পৃষ্ঠা:অসমীয়া ব্যাকৰণ আৰু ভাষাতত্ত্ব.djvu/৫৩

INTRODUCTION it to the world of living, away from thy dead husband, and become the wife of him who is fit to clasp thy hand and is willing to marry thee." | Another verse of the Rigveda reveals the ancient custom of widow marriage. Sayanacharya explains the second line of this verse, viz. | Ko van sayutra vidhava iva devaram maryam na yosa nute sadhastha." Thus- | As a widow is disposed towards her husband's brother at the time of embracing. | This ancient custom of widow marriage is prevalent among the Western Aryans. In Assam widow marriage is going on from time im memorial although now-a-days the educated people think it to be undignified. | FuadrilCustom :-The Vedic Indians disposed of the dead either by cremation or burial or by drowning in a running stream. In Greece cre mation was the general practice in Homer's time. The Greeks adopted the custom of burial later in Mycenen' time. The Persians threw away the dead to be eaten up by vultures. The Assamese dispose of the dead in 3 ways, viz. (1) by burning, (2) by drowning in a running stream and (3) by throwing them away in the jungle to be eaten up by vultures and jackals. | It should be remembered that no aboriginal tribe in Assam throw their dead into the jungle or drown them in a running stream. The Assamese custom appears to be very ancient and brought from the ori- ginal home of the Aryans. Uncleone:The Vendidad of the Zend-Avesta, chapters v.xit. deal with impurity arising from the dead and the way of dispelling it, chapter xvI with uncleanness of women during menses and Chapter V with defilement during child-birth.* a) Ds :—“When a man dies, as soon as the soul has parted from the body, the Drug Nasu or Corpse Drug (Drug-demon hell) falls upon the dead from the regions of hell, and whoever thenceforth touches the corpse becomes unclean, and makes unclean whomsoever he touches.” , “The Drug is expelled from he living, whom she has seized through 1"Udirnva naryabhih jivalokam gatasume tamapa sesa chi. Hastagrabhasya didnisostavedam pratyurjanitvamabhi samvobhutha."Rig. 10.18.8. • Rig--x 40.2. 3 Vidhaveva yat mrtabhartra part devara bhartrbhrataram abhimukhi karoti sambhogakale." Sayan. | 1 See Riveda x, 17.13: x, 18.11 & x, 17.10. | 5 The sacred Books of the East, Vol. IV. “The Zend-Avesta" by . Darmesteter.