1 MANTRASANA

01 PREPARATION OF A SEAT FOR VIṢŅU

This is found in V also. The seat is prepared with kuśa grass stalks or flowers. Its place is on the edge of the pedestal (A, B, M).¹ Two formulas are mentioned: at first, pra tad viṣṇu² (prescribed by all except BKh and BY). The second formula, astv asanam, is post-Vedic, not mentioned in V, but prescribed by all others: *astv asanam śubham loke bhrśaśuddham tapomayam tapai cayus tatha yogam astu te paramam padam *“a beautiful seat should exist for You in the world, most pure, consisting of ascetical energy; ascetical energy, longevity, and yoga should be yours, and also the highest abode”. -M adds: the priest should meditate on God as seating Himself on the seat, thinking: “there You should seat yourself”.

प्र तद्विष्णुः॑ स्तवते वी॒र्या॑य मृ॒गो न भी॒मः कु॑च॒रो गि॑रि॒ष्ठाः ।

यस्यो॒रुषु॑ त्रि॒षु वि॒क्रम॑णेष्वधिक्षि॒यंति॒ भुव॑नानि॒ विश्वा॑ ॥२॥

अ॒स्त्वा॒स॒नं शु॑भं लो॒के बृ॒सी शुद्ध॑स्तपोमयम् ।
तप॑श्चायुस्त॑था यो॒ग म॒स्तु ते॑ पर॒मं प॒दम् ॥ \

57.1 For all the attendances, KAV gives also the formulas for the worship of the goddesses, Śrī and Bhūmi; for Śrī they are taken from the* Śrīsūkta*³ (RVKhila 5,87) and for Bhūmi mostly from the litany found in TS. 1,3,5,1. Also Viṣṇu’s minor images may be attended to (M, BKh on 79).

02 WELCOME IS SAID TO VIṢŅU

by means of the formula viśvādhikānām jananadikartre dhatre tapoyajñasuvedamūrte survāgatam yatra tu tatra yasmat tat te padam sūribhis svāgatam te (VMP 8,18). This is a good specimen of Vaikhānasa poetic style. Even if the endings of -kartre and *dhatre *in the first half are considered as corruptions of the vocatives -kartar and dhatar, the whole verse does not abound in clarity. What might have been meant is this: “O Creator of all excellent ones (-adika = adhika-?), O primeval Creator, O Institutor, O Personification of ascetical energy, sacrifice, and the excellent Veda; that place is yours, from which a cordial welcome is given to You by the officiants.” The element is non- existent in V and K.A.

वि॒श्वा॒दि॒कानां॒ जन॑नादि॒कर्त्रे॒ धात्रे॒ तपो॑ यज्ञ॒ सुवे॑द मू॒र्ते ।

सु॒स्वा॒ग॒तं यत्र॑ तु॒ (तं) तत्र॒ यस्मा॒त् तत् ते॒ पदग्ꣳ॑ सू॒रिभि॒स् स्वाग॑तन्ते ॥

03 VIṢŅU’S PERMISSION IS ASKED

Not in V, KA. The formula said is* mano ‘bhimantă mānavas sudharmā yan mataram vacaso manasesu / amoghamoghum prativedavedas svakarm janānām anumanyatām idam* (VMP 8,18). This mantra, in which sound-play has a prominent role, is so obscure, that a translation is not ventured on here. The last words show that indeed permission is requested.

म॒नो॒भि॒म॒न्ता मान॑वसु॒द्धर्मा॒ यन्॒ मातरं॒ वच॑सो॒ मान॑सेषु ।

अ॒मो॒घो॒मो॒घं प्रति॑वेद वेद॒ (वेद्य) स्वकं॒ जना॑ना॒म् अनुमन्यतां इदम् ॥

04 WATER FOR WASHING THE FEET IS OFFERED

This is also prescribed by V. Two formulas are said:* trini padā*⁴ and* indro ‘bhimantă manavo vayavaś cápas samagra abhito yasya dadyāt viṣṇo imān vaiṣṇavāms tarpayāmi prasida devādhika tejasainam* (VMP 8,30) “Indra gives his consent, the Manus and the Vāyus, that he (the priest?) will place all waters around him, who… O Viṣṇu, I satisfy these Viṣṇuite beings; O Foremost of the gods, be gracious to him (the priest?) by Your energy.” This second formula is not found in V.

त्रीणि॑ प॒दा वि च॑क्रमे॒ विष्णु॑र्गो॒पा अदा᳚भ्यः । ततो॒ धर्मा॑णि धा॒रय॒न् ॥

इ॒न्द्रो॑ऽभिम॒न्ता म॒नवो॒ वाय॑व॒श्चाप॑स्सम॒ग्रा अ॒भितो॒ यस्य॑ द॒द्यात्

विष्णो॑ इ॒मान् वै᳚ष्ण॒वाग्ं स्त॑र्पयामि॒ प्रसी॑द दे॒वाधि॑क॒तेज॑ सैनम् ॥

60.1 A, K, BK, BKh say, that the water for the feet should be touched beforehand with the formula* tvam stri*. VMP 8,30* tvam stri tvam pumān asi tvam deva kumāra idam nadah kumāri | tvam jirnar tvam gacchasi tvam jato nīvāsir viśvatomukhaḥ* “You are woman, You are man, You, O God, are here a young man and (nadi?) there a young lady; You are the decrepit (one), you go…; You might take Your abode (in this water? the form *nīvāsir *is quite irregular), possessing faces on all sides.”

त्वं ꣳ स्त्री॒ त्वं पुमा॑न् (मानसी) मासि॒ त्वं देव॑कुमा॒र इ॒दं नाद॑: कुमा॒री ।

त्वं जीर्न॒स् त्वं जनिं॑ गच्छसि॒ त्वं जा॒तो नि॑वासीर् वि॒श्वतो॑ मुख: ॥

60.2 Only KA(V) now prescribes guest’s gifts, accompanied by the formulas ā ma vājasya and trir devāh. See 66.

आ मा॒ वाज॑स्य प्रस॒वो जगम्या॒दा द्यावा॑पृथि॒वी वि॒श्वश॑म्भू ।

आ मा॑ गन्तां पि॒तरा॑ मा॒तरा॒चाऽऽमा॒ सोमो॑ अमृत॒त्वाय॑ गम्यात् ॥

1 त्रिर्दे॒व: पृ॑थि॒वी मे॒षए॒ताम् विच॑क्रमे श॒तर्च॑सं महि॒त्वा

2 प्रविष्णु॑रस्तु त॒वस॒स्तवी॑यान् त्वे॒षगꣳ ह्य॑स्य॒ स्थवि॑रस्य॒ नाम॑ ७

05 WATER FOR RINSING THE MOUTH OFFERED

This water is brought to the image’s right hand by means of stalks of kuśa grass. The act is mentioned also by V, together with the formula sam no devīḥ, given likewise by all others. ⁵

शं नो॑ दे॒वीर॒भिष्ट॑य॒ आपो॑ भवंतु पी॒तये॑ । शं योर॒भि स्र॑वंतु नः ॥

śám no devī́rabhíṣṭaya ā́po bhavantu pītáye ǀ śám yórabhí sravantu naḥ ǁ

61.1 To the Four Manifestations, this water is given with the formulas apo hi stha, yoge yoge, samane vṛkşe and pavitram te.⁶

आपो॒हिष्ठा म॑ योभु॒व॒स्ता न॑ ऊ॒र्जे द॑धातन । म॒हेरणा॑य॒ चक्ष॑से ॥

यो व॑श्शि॒वत॑मो॒ रस: तस्य॑ भाजयते॒ह न॑: । उ॒श॒तीरि॑व मा॒तर॑: ॥

तस्मा॒ अर॑ङ्गमाम व: यस्य॒ क्षया॑य॒ जिन्व॑थ । आपो॑ ज॒नय॑था च न: ॥

योगे॑योगे त॒वस्त॑रं॒ वाजे॑वाजे हवामहे । सखा॑य॒ इंद्र॑मू॒तये᳚ ॥ पूतस्तस्य पारे ॥

06 FLOWERS ARE OFFERED

Prescribed by V and all others. They all mention here the formula tad viṣṇoḥ paramam padam.⁷ Only V does not give the second formula:* imāḥ sumanasaś śreṣṭhā divyapuşpadhivāsitāḥ / pūtā brahmapavitreņa pūtās sūryasya raśmibhiḥ* “Here are excellent flowers, fumigated by divine flowers; purified by the purifier which is Brahman, purified by the sun’s rays.” ⁸According to BK, the flowers are put on the image’s head, while those for the Four Manifestations are laid on the pedestal.

तद्विष्णोः᳚ पर॒मं प॒दग्ꣳ सदा॑ पश्यंति सू॒रयः॑ । दि॒वी॑व॒ चक्षु॒ रात॑त॒ग॒ꣳ ॥

इ॒मास्॒ सुमन॑स श्रे॒ष्ठा दि॒व्यपु॑ष्पाधि॒वासि॑त: । पू॒ता ब्र॑ह्मप॒वित्रे॑ण पू॒तास् सूर्य॑स्य र॒श्मिभि॑: ॥

62.1 BP: worship Hari with the (twelve) names Keśava etc., or with 108 names, or with 1008, or with an endless number, for Hari has an endless number of names.⁹

62.2 After 61, V continues with the bath (68). KA now continues with mouth-perfume (86), after which the five attendances of *mantrāsanam *are considered to be closed. It proceeds, like V, with the bath, here called snānāsanam. After the bath, comes the dressing up etc. of the image, combined with the elements 63ff. into the alamkārāsanam.

07 PERFUMES ARE OFFERED

and the part of the image above the navel is rubbed with them (A, M, BKh). Given by all, including V. There are two formulas of which V again mentions only the first: tad viprāsaḥ.¹⁰ The second one runs as follows (VMP 8,30):* ime gandhās surabhino divya- gandhadhivāsitāḥ / pūtā brahmapavitreņa pūtās sūryasya raśmibhiḥ* “here are perfumes, fragrant and fumigated by divine perfumes …” etc., just as the verse for the flowers in 62.

तद्विप्रा᳚सो विप॒न्यवो᳚जा गृ॒वां सस्समिं᳚धते । विष्णो॒र्य त्प॑र॒मं प॒दग्ꣳ ॥

tadviprāso vipanyavo jā gṛvāṃ sassamindhate | viṣṇoryat paramaṃ padagṃ ||

इ॒मे ग॒न्धास् सु॒र॒भिनो॑ दि॒व्य ग॑न्धाधि॒वासि॑त: ।

पू॒ता ब्र॑ह्मप॒वित्रे॑ण पू॒तास् सुर्य॑स्य र॒श्मिभि॑: ॥

08 INCENSE IS OFFERED

For this act three formulas are found in the tradition. The first, paro mātrayā,¹¹ is prescribed by V and all others except BK and BKh. The second is found in all the handbooks except BY, but not in V. VMP does not mention it either on this point. In KAV it is given in full: bṛhaspatir devānām imam yajñam bṛhato me dadatu | bṛhaspativitaye¹²* “Bṛhaspati must grant me this sacrifice from the solid principle; for the feast of Bṛhaspati.” Bṛhaspati in fact is the presiding deity of the incense (48.3). The third formula, ime dhūpāḥ,* is found only in M, KA and VMP 8,31. It is an exact replica of* ime gandhāḥ* cited in 63.

प॒रोमात्र॑या त॒नुवा॑ वृधान॒ नते॑महि॒त्व मन्व॑श्नुवन्ति ।
उ॒भे ते॑ विद्म॒ रज॑सीपृथि॒व्या विष्णो॑ देव॒ त्वं प॑र॒मस्य॑ विथ्से ॥५॥

बृह॒स्पति॒ स्सोम॑न्दधातु॒ बृह॒स्पति॑र्य॒ज्ञं द॑धातु । बृह॒स्पति॑वीतये॒ स्वाहा᳚ ॥

bṛhaspatiḥ somam dadhātu bṛhaspatiḥ yajñaṃ dadhātu | bṛhaspati vītaye svāhā ||

09 A LAMP IS PUT BESIDE THE IMAGE

Given by all including V. There are two formulas: vişnoh karmaṇi¹³* *“see the works of Vişnu…” (this one mentioned also by V) and śubhrā jyotiḥ (VMP 5,25): śubhrā jyotis ca devānām tejaś ca satataprabhaḥ prabhāskaro mahātejā dīpo ‘yam prati- gṛhṇītām. The most likely translation seems to be: “accept this shining lamp of great lustre; it is the auspicious light of the gods and fiery energy of eternal lustre”. This involves the use of *jyotis *as a feminine (always neuter) and of tejas as a masculine (always neuter). The second difficulty has been avoided by KAV, where the mantra is found also. Pāda b is read there as tejaś ca satatam prabho “… and eternal lustre (of the gods), O Lord!”

प्र॒भा॒ऽस्करो महा ते॒जा॒ दी॒पो यं॑ प्रति॒गृह्य॑ताम् ॥

śubhrā jyotiś ca devānāṃ tejaś ca satata-prabhaḥ prabhās-karo mahā-tejā ‘yaṃ pratigṛhyātām

10 GUESTS’ GIFTS (arghyam) ARE OFFERED

Prescribed also in V, which gives also the first of the two formulas:* trir devāḥ*¹⁴* and indriyāṇi.*¹⁵

त्रिर्दे॒व: पृ॑थि॒वी मे॒षए॒ताम् विच॑क्रमे श॒तर्च॑सं महि॒त्वा ।

प्रविष्णु॑रस्तु त॒वस॒स्तवी॑यान् त्वे॒षगꣳ ह्य॑स्य॒ स्थवि॑रस्य॒ नाम॑ ॥ ७॥

इं॒द्रि॒याणि॑ शतक्रतो॒ या ते॒ जने॑षु पं॒चसु॑ । इंद्र॒ तानि॑ त॒ आ वृ॑णे ॥

indriyā́ṇi śatakrato yā́ te jáneṣu pañcásu ǀ índra tā́ni ta ā́ vṛṇe ǁ

66.1 BKh prescribes arghya to the Four Manifestations with the following formulas: hiraṇyagarbhaḥ, idam āpaḥ śivāḥ, tatpuruṣāya, and kayā naś citrāḥ.¹⁶ A, K also allude to these acts.

हि॒र॒ण्य॒ग॒र्भः सम॑वर्त॒ताग्रे॑ भू॒तस्य॑ जा॒तः पति॒रेक॑ आसीत् ।
स दा॑धार पृथि॒वीं द्यामु॒तेमां कस्मै॑ दे॒वाय॑ ह॒विषा॑ विधेम ॥

hi̱ra̱ṇya̱ga̱rbhaḥ sama̍varta̱tāgre̍ bhū̱tasya̍ jā̱taḥ pati̱reka̍ āsīt .
sa dā̍dhāra pṛthi̱vīṃ dyāmu̱temāṃ kasmai̍ de̱vāya̍ ha̱viṣā̍ vidhema ..

कया॑ नश्चि॒त्र आ भु॑वदू॒ती स॒दावृ॑धः॒ सखा॑ । कया॒ शचि॑ष्ठया वृ॒ता ॥
káyā naścitrá ā́ bhuvadūtī́ sadā́vṛdhaḥ sákhā ǀ káyā śáciṣṭhayā vṛtā́ ǁ

66.2 All handbooks except BK and BY say that the* arghya* should be touched beforehand with the formula* agnir indra*. This mantra is not found in VMP on this point. It is rather corrupt and peculiar to the Vaikhānasas.¹⁷

1 (अद॒न्निन्द्र॒) (अगन्न्) इन्द्र श्रवो᳚ बृ॒ह॑द् द्यु॒म्नं दधि॑ष्व (जु॒ष्टरं᳚) दुष्टरं उक्थे॑ शु॒ष्मं त्रि॑रामसि

66.3 BP: of all attendances, arghya is most dear to Hari. It should be prepared in the method of the *madhuparka *mixture (see also No. 48.1).

11 FOR THE SECOND TIME, WATER FOR RINSING THE MOUTH

Prescribed by all including V. The formula is as above (61).

शं नो॑ दे॒वीर॒भिष्ट॑य॒ आपो॑ भवंतु पी॒तये॑ । शं योर॒भि स्र॑वंतु नः ॥

śám no devī́rabhíṣṭaya ā́po bhavantu pītáye ǀ śám yórabhí sravantu naḥ ǁ

12 THE IMAGE IS BATHED

Prescribed by all including V. The formula used is iṣe tvā ūrje tvā.¹⁸ M and BY however mention the formula* apo hi sthā*:¹⁹ *āpo hi sthā mayobhuvas tā na ūrje dadhātana mahe raṇāya cakṣase *“O Waters, You are indeed refreshing, give us the faculty for strength, in order that we behold great joy.”

आपो॒हिष्ठा म॑ योभु॒व॒स्ता न॑ ऊ॒र्जे द॑धातन । म॒हेरणा॑य॒ चक्ष॑से ॥

यो व॑श्शि॒वत॑मो॒ रस: तस्य॑ भाजयते॒ह न॑: । उ॒श॒तीरि॑व मा॒तर॑: ॥

तस्मा॒ अर॑ङ्गमाम व: यस्य॒ क्षया॑य॒ जिन्व॑थ । आपो॑ ज॒नय॑था च न: ॥

68.1 KA has added in its description a number of attendances during this bathing; thus shoes are put in front of the image, its teeth are cleaned, its tongue is cleaned (then KAV: its mouth is washed), it is smeared with sesamum oil, and rubbed with various fragrant products. These acts are accompanied by Vedic mantras. Cf. also 36.6-36.15.

68.2 KA: the bathing can be done with the puruṣasūkta. Here we see influence from other schools, where this Hymn to the Primeval Man (RV. 10,90) may be used for this ceremony or for other parts of the pūjā. The *puruṣasūkta *is given *pratikena *also by VMP.

68.3 A detailed description of the bathing outside the cadre of the pūjā is found above (34-41).

13 THE IMAGE IS RUBBED WITH A PIECE OF CLOTH

( plota vastram)

Prescribed by all ex- cept V. The formula used is* mitras suparṇaḥ* (see 41).

मि॒त्र: सुप॒र्णश्चन्द्र॒ इन्द्रो॑ रु॒द्रस्त्वष्टा॒ विष्णु॑: सवि॒ता गोप॑ति॒स्त्वम् ।

त्वं विष्णु॑र्भू॒तानि॑ त॒ त्रासि॒ दैत्यां॒-स्त्वया॑वृतं॒ जग॒दुल्बे॑नग॒र्भ: ॥१२॥

mitraḥ suparṇaś candra indro rudras tvaṣṭā viṣṇuḥ savitā gopatis tvam |

tvaṃ viṣṇur bhūtāni ta trāsi daityān-tvayāvṛtaṃ jagad ulbena garbhaḥ || 12 ||

69.1 Here begins the *alaṁkārasanam *according to KA. See 62.2.