Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies - DUBOIS, Abbé Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies, Dubois | Página 555

A LEGEND OF VISHNU
515
whom
the sacrifice was to be directed would come with all
their armies in search of this valuable animal, and try to
If they succeeded, the
seize it by force or stratagem.
sacrifice was averted, and they were thereby delivered
from the disasters which its accomplishment would have
brought upon them. Indeed, the wonders wrought by this
grand sacrifice were so mighty as to render the prince who
had it performed invulnerable and certain of victory, for
amongst other things it furnished him with enchanted
weapons, a single one of which was sufficient to overthrow
a whole army.
I will spare the reader long and wearisome details of
the innumerable ceremonies which took place during the
celebration of the asvamedha, and will content myself with
giving a short extract from a story which refers to this
famous sacrifice, and which at the same time describes
one of the ten Avatars of Vishnu
The giant-emperor Bali caused to be performed the
grand sacrifice of the horse, the irresistible effect of which
was to secure for him the overthrow of all other sovereigns
and the conquest of the whole world. To counteract such
fatal consequences, Vishnu the Preserver presented himself
in the form of a Brahmin dwarf before the tyrant, and
supplicated him humbly for the grant of a plot of ground
:
'
own feet in area to enable him to
The Brahmin's request appeared comical
to the giant, and was granted without hesitation.
Then
Vishnu changed his shape, and with one of his feet he
covered the whole earth, and with the other occupied all
the space between earth and heaven. Then addressing
" Where shall I find room for the
the giant, he said
third sole \ "
"On my head," answered the enemy of the
only three soles of his
offer sacrifices.
:
gods, who then recognized, but too late, with whom he
had to deal. The giant thought he might save his life by
thus placing himself at the mercy of Vishnu the Preserver.
But it happened otherwise. Vishnu placed his foot on the
head of the giant and precipitated the monster into Patalam
(hell), and delivered the world of that great scourge.'
But let us return to the Vanaprastha Brahmins. It
appears, according to the Hindu books, that they ex-
perienced gre