Aghamarshaṇa
Aghamarshaṇa · agha-marshaṇa, “the effacing of pāpa”
Grammar: neuter noun; a compound of agha (pāpa, wrongdoing) and marshaṇa (wiping away, effacing): “the effacing of pāpa”.
Meaning: the rite of driving out pāpa, done in the water at the daily bath and the sandhyā, chiefly by reciting the Aghamarshaṇa sūkta, which begins “Ṛtaṃ ca”. The sūkta bears the same name as its ṛshi, Aghamarshaṇa.
In the scriptures: the Agni Purāṇa gives the sūkta, the rite and their fruit.
The sūkta. In the rules of the bath which Pushkara teaches Paraśurāma, after the mārjana (sprinkling oneself) with the Vedic mantras, one plunges into the water and, while still within it, does japa of the Aghamarshaṇa sūkta, or of “Drupadād iva”, or of the sūkta beginning “Yuñjate manaḥ”, or of the Purusha sūkta “Sahasraśīrshā”; japa of the Gāyatrī is especially fitting. The devatā of the Aghamarshaṇa sūkta is Bhāvavṛtta, its ṛshi is Aghamarshaṇa and its chandas (metre) is anushṭubh; by it one should remember Hari as Bhāvavṛtta (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 155). Agnideva teaches the same in the rite of the sandhyā: after sprinkling oneself eight times with “Āpo hi shṭhā“, “Drupadād iva” and the pavamāna ṛks “Hiraṇyavarṇāḥ śucayaḥ”, one stands in the water and recites three times the aghamarshaṇa beginning “Ṛtaṃ ca”. Its ṛshi is Aghamarshaṇa, its chandas anushṭubh, its devatā Bhāvavṛtta, and it is used for driving out pāpa (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 215).
The rite. In the bath before pūjā, which Nārada teaches, one worships the deva in the mūrti, puts on the cloth and does aghamarshaṇa (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 22). In the Śaiva sandhyā, which Bhagavān Śiva teaches Kārtikeya, aghamarshaṇa follows the mārjana: one pours into the right hand water that has been made Śiva’s own, of the nature of awareness, and brings it near the nose. Drawing the breath in through the iḍā and holding it, one brings out from within the black pāpa-purusha (the person of pāpa) through the piṅgalā and places him in that water; then, imagining a rock of vajra, one throws the water upon it and destroys him. With this the aghamarshaṇa is complete, and one offers an añjali of water to Śiva with “oṃ namaḥ śivāya svāhā” (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 72). At the festival procession of the deva, the mūrti is carried into the water and aghamarshaṇa is done, and the brāhmaṇas and the people bathe there before the mūrti returns to the vedi and to the temple (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 68). In the rules of the vratas, the Brahmakūrca, made of the cow’s products and kuśa water each taken with its own mantra, is joined with the Aghamarshaṇa sūkta or the praṇava, and “Āpo hi shṭhā” is recited (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 175).
The phala. Among the secret expiations which Pushkara teaches, one who does japa of the Aghamarshaṇa sūkta three times is freed from all pāpas (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 171). In the Ṛgvidhāna he says again: “O Rāma, diving into water and doing japa of the Aghamarshaṇa mantra removes all pāpas” (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 259).
Related terms: Snāna · Sandhyā · Mārjana · Bhāvavṛtta · Pāpa · Prāyaścitta
Sources
- Agni Purāṇa, Chapters 22, 68, 72, 155, 171, 175, 215, 259