The Buffalo and its Milk
In discussing the sanctity of the bells of the Toda dairies we have seen that there is some reason to think that these [[429]]objects have attained their sacred character, at any rate in part, by a process of transference of sanctity from the buffaloes by which they were borne.
It is in favour of this view that the buffaloes seem at one time to have been more sacred, or to have received more definite signs of reverence than at the present time. The evidence of the legends points to a time when buffaloes were regarded as having anthropomorphic characters, and they probably indicate a belief in the sacred nature of these animals. When the buffaloes of the Nòdrs ti first came from Amnòdr, they talked like men, and the buffalo who founded the ti mad at Makars was a very human animal.
In his book, Captain Harkness (p. 16) states that as the buffaloes of the village are about to be penned for the night, the whole family, male and female, salute them by bringing the hand to the face. So far as I could ascertain, this is no longer done, and the only definite sign of reverence paid to the buffaloes, so far as I could learn, is the salutation made, partly to them and partly to the sun, by the palol when he leaves his dairy. Whenever in my journeys about the hills we came across herds of sacred buffaloes, even those of the ti, no salutation or sign of respect was made by the Todas who were with me, though a dairy, especially if it contained a mani, would receive obvious signs of veneration. Except in connexion with ceremonial there was nothing in the behaviour of the Todas towards their buffaloes to indicate that they were sacred animals, and it seems probable that the sanctity of the buffaloes has been to a great extent transferred, partly to the mani and partly to the milk given by the animals.
The milk is undoubtedly regarded as a sacred substance. There are distinct restrictions on its use which become more onerous as one ascends in the scale of dairies, and we have seen that there is reason to believe that the whole complicated daily ritual of the dairy may be designed to neutralise the dangers attendant on the conversion of the milk into substances which may be used by the outside world.
Throughout this book I have spoken of sacred buffaloes to distinguish them from those which take no part in the [[430]]dairy ritual, but it is a question whether the sanctity does not attach much more closely to the objects connected with the buffaloes than to the buffaloes themselves.
I think it is clear that at the present time none of the Toda buffaloes are so sacred that their milk in the form of ghi may not be used. Some writers have supposed that no profit is made from the sacred buffaloes of the ti, but at present this is certainly not so, and the ghi made from the milk of the sacred buffaloes is sold with the rest and may be used by all.
In earlier days, when the Todas led simpler lives than at present, when the bazaars of Ootacamund and Coonoor were not in existence to act as incentives to the acquirement of gain, it is possible that the Todas did not sell the ghi made from the milk of their more sacred buffaloes, and, as I have already suggested, it is even possible that at one time they were content to allow these animals to suckle their calves and made no use of their milk. Even at the present time a sacred buffalo will not be milked unless it is provided with the appropriate dairy and dairyman. The buffaloes of a ti which has no palol, or of a wursuli which has no wursol, are not allowed to be milked though they may be looked after by other men. With this exception, however, I believe that, at the present time, every buffalo, even of the most sacred herds, is a source of profit by the sale of the ghi which is made from its milk.
The various offerings of buffaloes made in connexion with ceremonial are also not allowed to interfere with the economic value of the animals. In the irnörtiti ceremony of the village, the offered buffalo simply passes from one division of a clan to another, and when a buffalo is said to be devoted to the gods, it does not mean that the owner profits a whit the less on account of the oblation, but only that he may not kill it at a funeral, and must allow it to die a natural death.
Even the slaughter of animals at the funeral ceremonies appears to be managed so as to interfere as little as possible with the profits obtained from the sale of the milk. I think there is little doubt that it is an established custom to kill old and barren buffaloes on these occasions. An animal is not sent to the next world till its owner has got the utmost out of it in this. [[431]]
Only on one point is it clear that the Todas make no direct gain from their buffaloes. When once a buffalo is dead, the Todas seek no further profit, and the carcases become the property of the Kotas. But even here there is an indirect gain, for the bodies of the buffaloes form a large part of the equivalent received by the Kotas for the many services they render to the Todas.