Linga Purana

त्वदीयं प्रणवं विद्धि त्रिमात्रं प्लुतमुत्तमम् ओङ्कारस्य स्वरोदात्त ऋषिर्ब्रह्म सितं वपुः

Know your praṇava as the supreme, triple-measured, and prolonged; the sage of oṃkāra is Brahma, and its form is white.

छन्दो देवी च गायत्री परमात्माधिदेवता उदात्तः प्रथमस्तद्वच् चतुर्थश् च द्वितीयकः

The meter is the goddess Gāyatrī, the supreme soul is the presiding deity; the first and fourth are udātta, and the second likewise.

पञ्चमः स्वरितश्चैव मध्यमो निषधः स्मृताः नकारः पीतवर्णश् च स्थानं पूर्वमुखं स्मृतम्

The fifth is svarita, the middle is called niṣadha; the letter 'na' is yellow in color, and its place is considered to be facing east.

इन्द्रो ऽधिदैवतं छन्दो गायत्री गौतम ऋषिः मकारः कृष्णवर्णो ऽस्य स्थानं वै दक्षिणामुखम्

Indra is the presiding deity, the meter is Gāyatrī, Gautama is the sage; the letter 'ma' is black in color, and its place is to the south.

छन्दो ऽनुष्टुप् ऋषिश्चात्री रुद्रो दैवतमुच्यते शिकारो धूम्रवर्णो ऽस्य स्थानं वै पश्चिमं मुखम्

The meter is Anuṣṭup, the sage is Atri, Rudra is said to be the deity; the letter 'śi' is smoky in color, and its place is to the west.

विश्वामित्र ऋषिस्त्रिष्टुप् छन्दो विष्णुस्तु दैवतम् वाकारो हेमवर्णो ऽस्य स्थानं चैवोत्तरं मुखम्

Viśvāmitra is the sage, Triṣṭup is the meter, Viṣṇu is the deity; the letter 'va' is golden in color, and its place is to the north.

ब्रह्माधिदैवतं छन्दो बृहती चाङ्गिरा ऋषिः यकारो रक्तवर्णश् च स्थानम् ऊर्ध्वं मुखं विराट्

Brahmā is the presiding deity, Bṛhatī is the meter, Aṅgirā is the sage; the letter 'ya' is red in color, and its place is upward, the Virāṭ.

छन्द ऋषिर्भरद्वाजः स्कन्दो दैवतमुच्यते न्यासमस्य प्रवक्ष्यामि सर्वसिद्धिकरं शुभम्

The meter is Ṛṣi, Bharadvāja is the sage, Skanda is said to be the deity; I will declare its nyāsa, which bestows all accomplishments and is auspicious.

सर्वपापहरं चैव त्रिविधो न्यास उच्यते उत्पत्तिस्थितिसंहारभेदतस्त्रिविधः स्मृतः

It is said that the threefold nyāsa removes all sins; it is remembered as threefold according to creation, maintenance, and dissolution.

ब्रह्मचारिगृहस्थानां यतीनां क्रमशो भवेत् उत्पत्तिर्ब्रह्मचारिणां गृहस्थानां स्थितिः सदा

For celibates, householders, and ascetics, it is to be performed in order: creation for celibates, maintenance always for householders.

यतीनां संहृतिर् न्यासः सिद्धिर् भवति नान्यथा अङ्गन्यासः करन्यासो देहन्यास इति त्रिधा

For ascetics, dissolution is the nyāsa; success comes in no other way. There are three kinds: aṅganyāsa, karanyāsa, and dehanyāsa.

उत्पत्त्यादित्रिभेदेन वक्ष्यते ते वरानने न्यसेत्पूर्वं करन्यासं देहन्यासम् अनन्तरम्

O beautiful-faced one, I will explain to you the threefold division beginning with creation; first one should perform karanyāsa, then dehanyāsa.

अङ्गन्यासं ततः पश्चाद् अक्षराणां विधिक्रमात् मूर्धादिपादपर्यन्तम् उत्पत्तिन्यास उच्यते

Then, after that, aṅganyāsa is performed according to the proper order of the syllables, from the head down to the feet; this is called the nyāsa of creation.

पादादिमूर्धपर्यन्तं संहारो भवति प्रिये हृदयास्यगलन्यासः स्थितिन्यास उदाहृतः

From the feet up to the head is dissolution, dear one; nyāsa on the heart, mouth, and throat is called the nyāsa of maintenance.

ब्रह्मचारिगृहस्थानां यतीनां चैव शोभने सशिरस्कं ततो देहं सर्वमन्त्रेण संस्पृशेत्

For celibates, householders, and ascetics, O auspicious one, after touching the head, one should touch the whole body with the mantra.

स देहन्यास इत्युक्तः सर्वेषां सम एव स दक्षिणाङ्गुष्ठमारभ्य वामाङ्गुष्ठान्त एव हि

This is called dehanyāsa, which is the same for all; beginning from the right thumb up to the left thumb.

न्यस्यते यत्तदुत्पत्तिर् विपरीतं तु संहृतिः अङ्गुष्ठादिकनिष्ठान्तं न्यस्यते हस्तयोर् द्वयोः

What is placed in this way is creation; the reverse is dissolution. From the thumb to the little finger, nyāsa is performed on both hands.

अतीव भोगदो देवि स्थितिन्यासः कुटुंबिनाम् करन्यासं पुरा कृत्वा देहन्यासम् अनन्तरम्

O Goddess, this placement of the limbs is especially fruitful for householders; after first performing the ritual placement on the hands, one should then proceed to the bodily placement.

अङ्गन्यासं न्यसेत्पश्चाद् एष साधारणो विधिः ओङ्कारं संपुटीकृत्य सर्वाङ्गेषु च विन्यसेत्

Afterwards, one should perform the placement on the limbs; this is the general procedure. Enclose the syllable Oṃ and place it upon all the limbs.

करयोरुभयोश्चैव दशाग्रांगुलिषु क्रमात् प्रक्षाल्य पादावाचम्य शुचिर्भूत्वा समाहितः

Then, on both hands, on the ten fingertips in order—having washed the feet, rinsed the mouth, become pure and focused—

प्राङ्मुखोदङ्मुखो वापि न्यासकर्म समाचरेत् स्मरेत् पूर्वम् ऋषिं छन्दो दैवतं बीजमेव च

Facing east or north, one should perform the ritual of placement, first remembering the seer, the meter, the deity, and the seed-syllable.

शक्तिं च परमात्मानं गुरुं चैव वरानने मन्त्रेण पाणी संमृज्य तलयोः प्रणवं न्यसेत्

And also the power, the Supreme Self, and the teacher, O beautiful-faced one; rubbing the hands with the mantra, one should place the praṇava on both palms.

अङ्गुलीनां च सर्वेषां तथा चाद्यन्तपर्वसु सबिन्दुकानि बीजानि पञ्च मध्यमपर्वसु

On all the fingers, at the base and tip joints, and on the five middle joints, the seed-syllables with a dot should be placed.

उत्पत्त्यादित्रिभेदेन न्यसेदाश्रमतः क्रमात् उभाभ्यामेव पाणिभ्याम् आपादतलमस्तकम्

According to the threefold origin and so on, one should 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.

मन्त्रेण संस्पृशेद्देहं प्रणवेनैव संपुटम् मूर्ध्नि वक्त्रे च कण्ठे च हृदये गुह्यके तथा

Touching the body with the mantra, and enclosing it with the praṇava, one should place it on the head, mouth, throat, heart, and also the secret part.

पादयोर् उभयोश्चैव गुह्ये च हृदये तथा कण्ठे च मुखमध्ये च मूर्ध्नि च प्रणवादिकम्

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 others.

हृदये गुह्यके चैव पादयोर्मूर्ध्नि वाचि वा कण्ठे चैव न्यसेदेव प्रणवादित्रिभेदतः

On the heart, the secret part, the feet, the head, the speech, and the throat, one should place the praṇava and the others, according to the threefold distinction.

कृत्वाङ्गन्यासमेवं हि मुखानि परिकल्पयेत् पूर्वादि चोर्ध्वपर्यन्तं नकारादि यथाक्रमम्

Having thus performed the limb placement, one should arrange the faces, from the east and so on up to the uppermost, beginning with 'na' and so forth, in order.

षडङ्गानि न्यसेत्पश्चाद् यथास्थानं च शोभनम् नमः स्वाहा वषड्ढुं च वौषट्फट्कारकैः सह

Then, one should place the six limbs, beautifully, in their proper places, together with the syllables namaḥ, svāhā, vaṣaṭ, hūṃ, vauṣaṭ, and phaṭ.