More Descriptions of Worship

The rishis said

Fortunate disciple of Vyasa, please tell us the fruits Shambhu gives for worship with different kinds of flowers.

Suta replied

Shounaka and the other rishis, listen lovingly. With great affection I will tell you everything on the settled view about flowers and leaves. Vidhatri was once asked this by the great sage Narada, and with great love he told him.

Brahma said

A person who wants prosperity should worship the god Shiva with lotuses, bilva leaves, shatapatras and conch flowers. Brahmana, if a person worships Shiva with a hundred thousand such flowers, his sins are destroyed and doubtless he gains prosperity. Twenty lotuses are said to make a prastha. A thousand bilva leaves make half a prastha, and a thousand shatapatras half a prastha. There are sixteen palas in a prastha and ten tankas in a pala. If these measures are weighed on a pair of scales, every desire is accomplished. If a person has no desires, he becomes like Shiva. Lords among sages, a person who wants a kingdom must worship the god Shankara with ten crore earthen lingams. Flowers and unbroken paddy must be offered to Shiva's lingam, sandalwood paste used and water poured over the lingam, with a fitting mantra, and bilva leaves are excellent for this. Shatapatras, lotuses and conch flowers can also be used; these have long been called special. Such worship is divine and always yields everything desired, here and hereafter. Incense, lamps, food offerings and arghya are offered and the lamp waved. After circling and bowing, one asks forgiveness and dismisses the god. After all these accompaniments, people are fed. If a person does this, Shankara gives him a kingdom. A man wanting importance worships half the number. One wanting freedom from prison worships a hundred thousand. One suffering from disease worships half that number of lingams. One wanting a maiden worships half that again, and one wanting learning half that again. One wanting eloquence worships Shiva with ghee. The text then lists numbers for further wishes, among them hostile ones against enemies and vassals, ranging from ten thousand pujas to a crore. One wanting liberation worships Shambhu five crore times. One wanting knowledge worships Shankara, who benefits the worlds, a crore times. One wanting to see Shiva worships half that. Or if a person wishes his desires to bear fruit, he can do japa of the Mahamrityunjaya mantra. After five hundred thousand such japas Shiva shows himself. After one hundred thousand, a second hundred thousand wins the birth he wishes for; a third satisfies his desires; a fourth shows him Shiva; a fifth doubtless wins the fruits. When this mantra is used, the fruits are a million times more.

A person wanting liberation worships with darbha grass, and the number is always a hundred thousand. One wanting long life worships with durva grass. One wanting sons worships with dhattura flowers; dhattura with red stems is said to give what is auspicious. A worshipper with agastya flowers gains great fame. A person who worships with tulasi gains pleasure and liberation. Influence comes through arka flowers and kubjakalhara flowers. It is said that worship with japa flowers brings death to enemies. Karavira drives away the suffering of ailments. Doubtless ornaments come through bandhuka flowers and mounts through jati flowers. Vishnu loves a person who worships with atasi flowers. A man who worships with shami leaves gains liberation. With mallika flowers Shiva gives an auspicious woman. With yuthika flowers he never lacks crops or a house. With karnikara flowers he gains an abundance of garments. With nirgundi flowers people's minds become pure. With a hundred thousand bilva leaves all desires are satisfied. When garlands of lovely flowers are used, prosperity and happiness grow. Doubtless seasonal flowers give liberation. Rajika flowers bring death to enemies. A hundred thousand such flowers offered to Shiva give great fruits. There is no flower Shiva does not love; except champaka and ketaka, everything can be offered.

Excellent one, now hear lovingly the measures of grain with which Shankara is worshipped, and the fruits. Heaps of rice bring prosperity. Brahmana, unbroken grain is offered to Shiva with great devotion. A hundred thousand grains come to six and a half prasthas, or two palas, and these are used for worship. After first worshipping Rudra, a fine cloth is placed over Shiva's lingam and the excellent rice placed on it. A single shriphala is set on top with fragrant flowers. With incense added, the fruits of worship are gained. After two Prajapatya ceremonies, a number of silver coins is offered as fee, or according to capacity if that is not possible. Twelve brahmanas are then fed. A hundred thousand such pujas are done, with mantras and all accompaniments. The rule is to chant the mantra 108 times. An offering of a hundred thousand palas of sesame destroys great sins; a hundred thousand such seeds come to eleven palas. Desiring welfare, the worship is done as described earlier. It is men's task to feed brahmanas on the occasion. Doubtless miseries and great sins are destroyed at once. Worship of Shiva with a hundred thousand grains of barley is supreme; eight and a half prasthas make a hundred thousand, the old measure being two palas. Worship with barley by sages increases happiness in heaven. Brahmanas who desire fruits must keep the Prajapatya rite. Worship of Shankara with wheat is praised; with a hundred thousand grains, offspring increase; the earlier rule is a hundred thousand grains in half a drona. If the god Shiva is worshipped with mudga, he gives happiness; seven and a half prasthas make a hundred thousand grains, the ancient measure being two palas, and eleven brahmanas are fed. The supreme self is the overseer of dharma. If the god is worshipped with priyangu, dharma, wealth and desire increase; a person who does such puja is always happy; the ancient measure is a hundred thousand grains in one prastha, and twelve brahmanas are fed. Worshipping Shambhu with rajika is said to bring death to enemies; a hundred thousand mustard seeds come to twenty palas. It is wonderful to worship Shiva with the adhaki pulse, along with a gift of a cow and a bull. Worship with pepper is said to destroy enemies. Shiva is adorned with adhaki pulse and worshipped; this brings many kinds of happiness and all the fruits. Supreme among sages, so I have told you the measures of grain. Lord among sages, now hear lovingly about a hundred thousand flowers. A hundred thousand conch flowers make one prastha, as Vyasa, who knew subtle measures, taught. A hundred thousand jati or yuthika flowers make eleven prasthas. A hundred thousand rajika flowers make five and a half prasthas. A hundred thousand excellent mallika flowers make twenty prasthas. A hundred thousand sesame flowers make less than one prastha. A hundred thousand karavira flowers make two prasthas. The learned say the measure of nirgundi flowers is the same, and of karnikara and shirisha flowers too. A hundred thousand bandhuka flowers make ten prasthas. These are the different measures in which Shiva is worshipped by those who wish for every desire to be met, for prosperity and liberation.

Next I will speak of the great fruits of the stream-pouring puja; even hearing of it benefits men. Full of devotion one follows the norms and does Shiva's puja, then devoutly pours water over the lingam. A stream of water brings auspiciousness and calms delirium and fever. It is done with the Shatarudriya mantra, the eleven-Rudra mantra, japa on Rudra, the Purusha hymn, the six-limb mantra, the Mahamrityunjaya mantra or the gayatri. It begins with Pranava, uses his name and ends with "namah." As the water is poured the mantra is chanted. Such excellent stream-pouring puja increases offspring and happiness. One lovingly wears ash and adds divine, auspicious things to the water. A person who pours a stream of ghee while a thousand mantras are chanted doubtless extends his line. In this way, with the mantras I have mentioned, Shiva's worship is done. Lords among sages say brahmanas must be fed and the Prajapatya rite kept. In particular a stream of milk is always used. Sugar is added only when there is dullness of intellect. If a stream is poured as long as ten thousand mantras are chanted, the worshipper gains excellent intellect like Brihaspati's. If stream-pouring puja is done, all miseries are destroyed: when magic is used against a person, when there is pain in the body without cause, when sorrow grows through love, and when there are incessant quarrels in one's house. To punish enemies a stream of oil is poured over Shiva's lingam; done with great care it doubtless succeeds. Fragrant oil increases pleasures. Mustard oil certainly destroys enemies. By worshipping Shiva with money one becomes king of the yakshas. A stream of sugarcane juice poured over Shiva brings every kind of happiness. A stream of Ganga water gives the fruit of pleasure and liberation. For all of these the Mahamrityunjaya mantra is said to be chanted, the rule being ten thousand times, and eleven brahmanas are fed. Lord of sages, so I have told you all you asked. It brings success in the world and ensures benefit and fulfilment of every kind of desire. Now I will tell you the rule for worshipping Shiva with Skanda and Uma and the fruits one gains by doing so devoutly, as I have heard. Such a person enjoys every kind of happiness and gains auspicious sons and grandsons. He goes to Mahesha's world, which gives every happiness, on a celestial car resplendent as a crore suns, which can go wherever it wills, surrounded by Rudra's women, with songs and instruments. Until the deluge comes he sports with Shiva's bhutas. After that he gains undecaying higher knowledge and liberation.