Chapter XXI. Individual Shāntis

Volume V: Part II pp. 748–814

Chapter XXI. Individual Shāntis

It is now time to turn to individual śāntis, mostly post-vedic. The first is Vināyaka-śānti or Gaṇapatipūjā. This is performed at the commencement of all saṁskāras such as upanayana and marriage in order that the fruit thereof may be had without obstacles or for averting the evil effects of portents or in order to mitigate the adverse effects of the death of a sapiṇḍa or the like. When it is performed for its own sake it should be performed on the 4th tithi of the bright half, on Thursday and the auspicious nakṣatras Pusya, Śravaṇa, Uttarā, Rohiṇī, Hasta, Aśvinī, Mṛga-śīrṣa, but when performed at the commencement of Upanayana or the like, one may perform it at a time suited to the time of the principal rite. The saṅkalpa is given below.¹ In H. of Dh. vol. II pp. 213-216 it has been shown in the earliest stages represented by the Mānava-gṛhya and Baijavāpa-gṛhya which speak of four Vināyakas, all were evil spirits, how in the next stage represented by the Yājñavalkyasmṛti (I. 271-294). Vināyaka is not only represented as causing obstacles (Vighna-kṛt) but also as bringing success in all actions and rites (Vighnahṛt) and how later on it was prescribed that Gaṇapati-pūjā must be done first in all rites (Gobhila I. 13). Yāj. I. 293 provides² that by worshipping Vināyaka in the way pres-cribed and also the planets, a person secures success in his undertakings and the highest prosperity. The Viṣṇudharmottara II. 105. 2-24 borrows the verses of Yāj. I. 271-292, though not in the same order and adds a few. The Brahmāṇḍa provides³ that Gajānana must be worshipped for success in all desires, in all saṃskāras such as Garbhādhāna and Jātākarma, when starting in a commercial undertaking, at the time of battle, in the worship of gods, in troublous timeṣ The Bhaviṣyottara chap. 144 has a śānti called Gaṇanāthaśānti which resembles the Vināyakaśānti of Yāj.

In the Yājñavalkya-smṛti (I. 294-308), the Vaikhanasa-smārta-sūtra (IV. 13-14), the Baudhāyana-gṛhyaśeṣasūtra, the Matsya-purāṇa (93. 1–105), the Viṣṇudharmottara I. 93–105 and other purāṇas, in the Bṛhad-Yogayātrā (chap. 18. 1–24), and in the medieval digests provision is made for a śānti rite to the nine grahas, viz. the Sun, the Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn (mentioned in the order of the week-days), Rāhu and Ketu. This navagrahāśānti is the model (prakṛti) of all śānti-homās in all medieval digestṣ The Vaikhānasā-smārtasūtra⁴ provides that all religious rites should be preceded by this nava-graha-śānti. Yājñavalkya⁵ says 'one desirous of prosperity, of removing evil or calamities, of rainfall (for crops), long life, bodily health and one desirous of performing magic rites against enemies and others should perform a sacrifice to planetṣ' The Matsya (93. 5-6) states that the navagrahamakha is of three kinds, viz. Ayutahoma (in which 10000 oblations are made), Lakṣahoma and Koṭihoma. The first is described at length in Matsya 93. 7–84, Lakṣahoma in 93. 85–118, Koṭihoma in 93. 119–139. The Matsya further provides⁶ that Ayutahoma should be performed in marriages, festivals, sacrifices, establishment of images and other rites, in order that no obstacles should arise therein and on occasions when the mind is perturbed or when some evil omen or unusual event happenṣ The procedure in Yāj. being concise and probably the earliest among the extant works on grahayajña is set out here, with a few additions from Matsya and Vaikhānasa. The images of the nine planets should respectively be made of copper, crystal, red sandalwood, gold (for both Mercury and Jupiter), silver, iron, lead, bronze or (if all these be not avail- able) they should be drawn on a piece of cloth with powders having colours appropriate to each planet or should be drawn on circles with fragrant substances (such as sandalwood paste). The Matsya ¹²⁰² (93. 11-12) prescribes that in drawing the images the Sun should be in the middle, that Mars, Jupiter, Mercury, Venus, Moon, Saturn, Rāhu and Ketu should be established with grains of rice respectively in the south, north, north-east, east, south-east, west, south-west and north-west. Yāj. (I. 298) proceeds garments, flowers and fragrant substances

| Planet | Mantra in Yāj. I. 299-301 | Mantra in Matsya 93. 33-37. | Mantra in Vaikhānasa-smārta-sūtra IV. 14. | |---|---|---|---| | Sun | Ā kṛṣṇena, Ṛg. I. 35 2 | Same. | Ā satyena (Tai. S. III. 4. 11. 2) | | Moon | Imaṃ devā, Vāj. S. IX 40, X. 18. | Āpyāyasva Ṛg. I. 91. 16 or IX. 31. 4. | Somo dhenum (Ṛg. I. 91. 20, Vāj. S. 31. 21) | | Mars | Agnir-mūrdhā divaḥ kakut, Ṛg. VIII. 44. 16, | same | same | | Mercury | Udbudhyasva, Vāj. S. 15.54, Tai. S. IV. 7.13.5 | Agne Vivasvad-uṣasaḥ, Ṛg. I. 41. 1 | Same as in Yāj. | | Jupiter | Bṛhaspati ati yad-aryah Ṛg. II. 23. 15. | Bṛhaspate pari diyā rathena, Ṛg. X.103. 4 | Same as in Yāj. | | Venus | Annāt pari-srutaḥ, Vāj. S. 19.75, Maitrā. S. III. 116. | Śukraṃ te anyat, Ṛg. VI. 58. 1. | Same as in Matsya | | Saturn | Śan-no devīḥ, Ṛg. X. 9. 4 | same | same | | Rāhu | Kāṇḍāt, Vāj. S. 13. 20, Tai. S. IV. 2. 9. 2, | Kayā nas-citra, Ṛg. IV. 31. 1. | Same as in Matsya | | Ketu | Ketuṃ kṛṇvan, Ṛg. I.6.3. | same | same | of the colour ⁸ appropriate to each should be offered to the planets, also offerings should be made, guggulu is to be the incense for all planets and oblations of boiled rice accompanied with the mantras ( specified below ) should be offered respectively to the nine planetṣ

The Viṣṇudharmottara (I. 102. 7-10) gives the same mantras as Yaj. does, Bhaviṣya (IV. 141. 34-36) gives the same except for Rāhu, for which it gives ‘ Kayā naścitra,’ as in Matsya. Padmā (V. 82. 30-32) is same as Matsya. Yaj. then proceeds (I. 301-302) that in homa for each of the planets the fuel sticks (samidh)⁹ were to be 108 or 28 anointed with honey or clarified butter or with curds or with milk and they were respec- tively to be of the arka plant, palāśa, khadira, apāmārga, pippala, audumbara, śamī, dūrvā and kuśas for the sun, the moon and so on in order. A man ¹⁰ of the three varṇas should honour brāhmaṇas according to the prescribed procedure (wash- ing their feet &c.) and feed them respectively (Yāj. I. 304) with boiled rice mixed with jaggery, or cooked in milk and sugar, sacrificial food (havisya), boiled rice from paddy becoming ripe in 60 days from sowing mixed with milk, boiled rice with curds, boiled rice with ghee, boiled rice with pounded sesame, rice mixed with meat, rice of various colours, for the sun, the moon and so on in order or with food that is available and according to his ability. The dakṣiṇā (fee) to the brāhmaṇas should be a milch cow, conch, draught bull, gold, garment (vāsas), a horse (white), dark cow, iron weapon, a lamb, in honour respectively of the sun, moon and so oṇ The Viṣṇudharmottara (I. 103. 1–6) contains the same feeṣ¹¹ He should offer special worship to that planet that may be unfavourably situated (as regards his nakṣatra or horoscope) at a particular time. Yāj. winds up by saying that the rise and fall of kings depend on planets (vide note 800 for this verse). Viṣṇudharmottara (I. 106. 9–10) also has the same verse. Kṛtyakalpataru (on Śāntika, folio 5 b) quotes Bhāviṣya to the effect that planets are always favourable to him who abstains from injury to others, who is self-restrained, who acquires wealth by righteous means, and who always observes the niyamas (restrictive rules of conduct as in Yāj. III. 313). The Śāntimayūkha (p. 21) also quotes this verse.

The Vaikhānasa-smārtasūtra (IV. 13) provides slightly different kinds of naivedya food for the nine planets (as in note 1205) and prescribes separate Vedic mantras for the presiding deities (of the planets) to whom oblations of ghee were to be offereḍ The Matsya remarks at the end of the description of Ayutahoma: ‘just as armour is a protection against the wounds by arrows, so śānti (graha-yajña) is protection against the strokes of Fate.’¹²

The Matsya (93. 92) declares¹³ that Lakṣahoma is ten times of the Ayutahoma and Koṭihoma is one hundred times of Lakṣa- homa in the matter of oblations, fees and rewards, that the pro- cedure of invoking and bidding goodbye to the planets and presid- ing deities, the mantras for homa, bath and gifts are the same in Lakṣahoma and Koṭihoma. The Matsya gives¹⁴ the warning that a sacrifice devoid of distribution of food burns (i. e. brings disasters on) the country, devoid of (proper) mantras burns the officiating priests, devoid of (proper) fees burns the sacrificer; there is no enemy as (disastrous as) a sacrifice and that a poor man should not start on a Lakṣahoma, since wrangling (about food or fees) in a sacrifice always causes trouble or misfortune (to the sacrificer). The Bṛhadyogayātrā of Varāha (chap. 18 verses 1-24) deals with grahayajña and closely follows Yaj. though some details are added here and there. Verses about the sun are quoted below (n 1213). The Yogayātrā also (chap. 6) deals with the same matter. The Agnipurāṇa (chap. 164) is a wholesale copy of Yaj. (I. 295-308). The Matsya (in chapter 239) again deals with Koṭi-homa which continues for a year. The Matsyapurāṇa (chap. 94) contains nine verses on the manner in which the figures of the nine planets were to be drawn or painted and these are quoted by the Mitākṣarā on Yaj. I. 297-298 and by Kṛtyakalpataru (on śānti) folio 5a. Vide Koṭihoma in list of vratas (p. 290).

The Grahayajña in Yaj. is short and simple, but in some purāṇas such as the Bhaviṣyottara (141. 6-85) and medieval and modern works it has become an elaborate affair by the addition of numerous detailṣ One or two details may be pointed out. Each planet was supposed to have a gotra and was¹⁵ deemed to have been born in a certain country (vide note 875 p. 588 for the countries of the birth of planets). Therefore, in invoking the presence of each planet these two details have to be added (as specified below in the note for the sun by way of illustra- tion). The gotras of the grahas from the Sun to Ketu are respectively Kāśyapa, Ātreya, Bhāradvāja, Ātreya, Aṅgirasa, Bhārgava, Kāśyapa, Paithiṇasa, Jaimini. The Saṁskāra-tattva of Raghunandana (p. 946) sets out from Skanda the gotras and countries of birth of the nine grahas and provides that if worship is offered to them without mentioning the gotras and countries that would be disrespectful to theṃ The Grahayajña may be simple ( kerala ) as in Yāj. or Ayutahoma or Lakṣahoma or Koṭihoma. A few further remarks are added here from the Agnipurāṇa (chap. 149 ), Narasiṁha-purāṇa (chap. 35 ), Matsya (chap. 93 and 239 ), Bhaviṣyottara (chap. 141 and 142 ), Atharva-pariśiṣṭa XXXI (for Koṭihoma ) and other workṣ The Kṛtyakalpataru¹⁶ ( Rājadharma ) quotes the Brahma-purāṇa as follows: The king should perform two Lakṣahomas every year and one Koṭihoma which confers freedom from the fear of all calamities and he should at once perform a Mahāśānti that removes all evil consequences when there are eclipses of the Sun and the Moon and an earthquake. The Agni ( 149.12 ) says Ayutahoma confers slight success, Lakṣahoma drives away all distress, while Koṭihoma tends to destroy all kinds of trouble and confers all desired objectṣ' The Viṣṇudharmottara (II. 36. 3-4 ) states that Aśvapati, father of the famous pativratā Sāvitrī performed a Lakṣahoma with the Sāvitrī ( Gāyatrī ) mantras for securing a soṇ ‘There is no utpāta in the world that is not conjured away by Lakṣahoma; there is no more auspicious thing that surpasses Lakṣahoma. In the case of the king who gets a Koṭihoma performed by brāhmaṇas the enemies cannot stand up against him in battle: excessive rainfall, drought, mice, locusts, parrots, evil spirits and the like and all enemies on the battle-field are conjured away from hiṃ¹⁷ The Bhaviṣyottara (142. 11-12 ) calls Koṭihoma a śānti rite, which yields all desired objects, by which even grave sins like brāhmaṇa-murder are removed at once, all utpātas are conjured away and great happinesṣ followṣ Bhaviṣyottara (chap. 142. 7-54 ) contains an elaborate procedure of Koṭihoma and also a briefer one (in chap. 142. 56-80 ). Atharva-pariśiṣṭa (No. 31 ) describes the procedure of Koṭihoma; it was to be begun on an auspicious tithi in the bright half, on the muhūrta called Vijaya and on one of the nakṣatras viz. Rohiṇī, Puṣya, Anurādhā, the three Uttarās, Abhijit, Mṛgaśiras, Śravaṇa, Citrā, Revati. The firepit was to be of eight cubits (for Lakṣahoma half of this), the brāhmaṇas may be 20, 100, 1000 or even one crore, who should offer fuel sticks anointed with ghee. The Bṛhadyoga- yātrā¹⁸ verses are quoted below.

Some of the medieval works like the Śāntimayūkha (p. 12) quote verses from the Skandapurāṇa that state how the unfavo- unable aspect of Saturn led Saudāsa to eat human flesh, that of Rāhu made Nala wander over the earth, that of Mars led to Rāma's banishment to forest, that of the Moon led to the death of Hiraṇyakasipu, that of the Sun brought about the fall of Rāvaṇa, that of Jupiter led to the death of Duryodhana, that of Mercury made the Pāṇḍavas do work not fit for them, that of Venus led to the death of Hiraṇyākṣa in battle.

Some of the medieval digests (nibandhas) such as the Dharmasindhu lay down that certain special gifts should be made when any one of the planets is unfavourable to a persoṇ They are set out here from the Dharmasindhu (p. 135). For the Sun—Ruby, wheat, cow, red garment, jaggery, gold, copper, red sandalwood, lotuses; for the Moon—rice grains in vessel made from bamboo, camphor, pearl, white garment, jar full of ghee, a bull; for Mars—coral, wheat, masūra pulse, red bull, jaggery, gold, red garment, copper; for Mercury—blue garment, gold, bronze vessel, mudga pulse, emerald, slave girl, ivory, flowers; for Jupiter—topaz, turmeric, sugar, horse, yellow corn and yellow garment, salt, gold; for Venus—garment of various colours, white horse, cow, diamond, gold, silver, unguents, rice grains; for Saturn—sapphire, māṣa beans, sesame and sesame oil, kulittha (pulse), she-buffalo, iron, dark cow; for Rāhu— gomeda (a kind of gem of four varieties), horse, blue garment, blanket, sesame and sesame oil, iron; for Ketu—cat's eye gem, blanket, sesame oil, blanket, musk, lamb, garmentṣ In the author's youth these directions about dānas (gifts) were followed by many people and even now they are being followed to some extent. The Madanaratna (on Śāntika-pauṣṭika, folios 5 a to 7 a) gives separate śānti procedure for each of the grahas from the Sun to Ketu from the Bhaviṣyottara. Another śānti refers to the placating of Saturn when that planet occupies the 12th, 1st and 2nd rāśis from the rāśi of a man's birth. This is roughly a period of seven years and a half and is called 'sārdha-sapta-varṣika-piḍā' in Sanskrit and 'sāḍe-sāti' in Marāṭhī. The śānti consists in worshipping an image of Saturn made of iron placed in a vessel of iron or clay, covered with two dark garments or a blanket and offering to it dark and fragrant flowers, food or rice mixed with sesame. That food and the image are to be donated to a dark brāhmaṇa or to some brāhmaṇa with the mantra 'śan no devīr' (Rg. X. 9. 4). If the worshipper be a śūdra he is to repeat a paurāṇika¹⁹ mantra (noted below) which refers to Nala getting back his kingdom by placating Saturṇ This should be done every Saturday for a year or one should every day repeat the mantra containing ten names of Saturn (in note 1214) and should also repeat a Śanistotra (eulogy of Saturn) every morning. By doing so the trouble that Saturn causes for seven and half years is averteḍ

Some of the medieval digests try to furnish an accurate definition of Śānti. Only one may be cited here. The Śānti-mayūkha²⁰ of Nīlakaṇṭha (first half of 17th century A. D.) defines it as a rite prescribed by the śāstra, which (rite) has its motive or urge sinfulness that is not clear (i.e. that is only inferred or presumed), that removes evil effects relating only to this world, and the performance of which does not lead on to siṇ The first clauses excludes gifts made to remove diseases like tuberculosis;²¹ the 2nd clause distinguishes śāntis from sacri- fices (intended to secure other worldly rewards) and prāyaścittas (that yield consequences in this world as well as in the next) and the last clause distinguishes śāntis from rites of black magic (for destroying one's enemies or securing a married woman's love &c.) which is sinful.

The number of śāntis is legioṇ They are prescribed for conjuring away the effects of rare natural phenomena such as eclipses, earth-quakes, rainfall (of peculiar kinds, of blood &c.) hurricanes, fall of meteors, comets, halos, Fata Morgana; for protection against the evil effects of the positions and movements of planets and stars for the world and for individuals; for strange births among human beings and animals; for the good of horses and elephants; for certain untoward happenings about Indra's banner and about images of gods falling or weeping, the cries of birds and beasts, the fall of lizards and the like on a person's limbs and on certain stated periods or on solemn occasionṣ

All rites of Śānti, Pauṣṭika rites and the Mahādānas were to be performed in ordinary fire, since there is no authority to prove that they are to be performed in śrauta fires or in smārta fire. Manu 3. 67 and Yāj. I. 97 refer only to ceremonies laid down in the Gṛhyasūtraṣ On Yāj. I. 285-86 the Mitākṣarā prescribes ordinary fire for offerings in Vināyaka-śānti. Vide also Śānti-mayūkha p. 4.

Both Manu ²² and the Viṣṇudharmasūtra prescribe that homas in which the Sun is the deity worshipped and Śāntihomas should be performed by a householder on the parvans (i. e. on Paurṇamāsī and Amāvāsyā). These were śāntis at fixed periodṣ Similarly, when a person, male or female, of any caste completed sixty years, there was the possibility that he may die soon, or that he may lose his mother or father or his wife or sons or that various diseases may affect him; for removing this danger a śānti is prescribed (and is often performed even now) in order that he may enjoy a long life, be free from all calamities and for his complete prosperity. This is called Ṣaṣṭyabdapūrti (completion of sixty years) or Ugrarathāśānti.²³ One of the oldest available descriptions of the Ugraratha- śānti is found in the Baudhāyanagṛhyasūtra (V. 8.). It is brief and the main items in it are set out here. It should be performed in the month of one's birth and on the nakṣatra of birth. A vedi as large as a bull's hide should be made, a jar full of water should be placed thereon and on the jar an image of Mṛtyu (Death) manufactured with two niṣkas (i. e. gold probably weighing as much) should be placed in the south-east corner; worship should be offered to the image and a japa of each of the mantras ‘apaitu mṛtyuh’ (‘may Death go away', Tai. Br. III. 7. 14. 4), 'param Mṛtyo' (O Death! follow the path beyond &c.', Tai. Br. II. 7. 14. 5 and Ṛg. X. 18. 1), ‘mā nas-toko’ (O Rudra! do not injure our progeny' &c., Tai. S. III. 4. 11. 2 and Ṛg. I. 114. 8), and 'Tryambakam' (‘we offer sacrifice to Rudra', Tai. S. I. 8. 6. 2 and Ṛg. VII. 59. 12) be made 108 times; he offers oblations of cooked food with the puronu vākya (invitatory prayer) 'mā no mahāntam' (O Rudra! do not destroy our grown up ones &c.', Tai. S. IV. 5. 10. 2 and Ṛg. I.114. 7) and the Yājyā (offering prayer) ‘Mā nas-toke’ (Tai. S. III. 4. 11. 2 and Ṛg. I 114. 8). Then he makes subsidiary offerings of ghee with each verse of the Ghṛtasūkta. ²⁴ Then he sprinkles himself with water from the jar to the accompaniment of mantras from the Mṛtyusūkta, from the Āyuṣyasūkta and with Paurāṇika mantras, honours the officiating priest, gives dakṣiṇā to the brāhmaṇas and a dinner.

There is a Mṣ (of only three folios in D. C. No. 609 of the year 1882–83, now in the Bhandarkar Oriental Institute at Poona) which deals with this śānti attributed to Śaunaka and is called Ugrarathaśānti at the enḍ The śānti is to be performed on the day or nakṣatra of one's birth. On that day the person of 60 years should take an auspicious bath, perform his daily religious duties, should invite brāhmaṇas and choose one to officiate who is learned in the Vedas and Vedāṅgas and is well conducteḍ First Gaṇeśa worship should be performed, then puṇyāhavācana, worship of Mother goddesses, then nāndīśrāddha. He should bring together sarvauṣadhis²⁵ twigs and leaves of five trees, five jewels, pañcagavya, and pañcāmṛta; then worship of nine planets should be performed; an image of Mārkaṇḍeya was to be made from one pala or ½ pala or ¼ pala and the image was placed in a jar full of water surrounded by two garments; he should offer the 16 upacāras and offer to Mārkaṇḍeya 1008, or 108 or 28 or eight offerings of fuel sticks, boiled rice, ghee, dūrvā, superior dishes with the mantra (quoted below²⁶). Then he should make a homa in honour of Mṛtyuñjaya (Śiva) with oblations of dūrvā grass and sesame 10000, or 5000, or 3000 or one thousand in number and then he should sacrifice separately to the secondary objects of worship, viz. Aśvatthāman, Bali, Vyāsa, Hanumat, Bibhiṣaṇa, Kṛpa and Paraśurāma. Then he should perform a homa with fried grams according to his ability and should recite Śrīsūkta,²⁷ Rudra, the Āyusya-mantras, the Puruṣasūkta and specially the complete recitation of the Veda; he should finish the homa and offer pūrṇahuti; then water from the jar should be sprinkled over the yajamāna (i. e. person who has completed 60 years ), his wife and his near relatives; then there should be a japa of śānti hymn, the Puruṣasūkta, the mantra Rg. X. 18. 1. the Āyusya hymn, Pāvamāna hymn (hymn to Soma from Rg. IX. ), the six verses of Śivasankalpa (Vāj. S. 32. 1-6 ), and Mahāśānti. Then the jar should be donated and the garments rendered wet by the abhiṣeka and a decked cow with calf should be donated to the officiating priest; ten dūnas²⁸ to brāhmaṇas and gold weighing one hundred mānas; he should perform āyāvekṣaṇa and offer 'bali' (to all beings, crows &c.); he should then receive the blessings of the brāhmaṇas and put on a new garment; then he should have nīrājana performed and bow to deities and feed a thousand or a hundred brāhmaṇas and then himself partake of food along with his relativeṣ Whoever performs this śānti, according to the rules prescribed for grahaśānti, would certainly live for a hundred years, all misfortunes will vanish and all prosperity will be hiṣ The prayoga (procedure of this śānti) is given below ²⁹ since it is often performed even now.

It is difficult to say why this śānti was called Ugraratha. Another śānti on the completion of 70 years or on the 7th night of the 7th month of the 77th year is called Bhīmarathī-śānti, according to the Śabdakalpadruma, which quotes some verses from Vātsyāyana without stating what work is meant ^{1223 a}. Bauḍ gṛhyasūtra I. 24 prescribes a śānti for one who has lived up to 100 years or one who has seen 1000 amāvāsyāṣ

The general rule about the time for śāntis is that no definite time can be fixed for them, since śānti rites are performed with the object of removing the evil consequences of men's lapses suggested by such indications (or omens) as dreams, the evil aspects of planets and the like i. e. they are to be performed as and when omens or portents occur or are observed and one should not wait for such times as the northward passage of the Sun, bright fortnight and that one may perform śāntis even in the southward passage of the Sun or even in an intercalary month.³⁰ If there is no hurry, then a śānti was to be performed on an auspicious week-day, an auspicious tithi and on certain nakṣatras, viz. the three Uttarās, Rohiṇī, Śrāvaṇa, Dhaniṣṭhā, Śatatarakā, Punarvasu, Svāti, Maghā, Aśvinī, Hasta, Puṣya, Anurādhā and Revatī.³¹ As regards the Lakṣahoma the Matsya (93. 86) prescribes that it should be performed after securing favourable planets and Tārās (stars). Vide also p. 290 above about Koṭihoma prescribed by the Atharva-pariśiṣṭa (XXXI pp. 187-191). The Matsya prescribes that a Koṭihoma should be begun in Caitra or Kārtika (239. 20–21); the invisibility of Jupiter and Venus and similar matters need not be considered when a śānti has to be performed immediately on the occurrence of an omen (or portent) or when the śānti is meant for alleviating the disease from which a person may be suffering.

As against several adbhutas and utpātas, texts prescribe a rite called Mahāśānti. The Śāṅkhāyana Gr. (V. 11) speaks of a Mahāśānti, when an ant-hill grows in one's house, which has been referred to above on p. 730 note 1162. The details of a Mahāśānti differ in different texts and on different occasionṣ The Ad-bhuta-sāgara provides that where no specific details about śāntis against certain utpātas like a fall of meteors are prescribed one should have recourse to a śānti consisting in homa offerings to the accompaniment of one million repetitions of the sacred Gāyatrī verse ('tat-savitur' &c. Rg. III. 62. 10) or to the Mahāśānti called Abhayā according to the nature (grave or light) of the omen or portent.³² In the Marāṭhī commentary on the Nirnayasindhu (p. 233) about the question of a rite on the first appearance of a woman's monthly illness a japa of Mahāśānti is prescribed after an elaborate homa and worship and the Mahā- śānti is explained as consisting of the recitation of Rg. I. 89. 1–10 (beginning with ‘ā no bhadrā’), Rg. V. 51. 11–15 (beginning with ‘svasti no mimitām &c.’) and Rg. VII. 33. 1–15 (begin- ning with ‘śan-na Indrāgni’). The Bhaviṣyottara (143. 2–46) describes a Mahāśānti to be performed at a king's coronation, on his marching out on an invasion, when one has bad dreams or inauspicious omens (nimittas), when the planets are un- favourable or when there is lightning and the fall of meteors, when a Ketu appears, in a hurricane, earthquake, birth on a Mūla nakṣatra or Gaṇḍānta, on birth of twins, when parasols and banners fall on the ground, when a crow, owl or pigeon enters a house, when malefic planets are retrograde (especially in the nakṣatra or rāśi of birth), when Jupiter, Saturn, Mars and the Sun are in the 1st, 4th, 8th or 12th houses (in a person's horoscope), when there is anih yuddha; when garments, weapons, horses and cows, or jewels and hair are lost, or when rainbow is seen at night in front, when the beam on a house pillar is smashed, when a she-mule conceives, on eclipses of the Sun and the Moon—on these a Mahāśānti is commendeḍ The procedure is briefly as follows: Five learned and well-conducted brāhmaṇas should officiate in a maṇḍapa ten or twelve cubits on each side, in the midst of which there should be a raised platform four cubits on each side and in the south-east corner of that platform there should be a kuṇḍa (receptacle for fire). Five jars should be placed, four in the four intermediate quarters (south-east &c.) and the fifth in the middle of the platform and numerous things such as twigs and leaves of some plants, jewels, sandalwood, mustard grains, śami and dūrvā, kuśas and grains of rice should be collected thereon; Vedic mantras such as ‘āśuḥ śiśāno’ (Rg. X. 103. 1) on north- west, ‘iśa vāśya’ (Vāj. S. 40. 1) on north-east, were to be recited over the jars, worship is to be offered with gandha, flowers, lamps, fruits like cocoanut to the jars and fire should be placed in the kuṇḍa with ‘agnim dūtam’ (Rg. I. 12. 1), seat (āsana) should be offered with the mantra ‘hiranyagarbhaḥ’ (Rg. X. 121. 1), then pāyasa should be cooked to the accompaniment of Puruṣa- sūkta (Rg. X. 90), eighteen fuel sticks of śami and seven palāśa ones should be cast into Agni, seven āhutis of clarified ghee and seven of rice boiled in milk should be offered to Agni with a mantra ‘Jātavedase’ (Rg. I. 99. 1), four more with the hymn 'tarat sa mandi' (Rg. IX. 59), seven with 'yamāya' (Rg. X. 14 13) and again seven with 'idam Viṣṇur' (Rg. I. 22. 17) and 27 āhutis to the 27 nakṣatras, then performance of 'sviṣṭakrt' homa, grahahoma with sesame covered with ghee, then prāyahoma; thus ends the homa; then the yajamāna sitting on a throne of kāśmarya wood should have sprinkled over him to the accompaniment of drum-beating and conch-blowing water from the five jars with five different mantras, then an offering to all the directions (digbali) with the mantra ‘salutation to all bhūtas’. After the bath, brāhmaṇas recite a śānti over him after letting fall a stream of śānti water all round; then puṇyāha-vācana and then close of the śānti rite, then gifts of land, gold, beds, seats according to the person’s ability to brāhmaṇas; he should treat to a sumptuous meal the poor and helpless and men learned in the Veda. On doing this he secures long life, quick victory over enemies, even difficult undertakings succeeḍ

The huge work Adbhutasāgara is mostly concerned with rare natural phenomena such as halo, rainbows, hurricanes, glowing horizon (dūprāhā), meteors, comets, earthquakes, rain without clouds, red rain, shower of fish, Fata Morgama &c.

A few words must be said about some striking ones out of these. First comes earthquake. The Br. S. (32. 1-2) puts forth four theories of his predecessors about the cause of an earthquake viz. it was caused by huge animals dwelling inside the seas (view of Kāśyapa) or according to others (Garga) it was caused by the heavy breaths emitted by the elephants of the quarters when tired by carrying the weight of the earth; others (like Vasiṣṭha) said that earthquake noise is caused by the winds striking against each other (in the sky) and falling on the earth; other ācāryas (like Vṛddhagarga) held that an earthquake was caused by adṛṣṭa (i. e. by the sins of the people on the earth ³³). In verses 3-7 of Br. S. (chap. 32) Varāha narrates the myth that mountains had in the dim past wings and the earth being much shaken by their movements approached Pitāmaha (Brahmā) and Brahmā seeing her sad plight asked Indra to discharge his thunderbolt for clipping the wings of mountains and for removing the anger (or sorrow) of the earth; Indra did so, but he told the earth that Vāyu, Agni, Indra (himself) and Varuna would (each) at different parts of the day and night make the earth shake in order to indicate (to mortals) the fruits of their good and bad deedṣ In Br. S. 32, 8–22 Varāha describes the spheres and premonitory signs of Vāyu, Agni, Indra and Varuna with the nakṣatras and the countries they affect. The Adbhuta- sāgara (pp. 383–409) quotes most of the verses of Varāha and pres- cribes śāntis for each of the four deities that are deemed to be con- nected with earthquakeṣ The Adbhutasāgara refers to earthquakes that happened when angry Arjuna got no sleep after he made a vow that he would kill Jayadratha before the next day’s sunset (Droṇaparva 77. 4) and when Duryodhana challenged Bhima for a mace fight (Śalyaparva 56. 10 and 58. 49).

It should not be a matter for surprise that ancient and medieval Indians regarded earthquakes as punishments sent by God for the sins of meṇ The English poet Cowper gives vent to this belief in his poem ‘Timepeace’.³⁴ The most distinguished Indian of modern times viz. Mahātmā Gandhi, regarded the earthquake in Bihar that occurred on January 15, 1934, and affected an area of about 30000 square miles and a population of about 15 millions and that killed thousands and made millions homeless, as God’s punishment for the prevalence of the evil system of untouchability in Hindu³³ society. To the natural and usual query why God should punish a small country or a small community with frightful earthquakes and overwhelm- ing waves when other countries and millions of other people are guilty of the same misdeeds, Cowper endeavours to give a reply in the lines quoted above. It appears that, in spite of the beliefs now discredited, Vrddha Garga and Varāha appear to have also believed that comets had orbits like planets and were visible in the firmament at certain long intervals of time.

The rules to be observed about eclipses have already been stated above (pp. 243–250). Though the real causes of lunar and solar eclipses were known long before the time of Varāha-mihira as shown above (p. 242, n 622) this knowledge was not accepted by the masses for centuries and even now many people in India still entertain the old beliefs about eclipseṣ³⁶ Varāha criticises ancient writers like Vrddha Garga and Parāśara who prophesied an eclipse when five planets including Mercury came together or there were such nimittas as halo of the Sun, dim rays³⁷ (Br. S. V. 16–17). Here the Śānti for it will be briefly describeḍ One view was that an eclipse was auspicious³⁸ to a person, if the eclipse occurs when the Sun or the Moon is in the 3rd, 6th, 10th or 11th rāśi (zodiacal sign) from the rāśi of birth and it is inauspicious when any one of the two is in 2nd, 5th, 7th or 9th rāśi from that of birth and it is inauspicious when the eclipsed sun or moon is in the 1st, 4th, 8th and 12th rāśi from the rāśi of birth. The view of Garga was that if an eclipse occurs when the sun or moon is in the rāśi of the birth of a person or if any of them is in the 1st, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th or 12th rāśi from that of birth or if any of them occupies the nakṣatra of the birth of a person or the 9th nakṣatra from that of birth, it leads to calamities for that persoṇ If an eclipse occurred when the Sun or Moon occupied the nakṣatra of the day of the coronation of the king, that portends the ruin of the kingdom, the loss of friends and the death of the king.³⁹ Atri said that when the eclipse of the Sun or Moon occurs in the nakṣatra of a person's birth, disease, journeys and death are portended, and great danger for the king (whose nakṣatra is so affected). The averting of evil would follow if the man makes gifts and is engaged (that day) in worship of gods and `japa`.⁴⁰ Several modes of śānti are pre-scribed, particularly for him whose rāśī or nakṣatra of birth or one of three nakṣatras (viz. that of birth, the one preceding and the one following the nakṣatra of birth) is occupied by the eclipsed Sun or Mooṇ One way is to make the figure of a serpent (that represents the demon Rāhu) with gold or flour and to donate it to a brāhmaṇa. Another was to make a serpent out of gold weighing a `pala` (i.e. 320 `guñjās`) or one half, one fourth or one eighth `pala` and to fix a jewel on its hood and place the serpent figure in a vessel of copper, bronze or cast iron full of ghee and donate it with a `dakṣinā` and also donate a silver disc of the moon and a golden serpent when it is a lunar eclipse and a golden disc of the Sun and a golden serpent when it is a solar eclipse. Further gifts of a horse, chariot, cows, land, sesame, ghee and gold also are recommendeḍ The mantra accompanying the gifts addressed to Rāhu is quoted below.⁴¹ The Nirṇayasindhu also sets out a far more elaborate śānti from the Matsyapurāṇa, which is passed over for reasons of space.

The fall of meteors (`ulkā`) required a śānti. There were several beliefs about theṃ Garga held that they were missiles discharged by the Lokapālas⁴² who send down flaming meteors as missiles for indicating (coming) auspicious or calamitous eventṣ Another view was that they were really souls that fell down to the earth (for fresh births) after enjoying in heaven the favourable results of their actionṣ⁴³ Meteors are often referred to in the epics as falling on serious occasions e. g. the Śalya-parva mentions ⁴⁴ the fall of a flaming meteor accompanied by a great noise and whirlwind when Duryodhana fell in the macefight with Bhīma. In Droṇaparva a flaming meteor is referred to as indicative of the coming death of the great ācārya and warrior Droṇa. The Adbhutaśāgara (pp. 342-344) quotes a long passage (of 23 verses) from Ātharvaṇādbhuta about the fall of meteors ⁴⁵ by day. It is said therein that such a fall of meteors by day portends the destruction of the country and its king and therefore a Mahāśānti called Amṛtā should be performeḍ There is an Ātharvaṇa-pariśiṣṭa LVIII b on ulkā, but the Adbhutaśāgara verses do not appear to have been extracted from that.

Certain natural phenomena, though they may be called utpātas if they occur at certain times, are not to be regarded as such at certain other timeṣ In Br. S. 45. 82 Varāha says that certain occurrences natural to certain seasons do not lead to any unfavourable consequences; one should know them from the verses composed by Ṛṣiputra that are concise. Then he proceeds: in Madhu and Mādhava (Caitra and Vaiśākha) the following occurrences lead to good viz. lightning, meteors, earth-quake, glowing twilight, noisy whirl-winds, halo (of Sun and Moon), dust in the sky, vapour (in forest), red sunrise and sunset; possibility of getting from trees food, rasas (sweet &c.), oily substances, numerous flowers and fruits; and amorous activities among cows and birdṣ The following are beneficial (auspicious) in summer (Jyeṣṭha and Āṣāḍha) viz. sky rendered dusky by the fall of stars and meteors, or in which the appearance of the Sun and the Moon is dark-brown, which is full of fiery glow without a flaring fire, loud noises, vapour, dust and winds, in which evenings are like red lotus and which look like a stormy sea, and when rivers are dried up. In the rains (Śrāvaṇa and Bhādrapada) the following portend no danger viz. rainbow, halo (of Sun and Moon), lightning, dried trees giving out fresh sprouts, the earth quaking or rolling or showing other than its usual appearance, noises in the earth or gaps therein, or when lakes increase in expanse of water or rivers rise up (in floods), or when wells are full or when houses on hills roll dowṇ In Śarad (Āśvina and Kārtika) the following are not of evil import viz. the sight of divine damsels, ghosts, gandharvas, air conveyances and other adbhutas; the planets, nakṣatras and other stars becoming visible by day in the sky; noises of song and music in forests and on mountain peaks; abundance of crops and reduction of waterṣ In Hemanta (Mārgaśīrṣa and Pauṣa) the following are auspicious viz. the presence of cool winds and frost, loud cries of birds and beasts, the sight of rakṣas (evil spirits), Yakṣas and other (usually invisible) beings, non-human voices, directions darkened by vapour together with the sky, forests and mountains, the appearance of the rise and setting of the Sun at a higher point than usual. The following appearances are auspicious in Śiśira (Māgha and Phālguna) viz. the fall of snow, portentous winds, sight of terrible beings and adbhutas, sky resembling dark collyrium and rendered reddish-yellow by the fall of meteors and stars, the birth of various strange issue from women, cows, sheep, mares, beasts, and birds, strange appearances of leaves, sprouts and creeperṣ These when seen in the proper seasons are auspicious in those respective seasons, but when seen at other than the proper seasons they are very terrible portentṣ Two verses ⁴⁶ about Madhu-Mādhava and the last one (Br. S. 45. 84-85 and 95) are quoted below. The Br. S. further provides¹²⁴¹ that whatever Gāthās (prakrit verses or simply verses) are recited by persons of distracted intellect, the utterances of children and what women mutt to be wrong and that a person that understands utpātas, even though he may be devoid of mathematics (about planets), becomes famous and a favourite of the king, and by knowing the secret (or esoteric) words of the sage (Ṛṣiputra) which are stated (by me), a person sees the past, the present and the future.

Another very curious portent mentioned in the Mahā-bhārata, Kauśikasūtra ¹²⁴² (kaṇḍikā 105), Matsya (243), Viṣṇu-dharmottara, Bṛhatsaṁhitā and the Adbhutasāgara (pp. 425–436), Hemādri on Vrata vol. II (pp. 1078-79) and Madanaratna (on śānti, folio 54b) is the trembling, dancing, laughing and weeping of the images of godṣ The Bhīṣmaparva¹²⁴³ refers to the images in the temples of the Kaurava king doing these actṣ In the encounter of Hiraṇyakaśipu with the Man-lion form of Viṣṇu the Matsyapurāṇa⁵¹ states 'the images of all gods shut and open their eyes, laugh, weep, scream, emit smoke, blaze, and these signs indicate that great danger impendṣ' In the Atharvaṇa-pariśiṣṭa⁵² LXXII this matter is treated (in prose). It says 'there are portents called divya which occur in temples; they (images) laugh, sing, weep, shriek, perspire, cause smoke to issue out of them, they blaze, they tremble, open their eyes and shut them, blood oozes from them, they move to and fro.' These strange phenomena are said to forebode drought, danger from weapons, famine, epidemic in the country and destruction of the king and his ministers (or relatives). The śānti prescribed in the same Atharvaṇa-pariśiṣṭa (4. 7) is as follows: one should boil pāyasa in the milk of 108 kapilā cows; if such cows are not available one should cook pāyasa with the milk of one hundred milch cows; he should put on the fire fuel-sticks with ends towards the east, should spread round the fire darbha grass and should offer oblations (of rice) in fire to the accompaniment of the mantras addressed to Rudra⁵³ and called Raudra-gaṇa and also offer clarified butter (in fire). He should present white flowers, he should treat brāhmaṇas with boiled rice and should donate the same cows (the milk of which was used for cooking pāyasa) or donate the kingdom for a limited period for the satisfaction of a brāhmaṇa; he should give to the officiating priest a thousand cows and donate a good village.

Now śāntis on the birth of human beings should be referred to. There are several śāntis concerning the birth of a human being, such as a child's birth on Mūla, Āśleṣā, Jyeṣṭhā nakṣatras, on gaṇḍanta, on the 14th tithi of the dark fortnight or on amāvasyā, on Vyatīpāta-yoga or on Vaidhṛti or in an eclipse, or on the birth of twins, or when a girl is born to a person after three successive births of sons or a son is born after three successive births of girlṣ Some of these śāntis are performed even now. Therefore two of them which are still in vogue, though gradually becoming infrequent, are briefly described here. The consequences of birth on Mūla, Jyeṣṭhā and Āśleṣā are more or less similar. Here the śānti for birth on Āśleṣā is briefly set out.

The Āśleṣā nakṣatra has a mean measure of 60 ghaṭiṣ It is to be divided into ten parts in order ⁵⁴ viz. 5, 7, 2, 3, 4, 8, 11, 6, 9 and 5; birth of a son in these parts indicates in order the loss of kingdom, death of father, death of mother, addiction to lovemaking, he has devotion to father, has strength, loses property, has proneness to charity, pleasures, wealth. If the nakṣatra be divided into four parts, birth in the first part is auspicious but in the other three parts indicates loss of wealth, death of father, death of mother. If the child is a girl born on the last three quarters of Āśleṣā indicates the death of the future mother-in-law of the girl; if the child be a boy and is born in the last three quarters of Āśleṣā, that indicates death of his future mother-in-law. One should perform a śānti for birth on any quarter of Āśleṣā, either on the 12th day from birth, or if that be not possible, on the next Āśleṣā or on any auspicious day. On that day he (the father or other performer) should make a saṅkalpa ⁵⁵ as noted below after performing the Gomukḥaprasava-śānti. He should worship Rudra and Varuṇa on two jars, should invoke the serpents, the lords of Āśleṣā, on an image placed on the figure of a lotus with twentyfour petals, the lord of Puṣya nakṣatra, to the south of the jar (for serpents) and the pitṛs (the lords of Maghā) to the north of Āśleṣā jar and invoke on the twentyfour petals, beginning from the petal which is due east and proceeding to the right therefrom, twentyfour deities beginning with Bhaga, the lord of Pūrva Phalguni up to Aditi, lord of Punarvasu; then he should invoke the lokapālas (eight); then worship all the deities invoked, establish fire (for homa) and the planets and perform anīi-hūtiim (putting fuel on the sacred Agni). After the anīti-hūtiim of the Sun and other planets he should offer to the principal deities, viz. the serpents, 108 or 28 of each of the materials viz. pāyasa mixed with ghee, fuel sticks, clarified butter and boiled rice, to Bṛhaspati and pitṛs 28 or 8 offerings of the same materials and to the 24 deities (of nakṣatras) viz. Bhaga and the rest eight āhutis of pāyasa to each with the verse 'rak-oahanam' (Rg. X. 87. 1). The other deities are to be worshipped as in śānti for birth on Mūla nakṣatra and the offerings and mantras are to be the same as in that śānti. A śānti for the birth of a child on the 14th tithi of the dark half is still in vogue and the author knows about it personally; it is described at length in the Madanaratna (folio 24 from Gārgya) and in Śānti-kamalākara. The śānti on the birth of a child on Mūla nakṣatra is described in Madanaratna from Garga (folio 27b to 28b, ) one peculiarity of which is that the father had to collect one hundred roots of trees and plants (mūla means 'root'). Vide also Śānti-kamalākara (folio 77a ). ( Continued from last page ) hand it over to the mother who should pass it on to the father who should then return it to the mother. The child should be placed on a piece of cloth and the father should look at the face of the infant. Then the priest should sprinkle the infant with drops from the mixture of cow's urine, dung, milk, curds and ghee with the mantras beginning with 'Āpo hi sthã' (Rg. X. 9. 1). The father then smells thrice parts of the child's head with the mantra 'thou art born from each limbs of the father &c.' (अङ्गादङ्गात्सम्भवसि हृदयादभिजायसे । आत्मा वै पुत्रनामासि स जीव शरद: शतम् ॥) and places it with the mother. This mantra is quoted in Nirukta III. 4 and in the Br. Up. VI. 4. 8. It would be noticed that there is a symbolic simulation of the child (that was born on an unlucky nakṣatra &c.) as having been born from the mouth of a cow (a very sacred animal from Vedic times). Vide धर्मसिन्धु pp. 171-172 for details of गोमुखप्रसवशान्ति. The mantra 'Viṣṇur yonim kalpayatu' is employed in the Garbhādhāna rite, The birth of a girl after three successive births of boys or of a boy after three successive births of girls was supposed to indicate unfavourable consequences to the parents and the family and death of the eldest, loss of wealth and great sorrow. Therefore a śānti was recommended on the 11th or 12th day from the birth of a girl or boy (as the case may be) or on an auspicious day. He (the father) should choose ācāryas (chief officiating priest) and other priests, then perform a sacrifice to planets and offer worship to the golden images of Brahmā, Viṣṇu, Śiva and Indra on a jar placed on a heap of grainṣ On a fifth jar he should worship Rudra and one brāhmaṇa should recite four hymns to Rudra eleven times and all śāntisuktas when homa is being performeḍ The ācārya should cast into the fire fuel-sticks, ghee, sesame and boiled rice 100, 108 or 360 times to four deities viz. Brahmā, Viṣṇu, Maheśa and Indra respectively with the mantras 'Brahma jajñānam' (Tai. S. 1V. 2. 8. 2, Vāj. S. 13. 3), 'idam Viṣṇur' (Ṛg. I. 22. 17), 'Tryamabakam yajāmahe' (Ṛg. VII. 59. 12), 'Yata Indra bhayamāhe' (Ṛg. VIII. 61. 13). Then he should perform 'Sviṣṭakṛt' homa, ⁵⁶ then offer bali and pūrṇāhuti. The family members should be sprinkled with the sacred water. The performer should honour the ācārya and donate some gold and a cow to him and give dakṣiṇā to the other priests, should look into a vessel full of ghee and should make the brāhmaṇas recite śānti verseṣ The images with the additions or decorations thereof should be donated to the guru, brāhmaṇas, poor and helpless people should be fed according to his ability. By doing this śānti all misfortunes are destroyeḍ (Nirṇayasindhu p. 248 and Śāntiratnākara, folio 109).

The Kauśikasūtra (kauśikas 110 and 111), Bṛhatsaṁhitā⁵⁷ (chap. 45. 51-54) and the Adbhutasāgara pp. 559-569 deal at length with the portents of births to women, cows, mares, she asses &c. A few passages only are set out here. Varāhamihira ⁵⁷ says 'when women give birth to monstrosities, or to two, three, four or more children at the same time or they are delivered much before or after the proper time, then results destruction of the country or family'. The Matsyapurāṇa 235. 1-3 and Viṣṇudharmottara II. 140. 1-3 have identical verses similar to the above. The Bhīṣmaparva⁵⁸ (chap. 3. 2-7) refers to portentous births such as the following; ‘pregnant women and women who had never before given birth to sons produce monstrosities; so also even wives of men who are Vedic scholars are giving birth to eagles and peacocks, mares give birth to calves, dogs to jackals; some women have given birth to four or five girls (at the same time) &c. The Br. S. proceeds⁵⁹ ‘If mares, camels, she-buffaloes and cow-elephants give birth to twins, that portends death to theṃ The effect of such births will come to pass about six months later; Garga has declared two ślokas as to the śānti in such caseṣ The women that give birth (to twins or monstrosities) should be removed to another place (or country ) by one that desires his own happiness, he should gratify brāhmaṇas by gifts of things desired by them and should cause a śānti ( propitiatory rite ) to be performed; as to quadrupeds, they should be removed from their flocks or herds and be abandoned in other countries; otherwise there would be ruin of the town, the owner and the flock or herḍ' Various modes were employed to divine the future, viz. (1) the position of planets and stars, (2) individual horoscopes, (3) flight and cries of birds like khañjana and crow, (4) natural phenomena (eclipses, meteors &c.), (5) dreams, (6) voices suddenly heard, (7) the physical and mental conditions of men, animals &c. The first four have already been briefly dealt with. Now dreams will be taken up for discussioṇ It has already been seen (p. 728, notes 1157 and 1158) how in the Vedic literature dreams had been associated with good luck or ill-luck. The two epics, the Svapnādhyāya (of Ātharvaṇa-pari-śiṣṭa LXVIII pp. 438-449), the Bṛhad-yoga-yātrā of Varāha (chap. 16. 1–31), Purāṇas such as Vāyu (chap. 19. 13–18), Matsya (chap.242), Viṣṇudharmottara (II. 176), Bhaviṣya I. 194, Brahma-vaivarta-purāṇa (Gaṇeśa-khaṇḍa 34. 10–40), describe good or bad dreams; Agni (229, many verses of which are the same as those of Matsya chap. 242), Bhujabala of Bhoja (pp. 298–304 verses 1347–1378 ), the Adbhutasāgara pp. 493–515 deal at length with the matters relating to dreams and śāntis therefor. Śaṅkarācārya in his commentary on Vedāntasūtra⁶⁰ remarks that those who have studied the Svapnādhyāya declare that to see oneself riding on an elephant or the like is auspicious and to see oneself sitting in a conveyance drawn by asses is inauspicious (or unlucky). It appears that rarely an ancient writer like Aṅgiras⁶¹ said ‘the movements of planets, dreams, nimittas (like throbbing), utpātas (portents) produce some consequences by chance; wise men are not afraid of them’. Numerous dreams are mentioned in the Rāmāyaṇa on several occasionṣ Some examples may be giveṇ In the Sundarakāṇḍa (chap. 27, 23 ff) Trijatā (a rākṣasī) details several dreams that she saw and that indicated the destruction of rākṣasas and that were favourable to Rāma. Among the evil omens that she saw in her dream about Rāvaṇa were; he had his head shaved, he drank oil with which he was drenched, he was dressed in red garments, was intoxicated, wore wreaths of Karavīra flowers, he fell on the earth from his puṣpaka balloon, he was carried in a chariot drawn by asses, he was wearing red flowers and was anointed with red unguents &c. (verses 19–27). Similar dreams occur as seen by Trijatā in the story of Rāma contained in the Vanaparva chap. 280. verses 64–66. In the Ayodhyākāṇḍa (chap. 69. 8. ff) Bharata who was with his maternal uncle saw in a dream his father (Daśaratha) dirty and with dishevelled hair, falling from a mountain peak in a turbid lake full of cowdung, drinking that dirty water and oil; he also saw the ocean dried up and the moon fallen on the earth, he saw his father seated on a dark seat of iron and wearing black garments and beaten by women dark and tawny in colour, he saw him going to the south in a chariot drawn by asses &c. Bharata says that these dreams indicated the death of the king (Daśaratha) or of Rāma or Lakṣmaṇa. In the Mauslaparva of the Mahābhārata (chap. 3. 1–4) the Yādavas saw in dreams a black woman with whitish teeth running to Dvārakā with a laugh and kidnapping their women and terrible vultures were seen to be devouring the Vṛṣṇis and Andhakas in their own houses in which sacred fires had been established &c. It is impossible to point out the unlucky and lucky dreams as their number mentioned in Adbhutasāgara (pp. 502–513), quoting the Purāṇas, Parāśara, the works of Varāha and others is extremely large. One passage from the Matsyapurāṇa (242 verses 2–14, quoted in Adbhutasāgara pp. 502–503) is cited here by way of illustration; ‘the springing of grass and plants from one’s body (except from the navel); bronze vessels dashed against one’s head and pulverized; shaving of the head; nakedness; wearing dirty garments; bath with oil; being smeared with mud; fall from a high spot (hill &c.); sitting in a swing, collecting mud and iron; killing horses; ascending trees that have flowers and over circles and riding boars, bears, asses and camels; eating of (the flesh of) birds and fishes and oil and rice mixed with mudga or māṣa; dancing, laughing, marriage and singing; playing on musical instruments other than stringed ones; going for a dip in a river; bath with water mixed with cowdung or mud or with water fallen on bare earth; entering the womb of one’s mother; ascending a funeral pyre; the fall of Indra’s banner; the fall of the Sun and the Moon; seeing portents of the three kinds (heavenly, those in atmospheric regions and earthly); anger of gods, brāhmaṇas, kings and one’s gurus; embracing maidens; sodomy; loss of one’s limbs; vomiting and purging; going to the southern direction; being overwhelmed by a disease; fall of fruits and of flowers; fall of houses; sweeping of houses with a broom; playing with goblins, birds or animals that subsist on putrid flesh, monkeys, bears and men; humiliation by strangers (or enemies); arising of calamity brought on by another person (or enemy); wearing ochre-coloured garments; playing with women; plunging into oil or drinks; wearing red flowers and applying red unguents; these and others are inauspicious dreamṣ

In the Bṛhadyogayātrā⁶² Varāha prescribes that the king wearing silken garments, pearls and jewels and accompanied by astrologers and purohita should enter the temple of his favourite deity, should place the images of the dikpālas therein, worship them with mantras, place four jars full of water in the four directions, should thrice repeat the mantras beginning with 'Yajjāgrato dūram' (Vāj. S. 34. 1), should eat only once that day, sleep on his right side and pray to Rudra (as noted in n 1254) and examine the dream, auspicious or inauspicious, seen towards the close of night.

The Matsya (242. 21–35) sets out⁶³ lucky dreams as follows : ascending (or riding on) mountains, palaces, elephants, horses and bulls; going among trees having white flowers; the shooting of trees and grass from the navel and seeing (the sleeper) endowed with many hands or heads; wearing garlands of very white flowers and very white garments; eclipse of the Sun, Moon and nakṣatras; sprinkling water (on one's body) all over; embracing or raising the banner of Indra; seizure of the earth and seas; slaughter of enemies; victory in disputes, in gambling and in battle; eating of wet (fresh) meat, of fish and of pāyasa (rice boiled in milk and sugar); seeing blood or being bathed with it; drinking liquor, blood, intoxicants and milk; being surrounded on the earth with intestines; sight of bright sky; sucking the udders (the milk) of cows and she-buffaloes and of lionesses, cow-elephants and mares; receiving favours from (images of) gods, gurus and brāhmaṇas; bath with water flowing from the horns of cows or falling from the Moon (this prognosticates the acquisition of a kingdom); being crowned as a king; the cutting of one's head; one's death; being burnt by fire; one's house and the like being burnt down by fire; securing the insignia of royalty; playing on the lute; swimming beyond waters; crossing difficult places; the delivery in one's own house of cows, mares and cow-elephants; being mounted on horses; weeping; obtain-ing of handsome women or embracing them; being bound with fetters; being smeared with excreta; seeing living kings and friends; seeing images of gods and pure (or pellucid) waterṣ On seeing such auspicious dreams a man easily secures permanent wealth and he who is suffering from a disease becomes free from it.

In the Jain Kalpasūtra of Bhadrabahu (S. B. E. vol. XXII, p. 129) fourteen very auspicious dreams seen by the brāhmaṇī Devānandā are enumerated, viz. an elephant, a bull, a lion, anointing of the goddess Śrī, a garland, the Moon, the Sun, a flag, a vase, a lotus lake, the ocean, celestial abode, a heap of jewels, a flame and on pp. 231-238 elaborate details of these dreams are giveṇ

Matsya (chap. 243. 2-12) sets out the sights that are unlucky when they come before a king who is going on an invasion (such as improper drugs, corn with dark exterior, cotton, grass, dry cowdung and many others) and prescribes that on seeing these for the first time he should worship Keśava with a laud and that if he sees it a second time he should enter his palace. Yogayātrā (chap. 13. 4 ff) provides what the king starting on an expedition should hear viz. such recitations as that of the Veda, Vedāṅgas, dharmaśāstras, Arthaśāstra, Mahābhārata, Rāmāyaṇa, Purāṇa passageṣ Matsya (chap. 243. 15-25) prescribes the sights that are auspicious (such as white flowers, jars full of water, aquatic birds, meat and fish, flaming fire, courtezans, Dūrvā grass, fresh cowdung, gold, silver, copper and all jewels besides several others and winds up with a fine sentiment,⁶⁴ viz. the ease (or satisfaction) of one's mind is the highest sign of success; on one side are all prognostications and on the other is the mind's ease. The Bṛhad-yogayātrā of Varāha has a similar verse. Vide H. of Dh. vol, II pp. 511, 876 and notes 1192 and 2048 therein for two sets of auspicious sightṣ The Jyotiṣṭattva (pp. 729-730) quotes several verses on the objects that are auspicious or inauspicious when seen by a person starting on a journey or expedition and remarks that the same objects when seen in a dream are of the same (auspicious or inauspicious) quality. The Vasantarāja-śākuna (V. 2-6) sets out fifty objects that are auspicious when starting on a journey or entering a home such as curds, sandal wood, ghee, dūrvā, a jar full of water &c. and (V. 10-11) specifies the thirty objects that are inauspiciouṣ

The Matsya provides⁶⁵: 'dreams seen in the first watch of the night bear fruit in a year, those seen in the 2nd watch after six months, those seen in the third watch after three months and those seen in the last watch in a month. If on the same night one sees both auspicious and inauspicious dreams, one (the astrologer) should declare that the last dream (alone) will yield consequenceṣ Therefore, when a person sees an auspicious dream he should not go to sleep thereafter. Declaring a bad dream to another is commended as also sleeping after seeing it; bath with water mixed with the viscous sediment of oily substances, homa of sesame, honouring brāhmaṇas, hymn of praise to Vāsudeva and worship of him and listening to the story of the liberation of Gajendra—these remove the evil effects of bad dreamṣ" In connection with the vrata called ‘Siddhār-ṭhakādi-saptamī’ performed for gaining the favour of the Sun the Bhaviṣya (Brāhma-parva, 194. 1–25) sets out the dreams which are auspicious or favourable to the person performing the vrata. Those verses are similar to those in the Matsya and are quoted by Kṛtyakalpataru (on vrata pp. 176–179). One verse says ‘on seeing a favourable dream one should not sleep again, but declare in the morning the dream as seen to Bhojakas and brāhmaṇas (or to Bhojaka brāhmaṇas).’ The Bṛhadyoga-yātrā contains similar verses as quoted by Adbhutasāgara p. 501.

The Jyotiṣtattva quotes ¹²⁵⁸ a verse ‘I shall declare what matters seen in dreams tend to bring knowledge (of impending consequences) to men who do not understand the true nature (significance) of objects seen in dreams that arise from their meritorious or sinful actions (in previous lives)' and remarks that from this verse it follows that dreams are purely indicative and do not produce consequences (by themselves). The higher thought in India held that dreams were only indicative or suggestive of future auspicious or inauspicious events, as affirmed by the Vedāntasūtra (III. 2.4) and by Śaṅkarācārya's comment- ary thereoṇ On the other hand Bhujabala provides ⁶⁶ 'to sleep again (after a dream), not to declare it to another, bath in the Ganges, japa (of holy texts), śānti, svastyayana (asking brāhmaṇas to say 'it would be auspicious'), to resort in the morning to cows and an Aśvatthha tree, honouring brāhmaṇas with food mixed with sesame, with gold and flowers according to one's means, merit-giving recital of the Mahābhārata—these tend to destroy (the effects of) bad dreamṣ' Bhujabala further says that all white objects except cotton, ashes, bones, butter- milk are auspicious (in dreams) and all dark objects except cows, images of gods, elephants, horses and brāhmaṇas are inauspiciouṣ The Ātharvaṇa-pariśiṣṭa ⁶⁷ LXVIII (pp. 438-449) states that persons have different dreams according to their constitu- tions (prakṛti) are choleric or windy or phlegmatic (pitta, vāta and kapha) and long lists of dreams and their interpretations are given and it prescribes the same remedies against bad dreams as Varāha doeṣ The Dharmasindhu (pp. 359-360) collects in one place numerous dreams that are lucky or auspicious and that are unlucky or inauspicious and then prescribes (p. 361) the remedies to avert the consequences of unlucky dreams viz. worship of the Sun with the mantra (Rg. II 28.10, Tai. S. IV. 14-123) 'O king Varuna! protect us from the danger which my helper or friend declares to me (from what I saw) in a dream or from the thief or wolf who desires or is about to injure us'; or one may recite inaudibly the verse 'Adha svapnasya' (Rg. I. 120.12) or perform a śrāddha like the one on Amāvāsyā, or should recite the Saptasāti in honour of Caṇḍī or the thousand names of Viṣṇu or recite or listen to the recitation of the liberation of Gajendra in the Bhārata or Bhāgavata.

All ancient countries and peoples believed in dreams and satisfied their curiosity to know the future by interpreting theṃ The Chaldean astrologers and dream-interpreters were in high favour at Babylonian and Assyrian courtṣ The Book of Daniel (chap. 2) tells us how Nebuchadnezzar, a great king of Babylon, asked the Chaldeans not only to interpret dreams but commanded them on threat of death to make known to him the dream which he had forgotten and then to interpret it. Plato, the greatest of the Greek philosophers, regards dreams as important physical and psychic symptoms while certain dreams are con- ceded as of supernatural origin and explains in his Timaeus (chap. 46 and 47) that dreams are prophetic visions received by the lower appetitive soul (through the liver). In JRAS (old series) vol. 16 pp. 118-171 N. Bland contributes a long and interesting article on 'the Mahomedan science of Tabir or inter- pretation of dreamṣ' There are striking parallels between the rules to be observed by the dreamer and by the interpreter and the principles of interpretation (of dreams) by contraries and by dependence upon the religion, country and bodily conditions (such as total fast or full stomach) of the dreamer. On p. 141 of JRAS there is an interesting account of a dream of Nushirwan, a Sassanian king (531-579 A. D.), who saw a dream that he drank from a golden goblet and that a black hog put its head in the goblet and drank from it. Then we are told 'Buzurmihr, his minister, whom he consulted, told him it signified that his favourite princess had a black slave who was her lover and suggested that the women of his harem should be ordered to dance undressed in the presence of the king. One of them showing some hesitation in complying and being protected by the others was discovered to be a Hindu male slave and the Vazir's interpretation was verifieḍ The name of the Vazir remarkably agrees in sound with the name Varāhamihira and it is not very fantastic to suppose that Varāhamihira, probably the most famous astrologer and astronomer of early times in India, had been patronized by Nushirvan and held a high position in his court. Chronology is quite in favour of this identification since Varāhamihira takes śaka 427 (505 A. D.) as the starting point for finding out the ahargaṇa.

In modern ⁶⁸ times many educated people think dreams as of no consequence whatever, while there are others who regard dreams as almost infallible indicators of coming events; there is also a third class of people who are willing to listen to the arguments advanced on behalf of the interpreters of dreams and also of those who regard thoughts on the use and value of dreams as frivolouṣ To those who want to hear arguments on both sides and to form a judgment of their own about dreams, I would recommend the 'Fabric of Dreams' by Catherine Taylor Craig (Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner, London, 1918 ); Freud's ‘Interpretation of dreams' is the most important of his works, in which he develops his psycho-analytic technique. Then there is the work 'Second sight in daily life' by W. H. W. Sabine who has a theory of his owṇ His work deals with precognition (or foreknowledge) which according to him is a sub-division of Extra-sensory perceptioṇ He propounds the theory that the mind comprises of not only normal memory appearing to derive from physical perception but also 'anticipatory memory' deriving from the Basic Experience which from time to time passes to some degree into conscious awarenesṣ Time is one and verbal convenience and that what we call 'future' has already happened but it is not indicated in what form it has happeneḍ Considerations of space and relevance preclude further discussion of this subject here.

Certain other interesting śāntis will now be describeḍ When a great-grandson (prapautra i. e. a son's son's son) ⁶⁹ is born to a person a śānti has to be performed when he sees the face of the great-grandsoṇ The saṅkalpa ⁷⁰ is given below. He should perform the rites beginning with the worship of Gaṇeśa and ending with Mātṛpūjā, then establish a jar full of water and worship (the image of) Varuṇa therein, perform the rite of nirājana ⁷¹ to the accompaniment of the sound of drums, sit on a seat of udumbara tree covered with a blanket and should request brāhmaṇas to sprinkle sacred water on his persoṇ The brāhmaṇas should sprinkle water on him to the accompaniment of a hymn to Varuṇa and a hymn to the Gangeṣ At the end of the abhiṣeka the performer should give up old garments and wear new ones and should worship the Gangeṣ Melted ghee should be put in a vessel of bronze and the performer should see the reflection of his face therein and then should see the face of his great-grandson in the light of a lamp placed in a golden vessel. Then he should sprinkle drops of water on the great-grandson with one hundred flowers of golḍ Then he should sprinkle the great-grandson with water from the jar used for abhiṣeka. For completing the ceremony of seeing the face of the grandson, he should donate a cow and feed brāhmaṇas according to his meanṣ Then he should worship an image of Viṣṇu, offer pāyasa to it and address the following prayer ⁷² 'O Viṣṇu! by your favour I have seen the face of my great-grandsoṇ Therefore, O Lord! in all ways and always do what I desire'. Then the image should be donated with the mantra 'by the dona tion of the image (of Viṣṇu) may all evil influences of planets be always conjured away in the case of the child, O enemy of Kaṁsa and the Lord of the worlds,' and he should donate to the brāhmaṇas the ghee in which he saw his face.

One of the śāntis that is frequently performed even in these days is 'Udakaśānti'. It is performed for averting the conse quences of many happenings and for securing certain benefitṣ such as good health, the removal of the diseases due to the three constituent elements of the human body, viz. bile, phlegm and vāta (wind), that may have already arisen or are likely to arise, or for mitigating all the trouble that is caused by planets occupying unfavourable positions from the lagna in a person's horoscope or from the rāśi of his birth, for removing the impurity on birth or death in one's house or family, for securing a happy life. Therefore, the saṅkalpa may assume various forms that are noted below.⁷³ In modern times this is a very elaborate rite in which a very large number of Vedic verses are repeated and which takes up about three hours for its performance. Therefore, even a brief resume of the modern procedure is not attempted here. But one of the oldest available descriptions of this rite contained in the Baudhāyana-gṛhya-śeṣasūtra (I. 14) is set out here in order to convey an idea of this śānti. As the Baudhāyana-sūtras are closely connected with the Taittirīya- saṃhitā and Brāhmaṇa the references to mantras and texts are cited as far as possible from that Saṃhitā and Brāhmaṇa. Many of the mantras occur also in the Ṛgveda and other saṃhitāṣ Here are the texts; waters indeed are faith; (when a priest takes water) he begins (the rite with) faith itself; waters are indeed the sacrifice, he begins sacrifice itself; water is indeed thunderbolt, he strikes the thunderbolt against enemies; waters are destroyers of malignant spirits (and it is taken) for destroying evil spirits; waters are the favourite abode (or seat) of the gods; waters are indeed nectar; therefore people sprinkle with water him who faints; waters are indeed all gods; he begins with godṣ Waters indeed are well disposed; he (priest) removes the pain of this person (the sacrificer); this is (what) the Brāhmaṇa (text) sayṣ

Therefore (the priest) prepares propitiatory⁷⁴ water with two kuśas dipped thereiṇ One should commence a śānti on the nakṣatra of (a person's birth) or on an auspicious nakṣatra or when auspicious rites are to be performed, viz. marriage, a (child's) tonsure, upanayana, Vedic student's return home, hairparting (of a pregnant woman), establishment of the Vedic fires and other rites, or when a planet is eclipsed, or when a planet indicates a portant, or when danger comes (to a person) from bipeds or quadruped animalṣ¹²⁶⁸ He should make an even number of brāhmaṇas wash well well their hands and feet and make them sip water, seat them on seats in each of the directions, should smear with cowdung a four-cornered altar of the extent of a bull's hide, should himself sit on darbhas with face towards the east, should hold darbhas and dūrvā grass, have two kuśas in his hand, should sprinkle with water the altar made by him, should draw lines thereon and sprinkle water over them and should spread over it dūrvā grass and darbhas and sprinkle it with water scented with sandalwood paste and cover it with flowers, should wrap with (cotton) threads the sacred vessel^1268a of palāśa leaves and place it on them (darbhas and dūrvā) with the mantra ‘brahma jajñānam’ (Tai. S. IV. 2. 8. 2). Then he pours water across the two blades of darbha grass and mutters ‘tat-savitur-vareṇyam’ (Ṛg. III. 62. 10) and throws in (the water) whole grains of rice and yavas with the formula ‘bhūr-bhuvaḥ-suvarom’ (Tai. Ā. X. 2. 1). Then he spreads around flowers, dūrvā grass and fruits, covers it (jar) with dūrvā and darbhas and touches with the verse ‘śan-no devīr’ (Ṛg. X. 9. 4). When the brāhmaṇas have placed themselves besides the officiating priest, he mutters the verse ‘tat-saviturvareṇyam’ (Ṛg. X. 62. 10) separately by each foot and by half verse in one breath and mutters the first words of (all) the Vedaṣ Then he recites the following¹²⁶⁹ viz. the anuvāka beginning with ‘kṛṇuṣva pājaḥ’ (Tai. S. I. 2. 14) but omitting the half verse ‘made cid-asya’ (Tai. S. I. 2. 14. 7), the anuvāka beginning with ‘indram vo’ (Tai. S. I. 6. 12), with the two verses ‘yata indra’ (Ṛg. VIII. 61. 13, Tai. Ā. X. 1. 9) and ‘svastidā’ (Ṛg. X. 152. 2, Tai. Ā. X. 1. 9) with the two verses ‘Mahān Indro’ (Tai. S. I. 4. 41) and ‘sajosā Indra’ (Tai. S. I. 4. 42), with ‘Ye devāḥ purassado’ (Tai. S. I. 8. 7. 1) repeated five times, with the five formulas ‘Agnaye rakṣoghne’ (Tai. S. I. 8. 7. 2), with the five formulas ‘Agnir-āyusmān’ (Tai. S. II. 3. 10. 3), with four clauses ‘yā vām-indrāvaruṇā’ (Tai. S. II. 3. 13. 1), with the eight clauses ‘Yo vām-Indrāvaruṇau’ (Tai. S. II. 3. 13. 3), with the four verses ‘Agne yaśasvin’ (Tai. S. V. 7. 4. 3), the Rāṣṭrabhrṛt anuvāka beginning with ‘ṛṣād-ṛtadhāmā’ (Tai. S. III. 4. 7. 1), with the three mantras ‘namo astu sarpebhyah’⁷⁵ (Tai. S. IV. 2. 8. 3), with ‘ayam puro harikeśaḥ’ (Tai. S. IV. 4. 3. 1) repeated five times, with the Apratiratha⁷⁶ anuvāka beginning with ‘āśuḥ śiśānaḥ’ (Tai. S. IV. 6. 4. 1), the anuvāka beginning with ‘śam ca me mayaśca me’ (Tai. S. IV. 7. 3. 1), the anuvāka called ‘vihavyā’ beginning with ‘mamāgne varco vihavesvastu’ (Tai. S. IV. 7.14. 1), the Mṛgāra anuvāka⁷⁷ beginning with ‘Agner-manve’ (Tai. S. IV. 4. 15. 1-11), the offering mantras to serpents beginning with ‘samici namasi prāci dik’ six times repeated, the offering prayers to Gandharvas in the six clauses beginning with ‘hetayo nāma stha’ (Tai. S. V. 5. 10. 3-4), the five ājyāni (bricks) offerings with ‘śatāyudhāya’ (Tai. S. V. 7. 2. 3), the anuvāka beginning with ‘bhūtam bhavyam bhaviṣyat’ (Tai. S. VII. 3. 12. 1), the Atharva-śiras,⁷⁸ the anuvāka beginning with ‘Indro Dadhico asthabhiḥ’ (Tai. Br. I. 5. 8. 1, Rg. I. 84. 13), the Pratyaṅgirasa beginning with ‘cakṣuṣo hete’ up to ‘bhrātṛvyam pādayāmasi’ (Tai. Br. II. 4. 2. 1-4), the anuvāka beginning with ‘prāṇo rakṣati viśvam-ejat’ (Tai. Br. II. 5. 1. 1), the anuvāka beginning with ‘simhe vyāghra uta yā pṛdākau’ (Tai. Br. II. 7. 7. 1); the anuvāka beginning with ‘aham-asmi’ (Tai. Br. II. 8. 8. 1), the anuvāka ‘ta sūryācandramass’ (Tai. Br. II. 8. 9. 1), the three anuvākas beginning with ‘agnir naḥ pātu’ (Vāj. S. 4. 15), the anuvāka ‘rdhyāsma’ (Tai. Br. III. 1.2.1), the anuvāka ‘navo navo’ (Tai. S. II. 3. 5. 3), with (the mantras of) supplementary sacrifices, with a verse containing the word ‘surabhi’ (Tai. S. I. 5. 11. 4 or VII. 4. 19. 4), with verses addressed to waters (Rg. X. 9. 1-3 = Tai. S. V. 6. 1. 4 ff), with verses addressed to Varuṇa, with the verses beginning with ‘Hiraṇya-varṇāḥ’ (Tai. S. V. 6. 1), verses addressed to (Soma) Pavamāna (from Rg. IX. 1. 1 ‘svādiṣṭhayā’ to end of Rg. IX), with the Vyāhṛtis (seven mystic words, bhūḥ, bhuvaḥ, svaḥ, mahaḥ, janaḥ, tapaḥ, satyam), the anuvāka beginning with ‘tac-cānyor’ (Tai. B. III. 5. 11). He repeats thrice the concluding passage ‘namo brahmaṇe’.⁷⁸

The (officiating priest) makes the performer rise from his seat and sprinkles water on him to the accompaniment of the Vyāhṛtis (bhūḥ &c.). (The performer) makes gifts (to the officiating priest). Then the officiating priest sprinkles sacred water on those that are possessed by an evil spirit or attacked by fever or troubled by ghosts, that are the friends, relatives, agents of the king’s and of the royal priests, and the young and old members (of the performer’s family), pregnant women, persons suffering from bad diseases, persons suffering from diseases for a long time, persons that are emaciated and are sick; also sprinkles sacred water on the elephants, horses, camels, cows, buffaloes, goats, sheep and servants of the performer; in this way the rite is performed for one day, three or five or seven dayṣ Thus doing he wards off death; so says the blessed Baudhāyana."

When a person’s nakṣatra of birth is afflicted by an evil planet or aspect Parāśara provided a śānti as follows: ⁷⁹ after putting in a jar full of water the dung and urine of a white bull and the milk of a white cow and kuśas the person should be sprinkled with the mixture. Similarly, the Matsya⁸⁰ prescribes for one in whose birth rāśi an eclipse takes place a sacred bath with water from four jars full of water in which earth from the stables of horses, elephants, from an ant-hill, from a confluence, a deep reservoir of water, from a cowpen and from entrance of a palace is cast, and also pañcagavya, five jewels, rocanā, lotuses, sandalwood, saffron, usīra, guggulu; mantras also are to ac- company the bath; Indra, Varuna, Kubera and other gods are invoked for removing the evil results of eclipseṣ

If a person suffers from fever the Madanaratna (folio 11) provides for śāntis for the tithis (from the first onwards) on which the fever started, derived from Baudhāyana in which the presiding deity of each tithi is to be offered worship (pūjā) and homa, for each of which the mantra (of which japa is to be made) is different, and the incense, flowers, naivedya also are different. There are also śāntis, when a person suffers from fever, about the weekday on which the fever started and images of the presiding deity of the weekday made of different metals according to the name of the day are to be worshipped with different mantras (Madanaratna, folio 12a). For example, if fever started on a Sunday or on a Monday, then the images of Rudra (for Sunday) and Pārvati (for Monday) were to be made of gold or silver and the mantras to be recited were respectively ‘yā te Rudra’ (Tai. S. IV. 5. 1. 1), ‘gaurir-mimaya’ (Ṛg. I, 164. 41). The gandha, flowers, incense, lamp and naivedya were different in each case. If the fever starts on any one of the 27 nakṣatras, the Madanaratna (folios 12b–15b) prescribes śāntis for all the 27 nakṣatras, specifying the deity of each nakṣatra, the figure of the deity, its colour, mantra, the five kinds of fuel-sticks to be employed, the āhutis, the gifts &c. If the mantra⁸¹ be not known, the Gāyatri mantra (Rg. III. 62. 10) was to be employed and the āhutis were to be 1008 or 108 according to the nature of the disease. The Madanratna (folios 15b-20b) quotes from Ātreya further details about the 27 nakṣatras, viz. the number of stars in each nakṣatra, whether a nakṣatra is masculine, feminine or neuter, its figure, colour, deity, tree, its gama⁸² (whether devagana or rākṣasagana or manuṣyagaṇa), what actions should be done on each, the Viśanāḍī of each.

The Dharmasindhu provides a śānti for the extremely rare occurrence of a person coming to life after people thinking him to be dead take his body for cremation to a cemetery. The person in whose house such a person enters meets death. Therefore, a homa should be performed wherein eight thousand udumbara fuel-sticks anointed with milk and ghee are to be offered to the accompaniment of the Gāyatri mantra (Rg. III. 62. 10). At the end of the homa a kapilā cow and a bronze vessel full of sesame should be donated to a brāhmaṇa; the bronze vessel should weigh 81 palas or 40½ or 20¼ or 9, 6 or at least three palas according⁸³ to one's meanṣ

Some works prescribe a śānti on the delivery of a cow in the month of Bhādrapada, of a she-buffalo in Pauṣa and of a mare by day. The śānti is to be performed with 108 āhutis of ghee and sesame, the Aśyavāmīya hymn (Rg. I. 164) and the mantra 'tad-Viṣṇoḥ' (Rg. I. 22. 20) are to be reciteḍ It was supposed that if a she-buffalo was delivered in Māgha and on a Wednesday, or a mare in Śrāvaṇa by day or a cow while the Sun is in the Lion sign, that portends death of the⁸⁴ owner in six monthṣ It may be stated that in the author's boyhood such śāntis, particularly in the case of she-buffaloes, were performeḍ The Adbhutasāgara provides that the śānti should be performed on the 4th, 9th, 12th or 14th tithi, as these are declared to be auspicious tithis for adbhuta-śānti.⁸⁵

In modern times the entrance into a newly built house is preceded on the same day or on a previous day by a śānti called Vāstuśānti⁸⁶ or Vāstu-śamana (in Matsya 268. 3). It has been described at some length in H. of Dh. vol. II. pp. 834-836. The description⁸⁶ there is based on Matsya, chapters 256 and 268. Vāstuśamana is also described in the Āśvalāyana gṛhya II. 9. 6-9, Pār. gr. III. 4. 5-18, Baud gr. III. 5 (which are certainly older than Matsya by several centuries), in Baudhāyana-gṛhyāśeṣa-sūtra I. 18, the Sāmavidhāna-brāhmaṇa III. 3. 5 and several medieval workṣ The Bauḍ Gṛ. S. S. calls it Gṛhaśānti and recommends that it be performed every month, every season or every year in the bright fortnight on an auspicious nakṣatra by one who desires prosperity in his house. It is therefore passed over here. The Āśv. gr is very brief. It says⁸⁷ : Then he makes the house śānta (as follows). He deposits gold in water that has rice and barley thrown into it, he sprinkles the house three times going round it with his right side turned towards it with the śāntātiya hymn (Rg. VII. 35) and he does so again three times pouring out an unbroken stream of water with the three verses ‘O waters! you are wholesome’ (Rg. X. 9. 1-3). In the middle of the house he cooks boiled rice, offers from it four oblations with each of the four verses ‘Vāstospate pratijānihyasmān’ (Rg. VII. 54. 1-3 and VII. 55. 1), should then prepare food, should feed the brāhmaṇas with it and make them say ‘lucky is the house, lucky is the house.’ Some details from Bauḍ Gr. (III. 5) may be mentioned here. It provides that oblations are offered from cooked food with the invitatory prayer (Puronuvākyā) ‘Vāstospate pratijāni accept us as your devotees,’ (Rg. VII. 54. 1, Tai. S. III. 4. 10. 1) and the offering prayer (Yājyā) with ‘Vāstospate śagmayā’ (O Lord of houses, may we be endowed with fellowship with thee &c.’ Rg. VII. 54. 3, Tai. S. III. 4. 10. 1). Then he offers āhutis of clarified butter with the mantras viz. ‘Vāstospate dhruvā sthūnā’ (Rg. VIII. 17, 14), ‘gṛhyam bhayam yac-ced’⁸⁸, ‘aksispande-angacale,’ ‘duh-svapne pāpasvapne’, ‘Vāstospate pratarano’ (O Vāstospati! mayst thou be our saviour’, Rg. VII. 54. 2), ‘amivaha Vāstospate’ (O Vāstospati! Mayst thou be our friend destroying diseases’ Rg. VII. 55. 1). Then he places the remainder of the food from which offerings were made on bunches of darbhas in front of the Fire with the words ‘salutation to Rudra Vāstospati! I offer (oblations to him) who protects when we approach, or run, walk out, depart, turn round or returṇ’ Having brought together in a plate the water for cleansing the cooking vessel, the remainder of the clarified butter and the water (used in the rite) he sprinkles water therefrom on all sides with a twig of udumbara or palāśa or śami tree or with a handful of darbhas, he goes round the house thrice with his right side towards it with the verse ‘tvam vipraḥ’ (Rg. IX. 18. 2). He prepares food, honours the brāhmaṇas (with food and fees), makes them recite blessings in the words ‘lucky is the house, lucky is the house’.

In the later digests the Vāstuśānti is a very elaborate affair which is passed over here for reasons of space. Various prognostications were based on the sounds produced by the house lizard (called palli, pallikā, kudyāmatsya or grhagodhikā), by its movements and by its fall on the several limbs of a person by Vasantarāja śakuna, chap. 17 (32 verses), the Adbhutasāgara pp. 666-668 (quoting 28 verses of Vasanta-rāja ), Jyotistattva pp. 706-707, Śāntiratna or Śānti-kamalākara (folio 198), the Dharmasindhu (pp. 347-348). A few words based on the last two are set out here. A fall of the lizard on the right side of a male and on his head (except the chin), chest, navel and stomach is auspicious, while in the case of a woman such a fall would be auspicious on the left side. The same applies to a chameleoṇ If a lizard or chameleon falls on a limb or creeps up a person's limb the person should take a bath with clothes on and perform a śānti for removal of the inauspi-ciousness or for increase of auspiciousnesṣ If a person has a mere contact with a house lizard or chameleon he should bathe, drink pañcagavya, look into clarified butter, should pay honour to (a golden image of) the lizard or chameleon clothed in a red piece of cloth, offer to the image gandha and flowers, worship Rudra in a jar full of water, offer into fire 108 fuel sticks of khadira tree to the accompaniment of the Mṛtyuñjaya ⁸⁹ mantra and offer 1008 or 108 āhutis of sesame into fire with the vyāhṛtis and perform the rites from sṛṣṭakṛt to sprinkling with drops of water and then donate gold, clothes and sesame.⁹⁰

The Yogayātrā chap. 7 (verses 1-12) and Hemādri on Vrata (vol. II. pp. 894-897 ) mention ceremonial baths on and worship of nakṣatras from Aśvinī to Revatī and their presiding deities as yielding various benefitṣ The Ātharvana-pariśiṣṭa I (called nakṣatrakalpa) sections 37-50 deal with nakṣatrasnāna from Kṛttikā to Bharaṇī. Sections 37-41 contain the mantras employed in worshipping and placating the presiding deities of the nakṣatras beginning with Kṛttikā. Section 42 describes the general procedure of nakṣatrasnāna; sections 43-45 set out the substances to be added to the water for each nakṣatrasnāna and the benefit to be derived from so doing. Sections 47-50 contain special rules in relation to each nakṣatra from Kṛttikā to Bharaṇī, about the distribution of food to brāhmaṇas and gifts to be made on each nakṣatra together with the rewards to be expected therefroṃ But the Bṛhatsaṁhitā chap. 47 (1-87), the Atharvaṇa-pariśiṣṭa V pp. 66-68, Viṣṇudharmottara II. 103, Yogayātrā (VII. 13-21), the Kālikāpurāṇa chap. 39, and Hemādri (on Vrata vol. II. pp. 600-628) speak of a śānti called Pusyaṣṇāna or Puṣyābhiṣeka. It is said that Bṛhaspati per- formed this śānti for Indra, then Vṛddha-Garga got it and he imparted it to Bhāguri. Most of the above works confine it to the king, since the king is the very root of the tree—the subjects—and since any harm to or welfare of that root (the king) results in misfortune or welfare of the people; therefore care must be taken for the increase of the king's welfare.¹²³ As the treatment in the Bṛhatsaṁhitā is the fullest and is among the most ancient descriptions, it is briefly set out here. The royal astrologer and family priest should perform the rite of Puṣya- snāna for the king, than which there is nothing more holy and nothing more destructive of all evil portentṣ This may be per- formed on puṣya-nakṣatra every time, but the śānti on this day when the Full Moon is in Puṣya-nakṣatra is the highest and if such a snāna is performed without there being Puṣya nakṣatra on that day, then it yields only half the fruit. There is no utpāta which is not averted or mitigated by this śānti and there is no other auspicious rite which surpasses thiṣ About Puṣya the Ratnamālā¹²⁴ states 'Just as the lion is the strongest among all quadrupeds, so is Pusya the most powerful among nakṣatras; undertakings begun on Pusya succeed even if the Moon be unfavourable or be gocara. Then Varāhamihira states in very poetic verses (47. 4–15) that the Puṣyasnāna of the king should be performed in a sylvan spot abounding in young and beautiful trees emitting fragrance and free from trees like marking nut or from owls, vultures and the like or on rivers or on lakes or near lotus pools or near a cow-house or seashore or hermitages of sages, grand mansions resounding with the sweet cries of cuckoos and the like or near a holy shrine or tīrtha or a spot beautified by parkṣ Then the astrologer, the councillors and officiating priests should go out from the capital at night and make an offering (bali) in the East, North or North-east and the royal family priest, being himself pure and bowing down, should invoke with fried grains, akṣata, barley, curds and flowers and with a mantra ⁹³ the gods, the (guardians of) quarters, the nāgas and brāhmaṇas to be present at the spot and then say ‘tomorrow you will receive worship and depart after conferring welfare on the king’. The family priest and the others should stay in order to find the auspicious nature or otherwise of the dreams (of the king). On the next day in the morning they should collect materials (for the Puṣyasnāna) on the spot chosen the previous day. He should draw a maṇḍala should place thereon various jewels and should assign places to nāgas, yakṣas, gods, pitṛs, gandharvas, apsarases, sages, siddhas, planets, nakṣatras, Rudras, the mātṛs, Skanda, Viṣṇu, Viśākha, Lokapālas, goddesses (such as Lakṣmī, Gauri, Indrāṇī), which should all be drawn with charming coloured powders or chalk &c, should offer them worship with sandal wood paste, flowers &c., with various edibles, fruits and meat, with drinks viz. wine, milk and decoctions; he should follow the procedure of Grahayajña and worship the various deities invited with appropriate foods, incense, clarified butter, flowers, with lauds and salutations &c. (verses 30–33). Then he should set up Agni on an altar to the west or south of the maṇḍala drawn by him, should kindle it into flames and bring near it the materials and darabhaṣ He should offer worship on the altar to the west with fried grams, ghee, curds, honey, white mustard, fragrant substances, flowers, incense, fruits, and should donate plates full of pāyasa and ghee. Then in the four inter- mediate quarters of the altar he should establish four jars the necks of which are surrounded with white thread and that are covered with leaves, twigs and fruits of trees having milky sap and filled with water mixed with herbs and materials for pusya-snāna and jewelṣ In verses 39-42 Varāhamihira names about 15 plants the leaves⁹⁴ of which are to be cast in the jars and also seeds and sarvauṣadhis, sarvagandhas, bilva fruit &c. He should spread an old bull's hide with its neck to the east on the altar and thereon he should spread the reddish hide of a bull trained for fighting, the hides of a lion and a tiger one over the other when the Moon is in Pusya-nakṣatra and there is an auspicious muhūrta. Over the hides a throne made of gold, silver, copper or of a tree with a milky sap should be placeḍ The king should occupy the throne after placing thereon a piece of gold, surrounded by his ministers, men of his confidence, the family priest, the astrologer, the citizens that have auspicious names (such or Jayarāja, Simharāja &c.).

There should be loud noises (for drowning inauspicious sounds) made by the bards and citizens and of the tabors and drums and of Vedic recitationṣ The king should wear linen and the purohita should cover the king with a blanket, drops should be sprinkled over the king from jars, 3, 28 or 108 in number, containing clarified butter, with two mantras⁹⁵ praising its power to remove evil and then the priest removes the blanket and sprinkles on the king drops of water from water containing the substances collected for pusyasnāna with sixteen mantras⁹⁶. (set out by Varaha in verses 55–70) in which gods, goddesses, sages are invited to join in the rite, besides mantras from the Atharvakalpa,⁹⁷ the Rudragana mantras, Kūṣmāṇḍa mantras, the Mahārauhipa, Kubera-hṛdaya and Samṛddhi verse. Then the king should take a bath and wear two cotton garments over which the three verses 'Āpo hi ṣṭhā' (Rg. X 9. 1–3, Tai. S. IV. 5. 1) and the four verses 'Hiraṇyavarṇāḥ' (Tai. S. V. 6. 1. 1–2, or Atharva I. 33. 1–4) have been inaudibly reciteḍ He should sip water to the accompaniment of words like 'this is a lucky day' and to the sound of conches, should worship gods, gurus, brāhmaṇas, his parasol, banner, and weapons and then worship his special (or favourite) deity. Then he should put on new decorations that lead to victory, that confer long life and vigour and over which the Rayaspoṣa⁹⁸ (bestowing increase of wealth) ṛk verses have been reciteḍ To the south of the mandala an altar should be prepared and hides of bull, cat, ruru deer, spotted antelope, lion and tiger should be arranged one over the other (tiger's being last) and the king should sit down on the hideṣ The purohita should offer in the fire in the principal place (to the south) offerings of fuel-sticks, sesame, ghee and the like to the accompaniment of ṛk verses addressed to Rudra, Indra, Bṛhaspati, Viṣṇu and Vāyu. The astrologer should observe and declare the prognostications derived⁹⁸ from the flames of the sacred Agni as laid down in the chapter on the festival of Indra's banner (Br. S. 42. 31–36). Then the purohita with folded hands should pray⁹⁹, ‘May all the groups of gods receive the worship from the king and depart after conferring (on him) abundant prosperity and returning (when again in- voked)’. Then the king should honour the astrologer and the purohita with plenty of wealth and (honour) according to their deserts also others, viz. men learned in the Veda and the like who are well worthy of receiving giftṣ Then the king should assure safety to all subjects, (order the) release of all animals taken to slaughter houses and release all persons put in jail except those guilty of offences against the king's person or his hareṃ Varāhamihira adds (47. 85) that this procedure of Pusyaṣnāna is commended for a king who aspires after imperial dignity or who ardently desires a son or when he is first crowned king. He further states that this very procedure of ceremonial bath should be employed in the case of the king's elephants and horses that then become free from diseases (verse 87).

A few remarks from other works may be added here. The Yoga-yātrā (chap. VII. 13–14) lays down¹⁰⁰ that in the ceremonial bath clay should be collected from a mountain top, an ant-hill, a river mouth, the two banks of a river, the foot of the Indra figure (in the Indradhvaja festival), (clay) dug up by the tusk of an elephant and by a bull's horn, (clay) from the royal palace-door and from the door of the house of a dancing girl (patronized by the king) and the king's head should be purified by rubbing on it the clay from a mountain top, his ears with clay from an ant-hill, his sides with clay from the two banks of a river and from its confluence with the sea, his neck with clay from the foot of the Indra figure, his arms with earth on the tip of the elephant's tusk and the bull's horns, his chest with earth from the door of the palace and his waist with clay from a royal courtezan's door. It will be noticed that there is a suggestive symbolism in all thiṣ The king is to hold his head high and to attain eminence; therefore his head is to be rubbed with clay from a mountain peak.

It appears that nakṣatrasnāna was meant for all. For example, the Atharvana-pariśiṣṭa¹⁰¹ on nakṣatrakalpa (sec. 43 p. 22) states that a Vaiśya should undergo ceremonial bath on Rohiṇī, being decked with all seeds, while verse 6 of the same section maintains that a brāhmaṇa who undergoes Puṣyasnāna thrice with a thousand grains of red paddy and with (twigs and leaves) of Sahasravīryā, Ananti plants and with Madayantī and Priyaṅgu plants acquires as much fame as a king.

From the Matsya-purāṇa it is clear¹⁰² that Puṣyasnāna was an item in Lakṣahoma, undertaken by the king to counter-act the evil effects of planetṣ That Purāṇa has a chapter (267. verses 3-4) on Devatāsnāna¹⁰³ where also provision is made for casting clay into the jar, clay being collected from the tusk of an elephant, from a horse (stable), public road, ant-hill, (clay) dug up by a boar (with its tusk), from the shed where sacred fire is kept, from a tīrtha (holy spot), cowpen and from the place where cows crowḍ

The Viṣṇudharmottara (II, 103. 1–10) provides that Bārhas-patyasnāna (i. e. Puṣyasnāna, Bṛhaspati being the presiding deity of Puṣya) should be performed in the bright half, in the northern passage of the sun, on an auspicious day, naksatra and muhūrta or when the moon is in Pusya or Rohini naksatra or in Hasta or Sravana; two square mandalas of eight cubits on each of four sides should be made, one for offering bali and the other for an altar on which a fire is to be established, both being decked with various thingṣ Four jars with waters of springs should be placed in each of the two mandalas, and also seven jars filled with seeds, corn and precious stones, one for being decked with leaves of trees and the other with flowers and fruitṣ It appears (verses 12-13) that the Visnudharmottara contemplates Pusyasnana for the three higher varnas,¹⁰⁴ since it provides that a brāhmaṇa should sit on the hide of a bull as his seat, a kṣatriya may employ the hides of a lion and tiger and a vaiśya on the hides of a tiger and leoparḍ It provides mantras other than those mentioned by Varahamihira. It provides that this rite of Pusyasnana should go on for seven days and that the person undergoing it should give up during those days wine, meat, honey and sexual intercourse (verse 29). This Pusyasnana drives away all ill-luck, destroys evil spirits, brightens the intellect, confers health, brilliance and fame, kills enemies, is auspicious, destroys sins and the evil effects of strife and bad dreams (verses 30-31).

It should be borne in mind that a rite on Pusya for prosperity called Pusya-vrata is mentioned by so early a work as the Apastambadharma-sutra (for which p. 346 above may be referred to).

In Brhadyogayatra (chap. XIII. 1-10), Matsyapurāṇa (chap. 241. 1-14) and in Vasantaraja (chap. VI. 1-14 pp. 87-92) a good deal is said about prognostications derived from the throbbing (spandana or sphurana) of the several parts of a man's body. All the three often closely agree in words and ideas as the notes below will clearly show. There is hardly any doubt that Vasantaraja's treatment is based on the other two workṣ It is difficult to decide whether Varahamihira borrows from the Matsya or vice versa or whether both borrow from a common source. It is not unlikely that Varahamihira might have followed the Matsya. They all agree that throbbing¹⁰⁵ of the right side of the body is auspicious and of the left inauspi-cious in the case of males, while the reverse is true in the case of womeṇ They all set out the consequences indicated by the throbbing of the several parts and limbs of the body from the top of the head to the soles of the feet. To set out all these in detail would occupy much space. A few are mentioned by way of illustratioṇ The fruit indicated by the throbbing of the top of the head is the acquisition of land (or earth); of the forehead, the prosperity of the position already occupied; of the region between the eyebrows and nose, union with persons dear to one; of the region of the eye, death; of the portion near the eye the acquisition of wealth; of the upper arm, union with friends; of the hand, the acquisition of wealth; of the back, defeat; of the chest, success; of the upper part of the foot, the securing of a position; of the soles, journey with gain thereiṇ The Matsya-purāṇa¹⁰⁷ prescribes that when inauspicious indications (by throbbing) occur, brāhmaṇas should be placated with the gift of golḍ

From ancient times the throbbing of the limbs, particularly of the arm and eye, have been regarded in India as the harbingers of coming events, auspicious or inauspiciouṣ Manu prohibits a sannyāsin (parivrājake) from obtaining alms by means of declaring prognostications from utpātas or nimittas, from nakṣatras and from Angavidyā etc. In the Śākuntala Kālidāsa twice mentions the throbbing of the arm of the hero as indicative of good fortune and the throbbing of the right eye of Śakuntalā as presaging¹⁰⁸ misfortune. Shakespeare in “Othello” makes Desdemona speak about the itching of her eyes as a bad omeṇ The Bṛhad-yogayātrā (XIII. 10), Br. S. (51.10) and Vasantarāja declare that the throbbing of moles, boils, marks, eruptions (on limbs) are to be deemed to indicate consequences similar to the limbs on which they exist.¹⁰⁹

The Bṛhatsaṁhitā (chap 93 verses 1-14), Bṛhadyogayātrā (chap. 21 verses ¹¹⁰ 1–21) and Yogayātrā (chap. 10 verses 1–75) dwell at length on the prognostications to be drawn from the arrangement of the tusks of elephants, from the marks seen when the tusks are cut, from the tired appearance and movements of elephants, particularly when the king is to march on an invasion, since as the Yogayātrā says the king’s victory depends on elephantṣ¹¹¹ These, however, do not describe any śānti and are hence passed over here as not relevant to the subject of śāntiṣ But the Agnipurāṇa (chap. 291 verses 1–24), Viṣṇudharmottara (II. 50. 1–93), Bauḍ gṛhyāseṣasūtra I. 20 and Hemādri (on Vrata, vol II. pp. 1036–1051) prescribe śāntis for removing diseases of elephants and therefore a brief note is added here from Bauḍ gṛhyāśeṣa-sūtra, which is probably the earliest and simplest description of a Gajaśānti.

“On the 8th or 11th or 14th tithi of the bright half of a month or on Śrāvaṇa nakṣatra, the owner should feed brāhmaṇas, make them declare 'it is an auspicious day, let there be welfare, let there be prosperity,' should first (or 'towards the east') take out for offering havis sesame and rice grains, bring water after repeating the Gāyatri verse (Rg. III. 62. 10), should cover two jars with a new piece of cloth with the mouths of the jars with some fruit (a cocoanut or the like) and keep the boiled food towards the west and place (the two jars) on a bunch of five dūrvās. Then after decked with wreaths of darbhas the elephant inhales the smell of the food offered in fire. He then makes ready a spoon of Aśvattha wood and fuel and darbha grasṣ Then he goes through the items of ordinary homa¹¹² from drawing lines onwards and offers oblations of the boiled food with ghee to the accompaniment of the Ghṛtasūkta¹¹³ (Rg. VIII. 81. 1-9). Then (the priest) offers 1008 additional āhutis with clarified butter with the five mantras beginning with 'namas-te Rudra manyave' (O Rudra! adoration to you that are fury incarnate' Tai. S. IV. 5. 1. 1-5). Then the procedure from Sviṣṭakṛt offering to the gift of the cow (should be gone through). He puts down on bunches of dūrvā grass the remaining portion of the food from which offerings were made in front of the sacred Agni with the words 'svāhā to the bhūtas' (spirits). Then he (priest) makes (the elephant) eat what remains of the food cooked in the sthāli (pan or cooking vessel) and the bunch of five dūrvās (on which the jars had been placed) to the accompaniment of the Āyuṣya-sūkta ;¹¹⁴ he sprinkles drops from the praṇītā¹¹⁵ water with the three verses beginning with ‘apo hi ṣṭha’ (Rg. X. 9. 1-3, Tai. S. IV. 1. 3. 1–3) and the four verses beginning with ‘Hiraṇyavarṇaḥ’ (Tai. S. V. 6. 1. 1–4), purifies (the elephant with water) to the accompaniment of the anuvāka beginning with ‘pavamānaḥ suvarjanaḥ’ (Tai. Br. I. 4. 8. 1); he then leads the elephant to its place (stable); the elephant becomes long-lived; so says the adorable Baudhāyana.

The Gajaśānti in Agnipurāṇa (chap. 291) is entirely different from the above. One should worship on the 5th tithi of the bright half Viṣṇu, Lakṣmī, the Airāvata¹¹⁶ elephant and the other elephants (in all eight) and Brahmā, Śaṅkara, Indra, Kubera, Yama, the Sun and the Moon, Varuṇa, Vāyu, Agni, the Earth and Akāśa. The elephants should be sprinkled with śāntyudaka (propitiatory water). The Agnipurāṇa proposes an elaborate worship, on a lotus-shaped diagram drawn on an altar, of several gods, several weapons, sages, rivers and mountains &c., elephants &c. and provides that an astrologer should ride the principal chief of elephants and say into its ear 'you are made the chief of elephants, the king will honour you with gandha, flowers, best food and people at the order of the king will honour you; you should protect the king in battle, in his journey and in his palace. You should forget that you are a mere beast and revolve in your mind that you are divine!' &c. The king should then ride such an elephant and armed warriors should follow and various gifts should be made to the elephant keeper, the astrologer, the ācārya &c.

The Viṣṇudharmottara (II. 50. 1–93) is far more elaborate than even the Agnipurāṇa. Its verses about the words to be muttered in the ear of the elephant (II. 50. 59-64) are the same as those in the Agni (291, 15-20). The Viṣṇudharmottara adds (II. 50. 68–70) that this śānti should not be performed on the 4th, 9th or 14th tithi nor on Tuesday nor on Saturday and the commended nakṣatras are Jyeṣṭhā, Citrā and Śrāvaṇa and that this śānti rite for elephants destroys all danger to elephantṣ

Hemādri (on Vrata vol. II. pp. 1036-1051) contains a long Gajaśānti said to have been declared by Pālakāpya. Many of those verses occur in the Hastyāyurveda (Anandāśrama eḍ) chapters 35 and 36. Considerations of space and of importance prevent any description of that śānti derived from the Hasty-āyurveda.

The Bṛhatsamhitā (chap. 92. 1-14), the Bṛhadyogayātrā (22. 1-21) and the Yogayātrā (XI. 1-14) deal with the movements, neighing, prancing, striking the ground with hoofs, postures of horses from which lucky or unlucky consequences are to be inferreḍ But they do not describe any śānti and therefore are passed over. The Agnipurāṇa (chap. 290, 1-8), the Viṣṇu-dharmottara (II. 47. 1-42), Bauḍ gṛhyāśeṣasūtra I. 19 and Hemādri (on vrata, vol. II, pp. 1031-36 taken from Śālihotra) describe a śānti which averts all dangers to horses and removes their diseaseṣ

The śānti from Baudhāyana is as follows:— “having carried out the usual details of an ordinary homa from drawing the lines onwards (the priest) offers into Agni oblations from the cooked food after reciting the puronuvākyā (invitatory prayer) ‘tadāśvināsvaayupapātām’ (May the Aśvins that yoke horses come near, Tai. Br. III. 1. 2. 10) and the yājyā (offering prayer) ‘yau devānām bhiṣajau’ (‘that are physicians of the gods’, Tai. Br. III. 1. 2. 11). Then he makes additional offerings with clarified butter ‘svāhā to Aśvins, svāhā to the two that yoke horses, svāhā to the ear, svāhā to hearing’ (Tai. Br. III. 1. 6. 13). Then he performs all details from sviṣṭakṛt offering to the gift of a cow. Then he puts down on Aśvattha leaves in front of Agni the food remaining after the offering of cooked food with the mantra ‘yo aśvattah... ketubhiḥ saha’ (Tai. Br. I. 2. 1. 8-9). He brings together in a plate the water with which the sthalī is washed, the remainder of the clarified butter and of the water, sprinkles drops from it with an Aśvattha twig and goes round the horses thrice with his right towards the horses with the anuvāka beginning with ‘yo vā aśvasya medhyasya lomāni veda’ (he who knows the hair of the holy horse). So said the adorable Baudhāyana.”

Śāntis are connected with śakunas also. The word śakuna means ‘a bird’ in the Ṛgveda (IV. 26. 6, IX. 86. 13, IX. 96. 19 and 23, IX. 107. 20, IX. 112. 2, X. 68. 7, X. 123. 6, X. 165. 2) and is a synonym of śakuni (Ṛg. II. 42. 1, II. 42. 2 and 3) and śakuntī (Ṛg. II. 42. 3, II. 43. 1). In Ṛg. X. 16. 6 (yat te kṛṣṇaḥ śakuna ātutoda) the crow is referred to as ‘the dark bird’. It has been seen above that birds like kapola were regarded even in the Ṛgveda as harbingers of impending evil and misfortune. Hence the word śakuna gradually came to mean premonition of evil conveyed by cries, movements, positions of birds and then any prognosticatory sign (not necessarily connected with birds). There is an extensive literature on śakunaṣ Some of it is mentioned here, viz. the Matsyapurāṇa (chap. 237, 241, 243), Agnipurāṇa (chap. 230-232), Viṣṇudharmottarapurāṇa II. 163-164, Padmapurāṇa (IV. 100. 65-126 ), Bṛhat-saṃhitā (chap. 85-95), Bṛhad-yogayātrā (chap. 14), the Nimitta of Bhadrabāhu (mṣ in Bhau Daji collection of BBRAS No. 385 in Prof. Velankar’s Catalogue pp. 126-127), Vasantarāja-śakuna,¹¹⁷ Mānasollāsa of king Someśvara Cālukya (1126-1138 A. D.).

The Nimitta attributed to Bhadrabāhu is an extensive work containing 26 chapters and about 1460 verseṣ It is described in the colophon at the end as ‘naigrantha (nairgranthe?) Bhadrabāhuke Nimitte svapnādhyāyāh’. The first chapter states that in the time of king Senajit at Rājagṛha in Magadha pupils asked Bhadrabāhu to expound to them the nimittas and he did so. He is styled (in chap. II. 1) a digambara and the best of śramaṇaṣ The contents of chapters 2 to 26 are: Ulkā (meteors), bali, lightning, evening glow, clouds, winds and hurricanes, rain-fall, gandharvanagara (Fata Morgana), march of kings on invasion, portents affecting the king and the country due to the ripening of actions in former lives (chap. XIV has 177 verses on this), grabacāra as declared by Jīna (chap. XV, 227 verses), the prognosticatory movements of Venus, Saturn, Jupiter, Mercury, Mars, Rāhu, Ketu, the Sun and the Moon; grahayuddha; conjunctions of planets; dreamṣ It appears that the work is later than Varāhamihira. As it is not within the pale of Dharmaśāstra Literature and hardly ever describes śranti in the way in which the Purāṇas and medieval dharmaśāstra works provide it has been referred to in this work only rarely. A. D. ) II. 13 pp. 102-112, Adbhutasāgara (which profusely quotes Vasantarāja's work), Rājanītiprakāśa (pp. 345-347). Among these Vasantarāja-śākuna is the most comprehensive work on the subject of śākunas and has been quoted by the Adbhutasāgara and other later workṣ A brief account of the work would not be out of place and is given here. It is divided into twenty vargas¹¹⁸ (sections) and contains in different metres 1525 verses (as stated in varga II. 12). It states; it would declare the śākunas¹¹⁹ indicated in this world by groups of beings viz. bipeds (men and birds), quadrupeds (elephants, horses &c.), six-footed (bees), eight-footed (the mythical animal śarabha), beings having many feet (such as a scorpion) and having no feet (such as snakes); that is called śākuna which is the means of arriving at definite knowledge about auspicious or inauspicious consequences viz. movement (to the left, to the right &c.), the sounds or cries (of birds and beasts), their glances and activitieṣ A person who is an expert in śākuna-śāstra, knowing that a certain object of his would involve difficulties or would be without difficulties, abandons it or begins it respectively. The work boasts that if it be well studied it requires no expounder, no mathematics and that by merely studying it, the reader acquires pleasant knowledge that yields rewardṣ The work repeats the view of Varāhamihira (in Bṛhat-saṃhitā 85.5 and on p. 558 above in ṇ 827) that śākunas indicate to men, whether going on a journey or residing in their houses, how the consequences of actions done in past lives will certainly bear fruit. He answers the objection that, if no man can escape his fate and has to reap the rewards of his past actions, this śāstra is of no use, by saying that the actions of former lives bear fruit only at certain times and places and a man can avoid the results of past actions just as he avoids snakes, fire, poison,

1310. प्रकृतिर्नाम्न विंशतिर्यस्मिन्महाशाकुनसारभूता। सद्यनेकेभिर्विस्रूपसंयुतास्तथा सप्ताङ्गनि शक्तनि तथा। वसन्तराज II. 12.

1311. द्विपदचतुष्पष्चपषडष्टपदमनेकपदपदृक्। यज्जन्तुसमूहान्स्मिन् वक्ष्यामस्स्य शाकुनानि॥ शुभाशुभज्ञानविनिर्णयाय हेतुर्णा यः शकुनः स उक्तः। गतिस्संरावलोकमभावचेष्टाः शकुनस्येति द्विपदाविकानम्॥ सारापयेतव्ययमेतत्तत्रोपायनियमो भवेति दृष्ट्वा। असंसार्ये शाकुनज्ञोऽप्येषो जहाति चोपरक्रमेते मनुष्यः॥ “अवेक्षते क्नूतस्तुखलुप्सव्वेष्टा न चास्य कार्य मनोनिसं किंछित् । उत्सयत्यतेऽसध्य इि ज्ञानमात्रासुखानं मनोहारी फलायसारि॥ पूर्वजन्मकृतकर्माणः काशपयति येनोद्भवितः श्लिष्यतस्य शुङनः स्थितस्य यत् ॥ ‘‘केनोवेन यदि कारणे भवेकीर्तिशशास्रमुपयुज्यते कथम्। यदनलेन दुधियो महामोहमनात्मान्तः पाल्यन्ति नगदी जनाश्चापिनाः ॥ पूर्वजन्मजनितं पुराविद्वः कर्म येननिमित्ति संभ्रक्षते। उपायेन तथोपार्जिन तथा देवशत्रुमयो न तत्कथम्॥'' बसन्तराज I. 6–8, 12, 14, 21-22. The अब्द्भूत्सागर (p. 569) quotes शुभाशुभ• and other verseṣ thorns and other (dangerous) things and that if fate alone be the deciding factor what is the use of the science of politics and government by following which wise kings protect the world with great effort? Learned men declare that daiva (fate) is only the karma produced (accumulated) in past lives; the karma in past lives was acquired by human effort; how can one then say that daiva does not depend on human effort? The subjects in the 20 vargas and the verses allotted to each by Vasantarāja may be briefly set down at one place:

1. Sāstrapratiṣṭhā (establishment of the śākunaśāstra by reasoning, verses 31); 2. Śāstrasangraha, 13 verses (the statement of the contents of chapters and verses); 3. Abhyarcana, verses 31 (how to honour the guru who expounds the śākunaśāstra and to offer worship to the birds and the eight lokapālas according to the procedure laid down by sages); 4. Miśraka, verses 72 (general directions such as that the person out of several whose śākuna may be examined up to what distance a śākuna operates, what birds and animals are powerful in what directions as to śākunas; śānta, dagdha and other directions); 5. Śubhāśubha (auspicious and inauspicious things and sights) verses 16; 6. Nareṇgita, verses 50 (the appearance, dress, gestures, speech, throbbing of the limbs of men and women that are auspicious or inauspicious); 7. Śyāmāruta (chirpings of the bird called śyāmā, female cuckoo) 400 verses (worship of two images of the bird practically as a deity, the auspicious or inauspicious sounds, reference to invasion, coronation, peace and war, victory, marriage, rainfall, crops); 8. Pakṣivicāra, verses 57 (prognostications from the cries, sight, glances, movements of several birds such as swan, crane, cakravāka, parrot, mainā, peacock, kapiñjala, vulture, hawk, owl, pigeon, cock); 9. Cāṣa (the blue jay) verses 5; 10. Khañjana (wagtail), verses 27; 11. Karapikā (a kind of crane), verses 11; 12. Kākaruta (the cawing of crows) verses 181; 13. Piṅgalīkaruta (cries of an owl-like bird), verses 200; 14. Catuṣpada (four-footed animals like elephant, horse, ass, bull, buffalo, cow and she-buffalo, goat and sheep, camel, musk-rat, rat, monkey, cat, jackal), verses 50; 15. Ṣaṭ-footed, (six-footed, many footed and snakes (verses 13); 16. Pipllikā (ants), verses 15; 17. Pallī-vicāra (lizard also called kūḍyamatsya and gṛhagodhika), verses 32; 18. Śvacestita (barking and other actions of dogs), verses 222; 19. Śvānruta (howling of female jackals), verses 90; 20. Śāstraprabhāva (the importance of this śākunaśāstra), verses 24. A noticeable feature of Vasantarāja's work is that more than half of it (781 verses) is devoted to the sounds¹²⁰ made by three birds viz. Śyāmā (400 verses), crow (187), Piṅgalikā (200) and that 312 verses are devoted to the barking, movements and howling of dogs (verses 222) and female jackals (verses 90). It is remarkable that among the Śāktas it is believed that a female jackal is a messenger of Kālī and is auspicious and on hearing its howl in the early morning a person should offer salutation and then success is in the hands of the sādhaka. The brief contents set out above will show that he extends the meaning of śakuna so as to include prognostications based on the actions of men and beastṣ He himself says at the end that¹²¹ is śakuna, which in this world is remembered, heard, touched or seen or which is declared in dreams, since they all yield resultṣ He claims that the system of śakunas is as authoritative as the Vedas, smṛtis and purāṇas, since it never fails to convey correct knowledge.¹²² Some of his interesting statements may be briefly set out. If an owl hoot at night on the top of a house that portends¹²³ sorrow and the death of the owner's son (VIII. 40). This is in line with modern popular belief in India. The cawing of crows is at the head of all prognosticatory soundṣ 'The barking of dogs is the essence among all śakunaṣ' The Bṛhad-yogayātrā¹²⁴ provides that certain animals and birds are useless for prognostications at certain seasons viz. the rohīta (red) deer, horse, goat, ass, deer, camel, hare, are useless in winter (śiśira); crow and cuckoo are useless in spring; boar, dog, wolf and the like should not be relied upon in Bhādrapada; in Śarad (autumn) lotuses (or conch), bull and birds like krauñca are useless; in Śrāvaṇa month, the elephant and cātaka bird; in Hemanta (early winter), tiger, bear, monkey, leopard, buffalo and all animals resorting to holes (like snakes) are useless and so are all young ones except of human beingṣ Vasantarāja in IV. 47–48 pp. 56–57 has the same provisions almost word for worḍ Vasantarāja's work appears to have been based mainly on Varāhamihira's Bṛhat-saṃhitā section on śakuna, chapters 85 to 95 (321 verses) in which Varāhamihira devotes 47 verses in chap. 85 to the cries of birds in general, deals with the movements and barking of dogs (88. 1–20) and female jackals (89. 1–15), the cries of crows (62 verses in chap. 94), to horses (92. 1–15), elephants (94. 1–14) and cows (90. 1–3).

Vasantarāja states ¹²⁵ that there are five excellent ones in the matter of śakunas viz. the Podaki bird, dog, crow, piṅgalā Sarasvatī is the presiding deity of the Podaki, Yakṣa ( Kubera ) of dog, eagle of crow, Caṇḍī of piṅgalā and the friend of Pārvatī of the female jackal. He further says that all animals and birds are presided over by deities; therefore a person who interprets śakunas should not kill them, as deities presiding over them might become angry. His statements about 'upaśruti' (oracular voices or words) are worth citing. ‘At the time of pradoșa or about the morning twilight when people are hardly speaking anything, a person that is ready to undertake any matter (business) should consider everywhere oracular voiceṣ What a child says without being prompted to do so would not turn out to be untrue even at the end of a Yuga. No such easily understood and true śakuna exists for men other than upaśruti.’ Both Mānasollāsa (II, 13, verses 920–926 pp. 112–113) and Vasantarāja (VI, pp. 78–80 verses 5–12) describe a curious mode of divining the future called 'upaśruti'. ¹²⁶ ‘When all people are asleep and the public road is empty of people three married women accompanied by a maiden should worship Gaṇeśa (with gandha and flowers &c.); then, after making an obeisance to Caṇḍikā they should fill a measure of corn like kudava with akṣata grains on which sacred mantras have been recited seven times; they should then place the image of Gaṇeśa in that measure surrounded by the grass blades of a brooṃ They should take with them the kudava measure with Gaṇeśa image inside and repair to the house of a washermaṇ In front of that house they should cast white akṣata grains after (silently) revolving in their mind their thoughts (the matter they are intent on). Then they should with concentrated mind listeṇ When they hear any words coming from inside of the house talked by a man, a woman or a child or any one else uttered at pleasure (or without restraint of any kind), auspicious, or inauspicious, they should consider the sense of the words heard and the conclusion drawn as to the future project from the words would not turn out to be untrue. The same method may be followed by approaching the house of a cāṇḍāla. A peculiar mode akin to 'upaśruti' is described in the Padmapurāṇa, Pātālakhaṇḍa, chap. 100 verses 65-166. It is narrated in that chapter that Bibhīṣaṇa was put in chains by Draviḍas when the former saw Śiva-liṅga established by Rāma at Rameśvara and when no one could explain how it happened, Rāma questioned Śambhu himself who explained that the Purāṇas (mentioned in verses 51-53) may be employed as containing prognosticatory wordṣ The procedure is that a maiden more than five years of age and less than ten years or any girl who has not attained puberty may be honoured with gandha, flowers, incense and other upacāras, she should be made to recite the words 'speak the truth, speak what is agreeable, O blessed Sarasvatī! salutation to you, salutation to you!' She should be given three pairs of dūrvā grass and she should be asked to cast them between two leaves of the book. The verse between two leaves would be indicative of success in the under-taking. The verse should be carefully considered and its meaning settled and applied to the matter in hanḍ This is like sortes sanctorum or sortes Vergiliana i. e. divination by opening at random the Scriptures or a book of Virgil or by pricking the text with a piṇ Then directions are given as to what should be done if the leaves are half burnt or indistinct &c. and it is said that one should look upon the verse as sent by fate like the words in the upaśruti methoḍ¹²⁸ It is further stated that this method should not be resorted to every day, but rarely and that then one should worship the Purāṇa the previous night and in the morning should consult the Purāṇa for śakuna (verses 114-116). The Skanda is the best among all Purāṇas for this purpose of śakuna; some hold that the Viṣṇupurāṇa and the Rāmāyaṇa also may be consulted, but the author of the Padma says that Viṣṇupurāṇa may not be used for this purpose, since if a man devoid of proper conduct honours it for consultation, then inauspicious indications come out (verses 122-125). Śambhu himself worshipped Skanda-purāṇa, asked the question why Bibhīṣaṇa, devotee of Śiva, had fetters put on him (verses 131-132). Then three verses were seen that gave indications (verses 133-135), two of which¹²⁹ are cited below. At the end the Purāṇa says that the Ādiparva of the Mahābhārata or all its parvas may be employed for this purpose of śakuna (verses 163-164).

A similar method of finding out omens and of divination from the two works of the great Hindi poet and saint Tulasīdās (born in samvat 1589 i. e. 1532 A. D.) viz. Rāmājñā (or Rāmaśakunāvalī containing 343 dohā verses) and Rāmaśalāka is described at some length by G. A. Grierson in I. A. vol. XXII pp. 204 ff and in Festgabe H. Jacobi pp. 449-455.

It is worthy of note that even scientific works like the Carakasaṁhitā ask the physician to notice the condition of the patient, of the messenger, and the actions of the physician and inauspicious omenṣ They are described in Indriyasthāna chap. 12. A few notable verses may be cited here. ‘That patient would only live for a month on whose head arises only powder (dandruff or the like) resembling the powder of dry cowdung and that slides down (from the head); that patient will not live even for a fortnight whose chest dries up when he takes a bath and anoints his body with sandalwood paste while all other limbs are yet wet’ (verse 12). ‘Those messengers from a physician when the latter is offering oblations into fire or is offering piṇḍas to his pitṛs, will kill the patient (i. e. indicate the approaching death of the patient, verse 16); a woman who is in a pitiable state, terrified, hurried, troubled, dirty and unchaste, three persons (coming together), deformed persons, impotent persons—these are messengers of those who are about to die’ (verses 21-22); ‘a physician should not go (to see a patient) on being called by a messenger when the messenger is describing the condition of the patient, an inauspicious omen or a sorrowing man or a corpse or the decoration meant for the dead’; verses 67-70 dilate on the signs of an auspicious messenger and verses 71-79 set out auspicious omens such as the sight of curds, whole grains, brāhmaṇas, bulls, king, jewels, jar full of water, white horse &c. The physician is however advised not to declare an inauspicious omen even when he sees it that would give a shock or cause pain to the patient or even to anyone else (verse 63). It would be of use to students of śāntis if the śānti-sūktas of the Ṛgveda are mentioned in one place. They are: (1) Ā no bhadrāḥ (Rg. I. 89. 1–10) (2) Svasti na Indro (Rg. I. 89. 6–10) (3) Śam na Indrāgni (Rg. VII. 35. 1–11)¹³¹ (4) Yata Indra bhayāmahe (Rg. VIII. 61. 13–18) (5) Bhadram no api vātaya manaḥ (Rg. X. 20. 1) (6) Āsuḥ śīśāno (Rg. X. 103. 1–13) (7) Muñcāmi tvā (Rg. X. 161. 1–5) (8) Tyam-ū su (Rg. X. 178. 1–3) (9) Mahi tripām (Rg. X. 185. 1–3) (10) Rātri vyākhyat (Rg. X. 127. 1–8) Most of the above hymns occur wholly or partly in the Atharva-veda, the Tai. S. and other Vedic workṣ

Then there are certain hymns that are called Rakṣoghna¹³² (destroying evil spirits) such as ‘Kṛṇuṣva pājaḥ’ (Rg. IV. 4. 1–15), ‘Rakṣohanam’ (Rg. X. 87. 1–25), ‘Indrasomā tapatam’ (Rg. VII. 104. 1–25), ‘Agne hamsī nyatrinam’ (Rg. X. 118. 1–9), ‘Brahmaṇāgniḥ’ (Rg. X. 162. 1–6). Some of these also occur wholly or partly in the Tai. S., Atharvaveda and other Vedic workṣ

The eleven anuvākas of the Taittirīya saṃhitā IV. 5 beginning with the words ‘namas-te Rudra manyava’ are styled Rudrādhyāya or simply Rudra. Reciting them once is styled ‘āvartana’, but the recitation of these eleven times is called ‘Ekādaśinī’. Recitation of the Ekādaśinī eleven times is called in popular parlance Laghurudra, eleven repetitions¹³³ of this last are designated Mahārudra and eleven Mahārudras are called Atirudra. The Rudra may take three forms viz. japa (muttering), homa (offering into Agni oblations to the accompaniment of the mantras), or abhiṣeka (sprinkling a person with the holy water over which the mantras have been recited). For reciting Rudrādhyāya the yajamāna, if he cannot himself recite it, may employ one brāhmaṇa and also for Ekādaśinī; but for Laghurudra and Mahārudra eleven brāhmaṇas are generally employed and for Atirudra eleven or 121. Ekādaśinī and Laghurudra are very much in vogue even now in Mahārāṣṭra. Rudrābhiṣeka is described in Bauḍ gṛhyasūtra II 18. 11-16.

The mantra 'Tryambakam yajāmahe' (Rg. VII. 59. 12, Tai. S. I. 8. 6. 2, Vāj. S. III. 60) is called Mṛtyuñjaya. Japa of it is prescribed for relief against premature death. The Baudhāyana-gṛhyaseṣasūtra (III. 11) prescribes a somewhat more elaborate rite and provides that the mantras to be recited are 'apaitu mṛtyuḥ' (Tai. Br. III. 7. 14. 4), 'param mṛtyo' (Tai. Br. III. 7. 14. 5), 'mā no mahāntam' (Rg. I. 114. 7), 'mā nas-toke' (Tai. S. III. 4. 11. 2), 'Tryambakam yajāmahe' (Tai. S. I. 8. 6. 2), 'Ye te sahasram' (Tai. Br. III. 10. 8. 2).

It is unnecessary for the author to say what should be done in these days as to śāntiṣ Most of the śāntis except a few, as pointed out above in various places, are no longer performeḍ Even the few that are yet performed may cease altogether in the near future, if one is to judge from modern trendṣ