The Antiquities of Orissa v2.c17.s1.136

v2.c17.s1.136

The king was consoled, and repaired to the Blue Hill. On a romantic spot on the eastern side he erected a magnificent stone temple, facing the west, and consecrated in it an image of Nṛsiṃha. The day of consecration is said to have been the twelfth of the waxing moon in the month of Jyaiṣṭha, when the moon was in the constellation Svāti; but, as usual, no year in mentioned. Having done this, the Rājā set about his grand kilocaust. The necessary number of horses was provided; people of evry quality from all parts of the world were duly invited; grand preparations were made for their reception and entertainment; amidst the most magnificent pageantry and universal rejoicings the sacrifices were commenced; and in course of it the Rājā dreamt a dream. It was on the seventh day of the sacrifice, during the fourth quarter of the night, that the king in his dream saw a noble tree, resplendent as crystal, coming from the Śveta Dvīpa, and within the tree the Divinity appeard in his blue from, with four hands, bearing the fourfold emblems of conch-shell, discus, mace and lotus. He had on his right side Ananta, refulgent as a thousand moons put together, having four hands with his appropriate emblems, and canopied by the hood of a seven-headed cobra. And between the two, there appeared Lakṣmī in her most benign aspect, while to the left of Viṣṇu there was the celestial wheel, Sudarśana-cakra. Beholding this miraculous appearance, the king, in his sleep, fervently recited a hymn, and prayed for emancipation. The dream was interpreted as the most auspicious, and the king applied with redoubled energy to the completion of the sacrifice. Days passed on, and in due course the last offerings were poured on the sacred fire, when news was brought that a log of magnificent proportions and impressed with the insignias of Viṣṇu had come floating on the sea, and reached the shore near the temple of Vilveśvara. This was of course taken as the first realization of the dream, and Nārada explained the tree to be no other than a hair from the body of the Divinity dwelling in the Śveta Dvīpa. The log was, thereupon, brought to shore amidst great rejoicings, and in due course it was carved into the four images of Jagannātha, Balarāma, Subhadā, and Sudarśana-cakra. Indradyumna then repaired to the region of Brahmā, and brought down Brahmā and other gods to complete the consecration of the images. This was accordingly done, and the images have ever since remained as the most sovereign means of salvation.