Chapter XI - Description of the Nava-Vyuha form of worship

I WILL now describe the mode of adorning the nine Vyuhas as narrated unto Kashyapa. Having drawn up the vital breath through the head one should place it in the.’ sky through the navel. Then with the mantram Ram he should consume the body identical with the up-going vital air. And he should destroy all with the mantram Yam. With the mantram Lam he should overflood the entire world mobile and immobile. Then with the mantram Vam he should meditate on ambrosia. Thereupon by dhyana (meditation) he should think of the four-armed deity, clad in a yellow raiment, in the middle of the bubble, as well as of his bathing. He should next perform the three-fold mantra-nyasa^[1] ceremony of the fingers and body.

After the recitation of this mantram, with one composed of twelve letters, he should make assignment of six limbs so that Hari himself might appear there. Beginning with the thumb of the right hand he should assign the middle finger to the petal. Having assigned the two Vijas in the middle he should assign them to the other limbs viz, heart, head, the crown of the head where lies the tuft of hair, mouth, eyes, belly, back, arms, hands, thighs and feet. Having converted the hand into the shape of a lotus he should place the thumb in the middle. And there he should meditate on the Lord of all, the great undecaying Principle. Then in order he should assign all the other mantrams to fore and other fingers. He should then in order make assignment of the head, eyes, mouth, throat, heart, navel, buttock, thighs and feet. Having assigned the mantrams of six limbs or parts to the palms he should assign others to the body. He should assign the five mantrams to the five fingers beginning with the thumb and ending with the youngest.

He should assign the mantram of the eye to the hand and then make assignment of other limbs. Having assigned heart to the heart he should assign head to the head, sikha (tuft of hair) to the Sikha and, amulet to the entire body. Eyes should be assigned to the eyes and the weapon to the two hands. Having bound all the quarters with the weapon he should commence the rite of adoration. First of all with a controlled mind he should meditate on Yogapitha (the seat of yoga) in his heart, and in due order on religion, knowledge, disassociation from the world, and prosperity. He should assign iniquity &c. to the north-east and east. The body, free of all these sins, should be then converted into Pitha (seat). He should afterwards assign Ananta. Having meditated first, by means of the Vedas &c. on learning, the (eight quarters like unto eight petals of a lotus born in a tank, a white lotus of a hundred petals covered with filaments he should meditate on Mandalas (identical with the sun, moon and fire and then think of the deity on one above the other. He should then perform the assignment of eight energies of Keshava stationed in the east and of the ninth in the pericarp.

Having thus meditated on and adored the Yogapitha, he should invoke the lord thereof, Hari, the holder of Shranga bow and assign him there. He should assign heart &c to the lotuses of the four quarters, east &c., the eye in the middle and the weapon in the corners. He should assign the mantrams of Sangkarshana &c. to the east and other quarters and Vinata’s son to the eastern and western doors and the discus Sudarshana of a thousand rays to the southern gate. He should assign Shri to the south, Lakshmi to the north, the club to the northern gate and the conch-shell to the corners.

An intelligent worshipper should place the Shranga bow either on the right or on the left of the deity. Similarly conch-shell and discus should be placed on both the sides. According to the distinction of their respective quarters all the guardian deities thereof should be assigned. In the same way the various weapons, such as thunder-bolt &c., should be assigned He should meditate on Brahma upwards and Ananta downwards. Having meditated on and adored them all he should display Mudra.^[2]

Anjali (the folding of palms) is the first Mudra which speedily secures the favour of the deity. Vandani is the next when it is placed on the breast with the right hand raised half-way up. Urdhangustha (thumb raised up) is formed by the clasping of the fist of the left hand w’ith the thumb of the right hand. In this the thumb of the left hand should be raised up. These are the three ordinary forms arranged according to the difference of the forms of the idols.

With the intertwining of the youngest finger eight Mudras are formed in order. These should be formed with the recitation of the first eight mantrams. With the thumb the three sucessive fingers ending with the youngest should be bent. Then the two hands should be bent. This is the Mudra of Narasimha (man-lion). Having raised up the left hand he should whirl it. This is the Mudra approved of Varaha (the boar-form). Having raised up the two fists he should straighten the fingers of the one and then bend all of them. This Mudra is called Anga. Having intertwined in order the two fists the Mudras for the ten guardian deities of the quarters should be formed. The first vowel, the second, the last but one and the last should be in order assigned to Vasudeva, Bala, Kama and Aniruddha. “Om, Tatsat, Hum, Kshraum, Bhus” are the mantrams for Narayana, Brahma, Vishnu, the man-lion and Boar forms. White, red, green, violet, blue, dark-blue, crimson, cloud-colour, fire-colour, honey-colour and twany colour are the nine names.

Kan, tan, jam, pam, Sham, Garutman.

Jam, Kham, ban, Sudarshana. Kham, cham, pham, Sham, the club.

Vam, lam, man, Ksham, conch-shell. Gham, dham Vam, bham, Ham, Shri. Gam, jam, dam, vam, Sham, nourishment.

Dham, Vam, the garland of the forest flowers. Dam, Sam, is for the mystic mark Srivatsa.

Chham, dam. pam, Yam is for the jewel Kaustava.

He should then say “I am Ananta” These are the ten limbs of the Lord of gods.

Garuda is smoke-coloured. The club is white. Pushti (nourishment) is of the colour of a Sirish flower. Lakshmi is gold-hued. The conch-shell is effulgent like the full-moon. Srivatsa is of the colour of a Kunda flower. The garland is of five colours. Ananta is of the colour of a cloud. All the weapons described before are of the hue of lightnings.

According to the light of the science of the lotus-eyed deity one should offer Arghya, Padhya (water for washing feet) &c.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

The assignment of mystic syllables to various deities(?).

[2]:

A mode of intertwining of the fingers during religious worship.