Shiva Purana — Vayaviya Samhita, Shloka 31
न्यासत्रैविध्य-भूतशुद्धि-प्रक्रिया
Threefold Nyāsa and the Procedure of Elemental Purification
करन्यासाद्यमपि तैः कृत्वा वाथ न वा क्रमात् । शिरोवदनहृद्गुह्यपादेष्वेतानि कल्पयेत् । ततश्चोर्ध्वादिवक्त्राणि पश्चिमांतानि कल्पयेत् । ईशानस्य कलाः पञ्च पञ्चस्वेतेषु च क्रमात्
karanyāsādyamapi taiḥ kṛtvā vātha na vā kramāt | śirovadanahṛdguhyapādeṣvetāni kalpayet | tataścordhvādivaktrāṇi paścimāṃtāni kalpayet | īśānasya kalāḥ pañca pañcasveteṣu ca kramāt
Having performed the hand-placements (kara-nyāsa) and the other preliminaries with those mantras—either in due order or otherwise—one should assign them upon the head, face, heart, the secret region, and the feet. Thereafter, one should contemplate the faces beginning from the upper direction and ending with the western. In these five stations, one should place, in sequence, the five kalās (potencies) of Īśāna.
Suta Goswami
Tattva Level: pashu
Shiva Form: Īśāna
Role: teaching
FAQs
It teaches internalizing Śiva-worship through nyāsa—placing mantra-power into one’s own body—so the practitioner becomes a fit vessel for Śiva’s grace (pati-anugraha), aligning body and awareness with Īśāna’s five kalās.
Nyāsa is a saguna upāsanā method: the devotee meditatively installs Śiva’s aspects and potencies in specific bodily loci, making the body a living shrine before or alongside external Liṅga-pūjā.
Kara-nyāsa and aṅga-nyāsa (head, face, heart, guhya, feet), followed by contemplation of the directional faces/aspects and sequential placement of Īśāna’s five kalās—used as a preparatory practice for mantra-japa and dhyāna.