Chapter 29 - The mode of the charitable gift of Hiraṇyagarbha

Sanatkumāra said:

1. The first holy rite Tulā has been mentioned to you in a general form. I shall mention Hiraṇyagarbha, the second in the series. This rite is the bestower of all Siddhis.

2-3. The bottom vessel shall be macle with half a thousand gold pieces. The upper vessel shall be made with half that number. The mouth shall be just wide enough for its entry.^[1] Thus, the golden vessel shall be made embellished with all ornaments. In the lower vessel the devotee shall remember the goddess Māyā having the three Guṇas.

4. He shall remember the goddess of twenty-four^[2] principles with the forms of Brahmā, Viṣṇu and Agni. In the upper vessel he shall remember about the lord of Umā, the twenty-sixth^[3] principle beyond the Guṇas.

5. He shall meditate on the Ātman as the Puruṣa, the twenty-fifth^[4] principle, the deity born at the outset, in the middle of the spot mentioned before on the upper surface of the Altar.

6. Śāli rice shall be put into the pot and the pot shall be wrapped in fresh cloth. After applying the powdered residue of black gram dal on it, it shall be worshipped with five articles of worship^[5].

7. The devotee shall worship it with the five mantras Īśāna etc. duly. The worship of Śiva and Homa shall be performed as before in due order.

8-10. The devotee shall repeat Gāyatrī and sit facing the east. After performing all these rites the excellent brahmin shall perform rites beginning with Garbhādhāna using the sixteenfold articles of worship.^[6] The sprinkling shall be made in the right hand side nostril with the tender sprouts of the Dūrvā grass along with the fruits of the Udumbara tree. Water shall be sprinkled twenty-one times by means of the Kuśa grass. In the rite of Sīmanta also water shall be sprinkled in the north-eastern direction.

11-13. With thirty gold coins a splendid image of a girl shall be made and the rite of marriage be performed. After embellishing the idol and performing Homa, the same shall be dedicated to Śiva.

In the course of the rite of Annaprāśana the learned devotee shall feed himself with milk pudding, etc. Thus the rites beginning with impregnation (Garbhādhāna) shall end with the rite of Viśvajita. All these rites shall be performed with the help of brahmins who are masters of Vedas. The rites shall be performed by repeating the Śaktibīja mantra.

The remaining rites shall be performed like the Tulāhema rite (mentioned before.)

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

saṃveśamātraka [saṃveśamātrakam]—with a narrow opening, of the form of modern ‘surāhī’.

[2]:

Caturviṃśatikāṃ devīm—i.e. Prakṛti constituted of twenty-four tattvas.

[3]:

ṣaḍviṃśaka [ṣaḍviṃśakam]—the twenty-sixth principle, i.e., the transcendent puruṣa Īśvara.

[4]:

pañcaviṃśaka [pañcaviṃśakam]—the twenty-fifth category, namely, the individual soul, the enjoyer of Prakṛti. Cf. Liṅga I.28. 7; II.17, 26-27.

[5]:

pañcadravya [pañca-dravyeṇa]—pañcopacāra [pañcopacāraiḥ] Śivatoṣiṇī. with the five articles of propitiation.

[6]:

ṣoḍaśamārga [ṣoḍaśa-mārgeṇa]—in the manner as enjoined in the treatises dealing with the sixteen saṃskāras.