________________
OF THE HINDUS.
207
by Agastya to Dattatreya, when he asked by what means the effects of sin would be obviated, and sinners saved from hell without great effort or munificent donations! The ceremonies to be performed with Tila seeds are the easy means of accomplishing the object. The importance attached to the use of Sesamum in most of the offerings, but especially in those to the Manes, is very remarkable and not very explicable. The legend of their being generated by Yama is rather the consequence than the cause of such appropriation. Sesamum seeds did form an ingredient in the offerings of the Greeks, but not with the same frequency, nor apparently with the same object. Cakes of sesamum were distributed by them at marriages, as the grains were considered typical of fertility. Perhaps some such opinion may have prevailed amongst the Hindus, and hence their nse in obsequial offerings, the great end of which is not merely the satisfaction of the dead, but the perpetuation of progeny, and the prosperity of the living.
Another festival is observed on this day, in some parts of India, in honour of Vishnu, as the Varáha, his descent as a boar to lift up the earth from beneath the waters being supposed to have occurred on this day; hence it is termed also the Varáha Dwadasí.
YUGÁDY). — Thirtieth Mágha, fifteenth day, light half, or full moon of Mugha (1412 February).
Kalpa Druma.
