is not forbidden. Tender prayer has its own place. Again and again, as the set moons and the seasons go round, will the household reassemble to hear the Vedic salutations and offer rites of aid to the departed soul.
Then may arise the voice of the eldest son calling upon the spirit of his dead father, in words drawn from the Rig-Veda, and perhaps repeated on like occasions through thousands of years:—
“Go thou, and be thou joined unto the company of our forefathers,
And meet thou also with the gods of yonder world!
Ascending into the furthest heights of heaven,
Do thou receive the fulfilment of thine heart’s desire!
Leaving behind thee all that has been blemished or imperfect,
Return thou whence thou camest forth,
And be united with thy shining self!
Be the gods in high heaven thy protectors!
On that path whither thou art gone before us,
Be the gods in high heaven thy protectors!
In those abodes where dwell the doers of good deeds
Mayst thou be set to dwell, by the Creator!
