who has not got Masan must
go to one who has and hire him for Rs. 1-4 a night. They then both
go to the owner's oil-press, and the hirer says, 'I have hired you
to-night,' and the owner says, 'Yes, I have let you for to-night';
and then the hirer goes away, and Masan Baba follows him and will turn
the oil-mill all night. A Teli who has not got Masan Baba puts a stone
on the oil-mill, and then the bullock thinks that his master Masan is
sitting on it, and will go on turning the press; but this is not so
good as having Masan Baba. Some say that he will repay his hirer the
sum of Rs. 1-4 by stealing something during the year and giving it to
him. Masan may perhaps be considered as a divine personification of
the oil-press, and as being the Teli's explanation of the fact that
the bullock goes on turning the press without being driven, which he
does not attribute simply to the animal's docility. In Chhattisgarh
Dulha Deo is the household god of the caste, and he is said not to
have any visible image or symbol, but is considered to reside in a
cupboard in the house. When any member of the family falls ill it
is thought that Dulha Deo is angry, and a goat is offered to appease
him. Like the other low castes the Telis of the Nagpur country make
the sacrifice of a pig to Narayan Deo or the Sun at intervals.

8. Driving out evil

Here on the third day after the Pola festival in the rains the women
of the caste bring the branches of a thorny creeper, with very small
leaves, and call it Marbod, and sweep out the whole house with it,
saying:

'Ira, pira, khatka, khatkira,
Khansi, kokhala, rai, rog,
Murkuto gheunja ga Marbod,'

or, 'Oh Marbod! sweep away all diseases, pains, coughs, bugs, flies
and mosquitoes.' And then they take the pot of sweepings and throw it
outside the village. Marbod is the deity represented by the branch of
the creeper. This rite takes place in the middle of the rainy season,
when all kinds of insects infest the house, and colds and fever are
prevalent Mr. H.R. Crosthwaite sends the following explanation given
by a Teli cultivator of an eclipse of the sun: "The Sun is indebted to
a sweeper. The sweeper has gone to collect the debt and the Sun has
refused to pay. The sweeper is in need of the money and is sitting
_dharna_ at the Sun's door; you can see his shadow across the Sun's
threshold. Presently the debt will be paid and the sweeper will go
away." The Telis of Nimar observe var