CHAPTER V.
WORSHIP OF THE MALEVOLENT DEAD.
The beliefs current as to the cause of dreams are many. One of these is that memory of known facts or incidents heard or seen causes dreams. Dreams are also supposed to be caused by disorders in the brain, by brooding constantly over a particular occurrence, by anxiety or by the perpetration of sinful acts.[1] Those who are indebted to the pitris (ancestral spirits) are also said to be troubled by dreams.[2] A hearty meal at night just before going to bed is also supposed to cause dreams.[3]
There are three conditions of human existence, (1) Jāgriti that is wakefulness (2) Swapna that is dream and (3) Sushupti that is sleep. The incidents which impress the mind strongly during wakefulness are reproduced in dreams. Very often thoughts that never occur to our minds strike us in dreams. These are ascribed to the impressions made on the soul during past lives.[4]
It is said that the interpretation of dreams goes by contraries. But at times they are fully borne out. A good dream is an indication of future good, and a bad one of future evil.[5]
There are some persons whose dreams are always fulfilled. Dreams dreamt by persons pure of mind and heart seldom turn out false.
Dreams occurring in the first quarter of the night are believed to be fulfilled in a year, those in the second quarter of the night in six months, those in the third quarter in three months, and those in the last quarter in one month. A dream seen during an hour and a half before daybreak bears fruit in ten days, while that seen just at day-break is realised immediately.[6]
Dreams that occur before midnight are never fulfilled.[7]
If a person has a bad dream, he should go to sleep at once, and not communicate it to any one. If he has a good dream, he should not sleep on that night after its occurrence. Early on the following morning he should communicate it to a preceptor or saint; but if neither be available, he should repeat it into the ears of a cow. A good dream should never be told to a bad or low-minded person.
If a man sleeps after a good dream and has a bad one, the former loses its force while the latter gains ascendancy and comes true.[8]