Concept of Nirmālya (in Śaiva ritual manuals)

The concept of Nirmālya is deeply discussed in various Śaiva ritual manuals. This concept manifests some socio-ethical dimensions and thus has cultural importance.

Īśānaśivagurudevapaddhati divided Nirmālya into six types:

1. Devadravya,
2. Devasva,
3. Naivedya,
4. Nivedita,
5. Caṇḍadravya and
6. Nirmālya.

1. Devadravya: Materials belonging to the deity like clothes, ornaments and incenses.

2. Devasva: Divine Properties like Village, temples and cows.

3. Naivedya: Rice and other things prepared for the worship of deities.

4. Nivedita: The cooked rice and other things which were offered to the deity.

5. Caṇḍadravya: Materials offered to the Caṇḍeśa, the Nirmālyadhāri of Śiva, one of the ancillary deity.

6. Nirmālya: Various kinds of things thrown away from the sanctum sanctorum, which had been offered to the deity.^[1]

In this context Īśānaśivagurudevapaddhati quoted the verses of Bhojarāja and says that, if one eats the Nirmālya; he becomes a man of lowest caste, if one steps over it; losses his own Siddhi (divine powers), if one smells it; that person becomes reborn as wolf; in touching one becomes a woman, if one sells it; one becomes a Caṇḍāla.^[2] Thus, the concept of Nirmālya in Īśānaśivagurudevapaddhati and the quotation of Bhoja throw light on the fact that the earliest Śaiva scriptures has shared various views about the concept of Nirmālya.

The Śaiva ritual manuals give a wide range concept of Nirmālya, the divine properties. Somaśambhupaddhati states that the offered-materials to Caṇḍeśa, cow, land, gold, garments, jewel ornaments etc. are divine materials.^[3] The Śaiva ritual manuals Pratiṣṭhāparameśvara and Prāyaścittasamuccaya of Trilocanaśiva mention six types of Nirmālaya, which is similar to that of Īśānaśivagurudevapaddhati^[4] Here Prāyaścittasamuccaya of Trilocanaśiva, states that villages, female slaves (Dasī), grain, cross-roads are included as Devasvam.^[5] If they are stolen intentionally, Trilocana prescribes reciting the Aghoramantra two lakh times and if unintentionally, one lakh times as expiation.^[6] Trilocana also deliberates that if one should give away the Nirmālya, he becomes a flesh eater in his next birth; if one eats it, he becomes a man of lowest origin (Mātaṅga); if one steps over it, he losses success (Siddhihāni); if one smells it, he becomes a wolf; if one burns the Nirmālya inappropriately, he becomes a Caṇḍāla; if one sells it, he becomes a wild tribal (Śabara); by touching the Nirmālya, one becomes a woman.^[7]

Trilocana prescribes various expiations related to Nirmālya. It mentions that, if one eats the Nirmālya unknowingly, he should recite the whole Saṃhitāmantra one lakh times, if one intentionally eats it, he should act a re-initiation for purification.^[8] And it also suggests the recitation of Brahmamantra and Aghoramantra for touching, stepping over, eating and smelling of Nirmālya.^[9] Most of the Śaiva scriptures say that consuming of the Nirmālya is a sinful act.

Īśānaśivagurudevapaddhati has established various types of expiatory rites for all sins. They are:

1. Vrata,
2. Upavāsa,
3. Kṛcchracandrāyaṇa,
4. chanting of Mantra,
5. Homa sacrifice,
6. Dāna,
7. bathing in Tīrtha,
8. Śivārccana etc.^[10]

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

nirmālyabhedāḥ ṣaṭvidhāste'pi tadyathā |
devadravyaṃ ca devasvaṃ naivedyaṃ ca niveditam ||
caṇḍadravyaṃ ca nirmālyam teṣāṃ lakṣaṇamucyate ||
vastrabhūśaṇagandhādyaṃ devadravyamiti smṛtam |
devasvaṃ devasambandhi grāmakṣetrādi godhanam ||
devārthaṃ kalpitānnādyaṃ naivedyaṃ nāma tat punaḥ |
niveditākhyamutsṛṣṭaṃ caṇḍadravyaṃ ca tādgatam ||
garbhāgārād bahiḥkṣiptaṃ nirmālyaṃ tanna saṃspṛśet |
ṣaḍvidhaṃ cāpi nirmālyaṃ nopayuñjyāt kadācana || Īśānaśivagurudevapaddhati 3.20.15-19.

[2]:

Īśānaśivagurudevapaddhati, 3.19-20.

[3]:

Somaśambhupaddhati, 1.5.6-7.

[4]:

Cf. Pratiṣṭhāparameśvara, 17.165-166; Prāyaścittasamuccaya of Trilocanaśiva, 193-95.

[5]:

Prāyaścittasamuccaya of Trilocanaśiva, 193-95.

[6]:

Ibid., 196-197.

[7]:

Ibid., 202-203.

[8]:

Ibid., 204.

[9]:

Ibid., 204-218.

[10]:

Īśānaśivagurudevapaddhati, 3.20.38.1-2.