Ritual songs and folksongs of the Hindus of Surinam

12 Mūṛan ii [Uitvlugt, 1962]

sira gobhuvāre bāra lalüā,
ī lalüā khelaį cakarī bhąvariyā
ājī ājā ke goda lalüā⁴

sira gabhuāre...

(This) child (has) on (his) head the pre-natal⁵ hair.
This child plays cakrī bhąvar,⁶
(Sitting) in lap⁷ of (this) grandmother and grandfather.

4 The same lines are repeated for a time to last through the ceremony, changing ājā (paternal grandfather) and ājī (paternal grandmother) to bappā (father) maiyā (mother), phupphā (husband of father's sister), phüā (father's sister) and other relatives.

5 Gobhuvāre or gabhuvāre (from S. garbha, foetus). This first hair is regarded as being full of impurities from the foetal stage.

6 This is made of a small disc with two holes through which two strings pass. The player holds the strings on both sides and spins the disc till the strings get tight, then releasing it to spin back.

7 It is customary that the child sits in someone's lap during the ceremony.

[p. 60]

The songs of the sacred thread are sung at these stages of the ceremony:

1.	The candidate asks to be prepared for the ceremony.
2.	He asks for the sacred thread, and receives it.
3.	He goes round the ācārya, the preceptor.
4.	He is given a belt of the muñja grass.
5.	He is given a staff.
6.	He begs for alms, and receives, especially from the ladies.
7.	He goes away, presumably to Kāśī, to study.
8.	The ladies sing asking him to come back, and he returns to the ceremonial canopy.

All have been recorded, some in several versions, but only (7) and (8) are printed here.