Uccaiḥśravas
Uccaiḥśravas · uccaiḥ-śravas, “the one whose ears stand high”
Uccaiḥśravas is the divine horse, the king of horses. In the Agni Purāṇa, when Śrī Hari gave each class of beings its lord after the consecration of Pṛthu, he made Uccaiḥśravas lord over the horses, as he made Airāvata lord over the elephants and Garutmān over the birds. Because of this rank he is honoured in the rites the Purāṇa teaches: with Aruṇa in the pūjā of Sūrya; among the divine treasures called on to protect a king at his abhisheka; and in the Aśva-śānti, the rite for the welfare of horses, where he is worshipped with lotuses and where the Haya-rāja, the king of horses honoured in the daily rite, is named as his son.
Ruler of the horses
Agni Deva tells Vasishṭha of the offspring of Kaśyapa, from whom the whole world, moving and unmoving, was born. Then Hari and Brahmā consecrated Pṛthu as king and gave him the earth, and Prabhu Hari gave sovereignty to others in order: Candra over the brāhmaṇas and the oshadhis (healing plants), Varuṇa over the waters, Vaiśravaṇa over kings, Vishṇu over the Ādityas, Agni over the Vasus, Indra over the Maruts, Daksha over the Prajāpatis, Prahlāda over the dānavas, Yama over the pitṛs, Śiva over the bhūtas, Himavān over the mountains, Samudra over the rivers, Citraratha over the gandharvas, Vāsuki over the nāgas, Takshaka over the serpents, Garutmān over the birds, Airāvata over the lordly elephants, the bull over the cows, the tiger over the wild animals, the Plaksha over the trees, and Uccaiḥśravas over the horses.
Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 19
In the pūjā of Sūrya
Nārada teaches the general pūjā of Vishṇu, Śiva and the other devatās. In the Sūrya-arcana, the worship of Sūrya, Daṇḍī and Piṅgala are worshipped first. Then, having worshipped Uccaiḥśravas and Aruṇa, the worshipper honours in the middle Prabhūta, Vimala, Soma, the Sandhyās, Parasukha, Nanda and the others, and then the nine śaktis of Sūrya: Dīptā, Sūkshmā, Jayā, Bhadrā, Vibhūti, Vimalā, Amoghā, Vidyutā and Sarvatomukhī, before Sūrya himself is worshipped with his mantra.
Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 21
In the king’s abhisheka
Among the mantras for the abhisheka of a king that Pushkara teaches Paraśurāma, mantras that remove all pāpas, is the blessing: “May Uccaiḥśravas the king of horses, Dhanvantari, the Kaustubha maṇi, Pāñcajanya born of the conch, and the weapons, the vajra, the śūla, the cakra, the Nandaka sword and the rest, protect you.”
Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 219
In the Aśva-śānti
Śālihotra teaches Suśruta the Aśva-śānti, which removes the diseases of horses and is of three kinds: nitya, naimittika and kāmya. In the nitya rite, on an auspicious day, pūjā is done to Vishṇu, to Lakshmī and to the Haya-rāja, the king of horses, the son of Uccaiḥśravas; a homa of ghee is offered with the Sāvitra mantras and dakshiṇā is given to brāhmaṇas, and by this the horses increase.
In the naimittika rite, at Makara-saṅkrānti and the other saṅkrāntis, the horses are worshipped, and Vishṇu, Lakshmī, Brahmā, Śiva, Candra, Sūrya, Revanta and Uccaiḥśravas are worshipped with lotuses. The dikpālas are worshipped on the petals of a lotus, a kalaśa filled with water is set on the vedī for each devatā, and to the north of them a homa of sesame, unbroken rice, ghee and white mustard is offered, a hundred oblations for each devatā. The rite is kept with a fast, to remove the troubles of the horses.
Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 290
Sources
- Agni Purāṇa, Chapters 19, 21, 219, 290