As one prepares to set out on an important journey or enterprise, there are many signs and omens that reveal the promise of success. If, as you embark, you behold blazing fires, sons, kings, honored seats, or noble women of the city, these are auspicious portents. Likewise, the sight of wholesome food, sugarcane, fruits, clay, honey, ghee, curds, cows, or flowing streams of water brings good fortune. Virtuous women, auspicious pots, radiant gems, bees, cows, or the presence of twice-born Brahmins are also favorable, as are the sacred sounds of the Veda and auspicious music. All these signs grant success to the endeavors of those who are setting out. Mindful of these omens, one should, on the second day, honor the Brahmins and then return. Yet, it is important to know that whatever is undertaken by children, the elderly, the sick, or those suffering from nasal disease will yield no fruit. When entering another’s city, one must not harm women or those who are always unarmed. Before entry, the rituals of house-worship and offering should be performed on the previous day. The proper time for entry is during the middle of the day, especially in the auspicious months of Saumya and Kartika. It is most propitious when Jupiter and Venus are visible in the sky, and entry, whether by day or night at such a time, brings good fortune. Astrological conditions are also to be considered: when the ascendant is fixed, and a fixed sign occupies the eighth house, and when the death is joined with purity, with the Moon in the second degree, not occupying the eighth or sixth from the ascendant’s end, then the omens are favorable. If the entry ascendant is strong, prosperity will follow; if not, sorrow and poverty may arise from other lords. The wise should ensure that, before entering, the Sun is placed to the left and a black bee is in front. If this occurs in a kendra (angular house), or during the bright fortnight and aspected by benefic planets, there will be abundant rain. If the Moon is with Mars, and these qualities are present, and if Saturn is in the trine or seventh house or otherwise well-placed, he becomes the cause of increase. However, if the Sun is positioned between the Moon and Mars, there will be destruction of what is desired. Venus brings rain, but if the opposite occurs, there will be no rain. Rain is produced when these conditions are met, but not if the planets are in retrograde motion. When the Sun enters the Ardra constellation, rain falls at their rising. If there is little rain, crops become priceless; if there is no rain at all, there will be an abundance of produce. If the Moon or Venus is in a kendra, obstacles are removed. From Ardra to Mrigashirsha and onward, rain falls visibly day by day. If Mars is in Leo, divided, or undivided in Cancer, there is rain. Ahirbudhnya presides over the eastern harvest, and Revati over the later harvest. When Jupiter is in the seventh house and Venus is retrograde, up to the seventh sign from the Moon, the latter signs are surrounded. When the constellation Maghā does not incline westward and remains high in the sky, and when cats scratch the earth with claws tipped with iron, when lines of ants are broken and many fireflies appear, and when at sunrise or sunset the sun or moon appears discolored—these are all signs to be observed. This earth is said to rest upon the nine limbs of the east-facing tortoise. The six trembling inner lands are its navel; the regions known as Strī, Kaliṅga, and Kirāta are its arms; Gauḍa, Kaiṅkaṇa, Śālva, Andhra, and Pauḍra are its feet, as are Pulinda, Cīna, Yavana, and Gurjara; Khasa, Aṅga, Vaṅga, Bāhlīka, and Kāmboja are its hands. In these nine limbs, beginning with the navel, evil brings corruption and suffering, while good brings auspiciousness and well-being.