History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v3.c37.112

v3.c37.112

The Pūjāprakāśa (p. 194) quotes Hārīta prescribing that Maheśvara may be worshipped by means of the mantra of five syllables (namaḥ Śivāya) or by the Rudra¹⁷⁵⁶ Gāyatrī or by 'om' or by the mantra 'īśanaḥ sarva-vidyānām' (Tai. Ār. X. 47), or by the Rudra mantras (viz. Tai. S. IV. 5. 1-11) or by the mantra 'tryambakaṁ yajāmahe' (Rg. VII. 59. 12). For a devotee of Śiva, the wearing of a string of Rudrākṣa berries is necessary either on the hand, the arm, the neck or on the head.¹⁷⁵⁷ The Smṛtimuktāphala (āhnika p. 393) quotes verses from the Smṛtiratna and the Ratnāvalī about the merit secured by bathing the *liṅga* with cow's milk, curds, clarified butter, honey, sugarcane juice, *pañcagavya*, water in which camphor and *aguru* are mixed up, and other substances. The 14th day of the dark half of a month has been sacred to Śiva from ancient times. Bāṇa in the Kādambarī (para 54) refers to the fact that queen Vilāsavatī went to worship Mahākāla at Ujjayinī on the 14th.