The Antiquities of Orissa v1.c11.37

v1.c11.37

quoted it largely; and it is evident that it must be of very ancient date, otherwise the unanimity of the Hindus of all sects on the subject and the absence of offerings in the temples, would be unaccountable. But what is more to the point, Śākta and Śaiva Tantras, designed expressly for the glorification of the worship of Śiva, recognise the prohibition, and try to explain it away. Thus, in the *Liṅgārcana Tantra*, the great goddess Durgā is represented as very much troubled in mind as to why flowers and fruits offered to Śiva, instead of being sought for and prized as highly sacred by Brahmā and other gods, should be held positively impure; and Śiva thereupon explains the mystery by saying that as the poison he had swallowed at the churning of the ocean was sticking in his throat, and ever since causing him much pain and suffering, food taken by him through his topmost mouth got tainted by it, and consequently became unfit for consumption by weak mortals. “The wretch who accepts for consumption remnants of such offerings, becomes consumed, and there is no redemption for him”. He added, however, that flowers, leaves, &c., placed before him, i. e., before any of his side faces, could not be so tainted, and they are fit to be offered to Viṣṇu and carried about on the head.¹⁵ The *Kṛṣṇa-janmakhaṇḍa* of the *Brahma-vaivarta Purāṇa* gives quite a different version of the affair. **[ 139 ]** According to it Rādhā is the questioner, and her lover Kṛṣṇa the interpreter, and the latter attributes the prohibition to a curse of Durgā. Once on a time Śaunaka had been on a visit to Kṛṣṇa at Goloka, and thence had brought away some choice food which had been presented to him by his host. This he distributed among his friends, and Śiva, obtaining a share, ate it, and was in an ecstasy of delight. When Durgā came to know of it, she upbraided him for not having given her a share. “Since”, said she, “you have not given me a portion of the inestimable food of Viṣṇu, henceforward whoever will eat of food consecrated to thee, Maheśvara, shall be born a dog for one generation in the Bhāratavarṣa”. Repenting afterwards of what she had said, she limited the curse to what was offered on the top of the *liṅgam*, and that too, she added, would