Stanza 40. Kings and rich people should establish free hospitals. Ordinary people should at least give food and medicines to the sick. Then their sicknesses will disappear

Stanza 41. The 'gift of health' is the most important of all the gifts. If anybody wants to be free from diseases and be healthy he should help the sick with food and medicines.

Thus ends the Chapter XXIII

CHAPTER XXIV

Questions bearing on Deities, Rulers etc.

Stanza 1. In this chapter I shall describe Deva Prasna (deities), Raja Prasna (rulers), Yuddha Prasna (war) and Mrigaya Prasna (hunting), four in all.

Stanza 2. The installation of the holy idol should be done thus: The priest is to seat himself in a prescribed holy place and perform atma pooja after due meditation. Then he should worship his preceptor and Ganapati and give as gifts to Brahmins gold, clothes and cows. The holy idol should be installed at the most auspicious time.

NOTES

Generally, the installation of the idol is done by Than-trikas. Self-purification and worship of the divinity within himself and then the worship of his Guru and god Ganapati by the priest should precede the formal installation at the moment earlier fixed on astrological considerations.

Stanza 3. After the installation of the idol the performance of Abhishekha and Utsava should be conducted. This Utsava is to be repeated every year either on the installation day or on any other auspicious day properly fixed. A careful celebration of the Utsava brings in prosperity.

Stanza 4. God exists in the holy idol as an invisible force to bless His devotees. This 'invisible force' or Chaitanya is the perpetual source of prosperity to His Bhaktas or devotees. If it is discovered that for some reason or other, this Chaitanya is found to be decreasing, suitable remedial measures should be adopted to restore things to their normal condition.

Stanzas 5, 6, 7. The following are said to impair 'the Divine Presence' in the bimba or the installed idol. (1) Births and deaths happening within the four walls of the temple; (2) passing of the calls of nature inside angana and mantapa; (3) the entry of prohibited people; (4) the entry of animals like owls, eagles, crows, dogs, asses, camels, pigs, apes, 'dundubha' and 'purassara'; (5) the appearance of snake-holes, ant-hills and beehives; (6) any signs of grief or joy and 'perspiration and sweat' in the bimba; (7) the idol gets heated or it jerks to and fro or it falls down, or its different parts get broken or go out of order; (8) pujas and other ceremonies are stopped for no reason; (9) worship with prohibited mantras or forbidden flowers is being done; or (10) rubbing the idol with pepper. Of these, some are very strong anti-forces and some are yery weak.

Stanza 8. 'Prasada' is the Body of God. 'Bimba' is the seat of Sukshma Delia'. 'Prasada' is 'Adhara'. Bimba is 'Adheya'. Harm to one affects the other. If any disorder is found in any one of these, both should be purified. If any disorder is found outside these (but within the four walls of the temple), purificatory ceremonies should be performed. If there is no serious dosha it is enough if the place is sprinkled with the holy water that remains after Kalasabhisheka.

Stanza 9. If there is any serious disorder for the Bimba or Prasada or other subsidiary parts, it should be repaired at once. Otherwise, the efficacy of the 'Presence' will be very much affected and calamities will befall. If the disorders are set right, then Divine favour will shower on all.

Stanza 10. First the idol should be installed at an auspicious hour. Then the customary worship should be performed regularly. The annual festivals should be conducted in a regular way. If there is any disorder or dislocation to the Bimba and any part of the temple, it should be repaired at once. Then the Deity will bestow prosperity by His divine presence.

Stanza 11. Deva Prasna must be resorted to, to ascertain the cause of uncleanliness, the sudden stoppage, or performance of the rituals or utsava in a topsy turvy manner, performance of any acts which may-have destroyed the sanctity of the Deity and the decline in the income of the temple, taking into consideration the relevant houses in the horary chart.

Stanza 12. If the ascendant is occupied or aspected by the Sun or the Sun occupies a kendra, or Leo is the ascendant, then the God is Siva. If Cancer is the ascendant or the Moon associates with or aspects the ascendant or a kendra, then it is Durga. If Mars is disposed in the above manner then the God is Skanda. If it is Scorpio and Mars is connected with it, then it is Bhadra Kali. If Saturn is similarly disposed, then the God is Sastha. If Mercury is disposed as above, it is Vishnu. If Jupiter is having the same disposition, all gods are present there.

NOTES

In case of doubt as to whether any prohibitory act has affected ihe sanctity of the temple, or the cause of uncleanliness cannot be known, or if any doubts arise regarding whether abhicharakarma has been done to destroy the Divine presence, or if there is any appreciable decrease in the income of the temple or any unknown causes or invisible indications revealing that there is something wrong somewhere, Deva Prasana should be resorted to.

If the ascendant at the time of the query is Leo, or the Sun aspects or occupies the ascendant or is in a kendra from the ascendant, then the sanctum sanctorum housing God Siva has been polluted. If the ascendant is Taurus or the Moon occupies or aspects the ascendant or the Moon is in a kendra from the ascendant, the deity affected is Durga. If Mars is similarly situated, it is Skandha; if the ascendant is Scorpio and Mars is disposed as above it is Bhadrakali; the Deity is Sasta if Saturn is the planet involved. It is Vishnu if ths planet is Mercury. If it is Jupiter then it means all deities.

Venus has been omitted. But Tai rus and Libra can be considered as also the situation of Venus. The deity here is Annapurna or Lakshmi. Here the verses dealing with deities as given in Chapter XV can also be considered.

Stanza 13. In the Deva Prasna chart the 12 houses from the ascendant indicate respectively, the 'Divine presence', wealth, temple servants conveyances, Bimba, enemies, ornaments, offerings and oblations (naivedya), temple authorities, festivals, income and expenditure.

Stanza 14. According to another authority the twelve houses in a deva prasna chart signify respectively, the Bimba, the wealth of the temple, naivedya or offerings, the land, sannidhya or divine presence, uncleanliness or pollution, the public, temple servants, worshippers, Dcvalakas, merit, the Thanthrika or Acharya.

NOTES

There is a slight difference in the assignment of significations to the twelve houses, between the 13th and 14th stanzas.

The Bimba is the deity or God. Sannidhya or chaitanya is the divine presence. Devalakas are persons employed in the temple for making garlands, sounding drums and music and blowing conches and horns. The tenth house signifies sucharitam or merit and the 12th house governs Thantrikas or priests who instal the Deity or conduct worship.

Stanza 15. According to another view the ascendant indicates the nature of Bimba; the 8th rules servants and articles used for worship and 'Divine Presence'; the 9th signifies merit; the 4th denotes the various parts of the temple; the 2nd signifies the wealth of the temple and income; the 6th suggests thieves and people engaged in destroying the temple. Bhavas yield good results if they are aspected by or associated with benefics and evil results if they are connected with malefic planets.

Stanza 16. According to yet another view, the ascendant indicates the temple and the 8lh house governs Bimba. The various Bhavas are to be considered according to the nature of the planets that occupy them or the nature of the planets who are friendly or inimical to them.

Stanza 17. Here are given different views regarding the Bhavas in a Deva Prasna. Reconciling all these conflicting views, a general study is given below:

Stanza 18. From the ascendant is to be ascertained sannidhya, temple building and the Bimba. From the 2nd house should be ascertained wealth, income, temple treasure and guardians.

Stanza 19. The 3rd house indicates naivedya and temple servants. The 4th house rules all the buildings connected with the temple, vehicles (vahanas) and every bit of land connected with the temple. The 5th house signifies 'Divine Presence' and the Bimba.

Stanzas 20 to 23. The 6th house indicates pollution of the temple, enemies and thieves. The people and ornaments should be looked into from the 7th house. The 8th house signifies Divine Presence, naivedya and servants and good and evil matters. The 9th house indicates the nature of the authorities and the conditions of the merit (Punya); the 10th house rules over daily ceremonies, festivals and 'Devalakas'. The 11th has governance over merit and prosperity and income, while the 12th denotes expenditure and waste and nature of the priests.