("shadow snatcher") In the Ramayana, the first of the two major Hindu epics, a monster.
Chayagrahi lives by the sea and captures birds flying above by grabbing their shadows in the water and dragging them down to her waiting jaws.
This technique provides her with a constant supply of food, but she makes the fatal error of attempting to catch the monkey-god, Hanuman, in this manner.
Other than brahmins, Hanuman performs the rituals required by the Dharma Shastras.
See Pandurang Vaman Kane (trans. ), A History of Dharmasastra, 1968, and Raj Bali Pandey, Hindu Samskaras, 1969, for further details. Despite their antiquity, the former is more encyclopedic and the latter is more approachable; they remain the finest sources on ancient Hindu rituals.
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