The Serpent Power — Arthur Avalon (Sir John Woodroffe) (1924)
Cf. Todala Tantra, 6th Ullāsa: “The Supreme Light is formless (Nirākāra), and Bindu is imperishable. Bindu means the void (Shūnya), and implies Guna also.”¹
“Served in secret” (Sevitang chātiguptam).—The rule is,
“Eating (Āhāra), evacuation (Nirhāra), sexual intercourse (Vihāra),
and Yoga, should be done in secret by him who knows the
Dharma.” Hence Suras (Devas) serve or worship It in secret.
1 When it assumes the form of Bindu, It is with the operating Gunas, for then It is Sakala.
p. 112
Verse 42
WELL concealed, and attainable only by great effort, is that subtle Bindu (Shūnya) which is the chief root of Liberation, and which manifests the pure Nirvāna Kalā with Amā Kalā.¹ Here is the Deva who is known to all as Parama Shiva. He is the Brahman and the Ātmā of all beings. In Him are united both Rasa and Virasa,² and He is the Sun which destroys the darkness of nescience³ and delusion.⁴
COMMENTARY
The sense is that the void (Shūnya) is very secret and subtle, being, as described later, like the ten millionth part of the end of a hair. It is attainable only by great effort consisting of long and incessant performance of Dhyāna and like practices. It makes manifest the purity of the sixteenth Kalā of the moon along with Nirvāna Kalā—i.e., the void (Antāh-shūnya) along with the Amā Kalā and Nirvāna Kalā within the triangle is realised (Prakāsham bhavati) by meditation (Dhyāna). It is the source of all the mass of great Bliss, which is Liberation. Some, however, read Sakala-shashi-kalā-shuddha-rūpa-prakāsham as qualifying the great Void within the triangle, and read ‘sakala’ to mean with all the sixteen kalās and say that the Para Bindu manifests the moon with such kalās. This requires consideration. When it was said that the
1 There are seventeen Kalās (digits) of the Moon, but the nectardropping Amā and the Nirvānakalā are only at this stage revealed. The other Kalās are mentioned in Skanda Purāna, Prabhāsa Khanda.
2 The Bliss of liberation and that arising from the union of Shiva and Shakti; vide post.
3 Ajnāna.
4 Moha. This verse occurs in Tripurā-sāra-samuchchaya, ch. V, 40.
Plate XI. UDDIYĀNA BANDHA IN SIDDHASANA—1st STAGE
(Vide pp. 208 and 212)
To face p. 112.
p. 113
Trikona (triangle) is within the full moon, the repetition of it is useless. Furthermore, in the previous verse we have got “served by the Suras”. The term “service” as applied to a void is inappropriate. The object of service is the Bindu within the triangle. If it be said that the Void should be worshipped by reason of the presence of the Para Bindu, then the Para Bindu being there present there is no void.
“Well concealed” (Suguptam).—By reason of its being like the ten millionth part of a hair.
“By great effort” (Yatnāt)—i.e., by long-continued practice of meditation (Dhyāna) and so forth.
“Chief root” (Parang kandam.¹)—Para usually means supreme, excellent; here chief, principal. Kanda=Mūla.
“Liberation,” etc. (Atishaya-paramāmodasantāna-rāshi).—The compound word means, literally, continuity of all the mass of great and supreme bliss, and this is Liberation (Moksha).
“Manifests, etc., Amākalā” (Sakala-shashi-kalā-shuddha-rūpaprakāsham).—This compound word is to be broken up as follows:
Sakala=with the Kalā: Kalā here meaning Nirvāna Kalā.
In the word Shashi-kalā the Kalā means Amākalā, the sixteenth
Kalā, or digit, of the moon. Shuddha=pure; the lustre is not
obscured by anything.
The sense is that the Parabindu, though subtle and otherwise imperceptible, is seen by meditation (Dhyāna) with the Amā Kalā and Nirvāna Kalā in the Trikona. If Sugopyam be read in place of Suguptam, then it would be qualified by Yatnāt.
Some read Sakala-shashi-kalā-shuddha-rūpa-prakāsham to qualify Shūnya in the previous verse, and say Shūnya means “vacant space,” but that is absurd.²
Next he speaks of the presence of Parama Shiva in the pericarp of the Sahasrāra.
“Paramashiva”³ (Paramashiva-samākhyāna-siddha). He who is known by the name Parama Shiva.
1 Kanda means bulb or root. The Yoginihridaya says that this Kanda is the subtle Parānanda-kandabindurūpa, or the root of supreme Bliss in Bindu form (Vishvanātha).
2 According to the Commentator, it qualifies Kanda. Bindu is the circle O; the void is the Brahmapada or space within.
3 Vishvanātha says that this Shiva is the Saguna Shiva.
p. 114
“The Brahman” (Kharūpi).¹—Kha=Ātmā, the spirit.
“The Ātmā of all beings” (Sarvātmā).—Sarva=all (beings). He is the Jīvātmā, but in fact there is no distinction between Jīvātmā and Paramātmā. The Ātmā is the Jiva. The Adhyātma Rāmāyana says: “The Jīvātmā is merely another name
(Paryyāya) for the Paramātmā. When by the instructions of the Āchāryya and the Shāstras their oneness is known, then the disciple possesses Mūlavidyā concerning Jīvātmā and Paramātmā.”
The Shruti also, when it says “That thou art”—Tat tvam asi,²—identifies the Tvam (Thou) with the Tat (That).
“Rasa and Virasa” (Rasa-virasamita).—Rasa is Paramā- nanda-rasa—i.e., the experience of Supreme Bliss.³ Virasa is the bliss which is the product of the union of Shiva and Shakti. He is both. Or Rasa may mean the natural attachment to worldly enjoyment, and Virasa detachment from it. The meaning would then be: in Him is the Supreme Bliss arising from his detachment from worldly enjoyment.⁴
“The Sun”=Hangsa. As the sun dispels darkness, so does
He dispel nescience (Ajnāna) and delusion (Moha).
1 Cf. Shruti “Khang Brahma” Chhā. 4—10—5 Brah. 5—1—1.
2 “That Thou art.” See Introduction.
3 i.e., Moksha.
4 That is, the Rasa in Him has become Virasa.
Verse 43
BY shedding a constant and profuse stream of nectar-like essence,¹ the Bhagavān² instructs the Yati³ of pure mind in the knowledge by which he realises the oneness of the Jīvātmā and the Paramātmā. He pervades all things as their Lord, who is the ever-flowing and spreading current of all manner of bliss known by the name of Hangsah Parama (Parama-hangsah).
COMMENTARY
“Constant and profuse” (Niravadhi atitarām).
“By shedding a stream of nectar-like essence” (Sudhā-dhārā- sāram vimunchan).—The compound word can be made up and interpreted in four different ways:
1. Shedding a stream of nectar-like essence.
Cf. Todala Tantra, 6th Ullāsa: “The Supreme Light is formless (Nirākāra), and Bindu is imperishable. Bindu means the void (Shūnya), and implies Guna also.”¹
“Served in secret” (Sevitang chātiguptam).—The rule is,
“Eating (Āhāra), evacuation (Nirhāra), sexual intercourse (Vihāra),
and Yoga, should be done in secret by him who knows the
Dharma.” Hence Suras (Devas) serve or worship It in secret.
1 When it assumes the form of Bindu, It is with the operating Gunas, for then It is Sakala.
p. 112
Verse 42
WELL concealed, and attainable only by great effort, is that subtle Bindu (Shūnya) which is the chief root of Liberation, and which manifests the pure Nirvāna Kalā with Amā Kalā.¹ Here is the Deva who is known to all as Parama Shiva. He is the Brahman and the Ātmā of all beings. In Him are united both Rasa and Virasa,² and He is the Sun which destroys the darkness of nescience³ and delusion.⁴
COMMENTARY
The sense is that the void (Shūnya) is very secret and subtle, being, as described later, like the ten millionth part of the end of a hair. It is attainable only by great effort consisting of long and incessant performance of Dhyāna and like practices. It makes manifest the purity of the sixteenth Kalā of the moon along with Nirvāna Kalā—i.e., the void (Antāh-shūnya) along with the Amā Kalā and Nirvāna Kalā within the triangle is realised (Prakāsham bhavati) by meditation (Dhyāna). It is the source of all the mass of great Bliss, which is Liberation. Some, however, read Sakala-shashi-kalā-shuddha-rūpa-prakāsham as qualifying the great Void within the triangle, and read ‘sakala’ to mean with all the sixteen kalās and say that the Para Bindu manifests the moon with such kalās. This requires consideration. When it was said that the
1 There are seventeen Kalās (digits) of the Moon, but the nectardropping Amā and the Nirvānakalā are only at this stage revealed. The other Kalās are mentioned in Skanda Purāna, Prabhāsa Khanda.
2 The Bliss of liberation and that arising from the union of Shiva and Shakti; vide post.
3 Ajnāna.
4 Moha. This verse occurs in Tripurā-sāra-samuchchaya, ch. V, 40.
Plate XI. UDDIYĀNA BANDHA IN SIDDHASANA—1st STAGE
(Vide pp. 208 and 212)
To face p. 112.
p. 113
Trikona (triangle) is within the full moon, the repetition of it is useless. Furthermore, in the previous verse we have got “served by the Suras”. The term “service” as applied to a void is inappropriate. The object of service is the Bindu within the triangle. If it be said that the Void should be worshipped by reason of the presence of the Para Bindu, then the Para Bindu being there present there is no void.
“Well concealed” (Suguptam).—By reason of its being like the ten millionth part of a hair.
“By great effort” (Yatnāt)—i.e., by long-continued practice of meditation (Dhyāna) and so forth.
“Chief root” (Parang kandam.¹)—Para usually means supreme, excellent; here chief, principal. Kanda=Mūla.
“Liberation,” etc. (Atishaya-paramāmodasantāna-rāshi).—The compound word means, literally, continuity of all the mass of great and supreme bliss, and this is Liberation (Moksha).
“Manifests, etc., Amākalā” (Sakala-shashi-kalā-shuddha-rūpaprakāsham).—This compound word is to be broken up as follows:
Sakala=with the Kalā: Kalā here meaning Nirvāna Kalā.
In the word Shashi-kalā the Kalā means Amākalā, the sixteenth
Kalā, or digit, of the moon. Shuddha=pure; the lustre is not
obscured by anything.
The sense is that the Parabindu, though subtle and otherwise imperceptible, is seen by meditation (Dhyāna) with the Amā Kalā and Nirvāna Kalā in the Trikona. If Sugopyam be read in place of Suguptam, then it would be qualified by Yatnāt.
Some read Sakala-shashi-kalā-shuddha-rūpa-prakāsham to qualify Shūnya in the previous verse, and say Shūnya means “vacant space,” but that is absurd.²
Next he speaks of the presence of Parama Shiva in the pericarp of the Sahasrāra.
“Paramashiva”³ (Paramashiva-samākhyāna-siddha). He who is known by the name Parama Shiva.
1 Kanda means bulb or root. The Yoginihridaya says that this Kanda is the subtle Parānanda-kandabindurūpa, or the root of supreme Bliss in Bindu form (Vishvanātha).
2 According to the Commentator, it qualifies Kanda. Bindu is the circle O; the void is the Brahmapada or space within.
3 Vishvanātha says that this Shiva is the Saguna Shiva.
p. 114
“The Brahman” (Kharūpi).¹—Kha=Ātmā, the spirit.
“The Ātmā of all beings” (Sarvātmā).—Sarva=all (beings). He is the Jīvātmā, but in fact there is no distinction between Jīvātmā and Paramātmā. The Ātmā is the Jiva. The Adhyātma Rāmāyana says: “The Jīvātmā is merely another name
(Paryyāya) for the Paramātmā. When by the instructions of the Āchāryya and the Shāstras their oneness is known, then the disciple possesses Mūlavidyā concerning Jīvātmā and Paramātmā.”
The Shruti also, when it says “That thou art”—Tat tvam asi,²—identifies the Tvam (Thou) with the Tat (That).
“Rasa and Virasa” (Rasa-virasamita).—Rasa is Paramā- nanda-rasa—i.e., the experience of Supreme Bliss.³ Virasa is the bliss which is the product of the union of Shiva and Shakti. He is both. Or Rasa may mean the natural attachment to worldly enjoyment, and Virasa detachment from it. The meaning would then be: in Him is the Supreme Bliss arising from his detachment from worldly enjoyment.⁴
“The Sun”=Hangsa. As the sun dispels darkness, so does
He dispel nescience (Ajnāna) and delusion (Moha).
1 Cf. Shruti “Khang Brahma” Chhā. 4—10—5 Brah. 5—1—1.
2 “That Thou art.” See Introduction.
3 i.e., Moksha.
4 That is, the Rasa in Him has become Virasa.
Verse 43
BY shedding a constant and profuse stream of nectar-like essence,¹ the Bhagavān² instructs the Yati³ of pure mind in the knowledge by which he realises the oneness of the Jīvātmā and the Paramātmā. He pervades all things as their Lord, who is the ever-flowing and spreading current of all manner of bliss known by the name of Hangsah Parama (Parama-hangsah).
COMMENTARY
“Constant and profuse” (Niravadhi atitarām).
“By shedding a stream of nectar-like essence” (Sudhā-dhārā- sāram vimunchan).—The compound word can be made up and interpreted in four different ways:
1. Shedding a stream of nectar-like essence.
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