The Serpent Power — Arthur Avalon (Sir John Woodroffe) (1924)
“Below Visarga is the lotus of a thousand petals.”—This is the purport of the Shloka. Visarga is in the upper part of the Brahma-randhra. Cf. “(Meditate) in that aperture on Visarga the ever blissful and stainless.” There are other similar passages.
“Its body is luminous with,” etc. (Lalātādyaih varnaih pravilasitavapuh).—The word Lalāta stands for the first vowel, A. By this we are to understand that the second Lakāra (L) is to be left out in counting the letters of the Alphabet. In counting the fifty letters, the second Lakāra¹ is always left out.
If the text is read as “Lakārādyaih varnaih,” as is done by
some, we must leave Ksha-kāra out in counting the letters.
The fifty-one letters cannot be taken to be in the petals of the
Sahasrāra.² With fifty-one letters repeated twenty times,
1 Vaidika Lakāra (La).
2 i.e., fifty-one letters cannot be arranged in the Sahasrāra.
the number is 1,020, and repeated nineteen times is 969. By leaving out Ksha-kāra we are freed of this difficulty. By “Lakārādyaih” it is not meant that the letters are to be read Viloma.¹ The Kangkāla-mālinī in the following passage distinctly says that it is to be read Anuloma²: “The Great Lotus Sahasrāra is white, and has its head downward, and the lustrous letters from A-kāra (A), ending with the last letter before Kshakāra (Ksha), decorate it.” Here it is distinctly stated that the letter Ksha is left out.
Akārādi-ksha-kārāntaih: This compound, Ksha-kārānta, if formed by Bahu-vrihi-samāsa,³ would mean that Kshakāra is left out of calculation.
There is nothing said of the colour of the letters, and, as the Mātrikā (letters) are white, they are to be taken as being white on the Sahasrāra petals. These letters go round the Sahasrāra from right to left.⁴
Some read Pravilasita-tanuh in place of pravilasita-vapuh, and say that, as the word padma alternatively becomes masculine in gender (vā pungsi padmam), therefore the word Tanu, which qualifies a word in the masculine gender, is itself masculine. That cannot be. The verb Nivasati (=is, dwells) has for its nominative Padmam, and, as it ends with the Bindu (ṁ), it is in the neuter gender and not masculine. For in that case it would have ended with visarga (i.e., h), and its adjective, tanu, would also end with a visarga. The word tanu (if their reading is accepted) would be in the neuter; therefore it cannot end with a Bindu. And if there is no Bindu the metre becomes defective. Therefore the correct reading is Pravilasita-vapuh.
The rest is clear.
1 i.e., from end to beginning.
2 From beginning to end.
3 A form of Sanskrit verbal compound.
4 Dakshināvarta—the opposite way to that in which the hands of a clock work.
Verse 41
WITHIN it (Sahasrāra) is the full Moon, without the mark of the hare,¹ resplendent as in a clear sky. It sheds its rays in profusion, and is moist and cool like nectar. Inside it (Chandra-mandala), constantly shining like lightning, is the Triangle,² and inside this, again, shines the Great Void³ which is served in secret by all the Suras.⁴
COMMENTARY
He here speaks of the existence of the Chandra-mandala in the pericarp of the Sahasrāra.
“Resplendent as in a clear sky” (Shuddha)—seen in a cloudless sky (nirmalo-daya-vishishta).
“Is moist and cool,” etc. (Parama-rasa-chaya-snigdha-santānahāsī).—Snigdha which means moist here implies the moisture of the nectar. Parama-rasa (Amrita) is free from heat. Hence the meaning of this compound word: Its rays are cool and moist, and produce a feeling of smiling gladness.
The Kangkāla-mālinī speaks of the presence of Antarātmā, etc., in the upper portion of the space below Chandra-mandala. In dealing with the Sahasrāra, it says: “In its pericarp, O Deveshī, is the Antarātmā. Above it is the Guru. The Mandalas of Sūryya
1 The man in the moon.
2 The A-ka-thādi triangle according to Vishvanātha.
3 Shūnya=Bindu—that is, the Parabindu, or Īshvara, having as its centre the abode of Brahman (Brahmapada). In the northern Shaiva and Shākta schools Sadāshiva and Īshvara are the Nimesha and Unmesha aspects of the experience intermediate between Shiva Tattva and Shuddhavidyā, the former being called Shūnyātishūnya. The positions of the Sun and Moon circles in the Sahasrāra and of the twelve-petalled lotus with the Kāmakalā are given in the Text.
4 i.e., Devas.
and Chandra are also there. Above this is Mahāvāyu, and then the Brahma-randhra. In this aperture (Randhra) is Visarga, the ever blissful Brahman. Above this (Tadūrddhve) last is the Devī Shangkhinī, who creates, maintains, and destroys.”
“Within Chandra-mandala constantly shines, like lightning, the triangle” (Trikonam tasyāntah vidyudakārarūpam). That is the shining triangle is there.
“Inside this shines the Great Void” (Tadantah shūnyam sphurati).—That which as a void within is, the body of the Parabindu (Paravindusharīram). Within the triangle the excellent Bindu (Shūnya) shines, or within the triangle the Shūnya which is the excellent Bindu shines.
“Below Visarga is the lotus of a thousand petals.”—This is the purport of the Shloka. Visarga is in the upper part of the Brahma-randhra. Cf. “(Meditate) in that aperture on Visarga the ever blissful and stainless.” There are other similar passages.
“Its body is luminous with,” etc. (Lalātādyaih varnaih pravilasitavapuh).—The word Lalāta stands for the first vowel, A. By this we are to understand that the second Lakāra (L) is to be left out in counting the letters of the Alphabet. In counting the fifty letters, the second Lakāra¹ is always left out.
If the text is read as “Lakārādyaih varnaih,” as is done by
some, we must leave Ksha-kāra out in counting the letters.
The fifty-one letters cannot be taken to be in the petals of the
Sahasrāra.² With fifty-one letters repeated twenty times,
1 Vaidika Lakāra (La).
2 i.e., fifty-one letters cannot be arranged in the Sahasrāra.
the number is 1,020, and repeated nineteen times is 969. By leaving out Ksha-kāra we are freed of this difficulty. By “Lakārādyaih” it is not meant that the letters are to be read Viloma.¹ The Kangkāla-mālinī in the following passage distinctly says that it is to be read Anuloma²: “The Great Lotus Sahasrāra is white, and has its head downward, and the lustrous letters from A-kāra (A), ending with the last letter before Kshakāra (Ksha), decorate it.” Here it is distinctly stated that the letter Ksha is left out.
Akārādi-ksha-kārāntaih: This compound, Ksha-kārānta, if formed by Bahu-vrihi-samāsa,³ would mean that Kshakāra is left out of calculation.
There is nothing said of the colour of the letters, and, as the Mātrikā (letters) are white, they are to be taken as being white on the Sahasrāra petals. These letters go round the Sahasrāra from right to left.⁴
Some read Pravilasita-tanuh in place of pravilasita-vapuh, and say that, as the word padma alternatively becomes masculine in gender (vā pungsi padmam), therefore the word Tanu, which qualifies a word in the masculine gender, is itself masculine. That cannot be. The verb Nivasati (=is, dwells) has for its nominative Padmam, and, as it ends with the Bindu (ṁ), it is in the neuter gender and not masculine. For in that case it would have ended with visarga (i.e., h), and its adjective, tanu, would also end with a visarga. The word tanu (if their reading is accepted) would be in the neuter; therefore it cannot end with a Bindu. And if there is no Bindu the metre becomes defective. Therefore the correct reading is Pravilasita-vapuh.
The rest is clear.
1 i.e., from end to beginning.
2 From beginning to end.
3 A form of Sanskrit verbal compound.
4 Dakshināvarta—the opposite way to that in which the hands of a clock work.
Verse 41
WITHIN it (Sahasrāra) is the full Moon, without the mark of the hare,¹ resplendent as in a clear sky. It sheds its rays in profusion, and is moist and cool like nectar. Inside it (Chandra-mandala), constantly shining like lightning, is the Triangle,² and inside this, again, shines the Great Void³ which is served in secret by all the Suras.⁴
COMMENTARY
He here speaks of the existence of the Chandra-mandala in the pericarp of the Sahasrāra.
“Resplendent as in a clear sky” (Shuddha)—seen in a cloudless sky (nirmalo-daya-vishishta).
“Is moist and cool,” etc. (Parama-rasa-chaya-snigdha-santānahāsī).—Snigdha which means moist here implies the moisture of the nectar. Parama-rasa (Amrita) is free from heat. Hence the meaning of this compound word: Its rays are cool and moist, and produce a feeling of smiling gladness.
The Kangkāla-mālinī speaks of the presence of Antarātmā, etc., in the upper portion of the space below Chandra-mandala. In dealing with the Sahasrāra, it says: “In its pericarp, O Deveshī, is the Antarātmā. Above it is the Guru. The Mandalas of Sūryya
1 The man in the moon.
2 The A-ka-thādi triangle according to Vishvanātha.
3 Shūnya=Bindu—that is, the Parabindu, or Īshvara, having as its centre the abode of Brahman (Brahmapada). In the northern Shaiva and Shākta schools Sadāshiva and Īshvara are the Nimesha and Unmesha aspects of the experience intermediate between Shiva Tattva and Shuddhavidyā, the former being called Shūnyātishūnya. The positions of the Sun and Moon circles in the Sahasrāra and of the twelve-petalled lotus with the Kāmakalā are given in the Text.
4 i.e., Devas.
and Chandra are also there. Above this is Mahāvāyu, and then the Brahma-randhra. In this aperture (Randhra) is Visarga, the ever blissful Brahman. Above this (Tadūrddhve) last is the Devī Shangkhinī, who creates, maintains, and destroys.”
“Within Chandra-mandala constantly shines, like lightning, the triangle” (Trikonam tasyāntah vidyudakārarūpam). That is the shining triangle is there.
“Inside this shines the Great Void” (Tadantah shūnyam sphurati).—That which as a void within is, the body of the Parabindu (Paravindusharīram). Within the triangle the excellent Bindu (Shūnya) shines, or within the triangle the Shūnya which is the excellent Bindu shines.
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