Philosophy and Religion / Tantratattva (Principles of Tantra)

Sriyukta Sivacandra Vidyarnava Bhattacarya Mahodaya

The Tantratattva (Principles of Tantra). Part II. Introduction

Edited by Arthur Avalon (John Woodroffe).

Vaidik and Tantrik Systems of Spiritual Culture Compared

As the Vedas are the Word of Brahma, so are the Tantras the Word of Siva. Both are the Breath of the Supreme. It is not to be supposed that the Hindus look upon the Vedas or the Tantras in the same light as the Christians, Jews, and Muhammadans regard the Revelation on Mount Sinai, or the Koran. The Hindus have never said that the Godhead, having assumed a human form, descended and revealed: Divine knowledge in human language to His chosen; nor do they hold that God or one of His Angels wrote out the Divine Revelation, and then handed it over to His Rasool. The meaning of Hindu Revelation is different from that which is generally assumed. The Breath of the Supreme is pure Divine Ideation, from which is evolved the universe. Sitting on His Cosmic lotus­throne, alone in the primeval darkness of immense space, Hiranyagarbha, the infant Brahma, the progenitor of the manifested universe, knew not yet what He was nor what He had to do. Long years of meditation at length revealed to Him the Divine Law, which is Divine knowledge (Jnana), thus enabling Him to evolve the universe. From Brahma to the hosts of illuminated Rsis all are Seers or revealers of the arcane (immutable knowledge), which, like respiration, comes forth from the Brahman who is the Supreme at the dawn of evolution, and, like inspiration, is withdrawn into Its fathomless Unknowable depths on the eve of dissolution.

This eternal, immutable Jnana (knowledge) is the Word of Brahma ­ or Siva which is revealed to humanity in its language by the illumined and, therefore, unerring Seers, the Rsis. The Word is the Sound, the Spiritual Sound, which is the Vehicle of the manifested Divinity, the Saguna Brahman, and hence it is that the infallible, immutable Gnosis, the Vedas, is given the same name as that which is given to the Divinity Himself­namely, Sabda-Brahman (the Sound-Brahman, or Immense Sound).

Such being Divine Revelation, the Tantra is to the human spirit what science is to its intellect. The evolution of the human intellect, and the consequent mastery of man over phenomenal nature, depend upon the pursuit of scientific method, which reveals to man the secrets of objective nature, and thereby renders her subservient to his purposes. Similarly, the Tantras have a science, a methodology, by the pursuit of which the human spirit can enter into the secret background of objective nature, free itself from the trammels of the senses and of their objects, and soar above them until, by gradual evolution, it raises itself into that plane of consciousness which is unalloyed bliss. At length the embodied spirit (Jiva), after its long and tedious journey in eight millions of bodies from the mineral to the animal, and many thousands of births and re-births in the human vehicle, returns to That whence there is no journeying back again.

It may here be asked, " Why are there the Tantras when the Vedas exist to point out to man his several paths to Dharma, Artha, Kama, and Moksa,¹ the fourfold aspirations of humanity? " No such question arose for the thousands of years during which the Tantrik method of spiritual culture was, as it is still, being followed by the Hindus, be they Saktas, Saivas, Vaisnavas, Sauras or Ganapatyas.² The five classes of Hindu worshippers must be initiated according to the Tantrik method, which has been directed to be followed even in the Vaisnavik scripture Srimad Bhagavata (see Skandha XI, chap. xxvii). All the Bija Mantras,³ excepting the Pranava (ओं), are Tantrik, and the greater part of the methodology is either Tantrik or mixed - that is, Tantrik mixed with Vaidik, pure Vaidik methods having long been, and rightly so, abandoned. Under these circumstances, the question, thus mooted, savours somewhat of scepticism and unbelief in the Hindu Dharma; at any rate, it does not lie in the mouth of a Hindu to put such a question. Be that as it may, since the question arises in these degenerate days, it is but meet that it should be answered.

The influence of time upon the constitution of man is a factor which must always be borne in mind in all considerations affecting his spiritual progress. The Hindu Sastras hold that the ever-recurring four ages (yugas)⁴ exert a mighty influence not only upon the human race, but upon everything in the universe. Men in the first or Satya Yuga had a very long life on earth; their average height was that of a giant; they were capable of undergoing very great physical and mental strain. They were truthful, honest, kind, compassionate, unavaricious, pure-hearted, and contented. Mendacity, theft, greed, lust, anger, vanity, jealousy, oppressiveness, and other faults were almost unknown to them. They were a race of sturdy, pure-minded humanity, for whom the method of spiritual culture was that promulgated in the Vedas. They had their passions under their control, which enabled them not only to undergo long Brahmacarya⁵ and Tapas⁶ in their youth, but to pass cheerfully through the most rigid ordeals incumbent upon a Vaidik neophyte. Their extraordinary physical and moral stamina enabled them to practise Dharana (concentration), Dhyana (meditation), and Samadhi (union with the Brahman) for a great length of time. Their longevity favoured their protracted spiritual exercises according to the Vedas; and their indomitable will, unyielding fortitude, and strong physique permitted the performance of Yajnas⁷ extending continuously over a period of twelve years or more. It was for the guidance of men of such a constitution that the Vaidik method of spiritual self-culture existed. Men of the next Yuga (Treta) naturally deteriorated, but were still giants compared with the pigmies of the Kali (or last and present) yuga. For them the pursuit of Vaidik methodology, though comparatively arduous, was yet still practicable. Then came the Dvapara Yuga, when longevity declined by nine-tenths and stature by a half. Men began to fall considerably from the moral and spiritual eminence of the former two Yugas. Lust, avarice, jealousy, greed, and all other expressions of the lower human nature appeared prominently on the scene, to degrade man from his high physical and moral throne. It was then that Dharma⁸ appreciably declined owing to man's incapacity to pursue and practise Vaidik methods. The great Rsis, who are ever-solicitous of the weal of the human race, perceiving this inevitable decline, dived deep into the perennial ocean of eternal verities which is the Vedas, and drew from out of them the Smrtis⁹ as the methodology which to them seemed to be adapted to the altered circumstances of the times. The Vedas fell into the shade, and in course of time there existed very few who could really unravel their mysteries. The Puranas were devised partly to preserve Vaidik teaching in the form of legends and myths, and partly to present a popular exposition of the cardinal truths of the Sanatana Dharnta (Vaidik cult) to humanity such as it then was.

It must not be thought that the method of self-culture prescribed for humanity of the Satya Yuga was irksome and arduous to them. It was, on the contrary, exactly such as to suit the people of those times in view of their longevity, and of their physical and moral strength. But to the short-lived, debilitated, and morally debased men of the Kali Yuga the Vaidik methodology is a mountain-load which they have not the capacity to bear. What is deemed irksome to us was but natural to them. Let us imagine the fate of some weak Indian, were the dumb-bells with which Ram Murti, the modern Hercules, exercises, placed in his hands, and he were bidden to strengthen his muscles with them! Such an Indian must have instruments suited to his physique for his physical culture. Even so is the case with spiritual culture. How can people whose average age is about thirty or forty years devote two-thirds or more of it to Vaidik study and Vaidik practice of Karmakanda,¹⁰ maintaining strict celibacy and undergoing great privations? They have neither the physical nor the moral strength necessary for it. And, even if it be supposed that they could do it in some fashion or other, how can they find the time sufficient to carry on the arduous duties of a Vaidik householder, then go to the jungles to prepare themselves for jnana (knowledge), and finally, when ripe in divine wisdom, to assume the Sannyasi's bowl?¹¹ This, indeed, is the Vaidik scheme of life. It was suited to men of that fortunate time. As it is now impracticable by the average man, it has naturally fallen into disuse. Methods of self-culture based on the immutable Vaidik truths are, from time to time, either devised by Rsis, such as the innumerable Vaidik Sakhas,¹² most of which are now defunct, or are promulgated by Avataras,¹³ or revealed by the Godhead in view of the times in which men live. The Vedas stand paramount for each one and all of them. A method, therefore, which is essentially at variance with the Vaidik cardinal truths must be rejected as a man-made scheme, unworthy of acceptance.

Towards the eve of the third yuga (age) moral and spiritual degeneration overtook mankind, and it was then that the Divine Mother and the Divine Father revealed those Tantras which were suited to the constitution of the degenerate race of the men of the Kali Yuga.

The Divine Mother, the ambrosial milk of whose breast ever flows for the succour of Her children, thus addressed Her Lord:

युगधर्म्मप्रभावेन स्वभावेन कलौ नरा: ।
भविष्यन्त्यतिदुर्धृत्ता: सर्वथा पापकारिण:।
तेषामुपायं दीनेश कृपया कथय प्रभो ॥
आयुरारोग्यवर्च्चस्यं बलवीर्यविवर्धनम् ।
विद्याबुद्धिप्रदं नॄणामप्रयत्नशुभंकरम् ॥
येन लोका भविष्यन्ति महाबलपराक्रमा: ।
शुद्धवित्ता: परहिता मातापित्रो: प्रियंकरा: ।
स्वदारनिष्ठा: पुरुषा: परस्त्रीषु पराङ्मुखा: ।
देवतागुरुभक्ताश्च पुत्रस्वजनपोषका: ।
ब्रह्मज्ञा ब्रह्मविद्याश्च ब्रह्मचिन्तनमानसा: ।
सिद्ध्यर्थं लोकयात्राया: कथयस्व हिताय यत् ॥

Mahanirvana. First Ullasa.

"Under cyclic influence men will naturally become evil-minded and will be addicted to sinful acts. O saviour of the humble! O Lord! graciously tell me the means by which men may acquire long life, health, strength, vigour, and manliness; by which they may become learned and sound­minded; by which they may get effortless welfare; by which they may become endowed with great strength and intrepidity; by which they may become pure-minded, benevolent, obedient to parents, faithful to their wives, averse to others' wives, lovers of God and of Guru, supporters of sons and relatives; by which men may become knowers of Brahman, learned in Brahmavidya (the transcendental science), and thinkers on Brahman. I pray Thee to tell me the means by which their welfare both here and hereafter may be secured."

The result of this prayer is the statement by Siva of the Tantrik methods of self-culture and of the rules of conduct to be pursued by Sadhakas (aspirants).

Here I may state parenthetically that esoteric Tantrism is as ancient as the Vedas.

ब्रह्म क्षत्रं पवते तेज इन्द्रियं सुरया सोम: मुत असुतो मदाय ।
शुक्रेण देव देवता: पिप्टग्धि रसेनान्नं यजमानाय धेहि ॥

Sukla Yajurveda, Chap. xix

"Oh, Deva Soma! being strengthened and invigorated by Sura (wine), by thy pure spirit, please the Devas; give juicy food to the sacrificer and vigour to Brahmanas and Ksattriyas."

अर्च्चन्त्यर्कं मदिरस्य पीतये ।

Rgveda

"Worshipping the sun before drinking madira (wine)."

येन स्त्रियमनुकृतं येनापामृषतं सुराम् ।

Mantra Brahmana

"By which women have been made enjoyable by men, and by which water has been transformed into wine (for the enjoyment of men)," etc.

सीतामादाय हस्तेन मधु मैरेयकं शुचि ॥
पाययामास काकुत्स्थ: शचीमिव पुरन्दर: ॥
सांसानि च सुमृष्टानि फलानि विविधानि च ।
रामस्यभ्यवहारार्थं किंकरास्तूर्णमाहरन् ॥

Ramayana, Uttara Kanda (20-18-20)

"Like Indra in the case of (his wife) Saci, Ramacandra made Sita drink purified honey-made wine. Servants brought for Ramacandra meat and sweet fruits."

उभौ मध्वासवाख्यावुभौ चन्दनरूषितौ ।
स्रग्विणौ वरवस्त्रौ तु दिव्याभरणभूषितौ ||
नैकरत्नविचित्रन्तु काञ्चनं महदासनम् ।
विविधास्तरणास्तीणं यत्रासातामरिन्दमौ ॥
अर्जुनोत्संगगौ पादौ केशवस्योपलक्षये ।
अर्जुनस्य च कृष्णाया सत्यायां च महात्मन: ॥

Mahabharata, Udyoga Parva

"Arjuna and Sri Krsna drinking wine made from honey and being sweet-scented and garlanded, wearing splendid cloths and ornaments, sat on a golden throne studded with various jewels. I saw Sri Krsna's feet on Arjuna's lap, and Arjuna's feet on Draupadi and Satyabhama's lap."

It is only old wine in new jars which is presented by Siva and Bhagavati to men of the Kali Yuga. An exoteric aspect, however, suitable for the generality of folk was added to the already extant esoteric path, which only a few are competent to pursue.

It may be contended that Isvara Himself, having incarnated towards the end of the Dvapara Yuga for the salvation of mankind, there was no need for the Tantras. But, in the first place, it must be understood that Isvara, Hari, Sri Krsna, Adyisakti, and Mahadeva are one and the same Supreme, only the vehicle in which the Supreme manifests Itself being different. The Tantras had already been revealed before the incarnation of Sri Krsna. The worship of the Divinity as Mother, which is the principal characteristic of the Tantras, had prevailed long before the advent of Sri Krsna. The Vraja Gopis worshipped Katyayani that they might gain Kanai as their husband. Rukmini, having paid homage to the Divine Mother, prayed: " O Katyayani! O Mahamaya! O Mahayogini! O Lady Paramount of all the Lords! O Devi! give me the son of Nanda-Gopa as my consort; I bow to Thee " (Srimad Bhagavata, Sk. X). Besides this, I have already drawn attention to the fact that the Srimad Bhagavata prescribes the Tantrik form of worship, and that all the Pauranik worships abound in Tantrik Mantras. To the mass Sri Krsna taught Karma Yoga by Himself, performing various Yajnas,¹⁴ to the cultured classes He gave the transcendental philosophy of the Vedas, which is also the rock upon which the Tantras are built; and to those who, having emancipated themselves from the thraldom of the world and its conventions, to the God-loving Gopis, He imparted the highest mystery of Divine communion, which is likewise the highest mystery of Tantrik worship. Sri Krsna perpetuated the Tantrik methods of worship and yoga. He did not set up a new method, nor did He revive the obsolete Vaidik system.

Mankind in the Kali Yuga have, by the efflux of cyclic time, dwindled into pigmies, both physically and spiritually, though, by the law of evolution, their intellectual capacity has increased. But it is not through intellect alone that Spirit can march on in its career of spiritual progress. A man, however great in intellectual accomplishments, may yet be a child so far as his spiritual nature is concerned. To cultivate the spirit, it is necessary to withdraw to a considerable extent his mind from the senses and the brain, which are the instruments of intellectual culture. The Kali Yuga dwarf finds himself a prey to the glamour of phenomena and the allurements of the senses. Not having spiritual insight, he takes the unreal for the real, the evanescent for the eternal, bondage for freedom, and identifying himself with the body and the lower mind, makes of himself, in spite of his intellectual acumen, in spite even of his Upanisadik, Vedantik, and philosophic lore, a being who, so far as spirituality is concerned, is not far above the animal kingdom. Not having the strength nor the longevity to Pursue the arduous Vaidik spiritual training, man would find himself in a very precarious state, and the Divine Scheme of spiritual evolution would be frustrated, had not provision suitable to the times, been made for his salvation. The Divine Mother, Adyasakti, in Her unbounded compassion for Her children and in concert with the Divine Father, Mahadeva, therefore, revealed the Agamas and the Nigamas¹⁵ for the salvation of humanity. These Agamas and Nigamas are known as Tantra.

There may be souls, few and far between, who having, after ages of self-culture, been born in the present Kali Yuga with a goodly stock of spiritual training, are fitted to continue their evolution according to the Vaidik methods. But the vast vessel of humanity as a mass would be rudderless to pass safely through the ocean of the world were it not for the Tantra which is revealed towards the dawn of every Kali Yuga. The Tantrik methodology of spiritual self-culture has been followed and practised these thousands of years, and the country, from end to end, is permeated with it. But it is to be deplored that, owing to English education, which has given a great impetus to intellectual culture, and has brought philosophy within the reach of all, the aspirations of many who are spiritually-minded far exceed their spiritual capacity. Aspiring thus to what they do not deserve, they become, oftener than not, disappointed and dejected.

The great merit of the Tantra is its all-comprehensiveness. Humanity, in each of its phases and conditions, has been provided with a system of culture suited to the nature and capacity of each individual. The milk of compassion of Jagadamba, the Divine Mother, flows perpetually and equally to every one of Her children, that they may drink of it and, acquiring thereby spiritual strength, may return to Her loving lap. She does not exact from Her weak and short-lived children of the Kali Yuga long and trying Brahmacarya¹⁶ and austerity to show them the way to Her Lotus Feet. Enervating is the influence of the Kali Yuga, but, in inverse ratio, high is the potency of the medicament She has prescribed for Her children. The low and the high, all are equally-taken care of, and, for all, the path has been made smooth and straight.

The doctrine of the Tantras, whilst recognizing Samkhya-Patanjala, is Vedantik Advaitavada. It reconciles duality (Dvaita) with unity (Advaita), the haven into which the wandering ego will at last find its eternal rest after it has worked out its Karma. The Advaita philosophy and the method of self-culture founded upon it, have their origin in the Vedas. It has, in modem times, been expounded by Srimad Sankaracarya; at any rate, its interpretation by Sankaracarya has obtained firm hold in many men's minds, and is regarded by them as infallible. There is another interpretation of Advaitism by Ramanuja, which has also a large following in many parts of India. Both Sankara and Ramanuja are human expounders of the Vaidik law, and both are great souls of the Kali Yuga, but not Rsis. Sankara's transcendental philosophy advocates knowledge (jnana); Rimanuja's Vedantism champions devotion (bhakti) as the means to salvation. But both agree in having a pessimistic standpoint. The world, they maintain, has nothing in it which may help a man's spiritual progress. It is darkness; misery, and the arch-enemy, which, by heavy chains, binds down man. The aspirant to spiritual culture must shun it as he would the python who might strangle him. All the faculties of the brain-mind have to be brought into requisition to combat the world, both subjective and objective, and thus to free the aspirant from the coils of the enemy. By elaborate processes of discrimination (viveka) the world must be negatived; and renunciation of everything appertaining to it crowns the efforts of the aspirant to knowledge (jnana). Even if the world were really what it is dismally painted to be, how many among all its millions can fight such a battle and emerge as the conqueror? Such a system of spiritual culture is bound to fail, and to render religion an impossibility for the mass of the people. They, no doubt, have been provided with an elementary system of religion, but the root-idea is there, and fighting nature out is the watchword everywhere. This impotent militant spirit has wrought havoc in the Hindu mind, and rendered it a slave to the very world which it has been taught to vanquish. There have, certainly, been great souls who, after a culture extending over many births and rebirths, have at last succeeded in attaining the spiritual heights. But such souls are but few among many millions. " Sarvam khalvidam Brahma " (Verily all this is Brahman) is the saying of the Veda and Vedanta. The neophyte who had been taught to hate the world as Kakabistha (excrement of the crow), at length, and after ages of Sadhana, finds it to be nothing but Brahman. The Kakabistha then reveals itself to him in all the glory of Divine effulgence.

The Tantras prescribe a very different method of self-culture. Here the Great God, (Maha Deva) Himself is the expounder of the Law - that is, the Divine knowledge - which He revealed at the dawn of creation in His Aspect as Brahma.

"The hall of sorrow," "the vale of tears," "the hall of torments," and other such names by which schools of transcendental philosophy disparage the world, have no place in the Tantra. The Tantra is the Breath of Divinity, and the world is evolved from that Breath. The Divine Mother (call Her Father or Father-Mother as you choose) is in every molecule, in every atom, in all things which constitute the world. In fact, She is the causeless Cause of whatever is; She is the manifested Brahman. The world is the playground (Lilaksetra) of the All-blissful Anandamayi. The world is neither an illusion nor a non-reality; nor is it under the government of the Ruler of Hell, whose autocratic tyranny drives sensible men first to raise the standard of revolt, and then, when they find no King great enough to drive the tyrant off, sends them in a stampede to the unknown and unknowable kingdom of an Abstraction, which is absolute existence, absolute knowledge, and absolute bliss. But, to their misfortune and discomfiture, they come to realize that the ramparts and battlements and fortifications of the kingdom of the supposed Arch devil are impregnable; that, as far as their imagination can extend, his empire also extends; and that their own selves - that is, their minds and whatever constitutes their individual selves - is of the same material as that with which the alleged nefarious world is constituted. Having learnt this sad truth at last, many Sadhakas of other schools fall precipitately from the height of their hopes and aspirations. Discomfited, dejected, and crestfallen, they can neither seek the supreme object of life (Paramartha) nor reconcile themselves to the world, in which they have to live not only during their present lives but in many lives yet to come. This dismal philosophy is not merely the heirloom of Sadhakas. It has been almost indelibly impressed upon the consciousness of the ordinary run of men, with the result that the Hindus are in general pessimists and fatalists in high degree.

The Tantrik Sadhaka, by his method of worship, is led from the outset to feel, and then by higher processes of self-culture to realize, the All-blissful Mother in the universe - nay, to regard the universe as the Mother Herself. Every man and every woman is to him the Mother Herself; every living object is to him an object of obeisance. His thought and conduct are made to flow in that all-loving and all-reverencing channel. Training his mind thus, the Sadhaka, far from finding the world to be a vale of tears, of sorrow, and of suffering, views it as the very Kashmir of subjective and objective beauty. Every man and woman ­ nay, all living things - are glowing with Divinity. This state of mind not only quenches the thirst of his lower nature, but spiritualizes its animal tendencies; not only does it buoy him up with fresh energy to pursue the Path, but he attains liberation (Mukti), eating the sweet fruit of the world, of which the Sadhakas of other schools are deprived. On the other hand, the man of the world who professes Tantrism has every faith in the reality of the world. To him it is not an illusion nor an evil, and therefore he exerts his utmost to make it the happy lap of the Mother, which it really is.

The Tantrik Path, as I have already said, is smooth and straight. It is fitted to the constitution of the Kali Yuga man. The method of Tantrik self-culture has the supreme merit of accomplishing within a short time what other methods can hardly accomplish within a life. This is testified to by numberless adepts, ancient and modem. And it is for this that Pauraniks have largely drawn upon it. It is also said that Sankaracarya's Yoga system owes much to Tantrism. The Mahayana Buddhistic system is saturated with it. Nagarjuna, the great Buddhistic Arhat, who flourished about seven hundred years ago, was a great Tantrik yogi and alchemist, whose Bauddha-Tantrik works are the authority of Northern Buddhism. ¹⁷

The Tantra is non-sectarian. It provides methods of self-culture to all schools of Sadhakas, be they Saktas, Saivas, Sauras, Ganapatyas, or Vaisnavas, and holds that the Sadhana of the Divine, as the All-blissful Mother, is the easiest and straightest Path.

The Tantra is the only Divine Revelation which throws open the gates of arcane nature to those who have the courage to peer into it. Man, in his onward Path, must dive deep into nature's heart to discover what he, and the universe of which he is a component part, is. The method of spiritual self-culture leads him, step by step, to an acquaintance with nature's supersensuous beings, high and low, and teaches him how to utilize the services of the high, and to ward off the evil influences of the low. This knowledge is of essential importance to the sojourner on the Path; for the evil spirits throw every manner of obstacles to impede his march and encompass his ruin; whereas the good spirits would gladly help him on if he but knew how to obtain their help. Woe to the aspirer who, having made the acquaintance of the lower spirits, abandons his true end and aim and utilizes their service for unlawful worldly purposes. Such are the black magicians whose lot is miserable both here and hereafter.

Self-culture, according to the Tantrik method, develops the Will and endows the Sadhaka with some lower powers (Siddhis) within a comparatively short time. Those who are charmed with those powers and are tempted to use them are like to share the same fate with the black magicians. The end and aim of high Tantrik Sadhana is the realization of the Advaita Tattva - the attainment, of Kaivalya Mukti;¹⁸ and it is to this end that the true Sadhaka consecrates not only his present life, but a succession of lives extending over many ages. By intense Sadhana¹⁹ he has first to free himself from the chain of Karma,²⁰ which fastens him down to the three Lokas, Bhuh, Bhuvah, and Svah.²¹ When past this triad of the Karmik chain, his onward progress continues until he can " pierce through " the Spiritual Sun (the manifested Brahman), and merge himself with the Supreme. There must, indeed, be very few, even throughout countless periods of time, who have attained this liberation (Mukti) upon earth. But Sadhakas who devotedly and perseveringly pursue the path become Devas, Lords of Manvantaras,²² Lokapalas (planetary Lords), and Dikpalas (Lords of space), and the like, and rise higher and higher until their work is ended. There are others who, refusing liberation, come down from time to time as Saviours of mankind.

The investigations of the Tantrik into the inner temple of nature reveal to him many secrets both of an objective and subjective nature, including those of the human mechanism. It is thus that he is a theurgist and thaumaturgist, alchemist, herbalist, metallurgist, physician, astrologer, and astronomer. The Tantrik's alchemy crossed the ocean and reached Europe; his chemistry discovered ages ago many truths, some of which have dawned upon European scientists within but recent times. He was. the first in the world to use mercury, snake poison, and the metals as medicine. His system of medicine has superseded that of the Ayurveda. His science of Breath is still a mystery to the Europeans. Last, though not the least, there is what may be called his science of psycho-physical culture, which renders the physical body obedient to the will, and thus by certain postures not only enables him to ward off and cure diseases, but to control the mind. The Tantra, in fine, is from its very nature an Encyclopaedic science. It is practical, and has no concern with wordy warfare. It lights the torch and shows the way, step by step, until the sojourner comes to the end of his journey, realizing the universe in the Brahman and the Brahman in the universe. So has it been said:

अन्यान्यशास्त्रेषु विनोदमात्रं न तेषु किंचिद्भुवि ट्टष्टमस्ति ।
चिकित्सितज्यौतिषतन्त्रवादा: पदे पदे प्रत्ययमावहन्ति ॥

" All other Sastras are merely entertaining; they can show nothing on earth. But the medical science, astrology, and Tantra prove themselves at every step."

Sakti

In the Sanskrit language the word Sakti is feminine. It must not, therefore, be supposed that that which is denoted by it is feminine. There is no word in the English language which conveys the exact meaning of the word Sakti as it is used in the Hindu Spiritual Science. It is neither force nor energy of physical science. The word Power may be used to designate it.

Power or Sakti is the root of all existence. It is from Sakti that universes are evolved; it is by Sakti that they are sustained; and it is into Sakti that they are finally resolved. It is the same as Parabrahman. Parabrahman is Existence (Sat), Consciousness (Cit), and Bliss (Ananda). By Sakti is denoted exactly these three aspects in the One without a second. Cit is the Power, and the two other aspects go along with it; for without consciousness there would be neither existence nor happiness. Sakti, then, is essentially absolute Satcitananda.

Within, so to say, the womb of Sakti, is Maya or Prakrti, the matrix of the universe which, during cosmic inaction or Mahapralaya is potential and latent, even as fire is latent within wood. Maya or Prakrti is not a non-reality, nor a state of equilibrium of certain things; nor is it a something-nothing, something little (yatkincit), an idea (bhava). It is as immutable and permanent as the triple aspects already mentioned. It enfolds, to use chemical phraseology, a triad of Gunas or Reals which, mutating and combining, make up the appearance of the ever-changing world, and which, in Mahapralaya, are withdrawn within the bosom from whence they emerged. Maya or Prakrti it must be understood, is ever in association with Cit, be it in Mahapralaya or in evolution; for there is only One without a second, and Prakrti must be an inseparable part or power of It. Parabrahman thus has a quadruple aspect, and is symbolized in the Tantra by a grain of gram (Canaka). As a grain of gram is a bi-valvular unity,²³ enveloped by an outer skin, so is Sakti a Unity having the characteristic of a duality when viewed through the veil of Prakrti. This duality is neither Jiva nor Atma, nor matter and spirit, but a polarity. From the fathomless womb of Parabrahman or Sakti is evolved the universe, and into that womb it is withdrawn when the hour for final dissolution strikes. Sakti is, therefore, both centrifugal and centripetal Power. It is male-female, and therefore expressed by the word Brahman, in the neuter gender.

The notion seems to prevail that what the Tantriks posit by Sakti is dead matter, Prakrti. Nothing can be farther from this unwarrantable conclusion. Sakti, as that which is potential, is much more expressive than Brahman considered as something neutral. Prakrti, the matrix of the universe of names and forms, is the veil through which alone it is possible to approach the Sat-cit-ananda Brahman by the human consciousness. It is the destiny of human consciousness, which is relative, to merge itself into the one true Consciousness, which is absolute, and thus to fulfil the end and aim of life. The Tantra, therefore, along with all other spiritual sciences, worships the Absolute through that in which It is manifested.

The expression " Veil of Prakrti " is, however, not an appropriate one. It is borrowed from the Theosophical literature. Cit or Sakti is self-manifesting. But immutable, undifferentiated Prakrti is the only ground in which it can manifest itself so as to be cognizable to the self, be it of man or of Devata. Prakrti, therefore, is not a " Veil," but, on the other hand, is Sakti itself in Evolution. When the first hour strikes for the commencement of the cosmic play (Jagat Lila), Prakrti becomes the Conscious Sakti, the Unmanifested Manifest, the First Cause, the Supreme Power, the Sun of all suns, from which universes are to evolve. It is the Karana Deha (causal body) of Cit-sakti. It is impersonal, all­pervading, immutable, and Cit itself. It is the God of all Gods; the object of the highest form of human worship - nay, the object of the worship of all the Gods, including Brahma, Visnu, and Mahesvara. It is symbolized in the Tantra by a Bindu or dot and expressed in human language by the word " Cinghana "²⁴ (चिङ्घन).

Bindu or Sakti is neither male nor female, but partakes of the characteristics of both. In its Advaita, or non-dual nature, is a dual characteristic, a polarity, as I have already said, which may be expressed by the terms " positive " and " negative," and which is denominated in the Tantra by Siva and Sakti; pum (male), and stri (female); Sun and Moon; the male principle being Siva, and the female principle being Sakti or Mahakali, Mahakala (Sri Krsna) is as much Sakti as Mahakali, the one being the female, and the other the male aspect of the selfsame Sakti.

The Tantra is, therefore, all-comprehensive and non-sectarian. It enjoins the worship of Sakti - that without which nothing can live and move and have its being. The worship of Visnu is as much a part of it as is the worship of Kali, although the worship of the latter is held to be comparatively easy, and more suited to the present race of men for reasons which I shall have occasion to state later.

It must not be thought that, although Prakrti becomes conscious Sakti in manifestation, it is in any of its forms the ultimate object of worship. Worship, however, implies a duality. And although essentially the worshipper and the worshipped are the same - and it is the realization of this Unity which is the end and aim of worship - yet Sakti in manifestation cannot but be the object of worship so long as the Ego has its individuality, which is made of the stuff of Prakrti. It is, therefore, that in spiritual culture the Tantra postulates two Saktis: Vacaka Sakti is manifested Cit in Prakrti, and Vacya Sakti is Cit itself, which is the goal to be attained. It is by the realization of Vacaka Sakti that the Vacya Sakti can be attained. The Vacya Sakti is formless, and cannot, therefore, be the object of any form of Upasana (worship) or yoga practice.

The manifested Sakti is the Power which is the object of adoration, prayer, and praise. So long as the human Soul remains such, it cannot go beyond. But when the Soul - that is, the causal body or Karana Sarira - is cast off, the duality for ever disappears, and the self is merged into that which is Sakti in itself.

By whatever name it may be, whether Krsna, Visnu, Siva, Kali, Durga, Ganapati, or Surya, It is the manifested Sakti, the Saguna Brahman. But there are certain sects of worshippers who assign an inferior position to Sakti, and regard it as a female power only, subordinate to the God they worship. That the God they worship is Sakti as well is ignored by them. In this they take an anthropomorphic view of the Supreme, who according to them, is male (Saktiman), and Sakti (his Consort) is his inferior, like some conceptions of an Oriental wife. The Tantra repudiates this view, and regards both Saktiman and Sakti as the male and female aspects of the one Sakti. Where would be Visnu or Krsna without Sakti (Power) ? Bereft of Sakti, the Vehicle, designated as Krsna or Visnu, and all other Vehicles from the highest God to the lowest atom, would be but a dead inert mass. It is Sakti which is life, intelligence, and consciousness. No state of existence can be superior to it. Both these aspects of Sakti are inseparable, and the one is not inferior to the other, any more than the negative pole of electricity can be considered to be subordinate to the positive. Hence it is that all the Gods are associated with Goddesses; hence it is that Rama has his Sita, Krsna has his Radha, and Mahikila is accompanied by Mahikali.

It is Sakti (Power) which creates, Sakti which sustains, and Sakti which withdraws into Her fathomless womb innumerable worlds in infinite space. Indeed, She is space itself, and every being therein.

Physical science is acquainted with one of Her physical powers, and that by its abnormal manifestations only; for the nature of electric force is unknown to the scientist. Science used to distinguish force and matter as two different things; but the trend of scientific thought seems to have undergone in this respect a revolution. The theory is now put forward that matter is a modification of force. Spiritual science holds exactly a similar view, but on a very broad line of thought, and maintains that from Sakti- (Power) everything emanates, first in the spiritual, then in the celestial, and then in the terrestrial Kosmogenesis.

It is peculiar to the Universal Mother that, unlike human and animal mothers, She devours and then disgorges Her offspring. Seated in the lotus forest, which floats in the water of space, She is perpetually devouring and disgorging the Elephant (the Kosmos). When She disgorges and nourishes She is the most beautiful of the beautiful; Her beauty enchants even the Gods; She is then Bhuvanesvari and Bhuvanamohini. It is the descent of Spirit into matter. When She devours Her offspring with Her thousand mighty jaws, She is Mahakali; Her transcendental beauty is realizable only by the wise and the devotee. Westerners and Hindus demoralized by Western civilization have the profanation to call this Her aspect as ugly and terrible. Yes, She is terrible to the earth-bound soul. But to the pilgrim on the path of return - the path of Nivrtti - the Majesty of Her beauty and the message of peace and comfort in Her right hand are ineffable. It was this stupendous Majesty which the Lord Sri Krsna (who is the same as Kali) exhibited to His dear disciple Arjuna, when the latter entreated Him to appear before him in His godly form. Arjuna had entreated Him thus: " O Yogi, how should I contemplate Thee so as to know Thee? O Bhagavan! in what object should I contemplate Thee? " The Lord then enumerated some of His Vibhutis (distinguishing qualities) which yet could not satisfy the disciple; for they were too abstract for contemplation and devotion. The Bhakta (devotee) must have something tangible to fix his mind upon. Therefore he exhorted the best of Purusas to show him his Divine Rupa (Form). Endowing him with spiritual vision, the Lord showed him the Rupa with which he had to commune. Sankaracarya, in his commentary, describes this Rupa as endowed with Knowledge (jnana), Godly Qualities (aisvarya), Sakti, Strength, Virility (virya), and Effulgence (tejas). O Sadhaka of the Vaisnava school! is this Rupa ugly and hideous? O devotee! do not be deluded by the glamour of earthly beauty; feast your spiritual eye with the Majesty of Divine grandeur and beauty.

She is Maya, because Maya is a part of Her nature; She is Avidya because She binds; She is Mahamaya because She dominates Maya; She is Vidya because She holds the torch which illumines the Path of return, She is Mahavidya because She is the Mother in whose sweet and soothing bosom the wayworn pilgrim finds his eternal rest.

The Divine Mother is thus the cause both of bondage as well as of liberation. She is in all things, and all things are in Her. She is consciousness; She is intelligence; She is sleep; She is wakefulness; She is hunger; She is thirst; She is shadow; She is substance; She is power; She is impotence; She is mercy; She is compassion; She is bashfulness; She is peace; She is esteem: She is beauty; She is ugliness; She is prosperity; She is adversity; She is memory; She is truth; She is falsehood; She is good; She is evil; She is avarice; She is contentment; She is mother; She is error; She is rectitude; She is illusion; She is reality; She is the power of the senses; She is ignorance; She is knowledge; She is the mysterious dispenser of a double force, from one of which surged forth the universe, and the other it is which withdraws it; She is the tide and ebb, the inspiration and respiration, the diastole and systole of the universe. Both centrifugal and centripetal forces are in Her. The Human Ego has the privilege to choose either of these spiritual forces to work out its destiny: by the one it is thrown into the eddy of Pravrtti (desire), to be whirled round and round until the great dissolution (Mahapralaya); the other girts it up with that power and energy which will enable it to strike through the eddy and reach the serene centre of the Mother's bosom.

The three aspects of Sakti, which constitute the Trinity of the Hindus, are Volition (icchasakti), Administration (kryasakti), and Cognition (jnanasakti). These are the three Powers which direct the evolution, the sustentation, and the involution of the Universe. The Nirvana Tantra says: " In the region of Truth, the Formless and Resplendent Pervader of the universe, casting off the covering of Maya, became divided into two. The idea of creation arises from the division of Siva and Sakti, O Parvati! First of all was born the son named Brahma. Said Kalika: Hear me, O son! O Hero! take care to marry. Hearing this, Brahma then said There is no Mother other than Thee; O beautiful One, give me a Sakti (wife). Hearing this, the Mother of the universe, from Her own body, gave him a charming wife, who is the second Mahavidya, the great Power named Savitri. Associate thyself with Her, and publish the Veda (Divine Knowledge), and become the Creator of the universe with ease. The second son born was Visnu vehicled by Sattva guna. Said Kalika: Hear me, O Son! O Hero! take care to marry. Said Visnu: Thy sight renders man passionless. O Mother, O Consort of Siva! How can I marry unless Thou givest me a fair maiden for wife? The Mother, from Her own body, gave him a wife. O Goddess! She is the Vaisnavi Mahavidya, Srividya. With her help Visnu sustains the universe. The third son begotten was the great Yogi Sadasiva. Seeing him Mahakali beamed with joy. O Son, great Yogi! give heed to what I say. Who is there a male like thee, and who is there a female like me? Therefore, O Siva! forthwith marry me. Sadasiva said: O Mother! Thou hast verily said the truth; there is none who charms like Thee. There is no Purusa like myself. But I cannot marry Thee in Thy present body. If Thou art kind to me, change Thy body. Instantaneously Mahakali gave him Bhuvanesvari."

The Kubjika Tantra says: "Brahmani creates, surely not Brahma, therefore Brahma is but a Preta,"²⁵ and so on with regard to Visnu and Siva. Brahma, Visnu, and Siva are quite powerless to discharge their respective functions without Sakti or Power.

The Devibhagavata (Skandha III. Cha. vi) relates that Brahma having asked Adyasakti as to whether She was male or female, the Divine Mother thus explained Herself:

सदैकत्वं न भेदोऽस्ति सर्वदैव ममास्य च ।
योऽसौ साहमहं योऽसौ भेदोऽस्ति मतिविभ्रमात् ॥
आवयोरन्तरं सूक्ष्मं यो वेद मतिमान् हि स: ।
विमुक्त: स तु संसारान्मुच्यते नात्र संशय: ॥
एकमेवाद्वितीयं वै ब्रह्म नित्यं सनातनम् ।
द्वैतभावं पुनर्याति काल उत्पित्सुसंझके ॥
यथा दीपस्तथोपाधेयोंगात् संजायते द्विधा ।
छायेवादर्शमद्ये वा प्रतिबिम्बं तथावयो: ॥
भेद उत्पत्तिकाले वै सर्गार्थं प्रभवत्यच ।
ट्टाश्याट्टश्यविभेदोऽयं द्वैविध्ये सति सर्वथा ॥
नाहं स्त्री न पुमांश्चाहं न ल्लीवं सर्वसंक्षये ।
सर्गे सति विभेद: स्यात् कल्पितोऽयं धिया युन: ॥

"That Male (Purusa) and Myself are ever the same. There is no difference between Him and Me. The Purusa is what I am; I am what the Purusa is. Difference arises only from ignorance. He who is intelligent and is free from the bondage of the world can know our subtle, difference; there is no doubt about this. The one without a second, perennial Brahman becomes dual at the time of creation. As a single lamp becomes dual by difference of Upadhi (condition), as a single face becomes dual in the form of an image in a mirror, as a single body appears in dual form with its shadow, even so our images are many owing to the difference of minds (which are made up of Maya). O Aja (unborn), for the purpose of creation the difference arises at the time of creation. It is only the difference between the seen and the unseen. At the time of final dissolution I am neither male nor female nor neuter. The difference (male and female) is imagined only at the time of creation."

To form a concept of the Godhead one worships, the idea of Sakti or Power is for the devotee a surer guide than the nebulous idea of Atma (spirit). It is very hard for those who have no faith in Sakti to trace the "one without a second " through the physical to the spiritual plane of existence, there being no appreciable link to chain the planes together. But a worshipper of Sakti need contend with no such difficulty. In all the planes of existence he finds the one power all-pervading. It is therefore laid down in the Tantras

शक्तिज्ञानं विना देवि मुक्ति: हास्याय कल्पते ।

"O Devil! without a knowledge of Sakti, Mukti (liberation) is mere mockery."²⁶

The Soundless Sound

The second bell of cosmic evolution tolls. A flutter, a vibration thrills the triple Gunas in the womb of Sakti. Rajas, the active guna, after its long Pralayik slumber,²⁷ receives an impulse towards awaking. Immediately as its eyes open a bifurcation takes place in Sakti, resulting in what all religions designate the Verbum, the Sabdabrahman – the immense, all-pervasive, all-comprehensive, unbroken, undifferentiated Sound Spiritual. One aspect of Sabdabrahman is Nada, and another aspect is Bindu. As Nada She is the Mother, and as Bindu He is the Father, of the universe. They are an inseparable twain, ever in association in cosmic evolution. Sabdabrahman is the God, the Lord, the Mother, the Word, the object of worship of all sentient beings.

The first manifestation of Sakti in the Spiritual plane is " Sound," which is undifferentiated intelligent Akasa,²⁸ the Cidakasa²⁹ of philosophy, the Saguna Brahman of religion.

This Sound, the causeless cause of manifold universes, must not be confused with the sound with which we are familiar, and which we have been taught to regard as the result of vibrations in molecules of matter. It is not the Karyakasa or atomic Akasa of philosophy, which is integrated and limited and evolved from Tamasik Ahankara³⁰ Nor is it a quality of such Akasa. It is Cit Sakti vehicled by undifferentiated Prakrti - the manifested Godhead, uncreate, unborn, and eternal. Sabdabrahman is consciousness and intelligence, both cosmic and individual. It is the dual Sakti in unity, inseparately associated, though functioning in different ways.

Duality in unity is the root principle of the Tantra. This duality may, for want of a better expression, be called a "polarity". The Vaisnavas have adopted this idea in their Krsna and Radha, Hari and Laksmi. The Hindu Sastras hold that the universe has been evolved from the One - " without a second " - Cause, and that that Cause is both immanent and transcendent. The microcosm is in miniature what the macrocosm is. Evolution proceeds from the subtle to the gross. We find in the great physical force a duality of poles, which when brought in mutual contact produces a magnetic current. In the realms of atoms and molecules the same force has the aspects of attraction and repulsion which make the existence of material objects possible. In living mechanisms the heart and the lungs are worked by a dual force which draws in and throws off blood and air, which render organized life possible. The fluid space of the earth is dominated by a similar dual force, which rhythmically causes both ebb and tide. We thus find that what little we know of force on the physical plane gives countenance to the theory of duality in unity.

But the most extraordinary fact is the duality of all organized structures. Take, for instance, the structure of man. It is a duplex structure. " Man is not formed," to quote the learned author of " The Mechanism of Man," " as one whole, but of two distinct halves joined together. He has two sets of bones, muscles and nerves, and two brains. True there is but one liver, stomach, and intestine. This at first sight seems to be in conflict with the theory. But further examination shows the internal structure to be substantially the same as the external frame, the only difference being that the position is reversed, and instead of the point of junction being side by side, as with the framework of bone and its appendant muscles, it is, from the necessity of its position within the body and the requirement of but one heart, one liver, etc., only a junction of two halves before and behind. Tracing these internal parts from their point of union with the external frame at the neck, it will be seen at once that one-half of the whole springs from one side of the body, and the other half from the other side, and that they unit at a central line throughout, precisely as the two halves of the external frame are united.... Looking beyond the human body, it will be seen that all organized beings are built after the same fashion. It will be found, on close inspection, that all other animals are so made. So likewise are all vegetables. Every leaf is duplex; so is every part of a flower. All organized beings are, in truth, formed of two halves joined together at a central line. Nothing organized is structured as one whole."³¹

This duality in unity in all organized structures is, as is pointed out by the learned author above quoted, due to the fact that two parents are required for the production of every organized being, and that each parent contributes a germ, by the junction of which the duplex structure is formed. The human mind, also, has a dual nature - it is swayed as much by sentiments as by reason. Taking all these facts into consideration, it will not be wrong to infer that the Cause from which these effects are produced is a dual unity. The Tantra, however, postulates this as a fact, and builds up its Science upon it.

The Nada aspect of Sabdabrahman is Kula-kundalini. Kula means the female organ of generation (yoni). In the Bhagavadgita (xiv. 3), Lord Sri Krsna, as the male power, says:

मम योगिर्महद्ब्रह्म तस्मिन् गर्भं दधाम्यहं ।
संभव: सर्वभूतानां ततो भवति भारत ॥

"My womb is the great Eternal; in that I place the seed; thence cometh the birth of all beings, O Bharata. “

According to the Mahanirvana Tantra, Kula means Jiva, Prakrti, Dik, Kala, and the five mahabhutas (sensibles) taken together. Now, all these taken together constitute the intelligent and material cause of the universe, which is the same as Yoni. As Kundala means the Coil (of the serpent), Kulakundalini means the Spiritual Power (the cosmic Mother) who Creates the universe of names and forms and coils up round it. She is Cit or consciousness vehicled by Prakrti. She is Sound, because the first manifestation of Prakrti is sound, which is withal Jnana (knowledge) and Light Spiritual. She is the One Breath, One Life. She is universal Consciousness, all-pervading, not limited by time and space. She clothes herself with Prakrti when the hour for creation arrives. Essentially She is not different from the male aspect of Sabdabrahman, as both the aspects are indissolubly associated. She is the Paraprakrti or Supreme Power of Brahman. From Her is sprung the universe, from Mahat³² to the atom, and the universe is under Her control. She is Adya - the First Cause; She is all knowledge; and Brahma, Visnu, and Siva have their being in Her. She knows the universe, but none know Her. She is the embodiment of all Power; She is subtle; She is gross; She is manifested; She is unmanifested; She is formless, and yet with form.

From the Sound Spiritual proceed two lines of Evolution. The first line is by Sadrisa parinama - that is, the resolution of like to like - and consists of three female Powers and their male Counterparts in the following order:

Raudri - Rudra - fire - Tamas - Power of Cognition.
(f) (m)
Jyestha - Brahma - Moon - Rajas - Power of Volition.
(f ) (m)
Vama - Visnu - Sun - Sattva - Power of Causation (action).
(f ) (m)

These three- male and female Powers are the first triplication of the One Sabdabrahman, possessing within itself the three Powers of Volition, Causation, and Cognition; the three gunas, Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas; and Its duplex Constitution. This line of creation is called Sound Creation (Sabdasrsti).

The second line of evolution is called Form-creation (Arthasrsti). It is subdivided into two. The first subdivision embraces the Lords, and the second the Tattvas:³³ These are the Lords of our universe, having Parasiva as their Overlord. There are seven cosmic centres (Lokas) of Power, over each one of which each of these Lords presides in association with an aspect of Kulakundalini as His guiding Power. The centres and the Lords are thus stated:

Loka	Male Power	Female Power
Satyam	Parasiva or Mahavisnu	Adyasakti Mahakali
Tapah	Sambu	Siddhakali
Janah	Sadasiva(called Ardhanarisiva)	Mahagauri
Mahah	Isa	Bhuvanesvari
Svah	Rudra	Bhadrakali
Bhuvah	Visnu	Radha
Bhuh	Brahma	Savitri

These seven centres are also seven planes of consciousness. Philosophy generalizes these seven planes of consciousness into three - viz., Jagrat (waking), Svapna (dreaming), and Susupti (slumbering, or dreamless sleep). The cosmic Virat-body is waking, Hiranyagarbha-body is dreaming, and the Isvara-body is slumbering consciousness. The Virat-body is evolved from the last three centres, the Hiranyagarbha-body from the three centres above it, and the Isvary-body from the highest centre. The consciousness of Visnu is higher than that of Brahma, the consciousness of Rudra is higher than that of Visnu, and the consciousness of Isvara is higher than that of the three; and so on until we come to Parasiva or Mahavisnu, whose consciousness is the highest form of relative consciousness.

The second subdivision begins with Mahat Tattva, and ends in the five Bhutas, which, being familiar to every student of Hindu philosophy, need not be detailed here.

Kulakundalini is the vital Power of the universe. Her vehicle is the Hamsa of philosophy and religion. By Hamsa is to be understood the vital force, dual in its character, borne upon which She creates the universe.

In the human body Kulakundalini is said to reside in the root-centre (Muladhara cakra) of force evolution inside a coiling nerve (Nadi). She coils round Svayambhu the male aspect of Sabdabrahman, and covers his mouth with Her hood. Though sound is perpetually emanating from Her body, She is said to be slumbering. What Her slumber in the human body means is explained later on. I shall now deal with the sound emanating from Her body, and its nature and function.

Hamsa is the name given to the root-sound emanating from the Pranik Vehicle of the Divine Mother. From Hamsa emanate forms, and from forms evolve universes, and all that appertains to them. This Pranik Vehicle is a duality of male and female principles, the function of the male principle being to throw out and that of the female principle to draw in, or, in other words, they are centrifugal and centripetal respectively. In the human body and in the body of every living being the Pranik principle or Vital Power expresses itself in expiration and inspiration, and represents the sum total of a man's life on this earth in his present birth.

From the involuntary expiration of breath in the human body arises an inaudible sound, called Ajapa Mantra, which every man recites unawares. Cosmically this Ajapa is the centrifugal and centripetal energy, the attraction and repulsion of forces, observed everywhere; spiritually these two mighty aspects of the same Sakti are Pravrtti and Nivrtti, and so it is said:

सा विद्या परमा मुक्तेर्हेतुभूता सनातनी ।
संसारबन्धहेतुश्च सैव सर्वेश्चरी तथा ॥

“That Lady paramount of all the Lords as the great Vidya is the cause of liberation; and as (Avidya) She too is the cause of bondage." - Candi.

The Vital Power is called Nida, Jiva, Pram, Ghosa, and by other names. The Vital Sheath of the Divine Serpent undergoes differentiations. From the first differentiation arise the Seeds of the universe. When the second differentiation takes place, the root-sound Hamsa, Sound and Form, and all other dualities, come into being. In its triple state the three Gunas, three Vedas, three articulate sounds (Varnas), three nerves (Nadis), and other triads, are projected. In its quadruple form four Varnas (sounds) and the quarternaries are evolved. In this wise various Sounds and Forms are produced, until in the fiftieth differentiation the fifty articulate Sounds, called Varnas or letters of the alphabet, are manifested in the Divine Vehicle of the cosmic Mother. It is therefore said that the Divine Mother sings the symphony of the universe, the beginning of which is creation, and the conclusion is dissolution (Mahapralaya).

In the human mechanism the Muladhara Cakra is, as already said, the seat of Mother Kulakundalini, where She with the fifty Vargas as the strings of Her Divine harp forever chants Her Celestial Song. Blessed be the Soul who has listened to this Divine Nada, and thereby liberated itself from the trammels of Maya.

The fifty Varnas are fifty sounds of the Sanskrit language, or rather of the primitive language of which Sanskrit is the modification. These articulate sounds have been represented in different languages by different symbols; and, according to the divergent conformations of the vocal organs of different races inhabiting different zones of the earth, they are pronounced differently. For instance, the first sound of the vowels is symbolized by अ in Sanskrit, a in English, a in Greek, I in Arabic, and so on. It is pronounced aw in Sanskrit and derived languages in India, a in English, Alpha in Greek, Aliph in Arabic, and so on.

These sounds are very subtle things, effulgent and chromatic. They are living energies, which human thought prompts to expression through the vocal organ. When the seat of Sound - that is, the vehicle of Mother Kundalini - is penetrated by the active principle (Rajas) of Prakrti the sound is called dhvani. Dhvani penetrated by the inert principle (Tamas) is called Nada. Nada becomes Nibodhika by a further impression of Tamas, and by successive impressions of the same quality it passes through successive stages of Ardhendu and Bindu, until at last it translates itself in the Muladhara Cakra into what is known as the Para state of sound.

When the sound reaches the Svadhisthana Cakra, it is called Pasyanti. It is then propelled to the heart-Cakra, where it makes a more distinct vibration, which is audible to the Yogi during his first stage of concentration, when his mind for the time being is withdrawn within itself. This is called the Madhyama state of sound. It is what is known as Nada Anahata Sabda of Mother Kundalini. It is stated in Saradatilaka, a Tantrik work of high authority, that the first sound heard by a Yogi is like the humming of bees; the next sound he hears is like that of air passing through a hollow bamboo; then is heard a bell-like sound; and so on. When a Yogi becomes accustomed to the hearing of sound, his inner consciousness wakens and he begins to acquire knowledge, which dispels the dark illusion of the world. From the heart-lotus the sound is propelled upwards, and, coming into contact with the eight organs of speech, it issues from the mouth and becomes audible.

The fifty primary sounds which constitute the vehicle of Mother Kundalini are called Varnas, because they are coloured. They are of various colours: some red, some white, some blue; some are the colour of melted gold, and others of coral, and some are like electric light or other colours and hues. They are called Aksaras because, forming as they do the body of the universal Mother, they are imperishable. They are called Matrka, because from them the whole universe of forms, visible and invisible, terrestrial and celestial, has sprung into being.

That molecular vibrations or sounds with which we are familiar produce forms on sandy or some such surface over which sound-vibrations can act without friction, is known to scientific musicians. A particular tune produces a particular form. A tune being a compound of primary sounds, it stands to reason that primary sounds have forms as well. If each of the seven tones of the gamut did not possess a form of its own, it would be quite impossible for a tune, which is a compound of primary tones, to express itself in a form. It has been found by experiment that each tune has a peculiar figure or form of its own. It may therefore safely be said that each musical form or figure is the molecular expression of a tune, which is, a compound of primary sounds. If this state of things is found to be the order of nature in the world of molecules, it is but reasonable to suppose that the same law should prevail at the primordial source, whence worlds are evolved. The Tantra says that the Kosmos is evolved out of the fifty Matrka sounds. The meaning of this, in the light of the above experiment, is plain enough. The Matrka sounds, in the processes of evolution, undergo various permutations, thereby giving rise to subtle figures, which form the ground-work upon which, with the accumulation of atoms and molecules, bodies of diverse density and shape are formed. The gross human figure of bones, muscles, and flesh has for its groundwork a network of fine nerves. Behind this nerve-structure is the subtle body, or Suksma Sarira. Farther in there is the Karana Sarira or causal body, the fifty-stringed lute (Vina) of Kundalini Herself upon which She plays the Divine Song of the universe until its dissolution (Mahapralaya).

When in the course of evolution rational man appeared, it was necessary to impart to him knowledge for the perpetuation of the human race as well as for his liberation. It was to this end that the Self-existent Manu came down and gave him language. And what is that Language? It is not an arbitrary invention of words to signify objects. The Divine Manu, knowing the sound-forms of objects, gave man those forms and taught him the relation between those forms and the objects they connote. These sound-forms are words, and the objects they connote are the meanings of those words. The sound-forms or subtle bodies of universal objects being imperishable, words are imperishable. Gross bodies are evanescent, but the subtle body or Suksma Sarira persists till final dissolution of the universe, and the Karana Sarira, or causal body, is said to be eternal. The language which Manu taught was the primeval language of root-words, remnants of which are to be found in the Vaidik Mantras. Sanskrit is derived directly from it. The innumerable languages of the world are its corruptions, or rather adaptations, in consonance with man's environments in different parts of the earth, and the consequent divergent configurations of his vocal organs. In every language there are root-words which are identical. There could, in fact, be no language without such root words as their basis. True it is that man has invented arbitrary words, and given them conventional meanings, but they are mere accretions to the original language. One may hear of words being coined (often-times from the primitive root-words), but who has ever heard of language being invented? If none have so heard, then scoffing at what the Tantras reveal as the origin of language is unjustified. It may, in any case, be accepted as a workable theory which will help materially - nay, powerfully - in aspiration for spiritual development. This aspect of the question I shall touch on later when dealing with Mantra.

The Bhagavadgita is regarded universally as the highest embodiment of spiritual truths. In it (chap. viii, verse 13) we find:

ओमित्येकाक्षरं ब्रह्म व्याहरन् मामनुस्मरन् ।
य्: प्रयाति त्यजन् देहं स याति परमां गतिम् ॥

"‘ Om!‘ the one-syllabled Eternal (Brahman), reciting, thinking upon Me, he who goeth forth, abandoning the body, he goeth on the highest path."

If words be human inventions, and meanings conventional, then would it not be foolish to believe that a conventional word like ओं (Om) should possess such mighty power as to liberate a man from his cumulative Karmic causation, and to carry him there whence there is no return?

The Mandukyopanisad opens thus:

ओमित्येतदक्षरमिदं सर्वं तस्योपव्यास्व्यानं भूतं भवद्भविप्यदिति सर्वमोंकार एव यच्चान्यत् त्रिकालतीतं तदप्योंकार एव ।

"One is Isvara. The universe is its meaning. Present, past, and future are all one. That which is beyond the triple time is also ओं (Om).”

In the Srimad Bhagavata we read:
"Sound Brahman and the Supreme Brahman are both my immutable body.“

From these and innumerable other passages in the Vedas, Upanisads, Darsanas,³⁴ and Puranas, the discerning will learn that the Tantra only explains what the Veda asserts.

The teaching of Jesus Christ, as embodied in the Gospel of St. John strengthens our position, and proves the unity of truth in all revelations. The Gospel says: " In the beginning was the Word, the Word was God, and the Word was with God." The " Word " is the Logos of the Greeks and Kabalists, and the Sabdabrahman of the Hindus. When the Kosmos is evolved, the Supreme Sacchidananda,³⁵ becomes Sabdabrahman, the Word; and Sabdabrahman, or Isvara, being uncreate, unborn, and immutable, is ever with the Supreme. Hence in the Gita we read: ब्रह्मनो हि प्रतिष्टाहं “ I am the image of God. “

यद्गत्वा न निवर्त्तन्ते तद्धाम परमां मम ।

"That is my Supreme abode, whence there is no coming back."

If Isvara be vehicled by Sound, then the inevitable conclusion is that the Kosmos is evolved out of Sound.

That there was one root-language is also borne out by the Biblical myth of the confusion of tongues. Philology has considerably cleared the ground, and the day may not be very far distant when Science will astonish the world by its discovery of the one common root-language of the human race.

Mantra

If one were to make a Mantrik survey of India, one would be astonished to find that the Hindu life is saturated with Mantra. Be he a peasant or a prince, his whole life is regulated by Mantra. Various are the purposes for which Mantras are invoked, and their enumeration here will help towards the elucidation of the subject under consideration.

Mantras are invoked for: (1) Secondary mukti (liberation). (2) Worship of the manifested God. (3) Worship of Devatas. (4) Communication with Devatas. (5) Acquisition of super-human powers. (6) Feeding Pitrs and Devatis. (7) Communication with Ghosts and Upadevatas.³⁶ (8) Warding off evil influences. (9) Exorcizing Devils. (10) Cure of diseases. (11) Preparing curative water. (12) Doing injury to plants, animals, and men. (13) Eliminating poison from the animal body. (14) Influencing others' thoughts and actions. (15) Bringing men, beasts, Upadevas³⁷ and Ghosts under control. (16) Purification of the human body by ceremonies called Samskaras, and many other purposes, which need not be mentioned here. From the mother's womb to the funeral pyre a Hindu literally lives and dies in Mantra.

What, then, in this mighty force which is believed to wield such a great influence upon a nation reputed to be both spiritually great and intellectually acute? From the hoary antiquity of Vaidik Mantras down to modern times, great and varied are the changes which have taken place in the Hindu's philosophical thoughts and religious ideas, but Mantra stands with its head erect and limbs sturdy as the undying witness of God's grace to His Hindu sons. The question, I fear, has not been seriously asked by the English-educated Hindu. The Hindu of the old school takes it as an heirloom from his ancestors without ever trying to understand what it really is and how it can be utilized. He recites it parrot-like, and thinks he has done his duty. It is this indifference on the one hand, and apathy on the other, which has rendered the Hinduism of the present day almost a dead religion.

The above enumeration of uses for which Mantras are invoked will have shown that they are of various classes, and that they possess subtle powers of action on the spiritual, mental, and physical planes of existence. They are not words and sentences, neither are they syllables, although they are expressed by written character in words and sentences. There are various Mantras in the vernacular of India, used for non-spiritual purposes. In the Bengali language, especially in the form in which it is used in Assam, there are numbers of Mantras which are apparently quite meaningless; many of the words used therein are no words at all, for they convey no meaning. Words and sentences which have no meanings to convey to the understanding are no part of a language. If you believe that they are efficacious, you must admit that they are sound-powers acting on different planes of consciousness.

The efficacy of Mantras is not a matter of opinion, a mere theory which needs cogent arguments to bring it home to men's minds. It is a fact in the arcana of nature revealed by God, testified to by the unimpeachable evidence of selfless, disinterested Rsis of hoary antiquity, and corroborated by hosts of Sadhakas³⁸ of all ages. There are numberless Sadhakas still living who have had direct proof of the efficacy of Mantras. Each one of us can, if we will, obtain such direct proof ourselves. The Tantra which is known as the Mantra-sastra is an exact science, and does not shrink from the severest test which may be applied to it. Use a Mantra under the directions of a competent Guru, and you will acquire direct evidence of its efficaciousness. Our hereditary professional Gurus initiate us with sacred Bijamantra³⁹ and Gayatri,⁴⁰ and teach us Mantras for the worshipping of our Istadevata.⁴¹ We go on, as we have been taught, from the day of our initiation to the end of our life, but it may be that no result is perceived. If we ask our Guru how this is so, he will reproach us with impatience and want of devotion. Placed in this predicament we lose our faith in Mantras, and become indifferent to them. But we do, not pause to reflect whether it be the fault of the Mantra, or of the instructor from whom we had the misfortune to receive it, or of ourselves. It is quite an error to suppose that if Mantra be a sound power, it must yield the result sought for as soon as it is pronounced. Now, electricity is a physical force which has been imprisoned, so to say, in various sorts of mechanical contrivances in order to produce various results. There are books which describe these contrivances and prescribe their uses. Can anyone, by mere reading of the books, handle these machineries and produce the desired results? If such be the case in dealing with physical forces, how much more is practical instruction necessary for the handling of spiritual and psychical forces.

For the moment I leave out all other Mantras in order to confine my attention to such alone as are known as Bija Mantras. They are the powers which carry us safe through the world's entanglements towards that haven of peace and bliss for which the human mind naturally, though unconsciously, yearns, though in ignorance of the path it diverges into different treacherous ways, lured by the tempting light of Kama desire.

From what has been said regarding Varnas, it will have been seen that Varnas are living, conscious sound-powers. From Varnas are evolved secondary sound-powers, called Mantras. It has also been related how Sabdabrahman becomes a septenary of male and female Powers for the purposes of creation. Innumerable other Powers are evolved from them, who constitute the hierarchy of Devatas. The Powers, higher or lower, are spiritual entities, possessing body and mind, though the body of the higher Gods, such as Brahma, Visnu, and Siva, is to the human consciousness as unfathomable as the human body and mind is to a cell inhabiting the human body. The embodied higher Devatas are Lords of Mercy. They also manifest themselves from time to time in the Deva Loka (the region of Devas), and on earth for the good of Devas and of humanity. They create their Avatara-body when they find it necessary to manifest themselves. The bodies of Devatas are sound-powers. In the fourth chapter of the Mahanirvana Tantra it is said:

उपासकानां कार्यार्थं श्रेयसे जगतामपि ।
दानवानां विनाशाय धत्ये नानाविधास्तनृ: ॥
चतुर्भुजा त्वं द्विभुजा षड्भुजाष्टभुजा तथा ।
त्वमेव विश्चरक्षार्थं नानाशस्त्रास्त्रधारिणी ॥
तत्तद्रूपपिभेदेन यन्त्रमन्त्रादिसाधनम् ।
कथितं सर्वपन्त्रेषु ….
(चतुर्थोंल्लास:, ४-१६-१८)

"For the benefit of worshippers, for the good of the universe, and for the destruction of Danavas,⁴² Thou assumest various bodies. Thou art four-handed, two-handed, six-handed, and eight-handed. For the safety of the universe Thou bearest divers weapons. In the Tantras are revealed Yantras, Mantras, and other methods of self-culture, according to those bodies."

Again, in the fifth chapter of the same Tantra it is stated:

तव रूपाण्यनन्तानि नानावर्णाक्टतीनि च ।
नानाप्रयाससाध्यानि वर्णितुं केन शक्यते ॥
तव कारुण्यलेशेन कुलतन्त्रागमादिषु ।
तेषामर्चासाधनानि कथितानि यथामति ॥
तव मन्त्राह्यसंख्याता: कोटिकोट्यर्वुदास्तथा ।
…
येषु येषु च तन्त्रेषु ये ये मन्त्रा: प्रकीर्तिता: ।
ते सर्वे तव मन्त्रा: स्युस्त्वमाद्या प्रकृतिर्यत: ॥

(पञ्चमोल्लास: २,३; १८, १९)

"Thy manifestations are infinite, having diverse colours and forms. Different are the methods which must be diligently followed in order to realize them. None can describe them all. A little of Thy favour has enabled me to describe, according to My power, the methods of their worship and attainment in the Tantras."

"Thy Mantras are infinite, by crores and arbuds⁴³ ... Because thou art the Adya Prakrti, therefore all the Mantras mentioned in the Tantras are Thy Mantras."

From the above it will appear that Mantras are the bodies of the Devatas. They are not gross (sthula) bodies, but subtle vehicles through which they manifest themselves. In the Yamalatantra this is more explicitly stated:

देवताया: शरिरं तु बीजादुत्पद्यते ध्रुवम् ।

"Verily the body of the Devata arises from Bija."

The Saktanandatarangini, a Tantrik work of great reputation by the renowned Brahmananda Giri, explains the word वीजात् (vijat) to mean वर्णात् (varnat). And वर्ण (varna) means sound-power, as already explained.

If one reads between the lines, divesting his mind of the Illusion Theory of Srimat Sankaracarya, he may find a corroboration of the principle above laid down in the following couplet from the fourth chapter of the Bhagavadgita:

अजोऽपि सन्नव्ययात्मा भूतानामीश्चरोऽपि सन् ।
प्रकृतिं स्वामधिष्ठाय संभवाम्यात्ममायया ॥

"Unborn, immutable, Lord of all beings though I am, entering my Prakrti, I am born by my own Maya."

Here the Lord Isvara, and not Parabrahman, explains to his disciple Arjuna how He incarnates - that is, appears in human body. His birth is not like the birth of men; it is divyam (Divine) (vide Sloka, ix, chap. iv). The suksma sarira (subtle body) of man, after having spent its subjective Karma, is impelled, by its own inexorable destiny, to take birth on earth through an earthly father and mother, who supply the materials for the building up of the physical body. The Lord has no such Suksma Sarira which may serve as the instrument by which a Sthula body functions; for it must be borne in mind that without Prana (the vital principle) an Antahkarana (the mind and the sensorium) a physical body cannot for a moment live. The Lord enters his Prakrti, or rather brings it, into requisition to form a Suksma Sarira for Himself. Now, what is the Prakrti of Isvara but Mula Prakrti in action? Is it not for exactly that reason that Isvara is called Sabdabrahman? It is therefore spiritual sound by which Isvara (that is Sabdabrahman) forms his subtle body of life, and sensorium. Herein lies the Divine character of Isvara's appearances (Avatara). It is therefore called Divine (divyam). The subsequent process of acquiring a gross body is described in the above verse to be Atmamayaya (by My own Maya). Now, if Maya and Prakrti be one and the same, the verse becomes meaningless. Maya or Avidya is that phase of Prakrti in which evolution from spirit to matter takes place, as distinguished from Mahamaya or Vidya, which is the agent for the involution of matter to spirit. The Lord, to appear in flesh and blood, had therefore first to build his Sound­body, and then to issue from the Mother's womb in the ordinary way. It is this Sound-body of the Lord which is the Mantra of the Vaisnavas worshipping Sri Krsna.

Mantra is not merely an important, but an essential, element of self-culture in Krya Yoga. The realization of Atma, the One True Self, is not possible so long as the mind functions in the brain and identifies itself with the sensations, perceptions, and concepts furnished by the phenomenal world. By Samadhi (communion) alone the true self can be realized. Krya Yoga prepares the mind for Samadhi. In Patanjali's Darsana (Yoga Philosophy) Krya Yoga is thus defined:

तप: स्वाध्यायेश्चरप्रणिधानानि क्रियायोग: ।

This aphorism is explained by Vedavyasa in his Commentary thus:

नातपस्विनो योग: सिद्ध्यति, अनादिकर्मक्लेशवासना चित्रा प्रत्युपस्थितविषयजाला चाशुद्धिर्नान्तरेण तप: संभेदमापद्यत इति तपस उपादानम्, तच्च चित्तप्रसादनमबाधमानमनेनासेव्यमिति मन्यते । स्वाध्याय: प्रनवादिपवित्राणां जप:, मोक्षशास्त्राध्ययन्ं वा । ईश्वरप्रणिधनां सर्वक्रियाणां परमगुरावर्पणं, तत्फलसंन्यासो वा ।

A free translation of the aphorism and its Bhasya is given below:

" Discipline (of body, speech, and mind), repetition of Mantras, or study of Moksa Sastras (scriptures teaching liberation), and worship of God, constitute Krya Yoga."

"Yoga is not attainable by persons who have not brought their body, speech, and mind under discipline. The mind being coloured with the accumulated Samskaras or impressions of Karma without beginning and with desires resulting in misery, its Rajasik and Tamasik functions cannot be minimized without Tapas.⁴⁴ Mind-cleansing Tapasya should be so practised that it may not injure the body. The word Svadhiyaya means repeating (japa) of Pranava (ओं - Om) and other Mantras, or the study of such Sastras as inculcate Moksa (liberation). Isvara-pranidhana means the dedication of all works to the greatest Guru Isvara (The Lord), or doing unselfish works."

Japa⁴⁵ of mantra is thus an important factor in arriving at that stage of the mind which, in Yoga Sastra, is called Samprajnata Samadhi - that is, conscious communion. When man reaches that plane of consciousness, his accumulated Karma, and his earth-bound desire which is the cause of Karma, vanish never to return again. He realizes the all-blissful Divinity, and becomes Divinity itself. Divine worship is ordained as a preliminary step for this consummation; for it is by Bhakti and Prema (Faith and Love) to God that our congenital tenacious attachment to worldly things can be replaced, and the thirst for happiness of the ever-restless mind quenched. The daily worship which the Hindus perform consists of Sandhya and Puja,⁴⁶ in both of which Mantra is a necessity; for the Mantra is not only potent in withdrawing the mind from its external functions, but it makes worship possible. From Mantra the worshipper gains the form of the object of his worship upon which he must practise his concentration and devotion, and when the worshipper has made some advance he will recognize the Mantra itself to be his Istadevata. Last, though not the least, is the power of Mantra to awaken the latent powers of the mind. The last chapter of Patanjali's Darsana opens thus:

जन्मौषधिमन्त्रतप:समाधिजा: सिद्वय: ।

" Uncommon power of the mind is attained by birth, drugs, Mantra, Tapas, and Samadhi."

The practice of Mantra according to the Tantrik method develops without fail the latent faculties of the mind, with the help of which the Sadhaka must climb step after step until the final rung of the ladder is reached.

The object to be attained, or rather the one Immutable True Existence to be realized, according to the Tantrik philosophy, is Parabrahman. But the instrument - the mind - with which man has to realize is Prakrtik ­ that is, evolved out of the three gunas of Prakrti. The gunas, being dissimilar in nature to Sat, Cit, and Ananda,⁴⁷ cannot be the instrument which can directly seize the Absolute, just as one cannot catch air by iron tongs. Hence it is that the Son of God is the Mediator of the Christians, and Sabdabrahman or Saguna Isvara⁴⁸ is the object of worship of the Hindus. The Mantra, I mean Bija Mantra is Sabdabrahman. The Mantra power of Sakti has two aspects - Vacaka and Vacya, which are explained in the text.⁴⁹

The Vacaka Sakti of a Mantra is the vital, intelligent, and conscious entity through which the unconditioned evolves, or through which Nirguna (attributeless) Brahman must be realized. Vacaka Sakti in its female aspect is Kundalini, and its male aspect Parasiva or Mahavisnu. Vacya Sakti is that which is sought to be realized through the Vacaka Sakti. It is Nirguna Brahman. The Mantra, by its innate power, reveals the Vacaka Sakti to the human mind which, being thus freed from the chain of causation, is translated into the Vacaka Sakti itself. The realization of the Vacya Sakti is the last leap forward into that region of the Absolute whence no traveller ever returns either as Isvara or Deva or Manava (man). The Tantrik Sadhaka is therefore warned against that ignorance which takes Mantras to be mere words or letters of the alphabet:

गुरौ मानुषबुद्धिं च मन्त्रे चाक्षरभावनाम् ।
प्रतिमायां शिलाज्ञानं कुर्वानो नरकं व्रजेत् ॥

"Perdition is the lot of him who thinks that Guru is a mere man, that Mantras are mere letters of the alphabet, and that Pratima (the Image) of the Deity, is mere stone."

The word Mantra is thus explained in the Pingala Tantra, quoted in Saradatilaka:

मननं विश्वविज्ञानं त्राणं संसारबन्धनात् ।
यत: करोति संसिद्धौ मन्त्र इत्युच्यते बुधै: ॥

"That from which the true knowledge of the universe and freedom from the bondage of the world is attained is called Mantra."

The “ true knowledge " of the universe, according to Tantra, is the realization of the identity of Brahman and Brahmanda. This, too, is the Vaidik conception, as it is expressed in the aphorism: सर्वं खल्विढं ब्रह्म (" Verily all this is Brahman "). I have elsewhere quoted from the Bhagavadgita a passage in which it is said that the Mantra ओं (Om) is capable of freeing the Jiva, or embodied spirit, from the bondage of births and deaths. How mighty is the power of Mantra! It is Sound­spiritual, it is Divinity itself. Blessed is the man who, having heard the sweet, soul-soothing, ineffable Madhyama sound in the lotus of the heart, plunges deep into the ocean of Susumna,⁵⁰ to rise at the feet of Kulakundalini singing Her song of the universe in Her Para melody.⁵¹ Of all the methods for hearing the Sound-spiritual taught in different schools of Yoga, the Mantra Yoga is the best, straightest, and easiest, because Mantra itself, being Sound-power, has greater aptitude than anything else to reach the bodily Sound-centres.

Initiation (Diksa), Guru (Teacher) and Sisya (Disciple)

According to the Ayurvedik system of medicine, four factors are essential for successful treatment of a disease. They are called Khuddak Catusthaya. They are physician, medicine, nurse, and patient. The physician must be capable of making a correct diagnosis of his patient's ailment, the medicine should be appropriate and powerful, the nurse must be dutiful, and the patient careful of his health and possessed of faith in his physician. A successful treatment of the disease of the soul, called Bhavaroga, or earthly sufferings, is, similarly, dependent upon four essential factors. The patient is the man who, convinced of the existence of the disease which has over-taken him, is anxious to be cured; Bhakti, or devotion, is his nurse; he is the Guru, or teacher, who can properly diagnose the particular form of the patient's illness, and impart to him the proper medicament - I mean Mantra - which has the potency to heal.

The disease of the soul needs much more physicking than the disease of the body, of which the patient is fully cognizant, and which is of comparatively shorter duration and can be diagnosed by objective means. But the disease of the soul is a chronic ailment of many births and re­births. The lot of such a patient is spiritually dismal, no doubt, but the glamour of Maya transports him to a fool's paradise, where lust, avarice, greed, power, and ambition feed him with dainty dishes, and lull him to forgetfulness of the disease which is eating into his very vitals. Fortunate is the man who, knowing his real condition, is to be found at the lotus-feet of his Guru.

Knowledge of the human ego's real condition arises first mediately from a proper study of the Sastras, and then directly by self-illumination. But the study of the Sastras as a mere intellectual exercise is fraught with mischief. In the Kularnava Tantra the Lord has a significant admonition on this subject, which translated, runs thus:

“ Fools led by the bondage of their animal nature fall into the deep well of the six systems of philosophy, and are unable to know what the Paramartha (supreme good) is. Perverse logicians, owing to their ignorance of the real meaning of the Vedas, roam here and there, scorched by the fire of scepticism. They do not know that within the surging waves of time they are under the mighty jaws of death. The man who knows the Vedas, Agamas, and Puranas, but who is yet ignorant of the Paramartha, and gives instructions, simply caws like a crow. Unmindful of the Paratattva (the Supreme), he is ever thinking of what is knowledge and what is knowable, and is immersed in study day and night. The words of such are flowing and rhetorical, but at heart they are anxious, sorry, and ill at ease. Men take great pains to prove the Paratattva to be what it is not. They explain the gist of the Sastra to be what it is not. They explain supersensuous matters without themselves realizing them. Some, led by vanity, study the Vedas without a Guru's help; but a knower of the real sense of the Vedas is hard to find. As a spoon does not know the taste of the food cooked with it, as the head carries a load of flowers, but the nose enjoys its fragrance, so they study the Veda Sastra, but, being ignorant of the Paramartha (which is known only to Sadhakas), quarrel among themselves. As a milkman, forgetting the goat in his arms, sees it in its image in a well, even so are men, who are unconscious of the Paratattva that is in them, deluded by the Sastras. As the darkness of a house can never be dispelled by uttering the word " lamp," even so is the word­meaning of Sastra impotent to dispel the mayik darkness of the Ego. The study of Sastra by people not possessed of Prajna - that is, the inner light - is as though a blind man opened his eyes to see. The Sastra gives Divine knowledge (Tattvajnana) to those who have Prajna."

अज्ञातज्ञापत्रं हि शास्त्रम " The object of Sastra is to impart such knowledge as cannot be gained through the senses." It therefore stands to reason that the real meaning of Sastra cannot be acquired merely through the brain. The door to supersensuous knowledge must be unlocked, and the sleeping Kula-Kundalini awakened. This is done by Diksa or initiation. Diksa is thus explained in the Tantras:

दीयते ज्ञानमत्यर्थं क्षीयते पाशबन्धनम् ।
अतो दीक्षेति वेदेशि कथिता तत्त्वचिन्तकै: ॥ ( योगिनीतन्त्रम् )

देवि! दीक्षाविहीनस्य न सिद्धिर्न च सद्गति: ।
तस्मात् सर्वप्रयत्नेन गुरुणा दीक्षितो भवेत ॥ ( रुद्रयामलम् )

अदीक्षिता ये कुर्वन्ति जपपूजादिका: क्रिया: ।
न भवन्ति प्रिये! तेषां शिलायामुप्तबीजवत् ॥ ( रुद्रयामलम् )

रसेन्द्रेण यथा विद्धमय: काच्चनतां व्रजेत् ।
दीक्षाविद्धस्तथैवात्मा शिवत्वं लभते प्रिये ! ॥
दीक्षाग्निदग्धकर्मासौ यायाद्विच्छन्नबन्धन: ।
न तस्य कर्मबन्धोऽस्ति निर्जीवश्च शिवो भ्वेत् । ( कल्पसूटीकाधृतं कुलार्णवतन्त्रम् )

उपासनाशतेनापि यां विना नैव सिद्ध्यति
तां दीक्षामाश्रयेद्यन्त्रात् श्रीगुरोर्मन्त्रसिद्धये ॥ ( कुलार्णवम् )

पुस्तके लिखितो मन्त्रो येन सुन्दरि जप्यते ।
न तस्य जायते सिद्धिर्हानिरेव पदे पदे ॥ ( राधवभट्टकृतम् )

श्रुत्वा तन्त्रं गुरोर्लब्धं साधयेद्दीक्षितं मनुम् ।
गुरुमुख्या: क्रिया: सर्वा भुक्तिमुक्तिफलप्रदा: ॥

The above verses, rendered freely into English, read thus:

"Those who commune with the Divinity call it Diksa because it imparts Divine knowledge and cuts worldly bonds " (Yogini Tantra).

"He who has not been initiated cannot acquire Divine knowledge, and cannot gain a desirable state after death. Hence it is that one should, by all means, get himself initiated by a Guru " (Rudra Yamala).

“Those who, without being initiated, perform Japa, Puja, etc., derive no benefit, even as seeds sown on stone, do not germinate " (Rudra Yamala).

"As iron is transmuted into gold when it is penetrated by Rasendra (great fluid), even so is the individual Ego converted into the Divinity by Diksa. His Karma being burnt by the fire of Diksa, he becomes freed from the bondage of Karma, and thus the fetters of Karma being removed, the Jiva becomes Siva " (Kularnava Tantra, quoted in the Commentary on Kalpasutra).

"No amount of Upasana (worship), without Diksa, can give Divine knowledge: so one should, by all means get himself initiated for the purpose of rendering the Mantra efficacious " (Kularnava Tantra).

"One cannot derive any benefit by repeating a Mantra, learnt from books; on the other hand, injury is incurred at every step " (quoted by Raghava Bhatta).

"Having acquired the Mantra from the Guru, it should be cultivated in the disciple's consciousness. Religious exercises for liberation are for fruition dependent entirely upon the Guru."

From what has been stated regarding the Sound-Spiritual, Mantra and Kula-Kundalini, it will have been seen that Mantra is a living spiritual sound-Power emanating from the vehicle of the Divine Serpent. The human Ego, born on the earth as the consequence of his actions in previous lives, must work out such Karmas as are germinating, and will also germinate Karmas for its weal or woe. He is placed here below in direct communication with the objective world through its five agents of knowledge and five agents of action. The knowledge acquired through the five senses is phenomenal: it is not true knowledge; it is knowledge as it seems, not knowledge as it is. It is the knowledge of actors as they appear on the stage, and not of the individuals who are dressed as actors in the green room. The green room of nature is hidden from the view of the senses. But it is in the green room that nature must be seen by the Ego in order that it may free itself from the glamour of maya which has rendered it an earth-bound spirit. Unless one recognizes the reality, there is no escape from its semblance. But the physical brain is not the place where, nor are the senses the avenue through which, the one Reality, the All-blissful Sat-cit-ananda enthroned in the effulgence of the spiritual world is to be seen. The human body is a duality not only in the objective plane, but in the subjective plane as well. The mind receives objective knowledge through the brain by means of the senses and the sensory nerves. It can receive subjective knowledge through the spinal column by means of senses which have to be developed. But the passage through which the green room of the human body must be entered is barred by the hood of the Slumbering Serpent Kula-Kundalini. To wake Her up, to implore Her Divine grace that we may be shown the Real (which is no other than She), and that the unreal may be dispelled, is the work of the living Mantra-Power for the earnest Ego.

Electricity is ubiquitous. It is in every atom, in every molecule, and in every thing made up of atoms and molecules. My pen is made up of atoms and molecules. Why does it not, then, announce to me the existence of electricity in it? Why does it not fan me in this grilling heat and give brilliant light to my failing vision, although that is my earnest wish? The reason is that electricity, by processes known to experts, must be roused into action, and manipulated in different ways to yield different results. Mantra Sakti, similarly, is ubiquitous; it is in every form of existence. Indeed, from Sound-power the universe is built. It has countless forms which pervade the universe. It is the Guru, the Mantrik Scientist, who alone knows how to manipulate it and to employ it in producing the desired result-that is to say, in awakening the Slumbering Divine Serpent in man.

The mere communication of an atomic sound from one's mouth to another's ear cannot be expected to produce such a result. The Guru has himself to vitalize and energize the Mantra in his own inner conscious¬ness, and then to communicate the living spiritual force to the conscious¬ness of his disciple (Sisya). If there be reason to believe in transference of thought from a hypnotiser to his subject - and hypnotism has now been recognized as a science - there is no ground for disbelieving the transfer¬ence of a power even subtler than a thought (which is a power as well) from a Guru to his disciple. When such an event happens in the life of a person, his whole mental system undergoes a revolution; he receives a second birth, and it is for this that an initiated man is a Dvija (twice-born). The Veda withheld the privileges of a Dvija from the fourth caste (Sudra), but the Tantra throws the portals of initiation wide open to every man or woman, whoever he or she may be. The Candala⁵² and all others are all the children of the Divine Mother, the milk of whose eternal breast is sucked by every living being.

Diksa, thus, is not a conventional usage, a toll paid to the Divine ferryman for carrying the sojourner across the ocean of the world (Bhavasindhu). Spiritual India has, unfortunately, come to this pass, and it is the Tantra which can alone save it, as it has saved it in the Kali Yuga of every Kalpa.

Sabdabrahmamayi, the Divine Mother, must be reached. A deep, surging sea divides the sojourning Ego from Her. It is the Black Sea of objective knowledge, the Vaitarani of Hindu mythology. Mantra is the bark to carry it thither. The Guru must help the Ego in each of its steps forward into the region of the unknown. Indeed, without the Guru's help the disciple cannot move one such step. The disciple must also work hard, under the instructions of the Guru, to keep up the energy of the Mantra. And when Mantra is assimilated in the inner consciousness of the disciple, he is said to have become Siddha (accomplished) in it. He can then use it at his will, and, awakening Kula-Kundalini, plunge with Her into the Lotus-garden, where alone the nature of the Atma and Anatma⁵³ can be realized. The human body, according to the Tantra, is a microcosm, which contains in miniature all that is contained in the Kosmos. It has the seven Lokas, worlds or regions located in it, and the Sadhaka, who, with the help of his Bija Mantra, has known them and their over-Lords has left the mother's womb never to come back again. It may here be noted by way of parenthesis that the seven Lokas are not states of exist¬ence, but worlds made up of different modifications of matter, and peopled by beings on different planes of consciousness.

Such being Diksa, imagine what the Guru is!

गुरौ तुष्टे शिवस्तुष्टे रुष्टे रुष्टेस्त्रलेचन: ।
गुरौ तुष्टे शिवा तुष्टा रुष्टे रुष्टा च सुन्दरी ॥
अतो गुरुर्महेशानि ! संसारार्णवलङ्घने ।
कर्त्त पाता च हर्त्ता च गुरुर्मोक्षप्रदायक: ॥

गुरुतन्त्रम् ।

"If the Guru is pleased, Siva is pleased; if he is displeased, Siva is displeased. If the Guru is pleased, Sivani⁵⁴ is pleased; if the Guru is displeased, Sivanl is displeased. Hence, O Mahesani!⁵⁵ the Guru is the Lord, the sustainer and the annihilator. It is he who can give Moksa " (Guru Tantra).

But the human Guru is not the real Guru. The real Guru is in the Thousand-petalled Lotus. The human Guru bears the same relation to the Divine Guru that Vacaka ' Sakti of a Mantra bears to the Vacya Sakti. The Yogini Tantra thus explains Guruship:

ओं देव्युवाच ।

गुरु: को वा महेशान वद मे करुणामय ।
त्वत्तोऽप्यधिक एवायं गुरुस्त्वया प्रकीर्तित: ॥

श्रीईश्वर उवच ।

आदिनाथो महादेवि महाकालो हिम्य: स्मृत: ।
गुरु: स एव देवेशि सर्वमन्त्रेषु नापर: ॥
शैवे शाक्ते वैष्णवे च गाणपत्ये तथैन्दवे ।
महाशैवे च सौरे च स गुरुर्नात्र संशय: ॥
मन्त्रवक्ता स एव स्यान्नापर: परमेश्वरि ।
मन्त्रप्रदानकाले हि मानुषे गिरिनन्दिनि ।
अधिष्ठानं भवेत्तस्य महाकालस्य शंकरि ॥
अतो न गुरुता देवि मानुषे नात्रसंशय: ।
मन्त्रदाता शिर:पद्मे यद्ध्यानं कुरुते गुरो: ।
तद्ध्यनं कुरुते देवि शिष्योऽपि शीर्षपङ्कजे ॥
अत एव महेशानि एक एव गुरु: स्मृत: ।
अधिष्ठानवशात् तस्य मानुषस्य महेश्वरि ।
माहात्म्यं कीर्तितं त्स्य सर्वशास्त्रेषु शंकरि ॥

"Sri Devi said: I Merciful Mahesvara! tell me who is Guru. You have told me that the Guru is greater than Thou art.' Sri Isvara said: He who is the first Lord and is called Mahakala is the Guru, O Devi! in all Mantras. None else is the Guru. He is verily the Guru of the Saivas, Saktas, Vaisnavas, Ganapatyas, Moon-worshippers, Mahasaivas, and Sauras.⁵⁶ He and none else is the promulgator of Mantra. At the time of imparting Mantra, O Daughter of mountain⁵⁷, He manifests Himself in him who imparts Mantra. Hence, O Devi! verily there is no Guruship in man. The human Mantra-giver meditates upon the same Guru in the Head-Lotus as Him upon whom the disciple must there meditate. Therefore, O Mahesvari! there is only one Guru. Because He manifests himself in the human Guru, therefore the greatness of the human Guru is published in all the Sastras."

The Yamala Tantra says:

गुरुरेक: शिव: प्रोक्त: सोऽवि न संशय: ।
गुरुस्त्वमपि देवेशि मन्त्रोऽपि गुरुरुच्यते ॥
अतो मन्त्रे गुरौ देवि नहि भेद: प्रजायते ।
कदाचित् स सहस्रारे पद्मे ध्येयो गुरु: सदा ।
कदाचित् हृदयाम्भोजे कदाचित् ट्टष्टिगोचरे ॥

“There is only one Guru, who undoubtedly is Myself, Thou, too, O Devi! and Mantra, too, is Guru. Therefore Guru, Devata, and Mantra, are the same. He is always to be contemplated in the Thousand-petalled Lotus, sometimes in the Heart-Lotus, and sometimes as existing before the eyes - that is, in human form."

In initiating and instructing a disciple, the human Guru undertakes a vicarious duty, the magnitude of which he should fully realize. He must fill himself with the Divine Presence, that his Sisya may be born to the spiritual life. He must also, impart to his disciple that sure knowledge which will lead him without error on the onward path of Sadhana. Henceforward the life of the disciple becomes a part of the Guru's life. The Guru becomes responsible for the sins of his disciple.

We are apt to complain of the rarity of the Gurus, but we do not pause to consider the paucity of Sisyas (disciples). Ganapati, the elephant-headed Devata, by the grace of His Divine mother, had the con¬solation to believe that He was the best of singers. We, too, by the grace of Avidya, have an overweening confidence in our intellectual attainments, thinking that we are perfectly qualified to receive the highest spiritual instructions.

The Gautam1ya Tantra says:

शिष्य: कुलीन: शुद्धात्मा पुरुषार्थपरायण: ।
अधीतवेद: कुशल: पितृमातृहिते रत: ॥
धर्मविद्धर्मकर्ता च गुरुशुश्रषणे रत: ।
सदा शास्त्रार्थतत्त्वज्ञो ट्टढदेही ट्टढाशय: ॥
हितैषी प्राणिनां नित्यं परलोकार्थकर्मकृत् ।
वाङ्मन:कायवसुभिगुरुशुश्रूषने रत: ॥
अनित्यकर्मणस्त्यागी नित्यानुष्ठानतत्पर: ।
जितेन्द्रियो जितालस्यो जितमोहो विमत्सर: ॥

“The Sisya (disciple) should be of good parentage, pure-minded, bent upon realizing the fourfold aspirations;⁵⁸ he should be learned in the Vedas, diligent, devoted to the welfare of parents; he should know Dharma and practise it; he should serve the Guru; he should be acquainted with the true meaning of the Sastras; he should possess a strong physique and a strong mind. He should always do good to living objects; he should do only such deeds as are good for the after-life. He should serve the Guru by speech, thought, body, and money: He should avoid works of which the result is transitory, and be diligent in working for enduring results. He should be one who has conquered passions, indolence, illusory knowledge (Moha), and anger."

From the above it will appear that to be a real Sisya mere intellectual attainment is not sufficient. While he should be conversant with the Sastras (scriptures) to enable him to understand what he is, what his destiny is, what relation he bears to the universe and to the Lord of the universe, he should have purified his mind from the thousand and one worldly pursuits which detract rather than bring peace to it. He should diligently do what the Sastras enjoin, and scrupulously avoid un-Sastrik actions. He should have a living faith in his religion, and an earnest, irrepressible longing for spiritual advancement. Lust, anger, and their train should not be his masters. His profession should be in strict accord¬ance with Sastrik morality. He should consciously do nothing that hurts or injures a fellow-being, and the milk of his kindness should ever flow to relieve suffering humanity. These and many other qualifications are required of the aspirant to the great path. It is also stated that a candi¬date must remain under the personal observation of a Guru for a whole year before he can hope to be initiated. Deluded by Avidya, however, we do not pause to reflect whether the field in which the seed is to be sown is worthy of it. Sometimes, in our impatience (which is a state of mind quite unfitted for spiritual culture), we fly to sannyasis (ascetics), and, getting ourselves initiated by them, hasten homeward, hardly knowing that thereby we transgress a positive injunction of the Sastra, and place ourselves in difficulties. It is laid down in the Tantras:

मातामहं च पितरं यतिं च वनवासीनम् ।
वर्जयित्वा च शिष्येन्द्रो दिक्षाविधिमुपाचरेत् ।
अन्यथा तद्विरोधेन कायनाशं भवेद्ध्रुवम् ॥

यामलतन्त्रम् ।

यतेदींक्षा पितुर्दीक्षा दीक्षा च वनवासिन: ।
विविक्ताश्रमिणो दीक्षा न सा कल्याणदायिनी ॥

गणेशविमर्शिनीतन्त्रम् ।

आश्रमी देशस्थायी च गुरुरेवं विधीयते ।

विश्वसारतन्त्रम् ।

पुत्रदारैश्च संपन्नो गुरुरागमसंमत: ।

मत्स्यसूक्तम् ।

आश्रमी ध्याननिष्ठश्च मन्त्रतन्त्रविशारद: ।

रुद्रयामलम् ।

“In the initiation one should exclude the maternal grandfather, father, a Sannyasi, and Vanaprastha,⁵⁹ otherwise, there being contrariety in the respective positions of Guru and Sisya, the Sisya is sure to meet death."

“Initiation by a Yati,⁶⁰ by one's father, by a Vanaprastha,⁶¹ or by a Sannyasi is not favourable to the welfare of a Sisya."

"One should receive Diksa from a householder residing in the same locality with the Sisya."

“The Tantra enjoins initiation from a Guru who has wife-and children."

“The Guru should be a householder, meditative and well versed in Tantrik knowledge and in Mantra."

The reason why a man who has freed himself of the illusory world and stands outside of it is ill-qualified to show the light, step by step, to a disciple whirling in the eddies of the world is plain enough. A Sannyasi is one who has given up Karma, his mind having been purified. He is an Advaiti,⁶² whose only avocation is the realization of the One without a second. But a householder is a man in, even if he be not of, the world. He is practically a Dvaiti,⁶³ though intellectually he may not be so. His distracted mind must be soothed by worship, prayer, and hymn, and by other acts of devotion (Bhakti) to his Istadevata.⁶⁴ A Sannyasi, on the other hand, is a Jnani (one possessed of true knowledge) who, having crossed the threshold of Bhakti (devotion), looks down upon it as an illusion, an unreality. The mental attitudes of a householder and of a Sannyasi are poles asunder. It is, therefore inevitable that, in spite of his best endeavours, a Sannyasi's teachings must contain much that is unassimilable by a householder, who, by his strenuous efforts to practise such instructions, must succumb bodily and mentally.

A householder Guru, on the other hand, is much on the same plane of consciousness with his disciple. Though in the small rowing-boat of Bhakti (devotion), he has oared manfully towards the ship of his destina¬tion, and neared it. His Bhakti is suffused with the Divine halo of Jnana (knowledge). He is the fittest person to lead a world-ridden disciple by the hand, instructing him in every point, and teaching him by personal example:

स्वयमाचरते शिष्यमाचारे स्थापयत्यपि ।

रुद्रयामलम् ।

"Himself practises and puts disciples in practice" (Rudra Yamala). Those who are real aspirants need not encumber their progress by adhering to the ancestral Guru. If they have already been initiated by him, they may leave him and find out a higher one.

The Kamakhya Tantra says:

सर्वेषां भुवने सत्यं ज्ञानाय गुरुरेव हि ।
ज्ञानान्मोक्षमवाग्नोति तस्माज्ज्ञानं परात्परम् ॥
अतो यो ज्ञानं न दत्ते न क्षमेत्तं त्यजेत्गुरुम् ।
अन्नाकाङ्क्षी निरन्नं हि सदा संत्यजति प्रिये ॥
ज्ञानं यत्र समाभाति स गुरु: शिव एव हि ।
अज्ञानिनं वर्जयित्वा शरणं ज्ञानिनं व्रजेत् ॥
मधुलुब्धो यथा भृङ्ग: पुष्पात् पुष्पान्तरं व्रजेत् ।
ज्ञानलुब्धस्तथा शिष्यो गुरोर्गुर्वन्तरं व्रजेत् ॥

कामाख्यातन्त्रम् ॥

"A Guru exists to impart Jnanas (different forms of knowledge). Jnana leads one to Moksa (liberation). Hence Jnana is the supreme good. Therefore the Guru who is incapable of imparting Jnana should be abandoned, as one who is desirous of food abandons the person who has no food to give. One in whom Jnana shines is Guru; he is Siva. Abandoning the ignorant, one should take the shelter of the wise. As a bee roams from flower to flower in quest of honey, even so should a Sisya, in quest of Jnana, go from one Guru to another."

If the ancestral Guru be really ignorant, there is nothing in the Tantra Sastra to compel one to seek initiation from him. But I feel the necessity of a word in favour of this much-abused man. I fear the Hindu Society is much more to blame than the ancestral Guru for this state of things. There was a happy time when every Hindu deemed it his duty not only to be initiated, but to practise worship with devotion and piety. Many amongst the higher classes lived a life which was rather religious than a purely social one. It was, therefore, incumbent upon the Guru so to qualify himself as to render himself a being higher than those around him. But the Hindu mind having considerably receded from such an ideal of life, initiation and worship are disregarded. There being very little demand for real initiation and instruction in true worship, the supply of duly qualified Gurus has naturally fallen off. That the Guru ¬class still exists is due, to a large extent, to our love for the husk with which we want to fill the social granary. The Gurus, moreover, are now ill-fed by the Sisya community, which accounts for many Guru families giving up the profession. It is the paramount duty of the Hindus of the present generation to reform the Guru community, which can, I think, be easily effected by fostering the growth of a sincere and earnest desire to learn and to practise among ourselves.

There is one aspect of initiation which I have left untouched for want of information - I mean its astrological aspect. It is said that the nativity of a candidate and the particular Mantra in which he should be initiated are correlated. As I am not an astrologer, I am not competent to speak as to this. Those who profess to be astrologers are really empirics, and, having no scientific knowledge of astrology, cannot explain this correlation. But opinions are divided amongst Tantriks on this point, and so it need not trouble us.

The Octagon of Self-Culture

In the previous sections I have attempted to give the reader the result of a general survey of the philosophy upon which Tantrik Sadhana, or Self-culture, is based. But in so recondite and unfamiliar a subject, where the correctness of every individual interpretation may be called in question, the reader is requested to go himself to the source, and there, with faith and devotion, and under the guidance of a Guru, drink of its waters.

I shall now address myself to the subject of the supreme importance of Tantrik Sadhana, which, as already observed, is the easiest and the straightest path to follow for men of the Kali Yuga.⁶⁵ I should not be understood to preach Sakta Dharma⁶⁶ to one and all. The Tantrik method of spiritual culture is not, as I have already said, sectarian. The Tantra provides paths of culture for all the five classes of Upasakas (worshippers) in Hinduism, and an advanced Tantrik Guru is as capable of illumining the path of a Vaisnava as that of a Sakta.

The path of Dharma is twofold: the path of desire (pravrtti) and the path of cessation of desire (nivrtti). These two paths are in conformity with the two great Powers which are perpetually at work in the universe. One of the Powers is called Maya and the other Mahamaya. They are the two phases of the one immutable Sakti. "Maya weaves the woof and the warp of Evolution from Spirit to matter; Mahamaya frees the Ego from its Karmik garb, and leads it on to its destination. To sail downstream is easy enough. It needs no toil, no struggle. The current is favourable, hoist the sail of your Desires on the mast of your untrained Will, and sail pleasantly along. But your pleasure is short-lived; there is sorrow in all of it. Like Sisyphus, you roll your stone up the mountain¬top only to come down again. And as the desires, even of the most intellectually cultured, know no bounds, the Ego is drowned more and more in the quagmire of matter, forgetting its own self, and foregoing the privileges of a human Ego which after millions of journeyings, it has had the good fortune to acquire. The soft heart of the Divine Mother cannot bear to see Her children thus lost. She steps in and proclaims Pravrtti Dharma, which her ordinary children must follow, so that in the long-run Pravrtti may lead to Nivrtti. This Dharma is work prescribed in the Sastras to be performed with Bhakti or devotion to God for accomplishing definite results. Pravrtti being bridled by Dharma, unrestrained licence of desires is prevented, and the sojourner on the Pravrtti path begins to learn Bhakti or devotion. The fulfilment of his desires, however worldly, depends upon the favour of God, whom he invokes from the depths of his heart. He performs the rites and ceremonies prescribed for the particular object he has in view with austerities and penances which are required, and thus, though the mainspring of his action be selfish, he unconsciously develops his higher instincts and nobler nature. From hankering after sensuous pleasure in the shape of money, power, fame, popularity, progeny, and so forth, he gradually lifts his eyes upwards and longs for power in the unseen world. He devotes his mind and soul to its acquisition. And when he is fortunate enough to obtain but a morsel of it, he at once realizes the nothingness of worldly desires. He forthwith parts with them as a serpent parts with its dead skin. The worshipper on the path of desire now lives in the supersensuous world; his worldly hanker¬ings have ceased at any rate to a considerable extent, and he has made more progress towards the path of Nivrtti than one whose desires are not restrained by Dharma, and who depends solely upon his own resources to combat Pravrtti.

To combat Pravrtti! How sweetly sounds the phrase! To do works for others! How much sweeter still! Let us not deceive ourselves, as we are apt to do. The octopus-like grasp of our cumulated Karma, extending over millions of births and rebirths, is so firm that it is impossible to free ourselves from it unless we begin in Pravrtti Dharma and end in Nivrtti. Is it possible for anyone to jump from the bottomless abyss of desires to the celestial height of Nivrtti by a single leap? There must be intermediate rounds on the ladder, for nature does not work by leaps and bounds; sequences of causes and effects pervade it. Not even the Lokapalas, Dikpalas,⁶⁷ and Lords higher still are free from desires, though they, by spiritualizing many of such desires, have risen higher and higher on the upward path of progress. How can one be selfless unless he has dedicated his self to the Lord of all selves? And how can one dedicate his self to the Lord of all selves by one single bound? As householders (Grhis) we are chained to the world by a thousand and one knots. Our family, our lust, our greed, our avarice, our ambition, all bind us down. We are overwhelmed with desires even unto death. Where, then, is our altruism? If there were a scalpel to open the mind, or an X-ray apparatus to display it, il would doubtless be found that altruism is, in many a case, traceable to love of fame, love of popular applause, love of power, and other little self-loves. It is intense love of God alone which can make a person selfless in action. It is very unfortunate that in the name of altruistic work many English-educated Hindus have given up Pravrtti Dharma, the inesti¬mable boon which the wise, holy Rsis have given us for our salvation.

In the Bhagavadgita, the Lord (I adopt Mrs. Besant's transla¬tion) says:

चतुर्विधा भजन्ते मां जना: सुकृतिनोऽर्जुन ।
अर्तो जिज्ञासुरर्थार्थी ज्ञानी च भरतर्षन ॥
तेषं ज्ञानी नित्ययुक्त एकभक्तिर्विशिष्यते ।
प्रियो हि ज्ञानिनोऽस्यर्थमहं स च मम प्रिय: ॥
उदारा: सर्व एवैते ज्ञानी त्वात्मैव मे मतम् ।
आस्थित: स हि युक्तात्मा मामेवानुक्तमां गातिम् ॥
बहूनां जन्मनामन्ते ज्ञानवान् मां प्रपद्यते ।
वासुदेव: सर्वमिति स महात्मा सुदुर्लभ: ॥

"Fourfold in division are the righteous ones who worship Me, O Arjuna: the suffering, the seeker for knowledge, the self-interested, and the wise. Of these the wise, constantly harmonized, worshipping the One, is the best; I am supremely dear to the wise, and he is dear to Me. Noble are all these; but I hold the wise as verily Myself; he, self-united, is fixed on Me, the highest goal. At the close of many births the man full of wisdom cometh unto Me. ‘ Vasudeva is all,’ saith he, the Mahatma, very difficult to find."

Of the four kinds of worshippers mentioned by Bhagavan, the artta and the artharthi (the suffering and self-interested) are Sakama Upasakas,⁶⁸ who are on the path of desire. All the worshippers are called " sukrtinah " (righteous) - that is, even those who are on the path of desire, have germs of good work in them, otherwise worship would not have formed a part of their work. “ Udarah sarva eva te " - that is, all of them are noble, dear to God, because the Godward mind, even if selfish, attains an amount of mental purification and contentment which is impossible for others to acquire. The last couplet means that a true Jnani - an advaitist⁶⁹ is a product of many, many births, and that such a Mahatma⁷⁰ is very rare.. It will thus be seen that Pravrtti Dharma has a place in self-culture, however low compared with the highest, that place may be. It is for those who cannot dissociate their minds from worldly desires. And I need hardly say that the bulk of humanity is of that temperament. If these be a blessed few amongst us who have governed their desires effectually, who are rather in than of the world, Pravrtti Dharma, like dry leaves of trees, will fall from off them; but they are not, therefore, justified in giving up the Sastrik Dharma-Karma. The Lord Himself has exhorted them to perform religious works prescribed in the Sastra selflessly for the instruc¬tion of the mass of men. Like a patient who accepts his physician's diagnosis but rejects his prescription, it would be the height of folly to accept Hindu philosophy and to reject its practice.

The Tantrik system of culture on the path of desire is remarkable for its aptitude in producing desired results. This is known to Hindus of all denominations. But it is not a mere hankering after worldly benefits. On the contrary, the Sakama Sadhaka longs more for a glimpse into the arcana of nature than for mundane comforts, and his longing is soon crowned with success. And having acquired a personal proof positive of supersensuous things, the vanity of sensuous desires forces itself upon him in a manner that mere Sravana (study) and Manana (contemplation) can hardly approach. This, it must be conceded, is a long leap forward. To withdraw the mind from worldly attractions and repulsions many births and rebirths have to be spent in study, contemplation, and discrimination. The Tantrik, on the much-despised path of desire, however, transfers his consciousness from mundane attractions and repulsions to a higher plane of existence within one life and even a much shorter period. Although it cannot give him Mukti (liberation) - and Mukti is not a bunch of grapes to be had by the mere stretching of the hand upwards to the trellis on which they hang - it can make him a Lokapala, a Dikpala,⁷¹ a Man-vantaradhipati,⁷² or the like.

It must not be supposed that the Sakama Tantrik worships Devatas⁷³ as the Divinity. He no doubt pays homage to Devatas as higher beings; but the object of his worship is the Divine Mother, who is the same as Mahavisnu, the manifested God, and the methods of his worship are very much the same as those of the worshipper on the Nivrtti path. What is stated in the Gita as to the consequences of worshipping Devatas, Pitrs, and Bhutas has no application to a Tantrik, the ladder of whose spiritual culture begins with the path of desire as the lowest round, and ends at that of which none knows - that is, Kaivalya Mukti, or complete liberation.

So long as a man is a Grhi (householder), so long is his path the path of Pravrtti. If he thinks that he has outgrown it, but at the same time earns money, enjoys the world, forms attachments and repulsions, seeks name, fame, and popular applause, discharges the functions of a father of his household and of a member of the community in which he lives, he deceives himself. The path pointed out to him by the Tantrik is the best that he can have as an individual, as the father of a family, and as a member of society. The Tantrik culture is an all-round growth. It makes the body sturdy and strong, and proof to heat, cold, and rains; it wards off diseases from without, and resists diseases from within; it makes one hardy, painstaking, and patient. His will being regularly trained, he is resolute and intrepid. All these qualities of body and mind render him as much a useful member of society as a humble supplicant for the dust of the Mother's feet. As for altruism, people thus trained are taught from the very beginning to do good to others. परोपकारव्रतिनां साधूनां किङ्कर: कलि: । " Kali is the slave of those pious men, the rule of whose life is to do good to others," says the Tantra.

Now let us pass to the study of the path of cessation, called the path of Nivrtti. Those whose minds have become sattvik by the reduction of their rajasik desires through practice on the path of desire, and those fortunate few whose past lives have prepared them for it, are the fit Adhikaris⁷⁴ on the Nivrtti path. The Hindu Sastras, whether Vaidik or Tantrik, regard Adhikara or personal competency as the most important factor in determining the mode of culture to be prescribed for a candidate. The Guru must test the mental calibre, moral proclivity, and physical aptitude of his would-be disciple (sisya), and must point out to him that path for which he is the most suited.

Sadhakas on the path of cessation of desire are divided into two classes - viz., those who are yet bound by the ties and conventionalities of the world, and those who have got rid of, or are resolved to get rid of, them. Their methods of culture are different. The ties and conventions are called Pasa - that is, fetters. They are eight in number, as the Kularnava Tantra says:

घृणा लज्जा भयं शोको जुगुप्सा चाथ पञ्चमी ।
कुलं शीलं तथा जातिरष्टौ पाशा: प्रकीर्तिता: ॥

कुलार्णवतन्त्रम् ।

“Aversion, shame, fear, grief, disgust, family, custom, and caste; these are declared as fetters."

I need hardly point out that there is hardly one among a million who can say that he is free from these fetters. And there are but few who struggle to sail clear of them. My task is to study the Sadhana of Adhikaris of the former class. This Sadhana may be roughly, though not exhaustively, classed under four heads: 1. Sandhya, or obligatory daily service. 2. Upasana, or worship. 3. Satcakrabheda. 4. Mudra Sadhana. The first two of these will form the subject of this section.

In Patanjali's Yoga Sastra eight methods are laid down as modes of self-culture for realizing the True Self. They are: 1. Constant practice, and Vairagya or that state of mind which is proof against worldly attrac¬tions and repulsions. 2. Worship of the manifested God. 3. Pranayama, or regulation of breath. 4. Concentration of mind on any one of the objects of the senses.⁷⁵ 5. Concentration in the heart-lotus. 6. Concentra¬tion with a mind free from desires.⁷⁶ 7. Concentration on the particular image of the Godhead worshipped by the Sadhaka, as it appears in the dream-state, and on the Sattvik nature of the mind in dreamless sleep. 8. Meditation on any object of liking.

Excepting Nos. 4 and 6, which are particular modes of concentration practised by Tantriks in Satcakrabheda⁷⁷ and secret worship,⁷⁸ the Tantrik Upasana includes all these and much more. I shall first take up the last, about which much misconception seems to prevail. The original text is:

यथाभिमतघ्यानाद्वा ।

“And by meditation on any object of liking" (the being copulative and not alternative).

Vyisa's commentary on the above aphorism is:

यदेवाभिमतं तदेव ध्यायेत्, तत्र लब्धस्थितिकमन्यत्राषि स्थितिपदं लभते ।

"Whatever may be the object of one's liking, let him meditate upon that. If the mind settles upon that particular object, it may settle also elsewhere."

This aphorism does not give unbridled licence to practise concentra¬tion upon any object at random. There are people who have very pronounced predilections for particular objects which they are unable to ignore. It is for these people that the above wholesome advice is given. An anecdote may here be related in illustration of this. Once upon a time there lived a very pious King, who was earnest upon giving a religious training to his son. He repaired to a famous Yogi for whom he enter¬tained great respect. After the usual exchange of greetings the King said: " Mahatman! If you please, I should like to have my son initiated by your Holiness." " Very well, my son," replied the Yogi, " send him hither." The King, very much gratified, prostrated himself before the holy man, and sped homeward. The day after the royal scion appeared before the Yogi, and paid his obeisance. " God bless you, child; Live¬ here, and make yourself comfortable," said the Yogi to him.

The royal youth, however, found not much in the Yogi's Asrama (hermitage) to comfort him, but the wild scene, the beautiful rivulet, the ravine, and the birds' song made captive his heart. For three or four days he was found to enjoy Nature, but in the midst of his enjoyment he was observed suddenly to sigh and become pensively meditative. One day the Yogi asked him: "Child, what ails you?" "Sir," replied the Prince, I have a beautiful young elephant at home, which I love with all my heart. Its absence pains me." " Very well I shall send for it," said the holy man. The day after the young elephant was brought. The Prince's joy knew no bounds; he began to caress it, kiss it. The Yogi said " Child, the first lesson I give you is to forget everything else and to con¬centrate your mind upon this young elephant." " I obey," said the Prince. A year after the Yogi inquired: " Well, how far have you pro¬gressed? " The Prince said: " I have not yet been successful." The Yogi encouraged him to persevere. Two years rolled on. One day the Prince appeared before the Yogi, and said: " Holy Father, my mind is completely lost in the image of the young elephant. I see it everywhere. There is nothing else in the world to captivate my mind." “ Sarvamangala⁷⁹ bless you, my child, you have quickly won the battle. Come now and be initiated in the Mantra of your Istadevata."⁸⁰ So saying, the holy one put the Prince on the path.

The reader will thus find that the choice of the object of concentra¬tion does not depend upon individual caprice. If the mind be so weak that it cannot readily part with its predilections, it is by a regulated exer¬cise of those predilections that the ever-roving mind is settled. It is but a temporary arrangement for rare cases. To reduce the mind to a focus is a task of great magnitude, perhaps of a whole life. Nothing should be allowed to be identified with the mind except a Divine image - that is, a form in which Divinity incarnates, and for this plain reason that what a man thinks upon that he becomes. If one concentrates upon a glass ball, a glass ball shall he become. Says Lord Sri Krsna:

ये यथा मां प्रपद्यन्ते तांस्तथैव भजाम्यहम् ।

In the Tantrik Mantra the worshipper finds an image of the Incarna¬tion of the Divinity, not a dead image, a shadow, but an image which, by Sadhana, can be conjured up into the Divinity itself, the spiritual power inherent in the Mantra fortifying the will-power of the Sadhaka to produce this result. From the very outset a Sadhaka is enjoined to fill his mind with the thought that he and the Divinity are one and the same. The realization of सोऽहम् (I am He) is the aim and end of his worship.

The Tantrik Sandhya is an obligatory service, which must be per¬formed thrice a day - at dawn, at noon, and at sunset. It opens with a Mantra, which reminds the worshipper that his individual self is really no other than the one Self, manifested in the universe as the male and the female Power. The Matrka Saktis are then brought into requisition to render his body and mind active with their soul-inspiring energy. The worshipper pays homage to the Devas, Rsis, Pitrs, to his Guru,⁸¹ and to humanity. With a libation of water he declares: मनुष्यांस्तर्पयामि - that is “ I gratify mankind."

As the Divine Mother is in everything and everything is in Her, service to every living being, whether human or not, is a part of his religion.

Meditation, concentration, Pranayama, and Japa are the principal features of Sandhya. The object of Pranayama is to bring the involuntary act of breathing under control, and suspend its action at the will of the Sadhaka. The constituents of the subtle body are the vital air, the sen¬sorium and the mind. The latter is intimately connected with breath. The breath serves as an instrument to introduce the mind to the world without. If one can regulate the breath, he can control the otherwise uncontrollable mind. The more one learns this art, the more is his will¬power developed, the more is he enabled to concentrate his mind upon a particular object, and the more do his passions cease. As breath is the measure of life, and not days, years, and months, the Sadhaka's span of life is prolonged, and his body is rendered immune to diseases. Life is a resultant of the kinetic karmik forces of a man in his previous birth. The karmic forces, either potential or kinetic, become a part of the mental sheath of the reincarnating Ego along with its sensorium and vital power, which latter is manifested in the body as breath. Breath is the nexus which joins the body with the mind. Control it, and you control the dalliance of the mind with the external world through the body. Prana¬yama is, therefore, an indispensable aid to meditation, concentration, and the development of will-power.

In his commentary on verse 7, chap. ii, of the Svetasvatara Upanisad, Sankaracarya quotes from Sruti:

प्राणायामविशुद्धात्मा यस्मात् पश्यति तत्परम् ।
तस्मान्नात: परं किंचित् प्राणायादिति श्रुति: ॥

"‘The soul being purified by Pranayama realizes Parabrahman, hence there is nothing higher than Pranayama,' thus says Sruti."

He then says:

"First, Yajnas and other works should be performed, then Pranayama, etc.; then Communion, then knowledge of Vedantic teaching, and then liberation."

Then, in his commentary on verse 8 of the same chapter, he says: " Because the man, the impurities of whose mind have been cleansed by Pranayama is able to concentrate his mind on Brahman, therefore Prana¬yama is introduced (in this Upanisad). At first the nerves should be puri¬fied, and after that one becomes fit to practise Pranayama." The Svetasvatara Upanisad says (chap. ii, verse 9):

प्राणान् प्रपीड्येह संयुक्तचेष्ट: क्षीणे प्राणे नासिकयोच्छ्वसीत ।
दुष्टाश्वयुक्तमिव वाहमेनं विद्वान् मनो धारयेताप्रमत्त: ॥

"A wise man should skillfully regulate his breath. When the Prana becomes feeble it should be let off through the nostrils in small quantities. When one thus becomes gradually accustomed to holding the breath, the mind, like a chariot drawn by unruly horses - that is, senses - becomes fixed and fitted for Brahma Jnana " (knowledge of the Brahman).

In Chapter XIV, Skandha XI, of Srimad Bhagavata, in answer to Uddhava's question as to how one who desires mukti (liberation) should contemplate Him, Bhagavan says: " Sitting at ease upon an Asana (seat), neither high nor low, with the body erect, keeping the palms of the hands one upon another upon the lap, one should fix his eyes upon the tip of his nose; then, governing all the senses, the path of breath should be cleansed by Puraka (drawing in the breath), Kumbhaka (hold¬ing it) and Recaka (giving it out). Having by Pranayama drawn the senses from their respective objects, practice should also be made by degress in an opposite direction. The sound ओं (Om) in the heart, which is like a continuous bell-sound, should be drawn upwards by Pranayama, and then Bindu should be placed upon it. In this wise Pranayama, with ओं (Om), should be practised ten times in each of the three Sandhyas. By doing this the breath is conquered within a month."

It will thus be seen that the Upanisads, the Puranas, and the Tantras with one voice proclaim the supreme importance of Pranayama in self-¬culture. It is, however, the Tantra which has preserved the knowledge of the mode of practice of this noble art, and it is the Tantriks who can teach it. Sankaracarya, in his commentary above quoted, mentions नाडिशुद्धि, or purification of the Nadis,⁸² as a condition precedent to practising Pra¬nayama. I believe the Tantriks are the only Gurus who know how to do it. Pranayama is essential in Sandhya, Upasana, and Satcakra Sadhana. But it must be learnt very cautiously and with the help of a Guru. As it has to be learnt by degrees it forms an essential part of daily service.

Sandhya is mental exercise. The image of the Divine Mother, which is potential in the worshipper's Ista-Mantra⁸³ and described in what is generally known as Dhyana (Contemplation), must be done in the mind. The mental image thus arising should be identified with the all-pervading Divine Mother, and concentration practised upon it.

Dhyana (meditation) is of two kinds, Suksma and Sthula - that is, supersensuous and sensuous,

स्थूलसूक्ष्मविभेदेन ध्यानं तु द्विविधं भवेत् ।
सूक्ष्मं मन्त्रमयं देहं स्थूलं विग्रहचिन्तनम् ॥
करणादोदरस्यापि रूपं यत् स्थूलविग्रहम् ।
सूक्ष्मं च प्रकृते रूपं परं ज्ञानमयं स्मृतम् ॥
सूक्ष्मं च प्रकृते रूपं परं ज्ञानमयं स्मृतम् ॥
स्थूलध्यानं महेशानि कृत्वा मोक्षमवाप्नुयात् ।

यामलतन्त्रम् ।

ध्यानं तु द्विविधं प्रोक्तं सरूपारूपभेदत: ।
अरूपं तव यद्ध्यानमवाङ्भनसगोचरम् ।
अव्यक्तं सर्वतो व्याप्तमिदमित्थं विवर्जितम् ॥
अगम्यं योगिभिर्गम्यं कृत्स्नैर्बहुसमाधिभि: ।
मनसो धारणार्थाय शीघ्रं स्वाभीष्टसिद्धये ।
सूक्ष्मध्यानं पुरोधाय स्थूलध्यानं वदामि ते ॥

महानिर्वाणतन्त्रम् ।

The Yamala says:

"Dhyana is of two kinds, Sthula (gross) and Suksma (subtle). Suksma, or supersensuous, is Thy sound-body (मन्त्रमयं देहम्); Sthula is meditation on Thy image, which is made up of hands, feet, etc. Thy Suksmarupa (subtle form) is the Jnanamaya (conscious) body of Prakrti. ¬O Mahesvari! The supersensuous seldom arises in the mind; therefore one should concentrate his mind on the Sthula form and attain Moksa (liberation)."

The Mahanirvana Tantra says:
“ Dhyana is of two kinds, Sarupa (having visible image) and Arupa (not having visible image). Thy Arupa Dhyana is beyond the cognizance of speech and mind; it is unmanifested, all-pervading, incapable of being pointed out as 'this' or ‘that'. Yogis alone can cognize it by long Samadhi (ecstasy). I relate to you Sthula Dhyana, so that Sadhakas being hopeful of Suksma Dhyana may practise it by fixing the mind upon it for the attainment of the object of their desire."

In the Dawn-Sandhya the Divine Mother must be contemplated in the root-lotus as the Creative Power, symbolized by a maiden having a string of beads in Her right hand and a jar filled with water in Her left, riding on a white swan. The white swan is the Hamsa of philosophy, the vital Power which must needs be Her vehicle for the purpose of creation, for without the vital power creation is impossible. The string of beads symbolizes Japa - that is, meditation on the creation of the previous Kalpa and production of similar sound-forms, which are the substratum of all things sensuous and supersensuous. The jar of water is the " cause-water " (कारणवारि) of philosophy, the protoplasm out of which all bodies are formed.

In the Noon-Sandhya She rides on the King of Birds, Garuda, in the heart-lotus, holding in Her four hands conch, discus, mace, and lotus, and wearing a garland of flowers on Her breast. Garuda is light (which is life as well), the conch is sound, the discus is Avidya or that Power by which creation comes; the mace is the symbol of authority, and the lotus is the universe. She is now the Vaisnavi Sakti, who maintains and nourishes the universe. The garland of flowers symbolizes the countless beings whom She nourishes. The explanations of the symbols given in this and the preceding and succeeding paragraphs are my own. The Srimad-Bhagavata explains the garland as meaning Maya, the mace as denoting the vital Power, the conch as meaning water, the discus as symbolizing light, and the lotus as symbolizing Ananta, or space.

In the Evening-Sandhya She rides the Great Bull (महावृष:) in the white lotus holding a trident in Her right hand and a noose (पाश:) in the left. When the day of Brahma - that is, a Kalpa - comes to a close the bifurcated male and female Powers again meet in equilibrium. This is symbolized by the trident. The noose is Avidya, which She has with¬drawn into Her own hand to repose there until the darkness of Brahma's night is dispelled.

As Creator Her vehicle is Rajasik, as Preserver it is Sattvik, and as Withdrawer of the universe it is Triguna Maya,⁸⁴ the Tamasik Guna predominating. The creative energy is volition (ईच्छाशक्ति:) the preserva¬tive energy is action (क्रियाशक्ति:), and the destructive energy is cognition (ज्ञानशक्ति). These three phases of the all-pervading Sakti must be con¬templated on day by day in order that the Sadhaka may realize what the object of his worship is in manifestation.

The image of the Istadevata must first be formed in the mind by Dhyana. Then the Bija mantra should be repeated, keeping the image in view and withdrawing the mind from all other thoughts. This is called japa.

यस्य यस्य च मन्त्रस्य उद्दिष्टा या च देवता ।
चिन्तयित्वा तदाकार्ं मनसा जपमाचरेत् ॥

भुतशुद्धितन्त्रम् ।

तन्निष्ठस्तद्गतप्राणस्तच्चित्तस्तत्परायण: ।
तत्पदार्थानुसंधानं कुर्वन्मन्त्रं जपेत् प्रिये ॥

कुलार्णवतन्त्रम् ।

The Bhutasuddhi Tantra says
“Meditating on the form of the Devata denoted by the Mantra, Japa should be made in the mind."

The Kularnava Tantra says:

“A mantra should be repeated with faith, devotion, attention, submission, and perception of the Divine image in the mind."

Japa is of three kinds: Vacika (by-audible words), Upangsa (lips and tongue moving, but inaudible to the person making japa), and Manasika (mental; lips and tongue not moving). Japa has the supreme virtue of gradually withdrawing the mind from other thoughts and impressions, and fixing it on the Divine image. When concentration by this means is per¬fected, the consciousness of the Sadhaka is transferred to the Mantra¬devata. This is called Mantra-caitanya (awakening of Mantra) and the Sadhaka is said to have become Mantra-siddha (Mantra-perfect).

It will thus be seen that Sandhya is of the highest efficacy in spiritual culture, and it is on this account that it is obligatory on every Hindu of whatever division of worshippers he be. I have already quoted from the Srimad Bhagavata, which is the scripture of the Vaisnavas, to show the importance of Pranayama and Sandhya. Other quotations from the same Sastra follow:

"One who is desirous of cutting the bondage of I-am-ness of the Jivatma should worship Kesava according to the Tantrik method, which contains in it the Vaidik method as well ".

The man who in this wise worships Isvara in Agni, Surya, water, etc., or in one's own heart, as the Atma, according to the Tantrik Karmayoga, soon attains Mukti (liberation)."

Skandha XI, chap. Iii

"O Uddhava! visiting My image and other symbol, visiting My Bhakta (devotee), . . . Diksa, according to the Vedas and the Tantras . . . these are the signs of Bhakti (devotion) to Me."

Skandha XI, chap. xi

"My worship is of three kinds: Vaidik, Tantrik, and mixed. Which¬ever of these three be to one's liking, let him worship Me by that."

Skandha XI, chap. xxvii "

Saunaka said: O Suta, you are devoted to Bhagavan, you know all the doctrines of Tantra and many other things. I now ask you a question. Narayana, the husband of Sri, is only Cidghana (massive consciousness), but Tantrik Upasakas (worshipper), at the time of worship, attribute limbs, and these and other parts, such as Garuda, etc., weapons such as Sudarsana, and ornaments such as Kaustubha, to Him. Tell me what things (Tattvas) are symbolized by them. I am desirous of knowing Krya yoga.⁸⁵ Therefore, relate to me that skill in Kriya (action) by which men attain Mukti (liberation). Suta said: Saluting my Gurudeva, I relate to you the Vibhutis⁸⁶ of Visnu as stated in the Veda and the Tantra by Brahma and other Acaryas (teachers)."

Skandha XII, chap. xi

These and other like statements should induce my Vaisnava brothers, who are too often apt to assail the Tantra, to abstain from the terrible sin of a patricide.

Upasana is the worship of the Vacya Sakti⁸⁷ through the Vacaka Sakti of a Sadhaka's Istamantra.⁸⁸ If the Istamantra denotes an Avatara⁸⁹ in male body, the worship is regulated in conformity with it; and if the Istamantra denotes a female Avatara the method of worship is of a dif¬ferent type. But the main principles of worship are identical. The Ista¬mantra, or Bija Mantra, as previously stated, denotes two Powers, the Vacaka and the Vacya Sakti. By realizing the Vacaka Sakti, the abstract, unconditioned Paramatma, which is the Vacya Sakti of a Mantra, must be realized, the ultimate goal of all Sadhana being the realization of the One True Self. The Vacaka Sakti is the Manifested God Saguna Isvara, the Sakti of the Tantrik philosophy. We have seen how the one Sakti is bifurcated into male and female Saktis for the purposes of evolution, thus giving expression to Sabdabrahman. We have also seen how our solar system is presided over by seven Lords in its seven planes, each of these Lords being an aspect of Sabdabrahman. In Upasana (worship) the Virata Sarira - that is, the physical body of Sabdabrahman - is the vehicle through which worship is offered. It is the Virata Sarira, which is the ground of all Avataras. The Sahasrasirsa Purusa (thousand-headed Purusa) of the Vedas is the Virat Purusa of philosophy. The five Maha¬bhutas (elements), the ten senses, the five vital airs, Manas (sensorium), Buddhi (intuition), Ahankara (ego), and Citta (mind) constitute the Sarira or body of Sabdabrahman, the plane of whose consciousness is called Jagrata, or waking. Worship begins from this state of Divine consciousness until it reaches the dreaming state, or Svapna. Beyond the dreaming state is Susupti, or slumbering consciousness of Sabdabrahman, where worship ends. It must be remembered that the self-same Sacchida¬nanda is worshipped in different vehicles, even as the selfsame gold is worn as a ring, a chain, a bracelet, and the like.

It will thus be seen that Kali and Visnu are essentially the same, only the vehicles and their characteristic qualities differing. The Tantrik's. predilection for the Divinity in its female form, as the Mother of the Uni¬verse, arises in part from the fact that the mother's heart being softer than that of the father, she is more readily moved in favour of the son than the father. Some no doubt would regard this as a very pronounced instance of anthropomorphism. But in truth it cannot be denied that as the human mother is a spark of the Divine Mother, the qualities of head and heart of the former are but an infinitesimally small expression of similar qualities in the latter. From the bodies of the Divine Father and the Divine Mother proceed all evolutions of body and mind. The human father and the human mother, and all fathers and mothers in the universe, are Amsa-Saktis - that is, individual powers emanating from the Divine Parents, who do not, like the Christian and the Mohammedan God, personally create bodies and souls. The characteristic predominance of emotional qualities in human mothers is an index that it must be so in the Divine Mother; the experience of Sadhakas proves this, and is con¬ceded in the scriptures of Vaisnavas as well.

There is yet a weightier consideration than the above which has won the Tantrik over to the lotus-feet of Mother Kali. The paternal and maternal Saktis, the positive and negative poles, the centrifugal and centripetal forces, are perpetually in harmonious association to evolve and nourish the universe. The Paternal Sakti is ever fecundating, and the Maternal Sakti ever holding the child in her womb and nourishing it. This is the law of Pravrtti (desire) in the universe. When the Divine Mother refuses fecundation and, dominating the Divine Father, asserts Her Will, then is She Mahavidya, then is She Niramayapadonmukhi (facing the state of freedom from sufferings). The milk of Her perennial breast then nourishes the aspirant, and gives him strength to march along the path of Nivrtti (cessation). It is then that She, the Vama, the left-hand consort,⁹⁰ usurps the right-hand place, and, slaying the demon-propensities of Her beloved sons, gives them hope and courage with Her right hand. The Fecundating Father, the source of Pravrtti, falls prostrate under Her feet to avert the destruction of His world. Such is Mahavidya, the Divine Mother, the Lady Paramount of the Path of Nivrtti (path of cessation), whom the Tantrik worships.

Upasana, or worship, is of two kinds, internal and external.

द्विविधं स्याल्लब्धमनोर्बाह्यान्तरमुपासनम् ।
न्यासिनां चान्तरं प्रोक्तमन्येषामुभयं तथा ॥

तन्त्रसंहिता ।

अन्तर्याग इति प्रोक्तो जीवतो मुक्तिदायक: ।
मुनीनां च मुमुक्षूणामधिकारोऽत्र केवलम् ।
अथवा मानसैर्द्रव्यै: प्रकटेनापि पूजयेत् ॥

गौतमीयतन्त्रम् ।

"Upasana (worship) of the initiated is of two kinds - internal and external. Internal worship is ordained for Sannyasis, and both internal and external for others."

Tantra Samhita

" Antaryaga, or internal worship, gives Mukti (liberation) even to a living Sadhaka. Only Mumuksus or Munis (sages) bent upon Mukti are entitled to it. The Sadhakas, who are incapable of Antaryaga, should perform it like external Puja (worship) with mental offerings."

Gautamiya Tantra

Antaryaga is based entirely upon a direct knowledge of the Power-¬centres or Cakras in the human body. The Sadhaka, having awakened Kula-Kundalini in the root-chakra, takes Her up, with the help of the vital air, from centre to centre, until the thousand-petalled centre in the crown of the head is reached; there the male and female Powers are brought together in blissful union. The Sadhaka having enjoyed this temporary bliss, which vitalizes his body and mind, transfers his consciousness to the heart-centre, in the ethereal space of which he forms the mental image of the Divine Mother as it is expressed in his Bija-mantra. When the image has been thus formed, the mind is concentrated upon it with firm faith and devotion. When the image is portrayed upon the canvas of the mind with all the details of limbs and organs, as if it were ¬a painting, the Sadhaka offers his sacrifices:

हृत्पद्मासनं दद्यात सहस्रारच्युताभृतै: ॥
पाद्यं चरणयोर्दद्यान्मनसार्ध्यं निवेदयेत् ॥
तेनामृतेनाचमनं स्नानीयमपि कल्पयेत् ।
आकाशतत्त्वं वसनं गन्धं तु गन्धतत्त्वकम् ॥
चित्तं प्रकल्पयेत् पुष्पं धूपं प्रानान् प्रकल्पयेत् ।
तेजस्तत्त्वं च दीपार्थे नैवेद्यं च सुधांबुधिम् ॥
अनाहतध्वनिं घण्टां वायुतत्त्वं च चामरम् ।
नृत्यमिन्द्रयकर्माणि चाञ्चल्यं मनसस्तथा ॥
पुप्पं नानाविधं दद्यादात्मनो भावसिद्धये ।
अमायामनहंकारमरागममदं तथा ॥
अमोहमदम्भं च अद्वेषाक्षोभके तथा ।
अमात्सर्यमलोभ्ं च दशपुष्पं प्रकीर्तितम् ॥
अहिंसा परमं पुष्पं पुष्पमिन्द्रियनिग्रहम् ।
दयाक्षमाज्ञानपुष्पं पञ्चपुष्पं तत: परम् ॥
इति पञ्चदशैर्पुष्पैर्भावपुष्पै: प्रपूजयेत् ॥

“ Give the heart-lotus as the seat; give the nectar flowing from the thousand-petalled lotus for the washing of the feet: dedicate the mind (Manas) as Arghya (offering). For washing the face and for bathing give the same nectar. Give ether (Akasa) as clothing; the principle of smell for odour; the mind (Citta) for flower; the vital airs (Pranas) as incense; the principle of light (Tejas) as the lamp; the ocean of nectar for food; the sound called Anahata (inaudible sound in the heart-lotus) as the bell (ghanta); the principle of air as fan and fly whisk (Camara); the actions of the senses, as well as the restlessness of the mind, as dancing. For the realization of divine thought give diverse flowers: freedom from delusion, egotism, attachment, spiritual insensibility, pride, arrogance, enmity, perturbance, envy, and greed - freedom from all these are called the ten flowers. The supreme flower of Ahimsa (non-injury of any living thing), the flower of subjugation of the senses and the flowers of pity, forgiveness; and knowledge - these are the five flowers. With these fifteen flowers formed of sentiments (bhavas) should a worship be performed."

After offering this mental sacrifice to his Istadevata standing before his mental eye in the heart-lotus, the Sadhaka makes mental japa:

माला वर्णमयी प्रोक्ता कुण्डलीसूत्रयन्त्रिता

"The rosary is said to be formed of Varnas, or sound-powers, strung together by the thread Kundali. "

The fifty severed heads of men which make up the necklace of Mother Kali must be replaced mentally by the fifty sound Powers (Varnas), strung together by Kulakundalini as thread, and the Bija Mantra is repeated with the help of this rosary. He then performs mental Homa. The Nitya Tantra says:

ज्ञानहोमविधिं वक्ष्ये शृणु सर्वाङ्गसुन्दरि ।
यस्य विज्ञानमात्रेण कर्ता हर्ता सदाशिव: ॥
आत्मेति चतुरश्रं तु विचिन्त्य वीरवन्दिते ।
आत्मान्तरात्मा परमज्ञानात्मा परमेश्वरि ।
चतुर्भिरेतैर्देवेशि कुर्यात्तु चतुरश्रकम् ॥
अर्धमात्रां योनिरूपां कुण्डमध्ये विचिन्तयेत् ।
आनन्दं मेखलां कुर्यात् त्रिरेखाबलयस्तथा ॥
ज्ञानाग्निं तत्र देवेशि योजयेत् कुलभैरव: ।
शब्दाख्यं मातृकारूपं संविदाग्नौ ततो हुनेत् ॥
अक्षराणीह मे देवि नि:शब्दं ब्रह्म जायते ॥
पुण्यं पापं विकल्पं च संकल्पं वीरवन्दिते ।
कृत्यं च कृत्यमीशानि हर्वीण्येतानि पार्वति ॥
चिन्तयेन्मूलविद्यां च जुहुयान्मनसा श्रुचा ।
तदा संविन्मय: साक्षात् परं ब्रह्मपदं व्रजेत् ॥

" O All-beautiful One! I tell you the ritual of Jnana-homa (homa of knowledge), give ear unto me. By knowing it one becomes Sadasiva, the Creator and Destroyer. The quadrangular Vedi (altar) is made of Atma (individual soul), Antaratma (the manifested God), Paramatma (the Divine Mother), and Jnanatma (the Absolute). The Ardhamatra (Kundalini) should be considered the Yoni of the Homa-pit; the Mekhala of the Vedi (altar), that is to say, the line which encircles it as if by a waist-chain, should be thought of as consisting of Ananda (bliss); and the other three lines on the Vedi should be taken as its three Balis, that is to say, beauty-lines on the abdomen. The Kula-bhairava - that is the Yogi - should kindle in it the fire of knowledge (Jnana); then the forms of the Matrka-sounds should be sacrificed in the fire of Jnana, by which the sounds become Soundless Brahman. O the Adored of Viras! Merits, demerits, desires, doubts, action, inaction and Prakrti should be sacrificed by the mental spoon. Thus one becomes full of Jnana, and Parabrahman Itself."

From the above description of subjective Upasana, it will have been seen that only such highly developed Yogis and devotees are capable of it as have attained Samprajnata Samadhi, or Temporary Com¬munion, in which the knower and the known are distinguished. It is the last stage of Upasana, a thin veil only separating the individual Atma from the universal Atma. Such Yogis are the product of ages of culture.

Sadhakas, whose mental image is not so well defined and who cannot make it steady for any length of time, must form an objective image, exactly in the likeness of the subjective image, and worship their Istadevata in it. They must, however perform mental Upasana first as best as they can, and then vitalize and energize the external image. By establishing a magnetic current between himself and the image before him, the mentally vitalized image is communicated to it. The external image is no longer a mere doll; it is the Istadevata Herself. Between the Sadhaka's faith and will, on the one side, and his Mantra-power, on the other, a change, so to say, takes place in the inanimate image. It is Mantra-Sakti which is alone capable of performing this wonderful change and of rendering worship in images possible.

The Kularnava Tantra says:

गवां सर्वाङ्गजक्षीरं स्रवेत् स्तनमुखात् यथा ।
तथा सर्वगतो देव: प्रतिमादिषु राजते ॥
आभिरूप्याच्च बिम्बस्य पूजायां च विशेषत: ।
साधकस्य च विश्वासाद्देवतासंनिधिर्भवेत् ॥

कुलर्णवतन्त्रम्

"As milk, which is produced in every limb of the cow, flows out through the udders, so the all-pervading Devata manifests Herself in external images, etc. By the similitude of the external image to the mantrik image, by the speciality of the Puja, and by the faith of the Sadhaka, the Devata manifests himself."

Pranapratistha (enlivening) thus accomplished, the Sadhaka worships the Divine Mother, rapt in devotion and love. He has now no great difficulty in concentrating his mind upon the visible Istadevata. He makes meditation (Dhyana) and recitation (Japa) before this living image as long as he is capable of it. He offers flowers, incense, sweet-scents, the choicest eatables, valuable cloths and ornaments to his beloved Mother, who accepts them all. Thus, practising day by day, his restless mind begins gradually to compose itself, finding better and purer happiness in the Lotus Feet of the Divine Mother than in all that the world can offer him. Thus, learning to taste of celestial happiness, true Vairagya (dispas-sion) towards worldly happiness engrosses his mind. A man might spend a dozen lives in discrimination as to what is permanent and what is not so, yet Vairagya would be as far off from him as the mirage in a sandy desert; for, according to Vedanta Nitya-anitya-vicara, or discrimination between what is permanent and what is transient, does not unfold itself in a mind which has not been purified by worship (Upasana). To try to be indifferent to worldly happiness without Upasana is to put the cart before the horse.

The more the mind composes itself by external worship, the more abiding becomes the mental image. When, by this means, the state of Samadhi, or ecstasy, is reached, the external image is no longer required.

After finishing his worship, the Sadhaka, by a process known as Samharamudra, withdraws the vitality communicated to the image, which then becomes a mere material image, fit to be thrown away.

External Upasana is not mere prayer and praise and offering of food and drink. The Bhakta's (devotee's) mind cannot rest satisfied without singing the praise of his beloved Mother; the more he sings Her praise, the more his mind is elevated towards Her. The Mantra-power helps him to make his offerings acceptable. In the Gita the Lord says that he accepts flowers, leaves, etc., offered to Him with Bhakti (devotion). But how are such offerings to be communicated to Him unless the offerer and the image through which He is worshipped are en rapport?

The Tantra here steps in and solves the question. Prayer, praise, and offerings apart, the most important features of Upasana are: (1) Bhutasuddhi (purification of the elements constituting the subtle body). (2) Nyasa (the placing of the Matrka sounds and Bija Mantras on different parts of the body). (3) Pranayama, or breath control. (4) Meditation (Dhyana). (5) Mental worship. (6) Japa, or recitation of Mantra. The first is accomplished either by Yoga process or by means of a particular Mantra. The object of this is to purify the mind of its good and evil tendencies which have rendered the Ego a body-bound, selfish, small thing. The worshipper, in doing this purificatory rite, must think that, for the time being, his Karmik body has been purified, that he (the true self - that is, Atma) now wears the mantle of Kulakundalini (the body of the Sound Spiritual), and that, therefore, he is no other than the object of worship himself. Being Deva himself, he worships Deva, thus realizing the Vaidik saying:

ब्रह्मार्पणं ब्रह्महविर्ब्रह्माग्नौ ब्रह्मणाहुतम् ।
ब्रह्मैव तेन गन्तव्यं ब्रह्मकर्मसमाधिना ॥

भगवद्गीता ।

“ Brahman the oblation, Brahman the clarified butter, are offered in Brahman the fire by Brahman; unto Brahman verily shall he go who in his action meditates wholly upon Brahman."

The object of the second rite (Nyasa) is to render the body spirit¬ualized by the sound and Mantra Powers.

The rest (3, 4, 5, and 6) have been dealt with in their proper places. It is by spiritualizing the body and the mind, and by devoutly think¬ing himself to be a part of the Unity, that a Sadhaka must perform his worship, which is, in fact, more subjective than objective. Without these essentials, Upasana would be like royalty without territory. To withdraw the mind from external attractions and repulsions and to consecrate it to the Divine Mother, Pranayama, Dhyana, and Japa are essential.

Upasana has many subsidiary elements in it, upon which it is not necessary here to dwell, as they are not likely to interest the general reader; they are, however, all-important, and should not be eliminated by an earnest Sadhaka from his Sadhana.

Hindu society has been so constituted by the Rsis of Vaidik antiquity that it is not enough that every member of it is a good citizen. One ¬should not only be a good citizen, but a good individual; and not only a good individual, but a God-loving individual withal. Such is the end and aim of Varnasrama Dharma (caste-system of Hinduism).

Caste is not only a civil rule, but a religious ordinance as well. Society was so framed that it worked automatically to supply the material and spiritual wants of its members. Hindu society being thus constituted, every member of it is bound to be initiated, either according to his own choice, or according to the form of religion of his ancestors. The Hindus are generally either Vaisnavas or Saktas. The mode of Upasana, briefly sketched above, is too high for the average Sakta Hindu, who must practise Sandhya and Upasana with devotion and faith, so that in the long run he may be prepared for the path.

Spiritual self-culture, is pre-eminently Sattvik.⁹¹ The passions, pro¬pensities, attachments, aversions and all those creations of Rajas and Tamas⁹² which chain man down to earth and to things earthly, must be gradually but effectually washed off and the mind rendered perfectly Sattvik. The Upasana, above described, is Sattvik in all its forms. Those, therefore, who, though governed by the laws of their caste (Varna) and stage of life (Asrama), which is called Varnasrama Dharma, yet infringe them, and under cover of religious practice unlawfully eat, drink, and sexually enjoy for the gratification of their senses, are condemned by Siva in the passage which the author of the Saktananda Tarangini quotes from the Agamasamhita on the subject of false Tantras (Asadagama):

कलौ प्रायेण देवेशि राजसास्तामसास्तथा ।
निषिद्धाचरणा: सन्तो मोहयन्त्यपरान् बहून् ॥
आवाभ्यां पिशितं र्क्त सुरां चैव सुरेश्वरि ।
वर्णाश्रमोचितं धर्ममविचार्यापर्यन्ति ये ।
भूतप्रेतपिशाचास्ते भवन्ति ब्रह्मराक्षसा: ॥
इति असदागमस्य निन्दामाह शिव:।

“ O Devi! in the Kali Yuga most of the Rajasik and Tamasik people, having adopted prohibited practices, delude many others. O Suresvari! those who, regardless of Varnasrama Dharma, offer us flesh, blood, and wine, are (various forms of) evil spirits."⁹³

I believe, however, that more than half of Hindu India is Sakta, and I can safely assert that 90 per cent of them are free from reproach in respect of the violation of true Sastric principles and practice.

एशोऽन्तरात्मा चेतसा वेदितव्यो यस्मन् प्राण: पञ्चधा संविवेश ।
प्राणैश्चित्तं सर्वमोतं प्रजानां यस्मिन् विशुद्धे विभवत्येष आत्मा ॥
मुण्डकोपनिषत् ।

In the above quotation from the Mundakopanisad it is said:

" This subtle Paramatma can only be known by the mind, within the body, where the five vital airs reside. The minds of all are pervaded by the vital airs. The Paramatma manifests Himself in the mind when it is purified."

The Ego must clothe itself with eight millions of bodies, from the stone to the animal, before it can be fit to assume the human form. There is, however, no knowing how many births and rebirths in each class of bodies it must undergo before it can adapt itself to the next higher body. Ages untold and births unnumbered at last usher the journeying Ego into the human body - the most perfect of all bodies cognizable by the senses. The Ego itself is but a body, a Suksma Sarira - ¬that is, a subtle body, consisting of the vital airs, the sensorium, and the mind. This bundle of very fine “ matter," unlike its gross sheath, which decomposes and decays at short intervals, persists from the creation to the final dissolution of the universe. It has a causal body (Karana Sarira) within itself, which is composed of a homogeneous finer "matter". The experiences of countless births and re-births are stored up in the subtle body, and very fine impressions of those experiences are stamped upon the causal body. The one immutable Atma, pervading and containing all existences, is made a captive, as it were, in each subtle body, from which circumstance it acquires its Egoity. The unconditioned Atma being thus conditioned, the pleasures and the pains, the happiness and the misery of the body are attributed to it; this is the work of Nature's great housewife called Avidya (ignorance). When, however, the Ego acquires the human body, which is the most perfect of Sthula Sariras - that is, gross bodies - it is blessed with the opportunity of making a pilgrimage to its primeval source, and (dissolving the compact subtle body) of uniting Atma with Atma. It needs ages of self-culture to accomplish this Paramatma (supreme object); but a beginning must be made by every human being.

Avidya, the most expert and cunning housewife, has ten thousand arts and wiles to captivate her children. Like Rassellas, they must not be allowed to peep beyond the lofty ramparts of the happy valley. She has provided every creature comfort for her children. People, charmed by her unceasing attentions, quite forget their real Mother, Vidya (knowledge), and hug the other with all the devotion of dutiful children.

To save humanity from their pseudo-mother, Divinity from time to time incarnates and sends His chosen sons to teach them. It is by this means that man acquires the knowledge of his real state, and learns that he has a true Mother, who alone can save him from the glamour of Avidya.

In this golden land of Divine Rsis, the land whence Divine knowledge radiated to all other lands, the path to Vidya was made an art and divided into different progressive grades. The curriculum consists of Varnasrama Dharma⁹⁴ (for full particulars of which the reader is referred to my Bengali book on the subject), external and internal worship, and Yoga. Varnasrama Dharma is the ground whereon the first battle must be fought with Avidya. It is the place where the Ego must put chains around the neck of Avidya so that she may not lead people wheresoever she may choose. It is here that man gets the first glimpse of his real Mother Vidya. External worship further girds up the Ego to cope with Avidya. By these two means the Ego gradually learns to feel that it has a real Father and Mother; to find out, to worship, to love, and to know whom is the end and aim of its being. When the conviction of its necessity grows irresistible, the Ego determines to make the pilgrimage. But where is the grand trunk road over which it must wend its way.

From the text of the Mundakopanisad, which opens this section, it will be seen that the Divinity has to be sought within the body of the Sadhaka. Although the Divine Essence is immanent in everything in the Kosmos, the body of the Sadhaka, which is a part of the Kosmos, is the place where he can best find it, for the mind, which has to make the search, and the apparatus, with which the search has to be made, are located in the body; besides, the body is a Microcosm, containing within it the seven centres of Power and the seven presiding Lords mentioned in the second section. The seven centres are seven planes of evolution, and over each plane there is a presiding Deity, who directs and controls its work.

The Universe, according to Tantra, consists of a single Mahabrah¬manda, or grand universe, and numberless Brhat Brahmandas, or great universes. From the seven planes of the grand universe are evolved innumerable great worlds each one of which is also divided into seven planes. Each planet, each satellite, each star, and every living entity in each world is itself a world in miniature, and has within it - the seven centres of Power and the seven presiding Deities.

The Nirvana Tantra says:

महाब्रह्माण्डमध्ये तु बृहद्ब्रह्माण्डमेव च ।
तन्मध्ये जन्तवो देवि तन्मध्ये भुवनानि च ॥

“ O Devi! within the Mahabrahmanda is Brhat Brahmanda; within it are beings and regions."

महाब्रह्माण्डके यद्यत् प्रकारं परमेश्वरि ।
तत्तत् सर्वं हि देवेशि बृहद्ब्रह्माण्डमध्यत: ॥

" O Paramesvari! O Devesi! all varieties of beings and things which are in the Mahabrahmanda are also within the Brhat Brahmanda."

ब्रह्माण्डास्तत्र जायन्ते लक्षं लक्षं सुलोचने ।

" O beautiful-eyed one! hundreds of thousands of Brahmandas (universes) are evolved within it (Mahabrahmanda)."

A vivid description of Brhat Brahmanda is given in the same Tantra. But as it is very long, I am reluctantly compelled to resist the temptation to quote it. I shall, however, place before the reader its salient points. The Brhat Brahmanda, or Macrocosm, has its Meru or vertebral column extending longitudinally from top to bottom. At the top is situated Satya Loka, and at the bottom Avici. Between Satya Loka and Avici lie the other six Lokas (worlds or regions) and the other six nether regions, altogether making up fourteen Bhuvanas or regions. Within the Meru reside the Gods - that is, the Powers which preside over the fourteen Bhuvanas. The centres of Power within the Meru are:

1. Adhara⁹⁵ Cakra, which is also called Brahma-Padma (Brahma-lotus). It is just above the seven nether regions. The element earth is within its anther. The seat of Kama (desire) is there. Within the seat of Kama is the male Deity, Svayambhu Linga, and the female Deity, Kulakundalini. The Creator Brahma resides in the element earth. His female Consort is called Savitri. This is the causal Bhurloka. Here resides the Spiritual Sun.

2. Bhima Padma, or lotus, or Svadhisthana Cakra. The element water is within its anther. Visnu resides here with His consort. It is the causal Bhuvarloka in which the heaven of Visnu, called Vaikuntha, is situated. On the right of Vaikuntha is Goloka, where Visnu assumes the form of a two-handed being with a flute in his hand. Here he is associated with the female Power Radhika.

3. Manipura Padma. The element fire is within its anther. Rudra resides here with his consort Bhadra Kali. This is the causal Svarloka.

4. Anahata Padma. The element air is within its anther. Isvara resides here with his consort Bhuvanesvari. Isvara is the overlord of the three previous Lokas and their Lokapalas - viz., Brahma, Visnu, and Siva. This is the causal Maharloka.

5. Visuddha Padma. The element ether, or Akasa, is in its anther. The presiding Deity is half-male and half-female, called Ardhanarisvara, or Mahagauri, and Sadhasiva, whose Vahana (carrier) is an animal, which is half-bull and half-lion. This is the causal Jana Loka.

6. Ajna, or Jnana Padma. There is no element, but the universal Manas (sensorium) is the seed here. The Deities are Parasiva and his consort Siddha Kali. This the causal Tapa Loka. Here resides the Spiritual Moon.

7. Sahasrara Padma. This is the region of the First cause, the cause of the six previous causes; it is duality in unity described in the second section. This is the Satya Loka.

These are the seven Lokas, or regions, of the Brhat Brahmanda.

The reader will note that they are within the Meru. We have heard of a Meru of the earth, a mountain situated just where there is a depression on the orange-shaped planet of ours. This mountain is said to be a hollow, vertical column of stone, which externally holds the earth fast, and internally contains the centres in which the Devas - that is, the presiding septenary Gods - reside. This idea of Meru must be magnified and transferred to the Meru of the Brhat Brahmanda with a view to form a notion of what is meant by it.

It must be noted that the Kosmic Kundalini is vehicled by Triguna Prakrti⁹⁶ in Satya Loka, where She is called Maha Kundali, and by the eight primary divisions, [earth, water, fire, air, ether, manas (sensorium), Buddhi (mind), and Ahankara (I-am-ness)], of Prakrti in Bhurloka, where She is called Kulakundali. The highest and the lowest of the centres of Power are both guarded by Kundalini in Her two aspects. As in the Muladhara, so in the Sahasrara Padma She covers the cleft in the male Power with her hood. She coils up round the Universe with Her tail within Her mouth, having the inverted triangles within Her coils. The Theosophical Society has adopted this symbol from the Tantras. The triangles, as the Tantrik symbol of the male and the female Divinity, being well known, it is not necessary to quote Tantra to prove it; but as it is not generally known that the serpent lying with its tail within its mouth is a Tantrik symbol, I quote the following from the Siva Samhita:

पश्चिमाभिमुखी योनि: गुदमेढ्रान्तरालगा ।
तत्र कन्दं समाख्यातं तत्रास्ति कुण्डली सदा ॥
संवेष्ट्य सकला नाडी: सार्धत्रिकुटिलाकृति: ।
मुखे निवेश्य सा पुच्छं सुषुम्नाविवरे स्थिता ॥

शिवसंहिता ।

" Between the anus and the generative organ is the Yoni, having its mouth downwards. There is what is called the root. Kundali is always there. Encircling all the nerves with her body of three and a half coils (and) with her tail in her mouth, She lies within the cavity of the Susumna nerve."

As the Macrocosm has in it centres of Power, so has the Microcosm. The Nirvana Tantra says:

ब्रह्मपद्मे पृथिव्यां तु वर्तन्ते मानुषादय: ।
ते सर्वे देवि ब्रह्माण्डास्तन्मध्ये भुवनानि च ॥
पातालसप्तकं तत्र तत्रैव स्वर्गसप्तकम् ।
एवं चक्रे सर्वदेहे भुवनानि चतुर्दश ॥
प्रतिदेहं परेशनि ब्रह्माण्डं नात्र संशय: ॥

निर्वाणतन्त्रम् ।

“ Within the Brahma Padma, the earth, are men and other beings. O Devi! they are all worlds, and within them are the regions. Within them are the seven nether regions and the seven heavens. In this manner in all bodies, within the lotuses, are the fourteen regions. O Lady Para¬mount! verily every body is a Brahmanda (world)."

The human body is called by the Hindus Bhogayatna - that is, a mansion wherein the reincarnating Ego is born to reap the fruits of its Prarabdha or Kinetic Karma; but it is also called Brahma-pura, the city of Brahman. Under the Hindu's law of evolution it must be so; for evolution, as I have already pointed out in the previous section is a double parallel motion, one tending downwards and the other tending upwards. Pravrtti and Nivrtti, that is the outgoing and return movements are conspicuous everywhere in nature. For the purpose of reaping the fruits of Karma the embodied Ego must come in contact with the outside world, its subjective enjoyments and sufferings having come to an end in heaven and hell. The objective world is the arena where it must battle with the results of its own previous Karma, and generate new Karma in accord¬ance with the Pravrtti law of nature. To this end it is furnished with a system of nerves, which presides over, controls, and regulates the functions of the other systems - viz., the circulatory system, the respiratory system, the digestive system, the excretory system, the muscular system, and the skeletal system. These nerves are classified into three main groups: (1) Efferent nerves. (s) Afferent nerves. (3) Inter-central nerves.

" Efferent or centrifugal nerves are those which conduct impulses from the central nervous system (brain and spinal cord) to other parts of the body." "Afferent or centripetal nerves are those. which conduct impulses in the reverse direction - viz., from all parts of the body to the central nervous system." " Inter-central nerves are those which connect nerve-centres together; they connect different parts of the brain and of the cord to one another." ⁹⁷

The Bhogayatana aspect of the human body is dealt with in the science of Biology, and its Brahmapura aspect in the science of Yoga.

The earth, as a Microcosm, has its Meru, a stony vertical column extending from its northern point of depression to the southern point. It is within the bowels of the earth that the Meru is situated, and the septenary Gods, presiding over the earth, are located inside the Meru. What are known as the north and the south pole are only circumpolar regions of the earth. The human body is a Microcosm as well. Its Meru is the vertebral column of bones extending from the depression, called Brahmarandhra (the hollow of Brahman, where the two halves of the body, like the two hemispheres of the earth, meet) to the anus. This bony column is filled with white and grey matter, wherein are nerves and nerve cells. The principal Yoga nerves are fourteen in number, of which three are prominent - viz., Ida, Pingala, and Susumna. Like all other nerves, their root lies in the Yoni - that is, the region between the anus and the generative organ. This region is called the Muladhara Padma. The Susumna nerve is within the cerebro-spinal axis, and extends from the Muladhara Padma to the Sahasrara Padma, which is in the crown of the head. It is called the Jnana nerve, the nerve of pure psychosis. The Ida and the Pingala nerves are in the periphery of the spinal cord, and starting from the Yoni (the Ida from the root of the left testes, and the Pingala from that of the right testes), wind up spirally, meeting the Susumna nerve at five points viz., the Yoni, the root of the generative organ, the navel, the heart, and the throat. From the throat Pingala makes a circuit of the root of the nose between the two eyebrows and enters the right nostril; the Ida, making a similar circuit, enters the left nostril. In this wise an island-like centre is formed at the root of the nose. The five points of contact of the Ida and the Pingala nerves with the Susumna nerve are five Padmas, or lotuses, or Cakras, or centres, and the island-like place is another centre, thus making six centres from the Yoni to the root of the nose. Above the sixth centre and below the thousand-petalled lotus are two Padmas, which are described in connection with the sixth. With these two and the thousand-petalled lotus the Padmas, or lotuses, are nine in number. All of them are located within or above the cerebro-spinal axis, which is called the Meru of the human body.

The cause of a thing is called its Prakrti, and that which arises out of Prakrti is called Vikrti. The three principles of Mulaprakrti (original " material " cause of the universe) - viz., Sattva (spirit-manifestation), Rajas (activity), and Tamas (inertia) are the primary cause of the universe. From these three are evolved eight derivative or secondary causes, which are:

(1) Mahat, which is also called Buddhi, or intelligence, intuition; (2) Ahankara, the sense of separateness, individuality; (3) Manas, the mind in its ordinary sense, including the sensorium, the perceptive, ratiocinative, imaginative, volitional, emotional, and other faculties; (4) Akasa (ether); (5) Vayu (air); (6) Tejas (fire); (7) Apas (water); and (8) Ksiti (earth).

What is called Paraprakrti in the Bhagavadgita is Cit Power, which has been discussed in the first section. When worlds are evolved, Mulaprakrti and Paraprakrti are united kinetically, and the result is the formation of seven, or rather nine, planes of conscious Powers, corresponding to the one primary cause and the eight secondary causes of the universe. In the human body, which is a miniature universe, these planes or centres of conscious power are:

(1) Sahasrara Padma. (2) Nada Padma. (3) Bindu Padma. (4) Ajna, two-petalled Padma. (5) Visuddha, sixteen-petalled Padma. (6) Anahata, twelve-petalled Padma. (7) Manipura, ten-petalled Padma. (8) Svadhisthana, six-petalled Padma. (g) Muladhara, four-petalled Padma.

It may here be noted that the conscious Intelligences from the second plane downwards are sound-powers, emanating from the first cause, the Mahasurya (the Grand Sun) of the worlds, whose hallowed mansion is the Sahasrara Padma, as also that from the fourth to the ninth, the Padmas are petalled by fifty primary sound-powers (see second section). These primary sound-powers are distributed in the Padmas in accordance with esoteric principles of combination of sounds.

Enough has been said in the first section regarding the bifurcation of Sakti into male and female, and there is no necessity to recapitulate it here. Sufficient be it to say that all the conscious powers in the nine Padmas are male and female.

Before entering into a general description of these Padmas, it is to be observed that the nomenclature of the Gods and the Goddesses is according to the religious ideas of the great Sadhakas, who have revealed this most esoteric knowledge for the Supreme good of suffering humanity. The Padmas and their presiding Gods are facts in nature, which a Sadhaka has the privilege to see and to call by whatever names he chooses. Hindus, Mahommedans, Christians, Parsees, Buddhists, nay, agnostics, if they choose, can enter this Yoga path without committing themselves to any particular form of religion. One's own religion, whatever it be, will, if practised through this esoteric path, lead the soul with scientific precision on to its destination.

With a view to put the subject in a clear light before the reader, I shall first divide the nine Padmas into three groups. The first three Padmas constitute the first group, the region of cognition, in which the three cognitive Powers (Jnana Saktis) are located. It may be called the region of pure Ideation in which the universe exists potentially. The second three Padmas constitute the second group, the region of action, in which the three active Powers are located. It may be called the region of mind, in which the universe assumes a form more definite, having the vital power, the sensorium, and the mind as its constituents. The third group of Padmas are presided over by the Powers of volition, action, and cognition, in subordination to the former group, who create, sustain, and destroy the fully manifested universe.

At the top of and above the cerebro-spinal axis is the Sahasrara, and at the bottom the Muladhara Padma. Kundalini is at both these points. The Sahasrara is the Mahasurya, the Grand Sun, both kosmically and individually, within whose effulgence Adyasakti Mahakali and Parasiva are inseparably united. This Power is the First Cause, the Vacaka Sakti of Sadhaka's worship. The First Cause is Saguna Brahman, or Brahman with attributes, and contains within it the three Gunas, the three Powers, and the nine planes in the same manner as a lotus-seed holds within itself the future lotus-tree. In the Muladhara Padma lies the duplicate Sun, which is the effulgence of Kulakundalini and Svayambhu Siva. Brahma, the creator of names and forms, is there with his consort Savitri. The creative desire or Will, called Kama, is there also. As there is a hollow on the top of the highest Padma, so is there a cleft on the head of Svayambhu Siva, which is closed up by Mother Kulakundalini, who, coiling round all the nerves at their root and encircling the Siva, breathes forth the rhythmic vital Power through Ida and Pingala. Like one who sleeps, all Her other functions are apparently at rest; hence She is said to be sleeping. The creative Brahma with his consort Savitri is the conscious Power of earth.

Earth is evolved from water. The preservative Visnu with his consort Radha is the conscious Power of water. The centre within which they are located is Svadhisthana Padma.

Water is evolved from fire. The destructive Siva or Rudra with his consort Bhadrakali is the conscious Power of fire. Their centre is Manipura Padma.

These three Padmas are the three Lokas, Bhu, Bhuvah, and Svah respectively. The re-incarnating Ego takes its recurring births and rebirths in these three Lokas.

Higher above, in the heart-lotus, is the region of air, in which are located Isvara and Isvari, the immediate cause of the three lower regions and their presiding Deities. This is called Anahata Padma. If the Ego can escape the eddy of birth and re-birth, and merge its consciousness in Isvara, it attains what is called Salokya Mukti. This region is called Maharloka. The heart-lotus has behind it another lotus, in which lies the seat of the Jivatma, the reincarnating Ego. To bring this truth home to the mind of the Sadhaka, the Upanisad says:

द्वा सुपर्णा सयुजा सखाया समानं वृक्षं परिषस्वजाते ।
तयोरन्य: पिप्पलं स्वाद्वत्यनशन्नन्येऽभिचाकशीहि ॥

" Two friendly birds live together on the same tree, of whom one eats the sweet fruits, and the other, without eating, only sees."

Higher up is Visuddha Padma, in the region of the throat. Here is the region of ether, in which are located Sadasiva and Mahagauri. This is the Janaloka.

Between the eyebrows, at the root of the nose, is the region of mind where Sambhu or Mahakala and Siddhakali reside. This is called Ajna Padma. This region is the subjective Varanasi⁹⁸ (Kasi) of Visvesvara, between the Ganga and Jamuna - that is, Ida and Pingala nerves. Within the anther of this Padma is the spiritual moon.

The second and third Padmas are, in fact, the higher Powers of the fourth - that is, the Ajna Padma. Their Vehicles are Mahatattva and Ahankaratattva, which are luminous like the Sun. The second, third, and fourth Padmas are Tapas Loka, while the Sahasrara is the Satya Loka of the microcosmic human body.

The knowledge of these centres of Power in the human body is as old as the Vedas themselves. The great Rsis of the Vaidik wisdom-religion (Jnanadharma) learnt it from their Gurus, and it was passed on until we reach Manu, who, having received it by inspiration from the Most High, instructed humanity in the knowledge of Yoga, of which the doctrine of the centres of Power in the human body is an essential part. The wisdom­religion enunciated in the Upanisads is based upon Yoga, which one must practise if he be solicitous of Brahma-Jnana (knowledge of Brahman, or spiritual knowledge). A mere study of the Upanisads does not impart that wisdom. The Upanisads contain frequent references to some of the centres of Power on which the attention is particularly directed to be fixed. Rsi Patanjali's Philosophy of Yoga and Vedavyasa's Commentary thereon mention these centres as the places in the human body where concentration, meditation, and communion should be practised. Rsi Yajnavalkya of Upanisadik fame has a treatise on the method of Yoga in which he instructs his wife Gargi as to how Yoga should be practised within these centres.

It will thus be seen that the centres of Power in the human body are not an innovation of the Tantriks. They have their root in the Kosmic Law of evolution, and were revealed to mankind for their salvation. But man, ever prone to drink of the lethean water of desire, had, in the great efflux of time, forgotten the inestimable boon of Yoga conferred on him and, therefore, towards the middle of the third cycle - that is, Dvapara Yuga - his condition as a religious being had greatly deteriorated. In view of this state of things, and having regard to the approach of the Kali Yuga (age), with its darkening influences, the Lord of Yoga, Mahadeva, made a fresh revelation of Yoga with a method at once comprehensive and suited to the times. In the method thus revealed the centres of Power in the human body have been perspicuously dealt with, and culture through them definitely laid down. Thus has Yoga been saved; and even now there are numbers who have kept the Divine science alive by following the method of the Lord of Yoga. The description of this Yoga is to be found in the Tantras, and the Tantriks are the masters of its practice.

I wish to avail myself of this opportunity to make a few observations on Yoga, about which much misconception seems to prevail amongst a certain section of the English-educated Hindu community. The Hindus have only one system of Yoga, which has come down to them from the time of the Vedas. It is called Astanga, or eight-limbed Yoga. Maharsi Patanjali's " Yoga Aphorisms " constitute the philosophy of this Yoga. Although the methods of Yoga-practice are in the keeping of Gurus, books on such methods are not wanting. From Maharsi Yajnavalkya and Maharsi Dattatreya to Yogi Goraksanatha of modern times many have left treatises on the subject, and there is the Siva Samhita attributed to Siva himself. The eight-limbed Yoga, for the purpose of practice, is divided under five heads:

(1) Mantra Yoga. (2) Laya Yoga. (3) Hatha Yoga. (4) Raja Yoga. (5) Rajadhiraja Yoga.

I have dwelt upon Mantra Yoga in the previous section. Laya Yoga is a Yoga the nature of which is described in the Gheranda Samhita and similar works. Hatha Yoga includes what is commonly known as Pranayama, the object of which is to produce in one's own body voluntary suppression of breath. In the previous section I have quoted Upanisad and Purana to prove its vital importance in Yoga. The following quotations will show that Veda, Tantra, Smrti, and Purana are unanimous in holding that Pranayama is an absolute necessity in Yoga. Manu says:

दह्यन्ते ध्यायमानानां धातूनां हि यथा मला: ।
तथेन्द्रियाणां दह्यन्ते दोषा: प्राणस्य निग्रहात् ॥

" As baser things mixed with gold and other metals are removed by burning those metals, so the propensities of the senses are removed by Pranayama."

Rsi Patanjali says:

तत: क्षीयते प्रकाशावरणम् ।

" From that (viz., by practising Pranayama) the veil which hides pure knowledge is removed."

Now, it must be distinctly understood that as Pranayama is Hatha Yoga, the elimination of the latter from Yoga-practice would be as beneficial to the practiser as the removal of his brain would be to a thinker. Yoga has two divisions, one outer and the other inner. The outer division comprises Yama (control), Niyama (regulation), Asana (posture), Pranayama (breath-exercise), and Pratyahara (withdrawal), and the inner division comprises Dharana (concentration), Dhyana (meditation), and Samadhi (communion). Pranayama, without which Pratyahara or withdrawal of the senses from their objects is impossible, stands at the gate leading from the outer to the inner division. It cannot be avoided if one seriously wishes to practise Yoga. It may here be observed that there is no royal road to Yoga, which is, in fact, nothing less than the complete reversal of the natural order of things in its aspirer. Round after round, from Yama (control) upwards, the aspirer must ascend, fortifying his body and mind with energy and vitality enough to enable him to cope with the nature he has built within himself during myriads of births. The chronic diseases of the body and the mind must first be grappled with by means of Yama (control) and Niyama (regula­tion), which include among other things continence and worship. When the mind is full of faith and devotion, and the body is buoyant, due to the conservation of virile energy, it is then that the aspirer must perfect his postures (asanas), which help him materially in regulating his breath.

Purification of nerves (dealt with in the fifth section) is the next step to be taken. The nerves, in their natural state, are covered with impuri­ties, which must be removed before commencing Pranayama. To accomplish this there are available two alternative processes. The first is by inspiration (Puraka), retention (Kumbhaka), and expiration (Recaka) of breath upon a regulated scale and with the repetition of certain Bija Mantras. The second is altogether physical, and is known by the name of Satkarma (six practices) ⁹⁹ - that is, Dhauti (washing), Vasti (contraction and expansion of the anus), Neti (cleansing of nostrils and throat by thread), Lauliki (pendulum-like motion of the stomach), Trataka (gazing at an object without winking until the tears trickle), and Kapalabhati (inspiration and expiration of air, etc.). The second alter­native method is not mentioned in the Siva Samhita. It need not be practised by a real aspirant who has no physical infirmity or disease to obstruct his Sadhana. One of these - viz., Trataka - however, is practised by those who are very loud in their denunciation of Hatha Yoga. In con­sideration of the physical and mental temperament of his Sisya, the Guru must decide which of the six modes of physical culture should be given him along with the first method, which is absolutely necessary. It generally happens that almost all the six modes are dispensed with.

Here I must warn the reader that mere physical culture, such as Asana, Satkarma, and Pranayama, are of little avail unless they are accompanied with other practices of Sadhana. We daily meet pseudo-­sannyasis and athletes who exhibit for a few pice their skill in such physical feats, and even levitation. They may accompany spiritual self­-culture, but by themselves they are nothing.

Having purified his nerves, the Sadhaka must practise Pranayama, the object of which is to suspend breathing for a considerable time without feeling the least uneasiness in respect of this reversal of the ordinary respira­tory law of Nature. This is called Kumbhaka; and when that is attained, it is then that real Yoga begins. For those who are physically or otherwise unfit to practise Kumbhaka by the inspiration (Puraka) and expiration (Recaka) method, other methods are laid down in the Yoga Sastra.

To awaken Kulakundalini is the first grand work achieved through long practised Kumbhaka. In the Muladhara Cakra Her vital sheath sends out, through the Ida and Pifngali nerves, an incessant centrifugal and centripetal energy, which draws in and drives out the atmospheric air. It is said that the range of the vital energy thus sent out extends to nine inches without the nostrils. This output of the vital energy has, by voluntary effort by means of Kumbhaka to be withdrawn. When Kumbhaka is of sufficiently long duration, the vital energy, being no longer able to act and re-act upon atmospheric air, rebounds upon the vital sheath itself, thus producing an abnormal action, not only upon the vital sheath, but on the space in the vicinity occupied by potential fire. When those two Nature's finer forces, allied together, impinge upon the vital sheath, the mind, ever sensitive to abnormal actions of the body, forthwith repairs to the spot, and makes its first acquaintance with its real Mother, Kula­kundalini. Kulakundalini is thus aroused from Her apparent slumber, and the Ego finds itself at the lotus-feet of its long-lost Mother. The glamour, of its stepmother, Avidya, for the time being vanishes, and the Ego - the reincarnating Jiva of millions of births and sufferings implores the arms of its ever-gracious loving Mother.

But the accomplishment of this end by the ordinary process of Pranayama is very arduous and tardy. The Yoga Sastra, therefore, provides certain psycho-physical processes, called Mudras, which operate as stimuli to Kumbhaka:

The Siva Samhita says:

सुप्ता गुरुप्रसादेन यदा जागर्ति कुण्डली ।
तदा सर्वाणि पद्मानि भिद्यन्ते ग्रन्थयोऽपि च ॥
तस्मात् सर्वप्रयत्नेन प्रबोधयितुमीश्वरीम् ।
ब्रह्मरन्ध्रमुखे सुप्तां मुद्राभ्यासं समाचरेत् ॥

शिवसंहिता ।

" When, by the grace of the Guru, the slumbering Kundali wakes up, it is then that the lotuses are penetrated, and the knots (of karma) untied. Hence, to awaken the Isvari, sleeping on the cleft of Brahman, practise Mudra by all means."

Being thus awakened, Kundalini enters the great road to liberation (Mukti) - that is, the Susumna nerve - and penetrating the centres one by one, ascends to the Sahasrara, and there coming in blissful communion with the Lord of Lords, again descends down through the same passage to the Muladhara Cakra. Nectar is said to flow from such communion. The Sadhaka drinks it and becomes supremely happy. This is the wine called Kulamrta, which a Sadhaka of the spiritual plane drinks. There are three planes of Sadhana, corresponding to the three planes of conscious­ness in which the manifested Divinity is realizable - viz., the Adhibhautik (subtle physical) plane, the Adhidaivik (psychic) plane, the Adhyatmik (spiritual) plane. In reference to the latter the Tantra says:

पीत्वा पीत्वा पुन: पीत्वा पीत्वा पतति भूतले ।
उत्थाय च पुन: प्रीत्वा पुनर्जन्म न विद्यते ॥

“ Drinking, drinking, again drinking, drinking fall down upon earth; and getting up and again drinking there is no re-birth."

During the first stage of Satcakra Sadhana, the Sadhaka cannot suppress his breath for a sufficiently long time at a stretch to enable him to practise concentration and meditation in each centre of Power. He cannot, therefore, detain Kundalini within Susumna longer than his power of Kumbhaka permits. He must consequently, come down upon earth­ - that is, the Muladhara Cakra - which is the centre of the element, earth, after having drunk of the heavenly ambrosia. The Sadhaka must practise this again and again, and by constant practice the cause of re-birth - that is, vasana (desire) - is removed.

When Kumbhaka has, by practice, become of sufficient duration, the Sadhaka must concentrate his mind upon each of the centres, beginning from Muladhara. Mother Kundalini leads him. She unites Herself with the Lord of each of the centres, and the Sadhaka must meditate on the united male and female Deity as his Istadevata, that is, the object of his worship. When meditation on each of the centres is thus perfected, the Sadhaka becomes master of the element which dominates it. In this wise, the five elements dominating the five centres, from Muladhara to Visuddha, being conquered, the Sadhaka is emancipated from the bondage of the objective world. Wealth, power, prestige, carnal passion, and all their train, have no power over him, he having become the master, and no longer the slave, of the elements. His mind and body gain immensely by the acquisition of such mastery. By meditation on and communion with the presiding Deities of the centres, his consciousness becomes identified with their consciousness. Thus the effect gradually merges into the cause, as the Sadhaka rises from the lower to the higher Divine Lotuses.

The sixth lotus from the lowest - that is, the Ajna Cakra - is reached. It is called Ajna Cakra because therein is the Lord of mind, whose Ajna or fiat creates and uncreates the elements and their Lords. Medi­tation on, and communion with the Lord of this centre (which com­prises the Nada and the Bindu centres) renders the Sadhaka master of Manas, Ahankara, and Buddhi. He is no longer the creature of duality that he was. Worship of forms is passed, and true knowl­edge is revealed to him. He learns to distinguish between Atma and non-Atma. Prakrti, with her multifold divisions and subdivisions, being cognized, Atma is realized. Mother Kundalini now reveals Herself to Her dear son in Her pure Prakrtik garb, and leads him on to the Lord of Lords, Cause of Causes, the Saguna Isvara, where the Sadhaka finds Her and the Lord in undistinguishable association and becomes the Lord Himself. This is called Raja Yoga.

The Sadhaka, who, having now discovered the Vacaka Sakti of his worship, and having himself become the Vacaka Sakti, wishes to become the Vacya Sakti (the real object of his search), casts off the last remains of his Suksma Sarira (subtle body), or, rather, Karana Sarira (causal body) and piercing the Spiritual Sun, drops, as it were, into the ocean of Cit­ - the real Sakti, the one true, blissful existence, the bourn whence no traveller ever returns. This is accomplished by what is called Rajadhiraja Yoga.

In the Taittiriyopanisad self-culture through what are called Sheaths {Kosas) is indicated but not detailed. Bhrgu, the son of Varuna, is said to have accomplished it by Tapas. Sankaracarya explains Tapas here to mean concentration of the mind and the senses. Concentration, meditation, and communion are the higher practices of Raja Yoga, and as nothing within the body can be cognized without concentration, it is clear that Bhrgu practised Raja Yoga for the acquisition of Brahmajnana (spiritual knowledge). The Sheaths are five in number-viz.:

(1) Annamaya Kosa (the Sheath of food). (2) Pranamaya Kosa (the Sheath of life). (3) Manomaya Kosa (the Sheath of lower mind). (4) Vijnanamaya Kosa (the Sheath of higher mind). (5) Anandamaya Kosa (the Sheath of bliss).

According to my view, these Kosas are mentioned to indicate the causes from which they arise, for Yoga is practised in the lotuses or centres of Power through the Susumna nerve. There is no difference of opinion on this point. That Brahmajnana cannot be acquired without Yoga, and that Raja Yoga is the most potent means to acquire it, is conceded by the Commentators and indicated in the Upanisads themselves. Even in the Taittiriyopanisad the lotuses are broadly hinted at thus:

स य एषोऽन्तर्हृदय आकाश: । तस्मिन्नयं पुरुषो मनोमय: । अमृतो हिरण्मय: ।
अन्तरेण तालुके । य एव स्तन इवावलम्बते । सेन्द्रयेनि: । यत्रासौ केशान्ते विवर्तते ।

"Within the heart (lotus) is an ethereal space, in which the immortal, resplendent Lord of mind resides. The path of Brahman lies within the hanging breast-shaped thing (cranium) at the crest of the head where the hairs divide."

The centres of Power are the causes from which the five Sheaths arise. Bhrgu, by practising Yoga in those centres, gradually discovered the Sheaths. His first discovery was the Annamaya Kosa, which arises from the elements - earth, water, and fire. Earth and water produce food, which is assimilated by fire and converted into the substance which forms the body it nourishes. Earth, water, and fire, being the presiding elements in Muladhara, Svadhisthana, and Manipura centres respectively, they became the objects of Bhrgu's concentration in the first place; because, by awakening Kulakundalini the Sadhaka first meets Muladhara, then Svadhisthana, and then Manipura.

The Pranamaya Kosa arises from Anahata and Visuddha centres, in which vital air and Akasa respectively preside.

The Manomaya Kosa is evolved from the Ajna centre, which is the centre of mind.

From the Bindu and Nada Cakras arises the Vijnanamaya Kosa. And undifferentiated Prakrti in the Sahasrara is Anandamaya Kosa.

It will thus be seen that by mentioning the Kosas the Upanisads do not lay down a system of culture different from that through the centres of power in accordance with the Rajayoga system. In fact, there are only two systems of self-culture mentioned in the Hindu Sastras - viz., Bhakti Yoga (Path of Faith and Love) and Jnana Yoga (Path of the Eight-­limbed Yoga). As the Upanisads are the science of Jnana (knowledge), it is plain that Bhakti Yoga is not meant to be the instrument of culture for cognizing the Kosas. I have touched upon the Kosas to impress upon the minds of the public which reads the Upanisads the fact that in self-culture the path of knowledge is but one, and that that path is the Eight-limbed Yoga.

I will conclude with a few observations on self-culture by Faith and Love (Bhakti Yoga) and self-culture by knowledge (Jnana Yoga). The path, which begins with the suppression of breath (Kumbhaka) and ends in the realization of the unconditioned, immutable Brahman, is no doubt the high road to perfect knowledge; but it is a long, tedious, and trying journey, which very few are physically and mentally capable of accom­plishing. Many aspirants, indeed break down, and many succumb. One who is desirous of following this path should undertake it early in youth if he be physically and morally strong enough to pass through the rigid ordeals to which a neophyte is subjected by the Gurus who follow the Vaidik method of Yoga-training. I have heard it said by a venerable personage, who is reputed to be an eminent Yogi and a great Sanskrit scholar, that successful Yoga-culture is not possible unless pursued according to the Tantrik method, which renders the otherwise bleak prospect cheerful to the neophyte, and buoys him up with strength and courage commensurate with the arduous task he has undertaken. Very few, indeed, are there who are physically and morally fit for, and who have the opportunity to devote their life almost entirely to, the pursuit of Jnana Yoga. Besides, the Hindu scriptures insist upon the culture of the Path of Faith and Love as the initial stage through which an aspirant must pass before he is fit to undertake the Path of Knowledge.

Of the Eight-limbed Yoga, Niyama (Regulation) is the second limb, in which Isvarapranidhana - that is, worship of God - is the most pro­minent feature. It will, therefore, be seen that to eliminate the first and second limbs and begin with the third is a violation of the scheme of self­culture laid down in the Sastras, the effect of which cannot but be disaster.

When the fiery path of Jnana Yoga, dwelt upon in this section, is fit for but a few, the milky way of Bhakti Yoga, which is the subject of the previous one, is open to all - to the young and the old, the weak and the strong, and to the man of business who has not much time to spare for the systematic pursuit of Jnana Yoga. Bhakti Yoga carries the aspirant slowly but surely through the eddy of the world to that bourn where serene peace and calm predominate. It yields almost the same result as does the other system of culture. The first and foremost achievement of a Sadhaka is the awakening of Kulakundalini. Unless and until that is done, the roving mind, identified with the objective world, cannot be drawn in, and concentration and meditation successfully practised. It is by concentration and meditation that the blessed state of Samadhi (communion) is reached, and the Ego is freed from the trammels of the objective world. The important work of awakening the Divine Serpent is as much within the reach of the Tantrik Bhakti Yogi as it is of the Jnana-Yogi. Japa and worship according to the Tantrik method and other means as taught by the Tantrik Guru, will infallibly awaken Kulakundalini.

The following aphorism from Patanjali's "Yoga Darsana Sadhana­pada," S. 45, will convince the reader that worship of God leads to Samadhi:

समाधिसिद्धिरीश्वरप्रणिधानात् ।

" By worshipping God Samadhi is attained."

High Tantrik Sadhakas unite both the Yogas in their self-culture, and obtain most happy results within a comparatively shorter time, without undergoing those privations and hardships which are the inseparable companions of the Sadhakas of the other school.

Spiritual self-culture, like the culture of the mind, must be begun from the beginning. As with the cultivation of the mind, so is it with the unfoldment of the spirit; the rudimentary stages of knowledge cannot be leaped over and the highest wisdom at once attained. External worship leads to internal worship; internal worship purifies the mind; purity of mind induces concentration and meditation; when meditation is ripe communion (Samadhi) ensues and the Sadhaka attains, at last, the Highest Bliss.

Tantrik Bhakti Yoga has another phase. It leads the intrepid Sadhaka, within but a short period, into the arcana of Nature, and brings him even face to face with the Vacaka Sakti of his worship. But as these are secret things, I cannot speak of them here.

The Science Of Tantrik Spiritual Culture

Tantrik Spiritual Culture (Sadhana) connotes three terms - viz., the subject, the object, and the means. The subject is the aspirer, the disciple who employs certain special means for the achievement of certain definite results, and who is called the Sadhaka. The object is that which is sought to be attained, and is called the Sadhya. Thirdly, the means are the various methods of culture laid down in the Tantras, which are only to be employed by a disciple under the direction of a competent Guru.

Sadhakas are of three classes. The ordinary householder, who has a family to support, and who is bound by social and other ties, belongs to the lowest class. Higher Sadhakas, though householders, are free from many of the passions, prejudices, and desires for the enjoyment of earthly blessings which form the principal mainspring of action of the lowest class. The highest class of Sadhakas comprises god-like men, who have no fixed habitation, or family, or other ties which chain, who have no social duties to discharge, no conventionalities to conform to, no desires to satisfy, and nothing which is of this earth to seek.

A Sadhaka of the lowest class is practically a dualist, for his own self is not in harmonious association with the Supreme Self of all the universes. His actions, therefore, flow from his desire for self-gratification. His devotion to the Supreme or his acquisition of occult Yoga powers is motived by the enjoyment of blessings suited to his taste. A Sadhaka of the next higher class believes his self to be in esse the same as the Supreme Self, thus, fixing his faith on the Advaita (non-dual) Brahman, he endeavours to view the universe as one unbroken chain of appearances, which, though apparently divided, are but inseparable parts of one homogeneous whole. His actions, therefore, are in accordance with his faith. Passions, prejudices, distinctions, conventional­ities, and all those hosts of feelings, emotions, and motives which crystal­lize themselves into attachment (Raga) and repulsion (Dvesa) have con­sequently no place in his broadened mind. Though living. in the world, he is not of it. He is called, in the Tantra, a Grhavadhuta. Persistent conduct in conformity with these ideas leads him to that stage of blessed consummation where he is more a god than a man; the egotism of his gross and subtle bodies vanishes, he realizes the Eternal Blissful Mother, and finds Her in every being and in every thing. He is called a Kula­vadhuta, and belongs to the highest class of Sadhakas.

The Sadhya, or, the object sought to be attained, varies from the Highest Advaita Brahman to the lowest beings of the spirit-world, accord­ing to the capacity and proclivity of the Sadhaka. Unseen beings, inter­mediate between man and the manifested Brahman, good, bad, and malignant, swarm in the universe in every direction. They are either nature-born, or disembodied human egos. The Science of Tantra not only recognizes their existence, but describes and classifies them, and provides means by which communication may be had with them, and by which they may be controlled or avoided. Whilst the higher among these unseen Powers bestow upon a Sadhaka prosperity, progeny, health, fame, power, learning, and the like, and grant to him whatever he prays for his welfare, the lower and the lowest of the Powers only satisfy his base and carnal longings. He who cultivates acquaintance with such intermediate beings can never hope to attain liberation from the sorrows and pains of the world. Even Brahma, Visnu, and Siva are perishable; allegiance even to Them is not beyond the grip of Maya. The fate of such worshippers is thus summarized in the Bhagavadgita:

"Those who worship the Devas go to the Devas; to the Pitrs (ancestors) go the Pitr-worshippers; to the Bhutas (spirits) go those who sacrifice to Bhutas; but My worshippers come unto Me." - Chap. ix, verse 25.

The Kularnava Tantra thus admonishes unwise men

ब्रह्माविष्णुमहेशादिदेवत् भूतजातय:
नाशमेवानुधावन्ति तस्माच्छ्रेय: समाश्रयेत् ॥

"Brahma, Visnu, Mahesa, and other Devatas, being within the category of ‘ matter ' (Bhuta), are hastening towards destruction. Hence do what is right."

What is right (Sreya) is distinguished from what is dear (Preys) in that the thing dear, though honey for the time being, is venom in the long run; whereas what is right is unsavoury in the beginning, but is ambrosia in the end. The Tantra Sastra holds that the right conduct of man is to identify himself with what is unperishable and perennial Bliss, and to forgo all objects of desire, however sweet they may be, as so many binding chains added to the already numerous heavy bonds which bind the Karmic body.

The Tantras, like the Vedas, while laying down the Upasana worship of hosts of Devas and Devis for unwise men, who cannot overcome their cherished Vasana (desires) for present and but short-lived future happiness proclaims the Upasana of the “ One-without-a-second " Brahman, and explains in detail how that supreme good may be attained.

The manifested aspect of Brahman is the object of worship. The Kathopanisad describes the Manifested Brahman thus:

य: पूर्व तपसो जातमद्भ्य: पूर्वमजायत ।
गुहां प्रविश्य तिष्ठन्तं यो भूतेभिर्व्यपश्यत । एतद्वै तत् ।
या प्राणेन संभवति अतिर्देवतामयी ।
गुहां प्रविश्य तिष्ठन्तीं या भूतेभिर्व्यजायत । एतद्वै तत् ।

" He, who was, by meditation, the first-born before the creation of the five elements, who resides in the hollow of the hearts of beings, and is in all causes and effects. He who perceives Him in this manner perceives the Absolute in Him."

“ She, who was born as Prana (the ‘ One Life '), in whom are all Devatas, who is Aditi (eater of the five elements), who resides in the hollow of the heart, is in all causes and effects. He who perceives in this manner perceives the Absolute Brahman in Her." Kathopanisad, Chap. iv, verses 6 and 7­.

The Svetasvataropanisad opens with the query, What is the cause of the universe and all that is contained in it? The answer to this question is given in the following verse:

ते ध्यानयोगानुगता अपश्यन् देवात्मशक्ति स्वगुणैर्निनूढाम्

“ Immersed in concentration and meditation they found the Power (Sakti) which is the cause of the universe¹⁰⁰ to be lying hidden by Her own Gunas" (Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas) - Chap. i, verse 3.

Reading between the lines, the truth is patent that the manifested Brahman is Sakti, and that Sakti, though one and indivisible, has dual action in cosmogenesis, and is therefore expressed in terms masculine and feminine, to explain, however indirectly, the idea of Divine causation in human language. The manifested Brahman being essentially the same as the unmanifested Absolute Brahman, Sakti, when unmanifested is Cit (pure consciousness), and when manifested, is Cit with Maya or Prakrti, which is the material cause of the Universe, and which is the “ own attri­bute or guna" (स्वगुण) of Sakti.

The Tantrika View of Sakti is exactly the same, as has been explained already in an earlier portion of this essay. In Sarvasamrajyamedha Stotra of Daksinakali the following very clear statement is to be found:

महानिर्गुणरूपा च वाचातीता पराकला ।
क्रीडायां संस्थिता देवी शून्यरूपं प्रकल्पयेत् ॥
सृष्टेरारंभकार्ये तु दृष्टाच्छाया तया यदा ।
इच्छाशक्तिस्तु सा जाता तया कालो विनिर्मित: ॥

(The word छाया in the above is thus explained in Brahmayamala: देवीशक्तिरियं छाया ब्रह्मदेहाविनिर्गता । “ This Chhaya is Devi-Sakti emerged from the body of Brahman.")

The above four lines may be thus rendered:

“ The ineffable Superior Power is supremely attributeless (that is, Absolute). This Devi (Power), being playful, imagined forms in Sunya¹⁰¹ (that is, in the Absolute). In the initial work of creation, when She saw Chhaya, then She became the Power of Volition, and by Her Mahakala was created."

Duality in unity is the characteristic of the Tantrik doctrine, and all its methods of worship are based upon this truth. The.Kulanava says:

अद्वैतं केचिदिच्छन्ति द्वैतमिच्छन्ति चापरे ।
मम तत्त्वं विजानन्तो द्वैताद्वैतविवर्जिताः ॥

"Some wish (me to be) Advaita (non-dual), and others wish (me to be) Dvaita (dual). He who knows me in essence is free from both Dvaita and Advaita."

The Sadhaka who realizes Duality in the "one-without-a-second" Brahman liberates himself from the bondage of Maya. He is a true knower of Brahman; he is a true Kaula.

शून्यं तु सच्चिदानन्दं निःशब्दब्रह्मशब्दितम् ।
कुलं तु ब्रह्मशक्तिः स्यादकुलं ब्रह्म चोच्यते ।
कुलाकुलात्मतत्त्वज्ञ्ः कुलीनः स च कथ्यते ॥

“ Kula is the Power of Brahman; Akula is called Brahman; he who knows Atma to be essentially Kula and Akula is called Kulina." - ­Kularnava Tantra.

As in Kosmic creation Sakti becomes Nada and Bindu - Sakti and Siva - so does Sakti become male and female in individual creation, the male principle existing in the smallest degree in the female, and the female principle existing in the smallest degree in the male. These two great principles, which are ever in association in every act of creation, sustentation, and dissolution, are never divorced from each other, but are ever inseparably connected, though the predominance of the one or the other in objects present the spectacle of apparent separation.

It is Sakti alone which can save a Sadhaka from the quagmire of the senses and their objects and lead him on to the blessed abode of Brahma­nanda (Brahman as Bliss). The individuality of a person is but the resultant of his feeling and emotions, ideas and thoughts in relation to the objective world, which he has experienced in thousands of births and rebirths, and which bind him down to the world and its objects. The dissolution of his physical body translates (him into a region of temporary subjective happiness or misery, but as sure as the sun rises from the east, he must again pass into the mother's womb, there suffer untold misery; and thence issuing into the world, must there for a brief span of time be tossed to and fro by his own Karmas. This play is enacted for ever and ever, and there is no escape therefrom unless he can extricate himself from the grip of Avidya (nescience), the charming syren of worldly bondage, and take refuge at the holy feet of vidya (knowledge). Vidya alone can make a Sadhaka the master of himself, and the conqueror of the elements, the senses, and the mind.

या विद्या सा महामाया सा तु सेव्या सदा बुधौः ।
योऽविद्यामुपासते सोऽयं तमः प्रविशति ॥

“ Vidya is Mahamaya, She should be served by the wise; he who worships Avidya enters the region of darkness. " - Saktananda Tarangini.

How Sakti became Sabdabrahman has been previously described. Sakti, when manifested, is Prana, the one intelligent, all powerful, creative vital principle:

आत्मन एष प्राणो जायते । यथैषा पुरुषे च्छायैतस्मिन्नेतदाततं, मनः कृतेनायात्यस्मिंञ्शरीरे ।

" From the Atma this Prana is born. As shadow is to the body, so is Prana associated with Atma; it comes to this body by the action of the mind."¹⁰² - Prasnopanisad, verse 32.

Hiranyagarbha or Prana is called the ‘ First-born ‘ in the Upanisads. We have seen that Hiranyagarbha and Aditi are one and the same, and that Aditi is what the Tantra called Sakti. We have also seen that Sakti as Kulakundalini is the Mother of Universes, whose Breath is life. The fifty Matrka sounds, which form Her body, are Pranik principles, from which universes are evolved, by which they are sustained, and into which they are disintegrated. " Sound " and Prana are univocal terms:

नादः प्राणं च जीवं च घोषश्चेत्यादि कथ्यते ।

" (Sound) is called Nada, Prana, Jiva, Ghosa, etc." - Prapancasara, 4th Patala.

In Rudrayamala, quoted by the author of Pranatosini Kulakundalini, is called वायुरूपां मुलाम्बुजस्थिताम् - " of aerial form, located in the Mula­dhara Cakra."

The knowledge of Sakti as Prana is of vital importance in spiritual self-culture. The Prasnopanisad thus summarizes the result of such knowledge

उत्पत्तिमायतिं स्थानं विभुत्वं चैव पञ्चधा ।
अध्यात्मं चैव प्राणस्य विज्ञायामृतमश्नुते ॥

" He who knows in detail the birth, the arrival (in human body), the place (in the body), the pervasiveness, the external (as sun, etc.) and the internal (as eyes, etc.) manifestations of Prana becomes immortal." - ­Verse 41­.

The Upanisad lays down the Sutra or principle, which the Tantra works out and develops into a methodology, by the faithful observance of which a Sadhaka can not only approach the " The One Life," the Sabdabrahman, the All blissful Mother, but, freeing himself from the Karmik sheath which made him dissimilar to the Mother, become Her Very Blessed Self.

It is only Yoga culture, described under the heading “ The pilgrimage of the human ego," which enables a Sadhaka to know in detail “ the birth, the arrival, the place," and the like of Prana.

The relation of the manifested Brahman or Sakti to the universe in its three planes of existence and its extra-kosmik aspect must be thoroughly grasped by a Sadhaka of the two higher classes. For, without such knowledge Sadhaka is impossible, and its ultimate result, the realization of Brahman, unattainable. The following is quoted from the Manduk­yopanisad as a key to the acquisition of such knowledge:

सर्वं ह्येतद् ब्रह्मायमात्मा ब्रह्म सोऽयमात्मा चतुष्पत् ॥ २ ॥
जागरितस्थानो बहिप्रज्ञः सप्ताङ्ग एकोनविंशतिमुखः स्थूलभुग् वैश्वानरः प्रथमः पादः ॥ ३ ॥
स्वप्नस्थानोऽन्तःप्रज्ञः सप्तङ्ग एकोनविंशतिमुखः प्रविविक्तभुक्तैजसो द्वितीयः पादः ॥ ४ ॥
यत्र सुप्तो न कंचन कामं कामयते न कंचन स्वप्नं पश्यति तत् सुषुप्तम् ।
सुषुप्तत्थान एकीभुतः प्रज्ञानघन एवानन्दमयो ह्यानन्दभुक् चेतोमुखः प्राज्ञस्तृतीयः पादः ॥ ५ ॥
एष सर्वेश्वर एष सर्वज्ञ एषोऽन्तर्याम्येष योनिः सर्वस्य प्रभवाप्ययौ हि भुतानाम् ॥ ६ ॥
नान्तःप्रज्ञं न बहिःप्रज्ञं नोभयतःप्रज्ञ्ं न प्रज्ञानघनं न प्रज्ञं नाप्रज्ञ्म् ।
अदृश्यमव्यहार्यमग्राह्यमलक्षणमचिन्त्यमव्यपदेश्यमेकात्मप्रत्ययसारं
प्रपञ्चोपशमं शान्तं शिवमद्वैतं चतुर्थं मन्यन्ते स आत्मा स विज्ञेयः ॥ ७ ॥

“ The syllable ‘ Om ‘ is all that is the universe, and is Brahman; it is the Atma, and is Brahman. Brahman (as Para and Apara) consists of four parts. (Not that Brahma has really four parts, but to explain its all­ pervasiveness parts are imagined.) "

" The first part is the Wakeful State, cognizer of the objective world, seven-limbed ¹⁰³, nineteen-mouthed¹⁰⁴, gross-eater (called Vaisvanara).

"The second part is the Dreaming State, cognizer, of the subjective world, seven-limbed, nineteen-mouthed, eater of desires (called Taijasa¹⁰⁵).

" That is, the State of Sound Sleep, where no desire is felt, no dream is seen, which is the undistinguishable cause and effect, in which the mentalities of the two previous states are undistinguishably blended together (as different objects in pitch dark nights), which is blissful (unaffected by the senses, their objects, and the mind), the eater of bliss and cognizer of the wakeful and dreaming states through the mind. This, the third part, is called Prajna¹⁰⁶

" He, Prajna, is the Lord of all, is allwise, is the regulator of all beings, is the birthplace (yoni) of all, is the creator and destroyer of all beings. ¹⁰⁷

" Not the cognizer of the objective world, not the cognizer of the subjective world, not the cognizer of both, not one in whom all states of mind are inseparably blended together, neither cognizer nor non-cognizer; unseen, not an object of action, imperceptible, undefinable, unthinkable, ineffable, cognizable only by the knowledge that the One Atma pervades all the three previous states; in which the three previous Mayik states are not - that is, the undifferentiable, peaceful, all-blissful Advaita the fourth - He is Atma, He is the fit object of knowledge."

The human mind being the result of accumulated Karma, good, bad, and indifferent, of untold ages, its natural alliance with the objective world has rendered it rather a product of such alliance than an entity possessing intrinsic capacity for cognizing the Supreme. As it is, the formation of a true concept of the Godhead is a difficult task, which depends much more upon the purification of mind, by religious works, penances, devotion, and the like, than upon the power of the intellect, however cultured the latter may be. Such being the case, it is but natural that Sadhakas should oftener than not form a partial idea of the Supreme. The Sadhaka's idea of the Supreme regulates the results of his Sadhana. The Prasnopanisad thus sets forth the matter:

स यद्येकमात्रमभिध्यायीत, स तेनैव संवेदितस्तूर्णमेव जतत्यामभिसंपद्यते तमृचो मनुष्यलोकमुपनयन्ते, स तत्र तपसा ब्रह्मचर्येण श्रद्धया संमन्नो महिमानमनुभवति ॥ ३॥
अथ यदि द्विमात्रेण मनसि संपद्यते, सोऽन्तरिक्षं यजुर्भिरुन्नीयते सोमलोकम् ।
स सोमलोके विभूतिमनुभूय पुनरावर्तते ॥ ४ ॥
यः पुनरेतं त्रिमात्रेणोमित्येतेनैवाक्षरेण परं पुरुषमभिध्यायीत स तेजसि सूर्ये संपन्नः ।
यथा पादोदरस्त्वचा विनिर्मुच्यत एवं ह वै सपाप्माना विनिर्मुक्तः स सामभिरुन्नीयते ब्रह्मलोकं स एतस्मात् जीवघनात् परात्परं पुरिशयं पुरुषमीक्षते ॥ ५ ॥

" If he (the Sadhaka) meditates on Brahman as consisting of one part only (the first part, as cognizer of the objective world), then by such meditation, acquiring knowledge, forthwith does he come to the earth (after death); the first part as Rgveda transmits him to the human species, where, by penance, continence, and faith, he enjoys glory."

" If he meditates. on Brahman as consisting of the second part (cognizer of the subjective world), he attains the subjective world. He (after death) is carried by Yajurveda to the Soma Loka (Moon). There enjoying glory, he comes back amongst men."

" He who meditates on the Great Lord as one whole, consisting of all the three parts, attains to the effulgent sun. As a snake gets rid of its skins so is, he freed from his impurities, and is raised to the Brahma-Loka ¹⁰⁸ by Samaveda. He realizes by meditation the Paramatma, which is within the body of every being, and which is greater than the aggregate of Jiva, (individuals)." ¹⁰⁹

The Tantrik systems of self-culture are constructed in strict accor­dance with the three aspects of the Divine Mother, so that no Sadhaka's work and toil may go amiss. They raise him step by step from the most external belfry to the innermost Tabernacle of Mother Mahakali, never forcibly weaning him from his habits, but transforming those habits into fragrant flowers and grateful offerings.

The importance of possession of a thorough knowledge of Sakti is thus stated in Niruttara Tantra:

बहूनां जन्मनामन्ते शक्तिज्ञानं प्रजायते ।
शक्तिज्ञानं विना देवि निर्वाणं नैव जायते ॥

" After many births the knowledge of Sakti is acquired. O Devi! without the knowledge of Sakti, Nirvana is unattainable."

The knowledge of Sakti is dependent upon self-culture for its attain­ment, for mere intellectual knowledge gained by study cannot raise a man to the state of Divinity. Even intellectual unerring knowledge of the transcendental science is not attainable without devotion to God and Guru.

The mind must be thoroughly trained in spirituality, and brought in harmony with supersensuous truths before one can hope to be able to understand the true import of that with which the transcendental science deals.

यस्य देवे पराभक्तिर्यथा देवे तथा गुरौ ।
तस्यैते कथिता ह्यर्थाः प्रकाशन्ते सहात्मनः ॥
श्वेताश्वतरोपनिषत् ।

"The meaning of these truths of which I have spoken is revealed to the high-souled man, who has supreme and equal devotion to Devata and Guru."

The path of desire and the path of non-desire or cessation are the two paths, either of which a Sadhaka must choose for himself. As man is a bundle of desires and propensities, the regulation of such desires and propensities on lines which may eventually free him from those bondages of woe is the end and aim of all method, either Vaidik or Tantrik. As the four Vedas are replete with hymns and prayers to God or the Gods, for the attainment of objects of desire, so also the Tantras are full of methods for the attainment of the same end. By following those methods, desires and propensities are circumscribed, passions curbed, and animal nature transformed into Divine nature. It is in the lot of but a few to pursue the path of cessation from the outset. The vast majority of men must be looked after, in order that they may not only save themselves, from being mere brutes, but may become good fathers, mothers, sons, brothers, neighbours, citizens - healthy, robust, and God-loving. The Tantra proclaims that its votaries shall become all these, irrespective of Caste, colour, and creed.

Whether one be on the path of desire or on the path of cessation, Karma Yoga, Jnana Yoga, and Bhakti Yoga are indispensable to him. By continually practising works prescribed by the Tantras one's mental and physical impurities are expurgated, the mind becomes pure and transparent, so as to be susceptible of the presence of the Divine light within; the body is no longer the habitual store of Rajasik and Tamasik cells which incite the senses to ignoble works. By Jnanayoga knowledge of Divinity is gained, and by Bhakti Yoga, Jiva and Siva are united, and the supreme good attained; for, according to Tantrik Monism, not even a scintilla of difference is admitted to exist between Jiva and Siva essentially.

One of the characteristic works prescribed in the Tantras is what is called Prayoga (deputation). Ordinarily, what man achieves is the result of his own exertions aided by the exertions of others, or of labour and skill purchased. But human exertions, labour, and skill often fail to produce a desired result. In the Hindu mind belief in the help of supersensuous beings is as ancient as the Vedas. Indeed, the Vedas are replete with sacrifices to Devas for attaining desired objects. The Tantrik System, called " Deputation," is less arduous and less expensive, and can be given effect to within a short time. When at critical moments human efforts and skill give way, man in every country naturally raises his eyes upwards, imploring Divine help and mercy. Divine help and mercy, though in fact attainable, are yet very difficult to attain, for the degree of spiritual culture requisite for such a purpose is the attainment of but very few. The Tantra provides, however, comparatively easy means by which Devatas may be communicated with and their help obtained. This branch of Tantrik knowledge is no part of a man's self-culture, it being merely an art, more useful than spiritually efficacious.

Whether in the path of desire or in the path of cessation, the worship of one Brahman is the burthen of the Tantra, and the object of that worship is the liberation of the individual soul from eternally recurring misery, uniting Atma with Atma, by the dissolution of the Karmik body. To achieve that end, concentration, meditation, and communion are essential. But an object is necessary upon which to concentrate the mind. The universal or all-pervading form of Brahman functioning in undivided, homogeneous effulgence, through the waking, dreaming, and slumbering state of being, is scarcely such an object as the mind can grasp. Pratikas¹¹⁰ are therefore used as its substitute. The Avatara forms, Yantras, and human forms in special Pujas, are the best forms. Images are fashioned after Avatars forms. When by dint of Sadhana Divine effulgence is cognized in a Pratika, then is it that the Sadhaka's vision opens to see the universal Form. The incarnation forms ¹¹¹ of the Divine Mother, called the Ten Mahavidyas, are the Upasya Devata (the worshipful God) of the Sakta Tantriks. Sadhakas, according to their predilections, heredity, or mental conditions, worship one or other of them, believing the particular Form to be Brahman. Images of such Forms, or Yantras, are made, and external worship made to them as Brahman. If a Sadhaka's Sadhana be intense and high, Brahman or the Divine Mother manifests Her Divine Self in the image, which for the time being glows with Divine Life.

गवा सर्वाङ्गजक्षीरं स्रवेत् स्तनमुखाद्यथा ।
तथा सर्वगतो देवः प्रतिमादिषु राजते ॥
आभिरूप्याच्च विश्वस्य पूजायाश्च विशेषतः ।
साधकस्य च विश्वासाद्देवतासंनिधिर्भवेत् ॥

“ As milk, pervading the whole body of cows, comes out through the teats, so is the all-pervading Deva revealed in images, etc. The reflection (of Atma) in images, etc., being the same as the Atma of the Sadhaka. ¹¹² By virtue of the Puja and the Sadhaka's faith, the Devata appears." - Kularnava Tantra.

Sacrifice to God or the Gods in the form of food and drink is an old institution found in the records of almost all religions, ancient and modern, in all parts of the world, not even excepting Christianity and Mohamma­danism. But the ethics of these religions do not give the raison d'etre of such an institution. This seems to be, on the face of it, an anomaly, considering that the God of most of those religions is extra-kosmic and formless. The Vaidik manifested God being both immanent and trans­cendent in the Kosmos, the legitimate conclusion is what the Manduk­yopanisad quoted above lays down as positive truth. In the Bhagavad­gita, the Lord says:

“ He who offereth to Me with devotion a leaf, a flower, a fruit, water, that I accept from the purified self, offered as it is with devotion." - Chap. ix, verse 26.

The Tantra, which claims to be the most correct and practical inter­pretation of Vaidik truths, holds that the Sadhaka who longs to be in harmony with the Divine Mother should not only sacrifice to Her as Vaisvanara, but as Taijasa and Prajna as well.¹¹³ Indeed, the whole life of a Sadhaka is a sacrifice; he must efface his own personality and Ahankara (I-am-ness), dedicating all his thoughts, deeds, and speech to the Divine Mother who resides in full glory in his heart, and is the real cognizer of the body.

Understand me as the Knower of the Field (body) in all the Fields, O Bharata! " - Bhagavadgita, chap. xiii, verse 2.

This is called Atmanivedana (self-dedication). Egoism is the cause of heterogeneousness. The thought, " I am the doer, I am the eater, I am the enjoyer, and I am the sufferer," makes apparent divisions within the homogeneous One, thereby rendering the individualized egos a prey of the attractive and repulsive forces of Avidya and their miseries. The initial work, therefore, of a Sadhaka is to surrender himself completely to the Divine Will.

“ Whatsoever thou doest, whatsoever thou eatest, whatsoever thou offerest, whatsoever thou givest, whatsoever thou doest of austerity, O Kaunteya! do thou that as an offering unto Me.

"Thus shalt thou be liberated from the bonds of action, yielding good and evil fruits; thyself harmonized by the Yoga of renunciation, thou shalt come unto Me when set free." - Bhagavadgita, chap. ix, verses 27, 28.

The question is, How can this complete resignation be effected - resig­nation in act, resignation in speech, and resignation in thought? Men's physical wants, passions, propensities, and emotions are the motives of his actions - either these are to be suppressed for the development of his spiritual nature, or they are to be so used that they may not bind, but become useful agents for leading the small self to the Great Mother. Suppression being out of the question, various devices have been resorted to for circumscrib­ing them, prominent among which is Brahmacarya (absolute continence) and offering of food to God before it is taken. A Sadhaka on the high spiritual path should be a celibate and very abstemious in food. Such are the hardships and restraints imposed upon him that oftener than not he succumbs in his effort to soar to his high aim; the strength of his wings fails, and he falls down, bruised and broken. Thus rendered unfit for both the lower and the higher paths of culture, his life becomes a desert of burning sands and scorching winds. A householder is bidden to offer food to God, and then eat it as Prasada (gracious leaving). He is enjoined to cohabit with his wife only during a few days in the month when fecunda­tion is physiologically possible. These, as restraints on the propensities of eating and sexual intercourse (the two most prominent propensities which rule man's life), are serviceable bits wherewith to check the wayward steed of the senses; but the desire to relish the one and the other remains as fresh as ever. Though constant restraint may put down, it cannot efface. So says the Lord in the Bhagavadgita.

" The objects of sense, but not the relish for them, turn away from an abstemious dweller in the body, and even relish turneth away from him after the Supreme is seen." - Chap. ii, verse 59.

The Yogavasistha Ramayana says:

ज्ञेयं यावन्न विज्ञातं तावत्तावन्न जायते ।
विषयेष्वरतिर्जन्तोर्मरुभूमौ लता यथा ॥

" Man's disrelish for the objects of sense does not arise until the Knowable is known, as a creeper (is not born) in a desert." - Chap. ii.

So long as relish remains, so long is man's individuality in the ascendant; and so long as man's individuality is in the ascendant, so long he is the enjoyer of food, drink, and the like. How can, then, all his actions be offered to the Supreme so that the offerer may be liberated from the bonds of action?

The answer is, By self-surrender or resignation to the Supreme. The Tantrik Sadhaka is enjoined to feel the Supreme as Divine Mother and Father, not only within himself, but within every being. By knowledge of Sastra, by faith, and by devotion to God and Guru, he must persist­ently practise this feeling so that in time it becomes a part of his nature. The nature of the Supreme as the True Self, the real doer and the real feeler being realized, he can place his Karmik self completely at Her disposal in all his acts with a devout heart and inflexible will; he can worship Her with his thoughts, feelings, and propensities, whatsoever they may be, and realize what he recites every morning.

प्रातरुथाय सायाह्नं सायाह्नात् प्रातरेव तु ।
यत्करोमि जगन्मातस्तदेव तव पूजनम् ॥

" From the time I rise in the morning till evening, and from evening till morning, whatsoever I do, O Mother of the Universe! that is surely Thy worship."

This is the mental attitude (भावः) of a hero (वीरः) as distinguished from the mental attitude of the animal man (पशुः), who, however otherwise devoted and wise, eats the gracious leavings of God, relishing them as an individual only¹¹⁴and does not dare unite with his wife as an act of divine worship. Whereas every mouthful of food, every sexual relation, and every act is an oblation of the hero, who by these practical means spiritualizes his nature, and with the Divine Mother's blessings becomes a Man-God (दिव्यः), to be eventually dissolved and lost within the blissful effulgence of Mother. Anandamayi. ¹¹⁵

Brahmamayi¹¹⁶ has created this earth as the field wherein Jivas must reap the fruits of this Karma, and as sparks of Divinity perpetuate the human species. To reap the fruits of Karma the body must be kept up by food, and to perpetuate the species sexual union must take place. But considering the misery attendant upon both these functions, none would care to participate in them were not the monitors of hunger and passion implanted in him, to goad him to action which he would not otherwise willingly take. But mere hunger and passion would not effectually serve the Divine purpose if relish for both were not implanted in him. As the Divine Mother and Father enjoy their creation in the aggregate, so does the Jiva in the individual. The Jiva being essentially the same as the Divine Mother and Father, bliss (Ananda) is his natural heritage.

Thus both eating and sexual union are Divine acts, which have nothing impure in them. Impurity is the progeny of Ajnana (absence of knowledge), which, having divorced Divinity from the Divine act, has lowered it into being mere sexual enjoyment. Thus, man divine has fallen from his high state to that of man the beast. It is the work of the Vira (hero) to undo the instincts born of Ajnana and harmonize himself with the Divine Law.

The Divine Mother creates, maintains, and annihilates the Universe as an act of retributive justice to Karma-bound Jivas. It is Her pleasure or play (Lila), that Her children, by reaping the fruits of their Karma, may return to Her lap, never again to be tied and fettered by Karma. She enacts this drama of the universe, and Herself enjoys it. Her actions, however, cast no fetters round Her, because She is free from attachment and repulsion, which are the binding cords of Maya. It is this feature of Her character which differentiates Her from the Jiva. So the Vedantik terse saying is:

स ईशः यद्वशे माया,
स जीवः यस्तयार्दितः ।

“ He is God, under whose control is Maya; He is Jiva, who is lorded over by Her (Maya)."

The Jiva, who sets his heart upon the task of freeing himself from the bondage of Maya, must infuse every part of the alluring frame of the Enchantress with Divine love, and then throw them as a sacrifice into the Fire of that Love. It is only by this means that lording Maya may be brought under control.

What a Sadhaka must do to free himself from the attractions of objects of sense is thus stated in the Vamakesvara Tantra:

क्रियाकाण्डप्रकथने तन्त्रं बहुतरं भवेत् ।
किंचिल्लक्षणमेतेषां संक्षेपात् कथयामि ते ॥
काव्यशास्त्रे नवरसा योगे चाष्टौ रसाः स्मृताः ।
अष्टादशप्रकारा हि विद्यायां परिकीर्तितः ॥
भक्तियोगे नवरसा ऋतवो विषये स्मृताः ।
पञ्चमाद्या रसा देवि पञ्चपञ्चाशतः स्मृता: ॥
भेदं रसानां वक्ष्यामि शृणुष्वावहिते प्रिये ।
शृङ्गारवीरकरुणहाद्भुतभयानकाः ॥
बीभत्सः शान्तको रौद्रो नवधा काव्यशास्त्रके ।
यमश्च नियमश्चैव आसनं प्राणसंयमः ॥
प्रत्याहारो धारणा च समाधिर्ध्यानमष्टधा ।
योगशास्त्रे महादेवि कथिता विस्तरात् प्रिये ॥
छ्न्दः पादौ च वेदस्य मुखं व्याकरण स्मृतम् ।
शिक्षा घ्राणं महेशानि हस्तौ कल्पोऽथ कथ्यते ॥
ज्योतिषं देवि तन्नेत्रं निरुक्तं श्रोत्रमुच्यते ।
अङ्गानि वेदाश्चत्वरो मीमांसान्यायविस्तरैः ॥
धर्मशास्त्रं पुराणं च विद्या ह्येताश्चतुर्दश ।
आयुर्वेदो धनुर्वेदो गान्धर्वश्चेति ते त्रयः ॥
अर्थशास्त्रसमायुक्ता विद्याष्टादशधा रसाः ।
मननं कीर्तनं ध्यानं स्मरणं पादसेवनम् ॥
अर्जनं वन्दनं दास्यं सख्यमात्मसमर्पणम् ।
इत्थं नवरसा देवि भक्तियोगे प्रकीर्तिताः ॥
स्रग्गन्धवनिताशय्यावस्त्रालंकरणानि च ।
कथिताः परमेशानि विषये ऋतवो रसाः ॥
माद्याः पञ्च रसाः गौडीमाध्वीक्षुफलशय्यकाः ।
एतेषु रसभावज्ञा ये ते वै रसिका स्मृताः ॥
कृत्यविधिर्जपविधिर्द्रव्यशोधनिको विधिः ।
बाह्यमानसिकी पूजा विधिश्च परमेश्वरि ॥
पुरश्चर्याविधिर्देवि कर्मकाण्डानि पञ्चधा ।
त्रिधा कृत्यविधिर्देवि प्रात: सायंदिनं तथा ॥
अनुभूय रसान् क्रियाकाण्डं विधाय च ।
साधकः स्थिरचित्तेन कुर्यात् पूर्णाभिषेचनम् ॥

"Many are the branches of knowledge touching work, some distin­guishing features of which I shall briefly tell thee. In literature there are nine Rasas¹¹⁷; there are said to be eight Rasas in Yoga; in learning there are eighteen Rasas; nine are the Rasas in the Yoga of devotion; in objects of sense there are six Rasas. O Devi! the Rasa of wine are five. These are the fifty-five Rasas. O Dear One! hear attentively the names of the Rasa in the different works mentioned. The nine Rasas in literature are - ­sexual love, heroism, compassion, laughter, wonder, terror, hate, peace, and anger. O Mahadevi! O Dear One! In Yoga Sastra, Yama, Niyama, Asana, Pranayama, Pratyahara, Dharana, Dhyana, and Samadhi are the eight Rasas told in detail. ¹¹⁸ The eighteen Rasas of learning are - (1) Chan­das, which are the legs of the Veda; (2) Vyakarana (Grammar) is known to be its mouth; (3) Siksa is its nostrils; (4) its hands are said to be Kalpa; (5) O Devi! Jyotisa (astronomy, astrology) is its eyes; (6) Nirukta is its ears; (7-10) each of the four Vedas is a limb of the Veda; (11) Mimamsa; (12) Nyaya¹¹⁹; (13) Dharma Sastra; (14) Purana; (15) Ayurveda; (16) Dhanurveda; (17) Gandharva Veda; and (18) Arthasastra.¹²⁰ The nine Rasas in Bhakti Yoga (Yoga of devotion) are known, O Devi! to be thinking, praise, meditation, remembrance, serving the Holy Feet, worship and hymn, servitude, fellowship, and self-dedication. In objects of sense, O Paramesvari! the six Rasas are - flowers, scents, the beloved woman, bed, dress, and ornaments. In wine the five Rasas are - that made of molasses, that made of honey, that made of sugar-cane, that made of fruits, and that made of corn."

“ Those who are experienced in the feeling of Rasa in these are call­ed Rasika."

"O Paramesvari! O Devi! regulations concerning work are of five classes - namely, regulations as to daily service, Japa, purification, external and internal worship, and Purascarana. ¹²¹ Regulations as to daily service relate to morning, noon, and evening rites."

" Experiencing all the Rasas and performing the prescribed works, the Sadhaka, with tranquil mind, shall perform Purnabhisecana." ¹²²

भेदं रसानां बक्ष्यामि शृणुष्वावहिता म्या ।
शृङ्गारो वीरतो ज्ञेयस्तस्मिन् ते करुणादयः ॥
शृङ्गारादिर्घृणादिश्च अपि शृङ्गारतो भवेत् ।
शृङ्गरस्तु यदा देवि परमार्थकसूचकः ।
तदैव परमा शान्ती रुद्रत्वं संप्रपद्यते ॥
तेषां प्रकरणार्थं तु शृणु प्राणाधिके मयि ।
पादं विना शरीरस्य न गतिर्विद्यते प्रिये ॥
छन्दसा वेदमार्गे तु प्रविशेन्न कदाचन ।
अलंकारं विना छन्दे न शोभेत प्रियंवदे ॥
चक्षुःपरोक्षभेदः स्यात् ज्योतिःशास्त्रं तथैव च ।
चन्द्रसूर्यस्य ग्रहणात् ज्योतिः प्रत्यक्षतामियात् ॥
वेदशाखा निरुक्तं स्यात् शाखाभिर्ब्रह्म जायते ।
गानकार्ये श्रुयमाणे भक्तिर्भवति ब्रह्मणि ॥
तद्रैव गानकृत्यं च मुखनासिकयोर्भवेत् ।
गानं विना न नृत्यं स्यात् नृत्यं गानेन जायते ॥
शिक्षाशास्त्रं नाटकादि शब्दव्याकरणं स्मृतम् ।
अविनाभावसंबन्धात् द्वयोरेव शुचिस्मिते ॥
वेदाः षडङ्गसहिताः ब्रह्मव्याख्यानतत्पराः ।
न्यायेन सार्धं मीमांसा ब्रह्म निर्णीयते ध्रुवम् ॥
ब्रह्मज्ञाने तु जीवस्य परमात्मविचारणम् ।
धर्मशास्त्रानुसारेण व्यवस्थादिर्निरूपितः ॥
पुराणाख्यानि तेनैव जायते सततं प्रिये ।
ब्रह्मानन्दपरो जीव आत्मसंरक्षणोत्सुकः ॥
आयुर्वेदं धनुर्वेदं गान्धर्वं च समभ्यसेत् ।
अथ संधानतो देवि पूर्णज्ञानी च साधकः ॥
मनुनेक्षुरसेनैव दुग्धादिफलशस्यकैः ।
गन्धमाल्यादिना देवि वस्त्रालंरणादिना ।
शय्यायां वनितारूपां पूजयेज्जगदम्बिकाम् ॥
वनितापूजने देवि शृङ्गाररससाधनम् ।
पूजनं कर्मकाण्डं च पञ्चधा तत् प्रकीर्तितम् ॥
तत्सर्वं साधयेद्धीरो देवीसंप्राप्तिहेतवे ।
पूजने नवधा भक्तिः रसोल्लासं च जायते ॥
तदा योगं समभ्यस्य समाधिस्थो भवेद्यतिः ।
अत एव महेशानि पुरैव कथितं मया ॥
अनुभूय रसान् सर्वान् पञ्चपञ्चाशतं प्रिये ।
विषये कर्मकाण्डेषु निष्कामी भवति प्रिये ॥
निष्कामे फलमाश्चर्यं तेन तृष्यति देवता ।
देही देहं समाश्रित्य न च कर्म परित्यजेत् ॥
दिव्यां कियां समाप्यैवं देवि यात्रादिकर्मणा ।
पूर्णज्ञानरसानन्दाज्जीवन्मुक्तो भवेत् ध्रुवम् ॥

" Hear attentively from me the different characteristics of the Rasa. Sexual love should be learnt of the hero; in it are compassion, etc. Sexual love, etc., and hate, etc., arise from the sexual Rasa " (Srngara). ¹²³

“ O Devi! when sexual love realises the Supreme Object (Paramartha), ¹²⁴ then is Supreme tranquillity. (The Sadhaka) then acquires the state of Rudra."

" O dearer than life! hear from me the purport of this. O Dear One! as the body cannot move without limbs, so the Vedic path none can enter without a knowledge of Chandas (metre). O sweet-tongued Devi! Chandas is not beautiful without rhetoric. The eye penetrates that which is unseen, so does astronomy; eclipses of the sun and the moon make astronomy a science of direct evidence. Nirukta is a branch of Veda; from the branches Brahma is born. Devotion to Brahma arises from hearing songs; song arises from the mouth and nostrils. Without song there is no dance; dancing is born of songs. Siksa and drama, etc., words and grammar are the couples inseparably allied. The Vedas with their six limbs explain the Brahman. The Nyaya with Mimamsa surely explains Brahman. From constant thought upon the Paramatma, knowledge of Brahman arises in the Jiva. Precepts are settled according to Dharma Sastra; Puranas spring from it, O Dear One; The Jiva, the Supreme object of whose life is bliss Divine (Brahmananda), and who is eager for self-preservation, must learn Ayurveda (science of life - i.e., medical science), Dhanurveda (archery), and Gandharva Veda (music)."

" O Devi, the fully wise Sadhaka, with honey, juice of sugar-cane, milk, corn, scents, garlands, dress, and ornaments, should worship in union woman, who is the image of the Mother of the Universe. O Devi! the culture of the Rasa of sexual love ¹²⁵ consists in the worship of woman. ¹²⁶ Worship and the five classes of work already stated should be performed by the hero (Vira) for attaining the Devi. By worship arise nine degrees of devotion and ecstasy of Rasa. Then the Yogi, practising Yoga, shall be immersed in communion " (Samadhi).

"Therefore, O Mahesani, have I already stated that by feeling all the fifty-five Rasas one loses all desire for objects of sense and worldly work. ¹²⁷ The effect of non-desire is wonderful, and the Divine Mother is gratified by it. Embodied man cannot give up Karma (action) so long as he is embodied; so, concluding in this wise, divine acts by festive, religious, and other works, the Sadhaka verily becomes liberated in this life (Jivanmukta) by virtue of his full knowledge and bliss of Rasa." - Chap. liv.

Wine, as a means of spiritual self-culture, is another singular feature of some forms ¹²⁸ of Tantrik Sadhana. In India the free use of wine in social and religious festivals was fairly general in the Satya, Treta, and Dvapara Ages (Yugas). It was, however, probably after the ruin of the race of Yadus during the last days of Sri Krsna's life that stringent laws were framed in the Smrti Sastras against the use of wine by three higher classes. Those laws were sedulously administered by the Hindu Govern­ments, and the result was a general abhorrence of spirituous drinks. Nothing better could have been devised for the welfare of man, for wine not only wastes the body, but it works havoc on the intellectual and moral faculties, pulling down man to the level of beasts. The Tantra 'Sastra - the Word of God - is fully alive to this:

कौलज्ञाने ह्यसिद्दो यस्तद्द्रव्यं भोक्तुमिच्छति ।
स महापातकी देवि सर्वकर्मबहिष्कृतः ॥
असंस्कृतं पिबेद् द्रव्यं बलात्कारेण मैथुनम् ।
स्वप्रियेण हतं मांसं रौरवं नरकं व्रजेत् ॥
वृथा पानं तु देवेशि सुरापानं तदुच्यते ।
यन्महापातकं देवि वेदादिषु निरूपितम् ॥

" One who, being unripe in Kaula knowledge, wishes to drink wine, is, O Devi! a great sinner, and is unfit to perform all religious works."

" He goes to Raurava Hell who drinks unpurified wine, commits rape, and slaughters animals for self-gratification."

" O Devi! that is called drinking of wine which is not for Divine purposes; that is a great sin according to the Vedas, etc." - Kularnava Tantra. (5-95, 99).

Further, it is said in the same Tantra (2. 117- 119):

मद्यपानेन मनुजो यदि सिद्धिं लभेत वै ।
मद्यपानरताः सर्वे सिद्धिं गच्छन्तु पामराः ॥
मांसभक्षणमात्रेण यदि पुण्यगतिर्भवेत् ।
कोके मांसाशिनः सर्वे पुण्यभाजो भवन्विह ॥
स्त्रीसंभोगेन देवेशि यदि मोक्षं ब्रजन्ति वै ।
सर्वेऽपि जन्तवे लोके मुक्ताः स्युः स्त्रीनिषेवणात् ॥

" If man could attain spirituality by drinking, then all ignoble drinkers would be liberated. If residence in heaven be the result of meat-eating, then all carnivorous beings would be righteous. If O Devi! enjoyment of women be the cause of liberation, then all creatures by enjoying women would be liberated."

Why, then, it may be asked, are all these " gates of hell " introduced in self-culture, the object of which is liberation from the fascinations of Maya? The same Tantra which prescribes Sadhana with woman, wine, and meat, prescribes also various other methods of worship, and supplies Mantras, without which Hinduism all over India would be paralyzed. It is irrational to accept one portion of a Sastra as valuable and reject another as worthless. The earnest inquirier must forgo his prejudices and passions, cherished ideas and preconceived notions, before he can enter the holy temple of spiritual truth embodied in the mandates of Lord Siva. It must always be remembered that this is spiritual culture, and not the culture of the body and its senses.

The Tantra Sastra, like all other revelations, does not always assign reasons for its mandates, but asserts that as Sadhana is practical, the most direct evidence of the truth of its statements can be obtained by accepting the Sadhana and working according to instructions.

The principle underlying this Sadhana is thus enunciated:

यैरेव पतनाम् द्रव्यैः सिद्धिस्तैरव चोदिता ।
श्रीकौलदर्शने चैव भैरेवेण महात्मना ॥

“ The Great Bhairava has ordained in the Kaula doctrine that Siddhi (spiritual advancement) must be achieved by means of those very things which are the causes of man's downfall." - Kularnava Tantra.

The consideration of this principle leads us, in the first place, to adopt the evidence of analogy in regard to the physical body of man. Cobra poison, arsenic, aconite, croton, opium, and other animal and vegetable poisons, are destructive of life. But skilfully prepared and purified, they not only save life but invigorate it. The Indian physician's prepara­tion of cobra poison is famous for its life-giving and invigorating virtues, so are the apothecary's preparations of arsenic, etc. In some parts of India raw arsenic is used in moderate quantities for prolonging life and putting off old age. It would thus appear that nothing is absolutely harmful in Nature. By skilful manipulation even poison yields manna. The poison of wine, by skilful treatment according to Tantrik precepts and instructions of Gurus, is not only rendered innocuous, but is turned into a distinct force of labour, energy, patience, and intrepidity, all of which are essential in spiritual culture.

Wine, by exciting the brain, turns the mind to that channel of thought which is uppermost in the drinker's mind. ¹²⁹ When the mind is pre-eminently devotional, the effect of wine upon it is to render it more so by concentrating all the thoughts upon the object of devotion. Ecstasy (Ullasa) and communion (Samadhi) are after a long practice its riper developments in a Sadhaka.

That which most attracts men to the taking of wine is its power to develop happiness in the drinker. The Sadhaka's mind, freed from all base and ignoble thoughts and feelings, enjoys Brahmananda (Brahman Bliss) under its influence.

As to the use of meat and fish, the Vaidik and the Tantrik Sastras agree in holding that slaughter of animals for Divine purposes is not sinful.

पितृदेवादियज्ञेषु वैधहिंसा विधीयते ।
आत्मार्थं प्राणिनां हिंसा कदाचिन्नोदिता प्रिये ॥
अनिमित्तं तृणं वापि छेदयेन्न कदाचन ।
देवतार्थं द्विजार्थं वा हत्वा पापैर्न लिप्यते ॥

"O Dear One! in sacrifices to the Pitrs and Gods killing of prescribed animals is ordained. For self-gratification killing of beings is nowhere permitted. Even a blade of grass should never be cut without a lawful purpose. Killing for the satisfaction of the Gods and twice-born (Dvijas) ¹³⁰ is not sinful."

The Kularnava Tantra says:

यथैवानुचरा राज्ञ प्रियाः स्युर्न बहिश्चराः ।
तथान्तर्यागनिष्ठा ये ते प्रिया देवि नापरे ॥
समर्पयन्ति ये भक्त्या कराभ्यां पिशितासवम् ।
उत्पादयन्ति चानन्दं मत्प्रियाः कौलिकाश्च ते ॥
आवयोः परमाकारं सच्चिदानन्दलक्षणम् ।
कुलद्रव्योपभोगेन जायते नान्यथा प्रिये ॥
सेविते च कुलद्रव्ये कुलतत्त्वार्थदर्शिनः ।
जायते भैरवावेशः सर्वत्र समदर्शिनः ॥
तमःपरिवृतं वेश्म यथा दीपेन दृश्यते ।
तथा मायावृते ह्यात्मा द्रव्यपानेन दृश्यते ॥
मन्त्रपूतं कुलद्रव्यं गुरुदेवार्पितं प्रिये ।
ये पिबन्ति जनास्तेशां स्तन्यपानं न विद्यते ॥
सुरा श्क्तिः शिवो मांसं तद्भक्त्तो भैरवः स्वयम् ।
तयोरैक्यं समुत्पन्नमानन्दं मोक्ष उच्यते ॥
आनन्दं ब्रह्मणो रुपं तत्तु देहे व्यवस्थितम् ।
अस्याभिव्यञ्जकं मद्यं योगिभिस्तेन पीयते ॥
निःसङ्गो निर्भये वीरो निर्द्वन्द्वो निश्कुतूहलः ।
निर्णीतवेदशास्त्रार्थो वरदां वारुणीं पिबेत् ॥
. . . .
मन्त्रसंस्कारशुद्धाश्चामृतपानेन पार्वति ।
जायते देवताभवो भवबन्धविमोचकः ।
तृप्त्यर्थं सर्वदेवानां ब्रह्मज्ञानार्थभेव च ।
सेवेत मधुमांसानि तृष्णया चेत् स पातकी ॥
मन्त्रार्थस्फुरणार्थाय मनसः स्थैर्यहेतवे ।
भवपाशनिवृत्त्यर्थं मधुपानं समाचरेत् ॥
सेवते यः सुखार्थाय मद्यादीनि स पातकी ।
प्राशयेद्देवताप्रीत्यै ह्यभिलाषविवर्जितः ॥
मत्स्यमांसासवादीनां मादनानां निषेवणम् ।
यागकालं विनान्यत्र दूषणं कथितं प्रिये ॥
यथा क्रतुषु विप्राणां सोमपानं विधीयते ।
मधुपानं तथा कार्यं समये भोगमोक्षदम् ।
श्रीगुरोः कुलशास्त्रेभ्यः सम्यग्विज्ञाय वासनाम् ।
पञ्चमुद्रां निषेवेत चान्यथा पातकी भवेत् ॥
अयष्ट्वा भैरवं देवमकृत्वा गन्त्रतर्पणम् ।
पशुपानविधौ पीत्वा कौलोऽपि व्रजेत् ॥
‘ ‘ ‘ ‘
स्वलक्ष्यादिन्द्रियगणं संपाद्यात्मनि योजयेत् ।
सांसाशी स भवेद्देवि शेषः स्युः प्राणिहिंसकाः ॥
अप्रबुद्धा पशोः शक्तिः प्रबुद्धा कौलिकस्य च ।
शक्तिं तां सेवयेद्यस्तू स भवेच्छक्तिसेवकः ॥
परशक्त्यात्ममिथुनसंयोगानन्दनिर्भरः ।
य आस्ते मैथुनं यत् स्यादितरे स्त्रीनिषेवकाः ॥
इत्यादि पञ्चमुद्राणां वासनां कुलनायिके ।
ज्ञात्वा गुरुमुखाद्देवि यः सेवेत स मुच्यते ॥
. . . .
पूजाभिषेकसहितो देवि शास्त्रार्थतत्त्ववित् ।
देवतागुरुभक्तं च नियतं योऽर्चयेत् प्रिये ॥
कुलागमरहस्यज्ञो देवताराधनोत्सुकः ।
गुरूपदेशसंयुक्तः पूजयेत् कुलनायिके ॥
शुद्धात्मा चातिसंहृष्टः क्रोधलौल्यविवर्जितः ।
पशुव्रतादिविमुखः संमुखस्तर्पयेत् प्रिये ॥
मन्त्रयोगेन देवेशि कुर्यात् श्रीचक्रपूजनम् ।
तदहं तु त्वया सार्धं गृह्णामि स्वयमादरात् ॥
भैरवेऽहमिति ज्ञानात् सर्वज्ञादिगुणान्वितः ।
इति संचिन्त्य योगीशः कुलपूजारतो भवेत् ॥
इत्यादिलक्षणोपेतः कौलिको नियतव्रतः ।
यस्त्वां समर्चयेद्देवि भुक्तिमुक्त्योः स भाजनः ॥

"As the personal servants of a king and not the State servants are dear to him, so, O Devil! are those who are devoted to internal worship, not others. Those who with devotion offer with their hands meat and wine cause bliss (Ananda); they are, my Dear One! Kaulikas. Our Supreme form described as Sat, Cit, and Ananda, verily develops, O Dear One! by the enjoyment of wine. Bhairava inspires those who drink with a knowledge of the principles of Kula (Sakti), and who view all objects with an even eye. As a dark house is illumined by light, so does the Atma, enveloped by Maya, become visible by drinking. O Dear One! those who drink wine sanctified by Mantra (the mystic words of power) and offered to Gurudeva will never drink the mother's milk again (that is, will never be reborn). Wine is Sakti, meat is Siva. Their enjoyer is Bhairava himself; the bliss arising from their union is called liberation. Ananda is Brahman. It exists in bodies. Wine reveals it; hence Yogis drink it. Without attachment, fearless, unmoved by pairs of opposites (as pleasure and pain), without curiosity to know, versed in Vaidik lore, the Vira drinks wine which grants blessings."

. . . .

" O Parvati! the drink of nectar purified by Mantra develops god-like nature, and liberates man from the bondage of the world."

. . . .

For the gratification of the Gods, and also for the attainment of the knowledge of Brahman, should wine and meat alone be taken; he is a sinner who consumes them in order to satisfy his carnal appetite. Wine should be drunk in order that a clear perception of the form (of the Devata) arising from the Mantra (of the Sadhaka) may be thereby attained, and for pacification of the mind and the undoing of the bondage of the world. He who takes wine and the rest for self-gratifi­cation is a sinner. These things should be taken without thirst and longing, for the satisfaction of the Devata alone. O Dear One! The partaking of fish, meat, wine, and other things which cause excitement, at times other than those of worship, is sinful. As Soma-drinking is prescribed to Brahmanas during sacrifice, so wine, as that which yields joy and liberation, should be drunk at its proper time. It is only after the true import of the Kula Sastra has been learnt from the Guru that one should partake of the five articles,¹³¹ otherwise one becomes a sinner. Even a Kaula goes to hell who drinks after the manner of Pasus ¹³² without worshipping Bhairava Deva, and without doing Tarpana with Mantra."

. . . .

" He who withdraws the senses from their objects and unites them with Atma is a true meat-eater, others are mere slaughterers of animals. The Sakti of a Pasu is asleep, that of a Kaula is awake; he who enjoys this Sakti is an enjoyer of Sakti. He who enjoys the bliss arising from the union of Parasakti with Atma has true sexual union, ¹³³ others are mere enjoyers of women. O Mistress of Kula! he who partakes of the five articles, knowing from the mouth of the Guru their true significance, is liberated."

. . . .

" O Devi! I myself with Thee accept with pleasure Sricakra Puja performed with Mantra by one, well-versed in the Sastrik import of Puja and Abhiseka, who is devoted to Devata and Guru, who worships daily, who knows the esoteric meanings of the Kula Sastra, who with zeal per­forms worship, who has received instructions from Guru, whose mind is pure, who is active, who is devoid of anger and greed, who is averse to the religious practices of Pasus, and who offers oblations. The wise Yogi should perform Kula-puja, filling his mind with the thought ‘ I am Bhairava'. Possessed of these and other qualities the Kaulika who regularly worships Thee obtains enjoyment and liberation."

These rather long extracts will, it is hoped, amply repay perusal, and bring home to the mind of the unbiased, earnest inquirer the truth of the compatibility of enjoyment and liberation existing harmoniously, provided that such enjoyment be lawful and not sinful. Yoga, which liberates, and Bhoga (enjoyment), which chains down, have been treated as though they were poles asunder in other schools of thought, which make it incum­bent upon the pursuer of the one to shun the other as one would shun a deadly cobra. The effect of this has been referred to more than once in this essay. The Tantra Sastra reconciles the two, not only in theory, but in practice. The testimony of thousands of Tantrik Yogis from remote antiquity corroborates its truth.

According to the eight-limbed Yoga process, Kula-kundalini can be united in the thousand-petalled lotus with Parasiva. This is the union of Siva, and Sakti, and the fluid arising from this union is wine which the Yogi drinks. The truth of this is unquestionable, and forms the basis of the Satcakra-Sadhana briefly described in a previous part of this essay. This system of Sadhana is called Jnana Yoga - that is, the Yoga of Knowl­edge as distinguished from Bhakti Yoga, the Yoga of Devotion. The Yoga of Knowledge is so arduous and difficult that but very few amongst many thousands can appreciably succeed in it. On the other hand, very many persons are physically unfit for it.

Tantrik Yogis who pursue the path of knowledge regard the path of devotion as indispensable, for the latter wonderfully develops the spiritual faculties, unties worldly bondage more effectually, and operates as a guarantee against fall, the danger of which attends every step taken in the practice of the Yoga of Knowledge.

Tantrik Bhakti Yoga stands upon, its own feet, firm, sure, unerring, and suited to all constitutions and to all stations of life. It is for the prince as for the peasant, for the poor as for the rich, for the man of business as for the man of leisure. It makes no distinction of caste, colour, creed, or nationality, welcoming one and all who will bow to the lotus ­feet of the Divine Mother. It exhorts no privation, imposes no hard and fast conditions, but accommodates itself to the tastes and capacities of its followers, so that they may slowly but surely march on like heroes to the capture of the citadel of bliss. It only asks the ordinary disciple to be honest, sincere, kind, compassionate, and truthful, and to keep his passions and greed under control. If he wants prosperity, progeny, and other material advantages, let him devoutly pray to the Divine Mother, and " depute " Her angels to secure them for him. His desire will thus have a better chance of being gratified than by servitude, servility and many another questionable worldly artifice.

Passion and greed being the two great powers of Avidya, which sow seeds of disease, death, discord, poverty, and ruin broadcast all over the world, they are so handled in the Yoga of Devotion that they not only lose their own strength, but become cheerful friends of the sojourner. The path of devotion - that is; the Kaula path - is therefore a blessing, not only individually, but socially.

Extreme Vedantik pessimism has rendered India what it is to-day ­neither soaring to heaven nor blooming on earth. Both heaven and a fruitful life on earth were the portion of its great ancestors who were wont to perform the Soma sacrifice in bygone ages. Casting our eyes on the West, we are dazed by the dazzle of worldly wealth on the one hand, and terrified by the ghostly shadow of poverty on the other. Big religious bodies there are, but where is God? Whilst India has no faith in the world, and only a dreamy faith in heaven, the West seeks a heaven in this world. The best remedy for this disease is to be found in that religion which both fully recognizes the reality of the world, and regards it as the training-ground whereon man may grow into God.

And so says the Kularnava Tantra:

भोगो योगायते सम्यक् दुष्कृतं सुकृतायते ।
मोक्षायते च संसारः कुलधर्मे कुलेश्चरि ॥

"O Mistress of Kula! in Kuladharma, Bhoga (enjoyment) becomes complete Yoga (union of Jiva with Brahman), bad deeds are made good deeds, and the world becomes the seat of Liberation."

Om Santih, Om Santih, Om Santih, Om Kali.

Barada Kanta Majumdar
Benares
March 23, 1914

Footnotes

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