The only _avatars_
ordinarily recognized are those of Vishnu, as enumerated ante.
Chapter 2, note 4.
6. This theory is a very inadequate explanation of the doctrine of
_avatars_.
7. 'Women . . . are most careful to preserve their hair intact. They
pride themselves on its length and weight. For a woman to have to
part with her hair is one of the greatest of degradations, and the
most terrible of all trials. It is the mark of widowhood. Yet in some
sacred places, especially at the confluence of rivers, the cutting
off and offering of a few locks of hair (_Veni-danam_) by a virtuous
wife is considered a highly meritorious act' (Monier Williams,
_Religious Thought and Life in India_, p, 375). Gaya in Bihar, fifty-
five miles south of Patna, is much frequented by pilgrims devoted to
Vishnu.
8. All the places named are in the Central Provinces. Ratanpur, in
the Bilaspur District, is a place of much antiquarian interest, full
of ruins; Mandla, in the Mandla District, was the capital of the
later Gond chiefs of Garha Mandla; and Sambalpur is the capital of
the Sambalpur District. If the story is true, the selection of a
Brahman for sacrifice is remarkable, though not without precedent.
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