There are ten (or, in the case of Sudras, nine) purificatory ceremonies, or “sacraments,” called samskaras, which are done to aid and purify the jiva in the important events of his life. These are jivasheka, also called garbhadhana-rtu-samskara, performed after menstruation, with the object of insuring and sanctifying conception. The garbhadhana ceremony takes place in […]
The object of this ritual, which is described in Mahanirvana-Tantra, Chapter V, verses 93 et seq, is the purification of the elements of which the body is composed. (1) The Mantra-mahodadhi speaks of it as a rite which is preliminary to the worship of a Deva.(2) The process of evolution from the Para-brahman has been […]
This word, which comes from the root” to place,” means placing the tips of the fingers and palm of the right hand on various parts of the body, accompanied by particular mantras. The nyasas are of various kinds.(1) Jiva-nyasa (2) follows upon bhuta-suddhi. After the purification of the old, and the formation of the celestial […]
Worship with the pancatattva generally takes place in an assembly called a cakra, which is composed of men (sadhaka) and women (sakti), or Bhairava and Bhairavi. The worshippers sit in a circle (cakra), men and women alternately, the sakti sitting on the left of the sadhaka. The Lord of the cakra (cakrasvamin or cakresvara) sits […]