Indian Antiquary Vol 46

Author(s): Richard Carnac Temple, Devadatta Ramkrishna Bhandarkar
Publisher: Swati Publications

Page 380

32
THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY
is first purified with cow-dung-plaster.1 Another belief is that during the rainy For ten days after a death, the members of season, Indra plays gedi-dandät, and the the deceased's household and his relatives strokes given to the gedi in the course of the sleep on beds spread on the bare ground.2 game, produce what we call thunder ;" or If the demise be very affecting, the nearest that the clouds are god's footballs, and relatives sleep on the floor for periods which thunder is produced by his foot striking may extend to three months, six months, or them, while at play during the rainy season. even for a year, and sometimes the penance Some believe thunder to be due to the loud lasts for their whole lives.
sounds produced by various musical instruIt is customary, among some sects, not to ments which are played upon on the occasion allow the sāthara-i, e., the spot lately occu- of the marriage-ceremony of Indra. Accordpied by & corpse in the house to be sunā or ing to others, thunder is produced by the unoccupied for a single night. Someone must cannon of Indra ; or, as some again say, by sleep on the spot for twelve consecutive days the trumpetings of Airāvat, the elephant of from the date of demise,3
Indras; or, we hear thunder when Indra Pilgrims,* after pilgrimage, abandon sen- draws his bow and adjusts an arrow to the sual pleasures, take their meals only once bow-string, in order to bring about the fall every day, and sleep on the floor. It is cus- of rain. tomary to sleep always on the ground while A further belief attributes thunder to the in holy places. Devotees, ascetics, sadhus, very rapid pace of the chariot of Bhag. and their disciples sleep on the ground. 2 wān.10 Some people, however, say that it is
The God Indra has twelva meghas or produced when Bhima (one of the five clouds under his control, and he directs cach Pandavas) wields his prodigious club or of them to pour out their waters wherever he bludgeon.11 In the opinion of others, Vidyut likes. When in the least irritated in the exe- or Tanyatun, the offspring of Lambā, the cution of his orders, Indra's voice is heard daughter of Daksha, and the wife of Dhar. in this world in thunder-claps which rise to marāj thunders in the rainy season,19 It is a terrible pitch if the deity becomes down- also suggested that the god of rains shakes right angry. Thunder is also said to be the heavens and thus produces thunder, the loud laughter of Indra when in a happy The shastras, it is said, declare that thunder mood.
is caused by the sounds of the dundubhi-or
1 Mr. M. M. Rana, Rajkot.
* Mr. D, K. Pandya, Dhhank. • Mr. Jairam Vasaram, Jodia,
• Mr. L. I. Joshi, Surela. . Mr. K. P. Joshi, Limbdi. • Mr, N, D. Vora, Rajpara, or of Bhagwan, according to Jairam Vasaram, Jodia. * Mr. N. M. Dave, Sanka.
. Mr. N. D. Vora, Rajpara, • The Shastri of Jetpur, Pathashala.
10 The Schoolmaster of Paolauvav. 31 Mr. G, K, Dave, Sultanpur.
12 The Schoolmaster of Rajkot Girls' School. Intending pilgrims sometimes impose such self-denials upon themselves, vowing abnegation from particular articles of food or wear till they have performed their pilgrimage. Some renounce the use of ghi, some of milk, others of betel-leaf or nut, others swear not to wear a turban or a dupatta till they are given the merit of a pilgrimage.-Khan Bahadur Fazlullah.
+ This game, much resembling the English boys' game of Tip cat, is also known as gilli.danda, The gedi or gilli is a small piece of wood, two or three inches in length, an inch or less in diameter and sometimes tapering at both ends. The dandā is a small round stick, of the same thickness and a foot or more in length, by which the gedi is played. There are two sides to the game as in cricket, though not composed of a definite number of players. There are a number of ways in which the game can be played.-K. D. Desai.