The Serpent Power — Arthur Avalon (Sir John Woodroffe) (1924)
V.
The Centres or Lotuses
p. 105
VI.
Practice
p. 184
VII.
Theoretical Bases of the Yoga
p. 261
TEXT (Translation)
1—184
Description of the Six Centres (Shatchakranirūpana)
p. 1
The Fivefold Footstool (Pādukāpanchaka)
p. 165
TEXT (Sanskrit)
1—154
ILLUSTRATIONS
PLATE
PAGE
I.
The Centres or Lotuses
Frontispiece
II.
Mūlādhāra Chakra
(Introduction)
p. 117
III.
Manipūraka „
p. 144
IV.
Svādhishthāna „
p. 233
V.
Anāhata „
(Translation)
p. 1
VI.
Visuddha „
p. 61
VII.
Ājnā „
p. 76
VIII.
Sahasrāra „
p. 93
YOGĀSANA ILLUSTRATIONS
IX.
Mahābedha according to Hathayogapradīpikā and Yāmala
p. 96
X.
Padmāsana with Laulikī
p. 104
XI.
Uddiyāna Bandha in Siddhāsana —1st Stage
p. 112
XII.
Uddiyāna Bandha in Siddhāsana —2nd Stage
p. 120
XIII.
Mahābandha
p. 128
XIV.
Mūlabandha in Siddhāsana
p. 136
XV.
Yoni Mudrā „ „
p. 144
XVI.
Mahāmudrā
p. 152
XVII.
Baddha-Padmāsana
p. 160
THE SIX CENTRES AND THE
SERPENT POWER
I
INTRODUCTION
THE two Sanskrit works here translated—Shatchakranirūpana (“Description of the Six Centres, or Chakras”) and Pādukā Panchaka (“Fivefold Footstool”), deal with a particular form of Tāntrik Yoga named Kundalī Yoga, or, as some works call it, Bhūtashuddhi. These names refer to the Kundalinī Shakti, or Supreme Power in the human body by the arousing of which the Yoga is achieved, and to the purification of the elements of the body (Bhūtashuddhi) which takes place upon that event. This Yoga is effected by a process technically known as Shatchakrabheda, or piercing of the six Centres or Regions (Chakra) or Lotuses (Padma) of the body (which the work describes) by the agency of Kundalinī Shakti, which, in order to give it an English name, I have here called the Serpent Power.¹ Kundala means coiled. This Power is the Goddess (Devī) Kundalinī, or that which is coiled; for Her form is that of a coiled and sleeping serpent in the lowest bodily centre, at the base of the spinal column, until by the means described She is aroused in that Yoga which is named after Her. Kundalinī is the Divine Cosmic Energy in bodies (v. post).
1 One of the names of this Devī is Bhujangī, or the Serpent.
The Saptabhūmi, or seven regions (Loka),¹ are, as popularly understood, an exoteric presentment of the inner Tāntrik teaching regarding the seven centres.²
The Yoga is called Tāntrik for a twofold reason. It will be found mentioned in the Yoga Upanishads which refer to the Centres, or Chakras, and in some of the Purānas. The treatises on Hathayoga also deal with the subject. We find even similar notions in systems other than the Indian, from which possibly in some cases they have been borrowed. Thus, in the Risala-i-haq-numa, by Prince Mahomed Dara Shikoh,³ a description is given of the three centres “Mother of Brain,” or “Spherical heart” (Dil-imuddawar); the “Cedar heart” (Dil-i-sanowbari); and the Dil-i-nilofari, or “Lily heart”.⁴ Other references may be found in the works of the Mahomedan Sufis. So some of the Sufi fraternities (as the Naqshbandi) are said⁵ to have devised, or rather borrowed, from the Indian Yogīs⁶ the Kundalinī method as a means to realisation.⁷ I am told that correspondences are discoverable between the Indian (Asiatic) Shāstra and the American-Indian Māyā
1 The seven “worlds” Bhūh, Bhuvah, Svah, Mahah, Jana, Tapah, Satya. See my “Wave of Bliss” (Comm. to v. 35). Lokas are what are seen (lokyante)—that is, attained—and are hence the fruits of Karma in the form of particular re-birth. Satyānanda’s “Comm. on Īsha Up.,” Mantra 2. See p. 258.
2 That is, the six Chakras and the upper cerebral centre, or Sahasrāra. As to Upanishads and Purānas, see post.
3 “The Compass of Truth.” The author was the eldest son of the Emperor Shah-i-Jehan, and died in A.D. 1659. Its teaching is alleged to be that of the secret doctrine of the “Apostle of God”.
4 Chapter I. on Alam-i-nasut: the physical plane, or what the Hindus call the Jāgrat state. Ed. Rai Bahadur Srisha Chandra Vasu.
5 See “The Development of Metaphysics in Persia,” by Shaikh Muhammad Iqbal, p. 110.
V.
The Centres or Lotuses
p. 105
VI.
Practice
p. 184
VII.
Theoretical Bases of the Yoga
p. 261
TEXT (Translation)
1—184
Description of the Six Centres (Shatchakranirūpana)
p. 1
The Fivefold Footstool (Pādukāpanchaka)
p. 165
TEXT (Sanskrit)
1—154
ILLUSTRATIONS
PLATE
PAGE
I.
The Centres or Lotuses
Frontispiece
II.
Mūlādhāra Chakra
(Introduction)
p. 117
III.
Manipūraka „
p. 144
IV.
Svādhishthāna „
p. 233
V.
Anāhata „
(Translation)
p. 1
VI.
Visuddha „
p. 61
VII.
Ājnā „
p. 76
VIII.
Sahasrāra „
p. 93
YOGĀSANA ILLUSTRATIONS
IX.
Mahābedha according to Hathayogapradīpikā and Yāmala
p. 96
X.
Padmāsana with Laulikī
p. 104
XI.
Uddiyāna Bandha in Siddhāsana —1st Stage
p. 112
XII.
Uddiyāna Bandha in Siddhāsana —2nd Stage
p. 120
XIII.
Mahābandha
p. 128
XIV.
Mūlabandha in Siddhāsana
p. 136
XV.
Yoni Mudrā „ „
p. 144
XVI.
Mahāmudrā
p. 152
XVII.
Baddha-Padmāsana
p. 160
THE SIX CENTRES AND THE
SERPENT POWER
I
INTRODUCTION
THE two Sanskrit works here translated—Shatchakranirūpana (“Description of the Six Centres, or Chakras”) and Pādukā Panchaka (“Fivefold Footstool”), deal with a particular form of Tāntrik Yoga named Kundalī Yoga, or, as some works call it, Bhūtashuddhi. These names refer to the Kundalinī Shakti, or Supreme Power in the human body by the arousing of which the Yoga is achieved, and to the purification of the elements of the body (Bhūtashuddhi) which takes place upon that event. This Yoga is effected by a process technically known as Shatchakrabheda, or piercing of the six Centres or Regions (Chakra) or Lotuses (Padma) of the body (which the work describes) by the agency of Kundalinī Shakti, which, in order to give it an English name, I have here called the Serpent Power.¹ Kundala means coiled. This Power is the Goddess (Devī) Kundalinī, or that which is coiled; for Her form is that of a coiled and sleeping serpent in the lowest bodily centre, at the base of the spinal column, until by the means described She is aroused in that Yoga which is named after Her. Kundalinī is the Divine Cosmic Energy in bodies (v. post).
1 One of the names of this Devī is Bhujangī, or the Serpent.
The Saptabhūmi, or seven regions (Loka),¹ are, as popularly understood, an exoteric presentment of the inner Tāntrik teaching regarding the seven centres.²
The Yoga is called Tāntrik for a twofold reason. It will be found mentioned in the Yoga Upanishads which refer to the Centres, or Chakras, and in some of the Purānas. The treatises on Hathayoga also deal with the subject. We find even similar notions in systems other than the Indian, from which possibly in some cases they have been borrowed. Thus, in the Risala-i-haq-numa, by Prince Mahomed Dara Shikoh,³ a description is given of the three centres “Mother of Brain,” or “Spherical heart” (Dil-imuddawar); the “Cedar heart” (Dil-i-sanowbari); and the Dil-i-nilofari, or “Lily heart”.⁴ Other references may be found in the works of the Mahomedan Sufis. So some of the Sufi fraternities (as the Naqshbandi) are said⁵ to have devised, or rather borrowed, from the Indian Yogīs⁶ the Kundalinī method as a means to realisation.⁷ I am told that correspondences are discoverable between the Indian (Asiatic) Shāstra and the American-Indian Māyā
1 The seven “worlds” Bhūh, Bhuvah, Svah, Mahah, Jana, Tapah, Satya. See my “Wave of Bliss” (Comm. to v. 35). Lokas are what are seen (lokyante)—that is, attained—and are hence the fruits of Karma in the form of particular re-birth. Satyānanda’s “Comm. on Īsha Up.,” Mantra 2. See p. 258.
2 That is, the six Chakras and the upper cerebral centre, or Sahasrāra. As to Upanishads and Purānas, see post.
3 “The Compass of Truth.” The author was the eldest son of the Emperor Shah-i-Jehan, and died in A.D. 1659. Its teaching is alleged to be that of the secret doctrine of the “Apostle of God”.
4 Chapter I. on Alam-i-nasut: the physical plane, or what the Hindus call the Jāgrat state. Ed. Rai Bahadur Srisha Chandra Vasu.
5 See “The Development of Metaphysics in Persia,” by Shaikh Muhammad Iqbal, p. 110.
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