Indian Antiquary Vol 14

SR No.: 032506
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: John Faithfull Fleet, Richard Carnac Temple
Publisher: Swati Publications
Publication Year: 1984
Total Pages: 418
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 18 MB

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THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY.
(MAY, 1885.
accorded to them, we proceed to describe the persons, whenever there are any such, whose special duty it is to perform that service. It may be said that, with few or no exceptions, all the tribes employ priests regularly or occasionally. When a tribe has no priests of its own, it borrows them from another tribe. Moreover, the office is usually not hereditary, but may be taken up or laid down at pleasure. In this respect the priesthood among the aboriginal population of India stands in marked contrast with that of the Hindús. The Singhpos have no regular priests of their own, though members of the tribe sometimes act as diviners. The Buddhist priests of their neighbours, the Khamtis, are greatly esteemed by thom. Among the Gards the priest leads the same kind of life as the laity, and the only prepara- tion needed by him before assuming the sacred office seems to be an ability to repeat the usual incantations. The Oraons, when in want of a priest, discover the proper individual by divination. Taking a winnowing sieve in their hands, they march about the village, and are involuntarily led away by movements of the sievo to the right hoase. Among the Paharias, persons desiring to enter the priesthood are required to retire for some days to the jungle, and commune in solitude with the deity. Before they are confirmed in their office they are expected to perform some marvellous act, as evidence of having acquired superhuman power. They wear their hair ancut while acting as priests. The same tribe have also priestesses as well as priests. Some tribes, that have in other respects adopted the religion of the Hindus, employ the priests of neighbouring unconverted tribes to propitiate local deities. The distinction between priests and laity among most tribes is so slight that unconsecrated persons not unfrequently perform the offices of religion. The Juangs, who are among the lowest of all the tribes described, employ an old man as priest. Among the Kharrias the head of the family presides at offerings to the sun-god in behalf of the household, but a priest is employed to act for the community. The Kols allow certain elders or the heads of families to perform the service. Among the Santils the head of the family offers the ancestral sacrifices, but other services are performed by village priests, who fit themselves
for the purpose by prayer, fasting, and silent contemplation of some god until they are possessed by him. Among the Khonds a regular priest always officiated at the festivals in honour of the earth-goddess, but it appears that on ordinary occasions any one, who chose to do so, could assume the priestly functions, his reputation being dependent upon his skill as a diviner. We are told by Hodgson that among the Bodos and Dhimals the priests do not form an hereditary class, though it is not uncom. mon for the son to take up the business of his father, but that the elders of the people, heads of families or clans, frequently act as priests. We have already seer that among the Todas the manager of religious affairs is at once priest and god. His novitiate is passed by retiring to the jungle, and remaining there alone and without clothing for eight days, during which time he performs certain purificatory rites. On the eighth day he returns and enters upon the discharge of his duties.
Among the hill tribes generally the principal duties of a priest are to core sickness, to ascertain coming events by divination, and to preside over the public offerings. The theory of the Nägas that sickness is caused by a demon, who takes this way to gratify a personal spite against some mortal, is shared by other tribes. This being the diagnosis, the only rational course to pursue is to call in the priest. Among the Kukis, when this personage arrives, he first determines from the symptoms which one of the gods is offended. He then roasts a fowl, and eats it on the spot where the sick man was first seized with his malady. After throwing the fragments away, as an offering to the demon, he goes home. Should the gravity of the case demand the sacrifice of a larger animal, the priest collects his friends and shares the feast with them. In case the first application of the remedy does not prove effectual, it has to be repeated until the man dies or his resources fail. Among the Gáros, the priest, with the patient lying beside him, takes his seat near a bamboo altar, round which an assistant leads the animal to be sacrificed. From timo to time it is taken away and washed, and then brought back and fed with salt and caressed. Its head is then severed with a single blow, and its blood smeared upon the altar. A somewhat more economical plan is in vogne among