The deity predicted certain disaster to the presumptuous mortal who laid hands on the sacred gem, and to all of his house and name who received it after him.

And the Brahmins caused the prophecy to be written over the gates of the shrine in letters of gold.
One age followed another--and still, generation after generation, the successors of the three Brahmins watched their priceless Moonstone, night and day.

One age followed another until the first years of the eighteenth Christian century saw the reign of Aurungzebe, Emperor of the Moguls.

At his command havoc and rapine were let loose once more among the temples of the worship of Brahmah.

The shrine of the four-handed god was polluted by the slaughter of sacred animals; the images of the deities were broken in pieces; and the Moonstone was seized by an officer of rank in the army of Aurungzebe.
Powerless to recover their lost treasure by open force, the three guardian priests followed and watched it in disguise.