also states that he is presenting an ethnosociological point of view in this book, finding this particularly valuable in a study of religion such as is seen in his discussion of the ritual of the Nandadevi. He wants to describe religion not on mystical or religious terms as such but as a sociological phenomenon, and he also sees a value in considering the world view of the people he is studying in analyzing what their religion means to them. This analysis is an attempt to take this indigenous world view into account to determine the meaning of social and cultural forms.
Sax discusses in general terms what the sort of journey undertaken by the Nandadevi means, and he bases this on his study of other cultures and other ethnographic analyses. He finds that the act of journeying to powerful places and the performance of certain actions in those places provides the pilgrims with what are called "fruits," usually transformations of themselves or their life situations. Pilgrims may be cured of disease one thinks of the pilgrims journeying to Lourdes, France, for instance. The transformation may be of the deity, making it more powerful or otherwise altering it. There may be a transference of power, such as to the relatives of the pilgrim. Movement itself is described as ascetic: "The pilgrim's difficult, self denying, or painful movement is the efficacious action, which at certain times and places is thought to generate great power" (13). The result is a form of "heat," or "tapasya," and without this no fruit is obtained (or, as Sax puts it, "No pain, no gain").
To make it clear what is taking place, Sax describes the mythology underlying the two deities and the way the ritual act relates to that mythology. The people are following an ancient tradition that in turn is based on this even more ancient mythology. Everything Sax learns about the people is related to this mythology, which provides the people with their...