Prayer to the Brahmāṇḍa
Brahmāṇḍa Prārthanā · brahmāṇḍa prārthanā, “the prayer to the cosmic egg”
The prayer to the Brahmāṇḍa is the prayer with which the yajamāna, holding a pushpāñjali, honours the image of the Brahmāṇḍa before giving it in the Brahmāṇḍa-dāna. Bhagavān Śrī Kṛshṇa gives it to Yudhishṭhira in the Uttara Parva of the Bhavishya Purāṇa.
The setting
At an ayana-saṅkrānti, the vishuva yoga, an eclipse or another parva, a maṇḍapa is made and the Brahmāṇḍa is set on one droṇa of sesame, smeared with kuṅkuma, covered with two cloths and worshipped. Full kalaśas and eighteen kinds of grain are set around it, with sandals, shoes, an umbrella, vessels, a seat, a mirror and food. In a square kuṇḍa brāhmaṇas who know the four Vedas, the upādhyāya and the king’s purohita offer homa by the rule of the grahayajña, with sesame to the name-mantras of Vishṇu, Śiva, Brahmā and the devatās and ten thousand āhutis with the mahāvyāhṛtis, and the Rudrī is recited. Then the yajamāna bathes, wears white, worships the Brahmāṇḍa with all upacāras, takes a pushpāñjali and prays.
The prayer
Its meaning, as the text gives it: “Namaskāra to you, foundation of the world, Viśvadhāman. Brahmāṇḍa, whose form is beyond speech and mind, be the bringer of good to me. Whatever beings dwell in the belly of the Brahmāṇḍa, may they all give me matchless contentment. May Brahmā, Vishṇu, Rudra, the lokapālas, the grahas, the nakshatras, the nāgas, the ṛshis and the Maruts remain content with me for seven births.”
After the pushpāñjali the image of the Brahmāṇḍa is given with dakshiṇā to a brāhmaṇa. Śrī Kṛshṇa then tells the ākhyāna of King Sudyumna of the Satya Yuga for the glory of this dāna.
Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Uttara Parva, Chapter 177
Sources
- Bhavishya Purāṇa, Uttara Parva, Chapter 177