Introduction
*
"Hymns to the Goddess", by John Woodroffe (Arthur Avalon), [1913],
p. 1
Hymns To The Goddess
Introduction
Santana Brahman is called "sakala" when with "Prakti", as It is "nikala" when thought of as without "Prakti" ("prakteranya"), for "kal" is "Prakti". 1 To say, however, that akti exists in or with, the Brahman is an accommodation to human thought and speech, for the Brahman and akti are in fact one. akti is eternal ("andirp"), and "Brahmarp", and both nirgu and "sagu". 2 She, the Goddess ("Dev"), is the "caitanyarpii dev" who manifests all "bhta"; the "nandarpii dev" by whom the Brahman, who She is, manifests Itself, 3 and who, to use the words of the radtilaka, pervades the universe as does oil the sesamum seed. "Sa aikata"," of which "ruti" speaks, was itself a manifestation of akti, the "paramprvanirvaakti", or Brahman, as akti.
From the "paraaktimaya" issued "nda", and from "nda", "bindu" 4. The state of subtle body known as "kmakal" is the "mla" of "mantra", and is meant when the Dev is spoken
p. 2
of as "mlamantrtmik". 1 The "Parambindu" is represented as a circle the centre of which is the "Brahmapada", wherein are "Prakti-purua"; the circumference of which is encircling "my". It is in the crescent of "nirvakal" the seventeenth, which is again in that of "amkal" the sixteenth, digit of the moon circle ("candramaala"), situate above the sun-circle ("sryamadala"), the "Guru" and the "Hamsah" in the pericarp of the 1,000 petalled lotus ("sahasrrapadma"). The "bindu" is symbolically described as being like a grain of gram ("canaka"), which under its encircling sheath contains a divided seed--"Prakti-purua" or "akti-iva". 2
It is known as the abda Brahman. 3 A polarization then takes place in "paraaktimaya". The Dev becomes "unmukhi". Her face is turned to iva. There is an unfolding which bursts the encircling shell. 4 The "devatparaaktimaya" exists in the threefold aspect of "bindu", "bja", and "nda", the last being in relation to the two former. An indistinct sound then arises 5 ("avyakttmravobhavat"). "Nda", as Rghava Bhatta 6 says, exists in three states, for in it are the three "guas". The abda Brahman manifests Itself in the threefold energies, "Jnna", "Ichh", and "Kriy akti". 7 For, as the Vmakevara
p. 3
[paragraph continues] Tantra says, the Dev Tripur is threefold, as Brahm, Viu, and a. Paraiva exists as a septenary under the forms of ambhu, adiva, na, Rudra, Viu, and Brahm. The last five are the "Mahpreta", four of whom form the support, and the fifth the seat, of the bed on which the Dev is united with Paramaiva in the room of "cintmai" stone on the jewelled island clad with clumps of kadamba, and heavenly trees set in the ocean of ambrosia. 1
\"akti" is both "my" and "mlaprakti", whose substance is the three "guas", representing nature as the revelation of spirit ("sattva"); nature as the passage of descent from spirit to matter, or of ascent from matter to spirit ("rajas"), and nature as the dense veil of spirit ("tamas"). The Dev is thus the treasure-house of "guas" ("guanidhih"). 2 "Mlaprakti" is the womb into which the Brahman casts the seed from which all things are born. 3 The womb thrills to the movement of the essentially active "rajogua", and the now unstable "guas" in varied combinations under the illumination of iva ("cit") evolve the universe which is ruled by Mahevara and Mahevar. The dual principles of iva-akti, which are the product of the polarity manifested in "Paraaktimaya", pervade the whole universe, and are present in man in the "svayambhulinga" of the "mldhra" and the Dev Kualin, who in serpent form encircles it. The "abdabrahman" assumes the form of the Dev Kualin, and as such is in the form of all breathing creatures ("pri"), and in the form of letters appears in prose and verse. She is the luminous vital energy ("jvaakti"), which manifests as "pra". Through the
p. 4
various "prakta" and "vaikta" creations, issued the Devas, men, animals, and the whole universe, which is the work and manifested form of the Dev. For, as the Kubjik Tantra says, "Not Brahm, Viu, and Rudra create, maintain, and destroy, but Brhm, Vaiav, Rudr. Their husbands are but as dead bodies."
The Goddess ("Dev") is the great akti. She is "my", for of Her the "my" which produces the "samsra" is. As Lord of "my", She is Mahmy. 1 Dev is "avidy" (nescience), because She binds; and "vidy" (knowledge), because She liberates and destroys the "samsra". 2 She is Prakti, 3 and, as existing before creation, She is the "dya" (primordial) akti. She is the "vcaka-akti", the manifestation of "cit" in Prakti; and the "vcya akti" or "cit" itself. The "tm" should be contemplated as Dev. 4
akti or Dev is thus the Brahman revealed in its Mother aspect ("srmt") 5 as creatrix and nourisher of the worlds. Kl says of Herself in Yogin Tantra: 6 "Saccidnandarupham Brahmaivham sphuratprabham"." So the Dev is described with attributes both of the qualified 7 Brahman, and (since that Brahman is but the manifestation of the Absolute), She is also addressed
p. 5
with epithets which denote the unconditioned Brahman. 1 She is the great Mother ("ambik") sprung from the sacrificial hearth of the fire of the Grand Consciousness ("cit") decked with the Sun and Moon; Lalit--"She who plays"--whose play is world-play; whose eyes, playing like fish in the beauteous waters of Her Divine face, open and shut with the appearance and disappearance of countless worlds, now illuminated by Her light, now wrapped in her terrible darkness. 2 For Dev, who issues from the great Abyss, is terrible also in Her Kl, Tr, Chinnamast, and other forms. ktas hold that a sweet and complete resignation of the self to such forms of the Divine Power denotes a higher stage of spiritual development. 3 Such dualistic worship also speedily bears the fruit of knowledge of the Universal Unity, the realization of which dispels all fear. For the Mother is only terrible to those who, living in the illusion of separateness (which is the cause of all fear), have not yet realized their unity with Her, and known that all Her forms are those of beauty.
The Dev as Parabrahman is beyond all form and "gua". The forms of the Mother of the universe are threefold. There is first the Supreme ("para") form, of
p. 6
which, as the Viu Ymala 1 says, "none know." There is next Her subtle ("skma") form, which consists of "mantra". But, as the mind cannot easily settle itself upon that which is formless, 2 She appears as the subject of contemplation in Her third or gross ("sthla") or physical form, with hands and feet and the like, as celebrated in the "Devstotra" of the Puras and Tantras. Dev, who as "Prakti" is the source of Brahm, Viu, and Mahevara, 3 has both male and female forms. 4 But it is in Her female forms that she is chiefly contemplated. For, though existing in all things, in a peculiar sense female beings are parts of Her. 5 The Great Mother, who exists in the form of all Tantras and all Yantras, 6 is, as the Lalit says, the "unsullied treasure-house of beauty," the sapphire Dev 7 whose slender
p. 7
waist, 1 bending beneath the burden of the ripe fruit of her breasts, 2 swells into jewelled hips heavy 3 with the promise of infinite maternities 4. Her litanies depict Her physical form from head to foot, celebrating Her hair adorned with flowers and crowned with gems; Her brow bright as the eighth-day moon; Her ruby cheeks and coral lips; teeth like to "the buds of the sixteen-syllabled "mantra"," and eyebrows curved as are the arches at the gate of the palace of Kmarja; Her nose; Her teeth; Her chin; Her arms; and "Her twin breasts offered in return for that priceless gem which is the love of Kmevara"; Her waist girdled with jewelled bells; Her smooth and faultless limbs rounded beneath the "jewelled disc of the knee like the
p. 8
sapphire-studded quiver of the God of Love" descending in lines of grace to Her bright louts feet, 1 which dispel the darkness of Her worshippers. 2 For moonlight is She, yet sunbeam, soothing all those who are burnt by the triple fires of misery ("tpatraya"). Her face, Her body from throat to waist, and thence downwards, represent the "vgbhava" and other "kta". The colour of the Dev varies according to the form under which She is contemplated. Thus, in conferring liberation, She is white; as controller of women, men, and kings, She is red; and as controller of wealth, saffron. As creatrix of enmity, She becomes tawny; and in the thrill of love, passion ("ngra"), She is of the colour of the rose. In the action of slaying She becomes black. Thus, Dev, the Supreme Light, is to be meditated upon as differently coloured according to Her different activities. 3
After the description of the form of the Dev in "brahma" follows that of Her subtle form, called Kualin in the body ("pia"). As the Mahdev 4 She exists in all forms as arasvat, Lakm, Gyatr,
p. 9
[paragraph continues] Durg, Tripurasundar, Annapur, and all the Dev who are "avatra" of the Brahman. 1
Dev, as Sat, Um, Prvat, and Gour, is spouse of iva. It was as Sat, prior to Daka's sacrifice ("dakayajna") that the Dev manifested Herself to iva 2 in the ten celebrated forms known as the "daamahvidy"--Kl, Bagala, Chinnamast, Bhuvaneshvar, Mtangin, Shorosi, Dhumvati, Tripurasundar, Tr, and Bhairav. When at the "dakayajna" She yielded up Her life in shame and sorrow at the treatment accorded by Her father to Her husband, iva took away the body, and, ever bearing it with him, remained wholly distraught and spent with grief. To save the world from the forces of evil which arose and grew with the withdrawal of His divine control, Viu, with his discus ("cakra"), cut the dead body of Sat, which iva bore, into fifty-one fragments, which fell to earth at the places thereafter known as the fifty-one 3 "mahpthasthnas", where Dev, with her Bhairava, is worshipped under various names.
Thus the right and left breasts fell at Jalandhara and Ramgiri, where the Dev is worshipped as Tripuramlin; the "yoni" at the celebrated shrine at Kamrup in Assam, where the Dev is worshipped as Kmk or Kmkhy (see "ibid".); 4 the throat, shoulders, nose, hands,
p. 10
arms, eyes, fingers, tongue, buttocks, lips, belly, chin, navel, cheeks, thighs, teeth, feet, ears, thumbs, heels, toes (some at Klghat), waist, hair, forehead, with skeleton (several of these parts being themselves divided), fell at other "ptha", at each of which the Dev is worshipped under different names in company with a Bhairava or iva, also variously named. Thus, the Dev at Klghat is Klik, and the iva Nakulevara, and the Dev at Kamrup is Kmksh, and Her Bhairava is Ramnanda.
These are but some only of Her endless forms. She is seen as one and as many: as it were, but one moon reflected in countless waters. 1 She exists, too, in all animals and inorganic things, since the universe, with all its beauties, is, as the Dev Pura says, but a part of Her. All this diversity of form is but the infinite manifestations of the flowering beauty of the one Supreme Life--a doctrine which is nowhere else taught with greater wealth of illustration than in the kta stras and Tantras. The great Bharga in the bright sun, and all Devat, and, indeed, all life and being are worshipful, and are worshipped, but only as Her manifestations. 2 And he who worships them otherwise is, in the words of the great Devbhgavata, 3 "like unto a man who, with the light of a clear lamp
p. 11
in his hands, yet falls into some waterless and terrible well." It is customary nowadays to decry external worship, but those who do so presume too much. The ladder of ascent can only be scaled by those who have trod all, including its lowest, rungs. The aktirahasya summarises the stages of progress in a short verse, thus: "A mortal who worships by ceremonies, by images, by mind, by identification, by knowing the self, attains "kaivalya"." Before "brahma-bhva" can be attained the "sdhaka" must have passed from "pjbhva" through hymns and prayer to "dhyna-bhva". The highest worship 1 for which the "sdhaka" is qualified ("adhikri") only after external worship, and that internal form known as "sdhra" 2 is described as "nirdhra". Therein Pure Intelligence is the Supreme akti who is worshipped as the Very Self, the Witness freed of the glamour of the manifold universe. By one's own direct experience of Mahevar as the Self, She is, with reverence, made the object of that worship which leads to liberation.
J.
Footnotes
1:1 rad Tilakam (chap. i.). See Introduction to "Tantra stra" by Sir John Woodroffe--"sub. voc. iva and akti," of which the above is in part (with added matter) an abbreviation.
1:2 \"Praamya praktim nitym paramtmasvarpinm" (chap. i.). "ktnandatarangin", both Tntrik works of high authority.
1:3 Kubjik Tantra (First Paala).
1:4 Srad ("loc. cit").
2:1 See Bhskararya's Commentary on the Lalit Sahasranma (verse 36), and the Pdukpancaka in The Serpent Power.
2:2 See atcakranirpaa of Purnnanda Svmi in "The Serpent Power".
2:3 rad ("loc. cit").
2:4 \"Ibid".
2:5 \"Ibid".
2:6 See Commentary on verse 49 of the atcakranirpaa, and generally as to the subject-matter of this Introduction, my "Introduction to Tantra stra."
2:7 See Goraksha Samhit, Bhutauddhi Tantra, and Yogin Tantra, Part I, p. 10.
3:1 See nandalahar of ankarcrya, verse 8. The "dhyna" is well known to the Tntrik "sdhaka".
3:2 Lalit, verse 121.
3:3 Bhagavadgt (chap. xiv., verses 3,4).
4:1 \"Mahmy" without "my" is "nirgu", and with "my", "sagu". ktnandatarangin (chap. i.).
4:2 ktnandatarangin (chap. L).
4:3 Brahmavaivarta Pura (chap. i.); Praktikhanda. Br. Nradiya Pr.
4:4 See chap. ii. of Dev Bhgavata.
4:5 Dev is worshipped on account of her soft heart. ktnandatarangin (chap. iii.).
4:6 Part I., Chapter X.
4:7 Such as Mukunda, an aspect of Viu. Lalitsahasranma, verse 838.
5:1 \"Ibid", verse 153, and Commentator's note to Chapter II., where Dev is addressed as Supreme Light ("paramjyotih"), Supreme Abode ("paramdhma"), Supreme of Supreme ("partpar").
5:2 See the Lalit.
5:3 See the saying of Rmaprasda, the poet-devotee of Klim, quoted at p. 714 in Babu Dinesh Chunder Sen's "History of Bengali Literature."
"Though the Mother beat him, the child cries 'Mother! O Mother!' and clings still tighter to her garment. True, I cannot see Thee, yet am I not a lost child. I still cry 'Mother!'
6:1 \"Mtastvatparamamrpam tanna jnti kashchana" (see chap. iii. of ktnandatarangin)
6:2 \"Amurtauchitsthironasyt tatomurtim vichintayet" ("ibid"., chap. i., as was also explained to Himavat by Dev in the Kurma Pura).
6:3 \"Ibid"., and as such is called Tripur (see Bhskarary's Commentary on Lalit, verse 125).
6:4 \"Ibid"., chap. iii., which also says that there is no eunuch form of God.
6:5 So in Candi (Mrkaeya Pura) it is said:
"Vidyh samaststava dev bhedh,
Stryah samastsakal jagatsu."
The Tntrika, more than all men, recognizes the divinity of woman, as was observed centuries past by the author of the Dabistan. The Linga Pura also, after describing Arundhati, Anasy and Shachi to be each the manifestation of Dev, concludes: "All things indicated by words in the feminine gender are manifestations of Dev." Similarly the Brahmavaivarta Pura.
6:6 \"Sarvatantrarp Sarvayantrtmk" (See Lalit, verse 53).
6:7 Padma Pura says: "Viu ever worships the sapphire Dev."
7:1 \"jnvarastanatatimtanuvrittamadhym" (Bhuvanevarstotra), "tanumadhya" (Lalit, verse 79). "krishodari" (dyaklisvarpstotra, Mahnirva Tantra, 7th Ullsa).
7:2 \"Stotra" and "dhyna" commonly represent Her as having large, full, and erect breasts--"pnastandye" (in Karpurdistotra), "pinonnatapayodharm") (in Durg-dhyna of Dev Pura), "bakshojakumbhntari" (in Annapurstava) "pivarastanatatim" (in Bhuvanevarstotra)--which weight her limbs--"kuchabharanamitngm" (in Sarasvatidhyna), "annapradnaniratngstanabhranamrm" (in Annaprastava). And the Lalit, verse 15, says: "Her golden girdle supports Her waist, which bends under the burden of Her breasts, thrice folding the skin below Her bosom" ("trivalvalayopetm").
7:3 So it is said in the tenth "loka" of the Karprkhyastava "samantdpnastanajaghanadhrikyauvanavat". ankarcarya, in his Tripursundarstotra, speaks of Her "nitaniba" (buttocks) "as excelling the mountain in greatness" ("nitambajitabhdharm"). The Javanese also call Her Loro Jongram, "The pure exalted virgin with beautiful hips."
7:4 The physical characteristics of the Dev in Her swelling breasts and hips are emblematic of Her great Motherhood, for She is "rimt".
8:1 See the Lalitsahasranma, verse 4 "et seq". "Her brow ("aamcandravibhrjadalika sthala obhit"), Her eyebrow ("vadanasamara mngalyagrihatoranacillika"), Her twin breasts ("kmevarapremaratnamani pratiphalastani"), Her waist ("ratnakinkinikrabhyarashandma bhit"), "Her thighs, known only to Kamea" ("Kmeajntasaubhgya mardavorudvaynvit"), Her lower limbs ("indragopa parikipta smaratun bhajandhik"); Her instep 'arched like the back of a tortoise,' the bright rays from her nails and the soles of Her feet in beauty shaming the lotus."
8:2 From the beautiful litany to the Dev in the Lalitsahasranma.
8:3 Bhskararya's Commentary on Lalit, verse 170.
8:4 She whose body is, as the Dev Pura says, immeasurable.
9:1 ktnandatarangin (chap. iii.).
9:2 In order to display Her power to Her husband who had not granted, at Her request, His permission that She might attend at Daka's sacrifice (see "Principles of Tantra" and for an account of the "daamahvidy", their "yantra" and "mantra", the Daamahvidy upsanrahasya of Prasanno Kumar Shastri).
9:3 The number is variously given as 50, 51, and 52.
9:4 Here at Her shrine the menstruation of the earth which, according to Hindu belief, takes place in the month of Assar, is p. 10 said to manifest itself. For three days during "ambuvch" no cooked food is eaten by the women, nor does any cooking take place in the house.
10:1 Brahmabindu Up, p. 12.
10:2 See chap. iii. of the ktnandatarangin, where it is said: "The Parabrahman, Dev, iva, and all other Deva and Dev are but one, and he who thinks them different from one another goes to Hell."
10:3 Hymn to Jagadambik in Chapter Xix.
11:1 Stasamhit, 1, 5, 3, which divides such worship into Vedic and Tntrik (see Bhskararya's Commentary on Lalit, verse 43).
11:2 In which Dev is worshipped in the form of "mantra" according to the instructions of the Guru.
"Hymns to the Goddess", by John Woodroffe (Arthur Avalon), [1913],
p. 1
Hymns To The Goddess
Introduction
Santana Brahman is called "sakala" when with "Prakti", as It is "nikala" when thought of as without "Prakti" ("prakteranya"), for "kal" is "Prakti". 1 To say, however, that akti exists in or with, the Brahman is an accommodation to human thought and speech, for the Brahman and akti are in fact one. akti is eternal ("andirp"), and "Brahmarp", and both nirgu and "sagu". 2 She, the Goddess ("Dev"), is the "caitanyarpii dev" who manifests all "bhta"; the "nandarpii dev" by whom the Brahman, who She is, manifests Itself, 3 and who, to use the words of the radtilaka, pervades the universe as does oil the sesamum seed. "Sa aikata"," of which "ruti" speaks, was itself a manifestation of akti, the "paramprvanirvaakti", or Brahman, as akti.
From the "paraaktimaya" issued "nda", and from "nda", "bindu" 4. The state of subtle body known as "kmakal" is the "mla" of "mantra", and is meant when the Dev is spoken
p. 2
of as "mlamantrtmik". 1 The "Parambindu" is represented as a circle the centre of which is the "Brahmapada", wherein are "Prakti-purua"; the circumference of which is encircling "my". It is in the crescent of "nirvakal" the seventeenth, which is again in that of "amkal" the sixteenth, digit of the moon circle ("candramaala"), situate above the sun-circle ("sryamadala"), the "Guru" and the "Hamsah" in the pericarp of the 1,000 petalled lotus ("sahasrrapadma"). The "bindu" is symbolically described as being like a grain of gram ("canaka"), which under its encircling sheath contains a divided seed--"Prakti-purua" or "akti-iva". 2
It is known as the abda Brahman. 3 A polarization then takes place in "paraaktimaya". The Dev becomes "unmukhi". Her face is turned to iva. There is an unfolding which bursts the encircling shell. 4 The "devatparaaktimaya" exists in the threefold aspect of "bindu", "bja", and "nda", the last being in relation to the two former. An indistinct sound then arises 5 ("avyakttmravobhavat"). "Nda", as Rghava Bhatta 6 says, exists in three states, for in it are the three "guas". The abda Brahman manifests Itself in the threefold energies, "Jnna", "Ichh", and "Kriy akti". 7 For, as the Vmakevara
p. 3
[paragraph continues] Tantra says, the Dev Tripur is threefold, as Brahm, Viu, and a. Paraiva exists as a septenary under the forms of ambhu, adiva, na, Rudra, Viu, and Brahm. The last five are the "Mahpreta", four of whom form the support, and the fifth the seat, of the bed on which the Dev is united with Paramaiva in the room of "cintmai" stone on the jewelled island clad with clumps of kadamba, and heavenly trees set in the ocean of ambrosia. 1
\"akti" is both "my" and "mlaprakti", whose substance is the three "guas", representing nature as the revelation of spirit ("sattva"); nature as the passage of descent from spirit to matter, or of ascent from matter to spirit ("rajas"), and nature as the dense veil of spirit ("tamas"). The Dev is thus the treasure-house of "guas" ("guanidhih"). 2 "Mlaprakti" is the womb into which the Brahman casts the seed from which all things are born. 3 The womb thrills to the movement of the essentially active "rajogua", and the now unstable "guas" in varied combinations under the illumination of iva ("cit") evolve the universe which is ruled by Mahevara and Mahevar. The dual principles of iva-akti, which are the product of the polarity manifested in "Paraaktimaya", pervade the whole universe, and are present in man in the "svayambhulinga" of the "mldhra" and the Dev Kualin, who in serpent form encircles it. The "abdabrahman" assumes the form of the Dev Kualin, and as such is in the form of all breathing creatures ("pri"), and in the form of letters appears in prose and verse. She is the luminous vital energy ("jvaakti"), which manifests as "pra". Through the
p. 4
various "prakta" and "vaikta" creations, issued the Devas, men, animals, and the whole universe, which is the work and manifested form of the Dev. For, as the Kubjik Tantra says, "Not Brahm, Viu, and Rudra create, maintain, and destroy, but Brhm, Vaiav, Rudr. Their husbands are but as dead bodies."
The Goddess ("Dev") is the great akti. She is "my", for of Her the "my" which produces the "samsra" is. As Lord of "my", She is Mahmy. 1 Dev is "avidy" (nescience), because She binds; and "vidy" (knowledge), because She liberates and destroys the "samsra". 2 She is Prakti, 3 and, as existing before creation, She is the "dya" (primordial) akti. She is the "vcaka-akti", the manifestation of "cit" in Prakti; and the "vcya akti" or "cit" itself. The "tm" should be contemplated as Dev. 4
akti or Dev is thus the Brahman revealed in its Mother aspect ("srmt") 5 as creatrix and nourisher of the worlds. Kl says of Herself in Yogin Tantra: 6 "Saccidnandarupham Brahmaivham sphuratprabham"." So the Dev is described with attributes both of the qualified 7 Brahman, and (since that Brahman is but the manifestation of the Absolute), She is also addressed
p. 5
with epithets which denote the unconditioned Brahman. 1 She is the great Mother ("ambik") sprung from the sacrificial hearth of the fire of the Grand Consciousness ("cit") decked with the Sun and Moon; Lalit--"She who plays"--whose play is world-play; whose eyes, playing like fish in the beauteous waters of Her Divine face, open and shut with the appearance and disappearance of countless worlds, now illuminated by Her light, now wrapped in her terrible darkness. 2 For Dev, who issues from the great Abyss, is terrible also in Her Kl, Tr, Chinnamast, and other forms. ktas hold that a sweet and complete resignation of the self to such forms of the Divine Power denotes a higher stage of spiritual development. 3 Such dualistic worship also speedily bears the fruit of knowledge of the Universal Unity, the realization of which dispels all fear. For the Mother is only terrible to those who, living in the illusion of separateness (which is the cause of all fear), have not yet realized their unity with Her, and known that all Her forms are those of beauty.
The Dev as Parabrahman is beyond all form and "gua". The forms of the Mother of the universe are threefold. There is first the Supreme ("para") form, of
p. 6
which, as the Viu Ymala 1 says, "none know." There is next Her subtle ("skma") form, which consists of "mantra". But, as the mind cannot easily settle itself upon that which is formless, 2 She appears as the subject of contemplation in Her third or gross ("sthla") or physical form, with hands and feet and the like, as celebrated in the "Devstotra" of the Puras and Tantras. Dev, who as "Prakti" is the source of Brahm, Viu, and Mahevara, 3 has both male and female forms. 4 But it is in Her female forms that she is chiefly contemplated. For, though existing in all things, in a peculiar sense female beings are parts of Her. 5 The Great Mother, who exists in the form of all Tantras and all Yantras, 6 is, as the Lalit says, the "unsullied treasure-house of beauty," the sapphire Dev 7 whose slender
p. 7
waist, 1 bending beneath the burden of the ripe fruit of her breasts, 2 swells into jewelled hips heavy 3 with the promise of infinite maternities 4. Her litanies depict Her physical form from head to foot, celebrating Her hair adorned with flowers and crowned with gems; Her brow bright as the eighth-day moon; Her ruby cheeks and coral lips; teeth like to "the buds of the sixteen-syllabled "mantra"," and eyebrows curved as are the arches at the gate of the palace of Kmarja; Her nose; Her teeth; Her chin; Her arms; and "Her twin breasts offered in return for that priceless gem which is the love of Kmevara"; Her waist girdled with jewelled bells; Her smooth and faultless limbs rounded beneath the "jewelled disc of the knee like the
p. 8
sapphire-studded quiver of the God of Love" descending in lines of grace to Her bright louts feet, 1 which dispel the darkness of Her worshippers. 2 For moonlight is She, yet sunbeam, soothing all those who are burnt by the triple fires of misery ("tpatraya"). Her face, Her body from throat to waist, and thence downwards, represent the "vgbhava" and other "kta". The colour of the Dev varies according to the form under which She is contemplated. Thus, in conferring liberation, She is white; as controller of women, men, and kings, She is red; and as controller of wealth, saffron. As creatrix of enmity, She becomes tawny; and in the thrill of love, passion ("ngra"), She is of the colour of the rose. In the action of slaying She becomes black. Thus, Dev, the Supreme Light, is to be meditated upon as differently coloured according to Her different activities. 3
After the description of the form of the Dev in "brahma" follows that of Her subtle form, called Kualin in the body ("pia"). As the Mahdev 4 She exists in all forms as arasvat, Lakm, Gyatr,
p. 9
[paragraph continues] Durg, Tripurasundar, Annapur, and all the Dev who are "avatra" of the Brahman. 1
Dev, as Sat, Um, Prvat, and Gour, is spouse of iva. It was as Sat, prior to Daka's sacrifice ("dakayajna") that the Dev manifested Herself to iva 2 in the ten celebrated forms known as the "daamahvidy"--Kl, Bagala, Chinnamast, Bhuvaneshvar, Mtangin, Shorosi, Dhumvati, Tripurasundar, Tr, and Bhairav. When at the "dakayajna" She yielded up Her life in shame and sorrow at the treatment accorded by Her father to Her husband, iva took away the body, and, ever bearing it with him, remained wholly distraught and spent with grief. To save the world from the forces of evil which arose and grew with the withdrawal of His divine control, Viu, with his discus ("cakra"), cut the dead body of Sat, which iva bore, into fifty-one fragments, which fell to earth at the places thereafter known as the fifty-one 3 "mahpthasthnas", where Dev, with her Bhairava, is worshipped under various names.
Thus the right and left breasts fell at Jalandhara and Ramgiri, where the Dev is worshipped as Tripuramlin; the "yoni" at the celebrated shrine at Kamrup in Assam, where the Dev is worshipped as Kmk or Kmkhy (see "ibid".); 4 the throat, shoulders, nose, hands,
p. 10
arms, eyes, fingers, tongue, buttocks, lips, belly, chin, navel, cheeks, thighs, teeth, feet, ears, thumbs, heels, toes (some at Klghat), waist, hair, forehead, with skeleton (several of these parts being themselves divided), fell at other "ptha", at each of which the Dev is worshipped under different names in company with a Bhairava or iva, also variously named. Thus, the Dev at Klghat is Klik, and the iva Nakulevara, and the Dev at Kamrup is Kmksh, and Her Bhairava is Ramnanda.
These are but some only of Her endless forms. She is seen as one and as many: as it were, but one moon reflected in countless waters. 1 She exists, too, in all animals and inorganic things, since the universe, with all its beauties, is, as the Dev Pura says, but a part of Her. All this diversity of form is but the infinite manifestations of the flowering beauty of the one Supreme Life--a doctrine which is nowhere else taught with greater wealth of illustration than in the kta stras and Tantras. The great Bharga in the bright sun, and all Devat, and, indeed, all life and being are worshipful, and are worshipped, but only as Her manifestations. 2 And he who worships them otherwise is, in the words of the great Devbhgavata, 3 "like unto a man who, with the light of a clear lamp
p. 11
in his hands, yet falls into some waterless and terrible well." It is customary nowadays to decry external worship, but those who do so presume too much. The ladder of ascent can only be scaled by those who have trod all, including its lowest, rungs. The aktirahasya summarises the stages of progress in a short verse, thus: "A mortal who worships by ceremonies, by images, by mind, by identification, by knowing the self, attains "kaivalya"." Before "brahma-bhva" can be attained the "sdhaka" must have passed from "pjbhva" through hymns and prayer to "dhyna-bhva". The highest worship 1 for which the "sdhaka" is qualified ("adhikri") only after external worship, and that internal form known as "sdhra" 2 is described as "nirdhra". Therein Pure Intelligence is the Supreme akti who is worshipped as the Very Self, the Witness freed of the glamour of the manifold universe. By one's own direct experience of Mahevar as the Self, She is, with reverence, made the object of that worship which leads to liberation.
J.
Footnotes
1:1 rad Tilakam (chap. i.). See Introduction to "Tantra stra" by Sir John Woodroffe--"sub. voc. iva and akti," of which the above is in part (with added matter) an abbreviation.
1:2 \"Praamya praktim nitym paramtmasvarpinm" (chap. i.). "ktnandatarangin", both Tntrik works of high authority.
1:3 Kubjik Tantra (First Paala).
1:4 Srad ("loc. cit").
2:1 See Bhskararya's Commentary on the Lalit Sahasranma (verse 36), and the Pdukpancaka in The Serpent Power.
2:2 See atcakranirpaa of Purnnanda Svmi in "The Serpent Power".
2:3 rad ("loc. cit").
2:4 \"Ibid".
2:5 \"Ibid".
2:6 See Commentary on verse 49 of the atcakranirpaa, and generally as to the subject-matter of this Introduction, my "Introduction to Tantra stra."
2:7 See Goraksha Samhit, Bhutauddhi Tantra, and Yogin Tantra, Part I, p. 10.
3:1 See nandalahar of ankarcrya, verse 8. The "dhyna" is well known to the Tntrik "sdhaka".
3:2 Lalit, verse 121.
3:3 Bhagavadgt (chap. xiv., verses 3,4).
4:1 \"Mahmy" without "my" is "nirgu", and with "my", "sagu". ktnandatarangin (chap. i.).
4:2 ktnandatarangin (chap. L).
4:3 Brahmavaivarta Pura (chap. i.); Praktikhanda. Br. Nradiya Pr.
4:4 See chap. ii. of Dev Bhgavata.
4:5 Dev is worshipped on account of her soft heart. ktnandatarangin (chap. iii.).
4:6 Part I., Chapter X.
4:7 Such as Mukunda, an aspect of Viu. Lalitsahasranma, verse 838.
5:1 \"Ibid", verse 153, and Commentator's note to Chapter II., where Dev is addressed as Supreme Light ("paramjyotih"), Supreme Abode ("paramdhma"), Supreme of Supreme ("partpar").
5:2 See the Lalit.
5:3 See the saying of Rmaprasda, the poet-devotee of Klim, quoted at p. 714 in Babu Dinesh Chunder Sen's "History of Bengali Literature."
"Though the Mother beat him, the child cries 'Mother! O Mother!' and clings still tighter to her garment. True, I cannot see Thee, yet am I not a lost child. I still cry 'Mother!'
6:1 \"Mtastvatparamamrpam tanna jnti kashchana" (see chap. iii. of ktnandatarangin)
6:2 \"Amurtauchitsthironasyt tatomurtim vichintayet" ("ibid"., chap. i., as was also explained to Himavat by Dev in the Kurma Pura).
6:3 \"Ibid"., and as such is called Tripur (see Bhskarary's Commentary on Lalit, verse 125).
6:4 \"Ibid"., chap. iii., which also says that there is no eunuch form of God.
6:5 So in Candi (Mrkaeya Pura) it is said:
"Vidyh samaststava dev bhedh,
Stryah samastsakal jagatsu."
The Tntrika, more than all men, recognizes the divinity of woman, as was observed centuries past by the author of the Dabistan. The Linga Pura also, after describing Arundhati, Anasy and Shachi to be each the manifestation of Dev, concludes: "All things indicated by words in the feminine gender are manifestations of Dev." Similarly the Brahmavaivarta Pura.
6:6 \"Sarvatantrarp Sarvayantrtmk" (See Lalit, verse 53).
6:7 Padma Pura says: "Viu ever worships the sapphire Dev."
7:1 \"jnvarastanatatimtanuvrittamadhym" (Bhuvanevarstotra), "tanumadhya" (Lalit, verse 79). "krishodari" (dyaklisvarpstotra, Mahnirva Tantra, 7th Ullsa).
7:2 \"Stotra" and "dhyna" commonly represent Her as having large, full, and erect breasts--"pnastandye" (in Karpurdistotra), "pinonnatapayodharm") (in Durg-dhyna of Dev Pura), "bakshojakumbhntari" (in Annapurstava) "pivarastanatatim" (in Bhuvanevarstotra)--which weight her limbs--"kuchabharanamitngm" (in Sarasvatidhyna), "annapradnaniratngstanabhranamrm" (in Annaprastava). And the Lalit, verse 15, says: "Her golden girdle supports Her waist, which bends under the burden of Her breasts, thrice folding the skin below Her bosom" ("trivalvalayopetm").
7:3 So it is said in the tenth "loka" of the Karprkhyastava "samantdpnastanajaghanadhrikyauvanavat". ankarcarya, in his Tripursundarstotra, speaks of Her "nitaniba" (buttocks) "as excelling the mountain in greatness" ("nitambajitabhdharm"). The Javanese also call Her Loro Jongram, "The pure exalted virgin with beautiful hips."
7:4 The physical characteristics of the Dev in Her swelling breasts and hips are emblematic of Her great Motherhood, for She is "rimt".
8:1 See the Lalitsahasranma, verse 4 "et seq". "Her brow ("aamcandravibhrjadalika sthala obhit"), Her eyebrow ("vadanasamara mngalyagrihatoranacillika"), Her twin breasts ("kmevarapremaratnamani pratiphalastani"), Her waist ("ratnakinkinikrabhyarashandma bhit"), "Her thighs, known only to Kamea" ("Kmeajntasaubhgya mardavorudvaynvit"), Her lower limbs ("indragopa parikipta smaratun bhajandhik"); Her instep 'arched like the back of a tortoise,' the bright rays from her nails and the soles of Her feet in beauty shaming the lotus."
8:2 From the beautiful litany to the Dev in the Lalitsahasranma.
8:3 Bhskararya's Commentary on Lalit, verse 170.
8:4 She whose body is, as the Dev Pura says, immeasurable.
9:1 ktnandatarangin (chap. iii.).
9:2 In order to display Her power to Her husband who had not granted, at Her request, His permission that She might attend at Daka's sacrifice (see "Principles of Tantra" and for an account of the "daamahvidy", their "yantra" and "mantra", the Daamahvidy upsanrahasya of Prasanno Kumar Shastri).
9:3 The number is variously given as 50, 51, and 52.
9:4 Here at Her shrine the menstruation of the earth which, according to Hindu belief, takes place in the month of Assar, is p. 10 said to manifest itself. For three days during "ambuvch" no cooked food is eaten by the women, nor does any cooking take place in the house.
10:1 Brahmabindu Up, p. 12.
10:2 See chap. iii. of the ktnandatarangin, where it is said: "The Parabrahman, Dev, iva, and all other Deva and Dev are but one, and he who thinks them different from one another goes to Hell."
10:3 Hymn to Jagadambik in Chapter Xix.
11:1 Stasamhit, 1, 5, 3, which divides such worship into Vedic and Tntrik (see Bhskararya's Commentary on Lalit, verse 43).
11:2 In which Dev is worshipped in the form of "mantra" according to the instructions of the Guru.
