20-24 septembrie 2009 - Biblioteca Metropolitana Bucuresti

728 SHILPA SUMANTIn the second place, we may think that this was a puberty rite in itsorigin and later on, formed a place in the marriage ritual before the actualperformance of the main marriage rites. There is a reference to Apālā inthe stanza employed in this rite. Von SCHRÖDER (1908:235) thinks thatthe Apālā-hymn is a puberty spell, which appropriately ends with a ritualpurification of the female body for sexual, marital union. 24 The waterpassing on the gold resembles śukra, the semen and the yoke-hole is asymbol of vagina, the act being thus, a symbol of sexual union. Further, itmay also be said that there is a trace of some agricultural rite here with theemployment of the yoke. The yoke is supposed to be a symbol of fertility. 25The association of sexual union with agriculture is universal. The naturalproductivity is viewed in terms of human productivity. There is a universalbelief that the sexual act assists the promotion of an abundant harvest. 2624DANGE (1966:196) also expresses a similar view that the ritual, in which thisApālā-hymn was originally used, was meant for a girl who was about to attain puberty,with an expectation of a puberty free of any disease. The girl in this peculiar state of life is anagnikā i.e. a girl who is yet to attain maturity, and has to be favored by the divine fluid priorto her marriage. DANGE (1979:44) also thinks that the bride, moreover has to be blessed bythe sun-fluid, indicating the Sun as the divine seeder. This is done by letting fall on her head,the water from the yoke-hole or chariot-wheel having a piece of gold tied inside. This holeand the piece represent the sun. The water is that sun-fluid by which the bride is lustrated.The sun here comes as the cosmic seeder prior to the mortal husband taking her for wife.He elsewhere (1966:200) expresses that the hymn of Apālā appeared to imbibe a ritual forunmarried and married women in which Indra is to be propitiated. In the case of the marriedbut sexually unhappy ladies it is likely that the belief in the 'foreign seed' prevailed in theritual; while in the case of maidens some representative of Indra was worshipped with Soma,dhānā (fried grains) and karambha (flour mixed with curds). In both the cases Indra wasinvoked to bestow feminine fullness and happy married life. Also, refer to footnote 13, forthe stanza yugaṁ yoktram mentioned in the KP. There also it is implied that the yoke bringsabout progeny to the newly married couple through their union.25APTE (1982:422) informs that in the Baiga tribal songs in Andhra Pradesh, itis imagined that the male organ is like the shape of the plough. It is worth noting thatin Andhra Pradesh the plough is fashioned in such a way that it can be used as a yoke.Further, the plough goes into the earth before seed is planted.26FRAZER (1963:335) cites many examples where sexual union is accompaniedwith the sowing the seeds in the field. He concludes: “At present day it might perhapsbe vain to look in the civilized Europe for customs of this sort observed for the explicitpurpose of promoting the growth of vegetation. But ruder races in other parts of theworld have consciously employed the intercourse of the sexes as a means to ensure thefruitfulness of the earth; and some rites which are still, or were till lately, kept up inEurope can be reasonably explained only as stunted relics of a similar practice.”