Abhyaṅga
Abhyaṅga · abhi-aṅga, “anointing with oil”
Grammar: masculine noun, from the root añj (to anoint) with the prefix abhi (over, upon): “anointing all over”.
Meaning: anointing with oil, ghee or another unguent: of the mūrti of the deva in pūjā, and of the body as a bath with oil, which Āyurveda gives as a remedy for vāta.
In the scriptures: the Agni Purāṇa uses the word in pūjā, in dāna and in Āyurveda.
In the rite of laying the deva to rest at the pratishṭhā of a liṅga, after the deva is laid on the couch with the head to the east and given sandal, dhūpa, a cloth, household articles and naivedya, a vessel holding ghee and honey for abhyaṅga is placed near the head of the deity (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 96).
In the teaching on dāna which Agnideva gives Vasishṭha Maharshi, the measures for bathing the deity are set out: the snāna (bath) is given with a hundred palas, the abhyaṅga with twenty-five palas, and the mahāsnāna (great bath) with a thousand palas (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 211).
In the Āyurveda that Dhanvantari taught Suśruta, one who has a brāhmaṇa given an abhyaṅga bath (an oil bath) on Somavāra (Monday) becomes free of all diseases. Food that is unctuous and warm, the abhyaṅga bath and drinking oil remove the diseases of vāta (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 280). Massage (mardana) is taught by season: one of vāta nature is massaged in the ordinary way or more in śiśira (the cool season), moderately in vasanta (spring), and in a special way in grīshma (the hot season). First the skin is worked, then the deeper tissue (majjā). The fleshy shoulders, arms, knees and calves are kneaded firmly, “as one would crush an enemy”; the chest is massaged in the ordinary way; and the joints are massaged and stretched, never suddenly or against the proper order (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 281).
In the care of elephants which Pālakāpya teaches King Lomapāda, a bath with abhyaṅga of ghee and oil destroys the diseases of vāta; for headache abhyaṅga and nasya (medicine through the nose) are given; abhyaṅga is among the treatments of an abscess; and every month the elephant is to be anointed with oil (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 287).
Related terms: Snāna · Mahāsnāna · Mardana · Taila · Vāta · Āyurveda
Sources
- Agni Purāṇa, Chapters 96, 211, 280–281, 287