Kuśāpāmārjana
Kuśāpāmārjana · kuśa-apāmārjana, “the wiping away with kuśa grass”
Kuśa has other meanings too: see all meanings of Kuśa.
The Kuśāpāmārjana, also called the Apāmārjana stotra, is the rite and stotra of “wiping away” (apāmārjana) with kuśa grass the diseases, fevers, poisons, grahas and pāpas that afflict a person. Agni Deva teaches it to a muni in the Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 31, as the way of protecting oneself and of protecting others. It is called mārjana or apāmārjana, and by this rakshā (protection), Agni Deva says, a person’s sorrows go and he gains happiness.
The whole chapter is the stotra itself, spoken by the one who performs the rite over the sufferer. He bows to the Paramātmā, who is sat-cit-ānanda, and to the forms of Bhagavān Vishṇu: Varāha, Narasiṃha, Vāmana, Trivikrama, Śrī Rāma, Hayagrīva, Kṛshṇa, Keśava, Govinda, Acyuta and Janārdana. He asks each of them to take away the pāpas of the afflicted one and what they bring: the fevers of every kind, the diseases of every part of the body, the poisons of plants, creatures and the sky, and the grahas that seize children, the young and the old. He calls on the Sudarśana cakra to destroy the rākshasas, asks Bhagavān Narasiṃha and Bhagavān Janārdana to guard every direction, and seals the rite with acts of truth. At the end the speaker says that he is the kuśa born from the body of Bhagavān Vāsudeva, and that he is Śrī Hari.
The setting
Agni Deva said: “O muni! Now I tell the way of protecting oneself and protecting others. It is called mārjana or apāmārjana. By doing this rakshā a person’s sorrows go and he gains happiness.” The chapter is headed “the rite of the Kuśāpāmārjana” and closes as “the description of the Kuśāpāmārjana stotra”. The words are spoken over the sufferer, “this man”, “so-and-so”, by the one who performs the rite.
Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 31
The opening namaskāras
- “I bow to the Paramātmā, who is sat-cit-ānanda (being, consciousness and bliss) in form, the supreme truth, the indweller of all, the great-souled, formless, who takes a thousand forms, all-pervading.”
- “Bowing to the Paramātmā, free of all stain, supremely pure, ever intent on dhyāna-yoga, I speak of the matter. May my word be true.”
- “Bowing to Bhagavān Varāha, to Nṛsiṃha and to Vāmana, I speak of rakshā. May my word be fulfilled.”
- “Bowing to Bhagavān Trivikrama, to Śrī Rāma, to Śrī Mahāvishṇu and to Nara, I speak of rakshā. May it be true.”
The prayer to take away all that is inauspicious
“O Varāhasvāmī! O Nṛsiṃheśvara! O Trivikrama! O Hayagrīveśa! O Sarveśa, lord of all! O Hṛshīkeśa! Take away all that is inauspicious in me.”
“O Parameśvara, whom none can defeat! With your four weapons beginning with the cakra, whose power is never blunted, destroy all the wicked.”
“O Prabhu Parameśvara! Take away all the pāpas of so-and-so and grant him complete welfare. Remove the death, bondage, disease, torment, fear and the rest that come from pāpa.”
“The abhicāra prayogas (hostile rites) done by those who wish the ruin of others, the poisoned food and drink they have given, the great disease they have caused: make them worn out and old, and destroy them all.”
The namaskāras to the forms of Bhagavān Vishṇu
- “Oṃ, namaskāra to Bhagavān Vāsudeva.”
- “Namaskāra to Kṛshṇa, who bears the khaḍga (sword).”
- “Namaskāra to Keśava, lotus-eyed, the first bearer of the cakra.”
- “Namaskāra to Bhagavān Pītāmbara, who wears spotless garments yellow like the filaments of the lotus.”
- “Namaskāra to Cakrapāṇi, who bears the divine cakra that grazes the necks of the enemies in fierce battle.”
- “Namaskāra to the Mahāyajña-Varāha, who bears the earth lifted up on his tusk, whose body is the Vedas, who lies on the bed of Śesha.”
- “O divine Lion-form! The tips of your mane shine like molten gold; your eyes blaze like fire; the touch of your nails is sharper than the touch of the vajra. Namaskāra to you.”
- “Namaskāra to you, Vāmana, son of Kaśyapa, of very small body, adorned with the Ṛg, Yajur and Sāma Vedas.”
- “Namaskāra to Trivikrama, who then took the Virāṭ form and strode over the earth.”
To Varāha, Vāmana and Govinda: the fevers
“O Varāhamūrti! Subdue, subdue all the wicked diseases that have come in the form of all pāpas.”
“O Mahāvarāha of great tusks! Subdue, subdue the fruit that comes from pāpa.”
“The tips of your tusks, in your terrible face, shine like fire. O Ārti-vināśana, destroyer of affliction! Look toward the wicked who attack; destroy them all, destroy them, with your roar.”
“O Vāmanamūrti! With your speech, full of the hidden truths of the Ṛg, Yajur and Sāma Vedas, quieten all the sorrow of this afflicted one.”
“O Govinda! Quickly quieten the fevers (jvaras) and remove the pains they cause”:
- the fever that arises from the three doshas;
- the fever of sannipāta, all three doshas together;
- the āgantuka fever, which arises from an outside cause;
- the aikāhika fever;
- the dvyāhika fever, which comes after two days;
- the tryāhika fever;
- the very dreadful cāturthika fever, which comes once in four days;
- the fever that comes without ceasing.
The diseases to be removed
“Remove”:
- netra-roga (disease of the eye), śiro-roga (disease of the head) and udara-roga (disease of the belly);
- śvāsāvarodha (obstruction of the breath), atiśvāsa (excess breathing) and paritāpa (burning distress);
- kampana (trembling);
- guda-roga (disease of the anus), nāsikā-roga (disease of the nose) and pāda-roga (disease of the feet);
- the kushṭha diseases (of the skin) and kshaya (wasting disease);
- kāmalā (jaundice);
- the very cruel prameha (urinary disease);
- bhagandara (fistula) and atisāra (diarrhoea);
- mukha-roga (disease of the mouth);
- valgulī-roga;
- aśarī-roga;
- mūtrakṛcchra (painful urination);
- and the other dreadful diseases.
“May the diseases born of vāta, pitta and kapha, those born of sannipāta, the āgantuka diseases, and lūtā (spider-poison), visphoṭa (eruptive boils) and the rest go away by the mere saṅkīrtana of the name of Bhagavān Vāsudeva.”
“May all those diseases perish by the mere uttering of the name of Śrī Mahāvishṇu. May they all be struck by the cakra of Śrī Mahāvishṇu and go away.”
“By the medicine of uttering the names ‘Acyuta’, ‘Ananta‘, ‘Govinda’, all diseases perish. What I say is true, true.”
Against poison
“May the remembrance of Bhagavān Vāsudeva destroy poison (visha) of every kind”: sthāvara poison, from things that do not move, plants and minerals; jaṅgama poison, from moving creatures; kṛtrima poison, prepared by hand; poison born in teeth, poison born in nails, poison born in the sky, poison born from spiders and the like, and every other painful poison.
Against the grahas
“May the kīrtana of the deeds of Bāla-Kṛshṇa destroy the bāla-grahas, the seizers of children”: the graha, the preta-graha, the grahas of ḍākinī-falling and the like, the vināyaka-graha, Mukhamaṇḍikā, the cruel Revatī, Vṛddhi Revatī, the fierce graha named Vṛddhikā, the mātṛ-grahas and the rest.
“O Bhagavān Narasiṃha! By the force of your gaze may the bāla-grahas, the yuva-grahas (seizers of the young) and the vṛddha-grahas (seizers of the old) be burnt up.”
“May Bhagavān Nṛsiṃha, whose face is fearsome with its mane, who does good to the world, of great strength, destroy all the bāla-grahas.”
“O Narasiṃha! O Mahāsiṃha! Your face shines with garlands of flame. O Agnilocana, fire-eyed one! O Sarveśvara! Devour, devour all the grahas.”
Janārdana, Vāsudeva, Acyuta and the Sudarśana cakra
“Janārdana is the Paramātmā, the self of all.”
“O Vāsudeva! Whatever diseases, great portents (mahotpātas), poison, great grahas, cruel bhūtas and dreadful torments of the grahas are in this person, take some form or other and destroy them all.”
“O Acyuta, best of devas! Hurl the Sudarśana cakra, most terrible with its garlands of flame, and destroy all the wicked diseases.”
“O Sudarśana cakra, blazing with fierce flames and making a great sound! Destroy, destroy all the wicked rākshasas. By your power may all those rākshasas perish.”
“May Nṛsiṃha, the self of all, protect by his roar in the east, west, north and south.”
“May Bhagavān Janārdana, who takes many forms, protect in svarga, on earth and in the antariksha (mid-space), in front and behind.”
The acts of truth and the close
The speaker ends with satya-vākyas, acts of truth, by whose power the rite is fulfilled:
- “This whole world, with devas, asuras and humans, is the very form of Bhagavān Vishṇu. By the power of this truth may all this person’s wicked diseases perish.”
- “‘As soon as Vishṇu is remembered, all pāpas go at once’: by the power of this truth may all his wicked diseases be quietened.”
- “‘Vishṇu, the Yajñeśvara, is praised by the devas’: by the power of this truth may my word come true. May there be śānti; may there be maṅgala; may this person’s wicked diseases perish.”
“I, kuśa, born from the body of Bhagavān Vāsudeva, have removed this person’s diseases. May Nara-Nārāyaṇa and Govinda do apāmārjana for him. By the word of Śrī Hari may all his sorrows be quietened.”
And the last words: “I am Śrī Hari. I have destroyed your diseases.”
Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 31
The phalaśruti
For warding off all diseases and the rest, Agni Deva says, the Apāmārjana stotra is the best. By this rakshā, done for oneself or for another, the sorrows of a person go and he gains happiness. The stotra itself promises that the pāpas of the afflicted one, and the death, bondage, disease, torment and fear that come from pāpa, are taken away; that fevers, diseases, poisons and grahas perish by the name of Bhagavān Vāsudeva; and that the Sudarśana cakra destroys the rākshasas.
Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 31
Sources
- Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 31