Brahmāṇḍa-pratimā
Brahmāṇḍa-pratimā · brahmāṇḍa-pratimā, “the image of the Brahmāṇḍa”
Grammar: feminine noun, a compound of brahmāṇḍa and pratimā (image).
Meaning: the golden image of the Brahmāṇḍa.
In the scriptures: Śrī Kṛshṇa tells the rule of Brahmāṇḍa-dāna as Agastya Maharshi taught it. The image is of gold, from twenty palas up to a thousand by one’s means, and from twelve to a hundred aṅgulas in length and breadth. It depicts devatās, daityas, humans, gandharvas, nāgas, rākshasas, rivers, lakes, oceans, mountains and the dig-gajas. In the middle, on the peaks of Mount Meru, it shows Brahmā, Vishṇu and Śiva with their consorts. It also shows the eight dig-gajas and the fourteen bhuvanas. It is set on one droṇa of tila, smeared with kuṅkuma and covered with two cloths, and given pūjā. The yajamāna bathes, wears white, and prays with a pushpāñjali that all within the Brahmāṇḍa give him contentment, and that Brahmā, Vishṇu, Rudra, the lokapālas, grahas, nakshatras, nāgas, ṛshis and Maruts stay content with him for seven births. He then gives it with dakshiṇā to a brāhmaṇa. Śrī Kṛshṇa says that one who gives the Brahmāṇḍa has as it were given the whole moving and unmoving world (Bhavishya Purāṇa, Uttara Parva, Chapter 177).
Related terms: Brahmāṇḍa · Pratimā · Dāna
Sources
- Bhavishya Purāṇa, Uttara Parva, Chapter 177