In the early part of this century, our Guru Sri Chinmudrānandanātha had resided for an extended period of time at the shrine of Lord Daṇḍāyudhapāṇi at Pazhani, practicing a certain Yoga associated with agniśuddhi. In those days, a descendant of Umānandanātha, the disciple of Bhāskararāya Makhīndra known for his work Nityotsava, approached him with a peculiar problem.
This gentleman had been a upāsaka of Mahāgaṇapati and had accomplished añjanasiddhi which enabled him to find lost articles. He had tried to gain favor with certain powerful men using his siddhi. A certain Purohita who competed with this gentleman for royal favors was further infuriated when our Gaṇeśopāsaka married his daughter without his consent. The Purohita, who hailed from a family of well-known mantravādins of Himācala, performed a certain prayoga of Dhūmāvatī. His father had been the panda at the shrine of Dhūpacaṇḍī. The effect was such that this gentleman began to exhibit feminine tendencies, slowly losing his manhood.
There are such gender-change prayogas involving the mantra of Mahāvārāhī, but this was the first time I heard of such a thing associated with Dhūmāvatī. That said, my experience with this one devatā, Dhūmāvatī, is minimal. When he failed to overcome the prayoga through his own administrations, he was advised by his Guru to seek refuge at the lotus feet of Kumāra, who is stationed on the hill of Pazhani as Navapāṣāṇamūrti. Disguised as a eunuch, he stayed at Pazhani, reciting the mantra of Brahmabhūḥ, praying for guidance. How is it possible that one seeks the help of Skanda and his miseries continue? Lord appeared in his dream one morning and sent him to our Guru who decided to reverse the prayoga of Dhūmāvatī.
Our Guru invoked the might vidyā of Bhagavatī Khaḍgavārāhī, the chief characteristic of whose mantra is the use of the bīja ‘vrīṃ’ which is of special significance in the upāsanā of Kumāra as well. He meditated upon the fearful image of the Mother, reciting the 141 lettered mantra 10,000 times a day:
ghananālaghanākārāṃ kharvasthūlakalevarām |
hastamātraviniṣkrāntapracatpotraraṃdhravat ||
vāmabhāgekṣivadanaṃ dhārayantīṃ dvilocanām |
aṣṭamīcandrakhaṇḍābha daṃṣṭrāyugavirājitām ||
kopādālolarasanāṃ vistārivikṛtānanām |
kalpāntaravisaṅkāśāṃ pūrayantīṃ jagatviṣā ||
bhīmadaṃṣṭrāṭṭahāsāṃ ca raktākṣīṃ raktamekhalām |
kṛpāṇākāraromāliparipūrṇakalevarām ||
bhūdārarūpadhātrīṃ ca sañcarantīṃ vihāyasi |
satādhūnanavitrastaprapalāyitakhecarām ||
sarvālaṅkārasaṃyuktāṃ ghurghurāravakāriṇīm |
abjacāpāṅkuśān pāśaṃ vāmage bibhratīṃ kare |
cakraṃ bāṇaṃ gadāṃ khaḍgaṃ dadhatīṃ dakṣiṇe kare ||
dūrvādalaśyāmalayā dharaṇyā sevitāṃ sadā |
vārāhīṃ cintayeditthaṃ śatrusaṅghavidāriṇīm ||
Within 40 days, the prayoga was reversed and his effeminate mannerisms began to disappear. However, he had forever lost his capacity to bear offspring.
To show his gratitude to the great Kroḍamukhī, he constructed a small temple outside Pazhani which I am told still exists to the present day. With the grace of Varāhānanā, perhaps we shall visit this shrine someday and pay our respects not only to the great Goddess, but also to our ācārya.