The Serpent Power — Arthur Avalon (Sir John Woodroffe) (1924)
upon the differentiation of the Great Bindu (Mahā- bindu). This is due in part to the fact that the verses in which the accounts appear are not always to be read in the order of the words (Shabda Krama), but according to the actual order in fact, whatever that may be (Yathā sambhavam).¹ Nextly, there is some apparent variance in the commentaries. Apart from names and technical details, the gist of the matter is simple and in accordance with other systems. There is first the unmanifested point (Bindu), as to which symbol St. Clement of Alexandria says² that if from a body abstraction be made of its properties, depth, breadth, and length, that which remains is a point having position, from which, if abstraction be made of position,³ there is the state of primordial unity. There is one Spirit, which appears threefold as a Trinity of Manifested Power (Shakti). As so manifesting, the one (Shiva-Shakti) becomes twofold, Shiva and Shakti, and the relation (Nāda) of these two (Tayor mithah samavāyah) makes the threefold Trinity common to so many religions. The One first moves as the Great Will (Ichchhā), then as the Knowledge or Wisdom (Jnāna) according to which Will acts, and then as Action (Kriyā). This is the order of Shaktis in Īshvara. So, according to the Paurānik account, at the commencement of creation Brahmā wakes. The Sangskāras
1 As pointed out by the author of Prānatoshinī, p. 9, when citing the verse from the Goraksha Sanghitā:
Ichchhā kriyā tathā jnānang gaurī brāhmī tu vaishnavī
Tridhā shaktih sthitā yatra tatparang jyotir Om iti.
Prānashakti upāsanā the order is (according to sequence of words):
According to this account of the Devas of different Ādhāras of
Ichchhā=Gaurī; Kriyā=Brāhmī; Vaishnavī=Jnāna.
2 Stromata, Book V, Ch. II, in Vol. IV, Antenicene Library. So also in “Les Mystères de la Croix,” an eighteenth-century mystical work, we read: “Ante omina punctum exstitit; non mathematicum sed diffusivum.”
3 See my “Garland of Letters or Studies in the Mantrashāstra”.
then arise in His mind. There arises the Desire to create (Ichchhā Shakti); then the Knowledge (Jnāna Shakti) of what He is about to create; and, lastly, the Action (Kriyā) of creation. In the case of Jīva the order is Jnāna, Ichchhā, Kriyā. For He first considers or knows something. Informed by such knowledge, He wills and then acts. The three powers are, though counted and spoken of as arising separately, inseparable and indivisible aspects of the One. Wherever there is one there is the other, though men think of each separately and as coming into being— that is, manifested in time—separately.
According to one nomenclature the Supreme Bindu becomes threefold as Bindu (Kāryya), Bīja, Nāda. Though Shiva is never separate from Shakti, nor Shakti from Shiva, a manifestation may predominantly signify one or another. So it is said that Bindu is in the nature of Shiva (Shivātmaka) and Bīja of Shakti (Shaktyātmaka), and Nāda is the combination of the two (Tayor mithah samavāyah). These are also called Mahābindu (Parabindu), Sitabindu (White Bindu), Shonabindu (Red Bindu), and Mishrabindu (Mixed Bindu). These are supreme (Para), subtle (Sūkshma), gross (Sthūla). There is another nomenclature—viz., Sun, Fire, and Moon. There is no question but that Bīja is Moon, that from Bīja issues the Shakti Vāmā, from whom comes Brahmā, who are in the nature of the Moon and Will-Power (Ichchhā Shakti).¹ Ichchhā Shakti in terms of the Gunas of Prakriti is Rajas Guna, which impels Sattva to self-display. This is Pashyantī Shabda, the seat of which is in the Svādhīshthāna Chakra. From Nāda similarly issue Jyeshthā Shakti and Vishnu, and from Bindu Raudrī
1 Raudrī bindos tato nādāj jyeshthā bījād ajāyata Vāmā tābhyah samutpannā rudrabrahmaramādhipāh Sangjnānechchhākriyātmāno vahnīndvarka-svarūpinah.
(Shāradā Tilaka, Ch. I.)
and Rudra, which are Madhyamā and Vaikharī Shabda, the seats of which are the Anāhata and Vishuddha Chakras respectively. According to one account¹ Bindu is “Fire” and Kriyā Shakti (action), and Nāda is “Sun” and Jnāna Shakti, which in terms of the Gunas are Tamas and Sattva respectively.² Rāghavabhatta, however, in his Commentary on the Shāradā, says that the Sun is Kriyā because, like
upon the differentiation of the Great Bindu (Mahā- bindu). This is due in part to the fact that the verses in which the accounts appear are not always to be read in the order of the words (Shabda Krama), but according to the actual order in fact, whatever that may be (Yathā sambhavam).¹ Nextly, there is some apparent variance in the commentaries. Apart from names and technical details, the gist of the matter is simple and in accordance with other systems. There is first the unmanifested point (Bindu), as to which symbol St. Clement of Alexandria says² that if from a body abstraction be made of its properties, depth, breadth, and length, that which remains is a point having position, from which, if abstraction be made of position,³ there is the state of primordial unity. There is one Spirit, which appears threefold as a Trinity of Manifested Power (Shakti). As so manifesting, the one (Shiva-Shakti) becomes twofold, Shiva and Shakti, and the relation (Nāda) of these two (Tayor mithah samavāyah) makes the threefold Trinity common to so many religions. The One first moves as the Great Will (Ichchhā), then as the Knowledge or Wisdom (Jnāna) according to which Will acts, and then as Action (Kriyā). This is the order of Shaktis in Īshvara. So, according to the Paurānik account, at the commencement of creation Brahmā wakes. The Sangskāras
1 As pointed out by the author of Prānatoshinī, p. 9, when citing the verse from the Goraksha Sanghitā:
Ichchhā kriyā tathā jnānang gaurī brāhmī tu vaishnavī
Tridhā shaktih sthitā yatra tatparang jyotir Om iti.
Prānashakti upāsanā the order is (according to sequence of words):
According to this account of the Devas of different Ādhāras of
Ichchhā=Gaurī; Kriyā=Brāhmī; Vaishnavī=Jnāna.
2 Stromata, Book V, Ch. II, in Vol. IV, Antenicene Library. So also in “Les Mystères de la Croix,” an eighteenth-century mystical work, we read: “Ante omina punctum exstitit; non mathematicum sed diffusivum.”
3 See my “Garland of Letters or Studies in the Mantrashāstra”.
then arise in His mind. There arises the Desire to create (Ichchhā Shakti); then the Knowledge (Jnāna Shakti) of what He is about to create; and, lastly, the Action (Kriyā) of creation. In the case of Jīva the order is Jnāna, Ichchhā, Kriyā. For He first considers or knows something. Informed by such knowledge, He wills and then acts. The three powers are, though counted and spoken of as arising separately, inseparable and indivisible aspects of the One. Wherever there is one there is the other, though men think of each separately and as coming into being— that is, manifested in time—separately.
According to one nomenclature the Supreme Bindu becomes threefold as Bindu (Kāryya), Bīja, Nāda. Though Shiva is never separate from Shakti, nor Shakti from Shiva, a manifestation may predominantly signify one or another. So it is said that Bindu is in the nature of Shiva (Shivātmaka) and Bīja of Shakti (Shaktyātmaka), and Nāda is the combination of the two (Tayor mithah samavāyah). These are also called Mahābindu (Parabindu), Sitabindu (White Bindu), Shonabindu (Red Bindu), and Mishrabindu (Mixed Bindu). These are supreme (Para), subtle (Sūkshma), gross (Sthūla). There is another nomenclature—viz., Sun, Fire, and Moon. There is no question but that Bīja is Moon, that from Bīja issues the Shakti Vāmā, from whom comes Brahmā, who are in the nature of the Moon and Will-Power (Ichchhā Shakti).¹ Ichchhā Shakti in terms of the Gunas of Prakriti is Rajas Guna, which impels Sattva to self-display. This is Pashyantī Shabda, the seat of which is in the Svādhīshthāna Chakra. From Nāda similarly issue Jyeshthā Shakti and Vishnu, and from Bindu Raudrī
1 Raudrī bindos tato nādāj jyeshthā bījād ajāyata Vāmā tābhyah samutpannā rudrabrahmaramādhipāh Sangjnānechchhākriyātmāno vahnīndvarka-svarūpinah.
(Shāradā Tilaka, Ch. I.)
and Rudra, which are Madhyamā and Vaikharī Shabda, the seats of which are the Anāhata and Vishuddha Chakras respectively. According to one account¹ Bindu is “Fire” and Kriyā Shakti (action), and Nāda is “Sun” and Jnāna Shakti, which in terms of the Gunas are Tamas and Sattva respectively.² Rāghavabhatta, however, in his Commentary on the Shāradā, says that the Sun is Kriyā because, like
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