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In the chapter 1 to 3 in Section 5 of Kailash-saṃhita of Shiva Purana, Shiva informed about Pranava to Parvati.
The Pranava is Shiva. Vedas arise from the Pranava. Pranava is the seed of all the lore. It is the imperishable Brahman, the means of attaining all objects. Shiva creates universe at the outset saying “Om”. He who aspires for salvation and is free from aberration shall understand Pranava as the cause of all and me as the Nirguṇa Parameshvara. Structure of Pranava: The Pranava of five syllables is explained by extricating the three Matras AUM), Bindu and Nada. It yields liberation to those who perform the Japa in this manner. Pranava is the vital breath of all living beings from Brahma to immobile beings. Being the Prana thus, it is called Pranava. The first letter (A) is like water in the south, the second letter (U) is in the north; the letter M is like fire in the middle, before Nada and Bindu. ‘A’ is the great Bija, Rajas, the four-faced creator. ‘U’ is the Prakirti, source, Sattva, the protector Vishnu. ‘M’ is the Purusha, the Bijin, Tamas, the annihilator Shiva. Bindu is Maheshvara the lord, the disappearance. Nada is Sadashiva the bestower of blessings on all. On the top of Nada there is Shiva who is greater than the greatest. He is omniscient, the creator, the lord, free from dirt, the imperishable, the inexpressible, the great Brahman, beyond the existent and the nonexistent. The five Brahmans beginning with Sadya and ending with Ishana are stationed in the five letters ‘A’ etc. They are my very forms in order. In the syllable ‘A’ eight Kalas of the form of Sadya exist. “In ‘U’ thirteen Kalas of the form of Vama exist. The eight Kalas of the form of Aghora are stationed in ‘M’. In Bindu four Kalas of the form of Puruṣa exist. In Nada five Kalas born of Ishana are present. Thus, their state of being the soul of the universe is due to the recognition of their sixfold identity. The sixfold objects constitute Mantra, Yantra, deity, universe, the preceptor and the disciple. The mantra previously mentioned is a composite of five letters. The same attains the form of a Yantra. I shall mention the details of its mystic diagram. Yantra is in the form of the deity; the deity is in the form of the universe; the preceptor too is in the form of the universe and the disciple is of the body of the preceptor. Om is everything, everything is Brahman. This Vedic Text establishes the link between the word and its meaning. The preceptor shall be one who has understood the tenets and the meanings of sacred texts; who has mastered Vedanta; who is an ascetic and the most excellent of intelligent men. After approaching him the intelligent brahmin shall prostrate before him and propitiate him by reverential deeds. That disciple is the most excellent who possesses good behavior and the qualities of peaceful calmness. The disciple shall realize that preceptor is Shiva and Shiva is the preceptor. Then he shall reveal his thought. Holy rites by Preceptor: After being permitted by the preceptor the brahmin devotee shall perform holy rites without taking anything except milk, for twelve days on the sea-shore, or on the banks of a river, or on a mountain or in a temple of Shiva. On the fifth or the eleventh day of the bright half he shall take his bath early in the morning. The intelligent devotee pure in mind shall perform his daily duty. He shall invite the preceptor duly and perform Nandi shraddha. He shall get himself shaved of the hair on the head and the moustache and the beards. The hair in the armpit and the private parts must not be shaved. The nails shall be cut. He shall perform his ceremonial ablution with restrained mind. He shall cat only powdered fried grain. In the evening he shall take his bath and perform Sandhya. In the presence of the preceptor, he shall perform the Aupasana rites in the evening. To Shiva in the form of the preceptor he shall give Dakṣiṇa according to the scriptures. He shall collect articles for Homa. place the holy fires, laukika and others, with the rules of his Gṛhya Sutra. A brahmin who consecrates the sacred fire shall perform this Aupasana in the sacrificial fire consecrated by the Prajapatya sacrifice, reciting mantras from the Vedas and offering due Dakṣiṇas. Then the brahmin shall superimpose the fire in the Atman and formally renounce the world. The food-offering shall be cooked with the fire-wood and cooked rice and ghee. He shall perform the sacrifice repeating the Purusha Sukta. The ghee shall be offered at the end of every stanza. The Sauvisṭakrti shall be performed in accordance with the rules of his own Sutra. After the sacrifice he shall perform Tantric activities. The learned devotee shall sit on a doth, deer-skin or Kusha grass to the north of the fire. He shall repeat the Gayatri mantra silently till the Brahma Muhurta, and stabilise his mind firmly. Then he shall take bath and cook the Caru. He shall perform the sacrifice beginning with Puruṣa and ending with the Viraja suktas. After performing the remaining rites of the sacrifice, he shall perform the Aupasana rites of the morning. Then he shall superimpose Agni in the Atman and perform the morning prayers. When the sun has arisen, he shall recite Savitri. He shall eschew the three Aṣaṇas and repeat the Presa mantras. He shall abandon the tuft, the sacred thread and the girdle too. He shall start to the east or to the north. He shall lake with him a staff and a loin-cloth and such other things as are necessary for life. If he is totally detached, he need not take these things too. He shall approach the preceptor and prostrate before him thrice. Standing up he shall sit at the feet of the preceptor. The teacher shall take the white ashes from the Viraja fire and smear it over the body of the disciple. Repeating the mantra “Agniriti” etc. he shall make the three marks Tripuṇḍra on his forehead. He shall think of me stationed in the lotus of the heart along with you. Then the teacher shall place his hand on the head of the disciple. With a delighted mind, the preceptor shall utter the Pranavamantra thrice in the right ear of the disciple mentioning the sage etc. Then he shall tell him the sixfold meaning. The disciple shall bow prostrate before the preceptor on the ground twelve times. He shall remain subservient to him and practise the study of the Vedanta strenuously. He shall ponder and meditate in the pure Atman without aberrations, upon me the great Atman, the Saksin of Brahman, the unchanging. Here the person authorised is the ascetic engaged in the pious activities of self-restraint, the master of Vedantic knowledge and free from rivalry. The lotus of the heart is free from dust, devoid of sorrow, clear and great. It has eight petals with filaments and it shines above the pericarp. After thinking about the region from the Adhara-Shakti to the three Tattvas the Dahara Vyoman (the ether-heart) shall be imagined and conceived in the middle. Repeating the single-syllabled Brahman Om, he shall with alert mind think of me along with you in the middle. He who performs the rite of this type attains my world. After securing the knowledge of my principles he will attain Sayujya salvation as the fruit.
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In the chapters 9, 14 & 15 of Section 5 of Kailash-saṃhita of Shiva Purana, Shiva informed about the Pranava.
The Shivatva and Shaktitva is present in the great Atman. The bliss from the union of Shiva and Shakti is ever rising. Sinless ascetics attain untainted auspiciousness. The meaning of the letter ‘Sa’ in Hamsa is Shiva. The Shakti form is expressed by the great Mantra. Another word in Vedas, “Prajnanam” is a synonym of consciousness. Chaitanya is the freedom in respect of the knowledge and activity of everything in the universe. In another aphorism of Shiva viz; “Jnanaṃ Bandhaḥ” the lord speaks of the nature of individual souls. Shiva Shakti & its Veils: The five Shakti (veils) of Shiva are: activity, knowledge, completeness, eternality and pervasiveness. There are five tattvas of the individual soul, viz, Kalaa (the veil of time), Vidyaa (the veil of limited knowledge), Raga (the veil of desire), Kaala (the veil of being limited) and Niyati (the veil of causality). Kalaa is the cause of doing anything. Vidyaa is the means of certain Tattvas. Raga is the attachment to the sense-objects. Kaala is the illuminator of positive and negative appearances. Niyati means the factor that discriminates and ordains. This set of five is called “the five sheaths” in view of its nature of enveloping the form. It is the innermost and most essential means. Knowledge & Activity: The word Jnana refers to power of knowledge and activity. These reaching the Centre of the mind become the object of perception on the part of sense-organs the individual soul enters these, then knows and acts. It is certain that the union of Shiva and Shakti is the great Atman. From Para Shakti is born the chit Shakti. Born of it is the power of bliss. The power of will is born of that. From this is born the power of knowledge and from this is born the power of activity, the fifth one. Pranava: Nada and Bindu are born of chit and Ananda Shaktis (power of bliss). The letter ‘ma’ is born of Icchashakti (power of desire). The fifth vowel ‘U’ is born of Jnana Shakti (power of knowledge) and the letter ‘A’ is born of Kriyashakti (power of action). The origin of the Praṇava has been mentioned thus. The five elements beginning with the ether are born of this set of five letters of the Praṇava which constitute pairs based on the relationship of the word and its meaning. Akasha has the only attribute of sound. The wind has the two: sound and touch. The fire has three: sound, touch and colour. The water has four: sound, touch; colour and taste. The earth has five: sound, touch, colour, taste and smell. This is the Vyapakatva (pervasiveness) of the Bhutas. The Vyapakatva is in the inverse order beginning with smell. The five Bhutas constitute the universe. Virat is the composite form of all. The universe is thus created. It begins with the element of the earth and ends with the element of Shiva. After merging with each other they merge in the individual soul ultimately. Accompanied by the energy it comes out again for the purpose of creation. It appears in the form of the gross cosmos and functions till the period of dissolution. The primeval oozing of Shiva who attempts to create the universe at his will is called Shiva tattva. Pranava expressive of Shiva is taught through yantra. It is the composite of five letters. The four viz, Bindu etc. constitute the form of yantra in the Shaiva cult. Pranava is the highest Mantra—the very Shiva himself. Sixfold perfect knowledge of The Pranava: Perfect knowledge comprises the meaning of Pranava by realising the unity of six topics. The first topic is the mantra; the second Yantra; the third deity; the fourth the cosmos; the fifth the preceptor; the sixth the Atman of the disciple.
Forms of Shiva: Shiva is also called by the following eight names — Shiva, Maheshvara, Rudra, Vishnu, Pitamaha, Saṃsaravaidya, Saravajna, Paramatman. Due to the antecedent non-existence of the contact with the primordial Avidya he is naturally pure-souled and is called Shiva. Mahashvara means beyond Prakriti & Purusha; Rudra means dispeller of misery; Pitamaha means father of the Trinity which in turn is the cause of the universe. Shiva is called Vishnu because he pervades the principles of Shiva ending with the earth and the bodies, pots etc. Shiva is called Samsaravaidya (Physician) as He is the cause of dissolution, sustenance and origin of the world as well as the router of the gross. Shiva is also called Sarvajna (Omnicient) as He knows every existent object naturally, even though he has no sense-organs yielding the knowledge of all existent objects. Shiva is the Parmatman (great Atman) because he is the Atman of all, he is for ever endowed with the great qualities and there is no greater Atman than him. Worship of Shiva by means of Pranava: After eulogising Mahadeva, identical with Pranava, the imperishable and offering gifts on the head of Ishana, he worships the lord with the purity of mind, by means of the Pranava. He shall then take a handful of flowers, join palms in reverence, inhale through the left nostril, identifying the inhaled air with Shiva and exhale through the right nostril bidding the ritualistic adieu to the goddess. He shall realise the identity of Shiva with himself. “I am Shiva alone.” He shall make the ritualistic dismissal of the deities conceived in the heart. After worshipping the lore and the preceptor he shall fix in the heart the mantras of the conch and the vessel of Arghya. After consigning the remnants of the floral offerings to Candesha in the north-east quarter he shall restrain the vital breath and utter the names of the sages. This Maṇḍala is technically known as Kailasaprastara. This shall be worshipped every day, or every fortnight, or every month or once in six months or once in a year or during the Chaturmasya festival. A theist shall necessarily worship my Linga every day. On the day of initiation, he shall worship the Linga along with the preceptor and bow thrice in front of the preceptor: “Till my death I shall worship Shiva”. He shall pour water from Argha above on the top of Linga. After worshipping it with Praṇava he shall offer incense and the lamp. After propitiating Canda in the north-east he shall offer Nirmalya. Repeating the Pranava he shall put a flower on the top of the Linga. He shall mentally conceive everythig from the Adhara Shakti to the seat of the holy lore and install the supreme god. He shall perform the ablution of the lord with Panchagavya etc. or with holy water rendered fragrant with scented articles repeating the mantras from the Ṛg or Samaveda such as “Pavamana” “Rudra” “Nila” or “Tvarita” along with the five Brahmans. The Praṇava or the name of Shiva can be used as mantra. The ablution shall be made with the Arghya water repeating the Praṇava. After wiping the Linga with a piece of cloth he shall put a flower on the top. After installing the Linga on the pedestal, he shall perform the worship of the sun. He shall worship the Adharashakti and Ananta beneath the pedestal. After worshipping the throne duly with the lower and upper lid he shall worship Skanda on the foot of the Piṭha. After conceiving Shiva in the Linga, he shall worship Shiva along with Parvati. This is a great secret. It illuminates the meaning of the Pranava. Leading to the knowledge of Shiva it destroys all your miseries. |
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