Folk-tales of Kashmir / by the Rev. J. Hinton Knowles.

  • James Hinton Knowles
Date:
1893
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Folk-tales of Kashmir / by the Rev. J. Hinton Knowles. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    520/532 page 504
    evening the corpse was burnt upon a pile of sandalwood, and Hiinal, according to the custom of those days, lay down beside the corpse and was burned alsod The holy man was terribly grieved at this sad sight, lie went to the place of burning and collected the ashes of the two corpses. These he set before him and cried all day and night, and would not be comforted. Most for- tunately it happened that Shiva and his wife Parvati were sitting in the form of two birds on a branch of the tree under which the old man sat. They heard the holy man’s cries, and decided to help him. Shiva said to his wife, “ Behold this good man’s grief. Oh that he knew the power that lies in those ashes! They have only to be thrown into the spring and the two persons will come to life again.” ® The holy man heard the bird say this and immediately went and threw the ashes into the spring. Xo sooner had he done this than Hinuil and Xagray again appeared alive, and as well and as beautiful as ever. Henceforth all was peace and happiness. They lived in a small house not far from the spring, and the holy man lived with them. Out of gratitude for his sympathy and respect for his goodness they would not let him go, but carefully attended to him up to the day of his death. And they were very much blessed in the deed.^ 7 This inhuman practice was gradu- ally put a stop to in Hindustan by Lord William Lentinck nearly sixty years ago. It lasted to a later date in Kashmir. Vigne was told that a Sati had never taken place here until the time of the Sikhs ; that is, whilst it was in possession of the succe.^^sive ]\Iuhammadan masters, who forbad the custom. Of course they were common enough during the time of its ancient Hindu dynasty. “ Cf. Indian Fairy Talcs, pp. 5. 149, 182 ; Old Deccan Days, p. 74 ; Wide- Aioake Stories, pp. 139, 176 ; Folk- Tales of Den yal. pp. 41, 135, 219 ; also stories of “Liave Princess,” “‘Two Lrothers,” “Unjust King and WTcked Ooldsnuth,” in this collection. ^ Cf. Indian Fairy Tales, p. 78. This story has been put into Per- sian and Kashmiri verse. While I am correcting these proofs a Hindu- stani translation, entitled Him il Na- garajan, by Pandit Hargopal Kol, reaches me. Nagray is one of the heroes of the vallejn The IMusalmans claim him. They say that he was a Muhammadan, but fell in love with Himal, and for a while pretended to be a brahman. Amusing tales are t<dd how the Musalmans came with some soldiers and rescued Kagray’s cor])se from the funeral pyre and buried it, &c.
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