Aṅkuśa
Aṅkuśa, “the goad”
Grammar: masculine noun; “the hook”, the goad. The kośa of the Agni Purāṇa gives sṛṇi as another name for it (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 366).
Meaning: the goad, the hooked staff by which the mahout guides the elephant; in the hands of Bhagavān Vishṇu, the Devī and the devatās, a divine weapon that draws and restrains.
In the scriptures: the Agni Purāṇa names the aṅkuśa among the divine weapons of Bhagavān Vishṇu and the devatās, as a mudrā, as a mark, and as the mahout’s goad.
The divine weapon. In the short pūjā of Vishṇu, his weapons and emblems are worshipped: the cakra, the gadā, the śaṅkha, the musala, the khaḍga, the Śārṅga bow, the pāśa, the aṅkuśa, the Śrīvatsa, the Kaustubha and the Vanamālā (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 21). Trailokyamohana Śrī Hari, mounted on Garuḍa, holds in his right hands the cakra, the śaṅkha, the musala and the aṅkuśa; and Viśvarūpa, with twenty arms, holds the aṅkuśa among the weapons of his right hands (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 49). Bhagavān Vishṇu with eight arms holds as well the Śārṅga, the rosary, the pāśa and the aṅkuśa (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 374). Gaṇeśa, red in colour, holds the daṇḍa, the pāśa and the aṅkuśa (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 301). Kubjikā Devī holds an aṅkuśa among the weapons of her right hands (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 144). The Agni Purāṇa places it also in the hands of Caṇḍī as Mahishamardinī, of Durgā, and of one of the gaṇas of Śiva (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 50), of Bhairava (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 52), of Sūrya in the form that removes the affliction of the grahas (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 300), and of Gaurī Devī, who holds the aṅkuśa and the abhaya in her left hands (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 313).
The mark. The Śālagrāma of Hayagrīva is blue, with lines like the aṅkuśa and with dots (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 46). On the hooded serpents are the marks of the cakra, the plough, the parasol, the svastika and the aṅkuśa (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 294).
The mudrā. In the rites the aṅkuśa-mudrā, the gesture of the goad, is used to draw a thing towards oneself: with it and the hṛdaya-mantra a tīrtha is drawn into the water of the bath (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 72), and in the nirvāṇa-dīkshā the guru draws out the kalā with it, together with the indrawn breath (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 84).
The mahout’s goad. On a war-elephant sit two mahouts holding excellent aṅkuśas, one on the neck and the other on the shoulder (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 252).
In the Bhavishya Purāṇa. The aṅkuśa is among the marks in the hand of women who become queens (Brahma Parva, Chapter 5). Countless black Yamadūtas stand holding śakti, śūla, aṅkuśa, pāśa, cakra, khaḍga, vajra and daṇḍa (Uttara Parva, Chapters 5–6). A goad fitted with a pin is kept with the yoke of the bullocks (Chapter 166), and two mahouts stand with divine goads (Chapter 180).
Related terms: Sṛṇi · Pāśa · Āyudha · Mudrā · Gaja
Sources
- Agni Purāṇa, Chapters 21, 46, 49–50, 52, 72, 84, 144, 252, 294, 300–301, 313, 366, 374
- Bhavishya Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, Chapter 5; Uttara Parva, Chapters 5–6, 166, 180