Rudraikādaśinī
Rudraikādaśinī · rudra-ekādaśinī, “the eleven of Rudra”
The Rudraikādaśinī is a recitation to Rudra that consecrates the water of the abhisheka in the Rudra-snāna. In the Uttara Parva of the Bhavishya Purāṇa, Śrī Kṛshṇa passes on to Yudhishṭhira what Bhagavān Skanda, commander of the deva army, taught Agastya Maharshi of the Rudra-snāna, which quiets all doshas. The text names the Rudraikādaśinī and tells its use.
The setting
The Rudra-snāna is for a woman whose children die young, who is without child, ill-fated or without offspring, or who bears only daughters. It is done on an ashṭamī, a caturdaśī or a Sunday, on a river bank, at a meeting of great rivers, in a Śivālaya, a cow-shed or her own house. In a maṇḍapa with an eight-petalled lotus, Bhagavān Mahādeva is installed in the centre, Pārvatī and Vināyaka on his left and right, and Indra and the other dikpālas on the petals. Homa is done with salt, mustard, ghee and honey with the Vedic mantra mā nastoke tanaye, an ācārya, ṛtvijas and a reciter are chosen, and the recitation of the Ekādaśa Rudra is arranged.
Its use
The woman sits in a second maṇḍapa, and the ācārya, a worshipper of Rudra, bathes her. Water is taken in a cup of arka leaf, the Rudraikādaśinī is recited over it, and she receives abhisheka with that consecrated water. Then she is bathed with water mixed with the seven earths, with the water of the Rudra-kalaśa and with the water of the kalaśas of the dikpālas.
The phala
A woman who bathes by this rule gains saubhāgya and happiness and becomes a mother of sons. All doshas in her body go away by the brāhmaṇas’ command and the Rudra-snāna, and her children live.
Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Uttara Parva, Chapter 124
Sources
- Bhavishya Purāṇa, Uttara Parva, Chapter 124