E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Abida.
A god of the Kalmucks, who receives the souls of the dead at the moment of decease, and gives them permission to enter a new body, either human or not, and have another spell of life on earth. If the spirit is spotless it may, if it likes, rise and live in the air.
