kinds and newly harvested barley grains, Sáli rice. A cock should be sacrificed on the occasion (to appease his wrath) and bells should be rung (for his propitiation). The water to be used for bath (in course of worship), should be consecrated by reciting the Gáyatri Mantra and the sacrificial fire should be duly lit with (three, seven or ten) libations (of clarified butter). 6.
Mantras:— The body of the child should be guarded by a careful physician against the influence of the malignant Grahas by reciting every day a Mantra which runs as follows: — "May Skanda, the eternal and changeless deity who is the receptacle of all sorts of energies produced by austerities, fame, valour, or organic combination (vital energy), be propitious to thee. May the almighty Guha protect thee from all evils — Guha who is the commander-in-chief both of the army of the gods and of the Grahas and is the destroyer of the enemies of the army of the gods (in which rank he has been installed, lit. wedded, with the suffrage of all the gods). May he who is the begotten son of the supreme deity — the god of the gods and who acknowledges severally the exalted motherhood of Gangá, Umá and the Krittikás, give thee health and comfort. May the beautiful god who pierced with a single shaft right through the heart of the mountain Krouncha and who is effulgent with the red rays of his own divine person smeared with the paste of red sandal-wood and decked with the garland of red flowers, protect thee from all perils." 7.
Thus ends the twenty-eighth chapter of the Uttara-Tantra in the Sus'ruta Samhitá which deals with the Therapeutics of Skanda-Graha.
