Verse 8 – Devī as Kapālī

சுந்தரி! எந்தை துணைவி! என் பாசத் தொடரைஎல்லாம்
வந்தரி; சிந்துர வண்ணத்தினாள் மகிடன் தலைமேல்
அந்தரி; நீலி; அழியாத கன்னிகை; ஆரணத்தோன்
கந்தரி; கைத்தலத்தாள் மலர்த்தாள் என் கருத்தனவே.

cuntari! ĕntai tuṇaivi! ĕṉ pācat tŏṭaraiĕllām
vantari; cintura vaṇṇattiṉāl̤ makiṭaṉ talaimel
antari; nīli; aḻiyāta kaṉṉikai; āraṇattoṉ
cuntari; kaittalattāl̤ malarttāl̤ ĕṉ karuttaṉave.

Translation: The beautiful lady, the consort of my father (Śiva). Do come and cut all the shackles that bind me! O Red-hued one. You stand on the decapitated head of Mahiṣāsura. You are known by the names Antari, Nīli and you are a perpetual virgin. You have slayed the throat of Brahma and have His skull in your hand. Let your lotus feet be always in my mind. Cuntari – Beautiful maiden, ĕntai tuṇaivi – Consort of my father Śiva. Bhattar always praised Devī and Śiva together. This method of praising both, is evident in the Saundarya Laharī of Śrī Adi Śankarācārya as well. Shri Ravi Guruji in most of his commentaries has adhered to the same principle. The word tuṇaivi also means Śiva’s svatantriya śakti, as per the Trika philosophy. These phrases also means that Tripurasundarī is the svatantriya śakti of Śiva. The non-difference of Śiva and Śakti is established here and from the phrase ĕṉ - My, pācat tŏṭaraiĕllām – chain of karma, vantari – come and cut it. It is evident that Śakti alone liberates a Sādhaka from his bondages and She alone reveals Śiva to the aspirant. Śakti is the grace and power of Śiva and without Śiva there is no Śakti and without Śakti, Śiva does not act. Thus, Śakti performs a two-fold duty, one is to perform the fivefold acts such as Creation, Sustenance, Destruction, Concealment and bestow Grace. The second duty is that, She takes over as the Guru and reveals Śiva to the aspirant. It is also important to note that She is the one, who sends a physical guru to the aspirant and guides him or her at every stage.

cintura vaṇṇattiṉāl̤ - Red hued, makiṭaṉ - Mahiṣāsura, talaimel – on the head,
antari – one who stands in the sky; nīli – Blue coloured; aḻiyāta kaṉṉikai – perpetual virgin. Devī after slaying the demon Mahiṣāsura, stands on his decapitated buffalo head in the form of Durgā. Mahiṣāsura is the embodiment of ego and tamŏ guṇa. After he had driven away the celestials and occupied the heavens, the Devas prayed to the Goddess and as a result, Mahiṣāsura was slayed by Durgā for the upliftment of righteousness. The decapitation of the demon also symbolically conveys that any act done through doer-ship mode or with ego, will have consequences and she as Māya will deliver the results of that Karma. She being red in colour, could convey two things 1. She is compassionate and boon bestowing, 2. She is red with anger due to adharmā. Even during the prayers in Śrī Rudram, we first pray to Rudra to pacify His anger and only then we proceed with the praises extolling His greatness, in the subsequent stanzas. Antari – She stands in the sky, also means that once the ego is abolished, as grace emanating from pure consciousness she stands in the sky, which is nothing but the consciousness of the aspirant drenched in the bliss of the dvādaśānta space, which is considered to be a foot above the sahasrāra. Perpetual meditation in this space, will move an aspirant’s consciousness out of the body and would result in the realization of Śakti as bliss. Devī is depicted as red here because, an aspirant will realize Devī’s red colour before realizing Śiva, also the blue coloured reference here as Nīli is nothing but the light attribute of Śiva in blue denoting the sahasrāra and the above states of meditation. Devī is always considered as a virgin for the only reason that is, nothing exists other than Her manifestation in this world, only if a mother and offspring are two different entities, motherhood comes in physiologically, but Devī here is the Śakti of all entities and Śiva the soul of all beings, in primal reality, nothing exists other than Śiva and Śakti. Hence she is always considered a Virgin. The below Tirumantiram verse #1060 states that Tirupurasundarī as a virgin, though she is the mother of the entire Creation.

தலைவி தடமுலை மேல்நின்ற தையல்
தொலைவில் தவம்செய்யும் தூய்நெறித் தோகை
கலைபல வென்றிடும் கன்னியென் உள்ளம்
நிலைபெற இங்கே நிறைந்துநின் றாளே. 16

Translation: She is the mistress of all worlds. She is the one who resides in my heart, She does penances and possesses impeccable discipline. Just like multiple feathers of a peacock, there is a multitude of arts of which, She is a master of. That virgin, let Her be established in my heart completely. This verse could also refer to Sarasvatī the goddess of knowledge, Devī as Kuṇḍalinī śakti is also known as a Virgin, present in a dormant state in the root mūlādhara cakra where she is not united with Śiva, However, a roused Kuṇḍalinī uniting with Śiva in the sahasrāra, transforms Her into Tripura Sundarī. In the Ṣākta traditions, Devī in the mūlādhara is called as Bhairavī and once She is united with Śiva in the sahasrāra, she is known as Tripura Sundarī. The below Tirumantiram verse 1099, addresses Bhairavī as a virgin.

ஆதி வயிரவி கன்னித் துறைமன்னி
ஓதி உணரில் உடலுயிர் ஈசனாம்
பேதை உலகிற் பிறவிகள் நாசமாம்
ஓத உலவாக் கோலம் ஒன்று ஆகுமே. 25

Translation: She is the primal Śakti called as Bhairavī. She is a virgin in Her place, those who recite/chant and experience that, experience that the body and soul are Śiva. The bondages and transmigration will be destroyed. The form/state of such realized beings is beyond words, the form of such beings, merges with the ultimate and they become Śiva even in the body.     This verse further indicates that Devī has slayed the fifth head of Brahma due to His arrogance. The general understanding from a multitude of Purāṇas, is that the head of Brahma was slain by Śiva or Rudra. However, there is no reference that Devī had done this act in general. Here is where Bhattar subtly indicates the non-difference between Śakti and Śiva. This act of Devī can be inferred in the iconographical representations of Śiva as Kapāli or as Bhikṣāṭana, the form in which Śiva holds the Brahma kapāla(skull) in His left hand.      The Purāṇas say that once Brahma’s head was plucked, the head got glued onto the hand that plucked it. Going with that logic, we can understand that Śiva did this act through His left hand, which is Śakti. Hence it is proper for Bhattar to say that Śakti did the Brahma garva-bhaṅga-līla (Abolishing the ego of Brahma). Devī as Kapālinī, is mentioned in verse#1081 of Tirumantiram as follows -

சூலம் கபாலம் கை ஏந்திய சூலிக்கு
நாலாங் கரமுள நாகபா சாங்குச
மாலங் லயனறி யாத வடிவுக்கு
மேல்அங்க மாய்நின்ற மெல்லிய லாளே

Translation: She holds a trident, skull, a serpent like rope and a goad. She stands in a form that is inexplicable even to Brahma or Viṣṇu.This verse of Tirumantiram again establishes the non difference between Śiva and Śakti, by stating that Brahma and Viṣṇu are not able to explain Her form. From the Arunachala purāṇam, we can observe that when Śiva stood as a pillar of light in the liṅga form, Brahma and Viṣṇu failed to reach the origin and end of the column of light i.e., Śiva.

Thus, where ever there is a representation or prayer to Śakti, Śiva is inherent and vice versa. The divine couple always reside together. The aspirant’s duty is just to realize Śakti and She takes over the spiritual progression further, from that point onwards.

This article is wirtten by Shri Arun who can be contacted at arun.radhakrishnan25@gmail.com