Panchajanya

rdf:langString Panchajanya

rdf:langString पाञ्चजन्य

rdf:langString Iconography of Shankha on a temple wall

rdf:langString Avantiksetra Mahatmya, Chapter 1, Verses 101 - 102

rdf:langString Margasirsa Mahatmya, Section 5, Verses 41 - 44

rdf:langString Vasudeva Mahatmya, Chapter 12, Verse 14

rdf:langString Then came out the Śārṅga bow, the presiding deity of all weapons. Then emerged Pāñcajanya, the conch, the supreme deity of all musical instruments.

rdf:langString Then he should worship Pāñcajanya, my favourite conch. O dear one, by worshipping it he causes great delight unto me. During the worship of the Śaṅkha, O dear one, he should recite the following mantras: “O Pāñcajanya, formerly you were born of the ocean. You have been held by Viṣṇu in his hand. You have been made by all the Devas. Obeisance to you. On account of your sound, clouds and Suras and Asuras become afraid. Obeisance to you, O Pāñcajanya of the bright lustre of ten thousand moons. The foetuses of the womenfolk of demons perish in thousands in the nether worlds, O Pāñcajanya. Obeisance to you.”

rdf:langString The sound of the conch was conducive to the liberation of the men who had committed sinful activities and therefore had been consigned to hells. Due to the sound of the conch and the recollection of Acyuta, all of them got into divine aerial chariots and went to heaven. That region became a void, due to the contact with Nārāyaṇa.

rdf:langString Hindu

rdf:langString Panchajanya (IAST: Pāñcajanya) is the shankha or conch of the Hindu preserver deity Vishnu, known to be one of his four divine attributes. It is stated to have been one among the various substances that emerged during the Samudra Manthana. According to the Mahabharata, Purushottama (Vishnu) killed a daitya (a member of a clan of asuras) named Panchajana on a mountain named Chakravan constructed by Vishvakarma, and seized the conch shell in which Panchajana had lived for himself. The conch is named after the daitya.