Āpo Hi Shṭhā
Āpo Hi Shṭhā · āpo hi shṭhā, “O waters, you are”
Grammar: the opening words of a Vedic mantra: āpaḥ (O waters), hi (truly) and stha (you are): “O waters, you are [the bringers of joy]”. The full first line, as the Agni Purāṇa prints it, begins “Āpo hi shṭhā mayobhuvaḥ” and the third ṛk ends “janayathā ca naḥ”.
Meaning: the three ṛks (Vedic verses) addressed to the waters, recited in mārjana, the sprinkling of oneself with water, at the daily bath and the sandhyā, and in many rites of purification.
In the scriptures: the Agni Purāṇa gives their ṛshi and use, the rites in which they are recited, and their fruit.
The ṛshi and the use. In the rite of the sandhyā, Agnideva teaches: reciting the three ṛks “Āpo hi shṭhā mayobhuvaḥ … janayathā ca naḥ”, “Drupadād iva … mumucānaḥ” and the pavamāna ṛks beginning “Hiraṇyavarṇāḥ śucayaḥ”, one sprinkles water on oneself eight times. Of the three ṛks “Āpo hi shṭhā”, the ṛshi is Sindhudvīpa, the chandas (metre) gāyatrī and the devatā the waters; they are used in the mārjana of the brāhma-snāna (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 215).
In mārjana. In the rules of the bath which Pushkara teaches Paraśurāma, after dipping in the water, washing the body and doing ācamana, one does mārjana with the three ṛks beginning “Hiraṇyavarṇāḥ”, with “Śaṃ no devīr abhishṭaye“, with the three mantras beginning “Āpo hi shṭhā” and with “Idam āpaḥ”; then, plunging into the water, one does japa of the Aghamarshaṇa sūkta (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 155). In the Śaiva sandhyā, after the sandhyā-dhyāna, the water is made Śiva‘s own form with the Śiva mantras, and with the saṃhitā mantras “Āpo hi shṭhā” one does mārjana with that water (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 72).
In the rites. At the laying of the stones of a temple, which Hayagrīva teaches, the stones and bricks are wetted with water from the kalaśas while reciting the three ṛks beginning “Āpo hi shṭhā”, “Śaṃ no devīr abhishṭaye”, “Taratsamandaḥ”, the Pāvamānī ṛks, “Ud uttamaṃ varuṇa”, “Kayā naḥ”, “Varuṇasyottambhanam asi”, “Haṃsaḥ śucishat” and the Śrīsūkta (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 41). In the rules of the vratas, the Brahmakūrca, made of the products of the cow and kuśa water each taken with its own mantra, is joined with the Aghamarshaṇa sūkta or the praṇava, and japa of “Āpo hi shṭhā” is done; one who drinks it so and then fasts is freed from all pāpas and reaches Vishṇuloka (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 175). In the pūjā of Bhagavān Vishṇu that removes utpātas (ill portents), which Pushkara teaches Paraśurāma, arghya is offered to Mahāvishṇu after the bath with the three mantras beginning “Āpo hi shṭhā”, and pādya with the three beginning “Hiraṇyavarṇāḥ” (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 264).
The phala. In the Ṛgvidhāna, Pushkara teaches: one who desires the destruction of pāpa and fear should stand in water and recite the ṛks beginning “Āpo hi shṭhā” (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 259).
Related terms: Mārjana · Sandhyā · Snāna · Aghamarshaṇa · Āpaḥ · Ṛk
Sources
- Agni Purāṇa, Chapters 41, 72, 155, 175, 215, 259, 264