Nirmālya
Nirmālya, “the removed offering”
Grammar: neuter noun: what remains of the offerings, the flowers and other things removed from the mūrti after pūjā.
Meaning: the offerings that have been made to a devatā and are then taken away: flowers, food, tāmbūla, unguent and the rest. In the Agni Purāṇa the nirmālya is given to the attendant of the devatā: to Vishvaksena in the pūjā of Bhagavān Vishṇu, and to Caṇḍa or Caṇḍeśvara in the pūjā of Sūrya and of Bhagavān Śiva.
In the scriptures: Agnideva teaches the difference between naivedya and nirmālya: all that is offered to the deva before the udvāsana (the leave-taking) is naivedya, and as soon as the udvāsana is said, all of it becomes nirmālya (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 196).
In the pūjā of Bhagavān Vishṇu. In the agni-kārya that Nārada teaches, after the pūjā of Vishvaksena, Hari in the maṇḍala is given leave, and all the nirmālya of Vishṇu is given to Vishvaksena (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 24).
In the pūjā of Sūrya and Bhagavān Śiva. At the close of the pūjā of Sūrya, the worshipper gives the nirmālya of Sūrya to Caṇḍa, his attendant (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 73). In the pūjā of Bhagavān Śiva, the worshipper removes the old flowers, the nirmālya, from the Śiva-liṅga and gives them to Caṇḍa in the north-east, saying caṇḍāya namaḥ (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 74). In the pūjā of Caṇḍa, all the nirmālya is given to Caṇḍeśvara, except the cows, land, gold, cloth, gems and the like offered to Bhagavān Śiva. The worshipper says: “Oṃ Caṇḍeśvara! By the command of Śiva I offer you this meal in the form of nirmālya: the food that is licked, sucked and chewed, tāmbūla, flowers, unguent and the rest. Caṇḍa, all this rite of the pūjā I have done by your command. May the faults of too little and too much, caused by ignorance, be removed, and may this pūjā be complete.” The place where the nirmālya was cast is then smeared with cow-dung water and sprinkled with arghya, the devatās are sent off, and the rite is closed with ācamana (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 76).
In dīkshā and pratishṭhā. At the close of the nirvāṇa-dīkshā, Caṇḍeśa is worshipped, the nirmālya is removed, and the remaining caru is offered into the fire (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 83). After the pratishṭhā of a liṅga, the nirmālya is not removed for four days; after the four days it is removed, the liṅga is bathed, and pūjā is done. Caṇḍeśvara has no right over the nirmālya of the bāṇa-liṅga, the liṅga made of metal, the siddha-liṅga, the svayambhū-liṅga and other mūrtis, nor in the rite on the bare ground-altar (Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 97).
In the Bhāgavata Purāṇa. Śrī Kṛshṇa, teaching Uddhava the kriyā-yoga, says that the sādhaka, seated facing the pratimā, performs aṅga-nyāsa on himself and mantra-nyāsa on the pratimā, removes the nirmālya, the previous day’s offerings, and wipes and purifies the pratimā before the new pūjā (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 11, Chapter 27). In the pūjā of Śrī Hari that Āvirhotra teaches Mahārāja Nimi, the worshipper, meditating on himself as of the form of Bhagavān Vishṇu, worships the mūrti, praises and bows, places the nirmālya on his own head, and establishes the honoured Śrī Hari in the shrine of his heart (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 11, Chapter 3). In the Payovrata that Kaśyapa Prajāpati teaches Aditi, after japa of the mūla-mantra a hundred and eight times, stotras, pradakshiṇa and sāshṭāṅga namaskāra, one places Śrī Hari’s nirmālya on one’s head, gives the deva leave (udvāsana), and feeds at least two knowers of the Veda with pāyasa (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 8, Chapter 16).
Satī, answering her father Daksha‘s reviling of Bhagavān Śiva, says that though Śiva dwells in the cremation ground with loosened jaṭās and wears its garlands, ashes and a skull, Brahmā and the others wear on their heads the nirmālya of his feet (Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 4, Chapter 4).
In the Bhavishya Purāṇa. Bhagavān Sūrya says: he who from greed or desire gives my nirmālya to śūdras or vaiśyas surely goes to naraka. “My nirmālya should be given only to brāhmaṇas and the like.” He who steps over his bath-water, his nirmālya or fire goes to the terrible naraka Raurava (Bhavishya Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, Chapter 117).
Related terms: Naivedya · Udvāsana · Caṇḍeśvara · Vishvaksena · Pūjā
Sources
- Agni Purāṇa, Chapters 24, 73–74, 76, 83, 97, 196
- Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 4, Chapter 4; Skandha 8, Chapter 16; Skandha 11, Chapters 3, 27
- Bhavishya Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, Chapter 117