svayambhu
स्वयम्भू svayambhūSelf-manifest, self-arisen; said of an image or linga held by the tradition to have appeared on its own rather than been carved and installed.
Where this term appears
- Tirupati: The Temple of Venkateshwara Temples
The image is held to be svayambhu , a Sanskrit word meaning self-manifested.
- What is Tirtha? Pilgrimage in Hindu Life Temples
Tradition holds that the tirthas are intrinsically sacred. Many are said to be svayambhu , self-manifested.
- The Twelve Jyotirlingas Temples
Svayambhu , self-arisen, as against pratishthita , a linga shaped by a sculptor and installed by a priest ( Shiva Purana, Kotirudra Samhita 1, "The greatness of Jyotirlingas and their Upalingas").
- The Subtle Body: Nadis, Chakras, and Kundalini Yoga
The word comes from kundala , "coiled." She is described as a power, a shakti , lying asleep at the base of the subtle body, in the muladhara , coiled around a small self-arisen linga, the svayambhu-linga .
- Aniconic Forms: Shaligrama and Yantra Deities
Because it is found and not made, the tradition holds it to be svayambhu , self-manifest: Vishnu is already present in it.
- Muladhara: The Root Treatise
Woodroffe's public-domain translation: "Inside it is Svayambhu in His Linga-form, beautiful like molten gold, with His head downwards.