Listen to Audio Transcription:
Once upon a time, Marang Buru decided that he would teach men the art of witchcraft.
In those days there was a place where men used to assemble to meet Marang Buru and hold a council with him: but they only heard his voice and never saw his face.
One day at the assembly the men were telling Marang Buru about their troubles. Listening to the issues Marang Buru thought the only solution to solve those problems is to teach the men witchcraft.
So, Marang Buru fixed a day and told the menfolk to come to him on that day, dressed in their cleanest clothes and he would teach them the art of witchcraft.
So, all the men went home and told their wives to wash their clothes properly before that day, as they were going to Thakur to learn witchcraft. The womenfolk all discussed this new plan among themselves and the more they talked of it the less they liked it; they saw if the men were to get this new strange power it would make them more inclined to despise and bully women than ever; so they made a plot to get the better of their husbands.
They arranged that each woman should brew some rice beer and offer it to her husband the previous night when they had their meeting with Marang Buru. The women foresaw that the men could not resist the drink and that had started they would go on drinking till they were dead drunk: it would then be easy for the women to dress themselves like men and go off to Marang Buru and learn witchcraft in place of their husbands.
So said, so done;—the women duly made their husbands drunk and then put on pagris and dhoties and stuck goats’ beards on their faces and went off to Marang Buru to learn witchcraft. Marang Buru did not detect the imposition and according to his promise taught them all the incantations of witchcraft.
After the women had come home with their new knowledge their husbands gradually recovered their senses and remembered that they had an appointment with Marang Buru. So they hurried off to the meeting place and asked him to teach them what he had promised.
The men said “O, Marang Buru, please forgive us for we are late. We had become drunk from rice beer and overslept. Please teach us the art of witchcraft now. ” Marang Buru replied, “Why, I taught it all to you this morning. What do you mean by coming to me again?”
The men could not understand what he meant and protested that they had not been to him at all in the morning.
Marang Buru said, “Then you must have told your wives what I was going to do!”. This they could not deny: “I see,” said Marang Buru “then they must have played a trick on you and learnt the mantras in your place,”
At this, the men lamented and begged that they should be taught also: but Marang Buru said that this was impossible; he could only teach them very little; their wives had reaped the crop and they could only have what’s left. Marang Buru taught the men the art of the ojha and so they might have the advantage of their wives in one respect and be able to overawe them. Marang Buru also taught them the craft of the jān and with that, they had to be content.
Therefore only women are witches, and men are ojhas.
Note: This article is meant to be consumed only as folklore or story. Harming people in the name of witchcraft, black magic, superstitions are a crime and punishable by law.
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Thank you for the nice story, I am just curious to know, why Marang Buru would have taught Witchcraft? instead, he could teach them good things which could benefit society and as a human being !!
Actually, “witchcraft” inherently is not an evil thing. Originally, it was believed that witchcraft was something which could be used to achieve both positive and negative things. Over the course of time, the word “witchcraft” has become associated with only the negative part.
Take the example of the word “Politics”. “Politics” in itself is not a negative thing, there can be good politics and bad politics. But over time, seeing so many corrupt politicians and scams, for a common person the word “politics” in itself has become negative.