– Swami Lakshman Joo
karaṅkiṇyā krōdhanayā bhairavyā lēlihānayā |
khēcaryā dr̥ṣṭikālē ca parāvāptiḥ prakāśatē || (Vijñānabhairava)
At the time of vision (of oneness) (while practicing) the mudrās Karaṅkiṇī, Krōdhanā, Bhairavī, Lēlihānā, and Khēcarī, the pervasiveness of Supreme Consciousness is revealed.
These are the five states of the five ancient saints i.e. schools of thoughts of five ancient saints. These five ancient saints are Jñāna-siddhas (saints risen from knowledge), from mantras, from Yōginī-mēlāpa, from enjoyment and saints risen through a thought-free state of Nirvikalpa. śāmbhava siddha is the highest form of siddha and the propounder of the śāmbhava school.
Now for Jñāna-siddhas, i.e. those who have become elevated by knowledge of scriptures, they have got the final attainment of mudrā called Karaṅkiṇī. In that position, the body is lying flat on the ground just like a corpse, without any movement. They lie down and have no movement in the end. This Karaṅkiṇī mudrā was practiced from ancient times by Jñāna siddhas, those saints who attained siddhi through knowledge. This enlightenment refers to ancient śāktas initiated by Dēvīs – dēvībhiḥ dīkṣitaḥ.
The Krōdhinī posture pertains to those who have become siddhas by mantra yoga i.e. by the recitation of mantras. They are called mantra-siddhas. For them, the ending posture of the body is in a furious position. They make the face furious, without movement, with wide-open eyes, wide-open mouth, wide open teeth, and rest in the oneness of awareness. That is Krōdhanā. By this mudrā, they attain oneness with Paramaśiva and experience Chitkuṇḍalinī and the state of ūrdhvakuṇḍalinī. They practice mantras and because by the recitation of mantras the body has become subtly attached to them, they have to settle it by krōdha, the posture of wrath. The word krōdha does not denote wrathfulness in the present context. Here it simply refers to Krōdha-mudrā, a yogic posture and has nothing to do with the emotion of anger.
Postures vary. Krōdha is sitting, Karaṅkiṇī is lying down. And there is Bhairavī mudrā. Bhairavī is another posture for those who have become siddhas by Yōginī-mēlāpa, the union with yoginIs. It is said in Mahārthamañjarī:
nidrā jāgarayōrmadhyē adhiruhya daśāṁ parām ||
When sleep has not yet come and wakefulness is over, there the yōginī appears to him. Yōginī-mēlāpa takes place there. The yōginī appears during the night and may embrace him or give him something filthy to eat because whatever they give him is divine. He must consider everything, whatever they give as divine. If they give him filth to eat, he must eat. While eating, he will find nectar in it. Yōginī-mēlāpa takes place between sleeping and wakefulness. Bhairavī mudrā is meant for such mēlāpa siddhas in the end. By this mēlāpa, one is sealed in anupāya which is the highest state. But all upāyas are divine.
Bhairavī mudrā is to keep the eyes wide open without blinking. The mouth is also wide open. Bhairavī mudrā is actually a combination of Bhairavī and Chakita-mudrā. Antarlakṣyō bahirdr̥ṣṭih, that is Bhairavī mudrā. The eyes are wide open and the breath within fixed. Should I take it in or take it out? Neither going out nor coming in. Then you will come to realize the state of this mudrA. Chakita-mudrā is the pose of astonishment. This is also Bhairavī mudrā because you do not breathe in or out. The eyes are wide open, the mouth is open, you do not breathe. Bhairavī mudrā and Chakita-mudrā united, that is Bhairavī. Bhairavī mudrā is the ending point of Yōginī-mēlāpa. When mēlāpa is over, he enters Bhairavī mudrā.
Lēlihāna is just like the taste of the grapes of Kabul, just taste those delicious grapes that used to come in overfilled plates in those days when we were young. Just taste those, only at the moment of moving the lips, you go into ecstasy. That is Lēlihāna mudrā, where you are filled with the taste of something sweet. This is practiced by saints who are śākta-siddhas.
And in the end is Khēcarī mudrā, which is the mudrā for those who are siddhas in the śāmbhava state. KhēcarI, Lēlihāna, Bhairavī, and Krōdhanā are done while sitting, and Karaṅkiṇī is done while lying flat, just like a dead body.
When you talk, you should talk from an elevated state of talking, but actually, you are not existing there, you are above it. When you are eating, you are not actually eating, you are above it. That is Khēcarī. This mudrā is realized by those who are śāmbhavas, who have practiced śāmbhavōpāya for their whole life and have established their thought in the śāmbhava state. It is in this state that Lord Kr̥ṣṇa did all acts in his life. He resided in the śāmbhava state, in Khēcarī. We should elevate ourselves from what we say, we should be above it.
It is that state in which you register everything but you are still yourself. This is Khēcarī sāmya. He moves in individual things, but still while moving in the individual things, he is above them, in each and every movement. This is śāmbhavōpāya.