Page 51 of: Glories of India (Culture and Civilization)

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INDIAN CULTURE AND CIVILIZATION
3 giving a pet or secret name, adopting measures to keep
off evils to which the chill is prone to, feeding the child
and prayer for long life and good health at the end of
the preliminary sacrifice. The greeting for transfer-
rence of personal influence consisting in touching the
child's body, smelling on the head to prevent bad luck”,
breathing on the child in order to create brain
(medhajanana) and reciting prayer for the prosperity of
the child. The practice of giving a pet name still
continues but formerly it was kept between the parents.
only. The measures adopted to keep off evils include a
bath of the child which is a usual and hygeinic practice
and does certainly keep off the evil of bad health; tying
a gold band round the child's right wrist, the medical
or magical intention is to make the child a piece of
solid gold (hiranyam aśrutam bhava) so that no base
metal can affect it. The next two measures which
appear to have some magical effect include the holding
of a pot of water over the head of the child and whisper-
ing over the ground and the mother to remove evil eye
from bad persons, ghosts, demons etc. The father had
hardly anything to do with the next ceremony of giving
the first feed to the child with honey, clarified butter
and mother's breast (stana-pratidāna) which even now.
a-days are considered to be the best food for the newly
born child.
The prayers form part of the initial sacrifice
performed by the father. This sacrifice is significantly
called ayushya. (that which gives long life) and made to
the fire god and sylvan deities for the long life of the
1 The tran-ference of personal influence by touch is recog-
nised in acts like lover's kiss on the lips, friend's hand-hake,
devotee's pray ma (obeisance) to the teacher by touching the feet of
the litter by the forehead of the former, preceptor's touch by hands.
on the disciple's body, etc.
2 The act of smelling consists in inhaling to draw into the
lungs all the impurities, herein called bad luck, with which the child
my be born. The spirit of sacrifice on the part of the father for the
good of the child can hardly be nobler than this.
3 The breathing is an exacily opposite action of smelling
By this the father intends to transfer to the child everything good in
him especially the brain power as it is specifically stated.
4 The last resort of the father for the good of the child to
pray for God's blessings and mercy.