Part 13: Śānti’s śāsanadevatās (messenger-deities)

Originating in that congregation, the Yakṣa Garuḍa, black, whose vehicle was an elephant, boar-faced, whose two right hands held a citron and a lotus, whose two left hands held an ichneumon and a rosary, became Śrī Śānti Svāmin’s messenger-deity. Originating in that congregation, Nirvāṇi, fair-bodied, with a lotus-seat, her two right hands holding a book and a blue lotus, her two left ones a water-jar and lotus, also became the messenger-deity of the Lord of the World.

The Blessed One, with them always nearby, devoted to others, wandered over the earth to enlighten the souls capable of emancipation. One day he came to the city Hastināpura as he wandered, and the Blessed One, the depository of compassion, stopped in a samavasaraṇa. The lord of the city, Kurucandra, accompanied by people of the city and country, approached the Master, like the moon approaching the sun on the night of the new moon.^[1] While the fourfold congregation remained in their proper places, the Lord delivered a sermon causing disgust with worldly existence.