The Serpent Power — Arthur Avalon (Sir John Woodroffe) (1924)
Kāmārtham āgatā yasmān mayā sārdhang mahāgirau Kāmākhyā prochyate devī nīlakūtarahogatā Kāmadā kāminī kāmyā kāntā kāmānggadāyinī Kāmāngganāshinī yasmāt kāmākhyā tena kathyate Iti shadaksharamidang nāma (ib.).
3 Mukhang bindung kritvā kuchayugam adhas tasya tadadho
Hakārārdhang dhyāyet haramahīshi te manmathakalām (v. 19).
(Let him contemplate on the first Bindu as the face of the Devī,
and on the other two Bindus as Her two breasts, and below that on the
half Ha.) Half Ha is the Yoni, the womb, and origin of all. See
Lalitā, v. 206.
4 Kulanidhi. In its literal ordinary sense Kula means race or family, but has a number of other meanings: Shakti (Akula is Shiva), the spiritual hierarchy of Gurus, the Mūlādhāra, the doctrine of the Kaula Tantriks, etc.
limbs like unto those of Kāmarāja, who is adored by the three Devatās¹ of the three Gunas; who is the desire (or will) of Shiva;² who dwells in the Bindu and who manifests the universe.” She is called (says the commentator cited)³ Tripurā, as She has three (Tri) Puras (lit., cities), but, here meaning Bindus, angles, lines, syllables, etc. The Kālikā Purāna says: “She has three angles (in the triangular Yoni) as well as three circles (the three Bindus), and her Bhūpura⁴ has three lines. Her Mantra is said to be of three syllables,⁵ and She has three aspects. The Kundalinī energy is also threefold, in order that She may create the three Gods (Brahmā, Vishnu, Rudra). Thus, since She the supreme energy is everywhere triple, She is called Tripurasundarī.”⁶ These syllables are said by the commentator last cited⁷ to be the three Bījas of the three divisions (of the Panchadashī)—viz., Vāgbhava, Kāmarāja, and Shakti, which according to the Vāmakeshvara Tantra
1 Vishnu, Brahmā, and Rudra, of the Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas qualities respectively.
2 This is the Commentator’s meaning of Ekām tām. Eka— a+i=e. According to the Vishva Dictionary, “A” has among other meanings that of Īsha or Shiva, and, according to the Anekārthadhvanimanjarī Lexicon, I=Manmatha—that is, Kāma, or desire. Ekā is therefore the spouse of Siva, or Shivakāmā, the desire or will of Shiva.
3 Introduction to Lalitā.
4 The portion of the Yantra which is of common form and which encloses the particular design in its centre. Reference may, however, also be here made to the three outer lines of the Shrīchakra.
5 V. post. The Kāma Bīja is Klīng. Klīngkāra is Shivakāma. Here Īng means the Kāmakalā in the Turīya state through which Moksha is gained, and hence the meaning of the saying (ib., v. 176) that he who hears the Bīja without Ka and La does not reach the place of the good actions—that is, he does not go to the region attained by good actions, but to that attainable by knowledge alone (see ib., v. 189, citing Vāmakeshvara Tantra).
6 Other instances may be given, such as the Tripurārnava, which says that the Devī is called Tripurā because She dwells in the three Nādīs (Sushumnā, Pinggalā, and Idā; v. post) and in Buddhi Manas Chitta (v. post).
7 V. 177.
are the Jnānashakti which confers salvation, and the Kriyā and Ichchhā Shaktis.
Three “Pāda” are also spoken of as Tripurā—white, red, and mixed.¹ Elsewhere, as in the Varāha Purāna, the Devī is said to have assumed three forms—white, red, and black: that is, the Supreme energy endowed with the Sāttvik, Rājasik, and Tāmasik qualities.² The one Shakti becomes three to produce effects.
In the Kāmakalā meditation (Dhyāna) the three Bindus and Hārddhakalā are thought of as being the body of the Devī Tripurasundarī. The Commentator on the verse of the Ānanda-Laharī cited says:³ “In the fifth sacrifice (Yajna) let the Sādhaka think of his Ātmā as in no wise different from, but as the one only Shiva; and of the subtle thread-like Kundalinī which is all Shaktis, extending from the Ādhāra lotus to Paramashiva. Let him think of the three Bindus as being in Her body (Tripurasundarī), which Bindus indicate Ichchhā, Kriyā, Jnāna—Moon, Fire, and Sun; Rajas, Tamas, Sattva; Brahmā, Rudra, Vishnu; and then let him meditate on the Chitkalā who is Shakti below it.”⁴
Kāmārtham āgatā yasmān mayā sārdhang mahāgirau Kāmākhyā prochyate devī nīlakūtarahogatā Kāmadā kāminī kāmyā kāntā kāmānggadāyinī Kāmāngganāshinī yasmāt kāmākhyā tena kathyate Iti shadaksharamidang nāma (ib.).
3 Mukhang bindung kritvā kuchayugam adhas tasya tadadho
Hakārārdhang dhyāyet haramahīshi te manmathakalām (v. 19).
(Let him contemplate on the first Bindu as the face of the Devī,
and on the other two Bindus as Her two breasts, and below that on the
half Ha.) Half Ha is the Yoni, the womb, and origin of all. See
Lalitā, v. 206.
4 Kulanidhi. In its literal ordinary sense Kula means race or family, but has a number of other meanings: Shakti (Akula is Shiva), the spiritual hierarchy of Gurus, the Mūlādhāra, the doctrine of the Kaula Tantriks, etc.
limbs like unto those of Kāmarāja, who is adored by the three Devatās¹ of the three Gunas; who is the desire (or will) of Shiva;² who dwells in the Bindu and who manifests the universe.” She is called (says the commentator cited)³ Tripurā, as She has three (Tri) Puras (lit., cities), but, here meaning Bindus, angles, lines, syllables, etc. The Kālikā Purāna says: “She has three angles (in the triangular Yoni) as well as three circles (the three Bindus), and her Bhūpura⁴ has three lines. Her Mantra is said to be of three syllables,⁵ and She has three aspects. The Kundalinī energy is also threefold, in order that She may create the three Gods (Brahmā, Vishnu, Rudra). Thus, since She the supreme energy is everywhere triple, She is called Tripurasundarī.”⁶ These syllables are said by the commentator last cited⁷ to be the three Bījas of the three divisions (of the Panchadashī)—viz., Vāgbhava, Kāmarāja, and Shakti, which according to the Vāmakeshvara Tantra
1 Vishnu, Brahmā, and Rudra, of the Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas qualities respectively.
2 This is the Commentator’s meaning of Ekām tām. Eka— a+i=e. According to the Vishva Dictionary, “A” has among other meanings that of Īsha or Shiva, and, according to the Anekārthadhvanimanjarī Lexicon, I=Manmatha—that is, Kāma, or desire. Ekā is therefore the spouse of Siva, or Shivakāmā, the desire or will of Shiva.
3 Introduction to Lalitā.
4 The portion of the Yantra which is of common form and which encloses the particular design in its centre. Reference may, however, also be here made to the three outer lines of the Shrīchakra.
5 V. post. The Kāma Bīja is Klīng. Klīngkāra is Shivakāma. Here Īng means the Kāmakalā in the Turīya state through which Moksha is gained, and hence the meaning of the saying (ib., v. 176) that he who hears the Bīja without Ka and La does not reach the place of the good actions—that is, he does not go to the region attained by good actions, but to that attainable by knowledge alone (see ib., v. 189, citing Vāmakeshvara Tantra).
6 Other instances may be given, such as the Tripurārnava, which says that the Devī is called Tripurā because She dwells in the three Nādīs (Sushumnā, Pinggalā, and Idā; v. post) and in Buddhi Manas Chitta (v. post).
7 V. 177.
are the Jnānashakti which confers salvation, and the Kriyā and Ichchhā Shaktis.
Three “Pāda” are also spoken of as Tripurā—white, red, and mixed.¹ Elsewhere, as in the Varāha Purāna, the Devī is said to have assumed three forms—white, red, and black: that is, the Supreme energy endowed with the Sāttvik, Rājasik, and Tāmasik qualities.² The one Shakti becomes three to produce effects.
In the Kāmakalā meditation (Dhyāna) the three Bindus and Hārddhakalā are thought of as being the body of the Devī Tripurasundarī. The Commentator on the verse of the Ānanda-Laharī cited says:³ “In the fifth sacrifice (Yajna) let the Sādhaka think of his Ātmā as in no wise different from, but as the one only Shiva; and of the subtle thread-like Kundalinī which is all Shaktis, extending from the Ādhāra lotus to Paramashiva. Let him think of the three Bindus as being in Her body (Tripurasundarī), which Bindus indicate Ichchhā, Kriyā, Jnāna—Moon, Fire, and Sun; Rajas, Tamas, Sattva; Brahmā, Rudra, Vishnu; and then let him meditate on the Chitkalā who is Shakti below it.”⁴
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