Page:The International Journal of Psycho-Analysis II 1921 3-4.djvu/72

 326 OWEN BERKELEY-HILL

rats, or where snakes generally live. A Brahman puts a vessel of water and a weapon near where he lays his head. He rubs his feet, washes his mouth twice, and then lies down. A Brahman must never go to bed with his feet wet, nor sleep under the beam which supports the roof of the house. He must avoid sleeping with his face turned to the west or north. If it is impossible to arrange it otherwise it would be better to be turned towards the north than towards the west. When lying down he offers worship to the earth, to Vishnu, to Nandikeswara one of the chief spirits who guard Siva, and to the bird garuda (Brahmany kite), to whom he makes the following prayer : ' Illustrious son of Kasyapa and Vinata ! King of birds, with beauteous wings and sharp-pointed beak ; you who are the enemy of snakes, preserve me from their poison ! ' Finally, the Brahman must again think of Vishnu, and this should be his last thought before sleeping.

We have now examined fairly fully the routine of an ordinary day of an orthodox Brahman. Of course, the details vary a little from those which have been quoted ^ according to the sect to which the Brahman may belong, the part of India in which he lives, and the degree of his orthodoxy. Nevertheless, the description may be taken as a very fairly correct account of the daily life of an orthodox Brahman, especially one belonging to Southern India.

In the rules laid down for the performance of excretory acts, we find an abundance of reaction-formations against the material emitted. Moreover, the passion for cleanliness is not confined to the outside of the body but extends to the inside also. Ample evidence ol this exists in the scrupulous ceremonial observed in the preparation and consumption of food, as well as the repeated rinsings of the mouth and sippings of water. This intense fear of pollution is, as I have remarked at the outset, one of the most typical reaction-format- ions of the Hindus and probably no parallel can be found to it except among victims of obsessional neuroses of the type des- cribed by Ernest Jones. ^ It is not possible to give examples of all the expressions of this reaction-formation but one more may be cited in the case of the Ramanuja sect of the Vaishnavas (followers ot Vishnu) who carefully lock the doors of their kitchens and protect

' Dubois and Beauchamp: op. cit.

= Ernest Jones: 'Einige Falle von Zwangsneurose ', Jahrhuch /, Psycko- ttnal. u. Psychopath. Forsckung, Bd. V, S. 55.