Note 30 — Chapter III · DISEASE DEITIES.

The following legend is related of shili sātem. A certain woman once forgot to extinguish the fire in her hearth on Rāndhan Chhetha (lit. cooking sixth), i.e., the day previous to shili sātem. On the next day, the Mātā was scorched in the stomach when she came to roll herself on the hearth. In extreme anger the goddess cursed the woman saying that her only son would be burnt to death; and immediately the boy died. In her anguish the unfortunate mother confessed her fault to a friend, who advised her to go to the jungle and entreat the Mātā to give back her son. She found the goddess rolling in distress under a bābul tree. The woman slowly approached her, and began to comb out the Mātā’s hair. She then placed her son in the Mātā’s lap and entreated the goddess to revive the boy. The Mātā felt much relieved by the woman’s attentions and blessed her saying that her bosom should be as quiet as her own head. Immediately, at these words, the boy revived, to the intense joy of his mother.30