320
OWEN BERKELEY-HILL
XIX. He will wash his private parts once with water and potters' earth mixed.
XX. The same performance for his two feet, repeated five times for each foot, beginning, under the penalty of eternal damnation, with the right foot.
XXI. Having thus scoured the different parts of his body with earth and water he will wash them a second time with water only.
XXIL After that he will wash his face and rinse his mouth out eight times. 1 When he is doing this last act he must take very great care to spit out the water on his left side, for if by care- lessness or otherwise he unfortunately spits it out on the other side, he will assuredly go to hell.
XXIII. He will think three times on Vishnu and will swallow a little water three times in doing so.
Rttles to be observed when cleaning the teeth.
I. To clean his teeth a Hindu must use a small twig cut from either an uduga, a rengu, or a neradu tree, or from one of a dozen others of which the names are given by tl;e author.
IL If sucli a twig is unobtainable, he may use a bit of wood cut from any thorny or milky shrub. ': ; .
III. Before cutting the twig he must repeat the following prayer to the gods of the woods: 'O gods of the woods! I cut one of your small twigs to cleanse my teeth. Grant me, for this action, long life, strength, honour, wit, many cattle and much wealth, prudence, judgment, memory, and power '.
IV. This prayer ended, he cuts a twig a few inches in length, |[ and softens one end into the form ol a painter's brush.
V. Squatting on his heels and facing either east or north, he
never fail to put this at the head oi them all, and to make it a subject of bitter sarcasm and mockery. The sight of a foreigner spitting or blowing his nose into a handkerchief and then putting it into his pocket is enough to make them feel sick. According to their notions it is the politest thing m the world to go outside and blow one's nose with one's fingers and then to wipe them on a wall.
Mt is necessary to rinse the mouth out after every action which is cal- culated to cause any defilement. The rule is to rinse the mouth out four times after making water, eight times after answering an ordinary call of ■f nature, twelve times after taking food, and sixteen times after sexual inter-
course.
