Chapter XXIII - Description of another form of Shiva worship

Suta said:—I will describe the adoration of Shiva by which religious profit, desire &c. are secured. With three mantrams beginning with Om and ending with Svaha the mouth should be rinsed with water.

Om, Ham, salutation into the principle of self. Hirm (Hrim?), salutation unto the principle of learning. Om, Hum, salutation unto the principle of Shiva Svaha. The ears should be closed with the heart.

Om, ham, yam, Svaha, are the mantrams for bathing with ashes and offering oblations of water. All the gods and all the Munis should be adored with the mantram “Salutation bhaushat.”

All the Pitris and all the Pitamahas (patriarchs) should be adored with mantrams ending with the word Svadha.

Om, Ham, salutation unto the great grand-fathers. The same is for the maternal grand-fathers; [The next is] Ham, salutation unto all the Matris. Then the vital airs should be suppressed. Then he should rinse his mouth with water, rub his body and recite the Gayatri [which is as follows].

Om, Ham, Tan Maheshaya Vidmahe, Vagvishudhaya dhimahi Tanno Rudra Prachodayat.

Then having placed near the sun he should adore him with Surya (sun) mantrams. [It is] Om, ham, Him, Hum, Haim, Haum, Has salutation unto Shiva Suryya. Om, Ham salutation unto Kakolka, the form of the sun. Om, Hram, Hrim, Sas, salutation unto the sun. In the same way [the attendants of the sun] Dandina and Pingala should be remembered. Then in the south-east and other corners of the mystic diagram Vinata, Isha and other powers of the sun should be adored with great felicity. Then he should adore Padma with the mantram Ram, Dipta with the Srim, Sukshma with rum, Jaya with rem, Bhadra with raim, Bibhuti with rom and Vimala with Raum. He should adore lightnings with Ram, in the east and other quarters, rom in the middle and ran on all sides. He should adore the seat of the sun, the form of the sun and the sun itself with the mantram “Hram, Hrum, Sas.”

Om and am are the mantrams for the heart of the sun and his head and tuft of hair. Raum is for heaven, sky and earth. The burning mantram Hum is for the coat of mail; astram is for the initiated queen. The worshipper should adore all in the heart of the sun.

Som is the mantran for Soma, Man for Mangala, Vam for Budha, Vrim for Vrihaspati, bham for Bhargava, Jum for Shani and ram for Rahu. With Ram one should adore Ketu and with Om the solar disc.

Having adored the sun and rinsed his mouth with water he should assign all the fingers beginning with the youngest.

Ham, Him is the mantram for the head, Hum for Sikha (tuft of hair), Haim for coat of mail, Haum for eyes and Hos for the weapon. Having thus placed the Sakti he should perform again the nyasa of bhuta-suddhi (purification of elements).

Then making a vessel of arghya, he should sprinkle it with water and then adore the self as being stationed in the lotus, in the exterior with the mantram “Salutation unto Shiva,” then Nandi and Mahakala at the gate, then Ganga, Yamuna, the goddess of speech, (the mystic mark) Srivatsa, the presiding goddess of the land, Brahma, Gana, the preceptor, Sakti and Ananta in the middle pericarp, Dharma (the god of virtues and others, in the east and other sides, the god of sin (Adharma) and others in the south-east pericarp, Yama and Jejeshtha in the middle pericarp, Raudri, Kali and Shivasita in the eastern pericarp of the lotus of the heart. Then the Valavikarini should be adored with the mantram “Om, Haum, salutation unto Valavikarini”. The goddess of strength, which subdues all creatures, should be next adored. Then in the pitha before Shiva Manonmani should be adored. He should then make a seat for Shiva and his great image. He should invoke the spirit of Shiva within the image. He should then perform the rites of Sthapanam (installation of the image), Sannidhana, Nirodha, Sakalikarana, Mudra, Arghya, Padya, Achama, Abhyanga, Udvarta, Snana (bathing) and Nirmanchana (rubbing). Next he should offer raiments, unguents, flowers, incense, lamps, charu (a kind of food) water for rinsing mouth, delightful habitation, betel, umbralla, chowries, and sacred thread. He should then imagine the form of one God, recite his name and dedicate it to him. With eulogy, bowing and [meditation in the] heart this adoration of Namanga (Name and limbs) should be finished. Agnisha should be placed in the north-west. He should then adore Indra and other deities and Chanda and dedicate to them offerings, saying “Thou art the mysterious of the mysterious and the protector. Do thou accept this my recitation. O god, may I, by thy favour and on thy being present here, attain success. O god! O thou the giver of fame! do thou destroy all my actions, good or bad whatever 1 have done who am of the dignity of Shiva. Shiva is the giver, Shiva is enjoyer and Shiva is the entire universe. Shiva is victorious everywhere. I am myself Shiva. O Shiva! thou art"the saviour and the leader of the universe. Save thee I have no other lord.”

I shall now describe another method of the adoration of Shiva. Gana, Sarasvati, Nandi, Mahakala, Ganga, Yamuna, and the presiding deity of the house—all these should be assigned to the eastern gate. Then shouldjbe adored Indra and other deities, earth, water, fire, air, sky, smell, taste, form, sound, touch, speech, hand, feet, the organ of generation, ear, skin, tongue, nose, mind, egoism, nature, man, anger, malice, learning, proper time, improper time, fate, illusion, pure learning, Ishvara (creator) and Sadasiva.

Having known all these as the powers of Shiva an emancipated person, having the true knowledge of the deity, becomes himself Shiva. [He should also meditate] “He who is Shiva is Hari and Brahma.”