Chapter XXXIV - Hayagriva worship

Rudra said:—O Hrishikesha! O holder of club! describe again unto me the adoration of the deity. I am not satiated with listening to thy account of adoration.

Hari said:—I will describe unto thee the adoration of the deity Hayagriva. Listen to it, O lord of the universe, by which Vishnu is pleased. O Mahadeva! O Shankara! listen, I will describe first the highly sacred principal mantram of Hayagriva.

Om, Haum, Kshraum, salutation unto the Head (Shirase Namas) Om.

This mantram, consisting of nine letters, gives all sorts of learning. O Mahadeva, O bull-emblemed deity, listen to its limbs.

Om, Kshram, salutation unto the heart. Om, Hrim, salutation unto the head, Svaha. Shiras, Proktam, Kshrum, Vashat. O bull-emblemed deity, the deity’s tuft of hair should be known as being added with Om.

Om, Kshrim, unto the coat of mad, Hum. This is described as the mantram for the coat of mail. Om Kshraum, unto the three eyes, Vaushat. This is the mantram described for the eye. Om, Has, unto the weapon, phat. This is the mantram for the weapon of the deity.

Hear, I will describe the prescription of the adoration. Having bathed first of all and then rinsed his mouth a worshipper should enter into the room of adoration. Entering there he should duly perform the rite of Soshana.

With the mantram Yam, Kshraum, Ram, Lam, he should harden and create an egg, and then cut it open with Om. In the egg he should meditate on the self as Hayagriva, white-hued like a conch-shell, Kunda flower or the moon, effulgent like silver, four-armed, holding conch-shell, discus, club and lotus, bedecked with a garland of forest flowers, of a beautiful mouth and cheeks and clad in a yellow raiment.

Having meditated on this Great Deity along with other gods with the mantram for limbs he should perform the rite of Nyasa with the principal mantram. He should then make Sangka, Padma and other Mudras. Then, O Shankara, with the principal mantram, he should meditate on and adore Vishnu. O Rudra, he should then invoke the presiding gods, of the seat of the Deity.

Om, O ye gods, come to the seat of Hayagriva. Having invoked them in the mystic diagram of Sastika and others he should adore them. O bull-emblemed deity, the adoration of Dhata and Vidhata should be offered in the door, [with the mantram] “Salutation unto Achyuta with his entire family.” This worship should be offered in the middle of the diagram. He should adore Ganga in the door. In the fore part, Yamuna, Mahadevi, Sangka and Padma Nidhis and the Adhara Saktis should be adored. O Mahadeva, he should next worship the tortoise and then Ananta, Earth, religion and knowledge. In the south-east corner he should adore the spirit of disassociation from the world and prosperity. In the east he should adore irreligion, ignorance, worldliness and poverty. He should adore the qualities Sattva, Rajas and Tamas in the middle of the diagram. He should also adore there Nanda, Nala and the lotus. The orbs of the sun, the moon and fire, O Rudra, should also be adored in the centre of the diagram. O bull-emblemed deity, Vimolotkarshini, Jnana, Kriya, Yoga, Prarhi, Satya, Ishana, Anugraha—these Saktis should be adored in the eastern petals and Vimala and others in the pericarp. Anugrahas should be adored by men seeking well-being. With the mantrams formed of their names in the dative form beginning with Pranava and ending with Namas the worshipper, O Mahadeva, should adore the seat. The most auspicious adoration of the seat should be made with the offerings of bathing water, scents, flowers, incense, lamps and edibles.

I have thus described the prescription, O Hara. He should next invoke the deity, Hayagriva, the king of the celestials. He should think of his arrival through the left nostril. The invocation rite of the god of gods, the holder of conch-shell, should be performed, O Shankara, with the principal mantram. Having invoked his spirit in the mystic diagram a careful worshipper should perform the rite of Nyasa. Having performed the Nyasa he should meditate on the Great Ishvara as being stationed there———the great deity Hayagriva, adored of the celestials and Asuras. Having meditated on the undecaying Vishnu accompanied by Indra and other guardian deities of the quarters he should make the Mudra Sangka, Chakra and others. He should next offer unto Vishnu water for washing feet, Arghya and water for rinsing mouth. Then he should bathe the changeless, lotus-navelled deity. Having duly placed the image of the deity, he should first dedicate to him, raiment, O bull-emblemed deity, then water for rinsing mouth and sacred thread. Thereupon in the mystic diagram, O Rudra, he should meditate on the Great Ishvara. Having meditated on him, O Shankara, he should again offer unto him water for washing feet and other articles. He should offer these with the principal mantram, O Shankara.

With mantram “Om, Ksham, salutation unto the heart” he should adore the heart. With the mantram “Om, Kshim, salutation unto the head,” he should adore the head. With the mantram “Om, Kshum, salutation unto the tuft of hair,” he should adore Shikha. With the mantram “Om, Ksham, salutation unto the coat of mad,” he should adore the coat of mail. With the mantam “Om, Kshaum, salutation unto the eye” he should adore the eye. With the mantram “Om, Kshas, salutation unto the weapon” he should adore the weapon.

In the eastern and other sides he should adore the heart, the head, the tuft of hair and the coat of mail. O Rudra, in the corner of the diagram he should adore the weapon and the eye in the centre. In the eastern side he should adore the conch-shell, the lotus, the discus and the club. O Rudra, again in the eastern side with those mantrams describing their names, he should adore the sword, mace, noose, and the bow with the arrows. O Rudra, he should next adore in the east, the mystic mark Srivatsa, Kaustava, garland, the sacred yellow raiment as well as the holder of conch-shell, discus and club. He should next adore Brahma, Narada, Siddhas, the great preceptor, the shoes of the preceptor, those of the great preceptor, Indra, his carrier and the entire family, Agni, Yama, Nirhiti, Varuna, Vayu, Soma, Ishana, and Nagas, from the east upwards, O bull emblemed deity. He should next adore thunderbolt, Sakti, rod, sword, noose, standard, club, trident, discus, lotus and other weapons. In the north-east corner he should worship Vishvaksena, with these mantrams beginning with Om and ending with Namas (salutation) O bull-emblemed deity. O Mahadeva, O bull-emblemed deity, adoration of the deity Ananta should be made with the principal mantram. He should next offer scents, flowers, incense, lamps, and edibles. He should circumambulate the deity, bow unto him and recite his name. With the following hymn beginning with om he should chant his glories, O bull-emblemed deity.

Om, Namas, salutation unto Hayasira, the master of learning. Salutation again and again unto him of the form of learning, and the giver of the same. Salutation unto the deity of a quiescent soul, identical with three gunas, the destroyer of the celestials and Asuras and of all wicked beings. Salutation unto him of the form of Brahman, the lord of all the worlds. Salutation unto him adored of Ishvara, the holder of conch-shell and discus. Salutation unto the first cause, who is self-controlled, devoted to the well-being of all creatures, invested with three gunas, devoid of them, identical with Brahma and Vishnu, the creator, destroyer, the king of the celestials and present everywhere.

Having recited this hymn, O Rudra, a worshipper should meditate in his pure lotus of the heart, on the god of gods, the holder of conch-shell, discus and club, effulgent like a Koti suns, perfectly beautiful—Hayagriva, the undecaying impersonal self. O Shankara, I have thus described unto thee the adoration of Hyagriva. He, who reads it with great reverence, attains to the most exalted station.