HOME PAGE 

Bhagavadgita Pages, Chapters 1 to 18

BG01 BG02 BG03 BG04 BG05 BG06 BG07 BG08  BG09 BG10 BG11 BG12 BG13 BG14 BG15 BG16 BG17 BG18

Feedback email:myumbra-tantra@yahoo.com

www.bhagavadgitausa.com

V.Krishnaraj

Tantric Principles

"Further the Tantras are concerned with Science, Law, Medicine and a variety of subjects other than spiritual doctrine or worship. Thus Indian chemistry and medicine are largely indebted to the Tantrikas. The main subjects of Tantra are Mantra and Sadhana in all its forms. It is also the chief repository of Yoga  practice, and its general range of subject, as hereafter mentioned, is encyclopaedic."  --Woodroffe.

Tantra = (Tan + Tra) = (spread + save) = Spread to save = Spread the knowledge (Jnana) that saves.

Knowledge is to know. Knowledge: acquaintance with facts, truths, or principles, as from study or investigation; general erudition: knowledge of many things. --Random House Dictionary. 

Knowledge (Prama) has four constituents: Pramātṛ, Prameya, Pramiti, and Pramāṇa (subject, object, the resulting state of cognition, and the means of knowledge. --Dr. Radhakrishnan.

The means to Prama (knowledge) are  Pratyaksha, Anumana and Upamana (Perception, Inference, and Analogy).    

Prama is knowledge; Pramana is the means to acquire knowledge; Prameya is an object of certain knowledge. Pramana leads to right apprehension of an object and helps us test the validity of knowledge. The seers and sages used these tools to establish the existence of God beyond doubt.

Pramana according to Vedanta.

As you see, all schools accept Pratyaksha (perception by the senses).

In the Purvamimamsa tradition, the teacher Prabhakara accepts the above four pramanas and adds postulation (arthapatti).

The teacher Bhatta accepts a sixth pramana called non-cognition (anupalabdhi).

Carvaka (materialist School) accepts Pratyaksha (Perception) as the sole source of knowledge.

Buddhist and Vaishesika Schools accept two Pramanas: Perception and Inference.

Vishistadvaita School accepts three Pramanas: Perception, Inference and Verbal Authority (Sruti and Smrti Texts).

Dvaita School accepts three Pramanas: Perception, Inference and Verbal Authority (Sruti and Smrti Texts).

 Samkhya accepts the first three: Perception,  Inference,  Analogy (and Sabda--Testimony).

NyAya accepts the first four as the means (Perception,  Inference,  Analogy, Verbal authority or revelation (Agamas).

Advaita School accepts all six Pramanas from stance of empirical reality (Vyavahare bhattanayah).

Other schools add Sambhava, equivalence; atihya, traditional or fallible testimony; and ceshta, gesture (body language).

The Vaisheshika School does not recognize Upamana-Analogy and Sabda-verbal Authority as ways of acquiring knowledge like the Nyaya School.

ANUMANA: Acharya of Kanchi says: How are we to know the Paramatman (God)? He alone is not known. It is to know Him that we must employ anumana, the method of inference. To know the rest "pratyaksa pramanas" or direct sources of knowledge are sufficient.  Knowing an object on the basis of another known object is anumana (inference). When we hear the roar of the thunder we know, by inference, that there are clouds [that the sky is overcast]--Kanchi Acharya.

Tamil Saiva Siddhanta texts explicate Pramanam (Means) as follows.

À¢ÃÁ¡½õ = Means of acquiring certain knowledge, being six, viz., pirattiya—cam, a‹umƒ‹am, ƒkamam, uvamƒ‹am, aruttƒpatti, apƒvam according to KuŠa˜, or eight, viz.,
ð¤óî¢î¤òì¢êñ¢, ÜÂñ£ùñ¢, Ýèññ¢, àõñ£ùñ¢, ܼî¢î£ðî¢î¤, Üð£õñ¢ (°ø÷¢, 252, à¬ó.) âù ÜÁõ¬èò£è¾ñ¢ ð¤óî¢î¤òì¢êñ¢, ÜÂñ£ùñ¢, Ýèññ¢, àõñ£ùñ¢, ܼî¢î£ðî¢î¤, ÜÂðôî¢î¤, êñ¢ðõñ¢, äî¤èñ¢.. Madras University Lexicon.

Thus Pramana or the means of acquiring knowledge is six-fold: 1) Direct Perception, 2) Inference, 3) Sacred Texts, 4) Analogy, 5) Inference from circumstances, 6) Non-existence.

Others are 7) Indirect Knowledge, 8) Probability evidence, 9) Tradition, 10) Nature.

À¢ÃÁ¡½õ = Pramana = «Ç¨Å = Means of acquiring knowledge.

Pratiyaksha Pramana¹ : ¸¡ñ¼ø «Ç¨Å = Kandal Alavai = pratiyaksha Pramanam in Sanskrit = It is direct perception of an object with eyes and the five senses.

Anumana Pramana² : ¸Õ¾ø «Ç¨Å= Karuthal Alavai = AnumAna Pramanam in Sanskrit = Inference. Though you may not observe an object directly, studying another object invariably associated with the first object and confirming the validity of the first object is Inference. Smoke's invariable association with fire is AvinAbhAva in Sanskrit:  necessary connection of one thing with another, inherent and essential nature. AvinAbhAva = «Å¢¿¡ À¡Åõ. Seeing the rising smoke at a distance, though the fire is not visible for the eyes, knowing that there is fire where the smoke is

Agama Pramana³: ¯¨Ã«Ç¨Å.  synonyms = ¬¸Á À¢ÃÁ¡½õ. ºò¾ô À¢ÃÁ¡½õ, ¬ô¾Å¡ì¸¢Âõ = Agama Pramanam, Sabda Pramanam, Apta Vakkiyam. Sacred Texts: It is the perception of an object or principle through the authority of Sacred Texts, which are revealed knowledge from God. This includes the sacred texts composed by the true devotees of God.

UpamAna Pramana⁴   ´ôÒ =  ¯Å¨Á = ¯ÅÁ¡Éõ = UpamAnam in Sanskrit = Analogy.  When asked what a feral cow looks like by a person who has not seen a feral cow, telling that the feral cow looks like a domestic cow is analogy.

Aruttapatti Pramana⁵: «Õò¾¡Àò¾¢ = ¦À¡Õû = Arthapatti in Sanskrit = inference from circumstances , a disjunctive hypothetical syllogism. Example: Let us assume that a person is fasting. He is surrounded by observant people in the daytime, who have not seen him eating food. After 2 weeks, his body has not lost weight. That is knowing that the day-fasting person eats at night.

Abhava Pramana⁶: þý¨Á = absence = «À¡Åõ. Non-existence. AbhAva is the Sanskrit word for it. Absence is the opposite of presence and thus a means of knowledge. The statement that the rabbit does not a have horn is the knowledge of negativity to apprehend an object.

Some commentators add four more criteria to this list.

1: Paroksha Pramana⁷ = ´Æ¢Ò = À¡¡¢§º¼ «Ç¨Å = Indirect Knowledge as opposed to Pratyaksha, which is direct knowledge. Example: There were only four strong men of elephantine strength in the nation (Salliyan, SarAsanthan, Kisakan, and Bhima: For ease let us call them A  B  C  D.   C was killed by an unknown  person at a particular place in the nation. The known A and B were not there at that time. It is thus the conclusion that D  killed C.

2. Sambhava Pramana⁸ = ºõÀÅ À¢ÃÁ¡½õ = ¯ñ¨Á = Probability evidence. Example: A man admits that he owns 100 gold pieces; it is reasonable to assume that he has 50 gold pieces. Fifty subsides in 100. That is Sambhava Pramana.

3. Aithikam⁹   =  ³¾¢¸õ = Tradition. For generations, people say that a particular tree or house is the abode of spirits. For generations, it is said Chianciano Spa cures hepatic. biliary and bronchial conditions. That is tradition.

4. SubhAva Pramanam¹⁰ = ÍÀ¡Å À¢ÃÁ¡½õ = þÂøÒ = Nature. Tree is by its nature a tree and nothing else.

Though there are ten Pramanas, they all subside in direct perception^1.  Analogy⁴  and Sacred Texts³. Negative proof⁶ and Nature¹⁰ subside in Direct perception¹.  Inference⁵, Analogy⁴, Indirect Knowledge⁷, and probability evidence⁸ subside in inference⁵.  tradition⁹ subsides in Agamas³.

"Sabda-pramana" is verbal testimony, the pronouncements of the Vedas (Sacred Texts) and the words of great men. When the scriptures speak of things that we do not know, their words must be accepted as authority. The Naiyayikas, or exponents of Nyaya, believe that the Vedas are the words of Isvara. The words of great men who are wedded to truth are also verbal testimony. --Kanchi Acharya.

Pratyaksa or perception in the sensual world is a sure-fire way of sensing and acquiring knowledge. "Perception cannot arise unless there is conjunction of self with mind.  Knowledge is a mark of the self. The cause of perception is contact of the sense-organ and the object."--Nyaya Sutras 2.1.22-23-25  Sense-knowledge is a certain acquisition but expressing what one feels in words may be a problem. Some sense-knowledge may be inexpressible. There two kinds of Perceptions: Indeterminate (nirvikalpa) and Determinate (savikalpa).  In Indeterminate Perception it is simple uncritical apprehension, the basis for future knowledge of the object; in the Determinate perception, we acquire the knowledge of  the genus of the perceived object and the specific qualities which distinguish it from other members of the class and the union between the two (Radhakrishnan). In determinate perception, an object's detailed characteristics are noted. Physical stimuli that an object emanates and impinge on the senses by way of its size, color, heat, odor, taste, etc constitute the determinate Perception. It is a subject and object contact by the senses (of the subject). (This includes seeing, tasting, hearing and physical contact.) The stimulus may be a single kind of stimulus or it could be multiple disparate stimuli as in combination of sound, seeing and vibration coming from one source or multiple sources at the same time. The perceptions could be Ordinary (laukika) and Extraordinary (alaukika). The Ordinary dichotomizes into Internal (manasa) and External (bahya) Perceptions.  Internal Perceptions happen in the Cognizing Mind which is subject to dualities such as pain and pleasure, like and dislike and mental modifications. Activity of the Mind is independent of the activities of the senses which gather the stimuli. The Mind or Manas is the Central Processing Agent, Modulator and Coordinator. The ultimate purveyor of all stimuli and the mind is the self. The External Perceptions are the sensory perceptions generated by direct contact by the organs of smell, taste, sight, touch and sound which are associated with earth, water, fire, air and ether.

With Ether there is propagation of sound; with Air, there is propagation of sound and apprehension of touch; with fire, there is apprehension of sound, touch and form; Water is associated with sound, touch, form and taste; Earth is associated with sound, touch, form and taste. What all this means is there is augmentation of qualities from Ether to Air to Fire to Water to Earth--from ethereal, gaseous, igneous, liquid, and solid states of matter.

Nyaya Sutras say that the Senses are products of Elements. Thus nose, tongue, eye, skin and ear are products of earth, water, light, air, and ether. Smell, taste, color, touch, and sound are the objects of senses and qualities of earth, water, light, air, and ether.

The explanation is as follows. The special quality (ies) of each element is (are) highlighted. The heavier Earth has five qualities (Gunas): form, flavor, smell, fire (temperature), and sound. Earth's special quality is smell. Water has the qualities of  flavor, sound, touch and form. Fire has the qualities of sound, touch and form. Air has the qualities of sound and touch (as it grazes your skin). Ether has one quality, that of sound; Air is an evolute of Ether and has one additional quality Touch; Fire is an evolute of Air (It dies if not for air) and has three qualities, those of air and its own special quality, form. Water is an evolute of Fire and has all the qualities of Fire (If you take fire or heat off from the water, it  becomes ice.) and a special quality, Flavor. Earth is an evolute of water (think of minerals in water forming earth, remember stalagmites and stalactites forming from dripping water in Luray Caverns) has all the qualities of all preceding elements and a special quality, smell. 

Extraordinary Perceptions are three: Perception of Classes (samanya laksana), Complicated Perception (jnana laksana), Yogic Perception (yogaja) = (Classes, Association and Intuition)

Perception of Classes (samanya laksana). As you walk along the sidewalks of a city, you see multitudes of people. They may look different in many ways. And yet you without a second thought know that you are among people. That means you are looking at their personhood as one common denominator and nothing else. You are looking at the essence of one class of beings. That is perception of classes.

Complicated Perception (Jnanalakshana = Cognition sign) involves association with previously acquired knowledge. You may call it Unified Multivariate Associative Perception (UMAP)--I coined the phrase to incorporate most of its features.  This perception involves Synesthesia. When one sees a rose at a distance, one says he sees a fragrant rose. Here the visual perception of the rose evokes past memory of its fragrance, perceived in the past by the faculty of smell and nose. The perception brought back the memory of fragrance through the Jnana (cognition) of the object from the past. This time around it is Re-cognition.  Other examples are:  ""Ice looks cold, Sandalwood looks fragrant, The fire looks hot, The orange looks sweet, The grass looks soft." When you look at the ice cream cone, you see its color, you know it is chocolate, it is sweet, it has an aroma  and without you even realizing it your mouth waters.  The lustrous shell and the silver are two separate objects and real in substance and cognition. The shell and Silver are separated in space and yet when you see the white shell, you are reminded of silver. When you see Washington Monument, you think of President Washington and his other particulars.

syn·es·the·sia (sinÅÃs thÆzhÃ, -zh Ã, -z Ã), n.

a sensation produced in one modality when a stimulus is applied to another modality, as when the hearing of a certain sound induces the visualization of a certain color.

The practitioners of Kundalini Yoga, during Yogic Kundalini sessions, see Sanskrit letters in colors. That is Synesthesia;  the person is Synesthete.

Yogic Perception (yogaja) is experienced by accomplished Yogis. There is no direct sense-object contact and yet the Yogi experiences an object. The mind is the perceiver because it attained purity by Yogic practice. This mental perception consists of true tele-vision (perceiving objects far away in space out of direct sight),  happenings in the future and things infinitesimally small.

Since senses are subject to vitiation such as Bhrama (illusion, confusion, perplexity), Pramada (negligence, carelessness), Vipralipsa (deception), Karanapatava (misleading senses), one should take refuge in revealed knowledge as dependable evidence.  If Pratyaksha Pramana (Direct perception) run counter to the sacred texts, they should be abandoned.

Mirage is Bhrama, whereby senses are subject to illusion and perceive what is not there; Prakrti-born senses cannot evaluate and measure Isvara (God) and His acts and so advance false knowledge by Pramada and Vipralipsa; Our senses are deficient  (Karanapatava) to comprehend the transcendental.

The great teaching of the Vedanta by itself and without accompanying Sadhana (Spiritual accomplishment) can achieve nothing of real worth. Its study may produce a Pundit. But to the Sadhaka (the accomplished one) the disputations of Pundits, whether philosophical or scientific, is like “the cawing of the crows.” There is both reason and humor in the Hindu saying that a logician (without Sadhana) will be reborn a jackass. 

Any logician can clearly establish any subject matter using arguments, but someone who is more expert in argument can easily refute him. You use logic to establish one siddhanta today, but a more intelligent and qualified logician will be able to refute it tomorrow, so why should you rely on logic? -Saying by Babaji in Jaiva Dharma.

siddhanta  = Well-established conclusion, settled opinion or doctrine, received or admitted truth

The message is that the Sastras (sacred texts) are open for exegesis, though exegete (exegetist) of today is tomorrow's defeatist.

The Tantra claims to be practical pratyaksa Sastra in that it affords the direct proof of experience. Woodroffe, Page 79-80 Principles of Tantra.

The following is from Sivagnana Siddhiar.

Within the ambit of Peculiar and General quality fall all objects apprehended by Nirvikalpa and Savikalpa Perception (நிருவிகற்பக் காட்சி and  சவிகற்பக்காட்சி)

General Quality is remaining separate from the Nature of another genus and simultaneously abide in the nature of one's own genus. Objects subjected to Means of Perception subside within these two Natures.

Objects are apprehended by two modes.

General Quality (பொதுஇயல்பு). Synonyms: Indeterminate Perception. It is that quality which is removed from a different genus and simultaneously concurs with that of the same genus. (General Quality is remaining separate from the Nature of another genus and simultaneously abide in the nature of one's own genus. Objects subjected to Means of Perception subside within these two Natures.)  This parallels with நிருவிகற்பக் காட்சி. = Nirvikalpa Perception.   General perception of an object by the five senses. Here, there is no doubt or confusion as to the identity of an object. When you see a rope and a snake, you don't mistake one for the other. You know in uncertain terms one from the other. This is also called Sense Perception (Indriya katchi = இந்திரியக்காட்சி = Sense perception.

Peculiar Quality (தன்னியல்பு) is remaining with its own special Nature, separate from the Nature of one's own genus and that of another genus. General Quality is remaining separate from the Nature of another genus and simultaneously abide in the nature of one's own genus. Objects subjected to Means of Perception subside within these two Natures. Peculiar Quality is that quality which is removed from that of a different genus and from that of the same genus and which sports one's own special nature. This runs parallel with Savikarpa Perception. சவிகற்பக்காட்சி =  Knowledge of an object as to its genus, qualities, function etc.  This is more in-depth knowledge of an object.

Explanation of these terms and other perspectives

Perception moves from the sense organs to the mind in the apprehension of General and Peculiar qualities, from indeterminate to determinate, from preliminary to specific, from Nirvikalpam to Savikalpam. Higher need is moving the perception to the soul. This is Intellectual perception, which is apprehension by what is called Antakarna or Inner organ, consisting of Buddhi, Ego, Mind and Chitta. Going beyond General and Peculiar qualities or perception is Intellectual Perception (மானதக்காட்சி).  In the West, Mind and Egoism are well discussed and explored; Buddhi and Chitta are poorly understood.

For successful meditation you need a fully functional "Inner Organ' made of Mind, Buddhi, Ego and Chitta. Find out what they mean. Mind is a mechanical meditator; Buddhi is a fickle meditator; Chitta is a serene meditator. Buddhi and Chitta have no equivalent terms in English. Put them all together you got a successful meditator with the soul being the top of the heap or the center.

The following meanings of the words are close approximations. The Inner Organ (Antahkarana = அந்தக்கரணம்) is made of four entities as follows.

Buddhi = புத்தி = Intellect. Reason, power of discernment or judgment

Ahamkaram = அகங்காரம் = Egoism

Manas = மனம் = Mind

Chitta = சித்தம் = Determinative Faculty

Sense organs project their image on Manas, the mind. This is called இந்திரியக்காட்சி (Indriya-kAtchi = Seeing or perception through sense organs). The first perception (the first look) is not complete and not determinate; it is  நிருவிகற்பக்காட்சி (Indeterminate perception). ArAgam (அராகம் = Rāga is desire) and Buddhi Tattva make it possible for Nivikalpa Indeterminate Perception or knowledge to become SavikalpakKatchi (சவிகற்பக்காட்சி = Determinate Perception or Knowledge). It means that the knowledge is complete and determinate. Indeterminate becomes Determinate perception; the latter becomes an experiential knowledge, when impacted with desire and Buddhi ( தன்வேதனைக்காட்சி (Tanvetanaik-Katchi). In this state, the sense knowledge is subjected to psyche's desire, and Buddhi (Intuitive intellect).  Experiential knowledge (தன்வேதனைக்காட்சி) is internal experience of love, hate, pain, pleasure... brought about by Rāga or Desire and experienced by soul's intellect after the sensory input goes through Indeterminate and determinate perceptions.

Indeterminate knowledge→Determinate Knowledge→Experiential Knowledge.

You see a form behind a diaphanous screen; you don't know whether it is a male, a female, or a statue. That is Indeterminate knowledge. The form moves and comes in view before you. You apprehend the form as a woman; that is determinate knowledge. The figure is a statuesque, living breathing young woman and induces positive feelings and love at first sight; her demeanor is bewitching; the juices start flowing in you ; the sensitized pheromonal receptors are heightened; the adrenaline rush is palpable and causes palpitation; you without your awareness develop a physical response to her; she kindles your desire; Buddhi gives a thorough look-see; you are melting in the heat of passion; you desire for union; that is Experiential perception or knowledge. This is the physical side of human response. People have much less experience with spiritual side of human response. Consider the Yogi or a saint meditating on God. After many years of meditation, God comes into Yogi's consciousness; the Yogi sees his God; he experiences Him. You hear of ecstasy in seers and sages, when they meditate on God. That spiritual ecstasy is compared to sexual bliss in Tantric texts. Sexual bliss is difficult to express in words; so also is Spiritual bliss, but it is much more intense, when the Yogi experiences what is called Turiya and Turiyatita, the 4th and 5th state of  human consciousness (the other three are wakefulness, dream sleep and deep sleep). This is the ultimate human experience in this phenomenal world.

Experiential knowledge = Self-perception of pleasure and pain brought about by arāka-tattuvam (அராக தத்துவம் = Desire).

Direct Perception = Pratyaksha Pramana (= காண்டல் அளவை = KAnadal Alavai) is the knowledge gained by direct perception of an object by the senses. The first impression is the general appearance or occurrence and is called Nirvikalpa Pratyyaksha (நிருவிகற்பக் காட்சி), Indeterminate perception. Vikalpam = difference. Nirvikalpam = undifferentiated or indeterminate. The next perception in sequence is Savikalpa Pratyyaksha (சவிகற்பக்காட்சி). Savikalpam is knowledge that comes with perception associated with appreciation of difference. One comes to know how an object is different from the rest. It is a definite identification of the object and its true nature. Savikalpa Partyyaksha is knowledge that is not tainted with doubt, confusion, and erroneous apprehension (திரிபு). Savikalpa Patyaksha is knowledge devoid of stain.  Apply all these parameters towards apprehension of God and the eventual experience of God and the resultant ecstasy. It is the soul or the self that experiences the ecstasy.

Soul is the king; Buddhi is the prime minister; Ahamkara, Manas, and Chitta are cabinet members. The sense organs are limited in the sense that each has a specific function. But God or Siva Sakti has no such limitation.  Based on the Soul as the centerpiece, these four entities surround it as its servants.

In the diagram below, you will notice that the Soul occupies the center; Mind, Ego, and Intellect serve Chitta or Determinative Faculty, which serves the Soul.

It is indicated that Inner Organ is endowed with functional polymorphism, the constituent names based on their functions. When it emotes (Manasa-Vrtti) it is called Manas or mind; when it thinks (Buddhi-Vrrti) it Buddhi; When it is in memory mode (Chitta Vrrti), it is Chittam. Thus Manas-Buddhi-Ahamkara-Chitta is one entity with multiple functions. Each function in the active mode inhibits the other functions.

Soul's intellect, when at work, goes after the objects. It uses the five sensory organs like the eyes. Its perception is based on and limited by the organs. Indriya KAtchi (Sense Perception) perceives without the stain of doubt and erroneous apprehension the object's general quality without knowing its name and genus. This is known as sense-knowledge. The first knowledge engendered by and associated with the five sense-organs takes a foothold in Chitta (Determinative Faculty) and remains in memory; later Buddhi (Intuitive Intellect) assigns a name, genus and such attributes to the object and thus establishes a clear comprehension of the object. This is known as MAnatha KAtchi (Intellectual Perception), மானதக்காட்சி, Intellectual perception by the soul through the functioning of the intellect. 

External Sense Organs: They are the eyes, the nose, the tongue, the ears and the skin, which serve to collect disparate sensations from the outer world. They are outside of the Inner Organ.

Mind = Manas. Mind is also called Lower mind. Mind is made of thoughts when it is active (Manas-Vritti). Mind captures the images and sensory impressions from the sense organs, which perceive the external world. There is a continuous assault of the external world on the mind during waking hours. That creates thought waves in the mind lake. In dream sleep, mind is active though there is no contact with the external world. These are thought bubbles in the form of audiovisual presentation rising from the subconscious mind. Mind suffers from  five afflictions. Five Klesas: avidya¹ (ignorance), asmita² (egoism), raga³ (desire), abhinivesa⁴ (tenacity of mundane existence) and dvesha⁵ (aversion). These entities arise in a cascade fashion starting from Ignorance giving rise to Egoism and so on.  Avidya is not knowing that we take the non-eternal as the Eternal,  Impure as pure, pain as pleasure, desire sprouting from egoism and aversion as real, and not identifying oneself with the Soul. Now you know why the mind has to die so that the soul has no impediments and thus can merge with the Universal Consciousness (God).

Buddhi: புத்தி. Reason, power of discernment or judgment, rational faculty, decision maker, director of Manas, one of the four species of antakarana. Antakarana = அந்தக்கரணம் = Inner seat of thought, feeling, and volition, consisting of four aspects: புத்தி, அகங்காரம், மனம்,  சித்தம், (Buddhi or Intellect, Egoism , Mind, Determinative Faculty. உட்கருவி = utkaruvu = Inner Organ = Antakarana = அந்தக்கரணம். Buddhi is also called Higher Mind. Buddhi has filters: Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas (Virtue and goodness-its color is white; Motion and passion - its color is red; Darkness and sluggishness - its color is black. Buddhi is the faculty that determines the course of action, when one is faced with a contingency: trivial, ordinary, life-threatening. When Buddhi is churning, you call the function Buddhi-Vritti. Same is true of Manas-Vritti. Manas-Vritti, Buddhi-Vritti and Chitta-Virrti are controlled by a three-way switch, a case of reciprocal inhibition; only one switch is operative at a time. It is like the gears in the car; we use only one gear at a time. Ego hums in the background and goes silent with others when Chitta is active. When Manas is churning, Buddhi and Chitta stop churning. Manas is a gatherer of information; Buddhi is a sifter, a sorter, an analyzer, a collator, and a processor of knowledge. It is like gathering intell (intelligence) by Manas, the field agents, and the analyzer of 'intell' is the Buddhi.

Ego: அகங்காரம் = Ahamkaram. It is the I-doer or I-maker.  It is all about I, Me, Mine, and Mineness. It is generally possessive and selfish. Ahamkara identifies itself with the body as if it is one's own self; it mistakes the body for the self or soul. Body awareness eclipses and sacrifices soul awareness. One can quell the Ego or modify it. Ahamkara also has three filters: Sattva, Rajas and Tamas. One can quell Rajas and Tamas as Yogis do and exhibit Sattvika Ahamkara. Manas sends its impressions through Ahamkara and its filters to Buddhi, which is the penultimate arbitrator. But Chitta supersedes Buddhi and the Soul reigns Supreme.

Chittam (சித்தம்): Chitta in Sanskrit. Chittam is a chronicler and repository of mental impressions and experiences. It is said to be a seat of consciousness, sub-consciousness and superconsciousness. Since there is no equivalent word in English, Chittam is variously called Consciousness, Soul, Memory Bank, Contemplative faculty, Inner man, Repository of Experiences, Storehouse of Vasanas, Samskaras and Gunas. One source tells when Sattva, Rajas and Tamas (Virtue, Motion and passion, and darkness) are in equilibrium, it is Chittam; when they are in disequilibrium it is Buddhi. Chittam is the corporeal equivalent of Cosmic Witness. Vasana means fragrance, that clings to the clothes; Vasanas are the impression of anything remaining unconsciously in the mind, the present consciousness of past perceptions, and knowledge derived from memory. It is the fragrance left from the past life that clings on to our psyche in this birth. Samskaras are impression on the mind of acts done in a former existence. At present, we are made of Vasanas and Samskaras meaning that our present life and behavior are a continuum from the past life remaining true to our past-life behavior. Our body, mind, soul and psyche follow the script written by Vasanas and Samskaras. Consider your DNA inherited from your parents; likewise you inherit your Vasanas, Samskaras and Gunas from your past life. In the dream sleep, Buddhi, Ego and Mind are in abeyance because there is no external world but Chittam is functional and draws images and experiences from its own memory bank; it is a subjective world; the senses do not perceive; the organs do not respond; Buddhi does not churn; that is dream. (Sleepwalking or somnambulism is a sign of CNS immaturity in children.)  If one experiences a dream that is not of this world, it is the memory from previous life ( Pūrva Janma Smaranam). Chittam is man in his essence. Chittam makes the Inner Man. It is said that one should keep one's Chittam squeaky clean. Chittam is the radiating light of the soul of man. Chittam is Sum of man. You are what Chittam is. When you see an apple, your Inner Organ (Chittam) has to morph itself to the shape, size, color, odor, taste... of an apple; then only you see an apple in its completeness. You see an apple; you (your Chittam) become an apple; you hear music, you become the music. All that happens in your Chittam. Chittam is the seat of deep contemplation. Whatever is contemplated in depth in Chittam, that it becomes; that a man becomes. Chittam becomes the repository of Sattva, Rajas and or Tamas in one mode or any of its combinations, one becoming more dominant than others. Chittam is a sage, a warrior, a killer.... If Chittam becomes the repository of malignant behavior such as murder, extreme greed etc, they leave a permanent imprint and never leave a person. Chittam is what makes a man a Buddha, a Jesus Christ, a Sankaracharya, a Lincoln, a Gandhi, a Hitler, a Madoff.... (Jan 18, 2009). Sattva (Virtue) is in the dominant mode in the first five people; Tamas or darkness is in the dominant mode in the last two persons. If you don't give in to the onslaught of distracting thoughts and keep Siva constantly in your Chittam, Sivam you become. Thence all your actions are His. Chittam is Sukshma Sarira or subtle body.  Chittam is not listed as one of the Tattvas TATTVAS-36 along with Buddhi¹⁴, Ahamkara¹⁵, Manas¹⁶. It is said that Chittam is part of Prakrti Tattva^{13 .}     Vedanta considers Anatahkarana as fourfold, while Sankhya and and Yoga Sastras consider it as threefold; Siddha Siddhanta, one of the Inner Religions in Saivism considers Antahkarana as  fivefold: Chaitanya (Higher Consciousness), Chitta, Buddhi, Ahamkara, and Manas.  There are deities who preside over these faculties: Vishnu-Achuta over Chitta; Brahman over Buddhi; Siva over Ahamkara; Moon over the Manas.

Tattvas: Siva¹, Sakti², Sadasiva ³, Isvara⁴, Sadvidya⁵, MayA⁶, Kala⁷, Niyati⁸, Kala⁹, Vidya¹⁰, Raga¹¹, Purusa¹² Prakrti Tattva¹³, Buddhi¹⁴, Ahamkara¹⁵, Manas¹⁶,  hearing--Ears¹⁷, touch--Skin¹⁸, vision and color--Eyes¹⁹ , tasting--Tongue or mouth²⁰, smell--Nose²¹,  speech-Larynx²², grasp-Hands²³, ambulation--Feet²⁴, evacuation--Anus²⁵, procreation-Genitals²⁶, sound²⁷, palpation²⁸, form²⁹, taste³⁰ , odor³¹,  ether³², air³³, fire³⁴, water³⁵, earth³⁶.

Among the animals, cow belongs to Genus Bos. Buffalo and horse though they belong to Mammalia belong to different Families and genuses or genera. This difference in appearance is apparent upon observation. The poet says that a genus appears like its kind different from the other genus.

Example: Our cow is black with short horns and lacks the hump (as in a bullock). Though our cow has all the General Quality (¦À¡ÐþÂøÒ) of all the cows, it has its own peculiar markers or identifiers («¨¼Â¡Çõ), which are called Peculiar quality (தன்னியல்பு = one's own special quality).

Proposition is threefold. Cause is also threefold. Inference is twofold: inference from one's own perception and Inference employed to enlighten others. Enlightenment of others is twofold: Accord and Discord (negation).

Proposition. Pakkam = Àì¸õ in Tamil and Paksham in Sanskrit = proposition, argument is threefold.

Hetu (²Ð = Etu = Hetu in Sanskrit = Cause, Origin, Ultimate Cause, First Cause. Hetu is of  threefold nature

Concomitance, Concordance, Accord (between proposition and Conclusion): அன்னுவயம் aṉṉuvayam , n. < anvaya. (Sans) logical connection of cause and effect , or proposition and conclusion. 1. Succession, connection; சம்பந்தம். 2. (Log.) Invariable concomitance between an antecedent and a consequent; 3. (Log.) Invariable co-existence between sādhanasādhya. Anvaya in Sanskrit =  logical connection of cause and effect , or proposition and conclusion.

Negation: ¦Å¾¢§Ã¸õ = Negation (±¾¢÷Á¨È) Discord, Variance.

Inference = Anumana Pramana² : ¸Õ¾ø «Ç¨Å= Karuthal Alavai is towfold: 1) ¾ý ¦À¡ÕðÎ 2) À¢È÷ ¦À¡ÕðÎ = 1) Inference from one's own perception and 2) Inference employed to enlighten others.

There are three propositions: Proposition, Simile, and Counter Instance. Proposition abides in Major Term (Log.). Analogy abides in Simile. The proposed object does not abide in Counter Instance. Proposition and Simile are in concordance in relation to object. Counter Instance is negation of the object.

Example: 

Proposition and Simile are in concordance in relation to object. (Proposition,) Fire on the mountain and (Simile) Fire in the Kitchen are in concordance.

Counter Instance is negation of the object. There is no Fire in the lake.

Pakkam, Nigarpakkam, Nigarilpakkam = Àì¸õ, ¿¢¸÷Àì¸õ, ¿¢¸¡¢øÀì¸õ  = Proposition, Simile, and Counter Instance. 

н¢¦À¡Õû = Major Term (log.)

Syllogism: Logic. an argument the conclusion of which is supported by two premises, of which one (major premise = Fire) contains the term (major term) that is the predicate of the conclusion, and the other (minor premise) contains the term (minor term) that is the subject of the conclusion; common to both premises is a term (middle term) that is excluded from the conclusion. A typical form is "All A is C; all B is A; therefore all B is C."

predicate : that which is affirmed or denied concerning the subject of a proposition.

 Nyaya's syllogism has five elements: (1) the proposition to be established; பக்கõ (Proposition: the hill is on fire); (2) Why?  the reason (because it smokes); (3) Give me an instance. the example (ºÀì¸õ = ¿¢¸÷Àì¸õ = simile = whatever has smoke has fire, for example, a kitchen; (4) the application (so does the hill); and (5) the statement of the conclusion (the hill is on fire). --Dr. Radhakrishnan. I have added the equivalent Tamil terms.

Fire is the Major Term.

The Hill is the Minor Term.

The Smoke is the Middle term connecting the Major and Minor Terms.

Kitchen Fire is the Simile or Analogy.

Absence of Fire in the Lake is the Counter Instance.

That there is fire on the hill is the Conclusion.

1) Proposition: பக்கம்: Proposition to be proved or established; Pakkam (Àì¸õ) = Paksham in Sanskrit = Argument, Thesis, Proposition. Example: the hill is on fire. அனுமானத்தின் உறுப்பினுள் மலை நெருப் புடைத்து என்றதுபோன்ற பிரதிஞ்ஞாவசனம்.

2) Simile = சபக்கம் capakkam = நிகர்பக்கம் .  , n. < sa-pakka. (Log.)  other spelling:  Supaksham is supakkam (ÍÀì¸õ) in Tamil. An instance in which the major term is found concomitant with the middle term, as kitchen when fire is the major term.  நிகர் = Simile. பக்கம்  =  proposition. நிகர்பக்கம் = a Simile to a proposition (the hill is on fire) is the Kitchen.  நிகர்பக்கம் nikar-pakkam , n. < நிகர் +. (Log.) An instance in which the major term is found concomitant with the middle term.

3) Counter Instance = விபக்கம்    = ¿¢¸¡¢ø Àì¸õ =  vipakkam.  Log.) Instance in which the major term is not found, as lake, where fire, the major term, is not found; Opposite view;  This is the OPPOSITE of Nigarpakkam or Simile or Sapakkam.  எதிரிடையான கொள்கை. அனுமானவுறுப்புள் துணிபொருளில்லா விடம். சபக்கத்துண்டாதலும் விபக்கத்தின்றியே விடுதலும் (மணி. 29, 123-4).Vipaksham  in Sanskrit is Vipakkam (Å¢Àì¸õ) in Tamil. 

Proposition is Mountain is on fire; Simile is the Kitchen (that has fire); the Counter Instance is the Lake (that is not on fire). 

Reasoning (Hetu) is three-fold: 1) Own Nature, 2) Effect, 3) Non-Perception. Nature is to point out and identify an object as to what it is by its word. Effect or Result is to point out the cause of an object: upon seeing smoke, make a point that Fire is present. Non-Perception is realizing the non-existence of an object by knowing the non-existence of the example cited.

²Ð = Hetu in Sanskrit  = Reasoning; Statement of reason, the second member of an Indian syllogism; middle term.

Hetu or ²Ð is of three kinds: þÂøÒ (Own nature or Inherent Quality), ¸¡¡¢Âõ (Effect, Result. subject ), and «ÛÀÄò¾¢ (non-perception).

1) Inherent Quality (þÂøÒ = iyalpu) is apprehending an object by the connotive power of the word.

2) Effect (¸¡¡¢Âõ = KAriyam). Upon seeing the rising smoke in a distant hill, pointing out the presence of the causal Fire, for the smoke to rise. KAriya Hetu is apprehension of Smoke as the effect (KAriyam) from the Causal Fire (¸¡Ã½õ = Cause).

3) non-perception Inference= «ÛÀÄò¾¢ = Anupalaththi = Anupalabdhi in Sanskrit:=  non-perception, non-recognition) is apprehending the non-existence of an object based on the non-existence in the example cited. Inference of the absence of one thing from the absence of something else. Example: Knowing the non-existence of horned rabbit.

opposite of upalabdhi (¯ÀÄò¾¢) as listed below.  

(a‹upalatti-y-„tu = Inference of the absence of one thing from the absence of something else.)

Brilliant Perception: ¯ÀÄò¾¢ = Å¢Çí̾ø.  obtainment,  acquisition, gaining understanding, clear and brilliant perception. Example: It is not winter because it is not cold.

Apprehension of absence of cause on account of absence of effect and on account of absence of cause, the absence of effect comes under the purview of non-perception (Anupalaththi = Anupalabdhi).

In other words: Apprehension of lack of effect proceeding from lack of cause and lack of cause leading to lack of effect subside in non-perception.

Objective reasoning  (¸¡¡¢Â ²Ð) is that the object Smoke makes you realize that Fire is present. Non-Perception (Anupalabdhi = «ÛÀÄò¾¢) is having the sensation of Negation.  Knowing absence of effect based on absence of Cause and absence of Cause based on the absence of effect constitutes Anupalabdhi («ÛÀÄò¾¢). S.S. Mani gives this example:  'Now there is no Cold on account of no Snow.' The inverse is: 'Now there is no Snow on account of no Cold.'  That is Anupalabdhi.

Smoke betrays fire. This is like the kitchen. As opposed to this, where there is no fire, there is no smoke. This is Annuvayam («óÑÅÂõ --«ýÛÅÂõ = Concomitance), Invariable existence between cause and effect. Vettirekam (¦Å¾¢§Ã¸õ-negation) is  like the co-existence of buds and blooms in the Lotus lake. These two have 5 parts.

Concomitance and Negation («óÑÅÂõ Vs ¦Å¾¢§Ã¸õ) are discussed.

Brahman is without name or form. Brahman is  the impersonal supreme being, the primal source and ultimate goal of all beings, with which Atman, when enlightened, knows itself to be identical. How is Brahman different from us? How are we different among ourselves?  Difference: dissimilarity; a distinguishing characteristic; the degree to which one person or thing differs from another; not itself or the same, but another.

The soul is Consciousness, Intelligence, and repository of knowledge. It is left to the individual self (Jivatma) to analyze and weigh the evidence, consider the pros and cons, reconcile to differences, make an informed judgment and arrive at an independent conclusion. That is Saiva Siddhanta which does not recommend accepting anything on blind faith.  Once a Sadhaka comes to the realization of Brahman knowledge, Tantra Sastra advocates the Sadhaka should give up the rituals and rites and Sabda Brahman for they serve no purpose to him, but actually are impediment. Puja and Yoga are redundant for the one who sees Brahman in all things. Puja = ritual worship.

Tantra condemns superficiality and ostentation. If smearing ash and mud leads to realization, every pig rolling and mired in mud has  attained liberation. Rituals without knowledge, sincerity, and Sadhana are meaningless. Knowing scriptures but not the essence (Truth) is like a ladle lying in sugary syrup, a donkey carrying fragrant sandal-wood, columns holding the roof, and the hand carrying the food to the mouth; none of them know the essence or value of what they carry or hold. The perfected Yogi, who realized Para Brahman or attained Brahman knowledge--Brahman Jnana through studies of scriptures, abandons them as the grain gatherer discards the husk.

Agamas are the backbone of Tantric practice and as a matter of fact, all Hindu rituals and as Woodroffe observes, Catholic rituals. Agama consists of four parts or Kandas: Jnanakanda, Yogakanda, Kriyakanda, and Karyakanda.  Jnana = knowledge; Yoga = contemplation and meditation; Kriya = temple-building, consecration of idols and related works; Karya = various ways of worship.

What is Sadhana? Sadhana comes from the word Sadh meaning exert. That endeavor brings a particular result or Siddhi. The aspirant or practitioner is Sadhaka. Once he achieves Siddhi, he becomes Siddha. The goal is Sadya.  A Sadhaka practices Sadhana to attain Siddhi, upon attaining which he becomes Siddha. The goal is realization of Brahman or Brahman Knowledge.

Tantra, as spoken by Lord Siva Himself, claims that man can enjoy the world of objects and yet attain liberation; between the two, liberation alone is enduring. This philosophy of enjoyment (Bhoga) and liberation (Mukti)  recognizes man's desire for both. "There is no Bhoga in Yoga and there is no Yoga in Bhoga." The Bhogi of the World can become the Yogi, if Tantratattva (Tantric principles) is followed. Bhoga is of five kinds: enjoyment arising from sound, sight, smell, touch and taste.  Our physical, mental and psychological constitution is made of our experiences with our body (Bhoga); love for spouse, children, family, and kith and kin; pleasures derived from art, music, studies, senses, and nature; pains derived from adverse events; and episodic love of god. All this is physical (except love of god) and keeps us anchored to the mutable world. To migrate to the immutable world of Satchitananada (Sat-chit-ananada = Being, Consciousness and Bliss), one has to leave this physical world of ephemeral nature to a world of Being, Consciousness and Bliss, where the medium of experience and expression is not body but spirit (Atma, soul). Satchitananada is immeasurably superior to the mundane life . This release from this world and entry into the world of Bliss is liberation; yet the Sadhaka is in this world but not of this world, until his death.  In Hindu philosophy, the body however beautiful, strong, and virile it may be, is still a bag of skin, bones, blood, flesh, phlegm, bile, air, feces, urine, and worms; in its parts it looks ugly. That is why the Yogi says, "No to the body and Yes to the spirit."  Going from No to Yes is not easy; Tantra accepts the body and spirit and teaches the Vira (Hero, the brave one) to migrate from one to the other. Tantric Gurus teach the pupils the technique of transformation.

Tantrics come in different flavors: Saktas, Saivas, Sauras, Ganapatiyas, and Vaishnavas; they are the worshippers of Devi, Siva, Sun, Ganapati (or Ganesa), and Vishnu. Adi-Sankara saw innumerable cults on the Hindu religious landscape. He brought them under six categories mentioned above. Sakta goes through initiation into Tantric worship. Siva and Sakti revealed Tantric knowledge to the people at the onset of Kaliyuga. Parvati, the Mother Goddess, asked Siva to reveal wisdom that would make Sadhaka perfect and attain Brahmavidya, the ultimate Truth. Tantras were revealed wisdom; worship of Mother Goddess was in practice long before the advent of Krishna. In the West, the worship of Mother Goddess waned with the advent of Christian era. And yet mother of Jesus Christ retains the vestige of Mother Goddess. She is not one of Holy Trinity. Jesus Christ is son of God. who is Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ? She must be the Goddess and yet she is not. That is the paradox. Siva and Sakti revealed Agamas and Nigamas, collectively known as Tantra. The world is a dungeon full of misery and darkness. The spiritual beginner finds the world Kakabistha (crow's droppings), but once he attains Sadhana (perfection), the very same world appears as Brahman. Tantric says that Devi pervades this world. She is manifest Brahman, Mother Goddess, Anandamayi, Brahmamayi, Vishnumayi, Mahesvari; this universe is her playground. Tantra fuses matter and spirit in such ways that a sadhaka attains liberation, though enjoying the fruits of the world. Sankara's Jnana Yogam, other Hindu practices, and Buddhism's Mahayana greatly benefited from Tantra.  Saktas claim that their path is the least resistant and most successful for obtaining liberation. Sankara and Ramanuja taught (Jnana and) Bhakti for salvation.

Go to Kundalini Power for details on Kundalini and Chakras.

    The goal of Tantric Sadhana is realizing Monistic (Advita) Tattva and union with Brahman, which goes by several names: Kaivalya, Samadhi, Turiya, and Turiyatita. Tirumular says, "When the breath is controlled, eight siddhis are attained. When the Kundalini fire goes up the central Nadi through the realm of Sun to that of Moon, I get to imbibe the nectar." The seventh center is Sahasrara Chakra and Fire Mandala, the eighth is Solar Mandala, and the ninth is the Lunar Mandala. Once the Lunar Mandala is pierced by the Sadhaka, Tirumular says, "He is beyond the four corners of Muladhara center; he is beyond the bridge of twenty-four Tattvas. His gunas are beyond the twenty-five Tattvas; he is beyond the six Adharas that spread like a Banyan tree. Does anybody know him?"

Note: Here Sun, Moon and Fire (Solar, Lunar and Fire Mandala) do not refer to heavenly objects but to creative Trinity

(Mandala is generic geometric form, while Yantra is deity-specific.)

    Kundalini fire, if unregulated, is Kali; if regulated, it is Durga, the giver of boons. Unregulated and undirected Kundalini fire is like Kali trampling Siva on the burial ground.

 Mular says, "I sought the five Suddha Tattvas and reached the Circle of Moon. Leaving this I went on to the realm of great Void that is in the Circle of Supreme Pati (Siva) twelve fingerbreadths above the crown; from there I go beyond these circles."

    Mundane knowledge that comes from the five senses, the sixth, the seventh, the eighth, the ninth, and the tenth and from other ways destroys spiritual life in succession (resulting in Samsara, cycle of births and rebirths).  Life is a waste when one acquires worldly knowledge through ten senses. The knowledge gained by the ten senses is Apara Vidya (NOT supreme knowledge, Faustian knowledge); therefore, Apara Vidya is useless. On the contrary, Para Vidya is Brahman knowledge, which helps gain realization, and obtains liberation. Transcendental knowledge obtained by Yogis while in samadhi, is Para Vidya (Supreme Knowledge).

Sense:            Knowledge from

Sixth sense = discrimination.

Seventh sense = judgment.

Eighth sense = learning.

Ninth sense = experience.

Tenth sense = attachment.

Kundalini Sadhakas and Yogis ascend from Adhara Chakras to Niradhara Chakras. Adhara Chakras are body-dependant: Muladhara, Svadhistana, Manipura, Anahata, Visuddha and Ajna Chakras located in the base of the spine, genital area, navel, heart, throat and forehead. Niradhara Chakra has not physical support.

   Tirumular gives time lines piercing the various Chakras. Go to Kundalini Power for details. These are the time lines for piercing the nine Centers:  sixth center on the 20th day, seventh Center at Fire Mandala on the 25^th day, eighth Center at Solar Mandala on the 26^th day, ninth Center at Lunar Mandala on the 27^th day. (It takes Prana 27 days to travel from Muladhara Chakra to the Lunar Mandala in Kundalini Yoga.)

    On the twenty-eighth day, you obtain vision of the three Mandalas, each separately; on the thirty-third day, you obtain one panoramic view of all Mandalas. Extend your vision and see the twenty-four Tattvas, the earth and other elements in that order. (This is like the astronaut's view of the earth; but the Yogi's prana and Consciousness travel greater distances.)

Material obtained from Woodroffe. Diagram is based on the written material.

Ajna Chakra is 6th Chakra. Above the 6th are minor chakras Manas and Soma (Moon). Manas (Mind) lotus of 6 petals is the seat of sensation of hearing, touch, sight, smell, taste, and sensation of dream and hallucination.

In the region of Soma Chakra is the the house without support (Niralambapuri) where Yogis witness radiant Isvara, the seven causal bodies, which are the intermediate aspects of Adya Sakti (lotus with 12 white petals). It is near the pericarp of Sahasrara chakra. Adya Sakti with 12 petals is the A-KA-Tha Triangle  (See detailed depiction of AKATHA triangle elsewhere in this article). A-Ka-Tha triangle surrounds Manipitha (jeweled Altar) on the isle of gems (Manidvipa) in the Ocean of Nectar. A-Ka-Tha Sakti is the centerpiece of the inverted triangle. The idea is that the Yogi has to climb all these levels to attain realization. Each level is a rung in the staircase leading to realization.

Siva Himself worships and encourages the votaries to worship this 12-petalled lotus within the pericarp of Sahasrara Chakra, the center of which is occupied by Sakti. These 12 petals have 12 letters inscribed on them. They are sa, ha, kha, phrem, ha, sa, ksa, ma, la, va, ra, yUm. It is known as Gurumantra.

    Once the Sadhaka pierces all centers and reaches the void, he gains the power of eight siddhis:

1.    Anima. (smallness):  Supernatural power of becoming as small as an atom, atomization

2.    Mahima. (largeness): The supernatural power of increasing size at will

3.    Gharima. The supernatural power of making one self heavy at will

4.    Laghima. (lightness): The supernatural power of levitation

5.    Prāptih. Supernatural power to obtain everything

6.    Praakaamya. Capacity to accomplish anything desired

7.    Isitva. Supremacy or superiority considered as a super natural power

8.    Vashistva. The supernatural power of subduing all to one's own will

                                ---Definitions as found in Tamil Lexicon, Madras University

    Kamarutattva (consummation of all desires)

Notes:

        [Some see a derogative insinuation that Yogi or Sadaka can have illicit relationship with any women he wants, by assuming a perfect semblance to a legitimate spouse. This is possible for a Yogi; he is no more a Yogi if he impersonates a husband with someone else's wife. As opposed to this, the uddhava Gita gives a plausible explanation in Dialogue 10, Verse 5: Enjoyment of the ultimate highest Bliss --KAmarutattva.]

Praptih /  Pràptih. attaining or reaching anything, for example, the moon with the tip of the finger.

Prakamya / Pràkàmya. Irresistible will, fiat, absolute authority. Capacity to accomplish by willpower anything desired.

You may wonder wherefrom these Sadhakas derive their power for such feats. He taps the Cosmic Energy for these feats. It is derived from the Primordial Spiritual Vibration, OM (AUM). This Cosmic energy whirls around and bathes the whole universe as ripples in a pond; the perfected Yogi plugs into this Power Grid for his supra-stellar acts. In one's limited knowledge one can't validate or invalidate this claim. Think of the days before Radio and Television, when people could not have imagined such advancement. The authentic realized souls of  the recent past (Ramakrishna Parmahamsa, Ramana Maharishi, SubramuniyaSwami) claimed to have experienced the divine vision (as you see on the tube in living color  the live walking and talking presidential aspirants of today --Feb/08. If you believe in what you saw on TV, the Yogis believe in what they saw in their cosmic vision.

According to The Uddhava Gita, Dialogue 10, Krishna reveals the following features with regard to Siddhis.  Once the awareness is fixed on Krishna and the Indriyas and Prana (senses and breath) are brought under control, the Siddhis come to the aspirant by themselves. Krishna lists eighteen Siddhis; eight Siddhis are conferred by Krishna and the rest cascades from Sattva Guna (Virtue). The first three Siddhis belong to the body.

This material is based on Swami Saraswati's translation of The Uddhava Gita.

 Eighteen siddhis  plus are: Anima1, Mahima2, and Laghima3 belonging to the body; Praptih4, Prakamya5, Ishita6, Vashita7, Kamah Avashayita8.

9. Prapti has a different meaning here: establishing contact with creative senses.

10. Prakamya is enjoying all that is within and beyond the reach of the eyes and ears, visible and invisible, found in the sacred texts. (literal meaning is irresistible will)

11. Ishita (spelled different) is having control over Maya and manipulating it according to one's wish. Ishita also means Supreme domination.

12. Vashita (spelled different) is renunciation of sensory pleasures. It also means subjugation by magic.

13. Kamah Avashayita is enjoying the highest bliss.   

13A.Kāmavasāyitā : Suppressing all desires.

The others are:

14. Anumi Mattvam, absence of thirst, hunger, disease, misery, old age and death;

15. Sravana Darsanam, to see and hear from distance;

16. Manah Javah, to move the body as fast as the mind wills it;

17. Kama Rupam, to assume a desired form;

18. Parakaya Pravesanam, to transmigrate into another's body;

19. Svachanda Mrtyu, to die according to one's own will;

20. Sahakridanu-darsanam, to play with gods;

21. Yatha Sankalpa Samsiddhi, to accomplish one's will and wish;

22. Ajnaprathihata Gati, to have others obey one's will;

23. Tri Kala Jnatvam, to know the past, present and future;

There are some more listed:

24. Advandvam, to be immune to cold and heat, joy and misery, pain and pleasure;

25. Para Chitta Abhijnata, to read others' thought and mind;

26. Agnyarkambuvishadinam, to counteract the injury caused by fire, sun, water, poison;

27. Pratsihtambho aparajaya, not to succumb to any one.

The last five Siddhis come directly from Yoga of the Sadhaka.  Krishna further elaborates on all these Siddhis. He says the following:

Anima comes from meditating on me as the subtle element pervading the universe. (The Pervader is Vishnu; the subtle element that is Vishnu is Ether, the stem substance of all creation.)

Mahima comes to the Yogi from meditating on me as Earth, Water, Fire, Wind, and Space.

Laghima comes to the Yogi who meditates on me as the Tejas (power) in the Maha Tattvas as listed above.

Prapti comes to the Yogi who meditates on me as the tattva that gives Ahamkara (ego).

Prakamya comes to the Yogi who meditates on me as the Supreme Atman, which is the Thread of consciousness that runs through all beings.

Ishita comes to the Yogi who meditates on me as Vishnu, the controller of Maya in all living creatures and beings.

Vashita comes to the Yogi who meditates on me as Narayana.

Kamah Avashayita comes to the Yogi who meditates on me as Brahman, the omnipresent and yet transcending  expansive being.

Anumi Mattvam comes to the Yogi who meditates on me as svetadvipa, the embodiment of virtue.

Sravana Darsanam comes to the Yogi who meditates on me as the transcendent sound which pulses through air and space, the sun that lights up the universe, the eye that sees and the light of both sun and the eye.

Manah Javah comes to the Yogi who meditates on me as the unifier of body, breath and mind.

 Kama Rupam comes to the Yogi who meditates on me as the one form that becomes many.

 Parakaya Pravesanam comes to the Yogi who meditates on himself as the force that transmigrates into another body through Prana as easily as the bee enters and exits a flower.

Svachanda Mrtyu comes to the Yogi who learned the art of occluding the anus with his heel, channeling the prana from the heart to the crown, known as Brahma randhara, and returning to any Chakra as he desires.

Sahakridanu-darsanam comes to the Yogi whose compass is aligned with my Sattvic nature.

Yatha Sankalpa Samsiddhi comes to the Yogi who entertains full faith in me knowing that my will always be carried out.

Ajnaprathihata Gati comes to the Yogi who attains merger with my self-contained oneness in which all things move.

Tri Kala Jnatvam comes to the Yogi whose devotion to me purified him and who knows the perfect art of meditation.

Advandvam comes to the Yogi whose mind attains tranquility through Yoga and devotion to me.

The Yogi who meditates on me and my glory remains undefeatable.

The Yogi who worships me and performs Dharana, attains all Siddhis.

To the Yogi who has subjugated his senses and trained his breath and mind and meditates on me, no Siddhi is difficult to achieve.

Siddhis are a hindrance to the Yogi who practices perfect Yoga, seeks union with me, and wants to overcome Maya (Verse 10.33, The Uddhava Gita.)

Whatever Siddhis attained by the Yogi because of auspicious time of birth, secret herbs, and mystical Mantras can be fructified only by devotion to me.

I am the cause, creator, and protector of all Siddhis; I am the master of Yoga, rites and rituals, and the Gurus.

I am the elements, I am the Supreme Being, residing inside and outside all; elements exist inside and outside all creatures; I alone am enveloped by Nothing.

                                                                      ----Based on Translation by Swami Saraswati

    The Sadhakas have a choice of becoming gods, Lokapalas, and Dikpalas or come down to earth from time to time to uplift humanity. The Buddhists have a similar paradigm: the accomplished Bodhisattva upon reaching the Land of Pure can attain Nirvana (complete Liberation) or return to earth to serve the human beings living in a world of misery. Japan, Buddhism, Hinduism

Lokapalas: Guardian deities of the four directions and intermediate points: 1) Indra of East, 2) Agni of S.East, 3) Yama of South, 4) Surya of South-West, 5) Varuna of West, 6) Vayu of North-West, 7) Kubera of  North, 8) Soma or Chandra of North-East.  1) Indra = Chief of gods, 2) Agni = Fire-god, 3) Yama = god of death, Surya = Sun-god, Varuna = god of all-enveloping sky, waters of the firmament, sea and rivers, Vayu = Wind-god, Kubera = Treasurer of gods, Soma = Moon-god. Monier Williams Sanskrit Dictionary. Dikpalas = Guardians of directions; same as Lokapalas with following point substitutions and additions: 4) Nairrta ( A Raksasa or demon) of South-West, 8) Isana (one of the names of Rudra) of North-East, 9) Brahma for Up direction and 10) Naga of down direction.

Additional information on Siddhis from a different source. There may be some repetition. Prapti is the Siddhi most likely to elicit different interpretations.

Minor Siddhis (some are common to major and minor siddhis)

1.ability to apprehend Siddhas.

 2.absence of passion or Raga.

3.acquisition of desired objects.

4.alchemy.

5. clairaudience.

 6 clairvoyance.

 7.control of mind.

8.Death upon demand

9.destroy diseases and miseries and control desires.

10.divining a hidden treasure

11.jump like a frog.

12.Karmic dissolution by multiple births in multiple bodies in one lifetime. 

13.knowledge of his past life.

14.Knowledge of past, present and future.

15.knowledge of  stars and planets.

16.levitation

17.mastery of the elements and Prana.

18. metamorphosis.

19. migration and animation of a dead body and transplanting his soul, migration into another living body

20.move to any place of his liking.

21.omnipotence and omniscience.

22.prophecy.

23.sporting with the gods.

24. tolerance of heat and cold.

25. tolerance of hunger and thirst.

26.transcend dualities like pain and pleasure.

27.Prapti.

28.touch distant objects.

29.predict future. 

30.conversant with animal talk.

      Prapti is power to enter anywhere.  This includes Ability to touch the sun, the moon or the sky. The Siddha can predict the future. He understands the language of birds and beasts, and unknown kind. Prapti is defined as ability to apprehend knowledge and perceptions perceived by the individual soul in his senses, which are presided over by god or gods. Once a Yogi or Siddha enters the body of another, he can perceive and modulate the feelings and perceptions of the host's senses.

    Prâkâmya is the ability to enjoy anything that is heard, seen, touched, thought and more.

    Prâkâmya literally means irresistible will.

    Isitva is introduction into and  diffusion of Sakti of His Maya over every Jiva in the universe. 

Clairvoyance, Clairaudience, Divination, and Hyperacuity to pain, taste, and smell are supranormal faculties, which are an impediment to True Siddhi (Oneness with One) because they generate Ahankāra, the I-ness, and the Mine-ness and prevent total surrender to God. The eighth power indicates the consummation of yogi's desire for God-realization and subduction from Kāma or sexual desire. Go to the end of the chapter for more details.

Ramakrishna Paramahamsa (RKP) says the following on occult powers in his book Sayings of Ramakrishna.  Some are modified for brevity. Saying 374 page 112: Krishna once said to Arjuna, "If you desire to attain Me, know that it will never be possible so long as you possess even a single one of the eight psychic powers (Ashta Siddhis).)" For occult powers increase man's egotism and thus makes him forgetful of God.

Saying 375:  (modified) Once a man was proud of walking on water. Ramakrishna told him: It is not worth only a penny. You could pay the penny to hire a boat and keep your feet dry.

More on the pitfalls of using the powers of Siddhi:

Saying 377: A Siddha acquired Gutika-siddhis. Gutika = Amulet. By it he could go anywhere at will. He frequented a gentleman's house unseen, had an illicit amour with a young lady, lost all his powers, and became a fallen soul. (true story)

Saying 380: Begging for psychic powers from God is like begging for pumpkin from a king, while neglecting the priceless gift of true Knowledge and love of God.

Saying 382: A disciple of RKP acquired the power of distance vision (TrueTelevision) during his meditation. He did narrate actually as to what people were doing; this turned out to be true. RKP told him not to meditate for a few days because these powers are obstacles to the realization of God. (True story)

    Tantrics were the pioneers in herbal medicine, internal medicine, metallurgy, astrology, astronomy, chemistry, breath control, mind control, and posture. These pursuits spread to other countries all over the world. (Some people say it with a sly grin that Tantrics, well-trained in emission control, practice birth control from breath control.)

     Sakti contains Maya, which is the cause of the world. Sakti is repository of Maya in dissolution; Maya becomes fecund and florid in creation and evolution. Maya has differences with Sankhya's Prakrti. Sakti, the Mother Goddess and the Great Womb of the world, is Parabrahman (Supreme Brahman or Sat-Chit-Ananda, Being, Consciousness, and Bliss). Aditi is Sakti of Tantra. Katha Upanishad describes mother Goddess as follows: She is Aditi, the Boundless. She is born as Prana (breath or life) from the Absolute genderless Brahman, the nameless, and the formless. She is the Devatamayi (Mother of gods) and the soul of all beings. She stands in the inner recesses of the heart. --Verse 2.1.7 Mother Goddess is Prana; thus, taking Prana from Muladhara to Sahasrara Chakra is the goal of Sadhaka.

    Chit is the hypostasis of Being and Bliss and of Prakrti; thus Parabrahman is foursome: Sat-Chit-Ananda and Prakritic Maya. Tantrics compare Siva-Sakti to a gram with two cotyledons and an outer wall, which is Maya.  Tantrics say that Maya in Sakti is like hidden oil in sesame seed, butter in milk and fire in firewood; it is waiting for expression with appropriate stimulus. Siva and Sakti are non-dual, though apparently dual; Maya or Prakrti gives the false notion of duality to Siva-Sakti; Siva is inert and Sakti is dynamic; both are close and yet poles apart.

Gram: Pulse, the edible seeds of certain leguminous plants, as peas, beans, or lentils.

    For Saktas, Sakti is both male and female, while Brahman is neuter. Human consciousness is the dilute form of Sakti Consciousness with very many tattvas between the two. In order to reach the Pure Consciousness of Sakti, one has to retrace the steps from human consciousness through the intervening tattvas to attain SatChitAnanda. See Tattvas-36.htm for more information. TATTVAS-36

    Prakrti has a higher ontological status in Tantric treatises than in Samkhya philosophy. In the latter, Prakrti is mere matter, which lights up when Purusa casts its Light on it. Samkhya Prakrti is like a crystal in a cloudy, moonless, starless pitch-darkness. Its brilliance needs or depends on luminous source. Tantric Prakrti is Conscious Sakti because its hypostasis is Chit (Consciousness); it is supreme power, the sun of all suns, the First Cause, the Unmanifested manifest and the Progenitor of universe. It is the Causal Body (Karana Deha) of Cit Sakti. It is the God of all gods including Brahma, Vishnu, and Mahesvara. It is Bindu, dot or Light; it is Cinghana (Cit + Ghana = Consciousness + compacted, thickened, dense, massive, weighty = Compact and thick [massive] Consciousness). Bindu sakti is of neither gender, but has all their qualities; It is male in Siva and female in Sakti; It is sun and moon. (Some Tantric texts indicate that Siva-Sakti is Nada-Bindu, Sound-Light, Bindu derived from Nada. Please refer to Bindu.htm for more details.) The manifested Sakti of Tantrics is Isvara of sects like Vaishnavas; in this case, Vishnu, Narayana, and Krishna fulfill the criteria.

Our body consists of many sheaths or layers: the food sheath1, the vital-air sheath2, the mental sheath3, the intellectual sheath4, and the bliss sheath5 (Annamya Kosa, Pranamaya Kosa, Manonmaya Kosa, Vijnanamaya Kosa, and Anandamaya Kosa from outside to inside.) Anandamaya Kosa also known as Cinmaya is made of Nada and Bindu. It is the sheath of Consciousness and Bliss.

Kosas and their origin

Bliss sheath, known as Karana Sarira (causal body), carries a chronicle of all karmas. When the Karana Sarira sheds Karma, it merges with Paramesvara, the Primal Soul and a Mass of Bliss. If it carries a load of karma, it assumes an embodied form in a being, animal or human, depending upon its Karmic merit or demerit. As long as Karana Sarira carries the burden of Karma, it maintains duality with Paramesvara; upon shedding Karma, Karana Sarira becomes one with Paramesvara (Advaitam, non-dual). Paramesvara or Saguna Brahman goes by different names: Sakti, Krishna, Vishnu, Siva, Kali, Durga, Ganapati, Surya, and Mahalakshmi. Tantrics (Saktas) say that Avatars of Vishnu originated from Mahavidyas; Kali became Krishna; Chinnamasta became Narasimha. But the Avatars of Vishnu are male and differ very much in their association with other gods and men, appearance, and activity.

There are, for instance, some Vaishnavas who give a secondary status to Sri (Lakshmi) and primary status to Vishnu. Others question this disparity and claim that Sakti and Saktiman (female and male) are of equal status, because Saktiman without Sakti (power) is dead and a corpse: they are so blunt about what they believe as true. Sakti is life, Consciousness and intelligence. Saktiman and Sakti are complementary to each other, as in the case of Siva and Sakti, Krishna and Radha, Vishnu and Sri.

    Tantras say that Sakti (Kaalikaa/Kali) gave birth to Brahma, Vishnu, and Sadasiva for creation, maintenance and dissolution  (Genetics has revealed that Y chromosome is an attenuated degenerate copy of the original X chromosome (X-Degenerate); this information is no comfort to Adam. The belief that Eve came from Adam is in contradistinction to that of Tantrics who say that Sakti was and is the first female of the universe; the male and female gods and all beings (including plants) issued forth from the First Goddess.) She advised them to get married but there were no females; Kalika out of her own body produced Savitri for Brahma, Sri for Vishnu and Bhuvanesvari for Sadasiva. The consorts were the saktis of Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva; without them, they were mere inert bodies. Brahma queried Adyasakti (Kalika) as to what her gender is. She said she had no gender when she was Parabrahman; when she became Saguna Brahman, she was both Purusa and Sakti. Mind perceives and identifies Sakti as male or female, but Sakti is both. She is a double as person and image in the mirror, and as person and shadow. At the time of dissolution, she says, "I am neither male, nor female, nor neuter." They are two in One: Sakti and Siva, Nada and Bindu, Mother and Father, Devi and Deva. Nada and Bindu are the origin of the universe. Nada is not mere sound; it is undifferentiated Akasa, the stem substance from which universe of beings and matter originate. (Stem = progenitor) Read elsewhere on Akasa; POTPOURRI ONE. The Stem Substance, Ākāsa. It is Sabdabrahman, Brahman of sounds. It is the Word of God in Bible.  Go to >>>>Christianity and Hinduism>>>> It is Consciousness and Intelligence. Nada is resident in Devi or Kundalini as Para Vani. Go to Sabda or Sound>>>. Go to <<<Bindu>>>. It is the Pure Consciousness, which descends from its subtle nature to its gross appearance in the manifestation of beings and universe.  Sabdabrahman is Consciousness in all beings, resides in Muladhara Chakra as Kundalini Devi and pops like a sprout from a seed in Para Vani, two leaves in Pasyanti, buds in Madhyama, and blossoms in Vaikahari. This is the evolution of speech from primordial sound (Para Vani) at Muladhara Chakra to visual sound (Pasyanti) in Manipura Chakra , to Madhyama (mental sound) in Anahata Chakra to Vaikhari (articulated speech) in Visuddha Chakra. These sounds rise from the base of the spine in its primal state. When it reaches the Manipura Chakra at the level of the navel, the sound becomes a primitive language of all beings including birds, bees, animals and humans.

Body language is Visual Sound.

All body parts participate in this language and therefore this sound is called visual sound. The visual language of aggression is baring of teeth and popping of the eyes in a monkey; thrashing of feet by a bull; erection of ears, raising of the head and baring of teeth on one side in a dog,;and arching of back, horripilation (erection of hair), and spitting from open mouth in a cat, accompanied by animal-specific growls of anger. This is visual sound, meaning that anger in the primitive brain of the animal transforms from image of threat to bodily expressions of anger. This visual sound becomes a mental sound which finds expression in larynx in Visuddha Chakra. In man, this articulated sound undergoes further modification into characters (Varna), phrases (Vakya), sentences (Vasaka), prose, poetry, images, and drawings.

Kundali goddess is the hypostasis of all modifications of sound, speech and expression; She wears the 50 Sanskrit letters as a rosary around her neck. In animals Sabdabrahman exists, but its manifestation is curtailed to the extent it is expressed in each animal. Man has Sabda (sound) and Varna (letter or character); animals have Sabda and not Varna; Sabda without Varna distinguishes animal from man. In Tantra, letters are considered so important that it asserts that matter, beings and gods (Brahma, Vishnu, and Rudra) originate from letters and mantras. For Tantrics, Matrka is Mother and Mother of all Letters; she is self-born and self-existent.

    Brahman of sounds or Sound Brahman is Kundalini Goddess in Muladhara Chakra residing as coiled serpent ready to spring and pierce the upper Chakras, taking the Sadhaka with her. She remains in a state of sleep. Kundalini Sound exists as Para Nada (Vāni, the Transcendental Sound). The Primal Sound’s seat is at the Muladhara plane of Kundalini. It is undifferentiated sound, though it is the source of root ideas or germ thoughts. It is not within the reach of ordinary consciousness. Nada Yogis claim that Para Nada is a high frequency sound, so high that it does not stir or produce vibrations; it is a still sound. When you consider the great discoveries of man, the source that the person taps is Para Nada, whose higher purpose is to reveal Brahma Vidya to the Sadakas.

    Sabdabrahman is the first cause (Adya + karana = being at the beginning, first + cause). Sabdabrahman undergoes transformation (parinama). It infuses itself with Tamas, Rajas, and Sattva Gunas, which assume female divine status and pair off with complementary strands as in DNA strands; It is like Obligatory Complementary Base Pairing: Raudri with Rudra, Vama with Brahma, and Jyesta with Vishnu. This process goes by the term Sadrisa Parinama (transformation resulting in two homologues in each of three pairs). The first product is the female homologue followed by the male homologue in each pair--Raudri first and Rudra later. Sabdabrahman transforms into three pairs. This first creation is called Sabdasrsti (Sabda + srsti = Sound + Creation). The second creation is called Arthasrsti (Arthasrsti = Artha + Srsti = form or object + Creation). Asthasrsti is a process where Kulakundalini becomes many kalas, parts, or pairs. They are the seven male gods with female counterparts or homologues ruling over seven worlds. These seven pairs are under the guidance of Goddess Kulakundalini. 

Sound is created first and later come the objects to match and denote the sound. Every object or phenomenon in the universe has an intrinsic sound; if you have the ability to hear and identify the sound, that sound is the name of that entity. One should remember that the  intrinsic sound that the object makes is the real name of the object; it means that its name is the same in all languages. That intrinsic sound originates in the spinning atoms; if you can hear it Why do we have so many languages? Because man does not recognize that true sound with his imperfect ear, while God does hear the sound of that object and passes it on to Yogis, who pass it on to others. Every time the sound is heard and passed down, it gets distorted and that is why there are so many languages.  Read more below.

Example: Fire makes the intrinsic sound RAM; God, the Absolute hears the absolute sound in its perfect decibel and frequency because he created it. Ram is the absolute sound and the Denotation for Fire. Ram is the Primary Essential Causal Stress Sound for Fire. Ram is the name for Fire that Yogi hears from the Absolute. Agni is the Sanskrit name (Connotation) for Fire; Agni is the connotated name heard by the ear. The Europeans hear the word Agni through their relative ear, and their relative tongue called it Ignis. From Ignis came the word Ignition. Now you can see how the Sanskrit word has been recycled and sent back to us in its corrupt form, sound, syllables and spelling.  Only God has absolute ear for the sound and absolute tongue for speech.

The Britisher heard the word Tiruvanantapuram (Tiru-Ananta-Puram) the name of a famous Temple Town in Kerala, dating back to 1000 B.C.. His relative ear, his relative tongue and his penchant to untwist his tongue made him say Trivandrum. He knows the word TRI (meaning three); he knows the word VAN ( for vehicle) and he knows the word DRUM (that you beat). He put them all together and used the corrupted word, TRIVANDRUM (Three + Van + Drum) for the sacred town. The original meaning of the word was Sacred-Endless-City. Tiru + Ananta + Puram = Sacred + Endless + City.  Thus the Sacred-Endless-City has come to be known as Three + Van + Drum.  Now you see how relative ear and relative tongue can alter the sacred sound and meaning of a word and create an ignominious name for a sacred city.  One can say it is the 'City of Lord Ananta.'  Ananta is a serpent; the endless coils represent endless time; Vishnu, who is beyond time, reclines on the bed of snake, Ananta. Vishnu is called PadmaNabhaSwamy (Lotus-navel-God  = one who has lotus sprouting from His navel). The navel lotus is His Baby, the universe and beings, on which sits Brahma the creator.

Thiruvananthapuram is an ancient city with trading traditions dating back to 1000 BC. It is believed that the ships of King Solomon landed in a port called Ophir (now Poovar) in Thiruvananthapuram in 1036 BC. The city was the trading post of spices, sandalwood and ivory. However, the ancient political and cultural history of the city was almost entirely independent from that of the rest of Kerala. The early rulers of the city were the Ays. With their fall in the 10th century, the city was taken over by the rulers of Venad.^--Wikipedia.

Facts and factoids: Silly cows and billy goats. Here is something for the purring Puerile and the Prurient. The present-day Britishers have their own problem with ticklish town and village names, which do not lend to decorous speech and make people to indecorously say 'ROLMAO.' Take for instance an explorer man traveling the length and breadth of UK. He starts his journey from East Breast located in west of Scotland, winds his way to Wetwang in East Yorkshire where a 2300 year old woman rides a chariot; putters to Penistone, famous for rare Penistone white-face sheep, silly cows and billy goats; buttonholes a billy-twirling bobby  for directions to Butt Hole Road in South Yorkshire and receives an earful of tongue-lashing which gave him a butt-full of vicarious welts; spins to Spanker Lane down below; peddles down to North Piddle; totters east to Titty Ho; bids adieu to Ugley; scratches his way to Crotch Crescent; plunks down to Crapstone and settles down  in Pratts Bottom. He ate chicken breast in East Breast; had a swill with chariot-woman in a wet bar in Wetwang; bought a sheep-pendant in Penistone; saw people use Spic and Span in Spanker Town; did not see one puddle in rainy North Piddle; bought a kitten in Titty Ho, a town of angels and no hos; wore a mask to hide his pug nose in Ugley; ate croissant in Crotch Crescent and bought a gemstone in Crapstone for a rock-bottom price. In Crapstone, surgeons operate on our belly-aching explorer man and find a crapstone (fecolith = fecal stone = crapstone) in his appendix as the cause of obstructed appendicitis. End of Facts and Factoids.

Padmanabha Swami Temple graces the city and was sung by Nammalvar, a Tamil Saint of Vaishnava sect. It is one among the 108 Divya Ksetrams (Sacred places for Vishnu). It is so famous that it is mentioned in Puranas, Mahabharata.... The main image in the temple is Anantapadmanabha, one of many names of Lord Vishnu. Anantapadmanabha = Ananta + Padma + Nabha =  Endless + Lotus + Navel.  Ananta is endless and refers to Endless Time, an attribute of Vishnu. The coils of snake appears endless and thus Sesa, the snake stands for endless time. Sesa is accordingly a theriomorphic form of Lord Vishnu, who takes YogaNidra (Meditaion Sleep) on the snake bed between destruction and creation. Sesa also means Remainder, what remains after destruction of the world. Vishnu is taking meditative sleep in the regenerative Cosmic Ocean on the Remainder (Sesa) after destruction. When he wakes up, He will create the world.

Natural Sounds and Natural Names:

Inspiration for this article came from Natural Name by Woodroffe in Garland of letters, which portrays the Hindu view of Sabda and Artha (Sound and object). For better understanding, new terms introduced by me are as follows: Primary Essential Sound (Causal Stress Sound) and External Stress Sound (Secondary External Stress Sound).

There is movement in all that exists. All movements (and objects) emit sound whether you hear it or not. Remember atoms in objects spin and make sound but we cannot hear that sound.  If you can hear that sound and name it after the way it sounds that is Natural Name of that sound or the object that produced the sound. Cuckoo is named onomatopoeically so because it emits that which sounds like "cuckoo". In Tamil a Crow is named after its sound Ka. Since it usually makes two consecutive Ka-Kas, it is called KAKA (¸¡¸¡). If you can hear the sound of the sap moving up the tree from its roots, you can give it a Natural Name. The Uncreated Brahman is Unmoving (Nispanda); the created world is moving and anything that moves makes sound. Sound is the basic phenomenon by which man apprehends the world. All else such as touch and feel, form and color, taste, and smell are all complex sounds. The skin, the eyes, the tongue and the nose are the peripheral organs that transmit the 'sound' to the respective cortex. Human ear and the brain cannot hear all sounds. Elephants in the wild communicate by sounds that humans cannot hear. Humans cannot smell what a dog smells. Smell is also a movement or sound. A dog can smell a narcotic 10 feet away from its source. Something moved from the narcotic to the nose for the dog to apprehend the narcotic. In like manner the Supreme Absolute Ear of Sakti can hear sounds in its purest state from all objects and that sound is the Natural Name for that object. Objects produce two kinds of sounds: Causal Stress Sound (Primary Essential Sound) and External Stress Sound. Let us take a tuning fork. There is a sound, though not audible to us, emanating from a non-vibrating tuning fork; that is the Causal Stress Sound we don't hear and yet is heard by the Supreme Absolute Ear of Sakti and accomplished Yogi and is produced by the motions of Subatomic Particles. When the tuning fork is subject to external stress (tapping), it vibrates and emits sound and that is the stress-induced sound heard by the Relative Ear. What the Yogi hears from the non-vibrating tuning fork is imperfect sound because only Brahman or Prajapati can hear the Natural Sound in its perfection with His Supreme Absolute Ear which is not gross or physical. Prajapati hears without ears, sees without eyes and walks without legs. The Prajapati utters the Causal Stress Sound  by His Supreme Tongue to his Sadhaka who hears it by his imperfect Relative ear in a distorted way. When the Yogi rises to the level of Prajapati, the Causal Stress Sound sounds true to its quality to him. The Yogi communicates the Causal Stress Sound to his disciples who hear the sound in varying degrees of imperfection. Mantra Sastra states that Bija Mantras (Root Mantras sounding the Sanskrit letters) represent the Natural Names. The breath consisting of Inspiration and Expiration emits the sound of Prana-Bija Mantra, Hamsa. The out-breath sound is Ham and the in-breath sound is Sa. Om is the sound that has come down from its pristine natural state to its present form, structure and sound through many MAnasaputras and a line of Gurus, who tried to reproduce the sound to the best of their ability. Woodroffe states that it is an open continuous sound uninterrupted by any consonant which clips it, vanishing as it were upward in the NAdabindu which is placed on the vowel.

Interpretation of the term, "Natural".

1) The Supreme Absolute Ear (of God) hears the Primary Essential Sound (Causal Stress Sound) of an object without any distortion and He utters them with His Absolute Tongue without any distortion. Causal stress Sound that is emitted by the object  is the name of an Object.

2) When Prajapati (God) utters them to Yogis, what they hear varies according to their Relative Ear (of Yogi) and what they utter varies according their Relative Tongue. What we hear and utter are not Natural Sounds because we hear with imperfect relative ears and brain and utter with imperfect tongues. The Mantras Om, Ham, Ram are all distorted sounds as heard and uttered by the imperfect us; the degree of distortion depends on the nature and sensitivity of the Relative Ear and Tongue.

3) Cuckoo and the crow are named onomatopoeically from the sound they make. This is the sound they make when subjected to stress--External Stress-induced Sound. When the firewood is burning, it emits many sounds, which the Relative Gross Ear hears. The Causal Stress Sound or the Primary Essential Sound fire emits is Bija Mantra Ram which only a Yogi hears. Various organs in the body make Causal Stress Sound Hamsa and so on. Primordial Sounds descend to our relative levels according to our Relative Ears and Relative Tongues. Some do not descend to us at all.

4) Objects are named by Denotation and Connotation.

Brahma  =  Bharati  =  VAma  =  Brahmi = Iccha (Will).  Vishnu = Hari  =  Ksiti  =  Jyestha  =  Jnana (knowledge).  Siva  =  AparnA  =  Raudri  =  Kriya (Action).  The male elements in these three groups are SAntA and the female elements are AmbikA.

Copywrite©

Kundalini Devi (Sabdabrahman, Kulakundalini) is in a sleep mode in Muladhara Chakra in Urogenital Triangle, remains coiled around Svayambhu Linga and emits sounds though sleeping. She is life breath; she is inspiration and expiration. Ajapa (A + Japa = No + Chant) is the primal Mantra. This chantless Mantra pervades the breath going in and out, the subtle sound ‘sah’ going in and the subtle sound ‘ham’ going out.  {Sa = Siva, Vishnu, Lakshmi, or Gauri [Parvati or Sakti]; Ham = I am; so = Parvati.} As one chants this subtle-sound Mantra ‘Soham’, a derivative of ‘Sah-ham,’ ‘Hamsa’ comes into being by inversion. Soham, Hamsa and AUM (Pranava) are equipotent. Tirumular says that AUM, though a three-letter word, is a one-letter Mantra. Soham is the unintonated sound of normal breathing, meaning ‘I am He.’ Hamsa, meaning ‘Swan’ as in RamaKrishna Parma-Hamsa, stands for an ascetic --Hamsan. All of us including all air-breathing living beings recite this Mantra ‘Soham’ unknowingly for a lifetime. This chantless Mantra (Ajapa Japa) is Ajapa Gayatri. As you are breathing this chantless Soham in and out, you are identifying your individual self with the Great Self of the Supreme Being. Every breath (and the Mantra) that you take pervades the whole universe of your body. This life giving force or Mantra has the Great Self as the basis. Every time you chant a Mantra, it leads the individual soul to the Great Soul-- the Source, the Essence. All Mantras inclusive of Sakti, Vishnu and Siva Mantras and many but not all rituals are Tantric in origin; that is the reason why Tantra goes by the term Mantra Sastra.  Devi or Sakti says that any Sastra that is in opposition to Sruti, Smrti, and Oneness (Siva and Sakti in Saiva tradition, Vishnu and MahaLakshmi in Vaishnava tradition) such as Bhairava, Gautama, Kapala, Sakala and the like are creations by her Maya power for bewilderment of those devoid of Her Grace. This bewilderment has an analogy in a family. Let us take father as an example. Father is one; he is also many for the following reasons. He is the son for his father, brother for his brother and sister, cousin, husband, father-in-law, employer, employee, partner, colleague, and so on; his functions depend upon his relationship with each individual and is sometimes sacrosanct in relation to a particular person in this constellation.

    Forms emanate from Hamsa, root sound or Ajapa Mantra; from forms emanate universes. This two-phase respiration, expiration and inspiration, represents the duality of male and female genders and principles; the male is Pravrtti, and the female is Nivrtti. Pravrtti is expiration, forward movement, expulsion, centrifugal force and evolution; Nivrtti is inspiration, backward movement, centripetal movement and involution. Devi's Pranic power (Vital air) is akin to Akasa, which is the stem substance from which universe took its origin. Differentiation of this vital power results in the inversion of Soham into Hamsa, other sounds, forms, and dualities that come into being. A series of triplets are born: three gunas, Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas; three Varnas or characters; three channels or Nadis and others. Three Nadis are Susumna, Pingala and Ida.

Later quaternaries are born and so on and so forth until all the fifty Varnas (alphabets) of Sanskrit became manifest. Only yogis can hear the songs of Devi sung at Muladhara Chakra. When the primal sound is subject to guna, it undergoes differentiation into Dhvani, an indistinct sound which on more influence from gunas, modifies further into Nada, Nibodhika, Ardhendu, Bindu, and Para Vani in Muladhara Chakra. All these sound modifications go from the most subtle to subtle quality and yet the sound in Para Vani is not yet an audible sound to the human ears. Nada, the primal sound, is the primordial origin of articulated sound (Vaikhari) separated by several degrees from Nada. Nibodhika = Ni+Bodhika = Giver of Knowledge = Nada is the Giver of knowledge. Ardhendu = Ardha + Indu = half + moon = half-moon. Bindu is dot or Light. Para Vani is transcendental undifferentiated sound and is the source of root ideas or germ thoughts. It is not within the reach of ordinary consciousness. Nada Yogis claim that Para Nada is a high frequency sound, so high that it does not stir or produce vibrations; it is a still sound. These subtle sounds make the body or states of Kundali Devi in Muladhara Chakra. All 50 Sanskrit letters exist in the body of Kundali in the progressively evolving states of Para Vani, Pasyanti, Madhyama, and Vaikhari; the last being the articulated sound.

    Dhvani (Dh + Vani) is latent sound waiting to be expressed in sound or letters. Dhvani of Kulakundalini undergoes Parinama (transformation) to become Veda in Isvara and sound (Sabda) in Jiva. Latency is characteristic of Dhvani sound, while Vedas and Sabda reveal patency and meaning. Tantrics believe that the fetus, with the awakened Dhavani of Kundalini and the fifty letters of Sanskrit alphabet (A to Ksa), reflects its past lives in its mind's eyes and ears inside the womb. When the infant slides along with the passage of amniotic fluid into the outer world by the force of Prasava Vayu (labor wind), it utters its first cry with the expulsion of internal Dhvani through its windpipe and larynx, and all the nine doors of its body (two eyes, two ears, two nostrils, mouth, genital opening, and evacuative aperture) open to the outer world. As he is shoved from the womb into the outer world through the birth canal , the fetus forgets all entertained memories of pain and pleasure of previous lives during its sojourn in the womb. The chain of  memory is fragmented and lost for ever during the birth process.  The pain suffered by the fetus (here read as Jiva) is proportional to his Prarabda karmic sins of previous life. (Considering the critical junctures in the life of man, birth is said to be one of the most important event because a lot of things can go wrong during birth. Tantrics attribute uneventful birth to good karma, while perinatal trauma or injury (pain) is considered as bad karma. Suffering from Karma, according to Tantrics, happens at appropriate times, places and circumstances and clears obstructions and impediments and leads the individual to liberation.) For the lucky ones, the perinatal pain from normal or traumatic birth may take the form of traumatic death in Tirthas (places of pilgrimage) leading to liberation. Remember the death of many pilgrims during melee in many religious gatherings. Woman suffers painful parturition not because the newborn child is responsible, but because she is resolving her own prarabda karma. Each person follows his or her own karmic path and when the paths of others  intersect, there is pain and suffering or pleasure. An infant does not suffer on account of parturient mother and the latter does not suffer on account of the former; they follow their own paths which intersected at parturition. Consider what Bible says about parturition and the Karma of being a woman in the lineage of Eve. Eve ate first the forbidden fruit from the Tree of Good and Evil and later tempted Adam into eating the forbidden fruit. God, upon seeing Eve and Adam eat the fruits addressed Eve first and said that woman would always suffer in childbirth. God said, 'I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children.' Why do other women have to suffer from parturition simply because Eve ate the forbidden fruit and gave it to Adam? The Karma of Eve afflicts all women; it is a kind of karma attached to female gender. Science tells us that all humanity came from one African Eve and one African Adam. It looks as if that Bible itself believes in Karma, though it does not use a cognate word. Man did not get out of this predicament scot-free. God said to him. 'In the sweat of thy face thou shalt eat bread, till thou return unto the ground.'. What Adam did afflicts all men, another example of Karma. It looks as if man got out of this mess with less suffering. In Hinduism, Karma afflicts and haunts only the doer. In Christianity it appears that Karma of Eve and Adam afflicts the whole human race. No wonder, we have to think of Karma of  human race, a nation, a state, a county, a community, a family....

Maya is the unseen sweet enchanter and close companion, which forces sentiments of nearness between mother and child and takes the mind off the long journey to liberation or perdition. I have heard famous professors of Religion from the West with a string of Ph.Ds after their names and a loyal following fall into dismay and disbelief at this Hindu concept, which they don't understand. It is like the newborn infant who doesn't understand rocketry, brain surgery, moon landing, workings of a computer, the origin of the universe.... This Pluripotential Newborn Infant knows only one thing: rooting reflex to latch on to the teat or nipple.  It takes a Yogi to figure out all these Karmic highways, byways, sideways, service roads, entrances, exits, toll booths, intersections, roadblocks, detours.... One should not pooh-pooh something one does not understand and a Ph.D does not confer omniscience. Just state the matter and leave it at that. Indulge in exegesis of what you understand with limited human intelligence. Yogis have Higher Transcendental Intelligence and transcendental knowledge, wisdom and consciousness, far beyond human consciousness and understanding. What they say goes and what the professor says is Apara-vidya (mundane knowledge) useful to buy milk. A Yogi by definition is one who 'may accomplish by the mind all that may be done by means of these physical organs without the use of the latter'-- Woodroffe page 59 The Serpent Power. Simply put, he can see with eyes closed, hear with ears shut, taste without the use of the tongue.... Professor Lombroso records the case of a woman who, being blind, read with the tip of her ear, tasted with her knees and smelt with her toes.--page 60 IBID. What does it mean? Yogi may use any part of his body for a purpose directly not connected with it.

    As the Jiva is buffeted and ravaged by waves and tsunamis of the sea of samsara, Sadhaka sheds rivers of tears, lays bare the inner recess of his heart and cries for help at the feet of Devi; he has failed in Sadhana and the fiery heat of Samsara has scorched him. Once he becomes a perfected Sadhaka, Mantrasakti confers all enjoyments (Bhoga) which others receive from wife, children, and wealth. Once a Sadhaka obtains Mantrasakti, there is no need for sastras and rituals; he graduated from Sabdabrahman to Parabrahman. When Brahmamayi's grace descends into the heart of Sadhaka, the Tejas (Light) of Mantra illuminates his spiritual heart dispelling the darkness of delusion (Moha) and ignorance (Avidya). Sadhaka enters into a state of Self-realization which is Kaivalya, Samadhi, Turiya and or Nirvana.

    The stages of sound from the most subtle to articulated sound have concordance with the evolution of Primal Being from Avyakta through Brahman, Isvara, Hiranyagarbha, and Virat, the last being the manifest world.

Para Vani manifests in Prana; Pasyanti manifests in the mind; and Yogi hears it in his inner ear; Madhyama manifests in Indriyas (organs -body language) and is the sound of the heart and not of the tongue; Vaikhari manifests in the throat as articulate speech. When the Yogi's mind, on ablation, becomes free of thoughts, he hears humming of bees, whooshing sound through the hollow of bamboo and so on followed by awakening of superconsciousness and receiving of Brahman knowledge.

    Fifty Sanskrit letters form the Aksaras (imperishable, letter, word, sound), the body of Mother Goddess, Kundalini. Sound has form as in voiceprint. Voiceprint = a graphic representation of a person's voice, showing the component frequencies as analyzed by a sound spectrograph.  In like manner, Sound has color (Varna = color, character): red, white, blue, yellow and more. The Yogis visualize the letters in colors. This is Synesthesia, which the modern neurologists are discovering now. These sounds (50) are Matrika, Mother of all sounds; they are also the Mother of the universe of matter and beings.  Let me explain the colors as follows. Cardiac Doppler Color Flow imaging shows the red blood flow (oxygenated blood) from the left heart and the blue blood (deoxygenated blood) from the right heart. When they mix in the heart or elsewhere one knows that there is a  cardiac defect, septal defect or fistula. As you know the colors on Doppler are computer-generated.

    Mantra is a magical formula based on a sound, a syllable, a word, a phrase or a verse, which, when chanted in silence, solo, or chorus, creates wholesome vibrations and energy.

    Mantra is the sound-body of a god or goddess; Yantra depicts the sound-body in a diagram. Mantra = (Man = is to think or meditate + Tra = is to protect.) Yantra = instrument, engine, apparatus, amulet with mystical diagram endowed with protective occult powers. An image of the Deity is Pratima (gross); Yantra, Suksma (subtle) and mantra, Para (Supreme). Yantra is a geometrical depiction of divinity in the form of a drawing, engraving, or painting on copper, silver, gold, birch, bone, crystal, hide, paper or Saligrama. Saligrama is a natural outcropping from earth with natural sacred signs. It could be Vishnu or Linga stone (before it is sanctified). Stalagmites and river stones are also included in Saligrama. Mantra is the soul of Yantra; worship in Yantra pleases the Goddess. Yantra restrains, regulates, modulates, subdues, and sublimates all miseries born of desire, anger, hate, greed, love and other entities.  Worship without Yantra brings curse from the Deity. While worshipping the Deities, the deity-specific Mantra and Yantra with all the attendant rituals and paraphernalia come into play by design, guaranteeing the proper respect and reverence to the deity. Invocation of one deity and worship of another brings the wrath of both offended deities. The Inner power (Antahsakti) comes into full force in worship with all its rituals. All this comes about under instructions from the Guru. Mantras come into use for Worship, Communication, Rewards, Powers, Avoidance and Expulsion, Cures, Detoxification, Manipulation, Control, Purification, inflicting injury, and other purposes.

Go to MAHAVIDYAS for details on Yantra

1. Worship involves the three primary Gods, Goddesses, other minor devatas (gods). Communication with Gods is for obtaining Siddhis, magical powers, worldly wealth, and liberation.

2.  Avoiding, warding of and expulsion of evil, devil, and ghosts, Exorcism.

3.  Material and other rewards.

4.  Power, yogic powers come under Yoga.

5.  Cure, Ability to cure diseases.

6.  Detoxification, ability to rid the body of poison in man and animals.

7.  Manipulation of actions and thoughts of other people.

8.  Control minor deities, men, animals, and ghosts.

9.  Purification, both internal and external.

10.  Magical powers, minor, and major as in eight magical powers of Yogis.

11.  Liberation from samsara.

    Inflicting punishment or injury by Mantra is evil and a double-edged sword, which could bring harm to the Mantra invoker.  It is like digging a grave for one's enemy and paradoxically getting interred in it.

Phetkarini and other Tantras are devoted to mantras that help Sadaka acquire special powers (Siddhas) listed below:

Santi (Peace), Vasa-kriya or -karana (subduing or subjugation), Marana (death), Ucchatana (ruining an adversary), Ksobana (causing agitation), Mohana (causing confusion), Dravana (Putting to fight) , Stambhana (Immobilization and paralysis), and Vidvesana (Stirring up hatred).

Phet-kaarini = howling one (here, goddess).

If you take a second look at the above list, this is what nations do in war (and peace).

In this article elsewhere, other siddhis are described: Anima, Mahima, Laghima, Prapti, Prakamya, Isitva, Vashistva, and Kamarutattva.

    In Kaulaka tradition, there are six kinds of Gurus: Preraka, the impeller who instills interest in initiation into Kaula tradition; Sucaka, the indicator, who points to Sadhana as the means to liberation; Vacaka, the speaker, who explains the tenets of Kaula dharma; Darsaka, the demonstrator, who by his example shows the performance of rites and rituals; Siksaka, the instructor, who gives instructions in Sadhana; and Bodhaka, Spiritual teacher who enlightens the pupil on spiritual knowledge. The Bhodaka plays the central role because his teachings form the nucleus to the contributions made by other teachers; thus spiritual knowledge facilitated by ancillary methods of impelling, indicating, showing, and instructing attains fruition. One has to pick and choose a Guru; one may end up like a bee that goes from flower to flower accumulating honey; this search for a good guru actually helps a sadhaka achieve wider knowledge. If the Guru-Sisya relationship is agreeable to both the Guru and the Sadhaka, they should act in each other's interest: the Guru takes care of the spiritual needs of the Sadhaka and the Sadhaka treats the Guru like god on earth.    

    Initiation: Initiation is essential for liberation and cannot come without a Guru who comes in the lineage of Guru Parampara (lineage). After proper evaluation over a period of more than one year, the Guru offers a Mantra to the pupil. It is also the period and privilege of the disciple to test the Guru on matters of Japa, Stotra, Dhyana, Homa, and Puja. Once he finds the capacity of the Guru to communicate the knowledge to him, he accepts him as a Guru. Guru transmits Sakti and knowledge to the disciple. The disciples are of three kinds: Adiyoga, Madhyayoga, and Antayoga. Adiyoga has devotion and interest in the beginning but they wane quickly. The Madhyayoga has no knowledge in the beginning but his devotion in the middle carries him through. The Antiyoga has no devotion at the beginning, acquires devotion in the middle and matures at the end. He is the best Jnanin among the three disciples.

    Upadesa, spiritual instruction, is of three kinds: Karma, Dharma, and Jnana. The path of karma is the longest route of slow pace. It is like the ant which takes a long journey up the tree to reach the fruit. The path of Dharma is many hops and jumps of a monkey from one branch to the next to reach the fruit. The path of Jnana is a straight flight to the fruit as a bird would do.    

Sparsa Diksa, Digdrsti, Manasi Drsti: Initiation by touch, sight and mind.

    Diksa, Initiation and teaching, is of three kinds: Sparsa, by touch; Draksanjana or Digdrsti, by sight; and Manasa, by thought.  Sparsa initiation is compared to the loving tender nourishing and caring of the chicks in the warmth of the wings by the mother bird. The preceptor Guru draws to his mind the god or goddess, meditates on Sivapura in the hand, chants the Mula Mantra (root mantra) and touches the body of the disciple. The act of visual initiation and instruction is compared to the nourishing of the fry (baby fish) by sight by the ever vigilant mother fish. The Guru draws the image of Kamashi in his mind with eyes closed, opens his eyes with delight and looks at the disciple. The act of thought initiation and teaching is compared to the nourishing of the baby tortoises by the mother by thinking about them.  Grace comes to the disciple proportional to the presence of Sakti in him. Where there is no sakti (in him), there is no liberation.  Initiation by Diksa Samskara (sacred rites) is the preliminary step before the actual event. The authentic Guru is Brahma himself without four heads, Vishnu himself without four hands and Siva himself without the third eye.

    Guru is Brahma, Vishnu and Siva all rolled into one. Guru is Gu and Ru; Gu is darkness and Ru is remover.  Guru dispels darkness, sin, and ignorance. Once Guru purifies himself both externally and internally and assumes the body of the deity he worships and propitiates, the body of the Guru is the same as the goddess; his disciple receives a bit of the effulgence from the grace of the Guru. Initiation by mind (manasi Diksa is the best of all Diksas.  I will give you an idea of external purification of the body that the disciple should undergo at the beginning. He awakens in the morning; clears his mind of all impure thoughts; scrapes the coated tongue, cleans the mouth and face, and takes a bath. He performs Sandhya worship and remains secluded, immersed in the thought of the physical form of the Guru. The Guru does the same physical purification and enters into the presence of the disciple. He chants Devi Sukta (hymns) and performs Vidyanyasa (Vidya + Nyasa -- appropriate finger positions for a Mantra) and Matrika (diagrams of the characters or alphabets). Purusa sukta and propitiation of Tripurambika by 16 upacaras (worship, homage) follows.

    Rites of worship are prescribed by the Saiva Agamas: Nitya, mandatory; Naimittika, situational, periodic, or occasional; Kamya, desire-fulfilling. These are strict set of rules to follow and any infraction makes him a Brahma Raksasa (demon). Guru supervises and enforces these rules. Upacara has sixteen components, known as sodasopacAra.

1.      āvāhana,  Avahana: invocation of the deity; holding the thumbs against the root of the ring fingers (Mudra)

2.      Āsana, Asana: the manner of sitting  forming part of the eightfold observances of ascetics. Offering a seat to the deity.

3.      Pādya, padya: Offering water to wash the feet.

4.      Arghya: Worthy of a hospitable reception; water given to a guest; objects of worship.

5.      ācamana: Rinsing the mouth with water: water for that purpose. ceremonial sipping of water.

6.      Snāna, Snana:  Religious lustration of idol with water.

7.      Vastra: Raiment; offering garment for the idol

8.      Bhūsā: Ornament and decoration of idol.

9.      Gandha: Fragrance or Sandalwood paste applied to the idol.

10.   Puspa: Offering flowers to the idol.

11.   dHūPA, Dhupa: Incense or making smoke from aromatic gum or resin.

12.   Dīpa, Dipa: Lamp; waving lamp

13.   Aksata: Offering unhusked barley-corns

14.   Naivedya: Offering victuals to a deity.

15.   Tāmbūla, Tambula: Betel leaves and nut.

16.   Pradaksinā, Pradaksina: Turning the right side towards the idol; circumambulation  from left to right, as a mark of respect.

    One can offer worship to a deity (Murti), a Guru, Sri paduka, a consecrated object or Satguru. All worshippers should offer prayers to Ganesa, the god of obstacles and beginnings before the Ishata devata is worshipped.

    Other acts in the worship also include Sankalpa (uttering of the intent), Ghanta (ringing the bell to drum out demons and invite gods), avahana  (inviting the deity), archana (chanting sacred names), pranama (obeisance), ārati, (waving lights), prarthana (making personal pleas), visarjana (bidding farewell to and dismissing formally the deity) and Samhāra Mudrā (expressive gesture of dissolution). Worship entails pleading for yourself and for others. Pleading for yourself and your family is Atmartha Puja; worshipful pleading  for others is Parartha Puja.  Arati is waving of the light with the right hand in an elliptical fashion in front of the image of the deity, the top of the circle reaching the eyes or the nose and the bottom of the circle reaching the feet. The waving numbers from a few to ten accompanied by ringing of the bell with the left hand.

Take the letter Ka. It is a combination of a generic consonant and a vowel: k +a = Ka. A vowel is interminable and so a terminator M (Chandrabindu) is added; thus Ka becomes Kam. The M sound vibrates intranasally. Here is the anatomy of Aum with M terminator.

Chanting of the thousand-syllabled Mantra (Sahasraksari Vidya) accompanies worship of the deity and offering of fistful of flowers (Puspanjali); worship concludes with the Kadi Mantra Ka, Em, I, la, Hrim; Ka-Sa-Ka-Ha-La-Hrim; Sa-Ka-La-Hrim, (Aim, Klim, Sauh, Klim, Aim, Srim). The 1000-syllabled Mantra consists of power-epithets, Siddhis, Nityas and Kadi Mantra of Lalita. The Guru offers flowers to the disciple who offers them to the deity. Of all the Vidya mantras, Kadi Mantra (starting with K) and Hadi Mantra starting with H are the most efficacious.

    The chief deity in the Kadi tradition is Sri-Lalita-Maha-Tripura-Sundari (TPS) or Raja-Rajeswari, whose Mantra is Kamaraja Vidya.  TPS goes by several names: Lopamudra, Mahendri, Nandini, Lakshanavati, Kameshvari, Dakshina.

    Each epithet carries one or more meanings. She is Kameshvari because she exudes beauty, grace, and has exquisite body parts from top to toes (which are described in some details).  Here Kama means Creative Will. All this explains why it is called Kamaraja Mantra. She is the source of one of the Purushartas, Kama. Others are Dharma, Artha and Moksa.

    TPS is invoked in three Kutas or peaks (Vaghbava, Kamaraja, and Sakti.

Vaghbahava is Jnana (Spiritual knowledge- goddess Sarasvati) Sakti that confers liberation to the embodied soul; Kamaraja is the Kriya Sakti (Action--Durga); Sakti is Iccha Sakti (Will--Lakshmi).

Vak, Kama and Sakti Kutas form the body of the Mother from the crown to the neck, neck to the hips, and hips to the toes respectively.

    Kamaraja Vidya (mantra). Kamaraja is personified as Devi (Tripurasundari--TPS), adored by  Brahma, Vishnu, and Rudra of three Gunas; She is the desire of Siva; She abides in three Bindus; She manifests the universe. She (Yantra) has three circles and three angles meaning that her feminine nature is represented as an inverted triangle. Her Mantra is the three-syllable KLIM (Ka + La with m terminator). He who hears Bija with  Ka and La attains salvation. the letter "I" refers to Kamakala in Turiya state. She is Triads Galore: Her Bindus point to Iccha, Jnana anbd Kriya ( Will or desire, Knowledge, and Action). She is Moon, Fire and Sun. She creates Brahma, Vishnu, and Rudra; She is the three-city beauty; She is Tripura because she dwells in three Nadis, Susumna, Pingala and Ida; She is the repository of three Saktis; three colors (white, red and mixed); three gunas (Sattva, Rajas, Tamas); "three feet"-- white Samvit, Supreme Consciousness without any stain; red ParAhamta, Supreme individuality, the Vrtti the first manifestation from Samvit; and a mixed entity of the previous two meaning 'I' associated with white, red and mixed colors. The term 'I' (Aham) points to Goddess as Indu (white), Supreme Individuality as red Agni and Ravi as Mixed.  These are the Carana TrItaya (feet three = three feet). Brahma, Vishnu, and Rudra are born from the letter A U M.  Three syllables of Her Mantra KLIM are the three divisions of Panchadasi: Vagbhava, Kamaraja, and Sakti Kutas. Ka is the Bija of KAmini, the aspect of Tripurasundari in Muladhara Chakra. The three lines (Triangle) in Muladhara are the Sthula aspect of the Susksma Sakti, Kamakala in Sahasrara Chakra. Man has this threefold Sakti in him in a limited fashion; thus he should worship Her. This worship will liberate him from the ocean of Samsara.

Three Bindus are Her body; Moon, Fire and Sun.  Below is a diagram of  (TPS) KAmakalA's body parts and meditation. Her face is meditated upon as Brahma; the breasts as the two Devatas (Hari and Hara), and the genitals as Cit-kala. Imagine that Her body from genitals to the toes is born from KAma. She is adorned with jewels and dress and adored by the three Devatas. Meditation upon the goddess with Samarasya (equal feeling, one with) frees one from Samsara (cycle birth and rebirth in the world of misery). MahaTripuraSundari inseparable from Kamesvara is the aggregate of Bindus and KAmakalA. The single Bindu at the top is Her Face the Sun and also Brahma; the pair of Bindus below are her two breasts (Moon and Fire, also Hari and Hara) and also Prakasa and Vimarsa. The three folds are marks of beauty. The inverted Triangle is Her Yoni (womb). Nada that emerges from Her is the origin of all letters, words, phrases, and objects (the World of letters and objects). A Letter or Word is Brahman and the Object it denotes is Brahman. She is repository of three Bindus. TriPuraSundari =  (Tri = Three Bindus, Sun, Moon and Fire) + (City) + (Beauty). It also means Three-City-Beauty.  Hari and Hara: He who destroys (harati) all grief and sin. Hari is Vishnu and Hara is Rudra

Meditate in Citkala, and Bindus of TPS. The Sadhaka should think that his own body is like that of Kamakala. The sixteen years old TPS emanates light equal to millions of suns shining on every part of the universe. The upper Bindu gives rise to Her head, neck and throat and indicates Brahma with Rajas Guna. The two lower Bindus give rise to Her body consisting of Her body, two breasts (referring to Hari and Hara--Sattvic Vishnu and Tamasic Rudra), the three abdominal beauty folds. KAma gives rise to Her genitals, hips, thighs, legs and feet. Mediate on all parts of Her body. They who worship her in her body with equal feeling (SAmarasya) are cured of the poison of transmigratory ocean of Samsara.

Kadi Mantra (Kamaraja Mantra)

It is Kadi Mantra or Vidya because the first letter is K or Ka; Hadi Mantra starts with Ha or H. The fifteen syllables refer to the 15 digits of the moon. The 16th syllable is Goddess Herself.

The names of the tithis (digits) are 1. Prathama (new moon), 2. Dvitiya, 3. Tritiya, 4. Chaturthi, 5. Panchami, 6. Shashthi, 7. Saptami, 8. Ashtami, 9. Navami, 10. Dashami, 11. Ekadashi, 12. Dvadashi, 13. Trayodashi, 14. Chaturdashi, and lastly either 15. Purnima (full moon) or 15. Amavasya (new moon). The sixteen-petal lotus represents the 16 tithis  or digits of the moon on the bright and the dark side.  AmAvAsyA = (amA = together + Vas = to dwell)  = The night of the new moon when the sun and the moon dwell together.

The 16 Tithis are under the rule of 16 Nitya Devis or Sodasa Nityas (So + dasa = 6 plus 10): 1.Maha Tripura Sundari, 2.Kamesvari, 3.Bhagamalini, 4.Nityaklinna, 5.Bherunda, 6.Vanhivasini, 7.Maha Vajresvari, 8.Shivadooti (Roudri), 9.Twarita, 10.Kulasundari, 11.Nitya, 12.Neelapataka, 13.Vijaya, 14.Sarvamangala, 15.Jwalamalini and 16.Chidroopa (Chitra). Maha Tripura Sundari is Maha Sakti, the ruler of all and therefore is not visible to the eye.  Purnima Moon contains all Nityas conferring the splendor and brightness to the Moon. As the moon wanes, one Nitya leaves the moon for the sun and so on until all Nityas have left for the sun and the moon disappears completely on Amavasya, the new Moon day.  Amāvāsya = the day when the sun and the moon dwell together. The Nityas one by one return to the Moon and make it wax again and shine brighter and brighter. Krishna Paksa = dark side of the moon; waning moon; dark side does not mean the geographical dark side of the moon that is not seen by the human eye. The first one to leave the moon is Kamesvari and the last one Chitra; the first one to arrive at the moon is Chitra and the last one Kamesvari.  Nitya  = the Eternal One.

The devotees diverge in their worship of Sri Yantra; the Kadi line devotees worship Sri Yantra centripetally (from outside to the center); the Hadi devotees centrifugally.  Centripetal worship means that the Yogi goes from the outside to inside; he leaves his body metaphorically at the gates and his spirit moves to Bindu; He leaves the material world and goes to the spiritual world in the very center of the Yantra, the Bindu; this is involution of the soul. Hadi devotees do the exact opposite, celebrating the evolution of the world and beings from the very epicenter, the Bindu.  Look at the Yantra in three dimensional form.

MAHAVIDYAS

1st Peak (Kuta) = ka, e, i, and la-- append Hrim = Ka, Em, I, la, Hrim.

2nd Peak = ha, sa, ka, ha, and la; append Hrim = ha, sa, ka, ha, la, Hrim.

3rd Peak = sa, ka, and la ; append Hrim = sa, ka, la,  Hrim.

Hrim (MAyA Bija) is the terminal Syllable used in relation to Devi, Female Deity.

Vagbhava Kuta is abundance of subtle intellect and Jnana Sakti that confers salvation; KAmaraja Kuta means abundance of valor, women, wealth and fame and indicates Iccha Sakti (Desire, Will). Sakti Kuta (Sa, Ka, La) indicates action. The i of Hrim is radiance, the cause of creation and preservation; thus Hri of Hrim means Mother who shines in the heart.

Devi sports three forms: Sambhavi, white, Sattvic and maintenance, Sri-Vidya, red, Rajasic and creative, and SyAmA, black, Tamasic and destructive.

What are the attributes of the letters?

K for Krodhisa along with a for Srikantha, E for triangle, I for Lashmi, L for MAmsa, and a for Anuttara are the constituents of Vagbhava Kuta.

H for Siva, S for Hamsa, K for Brahman, H for Viyat, L for Sakra with their respective appended Aksara a constitute the KAmaraja Kuta.

S for Hamsa, K for Brahman, L for Sakta with their respective appended Aksara a constitute Sakti Kuta.

Hrllekha (Hrim) is appended at the end of each Kuta.

The form of Hrllekha is formed of 12 letters: H for Vyoman, r for Agni, i for VAmalocanA, m for Bindu, Ardhachandra, Rodhini, Nada, Nadanta, Sakti, Vyapika, Samana and Unmani.

The First Peak or Vagbhava Kuta has 18 letter, Second KAmaraja Kuta 22 letter, and the Sakti 18 letters; in all the total number of letters of all Kutas are 58.

From Varivasya Rahasya (V-R) Translation by P.S.S. Sastri (repetition of the above)

Krodhisa Ka (K along with Srikantha a), Konatraya--triangle (E), Lakshmi (I), MAmsa (La) L along with Anuttara (a) Hrim constitute the First Vaghbahava Kuta. Verse 9

Siva (Ha), Hamsa (Sa), Brahman (Ka), Viyat (Ha), Sakra (La) Hrim: these constitute Kamaraja Kuta. Verse 10

Hamsa (Sa), Brahman (Ka), Sakra (La) Hrim: these constitute Sakti Kuta. Verse 11

Hrllekha = HRIM = Signifies Brahman

The form of Hrllekha is composed of the twelve letters: Vyoman (H), Agni (r), VAmalocana (i), Bindu (m), Ardhacandra, Rodhini, NAda, NAdAnta, Sakti, VyApikA, SamanA, and Unmani. The aggregate (samasti) of the nine beginning with Bindu is known as NAda.--Verses 12-13.

Kamakala (I) and Trikona / Triangle (E) are intonated in 2 Matras (1 Matra = 2/5th of a second = snapping of a finger, batting of eyelids). Hrllekha = 3 Matras.  other letters = 1 1/2 Matra.  Bindu = 1/2 Matra. the following letters has half the time period of the preceding one.  Nada = 1 Matra minus 1 Lava. 1st Kuta = 11 Matras; 2nd Kuta =11 1/2 Matras; 3rd Kuta = 8 1/2 Matras minus 1 Lava.  There are 31 Matras minus three Lavas in all three Kutas.

Ka is Brahman, E is Vishnu, A is Siva, Ida is praise; Hrim is Brahman in neuter gender.  Brahman is worthy of praise by Brahma, Vishnu and Rudra as depicted in the First Kuta. Ka is face; Ha Sa Ka means smiling face.  Ha Sa mean Bliss.  Ka is the sun; Ha is moon; that which has Ka and Ha is La(s) , meaning eyes which are Ka Ha La.  The threesome are also indicative of Supreme Consciousness.  HaSa-tva (the state of being Ha, Sa) and KaHaLa-tva are the reason Brahman's Bliss and Supreme Consciousness are praised by Brahma, Vishnu and Rudra in the second group. Brahman with all KalAs is SaKaLa. Ka, E, A are Brahman Vishnu and Rudra with their portfolio of creation, preservation and destruction. I is Isvara and Da is Sadasiva. The combination of I and Da resulting in Idam is Tirodhana Sakti, the veiling power and later Bliss or Anugraha by Isvara and Sadasiva.  Ha Sa are Bliss;  Ka is Truth; Ha is infinity; La is knowledge.

Sa Ka La in the third group refers to Jiva as the latter is subject to Jagrat, Svapna, and Susupti (wakefullness, dream sleep, and deep sleep). Hrim is Brahman.  As SaKaLa and Hrim (Sakti Bija) are in proximity in the third Kuta and imply that all are Brahman in the pure state, this third Kuta is called Mahavakyartha (Identity of Jiva and Brahman as the Great Saying).  Praise to the Guru: Venerable Guru is seated on the A Ka Tha Triangle and Ha La Ksa corners bestow on me knowledge and bliss identical with Atman. Worshipping at the Guru's feet Vaisvaryarahasya of the World-Mother is adored by the Heros who vanquished Idam (the phenomenal world) on the field of Aham (ego). 

The first Kuta signifies three divine couples: Brahma and Bharati, Vishnu and Lakshmi, and Rudra and Parvati. All of them are identical with Kamakala. The second Ha of second Kuta and the Sa of the third Kuta are connected; Sakti is the resident Devata of these Aksaras.  Ka and Ha are Siva and La and Sa are Sakti. E and I are Sakti. Hrllekha, Hrim is Para Brahman, the sign of concordance between Siva and Sakti. Every Kuta stresses this concordance and is called Samarasyartha of the Vidya. Kakara is illuminator; Ekara is Buddhi of the Goddess. I is pervasion. La Hari indicates her Buddhi's dominance.  Makara is the cause of such dominance. Ha is valor, the giver of pain and vanquisher of the enemy.  Sa is wealth Ka is woman, the object of desire. i is fame.  These three above paragraphs are extracts from Varivasya Rahasya translation by PSS.Sastri.

You use passwords to open web sites, access information and benefit from such access. In like manner, these syllables are the passwords which open access to the goddess, supplicate her and help you receive benefits. Like passwords the syllables are apparently meaningless; people in the know, know they are full of meaning and potency. Hindus believe that these are revealed wisdom.  By using these syllables, you are worshipping the Mother Goddess and the deities she created and enjoy the universe of sounds, letters, and the rest.

The following information is obtained from the Garland of Letters and the Serpent Power by Woodroffe. The chart is put together by me. Here is a chart that depicts Siva, Prakasa, Aham and knowledge on Siva's side and Sakti, Vimarsa, Action, and Idam on the Sakti's side.

This is the celebration of Kamakala in the form of sound and letters, of which She (Sakti) is made of.  There is no universe, no life, no beings, no sound, no speech without Kamakala. She is beyond the three Saktis, the Sun, the Moon and the Fire. She is the causal seed of all, with whom Siva unseparately is, according to Woodroffe. Sakti and Siva need each other for creation. First there was One without a second or Brahman, which had the inclination to create (Sristi-Mukha). The power of Brahman to produce and exist as the world is called Vimarasa Sakti, which is a producer and the product.  This Vimarsa Sakti is none other than Sakti Herself. Brahman sees Itself in the mirror, which is the Vimarsa Sakti. The created world is called IDAM (This), which is the reflection and  the object of our experience. The Svarupa (own form) of Siva is Aham (I). Now we have two entities, Aham and Idam. Idam is the reflection of Aham.

The seed mantra of  Lalita Mahatripurasundari (TPS) is HRIM.  This is Sri Vidya mantra and also known as Kadi Mantra.  In the context of Kadi Mantra, HRIM  means the following. R is the waking state of the phenomenal world; I is the cosmic sound, responsible for creation of the universe and represents the dream sleep state; M is the deep sleep state; thus, the Mantra stands for the three states of consciousness.  Waking state is akin to the phenomenal world; dream sleep is akin to creation, when in our mind we create disparate images; Deep sleep state is when we are oblivious of the phenomenal world and merge with our god and remain in a temporary state of bliss. Elsewhere in this article, you will see these states correspond with AUM.

The First Line is Vaghbhavakuta (Speech-nature-peak).  The Second Line is Kamarajakuta (Desire-King-Peak). The Third Line is Saktikuta (Power- Peak).   Speech, Desire, and Power are the three parts of this Mantra; in other words they are Jnana, Iccha, and Kriya (Knowledge, Will or Desire and Action). The Sadhaka who chants this Mantra receives the power of speech and spiritual wisdom, the Tejas or splendor of Indra, the king of gods, and the blissful magnetic power of attracting all creation in all three worlds.  These fifteen letters are the thread of light that holds the seven Kundalini Chakras in the Meru (Axis Mundi) of the spine. Theses letters exist in a subtle form in the substance of the spinal cord.  The different faces of the Deity with different moods confer liberation to the devotees.  The Amnayas, as described below, are ticket to liberation. If one knows four Amnayas, he is Siva Himself.

1) Vagbhavakuta:  Ka, Em, I, la, Hrim = 5 syllables =  VAmA Sakti, Brahma, Ichcha Sakti and Eastern face ( the face in the front.)

(Creative power)  Iccha, Rajas, Vama, Brahma, Pasyanti Sabda.  Facing East is regarded as Purva Amnaya ( Purva = eastern, former; amnaya = tradition); its principal Truth is Srsti (creation).  Amnaya = tradition, doctrine. The Pasu Sadhaka worships this face.

2)  Kamarajakuta: Ka-Sa-Ka-Ha-La-Hrim = 6 syllables =  Jyestha Sakti, Vishnu, Jnana Sakti and Southern face.  (Maintenance power)   jnana, Sattva, Jyestha, Vishnu, Madhyama Sabda or sound.  Southern face is Dakshina amnaya, whose intrinsic Truth is maintenance (Sthiti).  Pasu Sadhaka worships this face.

3) Saktikuta: Sa-Ka-La-Hrim = 4 syllables =  Raudri Sakti, Rudra, Kriya Sakti and western face. (destructive power) Kriya, Tamas, Raudri, Rudra, Vaikhari Sabda.   Western face is Pascima Amanya, whose central Truth is destruction (Samhara). The Pasu and Vira Sadhakas worship the western face.  

Devi has three faces in the same orientation as Siva's. Siva has six faces from which all gods and goddesses emerged. North face is Uttara Amnaya whose essential Truth is Grace and Compassion, worshipped by Vira and Divya Sadakhas. Facing upward is the best and the highest, the Urdhva Amnaya whose Central Truth is Brahman in its plenitude and who is worshipped only by Divya Sadhakas.  The sixth face, Ishana amnaya, is pointing down and speaks rites, rituals, yogic practices....

The fourth part is hidden, a secret syllable and Sambhunatha, an aggregate of three saktis of knowledge, Will and Action (Jnana, Itcha, and Kriya), and the Northern Face.

The 16th syllable  (secretive kamakala) is a secret,  given to the qualified pupil by a bona-fide Guru; it is none other than Bindu or Goddess Herself.  The fifteen syllable Mantra is called Panca-dasAkshari Mantra. Lakshmidhara says that it is actually a 16-syllable Mantra (SodasAkshari mantra), the the 16th syllable is given by the Guru. That 16th Secret Syllable is Srim, commonly known as KamalA-Bija, the Mantra of Mahalakshmi.

16-syllable Mantra.

1st Peak (Kuta) = ka, e, i, and la-- append Hrim = Ka, Em, I, la, Hrim.  (T

2nd Peak = ha, sa, ka, ha, and la; append Hrim = ha, sa, ka, ha, la, Hrim.

3rd Peak = sa, ka, and la ; append Hrim = sa, ka, la,  Hrim.  Srim

The MahabhOgarasikahs (the Epicures) add one Seed (Bija) syllable at the beginning of each series;  The three are KAmaraja Klim, Bhuvanesvari Hrim, and Sri Srim.  Thus the 15-syllable mantra becomes 18-syllable Mantra (AshtadasAshari Mantra). Remember that in 18-syllable Mantra the terminal Srim is transposed from its terminal position to the beginning of the third series as depicted below.

18-syllable Mantra of the Epicures.  Pundits say that the Epicure is a figurative term and actually means a spiritual attainment.  Maha-bhOga-rasikahs = Great enjoyment connoisseurs.

1st Peak (Kuta) = Klim, ka, e, i, and la-- append Hrim = Ka, Em, I, la, Hrim.  Vak-Kuta resembles Diluvian fire  and leaps from Muladhara to Anahata Chakra.

2nd Peak = Hrim, ha, sa, ka, ha, and la; append Hrim = ha, sa, ka, ha, la, Hrim. kama-Kuta of the brilliance of 10 million suns leaps from Anahata to Ajna Chakra.

3rd Peak = Srim, sa, ka, and la ; append Hrim = sa, ka, la,  Hrim. Sakti-Kuta of brilliance of 10 million touches Ajna Chakra.

The letters of the three Kutas are like beads in a rosary. V20-21 (V-R) . These three strings or groups singly and in aggregate form four Bijas of the form of creation, preservation, destruction and the nameless One (anAkhya--combination).

In the Great tradition of Sri-Vidya, it should be instructed by a qualified Guru to become efficacious. Book reading does not confer any benefits but gives you an idea and an impetus.

    Lalita Sahasranama says TPS is KLINKARI represented by Bija Mantra KLIM, also known as Kamaraja Bija.

 (Source (Woodroffe and others)

The following saktis are called Bindu Bhava, a state also known as Isvara Tattva (TATTVAS-36) which has the full potency to act; so does it happen.  As the potencies unfold, they come into full function: Bindu Sivatmaka (Siva), Bija Saktiatmaka (Sakti), and Nada. Nada is the exciter (Ksobhaka) and also the excited (Ksobhya) resulting in creation.  Goddess creates three Devis and three Devas who possess the Saktis- Will, Desire, and Action in addition to creation of Fire, Moon and Sun. This is known as SabdaSrsti, the creation of sound, the Primary Creation. The second creation is Arthasrsti (Object creation).  Arthasrsti entails creation of Devas from Sambhu; these Devas are the presiding deities of the Tattvas, the building blocks of the universe. Raudri comes  from Bindu; Jayestha from Nada; VAmA from BijA.  Rudra comes from Raudri; Vishnu comes Jayestha; Brahma comes from VAmA.  As you may notice, the male god comes from female deity; they become couples. This is the opposite of Christian belief that Eve came from Adam. VAma vomits the universe; Jayestha maintains what is created; Raudri dissolves.

The latter three are of the nature of Knowledge, Will, Action and also of Fire, Moon, and Sun (Brahma, Vishnu, and Rudra).  The Saktis are also in the form of Nirodhika, Arddhendu and Bindu. Bindu (Nada) containing Tamas is Nirodhika (Nirodhini); Nada with Sattva is Ardhenddhu (Ardhachandra); Bindu has in it Bija: Will, Knowledge and Rajas.

Nada with Tamas Guna: Tamas is an obstructionist (Nirodhika) to action and so Nada stops or limits its operations in the universe; Nirodhini-Nirodika resides in Sadasiva Tattva (the giver of Grace) where knowledge and action are in balance. Tamas applies the breaks on Nada and slows it down just enough to manifest Grace in Sadasiva.

Nada with Sattva Guna: Ardenddhu or Ardhachandra (Half-Moon). Here Nada is slightly functional in the sense it creates the "speakables," which covers all the Mantras and words spoken, yet to be spoken, not known to have been spoken... Ardhachandra is Isvara Tattva, dominant in action with knowledge in the background.

Bindu: Parasakti Herself is called Bindu when She is in the nature of inseparate illumination in regard to the whole range of speakable. She resides in Isvara Tattva.

Sakti is One Entity with many titles, many offices, many portfolios, many functions and many performances. She is the consummate Jill of all trades. it is like one's mother being daughter, sister, aunt, wife, grandmother, office worker, food shopper, soccer mom.... The Saktis in descending hierarchical order are UnmanA, SamanA, VyApikA or VyApini, Anjani, MahAnAda, NAda, Nirodhini, Ardhachandra, Bindu, Ma-kAra, U-kAra, A-kAra.  Sakti is Kula and Siva is Akula (not Sakti).

Unmana: Sakti as Excited Mind is the literal meaning. Supreme Siva is beyond the beyond and beyond which there is nothing. She or He is immutable and unchangeable illumination. (The sun will die one day but Supreme Siva lives for ever; He is eternal.) He moves forth by His Will. Such Sakti, inseparable from Him is Unmana, who abides in Siva Tattva.

SamanA is the Sakti which conjures up all the "thinkables (and Mantras)." She is the Creator of Thinkables.  If  Sakti hasn't thought the thought, that thinkable does not exist.  She abides in Sakti Tattva.

VyApini is the Sakti (to disperse) which withdraws all the thinkable into Herself. She abides in Sakti Tattva.

Anjani is the Creator of thinkables; She is SamanA.  She abides in Sakti Tattva.

MahAnAda is the Great Sound when Sabdabrahman emerges with great strength from Its Siva Form; the very first sound produced  sounds like a bell. The Sakti abides in Sadasiva Tattva.

NAda is the Sakti who fills the whole universe with the First Sound, NAdAnta. She abides in Sadasiva Tattva wherein there is equality of Aham and Idam ( Siva's I and His creations This) and from where they originate.

Nirodhini is NAda having ceased to act in its universal scope and abides in Sadasiva Tattva. This is the resting phase of Nada as opposed to its creative phase. In my opinion, a runaway Nada is like a cancerous overgrowth with no usefulness. Optimal growth is the aim.

Ardhachandra is NAda with slight function resulting in the creation of "Speakable" , (Sound and Mantras) and abides in Isvara Tattva.  Speakables are all the spoken words, spoken, not yet spoken, yet to be spoken.... She is the creator of the Speakable and abides in Isvara Tattva. This is the residual function of Nada before it takes rest.

Bindu is Parasakti as the self-effulgent powerhouse (inseparate illumination) of the whole range of Speakable.

Ma-kAra, Rudra Devata, is Bindu causing manifestation of diversity and abides in Maya Tattva.  (The M of AUM)

U-kAra Sakti creates objects as separate existences and abides in Prakrti Tattva. (The U of AUM)