14. Method of Preparation of Holy Ash (Bhasma)

Bṛhajjābāla Upaniṣad describes the preparation of holy ash thus:

“Ā gāva aśmannuta bhadramakran” (the cows have eaten and are resting safely) and so on in the mantra to be chanted. Then, with the Mantra, “Gāvo Bhāgo, Gāva Indro me acchāt” (may Bhaga, the bestower of food, and Indra, the bestower of water unto all beings, vouchsafe protection unto me), he should make the cow eat grass and drink water; he who has taken to the vow of Śrauta-Bhasma i.e., the preparation of ashes in the manner prescribed in the Vedas, after fasting on the fourteenth day of either the bright or the dark lunar fortnight, rising up early the next morning and cleansing himself, keeping his mind composed after performing his morning ablutions and other daily austerities, clad in cleanly washed clothes, should untether the cow after milking it. After causing the cow to rise up, should it by lying down, even with effort, he should collect its urine, all the while uttering the Gāyatri, and keep it in a vessel made of gold, silver, copper or earth; or in the absence of these, either in a lotus or Palāśa leaf, or even in the horn of a cow; then uttering the Mantra, “Gandhadhvārām durādharṣām nityapuṣṭhām karīṣiṇīm” and so on, the house holder should receive the cow dung in a clean vessel (made of gold or other material as aforesaid)

[...] Bṛhajjābāla Upaniṣad III.10

Even before it reaches the ground. The wise man should then purify the cow dung by uttering the Mantra, Śrī me bhajatu, alakṣmīr me naśyatu” and so on, taking care to see that the cow dung is devoid of any grains of corn. Then should he pour the urine into the cow dung with the Mantra, “Sam tvā siñcāmi” and so on; then with the Mantra, “Pañcānām tvā vātānām yantrāya dhartrāya gṛhṇāmi” and so on, he should make fourteen balls out of the cow dung and, drying them up by way purifying them with the rays of the sun, he should gather them thereafter.

Then should he place the dried cow dung balls in the vessel aforesaid and, having kindled the domestic sacred fire in the manner prescribed in the Gṛhyasūtras adopted by his progenitors, he should worship the fire and throw in the balls as oblations unto it, uttering the Praṇava both before and after each separate syllable of the six syllable Sūkta, respectively presided over by the Pañcabrahmans and Parabrahman as deities, with the word “Svāhā” added at the end of each;

[...] Bṛhajjābāla Upaniṣad III.15

And then the wise man should offer the two ghee offerings (silently) with the two Āghāra-Mantras, “Agnaye svāhā” and “Somāya Svāhā”, and then should he offer (uttering aloud) the Vyāhṛtis (Bhūr-bhuvasasuvassvā hā) unto the god presiding over the syllables of the Sūkta; then with the twenty three Mantras, beginning with “Nidhanapataye namaḥ” should the ghee oblations be made; so also with the Mantra, “Namo hiraṇyabāhave” and so on; thus the Pañcabrāhmans should be offered the oblations in this manner; having thus offered all the oblations with Mantras ending with the dative termination, the knower should offer oblations with the Mantras, “Ṛtam satyam param brahma”, “kadrudrāya pracetase mīdhuṣṭamāya tavyase,” and Yasya vaikaṃkatīti ca; “likewise with the three Mantras, “Anājñātam yadājñātam” and so on, and also with the three Vyāhṛtis; he should thereafter offer the Sviṣṭakṛt and Pūrṇāhutis; then, after dropping what remains of the fuel into the fire, and likewise pouring off the water remaining in the vessel once full (but now depleted), he should fill the vessel once again with fresh water uttering the yajur Mantra, “Pūraṇamasī” and so on, and sprinkle that water over his head, uttering the Mantra, “Brāhmaṇeṣvamṛtam” and so on, after sprinkling the water symbolically over the eight points of the compass with the Mantra, “Prācyām diśi devaḥ” and so on.

[...] Bṛhajjābāla Upaniṣad III.21

Then after giving away the present (dakṣiṇa) unto Brahma, he should fetch Pulaka (yellow orpiment) for abatting the rigour of the fire and uttering the Mantra, “Āhariṣyāmi devānām” and so on (I shall cause thee, O fire, to be enkindled once again for protecting the austerities intended for the propitiation of the gods and shall presently cover thee with yellow orpiment), he should then cover the fire with yellow orpiment.

The covering with yellow orpiment is said to be for sustaining the fire to glow for three days. After the austerities are over, he should, after feeding the Brāhmaṇas, himself eat, remaining silent all the while. He who wants a large quantity of ashes should collect a large quantity of cow dung in the course of three days or a single day. On the morning of the third or the fourth day when the fire has abated, after taking his ablutions and performing his austerities, clad in white robes, investing himself with a perfectly white sacred thread, wearing a garland of white flowers, with his body smeared with white sandal paste and his teeth shining with a pure white lustre, smeared with ashes, uttering the Mantra, “Om, Tadbrahma” and so on, the knower of the Mantra should remove the yellow orpiment and the ordinary ashes, and gather the fourteen balls of sacred ashes alone in the vessel originally used; invoking the Paramātman, Śiva, therein and worshipping him with the sixteen customary marks of respect (upacāra) he should extinguish the fire. He should extract the fourteen balls of ashes out of the fire uttering the Mantra “Agner Bhasmāsi, agneḥ purīṣamasi” and so on, and bringing them together with the Mantras, “Agniriti Bhasma” and so on, mix the ashes either with perfumed waters or with the urine of the tawny coloured cow and throw into the ahses, uttering the Brahma Mantra “Om” refined camphor,

[...] Bṛhajjābāla Upaniṣad III.29

The flower (Kumkuma) and tuberous root of the saffron plant (Kāśmīra), the fibrous root of the Uśīra grass, sandal wood and the three kinds of Āgaru wood, all of them finely pulverized and filtered; the knower should turn them dexterously into cakes with the Mantras, “Om iti Brahma” and “Aṇoraṇīyān mahato mahīyān” and so on, and preserve it in a suitable receptacle, worshipping it every day.^[1]

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Ibid III. 5-31.