Bīrūnī, Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad, Alberuni's India (v. 2)

(London :  Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co.,  1910.)

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I02                        ALBERUNTS INDIA.

ciliate him, so that he ceased from his wrath. Then he
spoke to them : ' But what am I to do with the fire of
my wrath ?' and they advised him to throw it into the
ocean. It is this fire which absorbs the waters of the
ocean.    Others say : ' The water of the streams does not

Page 252, increase the ocean, because Indra, the ruler, takes up
the ocean in the shape of the cloud, and sends it down
as rains.' "

The man in Again the Matsya-Puvdua says : "The black part in
the moon, which is called Sasalaksha, i.e. the hare's
figure, is the image of the figures of the above-men¬
tioned sixteen mountains reflected by the light of the
moon on her body."

The Vishnu-Dharma says: " The moon is called Sasa¬
laksha, for the globe of her body is watery, reflecting
the figure of the earth as a mirror reflects. On the
earth there are mountains and trees of different shapes,
which are reflected in the moon as a hare's figure. It
is also called Mrigaldncana, i.e. the figure of a gazelle,
for certain people compare the black part on the moon's
face to the figure of a gazelle."

story of the      The lunar stations they declare to be the daughters

the moon, of Prajapati, to whom the moon is married. He was
especially attached to Rohini, and preferred her to the
others. Now her sisters, urged by jealousy, complained
of him to their father Prajapati. The latter strove to
keep peace among them, and admonished him, but with¬
out any success. Then he cursed the moon (Lunits), in
consequence of which his face became leprous. Now
the moon repented of his doing, and came penitent to
Prajapati, who spoke to him : " My word is one, and
cannot be cancelled; however, I shall cover thy shame
for the half of each month." Thereupon the moon
spoke to Prajapati: " But how shall the trace of the sin
of the past be wiped off from me ? " Prajapati answered :
" By erecting the shape of the liiiga of Mahadeva as an
object of thy worship."    This he did.    The linga he
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