Khagendramaṇidarpaṇa is a medieval work in Kannada on Viṣaśāstra (Toxicology), dealing with various kinds of poisons and their treatment. The author of this work is a Jaina Mantravādin named Maṅgarāja, known to have lived during the reign of King Harihara (1336-1357). The verses are in Haḻagannaḍa, employing various vṛttas such as utpalamālā, śārdūla, campaka, sragdhārā, mattebha, mandākrānta, mālinī, mallikāmālā, śaśikāntā, maṇiraṅga, lalita, rathoddhata and then anuṣṭup when dealing with highly Sanskritized verses. This work is similar in nature to works like Nārayaṇa’s Tantrasārasaṅgraha, the medieval Revatī Tantra, and the various Samhitās attributed to Kaśyapa dealing famously with the Pañcākṣara mantra of Garuḍa. However, Maṅgarāja’s work is also unique in many respects.
The first chapter starts with an invocation of Pārśvanātha, clearly establishing the author as of Jaina faith. He starts by categorizing poisons into three categories: sthāvara, jaṅgama and kṛtrima. He then proceeds to discuss dravyasaṅgraha, the process of collecting herbs to treat various poisons.
In the next chapter, he discusses twenty-five kinds of sthāvara viṣa and the symptoms caused by each of those forms. He lists the below mantra as as Sakalaviṣahara (capable of removing all kinds of poisons):
OM namo bhagavate pārśvanāthāya sthāvarajaṅgamakṛtrimaviṣa saṃhārāya haṃ jhaṃ jhiṃ kṣiṃ haṃsa pārśvanātha devatājñā viṣahara mallinātha devatājñā tribhuvana garuḍājñā śrīdhara devatājñā śīghraṃ nirviṣaṃ kuru huṃ phaṭ svāhā |
The next mantra listed is of Svacchanda Bhairavī:
OM namo bhagavati svacchanda bhairavī mahābhairavī kālakūṭa viṣaṃ sphoṭaya pātaya khaṇḍaya avadhāraya nābhiviṣaṃ hālāhalaviṣaṃ kṛtrimaviṣaṃ śaṅkāviṣaṃ upaghātaviṣaṃ sthāvaraviṣaṃ jaṅgamaviṣaṃ kālacañcucāparayūtaja sumantu cenna naḻanakhacandra jaya OM kālāya mahākālāya kālagarbha viṣadevi amṛtagarbhadevi OM kṣāṃ kṣīṃ kṣūṃ kṣāṃ kṣūṃ OM huṃ phaṭ svāhā nāsti viṣa svāhā |
The other mantra listed is of Amṛtadhārā, which is obviously a form of the famous Sudhādevī Mantra of Srīkula:
OM amṛte amṛtodbhave amṛtavarṣiṇi idamamṛtaṃ srāvaya saṃ klīṃ blūṃ drāṃ drīṃ drāvaya haṃ jhiṃ kṣiṃ haṃsa svāhā |
The final mantra listed in this chapter is of Oḍḍāmaresvara, a corrupted form of a ṣaiva mantra:
OM namo bhagavate oḍḍāmareśvarāya kuñcitavṛtta jaṭādharāya OM abhamahāyuto obi haṭhālevarsassuvinaya nakhātayukhāyinemayikhāya śrīrāmeśvarāya drāṃ hrūṃ hrāṃ harahara viṣaṃ svāhā |
He then discusses various herbs and concoctions to treat poisons of different kinds. Some of the poisonings discussed include those caused by hemp, bottle gourd, Cedrus Deodara, mercury, sulfur, pepper, asafoetida, sesame etc.
Like the vernacular śābara mantras, there are some interesting mantras in old Kannada prescribed for treating poisons caused due to thorns of certain kinds. These resemble śābara mantras and even end in words such as ‘guruprasāda’.
OM namo bhagavate haranamuḻḻādoḍenu hariya muḻḻādoḍenu iṃdrana muḻḻādoḍenu candrana muḻḻādoḍenu rāhu muḻḻādoḍenu viṣanāgana bennamuḻḻādoḍenu kītaḍe bātaḍe vajrada koḍaliyalu oṃbattavaḍeya hoyve OM juṃbāḻu guruprasāda |
OM namo bhagavate asiyāyuṣaṃ namaḥ pāṃḍavarayvaruṃ saṃdhise baṃdhise baṭṭeyalu vībaḍalu muṃtāgi pogutte iṃdugeṃba haṃdiyaṃ koṃdu mūṃda billaṃ saṃdhisi muḷna maṇtravanāru ballaruyeṃdare rakāṭi vīraneṃba kūsaṃballa pañcadhāreya muḻḻu posadhāreya muḻḻu kāreya muḻḻu tivuru muḻḻu nālkudhāreya muḻḻu viṣa pariharisi śarīraśūleya keḍuguṃ guruprasāda |
This is followed by a brief discussion on treating poisonous injuries caused by weapons.
Maṅgarāja now discusses the topic of jaṅgama viṣa, starting with an elaboration on eight families of snakes and their correspondence to the four elements (bhūtacatuṣṭaya). Some of the specifics discussed are the names of these families, their color, inhabitancy, symptoms of a bite, a discussion on tithi, vāra, śakuna etc. Three mantras are discussed as saṅgraha mantras, of which one involves the alphabet, presumably of Sanskrit. The other two Mantras are:
OM hrīṃ vaḥ |
hrāṃ vaṃ kṣaṃ yaṃ |
The same section also discusses the mantra of Garuḍa:
kṣipa OM svāhā |
Two other mantras listed are:
OM āṃ hrīṃ hrīṃ simapa lakṣmi svāhā |
ṭhaḥ palakṣmī |
It seems to us that the word here is most probably pakṣi, which is printed as lakṣmī in most of the available manuscripts.
The next chapter goes on to discuss the various rituals performed to the victim of poisoning, and this again involves various mantras.
Some kind of nyāsa is performed with the below mantras in the body of the victim:
hrāṃ hrīṃ hrūṃ hraiṃ hrauṃ hraḥ |
OM namo arahattāṇaṃ hrāṃ śīrṣaṃ rakṣa rakṣa svāhā |
The mantra prescribed for Digbandhana is:
āṃ īṃ ūṃ aiṃ auṃ aṃ aḥ kṣāṃ kṣīṃ kṣūṃ kṣaiṃ kṣauṃ kṣaḥ |
Reciting the below mantra, one visualizes a fortress of gold around the victim:
ha hā hi hī hu hū hṛ hṝ he hai ho hau haṃ haḥ |
kṣa kṣā kṣi kṣī kṣu kṣū kṣṛ kṣṝ kṣe kṣai kṣo kṣau kṣaṃ kṣaḥ |
The patient is bathed reciting the Amṛta mantra described earlier.
The deity invoked for the purpose of treating the victim is the famous Jaina Goddess Padmāvatī.
āvāhana
OM hrīṃ namo.astu bhagavati padmāvati ehi saṃ vauṣaṭ |
sthāpana
OM hrīṃ namo.astu bhagavati padmāvati atra tiṣṭha ṭhaḥ |
sannidhīkaraṇa
OM hrīṃ namo.astu padmāvati sannihitā bhava vauṣaṭ |
arcana
OM hrīṃ namo.astu bhagavati padmāvati gandhādīn gṛhāṇa |
visarjana
OM hrīṃ namo.astu bhagavati padmāvati svasthānaṃ gaccha |
The main mantra of the deity taught is as below:
OM hrīṃ namaḥ |
The dhyāna of Padmāvatī is described, which is similar to popular visualizations taught in works such as Bhairava Padmāvatī Kalpa.
This is followed by a procedure for prāṇapratiṣṭhā, and an invocation to the main deity Pārśvanātha through the main mantra:
OM namo bhagavate śrīpārśva tīrthaṅkarāya dharaṇendra padmāvatī sahitāya saṃsārasāgarottaraṇāya aṣṭalokapāla pūjitāya aṣṭavidhakarma nirmūlanakarāya rāja taskara krūrāri mārī samasta kṣudropadravān chindi jvara dāha santāpa akṣiroga kukṣiroga vraṇa sphoṭakādi sarvarogān chindi kṛtrimākṛtrima aṣṭakulasarpa aṣṭādaśa vṛṣkika aṣṭādaśa mūṣaka viṣān chindi sthāvara jaṅgama kṛtrima viṣān chindi devagraha bhūtagraha yakṣa rākṣasagraha sarvagraha pīḍān chindi śatasahasrakoṭi piṣāca rākṣasagraha kṛtopasargān chindi ekāhika dvyāhika sāmvatsarikādi nānā javaragrahān chindi āṃ hrīṃ kroṃ phaṭ svāhā hūṃ phaṭ svāhā |
Though Padmāvatī and Pārśvanātha are invoked due to the author’s allegiance to Jaina mata, the actual formula deployed for viṣanāśa is Garuḍa Pañcākṣara mantra. An elaborate dhyāna of Garuḍa is described and further instructions of the prayoga of the mantra. All this is standard fare source for which seems to chiefly Garuḍa Pañcākṣarī Kalpa of Kaśyapa.
There are numerous versions of Garuḍa mantras listed for different purposes.
stobhanakaraṇa
OM kṣipa svāha daha paca stobhaya |
viṣastambhana
kṣipa OM svāhā stambhaya kṣi |
nirviṣīkaraṇa
kṣipa OM svāhā saṃplāvaya |
viṣasaṅkramaṇa
svāhā OM kṣipa svāhā saṅkrama vraja | (?)
nāgāveṣakaraṇa
hāpa OM svāhā saṃkṣipa hā kṣipa hā |
Various other auxiliary gāruḍa mantras are also listed:
Bheruṇḍa
OM pakṣi ehi māye bheruṇḍa vijñāvijñā bhariyakaraṇḍe tantu mentu aghorāya hūṅkāra viṣaṃ nāśaya sthāvara jaṅgama kṛtrima akṛtrima viṣaṃ aṅgaja hūṃ phaṭ devadattasya viṣaṃ hara hūṃ phaṭ svāhā ||
Suvarṇarekhā
OM survarṇarekhā kukkuṭavigraharūpiṇi svāhā |
Vṛddhagaruḍa
OM namo bhagavati vṛddhagaruḍāya sarpaviṣanāśini chindi bhagavati vidye hara hūṃ phaṭ svāhā |
A mantra or removal poison, associated with Rāmacandra called śaradaṇḍana also finds mention:
OM kṣāṃ haḥ OM kṣāṃ kṣīṃ OM hūṃ OM haṃsaḥ saṃkṣobhaya hara nirviṣāya sthāvara jaṅgama bhujaṅga daṣṭasya viṣaṃ bhakṣaya triśūlena grahān bhedaya viṣaṃ nāśaya gaccha nirvartaya OM hrīṃ phaṭ svāhā |
Two forms of Amṛtasaṅjīvanī mantra are listed:
OM bhūrbhuvāya namaḥ OM kṣāṃ hūṃ haṃsaḥ OM hāṃ hūṃ haṃsaḥ OM saḥ haṃsaḥ amṛte amṛtavarṣiṇi candrāṃśuśītale iḍāṃśuśītale viṣaṃ saṃhara amṛtadhārāmukhe candramaṇḍala gaganacāriṇi jaṃ krīṃ hrīṃ hrīṃ hrūṃ hraiṃ hrāṃ hraḥ |
OM hūṃ hūṃ phaṭ phaṭ svāhā amṛte amṛtavarṣe pārśve somakṣobhitaśītale amukasya viṣahāriṇi saḥ hūṃ phaṭ nirviṣāpaya rakṣa svāhā |