śrī dakṣiṇāmūrti pañjaram

A panjara — a cage rather than an armour, the form that encloses the reciter on every side — set as a conversation in which the sage of the vina bows his head to Shiva with Uma and then asks Skanda for it, addressing him as the one who has obtained the whole of scripture, commander of the host, beloved son of Parvati. What Skanda gives him runs to some fifty verses: the syllables of the mantra set about the body and the quarters, the directions closed, and the enclosure completed. The last verse states its purpose without ornament — therefore a person who seeks release should by every effort turn this Dakshinamurti Panjara over daily; his self made clean of every sin, he goes to the eternal brahman.