budha cālīsā

A Hindi chalisa to Budha which is as much a portrait of a planet as of a god. The opening dohas give the parentage all the Mercury hymns turn on, son of the Moon and of Rohini, and the body then fixes the iconography: water-pot and book and rosary in the hands, a pearl garland at the neck, tilaka on the forehead, a white body on a white seat with green cloth over it. The offerings are named just as exactly, green mung and durva grass, sandal and unbroken rice. From there it turns practical in a way few chalisas are, addressing its petitioners by occupation: the merchant who meditates on him profits in trade, the student who recites passes the examination, the one with a defect of speech recovers, the keeper of the Wednesday fast is relieved. It closes on what happens when Budha's period comes round in a birth chart.