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History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v3.c44: Chapter XXVI. Pratiṣṭhā and Utsarga

History of Dharmaśāstra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v3.c44

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Chapter XXVI. Pratiṣṭhā and Utsarga

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*Pratiṣṭhā* and *Utsarga* (foundation of temples and dedication of wells, tanks, parks &c. for the benefit of the public).

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The subject of gifts naturally leads on to the topics of *pratiṣṭhā* and *utsarga*. We saw above (p. 157 *f. n.* 370) how the construction of temples, wells and similar religious and charitable foundations and institutions was included under pūrtadharma and how śūdras were entitled to perform such dharma. The Mit. on Yāj. II. 114 points²⁰⁶⁶ out that women (and widows) were entitled to spend on *pūrta* objects, though they were not authorized to perform *iṣṭa* dharma (i. e. vedic sacrifices &c.). Modern decisions have gone so far that a Hindu widow whose powers of alienating for secular purposes property inherited from her husband are very limited has been held to possess greater powers of alienation if the alienation be made for the spiritual benefit of her deceased husband and dedications by her of a small fraction of the property for the continuous benefit of the soul of the deceased owner have been upheld.²⁰⁶⁷ Such works of public utility have been highly recommended from very ancient times. Śabara²⁰⁶⁸ on Jaimini I. 3. 2 refers to the smṛti rules about charitable objects which are based on such śruti passages as 'O Agni, who art ancient and a king, thou art to the man who desires to offer a sacrifice like *prapā* (shed where water is distributed to travellers) in a desert'. In Ṛg. X. 107. 10 a puṣkariṇī (a tank) is mentioned. The Viṣṇu Dh. S. (chap. 91. 1-2) states 'one who digs a well (for the public) has (the consequences of) half his sins destroyed when the water has begun to flow forth; one who dedicates a pond is forever happy (free from thirst) and attains the world of Varuṇa.' Bāṇa in his Kādambarī (para 44)²⁰⁶⁹ mentions that smṛtis enjoined upon men the foundation (for public use) of halls, shelters, wells, *prapās*, gardens, temples, embankments, water wheels &c. Some sages went so far as to say that the reward of sacrifices is only heaven, but by pūrta (consecration of temples, tanks and gardens) one secures release from *saṃsāra*.²⁰⁷⁰ This shows that charitable works for the use of the public or large sections of the public came to be regarded as more meritorious than sacrifices the gifts in which benefited only brāhmaṇas.

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²⁰⁶⁶ किं च यज्ञशब्दस्य धर्मोपलक्षणपरत्वे स्त्रीणामपि पूर्तधर्माधिकाराज्जनग्रहणं युक्ततरम् । मिता. on या. II. 114.

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²⁰⁶⁷ Vide *Sardar Singh v. Kunj Behari* L. R. 49 I. A. 383 p. 391 (a gift made by a widow of a small part of her husband's property to the temple of Jagannātha at Purī for bhoga i. e. food offerings to the deity was upheld); *Thakur Indraj Bux v. Thakur Sheo Naresh*, 2 Lucknow 713 (where a temple erected and endowed by a widow for the benefit of her husband's soul as well as of her own by alienating about 1/33th part of the entire property left by her husband was held to be valid).

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²⁰⁶⁸ प्रपास्तडागानि च परोपकाराय न धर्मार्येत्येवावगम्यते । तथा च दर्शनम् । धन्वन्निव प्रपा असीति ॥ तथा स्थल्योदकं परिगृह्णन्तीति च । शबर on जै. I. 3. 2; धन्वन्निव प्रपा असि त्वमग्न इयक्षवे पूरवे प्रत्न राजन् ॥ ऋ. X. 4. 1 ; भोजस्येदं पुष्करिणीव वेश्म परिष्कृतं देवमानेव चित्रम् । ऋ. X. 107. 10.

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²⁰⁶⁹ स्मृतिशास्त्रेणेव सभाप्रसथकूपप्रपारामसुरसदनसेतुयन्त्रप्रवर्त्तकेन ...... विलासिजनेनाधिष्ठिता (उज्जयिनी)। कादम्बरी para 44.

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²⁰⁷⁰ इष्टापूर्त्तौ स्मृतौ धर्मो श्रुतौ तौ शिष्टसंमतौ । प्रतिष्ठाथं तयोः पूर्तमिष्टं यज्ञादिलक्षणम् ॥ भुक्तिमुक्तिप्रदं पूर्त्तमिष्टं भोगार्थसाधनम् । कालिकापुराण quoted in कृत्यरलनाकर p. 10.

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From very ancient times the procedure of dedicating a well or tank to the public has been settled. Among the earliest is the one in the Sāṅkhyāyana gṛ. V. 2 (S. B. E. vol. 29 pp.134-135) which is as follows: Now about the consecration of ponds, wells and tanks. In the bright fortnight or on an auspicious *tithi* (day) having cooked a caru (boiled food) of barley in milk he (the donor) should sacrifice with the two verses 'tvam no agne' (Ṛg. IV. 1. 4-5) and with the verses 'ava te heḷa' (Ṛg. I. 24. 14), 'imam me varuṇa' (Ṛg. I. 25. 19), 'uduttamam Varuṇa' (Ṛg. I. 24. 15), 'imām dhiyam' (Ṛg. VIII. 42. 3) and with the words 'the domestic one, he who goes away from the house, the refreshing one, he who goes into the kennel, he who dwells in the kennel, he who comes out of it, the greedy one, the destroyer of enemies' to the different directions beginning with the west (Vāruṇī, one over which Varuṇa presided) from left to right. In the centre he makes oblations with milk with the verses 'viśvatas cakṣuruta' (Ṛg. X. 81. 3), 'idam Viṣṇur' (Ṛg. I. 22. 17); he plunges into the water with the verse 'yat kim cedam Varuṇa' (Ṛg. VII. 89. 5).²⁰⁷¹ A cow and a pair of clothes are the fee for this sacrifice. Then follows the feeding of brāhmaṇas.

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²⁰⁷¹ Even in the e. g. Ṛg. in VII. 49. 3 (yāsāṃ rājā varuṇo yāti madhye) Varuṇa is the lord of waters and therefore it is appropriate that in dedicating wells and tanks to the public Varuṇa should be invoked in several verses.

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The Āśv. gṛ. pariśiṣṭa IV. 9, Pār. gṛ. pariśiṣṭa, Matsyapurāṇa chap. 58, Agnipurāṇa chap. 64 contain a more extensive procedure about the dedication of wells and reservoirs of water. That in the Pār. gṛ. pariśiṣṭa is briefly as²⁰⁷² follows : "In the northward passage of the sun, in the bright half, on an auspicious day, tithi, vāra (week day), nakṣatra and karaṇa the donor should cook *caru* sacred to Varuṇa of barley, offer the two ājyabhāgas and sacrifice in fire ten oblations of clarified butter with the mantras, Ṛg. IV. 1. 4, IV. 1. 5, I. 25. 19, I. 24. 11, Kāt. śr. 25. 1. 11 (ye te śataṁ Varuṇa), ayāścāgne (Kāt. śr. 25. 1. 11), Ṛg. I. 24. 15, Ṛg. I. 24. 8, Vāj. S. IV. 36, Vāj. S. VIII. 24.²⁰⁷³ He then sacrifices (ten oblations) of the mess of cooked food to Agni, Soma, Varuṇa, Yajña, Ugra, Bhīma, Śatakratu (Indra), Vyuṣṭi (prosperity), Svarga (Heaven) and lastly to Agni Sviṣṭakṛt (with svāhā at the end of each as in 'agnaye svāhā'). After partaking of the remains of the cooked food he should introduce aquatic animals (like fishes and tortoises in the pond &c.) and having bathed and decked a cow he should make the cow enter the reservoir, repeat the Puruṣasūkta (Ṛg. X. 90. 1–16) and donate that cow to the ācārya and should also make presents to him of two ear-rings, clothes and of another cow as fee and give a dinner to brāhmaṇas." Aparārka (p. 413–414), the Nirṇayasindhu and others add from the Bahvṛca gṛ. pariśiṣṭa that when the cow enters the water, he should repeat a mantra 'may you make this water holy: may the water always be pure, holy and ambrosia-like; while saving me (from sin) may you bathe in sacred water; she crosses from region to region and also saves (me and others)'; and that the donor holds the end of the cow's tail, enters the water and brings her out in the north-east corner (of the reservoir). This procedure does not apply to the consecration of a well. In that case a cow is only made to go round the well.

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²⁰⁷² अथातो वापीकूपतडागारामदेवतायतनानां प्रतिष्ठापनं व्याख्यास्यामस्तत्रोदगयन आपूर्यमाणपक्षे पुण्येऽह्ने तिथिवारनक्षत्रकरणे च गुणान्विते तत्र वारुणं यवमयं चरुं श्रपयित्वाज्यभागाविष्ट्वाज्याहुतीर्जुहोति त्वं नो अग्ने स त्वं नो अग्ने इमं मे वरुण तत्त्वा यामि ये ते शतमयाश्चाग्न उदुत्तममुरुं हि राजा वरुणस्योत्स्तम्भनमग्नेरनीकमिति दशर्चं हुत्वा स्थालीपाकस्य जुहोत्यग्नये स्वाहा शतक्रतवे स्वाहा व्युष्ट्यै स्वाहा स्वर्गाय स्वाहेति यथोक्तं स्विष्टकृत्प्राशनान्ते जलचराणि क्षिप्त्वालंकृत्य गां तारयित्वा पुरुषसूक्तं जप्त्वाचार्यीय वरं दत्त्वा कर्णवेष्टकौ वासांसि धेनुंदक्षिणा ततो ब्राह्मणभोजनम् । पार. गृ. परिशिष्ट.

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²⁰⁷³ The ten verses are quoted in full in the Dānakriyākaumudī pp. 175–176.

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Gradually the procedure prescribed in the purāṇas came to have the upper hand so much so that Aparārka (p. 15) says that in pratiṣṭhā the procedure prescribed in the purāṇas has to be followed and no other.²⁰⁷⁴

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²⁰⁷⁴ एवं प्रतिष्ठायामपि पुराणाद्युक्तैवेतिकर्तव्यता ग्राह्या नान्या। तेषामेव व्यामिश्रधर्मप्रमाणत्वेन भविष्यत्पुराणे परिज्ञातत्वात्। अपरार्क p. 15.

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Aparārka (pp. 409-414), Hemādri (Dāna pp. 997-1029), Dānakriyākaumudī (pp. 160-181), Jalāśayotsarga-tattva of Raghunandana, the Pratiṣṭhāmayūkha and Utsargamayūkha of Nīlakaṇṭha, Rājadharmakaustubha (pp. 171-223) and several other works give a very comprehensive procedure of the consecration of wells, ponds and tanks, based upon the gṛhyapariśiṣṭas, the purāṇas such as the Matsya chap. 58, the Tantras, Pāñcarātra and other works. This procedure is passed over here. The idea²⁰⁷⁵ was that unless the reservoir was consecrated in the way prescribed its water was not holy and when consecrated it became holy. Pratiṣṭhā generally means dedicating to the public with prescribed²⁰⁷⁶ rites. Utsarga means 'divesting oneself of ownership over a thing and dedicating it for the use of all.' There were four principal stages in the procedure of pratiṣṭhā; first the saṅkalpa,²⁰⁷⁷ then the homa, then the utsarga (i. e. declaration that the thing has been dedicated) and lastly the dakṣiṇā and feeding of brāhmaṇas. In *Deosaran Bharthi v. Deoki Bharthi* 3 Patna 842 it was said (at p. 850) 'the essential ingredient that constitutes a gift whether of movable or of immovable property in the Hindu Law is the *Saṅkalpa* and the *Samarpaṇa* whereby the property is completely given away and the owner completely divests himself of the ownership in the property'. In the case of temples, the proper word to use is pratiṣṭhā and not utsarga.

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²⁰⁷⁵ सदा जलं पवित्रं स्यादपवित्रमसंसकृतम्। कुशाग्रेणापि राजेन्द्र न स्पृष्टव्यमसंसकृतम् ॥ वापीकूपतडागादौ यज्जलं स्यादसंसकृतम् । अपेयं तद्द्भवेत्सर्वं पीत्वा चान्द्रायणं चरेत् ॥ भविष्यपुराण quoted in निर्णयसिन्धु III. पूर्वार्ध p. 334.

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²⁰⁷⁶ प्रतिष्ठापनं सविधिकोत्सर्जनमित्यर्थः। दानक्रियाकौमुदी p. 166.

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²⁰⁷⁷ The सङ्कल्प would be in the form अद्येत्यादि अमुकगोत्रोऽमुकशर्माहं चतुरर्णवान्तमहीदानफलसमफलदिव्यकामसमावितवरुणलोकप्राप्तिकामो वारुणविधिना जलाशयोत्सर्गकर्म करिष्ये। दानक्रियाकौमुदी p. 167; the उत्सर्ग is made in some such words as ओं अद्येत्यादि अमुकगोत्रोऽमुकशर्माहं चतुरर्णवान्त ...... प्राप्तिकामस्वतः-स्वत्वव्युच्छिन्नं वरुणादिदैवतमिमं जलाशयम्मुचितं सर्वभूतेभ्य उत्सृजे। दानक्रिया० p. 179; at the end of the rite the donor recited the verse 'सामान्यो सर्वसत्त्वेभ्यो मया वृत्तमिदं जलम् । धर्मार्थकाममोक्षेषु साधनं स्यादहर्निशम् ॥' quoted in राजधर्मकौस्तुभ pp. 179 and 216.

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There is a difference in the technical meaning of *dāna* and *utsarga*. In the former the donor gives up his ownership over a thing, makes another the owner of it and cannot thereafter use it nor has he any control over it. When a man makes an *utsarga*, he no doubt gives up his ownership, but he gives up the thing for the benefit of all (as in the formula above he uses the word 'sarvabhūtebhyaḥ') and so the opinion of most writers is that he can as a member of the public make use of the thing dedicated by him, though there were a few authors who recommended that he should not do so.2077a

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2077a अत्र केचित् । स्वस्य जलाशयजलोपभोगो विरुद्धः । त्यक्तस्य पुनः स्वीकारानर्हत्वात् । न चैकस्य एकक्रियायां दानकर्तृत्वं संप्रदानत्वं च संभवति । अत एव सत्रयागे यज्वणामेव स्वेषामृत्विक्त्वेन नास्ति दक्षिणेत्याहुः । तन्न । त्यक्तजलस्यापि नद्यादिजलवदौपादानिकसत्त्वाविरोधात् । भोजयित्वा द्विजान्सम्यक् तोयमुत्सर्जयेत्ततः । सर्वभूतान् समुद्दिश्य इति वाचं समुच्चरेत् ॥ इति हयशीर्षे असङ्कुचितसर्वपदबलात् स्वस्यापि त्यागोद्देश्यवर्गान्तर्भावाच्च । दानक्रियाकौमुदी p. 126; compare जलाशयोत्सर्गतत्त्व (Jīv. part II. p. 526).

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Reservoirs of water that are dug out by man are of four kinds, kūpa, vāpī, puṣkariṇī and taḍāga.²⁰⁷⁸ Some of the works define kūpa as a well that is from five to fifty cubits in length (if rectangular) or in diameter (if it is circular). It has generally no flight of steps to reach the water. Vāpī is a well with a flight of steps on all sides or on three or two sides or one side only and its mouth may be from 50 to 100 cubits; a puṣkariṇī is from 100 to 200 cubits in length or diameter and a taḍāga (a tank) is from 200 to 800 cubits. The Matsyapurāṇa 154. 512 states that a vāpī is equal to ten kūpas (in merit) and a *hrada* (deep reservoir) is equal to ten vāpīs; a son is equal to ten *hradas* and a tree is equal to ten sons. According to the Vasiṣṭha-saṁhitā quoted by Raghunandana a puṣkariṇī is up to 400 cubits and a taḍāga is five times as much. At certain auspicious times only the consecration of wells and tanks is to take place.²⁰⁷⁹

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²⁰⁷⁸ अथ जलाशयाः । ते च खननसाध्याश्चत्वारः कूपवापीपुष्करणीतडागरूपाः । तथा च मत्स्यपुराणम् । … … कूपोद्धारको गर्तविशेषः बहुसोपानकोयं वापीति द्वैतनिर्णयः । जलाशयोत्सर्गतत्त्व of रघुनन्दन. Vide also दानक्रियाकौमुदी p. 126.

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²⁰⁷⁹ Vide दानक्रियाकौमुदी p. 132 and हेमाद्रि (दानखण्ड p. 1003) quoting विष्णुधर्मोत्तर.

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Trees have been highly prized in India at all times. They were useful in sacrifices for making the yūpa (the post to which the sacrificial animal was tied), for idhma (samidhs which were thrown into fire), for the several ladles like sruva, juhū etc. The Tai. Br. I. 1. 3 speaks of seven holy trees. The Tai. S. III. 4. 8. 4 states that idhma (samidhs) should be of the nyagrodha, udumbara, aśvattha and plakṣa trees, as they are the abodes of Gandharvas and Apsarases.²⁰⁸⁰ Besides trees with their verdant foliage looked beautiful and the leaves of some of them (such as the mango tree) are hung up even now in pandals and at entrances of houses as auspicious in marriage and other ceremonies. Hemādri cites a passage from the Brahmapurāṇa that the twigs and leaves of the Aśvattha (the pipal tree), udumbara, plakṣa, cūta (mango) and nyagrodha are styled pañcabhaṅga²⁰⁸¹ and are auspicious in all rites. The palāśa tree was held to be so sacred that one was not to make seats, sandals or tooth brush from it or its branches and twigs (Baud. Dh. S. II. 3. 25). Trees gave shelter against heat and also yielded flowers and fruits (for worship of gods and pitṛs). When felled their wood was useful in building houses, for making implements of husbandry and for producing heat and warmth. In his 7th Pillar Edict (of Delhi-Topra) Aśoka mentions the construction of wells at a distance of 8 krośas and the planting of banyan trees and mango groves (C. I. I. vol. I pp. 134-135). The Mahābhāṣya (vol. I.

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p. 14) quotes a portion of an ancient verse which conveys that if a person waters and tends mango trees, his pitṛs feel extremely pleased.²⁰⁸² Manu IV. 39 and Yāj. I. 133 require the snātaka to circumambulate well-known trees (like aśvattha) if he meets them on the way. The Kādambarī also refers to this practice of worshipping trees, particularly by women desiring to have a son.²⁰⁸³ The Mahābhārata (Anuśāsanaparva 58. 23-32) highly eulogizes plant life and divides plants into six kinds viz. vṛkṣa (tree), latā (creepers that cling to trees), vallī (creepers that spread on the ground), gulma (bushes), tvaksāra (trees whose bark is strong, while the inside is hollow, like bamboos) and grass and adds that he who plants trees is saved (in a future existence) by them just as sons do and that they should be tended like sons.²⁰⁸⁴ The Viṣṇu Dh.S.91.4 says the same thing. Hemādri (Dāna pp. 1030-31) cites a long passage from the Padmapurāṇa how by planting different trees and plants like aśvattha, aśoka, tamarind, pomegranate and others a man secures such rewards (respectively) as wealth, removal of sorrow, long life, a wife, &c. Vṛddha-Gautama (Jiv., part 2. p. 625) identifies the Aśvattha tree with Śrī Kṛṣṇa. The Mahābhārata (Śānti 69. 42) forbids even the felling of the leaves of trees like the aśvattha that have a platform²⁰⁸⁵ built for them (caitya). Śāntiparva 184. 1-17 graphically describes how trees have life since they feel pain and pleasure and grow though cut.

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The Bhaviṣyapurāṇa quoted in the Utsarga-mayūkha (p. 16) states 'he who plants either one aśvattha or one picumarda or one nyagrodha or ten tamarind trees, or the three trees i. e. kapittha, bilva and āmalaka or plants five mango trees would not see hell (i. e. would not be condemned to hell for his sins).²⁰⁸⁶ The Matsyapurāṇa (chap. 270. 28-29) requires that to the east of the *maṇḍapa* of a temple fruit-bearing trees should be planted, to the south trees that contain milky sap, to the west a reservoir of water with lotuses therein should be constructed and to the north a flower garden and *sarala* and *tāla* trees. Vas. Dh. S. 19.11-12 prescribes that no one should injure (i. e. cut) trees that yield fruits and flowers except only for purposes of cultivating the land²⁰⁸⁷ (and for sacrificial purposes, as laid down in Viṣṇu Dh. S. 51. 63). The Viṣṇu Dh. S. V. 55. 59 prescribes that the king should award the highest fine, the middling fine, or a fine of 100 kārṣāpaṇas or of one kārṣāpaṇa respectively against those who wrongfully cut a tree bearing fruit or a tree that bears flowers, or who cut creepers and shrubs or grass.

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²⁰⁸⁰ नैयग्रोध औदुम्बर आश्वत्थः प्लाक्ष इतीध्मो भवत्येते वै गन्धर्वाप्सरसां गृहाः। तै. सं. III. 4. 8. 4.

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²⁰⁸¹ अश्वत्थोदुम्बरप्लक्षक्यूतन्यग्रोधपल्लवाः। पञ्चभङ्गा इति प्रोक्ताः सर्वकर्मसु शोभनाः॥ हेमाद्रिव्रतखण्ड p. 47.

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²⁰⁸² आम्राश्च सिक्ताः पितरश्च प्रीणिताः ॥ महाभाष्य vol. I. p. 14. The several benefits mentioned above are narrated in Anuśāsana-parva 58. 28-30 and Viṣṇu Dh. S. 91. 5-8.

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²⁰⁸³ अश्वत्थप्रभृतीनुपपादितपूजान् महावनस्पतीन् कृतप्रदक्षिणा ववन्दे । कादम्बरी para 56.

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²⁰⁸⁴ वृक्षदं पुत्रवद् वृक्षास्तारयन्ति परत्र च। तस्मात्तडागे सद्वृक्षा रोप्याः श्रेयोऽर्थिना सदा। पुत्रवत्परिपाल्याश्च पुत्रास्ते धर्मतः स्मृताः॥ अनुशासन 58. 30-31; वृक्षारोपयितुर्वृक्षाः परलोके पुत्रा भवन्ति। विष्णुधर्मसूत्र 91. 4.

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²⁰⁸⁵ चैत्यानां सर्वथा त्याज्यमपि पत्रस्य पातनम्। शान्ति 69. 42.

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²⁰⁸⁶ अश्वत्थमेकं पिचुमर्दमकं न्यग्रोधमेकं दश चिञ्चिणीकम्। कपित्थबिल्वामलकत्रयं च पञ्चाम्रवापी नरकं न पश्येत्॥ भविष्यपुराण in उत्सर्गमयूख p. 16 and in राजधर्मकौस्तुभ p. 183.

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²⁰⁸⁷ पुष्पफलोपगान्पादपाश्च हिंस्यात्। कर्षणकारणार्थ चोपहन्यात्। वसिष्ठ 19.11-12

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Hemādri (Dāna. pp. 1029-1055) deals at length with the planting of trees, the dedication of a garden and the merit acquired by making gifts of various trees. The procedure of dedicating a garden is prescribed in Śāṅ. gṛ. V. 3, Āśv. gṛ. pariśiṣṭa IV. 10, the Matsyapurāṇa 59, Agnipurāṇa 70 and in many other works. It is modelled on the dedication of wells and tanks. The Matsyapurāṇa expressly states that the procedure of the consecration of a tank is extended to the consecration of everything, such as a *prāsāda* (a large house or hall for public use), a garden &c., the only difference being that the mantras are different.²⁰⁸⁸ The procedure in Śāṅ. gṛ.²⁰⁸⁹ (V. 3) is: Having established the sacred fire in that garden and having cooked a mess of food, the donor should sacrifice with the words (Viṣṇave svāhā, Indrāgnibhyām svāhā, Viśvakarmaṇe svāhā) and with verses Ṛg. III. 8. 6 ff. (yāṅ vo naro), verse by verse. Then he recites over the garden the verse Ṛg. III. 8. 11 'vanaspate śatavalśo vi roha.' The fee for the sacrifice is gold.

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²⁰⁸⁸ एवमेव पुराणेषु तडागविधिरुच्यते । कूपवापीषु सर्वासु तथा पुष्करिणीषु च ॥ ष एव विधिर्दृष्टः प्रतिष्ठासु तथैव च । मन्त्रतस्तु विशेषः स्यात् प्रासादोद्यानभूमिषु ॥ मत्स्यपुराण 58. 50-52. पादपानां विधिं वक्ष्ये तथैवोद्यानभूमिषु । तडागविधिवत्सर्वमासाद्य जगतीश्वर । तत्स्य 59. 3.

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²⁰⁸⁹ अथारानेऽग्निमुपसमाधाय स्थालीपाकं अपयित्वा विष्णवे स्वाहेन्द्राग्निभ्यां स्वाहा विश्वकर्मणे स्वाहेति यान्बो नर इति प्रत्यृचं जुहुयाद्वनस्पते शतवल्शा इत्यभिमन्त्र्य हिरण्यं दक्षिणा च । शां. गृ. V. 3.

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*Devatā-pratiṣṭhā*—(Consecration of an image in a temple).

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Though the dharmasūtras speak as shown above of images and temples, it strikes one as somewhat strange that none of the principal gṛhya and dharma-sūtras contains any procedure of consecrating an image in a temple, while in the purāṇas and some of the digests much space is devoted to the topic of devatā-pratiṣṭhā. The Matsyapurāṇa in chap. 264 and the Agnipurāṇa in chap. 60 and 66 deal with devatāpratiṣṭhā in general. There are special chapters in the purāṇas on the consecration of the image of Viṣṇu or of Śiva or the Liṅga. It would be impossible to deal in any detail with all this matter. The worship of god can be done in two ways, viz. without any outward symbol and with a symbol. The first is achieved by a prayer and offering oblations into fire; the second by means of images. But even image worshippers are quite conscious that god is pure consciousness (*cit*), is one without a second, is without parts and without a physical body, and that the various images in which he is thought as in-dwelling are so imagined for the benefit of worshippers.²⁰⁹⁰

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²⁰⁹⁰ चिन्मयस्याद्वितीयस्य निष्कलस्याशरीरिणः। उपासकानां कार्यार्थे ब्रह्मणो रूपकल्पना॥ quoted in the देवप्रतिष्ठातत्त्व of रघुनन्दन (p. 50).

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The worship of god through the medium of images is again two-fold, viz. done in one's house and in a public temple. The latter is, according to many works, the best and the completest, since it allows of the celebration of festivals and the performance of the varied items or modes of worship (*upacāra*). Private worship of idols in one's house has already been dealt with above (pp. 726-736) under Devapūjā. Now the worship of images in temples remains to be dealt with. The establishment of images in temples is again of two kinds viz. calārcā (where the image can be lifted up, moved to another place) and sthirārcā (where the image is fixed on a pedestal or is not meant to be lifted up or moved). The consecration of these two differs in certain details.

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Here numerous matters have to be considered. The principal matters to be attended to according to the Matsyapurāṇa (264-66) are: the auspicious time for the consecration of an image, the erection of a maṇḍapa to the east or north of the temple, the erection of a vedi therein, erection of four *toraṇas* (arched gates) for the maṇḍapa, placing two auspicious jars at each of four gates filled with scented water and herbs and covered with mango leaves and white cloth, raising of banners all round the maṇḍapa, worship of lokapālas (guardian deities of quarters), erecting another maṇḍapa for bathing the image in, bringing the image and honouring the artizans, drawing lines on the image or liṅga with a golden needle to represent the lustre of eyes, the selection of a qualified sthāpaka or ācārya and of from eight to 32 other priests (called mūrtipa); taking the image or liṅga to the maṇḍapa meant for bathing the image, bathing the image to the accompaniment of music with pañcagavya mixture, with mṛttikā (loose earth), with holy ashes and water; rendering it pure by repeating four mantras (viz. samudrajyeṣṭhāḥ, āpo divyāḥ, yāsāṃ rājā and āpo hi ṣṭhā, which are respectively Ṛg. VII. 49. 1-3 and X. 9. 1); offering worship after the bath to the image with sandalwood paste and covering it with a garment (with the verse 'abhi vastrā' Ṛg. IX. 97. 50), placing the image in a standing position with the mantra 'uttiṣṭha' (Ṛg. I. 40. 1);

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placing the image in a chariot with the verses 'ā mūrajā' and 'rathe tiṣṭhan' (Ṛg. VI. 47. 31 and VI. 75. 6) and entering it in the maṇḍapa with the verse 'ā kṛṣṇena' (Ṛg. I. 35. 2); placing the image on a bed on which kuśa grass and flowers are strewn with the face (of the image) towards the east; placing a water jar (called nidrākalaśa) having gold in it and a piece of cloth at the mouth towards the head of the image with the mantras 'āpo devīr' (Tai. S. VII. 3. 13. 1) and 'āpo asmān' (Ṛg. X. 17. 10); placing under the head of the image silken pillows, sprinkling honey and clarified butter, and worshipping with mustard with the verse 'āpyāyasva' (Ṛg. I. 91. 16 or IX. 31. 4) and 'yā te rudra' (Tai. S. IV. 5. 1. 1); offering worship with sandalwood paste and flowers and tying a band (*pratisara*) on the right hand (of the image) with 'bārhaspatya' mantra; placing a parasol, chowrie, mirror, jewels, auspicious herbs, household utensils, fine vessels and seats by the side of the image with the verse 'abhi tvā' (Ṛg. VII. 32. 22); honouring the image with the presentation of various foods and condiments with the verse 'tryambakaṁ yajāmahe' (Ṛg. VII. 59. 12); placing four priests and four door-keepers in the four directions viz. a priest knowing Ṛgveda in the east and so on and each of the four priests is to repeat from his own Veda several hymns and verses e. g. the Ṛgvedin priest should recite Śrīsūkta (Ṛg. I. 165), Pavamāna hymn (from Ṛg. IX. 1), Śāntikādhyāya (Ṛg. X.

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16), then a hymn to Indra. Then the ācārya is to perform homa towards the head of the image with Śāntika mantras and offer into the fire 1000 *samidhs* (fuel sticks) each of palāśa, udumbara, aśvattha, apāmārga and śamī trees and then touch the feet of the god; preparing nine kuṇḍas each one cubit square and offering into them one thousand samidhs each time on touching the navel, the chest and the head of the image; remembering the eight forms (mūrti) of god viz. the earth, fire, the sacrifice, the sun, the water, wind, moon and ākāśa and offering homa to these with *vaidika* mantras; placing auspicious jars near each kuṇḍa; bathing the image at every watch and offering incense, food (*naivedya*), sandalwood paste; offering *bali* to all beings, and dinner to brāhmaṇas and persons of other castes at one's desire; celebrating a festival at night with dances, song and music; this may go on from one day to seven days (it is called adhivāsana); then the temple building is to be sprinkled over; finding out a place for the image either to the north or slightly to the north-east in the temple; a stone in the form of a tortoise is to be placed on the temple floor;

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preparing a piṇḍikā and bathing it with pañcagavya with mantras; then raising the image with the mantra ‘uttiṣṭha’ (Ṛg. I. 40. 1), bringing it in the inmost chamber of the temple and placing it on the pīṭha (pedestal), offering it *arghya* water, *pādya* water, *madhuparka*; then the nyāsa (depositing) of eight kinds of jewels viz. diamond, pearl, lapis luzuli, conch, crystal, puṣparāga, indranīla and nīla in the eight directions from the east, also of eight kinds of grains viz. wheat, barley, sesame, mudga, nīvara, śyāmāka, mustard and rice and also eight fragrant things such as white and red sandal-wood, agaru, uśīra &c. Nyāsa of all these is to be made after repeating *om* and the *paurāṇika* mantras (with ‘namo namaḥ’ at end) of the eight guardians (lokapālas) viz. Indra, Agni, Yama, Nirṛti, Varuṇa, Vāyu, Soma, Īśāna and also of Brahmā (9th) and Ananta (10th); raising the image and fixing it in the scooped up portion of the pedestal with the mantra ‘dhruvā dyaur’ (Ṛg. X. 173. 4); placing one's hand on the head of the image and contemplating on the well-known form of the deity that is established, whether Viṣṇu, Śiva, Brahmā, the Sun; repeating appropriate mantras (viz. those of Rudra, Viṣṇu, Brahmā, the Sun in the case of the respective gods whose image is established); establishing deities near the principal image of the god's dependants (such as Nandī in the case of Śiva); invocation (āvāhana) of the principal deity with its attendants with *paurāṇika* mantras; bathing the image with curds, milk, clarified butter, honey and sugar and then with water in which flowers and scents are mixed up; repeating the following mantras again and again viz. ‘yaj-jāgrato dūram-upaiti’ (Vāj. S. 34. 1), ‘tato virāḍ-ajāyata’ (Vāj. S. 31. 5), ‘sahasraśīrṣā’ (Ṛg. X. 90. 1), ‘yenedam bhūtam’ (Vāj. S. 34. 4), ‘na tvāvām’ (Ṛg. VII. 32. 23); touching four times with water the feet, the waist and head (of the image); giving gifts of clothes, ornaments &c. to the ācārya and to the poor, the blind and the distressed and to others that may be gathered to see; filling with sand any aperture in any direction in which the image appears to be unstable and performing propitiatory rites for the guardian of that quarter and making gifts suitable to each lokapāla; celebrating a festival for three, five or seven days.

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The general procedure of consecrating an image has been given above at some length from the Matsyapurāṇa in order to convey some idea how in the first centuries of the Christian era the consecration of images was done. It will be noticed that mostly vedic mantras were employed though a few pau-rāṇika mantras also occur. In medieval digests like the Deva-pratiṣṭhātattva other elements were added from Tantra works. Special attention may be drawn to the fact that in the above procedure the word prāṇapratiṣṭhā does not occur in the Matsya. Raghunandana (in Devapratiṣṭhātattva) quotes Devīpurāṇa to the effect that prāṇapratiṣṭhā is done after touching the cheeks of the image with the right hand and that without this vivification a mere image does not attain to the position of a deity worthy of worship. In the Devapratiṣṭhātattva, the Nirṇaya-sindhu, the Rājadharmakaustubha and other works the prāṇa-pratiṣṭhā is based on the 23rd chapter (*paṭala*) of the Śāradā-tilaka (verses 72-76). The mantra is given below.²⁰⁹¹

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²⁰⁹¹ अस्य प्राणप्रतिष्ठामन्त्रस्य ब्रह्मविष्णुरुद्रा ऋषयः ऋग्यजुःसामानि छन्दांसि क्रियामयवपुः प्राणाख्या देवता । आं बीजं क्रों शक्तिः प्राणप्रतिष्ठायां विनियोगः । ...... देवं स्पृष्ट्वा जपेत् । ओं आं ह्रीं क्रों यं रं लं वं शं षं सं हंसः देवस्य प्राणा इह प्राणाः । ओं आं ह्रीं क्रों ...... हंसः देवस्य जीव इह स्थितः । ओं आं ह्रीं ...... हंसः देवस्य सर्वे-न्द्रियाणि । ओं आं ह्रीं ... ... हंसः देवस्य वाङ्मनश्चक्षुःश्रोत्रजिह्वाघ्राणप्राणा इहागत्य स्वस्तये सुखेन सुचिरं तिष्ठन्तु स्वाहेति । ततोऽर्घाङ्गष्ठं दत्त्वा जपेत् । अस्यै प्राणाः प्रतिष्ठन्तु अस्यै प्राणाः क्षरन्तु च । अस्यै देवत्वमर्चायै मामहेति च कञ्चनेति । निर्णयसिन्धु III पूर्वार्ध p. 349. There are slight variations in other works. The verses of the शारदातिलक are पाशाङ्कुशपुटा शक्तिर्बाली बिन्दुविभूषिता । याद्याः सप्त सकारान्ता व्योम सद्येन्दुसंयुतम् ॥ तद्वन्ते हंसमन्त्रः स्यादमूकेऽमुष्यपदं वदेत् । प्राणा इति वदेत्पश्चादिह प्राणा-स्ततः परम् ॥ अमुष्य जीव इह स्थितस्ततोऽमुष्यपदं वदेत् । सर्वेन्द्रियाण्यमुष्यान्ते वाङ्मनश्च-क्षुस्ततः ॥ श्रोत्रघ्राणपदे प्राणा इहागत्य सुखं चिरम् । तिष्ठन्त्वग्निवधूरन्ते प्राणमन्त्रोयमी-रितः ॥ प्रत्यमुष्यपदं पूर्वं पाशादीनि प्रयोजयेत् । प्रयोगेषु समाख्यातः प्राणमन्त्रो मनीषिभिः ॥ शारदातिलक 23. 72–76. The देवप्रतिष्ठातत्त्व p. 506 quotes these and the explanations of राघवभट्ट the com. of the शारदातिलक and reads the मन्त्र as ओं ह्रीं क्रौं यं रं लं षं शं सं हों हंसः अमुष्य &c.

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The Devapratiṣṭhātattva (p. 505) quotes the Hayaśīrṣapañ-carātra to the effect that generally a brāhmaṇa should officiate at the consecration of an image of Viṣṇu, but a kṣatriya can officiate for a vaiśya or a śūdra yajamāna and a vaiśya may do for a śūdra yajamāna, but a śūdra cannot officiate.

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In the Matsyapurāṇa, the Agnipurāṇa, the Nṛsiṁhapurāṇa, the Nirṇayasindhu and many other works there are descriptions of the consecration of the images of Vāsudeva, of a liṅga and other deities, which are all passed over here for want of space. In these works following Tantric practices three kinds of nyāsas viz. Mātṛkānyāsa, Tattvanyāsa and Mantranyāsa are referred to. The Mātṛkānyāsa consists in repeating the letters of the alphabet from a (including 'aṁ' and 'aḥ') to ḷ (in the form of *akārāya* namaḥ svāhā) and offering an oblation in fire. The Tattvanyāsa consists in repeating ‘Ātmatattvāya namaḥ, svāhā’ and the same formula as to Ātmattvādhipati, Kriyāśakti, Śivatattva (or Viṣṇutattva), Śivatattvādhipati, Icchāśakti, Vidyātattva, Vidyātattvādhipati, Ādhāraśakti. The Mantranyāsa is as follows: taking a mantra of certain letters for a god (e. g. one of 12 letters as in ‘om namo bhagavate Vāsudevāya’) one has to repeat each letter in the formula ‘om oṁkārāya namaḥ svāhā’.

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The Dharmasindhu III (pūrvārdha) sets forth a brief procedure of the consecration of images in which only one priest is required (vide pp. 333-34). In modern times also the procedure of devatāpratiṣṭhā contains numerous elements and is extremely long.

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The Vaikhānasa Smārtasūtra (IV. 10-11) contains perhaps the earliest extant detailed description of the consecration of the image of Viṣṇu. But it appears to have been mainly concerned with an image installed in private houses or with the worship of an image by one individual. It is briefly as follows:²⁰⁹² After the daily homa comes the daily worship of Viṣṇu, which (worship) comprehends in itself the worship of all gods. A brāhmaṇa passage (Ait. Br. I. 1) says ‘Agni is indeed the nethermost (or the lowest) among gods and Viṣṇu the highest; between these two stand all the other deities’. Therefore having established in one's house the highest god Viṣṇu the householder worships him at the end of the evening and morning homa. He should make an image of Viṣṇu in length not more than six fingers; he should perform its consecration in the bright half (of a month) on an auspicious nakṣatra. Three days before he should prepare the space (kuṇḍa) of the gṛhya fire and perform the several rites of prokṣaṇa, drawing lines as described (in Vaik. I. 9). Then he is to perform homa up to āghāras (as described above pp. 210-11). Then he performs the sacrifices to the limbs in the words ‘to the teeth, svāhā: to the jaws, svāhā’, and other oblations with the six mantras beginning with ‘ato devā’ (Ṛg. I. 22. 16-21). Then he performs while repeating audibly the hymn to Puruṣa (Ṛg. X. 90. 1-16) the opening of the eyes (of the god Viṣṇu) with a golden needle.

v3.c44.48.2

Having spread in a river or a pond or in a vessel filled with water cloth and kuśa grass with the mantras beginning ‘ye te śatam’ (mentioned in Vaik. III. 17) he lays down (the image of) the god on these with the head turned to the east and leaves the image there. On the second day after he bathes, he offers at night the āghāra in the usual way; he brings eight jars, fills them successively with pañcagavya, ghee, curds, milk, water mixed with whole rice, water with fruits, water with kuśa grass, water with jewels (pearls &c.); worships the god, bathes the image with the (contents of) the (eight) jars successively with the following mantras: 'vasoḥ pavitram' (Vāj. S. I. 31), 'agna āyāhi', 'iṣe tvorje tvā,' 'śaṁ no devīr,'²⁰⁹³ 'catvāri śṛṅgā' (Ṛg. IV. 58. 3), 'somo dhenum' (Ṛg. I. 91. 26), 'catvāri vāk' (Ṛg. I. 164. 45), 'idam viṣṇur' (Ṛg. I. 22. 17); he further bathes the image with perfumed waters to the accompaniment of the mantras 'āpo' (Ṛg. X. 9. 1), 'hiraṇyavarṇāḥ' (Tai. S. V. 6. 1. 1) and the pavamāna section. He then makes to the north of the fire a vedi (altar) with rice, places a seat on it, spreads cloth on it, places the god thereon and having decked (the image) with clothes &c. worships the image. He has the benediction pronounced (by the brāhmaṇas), he touches the pratisara (a band or ribbon) with the svasti hymn²⁰⁹⁴ and ties it (on the right hand of the image) with the mantra 'svastidā viśaspatir' (Ṛg. X. 152. 2). He then lays the god down as before.

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After filling with purified clear water a jar that is not dark-coloured, he places it by the (right) side of the image, touches it with the syllable 'om' and throws into it a bunch of kuśa grass, whole rice, a piece of gold and a jewel (pearl). Having meditated on the god who is really without parts as residing in his own heart and also in the clear water, as golden in splendour, as having red face, eyes, hands and feet, as wearing the śrīvatsa mark and a yellow garment, as having (in his hands) the conch and the disc, as of benign countenance and as possessed of all parts (i. e. complete) he should bow before him. Having sprinkled water round the fire and having lauded the work of the hotṛ, he invokes the god by name in the southern praṇīdhi vessel in the words 'om bhūḥ puruṣam' (āvāhayāmi) and performs invocations in the same way with vyāhṛtis separately and together and of Nārāyaṇa, Viṣṇu, Puruṣa, Satya, Acyuta, Aniruddha, Śrī, Mahī. Having poured out the rice (for the sacrificial offering) he sacrifices four times with ghee and with a hymn to Viṣṇu, with the Puruṣasūkta (Ṛg. X. 90), with the mantras beginning with ‘ato devāḥ’ (Ṛg. I. 22. 16-21) and with the mantra ‘medinī devī’; he should then offer the mess of boiled rice sprinkled over with clarified butter after invoking the god’s names (Keśava and 11 others mentioned in Vaik. III. 13). On the following morning he bathes, placing the god in the standing position after uttering ‘om’;

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carries the image with the jar while muttering the śākuna hymn (Ṛg. II. 42. 1-3 and II. 43. 1-3) in the northwestern direction into his house or in a temple or in the agnihotra-shed; placing down on the pedestal meant for the image jewels and gold he instals the image of Viṣṇu saying ‘I install Viṣṇu’ while repeating a hymn to Viṣṇu and the hymn to Puruṣa (Ṛg. X. 90). He makes a *nyāsa* on the head, on the navel, on the feet and the chest of the image of the syllables svaḥ, bhuvaḥ and bhūḥ and om; fixing his mind on the god with the mantra ‘idam Viṣṇur’ (Ṛg. I. 22. 17) and taking with a bunch of kuśa grass the clear water that has been already poured in the jar and that has already the *śakti* (power personified) in it, he makes (the water) flow on the head of the image and performs the invocation with the words ‘I invoke Viṣṇu’. Having propitiated by worship as laid down in the śāstric rules he presents the sacrificial food (to the image).

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²⁰⁹² Vide Appendix for the text.

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²⁰⁹³ Iṣe tvorje tvā, agna āyāhi, śaṁ no devīr-are the beginnings of the three Vedas, Yajurveda (Śukla and Kṛṣṇa), Sāmaveda and Atharvaveda. In the Śaunakiya recension of the Atharvaveda the first verse is 'Ye triṣaptāḥ' and 'śaṁ no devīr' is Atharva I. 6. 1.

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²⁰⁹⁴ The स्वस्तिसूक्त is स्वस्ति नो मिमीताम् &c Ṛg. V. 51. 11-15, in each verse of which the first word is *svasti*.

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In Vaik. IV. 12 the daily worship of Viṣṇu is set out.

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The practice of attaching dancing girls to temples is of respectable antiquity. The origin of this practice appears to be analogous to the institution of Vestal virgins in Rome. The Rājatarangiṇī (IV. 269) speaks of two dancing girls attached to a temple (devagṛhāśrite nartakyau) who danced and sang at a place as it was the custom of their family, though the temple itself was buried underground. In the Vaghli (Khandesh District) stone Inscription dated śake 991 (1069-70 A. D.) there is a grant of Govindarāja making provision for dancing and singing by damsels²⁰⁹⁵ (*vilāsinī*). In the Inscription of the Cāhamāna king Jojaladeva dated *saṁvat* 1147 (1090-91 A. D.) the courtezans of all temples are said to have been ordered to come in their best dress and celebrate a festival with music (E. I. vol. XI. 26 and 27) and the king records an imprecation against all who might stop that practice. The Iṭṭagi (20 miles east of Gadag) inscription dated 1112 A. D. records (E. I. vol. XIII. p. 58) that a brāhmaṇa named Mahādeva donated houses for the retinue of dancing girls and other attendants of the gods at Iṭṭagi. This practice of *devadāsīs* (minor girls dedicated to the service of temples) or *bhāvins* (which term is known in the southern parts of the Ratnagiri district) was held by the modern Indian Courts to be immoral and whoever disposes of any person under the age of 18 years (or obtains possession of any person) with intent that such person shall at any age be employed or used for the purpose of prostitution or illicit intercourse with any person or with knowledge that the person is likely to be employed or used for any such purpose at any age is liable to be prosecuted under Sec. 372 and 373 of the Indian Penal Code (as amended by Act 18 of 1924).²⁰⁹⁶ In Bombay there is the Bombay Devadasis Protection Act (Bombay Act X. of 1934) which declares the performance of ceremonies for dedicating an unmarried woman to an idol or temple illegal and renders the dedicator or abettor thereof liable to punishment (one year's imprisonment or fine or both).

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²⁰⁹⁵ पाठकां गीतनृत्यार्थं विलासिणिसमन्वितम् (E. I. vol. II p. 227).

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²⁰⁹⁶ Vide *Queen Empress v Tippa*, 16 Bom. 737; *Reg. v. Jaili Bhavin* 6 Bom. H. C. R. 60 (*Crown Cases*) for convictions for dedication of minor girls to temple-service and marrying them to an idol; also 1 Mad. 164, 15 Mad. 41 and 75. The Marathi word '*bhāvin*' is derived from *bhāvinī* (a woman having *bhāva*) and *bhāva* in the language of Sanskrit rhetoric means 'love of god' (ratir-devādi-viṣayā ... ... bhāva iti proktaḥ' Kāvyaprakāśa IV. 35). Vide Enthoven's 'Tribes and castes of Bombay' vol. I. pp. 145-147 for information about *Bhāvins*.

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*Punaḥ-pratiṣṭhā* :—(Re-consecration of images in temples). The Brahmapurāṇa quoted by the Devapratiṣṭhātattva and the Nirṇayasindhu says 'when an image is broken into two or is reduced to particles, is burnt, is removed from its pedestal, is insulted, has ceased to be worshipped, is touched by beasts like donkeys or falls on impure ground or is worshipped with mantras of other deities or is rendered impure by the touch of outcasts and the like—in these ten contingencies, god ceases to indwell therein.' When an image is polluted by (contact with) the blood of a brāhmaṇa or by the touch of a corpse or the touch of a *patita* it should be re-consecrated. If an image is broken in parts or reduced to particles it should be removed according to *śāstric* rules and another should be installed in its place. When an image is broken or stolen a fast should be observed. If images of metal such as of copper are touched by thieves or cāṇḍālas they should be purified in the same way in which polluted vessels of those metals are purified and then they should be re-consecrated. If an image properly consecrated has had no worship performed without pre-meditation (i.e. owing to forgetfulness or neglect) for one night or a month or two months or the image is touched by a śūdra or a woman in her monthly illness, then the image should have water *adhivāsa* (placing in water) performed on it and it should be bathed with water from a jar, then with *pañcagavya*, then it should be bathed with pure water from jars to the accompaniment of the hymn to Puruṣa (Rg. X. 90) repeated 8000 times, 800 times or 28 times, worship should be offered with sandal-wood paste and flowers, naivedya (food) of rice cooked with jaggery should be offered. This is the way in which the re-consecration is effected.

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*Jīrṇoddhāra* (rehabilitating old or dilapidated temples &c.). This subject is closely connected with the preceding topic and is dealt with in the Agnipurāṇa, chap. 67 and 103 (about liṅgas); the Nirṇayasindhu (III. pūrvārdha p. 353), the Dharmasindhu (III. pūrvārdha p. 335) give an extensive procedure following the Agnipurāṇa. This is done when the image in a temple or a liṅga is burnt, or reduced to particles or is removed to another place. The Agnipurāṇa (103. 4) says that if an image or liṅga is carried off by the strong current of a river, it may be re-consecrated elsewhere according to the rites prescribed in the śāstra. According to the Agnipurāṇa²⁰⁹⁷ (103. 21) a liṅga that is reputed to have been established by the asuras (like Bāṇāsura) or famous sages or by gods or by those who were expert in Tantra should not be removed to another place, whether it be worn out or broken, even after the performance of prescribed rites. The Agnipurāṇa prescribes (chap. 67. 3-6) that an image of wood when extremely worn out may be burnt, one of stone may be thrown into water, one made of metal or of a jewel (pearl &c.) should be thrown into very deep water or the sea after carrying it covered with cloth in a cart to the accompaniment of music and on the same day another of the same dimensions and substance should be installed after the purification of the image is effected. When the daily worship of an image had been stopped of set purpose or when it is touched by śūdras and the like, purification can be effected only by re-consecration. Re-consecration can be done even in intercalary months or when Venus is too near the sun to be visible. When a temple or a well or a tank is breached or when a garden embankment or a public hall is injured, one should offer four oblations of clarified butter with the four verses 'idam Viṣṇur' (Ṛg. I. 22.17), 'mā nastoke' (Ṛg. I. 114. 8), 'Viṣṇoḥ karmāṇi' (Ṛg. I. 22. 19), 'pādosya' (Ṛg. X. 90. 3), and then a dinner may be given to brāhmaṇas.

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²⁰⁹⁷ नादेयेन प्रवाहेण तद्वपाक्रियते यदि । ततोन्यत्रापि संस्थाप्य विधिवद्भूष्टेन कर्मणा ॥ असुरैर्मुनिभिर्गावैस्तन्त्रविद्भिः प्रतिष्ठितम् । जीर्ण वाप्यथवा भग्नं विधिनापि न चालयेत् ॥ अग्निपुराण 103. 4 and 21.

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The procedure of *jīrṇoddhāra* is given at length in the Nirṇayasindhu, the Dharmasindhu and other works. Vṛddha-Hārīta IX. 409-415 also deals with re-consecration. Śaṅkha-Likhita quoted in the Vivāda-ratnākara and other works say that, when an image, a garden, a well, a bridge (over a moat or river), a flagstaff, a dam, a reservoir of water are breached, they should be repaired (or raised), re-consecrated and the person guilty of breach should be fined 800 paṇas.²⁰⁹⁸ When worship was stopped, some authors prescribed re-consecration, while others prescribed only prokṣaṇa as laid down in the Devapratiṣṭhā-tattva (p. 512) or Dharmasindhu (III pūrvārdha p. 334).

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²⁰⁹⁸ प्रतिमारामकूपसंक्रमध्वजसेतुनिपानभङ्गेषु तत्समुत्थापनं प्रतिसंस्कारोऽष्टशतं च। वि. र. p. 364. The निर्णयसिन्धु explains समुत्थानं प्रतिक्रियां प्रतिसंस्कारः पुनः प्रतिष्ठा अष्टशतं पणा दण्ड्येत्यर्थः । (III, पूर्वार्ध p. 352.)

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The Kirāḍu (Jodhpur) Inscription of the time of king Bhīmadeva of Aṇahillapāṭaka records that in place of an image broken by Turuṣkas (Moslems) a new one was installed in *saṁvat* 1235 (1178-79 A. D.) by the wife of Tejaḥpāla, a subordinate officer of the feudatory Cāhamāna Mahārājaputra Madanabrahma (vide E. I. vol. XX, Appendix p. 56 No. 381).

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*Maṭhapratiṣṭhā* :—(the founding of a monastery or a college for teachers and pupils.)

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The founding of maṭhas appears to have been not very ancient. The Baud. Dh. S. (III. 1. 16) in speaking of a householder who is an *agnihotrin* remarks 'after departing from his house he (the householder) stops at the extremity of the village, builds there a hut (kuṭī), or a cottage hall (maṭha) and enters it'. Here maṭha does not appear to have any technical sense. In the lexicon of Amara a maṭha is defined as 'a place where pupils (and their teacher) reside'. A temple and a maṭha were both established from the same religious motive or sentiment, but they served different purposes. A temple was built principally for the purpose of prayer and worship. It also often provided for religious instruction, for the recitation of the Mahābhārata, the Rāmāyaṇa and the purāṇas, for *kīrtans* to the accompaniment of music. But these latter were only secondary purposes. In the case of the maṭhas they were primarily intended for the instruction of pupils or the laity by some great teacher in the tenets of a sect or in the doctrines of some philosophy or in some branch of learning such as grammar, mīmāṁsā, astronomy and the like. In many cases shrines or temples are associated with or affiliated to the maṭhas, but the worship of a particular deity is not the primary object of maṭhas. Maṭhas among the followers of the Vedic religion probably owed their origin to the example of Buddhist monasteries (vihāras)²⁰⁹⁹.

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The foundation of maṭhas received a great fillip after the times of the celebrated *Advaita* teacher, the great Śaṅkarācārya, whom tradition credits with having established for the propagation of his system of Vedānta four maṭhas at Śṛṅgerī, Purī (Govardhanamaṭha), Dvārakā (Śāradāmaṭha) and Badarī (Jyotirmaṭha). Vide E. C. vol. VI Sg. No. 11 (an inscription dated 1652 A. D.) where reference is made to a grant in Śṛṅgapura, the dharmapīṭha established by Śaṅkarācārya, to the famous maṭha at Śṛṅgerī for the worship of Mallikārjuna, Vidyā-śaṅkara-svāmī and Śāradāmbā. Other ācāryas like Rāmānuja and Madhva established their own maṭhas and the number of maṭhas is now legion. Originally a maṭha started by a sannyāsin like the great Śaṅkarācārya must have had no property, as ascetics were prohibited by the śāstras from possessing property, except such articles of personal use as clothes, sandals, religious books on palm leaf or paper &c. Besides sannyāsins were required not to stay long in one place. So people built shelters for them, in order to accommodate them when they visited their town or village and these were probably originally called maṭha, which in its narrow sense means a place where an ascetic resides. In its wider sense it means an institution where a teacher presides and instructs several disciples in religious and analogous tenets, practices and dogmas.

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But gradually the zeal and devotion of the disciples and followers of the great teachers endowed the maṭhas with considerable moveable and immoveable properties. The origin of maṭhas (spoken of as maṭṭams in South India) has been lucidly set forth as follows in *Sammantha Pandara v. Sellappa Chetti* 2 Mad. 175 at p. 179 'a preceptor of religious doctrine gathers around him a number of disciples whom he initiates into the particular mysteries of the order and instructs in its religious tenets. Such of these disciples as intend to become religious teachers renounce their connection with their family and all claims to the family wealth and as it were affiliate themselves to the spiritual teacher whose school they have entered. Pious persons endow the schools with property which is vested in the preceptor for the time being and a home for the school is created and a maṭṭam constituted. The property of the maṭṭam does not descend to the disciples or elders in common; the preceptor, the head of the institution, selects from among the affiliated disciples him whom he deems the most competent and in his own life-time instals the disciple so settled as his successor, not uncommonly with some ceremonies. After the death of the preceptor the disciple so chosen is installed in the *gaddi* and takes by succession the property which has been held by his predecessor. The property is in fact attached to the office and passes by inheritance to no one who does not fill that office.

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It is in a certain sense trust property; it is devoted to the maintenance of the establishment, but the superior has a large domain over it, and is not accountable for its management nor for the expenditure of the income, provided he does not apply it to any purpose other than what may fairly be regarded as in furtherance of the object of the institution. Acting for the whole institution he may contract debts for purposes connected with his maṭṭam and debts so contracted might be recovered from the maṭṭam property and would devolve as a liability on his successor to the extent of the assets received by him'. Vide also *Giyana Sambandha Pandar Sannadhi v. Kandasami Tambiran* 10 Mad. 375, pp. 384–389; *Vidyapurna Tirtha Swami v. Vidyanidhi Tirtha Swami* 27 Mad. 435 at pp. 438–439, 451, 453–55, *Kailasam Pillai v. Nataraja*, 33 Mad. 265 (F. B.) at pp. 267, 273–277 for further remarks on the origin, growth and objects of maṭhas.²¹⁰⁰

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