Bhuvana Pratishṭhā Dāna
Bhuvana Pratishṭhā Dāna · bhuvana-pratishṭhā dāna, “the gift that establishes the worlds”
The Bhuvana Pratishṭhā Dāna is the painting of all the fourteen bhuvanas (worlds) on a white cloth, the citrapaṭa, and the installing of that cloth in a temple with great honour. Bhagavān Śrī Kṛshṇa teaches it to Yudhishṭhira in the Uttara Parva of the Bhavishya Purāṇa (Chapter 191), calling it a most secret vidhi. Yudhishṭhira had asked for a means of gaining in this loka lasting pratishṭhā, great kīrti, unending descendants and abundant wealth, and in the paraloka a good gati for the pitṛs.
The cloth is painted at a good muhūrta, with Jambūdvīpa and Meru at its centre and all the lokas, devatās and beings around them. It receives pūjā at Kārtika Pūrṇimā, at ayana-saṃkrānti, at the vishuva yoga or at an eclipse, with four kuṇḍas of homa, a night of jāgaraṇa, gifts to the ṛtvijas, and a procession by chariot to a devamandira. Śrī Kṛshṇa tells how King Raji, a vaiśya of Vārāṇasī seven births before, gained by this rite the rank of king for seven births, with seven more to come, and, at the end, mukti. By this dāna all beings of the worlds receive pratishṭhā, and the giver has, as it were, established the three worlds.
The question
Yudhishṭhira addressed Madhusūdana and asked his question. Bhagavān Śrī Kṛshṇa said that he had asked it for the good of the world, and that he would tell in brief the most secret vidhi of Bhuvana-pratishṭhā. By this dāna, he said, all these receive pratishṭhā: devatās, gandharvas, asuras, nāgas, kinnaras, yakshas, rākshasas, pretas, piśācas, bhūtas and others.
Preparing the citrapaṭa
The vratī first looks for a good muhūrta. He takes a strong, pure white cloth, seven hastas long and wide, clear as sphaṭika. He calls a painter skilled in citrakarma, honours him with cloth, ornaments, flowers and the like, and engages him to draw all the fourteen bhuvanas on it. At that time the brāhmaṇas with the ācārya are also honoured with cloth and the like. The brāhmaṇas do puṇyāha-vācana with the sound of the Veda. With śaṅkha and bherī sounding auspiciously, the painting is begun, and the bhuvanas are painted by the vidhi told in the Purāṇas.
What is painted
- In the middle of the cloth, first Jambūdvīpa; in its middle Meru-parvata; above it the devatās.
- In the eight directions, the cities of the eight dikpālas, with the devatās.
- The earth with the seven dvīpas, the seven kulācalas, the seven samudras, rivers and lakes, the seven pātālas, and the seven lokas beginning with bhūḥ and bhuvaḥ.
- On it, the lokas of Brahmā and the other devatās, the Dhruva-mārga, and Bhagavān Sūrya with the grahas and tārās.
- Dānavas, yakshas, rākshasas, ṛshis, munis, cows, the deva-mātā Aditi, birds beginning with Suparṇa, nāgas, and the eight diggajas beginning with Airāvata.
- Understood as pervading everywhere: the five tattvas (earth, tejas, vāyu and the rest), ahaṃkāra, manas, buddhi, the three guṇas beginning with sattva, prakṛti and purusha.
When the pūjā is done
The pūjā is done at Kārtika Pūrṇimā, at ayana-saṃkrānti, at the vishuva yoga and at eclipses.
The rite
A beautiful maṇḍapa is made, with the citrapaṭa set in its middle. Four square kuṇḍas are made, one hasta long and wide. For each kuṇḍa two brāhmaṇas who have mastered the Veda are chosen for the havana. Adorned with cloth and ornaments, they do the havana with the nāma-mantras of the devatās painted on the citrapaṭa.
The yajamāna, also adorned with cloth, does pūjā with the ācārya of the devatās on the citrapaṭa, with gandha, flowers, dhūpa, dīpa, naivedya and the like, and prays with this mantra:
ब्रह्माण्डोदरवर्तीनि भुवनानि चतुर्दश।
तानि संनिहितान्यत्र पूजितानि भवन्तु मे।
ब्रह्मा विष्णुस्तथा रुद्रो ह्यादित्या वसवस्तथा।
पूजिताः सुप्रतिष्ठाश्च भवन्तु सततं मम ॥brahmāṇḍodaravartīni bhuvanāni caturdaśa |
tāni saṃnihitānyatra pūjitāni bhavantu me |
brahmā vishṇustathā rudro hyādityā vasavastathā |
pūjitāḥ supratishṭhāśca bhavantu satataṃ mama ||May the fourteen bhuvanas within the brahmāṇḍa be present in this citrapaṭa, and be honoured by me. O Brahmā, Vishṇu, Rudra, Ādityas and Vasus! Honoured by me, may you all be established in it.
He does pradakshiṇā of the citrapaṭa and offers naivedya of many foods and sweets. At night there is jāgaraṇa with many instruments and the sound of the Veda, and an utsava with song and dance.
At dawn he bathes, puts on cloth and ornaments and does pūjā of the citrapaṭa as before. To the ṛtvijas he gives a hundred cows or two cows, with sandals, an umbrella and things useful for a home.
The installing in the temple
A fine chariot is brought and adorned with flags, dhvajas and toraṇas, and two elephants or horses are yoked to draw it. The citrapaṭa is set on the chariot, carried with the brāhmaṇas, installed in a devamandira and given pūjā, and a mahotsava is held there.
There he offers a fine silver parasol, a bell, a dhvaja, a cāmara and the like, and gives dakshiṇā to the guru and the brāhmaṇas according to his capacity. Then he gives food to the poor, the blind, the deaf, the kṛpaṇa and others, and to friends, kin and his own people.
The phala
- A man or woman who by this vidhi establishes the bhuvana in a devālaya has, as it were, established the three worlds with all that moves and does not move, and uplifts his own kula.
- As long as the citrapaṭa stays in the devālaya and receives pūjā, so long his unfailing kīrti spreads in the three worlds.
- As long as that kīrti lasts in the world, for so many thousand years he dwells in svarga, with gandharvas and apsarās serving him.
- After long enjoying svarga, when his puṇya is spent, he is born on this earth, dharmātmā, long-lived, full of aiśvarya, mighty, with sons and grandsons, and is king for ten births.
The account of King Raji
In ancient times there was a king named Raji, master of his senses, a cakravartī. He conquered the whole earth, defeated the daityas in battle, and handed svarga and its sovereignty into the hands of Indra.
Once Pulastya Maharshi, son of Brahmā, came to his sabhā with his disciples. King Raji honoured him greatly, did pūjā with pādya, arghya and madhuparka, and gave him a seat. After they had asked of each other’s welfare, the king said: “Best of ṛshis, what vrata, dāna or tapas did I perform, by whose power I have gained this kingdom free of thorns, with wealth, grain, sons and grandsons?”
Pulastya said: “Rājan, seven births before this you were a vaiśya in Vārāṇasī, rich in wealth and grain, dharmātmā and truthful. You heard the accounts of many Purāṇas, gave many dānas, and also performed Bhuvana-pratishṭhā. By the power of that pratishṭhā you have held the rank of king for seven births and your kīrti has spread through the world. In the next seven births too you will hold the rank of king, and at the end you will gain mukti.”
He added: “What you asked, I have told. The woman or man who performs Bhuvana-pratishṭhā has done all that is to be done.” Saying this, the radiant Pulastya went to his own dhāma.
Bhagavān Śrī Kṛshṇa closed: by this Bhuvana-pratishṭhā come the growth of dharma, the attainment of what is desired, the destruction of pāpa and the success of all undertakings.
Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Uttara Parva, Chapter 191
Sources
- Bhavishya Purāṇa, Uttara Parva, Chapter 191