(description of a cāndra vrata or religious performance with
reference to the moon in the month Mārgaśīrṣa, when the
moon is in conjunction with the asterism Mūla; the explana-
tion of Nīlakaṇtha runs thus:—Here is described a cāndra
vrata to obtain a desired object; on the 1st day of the bright
half of Mārgaśīrṣa, when there is conjunction (of the moon)
with the nakṣatra Mūla, one should begin this cāndra vrata;
it consists in locating the nakṣatras in the limbs of the
moon, Mūla in his feet, etc., i.e., one should think of Mūla
together with its deity as being the feet of the moon; in
like manner Rohiṇī, etc., with their deities are to be thought
of as being his legs, etc.; everywhere the exchanging of the
case-endings is a Vedic liberty; Āṣāḍhā, Phālgunī, and
Bhādrapadā represent each 2 nakṣatras. The vrata is
performed as follows: after one has had pronounced the
wish of a lucky day, etc. (puṇyāhavācanādipūrvakaṃ),
having taken upon one's self a religious exercise to obtain
a desired object, one should fancy the moon and one's self
to be one and the same, distribute the nakṣatras together
with their respective deities in the limbs of the moon, and
day after day propitiate them by the muttering of Veda
verses and oblations, etc. (japahomādinā), with the Veda verses
required for each of them (tattanmantraiḥ); thus one should
go on until the day of the full moon, and when the vrata
is at an end, one should present the butter (ghṛta) left from
the oblations to the teacher (ācārya); by the words “samāpte
tu ghṛtaṃ dadyāt” it is indicated that ghṛta is the substance
of the oblation. Thus doing even a cripple becomes well-
shaped (sakalāṅgo) at the day of the full moon; this is
expressed and exemplified by the sentence beginning with
“paripūrṇāṅga.” Aśleṣāḥ (C. Ă°, B. Ā°) is to be identified
with the nails). (The chapter is in C. called Aṅgavidhi, in B.
Dānadharma.)