Prayer on the Scales

Tulā Prārthanā · tulā-prārthanā, “the prayer to the scales”

The prayer on the scales is the address the yajamāna makes to Tulā, the scales, while seated on them in the Tulāpurusha-dāna, the gift of one’s weight in gold. Bhagavān Śrī Kṛshṇa teaches it to Yudhishṭhira in the Uttara Parva of the Bhavishya Purāṇa, as Pulastya Muni taught it to the ṛshis and King Priyavrata.

The setting

At the puṇya-kāla, after the adhivāsana, the yajamāna bows with bhakti and mounts the scales, adorned with sword, shield, armour and all ornaments. In his closed fists he holds golden images of Sūrya and Dharmarāja and looks towards the face of Vishṇu. On the other pan the brāhmaṇas place pure gold, somewhat more than his weight, until the gold pan touches the ground. Then, silent a moment, he speaks.

The prayer

नमस्ते सर्वभूतानां साक्षिभूते सनातने।
पितामहेन देवि त्वं निर्मिता परमेष्ठिना॥
त्वया धृतं जगत्सर्व सहस्थावरजंगमम्।
सर्वभूतात्मभूतस्थे नमस्ते विश्वधारिणि॥

namaste sarvabhūtānāṃ sākshibhūte sanātane |
pitāmahena devi tvaṃ nirmitā parameshṭhinā ||
tvayā dhṛtaṃ jagatsarva sahasthāvarajaṃgamam |
sarvabhūtātmabhūtasthe namaste viśvadhāriṇi ||

Eternal Devī, witness of all beings, you were made by Pitāmaha Brahmā; namaskāra to you. Tulā, you uphold the whole world of unmoving and moving things. Viśvadhāriṇī, who dwell as the self of all beings, namaskāra to you.

Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Uttara Parva, Chapter 175

After the prayer

Coming down from the scales, he gives half the gold to the guru and half to the ṛtvijas, and then, with their leave, gives to other brāhmaṇas and especially to the poor and the orphaned. The weighed gold is not kept long in the house. The woman or man who gives tulā-dāna by this rule goes in a beautiful vimāna to Sūryaloka, lives there a kalpa and then many kalpas in Vishṇuloka, Śivaloka and the other lokas, and is born again as a dharmātmā king, a giver and a destroyer of foes.

Sources

• Bhavishya Purāṇa, Uttara Parva, Chapter 175