nirvANa sundarI

Sarva krtyAtmakatva

na - srShTi
maH- sthiti
shi - samhAra
vA - tirodhAna
ya - anugraha

Sarva yugAtmakatva

na - krta yuga
maH - tretA yuga
shi - dvApara yuga
vA - kali yuga
ya - yugAntara

Sarva shuddhyAtmakatva

na - Atma shuddhi
maH - sthAna shuddhi
shi - dravya shuddhi
vA - mantra shuddhi
ya - linga shuddhi

Sarva archAtmakatva

na - AvAhana
maH - sthApana
shi - sAnnidhya
vA - sannirodhana
ya - pUjA

Sarva kalAtmakatva

na - 5 kalAH
maH - 4 kalAH
shi - 8 kalAH
vA - 13 kalAH
ya - 8 kalAH

Sarva mudrAtmakatva

na - AvAhanI mudrA
maH - bhUtapanchaka mudrAH
shi - muShTi mudrA
vA - yoni mudrA
ya - dhenu mudrA

- vimalAgama

ईशानः पुरुषश्चैव अघोरः सद्य एव च |
वामदेवश्च भगवान् पापमाशु व्यपोहतु ||

The twenty-third tIrthankara of the Jainas is the well-known pArshvanAtha and the consort of his yakSha dharaNendra is known as padmAvatI. Jaina mantra-shAstra works such as bhirava padmAvatI kalpa, jinadatta sUryAmnAya, padmAvatI kalpa etc. discuss the worship and prayogas of this deity in great detail. Many famous jaina mantravAdins are known to have attained siddhi and escaped from great perils through the grace of padmAvatI. This shAsana-devI of pArshvanAtha is enshrined at Hamchavadi in Shimoga district of Karnataka. While the tIrthankaras are known to have passed even beyond the realm of the devas, padmAvatI, on account of being present within the accessible realm of the devas, is held by the jaina mantravAdins to be kShipraprasAdinI.

It is believed that the origins of this deity lies in jaratkAru, who later came to be known as manasA, the deity of serpents. The Buddhist parallel to padmAvatI is most possibly jAngulI, associated with the dhyAnI buddha akShobhya, again a form inspired by manasA devI. jAngulI is frequently referred to as a specific form of tArA in texts such as sAdhanamAlA and this is reiterated by jaina texts such as the celebrated padmAvatI stotra in the context of padmAvatI thus establishing a link between the two.

The dhyAna of manasA in bhaviShya purANa refers to her as padmA (padmAm maheshIm) where as the padmAvatI stotra calls her mahAbhairavI indicating clearly her association with Hindu tantra. It is not for us to establish here as to who was conceived first: manasA, jAngulI or padmAvatI.

The bhairava-padmAvatI kalpa describes the dhyAna of padmAvatI thus:

पन्नगाधिपशेखरां विपुलारुणाम्बुजविस्तरां
कुक्कुटोरगवाहनामरुणप्रभां कमलाननाम् |
त्र्यम्बकां वरदाङ्कुशायतपाशदिव्यफलाङ्कितां
चिन्तयेत्कमलावतीं जपतां सतां फलदायिनीम् ||

padmAvatI is conceived in various forms worshipped through different mantras and invoked for different purposes. Her two-handed form, seated in lalitAsana, hols pAsha and divya-phala. Her four-handed mUrti sports pAsha, ankusha, vINA and pustaka. Sometimes in texts such as the bhairava-padmAvatI kalpa, she is also depicted as holding vajrAyudha, ankusha, pAsha and padma. Adbhuta-padmAvatI kalpa describes her as holding pAsha, ankusha, varamudrA and divya-phala. Sometimes varamudrA is replaced by uraga or snake. She is also depicted as sporting eight and twenty-four arms. Her vAhana is described as kukkuTa (cock) and also as kukkuTa-sarpa (a variety of snake).

The following stotra describes the Ayudha-s held in the twenty-four hands of padmAvatI and is used for japa and archana. Jaina mantravAdins recount tales of miraculous help received from the Goddess during times of distress on account of reciting this stotra. pATha of the stava published below is based on the handwritten copy of padmAvatI-kalpa in the possession of our dear jaina mitra who is a siddha upAsaka of devI chakreshvarI.

श्रीसव्यपाणिगततीक्ष्णमस्त्रं वज्रायुधं नाम जगत्प्रसिद्धम् |
त्रैलोक्यव्याप्तं भयनाशनं च पद्मावति त्वत्पदमर्चयामि || १ ||

भित्त्वा सुपाताळमूलं च शस्त्रं कृत्वा विनाशं कलिघोरदुःखम् |
सुवामभागे करमङ्कुशं च अर्चामि शस्त्रं जनशर्मकारि || २ ||

कमलकरसुसंस्थं भीमरूपं च देवीं
अखिलमघनिवारं सव्यभोगा च नाम्नीम् |
जिनचरणसुसेव्यं वारिगन्धादिपूज्यं
खचरभुचरवन्द्यं वारिगन्धादिपूज्यम् || ३ ||

परमतमदहारि चक्रवामाङ्गधारि
भवश्रमखलुवारि भूतप्रेतादिहारि |
निखिलभुवनजालिं भव्यजीवकृपाळिं
धरणिधरसुपत्नीं पद्मिनीं पूजयामि || ४ ||

contd...

pUrvAmnAya

bhuvaneshvarI
tripurA
lalitA
padmA
shUlinI
sarasvatI
tvaritA
nityA
vajraprastAriNI
annapUrNA
mahAlakShmI
lakShmI
vAgvAdinI

dakShiNAmnAya

prAsAda parameshvara
dakShiNAmUrti
vaTuka
manjughoSha
Bhairava
Mr^itasanjIvanI
amR^ita mR^ityunjaya

pashchimAmnAya

vAsudeva
viShNu
Ramachandra
gaNesha
Vahni
Surya
Chandra
dikpAla-s
hanumAn

uttarAmnAya

dakShiNA kAli
mahAkAlI
guhyakAlI
smashAna-kAlI
bhadrakAlI
ekajaTA
ugratArA
tAriNI
kAtyAyanI
ChinnamastA
nIlasarasvatI
mUladurgA
jayadurgA
navadurgA
dhUmAvatI
vishAlAkShI
gaurI
bagaLAmukhI
pratyangirA
mAtangI
mahiShamardinI

UrdhvAmnAya

tripurasundarI
tripureshI
bhairavI
tripurabhairavI
smashAnabhairavI
bhuvaneshI bhairavI
ShaTkUTabhairavI
annapUrNA bhairavI
ShoDashI
mAlinI
bAlAbalA
panchamI
rAjarAjeshvarI parA bhaTTArikA (chatushchatvArimshadakSharAtmikA)

adharAmnAya

devatA sthAna
Asana
Yantra
mAlA
naivedya
balidAna
sAdhanA
purashcharaNa
Mantra-siddhi

In humans, the kuNDalinI is said to be present as a serpent of three and a half coils. However, the kuNDalinI in AdyA kAlI or mahAtripurasundarI transforms and various permutations of shakti-s emanate. For example, when the mUla kUNdalinI is triguNAtmikA or trivalayA (or सार्धत्रिवलया ) - AdyA appears as kAlikA or mahAtripurasundarI. When triguNA transforms to turIyA, ekajaTA appears, ugratArA when the transformation is fivefold and so on.

mahAbindu or niShkala - sacchidAnanda
Three ( सार्धत्रिवलया ) - AdyA kAlI or tripurasundarI
Four - ekajaTA
Five - mahogratArA
Six - siddhi-kAlikA
Seven - madhumatI
Eight - bhuvaneshvarI
Nine - chAmuNDA
Ten - dasha mahAvidyA
Eleven - shmashAna kAlikA
Twelve - chaNDabhairavI
Thirteen - tArA
Fourteen - vashya kAlikA
Fifteen - mahApanchadashI
Sixteen - mahAShoDashI
Seventeen - ChinnamastA
Eighteen - mahAmadhumatI
Nineteen - mahApadmAvatI
Twenty - kamalAtmikA
Twenty-one - kAmasundarI
Twenty-two - dakShiNA kAlikA
Twenty-three - mahAvidyArAjnI
Twenty-four - gAyatrI
Twenty-five - panchamI sundarI
Twenty-six - ShaShThI sundarI
Twenty-seven - mahAratneshvarI
Twenty-eight - parA bhaTTArikA or mritasanjIvanI
Twenty-nine - mahAnIlasarasvatI
Thirty - vasordhArA
Thirty-one - trilokyamohinI
Thirty-two - trilokyavijayA (mahAvaiShNavI)
Thirty-three - kAmAkhyA
Thirty-four - aghora bhairavI
Thirty-five - sa~NgIta yoginI
Thirty-six - bagaLAmukhI
Thirty-seven - arundhatI
Thirty-eight - annapUrNA
Thirty-nine - nakulIshvarI
Forty - trikaNTakI (tribhanginI)
Forty-one - rAjeshvarI
Forty-two - trailokyAkarShinI
Forty-three - rAjarAjeshvarI
Forty-four - kukkuTI (or alternately charpaTI)
Forty-five - siddhavidyA
Forty-six - mrityunjayA bhairavI
Forty-seven - mahAbhogavatI
Forty-eight - vAsavI
Forty-nine - phetkAriNI (mahAkuNDalI)
Fifty - mAtrikA sundarI

One who performs the mAtrikA nyAsa in samhAra krama using the mUla vidyAs of these shaktis during mahAnishA after having recited the manus of kAlikA and sundarI is blessed with amogha siddhi and oneness with paradevatA. When the shakti of the mahAyoginI surges through the upAsaka, great caution is needed and according to gurUpadesha, control is attained through dhAraNA on guruchakra while sealed in shAmbhavI mudra.

पशुनिर्मूलनोद्युक्तां पशुतर्जनमुद्रिकाम् |
तिरस्करणिकां वन्दे खड्गहस्तां परात्पराम् ||

Satish Arigela pointed us to this interesting article. Good find!

Considering this article is on our buddy Dwai's website, I am surprised how I missed it. Time to have another of our interesting talks

It is totally another matter that Nithyananda's own learning and teachings are simply a big joke. Such buffoons always make me appreciate Jiddu Krishmamurti better.

The Transcendent or anuttara (‘a’), by means of visarga (upto ‘h’ or prANa), reveals itself as shakti (‘ha’) and then returns to itself and abides in the indivisible prakAsha, which is its own eternal Self, called shiva-bindu (‘m’)-a-h-am. This is how in the universal consciousness, which is no better than bare awareness, there arises a sense of “I”. its relation to the not-self, e.g. body, etc. is an event in time which is psychologically explicable. The Ego-sense in pure consciousness reveals it as one’s own Self (svAtman). The unity of shiva and shakti follows logically from the integrality or oneness of this sense which covers both. This is the secret of the fullness of Ego or pUrNAhamtA to which reference has already been made.

The unity of prakAsha and vimarsha is the bindu called kAma or ravi (Sun). The emergence of two bindus out of this primordial one is the state of visarga. The two bindus are agni (fire) and soma (moon), conceived as chit-kalA. It is not a state of dualism, but one of union between two inseparable elements of a single whole. The two aspects combined, namely, bindu and visarga, are represented as a significant symbol of divine unity, though it is true that in the ultimate state even these elements lose their own lustre. The interaction of the bindus causes nectar or creative fluid to flow out. This is the so-called hArdha kalA, the essence of Ananda. The interaction is like the heat of fire acting on butter and causing it to melt and flow. The one is sat, the two is sat as aware of Itself, i.e. chit (chit-kalA) and the hArdha-kalA flowing from between the two is the result of self-awareness felt as Ananda. The entire science of kAmakalA is thus the science of sacchidAnanda and brahma-vidyA as indicating an eternal creative act. The substance of delight which flows constitutes the essence of all creative principles.

Though prakAsha and vimarsha are identical, it is to be remembered that prakAsha is always partless and continuous, while vimarsha is partless and as well as divisible into parts. Whenever therefore prakAsha is referred to as discrete it is to be understood only in a secondary sense. The three bindus working together towards a common end form as it were a single triangle.

prakAsha within vimarsha is of the form of a white bindu; and vimarsha within prakAsha is of the form of a red bindu called nAda. The two bindus in union constitute the original bindu called kAma of which these are kalAs. The unity of the three is the substance called kAma-kalA from which the entire creation consisting of words and the thing singnified by them originates.

bhAskara rAya in his varivasyA-rahasya while speaking of kAmakalA refers to the three bindus as well as the hArdha kalA the nature of which is held to be very secret. The white and red bindus represent in his opinion, male and female energies.

amR^itAnanda says that hArdha-kalA flows from between the two bindus and is the wave (laharI) of vimarsha and sphurattA. prakAsha is like fire and vimarsha is like butter which melts under it. The flow is the so-called hArdha-kalA noted above. The baindava chakra, made of three mAtR^ikAs, is the out-flow of kAmakalA along with hArdha-kalA, and it is out of this that the thirty-six creative principles emanate.

contd...

नमो वेदान्तवेद्ये ते नमो ब्रह्मस्वरूपिणि |
समायया सर्वजगद्विधात्र्यै ते नमो नमः ||
भक्तकल्पद्रुमे देवि भक्तार्थं देहधारिणि |
नित्यतृप्ते निरुपमे भुवनेश्वरि ते नमः ||
अस्मच्छान्त्यर्थमतुलं लोचनानां सहस्रकम् |
त्वया यथा धृतं देवि शताक्षीत्वं ततो भव ||
क्षुधया पीडिता मातः स्तोतुं शक्तिर्न चास्ति नः |
कृपां कुरु महेशानि वेदानप्याहराम्बिके ||

व्यास उवाच
इति तेषां वचः श्रुत्वा शाकान् स्वकरसंस्थितान् |
स्वादूनि फलमूलानि भक्षणार्थं ददौ शिवा ||
नाना विधानि चान्नानि पशुभोज्यानि यानि च |
काम्यानन्तरसैर्युक्तान्यानवीनोद्भवं ददौ ||
शाकम्भरीति नामाऽपि तद्दिनात्समभून्नृप |
ततः कोलाहले जाते दूतवाक्येन बोधितः ||
ससैन्यः सायुधो योद्धुं दुर्गमाख्योऽसुरो ययौ |
सहस्राक्षौहिणीयुक्तः शरान् मुञ्चंस्त्वरान्वितः ||
रुरोध देवसैन्यं तद्यद्देव्यग्रे स्थितं पुरा |
तथा विप्रगणं चैव रोधयामास सर्वतः ||
ततः किलकिलाशब्दः समभूद्देवमण्डले |
त्राहि त्राहीति वाक्यानि प्रोचुः सर्वे द्विजामराः ||
ततस्तेजोमयं चक्रं देवानां परितं शिवा |
चकार रक्षणार्थाय स्वयं तस्माद्बहिः स्थिता ||
ततः समभवद्युद्धं देव्या दैत्यस्य चोभयोः |
शरवर्षसमाच्छन्नसूर्यमण्डलमद्भुतम् ||
ततो देवीशरीरात्तु निर्गतास्तीव्रशक्तयः |
कालिका तारिणी बाला त्रिपुरा भैरवी रमा ||
बगला चैव मातङ्गी तथा त्रिपुरसुन्दरी |
कामाक्षी तुलजादेवी जम्भिनी मोहिनी तथा |
छिन्नमस्ता गुह्यकाली दशसाहस्रबाहुका ||

- devIbhAgavata mahApurANa

According to tantra shAstra, scriptures or shAstras are eternal and exist as unmanifest thought of the divine in the form of parA vAk. With the progressing cycle of the manifestation or srShTi, parA vAk transforms to pashyantI which is of the form of an undifferentiated, grand vision. The next transformation leads to the emergence of madhyamA, where the seeds of differentiation are planted – giving rise to the sense of differentiation as in ‘this’ and ‘that’. The culmination is in the appearance of fully expressed thought i.e. vakharI or spoken word. Thus, all shAstras can more or less be considered as madhyamA vAk, which emanates as vaikharI from the five faces of paramashiva or kAmeshvara bhaTTAraka. The tantras name these five faces thus: IshAna, tatpuruSha, sadyojAta, aghora and vAmadeva – which respectively represent the five-fold characteristics of the Supreme: chit, Ananda, icChA, jnAna and kriyA. From these five faces emanated the stream of sixty-four Agamas or Tantras which, based on the content and intended audience, is grouped into three categories:

a. bheda or dualistic
b. bhadAbheda or a mixture of dualistic and non-dualistic
c. abheda or non-dualistic

Some other sources list this number as ninety-two, classified into ten shiva tantras (bheda), eighteen rudra tantras (bhedAbheda) and sixty-four bhairava tantras (abheda).

Though these shAstras, as parA vAk, are ever-existent, they were lost in their lower forms in Kali Yuga and their reappearance is described by mahAmAheshvara shrI abhinavaguptapAdAchArya in his magnum opus tantrAloka. It is said that Lord paramashiva bhaTTAraka, with the intention of protecting the souls from the state of perpetual ignorance, appeared on kailAsa in the form of a Guru named shrIkaNTha and instructed R^iShi durvAsas to re-introduce the light of shaiva shAstra to the world. It should be noted here that there was no explicit instruction from the Lord to krodha-bhaTTAraka on account of their oneness. The great Sage created three mAnasa putras named tryambaka, Amardaka and shrInAtha, imparted the knowledge of shaiva shAstra to them and instructed them to teach the world respectively, abheda, bheda and bhedAbheda shAstras. The abheda shAstra taught by tryambaka is popularly known as trika shAstra or Kashmiri Shaivism today. Amardaka is recognized as the founder (or more accurately the organizer) of the siddhAnta school and his student purandara founded the mattamayUra school of the saiddhAntikas, both schools known for their political influence and missionary zeal.

The TIkA on tantrAloka describes the prAshastya of trika or traiyambaka mata over the other two thus:

वेदाच्छैवं ततो वामं ततो दक्षं ततः कुलम् |
ततो मतं ततश्चापि त्रिकं सर्वोत्तमं परम् ||

Thus, even among the various srotas of shaiva tantra, trika, belonging to the Urdhva-srotas is described as the highest. From this, one should also note that while abhinavagupta clearly distinguishes between trika from krama and kula, he also describes trika as the culmination of the entire course of shaivAgama and hence encompassing it all. Thus, his version of trika is a synthesis of various shAkta and shaiva schools cast in the mould of paramAdvayavAda taught in mAlinIvijayottara tantra.

The gamut of trika literature broadly gets classified into three groups as below. We should reserve comments on kula and krama for later as our interest today is the doctrinal aspect of Kashmiri Shaivism and not the ritualism, the latter being characteristic of dualistic schools such as siddhAnta.

a. Agama
b. spanda
c. pratyabhijnA

According to abhinavagupta, the Agamas had existed even before the explicit revelation of trika-proper and this list, amongst others, includes: mAlinIvijayottara, svacChanda, vijnAnabhairava, ucChuShma bhairava, Ananda bhairava, mR^igendra, mata~Nga, netra, naiShvAsa, svAyambhuva and rudrayAmaLa. These scriptures, according to authorities of Kashmiri Shaivism, taught mostly dualistic concepts or, as shrI Lakshman Joo puts it, were interpreted in an incorrect, dualistic way. Such an attempt at reconciliation can also been seen in commentaries on some of these Agamas by Kashmiri Shaivaite authors – like in the case of svacChanda, netra, matanga and vijnAnabhairava, where explicit dualistic teachings are cleverly interpreted to reflect the commentator’s school of thought.

To dispel the veil of duality cast by these imperfect teachings, it is said that shiva appeared to vasugupta in the eighth century and revealed the shiva sUtras. On account of its revelatory origin, shiva sUtra is included in the category of Agamas. In shivasUtra vimarshinI, one is told of a dream in which vasugupta has a vision of paramashiva and he is told of a rock on which the shiva sUtras are inscribed. rAjAnaka, bhAskara and others describe the origin differently. According to them, vasugupta was taught the sUtras originally composed by paramashiva himself, by a certain siddha.

Shiva sUtra today is the most popular work on Kashmiri Shaivism and has a host of commentaries such as:

- A vArtika by bhAskara
- vimarshinI by kShemarAja
- vArtika by varadarAja etc.

The spanda sUtras form the core of the spanda category of Shaivaite literature and are more elaborate than the shiva sUtras. These sUtras are also commonly referred to as spanda kArikA-s. These sUtras are fifty-two in number and form a sort of commentary on the shiva sUtras. Though the authorship of spanda kArikAs is attributed to vasugupta, the man behind the shiva sUtras, it is now thought of as a work of kallaTa, a disciple of vasugupta. kallaTa, it should be noted, is also the author of spanda sarvasva, a vrtti on the spanda kArikA. There are various other commentaries on the kArikA such as vivrti by rAmakaNTha (a disciple of utpala and the author of pratyabhijnA-kArikA), pradIpikA by utpala (utpala vaiShNava to be precise), spanda sandoha and spanda nirNaya by kShemarAja.

Though some tend to categorize spanda as a sub-school of pratyabhijnA, rAjAnaka rAma, abhinavagupta, kShemarAja and others hold it as a darshana. On a side note, it is not difficult to note the influence of the seemingly older school of krama on spanda, in some ways if not many. Both streams of spanda, headed by kShemarAja and utpala, recognize the undercurrent of krama clearly within spanda. However, clearing all lines of distinction between the two schools would be akin to erroneously identifying tripurasundarI of shrIvidyA with kAlasamkarShiNI of krama. It is of interest to note that shivAnanda, the first of the krama lineage, is known to have received the teachings at kAmarUpa and not kAshmIra.

pratyabhijnA constitutes for most the philosophical portion of trika. As this is the core philosophical or darshana aspect of trika, shrI mAdhavAchArya calls the entire school pratyabhijnA darshana in his famous sarvadarshana samgraha. In terms of popular generalizations, it has been often observed that Kashmiri Shaivism or trika to be specific, derives its aspects of ritual and religion from kula and krama whereas philosophy is derived from spanda to an extent and pratyabhijnA for the most. That the practical aspects exclusive to trika is lost today is a baseless conclusion for this very reason. Such a view held by the likes of Sanderson has been refuted by their own kin. somAnanda, disciple of vasugupta, is considered as the founder of this school as also the originator of logical reasoning in the field of Kashmiri Shaivism – tarkasya kartA. His shiva-drShTi forms the basis of this school on which he has himself composed a vrtti. His student utpala is the author of pratyabhijnA sUtra or Ishvara pratyabhijnA, the next important work of this school. While somAnanda concentrates on refuting other Astika darshanas that disagree with his school, utpaladeva effectively uses his doctrine of pratyabhijnA to counter the anatta or anAtmavAda of the Buddhists.

Thus, Agama, shiva sUtra, spanda sUtra, shiva drShTi and Ishvara pratyabhijnA, along with tantrAloka constitute the core texts of trika or Doctrinal Kashmiri Shaivism.

Excluding the Agamas, Kashmiri Advaya Shaivism starts with Vasugupta and is then passed over to his illustrious disciple kallaTa bhaTTa. He further expounded the sUtras through his spanda sUtras and a work named tattvArtha chintAmaNi. Tradition also ascribes another work named spandAmR^ita to vasugupta, which at times is thought of as the original form of spanda sUtra. A commentary on bhagavad gItA named vAsavI TIkA is also attributed to vasugupta. kallaTa also wrote a commentary on the spanda sUtras named spanda sarvasva. tattvArtha chintAmaNi and madhuvAhinI are his commentaries or portions of shiva sUtra.

contd ...