Page:Castes and tribes of southern India, Volume 5.djvu/205

Rh is to make men and women possessed by spirits; women being more subject to their evil influence than men. Delayed puberty, sterility, and still-births are not uncommon ills of a woman possessed by a devil. Sometimes the spirits sought to be exorcised refuse to leave the body of the victim, unless the sorcerer promises them a habitation in the compound of his own house, and arranges for daily offerings being given. This is agreed to as a matter of unavoidable necessity, and money and lands are conferred upon the Nambūtiri mantravādi, to enable him to fulfil his promise."

A Nambūtiri is not permitted to swear, or take oath in any way. He may, however, declare so and so, holding the while his sacred thread between the thumb and forefinger of the right hand, by way of invoking the Gāyatri in token of his sincerity. And he may call on the earth mother to bear witness to his words, for she may, should he speak falsely, relieve herself of him. The name of the Supreme Being is not used in oath. Nambūtiris have been known to take oath before a shrine, in order to settle a point in a Civil Court, but it is not orthodox to do so. Something has been said already concerning vows. Those who desire offspring perform the vow called payasahavanam. Sacrifice is made through fire (hōmam) to the Supreme Being. Hōmam is also vowed to be done on a child's birthday, to ensure its longevity. Here we may observe a contrast between the Nambūtiri and a man of one of the inferior castes. For, while the vow of the Nambūtiri has assumed to some extent the nature of propitiatory prayer, of which those low down really know nothing, the other gives nothing until he has had the full satisfaction of his vow. Mrityunjayam, or that which conquers death, is another kind of hōmam in