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moon-beams. Then on the dark eighth of Caitra, the moon being in conjunction with the constellation Uttarāṣādhā, observed by men and gods pouring forth exceeding joy, as it were, in the guise of the rising tumult of cries of "Hail! Hail!" the Lord tore out the hair of his head in four handfuls, as if intending to give the remains of the sacrifice to the four quarters. The Lord of Saudharma catches in the hem of his garment the Lord's hair which made an ornament with thread of a different color. As the Lord of the World was on the point of pulling out the rest of his hair in a fifth handful, Namucidvis asked him, "O Lord, this haircreeper brought by the wind to your golden shoulders shines like an emerald. 218 So let it remain." The Lord kept the creeper of hair just as it was. Masters do not refuse a request from those who are completely devoted. After the Lord of Saudharma had thrown the hair in the Ocean of Milk and returned, he stopped the tumult by a gesture of his hand like a stage-director. After fasting for three days and making the namaskṛti to the siddhas, in the presence of gods, asuras, and men, saying "I renounce all censurable activity," the son of Nabhi adopted good conduct which is like a chariot on the road to mokṣa. For a moment even the hell-inhabitants had happiness from the Master's initiation-festival, like those burned by autumn-heat from the shadow of a cloud. The Lord's manaḥparyayaknowledge, which makes clear the mind-substance 214 of the human world, arose just as if it had an appointment with the initiation.
Opposed by friends, hindered by relatives, and restrained even by the Lord of Bharata again and again,
218 70. The comparison of dark hair with an emerald seems a little strange, but marakața is used synonymously with nila, kṛṣṇa, harita, and syama. Kāvyā. p. 13. Kāvyā. V. p. 10.
214 76. I.e., it enables one to know the mental processes of others. It is limited to the human world (the manuṣyaloka).
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