A dying person, two or three minutes before his death, is placed on the ground, which is first purified with cow-dung-plaster.[370] For ten days after a death, the members of the deceased’s household and his relatives sleep on beds spread on the bare ground.[371] If the demise be very affecting, the nearest relatives sleep on the floor for periods which may extend to three months, six months, or even for a year, and sometimes the penance lasts for their whole lives.[370]
It is customary, among some sects, not to allow the sātharā—i.e., the spot lately occupied by a corpse in the house—to be suna or unoccupied for a single night. Someone must sleep on the spot for twelve consecutive days from the date of demise.[372]
Pilgrims,[373] after pilgrimage, abandon sensual pleasures, take their meals only once every day, and sleep on the floor.[370] It is customary to sleep always on the ground while in holy places. Devotees, ascetics, sādhus, and their disciples sleep on the ground.[371]
The God Indra has twelve meghas or clouds under his control, and he directs each of them to pour out their waters wherever he likes. When in the least irritated in the execution of his orders, Indra’s voice is heard in this world in thunder-claps which rise to a terrible pitch if the deity becomes downright angry.[370] Thunder is also said to be the loud laughter of Indra when in a happy mood.[374]
Another belief is that during the rainy season, Indra plays gedi-dānda[375], and the strokes given to the gedi in the course of the game, produce what we call thunder;[376] or, that the clouds are god’s footballs, and thunder is produced by his foot striking them, while at play during the rainy season.[371] Some believe thunder to be due to the loud sounds produced by various musical instruments which are played upon the occasion of the marriage-ceremony of Indra.[377] According to others, thunder is produced by the cannon of Indra;[378] or, as some again say, by the trumpetings of Airāvat, the elephant of Indra[379]; or, we hear thunder when Indra draws his bow and adjusts an arrow to the bow-string, in order to bring about the fall of rain.[380]
A further belief attributes thunder to the very rapid pace of the chariot of Bhagwān.[381] Some people, however, say that it is produced when Bhīma (one of the five Pāndavas) wields his prodigious club or bludgeon.[382] In the opinion of others, Vidyut or Tanyatun, the offspring of Lambā, the daughter of Daksha, and the wife of Dharmarāj thunders in the rainy season.[383] It is also suggested that the god of rains shakes the heavens and thus produces thunder.[372] The Shāstras, it is said, declare that thunder is caused by the sounds of the dundubhi—or kettledrums—beaten by the gods in delight at the sight of rain.[384] There is also a popular belief in the Surat district that an old hag causes thunder either when she grinds corn or when she rolls stones in the clouds.[385]
The prevalent belief about lightning seems to be that it is the girl whom Kansa tried to dash against a stone, but who escaped and went up to the sky. Kansa, the tyrant king of Mathura, was informed by a heavenly voice, by way of prophecy, that a son would be born to his sister who would cause his destruction. Kansa thereupon confined his sister Devaki and her husband Vasudeva in prison, loaded them with fetters, and kept the strictest watch over them. He took from Devaki, and slew, every child of hers as soon as it was born. In this way he disposed of her first six children. On the seventh occasion, however, on which Devaki gave birth to a son named Krishna, a girl was born at the same hour to Nanda in Mathura; and Vasudeva secretly interchanged the two children in spite of the vigilance of Kansa. When Kansa knew of his sister having been delivered, he seized the infant girl and tried to dash her against a stone. The little one immediately flew away to the skies, where she still dwells in the form of Vijli or lightning.[386]
The Shāstras describe Vijli as the distinctive weapon of Indra, just as pashupatākā is peculiar to Shiva and the Gāndīva bow to Arjuna.[387]
Other beliefs about lightning are that Vijli is the sister of Megharāja, the god of rains, and appears to announce his approach:[388] that Vijli is a goddess who rests upon winds, fire, and rains:[389] that Vijli is but the thunderbolt of Indra:[390] that lightnings are the flashes of the bright weapon of Indra:[391] that lightning is the lustre of the fireworks and the lamps lighted by the gods in honour of the nuptials of Indra:[392] that lightning is produced by the sparks caused by the friction of the gedi and the dāndā of Indra when the god plays the game.[393] Vijli is also known as Saudāmini, i.e., one residing on Mount Sudāma.[394]
The occurrence of thunder and the appearance of lightning on particular days and in particular directions are regarded as signs of the abundance or scarcity of rain during the season.