Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 15, 1904.djvu/185

 Toda Prayer. 167

All the prayers, however, are of the same general type, though varying greatly in length and subject-matter.

The prayer always consists of two parts : one which may be regarded as the prayer proper, and another pre- liminary portion. The ' prayer proper ' consists of a series of clauses, such as " may it be well," " may there be no disease," &c., in all of which buffaloes are implied, the supplication being that the buffaloes may be well and that no ill may befall them.

This part of the prayer should be the same in every dairy, the only differences being probably due to individual pre- ference or carelessness on the part of the dairyman.

The preliminary portion consists of a series of words or sentences called by the Todas kwarzam followed by the word idith, often contracted into ith. The kwarsam is most commonly the sacred name of a being or object of reverence. The name used for any being or object in the prayer is not that used in ordinary conversation but is a special name, the kzvarzain of the being or object. Some- times the kwarzam closely resembles the ordinary name ; sometimes it is wholly different. In addition to this kind of kwarzam^ there are others consisting of sentences refer- ring to incidents in the history of the dairy or in the lives of gods connected with the dairy.

The word idith was said to mean " for the sake of," and I adopt this translation here, though I am not confident that it exactly expresses the idea in the minds of the Todas when they use the word.

The following is the usual form of the second part or prayer proper :

Tdnenmd tdrindmd ir kark tdncnnid

may it be well may it be well with the buffaloes and calves

or or may it be well

may be blessed may be merciful

HU ark md kazan drk md nudri drk via

may there be nu disease may there be no destroyer may there be no poisonous

animals (snakes and insects)