Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies - DUBOIS, Abbé Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies, Dubois | Page 754

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A
NEW TEMPLE PLANNED
Nila that su])erb temple which was formerly the abode of
the great Vishnu, and am come to consult you, great god,
on tlie course that I should pursue in order to rekindle in
the heart of the people the holy fervour which this sacred
place inspired in former times.
If I build a town, what
name shall I give to it
Vishnu, I know, will return and
honour the place with his presence under the form of the
trunk of a tree, but how will he come, and what sacrifices
and offerings must be made to him ? Deign to enlighten
me, great god, and help me in this difficulty.'
To accomplish the praiseworthy object that is in thy
mind,' said Brahma,
thou must erect a new temple on
the very spot where the old one is now buried. Thou
shalt give it the name of Sridehul.
It is not necessary to
make it as costly as the former one, because the present
inhabitants of the country, being reduced to great poverty,
would remove it piecemeal, and thy labour would be lost.
It need only be built of stone.
In order to provide the
necessary accommodation for the crowd of devotees who
will visit it, thou must build near the temple a town which
will receive the name of Purushottama.
The moment the
work is finished the trunk of a tree, that is to say Krishna
himself, will appear on the sea-shore.
This thou must
remove with much pomp and ceremony into the new
temple. The carpenter Visvakarma will come and work
at it, and will fashion it into the face and form of the god.
Thou shalt place beside this god his sister Subadra and his
brother Balarama. Thou must offer sacrifices to the god
day and night, but especially in the morning, at noon, and
in the evening.
This will be a sure and certain means of
securing for thyself, and for all those who follow thy
example, a place in Vaikuntha, the Abode of Bliss. As
Vishnu will not be able to consume the enormous quantity
of food that will be offered to him as neiveddya by the
multitude of his devotees, men may therein find a means
of purifying themselves and obtaining the remission of their
sins by eating the remnants.
Happy is he who shall
secure for himself the smallest particle, for he will cer-
tainly go to Vaikuntha after death.
To give thee some
idea of the inestimable value of the remnants of Krishna's
food, let me tell thee that if by accident or inadvertence
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