Note 35 — Chapter IV · WORSHIP OF ANCESTORS AND SAINTS.

In the Kolhápur District, it is believed that the character of a Bhut is like that of a human being. When a person is attacked by a spirit, a great change is observed in his language and actions. He begins to speak in the language of the Bhut by which he is attacked. If the ghost is of the female sex, the person speaks the language of females. It is believed that the souls of those who have been murdered or tortured assume the form of a spirit known as Sambandh, and trouble the murderer or the torturer, by entering his body. It is said that in some cases the spirit does not leave the body of such a person till he dies, thus exacting revenge for his past misdeeds.35 In Khopoli in Ratnágiri it is said that the cow which is given to a Bráhman while performing the funeral rites of a dead person helps him to reach heaven. He gets there by catching hold of her tail. There are three paths to the other world. They are Bhaktimárga, Karmamárga, and Yogamárga. The Karmamárga is believed to be superior to all.36 At Málád, a belief prevails that the path to the other world is through the Himálayas. While going through the mountains of the Himálayas, souls find happiness or sorrow according to their actions in life-time. The people also believe that the soul returns every month on the date of the man’s death to accept Kágvás, i.e., cooked food given to the manes, and reaches heaven at the end of one year.37 At Dahigaon in the Murbád taluka, it is customary among the Hindus to smear with cow dung the place from which a dead body has been removed to the burning ground. The place is then covered with rice flour, and is hidden under a basket, an oil-lamp being kept, burning near by. The persons who accompany the corpse return home to look at the lamp, and it is believed that the soul of the deceased will pass to any creature or species of which footprints are seen on the rice flour.38