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THE ANAL-EROTIC FACTOR IN HINDU RELIGION 321
scrubs all his teeth well with this brush after which he rinses his mouth with fresh water,
VI. He must not indulge in this cleanly habit every day. He 0. must abstain on the sixth, the eighth, the ninth, the eleventh the
fourteenth, and the last day of the moon, on the days of new and 't full moon, on the Tuesday in every week, on the day of the con-
stellation under which he was born, on the day of the week and on the day of the month which correspond with those of his birth at an eclipse, at the conjunction of the planets, at the equinoxes the solstices, and other unlucky epochs, and also on the anniversary of the death of his father or mother. i
VII. Any one who cleans his teeth with his bit of stick on any of the above-mentioned days will have hell as his portion!
VIII. He may, however, except on the day of the new moon and on the ekadasi (eleventh day of the moon), substitute grass or the leaves of a tree for this piece of wood.
IX. On the day of the new moon and on the ekadasi he may only clean his teeth with the leaves of the mango, the juvi, or the nere.
', After having cleaned his teeth the Brahmin must direct his
steps to some water to go through the important act of the • sandkya.
Teeth-cleaning is only preliminary to the next important religious act of the day — bathing (snana). According to Monier Williams 1 'This should be performed in some sacred stream, but in default of a river, the householder may use a pool or tank, or even, in case of dire necessity, a bath in his own house. Before entering the water the bather ought to say, "I am about to perform morning ablution in this sacred stream in the presence of the gods and Brahmans with a view to the removal of guilt resulting from act, speech, thought from what has been touched and untouched, known and unknown, eaten and not eaten, drunk and not drunk." ' After bathing comes the cereinony of Bhasmadharana, or application of ashes. This is done by rubbing ashes taken from the sacred domestic hearth on the head and other parts of the body, with the -V repetition of a prayer to Siva. The next act is Sikha-Bandhana,
or tying up of the locks on the crown of the head, lest any hair, thought to convey impurity, should fall on the ground or in the water. All preUminary acts and purifications being now completed,
1 Monier Williams: op. cit. , .
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