Note 116 — Chapter I · THE EVIL EYE AND THE SCARING OF GHOSTS.

The same idea attaches to the bracelet, which is in close connection with the soul of the wearer. Such is the Chandanhâr or sandal-wood necklace of Chandan Râja, and Sodewa Bâî is born with a golden necklace round her neck, concerning which her parents consulted the astrologers. They announced, “This is no common child; the necklace of gold about your daughter’s neck contains your daughter’s soul. Let it, therefore, be guarded with the utmost care; for if it were taken off and worn by another person, she would die.”116 The same idea appears in the Kashmîr tales, where Panj Phûl refuses to give up her necklace, as “it contains the secret of her life, and was a charm to her against all dangers, sickness and trials; deprived of it she might become sick and miserable, or be taken away from them and die.”117 All this is based on the conception of the external soul, to which reference has been already made. The Mâls of Bîrbhûm exchange necklaces at marriages, and the Princess Kalingasenâ wears a bracelet and necklace of lotus fibre to secure relief from the pains of love.118