Listen, O auspicious one, to the profound mystery of mantra-nyāsa as revealed in the sacred scripture. The vowels ‘a’, ‘ā’, and ‘ma’ are established within my own praṇava, while ‘u’, ‘ma’, and ‘a’ are set forth in their proper sequence. Know your praṇava—Oṃ—as the supreme, triple-measured, and prolonged sound, whose sage is Brahma himself and whose form shines white as pure light. The meter of this praṇava is the goddess Gāyatrī, and the supreme soul presides as its deity. The first, second, and fourth syllables are marked by the udātta intonation. The fifth is svarita, and the middle syllable is called niṣadha; the letter ‘na’ glows with yellow color and is oriented toward the east. Indra is the presiding deity of the next syllable, with Gāyatrī as its meter and Gautama as the sage; ‘ma’ is black in color and faces south. For the letter ‘śi’, the meter is Anuṣṭup, Atri is the sage, Rudra is the deity, and its hue is smoky, facing west. Viśvāmitra is the sage for ‘va’, Triṣṭup is the meter, Viṣṇu is the deity, and the letter shines golden, facing north. Brahmā presides over ‘ya’, with Bṛhatī as the meter and Aṅgirā as the sage; this letter is red and points upward, toward the Virāṭ. The meter for the next is Ṛṣi, the sage is Bharadvāja, and Skanda is its deity. Now, let me declare the ritual of nyāsa—sacred placement—which grants all accomplishments and is supremely auspicious. It is taught that this threefold nyāsa removes all sins, reflecting the triple functions of creation, maintenance, and dissolution. For celibates, householders, and ascetics, the nyāsa is performed according to their path: creation for celibates, maintenance for householders, and dissolution for ascetics—there is no other way to success. Three types of nyāsa exist: aṅganyāsa (limb placement), karanyāsa (hand placement), and dehanyāsa (body placement). Hear now the threefold division, beginning with creation: first, one performs karanyāsa, then dehanyāsa. Afterward, aṅganyāsa is done in the proper sequence of syllables, from the head down to the feet—this is the nyāsa of creation. For dissolution, the order is reversed: from the feet up to the head. To maintain, the nyāsa is placed on the heart, mouth, and throat. Thus, for all—celibates, householders, and ascetics—after touching the head, one touches the whole body with the mantra; this is dehanyāsa, the same for all, performed from the right thumb to the left. What is placed in this order is creation; in reverse, it is dissolution. From thumb to little finger, nyāsa is performed on both hands. O Goddess, this placement of the limbs is especially beneficial for householders; after first performing the ritual on the hands, one proceeds to the body, and then to the limbs. This is the general procedure: enclose the Oṃ syllable and place it upon all the limbs. On both hands, on the ten fingertips in order, having purified oneself—washed feet, rinsed mouth, and focused the mind—facing east or north, one should begin. First, remember the seer, the meter, the deity, and the seed-syllable, as well as the power, the Supreme Self, and the teacher. Rubbing the hands with the mantra, one places the praṇava on both palms. On all the fingers, at the base and tip joints, and on the five middle joints, the seed-syllables with a dot are placed. According to the threefold origin and so forth, place them in order as prescribed for each stage of life, with both hands, from the soles of the feet to the crown of the head. Touch the body with the mantra, enclosing it with praṇava: place it on the head, mouth, throat, heart, and the secret part. On both feet, the secret part, the heart, the throat, the center of the mouth, and the head, one should place the praṇava and the other syllables. On the heart, the secret part, the feet, the head, the speech, and the throat, the praṇava and others are placed, according to the threefold distinction. Having thus performed the limb placements, arrange the faces—beginning from the east and so on, up to the uppermost—starting with ‘na’ and so forth, in order. Then place the six limbs beautifully in their proper places, accompanied by the syllables namaḥ, svāhā, vaṣaṭ, hūṃ, vauṣaṭ, and phaṭ. Know the praṇava as the heart, ‘na’ as the head, ‘ma’ as the crest, ‘śi’ as the hair tuft, and ‘ka’ as the armor. The letter ‘a’ is the eye, and ‘ya’ is the weapon. Having placed the limbs thus, one should then seal the directions. Ganesha, the Mothers, Durgā, the field-knower, and the deities of the directions are to be invoked. At the corners, beginning with the southeast, in all four directions, establish their presence. With the tips of the thumb and forefinger, establish the auspicious and beautiful face, saying, “Protect!” and bow separately to each. At the middle of the throat, on the thumb, and on the forefinger and other fingers, the wise perform the hand placement with the thumb. Thus, this sacred placement has been described—it removes all sins, is auspicious, grants all accomplishments, bestows merit, and offers complete protection. When the mantra is thus placed, O fortunate one, one becomes like Śaṅkara himself; even the sins of previous births are destroyed at that very moment. Having performed this, the intelligent one, pure in body and firm in vow, should recite the five-syllabled mantra, having obtained the teacher’s grace. Next, I shall explain the collection of mantras, for without them, daily practice is fruitless, but with them, it is fruitful. A mantra recited without command, without proper action, without faith, without sincerity, without instruction, without offering, and always recited without these, yields no fruit.