It is said that a child and a tree are never seen to grow except during the night. Such growth is therefore held to be due to lunar rays.[234] As all trees, plants, etc., thrive owing to the influence of the moon, the moon-god is called the lord of herbs. The moon is also a reservoir of nectar and is called Sudhākar, i.e., one having nectarine rays.[235] As the lord of herbs, the moon-god is supposed to have the power of removing all diseases that are curable by drugs, and of restoring men to health.[236]
Persons suffering from white leprosy, black leprosy, consumption and diseases of the eyes are believed to be cured by the observance of the Bīj and Punema vows.[237] Consumption in its incipient and latter stages is also said to be cured by exposure to the rays of the moon.[238] Constant glimpses of the moon add to the lustre of the eyes.[239] On the Sharad-Punema, or the 15th day of the bright half of Ashvin (the last month of the Gujaratis and the 7th month of the Deccani Hindus), tailors pass a thread through their needles in the belief that they will thereby gain keener eyesight.[240]
A cotton-wick is exposed to the moon on Sharad-Punema, and is afterwards lighted in oil poured over the image of Hanūmān. The soot, which is thus produced, if used on the Kali-chaudas day—the fourteenth day of the dark half of Ashvin—is said to possess much efficacy in strengthening the eyesight and also in preserving the eyes from any disease during the ensuing year.[241]
Sweetened milk or water is exposed to moonlight during the whole of the night of Sharad-punema (the full-moon day of Ashvin) in order to absorb the nectarine rays of the moon, and is drunk next morning. Drinking in the rays of the moon in this manner is believed to cure diseases caused by heat as well as eye-diseases, and it similarly strengthens the eyesight and improves the complexion.[242] Sugar-candy thus exposed and preserved in an air-tight jar is partaken of in small quantities every morning to gain strength and to improve the complexion.[243] The absorption of the lunar rays through the open mouth or eyes is also believed to be of great effect in achieving these objects.[244]
Once upon a time the gods and demons, by their united efforts, churned the ocean and obtained therefrom fourteen ratnas or precious things.[245] These were distributed among them. Lakshmi, the kaustubha jewel, the Shārnga bow and the conch-shell fell to the share of Vishnu, and the poison, Halāhal visha, was disposed of to Shiva. Only two things remained, sudhā, or nectar, and surā or liquor. To both gods and demons the nectar was the most important of all the prizes. A hard contest ensuing between them for the possession of it, the demons, by force, snatched the bowl of nectar from the gods. In this disaster to the gods, Vishnu came to their help in the form of Mohini—a most fascinating woman—and proposed to the demons that the distribution of the immortalising fluid should be entrusted to her. On their consent, Vishnu or Mohini, made the gods and the demons sit in opposite rows and began first to serve the nectar to the gods. The demon Rāhu, the son of Sinhikā, fearing lest the whole of the nectar might be exhausted before the turn of the demons came, took the shape of a god and placed himself amongst them between Chandra (the moon) and Sūrya (the sun). The nectar was served to him in turn, but on Chandra and Sūrya detecting the trick, the demon’s head was cut off by Vishnu’s discus, the sudarshana-chakra. Rāhu however did not die: for he had tasted the nectar, which had reached his throat. The head and trunk lived and became immortal, the former being named Rāhu, and the latter Ketu. Both swore revenge on Chandra and Sūrya. At times, therefore, they pounce upon Chandra and Sūrya with the intention of devouring them. In the fight that ensues, Chandra and Sūrya are successful only after a long contest, with the assistance of the gods, and by the merit of the prayers that men offer.[246]
The reason of the eclipse is either that Chandra and Sūrya bleed in the fight with Rāhu and their forms get blackened[247]; or that the demon Rāhu comes between the two luminaries and this earth, and thus causes an eclipse[248]; or because Rāhu obstructs the sun and the moon in their daily course, and this intervention causes an eclipse[249]; or because Rāhu swallows the sun and the moon, but his throat being open, they escape, their short disappearance causing an eclipse.[250]
Besides the mythological story, there is a belief in Gujarat that a bhangi (scavenger or sweeper), creditor of the sun and the moon, goes to recover his debts due from them, and that his shadow falling against either of them causes an eclipse.[251]
A third explanation of the eclipse is that the sun and the moon revolve round the Meru mountain, and the shadow of the mountain falling upon either of them causes an eclipse.[252]
It is believed amongst Hindus that eclipses occur when too much sin accumulates in this world.[253] Most Hindus regard an eclipse as ominous, and consider the eclipse period to be unholy and inauspicious. The contact of the demon Rāhu with the rays of the sun and the moon pollutes everything on earth. Great precautions therefore become necessary to avoid pollution.[254] A period of three pohors[255] (prahars) in the case of the moon, and of four in the case of the sun, before the actual commencement of an eclipse, is known as vedha, i.e., the time when the luminaries are already under the influence of the demon. During this period and during the time of an eclipse people observe a strict fast. Anyone taking food within the prohibited period is considered sutaki or ceremonially impure, as if a death had happened in his family.[256] An exception is, however, made in the case of children, pregnant women and suckling mothers who cannot bear the privation of a strict fast. From the beginning of an eclipse to its end, everything in the house is believed to be polluted, if touched.[256]
As the sun and the moon are believed to be in trouble during an eclipse, people offer prayers to God from the beginning of the vedha for their release. It is the custom to visit some holy place on an eclipse-day, to take a bath there, and to read holy passages from the Shāstras. Some people, especially Brahmans, sit devoutly on river-banks and offer prayers to the sun.[256] Much secret as well as open charity is given at the time of an eclipse. But the receivers of charity during the actual period of an eclipse are the lowest classes only, such as bhangis, mahārs and māngs. When an eclipse is at its full, these people go about the streets giving vent to such cries as āpó dān chhuté chānd (give alms for the relief of the moon!).[257]