many cattle of the herdsmen living in the forests of Nalli of the strong car, was placed on a plate as a small offering to the prow that announced the arrival of the lover on whose account the strong shoulders of my companion have become lean.”¹ Belief in omens was rampant. The directions of the flight, and the cries of birds indicated the future success or failure of attempts. "(Poets) will blame the hour of starting and the indications of birds" when they do not get reward.² Demons were believed to reside in trees and, in the grave yards;³ demonesses frequented battle-fields, dug (with their fingers) into the wounds of the fallen and combed their hair with red, bloody fingers and hence looked red.⁴ "Demonesses embraced the dead and ate the white flesh. Devils possessed Pulaiya women; then they jumped about like cattle. The best way to drive it away was to burn white mustard.⁵ They also "cut the throat of a goat, placed a dish of millets, sounded many musical instruments in the high road, blessed the demon along with others which have not possessed the girl, and proclaimed that the girl had been possessed by a devil."⁶ The demons are fond of raw human flesh and blood; so they surround wounded warriors even when alive and once they touch the raw wound, it will refuse to heal and the man dies soon. To prevent devils from touching the wound of a man his wife, "sticks into the roof the leaves of the sweet-fruited ironwood tree (iravam) and of the margosa, gets the bent-trunked yāḷ and other musical instruments to be sounded, slowly lifts her hands and rubs (the house) with lumps of blacking, scatters mustard all over, gets flutes to be blown, bells to be rung, and the tune called Kāñji to be sung."⁷

VII. Monastic Caves

Inscriptions on the stones of caves used as dwelling places by Jain and Buddhist monks have been found in parts of the Tamil country. The language of these inscriptions are said to be a form of hybrid Tamil. The inscriptions are brief and generally record the names of the donors and donees. The following reading is a description of

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¹ Kuṛ. 210.

²Puṛ. 204. 1. 10.

³ Puṛ. 238. 11. 4-5.

⁴ lb. 62. 11. 2-4.

⁵Ib. 98. 1. 15

⁶ Kuṛ. 263. 11. 1-5.

⁷ Puṛ. 28. 1 6.