Candana

Candana, “sandal, the fragrant wood”

Grammar: masculine and neuter noun: sandal, the tree and its fragrant wood. Śveta-candana is white sandal, rakta-candana red sandal; malaya-candana is sandal of the Malaya mountains.

Meaning: sandalwood and the fragrant paste or powder made from it, offered in pūjā, mixed in the waters of the kalaśa and the arghya, and used in incense and in Āyurveda.

In the scriptures: the Agni Purāṇa names candana in sixteen chapters: in the kalaśas, in pūjā and homa, in vratas, in the art of fragrance, and in medicine.

In the kalaśas. Hayagrīva tells Brahmā that among the kalaśas for the abhisheka of Bhagavān Vishṇu, the south kalaśa holds lotus, gorocanā, dūrvā and darbha grass, jātī and kunda flowers, candana, red candana, white mustard, tagara and rice grains; another holds water mixed with candana, aguru and camphor, with cat’s-eye, coral, pearl, crystal and diamond (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 57). In the snapana festival, the north navaka has a kalaśa of curd in the middle, and around it patra, cardamom, cinnamon, kūṭa, bālaka, the two candanas, musk, black aguru and the siddha-dravya (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 69).

In pūjā and homa. At the procession festival, turmeric, camphor, saffron and white sandal powder, sprinkled on the pratimā and on the heads of the devotees, give the fruit of all tīrthas (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 68). In the pūjā of Gaṇeśa which Bhagavān Śiva teaches Skanda, sandal powder is offered as the āsana, the seat (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 71). In the pūjā of Sūrya, water mixed with red sandal is carried up near the forehead and the arghya vessel is filled with it (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 73). In the homa, camphor, sandal, saffron, musk and yakshakardama are each offered in the measure of a chickpea (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 75).

In vratas. In the Bhīshmapañcaka vrata the mūrti of Śrī Mahāvishṇu is bathed with pañcāmṛta and pañcagavya and anointed with candana and other fragrant substances (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 205). In the pūjā of Agastya Maharshi, who is Vishṇu’s own form, Agni Deva tells Vasishṭha that the worshipper honours Agastya with candana and the other upacāras, and offers the candana with the words: “Accept candana, born outside Jambūdvīpa, dear to the devatās, best of all trees”; arghya is offered with curd and candana (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 206). At the close of the Kaumuda vrata, the vigraha of Śrī Mahāvishṇu is anointed with candana, aguru and saffron (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 207).

In fragrance and craft. Candana is one of the twenty substances for dhūpa (incense); taking any two of them with karāyasa, nakha, a flour and malaya-candana powder, mixed as the śāstra directs, one makes incense (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 224). Among wooden bows, those made of the wood of candana, vetasa, sāla, dhava and arjuna are the best (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 245).

In medicine. In the Āyurveda which Dhanvantari taught Suśruta, and in the treatment of poisons and of the grahīs that seize children, candana is used often:

  • In fever, water boiled with mustā, parpaṭa, kośa, candana, udīcya and dry ginger is given. A stick of mountain earth, lac, candana and māntīkalika, ground together, removes injury and opacity of the eye; mountain earth and candana rubbed on the outside are good for the eyes. Candana, padma, kushṭha, latāmbu, uśīra, pāṭalā, nirguṇḍī, śārivā and selu remove the poison of the spider (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 279).
  • Oil boiled in milk with śyāmā, yashṭi, turmeric, lodhra, padmaka, utpala, candana and black pepper heals wounds (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 283).
  • A remedy with red candana removes fever and kushṭha; dhātakī, candana, madhuka, utpala, dāru and medā, mixed with ghee and applied, heal wounds; and white candana with madhuka, padma, utpala, sugar and tila, taken as a powder, keeps the garbha (the unborn child) steady when there is fear of miscarriage (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 285).
  • The poison of the twenty kinds of spider is treated with padmaka, pāṭalī, kushṭha, uśīra, candana, nata, nirguṇḍī, śārivā and selu. A paste of mañjishṭhā, candana, vyosha, śirīsha and kumuda flowers destroys the pain of scorpion venom. Triphalā, uśīra, mustā, ambu, māṃsī, padmaka and candana, given in goat’s milk, destroy the venom of the gardabha and others (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 298).
  • In the care of children seized by the grahīs, a paste of dhātakī, lodhra, mañjishṭhā, tāla and candana is put on the child on the first day; a paste with candana on the second; and dhūpa and paste of red candana and kushṭha on the ninth (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 299).

Related terms: Rakta-candana · Aguru · Karpūra · Kastūrī · Dhūpa · Gandha

Sources

  • Agni Purāṇa, Chapters 57, 68–69, 71, 73, 75, 205–207, 224, 245, 279, 283, 285, 298–299