Discourses on Tantra Volume One [a compilation]

The many features of Tantra which distinguish it from other spiritual traditions make definition difficult within a short space. But if we are to focus on the single most characteristic of Tantra’s distinguishing features, surely that must be the spirit of fight. Shrii Shrii Ánandamúrti has said,

The main characteristic of Tantra is that it represents human vigour. It represents a pactless fight. Where there is no fight there is no sádhaná. Under such circumstances Tantra cannot be there, where there is no sádhaná, no fight. It is an impossibility to conquer a crude idea and to replace it by a subtle idea without a fight. It is not at all possible without sádhaná. Hence, Tantra is not only a fight, it is an all-round fight. (“Tantra and Its Effect on Society”, in Volume Two)

Tantra finds or creates circumstances designed expressly to bring out, rather than to intern away, one’s problematic mental tendencies. “A practitioner of Tantra becomes elevated and attains mastery over a hostile environment. Tantra does not accept the teaching of the Vedas that human beings should move internally, and carefully avoid any association with their environment” (“The Fundamental Difference between Tantra and Veda”, in Volume Two). So only if a spiritual path at some stage deliberately seeks out fearful, demoralizing or tempting circumstances in order to fight and overcome them by Cosmic ideation and by trust in the guru, does it deserve to be called Tantric.

It is not only an external or internal fight, it is simultaneously both. The internal fight is a practice of the subtler portion of Tantra. The external fight is a fight of the cruder portion of Tantra. And the fight both external and internal is a fight in both ways at once. So practice in each and every stratum of life receives due recognition in Tantra.… The practice for raising the kulakuńd́alinii is the internal sádhaná of Tantra, while shattering the bondages of hatred, suspicion, fear, shyness, etc., by direct action is the external sádhaná. (“Effect”)

Both the “internal fight” and the “external fight” refer to the fight against internal enemies – but the latter uses external means to intensify the fight.

The very first night that a Tantric goes to the burial ground, he is stricken with fear.… But when he returns home after finishing sádhaná, the mind is much lighter than before. When he goes out for sádhaná the next night, he is much less fearful. And thus the Tantric steadily and slowly overcomes fear. This is the applied process of Tantra which will help the practitioner overcome all instincts. (“Fundamental Difference”)

Though practices such as that of sádhaná in a burial ground may be the clearest instances of techniques designed to bring to the surface one’s mental propensities, such practices are not required of all Tantrics. But all Tantrics are brought face to face with their weaknesses in one way or other. A Tantric guru assigns to his disciples tremendous responsibilities for social change. The disciples’ participation in an activist movement aimed at a just and spiritually-based society forces them to confront sometimes physical fear, but more routinely the fear of social censure and the fear of the overwhelming task before them. The inferiority complex is the most debilitating fear which most of us must learn to overcome in our lives.

Tantra advises: Jump into your environment without the least hesitation. Don’t be afraid. Fear will leave you step by step. Tomorrow you will not be as fearful as you are today, the day after you will be even less fearful, and ten days from now you’ll notice that you are completely fearless. (“Fundamental Difference”)

In 1967 in Allahabad Shrii Shrii Ánandamúrti gave an important discourse on Tantra which was not recorded or fully transcribed at the time. Fortunately one of Ánandamúrtijii’s disciples is confident of having retained a clear memory of it, and has transmitted the main ideas in an article written in 1991.⁽¹⁾ (A fellow disciple who attended the same discourse took some notes which corroborate the basic content of the article.) Because of its deep relevance to the topic of Tantric History, covered in Part 3 of this volume, it deserves to be mentioned here. Beginning on page 29 of the article we find:

Tantra, though a singular science, developed into five branches during the Paoráńik period of Indian history.…

According to the Shaeva Cult.… Human beings should direct all the expressions of their life towards the inner world and finally merge into the Supreme Cognition.

Viśńu is the Entity that pervades each and every thing of this universe.… [So the Vaeśńava Cult is] the cult of divine love.…

The Shakti Cult lays great stress on the attainment of power and its judicious application.…

Gańesha or Gańapati… is the deification of the leader of the tribe in ancient times. The head and trunk of an elephant placed on his torso signify a warrior society led by the strong and sturdy leader of the tribe.… When the ancient custom of group leadership was converted into a cult during the Paoráńik age, the idea was adopted that the group leader was the leader of the universe.

The Saora Cult.… like the sun which is the nucleus of our solar system.… God is the Supreme Nucleus of this entire creation.… All the units revolve around Him. Salvation is possible only when the unit consciousness merges into Him.…

Shrii Shrii Ánandamúrti.… synthesized the Paiṋca Tantra [the above five well-known schools of Tantra] into a singular cult by including the salient features of all of them.… Ánanda Márga is a spiritual cult where the goal is the attainment of Supreme Cognition. In this respect it is Shaeva; but to attain this spiritual rank one needs psychic and spiritual strength for which proper sádhaná is required. So in practice it is Shákta.… The Vaeśńava Cult teaches us how to live in joy and peace with the entire creation. Hence in society one must be a Vaeśńava.… Saora Tantra teaches the secret of introverting the extroverted energies leading towards the Supreme Hub.… Collective life [must be] systematised, regulated and directed towards the Supreme Goal.… Gáńapatya Tantra [in which the Supreme is personified as a divinized tribal leader] is devised to achieve this objective.

Shrii Shrii Ánandamúrti often spoke of having modified Tantra “to suit the needs of the modern era”. He furthermore elaborated the philosophy of Tantra along lines which had previously been little developed.

Out of the tremendous number of darshans, or discourses, which Ánandamúrtijii gave on a great range of subjects during thirty-seven years as preceptor of Ananda Marga, a great many have been carefully preserved in published form and/or on tape. We have drawn on this wealth for the present collection by first assembling all the discourses or sections thereof which related to the topic of Tantra; and by then electing to include all but that handful which were found to contain only material already covered in other articles. Though the subject matter may be virtually the same, each discourse will be found to have its own special appeal, and we recommend these discourses to readers, though regrettably they could not be included here. Those related to the topics of this volume are:

A paragraph on Tantra from the Buddhism section of “Views of Other Faiths” in Táttvika Praveshiká or Philosophy in a Nutshell 3. The Incarnation, Táraka Brahma and Sadguru section of “Basic Principles of Spiritual Philosophy” in Notes on Spiritual Philosophy. “The Macrocosm and the Microcosm – 2” in Subháśita Saḿgraha 7 or Ideology and Way of Life 9.

To assist researchers, it is our policy to indicate here – in addition to the original language of each speech, the date and place, by whom it was translated, and where, if at all, it was previously published – whether or not a tape of the speech is in existence. At the time of this printing, however, not all the cataloguing of tapes has been finished. Further information as to tapes will be given in future printings.

In all cases where a tape was in existence for a discourse given in English, we have re-edited the published discourse with reference to that tape.

The abbreviation “DMC” sometimes appears at the end of a discourse. Dharma Mahácakra was a special spiritual gathering addressed by the preceptor, the guru. The abbreviation “RU” at the end of a discourse indicates that the discourse constituted a Presidential speech to Renaissance Universal.

Square brackets [   ] in the text are used to indicate translations by the editors or other editorial insertions, for instance, “… lokáyata [mundane]…”, or “Now in [Shambhúliuṋga], the human entity is in subtlest form.…” Round brackets (   ) indicate a word or words originally given by the author.

The author used a certain shorthand for explaining the etymologies of words. Under this system, a minus sign (–) follows a prefix, and a plus sign (+) precedes a suffix. Thus ava – tr + ghaiṋ = avatára can be read, “the root tr prefixed by ava and suffixed by ghaiṋ becomes avatára.”

[There was a paragraph here that does not apply in this electronic edition.]

It was frequently the author’s practice, in the case of discourses given in a language other than Bengali, to personally review the Bengali translation and to make revisions and additions. Wherever this appeared to have been done, the editors have taken the Bengali version as the basis for the English translation.

With all articles noted below as “retr.” (retranslated), the retranslation was done taking all possible material from existing translations.

Within each of the four parts of Discourses on Tantra, the articles are in chronological order.

This Second Edition represents little change from the First Edition. The only substantial difference will be found in the chapter “Tantra in Bengal”, which was and still is a compilation of excerpts from two discourses on the history of Bengal. For this edition, part of the previous selection of material from the first of those discourses has been replaced with what the editors felt to be still more pertinent material. A few other articles underwent minor corrections of wording (in the case of translations), or touching up of editorial remarks, or correction of typos: “The Devotee and the Lord”, “Táraka Brahma”, “Mantra Caetanya”, “Stages of Samádhi” (which now conforms with the version in its source book, Ánanda Vacanámrtam 23), “The Acoustic Roots of the Indo-Aryan Alphabet” and “Tantra and Indo-Aryan Civilization”.

Part 1. Tantric Philosophy

“The Devotee and the Lord”. Discourse in Hindi. Originally published in Hindi in Ánanda Dúta, Year 5, No. 4, May 1963. First published in Bengali as “Bhakta ár Bhagaván” in Subháśita Saḿgraha 8, 1980. Tr. from the Bengali by ÁVA and Ác. Vishvarúpánanda Avt. in Ananda Marga Ideology and Way of Life in a Nutshell 9, 1990. Retr. from the Bengali by ÁVA and ÁAA.

“Táraka Brahma”. Discourse in English and Hindi. Originally published in English as part of “Átman, Paramátman and Sádhaná”, in Idea and Ideology, 1959. The 1994 edition is followed here.

“The Creation of the Universe”. Discourse in English and Hindi. Originally published in English in Idea and Ideology, 1959. Revised by the author 1978. The 1994 edition is followed here.

“The Tantric Theory of Creation.” Discourse in Bengali. Originally published in Bengali as Chapter 4 of Ánanda Sútram, 1962. First published in English in Ánanda Sútram, 1967, tr. by Manohar Gupta. Retr. for the 1990 edition by ÁVA and Ác. Vishvarúpánanda Avt.

“Sambhúti and Mahásambhúti”. Discourse in Hindi. Originally published in Hindi in a magazine. First published in English in Supreme Expression I, 1978. First published in Bengali as “Sambhúti o Mahásambhúti” in Subháśita Samgraha 9, 1982. Retr. from the Bengali by ÁVA and ÁAA.

“The Balanced Triangle of Forces”. Discourse in Bengali. Originally published in Bengali as part of section on “Guńamaya” in Shabda Cayaniká 24, 1990, p. 150-152. Tr. from the original Bengali by ÁVA and ÁAA.

Part 2. Tantric Science: Raising the Kuńd́alinii

“Mantra Caetanya”. Discourse in Hindi. First published in English in Cosmic Society, Vol. III, No. 7, July 1967. English re-editing by ÁAA.

“Stages of Samádhi”. Discourse in English. Originally published as “Virtue and Vice” in a magazine. Re-edited for this edition. Tape.

“Mantra and Incantation.” Discourse in English. Originally published in English in Ánanda Vacanámrtam 5, 1982. Re-edited for this edition. Tape.

“Acoustic Roots”. Discourse in English. Originally published as “Certain Acoustic Roots in Tantra” in Supreme Guide, Vol. I, No. 5, November 1979. Re-edited for this edition.

“The Acoustic Roots of the Indo-Aryan Alphabet”. Discourses in Bengali. Discourses originally published in Bengali in Varńa Vicitrá 1-8, 1984-1985. (All the appropriate Varńa Vicitrá discourses were compiled into this article, originally published in Bengali as “Báḿlá Varńamáláy Biija Mantra” in Kańikáy Ananda Marga Darshan 8, 1988.) First published in English in Ananda Marga Philosophy in a Nutshell 8, 1988, tr. from the original Bengali by ÁVA and Ácárya Vishvarúpánanda Avt. Retr. by ÁVA and ÁAA.

“The Meaning of Krśńa in Rája Yoga”. Discourse in Bengali. Originally published in Bengali as “Krśńa Shabder Rájayaogika Vyáthyá” in Ánanda Vacanámrtam 17, 1980. Tr. from the original Bengali by ÁVA and ÁAA.

“Krśńa Unparalleled”. Discourse in Bengali. Originally published in Bengali as “Krśńastu Bhagaván Svayaḿ” in Ánanda Vacanámrtam 17, 1981. First published in English in Prajiṋá Bháratii. Retr. from the original Bengali by ÁVA and ÁAA.

Part 3. Tantric History

“Tantra and Indo-Aryan Civilization.” Discourse in Hindi. Originally published in Hindi as “Tantra aor Áryyabháratiiya Sabhyatá” in Ánanda Dúta Year 4, Nos. 1-3, January, April and July 1960. First published in English in Our Universe, Nos. 1-3, Jan.-Mar. 1960. First published in Bengali as “Tantra o Áryyabháratiiya Sabhyatá” in Abhimata 1, 1966. Retr. from the Bengali by ÁVA and ÁAA.

“Mixed Tantra”. Discourse in Bengali. Originally published in Bengali as part of “Kiirttaniiyah Sadáharih” in Ánanda Vacanámrtam 7, 1980. First published in English as part of “The Lord Should Always Be Praised” in Ánanda Vacanámrtam 8, 1987, tr. from the original Bengali by ÁVA and Ác. Vishvarúpánanda Avt. Tape.

“The Psychology behind the Origin of Tantric Deities”. Discourse in Bengali. Originally published in Bengali as “Tántrik Devadeviir Udbhaver pechane Manasatattva” in Ánanda Vacanámrtam 11, 1980. Tr. from the original Bengali by ÁVA and ÁAA. Tape.

“Tantra in Bengal”. Discourses in Bengali. Originally published in Bengali as parts of “Báḿlár Itihása – 1” and “Báḿlár Itihása – 2” in Abhimata 3 and 5, 1984 and 1985. First published in English as parts of “The History of Bengal – 1” and “The History of Bengal – 2” in A Few Problems Solved 3 and 5, 1988, tr. from the original Bengali by ÁVA and Avtk. Ánanda Mitrá Ác. English re-editing by ÁAA.

“Shiva Tantra in Ráŕh”. Discourse in Bengali. Originally published in Sabhyatár Ádibindu Ráŕh, 1981, pp. 33-34. Tr. from the original Bengali by ÁVA and ÁAA.

“An Introduction to Shiva”. Discourse in Bengali. Originally published in Bengali as “Nám Pariciti” in Namah Shiváya Shántáya, 1982. First published in English in Namah Shiváya Shántáya, 1982, tr. from the original Bengali by ÁVA, Avtk. Ánanda Mitrá Ác., and Ác. Amitábha Brc. Retr. by ÁVA and ÁAA. Tape.

“The Essential Dharma”. Discourse in Bengali. Originally published in Bengali as part of “Komale-Kat́hore” in Namah Shiváya Shántáya, 1982. First published in English as part of “Shiva – Both Severe and Tender” in Namah Shiváya Shántáya, 1982, tr. from the original Bengali by ÁVA, Avtk. Ánanda Mitrá Ác., and Ác. Amitábha Brc. Retr. by ÁVA and ÁAA. Tape.

“The Pervasive Influence”. Discourse in Bengali. Originally published in Bengali as parts of “Bahu-Pallavita Shiva” in Namah Shiváya Shántáya, 1982. First published in English as parts of “The Pervasive Influence of Shiva” in Namah Shiváya Shántáya, 1982, tr. from the original Bengali by ÁVA, Avtk. Ánanda Mitrá Ác., and Ác. Amitábha Brc. Retr. by ÁVA and ÁAA. Tape.

“Throughout the Ages”. Discourse in Bengali. Originally published in Bengali as parts of “Shiva Yuge Yuge” in Namah Shiváya Shántáya, 1982. First published in English as parts of “Shiva throughout the Ages” in Namah Shiváya Shántáya, 1982, tr. from the original Bengali by ÁVA, Avtk. Ánanda Mitrá Ác., and Ác. Amitábha Brc. Retr. by ÁVA and ÁAA. Tape.

“In the Glory of Shiva”. Discourses in Bengali. Originally published in Bengali as parts of “Shiver Sammánei Sabár Sammána – 1”, “– 2”, “– 3” in Namah Shiváya Shántáya, 1982. First published in English as parts of “All Bask in the Glory of Shiva – 1”, “– 2”, “– 3”, in Namah Shiváya Shántáya, 1982, tr. from the original Bengali by ÁVA, Avtk. Ánanda Mitrá Ác., and Ác. Amitábha Brc. Retr. by ÁVA and ÁAA. Tape.

“Buddhist Tantra, Jain Tantra and Hindu Tantra”. Discourse in Bengali. Originally published in Bengali as part of section on “Guhyakeshvara” in Shabda Cayaniká 26, 1990, p. 31-33. Tr. from the original Bengali by ÁVA and ÁAA.

“The Shiva-Gájan Festival”. Discourse in Bengali. Originally published in Bengali as part of section on “Grj Dhátu” in Shabda Cayaniká 26, 1990, p. 119-120. Tr. from the original Bengali by ÁVA and ÁAA.

Key:
ÁVA = Ác. Vijayánanda Avt.
ÁAA = Ác. Acyutánanda Avt.

Footnotes

(1) Ácárya Rámeshvaránanda Avadhúta, “Founder of Dharma for a New Era”, in PROUT, Vol. 3, No. 16, June 1-7, 1991. (Delhi: Proutist Universal).

Chapter 1	Discourses on Tantra Volume One [a compilation]

Each and every stage of Macrocosmic expression – crude, subtle or causal – shines with divine joy. Every atom of the universe is moving in that divine flow, in that rhythmic dance. It is as if this entire universe is the stage for the divine dance of Puruśottama. The divine dance, with Puruśottama as its nucleus, is the blissful flow of joyful creation.

When Prakrti loses Her balance, different evolutionary changes begin. Prakrti and Her principles are given different names at different stages of evolutionary change in the flow of creation.

At the first stage, when there is no imbalance in the triangle of forces, Prakrti is called Kaośikii Shakti (Shivánii Shakti). She is given this name because she is responsible for the creation of the kośas [layers of mind]. In that supreme stage Kaośikii remains unmanifested, remains as the primordial cause of all subsequent manifestations.

The second stage of Prakrti occurs when the triangle of forces loses its equilibrium. This is the stage at which Prakrti is first expressed as a straight line emerging from one of the vertices of the unbalanced triangle. It is called the Bhaeravii or intermediate stage. At this stage of expression there is no wave, and hence creation remains beyond the scope of perception. It is only when náda [flow without curvature] is converted into kalá [flow with curvature] that creation comes within the scope of perception.

When Bhaeravii Shakti attains the form of kalá She is called Bhavánii Shakti, and thus begins Prakrti’s third stage of expression. Bhavánii Shakti is active in air, light, vital energy and numerous other entities, and is responsible for maintaining the coordinating link between the crude and the subtle.

In intuitional practice this process is reversed: devotees elevate themselves from Bhavánii Shakti to Bhaeravii Shakti, from Bhaeravii Shakti to Kaośikii Shakti, and finally attain oneness with the Supreme Entity. Those who pursue this path of divine adoration are called devotees. Whom do devotees ideate on? Certainly on Puruśottama. Those who accept matter as their object of ideation can never attain Puruśottama, but will invariably degenerate towards the staticity of Bhavánii Shakti. Their entire being will ultimately be converted into inert matter. To ideate on Puruśottama means to transform Bhavánii into Bhaeravii and Bhaeravii into Kaośikii, thereby establishing oneness between the devotee and the Lord. In the process of transforming crude waves into subtle waves, devotees become one with their final goal. If one’s movement is towards the crude, one’s psycho-physical waves will become cruder and cruder. But if one’s movement is towards the Supreme, if Bhavánii Shakti is transformed into Bhaeravii Shakti, then one’s waves will gradually straighten. The subtle waves of effulgence will also become straight. Thus a devotee’s movement towards the Supreme One is an endeavour to transform crude energy into subtle energy. To transform Bhavánii Shakti into Bhaeravii Shakti both shraddhá [implicit veneration for one’s goal] and viirya [stamina] are important. Without regular spiritual practice this transformation is impossible.

For a devotee, action is indispensable. Sádhaná itself is a type of action. If one sits idle like a piece of inert matter, sádhaná is impossible; the conversion of crude into subtle will never occur. The relationship between devotees and their Lord is strengthened through action. At this point a question may arise: on the path of sádhaná who is greater – a bhakta [devotee] or a karmii [person of action]? The answer is simple and straightforward. For bhaktas all actions are a part of their psycho-spiritual practice, whereas for karmiis actions are merely seen as actions. Those people whose actions are indistinguishable from devotion are true devotees. Thus in the process of conversion of Bhavánii Shakti into Bhaeravii Shakti, devotion plays a greater role than so-called action.

What is the source of inspiration of the individual’s efforts to convert crude energy into subtle energy? In this case the Cognitive Faculty is the source of inspiration. Bhaeravii Shakti is prevented from being converted into Bhavánii Shakti with the help of the Cognitive Faculty, and with the help of the Cognitive Faculty Bhaeravii Shakti is merged in the cognitive flow.

In the struggle to transform Bhaeravii Shakti into Kaośikii Shakti, Citishakti [Cognitive Force] plays a dominant role, because Bhaeravii Shakti is the second stage of Citishakti in the flow of creation. The Cognitive Force manifests itself as Bhaeravii Shakti to expedite the evolution of mind. The will to evolve is primarily dependent on the active role of Bhaeravii Shakti. In fact Bhaeravii Shakti is one’s real “I”. It is with Her help that one must carry on one’s sádhaná to attain Citishakti. It is just like worshipping the Ganges with the water of the Ganges.

Suppose a certain student studies abroad with his father’s financial assistance. If he saves a little money every month and buys his father one of his favourite objects, his father will certainly feel happy. The pursuit of dharma is a similar process. One attains Parama Puruśa with the proper application of devotion, knowledge and action, which are the faculties He has chosen to bestow on spiritual aspirants.

Exactly the reverse occurs in the case of materialists who are puffed up with vanity: their Bhaeravii Shakti is gradually converted into Bhavánii Shakti. Only devotees can expand Bhaeravii Shakti because only they cherish the desire for supreme union with the Cognitive Faculty. They do not ask the Supreme Being for wealth, opulence, fame or children, but pray, “O Lord, please manifest Yourself fully in me. Make me Yours, O Lord.” They continue to pray like this until they merge in the Supreme.

They continue their efforts to attain the Supreme with the physical and psychic strength already bestowed upon them by the Supreme Entity. To ask for extra power without first utilizing the power already given them would be to show disrespect to Parama Puruśa. Only after all their power has been totally exhausted may they ask Parama Puruśa for anything. If He so desires, Parama Puruśa may grant that request through some third entity. While utilizing one’s energy one should pray to Parama Puruśa, “O Lord, I am working with the strength given by You. Let me not make the mistake of taking it to be my own power. Let me not forget You, O Lord.”

Devotees will have to straighten the waves of Bhavánii Shakti. The more the waves are straightened, the more Bhavánii will be transformed into Bhaeravii Shakti. This straightening of the waves is the first stage of sádhaná. As long as sádhakas remain within the scope of Bhavánii Shakti they observe that all finite entities of the universe are separate from one another. But when they enter the bounds of Bhaeravii Shakti after straightening the waves of Bhavánii Shakti, they discover that all those previous differentiations have vanished into nothingness. The more the influence of Bhavánii Shakti, the greater the feeling of differentiation; and the more the influence of Bhaeravii Shakti, the greater the feeling of unity.

Many people think that social service alone is the best process of sádhaná, but they are mistaken. Through intuitional practice a sádhaka succeeds in elevating Bhaeravii and Bhavánii Shaktis in individual life. A person who develops the cognitive faculty in this way will spontaneously do social service. Service is the way and the life of such a spiritual aspirant. A balance between one’s individual dharma and social dharma will thus be established.

When one’s cognitive faculty becomes so subtle that one sees Brahma in all manifested entities, one can play a proper role in the practical world. Only at this stage does one realize that no one in this universe is inferior, for all are the children of the same Supreme Father and Supreme Mother. Brothers and sisters belonging to the same family cannot belong to separate castes. So those who support casteism are atheists. Those who want to perpetuate economic disparities are also atheists. No parents could sincerely desire one of their children to become fabulously rich and roll in opulence, while another slowly starves to death.

Human beings should develop themselves as individuals by expanding their dormant cognitive faculties through intuitional practice, and should develop their socio-economic life by eradicating the vested interests in the socio-economic sphere. Those who have rendered service to society and have either become government ministers or been otherwise rewarded with power and prestige, but have failed to practise sádhaná in their personal lives, generally degenerate later.

What happens before Bhavánii Shakti is metamorphosed into Bhaeravii Shakti? Bhavánii Shakti emanates from Puruśa in so many waves. It is the variation in these waves which causes the differences among the many objects of the universe. Bhavánii, Bhaeravii and Kaośikii Shaktis are created according to the way the three principles act on the Cognitive Faculty. When major changes occur in Bhavánii Shakti, ether, air, fire, water and other crude objects can be perceived. These entities acquire different forms due to the differences in the waves created by the three principles. Thus we observe the same Puruśa manifested in different ways.

It is due to a particular vibration of Bhavánii Shakti that we perceive Puruśa as a piece of iron, and due to another vibration that we perceive Puruśa as a piece of gold. Had there been no differences among the wavelengths of Bhavánii Shakti, there would have been no differences among the manifested objects. When spiritual aspirants remain within the periphery of Bhavánii Shakti and observe the differences among objects, they realize the Supreme Singularity behind the diversity of expression.

All objects are the varying forms of Puruśa. When one realizes that all these diverse objects finally merge into His supreme singularity, social service becomes more important than anything else, because service to individuals or the collectivity means service to Brahma.

So in the first stage of sádhaná, as a result of the constant superimposition of Cosmic ideation, Bhavánii Shakti is changed into Bhaeravii Shakti. Then all the objects of the world are seen as expressions of Brahma. This realization is not brought about by the study of books. Book knowledge is only perceptional knowledge; it cannot take one beyond the boundary of perception. If people study constantly without practising sádhaná, psycho-physical parallelism will make them vain and egotistical.

Mathitvácatváro vedán sarvashástrańi caeva hi
Sáraḿ tu yogibhih piitaḿ takraḿ pivanti pańd́itáh.

[When the Vedas and all the scriptures are churned, the essence of all knowledge is assimilated by the yogis, and the non-essential portion is eaten by the pandits.]

The constant churning of the ocean of knowledge produces butter and buttermilk. The spiritual aspirants eat the butter; the pandits remain satisfied with the buttermilk. The goal of a sádhaka is not to become a bookworm, but to become a devotee.

Remember that until one becomes one with the Cognitive Faculty, one will have to continue to act. Through karma sádhaná [the yoga of action] one advances to the second stage of progress, realizing that everything is Brahma. The outlook of differentiation is a defective outlook.

In the third stage the question of differentiation does not even arise: the difference between the seer and the “seeable” is completely obliterated. The doer, the deed and the witnessing entity merge in the same Consciousness. All that remains is one undifferentiated Supreme Entity.

The Cosmic force that is active in the psychic sphere of microcosms is Bhaeravii Shakti. As Bhaeravii is the force which starts moving from a vertex of the unbalanced supreme triangle, one will have to concentrate one’s mind on a particular point in the process of sádhaná. Thus in ásana shuddhi, Bhaeravii Shakti is concentrated at a nuclear point, and subsequently transformed into Kaośikii Shakti. When that transformation occurs, the unit mind gradually dissolves into the Cosmic Mind. The three principles of Prakrti remain perfectly balanced in Kaośikii Shakti, and thus lie unexpressed.

Devotees reach Kaośikii Shakti with the help of Bhavánii and Bhaeravii Shaktis. Hence devotees must be Sháktas, always ready to fight against the hostile forces which thwart spiritual progress. They must not encourage timidity or cowardice. If their minds are directed towards Bhavánii Shakti their Bhaeravii Shakti will become crudified. Hence sádhakas must carry on a relentless fight against all crudifying forces. For this reason they must also be viirácáriis.⁽¹⁾ They must ideate constantly on Parama Puruśa, and gradually transform Bhaeravii Shakti into Kaośikii Shakti. But one should remember that Kaośikii Shakti is not one’s final goal. Even after merging one’s identity into Kaośikii Shakti it can still be the cause of bondage and subsequent rebirth.

Of all the bondages, the bondage of [Bhavánii] is most strongly felt, but [Bhavánii] Herself is not the original entity. While utilizing mundane objects, one should always ideate on the Cognitive Faculty working behind this myriad world of forms and colours. The regressive movement that the mind makes when ideating on matter is prevented by this Cosmic ideation or Brahmacarya sádhaná.

One who ideates on the Supreme Entity while engaged in individual and collective sádhaná establishes a happy correlation between Bhaeravii Shakti and one’s cognitive faculty. Such a person will never degenerate, even though his or her cherished supreme goal may not be fully realized. The main factor is the clear awareness of one’s goal. Your own excellence depends on the excellence of your goal. To build a bridge over the Ganges is not the goal in itself; the actual goal is to connect north Bihar to south Bihar. Of course, that goal is achieved by building the bridge.

The attainment of Brahma signifies the victory of one’s ideology; first the victory of Bhaeravii Shakti and then the victory of Kaośikii Shakti. Or put in another way, first the defeat of Bhavánii Shakti, then the defeat of Bhaeravii and Kaośikii Shaktis at the hands of Puruśa. When one becomes the master of Bhavánii, Bhaeravii and Kaośikii Shaktis, one attains enormous power to subdue the wicked forces and protect the forces of righteousness in the external world.

One who does not practise any active sádhaná to control these three shaktis and expand one’s cognitive faculty cannot fight against antisocial forces. This process of bringing these three shaktis within one’s control is called sádhanásamara [the battle of intuitional practice]. This battle should end in one of two ways: in victory or in death. One should never undergo the ignominy of defeat. If one dies while seeking the Supreme, one will surely attain the Supreme after death. One who is totally absorbed in ideation on the Supreme becomes one with the Supreme at the time of death. This is certainly true in the case of devotees. The duality between the one who serves and the entity served ceases to exist. Ultimately the one who serves, the entity who is served, and the action of serving become fused into one. If one’s goal is right, one is sure to attain the supreme stance. And one who attains the supreme stance will never make the mistake of differentiating between high and low, literate and illiterate, touchable and untouchable.

Shmasháne vá grhe, hirańye vá trńe,
Tanuje vá ripao, hutáshe vá jale.
Svakiiye vá pare samatvena buddhyá,
Viráje avadhúto dvitiiyo Maheshah.

[The sádhaka who views everything with equanimity, be it his home or the burial ground, gold or grass, his own children or his enemies, fire or water, his own property or another’s property, lives in the world as an avadhúta, as if the second manifestation of Shiva.]

Footnotes

(1) Editors’ note: Tantrics who adopt a particularly “heroic” ideation while seeking to confront and overcome all mental weaknesses.

Chapter 2	Discourses on Tantra Volume One [a compilation]

Consciousness in the psycho-physical unit structures gets manifested in the process of pratisaiṋcara when Puruśottama by His ota yoga associatively reflects on the unit psychic plate. It is through this process, pratisaiṋcara, that the Ever-Merciful elevates each creation of His by the force of Vidyámáyá. As already discussed, the physical and psychic clash and the attraction of the Great cause psychic dilation, and ultimately the unit psychic body can attain its final liberation or mukti by its spiritual sádhaná. Different unit minds exist at different levels and experience varying degrees of His love and proximity depending upon their progress in the process of pratisaiṋcara. The auspicious day with infinite ánanda descends, and all the bondages of Prakrti shatter down when Brahmatva is attained.

Such individuals set the ideal for humanity and, in turn, humanity starts paying homage to them. Such elevated beings can and should only be called Mahápuruśa, meaning thereby elevated psychic beings. Unto their holy feet, one can offer the flowers of devotion and aspiration, but they desire no crude earthly flowers and offerings.

The advent of Mahápuruśa is misinterpreted as incarnation. Incarnation is an illogical hypothesis. The whole universe being created out of Him and by Him is His incarnation. The term avatára means a “derivation”, and the application of this term to individual units who are far advanced in the process of pratisaiṋcara is a misleading misnomer. It is illogical to consider that the Macrocosm metamorphosed Himself directly into some unit structure, mostly as a human being. Human beings are the most evolved individual units as a class in His creation, and every stage of the elevated psychic Mahápuruśa is the result of saiṋcara and then pratisaiṋcara. It is a gradual elevation and not an abrupt descent or occurrence.

Logically speaking, therefore, it will be correct to designate any unit consciousness as incarnation of God or to say that the Messenger of God traverses the path of saiṋcara, goes through a process of evolution and importance, and through psychic dilation in the process of pratisaiṋcara reaches different stages of elevation. The incarnation theory, or avatáraváda, however, hypothesizes that the incarnated being is the direct descent of the Almighty, the rest of His creation remaining unexplained as to its source of origin.

The word avatára [derives from ava – tr, which means] “descend”, “derive” or “degenerate”. The incarnated being, according to this dogma of degeneration of Puruśottama, cannot have an equal status with Puruśottama. When the psychic status of a created being assumes sameness with the Cosmic Entity, the unit psychic entity actually merges into the Cosmic Mind leaving no dualism. Hence how can any equal status with Puruśottama be imagined existing as a separate entity in any stage within Brahma Cakra (the collective name of saiṋcara and pratisaiṋcara)? The whole theory of incarnation or avatáraváda is, therefore, not convincing and rational for an intellectual analysis.

Behind the superstitious belief of avatáraváda lies one more social current created by a class of vested interests. Inquisitiveness and reasoning is a natural impulse in human beings. Due to certain pressing circumstances or intellectual renaissance there was a reaction against the illogical faiths and superstitions prevalent in society. These superstitions provided a strong basis for exploitation of society by intellectual parasites who had learnt to live on the blood and labour of others. To maintain their domination through a system of superstitious belief, these parasites invented means to curb this growth of reaction and intellectual rationalism and presented to the mass a sentimental appeal. Any command, rational or irrational, was enforced on society with so-called divine force by enunciation of the incarnation theory. Corruption was perpetrated in the name of God and all those raising their heads against such commands or preachings were called reactionaries, atheists, and curbed drastically. “Give the dog a bad name and hang it,” was their motto. They went to the extent of manipulating, polluting and misinterpreting even the precious writings of many great philosophers whose work had been respected as religious treatises from ancient times – all with an ulterior motive, to get their interests served.

Táraka Brahma

In Brahma Cakra there is no uniformity of flow. The speed of the sentient force is greater than that of the mutative, and the mutative has more speed than the static. Thus in the beginning of saiṋcara the speed is greater. Similarly, after elevation, under the influence of the sentient force or reaching sámánya deha (a stage beyond the hirańmaya kośa where the unit mind experiences only the sentient force), the speed is greater. The speed of the unit mind far exceeds the normal flow in the Cosmos, and it gets accelerated if the unit mind as a result of spiritual practice tends itself towards the Nucleus Consciousness.

Since the beginning of creation humans have been aspiring for this merger with the Nucleus Consciousness. The non-uniformity of speed changes the movement of the unit mind to an elliptical force, and the motion changes to oval from circular. They get merged in Puruśottama who aspire for Him as the ultimate destiny, but those who aim at mokśa, where sádhaná is the complete surrender of self into That (Nirguńa Brahma, the Objectless Consciousness), get out of this Brahma Cakra by a tangential touch. At this point of tangential touch is the abode of Táraka Brahma (who resides within the scope of both Nirguńa and Saguńa Brahma). Táraka Brahma is a concept of Tantra.

In Tantra the whole creation is known as sambhúti. When Táraka Brahma by His own will takes the help of the five fundamental factors (the paiṋca bhútas), His physical entity comes within the scope of Saguńa Brahma, otherwise He is Nirguńa Brahma. When Táraka Brahma takes the assistance of the five fundamental factors, according to Tantra it is called His Mahásambhúti.

In Tantra sádhaná or in Ananda Marga sádhaná one whose goal is Puruśottama merges in Saguńa Brahma, and one who aims at Nirguńa Brahma becomes surrendered into the Objectless Entity. It is only in Tantra that the sádhaná of Táraka Brahma has been specially defined distinct from the sádhaná of Nirguńa and Saguńa and has its own peculiarity. Theoretically speaking, Saguńa Brahma has infinite saḿskáras, and so for an infinite time to come Saguńa Brahma will continue to enjoy the fruits of Its own past actions. Nirguńa is the Objectless Entity with no action or derivation, but Táraka Brahma is the middle point and can fulfil the function of both. He guides, loves and favours His affectionate sons and daughters. His children say that He cannot live without loving them and address Him, “O our great Father, our affectionate Mother, our All, we remember Thee, we adore Thee. O Witnessing Entity, we offer our homage to Thee, Thou art the only rescue in this crude worldly ocean, so to Thee we surrender ourselves.” This complete surrender is the summum bonum of all spiritual sádhaná, which only can lead to Him from where decline is not even imaginable. Really blessed is one who has attained this complete surrender unto Him, like the piece of salt which went to measure the depth of the ocean – but a momentous divine jerk and an attraction occurred and the bit of salt was lost, no one knows where.

(Táraka Brahma is not a figure of philosophy – it is a creation of devotional sentiment.)

Chapter 3	Discourses on Tantra Volume One [a compilation]

In the previous chapters, it has been clearly explained that the Transcendent Entity is one Infinite and Its immanent principles are the sentient, the mutative and the static. By their very nature these forces are belligerent. Their direction is haphazard, forming infinite figures with innumerable sides. Prakrti here is said to be anucchúnyá, and Brahma here is objectless, because there is no question of subjectivation (feeling of Doer “I”) or objectivation (feeling of done “I”), and therefore Brahma is called nirguńa, “beyond all the attributes” of Prakrti. In common language it is said that Prakrti has not been able to get Brahma influenced or metamorphosed. Here, therefore, there is not even the seed of creation.

If more than two forces are acting at a place the figure of forces tends to become triangular. These belligerent forces, therefore, make a triangle of forces. In the initial stage, there is balance in the triangular figure. The hectagon, septagon and other multi-sided figures have been transformed into triangles of forces, but no resultant is formed because of proper adjustment of the three types of forces. In this state of equilibrium, the triple qualities of Prakrti exist, but in a balanced state. This state, however, differs from the previous one not only in the fact that a triangle of forces has been formed, but also in the fact that the sentient, the mutative and the static forces are clearly distinguishable. In the previous stage the forces had no clear identity; they were flowing without any feelings. But in this triangular stage there is a constant exchange of identities amongst the three fundamental principles (forces). This mutual exchange or transformation is called svarúpa parińáma. The conversion involves no bondage, and though the sentient is penetrating into the mutative, the mutative into the static and so on, there is a perfect balance here. The balanced Prakrti is addressed simply as Prakrti (without any adjective).

Puruśa is the fundamental entity at every stage. When He gets encircled by the triangle of forces (sentient, mutative and static), though no resultant force has formed, there is a theoretical difference between the Puruśabháva in the first stage when Prakrti was anucchúnyá, and the Puruśabháva in the second stage when Prakrti has shaped Herself into a triangle of forces. In the later stage not only is Puruśa in a theoretical bondage of the three principles, but also there is a chance of His being expressed. Puruśa has not yet metamorphosed, due to equilibrium of the triangle of forces, but the chance of metamorphosis is imminent, so in spite of the fact that Puruśa here is unaffected, there is a theoretical speciality in Puruśa at this stage. This Puruśabháva is called Shiva, and Prakrti, Shivánii or Kaośikii. Prakrti is called Kaośikii because She is the cause of origin of different kośas which are formed later on in the process of evolution.

The difference between Shiva and Shivánii here is merely theoretical because no actual manifestation has occurred. Practical difference between Puruśa and Prakrti starts arising the moment a resultant of forces is formed. Imbalance or lack of equilibrium in the three belligerent forces causes this resultant, and metamorphosis of Puruśa starts due to activation by this Prakrti. The point at which the resultant force bursts out is known as biija – in Tantra, it is called kámabiija. Here lies the innate desire of creation.

Shiva Shakti vibhágena, jáyate srśt́i kalpaná, that is, “Shiva, the Transcendental Entity encircled in the triangle of forces, and Shakti, or Prakrti, on being acted and reacted within themselves, are the cause of the divine desire of creation.” This point (kámabiija) is static and is dominated by Avidyámáyá and rests within its scope of activity. This is the point wherein lies the Cosmic desire. It, therefore, can also be termed icchábiija, or “seed of desire”.

The next stage after this point is the expression of desire or the expression of the resultant force, which must be in a straight line (jiṋánashakti náda) because every force expresses itself by a direction. Philosophically speaking, even though the point is dominated by the static force, further expression is due to the sentient force. Prakrti has a tremendous force but is mainly sentient at this stage, even though the mutative is well active within it. At this stage the flow of expression must, therefore, be in a straight line, because the sentient-dominated force itself must be a straight line.

Prakrti by nature merges Herself in Puruśabháva regularly but by degrees. Hence the flow changes and the force of expression gradually becomes less and less. There is also a never-ending clash amongst the belligerent forces of Prakrti, due to which internal friction increases. Thus due to gradual merger of Prakrti and growing internal friction (known as guńakśobha in Tantra) within Prakrti, the flow ceases to be in a straight line, tends to take up curvature and attains a wavelength. The first curvature thus formed is termed kalá (kriyá shakti). Prakrti is active from kámabiija to the kalá and is called Bhaeravii in the náda stage, and Puruśa is termed Bhaerava.

The conquest of the mutative over the sentient and the gradual movement towards domination (second occasion) by the static force results in curvatures following the preceding curvature. Kalá is followed by further formation of curvatures one after another, but each succeeding curve is not necessarily of the same wavelength as the preceding one. In fact, the difference goes on increasing as the wavelength continues to decrease. This sequence of curvatures is known as sadrsha parińáma. Here the static-dominated mutative Prakrti is responsible for the expression of the universe. The universe gets created. Prakrti responsible for this creation or metamorphosis is known as Bhavánii; She is the energy of evolution. The metamorphosed Puruśabháva under the influence of Bhavánii is called Bhava. In Sanskrit bhava means “to become”. Here Puruśa has become the universe of creation and therefore Puruśa is called Bhava. The practical difference between Bhava and Bhavánii is the maximum, whereas the difference between Bhaerava and Bhaeravii was tending from the theoretical to the practical aspect.

In the first chapter, on “Saiṋcara and Práńáh”, it was pointed out that the whole universe is the thought-projection of the Cosmic Mind, or Macrocosm. The projection of Macrocosm towards expression is a singular positive approach by which the Cosmos appears to have taken the shape of this universe. In this path of evolutionary expression, the human physique gets its existence at a later stage of the formation of the curvatures. The complexity of the physical curvature goes on increasing, yet it is very near the point of its descent. The mental body is much more subtle and can by sádhaná, or spiritual practice, trespass and counteract the force of Avidyámáyá and proceed forth to come under the influence of Vidyámáyá, the force of Cosmic attraction. Mental liberation, or mukti, is possible this way.

Non-qualified liberation, or mokśa, is, however, only possible if the mental body, starting from the crudest mental subjectivity of the physical body, can, by any force, retrace against the singular positive force emanating due to the thought-projection of the Macrocosm. This force against the singular positive force must be a negative one. Hence the path of non-qualified spiritual practice which can reach final mokśa is always the path of negativity. The theoretical negative force with its fundamental negativity, which tends towards the final merger into Puruśa for attaining mokśa, is called kulakuńd́alinii – the “coiled serpentine”.

Since kulakuńd́alinii is the negative force of the unit body, it is different for each individual. As the sádhaná is more or less for a psycho-physical liberation in the initial stage, its starting-point must be in the crudest manifestation. It must reside in that portion of the physical body from which the crudest matter (kśititattva) of the body is controlled. The starting-point of the kulakuńd́alinii, therefore, is in the múládhára. It is fundamentally negative in character, and its starting-point is the negative kámabiija of the living being, just as the point from which the positive resultant force of Prakrti got expression is the kámabiija, or icchábiija, of the Cosmic Being.

The arena in which the kulakuńd́alinii resides is known as káma-piitha. The starting-point of the fundamental positivity, that is, the kámabiija of the Cosmic Being, is on the back of Shambhúliuṋga, and that of negativity on the back of Svayambhúliuṋga. Within the self of the yoga sádhaka, or one who practises the scientific method of spiritual approach with the help of this kulakuńd́alinii, the force of fundamental negativity fights out and aggressively rises up against the force of Avidyámáyá and thereby gets domination over the flow of fundamental positivity. This path of non-compromising aggressive spirituality is the only way to ultimate oneness with Infinite Consciousness.

Chapter 4	Discourses on Tantra Volume One [a compilation]

4-1. Triguńátmiká srśt́imátrká asheśatrikońadhárá.

[The tri-attributional primordial force (progenitrix of creation) flows on in endless triangular forms.]

Purport: In Parama Puruśa a countless number of linear waves are taking place in the different flows of sattva [sentient], rajah [mutative] and tamah [static]. Their triple-attributional flows go on evolving triangles or different other multi-conical or polygonal diagrams. Even these polygonal diagrams are gradually getting transformed into triangles due to svarúpa parińáma [homomorphic evolution]. This triple-qualitative mátrkáshakti [primordial force] is endless.

4-2. Tribhúje Sá svarúpaparińámátmiká.

[In the triangle of forces, the three attributes of Prakrti are locked in endless mutual transformation.]

Purport: In these triangles transformations of sattva into rajah, rajah into tamah, then again of tamah into rajah and rajah into sattva, have been going on back and forth endlessly. These transformations are called svarúpa parińáma [homomorphic evolution].

4-3. Prathamá avyakte Sá Shivánii kendre ca Paramashivah.

[In the first stage (not yet a stage of actual manifestation), Prakrti is called Shivánii, and the witnessing Puruśa at the nucleus is called Paramashiva.]

Purport: The thread wherewith the mid-points of these triangles are interwoven is Puruśottama, or Paramashiva. So long as these triangles do not lose their equipoise in the wake of developing forces, we may regard it as the initial stage of the triangular receptacles. This first stage is verily the pre-evolutional stage and hence it is purely a theoretical stage. Prakrti, the creatress of these initial receptacles, is called Shivánii or Kaośikii, and the witnessing Puruśa is called Shiva.

4-4. Dvitiiyá sakale prathamodgame Bhaeravii Bhaeraváshritá.

[In the second phase, when the germ of evolution sprouts, Prakrti is called Bhaeravii, and the witnessing Puruśa is called Bhaerava.]

Purport: With the loss of equipoise of the triangle, the germ of evolution sprouts forth from any of the vertices and moves forward as a straight line as per degrees of the guńas. This state is really the manifested state of Puruśa and Prakrti. Here Puruśa is saguńa [qualified], for Prakrti has got the opportunity of expressing Herself. Prakrti the creatress of this state is called Bhaeravii shakti, and the name of the witnessing Puruśa is Bhaerava.

4-5. Sadrshaparińámena Bhavánii Sá Bhavadárá.

[In the vibrational world there is a sequence of similarity of curvatures (homogenesis). Here Prakrti is called Bhavánii and the witnessing Puruśa is called Bhava.]

Purport: In time as the result of internal clashes the flow of forces betrays some curvatures, and the density of the Puruśabháva [stance of Consciousness] also goes on decreasing. In this very condition develops the first kalá [curvature]. The second kalá is similar (not identical) to the first, and the third is similar to the second, and so on. So goes the kalá praváha [sequential or phasic flow]. This sequential evolution of kalás is called sadrsha parińáma [homogenesis, or similitude]. In these homogenetic waves are evolved the mental and physical worlds. It is due to this (homoform) curvilinear evolution that we find that the child of a human is a human and tree begets tree. The kalás are similar but not identical, and so although the difference between two successive kalás is not clearly perceivable, the differences of kalás having distant mutual relations are clearly understandable. Although the physical changes of one whom we see every day are not understandable, we can certainly make out the difference if we see a child of five, after twenty years, as a youth of twenty-five. Although human begets human, there will be a gulf of difference between a human of a million years ago and a human of today. In fact the creatress of the manifest world is this sequential force, which is called Bhavánii shakti and whose witnessing Puruśa is Bhava. The word bhava means “creation”.

4-6. Shambhúliuṋgát tasya vyaktih.

[The process of creation starts from Shambhúliuṋga.]

Purport: Actually the evolution from the theoretical stage to the practical manifestation dates from the very first expression of Bhavánii emanating from one of the points of the triangular receptacle. The common point of the theoretical and the practical evolution is called Shambhúliuṋga [Puruśa at the vertex of the triangle, the source of saiṋcara]. Actually this Shambhúliuṋga is the root-point of the fundamental positivity, after which comes the náda [flow without any curvature], followed by kalá.

4-7. Sthúliibhavane nidritá sá kuńd́alinii.

[In the ultimate state of crudification, the paráshakti lying dormant at Svayambhúliuṋga is called the kuńd́alinii (“coiled serpentine”).]

Purport: The last expressional point, which is the fringe of the Bhavánii shakti, is the ultimate state of expression of force – the ultimate state of crudity. In this state of crudity the paráshakti [introversial pervasive force] that is lying in a quiescent state as the jiivabháva [finite subjectivity], is called the kulakuńd́alinii [“coiled serpentine”, or force of fundamental negativity].

4-8. Kuńd́alinii sá múliibhútá rńátmiká.

[The kuńd́alinii is the (force of) fundamental negativity.]

Purport: The ultimate point of manifestation is called Svayambhúliuṋga. Svayambhúliuṋga is the ultimate point of negativity, wherein resides the kulakuńd́alinii force, quiescent and coiled like a serpent. If Shambhúliuṋga be the fundamental positivity, then the kulakuńd́alinii, lying at Svayambhúliuṋga, we may call the force of fundamental negativity.

Chapter 5	Discourses on Tantra Volume One [a compilation]

The subject of today’s discourse is “Sambhúti and Mahásambhúti”. In the Vedas it has been said,

Sambhútiiṋca vináshaiṋca yastadvedobhayaḿsaha;
Vináshena mrtyuḿ tiirtvá saḿbhútyámrtamashnute.

[It is better for people to understand Brahma in both Its aspects, sambhúti, or creation, and vinásha, or transformation. Through vinásha – changing from one form to another – they overcome death, and through sambhúti – the gift of a human body – they gain a chance for immortality.]

What is the meaning of Mahásambhúti? To acquire knowledge about Mahásambhúti, you must first understand sambhúti and vinásha. The word sambhúti is derived as: prefix sam – root verb bhú + suffix ktin, which combine to mean literally, “proper development, proper origin”.

What is proper development or origin? When something is created it is called sambhúti. But when people create something new out of some existing fundamental stuff, it is not called sambhúti. (There are certain fundamental elements which human beings cannot create, but out of which they can create various objects. These objects are called elements, and all are included in sambhúti.) Actually, sambhúti is a special creation of Parama Puruśa.

What do we mean by vinásha? Vinásha is derived as: vi – nash + ghaiṋ. Usually we come across three such words: násha, vinásha and prańásha. What we call “destruction” in ordinary language is called násha. When an object is transformed and cannot be brought back to its original form it is called vinásha. For example, when a five-year-old boy grows into a twenty-five-year-old man it signifies a major change. Where has the growing body of the five-year-old gone? It has been annihilated. When an object returns to its original source after being annihilated, it is called prańásha. Prańásha signifies destruction also, but of a different nature. For example, when you prepare puri [unleavened bread puffed by deep frying] out of wheat flour and then transform it back into wheat flour, this is prańásha.

Let us take another example. Sugar is made from cane-juice. If the sugar is transformed back into cane-juice, that will be prańásha. In brief, sambhúti means “an original creation”, and vinásha is the total destruction of an object which cannot be transformed back to its original source.

The fundamental stuff of the universe has emerged from Parama Puruśa; hence all objects, big and small, are the sambhútis of Parama Puruśa. This sambhúti or creation is divided into various worlds: physical, plant, animal and human. Inanimate and animate beings are divided into various branches and sub-branches, which are also the creations of Parama Puruśa. In ordinary language they can also be called avatára. When Parama Puruśa is manifested in some physical object, that physical object is called the avatára of Parama Puruśa.

The word avatára is derived as: ava – tr + ghaiṋ. How diversified is the creation of Parama Puruśa! What striking differences there are among objects! Even in the plant world some plants are quite developed, while others are totally undeveloped. In the living world the protozoic body is undeveloped, but the metazoic body is developed. There is tremendous complexity within the flow of evolution of living beings. The undeveloped creatures of the living world are called jiivakot́i, and those which are highly developed are called Iishvarakot́i. The entire gamut of evolution from protozoic cells up to human beings are called jiivakot́is. These jiivakot́is [living beings] evolve through psychic and social clash. For example, those people who are dull and unintelligent today are sure to develop one day in the gradual process of evolution. When they become highly intelligent people, their physical capacity will also increase. Through intensive self-culture, a jiivakot́i can achieve a lot. Thus one should not worry; those who have taken the shelter of Parama Puruśa will certainly merge in Him.

Like jiivakot́is, the other branches and sub-branches of creation have originated from Parama Puruśa. You are not the actual owner of your physical and intellectual strength and spiritual power all these things have come from Parama Puruśa. All these powers have their limits, but Parama Puruśa is the source of all power.

In a jiivakot́i, strength can develop only to a certain degree, for the capacity of development of living beings is limited this is why they are called jiivakot́is. Suppose a certain man is trying to increase his physical strength through physical exercise. His strength can increase only to a certain degree. The physical strength of human beings is such that it cannot increase beyond a certain point. In exactly the same way, a certain person may develop the power of memory; but this development can take place only up to a certain age. Once that age is reached, there can be no further improvement. An ordinary human being can never become omniscient.

And what does Iishvarakot́i mean? In Iishvarakot́i there is a greater manifestation of divinity. A jiivakot́i by virtue of sincere and ardent spiritual practice can elevate itself to Iishvarakot́i. Both jiivakot́i and Iishvarakot́i are creations of Parama Puruśa. Thus in the gradual process of evolution they will become one with Brahma one day. In the Vedas it has been said:

Eśo ha deva pradisho’nu sarvá
Púrvohajátah sa u garbhe anta;
Sa eva játah sah janiśyamánah,
Pratyaḿjanáḿstist́hate sarvatomukhah.

Eśo ha deva pradisho’nu sarvá. Each direction is a creation of Parama Puruśa. He exists in all four directions. There are considerable differences in recommendations as to which way one should face while sitting in meditation or worship. Some say east, some say west; others advise north. Superstitious people consider the south to be inauspicious, as the south is supposed to be death’s door. But the rśi [sage] says that all the pradisha [cardinal points] north, south, east and west and all the anudisha [secondary points] northeast, northwest, southeast, southwest, above and below are the sambhútis of Parama Puruśa. So which way should people face? He pervades all the directions; all are His creations. Thus it is not necessary to face always in one direction.

Púrvohajátah. Those objects which existed in the distant past were also His creation. For instance, this planet earth was created after dissociation from the sun about 8,000 million years ago. At that time this earth was only a gaseous substance, but that too was a creation of Parama Puruśa. Subsequently that gas cooled and gradually solidified to form the earth. This metamorphosis took place around 2,230 million years ago, long before the advent of human beings. Naturally there was no question of anyone ascribing any name to it.

As the earth gradually cooled, many layers of rock were formed under the crust. Each of these layers is also a creation of Parama Puruśa, created by certain temperatures, pressures and atmospheric conditions. In brief, whatever was created in the past was the sambhúti of the Supreme Entity.

The totality of all the sambhútis is this universe. All the entities from the mighty sun to the tiny ant are a part of this universe. All the celestial bodies, living, dying or dead; all the nebulae, galaxies and the Milky Way; are members of the same universal family. A galaxy is vast, an ant is tiny, yet both have equal importance in maintaining the balance of the universe. If even an ant dies prematurely, that mishap may disturb the balance of the universe. Nothing in this universe is unimportant, not even a tiny ant. Suppose an ant moves an inch from the east to the west on a stone. If the balance of the stone is jeopardized by this change, this incident may be the cause of a major earthquake, because ants are also His sambhúti.

Through excavation we have discovered many fossils of animals and plants. These discoveries prove that in ancient times various gigantic animals existed, most of which have become extinct. All that remains are the fossilized bones of their bodies. Various ages – [Archean], Mesozoic, Oligocene, Eocene, etc. – have come and gone. Each of these ages had its respective animals and plants, which became extinct in a subsequent age. Each age is a sambhúti; each animal, plant and geological layer is also a sambhúti. Nothing is unnecessary.

About 1,700,000 years ago, towards the end of the Miocene Age and the early part of the Oligocene Age, the australopithecine came onto this earth. That animal is now extinct, but its successors, such as orangutans, chimpanzees, and gorillas, still exist. One branch of that group evolved into human beings. Hence the first ancestors of human beings should be called australopithecine and not “Káshyapa” or “Bharadvája” [names of early clan leaders]. The ancestors of human beings are monkeys, so monkeys are the relatives of human beings. All things that came on earth in the past were sambhútis of Parama Puruśa.

Sa u garbhe anta. Those beings which existed in the past are not the only sambhútis; those who will be born in the future will also be His sambhútis. Our ancestors used to say in ancient times, Ahaḿ gacchámi [“I’m going”]. Later on this was changed into Ahammi gacchata huim. Still later the sentence was changed into Maṋy jáhátá háṋi. Finally it became Maṋy játá huṋ [in modern Hindi]. One thousand years from now the same sentence will be changed into Mái jáṋi. Thus you see, one sambhúti is dying, yielding its place to a new one. Whatever will come will be an expression of Parama Puruśa the changes will be of form and sound only.

Sa eva játah. Whatever we see at present is His sambhúti also. Nothing in this universe is unimportant, though it may be small or petty. Take the case of alcoholics. To others they are degraded persons, but one has no right to hate them. Hatred is not an expression of moral courage. It is definitely not a praiseworthy tendency.

Sa eva játah sah janiśyamánah. If all the objects of this universe are the creations of Parama Puruśa, how can you hate anyone or anything? How is it possible to meditate on one divine expression and hate another? Mahásambhúti is the object of your ideation. There are certain entities which take a long time in undergoing internal and external change. For example, during the Cretaceous Age this earth was populated by gigantic animals which had immense bodies full of fat.

The geography of this earth is constantly changing. Where the sea is surrounded by land on three sides it is called a bay, for instance, the Bay of Bengal. The water of a bay is not ruffled by the high waves of the sea. The carcasses of many animals and creatures used to wash into the waters of such bays and accumulate there. This process resulted in the creation of sargasso seas. The carcasses would form a layer on the surface of the water so thick that small animals could even walk on it. When this hard crust thickened enough, the result was the sargasso sea. Underneath was water, and on the surface people could live and move. As the dead bodies accumulated, the fatty portion of the carcasses was converted into mineral oil under climatic pressures and pressures created in the earth’s surface. Thus by observing the geological structure of the earth, it is possible to determine the location of mineral oil. For example, the Assam valley, the Garo and Khasiya Hills, and the Himalayas, have large deposits of mineral oil, as do Rajasthan and Saurashtra. It takes a few tens of millions of years for animal fat to be converted into mineral oil.

The difference between the human beings of one million years ago and those of today is immense. Even the physical structures of developed human beings of today differ from those of undeveloped. The human structure also gradually changes in pace with human progress. All the ectoplasmic cells, nerve cells and nerve fibres of human beings are changing; the glands and plexi are also changing.

Pratyaḿjanáḿstiśt́hate sarvatomukhah. Behind every sambhúti, Parama Puruśa exists. Suppose you are sitting somewhere thinking about filing a case against your uncle. No one can know your internal thought, but Parama Puruśa knows. Or suppose your boss has arrived. You give him a proper reception and verbally request him to stay three or four days. But internally you are thinking, “The sooner this calamity is over, the better.” Here you are maintaining a duality between the internality and the externality. Parama Puruśa certainly knows your dual role. He exists behind every object, in every existence. For each and every sambhúti He has created a witnessing counterpart. So it is not possible for you to keep anything secret He has vigilant eyes everywhere. He is equally present in both animate and inanimate objects. We can say allegorically that He is associated with every object of creation through His five faces and His three eyes. The three eyes represent the past, present and future.

It is physically impossible for anyone to have five faces, yet Shiva is called Paiṋcánana [“Five-Faced God”]. So what are those five faces?

Shiva has one face in front flanked by two faces on the right and two on the left. The face on the extreme right is called Dakśińeshvara. This face conveys the message: “Listen to me! This will be good for you. You should behave in this way. Follow me. Please follow this path. Don’t indulge in improper deeds, but follow the path of morality and pious deeds.” Dakśińeshvara guides people with sweet polite language. Even though it tells one not to do certain things, it is still pleasant.

The face on the extreme left is called Vámadeva. It speaks with a thunderous voice. “You worthless chap, why did you do such a thing? I will punish you severely.” Thereafter it punishes the wrongdoer with a stick. “Don’t take me lightly, your bones will learn what is proper and what is improper!” This Vámadeva is the exact opposite of Dakśińeshvara.

The face next to Dakśińeshvara is called Iishána. It says, “Look, my child, follow this path. If you follow any other path, it will bring you only sorrow. Don’t make such a mistake. Prakrti will never pardon you. The result will be disastrous.” Iishána clearly states the consequences of misdeeds and gives a few pieces of advice. You may experience Parama Puruśa either in the form of Dakśińeshvara or in that of Iishána.

And on the left, the face next to Vámadeva is called Kálágni. Kálágni says, “Severe punishment is awaiting you. Your bones will be broken. Stupid! What nonsense are you doing?” In this way Kálágni scolds and threatens to punish, although it does not actually carry it out. Kálágni tries to rectify wrongdoers by creating fear in them, not by actual punishment. When someone becomes extremely angry we call him agnisharmá [red as fire]. The face in the middle is called Kalyáńasundaram. This face says, “Come, dear child, and sit beside me. I hope you are quite well.” This is the role of Kalyáńasundaram. Thus human beings want only Kalyáńasundaram.

With these five faces the Supreme Entity is watching the movement of each and every human being. He takes steps according to the particular situation. In the Vedas there appears the following prayer:

Asato má sadgamaya tamaso má jyotirgamaya;
Mrtyormámrtaḿgamaya ávirávirmayaedhi.

Rudra yatte dakśińaḿ mukham;
Tena máḿ páhi nityam.

“O Lord, take me from this ever-changing world to immortality. Lead me from darkness to light, from the world of death to the world of immortality, from the world of despondency to the world of joy, and, O Lord, come and manifest Yourself in me. O Rudra, with Your Dakśińeshvara face on the extreme right, protect me always. Make me vigilant, so that I will never make any omissional mistake and you will never have occasion to scold me.”

So this is His srśt́iliilá [play of creation], His sambhúti. Behind each of His sambhútis there is a particular wave of energy coming from Him. No one is neglected.

Sama plushiná sama mashakena sama nágena sama ebhistribhirlokaeh.

[Parama Puruśa looks upon a white ant, a mosquito, a mighty mammoth and the three worlds with impartiality.]

Samaplushiná. The word plushiná means “white ant”. An anthill made by white ants is called valmiika in Sanskrit. The sage around whose body the white ants once made a hill became named “Válmiiki”. He was so still when engrossed in silent, deep, spiritual meditation that white ants had sufficient time and opportunity to build an ant hill around his body.

Samamashakena. Mashaka means “mosquito” or any tiny creature. Samanágena. The word nága has three meanings: “python”, “mammoth” and “mountain spring”. Parama Puruśa has equal love and affection for white ants, mosquitoes and mammoths. Even though a mammoth has a huge body, Parama Puruśa shows no special partiality for it. He is as concerned about a tiny mosquito as He is about the entire universe. Although this vast universe, along with the so-called heaven and the so-called hell and this world of mortals, is so complex and vast, Parama Puruśa does not devote any extra time to it, nor does He devote any extra time to the tiny ant. Behind every sambhúti there functions a particular force assigned by Parama Puruśa. According to scriptures this force is called deva. Deva means a special manifestation of divine power, a special effulgence radiated from Parama Puruśa. Thus no entity should be hated, and none is insignificant.

Dyotate kriid́ate yasmádudyate dyotate divi
Tasmáddeva iti proktah stúyate sarvadevataeh.

–Yájiṋavalkya

[The vibrational manifestations emanating from the Supreme Nucleus are known as devatás, and these devatás address that Supreme Nucleus as Deva. He with His powers vibrates the entire universe, makes the entire universe dance; and He by dint of His occult and supra-occult powers brings everything back onto His lap.]

Sarvadyotanátmaka akhańd́a cidaekarasah.

–Shaḿkara

[Supreme Consciousness exists in the form of an unbroken flow of cognition, the supreme source of all kinds of emanative vibrations.]

The collection of all vibrations constitutes this universe. The existence and progress of this universe depends on the clash and cohesion of these vibrations. This process brings about some kind of disequilibrium in the sambhútis at a certain stage. That is, the imbalance in collective life becomes something that cannot be corrected by any one sambhúti. Let us suppose five thousand million people live in a particular place. Each of them is a sambhúti of Parama Puruśa. Suppose that with the passage of time (a change in the time factor) they lose their vitality, they become involved in internecine battles, and pessimism strikes deep in their hearts and creates disillusion and disappointment. This pessimism in collective life cannot be solved by one particular sambhúti; it requires the appearance of a special structure through which the Supreme Entity can fully express Himself. This special manifestation is called Mahásambhúti [“Great Sambhúti”]. The role of Mahásambhúti is to properly guide all other sambhútis and, by enforcing proper discipline, to bring about proper harmony and coordination amongst them. This special manifestation does not come within the purview of jiivakot́i or that of Iishvarakot́i.

Iishvarakot́i is also a special manifestation of Parama Puruśa. Normally human beings look upon Iishvarakot́i as an incarnation of God. Actually even jiivakot́i is an incarnation of God, but Iishvarakot́i is a higher incarnation.

In ancient times people imagined God in a series of advents correlated with the evolutionary flow of life on earth. The first expression of life took place in the water. Thereafter, another type of living being emerged which could live both in water and on land. Later land animals evolved, followed by a sub-human level of beings and finally by humans. More and more developed forms of jiivakot́i and Iishvarakot́i emerged. A medieval poet expressed this idea in sweet, lyrical verse:

Pralayapayodhijale dhrtavánasi vedaḿ
Vihita vahitra caritramakhedam.
Keshava dhrta miina shariira
Jaya jagadiisha hare.

[You deftly rescued the book of knowledge from amid the vast waters of the deluge – that book of knowledge which extols You as a great ship to cross this tremendous ocean of worldliness. O Lord in the form of a fish, O Supreme Entity, victory unto You.⁽¹⁾]

Miina means “fish”. So the first sambhúti was in the form of a fish. The second sambhúti was in the form of a tortoise, which could live both in water and on land.

Kśitiriha vipulatare tava tiśt́hati prśt́he
Dharańii dharańa kińá cakra gariśt́he.
Keshava dhrta kúrma shariira
Jaya jagadiisha hare.

[This world is poised on the huge round callus formed on your vast back by bearing its weight for such a long time. O Lord in the form of a tortoise, O Supreme Entity, victory unto You.]

So this second sambhúti was associated with both land and water. And the third sambhúti was in the form of a creature which lived only on the land, but which was very undeveloped. This sambhúti is called baráha avatára [boar].

Vasati dashanashikhare dharańii tava lagná
Shashini kalauṋkakaleva nimagná.
Keshava dhrta baráharúpa
Jaya jagadiisha hare.

[Just as the lunar seas remain inseparably associated with the moon, and add to its beauty, this world is affixed to the tips of Your tusks. O Lord in the form of a boar, O Supreme Entity, victory unto You.]

The fourth sambhúti was in the form of a narahari [half human and half lion] an intermediate stage between an animal and a human being.

Tava karakamalabare nakhamadbhútashrungaḿ
Dalita hirańyakashiputanubhrḿgam.
Keshava dhrta Naraharirúpa
Jaya jagadisha hare.

[With the sharp claws of your exquisite, lotus-like hands, You pierced the body of the demon Hirańyakashipu and ripped it to pieces. O Lord in the form of Narahari, O Supreme Entity, victory unto You.]

Narahari literally means “man and animal combined”. Then came an undeveloped human, a vámana [dwarf]:

Chalayasi vikramańe balmimadhútavámana
Pada nakha niira janita jana pávana.
Keshava dhrta vámanarúpa
Jaya jagadiisha hare.

[O strange dwarf, earth, heaven and hell all become hallowed by the sacred water that has washed Your feet. You outwitted King Bali when You, a dwarf, took those three gigantic steps. O Lord in the form of a dwarf, O Supreme Entity, victory unto You.]

Then more developed human beings evolved who were called bhrgupati:

Kśatriyarudhiramaye jagadapagatapápam
Snapayasi payasi shamita bhavatápam.
Keshava dhrta bhrgupati rúpa
Jaya jagadiisha hare.

[You drenched the world with the blood of the warriors, and thus removed all the sins of the earth and eradicated the afflictions of the world. O Lord in the form of Parasurama (a bhrgupati), O Supreme Entity, victory unto You.]

In a later age, developed human beings emerged, who were not only physically developed but also mentally evolved. Ráma represents these developed human beings. Age after age, this evolution continued:

Vitarasi dikśu rańe dikpati kamaniiyaḿ
Dasamukhamaoli baliiḿ ramańiiyam.
Keshava dhrta Ráma shariira
Jaya jagadisha hare.

[You distributed splendid offerings – the ten heads of Rávańa – and thereby satisfied the desires of the presiding deities of all ten directions of the world. O Lord in the form of Ráma, O Supreme Entity, victory unto You.]

Then humans developed further. They evolved methods of agriculture, they established an orderly family life, they learned how to build houses. Balaráma represents these developed human beings. He was a great civil engineer who built the city of Dwaraka. (The old capital of Shrii Krśńa was in Mathura. Krśńa’s cousin Jarásandha, the king of Magadha, was a notorious man who attacked Mathura again and again. For that reason Krśńa shifted his capital to Dwaraka; between Mathura and Dwaraka stretched the vast desert of Rajasthan, which the army of Magadha could not cross.) Balaráma was also proficient in agriculture and town planning.

Vahasi vapuśi vishade vasanaḿ jaladábham
Halahati bhiiti militayamunábham.
Keshava dhrta Haladhara rúpa
Jaya jagadisha hare.

[You wear silken robes that derive their colour from the blue glow of the River Yamuna blue due to its terror at the thunderous blow of that plowshare You wield with Your giant body. O Lord in the form of Shaḿkarśańa Balaráma, O Supreme Entity, victory unto You.]

In the final phase of development [intuitionally-developed] human beings emerged. Buddha represents the developed humans of the developed age.

Nindasi yajiṋavidherahaha shrutijátaḿ
Sadayahrdayadarshita pashughátaḿ.
Keshava dhrta Buddha shariira
Jaya jagadisha hare.

[O merciful Lord, you condemned the custom of sacrificing animals, knowing well that it is a ritual much praised in the Vedas. O Lord in the form of Buddha, O Supreme Entity, victory unto You.]

Thereafter, in order to destroy sin, weapons are necessary.⁽²⁾

If sinners are free from fear of retribution, they do not follow the right path. Vinu bhaya hoi na piriiti [“Where there is no fear there is no love”].

Mleccha nivaha nidhane kalayasi karaválam
Dhúmaketumiva kimapi karálam.
Keshava dhrta Kalki shariira
Jaya jagadisha hare.

[You wielded your dreadful sword, blazing like a comet, in the destruction of the unrighteous. O Lord in the form of Kalki, O Supreme Entity, victory unto You.]

In Iishvarakot́i we find the abundant expression of the power of Parama Puruśa. There are differences in this power among different human beings; so the different kinds of human beings are called kalávatára, aḿshávatára and khańd́ávatára [different degrees of avatára, none of them complete]. But note that Shiva and Krśńa are not mentioned as avatáras of the Supreme. Hence the most significant part of the shloka is Keshava⁽³⁾ dhrta… “Keshava came in these forms” which implies that Keshava Himself is not one of this sequence of avatáras.

Shiva and Krśńa are Mahásambhútis. They came to earth to correct the disorder among the other sambhútis. Mahásambhúti signifies an unlimited flow of intellect, wisdom and learning. There cannot be any comparison between sambhúti and Mahásambhúti. By evolving new systems and new ideas and ideals, and through scolding and punishment, these Mahásambhútis created a new world.

About seven thousand years ago Sadáshiva came onto the earth, and about 3500 years after that Lord Krśńa appeared as another Mahásambhúti. When the Supreme Entity appears as Mahásambhúti, He is not regarded as an avatára, rather He is called Táraka Brahma. The entity who brings freedom from all sorts of bondages is given the special name of Táraka Brahma. All the superstitions, inequities and defective social customs that have arisen in the last 3500 years, and which are impeding human progress, will be dispelled with His coming.

Footnotes

(1) Editors’ note: Each of the ten verses of this poem refers to a different one of the many Puranic, or mythological, stories universally known in India. By tying them together in the appropriate order, the poet depicts in a vivid way the process of animate evolution – biological, sociological, psychic and spiritual.

(2) Editors’ note: In the shloka to follow, we will find that Parama Puruśa is due to come “in the form of Kalki.” Kalki is the avatára of Kali Yuga, the Iron Age. His iconography features an array of weapons. Though mythological, in the qualities he displays he is roughly equivalent to Iishvarakot́i.

(3) Editors’ note: A name of Krśńa; hence (as here) a term sometimes used for the unexpressed Supreme Consciousness.

Chapter 6	Discourses on Tantra Volume One [a compilation]

In the balanced triangle of forces, in the pre-creation stage, when the unmanifested primordial Cognition has not yet come under the influence of the unmanifested primordial forces, that is, when the principles are purely in the subjective case and in the opposite direction there is nothing objective, that Cognitive Faculty in the unmanifested balanced triangle is called Guńamaya. Parashiva is a philosophical equivalent term. When the three forces in a state of manifestation give rise to an objective case in the opposite direction, that antithesis in the form of the objective case is called Aparashiva. Parashiva is Guńamaya, but Aparashiva, although Guńamaya in the practical sphere, is actually not Guńamaya in the theoretical sphere, because the alternation between manifestation and non-manifestation of the forces goes on constantly, simultaneously with the emanation, externalization, reflection and refraction from the points of Shambhúliuṋga and Svayambhúliuṋga.

The Siddhántácára, Vámácára and Kulácára of Shaeva Tantra [Shiva Tantra, Shaivite Tantra] are recognized by both the Hindu and Buddhist schools of Tantra. The Buddhist Vajrayána, Mantrayána, Tantrayána and Kálacakrayána sub-schools of Tantra recognize all of these ácáras and follow them in actual practice. The purest part of Shaeva Tantra, which is beyond both Dakśińácára and Vámácára⁽¹⁾ and was formerly to be learned in śámrájya diiksá [a kind of Tantric initiation] from a kaola guru [Tantric guru], is now included in Rájádhirája Yoga. Some of the subtler processes of Ananda Marga sádhaná bear a close relation to Rájádhirája. Maharśi Aśt́ávakra, while staying at Vakreshvar tiirtha [place of pilgrimage], introduced Rájádhirája and gave the first initiation in that school to the young Prince Alarka. In Hindu Tantra, Buddhist Tantra, and Rájádhirája Yoga, this concept of Parashiva in the unmanifested balanced triangle of forces has been recognized implicitly or explicitly. Naerátma Devii of Kálacakrayána and Shúnyátma Devii of Kauṋkála-málinii Tantra are simply alternative names of Parashiva.⁽²⁾

In later years the school of Shaeva Tantra altogether lost its high-grade spiritual cult, and there remained only the more inconsequential of Vámácára Tantric practices such as dancing with a dead body and performing a type of sádhaná with a skeleton. In a later period, lasting about 150 years, when the school of Terapanthá Jainism was to be found throughout all of northern India, Vámácára-oriented Shaeva Tantra had become practically extinct from all of India, particularly from Bengal. The school of Aghorpanthá, which is still to be found covertly practised in Bengal, is also a distorted form of Vámácárii Shaeva Tantra. The original features of Shaeva Tantra, in the absence of a competent Tantric master and deserving Tantric disciples, have today become confused. Now it is like a labyrinth. Saora Tantra, Gáńapatya Tantra, and Shaeva Tantra do not have adequate scriptural literature, as Shákta Tantra and Vaeśńava Tantra have;⁽³⁾ Saora Tantra and Gáńapatya Tantra have almost no literature of their own. Once I ran across a few manuscripts of Shaeva Tantra written on palm leaves in red ink. The owners of the manuscripts could neither read them nor understand their meanings if they heard them, nor were they willing to transfer ownership of them to anyone else. But this much can be said, that their basic theme is Parashiva-oriented. It can also be said (through pure philosophical analysis and analysis of the cult which they prescribe) that their basic theme is the Parashiva Guńamaya of Shaeva Tantra.

Footnotes

(1) Editors’ note: Dakśińácára Tantra attempts to overcome Máyá by appeasement; Vámácára Tantra attempts to overcome Máyá by fight, but without any clear goal. See the chapter “Overcoming Máyá” in Volume Two.

(2) Editor’s note: In Buddhism the Cognitive Principle is symbolized by female and the Operative Principle by male.

(3) Editors’ note: For these five schools of Tantra, see pp. 240-243.

Chapter 7	Discourses on Tantra Volume One [a compilation]

Before we try to understand what a mantra is, let us be clear about shabda [sound]. Everything in this manifest universe is vibrational. Creation is also vibrational. And the first and subtlest expression of the vibrational flow is shabda. As shabda is the first vibrational expression of Brahma, Shabda Brahma is the first expression of Kárya Brahma [Effect Brahma, Expressed Brahma]. The fundamental difference between Kárya Brahma and Kárańa Brahma [Causal Brahma] is that all vikásha, all expression, in Kárańa Brahma is purely svagata (subjective) and svarasátmaka (blissful). There is no paragata (objective) or pararasátmaka (extroversial) pleasure therein. Being purely subjective and blissful, it has no vyaiṋjanátmaka bháva, no exceptional quality. In other words, it is purely original and cannot [contain] any compound or mixture.

Prior to its practical emergence in the practical sphere, shabda was present in the realm of bháva, or ideas. And the starting point of shabda in the world of ideation is called paráshakti. Paráshakti exists both in the unit⁽¹⁾ and in the [Cosmos]. Although potentially paráshakti has full possibilities of expression, due to lack of a medium it does not get expressed. It germinates into expression as soon as it finds a medium. And its vibrational expression is shabda. In other words, we hear sound within and without when there is a mutual clash in the medium due to the formation of troughs and crests of various waves. This then is shabda.⁽²⁾

Kárańa Brahma [is represented] in Tantric scriptures by all the svaravarńa [vowel] sounds taken together. When those sounds are converted into action, that is, acquire the potential to form mixtures and compounds, they are called vyaiṋjana [consonants]. The diversity of creation is expressed through consonants, not through vowels. This is the logic behind the division of the Indo-Aryan alphabet into vowels and consonants.

What is a mantra? It has already been stated that the starting point of shabda, parábindu, exists both in the unit and in the [Cosmos]. In the flow of evolution, in the unit as well as in the Cosmic, shabda is born out of pará. Pará is the womb of all sounds. A mantra is a collection of a few particular shabdas - not each and every shabda. Mantra means “that collection of sounds meditation on which leads to liberation” – Mananát tárayet yastu sah mantrah parikiirttitah. Man plus the root verb trae plus the suffix d́a make up the word mantra.

By way of illustration, suppose you are sitting somewhere and you do not have the strength to move. A gentleman happens to come that way. If you say to him, “Come, sir, let’s have a little talk,” that will not prompt the gentleman to lift you by the hand and support your movement. If, on the other hand, you tell the gentleman, “Come, sir, I don’t have the strength to get up – please take my hand and lift me up,” it may bring about that result. Thus we get the result we desire by means of an appropriate expression in words. In this illustration the seed of the idea was the same at the level of pará, but due to two different formations of expression, different results were obtained. A given expression carries a particular meaning for you, as it expresses a particular feeling and it possesses a particular value. In other words, when a particular feeling is expressed through a particular combination of sounds, it achieves a particular value. But even then it does not attain the status of a mantra.

Unless the shabda or the collection of shabdas, when meditated upon, leads to the path of liberation, it cannot be called a mantra. Every mantra is thus sonic or vibrational and is vibrating simultaneously in the Cosmic system and in the unit body. When, with the help of a mantra, a person finally establishes the parallelism of the unit ectoplasmic vibration with the Cosmic vibration, that person gets mantra siddhi.

And what is mantra caetanya, or the awakening of a mantra? Mantra caetanya is the condition where, with the help of a particular shabda, a person establishes parallelism between his or her external physical vibration and his or her internal ectoplasmic vibration, and then raises this to the spiritual level.⁽³⁾ And the culmination of this process in the achievement of the final spiritual goal is called mantra siddhi. The same shabda without being made “live” or awakened in the above process is meaningless; it acquires force and meaning when it becomes “live” in the aforesaid manner. The parallelism between the internal ectoplasmic vibration and the external Cosmic vibration can only be established when one has complete control over one’s own ectoplasmic vibration.

According to one’s saḿskáras, a person will be vibrated immediately by one shabda, but remain immune to the vibrations of another. Thus some people get angry when you say “Sitá-Rám” to them, but are pleased when you greet them with “Rádhe-Shyám”. Our attitude towards different shabdas becomes defined.

It will be noted that many writers repeat the use of particular words. Many, for instance, use the word “but” in every other sentence. All this happens because of their attachment to particular rhythmic vibrations. Similarly, when the vibrational expression is ectoplasmic, that is, when the individual gets equilibrated with the Cosmic vibration, [Cosmic] mantra caetanya takes place.

As already mentioned, not only human existence but every existence in this universe is vibrational. But the vibrations of each individual, of each object, differ from those of other objects. For instance, there is a difference between the vibrational expression of iron and that of gold. Just as the vibrations of a human differ from those of iron or gold, the vibrations between one human and another also differ. A person’s life is nothing but a mesh of multilateral rhythms, and the goal of human life is a singular Entity having no rhythm.

The style of a person’s speech represents a particular rhythm of his or her own. The way the person eats represents the rhythm of his/her own eating. Every person is thus special on account of these specialities. The rhythms of two individuals cannot be identical. An individual rhythm is the particular property of a particular person. It has been said in Ánanda Sútram:⁽⁴⁾ Vaecitryaḿ prákrtadharmah samánaḿ na bhaviśyati [“Diversity, not identity, is the law of nature”]. In this universe every person in every action possesses a particular rhythm of his own. If someone wants to obstruct or strike that rhythm through disciplinary measures or expressions of anger, the person will not tolerate it. Personal liberty – individual liberty – really means the unobstructed expression of individual rhythmic vibrations.

When with the help of one’s paráshakti (pará in the sense of the starting point of shabda and not in the context of pará and apará) a person coincides his or her individual rhythmic vibrations with the rhythmic vibrations in the realm of this quinquelemental universe, from that moment onwards his or her rhythms become vibrated with mantra caetanya. This is the awakening of, or putting life into, a mantra. Therefore Sadáshiva has said:

Caetanyarahitáh mantráh proktáh varńástu kevalam
Phalaḿ naeva prayachanti lakśakot́ijapaerapi.

In order to make a mantra “live”, the individual rhythms have to be made parallel to the Cosmic rhythms. Then the starting point of expression of the unit will have to be made to coincide with the starting point of expression in the Cosmic field. “If this has not been done,” says the shloka, “even hundreds of thousands, even millions, of repetitions of the mantra will not lead to mantra siddhi.”

There are several essential factors to bring about mantra caetanya. The first is that the mantra should suit the saḿskára of the individual concerned. And the second is that the individual should feel a fraternal emotion for and attachment to the external world. This sentimental contact with the external world is a must. If someone is under the impression that “I am doing sádhaná for the sake of personal liberation and I have nothing to do with the world,” and thus denies his or her contact with external physicality, although the person’s physical body is very much in this world, the person is cheating himself and indulging in selfishness. Service to humanity with a view to serve Parama Puruśa and with the same attachment which one feels towards oneself and Parama Puruśa is an essential prerequisite for progress in sádhaná. This will establish the equilibrium and parallelism of the individual rhythms with the rhythms of the external physicalities.

The microcosm is in a dormant state, and the jiivabháva, the feeling of the unit state, is in a condition of slumber. The point where the jiivabháva, that is, the sense of the unit identity, is locked, is called kula. Hence those who achieve perfection through sádhaná are called kaola. (Kaola, with this meaning, is also used as a surname.) Those who can move the collective ectoplasm through the medium of their ectoplasmic rhythm, can awaken new power in shabda through their own ectoplasmic strength. The awakening of this power in shabda is called purashcarańa in Sanskrit. And those who can perform such a tough task are called Mahákaola. They alone are worthy of the status of guru and no one else. When a Mahákaola awakens vibrations in the universal ectoplasmic body through the medium of particular shabdas, those shabdas [are also altered and] acquire the status of siddha mantras. A spiritual aspirant can only achieve perfection through the medium of those siddha mantras. Other mantras are not capable of leading to success, and spiritual aspirants cannot awaken them. A person’s individual efforts will never be sufficient for that task.

Every person has certain mental limitations. He or she can only proceed to a certain extent and then cannot do anything further. Further progress requires special power and special grace. And this power and grace of God are always available for everyone. But people must use their existing strength in order to utilize that grace.

What is the range of these shabdas, whose troughs and crests are expressed in vibrational rhythms? The medium as well as the spirit of the human’s individual life are personal, but in the Cosmic body, as well as in the case of less-developed creatures, the spirit is personal or individual but the medium is impersonal or Cosmic. An existence where the medium is impersonal [or Cosmic] but the spirit is individual is called an animal existence. In other words, any progress in the life of an animal is due to the vibrational power of Parama Puruśa; the medium therefore is Cosmic or impersonal, but the spirit is individual. The progress which is attained through the personal spirit and impersonal medium is towards Parama Puruśa Himself. Therefore there is no chance of a spiritual fall in the life of an animal. Animals are set firmly on a path of gradual progress.

As the medium is impersonal, the growth in animals is from the crude to the subtle. But when due to engagement in subtler activities the medium also acquires individual influence, when its [mental] colour and its feeling do not remain entirely impersonal, gradually thinking and intellect are born. We find this in developed animals. The transformation in a dog is due to the effect of the personal, or individual, medium on the impersonal medium; this does not occur in lower creatures.

There is a big difference between a wild Alsatian in a jungle and one who is a pet. The medium of the one is influenced by the impersonal, that of the other is under the impact of an educated person. When in a living being the influence of the personal or individual surpasses the influence of the impersonal [or Cosmic], at that point the frame of that being can no longer be called animal but is called a human being. So this is the human status.

Due to one’s individual effort, pará gradually develops step by step into pashyantii, madhyamá, [dyotamána], shrutigocará and vaekharii.⁽⁵⁾ These steps are from the subtle to the crude.

Similarly in the Cosmic order, development is from the subtle to the crude, as the medium there is Universal Mind. The vibrational principle appears in the third phase of extroversial development. This vibrational principle is fully operative in matter and in the bodies and minds of undeveloped and underdeveloped creatures. The same vibrational principle functions in the human body when it starts from the point of pará and gets full extroversial expression. When a person will awaken caetanya in a mantra, that is, when he or she will do purashcarańa, he or she will move from negativity to positivity, from human parábindu to human sahasrára.

The starting point of the vibrational principle is the culminating or last point of the primordial principle. In other words, the last point of the primordial expression and the starting point of the vibrational faculty are one and the same. The movement after mantra caetanya is from the fundamental negativity to the fundamental positivity. In other words, this movement will be the reverse of the movement of the vibrational faculty; it will be from crude to subtle and not from subtle to crude. In the vibrational principle, the first crest and trough are far apart, and thereafter the distance becomes shorter and shorter. In spiritual practice, the first troughs and crests will be frequent, and then the intervals will gradually lengthen till a straight line is formed. Thus, in the second phase, that is, in the returning phase, the vibrational principle will be reconverted into the primordial principle and the primordial principle or primordial faculty will ultimately convert itself into the basic faculty.⁽⁶⁾ This movement, however, is only possible after the mantra has become [awakened], not before that.

Spiritual practice is essential for human beings; and for spiritual practice initiation is necessary. And those human beings who do not perform spiritual practice are under the influence of the Cosmic principle. They are guided by the Cosmic rhythmic order, but as this is an impersonal entity they will never be able to enjoy liberation or salvation. So what is the way out? In what direction must they move after mantra caetanya? They have to do an about-turn and cross the three phases described above. They have to return to their original abode. They have to merge back into the One from where their existence sprang.

Ánando brahmeti byajánat
Ánandádhyeva khalvimáni bhútáni jáyante
Ánandena játáni jiivanti
Ánandaḿ prayantyabhisaḿvishantiiti.

[Know ye that ánanda, bliss, is Brahma. It is out of ánandam that the five fundamental factors have emerged. All created beings live within ánandam, and finally merge with ánandam.]

What then is to be done? The scriptures say that you do not have to exert very much. I have said before that there can be no progress either in the realm of physicality or in the realm of intellectuality. Those who are hankering for progress in these fields are indulging in a self-cheating business. Whether they admit it or not, they know that they know nothing. Ask them whether they are getting pleasure in the realm of physicality. They will admit that they are not. Ask a good businessman whether he is earning good profits. His reply will be, “What profit? I am incurring losses.” This will be his reply whether you belong to Income Tax Department or not! To run after progress in the realm of physicality and intellectuality is utter foolishness, a waste of time, as there is no progress in these fields. But I have already said that you may make efforts in these directions provided you can convert or metamorphose them into spirituality. But as far as spiritual sádhaná is concerned, or as far as efforts to achieve bliss are concerned, there is no touch of pain in them, as bliss is infinite pleasure alone. Sádhaná then is what wise men have to do. And in sádhaná, the first thing to be done is to use mantra caetanya.

In simple words, what we have to do is to return home from where we came. We have all come from Parama Puruśa – the Supreme Entity – and from the práńa-kendra, the nucleus of the universe – that is, Puruśottama. We have to return to the same place. It is like a boy who has played throughout the day away in the fields, and now that evening comes, returns home. Sádhaná is the process of returning home. The child has played outside for the whole day. As evening approaches, he thinks, “Father must have returned home. Let me also return home and sit next to him.” When one is tired of this world and worldliness, one yearns to go back to spirituality, that is, to one’s home.

And what is our permanent abode – our home? It is Parama Puruśa paramáshrayah Shriinivásah. Here shrii refers to the Universal Creative Faculty, or Paramá Prakrti. The abode of this Universal Faculty is also your abode. Therefore going home is a simple task. It requires no scholarship, no knowledge, no intellectual faculty – no long and tedious lecturing. The scriptures tell us to remember three points in order to return home. They are shravana [hearing about the Supreme], manana [ideating on the Supreme] and nidi-dhyásana [meditating on the Supreme with an unbroken flow of mind].

We know that the vibrational faculty converts subtler waves into cruder waves in the phase of creation. Hari kathá [devotional talk] provides subtler vibrations. You must allow yourself to receive these subtler waves. It has already been said that sound waves are the subtlest in the chain of Cosmic expression. The importance of Hari kathá in spiritual development is great. Hearing about God is much more important than studies in spirituality, as sound is subtler than visual form. Therefore wherever there is an opportunity, listen to His name and speak it to others.

When you speak His name to others, you also hear it. This dual enjoyment in reciting His name is called kiirtana. Bhajana, on the other hand, is hearing His name by oneself.⁽⁷⁾ You must do both – both bhajana and kiirtana. This is shravana. The effect of shravana is that vibrations of sound which are moving from crude to subtle are set in motion against the flow in the vibrational faculty, where wordly sounds are moving from subtle to crude. This will set in reverse motion a flow of sounds, and this will take one up to the starting point of the vibrational faculty.

I have already stated that the starting point of the vibrational faculty and the culminating point of the primordial faculty are one and the same. You will therefore reach the culminating point of the primordial faculty. The vibrational phase is called bhava – also bhava ságara or bhava párávára [ocean of creation]. The word bhava thus denotes the entire realm of the vibrational principle. This is the world of mundane involvements. The Caetanya, or Cognitive Principle of this faculty is called Bhava, and the Shakti, or Operative Principle of this faculty is called Bhavánii Shakti. This is the worldly bondage. Only through the medium of Hari kathá can one cross this ocean of bhava, the entire range of the vibrational faculty.

Thereafter comes manana, that is, thinking only about Parama Puruśa and about no one else. If any other person or thing comes in the mind, ascribe Brahma-hood to that person or thing. This process is manana; you learn this process through the medium of Guru Mantra.⁽⁸⁾ The effect of manana will be that it will take you from the last point of the primordial principle or faculty, and gradually take you to the starting point of the primordial faculty.

At this point you meet the basic faculty or basic principle. The basic principle or faculty is a point in the unbalanced triangle of forces. It is situated at a particular vertex of the triangle of forces. Manana can take you up to that point. What is now left is the point of “I”-hood, the ego. Now we have to wipe out this “I”-hood.

All burdens, all confusions, all considerations of respect and disrespect, are connected to the “I”. When someone does not agree with you, you file a suit in court. Why do you take such trouble? Only to vindicate yourself. All bother and frustration is solely due to the unit ego. The fact is that even after surrendering everything to Parama Puruśa, your arch-enemy – the “I” – remains. Because you will say, “I have surrendered everything to God.” “I”, “I”, “I” – my friend, surrender that “I” to God. Then alone will your surrender be complete. All the trouble is due to this “I”.

Ratnákarastava grhaḿ grhińii ca padmá
Deyaḿ kimapi bhavate Puruśottamáya
Ábhiiravámanayanápahrtamánasáya
Dattaḿ mana yadupate tvamidaḿ grháńa.

[Your abode is brimming over with gems and jewels. The goddess of fortune is Your housekeeper. What can I offer to You, O Lord? Oh yes, there is one thing You lack, as it has been stolen by Your devotees; it is Your mind. I therefore offer my mind to You. Please accept it.]

After the surrender of this “I”, Parama Puruśa is satisfied, as you have reached the central point in the triangle of forces.⁽⁹⁾

Actually, the only task to be performed is to give away everything to Him. All that you possess – your body, your name, fame, wealth, everything – you have received from Him. So what are you to give to Him and how are you to do it? So far you were only giving God’s own things back to Him. What you must give Him now is something of your own. This is the crux of the matter. Suppose someone gives you a flower as a gift and you return the same flower to that person. This is not proper. Why not give your “I” to Him, which anyway to you is the source of all troubles, all confusions, all complications. There is nothing dearer to you than this “I”. It is most difficult to give it up. Thus in the above shloka, the devotee exclaims, “O Lord, this universe is Your abode. It is full of precious jewels. Whatever of value exists in this world belongs to You. What precious gift can I give to You? You have no desire for anything. What is the use of offering anything to one whose house is full of precious jewels? The almighty Prakrti is Your own consort; at Your will She will make innumerable jewels in a moment – aghat́ana ghat́ana pat́iiyasii Máyá [‘the dexterous hand of Máyá that can even create things impossible to create’] – this creative power is ever ready to serve You. O Lord of lords, although I have a yearning to offer You something, I do not know what that thing should be. Although I want to offer, You have no desire or want. If You lack nothing, what can I offer? If I knew of anything that You did not possess, I would offer it to You.

“O Lord of lords, we hear that Your great devotees have stolen Your mind from You. The Lord becomes the slave of his devotees. A devotee steals the heart of the Lord – almost forcibly. The deed is performed openly and not in secrecy. Therefore, O Lord, You lack one thing – You have no mind.”

The devotee says, “Despair not, O Lord, I am offering my mind to You. Please accept it.”

This offer of one’s mind to the Lord is nididhyásana. The inner sense of nididhyásana is that all the propensities of the mind are to be concentrated at a point to be offered to Parama Puruśa.

Today the human mind consists of fifty dominant propensities. Definitely when the human structure becomes more complex in the course of evolution, the number of these propensities will also increase. The number of these vrttis is not going to remain fifty forever. It will increase. Similarly, the number of glands will increase, and so also the number of sub-glands. Not only will the number of mental propensities increase; the propensities will also undergo change. The concept of beauty will also change with the change in outlook of the human mind. An owl may then appear beautiful and a peacock ugly.

Shravana therefore enables one to cross the vibrational faculty. Manana enables one to cross the primordial faculty. And nididhyásana makes it possible to merge with the Supreme Entity. This is God-realization. The essential thing therefore is to awaken the mantra, whether one also does intellectual things such as reading and writing or not. What is important is to have proper shravana, manana and nidi-dhyásana. If one does this, one will no longer find it difficult to learn to do anything. Mantra caetanya is sure to lead to mantra siddhi, to the attainment of the supreme goal. The process of sádhaná will automatically arouse devotion.

When you come in close contact with the Supreme Entity, you will find that you have no wealth superior to devotion. All worldly possessions will prove of no avail. Only devotion enables you to come into close contact with Him. This is the goal of human life. This is true progress.

You have been wandering through the labyrinth of a myriad of lives. You have been ever advancing toward this stage. Knowingly or unknowingly, you are being drawn unto Him. This is the summum bonum of life. As long as you have not realized Him, there is no siddhi in your life.

Footnotes

(1) Editors’ note: In the unit, before awakening, it is the “sleeping divinity”, or kulakuńd́alinii.

(2) Editors’ note: At this point in the original magazine publication of this discourse, some text appears to be missing.

(3) Editors’ note: To “raise to the spiritual level” is to establish the parallelism of unit and Cosmic mentioned above.

(4) Editors’ Note: Shrii Shrii Ánandamúrti, Ánanda Sútram, 1962.

(5) Editors’ note: See the discussion of this sequence pp. 93-98.

(6) Editors’ note: The basic faculty is the starting point of the primordial principle, as mentioned below. That is, it is paráshakti, or parábindu.

(7) Editors’ note: Kiirtana, like bhajana, can be done individually, but it is preferable to do it collectively.

(8) Editors’ note: A lesson of Ananda Marga meditation.

(9) Editors’ note: That is, you have progressed from the basic principle at one vertex of the triangle to Puruśottama at the mid-point of the triangle.

Chapter 8	Discourses on Tantra Volume One [a compilation]

Virtue and vice are temporal entities. These things have nothing to do so far as a person’s relationship with the Supreme Father is concerned.

Suppose several boys are moving along a particular road and one particular boy falls into the drain. His dress, his body, become dirty; other people, passers-by, will laugh at him, but when the boy’s father sees his boy in that condition, what is he to do? Will he laugh at his own son? No, no, no. What will he do? He himself will go there, into the drain, and take his boy in his own lap, and clean his dress, clean his clothes, clean his body; and after that he will say, “My boy, you should walk carefully.”

Sinning persons are just like those boys in the drain. Now, high or low, upgraded or degraded, all are equal, all are equal for Him, because heaven is His creation, and hell is His creation. If we say that He is only in heaven, it will not be a correct utterance, because He is in hell also. His sons, His daughters, are never alone. He is with you even in hell.

What are you to do? You are always to remember that you are the child of a Great Father. You must not think that you are a sinner, you are a degraded person. If you think that you are a sinner, it means you are meditating on sin! And when sin has become your object of meditation, actually you will become a sinner, because a person becomes just like his or her object of ideation, object of meditation. If you always meditate on sin, “I am a sinner, I am a sinner,” actually you will become a sinner. The psychological approach is, you should forget it – even if you are actually a sinner, you should think, “I am the son of a Great Father, I am the son of a Great Father, I am the son of a Great Father.” And thus you are meditating on the Great Father, and a day is sure to come when you will become one with your Great Father. But to think, “I am a sinner, I am a sinner, oh Father, save me, oh Father, save me,” is a defective approach! You should say, “I am your son, I am your daughter, oh Father, take me on your lap, I am your son, I am your daughter.” This will be the approach. You should forget what you do not want.

Now in the phase of creation, the first point of creation is called Shambhúliuṋga. Liuṋga means “the point, the supreme point, the terminus of all expressions, all movements”. And that terminus is a singular entity. In the phase of extrovert, it is the starting-point, and in the phase of introvert, it is the culminating point. It is the Supreme Desideratum.

At this starting-point, wherefrom the first expression takes place in the first phase of creation, what happens? In that triangle of forces, triangle of principles, sentient, mutative and static, what happens due to their intertransmutation? All of a sudden the triangle becomes unbalanced, and the released resultant force comes out from one of the vertices of the triangle. There are three vertices, and it comes out from one of the vertices. And the point from which this extroversial force comes out is called Shambhú. In the phase of extrovert, in the phase of creation, it is Shambhú; and in the phase of introvert also it is Shambhú. In the phase of creation it is the starting point, it is the fundamental positivity. It is the fundamental positivity because in it lies the seed of all creation. And in the phase of introvert, it is the Supreme Desideratum, because here in this point all the aspirations, all the hopes, all the desires, of all living beings terminate.

Similarly, in the unit structure, in each and every unit structure, there is a starting-point, a microscopic expression of Shambhú in the entire Macrocosm. That is, in the entire Cosmological order there is a Shambhú point, the starting-point, and similarly, in the unit expression, in the microcosm, there is Shambhú in miniature form, in microcosmic form, controlling the microcosm. And it is this point [crown of the head], the controlling point of the pineal gland. It is the site of Parama Puruśa, Paramashiva. And in the phase of creation, while Shambhú is the starting-point, the last point of creation, the crudest point, is called Svayambhú.

Shambhú and Svayambhú. In Sanskrit, sham means “to control”, and bhú means [“created”]. So shambhú means “the controller, self-created controller”. And Svayambhú – svayam means “self”, [so svayambhú means] “self-created”. But it is not the controller, because it is the crudest point. It is the last point, the crudest point.

Now, wherever there is any expression or wherever there is no expression, the Witnessing Entity is there, just like the light of a stage, a theatrical stage. When there is an actor, the light is there, witnessing the activities of the actor. The actor says something, recites something, and the light of the stage witnesses the activities of that particular actor. And when a singer comes, that light witnesses the activities of the singer. A dancer comes, and that very light witnesses the activities of the dancer. And when nobody is present – no actor, no dancer, no singer – the light, that very light, witnesses that “Nobody is present here now.” It expresses the fact before the audience, before the spectators, that there is nobody on the stage. Similarly, where there is expression, that Cosmic Light, that Cosmic Father, is there. And where there is no expression, the Father is there to say that nobody is present now – just like that light of the theatrical stage.

Now in the case of Shambhúliuṋga, the fundamental positivity from where the creation starts, the Supreme Entity is there. And where the creation terminates, the last point, the crudest point, the Svayambhúliuṋga – the Witnessing Entity is there also, the Supreme Father is there also. Now in [Shambhúliuṋga], the human entity, the entity of a living being, is in subtlest form, is in purest form, is in unadulterated form. And in Svayambhúliuṋga, in the lowest point, in the lowest bone, of your body, the created being, the living being, is in crudest form. Because of that crudest expression, the living being will also be in crudest form. That is, all one’s divinity, one’s divinity in its entirety, is sleeping there, is in latent form there, in the last bone of the body. That sleeping divinity – actually it is divinity, but it is sleeping – is called kulakuńd́alinii in Sanskrit, “coiled serpentine” in English. “Coiled serpentine”. It is just like a serpentine loop.

Now, by dint of sádhaná – what is sádhaná? Whenever a sádhaka gets his or her own peculiar incantation from his ácárya, his or her own mantra to be practised, that sleeping divinity, kulakuńd́alinii, is aroused by the vibration of that mantra. And by dint of the person’s constant practice, regular practice, what happens? It moves that serpentine loop upward. Its original residence is in the múládhára cakra, the lowermost cakra. Now when the sádhaka by dint of his or her sádhaná, intuitional practice, exalts that kulakuńd́alinii, and when the kulakuńd́alinii crosses the svádhiśt́hána cakra, the next higher cakra, the sádhaka’s feeling, his or her expression, his or her status, is known as sálokya. It is the first stage of samádhi. A sádhaka by constant practice is sure to attain that status. But you know, the yogis say that a sádhaka cannot attain that status without the special favour of the spiritual guru. This is what they say. That stage is called sálokya.

Sálokya means that the sádhaka feels that in the stratum, or sphere, where he or she is, where that person’s exalted mind is, he or she is not alone; the Supreme Father is also there. This samádhi, where the feeling is that in the stratum, or status, where the person is, that person’s Supreme Father is also there, gives the person very much pleasure. This first pleasure is called sálokya samádhi.

Then when this coiled serpentine, sleeping divinity, crosses the mańipura cakra, just near the hub, the controlling point, of the pancreas, the person enjoys another sort of pleasure, and that pleasure is called sámiipya samádhi. Sámiipya is a Sanskrit word. It means “proximity”. That is, the sádhaka feels his or her proximity to the Supreme Father.

In the first stage, the sádhaka felt that the Supreme Father was there in the same status. He is not in the sky, he is everywhere, He is with you. If you are here and He is in the sky, then you are alone here, and He is also alone there. No, no, no, no. In the first phase the feeling was that “Where I am, He is also with me.” And in the second phase, “I have come very close, very near, that Supreme Father; I am in close proximity to the Supreme Progenitor. By dint of my sádhaná, the gap between my Father and myself is being bridged.” It is the second phase, known as sámiipya. Sámiipya means “proximity”.

Then when that sleeping divinity, that kulakuńd́alinii, crosses the anáhata cakra, this plexus, this “solar plexus” (in Latin), the sádhaka’s feelings are known as sáyujya. Sáyujya means “in close contact”. In Sanskrit sáyujya means “close contact, just side by side, just touching”. In sálokya He is with you. In sámiipya you feel the proximity, the nearness. And here in sáyujya what do you feel? A tactual experience. You get a tactual experience.

Then when by dint of your sádhaná the divinity, the sleeping divinity, the kulakuńd́alinii, crosses this point [the throat], one will experience another sort of sádhaná, a subtler sádhaná, subtler samádhi. And that one is called sárúpya. In sárúpya the feeling is “I am one with Him.” “I am one with Him” – not close contact, but oneness. “I am one with the Supreme Progenitor, I am one with the Supreme Cognition.” This is sárupya.

Then by still more sádhaná, when the sleeping divinity crosses this point [between the eyebrows], the controlling point of the pituitary gland, the ájiṋá cakra, the sádhaka’s feelings, or experiences – another sort of sádhaná, still more high – are known as sárśt́hi in Sanskrit. At that point, the feeling is that “I am He;” that is, “I” and “He”, these two entities, have become one. “I am;” but “He” and “I” have coincided.

“I” – “He”. There is one gap. “I am the Supreme Entity, I am the Supreme Entity.” There is still the connecting link “am”. But when “I” and “Supreme Entity” coincide, the gap “am” disappears. “I”, “Supreme Entity”, and the connecting link “am”. When this will coincide with this, the connecting “am” will disappear, because there is no gap. “I” becomes one with “He”. Clear? Or “He” becomes one with “I”. This stage is called sárśt́hi.

And the last stage is when that kulakuńd́alinii comes here [crown of the head]. I said that in the unit structure, Shambhúliuṋga, Parama Puruśa, is here, at the controlling point of the pineal gland. The divinity, the sleeping divinity, is to be exalted to that point, to the controlling point of the pineal gland. And there is the final stage of samádhi. That final stage of samádhi is called nirvikalpa samádhi in yoga, and kaevalya in Tantra. In Sanskrit kaevalya means “only”. Kevala means “only”, and the noun of kevala is kaevalya.

That is, only one entity exists. That entity may be I, that entity may be He. But the differentiation between “I” and “He” disappears. So “I exist” and “He exists” – these two ideas disappear: “exists”. That is, it is the stage of non-attributional consciousness. It is the supreme stage of yogic sádhaná. It is the supreme stance for a yogi.

Now by dint of sádhaná, one is to arouse and exalt that sleeping divinity. That Svayambhúliuṋga becomes one with Shambhúliuṋga.

But for this one requires divine help. And I know one is sure to get divine help. And I know further that one is getting divine help. And I know still further that in future, for infinite time and infinite space, one will be getting this divine favour. And you are all sádhakas. You will certainly attain that supreme stance and enjoy that divine blessedness. You are sure to enjoy it, my sons and my daughters.

Chapter 9	Discourses on Tantra Volume One [a compilation]

The word mantra in Sanskrit is very meaningful, and it has no synonymous term in any other language. Mananát tárayet yastu sah mantrah parikiirttitah – “Mantra is that particular word whose repetition or auto-suggestion or outer-suggestion helps the microcosm free itself of all the fetters of physical and psychic life.” Man plus trae plus d́a is the derivation of the term.

Now for a mantra two things are essential. It must be meaningful, that is, in the ordinary sense of the term the word should have proper significance; and at the same time it must be supported by the proper acoustic root, that is, it must be supported by acoustic propriety. In the realm of spirituality, each and every term should have these two meanings – one the mundane significance, and the other the acoustic significance.

Take the word krśńa. The root verb is krś. One meaning of krś is “to attract”. So the faculty that attracts everything towards itself is krś plus ńa, that is, “Krśńa”, the all-attracting, all-attractive faculty of the world, the nucleus of the universe. “Krśna” means Puruśottama, the nucleus of the entire Cosmic order, because it comes from the root verb krś.

Another meaning of krś is “to be”. A sádhaka says that “Krśńa” means, “I exist because He exists,” “My existence is dependent on His existence.” Krś means “to be”, “to exist” – that’s why He is “Krśńa”. “He is my life’s life. He is the supreme existence behind all my existences in so many frameworks, in so many structures, in so many lives.” That’s why He is “Krśńa”.

Among so many colours, the dark colour is most attractive, and for that reason in Sanskrit “dark” is also one meaning of krśńa. And so far as the acoustic root is concerned the acoustic root of Krśńa is klrḿ. The Sanskrit term, the Sanskrit acoustic root (not just Sanskrit – the acoustic root is universal for the entire Cosmos) of Krśńa is klrḿ.

What is klrḿ? Ka + lr. And what is ka? The word ka has three meanings in Sanskrit.

One, it is the first consonant of the Sanskritic alphabetical order. The second meaning of ka is as follows. You know in the phase of expression or manifestation, that is, when the Noumenal Cause is translated into the phenomenal effect, the sound created (during this phase of translation) is ka; and that is why ka is the first letter of our alphabetical order.

The entity from which this phase or this process of translation starts, from which the process of metamorphosis starts, is represented by the sound aum. Because in it, within its scope, lie the faculties of creation, preservation and destruction.

The acoustic root of creation is a. First comes creation, then follows everything else – and that is why a is the first vowel. A is the first letter of the Indo-Aryan alphabetical order.

First creation – When the Supreme Entity creates something, this creation takes place within the periphery of the Macrocosmic order; but a stir is created in the Macrocosm during the phase of creation, and wherever there is a stir, there is movement, there are waves – light waves, acoustic waves and so on. When He desires to create something, the stir created in the Macrocosm is represented by the sound a.

And in the next phase He is to preserve those created beings. So in that Macrocosmic structure another stir is created representing the desire to preserve. And that is represented by the sound u. And the point from which the culminating march starts is represented by the sound ma, hence ma is the last letter of the vargiiya varńamálá.⁽¹⁾ The pa varga is the last varga, and ma is the last sound of the pa varga pa, pha, ba, bha, ma. So the creating personality is represented by these three sounds – a, u, and ma – the Generating Entity, the Preserving Entity and the Destructive Entity. (Here everybody should remember that His destruction is not the destruction of ordinary living beings. His destruction means withdrawal withdrawing the created being from the phenomenal world to its noumenal cause. Just a play of withdrawal, and nothing more than that.) The Generator, the Operator, the Destructor – if we take the first letter of “generator”, “g”; of “operator”, “o”; and of “destructor”, “d”; we get G-O-D, “God”.

Now, while this Supreme Entity, the Supreme Subjectivity, the Supreme witnessing faculty, creates something, then He is aum. Aum gets as its counterpart the objective world, this quinquelemental universe; and this world of objectivity is represented by the acoustic root ka. Hence, aum is the Kárańa Brahma, or Causal Brahma, and ka is the Kárya Brahma, the Effect Brahma. The second meaning of ka is the Effect Brahma, the objectivated universe.

So the first meaning of ka is that it is the first consonant. The second meaning is this objectivated world or effect world. And the third meaning of ka is “water”. A few days back I told you that kaccha means “the land surrounded by water”: ka means “water” and cha means “surrounded by”.

The acoustic root of Krśńa is klrḿ. The first letter is ka. Ka means the objectivated world. The entity that preserves this objectivated world is ka. (Human beings who have taken the responsibility, the moral responsibility, of serving this ka, that is, of serving this objectivated world, are called kápálika. Our avadhútas and avadhútikás practise kápálika sádhaná, that is, they do the pálana kriyá of ka, they do the pálana kriyá of this objectivated world. They are to serve humanity.) The first letter is ka and the second is la. La represents solid entities; that is, everything converted into solid is represented by the acoustic root la. Now, the divine faculty that serves, or helps, or rather vibrates, the entire objectivated world, and keeps close proximity to the material world (at the same time vibrating the entire objectivated universe), is ka + la. Hence the acoustic root of Krśńa is klrḿ.

Similarly, all mantras must have two meanings. One meaning is the mundane significance, and the other is the acoustic root. And wherever either meaning is wanting, the word cannot be treated as a mantra. That is why I said the word mantra cannot be properly represented by the word “incantation”. But for want of a proper word in English, we find no alternative but to use the word “incantation”.

Similarly for Shiva. One name of Shiva is Hara. Ha represents the ethereal stratum, and ra represents energy – kriyáshakti, electrical energy, magnetic energy, etc. All these energies are represented by the acoustic root ra. So ha plus ra means “the entity that rules over the entire ethereal plane and at the same time controls all the energies of the universe”. Hara is the acoustic root of Lord Shiva.

So only when a particular word has both a mundane meaning and an acoustic root may it be accepted as a mantra – if, that is, it is recognized as a siddha mantra by a Mahákaola, by a Mahásambhúti. Otherwise it is not a mantra.

Footnotes

(1) Editors’ note: Varńa means “letter”, and varńamálá means “chain of letters”. Most of this chain, or alphabet, of fifty letters in Sanskrit is phonetically divided into groups, or vargas, of five letters each. Each varga is named after the first letter that falls within it. Ma is the last letter of the last varga, though the varńamálá – that is, the non-vargiiya varńamálá – continues for nine letters more.

Chapter 10	Discourses on Tantra Volume One [a compilation]

Do you know what a saying is? It is a collection of words. And what is a word? A collection of syllables. And what is a syllable? A collection of letters. And what is a letter? A [sound having a] particular wavelength, or a particular acoustic expression. Everything comes out of the Supreme Entity, so many waves of light, sound, so many waves of tactual vibration… Ssh! – hot! Tssh! – very cold! These are all tactual variations having different wavelengths. Similarly, the acoustic wave, which means the expression of sound, also comes from the very source, from the very nucleus, from the very controlling point of the universe – who, we say, is Parama Puruśa.

Sounds are innumerable. Say, the English letter “a”. In the English language this sound “a” has twenty-two types of pronunciation. A-N-T, “ant”. But E-L-E-P-H-A-N-T “eleph-ent”, not “eleph-ant”. Here, A-N-T is not “ant” but “ent”. The same A-N-T will be pronounced ant [“ahn”] in French, elephant [“elephahn”]. The same vowel or same consonant may have so many sounds. Even in the case of the pictorial expression of sound, a particular figure may be pronounced in a particular way in Mandarin, in a particular way in Shanghailese, in a particular way in Cantonese, in a particular way in North Japan, in a particular way in South Japan. So many expressions, innumerable expressions, of human vocality. “Acoustic” means “pertaining to –” – what? The Latin term for “concerning sound” is “acoustic”, and for “concerning ear”, “auricular”; “concerning eye”, “ocular”; “concerning seeing”, “optical”. All these are Latin words.

These many expressions are all sacred. All sounds are sacred, no sound can be bad, because all come from that Entity. All human expressions are certainly sacred. All languages are certainly sacred. That is why I pay respect, I pay reverence, to all languages of the world. All have the same dignity.

Now if we try to bring those expressions – so many expressions – together, it will be beyond human capacity, but we may try. And as a result of human endeavour, those expressions have been brought within the range of fifty main sounds. Those fifty main sounds are controlled by fifty main glands and sub-glands of the human body.

In the morning span I was saying something regarding the pancreas. There are ten sub-glands; each and every sub-gland has a particular sound. Amongst the fifty sounds, ten are controlled by the pancreas – d́a, d́ha, ńa, ta, tha, da, dha, na, pa, and pha. Each and every sound has something to do with the physical world and with the mental world. These ten sounds control ten propensities of the human mind – shyness, fear, etc.

Suppose all those sounds are expressed at one time. What will happen? Suppose you go to a market. Somebody will say, “What’s the rate of potato?” Somebody else will say, “What’s the rate of brinjal [eggplant]? What’s the rate of meat?” – like this. And the shopkeeper will say, “I want this much;” and the customer will say, “No, no, no, I won’t give more than that.” So many sounds. But if you go, say, about one hundred yards from the market, what will be the sound? Something like “hawawawawa”. All the sounds together will create a peculiar collective sound, is it not a fact? Will you hear “potato” or “beans” or “cauliflower” from a distance? No, you hear the collective sound “hawawawawa”. Is it not a fact? Similarly, all those sounds, innumerable sounds, brought under the broad category of fifty, will create a collective sound in the universe. That collective sound is aum, A-U-M.

Now listen to these three sounds of aum: a, u, ma. They represent the creation, the retention [or preservation], and the destruction. The first sound, a, represents creation; the second sound, u, represents retention; the third sound, ma, represents destruction. So all those innumerable sounds, all those fifty sounds, are represented by these supreme sounds, a, u and ma; and collectively a-u-ma becomes aum. For each and every action there is a supporting sound in this universe. That supporting sound is called the acoustic root of that action.

You are moving. The sound khat́-khat́-khat́-khat́ is created. That sound, khat́-khat́-khat́, is the acoustic root of the action of moving.

You are laughing. The sound há-há-há-há is created. The sound há-há-há is the acoustic root of the action of laughing. Each and every action has its acoustic root.

The portion of the tree that remains under the earth is the root; the acoustic root is the sound which may be treated as the rudimental portion of an action. The Latin adjective of “root” is “rudimental”. For each and every action of this world there is an acoustic root.

You see, tantra. The root tan means “to expand”, and tra means “liberator”. The science that liberates you from all bondages, physical, mental and spiritual, is Tantra. Tan means “expansion” and tra means “liberator”. The science that expands your mind and spirit and thus liberates you is Tantra. The metamorphosed form of tantra about seven thousand years ago became taota. The Sanskrit dhyána became c’han [in Chinese], c’han became chen [in Korean], chen became zen [in Japanese]. It is a very interesting science. Now, tantra became taota; taota after further distortion, further metamorphosis, became taoa – in modern language [Chinese], tao. Taoism, don’t you know? Its root is tantra. Do you relish this topic? Do you like what I am saying? But I must be paid for it! [Everybody laughs.]

So then for all the universe, the acoustic side is aum – A-U-M. It includes all the spheres of work also. It is the collective sound of all the work of the universe.

The earth moves around the sun; certainly a sound is created. It may or may not be audible to you, you may or may not hear it, but certainly a sound is created. The moon moves around the [earth]; certainly waves are created, and certainly due to those waves, sounds are also created. It may or may not be audible to you. Everywhere there is sound. If you move stealthily, as the cat moves while catching a mouse, even then there is sound. Everywhere there is wave; everywhere there is light also. That light may or may not be visible to you.

In the night you cannot see, but owls can see, moles can see – Moles, you know? Rat-like creatures of small size… for example, “to make a mountain out of a molehill”. Moles can see in the night. Owls can see in the night. Bats can see in the night. The bat is neither bird nor animal, it is a mammal. It lays no eggs; it is a mammal. It can see in the night, so there is light. Aum is the collection of all sounds, so within the scope of aum come all the activities of the world. For each and every work there is sound; aum is the collection of all sounds. So within the scope of aum comes all the work of the world. Aum represents the mundane expression of Parama Puruśa; aum represents the worldly expression of Parama Puruśa.

In each and every human being there is sleeping divinity, divinity in latent form, divinity in dormant form. When that sleeping divinity is aroused, stops sleeping, is in a wakeful stage, what happens? A person will acquire immense power. He or she may become omniscient, all-knowing – will know everything, without going through any book, without going to any library – will know everything of this universe, because that person will be one with Parama Puruśa. The person is Parama Puruśa, because the sleeping divinity has been aroused.

The sleeping divinity in the human body lies in the lowermost portion of your backbone. That lowermost bone is called kula in Sanskrit. That sleeping divinity is called kulakuńd́alinii. Kuńd́alinii means “in coiled form”. It is sleeping, and when it is aroused, is elevated, by dint of your sádhaná, by dint of your dhyána, c’han, chen, zen, it will go upwards. When it comes up, that is, touches the controlling point of the pineal gland, one will become one with Parama Puruśa. One will become Parama Puruśa.

Now the spot, the kula, where divinity is in sleeping form, is found in each and every human being. When by Tantra and yoga it is aroused and brought upwards by applying a special force, that special force is called diipanii. Raising it, elevating it, it finally becomes one with Parama Puruśa when it comes here [crown of the head].

Now the seat where the kula is, the seat where the kulakuńd́alinii is, has got existence, and wherever there is any action or there is any existence, there is acoustic root. There is a sound for it. (Because of your presence, air, light, everything – every expression’s flow – is barred, the flow is checked. You are standing here; air comes; because of your existence, it will refract or reflect; so your existence also has got a certain sound.) The existence of the seat of that kula, where that kulakuńd́alinii, that coiled serpent, sleeps, also has an acoustic root, and there is a certain psychic place allotted for it.

That psychic spot is called in old Sanskrit mańipadma, or mahámańipadma, or munipadmá or mahámunipadmá. (Mahámuni is a name of Lord Buddha. Mahámuni means “great sage”.) So, “Using aum, I remember Parama Puruśa; and mańipadma is the seat of that coiled serpentine, that sleeping divinity, in the human body. I remember that entity also.”⁽¹⁾

There are so many sounds. Each and every thing has got some sound. Suppose you want to learn. A particular vibration is created, “I want to learn, I want to learn.” A vibration is created. The meaning of the vibration is, “I want to learn.” The vibration of this desire is a mental flow. “I want to do something.” “I want to eat jackfruit.” “I want to eat – ” – what? “Passion fruit.” [laughter] There are several different flows. “I want to eat mango” and “I want to eat pineapple” are not the same flow. In the case of “mango” there is a picture of a mango in your mind. In the case of “pineapple” there is another picture in your mind, a picture of a pineapple with small thorns. In “mango” there are no thorns. You prepare different pictures in your mind, so the waves will also be different.

You want to fight against so many weaknesses. The human mind has so many weaknesses. The doctor says, “You see, you are suffering from liver disease, you must not take oil. You must not take butter.” It is human weakness. There are so many human weaknesses. “Bábá⁽²⁾ says I should fast on Ekádashii day, so I am fasting on Ekádashii and secretly taking chocolate.” Bábá knows this, but Bábá won’t say anything. Simply, when you come before Bábá during P.C., then in Personal Contact Bábá will say, “O my little boy, can you explain to me what’s the actual taste of chocolate?” And if that person has intellect he will understand. Do you follow everything? [Laughter. One Márgii, in particular, becomes red-faced.] According to mental desire, there are acoustic roots, there are sounds. Each and every man has certain weaknesses; one is always moving after name, one is always moving after fame, or after money, always money so many weaknesses. One wants to fight against internal and external enemies. You have enemies in your mind, you have enemies outside your mind. There are so many depraving forces, they are all your enemies. When you want to fight against the mind, a particular flow is created in your mind, a particular flow. The acoustic root of that flow is hummm. [Makes fighting gesture.] The hum sound is created. The hum sound is the acoustic root of fight.

When you are to raise your sleeping divinity, elevate the sleeping divinity from the lowermost bone of your body, the mańipadma, the lowermost seat, you will also fight against so many adversities and pass through the entire cord, the entire backbone of your body. After so many fights, you will be able to elevate the sleeping divinity in your body to the status, or to the stance, of Parama Puruśa. Parama Puruśa touches the human body through this point [crown of the head]. It is called Brahmarandhra.

Brahma means Parama Puruśa and randhra means “cord”, the cord through which Parama Puruśa touches the body. It is the pineal gland controlling all fifty – that is, fifty times two times ten – one thousand – propensities. One thousand propensities of the human mind are controlled by this pineal gland. By the pituitary gland only the conscious, subconscious and unconscious portions of your mind [are controlled]. Now, just to raise the coiled serpentine, your sleeping divinity, you have to fight against many fetters, so many fetters of animality, so there is a fight, and this should be represented by the sound hum.

So the old Maháyániis used this incantation, Oṋḿ mańipadme hum. Now it is clear. I think perhaps the monks do not know, though they should know, the inner meaning of what they say. I think it is very interesting and very pleasing, although it has been a bit terse.

Footnotes

(1) Editors’ note: Refers to the mantra Oṋḿ mańipadme hum.

(2) Editors’ note: An affectionate name for the author, used by the author’s disciples.

Chapter 11	Discourses on Tantra Volume One [a compilation]

Every vibration in this universe has colour and sound. Every vibration also represents a particular idea, and hence each idea has a vibrational sound and vibrational colour. Many vibrational waves are too long or too short to be perceived by human beings - we cannot hear their sound or see their colour – but they do exist. We can speak of them as causal matrices in the realm of vibrational colour; and consider them as the biija mantras [acoustic roots] of the ideas with which they are concerned.

A

The sound a is the acoustic root of creation, and thus is the controller of the seven notes of Indo-Aryan music [the surasaptaka or “seven notes” – in Western music, the “octave”], which are as follows: sya or khya (śad́aja [peacock]⁽¹⁾ – the Yajurvedic pronunciation khad́aja is also permissible, but in that case kha should be pronounced with the mind concentrated on the front part of the palate and not like the second consonant of the ka varga);⁽²⁾ re or r (rśabha [ox] – the pronunciation rkhabha is also permissible, but kha should not be pronounced like the second consonant of the ka group); gá (gándhára [goat]); má (madhyama [deer]); pá (paiṋcama [cuckoo]); dhá (dhaevata [donkey]); and ni (niśáda [elephant] – it can also be pronounced nikháda, but again kha is not pronounced like the second consonant of the ka group.)

Although a indirectly controls the seven musical notes, it chiefly controls the first note, śad́aja. This note is represented in the surasaptaka or sargam [gamut of notes] by its initial letter, sya. Remember that in the vilambita [prolonged] technique of pronunciation of this note, the vowel sound á is not employed;⁽³⁾ rather the saḿvrta [lengthened]⁽⁴⁾ pronunciation of a is employed. That is, the vowel here will not be pronounced á-á-á-á-á-á-á-á, but will be pronounced somewhat like aya, as they do in northern India. (More precisely, the pronunciation will be intermediate between aya and á). If singers were to pay more attention to proper pronunciation, they would benefit.

As the sound a is the acoustic root of the note śad́aja, the letter a is the first step in the learning of music. In Occidental music, the octave (do-re-mi-fa-so-la-ti-do) has evolved in a similar way.

The difference between Occidental and Oriental music is that in the former the first note, śad́aja [or “do”], is repeated at the end to form an octave. Thus in Oriental music we say surasaptaka or musical “septave” (“collection of seven notes”) whereas in Occidental music we say “octave” (“collection of eight notes”).

Sadáshiva arranged sounds in the form of the surasaptaka, which contributed on the one hand to the acoustics of science, and on the other hand to the rhythmic phonetics of music. Hence in the study of music we cannot afford to forget his unique contribution.

A little while ago I said that every sound has colour too. Alternative words for raḿ [“colour”] are varńa [which also means “letter”] and rága. The word rága is derived from the root-verb rańj plus the suffix ghaiṋ, and means “to colour” something. By permutating and combining different sounds, Shiva created various rágas and arranged them in a perfect orderly sequence. In this way He created six rágas and thirty-six ráginiis. This was an immense contribution to the world of music and earned him the epithet Nádatanu [Embodiment of Divine Sound] in the Vedas. Of course it was Maharśi Bharata who popularized these rágas and ráginiis amongst intellectuals.

These rágas and ráginiis are subject to changes according to the shortening or lengthening of their notes. Following this system, Indian music is divided into two main branches: northern Indian music (colloquially “Hindustani music”), which is popular to the north of the Vindhya Hills, and Deccan music (or “Karnatak music”), which is popular to the south of the Vindhya Hills. Many new rágas and ráginiis are being evolved today and will be evolved in the future. There can be no end to this process of evolution. In Prabháta Saḿgiita⁽⁵⁾ also, a few new rágas and ráginiis have been evolved, but they have not yet been given names.

Á

The sound á is the acoustic root of rśabha, the second musical note. This acoustic root directly controls rśabha and indirectly controls gándhára (gá), madhyama (má), paiṋcama (pá), dhaevata (dhá) and niśáda (ni). In the Vedas other than the Rgveda, we usually come across komala [soft] ni and sádhárańa [ordinary] ni. In the older portions of the Rgveda, kad́ii [hard or high-pitched] ni was used. It could be uttered with both sides of the uvula. The seven Vedic and Tantric notes, the seven Vedic metres and the two bhávátmaka svara [spiritual sounds] constitute the sixteen prominent sounds which in Indo-Aryan phonetics are known as śod́asha dhvanikalá [the “sixteen sounds” of Brahmavidyá – intuitional science – and gandharvavidyá – the science of music]. These musical notes were used in music and incantation in different combinations according to the waxing and waning of the moon and according to the time of day or night. Accordingly, a specific period of the month and time of the day was fixed for the performance of each rága and ráginii.

I

Each of the letters of the Indo-Aryan alphabet, from a to kśa, is an acoustic root. That is, these fifty sounds are the vibrations corresponding to the colours of the fifty propensities. The third letter of the alphabet, i, is the acoustic root of gándhára (gá). It directly controls gándhára and indirectly controls madhyama (má), paiṋcama (pá), dhaevata (dhá) and niśáda (ni).

II

The sound ii is the acoustic root of the fourth note of the surasaptaka, madhyama (má). This sound directly controls madhyama, and indirectly controls paiṋcama (pá), dhaevata (dhá), and niśáda (ni). In ancient times, the very prolonged pluta ii was used in musical notation to denote kad́ii [hard or high-pitched] má, but in modern languages there is no separate letter for pluta ii.

U

The short u sound is the acoustic root of paiṋcama (pá), the fifth musical note. This sound directly controls paiṋcama (pá), and indirectly controls dhaevata (dhá) and niśáda (ni).

Ú

The long ú sound is the acoustic root of the sixth musical note, dhaevata (dhá). It directly controls dhaevata (dhá), and indirectly controls niśáda (ni).

R

The r sound is the seventh letter and seventh vowel of Southeast Asian alphabets, as well as of the Indo-Aryan alphabet. It is the acoustic root of the seventh musical note niśáda (ni). Niśáda is derived as follows: ni – sad + ghaiṋ. A sa sound occurring in any root-verb after the prefix ni may be changed into the letter śa, that is, nisáda and niśáda are both permissible. Similarly, upaniśad and upanisad are equally correct. But in Bengali there is a convention of using śa in such spellings. Now, if niśáda is written with śa, then both the Rgvedic and Yajurvedic pronunciations must be accepted.⁽⁶⁾ Of course singers singing scales need not utter the complete word niśáda, but only ni.

The sound r directly controls the seventh musical note, niśáda. As it is a half-letter [has no vowel sound],⁽⁷⁾ designated as such [in the Bengali alphabet] with a hasanta diacritical mark ( ্),⁽⁸⁾ it does not directly control any other sound.

RR

The rr sound is the acoustic root of oṋm. You may say, Since oṋm is the acoustic root of creation, preservation and destruction, and the acoustic root of Saguńa and Nirguńa [it is used to symbolize Nirguńa], how can rr be the acoustic root of oṋḿkára?

What is the sound oṋm (ওঁম, ॐम)?

Oṋm consists of five symbols: a, the acoustic root of creation; u, the acoustic root of preservation; ma, the acoustic root of destruction, (.), the symbol of the unmanifested universe; and ([BENGALI CRESCENT SYMBOL]), the symbol which signifies the process of manifestation.

A is not only the acoustic root of śad́aja, it is also the acoustic root of the force of creation. When the idea to create something arises in the mind of Parama Puruśa, or in the microcosmic mind, its acoustic root is the sound a. Since a is the acoustic root of creation, from which everything else proceeds, a is the first letter of the alphabet.

The sound u is the acoustic root of the fifth musical note, and is also the acoustic root of a few other factors, the force of preservation being one of them. When the desire to maintain the created entities arises in the mind of Parama Puruśa, or in the individual microcosmic mind, then the acoustic root of that sort of desire is u.

The sound m with hasant [indicating that its pronunciation is m rather than ma], as well as being the acoustic root of the tendency [prashraya vrtti] to treat someone or something indulgently, is the acoustic root of the vinásha [destruction] that occurs in the course of time. When people feel that something has become monotonous, they want to change it.

It should be remembered that vinásha does not mean complete annihilation, but transformation or metamorphosis. Complete annihilation is called pranásha. (In fact, nothing in this physical universe is subject to pranásha or complete annihilation. But philosophically, pranásha means that change which takes an entity back to its original form. If sugar made from sugar cane is transformed back into sugar cane, that will be the pranásha of the sugar. Thus from a philosophical point of view, if a microcosm, through sádhaná, merges into that Parama Puruśa from whom it originated, that will be the pranásha of that microcosm.) This m sound is the acoustic root of annihilation.

The manifested universe is constituted of creation, preservation and destruction (a-u-m). A + u = o, hence a + u + m = om. But that is not the end of the story; the dot (.) and the crescent ([BENGALI CRESCENT SYMBOL]) that form part of oṋḿkára are also important. The former represents the unmanifested universe; the latter represents the principle of transmutation from the unmanifested to the manifested.⁽⁹⁾ Hence, oṋm is the acoustic root of creation, preservation and destruction, plus the principle of transmutation from the unmanifested to the manifested.

The source of most acoustic roots is Tantra, although some of them already existed in the Vedas and were later accepted by Tantra. Oṋm is one of the latter. Those Dakśińácára Tantrics who do not want to accept annihilation as the last word, and thus do not want to place the acoustic root of destruction as the last sound, utilize the full letter ma as opposed to the half-letter m, and place the letters in the following order: u + ma + a = umá. According to Dakśińácára Tantra, “Umá” is another name of Paramá Prakrti.

Oṋḿkára is also called prańava (pra + nu + al), which literally means “that which helps tremendously in attaining the supreme stance”. In the Tripádavibhútináráyańa Shruti it has been said, Prańavátmakaḿ Brahma [“Brahma is in the form of prańava”]. Elsewhere it has been said,

Etaddhyevákśaraḿ Brahma etadevákśaraḿ param
Etadevákśaraḿ jiṋátvá Brahmaloke mahiiyate.

[This is the immutable Brahma, this is the supreme sound. After knowing this supreme sound, one attains the divine realm of Brahma.]

Now even though oṋm (which includes the dot and crescent) can serve as the acoustic root of this expressed universe, since oṋm is nevertheless a combination of sounds, it requires an acoustic root of its own. The acoustic root of another root is called atibiija or mahábiija. So rr is the mahábiija of oṋḿkára. This rr sound is necessary from the viewpoint of phonetics and of sandhi [the science of combining sounds]. Since it is an important acoustic root, it is imperative to decide whether such a letter should be deleted from the alphabet [as some linguists have suggested].

The Indo-Aryan alphabet consists of fifty letters from a to kśa. If any of these fifty letters is deleted, the entire alphabet will become defective and the acoustic importance of the letter concerned will be jeopardized. It is up to you to think over and decide whether rr should be retained in the alphabet or not.

LR

The sound lr is the acoustic root of the sound hummm and of its inner import. The sound hummm is itself the acoustic root of struggle, of sádhaná, and according to Tantra, of the kuńd́alinii. As hummm is the acoustic root of struggle, people call it the battle cry. You may have noticed that when sádhakas progress along the spiritual path and attain bliss they sometimes release the sound hummm spontaneously during the practice of sádhaná. It has been mentioned that the utterance of hummm during sádhaná is a sign of progress in Tantra.

According to Tantra the kulakuńd́alinii is the sleeping divinity. By virtue of sádhaná and with the help of mantrágháta [striking at the kulakuńd́alinii with powerful incantative vibrations] and mantra caetanya [conceptual understanding of and psychic association with a mantra], and

by smashing all obstacles, the kuńd́alinii can be raised to the sahasrára cakra. The practice adopted to raise the kuńd́alinii is called purashcarańa in Tantra. The kuńd́alinii is the sleeping divinity. To arouse it from slumber and raise it upwards is quite a struggle and hence hummm must also be the acoustic root of the kuńd́alinii. The controlling point of the kuńd́alinii, the múládhára, is called mańipadma or mahámańipadma in Maháyána Buddhist philosophy. The Tibetan Maháyániis recite Oṋḿ mańipadme hummm while turning their dharma cakras [prayer wheels]. I have seen Oṋḿ mańipadme hummm inscribed on the walls of Tibetan caves.

LRR

Lrr is the acoustic root of the sound phat́ (which is the acoustic root of putting a theory into practice) and is thus the atibiija, or mahábiija [super-acoustic root], of the phat́ biija. It is just like the sprouting of a seed, like a sudden awakening from slumber. When something which is sleeping or dormant suddenly bursts into the realm of light, we say colloquially [in Bengali] that it is making a phat́ sound. Lrr is also the acoustic root of the removal of lethargy. Hence, considering its enormous importance, it should not be deleted from the Bengali alphabet.

Each of the fifty letters is called mátrká varńa (“causal matrix”) because each is an acoustic root of some important factor, sound, vibration, divine or demoniacal propensity, human quality, or microcosmic expression. Thus no letter should be deleted from the alphabet. But the final decision in this regard rests in the hands of the scholars.

E

The rhythmic expression of mundane knowledge; the sprouting of mundane knowledge; mundane welfare; and the thought of mundane welfare; are symbolized by vaośat́. The sound e is the atibiija, or mahábiija, of the vibrations of vaośat́. In ancient times kings hungry for more land would pray to Indra, the king of the gods, to bless their Rájasúya Yajiṋa⁽¹⁰⁾ or Ashvamedha Yajiṋa [Horse Sacrifice] to help them attain a vast empire. On those occasions they would say, Eḿ Indráya vaośat́.

AE

The thought of welfare and the materialization of welfare in the subtler sphere are symbolized by vaśat́. Those who pray to Lord Shiva for all-round human welfare say, Aeḿ Shiváya vaśat́; those who pray to their guru for the attainment of subtle knowledge say, Aeḿ gurave vaśat́; and those who pray to the rain-god for relief from floods say, Varuńaya vaośat́ (in this case the thought of welfare is confined to the physical sphere). But those who pray for victory in war against the forces of wickedness, say, Varuńáya vaśat. Within the acoustic root vaśat́ lies the thought of welfare in the subtle sphere; it is the atibiija, or mahábiija, of the sense of blessing in the subtle sphere.

While uttering any incantation it is the common practice to add ḿ to the end of the acoustic root. Thus ae is pronounced as aeḿ.

Aeḿ is the acoustic root of vocalization. Linguistic expression is divided into six stages: pará, pashyanti, madhyamá, dyotamáná, vaekharii, and shrutigocará.

Whatever you have said, or are saying, or will say in future, lies within you as dormant vitality. A great potentiality lies dormant in each human being, just as a huge banyan tree lies latent within a tiny seed. The banyan seed sprouts when light, air, water and fertile soil exist in requisite amounts. It subsequently grows foliage and branches, and in the course of time develops into a gigantic tree. Similarly, the immense potentialities of human beings lie latent and hypnotized in the kulakuńd́alinii at múládhára cakra as dormant humanity. When the kuńd́alinii is raised upwards through mantrágháta and mantra caetanya in the process of meditation (this process is called purashcarańa in Tantra and amrtamudrá or ánandamudrá in yoga), the doors of human potentiality start opening one after another. Human beings grow in beauty and vitality, their flowers divine, their foliage lush. Such individuals develop into great people in the eyes of the public and finally become one with the Supreme Entity. This process is called parábhyudaya in the scriptures.

The first stage of linguistic expression, that is, language in its potential form or seed form, lies dormant in the múládhára cakra, and it leads through successively clearer stages of manifestation to full-fledged linguistic expression. This primordial phase of linguistic expression is called paráshakti, the primordial phase of vocalization.

Incidentally, I would like to say a few words about the fundamental paráshakti. The shakti [energy] with which unit beings discharge their physico-psycho-spiritual actions is called aparáshakti. Aparáshakti is by no means insignificant – it helps microcosms to maintain their existence and achieve greater evolution and elevation. But the energy with which microcosms direct their physico-psycho-spiritual efforts towards the divine and reach the highest rung of the evolutionary ladder by piercing every tender layer of microcosmic existence, is called paráshakti (this paráshakti, which is the primordial phase of vocalization, is not the same as the paráshakti or Supreme Operative Principle in the unbalanced triangle of forces). Here we are concerned with the ways of expression of language. All the potentialities of vocal expression lie dormant in the form of paráshakti at the múládhára cakra. Paráshakti is raised step by step and finally leads to the vocal expression of language.

If vocalization remains dormant in seed form at the múládhára, it is neither audible nor perceivable in the practical world. The latent paráshakti has got to be awakened. Human beings visualize whatever they want to communicate, sometimes only for a fraction of a second, consciously or unconsciously. If they are already aware of the name and form of the visualized object, they can progress further in the process of expression, otherwise that name or form will continue to remain in the abstract world. This stage, in which one can mentally visualize what one is going to communicate, is the second stage in the process of vocalization. Its controlling point is the svádhiśt́hána cakra. The energy which causes the visualization is called pashyanti. Pashyanti is derived from the root verb drsh plus shatr, and means “that which is seeing”.

This seeing is of two things: that which is original in the abstract world (its image is mostly indistinct) and that which is of a recurring nature in the abstract world, in other words, that which is reproduced from memory. Anubhútaviśayásampromaśah smrti. “After perceiving an object in the external world with the help of the eyes or any other external indriya, one often thinks about it.” The energy which helps one to visualize that thought is pashyanti shakti. This is the second stage of vocalization. Of course just to visualize the perceived object (with the help of pashyanti shakti) is not enough; other people cannot see your mental images or mental words, because those things belong to the psychic world. Linguistic expression pertains to the mundane world. Words are transmitted in the outer world through the medium of air or electro-magnetic waves, or some such medium. Mental images can be projected in the external world with the help of vital energy, but this sort of psychic projection is beyond the capacity of pashyanti shakti.

Ideas in the psychic world gain momentum with the addition of vital energy. This process of coordination must be consolidated step by step before ideas can be expressed through words in the external world. The human body’s energy, or indrashakti, or luminous factor, is located in the mańipura cakra.⁽¹¹⁾ The mańipura cakra maintains the body’s physical balance. When pashyanti shakti comes to the mańipura cakra and there receives the assistance of vital energy, it becomes madhyamá shakti. The controlling point of madhyamá shakti is the mańipura cakra or navel area.

To externalize an idea one has to apply physical energy (philosophically, this energy is called indra). We can call this stage the first expression of the sound tanmátra. Although this sound tanmátra is not audible to the external ear because it has not yet been vocalized, it does have internal sound.

The transformation of madhyamá shakti into the form of speech takes place at a point between the mańipura and vishuddha cakras. This is a state of calamánatá [mobility].⁽¹²⁾ The force which functions between the mańipura and vishuddha cakras, trying to give vocal expression to mental ideas, is called dyotamáná.

Dyotamáná shakti is expressed as a relentless effort to transform idea into language. If, however, in this process of transformation, the mind is affected by fear or by any other instinct, there will be only a partial or incoherent vocal expression.

In the dyotamáná stage, if the idea is not metamorphosed into a corresponding picture, or if there is any defect in the area between the mańipura and vishuddha cakras, or if there is no proper command over language, then vocal expression is bound to be affected. In such cases people are unable to give linguistic expression to things that they know. They say, “The idea’s in my mind but I just can’t find the words to express it.”

The dyotamáná stage exists in collective life, also. Ever since the dawn of human civilization, human beings have been searching for ways to fulfil their various desires: the desire to fly, the desire to move fast over land, the desire to reach the distant planets, the desire to cross the oceans. Sometimes they have succeeded, sometimes they have failed. But even after failure, they have not given up the struggle, but have persisted with renewed vigour. We are still waiting for that glorious day to arrive when we will be able to give a full and rich expression to the vast world of human thought. Today, however, we can only express a small fraction of the vast world of ideas.

The vocal cord lies in the area of the vishuddha cakra. It is the organ responsible for transforming abstract idea into vocal expression. The energy which helps in this task is vaekharii shakti. Vaekharii shakti is the energy which causes ideas to take the form of language. It is the fifth stage in the process of vocal expression. When someone talks too much, this is the uncontrolled expression of vaekharii shakti. Some pandits, in order to prove their intellectual might through intellectual extravaganza, indulge in such unnecessary vocalization. It has been said,

Vákvaekharii shabdayharii
Shástravyákhyána kaoshalaḿ;
Vaeduśyaḿ viduśáḿ tadvat
Bhuktaye na tu muktaye.

[Garrulousness, grandiloquence and conflicting interpretations of the scriptures are nothing but intellectual extravaganza. They do not lead to salvation, but merely satisfy the intellect.]

Neither individual life nor collective life is benefited from such useless talk. Pandits may receive temporary applause but they ultimately gain nothing but a big zero.

Even after an idea gets metamorphosed into language, if there is the slightest defect in the uvula, vocal expression will be disturbed. (The Sanskrit equivalents of “uvula” are lambiká, galashuńd́iká, and áljihvá.) Even if one articulates properly, one will not be able to speak correctly if there is any defect in the uvula.

The energy through which the exact language is conveyed to the human ears is called shrutigocará. This is the last stage in the process of vocalization. The sound ae is the acoustic root of the six stages of vocalization: pará, pashyanti, madhyamá, dyotamáná, vaekharii, and shrutigocará.

Ae is also called vágbhava biija, and is the acoustic root of the guru. People acquire knowledge through gurus, hence the guru is also invoked through this acoustic root: Aeḿ gurave namah. Those who believe in idol worship use this particular acoustic root in invoking the goddess of knowledge: Aeḿ sarasvatyae namah. And it is also used to invoke Shiva, the propounder of Tantra: Aeḿ Shiváya namah.

O

The acoustic root of the completion of an action is sváhá. When ghee is offered into the fire, that cannot be called sváhá. Only when the ghee is consumed by the fire, that is, the ghee is totally effaced from existence, can that be called sváhá.

The sváhá mantra is often uttered when any action is being done with a divine purpose. When action is performed with a noble purpose in the psychic and spiritual spheres, or even in the mundane sphere, the controlling acoustic root is sváhá. This is the meaning of sváhá in the general sense. More specifically sváhá is used while offering oblations to fire. In this sense it is related to the acoustic root svadhá. The general meaning of svadhá is “one who is self-reliant” (sva + dhác = svadhá). Sváhá is also used as an acoustic root for spiritual actions, while svadhá is used while making offerings to the ancestors.

In ancient times, in the entire Rgvedic period and in the first half of the Yajurvedic period, su and sva were used almost synonymously. But later they acquired different meanings: sva came to mean “own” (svadesha means “own country”) and su came to mean “good” (sujan means “good man”). One Sanskrit word for “good” is bhadra, from which the Bengali word bhálo comes. The Hindi word bháláii is the abstract noun of bhálá. In old Ráŕhii Bengali, the word bhálá is used in the sense of “look at”. It is an indigenous Bengali word. Ajaná pathik ek deshke eseche bhálgo. [“An unknown traveller has come to our land; look at him.” – Prabháta Saḿgiita]

Sváhá is split up as sva + áhá or su + áhá. In ancient times sváhá and svadhá were synonymous, but later sváhá came to convey the thought of welfare, that is, “Let there be prosperity,” and svadhá came to mean, “May the peace of God be with you.” Hence sváhá was used in the course of offering oblations to gods and goddesses, and svadhá for ceremonies in memory of departed ancestors.

In ancient times people used to observe a period of austerity before offering oblations to the gods or ancestors; this preparatory period was called adhivása. In the Vedic period, as far as is known, people had a great weakness for surá [an alcoholic drink]. (Sanskrit synonyms for surá are somarasa, madya, madhu, ásava, ariśt́a and sudhá.) During their adhivása the priests would of course have to abstain from drinking. So they would cover their shoulders with a mrgacarma⁽¹³⁾ [a deerskin – a symbol of their adhivása], so that other people would not invite them to drink. When they conducted rituals concerning the gods and goddesses, they would utter the sváhá mantra and would wear the skin on the left shoulder (in this case the skin was called yajiṋopaviita, or upaviita, for short); and when they conducted rituals concerning the ancestors, they would use the svadhá mantra and wear the skin on the right shoulder (in this case the skin was called práciináviita.) When they were not conducting either of these rituals, they would place the skin around their necks (in this case it was called niviita). While invoking the gods and goddesses, they would chant the sváhá mantra with the sampradána mudrá; for ceremonies using the vaośat́ and vaśat́ mantras, they would use the baradá mudrá; and for ceremonies involving the svadhá mantra they would use the aḿkusha mudrá.

A little while ago, I mentioned that su and sva could be used almost synonymously. [When reading mantras from ancient texts, people would understand from the context whether su or sva meant “good” or “own”.] But to use sva in place of su [in the sense of “good”] was not so common.

Rtaḿ pibantao sukrtasya loke
Guháyáḿ praviśt́ao parame parárdhe;
Cháyátapao Brahmavido vadanti
Paiṋcágnayo ye ca trińáciketáh.

“Human beings reap the consequences of their own karma [deeds].” In this shloka, sukrta is used instead of svakrta [to mean “done by oneself”, “own” (referring to karma, “deeds”)].

The human mind is divided into two functional chambers: the karttr ámi or subjective “I”, and the karma ámi or objectivated “I”. The objectivated “I” moves forward; the subjective “I” remains in the background, as an observer. “Just as it is difficult to discern the precise line between sunshine and shade, it is almost impossible to discern the transition point between the subjective ‘I’ and the objectivated ‘I’. This is what the brahmavids [knowers of Brahma] say, and it is corroborated by the paiṋcágnii, or renunciates, and the trińáciketa, or householders.”

Regarding the metempirical entity, the Vedas say:

Dvá suparńá sayujá sakháyá
Samánaḿ brkśaḿ pariśasvajáte;
Tayoranyah pippalaḿ svádvattyan
Ashnannanyo abhicákashiiti.

[Two friendly birds with beautiful plumage are perched on the same branch of a tree. One of them is eating the sweet fruit while the other looks on as a mere witness.]

The acoustic root sváhá signifies pious resolve and the psychic desire for universal welfare. The sound o is its super-acoustic root or atibiija. So whatever may be the importance of o in the alphabetical order, its value as an acoustic root is immense.

AO

The posture of surrender to the greatness of another person or entity is called namah mudrá or namomudrá. Such surrender results in one’s mental body being vibrated by the greatness of the Supreme. It is the person doing namomudrá who benefits, and not the one for whom the mudrá is performed. The way to do this mudrá to the guru is to lie prostrate before him with the palms placed together, that is, with the middle fingers of each hand placed parallel to each other. This represents the pinpointed concentration of mind which is directed towards the supreme goal.

In this mudrá all eight parts of the body are engaged. (According to áyurveda the human body has eight main parts. The áyurvedik system of medical treatment is called aśt́áuṋga [eight-limbed] cikitsá vijiṋána.) The body itself becomes as straight as a staff [one Sanskrit word for which is dańd́a], and thus one of the mudrá’s names is dańd́avat prańáma.⁽¹⁴⁾ This is namomudrá, the systematic endeavour to acquire greatness in return for one’s surrender unto greatness. [Namah is the acoustic root of acquiring greatness in life; and ao is the super-acoustic root of namah biija.]

The science of dance recognizes about 850 mudrás [meaningful gestures], such as namo mudrá, lalita mudrá, baradá mudrá, abhaya mudra, aḿkusha mudrá, mahá mudrá, kákacaiṋcu mudrá, tejasii mudrá, ámbhásii mudrá, párthivii mudrá, váyavii mudrá, ákáshii mudrá, bháva mudrá, shparshiká mudrá, cetasii mudrá, sarpa mudrá, kapálii mudrá, and many, many more.

In order to master the art of dance, one must become skilled in the art of mudrá. Dance as practised in human society can be broadly divided into two schools:⁽¹⁵⁾ chandapradhána nrtya [rhythmic dance] and mudrápradhána nrtya [mudraic dance]. Occidental dance (such as ballroom dance) is more rhythmic, whereas Oriental dance is more mudrá-oriented.⁽¹⁶⁾ Of course, mudrás are used in Occidental music also, but their role is secondary; and rhythm is an integral part of Oriental dance, but is nevertheless secondary to mudrá.

The sound ha is the acoustic root of the sun, of the stars, and of the ethereal factor. T́ha is the acoustic root of satellites, such as the moon. When the moon, which is the physical symbol of the psychic realm, and the sun, which is the physical symbol of mundane energy, are made to become one, that is called hat́ha yoga (Hat́hena kurute karma). When an action is done abruptly, out of sudden impulse, there is a sudden release of energy called hat́hatah (hat́ha + tas) or hat́hát (fifth case-ending of hat́ha in Sanskrit). A synonym of hat́hát is balát, meaning “by force” or “suddenly”; and another meaning of hat́hát is “to get expressed suddenly without giving any scope for thought”. To do something good or bad suddenly without prior thought is called balátkár. Remember that the meaning of balátkár is not necessarily a bad one.

The magnanimity of Shiva was as vast as the sky. People used to show their veneration for Him either in namah mudrá or with the sound ao. Hence the acoustic root of Shivatattva [essence of Shiva] is haoḿ: Haoḿ Shiváya namah. Those entities who were very dear to Shiva by virtue of their personal simplicity, naturalness and spirit of selfless service, were also revered using the sound ha. Shiva’s favourite flower was the common dhustara flower. Ha is the acoustic root of the dhustara flower. Thus you can easily understand why haoḿ is the acoustic root of Shiva.

AḾ

Aḿ is the acoustic root of an idea. The same sound, when uttered with a different mental ideation, acquires different meanings, and the effect it has varies from person to person. The word bet́á, for example, can be used as an endearing term for one’s child. A parent may say, Ájá bet́á, kháná khále [“Come, my dear child, come and eat your food”]. In this case bet́á (“my child”) sounds very pleasing to the ears; when the child hears it s/he feels very gratified. But one could also say, Áy bet́á toke dekhe noba; tor caudda puruśer shráddha karchi. [“Come here you wretch, I’ll teach you a lesson! I’m going to send you and fourteen generations of your ancestors to hell!”] In this case the utterance of bet́á injects poison into the mind of the listener. The acoustic root of the poisonous mentality which utters poisoned words is aḿ. The acoustic root of that pleasant ideation which adds sweetness to a word is ah. You should remember that whenever you speak to someone, or recite a poem, or play any part in a drama, or sing any song, you should know the underlying meaning of what you are expressing. Only then will you be able to touch your listeners’ hearts and influence them.

AH

There are some words which are neither good nor bad, but adopt a positive or negative meaning due to the way in which they are uttered or due to the mentality behind their utterance. Á jáná bet́á baet́hná, kháná kháye ho? [“Come and sit here, my child. Have you had anything to eat yet?”] In this example the word bet́á is very pleasing to the ears. It is uttered in such a sweet way that the child will feel gratified. But when someone says, Áy bet́á toke dekhe noba! [“Come here, you wretch, I’ll teach you a lesson!”] the word bet́á becomes repulsive.

If one tells a boy, Eso khoká miśt́i niye yáo [“Come, little child, take some sweets”], a very pleasant mentality is expressed. But if one says, O ár nyákámi kare khoká sájte habe ná, aman d́haḿ anek dekhechi [“Stop being so childish. I’m sick of it”], that same pleasing mentality is not expressed. The same word, khoká, when uttered with a different mentality takes on a different meaning. Where the mentality is bitter or repulsive, it is indicative of poison, and its acoustic root is aḿ; and where the mentality is sweet or attractive, it is indicative of nectar, and its acoustic root is ah. So when singing, or reciting a poem, or acting in a play, or even when saying ordinary things, one should have full control over one’s expression, be it pleasant or unpleasant. Singers should also remember this and sing accordingly. The controlling point of viśa [poison] and amrta [nectar] is the vishuddha cakra.⁽¹⁷⁾ Thus one should exercise a certain degree of control over the kúrma nád́ii [a nerve] at the vishuddha cakra.

KA

The way in which people think varies from individual to individual. The thought processes of sub-human creatures flow in four directions – towards food, sleep, survival, and procreation. Broadly speaking, human thought moves in five directions - towards food, sleep, survival, procreation and dharma. Yet there are many sub-streams. Human thought can be roughly divided into two categories: abhiipśátmaka (áshá vrtti) and vishuddha saḿvedanátmaka (cintá vrtti).

A major part of the world of thought revolves around áshá vrtti [the propensity of hope]. Goaded by this propensity, various creatures, especially human beings, are inspired to work in various ways. Ka is the acoustic root of the abhiipśátmaka áshá vrtti. It is also the acoustic root of Kárya Brahma [the expressed universe].

In ancient times, before people learned to dig in the ground, they collected water from the rivers and springs. Hence, anything that produced sounds like the roaring of rivers, the babbling of brooks, or the gushing of spring water, would inspire the hope of survival in their minds. Ka (derived from the root-verb kae plus suffix d́a) etymologically means “that which produces sound”. It also means “water”, and thus ka is the acoustic root of flowing water (va is the acoustic root of water in general).

If someone keeps a matted lock of hair on his or her head, it will be quite visible even from a distance. If the hair is properly oiled, it will become glossy. From kac, meaning “glossy”, we get another meaning of ka, “hair grown on the head”.

Hair when it is curly is called kuntala. And Shiva used to tie His hair in a knot in such a way that it pointed upwards. Hence just as one of Shiva’s names was “Vyomakesha”, meaning “Hair towards the Sky” (vyoma = “sky” and kesh = “hair”), He was also called “Khakuntala”, with the same meaning, since kha means “sky” and Shiva’s hair was curly.

And, as many people know, another name of Shiva was “Dhurjat́ii”.

We said before that ka is the acoustic root of Kárya Brahma. It is also the acoustic root of creation. According to Buddhist Mádhyamik and Saotántrik philosophy, one name for the created world is Saḿvrtti Bodhicitta (which is also another name of Kárya Brahma). The then Buddhist cult called those sádhakas who took the noble vow of serving all in the living and non-living worlds, kápálikas – Kaḿ [from ka] saḿvrtti bodhi cittaḿ pálayati iti kápálikah. Later on, the meaning and import of the word kápálika became distorted.

As mentioned, ka is the acoustic root of Kárya Brahma. Kárya Brahma (Saguńarasátmaka Brahma), represented by ka, is the controller of the living world. Ka + iisha = kesha. Kesha can mean “hair”; it can also mean Náráyańa.

KHA

While discussing ka I mentioned that human thoughts are sometimes guided by áshá vrtti, sometimes by cintá vrtti. The acoustic root of áshá vrtti is ka, and that of cintá vrtti [the propensity of worry] is kha. Suppose the train you are travelling by from Krishnanagar to Dignagar is running late. In that case you will not only think about the train being late, but of the probable inconveniences caused as a result, notably the inconvenience you will cause your host in Dignagar if you arrive at his house late and expect him to serve you food. So you decide to eat your supper somewhere near the station before proceeding to your host’s house. All thoughts such as these are symbolized by the acoustic root kha.

Suppose you are travelling from Krishnanagar to Matiyari. The thought passes through your mind that at one time Matiyari had an important brassware industry, which today is on the verge of collapse, resulting in thousands of its employees losing their jobs. You wonder whether it might be possible to revive the industry. But as you are not personally affected by the collapse of the industry, you are not a direct player in your own thoughts. Impersonal thoughts such as these are symbolized by the acoustic root kha.

Kha means “sky”, but kha is not the acoustic root of the sky. The acoustic root of the sky is ha. Kha also means “heaven”, but it is not the acoustic root of all of heaven, either. The crude aspects of heaven are represented by kha, whereas the sphere of heaven which transcends the crude is represented by kśa.

Ka is the acoustic root of Kárya Brahma. First comes ka, Kárya Brahma, and then follows the rest of creation. That is why ka is the first consonant. And as ka plus ha equals kha, ka is immediately followed by kha in the Indo-Aryan alphabet.

GA

Every entity, whether animate or inanimate, has the potentiality of expression. An animate entity can arouse that dormant potentiality through both external and internal means, whereas an inanimate entity acquires impetus through external means. Suppose poetic genius lies dormant in a certain person. If he arouses that latent genius by applying his will-force, he can become a renowned poet. But if he fails to do that due to lethargy or for some other reason, his poetic genius will remain unexpressed. The effort made to arouse one’s dormant potentiality is called ceśt́á. Ceśt́á is one of the psychic vrttis [propensities] and is the main cause of mundane development and spiritual elevation. So its value in the mundane and supramundane spheres is immense.

Ga, being the acoustic root of ceśt́á vrtti, plays an important role in the physical, psychic and spiritual spheres of human life.

GHA

Mamatá, the vrtti of love and attachment of human beings and all other creatures, is related to time, space and individuality. It is not unusual for people to praise even the goods of the poorest quality manufactured in their own country and criticize the best-quality goods made in other countries. This occurs due to their irrational attachment for a certain place. It is a kind of psychic disease. The same sort of thing occurs in individuals as well. The mother who feels so much love and affection for her child that she sacrifices everything in life for its comfort and welfare, mercilessly slices young kai fish [walking fish] into pieces without the slightest emotional feeling. The young kai fish cry out in the agony of death, but the cruel heart of the human mother does not melt. Mamatá vrtti is also related to the time factor. The same mother cow who so lovingly suckles her calves and licks them clean today kicks them away when they grow up tomorrow.

Thus mamatá vrtti is limited by the relative factors. Only human beings can make mamatá vrtti transcend the boundaries of time, space and individuality, after persistent and intense efforts. This is something impossible for other beings. Gha is the acoustic root of mamatá vrtti.

UṊA

Uṋa is the acoustic root of dambha vrtti [the propensity of vanity]. The popular story goes that the great sage Vashiśt́ha travelled to China to learn the Chinese school of Tantra. In China he learnt the use of una in the utterance of Tantric mantras, and introduced it in India on his return. Una is used extensively in all the dialects of the Indo-Chinese languages, even in Tibetan, Laddaki, Sherpa, Manpa, etc. It is said that Vashiśt́ha learned that una is the acoustic root of vanity. It is also said that he first learned the Tárá cult of the Buddhist Vámácára Tantra from China. Since then in Buddhist Tantra, the Tárá cult has been trifurcated: Ugra Tárá or Vajra Tárá is worshipped in India; Niila Tárá, or Niila Sarasvatii, is worshipped in Kiḿpuruśavarśa (Tibet), and Bhrámarii Tárá (Krśńa Tárá) is worshipped in China.

It is believed that in the post-Buddhist period Vajra Tárá or Ugra Tárá was accepted as the Tárá deity in Varńáshrama Dharma [medieval Hinduism]. Today names such as Tárá Dás, Tárápada, Tárá Kumar, etc., are quite common. It is generally accepted that the Niila Tárá, or Niila Sarasvatii, of Tibet was later converted into the [Hindu] goddess Sarasvatii by the supporters of Varńáshrama Dharma.

The acoustic root of Vajra Tárá of India and Niila Tárá of Tibet is aeḿ. The black-coloured Bhrámarii Tárá of China is accepted as the goddess Kálii in Varńáshrama Dharma. Their acoustic root is the same, kriiḿ (ka symbolizing Kárya Brahma plus ra symbolizing the luminous factor).

CA

Ca is the acoustic root of viveka [conscience].

CHA

Cha is the acoustic root of vikalatáh vrtti [nervous breakdown]. A nervous breakdown occurs when one’s mind, which had previously been functioning properly, either starts malfunctioning or stops functioning altogether.

JA

Una is the acoustic root of dambha vrtti [the propensity of vanity]; ja is the acoustic root of ahaḿkára vrtti (ego). The ego becomes inflated when one allows one’s “I” feeling to take a predominant role. “Since I was there, I was able to control the situation. But I wonder what would have happened in my absence. I’m sure that had I not been there the world would have met its final destruction.” So spoke Aurangzeb, the last powerful Mughal emperor of India. It is an expression of ahaḿkára vrtti.

JHA

Jha is the acoustic root of lolupatá, lobha [greed] and lolatá [avarice] vrttis. The Bengali word nolá [the greedy fascination of a cat or a dog] is derived from lola or lolatá.

IṊA

Ina is the acoustic root of kapat́atá vrtti [hypocrisy]. Another Sanskrit word for “hypocrite” is páśańd́a, which was more widely used in the past. In Hindi a hypocrite is called pákhańd́ii. Hypocrisy can take many forms, but we are mainly acquainted with the following three: (1) getting one’s purpose served by exploiting or cheating others; (2) unnecessarily dominating somebody to conceal one’s own ignorance or weakness; (3) pretending to be moral by criticizing the sins of others, which one secretly commits oneself.

T́A

T́a is the acoustic root of vitarka vrtti [overstating one’s case]. Many people think that vitarka means a type of debating, but this is only partially true. It also means overstating one’s case to the point of garrulousness. Vitarka is a combination of a bad temper and garrulousness. It is in no way synonymous with kaśáya vrtti [speaking harshly to hurt others]. The following is an example of vitarka vrtti.

Suppose a person arrives at the Howrah railway station in Calcutta a little late and asks a well-dressed gentleman, “Excuse me, sir, has the Uluberia local train departed yet?” The gentleman snaps angrily, “Is it my duty to keep information about the Uluberia local train? Am I a railway timetable? How idiotic! People like you make life hell for others. This is the reason the country is going to the dogs. What do you think I am, an enquiry office?” Another gentleman standing nearby says helpfully, “Were you asking about the Uluberia local? The train will leave from platform eleven in five minutes. If you hurry you’ll catch it.”

The first gentleman has an uncontrolled vitarka vrtti whereas the second gentleman has uttered pramita vák [balanced statements]. In pramita vák only relevant words are used.

T́HA

T́ha is the acoustic root of anutápa vrtti [repentance]. One is seized by a feeling of repentance when one realizes (either from within or with the help of a second person) the impropriety of one’s action. In northern India anutápa is called pascháttápa. Both anu and paschát mean “later” or “after”; tápa means “heat”.

D́A

D́a is the acoustic root of lajjá vrtti [the propensity of shyness].

D́HA

Senseless, sadistic killing is called pishunatá vrtti. If meat-eaters slaughter animals in the way that inflicts the least pain, that is not pishunatá; but if they kill them slowly and cruelly, first chopping off their legs, then their tails, then their heads, it is definitely pishunatá. These days in many civilized countries people are unable to give up meat-eating, but have at least devised modern methods to kill the animals less painfully. But remember, the killing of animals, no matter how it is done, is contrary to the spirit of Neohumanism.

Once I saw a harrowing sight in a market place: part of a live tortoise had just been chopped off and sold, but the poor creature was not completely dead and was trying to crawl away, leaving a stream of blood. Such cruel things should be abolished altogether. The cruel slaughter of that innocent tortoise is certainly a case of pishunatá.

To kill human beings is totally undesirable, but if people do want to eliminate their enemies, they should do so with a minimum of torture. The kings of old used to kill criminals by impaling them on spikes; or by half-burying them in the ground, sprinkling salt over them, and letting the dogs eat them. Sometimes people were flayed alive. These actions certainly deserve universal condemnation. They are all examples of pishunatá.

ŃA

Ńa is the acoustic root of iirśá vrtti [the propensity of envy].

TA

Ta is the acoustic root of staticity, long sleep and deep sleep. It is also the acoustic root of intellectual dullness and spiritual inertness. That which brings about the cessation of dullness and staticity is called Tantra – Taḿ jádyát tárayet yastu sa tantrah parikiirttitah.

The root-verb tan means “to expand”. If a person bound by ropes manages to expand his body, the ropes will snap automatically. That which leads to liberation through tan, expansion, is also Tantra – Taḿ vistáreńa tárayet yastu sah tantrah parikiirttitah.

THA

Tha is the acoustic root of viśada vrtti, of melancholy (melancholiness, melancholia).

DA

Da is the acoustic root of peevishness. If one speaks in a nice way to a peevish person, he or she reacts adversely; if one speaks in a harsh way, he or she takes it calmly.

DHA

Dha is the acoustic root of thirst for acquisition. This limitless craving for wealth, name, fame, power and prestige is called trśńa in Sanskrit. Here trśńa does not mean “thirst for water”. To divert all the pure and impure thoughts of the mind towards Parama Puruśa is the only cure for limitless psychic craving.

NA

Na is the acoustic root of moha vrtti [blind attachment or infatuation]. This propensity of blind attachment is usually divided into the four categories of time, space, idea and individuality. When one loses one’s rationality out of blind attachment for one’s country, it is called deshagata moha, “geo-sentiment”. People who live in a country where not even a blade of grass grows, where people die of starvation, and which imports huge quantities of food grains from other countries, become so infatuated with their country that they say it has an abundance of water, has a bountiful fruit harvest, and is a net exporter of food to other countries.

Kálagata moha is blind attachment for a particular period of time. One becomes so attached to a certain period of time that one is unable to discern its positive or negative aspects. Some people complain that the behaviour of the present generation of children is disappointing. They say that when they were young they could easily digest iron pans, but the present generation has trouble digesting even water! They lament the great misfortune that has befallen the present age.

When a particular idea has a strong impact on mind, the mind rushes towards it again and again. Thieves, in the shock of the moment, always make a quick getaway from the scene of the crime. Later, however, they brood repeatedly about the place, and often return, straight into the hands of the police! A person who uses an object for a long time develops a fascination for that object. This is called ádháragata moha [fascination for an object]. There are many rich people who have a strange weakness for some old, battered object such as a rickety chair with one arm broken off. I know a story about how a pretty pot made of bell-metal was the cause of a bitter quarrel among the daughters-in-law of a certain family, so bitter that it led to the eventual break-up of the family. Na is the acoustic root of moha vrtti.

The only way to free oneself from the clutches of infatuation is to superimpose the ideation of indifference and divert one’s mental thoughts towards Parama Puruśa. It may be possible to control this propensity of wild fascination temporarily by intimidation or by enacting laws, but only temporarily. Those who believe in the equal distribution of the world’s wealth, naively underestimate the power of moha vrtti. The human mind can be sublimated only by spiritual ideation, not by any high-sounding philosophy. This utopian idea has proved ineffective in the past and in the present and will continue to prove so in the future.

PA

Pa is the acoustic root of ghrńá vrtti [the propensity of hatred or revulsion].

The underlying weaknesses which cause immense harm to human beings are called ripus [enemies]. They are six in number: káma [longing for physicality], krodha [anger], lobha [avarice], mada [vanity], moha [blind attachment], and mátsarya [jealousy]. And when our various mental bondages exploit these ripus in order to tighten their grip on the mind, they become known as páshas [fetters]. These páshas are eight in number:

Ghrńá shauṋká bhayaḿ lajjá
Jugupsá ceti paiṋcamii;
Kulaḿ shiilaiṋca mánaiṋca
Aśt́ao pásháh prakiirttitáh.

[Hatred, doubt, fear, shyness, dissemblance, vanity of lineage, cultural superiority complex and egotism – these are the eight fetters.]

Pa is the acoustic root of the fetter of hatred. It is a defect not directly traceable to any one ripu, but stemming from more than one ripu. Although hatred and fear are related to other ripus, they are mainly related to the moha ripu, or propensity of blind attachment. [E.g., when one’s desire for something becomes frustrated, one may develop hatred for what was the object of desire.]

When one’s psychic attraction is toward the crude, the mind has a downward tendency (in Sanskrit the root-verb pat or patati carries this sense), which leads to one’s eventual downfall. But when the mind moves upward it is called anurakti [attraction for the Great]. The consummation of this attraction is devotion. For this the Sanskrit verb is úrdhva gam or úrdhva gacchati.

One who is weakened by excessive attachment to alcohol falls an easy prey to the fetters of hatred and fear. Moha ripu makes people the objects of hatred to others, and makes others the objects of fear to them. Such is the deceptive allurement of moha vrtti that people rush toward their objects of desire without any discrimination. I already explained the different types of moha while discussing the consonant na.

PHA

Pha is the acoustic root of bhaya vrtti [the propensity of fear]. Though fear is generally caused by more than one factor, it is mainly born of moha ripu.

BA

Ba is the acoustic root of avajiṋá vrtti [indifference]. When one ignores something which is actually unacceptable, that is called upekśá, but when one neglects something which may actually have some value, that is called avajiṋá. Avajiṋá is somewhat similar in meaning to avahelá. Upekśá is not always used in a bad way, but avahelá certainly has a negative connotation. It is said,

Maetrii-karuńá-muditopekśáńáḿ-sukha-duhkha-puńyá -
Puńyaviśayánáḿ bhávanátashcittapra-sádanam.

Often when someone sees another person who is happy in life he or she feels pangs of jealousy; but this is not an ideal attitude. An ideal person will develop a benign attitude toward the happy person, saying, “That person is in such a happy frame of mind - may he stay that way forever.” And for those people who live in misery one should develop an attitude of compassion. One should never feel happy upon seeing the sorrows of others, but should think, “What a miserable life that person is leading. I hope things get better for him soon.”

Neither should one be jealous of a person who performs many virtuous deeds and charitable actions. Rather one should think well of the person since he or she is doing good work. “Let his intellect continue to inspire him to perform such virtuous actions. I fully support him.” And if someone is engaged in unrighteous deeds, his neighbours should ignore his dark side, and should not repeatedly condemn him. One should say, “Well, I’m not bothered by what he says or does – that’s his own business.” But this attitude of tolerance can only be accepted to a certain extent. If the person’s sinful or wicked actions harm society and disrupt social life, one can no longer afford to be indifferent.

BHA

Bha is the acoustic root of the múrcchá vrtti. Here múrcchá does not mean senselessness; it means to lose one’s common sense under the hypnotic spell of a particular ripu. To avoid the unsalutary effects of murcchá vrtti, one should direct one’s mind along the path of righteousness through the practice of pratyáhára yoga.

Those who have not learned the technique of pratyáhára yoga⁽¹⁸⁾ should do kiirtana aloud or sing devotional songs to escape the clutches of múrcchá vrtti.

MA

Ma is the acoustic root of prańásha [the propensity of annihilation]. It is also the acoustic root of prashraya vrtti - giving latitude [or treating with indulgence] – in Hindi baŕhvá dená.

YA

Ya is the acoustic root of avishvása vrtti [lack of confidence], and is also the acoustic root of constant movement (like the movement of air). You may have met people who have no confidence in themselves at all, even if they are told to be self-confident. Such people say right up to the end of their lives, “Shall I be able to do it?” They can never accomplish anything great in this world. As they also lack confidence in others, others have no confidence in them.

RA

Ra is the acoustic root of agnitattva or práńashakti – vitality. (Raḿ biijaḿ shikhinaḿ dhyáyet, trikońam-aruńaprabham.) It is also the acoustic root of sarvanásha [the thought of annihilation]. Sarvanásha causes people to think, “I have nothing of my own. Everything is gone. I am undone.” Such a negative outlook can only be cured with the constant auto-suggestion, “Parama Puruśa is mine,” which in the language of Tantra is called guru mantra. The feeling that one is defeated in life is ra-biijátmak [symbolized by ra], and its cure is the auto-suggestion that “I have come to win. I am destined to win.” People of developed mentality try to keep the minds of people of such negative outlook free from the unhealthy effect of that mentality by outer-suggestion. To do this is the duty of each and every good person. We should see that our fellow human beings are never allowed to throw themselves into the abyss of frustration and disappointment; they should be rescued before they jump.

Ra is also the acoustic root of fire. So the monosyllabic word ra means “fire”.

LA

La is the acoustic root of kruratá vrtti [cruelty]. When human beings encounter this propensity in other human beings, they should counteract it with the propensity of compassion. When one sees someone in the throes of misery one should think, “Oh, what great misery the man is suffering from! Is there anything I can do to reduce his misery? Although the person is a human in all other respects, how crude he is in thought and behaviour. Can’t I help him to arouse his latent intellect?” This attitude of compassion is the effective counter-measure for kruratá vrtti.

La is also the acoustic root of kśititattva, the solid factor.

Laḿ biijaḿ dharańiiḿ dhyáyet
Caturásráḿ supiitábhám.

VA

Va is the acoustic root of dharma. Dharma means ensconcement in one’s original stance. The innate propensity of human beings is to move along the path towards subtlety in the psychic and spiritual spheres, and finally to merge into Parama Puruśa. The unbroken movement of the human mind towards Parama Puruśa is called mánava dharma. It moves one from a state of ordinary happiness ever forward and eventually establishes one in the realm of Supreme Beatitude.

Sukhaḿ váinchati sarvvo hi
Tacca dharma samudbhútah;
Tasmáddharmah sadákáryah
Sarvavarńaer prayatnátah.

[All living beings long for happiness. Dharma originates from that innate propensity. Hence dharma should always be observed meticulously by all people.]

Dhriyate dharma ityáhuh sa eva paramaḿ prabhu.

[Dharma is that which sustains.]

The seed of humanity cannot sprout and flourish unless it is planted in the soil of dharma. To diverge from the path of dharma means to rush headlong towards total annihilation. In all one’s actions one should keep Parama Puruśa as the goal, and be well-established in dharma.

Va is also the acoustic root of jalatattva [the liquid factor], and the acoustic root of the mythological rain-god Varuńa Deva. Jalatattva means not only water, but any liquid.

SHA

Sha is the acoustic root of rajoguńa [the mutative principle]. It is also the acoustic root of artha [psychic longing].

Of the four vargas [basic goals of life], one, already mentioned, is dharma, whose acoustic root is va; the second varga is artha, which brings about the temporary cessation of worldly wants. (That which brings about the permanent cessation of worldly wants is Paramártha.)

Sha is the acoustic root of both artha and the mutative principle. Ra is the acoustic root of energy. So shra is indicative of the mutative principle supplemented by vitality. Shra + uṋiiś (feminine suffix) = shrii.

The expression of vital energy arising due to the influence of the mutative principle on one’s existence is natural for human beings in the mundane sphere. Hence the practice of using shrii before someone’s name [as a blessing on one’s dynamism] has been the custom since ancient times.

ŚA

Śa is the acoustic root of tamoguńa [the static principle], and is also the acoustic root of all kinds of worldly desires - desires for things such as wealth, opulence, name, fame and social position. The word káma is used in Sanskrit as the collective term for these desires and longings.

Dharma [psycho-spiritual longing], artha [psychic longing], káma [physical longing], and mokśa [spiritual longing, the longing for unqualified liberation] are the four recognized longings or goals of human life.

To avoid any confusion, I say once again in unambiguous terms that káma means all types of physical longings.

SA

Sa is the acoustic root of mokśa [salvation, unqualified liberation]. (As mentioned, va is the acoustic root of dharma, ensconcement in one’s original stance; sha is the acoustic root of artha, the removal of worldly wants; and śa is the acoustic root of káma, worldly [and especially physical] wants.) Each of the letters is the acoustic root of one of the four vargas. Va is additionally the acoustic root of the liquid factor; sha is the acoustic root of rajoguńa; śa is the acoustic root of tamoguńa; and sa is the acoustic root of sattvaguńa [the sentient principle].

HA

Ha is the acoustic root of the ethereal factor, of daytime, of the sun, of svarloka, and of parávidyá [intuitional science]. Opposite to ha is t́ha, which is the acoustic root of nighttime, of the moon, of bhúvarloka,⁽¹⁹⁾ and of the kámamaya kośa.⁽²⁰⁾

Ha + ao = hao, which is the acoustic root of Shiva in His posture of dancing táńd́ava. But the acoustic root of Shiva in His role of spiritual preceptor is aeḿ. (It has already been noted that aeḿ is also the acoustic root of one’s preceptor and of the goddess of learning – Aeḿ gurave namah; Aeḿ Sarasvatyae namah).

KŚA

Kśa is the acoustic root of mundane knowledge, and is also the acoustic root of material science.

Footnotes

(1) Editors’ note: Each of the notes is represented by a single syllable, just as in Western music the notes are represented by do-re-mi. But each of the notes is further represented by an animal associated with its syllable.

(2) Editors’ note: The Indo-Aryan alphabet is divided into vargas, “groups”, of phonetically-related sounds. The ka varga, for example (whose second consonant is kha), consists of sounds produced in the throat (gutturals).

(3) Editors’ note: According to normal Sanskrit grammar, if a is followed by a, the two combine to become á.

(4) Editors’ note: Of the three pronunciations used in Indian song to which the author refers, the saḿvrta is slightly prolonged, the vilambita is more prolonged, and the pluta is most prolonged.

(5) Editors’ note: 5018 songs composed by the author.

(6) Editors’ note: As indicated earlier, the Rgvedic pronunciation śa has a corresponding Yajurvedic pronunciation kha.

(7) Editors’ note: In spite of the fact that it is grouped with the vowels, and that in speech people find it difficult to pronounce without giving it some vowel sound.

(8) Editors’ note: In cases where it is converted to ra, such as when the noun rśi becomes the adjective árśa.

(9) Editors’ note: The combination of the two – dot plus crescent - is paralleled in Roman Sanskrit by the letter “ṋ”. Either the Bengali/Devanagari or the Roman version represents, so far as phonetics is concerned, a nasalization of the vowel it is associated with. Note also that m becomes ḿ for euphony when followed by a consonant, such as in oṋḿkára.

(10) Editors’ note: A royal ceremony in which a king would expect to be accepted as sovereign king.

(11) Author’s note: As the navel area is the controlling point of the luminous factor, it is not easily burnt. It is only with the application of tremendous heat that it can be burnt to ashes. A funeral pyre does not generate sufficient heat to burn the navel area. So those who cremate their loved ones retrieve this unburnt portion from the ashes and immerse it in any holy river. This practice is popularly known as asthivisarjana.

(12) Author’s note: Just as the root-verb cal [move] plus suffix shatr equals calat [that which is in motion], cal plus shánac equals calamána.
The root-verb cal is ubhayapadii [both átmanepadii and parasmaepadii – terminologies of conjugation in ancient Sanskrit]. In the early part of the Vedic age it was mainly used in the átmanepadii form, but later on began to be used in the parasmaepadii form. In modern Sanskrit, it is used in the parasmaepadii form. Only in a few rare cases is the átmanepadii form used, as in the following example, a well-known utterance of Lord Buddha:

Ihásane shuśyatu me shariiram.
Tvagasthimáḿsaḿ pralayanca yátu.
Aprápya bodhiḿ bahukalpadurlabhám
Naevásanát káyamatashcaliśyate.

[Until I attain the highest realization, which is rare even in hundreds of lives, I will not budge an inch from this posture, even if my skin, flesh and bones dry up and my body perishes.]

Dyotamáná is a shánac-ending word. Since olden days, the átmanepadii form dyotate has been used.

Dyotate kriid́ate yasmádudyate dyotate divi;
Tasmáddeva iti proktah stúyate sarvadevataeh.

[The vibrational manifestations emanating from the Supreme Nucleus are known as devatás, and these devatás address that Supreme Nucleus as Deva. He with His powers vibrates the entire universe, makes the entire universe dance; and He by dint of His occult and supra-occult powers brings everything back onto His lap.]

(13) Author’s note: Mrga literally means “wild animal”, and thus both a deer and a tiger are equally mrga. Hence literally mrgacarma means not only “deerskin”, but the skin of any wild animal. In those days the kings hunted not only deer, but also other wild animals.
Later on, perhaps, the deerskin became somewhat rare, so people introduced the use of cotton in its place. Even today in certain sections of Indian society people wear a piece of deerskin during the holy-thread ceremony.

(14) Editors’ note: This straight posture symbolizes that although one may or may not be straight in all mundane activities, one is as simple and straight as can be before the entity being revered.

(15) Author’s note: Dance should not be called shilpa – literally, “that which is done with the hands” – because in dance, the legs, neck, chin and other parts of the body are also used. In some dances every part of the body has a certain role to play.

(16) Editors’ note: Philology of “oriental”, “occidental”, and other words omitted here.

(17) Editors’ note: Not only aḿ and ah, but all sixteen vowel sounds, are located at the vishuddha cakra. For correlation of other sounds with their respective cakras, see “Plexi and Microvita” in Yoga Psychology.

(18) Editors’ note: In Ananda Marga sádhaná, shuddhis (visualizations for withdrawing the mind) and Guru Pújá.

(19) Editors’ note: The lokas of the Macrocosmic Mind are Its different “levels”, or “layers”, or “spheres”. They represent different stages on a continuum from subtle to crude. And the kámamaya kośa represents such a stage in both the Macrocosmic Mind and the microcosmic mind. The kámamaya kośa of the microcosm is its “crude mind”, as it is the layer of mind closest to the physical body. It is concerned with physical sensations and physical desires.

(20) Editors’ note: The lokas of the Macrocosmic Mind are Its different “levels”, or “layers”, or “spheres”. They represent different stages on a continuum from subtle to crude. And the kámamaya kośa represents such a stage in both the Macrocosmic Mind and the microcosmic mind. The kámamaya kośa of the microcosm is its “crude mind”, as it is the layer of mind closest to the physical body. It is concerned with physical sensations and physical desires.

Chapter 12	Discourses on Tantra Volume One [a compilation]

Now we come to the fourth of our various interpretations of “Krśńa”.⁽¹⁾ We come to another type of interpretation – the Rája Yaogik interpretation.

This human body is controlled by nerve fibres, which in turn are controlled by nerve cells. The human body generally moves as it is directed to by the mind. But when the body functions under the impact of certain inborn instincts, it does not require direction by the mind. Such actions are absolutely physical or mundane. Then there are some functions which, though physical, are also related to the mind, such as hunger, thirst, sleep and drowsiness. The latter functions are regulated by the ten váyus [vital-energy flows] – práńa, apáńa, samána, udána, vyána (the five [internal] váyus), and nága, kúrma, krkara, devadatta and dhanaiṋjaya (the five [external] váyus). Through these external váyus all kinds of natural functions are performed. The mind does not play any particular role in these cases.

All other functions, however, are controlled by the mind. The mind will send instructions to the body according to how it (the mind) is controlled or regulated by physico-psycho-spiritual practices; and in order to control the mind the ten váyus have to be brought under control. The systematic and scientific process to regulate the váyus in order to control the mind is called práńáyáma. Práńán yamayatyeśah práńáyámah – “The process of controlling the váyus is known as práńáyáma.” (The word práńáyáma is derived as: [práń + á – yam + ghaiṋ].)

There is a unique causal relationship between the functioning of the váyus and the functioning of the mind. If someone keeps running at a certain pace by drawing rapidly on accumulated vital energy, the person’s respiration becomes faster, and if the respiration becomes fast, one loses the capacity for deep thinking or deep contemplation. That is, one loses the capacity to think, or to assimilate or internalize any idea through the organs, in a calm and systematic way. [[If the mind is restless, the body will also be restless, and if the body is restless, the mind will also be restless.]] That is why during spiritual practice, the body should be kept motionless. One must practise seated in a certain posture, because if the body becomes calm and motionless the mind also tends to become calm and concentrated. If someone is constantly thinking that he or she will have to sit down at a certain time, stand up at a certain time, catch hold of one’s nose or ears at a certain time, the mind will automatically tend to become restless. Such is the intimate relation between the body and the mind.

Indriyáńám manonáthah manonáthastu márutah – “The indriyas⁽²⁾ – both sensory indriyas and motor indriyas – are controlled by [the mind and the mind is controlled by] the váyus.”⁽³⁾

This sort of functioning of the mind is discharged in and through the body with the help of the nerve cells and nerve fibres. Its principle controlling centre is situated in the sahasrára cakra – the pineal gland – but its substations are located in various parts of the body. The substations are located in sites of the body from which particular kinds of thought-waves control the adjacent areas of the body in their own respective ways. These substations are called cakra or padma or kamala – plexus in Latin – thus we have the various cakras – múládhára, svádhiśt́hána, mańipura, anáhata, vishuddha, ájiṋá, etc. The mind, instead of exerting its control directly from the sahasrára cakra, exerts its control through the other cakras, the other plexi. Hence in order to advance spiritually, one has first to establish control over these lower cakras, then finally over the sahasrára cakra. If one, conversely, tries to control the sahasrára first while the other cakras remain uncontrolled, spiritual practice on the sahasrára may be hampered. Not only that; even if the sahasrára cakra can be brought under control, the final result will not be good if the subsidiary cakras are not brought under control. It is not enough that the driver of a car be efficient, the car as well must be free from any defect.

The various cakras are controlled by particular biija mantras, particular acoustic roots, and also emanate sound vibrations; and every sound vibration coming from each such plexus – each such network of nád́iis [psychic-energy channels] – is in scripture given the name of a particular devatá [deity], a particular vibrational existence. When you think in a particular way, your mind is vibrated in the corresponding way, and your nerve cells and nerve fibres are vibrated in the corresponding way. When someone gets angry, the mind also becomes heated and red, and there is a corresponding reaction in the nerves. The body becomes reddish and starts trembling. Now these devatás or vibrational existences – each the repository of a particular kind of thinking and each representing one point in a given cakra – are controlled by the nuclei of their respective plexi, and all those nuclei are controlled by the human mind, which is the collective expression of fifty main propensities.

Those fifty main propensities function both internally and externally. One may donate something to someone both internally and externally. Likewise, one can steal both mentally and physically. Hence every propensity is functioning in two ways, and fifty times two equals one hundred. Furthermore, each propensity functions in ten directions [north, south, east, west, northeast, northwest, southeast, southwest, up and down]. One hundred times ten equals one thousand. Hence there are one thousand functioning propensities. These one thousand vrttis are controlled by the mind from the pineal gland, which is why [its corresponding cakra] is called sahasrára [sahasra means “thousand”]. So the nucleus of the sahasrára controls the sahasrára itself, every subsidiary plexus below the pineal gland, and the vrtti-controlling points of all those cakras. (Each of these points is a vibrational existence, a devatá.) All the devatás of a given plexus are controlled by the controlling point of that plexus, and the supreme controlling point is the controlling point of the pineal gland. This supreme controlling point is called Paramashiva in yoga philosophy – Paramashivah Puruśottamah vishvasya kendram [“Supreme Consciousness at the nucleus of the universe is known as Paramashiva or Puruśottama”]. The same entity which is called Paramashiva or Puruśottama in Rája Yoga is known as “Krśńa” in Vaeśńava Tantra. This is one aspect [of the Krśńa concept in philosophy]. This is a very important point which should be well understood.

When a spiritual aspirant can concentrate all his or her psycho-physical existence or individual “I” feeling on Paramashiva or Puruśottama in the sahasrára cakra, the jiiva becomes Shiva. A jiiva is manifested out of Paramashiva as a jiiva in a human body – or rather, simultaneously in the Cosmic Body and in a human body. Each and every microcosmic structure is like a universe. Hence the yoga scriptures say, Traelokye yáni bhútáni táni dehatah – “Whatever exists in the universe exists in your small structure as well.” Just as the universe, starting from Paramashiva, Puruśottama, flows on and on along the path of saiṋcara and attains the form of the crudest matter (if it undergoes further crudification it will explode), and thereafter starts moving on the path of subtlety, similarly in the human frame the last vertebra is the crudest manifestation. The last vertebra in the human body is termed kula in Sanskrit. So kula literally means “that which bears the load of the entire body”.⁽⁴⁾

[[The jiivabháva [unit identity] sleeps [coiled around] that kula; spiritually it is asleep. “Asleep” means that it lies as if sleeping [around] that last bone with its own tail, that is, its own existence, clamped in its mouth. It sleeps like a snake. That sleeping devabháva [divinity], sleeping jiivabháva, that lies [around] the last point of the kula bone is called the kulakuńd́alinii.]]

When human beings do sádhaná, the kulakuńd́alinii, an ideative entity, rises upward through the spine. It pierces through cakras one after the other, and simultaneously the thoughts or propensities controlled by their respective cakras are brought under control. As soon as the kulakuńd́alinii pierces the múládhára, svádhiśt́hána and mańipura cakras, it brings under control all the propensities up to and including those of the mańipura cakra. The mańipura is the controlling cakra of ten propensities – shyness, sadistic tendency, envy, staticity, melancholia, peevishness, yearning for acquisition, infatuation, hatred, fear. When after rising and rising the kulakuńd́alinii reaches the sahasrára, it becomes one with Paramashiva. This is the state of liberation.

You know very well that in medieval India, Tantra branched out into numerous schools: Saora Tantra, Shákta Tantra, Shaeva Tantra, Gáńapatya Tantra, Vaeśńava Tantra, etc.⁽⁵⁾ So according to yoga scripture, the kuńd́alinii resides in the múládhára and Paramashiva in the sahasrára. And according to Vaeśńava Tantra, the kulakuńd́alinii is called “Rádhá” and Paramashiva is called “Krśńa”. This is the essence of the concept of Rádhá and Krśńa. Unfortunately, the actual underlying spirit of the Vaishnavite Cult is forgotten or ignored by many.

Quite often at the end of a [Vaishnavite] kiirtana you will hear that Rádhá and Krśńa have become united. The participants express this with a sentence that includes the words, Haribol, Haribol. The fact is that the sádhaná has elevated the jiivabháva [microcosmic bearing], and, it having become one with Paramashiva at the sahasrára cakra, the microcosm has gone beyond the periphery of all bondages, and has attained the bliss of emancipation. This is the inner secret.

Here the seven cakras, from múládhára to sahasrára, which the kulakuńd́alinii has to pierce, are the fetters or ropes which a spiritual aspirant has to snap. Páshabaddho bhavejjiivah, páshamukto bhavecchiva – “Those who are in bondage are called jiivas, and those who have been freed are Shiva.”

This is the last of our interpretations of the term “Krśńa”. In the sahasrára cakra, Paramashiva is the controlling point. Paramashiva is the same as “Krśńa”.

Footnotes

(1) The author had given various interpretations of the word “Krśńa” in his discourses of the two preceding days (in January 1980). Those two discourses appear in this book as the first chapter and the seventh chapter (p. 34). –Trans.

(2) An indriya is a sensory or motor organ, together with its respective nerves, nerve fluid, and site in the brain. –Trans.

(3) Etymology of márut (a synomym of váyu) omitted here. –Trans.

(4) A page of linguistic discussion omitted here. –Trans.

(5) For these five schools of Tantra, see “All Bask in the Glory of Shiva – 3”. –Trans.

Chapter 13	Discourses on Tantra Volume One [a compilation]

Yesterday I told you something about nerve fibres, nerve cells, and the positions of various cakras; about the relation of the cakras to the propensities and how people establish control over these propensities. The highest point in the human body is the controlling point of the sahasrára cakra and is called Shiva, Puruśottama or “Krśńa”.

It will be better if I say something more about Krśńatattva [the inner meaning of Krśńa]. I have told you that in Vaeśńava Tantra the last bone of the vertebral column is called kula. [Here resides the serpentine coil.] In Tantra it is called kulakuńd́alinii, while in Vaeśńava Tantra it is called “Rádhá”, and Paramashiva [Puruśottama] is called “Krśńa”. Through sádhaná we raise the kulakuńd́alinii upwards, and in the end the union of Rádhá and Krśńa takes place. There is a secret technique to raise this serpentine coil. Previously this technique was not clearly given. At that time some people thought it proper to keep it secret. If something harmful to individual or collective life is not given, that is good; but the useful things have to be given. People will be more attracted to do sádhaná.

The first thing is that this kulakuńd́alinii rises slowly from the múládhára cakra to the sahasrára cakra in eight steps, it passes through eight cakras, and the sahasrára cakra is the ninth. Just below the sahasrára cakra is the guru cakra. When one meditates at the guru cakra, the kuńd́alinii takes one jump upwards, and the mind goes to the other side of the cakra [i.e., to the sahasrára.] This is the technique of sádhaná, but it has previously neither been explained nor written in books.

The kulakuńd́alinii rises upward in eight jumps or phases, so with two syllables in a siddha mantra,⁽¹⁾ the kuńd́alinii will jump four times. But a general, or publicly-given, siddha mantra will make the kulakuńd́alinii jump eight times or in eight phases. That is why such a siddha mantra has eight syllables. So you should understand that a proper kiirtana must have eight syllables, never seven or nine syllables.

The jiivabháva [microcosmic bearing] moves towards Krśńa, Paramashiva, the pineal gland in the sahasrára cakra, as a result of sádhaná, and the mind also becomes introverted in gradual steps. When the kuńd́alinii reaches the navel cakra, or mańipura cakra, that is called vraja bháva in Vaeśńava Tantra. And when it moves from the navel cakra to the trikut́i, or ájiṋá cakra, that is known as gopii bháva. And when it rises past the ájiṋá cakra, that is known as advaya bháva or Rádhá bháva. Thus there are these three stages.

During this process, one will hear the eternal sound of prańava [the oṋm sound] in the vast mahákásha [void] in different ways, according to the different levels which the mind has reached. Sometimes one first hears the sound of rumbling clouds, sometimes ankle bells, sometimes the roar of the sea. When after hearing different sounds in this way the mind reaches the trikut́i, one hears the sweet and harmonious sound of the flute. These are various expressions of the prańava sound. The prańava sound is heard as the trikut́i or ájiṋá cakra is crossed, but then when the mind merges with Krśńa or Paramashiva there is no sound, the silence itself is the sound. There is no expression. These are some of the secrets of sádhaná. The spiritual aspirant hears the various sounds of oṋḿkára or prańava at various stages, during deep sádhaná, during sweet sádhaná. The sound is called Krśńa’s muraliidhvani. The sádhaka becomes mad because of this sound and goes deeper and attains Rádhá bháva more and more, and rushes headlong forward.

Chot́e ye jan bánshiir t́áne
Se ki tákáy pather páne?

[Can a person who rushes headlong at the sound of the flute ever think about the path he or she is treading?]

At that time one does not think at all about what people will say. One knows only that “I and my Iśt́a exist.”

The kulakuńd́alinii resides in the kula, that is, in the last bone of the vertebral column. In Sanskrit kuńd́alinii means “coiled”, “serpentine loop”, “serpentine coil”. Jilipii [a fried sweet] is also called kuńd́alinii in Sanskrit because it is coiled. The poet Vidyápati has said: Hari gelá Madhupurá háma kulabálá [“The Lord is in Madhupur, that is, in the sahasrára cakra; I am kulabálá”].

Where is Hari [the Lord]? He is in Madhupur. “Madhupur” means the sahasrára cakra. In Vaeśńava Tantra, the sahasrára is “Madhupur”. From “Madhupur”, “Madhura” and “Mathura” have been derived. So Mathura is not only the town in Uttar Pradesh, it is also the sahasrára cakra. Háma kulabálá – “I am kulabálá,” that is, “I am the jiivashakti [divinity of the individual] sleeping in the last vertebra.” Kulabálá does not here mean “the daughter of a family”.

Vidyápati has said:

Nayanak nind gel gayának hás
Sukh gel piyásauṋga dukh morá pásh.

“Hari lives very far above, Parama Puruśa or Paramashiva is so far above, and the jiivabháva is so far below, at the lowermost point. For that reason it has no sleep, no happiness. It has only suffering, pain and suffering.” When will this suffering come to an end? When the jiivabháva merges in the Shivabháva. This is the ultimate end of sádhaná, the sweetest end. The separate existence of the individual is no more.

The reality of things has to be understood. The above kind of suffering is known philosophically as spiritual suffering. The jiiva experiences three types of suffering – ádhibhaotika, ádhidaevika, and ádhyátmika. Ádhibhaotika suffering is mundane, that is, it derives from shortages of food, clothing, medicine, education, shelter, etc. If we change the structure of society this misery will be ended. So we must do this, we should do this. Regarding ádhidaevika suffering – if we prepare our minds through sádhaná, all the mental cares and worries that result from a defective mental structure will come to an end. And the ádhyátmika, or spiritual, suffering is that Hari or Krśńa, who is my own and my dearest, is far off, far away from me. He is in the sahasrára cakra, the pineal gland. And the sleeping jiivashakti is in the lowest cakra, the múládhára cakra. This feeling of separation is ádhyátmika suffering. This can be eliminated by spiritual sádhaná, that is, by dhyána, dhárańá, práńáyáma, pratyáhára, etc.

In Vaishnavite philosophy the controlling point of the sahasrára cakra is known as “Krśńa”. This Krśńa is not only the nucleus of the universe, He is the nucleus of each and every unit, so all Krśńas are one and the same. However we try to explain Him, we will arrive at the same point. 3500 years ago in Dvápara Yuga there was another Krśńa. You may say, “Puruśottama, Parama Puruśa, Shiva and Krśńa – on the spiritual level, all Krśńas are one and the same. Is the historical Krśńa different from these?” No, He is not.

I raise this topic because I want to emphasize that human society moves ahead through clash and cohesion. It moves ahead through ideological unity and disunity, through ideological clash. It has moved ahead, it is moving ahead, and it will move ahead. To stop this movement means destruction, a great destruction – hence we have to advance with great speed. When the speed of this advancement gets slowed down, people will face trouble at every step. (Human beings do not want any such undesirable action, for which they may later have to repent, to be taken individually or collectively.)

But if the time does come when the advancement becomes too slow, someone will be needed who can give society a hard hammering. Whether people like this person or not, love him or not – whether they feel love, devotion, respect or fear – under his fast-tempoed hammering the society will move ahead. People basically want to feel the blow that will move them ahead. The blow will be painful, people fear it, but in their minds they want it, because only under this hammering will they decide to move forward. It is a strange condition – “I feel afraid, yet at the same time this is what I want. Or, no, I don’t want to move ahead – I’ll go a little later” – but then one is forcibly pulled ahead. The feet do not want to move ahead, they tremble, but the minds want to move ahead. The need for this kind of treatment arises when people collectively are not able to advance towards the goal under their own internal power.

Everything is created by Parama Puruśa. The root bhú plus the suffix ktin equals bhúti – “existence” or “entity”. The Sanskrit word for “entity” or “being” comes from the root bhú. And the root bhú plus the suffix kta equals bhúta. Bhúta means that which is created. But when for the benefit of human society, for human welfare, something has to be done which is not so easy to do, which is rarely done, which will deliver the necessary blow to the human race – when the right entity or being is needed to do this work – what will Parama Puruśa do? He will create a body for Himself with the help of the five fundamental factors, and He will come. He will say, “I will awaken the práńa [vital energy] of these dying people with a timely slap, I will stir up their práńa.” He will create vibrations in their práńa. He will not tolerate idleness. He will not allow us to waste this valuable human life.

When He comes, after creating His own body with the help of the five fundamental factors – solid, liquid, luminous, aerial and ethereal – to create an ideological tidal wave, that stage is called Mahásambhúti. Mahá means “great”, “having a form which is supra-natural”. And bhú plus ktin equals bhúti. Hence Mahásambhúti means “The Great Creation”, “The Great Appearance”. Whenever in the past Parama Puruśa thought it necessary, He came in the form of Mahásambhúti. In that way came Sadáshiva, in that way came Krśńa. To push human society forward, to resuscitate the half-dead human race, to awaken society, they came. They came to create a wave in the field of ideology, in the social field and in the field of humanity; they came to create a tidal wave in every dimension and on every level. They delivered hammer blows to the various human social structures of the world. For this they received both the highest praise and the most scathing condemnation.

Because Parama Puruśa is Puruśottama, the nucleus of the universe, the nucleus of all living entities, His Mahásambhúti is also Parama Puruśa.

And that Mahásambhúti is also Krśńa. All the Krśńas – historical, biological, social, scriptural – come together at one point. That is why it is said that Tulaná vá upamá Krśńasya násti – “Krśńa cannot be compared with any other object on earth.” Or, “You can be compared only with Yourself.”

Because He cannot be compared with any other being, because He is incomparable, perfect in theory and also perfect in practice, the rśis of that time spoke of Him as ananyapáy [unparalleled]. They said of Him, Krśńastu Bhagaván svayaḿ [“Krśńa is Parama Puruśa Himself”].

Footnotes

(1) A mantra “perfected” by the guru. See “Mantra Caetanya” in Ananda Marga Ideology and Way of Life in a Nutshell Part 11 or Discourses on Tantra Vol. 1. –Trans.

Chapter 14	Discourses on Tantra Volume One [a compilation]

The Aryans were not the original inhabitants of the present India. When the Aryans entered India through the Northwest Frontier Province, they contemptuously called the indigenous population whom they defeated in battle, “Anáryas” [“Non-Aryans”]. The appellation “Anáryas” did not apply to any group in particular, but rather to all the then inhabitants of India in general: the Mongolians, the Austrics and the Dravidians (a mixture of Austric and Negro). My discourse today will give a brief overview of the transformation that occurred in the civilizations of these peoples after the arrival of the Aryans, and of the effect that the Aryan migration had on the Aryans themselves. I will try to concentrate particularly upon the influence of Tantra on the Aryans.

The original home of the Aryans was in the northern part of Central Asia. By descent they were a fair, tall and healthy race. They were people of nomadic nature whose main means of subsistence was hunting. When, however, it became impossible for them to procure enough food by hunting, they started rearing cattle. But the merciless nature of Central Asia made their lives unbearable: snowstorms diminished the numbers both of their people and of their animals, and there was a chronic shortage of animal fodder. Just to survive, they had to spend almost all their time collecting food. Not only did this acute food shortage force them to make unending efforts as a group to collect food and rear cattle, it also led to perpetual inter-group skirmishes and even slaughter.

The constant fighting during this period, this kśatriya-dominated era, led to the eventual emergence of a class of intellectuals who greatly assisted the kśatriya-dominated society. They provided the kśatriya leaders with new inventions and discoveries, and satisfied their mental hunger by sharing their knowledge and wisdom. In the language of the day, these intellectuals were called rśis. The group leaders bowed their heads in reverence before these mighty intellectuals and followed the precepts framed by them. The society used to call their ideology Árśa Dharma [Religion of the Sages].

There can be no doubt that these rśis were wiser and more intelligent than the people of the time. But as script had not yet been invented, there was no means to keep a record of the wise discourses given by the rśis. The rśis’ disciples had no choice but to learn the rśis’ discourses by heart as they were being spoken. Since the discourses were memorized upon being heard, they were called shruti [literally, “ear”].

The level of intelligence of the Aryan mass at that time was so low that it hardly merits any mention. Actually, they were unable to understand these profound discourses, and as a consequence called them veda, meaning “knowledge”. They believed that the innovative rśis and intellectual munis were not men of ordinary stuff, but superior beings who heard the words of wisdom directly from the mouths of the gods. They also called them draśt́a [seers], as they “saw” with their own eyes the supernatural phenomena that they talked about, and uttered with their own mouths the benign incantations and mantras which produced those phenomena. Thus, every composer of the Vedic mantras was called a seer, and not a writer or composer. Generally, people believed that the composers of the Vedas were not men but veritable gods.

Even though the Vedas were considered as the creations of God and as such infallible, theism or spirituality was not fully awakened among the Aryans of that time. They only sang hymns and eulogies to appease the different natural forces.

In that age of undeveloped science they thought that smoke and the clouds in the sky were the same thing. That was why they burned ghee in sacrificial fires: they wanted to make smoke out of it to propitiate the different gods. They believed that the smoke would soar into the sky and turn into clouds; that rain would pour down from the clouds and nourish the earth causing an abundance of trees, plants and grass to sprout forth; and that their domestic animals, strengthened by the fresh grass, would multiply. That was why yajiṋas [sacrifices] were very common among the different groups and tribes. Those simple people believed that some gods would be propitiated by ghee, some by wine, and some by animal blood.

Human nature is such that one thinks that what is dear to oneself must be dear to everybody. So the ghee-, meat- and wine-loving Aryans thought that such food items would be liked by the gods also. Thus, after each inter-clan war, the chief of the conquering clan would offer that clan’s favourite food to the gods, either in Ashvamedha Yajiṋa [Horse Sacrifice] or in Gomedha Yajiṋa [Cow Sacrifice] or in Rájasúya Yajiṋa [sacrifice performed by a sovereign ruler], etc.

Each of the gods and goddesses of the polytheistic Aryans had his or her individual nature, characteristics and váhana [mount]. Although they were polytheists and nature-worshippers, they did not worship idols, not because they understood the philosophical defects of idol-worship, but because they lacked the refined artistic sense necessary to make the idols.

All their gods and goddesses were laokik figures [creations of the people]. They arose out of the peoples’ worldly needs. Hence the storm, the thunder, the lightning, the rain, the sun, and the moon were all their gods. In that era of undeveloped science what they feared most was the darkness of night, so they not only regarded the night and the evening as their gods, they actually revered them as well. In their fear, they would try to escape from the darkness by making fire with flint. They would never dare to displease the night and the evening, so whenever they made a fire they would first make obeisance to the evening with the fire before doing anything else. At night’s end, when the eastern horizon glowed red, the Aryans would sing the song of the dawn in unison. Aruńa, the mythological charioteer of the sun’s seven-horsed chariot (the seven horses corresponding to the seven distinct colours of the sun’s rays), was also their god, as, indeed, was the sun itself.

Some of the rśis understood, however, in a vague way if not in a clear way, the truth that there was a Supreme Entity above these gods, a Supreme Controller – the fundamental power of all their powers. This God of gods was the rśis’ Brahma. The common people were not familiar with the word Brahma.

The kings or chieftains staged sacrifices with great pomp and ostentation to appease the gods. The common people used these occasions for boisterous revelry. Since they lived in cold countries, of course, wine and meat were not particularly harmful to them. They would often entertain their guests with meat-cakes and wine. The children were given honey instead of wine. In the Aryan language of that time, wine was often called “honey”.

The oldest portion of the Vedas, that is, the Rgveda, was composed outside India. The remaining portions, that is, the Yajurveda and Atharvaveda, were partly Indian and partly non-Indian. Sámaveda is not a separate Veda by itself but is the compilation of the lyrical and musical portions of the different Vedas. So only the Rgveda can be regarded as an ancient relic of the non-Indian Aryan civilization. The Yajurveda was composed in Iran, Afghanistan, northwest India and certain parts of what is modern Russia, so it cannot be called entirely non-Indian, particularly since the then Afghanistan (Gándhár) and certain parts of Russia were regarded as part of India at that time.

The original Rgvedic civilization belonged, in spirit and language, to the non-Indian Aryans. But the Yajurveda was composed by a particular branch of the Vedic Aryans who, when the Aryans later began to spread out in search of food (especially wheat), migrated to India via Iran (Áryańya Vraja) and Afghanistan. When we say “Indo-Aryan civilization”, we basically mean the civilization of these people.

These nomadic Aryans, on coming in contact with the different groups of people of Iran, Afghanistan and northwest India, took up farming and developed the techniques of strategic warfare. The impact of this new thought bred in them, to some extent, a refined intelligence.

In the beginning, during the Rgvedic era, the cattle-rearing Aryans were only acquainted with barley and a few other crops. After they came to the present Iran they learned to cultivate wheat and, to some extent, rice. The more they progressed on their march, the more they came to realize the importance of growing different crops. Still, their staple was generally barley.

They learned wheat cultivation from the Asuras, the primitive natives of Iran. Though they became acquainted with paddy, or briihi (briihi → riihi → rihi → risi → “rice”, as in modern English), they did not cultivate it extensively. They learned the use of boiled rice in India.

The Yajurvedic era saw the all-round development of these people, and the resultant development of the Brahmaváda of the Yajurveda – the doctrine of monotheism. During this era not only was there a noticeable intellectual development among the general mass of the Aryans; among the munis [intellectuals or seers] and the rśis, philosophy and spirituality also attained a brilliant height of expression. The Brahmaváda of the Yajurveda was a lot deeper and clearer than that of the Rgveda.

The Atharvaveda was initially composed in India. During the composition of this Veda the Aryans came in close contact with the non-Aryans, resulting in an exchange of thought between the two. The Tantra of the non-Aryans had a marked influence on the Atharvaveda.

Being non-Aryan, the Atharvaveda cannot be regarded as a representation of Aryan civilization. In the subtle philosophy of the Atharvaveda, particularly of the Nrsiḿha Tápańiiya Shruti, there is a far greater influence of the non-Aryan Tantra than of the Aryan Veda.

The migrating Aryans first settled in the hilly valleys of northern India. Although there was not much intermixture of blood between the Aryans and the inhabitants of this area, the Aryans were greatly influenced by non-Aryan culture. The Aryans settled down in this area, which was known as Kash (or Khash) after defeating its ancient non-Aryan inhabitants. Using the original name, Kash, they renamed the area “Kashmeru” or “Kashmiira” [Kashmir]. Although the Aryans of Kashmiira did not give up their Vedic study, in the spiritual field they did cultivate the indigenous Indian Tantra.

As the southern part of Kashmiira was littered with pebbles resembling the jambu fruit [Eugenia jambolana Lam], the Aryans named it “Jambu Dviipa” (modern Jammu). Subsequently, Jambu Dviipa came to mean the whole of India. Possibly in the sandy beds of the many rivers that transect Jambu Dviipa they discovered gold for the first time, and so gold came to be known as jámbunada. When still later they settled throughout the entire land of India, they realized that it was ideal not only for habitation, but also for self-development. Thus they named it “Bháratavarśa”. Bhara means “that which feeds”; ta means “that which gives”, or “that which helps in the process of expansion”; and varśa means “a vast stretch of land”. Thus, bháratavarśa means “a vast expanse of land which helps in the all-round development of its inhabitants”.

The Aryans did not have their own script and thus were first introduced to the [written] alphabet after coming in contact with the Dravidians. The Dravidians of the Harappa and Mahenjodaro civilizations of India were already using a script, the Saendhavii script; after the Aryan migration into India, that script became transformed into the Bráhmii and Kharośt́hi scripts.

The inconvenience that the non-Indian Aryans had faced for want of script no doubt disappeared after the Indianized Aryans learned it, but owing to their old superstitions, most of the Aryans were reluctant to put the Vedas in black and white. They refused to believe that the reason that the Vedas were not written at the time of their composition was simply the lack of script. They adhered to their illogical reasoning even after the scripts came into being: they thought that the rśis had not written out the Vedas, one, because it was improper, and two, because the Vedas were named shruti. However, much later, in Kashmiira,⁽¹⁾ the Vedas were written down in the Sáradá script in use there at the time. There was really no alternative to writing them down, because there was almost nobody left who knew all the Vedas by heart, and the number of people who knew even parts of them was very small. When the Kashmiira scholars finally did write down the Vedas, it was discovered that many parts of them were missing for good.

It was not difficult for the healthy, martial, almost invincible Aryans to conquer northern India. The victorious Aryans treated the vanquished non-Aryans as slaves, trampling them underfoot to the bottom of their trivarńa [three-caste] society – their society of Bráhmańas, Kśatriyas and Vaeshyas. There the non-Aryans became the fourth class, or Shúdra Varńa, while society became a cáturvarńa [four-caste] society. In the beginning the Aryans tried their utmost to avoid blood relationships with the Shúdras – overwhelming proof of this is found in the Vedas and later books – but eventually it became impossible for them to avoid intermixture.

Although in northern India the Aryans enjoyed predominance in the political sphere, the non-Aryans’ influence in the social sphere gradually increased, and persists even today. It was not possible for the Aryans to extend their political power into southern India. There they did exert some social influence, but even less than in the north.

The courage, strength and physical beauty of the Aryans was conspicuous in the north, south and east of India, so in these areas, the non-Aryans were very eager to establish social relations with the Aryans, and often proudly called themselves Árya-Vipras [Vipra = Bráhmańa, or Brahman], Árya-Kśatriyas or Árya-Vaeshyas. Although the Aryans’ predominance was mainly political, and the non-Aryans maintained social and cultural predominance, the Aryan influence over the language spread everywhere. Moreover, the influential leaders of society everywhere began to introduce themselves as Aryans. The anti-Aryan sentiment gradually weakened, causing a widespread inferiority complex to take root among the non-Aryan population. This inferiority complex proved extremely detrimental to the interests of the non-Aryans.

The Aryan leader Agastya was the first to go to southern India to popularize the ideas and ideals of the Aryans. He explained the greatness of the Aryans to the people there allegorically. According to this mythological tale, Vindhya Hill on the northern frontier of the Deccan bent its head out of reverence for Agastya, enabling him to cross into southern India, and has kept its head bent in reverence ever since. The great epic Rámáyańa depicts the Aryan invasion of southern India. Needless to say, the monkeys of Kiśkindhyá and the rákśasas [demons] of Lanka, as described in the Rámáyańa, were in fact neither monkeys nor demons, but the people of different sub-castes of the Dravidian society itself. The proof that the non-Aryans, particularly the Dravidians, were a highly developed community in regard to knowledge, learning, intellect, city and town building, cultivation of science, and social order and discipline, is traceable in every line of the Rámáyańa. It was extremely difficult for the Aryans to hold their own in an intellectual duel with the Dravidians. At every step they found themselves outwitted, and said, “Queer are the ways of demons.”

As a result of co-existing with the non-Aryans for a long time, the Aryans learned many things from them. In fact there is hardly anything of Aryanism left in them today. Of course, the non-Aryans also took on certain Aryan traits, among them their fair complexion, their proficiency in various activities, and their ostentatious lifestyle. From the non-Aryans the Aryans acquired a well-knit social system, a subtle insight, spiritual philosophy and Tantra sádhaná. In the beginning the Aryans tried hard to preserve the purity of their blood – Shúdras used to be kept scrupulously at arm’s length – but such endeavours and precautions eventually proved a failure. More or less everywhere in India there was intermixing between the Aryans and the non-Aryans – the Dravidians, the Austrics, and the Mongolians - which resulted in a new mixed race. This is why dark Vipras and fair Shúdras are not at all rare in India today. Their very colours pay testimony to the intermixture of Aryan and non-Aryan blood running in their veins.

The victorious Aryans, coming from cold countries, were a skilled and competent race. Their competence, their sense of superiority over the non-Aryans, and their unity born out of hatred for the non-Aryans, helped them in their victory over India. Though the non-Aryans were defeated by the Aryans in northern India, though the non-Aryans of southern and eastern India were under the spell of an inferiority complex, none of them surrendered to the Aryans without a fight. As they were constantly engaged in warfare with the Aryans, they became much more proficient in battle. Thus Aryan victory in southern and eastern India eventually became impossible. In the accounts of major battles fought between the Aryans and the non-Aryans, as depicted in the Sanskrit books written in the subsequent period,⁽²⁾ the non-Aryans display no less competence than the Aryans.

Aryan life was full of noisy revelry and pomp, whereas the non-Aryan life was simple and unostentatious, although it was the non-Aryans who had access to more materials of enjoyment. But when the non-Aryans came in contact with the Aryans, they became tempted to enjoy pomp and splendour. Such a lifestyle proved more harmful to the comparatively inactive non-Aryans, inhabitants of a tropical country, than to the active and hardy Aryans.

The Aryans outside India had no well-structured social system nor any clearly-defined marital discipline. “Might is right” was the order of society. Nevertheless there was a predisposition in them to mould a society. The non-Aryans had happy families. They were characterized by a well-knit social structure and strong conjugal relationships. Even those nature-worshipping ethnic groups forming part of the Austric population of non-Aryan society, though comparatively backward, had very strong family relationships. So when the Aryans came in contact with these non-Aryans, they found new light for the formation of a society.

With the exception of a few munis and rśis, the militant (kśatriya-predominant) Aryans used to view the world with an extoversial outlook. After major battles they would kill the men of the conquered community, employ their children as servants, and either marry the women or employ them as maid-servants. For that reason there was a large number of male and female slaves in their society.

War-loving races are generally careful to honour the rules and laws of war, and frame new laws to suit the convenience of warring armies. Thus, the Aryans displayed a commendable sense of discipline during war. Being a war-loving race, it was but natural for them to do so. The non-Aryans, however, were backward in this regard. During their battles with the Aryans they did not respect the rules and laws of war (such as not to strike at the defenceless, not to employ more than one fighter against another, not to kill a retreating or surrendering soldier or a soldier begging for mercy). Not only was this highly irritating to the Aryans; the lack of a disciplined military mentality was actually one of the main reasons for the non-Aryans’ defeat.

Usually the non-Aryans were content with little. What was developed in them was their introspective nature, which not only made them devotees of God, but infused in them a surging love for spiritual philosophy. The religious practices of the Aryans, however, entailed performing certain sacrifices in order to attain certain materialistic gains. That is, their religious observances were mainly ritualistic. On the whole, the non-Aryans were followers of Tantra, or subjective sádhaná. Of course the non-Aryans, depending on their different degrees of intellectual development, ranged all the way from animists to Brahma sádhakas [intuitional practitioners whose goal is the Absolute]; but in general, individual sádhaná ranked very high. The religion of the Vedic Aryans was, as a rule, one of prayer. It did not include even the subtlest hint of any intuitional meditation. And here lies the difference between the Brahmaváda of the Vedas and the Upanishads on the one hand, and that of Tantra on the other.

As previously mentioned, by “non-Aryans” no particular ethnic group was meant. When the Aryans first migrated to India, the non-Aryans were, on the whole, divided into three populations. Of these, the Negro-Austric Dravidians were the most developed intellectually and spiritually. Their Tantra sádhaná bore a predominance of jiṋána and bhakti. The next groups deserving mention are those of the Mongolian population. In their Tantra sádhaná, karma and bhakti were predominant. The groups which constituted the Austric population were almost equal to the Aryans intellectually, but in the practical and spiritual spheres they gradually lagged behind due to the comparative lack of dynamism of their society. This Austric society was content to practise the extroversial aspects of Tantra (witchcraft, invultuation, magic, magical incantation for evil purposes, hypnotism, etc.)

Tantra flourished in Bengal due to the pervasive intermixture of Dravidian and Mongolian blood.

Vauṋge prakáshitá vidyá Maethilye prabaliikrtá
Kvácit kvácit Maháráśt́re Gurjjare pralayaḿgatá.

[Tantra was practised in Bengal, but was more widely practised in Mithila. It was not very popular in Maharashtra, and was totally non-existent in Gujarat.]

Bengal was the home of both the Mongolian and the Dravidian populations, the Dravidians being more widespread in the southwestern areas and the Mongolians in the northeastern areas. Some groups of Austrics lived in the western parts. In the southeastern parts of Bengal, the Mongolians held an overwhelming majority over the Dravidians. The Chakmas, Tripuris, Bodos, Kochas, Kiratas, and Chuaras of the Mongolian population; the Kaevarttas, Bagdis, Dules, Shavaras, Kurmis, Mahatas, and Kherias of the Dravidian population; and the Santhaliis, Baoriis, Mála Páháriis [[(Mála or Málo)]], etc., of the predominantly Austric population, were the original Bengalees.

The present Bengali society and civilization are the outcome of the mutual exchange of thought among these peoples. The greatest contribution of this civilization has been the well-structured and well-disciplined Tantra sádhaná. Tantra wields the greatest influence over the customs and usages of modern Bengal and eastern India. As a matter of fact, Tantra has had a more pervasive influence throughout all of India than have the Vedas, yet nowhere has this Tantric or non-Aryan influence been greater than in the eastern part of India. The iron bangles of the women, the vermilion mark in the parting of their hair, the various marriage customs and rites, etc., are all different social practices borrowed from the non-Aryans. The custom of addressing all women as “mother” (masiimá, pisiimá, kákiimá [aunts], didimá [grandmother], etc.) bears the mark of Tantric influence, because in Tantra the social dominance of women was widely accepted. Even the little non-Tantric or patrilineal influence that exists in the upper castes of Bengali society is not borrowed from the Aryans of northern India, but is a result of the close and intimate trans-oceanic relations that Bengal had in those days with regions outside India.

In the life of Bengal, Tantra has surrendered to Veda only with respect to language. In fact there was no alternative but to acknowledge this defeat: The Bengalees of those days were followers of Tantra who spoke many different languages. When they decided to formulate a new language of their own, they were bound to accept the language of the foreign Aryans due to its highly expressive power. The Dravidian and Mongolian languages [although also a form of Sanskrit] were not so expressive as the Sanskrit language of the Vedas.

Although the Aryan conquerors were unable to influence the social life of Bengal to any appreciable degree, due to their influence the Tantric matrilineal social system of Bengal (the Tantric matrilineal order prevails even today in the Dravid-Keralite and Mongolo-Khashian societies) partially accepted the patrilineal order as well. As a result Bengal, though not governed by the Mitákśará, or patrilineal, system of northern India, built up a new social order according due respect to both father and mother. Subsequently, in recognition of this new social system, Bengal officially rescinded the Mitákśará system [insofar as it officially existed], and in its place established the Dáyabhága⁽³⁾ system.

The second result of the Aryan influence was the Bengali language. The language that the Bengalees of the Vedic era used to speak had no connection with the Vedic language. Neither could the Vedic Aryans understand it. The Aryans used to say, “That is a country of birds. We don’t understand what those birds chirp and twitter.” Be that as it may, due the Vedic influence, particularly due to the influence of the eastern Vedic dialect, Mágadhii Prákrta, there emerged a Sanskrit-based Aryan language in Bengal. Later on the Tantrics of this area composed Tantric literature using Sanskrit⁽⁴⁾ and the new Sanskrit-based Bengali.

In spite of their accepting the Aryan language, the Tantrics never gave up their own style of pronunciation. Even today the Mágadhii group of languages, particularly the Eastern Demi-Mágadhii group (Bengali, Oriya, Assamese and Maethilii), has a style of pronunciation that is completely its own. In spite of later distortions in the mode of pronunciation in northern India, due to the non-cultivation of the Sanskrit language and the heavy use of Arabic- and Persian-influenced Urdu, eastern and southern India did not give up their ancient modes of pronunciation. In ancient times the people speaking Shaorasenii and Málavii dialects used to make fun of the people speaking the Mágadhii dialect, which was heavily influenced by Tantra. Thus the people of the western part of the Mágadhii-speaking area, that is, the Magahii- and Bhojpuri-speaking people, tried to pronounce in the Shaorasenii style. Though there is, as a result, some influence of Shaorasenii and Hindi on the pronunciation of the Magahii and Bhojpuri dialects, the intonation of the saḿvrta⁽⁵⁾ a has remained unchanged. The Tantric pronunciations of jiṋa, ńa, śa, hya, and kśa are also still prevalent in eastern India today.

The Aryans had a developed language but no script. It was indeed the Tantrics, and not the Vedics, who invented script and acoustic science. So far as correctness of pronunciation is concerned, the Tantric mode is to be accepted, not the Vedic. Remember that each of the fifty letters of the Sanskrit akśaramálá [alphabet] constitutes one acoustic root of Tantra. It was for the purpose of spiritual practice that the Tantrics had discovered these roots. Here the Aryans deserve no credit at all.

The Tantric influence exists in all the Indian languages;⁽⁶⁾ it is also prominent in observances and ceremonies. The non-Aryan and Tantric influence is prominent not only in social functions, but in religious ceremonies as well, due to the influence of the Tantric gods and goddesses. In eastern India, particularly in Bengal, popular gods and goddesses such as Shiitalá (the goddess of smallpox), Manasá (the goddess of snakes), Niila T́hákura and Bat́uka Bhaerava [a Buddhist Tantric deity] are all Tantric gods and goddesses but are nevertheless worshipped in Hindu temples as Hindu gods and goddesses. (Bat́uka → Baŕua → Baŕuyá → Baŕo – in the rural areas of Bengal, Boŕo Shiva or Buŕo Shiva.⁽⁷⁾ )

Even the Satyanáráyańa of eastern India is a non-Aryan deity. Of course in this worship we also find some influence by the Muslims who came from the Arab world. Betels, plantains, areca nuts and coconuts [as used to worship Satyanáráyańa] are the main paraphernalia of non-Aryan worship, because they are Dravidian in origin. Perhaps the Vedic Aryans had never heard of these things, and perhaps there were no words for them in the Vedic language or in old Sanskrit. Words like nágavallarii [a kind of creeping plant], kadalii [plaintain] and nárikela [coconut] are modern Sanskrit, but these things are widely used in the worship of Satyanáráyańa and in other popular worship. Only the shirńii [food offered to a god] of the Muslims in the worship of Satyanáráyańa is imported.

Sugar cane, coconut, limes, grapefruit, powdered rice, etc., used in the Chat́ Pújá [Sun Worship] are important food items in Dravidian festivities. Another noteworthy fact is that in the Chat́ and a number of other popular pújás, the Vedics or Brahmans have no place at all, or if they do participate, have a secondary role. The women play a most significant role in these pújás. The speciality of non-Aryan ceremonies is that the women’s role is predominant. Yet another remarkable factor is that although the Vedic sun-god is a male god, the non-Aryan sun-god is female, a goddess. Thus in eastern India worshippers address the sun-god as “Chat́ Máyii” instead of “Chat́ Pitá”. The non-Aryan worship of Dalapati or Gańapati (group leader or people’s leader) prevalent in the non-Aryan Austric society, is also prevalent in the Aryan society in the name of Gańapati Pújá or Gańesha Pújá [actually this worship meant the worship of the group or society of the Austric people]. The head of an elephant, a big and mighty animal, placed on the shoulders of the deity’s body, was only symbolic of the superiority of the group leader of the society concerned. It is noteworthy that such worship was also prevalent in the non-Aryan Mayan civilization of America.

As said before, the Aryans became acquainted with paddy at a much later period. Previously they had had no idea how to get rice out of paddy, and only learned when they came in contact with the non-Aryans. It was the non-Aryans who taught them to eat boiled rice. It is noteworthy that powdered rice or its paste was widely used in the popular worship of the gods and goddesses of south and east India. It would appear that rice seemed to be rather a queer thing to the Aryans, because in the Vedas it is called tańd́ula. Evidently the Aryans saw grains of rice jumping from the mortar while the paddy was being threshed and husked in the traditional hand-driven or foot-driven husking devices, and thus named it tańd́ula. Tańd́ula means “one whose characteristic is to jump”. The word cál or cául [husked but uncooked rice] is derived from the Bengali root cálá – which means “sifting” in order to separate the rice from the chaff.

Spiritual practice was common in the Tantric society. There is no spiritual vigour whatsoever in the lives of those who support pompous, so-called religious, ceremonies, as there is in the lives of introspective spiritual practitioners. After the Aryans came into India, two types of practice used to take place side by side: on the one side the sacrificial fires of the rśis, characterized by the smell of burning ghee and the sonorous refrains of those paying homage to the manes while offering oblations into the fire; and on the other side, the non-Aryans’ Tantra sádhaná, the practice of self-control and attainment of divine power. Spiritual depth and power of sádhaná brought fearlessness into the spiritual lives of the non-Aryans, as befitting staunch Tantrics.

The non-Aryans regarded the Aryans’ sacrificial ceremonies as a time-killing childish pastime and would sabotage them whenever convenient. The Aryan munis and rśis asked the Aryan kings for protection against these saboteurs – or, in the language of the Aryans, these rákśasas, pashus and pishácas. Innumerable stories to this effect can be found in different Sanskrit books, even today. Although the words rákśasa [demon], pashu [beast] and pisháca [ghoul] were used in a general way to describe the non-Aryans, actually the Dravidians were normally called rákśasas (the short-statured among them “monkeys”), the Mongolians, asuras [monsters], and those Tantrics who did shava sádhaná [sádhańa upon dead bodies] in cemeteries and cremation grounds, pishácas. The Aryans also declared that these gangs of rákśasas and pishácas were cannibals. They drew horrible sketches of the dark-complexioned Dravidians and high-cheekboned and flat-nosed Mongolians, with grotesque forms and features, to prove them contemptible and vile. Actually they were a lot more civilized and educated than the Aryans.

Apart from this there were many Aryans who married the daughters of these rákśasas and asuras, entranced by their beauty and qualities (those who had a mixture of Mongolian and Dravidian blood had particularly beautiful features). Bhiima married Hid́imbá, a non-Aryan girl; Arjuna married Citráuṋgadá, also a non-Aryan girl. Rávańa, the leader of the rákśasas, had a father from an Aryan Brahman family – Maharśi Vishvashravá, the descendent of Pulasta Rśi – and a non-Aryan mother – Nikaśá, or Kaekasii. In other words, though the Aryans had been proud of their colour and features, that pride faded away within a short time. At that time and also later, even though a few Aryan-proud individuals attempted to defame these rákśasas and asuras, the general mass did not pay much attention to them.

On the one hand the Aryan-proud pandits of Bengal engaged in scurrilous and abusive attacks on the Mongolians and the original Bengalees –

Sarve máḿsaratáh múŕháh
Mleccháh gobrahma ghátakáh,
Kuvacakáh pare múŕhá ete kút́ayonayoh,
Teśaḿ paeshácikii bháśá lokácáro na vidyate.

–Padma Puráńa

[They are all excessive meat eaters. They are fools. Killers of cows and Brahmans, they speak foul and meaningless words. These are foolish people born out of bad women. Their language is gibberish. They don’t follow decent customs.]

– but on the other hand we observe the emergence of a new civilization in Bengal, out of the Austrico-Mongolo-Dravidian combination, at about 1000 BC.

This civilization, though similar to other civilizations in India, had its own customs and rites, language and mode of pronunciation, manners and behaviour, religious and social systems, rights of inheritance and disinheritance under the Dáyabhága code of law, and dress and food habits. Proud of its own speciality and uniqueness, it never agreed to be a part of the Áryávartta [northern India dominated by the Aryan culture]. In order to keep itself free from Aryan subjugation, Bengal rebelled again and again. The northern Indian orthodox Aryans, full of Aryan chauvinism (actually they too were Tantrics, but outwardly displayed an enamel coating of Aryanism), were reluctant to accept the highly Tantric areas such as Auṋga [Monghyr and its adjacent areas], Vauṋga [Bengal]),⁽⁸⁾ Kaliuṋga [Orissa], Mithila and Magadha [Bihar] as parts of their Áryavartta. For them Káshii [Benares] served as the eastern border of the Áryavartta.

These orthodox, but internally Tantric, people could not avoid being influenced by the Tantric civilization of eastern India even in their external life. The predominance of the Bengali script of east India (Shrii Harśa Lipi) extended up to Prayága in the far west. Most Sanskrit books on Hindu and Buddhist Tantra were written in this Bengali script. After the Muslim invasion, the influence of east India upon north India began to wane gradually. At about that time some Nagar Brahmans from Vedic Gujarat went to northern India to propagate the Vedas and the Sanskrit language. They used Nágrii script for writing Sanskrit, and under the Brahmans’ influence the Nágrii script too gradually became popular in northern India. The use of Bengali script became confined to eastern India only. It is worth noting that many of the Nágar Brahmans of Gujarat were followers of Tantra, particularly Vaeśńava Tantra.

The greatest difference between the Aryans and the non-Aryans was in their outlook. The Aryans wanted to establish their dominance on the basis of their racial superiority, whereas the non-Aryans, following the precepts of Tantra, did not recognize any distinction among people. The identity of everyone was the same: all belonged to the same family, the family of Shiva. In the first stage of sádhaná, everyone is an animal. To merge in Brahmatva [Cosmic Consciousness], after first elevating themselves to devatva [god-hood], was their sádhaná. But in the first stage, while still rising above crude animality, their adorable Shiva was known as “Pashupati”, “Lord of Animality”.

Here it is necessary to remember that Tantra is not a religion, but a way of life, a system of sádhaná. The fundamental goal of this sádhaná is to awaken the dormant jiivashakti [unit force], known as kulakuńd́alinii, and, after elevating it stage by stage, to merge it in Brahmabháva [Cosmic Consciousness]. Tantra is a science of spiritual meditation or sádhaná which is equally applicable to anyone no matter what their religious affiliation might be. Tantra is certainly older than the Vedas. Just as the shlokas or mantras of the Vedas were handed down from guru to disciple in a genealogical tradition, the Tantra sádhaná of the Mongolo-Dravidian society was handed down from guru to disciple hereditarily. The Vedas are theoretical – full of ritualistic ceremonies and formalisms. It would be incorrect to regard Tantra as a more recent version of those Vedic rituals: Tantra’s esoteric practices had long been known in the society of sádhakas. Its theoretical portion was not as elaborate as that of the Vedas, which took years and years to memorize.

When the Aryans came to India, roughly during the period of the Atharvaveda, they learned Tantra sádhaná to some extent after coming in contact with the Indian Tantrics. This resulted in the Atharvaveda being pervasively influenced by Tantra. Even if the orthodox Vedics try to reject the many Tantra-influenced portions of the Vedas as later interpolations, they will not be too convincing, for Tantra has now infiltrated into the marrow of the so-called Aryans. Although during the post-Vedic Buddhist era as well as the post-Buddhist Brahmanical era changes in the religious outlook of the people were apparent, the process of sádhaná remained Tantric as it does even today, for without Tantra spiritual sádhaná is impossible. Yoga, which is the paramount factor in spiritual practices, is itself based on Tantra. The great Tantric Vashiśt́ha, when he returned from China after learning the Chinese techniques of sádhaná, brought about a great improvement in Tantra sádhaná. He was widely acclaimed as a great yogi. His book Yogaváshiśt́ha is a philosophical exposition of the subtle spirituality of Tantra sádhaná.

There are many who try to make a distinction between Hindu Tantra and Buddhist Tantra. This is absolutely wrong, for as I have said earlier, Tantra is one and only one. It is based on one sentiment, on one idea. The Buddhist and Hindu Tantras express the same thing in different words. For example, Hindu Tantras use the word kulakuńd́alinii for the dormant unit force and id́a, piuṋgalá and suśumná for the three psycho-spiritual channels. They state that the kulakuńd́alinii pierces through the six cakras – (1) múládhára [situated above the perineum], (2) svádhiśt́hána [in the region of the genital organ], (3) mańipura [in the region of the navel], (4) anáhata [in the region of the heart], (5) vishuddha [in the region of the vocal cord] and (6) ájiṋá [between the eyebrows], and finally unites with Paramashiva at the seventh cakra, the sahasrára cakra [at the crown of the head], giving the sádhakas, or intuitional practitioners, the bliss of Cosmic Consciousness. The Buddhist Tantras say the same thing in different words. They have named the mańipura cakra, nirmáńa cakra, the anáhata, dharma cakra, the vishuddha, sambhoga cakra, and the sahasrára, uśniiśa kamala or mahásukha cakra.

Some have named the múládhára, mańipadma. In both the Buddhist and Hindu Tantras, hummm is the acoustic root of the unit force, the kulakuńd́alinii, lying dormant in mańipadma. The so-called Buddhist Tantrics also say, Oṋḿ mańipadme hummm. To them id́á, piuṋgalá and suśumná are lalaná, rasaná and avadhútikárespectively. So where, in reality, is the ideological difference between the Hindu Tantras such as Mahánirváńa Tantra, Kulárńava Tantra, Ajiṋána-bodhinii Tantra, Jiṋána-saḿkalinii Tantra, Rudrayámala Tantra, Bhaerava-yámala Tantra, Niila Tantra, etc., and the Buddhist Tantras such as Hevajra Tantra, Vajra-váráhii Kalpamahá Tantra, Ekallaviira Cańd́arośańa Tantra, D́ákárnava Tantra, Advaya Siddhi Tantra, etc.? Kauṋkalamálinii Tantra cannot be called either a Hindu Tantra or a Buddhist Tantra with any clear certainty.

Even the popular assumption that the Hindus borrowed idolatry from the Buddhists is totally wrong. Although there was a conception of gods and goddesses among the Aryan Vedics, there was no custom of modelling images for worship. But in the lowest stratum of Tantra sádhaná (that is, the lowest of the low grade) idolatry was prescribed:

Uttamo Brahmasadbhávo
Madhyamá dhyána dháŕańá;
Japastúti syádhadhamá
Múrtipújá dhamádhamá.

–Kulárńava Tantra

[Ideation on Brahma is the best, dhyána and dhárańá are second best, repetitious incantation and eulogistic prayer are the worst, and idol worship is the worst of the worst.]

The word uttama in the first line of the shloka is interchangeable with sahajávasthá. Sahajáavasthá, the “tranquil state” of the Buddhists, is no different from the ideation on Brahma of the Hindus.

According to their respective intellectual strata, the primitive non-Aryan Tantrics utilized all the practices, from the lowest-of-the-low image worship to the highest-of-the-high Brahma sádhaná. Thus idolatry is as much a part of Hindu Tantra as it is of Buddhist Tantra. Neither has borrowed it from the other.

I have just referred to the ideological unity of the Hindu and the Buddhist Tantras. So far as the goal is concerned, the ultimate object of both is to merge the unit force in the introversial force and the introversial force in Parama Puruśa. In various places in the Hindu Tantras, Parama Puruśa has been called Paramashiva, Puruśottama and Krśńa, and Paramá Prakrti has been called Kálii, Rádhá, etc. In the Buddhist Tantras Parama Puruśa or Bhagaván Sarveshvara has been called Shriiman Mahásukha, Vajrasatva, Vajradhara, Vajreshvara, Heruka or Hevajra – or in places Cańd́arośańa – and the Maháshakti of Mahákaola has sometimes been called Bhagavatii Sarveshvarii, sometimes Vajraváráhii, sometimes Vajradhátviishvarii, sometimes Prajiṋá Páramitá, and sometimes, in sandhyá bháśá,⁽⁹⁾ D́ombii, Cańd́álii, etc.

In both the Hindu and Buddhist Tantras, men and women are permitted to do sádhaná together. In the Hindu Tantras, males are advised to ideate that they are Bhaerava, and sádhikás [female spiritual aspirants] to ideate that they are Bhaeravii. Buddhist Tantras prescribe the same thing. There the sádhaka is Vajradhara and the sádhiká is Vajrayośita.

Naráh Vajradharákáráh śośitah Vajrayośitah.

–Ekallaviira Cańd́arośańa Tantra

[The male aspirants are called Vajradhara, and the female aspirants Vajrayośita.]

Actually Tantra is one. Therefore it is as much a mistake to distinguish between the Hindu and the Buddhist Tantras as it is to grope in vain for any differences in the inner import or final goals of the Hindu Tantras such as Shaeva Tantra, Shákta Tantra, Saora Tantra, Gáńapatya Tantra, Vaeśńaviiya Tantra (Rádhá Tantra), etc.

The similarity between the gods and goddesses of the Hindu Tantras and those of the Buddhist Tantras is also particularly noteworthy. Each Tantra has either absorbed or discarded the other’s gods and goddesses according to its own convenience. Tárá is one of the famous deities of the Buddhist Tantras. The worships of Bhrámarii Tárá in China, Ugratárá or Vajratárá in Mongolia, and Niila Sarasvatii Tárá or Ekajátá Devii in Tibet, date from very ancient times. Tibet’s Niila Sarasvatii Tárá has been absorbed in Hindu Tantra as the second Mahávidyá of the Ten Mahávidyás, and today those Hindus who worship idols do not regard Tárá as a non-Hindu deity.

Káliká Devii, the first Mahávidyá of the so-called Hindu Tantras, has been accepted by Buddhist Tantra. Clad in betel leaves (parńa means “betel leaves” or “turmeric leaves”), Parńa Shavarii Devii of the Buddhist Tantra is one of the names of the goddess Durgá of Hindu Tantra. Prajiṋá Páramitá, the Buddhist deity, continues to be worshipped in post-Buddhist India as Sarasvatii. The bull-mounted Sarasvatii of the Vedas has not even a hint of similarity with the swan-mounted Sarasvatii, either in appearance or in nature.⁽¹⁰⁾

There are some goddesses whose sources – Buddhist or Hindu – are impossible to determine. That is to say, they are deities common to both schools of Tantra, such as Váráhii, Kaoveŕii, Bhiimá, Kapálinii, Chinnamastá, etc. Goddesses of the Hindu Tantras such as D́ákinii, Rákinii, Lákinii, Kákinii, Shákinii, Hákinii, etc., have been accepted by the Buddhist Tantras.

The savikalpa samádhi [trance of determinate absorption – or vacuity] of the Hindu Tantras is the prabhásvara shúnyatá [luminous vacuity] of the Buddhists. The Hindus’ nirvikalpa [trance of objectless or indeterminate absorption – or vacuity] is the Buddhists’ vajra shúnyatá [complete vacuity]. And the goddess of vajra shúnyatá, of the unmanifest Prakrti, is Vajraváráhii, D́ombii, Naerátma Devii or Naerámańi in the language of the Buddhists. The different stages of savikalpa samádhi related to the upward movement of the kulakuńd́alinii are called sálokya [within the same loka], sámiipya [closest proximity], sárupya [identity], sarśt́hi [the stage between savikalpa and nirvikalpa], etc., in the Hindu Tantras; and in the Buddhist Tantras, viśáyánanda [objective bliss] in the nirmáńa cakra, paramánanda [supreme bliss] in the dharma cakra, virámánanda [intermittent bliss] in the sambhoga cakra and sahajánanda [absolute bliss] in the mahásukha cakra. In this mahásukha cakra, Naerátma Devii is Bhagavatii Prajiṋá Sarveshvarii, an embodiment of sahajánanda [bliss]. This sahajánanda is the Brahmánanda [absolute bliss] of the Hindu Tantras.

After the Aryan settlement in India a great man was born into the non-Aryan society. Born into a Mongolo-Aryan family, this great man had a high nose and fair complexion. He was a great Tantric - a great yogi. The name of this Mahápuruśa of the non-Aryan society was Shiva. For one man to have so many qualities and endowments at the same time was beyond the comprehension of the people, so He was called Guńátiita or Nirguńa [Transcendental or Non-Attributional] Puruśa. As the result of His Tantra sádhaná He attained extraordinary powers, which He employed for the good of humanity. It was He who systematized the science of Tantra and thus He was the guru or the father of Tantrics and yogis. To this Self-realized Mahápuruśa there was no distinction of high and low. People of all classes, from the highest to the lowest, were dear to Him. Irrespective of class - Aryan, non-Aryan, Dravidian, Austric or Mongolian – all flocked to Him. He showered His grace on them all equally. As the battles raged between the “gods” on the one hand and the “demons” and “monsters” on the other (needless to say, “gods” meant the handsome Aryan leaders, and “demons” meant the non-Aryans in general), the non-Aryan “demons” and “monsters” became more and more powerful through the blessings of this Shiva. All the rákśasas and asuras were Shiva’s obedient devotees and followers. With the help and blessings of Shiva they destroyed the might and power of the “gods”. According to Sanskrit stories, when the gods would seek the help of Brahmá and Viśńu, even those two would not dare to oppose Shiva; rather they would save the gods through a compromise with Him.

Shiva had such a forgiving nature, born out of His spirit of benevolence, that even the most wicked could easily draw on His kindness. That is why to everybody He became “Áshutośa” (“Easy to Please”). Due to Shiva’s pervasive influence over their society, the non-Aryans, that is, the Tantrics, used to worship Him as God, and according to their respective intellectual strata they regarded and accepted Him in His different bearings. Just as the Aryans began to identify Shiva with their own gods and goddesses, the kaola mahátántrikas [great Tantrics in the tradition of kulakuńd́alinii yoga] began to regard their Shiva as identical with Nirguńa Brahma. The foremost cause behind this conception of theirs was the absolute detachment and self-forgetful bearing of Shiva, the lord of supernatural and miraculous power. Shiva’s self-sacrificing nature earned Him the name “Bholánátha” [“one absolutely indifferent to his own status”] among the non-Aryans. All were attracted to Shiva’s supernatural power, His imposing personality, His limitless qualities and the calm, tranquil radiance of His features.

Enthralled by the physical grace and the virtues of Shiva, Princess Gaorii, the daughter of the Aryan king Dakśa, was attracted towards Him. King Dakśa was not at all in favour of his daughter marrying a non-Aryan, but eventually he gave way before her adamant attitude. And so Shiva and Princess Gaorii were married. But envy born out of his knowledge of Shiva’s formidable influence over both the Aryan and the non-Aryan societies had already made King Dakśa mad. Thus one day he publicly insulted Shiva at a large sacrifice specially planned for the purpose. Shiva’s devotees, unable to bear the insult, made a pandemonium of Dakśa’s ceremonial sacrifice. It is written in the books of the Aryans that Shiva’s two servant-spirits, Nandii and Bhrngii, destroyed Dakśa’s yajiṋa. Actually, Nandii and Bhrngii, the alleged spirits, were none other than two ardent non-Aryan Tantric devotees of Shiva.

Many Aryans supported the marriage of Gaorii and Shiva, because, on account of Shiva’s extraordinary influence, they felt it would be more in their interest to establish kinship with Him than to remain hostile to Him. Whatever the reason, after Dakśa’s yajiṋa, in Shiva’s presence, all the Aryan and non-Aryan clashes and disputes came to a permanent end. In other words, the Aryans accepted the predominance of Shiva.

The non-Aryans were very happy to have Gaorii in their midst. Just as they revered Shiva as their god, they regarded Gaorii as their goddess. The non-Aryans were yellow-, black- or brown-complexioned, but Gaorii, being of purely Aryan origin, was white-complexioned. It was for this reason that she was named “Gaorii” [which means “white-complexioned”]. After the marriage, Gaorii lived in the Himalaya Mountains, and was thus often called “Parvata Kanyá” [“Daughter of the Mountains”], or “Párvatii” in common language. I told you a little while ago that the non-Aryans used to do Tantra sádhaná according to their respective intellectual development. They worshipped a pair of gods – Puruśa and Prakrti. Whatever their intellectual and spiritual standards, all of them regarded their primary god as Shiva, or, in subsequent periods, some avatára [incarnation] of Shiva; and their primary goddess as Gaorii, or, later, some partial manifestation of Gaorii.

Among the backward non-Aryan society, phallus worship was prevalent. Although originally there was some social history behind this phallus worship (due to the perpetual warfare between the various clans and tribes, each group felt a constant necessity to increase its numerical strength, and thus they began to worship both the genital organs), in later periods, under the influence of Tantra, it took on a more subtle spiritual form. When, due to the influence of Shiva, everyone began to accept Shiva as their chief god, this liuṋga pújá [worship of genitals] became [the worship of] Shiva-liuṋga and Gaorii-piit́ha, or Gaorii-pat́t́a. Subsequently the Aryans also accepted phallus worship and gave it a philosophical interpretation: Liuṋgate gamyate yasmád talliuṋgam [“The entity from which all things originate [[and towards which all things are moving]] is called liuṋga”].

After Dakśa’s yajiṋa Shiva’s influence over the Aryans increased more and more. The Aryans began to feel that, being so indebted to Shiva, they could no longer afford to disregard Him. It was Shiva who had taught them spiritual sádhaná, ásanas and práńáyáma; the secret of good health; the science of medicine; and the developed art of dance and music. For His excellence in dancing, both the Aryans and non-Aryans used to call Him “Nat́arája”, and for His proficiency in vocal music, “Nádatanu”. No one has counted the number of medicines He invented for every kind of disease. He was the first preceptor of the áyurvedácáryas [teachers of áyurveda, the science of medicine to increase longevity]. The asuras were cured of many serious diseases due to His grace. Both the Aryans and the non-Aryans thought that since Shiva knew so many remedies, He was perhaps immortal, and so they named Him “Mrtyuiṋjaya” [“Conqueror of Death”]. When, even today, people come across some incurable disease, they say, “Even Shiva has no cure for this disease.” Like the non-Aryans, the Aryans eventually accepted Shiva as their god and Gaorii as their goddess.

The tiger is one of the oldest animals of India. In the distant past these tigers came into India from the non-Aryan countries of China, Tibet, etc. Lions came much later from the Aryan countries bordering on the northwest corner of India. It is noteworthy that in the dhyána mantra of Shiva, he has been described as wearing a tiger skin, that is, the skin of an animal of the non-Aryan countries (vyághra-krttiḿ vasánaḿ); and the daughter of the Aryans, Gaorii, has been depicted as siḿha-váhinii [“riding on a lion”].

In all the Aryan books of knowledge the word Shiva was invariably used to describe Parama Puruśa. The racially chauvinistic Aryans could not remain at peace after their acceptance of Shiva as God. Thinking that the non-Aryans would make capital of this and boast about their triumph over the Aryans, they threw themselves into the task of proving that Shiva was an Aryan. The non-Aryan Shiva used to live in cemeteries, cremation grounds, lonesome plains and on the different peaks of the Himalayas. (That is why even today the non-Aryans, pointing to the Himalayan peaks such as Kailash, Gaurishankar, Everest, etc., say, “There live our Hara-Gaorii.”) But the Aryans turned Him into a full-fledged divinity of the scriptures. To prove that he was Aryan they hung a sacred thread on his left shoulder. (Needless to say, the non-Aryan Shiva had no such sacred thread; he wore a snake around his neck.) Strangely enough, the image of the Aryan god Brahmá shows no sign of any such sacred thread. No one doubted that Brahmá was an Aryan by race, but in the case of Shiva, the only way to prove that he was an Aryan was to hang a sacred thread on his shoulder.

We can still observe today that Shiva is the god of all, regardless of caste or colour, high or low, learned or ignorant, Brahman or pariah. No other deity in India enjoys such tremendous universal popularity. Even if one does not know a mantra, one can worship Shiva. Young maidens model earth into images of Shiva and worship Him; the philosophical sádhakas of old used to attain samádhi in Shivatva [Cosmic Consciousness]; and the so-called low castes such as Doḿa and Cańd́ála become sannyásiis of Shiva. No other divinity would even touch the shadows of these so-called pariahs.

The present social system of India (which is fundamentally Tantric) was developed by Shiva. After accepting Shiva as God without any reservation, the Aryans appropriated everything good of the Dravidians and the other non-Aryans. Of course this did not diminish the Aryans’ prestige – rather it enhanced it. After this appropriation there was a propaganda attempt to prove that Tantra was originally propounded by the Aryans themselves. The Aryans used to say:

Ágataḿshivavaktrebhyoh gataiṋca Girijáshrutao;
Mataiṋca Vásudevasya tasmádágama ucyate.

That is to say, “This Tantra, or Ágama Shástra, was actually composed by Vásudeva [Krśńa, who was considered Aryan], and Shiva only revealed it to Párvatii.” Áre Bábá!⁽¹¹⁾ – if Vásudeva had at all been the propounder of this doctrine, why on earth would He have put it into the mouth of the non-Aryan Shiva instead of saying it Himself? In the beginning the Aryans used to recognize the superiority of Tantra sádhaná but practise it in secret; but after acknowledging Shiva, they openly declared themselves to be Tantrics.

Not only in India, but in quite a large part of the world, in every sphere of life, the laws and injunctions of Shiva alone prevailed for a long time. Even today the civilization of modern India is intrinsically Tantric. On the outside only is there a Vedic stamp. Or if we take the Indian civilization as an enamelled ornament, then its gold is Tantric, and the enamel Vedic. For both the wandering sannyásiis of the cemeteries and cremation grounds, and the householders, this Shiva alone is the ideal man, and Gaorii the ideal woman. Shiva is the universal father and Gaorii the universal mother. Shiva’s household is the three worlds.

Hararme pitá Gaorii mátá svadesho bhuvanatrayam.

[Hara is my father, Gaorii is my mother, and the three worlds of earth, heaven and hell are my native land.]

When the Indians were about to forget the teachings of Shiva due to their fascination with the mundane objectivities of the world, there came another sublime entity like Shiva, who reminded them of those teachings. That great personality was Shrii Krśńa. The question as to which of the two was greater, Krśńa or Shiva, does not arise, because all knowers of Brahma are one: all are Brahma. Shrii Krśńa was the supreme teacher and ideal politician of the world, what to speak of India alone. Shiva was the guru, the father, of the human society of the world – a completely different kind of role. Shiva is the universal father. Just as Cándá Mámá [The Uncle in the Moon] is the uncle of all, Shiva is the father of all.

All three worlds are Shiva’s family. His reputation is not confined to any particular country. Yet if anyone is to be singled out as the father of Indian civilization, or of Indian society, or of the so-called Indian nation – then I can say emphatically that Shiva alone is eligible to be the father, not only of the Indian nation, but of the universal human nation. Ancient Shiva alone, and no one else, can qualify to be the father of this more-than-five-thousand-year-old so-called Indian race.

Footnotes

(1) Author’s note: It is wrong to write “Káshmiira”, for the word káshmiira means “pertaining to Kashmiira”, or “saffron”. The Aryans saw saffron for the first time in Kashmiira.

(2) Author’s note: In these books the non-Aryans were sometimes called rákśasas [demons], sometimes pishácas [ghouls], and sometimes asuras [monsters].

(3) Editors’ note: Mitákśará entails the heirs’ equal rights of inheritance, not subject to the father’s discretion. Dáyabhága entails the heirs’ right of inheritance subject to the father’s discretion (the father enjoys the right to disinherit any of the heirs).

(4) Editors’ note: A mixture of the Vedic Sanskrit and the Bengalis’ original laokik, or dialectal, Sanskrit (the “bird language”).

(5) Editors’ note: One of three styles of pronunciation of Sanskrit – saḿvrta, vivrtta and tiryak.

(6) Author’s note: The people of eastern India make common use of the Tantric mystic syllable phat́. For example, Se phat́ kare bale phelle… “He said all of a sudden…”; or Lokt́ár baŕa phat́phat́áni, “That person is very verbose.”

(7) Editors’ note: “Old Shiva”.

(8) Editors’ note: The va sound was later changed to ba under the influence of Muslim pronunciation, so the letter was changed as well. In modern Bengali there is no difference in pronunciation between ba and va, but the difference in spelling persists.

(9) Editors’ note: A “twilight language” of dual meanings.

(10) Editors’ note: There was a Vedic Sarasvatii in existence before the Buddhist Prajiṋá Páramitá, but the swan-mounted Sarasvatii modelled after Prajiṋá Páramitá is not the same goddess.

(11) Editors’ note: An exclamation, like “Good Lord!”

Chapter 15	Discourses on Tantra Volume One [a compilation]

In the Indo-Aryan alphabet all fifty letters, from a to kśa, are acoustic roots of one action or another, and the totality of all these fifty acoustic roots constitutes the alphabet, called akśamálá.

A kind of mixed Tantra was evolved out of three different spiritual texts: the Puranas, the Tantras, and the Atharvaveda. In this mixed Tantra, the akśamálá was held by a Tantric deity known as Bhadrakálii (who is not the four-armed goddess depicted in mythology). When idol worship first started, human beings had not yet learned how to write or recognize the letters of the alphabet. To symbolize those fifty sounds, therefore, a garland of fifty human heads was placed around the neck of the effigy of Goddess Kálii, as it is the human mouth which utters words. The acoustic root of creation is a, the acoustic root of preservation is u, and the acoustic root of destruction is ma. So a, being the acoustic root of creation, was made the first letter. That is why the deity Bhadrakálii holds the first letter a in her hand while the remaining forty-nine letters, from á to kśa, are suspended from her neck. Of course, in the idols made nowadays, just fifteen to twenty faces are placed in the garland. The artists who make these effigies today are not aware of the philosophical significance, nor are the worshippers.

Chapter 16	Discourses on Tantra Volume One [a compilation]

Yesterday I talked about the Puranic gods and goddesses. In this connection let me tell you one thing more. Various types of Puranic methods, such as nyása⁽¹⁾, práńáyáma, etc., have now become accepted in the Puranic mode of worship, but in fact these methods are of Tantric origin and not related to the Puranas. When doing práńáyáma one will have to concentrate one’s mind on a certain point. This is a Tantric method; when the mind is concentrated on a point it gets confined to a particular space. This method, confining the mind to a certain space, is called Yudhiśt́hira Vidyá in yoga shástra. That is, this was invented by the first Páńd́ava brother, Yudhiśt́hira.

However, I will have to say something more about the Puranic system of worship. There are many Puranic worship practices which people are inclined to believe to be very old; many believe that they are as ancient as the Vedas. But that is not the fact of the matter. None of the Puranic systems of worship, or Puranic rituals, is older than 1200 or 1300 years. All those systems of worship are post-Buddhistic, or developed somewhat prior to the period of Buddhist Tantra [which came one thousand years after Buddha himself], or developed, at the earliest, contemporaneously with Buddha.

Numerous Buddhist gods and goddesses later became accepted as Puranic gods and goddesses; for example, the Buddhist goddess Shiitalá became converted into a Puranic goddess because of the fear of smallpox and some of the Buddhist Tantric gods and goddesses also became converted into Puranic gods and goddesses. For instance, the Buddhist Tantric deity Tárá is now accepted as a Puranic deity; these days many Hindus accept Tárá Devii. You will find many persons with names such as Tárádás, Tárápada, etc. Similarly, the Hindu Tantric goddess Kálii has been accepted in Buddhist Tantra.

For these reasons I was saying that no Puranic ritual or mode of worship is older than 1200 or 1300 years. In the wake left by the collapse of Buddhism [in India], the Puranic religion or neo-Hindu religion emerged, and the Buddhist Tantric gods and goddesses became accommodated in the new religion.

A new religious movement called the Nátha Cult emerged during the period of transition from the Buddhist Era to the Puranic Era. Many gods and goddesses of the Nátha Cult can also be detected [in the Puranic religion], for instance Buŕo Shiva. In fact, most of the Puranic gods and goddesses receiving great reverence in our country are not older than five hundred or six hundred years. If any of them are 1200-1300 years old, that is indeed the maximum.

Some people believe that the worship of Durgá is something very old, but that is not true at all. This worship became popular during the Muslim period; that is, it is of quite recent origin.

The system of Durgá worship was in existence at the time when Krttivasa first composed the Bengali Rámáyańa. Since Durgá worship was a contemporary matter, Krttivasa mentioned the goddess Durgá in his Rámáyańa. For instance, he mentioned that Ramacandra worshipped the goddess Durgá with 108 lotus flowers. But in the original Sanskrit Rámáyańa, Valmiiki’s Rámáyańa, these stories are absent. The worship of Durgá was popular during the time of Krttivasa, and therefore he inserted the story into his Rámáyańa. But even in the Rámcaritmánasa composed by Tulasii Das, the story is conspicuously absent. Thus we can conclude that it was only created in the imagination of Krttivas. So the idea that the system of Durgá worship is quite old is entirely unfounded.

The system of worshipping the goddess Durgá was first introduced in Bengal by Kamsanarayana Ray, the king of Tahirpur of Rajsahi District [now in Bangladesh], during the Pathan period. King Kamsanarayana had a lot of wealth. He told the pandits, “I have so much wealth, I would like to hold the Rájasuya Sacrifice.” The pandits said, “O king, in Kali Yuga there is no system for holding the Rájasuya Sacrifice [a sacrifice done only by the most powerful kings]. But since you have so much money, you can celebrate the worship of the goddess Durgá in accordance with the instructions in the Márkańd́eya Puráńa.”

The story goes that Kamsanarayana Ray spent as much as 700,000 rupees for the worship of the goddess Durgá. 700,000 of the rupees of those days mean almost 70 million rupees today. It was a huge expense, and this sparked a competition among the other kings and landlords. The following year King Jagadvaballabh of Ektakia (his name was Jagat Narayana according to other sources) spent 850,000 rupees on the worship of the goddess. In this unhealthy process of competition, the worship of the goddess Durgá became an affair restricted only to the wealthy landlord households. Actually the display of wealth became the primary motive. There were gargantuan feasts, and a lot of pageantry. “I will feed multitudes of people, I will hold huge pageants.” The competition went on.

All kinds of landlord, big, small and medium, began to worship the goddess. This all happened during the period of Pathan rule [just before the Mughal Dynasty]. These are purely Puranic systems of worship, and the books considered authorities for this subject are only the Puranas. None of these books has anything to do with Tantra or Veda, except that they prescribe chanting some rks [couplets] from the Deviisukta [verse] of the Rgveda. Actually, the worship of the goddess Durgá has no direct relation to the Rgveda, except that incidentally the word “Haemavatii Umá” from the Deviisukta is quoted. [“Umá” is conceived of as another name for Durgá.]

So you see that the landlords began to worship the goddess with a lot of fanfare. The middle-class people did not have enough resources to organize such expensive religious worship. But perhaps you know that there is a certain place called Hukkipara in Hooghly District. Twelve persons from middle-class families in that Hukkipara village once decided to organize the pújá [worship] of the goddess Durgá collectively, because separately they did not have the resources to organize such worship. In Urdu a friend is called iyár. Since twelve friends [in Bengali “twelve” is báro] combinedly organized the pújá, it was called “Bároiyárii Pújá”. At that point in time this form of worship spread from the landlords down to the masses.

Caste distinctions continued to be observed in Bároiyárii Pújá, but toward the end of the British rule, people began to argue, “Since you are collecting subscriptions from all kinds of people, how can we believe in casteism? Let all people participate in this worship.” At that time this worship received a new name, “Sárvajaniin Pújá”. This Sárvajaniin Pújá is also bároiyárii, but caste distinctions are disregarded.

In Tantra there is some reference to Durgá, but to aśt́abhújá [an eight-armed one – ten-armed was more common]. In western India and northern India, similar aśt́abhújá stone and metal images are sometimes unearthed during excavation work. So the quarrel is whether the deity has eight or ten hands.

One of the characteristics of Tantra is this, that the different gods and goddesses originate from one idea or other. Those ideas were conceived in order to arouse and develop the finer sensibilities of the human mind. Thus a person conceived of a certain idea, and to make concrete that abstract idea, an image was invented. But such an idea, whether good or bad, is not an integral idea, it is a non-integral idea. If human beings try to give expression to one such idea out of many, that means that other ideas are excluded. In any case, this is how there arose the various gods and goddesses in Tantra, through a process of giving external form to abstract ideas.

In Sanskrit the term devatá is feminine. In this respect there is no fundamental difference between Buddhist and Hindu Tantra, although there is a difference in terminology. For instance, there are Buddhist Tantric goddesses called Máriici, Háritii, Vajrabaráhii, Báráhii, Vajrayoginii, Vajratárá and Bhánatárá. And then there are Kálii and the Dashamáhávidyá [ten goddesses known as the Ten Mahávidyás], all Hindu Tantric goddesses. These various gods and goddesses represent one idea or other. For instance, Anucchunyá Prakrti, the state of Prakrti at the stage prior to creation: that idea is represented by Kálii. But this is just a non-integral idea, not an integral one.

Meghavarńávigatavasaná,
Shavashivárúd́há shyámá trinayaná;
Narashirakhad́gavarábhayashobhaná,
Caturbhújá Kálii Kálikárúpińii.
Garvitádánavagarvakharvákrti khad́ga
Kharpará Niila Sarasvatii;
Sarvasaobhágyapradáyinii kartrii,
Namaste Tárárúpá tárińii.
Bálá ruńásamá-ujjvalauṋgábhá,
Caturbhújá trinayaná,
Tribhuvanamanolobhá pásháuṋkush-sharacápa-
Dhárińii Shivá, Śod́ashii rúpá Shiva bhávinii.
Hásyamukharitá nishákaravanditá,
Tribhuvana mauṋgalá Bhuvaneshvarii máta.
Raktotpaladhará kot́ibhánuninditá,
Bhaeravii varábhaya dáyinii.
Vivarńá vidhavá malinámbaradhará
Kákadhvajá Dhúmávatii shúrpakará;
Bagalámukhii piitavarńá piitámbará
Mudgara ari jihvá dhárińii.
Nijashirachinditá rudhirapánaratá
Digvásá ratiratá jano parisaḿsthitá;
Chinnamastá mátá d́akiniisamanvitá
Pravalapátakiikula ghátinii.
Mańimayásane shyámakalevará,
Mátauṋgiirúpadhará sudháḿshu shekhará;
Káiṋcanakántisudiiptá manohará
Kamalá harahrdivásinii.

With a particular idea in one’s mind, one experiences a particular state of existence in life, and accordingly one or another Mahávidyá has been thought up. For instance, Dhúmávatii is described as vivarńá [colourless], vidhavá [widowed], with sunken eyes and wizened face, wearing dirty, dishevelled clothing (malinámbaradhará). Crows hover over her head (kákadhvajá); in her hand she is holding a broken winnow (shúrpakará – from the Sanskrit shúrpa, the words suppa in Prákrta and sup in Bengali have come⁽²⁾). The entire description gives an idea of an impoverished deity, shorn of all glory and opulence.⁽³⁾ When people are shorn of everything, the idea of Dhúmávatii symbolizes that idea. Tantra holds out one or another idea of that type.

It is not proper to create images, ostensibly for religious worship, such as that. As ideas are very pleasing to the human mind, if we draw or paint a picture on any surface, it will give us aesthetic pleasure, but what is the benefit in worshipping such things? If you worship one idea, maybe you will have some control over that idea, but you will not have influence over other ideas. After all, one particular image is not Parama Puruśa, it is just one of His partial expressions.

Take for instance the case of Kálii. She is described as meghavarńá, black. Why the black colour? Because it was conceived that there was no creation at that time. At the time when this world had not been created, there was no colour, and want of colour is black; so the idea of want of colour is represented by Kálii. It is not possible to think of any other colour, because there was no other colour.

Then again Kálii is conceived of as vigatavasaná, having no clothes. Why no clothes? Because, is it possible to cover an all-pervading entity with clothes? Can we conceive of clothing the Infinite Entity? What does logic say about this? Therefore vigatavasaná. If the Infinite Entity is covered with clothes, can it be called infinite? Therefore vigatavasaná, but also digvásá:⁽⁴⁾ here metaphorically all the directions (dik) are Her clothes (vásá). She is further described as shavashivárúd́há. When Consciousness has not been metamorphosed into the different successive stages of manifestation, Shiva [Consciousness] is just like a dead body, because at that stage Shiva cannot do anything, there is no expression of consciousness. Only Paramá Prakrti is the creative entity. She carries on Her eternal dance of creation. She is also conceived as three-eyed (trinayaná), because she is witnessing all the phenomena of the past, present and future.

In fact there is no such thing as Kálii, it is just an idea. Two of the deity’s hands hold a human head and a sword (khad́ga). The other two are in varábhaya mudrá.⁽⁵⁾ She is wearing a garland around her neck, a garland dotted with forty-nine severed heads, each face representing one particular acoustic root, and one hand, as mentioned, is also holding a head. (I have already told you that in that Vedic period people did not know how to write. Script had not yet been invented.⁽⁶⁾ ) The fifty sounds from a to kśa [symbolized together as a málá, a garland] are called akśamálá – although the a of the akśamálá is in her hand. All the sounds are represented by faces – faces, not heads⁽⁷⁾ [as may appear at first sight].

Yata shońa karńaput́e sab-i máyer mantra bat́e. Kálii
paiṋcáshat varńamayii varńe varńe viráj kare.

[Whatever you hear with your ears are the mantras emanating from the Causal Matrix. Kálii is a combination of fifty letters; she is associated with all the letters.]

At the time when the universe had not been created, the sounds were already present, and all those sounds were merged in the dark void of MaháKálii [Supreme Operative Principle]. So Kálii, or Paramá Prakrti is holding them, though they are not expressed.⁽⁸⁾

In the poem Kálii is described as Narashirakhad́ga-varábhayashobhaná . Here khad́ga [sword] is a symbol of the fight against evil and sin, and abhaya means “fearlessness”. When we confront the illusions of creation and destruction, the Supreme Entity tells us, “Don’t be nervous, don’t be afraid, there will again be creation.” And what is vara? “I will again create.” And in her hand there is a container of nectar. So this is an excellent idea, but an idea is just an idea, it should not be worshipped. If people do so, they will be metamorphosed into that idea only; they can never attain the Supreme Goal.

All such Tantric ideations are very beautiful images of the different aspects of the Supreme Entity, and human beings start moulding clay statues depicting those ideas. So this Kálii, this Tárá, and all the Dashamahávidyá, are one or another mental ideation, born out of the human mind. The total expression of all these ideations is what is called the human psychic expression. If a follower of Tantra or Purana remains preoccupied with a particular idea, the total development of the mind will remain an impossibility. That’s why all these ideas of [this school of] Tantra should be rejected. The great mystic Ramprasad said,

Hrdipadma ut́hbe phut́e, maner áṋdhár yábe t́ut́e
Dharátale paŕbo lut́e, “Tárá” bale habo sárá.
Tyajiba sav bhedábhed, ghuce jábe maner khed,
Shatashata satya ved, “Tárá” ámár nirákárá.

[The lotus will bloom, the darkness of my mind will disappear, I shall roll on the earth⁽⁹⁾ with the holy name of Tárá on my lips. All sorts of distinction will be obliterated, all the afflictions of my mind will be totally removed; the scriptures are right when they declare that Tárá is formless.]

So if people concentrate their minds on a particular idea, their progress will remain a far cry away from total progress. So sádhakas must try to realize Parama Puruśa, and not any non-integral entity. There is no other way.

It is not that the concepts of different gods and goddesses are based on Tantric ideas alone. For instance, when people suffer terribly from various incurable diseases, they conveniently invent one deity Rakśá Kálii (that Kálii which protects one from disease). When society faces some problem, people worship Shmashána Kálii or Vámá Kálii, and so on. Here also you see that the people are creating deities depending on their own psychic ideation.

When the deity stands with the right foot forward, she is called “Dakśińá Kálii”; whereas the Kálii deity with her left foot forward is called “Vámá Kálii”. This much is the difference between the two deities. Then again there are other deities, such as Durgá, Navadurgá, etc. The system of worship of Navadurgá – she is worshipped through nine varieties of plant – is centered around Tantra, but the worship of Durgá in general does not originate in Tantra. The worship of Durgá originated in the Puranic tradition.

The nine kinds of plant having special qualities of their own are themselves treated as deities. They are repositories of power, but of partial nature. They are not as vast as the Supreme Entity. As they are conceived to be as powerful as the goddesses, they are worshipped. These nine plants are kadalii [plantain], kacu [arum], haridrá [turmeric], jayantii [sesbania], ashoka [sarica], bilva [bel-fruit], dád́imba [pomegranate], mán [alocasia], and dhánya [rice]. Before the actual worship of the goddess Durgá, these nine plants are bathed in pure water. A plantain tree is considered as kalábau, but it is not a kala [plantain] tree as the bau [wife] of somebody. And some think that kalábau means “wife of Gańesha”; but no, nothing like that exists.⁽¹⁰⁾ A plantain tree is taken as a symbol of Brahmáńii Shakti. So the presiding deity in plantain is called Brahmáńii. The presiding deity of arum (kacu) is Káliká. Likewise the presiding deity in turmeric is called Durgá. The presiding deity in jayantii is called Kárttikii; in ashoka is called Shokarohitá; in dád́imba, Raktadantiká; in bel-fruit, Shivá; in mán, Cámuńd́ii; and in rice, Mahálakśmii. The nine plants are worshipped as symbols of nine Tantric deities. For instance, the plantain tree, as mentioned represents Brahmáńii Shakti, the mythological mother of Gańesha (and not the wife of Gańesha, as commonly misunderstood by the masses). So you see, these are just small ideas and limited powers. No benefit will come from adopting these ideas.

Suppose a person meditates on turmeric; one will become turmeric. If one meditates on Gańesha, one will become Gańesha. Gańesha is dalapati; dalapati means gańapati [mass leader]. A kind of leader worship is still to be observed in many countries! So if you meditate on Gańesha, it means you want to become like Ganesha, you want to become a “leader” – but in fact you will develope a long trunk and a fat belly. People become like their objects of meditation.⁽¹¹⁾

I do not know whether Gańesha has any spiritual knowledge or scientific understanding, wisdom, spiritual quality or not. I know that he has some occult power, so if one meditates on him, one may or may not get some of his powers; but the problem is that if one meditates on Gańesha, one will have to meditate on his mount also – his mount being a mouse. Think what the consequences could be!

Each of the gods and goddesses has a particular mount, or vehicle. Had they been modern gods and goddesses, their vehicle would have been a jeep. But the ancient gods and goddesses had birds and animals as vehicles. Now if you meditate on these birds and animals, yádrshii bhávaná yasya siddhirbhavati tádrshii [As you think, so you become]. How dangerous it is! It is more dangerous for women. They generally like to remain well-dressed and well-decorated. But if they worship Lakśmii and if they become like an owl which is the mount of Lakśmii (because in meditating on Lakśmii you are meditating on owl also), then would it be good?

Suppose someone meditates on turmeric; they may imbibe the qualities of turmeric. Now turmeric does have one quality, it is an antidote to poison; and if you eat turmeric, it kills hookworms; but remember, there are innumerable varieties of medicinal plants, with so many qualities, in our universe. So you see, you are still not adopting the qualities of all those medicinal herbs. And suppose you do adopt all the qualities of all the herbs, there are still so many animals roaming around, and various animals have various qualities which might be great assets to human beings. You may have seen certain lizards that sit silently on the walls in a state of ambush for cockroaches. You will see that the lizard does not move even slightly for ten to fifteen minutes. Is not this patience and stillness a wonderful quality? Very few human beings have that quality. They cannot sit silently that long, they become restless. You do not have that quality, you cannot sit silently that long. Ants move in long columns, sheep also move in long columns; an ox stands in the middle of the road without the least motion. The vehicles and carriages have to pass by the standing ox.

How does the lizard or the ox do that? The secret is explained in yogic scriptures. These scriptures say that in our throats is the kúrma nád́ii [energy channel related to vocal cord]. If one’s mind is fixed on the kúrma nád́ii, one’s body becomes motionless. So the ox can remain standing on the road without the slightest movement. A lizard can do similarly. Oxen, crocodiles and many other animals and birds have this same faculty.

A chameleon (vahurúpii), by concentrating its mind on the úrdhva kúrma nád́ii above the kúrma nád́ii, can change the complexion of its body every moment. A chameleon (similar to a lizard) can take on the colour of the leaves of the tree on which it is perched.

Now, if one meditates on a particular animal or bird, one will imbibe the qualities of that animal. Similarly, each of the [Puranic] gods and goddesses has a particular quality of its own. Yes, one may acquire some quality, but one will never attain Parama Puruśa. Hence the only object of meditation of human beings should be Parama Puruśa. One can never attain the Macrocosmic vastness if one meditates on a limited idea, a finite entity. The Tantric gods and goddesses, whether we are speaking of Hindu Tantra or of Buddhist Tantra, have equally limited powers. Moreover, as each of the gods and goddesses has its own vehicle, and it is unscientific to meditate on that vehicle [because of the possibility that one will acquire the qualities of the vehicle along with those of the deity.], the Tantric gods and goddesses are not to be accepted as objects of meditation. And Tantra has also emphatically said,

Uttamo Brahmasadbhávo
Mahdyamá dhyána dhárańá;
Japastutih syádadhamá
Múrtipújádhamádhamá.

[Ideation on Brahma is the best, dhyána and dhárańá are second best, repetitious incantation and eulogistic prayer are the worst, and idol worship is the worst of the worst.]

It is also stated in Tantra that if a person wants only to attain limited progress, one may practise on certain limited ideas. But those who are genuine seekers of Brahma will never agree to worship any finite idea. Those who want the Supreme Entity will have to ideate on Parama Puruśa alone. People may attain limited achievement in terms of occult power through the grace of the gods and goddesses – whether belonging to Tantra or Purana – but they will remain far away from the attainment of the Supreme Entity.

Footnotes

(1) A kind of breath control in spiritual practice. –-Trans.

(2) [[This linguistic comment]] has been transcribed from the original tape for this edition and incorporated here. –Trans.

(3) The above poem goes on to describe, in similar fashion, the nine other Mahávidyás: Kálii, Tárá, Śod́ashii, Bhuvaneshvarii, Bhaeravii, Bagalámukhii, Mátaungii, Chinnamastá and Kamalá. –Trans.

(4) The foregoing clause has been transcribed from the original tape for this edition and incorporated here. –Trans.

(5) Vara mudrá is depicted not as an empty hand, but as a hand giving nectar. –Trans.

(6) But the alphabet was known orally. –Trans.

(7) The foregoing twenty words have been transcribed from the original tape for this edition and incorporated here. –Trans.

(8) The foregoing sentence has been transcribed from the original tape for this edition and incorporated here. –Trans.

(9) As the kuńd́alinii of an aspirant rises, the previously-unexpressed spiritual qualities of the higher glands become expressed. Sometimes the nervous system is affected in such a way as to make certain “occult feelings” or “occult symptoms” appear in the physical body; they are experienced by the aspirant as pleasurable. There are eight basic types (e.g., stambha, or immobility, and kampa, or trembling), and thirteen associated feelings, one of which is viluńt́hana – rolling on the earth. –Trans.

(10) The foregoing two sentences have been transcribed from the original tape for this edition and incorporated here. –Trans.

(11) The foregoing two sentences have been transcribed from the original tape for this edition and incorporated here. –Trans.

Chapter 17	Discourses on Tantra Volume One [a compilation]

Now the question is, what is the underlying spirit or essence of dharma? The underlying spirit or essence of dharma is that it carries a person in the direction of greater and greater expansion, and finally establishes that person in the supreme pervasiveness. (By the “essence of dharma” we mean its purest part, its innermost existence.)⁽¹⁾

The essence of Shaeva Dharma [Shaivism] is all-round expansion – that is, it takes an individual from the lokáyata [mundane] to the lokottara [supramundane] life. Shaivism is that which takes the individual to the supreme fulfilment along a sweet and more and more resplendent path. Shaeva Tantra [Shiva Tantra] is not a cult based on the sayings of the munis and rśis, rather it is concerned with the hopes and aspirations of the masses. It is something which deals with the subtler mystic aspect of human life.

Here let us try to understand the subtle difference between the lokáyata and the lokottara worlds. Suppose there is a bird – take the case of a bird confined in a cage. The bird in a cage eating little morsels of food can be likened to lokáyata sádhaná, and the restless, intense psychic urge to soar freely into the vast distant blue sky can be compared with lokottara sádhaná. Shaeva Dharma in Ráŕh is Tantra-oriented; and as I have said, Tantra means all-round expansion. As the inhabitants of Ráŕh accepted this Tantra from the core of their hearts, even in the distant prehistoric past, they made multidimensional progress: progress in art and literature, progress in dance and music, progress in architecture and sculpture. The inhabitants of Ráŕh made unimaginable progress in all spheres of human life.

The women throughout Ráŕh enjoyed great independence. Women were highly respected in society. Even divorced women of higher caste were permitted to remarry if they so desired.⁽²⁾ These were direct contributions of Shaeva Tantra.

Footnotes

(1) Editors’ note: Illustration of “essence” omitted here. There should be a harmonious adjustment between movement in the psychic sphere and movement in the external sphere. There should be a healthy social structure as well. All the necessary materials for that structure are fully present in Shaeva Dharma and in Shaeva Tantra.

(2) Editors’ note: In most other cultures of the Indian sub-continent up until recent times, only lower-caste women had been permitted to remarry.

Chapter 18	Discourses on Tantra Volume One [a compilation]

When I spoke regarding Krśńa⁽¹⁾, I said that His life can be divided into two main parts: the first part is Vrajagopála and the second part is Párthasárathi. I also said in that context that Párthasárathi was not as easily accessible as Vrajagopála was. I further said that the Mahábhárata⁽²⁾ was brought about by Krśńa but it certainly did not encompass the whole of Krśńa’s life. Krśńa exists without the Mahábhárata, but the Mahábhárata does not exist without Krśńa.

Regarding Shiva, we should say that His life cannot be divided in this way into two parts. From the very beginning, He was an omnipresent entity. Whenever, in the undeveloped and simple human society of those days, any need arose, Shiva was there to help; whenever any knotty problem developed, Shiva was there to solve it. So we cannot divide and analyse His life and personality into fragments, nor can we write the history of those times in that way. At the same time I feel constrained to state that, considering His unique role in building human culture and civilization, this culture and civilization cannot stand without Him. But Shiva can stand very well, shining in His own glory, quite apart from human culture and civilization. So to write history in the true sense of the term, for the sake of human society at present and in the distant future as well, Shiva cannot be neglected.

Let us first analyse the meaning of the term shiva. In trying to find the meaning of the word shiva, we must know whether or not the Sanskrit language was used in those days. Some people say that the Sanskrit language was imported to India from Central Asia, but this does not seem to be correct. Rather it is more reasonable to say that in those days one almost identical language was current all the way from Central Asia and Eastern Europe to Southeast Asia. The branch of that language that was popular in the southeastern part of that expanse was called Sanskrit, while the language that was spoken in the northwestern parts was Vedic.

The Aryans migrated to India from outside, no doubt, but the Aryan influence was not so discernible in the southeastern as in the northwestern parts of India. The Vedic language came to India with the Aryans, but the Sanskrit language is an indigenous language of India; it did not come from outside. I have stated this fact clearly in my recently-published book on Ráŕh.⁽³⁾

It is not at all possible to trace the exact antiquity of the Vedic language, because the only book that is available in that language is the ancient Rgveda, and the Rgveda was not in written form in those days either. The people of those days did not know how to read and write; they had no knowledge of any alphabet. They were not at all acquainted with the letters a, á, ka, kha,⁽⁴⁾ etc.

The alphabet – the Bráhmii script, the Kharośt́hi script, and the subsequent scripts born out of them – were invented some time during the last five thousand to seven thousand years. The Sáradá, the Náradá, and the Kut́ilá scripts were variants of the old Bráhmii script, and the Shriiharśa⁽⁵⁾ script is a variant of the Kut́ilá script. The script in which modern Bengali is written is the Shriiharśa script.

The composition of the Rgveda [began] about fifteen thousand years ago. Scripts were totally unknown in those days. It would not be incorrect to say that although the human race came onto the earth about a million years ago, its civilization started only about fifteen thousand years ago. This shows that human civilization and human culture are not very old in relation to the antiquity of the human race. We should not belittle civilization for being so recent, but neither can we venerate it as being very old.

In the days of Shiva, the Aryans started entering India from the northwest. Many of them had already arrived, many were on the way, and many were still making preparations to come. The Vedic language of the Aryans who had already arrived in India had exerted a widespread influence on the spoken dialects of the indigenous population of India, such as the Kash, the Scythians, the Euchi, the South Kuśán, etc. Obviously, Sanskrit, the common language of the indigenous people of the then India, was not outside the orbit of influence of the Vedic language; but that influence was not unilateral; that is, the Vedic language was also influenced by the Sanskrit language. Tantra had its origin in India, and Shiva gave a systematic form to it. Of course, Tantra in its Káshmiirii and Gaod́iiya Schools did exist before Shiva, but in a scattered and crude form. So naturally one has to admit that Shiva was born and brought up in an environment of Tantra, although it was not classical Tantra.

Shiva was well acquainted with the Vedic language and the Vedic religion. Both in the Vedas and in the Tantric treatises, we come across references to Shiva, but not in very ancient texts, because it was not possible to put works in writing in very ancient times, due to the lack of knowledge of the alphabet. [Thus much material was lost.] The Tantric texts used to advise people, “You should do this, you should do that, you should hear and learn these lessons from your masters,” and so on; because in those days it was not possible to write books, as scripts had not yet been invented. The Vedas would also advise people in the same way – to hear and learn things from the masters. That is why the Vedas are called shruti in Sanskrit. Shruti means “ear”; so that which is learned by hearing is called shruti.

The period of Shiva was a most turbulent period in India. On the one hand there were the Aryans, the outsiders, and on the other hand there were the indigenous people, with their Tantra-oriented culture and religion. Into this conflict-ridden environment, Shiva was born.

Now, what is the derivative meaning of shiva? From the extant texts on Tantra and Veda and from all other written and unwritten sources, we get three meanings of the term shiva. The first and most important meaning of shiva is “welfare”.

Anádyanantamakhilasya madhye
Vishvasya sraśt́aramanekarúpam;
Vishvasyaekaḿ pariveśt́araḿ
Jiṋátvá Shivaḿ shántimatyantameti.

[Knowing that Shiva, who has neither beginning nor end, who is
the creator of this vast universe –
That multi-formed single entity who encompasses the whole
universe – one attains eternal peace.]

Here shiva means “welfare”. Shivamastu means the same as Kalyáńamastu [“May you be blessed”]. Kalyáńasundaram is the representation of Shiva embodying the true spirit of blessedness.

People say that He has been serving people, doing good to them, with five faces. He is described as having five faces: two on the left – Vámadeva and Kálágni; two on the right – Dakśińeshvara and Iishána; and one in the middle – Kalyáńasundaram, the Supreme Controller which controls all the individual’s desires for action.

Dakśińeshvara, the extreme right face of Shiva, is so called because He is showering dakśińá [compassion] upon the created beings. That is the special role allotted to Dakśińeshvara. Iishána – the face next to the right – is responsible for controlling all the jiivas, individual beings, with meticulous care. And Kalyáńasundaram, the face in the centre, plays the role of controlling all the faces.

Now the question is, why is Kalyáńasundaram assigned such a role? His only purpose is to promote the greatest welfare of all living beings; He has no other purpose.

In addition, Shiva has two faces on the left: Vámadeva on the extreme left, and Kálágni next to the left. Vámadeva is terrible – rudra, rudrátirudra, rudro’pirudrah – “one who teaches others by making them shed tears”. But the underlying purpose is to teach people, not to harm them. The other face, Kálágni, also subjects people to excruciating torture, but there also, the main purpose is to teach them, to promote their welfare. Now here also, the two roles of Vámadeva and Kálágni are controlled by the central face, Kalyáńasundaram. He is sundaram, beautiful, because He promotes kalyáńa [welfare]: hence, “Kalyáńasundaram”. He is terrible, but at the same time superbly calm and tranquil. Yet behind His apparent dreadfulness and tranquillity lies the kalyáńasundaram bháva [mental flow]. He is both severe and tender. He is tender, so naturally people love Him. Although He is severe, people still adore Him, because underlying His apparent severity, there is tenderness. Thus the role of Shiva is predominantly the role of a promoter of welfare. So the first meaning of the term shiva is “welfare”.

The second meaning of the term shiva is “cognition in its zenith status” – the zenith status of the Cognitive Principle, the Supreme Non-Attributional Process, the Supreme NonAttributional Entity beyond the faculties of all existential bondages. I will elaborate on these meanings as appropriate later.

The third meaning is Sadáshiva, who was born into this world about seven thousand years ago – and who, by His holy birth, consecrated, as it were, each and every dust particle of this earth and utilized His whole life for the sole purpose of advancing the cause of universal welfare. Remember, I have not said “human welfare,” because in our world, not only are there humans, there are also birds and animals, trees and plants. Shiva belongs to all; and for all living beings, He gave His all. Hence the people called Him “Sadáshiva”; sadá means “always”, and shiva – as I have said earlier – means “welfare”. So “Sadáshiva” means “one whose only vow of existence is to promote the all-round welfare of all living beings”. I will gradually tell you about this extraordinary personality. I hope you will deeply relish the discourses on this great man, this great personality.

Now the question remains: in the night of blinding darkness, do humans alone aspire to feel the soothing touch of light? No, all want it. All seek to grow out of the oblivion of existential darkness into the warmth of life, to experience finally the fulfilment of their life’s urges. Up until this day, human beings have not made a proper appraisal of this great personality, this Mahásambhúti,⁽⁶⁾ who gave human beings their first opportunity to experience the sweet joy of fulfilment of all their longings. No one has discussed Him much up until now.

Why people failed to make this appraisal is irrelevant today. It is the firm duty of every individual to know and evaluate the exact contribution of Shiva, and in this process of evaluation, we cannot ignore the personality Himself. One may derive some joy from a bright ray emanating from a shining entity, but without the entity itself, the bliss will not be complete.

Footnotes

(1) Namámi Krśńasundaram, 1981. –Trans.

(2) Literally, “Great India”. Here it means the campaign led by Krśńa to unify India, and not the epic composition about that campaign. –Trans.

(3) Sabhyatár Ádibindu – Ráŕh, 1981. –Trans.

(4) The first two vowels and the first two consonants of Sanskrit. –Trans.

(5) Of the existing scripts in South Asia, the Shriiharśa script is the second in antiquity to the Sáradá script (Káshmiirii script). A manuscript written in the old Sáradá script can be found in the historical museum of the author’s Calcutta residence.

(6) The special manifestation of Supreme Consciousness. –Trans.

Chapter 19	Discourses on Tantra Volume One [a compilation]

In fact, the Árśa Dharma ["Religion of the Sages", Aryan Religion] was not dharma at all – it was nothing but a geo-sentiment, sometimes combined with socio-sentiment. This continued for a long period. Shiva observed that this was not dharma at all. He looked deeply into human psychology and found that human beings do not really want happiness – they want absolute peace: peace is better than happiness. People do not attain peace by performing yajiṋas [sacrifices] nor by sacrificing animals in the sacrificial fire. They may please their palates by eating meat, but they will not attain peace in this way. Shiva showed human beings how to attain peace; and that path to supreme peace should not be called a path of ordinary attainment, but of supreme attainment. Here the spiritual realization is aparokśánúbhuti – is direct. This path, as shown by Shiva, is known as Shaeva Dharma [Shaivism].

Of course, Tantra did exist before Shiva, but it was scattered, not well-organized. As I told you a little earlier, Shiva made everything systematic and regulated. He brought about a harmonious synthesis between those scattered Tantras and the people’s spiritual urges for supreme fulfilment, and created His Shaeva Dharma, which was above all sorts of geo-sentiment and socio-sentiment. This path of Shiva, which was a happy blending of the existing Tantra and His practical processes, was an ideal adjustment between the objective world and the subjective world. In spite of that, this cult was not able to survive the ravages of time. One of the reasons was that in those days it was not possible to write anything down because script had not yet been invented. Knowledge was conveyed orally, not by writing. The Vedas could not be written due to the same difficulty.

Much later, when the Vedas were written down, many portions had already been lost. However much we may try to find those lost portions of the Vedas, they can unfortunately never be recovered. Many of the teachings of Shiva were also lost for the same reason, because people had no knowledge of the alphabet. This Shiva Tantra inspired people to move towards the supreme truth on the one hand, and on the other hand it exhorted people, "Do not neglect the practical world. Maintain a congenial adjustment with the external world." His instructions were, "Varttámanesu vartteta [Live in the present]. Try to penetrate as deeply as you can into your mind, keep moving inwards – Caraeveti, caraeveti [Proceed on, proceed on]. But do not forget the realities of the external world, because if you ignore the external realities, your internal peace will also be disturbed."

This Shaeva Dharma became the essential dharma of India. In this dharma no one was ignored – neither the non-Aryans nor the women nor the untouchables.

In the Vedic Age, women as a class were neglected and treated as mere commodities of enjoyment; whereas in the age of Shiva they were proclaimed as a class of mothers. As the influence of Shiva was comparatively great in Bengal, there we still find the custom of addressing unknown ladies as Má ["Mother"]. In Bengali, aunts are called mási-má [mother’s sister], pishi-má [father’s sister], etc.; that is, the word má is respectfully added when addressing women. And as the matriarchal system is still prevalent in Bengal to some extent, there the women are not altogether separated from the father’s lineage. After marriage their gotra [clan] changes, no doubt, but they still have some relation with their father’s lineage. For this reason a nephew, a sister’s son, inherits the properties of his maternal uncle if he dies without heirs.

Shaeva Dharma is the dharma for attaining Parama Puruśa, and thus there is no external ritual in it. It does not enjoin any ritualistic offering of ghee, or any sacrifice of animals’ blood in yajiṋa; it is not a path of self-gratification. The followers of Shaeva Dharma proclaimed in a thundering voice that dharma is the path leading to supreme attainment – not the path of animal enjoyment.

Chapter 20	Discourses on Tantra Volume One [a compilation]

Is Shiva a philosophy or a personality or a deity? We must first say a little about Shivatattva [the inner meaning of Shiva], devatátattva and daevii shakti, and then analyse Shiva and the other gods and goddesses who are claimed to be related to Him. There are deep-seated questions in human minds about this, but all the questions remain unanswered.

Shiva was a great personality. At the same time, His entire life we may say, His very way of life is a philosophy. And when one’s personality becomes fully identified with one’s philosophy of life, one becomes a god.

Dyotate krid́ate yasmát udyate dyotate divi;
Tasmát deva iti proktah stúyate sarvadevataeh.

[The vibrational manifestations emanating from the Supreme Nucleus are known as devatás, and these devatás address that Supreme Nucleus as Deva. He with His powers vibrates the entire universe, makes the entire universe dance; and He by dint of His occult and supra-occult powers brings everything back onto His lap.]

The endless expressions of life emanating from the Universal Nucleus which move all-pervasively in and through everything of the universe and influence all entities are called devatás [deities, gods and goddesses]. Shiva’s ideology is totally identified with His life, with His way of life. Hence, Shiva is definitely a devatá.

Now while we are discussing devatátattva [the inner meaning of a devatá] we must add something more. Normally, each and every expression that emanates from the Supreme Hub, the Cosmic Nucleus, is a devatá. In that sense, Shiva is not merely one such devatá; He is the aggregate of these devatás. Shiva is no doubt a god, but the word “god” does not encompass the totality of His personality. He is not only a god, He is the God of gods Devatánáḿ devatá, devanáḿ devah ityarthe Mahádevah [“The God of all gods and goddesses is Mahádeva”]. Shiva is Mahádeva.

Now it is necessary to discuss those entities who were involved with Shiva, such as Párvatii, Kálii, Gauṋgá, Sarasvatii, Lakśmii, etc.; and all the other gods and goddesses of Shiva Tantra, Buddhist Tantra, Jain Tantra, Post-Shiva Tantra and the Puranic religion. First we shall find out how much Shiva was related to them from the philosophical, social and personal points of view or whether there was any relation between Him and them at all.

In this context, the topic of daevii shakti must be discussed. When some wave of expression emanates from the Universal Hub and moves in the process of systalsis, two main forces are active, Prajiṋátattva [the Cognitive Force] and Shaktitattva [the Operative Force]. The former is called Citishakti, and the latter is called Káliká Shakti. It is called Káliká Shakti because the Operative Force maintains Her creation through kálacakra, the eternal time factor. (This has nothing to do with the deity Kálii.)

Now, to discuss Shivatattva, devatátattva and daevii shakti, we must review briefly a long period of history stretching over seven thousand years. In the field of applied Tantra that was popular during Shiva’s lifetime, there were different forces, no doubt, but they were not deified into gods and goddesses. So to say something about gods and goddesses, we must go back still further. In the Vedic Age there were gods and goddesses, but there was no system of idol worship. People used to worship those gods and goddesses through sacrificial rituals. Indra, Ágni, Varuńa, etc., were all Vedic gods, but they were not worshipped with idols. Nor was there any system of worshipping Parama Brahma [the Supreme Entity] with idols. It was said that Iishvarasya pratimá násti [“There cannot be any finite pratimá, image, of God”]. Pratimá means “duplicate”, something identical to the original. Suppose there is an eggplant. If we create an object exactly like the original eggplant, we say that the second eggplant is the pratimá of the original eggplant. But as there is no other entity like Parama Puruśa, Parama Puruśa cannot have a pratimá. Tulá vá upamá Krśńas-ya násti [“Krśńa has no parallel or equal”]. These were the ideas of the Vedic Age.

Next came the age of Shiva Tantra. In those days, many kálashaktis [deities] were accepted, but there was no system of idol worship. Then followed the age of Shivottara [Post-Shiva] Tantra, during the periods of Buddhism and Jainism. During this period, various systems of worshipping different gods and goddesses were introduced. In the subsequent period, that is, the period of the metamorphosed Post-Shiva Tantra (metamorphosed because it was Shiva Tantra but largely influenced by Buddhism and Jainism), image-worship became quite popular.⁽¹⁾

Now in the course of time, when Post-Shiva Tantra evolved, Shiva was still a devatá, but the Buddhist and Jain Tantra of that time exerted some influence on His image, and, by adding some new elements to the existing image of Shiva, tried to create a new entity. Sometimes, in the Puranic Age, Shiva was invested with a sacrificial thread, but in reality Shiva never had any thread on His body; if He had any, it was a thread of snakes.

Later, many gods and goddesses were brought to the scene and linked with Shiva, because until an entity’s relation to Him was established in one way or other, that entity would not get any recognition at all. Take for instance the goddess Manasá. Sometimes she is said to be the daughter of Shiva, but in reality, there was no goddess named Manasá or Viśahari at the time of Shiva. In the Puranic Age, it was declared,

Ástikasya munermátá Vásukiibhaginii tathá;
Jaratkárumuner patnii manasáyae namo namah.

Manasá was said to be the mother of Ástika Muni and the sister of Vásukiinága and the wife of Jarátkáru Muni. We will not raise any objection to the statement that she was the mother of Ástika Muni, but we cannot accept that she was the sister of Vásukiinága. There is a story in one Purana that she was the sister of Vásukiinága,⁽²⁾ but according to another Purana, Kadru was the mother of serpents and Maharśi Káshyapa was their father. In that case the father of Manasá is Káshyapa. Then how can she be the daughter of Shiva? So the Puranas are mutually contradictory. In fact, Manasá has no relation to Shiva; Manasá is only a laokik⁽³⁾ goddess and was recognized as such in Buddhist Tantra and the Puranic religion. Shiva, however, was a great personality about seven thousand years ago, whose existence does not depend upon the tales of the Puranas. The Puranas were composed about 5500 years after Shiva.

After Manasá, let us take the case of Párvatii. What is the meaning of the word Párvatii? Some may derive it as Párvatasya duhitá, párvatasya kanyá (using śaśt́hii tatpuruśa⁽⁴⁾ ) that is, “daughter of a hill”. Obviously the question will arise, and quite logically, how can a human girl whose body is made of five fundamental factors be the daughter of a hill? A river may be called the daughter of a hill, but in the case of a human girl we cannot say that. So the derivation of Párvatii as párvatasya kanyá is not logically acceptable; rather, the proper derivation is Párvatadeshiiyá kanyá ityarthe Párvatii (using madhyapadalopii karmadháray⁽⁵⁾): “a girl born in a hill state”. So when people say that Párvatii was the daughter of the Himalayas, it does not mean that she was the daughter of a person named Himálaya, but that she was a person born in the Himalayan Range. This Párvatii was fair-complexioned; that is, she was an Aryan girl.

In the then India, the mutual relations between the original inhabitants of India (Austrico-Mongolo-Negroids) and the outsiders, the Aryans, were by no means cordial. The Aryans, out of deep-rooted contempt for the indigenous people of India, used to call them sometime asuras, sometimes dánavas, sometimes dásas, sometimes shúdras.⁽⁶⁾ The Aryans did not accept these people in their society; rather, they declared them to be outcastes. But these ancient people of India, of Austrico-Mongolo-Negroid blood, had their own civilization and culture. They were also developed people: they had their science of Tantra, and their medicine. There was a prolonged conflict between these people and the Aryans.

Párvatii was the daughter of an Aryan King, Dakśa, who ruled in the Himalayan regions. Many people were hopeful that after the marriage between Párvatii and Shiva, the relations between the Aryans and the non-Aryans would improve. During the period of the vow of penance that Gaorii (another name for Párvatii) undertook in order to attain Shiva as her husband, she used to dress in the fashion of a Shavara girl (the Shavaras were one of the non-Aryan communities). She used to stitch turmeric leaves together to make improvised outer garments. One of the Sanskrit words for “turmeric leaves” is parńa. As she would wear paŕńa as her clothes, she was called “Paŕńashavarii”. Later, after she became successful in her penance, people requested her, “Now please set aside the turmeric leaves and wear fine clothes.” When she actually discarded the crude turmeric leaves, she was nicknamed “Aparńá”. Unfortunately, even after the marriage between Shiva and Párvatii, the relations between the Aryans and the non-Aryans did not improve; rather they became more strained the conflicts became more acute than before. Gaorii’s father, Dakśa, and the Aryans continued their slanderous campaign against Shiva, and finally, to humiliate Shiva, they held a yajiṋa [sacrificial ceremony] to which Shiva was not invited. Párvatii went to attend the yajiṋa, and unable to bear the insults to her dear husband, immolated herself in the sacrificial fire.

Kśánta hao go pitá Shivanindá ár sahe ná;
Kuver yár bháńd́árii, Brahmá Viśńu dvárer dvárii
Ámi táṋri ájiṋákárii jeneo ki tá jána ná!

“‘I am a follower of Sadáshiva, the brilliance of whose divine presence outshines even the dazzling brilliance of the jewels of Kuvera’s⁽⁷⁾ treasury; whose unmatched dexterity in creation excels even that of the creator Brahmá himself; whose unequalled love surpasses even that of the dissolver Maheshvara himself; in whose loving shelter not only humans, but also animals and plants, feel absolutely secure. You certainly know this. I cannot bear this insult to Shiva any longer. Stop, Father, stop!’” After that self-immolation the relations between the Aryans and the non-Aryans improved.

This Gaorii or Párvatii had no relation whatsoever to the Puranic goddess Durgá whom people worship nowadays. Gaorii, or Párvatii, was a human girl, and as such, she had only two arms. The ten-armed goddess Durgá, who was a deity of the Puranic Age, has nothing to do with Shiva or His age.

The worship of the goddess Durgá is based mainly on the Márkańd́eya Puráńa, and to a lesser extent on the Devii Puráńa, the Káliká Puráńa, the Brhatnandikeshavara Puráńa, the Duragábhaktitaraunginii, the Deviibhágavat, etc. None of these books is older than 1300 or 1400 years. Seven hundred shlokas [couplets] were collected from those books and gathered together, and that constituted the abridged Márkańd́eya Puráńa, which is also known as Durgásaptashatii, or more colloquially, Shrii Shrii Cańd́ii. None of these works existed at the time of Shiva; they have no relation with Him.

There are some people who believe that Durgá is the wife of Shiva, but this is not logically proved by any scriptural evidence. Shiva had only two arms, not four or six. Párvatii also had two arms. But Durgá is a Puranic goddess, and the author of puráńa [educative fiction] can create in his imagination as many arms of Durgá as he likes. Nobody can object to this.

No system for the worship of Durgá is prescribed by the Vedic scripture; so to put a Vedic seal of approval on the worship of Durgá, the famous Deviisúkta of the Vedas is cited. But Haemavatii Umá [Durgá is sometimes also called “Umá”], who is mentioned in the Deviisúkta of the Vedas, has no relation whatsoever to Párvatii (or Gaorii), the wife of Shiva, nor to Durgá, the Puranic goddess. People have been thinking erroneously that Durgá was the wife of Shiva, but in reality she had no relation to Shiva.

Yes, Shiva did have a wife – Gaorii, or Párvatii. And another wife was Káliká, or Kálii. Kálii was born in a non-Aryan community which was ethnically Austrico-Mongolo-Negroid. Now you may wonder about Kálii’s appearance. Why is she undressed? Why is she sticking her tongue out? There are many tales about these matters, but you must not give any importance to these stories; you must discover the real history behind these things.

One of Shiva’s wives was Gaorii, who had a son, Bhaerava. “Bhaerava” means “one who practises Tantra sádhaná”. Another wife of Shiva, Kálii, had a daughter, Bhaeravii. “Bhaeravii” means “a woman who practises Tantra sá-dhaná”. Bhaeravii learned the process of sádhaná from her father and practised it regularly.

But Bhaeravii’s mother, Kálii, always feared that her daughter might encounter some trouble while out doing Tantra sádhaná, so one night she went in search of her daughter. At that time Shiva was deeply absorbed in meditation in the cremation ground. Kálii, while walking along the path, trip- ped over Shiva. She felt extremely contrite and stuck her tongue out.⁽⁸⁾ Shiva was roused from His meditation, and asked, Kastvaḿ? “Who are you?” Now, Kálii was deeply embarrassed, but being Shiva’s wife, how could she conceal her identity by introducing herself as Bhaeravii? A woman cannot identify herself to her husband by the name of her daughter. So she identified herself by saying, Kaoverii asmyaham “I am Kaoverii.”⁽⁹⁾ Since then, Kálii has had another name Kaoverii. The Sanskrit word is “Kaoverii”, but sometimes people wrongly spell the word in Bengali as “Káverii”.

Later Káliká Shakti, also called Kálii, was accepted in Post-Shiva Tantra and also in Buddhist Tantra as a Tantric goddess. Still later, in the Puranic Age, this Kálii was worshipped as a goddess, and at that time she got a second name, Shyámá. But this Kálii, or Káliká Shakti, has no relation to Kálii the wife of Shiva. Kálii the wife of Shiva existed seven thousand years ago; but Kálii the deity accepted in Post-Shiva Tantra and Buddhist Tantra goes back only 1600 or 1700 years. The worship of Kálii the deity is preached chiefly on the basis of the Káliká Puráńa, so it has nothing to do with the Vedic Age nor the age of Shiva. But one thing should be remembered, that although she is a deity of Post-Shiva Tantra, she was accepted and worshipped in Buddhist Tantra also.

And in the same way,

Meghavarńá vigatavasaná,
Shavashivárúd́há shyámá trinayaná;
Narashirakhad́garvarábhayashobhaná,
Caturbhujá Kálii Kálikárúpinii.

Kálii the deity has four arms. But Kálii the wife of Shiva had two arms, not four. So Kálii the goddess who is worshipped these days according to the Puranic system is not the one who was Shiva’s wife.

Not only that, there is also a difference in meaning between kálii and shyámá. First, it is a fact that Kálii or Shyámá, who is worshipped as a goddess nowadays, has no relation to Shiva. Then, regarding her colour, in one part of the shloka she is described as meghavarńa, that is, grey-black [“having the colour of a cloud”] (Kálii the wife of Shiva was a non-Aryan girl, so she may have been that colour); then again she is described in the same shloka as shyámá. The word shyámá in Sanskrit has two meanings. One meaning is “green”. Kálii, who is grey-black, cannot be shyámá in this sense; there would be an inconsistency in meaning, a contradiction in the shloka itself. The second meaning is,

Shiitkále bhaveduśńá griiśme ca sukhashiitalá;
Atasiipuśpavarńábhá sá shyámá parikiirttitá.

“One whose sweet behaviour enables one to feel warm even in winter and cool in the summer, one whose body emits the glow of the atasii flower (that is, a golden colour), is called shyámá.” By this definition of shyámá also, the foregoing shloka would be self-contradictory.

So we find that neither the goddess Durgá worshipped nowadays nor the goddess Kálii, is the wife of Shiva.

No goddess having eight or ten arms can be the wife of Shiva: He had only two arms. Similarly the Káliká Shakti having four arms cannot be the wife of Shiva.

Shiva had a third wife – Gauṋgá. She was a Mongolian girl with a yellow complexion, born in Tibet. I said a little while ago that Gaorii had a son, Bhaerava, and Kálii had a daughter, Bhaeravii. Gauṋgá had a son Kárttikeya, or Kárttika, or Sanmukham, or Śad́ánana. (In Tamil Sań-mugam, Bálasubrahmańyam or Murúgam).

Bhaerava, the son of Párvatii, was an ardent spiritualist, a Tantric sádhaka. Bhaeravii, the daughter of Káliká, was also an ardent spiritualist and a sincere practitioner of Tantra; but Gauṋgá’s son, Kárttika, was of a different mould. Because of this Gauṋgá was very sad at heart; she was very unhappy with her only son. To remove Gauṋgá’s mental unhappiness, Shiva used to treat her with the utmost courtesy. People would complain that Shiva was not so soft and courteous in His dealings with Párvatii and Kálii as He was with Gauṋgá. He was pampering Gauṋgá too much – as if Shiva was dancing in joy, with Gauṋgá seated on His head.

On the basis of this saying, Shiva was depicted in the Puranic Age with Gauṋgá tied to His matted locks of hair. Then a story was concocted in some Purana that the water discarded after washing the feet of Viśńu, flowed down from heaven, and Shiva supported the flow on His head; then this flow became the River Gauṋgá [Ganges]. That is, Gauṋgá the wife of Shiva became the River Gauṋgá. Actually this River Gauṋgá has no relation whatsoever to Shiva. The story continues that from Shiva’s head the river flowed in four directions –

Svargete Alakánandá marttye Bhágiirathii,
Pitrloke Mandákinii pátále Bhogavatii.

One of the flows went towards heaven and became known as Alakánanda; one went to the earth and became known as Bhágiirathii; the third one went to Pitrloka [Realm of the Ancestors] and became known as Mandákinii; and the last one, flowing to the underworld, became known as Bhogavatii.

These are mere tales of the Puranas. The River Gauṋgá has no relation to Gauṋgá who was the wife of Shiva. “Gauṋgá” the river is derived from gam plus gam plus d́a plus t́á (to show feminine gender). Ga means a vast tract of land; gá means a woman who is moving; so a woman who is coming from a distant land and going towards another distant land a woman who is flowing from Gauṋgottarii, the starting-point of the River Ganges, to Gauṋgáságar, the mouth of the river through a 1500-mile stretch of land is called “Gauṋgá”. This River Gauṋgá [the Ganges] has no relation to the wife of Shiva.

Footnotes

(1) Editors’ note: Some pages on another topic omitted here.

(2) Editors’ note: One of the mythological serpent-kings.

(3) Editors’ note: That is, she was accorded some religious status, but her name does not figure in either the Vedas or the Tantras.

(4) Editors’ note: A particular grammatical style of splitting words.

(5) Editors’ note: A particular grammatical style of splitting words.

(6) Editors’ note: Asuras – “monsters”; dánavas – “demons”; dásas – “slaves”. “Shúdra” means a social group invented by the Aryans for this purpose of discrimination; therewith they created a fourth level at the bottom of their previously three-level system.

(7) Editors’ note: The mythological treasurer of heaven.

(8) Editors’ note: A sign of embarrassment.

(9) Editors’ note: She wavered between saying her own name, “Kálii”, and the name of her daughter, “Bhaeravii”. The word became “Kaoverii”.

Chapter 21	Discourses on Tantra Volume One [a compilation]

I have already said that when ideology is totally reflected in a personality, that very personality is worshipped as a divine personality, a god. Ordinary people follow His instructions; they want to be guided by His will, because they experience bliss by moving in this way. Krśńa said,

Yad yadácarati shreśt́hastad tadevetaráh janáh;
Sa yad pramáńaḿ kurute lokastadanuvarttate.

[The common masses faithfully follow whatever great people do; they follow the examples set by great personalities.]

In the age of Shiva, towards the end of Shiva’s lifetime, the Aryan and the non-Aryan communities admitted the supremacy of Shiva. There were no longer conflicts between the Aryans and the non-Aryans regarding the issue of deities; there was no difference of opinion as to which great personality should be respected. Shiva was accepted as the supreme personality in the Vedas, and as such was considered a god. In the Vedic Age, people who worshipped the Vedic gods and goddesses accepted Shiva as one of them, and started worshipping Him and generally following His instructions. They used to follow only the ritualistic portions of the Vedas (the yajiṋas) and followed Shiva in all other matters. But those who did not follow even these ritualistic portions of the Vedas but followed Shiva in all matters were called Shaeva Tántriks [followers of Shiva Tantra].

Perhaps you know that in the Vedas, the Tantras, and partly in Post-Shiva Tantra, particular gods were worshipped with specific biija mantras [acoustic roots]. Shiva was not worshipped with any particular acoustic root during His own time, in Shiva Tantra, because the people considered Shiva so much their own, so intimate with them, that they did not feel the necessity to worship Him with the help of any acoustic root. And Shiva really did become one of them. Thus they did not depend on any acoustic root to invoke Him. The then followers of the Vedas accepted the supremacy of Shiva, but their relation with Him was not so intimate. As I have already said, there was no system of idol worship in those days, but they used to accept Shiva as their deity of transmutation – as the transmutational principle.⁽¹⁾ The people in those days used m [the sound “mm”] as the acoustic root for the process of transmutation, the process of metamorphosis. Thus they used m to indicate anything concerned with Shiva.

Although Shiva was accepted in the Vedic Age, He himself did not follow the Vedic cult. He accepted only the Tantric cult and adhered to it very strictly, and persuaded others to do the same. You know that the Jain religion was introduced a little more than two thousand years ago, but the Shiva Cult is much older than the Jain religion. Some people claim that the Tiirthauṋkars (the original Jain prophets) existed even before the advent of Vardhamán Maháviira; they propagated Jainism, but it was undoubtedly long after Shiva. When Jainism was spreading in India, Shiva had already become a god of the people; He had penetrated into all walks of Indian life and become intimately associated with each and every aspect of social life. This was not only because of His extraordinary personality and genius, but because of His pervasive influence in all spheres of human life. Though Jainism is quite old, and efforts were made to propagate it, the people of that age accepted it only superficially. Jainism received quite a good response in India, particularly in the Ráŕh area, but

Shaeva Dharma [Shaivism] maintained its existence like a subterranean flow in the people’s minds.

Perhaps many of you know that Jainism is divided into several branches, and the two main branches are Digamvara and Shvetámvara. By historical research, it has been found that Jainism is mainly Digamvara.⁽²⁾ But later a time came when the Nirgranthaváda of Digamvara Jainism (granthi means “knot”, so nirgranthi means “not using the knots of clothes” – that is why the doctrine was known as “Digamvara”) was not appreciated by the householders, and it was primarily they who introduced the Shvetámvara doctrine, although Jainism is primarily Digamvara. Later this Nirgranthaváda of Jainism was associated with Shaivism. People were outwardly Digamvara Jain, but in the core of their hearts they were Shaivites. All the idols of Digamvara Tiirthauṋkars which have been found are naked. Now let us move to another topic.

In the prehistoric age, before even the Vedic Age started, people used to follow the system of phallic worship. I have mentioned in my book on Ráŕh that in those days there were severe conflicts among the different clans. They were never secure, neither at night nor during the day; so they always wanted to increase their numbers. Thus they worshipped the phallus as the symbol of their earnest desire to multiply. This phallic worship was more or less in vogue in almost all the countries of the world, not just in one particular country. Phallic worship was common in India, Southeast Asia, and Central Asia, and also widely prevalent in Central America – that is, in the southern part of North America and northern part of South America. Some think that this phallic worship was brought to America from India during the Shriishaelendra Empire of Andhra under the Pahlava, Pandya, and Chol Dynasties of South India. The phallus worshippers of Central America belonged to the Mayan civilization; thus America is called Máyádviipa in Sanskrit [Mayan Island]. However, the fact is that those people followed this phallic worship from prehistoric times more as a social custom than as a spiritual or philosophic cult. In the Jain age, the naked idols of the Tiirthauṋkars aroused a new thought in the minds of the people, and thus for the first time phallic worship was introduced as part of the spiritual cult of Digamvara Jainism. Shaeva Dharma existed side by side with Digamvara Jainism; alongside the Jain and Buddhist doctrines, there existed Shiva Tantra⁽³⁾ also in a metamorphosed form, which may be designated as Post-Shiva Tantra. In this way the worship of Shiva-liuṋga [phallic worship] was introduced in Post-Shiva Tantra through the influence of Jainism. Thus the prehistoric phallic worship, being associated with a newer spiritual awareness and philosophical outlook, produced a new trend of thought. (It should be remembered that metaphysics had already emerged by that time, for Jainism and Buddhism were propounded after the great sage Maharśi Kapila.) Thus the worship of Shiva-liuṋga was introduced about 2500 years ago. But the phallic worship of the pre-historic age, and the worship of Shiva-liuṋga in medieval India (around 2250 years ago), were not the same. The latter, invested with a novel philosophical and spiritual significance, awakened a new trend of human thought. The people of that time started worshipping Shiva-liuṋga with a new outlook, just as they gave new significance to the Tiirthauṋkaras. The intention behind the prehistoric phallic worship, as I have already said, was the worshippers’ earnest desire to increase their numbers – because they had to fight day and night to survive. But in later times, when Shiva-liun-ga worship was introduced in Jain Tantra, Buddhist Tantra, and Post-Shiva Tantra, it received a new interpretation, Liuṋgate gamyate yasmin talliuṋgam [“The entity [[from which all things originate and]] towards which all things are moving is liuṋgam”]. All the psychic flows and existential vibrations are flowing in the mahákásha, the mahávyoma [the eternal void], and these vibrational expressions will finally terminate in that Supreme Principle of Transmutation, that Supreme Metamorphosis. So this Shiva-liuṋga is the final destination of all expressions, the culminating point of all existence. Thus the mode of worship of Shiva-liuṋga was altogether transformed.

Now this worship of Shiva-liuṋga which began in the age of Jainism spread throughout every fibre of Indian life. In this new style of Shiva worship, both the dhyána mantra⁽⁴⁾ and biija mantra of Shiva were changed. Now it is necessary to explain this biija mantra. All the phenomena, all the vibrational expressions in this universe have colour and sound. The human eye may be unable to perceive those subtle colours, and the human ear unable to catch those subtle sounds, but their existence cannot be denied just because of human inability to perceive them. Many animals and birds can perceive subtle vibrations and understand things which humans cannot for instance, the olfactory capacity of tigers and dogs is far greater than that of human beings. Often dogs can identify miscreants by their smell. Each and every expression has its own sound, and the collection of all sounds is oṋḿkára – a-u-m. A [the sound “uh”] is the acoustic root of creation, and u [the sound “oo”] is the acoustic root of operation, and m is the acoustic root of destruction. The sound created by a particular vibration is called its “acoustic root” in Latin. The concept of so-called gods and goddesses is based on these acoustic vibrations, the sound expressions which emanate from the Supreme Consciousness and flow in various directions. This is the science behind the acoustic roots.

The acoustic root of Shiva as mentioned in the Vedas was m [the sound “mm”]. I have already said that no acoustic root was necessary for the worship of Shiva [during His own time] because He was so intimate with all people. But in the age of Jain Tantra, Buddhist Tantra, and Post-Shiva Tantra, the acoustic root became aeḿ. This ae vowel is also an acoustic root.

If we analyse this aum-sound,⁽⁵⁾ we find fifty root-sounds, and these root sounds are all within the vast spectrum of eternal time. Within this spectrum there are infinite undulations of the waves of time. Time is nothing but the mental measurement of the motivity of action. Whenever there is action, there is motivity. Time is not an unbroken flow, but consists of disjointed elements. These elements are so closely connected that they seem to become one integral whole although actually it is not continuous. However, these fifty separate emanations are all sustained by this so-called temporal factor. These are: a, á, i, ii, u, ú… kśa.⁽⁶⁾ So the alphabet is called akśa or akśamálá [málá means “garland”] – it is conceived as a garland of fifty letters.

During the time of the Atharvaveda it was thought that these fifty letters are being sustained by the time factor. I have already said that this conception of the Atharvaveda was wrong because the time factor is not an integral whole but a series of many separate entities. So these fifty letters of the oṋm sound are combined in the time factor. In the age of the Atharvaveda, people learned to read and write, although there was no system for writing the Vedas in black and white. Thus it was conceived that the time factor had put on the fifty letters in a garland, and each letter was symbolized by a human face. The letter a was kept in the hand because a is the acoustic root of creation, and the rest of the letters (á to kśa) were put in the garland of Bhadrakálii – a goddess of the Atharvaveda. It has been said:

Yata shona karńapute sabái Máyer mantra bat́e
Kálii paiṋcáshat varńamayii varńe varńe viráj kare.

[Whatever you hear is the incantative rhythm of the Divine Mother – the goddess Kálii – and consists of these fifty letters.]

You understand that this Bhadrakálii [a concept of the Atharvaveda which features the fifty letters] is not an integral whole either, but an aggregate of partial entities; so this is also a wrong concept from the philosophical point of view.⁽⁷⁾

Now, the letter ae (one of the twelve vowels) is called the vágbhava biija [acoustic root of speech]. A sprout emerges from every seed, and the seed from which the sprout of wisdom emerges is called the seed of the spiritual guide, the guru; so aeḿ came to be the acoustic root of the guru. Shiva was generally accepted as the guru. So in the age of Jain, Buddhist and Post-Shiva Tantra, aeḿ became accepted as the acoustic root of Shiva. The incantative rhythm of Shiva’s worship became Aeḿ Shiváya namah. But in the Vedic Age it was m.

Now let us consider the Jain Shiva. Nowadays large-size Shiva-liuṋgas are being excavated in different parts of India, especially in the Ráŕh area. These are images either of the Jain Shiva or of the Shiva of the Post-Shiva Tantra of the Jain Age. In that age, there was intensive cultivation of knowledge throughout India. People considered this aeḿ (the root of wisdom and speech) to be an ideal acoustic root for knowledge. A long time later, when the worship of Sarasvatii, the goddess of learning, was introduced, she was given the same acoustic root (aeḿ – the acoustic root of speech). Aeḿ Sarasvatyae namah [“Salutations to the goddess Sarasvatii”].

Thus far I have been talking about the Jain Shiva. The Jain Shiva has not been accepted in Shaeva Dharma but is accepted in Jain society because it was impossible to establish any doctrine without the influence of Shiva. In later times, Jain society was divided into different sections and sub-sections, and it influenced the contemporary Post-Shiva Tantra also. And then divisions arose regarding the worship of Shiva, and also differences of opinion about the system of Shiva-liuṋga worship which had been practised since the Jain period. Some special types of Shiva-liuṋga were called jyotirliuṋga, other types were called ádiliuṋga, others were called anádiliuṋga – thus there were many different branches of Jainism, each with its own Shiva-liuṋga and its own style of worship. Another distinct type of Shiva-liuṋga is the Váńaliuṋga, but it was of a much later period, the Puranic Age. King Vána, the monarch of north Bengal (then called Varendrabhúmi), invented the Váńaliuṋga Shiva. In this way, the worship of Shiva underwent many changes in the Jain Age.

Now, the followers of Jainism are all vegetarians. The followers of Shiva are also vegetarians. But the Shiva Cult was more practical and thus it became the valuable asset of human beings, while Jainism became estranged from the people because of its impractical nature. For example, according to Jainism, tilling the land is not permitted because it would kill many worms and insects, thereby violating the principle of non-violence. But Shaeva Dharma is quite practical. Lord Shiva said Varttamáneśu vartteta [“Live in the present”]. In other words, “Never ignore the practical realities of life.” So even in the age of Jainism, the followers of the Shiva Cult used to cultivate the land, because to refrain from agriculture was not common sense. Again, the followers of Jainism covered their faces with a piece of cloth so that insects might not enter their noses and die. The followers of the Shiva Cult did not do such things, and they even fought if necessary, for they strictly followed the instructions of Shiva. There was much similarity between these two cultures, but in comparison with the culture of Shiva, the Jain culture had some serious drawbacks.

Now let us consider the Buddhist Shiva. Just as Shiva was worshipped in the age of Jain culture and Jainism influenced Post-Shiva Tantra and was also influenced by it, the same thing occurred in the Buddhist Age.

The Buddhist Age and the Jain Age occurred simultaneously. Lord Maháviira was about fifty years older than Lord Buddha. There was a pervasive influence of Maháyána Buddhism in some parts of India, China and Tibet. At that time, the Maháyána branch of Buddhism split into two sections, both of which embraced Tantric culture. The Shiva of Post-Shiva Tantra was accepted in Buddhist Tantra, and the followers of the latter also preferred to worship the Shiva-liuṋga instead of worshipping idols of Shiva.

You should remember that there is no mention of the worship of Shiva-liuṋga in the dhyána mantra of Shiva. From this it is clear that the worship of Shiva-liuṋga was introduced much later.

Because of the vast popularity of Shiva, He could not be neglected even in the Buddhist Age, and the worship of the Shiva idol or Shiva-liuṋga was accepted, only with a little difference. Shiva was not accepted as a perfect god. He was accepted as a bodhisattva, and a small image of Buddha was affixed to the image of Shiva. In some cases, a small image of Buddha was attached to the head of the image of Shiva at the time of Shiva’s worship. The intention was to make it clear that Shiva was not a perfect god. He was a bodhisattva, and it was Buddha who was the goal of worship for Shiva. This kind of Bodhisattva Shiva became Bat́uka Bhaerava, then Boŕo Shiva, then Buŕo Shiva [Old Shiva], at a later time.

In the remote villages of Bengal, many temples of Buŕo Shiva are found. These images of Buŕo Shiva are from the Buddhist Age. The worship of this Buddhist Shiva was widely popular on the eastern side of the Himalayas, in Tibet, and in some parts of Bengal; it was introduced in Bengal during the days of Vajrayána Buddhism.

It would not be irrelevant to say that though Vajrayána was prevalent in India, Tibet and a considerable part of China, the centre or the controlling point of it was a village named VajraYoginii of Vikrampur of Dhaka district. A Chinese ácárya [spiritual teacher] of Buddhist Tantra lived there, named Pháhá-u-cá. This village and Vikrampur are still existing. The history of Vikrampur goes back much earlier than the Puranic Age. If I ever narrate the history of Baḿga-Dabák [southern Bangladesh], many things are to be said about this Vikrampur. In the age of Buddhist Tantra, the name of Vikrampur was Vikram Mańipur – not Vikrampur. Oṋḿ mańipadme hum was the mantra of Vajrayánii Buddhism. The name Vikram Mańipur has been derived from this Mańipadma Mantra.

Anyway, Shiva was worshipped as a bodhisattva in the Buddhist Age. At that time a small idol of Buddha was set on the head of the image of Shiva or on the Shiva-liuṋga. The acoustic root of this Buddhist Shiva, the Jain Shiva and the Shiva of Post-Shiva Tantra was aeḿ. This aeḿ is the acoustic root of speech and hearing, the root from which all knowledge springs.

Then came the Shiva Cult and Shákta Cult of the Puranic Age. In this age also, the worship of Shiva continued. The Puranic concept of Shiva was the consolidation of the worship of the twenty-two varieties of Shiva-liuṋga, including the jyotirliuṋga, the anádiliuṋga, the ádiliuṋga, etc., plus the Shiva-liuṋga of King Vána. But the interesting thing is that the Shiva of this Puranic Age was quite different from the Shiva of Jain, Buddhist, or Post-Shiva Tantra. Consequently the acoustic root of Shiva also changed from aeḿ to haoḿ. The acoustic root of the Puranic Shiva became Haoḿ Shiváya namah.

The concept of a deity must change if there is a change in its acoustic root. So Sadáshiva, the very shelter of human life for seven thousand years, and this Shiva of the Jain, Buddhist or Post-Shiva Tantra, are not the same person.

There is another interesting thing which people generally ignore. You will notice that when Buddhism was gradually transformed into Puranic Shaivism, that transitional period was the age of the Nátha Cult. The word nátha [lord] used to be appended to the names of the prophets of the Nátha Cult, for instance Ádinátha, Miinanátha, Matsyendra-nátha (who invented Matsyendrásana), Gorakśanátha, Gohiniinátha, and Caoraungiinátha (after whom Chowringee street in Calcutta has been named). These were the spiritual teachers of the Nátha Cult.

This Nátha Cult was the result of the synthesis between Buddhist Tantra and the Puranic Shiva Cult. All the masters of the Nátha Cult were considered as avatáras [incarnations] of Shiva; that is, after the death of these masters, people made idols of them and worshipped them in the temples as incarnations of Shiva. Thus just as the word nátha was appended to the names of the masters, it was also appended to the names of Shiva when He was worshipped – for instance, Tárakanátha, Vaedyanátha, Vishvanátha, etc.

These deities were the objects of worship for the followers of the Nátha Cult; they had nothing to do with the Sadáshiva of seven thousand years ago. There was a vast time gap of about 5500 years between the two. Although in the Shiva Cult and the Shákta Cult of the Puranic Age people continued the worship of Shiva-liuṋga, they used to append the word iishvara [controller or lord] to the names of Shiva just to differentiate their Shiva from the Shiva of the Nátha Cult. For instance, Tárakeshvara, Vishveshvara, Rámeshvara, etc. Sometimes they used to name Shiva with the addition of both nátha, in the manner of the Nátha Cult followers, and iishvara, in the manner of the Puranic Shiva Cult. For instance, they would say either, or both, Tárakanátha or Tarákeshvara, Vishvanátha or Vishveshvara. (But the Vaedyanátha of Deoghar cannot be called Vaedyeshvara.)

From this one can easily distinguish which Shiva was worshipped by which cult – which was worshipped by the Nátha Cult followers, and which by the Puranic Shiva Cult followers.

Saoráśt́re Somanathaiṋca,
Shriishaela Mallikárjunám;
Ujjayinyáḿ Mahákálaḿ,
Oṋḿkáramamaleshvaram.

[Shiva of Saurashtra is called Somanátha; in Shriishaela He is Mallikárjunam; in Ujjayinyá He is Mahákálaḿ, and in Oṋḿkárnáth He is Amaleshvaram.]

Again it is said:

Váráńasyáḿ Vishvanáthah,
Setubandhe Rámeshvarah;
Jháŕakhańd́e Vaedyanáthah,
Ráŕhe ca Tárakeshvarah.

[He is known as Vishvanátha in Varanasi, as Rámeshvara in Setubandha, as Vaedyanátha in Jharakhańd́a, and as Tárakeshvara in Ráŕh.]

This is how Shiva is variously worshipped by the followers of different cults. In some places He is addressed as nátha by the followers of the Nátha Cult, in other places as iishvara by the followers of the Puranic Shiva Cult. The acoustic root for Shiva in all these cases is haoḿ, and as there has been a change in the acoustic root, this Shiva is not the Shiva of seven thousand years ago.

Footnotes

(1) Editors’ note: That is, that Shiva was the one fundamental substance of the universe which was transmuted into the various forms of creation.

(2) Editors’ note: That is, the followers of Jainism did not use clothes. (Amvara means “clothes”, and dik means “direction”, so digamvara means that people will remain uncovered, just as the natural directions do.)

(3) Editors’ note: “Shaeva Dharma” can be a general term for the system which Shiva gave, or can refer especially to the philosophical side of the system. “Shaeva Tantra” refers primarily to the applied side of the system.

(4) Editors’ note: See Shrii Shrii Ánandamúrti, Namah Shiváya Shántáya, Discourse 20.

(5) Editors’ note: Also spelled oṋm.

(6) Editors’ note: That is, the fifty sounds of the Sanskrit alphabet, beginning with the first vowel a and ending with the last consonant kśa.

(7) Editors’ note: The partial entities are not conceived as becoming unified in one Infinite Entity.

Chapter 22	Discourses on Tantra Volume One [a compilation]

From the study of history, it is known that the Rgveda was composed outside India, mainly in Central Asia and Russia. The Yajurveda was written mostly outside India; only a portion was written in India. And the Atharvaveda was composed in Afghanistan and India. Those three Vedas – Rk, Yaju and Atharva – long afterwards, say about 3500 years ago – were edited and divided into different branches by Maharśi Krśńadvaepáyana Vyása. The oldest compositions were named Rgveda, the intermediate portions were called Yajurveda, and the remaining portions were named Atharvaveda. The last-named Veda was named after the great sage, Atharva, the first author of this Veda. And by compiling the musical compositions of the three Vedas, yet another Veda - the Sámaveda, the fourth Veda – was created. Sáma in Sanskrit means “musical composition”. The Sámaveda itself is not a Veda.

Sadáshiva was born at a time when the age of the Rgveda was coming to an end and the Yajurvedic Age was about to begin. The people had not yet invented script. In the days of Shiva, the serious disadvantage was that, although the people were acquainted with the science of phonetics, that is, the intonations of the letters, they did not know how to write the letters. The Bráhmii and Kharośt́hi scripts were invented some time after Shiva. Thus we can generally say that the Vedas and Tantra exercised their mutual influence over each other, through the invention of script, only at the time of the Atharvaveda.

The external form that was given to Tantra by Shiva in His time underwent a slight transformation in subsequent periods. You may raise the question – well, when the goal is the same, when the path is also the same, then why this transformation? The only cause was: there was no written book in those days. All the compositions – both Vedas and Tantras – were handed down orally from one generation to another. As a result, there arose a difference of opinion among the teachers themselves – one teacher or muni [seer] would say one thing, and another muni would say something else.

Now although letters were invented during the age of the Atharvaveda, the Vedas could not be written down due to one obstacle – a peculiar superstition (better to call it a dogma) that the Vedas should not be written down. Maharśi Atharva’s followers – Aungirá, Aungirasa, Satyaváha, Vae-darbhi, etc., tried for the first time to get the Vedas written down in letters, but they were not courageous enough to do so because it was forbidden. (The very name of Vaedarbhi suggests that he was a resident of Vidarbha, and in India, particularly in the Vidarbha area, the Atharvaveda was partly written. Hence it is not proper to assume that the entire Veda was written outside India.) The Vedas were called shruti [ear] because they had to be mastered only by hearing: letters had not yet been invented. But once the script was invented, what could be the reason for not writing down the Vedas? The problem was the superstition, and the scholars did not dare to defy the superstition.

Now the Post-Shiva Tantra that gradually crystallized through the transformation of the original Shiva Tantra had two branches - the Gaod́iiya School and the Káshmiirii School. In East India, that is, Bengal, where the Gaod́iiya School of Tantra was popular, the Vedas had little influence. But in Kashmir, where the Káshmiira branch of Tantra was more dominant, there was the influence of both Tantra and the Vedas. During those days of ascendancy of the Káshmiira branch of Post-Shiva Tantra, the Káshmiira scholars first wrote the Vedas in contemporary Sáradá script; that is, the Vedas were written first in Sáradá script. Later came the age of Buddhism and Jainism; of course Post-Shiva Tantra was running parallel to them. Script had already been invented. The books on Jainism were mostly written in Prákrta, in a Bráhmii script which was a bit transformed; while the books on Buddhism were written in Mágadhii Prákrta, that is, in Páli, in the Bráhmii script of that time. But the Post-Shiva Tantra was written in Sanskrit; of course in Bráhmii script. So this all proves that the invention of scripts removed a great obstacle on the way. At this time there was a mutual exchange of ideas among Jain Tantra, Buddhist Tantra and Post-Shiva Tantra.

When some ideas or schools of thought exist side-by-side for a long period in a certain country, there is bound to be some sort of mutual exchange, and the result of this type of exchange cannot but be beneficial. It is often found that the result is either good or, at the worst, neither good nor bad. For instance, the Puranic concept of the deity Náráyańa and the Islamic concept of Piirabhakti combined together to give rise to a new concept of Satyapiira in Bengal. Its effect was not bad.

Similarly, those three schools of Tantra – the Jain, the Buddhist, and the Shivottara [Post-Shiva] – began to come to an understanding. All three schools broadly accepted the division of Tantra into sixty-four main branches, considering its various expressions. The only difference that persisted was the external one of differences in terminology: each school retained certain specific terms of its own. But they all generally accepted that human life had sixty-four types of expression, and hence there were sixty-four branches of Tantra. In their internal essence, they were not very far from one another; only certain terms - something external – were used differently by different Tantras. For instance, the Múlá Prajiṋá Shakti [Fundamental Cognitive Principle] was called Jinaratna or Jinaraana in Jain Tantra –

Bhańai Káhńu jina raan bi kaesá
Káleṋ bob samvohia jaesá.

– whereas in Shiva Tantra, rather in Post-Shiva Tantra, the word Shiva was used, and Buddhist Tantra used the various epithets of Buddha. Thus the sixty-four Tantras were running parallel.

For each of these sixty-four Tantras, one particular yoginii-tattva was accepted as the presiding deity (a particular controlling deity of a particular branch of Tantra was called a yoginii). All three Tantras accepted this arrangement. And all three, in order to maintain their popularity, used the name of Shiva – they declared that each Tantric deity was the wife of Shiva. Those of you who have gone to Jabbalpur might have noticed the sixty-four small temples on a hill there dedicated to these sixty-four yoginiis. They are all sixty-four Jain Tantric deities. Similarly, in Buddhist Tantra, particularly in Vajrayánii Buddhist Tantra, sixty-four deities were accepted. Shivottara Tantra followed the same practice.

Interestingly, you will notice how at this stage a silent synthesis was taking place among the different schools. Some of the Jain deities were recognized by Buddhist Tantra (for instance, the Jain deity Báráhii, with a swine’s face, was transformed into Vajrabáráhii in Vajrayánii Buddhist Tantra). Shivottara Tantra gave similar recognition to deities of other Tantras. Conversely, some of the deities of Shivottara Tantra were recognized and accepted by Jain and Buddhist Tantra.

All this proves that the synthesis of these three systems of Tantra charted a new path. This was all made possible by the invention of script. As long as script was unknown or unused, they maintained their distinct separateness; but with the popular use of script, they began to come closer to each other. For example, Ambiká is an accepted deity of Jain Tantra. But then she also became recognized by Shivottara Tantra – she was supposed to be a wife of Shiva. (But as you know, these deities cannot be the wives of Sadáshiva, who is seven thousand years old, whereas these deities are all of comparatively recent origin – about two thousand years old – arising after the invention of script.) This Ambiká Devii has been accepted in a different manner in Paoráńik Sháktácára [the Puranic Shákta Cult], as the goddess Lakśmii, but actually she is a Jain deity.

In Ráŕh,⁽¹⁾ there is a town named Kalna where there is still a temple dedicated to the goddess Ambiká. Once there was a tremendous influence of Jainism in Ráŕh. The town was named Ambiká-Kalna, after the goddess, and is now called Enbo-Kalna.

Another instance: the Buddhist goddess Tárá was accepted in Shivottara Tantra, and still later, in Paoráńik Sháktácára. And her changed form was accepted in Paoráńik Sháktácára as the goddess Sarasvatii. The goddess Kálii of Shivottara Tantra was accepted in Buddhist Tantra.

Thus there came an age of synthesis. And following this synthesis, these deities were accepted as gods and goddesses in Paoráńik Shaevácára [the Puranic Shiva Cult] and Paoráńik Sháktácára in somewhat changed form. This form underwent slightly more transformation during the middle of the Pathan Age, whose influence still lingers in a minor form.

Now in the process of synthesis among Jain, Buddhist and Shivottara Tantra, there evolved a new concept, the concept of Dashamahávidyá [Ten Mahávidyás], centring around those deities who had general influence in all three systems of Tantra. The idea of Dashamahávidyá arose out of ten Tantric deities, some from Jain Tantra, some from Buddhist Tantra and some from Shivottara Tantra. These deities, in slightly changed form, were accepted in Paoráńik Sháktácára, Vaeśńavácára, Shaevácára and Gáńa-patyácára [the Puranic Shákta Cult, the Viśńu Cult, the Shiva Cult and the Gańapati Cult]. While analysing the history of Dashamahávidyá, it is interesting to see how the concept of each deity evolved – how an idea dawned upon the human mind and gradually expanded in the path of synthesis until finally its basic defects demolished its own fundaments.

These Ten Mahávidyás are Kálii, Tárá, Śod́ashii, Bhuvaneshvarii, Bhaeravii, Chinnamastá, Dhúmávatii, Bagalámukhi, Mátaungii and Kamalá. These deities are present in all three Tantras. Sometimes their biija mantras [acoustic roots] are the same, sometimes different. For your proper understanding, let me give you a brief idea about these ten deities.

Meghavarńá vigatavasaná,
Shavashivárúd́há shyámá trinayaná;
Narashirakhad́garvarábhayashobhaná,
Caturbhujá Kálii Kálikárúpinii.
Garvitádánavagarvakharvákrti khad́ga
Kharpará Niila Sarasvatii;
Sarvasaobhágyapradáyinii kartrii,
Namaste Tárárúpá tárińii,
Bálá ruńásamá-ujjvalá-ungabhá,
Caturbhujá trinayaná;
Tribhuvanamanolobha pásháḿkush-sharacápa-
Dhárińii Shivá, Śod́ashii rúpá Shiva bhávinii.
Hásyamukharitá nishákaravanditá,
Tribhuvana mauṋgala bhuvaneshvarii máta;
Raktotpaladhará kot́ibhánuninditá,
Bhaeravii varábhaya dáyinii.
Vivarńa vidhavá malinámbaradhará
Kákadhvajá Dhúmavatii shúrpakará;
Bagalámukhii piitavarańá piitámbará
Mudgara ari jihvá dhárińii.
Nijashirachinditá rudhirapánaratá
Digvásá ratiratá jano parisaḿsthitá;
Chinnamastá mátá d́akiniisamanvitá
Prabalapátakiikula ghátinii.
Manimayásane shyámakalevará,
Mátaungiirúpadhará sudháḿshu shekhará;
Káiṋcanakántisudiiptá manohará
Kamalá harahrdivásinii.

The first of these deities is Káliká. She is one of the controlling deities of Shivottara Tantra, but simultaneously she was accepted in Buddhist Vajrayána. I have said a number of times that Shiva was the most influential personality. Therefore an attempt was made to establish some kind of relationship with Him: it was announced that Káliká was Shiva’s spouse. But one should remember that Shiva was born five thousand years before the age of Káliká; so how could Káliká be His wife? Secondly, Káliká – this controlling deity – is depicted as having four hands. No human structure can have four hands. So Káliká Shakti – Kálii – this deity – is not Shiva’s wife. She is a Tantric deity belonging to subsequent ages.

The second deity is Tárá. Tárá is one of the Tantric deities of Vajrayána Tantra. I have said previously that the Tárá that was worshipped in India was known as Ugratárá, while the deity that was worshipped in China was called Bhrámarii Tárá – “black as a bumblebee” – and the one who was worshipped in Tibet (Kiḿpuruśavarśa, as it was known previously) was blue-coloured. So this Tárá was later than Buddha, and later yet than Shiva; hence Tárá cannot be accepted as the wife of Shiva either.

There is not even any similarity in name. Shiva did have one wife whose name was Kálii, so she has at least the similarity in name with Kálii, the deity of Post-Shiva Tantra. But this was not the case with Tárá. Tárá is purely a deity of the Buddhist Vajrayána Tantra. But she is accepted as a deity in Post-Shiva Tantra and the Puranic Shákta Cult.

Even today, you will come across boys with names such as Tárápada, Táráprasáda, etc., and girls with such names as Tárádevii. This is the history behind these names.

Tárá has no relation to Shiva. People wrongly believe that she is the wife of Shiva. I shall say something more about Tárá later, when I discuss Sarasvatii.

Then comes Śod́ashii, the third deity. In this connection, let us say something about biija mantra [acoustic roots]. At the time of Shiva, there was no use of biija mantra in Shiva Tantra. The people loved Shiva so intimately that they did not think it necessary to worship Him with a particular biija mantra. In subsequent periods the use of biija mantra became an accepted practice. In Buddhist Tantra, the acoustic root of Kálii was raḿ: this was also the acoustic root of energy. This biija mantra signifies the application of energy in action. But in Post-Shiva Tantra the biija mantra for the same purpose was changed into riiḿ. (Ra, the acoustic root of energy, plus ii suffix, indicating feminine gender, equals riiḿ.) This denotes that energy is a female entity. And in still later days, when this deity Kálii was accepted in the Puranic Shákta Cult (the present custom of the worship of the goddess Kálii is derived from the Puranic Shákta Cult), the biija mantra (riiḿ) was further changed into klrḿ: Klrḿ Káli-káyae namah.

Generally in the Post-Buddha days, during the period of the Puranic Shákta Cult, all the Buddhist, Jain and Post-Shiva Tantric deities were declared to be the wives of Shiva, otherwise the society would not recognize and worship them. But they have different biija mantras. In the Puranic Age, the commonly accepted practice was that the controlling deities derived from Post-Shiva Tantra were designated as “Dakśińá Shakti”, and those derived from Vajráyána Buddhism were designated as “Vámá Shakti”.

For instance, Káliká: she was known as “Vámá Kálii” when worshipped in Buddhist Tantra. When an image was made of her, she would be painted jet-black; her left leg would be placed forward, her right leg behind; and there would be red patches on her left leg. This deity, Vámá Kálii, was not worshipped inside houses or in villages; she was worshipped in the cremation grounds outside the villages. These days, these deities are called by various names: for instance, Vámá Kálii, Shmashána Kálii, Rakśá Kálii and Rat́antii Kálii. These are all deities of the Buddhist Tantra Cult, subsequently declared to be “Vámá Shakti”; and the goddesses of Post-Shiva Tantra who are now accepted in the Puranic Cult are called “Dakśińá Shakti”.

But the images of Dakśińá Shakti are painted black or blue, or light green, and the right leg is placed in front. They are worshipped mainly at home, or inside the villages. The idea is: we may accept the deities of Buddhist Tantra, but not as family deities or village deities. Some sort of distance must be maintained. But in the case of the Dakśińá Shaktis, there is no such distance.

Though both types of deity, dakśińá and vámá, were declared to be the wives of Shiva, historically speaking, they had no relationship with Shiva, because all these deities originated at least five thousand years later than Shiva. Not only that, no human structure can have four hands. They have been selected out of the sixty-four schools of Tantra. Basically, they are not human structures.

An old Bengali poem says,

Ek so padumá caośatti pákhuŕi
Te madheye nácanti d́omnii bápuŕi.

This is very old Bengali. It means, “There is one lotus flower having sixty-four petals, and in the centre of the petals is dancing Naerátma Devii.” In Buddhist Tantra, Prakrti [the Supreme Operative Principle], who is active in all the manifestations and emanations of this universe, is called Naerátma Devii.

Let us come to Śod́ashii of these ten Mahávidyás. Śod́ashii is also called “Shivá” – that is, “the wife of Shiva, one whose object of meditation is Shiva”. Śod́ashii, who was originally a deity of Buddhist Vajrayána Tantra, was accepted subsequently in Post-Shiva Tantra with a new name, Rájarájeshvarii. Later, in the Puranic Shákta Cult, this deity Rájarájeshvarii was accepted and worshipped, though she was not very popular among the masses. More recently, towards the end of the Mughal period and the beginning of the British period, Krśńa Candra, the king of Nadia, introduced the worship of Rájarájeshvarii, in a slightly changed form and with a new name – Jagaddhátrii. Thus Jagaddhátrii is essentially a Buddhist Tantric deity transformed from Śod́ashii.

You should note carefully that the worship of Jagaddhátrii was especially popular in Krishnanagar. It is comparatively recent in origin, as it started in the early part of British history. Just as Śod́ashii in Buddhist Tantra was conceived to be the wife of Shiva, Rájarájeshvarii and Jagaddhátrii were also declared to be Shiva’s wives. But how can they be the wives of Shiva, who lived seven thousand years ago?

It may be a bit irrelevant to mention here, but the fact is that the worship of Jagaddhátrii is carried out in both Krishnanagar and Chandannagar with great pomp and pageantry. An inhabitant of Chandannagar – possibly his name was Gauṋgá Govinda Bandyopádhyáya – was the Dewan, the Prime Minister, of Nadia. Following the example of Krishnanagar he introduced the worship of Jagaddhátrii in Chandannagar also. In art, grandeur, pomp and pageantry, Chandannagar lags behind Krishnanagar. But Chandannagar can claim supremacy in one special area: there the Jagaddhátrii idols are of gigantic size.

Anyway, these deities, which originated in the days of medieval Jain Tantra, Buddhist Tantra and Post-Shiva Tantra, were not the wives of Shiva. Some had four hands, some had eight hands, etc., so they were not representations of human beings.

Footnotes

(1) Editors’ note: The territory, mostly in Bengal, from the west bank of the Bhagirathi River to the Parasnath Hills.

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The idea that Brahma comprises both Shiva and Shakti was consummated five thousand years after Shiva’s advent. This is the idea of Ardha-Náriishvara Shiva. It was imagined that Shiva was one: His right side was like that of Shiva, and His left side was like that of Shakti, or Gaorii. One side was plain white, the other side was fair-complexioned; one side was covered with a tiger skin, the other with linen cloth; on one side there was a hooded snake, on the other, the matted locks of Gaorii’s hair. This idea of Ardha-Náriishvara Shiva [Shiva Half Man and Half Woman] represents the inner spirit of Shiva Shaktyátmakaḿ Brahma. True, Ánanda Sútram⁽¹⁾ was not composed then, but the idea was there deep in people’s minds. This Ardha-Náriishvara Shiva was not known in the days of Shiva Tantra, but was very much present in the days of Post-Shiva Tantra. Later on it was accepted in the Puranic Shiva Cult, but subsequently this idea disappeared from people’s minds.

I saw the figure of Ardha-Náriishvara Shiva in one of the 108 temples on the Burdwan-Guskara Road to the west of Burdwan town. This Ardha-Náriishvara Shiva is a personification of a philosophical idea: that Shiva and Shakti [the Supreme Cognitive Faculty and Supreme Operative Principle] – knowledge and energy - work in harmony. Energy is a blind force. A little child may die of electrocution, because electricity is merely a form of energy devoid of consciousness; being a blind force, it never stops to think that it is killing an innocent child. Thus there should be proper coordination between energy and cognition. This energy, unless guided and controlled by consciousness, may indulge in destructive activities. Thus all the actional expressions of Prakrti [the Operative Principle] are performed only on the vast body of Supreme Consciousness. If Shakti takes one step away from the body of Shiva, it may be harmful. So Ardha-Náriishvara Shiva is a symbolic form of this creation by Shiva and Shakti. Shiva is only working as a witnessing entity and controlling the movements of Shakti with His characteristic firmness, simplicity, and love for creation.

Kii e nirúpama shobhá manorama
Hara Gaorii ek shariire
Shveta piita káy ráuṋá dut́i páy
Bhábt́i bhábiyá mari re
Ádha bághachála aunge viráje ádha pat́ámbara mohana sáje
Ádha phańii phańá dhari re.

[What exquisite beauty have Shiva and Párvatii manifested in one body:
One is white, the other is yellow;
When I think of the qualities of those two lotus feet, I am beside myself with joy.
One side of the body is wearing a tiger-skin, the other is covered with fine silk cloth,
And half the head is adorned with a serpent.]

Footnotes

(1) Editors’ note: Shrii Shrii Ánandamúrti, Ánanda Sútram, 1962.

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In those days of matrilineal order, people introduced the system of mother worship, and from that emerged the custom of cańd́ii pújá, the worship of cańd́iká shakti, the power of the group-mother. In those days the leader of a clan would invariably be a woman, a clan-mother.

Yá devii sarvabhúteśu Matrrúpeńa saḿsthitá
Namastasyae namastasyae namastasyae namo namah.
Yá devii sarvabhúteśu Shaktirúpeńa saḿsthitá
Namastasyae namastasyae namastasyae namo namah.

[I offer my deepest salutations to that goddess who is in all created beings in the form of the Universal Mother. I offer my deepest salutations to the goddess who is immanent in all created beings in the form of the Supreme Force.]

Thus the people, being inspired by this idea, developed the system of mother worship in early stages of the Puranic Shákta Cult, in the last phase of Post-Shiva Tantra. Alongside this developed the custom of kumárii pújá [virgin worship], just to please the future clan-mothers. So the custom of cańd́ii pújá gave rise to the custom of virgin worship. One who is a maiden today will be a clan-mother in due course; so it was wise to please these clan-mothers-to-be by offering them something.

Thus we see that cańd́ii pújá or kumárii pújá was essentially a social affair, but in Post-Shiva Tantra and in the first phase of the Puranic Shákta Cult, a religious tinge was added to it. This is how the worship of virgins originated. Now this system has almost disappeared.

The situation changed a great deal in subsequent periods. The matrilineal order was stopped, and the supremacy of gotramátá came to an end. Then came the age of the patriarchal system, and along with it the leadership of the clan vested in the gotrapitá.

The same tradition perpetuated itself even in the patriarchal system; that is, the head of the clan had to be kept in good humour with gifts and offerings. He enjoyed unlimited power, as the clan-mother did in the heyday of the matrilineal order.

Cańd́iká shakti is the cańd́a shakti, the great power exercised by the clan-mother. This cańd́ii shakti or cańd́a shakti reached its climax during the days of Post-Shiva Tantra and the Puranic Shákta Cult. We shall say more about Puranic Shákta later. So you understand how the concept of cańd́ii originated.⁽¹⁾

Gańeśa was the group-leader of prehistoric days. Some time after Post-Shiva Tantra, in the Puranic Age, a special cult, the Gańapati Cult, arose centring around Gańapati. You should remember that some five cults arose following the Puranic doctrine that had its origin some 1300 or 1400 years back: Shaevácára, Sháktácára, Vaeśńavácára, Gáńapatyácara and Saorácára.

Let us throw some light on Shaevácára [the Shiva Cult]. The main goal of human beings is Shivasamádhi [final enlightenment]. Human beings should direct all their outer expressions of life towards the inner world, and finally merge in Paramátmá. This is the sum and substance of the Shiva Cult.

Yacched váunmanasi prájiṋastad
Yacched jiṋánamátmani;
Jiṋánamátmani mahati niyacched
Tad yacchecchántátmani.

This shántátmá [referred to in tad yacchecchántátmani of the shloka] means Shivátmá [Supreme Entity]; one who merges in the Supreme Entity attains Shivasamádhi, which is the goal of every spiritual aspirant.

Next is Sháktácára [the Shakti Cult]. According to Sháktácára, the static principle contained in támasikii shakti has to be merged in Bhavánii Shakti, or Káliká Shakti (the acoustic root for Káliká Shakti is saḿ). And then the mutative principle has to be withdrawn from Káliká Shakti and merged in Bhaeravii Shakti (the acoustic root of Bhaeravii Shakti is shaḿ).

Bhaeravii Shakti means energy in action. All people want to come into contact with the mutative force. The acoustic root of energy is raḿ and that for the mutative principle is shaḿ. People want energy supported by the mutative force so that they might enjoy name and fame. So they crave for sha + ra = shra (in the feminine gender, shrii, beauty.) Thus there was a custom in olden days for people to prefix their names with the word shrii. The old custom has fallen into some disuse: shrii is used less nowadays. But I hope that these days people will not become vishrii [ugly]!

Then the sentient forces [or principles] have to be withdrawn from Bhaeravii Shakti, and merged in Kaośikii Shakti, or Mahásarasvatii, the spiritual effulgence.

These are the successive phases of the Puranic Shákta Cult. This cult begins with Káliká Shakti, but Káliká is not Kálii, the wife of Shiva, nor the Káliká Shakti of Buddhist Tantra or Post-Shiva Tantra, nor Káliká the Puranic goddess. Rather, this Káliká is a philosophical term, the inner spirit of a system of sádhaná.

Next is Vaeśńavácára [the Viśńu Cult].

Vistárah sarvabhútasya Viśńorvishvamidaḿ jagat;
Draśt́avyamátmavattasmádabhedena vicakśańaeh.⁽²⁾

Viśńu pervades each and every thing of this universe, and because He is all-pervading, He is called “Viśńu”. And the inner spirit of Vaeśńavácára is to realize this all-pervading Viśńu.

Viśńuparistitah Viśńuh Viśńuh khádati Viśńave;
Kathaḿ hasasi re Viśńuh sarvaḿ Viśńumayaḿ jagat.

A devout Vaishnavite is seeing Viśńu in everything. Then he sits down to eat rice from a plate. He has a dog on his lap who partakes of food from the same plate. Another scholar who happens to discover that the Vaishnavite gentleman and his dog are eating from the same plate bursts into laughter. He asks how a devout Vaishnavite can eat food from the same plate as a dog. The Vaishnavite replies, “Viśńu in the form of a dog is sitting on the lap of a man, another manifestation of the same Viśńu. Viśńu the man and Viśńu the dog are eating rice, another manifestation of Viśńu. And why are you, another manifestation of Viśńu, laughing? Everything in this universe is Viśńu.” This is the Puranic Viśńu Cult.

The fourth is Gánápatyácára [the Gańeśa or Gańapati Cult]. When the ancient custom of group leadership – gańa-pativáda, vináyakaváda or gańeśaváda – became converted into a cult during the Puranic Age, the idea was adopted that the group-leader was the leader of the universe. “The Supreme Entity is the leader of our group. We will try to satisfy Parama Puruśa.” With this sort of outlook, the Gánápatya Cult evolved during the Puranic Age. They are worshippers of gańapati, the group-leader. This is the Gáńapatya Cult.

Last is the Saora [Sun] Cult. This cult was propagated by the Brahmans who came from Shákadviipa. Shákadviipa was the southern part of Russia, with its capital at Tashkent. The original Greek name of this area was Sacdonia. These Brahmans who migrated to India from Sacdonia did not recognize the Vedas or anything else; they were astrologers and teachers of áyurveda. Since they cultivated the science of astrology and astronomy, they used to worship the sun-god, Súrya. The word saora is derived from súrya plus the suffix śńa, giving the sense of “offspring”; saora means “one who is the worshipper of the sun-god”. When it developed into a full-fledged cult, the idea behind it was that the sun-god, who was the creator of this world, was also the creator of the solar system; that is, all the planets – earth, Mars, Mercury, etc. – have come from the sun. The sun is their father. Similarly, the father of this universe is the sun-like Parama Puruśa; so the sun is worshipped as the Supreme Progenitor of this universe. This is the inner essence of the Súrya Cult, which was spread by the Sacdonian Brahmans. But it was not well accepted anywhere in India; it was only accepted to a moderate extent in some places.

These were the five main cults of the Puranic Age. None of them became widely established. Some enjoyed a limited popularity, while some barely existed at all. Some have a philosophical basis, while others do not.

Footnotes

(1) Editors’ note: Some pages on other topics omitted here.

(2) Viśńupuráńa –Trans.

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Bengal is situated on the boundary line between Jambudviipa and Suvarńadviipa [ancient names of India and Burma]. The civilization that grew along the banks of the Mayurákśii, Ajaya and Damodara, later blended with the civilization which developed in the areas of Paond́ravardhana Bhukti (North Bengal), Samatat́ [mid-Bengal], and D́abák [mostly now in Bangladesh]. A new civilization was born in Bengal – a blending of the Ráŕh civilization of Gondwana⁽¹⁾ and the Gangetic civilization. That is why the people of Bengal are not exactly the same as those of northern India. The modes of worship and the priesthood system are different from those of northern India. Bengali script and intonation are also different, as is the physical appearance of the Bengalees. From their facial lineaments, one can conclude that these people are of the Bengalee stock. These are the especial characteristics of a blended civilization.

Not only that, even the type of thought varies between the different communities. The blending of the dark-complexioned people of Ráŕh with the fair-complexioned Aryans led to the formation of the Bengalee race. But this is not the end of the story. The River Brahmaputra flowed from the interior of Tibet, where its name was Sang Po (Son of a God), into India. In other words, it came from within a Mongolian⁽²⁾ country. The people of Tibet are Mongolian of the Indo-Tibetan group. The Mongolians are divided into a few branches, one of them being the Indo-Tibetan group. The Brahmaputra, or Sang Po, River carries that Mongolian civilization and not the Gangetic civilization. That Mongolian civilization was criticized by the Aryans in the Karma Puráńa:

Sarve máḿsaratáh múŕháh mleccháh gobrahmaghátakáh,
Kuvacakáh pare múŕháh ete kút́ayonayáh,
Teśáḿ paeshácikii bháśá lokácáro na vidyate.

“They do not protect cows and Brahmans. They eat fish and meat. When they eat fish, what sort of Aryans are they? By these acts of theirs they have degraded themselves even more. Their style of pronunciation is full of defects.”⁽³⁾

The Mongolian civilization that flourished in the Brahmaputra Valley blended with the Ráŕhii civilization and the Gangetic civilization, resulting in a new blended civilization, the Gaoŕiiya or Bengal civilization. Tantra had its origin in such a blended civilization. The Ganges and the Brahmaputra meet at Goyalanda in Bengal [Bangladesh]. Thus we see that the Bengal civilization is a mixed civilization, a blending of the Gondwana civilization of Ráŕh, the Gangetic civilization of northern India, and the Mongolian civilization of Tibet and China [whose access was via the Brahmaputra Valley]. That is why it is said that this Bengal civilization flourished in the border areas between Jambudviipa and Suvarńadviipa.

In the Bengalee race the blood of these different civilizations is mixed. Because of the blending of Australoid and Dravidoid blood, the people of Bankura, Midnapore and Purulia are mostly dark-complexioned. A certain amount of Mongolian blood is also present. The Bengalee farmers, the Rájvaḿshiis and Chákmás, have come from the Brahmaputra Valley. They are flat-nosed. As a result of the permutation and combination of these various small groups, the various castes and sub-castes of West Bengal emerged – the Brahmans, the Kayasthas, the Vaedyas, and a host of sub-castes. But the source of all these castes and sub-castes is one and the same – the blended culture of the Ráŕh, Gangetic and Brahmaputra valleys. If we take Bengal as a distinct land, it has a speciality of its own. This is due to the influence of the river valleys.

Footnotes

(1) Gondwana was an ancient continent, now (due to geophysical changes) no longer intact. –Eds.

(2) Since in ancient times Mongolia was an empire, and symbolized all of north and northeast Asia, “Mongolian” here means the Oriental, or yellow, race. –Eds.

(3) Paragraph on medieval categorization of cultures omitted here. –Eds.

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The social system of Bengal was basically Tantric, for the Vedic influence was minimal. In the higher realms of spiritual practice, the influence of Tantra was enormous; only in the middle and lower strata of spiritual practice was there some slight Vedic influence. In the local customs and social systems, and in some ceremonies conducted by women, the influence of Tantra was quite evident. Even today the avidhavás [married, unwidowed women] of the family play a prominent role in various social observances. The [modern Bengali] word eyo⁽¹⁾ developed from this word avidhavá through a process of linguistic distortion.

In the various rituals of worship, banana, betel leaves and betel-nuts were widely used. This is not in accordance with the Vedic system. The word kadalii is not used in the Vedas; but in non-classical Sanskrit, a banana is called rambhá and a plantain is called kadalii. In non-classical Sanskrit betel-nut is called guváka or pungiphalam. With changes in the temporal and spatial factors, various other things as well have undergone change. Bengalees are Austrico-Negro-Dravidian; thus they were fond of chewing betel leaves like the Dravids, and they used to keep a container with them for this purpose. Young people used to carry a betel-nut cracker at the time of their wedding. Bengalee women used to work in the fields and farms all day long, and after the day’s work was over they would wash their hands and face and, with a daub from their collyrium casket, would make a black mark on their foreheads. The women of Bengal were quite fond of cosmetics, so they used to tuck this collyrium casket into their hair-buns. They still do this at the time of their marriage ceremony.

The ancient society of Bengal was basically Tantric. Both the young men and the young women would use the surnames of their fathers before and after marriage [i.e., the young women would not give up their surnames]. The young women would use their father’s surname, suffixed by the word duhitá [daughter], even after marriage. Women, though belonging to a new gotra [clan] after marriage, were entitled to observe the funeral rites of their departed parents. They would observe ashaoca [mourning] for three days and three nights after their father’s or mother’s death, and on the fourth day would perform the shráddha ceremony [in commemoration of the departed]. In the rest of India, the rule was that the women after marriage would lose their parental gotra and as such would not be entitled to observe the shráddha ceremony of their departed parents. In the rest of India, women’s right to make pińd́a [offerings] to their ancestors is not recognized, but in Bengal it is recognized. In ancient days, the social life of Bengal was based on Tantra as introduced by Shiva.

Footnotes

(1) Editors’ note: With the same meaning, a married and unwidowed woman.

Chapter 24	Discourses on Tantra Volume One [a compilation]

There are certain deities which are recognized in more than one school of Tantra. Some of them are recognized by both Buddhist Tantra and Jain Tantra, some by both Buddhist and Shaeva Tantra [Shiva Tantra], some by both Jain Tantra and Árśa [Hindu] Tantra. The number of such deities is not negligible. Originally the deity Káliká of Shákta Tantra [Shakti Tantra] was recognized by Buddhist Tantra. There is a place called Kalka near the hill town of Simla. The place has been named after the deity Káliká. There is a particular place named Kálkájii in Delhi. That area has been named after the goddess Káliká, who has a temple there. Tárá is primarily a Buddhist deity, but in Shákta Tantra also Tárá is a recognized deity.

In the Buddhist period there were four variations of the Tárá deity: (1) Bhrámarii Tárá, whose complexion was like that of a black bee; (2) Niila Sarasvatii, who was blue-complexioned; (3) Vajratárá, worshipped by the Vajrayánii Buddhists;⁽¹⁾ (4) Ugratárá, a terrible blood-thirsty deity. In those days Bhrámarii Tárá was worshipped in China, a Maháyánii Buddhist country. Niila Sarasvatii was worshipped in Tibet. Ugratárá was worshipped in eastern India, particularly in Gaod́adesh [approximately equivalent to Bengal]. When Vajrayána was popular in eastern India, the deity Vajratárá was worshipped. Each and every Tárá deity has been recognized as a deity by Shákta Tantra as well as Puranic Tantra. It is claimed that all of them are Shiva’s consorts. The Niila Sarasvatii of Tibet was later changed into the all-white Puranic deity Sarasvatii.

Another deity of the Vajrayána school is Vajrabáráhii. This deity was widely popular in the Bhulua (or Noakhali) District of Bangladesh. Even today effigies of the old Vajrabáráhi deity are sometimes recovered from the earth or from the artificial ponds of that region.

The Śod́ashii deity of Shákta Tantra has in some places been changed into the Rájarájeshvarii Devii of Puranic Tantra, in other places into Jagaddhátrii. But in certain fundamental ways all three deities Śod́ashii, Jagaddhátrii and Rájarájeshvarii are one. For instance, each of them has four hands; from the face of each deity a reddish glow is exuded; all the deities are three-eyed; then again all three have ropes, goads, bows and arrows. Here Buddhist Tantra, Shákta Tantra and Puranic [Hindu] Tantra are existing side-by-side, sometimes intermixed.

Bála ruńásamá-ujjvalá-ungábhá,
Caturbhujá trinayaná;
Tribhuvanamanolobhá pásháḿkush-sháracápa-
Dhárińii Shivá Śod́ashii rúpá Shiva bhávinii.

The complexion of Niila Sarasvatii is blue. Developing a golden colour, she became Prajiṋá Páramitá, and then becoming all white, she turned into the Puranic goddess Sarasvatii. The deity which originally had the peacock as its mount became the deity with the swan as its mount. When Maháyánii Sanskrit became transformed into laokik [comparatively recent] Sanskrit, Sarasvatii’s dhyána mantra was also changed.⁽²⁾

There is a Puranic deity called Kuvera who is still worshipped in Jain Tantra and Puranic Tantra. From kuv plus erak comes the word kuvera, meaning “one possessed of enormous wealth”.

Footnotes

(1) Author’s note: The Dalai Lama’s old name was Daláilámá Vajradhara.

(2) Editors’ note: Dhyána mantra cataloguing the attributes of Sarasvatii omitted here.

Chapter 25	Discourses on Tantra Volume One [a compilation]

Many of you have surely witnessed the Gájana of Shiva. [The word gájana came from the Sanskrit root word gárjana. Gárjana means “shouting” or “roaring”.] The Gárjana, Caŕaka and Bolán festivals of Ráŕh are very ancient. Shiva’s influence in Bengal and India even today is immense, although Shiva left his mortal frame long, long ago. Shiva is gone, no doubt, but his effulgent personality continues to influence people’s minds even today. Caŕaka, Gárjana and Bolán are a few of the vestiges of Shaeva Tantra [Shiva Tantra] which are still to be found in Bengali society. The greatest influence of Shaeva Tantra is found in Kuŕmun Village in Burdwan District, centring around the temple of Iisháneshvara. In certain areas of Meghálaya the influence of Shaeva Tantra can still be easily traced. About two hundred years ago there was widespread influence of Shaeva Tantra in the Hájauṋga community of northern Maymansingh District. This Shaeva Tantra permeated every bit of the Bengali mind. A clear proof of this all-pervasive influence is that even today in all the Shiva-oriented festivals in Ráŕh, only the line of native Bengalees participate. The so-called high-caste Bengalees, particularly the Brahmans, Káyasthas and Vaedyas, keep their distance from these festivals.⁽¹⁾ When asked the reason for their aloofness, they say, “We are not supposed to participate in these people’s festivals.” If they are still pressed as to why, they flounder for a satisfactory reply. The reason is that the so-called high-caste people have tried to mould the Shaeva religion which was inseparably rooted in the Bengal soil into the shape of the Vedic religion. But they could not altogether obliterate the influence of Shiva.

Since the days of the Yajurveda, the Aryans as well as non-Aryans have accepted and recognized Shiva. In the Vedas the word “Shiva” has been used in many places. Shiva could not be downgraded or underrated in any way by anyone.

Footnotes

(1) Editor’s note: The family lines of some members of these castes originated in northern India. But though many of the Brahman, Káyastha and Vaedya families (perhaps the great majority) are in fact indigenous, some of them affect to have originated outside in order to give themselves a false distinction.

	Discourses on Tantra Volume One [a compilation]

ÁCÁRYA or ÁCÁRYÁ. Spiritual teacher.
ANÁHATA. See CAKRA.
ÁNANDA. Divine bliss.
ANANDA MARGA. Path of divine bliss; Ánanda Márga Pracáraka Saḿgha (Ananda Marga organization).
ANUCCHÚNYÁ. Unmanifested.
APARÁVIDYÁ. Knowledge of the mundane.
ÁSANA SHUDDHI. Meditation process to withdraw the mind from body awareness and concentrate it at one point.
ÁSANAS. Postures for curing physical problems, especially those that interfere with SÁDHANÁ.
AVADHÚTA or AVADHÚTIKÁ. Literally, “one who is thoroughly cleansed mentally and spiritually”; a monk or nun of an order close to the tradition of SHAEVA TANTRA.
AVATÁRA. Incarnation.
AVIDYÁMÁYÁ. Extroversial force; aspect of the Cosmic Operative Principle which guides movements from the subtle to the crude. See also VIDYÁMÁYÁ.

BHAJANA. Spiritual song.
BHAKTI. Devotion.
BHAKTI YOGA. Devotional form of spiritual practice.
BHAVA. The expressed universe.
BHÁVA. Idea, ideation, mental flow.
BIIJA MANTRA. Acoustic root; particular sound vibration from which a particular type of action stems.
BRAHMA. Supreme Entity comprising both PURUŚA, or SHIVA, and PRAKRTI, or SHAKTI.
BRAHMA CAKRA. The Cosmic Cycle – the cycle of creation out of Consciousness, and dissolution back into Consciousness, through SAIṊCARA and PRATISAIṊCARA.
BRÁHMAŃA (BRAHMAN). The uppermost social group in India, who traditionally perform priestly functions or live by intellectual labour.
BRAHMATVA. Brahma-hood, supreme stance.
BRAHMAVÁDA. Philosophical system of which Brahma is the essence.

CAKRA. Cycle or circle; psychic-energy or psycho-spiritual centre; psychic-nerve plexus. The psycho-spiritual centres, or plexi, in the human body are all located within the spinal column but are associated with certain external concentration points: (1) for múládhára cakra, the base of the spine, above the perineum; (2) for svádhiśt́hána, the sex organ; (3) for mańipura, the navel; (4) for anáhata, the mid-point of the chest; (5) for vishuddha, the throat; (6) for ájiṋá, between the eyebrows; and (7) for sahasrára, the crown of the head.

DAKŚIŃÁCÁRA TANTRA. A school of Tantra that attempts to control MÁYÁ through propitiation or appeasement.
DEVA. Mythologically, a god, a deity. Philosophically, any vibration, or expression, emanating from the Cosmic Nucleus.
DEVATÁ. Mythologically, a god or goddess. Philosophically, a minor expression of a DEVA, controlled and supervised by the deva. (Deva and devatá are sometimes used interchangeably.)
DEVII. A goddess, a female deity.
DHÁRAŃÁ. Restriction of the flow of mind, conception; e.g., Tattva Dhárańá means restricting the flow of mind to, or conception of, the fundamental factors. Dhárańá is the sixth limb of aśt́áḿga (eight-limbed) yoga.
DHARMA. Spirituality; psycho-spiritual longing; ensconcement in one’s original stance; the path of righteousness in social affairs.
DHYÁNA. Meditation in which the psyche is directed toward Consciousness; seventh limb of aśt́áḿga (eight-limbed) yoga.
DHYÁNA MANTRA. A Sanskrit verse listing the attributes of a deity, to be used for visualizing that deity in meditation.
DVÁPARA YUGA. See YUGAS.

EKÁDASHII. “Eleventh” day after the new moon or full moon, days on which fasting is especially advantageous.

GUŃA. Binding factor or principle; attribute; quality. PRAKRTI, the Cosmic Operative Principle, is composed of: sattvaguńa, the sentient principle; rajoguńa, the mutative principle; and tamoguńa, the static principle.

HIRAŃMAYA KOŚA. The subtlest of the KOŚAS.

IISHVARA. The Cosmic Controller; literally, “the Controller of all controllers”.
IISHVARA PRAŃIDHÁNA. Surrender to the Cosmic Controller through meditation; a lesson of Ananda Marga meditation.
INDRIYA. One of the ten sensory and motor organs (eyes, ears, nose, tongue and skin; and hands, feet, vocal cord, genital organ and excretory organ). The eye indriya (for example) comprises the eye itself, the optical nerve, the fluid in the nerve, and the location in the brain at which the visual stimulus is transmitted to the ectoplasm or mind-stuff.

JIIVA. An individual being.
JIIVABHÁVA. Finite subjectivity, feeling of the unit state, sense of the unit identity, microcosmic bearing.
JIṊÁNA. Knowledge.
JIṊÁNA YOGA. A form of spiritual practice which emphasizes discrimination or intellectual understanding.

KALÁ. Flow with curvature, in a stage of the Cosmic Cycle dominated by the mutative principle.
KAOLA. One who is established in raising one’s own KUŃD́ALINII.
KÁPÁLIKA SÁDHANÁ. A form of spiritual practice which causes the aspirant to confront and overcome all the inherent fetters and enemies of the human mind.
KARMA. Action; sometimes, selfish action which creates SAḾSKÁRAS.
KARMA YOGA. A form of spiritual practice which emphasizes selfless action.
KIIRTANA. Collective singing of the name of the Lord, sometimes combined with a dance that expresses the spirit of surrender.
KOŚA. “Level” or “layer” of the mind (either Macrocosmic Mind or microcosmic mind) in terms of its degree of subtlety or crudeness.
KśatriyA. The second-highest social group in India, who traditionally discharge military functions.
KULA. Lowest vertebra of the spine.
KUŃD́ALINII or KULAKUŃD́ALINII. Literally, “coiled serpentine”; sleeping divinity; the force dormant in the KULA of the body, which, when awakened, rises up the spinal column to develop all one’s spiritual potentialities.

MAHÁKAOLA. A Tantric guru who can raise not only his own KUŃD́ALINII, but that of others also; in Buddhist Tantra, Mahákaola is sometimes symbolic of PARAMA PURUŚA.
MAHÁPURUŚA. A person highly evolved psychically and spiritually, especially one who has consequently developed a charisma felt by other people.
MAHÁSAMBHÚTI. When TÁRAKA BRAHMA utilizes the PAIṊCA BHÚTAS to express Himself through a body, this is known as His Mahásambhúti.
MANTRA. A sound or collection of sounds which, when meditated upon, will lead to spiritual liberation.
MANTRA CAETANYA. The awakening of a mantra; conceptual understanding of and psychic association with a mantra.
MARGI. One who follows ANANDA MARGA ideology, including the practice of Ananda Marga meditation.
MÁYÁ. Creative Principle, PRAKRTI in Her phase of creation. One aspect of Máyá is the power to cause the illusion that the finite created objects are the ultimate truth.
MOKŚA. Spiritual emancipation, non-qualified liberation.
MUDRÁ. Meaningful gesture.
MÚLÁDHÁRA. See CAKRA.
MUNI. A saintly person devoted to intellectual pursuits.

NÁDA. Flow without curvature in a stage of BRAHMA CAKRA dominated by the sentient principle.
NÁD́II. Psychic-energy channel; nerve.
NAMAH. Salutations.
NÁRÁYAŃA. The Lord of Nára (PRAKRTI), i.e., PARAMA PURUŚA.
NEOHUMANISM. A worldview characterized by love for the Supreme which overflows onto all objects created by the Supreme. Adoption of the Neo-Humanistic outlook in turn safeguards and enhances the development of one’s devotion.
NIRGUŃA BRAHMA. BRAHMA unaffected by the GUŃAS; Non-Qualified Brahma.

OṊM, OṊḾKÁRA. The sound of the first vibration of creation; the BIIJA MANTRA of the expressed universe. Oṋḿkára literally means “the sound oṋm”.
OTA YOGA. The association of PURUŚOTTAMA with each unit creation individually in PRATISAIṊCARA.

PAIṊCA BHÚTAS. Five rudimental or fundamental factors – ethereal, aerial, luminous, liquid and solid.
PARAMÁ PRAKRTI. Supreme Operative Principle.
PARAMA PURUŚA. Supreme Consciousness.
PARAMASHIVA. See PURUŚOTTAMA.
PARAMÁTMAN. Supreme Consciousness in the role of witness of His own macropsychic conation. Paramátman comprises: (1) PURUŚOTTAMA, the Macrocosmic Nucleus; (2) Puruśottama’s association with all creation in His extroversial movement (prota yoga); and (3) Puruśottama’s association with each unit creation individually (OTA YOGA) and (4) with all collectively (prota yoga) in His introversial movement.
PARÁSHAKTI. Introversive pervasive force.
PARÁVIDYÁ. Spiritual knowledge, knowledge of the Great.
PLEXUS. See CAKRA.
PRABHÁT SAḾGIITA. A body of 5018 spiritual and psycho-spiritual songs composed by P.R. Sarkar (Shrii Shrii Ánandamúrti).
PRAKRTI. Cosmic Operative Principle.
PRÁŃA. Energy; vital energy.
PRÁŃÁH. Vital energy.
PRÁŃÁYÁMA. Process of controlling vital energy by controlling the breath; fourth limb of aśt́áḿga (eight-limbed) yoga.
PRATISAIṊCARA. In the Cosmic Cycle, the step-by-step introversion and subtilization of consciousness from the state of solid matter to Nucleus Consciousness. (Prati means “counter” and saiṋcara means “movement”.)
PRATYÁHÁRA. Withdrawing the mind from absorption in the physical senses; fifth limb of aśtáḿga (eight-limbed) yoga.
PURÁŃA. Mythological story with a moral import; educative fiction.
PURASHCARAŃA. Upward movement of the KULAKUŃD́ALINII from múládhára CAKRA to sahasrára cakra, including the phases of mantrágháta and MANTRA CAETANYA.
PURUŚA. Consciousness.
PURUŚABHÁVA. Cognitive bearing; stance or aspect of Consciousness.
PURUŚOTTAMA or PARAMASHIVA. Nucleus Consciousness, the witness of SAIṊCARA and PRATISAIṊCARA.

RAJOGUŃA. See GUŃAS.
RÁŔH. The territory, mostly in Bengal, stretching from the west bank of the Bhagirathi River to the Parasnath Hills.
RŚI. Sage; one who, by inventing new things, broadens the path of progress of human society.

SADÁSHIVA. SHIVA (literally, “Eternal Shiva”).
SÁDHAKA. Spiritual practitioner.
SÁDHANÁ. Literally, “sustained effort”; spiritual practice; meditation.
SADRSHA PARIŃÁMA. Homogenesis, a sequence of similarity of curvatures in the phase of creation dominated by RAJOGUŃA.
SAGUŃA BRAHMA. BRAHMA affected by the GUŃAS; Qualified Brahma.
SAHASRÁRA. See CAKRA.
SAIṊCARA. In the Cosmic Cycle, the step-by-step extroversion and crudification of consciousness from Nucleus Consciousness to the state of solid matter.
SAMÁDHI. “Absorption” of the unit mind into the Cosmic Mind (savikalpa samádhi) or into the Átman (nirvikalpa samádhi).
SAMBHÚTI. Any manifestation of PARAMA PURUŚA, any created entity.
SAḾSKÁRA. Mental reactive momentum, potential mental reaction.
SANNYÁSII or SANNYÁSINII. A renunciant; literally, “one who has surrendered one’s everything to the Cosmic will” or “one who ensconces oneself in Sat, the unchangeable entity”.
SATTVAGUŃA. See GUŃAS.
SHABDA. Sound.
SHAEVA DHARMA. Shaivism; the theoretical or philosophical side of spirituality as taught by SHIVA.
SHAEVA TANTRA. Shiva Tantra; the applied, or practical side of spirituality as taught by SHIVA.
SHÁKTA. A follower of Sháktácára, the Shakti Cult; hence, any aspirant who embodies the characteristics of Sháktácára, especially the judicious application of power.
SHAKTI. PRAKRTI; energy; a deification of PRAKRTI.
SHAMBHÚLIUNGA. Fundamental positivity.
SHÁSTRA. Scripture.
SHIVA. A great Tantric guru of 5000 B.C. who guided society while His mind was absorbed in Consciousness; hence, Infinite Consciousness, PURUŚA.
SHIVABHÁVA. The stance, or bearing, of Infinite Consciousness.
SHIVA-LIUNGA. Originally a phallic symbol, later given philosophical significance as “the entity from which all things originate”.
SHLOKA. A Sanskrit couplet expressing one idea.
SHÚDRA. The lowermost social group in India, who traditionally live by manual labour.
SIDDHA MANTRA. A mantra “perfected” by the guru.
SIDDHI. Self-realization; spiritual attainment.
SVARÚPA PARIŃÁMA. Homomorphic evolution, a state before creation in which all the GUŃAS are in equipoise.
SVAYAMBHÚLIUNGA. Ultimate point of negativity, or crudity, in the human body.

TAMOGUŃA. See GUŃAS.
TÁŃD́AVA. A vigorous dance for male spiritual aspirants, originally formulated by SHIVA. It develops the glands in a way that enhances courage and fearlessness. When Shiva Himself does this dance (Shiva Nat́arája), the dance becomes a metaphor in which Supreme Consciousness sends vibrations throughout the universe and causes all objects of the universe in turn to radiate vibrations.
TANMÁTRA. Literally, “minutest fraction of that,” i.e., of a given rudimental factor of matter (see PAIṊCA BHÚTAS). Also translated “generic essence” or “inferential wave”. The various types of tanmátras convey the senses of hearing, touch, form (vision), taste and smell.
TANTRA. A spiritual tradition which originated in India in prehistoric times and was first systematized by SHIVA. It emphasizes the development of human vigour, both through meditation and through confrontation of difficult external situations, to overcome all fears and weaknesses. Also, a scripture expounding that tradition.
TÁRAKA BRAHMA. Supreme Consciousness in Its liberating aspect.

VÁMÁCÁRA TANTRA. A school of Tantra that attempts to overcome MÁYÁ by fight, but without any clear goal.
VÁYUS. The ten basic energy flows in the human body.
VEDA. Literally, “knowledge”; hence, a composition imparting spiritual knowledge. Also, a religious or philosophical school which originated among the Aryans and was brought by them to India. It is based on the Vedas and emphasizes the use of ritual to gain the intervention of the gods.
VIDYÁMÁYÁ. Introversial force; aspect of the Cosmic Operative Principle which guides movements from the crude to the subtle. See also AVIDYÁMÁYÁ.
VIIRÁCÁRII. A follower of Viirácára Tantra; a Tantric who adopts a particularly “heroic” ideation while seeking to confront and overcome all mental weaknesses.
VRTTI. Mental propensity.

YAJIṊA. Ritual sacrifice.
YAMA AND NIYAMA. Moral code.
YUGAS. The mythological four ages (Satya Yuga, or Golden Age, Treta Yuga, or Silver Age, Dvápara Yuga, or Copper Age, and Kali Yuga, or Iron Age), representing the step-by-step decline of morality and spirituality.