Rakṣoghna-mantras
By Swami Harshananda
Rakṣoghna-mantras literally means ‘mantras that destroy evil spirits’.
Rakṣoghna-mantras Definition[edit]
Belief in the evil spirits and their capacity for harassing or even harming the good, is as old as the Ṛgveda itself. Prayers addressed to deities like Agni or Indra and Soma to ward off such evil spirits are found in quite a few places in the Ṛgveda.[1][2][3][4][5] These hymns are known as Rakṣoghna-mantras.
Chanting of Rakṣoghna-mantras[edit]
They are chanted at the appropriate places in sacrifices like:
- Consecrating a newly-built house
- Prevent abortion in a woman who has conceived
- Others
Classification of Rakṣoghna-mantras[edit]
These mantras can be classified into 5 groups.
First Group[edit]
The first group comprises of 15 mantras. They are all addressed to Agni as Rakṣohā.[6] He is compared to a king going on invasion for conquest and requested to destroy the rākṣasas or demons.
Second Group[edit]
The second group has 25 mantras. They are addressed to Indra, Soma, Agni and Maruts. Here also the prayers are addressed for the total annihilation of rākṣasas and asuras[7] by pushing them into the nether worlds from where there is no return.
Third Group[edit]
The third group is made of 25 mantras. They are addressed to Agnī Rakṣohā with a request to burn up all the evil spirits who are trying to disturb the Vedic sacrifices.
Fourth Group[edit]
The fourth group has 9 mantras. It also addresses the Agnī Rakṣohā and praises him. He is then requested to destroy the female fiends called Yātudhānīs.
Fifth Group[edit]
This is the last group having only 6 mantras. These mantras contains a special prayer indirectly addressed to Agni to destroy all the diseases in a pregnant woman so that abortion or miscarriage is prevented.
References[edit]
- The Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Swami Harshananda, Ram Krishna Math, Bangalore