Indian Antiquary Vol 55

Author(s): Richard Carnac Temple, Stephen Meredyth Edwardes, Krishnaswami Aiyangar
Publisher: Swati Publications

Page 20

10
THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY
[JANUARY, 1926
And then he began to be expansive: "You are a good man, sir. Your high education has not spoilt you. The 'God' is pleased with you, and you are a happy man. You see, he came to your house. God is God, after all.” He next began to expound the Sastrds thus : "Our Sastrds tell us the God goes himself to the houses of his real devotees. You know the story of Kabir. I am very glad on your behalf and you have deserved his favour."
After this Subrahmanyam became personal: "The 'God' has been very kind to my nephew-in-law. He is a very clever man and no other graduate can write English like him. He will be very useful to you. Haven't you a vacancy in your office, as he is just the man for your learned profession, and as the 'God' has blessed you both, you will get on very well together". The old man was quite equal to combining religion with business.
I now thought that I might find a way of learning more details of this style of worship by relating a dream I had had on the previous night. The purport of it was as follows --A young Brahman woman of about twenty years of age, well dressed and wearing valuable ornaments, opened the door of the room in which I was sleeping, followed by a widow dressed in white. I asked her who she was and she said that she was a Goddess. So I asked her why she came to my room. She replied that she wanted a son by me. Thereupon I explained to her the impossibility of a marriage between a Goddess and a married mortal like myself. She smiled and said she would appear again in another form. Then she disappeared with her companion.
The dream was clearly the result of my visit to the Pajari on the previous day and of the performances I had witnessed, in the course of which the women devotees had constantly asked for a son. But my old friend Subrahmanyam gave it quite a different meaning, and told every body of the "miracle" of the appearance of the Goddess to me in my dream. So at last I asked him to get it interpreted to me.
This brought the Pajari, his possessed' son and daughter, his wife and the elder farmer son, to me again. At my request the women were not told what my dream had been, and the Pajárt tried his own hand at explaining and failed. It was then suggested that I should consult Kaniamma, the maiden goddess, but as she would ask the ladies of her devotees in the British Station, I was advised to go to the Pajari's hut again. So making up my mind to write an account of this Spirit-possessed family, I went with a few friends and a photographer, and as a result saw the performance with which this paper commences.
Finally, my friend Subrahmanyam attacked me again about his nephew-in-law and told me he would give twenty-five rupees to the goddess Kaniamma, if he got the tahsildarship. Let us hope the supernatural interference of the Goddess of Cholera, for that is what Mariamms was, procured him the appointment. However, I took this statement to be a feeler to a request that I would consider the question of building the stone temple the Pajari wanted and giving valuable ornaments to his daughter, the sable 'maiden of fifteen who represented Kaniamma.
In the sequel Subrahmanyam gave out that the "impudent" Muhammadan had died of the bleeding from his eyes, until I showed him quite healthy and very lively. My stolen watch was never recovered, but nevertheless the 'God's' family of the Pariah caste left me quite pleased with themselves. Fruit, sweets and a little bakhshish in the shape of cash and & copy of the photograph did the trick. But it was the prospect of appearing in print in a book some day, which was the really solid reason for being pleased with me.
3 [A prokpect of appearing in a book has great attractions for Orientals in remote situations. During the Afghan War in 1878-1879 I was employed as an "intelligence officer," and I found the simplest way to get at the hoarte of the people was to solemnly take down their pedigrees. This made them at once friends, as I explained I was writing a book on the country. It also incidentally made my notes quite sale and enabled me to go about openly with a note book and writing materials-R.C.T.)