Nārasiṁhī, an aspect of the Divine Mother Pratyaṅgirā, is the consort of Lord Nṛsiṁha. He being an Avatār of Lord Viṣṇu, His consort would be an aspect of the Divine Mother Lakṣmī. In other words, Nārasiṁhī is considered as an aspect of both Pratyaṅgirā and Lakṣmī. The killing that is referenced in the context of Śarabha and Gaṇḍa Bheruṇḍa denotes the subduing of each other̍s anger and their powers of massive destruction. These were necessitated for the protection of the world and is the grace of the Divine Mother Pratyaṅgirā. It is best not to approach these deities unless you are properly guided by an able master who understands these deities.

Namaste Wide Awake. Concerning your original question, I do not know the context, but "rudrarūpa" could just mean "fierce form", not nessecarily referring to Rudra the deity. That appellation is perfectly fitting for Narasiṃha. Again, without context I cannot be sure if this is the intended meaning. The notion of a single deity encompassing other deities is not as far fetched as it seems. You see it with Kubjikā, for example, whose six faces are the deities of other Goddess traditions: Tripurā, Kālī, Siddhayogeśvarī, etc. That does not necessarily mean that the one that subsumes them is inherently superior to the others. It is more like a description of the qualities of that particular deity as understood in the context of their own scriptures and sampradāya. Every deity is a maṇḍala, and every maṇḍala is complete in its own right. You say you are inclined to advaita, in which case I invite you to ponder the second of the Kaulasūtras: "There is but one deity, the reality perceived by virtue of the transmission of the rays of awakened awareness." With Śarabha's wings, the two Goddesses are evidently qualities by means of which one "flies up" into the empty, luminous sky (ākāśa [Bhairava]) of consciousness. I recall from somewhere else on this website that Śūlinī Durgā indicates the destruction of all triads (hence Śūlinī - trident wielder) and Pratyaṅgirā being the destruction of the ego sense (the name Pratyaṅgirā means "retaliation", that is, putting an abrupt end to something). It is said in the Manonuśātarastotra: "Verily, swans spread their wings widely and fly unbounded in the sky. O Swan of the Sacred Lake, O my mind! Your marvelous flight takes you to the farthest reaches of the sky when you deploy your two allies (i.e. wings): 'emptiness' and 'momentum'." By "emptiness" is meant access via spiritual insight to cidākāśa, and "momentum" means the capacity to rise beyond the binding thought constructs that ensnare you in the world of duality. Again from the Kaulasūtras: "Due to the consumption of the three, the net of the extensive fat of illusion melts away, and the dissapearance of bonds unfolds in the Heart. Otherwise, there is no flying up from the poisonous trap of illusion."

Namaste dylan ! Why is every other devi sitting on lotus sprouting from shiva's navel but Divine mother sri Siddhilakshmi is seated on his shoulders ? And even Akash bhairav is on top of vajra bhairav ? Could you please clear this ?

Namaste Wide awake. The general idea of both standing on the shoulders and sitting on a lotus is more or less the same, but exact meaning can differ somewhat depending on the deity. With Siddhilakṣmī there are usually two seats, like you say. They are Time and Death, the world and the Light within which it inheres. It is said in the Jayadrathayāmala Tantra: "If the Wheel of Lakṣmī unfolds within the world, which is the root Kula within the abode of the objects of perception, then the Sound of the supernal Sun is well established." Here we see a description of enlightenment as simultaneously transcendent and immanent. The Sound of the supernal Sun, the resonance of consciousness beyond being and non-being, becomes established in the world of being and non-being through the Wheel of Lakṣmī, turning it into the nectar of immortality. The center of the maṇḍala, represented iconographically as the Goddess at the top of a host of deities, is simultaneously the center and the periphery without contradiction. The world - the maṇḍala - is understood to be Bhairava, the Skeleton of Time, who crowns the hierarchy of deities forming the Goddess' maṇḍala and so represents the totality of all things and their essential nature: "Kālī, the Supreme Goddess who devours the Skeleton, is manifest there. Once having drunk from the vessel of the sprout of the Skeleton born of the nectar of the Sky, She is made to pulsate and to vomit and so brings the universe into being." This can be understood better with reference to this verse from the Bhāvopahārastotram: "The presentation of offerings to you in Mahākāla's skull is the blood of the elements mixed with the Lord." In other words, the elements which comprise the world ("the root Kula within the abode of the objects of perception") are dissolved into their true nature, that is, are recognized as being of the nature of pure consciousness and so are offered as distillations of nectar to the Goddess who is one's essential nature. The sacrificial vessel through which they are offered is the skull of Mahākāla, that is, the thoughtless state through which such recognition comes about and which is itself that recognition. This is the abode of Kālasaṃkarṣiṇī. Mahākāla is the Lord, the great cremation ground which is the all-encompassing awareness in the form of "I am all this." But this state too is dissolved into its Heart, the Goddess. As a result of this, consciousness blossoms. She is camatkāra, the state of wonderous repose in one's own nature. So, Her standing atop Bhairava and other deities represents the state of the supreme reality's dominance, the essential nature of all that exists, both in the sense that She is their source and that into which they are withdrawn. This is both a theological and experiential reality. Sadāśiva is the ultimate level of subject-object reality. All of the deities forming the Lion Throne are pretas, but in the Trika Tantras Sadāśiva is especially so. In the Trika's maṇḍala, he is visualized as an emaciated corpse, laughing loudly as he gazes up towards the three deities who crown the maṇḍala. He is emaciated because he is the height of immanence, the state of "I am this" where the subject takes priority over objectivity (which, at this level, is simply an undivided whole; "this"), and so is devoid as it were of the contents of the more fleshed out reality below. His laughter is the resonance of consciousness, gazing upward because he is established in his essential nature. The prongs of the trident upon which the three Goddesses are seated emerges from his navel. The navel is the place from which Kuṇḍalinī rises. It is Maṇipūra, the City of Jewels, because it is the womb of the energies of the phonemes, the "jewels" of the body of Kuṇḍalinī. Kuṇḍalinī is visarga, the aforementioned blossoming of consciousness which arises due to the churning of Śiva and Śakti, the delightful repose in one's true nature. The lotus has three parts: leaves, stem, and pericarp. These are soma, sūrya, and agni; prameya, pramāṇa, pramātṛ. Unified, they form the seat of the deity. As Śrīvidyācārya Amṛtānanda says: "The seat of the practitioner should be understood as that entire collection of reality levels, from earth to Śiva, upon which the deity of the innate Self whose nature is pure awareness is ever established." And it is said in the Vīrāvali Tantra: "By the union of the Moon and the Sun, the individual soul becomes Pure Being, here Brahmā and the rest who long for liberation dissolve away, so as to achieve liberation." The lotus in particular embodies various levels of reality which correspond to the inaudible resonances following the enunciation of the concluding anusvāra of a bīja, leading up to the mahābindu of the Goddess. Kuṇḍalinī dissolves the 'cause deities' who form the throne, 'liberating' them in the sense that the realities which they embody are dissolved in the unitary resonance of pure consciousness, culminating in the lotus and finally to Lalitā Herself.

Dear dylan.. im from sri lanka. I am surrounded by adharmic people in my work place and neighborhood . Pease recommend me a mantra to get rid of them please.

Namaste Dylan ! The clarification was fantastic and indepth references always create wide understanding of subject. We owe a lot to you Dylan . Always thankful for your guidance !

Namaste dylan! Could you elaborate on Divine mother sri guhya kali's consort sri swachanda narsimha and on sri guhya kali herself, what and how does she function in tantras?

Namaste Wide Awake. This is taught in the Kulakaulinīmata: "This is the Lion of Destruction, who causes fear and destroys it. This is the form He assumes to accomplish universal destruction. This is the form of the body of the Person which arises and falls away. This form is hard to behold and bestows the accomplishment of heroes. This is Yamāntaka, who gives and removes fear." From one perspective, Him being the "Lion of Destruction" is because He is the consort of Kālī who is known in the scriptures of the northern transmission as Vaiṣṇavī and Mahālakṣmī. But also, the powerful and royal image of the lion indicates an unsurpassable and supremely potent power, which is the very nature of the supreme reality itself: simultaneously its power of grace, the bestower of grace, and the result of grace which is the immersion into the fullness of one's true nature. As is proper for the Kālikākrama, His destructive nature is emphasized. The sense of this is explained in the Jayadrathayāmala Tantra: "Knowledge, the object of knowledge and the knower, and that which is like the womb of cognition - it all dissolves away in the Supreme Abode which is the ultimate reality devoid of ego." The devouring of time is the withdrawal of all sequentiality and duality into the eternal present of the bliss of stillness. That is to say, the realization of the oneness of all things prevails. The Jayadrathayāmala also says: "His body is Nṛsiṃha and is fierce, greedy to devour the three worlds." That He "causes fear and destroys it" is the meaning of the name Bhairava itself. He creates the fear of transmigratory existence in the hearts of men in the form of grace, and likewise saves from that fearful existence. Likewise, as the support of all things, He is the creator and sustainer of transmigratory existence as well. Again, from the: "He is Himself the Lord of the Heroes, the destroyer of the bonds of phenomenal existence. Transmigratory existence is born of transmigratory existence. Ultimate, eternal being experienced through the wine that ends transmigratory existence should be grasped within being. It reduces everything born from the krama of the ocean of Māyā to ashes." He assumes the form of the individual subject and destroys it. The letter Ṁ indicates the supreme subject which is the basis of and assumes the forms of the subject, means of knowledge, and object and yet remains undivided by them. The letter Ma is puruṣatattva, this supreme subject in a contracted form. The former contains the trace of the latter, which is to say it is the same basic concept but in an elevated, less concrete (that is to say, it is close to the essential nature of the supreme reality) form. The Jayadrathayāmala gives further descriptions: "The Supreme Sky that is tranquil is completely full and omnipresent, eternal, free of being and nonbeing, its form beyond all cause. Unborn, endless, omniscient, all-pervasive, imperishable Śiva, the benefactor of all the universe. He is Akula, present everywhere in all directions, located all around. This manifest universe is His belly. Undivided, He possesses great light. He should be known to be Mādhava, the Lord of Kula who is the Sun of Kula, Unborn, imperishable, tranquil, He generates emanation and brings about withdrawal. Fierce, greatly terrible and most excellent, He is Kulabhairava." Now about Guhyākālī, Her maṇḍala is that of the classical Mahārtha system, though with some variation. The classical Krama/Mahārtha system followed a pentadic pattern, and so Guhyākālī is worshipped in five forms pertaining to this five-fold structure of reality: sṛṣṭi, sthiti, saṁhāra, anākhya and bhāsā. Each one has its own visualization. The classical texts do not mention Guhyakālī specifically, but I'm willing to bet only a small portion of Guhyakālī sādhakas actually know the complex intricacies of the Mahārtha. She is also the weapon limb of Kubjikā, whose vidyā is used to cause death and destruction, and to retaliate against black magic done to the sādhaka. For that reason She is also directly equated to Pratyaṅgirā. However, this vidyā is referred to as "the death of death, born from the fire that burns the worlds." in the Kubjikāmata Tantra. The "fire that burns the worlds" is the energy of the bliss of consciousness which burns at the center of Kubjikā's maṇḍala; the mythical fire which burns at the bottom of the ocean (the bindu in the center of the central triangle). The implications of the destructive power it has to withdraw all things into itself should be obvious given what I have already said here. It is the "end of death", like Nṛsiṃhabhairava. So, the Tantras teach that She can give both worldly results and liberation.

Namaste dylan! From what i understand the destruction of worlds by swachanda narsimha is same as what mother kalasankarshini does? And is there any classical text which dives deep in topic of swachanda nrsimhabhairava? And lastly i cant take this knowledge from you for free is there any charity that u want me to donate to or any dieties temple u want me to serve for exchange of your wisdom? Please tell me .Thankyou for you guidance Dylan!

Namaste Wide Awake. Kālasaṁkarṣiṇī is the Śakti of Nṛsiṁhabhairava. This is said in the Kulakaulinīmata which I drew from in my previous comment: "His energy, which is will, knowledge and action, has emerged from Him." The Śakti of the God is the reflective awareness which the supreme reality has of its own nature, by means of which it is able to manifest itself as all things without falling from its essential nature. For this reason, they are inseparable and in fact are one and the same. The Īśvarapratyabhijñākārikā explains this in a more philosophical way: "Consciousness has as its essential nature reflective awareness; it is the Supreme Word that arises freely. It is freedom in the absolute sense, the sovereignty of the Supreme Self. It is the luminous vibrating, the absolute being, unmodified by space and time; it is that which is said to be the Heart of the Supreme Lord, insofar as it is His essence." Similarly, in Tantrāloka: "The reality which is beyond transcendence and immanence is said to be the Goddess. That is the 'Essence', and that is the 'Heart', the supreme emission, which is the Lord. In the section of the Devīyāmala Tantra dealing with the maṇḍala of the Great Ḍāmara Sacrifice, She is called Kālakarṣiṇī who is situated on the head of the venerable Parā. In the Mālinīvijaya She is described as Mātṛsadbhāva." The actual verse from the Devīyāmala being referred to is this: "The Goddess Parā is in the middle prong of the Trident. Parāparā is on the right prong and Aparā is on the left prong. Listen to what is above the middle prong. She who is the Goddess Saṁkarṣiṇī Parātītā is located there." So, the God and Goddess embody the same process of the destruction or devouring of time. In the Chummāsaṅketaprakāśa, the teachings of the Yoginīs revealed to the venerable master Niṣkriyānanda, the latter explains the nature of kālagrāsa: "In that state, that which takes the form of the operations of emanation, stasis, and dissolution time itself, is dissolved in the quiet and indistinct vibration of non-sequential awareness - that is called the devouring of time." Their visualizations reflect this too. Nṛsiṁhabhairava is described as being covered with the blood of gods and demons and holding a skull bowl filled with the blood of the entire universe from which He drinks. Likewise, Kālasaṁkarṣiṇī chews on the entrails of men and Her form is horribly emaciated. This state is explained in a very mystical passage from the Kramasadbhāva: "After hearing the Supreme Speech, the secret of silence, it is experienced as the supreme and most excellent repose which appears as a horrifying Void - crowded with collections of bones, khaṭvāṅgas, severed heads and skulls - where Bhairava becomes free of illusion. Such terror arises from the terrible powers, and I see them as the wonderful producers of the dissolution of everything, O Goddess!" If you want to understand Kālasaṁkarṣiṇī and Nṛsiṁhabhairava, the main scriptures are the Jayadrathayāmala, Devīpañcaśataka, Ciñcinīmatasārasamuccaya, Kramasadbhāva, and Kubjikāmata. There are also three exegetical texts belonging to the Kālikākrama which are all entitled Mahānayaprakāśa. Though these do not deal with any specific deity forms, they explain in great detail the metaphysical nature of the deities of the Kālīkula which is usually veiled behind the collection of names and forms pertaining to their worship. It is worth pointing out that the maṇḍala of Guhyakālī is the same as what is described in these texts which explain the inner significance of each of the āvaraṇas, which will create deeper insight and purpose into Her worship.

Dylan ! What an elucidate explanation ! Truly grateful ! Thanks for your genuine efforts .

Namaste Dylan. Could you shed some light on the true Viniyoga of the Kādi Pañcadaśī mantra? There seems to be conflicting views regarding its ṛṣi, with some positing Dakṣiṇāmūrti and others Ānandabhairava. Additionally, the status of the mantra—whether it is kīlita and śapita—remains a subject of debate. Your insights into these matters would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

Namaste Raman. The Paraśurāmakalpasūtra states that Ānandabhairava is the ṛṣi of the Kādividyā, whereas the Mantramahodadhi says it is Dakṣiṇāmūrti. Moreover, a manuscript housed at the Government Oriental Manuscript Library in Chennai states that Ānandabhairava is the ṛṣi while, contrary to both the Paraśurāmakalpasūtra and Mantramahodadhi where the chandaḥ is paṅkti, the chandaḥ is said to be gāyatrī. Interestingly, in the library's catalogue, this is immediately followed by another manuscript which states that Dakṣiṇāmūrti is the ṛṣi while the chandaḥ is paṅkti. It is difficult to determine from where each of these variations come from. The earlier Śrīvidyā masters (e.g. Jayaratha, Śivānanda, Vidyānanda, Amṛtānanda, Puṇyānanda) don't really provide much in the way of answers to this. It's quite likely that these variations emerged as different lineages developed over time. Regarding kīlita and śapita, this is clearly explained in the Siddhayogeśvarīmata Tantra. The very first chapter begins the the Goddess asking Bhairava why the mantras and other practices He revealed in the scriptures are often ineffective, even after billions of repetitions. Bhairava answers that He has hidden their true potency. He says: "The letters left without this vigour have become solitary." Likwise, the Rājarājabhaṭṭāraka Tantra says: "The mantra does not consist of phonemes. It is not the ten-armed or five-faced body of a deity." The source of this vigour of mantras is what the Siddhayogeśvarīmata calls Rudraśakti, which is the awakened awareness of the Gurutattva which is transmitted to the disciple in dīkṣā. The scripture says: "If practitioners who desire the rewards taught in the doctrine turn to a guru without the Power, they will not succeed, even if they practise very hard." It is by virtue of this that the mantra becomes a kind of reflective awareness of one's essential nature free of objective referents and not merely a string of syllables. This is the true nature of the unlocking the potency of mantra and the need for initiation, which as far as I can tell seems to have been forgotten by vast majority of contemporary lineages and sādhakas. If you would like a more detailed explanation of this, let me know. It is much deeper than the mere qualification of a given mantra as "bound" or "cursed" or not.

Thank you, Dylan. Yes, I would be much obliged if you could furnish a more detailed explanation. Furthermore, I am keen to understand your interpretation of the verse 'ललितोपासको नेक्षुखण्डं भक्षयेत्' from the Paraśurāmakalpasūtra. Might this indeed signify a prohibition on consuming sugarcane products for devotees of Lalita?

Namaste Raman. I will answer in the reverse order. The 10th name of the Lalitāsahasranāma is Manorūpekṣukodaṇḍa - She who wields the sugarcane bow of the mind. Moreover, the Tantrarāja Tantra and Bhāvanopaniṣad both teach that Lalitā's bow is the mind. As it is the bow that fires the arrows, so the mind is that in which the tanmātras (the five flower-arrows) are apprehended. Moreover, a sugarcane stalk is fairly rigid and tough. This has two implications based on one's level of awareness. On the one hand, the natural impulse of the mind and consciousness to become infatuated with objectivity and the means of knowledge is difficult to overcome. Conversely, in the liberated state, the awakened awareness of pure consciousness remains unchanged in spite of any outer appearances because all things are recognized to be the Self, and so one cannot but be perfectly reposed in his true nature. This does not come about through harshly restraining the mind, but through recognition and insight. To consume or chew on sugarcane means to do precisely this. So, the prohibition is that one should not forcibly control the mind and senses through harsh austerities. Instead, as one great Śrīvidyācārya put it: "Dancing upon the throne of the yogi's heart lotus, O Goddess, you continually revel in the intoxicating wine of visual forms and the other sensations at the threshold of the array of the senses. To venerate you, O Noble Lady, the goddesses of awareness forever pervade the sense objects of yogis and reveal them as distillations of nectar." Now back to the main topic. To understand this, one has to have a grasp of the nature of Mantra. The word 'mantra' is often used as a general term, not referring to any specific mantra. In that context, Mantra is the reflective awareness that the supreme reality has of its own nature. Reality is inherently referential, meaning that it consists of consciousness which creates intelligible representation. Put more simply, it is the fact that you know that you know. In the cognition "I see a jar", one's knowledge does not have to be verified by some other knowledge, and that knowledge by another knowledge, leading to an infinite regress. Rather, that cognition is self-established, like a lamp which is illumined by its own light. Thus, Mantra is the ground of all representation and referentiality. For this reason, the Triśirobhairava Tantra explains: "In actual fact, memory (the faculty) and recollection (the act) are already present in all things prior to the identification of their nature. In reality it is Mantra which conjoins the object to be experienced through it with the attainment of its own nature." Here, Mantra and memory are directly equated. It 'conjoins the object to be experienced through it with the attainment of its own nature' because Mantra, the inner reflective awareness, is memory which establishes the particular nature of everything. Put more simply, you are able to intelligibly cognize anything on account of memory. For example, with language you need to have a recollection of the meanings of words in order to speak the language. But like I said, this recollection of convention cannot go back indefinitely. It ultimately rests on the direct awareness of Mantra, which is THE convention of all conventions. Thus, Mantra is the ultimate means of cognizing anything at all because it is the self-referential awareness which is the establishment of its own nature. Even though ultimately all awareness is this self-referentiality, it assumes the forms of innumerable levels of awareness. For that reason, there are innumerable mantras with varying purposes and effects. For instance, a mantra used to alleviate the effects of snake bite is the reflective awareness that 'I am Garuḍa, enemy of serpents'. A mantra which pertains to liberation, however, is precisely this reflective awareness of one's essential nature with which the mantra itself is identical. It does not refer to an external, objective referent as discursive thought does. The external form of the mantra which is recited encodes the energies which are experienced internally. This is why the Rājarājabhaṭṭāraka Tantra says that mantra does not consist of mere phonemes or utterable sounds. Its inner vitality is this inner self-referentiality. Without this, the outer shell of a mantra has no substance, like an autumnal cloud which appears like it will give rain but will not. This is the reason why it is always said that mantras should not be taken from books and should be given through initiation. The outer shell of a mantra seen in a book (or on a screen) is not technically a mantra because it does not inherently possess this vitality. This vitality of Mantra is the practitioner's own Self, which is unveiled through dīkṣā - the bestowal (dāna) of self-realisation through the destruction of the bondage of ignorance (kṣapaṇa). As you can probably imagine, this is not reducible to a ceremony or some other such thing. It is an inner transformation.

Namaste Dylan. Certain Lalitā Upāsakas across the country—prominently in South India—in reverence to the verse I cited, abstain from even sugarcane-derived sugar, opting instead for palm sugar. My sincere gratitude for elucidating the true meaning of the verse and delving further into my earlier question. Much obliged!

Namaste Dylan. Might you be so kind as to enlighten us regarding the authentic Viniyoga and Dhyāna verses associated with the Hādi Vidyā practiced by Lopāmudrā? Tivra asserted that the Hādi Vidyā uniquely blends Śiva and Śakti, bringing them together into one form that's half male and half female. So, it makes sense that a special Dhyāna verse in Saṃskṛtam, showing this deep blend of two parts into one, would be very important to this practice. Thank you!

Namaste Raman. I do not know the viniyoga, but I do have the dhyāna from the Yoginīhṛdayam: viśvākāraprathādhāranijarūpaśivāśrayam kāmeśvarāṅkaparyaṅkaniviṣṭam atisundaram icchāśaktimayaṁ pāśam aṅkuśaṁ jñānarūpiṇam kriyāśaktimaye bāṇadhanuṣī dadhadujjvalam āśrayāśrayibhedana aṣṭadhā binnahetimat aṣṭāracakrasaṁrūḍhaṁ navacakrāsanasthitam. Translation: "One must see the energy of consciousness as the resting place of the very nature of Śiva as the sustaining power of the expansion of the universe, supremely beautiful, resting as on a couch against the hip of Kāmeśvara. Shining, She holds the noose made of the energy of will, the hook which is the energy of knowledge, the bow and arrows made of the energy of action. Split into support and supported, divided into eight, bearer of weapons, arising from the cakra with eight points, She has the ninefold cakra as Her throne." The 'energy of consciousness' is of course the Goddess. As is said in the Kāmakalāvilāsa, which was composed by a master of Hādividyā, She is "the pure mirror in which Śiva experiences Himself." In other words, She is the reflective awareness the supreme reality has of its own nature. If Śiva is God, then Śakti is Godhood. For this reason, the two are not separate. This is stated in the Mahānayaprakāśa of Trivandrum: "...though the Supreme Lords, male and female, are objectively one and the same, a subtle experiential difference between them has been revealed in order to perfect the correct perception of this fact." For this reason, the scripture says that She is "the resting place of the very nature of Śiva as the sustaining power of the expansion of the universe." Hence, She is visualized together with Kāmeśvara. The Kāmakalāvilāsa: "The two bindus, white and red, are Śiva and Śakti who, in their secret mutual enjoyment, are now expanding and now contracting. They are the cause of the creation of word and meaning, now entering and now separating from one another." Because both of them - the support and the supported - hold the four weapons - noose, hook, bow, arrows - the Goddess is said to be eightfold. The ninefold Śrīcakra, which is the totality of all things, is Her throne. The method of japa for Hādividyā is as follows. One should be attentive to three places located on the path of suṣumnā: mūlādhāra, hṛdi, and bhrūmadhya. Between mūlādhāra and hṛdi are the first three āvaraṇas of the Śrīcakra: Trailokyamohana, Sarvāśāparipūraka, Sarvasaṁkṣobhana. This is the Agnimaṇḍala, sṛṣṭi, embodied by the vāgbhavakūṭa. When reciting the vāgbhavakūṭa (HA SA KA LA HRĪṀ), one should cause the resonance of the mantra, emerging from mūlādhāra, to move up to hṛdi. Following HRĪṀ is a series of inaudible resonances: bindu, ardhacandra, nirodhinī, nāda, nādānta, śakti, vyāpikā, samanā and unmanā. From hṛdi to bhrūmadhya is the Sūryamaṇḍala, sthiti, consisting of the next three āvaraṇas: Sarvasaubhāgyadāyaka, Sarvārthasādhaka, Sarvarakṣākāra. The process is the same as before, moving the resonance from hṛdi to bhrūmadhya using the kāmarājakūṭa (HA SA KA HA LA HRĪṀ). Finally, from bhrūmadhya to dvādaśānta are the last three āvaraṇas embodied in the śaktikūṭa (SA KA LA HRĪṀ): Sarvarogahara, Sarvasiddhimaya, Sarvānandamaya. This is the Somamaṇḍala, saṁhāra.

Dear Dylan, thanks so much for this rare and detailed response. Please can you share the viniyoga and all available information about the Sadi Vidya mantras as well?

Namaste sid. Unfortunately, the details pertaining to sādividyā are very elusive and I do not have them. I suggest you ask someone else.

Namaste Yasuo. The Mahārthā system is very complex, and I cannot possibly explain all of it on this forum. But the essence of it is to become immersed in one's true nature through the operations of the flux of the energies of consciousness. The resulting state of enlightenment is described in the Kramasadbhāva: "After hearing the Supreme Speech, which is the secret of Silence, it is experienced as the supreme and most excellent repose which appears as a horrifying void filled with bones, khaṭvāṅgas, severed heads and skulls." The Supreme Speech is the resonance of the reflective awareness of one's essential nature, which is at the same time the silencing of discursive thought constructs. As is said in the Kaulasūtras: "The true oral instruction is the revelation of the highest reality." In other words, it is a direct experience of the unfolding of one's true nature which is distinguished from a "written" transmission, that is, an indirect, unempowered exposition of mere ideas (note, however, that scriptures can indeed transmit this "oral" instruction for those whose hearts have become sensitive due to the grace of the Goddess). As a result of this, one experiences repose in the Void. What is meant by Void here is not a black nothingness. Rather, it is the emptiness of pure, unitary consciousness devoid of "I" and "this" that is experienced even in worldly life. It is said in the Jayadrathayāmala Tantra: "'I am not, nor is there another. There are only energies.' If he contemplates this natural state of rest here even for a moment, he then, having become a Skyfarer, attains union with the Yoginīs." The mortuary symbolism indicates the realization of such a yogi that the totality of all things - including the body, mind, prāṇa, etc. - are insentient, that is, inherently dependent on the light of consciousness for their very being. That is to say, things in themselves have no inherent existence, and so are likened to bones and other remains of the deceased that fill the Void. Their life is that of the light of consciousness only. This is the inner significance of the common imagery of deities (usually those relating in some way to the Kālīkula) riding, sitting or standing atop corpses. The Devīdvyardhaśatikā says: "one’s Self is to be worshipped as riding a corpse.." It is said in the Kālīkulakramapañcaśatika concerning the light of consciousness: "It is the life of the living being, and it illumines the living being which is of that same nature. In this same way, it causes the fettered soul and its power to be pierced with its energy." This has the double meaning of both the state of affairs as it in fact always is, and the state of liberation wherein the yogi discerns this directly. The Kramasadbhāva explains how this is attained: "Such terror comes from the terrible Powers who are the wonderful producers of the dissolution of everything!" Through the worship of the flux of the energies of consciousness, one dissolves everything in the aforementioned manner. The details of the various wheels of energies are too extensive to go into here, but they form the maṇḍala of Guhyakālī. By "worship" I do not mean the mere act of presenting offerings and reciting mantras. It is the attentive awareness through which these processes are discerned (though this can be recapitulated through the symbolic acts of external pūjā). In a very general sense (i.e. there are other ways to conceptualize this), this flux can be categorized into four parts which are personified as Goddesses: udyoga, ābhāsa, carvaṇa and alaṁgrāsa. In every cognition, these four energies unfold. Udyoga (lit. 'exertion') is the first, which is pure consciousness casting into itself (since there is nothing/nowhere else to do so) the totality of all things, or, at the level of the individual subject, a particular object, without clearly defining it as such. It is the first instance of cognition which is non-discursive, which could be compared to seeing something in the corner of your eye for just a moment before your mind actually registers it as a distinct object with all its defining features. Ābhāsa (lit. 'manifestation') is that stage of concretization. Carvaṇa (lit. 'relish') is the phase in which the subject has subsumed (i.e. known) the object and is thus satisfied. Due to his satisfaction, the subject himself becomes absorbed/reposed in his essential nature, that of the supreme subject. This is alaṁgrāsa. However, most are unable to discern this as such because, due to the latent impressions of duality, it develops into more dualistic perception. This is saṁsāra. The entire process is the unfolding of pure consciousness, both in the sense that it is the activity of Kālī which operates everything (you likely noticed the similarity between these phases and the cosmic cycles of sṛṣṭi, etc.; they are just variations of the same thing), and in the more esoteric sense that it is the perpetual unfolding of awakened awareness for the enlightened yogi. They are one and the same. Śitikaṇṭha says in his Mahānayaprakāśa: "The expansion of the universe is merely the fruit of resting in one's own essential nature." All this being said, I feel it necessary to give a warning relayed by Arṇasiṁha, another great teacher of the Kālikākrama. Remember what I said about oral and written instruction when reading this, otherwise you will only get the obvious meaning, when in fact he is saying two things at once: "Although this reality, namely, the unitary flux of the totality of the essence of the processless process of the activity of consciousness has been correctly described according to the oral tradition, even then, I cannot say everything about this transcendental reality for fear of breaking the rule. One should therefore learn it directly from the Master's lips. Due to ignorance, they suffer from the illusion that what has been told to them appears to be wisdom. It is because of this that their knowledge appears to be true but does not give access to reality... The unawakened, that is, the person by whom my teaching, which has not been understood by means of the mouth of a true Teacher, conceiving the scripture which is the Great Teaching according to his own notions, proclaims it to those of unawakened intellect."

Namaste Prince. Rudraśakti is the empowering vitality of awakened awareness by means of which mantras become efficacious. As this vitality is essentially nothing other than the Self, it can sometimes come about without recourse to a human teacher or formal initiation. This is attested in the Parātrīśikā Tantra: "Whosoever thus knows truly the Seed of the Heart (referring to the mantra of that scripture, but also implying meaning the vitality of mantra as a whole) even if he has not seen the maṇḍala (a reference to the classical ceremony of dīkṣā wherein the guru would draw the tradition's maṇḍala on the ground and show it to the initiate), he enjoys the success of perfection eternally. He is a perfect yogi, he is really initiated." Note that dīkṣā does still technically take place even in this case, because in essence dīkṣā is an inner transformation, not reducible to just a ceremony. And this inner transformation is the unfolding of Self-realization, like the planting of a seed which will grow. If this happens, then it is entirely possible that someone could read a mantra from somewhere and it becomes empowered without recourse to formal initiation. The common dictum that one should not take mantras from books is based on the fact that this doesn't always happen (in fact, it's relatively uncommon). Devoid of their inner vitality, they are nothing more than empty sounds. To be clear, if this DOES happen, it will be obvious - no room for any doubt whatsoever. Human beings are very easily prone to cognitive biases of various sorts, so one should exercise discernment. The Brahmayāmala Tantra also talks about such "uninitiated initiates": "The Goddess said: What should be done if the adept has not achieved success even though he has served his teacher with a mind free of thought and doubts? Bhairava said: He should initiate himself through the progressive development of insight into his own nature, so that mantras may acquire the effulgence of consciousness, by virtue of which he attains the goal." To explain, the knowledge of the Self which is directly intuited is the cause of liberation. Everything else is ancillary to this. It is said in the Kiraṇā Tantra: "Śiva should be known from the teacher, the scripture and oneself." Of these three, oneself is primary precisely because the liberating insight which teacher and scriptures help to cultivate is that of the direct knowledge of the Self. Therefore, even without recourse to the first two, this knowledge and insight can still arise for some. The Lord, enacting His power of grace, assumes the forms of both the disciple and teacher, reflecting on a mundane level the self-referentiality which is His essential nature. The Self of both is one and the same, only it is operating in the guise of the appearance of two entities. The teacher-student relationship is just a form of the same thing as taught in the Parātrīśikā and Brahmayāmala, the difference in this case being that Self-knowledge does not arise of its own accord and so instead operates through this dynamic. Now about free will. The tradition states again and again that the individual subject, consisting of the phsycial body, mind, vital breath, etc., is insentient. That is to say, it has no inherent existence or ability of its own. It is entirely dependent on the light of consciousness. The philosopher Utpaladeva says this in a short treatise called Ajaḍapramātṛsiddhi: "There is no establishment of things in the limited knower consisting of the vital breath, etc. because in such a knower there is a restriction of 'I-hood'. For 'I-hood' is declared to be the repose of awareness in itself. That rest is also said to be agential autonomy, because it is not restricted by dependence on anything, and to be primary agency and Lordship." Conversely, as the Virūpākṣapañcāśikā explains: "You whose 'I-am-ness' refers to the fleshly body can, through mere intention, strike your two insentient arms together. Just so, I, whose 'I-am-ness' refers to the universe can, through the force of that intention, strike together even two mountains." Causality can be divided into two categories: primary and secondary. Primary causality is the activity of consciousness which brings about its result, and this is the ultimate and true cause of everything. As Kṣemarāja says in his Pratyabhijñāhṛdayam: "Awareness, free and independent, is the cause of the performance of everything." Secondary causality is based on the principle of causal necessity and invariable concomitance between cause and effect. In other words, at the level of worldly, transactional existence, the nature of the effect has to correspond to that of its cause. For example, fire produces smoke, but water does not. A potter produces a pot from clay, not a cloth. But secondary causality, which is the scope of the operation of "free will", is ultimately subsumed by the primary causality of the Lord's activity. Put another way, it is said in the Spandakārikā: "That principle should be examined with great care and reverence by which this group of senses, though insentient, acts as a sentient force by itself, and along with the inner group of senses, goes towards objects, takes pleasure in their maintenance, and withdraws into itself, because this natural freedom of it prevails everywhere. The empirical individual cannot drive the goad of desire. But by coming into contact with the power of the Self, he becomes equal to that principle." In other words, what power the individual - or indeed anything at all - possesses is really that derived from the Self. It is said in the Vīrāvali Tantra: "Nothing is impure. Everything is established in Śiva. Whatever is devoid of that becomes, for that reason, impure." The meaning is that all things are enlivened by the light of consciousness. The mistaken perception that this is not so (i.e. duality) is "impurity", that is, saṁsāra. The saṁsārin, believing himself to be nothing more than the body, etc. does not discern primary causality, even though it is still always operative. He mistakenly feels that he (i.e. the body-mind) is the true doer and the fruits of his actions belong to him. This is the sense of what Virūpākṣa was saying. One who is liberated in life, however, does discern this. It should be noted, however, what is meant by "agential autonomy" is not the supernatural empowerment of the psychophysical organism. Abhinavagupta explains: "Śiva's state is that of the perceiving subject. Here that is called the freedom of Śiva's agency. However, this agency is not like that of a potter. That is not the main form of agency, because it is sustained by Śiva's universal agency. Knowing this, one must not adopt the limited notion that 'if I am Śiva, how is it that the universe does not follow my will?' Things would follow one's will if what shone in his awareness were to be Śiva, the Supreme Lord. However, it is not. What shines in the individual's awareness is the body and the like, which is created and so is limited and insentient. Such is Śiva's experience, by virtue of which the body is such as it is, and is created by You, O Śiva. What else could His embodied condition be? Thus, what could be the ground of this objection?"

Namaste Yasuo. HSKHPHREṀ is the Skyfarer bīja. It is one of the main bījas of Kubjikā. It is taught in the Saṁvartāmaṇḍalasūtra which begins each of the Tantras of Kubjikā: "The energy of the consonants Ha, Sa, Kha, Pha, Ra, and the Goddess who is the flower which is the Point..." The "energy of the consonants" is the letter E, which in various Indic scripts is written in a triangular shape. Thus, it indicates the womb of all energies, the latter being embodies by the consonants of the bīja. The bindu at the end is the Unstruck Sound represented as the oscillation of the New Moon (represented by the crescent underneath the point) and Full Moon (the point). This inner resonance of consciousness is the energy which inseminates the trikoṇa, ultimately giving rise to the totality of all things. Understood another way, the letters Ha, Sa, Kha, Pha, Ra and E embody the sixfold nature of Kubjikā and Her maṇḍala, the bindu being the inner awareness which is the essential nature of the six. Ha and Sa are the two breaths which embody the Unstruck Sound. As the Triśirobhairava Tantra says: "The moving to and fro of emanation and withdrawal are nothing but the emission (visarga) of the Lord." In other words, it is the movement (PHREṀ) of the energy of consciousness (HS) in the sky of consciousness (KH), the state of the liberated soul who forever embodies the Khecarīmudrā. The Pañcapiṇḍanātha does indeed relate to the pañcapretāsana. But more than that, the number five is essential in the Mahārtha system. There are numerous groupings of five powers in Mahārtha which embody various aspects of the dynamism of consciousness, all of which are embodied as the Five Voids: KHPHREṀ.

thank you dylan, i would now like to invite your to expound on what Tantra tells about purification (physical, mental, and soul purification). what are the purification rites/techniques are required? from what i have read and understood, it seems that when veils that hide the Fire of Consciousness can be burned away by that very Fire of Consciousness - i am aware that this is a big topic, but please expound on this kindly. thank you

Namaste Yasuo. To begin with, I think it is necessary to explain the nature of purification and impurity. What veils the nature of the supreme reality is nothing other than the supreme reality itself. The Trikasāra Tantra says: "Without a doubt, when the Lord creates the world, He covers Himself by Himself, independently of any cause, with many forms of dharma and adharma, form the hells up to Śiva. In this same way, the God of gods covers Himself with His powers, and so both binds and liberates Himself. He Himself is the enjoyer of worldly experience, Himself the knower, He Himself contemplates reality, and He Himself is worldly enjoyment and liberation." Indeed, there is none else that could possibly do so. If Brahman is the sole reality, there is nothing else to which the veil of ignorance could apply itself. Moreover, if Brahman is the sole reality, what else is there that could conduct the veiling of its true nature, and what else could that veiling be but its own power? But one should certainly not make the mistake of thinking that this veiling is absolute in its scope. The light of consciousness illumines all things. Were it to be truly extinguished, not even ignorance would be manifest. Ignorance is thus not a total lack of knowledge, but contracted knowledge wherein the fullness of one's true nature is not discerned, though it is of course always present. Thus, not even ignorance can escape the light of consciousness. As the venerable teacher Kṣemarāja says: "If ignorance is unknown, knowing alone remains. If it is known, then because it is a part of our knowing, knowing alone remains." It is also taught in the Niśāṭana Tantra: "In reality, the soul, which is essentially pure, has no impurity at all. The impurity presumed to be in the soul is said to be due to the impurity of one's own mind. Only stupid people are afflicted by their mistaken notion of Māyā and impurity. O Beloved! What can a speck of dust on a crystal do to it? Impurity is only ignorance. Knowledge is pure by its very nature. He whose consciousness is pure can never be bound. The impurity of the one whose nature is consciousness is like the blue color of the sky." This being so, what is the difference between the saṁsārin and jīvanmukta? The Īśvarapratyabhijñākārikā explains: "The liberated soul looks at the 'common' cognizable reality as being undifferentiated from himself, like Maheśvara; the bound soul, on the contrary, looks at it as absolutely differentiated." The actual nature of reality is always the same, but the jīvanmukta discerns this reality, whereas the saṁsārin only sees the forest for the trees, as it were. In liberation, the jīvanmukta is freed from both bondage and liberation on account of the realization that the pure light of consciousness alone exists. The Kaulasūtra says: "Repose in consciousness occurs in the lower and higher conditions of the Great Fear of Death and the Great Wrath when they finally come together in one place." For this reason, the rites of purification do not involve a true change in the nature of something: from impure to pure. Everything is already "pure" in essence because all things are of the nature of consciousness. The Vīrāvali Tantra says: "Nothing is impure. Everything is established in Śiva. Whatever is devoid of that becomes, for that reason, impure." In other words, "impurity" is nothing other than the non-discernment of the fullness of Śiva-nature everywhere. Hence, "purification" is ultimately nothing more than discernment of the already present, but veiled, reality. The act of bathing, for instance, is understood in the following way by Śrīvidyācārya Amṛtānanda (14th century): "Encompassing the ocean of the nectarean essence of nonduality with the shoreline of one's innate awareness is the sacred bathing place. According to this method, immersing oneself in such a tīrtha, which liberates one from the three impurities such as the contraction of consciousness, is the true ritual bath." Likewise, Śrīvidyācārya Śivānanda says: "I perform the ultimate ritual bath in which my entire body is drenched in the drops of essence from the waves of the ocean of pure nectar, the bliss of consciousness." This is what one should contemplate when performing snāna. Nyāsas and the installation of mantras onto ritual objects accomplishes a similar unfolding of awareness. Nyāsa is the divinization of one's body/awareness in the sense that one discerns and recognizes one's innate divinity which is the all-encompassing nature of consciousness which brings about all things as its recognitive apprehension. The objects are likewise purified through the recognition that they are in essence nothing more than that same supreme reality appearing as them. The act of dispelling obstacles, accomplished by first striking the ground with your left heel, then clapping, then casting an upward glance, is explained by Śivānanda: "I clap three times with the beneficial goal of dispelling those obstacles that can be characterized as duality of the worlds beginning with the nether regions." In Śrīvidyā, Jvālāmālinī is invoked and visualized as a wall of fire which protects the sādhaka from obstacles. As the previous verse from the Īśvarapratyabhijñākārikā suggests, even if one is in the midst of worldly existence, it is still possible to be situated firmly in one's true nature on account of the realization that the former is in essence nothing but the latter. Such a one remains situated in the fire of consciousness where duality cannot reach him. The Spandakārikā says: "Of the Spanda principle, two states are spoken of: the subject and the object. Of these two, the object is subject to decay, but the subject is imperishable." Hence, even though one is in the midst of the constantly shifting reality of worldly life, one does not fall from his essential nature. The blazing fire of his awakened awareness protects him like a wall of flames. The Spandakārikā: "Since the individual is in actual fact identical with the whole universe, inasmuch as all entities arise from him, and because of his identity with all subjects, there is nothing which is not Śiva, whether in word, object or thought."

Namaste Wide awake. "Śara" means all of the individual subjects in the universe. "Bha" can be taken in two ways, but these compliment each other nicely. One is "bhāsa", meaning light. which in this case refers to the supreme reality. The other is "bharaṇa", sustenance. So, Śarabha is the luminous supreme reality which sustains all beings as their ground and essential nature. The reality He represents should thus be clear. Moreover, He is Pakṣirāja whose two wings are Pārvatī and Kālī. Depending on the source, the exact identities of these deities may be different. But in any case, one is more benign and one is more wrathful. This is ancient Kaula symbolism. The benign Goddess represents fullness, creation, and immanence, while the wrathful Goddess represents emptiness, withdrawal and transcendence. Often, the former is represented as having the body of a young woman, while the latter is horribly emaciated. It is said in the Kaulasūtra: "Bhairava is present in the center of the Voluptuous and Emaciated Goddesses." That is to say, the supreme reality is beyond the duality transcendence and immanence even as it manifests them from itself. Therefore, the yogi must situate himself between these two. This was revealed directly to one Niṣkriyānanda by Bhairavī Herself using the imagery of a palm-leaf manuscript with two cover boards: "The exhale with its seven flames is said to be the upper board, and the lower board has the form of the inhale. In reality, I abide as these two flows. These two boards are also taught as the unfolding of the sequences of immanence and transcendence, and as immersion into the activated and and quiescent expansions. Above is the expansive, full-bodied Power, whose nature is unfolding. Below is the one whose body is emaciated, the sovereign Power that devours all. Break open these two boards, and through the power of your awareness behold in the Center the Supernal Void beyond the Great Void, free of the transient and the eternal, contactless, the Supreme Spaciousness, unlocalizable and unsurpassable, transcending all! It is unmanifest yet eternally exists in everything, free of all veils, the supreme end of the process of Creation, Stasis, and Dissolution, the devouring of Time itself—your own inner nature, and the scope of all your activity." For one who has accomplished this, these "flows" are revealed to be nothing more than the unitary resonance of consciousness. Maheśvarānanda says in his Mahārthamañjarī: "Like a bird whose wings on both sides are not different, from where does this fiction arise that the yogi is qualified as introverted or extroverted?" Likewise, Kṣemarāja says in his Pratyabhijñāhṛdayam: "The Goddess, known as the Fourth State, is the ground and unified flow of this process of withdrawal, stasis, and creation; She is constantly pouring forth and reabsorbing the differentiated realities of the threefold process. She remains constantly full and constantly empty, both and neither, vibrating in absolute simultaneity." Moreover, it is said in the Manonuśātarastotra: "Verily, swans spread their wings widely and fly everywhere in the sky. O Swan of the sacred lake, O my mind! Your marvelous flight takes you to the farthest reaches of the sky when you deploy your two allies: 'emptiness' and 'momentum'." Here, "emptiness" means entry into thoughtlessness and "momentum" is the dissolution of thought constructs. With these, the yogi enters into the sky of consciousness. The Kaulasūtras: "Due to the consumption of the three (i.e. the unification of all triads in the oneness of consciousness), the net of the extensive fat of illusion melts away, and the disappearance of the bonds expands as the effulgence of the Heart. Otherwise, there is no flying up from the trap of the poison of illusion." All that being said, how does this relate to Narasiṁha and Aṣṭamukha Gaṇḍabheruṇḍa? It is not entirely clear. In the context of the narratives to which we are referring, it should be kept in mind that Vaiṣṇavism was often considered to be inferior by Śaivas. Often times, Viṣṇu was viewed as a godly being who ruled over a particular domain of worldly reality, and as such was definitely not all-powerful, etc. In the narratives of Śarabha, the trouble caused by Narasiṁha (and sometimes also Varāha) could very well be taken to suggest the vanity of the contracted self, perhaps implicitly emphasizing the state of those who are attached to "lower" spiritual traditions. I think it parallels in a way the narrative of Brahmā and Viṣṇu battling for supremacy, and then when the Jyotirliṅga appears Brahmā rides his sawn up to find the top, while Viṣṇu assumes a boar form to find the bottom. It reminds me of the aforementioned two Goddesses/boards, the oscillation of the two breaths around the central channel. In this analysis, Śarabha subduing him would be enlightenment. With Aṣṭamukha Gaṇḍabheruṇḍa, it becomes even less clear. Depending on the story being told, it is Pratyaṅgirā who stops them. The name Pratyaṅgirā means "response" or "retaliation", referring to Her ability to stop the effects of negative influences. However, it is said in the Jayadrathayāmala that She "devours both the active and quiescent states." The "active and quiescent states" are more or less descriptions of the same oscillation of consciousness I've already talked about. In other words, Pratyaṅgirā is the forceful dissolution of these dualities into the oneness of consciousness. She halts the "black magic" of Māyā. This is explained in the Svabodhasiddhi: "‘I venerate that pure consciousness that has devoured both active and quiescent states, the knife that alone can cut through the heart’s knots of ‘my’ and ‘I’." The supreme reality is essentially beyond them even as it appears as both. It is both and neither, as Kṣemarāja says. Are these Narasiṁha and Śarabha? It is difficult to say.

Namaste Yasuo. Mantravidyārahasya is not published I don't think. It is cited several times in Sthaneshwar Timalsina's book "Language of Images: Visualization and Meaning in Tantras." He cites its descriptions of multiple deities.

thank you dylan

Dylan is it possible to share the details and mantra japa vidhi of Maha Nirvana sundari ?

Namaste Dylan. Please can you tell us about Ucchista Ganapati and his Dvicatvarimsatyaksara mantra? How many letters is this mantra? It has been said by Dakshinmurthy that this mantra is equal to the panchadasaksari mantra. Please can you explain how this is so?

Namaste Mary. Unfortunately, I do not have all of the details on Nirvāṇa Sundarī. Evidently the details from Her paddhatis are only shared amongst advanced sādhakas of certain lineages, of which I am not a part.

Namaste sid. The mūlamantras of deities are typically understood to bring about realization of the highest reality, even if they are also understood to bring about other results too. The deities and their mantras, which are really one and the same, are embodiments of the reflective awareness of one's true nature. A mantra is distinct from common discursive thought in that it is an inward-oriented awareness that is not different from its object of denotation. As is said in the Cidvilāsastava: "There is an undivided and pristine reality that should be realized, from which speech, together with the mind, turn away. The repetition of the mantra, in its ultimate form, is bringing speech and the mind to rest in that luminous reality that transcends the mind and conventional language." And it is said in the Kaulasūtras: "There is but one deity, the Reality perceived by the transmission." Hence, there are many mantras which are equally said to be the "highest" for this reason. With the Pañcadaśī in particular, the Yoginīhṛdaya Tantra makes its nature undoubtedly clear: "It consists in uniting oneself with the indivisible, supreme, subtle, imperceptible, with no concrete existence, the reality supreme, above the inner sky, light and bliss, both transcending the universe and identical with it. Since luminosity is the state of things that are luminous and also that of those that are dark, there is therefore a necessary and essential connection between the universe and the highest reality. The highest reality shines, O Flame of the essence of the divine play!" The Pañcadaśī is in essence this reflective awareness. The outer forms of mantras are expressions of the powers that are powers experienced inwardly. That there are so many such liberating mantras in various traditions is explained by the Mahārthamañjarī: "The Lord is capable of churning this reality and so is the Lord of Kula who is the ultimate fixed ground of all things. It is He who, churning His own energy, brings about creation and the other cosmic processes. And so, I salute the venerable Manthānabhairava who is such." This is a very powerful teaching that has implications with respect to cognition, the divisions of scriptures, and various traditions. Now about this reflective awareness called Ucchiṣṭa Gaṇapati. The key lies in the appellation of "ucchiṣṭa". Specifically, how it relates to discursive thought. Discursive thought is defined in the Īśvarapratyabhijñākārikā as follows: "For we call vikalpa the ascertainment of a certain thing arrived at through the exclusion of its opposite by the knowing subject only, in whom that and the opposite of that are manifested." To explain by way of a simile, blood is a singular, unitary thing. However, due to the activity of discursive thought, it could be understood as being two things: liquidity and redness. Discursive thought basically takes the unitary supreme reality of consciousness and bliss and breaks it up into apparently mutually exclusive parts. This is the function of the mind, and is necessary for embodied beings to function in worldly life. However, the trouble arises when one views these distinctions as absolute, because in actual fact the supreme reality is always manifest and undivided. So, how does the concept of ucchiṣṭa fit into this? The worship of Ucchiṣṭa Gaṇapati is undertaken without the common procedures of ritual purity and by using "impure" substances. The word 'ucchiṣṭa' means something that is left over. From what I said about discursive thought, it is easy to understand that when one is able to see through it into the undivided supreme reality, the latter is what is "left over". One attains the realization that "I am not, nor is there another. There is only Śakti." The Great Reality is what remains when all else has fallen away. Moreover, ucchiṣṭa can also be understood in the sense of left-over food, which in orthodox brahmanical society is deemed impure. Purity and impurity exist only within the confines of vikalpa. But as the supreme reality is undivided and unitary, such concepts have no absolute existence. I wrote about this in detail in another comment on this page responding to Yasuo. In this case the idea is that, in reference to the worldly norms dictated by vikalpas, the supreme reality is "impure" precisely because it essentially lies beyond such concepts, the realm of worldly norms, even as it is their source. It is an outcast(e) from the fold of worldly norms, if you will. Conversely, as the supreme reality descends into immanence from its lofty state of perfection, it engages freely in "impurity" in reference to its transcendental repose without ever falling from that essential nature. It is said in the Ānandabhairava Tantra: "The Lord is without bias and acts in a manner contrary to the common worldly norms. The cause of His bestowal of grace is not the purity of the recipient. Similarly, the goddesses are satisfied by the sacrifice of bloody meat, not by applying the rules concerning purity. Brahmins and those belonging to the lowest castes should be made equal. Thus, the rays of consciousness radiating through the senses, although savouring their objects, are freed of agitation. Hell is the result of dualistic thought. it is clear that the bodies of all living beings, irrespective of caste or other conceived differences, is made of all the gods." The Śivadṛṣṭi: "If you ask how someone pure could be eager for something impure, we reply: because He savors the expansion of His own form, contemptibility is not appropriate for the universe. Given that it is said that it is Śiva’s nature to perform the five types of activities, what need is there to search for other motives, when He is engaged in His own conduct?" The Mahārthamañjarī: "Some think that the ineffable nature of the Self can be defined as the distinctness of the Lord; for those who turn away thus from the Self, let there remain the error of tending to separate the 'privileged' from those who are not. What is prescribed is recognition; what is prohibited is non-recognition. For those of us who consider the scriptures to be the effusion of the Heart, this is the understanding." The Devīpañcaśataka: "That action which inexorably sends people to hell is the very action which makes the conquerers of the three aspects of time prosper."

Namaste Yasuo. I assume you are referring to the trikoṇa at the center of the Śrīcakra. To understand how those deities and states fit together, you have to start with the bindu. As a small point in the center, it represents the essential nature of the supreme reality. It is more accurately comparable to a singularity, a "space" with no volume. In other words, it is the unlocalized light of consciousness from which all things proceed and into which they are withdrawn, and within which and as which this takes place. The bindu is simultaneously the center and the entire maṇḍala. Though it manifests as the totality of all things in every moment, it never falls from its essential nature. Its power, which is its reflective awareness and thus from which it is never separated and is in fact identical, is Kaulikīśakti, though most know Her better as Kuṇḍalinī. Intent on manifestation, She becomes the matrix of all energies from which all things are composed. Thus, in a way, the entire maṇḍala is reducible to just the central triangle. The significance of the triangular shape is multifaceted as it embodies all triads. One of the reasons it is called Kuṇḍalinī, the 'coiled/crooked power', is because it assumes the crooked shape of the triangle. Its three and a half coils are the three sides plus the center which, as it is the ground and nature of the three, is not technically one among them and so is only half. The entirety of manifestation is situated within Her. Mahākāmeśvarī, Mahāvajreśvarī, and Mahābhagamālinī embody all these triads. To explain, as the emission of the Supreme Lord in the form of all things, Kuṇḍalinī is the reflective awareness of the supreme reality which contemplates itself as all things. The trikoṇa, the matrix of all the energies, is thus the "mouth" which reveals the teachings. The teaching or transmission is the flow of consciousness which generates and embodies all things. The four sacred seats which constitute this transmission are, in one analysis, the four states of waking, dreaming, deep sleep and turya. The exact correspondences differ depending on the source. According to Śivānanda, Mahākāmeśvarī is Kāmarūpa at the apex of the triangle. Mahāvajreśvarī is Jālandhara in the right corner. Mahābhagamālinī is Pūrṇagiri in the left corner. As to which state of awareness corresponds to which, Amṛtānanda understands Pūrṇagiri to be dreaming and Jālandhara to be deep sleep, whereas in Śivānanda's analysis they should be reversed. But in any case, Kāmarūpa is waking and Oḍḍiyāna in the center is turya. It should be noted that in many sources these states are referred to with different names than one might be used to. They are, in order, piṇḍa, pada, rūpa and rūpātīta.

Namaste Dylan. My question concerns the Śrī Vidyā mantra that Tīvra brought to light and that Lord Śiva is said to have practiced. With your profound expertise in Tantra, could you please clarify what the Tantras say about the mantra—ha sa ka la hrīm̐ ha sa ka ha la hrīm̐ sa ka la hrīm̐ ha sa ka la ha sa ka ha la sa ka la hrīm̐—and, in particular, its viniyoga and dhyāna? Thank you very much!

For the sake of everyone's benefit, I will explain the various traditional meanings of the Pañcadaśī. What follows is the exposition of the hādividyā (HA SA KA LA HRĪṀ HA SA HA KA LA HRĪṀ SA KA LA HRĪṀ), although kādividyā is not especially different regarding these meanings. I will probably write another comment later on explaining where the latter differs from what is said here. Everything in this exposition follows what is taught in the Yoginīhṛdaya Tantra. If anyone wants clarification on anything said here feel free to ask. 1. Bhāvārtha: The Śrīvidyā is the union of Śiva and Śakti. In that respect, it is simultaneously the result of and the embodiment of that union of Śiva and Śakti; consciousness and bliss, transcendence and immanence, word and meaning, subject and object, etc. Continuing that theme, the Yoginīhṛdaya says that this union is also embodied by the Yoginīs and Vīras. The Yoginīs in this case refer to the three śaktis: icchā, jñāna, kriyā. The Vīras are Brahmā, Viṣṇu, and Rudra. Embodying the various triads, each of these pairs corresponds to each of the three kūṭas of the Śrīvidyā. The idea here is that the union of Śiva and Śakti, the supreme reality, is recapitulated at every level of existence. The Yoginīhṛdaya says: "Thus constituted, delighting in the utmost bliss, the Goddess, whose nature is vibration, of innate beauty, once known, is to be freely worshipped." The Śrīvidyā is thus the reflective awareness of the supreme reality of the form of the union of Śiva and Śakti which manifests as the totality of all things. 2. Saṁpradāyārtha: This artha concerns the emergence of the supreme reality as the universe. The letters HA, KA, RA, SA, and LA which constitute the vidyā (excluding the 'Ī's and 'Ṁ's of the hṛllekhās) represent space, wind, fire, water and earth, respectively, of which the universe is composed. Together, these five elements have fifteen guṇas. In other words, each element pervades each of the ones below it, which creates fifteen guṇas total. These are also the fifteen Nityākalā Devīs. Moreover, if the vowels and consonants are divided (i.e. HA, for example, is divided into H and A), we get eleven letters in the first kūṭa, thirteen in the second, and nine in the third, totalling 33. When the anusvāras at the end of each of the three hṛllekhās are added, we get 36. These are the 36 tattvas. The entire vidyā as a whole, as the Goddess, is the "37th tattva", which is not a distinct tattva per se, but rather represents the simultaneously transcendent and immanent nature of the supreme reality. There are six HAs in the vidyā, the first five embodying the space element which pervades the others, along with its subtle nature as the resonance of consciousness which is the sixth. There are three RAs, embodying the guṇas pervaded by fire: earth, water, and fire itself. There are three SAs, the water element which pervades earth. The third is the 'subtle' form, which is to say, from the perspective of earth it is that which pervades it and so is subtle. There are three LAs, which represent the earth element as constituting the three worlds. There are three KAs, which represent the three states of bound subjectivity: vijñānākalā, pralayākala, and sakala. All of these elements are to be viewed as originating from Mahāmāyā and the supreme reality, represented by the letters Ī and Ṁ, respectively. The sense of all this is explained: "In any object one can say that there is śakti. This is the Goddess, the universal sovereign. And any object is the Supreme Lord." 3. Nigarbhārtha: Śiva, the supreme reality, is the Self of the guru and the sādhaka. Thus, the Śrīvidyā embodies the unitary nature of these three. 4. Kaulikārtha: To begin this one, it is necessary to cite the opening verse of the Nityāṣoḍaśikārṇava: "I bow to the Goddess who consists of Mantra, who is the letters of the alphabet, who takes the form of the gaṇapatis, the planets, the lunar mansions, the Yoginīs, and the constellations, and who is the embodiment of the pīṭhas." The nine planets in this case are the three guṇas, three powers (icchā, jñāna, kriyā), and three luminaries (moon, sun, fire). The lunar mansions are the five jñānendriyas and their objects, five karmendriyas and their objects, the four constituents of the antaḥkaraṇa: manas, ahaṁkāra, buddhi, citta, prakṛti, guṇatattva, and puruṣa. The Yoginīs preside over the dhātus: skin, blood, muscle, fat, marrow, semen, plasma, and bone. The constellations of the zodiac consist of the ten prāṇas plus the individual and supreme selves. The gaṇas are the phonemes. There is also an alternative explanation for these. HRĪṀ can be divided into three parts: the first three letters, the bindu, and the inaudible resonances that follow. As each HRĪṀ is thus split into three parts and there are three of them, these are the nine planets. The lunar mansions are the fifteen syllables of the vidyā plus the twelve parts of the hṛllekhās (taken as a whole, not all three). Each hṛllekhā plus the LAs that proceed each one are the Yoginīs. The twelve signs of the zodiac are the twelve syllables that remain when each hṛllekhā is excluded from the vidyā. The sense of all this is explained: "All the aspects just described as in the body of the Goddess are to be found in the same way in the body of the spiritual master, and, through his grace, the disciple will also shine in this form." 5. Sarvarahasyārtha: The first kūṭa should be meditated upon in the mūlādhāra. This is the maṇḍala of fire, the first three āvaraṇas (saṁhārakrama) of the Śrīcakra. Ascending along the central channel as the resonance of the vāgbhavakūṭa, the kāmarājakūṭa is to be meditated upon in the heart. This is the maṇḍala of the sun, the second set of āvaraṇas. Its resonance rising, the śaktikūṭa is to be meditated upon in the brow center. It is the maṇḍala of the moon, the last set of three āvaraṇas. The resonance of the śaktikūṭa reaching the dvādaśānta, "...She pervades the whole universe, Her nature being constant bliss. The thought: 'this energy is my own Self,' such is the secret meaning." 6. Mahātattvārtha: I think it is best to just quote directly from the Yoginīhṛdaya here: " It consists in uniting oneself with the indivisible, supreme, subtle, imperceptible, with no concrete existence, the reality supreme, above the inner sky, light and bliss, both transcending the universe and identical with it. Since luminosity is the state of things that are luminous and also that of those that are dark, there is therefore a necessary and essential connection between the universe and the highest reality. The highest reality shines, O Flame of the essence of the divine play! The secret meaning, the attainment of which is preceded by the stability of the spirit that appears when all volition and all doubt are banished, is completely hidden. It gives immediate certainty. It is seen in the ocean of the high knowledge. There, no doubt survives, O Pārvatī! Giver of divine powers, it is present in the three kūṭas composing the seat pīṭha of the vidyā. Will enjoy this, O Goddess, those who follow the practice of Kula and who meditate on the feet of the Master, who take part zealously in the meetings with the Yoginīs, who have received the divine unction, are free from the stain of doubt, their spirit ceaselessly joyful and well versed in the secret meaning known through the uninterrupted succession of masters."

Thank you, Dylan! Please provide an explanation of the manifold traditional interpretations of the Kādi Pañcadaśī as well. Furthermore, is the practice of chanting the Lalitā Sahasranāma and Lalitā Triśati confined to Kādi Vidyā, or is it also integral to Hādi Vidyā?

Namaste Raman. I will talk about kādi later. The Triśati is based on the kādividyā itself, each name beginning with the letters of the vidyā in the order they appear. In the prologue to the Sahasranāma, Hayagrīva says that of the vidyā, kādi is supreme: "The Śrīvidyā is the first of all mantras, and of it the Kādi form is the first and the best." However, that does not necessarily mean that they are restricted to kādi. Initiation into some form of the Pañcadaśī at least is implied for the recitation of the latter in the viniyoga: śrīmadvāgbhavakūṭeti bījam, madhyakūṭeti śaktiḥ, śaktikūṭeti kīlakam. Hayagrīva says to Agastya after the Sahasranāma: "You should not impart this hymn to one who is not initiated into the Śrīvidyā, nor to one who is not a devotee. Just as the Śrīvidyā is to be kept secret, so also, O Muni, this Sahasranāma should be kept concealed from the eyes of the uninitiated. This holy hymn ought not to be promulgated among those whose nature resembles that of beasts. If a person so loses his wits so as to impart this to one who is not initiated into the Śrīvidyā, the Yoginīs curse him and it is a source of great loss to him." Again, he says initiation into the Śrīvidyā is necessary, but does not specify any particular form thereof.

Now about these meanings with reference to kādi (KA E Ī LA HRĪṀ HA SA KA HA LA HRĪṀ SA KA LA HRĪṀ). Bhāvārtha is not really very different, so there isn't much to say there. For Saṁpradāyārtha, the five letters HA, KA, RA, SA, and LA still represent the five elements. Unlike hādi, there are five HAs in kādi, so the inner resonance of the elements which is represented by the sixth HA in hādi is not counted here. The wind element is represented by the three KAs plus the Ī in the first kūṭa. The meanings of the three LAs and RAs are the same. The two SAs refer to water and earth which is pervaded by it. The 37 tattvas (36 + Paramaśiva) are constituted by dividing the consonants and vowels (i.e. KA would be K and A). Not counting the anusvāras, the first kūṭa has 11, the second has 15, and the third has 11. Nigarbārtha is also not really different. For Kaulikārtha, the alternative interpretation is different from hādi. The nine planets are said to be the three anusvāras, the three nādas that follow each, and the remainder of the three kūṭas. The 27 lunar mansions are the aforementioned 37 vowels and consonants, although because, excluding the hṛllekhās, there are ten As (two in the first kūṭa, five in the second, and three in the third) which are not separate from the consonants, they are not counted and so the number is reduced to 27. The six Yoginīs which correspond to the six cakras and dhātus (though the number of dhātus with Yoginīs is sometimes inconsistent) are the three hṛllekhās and three kūṭas. The zodiac consists of the nine subtle resonances that follow every anusvāra plus the three LAs that precede each. Sarvarahasyārtha is the same, just with the three kūṭas of kādi instead. Mahātattvārtha is also the same. Now, what is one to make of all this? Śrīvidyācārya Bhāskararāya says: "The utterance of sound without a knowledge of the true import bears no fruit, even as the offering thrown over ashes in the absence of fire does not burst into flame. Those who are merely reciting the different sounds without a knowledge of their meaning may be compared to a donkey carrying a load of sandalwood grown in the Malaya mountains. By those men who are in quest of the goals of human desires should be comprehended the meanings of the mantra. To those who ignore the meanings there is no attainment of their desire; on the contrary, such ignorance leads to ruin." A mantra is not simply an utterance of sounds. It is an inner reflective awareness which is devoid of thought constructs and which frees the mind from them. The outer forms of mantras are expressions of the powers that are experienced inwardly. This power is the "meaning" of the mantra, and since the "meaning" is the non-discursive supreme reality itself, the mantra and what it denotes are in fact one and the same. Japa is a kind of bhāvanā. The mind being freed from discursive thought through the repetition of the mantra, which is contemplated in accord with its meaning, the two become one. Eventually, both the mantra and the mind dissolve into the supreme reality where everything becomes Mantra. The actual contemplation in accordance with the meaning is subtle. It's almost instinctive, meaning to say that when doing japa you're not thinking about the words or the specific details. The sense of it is intuitively understood without thinking as you recite, and indeed you begin to see that the resonance itself and this intuitive understanding of meaning become one and the same. Read through these arthas and understand the sense of them. It's possible one might feel intuitively more important to you than the others. When you do japa, allow the resonance of the mantra and the meaning fuse into a seamless bhāvanā.