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CHAPTER TWO
and fruit; some gave skilful leaps; some roared like lions. Some neighed like horses, others trumpeted like elephants, others creaked like chariots, and others made the three noises. Some shook Mt. Mandara by stamping their feet ; others split the earth by blows with their hands. Some made a repeated outcry with great joy; others sang rāsakas,101 moving in a circle. Some blazed artificially ; others cried for amusement; some thundered deeply; and others flashed like lightning.
While the gods were acting in these various ways from delight, the Lord of Acyuta joyfully bathed the Blessed One. Placing his folded hands on his head like an ornament, he cried, “Hail ! Hail ” aloud, sincerely devoted. He dried the Master's body with a devadüşyacloth with a gentle hand, like a skilled masseur. Representing great joy, like a dancer Acyuta led a dance with the gods before the Lord of Three Worlds. Then Acyuta anointed the Lord's body with gośîrşa-sandal and worshipped him with divine and earthly flowers. The pitcher, throne, mirror, śrīvatsa, svastika, nandyāvarta, powder-box, and fish-these eight auspicious things, the Indra of Araña and Acyuta designed before the Lord with dazzling, silver, unbroken rice. Absorbed in devotion, he threw down a knee-deep pile of flowers of five colors, like pieces of twilight clouds. Then Acyuta, holding an incense-burner, burned incense, making the sky appear decorated with raised arches with pillars of smoke. While the incense was being thrown up, a deep-toned bell, which looked like Mahāghoşä on a small scale, was rung by the chief-gods. Hari himself waved the light-vessel before the Master, the circle of its high flame resembling the beauty of the stellar circle. Then the Lord of Acyuta, horripilated
101 457. I have not been able to ascertain the characteristics of the rāsaka. It is a kind of song' M.C. defines rāsa as 'a sort of song in the Hindoostanee language.' Rāsaka is also used for the circular dance itself.
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