The Sanskrit terms Ṣoḍaśānta and Ṣoḍaśāntā can be transliterated into English as Sodasanta or Shodashanta, using the IAST transliteration scheme (?).

In Hinduism

Shaktism (Shakta philosophy)

Source: Google Books: Manthanabhairavatantram

1) Ṣoḍaśānta (षोडशान्त) refers to the “end of the sixteen vowels”, according to the Manthānabhairavatantra, a vast sprawling work that belongs to a corpus of Tantric texts concerned with the worship of the goddess Kubjikā.—Accordingly, “(Kuṇḍalinī) in her straight form (ṛjvī) is in the little-known (aprasiddha) place. Once she has filled the lake of nectar in the end of the sixteen (vowels) (ṣoḍaśānta), she who is the living being (jīvarūpiṇī) fills everything right up to the living being. In the form of the well-known senses (akṣa), she measures out time. She acts within the world of transmigratory existence and regulates the path to liberation. She is endowed with the 21,600 (breaths) enumerated in relation to the fettered soul in accord with the (Yogic) teaching concerning night and day”.

The commentary on these lines in the Ṣaṭsāhasrasaṃhitā explains that: “Thus she is the one at the ‘end of the sixteen’ [i.e., ṣoḍaśāntā], that is, she is at the end of the sixteen vowels [i.e., ṣoḍaśasvara-antā]. The meaning is that she is the supreme (energy) of Unstruck Sound (anacka) and is without (phonemic) measure (nirmātrā). Here itself she is the living being because (she) fills (the body)”.

2) Ṣoḍaśānta (षोडशान्त) refers to the “end of the sixteen”, corresponding the Paścimāmnāya system: one of the sixteen spiritual disciplines (darśana) issued from the limbs of the body of the Goddess, according to the Manthānabhairavatantra, a vast sprawling work that belongs to a corpus of Tantric texts concerned with the worship of the goddess Kubjikā.—[...] All spiritual disciplines, whatever the tradition, are necessarily grounded in the same energy of the Śāmbhava state. They issue, as the texts put it, from the limbs of the body of the goddess who is this energy. These range from the lowest extremity—the left big toe—where Buddhism originates, to the highest—the End of Sixteen—where the Śāmbhava state is attained which is the source of the Kubjikā tradition. The systems (darśana) and their corresponding places of origin in the Goddess’s body are as follows: [10) Paścimāmnāya—the End of the Sixteen (above which there is nothing)—ṣoḍaśānta, ...].

context information

Shakta (शाक्त, śākta) or Shaktism (śāktism) represents a tradition of Hinduism where the Goddess (Devi) is revered and worshipped. Shakta literature includes a range of scriptures, including various Agamas and Tantras, although its roots may be traced back to the Vedas.

Shaivism (Shaiva philosophy)

Source: Google Books: Manthanabhairavatantram (shaivism)

Ṣoḍaśānta (षोडशान्त) refers to the “end of the sixteen”.—The “end of the twelve” (dvādaśānta) is located at a symbolic distance of twelve fingers above the head, the end of the sixteen (ṣoḍaśānta) is four fingers breadth above that. According to the Kubjikā Tantras, this is the ‘place’ where liberation is finally attained. [...] Although the Brahmayāmala knows about Kuṇḍalinī and even associates her with the sixteen vowels, no mention is made of the End of the Sixteen. [...] Similarly, the end of the sixteen (ṣoḍaśānta) appears to have been ignored by the Trika Tantras. It is practically unknown to the Tantrasadbhāva and the Mālinīvijayottaratantra and is not mentioned in the fragment we possess of the Siddhayogeśvarīmata. There is a unique reference in the Tantrasadbhāva to an ‘end of the sixteen’.

Referring to the Śrīvidyā tradition, Padoux pertinently remarks, after noting the occasional, rare occurrence of the End of the Sixteen (ṣoḍaśānta) with respect to the End of the Twelve (dvādaśānta) as the location of the highest Wheel (cakra) in the subtle body: “Even so, in the measure in which the dvādaśānta [End of the Twelve] is considered to have twelve petals, a solar number, it naturally evokes another cakra that should have sixteen, a lunar number and one of plenitude”. The Svacchandasaṃgraha, quoted by Amṛtānanda in his commentary on the Yoginīhṛdaya, is one of the rare places in which the End of the Sixteen is mentioned in the texts of the Śrīvidyā tradition. There it is explained in a similar way as “the end of emission” (visargānta), which is the sixteenth vowel.

context information

Shaiva (शैव, śaiva) or Shaivism (śaivism) represents a tradition of Hinduism worshiping Shiva as the supreme being. Closely related to Shaktism, Shaiva literature includes a range of scriptures, including Tantras, while the root of this tradition may be traced back to the ancient Vedas.

See also (Relevant definitions)

Partial matches: Shodasha, Anta.

Full-text (+17): Nirmatra, Jivarupini, Uparisthita, Shodashasvara, Shodasha, Shodashantika, Anuvartin, Aprasiddha, Rijvi, Trana, Ashtadhikashata, Rodhika, Paratman, Bindusthana, Siddhatman, Paraparatman, Nabhas, Mula, Bhalika, Prasiddhatman.

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