nirvANa sundarI

A rare photograph of the famed Siddha, Sri Ganpat Maharaj of Hubli, Karnakata.

parameshvarI is described as karpUravITikAmodasamAkarShaddigantarA by the eight vAgdevatA-s in rahasya sahasranAma. The characteristics of karpUravITikA can be seen in vidyAnandanAtha’s (whose bhairavArchA pArijAta and saparyAkrama-kalpavallI we have been finally able to obtain due to the grace of mahAdeva) saubhAgya ratnAkara kalpa:

एलालवङ्गकर्पूरकस्तूरीकेसरादिभिः |
जातीफलदलैः पूगैर्लाङ्गल्यूषणनागरैः |
चूर्णैः खदिरसारैश्च युक्ता कर्पूरवीटिका ||

One can see a reference in another tantra of the kAlI kula:

एला जातीफलञ्चैव कर्पूरं च लवङ्गकम् |
जातीपत्रं तथा देवि पञ्चतिक्तमिदं प्रिये ||

Those familiar with sampradAya on both sides of the fence are aware of the significance of panchatikta. The practical aspect of that is evident from the following prescription in the popular nityotsava of umAnandanAtha:

ताम्बूलेन जातीपत्रफललवङ्गैलाकर्पूरख्य पञ्चतिक्तेन वा सुरभिलवदनः |

There is another related nAma, tAmbUlapUritamukhI. As this is indicative of vAchyArtha, one need not whine of punarukti doSha here.

We also have the nAma: श्रीमद्वाग्भवकूटैकस्वरूपमुखपङ्कजा |

The vAgbhava-kUTa, which represents the face of paradevatA, constitutes of five letters.

One should also observe that among the navanATha-s:

- divyaugha is represented by the ears and the mouth (prakAshAnandanAtha, vimarshAnandanAtha, AnandAnandanAtha
- siddhaugha by the two eyes and the genitalia (jnAnAnandanAtha, satyAnandanAtha, pUrNAnandanAtha) and
- mAnavaugha by the two nostrils and the excretory organ (svAbhAvAnandanAtha, pratibhAnandanAtha, subhagAnandanAtha), with the divyaugha representing the mode of transmission for the uttamAdhikArin (shruti).

Divyaugha is also the seat of abheda jnAna, as opposed to bheda and bhedAbheda. Thus, this name is indicative of the fragrance of shAktAdvaita jnAna emanating from the vaktra-pankaja of paradevatA.

Another interesting observation could be on the mapping of tattvas or tattvAkSharas between mAlinI (apara samvitti or uttara-mAlinI) and mAtrkA (parApara samvitti or pUrva-mAlinI), this mapping being of greater relevance in the current context than the others.

mAlinI <- > mAtR^ikA
puruSha - pAyu
shrotra - upastha
chakShu - rasa
jihvA - kAla
ghrANa - Ananda
vAk - Ishvara
pAyu - shuddhavidyA
upastha - shakti

and so on. It is the task of the sincere upAsaka to put these various pieces together and conclude based on insights attained through upAsanA. One of our friends who spends exorbitant amounts of time on online forums mentioned of a person who resorts to the statement 'gurumukhaikavedya' when he fails to understand the original author who he translates. On a side note, while it seems nice that many follow the transliteration scheme for Sanskrit on the www lately, it clearly exposes their lack of even the basics of this divine language. If this is the case with the Andhra deshasthas, what remains to be said in the case of the rest in dakShiNa desha? Coming back to the point, I reiterate that the pieces here have to be necessarily put together by the upAsaka himself as there is no other way for true fulfillment.

धरित्री कीलालं शुचिरपि समीरोऽपि गगनं
त्वमेका कल्याणी गिरिशरमणी कालि सकलम् |
स्तुतिः का ते मातर्निजकरुणया मामगतिकं
प्रसन्ना त्वं भूया भवमनु न भूयान्मम जनुः ||

श्रीगुरुभ्यो नमः

On the auspicious day of the Janma Nakshatram of our Gurunatha, Kamakoti Mandali, under the guidance of Smt. Rama Shyamsundar and Sri Suresh Shastrigal, performed Laksharchanam at the shrine of Bhagavati Kali at Kanchipuram as per this year’s oracle. Saundaryalahari Mami, a well-known Srividya Upasaki participated with her numerous disciples in this laksharchana.

Some members of the group then visited Smt. Periya Pottu Mami (Smt. Rajeshwari) and sought her blessings, as instructed by our Gurunatha. Periya Pottu Mami is one of the foremost Srividya Upasakis of current times and regarded as Svayam Lalita by hundreds of disciples. Initiated at the age of 10 by her grandfather, Mami obtained Purnabhishekam and completed Maha Purashcharanam before she was 16. She was guided in Upasana by her father-in-law, a great Upasaka himself, and a close disciple of Brahmasri Nediminti Subrahmanya Iyer (shrI chidAnandanAtha of Guhananda Mandali). Mami’s divinity and Mantra Siddhi were recognized by H H Paramacharya of Kumbhakonam-Kanchi Mutt who would discuss several aspects of Srividya Upasana with her. He blessed her with a Chandana meru, which has grown several times its original size in the last few decades and invokes awe in those who see it grow every day. Mami, as always, blessed the Mandali with great affection and accepted with tears of joy in her eyes, prasadam of Sri Kamakshi.

We fondly remember that when our Gurunatha was initiated into Bala by another Chidanandanatha at a very young age (Anna Subramanya Iyer, who, by divine play, he always assumed was Nediminti Subramanya Iyer for a long time), Smt. Periya Pottu Mami arrived there and offered the young child his first ashirvachanam from a Suvasini and an Upasaki.

We pray humbly at the feet of Sri Kamakshi Parabhattarika and Prasada Parameshvara to grant this great Upasaki long life and health so that she continues to offer the likes of us blessings and guidance.

Some members of our Mandali also visited and sought the blessings of shrI parAnandanAtha (Pattu Shastrigal) and tripurasundaryambA, who has always offered the Mandali his kind blessings and sage counsel. shrI Shastrigal is the disciple of shrI KunchitapAdayyar, a well-known upAsaka of shrI Ucchishta Ganapati and an astrologer par excellence, who was frequently consulted by the likes of Mahaperiyaval. He was, in turn, a disciple of shrI Chidanandanatha of Guhananda Mandali. Sri Pattu Shastrigal, apart from being a great Srividya Upasaka, is one of the few Siddha Upasakas of Lord Sharabheshvara today. Sri Shastrigal has numerous disciples in India and other countries.

We pray humbly to shrI Kamakshi Parabhattarika to grant Sri Shastrigal and his family, health, long life and prosperity.

The two great Upasakas, Smt. Periya Pottu Mami and Sri Shastrigal, send all the members of our Mandali their kind blessings and an advice to immerse ourselves deep in upAsana.

Kum. Mala Ramachandran has captured some pictures for the rest of us.

मनश्चेन्न लग्नं गुरोरङ्घ्रिपद्मे |
ततः किं ततः किं ततः किं ततः किम् ||

- David B Gray
Santa Clara University

The form of Buddhism that came to be known as the ‘adamantine vehicle’ (vajrayAna), and which is also known in Western literature as ‘tantric’ or ‘esoteric’ Buddhism, has received increasing academic attention over the past generation, partly as a result of the Tibetan Diaspora. Tantric Buddhism developed within the larger mahAyAna tradition, and it developed gradually, over the course of several centuries beginning no later than the sixth century. By approximately the seventh century, its advocates began to conceive of esoteric Buddhism as a distinct methodology, the ‘method of mantra’ (mantrayAna), distinct from the ‘method of perfection’ (Paramitayana) of the early mahAyAna.

Early Buddhist tantras generally followed the scriptural model of the mahAyAna sUtras. By the late eighth century, Indian Buddhist scholars began composing a genre of tantric Buddhist scripture that departed radically from earlier Buddhist textual models. These texts were known as yoginI tantras, largely on account of their focus on a class of female deities known as yoginI-s and DAkinI-s. They were an ambiguous group of entities and were generally seen as horrific quasi-human or non-human beings, notorious for their love of human flesh, and associated with black magic. However, in this literature they gained a more positive association as enlightening goddesses, at least for the initiated men brave enough to interact with them. The yoginI tantras were also infamous for their descriptions of transgressive ritual practices, involving violence and sexuality. They tended to be less obviously ‘Buddhist’, in part because of their departure from earlier textual models. For these reasons, the yoginI tantras gave rise to considerable controversy within Buddhist communities.

The earliest known yoginI tantra, the sarvabuddhasamyoga DAkinIjAla samvara tantra, was likely composed by the late seventh or early eighth century, as evidenced by its inclusion in amoghavajra’s Index of the vajrashekharasUtra-yoga in Eighteen Sections, which he composed shortly after his return to China from South Asia in 746 CE. It was followed by two influential tantras, the chakrasamvara and hevajra tantras, both of which were composed in the late eighth or early ninth century, and were influenced by this text. The composition of the yoginI tantras continued for centuries, ending with the demise of Buddhism in Indian in the thirteenth century.

The chakrasamvara tantra, as it now stands, is a relatively short work of approximately 700 stanzas in 51 chapters. It is a text that is known by several titles. It refers to itself, at the end of each chapter, as the Discourse of shrI heruka. The colophon at the end of the text refers to it as the ‘Binding of the Wheels’, chakrasamvara; this is the name by which it is most commonly known in the Tibetan tradition. In India, it was commonly called laghusamvara or the ‘Samvara Light’. As it currently stands, the text lives up to its ‘light’ designation. It is a rather cryptic text, focusing on elements of practice, but generally failing to give sufficient information to enable one to successfully undertake these practices. This is typical of esoteric Buddhist literature, and was almost certainly intentional. Scriptures such as the chakrasamvara tantra were not meant to provide a full accounting of the tradition’s practices, but merely hint at these, as the ‘secret’ to be attained by those who are properly initiated by a master. Only then would the master disclose the full details of practice to the initiated adept.

Like most tantras, the chakrasamvara tantra is not a doctrinal, but a practice-oriented text. There are references to important Buddhist doctrinal teachings, such as the threefold embodiment or trikAya of a Buddha, which is briefly discussed in Chapter 10. However, these brief references in no way contributed to the development of Buddhist philosophy and theology. We might take, for example, the following verse in Chapter 13: ‘One should experience everything, whatever comes naturally within the path of the sense powers, as being composed of the buddhas, through the yoga of ultimate equipoise’. This verse occurs, rather anomalously, in the middle of descriptions of magical rituals that can be performed with with the protective armor or kavacha mantras of the chief deity, Heruka. It evokes the advanced yogic practices in which one imagines the constituents of one’s body, as well a the elements of one’s experience, as composed of the Buddhas. This is a practice that is designed to radically transform the way in which one conceives oneself and experiences the world.

Some commentators chose to interpret verses such as these in doctrinal terms. For example, the early tenth century commentator bhavyakIrti interprets it in terms of the pramANa and yogAchAra schools of Buddhist philosophy, which constituted the dominant schools of Indian Buddhist thought at this time. He comments as follows:

Regarding [the verse quoted above] - whatever is explained as referring to all the realms of the world without exception. That which is of the path of the sense powers s analyzed with wisdom by means of both direct perception (pratyakSha) and inference (anumAna). Whatever is realized comes naturally. Through the yoga of ultimate equipoise in this sort of reality or nature, that is, through the application of expedience and wisdom, everything should be experienced as being composed of buddhas, meaning that all things should be regarded as the reality of the buddhas. This is because, as was said by the scion of the Victor, ‘These three worlds are mind only’. That is, everything exists as mind only.

Commentary such as this is fascinating, and it served an important purpose, namely, providing a doctrinal contextualization, for a text that was almost bereft of doctrinal exposition.

The Chakrasamvara Tantra is largely dedicated to describing ritual, magical, and meditative practices. These practices can be categorized with respect to the type of ‘achievement’ (siddhi) that their successful application is thought to yield. These are the supramundane achievement (lokottara-siddhi) of complete awakening, and the mundane powers (laukika-siddhi) of flight, invisibility, pacifying enemies, and so forth.

The former awakening is achieved by the advanced meditative practices that are usually grouped under the rubrics of ‘creation stage’ (utpatti-krama) and ‘perfecting stage’ (niShpanna-krama) practice. The Chakrasamvara Tantra, however, is extremely secretive concerning advanced meditative practices, about which it only provides vague hints. For example, a central element of ‘creation stage’ meditation is the practice of visualizing oneself as a deity, and visualizing the mandala with its complete array of deities. The text does not provide a full, detailed description of the mandala itself. The central deities, Heruka and his consort vajravArAhI, are described, but their descriptions are scattered throughout several chapters. The other 60 deities of the mandala are not described at all, but only mentioned by name. There is no coherent description of the meditation practices in which you visualize yourself as the deity, or of the mandala itself. The advanced perfection stage meditation practices, which focus on the subtle body, are not mentioned all, except perhaps in vague hints that are unpacked by the commentators.

The text primarily focuses on the mundane powers, and the ritual practices that can achieve them. The key element to these practices is the recitation of mantras. The Chakrasamvara Tantra dedicates many chapters to the esoteric coding of mantras and the description of their ritual applications. Mantras are ‘repeated’ (japa), recited either silently or audibly. During the consecration ceremony, the master teaches the adept the mantras of the tradition’s deities. The Chakrasamvara Tantra relates, directly or indirectly, many dozens of mantras. The central deity, Heruka, has a set of three mantras, a long ‘root mantra’ (mulamantra), a shorter ‘essence mantra’ (hrdayamantra), and an even shorter ‘quintessence mantra’ (upahrdayamantra). The text also presents the essence and quintessence mantras of vajravArAhI, his consort. Both also have a set of very short mantras known as ‘armor mantras’ (kavaca). The remaining 60 deities in the mandala each have their own mantra. The text also relates several other mantras, such as the ‘laughter mantra’ and ‘victory of the triple world’ (trailokyavijaya) mantras.

Mantras are recited in the context of the creation stage practices, in which the meditator identifies with one or more of the deities and recites the mantra in conjunction with visualization practices. The mantras are also recited to invoke the deities in various ritual practices. The Chakrasamvara Tantra also describes numerous ritual applications of the mantras, in which they are used to enchant objects or individuals in order to perform various magical operations. Overall, 23 of the Cakrasamvara Tantra’s 51 chapters are directly concerned with the selection of the mantras and/or their magical applications. The use of mantras is indirectly implied by many of the other chapters. Judging by the large number of chapters devoted to the description of these magical rites, they appear to have been an important element of the practice tradition in India.

Most of the rites described in the text are magical operations involving the mantras. For example, Chapter 12 relates the following procedure for becoming invisible employing Heruka’s quintessence mantra:

Take the skin of the sole of the foot of the corpse of a hero, pulverize it with human blood, and insert antimony in the middle of the ball. Saturate it with realgar, bovine concretion, saffron, and blood. Dry it in the shade and encase it in the three metals, and also make it habitable. It is, moreover, prepared during the puShya lunar mansion; Putting it in Sri Heruka’s mouth, cover his mouth with one’s left hand. Furthermore, one should repeat [the mantra] one hundred and eight times. From that moment one is rendered invisible without any shadow. As one cannot even be seen by gods, how much less [is the chance of being seen] by humans? Taking it out of one’s mouth, one will be visible.

As one can see, this description, while somewhat detailed, is deliberately ambiguous, and does not provide sufficient information for its practice. The expression ‘make it habitable’ is an oblique reference to the rite of consecration (adhivAsana), which involves the invocation of deities to inhabit the object being consecrated. Moreover, the expression ‘Sri Heruka’s mouth’ is deliberately ambiguous. According to the late ninth- century commentator bhavabhaTTa, it is the yogi who, visualizing himself as Heruka, puts the pill in his own mouth to achieve invisibility. However, the fifteenth-century Tibetan commentator, Tsongkhapa, understands this rite as involving a ‘zombie’ (vetAla), a corpse in a charnel ground that is reanimated via the insertion of the pill in its mouth. There is considerable uncertainty regarding the practice of most of the rituals described in this text. Contemporary Tibetan traditions appear to pay little heed to these rites, and instead focus on the ‘secret’ practices that are thought to rapidly lead to the attainment of awakening.

According to the tradition, the Chakrasamvara Tantra is a revealed text, originating in the teaching activity of the cosmic Buddha mahAvajradhara. It was revealed in the distant past, at a time when the Hindu deity Bhairava and his followers were allegedly causing problems in the world through their immoral behavior, namely, violence and wanton sexuality. According to the myth, Bhairava and his consort kAlarAtri seized control of Mount Sumeru, and their retinue seized 24 other power places located throughout South Asia and the Himalayan region. In response to this, mahAvajradhara and his retinue manifested in the world in the shaiva guise. They then subdued the Hindu deities, and took control of these power places. They thus established the Chakrasamvara mandala on earth, and they continue to reside there, in occult forms.

At this time, Heruka taught the Discourse of Heruka. Originally, it was taught as a massive text of 100,000 or more stanzas in length. Out of compassion for the sentient beings of the future, who would have short life spans and even shorter attention spans, he also taught it in an abbreviated form, as the Laghusamvara, ‘Samvara Light’. This is the form that has survived to the present day. One should note that there is no evidence that the longer text ever existed and that many tantric Buddhist traditions claim that their root texts originated as texts of 100,000 or more stanzas.

According to the tradition, the Chakrasamvara Tantra is a teaching that is preserved by the deities, who abide in the power places as well as in Buddhist pure lands. When the karmic circumstances are right, they periodically reveal it to humans. According to the Tibetan historian gZhon-nu-dpal, the scripture and its associated practice tradition has been revealed not once, but twice, in the current historical era. The tradition was revealed by Heruka to his consort vajravArAhI, who taught it to the siddha or ‘tantric saint’ Luipa. It was revealed again by Vajradhara to the bodhisattva vajrapANi, who taught it to the siddha Saraha. Both of these lineages converge on the figures of the siddha Tilopa and his disciple Naropa (956–1040 ce), who evidently played a very important role in the preservation of this tradition in India. And as Naropa had several students from the Kathmandu valley and Tibet, he also played a key role in its dissemination to these regions.

Academic scholarship cannot confirm the legendary accounts of the Chakrasamvara Tantra’s origin. However, the notion that it was revealed to the siddhas Luipa and Saraha more or less matches the period in which the scripture was likely composed, in the late eighth or early ninth century. While an exact date for the text’s composition cannot be pinpointed, the mid-to-late eighth century is suggested by references to the text in a dateable commentary. It was composed no later than the early ninth century. Jayabhadra, the third abbot of the Vikramasila monastery who was active in this time period, composed a commentary on the text.

Through careful study of the text, its commentaries, and related literature, it is clear that this work was not composed as a singular work by a single author. Rather, the text was composed over time, by at least several hands and drawing on numerous sources. The earliest version of the Chakrasamvara Tantra was a somewhat shorter text that exhibited significant influence from Shaiva Hindu sources (JayadrathayAmala, the Picumata, the TantrasadbhAva and the SiddhayogeshvarI mata) and relatively little Buddhist influence. Alexis Sanderson, in a series of articles, has demonstrated the dependence of the Cakrasamvara Tantra on a closely related set of Shaiva scriptures, the Jayadrathayamala Tantra, the Picumata, the Tantrasadbhavatantra, and the Siddhayogesvarimata (1994, 2001). These source scriptures were apparently produced by a quasi-heretical Shaiva sect, the kApAlikas. This association strongly suggests that the Chakrasamvara Tantra, in its initial stage of development, was composed outside of normative monastic Buddhist institutional settings. The text also drew upon several Buddhist sources.

Despite its dependence on several Buddhist texts, the Chakrasamvara Tantra, as it existed in the early ninth century, was noticeable for the conspicuous presence of Shaiva deities and terminology and absence of Buddhist terminology. In fact, the segments of the text that exhibit the strongest use of Buddhist terminology appear to be later additions. These segments include the opening of Chapter 10, which consists of five verses dealing with theory of the triple body (trikAya) of a Buddha, awkwardly attached to a prose chapter that addresses the ritual applications of Heruka’s essence mantra. They also include the second half of Chapter 50. This chapter opens with another description of the ritual uses of mantras, and then shifts abruptly to a passage associating the ten classes of pilgrimage places with the ten bodhisattva grounds. The fifty-first chapter is also thoroughly Buddhist in character.

Interestingly, only the first of these sections were present in the early ninth century version of the text, as attested by Jayabhadra’s commentary, which does comment on the first five verses of Chapter 10, but does not comment on the latter half of Chapter 50 or Chapter 51. This lacuna is confirmed by one of the Chakrasamvara Tantra’s ‘Explanatory Tantras’ (vyAkhyA tantra), the DAkArNava Tantra, which states that the Laghusamvara has 50 chapters. However, Bhavabhatta, the fifth abbot of Vikramasila who was active in 900 ce, does comment on these passages. Evidently, the heavily Buddhist conclusion of the text was composed after the text had been adopted in Buddhist monastic institutions such as Vikramasila during the ninth century. This would have occurred during the latter half of the ninth century, after the composition of the Dakarnava Tantra and Jayabhadra’s commentary, but before the composition of Bhavabhatta’s.

By the beginning of the tenth century, the scripture had reached a form very similar to what has come down to us, in the surviving Sanskrit manuscripts and Tibetan translations. In fact, the first Tibetan translation was made less than a century later, by the Tibetan Rin-chen-bzang-po and the Kashmiri pandit PadmAkara Varma.

The social context in which the Chakrasamvara and related tantras were composed has been the subject of considerable controversy. The evidence of Shaiva influence and the numerous breaks with earlier mahAyAna Buddhist textual models exhibited in this literature imply that they may not have been composed in normative monastic Buddhist contexts. These factors led David Ruegg to posit a non-sectarian ‘religious substratum’ from which both Buddhist and Hindu traditions drew elements of their practice traditions. Davidson, on the other hand, has argued that tantric Buddhism does not derive from a singular source, be it a generic substratum or a rival Shaiva tradition. Instead, he holds that it derives from diverse sources, including ‘local, tribal, and outcaste groups existing in a fluid state outside the formal institutions of religious authority’.

According to the traditional histories, traditions such as the Chakrasamvara Tantra originated with the siddhas, who appear to have constituted an alternate locus of authority, positioned outside of the established religious institutions. The siddhas are highlighted as key figures in both Buddhist and Hindu tantric lineage lists. Appearing in Buddhist literature during the eighth century, just as the yoginI tantras were being composed, siddhas are portrayed as powerful but morally ambiguous figures, strongly associated with magical power, liminal spaces (such as wilderness, charnel grounds, etc.), and non-Buddhist traditions. Given these associations, it seems reasonable to conclude that these texts were not composed within mainstream Buddhist institutions.

In possible support of Ruegg’s thesis, their milieu appears to have been far more fluid than the institutionalized forms of Hindu and Buddhist traditions. Often antinomian, it does not seem to be a safe assumption that the siddhas advocated strong sectarian identities. While there are many gaps in our knowledge concerning the social context in which scriptures such as the Chakrasamvara Tantra arose, it may be naïve to pre- suppose an ‘enlightened’ and apolitical siddha elite for whom religious identity would not be a compelling issue, as Richard Cohen has argued. The political and sectarian nature of the tradition is apparent in its origin myth, and vividly depicted in its iconography. In written descriptions and visual depictions, the central deities, Heruka and Vajravarahi, are portrayed as trampling upon the supine Hindu deities Bhairava and Kalaratri. The tradition exhibits the processes of assimilation, transformation, and subordination that characterize the inter-sectarian appropriation in South Asia, as John Holt has argued in the context of Sri Lanka.

Ruegg is correct that this iconography is commonly interpreted by Buddhists in terms of the ‘supramundane/mundane’ (lokottara/laukika) dichotomy. However, he is mistaken when he characterizes as ‘etic’ the ‘idea of a hostile – and more or less historicized and secular – encounter “Buddhism vs. Hinduism”. While we cannot anachronistically project modern constructions of Buddhist and Hindu identities into the early medieval period, there are numerous premodern Buddhist accounts that portray this iconography in political terms. For example, Taranatha’s hagiography of the siddhi Krshnacharya describes religious conflict between Buddhists and Hindus triggered by this iconography, indicating that it was seen as offensive by some Hindus. Ruegg also fails to note that the inclusion of Hindu deities in the subordinate position of the Buddhist ‘supramundane/mundane’ dichotomy is invariably political, in that it attempts to include the Hindu deities within a totalizing cosmic hierarchy that privileges the Buddhist perspective.

Buddhist accounts of the lives of the siddhas routinely portray them as engaging in political activities designed to establish or maintain Buddhist identities and institutions, such as defending contested pilgrimage sites and Buddhist monasteries from usurpation by non-Buddhists. Naturally, it is not clear if these accounts reflect sectarianism on the part of the siddhas themselves or on the part of their hagiographers, who were writing in different time periods and social contexts. The mythic accounts of the tradition’s origin clearly suggest sectarian tension, although these were composed after the root tantra itself. Moreover, it may be possible to link the worship of certain deities with distinct traditions, with deities such as Mahakala and Bhairava indicating Hindu sectarian identities, and deities such as Vajrapani and Heruka indicting Buddhist sectarian identities. But these assumptions are not always safe, as there was clearly a great deal of back and forth appropriation of deities among these traditions. For example, while Mahakala and Bhairava originated as Shaiva deities, they were appropriated quite rapidly into tantric Buddhist pantheons. Heruka, too, originally a Buddhist transformation of Bhairava, later appears in a tenth-century Hindu scripture, the Kalika-purana. The Hindu deity Visnu and the Buddha have also been subject to back and forth appropriation.

contd ...

श्रद्धया विरचितानुगानकृततारतारमधुरस्वरे
नर्तनेऽथ ललिताङ्गहारलुळिताङ्गहारमणिभूषणे |
सम्मदेन कृतपुष्पवर्षमलमुन्मिषद्दिविषदां कुलं
चिन्मये त्वयि निलीयमानमिव संमुमोह सवधूकुलम् ||

कामिनीरिति हि यामिनीषु खलु कामनीयकनिधे भवान्
पूर्णसम्मदरसार्णवं कमपि योगिगम्यमनुभावयन् |
ब्रह्मशङ्करमुखानपीह पशुपाङ्गनासु बहुमानयन्
भक्तलोकगमनीयरूप कमनीय कृष्ण परिपाहि माम् ||

[An old recording of a Bhajan rendered by Smt. Kavita Krishnamurti-Subramaniam]

Sri Ramakrishnayya Pantulu is the Guru of Sangitakalanidhi Dr. Balamurali Krishna. Sri Pantulu traces his lineage, through Susarla Dakshinamurti Shastri and Manambuchavadi Venkatasubbaiyyar, to Saint Tyagaraja himself.

There are many who disregard the importance of the adhyayana of shAstra-s while considering themselves to be adhering to bhakti mArga. It should however be noted that manana and chintana are important aspects of bhakti yoga as well. The reason for the same, we shall shortly examine.

satsa~Nga is an important limb of the multu-faceted bhakti yoga. All shAstras teaching bhagavad-bhakti sing praises of satsanga. Satsanga or the company of the great blesses one with knowledge, insights into bhakti yoga and calms the tumultuous mind. The shAstras clarify that satsanga can involve questions and answers mainly to attain clarity but never is futile vitaNDavAda permitted within the precincts of satsanga. Sage nArada clarifies the same in his bhakti sUtra:

वादो नावलम्ब्यः ||

Satsanga operates at many levels beyond mundane and intellectual faculties. When in the company of the great men, there is a subtle transmission or shaktipAta from which one can derive benefit only if present completely in that moment and context. vAda, tarka and other operatives of the lower mind, while useful in a different context, are not conducive to satsanga. bhagavAn ramaNa is the greatest example one can think of in this regard, who simply advised people to “shut up” when in his presence. Again, this should not discourage a healthy and relevant exchange of ideas during satsanga, as stated in viShNu bhAgavata:

सङ्गमः खलु साधूनामुभयेषां च सम्मतः |
यत्सम्भाषणसम्प्रश्नः सर्वेषां वितनोति शम् ||

The same purANa describes the greatness of satsanga at several places:

यत्सङ्गलब्धं निजवीर्यवैभवं
तीर्थं मुहुः संस्पृशतां हि मानसम् |
हरत्यजोऽन्तः श्रुतिभिर्गतोऽङ्गजं
को वै न सेवेत मुकुन्दविक्रमम् || [5|18|11]

भवापवर्गो भ्रमतो यदा भवेत्
जनस्य तर्ह्यच्चुत सत्समागमः |
सत्सङ्गमो यर्हि तदैव सद्गतौ
परावरेशे त्वयि जायते मतिः || [10|51|55]

However, one is advised to choose carefully the company one keeps asserted by the following niShedha in the nAradIya bhakti sUtra:

दुःसङ्गः सर्वथैव त्याज्यः ||

Sage nArada elucidates the reason for this niShedha thus:

कामक्रोधमोहस्मृतिभ्रंश बुद्धिनाश सर्वनाश कारणत्वात् ||

The Lord reiterates the same in gItA:

सत्यं शौचं दया मौनं बुद्धिः श्रीर्ह्रीर्यशः क्षमा |
शमो दमो भगश्चेति यत्सङ्गाद्याति संक्षयम् ||
तेष्वशान्तेषु मूढेषु खण्डितात्मस्वसाधुषु |
सङ्गं न कुर्याच्छोच्येषु योषित्क्रीडामृगेषु च || [3 | 31 | 33-34]

Thus having established the role of satsanga in bhakti yoga, we should now note that the study of scripture such as a smR^iti, kalpa, itihAsa or purANa is not different from having satsanga with the author of these works. In the current days when most humans are shishnodaraparAyaNa-s, it is rather difficult to find worthy company for satsanga and the easy and safe alternative is to benefit from satsanga with realized seers and masters from the past, through the sincere study of sadgranthas authored by them.

nArada prescribes shAstrAdhyayana in his bhakti sUtra as well:

भक्तिशास्त्राणि मननीयानि तदुद्बोधक-कर्माणि करणीयानि |

Bhakti yoga pays special attention to yama and niyama and these represent niShedha and vidhi respectively. In the current context, satsa~Nga amounts to vidhi and niShedha is the tyAga of asatsanga. On a similar note, study of sadgrantha amounts to vidhi and niShedha involves giving up studying asadgranthas that pull the mind away from bhagavad-bhakti and preach dehAtma-buddhi, anAtmavAda, nirIshvaravAda etc.

shrImAtre namaH
prAsAda parameshvarAya namaH

It has been brought to our notice that this website or articles here are being listed as associated or belonging to Kanchi Mutt. Though this has been clarified on our front page, we take a moment to clarify again that Sri Kamakoti Mandali is not associated in any way with Kumbhakonam Mutt that currently goes by the name Kanchi-Kamakoti Mutt. We have always sought blessings of the two Acharyas at Kanchi and have had associations with them at a personal level but similar is the case with several other seers such as the heads of Shivaganga Mutt, Swarnavalli Mutt, Yedathore Mutt, Kudali Mutt, Hebbur Mutt and so on. These 'associations' simply reflect our deep respect for the fourth Ashrama and for the tradition of our beloved AchArya bhagavatpAda. After all, every yati is of the svarUpa of nArAyaNa says the shAstra!

We have been fortunate to have been blessed with guidance from the shankarAchArya-s of three of the four AmnAya mutts (combining Badari and Dwaraka as one); but we are not functionally or financially associated with any of them. We however hold H H Mahasannidhanam of Sringeri as our Guru and prescribe to his conclusions on matters of dharma and adhyAtma. This is driven not only by the deep reverence the AchAryas of this Tradition have earned through centuries but also by their spotless conduct, spiritual realization and deep scholarship. Thus, we would object humbly to being associated with 'this' Mutt or 'that' Mutt with the exception of Sringeri (or Dwaraka to an extent on account of the close association of our Gurus shrI chinmudrAnandanAtha and the bimbAmbikA lineage with dvArakA Mutt).

It is unnecessary to explain the need for this seemingly sudden declaration but we have been sufficiently convinced by several of our well-wishers that this piece of writing is worth publishing and at this time. Why bother bhagavatI brahmAstranAyikA for petty nonsense?

That said, we should now return our attention to our most precious Mother. And this is the final call for Mutt-gossipers to jump out of the plane

yatra kutra sthito vA.api kR^iShNa kR^iShNeti kIrtayet |
sarvapApavishuddhAtmA sa gacChet paramAM gatim ||

hare krShNa

नीलाब्ज-दाडिमी-वीणा-
शलीगुञ्जाक्षसूत्रकम् |
दधदुच्छिष्टनामायं
गणेशः पातु मेचकः || [gaNapati-rahasya]

अल्पायासैर्विना कष्टैर्जपमात्रेण सिद्धिदः |
गुरुसन्तुष्टिमात्रेण कलौ प्रत्यक्षसिद्धिदः ||
[- phalashruti of sugrIva-prokta ucChiShTa-gaNapati sahasranAma stavarAja]

या देवी परमा विद्या स्वात्मविद्याप्रकाशिनी |
तस्या नीलसरस्वत्या पतये ते नमो नमः ||
[- ucChiShTa gaNapati argaLA stotra from gaNesha-yAmaLa]

कामराज-महातन्त्र-रहस्याचार-दक्षिणायै नमः
[- shrIgarbha-kulArNava tantra]