Indian Antiquary Vol 01

SR No.: 032493
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Jas Burgess
Publisher: Swati Publications
Publication Year: 1984
Total Pages: 430
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 22 MB

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THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY.
MAY 3, 1872.
five golden gady &ņas of Ganga in (out of) he had destroyed the same number of tawny the customs of Vaddarayuļa* for the purposes COWS. of the angabhog at of the god Sankaradeva He who appropriates land that has been besof Kâdaravalli.
towed either by himself or by another is born for Whosoever preserves this act of piety, his sixty thousand years as a worm in ordure. "This reward is as great as if he had, at Varanasi, or at general bridge of piety, which belongs in comPrayâge, at Arghyatirtha, or at Kurukshetra. mon to all rulers of mankind, should at all times fashioned out of the five jewels the horns and be preserved by you,”-thus does Ramachandra hoofs of twelve thousand cows of a tawny colour, make his earnest request to all fature kings. and given to Brahmans who are well-versed in 1 This is the writing of Singoja, the son of Samthe Vedas the gift called Ubhayamukhidana.I boja, a very bee at the lotuses which are the But he who destroys this act of piety, commits feet of the god Sankaradeva. May the greatest a sin as great as if, at those same holy places, prosperity attend it!
THE HOT SPRINGS OF UNAI.
BY W.RAMSAY, BOM. C.S. UNAI is a small hamlet in the territory of the This done, he commanded them to wash and be Raja of Bânsdê near the hills east of the Surat clean, but these new acolytes, unused from district. It is remarkable for a very copious hot birth to the use of cold water save as a drink, spring, rising in a stone built tank about 30 feet stoutly refused. Râma promised them hot water, square; it is the scene of a large fair held every and thereupon created the Unai spring. Still year at the full moon of the month of Chaitra. another difficulty arose: the men refused to walk There is also a temple dedicated to a divinity to the bath. This was overcome by Hanuman locally known as “Unai Mâta." The water is taking the whole of the men on his tail, and contoo hot for the hand to be held in it for aboveveying them to the spring, whence after the due & second or two; yet at the time of the fair performance of ablutions he carried them back to crowds enter it and bathe. A miraculous Påtarwada, where Râma awaited them. A Hom agency is of course attributed. On the after- or sacrifice was now offered, a recitation from noon of the 13th of the month the god descends the Vedas was made, and a feast given. Last of and cools the waters, which remain so until the all, Rama told the new Brahmans to go forth day after the full, after which period the heat into the world, and to beg after the manner of returns. The more matter-of-fact interpretation the rest of their sect, but to this they had no of the phenomenon is, that the bathers enter the mind, and positively refused, so Râma relenting water in large numbers simultaneously, thus gave them permission to go and till the ground, expelling from the tank the bulk of the water, and and this they have done to the present day. Their assimilating the temperature of the remainder to descendants are the Anawala Brahmans, so called that of the human body. The water is strongly from the town of Anâwal in the Wânsda territory. impregnated with sulphur, but is not otherwise They are the wealthiest of the cultivating classes unpleasant. Cattle drink of the stream that issues in the Surat district, and are not found in any from the tank, and grass and sedges grow on its other part of India : they are otherwise called banks in unusual vigour. The origin of the spring BhâtelAs or Bhathatila, i.e. cross-grained Bhats, as told by the Sådhu or holy man who guards alio Mâstân, i. e. proud, overbearing. They are the mysteries of Unai Mâtê was as follows:- & corrupt intriguing set, ever at feud among themRâma on his return from the conquest of Ceylon selves, and well bearing out the sobriquets they halted at a place called Patarwada in the enjoy. They are looked down upon by other hills of Wânsdâ, and held a "Jugun" (Yajna) sects of Brahmans, and are themselves divided or sacrifice. No Brahmans however were forth into two sects, who do not intermarry, viz., those coming, so the god collecting at once 18,000 termed Desais or hereditary district officers, and men of the hill tribes created them Brahmans. ordinary Bhâtelás.
It is not clear whether this is the name of a locality or the name of a particular tax.
The decoration of the image of the god with clothes, ornamenta, &c.
Lit. "the gift of (A cow) that has two faces;" this cere-
mony is performed by fashioning out of the five jewels. a diamond, pearl, a sapphire, an emerald, and piece of coral, the image of a cow in the act of bringing forth. call, when of course there are two heads to apparently only one body, and presenting it to a Brahman.