Kūshmāṇḍa Mantras
Kūshmāṇḍa Mantras · kūshmāṇḍa-mantra, “the Kūshmāṇḍa mantras”
Grammar: masculine noun in the plural, kūshmāṇḍa-mantrāḥ: “the mantras called Kūshmāṇḍa“.
Meaning: a group of Vedic mantras used in homa and japa. They are not the kūshmāṇḍa beings, who bear the same name.
In the scriptures: the Agni Purāṇa names them twice.
- In homa: among the rules of homa and pūjā, the method has been told with the Gāyatrī mantra, the graha-mantras, the Kūshmāṇḍa mantras, the Agni mantra, the Aindra, Vāruṇa, Vāyavya, Yāmya, Āgneya, Vaishṇava, Śākta, Śaiva and Saura mantras (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 149).
- In japa: in the glory of the Gāyatrī, japa of the Gāyatrī is better than the japa of the Rudra mantras and of the Kūshmāṇḍa mantras. There is no mantra for japa higher than the Gāyatrī, and no homa equal to the vyāhṛti-homa (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 215).
Related terms: Homa · Japa · Gāyatrī · Rudra · Vyāhṛti
Sources
- Agni Purāṇa, Chapters 149, 215