Institutes of Vishnu — XLVII.

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# XLVII.

1. 1.Now follows the Kândrâyana (lunar penance).

1. 1.Let a man eat single mouthfuls (of food) unchanged in size;

[XLVII. 1-10. M. XI, 217-222.--1-3. 9. Y. III, 324, 325.--1-4. Gaut. XXVII, 12-15.

1. 1.'Unchanged in size' means of that size precisely which the law prescribes.' Yâgñavalkya (III, 324) states that each daily {footnote p. 151} portion must have the size of a peacock's egg, and Gautama (XXVII, 10) prescribes that the size of a mouthful shall be such as not to cause a distortion of the mouth in swallowing it. (Nand.)]

1. 1.And let him during the moon's increase add (successively) one mouthful (every day, so as to eat one mouthful on the first day of the moon's increase, two mouthfuls on the second day, and so on; fifteen mouthfuls on the day of full moon), and during the wane of the moon let him take off one mouthful (every day, so as to eat fourteen mouthfuls on the first day of the moon's wane, thirteen mouthfuls on the second, and one mouthful on the fourteenth day of the moon's wane), and on the day of new moon let him fast entirely: thus has the barley-shaped Kândrâyana been described.

1. 1.Or the ant-shaped Kândrâyana (may be performed).

1. 1.That Kândrâyana is called 'ant-shaped' in which the day of new moon is placed in the middle.

1. 1.That one is, called 'barley-shaped' in which the day of full moon is placed in the middle.

1. 1.If a man eats for a month eight mouthfuls a day, it is (the penance called) Yatikândrâyana (an hermit's Kândrâyana).

1. 1.Eating (for a month) four mouthfuls each morning and evening is (the penance called) Sîsukândrâyana (a child's Kândrâyana).

1. 1.Eating anyhow three hundred minus sixty mouthfuls a month is the penance called Sâmânyakândrâyâna (general Kândrâyana).

[9. 'Anyhow,' i. e, otherwise than ordained above, as e. g. eating four mouthfuls on one day, and twelve on the next day; or fasting on one day, and eating sixteen mouthfuls on the following day; or fasting for two days, and eating twenty-four mouthfuls on the third {footnote p. 153} day; or fasting for three days, and eating thirty-two mouthfuls on the fourth day. (Nand.)]

1. 1.After having performed this penance, in a former age, the seven holy Rishis, Brahman, and Rudra acquired a splendid abode, O Earth.

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