A person may be restored to his caste, provided he has not committed an
unpardonable offence. This is done as follows. After he has gained the
consent of his relations to be restored he prostrates himself very
humbly before them, they being assembled for that purpose, and submits
to the blows or other punishment which they may think proper to inflict,
or pays the fine which they may have laid upon him. Then, after
shedding tears of sorrow, and making promises that, by his future
conduct, he will wipe away the stain of his expulsion from caste, he
makes the shaashtaangkum before the assembly. This being done, he is
declared fit to be restored to his tribe.
When a man has been expelled from his caste for some great offence,
those who restore him sometimes slightly burn his tongue with a piece of
gold made hot. They likewise apply to different parts of the body redhot
iron stamps, which leave marks that remain for ever. Sometimes they
compel the offender to walk on burning embers; and to complete the
purification, he must drink the punchakaryam, which literally means the
_five things_; these all come from the cow, and must be mixed together.
The first three of these I will mention, namely, the milk, butter, and
curds.
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