The Serpent Power — Arthur Avalon (Sir John Woodroffe) (1924)
The Vishvasāra Tantra says: “The petals of the Lotuses are the letters of the Alphabet, beginning with A.”¹ The Sammohana Tantra² describes the dissolution³ of the Lotuses and the petals thus: “Dissolve the letters from Va to Sa of the petals in Brahmā,⁴ and dissolve Brahmā in the Lotus of six petals which contains the letters Ba to La, and which is called Svādhishthāna. Do this as the Guru directs.” And so forth. And ending with: “The wise one should then dissolve it (Vishuddha) in the (Lotus of) two petals which contains the two letters Ha and Ksha, and dissolve the two letters which are in the latter lotus into Bindu, and dissolve Bindu into Kalā.”⁵
We thus see that the four letters in the Mūlādhāra are dissolved therein and Mūlādhāra is dissolved in Svādhishthāna. Proceeding in this way till the Ājnā Chakra is reached, the letters Ha and Ksha which are there are also dissolved at this place. Then the Lotus itself is dissolved into Bindu, Bindu into Bodhinī, and proceeding in this way as already shown everything is dissolved into Para Bindu. When the Ājnā Chakra is dissolved all that it contains in its pericarp—Hākinī, Itara-Liṁga, Pranava —are unable to exist without support, and therefore after the dissolution into Prakriti these also are dissolved into Para Bindu.
Verse 53
THE beautiful Kundalī drinks the excellent red¹ nectar issuing from Para Sbiva, and returns from there where shines Eternal and Transcendent Bliss² in all its glory along the path of Kula,³ and again enters the Mūlādhāra. The Yogī who has gained steadiness of mind makes offering (Tarpana) to the Ishta-devatā and to the Devatās in the six centres (Chakra), Dākinī and others, with that stream of celestial nectar which is in the vessel⁴ of Brahmānda, the knowledge whereof he has gained through the tradition of the Gurus.
COMMENTARY
He now speaks of what should be done after all the different kinds of Yoga described have been understood. The meaning of this verse is that the beautiful Kundalī drinks the excellent nectar issuing from Para Shiva, and having emerged from the place of Eternal and Transcendental Bliss, She passes along the path of Kula and re-enters Mūlādhāra. The Yogī, after having understood the different matters mentioned (Tat-tad-dhyānānantaram), should think of the inseparate union⁵ of Shiva and Shakti, and with the excellent nectar produced from the bliss of such union with Para Shiva make offering (Tarpana) to Kundalinī.
1 Shangkara says it is so coloured because it is mixed with the menstrual fluid, which is symbolic, like the rest of this erotic imagery. Red is the colour of the Rajoguna.
2 Brahman is Eternity and Bliss.
3 The Channel in the Chitrininādī.
4 The vessel is Kundalinī.
5 Sāmarasya.
“Path of Kula” (Kula-patha).—The path of Brahman, the channel in Chitrinī.
Kundalī drinks the nectar with which Tarpana is made to her. The following authority says: “Having effected their union and having made (Her drink),” etc. It follows, therefore, that She is made to drink. The nectar is red like the colour of lac.
“From there where shines Eternal and Transcendent Bliss”
(Nityānanda-mahodayāt)—that is, She returns from the place
where eternal and transcendental Bliss is enjoyed—i.e., where the
Brahman is clearly realised.
“Again enters Mūlādhāra” (Mūle vishet).—She has to be brought back in the same way as She was led upward. As She passed through the different Liṁgas and Chakras in their order (Chakra-bheda-kramena) when going upward, so does She when returning to the Mūlādhāra.
The Revered Great Preceptor says: “Kuharinī,¹ Thou sprinklest all things with the stream of Nectar which flows from the tips of Thy two feet; and as Thou returneth to Thy own place Thou vivifieth and maketh visible all things that were aforetime invisible, and on reaching Thy abode Thou dost resume Thy snake-like coil and sleep.”²
“As Thou returneth Thou vivifieth and maketh visible.” This describes the return of Kundalī to Her own place. As She returns She infuses Rasa³ into the various things She had previously absorbed into Herself when going upward, and by the infusion of Rasa, She makes them all visible and manifest. Her passage was Layakrama,⁴ and Her return Srishti-krama.⁵ Hence
1 Kuhara is a cavity; Kuharinī would then be She whose abode is a cavity—the cavity of the Mūlādhāra.
2 Cited from the celebrated Ānandalaharī Stotra, Wave of Bliss Hymn, attributed to Shangkarāchāryya. See “Wave of Bliss,” a translation, by A. Avalon.
3 Rasa: sap, sap of life—that is, She re-vitalises them.
4 See v. 52 and next note.
5 That is, She recreates or revives as She returns to her own abode; just as She “destroys” or absorbs all things on Her upward progress.
Plate XVII. BADDHA-PADMĀSANA
To face p. 160.
p. 161
it has been said: “Kundalī, who is Bliss,¹ the Queen of the Suras,² goes back in the same way to the Ādhāra³ Lotus.”
The Bhūta-shuddhi-prakarana has the following: “Let the Tattvas Prithivī, etc., in their order, as also Jīva and Kundalinī, be led back from Paramātmā and each placed in its respective position.” She is then particularly described: “She is lustrous when first She goes, and She is ambrosial⁴ when She returns.”
The Vishvasāra Tantra says: “The petals of the Lotuses are the letters of the Alphabet, beginning with A.”¹ The Sammohana Tantra² describes the dissolution³ of the Lotuses and the petals thus: “Dissolve the letters from Va to Sa of the petals in Brahmā,⁴ and dissolve Brahmā in the Lotus of six petals which contains the letters Ba to La, and which is called Svādhishthāna. Do this as the Guru directs.” And so forth. And ending with: “The wise one should then dissolve it (Vishuddha) in the (Lotus of) two petals which contains the two letters Ha and Ksha, and dissolve the two letters which are in the latter lotus into Bindu, and dissolve Bindu into Kalā.”⁵
We thus see that the four letters in the Mūlādhāra are dissolved therein and Mūlādhāra is dissolved in Svādhishthāna. Proceeding in this way till the Ājnā Chakra is reached, the letters Ha and Ksha which are there are also dissolved at this place. Then the Lotus itself is dissolved into Bindu, Bindu into Bodhinī, and proceeding in this way as already shown everything is dissolved into Para Bindu. When the Ājnā Chakra is dissolved all that it contains in its pericarp—Hākinī, Itara-Liṁga, Pranava —are unable to exist without support, and therefore after the dissolution into Prakriti these also are dissolved into Para Bindu.
Verse 53
THE beautiful Kundalī drinks the excellent red¹ nectar issuing from Para Sbiva, and returns from there where shines Eternal and Transcendent Bliss² in all its glory along the path of Kula,³ and again enters the Mūlādhāra. The Yogī who has gained steadiness of mind makes offering (Tarpana) to the Ishta-devatā and to the Devatās in the six centres (Chakra), Dākinī and others, with that stream of celestial nectar which is in the vessel⁴ of Brahmānda, the knowledge whereof he has gained through the tradition of the Gurus.
COMMENTARY
He now speaks of what should be done after all the different kinds of Yoga described have been understood. The meaning of this verse is that the beautiful Kundalī drinks the excellent nectar issuing from Para Shiva, and having emerged from the place of Eternal and Transcendental Bliss, She passes along the path of Kula and re-enters Mūlādhāra. The Yogī, after having understood the different matters mentioned (Tat-tad-dhyānānantaram), should think of the inseparate union⁵ of Shiva and Shakti, and with the excellent nectar produced from the bliss of such union with Para Shiva make offering (Tarpana) to Kundalinī.
1 Shangkara says it is so coloured because it is mixed with the menstrual fluid, which is symbolic, like the rest of this erotic imagery. Red is the colour of the Rajoguna.
2 Brahman is Eternity and Bliss.
3 The Channel in the Chitrininādī.
4 The vessel is Kundalinī.
5 Sāmarasya.
“Path of Kula” (Kula-patha).—The path of Brahman, the channel in Chitrinī.
Kundalī drinks the nectar with which Tarpana is made to her. The following authority says: “Having effected their union and having made (Her drink),” etc. It follows, therefore, that She is made to drink. The nectar is red like the colour of lac.
“From there where shines Eternal and Transcendent Bliss”
(Nityānanda-mahodayāt)—that is, She returns from the place
where eternal and transcendental Bliss is enjoyed—i.e., where the
Brahman is clearly realised.
“Again enters Mūlādhāra” (Mūle vishet).—She has to be brought back in the same way as She was led upward. As She passed through the different Liṁgas and Chakras in their order (Chakra-bheda-kramena) when going upward, so does She when returning to the Mūlādhāra.
The Revered Great Preceptor says: “Kuharinī,¹ Thou sprinklest all things with the stream of Nectar which flows from the tips of Thy two feet; and as Thou returneth to Thy own place Thou vivifieth and maketh visible all things that were aforetime invisible, and on reaching Thy abode Thou dost resume Thy snake-like coil and sleep.”²
“As Thou returneth Thou vivifieth and maketh visible.” This describes the return of Kundalī to Her own place. As She returns She infuses Rasa³ into the various things She had previously absorbed into Herself when going upward, and by the infusion of Rasa, She makes them all visible and manifest. Her passage was Layakrama,⁴ and Her return Srishti-krama.⁵ Hence
1 Kuhara is a cavity; Kuharinī would then be She whose abode is a cavity—the cavity of the Mūlādhāra.
2 Cited from the celebrated Ānandalaharī Stotra, Wave of Bliss Hymn, attributed to Shangkarāchāryya. See “Wave of Bliss,” a translation, by A. Avalon.
3 Rasa: sap, sap of life—that is, She re-vitalises them.
4 See v. 52 and next note.
5 That is, She recreates or revives as She returns to her own abode; just as She “destroys” or absorbs all things on Her upward progress.
Plate XVII. BADDHA-PADMĀSANA
To face p. 160.
p. 161
it has been said: “Kundalī, who is Bliss,¹ the Queen of the Suras,² goes back in the same way to the Ādhāra³ Lotus.”
The Bhūta-shuddhi-prakarana has the following: “Let the Tattvas Prithivī, etc., in their order, as also Jīva and Kundalinī, be led back from Paramātmā and each placed in its respective position.” She is then particularly described: “She is lustrous when first She goes, and She is ambrosial⁴ when She returns.”
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