20-24 septembrie 2009 - Biblioteca Metropolitana Bucuresti

726 SHILPA SUMANTAmongst the Asuras, a tribe of iron-smiths in Madhya Pradesh, a yokeis placed in front of the door of the house. The bride and the bridegroom siton the grass bundles placed on the two ends of the yoke. An elderly personsprinkles water on them and then they go inside the house. This ceremonycertainly contains traces of the purification ceremony of the bride with theyoke.The bath of the bridal pair under the plough-yoke is a significantfeature in the wedding ritual of the Dolars, a tribe originally from MadhyaPradesh which is also found in Andhra Pradesh and Orissa. The bride andthe bridegroom sit at the two ends of the yoke facing east and water ispoured on them by the village girls.Amongst the Parhiyas, a tribe residing in the states of West Bengal,Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, in the preliminary rites of thewedding ceremony, the bride and the bridegroom take a bath sitting on ayoke.Among the Dohar Chamars of Narsinghpur in the central parts ofIndia, the bride and the bridegroom are seated on a plough-yoke while themarriage ceremonies are performed. 173. The purpose of the rite with the yokeDue of the presence of the yoke in this rite, one might think that as twoanimals tied to the two ends of the yoke carry out the same job of pullingthe cart, similarly, the married couple, hereafter joined together, jointlyperforms the household duties. The yoke may be taken as a symbol ofpermanent union between the husband and the wife. But at the same timeone must keep in mind that the bridegroom does not actively participatein this rite. Moreover, neither the bride nor the groom is tied to the yoke,neither jointly nor separately, neither physically nor symbolically.It seems that the motive behind the performance of this rite is thepurification of the bride before wedding. Gold, Waters, the yoke-holementioned in the mantras 18 that are to be recited in this rite, seem to be17Cf. CHATTERJEE (1978:277). For more examples of the existence of the yoke inthe wedding rituals of various tribals in India, cf. APTE (1982:279ff, 386).18These mantras are ŚS 14.1.40: śáṁ te híraṇyaṁ śám u santv āpáḥ śáṁ methírbhávatu śám yugásya tárdma / śám ta paḥ śatápavitrā bhavantu śám u pátyā tanvaṁ sáṁspṛśava// – “Indeed, the gold be auspicious for you, auspicious be the waters, auspicious bethe post, auspicious the hole of the yoke, auspicious for you the waters having a hundredcleansers. For aupiciousness, mingle yourself with your husband.” and ŚS 14.1.41: khéráthasya khénasaḥ khé yugásya śatakrato/ apālm indra tríṣpūtvkṛṇvoḥ sryatvacam // –