Essay name: Diksha (initiation) in Pancharatra
Author:
Shanta Srinivasan
Affiliation: University of Madras / Department of Sanskrit
This English essay studies Diksha in Pancharatra with reference to important texts. Diksha refers to initiation ceremonies into a particular esoteric tradition which is given, for example, by the teacher (Guru) to the student (Shishya). Pancharatra refers to an ancient school of Vaishnavism based on ancient Tantra-like texts called Agamas which were commonly written in Sanskrit verse.
Chapter 1 - Introduction
50 (of 57)
External source: Shodhganga (Repository of Indian theses)
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"Yat jñātvā na punarjanma bhavatyārādhakasya ca | ādāyākṣasva madhyastha� nābhipūrvamataḥparam|| pūrvam nemes tu tasyaiva yojya� nābhitrayodaśaml dvitiyād apara� varṇa� sarvaśaktyātmanepadam|| dvitiya� dvādaśād varṇam dvitīyāt prathama� tataḥl pañcama� ca bahiṣthebhyas trīnetān viddhi kevalān|| nābhyekādaśaṃbhina� dvitīyam cāṣṭamāt tatah | namonama� padayuto mantras cāstādaśāksarah || asyaikārnam padam pūrvam tryakṣaram tad anantaram | ṣaḍakṣaram tṛtīyam tu caturtham caturakṣaram || dvitiyam dvyakṣaram canyat padob� samprakirtitam | trtiyam atha vaksyāmi mantram mantravidhām vara! ||" The Pañcarātra Agama divides a sentence which forms a mantra into four parts called bīja, piṇḍa, pada and samjñā and each one of these is in itself effective as a mantra. The first, that is bīja, is used independently and also forms the essential part of the mantra. It may be formed from one or two vowels or from a vowel and consonants to become a mantra. Many vowels, letters like praṇava hrim, aim, klīm, gam and so on represent the bijamantra. The consonants which run between the bīja and the other parts of the sentence are called piṇḍamantra. The piṇḍamantra has the vowel and all case suffixes and is in the form of praise to the deity and addresses it (example sahasrajvālāya). Saṃjñā mantras consists in the name of a particular deity addressed in the mantra along with the 50
