There is a kind of white semi-circular stone which is supposed to cure eye diseases when rubbed on the eyes and fever when rubbed on the body.[40]
Sieves for flour and corn, brooms, sambelus or corn pounders, and ploughs are regarded as sacred.
Sieves are considered sacred for the following reasons.
1. Because articles of food such as flour, grain, etc., are sifted through them.[41]
2. Because, on auspicious occasions, when women go to worship the potter’s wheel, the materials of worship are carried in a sieve.
3. Because the fire used for igniting the sacrificial fuel is taken in a sieve, or is covered with a sieve while it is being carried to the sacrificial altar.[42]
4. Because at the time of performing the ceremony when commencing to prepare sweets for a marriage, a sieve is worshipped.[43]
5. Because, in some communities like the Bhātiās, the bride’s mother, when receiving the bridegroom in the marriage booth, carries in a dish a lamp covered with a sieve.[44]
The flour collected by Brāhmans by begging from door to door is supposed to be polluted. But it is considered purified when it is passed through a sieve.[45]
The sambelu is considered so sacred that it is not touched with the foot. If a woman lie down during day time, she will not touch it either with her head or with her foot.