the serpent power ------the secrets of tantric and shaktic yoga

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THE SERPENT POWER

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THE SERPENT POWER
BEING THE
SHAT-CHAKRA-NIRUPANA AND PADUKA-PANCHAKA
TWO WORKS ON LAYA YOGA, TRANSLATED FROM THE SANSKRIT, WITH INTRODUCTION AND COMMENTARY
BY
ARTHUR AVALON
(SIR JOHN WOODROFFE)
(Fourth Edition)
POBLISHERS ：
GANESH & Co. (MADRAS) Ltd
1950
PRINTED BY C. SUBBARAYUDU, AT THE VASANTA PRESS THE THEOBOPHICAL SOCIETY, ADYAR, MADRAB

PREFACE
IN my work “ Shakti and Shakta ” I outlined for the first time the principles of “ Kundali-Yoga" so much discussed in some quarters, but of which so little was known.

This work is a description and explanation in fuller detail of the Serpent Power (Kundali Shakti), and the Yoga effected through it, a subject occupying a pre-eminent place in the Tantra Shastra. It consists of a translation of two Sanskrit works published some years ago in the second volume of my series of Tantrik Texts, but hitherto untranslated. The first, entitled “ Shatchakranirupana ’’ (“ Description of and Investigation into the Six Bodily Centres ”)，has as its author the celebrated Tantrik Purna- nanda Svami, a short note on whose life is given later. It forms the sixth chapter of his extensive and unpublished work on Tantrik Ritual entitled " Shritattvachintamani This has been the subject of commentaries by among others Shangkara and Vishvanatha cited in Volume II of the Tantrik Texts, and used in the making of the present translation. The commentary here translated from the Sanskrit is by Kalicharana.

The second text, called “ Paduka-Panohaka ”（“ Five- fold Footstool of the Guru ”，deals with one of the Lotuses described in the larger work. To it is appended a transla- Mon from the Sanskrit of a commentary by Kalicharana. To the translation of both works I have added some further explanatory notes of my own. As the works translated are of a highly recondite character, and by themselves unintelligible to the English reader, I have prefaced the translation by a general Introduction in which I have endeavoured to give (within the limits both of a work of this kind and my knowledge) a description and explanation of this form of Yoga. I have also included some plates of the Centres, which have been drawn and painted according to the description of them as given in the first of these Sanskrit Texts.

It has not been possible in the Introduction to do more than give a general and summary statement of the prin¬ciples upon which Yoga, and this particular form of it, rests. Those who wish to pursue the subject in greater detail are referred to my other published books on the Tantra Shastra. In Principles of Tantra will be found general Introductions to the Shastra and (in connection with the present subject) valuable chapters on Shakti and Mantras. In my recent work, Shahti and Shakta (the second edition of which is as I write reprinting), I have shortly summarised the teaching of the Shakta Tantras and their rituals. In my Studies in the Mantra Shastra, the first three parts of which have been reprinted from the “ Vedanta Kesari，” in which they first appeared, will be found more detailed des¬criptions of such technical terms as Tattva, Causal Shaktis, Kala, Nada, Bindu, and so forth, which are referred to in the present book. Other works published by me on the Tantra, including the “ Wave of Bliss，” will be found in the page of advertisements.

The following account of Purnananda, the celebrated Tantrika Sadhaka of Bengal, and author of the “ Shat- chakranirupana," has been collected from the descendants of his eldest son, two of whom are connected with the work of the Varendra Research Society, Rajshahi, to whose Director, Sj. Akshaya Kumara Maitra, and Secretary, Sj. Radha. Govinda Baisak, I am indebted for the following details:
Purnananda was a Rahri Brahmana of the Kashyapa Gotra, whose ancestors belonged to the village of Pakrashi, which has not as yet been identified. His seventh ancestor Anantacharya is said to have migrated from Baranagara, in the district of Murshidabad, to Kaitali, in the district of Mymensingh. In his family were bora two celebrated Tantrika Sadhakas—namely, Sarvananda and Purnananda. The descendants of Sarvananda reside at Mehar, while those of Purnananda reside mostly in the district of My- mensingh. Little is known about the worldly life of Purnananda, except that he bore the name of Jagadananda, and copied a manuscript of the Vishnupuranam in the Shaka year 1448 (A.D. 1526). This manuscript, now in the possession of one of his descendants named Pandit Hari Kishore Bhattacharya, of Raitali, is still in a fair state of preservation. It was brought for inspection by Pandit Satis Chandra Siddhantabbushana of the Varendra Research Society. The colophon states that Jagadananda Sharma wrote the Purana in the Shaka year 1448.

This Jagadananda assumed the name of Purnananda when he obtained his Diksha (Initiation) from Brahma- nanda and went to Kamarupa (Assam), in which province he is believed to have obtained his “ Siddhi ” or state of spiritual perfection in the Ashrama, which still goes by the name of Yashishthashrama, situated at a distance of about seven miles from the town of Gauhati (Assam). Purnananda never returned home, but led the life of a Paramahangsa and compiled several Tantrika works, of which the Shritattvachintamani, composed in the Shaka year 1499 (A.D. 1577), Shyamarahasya, Shaktakrama, Tattva- nandataranginl, and Yogasara are known. His commentary on the Kalikakarakuta hymn is well-known. The Shat- chakranirupana, here translated, is not, however an inde- pendent work, but a part of the sixth Patala of the Shritattvachintamani. i According to a genealogical table of the family of this Tantrika Acharya and Virachara Sadhaka, given by one of his descendants, Purnananda is removed from his present descendants by about ten generations.

This work has been on hand some five years, but both the difficulties of the subject and those created by the war have delayed its publication. I had hoped to include some other plates of original paintings and draw¬ings in my possession bearing on the subject, but present conditions do not allow of this, and I have therefore thought it better to publish the book as it stands rather than risk further delay.

ARTHUR AVALON
RANCHI September 20, 1918

NOTE TO SECOND EDITION

CONSIDERING the recondite nature of the subject, the first edition published by Messrs. Luzac & Co., London has had a more rapid sale than was expected, and a call for a second edition has enabled me to revise the whole work and to make several corrections and additions both in the Introduction and Text. To this second edition has been added the Sanskrit Text of the works here translated which formerly appeared as Vol. 2 of the Tantrik Texts and which has since gone out of print. This edition also contains in addition to the original coloured, plates of the Chakras, a number of half-tone plates taken from Life, showing some positions in Kundalini Yoga.

The Introduction deals in a general way with the subject-matter of the Texts translated. I take however this opportunity to say again that it has not been possible to give here a full explanation of such matters, and refer my reader. to my other works dealing with the Tantras and their Ritual, namely, Principles of Tantra, a work of peculiar value in that it is a translation of the work of a Bengali Pandit himself a Shakta unacquainted with the English language but an inheritor of the old traditions ; as also the second edition of my Shakti and Shakta dealing with ritual, published since the date of my first Preface. The Studies in Mantra Shastra referred to therein has also recently been published under the title of Garland of Letters. All such technical terms as Bindu, Nada and the like used in the works translated have been fully ex- plained therein as also the general principles of Mantra. Itis necessary also to know with accuracy the exact meaning of the terms Consciousness, Mind, Life, Matter and so forth as used in Vedanta and these have been given in the series of little works under the general caption The World as Power. It is not possible to understand the rationale of Yoga without an accurate understanding of these funda¬mental terms. It has been rightly said that ” the practical portion of all Yoga, specially of Raja Yoga, is concerned with mental practices. It is therefore absolutely necessary that the student of Yoga should know what his mind is and how it works " (Raja Yoga, by Swami Dayanand, p. 9). I have given a short account of Sarvananda and his life in the Hindusthan Review. Other works by me on the Shastra are noted in the advertisement sheet at the end of the book.

LES ANDELYS EURE

CONTENTS
                                                                                                       PAGE
PREFACE .        v
NOTE TO SECOND EDITION           ix
INTRODUCTION
I. Introductory .                                                                                           1
II.  Bodiless Consciousness .                                                                  25
III. Embodied Consciousness (Jivatma) .                                                   49
IV.  Mantra                                                                                            83
V.The Centres or Lotuses (Chakra, Padma) .                                        103
VI. Practice (Yoga ： Laya-Krama) .                                                         181
VII. Theoretical Bases of this Yoga . .                                                        257
Text (Translation)：
Description of the Six Centres (Shat-chakra Nirupana)                        317
.The Fivefold Footstool (Padukapanchaka) ................................        489
TEXT (Sanskrit).                                                                             1-144

ILLUSTRATIONS
PLATE                                                                                                PAGE
I. The Centres or Lotuses                                                         Frontispiece
II. Muladhara Chakra                                                                to face 356
III.        Svadhishthana         .........................................................................365
IV.        Manipuraka                                                                                    370
V.        Anahata                                                                                    382
VI.         Yisuddha                                                                                  392
VII.        Ajna                                                                        .................414
VIII.        Sahasrara.............                                                                    430
YOGASANA ILLUSTRATIONS
IX.        Mahabedha according to Hathayogapradipika and Yamala .        ........432
       
X.        Padmasana with Lauliki . .        ...........................................        440
XI. Uddiyana Bandha in Siddhasana—1st Stage                                    448
XII. Uddiyana Bandha in Siddhasana—2nd Stage                                  456
XIII.         Mahabandha                                                                           464
XIV.        Mulabandha in Siddhasana.                                                             472
XV. Yoni Mudra in Siddhasana                                                              480
XVI. Mahamudra                                                                               488
XVII. Baddha-Padmasana                                                                  496 

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THE SIX CENTRES AND THE SERPENT POWER
INTRODUCTION

The two Sanskrit works here translated-Shat-chakra- nirupana (“ Description of the Six Centres, or Chakras") and Paduka-Panchaka (" Fivefold Footstool ")—deal with a particular form of Tantrik Yoga named Kundalini Yoga, or, as some works call it, Bhuta-shuddhi. These names refer to the Kundalini Shakti, or Supreme Power in the human body by the arousing of which the Yoga is achieved, and to the purification of the Elements of the body (Bhuta-shuddhi) which takes place upon that event. This Yoga is effected by a process technically known as Shat-chakra-bheda, or piercing of the six Centres or Regions (Chakra) or Lotuses (Padma) of the body (which the work describes) by the agency of Kundalini Shakti, which, in order to give it an English name, I have here called the Serpent Power.1 Kundala means coiled. The power is the Goddess (Devi) Kundalini, or that which is coiled; for Her form is that of a coiled and sleeping serpent in the lowest bodily centre, at the base of the spinal column, until by the means described She is aroused in that Yoga which is named after Her. KUNDALINI is the Divine Cosmic Energy in
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1 One of the names of this Devi is Bhujangi, or the Serpent.
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bodies (v. post). The Saptabhumi, or seven regions (Lokas)1,  are, as popularly understood, an exoteric presentment of the inner Tantrik teaching regarding the seven centres2.
The Yoga is called Tantrik for a twofold reason. It will be found mentioned in the Yoga Upanishads which refer to the Centres, or Chakras, and in some of the Puranas. The treatises on Hathayoga also deal with the subject. We find even similar notions in systems other than the Indian, from which possibly in some cases they have been borrowed. Thus, in the Risala-i-haq-numa, by Prince Mahomed Dam Shikoh3,  a description is given of the three centres "Mother of Brain," or " Spherical heart" (Dil-i-muddawar); the “Cedar heart " (Dil-i-sanowbari); and the Dil-i-nilofari, or “ Lily heart"4.  Other references may be found in the works of the Mahomedan Sufis. So some of the Sufi fraternities (as the Naqshbandi) are said5 to have devised, or rather borrowed, from the Indian Yogis6 the Kundalini method as a means to realization7.  I am told that correspondences are discoverable between the
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1 The seven “ worlds” Bhuh, Bbuvah, Svah, Mahah, Jana, Tapah, Satya. See my " Wave of Bliss” (Comm, to v. 35). Lokas are what are seen (lokyante)—that is, attained—and are hence the fruits of Karma in the form of particular re-birth. Satyananda's “ Comm, on Isha Up," Mantra 2. See p. 258.
2 That is, the six Chakras and the upper cerebral centre, or Sahas- rara. As to Upanishads and Puranas, see post.
3 “ The Compass of Truth." The author was the eldest son of the Emperor Shah-i-Jehan, and died in A. D. 1659. Its teaching is alleged to be that of the secret doctrine of the “ Apostle of God.”
4 Chapter I on Alam-i-nasut: the physical plane, or what the Hindus call the Jagrat state. Ed. Rai Bahadur Srisha Chandra Vasu.
5 See “ The Development of Metaphysics in Persia," by Shaikh Muhammad Iqbal, p. 110.
6 Al-Biruni is said to have translated Patanjali's works, as also the Sankhya Sutras, into Arabic at the beginning of the eleventh century.
7 The author cited, however, says : ‘‘ Such methods of contempla¬tion are quite unislamic in character, and the higher Sufis do not attach any importance to them.”
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Indian (Asiatic) Shastra and the American- Indian Maya Scripture of the Zunis called the Popul Vuh8.  My informant tells me that their “ air-tube’’ is the Sushumna; their “ twofold air-tube ” the Nadis Ida and Pingala. “ Hura- kan，” or. lightning, is Kundalini, and the centres arc depicted by animal glyphs. Similar notions have been reported to me as being held in the secret teaching of other com munities. That the doctrine and practice should be widespread, we might expect, if it has a foundation on fact. This form of Yoga is, however, in particular associated with the Tantras or Agamas, firstly, because these Scriptures are largely concerned therewith. In fact, such orderly descrip¬tions in practical full detail as have been written are to be found chiefly in the Hathayoga works and Tantras which are the manuals, not only of Hindu worship, but of its occultism. Next, Yoga through action on the lowest centre seems characteristic of the Tantrik system, the adepts of which are the custodians of the practical knowledge where¬by the general directions in the books may be practically applied. The system is of a Tantrik character also in respect of its selection of the chief centre of consciousness. Various people have in antiquity assigned to various parts of the body the seat of the "soul"or life, such as the blood, 9 the heart and the breath. Generally the brain was not so regarded. The Vaidik system posits the heart as the chief centre of Consciousness—a relic of which notion we also still preserve in such phrases as “ take it to heart " and to “ learn by heart Sadhaka, which is one of the five functions of Pitta,10  and which is situated in the heart, indirectly assists in the performance of cognitive functions by keeping up the rhythmic cardiac contractions, and it has been suggested11   that it was perhaps this view of the heart’s construction which predisposed Indian
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8  A translation was, I am told, begun and not finished by the occultist James Pryse in Lucifer, the old Theosophical journal, which I
have not seen.
9   Cf. the Biblical saying, “ The blood is the life
10  See p. 12 of the Introduction to the third volumeo of my Tantrik n Texts (Prapanchasara Tantra).
11 Kaviraja Kunjalala Bhishagaratna in his edition of the Sushruta Samhita. Another explanation, however may be given—namely, that during man’s history the importance of the various perceptive centres has in fact varied.
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physiologists to hold it to be the seat of cognition. According to the Tantras, however, the chief centres of consciousness arc to be found in the Chakras of the cerebrospinal system and in the upper brain (Sahasrara), which they describe, though the heart is also recognized as a seat of the Jivatma, or embodied spirit, in its aspect as vital principle or Prana12.  It is for the reasons mentioned that the first verse of the Shat-chakra-nirupana here translated speaks of the Yoga which is to be achieved “ according to the Tantras ” (Tantranusarena)—that is, as Kalicharana, its Commentator, says, “ following the authority of the Tantras".
Recently some attention has been given to the subject in Western literature of an occult kind. Generally its authors and others have purported to give what they under stood to be the Hindu theory of the matter, but with con siderable inaccuracies. These are not limited to works of the character mentioned. Thus, to take but two instances of these respective classes, we find in a well-known Sanskrit dictionary13  that the Chakras are defined to be " circles or depressions (sic) of the body for mystical or chiromantic pur poses," and their location has in almost every particular been  
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12 According to some Indian views, the brain is the centre of the mind and senses, and the heart that of life. Charaka says that the heart is the root from which spring all other parts of the body, and is the centre of some of the functions or organs. According to Sushruta, the heart is the seat of sensations.
13 Professor Monier Williams' Sanskrit Dictionary, sub voce "Chakra
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wrongly given. The Muladhara is inaccurately described as being " above the pubis" Nor is the Svadhishthana the umbilical region. Anahata is not the root of the nose, but is the spinal centre in the region of the heart; Yishuddha is not “ the hollow between the frontal sinuses，’’ but is the spinal centre in the region of the throat. Ajna is not the fontanelle or union of the coronal and sagittal sutures, which are said to be the Brahmarandhra,1 but is in the position allotted to the third eye, or Jnanachakshu. Others, avoiding such gross errors, are not free from lesser in- accuracies. Thus, an author who, I am informed, had considerable knowledge of things occult, speaks of the Sushumna as a “ force ” which “ cannot be energised until Ida and Pingala have preceded it，” which “ passes to the accompaniment of violent shock through each section of the spinal marrow," and which, on the awakening of the sacral plexus, passes along the spinal cord and impinges on the brain, with the result that the neopyhte finds “ himself to be an unembodied soul alone in the black abyss of empty space, struggling against dread and terror unutterable ". He also writes that the “ current ” of Kundalini is called Nadi; that the Sushumna extends as a nerve to the Brahmarandhra; that the Tattvas are seven in number ; and other matters which are inaccurate. The Sushumna is not a "force," 2 and does not pass and impinge upon anything, but is the outer of the three Nadis, which form the conduit for the force which is the arousing of the Devi called Kundalini, the Cosmic Power in bodies, which force is not itself a Nadi, but passes through the innermost, of Chitrini Nadi, which terminates at the
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1 A term which is also employed to denote the Brahmanadi, in that the latter is the passage whereby the Brahmarandhra in the cerebrum is attained.
2 Except in the sense that everything is a manifestation of power.
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twelve-petalled lotus below the Sahasrara, from which ascent is made to the Brahmanandhra. It would be easy to point out other mistakes in writers who have referred to the subject. It will be more profitable if I make as correct a statement as my knowledge admits of this mode of Yoga. But I desire to add that some modern Indian writers have also helped to diffuse erroneous notions about the Chakras by describing them from what is merely a materialistic or physiological standpoint. To do so is not merely to mis represent the case, but to give it away; for physiology does not know the Chakras as they exist in themselves—that is， as centres of consciousness --and of the activity of Sukshma Prana-vayu or subtle vital force ; though it does deal with the gross body which is related to them. Those who ap¬peal to physiology only are likely to return non-suited.
We may here notice the account of a well-known “ Theosophical ” author1 regarding what he calls the “ Force centres " and the “ Serpent Fire," of which he writes that he has had personal experience. Though its author also refers to the Yoga Shastra, it may perhaps exclude error if we here point out that his account does not profess to be a representation of the teaching of the Indian Yogis (whose competence for their own Yoga the author somewhat disparages), but that it is put forward as the Author’s own original explanation (fortified, as he conceives, by certain portions of Indian teaching) of the personal experience which (he writes) he himself has had. This experience appears to consist in the conscious arousing of the “Serpent Fire," 2 with the enhanced “ astral ” and mental vision which he  
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1 “ The Inner Life, ’’ by C. W. Leadbeater, pp. 443-478, First Series.
2 This and the following notes compare his and the Indian theory. The Devi or Goddess is called Bhujangi or Serpent because at the lowest centre (Muladhara) She lies “ coiled ” round the Linga. “ Coiled " =at rest. The Cosmic Power in bodies is here at rest; when roused it is felt as intense heat.

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believes has shown him what he tells us.1 The centres, or Chakras, of the human body are described to be vortices of “ etheric ” matter2 into which rush from the “astral”3 world, and at right angles to the plane of the whirling disc, the sevenfold force of the Logos bringing “ divine life，’ into the physical body. Though all these seven forces operate on all the centres, in each of them one form of the force is greatly predominant. These inrushing forces are alleged to set up on the surface of the “ etheric double ’’4 secondary forces at right angles to themselves. The primary force on entrance into the vortex radiates again in straight lines, but at right angles. The number of these radiations of the primal force is said to determine the number of “ petals ”， (as the Hindus call them) which the “ Lotus ” or vortex exhibits. The secondary force rushing round the vortex produces, it is said, the appearance of the petals of a flower, or, “ perhaps more accurately, saucers or shallow vases of wavy iridescent glass In this way—that is, by the supposition of an etheric vortex subject to an incoming force of the Logos-both the “ Lotuses，’ described in the Hindu books and the number of their petals is accounted for by the author, who substitutes for the Svadhishthana centre a six-petalled lotus at the spleen,5 and corrects the number of petals of the lotus in the head, which he says is not a thousand, as the books of this Yoga say, “ but exactly 960 ”6 The “ etheric ’’ contre which keeps alive the physical vehicle
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1 Certain Siddhis or occult powers are acquired at each centre as the practitioner. works his way upwards.
2 The petals of the lotus are Prana-shakti manifested by Prana-or vital force. Each lotus is a contre of a different form of matter " (Bhuta) there predominant.--A.A.
3 This is a "Western term.—A.A.
4 Not mentioned in the account here given.—A.A.
5 See last note but three.
6 So little attention seems to be given to exactitude in this matter that one of the letters is dropped in order to make 1,000 petals—that is, 50X20. “ Thousand ” is, here, only symbolic of magnitude.—A.A.
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is said to correspond with an "astral"centre of four dimen sions, but between them is a closely woven sheath or web composed of a single compressed layer of physical atoms, which prevents a premature opening up of communication between the planes. There is a way, it is said, in which these may be properly opened or developed so as to bring more through this channel from the higher planes than ordinarily passes thereby. Each of these “ astral ”centres has certain functions : at the navel, a simple power of feeling ; at the spleen, “ conscious travel " in the astral body; at the heart, “ a power to comprehend and sympathise with the vibrations of other astral entities ” ; at the throat, power of hearing on the astral plane ; between the eyebrows, “ astral sight"; at the “ top of the head，’’ perfection of all faculties of the astral life.1 These centres are therefore said to take the place to some extent of sense organs for the astral body. In the first centre, “ at the base of the spine,” is the “ Serpent Fire,” or Kundalini, which exists in seven layers or seven degrees of force.2 This is the manifestation in etheric matter, on the physical plane, of one of the great world forces, one of the powers of the Logos of which vitality and electricity are examples. It is not, it is said, the same as Prana, or vitality.3 The “ etheric centres ” when fully aroused by the “ Serpent Fire ’’ bring down, it is alleged, into physical consciousness whatever may be the quality inherent in the astral centre which corresponds to it. When vivified by the “ Serpent Fire ” they become gates of connection between the physical
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1        Certain Siddhis are said to be gained at each centre. But the top of the head is far beyond the “ astral ” life. There Samadhi, or union
with the Supreme Consciousness, is had.—A.A.
2        Parashabda which is Kundalini in Her aspect as cause of all sound has seven aspects from Kundali to Bindu.—A.A.
3        Kundali is Shabdabrahman or the “ Word (Vak) ” in bodies, and is in Her own form (Svarupa) Pure Consciousness, and is all Powers (Sarvashaktimayi). Kundalini is in fact the cosmic energy in bodies and as such the cause of all and though manifesting as, is not confined to, any of Her products.- A.A.
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and “ astral ” bodies. When the astral awakening of these oentres first took place, this was not known to the physical consciousness. But the sense body can now “ be brought to share all these advantages by repeating that process of awakening with the etheric centres This is done by the .arousing through will-force of the “ Serpent Fire," which exists clothed in “ etheric matter in the physical plane, and sleeps1 in the corresponding etheric centre—that at the base of the spine When this is done, it vivifies the higher centres, with the effect that it brings into the physical con sciousness the powers which were aroused by the develop ment of their corresponding astral centres. In short, one begins to live on the astral plane, which is not altogether an advantage, were it not that entry into the heaven world is said to be achieved at the close of life on this plane.2 Thus, at the second centre, one is conscious in the physical body “ of all kinds of astral influences, vaguely feeling that some of them are friendly and some hostile without in the least knowing why At the third centre one is enabled to remember “ only partially ’’ vague astral journeys, with sometimes half-remembrance of a blissful sensation of flying through the air. At the fourth centre man is instinctively aware of the joys and sorrows of others, sometimes reproducing in himself their physical aches and pains. At the arousing of the fifth centre he hears voices “ which make all kinds of suggestions to him Sometimes he hears music “ or other less pleasant sounds ”.3 Full development secures
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1 Kundalini is called the Serpent (Bhujangi). She sleeps in the Muladhara, As to what She is, see last note. She sleeps because She is at rest. Then man’s consciousness is awake to the world, Her creation, in which She is immanent. When She awakes and Yoga is completed man sleeps to the world and enjoys super-worldly experience,
2 The end of Kundali Yoga is beyond all Heaven worlds. No Yogi seeks Heaven ” but union with that which is the source of all worlds.
3 According to the text translated, the sound of the Shabdabrahman is heard at the Anahata, or fourth centre.—A.A.
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clairaudience in. the “ astral ” plane. The arousing of the sixth centre secures results which are at first of a trivial character, such as “ half seeing landscapes and clouds of colour，” but subsequently amount to clairvoyance. Here it is said there is a power of magnification by means of an “ etheric ” flexible tube which resembles “ the microscopic snake on the head-dress of the Pharaohs The Power to expand or control the eye of this‘‘microscopic snake" is stated to be the meaning of the statement, in ancient books, of the capacity to make oneself large or small at will.1 When the pituitary body is brought into working order, it forms a link with the astral vehicle, and when the Fire reaches the sixth centre, and fully vivifies it, the voice of the “ Master ” (which in this case means the higher self in its various stages) is heard.2 The awakening of the seventh centre enables one to leave the body in full consciousness. “ When the fire has thus passed through all these centres in a certain order (which varies for different types of people), the consciousness becomes continuous up to the entry into the heaven world3 at the end of the life on the astral plane."

There are some resemblances between this account and the teaching of the Yoga Shastra, with which in a general way the author cited appears to have some acquaintance, and which may have suggested to him some features of his account. There are firstly seven centres, which with one exception correspond with the Chakras described. The author says that there are three other lower centres, but that concentration on them is full of danger. What these are is not stated. There is no centre lower, that I am aware
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1        There is no mention of such a “ snake The Siddhis Anima, etc., do not depend on it. It is consciousness which identifies itself with the small or the great.—A.A.
2        As the text hero translated says, the Ajna is so called because here is received the command of the Guru from above.—A.A.
3      See note 2, page 9 ante.
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of, than the Muladhara (as the name “ root-centre ” itself implies), and the only centre near to it which is excluded, in the above-mentioned account, is the Apas Tattva centre, or Svadhishthana. Next there is the Force, “the Serpent Fire，’’ which the Hindus call Kundalini, in the lowest centre, the Muladhara. Lastly, the effect of the rousing of this force, which is accomplished by will power (Yoga-bala)，1 is said to exalt the physical consciousness through the ascending planes to the "heaven world”. To use the Hindu expression, the object and aim of Shat-chakra-bheda is Yoga. This is ultimately union with the Supreme Self or Paramatma; but it is obvious that, as the body in its natural state is already, though unconsciously, in Yoga, otherwise it would not exist, each conscious step upwards is Yoga, and there are many stages of such before complete or Kaivalya Mukti is attained. This and, indeed, many of the preceding stages are far beyond the “heaven world" of which the author speaks. Yogis are not concerned with the “heaven world,'' but seek to surpass it; otherwise they are not Yogis at all. What, according to this theory, manifested force apparently does is this: it enhances the mental and moral qualities of the self-operator as they existed at the time of its discovery. But if this be so， such enhancement may be as little desirable as the original state. Apart from the necessity for the possession of health and strength, the thought, will and morality, which it is proposed to subject to its influence must be first purified and strengthened before they are intensified by the vivifying influence of the aroused force. Further, as I have else where pointed out,2 the Yogis say that the piercing of the
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1     With the aid of bodily purification, certain Asanas and Mudras (r. post).
2        In the first edition of my Mahanirvana Tantia, CXXIV.
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Brahmagranthi or “ knot"1 sometimes involves considerable pain, physical disorder, and even disease, as is not unlikely to follow from concentration on such a centre as the navel (Nabhipadma).

To use Hindu terms, the Sadhaka must be competent (Adhikari), a matter to be determined by his Guru, from whom alone the actual method of Yoga can be learned. The incidental dangers, however, stated by the author, go beyond any mentioned to me by Indians themselves, who seem to be in general unaware of the subject of “phallic sorcery,” to which reference is made by the author, who speaks of Schools of (apparently Western) “ Black Magic ’’ which are said to use Kundalini for the purpose of stimulating the sexual centre. Another author says:2 “ The mere dabbler in the pseudo-occult will only degrade his intellect with the puerilities of psychism, become the prey of the evil influence of the phantasmal world, or ruin his soul by the foul practices of phallic sorcery—as thousands of misguided people are doing even in this age.” Is this so ? It is possible that perverse or misguided concentration on sexual and connected centres may have the effect alluded to. And it may be that the Commentator Lakshmidhara alludes to this when he speaks of Uttara Kaulas who arouse Kundalini in the Muladhara to satisfy their desire for world-enjoyment and do not attempt to lead Her upwards to the Highest Centre which is the object of Yoga seeking super-worldly bliss. Of such, a Sanskrit verse runs “ they are the true prostitutes ”. I have, however, never heard Indians refer to this matter, probably because it does not belong to Yoga in its ordinary sense, as also by reason of the antecedent discipline required of those who would
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1  There are three " knots " which have to be pierced or centres where the force of Maya is particularly strong.
2  “ The Apocalypse Unsealed," p. 62.
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undertake this Yoga, the nature of their practice, and the aim they have in view, such a possibility does not come under consideration. The Indian who practises this or any other kind of spiritual Yoga ordinarily does so not on account of a curious interest in occultism or with a desire to gain "astral" or similar experiences.1 His attitude in this as in all other matters is essentially a religious one, based on a firm faith in Brahman (Sthiranishtha), and inspired by a desire for union with It, which is Liberation.

What is competency for Tantra (Tantrashastradhikara) is described in the second chapter of the Gandharva Tantra as follows: The aspirant must be intelligent (Daksha)，with senses controlled (Jitendriya)，abstaining from injury to all beings (Sarvahimsavinirmukta), ever doing good to all (Sarvapranihite ratah), pure (Shuchi); a believer in Veda (Astika), whose faith and refuge is in Brahman (Brahmish-thah, Brahmavadi, Brahmi, Brahmaparayana), and who is a non-dualist (Dvaitahina). “ Such an one is competent in this Scripture, otherwise he is no Sadhaka （So’smin shastre, dhikari syat tadanyatra na sadhakah.) With such an attitude it is possible that, as pointed out by an Indian writer (Ch. VII post), concentration on the lower centres \ associated with the passions may, so far from rousing, quiet them. It is quite possible, on the other hand, that another attitude, practice, and purpose, may produce another result. To speak, however, of concentration on the sexual centre is itself misleading, for the Chakras are not in the gross body, and concentration is done upon the subtle centre, with its presiding Consciousness, even though such centres may have ultimate relation with gross physical function. Doubtless,
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1 Those who do practise magic of the kind mentioned, work only in the lowest centre, have recourse to the Prayoga, which leads to Nayika Siddhi, whereby commerce is had with female spirits and the like. The process in this work described is one upon the path of Liberation and has nothing to do with sexual black magic.
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also, there is a. relationship and correspondence between the Shaktis of the mental and sexual centres, and the force |of the latter, if directed upwards, extraordinarily heightens all mental and physical functioning.1 In fact those who are “ centred "，know how to make all their forces converge upon the object of their will, and train and then use all such forces and neglect none. The experienced followers of this method, however, as I have stated, allow that this method is liable to be accompanied by certain inconveniences or dangers, and it is therefore considered inadvisable except for the fully competent (Adhikri).

There are, on the other hand, many substantial points of difference between the account which has been summarized and the theory which underlies the form of Yoga with which this work deals. The terminology and classification adopted by that account may be termed “ Theo-sophical"2; and though it may be possible for those who are familiar both with this and the Indian terminology to establish points of correspondence between the two systems, it must by no means be assumed that the connotation even in such cases is always exactly the same. For though “ Theosophical ’’ teaching is largely inspired by Indian ideas, the meaning which it attributes to the Indian terms which it employs is not always that given to these terms by Indians themselves. This is sometimes confusing and misleading, a result which would have been avoided had the writers of this school adopted in all cases their own nomenclature and
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1 Mind, Breath and Sexual function are interconnected. The aim of the Yogi is to carry " his seed high” to be Crddhvaretas as it is called. For this purpose the Viparita Mudras are designed.
2  I am aware that the Theosophical Society has no official doctrine. What I call " Theosophical ” are the theories put forward by its leading exponents and largely accepted by its members. I put the word in inverted commas to denote doctrine so taught and held by this Society, with which doctrines, Theosophy, in its general sense, is not necessarily wholly identified.
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definitions.1 Though for the visualization of our conceptions the term “ planes"  is a convenient one, and may be so employed, the division by “ principles" more nearly adumbrates the truth. It is not easy for me to correlate with complete accuracy the Indian and Theosophical theories as to man's principles. It has, however, been stated2 that the physical body has two divisions, the "dense ’’ and “ etheric ” body; that these correspond to the Annamaya and Pranamaya Koshas, and that the “ astral ” body corresponds to the Kamik or desire side of the Mano-mayakosa or mental sheath. Assuming for argument the alleged correspondence, then the ‘‘etheric centres’’ or Chakras, according to this account, appear to be centres of energy of the Prana-vayu or Vital Force. The lotuses are also this and centres of the universal consciousness. Kundalini is the static form of the creative energy in bodies which is the source of all energies, including Prana. According to this author's theory, Kundalini is some force which is distinct from Prana, understanding this term to mean vitality or the life-principle, which on entrance into the body shows itself in various manifestations of life which arc the minor Pranas, of which inspiration is called by the general name of the force itself (Prana). Verses 10 and 11 say of Kundalini : “ It is She who maintains all the beings (that is, Jiva, Jivatma) of the world by means of inspiration and expiration." She is thus the Prana Devata, but, as She is (Comm., vv. 10 and 11) Sfishti-sthiti-layatmika, all
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1   Thus, the Theosophical Sanskritist Srisha Chandra Vasu, in his ‘‘ Introduction to Yoga Philosophy," calls the Linga Sharira “ the ethereal duplicate ” (p. 85). According to the ordinary Indian use of that term the Linga Sharira is the subtle body—that is, the Antah-karana and Indriyas—vehicled by the Tanmatras, or according to another account, the five Pranas. Elsewhere (p. 51) it is called the
"Astral" body, and some statements are made as to the Chakras which are not in accordance with the texts with which I am acquainted.
2         “ Ancient Wisdom,” p. 176, by Dr. A. Besant.
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forces therefore are in Her. She is, in fact, the Shabda-brahman or “Word” in bodies. The theory discussed appears to diverge from that of the Yogis when we consider the nature of the Chakras and the question of their vivifi cation. According to the English author’s account, the Chakras are all vortices of "etheric matter," apparently of the same kind and subject to the same external influence of the inrushing sevenfold force of the " Logos "，but differ ing in this, that in each of the Chakras one or other of their sevenfold forces is predominant. Again, if, as has been stated, the astral body corresponds with the Manomayakosa, then the vivification of the Chakras appears to be， according to this account, a rousing of the Kamik side of the mental sheath. According to the Hindu doctrine, these Chakras are differing centres of consciousness, vitality and； Tattvik energy. Each of the five lower Chakras is the centre of energy of a gross Tattva—that is, of that form of Tattvik activity or Tanmatra which manifests the Maha-bhuta or sensible matter. The sixth is the centre of the subtle mental Tattva, and the Sahasrara is not called a Chakra at all. Nor, as stated, is the splenic centre included among the six Chakras which are dealt with here.  In the Indian system the total number of the petals corresponds with the number of the letters of the Sanskrit Alphabet,1 and the number of the petals of any specific lotus is determined by; the disposition of the subtile “ nerves ’’ or Nadis around it. These petals, further, bear subtile sound-powers, and are fifty1 in number, as are the letters of the Sanskrit Alphabet.

This Sanskrit work also describes certain things which are gained by contemplation on each of the Chakras. Some of them are of a general character, such as long life, freedom from desire and sin, control of the senses, knowledge, power
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1 Which are sometimes given as 50 and sometimes as.51.
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of speech and fame. Some of these and other qualities are results common to concentration on more than one Chakra. Others are stated in connection with the contemplation upon one centre only. Such statements seem to be made, not necessarily with the intention of accurately recording the specific result, if any, which follows upon concentration upon a particular centre, but by way of praise for increased self-control, or Stuti-vada; as where it is said in v. 21 that contemplation on the Nabhi-padma gains for the Yogi power to destroy and create the world.

It is also said that mastery of the centres may produce various Siddhis or powers in respect of the predominating elements there. And this is, in fact, alleged.1 Pandit Ananta Shastri says :2“ We can meet with several persons every (lay elbowing us in the streets or bazaars who in all sincerity attempted to reach the highest plane of bliss, but fell victims on the way to the illusions of the psychic world, and stopped at one or the other of the six Chakras. They are of varying degrees of attainment, and are seen to possess some power. which is not found even in the best intellectuals of the ordinary run of mankind. That this school of practical psychology was working very well in India at one time is evident from these living instances (not to speak of the numberless treatises on the subject) of men roaming about in all parts of the country." The mere rousing of the Serpent power does not, from the spiritual Yoga standpoint, amount to much.        Nothing, however, of real moment, from the higher Yogi's point of view, is achieved until the Ajna Chakra is reached. Here, again, it is said that the Sadhaka whose Atma is nothing but a
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1        See Yogatattva Upanishad, where contemplation on the Earth centre secures mastery over earth, etc. At the same time it points out that these “ powers ” are obstacles to Liberation.
2         Anandalahari, p. 35.
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meditation on this lotus “becomes the creator, preserver and destroyer of the three worlds ”; and yet, as the com mentator points out (v. 34), “This is but the highest Prashamsa-vada or Stutivada, that is, complement—which in Sanskrit literature is as often void of reality as it is in our ordinary life. Though much is here gained, it is not until the Tattvas of this centre are also absorbed, and complete knowledge1 of the Sahasrara is gained, that the Yogi attains that which is both his aim and the motive of his labour, cessation from rebirth which follows on the control and concentration of the Chitta on the Shivasthanam, the Abode of Bliss. It is not to be supposed that simply because the Serpent Fire has been aroused that one has thereby become a Yogi or achieved the end of Yoga. There are other points of difference which the reader will discover for himself, but into which I do not enter, as my object in comparing the two accounts has been to establish a general contrast between this modern account and that of the Indian schools. I may, however, add that the differences are not only as to details. The style of thought differs in a way not easy shortly to describe, but which will be quickly recognized by those who have some familiarity with the Indian Scriptures and mode of thought. The latter is ever disposed to interpret all processes and their results from a subjective standpoint, though for the purposes of Sadhana the objective aspect is not ignored. The Indian theory is highly philosophical. Thus, to take but one instance, whilst the Rt. Rev. Leadbeater attributes the
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1 This, it is obvious, comes only after long effort, and following on less complete experiences and results. According to Indian notions, success (Siddhi) in Yoga may be the fruit of experiences of many pre ceding lives. Kundalini must be gradually raised from one centre to another until she reaches the Lotus in the cerebrum. The length of time required varies in the individual—it may be years ordinarily or in exceptional cases months.
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power of becoming large or small at will (Anima and Mahima Siddhi) to a flexible tube or “ microscopic snake，’ in the forehead, the Hindu says that all powers (Siddhi) are the attributes (Aishvarya) of the Lord Ishvara, or Creative Consciousness, and that in the degree that the Jiva realizes that consciousness 1 he shares the powers inherent in the degree of his attainment.

That which is the general characteristic of the Indian systems, and that which constitutes their real profundity, is the paramount importance attached to Consciousness and its states. It is these states which create, sustain and destroy the worlds. Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva are the names for functions of the one Universal Consciousness operating in ourselves. And whatever be the means em ployed, it is the transformation of the “ lower ” into “ higher ’’ states of consciousness which is the process and fruit of Yoga and the cause of all its experiences. In this and other matters, however, we must distinguish both practice and experience from theory. A similar experience may possibly bo gained by various modes of practice, and an experience may be in fact a true one, though the theory which may be given to account for it is incorrect.

The following sections will enable the reader to pursue the comparison for himself.

As regards practice I am told that Kundalini cannot be roused except in the Muladhara and by the means here indicated, though this may take place by accident when by chance a person has hit upon the necessary positions and conditions, but not otherwise. Thus the story is told of a
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1 As this is by the Devi's grace, She is called “ the giver of the eight Siddhis " (Ishitvadyashtasiddhida). See Trishati, II. 47. She gives Aishvarya.
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man being found whose body was as cold as a corpse, though the top of the head was slightly warm, (This is the state Kundali-yoga, Samadhi.) He was massaged with ghee (clarified butter), when the head got gradually warmer. The warmth descended to the neck，when the whole body re gained its heat with a rush. The man came to consciousness, and then told the story of his condition. He said he had been going through some antics, imitating the posture of a Yogi, when suddenly “ sleep ’’ had come over him. It Was surmised that his breath must have stopped, and that being in the right position and conditions, he had un wittingly roused Kundali, who had ascended to Her cerebral centre. Not, however, being a Yogi he could not bring her down again. This, further, can only be done when the Nadis (v. post) are pure. I told the Pandit (who gave me this story, who was learned in this Yoga, and whose brother practised it) of the case of a European friend of mine who was not acquainted with the Yoga processes here described, though he bad read something about Kundali in translation of Sanskrit works, and who, nevertheless, believed he had roused Kundali by meditative processes alone. In fact, as he wrote me, it was useless for him as a European to go into the minutiae of Eastern Yoga. He, however, saw the “ nerves ” Ida and Pingala (v. post), and the “ central fire with a trembling aura of rosy light, and blue or azure light, and a white fire which rose up into the brain and flamed out in a winged radiance on either side of the head. Fire was seen flashing from centre to centre with such rapidity that he could see little of the vision, and movements of forces were seen in the bodies of others. The radiance or aura round Ida was seen as moonlike—that is, palest azure —and Pingala red or rather pale rosy opalescence. Kundali appeared in vision as of intense golden-like white fire rather ourled spirally. Taking the centres, Sushumna, Ida and Pingala, to be symbolized by the Caduceus of Mercury,1 the little ball at the top of the rod was identified with the Sahas-rara or pineal gland,2 and the wings as the flaming of auras on each side of the centre when the fire strikes it. One night, being abnormally free from the infection of bodily desires, he felt the serpent uncoil, and it ran up, and he was “ in a fountain of fire,” and felt, as he said, “ the flames spread ing wingwise about my head, and there was a musical clashing as of cymbals, whilst some of these flames, like emanations, seemed to expand and meet like gathered wings over my head. I felt a rocking motion. I realy felt frightened, as the Power seemed something which could consume me.” My friend wrote me that in his agitation he forgot to fix his mind on the Supreme, and so missed a divine adventure. Perhaps it was on this account that he said he did not regard the awakening of this power as a very high spiritual experience or on a level with other states of consciousness he experienced. The experience, however, \ convinced him that there was a real science and magic in the Indian books which treat of occult physiology.

The Pandit’s observations on this experience were as follows: If the breath is stopped and the mind is carried downwards, heat is felt. It is possible to " see " Kundalini with the mental eye, and in this way to experience Her without actually arousing Her and bringing Her up, which can only be effected by the Yoga methods prescribed. Kundalini may have thus been seen as Light in the basal centre (Muladhara). It was the mind (Buddhi) (v. post) which perceived Her, but as the experiencer had not been
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1 In which the rod is the central channel (Sushumna), which is interlaced by the Ida and Pingala sympathetics, the points of section being at the centres. The two wings at the top are the two lobes or petals of the Ajna Chakra.
2 Here I differ. The Sahasrara is at the top of the skull or upper brain. The pineal gland is much lower in the region of the Ajna Chakra.
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taught the practice he got confused. There is one simple

whether the Shakti is actually aroused, When she is aroused intense heat is felt at that spot but when she leaves a particular centre the part so left becomes as cold and apparently lifeless as a corpse. The progress upwards may thus be externally verified by others. When the Shakti (Power) has reached the upper brain (Sahasrara) the whole body is cold and corpse-like; except the top of the skull, where some warmth is felt, this being the place where the static and kinetic aspects of Consciousness unite.

The present work is issued, not with the object of establishing the truth or expediency of the principles and methods of this form of Yoga, a matter which each will determine for himself, but as a first endeavour to supply, more particularly for those interested in occultism and mysticism, a fuller, more accurate and rational presentation of the subject.

An understanding of the recondite matters in the treatise here translated is, however, only possible if we first shortly summarize some of the philosophical and religious doctrines which underlie this work, and a knowledge of which in his reader is assumed by its author.

The following sections, therefore, of this Introduction will deal firstly with the concepts of Consciousness1 and of the unconscious, as Mind, Matter and Life and with their association in the Embodied Spirit or Jivatma. Nextly the kinetic aspect of Spirit, or Shakti, is considered; its creative ideation and manifestation in the evolved Macrocosm and in the human body or Microcosm (Kshudra brahmanda), which is a replica on a email scale of the greater world. For as is said in the Vishvasara Tantra, “ What is here is elsewhere.
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1        For the meaning of this term as here used, see my “ Shakti and Shakta".
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What is not here is nowwhere ” (Yad ihasti tad anyatra yannehasti na tat kvachit). After an account of the “ Word” and the letters of speech, I conclude with the method of in volution or Yoga. The latter will not be understood unless the subject of the preceding sections has been mastered.

It is necessary to explain and understand the theory of world-evolution even in the practical matters with which this work is concerned. For as the Commentator says in v. 89，when dealing with the practice of Yoga, the rule is that things dissolve into that from which they originate, and the Yoga process here described is such dissolution (Laya). This return or dissolution process        in

Yoga will not be understood unless the forward or creative Pravritti) process is understood. Similar considerations apply to other matters here dealt with.

So also will a short analysis of the Shakta doctrine of Power be of value.

All that is manifest is Power (Shakti) as Mind, Life and Matter. Power implies a Power-Holder (Shaktiman) There is no Power-Holder without Power, or Power with out Power-Holder. The Power-Holder is Shiva. Power is Shakti, the Great Mother of the Universe. There is no Shiva without Shakti, or Shakti without Shiva. The two as they are in themselves are one. They are each Being, Consciousness and Bliss. These three terras are chosen to denote ultimate Reality, because Being or ' Is-ness '，as distinguished from particular forms of Being, cannot be thought away. ' To be' again is " to be conscious " and lastly perfect Being-Consciousness is the Whole, and unlimited unconstrained Being is Bliss. These three terms stand for the ultimate creative Reality as it is in itself. By the imposition upon these terms of Name (Nama) and Form (Rupa) or Mind and Matter, we have the limited Being-Consciousness and Bliss which is the Universe.

What then of Power when there is no Universe ? It is then Power to Be, to self-conserve and resist change. In evolution it is Power to become and to change, and in its manifestation as forms it is as material cause, the changeful Becoming of Worlds. Becoming does not = God, for it is finite form and He is the formless infinite. But the essence of these forms is infinite Power which = infinite Power-Holder. It is He who puts forth Power and creates the Universe.

Rest implies Activity, and Activity implies Rest. Behind all activity there is a static background. Shiva represents the static aspect of Reality and Shakti the moving aspect. The two, as they are in themselves, are one.1 All is Real, both Changeless and Changeful. Maya is not in this system “ illusion”，but is in the concise  words of the Shakta Sadhaka Kamalakanta ‘ the Form of the Formless ’ (Shunyasya akara iti Maya). The world is its form and these forms are therefore Real.  Man is then as to his essence the static Power-Holder, or Shiva who is pure Consciousness; and, as Mind and Body, he is the manifestation of Shiva’s Power, or Shakti or Mother. He is thus Shiva-Shakti. He is as he stands an expression of Power. The object of Sadhana or Worship and Yoga is to raise this Power to its perfect expression, which is perfect in the sense of unlimited experience. One mode of so doing is the Yoga here described, whereby man exchanges his limited or worldly experience for that which is the unlimited Whole (Purna) or Perfect Bliss.
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1 See as to Power, Chhand. Up., 6-2-1; 6-8-4; 6-8-6; 7-26-1; 6-2-8. Taitt. Up. Sveta. Up., 1-8 ; 6-8. Bigveda S., 10-129-2 ; 10-129-5. Taitt. Br., 8-8; 17-8. Yajurveda, 7-8-14-1. Mund. Up., 1-9. Kurma Purana, 1-12-28.
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II

                                        BODILESS CONSCIOUSNESS       

The bases of this Yoga are of a highly metaphysical and scientific character. For its understanding there is required a full acquaintance with Indian philosophy, religious doctrine, and ritual in general, and in particular with that presentment of these three matters which is given in the Shakta and Monistic (Advaita)1 Shaiva Tantras. It would need more than a bulky volume to describe and explain in any detail the nature and meaning of this Yoga, and the bases on which it rests. I must, therefore, assume in the reader either this general knowledge or a desire to acquire it, and confine myself to such an exposition of general principles and leading facts as will supply the key by which the doors leading to a theoretical knowledge of the subject may be opened by those desirous of passing through and beyond them, and as will thus facilitate the understanding of the difficult texts here translated. For on the practical side I can merely reproduce the directions given in the books together with such explanations of them as I have received orally. Those who wish to go farther, and to put into actual process this Yoga, must first satisfy themselves of the value and suitability of this Yoga and then learn directly of a Guru who has himself been through it (Siddha). His experience alone will say whether the aspirant is capable of success. It is said that of those who attempt it, one out
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1  As to the Advaita of Shakta Tantra, see " Shakti and Shakta," 3rd Edition.
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of a thousand may have success. If the latter enters upon the path, the Guru alone can save him from attendant risks, moulding and guiding the practice as he will according to the particular capacities and needs of his disciple. Whilst, therefore, on this heading it is possible to explain some general principles, their application is dependent on the circumstances of each particular case.

The ultimate or irreducible reality is  ' Spirit ' in the sense of Pure Consciousness (Chit, Samvit) from out of which as and by its Power (Shakti), Mind and Matter proceed. Spirit 1 is one. There are no degrees or differen ces in Spirit. The Spirit which is in man is the one Spirit which is in everything and which, as the object of worship is the Lord (Ishvara) or God. Mind and Matter are many and of many degrees and qualities. Atma or Spirit as such is the Whole (Purna) without section (Akhanda). Mind and Matter are parts in that Whole. They are the not-whole (Apurna) and are the section (Khanda). Spirit is infinite (Aparichchhinna) and formless (Arupa). Mind and Matter are finite (Parichchhinna) and with form (Rupa).

Atma is unchanged and inactive. Its Power (Shakti) is active and changes in the form of Mind and Matter. Pure Consciousness is Chit or Samvit. Matter as such is the unconscious. And Mind too is unconscious according to Vedanta. For all that is not the conscious self is the un-onscious object. This does not mean that it is unconscious in itself. On the contrary all is essentially consciousness, but that it is unconscious because it is the object of the conscious self. For mind limits Consciousness so as to enable man to have finite experience. There is no Mind without consciousness as its background, though
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1 Spirits is Atma. which manifests as the Self. Its vehicles are Mind or Antahkarana working with Manas and the Senses or Indriyas, and Matter, namely, the five kinds of Bhuta or sensible matter.
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supreme Consciousness is Mindless (Amanah). Where there is no mind (Amanah), there is no limitation. Conscious ness remaining in one aspect unchanged changes in its other aspect as active Power which manifests as Mind and Body. Man then is Pure Consciousness (Chit) vehicled by its Power as Mind and Body.

In Theology this Pure Consciousness is Shiva, and His Power (Shakti) who as She is in Her formless self is one with Him. She is the great Devi, the Mother of the Universe who as the Life-Force resides in man’s body in its lowest centre at the base of the spine just as Shiva is realized in the highest brain centre, the cerebrum or Sahasrara Padma.

Completed Yoga is the Union of Her and Him in the body of the Sadhaka. This is Laya or dissolution, the reverse of Srishti or involution of Spirit in Mind and Matter.

Some worship predominantly the masculine or right side of the conjoint male and female figure (Ardhanarish vara). Some, the Shaktas, predominantly worship the left， and call Her Mother, for She is the Great Mother (Magna Mater), the MahadevI who conceives, bears, and nourishes the universe sprung from Her womb (Yoni). This is so because She is the active aspect1 of Consciousness, imagining (Srishtikalpana)2 the world to be, according to the
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1     The quiescent Shiva-aspect is by its definition inert. It is because of this that the Devi is in the Tantras symbolically represented as being above the body of Shiva, who lies under Her like a corpse (Shava). As the Kubjika Tantra, Ch. I, states, it is not Brahma, Vishnu and Rudra, who create, maintain and destroy, but their Shaktis, Brahmani, Vaishnavi, Rudrani. See Pranatoshini , 9. Activity is the nature of Prakriti (Samkhya Pravachana Sutra, III. 66). For the same reason the female form is represented in sexual union as being above (Viparita) the male. When the Devi stands above Shiva, the symbolism also denotes (particularly in the case of Kali) the liberating aspect of the Mother. See " Principles of Tantra,"I. 828.
2        The world is called an imagination (Kalpana), for it is creative ideation on the recalled memory of the past universe. As the Yogini-hridaya Tantra says, “ the picture of the world is designed by her own will ” (Svechchhavishvamayollekhakhachitam), “ seeing which Bhagavan was very pleased
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impressions (Samskara) derived from enjoyment and suffer ing in former worlds. It is held natural to worship Her as Mother. The first Mantra into which all men are initiated is the word Ma (Mother). It is their first word and generally their last. The father is a mere helper (Sahakari-matra) of the Mother.1 The whole world of the five elements also springs from the Active Consciousness or Shakti, and is Her manifestation (Purna-vikasha). Therefore men worship the Mother,2 than whom is none more tender,3 saluting Her smiling beauty as the rosy Tripurasundari, the source of the universe, and Her awe-inspiring grandeur as Kali, who takes it back into Herself. Here we are concerned with Yoga which is the realization of the union of the Mother and Lord aspects in that state of consciousness which is the Absolute.

Veda says: “All this (that is, the manifold world) is (the one) Brahman" (Sarvam khalvidam Brahma).4 How the many can be the one5 is variously explained by the different schools. The interpretation here given is that
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1 The Supreme Father gives His illumination (Prakasha). She, the Yimarshashakti, produces, but not alone. (Vimarshashakti prakashatmana paramashivena samarasya-vishvam srijati na tu kevala—Yogini-hridaya Tantra).
2  In Matri-bhava, according to the Sanskrit term. Philosophically also this is sound, for all that man knows (outside ecstasy of Samadhi) is the Mother in Her form as the world. The Supreme Shakti, who is not different from Shiva (Parashaktishivabhinna), is embodied in every order of thing (Sarvakramasharirini—Yoginihridaya Tantra).
3 It is said that “ there is nothing more tender than Prakriti," who serves Purusha in every way in his enjoyment, finally giving Mukti or Liberation by retiring from Him when He no longer serves Her.
4 This, as the Mahanirvana Tantra says (VII. 98), is the end and aim of Tantrika Kulachara, the realization of which saying the Prapanchasara Tantra calls the fifth or supreme State (Ch. XIX, Vol. Ill, “ Tantrik Texts
5 Thus it is said of Dev! that She is in the form of one and many(Ekanekaksharakritih). Ekam=ekam ajnanam or Maya. Anekani=the several Ajnanas一that is, Avidya. She is both as upadhi of Ishvara
and Jiva (Trishati, II. 23).
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contained in the Shakta Tantras or Agamas. In the first place, what is the one Reality which appears as many ? What is the nature of Brahman as it is in itself (Svarupa) ? The answer is Sat-Chit-Ananda—that is, Being-Conscious-ness-Bliss. Consciousness or feeling, as such (Chit or Samvit), is identical with Being as such. Though in ordinary experience the two are essentially bound up together, they still diverge or seem to diverge from each other. Man by his constitution inveterately believes in an objective existence beyond and independent of himself. And there is such objectivity as long as, being embodied Spirit (Jivatma), his consciousness is veiled or contracted 1 by Maya. But in the ultimate basis of experience, which is the Supreme Spirit (Paramatma), the divergence has gone, for in it lie, in undifferentiated mass, experiencer, experience, and the experienced. When, however, we speak of Chit as Feeling-Consciousness we must remember that what we know and observe as such is only a limited changing manifestation of Chit, which is in itself the infinite changeless principle, which is the background of all experience. This Being Consciousness is absolute Bliss (Ananda), which is defined as “ resting in the self "（Sva-rupa-vishranti). It is Bliss because, being the infinite All (Purna), it can be in want of nothing. This blissful consciousness is the ultimate or irreducible nature or Svarupa or own form of the one Reality which is both the Whole as the irreducible Real and        as the reducible Real.

Svarupa is the nature of anything as it is in itself, as distinguished from what it may appear to be. Supreme Consciousness is the Supreme Shiva-Shakti (Parashiva Parashakti) which never changes, but eternally endures the same throughout all change effected in its creative aspect
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1 Samkocha. Fullness or wholeness is “ veiled ” in order that the part or particular may be experienced.
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as Shiva-Shakti. All manifestation is associated with ap parent unconsciousness. The mind is evidently not a pure, but a limited consciousness. What limits it must be something either in itself unconscious or, if conscious, capable of producing the appearance of consciousness.1 In the phenomenal world there is nothing absolutely conscious nor absolutely unconscious. Consciousness and unconsciousness are always intermingled. Some things, however, appear to be more conscious, and some more unconscious than others. This is due to the fact that Chit, which is never absent in anything, yet manifests itself in various ways and degrees. The degree of this manifestation is determined by the nature and development of the mind and body in which it is enshrined. Spirit remains the same; the mind and body change. The manifestation of consciousness is more or less limited as ascent is made from the mineral to man. In the mineral world Chit mani fests as the lowest form of sentiency evidenced by reflex response to stimuli，and that physical consciousness which is called in the West atomic memory. The sentiency of plants is more developed, though it is, as Chakrapani says, in the Bhanumati a dormant consciousness. This is further manifested in those micro-organisms which are intermediate stages between the vegetable and animal worlds, and have a psychic life of their own. In the  animal world conscioness becomes more centralized and complex, reaching its fullest development in man, who possesses all the psychic functions such as cognition, percep-tion , feeling and will.Behind all these particular changing forms of sentiency or consciousness is the one formless, that is, as distinguished from the particular forms of its manifestation.
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1 The alternative is given to meet the differing views of Mayavada and Shaktivada.
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As Chit throughout all these stages of life remains the same it is not in itself really developed. The appearance of development is due to the fact that It is now more and now less veiled or contracted by Mind and Matter. It is this veiling by the power of Consciousness (Shakti) which creates the world. What is it, then, which veils conscious ness and thus produces world-experience ?

The answer is Power or Shakti as Maya. Maya Shakti is that which seemingly makes the Whole(Purna) into the not-whole (Apurna), the infinite into the finite, the formless into forms and the like. It is a power which thus outs down, veils and negates. Negates what ? Perfect conscious-ness. Is Shakti in itself the same as or different from Shiva or Chit ? It must be the same, for otherwise all could not be one Brahman. But if it is the same it must be also Chit or Consciousness. Therefore it is-Sachchida-nandamayi 1 and Chidrupini.2

And yet there is, at least in appearance, some distinc tion. Shakti, which comes from the root Shak, “ to have power"，“ to be able，” means power. As She is one with Shiva as Power — holder (Shaktiman), She as such Power is the power of Shiva or Consciousness. There is no difference between Shiva as the possessor of power (Shaktiman) and Power as It is in Itself. The power of Consciousness is Consciousness in its active aspect. Whilst, therefore, both Shiva and Shakti are Consciousness, the former is the changeless static aspect of Consciousness, and Shakti is the kinetic active aspect of the same Consciousness. The particular power whereby the dualistic world is brought into
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1     That is, its substance is Sat, Chit, Ananda. The suffixes Mayi and Rupini indicate a subtle distinction—namely, that She is in Herself. Chit, and yet by appearance the effect of the Power something different from it.
2        In the form or nature of Chit. As the Kubjika Tantra says, the Parama Kala is both Chit (Chidrupa) and Nada (Nadarupa).
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金刚得

being is Maya Shakti, which is both a veiling (Avarana) and projecting (Vikshepa) Shakti. Consciousness veils itself to itself, and projects from the store of its previous experiences (Samskara) the notion of a world is which it suffers and. enjoys. The universe is thus the creative

imagination (Srishtikalpana, as it is called) of the Supreme Word-thinker (Ishvara). Maya is that power by which things are “measured ”一that is, formed and made known (Miyate anaya iti maya). It is the sense of difference (Bhedabuddhi), or that which makes man see the world, and all things and persons therein, as different from him-self, when in essence he and they are the one Self. It is that which establishes a dichotomy in what would otherwise be a unitary experience, and is the cause of the dualism inherent in all phenomenal experience. Shakti as action veils consciousness by negating in various degrees Herself as Consciousness.

Before the manifestation of the universe, infinite Being Consciousness-Bliss alone was—that is, Shiva-Shakti as Chit and Chidrupini respectively.1

This is the Experience-whole (Purna) in which as the Upanishad says, “ The Self knows and loves the Self ” It is this Love which is Bliss or “ resting in the self,” for, as it is elsewhere said, “ Supreme love is bliss ” (Nira-tishayapremaspadatvam anandatvam). This is Parashiva, who in the scheme of the Thirty-six Tattvas，2 is known as
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1 Aham prakritirupa chet chidananda-parayana (Kulachudamani Nigama, Ch. I, vv. 16-24, Vol. IV, " Tantrik Texts ”).
2        Raghava Bhatta says Ya anadirupa chaitanyadhyasena mahapra-laye sukshma sthita (Comm. on Sharada Tilaka, Ch. I).
See as to the Kashmir School, and its Philosophy of the Tattvas J, C. Chatterji’s work on " Kashmir Shaivism
This is Paramashiva, or Nirguna (attributeless), or Nishkala (devoid of manifested Shakti), Shiva, or Parabrahman, as contrasted with Saguna (with attribute), or Sakala (with parts or Shakti), Shiva, or Shabdabrahman (Brahman as the source of " sound," v. post.)
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Parasamvit. This Monism posits a dual aspect of the single Consciousness—one the transcendental changeless aspect (Parasamvit), and the other the creative changing aspect, which is called Shiva-Shakti Tattva. In Parasamvit the “ I ” (Aham) and the “ This ” (Idam), or universe of objects, are indistinguishable mingled in the supreme unitary ex perience.1

In Shiva-Shakti Tattva, Shakti, which is the negative aspect of the former, Her function being negation (Nishedha-vyapara-rupa Shaktih), negates Herself as the object .of experience, leaving the Shiva consciousness as a mere “ I，” " not looking towards another " (Ananyonmukhah aham-pratyayah). This is a state of mere subjective illumination (Prakasha-matra)2 to which Shakti, who is called Vimarsha,3 again presents Herself, but now with a distinction of “ I ” and “ This ’’ as yet held together as part of one self. At this point, the first incipient stage of dualism, there is the first transformation of consciousness, known as Sadasbiva or Sadakhya Tattva, which is followed by the second or Ishvara Tattva, and then by the third or Shuddavidya Tattva. In the first emphasis is laid on the “ This ”，in the second on the “ I，” and in the third on both equally. Then Maya severs the united consciousness so that the object is seen as other than the self and then as split up into the multitudinous objects of the universe.
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1 As the Yoginihridaya Tantra says : The Para Devi is Prakasha-vimarshasamarasyarupini. This is the Nirvikalpajnana state in which there is no distinction of “ This ’’ and ‘‘ That ”，of ‘‘ I ” and ‘‘ This". In Vikalpajnana there is subject and object.
2 Paramashiva has two aspects—Prakasha and Vimarsha, or Kameshvara and Kameshvari the Paralinga. Prakasha = asphutasphuti kara，or manifestation of what is not manifest.
3 This word comes from the root mrish=to touch, to affect, to cogitate. It is that which is pounded or handled by thought, that is, object of reflective thought. Pradhana and Prakriti also involve the meaning “ placing in front ” ; that which is so placed is object. All three terms denote the principle of objectivity.
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In the Mantra side of the Tantra Shastra, dealing with Mantra and its origin, these two Tattvas emanating from Shakti are from the sound side known as Nada and Bindu. Parashiva and Parashakti are motionless (Nihspanda) and soundless (Nihshabda).

Nada is the first produced movement in the ideating cosmic consciousness leading up to the Sound-Brahman (Shabda-brahman), whence all ideas, the language in which they are expressed (Shabda), and the objects (Artha) which they denote, are derived.

Bindu literally means a point and the dot (Anusvara), which denotes1 in Sanskrit the nasal breathing (°). It is1 placed in the Chandrabindu nasal breathing above Nada (°). In its technical Mantra sense it denotes that state of active Consciousness or Shakti in which the " I" or illuminating aspect of Consciousness identifies itself with the total “ This ”.2 It subjectifies the “ This,” thereby becoming a point (Bindu) of consciousness with it. When Conscious-ness apprehends an object as different from Itself, It sees that object as extended in space. But when that object is completely subjectified, it is experienced as an unextended point. This is the universe-experience of the Lord-ex-perienoer as Bindu.3

Where does the Universe go at dissolution ? It is with drawn into that Shakti which projected it. It collapses, so to speak, into a mathematical point without any magnitude
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1 Lit, What goes with (anu) with vowel sound (Svara or Svara).
2        For until the operation of Maya. at a later stage the " This " is still experienced as part of the " I " Therefore there is no manifestation or dualism.
3        For the same reason Shakti is then said to be Ghanibhuta, which is literally massive or condensed. It is that state of gathered-up power which immediately precedes the burgeoning forth (Sphurana) of the universe.
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whatever.1 This is the Shivabindu, which again is with drawn into the Shiva-Shakti-Tattva which produced it. It is conceived that round the Shiva Bindu there is coiled Shakti, just as in the earth centre called Muladhara Chakra in the human body a serpent clings round the self-produc ed Phallus (Svayambhulinga). This coiled Shakti may be conceived as a mathematical line, also without magnitude, which, being everywhere in contact with the point round which it is coiled, is compressed together with it, and forms therefore also one and the same point. There is one indivisi ble unity of dual aspect which is figured also in the Tantras2 a grain of gram (Chanaka), which has two seeds so closely joined as to look as one surrounded by an outer sheath.3

To revert to the former simile, the Shakti coiled round Shiva, making one point (Bindu) with it, is Kundalini Shakti. This word comes from the word Kundala or “ a coil ” ,“ a bangle”. She is spoken of as coiled, because She is likened to a serpent (Bhujangi), which, when resting and sleeping，lies coiled ; and because the nature of Her power is spiraline, manifesting itself as such in the worlds-the spheroids or “ eggs of Brahma ” (Brahmanda), and in their circular or revolving orbits and in other ways. Thus the Tantras speak of the development of the straight line, (Rijurekha.) from the point which, when it has gone its length as a point, is turned (Vakrarekha amkushakara) by the force of the spiraline sack of Maya in which it works
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1     The imagery, like all of its kind, is necessarily imperfect; for such a point, though it has no magnitude, is assumed to have a position. Here there is none, or we are in spacelessness.
2        See the Commentary, post.
3        The two seeds are Shiva and Shakti, and the sheath is Maya. When they come apart there is “ creation Again the imagery is faulty, in that there are two seeds, whereas Shiva and Shakti are the One with dual aspect.

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so as to form a figure of two dimensions, which again is turned upon itself, ascending as a straight line into the plane of the third dimension, thus forming the triangular or pyramidal figure called Shringataka.1 In other words, this Kundali Shakti is that which, when it, moves to manifest itself, appears at the universe. To say that it is “ coiled ” is to say that it is at rest—that is, in the form of static potential energy. This Shakti coiled round the Supreme Shiva is called Mahakundali (“ The great coiled power ")，to distinguish it from the same power which exists in individual bodies, and which is called Kundalini.2 It is with and through the last power that this Yoga is effected. When it is accomplished the individual Shakti (Kundali) is united with the great cosmic Shakti (Maha-Kundali), and She with Shiva, with whom She is essentially one. Kundalini is an aspect of the eternal Brahman (Brahmarupa Sanatani), and is both attributeless and with attribute (Nirguna and Saguna). In Her Nirguna aspect She is pure Consciousness (Chaitanyarupini) and Bliss itself (Ananda-rupini, and in creation Brahmanandaprakashini). As Saguna She it is by whose power all creatures are displayed (Sarvabhutaprakashini).3 Kundali Shakti in individual bodies is power at rest，or the static centre round which every from of existence as moving power revolves. In the universe there is always in and behind every form of activity a static background. The one Consciousness is polarized into static (Shiva) and kinetic (Shakti) aspects for the purpose of “creation”. This Yoga is the resolution of this duality into unity again.
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1      The shape of the Singara water-nut, which grows freely in the lakes of Kashmir. Here I may observe that Yantras, though drawn on the flat, must be conceived of in the solid mass. The flat drawing is a mere suggestion of the three-dimensional figure which the Yantra is
2      Because She is thus bent, the Devi is called Kubjika (hunchback).
3         Kubjika, Tantra, Ch. I, Pranatoshini, p. 8.       
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金刚得

The Indian Scriptures say, in the words of Herbert Spencer in his First Principles," that the universe is an unfoldment (Srishti) from the homogeneous (Mulaprakriti) to the heterogeneous (Vikriti), and back to the homogeneous again (Pralaya or Dissolution). There are thus alternate states of evolution and dissolution, manifestation taking place after a period of rest. So also Professor Huxley, in his “ Evolution and Ethics "，speaks of the manifestation of cosmic energy (Maya Shakti) alternating between phases of potentiality (Pralaya) and phases of explication (Shrishti). “It may be,” he says, “as Kant suggests, every cosmic magma predestined to evolve into a new world has been the no less predestined end of a vanished predecessor." This the Indian Shastra affirms in its doctrine that there is no such thing as an absolutely first creation, the present universe being but one of a series of worlds which are past and are yet to be.

be. Maya, as the world, potentially exists as Mahakundali, who is Herself one with Consciousness or Shiva. This Maya contains, and is in fact constituted by, the collective Samskara or Vasana—that is, the mental impressions and tendencies produced by Karma accomplished in previously existing worlds. These constitute the mass of the potential ignorance (Avidya) by which Consciousness veils itself. They were produced by desire for worldly enjoyment, and themselves produce such desire. The worlds exist because they, in their totality, will to exist. Each individual exists because his will desires worldy life. This seed is therefore the collective or cosmic will towards manifested life—that is, the life of form and enjoyment. At the end of the period of rest, which is Dissolution, this seed ripens in Consciousness.

Consciousness has thus a twin aspect; its liberation (Mukti) or formless aspect, in which it is as mere Conscious ness-Bliss; and a universe or form aspect, in which it becomes the world of enjoyment (Bhukti). One of the cardinal principles of the Shakta Tantra is to secure by its Sadhana both Liberation (Mukti) and Enjoyment (Bhukti).1 This is possible by the identification of the self when in enjoyment with the soul of the world. When. this seed ripens, Shiva is said to put forth His Shakti. As this Shakti is Himself, it is He in his Shiva-Shakti aspect who comes forth (Prasarati) and endows Himself with all the forms of worldly life. In the pure, perfect, formless Consciousness there springs up the desire to manifest in the world of forms—the desire for enjoyment of and as form. This takes place as a limited stress in the ultimate unmoving surface of pure Consciousness, which is Nishkala Shiva, but without affecting the latter. There is thus change in changelessness and changelessness in change. Shiva in His transcendent aspect does not change，but Shiva (Sakala) in His immanent aspect as Shakti does. As creative will arises, Shakti thrills as Nada,2 and assumes the form of Bindu, which is Ishvara Tattva, whence all the worlds derive. It is for their creation that Kundali uncoils. When Karma ripens, the Devi, in the words of the Nigama,3 “ becomes desirous of creation，and covers Herself with Her
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1      Bhogena moksham apnoti bhogena kulasadbanam Tasmad yatnad bhogayukto bhaved viravarah sudhib.
(Kularnava Samhita, v. 219)
"By world-experience (Bboga Bhukti) he gains Liberation or World experience is the means for the attainment of Kula. Therefore, the wise and good Vira should carefully be united with world-experience.”
2        Literally “ sound," that initial activity which is the first source of the subsequently manifested Shabda (sound) which is the Word to which corresponds the Artha or Object.
3        Kulachadamani, Vol. IV, " Tantrik Texts" Ch. I, vv. 16.24.
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own Maya”. Again, the “ Devi, joyful in the mad delight of Her union with the Supreme Akula,1 becomes Vikarimi "2 —that is, the Vikaras or Tattvas of Mind and Matter, which constitute the universe, appear.

The Shastras have dealt with the stages of creation in great detail both from the subjective and objective viewpoints as changes in the limited consciousness or as movement (Spanda), form, and “ sound " (Shabda). Both Shaivas and Shaktas equally accept the Thirty-Six categories or Tattvas, the Kalas, the Shaktis Unmani and the rest in the Tattvas, the Shadadhva, the Mantra concepts of Nada, Bindu； Kamakala, and so forth.3 Authors of the Northern Shaiva School, of which a leading Shastra is the Malinivijaya Tantra, have described with great profundity these Tattvas. General conclusions only are, however, here summarized. These thirty-six Tattvas are in the Tantras divided into three groups, called Atma, Vidya and Shiva Tattvas. The first group includes all the Tattvas, from the lowest Prithivi (“ earth ”）to Prakriti, which are known as the impure categories (Ashuddha Tattva); the second includes Maya, the Kanchukas,4 and Purusha, called the pure impure categories (Shuddha-ashuddha Tattva); and
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1 Akula is a Tantrik name for Shiva, Shakti being called Kula, which is Matri, Mana, Meya. In the Yoginihridaya Tantra it is said (Ch. I) ： Kulam meyamanamatrilakshanam, kaulastatsamastih. These three are Knower, Knowing, known, for that is Consciousness as Shakti.
2 Kulachudamani, Vol. IV，" Tantik Texts " Ch. I, vv. 16-24.
3 See as to these terms the author's ‘‘ Garland of Letters，’.
4 Forms of Shakti whereby the natural perfections of Consciousness are limited. Thus from all-knowing it becomes little-knowing; from being almighty, it becomes a little doer, etc. See “ Garland of Letters
The term Samkocha (contraction) expresses the same idea. The Devi is Samkuchadrupa through Matri, Mana, Meya, and therefore so also is Shiva as Jiva (tatha shivo’pi samkuchadrupah).—Yoginlhridaya Tantra.
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the third includes the five highest Tattvas called the pure Tattvas (Bhuddha Tattva), from Shiva Tattva to Shuddha-vidya. As already stated, the supreme changeless state (Parasamvit)1 is the unitary experience in which the “ I " and “ This " coalesce in unity.

In the kinetic or Shakti aspect, as presented by the pure categories, experience recognizes an “ I ’’ and “ This,” but the latter is regarded, not as something opposed to and outside the “ I，” but as part of a one self with has two sides—an “ I ” (Aham) and “ This ” (Idam). The emphasis varies from insistence on the “ I " to insistence on the “ This,” and then to equality of emphasis on the “ I ” and “ This ” as a preparation for the dichotomy in consciousness which follows.

The pure-impure categories are intermediate between the pure and the impure. The essential characteristic of experience constituted by the impure categories is its dualism effected through Maya一and its limitations一the result of the operation of the Kanchukas. Here the “ This ’’ is not seen as part of the Self, but as opposed to and without it as an object seen outside. Each consciousness thus became mutually exclusive the one of the other. The states thus described are threefold : a transcendent mingled “ I " and “ This  " in which these elements of experience are as such not evolved; and a pure form of experience intermediate between the first and last, in which both the ‘‘ I " and the “ This ” are experienced as part of the one self; and, thirdly, the state of manifestation proper, when there is a complete cleavage between the “ I ” and the “ This.” in which an outer object is presented to the consciousness of a knower which is other than the subject. This last stage is itself twofold. In the first the Purusha experiences
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1 This is not counted as a Tattva, being Tattvatita,
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a homogeneous universe, though different from himself as Prakriti; in the second Prakriti is split up into its effects (Vikriti), which are Mind and Matter, and the multitudinous beings of the universe which these compose. Shakti as Prakriti first evolves mind (Buddhi, Ahamkara, Manas) and senses (Indriya), and then sensible matter (Bhuta) of fivefold form (“ether,” “air,” “fire,” “ water,” “earth”）1 derived from the supersensible generals of the sense-particulars called Tanmatra. When Shakti has entered the last and grossest Tattva (“ earth ”)一that is, solid matter—there is nothing farther for Her to do. Her creative activity then ceases, and She rests. She rests in Her last emanation, the “ earth ” principle. She is again coiled and sleeps. She is now Kundali Shakti, whose abode in the human body is the Earth centre or Muladhara Chakra. As in the supreme state She lay coiled as the Mahakundali round the Supreme Shiva, so here She coils round the Sva-yambhu Linga in the Muladhara. This last centre or Chakra and the four above it are centres of the five forms of Matter. The sixth centre is that of Mind. Consciousness and its processes through Shakti prior to the appearance of Maya are realized in the seventh lotus (Sahasrara-padma) and centres intermediate between it and the sixth or Ajna Mind centre.

The mantra evolution, which must be known if the Text is to be understood, is set forth with great clarity in the Sharada. Tilaka, wherein it is said that from the Sakala Shiva (Shiva Tattva), who is Sat-Chit-Ananda, issued Shakti (Shakti Tattva); from the latter Nada (Sadakhya
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1        These terms have not the ordinary English meaning, but denote the ethereal, gaseous，igneous, liquid, and solid states of matter. In worship (Puja) they are symbolized by the following ingredients (Upachara): Pushpa (flower), ether; Dhupa (incense), air ; Dipa (light), fire; Naivedya (food-offering), water ; Chandana (sandal), earth.
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Tattva); and from Nada evolved Bindu (Ishvara Tattva),1 which, to distinguish it from the Bindu which follows, is called the Supreme Bindu (Para-Bindu). Nada and Bindu are, like all else, aspects of Power or Shakti, being those states of Her which are the proper conditions for (Upayogavastha) and in which She is prone to (Uchchhunavastha) “ creation In those Tattvas the germ of action (Kriya Shakti) sprouts towards its full manifestation.

The Tantras, in so far as they are Mantra Shatras, are concerned with Shabda or “ Sound ” a term later explained. Mantra is manifested Shabda. Nada, which also literally means “ sound,” is the first of the produced intermediate causal bodies of manifested Shabda. Bindu, which has previously been explained, is described as the state of the letter Ma before manifestation, consisting of the Shiva-Shakti Tattva enveloped by Maya or Parama Kundalini. It implies both the void (Shunya)—that is, the Brahman state (Brahmapada)一in the empty space within the circle of the Bindu ; as also the Gunas which are implicitly contained in it, since it is in indissoluble union with Shakti, in whom the Gunas or factors constituting the material source of all things are contained.2 The Parabindu is called the Ghanavastha or massive state of Shakti. It is Chidghana or massive consciousness—that is, Chit associated with undifferentiated (that is, Chidrupini) Shakti, in which lie potentially in a mass (Ghana), though undistinguishable the one from the other, all the worlds and beings to be created. This is Parama Shiva, in whom are all the Devatas. It is this Bindu who is the Lord (Ishvara) whom
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1 Sachchidananda-vibhavat sakalat parameshvarat Asichchhaktis tato nado nadad bindu-samudbhavah
(Ch. I.)
2 See vv. 4, 37-49, S. N., post: Todala Tantra, Ch. IV ; and Kama-kalamalini Tantra, cited in v. 48.
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some Pauranikas call Mahavishnu and others the Brahmapurusha.1 As the Commentator says, it does not matter what He is called. He is the Lord (Ishvara) who is worshipped in secret by all Devas,2 and is pointed to in different phases of the Chandrabindu, or Nada, Bindu, Shakti and Shanta of the Om and other Bija Mantras. Its abode is Satyaloka, which within the human body exists in the pericarp of the thousand-petalled lotus (Sahasrara) in the highest cerebral centre. The Sharada3 then says that this Parabindu, whose substance is Supreme Shakti, divides itself into three—that is, appears under a threefold aspect . There are thus three Bindus, the first of which is called

-Bindu,4 and the others Nada and Bija. Bindu is in the nature of Shiva and Bija of Shakti.5 Nada is Shiva-Shakti -that is, their mutual relation or interaction (Mithah samavayah)6 or Yoga (union), as the Prayogasara calls it.7
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1        S. N.，v. 49.
2         lb., v. 41.
3         Ch. I.
4        Karya, or produced, Bindu, to distinguish it from the casual (Karana) Bindu or Parabindu.
5   In the case of the Mantras, Bija (according to the Kulachudamani, v, 58) is the first letter of a Kuta or group and what follows is Shakti. Thus in the Mantra “ Krim," K is Bija and R and I are Shakti. By the Bija form is made (Bijena murtikalpana).
6   Parashaktimayah sakshat tridhasan bhidyate punah Bindur nado bijam iti tasya bhedah samiritah Binduh shivatmako bijam shaktir nadas tayor mithah Samavayah samakhyatah sarvagamavisharadaih (Ch, I).
‘‘ This (Bindu) which is both Shiva and Shakti divides itself again int.o three parts. Bindu, Nada and Bija are its three parts. Bindu is Shivatmaka (i.e., Shiva), Bija is Shakti and Nada is said to be the mutual relation between them by all who are versed in the Agamas."
The first word of the third line reads better as Binduh shivatmako than as Bindur nadatmako, as some MSS., such as that from which I Quoted in Introduction to the Mahanirvana. The Commentary to v. 40, also speaks of Bindu as being Nadatmaka, but explains that that means Shivatmaka. See also to the same effect Kriyasara,
7  See Raghava Bhatta's Comm, on Ch. I，v. 8 of Sharada:
Nirgunah sagunash cheti shivo jneyah sanatanah
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金刚得

The threefold Bindu (Tribindu) is supreme (Para), subtle (Sukshma) and gross (Sthula).1 Nada is thus the union of these two in creation. As the Text says (v. 40), it is by this division of Shiva and Shakti that there arises creative ideation (Srishti-kalpana). The causal Bindu is from the Shakti aspect undifferentiated Shakti (Abhedarupa Shakti) with all powers (Sarvashaktimaya); from the Prakriti aspect Trigunamayi Mulaprakriti; from the Devata aspect the unmanifest (Avyakta); from the Devi aspect Shanta. The three Bindus separately indicate the operations of the three powers of Will (Ichchha), Knowledge (Jnana), and Action (Kriya), and the three Gunas (Rajas, Sattva, Tamas); also the manitestation of the three Devis (Vama, Jyeshtha,
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Nirgunachchaiva samjata bindavas traya eva cha Brahmabindur vishnubindu rudrabindur maheshvari.

“ The eternal Shiva is to be known both as Nirguna (without attributes) and Saguna (with attributes). From the attributeless (Nirguna), O        Mahesvari, originated the three Bindus which are Brahma-bindu, Vishnu-bindu and Rudra-bindu."

The verse as cited in Pranatoshini (p. 18) reads in sound line Nirgunashohaiva ; but this must be a mistake for Nirgunachchaiva, for the Bindus themselves are not Nirguna, but spring from it.

1        Asmach cha karanabindoh sakashat  kramena karyabindus tato nadas tato bijam iti trayam utpannam tad idam parasukshmasthulapadaih kathyate (Lalita-Sahasranama, Comm.).
From this Causal (Karana) Bindu again there originated Karya (Effect) Bindu, and thereafter Nada and thereafter Bija—these three. These are spoken of as Para (transcendent), Sukshma (subtle) and Sthula (gross).
These represent the Chit, Chidachit, Achit aspects of nature. Chidamshah chidachinmishrah achidamshahscha tesham rupani (Bhas-kararaya; Comm. Lalita).

Kalena bhidyamanastu sa bindur bhavati tridha, Sthulasukshmaparatvena tasya traividhyamishyate, Sa bindunadabijatva bhedena cha nigadyate.

Ete cha karanabindvadayash chatvara adhidaivatam avyaktesh-varahiranyagarbhaviratsvarupah shantavanajyeshtharaudrirupa ambi-kechchhajnanakriyardpash cha (ib.). Adhibhutantu kamarupapurnagiri-jalandharaudyanapitharupah. Pitharupa, iti tu nityahridaye spashtam (ib). Citing Rahasyagama.
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Raudri) and the three Devatas (Brahma, Vishnu, Rudra) who spring from them.1 It is said in the Prayogasara and Sharada that Raudri issued from Bindu, Jyeshtha from Nada, and Vama from Bija. From these came Rudra, Vishnu, Brahma, which are in the nature of Jnana, Kriya, Ichchha, and Moon, Sun and Fire.2 The three Bindus are known as Sun (Ravi), Moon (Chandra), and Fire (Agni), terms constantly appearing in the works here translated.

In Sun there are Fire and Moon.3 It is known as Mishra Bindu, and in the form of such is not different from Paramashiva, and is Kamakala.4 Kamakala is the
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1   Ichchha, Rajas, Vama, Brahma, Pashyantishabda,
Jnana, Sattva, Jyeshtha, Vishnu, Madhyamashabda,
Kriya, Tamas, Raudri, Rudra, Vaikharishabda.
See Comm. 22 Shloka, Kamakalavilasa, Samketa, I, Yoginihri-daya Tantra, and Saubhagya-sudhodaya, cited in Samketa 2 of the last Tantra. As the Rudra Yamala says (II. 2)，the three Devas are aspects of the One.
Eka murtistrayo devil brahmavishnumaheshvarah Mama vigrahasamklipta srijaty avati hanti cha.
But see next note.
2     Cited in Pranatoshini, p. 8.
Raudri bindos tato nadaj jyeshtha bijad ajayata Vama tabhyah samutpannah rudra-brahma-ramadhipah Te jnanechchha-kriyatmano vahnindvarka-svarupinah.
Ichchha kriya tatha jnanam gauri brahmiti vaishnavi Tridha shaktih sthita yatra tatparam jyotir om iti.
As the author of the Pranatoshini (p. 9) says, the names are not to be read in the order of words (Pratishabdam), otherwise Jnana would be associated with Yaishnavi, but according to the facts (Yatha-sambhavam) as stated in the next. According to this account it would seem that Jnana Sattva, and Kriya Tamas in note I，should be transposed.
3        It is Agnishomamayah. See Tlka, vv. 6, 7, of Kamakalavilasa. See my “ Garland of Letters
4        That is, Kamayukta Kala, Kala with creative will (here its manifestation).
Mahabindu = Paramashiva = Mishrabindu = Ravi= Kamakala. Ravi-paramashivabhinna mishrabindurupa Kamakala.
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Triangle of Divine Desire formed by the three Bindus一 that is, their collectivity (Samashtirupa).1 This Kamakala is the root (Mula) of all Mantra. Moon (Soma, Chandra) is Shiva Bindu, and white (Sita Bindu); Fire (Agni) is Shaktibindu, and red (Shonabindu); Sun is a mixture of the two. Fire, Moon and Sun are the Ichchha, Jnana, Kriya Shaktis (Will, Knowledge, Action). On the material plane the white Bindu assumes the form of semen (Shukra)， and the red Bindu of menstrual fluid (Rajasphala, Shonita).  Mahabindu is the state before the manifestation of Prakriti.2 All three Bindus—that is, the Kamakala—are Shakti, though one may indicate predominantly the Shiva, the other the Shakti aspect. Sometimes Mishra Bindu is called Shakti Tattva, to denote the supremacy of Shakti, and sometimes Shiva Tattva, to denote the supremacy of the possessor of power (Shaktiman). It is of coupled form (Yamalarapa). There is no Shiva without Shakti, nor Shakti without Shiva.3 To separate 4 them is as impossible as to separate the moving wind from the steadfast ether in which it blows. In the one Shiva-Shakti there is a union (Maithuna),5 the thrill of which is Nada, whence Mahabindu is bom, which itself becomes threefold
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1  As Ravi or Surya (Sun) Bindu is in the form of Parashiva, and in it are the other two Bindus, it is the Samashtirupa of them, and is thus called Kamakala.
2  This, which is O, becomes 一that is, Chandra, Ravi and Ra (fire).
3   Tayor yad yamalam rupam sa sanghatta iti smritah
Anandashaktih saivokta yato vishvam visrijyati Na Shivah Shaktirahito na Shaktih Shivavarjita.
(Tantraloka-Ahnika, 8.)
“ The coupled form of these two (Shiva-Shakti) is called junction. That is called the blissful Shakti from which creation arises. There is no Shiva without Shakti, nor Shakti without Shiva.”
4   Ib,        3 Ahn.
5   On the physical plane this word denotes sexual union.
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