Śaiva Dīkshā Vidhi

Śaiva Dīkshā Vidhi, “the rite of Śaiva initiation”

The Agni Purāṇa (chapters 81 to 90) teaches Śaiva dīkshā, initiation into the worship of Bhagavān Śiva, in three grades. They are samaya-dīkshā, saṃskāra-dīkshā and nirvāṇa-dīkshā. Through them the paśu (the bound ātmā) is freed step by step from its bonds by the fire of the guru’s knowledge. At the end it rises through the five kalās to oneness with Paramaśiva. A fourth, special initiation, the ekatattvadīkshā, is for disciples of the highest knowledge.

The teaching is given by Bhagavān Śiva himself, as Īśvara and Parameśvara, to Kumārasvāmī (Skanda). “Now I shall tell of the rite of dīkshā, which gives bhoga and moksha,” he begins. Dīkshā destroys every pāpa (sin) and removes mala, māyā and the rest; because it gives jñāna (true knowledge) to the disciple it is called dīkshā. In the samaya-dīkshā the guru holds himself to be Śiva, lays the Śiva-hasta (the hand of Śiva) on the disciple’s head and joins himself to him through the nāḍīs. In the saṃskāra-dīkshā he draws out the disciple’s jīva, places it in the womb of Vāgīśvarī Devī and gives it a new birth as a son of Rudra. In the nirvāṇa-dīkshā a thread is made the disciple’s sushumnā and the five kalās are bound into it. Then the bond of each kalā is cut and burned in turn, under Brahmā, Vishṇu, Rudra, Īśvara and Sadāśiva, each of whom is told Śiva’s command never to bind the disciple again. At the last the disciple’s śikhā is offered in the fire, and his ātmā is led up through the syllables of Oṃ and joined with Paramaśiva. The ekatattvadīkshā does all this in a single tattva, and in the abhisheka that follows, the disciple is bathed from the waters of the eight oceans and made an ācārya, with authority to give dīkshā himself.

The three grades

The Śaiva dīkshā is given in grades that match the maturity of the disciple.

• Samaya-dīkshā is the first initiation into the Śaiva community and its rules.
• Saṃskāra-dīkshā is a deeper purification, worked through the six cosmic paths.
• Nirvāṇa-dīkshā is the initiation that gives moksha. In it the guru’s fire burns the disciple’s remaining karmic bond.
• Ekatattvadīkshā is given to the rarest disciples, those fit for the direct non-dual teaching.

In all grades the work is the freeing of the paśu from the three malas (impurities):

• āṇavamala, the first limitation
• māyīyamala, the impurity that comes from māyā
• kārmamala, the bond of karma

Each grade works on these malas at a deeper level.

In the nirvāṇa-dīkshā the guru offers a hundred homas for the removal of the bonds born of māyā, of mala and of karma. The Agni Purāṇa names three kinds of disciple to be graced by this knowledge: the vijñānākala, the pralayākala and the sakala. The vijñānākala is the one whose only bond is mala; the definitions of the other two are lost in the printed text.

Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapters 81, 84

Samaya-dīkshā: entry into the Śaiva community

Samaya-dīkshā makes the disciple a member of the Śaiva community. It binds him to the samaya-niyamas, the rules of conduct for the initiated. It is taught in chapter 81.

1. The Śiva maṇḍala is prepared.
2. The guru does the preparatory rites: worship of the devas of the maṇḍala, fire offerings and the setting up of the presence of Bhagavān Śiva.
3. The disciple’s eyes are bound with a cloth, and he is led to stand before the maṇḍala.
4. The disciple holds flowers in his cupped hands. At the guru’s word he scatters them on the maṇḍala.
5. The place on the maṇḍala where the flower falls, and near which deva, shows the disciple’s ishṭadevatā, the form of Bhagavān Śiva through whom he will mainly worship.
6. A homa is done.
7. The Śiva mantra, the pañcākshara “Namaḥ Śivāya”, is given to the disciple.
8. The disciple receives the samaya-niyamas: the rules of conduct, daily practices, prohibitions and attitudes of a Śaiva initiate.

The main observances are worship at dawn and dusk, care of the liṅga, and śiva-bhāva (a Śiva-like attitude) in all dealings.

The materials and the sword of knowledge

The guru makes the viśeshārghya (special arghya) of kuśa, dūrvā sprouts, barley, milk and water, and with it purifies all the materials. The things to be scattered, puffed rice, sandal, mustard, bhasma (sacred ash), dūrvā, akshata and kuśa, are consecrated seven times with the astra-mantra and seen as weapons that drive away every obstacle. Then from thirty-six kuśa blades, each a span long, he makes the jñāna-khaḍga, the sword of knowledge, whose form is radiance and awareness. He consecrates it with seven japas of the Śiva-mantra, regards it as Śiva‘s own form, and keeps it at his heart.

The guru becomes Śiva

Meditating on the form of Śiva dear to him, the guru places within himself by nyāsa the partless Paramātmā and holds the thought “I am Śiva”. He draws a maṇḍala of fragrant paste or kuṅkuma on his own right hand and worships Śiva on it; the hand becomes the Śiva-hasta. Laying it on his own head he holds firmly: “I am Śiva, the Paramātmā who creates the whole world.” So he becomes Īśvara in five ways: witness of the rite in the maṇḍapa, protector on the kalaśa, presider over the homa in the fire, cutter of the disciple’s bond of ignorance, and giver of grace in the inner self.

Holding the sword of knowledge, he stands in the south-west of the maṇḍapa facing north and purifies it with water and pañcagavya. Four-armed Gaṇeśa is worshipped in the north-west on a seat made of the praṇava, and Bhagavān Śiva on the vedi. At the kuṇḍa the guru purifies the fire, the ghee and the ladles, worships Śiva in the fire, does nyāsa on himself, the kalaśa, the maṇḍala, the fire and the disciple, and purifies the paths (adhva-śodhana).

The seven tongues of Agni and the caru

Agni deva’s face is held to be as wide as the kuṇḍa. His seven tongues are Hiraṇyā, Kanakā, Raktā, Kṛshṇā, Suprabhā, Atiriktā and Bahurūpā, facing in turn the north-east, east, south-east, south-west, west, north-west and the centre, each with its own bīja. For rites of peace and nourishment, milk and sweet things are offered; kadamba buds win a yakshiṇī; bandhūka and kiṃśuka flowers bring others under control; bilva fruits win a kingdom; pāṭala and campaka flowers bring Lakshmī; lotuses make one a cakravartī; foods bring wealth; dūrvā destroys disease.

The caru (rice cooked in milk) for the dīkshā is five measures of rice for one disciple, and five more for each further disciple. It is cooked in the Śivāgni with the mūla-mantra, made amṛta with the dhenu-mudrā, and shared out in equal portions for the disciples, for Agni deva and for the lokapālas. A hundred and eight homas with the mūla-mantra and the pūrṇāhuti follow, and the inner bali is offered to the Rudras, the Mātṛkās and the gaṇas.

The disciple seated and purified

Taking refuge in Śiva and receiving his ājñā, the guru holds: “I am Śiva, all-knowing, shining above all the paths; this place of yajña is my portion.” With this sense of oneness with Śiva he comes out of the maṇḍapa and seats the bathed disciple, in white cloth, on a seat of kuśa. A disciple who seeks mukti faces north; one who seeks bhukti (enjoyment) faces east; only the part of him above the ankles rests on the seat. The guru looks over him with a gracious gaze that spreads Śaiva radiance, from the feet up to the śikhā for a moksha-seeker, from the śikhā down for a seeker of bhoga.

The disciple is bathed with mantra-water and then with bhasma consecrated by the astra-mantra, sprinkled from above down and from below up, to quiet the obstacles and destroy pāpa. He is wiped with the tips of kuśa above the navel and touched with the roots below it, and the same is done again to break all his bonds. Śiva with his seat and limbs is placed on his body by nyāsa, and he is worshipped as Śiva. His eyes are tied with a white cloth; he is led round Śiva in pradakshiṇa and seated at Śiva’s right.

The Śiva-hasta, the flower and the name

The guru lays the Śiva-hasta on the head of the disciple with the mūla-mantra. This gives him the Rudreśa-pada, the state of Rudreśa. A flower is put in his hand with the Śiva-mantra as the means of attaining service of Śiva, and he places it on Śiva. The cloth is removed from his eyes and a name is given to him, marked with the names of Śiva’s gaṇas, or as the guru wishes. He bows to the Śiva-kalaśa and the vardhanī and is seated by the fire on the guru’s right.

Then the guru does the nāḍī-sandhāna, the joining through the channels. He sees the disciple’s sushumnā come out of his body and merge with his own. He holds a darbha consecrated with the mūla-mantra, its tip in the disciple’s hand and its root on his own foot. Breathing out with the Śiva-mantra he enters the disciple’s heart; breathing in he returns to the space of his own heart. Three homas make the joining present and a hundred make the Śiva-hasta steady. So the disciple becomes fit for the saṃskāra of the samaya-dīkshā.

Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 81

Saṃskāra-dīkshā: purification through the six paths

Saṃskāra-dīkshā works through the shaḍadhvan, the six paths of the cosmos. By these paths the bound ātmā came down into limitation. Now it must be purified by the same paths in reverse. This is taught in chapter 82.

The six paths are three word-paths (śabdādhvan) and three object-paths (arthādhvan):

• Varṇādhvan, the path of letters
• Padādhvan, the path of words and mantras
• Mantrādhvan, the path of the great mantras
• Kalādhvan, the path of the five kalās
• Tattvādhvan, the path of the thirty-six tattvas
• Bhuvanādhvan, the path of the worlds and spheres

The guru uses agni-dīkshā, the fire of initiating knowledge, to burn the three malas out of the disciple’s consciousness at each level of these paths. The fire of the guru’s knowledge passes through the disciple’s subtle body. It purifies each layer of the accumulated karma: the body of letters, the body of mantras and the body of tattvas.

Ardhanārīśvara and the drawing out of the jīva

Īśvara tells Kumārasvāmī the rite. The guru invokes into his own heart the Ardhanārīśvara form of Bhagavān Śiva who dwells in the fire, Śiva and Pārvatī united in one body, and worships them with five homas for their presence. He strikes the disciple’s heart with a flower charged by the astra-mantra and sees in him the jīva, shining like a star. Breathing out with “huṃ” he enters the disciple’s heart, draws the jīva out with the saṃhāriṇī-mudrā, and breathing in sets it in his own heart. Then, with the udbhava-mudrā and the ātma-mantra enclosed in the hṛdaya-mantra, he places it in the womb of Vāgīśvarī Devī. The ātma-mantra is “hāṃ hāṃ hām ātmane namaḥ”.

The signs of the fire

Homa is done in a fire that blazes well without smoke; homa in a smoky fire bears no fruit. Flames that turn to the right, a sweet fragrance and great brightness are the best signs. Sparks flying and a flame that touches the ground are not good. By these signs the guru knows the disciple’s pāpa and burns it to ash with the homas that devour pāpa.

The inner saṃskāras

So that the disciple may be twice-born in a new way, a portion of Rudra, purified in the very seed of his nourishment, the guru offers five hundred āhutis with the mūla-mantra for each saṃskāra: garbhādhāna, the rite after conception, sīmantonnayana, jātakarma and nāmakaraṇa. For cūḍākarma and the rest a tenth as many are offered. Each saṃskāra has its meaning in this dīkshā:

• Garbhādhāna is the rising of śakti in the jīva whose bond has loosened, for it is the cause of his becoming a son of Rudra.
• Puṃsavana is the free shining forth of the ātmā’s own qualities in him.
• Sīmantonnayana is the dawning of the knowledge “māyā is one thing, the ātmā another”.
• Birth is the taking up of the pure, true realities beginning with Śiva.
• Nāmakaraṇa is the dawning, in the disciple fit for Śivatva, of the knowledge “I am Śiva”.

The guru then takes the jīva, like a shining spark of fire, into his own heart-lotus and, holding the breath, unites Śiva and Śakti there with the mūla-mantra. Leaving behind in order the causes beginning with Brahmā, he takes the jīva to Śiva, brings it back with the udbhava-mudrā, and places it in the centre of the lotus of the disciple’s heart.

The samayācāra and the articles of the vrata

The guru worships Śiva and the fires, has the disciple bow, and teaches him the samayācāra, the rule of conduct:

• Never revile your ishṭa-devatā, Śiva, or the Śaiva śāstra.
• Do not step over Śiva’s nirmālya (offerings already used) and the like.
• As long as you live, worship Śiva, Agni and the guru.
• Give wealth as far as you can to children, the simple-minded, the aged, women, those who ask for food and the sick.
• For those who are able, the rule is to give everything.

The jaṭā, bhasma, staff, loincloth and the other articles of the vrata are consecrated with the names Īśāna and the rest, set before Śiva as Sthaṇḍilīśa, kept for a moment under the kalaśa for their protection, and given to the disciple with Śiva’s ājñā. Endowed with this special samaya-dīkshā, the disciple becomes fit for the agni-homa and for the knowledge of the āgamas.

Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 82

Nirvāṇa-dīkshā: preparation

Nirvāṇa-dīkshā is the initiation that gives moksha. It is taught in chapters 83 to 88, and its preparation, the adhivāsana of the evening before, in chapter 83. The preparation is the placing of the five kalās in the disciple’s body by mantra and meditation:

1. Nivṛtti-kalā is the lowest level. It holds one tattva, the earth (pṛthvī-tattva), and its working in the material world.
2. Pratishṭhā-kalā belongs to the subtle elements (tanmātras) and the indriyas (the organs of sense and action).
3. Vidyā-kalā holds seven tattvas: rāga, vidyā, niyati, kalā, kāla, māyā and avidyā.
4. Śānti-kalā holds two tattvas, Īśvara and Sadāśiva.
5. Śāntyatītā-kalā is beyond māyā entirely. It is the Śiva-realm beyond all.

The guru sees the disciple’s jīva rising through each group of tattvas in turn, purified and freed at each level, and moving at last towards Paramaśiva. Śiva-tattva is contemplated in its fullness, and the disciple’s mind is made familiar with the moksha that awaits him.

Kindling the mantras

Bhagavān Śiva teaches that in the nirvāṇa-dīkshā the guru first “kindles” (dīpana) the mūla-mantra and the other mantras, with one homa or three for each, so that they have power to bind and to strike. In all fierce rites the mantras are kindled in this way; in rites of peace, nourishment and bringing under control, the praṇava is put at the start and “vashaṭ” at the end.

The thread as the sushumnā

The disciple, purified, sits on the maṇḍala at the guru’s left. The guru takes a fine thread and holds it to be the sushumnā nāḍī. With the mūla-mantra he takes it from the tied śikhā down to the big toes, then back in the order of withdrawal to the śikhā, and ties it there: on the right side for a man, on the left for a woman. He worships Śakti on the disciple’s head and joins her into the thread, places the sushumnā on it, and makes both present with homas. The six paths are placed on the thread with the mantras “oṃ hāṃ tattvādhvane namaḥ”, “padādhvane”, “varṇādhvane”, “mantrādhvane”, “kalādhvane” and “bhuvanādhvane namaḥ”.

The guru sprinkles the disciple, strikes his heart with a flower and the astra-mantra, enters his body with the out-breath, draws his jīva-caitanya (living consciousness) out from the haṃsa-bīja, and places it in the thread through the nāḍī.

The five kalās bound into the thread

Each kalā, with all it holds, is seen in turn and set at its own place on the thread:

For each kalā three homas are offered for its presence, and then the five kalās in the thread are placed in the disciple’s body. In each the guru sees the subtle bonds that cloud consciousness. He offers them tarpaṇa, kindles them, splits them with the kalā-mantras ending in “huṃ phaṭ”, enters them with those ending in “namaḥ”, and seizes and binds them: “oṃ huṃ huṃ huṃ śāntyatīta-kalāṃ gṛhṇāmi badhnāmi”, “I seize, I bind the Śāntyatīta kalā”. A hundred homas with the mūla-mantra, with the thread from the disciple’s shoulder in his hand, remove every pāpa, known and unknown. The thread is enclosed in its mantras, made one with Śiva and his limbs, and kept under the kalaśa, and the ishṭa-devatā is prayed to guard it.

The night before

Outside the yāgaśālā the guru seats the disciples in three maṇḍalas, mukti-seekers facing north and bhoga-seekers facing east. He gives each three palmfuls of pañcagavya and three or eight mouthfuls of caru, in a cup of palāśa leaves for the mukti-seeker and of aśvattha leaves for the bhukti-seeker, to be eaten without touching the teeth. Each cleans his teeth with a twig and throws it away; if its tip falls towards an auspicious direction, good follows. A hundred and eight homas remove any lack in the rite, which is offered to Śiva as Sthaṇḍileśvara, and Caṇḍeśa is worshipped.

Householder disciples sleep on kuśa with their heads to the east; renunciant disciples sleep on bhasma with their heads to the south. All tie their śikhās with the śikhā-mantra, and the guru tells them of the “dream-man”. With the mantra “oṃ pālī hili śūlapāṇaye namaḥ svāhā” pañcagavya and caru are taken, and the night is spent on a pure bed in meditation on Śiva, remembering the rites of the dīkshā.

Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 83

The purification of the five kalās

Chapters 84 to 88 describe the purification of the five kalās in order. This is the main working of the nirvāṇa-dīkshā.

• Nivṛtti-kalā (chapter 84). This kalā reaches from the earth element up through the gross world. By meditation and mantra the guru burns all the disciple’s karmic tangle in this level.
• Pratishṭhā-kalā (chapter 85). This kalā holds the subtle elements and the whole range of the indriyas. The disciple’s identification with the body of the senses is purified and let go.
• Vidyā-kalā (chapter 86). This field holds seven tattvas: rāga, vidyā, niyati, kalā, kāla, māyā and avidyā. The guru leads the disciple’s consciousness through the purification of the levels of mind and will.
• Śānti-kalā (chapter 87). This field holds two tattvas, Īśvara and Sadāśiva. Here the guru’s fire burns through the finest layers of the disciple’s bond.
• Śāntyatītā-kalā (chapter 88). Beyond māyā and all it makes lies this field, pure Śiva-consciousness. The guru lifts the disciple’s jīva to this highest level by meditation and mantra.

Each purification follows one pattern. The guru joins the kalā to the one before it, sees in it all its tattvas, worlds and letters, and strikes and enters the disciple. He draws the kalā’s bond into the fire. He invokes the kalā’s presiding deva and asks his favour for the dīkshā. He draws out the disciple’s jīva-caitanya, joins it to his own ātmā, and places it in the womb of the Devī for a new birth with all its saṃskāras. Then he cuts the bond with the sword of the astra-mantra, crushes it, rolls it into a ball and burns it in a ladle of ghee so that it can never sprout again. He gives that deva his śulka (dues) and tells him Śiva‘s command, returns the jīva to the disciple, and closes with the pūrṇāhuti.

The Nivṛtti-kalā

At dawn the guru asks the disciples what they dreamed. To eat or see curd, raw meat or liquor in a dream is best; to see an elephant, to mount one, or white garments is auspicious. Anointing oneself with oil is inauspicious, and for it a homa is done with the Aghora-mantra. In the maṇḍapa the guru worships Śiva on the kalaśa, the dikpālas, and Śiva in the maṇḍala and on the vedī, and offers a hundred and eight homas against bad dreams. As in the samaya-dīkshā he sets up the maṇḍala, does the sampāta-homa, and puts in the disciple’s hand the kuśa that is the sushumnā. The thread of the kalā-bonds is tied to the disciple’s śikhā, on the right, to hang down to the big toe.

In this kalā the guru sees its 108 bhuvanas, named after the 108 Rudras who dwell in them, ten in each of the eight directions, ten below, ten above and eight within the shell of the Brahmāṇḍa:

• East: Kapāla, Aja, Ahirbudhnya, Vajradeha, Pramardana, Vibhūti, Avyaya, Śāstṛ, Pinākin, Tridaśādhipa.
• South-east: Agnirudra, Hutāśa, Piṅgala, Khādaka, Hara, Jvalana, Dahana, Babhru, Bhasmāntaka, Kshapāntaka.
• South: Yāmya, Mṛtyuhara, Dhātṛ, Vidhātṛ, Kartṛ, Kāla, Dharma, Adharma, Saṃyoktṛ, Viyojaka.
• South-west: Nairṛtya, Māruta, Hana, Krūradṛshṭi, Bhayānaka, Ūrdhvakeśa, Virūpāksha, Dhūmra, Lohita, Daṃshṭrin.
• West: Bala, Atibala, Pāśahasta, Mahābala, Śveta, Jayabhadra, Dīrghabāhu, Jalāntaka, Vaḍavāsya, Bhīma.
• North-west: Śīghra, Laghu, Vāyuvega, Sūkshma, Tīkshṇa, Kshamāntaka, Pañcāntaka, Pañcaśikha, Kapardin, Meghavāhana.
• North: Jaṭāmukuṭadhārin, Nānāratnadhara, Nidhīśa, Rūpavat, Dhanya, Saumyadeha, Prasādakṛt, Prakāma, Lakshmīvat, Kāmarūpa.
• North-east: Vidyādhara, Jñānadhara, Sarvajña, Vedapāraga, Mātṛvṛtta, Piṅgāksha, Bhūtapāla, Balipriya, Sarvavidyāvidhātṛ, Sukhaduḥkhakara.
• Below, in Pātāla: Ananta, Pālaka, Dhīra, Pātālādhipati, Vṛsha, Vṛshadhara, Vīra, Grasana, Sarvatomukha, Lohita.
• Above: Śambhu, Vibhu, Gaṇādhyaksha, Tryaksha, Tridaśavandita, Saṃvāha, Vivāha, Nabha, Lipsu, Vicakshaṇa.
• Within the Brahmāṇḍa: Huhuka, Kālāgnirudra, Hāṭaka, Kūshmāṇḍa, Satya, Brahmā, Vishṇu, Rudra.

The Nivṛtti-kalā also holds twenty-eight padas, beginning “Sadbhāveśvara, Mahātejaḥ, Yogādhipate, muñca muñca”, the bījas a and la, the nāḍīs iḍā and piṅgalā, the vāyus prāṇa and apāna, the senses of smell and generation, and smell as its object. It belongs to the earth tattva; its maṇḍala is yellow and square, marked with the vajra, and a hundred crore yojanas wide. It contains the fourteen classes of birth: six of wild animals, birds, cattle, serpents, plants and humans, and eight of the piśācas, rākshasas, yakshas, gandharvas, Indra, Soma, Prajāpati and Brahmā. Its state is waking (jāgrat), and Brahmā is its cause.

The guru draws the kalā’s bond with the aṅkuśa-mudrā into the kuṇḍa. He invokes Brahmā with “oṃ haṃ brahmaṇe namaḥ” and prays: “O Brahmadeva, under your authority I give dīkshā to this mumukshu (seeker of moksha). Be always favourable to him.” He invokes in his mind Vāgīśvarī, red in colour, whose form is icchā, jñāna and kriyā (will, knowledge and action), the one cause of all six paths, and with her Vāgīśvara deva, who dwells in the heart and turns away all births. He separates the disciple’s jīva-caitanya, bound like a spark of fire in the Nivṛtti-kalā in the heart, joins it to his own ātmā with “oṃ haṃ haṃ hāṃ ātmane namaḥ”, and, seeing the union of the divine mother and father, places it at once in all the wombs of birth and in the womb of Vāgīśvarī. All the jīvas are born at once; bhoga and laya follow, and the streams and tattvas are purified. Puṃsavana and sīmantonnayana are not needed here, for female bodies too may be born, and by destiny the blind as well.

With the kalā-sword the guru cuts seven times the bonds of mala and the rest in the disciple’s inner organ, crushes them and burns them, and offers homas against their sprouting and in expiation. He gives Brahmā the disciple’s śabda and sparśa (sound and touch) as his śulka, and tells him Śiva’s command: “O Brahmā, all the bonds of this child are burned. You must not stay here to bind him again.” Brahmā is given leave. The guru returns the ātmā to the thread, places nectar-like drops from the arghya-vessel on the disciple’s head for his nourishment and contentment, dismisses the mother and father, and gives the pūrṇāhuti: “may there be purity of the Nivṛtti-kalā of the ātmā of so-and-so”. So the Nivṛtti-kalā is purified.

Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 84

The Pratishṭhā-kalā

The guru joins the pure and the impure kalās and sees in the Pratishṭhā-kalā twenty-five tattvas: water, fire, air and ākāśa, the five tanmātras, the ten indriyas, buddhi, the three guṇas, ahaṃkāra and purusha; and twenty-five letters from ka to ya. Its fifty-six bhuvanas hold fifty-six Rudras of the same names, in seven groups of eight:

• Amareśa, Prabhāsa, Naimisha, Pushkara, Āshāḍha, Diṇḍi, Bhāvabhūti, Lakulīśa.
• Hariścandra, Śrīśaila, Jalpa, Āmrātakeśvara, Mahākāla, Madhyama, Kedāra, Bhairava.
• Gayā, Kurukshetra, Sāla, Kanakhala, Vimala, Aṭṭahāsa, Mahendra, Bhīma.
• Vastrāpada, Rudrakoṭi, Avimukta, Mahālaya, Gokarṇa, Bhadrakarṇa, Svarṇāksha, Sthāṇu.
• Ajeśa, Sarvajña, Bhāsvara, Subāhu, Mantrarūpin, Viśāla, Jaṭila, Raudra.
• Piṅgalāksha, Kāladaṃshṭrin, Vidhura, Mota, Prājāpatya, Hutāśana, Kālarūpin, Kālakarṇa.
• Bhayānaka, Pataṅga, Piṅgala, Hara, Dhātṛ, Śaṅkukarṇa, Śrīkaṇṭha, Candramauli.

It holds the padas beginning “vyāpin, arūpin, prathama, tejaḥ, jyoti”, two bījas, three mantras, the nāḍīs gāndhārī and sushumnā, the vāyus samāna and udāna, the tongue and the organ of excretion, and taste as its object. Its maṇḍala is white and half-moon shaped, marked with a lotus; its state is deep sleep (sushupti); its cause is Vishṇu.

The guru invokes Vishṇu with “oṃ haṃ vishṇave namaḥ” and prays: “O Vishṇu, under your authority I give dīkshā to this disciple who seeks moksha. Be favourable.” He invokes Vāgīśvarī and Vāgīśvara, strikes the disciple’s chest, frees his consciousness with the jyeshṭhā-aṅkuśa mudrā, and places it, united with the parents, in the womb of the Devī. Five homas each are offered for the birth of the body, the steadying of the jīva, the gaining of office, the attaining of experience, dissolution, and the purifying of the streams and the tattvas. The bond is cut with the sword of “oṃ hīṃ pratishṭhā-kalā-pāśāya hūṃ phaṭ”, crushed, rounded and burned. Vishṇu receives rasa (taste) as his śulka with “oṃ hāṃ vishṇo rasaṃ śulkaṃ gṛhāṇa svāhā”, and hears Śiva‘s command: “O Vishṇu, the bonds of this paśu are wholly burned. Henceforth you shall not be the cause of his bondage.” He is sent away by the raudrī nāḍī. The ātmā, like the moon’s disc half freed from Rāhu, is joined again to the thread and placed like a drop of water on the disciple’s head, and he is refreshed. With the pūrṇāhuti the Pratishṭhā-kalā too is purified.

Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 85

The Vidyā-kalā

Parameśvara teaches that the Vidyā-kalā is joined to the Pratishṭhā-kalā. It holds seven tattvas, the six letters ra, la, va, śa, sha and sa, and twenty-one padas that open “oṃ namaḥ śivāya sarvaprabhave śivāya īśānamūrdhne tatpurushavaktrāya aghorahṛdayāya”, to Śiva whose head is Īśāna, whose face is Tatpurusha and whose heart is Aghora. Its twenty-five bhuvanas and Rudras are Pramatha, Vāmadeva, Sarvadevodbhava, Bhavodbhava, Vajradeha, the Rudra Prabhu, Dhātṛ, Krama, Vikrama, Suprabha, Buddha, Praśāntanāman, Īśāna, Akshara, Śiva, Saśiva, Babhru, Aja, Śambhu, Adṛshṭarūpanāman, Rūpavardhana, Manonmana, Mahāvīra, Citrāja and Kalyāṇa. Its mantra is Aghora; its bījas ma and ra; its nāḍīs pūshā and hastijihvā; its vāyus vyāna and nāga; its senses the feet and the eyes; its object form. Its maṇḍala is red and triangular, marked with the svastika; its state is deep sleep; its cause is Rudra-deva.

The guru invokes Rudra, the cause, and prays to him not to bind the disciple. He frees the jīva-caitanya from the bond, joins it to his own ātmā, and places it in the womb of Vāgīśvarī Devī. A hundred homas are offered for its body, birth, office, experience and dissolution, for the purifying of the streams and tattvas, and for rooting out all mala and karma. The bond is loosened, the power of mala veiled, and the bond cut, crushed, rounded, burned and made sproutless. Rudra receives rūpa and gandha (form and smell) as his śulka, hears the command of Parameśvara and is given leave. The consciousness is placed like a drop of water on the disciple’s head, the mother and father are dismissed, and the pūrṇāhuti completes the purification of the Vidyā-kalā. All is done as before; only the bījas are this kalā’s own.

Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 86

The Śānti-kalā

The Vidyā-kalā is joined to the Śānti-kalā. Its tattvas are Īśvara and Sadāśiva; its bhuvanas hold fourteen Rudras of the same names. Its twelve padas are: vyomavyāpine, vyomarūpāya, sarvavyāpine, śivāya, anantāya, anāthāya, anāśritāya, dhruvāya, śāśvatāya, yogapīṭhasaṃsthitāya, nityayogine, dhyānāharāya: “to the one who pervades space, whose form is space, all-pervading, to Śiva, the endless, who has no master and no support, the fixed, the eternal, seated on the yoga-pīṭha, ever a yogī”. Its mantras are the Purusha and Kavaca mantras; its nāḍīs Alambushā and Yaśā; its vāyus Kṛkara and Kūrma; its senses skin and hands; its object touch. Its sole cause is Īśvara, and its state is turīya, the fourth.

The guru prays to Īśvara: “O Parameśa, I give dīkshā to this mumukshu in your domain. Be favourable to him.” The disciple’s caitanya is placed in the womb of the Devī and reborn with all the saṃskāras. The bond is loosened by a hundred recitations of the kavaca-mantra, cut with the sword of the astra-mantra and burned. Īśvara receives buddhi and ahaṅkāra as his śulka with “oṃ hāṃ īśvara buddhyahaṅkārau śulkaṃ gṛhāṇa svāhā”, and hears Śiva’s command: “Īśvara, all the bonds of this paśu are burned. From now on you must not bind him.” As Īśvara gave the moon a place on his head, so the guru joins the disciple’s jīvātmā with his own ātmā, and places the thread of consciousness, whose form is the immortal bindu, on the disciple’s head with the mūla-mantra. Agni and the pitaras are worshipped and given leave, and the pūrṇāhuti completes the purification of the Śānti-kalā.

Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 87

The Śāntyatītā-kalā

Maheśvara teaches the last kalā. It is joined to the purified Śānti-kalā with “oṃ haṃ haṃ haṃ hāṃ”. Its tattvas are Śiva and Śakti. Its eight bhuvanas are Indhaka, Dīpaka, Rocaka, Mocaka, Ūrdhvagāmī, Vyomarūpa, Anātha and Anāśrita. Its pada is the Oṃkāra; its mantra is Īśāna; its letters are the sixteen vowels from a to visarga; its bījas nāda and ha; its nāḍīs Kuhū and Śaṅkhinī; its vāyus Devadatta and Dhanañjaya; its senses speech and hearing; its object sound. Its state is the fifth, beyond turīya (turīyātīta), and its sole cause is Sadāśiva.

The guru draws its bond into the fire and prays to Sadāśiva with bhakti: “Bhagavān Sadāśiva, I give dīkshā to this mumukshu in your domain, as the good have taught. Be always favourable to him.” He strikes the disciple’s chest, frees and draws out the caitanya, joins it to his own ātmā, and places it in the womb of the Devī, and all the saṃskāras from garbhādhāna follow. The bonds are cut with the sword of “oṃ haḥ hāṃ śāntyatīta-kalā-pāśāya huṃ phaṭ” and burned. Sadāśiva receives manas and bindu as his śulka with “oṃ hāṃ sadāśiva manobinduṃ śulkaṃ gṛhāṇa svāhā”, and hears Śiva’s command: “Sadāśiva, all the pāpas in this paśu are burned. You should not stay here to bind him.” He is given leave with the pūrṇāhuti.

Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 88

Nirvāṇa-dīkshā: the end of the rite

In chapter 88 the nirvāṇa-dīkshā reaches its end.

1. A sacred thread (sūtra) is passed from the disciple’s śikhā (crown) down to the tips of the toes and back up again, along the sushumnā path. This shows the guru’s link with the disciple’s whole subtle body.
2. The guru takes the disciple’s consciousness to the Śāntyatītā-kalā and joins it with Paramaśiva.
3. The agni-dīkshā, the cutting of the last pāśa (bond) by fire, burns away the disciple’s final karmic remainder.
4. The śikhā, the ritual tuft of hair at the crown, is cut. This shows the cutting of the disciple’s last worldly attachment and identity.
5. The paramantra is formally given.
6. The uttara-dīkshā, the closing ceremony that follows the main initiation, is done.

The disciple now stands as a mukta-jīva, free while still living. His consciousness is set in Paramaśiva. His remaining karma wears itself out over the rest of the life of his present body, and no further birth follows.

The farewell to the mother and father, and the śikhā

The disciple’s jīvātmā, now pure and like the autumn moon, is drawn into the guru with the Raudrī saṃhāra-mudrā, and one drop of arghya water is placed on the disciple’s head for its nourishment. With supreme bhakti the guru asks forgiveness of the divine mother and father and gives them leave: “To give dīkshā to this disciple I have troubled you both. Forgive me, and go to your own places.”

With scissors charged by the astra-mantra, and with “oṃ hūṃ śikhāyai hūṃ phaṭ” and “oṃ astrāya hūṃ phaṭ”, he cuts the disciple’s śikhā of four aṅgulas, which is the form of the bodhana-śakti, the power that awakens. He places it in a ladle of ghee and offers it in the fire with “oṃ oṃ haḥ astrāya hūṃ phaṭ”. The ladles are washed and the disciple is bathed.

The yojanā: joining with Paramaśiva

The guru takes the jīva-caitanya from the dvādaśānta, the place above the forehead, and sets it in the centre of the lotus of his own heart. He fills the sruk with ghee, lays the sruva face-down on it and holds them with the śaṅkha-like mudrā. Following the sound of nāda, head and neck held straight, gaze even, steady and peaceful, filled with the supreme bhāva, he gathers the six paths from the kalaśa, the maṇḍala, the fire, the disciples and himself to the tip of the sruk, and meditates on the seven vishuvas in turn: union with prāṇa; the mantra uttered from the heart upward; nāda moving along the sushumnā; the praśānta, where nāda dissolves into Śakti; the vishuva called Śakti, where nāda rises again and dissolves in evenness; the sixth, beyond Śakti, where all nāda crosses the bound of Śakti into the unmanī; and the seventh, called tattva, the place of joining.

Then, breathing in and holding, uttering the mūla-mantra slowly, he leads the disciple’s ātmā upward. A span above the navel is the prāṇa-form of the six paths, shining like lightning. Four aṅgulas above, at the heart, is the letter a; eight aṅgulas higher the letter u, which denotes Vishṇu; four higher, at the palate, the letter ma, which denotes Rudra; in the middle of the forehead the bindu, which denotes Īśvara; and above the forehead up to the brahmarandhra, Sadāśiva, whose form is nāda, with Śakti. Leaving each tattva behind, and at the last even the Śakti-tattva, feeling a divine touch like that of an ant, he sees the disciple’s ātmā dissolved in the Śiva-tattva: the supreme tattva, whose form is paramānanda (supreme bliss), free of all states, beyond the mind, eternal.

The guṇāpādana, the prayer and the blessing

For the joining to be steady in Paramaśiva the guru lets a stream of ghee fall into the flame with “oṃ namaḥ śivāya vaushaṭ” and gives the pūrṇāhuti. Then he does the guṇāpādana, the bestowing of the qualities, offering homa with “oṃ haṃ ātmane sarvajño bhava svāhā”, “O ātmā, be all-knowing”, and the other mantras of the original. He sees that he has brought back from Paramaśiva the ātmā now endowed with the six guṇas and placed it in the disciple’s body, and to ease the strain of śaktipāta, whether strong or mild, he places a drop of amṛta on the disciple’s head.

He bows to the kalaśas, which are Śiva‘s form, seats the disciple at his right facing north, and prays to Īśvara, Devadeva: “Prabhu Īśvara, dwelling in my body you yourself have blessed this jīva. Increase his śakti towards the deity, the fire and the guru.” Bowing to Śiva, the guru blesses the disciple with affection: “May there be auspiciousness for you.” He offers eight flowers to Śiva with bhakti, bathes the disciple with the water of the Śiva-kalaśa, and brings the yajña to its close.

Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 88

Ekatattvadīkshā: the initiation of the single reality

The ekatattvadīkshā is a special initiation, taught in chapter 89. It is kept for the most highly qualified disciple: one who has received samaya-dīkshā and whose consciousness already has the highest clearness and freedom from attachment.

It is an initiation of the path of knowledge (jñāna-mārga). The guru passes on the direct knowledge that Śiva-tattva alone is real. All the many things seen, bodies, worlds, ātmās and objects, are forms of this one Śiva-reality and exist within it. The mantra given is the direct non-dual declaration “Śivaḥ aham”, “I am Śiva“. For the qualified disciple this is freeing at once. It cuts through all remaining ignorance in one stroke of recognition.

Parameśvara tells this dīkshā “because it is short”. The thread is tied and the rest done according to the samaya, each with its own mantra. The guru meditates on all the tattvas from Agni up to Śiva, strung on the Śiva-tattva as gems are strung on a thread. He invokes the Śiva-tattva and does the saṃskāras from garbhādhāna as before, but all the śulkas are given with the mūla-mantra alone. Then he offers one pūrṇāhuti that holds within it the whole host of tattvas, and by that one āhuti the disciple attains nirvāṇa. A second pūrṇāhuti places him in Śiva and makes him steady there, and he is bathed with the water of the Śiva-kalaśa.

Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 89

The abhisheka after dīkshā

After the nirvāṇa-dīkshā or the ekatattvadīkshā, the abhisheka (consecration bath) is done. This is taught in chapter 90.

1. Kalaśa water blessed with Śiva mantras is poured over the newly initiated disciple.
2. The viśesha-pūjā (special worship) is offered.
3. The guru gives his formal blessing.
4. The guru teaches the disciple his daily sādhana: the antaraṅga-pūjā (inner worship, meditation and mantra japa) and the bahiraṅga-pūjā (outer worship at the liṅga or image).

With this the initiation is complete. The disciple enters the life of a siddha-Śaiva, one freed by the guru’s grace.

The eight oceans and the eight Vidyeśvaras

After the Śiva-pūjā the guru bathes the disciples for the gaining of śrī (prosperity). He sets eight kalaśas in the directions from the north-east and one in the middle. Into the eight he invokes the eight oceans, of salt water, milk, curd, ghee, sugarcane juice, surā, sweet water and the garbhoda ocean, and in them the eight Vidyeśvaras: Śikhaṇḍī, Śrīkaṇṭha, Trimūrti, Ekarudra, Ekanetra, Śivottama, Sūkshma and Anantarudra. In the middle kalaśa he installs Śiva with the Śiva-mantra.

In the snāna-maṇḍapa a vedi two spans long and eight aṅgulas high is covered with the lotus seat, Ananta is placed on it as the seat, and the disciple sits on it facing east. His body is rubbed with rice gruel, cooked rice, earth, bhasma, dūrvā, balls of cow-dung, mustard, curd and water. Then he is bathed with the waters of the kalaśas in order, from the ocean of salt water, with the names of the Vidyeśvaras joined to “namaḥ”, and he meditates that he is being bathed in amṛta. Dressed in two white cloths, he is seated at Śiva’s right and worshipped again.

The insignia and the command

The guru gives him a turban, a crown, a yoga-paṭṭikā, scissors, a small vessel, an akshamālā, a book, a palanquin and the rest, and confers authority on him: “From today, knowing well and examining with care, you shall give dīkshā, exposition, pratishṭhā and the rest to those who are fit.” Receiving his salutation and bowing to Maheśvara, the guru prays: “Parameśvara, you are the very form of the guru. You commanded me to give this disciple the abhisheka, and I have done so. He has crossed to the far shore of the saṃhitā.” Five āhutis each are offered for the satisfaction of the circle of mantras, and the pūrṇāhuti. The guru smears the fingers of the disciple’s right hand with the soot of burnt darbha tips, has him bow to the kalaśa, the fire and Śiva, and charges him: “Examining well by the śāstra, bestow grace on disciples.”

For men and others, an abhisheka done like a royal consecration brings what is desired. The king of astras, the Pāśupata mantra “oṃ śrāṃ śrauṃ paśu hūṃ phaṭ”, is worshipped and the abhisheka performed with it.

Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 90

The fire and the tools of the rite

The same Śaiva tools serve in the other rites of the Agni Purāṇa. In setting up the Śiva-fire, the fire itself is given its saṃskāras as a child born of the Devī: for its garbhādhāna Agni is worshipped with the Sadyojāta mantra and given three āhutis with the hṛdaya-mantra, and its jātakarma is done with the Tatpurusha mantra. In the pavitrārohaṇa the sword of knowledge is offered on the kalaśa, and Śiva in the kuṇḍa is joined to Śiva in the kalaśa by nāḍī-sandhāna, as in the dīkshā; at its close Śiva in the fire is united with Śiva in the inner self by nāḍī-yoga. In the pratishṭhā the sword of knowledge is kept as told for the dīkshā.

Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapters 75, 78–79, 95

Sources

• Agni Purāṇa, Chapters 75, 78–79, 81–90, 95
• Chapters 81 to 89: the three grades and the principle of freeing the paśu from the three malas
• Chapter 81: samaya-dīkshā
• Chapter 82: saṃskāra-dīkshā and the six paths
• Chapter 83: preparation (adhivāsana) for nirvāṇa-dīkshā
• Chapters 84 to 88: purification of the five kalās
• Chapter 88: the end of the nirvāṇa-dīkshā
• Chapter 89: ekatattvadīkshā
• Chapter 90: abhisheka after dīkshā