रुद्राभिषेक पूजा विधि

This recitation of Rudra belongs to the Yajurveda, and it comes in two forms in the two branches of the Yajurveda, Shukla (white) and Krishna (black). At the root of both is the Shatarudriya, the ancient hymn that bows to Rudra under his many names and forms. The difference between them is one of tradition, not of the mantra's greatness; there is no reason to call either one higher or lower.

The text of the Shukla Yajurveda tradition is the Rudrashtadhyayi, in north India usually called 'Rudri' or 'Rudri path'. It has eight chapters, taken from different parts of the Vajasaneyi Samhita of the Shukla Yajurveda; among them are the Shivasankalpa mantras and the Purusha Sukta. Its fifth chapter is called 'Namak' and comes from chapter sixteen of the Samhita, and its eighth is 'Chamak', from chapter eighteen. Prayers of peace and well-being (shanti and svasti) are recited with it. In north India the Rudrabhishek is usually done with this text.

The text of the Krishna Yajurveda tradition is the Sri Rudram, whose two parts are called Namakam and Chamakam. They are the fifth and seventh prapathakas of the fourth kanda of the Taittiriya Samhita, each with eleven anuvakas. In the Namakam 'namah' comes again and again as Rudra is saluted; in the Chamakam, with its repeated 'cha me', the things of life and well-being are asked for. In south India the Rudrabhishek is usually done with this text.

These names cause much confusion, so keep in mind too that the Rudrashtadhyayi and the Rudrashtakam are not the same. The Rudrashtadhyayi is the Vedic text of eight chapters. The Rudrashtakam is a Sanskrit hymn of eight verses in the Uttar Kand of Goswami Tulsidas's Ramcharitmanas; it is not chanted with Vedic accents, anyone can read it with its meaning, and it is in this library. And the words 'namah shivaya' themselves occur in this same Vedic hymn of Rudra, so the five-syllable japa at home is held to belong to the same stream.

The honest position is that a Vedic recitation cannot simply be read out of a book. The accent and sound of every syllable are fixed, and they come from hearing a teacher and from years of practice; a printed page cannot take their place. That is why we do not give the text here. Those who wish to learn should learn from a qualified teacher or a Veda school. Not having learned it is no lack: this recitation is not needed for the abhishek at home.

For the abhishek: a Shivling (Narmadeshwar, metal or crystal, as the home has it), a jaladhari or deep plate to stand it in so that the water collects, a copper or brass lota for water, clean water, Ganga jal, and as much milk, curd, ghee, honey and sugar as comes easily. Sugarcane juice if you wish. For milk and curd many people use a brass, silver or steel vessel rather than copper. A clean cotton cloth for wiping at the end.

For the puja: whole bel leaves of three leaflets, white flowers, white sandal paste, bhasma or vibhuti (sacred ash), akshat (whole rice grains), black sesame, a sacred thread or mauli, a ghee lamp, incense, camphor, fruit or a sweet for the naivedya, betel leaf and nut, a coin for dakshina, a seat, a bell and a rudraksha mala for japa. In some homes dhatura, aak and shami leaves are offered too. There is no need to gather everything; with one lota of water and one bel leaf in the house the abhishek can be done.

Water is the root of the abhishek. A stream of clean water is a complete abhishek in itself, called jalabhishek. Even a little Ganga jal is mixed with ordinary water; if there is none, clean water alone is enough.

Panchamrit is made of five things: milk, curd, ghee, honey and sugar. This is the common order, and they are offered one by one, with a little water after each. In some traditions and books honey comes before ghee, and many homes mix all five and bathe the Linga with them at once. All of these are followed; go by your family's or your priest's custom. Keep the quantities small: a few spoons of curd, ghee and honey and a small bowl of milk are enough. In many homes the milk is taken unboiled.

Tradition and popular lists also count sugarcane juice, water mixed with sandal and bhasma among the substances of the abhishek. On coconut water the customs do not agree: in the south it is widely used in the abhishek, while some north Indian lists call it forbidden. Go by your own family's custom.

Popular lists, often linked to the Shiva Purana, tie a particular wish to each substance. We do not give those lists here, because no substance is a promise of any result. A stream of water offered with faith is held to be no less than a costly substance. To protect old Shivlings some temples bar or limit the milk, curd, ghee or honey that may be poured; follow the temple's rules there. Many devotees give the milk left over to someone in need, and this too is held to be service to Shiva.

The bel leaf is held to be dearest to Shiva. It should have three leaflets and be whole, none broken or cut. The common practice is to place the smooth side down, touching the Shivling, with the stalk pointing towards you. In common belief a bel leaf never goes stale, so a leaf offered before can be washed and offered again. Many families do not break bel leaves on certain tithis and on Mondays, and pick them a day earlier. Its glory is sung in the Bilvashtakam, which is in this library.

By tradition three things are clearly kept out. The ketaki flower, which in the Lingodbhava story gave false witness on Brahma's side. Tulsi, held dear to Vishnu and not offered in Shiva's worship; so even homes that put tulsi into panchamrit for Vishnu's worship leave it out of the panchamrit for Shiva. And kumkum, roli and turmeric on the Shivling, because in the common explanation they are things of adornment and Shiva is the ascetic god; sandal and bhasma are used instead, and kumkum and turmeric go to Mother Parvati.

Many families also do not pour water on the Shivling from a conch (blowing the conch at the aarti is fine) and do not offer broken rice or torn bel leaves, and some lists leave out the champa flower too. These are common beliefs and they vary with family and region. If something is offered by mistake there is nothing to fear; ask forgiveness.

1. Preparing: bathe, put on clean clothes, clean the place of worship and keep all the samagri within reach so that you need not get up midway. Keep milk, curd, ghee, honey and sugar in separate small bowls.

2. The place: stand the Shivling in a jaladhari or deep plate so that all the water of the abhishek collects there. Sit on your seat facing east or north. If there is no Shivling, shape a parthiv Shivling about the size of a thumb from clean clay with a little Ganga jal; clay can dissolve in water, so many homes only sprinkle it rather than pour a stream on it. A picture is not bathed, only sprinkled with water and given flowers and bel leaves.

3. Beginning: light the ghee lamp. Remember Ganesha first and offer a flower and akshat saying 'ॐ गं गणपतये नमः' (Om Gam Ganapataye Namah), then bow to Mother Parvati and to Nandi.

4. The sankalp (vow): take a little water, akshat and a flower in your right hand, say in your own words that you are bathing Shiva with faith for the peace and well-being of your family, and let the water fall to the ground or into the plate. No long Sanskrit sentence is needed.

5. Water: pour clean water and Ganga jal from the lota in a thin, slow stream and keep chanting 'ॐ नमः शिवाय' throughout. A break in the stream is no fault; fill the lota and begin again.

6. Panchamrit: offer milk, curd, ghee, honey and sugar in order, one by one, with a little water after each. Or all five mixed together. If it is your custom, sugarcane juice comes next. Let the japa go on. Those who know it also chant the Mahamrityunjaya mantra.

7. The last bath: then bathe the Linga well with clean water and Ganga jal so that no film of honey or ghee remains; slightly warm water helps. Do not use soap. Then wipe it gently with the clean cotton cloth.

8. Adornment: apply white sandal paste; if you wish, draw the tripund (three horizontal lines) with sandal or bhasma and offer a little bhasma. Offer the sacred thread or mauli, then akshat and black sesame.

9. Bel leaves and flowers: offer each bel leaf saying 'ॐ नमः शिवाय'; keep the number as your devotion allows, such as 11, 21 or 108, and even one is enough. Then white flowers and, if it is your custom, dhatura, aak and shami. Dhatura and aak are poisonous: keep them away from children, wash your hands after touching them and never take them as prasad.

10. Incense, lamp and naivedya: show the incense, move the lamp before the Linga and set out the fruit or sweet as naivedya. The naivedya is not placed on the Shivling but in a plate before it. Offer betel leaf and nut and the dakshina coin.

11. Japa and recitation: chant at least one mala (108 times) of 'ॐ नमः शिवाय' on a rudraksha mala; anyone may chant it. Those who have learned the Mahamrityunjaya mantra from an elder or a guru do a mala of that too. Then, as time allows, recite the Rudrashtakam, the Shiv Chalisa or the Shiv Tandav Stotram from this library.

12. Aarti and closing: sing 'Om Jai Shiv Omkara' with camphor or a ghee lamp, ask forgiveness for any slip and share the prasad. A Shivling is circled only halfway, not all the way round, and the channel that carries the water from the jaladhari is not stepped over. Where the abhishek water goes is covered in a separate section below.

The simplest form: after bathing, pour one lota of water on the Shivling with 'ॐ नमः शिवाय', offer one bel leaf or a flower, light a lamp and fold your hands. Nothing in this is incomplete. On Mondays many people do just this, at home or in a temple. Where a substance cannot be had, offer water instead, and if no recitation is possible the japa is enough.

What needs no priest: the water or panchamrit abhishek at home, bel leaves, the japa of 'ॐ नमः शिवाय', stotras, the chalisa and the aarti. What needs a trained priest: the Vedic recitation of the Rudrashtadhyayi or the Namakam-Chamakam, the nyasa that goes with it (such as the Mahanyasa), and the full rite with its formal sankalp. In many homes a recording of a trained voice is played during the abhishek. This is a good way of listening, but it does not turn the abhishek into a priest's rite, and the abhishek at home has no need to be one.

A priest's rite usually has the sankalp, the worship of Ganesha and the kalash, the nyasa, then the abhishek with the recitation, and finally the puja and aarti; some priests add a Navagraha puja. The host takes the sankalp and often pours the stream personally. Ask beforehand: which text will be recited, how many rounds, how many priests, what samagri you are to gather, and what the dakshina is. The scale of the recitation grows by elevens: one recitation, eleven rounds, then Laghu Rudra, Maha Rudra and Ati Rudra; the exact count varies with the branch and the tradition. For such a rite many priests check Shiv vaas in the panchang, and some hold that it need not be checked on Maha Shivratri and in Sawan; leave this decision to your priest. The plain abhishek at home does not need it. Decide on a rite with a calm mind; a good priest wants the same. If a rite is ever urged through fear or a firm promise of results, do not hurry, and ask another knowledgeable person too.

The abhishek at home can be done on any day, and no muhurta need be fixed for it. It is usually done in the morning after the bath. By tradition Monday is Shiva's day, so it is the most common day for a weekly abhishek; its story is in the Somvar Vrat Katha.

The Pradosh Vrat falls on the Trayodashi of each fortnight, and its puja is done in the evening pradosh window. Its coming dates and its story are on the Pradosh Vrat Katha page. Every Krishna Chaturdashi is a monthly Shivratri, and its night is held dear for the abhishek.

The night of Maha Shivratri is the greatest occasion for the abhishek. The puja of four prahars is done that night, and the full method is on the Maha Shivratri Puja Vidhi page.

The whole month of Sawan (Shravan) is held to be Shiva's, and on its Mondays the temples are crowded for the abhishek; the north Indian tradition of carrying Ganga jal in a kanwar to offer it belongs to this month too. The start of Sawan differs between the purnimanta and amanta calendars, so check the panchang of your own region.

The water of the abhishek is held sacred, which is why its channel is not stepped over in a temple. At home too, do not send it down a drain or a washbasin or pour it where feet will tread. If the abhishek was of water and Ganga jal alone, pouring it at the root of a plant is an easy and common way.

Water mixed with milk, curd, ghee and honey can rot in a pot and bring ants. So dilute it well and pour it into a garden or open soil; if there is no open soil, dilute it a great deal and share it out little by little among the pots. Do not leave it standing long after the abhishek. Do not pour milk, ghee and curd into a river or pond; it fouls the water, and rivers are themselves revered.

On drinking this water the customs do not agree. In some homes a few drops of the last clean water are touched to the head and eyes or taken as tirth, and in some traditions what has been offered on the Shivling is not taken. A chapter of the Vidyeshvara Samhita of the Shiva Purana deals with partaking of Shiva's naivedya and the greatness of the bilva, which shows how old the question is. Follow your own family's custom. In practical terms, do not drink water mixed with milk or curd that has stood in the plate for long, children above all. If you want panchamrit as prasad, make a little separately, set it before the Shivling and share that.

Take down the bel leaves and flowers before the next puja. Do not put them in the rubbish; bury them in the soil of a plant or add them to compost. Good bel leaves can be washed and offered again. Bury dhatura and aak where children and animals will not reach them. Wash the plate, the jaladhari and the bowls the same day so that no grease sets. A parthiv Shivling is usually immersed in water or in garden soil the same day, after the puja.

A fast is not needed for the abhishek. Those who keep the fast of Monday, Pradosh or Shivratri keep it as they are able. The ill, pregnant or nursing women, the elderly, children and anyone on medicines should not keep a waterless or full fast; a doctor's advice comes first. Anyone allergic to milk or honey should not handle them; an abhishek of water is complete.

During periods, the traditional view is that a woman does not touch the Shivling or the puja materials; another member of the household does the abhishek while she joins with her heart in the japa and the aarti. Today many families hold that Shiva looks at the feeling and that she may do the puja with her own hands. Choose by your family's tradition and your own ease.

By tradition the Rudrabhishek is done for peace of mind, the welfare of the home and patience in hard times. 'Rudra' is Shiva's fierce name and 'Shiva' means the auspicious one; this worship bows to both faces of the one god. The slow stream of cool water with the japa running alongside is also a practice of quieting the mind. It is a practice of faith and discipline, not a promise about any illness, lawsuit or result; in illness let treatment, and in difficulty let your own effort, go on alongside it.

The abhishek ends with the Shiva aarti 'Om Jai Shiv Omkara'; its full text is in this library. Do the aarti with camphor or a ghee lamp and the bell, then pass your hands over the flame and touch them to your eyes and head, ask forgiveness for any slip and share the prasad with the call of 'Har Har Mahadev'.