- Y. Philip Barjo: “The religious life of the Sarna tribes”, Indian Missiological Review, June 1997 twists this religion into some monotheism - ““Sarna spirituality is marked by a strong belief in one God.”
Gods, pitRs and asuras
- Singbonga = sun God. In character, Singbonga seems to have more in common with the charitable God of the New Testament than with the vindictive one of the Old. Though Singbonga is the Great God of His Munda people, He is not a jealous. Though all-pervading and benevolent, Singbonga is also an ethnocentric God, like Jahweh.
- “Singbonga, unlike spirits, is worshipped for his own sake. His purity demands that he be offered sacrifices only of things that are white. Hence he is given sacrifices of white goats, white fowls, white gulainchi flowers, white cloth, sugar, milk, etc.”
- “Besides Singbonga, the Munda pantheon includes a number of other deities and spirits whom they call Bongas. (…) There are both benevolent spirits (Manitabongas) and malevolent spirits (Banitabongas). (…) Accordingly the benevolent spirits are worshipped and the malevolent spirits are only appeased or propitiated.”
- “Besides the Singbonga the Mundas generally worship a host of other spirits including their own ancestors. … Cult or worship is mostly directed to the spirits and the ancestors.”
- “The first in order of dignity comes the Burubonga, Marang Buru or Pat Sarna. This spirit is a mountain-god or the highest hill or rock in the neighbourhood. He is represented by no visible object.”
- “Next in order come the Hatu Bongako or the Village spirits. (…) They are worshipped by the Pahan on behalf of the whole village at specific times in the sacred grove or the Sarna of each village.”
- “The third group of spirits in the Munda pantheon are the Ora Bongako or the House-spirits. These are the spirits of the deceased ancestors of each family. They are worshipped in the house-sanctuary called Ading, by the head of every family. Sometimes they are referred to as Haparomko (the ancestral spirits). Ancestor worship finds an important place in the religious belief of the Mundas. They believe that after the death of a person his spirit/shade (roa/umbul) has no house to live in. As an outcast it roams about in the neighborhood of the grave. After an odd number of days, the Umbul-ader (homebringing of the shade) ceremony is performed by which the ‘shade’ of the deceased is brought into the ading of the house and enshrined there. Henceforth the man’s spirit is called no longer umbul but Ora Bonga (House Spirit). This important ceremony is a way of re-introducing the deceased member into the tribe. It is believed that they in turn are the real benefactors of the family or the tribe to which they belong.”
- “The Asurs were like the bad angels who revolted against God. They were greedy iron smelters, who even after repeated warning from Singbonga kept on smelting day and night. Because of their disobedience Singbonga destroyed all the male members of the tribe.”
Custom
- “The Sarna people do not have a written code of moral law. Their idea of right and wrong comes from their tradition. Tradition is their measure of truth. Their way to salvation is the tribe. … These include exogamy [between families], endogamy [within the tribe], and monogamy in marriage and conjugal fidelity. "
karma-vipAka
- “The punishment is not carried over to the life beyond the grave.” They believe in reincarnation.