Shankh – its legend and details

“Shankham” comes from the two Sanskrit words “Shum” which means something good and the “Kham” meaning water. Hence the meaning of “Shankam” is “The conch holding the sacred water”.

According to the Vedic scriptures, the Shankha is one of the most auspicious objects that emerged from the sea during the Ksheera Sagara samudra manthan. Hence it is regarded as the brother of Goddess Lakshmi, the ruler of wealth. Most of the Gods and Goddesses hold the Shankha in their hands. Shankh is one auspicious nine objects – Navanidhi – of Kubera who is the Lord of wealth. Blowing the Shankha is regarded as an auspicious sound at the start or end of any ceremony.

Play & listen to Shankha sound

There is archeological evidence to show that Shankhas were used for libation during the Mohenjo-daro/Harappa civilisation 3000 BC.Click here

According to a legend of Harivamsa Purana, Krishna killed the whale-demon called Pancha-jana in the seas, and the Shankhas were formed out of the bones of this demon (’pancha-jane daitya-visishe bhavah pancha-janyah’;‘pancha-jano nama daityah samudre timira-rupa asit; tad asthi-jatam’). Sometimes, the name Pnacha-janya is given to a rare and freak formation of a conch-shell in which the cavity contains within it another smaller conch-shell attached to it. A specimen preserved in the Chamundesvari temple atop the hill in Mysore contains still another (third) conch-shell.

In India, a Shankha is regarded as one of the five classical musical instruments known as the pancha-vadyas. The use of the Shankha to announce the commencement of an encounter on the battlefield has been mentioned in the great epic Mahabharata. In Bhagavad-gita, we read that Krsna’s conch-shell was named ‘Panchajanya’, Arjuna’s ‘Devadatta’, Bhima’s ‘Paundra’. Yudhisthira’s ‘Ananta-vijaya’, Nakula’s ‘Sughosha’ amd Sahadeva’s “Mani-pushpaka’. The other prominent warriors like Dhrshtadyumna, Satyaki, Sikhandi, Drupada etc. also had their own Shankhas. The loud sound from the conch-shell is described as ‘ghosha’, ‘samkha-rava’, or ‘shankha-svana’.

Brahma-vaivarta-purana, Padma-purana and Skanda Purana mention several stories about the Shankha.In Buddhism, it is one of the eight auspicious signs known as astha-mangala.

The form of the Shankha is imitated in a particular hand-gesture (mudra) employed in Indian classical dance and also in ritualistic worship. It is known as ‘Shankha-mudra’.Shankha is ued for pouring out libations of water, known as Shankhodaka, before an idol or for giving a ceremonial bath to a monarch known as Shankha-snana.Shankha pooja is a must in the Vedic poojas.

“Panchajanyaya vidmahe padma garbhaya dheemahi tanno Shankha prachodayaat” is the Vedic Gayatri mantra of Shankha.
Om Amburajaya Nama
Om Kamburajaya Namah
Om Dhavalaya Namah
Om Panchajanyaya Namah
Om Padmagarbhaya Namah
These are the five names with which the Shankha is worshipped in the Vedic pooja.

The Shankha verse recited in pooja is:
“Shankham chandrakadaivatwam kukshouvaruna daivatam
prusthe prajapatirdaiva mugre ganga saraswati
Pruthivyam yani teerthani vasudevasyachagyaya
Shankhe tisthanti viprendra tasmat shankham prapoojyayet”
The conch-shell is said to be the preserve of several gods and goddesses: Brahma on the seat (shankhapitha or shankhadhara), Surya in the middle and Chandra at the tip. On the right side are seated Aditya, varuna, Soma, Vayu and Agni. Shankha is presided over by the twin gods Sun and Moon, and Varuna is it’s deity; at the back of the conch-shell is Prajapati, and in front the river goddesses Ganga and Sarasvati. So even to look at a conch-shell, or to touch it, would mean eradication of sins, like darkness disappearing on sunrise. The shankha is one of the four attributes that Vishnu holds in his hands. Hence the Shankha should be worshiped. According to Tantric belief, the shankha keeps away evil spirits and saves one from calamities.

“Shankha Madyesthitam Thoyam Brahma Hatyadhikam Daheth Anga Lagnam Manushyanam Mruthyu Samsara Bheshajam”The water from the Shankha is said to purify the sinner and can cure all the ailments which cannot be cured by the other medicines. It is a cure for the physical ailments in humans, from the the fear of death and gives liberation from the eternal cycle of birth and death. Shankha powder is used in several Ayurvedic medicines.

The Latin name of the true Shankha is Turbinella Pyrum. There are several similar look-alike species. The real Shankha used in Vedic Pooja has smooth contours and three horizontal lines at the inside center of the opening. The other look-alike species don’t have these lines.

Shankhas, which are also geological and biological specimens of great antiquity, are marine fossil remains of the large gastropods (stomach footed), especially ‘strombus gigas’. They are shells of bivalve mollusc (conchifera division of the molluscs). Molluscs are animals of the sea-shore, with soft bodies devoid of any bones but having hard shells. The gastropods crawl along on a broad foot (viz., stomachs) carrying shells on their bodies; and into these shells they pull themselves when threatened. Different molluscs have different plans in making their shells, like the moon-shells, cowry-shells, tooth-shells and ordinary bivalves (Lamelli-branchiata) like oysters.

Conchifera – the spiral prominent mussels (cavities), with conchi-spires on the outside.Since 1776, a separate discipline known as Conchology has grown for the study of conch-shells. In 1828, an instrument known as Conchometer was designed to measure the spiral arrangements on the fossil–shell, the angles of the spire, and so on. A marine biologist specializing in the study of the Shankhas is known as Malacologist.

From the technical point of view:
The top portion with circles is called conch head.
The circles on the conch head are called Sutures and can be from 3 to 8 in number.
The ridges in the conch cavity are called Pilae and can be from 2 to 5 in number.
The portion turning inwards is known as the Conch lip.
The curving back portion is called the Dorsal surface.
The narrow end portion is called conch tail.
The thick brown outer coating, also known as skin, in an un-cleaned Shankha is known as periostracum.

There are conch-shells with different colors (varna) and the colors are related to the classes (jati) of the people in our society. Accordingly, there is a classification of conch-shells into the Brahmana-variety (which are white in colour, smooth in texture and light), the Kshatriya-variety (red-coloured, or brown-hued, heavy, rough and course), the Vaisya-variety (yellowish in hue, glossy, thick and light) and the Sudra-variety (dull gray or dark brown in color, hard and heavy).

This classification, however, is neither exhaustive nor accurate. The conch-shells that are available can never be accommodated in these four varieties. It is therefore more textual than actual. Most of the conch-shells are described as white (dhavala), some dazzling, some dull, some of mixed hue. But the preferred variety is milk-white (go-kshira-dhavala).

Those with right-ward convolution are called Dakshinavarti – Turbinella pyrum Sinistral. Those with left-ward convolution are called Vamavarti – Turbinella pyrum dextral. The Dakshinavarti Shankhas are rare and are supposed to occur in two sub-varieties:
(i) Male (purusha), the conch-shells which have thick and coarse crust.
(ii) Female (samkhini), the conch-shells which have thinner and finer crust. The right-oriented conch-shells called in Tamil ‘valam-puri’ and in Kannada ‘bala-muri’, are held exceedingly holy, and are themselves worshipped. Varaha-purana (the chapter on Prabhodhini-mahatmya) tells us that water from this conch when sprinkled on one’s head and sipped will eliminate all sins.

According to Skanda-purana, the sacred conch-shell must be dazzling white in colour, like cow’s milk, and must have a long neck and broad body; it must be long in the front portion. When blown, it should emit a long, loud and sonorous sound like ‘om’. On the back of it, there must be a long central line. The right convoluted shell is meritorious.

If Skanda-purana lauds the left-oriented conch-shells, known popularly as Vamavarti, as all accomplishing, there are many texts like Samkha-kalpa, which claim that the right-oriented conch-shells Dakshinavarti Shankha or Valampuri Shankha and Lakshmi Shankha, are the most auspicious and beneficent, and also that it’s worship will bring forth all benefits.

The Skanda-purana tells us where good conch-shells are obtained. The main stretch of the sea coast for this purpose is said to be five yojanas. The text gives names to the conches obtained in different places:Paudra, where the river Kaveri joins the sea.Anantavijaya in the western coast near Somanath.Mani-pushpa in Agni-tirtha to the west of ramesvaram in the South.Su-ghosha in Samkha-tirtha in the region between the Vata a collection of sixteen vata-trees in Vajra-mandala on the banks of the Yamuna and the sea.

Panchajanya in Kusasthali another name for Dwaraka, more particularly Chakratirtha.Devadatta in the region where the river Tamraparni flows and the shrine to Sangamesvara is located.

Of these varieties, the text says that Pancha-janya is the best.In India a lot of people with Nayak, Padiyar and Bhandarakar surnames normally belong to the Shankha Pingala Kounsa Gothram.There are 6 types of auspicious Shankhas known as Shad Shubha Shankhas. The Vamavarti and Dakshinavarti are the well known ones. To know about the other four click here