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It was mentioned earlier that in the Vaishnava tradition, the worship of the Dvararvati-stone (obtained from the Gomati river in Dvaraka) along with the salagrama-stone is considered meritorious, for the latter variety of stones are special forms assumed by Krishna himself.
The chakra-mark is the most distinguishing feature of the Dvarvati stones, and hence they are called ‘chakrankita-sila’. According to Garuda-purana, there are twelve varieties of this stone, owing to the number of chakras, colours and forms (‘dasadha cha prabhinnas ta varnakrti-vibhedatah’). When there is only one chakra, the stone is called Devesa; when there are two chakras, it is Sudarshana; three chakras represent the deity Ananta.
When there are four chakras, the stone is Janardana. Vasudeva is represented by the stone having five chakras, Pradyumna by six chakras, Bala-bhadra by seven, Purushottama by eight, Nava-vyuha by nine, Dasavatara by ten, Aniruddha by eleven and Dvadastma by twelve. Nava-vyuha represents the collection of nine forms of Vishnu: Vasudeva, Samkarshana, Pradyumna, Aniruddha, Narayana, Hayagriva, Vishnu, Nrsimha and Varaha. The first four forms are well known as ‘chatur-vyuha’. The twelve major forms of Vishnu are derived from these nine forms, according to the Tantra-siddhanta division of Pancharatra.
The text also indicates the specific rewards for worshipping each of these twelve varieties of Dvaravati-silas: 1) and 2) salvation; 3) freedom from the fear of births and deaths 4) fulfillment of desires; 5) obtainment of prosperity and elimination of enemies; 6) wealth and lustre; 7) continuation of progeny and celebrity; 8) satisfaction of all that one aspires for; 9) rewards which are difficult even for the gods to obtain; 10) sovereignty and prosperity; 11) lordship; and 12) final emancipation. The stones having more chakras fulfill whatever one longs for, when worshipped.
Prahlada-samhita, quoted in Salagrama-pariksha (by Anupasimha) gives the first few names differently. The Dvaravati-sila with only one chakra is called Sudarsana, with two chakras Lakshmi-narayana and with three Trivikrama. The rest of the names are the same as given above. The name Ananta is given to stones have more than twelve chakras. The name for Dasavatara in the above list is given here as Dasamurti.
When the chakras are more than twelve, only even numbered chakras are to be preferred, according to Galava-smrtir.
The Dvaravati-sila also occurs in different colours, but white stones are considered most suitable for worship. The dark (blue-black) stones forebode death, the tawny ones cause anxiety, the multi-coloured ones bring about disease and sorrow, the yellow ones take away wealth, the smoke coloured ones produce loss |
of wealth, and the blue stones will bring about obstacles to any undertaking. Only the white coloured stones will make for a worldly prosperity in all aspects and spiritual welfare (Skanda-purana). Garuda-purana gives a slightly different account, but white is the preferred colour. According to Galava-smrti, the Dvaravati-stones are auspicious if they are round in shape or square; |
