Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies - DUBOIS, Abbé Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies, Dubois | Page 292

PRAYERS TO VARIOUS DEITIES
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the earth were drawn into one place and formed the sea.
Out of the sea were created the day, the years, the sun,
the moon, and Brahma with his four countenances. Brahma
created anew the firmament, the earth, the air, the smaller
worlds, and everything that was in existence before the
Flood.'
This prayer ended, the Brahmin sprinkles a few drops
of water on his head from three stalks of the sacred darbha
grass.
Whoever in the morning shall address these prayers to
water, and shall be duly impressed with their import, will
surely receive remission of his sins.
Then clasping his hands, the Brahmin says
Vishnu your eyes are like a flower
I offer you my
worship.
Pardon my sins I perform the sandhya to keep
my good name and dignity as a Brahmin.' He then recalls
to mind the names of the greater and lesser worlds and
the divinities who inhabit them, particularly the fire, the
wind, and the sun, also Brihaspati, Indra, and the gods
of the earth.
After that he puts his right hand on his head, and recalls
to his memory the names of Brahma, of the wind, and of
the sun. He then shuts his eyes, and at the same time
closing his right nostril with his thumb, he invokes the god
Brahma in these words
Come, Brahma, come to my navel, and stay, stay there
a long time.'
He then fancies to himself that this powerful god is seated
on his navel that the deity is red in colour, having four
faces and two arms, a cord round his waist, holding a
pitcher in his hand, riding on a goose, and accompanied by
a multitude of divinities. He then thinks of him as having
had no beginning, as possessing the key to all knowledge
and being able to grant all the desires of mankind, and
especially as the head guru of Brahmins, endowed with the
fullest power to purify and sanctify them
finally as the
Creator of all things, and as an eternal being. After which
he says
Glory to the earth
Glory to the greater worlds 1
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There are seven greater worlds, the names of which are Bhu, Bhuvar,
Svar, Mahar, Janar, Tapah, Sattya.
The first is the earth, the last the