1884.] 
of Religion m the Himalaya. 
71 
offering tlie water of the argha, the mantra* in which the sun is invoked 
as the thonsand-rayed, full of brightness, lord of the world, &c., and is 
asked to accept the domestic argha of his worshipper. Next sprinkle 
mustard-seed, sesamum and rice in order that no evil spirit may approach 
and interrupt the ceremony and use the mantra-^ for keeping off demons 
goblins. Then crack the thumb and second finger together three times 
and behind the back in order that the goblins behind may be driven away. 
The earth should next be saluted and afterwards Vishnu with the verse : 
—‘ O thou whose throne is the lotus, &c.’ Fill the argha once more and 
sprinkle all the materials for worship and go through the prdndydma. 
Next take sesamum, husa-grass, barley and water, and make the great 
dedicationJ with the mantra :—‘ Om Vishnu, Vishnu, Vishnu, adoration 
to the supreme, the first eternal male,’ &c., with the usual definition of 
place, time and person, viz., in the island Jambu, the division Bharata, 
the country of the Aryas, in this holy place, the Himavat and hills, in 
the latter half of the life of Brahma, in the holy Vdrdha-lmlpa, at the 
end of the Krita, Treta and Dwapara Yugas, ^c., giving the year, season, 
month, fortnight, day and hour of the ceremony, with the name of the 
person in whose behalf the ceremony is performed, his father and grand¬ 
father’s name, caste and family, and the ceremony itself, with the prayer 
that the benefits to be derived from its performance may be bestowed on 
him. 
Name of Ganesa. —The worship of Ganesa now proceeds, each step 
in the ceremony being accompanied by an appropriate mantra. First 
the pitha or triangle is addressed with the mantra containing the names of 
* Ehi suryya sahasrdmso tejordh jagatpate, anukampaya mdm hhaktyd grihdndr- 
ghain divdlcara. 
f ApaJcrdmantu hhutdnipisdchdhsarvato disam sarveshdm avirodhenabrahmdkarma- 
samdrdbhet pdJchandakdrino hhutd hhumau ye chdntariJcshagdh diviloTce sfhitd ye cha te 
nasyantu sivdjuayd nirgachchhatdm cha hhutdndm vartma dadydt svavdmatah. The 
following is used in Bengal (Prof. Williams) for the same purpose :—“ Help me, god¬ 
dess of speech ’ : Am to the foreheod, Am to the mouth. Im to the right eye, Im to 
the left eye, TJm to the right ear, Tim to the left ear, Im to the right cheek, Im to the 
left cheek, Em to the upper lip. Aim to the lower lip, Om to the upper teeth, Aum to 
the lower teeth, Tam, Tham, Dam, Dham, and Nam to the several parts of the left 
leg, Earn to the right side, Phayn to the left side. Bam to the back. Mam to the 
stomach, Yam to the heart, Bam to the right shoulders, Lam to the neck bone, 
Vam to the left shoulders. Earn from the heart to the right leg. Ham from the 
heart to the feft leg Ksharn from the heart to the mouth.” 
J Om vishnuh vishnuh vishnuh namah paramdtmane snpurdnapurushottamdya 
Om tatsadatrapritliivydm jamhudwipe hharatakhande dryydvartte punyakshetre hima- 
vatparvataikadese hrahmanodivittyapurdrddhe srisvetavarahakalpe kritatretadwdpa- 
rdnte saptame vaivasvatamanvantare ashtdvimsatitame kaliyugasya prathamacharane 
shashtyavaddnamadhye, <fc. 
