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अश्लेषाः (azleSAH)

 
Mahabharata
English
Aśleshāḥ (plur.) = No. 43: XIII, 110, 5392 (Ānuśāsanik.) (description of a cāndra vrata or religious performance with reference to the moon in the month Mārgaśīrsha, when the moon is in conjunction with the asterism Mūla
the explanation of Nīlakaṇtha runs thus:--Here is described a cāndra vrata to obtain a desired object
on the 1st day of the bright half of Mārgaśīrsha, when there is conjunction (of the moon) with the nakshatra Mūla, one should begin this cāndra vrata
it consists in locating the nakshatras 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
Āshāḍhā, Phālgunī, and Bhādrapadā represent each 2 nakshatras. 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 nakshatras 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 wellshaped (sakalāṅgo) at the day of the full moon
this is expressed and exemplified by the sentence beginning with “paripūrṇāṅga.” Aśleshāḥ (C. A¤º, B. Āº) is to be identified with the nails). (The chapter is in C. called Aṅgavidhi, in B. Dānadharma.)