The Serpent Power — Arthur Avalon (Sir John Woodroffe) (1924)
Sadāshiva, the Liberator of the three Worlds, being desirous of speaking of Gurudhyāna-yoga⁵ in the form of a hymn (Stotra), first of all describes the place of the Guru.
The verb Bhaje is First Person Singular, Ātmanepada, emphasizing that Shiva Himself adores or worships. He says, “I do adore or worship.” By saying so He expresses the necessity that all worshippers (Upāsakas) of the Mantras revealed by Him should adore this wonderful twelve-petalled Lotus. He thus shows the necessity of His worship.
The meaning of this verse in brief is this: I adore the twelvepetalled Lotus which is within the pericarp of the Sahasrāra.
1 Dvādashārna—that is, twelve petals. The petals of the lotus are not independent of the letters thereon.
2 That is, the Chitrinī Nādī. The lotus rests on the upper end of Chitrinī.
3 Shiva. See as to the five faces the citation from the Liṁgārchana Tantra, v. 7, post. There is also a concealed sixth face, “like the colour caused by deadly poison,” known as Nīlakantha.
4 Aṁghas—sin and sorrow, pain and penalty.
5 Yoga with the Supreme known as the Guru.
p. 167
“Wonderful” (Adbhuta).—It excites our wonder by reason of its being pervaded by the lustre (Tejas) of Brahman, and for other reasons.
“Lotus of twelve letters” (Dvādashārna-sarasīruha)—i.e., the Lotus which contains twelve letters. The twelve letters, according to those learned in the Tantras, are the twelve letters which make the Gurumantra; they are Sa, ha, kha, phreng, ha, sa, ksha, ma, la, va, ra, yang. Some say that by Dvādashārna is meant the twelfth vowel, which is the Vāg-bhava-bīja.¹ But that cannot be. If it were so, the authority quoted below would be tautologous: “(Meditate on) your Guru who is Shiva as being on the lustrous Hangsapītha, the substance of which is Mantra (Mantramaya), which is in the pericarp of the Lotus of twelve letters, near the region of the Moon² in the pericarp, and which is adorned by the letters Ha, La, and Ksha, which are within the triangle A-Ka-Tha. The lotus of twelve letters is in the pericarp (of the Sahasrāra).”
The above passage speaks of the Mantramayapītha. The Mantra substance of this Pītha is the Gurumantra in the form of Vāg-bhava-bīja.³ There would therefore be a repetition of the same Mantra.⁴ “Dvādashārna” is made up by Bahuvrīhi Samāsa— that in which there are Dvādasha (twelve) Arnas (letters). This lotus has therefore twelve petals, on which are the twelve letters.
It is true that the letters are not here specified, and there has been nothing said as to where they are placed; but the Gurugītā says⁵ that “the letters Hang and Sa surround (that is, as petals) the Lotus,” wherein the Guru should be meditated. This leads us to the conclusion that the letters Hang and Sah are repeated six times, thus making twelve, and so the number of petals becomes clearly twelve, as each petal contains one letter. This is fit subject of consideration for the wise.
1 i.e., Bīja of Sarasvatī—Aing.
2 Chandra-mandala, by the Commentator (reading the locative as
Sāmīpye saptamī, i.e., locative case indicative of proximity).
3 Aing.
4 That is, if we understand that the body of both the Pītha and the petals is Aing. The Vāgbhava Bīja Aing is the Guru Bīja also.
5 This verse is quoted in full under v. 6, post.
“Inseparable from” (Nitya-lagnam).—That is, it is connected with the Sahasrāra in such a way that the one cannot be thought of without thinking of the other.
“Which is within the womb of and inseparable from the pericarp of the Lotus in which is the Brahmarandhra” (Brahmarandhra-sarasīruhodara).—That is, the Sahasrāra, the thousand-petalled lotus in which is the Brahmarandhra; within its womb, that is to say, within it (Tanmadhye), that is, within its pericarp (Tat-karnikāyām).
The Kangkāla-Mālinī, in describing the Lotus of a thousand petals, thus speaks of the place of the Brahmarandhra: “In its (Sahasrāra) pericarp, O Deveshī, is Antarātmā, and above it is the Guru; above him is the Sūryya Mandala and Chandra Mandala and Mahāvāyu, and above it is Brahma-randhra.”
Some say that by Udara (belly or interior) is meant within the triangle in the pericarp. That is not right. The word Udara here means “interior” or “centre”. The interior of the Lotus contains its pericarp, but the text does not mean the interior of the triangle in the pericarp, because the triangle is not here mentioned. The Shyāmā-saparyyā quotes the following explicit:
Sadāshiva, the Liberator of the three Worlds, being desirous of speaking of Gurudhyāna-yoga⁵ in the form of a hymn (Stotra), first of all describes the place of the Guru.
The verb Bhaje is First Person Singular, Ātmanepada, emphasizing that Shiva Himself adores or worships. He says, “I do adore or worship.” By saying so He expresses the necessity that all worshippers (Upāsakas) of the Mantras revealed by Him should adore this wonderful twelve-petalled Lotus. He thus shows the necessity of His worship.
The meaning of this verse in brief is this: I adore the twelvepetalled Lotus which is within the pericarp of the Sahasrāra.
1 Dvādashārna—that is, twelve petals. The petals of the lotus are not independent of the letters thereon.
2 That is, the Chitrinī Nādī. The lotus rests on the upper end of Chitrinī.
3 Shiva. See as to the five faces the citation from the Liṁgārchana Tantra, v. 7, post. There is also a concealed sixth face, “like the colour caused by deadly poison,” known as Nīlakantha.
4 Aṁghas—sin and sorrow, pain and penalty.
5 Yoga with the Supreme known as the Guru.
p. 167
“Wonderful” (Adbhuta).—It excites our wonder by reason of its being pervaded by the lustre (Tejas) of Brahman, and for other reasons.
“Lotus of twelve letters” (Dvādashārna-sarasīruha)—i.e., the Lotus which contains twelve letters. The twelve letters, according to those learned in the Tantras, are the twelve letters which make the Gurumantra; they are Sa, ha, kha, phreng, ha, sa, ksha, ma, la, va, ra, yang. Some say that by Dvādashārna is meant the twelfth vowel, which is the Vāg-bhava-bīja.¹ But that cannot be. If it were so, the authority quoted below would be tautologous: “(Meditate on) your Guru who is Shiva as being on the lustrous Hangsapītha, the substance of which is Mantra (Mantramaya), which is in the pericarp of the Lotus of twelve letters, near the region of the Moon² in the pericarp, and which is adorned by the letters Ha, La, and Ksha, which are within the triangle A-Ka-Tha. The lotus of twelve letters is in the pericarp (of the Sahasrāra).”
The above passage speaks of the Mantramayapītha. The Mantra substance of this Pītha is the Gurumantra in the form of Vāg-bhava-bīja.³ There would therefore be a repetition of the same Mantra.⁴ “Dvādashārna” is made up by Bahuvrīhi Samāsa— that in which there are Dvādasha (twelve) Arnas (letters). This lotus has therefore twelve petals, on which are the twelve letters.
It is true that the letters are not here specified, and there has been nothing said as to where they are placed; but the Gurugītā says⁵ that “the letters Hang and Sa surround (that is, as petals) the Lotus,” wherein the Guru should be meditated. This leads us to the conclusion that the letters Hang and Sah are repeated six times, thus making twelve, and so the number of petals becomes clearly twelve, as each petal contains one letter. This is fit subject of consideration for the wise.
1 i.e., Bīja of Sarasvatī—Aing.
2 Chandra-mandala, by the Commentator (reading the locative as
Sāmīpye saptamī, i.e., locative case indicative of proximity).
3 Aing.
4 That is, if we understand that the body of both the Pītha and the petals is Aing. The Vāgbhava Bīja Aing is the Guru Bīja also.
5 This verse is quoted in full under v. 6, post.
“Inseparable from” (Nitya-lagnam).—That is, it is connected with the Sahasrāra in such a way that the one cannot be thought of without thinking of the other.
“Which is within the womb of and inseparable from the pericarp of the Lotus in which is the Brahmarandhra” (Brahmarandhra-sarasīruhodara).—That is, the Sahasrāra, the thousand-petalled lotus in which is the Brahmarandhra; within its womb, that is to say, within it (Tanmadhye), that is, within its pericarp (Tat-karnikāyām).
The Kangkāla-Mālinī, in describing the Lotus of a thousand petals, thus speaks of the place of the Brahmarandhra: “In its (Sahasrāra) pericarp, O Deveshī, is Antarātmā, and above it is the Guru; above him is the Sūryya Mandala and Chandra Mandala and Mahāvāyu, and above it is Brahma-randhra.”
Some say that by Udara (belly or interior) is meant within the triangle in the pericarp. That is not right. The word Udara here means “interior” or “centre”. The interior of the Lotus contains its pericarp, but the text does not mean the interior of the triangle in the pericarp, because the triangle is not here mentioned. The Shyāmā-saparyyā quotes the following explicit:
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