The decision as to which ceremony shall be performed rests with the teuol or diviner, but although a diviner usually follows the rules I have given, it seems that he may order otherwise, and if he does so I was told that his decision would be followed. I have a very strong impression, however, that if a diviner ordered a man to do irnörtiti for one of the more trivial offences, the offender would take further advice and consult another teuol before obeying.
There were several other offences for which it was said by some that a man might have to perform irnörtiti or tuninörtiti; thus, if a dairyman gave up his office on any but one of the appropriate days of the week he might be ordered to do irnörtiti, and the same penalty might be incurred if a man assumed office on a wrong day. Similarly a dairyman might have to perform one of these ceremonies if he spoke to a woman in the day-time, and probably if he broke any other of the laws regulating his conduct or made any serious mistakes in carrying out the ritual of his office. One occasion for irnörtiti was said to arise if anyone crossed the Paikara or Avalanche rivers on a Tuesday, Friday, or Saturday, but this is certainly a dead letter at the present time (see p. [418]).
There was some difference of opinion about the penalty for buying, selling, or driving buffaloes on the arpatznol, or day [[297]]on which the father of a man had died. According to one account, the proper penalty for this is that the offender should give a buffalo to his ancestors—i.e., that he should name a buffalo which he would neither kill at a funeral nor sell to others.
In one definite case, however, it appeared that driving buffaloes from one village to another on the arpatznol had been one of the offences for which a man had been ordered to do irnörtiti. In this case, however, other faults had been committed, and it is possible that if driving buffaloes on the arpatznol had been the only offence a slighter penalty would have been inflicted.
The ceremony of irnörtiti was performed thirty years ago after the disappearance of the sacred bells of the Kars kudrpali. In this case the diviners were consulted, and they found that the bells had gone away and would not return. It was thought, however, that the palikartmokh, Kakarsiolv, might have committed some offence against the dairy, or have made some mistake in the performance of his duties, and it was thought best that he should perform the irnörtiti ceremony, though, so far as I could learn, it was not directly prescribed by the diviners.
As we shall see, the irnörtiti and pilinörtiti ceremonies may have to be performed as expiation for revealing the secret lore of Toda institutions, but this is an innovation in custom for which I am afraid I was indirectly responsible.
It does not seem that the penalties with their attendant ceremonies are inflicted merely because it is known that a man has committed any of the recognised offences. It is only when some misfortune befalls a man which obliges him to have recourse to the diviners that the ceremonies are performed.
The usual course of events is that a man, his wife, children, or his buffaloes fall ill, or the buffaloes will not give milk or kick their calves, or the milk in the dairy will not coagulate properly. Whenever any of these ills happen the man concludes that for some reason the gods are angry with him and he goes to the diviners to ascertain the cause of their displeasure. [[298]]
The diviners may find that the man’s misfortunes are due to the action of a sorcerer, or that he has committed some offence against the dairy, possibly some offence which it is well known he is in the habit of committing. The diviners not only announce the cause or causes of the misfortune, but also give information as to the course to be pursued to remove it. If the diviners decide that an offence has been committed and that one of the ceremonies should be performed, the offender goes on the following Sunday to the dairy or dairies of his village and makes a vow that he will perform the ceremony which has been ordered. The following is probably a typical instance. Ten years ago Kòdrner fell ill and one of his buffaloes died. He and his brother consulted the teuol, who said that they had bought things (i.e., given money from the village) on Mondays and Thursdays, the madnol or sacred days of Kars and Kuzhu. They had also driven their buffaloes from Kars to Isharadr on their arpatznol; there had been sickness among the buffaloes and they had driven them to Isharadr without thinking that it was the arpatznol. The teuol said they must do irnörtiti, and on the following Sunday Kòdrner went first to the kudrpali of Kars (Tarziolv) and then to the wursuli (Karziolv) and made the following vow at each:—
Ir kar Buffalo calf ultâmâ, may it be well, pîrsk illness from ultâkh en, be well I, irnörtkin buffalo will I give,