Page:The Annals of Rural Bengal Vol 1.djvu/215

ITS LEGEND. 193 This he did; but one morning his cows strayed into the forest, and after seeking them all day, he came home hungry and weary, and having hastily bathed in the lake, sat down to his supper. Just as he stretched out his hand to take the food, he called to mind his vow; and, worn out as he was, he got up, limped painfully to the Brahman's idol on the margin of the lake, and beat it with his club. Then suddenly a splendid form, sparkling with jewels, rose from the waters, and said: 'Behold the man who forgets his hunger and his weariness to beat me, while my priests sleep with their concubines at home, and neither give me to eat nor to drink. Let him ask of me what he will, and it shall be given.' Byju answered, 'I am strong of arm and rich in cattle. I am a leader of my people; what want I more? Thou art called Nath (Lord); let me too be called Lord, and let thy temple go by my name.' 'Amen,' replied the deity; 'henceforth thou art not Byju, but Byjnath, and my temple shall be called by thy name.'

So close is the resemblance between the Great Mountain of the Santals and the Siva of the mixed Hindu population, that several natives, without any previous study of the question, and judging only from the attributes and visible worship, translated the Santal name for their god as 'the Mahadeva (i.e. Siva) of the Hindus.'

In a preceding chapter I have stated that the religion of the present mixed Hindu population bears witness to the influence of the aboriginal