Similarly, if in a dream, the sleeper marries or hears the crowing of a crow or the bark of a dog, or an owl speak like a man, it portends misfortune.[19]
Seeing an auspicious mark, or bathing in or being besmeared with oil, in a dream, is an indication of one’s death in the near future. Going to the south riding a he-buffalo, or seeing a widow, brings on misfortune.[20]
If a man in health comes across a corpse in a dream, he apprehends illness. If a patient does the same, he fears death.[21]
It is a common belief that the soul can leave the body temporarily.
When a man feels thirsty in sleep, his soul is supposed to leave the body to drink water, and if it finds the water pots covered, not to return to the body, which is found dead the next morning.[22] It is for this reason that most people drink water at the time of going to bed.[23]
Shankarāchārya was a life long celibate. Once, in a discussion with the wife of Mandan Mishra, she put to him a question on the subject of the pleasures of married life. To answer the question it was necessary to have the experiences of a married life. To gain these experiences Shankarāchārya’s soul left his body and entered the corpse of a king just dead, and enjoyed the pleasures of married life for six months in the company of the queen of the deceased king. It then returned to his body, which was preserved by his disciples according to his instructions, and answered the question put to him by the wife of Mandan Mishra.[24]
It is related that the spirit of the daughter of a black-smith in Luvaria returned to her body two hours after her death, after which she lived for a fortnight.
A similar story is told of a Nāgar Brāhman, who lived for some years after the return of his spirit to his body.[25]
About forty years ago, the corpse of a Kanbi in Lilāpur was carried to the burning ground for cremation, and there his spirit returned to his body. On being asked where he had been, the Kanbi replied that he had been to Dharmarāja, the lord of hell, who told him to go back to his body, saying that his life’s thread had not yet ended. It is related that the Kanbi lived for some years after this incident.
Another instance of the soul departing and then returning to the body is that of a Kanbi woman in Lilāpur, whose soul returned to the body after she had been carried to the burning ground. The woman lived for five years after this occurrence.[26]