people to wear talismans or amulets,
which are believed to protect the wearer.
Another common protective measure is
to carry iron, which is believed to render
the person carrying it impervious to
witchcraft. Young children will often
have a black smudge of lamp-black put
on their faces, to symbolically disfigure
them and take away the motive for jealousy.
Another protective strategy is to hang up
an object (such as a clay pot with a
painted face) intended to absorb all the
bad feelings, which is then discarded.
For further information see Lawrence
Babb, The Divine Hierarchy, 1975; Gloria
Goodwin Raheja, The Poison in the Gift,
1988; and David F. Pocock, “The Evil
Eye,” in T. N. Madan (ed.), Religion in
India, 1991.
Rock Edicts
Name for a set of inscriptionscommis-
sioned by the Mauryan emperor Ashoka
(r. 269–32 B.C.E.). The inscriptions were
official pronouncements on royal policy,
and advice and instructions to his sub-
jects on a variety of topics, including
religious tolerance. In general, the rock
edicts were carved into large boulders or
rock faces in places that would have
been at the borders of the Mauryan
Empire, thus symbolically defining its
boundaries. The text was fairly consis-
tent throughout the empire, even
though different examples of these
edicts were found in widely separated
places. The other major class of Ashokan
inscriptions, the pillar edicts, were
inscribed on pillars of polished Chunar
sandstone and set up on the major
roads running through the empire,
where they would have been visible to
passersby. See also Maurya dynasty.
Rohini
In Hindu mythology, a daughter of the
demigod Dakshawho, along with her
twenty-six sisters, is married to the
Moon. The Moon favors Rohini over all
her sisters, despite Daksha’s entreaties
to give them all equal time. In the end
Daksha lays a curse on the Moon to lose
his luster. The curseis later modified so
that the moon will alternately wane and
wax, but that its disappearance will
never be final.Rohini
(2) In Hindu mythology, birth mother of
Balarama, the god Krishna’s brother.
Balarama’s birth is unusual. After his
conception the fetus is magically trans-
ported from the womb of Devakito that
of Rohini. This is done to protect him
from harm, as Devaki’s wicked uncle
Kamsahas already killed her first seven
children and will certainly do the same
to Balarama if she carries him to term.Roy, Ram Mohan
(1774–1833) First major Indian propo-
nent of Hindu social and religious
reform, who founded the organization
Brahmo Samaj for this purpose. He
came from a wealthy Bengali family and
was a successful businessman and civil
servant. He moved to Calcutta in 1815,
at the time when the British were first
beginning to take serious notice of tradi-
tional Indian society, especially the
aspects they considered “evil.” Roy’s
reformist interests largely meshed with
that of the British. From an early age Roy
had rejected the practice of using images
in worship, perhaps through exposure
to Sufi ideas, and his first public crusade
was against such worship of gods and
goddesses. Like most Indian reformers,
Roy used Sanskrittexts selectively, and
for him the most important ones were
the speculative Upanishads, which
(under the influence of the English
Unitarians) he translated to reflect a
monotheism (belief in the existence of
only one God). In his later years he pro-
moted many different educational and
social works, but is especially known for
his opposition to sati, the custom of
burning a widow on her husband’s
funeral pyre. Although later seen as too
heavily influenced by the British, his
reinterpretation of the past provided aRoy, Ram Mohan