Hindu Medicine c7.135

c7.135

Manasā, joyfully, bowed to the almighty twain. Brahmā and Śiva advised Dhanvantari to propitiate the fierce goddess with offerings, prayer and meditation. This he did, humbling himself. Thus by praising her as the source of all wisdom and the gracious protectress of her devotees, he became reconciled with the wrathful divinity. Appeasing her, he evoked her benevolent aspect with its auspicious emblems, and gained her favor. By his devotional practice he established the pattern for propitiating the fierce force of destruction by acknowledging its irresistible strength. Furthermore, his auspicious vision of the goddess (dhyāna) provided the form in which Manasā is to be visualized in meditation and represented in images for worship, to avert the peril of poisonous snakes.