Ghṛta

Ghṛta, “ghee, clarified butter”

Grammar: neuter noun, from the root ghṛ (to sprinkle, to shine): “ghee”. In the rites it is also called ājya, the ghee of the offering.

Meaning: ghee, clarified butter: the chief offering poured into the sacred fire, the anointing of the devatās, one of the products of the cow, and the base of many medicines.

In the scriptures: the Agni Purāṇa uses ghṛta in homa, in pūjā and in remedies.

In homa. Teaching Skanda the setting up of the fire, Maheśvara gives the purifying of the ghee. Holding two kuśas of a prādeśa’s length between the thumb and the ring finger, with the astra mantra “phaṭ”, the priest moves the ghee toward the fire; he burns a kuśa, waves it as ārati to the ghee, and throws it into the fire. He visualises that in the ghee there are two pakshas (halves) and the three nāḍīs, Iḍā, Piṅgalā and Sushumṇā, and offers from each part in turn: from Iḍā with “oṃ haṃ agnaye svāhā”, from Piṅgalā with “oṃ haṃ somāya svāhā”, from Sushumṇā with “oṃ hāṃ agnīshomābhyāṃ svāhā”, each time putting the ghee left after the homa into a separate vessel. Then, uttering the six aṅga mantras, he consecrates the ājya, awakens it with the dhenu-mudrā, covers it with the kavaca mantra “huṃ”, throws up drops of it with the śara mantra, and sprinkles and purifies it (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 75).

In the nirvāṇa-dīkshā the cut pāśa (bond) is placed in a sruva filled with ghee and offered with the kalāstra-mantra; at the joining, with “oṃ namaḥ śivāya vaushaṭ”, the guru lets a stream of ghee fall into the flame (Agni Purāṇa, Chapters 87–88). When no special substance is named for a homa, ghṛta is used (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 293).

In pūjā. By anointing the bodies of the devatās with ghee, pāpa gathered over a crore of thousands of years is burned to ash; a man who bathes the devatās with one āḍhaka of ghee and the rest becomes a devatā (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 91). One who bathes a Śiva-liṅga with curd and ghee becomes free of disease; and to remove disease one worships a brāhmaṇa on Saturday and gives him ghee, jaggery, salt and gold (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 280). On Āśvayuja śukla pūrṇimā, Hari, Rudra, Brahmā, Sūrya, Agni and Lakshmī are worshipped with ghee (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 292).

A product of the cow. Gomūtra, gomaya, milk, curd, ghee and gorocanā are the six products of the cow that are excellent to take and remove bad dreams. One who for one day takes gomūtra, gomaya, milk, curd, ghee and kuśa-water and fasts becomes pure, even a caṇḍāla. In the tapta-kṛcchra vrata one takes hot gomūtra for three days, hot ghee for three days, hot milk for three days, then air alone for three days; it removes every pāpa and gives Brahmaloka (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 292).

In remedies. Among the supreme remedies, oil, ghee and honey are, in order, for vāta, pitta and kapha; for sneha-pāna and basti, oil and ghee are the best (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 279). Ghee, milk, sugar-candy and the rays of the moon remove pitta (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 280). The Purāṇa names ghee in many remedies:

  • Ghee prepared with dūrvā for nose disease; āmalaka ground in ghee and rubbed on the head for head diseases; triphalā with honey and ghee for long life; ghee prepared with vacā against bhūta-dosha, which gives buddhi and fulfils every wish; fumigation with peacock feather and ghee for a scorpion sting; a root and trivṛt licked with ghee against all insect poisons; barley gruel made with ghee in udara-roga (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 279).
  • Vacā with milk and ghee for children’s speech, beauty, āyus and buddhi; a kvātha of turmeric, paṭola and pippalī taken with ghee for visarpa; honey and ghee in the kshaya patient’s linctus (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 283).
  • The pañcatikta ghṛta of nimba, paṭola, vyāghrī, guḍūcī and vāsaka, which destroys kushṭha, the eighty kinds of vāta-roga, the forty of pitta and the twenty of kapha; ghṛta with hiṅgu, sauvarcala and vyosha against unmāda; ghṛta with triphalā, vyosha and saindhava, good for the eyes and the heart, purgative, kindling the digestive fire and destroying kapha (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 285).
  • Honey, ghee, triphalā and guḍūcī remove three hundred diseases; one who takes honey, ghee and śuṇṭhī every morning conquers death; ghee with honey and śatāvarī powder gives a life of a thousand years (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 286).
  • Against poison: gomaya-juice with ghee protects the life of one bitten (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 295); snuhī milk and cow’s ghee are drunk for fifteen days, vyosha and tagara root with ghee destroy fish venom, and one who has eaten poison is given honey and ghee after vomiting (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 298).

For elephants, cows and trees. Abhyaṅga of ghee and oil destroys an elephant’s vāta-roga, and sprinkling with ghee is good for elephants in śarad and grīshma (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 287). For cows with heart disease, bladder disease, vāta and wasting, triphalā mixed with ghee is the best drink (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 292). Cold water with viḍaṅga, ghee and mud is poured on trees, and a ghee mixture with kulattha, māsha, mudga, yava and tila makes them give fruit and flowers (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 282).

Related terms: Ājya · Homa · Sruva · Pañcagavya · Abhyaṅga · Triphalā · Madhu

Sources

  • Agni Purāṇa, Chapters 75, 87–88, 91, 279–280, 282–283, 285–287, 292–293, 295, 298