57. The great sage Durvásas.
A Saint or Muni, represented by the Hindú poets as excessively choleric and inexorably severe. The Puránas and other poems contain frequent accounts of the terrible effects of his imprecations on various occasions, the slightest offence being in his eyes deserving of the most fearful punishment. On one occasion he cursed Indra, merely because his elephant let fall a garland he had given to this god; and in consequence of this imprecation all plants withered, men ceased to sacrifice, and the gods were overcome in their wars with the demons.
58. Propitiatory offering.
Compare note 25.
59. His blushing charioteer.
Compare note 11.
60. Night-loving lotus.
Some species of the lotus, especially the white esculent kind, open their petals during the night, and close them during the day, whence the moon is often called the 'lover, or lord of the lotuses.'
61. The very centre of the sacred fire.
Fire was an important object of veneration with the Hindús, as with the ancient Persians. Perhaps the chief worship recognized in the Vedas is that of Fire and the Sun. The holy fire was deposited in a hallowed part of the house, or in a sacred building, and kept perpetually burning. Every morning and evening, oblations were offered to it by dropping clarified butter and other substances into the flame, accompanied with prayers and invocations.