History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v2.c34.205
History of Dharmaśāstra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v2.c34.205
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The texts (such as Yāj. I. 99) prescribe *japa* (muttering of Gāyatrī and other holy Vedic mantras) as part of saṁdhyā adoration. This has been already referred to above (p. 313). Yāj. I. 99 speaks of *japa* (of verses addressed to the Sun) after morning homa and then in I. 101 again prescribes *japa* after the midday bath of philosophical texts (like the Upaniṣads, as stated in Gaut. 19. 12 and Vas. Dh. S. 22. 9). Vas. Dh. S. 28. 10-15 are verses which mention several hymns principally of the Ṛgveda, by reciting which (inaudibly) several times a man becomes pure. These verses occur in Śaṅkhasmṛti chap. XI (with some variations) and in Viṣṇu Dh. S. 56 (in prose). Some of these Vedic texts are well known, such as Aghamarṣaṇa (Ṛg. X. 190. 1–3), Pāvamānī verses (Ṛg. IX), Śatarudriya (Tai. S. IV. 5. 1–11), Trisuparṇa (Tai. Ār. X. 48–50) &c. Manu II. 87, Vas. 26. 11, Śaṅkhasmṛti XII. 28, Viṣṇu Dh. S. 55. 21 say that a brāhmaṇa attains the highest perfection by *japa* alone, even if he does not do anything else. Gobhila smṛti II. 17 says that one should inaudibly repeat as much of the Veda from the beginning as one can and that *japa* may be performed before *tarpaṇa* or after the morning homa or at the end of vaiśvadeva and that it constitutes brahmayajña (II. 28–29). Viṣṇu Dh. S. (64.
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36–39) avers that *japa* should comprise sacred hymns, particularly the Gāyatrī and Puruṣasūkta, as nothing else is superior to these.¹⁶⁴² *Japa* is of three kinds, *vācika* (audibly uttered), *upāṁśu* (inaudibly uttered) and *mānasa* (mentally revolved), each succeeding one being ten times superior to each preceding one (Laghu-Hārīta¹⁶⁴³ chap. IV, p. 186, Jīvānanda I). Vide Manu II. 85 (= Vas. 26. 9, Śaṅkha XII. 29). *Japa* is one of the removers of sin (Gaut. 19. 11). *Japa* is to be performed sitting on a seat of kuśa grass, either in the house, or on a river bank, or in a cowpen, or in a fire room or at tīrthas or before images of gods or before an image of Viṣṇu, each succeeding place being many times superior to each preceding one.¹⁶⁴⁴ One is not to speak while engaged in japa. A brahmacārī or a householder who has consecrated sacred fires should mutter the Gāyatrī 108 times, while a *vānaprastha* and *yati* should repeat it more than 1000 times. Vide Manu II. 101 also about the extent of the time to be devoted to japa. When in the middle ages Vedic learning declined and Purāṇas came to the fore, the writers of the digests stated that one who has studied the whole Veda should repeat daily from the beginning of the Veda as much as he could; if one has studied only a portion of the Veda, then one should recite in his japa the Puruṣasūkta (Ṛg. X. 90) and similar hymns and a brāhmaṇa who knows only the Gāyatrī should repeat the texts of the purāṇas.¹⁶⁴⁵ Vṛddha-Hārīta (VI.
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33, 45, 163, 213) prescribes that the mantra of 6 letters (om namo Viṣṇave), eight letters (om namo Vāsudevāya) or of twelve letters (om namo bhagavate Vāsudevāya) should be repeated 1008 or 108 times. The counting of the mantra as repeated so many times has to be done by means of one's fingers (except the thumb) or by drawing lines (on the ground or walls &c.), or by telling the beads of a rosary, as japa without counting the number is fruitless¹⁶⁴⁶. Śaṅkha-smṛti (chap. XII. in prose) lays down that the rosary should have beads of gold or precious stones or pearls or crystal or rudrākṣa, padmākṣa (lotus seed) or putrajīvaka or a man may count by knots of kuśa grass or by bending the fingers of the left hand.¹⁶⁴⁷ Bṛhat-Parāśara V. p. 85 and Laghu-Vyāsa (Jīvānanda part II. p. 375) contain similar provisions about akṣamālā and counting of japa. They add 'indrākṣa' to the different kinds of beads. The rosary should have 108 beads (this is the best) or 54 (middling) or 27 (this is the lowest number of beads in a rosary).¹⁶⁴⁸ Kālidāsa (in his Raghuvaṁśa XI. 66) mentions that the hero Paraśurāma had on his right ear a rosary of akṣa seeds. Bāṇa (Kādambarī para 37) speaks of counting by means of rings of rudrākṣas. Vide Sm. C. I. pp. 152-153, Par. M. I. part I, pp. 308-311, Madanapārijāta p. 80, Āhnikaprakāśa pp. 326-328 for further details about the rosary.