Chapter 4 - Mantra (Prayer or Formula of worship)

Reference is made in the Text and in this Introduction to Śabda, Varṇa, Mantra. It is said that the letters (Varṇa) of the alphabet are distributed throughout the bodily centres on the petals of the lotuses, as is shown on Plates II-VII. In each of the lotuses there is also a Seed-Mantra (Bīja) of the Tattva of the centre. Kuṇḍalinī is both Light (Jyotirmayī) and Mantra (Mantramayī),^[1] and Mantra is used in the process of rousing Her.

There is perhaps no subject in the Indian Śāstra which is less understood than Mantra. The subject is so important a part of the Tantra-Śāstra that its other title is Mantra-Śāstra. Commonly Orientalists and others describe Mantra as “prayer,” “formulae of worship,” “mystic syllables,” and so forth. Mantra science may be well-founded or not, but even in the latter case it is not the absurdity which some suppose it to be. Those who think so might except Mantras which are prayers, and the meaning of which they understand, for with prayer they are familiar. But such appreciation itself shows a lack of understanding. There is nothing necessarily holy or prayerful about a Mantra. Mantra is a power (Mantra-śakti) which lends itself impartially to any use. A man may be injured or killed by Mantra;^[2] by Mantra a kind of union with the physical
 Śakti is by some said to be effected;^[3] by Mantra in the initiation called Vedhadīkṣā there is such a transference of power from the Guru to the disciple that the latter swoons under the impulse of it;^[4] by Mantra the Homa fire may and, according to ideal conditions, should be lighted;^[5] by Mantra man is saved, and so forth. Mantra, in short, is a power (Śakti); power in the form of Sound. The root “man” means “to think”.

The creative power of thought is now receiving increasing acceptance in the West. Thought-reading, thoughttransference, hypnotic suggestion, magical projections (Mokṣaṇa), and shields (Grahaṇa),^[6] are becoming known and practised, not always with good results. The doctrine is ancient in India, and underlies the practices to be found in the Tantras, some of which are kept in general concealed to prevent misuse.^[7] What, however, is not understood in the West is the particular form of Thought-science which is Mantra-vidyā. Those familiar with Western presentment of similar subjects will more readily understand^[8] when I say that, according to the Indian doctrine here described, thought (like mind, of which it is the operation) is a Power or Śakti. It is, therefore, as real, as outer material objects. Both are projections of the creative thought of the Worldthinker. The root “man” which means ‘to think’, is also the root of the Sanskrit word for “Man,” who alone of all creation is properly a thinker. Mantra is the manifested Śabda-brahman.

But what is Śabda or “sound”? Here the Śākta-Tantra- Śāstra follows the Mīmāṃsā doctrine of Śabda, with such modifications as are necessary to adapt it to its doctrine of Śakti. Sound (Śabda), which is a quality (Guṇa) of ether (Ākāśa), and is sensed by hearing, is two-fold—namely, lettered (Varṇātmaka-śabda) and unlettered, or Dhvani (Dhvanyātmaka-śabda).^[9] The latter is caused by the striking of two things together, and is meaningless. Śabda, on the contrary, which is Anāhata (a term applied to the Heart Lotus), is that Brahman sound which is not caused by the striking of two things together. Lettered sound is composed of sentences (Vākya), words (Pada), and letters (Varṇa). Such sound has a meaning.^[10] Śabda manifesting as speech is said to be eternal.^[11] This the Naiyāyikas deny, saying that it is transitory. A word is uttered, and it is gone. This opinion the Mīmāṃsā denies, saying that the perception of lettered sound must be distinguished from lettered sound itself.^[12] Perception is due to Dhvani caused by the striking of the air in contact with the vocal organs—namely, the throat, palate and tongue. Before there is Dhvani there must be the striking of one thing against another. It is not the mere striking which is the lettered Śabda. This manifests it. The lettered sound is produced by the formation of the vocal organs in contact with air, which formation is in response to the mental movement or idea, which by the will thus seeks outward expression in audible sound.^[13] It is this perception which is transitory, for the Dhvani which manifests ideas in language is such. But lettered sound, as it is in itself—is eternal. It was not produced at the moment it was perceived. It was only manifested by the Dhvani. It existed before, as it exists after, such manifestation, just as a jar in a dark room which is revealed by a flash of lightning is not then produced, nor does it cease to exist on its ceasing to be perceived through the disappearance of its manifester, the lightning. The air in contact with the voice organs reveals sound in the form of the letters of the alphabet, and their combinations in words and sentences. The letters are produced for hearing by the effort of the person desiring to speak, and become audible to the ear of others through the operation of unlettered sound or Dhvani. The latter being a manifester only, lettered Śabda is something other than its manifester.

Before describing the nature of Śabda in its different forms of development it is necessary to understand the Indian psychology of perception. At each moment the Jīva is subject to innumerable influences which from all quarters of the universe pour upon him. Only those reach his Consciousness which attract his attention, and are thus selected by his Manas. The latter attends to one or other of these sense impressions, and conveys it to the Buddhi. When an object (Artha) is presented to the mind and perceived, the latter is formed into the shape of the object perceived. This is called a mental Vṛtti (modification), which it is the object of Yoga to suppress. The mind as a Vṛtti is thus a representation of the outer object. But in so far as it is such represention it is as much an object as the outer one. The latter—that is, the physical object—is called the gross object (Sthūla-artha), and the former or mental impression is called the subtle object (Sūkṣma-artha). But besides the object there is the mind which perceives it. It follows that the mind has two aspects, in one of which it is the perceiver and in the other the perceived in the form of the mental formation (Vṛtti) which in creation precedes its outer projection, and after the creation follows as the impression produced in the mind by the sensing of a gross physical object. The mental impression and the physical object exactly correspond, for the physical object is, in fact, but a projection of the cosmic imagination, though it has the same reality as the mind has; no more and no less. The mind is thus both cognizer (Grāhaka) and cognized (Grāhya), revealer (Prakāśaka) and revealed (Prakāśya), denoter (Vācaka) and denoted (Vāchya [Vācya?]). When the mind perceives an object it is transformed into the shape of that object. So the mind which thinks of the Divinity which it worships (Iṣṭa-devatā) is at length, through continued devotion, transformed into the likeness of that Devatā. By allowing the Devatā thus to occupy the mind for long it becomes as pure as the Devatā. This is a fundamental principle of Tāntrik Sādhana or religious practice. The object perceived is called Artha, a term which comes from the root “ri” which means to get, to know, to enjoy. Artha is that which is known, and which therefore is an object of enjoyment. The mind as Artha—that is, in the form of the mental impression—is a reflection of the outer object or gross Artha. As the outer object is Artha, so is the interior subtle mental form which corresponds to it. That aspect of the mind which cognizes is called Śabda or Nāma (name), and that aspect in which it is its own object or cognized is called Artha or Rūpa (form). The outer physical object of which the latter is, in the individual, an impression is also Artha or Rūpa, and spoken speech is the outer Śabda. Subject and object are thus from the Mantra aspect Śabda and Artha—terms corresponding to the Vedantic Nāma and Rūpa, or concepts and concepts objectified. As the Vedānta says, the whole creation is Nāma and Rūpa. Mind is the power (Śakti), the function of which is to distinguish and identify (Bheda-samsarga-vṛtti Śakti).

Just as the body is causal, subtle and gross, so is Śabda, of which there are four states (Bhāva), called Parā, Paśyantī, Madhyamā and Vaikharī—terms further explained in Section V of this Introduction. Parā sound is that which exists of the differentiation of the Mahābindu before actual manifestation. This is motionless causal Śabda in Kuṇḍalinī in the Mūlādhāra centre of the body. That aspect of it in which it commences to move with a general—that is, non-particularized—motion (Sāmānya-spanda) is Paśyantī, whose place is from the Mūlādhāra to the Maṇipūra-Cakra, the next centre. It is here associated with Manas. These represent the motionless and first moving Īśvara aspect of Śabda. Madhyamā sound is associated with Buddhi. It is Hiraṇyagarbha Śabda (Hiraṇyagarbha-rūpa) extending from Paśyantī to the heart. Both Madhyamā sound, which is the inner “naming” by the cognitive aspect of mental movement, as also its Artha or subtle (Sūkṣma) object (Artha), belong to the mental or subtle body (Śūkṣma or Liṅga-śarīra). Perception is dependent on distinguishing and identification. In the perception of an object that part of the mind which identifies and distinguishes, or the cognizing part, is subtle Śabda, and that part of it which takes the shape of the object (a shape which corresponds with the outer thing) is subtle Artha. The perception of an object is thus consequent on the simultaneous functioning of the mind in its twofold aspect as Śabda and Artha, which are in indissoluble relation with one another as cognizer (Grāhaka) and cognized (Grāhya). Both belong to the subtle body. In creation Madhyamā-Śabda first appeared. At that moment there was no outer Artha. Then the cosmic mind projected this inner Madhyamā Artha into the world of sensual experience, and named it in spoken speech (Vaikharī-Śabda). The last or Vaikharī-Śabda is uttered speech developed in the throat issuing from the mouth. This is Virāt-śabda. Vaikharī-Śabda is therefore language or gross lettered sound. Its corresponding Artha is the physical or gross object which language denotes. This belongs to the gross body (Sthūla-śarīra). Madhyamā-Śabda is mental movement or ideation in its cognitive aspect, and Madhyamā Artha is the mental impression of the gross object. The inner thought-movement in its aspect as Śabdārtha, and considered both in its knowing aspect (Śabda) and as the subtle known object (Artha), belong to the subtle body (Sūkṣma-śarīra). The cause of these two is the first general movement towards particular ideation (Paśyantī) from the motionless cause, Para-śabda, or Supreme Speecḥ. Two forms of inner or hidden speech, causal and subtle, accompanying mind movement, thus precede and lead up to spoken language. The inner forms of ideating movement constitute the subtle, and the uttered sound the gross, aspect of Mantra, which is the manifested Śabda-brahman.

The gross Śabda, called Vaikharī or uttered speech, and the gross Artha, or the physical object denoted by that speech, are the projection of the subtle śabda and Artha through the initial activity of the Śabda-brahman into the world of gross sensual perception. Therefore in the gross physical world Śabda means language—that is, sentences, words and letters, which are the expression of ideas and are Mantra. In the subtle or mental world Madhyamā Śabda is the mind which “names” in its aspect as cognizer, and Artha is the same mind in its aspect as the mental object of its cognition. It is defined to be the outer in the form of the mind. It is thus similar to the state of dreams (Svapna): as Para-śabda is the causal dreamless (Suṣupti) and Vaikharī the waking (Jāgrat) state. Mental Artha is a Saṃskāra, an impression left on the subtle body by previous experience, which is recalled when the Jīva reawakes to world experience and recollects the experience temporarily lost in the cosmic dreamless state (Suṣupti) which is dissolution (Mahā-pralaya). What is it which arouses this Saṃskāra? As an effect (Kārya) it must have a cause (Kāraṇa). This Kāraṇa is the Śabda or name (Nāma), subtle or gross, corresponding to that particular Artha. When the word “Ghata” is uttered this evokes in the mind the image of an object—a jar—just as the presentation of that object does. In the Hiraṇyagarbha state Śabda as Saṃskāra worked to evoke mental images. The whole is thus Śabda and Artha—that is, name and form (Nāma-Rūpa). These two are inseparably associated. There is no Śabda without Artha or Artha without Śabda. The Greek word Logos also means thought and word combined. There is thus a double line of creation, Śabda and Artha, ideas and language together with their objects. Speech, as that which is heard, or the outer manifestation of Śabda, stands for the Śabda creation. The Artha creation are the inner and outer objects seen by the mental or physical vision. From the cosmic creative standpoint the mind comes first, and from it is evolved the physical world according to the ripened Saṃskāras, which led to the existence of the particular existing universe. Therefore the mental Artha precedes the physical Artha, which is an evolution in gross matter of the former. This mental state corresponds to that of dreams (Svapna) when man lives in the mental world only. After creation, which is the waking (Jāgrat) state, there is for the individual an already existing parallelism of names and objects.

Uttered speech is a manifestation of the inner naming or thought. This thought-movement is similar in men of all races. When an Englishman or an Indian thinks of an object, the image is to both the same, whether evoked by the object itself or by the utterance of its name. Perhaps for this reason a thought-reader whose cerebral centre is en rapport with that of another may read the hidden “speech”—that is, the thought of one whose spoken speech he cannot understand. Thus, whilst the thought-movement is similar in all men, the expression of it as Vaikharī-Śabda differs. According to tradition, there was once a universal language. According to the Biblical account, this was so before the confusion of tongues at the Tower of Babel. Nor is this unlikely when we consider that difference in gross speech is due to difference of races evolved in the course of time. If the instruments by, and conditions under, which thought is revealed in speech were the same for all men, then there would be but one language. But now this is not so. Racial characteristics and physical conditions, such as the nature of the vocal organs, climate, inherited impressions, and so forth, differ. Therefore, so also does language. But for each particular man speaking any particular language the uttered name of any object is the gross expression of his inner thought-movement. It evokes that movement and again expresses it., It evokes the idea and the idea is Consciousness as mental operation. That operation can be so intensified as to be itself creative. This is Mantra-caitanya.

From the above account it will be understood that, when it is said that the “letters” are in the six bodily Cakras, it is not to be supposed that it is intended to absurdly affirm that the letters as written shapes, or as the uttered sounds which are heard by the ear, are there. The letters in this sense—that is, as gross things—are manifested only in speech and writing. This much is clear. But the precise significance of this statement is a matter of great difficulty. There is, in fact, no subject which presents more difficulties than Mantra-vidyā, whether considered generally or in relation to the particular matter in hand. In the first place, one must be constantly on guard against falling into a possible trap—namely, the taking of prescribed methods of realization for actualities in the common sense of that term. The former are conventional, the latter are real. Doubts on this matter are increased by some variations in the descriptive accounts. Thus in some Ganeśa is the Devatā of the Mūlādhāra. In the Text here translated it is Brahma. Similarly this Text gives Dākinī in the Mūlādhāra as the Devatā of the Asthi-Dhātu (bony substance). When sitting in the prescribed Āsana (posture), the bones are gathered up around this Cakra, and, moreover, from it as the centre of the body the bones run up and downwards. Another account, however, given to me places Devī Śākinī here.^[14] Mistakes have also to be reckoned with, and can only be ascertained and rectified by a comparison of several MSS.^[15] Again, four letters are said to be on the petals of the Mūlādhāra Lotus—namely, Va, Śa, Ṣa, and Sa. Why are these said to be there? Various statements have been made to me. As there are certain letters which are ascribed to each form of sensible matter (Bhūta), it seems obvious to suggest that the Earth letters (Pārthiva-varṇa) are in the Earth centre. But an examination on this basis does not bear the suggestion out. Next, it is said that the letters have colours, and the letters of a particular colour are allocated to the lotuses of the same colour. The Text does not support this theory. It has been said that certain letters derive from certain Devatās. But the letters produce the Devatā, for these are the Artha of Mantra as Śabda. I have been also told that the letters are placed according to their seat of pronunciation (Uccāraṇa). But it is replied that the Mūlādhāra is the common source of this (Uccāraṇa-sthāna) for all.^[16] Again, it is said that the letters on the petals are Bījas or seed-Mantras of all activities (Kriyā) connected with the Tattva of the centre, each letter undergoing variations according to the vowels.^[17] All beings in Pṛthivī (Earth) Tattva, should be meditated upon in the Mūlādhāra. Here are therefore (as we might expect), the organs of feet (Pādendriya), the action of walking (Gamana- kriyā), smell (Gandha), the quality of Pṛthivī, the sense of smell (Ghrāṇa), Nivṛtti-Kalā, ^[18] and Brahmā (Lord of the Tattva). But we are also told that the letters Va, Śa, Ṣa and Sa are the Ātmā and Bījas of the four Vedas,^[19] of the four Yugas,^[20] of the four oceans,^[21] which are therefore called Catur- varṇātmaka, or in the self of the four letters. It is true that the four Vedas are in, and issue from, Para-śabda, the seat of which is the Mūlādhāra. For Veda in its primary sense is the world as idea in the mind of the creative Brahman, portions of which have been, revealed to the Ṛṣis (seers) and embodied in the four Vedas. But why should Va be the seed of the Ṛgveda, Śa of the Yajurveda, and so forth? The ritual explanation, as given in the Rudra-yāmala (xiv. 73, xv. 2, xvi. 1, 2) is that the petal Va is Brahmā (Rajoguṇa), and is the Bīja of Ṛk; Śa is Viṣṇu (Sattva-guṇa), and Śa, being Puṇḍarikātmā, is the Bīja of Yajus; Ṣa is Rudra (Tamo-guṇa), and is the Bīja of Sāma, Sa is the Bīja of Atharva, as it is the Bīja of Śakti.^[22] These four are in Para- śabda in Mūlādhāra. It seems to me (so far as my studies in the Śāstra have yet carried me) that the details of the descriptions of the centres are of two kinds. There are, firstly, certain facts of objective and universal reality. Thus, for example, there are certain centres (Cakra) in the spinal column. The principle of solidity (Pṛthivī-Tattva) is in the lowest of such centres, which as the centre of the body contains the static or potential energy called Kuṇḍalinī-Śakti. The centre as a lotus is said to have four petals, because of the formation and distribution of the Yoga-nerves^[23] (Nāḍī) at that particular point. Solidity is denoted aptly by a cube, which is the diagram (Yantra) of that centre. The consciousness of that centre as Devatā is also aptly borne on an elephant, the massive solidity of which is emblematical of the solid earth principle (Pṛthivī). The forces which go to the making of solid matter may, by the Yogī, be seen as yellow. It may be that particular substances (Dhātu) of the body and particular Vṛtti (qualities) are connected with particular Cakras, and so forth.

There are, however, another class of details which have possibly only symbolical reality, and which are placed before the Sādhaka for the purposes of instruction and meditation only.^[24] The letters as we know them—that is, as outer speech—are manifested only after passing through the throat. They cannot therefore exist as such in the Cakras. But they are said to be there. They are there, not in their gross, but in their subtle and causal forms. It is these subtle forms which are called Mātṛkā. But as such forms they are Śabda of and as ideating movements, or are the cause thereof. Consciousness, which is itself (Svarūpa) soundless (Niḥśabda), in its supreme form (Para-śabda) assumes a general undifferentiated movement (Sāmānya-spanda), then a differentiated movement (Viśeṣa-spanda), issuing in clearly articulate speech (Spaṣṭatara-spanda). The inner movement has outer correspondence with that issuing from the lips by the aid of Dhvani. This is but the Mantra way of saying that Consciousness moves as Śakti, and appears as subject (Śabda) and object (Artha) at first in the subtle form of Mind and its contents generated by the Saṃskāras, and then in the gross form of language as the expression of ideas and of physical objects (Artha), which the creative or Cosmic Mind projects into the world of sensual experience to be the source of impressions to the individual experiencer therein. It is true that in this sense the letters, as hidden speech or the seed of outer speech, are in the Cakras, but the allocation of particular letters to particular Cakras is a matter which, if it has a real and not merely symbolical significance, must receive the explanation given in my “Śakti and Sākta”.

In each of the Cakras there is also a Bīja (seed) Mantra of each of the Tattvas therein. They are the seed of the Tattva, for the latter springs from and re-enters the former. The Natural Name of anything is the sound which is produced by the action of the moving forces which constitute it. He therefore, it is said, who mentally and vocally utters with creative force the natural name of anything, brings into being the thing which bears that name. Thus “Ram” is the Bīja of fire in the Maṇipūra-Cakra. This Mantra “Ram” is said to be the expression in gross sound (Vaikharī-Śabda) of the subtle sound produced by the forces constituting fire. The same explanation is given as regards “Lam” in the Mūlādhāra, and the other Bījas in the other Cakras. The mere utterance,^[25] however, of “Ram” or any other Mantra is nothing but a movement of the lips. When, however, the Mantra is “awakened”^[26] (Prabuddha)—that is, when, there is Mantra-caitanya (Mantra-consciousness)—then the Sādhaka can make the Mantra work. Thus in the case cited the Vaikharī-Śabda, through its vehicle Dhvani, is the body of a power of Consciousness which enables the Mantrin to become the Lord of Fire.^[27] However this may be, in all cases it is the creative thought which ensouls the uttered sound which works now in man’s small “magic,” just as it first worked in the “grand magical display” of the World Creator. His thought was the aggregate, with creative power, of all thought. Each man is Śiva, and can attain His power to the degree of his ability to consciously realize himself as such. For various purposes the Devatās are invoked. Mantra and Devatā are one and the same. A Mantra-Devatā is Śabda and Artha, the former being the name, and the latter the Devatā whose name it is. By practice (Japa) with the Mantra the presence of the Devatā is invoked. Japa or repetition of Mantra is compared to the action of a man shaking a sleeper to wake him up. The two lips are Śiva and Śakti. Their movement is the coition (Maithuna) of the two. Śabda which issues therefrom is in. the nature of Seed or Bindu. The Devatā thus produced is, as it were, the “son” of the Sādhaka. It is not the Supreme Devatā (for it is actionless) who appears, but in all cases an emanation produced by the Sādhaka for his benefit only.^[28] In the case of worshippers of Śiva a Boy-Śiva (Bāla Śiva) appears, who is then made strong by the nurture which the Sādhaka gives to his creation. The occultist will understand all such symbolism to mean that the Devatā is a form of the consciousness of Sādhaka which the latter arouses and strengthens, and gains good thereby. It is his consciousness which becomes the boy Śiva, and when strengthened the full-grown Divine power itself. All Mantras are in the body as forms of consciousness (Vijñāna-rūpa). When the Mantra is fully practised it enlivens the Saṃskāra, and the Artha appears to the mind. Mantras are thus a form of the Saṃskāra of Jīvas, the Artha of which becomes manifest to the consciousness which is fit to perceive it. The essence of all this is—concentrate and vitalize thought and will power. But for such a purpose a method is necessary—namely, language and determined varieties of practice according to the end sought. These, Mantra-vidyā (which explains what Mantra is) also enjoins.

The causal state of Śabda is called Śabda-brahman—that is, the Brahman as the cause of Śabda and Artha. The unmanifest (Avyakta) power or Śabda, which is the cause of manifested Śabda and Artha, uprises on the differentiation of the Supreme Bindu from Prakṛti in the form of Bindu through the prevalence of Kriyā^[29] Śakti. Avyakta Rava or Śabda (unmanifested sound) is the principle of sound as such (Nāda-mātra), that is undifferentiated sound, not specialized in the form of letters, but which is, through creative activity, the cause of manifested Śabda and Artha.^[30] It is the Brahman considered as all-pervading Śabda, undivided, unmanifested, whose substance is Nāda and Bindu, the proximate creative impulse in Para-śiva and proximate cause of manifested Śabda and Artha.^[31] It is the eternal partless Sphota^[32] which is not distinguished into Śabda and Artha, but is the Power by which both exist and are known. Śabda-brahman is thus the kinetic ideating aspect of the undifferentiated Supreme Consciousness of philosophy, and the Saguṇa-Brahman of religion. It is Cit-śakti vehicled by undifferentiated Prakṛti-śakti—that is, the creative aspect of the one Brahman who is both transcendent and formless (Nirguṇa), and immanent and with form (Saguṇa).^[33]

As the Haṭhayoga-pradīpikā says:^[34]

“Whatever is heard in the form of sound is Śakti. The absorbed state (Laya) of the Tattvas (evolutes of Prakṛti) is that in which, no form exists.^[35] So long as there is the notion of Ether, so long is sound heard. The soundless is called Para-brahman or Paramātmā.”

^[36] Śabda-brahman thus projects itself for the purpose of creation into two sets of movement—namely, firstly the Śabda (with mental vibrations of cognition) which, passing through the vocal organs, becomes articulate sound; and, secondly, Artha movements denoted by Śabda in the form of all things constituting the content of mind and the objective world. These two are emanations from the same Conscious Activity (Śakti) which is the Word (Vāk or “Logos”), and are in consequence essentially the same. Hence the connection between the two is permanent. It is in the above sense that the universe is said to be composed of the letters. It is the fifty^[37] letters of the Sanskrit alphabet which are denoted by the garland of severed human heads which the naked^[38] Mother, Kālī, dark like a threatening raincloud, wears as She stands amidst bones and carrion beasts and birds in the burning-ground on. the white corpse-like (Śava- rūpa) body of Śiva. For it is She who “slaughters”—that is, withdraws all speech and its objects into Herself at the time of the dissolution of all things (Mahā-pralaya).^[39] Śabda-brahman is the Consciousness (Caitanya) in all creatures. It assumes the form of Kundalī, and abides in the body of all breathing creatures (Prāṇī), manifesting itself by letters in the form of prose and verse.^[40] In the sexual symbolism of the Śākta-Tantras, seed (Bindu)^[41] issued upon the reversed union^[42] of Mahākāla and Mahākālī, which seed, ripening in the womb of Prakṛti, issued as Kuṇḍalī in the form of the letters (Akṣara). Kuṇḍalī as Mahāmātṛkā-sundarī has fifty-one coils, which are the Mātṛkās or subtle forms of the gross letters or Varṇa which is the Vaikhari form of the Śabda at the centres. Kuṇḍalī when with one coil is Bindu; with two, Prakṛti-Puruṣa; with three, the three Śaktis (Iccha, Jñāna, Kriyā) and three Guṇas (Sattva, Rajas, Tamas); with the three and a half She is then actually creative with Vikṛti; with four She is the Devī Ekajatā, and so on to Śrīmātṛkot- pattisundarī with fifty-one coils.^[43] In the body, unmanifested Para-śabda is in Kuṇḍalī-Śakti. That which first issues from it is in the lowest Cakra, and extends upwards though the rest as Paśyantī, Madhyamā and Vaikhari-Śabda. When Śakti first “sees”^[44] She is Paramā-Kalā^[45] in the mother-form (Ambikārūpā), which is supreme speech (Parā-vāk) and supreme peace (Paramā śāntā). She “sees” the manifested Śabda from Paśyantī to Vaikharī. The Paśyantī^[46] state of Śabda is that in which Icchā-Śakti (Will) in the form of a goad^[47] (Aṃkuśākāra) is about to display the universe, then in seed (Bīja) form. This is the Śakti Vāmā.^[48] Madhyamā- Vāk, which is Jñāna (knowledge), and in the form of a straight line (Ṛjurekhā), is Jyeṣṭhā-Śakti. Here there is the first assumption of form as the Mātṛkā (Mātṛkātvam upapannā), for here is a particular motion (Viśeṣa-spanda). The Vaikharī state is that of Kriyā Śakti, who is the Devī Raudrī, whose form is triangular^[49] and that of the universe. As the former Śakti produces the subtle letters of Mātṛkā which are the Vāsanā,^[50] so this last is the Śakti of the gross letters of words and their objects.^[51] These letters are the Garland of the Mother issuing from Her in Her form as Kuṇḍalinī-Śakti, and absorbed by Her in the Kuṇḍalinī-yoga here described.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

The first is the subtle, the second the gross form. See as regards the subject-matter of this Chapter the Author’s “Garland of Letters”.

[2]:

As in Māraṇaṃ [Māraṇa] and other of the Ṣaṭkarma. To quote an example which I have read in an account of an author nowise “suspect” as an Occultist, Theosophist, etc.—General J. T. Harris noticed a scorpion close to the foot of a Sādhu. “Don’t move,” he said: “there is a scorpion by your foot.” The Sādhu leaned over, and when he saw the scorpion he pointed at it with his fingers, on which the animal immediately and in the presence of the General shrivelled up and died. “You seem to have some powers already,” the General said; but the Sādhu simply waived the matter aside as being of no importance (“China Jim”: “Incidents in the Life of a Mutiny Veteran,” by Major-General J. T. Harris, p. 74. Heinemann).

[3]:

An extraordinary use to which it is put, I am informed by some worshippers of the Bhairava-Mantra. The man projects the Mantra on to the woman, who then experiences the sensation of a physical union. The Viṣṇu-Purāṇa speaks of generation by will power.

[4]:

As the Kulārṇava-Tantra says, and as may be readily understood, such a Guru is hard to get. The disciple who receives this initiation gets all the powers of his initiator. It is said that there are Gurus who can at once make their disciples fit for the highest aims.

[5]:

As is stated to have actually happened lately in the house of a friend of a collaborator of mine. A man is alleged to have lit the fuel in Kuṣandikā-Homa simply by Mantra and the Bīja of fire (“ram”) without recourse to light or matcḥ.

[6]:

This Sanskrit term expresses not so much a “fence” to which use a Kavaca is put, but the knowledge of how a man may “catch” a Mantra projected at him.

[7]:

In the Saṃhitā called Kulārṇava (not the Tantra of that name) Śiva, after referring to some terrible rites with the flesh of black cats, bats, and other animals, the soiled linen of a Candāla woman, the shroud of a corpse, and so forth, says;

“Oh, Pārvati, my head and limbs tremble, my mouth is dried”

(hṛdayaṃ kampate mama, gātrāṇi mama kaṃpante, mukhaṃ śuṣyate pārvatī),

Adding: “One must not speak of it, one must not speak, one must not speak, again and again I say it must not be spoken of”

(na vaktavyaṃ na vaktavyaṃ na vaktavyaṃ punaḥ punaḥ).

[8]:

It is because the Orientalist and missionary know nothing of occultism, and regard it as superstition, that their presentment of Indian teaching is so often ignorant and absurd.

[9]:

This Dhvani is the gross body of the Mantra. See the Author’s “Garland of Letters”.

[10]:

When the word “Ghata” is uttered, then there arises in the mind the idea of a jar. When the Mantra of a Divinity is uttered there arises the idea of the Deity whose name it is.

[11]:

Not as audible sounds (Dhvani), but as ṃat which finds auditory- expression in audible sounds. The sensible expressions are transient. Behind them is the eternal Logos (Śabda-brahman), whose manifestation they are.

[12]:

samaṃ tu tatra darśanaṃ—(“But alike is the perception thereof”).

[13]:

This is only one form in which letters find sensible expression. Thus writing gives visual expression, and to the blind perforated dots give tactual expression.

[14]:

This account, which may be compared with that of the Text, is as follows:

Bone (Asthi-dhātu): Mūlādhāra-cakra; Devī Śākinī.
Fat (Meda-dhātu): Svādhiṣṭhāna-cakra; Devī Kākinī.
Flesh (Māṃsa-dhātu): Maṇipūra-cakra; Devī Lākinī.
Blood (Rakta-dhātu): Anāhata-cakra; Devī Rākinī.
Skin (Tvak-dhātu): Viśuddha-cakra; Devī Dākinī.
Marrow (Majjā-dhātu): Ājñā-cakra; Devī Hākinī.

In the Sahasrāra-Padma are all Dhātus beginning with Śukra (semen).

[15]:

Thus in the text given me, from which I quote, the four letters of the Mūlādhāra are given as Va, Śa, Ṣa and La. The latter should, according to other accounts, be Sa.

[16]:

This is true, but nevertheles there may be special seats of pronunciation for each letter or class of letters. As apparently supporting this suggestion it may be noted that the vowel sounds are placed in the throat centre, and Ha and Kṣa above.

[17]:

I am informed that the subject is dealt with in detail in the Kuṇḍalinī-kalpataru, and in particular in the Adhyātma-sāgara, neiṃer of which MSS. have I yet seen.

[18]:

See Author’s “Garland of Letters” (Kalās of the Śaktis). Samāna- Vāyu is also located here.

[19]:

Va of Ṛk, Śa of Yajus, Ṣa of Sāma and Sa of Atharva-Veda.

[20]:

The four ages—Satya, Treta, Dvāpara and Kali.

[21]:

Of sugarcane juice, wine, ghee (Ghṛta), milk.

[22]:

See Rudra-yāmala XVII, where priority is given to Atharva as dealing with Ācāra. of Śakti. From Atharva arose Sāma, from Sāma, Yajus, and from the latter Ṛk.

[23]:

The term “nerve” is used for default of another equivalent. These Nāḍīs, called Yogā-Nāḍīs, are not, like the Nāḍīs of physiology, gross things, but subtle channels along which the life-force works in bodies.

[24]:

See the Demchog Tantra, Published as the seventh volume of “Tāntrik-Texts”.

[25]:

The mind must in worship with form (Sākāra) be centred on the Deity of Worship (Iṣṭa-devatā), and in Yoga on the light form (Jyotirmaya-rūpa). It is said, however, that mere repetition of a Mantra without knowing its meaning will produce some benefit or that which arises from devotion. The subject of natural Name is dealt with in the author’s “Garland of Letters”.

[26]:

Thought is not then only in the outer husk, but is vitalized through its conscious centre.

[27]:

Some attain these powers through worship (Upāsanā) of Agni Vetāla, a Devayoni; some of Agni Himself. The former process, which, requires 12,000 Japa, is given in Śābara-tantra. In the same way objects are said to be moved, though at a distance from the operator, by the worship of Madhumatī-Devī. A higher state of development dispenses with all outer agents.

[28]:

If Sūrya (Sun-God) be invoked, it is an emanation which comes and then goes back to the sun.

[29]:

See, v. 12: Śāradā.

kriyā-śakti-pradhānāyāḥ śabda-śabdārtha-kāraṇam,
prakṛtir bindu-rūpiṇyāḥ-śabda-brahmābhavat param.

In plain English this means, in effect, that increasing activity in the Consciousness about to create (Bindu) produces that state in which it is the cause of subject and object, as mind and matter.

[30]:

tena śabdārtharūpa-viśiṣṭasya śabda-brahmatvaṃ avadhāritam—(Prāṇa-toṣiṇī, 13).

[31]:

See Prāṇa-toṣiṇi, p. 10; Rāghava-Bhatta, Comm. v. 12, Ch. I, Sāradā [Śāradā?].

sṛṣṭyunmukha-paramaśiva-prathamollāsamātraṃ akhaṇḍo vyakto nādabindumaya eva vyāpako brahmātmakaḥ śabdaḥ.

[32]:

Sphota, which is derived from Sphut, to open (as a bud does), is that by which the particular meaning of words is revealed. The letters singly, and therefore also in combination, are non-significant. A word is not the thing, but that through which, when uttered, there is cognition of the thing thereby denoted. That which denotes the thing denoted is a disclosure (Sphota) other than these letters. This Sphota is eternal Śabda.

[33]:

It is to be noted that of five Bhutas, Ākāśa and Vāyu belonging to the formless division (Amūrtta), and the remaining three to the form division (Mūrtta). The first is sensed by hearing. Sabda is vibration for the ear as name. Agni, the head of the second division, is sensed as form (Rūpa). Artha is vibration to the eye (mental or physical) or form,

[34]:

Ch. IV, vv. 101, 102.

[35]:

yatkiṃcin nādarūpeṇa śrūyate śaktir eva sā,
yas tattvānto nirākāraḥ sa eva parameśvaraḥ.

[36]:

tāvad ākāśasaṃkalpo yāvacchabdaḥ pravartate,
niḥśabdaṃ tatparaṃ brahma paramātmeti gīyate.

[37]:

Sometimes given as fifty-one.

[38]:

She is so pictured because She is beyond Māyā (Māyātītā). She is the “Bewilderer of all” by Her Māyā, but is Herself unaffected thereby. This Kālī symbolism is explained in the Svarūpa-vyākhyā of the “Hymn to Kālī” (Karpūrādi-Stotra).

[39]:

The same symbolism is given in the description of the Heruka in the Buddhist Demchog Tantra.

[40]:

caitanyaṃ sarvabhūtāṇāṃ śabda-brahmeti me matiḥ,
tat prāpya kuṇḍalīrūpaṃ prāṇināṃ dehamadhyagaṃ,
varnātmanāvirbhavati gadyapadyādi-bhedataḥ.
  —(Śāradā-Tilaka, Ch. I.)

[41]:

The term Bindu also means a drop as of semen.

[42]:

Viparita-maithuna. Śakti is above Śiva, and moving on and in coition with Him because She is the active and He the inert Consciousness.

[43]:

Śaktisaṃgama-Tantra, first Ullāsa Utpattikhāṇḍa. When with the ten coils She is the well-known Daśamahāvidyā.

[44]:

The first movement in creation, called Īkṣaṇa (“seeing”) in Veda. To see is to ideate.

[45]:

Paramā=supreme or first. Kalā=Vimarśa-Śakti of Ātmā. She is, as such, the first cause of all the letters.

[46]:

Paśyantī=She who “sees” (Īkṣaṇa).

[47]:

Here the crooked line (Vakra-rekhā) comes first, and the straight second. Possibly this may be the line rising to form the triangular pyramid.

[48]:

So called because she “vomits forth” the universe (vamanāt vāmā iti).

[49]:

Śṛṅgātaka—that is, a triangular pyramidal figure of three dimensions.

[50]:

That is, Sāṃskāra or revived impression, which is the seed of the ideating Cosmic Consciousness.

[51]:

Yogīnīhṛdaya-Tantra, Saṃketa I.