Aghorāstra

Aghorāstra · aghora-astra, “the astra of Aghora”

The Aghorāstra, “the astra of Aghora”, is the astra-mantra (weapon-mantra) of Bhagavān Śiva, named for Aghora, one of his five faces. The Agni Purāṇa gives it in the teaching that Īśvara, Parameśvara, gives to Skanda: how the mantra is formed (Chapter 318), the śānti (rites of pacification) done with it (Chapter 321), its place as the last of the six aṅga-mantras of the Pañca-brahma (Chapter 323), and its greatness beside the Aghora mantra (Chapter 324).

Its japa, done with nyāsa while meditating on the radiant five-faced Śiva, and its homas remove every utpāta (portent of calamity), the afflictions of the grahas, disease, epidemic and the fear of enemies, and the troubles caused by the Vināyakas. A lakh of japa destroys the grahas. Parameśvara calls the Aghorāstra and the Aghora mantra both mantrarājas, kings among mantras: with either one, in japa, homa and arcana, the enemy army is destroyed in battle.

The mantra

Parameśvara tells Skanda how the Aghorāstra mantra is formed: first write hrīṃ; then sphura sphura; then add pra to both, prasphura prasphura; then the three words printed kaḥ, vama and bandha, each twice; then ghātaya; and at the end huṃ phaṭ. This is the Aghorāstra mantra.

Among the six aṅga-mantras of the Pañca-brahma, which give bhukti and mukti (enjoyment in this world and moksha), the Aghorāstra is the sixth, the astra, after the hṛdaya, śiras, śikhā, kavaca and netra mantras. There it runs from “Om prasphura” to “huṃ phaṭ“.

Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapters 318, 323

The Astra-yāga and the graha-pūjā

In all karmas the Astra-yāga, the worship of the astras, which gives every siddhi (accomplishment), is done first. In the middle the astra of Bhagavān Śiva is worshipped, and in the eastern and other directions, in order, the astras of the dikpālas beginning with Indra. Bhagavān Śaṅkara has five faces and ten arms; one who worships him in this form at the start of battle gains victory.

In the graha-pūjā, Ravi (Sūrya) is placed in the middle and Candra and the other grahas in the eastern and other directions. Worshipped so, all the grahas give the fruit of gain that comes from the eleventh house.

Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 321

The Astra-śānti

The Astra-śānti destroys every utpāta. It removes the afflictions of the grahas, disease, māri (epidemic), the fear of enemies and the like, and it removes the troubles caused by the Vināyakas. Parameśvara gives its japa and homas, each with its fruit:

  • Japa of the Aghorāstra a lakh (100,000) times: the grahas are destroyed.
  • When divya utpātas (portents in the sky) arise: half a lakh of homas.
  • A lakh of āhutis (offerings into the fire) of ghee: utpātas arising from the earth are destroyed.
  • Homa of ghee mixed with guggulu: all utpātas are destroyed.
  • Homa of dūrvā grass, akshata (unbroken rice) and ghee: all diseases are destroyed.
  • A thousand homas with ghee: bad dreams are destroyed; “there is no doubt in this”.
  • Ten thousand homas: the doshas of the grahas are removed.
  • Homa of yava (barley) with ghee: the troubles of the Vināyakas are removed.
  • Ten thousand homas of ghee and ten thousand of guggulu: śānti from bhūtas and vetālas.
  • When a great tree falls, or a snake’s body comes into the house: homas of ghee and akshata quiet the obstacle. The same is done before entering a forest.
  • When a meteor falls or the earth quakes: homas of sesame and ghee bring auspiciousness.
  • When blood flows from a tree, flowers and fruits appear out of season, or the kingdom is broken: half a lakh of homas with ghee mixed with sesame.
  • When a great epidemic falls on the elephants, female elephants grow tusks, or mada flows from their temples: ten thousand homas bring śānti.
  • An untimely miscarriage, a child dying just after birth, a child born with deformed limbs or born before its time: ten thousand homas quiet the dosha.
  • For siddhi: a lakh of homas with ghee mixed with sesame gives the highest siddhi, half a lakh the middling, and twenty-five thousand the lowest.
  • Homa in proportion to the japa: victory in battle.

The Aghorāstra japa is done with nyāsa, meditating on the five-faced Śiva, radiant with tejas.

Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 321

The Aghora-Śiva-śānti

In the next teaching Parameśvara gives the Kalpa-Aghora-Śiva-śānti. Aghora-Śiva is the lord of seven crores of gaṇas. He destroys brahmahatyā and every other pāpa, gives both the highest and the lower siddhis, removes all diseases, crushes the utpātas of the earth, the sky and the mid-space, swallows poison, grahas and piśācas, and fulfils every desire. For the afflictions of pāpa he is the people’s prāyaścitta (expiation), the destroyer of misfortune and sorrow.

The sādhaka does nyāsa over the whole body and always meditates on the five-faced one. Śiva is meditated on in a colour for each rite: white for śānti and nourishment, red for bringing under control, yellow for immobilising, smoke-grey for driving away and destroying, black for attracting, and tawny for bewildering. The thirty-two syllables told in the Veda are the very form of Aghora-Śiva, and so he is to be worshipped. By thirty lakhs of japa and a homa of one tenth of that number with ghee mixed with guggulu, the sādhaka gains mantra-siddhi and can accomplish everything. No mantra beyond the Aghora mantra gives both bhukti and mukti: by its japa one who is not a brahmacārī becomes a brahmacārī, and one who is not a snātaka becomes a snātaka.

“The Aghorāstra and the Aghora mantra are both mantrarājas,” Parameśvara says. “Using either in japa, homa and arcana, the enemy army can be destroyed in battle.”

Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 324

Sources

  • Agni Purāṇa, Chapters 318, 321, 323–324