Agni Purāṇa
89 - Initiation of principles
The Lord said:
1. Then the initiation in the principles is imparted as it is concise. Binding with the threadshould be done suitably with one's soul.
2. The fundamental principlesshould be contemplated as pervading time, fire etc. concluding with pure bliss. Theyshould be like the bead of rosaries, the principles distributed cvenly on the whole thread.
3. After having invoked the principle of bliss etc., the rites of garbhadhäna etc. (should be done) as before. But the offer of all feesshould be done with the principal (mantras).
4. Then the final oblation endowed with the sound essence of all principlesshould be offered by which alone the disciple gets emancipation.
5. After having offered another such final oblation to lordshiva for the sake of union and for securing firmness, (the disciple)should be bathed with the waters of the pitcher (consecrated) forshiva.
Summary of chapter 89 of the Agni Purāṇa is as follows:
The eighty-ninth chapter describes an abbreviated form of dīkṣā — the ekatattva-dīkṣā — in which all the tattva-s are not purified individually but are gathered together and strung like beads on the single thread of Śiva-tattva. The theological insight underlying this method is that since all tattva-s are ultimately expressions of the one Śiva-tattva, a single act of recognition of their unity in Śiva is sufficient to accomplish what the extended kalā-śodhana procedure accomplishes sequentially. A single pūrṇāhuti (full oblation) into the consecrated fire suffices in place of the 108-oblation sequences for each kalā. The śivakalaśa-snāna concludes the rite in the same manner as the full nirvāṇa-dīkṣā. The chapter affirms that this abbreviated form is appropriate for advanced śiṣya-s whose accumulated impurities are minimal, or when time constraints require a shorter ceremony.
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