Salutations are offered again and again to the divine bestower of desire and happiness. The waist of Shashanka—the moon—is always to be worshipped, and his belly, known as Amritodara, is equally revered. Special honor is given to the moon’s navel, acknowledging its sanctity. With devotion, salutations are addressed to Chandra, the moon. His face is worshipped, his teeth are honored as the lords of the twice-born, and his smile is especially venerated as Chandra himself. His lips are cherished as beloved by the night-lotuses. The moon’s nose is worshipped as the lord of forest herbs, his brows and two lotus-like eyes are revered as Indu, and the hands of Shouri—another name for the moon—are as dark as blue lotuses. Salutations are given to him who is honored in all sacrifices; his ears are worshipped as destroyers of demons, his forehead as beloved of the ocean, and his hair as worthy of worship for the lord of Sushumna. The moon-headed one, Murāri, the Lord of all, is honored. Salutations go to the crowned one, beloved of the lotus, Rohiṇī—named Lakṣmī—whose beautiful form is the nectar of fortune and happiness. After worshipping the goddess with fragrant flowers, offerings, incense, and more, one pays homage to the moon’s consort. Then, sleeping upon the ground, upon rising, one should bathe and offer sacrificial food to a brāhmaṇa. In the morning, one gives a golden water-pot with salutations to the destroyer of sin. Having tasted cow’s urine and eaten food without meat or salt—eight or twenty morsels mixed with milk and ghee—having fasted, after eating, one listens to a sacred history for a moment. Various flowers are offered: kadamba, blue lotus, ketaka, jasmine, water-lily, hundred-petaled lotus, amlāna, kubjā, sinduvāra, white mallikā, karavīra for Viṣṇu, campaka for Śrī, and moonflowers. In the months beginning with Śrāvaṇa, these flowers are to be offered in order, and in whichever month the vow is observed, Hari is worshipped with those flowers. For a full year, the prescribed worship is performed, and at the end of the vow, a bed furnished with a mirror and other items is given. An image of Rohiṇī and the moon is made in gold—the moon six fingers in size, Rohiṇī four fingers. The image is adorned with eight pearls, covered with a white cloth for the eyes, placed upon a pot of milk, with a bronze vessel and rice grains. It is given in the morning with a mantra, accompanied by rice and sugarcane fruit. A white cow with a golden face, silver hooves, cloth, vessel, and a beautiful conch are also presented. A brāhmaṇa couple, adorned with ornaments and virtues, is designated as the moon with his wife. A prayer is offered: “Just as Rohiṇī never leaves the bed of Kṛṣṇa in the form of the moon, so may my union with prosperity be unbroken. Just as you alone grant supreme bliss and liberation to all, may enjoyment, liberation, and devotion to you, O moon, always be mine.” This supreme rite is for those who fear worldly existence and desire liberation; it bestows beauty, health, and longevity. It is always dear to the ancestors. Having become lord of the three worlds for seven hundred cycles, one attains the lunar realm and, becoming like lightning, is freed. A woman, or Rohiṇī, who performs the moon-bed rite also attains its fruit, and rebirth becomes difficult for her. Whoever recites or hears the worship of Madhumathana—Viṣṇu—with praise of the moon, and offers even the mind, is honored by hosts of immortals in the abode of Śauri. Now, Ravi's descendant speaks to Viṣṇu, who dwells in water, asking about the procedure for worship in ponds, gardens, wells, reservoirs, and lotus pools, and in temples of the gods: Who are the officiating priests, O master, and what kind of altar should there be? What is the proper time, direction, place, teacher, and which materials are best? Please explain everything truly. Viṣṇu replies: “Hear, O king of mighty arms, the procedure regarding tanks and the like, as related in the Purāṇas—this is the tradition recited by those learned in the Vedas. Having obtained an auspicious bright fortnight, after the sun has entered the northern course, on a holy day declared by the Brāhmaṇas, one should perform the rite. In a land sloping to the east or north, near the tank, a pure altar is made, four cubits in size, square, and with four sides. The pavilion is sixteen cubits, square, and four-sided; around the altar, three trenches, each a cubit wide, are made. Let there be nine, seven, or five trenches—no more—each a span in width, and the yoni (pit) should be six or seven fingers broad. There should be seven trenches, each with three raised embankments, all of the same color, adorned with banners and flags. The doors of the pavilion are made in each direction, fashioned from branches of the aśvattha, udumbara, plakṣa, and vaṭa trees. Eight auspicious priests are appointed, along with eight doorkeepers, and eight reciters—Brāhmaṇas learned in the Vedas. The chief priest should be a foremost Brāhmaṇa, complete in all marks, skilled in mantras, self-controlled, and endowed with noble family and conduct. In each trench, water vessels and sacrificial implements are placed, along with a fan of white yak-tail, all set in a broad copper vessel. Various colored offering vessels are prepared for each deity; the teacher, after due consideration, places them on the ground. The sacrificial post is three cubits high, made from a saline tree, or according to the measure of the sacrificer, and is set up by one desiring prosperity. Twenty-five priests are adorned with gold ornaments—golden earrings, armlets, bracelets, rings, sacred threads, and various garments. The teacher honors them all equally, and gives double, along with bedding and whatever else is dear to himself. A golden tortoise and makara, a silver fish and drum, a copper crab and frog, and an iron crocodile are obtained at the beginning. Clad in white garlands and garments, anointed with white fragrant unguents, and bathed with all medicinal waters by those learned in the Vedas, the sacrificer, with his wife, sons, and grandsons, approaches the western door and enters the sacrificial pavilion, ready to begin the sacred rite.