198 Correspondence.
The origin of the Suthra Shahi sect of Faqirs is said to be this. A boy was born with its teeth already cut, and its parents exposed it, as a child so born is unlucky. The tenth Guru, Hargobind, happened to find the child, and told his disciples to take up the child, but they refused, saying it was kuthra, or dirty. The Guru replied it was suthra, or clean, and they then obeyed. This boy was the founder of the Suthra Shahi sect.
The story is noteworthy as showing how unlucky children were exposed, or possibly given to faqirs. The poet Tulsi Das was born in Abhukta-mula, at the end of the asterism Jyeshtha, and in the beginning of that of Mula, and he was in consequence aban- doned and probably picked up by Sadhus. The Jogis, according to one legend {Indian Antiquary, 1893, p. 265), originated in a similar way. For an instance in Kumaon folklore see Saturday Revieiv, May 12th, 1877 {North Indian N. c^ Q., iii., p. 30). It would be interesting to know how far the various sects of faqirs are recruited from unlucky children, or from children vowed to the gods.
The above notes suggest a point for inquiry. Are " unlucky children" (see p. 63) devoted to the gods? If so, is a child born under particular circumstances devoted to a particular deity ? For example, would a child born with its teeth already cut be ipso facto dedicated to any special deity or to the Suthra Shahi sect ? The custom of giving an unlucky child to a Brahman and then buying it back again may have originated in this way.
Further, is there any custom by which children are vowed to a deity, or to (what perhaps comes to the same thing) the sect of faqirs or devotees who worship that deity ? There is one well- known instance of such a custom in the Punjab, according to the received explanation. But is the custom general ?
It would be interesting to obtain parallels to these Indian instances of unlucky children being devoted to deities, and I should be grateful for any references or notes on the point.
H. A. Rose, Superintendent of Ethnography, Punjab.
