Chapter 2 - Bodiless Consciousness

The bases of this Yoga are of a highly metaphysical and scientific character. For its understanding there is required a full acquaintance with Indian philosophy, religious doctrine, and ritual in general, and in particular with that presentment of these three matters which is given in the Śākta and Monistic (Advaita)^[1] Śaiva-Tantras. It would need more than a bulky volume to describe and explain in any detail the nature and meaning of this Yoga, and the bases on which it rests. I must, therefore, assume in the reader either this general knowledge or a desire to acquire it, and confine myself to such an exposition of general principles and leading facts as will supply the key by which the doors leading to a theoretical knowledge of the subject may be opened by those desirous of passing through and beyond them, and as will thus facilitate the understanding of the difficult texts here translated. For on the practical side I can merely reproduce the directions given in the books together with such explanations of them as I have received orally. Those who wish to go farther, and to put into actual process this Yoga, must first satisfy themselves of the value and suitability of this Yoga and then learn directly of a Guru who has himself been through it (Siddha). His experience alone will say whether the aspirant is capable of success. It is said that of those who attempt it, one out of a thousand may have success. If the latter enters upon the path, the Guru alone can save him from attendant risks, moulding and guiding the practice as he will according to the particular capacities and needs of his disciple. Whilst, therefore, on this heading it is possible to explain some general principles, their application is dependent on the circumstances of each particular case.

The ultimate or irreducible reality is ‘Spirit’ in the sense of Pure Consciousness (Cit, Saṃvit) from out of which as and by its Power (Śakti), Mind and Matter proceed. Spirit^[2] is one. There are no degrees or differences in Spirit. The Spirit which is in man is the one Spirit which is in everything and which, as the object of worship, is the Lord (īśvara) or God. Mind and Matter are many and of many degrees and qualities. Ātmā or Spirit as such is the Whole (Pūrṇa) without section (Akhaṇḍa). Mind and Matter are parts in that Whole. They are the not-whole (Apūrṇa) and are the section (Khaṇḍa). Spirit is infinite (Aparicchinna) and formless (Arūpa). Mind and Matter are finite (Paricchinna) and with form (Rūpa). Ātmā is unchanged and inactive. Its Power (Śakti) is active and changes in the form of Mind and Matter. Pure Consciousness is Cit or Saṃvit. Matter as such is the unconscious. And Mind too is unconscious according to Vedānta. For all that is not the conscious self is the unconscious object. This does not mean that it is unconscious in itself. On the contrary all is essentially consciousness, but that it is unconscious because it is the object of the conscious self. For mind limits Consciousness so as to enable man to have finite experience. There is no Mind without consciousness as its background, though supreme Consciousness is Mindless (Amanas). Where there is no mind (Amanas), there is no limitation. Consciousness remaining in one aspect unchanged changes in its other aspect as active Power which manifests as Mind and Body. Man then is Pure Consciousness (Cit) vehicled by its Power as Mind and Body.

In Theology this Pure Consciousness is Śiva, and His Power (Śakti) who as She is in Her formless self is one with Him. She is the great Devī, the Mother of the Universe who as the Life-Force resides in man’s body in its lowest centre at the base of the spine just as Śiva is realized in the highest brain centre, the cerebrum or Sahasrāra-Padma. Completed Yoga is the Union of Her and Him in the body of the Sādhaka. This is Laya or dissolution, the reverse of Sṛṣṭi or involution of Spirit in Mind and Matter.

Some worship predominantly the masculine or right side of the conjoint male and female figure (Ardhanārīśvara). Some, the Śāktas, predominantly worship the left, and call Her Mother, for She is the Great Mother (Magna Mater), the Mahādevī who conceives, bears, and nourishes the universe sprung from Her womb (Yoni). This is so because She is the active aspect^[3] of Consciousness, imagining (Sṛṣṭi-kalpanā)^[4] the world to be, according to the impressions (Saṃskāra) derived from enjoyment and suffering in former worlds. It is held natural to worship Her as Mother. The first Mantra into which all men are initiated is the word Mā (Mother). It is their first word and generally their last. The father is a mere helper (Sahakāri-mātra) of the Mother.^[5] The whole world of the five elements also springs from the Active Consciousness or Śakti, and is Her manifestation (Pūrṇa-vikāsa). Therefore men worship the Mother,^[6] than whom is none more tender,^[7] saluting Her smiling beauty as the rosy Tripurasundarī, the source of the universe, and Her awe-inspiring grandeur as Kālī, who takes it back into Herself. Here we are concerned with Yoga which is the realization of the union of the Mother and Lord aspects in that state of consciousness which is the Absolute.

Veda says: “All this (that is, the manifold world) is (the one) Brahman” (sarvaṃ khalvidaṃ brahma).^[8] How the many can be the one^[9] is variously explained by the different schools. The interpretation here given is that contained in the Śākta-Tantras or Āgamas. In the first place, what is the one Reality which appears as many? What is the nature of Brahman as it is in itself (Svarūpa)? The answer is Sat- Cit-Ānanda—that is, Being-Consciousness-Bliss. Consciousness or feeling, as such (Cit or Saṃvit), is identical with Being as such. Though in ordinary experience the two are essentially bound up together, they still diverge or seem to diverge from each other. Man by his constitution inveterately believes in an objective existence beyond and independent of himself. And there is such objectivity as long as, being embodied Spirit (Jīvātmā), his consciousness is veiled or contracted^[10] by Māyā. But in the ultimate basis of experience, which is the Supreme Spirit (Paramātmā), the divergence has gone, for in it lie, in undifferentiated mass, experiencer, experience, and the experienced. When, however, we speak of Cit as FeelingConsciousness we must remember that what we know and observe as such is only a limited changing manifestation of Cit, which is in itself the infinite changeless principle, which is the background of all experience. This Being-Consciousness is absolute Bliss (Ānanda), which is defined as “resting in the self” (Svarūpa-viśrānti). It is Bliss because, being the infinite All (Pūrṇa), it can be in want of nothing. This blissful consciousness is the ultimate or irreducible nature or Svarūpa or own form of the one Reality which is both the Whole as the irreducible Real and Part as the reducible Real. Svarūpa is the nature of anything as it is in itself, as distinguished from what it may appear to be. Supreme Consciousness is the Supreme Śiva-Śakti (Paraśiva Paraśakti) which never changes, but eternally endures the same throughout all change effected in its creative aspect as Śiva-Śakti. All manifestation is associated with apparent unconsciousness. The mind is evidently not a pure, but a limited consciousness. What limits it must be something either in itself unconscious or, if conscious, capable of producing the appearance of consciousness.^[11] In the phenomenal world there is nothing absolutely conscious nor absolutely unconscious. Consciousness and unconsciousness are always intermingled. Some things, however, appear to be more conscious, and some more unconscious than others. This is due to the fact that Cit, which is never absent in anything, yet manifests itself in various ways and degrees. The degree of this manifestation is determined by the nature and development of the mind and body in which it is enshrined. Spirit remains the same; the mind and body change. The manifestation of consciousness is more or less limited as ascent is made from the mineral to man. In the mineral world Git manifests as the lowest form of sentiency evidenced by reflex response to stimuli, and that physical consciousness which is called in the West atomic memory. The sentiency of plants is more developed, though it is, as Cakrapāṇi says in the Bhānumatī, a dormant consciousness. This is further manifested in those micro-organisms which are intermediate stages between the vegetable and animal worlds, and have a psychic life of their own. In the animal world consciousness becomes more centralized and complex, reaching its fullest development in man, who possesses all the psychic functions such as cognition, perception, feeling and will. Behind all these particular changing forms of sentiency or consciousness is the one formless, changeless Cit as it is in itself (Svarūpa), that is, as distinguished from the particular forms of its manifestation.

As Cit throughout all these stages of life remains the same it is not in itself really developed. The appearance of development is due to the fact that it is now more and now less veiled or contracted by Mind and Matter. It is this veiling by the power of Consciousness (Śakti) which creates the world. What is it, then, which veils consciousness and thus produces world-experience?

The answer is Power or Śakti as Māyā. Māyā-Śakti is that which seemingly makes the Whole (Pūrṇa) into the not whole (Apūrṇa), the infinite into the finite, the formless into forms and the like. It is a power which thus cuts down, veils and negates. Negates what? Perfect consciousness. Is Śakti in itself the same as or different from Śiva or Cit? It must be the same, for otherwise all could not be one Brahman. But if it is the same it must be also Cit or Consciousness. Therefore it is Saccidānandamayī^[12] and Cidrūpiṇī.^[13]

And yet there is, at least in appearance, some distinction. Śakti, which comes from the root Śak, “to have power,” “to be able,” means power. As She is one with Śiva as Power-holder (Śaktimān), She as such Power is the power of Śiva or Consciousness. There is no difference between Śiva as the possessor of power (Śaktimān) and Power as It is in Itself. The power of Consciousness is Consciousness in its active aspect. Whilst, therefore, both Śiva and Śakti are Consciousness, the former is the changeless static aspect of Consciousness, and Śakti is the kinetic, active aspect of the same Consciousness. The particular power whereby the dualistic world is brought into being is Māyā-Śakti, which is both a veiling (Āvaraṇa) and projecting (Vikṣepa) Śakti. Consciousness veils itself to itself, and projects from the store of its previous experiences (Saṃskāra) the notion of a world in which it suffers and enjoys. The universe is thus the creative imagination (Sṛṣṭi-kalpanā, as it is called) of the Supreme World-thinker (Īśvara). Māyā is that power by which things are “measured”—that is, formed and made known (Mīyate anayā iti māyā). It is the sense of difference (Bhedabuddhi), or that which makes man see the world, and all things and persons therein, as different from himself, when in essence he and they are the one Self. It is that which establishes a dichotomy in what would otherwise be a unitary experience, and is the cause of the dualism inherent in all phenomenal experience. Śakti as action veils consciousness by negating in various degrees Herself as Consciousness.

Before the manifestation of the universe, infinite BeingConsciousness-Bliss alone was—that is, Śiva-Śakti as Cit and Cidrūpiṇī respectively.^[14]

This is the Experience-whole (Pūrṇa) in which as the Upaniṣad says, “The Self knows and loves the Self.” It is this Love which is Bliss or “resting in the self,” for, as it is elsewhere said, “Supreme love is bliss” (Niratiśaya-premāspadatvaṃ ānandatvaṃ). This is Paraśiva, who in the scheme of the Thirty-six Tattvās,^[15] is known as See as to the Kashmir School, and its Philosophy of the Tattvas J. C. Chatterji’s work on “Kashmir Śaivism”.

This is Paramaśiva, or Nirguṇa (attributeless), or Niṣkala (devoid of manifested Śakti) Śiva or Parabrahman, as contrasted with Saguṇa (with attribute), or Sakala (with parts or Śakti), Śiva, or Śabda-brahman (Brahman as the source of “sound,” v. post).

Para-saṃvit. This Monism posits a dual aspect of the single Consciousness—one the transcendental changeless aspect (Para-saṃvit), and the other the creative changing aspect, which is called Śiva-Śakti-Tattva. In Para-saṃvit the “I” (Ahaṃ) and the “This” (Idaṃ), or universe of objects, are indistinguishably mingled in the supreme unitary experience.^[16]

In Śiva-Śakti-Tattva, Śakti, which is the negative aspect of the former, Her function being negation (Niṣedha-vyapārarūpā Śaktiḥ), negates Herself as the object of experience, leaving the Śiva consciousness as a mere “I,” “not looking towards another” (Ananyonmukhaḥ ahaṃ-pratyayaḥ). This is a state of mere subjective illumination (Prakāśa-mātra)^[17] to which Śakti, who is called Vimarśa^[18] again presents Herself, but now with a distinction of “I” and “This” as yet held together as part of one self. At this point, the first incipient stage of dualism, there is the first transformation of consciousness, known as Sadāśiva or Sadākhya-Tattva, which is followed by the second or Īśvara Tattva, and then by the third or Śuddha-vidyā-Tattva. In the first emphasis is laid on the “This”, in the second on the “I,” and in the third on both equally. Then Māyā severs the united consciousness so that the object is seen as other than the self and then as split up into the multitudinous objects of the universe.

In the Mantra side of the Tantra-Śāstra, dealing with Mantra and its origin, these two Tattvas emanating from Śakti are from the sound side known as Nāda and Bindu. Paraśiva and Parāśakti are motionless (Niḥspanda) and soundless (Niḥśabda).

Nāda is the first produced movement in the ideating cosmic consciousness leading up to the Sound-Brahman (Śabda-brahman), whence all ideas, the language in which they are expressed (Śabda), and the objects (Artha) which they denote, are derived.

Bindu literally means a point and the dot (Anusvāra), which denotes^[19] in Sanskrit the nasal breathing (°). It is placed in the Candra-bindu nasal breathing above Nāda (°). In its technical Mantra sense it denotes that state of active Consciousness or Śakti in which the “I” or illuminating aspect of Consciousness identifies itself with the total “This”.^[20] It subjectifies the “This,” thereby becoming a point (Bindu) of consciousness with it. When Consciousness apprehends an object as different from Itself, It sees that object as extended in space. But when that object is completely subjectified, it is experienced as an unextended point. This is the universe-experience of the Lord-experiencer as Bindu.^[21]

Where does the Universe go at dissolution? It is withdrawn into that Śakti which projected it. It collapses, so to speak, into a mathematical point without any magnitude whatever.^[22] This is the Śiva-bindu, which again is withdrawn into the Śiva-Śakti-Tattva which produced it. It is conceived that round the Śiva-Bindu there is coiled Śakti, just as in the earth centre called Mūlādhāra-Cakra in the human body a serpent clings round the self-produced Phallus (Svayaṃbhu- liṅga). This coiled Śakti may be conceived as a mathematical line, also without magnitude, which, being everywhere in contact with the point round which it is coiled, is compressed together with it, and forms therefore also one and the same point. There is one indivisible unity of dual aspect which is figured also in the Tantras^[23] as a grain of gram (Canaka), which has two seeds so closely joined as to look as one surrounded by an outer sheath.^[24]

To revert to the former simile, the Śakti coiled round Śiva, making one point (Bindu) with it, is Kuṇḍalinī Śakti. This word comes from the word Kuṇḍala or “a coil,” “a bangle”. She is spoken of as coiled; because She is likened to a serpent (Bhujaṅgī), which, when resting and sleeping, lies coiled; and because the nature of Her power is spiraline, manifesting itself as such in the worlds—the spheroids or “eggs of Brahma” (Brahmāṇḍa), and in their circular or revolving orbits and in other ways. Thus the Tantras speak of the development of the straight line, (Riju-rekhā) from the point which, when it has gone its length as a point, is turned (vakra-rekhā aṃkushākāra) by the force of the spiraline sack of Māyā in which it works so as to form a figure of two dimensions, which again is turned upon itself, ascending as a straight line into the plane of the third dimension, thus forming the triangular or pyramidal figure called Śṛṇgātaka.^[25] In other words, this Kuṇḍalī-Śakti is that which, when it moves to manifest itself, appears as the universe. To say that it is “coiled” is to say that it is at rest —that is, in the form of static potential energy. This Śakti coiled round the Supreme Śiva is called Mahākuṇḍalī (“The great coiled power”), to distinguish it from the same power which exists in individual bodies, and which is called Kuṇḍalinī.^[26] It is with and through the last power that this Yoga is effected. When it is accomplished the individual Śakti (Kuṇḍalī) is united with the great cosmic Śakti (Mahā- Kuṇḍalī), and She with Śiva, with whom She is essentially one. Kuṇḍalinī is an aspect of the eternal Brahman (Brahma- rūpa Sanātanī), and is both attributeless and with attribute (Nirguṇa and Saguṇa). In Her Nirguṇa aspect She is pure Consciousness (Gaitanya-rūpiṇī) and Bliss itself (Ānandarūpiṇī, and in creation, Brahmānanda-prakāśinī). As Saguṇa She it is by whose power all creatures are displayed (Sarvabhūta-prakāśinī.^[27] Kuṇḍalī-Śakti in individual bodies is power at rest, or the static centre round which every form of existence as moving power revolves. In the universe there is always in and behind every form of activity a static background. The one Consciousness is polarized into static (Śiva) and kinetic (Śakti) aspects for the purpose of “creation”. This Yoga is the resolution of this duality into unity again. The Indian Scriptures say, in the words of Herbert Spencer in his “First Principles”, that the universe is an unfoldment (Sṛṣṭī) from the homogeneous (Mūla-prakṛti) to the heterogeneous (Vikṛti), and back to the homogeneous again (Pralaya or Dissolution). There are thus alternate states of evolution and dissolution, manifestation taking place after a period of rest. So also Professor Huxley, in his “Evolution and Ethics,” speaks of the manifestation of cosmic energy (Māyā-Śakti) alternating between phases of potentiality (Pralaya) and phases of explication (Sṛṣṭi). “It may be,” he says, “as Kant suggests, every cosmic magma predestined to evolve into a new world has been the no less predestined end of a vanished predecessor.” This the Indian Sāstra affirms in its doctrine that there is no such thing as an absolutely first creation, the present universe being but one of a series of worlds which are past and are yet to be.

At the time of Dissolution (Pralaya) there is in Consciousness as Mahā-kuṇḍalī, though undistinguishable from its general mass, the potentiality or seed of the universe to be. Māyā, as the world, potentially exists as Mahā-kuṇḍalī, who is Herself one with Consciousness or Śiva. This Māyā contains, and is in fact constituted by, the collective Saṃskāra or Vāsanā—that is, the mental impressions and tendencies produced by Karma accomplished in previously existing worlds. These constitute the mass of the potential ignorance (Avidyā) by which Consciousness veils itself. They were produced by desire for worldly enjoyment, and themselves produce such desire. The worlds exist because they, in their totality, will to exist. Each individual exists because his will desires worldly life. This seed is therefore the collective or cosmic will towards manifested life—that is the life of form and enjoyment. At the end of the period of rest, which is Dissolution, this seed ripens into Consciousness. Consciousness

has thus a twin aspect; its liberation (Mukti) or formless aspect, in which it is as mere Consciousness-Bliss; and a universe or form aspect, in which it becomes the world of enjoyment (Bhukti). One of the cardinal principles of the Śākta-Tantra is to secure by its Sādhanā both Liberation (Mukti) and Enjoyment (Bhukti).^[28] This is possible by the identification of the self when in enjoyment with the soul of the world. When this seed ripens, Śiva is said to put forth His Śakti. As this Śakti is Himself, it is He iṇ His Śiva-Śakti aspect who comes forth (Prasarati) and endows Himself with all the forms of worldly life. In the pure, perfect, formless Consciousness there springs up the desire to manifest in the world of forms—the desire for enjoyment of and as form. This takes place as a limited stress in the unlimited unmoving surface of pure Consciousness, which is Niṣkala- Śiva, but without affecting the latter. There is thus change in changelessness and changelessness in change. Śiva in His transcendent aspect does not change but Śiva (Sakala) in His immanent aspect as Śakti does. As creative will arises, Śakti thrills as Nāda,^[29] and assumes the form of Bindu, which is Īśvara-Tattva, whence all the worlds derive. It is for their creation that Kuṇḍalī uncoils. When Karma ripens, the Devī, in the words of the Nigama,^[30] “becomes desirous of creation, and covers Herself with Her own Māyā”. Again, the “Devī, joyful in the mad delight of Her union with the Supreme Akula,^[31] becomes Vikāriṇī”^[32] —that is, the Vikāras or Tattvas of Mind and Matter, which constitute the universe, appear.

The Śāstras have dealt with the stages of creation in great detail both from the subjective and objective viewpoints as changes in the limited consciousness or as movement (Spanda), form, and “sound” (Śabda). Both Śaivas and Śāktas equally accept the Thirty-Six categories or Tattvas, the Kalās, the Śaktis Unmanī and the rest in the Tattvas, the Ṣadadhvā [Ṣaḍadhvā?], the Mantra concepts of Nāda, Bindu, Kāmakalā, and so forth.^[33] Authors of the Northern Śaiva School, of which a leading Śāstra is the Mālinīvijaya-Tantra, have described with great profundity these Tattvas. General conclusions only are, however, here summarized. These thirty-six Tattvas are in the Tantras divided into three groups, called Ātma, Vidyā and Śiva Tattvas. The first group includes all the Tattvas, from the lowest Pṛthivī (“earth”) to Prakṛti, which are known as the impure categories (Aśuddha-Tattva); the second includes Māyā, the Kañcukas,^[34] and Puruṣa, called the pure-impure categories (Śuddha-aśuddha-Tattva); and the third includes the five highest Tattvas called the pure Tattvas (Śuddha-Tattva), from Śiva-Tattva to Śuddha-vidyā. As already stated, the supreme changeless state (Para-saṃvit)^[35] is the unitary experience in which the “I” and “This” coalesce in unity.

In the kinetic or Śakti aspect, as presented by the pure categories, experience recognizes an “I” and “This,” but the latter is regarded, not as something opposed to and outside the “I,” but as part of a one self with two sides—an “I” (Ahaṃ) and “This” (Idaṃ). The emphasis varies from insistence on the “I” to insistence on the “This,” and then to equality of emphasis on the “I” and “This” as a preparation for the dichotomy in consciousness which follows.

The pure-impure categories are intermediate between the pure and the impure. The essential characteristic of experience constituted by the impure categories is its dualism effected through Māyā—and its limitations—the result of the operation of the Kañcukas. Here the “This” is not seen as part of the Self, but as opposed to and without it as an object seen outside. Each consciousness thus becomes mutually exclusive the one of the other. The states thus described are threefold: a transcendent mingled “I” and “This” in which these elements of experience are as such not evolved; and a pure form of experience intermediate between the first and last, in which both the “I” and the “This” are experienced as part of the one self; and, thirdly, the state of manifestation proper, when there is a complete cleavage between the “I” and the “This,” in which an outer object is presented to the consciousness of a knower which is other than the subject. This last stage is itself twofold. In the first the Puruṣa experiences a homogeneous universe, though different from himself as Prakṛti; in the second Prakṛti is split up into its effects (Vikṛti), which are Mind and Matter, and the multitudinous beings of the universe which these compose. Śakti as Prakṛti first evolves mind (Buddhi, Ahaṃkāra, Manas) and senses (Indṛya), and then sensible matter (Bhūta) of fivefold form (“ether,” “air,” “fire,” “water,” “earth”)^[36] derived from the supersensible generals of the sense-particulars called Tanmātra. When Śakti has entered the last and grossest Tattva (“earth”)—that is, solid matter—there is nothing further for Her to do. Her creative activity then ceases, and She rests. She rests in Her last emanation, the “earth” principle. She is again coiled and sleeps. She is now Kuṇḍalī-Śakti, whose abode in the human body is the Earth centre or Mūlādhāra-Cakra. As in the supreme state She lay coiled as the Mahākuṇḍalī round the Supreme Śiva, so here She coils round the Svayaṃbhū-Liṅga in the Mūlādhāra. This last centre or Cakra and the four above it are centres of the five forms of Matter. The sixth centre is that of Mind. Consciousness and its processes through Śakti prior to the appearance of Māyā are realized in the seventh lotus (Sahasrāra- padma) and centres intermediate between it and the sixth or Ājñā Mind centre.

The mantra evolution, which must be known if the Text is to be understood, is set forth with great clarity in the Śāradā-Tilaka, wherein it is said that from the Sakala- Śiva (Śiva-Tattva), who is Sat-Cit-Ānanda, issued (Śakti- Tattva); from the latter Nāda (Sadākhya Tattva); and from Nāda evolved Bindu (Īśvara-Tattva),^[37] which, to distinguish it from the Bindu which follows, is called the Supreme Bindu (Para-Bindu). Nāda and Bindu are, like all else, aspects of Power, or Śakti, being those states of Her which are the proper conditions for Upayogā-vasthā) and in which She is prone to (Ucchūnāvasthā) “creation”. In those Tattvas the germ of action (Kriyā-Śakti) sprouts towards its full manifestation.

The Tantras, in so far as they are Mantra-Śāstras, are concerned with Śabda or “Sound”, a term later explained. Mantra is manifested Śabda. Nāda, which also literally means “sound,” is the first of the produced intermediate causal bodies of manifested Śabda. Bindu, which has previously been explained, is described as the state of the letter “Ma” before manifestation, consisting of the Śiva-Śakti-Tattva enveloped by Māyā or Parama-Kuṇḍalinī. It implies both the void (Śūnya)—that is, the Brahman state (Brahmapada)—in the empty space within the circle of the Bindu; as also the Guṇas which are implicitly contained in it, since it is in indissoluble union with Śakti, in whom the Guṇas or factors constituting the material source of all things are contained.^[38] The Para-bindu is called the Ghanāvasthā or massive state of Śakti. It is Cid-ghana or massive consciousness—that is, Cit associated with undifferentiated (that is, Cidrūpiṇī) Śakti, in which lie potentially in a mass (Ghana), though undistin- guishable the one from the other, all the worlds and beings to be created. This is Parama-Śiva, in whom are all the Devatās. It is this Bindu who is the Lord (Īśvara) whom some Paurāṇikas call Mahāviṣṇu and others the Brahma-puruṣa.^[39] As the Commentator says, it does not matter what He is called. He is the Lord (Īśvara) who is worshipped in secret by all Devas,^[40] and is pointed to in different phases of the Bhandrabindu, or Nāda, Bindu, Śakti and Śānta of the Oṃ and other Bīja-Mantras. Its abode is Satyaloka, which within the human body exists in the pericarp of the thousandpetalled lotus (Sahasrāra) in the highest cerebral centre. The Śāradā^[41] then says that this Para-bindu, whose substance is Supreme Śakti, divides itself into three—that is, appears under a threefold aspect. There are thus three Bindus, the first of which is called Bindu,^[42] and the others Nāda and Bīja. Bindu is in the nature of Śiva and Bīja of Śakti.^[43] Nāda is Śiva- Śakti—that is, their mutual relation or interaction (Mithaḥ samavāyaḥ)^[44] or Yoga (union), as the Prayoga-sāra calls it.^[45] The threefold Bindu (Tri-bindu) is supreme (Para), subtle (Sūkṣma) and gross (Sthūla).^[46] Nāda is thus the union of these two in creation. As the Text says (v. 40), it is by this division of Śiva and Śakti that there arises creative ideation (Sṛṣṭi-kalpanā). The causal Bindu is from the Śakti aspect undifferentiated Śakti (Abhedarūpā-Śakti) with all powers (Sarva-śaktimaya); from the Prakṛti aspect Triguṇamayi Mūla-prakṛti; from the Devatā aspect the unmanifest (Avyakta); from the Devī aspect Śāntā. The three Bindus separately indicate the operations of the three powers of Will (Icchā), Knowledge (Jñāna), and Action (Kriyā), and the three Guṇas (Rajas, Sattva, Tamas); also the manifestation of the three Devīs (Vāmā, Jyeṣṭhā, Raudrī) and the three Devatās (Brahmā, Viṣṇu, Rudra) who spring from them.^[47] It is said in the Prayoga-sāra and Śāradā that Raudrī issued from Bindu, Jyeṣṭhā from Nāda, and Vāmā from Bīja. From these came Rudra, Viṣṇu, Brahmā, which are in the nature of Jñāna, Kriyā, Icchā, and Moon, Sun and Fire.^[48] The three Bindus are known as Sun (Ravi), Moon (Candra), and Fire (Agni), terms constantly appearing in the works here translated.

In Sun there are Fire and Moon.^[49] It is known as Miśra-Bindu, and in the form of such is not different from Paramaśiva, and is Kāmakalā.^[50] Kāmakalā is the Triangle of Divine Desire formed by the three Bindus—that is, their collectivity (Samaṣṭi-rūpā).^[51] This Kāmakalā is the root (Mūla) of all Mantra. Moon (Soma, Candra) is Śiva-Bindu, and white (Sita-Bindu); Fire (Agni) is Śakti-bindu, and red (Śoṇa-bindu); Sun is the mixture of the two. Fire, Moon and Sun are the Icchā, Jñāna, Kriyā-Śaktis (Will, Knowledge, Action). On the material plane the white Bindu assumes the form of semen (Śukrā), and the red Bindu of menstrual fluid (Rajasphala, Śoṇita). Mahā-bindu is the state before the manifestation of Prakrti.^[52] All three Bindus—that is, the Kāmakalā—are Śakti, though one may indicate predominantly the Śiva, the other the Śakti, aspect. Sometimes Miśra-Bindu is called Śakti-Tattva, to denote the supremacy of Śakti, and sometimes Śiva-Tattva, to denote the supremacy of the possessor of power (Śaktimān). It is of coupled form (Yāmala-rūpā). There is no Śiva without Śakti, nor Śakti without Śiva.^[53] To separate^[54] them is as impossible as to separate the moving wind from the steadfast ether in which it blows. In the one Śiva-Śakti there is a union (Maithuna),^[55] the thrill of which is Nāda, whence Mahā-bindu is born, which itself becomes threefold (Tri-bindu), which is Kāmakalā.^[56] It is said in the Śāradā- Tilaka that on the “bursting” or differentiation of the Supreme Bindu there was unmanifested “sound” (Śabda).^[57] This unmanifested Śabda is through action (Kriya-Śakti) the source of the manifested Śabda and Artha described later.^[58] The Brahman as the source of language (Śabda) and ideas on one hand, and the objects (Artha) they denote on the other, is called Śabda-brahman, or, to use a Western term, the Logos.^[59] From this differentiating Bindu in the form of Prakṛti are evolved the Tattvas of Mind and Matter in all their various forms, as also the Lords of the Tattvas (Tattveśa)—that is, their directing intelligences—Śaṃbhu,^[60] the presiding Devatā over the Ājñā-Cakra, the centre of the mental faculties; and Sadāśiva, Īśa, Rudra, Viṣṇu, Brahmā, the Devatās of the five forms of Matter, concluding with Pṛthivī (“earth”) in the Mūlādhāra centre, wherein the creative Śakti, having finished Her work, again rests, and is called Kuṇḍalinī.

Just as the atom consists of a static centre round which moving forces revolve, so in the human body Kuṇḍalinī in the “Earth-Cakra” is the static centre (Kendra) round which She in kinetic aspect as the forces of the body works. The whole body as Śakti is in ceaseless movement. Kuṇḍalinī Śakti is the immobile support of all these operations. When She is aroused and Herself moves upwards, She withdraws with and into Herself these moving Śaktis, and then unites with Śiva in the Sahasrāra Lotus. The process upward (evolution) is the reverse of the involution above described. The Worlds are dissolved (Laya) from time to time for all beings. The perfected Yogī dissolves the Universe for all time for himself. Yoga is thus Laya.

Before proceeding to a description of the Cakras it is, firstly necessary to describe more fully the constituents of the body—that is, Power manifest as the Tattvas mentioned, extending from Prakṛti to Pṛthivī. It is of these Tattvas that the Cakras are centres. Secondly, an explanation is required of the doctrine of “Sound” (Śabda), which exists in the body in the three inner states (Parā, Paśyantī, Madhyamā) and is expressed in uttered speech (Vaikharī). This will help the reader to an understanding of the meaning of Mantra or manifested Śabda, and of the “Garland of Letters” which is distributed throughout the six bodily centres.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

As to the Advaita of Śākta-Tantra, see “Śakti and Śākta.”

[2]:

Spirit is Ātmā which manifests as the Self. Its vehicles are Mind or Antaḥkaraṇa working with Manas and the Senses or Indriyas, and Matter, namely, the five kinds of Bhūta or sensible matter.

[3]:

The quiescent Śiva-aspect is by its definition, inert. It is because of this that the Devī is in the Tantras symbolically represented as being above the body of Śiva, who lies under Her like a corpse (Śava). As the Kubjikā-Tantra, Ch. I, states, it is not Brahmā, Viṣṇu and Rudra, who create, maintain and destroy, but their Śaktis, Brahmāṇī, Vaiṣṇavī, Rudrāṇī. See Prāṇa-toṣiṇī, 9. Activity is the nature of Prakṛti (Sāṃkhya- Pravacana Sutra, III. 66). For the same reason the female form is represented in sexual union as being above (Viparīta) the male. When the Devī stands above Śiva, the symbolism also denotes (particularly in the case of Kālī) the liberating aspect of the Mother. See “Principles of Tantra.”

[4]:

The world is called an imagination (Kalpanā), for it is creative ideation on the recalled memory of the past universe. As the Yogīnī- hṛdaya-Tantra says, “The picture of the world is designed by her own will” (Svecchā-viśvamayollekha-khachitaṃ), “seeing which Bhagavan was very pleased.”

[5]:

The Supreme Father gives His illumination (Prakāśa). She, the Vimarśa-śakti, produces, but not alone. (Vimarśa-śakti prakāśaśātmanā paramaśivena sāmarasya-viśvaṃ sṛjati na tu kevalā—Yogīnī-hṛdaya- Tantra).

[6]:

In Mātṛ-bhāva, according to the Sanskrit term. Philosophically also this is sound, for all that man knows (outside ecstasy of Samādhi) is the Mother in Her form as the world. The Supreme Śakti, who is not different from Śiva (Parāśakti-śivāhbinnā), is embodied in every order of thing (Sarva-krama-śarīriṇī—Yogīnī-hṛdaya-Tantra).

[7]:

It is said that “there is nothing more tender than Prakṛti,” who serves Puruṣa in every way in His enjoyment, finally giving Mukti or Liberation by retiring from Him when He no longer serves Her.

[8]:

This, as the Mahānirvāṇa-Tantra says (VII. 98), is the end and aim of Tāntrik Kulācāra, the realization of which saying the Prapañcasāra-Tantra calls the fifth or supreme State (Ch. XIX, Prapañcasāra- Tantra).

[9]:

Thus it is said of Devī that She is in the form of one and many (Ekānekākṣarākṛtiḥ). Ekaṃ=ekaṃ ajñānaṃ or Māyā. Anekāni = the several Ājñānas—that is, Avidyā. She is both as Upādhi of Īśvara and Jīva (Triśatī, II. 23).

[10]:

Saṃkoca. Fullness or wholeness is “veiled” in order that the part or particular may be experienced.

[11]:

The alternative is given to meet the differing views of Māyā-vāda and Śakti-vāda.

[12]:

¹ That is, its substance is Sat, Cit, Ānanda. The suffixes Mayī and Rūpiṇī indicate a subtle distinction—namely, that She is in Herself, Cit, and yet by appearance the effect of the Power, something different from it.

[13]:

In the form or nature of Cit. As the Kubjikā Tantra says, the Parama-Kalā is both Cit (Cidrūpa) and Nāda (Nādarūpa).

[14]:

Ahaṃ prakṛti-rūpā cet cidānanda-parāyaṇa (Kulachūdāmaṇi- Nigama, Ch. I, vv. 16-24).

[15]:

Rāghava-Bhatta says: Yā anādirūpā caitanyādhyasena mahāpra- laye sūkṣmā sthitā (Comm, on Śāradā-Tilaka, Ch. I).

[16]:

As the Yogīnīhṛdaya-Tantra says: The Parā Devī is Prakāśa-vimarśa- sāmarasyarūpiṇī. This is the Nirvikalpajñāna state in which there is no distinction of “This” and “That”, of “I” and “This”. In Vikalpa- jñāna there is subject and object.

[17]:

Paramaśiva has two aspects—Prakāśa and Vimarśa, or Kāmeśvara and Kameśvarī the Paraliṅga. Prakāśa=asphuṭasphūtīkara, or manifestation of what is not manifest.

[18]:

This word comes from the root mṛś=to touch, to affect, to cogitate. It is that which is pounded or handled by thought, that is, object of reflective thought. Pradhāna and Prakṛti also involve the meaning “placing in front”; that which is so placed is object. All three terms denote the principle of objectivity.

[19]:

Lit. What goes (aṇu) with vowel sound (Svāra or Svara).

[20]:

For until the operation of Māyā at a later stage the “This” is still experienced as part of the “I”. Therefore there is no manifestation or dualism.

[21]:

For the same reason Śakti is then said to be Ghanībhūtā, which is literally massive or condensed. It is that state of gathered-up power which immediately precedes the burgeoning forth (Sphuraṇa) of the universe.

[22]:

The imagery, like all of its kind, is necessarily imperfect; for such a point, though it has no magnitude, is assumed to have a position. Here there is none, or we are in spacelessness.

[23]:

See the Commentary, post.

[24]:

The two seeds are Śiva and Śakti, and the sheath is Māyā. When they come apart there is “creation”. Again the imagery is faulty in that there are two seeds, whereas Śiva and Śakti are the One with dual aspect.

[25]:

The shape of the Siṅgārā, water-nut, which grows freely in the lakes of Kashmir. Here I may observe that Yantras, though drawn on the flat, must be conceived of in the solid mass. The flat drawing is a mere suggestion of the three-dimensional figure which the Yantra is.

[26]:

Because She is thus bent, the Devī is called Kubjika (hunchback).

[27]:

Kubjikā-Tantra, Ch. I, Prāṇa-toṣiṇī, p. 8.

[28]:

bhogena mokṣaṃ āpnoti bhogena kulasādhanaṃ
tasmād yatnād bhogayukto bhaved vīravaraḥ sudhīḥ.
  —(Kulārṇava-Saṃhitā, v. 219)

“By world-experience (Bhoga Bhukti) he gains Liberation or World experience is the means for the attainment of Kula. Therefore, the wise and good Vīra should carefully be united with world-experience.”

[29]:

Literally “sound,” that initial activity which is the first source of the subsequently manifested Śabda (sound) which is the Word to which corresponds the Artha or Object.

[30]:

“Kulacūdāmaṇi [Kulacūḍāmaṇi?]”, Ch. I, vv. 16-24.

[31]:

Akula is a Tāntrik name for Śiva, Śakti being called Kula, which, is Mātṛ, Māna, Meya. In the Yogīnīhṛdaya-Tantra it is said (Ch. I): kulaṃ meya-māna-mātṛ-lakṣaṇaṃ, kaulastatsamastiḥ. These three are: Knower, Knowing, Known, for that is Consciousness as Śakti.

[32]:

“Kulacūdāmaṇi [Kulacūḍāmaṇi?]”, Ch. I, vv. 16-24.

[33]:

See as to these terms the author’s “Garland of Letters”.

[34]:

Forms of Śakti whereby the natural perfections of Consciousness are limited. Thus from all-knowing it becomes little-knowing; from being almighty, it becomes a little-doer, etc. See “Garland of Letters”.

The term Saṃkoca (contraction) expresses the same idea. The Devī is Saṃkucadrūpā through Matṛ, Māna, and Meya, and therefore so also is Śiva as Jīva (tathā śivopi saṃkucadrūpaḥ).—Yogīnī-hṛdaya- Tantra.

[35]:

This is not counted as a Tattva, being Tattvātītā.

[36]:

These terms have not the ordinary English meaning, but denote the ethereal, gaseous, igneous, liquid, and solid states of matter. In worship (Pūjā) they are symbolized by the following ingredients (Upacāra): Puṣpa (flower), ether; Dhūpa (incense), air; Dīpa (light), fire; Naivedya (foodoffering), water; Candana (sandal), earth.

[37]:

saccidānanda-vibhavāt sakalāt parameśvarāt
āsīcchaktis tato nādo nādād bindu-samudbhavaḥ.
  —(Ch. I.)

[38]:

See vv. 41-49, post; Todala-Tantra, Ch. IV; and Kāmakalāmālinī- Tantra, cited in v. 43.

[39]:

See v. 49, post.

[40]:

See v. 41, post.

[41]:

Ch. I.

[42]:

Kārya, or produced, Bindu, to distinguish it from the causal (Kāraṇa) Bindu or Para-bindu.

[43]:

In the case of the Mantras, Bīja (according to the Kulacūdāmaṇi, v. 58) is the first letter of a Kūta or group and what follows is Śakti. Thus in the Mantra “Krīṃ,” K is Bīja and R and I are Śakti. By the Bīja form is made (Bījena mūrti-kalpanā).

[44]:

paraśaktimayaḥ sākṣāt tridbāsau bhidyate punaḥ
bindur nādo bījaṃ iti tasya bhedāḥ samīritāḥ.
binduḥ śivātmako bījaṃ śaktir nādas tayor mithaḥ
samavāyaḥ samākhyātaḥ sarvāgamaviśāradaiḥ.
  —(Ch. I).

“This (Bindu) which is both Śiva and Śakti divides itself again into three parts. Bindu, Nāda and Bīja are its three parts. Bindu is Śivātmaka Śiva), Bīja is Śakti and Nāda is said to be the mutual relation between them by all who are versed in the Āgamas.”

The first word of the third line reads better as Bindu śivātmako than as Bindur nādātmako, as some MSS., such as that from which I quoted in Introduction to the Mahānirvāṇa. The Commentary to v. 40. post, also speaks of Bindu as being Nādātmaka, but explains that that means Śivātmaka. See also to the same effect Kriyā-sāra.

[45]:

See Rāghava-Bhatt’s Comm, on Ch. I, v. 8 of Śāradā:

nirguṇaḥ saguṇaś ceti śivo jñeyaḥ sanātanaḥ.
nirguṇāccaiva saṃjātā bindavas traya eva ca
brahmabindur viṣṇubindū rudrabindur maheśvari.

“The eternal Śiva is to be known both as Nirguṇa (without attributes) and Saguṇa (with attributes). From the attributeless (Nirguṇa), O Maheśvari, originated the three Bindus which are Brahma-bindu, Viṣṇu-bindu and Rudra-bindu.”

The verse as cited in Prāṇa-toṣinī (p. 13) reads in the second line Nirguṇaśaiva; but this must be a mistake for Nirguṇāccaiva, for the Bindus themselves are not Nirguṇa but spring from it.

[46]:

asmācca kāraṇabindoḥ sakāśāt krameṇa kāryabindus tato nādas tato bījaṃ iti trayaṃ utpannaṃ tad idaṃ parasūkṣmasthūla-padaih kathyate.
  —(Lalita-Sahasranāma, Comm.).

From this Causal (Kāraṇa) Bindu again there originated Kārya (Effect) Bindu, and thereafter Nāda and thereafter Bīja—these three. These are spoken of as Para (transcendent), Sūkṣma (subtle) and Sthūla (gross).

These represent the Cit, Cidacit, Acit aspects of nature. [cidaṃśaḥ cidacinmiśraḥ acidaṃśaḥśca teṣāṃ rūpāṇi (Bhāskararāya: Comm. Lalitā).

kālena bhidyamānastu sa bindur bhavati tridhā,
sthūlakṣmaparatvena tasya traividhyamiṣyate,
sa bindunādabījatva bhedena ca nigadyate.

ete ca kāraṇabhindvādayaścātvāra ādhidaivataṃ avyakteśvara-hiraṇyagarbha-virātsvarūpāḥ śāntā-vāmā-jyeṣṭhā-raudrīrūpa ambikecchā- jñāna-kriyārūpāśca (ib.). Ādhibhūtaṃ tu kāmarūpa-pūrṇagiri-jālandhara- udyānapīṭharūpāḥ. Pīṭharūpā iti tu nityāhṛdaye spaṣṭaṃ
  —(ib.). Citing Rahasyāgama.

[47]:

icchā, Rajas, Vāmā, Brahmā, Paśyantī-śabda.
jñānā, sattva, jyeṣṭhā, viṣṇu, madhyamā-śabda,
kriyā, tamas, raudrī rudra, vaikharī-śabda.

See Comm. 22 Śloka, “Kāmakalāvilāsa”, Saṃketa, 1, Yogīnīhṛdaya- Tantra, and Saubhāgya-subhodaya, cited in Saṃketa 2 of the last Tantra. As the Rudra-Yāmala says (II. 2), the three Devas are aspects of the One.

ekā mūrtistrayo devā brahmāviṣṇumaheśvarāḥ,
mama vigrahasaṃkḷptā srijaty avati hanti ca.

But see next note.

[48]:

Cited in Prāṇa-toṣinī, p. 8.

raudrī bindos tato nādāj jyeṣṭhā bījād ajāyata,
vāmā tābhyaḥ samutpannāḥ rudra-brahmā-ramādhipāḥ,
te jnānecchā-kriyātmāno vahnīndvarka-svarūpiṇaḥ.
icchā kriyā tathā jnānaṃ gaurī brāhmitī vaiṣṇavi
tridhā śaktiḥ sthitā yatra tatparaṃ jyotir oṃ iti.

As the author of the Prāṇa-toṣiṇī (p. 9) says, the names are not to be read in the order of words (Pratiśabda), otherwise Jñāna would be associated with Vaiṣṇavī, but according to the facts (yath-saṃbhavaṃ) as stated in the text. According to this account it would seem that Jñāna, Sattva, and Kriyā Tamas in note 1, should be transposed.

[49]:

It is Agnīsomamayaḥ [Agnīsomamaya]. See Tīkā, vv. 6, 7, of “Kāmakalāvilāsa”. See my “Garland of Letters”.

[50]:

That is, Kāmayuktā Kalā, Kalā with creative will (here its manifestation).

Mahā-bindu=Paramaśiva=Miśra-bindu=Ravi=Kāmakalā.
Ravī-paramaśivābhinnā miśra-bindurūpā Kāmakalā.

[51]:

As Ravi or Sūrya (Sun) Bindu is in the form of Para-śiva, and in it are the other two Bindus, it is the Samaṣṭi-rūpa of them, and is thus called Kāmakalā.

[52]:

This, which is O, becomes—that is, Candra, Ravi and Ra (fire).

[53]:

Tayor yad yāmalaṃ rūpaṃ sa saṃghatta iti smṛtaḥ—

ananda-śaktiḥ saivoktā yato viśvaṃ visṛjyati,
na śivaḥ śaktirahito na śaktiḥ śivavarjitā.
  —(Tantrāloka-Āhnika, 3.)

“The coupled form of these two (Śivā-Śakti) is called junction. That is called the blissful Sakti from which creation arises. There is no Śiva without Śakti, nor Śakti without Śiva.”

[54]:

Ib., 3 Ahn.

[55]:

On the physical plane this word denotes sexual union.

[56]:

In the Śrīcakra this is in the region of Baindava-Gakra, the highest, followed by the triangular Cakra, which is Kāmeśvarī, Bhagamālinī and Vajreśvarī. See further as to Kāmakalā, post.

[57]:

bhidyamānāt parād bindor avyaktāma-ravoś bhavat,
śabdabrahmetī taṃ prāhuḥ sarvāgamaviśāradāḥ.
  —(Śāradā-Tilaka, Ch. I.)

It will be observed that in this verse the first Bindu is called Para and to make this clear the author of the Prāṇa-toṣiṇī adds the following note:

Parādbindor ityanena śaktyavasthārupo yah prathamo bindus tasmāt (By Para-bindu is meant the first Bindu, which is a state of Śakti.) See “Garland of Letters”.

[58]:

See Rāghava-Bhātta, Comm. Ch. I, v. 12. Śāradā, on the same.

kriyāśaktipradhānāyāḥ śabda śabdārthakāraṇaṃ,
prakṛter bindurupinyāḥ śabdabrahmā, bhavat paraṃ.

As the Kulārnava-Tantra (Khanda 5, Ullāsa I) says the one Brahman has twofold aspects as Paraṃbrahman (transcendent) and Śabdabrahman (immanent).

śabdabrahmaparaṃbrahmabhedena brahmaṇor dvaividhyaṃ uktaṃ.
  —(And see also Śrīmad-Bhāgavata, 6 Skanda, 16 Ch.)

tena śabdārtharūpaviśiṣṭasya śabdabrahmatvaṃ avadāritaṃ
  —(Prāṇa-toṣinī, 10).

[59]:

It is said in the Prāna-toṣinī, p. 22, that Shaṃbhu is the “associate of time” (Kālabandhu) because Kala in the form of Nāda assists in giving birth to Him and the other Devatās.

[60]:

atha bindvātmanah śaṃbhoḥ kālabandhoḥ kalātmanaḥ,
ajāyata jagat-sākṣī sarva-vyāpī sadāśivaḥ.
sadāśivāt bhaved īśas tato rudrasamudbhavaḥ,
tato viṣṇu tato brahmā teṣāṃ evaṃ samudbhavaḥ.
  —(Śāradā, Ch. I, vv. 15, 16.)

Here they are mentioned in connection with the form creation (Artha-sṛṣṭi). The Prāṇa-toṣiṇī: Atra arthasṛṣṭau punah rudrādīnāṃ utpattiṣṭu artha-rūpeṇa. Pūrvaṃ teṣāṃ utpattiḥ śabda-rūpeṇa, ato na pāunaruktyaṃ iti kalā-māyā-tadātmanas tadutpannatvāt.