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
52 (of 57)
External source: Shodhganga (Repository of Indian theses)
Download the PDF file of the original publication
Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)
Mantras are of two kinds: gross and subtle, and partless and with parts. Some mantras are said to be vyāpaka as they provide all the mantras. The Pāñcarātra system admits five mantras, i.e. praṇava', ṣaḍaksara², aṣṭākṣara³, dvādaśākṣara* and jitantā³. There are angamantra that is him, sira� śikhā, kavaca, netra and astramantra. There are the mantras for the deities forming the ornament and weapons of Viṣṇu and other deities. The twelve syllabled mantra is of great importance in the system. Special mantras are used for specific purpose like invocation, bhūtaśuddhi, arghya, pādya, ācamaniya and others. 1 om 2 om namo viṣṇave 3 om namo nārāyaṇāya 4 om namo bhagavate vasudevāya 5 om jita� te puṇḍarikākṣa namas te viśvabhāvana namas te stu hṛṣikeśa mahā puruṣa pūrvaja Tārā's aṇgamantras: Om hṛam jnānāya hrdayāya nama� (hrn mantra) Om hrīm aiśvaryāya sirase svāhā (śirā h-mantra) Om hrūm śaktaye sikhāyai vauṣat (sikhā- mantra) Om hraim balaya kavacāya hum (kavaca-mantra) Om hraum tejase netrābhyām vauṣat (netra-mantra) Om hra� viryāya astraya phat (stra-mantra) 52
