The Cat-God and the Monkey-God: Tantric Pest Control

Mārjāra-Rudra (rats) & Hanumat krimi-nāśana (worms & insects)

Here the encyclopedia turns to a problem every farmer and granary-keeper knew: vermin. Its answer is to deify the predator. To drive away rats, you worship Rudra in the form of a cat; to destroy crop-worms and insects, you call on Hanumān.

First, the Gaṇapati antidote-mantra. Introduced as a rite "that subdues spirits and pacifies rat-poison and the like":

ॐ नमो गणपतये महावीर दशभुज मदनकालविनाशन मृत्युं हन हन धम धम मथ मथ कालं संहर संहर सर्वग्रहांश्चूर्णय चूर्णय नागान् मोटय मोटय रुद्ररूप त्रिभुवनेश्वर सर्वतोमुख हुं फट् स्वाहा Oṃ namo gaṇapataye mahāvīra daśabhuja madana-kāla-vināśana mṛtyuṃ hana hana dhama dhama matha matha kālaṃ saṃhara saṃhara sarva-grahāṃś cūrṇaya cūrṇaya nāgān moṭaya moṭaya rudra-rūpa tribhuvaneśvara sarvataḥ-mukha huṃ phaṭ svāhā ಓಂ ನಮೋ ಗಣಪತಯೇ ಮಹಾವೀರ ದಶಭುಜ ಮದನಕಾಲವಿನಾಶನ ಮೃತ್ಯುಂ ಹನ ಹನ ಧಮ ಧಮ ಮಥ ಮಥ ಕಾಲಂ ಸಂಹರ ಸಂಹರ ಸರ್ವಗ್ರಹಾಂಶ್ಚೂರ್ಣಯ ಚೂರ್ಣಯ ನಾಗಾನ್ ಮೋಟಯ ಮೋಟಯ ರುದ್ರರೂಪ ತ್ರಿಭುವನೇಶ್ವರ ಸರ್ವತೋಮುಖ ಹುಂ ಫಟ್ ಸ್ವಾಹಾ

Application: recite 100 times and touch a fever-patient with consecrated ash; for rat-bite or rat-poison, empower water with the mantra and sprinkle it (jala-prayoga).

Tantric Pest Control

There are various traditional methods of Tantric Pest Control, with even more found in folklore.

The Cat-Rudra rat-eviction mantra. Its viniyoga: sage Vasiṣṭha, metre Anuṣṭubh, deity Rudra in cat-form (mārjāra-rūpī). The dhyāna pictures him with rolling tawny eyes and very sharp claws, his tail-tip stiffened, gnawing a rat. The core mantra:

ॐ नमो भगवते मार्जाररुद्राय दुष्टसत्त्वविनाशनाय नखदंष्ट्रायुधाय हुं फट् स्वाहा Oṃ namo bhagavate mārjāra-rudrāya duṣṭa-sattva-vināśanāya nakha-daṃṣṭrāyudhāya huṃ phaṭ svāhā ಓಂ ನಮೋ ಭಗವತೇ ಮಾರ್ಜಾರರುದ್ರಾಯ ದುಷ್ಟಸತ್ತ್ವವಿನಾಶನಾಯ ನಖದಂಷ್ಟ್ರಾಯುಧಾಯ ಹುಂ ಫಟ್ ಸ್ವಾಹಾ The text adds: this mantra is chiefly for destroying noxious creatures "from tigers down to rats."

The tradition also preserves a wonderfully blunt direct command to the rats, in the name of Viśvāmitra:

ॐ नमः सर्वमूषिकेभ्यो विश्वामित्र आज्ञापयति शीघ्रं गच्छन्तु मूषिकाः स्वाहा Oṃ namaḥ sarva-mūṣikebhyo Viśvāmitra ājñāpayati śīghraṃ gacchantu mūṣikāḥ svāhā ಓಂ ನಮಃ ಸರ್ವಮೂಷಿಕೇಭ್ಯೋ ವಿಶ್ವಾಮಿತ್ರ ಆಜ್ಞಾಪಯತಿ ಶೀಘ್ರಂ ಗಚ್ಛಂತು ಮೂಷಿಕಾಃ ಸ್ವಾಹಾ ("O all rats — Viśvāmitra commands: depart at once!")

— followed by a fiercer three-headed Cat-Rudra form (red-white-black faces, lashing tail, armoured body) ending …uccāṭayoccāṭaya hrīṃ huṃ phaṭ svāhā.

The Hanumat worm-and-insect destroyer. Viniyoga: sage Vasiṣṭha, metre Aty-anuṣṭubh, deity Hanumān. The mantra:

ॐ नमो भगवते हनुमते क्रिमिकीटपतंगादिदुष्टसत्त्वानि नाशय नाशय हुं फट् Oṃ namo bhagavate hanumate krimi-kīṭa-pataṅgādi-duṣṭasattvāni nāśaya nāśaya huṃ phaṭ ಓಂ ನಮೋ ಭಗವತೇ ಹನುಮತೇ ಕ್ರಿಮಿಕೀಟಪತಂಗಾದಿದುಷ್ಟಸತ್ತ್ವಾನಿ ನಾಶಯ ನಾಶಯ ಹುಂ ಫಟ್ ("…destroy worms, insects, moths and all noxious pests.")

A yantra accompanies it for field-protection. Taken together, these three deities — Cat-Rudra, Viśvāmitra's word, and Hanumān — form a complete Tantric integrated-pest-management system, two centuries before the phrase existed.