Pāśupatāstra Mantra Explanation
This page explains some of the terms and concepts relating to the Pāśupatāstra divine missile and its Mantra.
Divyāstra
The term “divyāstra” translates as “divine celestial missile”, and it refers to the spiritual missiles of Dhanur Veda which are possessed by various deities, and are sometimes granted to humans. For instance, Lord Shiva possesses the divyāstra known as the Pāśupatāstra.
Āsura
The term “Āsura” (or “Asurik”) means evil and demoniacal, belonging to or relating to the Asuras. The Asuras, also known as “Rākshasas”, are the evil and destructive laws of nature, as opposed to the Devas. In Bhagavad Gita 16:6, Krishna says: “dvau bhūta-sargau loke’smin daiva āsura eva ca”, which is translated “There are two classes of created beings in this world, the divine and the demoniacal”.
Āsura-janam
This term refers collectively to the Asuras and their Asurik followers, some of whom may be humans who have gone over to the dark side.
Sarva-duṣkṛt
This term translates to “all evil-doing” which prefixes “āsura-janam”. The word “duṣkṛt” is taken from Bhagavad Gita 4:8 where Krishna says “paritrāṇāya sādhūnāṃ vināśāya ca duṣkṛtām” when stating that he incarnates “for the protection of the good and the destruction of evil doers”.
“Sarva” (meaning “all”) emphasizes that the target of the spiritual missile is a collective group, not any individual.
Hana
Pāśupatāstra is a spiritual technique, and so the “missile” targets spiritual entities and forces. In this context the word “hana” is asking Lord Shive to smite and destroy the Asurik beings and evil forces. The Vedic literature assumes that true reality is spiritual, not material. Thus Pāśupatāstra can be used by the forces of Good/Light to fight and counter the forces of Evil/Darkness.
Other words
Other words of the Pāśupatāstra mantra (such as “huṃ phaṭ”) are untranslatable. They are mystical syllables which are part of the magical formula. It is important that they be pronounced correctly in Sanskrit in order to have an effect.
To learn about repeating the mantra, and the number of repetitions necessary to achieve results, see Pāśupatāstra Repetition.
To learn about Dhanur Veda and the Pāśupatāstra in Vedic literature, see the Sources page. Anyone who is serious about using the Pāśupatāstra will want to read Vasishtha’s book on Dhanur Veda which can be downloaded from the Sources page.
