Agni Purāṇa
82 - Mode of performing the purificatory initiation:
The Lord said:
l. "O shanmukha (six-faced one)1! Listen to me! Ishall describe the mode of performing the purificatory initiation. The great godshiva situated in the heart and in the fireshould be invoked.
1. Son of the divine pair Śiva and Pirvati.
2. Having worshipped those two (God Śiva situated in the heart and the sacrificial fire) and having appeased them with the hrud mantra, oneshould offer five oblations in their presence with the same mantra.
3. That babe (of fire)should be struck with a flower consecrated by (the mantra of) the weapon with (the repctition of) the hrd (mantra). Oneshould contemplate the starry-like effulgent form therein.
4. Having placed the syllable hum in it by exhalation of breath and having drawn it by means of samharini (mudra) (formation with fingers representing gathering), itshould be placed in the heart by the inhalation of breath.
5. Then (the above-mentioned essence of fire)should be cast in the generative organ of goddess Vägišvari (goddess of speech) with the mudra known as udbhava1 and the repetition of hrud mantra.
1. Posture of finger indicating evolution.
Om ham, him, håm obeisance to the soul.
6. Oblationshould be offered in the smokeless sacrificial fire fully ablaze (with the above mantra) for the fulfilment of desires. Oblation made in undeveloped and smoky fire does not get the desire fulfilled.
7. A fire which is pleasing, circling upwards and sweet smelling is commended. So also is the fire which touches the ground and which emits sparks in the contrary direction.
8. Having offered oblations in this way, the impurities of the discipleshould be destroyed by doing the sin-consuming oblation or it may be burnt with the syllables ofshiva.
9-10. Five hundred oblationsshould be made with the principal mantra and vaushat etc. in one-tenth of proportion for the sake of getting the characteristics of a twice-born (for the disciple) and to permeate him with the essence of Lord Rudra (Śiva) as well as for the purification of the food etc. and for the (rites of) garbhadhāna, simanta, and nämakaraņa.2
2. See Ch. 75 Versas
11. The garbhādhana is spoken as that which elevates the soul of the disciple by breaking the bonds and making him gain the sonship of Lord Rudra (Śiva).
12. The pumsavana is considered as the manifestation of independant attributes of the soul in the initiated. The dawn of knowledge by means of discrimination in the disciple clouded by illusion is the simantavardhana (growth of simanta).
13. One's birth is considered to be the evolution out of the principle of absolute bliss etc. The wakening (of consciousness) is by means of the principle of supreme bliss in the initiated which has become equal to the Supreme Being in the spiritual perfection.
14. (Then the preceptor)should carry into the lotus of his heart his own soul resembling a spark of fire by (exhibiting) the saṁhara mudra (formation with the fingers denoting gathering).
15. Then the principal mantrashould be uttered along with the retention of breath and the union of Godshiva and his own soulshould be brought about in his heart.
16-17. (Then the preceptor) well-versed in the procedure (relating to the performance of sacrifices)should carry his pure consciousness to the region ofshiva from the sacrificial performances which are the cause of Brahmå (and others) by means of exhalation of breath and collect it byshowing the udbhava mudrā (formation with fingers denoting generation) and (repeating) the mantra of the heart and exhaling the breath heshould locate it in the petals of lotus of the heart of the disciple.
18. The preceptorshould duly propitiate Lordshiva and the Agni. The disciple (should be made) to bow down to the self (preceptor). (He)should then make the disciple hear conventions.
19. Oneshould not blaspheme scriptures or God. Oneshould not leap across the materials of worship. One must propitiate Lordshiva, the Agni and the preceptor as long as one is alive.
20. One has to impart these instructions to children, old people, women, people addicted to pleasures, and sick people according to their capacity (to preserve them) and in entirety to those who can practise them.
21-22. After having consecrated in a vessel the symbols of discipline-tuft, ashes, staff and loin cloth in order with the ishäna, hrud and samhita mantras ending with (the syllable) svāha (oblation) as before, (the preceptor)shouldshow them to the presiding deity of sacrificial site after having quickly cast in the fire the residual offering.
23. Having kept them for a while under the pitcher for the sake of protection, the preceptorshould give them to the person who takes the vow after having obtained permission of Lord Śiva.
24. Thus in this special spiritual initiation a child especially becomes fit to have a scriptural knowledge about the fire and oblation unto the fire.
Summary of chapter 82 of the Agni Purāṇa is as follows:
This chapter describes the saṃskāra-dīkṣā — a purificatory initiation that grants the śiṣya a "new birth" within the Śaiva community, analogous to the dvija (twice-born) initiation of upanayana in the Vedic system. The ritual symbolically re-enacts all the ten saṃskāra-s — from garbhādhāna to nāmakaraṇa — within the initiation ceremony, as the guru "gives birth" to the śiṣya as a child of Śiva rather than of biological parents. The central act is the mala-dagdhana — the "burning" of the śiṣya's three bonds (āṇava, māyīya, and kārma mala-s) in the fire of Śiva's grace, transmitted through the guru's initiation. The ten saṃskāra-s also performed for the fire itself (agni-saṃskāra) — establishing the fire as a fully consecrated ritual entity — are described. The chapter affirms that after saṃskāra-dīkṣā, the śiṣya's past accumulated karma-s are burned at their root.
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