Maṇḍala Vidhi

Maṇḍala Vidhi, “the rite of the sacred diagram”

The maṇḍala is the sacred ground-plan on which a deva is invited and worshipped. The Agni Purāṇa uses it in Vaishṇava and Śaiva worship alike. Its most elaborate form is the Sarvatabhadra maṇḍala, a grid of 256 squares, used for advanced mantra-sādhana (long practice with one mantra) and for dīkshā (initiation). The teaching is given in Chapters 29, 30, 31, 81 and 320 of the Agni Purāṇa.

In Chapter 29 the Agni Purāṇa teaches, square by square, how the Sarvatobhadra maṇḍala of 256 squares is drawn, with its central lotus, its pīṭha (seat), its vīthi (path), its four gates and their ornaments, and then the wheel-lotus (cakrābja), the Navanābha maṇḍala of nine hubs, the Pañcaviṃśati-vyūha maṇḍala of 1,024 squares for the twenty-five vyūhas of Bhagavān Vishṇu, and a great maṇḍala of forty hastas. In Chapter 30 Nārada Maharshi names the devatās of every enclosure of the Bhadra maṇḍala, with Brahmā (Pitāmaha) at its centre, and gives the colours and the coloured powders. Much later, Bhagavān Śiva, speaking as Īśvara to Skanda, teaches the Vighnamarda maṇḍala of Gaṇa-pūjā with the names of Gaṇapati (Chapter 318), the dīkshā maṇḍala of Devī Vāgīśvarī with its nine white lotuses (Chapter 319), and, in Chapter 320, how the east is fixed and the square drawn, the kinds of lotus, the Navanābha cakra, the great maṇḍala for Pavitrārohaṇa, the Pañcābja, the ten-hasta maṇḍala, the Vighnadhvaṃsa cakra, the Buddhyādhāra maṇḍala with its eight Śiva-liṅgas and the Latā-liṅga maṇḍala. The Purāṇa says that pūjā done in maṇḍalas gives siddhi, and that one who makes maṇḍalas before the mūrti of a deva becomes a maṇḍalādhipati, a lord of a realm.

The purpose of the maṇḍala

The Agni Purāṇa teaches that the maṇḍala is the sacred space in which the deva is invited and worshipped. It is drawn with the right mantras and the right measures. Different maṇḍalas are given for different purposes:

  • the Sarvatabhadra maṇḍala, for mantra-sādhana and dīkshā;
  • the ashṭadala-padma (eight-petaled lotus), for the kalaśa-adhivāsa (the rite of placing the kalaśa);
  • the sixteen-petal padma (lotus), for the pūjā of the śālagrāma;
  • the nava-koshṭha (nine-square) maṇḍala, for various rites.

A maṇḍala is always made with a fixed intention, with recitation of mantras and with exact measures.

The way of worship is given in the early chapters. The worshipper first meditates on the devatās of the pīṭha in his own heart, then invokes them (āvāhana) onto the maṇḍala and worships them there (Chapter 23). Pūjā done in this way in maṇḍalas gives siddhi (Chapter 21). Prakṛti too is meditated on and worshipped on a maṇḍala, with the hṛdaya and the other aṅga-mantras in the four directions, the astra in the corners, and Vainateya (Garuḍa) and the dikpālas as before (Chapter 25). In the Vaishṇava dīkshā, Bhagavān Vishṇu (Hari) is worshipped in the lotus of the maṇḍala; the maṇḍala is adorned with a canopy, a ghaṭa (water pot) and laḍḍus, Bhagavān Vishṇu and Agni are worshipped, and the disciples, seated in padmāsana, are called and given dīkshā (Chapter 27). In the pavitrāropaṇa, the Sarvatobhadra and the other maṇḍalas are drawn in the evening, and the materials for pūjā are gathered (Chapter 34).

The sādhaka does mantra-sādhana in temples and like places. In the eastern hall, on pure ground, he installs Bhagavān Śrī Hari in a maṇḍala. The maṇḍalas are drawn on a field first made square (Chapter 29).

Sources: Agni Purāṇa, Chapters 21, 23, 25, 27, 29, 34

Fixing the east and drawing the square

In Chapter 320 Īśvara (Bhagavān Śiva) says to Skanda: “Skanda, now I shall tell the eight maṇḍalas named Sarvatobhadra.” First the east is found with a śaṅku (gnomon): at the time of the vishuva (equinox), or by the midpoint between the nakshatras Citrā and Svātī, or else with a cord. The cord is drawn from east to west. At its middle two koṭis (points) are marked, and from between them a long north–south line is drawn. Two matsyas (fish-shaped crossing arcs) are made, and the cord is struck along the south and the north. The corners are found with half the measure of the field, and striking the cord four times in this way gives the square. On that square of four hastas the auspicious Bhadra maṇḍala is made.

Sources: Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 320

The Sarvatabhadra maṇḍala

The Sarvatabhadra maṇḍala is the most elaborate Vaishṇava maṇḍala in the Agni Purāṇa (Chapter 29). It is a grid of 16×16 = 256 squares (koshṭhas).

  • At the centre is a thirty-six-petaled lotus (chatustrimśa-dala-padma). This is the innermost holy space, where Bhagavān Vishṇu is installed.
  • Around the central lotus lies the pīṭha (seat) zone. It is itself surrounded by rows of pīṭha in rings.
  • The outer boundary is marked by four dvāras (gateways), opening to the east, south, west and north. The worshipper approaches the central deva through them.
  • Bhagavān Vishṇu is placed at the centre. The other devas of his company and the guardians of the directions are installed at their own places in the grid.

The Sarvatabhadra maṇḍala is used for advanced mantra-sādhana, which is a steady practice with one mantra, often kept for many days. It is also the maṇḍala for the Vaishṇava dīkshā described in Chapter 27.

The layout, row by row

Chapter 29 gives the layout in full. The lotus takes the centre of the field. The pīṭha lies outside the line of the lotus. Beyond the pīṭha, two rows make the vīthi, and two more rows make the gates in the four directions.

  1. The squares of the pīṭha lying outside the ākāśa-rekhā, the “sky line” that bounds the lotus, are wiped out.
  2. In the four corners of the pīṭha, three squares each are kept as the four feet of the pīṭha, and the squares between them are wiped out.
  3. Outside the pīṭha, the two rows in each of the four directions are wiped out to make the vīthi.
  4. Four gates are made in the four directions. For each gate, the two middle squares, together with the middle squares of the outer row, are wiped out together.
  5. The learned one makes eight śobhās (ornaments) at the sides of the gates, and beside them as many upaśobhās (lesser ornaments). For a śobhā, on both sides of the gate, one square of the outer row and three squares of the inner row are wiped out. For an upaśobhā it is the reverse: three squares of the outer row and one of the inner row.
  6. At the corners, the division between the three inner and the three outer squares is wiped out, and they are made one.

The Purāṇa closes: so far the maṇḍala of 256 squares, of sixteen squares each way, has been described, and other maṇḍalas may be made in the same way.

The measures

In a maṇḍala of one hasta (cubit), the lotus field measures twelve aṅgulas. In a maṇḍala of two hastas, the lotus field is one hasta in length and breadth. The measure grows in this way, and the maṇḍala is made with its gates and the rest (Chapter 29).

The Sarvatobhadra of Chapter 320

In Chapter 320 Īśvara gives the Sarvatobhadra on a smaller plan: a field of sixty-four padas (squares), eight on every side, with a vīthi outside, the vīthi of one mantra. The door is two padas wide, by the measure of the lotus, with kapolas (cheeks). Its colours are these: the lotus white, the karṇikā (pericarp) yellow, the kesaras (filaments) of many colours and the vīthi red; in the nitya and naimittika vīthis the corner is red.

Sources: Agni Purāṇa, Chapters 29, 320

How a maṇḍala is drawn

Chapters 29 and 30 give the general rules of measure.

  • The vartula (circular) maṇḍala comes from the square. The diagonal (karṇa) of the square is taken as the radius of the circle around it.
  • The padma (lotus) maṇḍala is made by dividing the inside into four zones: 1. Karṇikā-kshetra, the innermost zone, the pericarp of the lotus. 2. Kesara-kshetra, the zone of the filaments. 3. Dala-sandhi-kshetra, the zone of the joints of the petals. 4. Dalāgra-kshetra, the zone of the tips of the petals.
  • The petals are drawn by the matsya-cihna (fish-mark) method. Arcs are drawn from the corner-points of the central square, and they make the curved shape of the petals.
  • For the twelve-petaled lotus (dvādaśa-dala-kamala), the midpoint of the central area is found, and arcs are drawn to make twelve fish-mark petals. Five-petaled lotuses and other forms follow the same rule of measure.
  • The pīṭha zone outside the lotus keeps three squares in each corner as its four feet, and the squares between them are wiped out (Chapter 29). This gives the cross-shaped outer edge and leaves the four dvāras clear for approach.
  • All measures are given in aṅgulas (finger-breadths), with rules of proportion for making the maṇḍala larger or smaller for different rites.

The general mark of the lotus

Chapter 29 gives the padma-lakshaṇa, the general mark of the lotus. The lotus field is made circular. In the half-lotus a twelfth part is marked off outside, and the rest of the field is divided into four and made into circles: the first for the karṇikā, the second for the kesaras, the third for the joints of the petals and the fourth for the petal tips. A cord is drawn from the corner points to the middle part facing the corners, and set at the tips of the kesaras it marks the joints of the petals. Then the cord is let down and an eight-petalled lotus is drawn. The petal tips are drawn on the outer part, with the same gap as there is between the joints of the petals. Two kesaras are drawn on each petal. “This is the general mark of the lotus.”

For the twelve-petalled lotus, the cord is placed at half the measure of the karṇikā toward the east and turned round on all sides in order. By this turning, the marks of six kuṇḍalīs (circles) and of twelve matsyas (fish marks) are formed, and by them the twelve-petalled lotus is made. Lotuses of five petals and the others are made in the same way with fish marks.

The two kinds of lotus

Chapter 320 teaches two kinds of padma: the asaṃsakta, whose petals are not joined, and the saṃsakta, whose petals are joined. Both give bhukti (enjoyment) and mukti (freedom). The asaṃsakta lotus is suited to mumukshus, those who seek moksha.

The saṃsakta lotus is of three kinds, bāla (young), yuva (youthful) and vṛddha (old), and each gives its fruit according to its name. To draw it, cords are laid in the lotus field towards the directions and the intermediate directions, and five circles are drawn: the first is the karṇikā with four pushkaras; the second, twenty-four kesaras; the third, the joints of the petals, shaped like the frontal globes of an elephant; the fourth, the petal tips; and the fifth, ākāśa (empty space) alone.

The petals are drawn with the cord of the width of the joint, by its measure. When the cord is turned in a half-moon from the middle of the joint, or at the tips of two joints, the bāla lotus is formed. When the cord is turned from the tip of the joint-cord towards the back, the yuva lotus is formed, with sharp-pointed petals; it gives bhukti and mukti. In ārādhana aimed at mukti the vṛddha lotus is used, and in vaśīkaraṇa (bringing under control) and like rites the bāla lotus.

Sources: Agni Purāṇa, Chapters 29, 30, 320

Other maṇḍalas of Chapter 29

The maṇḍala of 144 squares

With twelve squares each way, a maṇḍala of 144 squares is made. Its lotus is made of the middle thirty-six squares. It has no vīthi. One row is kept for the pīṭha, and with the remaining two rows the gates and the rest are made as before.

The cakrābja, the wheel-lotus

In a square maṇḍala of two hastas without a pīṭha, a wheel-shaped lotus (cakrābja) is drawn. The half-lotus is nine aṅgulas, the nābhi (hub) three aṅgulas and the spokes eight aṅgulas, with the nemi (rim) outside. The field is divided into three parts, and each again from the inside into two. The inner five squares are wiped out and the spokes are drawn on them. The spokes may be shaped like the petal of an indīvara (blue lotus), like a mātuluṅga (citron) fruit, like a lotus petal, or as one wishes. The cord is set at the middle of the joints of the spokes, drawn to the rim and turned to the four sides; turning it so, spokes of citron shape are formed. On this cakrābja the lords of the twelve months are worshipped (Chapter 30).

The Navanābha maṇḍala

A field of fourteen hastas is divided into seven parts and each again into two, or fifteen equal lines are drawn each way, making 196 squares. With the middle four squares a Bhadra maṇḍala is made, with space left on its four sides for a vīthi. Lotuses are drawn in all the directions, and on the stalk side of each one square is wiped out for the vīthi. The middle two squares are wiped out for the kaṇṭha (neck) of the gate. Of the outer four squares, three are wiped out and one is left at the side of the kaṇṭha; this is the dvāra-śobhā, the ornament of the gate. In the outer corners, seven are left and the inner three squares wiped out. This is the Navanābha maṇḍala, the maṇḍala of nine hubs. In its nine hubs Bhagavān Śrī Hari is worshipped in the form of the nine vyūhas.

The Pañcaviṃśati-vyūha maṇḍala

“The maṇḍala of the twenty-five vyūhas is all-pervading.” A field of thirty-two hastas is divided equally by thirty-two, with thirty-three lines from top to bottom and thirty-three across, making 1,024 squares.

  1. With the middle sixteen squares a Bhadra maṇḍala is made, and one row is left on each of the four sides.
  2. In the eight directions eight Bhadra maṇḍalas of sixteen squares each are made. This is the Bhadrāshṭaka, the group of eight bhadras.
  3. The next row is erased, and sixteen more Bhadra maṇḍalas are drawn as before.
  4. One row on all sides is erased and twelve gates are made, three in each direction. Six outer squares are wiped out, and the four at the sides of the middle part.
  5. For the śobhā, four inner and two outer squares are wiped out; for the upadvāra (lesser gate), three inner and five outer. In the corners, seven outer and three inner squares are wiped out.

On this maṇḍala the Paramātmā is worshipped on the karṇikā of the central lotus, and then Vāsudeva and the others on the lotuses of the east and the other directions, in order. Then Bhagavān Varāha is worshipped on the eastern lotus, and after him the twenty-five vyūhas in order, until the worship of the Paramātmā, the twenty-sixth tattva, is complete. The Purāṇa gives two views of this worship. Pracetas teaches that all the vyūhas are worshipped in order on one maṇḍala. Satya Ācārya teaches that, since the form of the Paramātmā differs with each mūrti, the mūrtis are worshipped each on its own.

The maṇḍala of forty hastas

A maṇḍala of forty hastas is divided by cross-lines, first each side into seven, then each into three, then each into two, making 1,764 squares. With the middle sixteen squares the lotus is made, with a vīthi beside it. Then, going outward in order: eight bhadras and a vīthi; a sixteen-petalled lotus and a vīthi; a twenty-four-petalled lotus and a vīthi; a thirty-two-petalled lotus and a vīthi; and a forty-petalled lotus and a vīthi. With the remaining three rows the gates, śobhās and upaśobhās are made. In the middle of each direction two, four and six squares are wiped out, row by row, for the gate. On the outer side five and three squares are wiped out for the śobhā and the upadvāra. At the sides of the gates, on the inner side, six and four squares are wiped out in order, and the two middle squares as well. So six upaśobhās are formed, and in each direction there are four śobhās and three gates. In the corners five squares of each row are left; they become the corners. “Done thus, the beautiful maṇḍala that is wanted is made.”

Sources: Agni Purāṇa, Chapters 29, 30

The devatās and colours of the Bhadra maṇḍala

In Chapter 30 Nārada Maharshi gives the devatās to be worshipped in each enclosure (āvaraṇa) of the Bhadra maṇḍala.

  • The centre. On the central lotus, Brahmā (Pitāmaha) with his aṅga-devatās.
  • The first enclosure, the lotuses around the centre: Padmanābha in the east; Prakṛti in the south-east; Purusha on the southern lotus, with Agni on its southern side; Nirṛti in the south-west; Varuṇa in the west; Vāyu in the north-west; Āditya in the north; and the Ṛgveda and the Yajurveda in the north-east.
  • The second enclosure: Indra (Devendra) and the other dikpālas.
  • The sixteen-petalled lotus, in order: the Sāmaveda, the Atharvaveda, ākāśa (space), vāyu (air), tejas (fire), jala (water), pṛthivī (earth), manas (mind), śrotra (ear), tvak (skin), netra (eye), rasanā (tongue), ghrāṇa (nose), Bhūrloka and Bhuvarloka.
  • The third enclosure, the twenty-four-petalled lotus, in order: Maharloka, Janaloka, Tapoloka and Satyaloka; the yajñas Agnishṭoma, Atyagnishṭoma, Uktha, Shoḍaśī, Vājapeya, Atirātra and Aptoryāma; the individual mind, intellect and sense of self; śabda (sound), sparśa (touch), rūpa (form), rasa (taste) and gandha (smell); the jīva; the collective mind, the collective intellect (the mahat-tattva) and the collective sense of self; and Prakṛti. The form of all these is sound only: it is enough to say their names and bow, and there is no need to meditate on their mūrtis.
  • The fourth enclosure, the thirty-two-petalled lotus, worshipped with their aṅgas and retinue: the nine mūrtis beginning with Vāsudeva; the ten prāṇas; manas, buddhi and ahaṅkāra; pāyu and upastha; śrotra, tvak, netra, rasanā and ghrāṇa; and vāk (speech), pāṇi (hands) and pāda (feet).
  • The outer enclosure: pāyu and upastha; the lords of the twelve months, worshipped in order on the cakrābja; and the tattvas beginning with Purushottama. Eight, six or five prakṛtis are also worshipped there.

The colours

Then powders of different colours are strewn on the maṇḍala. The karṇikā is yellow. All the lines are white and of equal measure; in a maṇḍala of two hastas they are as thick as the thumb, and in a maṇḍala of one hasta half that. The lotuses are white, the joints black or blue, the kesaras red and yellow, and the squares in the corners are filled with red powder. The yogapīṭha is decorated with all colours, as one likes; the vīthi with creepers and leaves; the gate of the pīṭha with white powder; the śobhās with red; the upaśobhās with blue; and the conches at the corners are drawn white. “This is the way of laying colours on the Bhadra maṇḍala,” and on the other maṇḍalas powders of many colours are strewn in the same way.

The three-cornered maṇḍala is white, red and black; the two-cornered, red and yellow. On the cakrābja the hub is black, the spokes yellow and red, the rim blue and red, and the outer lines white, śyāma (dark), red, black and yellow.

The powders are made thus: white from rice flour and the like; red from kusumbha (safflower) and the like; yellow from turmeric; black from burnt rice flour; and śyāma from śamī leaves and the like.

Sources: Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 30

The Śaiva maṇḍala

In the Śaiva dīkshā called samaya-dīkshā (Chapter 81), the Śiva maṇḍala is prepared with the same care as the Vaishṇava maṇḍala. It uses Śaiva mantras, and the Śaiva devas are placed at their own positions. Bhagavān Śiva stands at its centre. The eight devas of the directions and the Śiva-Śaktis are at the petals.

The disciple, blindfolded, throws flowers onto this maṇḍala. The place where the flower falls shows the disciple’s ishṭadevatā, the form of Śiva through whom the disciple will chiefly worship.

Kuśāpamārjana: purifying with kuśa grass

Chapter 31 teaches kuśāpamārjana, the use of kuśa grass to purify the maṇḍala, the place of the deva and the body of the worshipper.

  • A bunch of kuśa is consecrated with mantras. The Nṛsiṃha mantra and the Vāsudeva mantra are recited over it, so that it holds the power to purify.
  • The kuśa is then used to sweep (pamārjana) the body of the deva. This takes away every impurity that may have gathered.
  • The maṇḍala is purified in the same way.
  • The Agni Purāṇa says which kinds of kuśa may be used for which rites, by the number of blades, the colour and the condition of the grass.
  • It also says how to put away the used kuśa when the rite is finished. It must be placed with respect in a clean place and not thrown away carelessly.

In Chapter 31 Agni Deva calls this rite mārjana or apāmārjana and gives it as a rakshā (protection) for oneself and for others: spoken with kuśa grass in the names of Vāsudeva, Varāha, Narasiṃha, Vāmana, Trivikrama and the Sudarśana cakra, it wipes away disease, poison, the grahas and pāpa, and one who is protected so is freed of sorrow and gains happiness.

Sources: Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 31

Maṇḍalas in Chapter 320

Chapter 320 is called “Maṇḍalāni”. It adds more forms of maṇḍala and how to make each. Īśvara teaches it to Skanda, and it gives the Sarvatobhadra, the kinds of lotus, the Navanābha cakra, the great maṇḍala for Pavitrārohaṇa, the Pañcābja, the ten-hasta maṇḍala, the Vighnadhvaṃsa cakra, the Buddhyādhāra maṇḍala and the Latā-liṅga maṇḍala, with their colours and the devatās worshipped in each.

The Navanābha cakra

The Navanābha lotus-cakra is of eight hastas, with nine parts made of mantra and a lotus in the middle part. By the measure of the lotus the band, the vīthi and the neck and sub-neck of the doors are made. The vīthi is of five parts, with a place of ten parts round it on four sides. In its eight directions is a door-lotus, with a vīthi holding eight lotuses. Outside it runs a vīthi of five padas adorned with creepers, with a lotus in the neck of each door; the lip and neck of the door take one pada each, and the cheek one pada. There are three doors on each side. In the corner-binding are three bands and a vajra mark of two padas.

The central lotus is white, and the others, from the east in order, are yellow, red, blue, yellow, white, smoke-grey, red and yellow. On the eight lotuses Bhagavān Śiva, Bhagavān Vishṇu and the other devatās are worshipped; after Bhagavān Śiva, Bhagavān Vishṇu and the rest are worshipped in the central lotus of the shrine, Indra and the other dikpālas are worshipped on the eastern and other lotuses, and their weapons in the outer vīthi. This lotus-cakra gives mukti, and one who worships Bhagavān Vishṇu and the others on it gains the fruit of an aśvamedha.

The great maṇḍala for Pavitrārohaṇa

For the Pavitrārohaṇa and like rites a great maṇḍala (mahā-maṇḍala) is made on a field of eight hastas divided by twenty-six. A lotus is made in the two middle padas, with one pada for the vīthi after it, and eight blue lotuses in the directions and the intermediate directions. With the measure of the middle lotus, thirty lotuses in all are made, without petal-joints. Behind them is a vīthi of one pada with a svastika mark above it, and outside are the vīthi, the doors, the lotuses and the sub-necks. The corners are red, the vīthi yellow and the central lotus blue. The svastika and other maṇḍalas of varied colours give all desires.

The Pañcābja maṇḍala

The Pañcābja, the maṇḍala of five lotuses, is made on a field of five hastas divided by ten on every side. Two padas are given to the central lotus, with a vīthi and a band outside it; four lotuses are made in the four directions, with a vīthi behind them, and doors with neck and sub-neck, with lotuses between them. The eastern lotus is white and yellow, the southern the colour of vaiḍūrya (cat’s-eye), the western white and the northern the colour of a conch; all the rest are of varied colours.

The ten-hasta maṇḍala

The ten-hasta maṇḍala gives all desires. It is a square field with doors of two padas each and a lotus in the middle, as in the cakra told before.

The Vighnadhvaṃsa cakra

The Vighnadhvaṃsa cakra destroys obstacles. It is a “pura” of four hastas, with a round cakra of two hastas in its middle, a vīthi one hasta wide all round marked with svastikas, doors of one hasta on the four sides, and circles marked with lotuses in the four directions; there are five white lotuses in it. In the central lotus the formless Paramātmā is worshipped; in the east and the other directions, the aṅgas beginning with the hṛdaya; and the five Brahma faces beginning with Sadyojāta are also worshipped.

The Buddhyādhāra maṇḍala

In a field of a hundred padas a lotus is marked in the fifteen middle padas, and a Śiva-liṅga is placed in each of the eight directions. The neck with its girdle is drawn in two padas, and the ācārya makes the creepers and other ornaments by his own judgement. The Purāṇa adds that maṇḍalas are made with four, six, five, eight and more lotuses, and with twenty and thirty; there is a complete maṇḍala of 12,120 lotuses, and one of 120 lotuses is also seen; and for Bhagavān Vishṇu, Bhagavān Śiva, the Devī and Sūrya there are 1,440 maṇḍalas.

The Latā-liṅga maṇḍala

Dividing seventeen padas by seventeen gives 288 padas. “Listen how the Latā-liṅga arises in this maṇḍala.” In each direction five, three, one, three and five padas are erased. With the two padas above and the two squares at each side of the liṅga, the shrine is formed. A lotus is made in the two middle padas, and another lotus besides, with two bhadras on the two sides of the liṅga. The door is of one pada and is not erased; erasing six padas at each side of the door gives the ornament of the door. In the remaining padas the creepers for Śrī Hari are formed. Erasing the two padas above gives the bhadrāshṭaka for Bhagavān Vishṇu, and erasing four padas more gives the śobhā with the measure of rays. Then comes a lotus of twenty-five padas, then the pīṭha, and placing two padas each on the pīṭha gives eight upaśobhās.

The Bhadra maṇḍala that shows the Devī and the others is broad in the middle and narrow at the ends, with a lotus of nine padas in the middle and four bhadra maṇḍalas in the four corners. In the remaining padas the Buddhyādhāra maṇḍala is formed, of one hundred and sixty padas. Buddhyādhāra maṇḍalas are excellent for the ārādhana of Bhagavān Śiva and the other devatās.

The Tvaritā maṇḍala

The ashṭa-dala-kamala (eight-petaled lotus) is the main maṇḍala for the pūjā of Tvaritā. It is made by the rules of Chapters 29 and 30.

  • The central pericarp (karṇikā) is for Devī Tvaritā herself.
  • The eight petals are for her eight attendant gaṇas.
  • The kesaras of the karṇikā are for her aṅga-devatās, worshipped with the mantras from “Praṇītāyai namaḥ” to “Kshemaṅkaryai namaḥ”, and Jayā and Vijayā, holding golden staffs, are worshipped at the door of the maṇḍala (Chapter 309).
  • On the eight petals are Huṃkārī, Khecarī, Caṇḍā, Bhedinī, Kshepaṇī, Strī, Huṃkārī and Kshemaṅkarī, with Phaṭkāriṇī in the middle (Chapter 314).
  • The outer boundary is for Barbarī and Kiṃkarī.
  • The colours follow her form. The karṇikā is dark (śyāma). The petals are red and white in turn.

The Vighnamarda maṇḍala

In Chapter 318 Īśvara teaches the Gaṇa-pūjā. In setting out on a journey, in tasks of victory and the like, for the gaining of śrī, Gaṇa-pūjā is done first. A square field is divided into twelve parts on every side. In the four middle padas a triangle is drawn, with a three-petalled lotus in it. Behind it, in the parts of the vīthi, a three-petalled lotus is made, and then a band with a three-petalled lotus shining with Vāsudeva, Saṅkarshaṇa and Gada. Above it a vedi is made, and when doors and side doors are made in the directions beginning with the east, the maṇḍala becomes the destroyer of obstacles. The central lotus and the lotuses outside it are red, the vīthi white, the doors of any colour one wishes, and the karṇikā and the kesaras yellow. This is the Vighnamarda maṇḍala, the maṇḍala that crushes obstacles.

In its middle Gaṇapati is worshipped with the first letter of his name joined to anusvāra, with oṃ before it and namaḥ after it. With the Īśāna, Tatpurusha and the other mantras joined to short-vowel bījas the Brahma-mūrtis are worshipped, and with long-vowel bījas aṅga-nyāsa is done. The names of Gaṇapati are written in the four rows of the maṇḍala and all are worshipped:

  • East: names beginning with Gaja, Gajaśīrsha, Gāṅgeya and Gaṇanāyaka, and ending with Gopati.
  • South: Vicitrāṃśa, Mahākāya, Lamboshṭha, Lambakarṇa, Lambodara, Mahābhāga, Vikṛta, Pārvatīpriya, Bhayāvaha, Bhadra, Bhagaṇa and Bhayasūdana.
  • West: Devagrāsa, Mahānāda, Bhāsura, Vighnarāja, Gaṇādhipa, Udbhaṭasvana, Uddhatuṇḍa, Bhīma, Manmatha, Madhusūdana, Sundara and Bhāvapushṭa.
  • North: Brahmeśvara, Brāhma, Manovṛtti, Saṃjaya, Laya, Nṛtyapriya, Lola, Vikarṇa, Vatsala, Kṛtānta, Kāladaṇḍa and Kumbha.

Ten thousand japa are done, with homa of one tenth; the other mantras are recited ten times each with one homa for each. All wishes are fulfilled, and the guru is honoured with gifts of land, cows, horses, elephants, cloth and the like.

The Vāgīśvarī maṇḍala

For the pūjā of Devī Sarasvatī as Vāgīśvarī (Chapter 319), the guru makes a dīkshā maṇḍala of nine white lotuses, from which he gives the upadeśa of her mantra. A lotus is made in two parts, with a vīthi around it; lotuses are made in four padas with vīthis outside them; doors and side doors of two padas each are made in each direction, and two bands in each corner. The nine lotuses are white, the karṇikā made yellow with golden powder, the kesaras of many colours, the corners red and the space between the lines of the sky black; the doors follow the Indra-gaja measure. Devī Vāgīśvarī is in the central karṇikā. Vāgīśinī is worshipped in the eastern lotus, and in the intermediate directions beginning with the south-east, in order, Hṛllekhā, Citravāgīśī, Gāyatrī, Viśvarūpā, Śāṅkarī, Mati and Dhṛti. Before each name “hrīṃ” is said, with the first letter of the name as its bīja.

Before this, the sādhaka meditates on Devī Vāgīśvarī: her body shines like the moon and the kunda flower; her form is a garland of the fifty letters, from a to ksha; she wears necklaces of pearls and garlands of white flowers; she has three eyes; and her hands show the varada and abhaya mudrās and hold the akshamālā and the book. He does one lakh japa of her one-syllable mantra, which is not to be taught to everyone, and the homa is done with the ghee of a tawny cow. One who does this becomes a kavi composing kāvya in Sanskrit and Prākṛt, and a scholar of kāvya-śāstra.

The nava-koshṭha maṇḍala

A nine-square maṇḍala is also given in this chapter. It is for certain rites in the Aghora-śānti and Pāśupata-śānti rites (Chapters 321 and 322). The nine koshṭhas (squares) stand for the nine forms of Śiva. Sadāśiva is at the centre, and the eight Śiva-forms of the directions are at the places around him.

Rules of drawing

Chapter 320 repeats the basic rules taught in Chapters 29 and 30 for every maṇḍala.

  • Every maṇḍala is drawn with a fixed saṅkalpa (resolve) and with mantras said at each stroke.
  • The central point (bindu) is fixed first. It is the point where the deva is present.
  • The shapes spread outward from the bindu in order.
  • A maṇḍala is alive only when the deva has been formally invited into it (āvāhana). A drawn maṇḍala without āvāhana is only a figure of lines.

The colours, the materials (powdered rice or coloured powders) and the directions (the way the central deva faces) are fixed exactly. They must be followed without change for the maṇḍala to do its work.

Sources: Agni Purāṇa, Chapters 309, 314, 318, 319, 320

Maṇḍalas in other rites

The sixteen mahādānas (great gifts) are given to brāhmaṇas on an auspicious day in a maṇḍapa shaped as a maṇḍala, after the pūjā of the devas (Chapter 210). In the gift called Trimukha, an image of a Yamadūta bearing a noose is set between Brahmā, Bhagavān Vishṇu and Bhagavān Śiva; its head is then cut off, and it is given with the maṇḍala to a brāhmaṇa. The Purāṇa says that one who makes various maṇḍalas before the mūrti of a deva becomes a maṇḍalādhipati (Chapter 211). Among the subjects that the Agni Purāṇa itself names in its closing chapter are the Śaiva, Śākta and Saura āgamas, maṇḍalas and vāstu (Chapter 383).

Sources: Agni Purāṇa, Chapters 210, 211, 383

Sources

  • Agni Purāṇa, Chapters 21, 23, 25, 27, 29–31, 34, 81, 210–211, 309–325, 383