Sometimes the paper on which the jantra is written is placed in a hollow bamboo stick which is then fastened over the gates.[102] The jantra is believed to have the power to cure the disease.
Muvā-keshibi causes saliva to flow continuously from the mouths of animals. A gagarbediun (a piece of leather thong or a piece of black wood, on which magic spells have been cast) is suspended over the village gates or is tied to the neck of the animal, in the case of this disease occurring.[103]
In such diseases as kharavā, sunaku, motudukh (lit. the great malady), valo, pet-tod,[104] Bandhāi-javan,[105] a jantra is tied by a piece of indigo-coloured cloth or by a piece of thread of the same colour, round the neck of the animal, and is also fastened over the village-gates. A toraṇ is prepared of the ears of juvāri corn with a cocoanut in the centre, and after magical incantations have been pronounced over it, is suspended over the village-gates. All animals passing under the toraṇ are believed to be proof against the disease.
But if this is not successful in checking the course of the disease, it is usual to swallow the chelans[106] of Mungi Mātā (the Dumb Mother). For this purpose the bhuvās of the Mātā, who are Bharvāds, are invited to the stalls of the affected cattle, where they recite magic incantations amidst tumultuous shouts and yells. After this they are fed with rice, ghi and sugar, this latter process being called ‘swallowing the chelans of the Mātā.’[107]
In event of this process being of no avail in restraining the disease, the headman of the village in the company of his wife performs a homa sacrifice in the places dedicated to the Mātās, and offers an āhuti—a sacrificial oblation—when all the villagers dedicate cocoanuts to the sacrificial fire.[108]
Sometimes the wrath of the god Gorakhdev is supposed to be responsible for cattle-diseases. A bunch of the leaves of a poisonous medicinal plant ānkdo is passed seven times over the body of the ailing animal with the prayer ‘May Gorakhdev be pleased,’ and a cocoanut is dedicated to the god.[109]
Another method of checking cattle-disease is to bury the corpse of an animal which has died thereof near the village-gates. It is believed that this puts a stop to any further deaths among cattle from the same disease.[110]
When such a disease as shili (small-pox), sakharado, or kharavā prevails largely among cattle, a belief gains ground that the Dheds (who flay the dead cattle and sell their hides) have poisoned the drinking water of the cattle in order to increase their earnings.[111]
The god Kāl-bhairav was brought into existence by the fury of god Shiva, when he, being extremely angry with Brahmā, cut off the fifth head of the latter. Kāl-bhairav is the leader of all bhuts (ghosts) and dākans (witches), and resides at Kāshi (Benares) by the order of Shiva. His favourite haunt is a cemetery. His image is always represented as fierce and ugly.[112]
It is said that this god once entered the mouth of Gorakhnath and performed religious austerities in that strange abode. Although Gorakhnath was nearly suffocated, he could only persuade Kāl-bhairav to come out by extolling his glory and by conferring on him the leadership of all bhuts and the guardianship of the Kotvālu fortress at Kāshi.[113]