Introduction to Tantra Sastra - Aghori
Introduction to Tantra Sastra - Aghori
Introduction to Tantra Sastra - Aghori
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WORSHIP 103<br />
meaning of the mantra. The Japas of different kinds<br />
have also the relative values, attachable <strong>to</strong> thought and<br />
its materialization in sound and word. Certain conditions<br />
are prescribed as those under which japa should<br />
be done, relating <strong>to</strong> physical cleanliness, the dressing of<br />
the hair, and wearing of silk garments, the seat (āsana),<br />
the avoidance of certain conditions of mind and actions,<br />
and the nature of the recitation. The japa is useless<br />
unless done a specified number of times of which 108 is<br />
esteemed <strong>to</strong> be excellent. The counting is done either<br />
with a mālā or rosary (mala-japa), or with the thumb of<br />
the right hand upon the joints of the fingers of that<br />
hand (kara-japa). The method of the counting in the<br />
latter case may differ according <strong>to</strong> the mantra. 1<br />
SA ṂSKĀRA<br />
There are ten (or, in the case of Śūdras, nine) purifica<strong>to</strong>ry<br />
ceremonies, or “sacraments,” called saṃskaras,<br />
which are done <strong>to</strong> aid and purify the jīva in the important<br />
events of his life. These are jīvasheka, also called garbhādhāna-ṛ<br />
tu-saṃskara, performed after menstruation,<br />
with the object of insuring and sanctifying conception.<br />
The garbhādhāna ceremony takes place in the daytime<br />
on the fifth day and qualifies for the real garbhādhāna<br />
at night—that is, the placing of the seed in the womb. It<br />
is preceded on the first day by the ṛ tu-saṃskāra, which<br />
is mentioned in Chapter IX of Mahānirvāṇ a-<strong>Tantra</strong>.<br />
After conception and during pregnancy, the puṃsavana<br />
and sīman<strong>to</strong>nnayana rites are performed; the first upon<br />
the wife perceiving the signs of conception, and the<br />
second during the fourth, sixth, or eighth month of<br />
pregnancy.<br />
1 See as <strong>to</strong> Japa, <strong>Tantra</strong>sāra, 75, et seq.