गान्धर्व तन्त्र (शैव-शाक्त आगम - मन्त्र-रहस्य, यन्त्र एवं देवतोपासना सटीक)

sundarī and at the end of the Sandhyā he is to offer a handful of water mixed with red flowers and the powder of sandal wood to the sun under the name of the Mārtandabhairava with the Mantra ह्रीं हस मार्त्तण्डभैरवाय प्रकाशशक्तिसहिताय इदमर्घ्यं नमो नम 8th CHAPTER The 8th chapter describes the sacrificial altar and the way in which the practitioner should, while entering it, bow to the presiding deities of the quarters and other deities such as Ganeśa, Kshetrapāla etc and how he should make an offering to the Bhútas with the mantra ॐ ह्रीँ सर्वविघ्नकृत् सर्व- भूतेभ्यो हू स्वाहा how he should remove all obstacles by muttering seven times Astra-mantra which reads as ऐँक्लीँसौ. अस्त्राय फट् and how he should clean the sacri- ficial altar Every article of worship is to be concealed till the invocation of the Devi The Devotee is instructed to use his discretion in selecting Āsana because the fruit of worship varies with the material of which the Āsana is made. Red blanket is specially advised for the worship of Tripurā. It must measure two cubits in length and one cubit and a half in width He has to sit also on it under the instruc- tions of Āsana The posture peculiar to the worship of Tripurā is Padmāsana and the North is the quarter which the practi tioner must face to secure success in the worship of Tripura- sundarī The practitioner should take care that when wor- shipping he should have everything red such as saffron ointment, red dress, red seat etc and while following instructions regarding the use of the articles of worship and their places, he should have the

Śrīchakra drawn in red lead, placed on the Siṃhāsana Towards his left he should place a stand with a pot full of water on a rectangular diagram The stand is to be indentified with the orb of the fire, the pot with the solar orb and the water with the moon and these must as such be worshipped with the Kalās of the fire, the sun and the moon Ānanda-bhairava and Ānanda-bhairavī are to receive their worship through the pot Conch and other vessels are also to be placed in particular places The purification of the five elements constituting the body by removing the impurities attaching to them through the letters peculiar to the elements and by subsequent infusion of the energy of the Changeless Reality is to be attended to and per- formed as a preliminary to the worship For this purification the practitioner is to deeply concentrate in the Bindu-chakra on the Turīyā aspect of Mahātripurasundarī After this he has to protect himself against all sinister influences by the Digbandhana with the mantra ॐ ह्रीं हंसः सोऽहं स्वाहा ऐं क्लीं सौः त्रिपुरसुन्दरि मां रक्ष रक्ष. 9th CHAPTER In the 9th chapter is given the Mātṛkānyāsa In per- forming this the practitioner is first to wash his hand in a particular manner with the mantra अ्र आँ सौ Then he has to pay his attention to Ṛṣinyāsa etc Then comes the Mātṛkānyāsa of which all details such as Ṛṣhi etc and six limbs etc. are given. Mātṛkā is said to be of two kinds as Antarmātṛkā and Bahirmātṛkā In the case of the fromer letters of the alphabet are to be meditated

upon in the six centres of the body Mulādhāra to Bhrūmadhya. In the latter case letters of the Mātṛikā preceded each by क्लीं are to be meditated upon, vowels individually in the sixteen different parts of the head, five groups of letters gutturals to labials in hands, feet, sides, back, navel and belly, identifiable with the seven constituents of the body, skin etc vital soul, individual soul and supreme soul in heart, armpits, throat, shoulders, lower end of the heart, hands and feet, belly and face Different poses of the hands are also to be used in having this Nyāsa Towards the end various results obtainable from Mātṛikā-nyāsa are described 10th CHAPTFR In the 10th Patala the sixfold Nyāsa of Śrīvidyā as consisting of those of Gaṇeśa, planets, constellations, Yoginīs, signs of Zodiac and Pīṭha is described Gaṇeśa Nyāsa. In this the fiftyone Gaṇeśas vighneśvara to Gaṇeśa with their Śaktis are to be contemplated upon in the different parts of the body forehead etc assigning each letter of the alphabet to a couple as अं विघ्नेश्वराय श्रियै नमो ललाटे. (Planets) Graha Nyāsa The planets Sun to comet occupy the places heart, middle of the eyebrows, eyes, heart, throat, navel, anus and feet Their letter are respectively vowels, semivowels, gutturals, palatals, linguals, dentals, labials, aspirates, ळ & क्ष

Constellations ( Nakshatra Nyasa ) Details regarding this are as given in the following table –

Yoginī Nyāsa

The Nyāsa of Yoginīs is to be performed with the mantras in the following manner –

The mantra of the first is अंआंइंईंउंऊंऋंॠंऌंॡंएंऐंओंऔंअंअः डां डीं डमलवस्यूं डाकिन्यै नमो डाकिनि त्वग्धातुगते चतुष्षष्टिलक्षकोटि- योगिनीस्वामिनि सर्वसत्त्ववशंकरी आज्ञां मे देहि मम विच्चे. The mantra of the second is कंखंगंघंङंचंछंजंझंञंटठ रां रीं रमलवस्यूं राकिन्यै नमो राकिनि असृग्धातुगते द्वात्रिंशल्लक्षकोटियोगिनीस्वामिनि सर्वसत्त्ववशंकरी आज्ञां मे देहि मम विच्चे The mantra of the third is डंढंणं तंथंदंधनं पं फं लां लीं लमलवस्यूं लाकिन्यै नमो लाकिनि मांसधातुगते षोडशलक्षकोटियोगिनीस्वामिनि सर्वसत्त्ववशंकरी आज्ञां मे देहि मम विच्चे The mantra of the fourth is बंभंमंयरंलं कां कीं कममलवस्यू काकिन्यै नम काकिनि मेदोधातुगते अष्टलक्षकोटियोगिनीस्वामिनि सर्व- सत्त्ववशंकरी आज्ञां मे देहि मम विच्चे The mantra of the fifth is वं शं षं सं शां शीं शमलवस्यू शाकिन्यै नम शाकिनि अस्थिधातुगते चतुर्लक्षकोटियोगिनीस्वामिनि सर्वसत्त्व- वशंकरी आज्ञा मे देहि मम विच्चे The mantra of the sixth is हं क्षं हां हीं हमलवरयूं हाकिन्यै नमो हाकिनि मज्जाधातुगते द्विलक्षकोटियोगिनीस्वामिनि सर्वसत्त्ववशंकरी आज्ञां मे देहि मम विच्चे The mantra of the seventh is अंआंइंईंउंऊंऋंॠंऌंॡंएंऐंओंऔंअंअः कंखंगंघंङंचंछंजंझंञंटठडंढंणंतंथंदंधनं पफंबंभमंयरंलवशषसंहंक्ष यां यी यमलवरयूं याकिन्यै नमो याकिनि शुक्रधातुगते दशकोटियोगिनीस्वामिनि सर्वसत्त्ववशंकरी आज्ञां मे देहि मम विच्चे Rāśi Nyāsa Like the two previous Nyāsas the above Nyāsa also is prescribed in the table as given below -

In this the practitioner is to identify the fiftyone Pīṭhas Kāmarūpa etc. with the different parts of the body and in doing so the letters of the Mātṛkā are to go along with the names of the pīṭhas one with each with a Bindu at the top The chapter ends with the spiritual powers that the practitioner of this Shodhānyāsa gets 11th. CHAPTER In the 11th Paṭala are described first the Nyāsa of (1) Āsana, (2) Vaśinyādivāgdevatā (3) Mūlāṅga (4) Navayoni (5) Caturvyūha, (6) Tattvanyāsa (7) Mūlavidyā and (8) Sammohana. In the Ist, Āsanas i.e. Amṛtārṇavāsana, Potāmbujāsana Ātmāsana, Chakrāsana, Sarvamantrāsana, Sādhyāsana, Sādh- yasiddhāsana, Paryaṅkaśaktipīṭhāsana and Mahāpretāsana, respectively presided over by Tripurā, Tripureśvarī, Tripura- sundarī, Tripuravāsinī, Tripuraśrī, Tripuramālinī, Tripurasiddhā, Tripurāmbā and Mahātripurabhairavī are to be contemplated upon in feet, knees, thighs, hips, private part, Mulādhāra, Navel, heart and cavity in the head The Mantras to be used are (1) अअ्रासौः त्रिपुरामृतार्णवासनाय नमः (2) ऐक्लूँ सो. त्रिपुरे- श्वरीपोताम्बुजासनाय नमः (3) ह्रीङ्क्रासाः त्रिपुरसुन्दर्यात्मासनाय नमः(4) ऐ- ह्स्लीं ह्सौः त्रिपुरवासिनीचक्रासनाय नम. (5) ह्से ह्स्क्रीं ह्स्सौः त्रिपुरश्रीसर्वम- न्त्रासनाय नमः (6) ह्रीँ क्लँ ब्लैं त्रि पुरमालिनीसाध्यास नाय नम (7) ह्रीं श्रींसौ

त्रिपुरसिद्धामाध्यसिद्धासनाय नम (8) ह्स्रं हस्रक्लीं हस्रौ महात्रिपुरभैरवीसदा- शिवमहाप्रेतपद्मासनाय नम In the 2nd, eight goddesses of speech are to be meditated upon as presiding deities of (1) Vowels (2) gutturals (3) Palatals (4) Linguals (5) Dentals (6) Labials (7) Semi vowels and (8) Aspirates Their names, seats and Kūtas are (1) Vaśinī, cavity in the head, ब्लूं (2) Kameśvarī, forehead, क्ल्रीं (3) Modinī, middle of eye-brows, न्व्लीं (4) Vimalā, throat, य्लूं (5) Aruṇā, heart, ञ्स्त्रीं (6) Jayinī, navel, ह्सलवयूं (7) Sarveśvarī, Liṅga, झ्मरयूं (8) Kaulinī, below the liṅga, क्ष्म्रीं. In the 3rd, the six limbs i e heart, head, tuft of the air on the head, armour, eyes and the weapons are to be, located in the five fingers of the hands and their palm and back While doing so the practitioner is to mutter in each, case the mantra of Śrīvidyā twice The six poses of the hands are prescibed for these six limbs the three fingers- middle, ring and index for Hṛidaya, two fingers - mid and index for Śiras thumb for Śikhā ten fingers for Kavacha, the three above referred to for eyes and the two above mentioned for Astra In the 4th, Vaśinī etc are to be meditated upon in the different parts of the body named in book and the muttering of all the three Kutas of Śrīvidyā is to be done in each case

In the 5th, the four forms of Mahātripurasundarī i e. Kameśvarī, Vajreśvarī, Bhagamālinī and Mahātripurasundarī are to be contemplated upon below the Liṅga, in the heart, in the middle of the eyebrows and in the cavity in the head, with the four famous centres of her worship and their priests. The mantras to be uttered are (1) ऐं अग्निचक्रे कामगिरि- पीठे मित्रेशनाथात्मके कामेश्वरीरुद्रात्मशक्ति श्रीपादुकायै नमः (2) क्लीं सूर्यचक्रे जालन्धरपीठे षष्ठीशनाथात्मक वज्रेश्वरीविष्ण्वात्मशक्तिश्रीपादुकाये नमः (3) सौः सोमचक्रे पूर्णगिरिपीठे उड्डीशनाथात्मके भगमालिनीब्रह्मात्मशक्तिश्रीपादुका- यै नमः (4) तुर्यबीजं ब्रह्मचक्रे उड्डियानपीठे चर्यानाथात्मके परब्रह्मात्मशक्तिश्रीपादु- काये नमः In the 6th, the three tattvas Ātma, Vidyā and Śiva are to be located in the three parts of the body viz (1) from feet to the place below the Liṅga, (2) thence to heart, (3) from the heart to the middle of the eyebrows, uttering the following mantras - 1 ऐं आत्मतत्त्वव्यापिकायै महात्रिपुरसुन्दर्यै नमः , 2 क्लीं विद्यातत्त्वव्यापिकायै महात्रिपुरसुन्दर्यै नमः , 3 सौः शिवतत्त्वव्यापिकायै महात्रिपुरसुन्दर्यै नमः In the 7th, the three Kutas of Śrīvidyā are to be located in hands etc, individually and the fourth bījā is to have its place in the cavity in the head The fifteen syllabes of the Pañchadaśī are located in the cavity in the head, Mūlādhāra, heart, eyes, ears, mouth, arms, back, knees and navel In the 8th, the practitioner is to consider himself as endowed with a body of mantras and meditate upon Śrīvidyā

in the mantra form While this is being done, Yonimudrā is to be placed in the cavity of the head, forehead, middle of the eyebrows, face and heart What has been described above relates to the ex- ternal worship. As regards the internal, the practitioner is first to purify his mind and soul through Prāṇāyāma which is said to be of the highest value in the spiritual do- main By Prāṇa is meant the life breath and by Āyāma the control thereof Prāṇāyāma consists of the three functions—inhalation, exhalation and retention AWAKENING OF KUNDALINI While doing the Prāṇāyāma referred to above, the practioner is to mutter mentally either the whole mantra or its initial syllable The Kundalinī lying dormant in the Mulādhārā is to be contemplated upon as a thin red flame rising upwards when awakened with the help of ओंकार and piercing the six life - centres in its up- ward march, till it reaches Śiva and becomes united with him in bliss Thence she comes down again through the same way to Mulādhāra The Kundalinī while moving up from Mulādhāra to the heart receives the name of वह्निकुण्डलिनी being fiery, from heart to the throat सूर्यकुण्डलिनी being solar and from throat to head सोमकुण्डलिनी being lunar. The three Kutas respectively get assimilated to her in the three places referred to above In the Bindu, the 4th form of Kundalinī as embracing all the Bījas and all forms of light is to be contemplated upon

Meditation on Kundalinī, which constitutes the inner worship, helps the practioner to acquire freedom from all sins 12TH CHAPTER. In the 12th Patala the mental offering of worship and the mental approach to and unification with Mahātri- purasundari are at length described. In the first, the pract- itioner is to sit on the prescribed Āsana keeping his body quite erect and, with the hands full of red flowers placed near the heart, close the eyes and, feeling as it were the august presence of Mahātripurasundarī in the heart, offer worship to her with the mental sixteen requisites of worship The Yogīs and sages have a recourse to this worship only In the second i e the Dhyānayoga, the practioner has to select a solitary place and seat himself in a particular posture with all his mental operations brought under control He should feel oneness with the Transcendental Self through absolute introspection In order to rise to that plane of con- sciousness he has to immerge the different elements of which the world is composed in the causeless cause The order in which these evolutes are absorbed from the following into the preceding is given as follows: The earth element merges in the water, water in the fire, fire in the air, air in the ether, ether in the mind, mind in the ego, ego in the manifest, the manifest matter in the unmanifest and the unmanifest in the Supreme Self

After the absorptive meditation is over, he has to think of evolution In this he is to think of evolution of the world from the causeless cause through matter, ego, mind, etc. etc, down to the frog, Kālāgnirudra, Ādhāraśaktı in the form of a crocodile and boar holding on the tooth the earth. There he has to think of the nectar-ocean, the coral island, the golden hill, the heavenly garden Kalpodyāna and of streams and lakes On the shore of the biggest among the lakes he should imagine the existence of the desire-grant- ing tree with a jewel-pavilion having four gates fitted with diamond doors and coral threshoulds and other decorative parts After having done so, he is to imagine the presence of one big lotus enclosed in another placed in the centre of the simhāsana arranged on a platform of jewels inside the pavilion described above The outer lotus represents all the elements, its bulb the bliss, its stalk the consciousness, all the evolutes of Prakriti furnishing the thirtytwo leaves and the fifty letters furnishing the pericarp of the lotus Inside the lotus he has to think of the sun, moon and fire one placed below another In the fiery orb there stands the triangular mass of light borne by the five kāraṇās. In the centre of this triangle stands the third lotus in which the practioner is to think of the seven goddesses Tripurā to Tripurāmbā. Of the last, beautiful description of each part of the body is given in detail in the text. While thinking

so, the practioner is to be at one with Mahātripurasundarī. 13th. CHAPTER. In this stress is laid first of all on the actual real- ization of the unity between the worshipper and the wor- shipped Everything else used in the worship receives san- ctity by it. A devotee is enjoined to worship Śrīvidyā both mentally as well as physically in case he happens to be rich enough All vessels required for worship may be of copper A devottee may, if he can, make five vessels from five jewels which are named as Garuda, Mānikya, Vajra, Vaidurya and Nīla. The Bījas of the five jewels are ग्लूं स्लूं प्लूं म्लूं न्लूं. The pot which is to contain Viśeshā- rghya is to get a place in the cerimonious manner between Śrīchakra and the worshiper on a diagram drawn on the earth The diagram is to consist of a rectangle, a hexagon, a circle and a triangle, one enclosing the other The mantra to be used is ऐं ह्रीं सौ महात्रिपुरसुन्दर्या अर्घ्यपात्रासनं साधयामि. The stand of the pot, the pot and the liquid poured into the pot represent the fire, the sun and the moon and hence the former are to receive the worship respectively of the Kalās of the latter. The liquid to be poured is to be one of the following. wine, milk, coconut-juice, sugar-cane-juice, sugar, honey, ghee Presence of the sacred waters is to be invoked in the pot from the solar orb with the Anku- śamudrā Then the pot is to be covered over with the

hands in the Matsyamudrā. The jewels Māṇikya etc., are to be put into the liquid of the pot, the goddess of jewels being worshipped through the jewels. Her mantra is nine-syllabled as श्रीं ह्रीं ग्लूं स्लूं प्लूं म्लूं न्लूं ह्रीं श्रीं The Mātṛkā is to be contemplated upon in the form of a triangle, vowels occupying the base, consonents क to त and थ to स the arms and ह and क्ष the centre. The three angles and the centre are to be identified with Kāmarūpa, Jālandhara, Pūrṇagiri and Uḍḍyāna presided over by the four forms of Tripurā Ānanda-Bhairava described as ten-armed, five-faced and having ten emblems and Surādevī similarly formed in his lap are to be worshipped inside the pot. Amṛtīkaraṇa, Sakalīkaraṇa and Paramīkaraṇa are to be done afterwards with Dhenumudrā and Mahāmudrā as also with Musalamudrā, Yonimudrā and Gālinīmudrā. The mantras of these are (1) हसक्षमलवरयूं आनन्दभैरवाय वौषट् (2) सहक्षमलवरयूं सुरादेव्यै वौषट्. In the purification the verses to be muttered are (1) हंसः etc. (2) प्रतद्विष्णु etc. (3) त्र्यम्बकं यजामहे etc. (4) तद्विष्णोः etc. (5) विष्णोर्योनि etc. The mantra ऐं क्लीं etc., is to be muttered ten times. The last items of purification are to be done with the help of the Sandīpinī Vidyā ऐं वद वद etc. At the end, the practitioner is to offer libation to Śrīvidyā from the liquid thus consecrated. 14TH CHAPTER. The 14th Paṭala deals with the worshipping of Kāmeś-

varī In it the practitioner is to offer the Asana on the Kāmapīṭha to Kāmeśvarī invoking the presence of Adhāra- śaktı and others upto Kāmeśvara who serve as her seat Kāmeśvara is to be contemplated upon as four-armed, seated on the white lotus and holding in the left hand trident and bow and in the right white lotus and Bījapūra. Then Kāmeśwarī is to be contemplated upon as being seated in the lap of Kāmeśvara in response to the invo- cation with the mantra ऐं ह्रीं सौं महात्रिपुरसुन्दर्यमृतचैतन्यमूर्तिं कल्पयामि The rites of removing the sinister influences and Digbandhana come after this The vitalizing of the idol is to be conducted by the practitioner, after holding the breath and realizing through contemlation the presence of Mahātripurā- sundrī in the heart, by conceptualizing the vitality in the handful of flowers after it comes out through the nostrils with the Bīja यं Trikhaṇḍā and Āvāhanī Mudrās which are described in the text should be used as also the Avāhanīvidyā ह्सै ह्स्क्लीं ह्स्रौः invoking the presence of Mahātripurasundarī in the idol. This being over, the practitioner has to address his prayers to Mahātripurasundarī for firm stay, for being eye to eye and mind to mind with the practitioner, for success in completion, for being invisible to the undeserving, for being blissful and finally for being merciful using the Mudrās such as are prescribed for these acts

After these preliminary rites, comes the offering of three handfuls of flowers and three libations of the con- secrated liquid with the mantras (1) ऐं क्लीं सौः महात्रिपुरसुन्दरी- श्रीपादुकां पूजयामि (2) ऐं क्लीं सौ महात्रिपुरसुन्दरीश्रीपादुकां तर्पयामि. Exhibition of the nine Mudrās Sankshobani to Yoni follows the offering of the following prayer to the goddess - “O Goddess, May you be kind to me, may you accept my worship as I though poor physically as well as in material resources offer it in a devotional sipirit ” After the exhibition of the Mudrās, the practitioner is to present the seven items of offering using नमः स्वधा and वौषट् wherever necessary Tarpana is to be done with the Tatva Mudrā in which the thumb and the Index finger are to be joined of the left hand At the end, come Japa and offer of the sacrifice, ointment, collyrium, mirror and umbrella 25TH CHAPTER The 15th chapter describes the things to be offered in worship These are Āsana, Pādya, Arghya, Āchamana, Madhu- parka, Snāna Vastra, Bhushana Gandha Anjana, Pushpa, Dhupa, Dipa, and Naivedya Āsana or the seat It is to be either of gold or silver or cloth or jewels or flowers or wood Among the cloths red blanket is preferable

Pādya or water for footwash Cold water mixed with sandal wood paste and Agaru is to be offered either in a pot of gold or silver or in a conch Arghya for the head This is to consist of white mustard beans, sesamum, milk, red sandal and red flowers mixed in water. This is to be offered in a conch like other articles with a particular mantra given in the text Āchamana or water for sipping This is to be pure and scented with camphor and Agaru and offered in the same pot as is prescribed for Pādya Madhuparka This consists of curd, ghee, water honey, sugar, and sugar cane-juice or of cocoanut-juice, sugar, curd and ghee in equal proportions and honey in a larger quantity and is offered in a bronze or silver pot Snāna Water, mixed with camphor, Agaru, musk, Gorochana, soffron, cocoanut-juice, honey, sugar-cane-juice, sugar, five products of cow, particular herbs called Sarv- aushadhi, is to be offered in a jug or conch for bath Vastra A pair of cloths figured and silken is to be presented for dress. Bhushana. Sixteen kinds of ornaments detailed in the text all made of gold and set with jewels are to serve as Bhushana. Gandha Five kinds of perfumery obtainable from certain fragrant substances by powdering, friction, burning, pressing, and from muskdeer are also to be offered

Anjana. This is collyrium for application to the eyes It is to be made of lampblack collected in a golden pot from a burning lamp having ghee or oil and scented with camphor. Pushpa Flowers to be offered are to be fresh Cer- tain species such as Bakula, Kesara etc, etc, are declared dear to Tripurā. Garlands also made of these flowers please her very much. Dhupa or the incense. It is to be offered in a pot and consists of sixteen substances, Patra to Agaru given in the text. Dīpa Lamps preferably of ghee with a wick of cotton are offered for illumination. These should be of gold or silver or earth or iron and placed on stands of similar material with the shape of a tree. Naivedya or food. It comes last and is to be presented and placed either on the right or on the left or in front, lamps coming always either on the right or in front, incense on the left or in front, scents, flowers and ornaments always in front. • 16TH CHAPTER • 16th Patala is devoted to the description of the offering such as drink and food and of the way and varieties of salutation. Among the first comes wine. This is to be distilled in the following manner:-

Well filtered sugar-cane-juice should be allowed to grow stale for some time Mango juice and honey should be mixed with it as also juices of jujuba, rose-apple fruit, dates, cocoanut, wine and intoxicative powders such as of Mohinī, Jāti Datura, Jātīphala, mace, cardamom, black and long pepper, dry ginger and Triphalā The same should be scented with camphor and kept in a gold or silver or glass vessel and mixed with sugar and allowed to remain corked being covered over with red cloth for seven nights When at the end it becomes thus prepared and ready for use, it should be scented again with sandal paste, Agaru and camphor This kind of wine is reserved for the more or less abstemious people and for those otherwise-minded a common species of the same is prescribed Its use is admissible only in a strictly ceremonious way The four kinds of food detailed as chewable, suckable, lickable and drinkable come after drink Every variety of solid food is to be offered when properly cooked and spiced Every sweet fruit also is to be offered in cups of gold or silver and food in dishes of gold, silver, copper and stone or even in lotus leaves The mantra to be muttered in this offering is महात्रिपुरसुन्दरि नैवेद्यं गृहाण After offering the perfumed water, for sipping come the offerings to five life-breaths Prāna etc, with the five fingers Offering of dessert comes last except Namaskāra The latter is said to be of three varieties as physical, lingual and mental The physical again is of three kinds as that in which a devotee touches the earth with knees and head, as that in which hands are folded and placed on the head and as that in

which the head only touches the earth The Lingual also is of three kinds The first is that in which self-composed prayers are offered, the second in which prayers from the Purānas, Vedas or the Tantras are offered and the third in which prayers composed by others are offered The mental also has three kinds according as the mind thinks well, ill or indifferent Pradakshina or circumambulation is included in the bowing The former is of six varieties as triangular, hexa- gonal, semi-circular, circular, staff-like with eight limbs and the terrific. Moving from the south to the north-west, thence to the north-east and again thence to the south -goes by the name of Trikona That from the middle of the south to the north-west, thence to the north-east and thence to the middle of the south and again from the south-east to the south-west, thence to the middle of the north, and thence to the south east, goes by the name of Shatkona Moving from the middle of the south to the north- west and thence turning round and going to the middle of the south, goes by the name of Ardhachandra. Moving, with the right hand extended and the head bent from the middle point in front of the deity, around from the right is called Pradakshina Rising from one's own seat, going back several steps and then prostrating on the earth is called Danda Bowing in which the earth is touched with chin,