Kalaśa

Kalaśa · kalaśa, “the water-pot”

The kalaśa, also called the kumbha, is the consecrated water-pot of pūjā. Filled with water, gems, herbs and sprouts, wrapped in cloth and set on grain, it becomes a seat on which Bhagavān Vishṇu, Bhagavān Śiva, Devī Lakshmī, the lokapālas (guardians of the directions) and the other devatās are invoked and worshipped. The Agni Purāṇa uses it in almost every great rite it teaches: the pavitrāropaṇa (offering of the sacred threads), the laying of foundations, the pratishṭhā (consecration) of mūrtis, liṅgas and temples, the dīkshā (initiation), the abhisheka (sacred bath) of a king, the koṭi-homa, the vratas, and the pūjā of Mṛtyuñjaya.

Beside the main kalaśa stands the vardhanī, a smaller spouted water-vessel. In the kalaśa the deva is worshipped; in the vardhanī the astra (the weapon-mantra) and the deva’s weapons, which guard the yajña. Kalaśas are also set in the eight directions, at the doors and at the feet of the toraṇa (gateway) pillars, and their water bathes the deva, the disciple and the king. The Purāṇa teaches that when no mūrti of Bhagavān Vishṇu is at hand, he may be worshipped in a water-filled kalaśa; and Mṛtyuñjaya himself holds a kalaśa in two of his four hands.

The kalaśa and the vardhanī

In the Vaishṇava dīkshā, Bhagavān Vishṇu with his aṅgas (limb-deities) is worshipped in the kumbha with the vardhanī. The vardhanī is consecrated a hundred times with the astra and carried up to the north-east, wetting the ground with an unbroken stream; the kalaśa is carried behind it and set on the scattered grain (vikira). The vikiras are gathered with darbha, and Kumbheśa, the lord of the kumbha, and Karkarī, the vardhanī, are worshipped. When the caru (the offering of cooked rice) is divided, one part goes to the deva, the second to the kalaśa, the third to the fire as three āhutis, and the fourth is eaten by the guru with the disciples. The sacred thread is offered to Kumbheśa, and the guru prays to Kumbheśa before he gathers it again.

In the pavitrāropaṇa of Vishṇu, a kūrca (brush) of kuśa is placed in the north-east, and the kalaśa and the vardhanī are set on it. On the kalaśa Śrī Hari is worshipped with his aṅgas; in the vardhanī, the astra. With an unbroken stream from the vardhanī the yāga-maṇḍapa is wetted in pradakshiṇa order, and the kalaśa is brought to its place, set on a seat and worshipped. The five gems (pañca-ratna) are placed in the kalaśa and a cloth is wrapped round it; a piece of gold is placed in the vardhanī.

In the Śaiva rites the guru takes the vardhanī in his hand, proclaims the ājñā (command) of Bhagavān Śiva, and turns the vardhanī, which has the form of a weapon, to all four sides for the protection of the yajña-maṇḍapa. The kalaśa is installed first, and the vardhanī on its left. On the kalaśa, on a steady seat, Bhagavān Śiva is worshipped; on the vardhanī, set on the praṇava, his weapons. With the liṅga-mudrā the kalaśa and the vardhanī are joined as bhaga-liṅga-saṃyoga. The sword of knowledge (jñāna-khaḍga) is offered on the kalaśa, japa of the mūla-mantra is done with a homa of one tenth, and rakshā (protection) is proclaimed in the vardhanī. By nāḍī-sandhāna (joining by the channel), Bhagavān Śiva worshipped in the fire-kuṇḍa is joined to Bhagavān Śiva in the kalaśa.

Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapters 27, 34, 78, 96

How a kalaśa is prepared

The Agni Purāṇa describes the kalaśa again and again. In the pratishṭhā of the liṅga, grain is poured beneath the kalaśas as their base; they are adorned with cloth and flowers; gold is put inside; they are filled with fragrant water; full vessels (pūrṇa-pātra) and fruits are set on them, the pañca-pallava (five kinds of sprouts) at their mouths, and they are covered with cloth. They should have excellent marks. In the pavitrāropaṇa a water-kalaśa is adorned with rocanā, camphor, kesara and gandha, two cloths are placed on it, and it is worshipped with the mahā-mantra.

The pañca-pallava are the young shoots of kapittha (wood-apple), bilva, jambū, āmra (mango) and karavīra. Washing any substance with water purified by these five shoots is called śaucana, purifying; when they are not at hand, water with musk purifies.

For the pratishṭhā of the temple, a kalaśa of gold or another metal is filled with pañcagavya, honey, milk, gems and the like, five things; it is smeared with gandha, covered with cloth, perfumed with flowers, and its mouth covered with the sprouts of the five trees beginning with the mango.

Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapters 35, 95, 101, 224

Kalaśas in the pavitrāropaṇa

Offering pavitrakas (sacred threads) to Sūrya, to the kalaśa, to Agni and the others, as far as possible in the same way as to Bhagavān Vishṇu, is declared best. Two kalaśas are set at each toraṇa, where the flags are tied, and ten kalaśas are installed on which Indra and the other lokapālas are worshipped.

At saṅkrānti and similar times, the snāna (bath) of Mahāvishṇu is arranged with nine kalaśas: eight in the corners and directions of the maṇḍapa and one in the middle. In them go pādya, arghya, ācamanīya and pañcagavya; in those of the corners, water mixed with pañcāmṛta as well. From the middle kalaśa pure water is taken and sprinkled on the deva’s head.

The guru places the pavitrakas in a kumbha-vessel, and offers them to Mahāvishṇu in the kumbha: “O Deva! This was born from your own tejas. It is beautiful, the destroyer of all pāpas, the giver of all desires. I offer it to you.” He prays to the dvārapālas, Bhagavān Vishṇu, the kumbha and the vardhanī, and to Śrī Hari on the kalaśa with the mantra “ato devāḥ” or the mūla-mantra: “O Kṛshṇa! Kṛshṇa! Namaskāra to you. Accept this pavitra. It purifies the upāsaka and gives the full fruit of the pūjā done for a year.” Then he sprinkles the Vishṇu-kalaśa.

In the pavitrāropaṇa of Śiva, a pavitraka is placed on the dvārapālas, the dikpālas and the kalaśa. At the close, the water of the kalaśa is sprinkled in all four quarters, the guru prays to Bhagavān Śiva to forgive his faults, and does visarjana (the farewell).

Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapters 33–36, 78–79

Kalaśas at the foundation

When the foundation of a house or temple is laid, the Bhūmi (earth), the vāstu-purusha and the kalaśas with their vardhanī are worshipped, and in the middle of the kalaśa Brahmā and the dikpālas. First one meditates on four-armed Śrī Mahāvishṇu and offers arghya with a kalaśa.

Nine kalaśas of copper or of clay are filled with water, all herbs (sarvaushadhi) and sandal water, with gold and grains put in them, and the stones and bricks are wetted with their water. Facing east, the ācārya installs devatās on the eight kalaśas of the directions: Padma, Mahāpadma, Makara, Kacchapa, Kumuda, Ānanda, Padma and Śaṅkha; and on the central kalaśa, set with a śilā (stone), Padminī. These kalaśas must not be moved. In the rite of the bricks, Śrī Mahāvishṇu and Śrī Mahālakshmī are installed on a kalaśa, with earth, flowers, minerals and gems placed near them.

In the foundation of a Śiva temple, Bhagavān Śiva is worshipped in a water-filled kalaśa in the north-east, after lines of gold, akshata and curd are drawn. The crowbar and the other tools are wetted with the water of that kalaśa, and when the lagna (auspicious moment) comes the first pit is dug and the kalaśa’s water poured into it. Then another kalaśa, the Rudra-kalaśa, is covered with two cloths and placed on the shoulder of a brāhmaṇa; with the sound of instruments and of the Veda it is carried to the eastern boundary of the city and round its four sides in pradakshiṇa order up to the north-east. This is the bhū-parigraha, the taking of the ground, also called the “arghya-dāna kriyā”. The nine nidhi-kalaśas (treasure-pots) of the foundation are named Subhadra, Vibhadra, Sunanda, Pushpadanta, Jaya, Vijaya, Kumbha, Pūrva and Uttara. Five kalaśas are worshipped with their name-mantras and installed; and five kalaśas of ghee and honey, their tops anointed with pañcagavya, with the five lokapālas as their devatās, are worshipped, and homa is done near them.

Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapters 40–41, 92

Kalaśas in the pratishṭhā of Bhagavān Vishṇu

Half of the maṇḍapa is set apart for the snāna of the deva, the kalaśas and the materials. The vedi is adorned with large and small kalaśas, and at the base of the toraṇa pillars kalaśas holding mango shoots and sprouted barley are set. One hundred and twenty-eight kalaśas, fired until red like a ripe ivy-gourd, are filled with water and set up when the yoga called Kāladaṇḍa is absent; cloth is tied round their necks, gold put in them, and they are set outside the toraṇas. Kalaśas are set in the four directions and the corners of the vedi, the first four with the kalaśa mantra, and on them the dikpālas are invoked and worshipped.

The rite of the kumbhādhivāsa, the consecration of the kalaśas, is taught by Bhagavān Hayagrīva to Brahmā. On a kalaśa holding gems, Śrī Hari is worshipped with his aṅga-devatās. The vedi is wetted with an unbroken stream and grain is scattered; the kalaśa is carried round in pradakshiṇa and set on the grain, wrapped in cloth, and Lakshmī and Nārāyaṇa are worshipped on it.

In the snāna-maṇḍapa, four kalaśas holding all the materials of the bath are set with great reverence in the four directions on the north-east vedi, for the abhisheka of Bhagavān Vishṇu:

• East: the shoots of twelve trees: vaṭa, udumbara, aśvattha, campaka, aśoka, bilva, palāśa, arjuna, plaksha, kadamba, vakula and cūta (mango).
• South: lotus, rocanā, dūrvā, darbha, jātī and kunda flowers, sandal, red sandal, siddhārtha (white mustard), tagara and rice grains.
• West: gold, silver, earth from both banks of a river that flows to the sea, Gaṅgā earth, cow-dung, barley and rice.
• North: ten herbs: vishṇuparṇī, jolaparṇī, bhṛṅgarāja, śatāvarī, sahadevī, vacā, saiṃṭā, balā, vyāghrī and lakshmaṇā.

Other kalaśas hold auspicious things (north-east), earth from seven places (south-east), Gaṅgā sand and Gaṅgā water (south-west), earth dug up by the tusks and horns of a boar, a bull and an elephant and earth from a lotus root (north-west), earth from darbha roots, water with mountain earth, nāgakesara filaments, and water with sandal, aguru and camphor, with cat’s-eye, coral, pearl, crystal and diamond. All these are put into one kalaśa, and the ishṭa-devatā is installed on it. Another holds water of rivers, mountain streams and tanks. The rest are set in the vāstu-maṇḍapa of eighty-one squares, filled with fragrant water and consecrated with the Śrī Sūkta. Another kalaśa holds surāmāṃsī, āmalaka, sahadevī and turmeric.

A hundred and eight homas are offered with the Gāyatrī, and the kalaśas are sprinkled with the remnant of the ghee (sampāta). The mūrti is given a bath with tīrtha-earth and kalaśa water with “samudraṃ gaccha svāhā”, and the cleansing bath (udvartana) from the four kalaśas: the north with “Viśvataścakshuḥ”, the east with “Somaṃ rājānam”, the south with “Vishṇor arāṭam asi”, and the west with “Haṃsaḥ śucishat”; and with “Idam āpaḥ” from the kalaśas of the eighty-one squares. The kalaśa is one of the eight auspicious objects (with the lion, bull, elephant, fan, banner, drum and lamp) shown to Bhagavān Vishṇu with the Aśva Sūkta. At his head, when he is laid to rest, is placed a kalaśa holding gems and filled with sugar-candy, named Nidrā (sleep).

In the installation, kalaśas painted in eight colours are placed in the eight directions, and the guru, with suvāsinīs (married women whose husbands live) and brāhmaṇas, bathes Śrī Hari with the water of eight maṅgala-kalaśas. Kalaśas are set in the vāstu-maṇḍapa of eighty-one squares and Śrī Hari is bathed with their water.

In the pratishṭhā of Devī Lakshmī, she is placed on an auspicious seat with eight kalaśas in the eight directions, each poured with its mantra from the Śrī Sūkta: the east with “aśvapūrvām”, the south with “kāṃsosmitām”, the west with “candrāṃ prabhāsām”, the north with “ādityavarṇe”, the south-east with “upaitu mām”, the south-west with “kshutpipāsāmalām”, the north-west with “gandhadvārām” and the north-east with “manasaḥ kāmamākūtim”. With “kardamena prajābhūtā” her head is bathed from a golden kalaśa, and with “āpaḥ sṛjantu” her mūrti is bathed with eighty-one kalaśas.

Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapters 56–58, 60–62

The kalaśas of Varuṇa and the waters

In the consecration of a water-body, a Varuṇa-kalaśa with a kamaṇḍalu is installed at the toraṇa of the east door of the yajña-maṇḍapa, and Varuṇa-kalaśas at the south, west and north doors. Around the snāna-pīṭha eight kalaśas hold eight waters: sea water in the east, Gaṅgā water in the south-east, rain water in the south, spring water in the south-west, river water in the west, mountain-stream water in the north-west, stream water in the north and tīrtha water in the north-east. If these waters cannot be had, river water alone is used. All the kalaśas are consecrated with “yāsāṃ rājā”, and the purohita does mārjana (sprinkling) and nirmanthana (churning) with “sumitriyā”. The mūrti of Varuṇa is bathed from them with their mantras, then with eighty-one kalaśas of mountain-stream water reciting “varuṇasyottambhanamasi”. At the end, with “āpo hi shṭhā mayobhuvaḥ”, the mūrti of Varuṇa is placed in a kalaśa holding honey, ghee and sugar, and set safely in the middle of the water-body.

Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 64

Kalaśas in the pratishṭhā of Bhagavān Śiva

For the pratishṭhā of the liṅga the Purāṇa names the kalaśas to be prepared: a kalaśa with a thousand holes, the vardhanī, the Śiva-kumbha, the kalaśas of the lokapālas, one kalaśa for the sleep, as many śānti-kalaśas as there are kuṇḍas, kalaśas for the dvārapālas, for Dharma and the others and for Praśānta and the others, and separate kalaśas for Vāstu-deva, Lakshmī and Gaṇeśa.

At the foot of each door two kalaśas are worshipped: in the east Praśānta and Śiśira, in the south Parjanya and Aśoka, in the west Bhūtasaṃjīvana and Amṛta, in the north Dhanada and Śrīprada. Their mantra is Oṃ, the name in the dative, and namaḥ: “Oṃ Praśānta-śiśirābhyāṃ namaḥ”. The dikpālas beginning with Indra are worshipped on their own kalaśas with their weapons and retinue; Dharma and the others in the kalaśas at the base of the pillars and on the vedi; and some worship Ananta and the others on kalaśas in all the directions. Announcing Bhagavān Śiva‘s command, the guru carries the kalaśas round himself, then sets the kalaśa and then the vardhanī in place. Bhagavān Śiva is worshipped in the kalaśa on a steady seat, the astra on a fixed seat, and the guru prays: “Jagannātha! Out of grace for your devotee, protect this yajña of yours.” At the times of dīkshā and installation, Bhagavān Śiva is worshipped on the kalaśa, on the vedi or on the maṇḍala. In the north-east the nidrā-kalaśa is prepared, consecrated a hundred times with the astra. Nāḍī-sandhāna joins the kalaśa, the vedi, the fire and Bhagavān Śiva. With a kuśa root sprinkled with water of the śānti-kalaśa the guru touches the base of the liṅga, and during the adhivāsana the Śiva-kalaśa and the others are worshipped every day.

In the pratishṭhā of the temple itself, the kalaśa prepared as described above is installed with the hṛdaya-mantra on a lotus at the place where the śukanāsa ends. By pūraka, sakalīkaraṇa and kumbhaka the guru awakens the jīva-caitanya, the life which is one with the Self of all, and by recaka he takes it, like a blazing spark of fire, from the dvādaśānta (twelve finger-breadths above the head) and places it in the kalaśa. In it he places the subtle conveying body and the tattvas from kāla down to pṛthvī with Īśvara, the thirteen indriyas and their lords, the vidyeśas, and the all-pervading Bhagavān Śiva.

Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapters 95–96, 101

Kalaśas in the Śaiva dīkshā

In the dīkshā the guru does nyāsa on his own body, on the Śiva-kalaśa, on the maṇḍala, in the fire and on the disciple. The śishya (disciple) bows to the Śiva-kalaśa and the vardhanī and sits on the guru’s right, facing north. Things to be protected are kept for a moment under the kalaśa, then given to the śishya with Bhagavān Śiva‘s ājñā. After the sampāta with Bhagavān Śiva and his aṅgas, the sacred thread is placed under the kalaśa and the ishṭa-devatā is prayed to for its protection; at the close the kalaśa and the lokapālas are worshipped and dismissed. For the presence of the Nivṛtti kalā, three oblations are given with the mūla-mantra, Bhagavān Śiva on the kumbha is worshipped, and the thread made of the kalā-pāśas is offered. The guru bows to the kalaśas which are the form of Bhagavān Śiva, offers eight flowers to him, blesses the disciple, “May there be auspiciousness for you”, bathes him with the water of the Śiva-kalaśa, and ends the yajña.

For the abhisheka that follows, eight kalaśas are set in the directions from the north-east and one in the middle. In the eight the oceans are invoked (the oceans of salt water, milk, curd, ghee, sugarcane juice, surā, sweet water and the Garbhoda), and in them the eight Vidyeśvaras are installed: Śikhaṇḍī, Śrīkaṇṭha, Trimūrti, Ekarudra, Ekanetra, Śivottama, Sūkshma and Anantarudra. In the middle kalaśa Bhagavān Śiva is installed. The disciple is bathed with the kalaśa waters in order from the salt ocean, with the names of the Vidyeśvaras joined with namaḥ, and meditates that he is bathed with amṛta. Then he bows to the kalaśa, the fire and Bhagavān Śiva.

Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapters 81–84, 88–90

The abhisheka of a king and the koṭi-homa

At the abhisheka of a king, the purohita installs to the south of the fire Aparājitā Devī and a golden kalaśa, and worships them. Four ministers bathe the king on the bhadrāsana: the brāhmaṇa minister in the east with a golden kalaśa of ghee, the kshatriya in the south with a silver kalaśa of milk, the vaiśya in the west with a copper kalaśa of curd, and the śūdra in the north with an earthen vessel of water. The purohitas go up to a golden kalaśa with many holes and bathe the king while the brāhmaṇas recite the Veda. Then the purohita, at the vedi, begins the abhisheka with a golden kalaśa of a hundred holes (śatacchidra-kalaśa): with herbs, reciting “yā oshadhīḥ”; with fragrant substances, “athotyukvāḥ”; with flowers, “pushpavatīḥ”; with seeds, “brahmaṇaḥ”; with gems, “āśuḥ śiśānaḥ”; and with kuśa water, “ye devāḥ”. At the crowning, attendants with cāmara and fan stand before the king with a kalaśa holding all the herbs, and the king looks first at that kalaśa, then at a mirror, then at ghee and the other auspicious things.

In the koṭi-homa, the yajamāna is bathed with the water of four kalaśas; twenty-five or twelve kalaśas are set on the cloth and four at the door. In the rite of Tvaritā, eight kalaśas consecrated with a hundred and eight mantras are placed round the lotus, with a thousand japa and a homa of a tenth; one who is bathed with these kalaśas gains victory and a kingdom.

Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapters 167, 218, 311

The kalaśa in vratas and pūjās

• In the Śravaṇa Dvādaśī vrata, one resolves: “Fasting on dvādaśī, I shall worship the golden mūrti of Vāmana set on a kalaśa filled with water, and do the pāraṇa on trayodaśī”, and invokes on the kalaśa Bhagavān Vāmana with two white garments, umbrella and sandals, holding the śaṅkha and cakra (Chapter 189).
• At the completion of a Trayodaśī vrata after a year, a golden Śiva-liṅga is given with a cow, a bed, an umbrella, a kalaśa, sandals and vessels full of rasa (Chapter 191).
• In the Ananta vrata, on every śukla caturdaśī an image of Bhagavān Vishṇu made of kuśa is set on a water-filled kalaśa and worshipped (Chapter 192).
• In the Nakshatra-purusha vrata, at the year’s end a golden mūrti of Śrī Mahāvishṇu is worshipped on a kalaśa filled with jaggery, and a bed, a cow and wealth are given with dakshiṇā (Chapter 196).
• When there is no mūrti of Bhagavān Vishṇu, he is worshipped in a water-filled kalaśa on a vedi, on a river bank, or in a lotus, and the utpātas (evil portents) are calmed (Chapter 264).
• A protective yantra of lotuses drawn with gorocanā, kuṅkuma, sandal and camphor is wrapped in white thread, covered with silk, set on a kalaśa and worshipped; worn, it calms all diseases and the enemies perish (Chapter 133).
• The dig-gajas (elephants of the directions) contemplated on the lotus petals hold golden kalaśas (Chapter 308).
• Mṛtyuñjaya is worshipped on a kalaśa, and the kumbha-mudrā is shown in the homa. He has four faces and four arms; two hands hold the kalaśa and two show vara and abhaya. Bathing him with the kumbha-mudrā gives health, prosperity and long life, and by meditating on him or worshipping him untimely death is removed (Chapter 326).

Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapters 133, 189, 191–192, 196, 264, 308, 326

Sources

• Agni Purāṇa, Chapters 27, 33–36, 40–41, 56–58, 60–62, 64, 78–79, 81–84, 88–90, 92, 95–96, 101, 133, 167, 189, 191–192, 196, 218, 224, 264, 308, 311, 326