The Serpent Power — Arthur Avalon (Sir John Woodroffe) (1924)
3 As Ravi or Sūrya (Sun) Bindu is in the form of Parashiva, and in it are the other two Bindus, it is the Samashtirūpa of them, and is thus called Kāmakalā.
4 This, which is O, becomes 
—that is, Chandra, Ravi, and Ra (fire).
denote the supremacy of Shakti, and sometimes Shiva Tattva, to denote the supremacy of the possessor of power (Shaktimān). It is of coupled form (Yāmalarūpa). There is no Shiva without Shakti, nor Shakti without Shiva.¹ To separate² 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),³ the thrill of which is Nāda, whence Mahābindu is born, which itself becomes threefold (Tribindu), which is Kāmakalā.⁴ It is said in the Shāradā-Tilaka that on the “bursting” or differentiation of the Supreme Bindu there was unmanifested “sound” (Shabda).⁵ This unmanifested Shabda is through action (Kriyā Shakti) the source of the manifested Shabda and Artha described later.⁶
1 Tayor yad yāmalang rūpang sa sanghatta iti smritah Ānandashaktih saivoktā yato vishvang visrijyati Na Shivah Shaktirahito na Shaktih Shivavarjitā.
(Tantrāloka-Āhnika, 3.)
“The coupled form of these two (Shivā-Shakti) is called junction.
That is called the blissful Shakti from which creation arises. There
is no Shiva without Shakti, nor Shakti without Shiva.”
2 Ib., 3 Ahn.
3 On the physical plane this word denotes sexual union.
4 In the Shrīchakra this is in the region of Baindava Chakra, the highest, followed by the triangular Chakra, which is Kāmeshvarī, Bhagamālinī, and Vajreshvarī. See further as to Kāmakalā, post.
5 Bhidyamānāt parād bindor avyaktātmaravo’bhavat Shabdabrahmeti tang prāhuh sarvāgamavishāradāh.
(Shāradā Tilaka, Ch. I.)
It will be observed that in this verse the first Bindu is called Para, and to make this clear the author of the Prānatoshinī adds the following note:
Parādbindorityanena shaktyavasthārupo yah prathamo bindustasmāt (By Parabindu is meant the first Bindu, which is a state of Shakti). See “Garland of Letters”.
6 See Rāghava Bhatta, Comm. Ch. I. v. 12, Shāradā, and the same.
Kriyāshaktipradhānāyāh shabda-shabdārthakāranam
Prakriter bindurupinyāh shabdabrahmābhavat param.
As the Kulārnava Tantra (Khanda 5, Ullāsa I) says, the one Brahman has twofold aspect as Paramabrahman (transcendent) and Shabda-
The Brahman as the source of language (Shabda) and ideas on one hand, and the objects (Artha) they denote on the other, is called Shabdabrahman, or the Logos.¹ From this differentiating Bindu in the form of Prakriti are evolved the Tattvas of Mind and Matter in all their various forms, as also the Lords of the Tattvas (Tattvesha)—that is, their directing intelligences—Shambhu,² the presiding Devatā over the Ājnā Chakra, the centre of the mental faculties; and Sadāshiva, Īsha, Rudra, Vishnu, Brahmā, the Devatās of the five forms of Matter, concluding with Prithivī (“earth”) in the Mūlādhāra centre, wherein the creative Shakti, having finished Her work, again rests, and is called Kundalinī.
Just as the atom consists of a static centre round which moving forces revolve, so in the human body Kundalinī in the “Earth-Chakra” is the static centre (Kendra) round which She in kinetic aspect as the forces of the body works. The whole body as Shakti is in ceaseless movement. Kundalī Shakti is the immobile support of all these operations. When She is aroused and Herself moves upwards, She withdraws with and into Herself these moving Shaktis, brahman (immanent). Shabdabrahmaparambrahmabhedena brahmanor dvaividhyam uktam. (And see also Shrīmad Bhāgavata, 6 Skandha, 16 Ch.) Tena shabdārtharūpavishishtasya shabdabrahmatvam avadhāritam (Prānatoshinī, 13).
1 It is said in the Prānatoshinī, p. 22, that Shambhu is the “associate of time” (Kālabandhu), because Kāla in the form of Nāda assists in giving birth to Him and the other Devatās.
2 Atha bindvātmanah shambhoh kālabandhoh kalātmanah Ajāyata jagat-sākshī sarvavyāpī sadāshivah Sadāshivāt bhaved Īshas tato Rudrasamudbhavah Tato Vishnus tato Brahmā teshām evam samudbhavah.
(Ch. I, vv. 15, 16.)
Here they are mentioned in connection with the form creation (Arthasrishti). The Prānatoshinī says: Atra arthasrishtau punah rudrādīnām utpattistu artharūpena. Pūrvam teshām utpattih shabdarūpena, ato na paunaruktyam iti kalā māyā tadātmanas tadutpannatvāt.
and then unites with Shiva in the Sahasrāra Lotus. The process upward (evolution) is the reverse of the involution above described. The Worlds are dissolved (laya) from time to time for all beings. The perfected yogī dissolves the Universe for all time for himself. Yoga is thus Laya.
3 As Ravi or Sūrya (Sun) Bindu is in the form of Parashiva, and in it are the other two Bindus, it is the Samashtirūpa of them, and is thus called Kāmakalā.
4 This, which is O, becomes —that is, Chandra, Ravi, and Ra (fire).
denote the supremacy of Shakti, and sometimes Shiva Tattva, to denote the supremacy of the possessor of power (Shaktimān). It is of coupled form (Yāmalarūpa). There is no Shiva without Shakti, nor Shakti without Shiva.¹ To separate² 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),³ the thrill of which is Nāda, whence Mahābindu is born, which itself becomes threefold (Tribindu), which is Kāmakalā.⁴ It is said in the Shāradā-Tilaka that on the “bursting” or differentiation of the Supreme Bindu there was unmanifested “sound” (Shabda).⁵ This unmanifested Shabda is through action (Kriyā Shakti) the source of the manifested Shabda and Artha described later.⁶
1 Tayor yad yāmalang rūpang sa sanghatta iti smritah Ānandashaktih saivoktā yato vishvang visrijyati Na Shivah Shaktirahito na Shaktih Shivavarjitā.
(Tantrāloka-Āhnika, 3.)
“The coupled form of these two (Shivā-Shakti) is called junction.
That is called the blissful Shakti from which creation arises. There
is no Shiva without Shakti, nor Shakti without Shiva.”
2 Ib., 3 Ahn.
3 On the physical plane this word denotes sexual union.
4 In the Shrīchakra this is in the region of Baindava Chakra, the highest, followed by the triangular Chakra, which is Kāmeshvarī, Bhagamālinī, and Vajreshvarī. See further as to Kāmakalā, post.
5 Bhidyamānāt parād bindor avyaktātmaravo’bhavat Shabdabrahmeti tang prāhuh sarvāgamavishāradāh.
(Shāradā Tilaka, Ch. I.)
It will be observed that in this verse the first Bindu is called Para, and to make this clear the author of the Prānatoshinī adds the following note:
Parādbindorityanena shaktyavasthārupo yah prathamo bindustasmāt (By Parabindu is meant the first Bindu, which is a state of Shakti). See “Garland of Letters”.
6 See Rāghava Bhatta, Comm. Ch. I. v. 12, Shāradā, and the same.
Kriyāshaktipradhānāyāh shabda-shabdārthakāranam
Prakriter bindurupinyāh shabdabrahmābhavat param.
As the Kulārnava Tantra (Khanda 5, Ullāsa I) says, the one Brahman has twofold aspect as Paramabrahman (transcendent) and Shabda-
The Brahman as the source of language (Shabda) and ideas on one hand, and the objects (Artha) they denote on the other, is called Shabdabrahman, or the Logos.¹ From this differentiating Bindu in the form of Prakriti are evolved the Tattvas of Mind and Matter in all their various forms, as also the Lords of the Tattvas (Tattvesha)—that is, their directing intelligences—Shambhu,² the presiding Devatā over the Ājnā Chakra, the centre of the mental faculties; and Sadāshiva, Īsha, Rudra, Vishnu, Brahmā, the Devatās of the five forms of Matter, concluding with Prithivī (“earth”) in the Mūlādhāra centre, wherein the creative Shakti, having finished Her work, again rests, and is called Kundalinī.
Just as the atom consists of a static centre round which moving forces revolve, so in the human body Kundalinī in the “Earth-Chakra” is the static centre (Kendra) round which She in kinetic aspect as the forces of the body works. The whole body as Shakti is in ceaseless movement. Kundalī Shakti is the immobile support of all these operations. When She is aroused and Herself moves upwards, She withdraws with and into Herself these moving Shaktis, brahman (immanent). Shabdabrahmaparambrahmabhedena brahmanor dvaividhyam uktam. (And see also Shrīmad Bhāgavata, 6 Skandha, 16 Ch.) Tena shabdārtharūpavishishtasya shabdabrahmatvam avadhāritam (Prānatoshinī, 13).
1 It is said in the Prānatoshinī, p. 22, that Shambhu is the “associate of time” (Kālabandhu), because Kāla in the form of Nāda assists in giving birth to Him and the other Devatās.
2 Atha bindvātmanah shambhoh kālabandhoh kalātmanah Ajāyata jagat-sākshī sarvavyāpī sadāshivah Sadāshivāt bhaved Īshas tato Rudrasamudbhavah Tato Vishnus tato Brahmā teshām evam samudbhavah.
(Ch. I, vv. 15, 16.)
Here they are mentioned in connection with the form creation (Arthasrishti). The Prānatoshinī says: Atra arthasrishtau punah rudrādīnām utpattistu artharūpena. Pūrvam teshām utpattih shabdarūpena, ato na paunaruktyam iti kalā māyā tadātmanas tadutpannatvāt.
and then unites with Shiva in the Sahasrāra Lotus. The process upward (evolution) is the reverse of the involution above described. The Worlds are dissolved (laya) from time to time for all beings. The perfected yogī dissolves the Universe for all time for himself. Yoga is thus Laya.
No commentary for this page.