nd. The
cocoanut is commonly regarded by the Hindus as a substituted offering
for a human head. The betel-leaves which are distributed have been
specially consecrated by the head priest of the sect, and are held
to represent the body of Kabir. [227]

Similarly, Guru Govind Singh instituted a _prasad_ or communion among
the Sikhs, in which cakes of flour, butter and sugar are made and
consecrated with certain ceremonies while the communicants sit round in
prayer, and are then distributed equally to all the faithful present,
to whatever caste they may belong. At a Guru-Mata or great council of
the Sikhs, which was held at any great crisis in the affairs of the
state, these cakes were laid before the Sikh scriptures and then eaten
by all present, who swore on the scriptures to forget their internal
dissensions and be united. Among the Rajputs the test of legitimacy
of a member of the chief's family was held to depend on whether
he had eaten of the chief's food. The rice cooked at the temple of
Jagannath in Orissa may be eaten there by all castes together, and,
when partaken of by two men together, is held to establish a bond of
indissoluble friendship between them.

Members of several low castes of mixed origin will only take food
with their relatives, and not with other families of the caste with
whom they intermarry. [228] The Chaukhutia Bhunjias will not eat food
cooked by other members of the same community, and will not take it
from their own daughters after the latter are married. At a feast
among the Dewars uncooked food is distributed to the guests, who
cook it for themselves; parents will not accept cooked food either
from married sons or daughters, and each family with its children
forms a separate commensal group. Thus the taking of food together
is a more important and sacred tie than intermarriage. In most Hindu
castes a man is not put out of caste for committing adultery with a
woman of low caste, but for taking cooked food from her hands; though
it is assumed that if he lives with her openly he must necessarily
have accepted cooked food from her. Opium and alcoholic liquor or
wine, being venerated on account of their intoxicating qualities,
were sometimes regarded as substitutes for the sacrificial food and
partaken of sacramentally. [229]

89. Funeral feasts.

An important class of communal meals remaining for discussion
consists in the funeral feasts. The funeral feast seems a peculiar
and unse