Rules for Sannyasa Continued

Subrahmanya said

He takes his bath at midday and, controlling his mind, gathers perfumes, flowers, rice and other worship materials. In the south-east he worships Vighnesha, revered by the gods, invoking him by the rules with the mantra "gananam tva": red, huge, adorned with every ornament, holding noose, goad, beads and a boon in his lotus hands. So at sandhya he invokes Shambhu's son Gajanana, worships him with sweet milk rice, cakes, a coconut and molasses, offers an excellent food offering and betel, and when he is satisfied bows and prays that obstacles be removed. By the rules the fire for worship is in his own house, and, following the sacrifice rules, ghee oblations are made into it, completed with the three Riks "bhuh svaha." He then attentively does japa of the Gayatri until afternoon. In the evening he bathes and does the sandhya worship, offers the evening oblations silently and tells his guru it is done. He boils the rice offering and gathers different kindling, cooked food and ghee. Oblations are made with suktas to Rudra, Sadyojata and others. Mahadeva is thought of in the fire with Amba and the five brahmanas, Gouri remembered and oblations offered with the mantra "gourirmimaya." He offers oblations once with "agnaye svishtakrite svaha." When they are done, a learned person sits north of the fire, silent, on cloth or antelope skin with kusha spread on it, steady in mind, does Gayatri japa and waits for Brahma muhurta. He bathes, or, if he cannot, keeps the rules and only wears ash. Otherwise he cooks the rice offering on a fire, pours ghee on it and offers it as oblation. Then he recites the Rudra sukta with the vyahritis and, doing japa, fixes his mind on the five brahmanas, Shiva's lotus feet, Prajapati, Indra and the Vishvadevas. Brahma and the others are addressed in the dative ending with "svaha" and "Aum." After japa he utters words of blessing, says "agnaye svaha," offers into the fire, completing it with five oblations of "pranaya svaha," offers ghee into the svishtakrit fire, again does japa with the Rudra sukta and hymns to the five brahmanas, and with mantras to the four forms, Mahesha and the others. The remaining oblations are made by the path of his own Vedic branch. A discriminating person follows the same procedure for the other gods with their accompaniments, so oblations are offered into the fire's mouth by the practices of tantra. Then the Viraja oblations are made so that the twenty-six tattvas in the body merge and become purified. He says, "Let the tattvas in my body become purified," and for his purification the Arunaketuka mantras are used. Sage, he names the tattvas in order from earth to Purusha, remembering Shiva's lotus feet as he silently offers ghee into the red fire. There are five of earth and the others, five of sound and the others, five of the tongue and others, and, besides the ears and others, four added later: head, sides, stomach and calves. There are seven bodily constituents, the five breaths beginning with prana, five sheaths, and the resolves: mind, consciousness, intellect, ego and fame. The gunas follow, and Prakriti, beyond which is Purusha, the enjoyer, the rest being like his food. Five others are described within: destiny, time, attachment, learning and kala. These arise from maya. The shruti says, "Maya is Prakriti, and learning and the others are maya," and the tattvas named in the shruti come from it, without doubt. The shruti says, "Destiny is the nature of time." These sets of five are called cycles of five. One who does not know their nature is not learned but foolish. Not understanding Prakriti's nature, Purusha falls below; Purusha sticks to Prakriti's side as eyes stick to a crow's sides. This is called Vidya-tattva, and is called pure knowledge of Maheshvara, Maheshvari, Sadashiva, Shakti and Shiva as fifth. It is also called Shiva-tattva, expressed in a statement about brahman, "Prajnanam Brahma." Sage, earth and the other tattvas arise from Shiva and dissolve into their own causes, and by this process are purified. He uses eleven mantras to describe the supreme destination and utters the word "Shiva-jyoti" for that destination in the dative. After the oblations he says "not for me," marking renunciation. Then he uses various mantras, kapotakaya and others, addressing the supreme self as the pervasive one, with the words "Shiva-jyoti," "Vishvabhuta" and "Ghasanotsuka" in the dative, and the expression "To the divinity who is the supreme destination." A mantra to make Vishvarupa arise is used, and the expression "To Purusha. Aum. Svaha," then "To the pervasive supreme self, destination of the three worlds. This is not for me." The rites conclude by the branch of the Vedas he follows. Then he eats the rice offering and the cakes mixed with ghee, gives the invited brahmana the fee, gold and other things, and shows the gesture of taking leave. Then he does the morning worship, does japa with "Let the Maruts sprinkle on me," uses "ya te agne," warms his hands at the fire and invokes it in his own self. He does the morning sandhya, worships Aditya, enters water up to his navel and, eager and cheerful, does japa with a steady mind. He offers into the fire and does the beneficial Prajapatya rites by the fire rites of the shruti, and gives away everything he owns as fee.

Having invoked the fire in his self, the brahmana leaves the house. He chants the first line of the Savitri mantra and says, "I am entering Savitri. Bhuh. Aum." Likewise the second line, "Bhuvah," and the third, "Svah," and then all three lines, "Bhuh. Bhuvah. Svah. Aum," with a cheerful, steady mind. Then an intelligent person does Gayatri japa and thinks: this is Bhagavati, half of Shankara's body, with five faces and ten arms, three dazzling eyes, her diadem adorned with the nine jewels and marked with the rising moon, like pure crystal, holding ten weapons, her body adorned with necklace, armlet, waist ornament, bangles and anklets, in divine garments and ornaments. Vishnu, Brahma, gods, rishis, gandharva leaders and humans always serve Shivaa, who pervades all selves, charming, keeping dharma, the divinity Sadashiva's wife, Jagadamba, mother of the three, with three gunas and without, the original being without birth, the primordial Devi, with brahman in her, whom the three lines represent. The Gayatri mantra is Shiva's form, and one who recites it improperly is a sinner cooked in terrible hell for countless kalpas. She arises in the vyahritis and dissolves into them; the vyahritis arise from Pranava and dissolve into Pranava. Pranava is the beginning of all Vedas, expresses Shiva, is the emperor of all mantras, the great seed and supreme mantra. It is said Shiva is Pranava and Pranava is Shiva, with no difference between speaker and thing spoken. When beings chant this great mantra or hear it and give up their bodies in Kashi, Shiva gives them supreme liberation. So that single syllable expresses the divinity Shiva, the supreme cause, and the best of mendicants use it to worship him in the heart lotus. There are men who desire liberation, persevering and unattached to worldly pursuits, who know their minds should not be on material objects and worship supreme Shiva. So he dissolves Gayatri into Pranava, which expresses Shiva. Then he does japa with the anuvaka "Aham vrikshasya reriva" and the anuvaka beginning "yashcchandasamrishabhah" and ending with "gopaya." After the japa he states that he has risen. He utters Pranava three times in low, medium and high tone, for creation, preservation and dissolution, saying in order: "Aum. Bhuh. I have taken renunciation. Aum. Bhuvah. I have taken renunciation. Aum. Svah. I have taken renunciation." So he recites the first of all mantras, Pranava first and the vyahritis after, in low, middle and high tones, meditating on Sadashiva in his heart. Attentively he does japa with the presha mantra and with the words "Let all living beings have nothing to fear from me. Aum. Svaha." He takes water in his cupped hands and flings it east. With his hands he pulls off his tuft and takes off his sacred thread, holds them, chants Pranava and says "Go away to the ocean," and adds the name of Agni's wife. With the water in his cupped hands he places the two in the water reciting the presha mantra, rinses three times, returns to the bank and casts his clothes on the ground. He takes more than seven steps toward the north or east. The teacher stops him and says: stop; for conduct in this world accept this loincloth and staff, illustrious one. He hands them over himself, giving a loincloth with its string and an ochre garment, and asking him to wear them says "You are Indra's vajra" with the proper mantra. The disciple does japa with "For my friend" and accepts the staff. He goes to his guru's side remembering Shiva's lotus feet, controls himself and bows three times like a rod, rises and looks at his guru gently with a loving glance, joins his hands and stands near his feet. Before the rites began he should have gathered auspicious cow dung, dried it in the sun's rays and made balls small as myrobalan fruit, to be offered as oblations. When the oblations are over he collects the ash and keeps it. The guru takes the white ashes from the Viraja fire and with the mantra "Agni is this ash," and so on, applies it all over the disciple's body from head to foot, using five mantras: the one beginning with Ishana, "tryayusham" and "Tryambakam yajamahe." From the head he applies it to every part by the rules. With virtuous devotion in mind the excellent disciple meditates on Shiva, Uma's friend, seated in the lotus of his heart. The guru places his hand on the disciple's head and recites Pranava three times in his right ear, naming the rishi. The excellent guru shows compassion, teaches him Pranava's meaning and imparts knowledge of the six Vedangas. The disciple bows twelve times like a rod, stays always subservient and does nothing else. With the guru's leave and following Vedanta's meaning he learns the supreme knowledge of Shiva with the distinction between attributed and unattributed. After making him do the morning rites, hearing and the other disciplines, the guru has him do japa. He performs the worship in the mandala called Kailasa-prastara and the disciple worships him by the path Shiva indicated. If he cannot always worship the auspicious image his guru worships, he uses Ishvara's crystal linga on a pedestal. A disciple full of devotion to Shiva takes a pledge in his guru's presence, saying three times: better I give up my life, even by cutting off my head, than eat without having worshipped Bhagavan Trilochana. From then on, steady in mind and full of devotion, he worships Mahadeva every day by the path of the five sheaths.