Vidyeśvaras

Vidyeśvara · vidyā-īśvara, “the rulers of vidyā”

The Vidyeśvaras, also called the Vidyeśas, are the eight rulers who attend Bhagavān Śiva. In the Agni Purāṇa, Bhagavān Śiva (Parameśvara) teaches them to Skanda in the chapters on Śaiva dīkshā (initiation), abhisheka (sacred bathing) and pratishṭhā (the installation of a liṅga or a temple), and Agni Deva places them around Bhagavān Śiva in the maṇḍala of the pañcākshara dīkshā. In the pure path (śuddhādhvan) they are the rulers of the mūrtis, and Bhagavān Śiva dwells in his liṅga together with the vidyās (mantras) and the Vidyeśvaras.

Their names, as Bhagavān Śiva gives them in the ten-syllable Kshapaṇa mantra, are Ananteśa, Sūkshma, Śivottama, Ekamūrti, Ekarūpa, Trimūrti, Śrīkaṇṭha and Śikhaṇḍī. Each sits on a lotus seat, has four faces and four arms, and holds the śūla (trident), the aśani (thunderbolt), the śara (arrow) and the cāpa (bow). They are invoked in the eight kalaśas with which a new ācārya is bathed, placed on the kalaśa that gives life to a temple, and worshipped in the eight directions of the dīkshā maṇḍala.

Their names

The Agni Purāṇa names the eight in three places, each in its own order.

• In the abhisheka of the ācārya (Chapter 90): Śikhaṇḍī, Śrīkaṇṭha, Trimūrti, Ekarudra, Ekanetra, Śivottama, Sūkshma and Anantarudra.
• In the dīkshā maṇḍala (Chapter 304): Ananta, Sūkshma, Siddheśvara (the name is damaged in the printing), Ekanetra, Ekarudra, Trinetra, Śrīkaṇṭha and Śikhaṇḍī.
• In the Kshapaṇa mantra (Chapter 317): Ananteśa, Sūkshma, Śivottama, Ekamūrti, Ekarūpa, Trimūrti, Śrīkaṇṭha and Śikhaṇḍī.

Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapters 90, 304, 317

Their form

In the pañcākshara dīkshā, after the five mūrtis of Bhagavān Śiva (Tatpurusha, Aghora, Sadyojāta, Vāmadeva and Īśāna) and the aṅga-devatās have been worshipped, the eight Vidyeśvaras are worshipped around him. Ananta, Sūkshma, Siddheśvara and Ekanetra are worshipped in the four directions beginning with the east. Ekarudra, Trinetra, Śrīkaṇṭha and Śikhaṇḍī are worshipped in the four corners beginning with the north-east.

All of them sit on lotus seats. All are four-armed, holding the śūla, the aśani, the śara and the cāpa, and each has four faces. Their lustre, in order, is:

After them, on the third eight-petalled lotus, come Umā, Caṇḍīśa, Nandīśa, Mahākāla, Gaṇeśvara, Vṛshabha, Bhṛṅgiriṭi and Skanda, and then the dikpālas with their astras.

Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 304

In the abhisheka of the ācārya

When the Śiva-pūjā is complete, the guru bathes the disciple who is to become an ācārya, for the attainment of śrī (prosperity). Eight kalaśas are set in the directions beginning with the north-east and one in the middle. In the eight kalaśas he invokes the eight oceans in order: Kshāroda (salt water), Kshīroda (milk), Dadhyuda (curd), Ghṛtoda (ghee), Ikshurasoda (sugarcane juice), Suroda (surā), Svādūda (sweet water) and Garbhoda. In them, in the same order, he installs the eight Vidyeśvaras: Śikhaṇḍī, Śrīkaṇṭha, Trimūrti, Ekarudra, Ekanetra, Śivottama, Sūkshma and Anantarudra. In the middle kalaśa he installs Bhagavān Śiva, the ocean and the Śiva-mantra.

The disciple is seated facing east on a vedi in the bathing maṇḍapa, worshipped, and rubbed with rice gruel, cooked rice, earth, bhasma (sacred ash), dūrvā grass, cow-dung, mustard, curd and water. Then the guru bathes him with the waters of the kalaśas, in order from the Kshāroda, reciting the names of the Vidyeśvaras joined with namaḥ. The disciple meditates that he is being bathed with amṛta. Dressed in white, he is seated at the right side of Bhagavān Śiva and given the turban, the crown, the yoga-paṭṭikā, the rosary, the book, the palanquin and the authority to give dīkshā, exposition and pratishṭhā.

Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 90

In the pratishṭhā of liṅga and temple

• Rulers of the mūrtis. In the adhivāsana of a Śiva-liṅga, after the nyāsa of the eight mūrtis and their adhipatis (rulers), the text teaches that in the pure path (śuddhādhvan) the Vidyeśvaras are to be seen as the rulers of the mūrtis, and in the impure path (aśuddhādhvan) the rulers of the worlds (lokanāyakas). (Chapter 96)
• On the kalaśa of the temple’s life. In the pratishṭhā of a temple, the guru places the jīva-caitanya (the life of the temple) in a kalaśa. On that kalaśa he places the thirteen indriyas (senses and organs) and their adhipatis (rulers) by name, with the praṇava. Then he places by nyāsa, each with its own mantra, the Vidyeśas who impel the indriyas, who control the māyā-pāśa (the bond of māyā) and cause each to do its work, and the all-pervading Bhagavān Śiva, and worships them. All are then sealed with the avarodhinī mudrā. (Chapter 101)
• On the finial. When the temple is contemplated as the body of Bhagavān Śiva, each part bears its tattvas: the four vidyā-tattvas on the mañjarī-vedikā, the Rudras on the neck, the vidyās on the āmalasāra, and Īśvara, the bindu and the Vidyeśvaras on the kalaśa at the top. (Chapter 102)
• In the restored liṅga. In the rite of jīrṇoddhāra (restoring a worn liṅga), the guru, uttering the astra-mantra, tells any bhūta that has taken shelter in the Śiva-liṅga to leave by Bhagavān Śiva’s ājñā (command) and go where it wishes, for “Bhagavān Śiva will dwell here with the vidyās and the vidyeśvaras”. (Chapter 103)

Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapters 96, 101–103

In the Kshapaṇa mantra

Among the mantras that Bhagavān Śiva taught to Skanda is the ten-bīja praṇava mantra called Kshapaṇa. Its first, third, fifth, seventh and ninth bījas are the forms of Īśāna, Tatpurusha, Aghora, Vāmadeva and Sadyojāta. The bījas from the second to the ninth are the forms of the eight Vidyeśvaras: Ananteśa, Sūkshma, Śivottama, Ekamūrti, Ekarūpa, Trimūrti, Śrīkaṇṭha and Śikhaṇḍī. Their bīja-mantras are joined in reverse order, from Śikhaṇḍī up to Ananteśa.

Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 317

Sources

• Agni Purāṇa, Chapters 90, 96, 101–103, 304, 317