Keynote Lecture: The Śkta Transformation of Śaivism th World Sanskrit Conference, Vancouver, British Columbia Tuesday, July , © Alexis Sanderson Handout A. Introduction Atimārga (I, II, II), Mantramārga (Siddhānta [I], non-Saiddhāntika [II), Kulamārga. Śākta: Atimārga III, Mantramārga II, Kulamārga. B. Atimārga II: The Lākulas/Kālamukhas . Niśvāsamukha:
atyāśramavratam . khyātam . lokātītam . ca me śr. n. u || ālabdhah. pañcabhir guhyair dīks.itaś caiva so bhramet | khat.vāngī ˙ ca kapālī ca sajat.o mun. d. a-m eva vā || vālayajñopavītī ca śiromun. d. aiś ca man. d. itah. | kaupīnavāso bhasmāngī ˙ divyābharan. abhūs.itah. || jagad rudramayam matvā rudrabhakto dr. d. havratah. | sarvādas sarvaces.t.aś ca rudradhyānaparāyan. ah. || rudram . muktvā na cānyo ’sti trātā me daivatam param | viditvaikādaśādhvānam ˙ . samācaret || . nirviśankah Niśvāsamukha AB f. v– (.c–) c khyātam . B : khyā + A d sajat.o conj. : sajat.ī Cod. d divyābharan. abhūs.itah. conj. : divyābharan. abhū + + B : divyābharan. a + + + A b daivatam em. : devatam AB
I have taught you the Atyāśrama. Listen as I teach you the Lokātīta. When he has been initiated after being touched with the five Guhya[mantra]s he should become peripatetic, carrying a skull-topped staff and a skull[-bowl], with his hair in matted braids or shaved bald, with a sacred thread made from [twisted strands of human] hair [taken from a corpse], adorned with [a chaplet of ] human heads [carved from bone], wearing only a loin cloth, his body dusted with ash, and embellished with the wondrous adornments [of bone]. Devoted to Rudra, he should consider the whole world as Rudra, holding fast to his observance, eating anything, doing anything, intent [only] on meditating on Rudra, [thinking] ‘‘None can save other than Rudra. [He is] my supreme god (me daivatam param). Having first mastered the hierarchy of the eleven cosmic levels he should practise [this observance] without inhibition. . Yāmuna and Rāmānuja
evam . kālāmukhā api samastaśāstrapratis.iddhakapālapātrabhojanaśavabhasmasnānatatprāśanalagud. adhāran. asurākumbhasthāpanatatsthadevatārcanāder eva dr..st.ādr..st.ābhīs.t.asiddhim abhidadhānāh. śrutibahis.kr. tā eva. Āgamaprāmān. ya p.
In the same way the Kālamukhas too are certainly judged to be outside the scope of the Vedas, since they claim that perceptible and imperceptible goals can be attained by practices that have been forbidden in all the scriptures [that lie within its scope], such as eating from a skull bowl, bathing in the ashes of the dead, tasting them, carrying clubs, installing a pot of alcoholic liquor, and worshipping [their] deity in it. →
tathā kālāmukhā api kapālapātrabhojanaśavabhasmasnānatatprāśanalagud. adhāran. asurākumbhasthāpanatadādhāradevapūjādikam aihikāmus.mikasakalaphalasādhanam abhidadhati. Śrībhās.ya on Brahmasūtra ..
The Kālamukhas too teach such means of obtaining goals in this life and the next as eating from a skull bowl, bathing in the ashes of the dead, tasting them, installing a pot of alcoholic liquor and using that as the material substrate in which they worship their deity. C. Atimārga III: The Kāpālikas, followers of the Somasiddhānta . Siddhāntaprakāśikā of Sarvātmaśambhu:
tāni ca śāstrān. i pañcavidhāni laukikam . vaidikam ādhyātmikam ātimārgam . māntram . ceti. . . . ātimārgam tu śāstram rudrapran ītāni pāśupatakāpālamahāvratāni māntram tu śivapra. . . . n. ītam . siddhāntaśāstram Siddhāntaprakāśikā p. , ll. -; P, p. , l. –p. , l.
And those teachings are of five kinds: the Laukika, the Vaidika, the Ādhyātmika, and those of the Atimārga, and Mantramārga. . . . . As for the teachings of the Atimārga, they are the [three bodies of teaching] promulgated by Rudra, [namely] the Pāśupata, the Kāpālika, and the Mahāvrata (= Lākula/Kālamukha), whereas the teaching of the Mantra[mārga] is the Siddhānta, promulgated by Śiva. . Bhairavamangalā, nak -, ngmpp b /; palm-leaf; Nepalese script; undated, c. prob. th ˙ century a.d.:
icchārūpadharī devī icchāsr..st.ipravartanī | tatah. sā vars.ate vācā śāstravr..st.īr anekathā || prathamam . śaivasiddhāntam . bhedatrayasamanvitam | kevalī lākulam caiva somasiddhāntam eva ca || . Bhairavamangalā f. v– ˙
a icchārūpa corr. : itsārūpa Cod. b icchāsr..s.ti : itsāsr..st.i Cod. d śāstravr..s.tīr corr. : śāstravr..s.tir Cod. anekathā corr : an. ekathā Cod. a prathamam . corr. : prathama Cod. c kevalī em. : kaivalī Cod.
The Goddess, who assumes whatever form she wishes, activates creation in accordance with her desire. Then she, [as] Word, pours down showers of diverse teachings. First [came] the Śaiva doctrine with its three divisions [Saiddhāntika, Vāma, and Daks.in. a], the Pāñcārthika, the Lākula, and the Somasiddhānta. . Malhar/Junwani copper plates of Mahāśivagupta Bālārjuna, year :
viditam astu bhavatām . yathāsmābhir ayam . grāmah. sakurupadrakah. vājasaneyacaran. ād abh yarthya bhān. d. āgāratulapadrakam on. ībhogīyam . parivartena dattvā sam . prati . . . asyām . māghapaurn. amāsyām atraivātmakāritaśrībāleśvarabhat.t.ārakatapovanaparipālanārtham āropitebhyah. śivasya mūrtīnām as.t.au vigraheśvarān. ām . gahaneśasya mūrtayo rudrā s.at.s.as.ty anugrāhakā yuge yuge parivartamānā adhunā kalikālam āsādya śrīmallakulīśanātho ’vatīrya somaśarmākhyabrāhman. akule jātah. mahāvrate tena dīks.ito jagadindus tenāpi musalīśas tatah. somādipāramparyakramen. a sthānaguruśrīrudrasomapraśis.yaśrītejasomaśis.yebhyah. śrīmadbhīmasomapādebhyah. śis.yapraśis.yān. ām . yāgadīks.āvyākhyānavasatipravartanāya bhagnavidīrn. adevakulasam skr taye ca mātāpitror ātmanaś ca pun. yābhivr. ddhaye samakālopabhogā. . rtham ācandratārakārkam udakapūrvakam . tāmraśāsanena pratipādita ity avagatya samucitabhogabhāgādikam upanayanto bhavantah. sukham . prativasantu Ll. –
This distinction between the three divisions (bhedāh. ) I take to be that taught by the Picumata, the Bhairavamangalā’s parent ˙ Tantra in .– of that work (ff. rff.) The three divisions are the Madhyama (=Siddhānta), Vāma, and Daks.in. a. The inscription was first published by G. L.Rayakwar and Rahul Kumar Singh in (‘Mahāśivagupta Bālārjuna kā vem . rājya vars.a kā Junavānī (Malhār) tāmralekha’. Purātana , pp. –); and a summary was published as an addendum by Ajay Mitra Shastri in (Inscriptions of the Śarabhapurīyas, Pān. d. uvam . śins and Somavam . śins, Pt. , p. –). The draft of a new edition by Ajay Mitra Shastri was kindly put by its author at Hans Bakker’s disposal, who on its basis published his findings first in a (Tala Revisited. In South Asian Archaeology , vol. , pp. –) and b (Somaśarman, Somavam . śa and Somasiddhānta: A Pāśupata tradition in seventh-century Daks.in. a Kosala. In Harānandalaharī. Volume in Honour of Professor Minoru Hara, pp. –), drawing, with my permission, on materials that I put at his disposal in a letter of July in which, replying to his request for my response to his hypothesis, I supported it with draft editions and discussions of unpublished Śaiva textual sources, notably the passage in the Niśvāsamukha on the Lākula form of the Atimārga later published in Sanderson (pp. –), and the passage from the first S. at.ka of the Jayadrathayāmala that will be given in this Handout. In the second of these publications he also included his own edition of the part of the inscription relevant to this issue, working on the basis of Shastri’s draft. Shastri published his edition in (Malhār/Junwani Plates of Mahāśivagupta, year . JESI , pp. –); and a new edition of the complete text of the inscription was published by Susmita Basu Majumdar in (Re-editing the Junwani Copper Plate Inscription of Mahāśivagupta Bālārjuna, Regnal Year . In Kalhār: Studies in Art, Iconography, Architecture, and Archaeology of India and Bangladesh, pp. –). Unfortunately photographs of the plates themselves have not been published. For arguments, which seem to me convincing, that the donor Mahāśivagupta Bālārjuna ruled c. a.d. – rather than, as others have held, in the eighth century, see Sinha (Sinha, Bindeshwari Prasad. Dynastic History of Magadha Cir. – A.D, pp. – and Bakker (Bakker, Hans. Observations on the History and Culture of Daks.in. a Kosala (th to th centuries AD). In Festschrift Klaus Bruhn, zur Vollendung des . Lebensjahres dargebracht vonSchulern, Freunden und ¨ Kollegen, pp. –). The portion of the text (ll. –) that I have dropped here for the sake of brevity lists the usual rights and exemptions that came with the land donated.
asyām . māghapaurn. amāsyām conj. Bakker : asyām . māpupaurn. n. amāśyam Ep. (as reported by Majumdar) : asyām apaurn. amāsyām conj. Majumdar musalīśas conj. : mugalīśas Bakker, Majumdar sthānaguru conj. . Majumdar [cf. sthānagurubhyah. in Sirpur Copper Plate No. as reported in Majumdar , p. ] : sthāne guru Bakker.
Let it be known to you that in order to augment the religious merit of my parents and myself I have granted with a copper-plate charter and the [due pouring of ] water this village [Pāśipadraka] together with Kurupadraka . . . on this full-moon day of the month of Māgha after requesting them from the community of the Vājasaneya Yajurvedins in exchange for Bhān. d. āgāratulapadraka in the [same] On. ī Division, to the Venerable Bhīmasoma, disciple of Tejasoma and grand-disciple of the Sthānaguru Rudrasoma, whom I have appointed to protect the hermitage attached to the [temple of ] Bāleśvarabhat.t.āraka that I myself have established [with my name] in this same [village], [the purpose of this benefice being] to provide the means of maintaining the ceremonies of worship, initiations, expositions of the scriptures, and accommodation of Bhīmasoma’s disciples and their spiritual descendants, and for repairs to the temple when it is damaged or delapidated, that they may enjoy [this benefice] in perpetuity, for so long as the moon and stars endure. Gahaneśa, among the eight Vigraheśvaras that are Śiva’s embodiments, has sixty-six Rudra embodiments. These favour souls [by granting them initiation], operating [one after the other] in each [successive] Age. Reaching the current age of Kali [the last of these,] the Lord Lakulīśa became incarnate, taking birth in the family of the brahmin Somaśarman. Somaśarman initiated [this] moon [whose cooling rays have calmed the fever] of the world, into the Mahāvrata, and he in turn initiated Musalīśa; and from Musaliśa in an unbroken line of spiritual descent of [ascetics] whose names precede -soma [the tradition has come down through Rudrasoma and Tejasoma to this Bhīmasoma]. Having learned of this [endowment], dwell in contentment, each of you delivering his customary portion of [the revenue of his land-holding] and [all] other [dues]. . Jayadrathayāmala, S. at.ka , .–:
adhunā gūd. hanirgūd. hān panktiyugmagatāñ śr. n. u | ˙ śvetādivas.atkārāntān bhavān s.at.s.as.t.imānagān || śvetaś caiva sutāraś ca suvāmo gautamas tathā | laukāks.aś ca suhotā ca tathā vedaśirāh. parah. || ekapādo jigīs.uś ca vr..sabho daśavāhanah. | gokarn. aś ca guhāvāsī śikhan. d. ī *jat.imālinau || bhr. guś caiva śikhī śūlī vāliś caivāt.t.ahāsakah. | dāruko lāngaliś caiva tridan. d. ir as.ad. hih. parah. || ˙ someśo lakulīśaś ca hy as.t.āvim . śaty amī śivāh. | vyākhyānānugrahakarāh. pramān. ajñānabhedatah. || prāsangikī tv asau tes.ām ˙ . sadyo’nugrahakāritā | dvitīyā gurupanktir yā vareśādyas.t.atrim ˙ . śikā || sadyonugrahakartr. tve tasyā devy adhikāritā | vareśvaraś ca devaś ca bhūtir dīrghabhujo ravih. ||
sadyojātas tathā sthān. ur jhan. t.īśah. .san. mukhah. parah. | caturānanah. parah. krūro bhujanga ˙ dama eva ca || cakrapān. y ardhanārīśo meghasam . vartakah. priyah. | bhasmīśah. kāmanāśaś ca kapālī bhūrbhuvas tathā || viśālāmbudanīlāngā ˙ vīraśāntogramāt.harāh. | ketukāntakumārāryāh. kakubhīśānalaks.an. āh. || vaus.at.kāro vas.at.kārah. kathitās tu gurūttamāh. | bhairavāptapravaktārah. svādhah. sthānagatān. uśah. || caturvaktrāś caturdam . .st.rā ye dviparvaprakāśinah. | rudrās te dvibhujaikāsyāh. ks.etrajñāh. śis.yakot.igāh. || Jayadrathayāmala, S. at.ka , A f. r–v; B f. r-v a nirgūd. hān corr. : nirgūd. hām ˙ B : pam . AB b pankti . ti A • gatān em. : vatām . AB c vas.atkārāntān corr. : vas.at.kārām tām AB d bhavān corr. : bhavām AB • s at s as t imānagān corr. : .sat..sas..timānagām AB . . . . .. .. d vedaśirāh. conj. : vaiśirasah. AB c gokarn. aś em. : śokarn. aś AB d jat.imālinau conj. (cf. śikhan. d. ī jat.imālinah. in Niśvāsaguhya f.r [.b], and jat.ī mālī in Svacchanda .d) : jat.īmān atha AB c vyākhyānānugrahakarāh. A : vyākhyātānugrahakarāh. B d pramān. ajñānabhedatah. A : pramān. ojñānabhedatah. B a prāsangikī corr. : prāsam ˙ . gika AB c dvitīyā corr. : tr.tīyā AB d bhūtir corr. : bhūti AB a sthān. ur B: sthān. u A a viśālāmbuda conj. : viśālāmbudha AB • nīlāngā ˙ conj. : nīlorn. a AB b māt.harāh. conj. : māt.hanāh. A: māt.hanā B d kakubhī conj. : kakuśī AB c pravaktārah. corr. : pravaktāra AB b ye em. : yo AB c dvibhujaikāsyāh. corr. : dvibhujaikāsyā A : dvibhujaikāsya B
. Mātr. sadbhāva. Oriental Manuscript Library, University of Kerala, T : paper; Devanāgarī; granthas; incomplete; no date. a) p. : arcayet paramām . śaktim . somasiddhāntapāragah. || The learned master of the Somasiddhānta should [then] worship the Supreme Śakti. b) p. : tasmin dhyāyej jagannātham . mahāvratadharam . haram | uttaptakanakaprakhyam trinetram candraśekharam || . . vyāghracarmāmbaradharam . nāgābharan. abhūs.itam | bhasmoddhūlitasarvāngam ˙ . pañcamudrādharam . prabhum ||
That the expression bhairava- in c is to be taken to refer to a body of texts is strongly suggested by a parallel expression pramān. āptavicārakāh. ‘the authoritative teachers of the Pramān. as’ in v.c of the same chapter for the Rudras who revealed the Pramān. as, the Lākulas’ sacred texts (Jayadrathayāmala, S. at.ka , A f.v–; B f. v–: remus tatraiva te vīrāh. *pramān. āptavicārakāh. (em. :pramān. āpū AB) | pañcārthānkuśahr ˙ .dguhya-ūhalaks.an. akādayah. | ādarśākars.asam . yuktāh. sarvavidvedapāragāh. | vidyādhipativīreśatārodayavirāmagāh. || caturdaśa mahādevāh. prabuddhā nirahankr ˙ .tah. | ūhajñānapravr.ttisthā hy ādyas..tau ye prakīrtitāh. || mahāviśāradāh. .sat. ca nānāgama*kriyānvitāh. (conj. :kriyācitah. AB). It contains the Mātr.sadbhāva from its beginning but breaks off incomplete in the th Pat.ala (pp. –). This is followed by the Balikalpa (pp. –), a prose Paddhati, incomplete at the end, setting out the procedure and Mantras for making a bali-offering to Can. d. ikā. It appears to be a modern library transcript of two palm-leaf manuscripts in the Malayāl.am script, a and c of Smbaiva Śstr’s catalogue ().
kapālakhat.vāngadharam ˙ . sāks.asūtram . triśūlinam | śukāntyā tu hlādayantam mandasmitām . . jagattrayam || kankālamālinam ˙ . devam . suprasannamukhāmbujam | dhyātvaivam devadeveśam ātmābhedena sādhakah. || . kādipādāntikam . paścān mūlamantram . tu vinyaset | Thereon he should visualize Hara, Lord of the Universe, as observer of the Mahāvrata, with the colour of molten gold, three-eyed, moon-crested, wearing a tiger skin, decked out with ornaments in the form of snakes, all his limbs dusted with ash, wearing the five Mudrās, omnipotent, holding a skull-bowl, a skull-staff, a rosary, and a trident, delighting the three world with the beautiful radiance of his gentle smile, wearing a chaplet of skulls, his lotus-like face entirely propitious. The Sādhaka should visualize the God of Gods in this form as one with himself and then install the Root-Mantra [on his body] from his head down to his feet. c) p. : yajamānaś ca tatraiva pran. amya parameśvarīm | labdhaprasādo matimān guru bhaktyā namet tadā || saśis.yam lakulīśānam gandhādyair abhipūjya ca || . . daks.in. ābhir vicitrābhir dhanadhānyām . śukādibhih. | sam tos ya śis yais sahitam vittaśāt hyavivarjitah . . . . . . || The wise patron should prostrate in that same place before Parameśvarī and when he has obtained her favour [in this manner] he should prostrate himself with devotion before the officiant. He should then make offerings to Lakulīśa and his disciples with fragrant powder and the rest, and having satisfied [the officiant] and his disciples unstintingly with diverse honoraria, such as money, grain, and fabrics . . . . D. Abhinavagupta’s Śākta Śaivism: The intellectual defence of Śaivism’s transcendence of the brahmanical domain through counterbrahmanical practice at a time when Mantramārga I had come to be widely accepted as valid religion by the orthoprax. a) Tantrāloka .c–b:
śuddhyaśuddhī ca sāmānyavihite tattvabodhini || pum . si te bādhite eva tathā cātreti varn. itam | Purity and impurity are elements of the generally applicable [brahmanical] prescription. This teaching [of Mālinīvijayottara .–] provides a special prescription whose function is to suspend the application of those rules in [the special case] of those who have grasped reality.
b) Tantrāloka .c–b:
bahih. satsv api bhāves.u śuddhyaśuddhī na nīlavat || pramātr. dharma evāyam . cidaikyānaikyavedanāt | yadi vā vastudharmo ’pi mātrapeks.ānibandhanah. || sautrāman. yām . surā hotuh. śuddhānyasya viparyayah. | Even if entities were to exist outside [our consciousness of them] the purity and purity [attributed to them] could not be [objective] in the way that, say, blueness is. This is purely a property of the perceiver (pramātr. dharmah. ), resulting from the way in which he perceives [a thing], as one with his consciousness or not. Or rather, even if it were after all a property of the thing itself (vastudharmah. ) it would still have to be admitted that something is pure or impure only in relation to specific perceivers. [For the scriptures of the bound hold that] fermented liquor is pure for the sacrificer (hotuh. ) in the [Śrauta] Sautrāman. ī sacrifice, but impure for others. c) Parātrim . śikāvivaran. a:
tad etāni dravyān. i yathālābham . bhedamalavilāpakāni < . . . >. tathā hi dr. śyata evāyam . kramo yad iyam samullasantī rūd. hā phalaparyantā sam ˙ . sam . kocātmikā śankaiva . sā rajīrn. ataror prathamānkurasūtih ˙ . . sā cāprabuddhān prati sthitir bhaved iti prabu ddhaih. kalpitā. bālān prati ca kalpyamān. āpy etes.ām . rūd. hā vaicitryen. aiva phalati. ata eva vaicitryakalpanād eva sā bahudhā dharmādiśabdanirdeśyā pratiśāstram . pratideśam . cānyānyarūpā yathoktam . glānir vilun. t.hikā dehe iti. seyam ˙ bhairava. yadā jhat.iti vigalitā bhavati tadā nirastapāśavayantran. ākalanko hr. dayānupravis.t.o bhavati. iti sarvathaivetad abhyasitavyam. śrītilakaśāstre ’yam . bhāvah. . śrībhargaśikhāyām apy uktam vīravratam . cābhinanded yathāyogam . tathābhyased ityādi. śrīsarvācāre ’pi ajñānāc chankate mūd. has tatah. sr..st.iś ca sam ˙ . hr. tih. | mantrā varn. ātmakāh. sarve varn. āh. sarve śivātmakāh. || peyāpeyam . smr. tā āpo bhaks.yābhaks.yam . tu pārthivam | surūpam . ca virūpam . ca tat sarvam . teja ucyate || spr. śyāspr. śyau smr. to vāyuś chidram ākāśa ucyate | naivedyam . ca nivedī ca naivedyam . gr. hn. ate ca yah. || sarvam . pañcātmakam . devi na tena rahitam . kvacit | icchām utpādayed ātmā katham ˙ vidhīyate || . śankā iti. śrīvīrāvalīśāstre ’py ayam evābhiprāyah. . uktam . ca kramastotre
sarvārthasam . kars.an. asam . yamasya yamasya yantur jagato yamāya | vapur mahāgrāsavilāsarāgāt sam . kars.ayantīm . pran. amāmi kālīm || iti. vyākhyātam . caitan mayā tat.t.īkāyām eva kramakelau vistaratah. . ata eva .sad. ardhaśāstres.v es.aiva kriyā prāyo niyantran. ārahitatvena pūjā. Editions: Parātrim . śikāvivaran. a, ed. Gnoli, p. , l. –p. , l. ; KSTS ed. (Ked), p. , l. – p. , l. Manuscripts: A f. []r–[]r; B f. r–r; C = f. v–r; D = f. v –r jīrn. ataror a Gnoli’s ms n˙ (n. īrn. ataror c) : bījataror bd Ked sā cāprabuddhān prati sthitir abc Ked : śuddhāśuddhādīnām . sthitir conj. Gnoli bālān prati ca kalpyamān. āpy etes.ām . conj. : bālān prati ca kalpyamān. āpi ca tes.ām . abcd Ked Gnoli bahudhā bd : bahuvidhā ac Gnoli : bahuvidha Ked sarvathaitad abhyasitavyam abcd : sarvathaitadabhyāse yatitavyam Ked Gnoli gr.hn. ate ca yah. abcd : gr.hn. ate ca ye em. Gnoli following the citation in Tantrālokaviveka vol. , p. : gr.hyate ca yat Ked
So whenever they are available [all] these substances [should be offered and consumed], for they dissolve the impurity that is plurality. I shall explain. We witness directly the following process. This inhibition (śankā) ˙ is the state of the contraction [of consciousness that constitutes our bondage]. Emerging and becoming established to the extent that it takes full effect it causes the first sprouting of the ancient tree of Sam . sāra. That has been constructed by the enlightened for [the benefit of ] the unenlightened in order to provide them with a stable [social] order; and although merely constructed it becomes deeply rooted for them and bears fruit in a variety of ways. Precisely because of this construction of diversity [inhibition] assumes a multiplicity of aspects, differing from scripture to scripture (pratiśāstram) and from region to region, passing accordingly under various names, of which dharmah. (‘the religious obligations enjoined by the Veda’) is only one. Thus we are taught: Debility (glānih. ) in [the state of identification with] the body is the robber [that carries off the wealth of one’s enlightened awareness]. Now, when this same [inhibition] is suddenly dissolved [through non-dualistic practice] one throws off the contamination imposed by the restrictions of the bound and enters the heart of Bhairava. Therefore one should strive in every way to cultivate this [dissolution]. Such is the teaching of the Tilaka. The Bhargaśikhā too has told us:
A = Srinagar, Oriental Research Library ms : paper; Śāradā script; B = Srinagar, Oriental Research Library ms : paper; Śāradā script; C = Jammu, Raghunath Temple Manuscripts Library, : paper; Kashmirian Devanāgarī; D = Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin - Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Orientabteilung, Hs. or. : paper; Śāradā script; penned in a.d. .
He should venerate the observance of the Hero, [the follower of non-dualistic practice,] and he should practice it himself to the extent of his power. And the Sarvācāra teaches: The deluded is inhibited out of ignorance, and from that flow his births and deaths [in the cycle of transmigration]. [All] Mantras are only sounds and all sounds are Śiva. [So why should one hesitate to repeat those that are not Vedic?] It is ordained that all drinks permitted and forbidden are [to be seen equally as] [the element] Water, [all] foods permitted and forbidden as forms of [the element] Earth, [all visible things] whether beautiful or ugly as [forms of the element] Fire, all tangible things, whether one is or is not permitted [by the Veda] to touch them, as [the element] Air, and [every] aperture [of the body] as [the element] Ether. The food offered, the offerer, and the recipient are all [to be seen] as those five [elements]. Nothing anywhere is other than those. The self may [therefore] generate desire [freely]. Why should it be inhibited [when it comes to performing these non-dualistic rites]? The gist of the Vīrāvalīśāstra is the same. In the Kramastotra too we are told [with regard to Yamakālī]: I bow to [that] Kālī who in the passion of her desire to accomplish the great resorption retracts the power of the tyrant Inhibition who impedes total withdrawal so diminishing man's [innate vitality]. I have explained this [statement] at length in the Kramakeli, my commentary on that [hymn]. So it is that in the venerable teachings of the Trika the ritual is essentially this: to offer worship without the inhibitions [imposed on consciousness by the constructions of the brahmanical religion]. d) Tantrāloka .c–b:
yadā yathā yena yatra svā samvittih. prasīdati || tadā tathā tatra ca tad yogyam . dravyam . vidhiś ca sah. | laukikālaukikam . sarvam . tenātra viniyojayet || nis.kampatve sakampas tu kampam . nirhrāsayed balāt | yathā yenābhyupāyena kramād akramato ’pi vā || vicikitsā galaty antas tathāsau yatnavān bhavet | dhīkarmāks.agatā devīr nis.iddhair eva tarpayet || vīravratam . cābhinanded iti bhargaśikhāvacah. | tathāhi śankā ˙ mālinyam . glānih. sam . koca ity adah. || sam sārakārāgārāntah sthūlasthūn . . . āghat.āyate | mantrā varn. asvabhāvā ye dravyam . yat pāñcabhautikam || yac cidātma prān. ijātam . tatra kah. sam . karah. katham |
sam ˙ tasyām api sphut.am || . karābhāvatah. keyam . śankā na śanketa tathā śankā ˙ ˙ vilīyetāvahelayā | Ked and A f. r– b tadā tathā tatra ca tad yogyam . dravyam . a and ms ga cited in Ked : tadā tathā tena tatra tat tad bhogyam . Ked
Any substance is suitable for worship and any procedure at any time or place, provided that it causes his awareness to become tranquil. He may therefore employ any [substances] for this, either the mundane [lacto-vegetarian offerings] or the esoteric [offerings that breach brahmanical taboos]. But this option applies only if he is already free of inhibition. If he is still subject to it he should cause it to diminish by force. He should strive, employing whatever method is effective, to cause this inhibition to dissolve within him, either by degrees or suddenly and all at once. [To achieve his end] he should therefore use the forbidden substances to gratify the goddesses that reside in his faculties of sense and action. [For] the Bhargaśikhā recommends that he should venerate the observance of the Hero [and adopt it himself ]. To explain:— That which we call inhibition, impurity, debility, or contraction, serves as the capital of the great central pillar that holds up the prison of Sam . sāra. [But it can be dislodged. For] Mantras are just sounds, all substances are just combinations of the five material elements, and all living creatures are just consciousness. How, therefore, can there be contamination [by any Mantra, substance, or person]? Since there can be no contamination, what is this inhibition? Even if fear of contamination should arise on occasion [out of long conditioning] he should certainly feel no anxiety about it[, knowing its illusory nature]. In this way it will readily dissolve. e) Tantrāloka .:
śrīmadrātrikule coktam ˙ . moks.ah. śankāpahānitah .| aśuddhavāsanasyes.t.ā moks.avārtāpi durlabhā || Ked ; A f. r–; B Pt. , f. r– b śankāpahānitah ˙ ˙ . Ked : śankāprahānitah . ab c aśuddhavāsanasyes..tā b : aśuddhavāsanasyais.t.ā a : aśuddhavāsanayais.ā Ked
And [Śiva] has declared in the Rātrikula: ‘‘Liberation comes about through the loss of inhibition. Liberation is out of the question for anyone who is still under the influence of [this] impure [mentality]’’. f ) Tantrāloka .–c:
atattve ’bhiniveśam . ca na kuryāt paks.apātatah. | jātividyākulācāradehadeśagun. ārthajān || grahān grahān ivās.t.au drāk tyajed gahvaradarśitān |
tathā śrīniśicārādau heyatvenopadarśitān || brāhman. o ’ham . mayā vedaśāstroktād aparam . katham | anus.t.heyam ayam . jātigrahah. paranirodhakah. || evam anye ’py udāhāryāh. kulagahvaravartmanā | atatsvabhāve tādrūpyam . darśayann avaśe ’pi yah. || svarūpācchādakah. so ’tra graho graha ivoditah. | sam . vitsvabhāve no jātiprabhr. tih. kāpi kalpanā || rūd. hā sā tu svarūpen. a tadrūpam . chādayaty alam | yā kācit kalpanā sam vittattvasyākhan . . d. itātmanah. || sam kocakārin ī sarvah sa grahas tām . . . . parityajet | śrīmadānandaśāstre ca kathitam parames . .t.hinā || nirapeks.ah. prabhur vāmo na śuddhis tatra kāran. am | devītr. ptir makhe raktamām . sair no śaucayojanāt || dvijāntyajaih. samam kāryā caryāntye ’pi marīcayah. | . avikārakr. tah. Ked ; A f. r–; B Pt. , f. r– b gahvaradarśitān ab : gahvararśitān a rūd. hā sā tu svarūpen. a conj. : rūpam . sā tv asvarūpen. a Ked : rūpam sā tv asarūpen a a :K , rūposātvasvaropyen a b b na śuddhis tatra kāran. am conj. : na ed . . . śuddhyā tatra kāran. am Ked ab b caryāntye ’pi conj. : carcānte ’pi Ked ab
He should not become attached through prejudice to anything that is not real. [So] he should immediately exorcize as though they are evil spirits (grahāh. ) the eight ‘possessors’ (grahāh. ) that the [Kula]gahvara has mentioned and that according to the Niśicāra and other [scriptures] must be abandoned, namely [pride of ] caste, learning, lineage, orthopraxy, physical appearance, country, virtue, and wealth. ‘‘I am a brahmin. How can I perform any rites other than those ordained by the Veda?’’ Such is the pride of caste, which [must be removed because it] blocks one’s access to the higher [teachings]. The other [seven] too may readily be exemplified along the [same] lines [as] indicated by the Kulagahvara. These have been called ‘possessors’ grahāh. in this [passage of scripture] because they are indeed analogous to possessing spirits. Though individuals are autonomous [agents] these factors make them appear to take on a nature that is alien to their own, concealing their true identity. Such conceptual constructs as caste cannot apply to one’s real identity as consciousness. [But] once established they [like invasive spirits] completely occlude that nature with their own. Each and every conceptual construct that causes the undivided reality of consciousness to contract [in this way] is such a ‘possessor’ and should be discarded. Similarly, the Lord has declared in the Ānandaśāstra: ‘‘The Lord [liberates souls] without regard [for their standing in terms of virtue and sin as defined by the scriptures of the bound]; and indeed he is contrary (vāmah. ) [in his very nature to that mundane order]. So purity is of no avail in this matter. What gratifies the Goddess in her worship is [offerings of ] blood and flesh not the practice of [brahmanical] purity. Brahmins and persons of the lowest castes should practice [the circle rite] together. [For] The radiant senses themselves do not react with perturbation even when their object is an untouchable.
E. How widespread amd influential was this Śākta ptactice of transcendence of brahmanical norms?
