Simhasanadvatrimshika 4.p4

4.p4

bhāryayo 'ktam: bhoḥ svāmin, tvatto 'pi kaścij jñātā nā 'sti; bhavān sarvajñaḥ. ataḥ parameśvaraprasādārthaṃ kimapi vratādikam anuṣṭheyam. teno 'ktam: bhoḥ priye, yuktam uktaṃ tvayā; mayā 'py añgīkrtam eva tvadvacanam. kutaḥ:

you know all things. So undertake some service or the like to win the favor of the Supreme Lord." He replied: "My dear, what you say is quite reasonable, and I assent to your suggestion. Since: 5. Wise counsel should be heeded even if it comes from a child, while a man of judgment should never accept bad advice, even tho it comes from an old man." So speaking the brahman undertook the Rudra-rite, in order to win the favor of the Supreme Lord. One night after that the Supreme Lord appeared to the brahman in a dream, wearing his (characteristic) hair-braid and crest, in his bull-drawn chariot, with his consort sitting on his left thigh, and said: "Brahman, perform a pradoṣavrata ['evening rite,' a Çivaitic ceremony]; by performing this rite you shall obtain a son." In the morning the brahman told of his dream before the elders. They said: "Brahman, this dream will come true. And it is said in the Book of Dreams: 6. A man shall make his decision in accordance with whatever is said in dreams by a god, a brahman, a guru, cows, ancestors, or bearers of liṅgas [signs of Çiva]. Upon performing this rite you shall beget a son." When the brahman heard their words he instituted a pradoṣavrata, on the thirteenth day of the bright half of the month Mārgaçīrṣa, on a Saturday, observing the rules prescribed in the ritual books. The Supreme Lord became propitiated thru the performance of that rite, and gave him a son. Straightway the brahman performed the birth-ceremony for this son;