Graha Śānti in the Vishṇudharmottara Purāṇa
Graha Śānti, “the pacifying of the grahas”
In this teaching, a graha is a spirit that “seizes” or troubles a person, causing illness of body or mind. Graha śānti means calming or pacifying such spirits so that the troubled person is set free. The Vishṇudharmottara Purāṇa covers this subject in three chapters in a row (Chapters 230–232), explaining how to recognise each kind of graha and how to remove it.
Chapter 230 tells how the grahas came to be. Indra sent hostile grahas to destroy the infant Skanda, and counter-grahas were made to oppose them. Skanda then gave the grahas a fixed range: they may trouble people who ignore dharma, but they must not touch those devoted to Hari (Vishṇu) and Hara (Śiva). Chapter 231 lists the types of grahas, their signs and the particular rites and offerings that free the sufferer. Chapter 232 gives the general acts of śānti (pacification) and the herbal, ritual and oil preparations that work against all grahas. It ends by declaring that bhakti (loving devotion) to Vishṇu is the final remedy, which keeps graha-dosha (trouble from grahas) away altogether.
How the Grahas Came to Be: Skanda’s Story (Chapter 230)
When the infant Skanda was born on the Śveta mountain, Indra became alarmed at this new divine power. He consulted the devas, pitṛs (ancestors), yakshas, nāgas (serpent beings), rākshasas, bhūtas (spirits), gandharvas (celestial musicians) and humans. Then he created a huge army of mahāgrahas (great troubling spirits) to destroy the child. These grahas were of many kinds, deva-grahas, daitya-grahas, gandharva-grahas and thousands more, all sent as weapons to kill Skanda.
Śiva also created counter-grahas to fight Indra’s grahas. They were powerful, full of desire, free to roam, able to change shape and to move through the sky. The chief Skanda-grahas include Skanda, Viśākha, Naigameya and many others.
When Indra’s grahas reached the Śveta mountain, Skanda’s counter-grahas drove them away. The beaten grahas surrendered to Skanda and accepted him as their master. Skanda then told them where they could act:
Trouble those humans who live without proper conduct, who do not keep themselves pure with sandal paste, garlands and anointing (gandha-mālyānulepana-hīna). Trouble those whose conduct goes against dharma. But do not touch those who have bhakti for Hari and Hara, those full of śraddhā (faith) who do auspicious deeds. I have set such people apart for you to leave alone. By my command, leave them. The ones I created, the skanda-grahas, trouble children up to sixteen years of age. Yet even children are protected if bali (food offerings) and other rites are done for them.
Why Grahas Trouble People (Chapter 231)
Grahas trouble people for many reasons of conduct, including:
- Disrespecting devas, ṛshis and pitṛs
- Insulting and ill-treating gurus, elders, brāhmaṇas, ācāryas (teachers), siddhas (perfected beings) and tapasvīs (ascetics)
- Giving up the regular offerings of bali, maṅgala (auspicious rites), homa (fire offerings) and niyamācāra (disciplined living)
- Neglecting vratas (sacred vows), Vedic study (adhyayana), dharma and dhyāna-yoga (meditation)
- Keeping sacred foods such as jaggery, meat, sesame and honey to oneself without giving to others
- Passing urine or stool near the cremation ground or near one’s own house
- Sitting at a crossroads (catushpatha) at night, or sleeping in forests or empty houses
- Eating from cracked or broken vessels
- Deceiving others with mantras, or having sexual relations under trees in the śmaśāna (cremation ground)
- Disrespecting others, or committing violence (abhighāta)
- Not looking at auspicious things, or cursing relatives out of jealousy
- Keeping company with highway robbers, destroying wealth, or grieving too much
- Praising the arrogant, the shameless and the outcast
- Being sent away by one’s guru, or ingratitude (kṛtaghnatā)
- Criticising good people, or telling lies
- Sitting on cotton, hair, skulls and bones
A graha troubles the body for nine reasons:
- Anger (krodhabhāva)
- The wish to harm (hiṃsā)
- The wish for pleasure (rati)
- The wish for offerings (bali)
- The wish to frighten
- The thrill of its own power (balodreka)
- A fierce nature (raudravṛtti)
- Fear carried over from a past life (pūrvajanma-bhaya)
- The working of someone else’s spell (mantra-prayoga)
The Types of Graha and Their Remedies (Chapter 231)
| Type of graha | Main signs | Remedy |
|---|---|---|
| Deva-graha | Seeks high places such as mountain tops and palace roofs; pure in conduct | Pūjā with flowers, dhūpa (incense) and dīpa (lamps); agni-saṃtarpaṇa (feeding the sacred fire); feeding brāhmaṇas with fine rice (śāly-anna) and milk products |
| Asura-graha | Gives terrifying cries like a tiger with its prey; restless | Festivals (utsavas), vratas, Vedic study and yajñas as treatment |
| Rākshasa-graha | Eats too much; tears out hair | Offer cooked meat and liquor, blood-red flowers and incense made from seeds |
| Gandharva-graha | Dances on hearing music; wanders in sacred groves and on river banks | Song and music (gīta-vādya); sandal paste and garlands (gandha-mālya) |
| Nara-graha | Sluggish and wicked | Kulmāsha (boiled grain), parpaṭa (thin crisp cakes), pāyasa (sweet milk rice), apūpa (sweet cakes), lotus stalks; nāga-pūjā |
| Bhūta-graha | Not jealous; speaks softly; wide, watery eyes; craves milk products | Flowers of many colours, milk products; pūjā of the bhūtas |
| Piśāca-graha | Eats leftover food (ucchishṭa) at night | Offerings of meat; black flowers of thorny trees; piśāca-pūjā |
| Yaksha-graha | Speaks without sense; red eyes; laughs wildly | Kulmāsha, sweet rice and offerings with jewels; yaksha-pūjā |
| Rākshasa-graha (a second kind) | Anxious mind; cold body; rarely grieves; chews the lips | Cooked meat; offerings of blood; rākshasa-pūjā |
| Preta-graha | Rolls in ash and dust; dirty and untidy | Anna (cooked food), honey, ghee and milk |
| Pitṛ-graha | Pure in conduct; walks about at dusk; loves sesame | Tila (sesame), milk products, flowers, anna, honey, root vegetables, good lamps, praṇipāta (bowing down) and japa (repeating a mantra) |
| Ṛshi-graha | Studies; recites; sits in yoga postures | Havishya (pure sacrificial food), milk products, flowers; reciting the Vedas and stotras (hymns of praise); ṛshi-pūjā |
| Purusha-graha | Always busy with work; never sleeps by day | Feeding brāhmaṇas with fine, tasty food (mṛshṭānna); honouring brāhmaṇas with sandal paste and garlands |
| Skanda-graha (in children) | Weeps, moans and seems lost in thought; sleeps on the ground; babbles without sense | Red flowers, fruits, root vegetables, toy dolls and a rooster (kukkuṭa); Skanda-pūjā |
The General Acts of Śānti (Chapter 232)
These acts of pacification work against all grahas:
- Abhyaṅga: oil massage
- Udvartana: rubbing the body with a dry scrub
- Snāna: ritual bath
- Dhūpa: purifying with fragrant smoke
- Rakshā: a protective amulet
- Bali: offerings
- Ghṛta: applying ghee
- Netrāñjana: applying collyrium (kohl) to the eyes
- A ninth, implied in the text: the whole sequence of rites done together
Preparations That Work Against All Grahas
- An oil made with sarpagandha, vacā, kushṭha, mustā, candana (sandalwood), cow’s milk and gomūtra (cow’s urine) destroys every kind of graha-dosha.
- A bathing paste of bilva, guñjā, brahma-dattā, bṛhatī fruit, uśīra (vetiver), kushṭha, mañjishṭhā, devadāru, manaḥśilā (red arsenic) and other ingredients, mixed with the products of pañca-gavya (the five products of the cow), calms all grahas and also lengthens life.
- Purifying smoke from sarshapa (mustard), khurmā, kushṭha, ghee, bhallātaka (marking nut), vacā, pūtīka and ajamoda destroys all grahas.
The Final Remedy
The Purāṇa ends with this promise:
Those who, with bhakti, honour Vishṇu, who holds the cakra (discus) and gadā (mace), together with the devas, gurus and dvijas (the twice-born), will never be touched by any graha-dosha of any kind.
Sources
- Vishṇudharmottara Purāṇa, Pūrvārdha, Chapter 230
- Vishṇudharmottara Purāṇa, Pūrvārdha, Chapter 231
- Vishṇudharmottara Purāṇa, Pūrvārdha, Chapter 232