NYASA

Abstract

As per sanatana dharma in the days of yore, man worshipped Godhead reciting Vedic chants considered as co-eval with God according to the time, the day and the season of the year. Quite often man worshipped God in the form of nature simply in ecstasy or in awe. Iconic worship either individual or congregational, came later with the advent of Agamasastra and Tantric form of divine worship. In the preface to a book on congregational worship,Leadbeater describes the thought-form generated when a group of persons perform congregational worship with Gayatri mantra which includes nyasa procedure, led by a priest. Agama sastra lays down elaborate procedures for worship and stipulate strict adherence by the priests with the ultimate aim of welfare of the whole mankind. One of the procedures is Nyasa which is ordained as mandatory prior to every mantrajapa. Nyasa means to place parts of mantra on parts of the body of the worshipper in a designated sequence. Both nigama and agama come from the root GAM (gachha) meaning to go and also to know. The more popular word for ‘Nigama’ is Veda which means ‘to know’. Veda is considered as the fountainhead of all knowledge for all and for all time. It is held as anadi and apaurusheya (not composed by any person) and co-eval with God. Veda is also known as ‘Sruti’- the one learnt by oral tradition and thereby maintaining the purity and correctness of chanting. Agamasastras on the other hand are regarded as instructions from Gods/Goddesses through Rsis for the performance of worship to the divine in a structured and systematic manner for the welfare of the society, the flora, the fauna and the ecosystem.