The Serpent Power — Arthur Avalon (Sir John Woodroffe) (1924)
1 Brahmānanda Svāmī, a native of Palghat, in the Madras Presidency,
late Guru of H.H. the Mahārāja of Kashmir. The work is printed at
Jummoo.
- (6) Karāla, (7) Gahvara, (8) Vidyāprada, (9) Trimukha,
- (10) Tripada, (11) Kāladandaka, (12) Ukāra, (13) Kāladvāra,
- (14) Karangaka, (15) Dīpaka, (16) Ānandalalitā, (17) Manipūraka, (18) Nākula, (19) Kālabhedana, (20) Mahotsāha. Then for no apparent reason, many others are given without numbers, a circumstance, as well as defective printing, which makes it difficult in some cases to say whether the Sanskrit should be read as one word or two.¹ They are apparently Parama, Pādukam, Padam (or Pādakampadam), Kalpajāla, Poshaka, Lolama, Nādāvarta, Triputa, Kangkālaka, Putabhedana, Mahāgranthivirākā, Bandhajvalana (printed as Bandhejvalana), Anāhata, Yantraputa (printed Yatra), Vyomachakra, Bodhana, Dhruva, Kalākandalaka, Kraunchabherundavibhava, Dāmara, Kulapīthaka, Kulakolā- hala, Hālāvarta, Mahadbhaya, Ghorābhairava, Vishuddhi, Kantham, Uttamam (quære Vishuddhikantham or Kanthamuttamam), Pūrnakam, Ājnā, Kākaputtam, Shringātam, Kāmarūpa, Pūrnagiri, Mahāvyoma, Shaktirūpa. But, as the author says, in the Vedas (that is, Yogachūdāmanī, Yogashikhā Upanishads, and others) we read of only six Chakras—namely, those italicised in the above list, and described in the works here translated—and so it is said: “How can there be any Siddhi for him who knows not the six Chakras, the sixteen Ādhāras, the five Ethers, and three Lakshas, in his own body?”
I have already pointed out that the positions of the Chakras generally correspond to spinal centres of the anatomical divisions of the vertebræ into five regions, and it has been stated that the Padmas or Chakras correspond with
1 I am not sure that the author himself was aware of this in all cases. He may have been quoting himself from some lists without other knowledge on the subject. The list has, to my eyes, in some respects an uncritical aspect—e.g., apart from bracketed notes in the text, Kāmarūpa and Pūrnagiri are Pīthas, the others, Jālandhara and Auddīyāna, not being mentioned. The last quotation he makes draws a distinction between the Chakras and Ādhāras.
p. 156
various plexuses which exist in the body surrounding those regions. Various suggestions have been here made. The Author of a recent work¹ identifies (commencing with the Mūlādhāra and going upwards) the Chakras with the sacral, prostatic, epigastric, cardiac, laryngeal (or pharyngeal), and cavernous plexuses, and the Sahasrāra with the Medulla. In passing it may be noted that the last suggestion cannot in any event be correct. It is apparently based on verse 120 of chapter v. of the Shiva Sanghitā.² But this work does not in my opinion support the suggestion. Elsewhere the Author cited rightly identifies Mount Kailāsa with the Sahasrāra, which is undoubtedly the upper cerebrum. The anatomical position of the Medulla is below that assigned to the Ājnā Chakra. Professor Sarkar’s work contains some valuable appendices by Dr. Brojendranath Seal on, amongst others, Hindu ideas concerning plant and animal life, physiology, and biology, including accounts of the nervous system in Charaka and in the Tantras.³ After pointing out that the cerebro-spinal axis with the connected sympathetic system contains a number of ganglionic
1 “The Positive Background of Hindu Sociology,” by Professor Benoy Kumar Sarkar.
2 P. 54 of the translation of Srīsha Chandra Vasu, to which I refer because the author cited does so. The rendering, however, does not do justice to the text, and liberties have been taken with it. Thus, a large portion has been omitted without word or warning, and at p. 14 it is said that Kundalinī is “of the form of electricity”. There is no warrant for this in the text, and Kundalinī is not, according to the Shāstra, mere electricity.
I cannot too strongly protest against attempts to represent Indian Shāstra, not as it actually is, but what some who are concerned with it would like it to be. State accurately what is in the Shāstra, and then disapprove of it if you will.
3 Both the work of Professor Sarkar and the Appendices of Dr. Seal are of interest and value, and gather together a considerable number of facts of importance on Indian Geography, Ethnology, Mineralogy, Zoology, Botany, and Hindu Physiology, Mechanics, and Acoustics. These Appendices have since been republished separately as a work entitled “Positive Sciences of the Hindus”.
centres and plexuses (Chakras, Padmas), from which nerves (Nādī, Shirā, and Dhamanī) radiate over the head, trunk, and limbs, the latter says, as regards the ganglionic centres and plexuses constituting the sympathetic spinal system:
“Beginning with the lower extremity, the centres and plexuses of the connected spinal and sympathetic systems may be described as follows:
1 Brahmānanda Svāmī, a native of Palghat, in the Madras Presidency,
late Guru of H.H. the Mahārāja of Kashmir. The work is printed at
Jummoo.
- (6) Karāla, (7) Gahvara, (8) Vidyāprada, (9) Trimukha,
- (10) Tripada, (11) Kāladandaka, (12) Ukāra, (13) Kāladvāra,
- (14) Karangaka, (15) Dīpaka, (16) Ānandalalitā, (17) Manipūraka, (18) Nākula, (19) Kālabhedana, (20) Mahotsāha. Then for no apparent reason, many others are given without numbers, a circumstance, as well as defective printing, which makes it difficult in some cases to say whether the Sanskrit should be read as one word or two.¹ They are apparently Parama, Pādukam, Padam (or Pādakampadam), Kalpajāla, Poshaka, Lolama, Nādāvarta, Triputa, Kangkālaka, Putabhedana, Mahāgranthivirākā, Bandhajvalana (printed as Bandhejvalana), Anāhata, Yantraputa (printed Yatra), Vyomachakra, Bodhana, Dhruva, Kalākandalaka, Kraunchabherundavibhava, Dāmara, Kulapīthaka, Kulakolā- hala, Hālāvarta, Mahadbhaya, Ghorābhairava, Vishuddhi, Kantham, Uttamam (quære Vishuddhikantham or Kanthamuttamam), Pūrnakam, Ājnā, Kākaputtam, Shringātam, Kāmarūpa, Pūrnagiri, Mahāvyoma, Shaktirūpa. But, as the author says, in the Vedas (that is, Yogachūdāmanī, Yogashikhā Upanishads, and others) we read of only six Chakras—namely, those italicised in the above list, and described in the works here translated—and so it is said: “How can there be any Siddhi for him who knows not the six Chakras, the sixteen Ādhāras, the five Ethers, and three Lakshas, in his own body?”
I have already pointed out that the positions of the Chakras generally correspond to spinal centres of the anatomical divisions of the vertebræ into five regions, and it has been stated that the Padmas or Chakras correspond with
1 I am not sure that the author himself was aware of this in all cases. He may have been quoting himself from some lists without other knowledge on the subject. The list has, to my eyes, in some respects an uncritical aspect—e.g., apart from bracketed notes in the text, Kāmarūpa and Pūrnagiri are Pīthas, the others, Jālandhara and Auddīyāna, not being mentioned. The last quotation he makes draws a distinction between the Chakras and Ādhāras.
p. 156
various plexuses which exist in the body surrounding those regions. Various suggestions have been here made. The Author of a recent work¹ identifies (commencing with the Mūlādhāra and going upwards) the Chakras with the sacral, prostatic, epigastric, cardiac, laryngeal (or pharyngeal), and cavernous plexuses, and the Sahasrāra with the Medulla. In passing it may be noted that the last suggestion cannot in any event be correct. It is apparently based on verse 120 of chapter v. of the Shiva Sanghitā.² But this work does not in my opinion support the suggestion. Elsewhere the Author cited rightly identifies Mount Kailāsa with the Sahasrāra, which is undoubtedly the upper cerebrum. The anatomical position of the Medulla is below that assigned to the Ājnā Chakra. Professor Sarkar’s work contains some valuable appendices by Dr. Brojendranath Seal on, amongst others, Hindu ideas concerning plant and animal life, physiology, and biology, including accounts of the nervous system in Charaka and in the Tantras.³ After pointing out that the cerebro-spinal axis with the connected sympathetic system contains a number of ganglionic
1 “The Positive Background of Hindu Sociology,” by Professor Benoy Kumar Sarkar.
2 P. 54 of the translation of Srīsha Chandra Vasu, to which I refer because the author cited does so. The rendering, however, does not do justice to the text, and liberties have been taken with it. Thus, a large portion has been omitted without word or warning, and at p. 14 it is said that Kundalinī is “of the form of electricity”. There is no warrant for this in the text, and Kundalinī is not, according to the Shāstra, mere electricity.
I cannot too strongly protest against attempts to represent Indian Shāstra, not as it actually is, but what some who are concerned with it would like it to be. State accurately what is in the Shāstra, and then disapprove of it if you will.
3 Both the work of Professor Sarkar and the Appendices of Dr. Seal are of interest and value, and gather together a considerable number of facts of importance on Indian Geography, Ethnology, Mineralogy, Zoology, Botany, and Hindu Physiology, Mechanics, and Acoustics. These Appendices have since been republished separately as a work entitled “Positive Sciences of the Hindus”.
centres and plexuses (Chakras, Padmas), from which nerves (Nādī, Shirā, and Dhamanī) radiate over the head, trunk, and limbs, the latter says, as regards the ganglionic centres and plexuses constituting the sympathetic spinal system:
“Beginning with the lower extremity, the centres and plexuses of the connected spinal and sympathetic systems may be described as follows:
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