Page:Durga Puja - With Notes and Illustrations.djvu/57

 om you saved the gods, may you save me. The twigs are placed in the ghata with the following mantra, Om the producers, the desert is such without you, life is death without you, the sun is unbearable without you. How he scorches with his burning rays, you save even your enemies the wood-cutters from the sun, you are most noble, and you rule over every region. The cocoanut is placed with the following mantra. Om whatever bears fruits, whatever bears not, whatever bears blossoms, whatever is flowerless, they are all the offsprings of Vrhaspati, may they purify me and this house. Then taking the vermillion paste on the fourth finger, Om like the Ocean you are vast, Indra loves you, with ghee when dropped you describe a continuous stain. You are noble, perhaps nobler than the fuel-wood, which paints everything black. The priest then holds a lotus flower in his hand and repeating the following, places it on the ghata, Om you are sri, you are beautiful, you are Lakshmi's self by day, and by night, you are the stars as beautiful as the Asvina, you are desired by us, loved by many, loved by all. The ghata is then placed carefully and made steady with the following mantra, Om thick-bellied, thin collared, be you soon steady, steady against the winds, against the earths motion, be