5. Nila Kasina. — In nila-kasina flowers, a garment, an altar
covered with flowers, or a gem, of a blue colour, may be taken as
the sign. When the observance has been attended to in a former
birth, it will suffice to look upon a tree covered with blue flowers ;
but if it has not been thus attended to, a vessel must be filled with
flowers of a blue colour, but the pollen or the stalks are not to be
seen ; or a blue garment may be tied over the mouth of a vessel,
tight, like the skin stretched upon a drum, which must be covered
w ith flowers. The colour must be like that which is obtained from
the rust of copper or from antimony ; or a circle of a blue colour
may be made upon the wall. The priest must then ^x his mind

* In India this aperture is literally a window, without glass, or even a lat-
tice-work, as in Turkey. In the north of England it is still called windur,
probably from wind-door, as was conjectured by Skinner. The houses of the
Anglo-Saxons appear to have been open in a manner that those who are accus-
tomed to the conveniences of modem times can scarcely xmderstand. The
address of the aged thane to Edwin, king of Northumbna, when the subject
of Christianity was brought before the >*'itan, is well kno>*Ti ; bu t it is^tO£
beautiful not to bear repetition. " When," said he, " O king, you ahcTyour
mmLsters arc seated at table in the depth of winter, and the cheerful fire
blazes on the hearth in the middle of the hall, a sparrow perhaps, chased by
the wind and snow, enters at one door of the apartment, and escapes by the
other. During the moment of its passage, it enjoys the warmth ; when it ie
once departed, it is seen no more. Such is the nature of man. During a few
years his existence is visible : but what has preceded, or what will follow it,|
IS concealed from the view of mortaLs.** — Lingard's Anglo-Saxon Church. '



260 KASTERN MONACHISM.
