from all evil. This divine tree, the Varana shall ward off! The gods, too, did ward off the disease that has entered into this man. If, when asleep, thou shalt behold an evil dream; as often as a wild beast shall run an inauspicioas coarso ; ominous sneezing, and the evil shriek of a bird -- all this shall the Varanaamulet ward off! The Varana will ward off the demons Grudge and Misfortune, sorcery, and danger, death, and over-strong weapons. This divine tree shall ward off the sin that my mother, that my father, that my brothers and my sister have committed ; the sin that we ourselves have committed. .. . This Varana upon my breast, the kingly, divine tree, sball smite asunder my enemies, as Indra the demons! Long-lived, a hundred autumns old, do I wear this Varana : kingdom and rule, cattle and strength, this amulet shall bestow apon me!"
I have quoted this lengthy charm because it shows unmistakably how the ancient Hindus looked upon disease, danger from mortal enemies and from the gods, evil omens and hostile sorcery, as well as upon hereditary and other sin as caused by the same agency, and therefore to be removed by the same remedy. One and the same amulet is to be used as a protection against all evils, and even as a means for securing long life and happiness. The underlying idea can only be that all evils which beset mankind are caused by malevolent superhuman beings who have to be propitiated or warded off, to secure health and happiness.
As these demons are the sworn enemies of mankind, it is only natural that they should be most anxious to injure the new-born infant, and even the embryo. Numerous, therefore, are