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1. After having fasted during the eleventh day of the bright half of the month Mârgasîrsha, let a
[XLIX. 1. 'He must worship Vâsudeva either with sixteen acts, muttering one out of the sixteen verses of the Purushasûkta with each single act, the first act being the invocation of the gods, and {footnote p. 156} the last the dismissal of the assembled Brâhmanas; or he must worship him with the "five offerings," perfumes, and the rest, muttering at the same time the "twelve syllables" (Om namo bhagavate vâsudevâya, "Om, adoration to the venerable Vâsudeva (Nand.)]
man worship, on the twelfth day, the venerable Vâsudeva (Vishnu).
2. (He shall worship him) with flowers, incense, unguents, lamps, eatables (such as milk), and repasts given to Brâhmanas.
3. By performing this rite (on the twelfth day of the bright half of every month, from the month Mârgasîrsha to the month Kârttika) for one year, he is purified from every sin.
4. By performing it till he dies, he attains Svetadvîpa ('the white island,' the abode of Bhagavat).
5. By performing it for a year on each twelfth day of both halves of a month, he attains heaven.
6. By performing it (within the same intervals), till he dies, (he attains) the world of Vishnu.
7. The same (heavenly rewards are gained by him who performs this rite) on each fifteenth day (after having fasted during the fourteenth).
8. If he worships (according to the latter rite) Kesava (Vishnu) who has become one with Brahman, on the day of full moon, and Kesava absorbed in meditation, on the day of new moon, he will obtain a great reward.
[2. 'He must worship him with those offerings and with burnt-oblations. The burnt-oblation, which must consist either of sesamum, or of barley, or of clarified butter, has to be accompanied by the recitation of the Purushasûkta or of the "twelve syllables."' (Nand.)
8. According to Nand., the two forms of Vishnu mentioned here must be considered as two separate deities, the one having to be invoked with the words 'Adoration to Brahmakesava,' and the {footnote p. 157} other with the words 'Adoration to Yogakesava.' 'A great reward' he interprets by 'a shape identical with that of Brahman.']
9. If in a year on a day of full moon the moon and the planet Jupiter are seen together in the sky, it is called a great full moon.
10. Gifts, fasts, and the like are declared to be imperishable on that day. The same is the case if a conjunction with the asterism. Sravanâ falls on the twelfth day of the bright half (of any month).