Part 3.8 - Installation of water pots (Kumbha-sthapana)

[Full title: Consecration ritual (pratishtha-vidhi) (8) Kumbha-sthapana (Installation of water pots)]

One should install the pots, one made of gold, one of silver, one of red copper and earthenware pots, solid, without stains, well baked, having the shining of a ripe bimba fruit (Momordica Monadelpha) having the capacity of half a drona, without cut and crack on the platform, in order. The size of pot of Siva should be double in size of the vardhani. One should clean all of them, reciting the astra mantra. Then reciting the sarvatma-mantra, one should roll a good white thread all around them, leaving free spaces of a barley seed only like a net done on the body of the pot and the space between the meshes is very small. Then he should fill water with mixed with sandal paste, in those pots prepare all of them with a bunch of kusa grass, a lid, new shoots in their opening, making them attractive and sprinkling their body with sandal powder, adding unbroken decorticated rice, tie a cloth on their neck. After selecting one among them, he should place it on the south side of the Linga, near his head. He should place an attractive pot for Sakti on the north and eight pots, which are the Vidyesvaras in the eight directions. After placing these pots, one among them which is for Siva, five gems placed and in all remaining pots he should place gold. After causing the auspicious day declaration, after sprinkling with Siva water, one should worship Sadasiva in the Siva pot, worship Manonmani in her pot and the Vidyesas in the directions with sandal paste, flowers etc. Then the fire-ritual should be performed. In the Kalasa, the life of the Supreme Being is invoked from the Surya mandala (Sun god) and then the fire rituals are began (Yagasala arambha). 192 193 191 Ajitagama (Kriya), 18.135-137 192 Ajitagama (Kriya), 18.138-143 aa; Karanagama (Purva) 59.104-108 and 111-124 a 193 Ajitagama (Kriya). 18.143-147 102

Fire-ritual during Consecration (Agnikarya during Pratisthavidhi):- There should be recitation of Vedas, Rgveda etc in the cardinal points. Acarya should recite the astra mantra in the south west and worship Siva in the north east. After performing the best preparation of the Agni-kunda, the fire, the liquid butter, the ladle etc., the acarya should perform the oblations in each fire-kunda. Or, after doing the preparation of fire in the main fire-pit and placing the fire in the other kunda, he should cause the murtipas to perform the oblations in all kundas. At the beginning of an oblation, in all cases, he should worship fire with sandal paste; flowers etc., reciting the mantra and bija of fire 194 then worship the deities ruling the fire pits (Yaga -kundas), uttering the Siva-mantra, then in all cases feed the mouth of fire with clarified butter. 195 The substances to be used for fire ritual are woodsticks, clarified butter, caru, parched rice, mustard, barley, sesamum, mudga, masa, kulattha, bamboo seeds and wild rice, reciting the mula-mantra, the Brahma-mantra and the anga mantra successively 100 times or half of that in each fire-pit. Everywhere, the wood of Palasa is praised for the main fire-pit (Yaga-kundas), those of plaksa, udumbara, asvattha and vata for the fire pits (Yaga -kundas) starting from the east, south, west and north successively, those of sami, arka, mayura, khadira for the agni-kundas in the south-east etc. and in all other remaining fire-pit (Yaga-kundas) situated in the outer series wood of udumbara should be taken. 196