History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v7.c92.256

v7.c92.256

One of the important items in the Tāntrik ritual and worship is *nyāsa*, which means 'mentally invoking a god or gods, mantras and holy texts to come to occupy certain parts of the body in order to render the body a pure and fit receptacle for worship and meditation'. Several works such as the Jayākhya-saṁhitā (Paṭala XI), Prapañcasāra (VI), Kulārṇava (IV. 18 ff) refer to several kinds of nyāsa; the Śāradātilaka (IV. 29-41, V. 5-7), Mahānirvāṇatantra (III. 41-43, V. 113-118) describe several varieties of nyāsa. Rāghavabhaṭṭa on Śāradātilaka (IV. 29-41) cites numerous quotations on *nyāsa* from an extensive literature. There are several kinds of nyāsa such¹⁸²⁸ as Haṁsanyāsa, Praṇavanyāsa, Mātṛkānyāsa, Mantranyāsa, Karanyāsa, Aṅganyāsa, Pīṭhanyāsa. Praṇavanyāsa is illustrated as 'om ām Brahmane namaḥ', 'om ām Viṣṇave namaḥ' and so on for all the names set out by Rāghavabhaṭṭa on Śāradātilaka 25. 58. The Aṅganyāsa (nyāsa on parts of the body) is illustrated as follows: om hṛdayāya namaḥ, om śirase svāhā, śikhāyai vaṣaṭ, om kavacāya huṁ, om netratrayāya (or netradvayāya) vaṣaṭ, om astrāya phaṭ'. Several Purāṇas contain provisions about *nyāsa*. The Garuḍapurāṇa (I. chapters 26, 31, 32) describes aṅganyāsa as part of worship, japa and homa. The Nārādīyapurāṇa (II. 57. 13-14), the Bhāgavata (VI. 8, about 40 verses), Brahma (60. 35-40) provide for nyāsa of the mantras 'om namo Nārāyaṇāya', and 'om Viṣṇave namaḥ'. The Kālikāpurāṇa (chap. 77) deals with Mātṛkānyāsa. The Smṛtimuktāphala (Āhnika pp. 329-331) quotes several passages dealing with nyāsa of the 24 letters of the Gāyatrī (Ṛg. III. 62. 10) on several parts of the body, meditation on each of the 24 letters as having certain colours of flowers and as identical with certain gods and avatāras and nyāsa of the Gāyatrīpādas on limbs. The Brahmapurāṇa (60 35-39) deals with the nyāsa of the mantra ‘oṃ namo Nārāyaṇāya’ on the fingers and also on other parts of the body, and speaks of Karaṇyāsa and Aṅganyāsa in 28. 26. Padma¹⁸²⁹ (VI 79. 17-30) describes the nyāsa of the names of Viṣṇu on the limbs of the body from the head to the feet and Padma VI. 85. 26 speaks of Aṅganyāsa and Karaṇyāsa with the mantra ‘oṃ namo bhagavate Vāsudevāya’. The Matsyapurāṇa¹⁸³⁰ provides for the employment in nyāsa of mantras with ‘om’ prefixed to them Karāṅganyāsa and Aṅganyāsa of Gāyatrī are dealt with in Devībhāgavata XI. 16. 76-91 and it expressly names nyāsa as part of *sandhyā* worship.¹⁸³¹ Vide also Devībhāgavata XI. 7. 26-38 for nyāsa and Kālikāpurāṇa 53. 36. The Devībhāgavata (VII. 40. 6-8) mentions the nyāsa of certain letters on such parts of the body as the chest, the space between the eyebrows, the head. The Bṛhad-yogiyājñavalkya¹⁸³² contained verses dealing with the nyāsa of the names of Viṣṇu such as Govinda, Mahīdhara, Hṛṣīkeśa, Trivikrama, Viṣṇu, Mādhava on the fingers of the right hand and the palm and back respectively, which are quoted by the Smṛticandrikā (I. p 198) as from Yoga-yājñavalkya and which have been taken over in the *sandhyā* worship in modern times The latter work (Sm. C. I. p. 145) also contains Aṅganyāsa of several portions of Gāyatrī, the nyāsa of the single letters of the Gāyatrī on the limbs and Aparārka (p. 140) quotes a passage for the employment of the sixteen verses of the Puruṣasūkta (Ṛg X. 90) for nyāsa on the several limbs in the worship of Viṣṇu For the nyāsa of the letters of the alphabet from 'a' to 'kṣa', vide Śāradātilaka V. 5-8 and Rāghavabhaṭṭa on V 4 who quotes verses setting out how each letter is to be meditated upon. The Mahānirvāṇa (V. 176-178) also specifies the limbs on which there is to be nyāsa of the letters of the alphabet from the forehead downwards.