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!;IMAGE DIVINE. CULTE ET MBDITATJON
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DANS L'HINDOUISME.
Editions du CNRS, Paris. 1990.

THE VISUALIZATION OF THE DEITIES

OF THE TRIKA
BY
ALEXIS SANDERSON

1. THE TRIKA

1.1. By the term Trika I intend an entity in ritual rather than

theology. I refer to a cluster of Tantric Saiva cults 1 with a common
system or 'pantheon' of mantra-deities. The distinctive core of this
pantheon (yciga/:t) 2 is the three goddesses Para, Para para and Apara,
and the two alphabet-deities Sabdarasi[ -bhairava] (also called
Mat:rka[bhairava]) and Malini. 3

1.2.1. The best documented of these cults is that which is expounded

by Abhinavagupta in his Tantrciloka on the basis of the Malinfui-
jayottaratantra. Also in this branch is the Siddhayogesuarfmata
(!Siddhcimata, Siddhcitantra), probably the earliest and most funda-
mental of the Trika's scriptures. This work survives, but in what is
certainly a much shorter redaction than that known to the Kash-
mirians. 4

.:-I.B. My emendations of quoted passages are indicated as follows. The emendation is

printed in roman type followed by the rejected syllables of the :viS or edition printed in italics
within parentheses.
(1) The word Tantric (tantrika/:t) is used here in its wide sense, i.e. to cover both Tantric
and Kaula forms of ritual. For the narrower sense of the word, in which it is opposed to Kaula.
see Sanderson 1990.
(2) For ydga/:1 in this sense, lit. 'that which is worshipped' (ijyata iti _vagal;.), see, e.g ..
K~emaraja on Sv'I' 2.15Rb (yagarn tatraiva vinyaset): ijyata iti yago mantraf?Of.w/.1; also on Sv'I'
13.1 and NeT 16.58ab; Sv'I' 4.522ab (yagarn sarrthareta); PicM·BY f.210v3 (yagarn ... ase~am tatra
vinyaset); Kriyiidipikd quoted at SomSPaddh 3, p. 161 (yiige visarjite); Abhinavagupta, TSi\ra
p. 191 (upasarnhrte yiige).
(3) Cf. KulRatnU f.79r: sabdara.<is ca mdlinyd vidyanarn tritayasya ca / sarigoparigasamd·
yuklaiJ'l(il.) trikatan.traf'(l kari$yati //. The verse is ungrammatical; but the probable sense is,
'[Siva] will produce the scripture(s) of the Trika equipped with Sabdarasi, Malini, and the
three Vidyas [Para, Parapara and Apara] together with their divisions and subdivisions.'
(4) MSS: NAK 5/2403; ASR 5465 (G).
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1.2.2. Three other major forms of the Trika are accessible to us. tary on the Paratril?l.~ikalaghuvrtti of Abhinavagupta, has the follo-
These are those of the Devyaylimala, the Trisirobhairava, and the wing invocation as its second verse : 8
Tantrasadbhava. Of these agamas only the last survives in its
May the Supreme Power [Para] protect you, [she who is as brilliantly white]
entirety. 5 The first and the second can be studied only through as a markless moon, three-eyed, adorned with the crescent moon [upon her
various quotations and reports in the Kashmirian literature, particu· hair], her (two] hands showing the gesture (mudrd) and the book.
larly in the Tantraloka and its commentary (the -viveka of Jayara-
tha). There are also materials closely related to both the Devyaya- 2.1.2. That this work is south Indian is evident from the facts that
mala and the Trisirobhairava, but particularly to the former, in the its author records that it was composed "in the city of the Lord of
Jayadrathayamala (/Tantraraja[-bhattaraka]). 6 the Hall of Consciousness" (pure citpari$alpate/:t), that is to say, in
the temple-city of Cidambaram; 9 that he mentions that city with
1.2.3. To these systems we must add that of the Anuttara, Ekavira, Kashmir, Banaras and Kailasa as one of four centres of the Trika: 10
or Parakrama. Distinguished by these names from the Trika proper and that he looks upon the Siva Lord of Dancers (Nataraja) who
it reduces the latter's yaga to the first of the two alphabet-deities is the deity of its temple as embodying the Trika's dynamic non-
and the goddess Para, or else to Para alone. Its scriptural basis, the duality of consciousness. 11
short Paratrirtlsika, has come down to us with extensive exegesis,
most notably with two commentaries by Abhinavagupta, the long 2.2. The same verse is found as the visualization text for Para in the
-vivarar:za and the short [laghu-} vrtti. form of Anuttara worship (Parakrama) followed in the cult of the
goddess Lalita (/Tripurasundarl) centred on the south Indian city of
Kafici: (Kaii.c!puram). 12 In that cult, as prescribed in the Para-
suramakalpasrltra, Para is worshipped as Lalita's 'heart'
2. PARA
(hrdayam). 13

2.0. It appears from Abhinavagupta that the mam source of the 2.3. A hymn to Para (Parastutib) attributed to one Sahajanan-
Trika's deity visualizations (dhyanani) was the Siddhayo- danatha and recited at the end of the cult in that tradition identifies
gesvarimata.7 Some relevant material appears, as we shall see, in the the 'gesture' (mudra) of the visualization verse as that of Conscious-
short redaction of this work which survives; but what we find there ness (cinmudra), and assigns it to the goddess's right hand: 14
and in the other sources that remain does not amount to a complete
description of the system's icons. (8) PTTatpD 2: akalarikasasarikabha tryaksa candrakalauatf / mudrapustalasadbiiha
ptitu vab paramci kala//.
2.1.1. I have found fully detailed visualizations only in the case of (9) PTTatpD 531d. See also ibid. 535c: sal!witsa171sannabhomadhye (emending the
edition's sauisdsa171nabharmadhye ). For the Hall of Consciousness (citsabhti, cilparisal,
Para, the highest of the three goddesses; and these come not from sa'7lvitsa'7lsal) at Cidambaram containing the space-linga (akiisalitigam) and the idol of Siva
any of the agamas of the Trika or even from Kashmir, but from the Lord of Dancers (:--lataraja) see. e.g., Kulke 1970, 140 and Plate 3.
post-scriptural literature of the Anuttara cult in the form in which (10) PTTatpD 3: snmatkailasakasmirakasfvyaghrapunsthitam I trikarthadarsina171 van de
deva171 somti171sabhli$U(tam /I. Vyaghrapuri ( < the old Tamil Puliyiir ['Place of the Tiger' I)
it was practised in the Tamil-speaking region in the far south of the ~ Cidambaram; see Kulke 1970, 32.
subcontinent. Thus the Paratril?lsihatatparyadfpihli, a verse commen· (11) PTTatpD 532-536. At 536b I propose to emend lmtanodyogaiiiilinab to natano-
dyogasiilinab.
(12) ParasurKS kha(!l;ia 8 (Anuttarapaddhati I Parakrama), 20; Nityots 193, 15-16; 195,
17; MahatripV 171,6-7. These have ptitu mii171 where PTTatpD has palu ua/l. Variants are also
seen at SVidylirl)T 58, 31-32 (/ MahatripV 34, 1-2) in the parasa'7!putilamdtrkiinytisa/l (la-
(5) MSS: NAK 5/445 (AD 1091); 1/363; 5/1985. sadbiihuiTl pranamdmi pard/'fl kaldm) and PrapaficSPKD 589, 21-22 (mukldmanivibhrisitam for
(6) This work. the largest surviving Saiva agama (24.000 ;lokas in four $Gikas), was the last pdda).
current in Kashmir in the time of our commentators (AD 950 +) and was redacted, if not (13) ParasurKS 8.1: ... siTf!hdsanavidyahrdayam anuttaral'fl parabijariipam ... ; Ramesva-
entirely composed, in that region: see my forthcoming 'The Date and Provenance of the .ra's commentary· ad loc.: ... yQ uidyci sa tripurasunda.n- lalitd tasyii/:t hrdayaT(I hrdayarUpam;
Jayadralhayamalalanlra.' :\ityots 190, 5: para snhrdaydtmikii.
(7) PI'Viv 278, 10-1~1 (265,18-266. 4): ... siddhadilanlradiuidhim eua laddsayenaim · (14) :--lityots 196. verse 5: bhakta;anabhedabhanjanacinmudrakalitadaksaptinitaliim I
ninipitataddhytinlidisafl1kocam iilambalQm. plin;dhantiikdral)apustakavaryen.a ruciraudmakardm //.
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35
Her right hand is adorned with the Consciousness-gesture which destroys 2.6. In this same context. namely the visualization of Para in the
duality in [the minds of] her devotees, and her left hand displays [a bound
manuscript of] the Supreme Scripture which is the means of attaining the
regular (niyatakalam [nityam}) and compulsory (niyatakara~J,iyam
[liberated] state of all-including I-ness. [nityam]) form of the cult, the short Siddhayogesvarimata and the
Malinivijayottara do not provide the details needed for a complete
This detail is also given in a description of Para in the Lalitopii- dhyiina. They tell us only that the goddess is as white as the moon
khyana, a Pural)ic work devoted to the praise (mahatmyam) of the or crystal and that she nourishes the universe by pouring forth the
Kane! Lalita cult, 15 and in the Ahirbudhnyasaf?lhita, a south Indian nectar of life. 22 However the first of these sources is more forth-
work of the Vai$1)ava Pancaratra composed in the eleventh century coming when it teaches the visualization of Para in the yogic
in a milieu strongly influenced by the Trika. 16 The gesture is formed meditations which may be practised by sadhakas for specific,
by showing the palm at the level of the heart with the thumb and nontranscendental goals. Two such meditations are found in the
the index finger joined to form a circle. 17 text : (i) for the defeat of death (mrtywijayasadhanam), and (ii) for
the mastery of the poet's art and the attainment of all knowledge
2.4. Sahajananda's hymn also tells us that Para is to be visualized (kavitvasadhanam, saroajfiatvasadhanam). 23
within a lunar disc, 18 wearing a necklace of pearls, pearl earrings, In the first the siidhaka visualizes a white, eight-petaled lotus
and a garment of spotless white linen. 19
above his head, with the moon's disc as its centre. He then visualizes
Para in the centre of this disc pouring forth nectar which enters
2.5.1. The Rahasyapaficadasikii adds the option that Para may be
through the aperture in his cranium (the brahmarandhram) and fills
visualized holding a pen (lekhanf) in her right hand instead of
his body. As for the details of her form, we are told only that she
showing the gesture. ~ 0
is white. 24 In the second Para is to be contemplated in much the
same manner. She is described as seated within a lotus above the
2.5.2. The attribution of this work to Abhinavagupta 1s certainly sadhaka pouring forth nectar; but now it is the nectar of omnis-
false : it too is probably a south Indian work. ~ 1

contains the attribution, refers to a text of only 15 verses (37cd: ime 'bhinauaguptena §loka/_t
(15) BrahmiiP (Lalitop) 39.9-10: iidyri yiinuttarii(?. yrinutarri) sri syac citparri tv paiicadasoditii/:1 )_ But there are other reasons for rejecting the attribution. Verse 34 contains
ridikiiranam I aniikhyeti(?.antakhyeti) tatha proktri svarupa(svanlprit)tattvacintakai!> II 9 II the non-Abhinavaguptan but Advaitavediintist terminology of sat, cid, and iinanda (35a:
dvitzyiibhut tala/_! suddhaparri dvibhujasarnyuta I daksahaste yogamudrarp uamahaste tu sadamsarn cidarnse cidarn.<arn mudarnse) and the distribution of the letters of the_ alphabet
pustakam II 10 II bibhrati himakundendumuktasamauapurdyuti!> I parriparii trt(va syiid ... on (/as) the body of Sarasvati in verse I is not that of Abhinavagupta's Trika (see TA 15. 117c
(16) AhirbS 24.16: plirnendusitalarucir dh,-tabodhamudrri brihvantarasthanijabodhana- - 120c), but that of the south Indian smarta tradition of the Prapaiicasara (see PrapaiicS 7.3;
pustakrir;lhyri I devi parri paramapurusadiuyasaktis cintyri prasannavadana sarasiruhriksi 11. Nitvots 94, 1-15).
Schrader (1916: 96-99) dated this work to some time between AD 300 and 700, and considered - (22) SiYogM 6.27c-28 (f. 11rl-2): karnika_vrirn nyased devirn parri <m> ekriksariim
it to have been written in Kashmir. For proofs that it is a southern work of the eleventh subhdm II utkr((kri)stasphatikaprakhyiim samantrid amrtastaviim I apy~yanakarirn deuirn
century see my forthcoming 'The Date and Provenance of the Laksmitantra and the Ahirbudh- par<ii>rn siddhipradiiyikam(rit) II. cf. Siddhayogesuan·mata quoted at TAV9 (15) 167, 4-6:
nyasarrthitri.' tasyci/> iihhdgre vinyasyel pariim ekaksarrirn subhiirn I utkrstasphatikaprakh_viirn samantiid
(17) SarTiiPA :l58, 21-23: ... jiiiinamudrri migu$/hatarjan(yoganipri parsvabhimukhi...; amrtasraviim II ripyiiyanakari111 deuirn pariirn siddhipradiiyikiim I. Ma!VijUT 8.74cd: pararn
Jiiiinari)T 4.40c-41b: tarjanyangusthayoge tu dak 0 ahaste tu piiruati 1140 II aksamaleti mudreyarn ciipyriyanfm devirn candrakotyayutaprabhiim 1/.
jiirinamudra ca va.i bhauet 1. (23) These are taught in SiYogM patalas II and 12.
(18) Nityots 196, verse 2: iinandacaranalwmalam akalarikasasarikamandalacchayam I (24) SiYogM 1l.3c-12: mrtyufija_varn samasena kathyamiinam srnu pri_ve II akasa <rn>
tanmar;r,ial<idhinlr,ihiif'(l tatkalayii kalitacitka/dr!l naumi ;/. Also RahPaiic 24b: candramar_td- bhiitanilayam tatra padmakrtim smaret I dalastakasamopetarn karnikadhi(di)sthitarn sitam II
aliinlahsthe (voc.). svacchasphatika(?. prakrti)sarnkasarn priileyiivanisaf'(lnibham I san,amrtamayarn diu_varn can-
(19) Nityots 196, verse 4ab: mauktikamanigar,tarucirrirn sasiirikanirmokanirmalarn ksau- drakalpitakarnikam II tadrsenaiva rlipena bhupadma11t tu manoramam I tasmirn.<: caivopavistas
marn I niuasanrirn parameSirn namiimi ... ; 6cd: mau.ktikatatarikribhydrrt manr;litamukhamanr;lalam tu. sam_vag nytisakrtas tala/:! II prii(a)leyiibharn tato' · tmrinarn suddhasphatikasa(sam)prabham
pararn naumi 1/ 1 evaf'(l vicintya-m(n)-iitmiinallt pasciid dhyiinarn vicintayet II vyomapadme tu yac candrarn
(20) RahPaiic 23cd: hastayugmadhrtapustatulikarn briliklillt paricinomi tarn param 1132c: karnikayiim vyauasthitam I ta <I> sthiirn vicintayed devfrn para< m > surabhinlpinfm II
lilripustakalekhinidharakara ciccandrabimbasthita. The basic dhyiina is at 21: dordvandua- svacchasphatikasaprakhyarn samantiid amrtasrava(a)m I sravantf samrtarn (?. sravantfmsd-
sarnkalitapu.stakabodhamudre ... (voc.). mava7Jt) divvarn mantra(yanta)niidantasarpini < m > II sii sakti <r > devadevasya paramiitmii-
(21) The Rahasyapaiicadasikri has been tentatively included among the works of .(a;'mrtavahinf I *sri srauanti(ntirn)* pararn ksirarn yat tat satyam sunirmalam /1 tat patad dhy
a(?. ntya)tmano murtau (tirrt) samantac ca vicintayet / ui.<ia < d > brahmabile *bhiinhyo * plavayed
Abhinavagupta by Pandey (1963:71, 74-75; 954-56 !text]). He notes that the attribution is ,, dhrd-(hrirrt)guhiisrayam(yrit) /1 evarn pratidinarn dh_vayej japen mantrottamottamam I $O"masdj
doubtful because the MS he transcribes contains 37 verses while the final verse, which I
jln(v)ate mrtyum iti 1ilistrasya niscayal)(m) !1.
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cience, and he is to imagine it first entering his mouth and then 2.7.2. The south Indian literature of the Tripurasundari. cult, (mainly
emerging from it. We are also told that she is to be visualized within commentaries and manuals, but also in the case of the Yoginfhrdaya,
a grove of kadamba trees (Nauclea Cadamba), holding the Book of scripture itsel£3°), was permeated by the non-dualism of the Kashmi-
All Wisdom in her left hand and a rosary of crystal in her right, and rian exegetes of the Trika. Here we see that the influence of the
wearing a long necklace of the same substance. 25 Trika goes right back to the very formation of this cult, since the
mantras are inevitably the most basic constituents of any Tantric
2.7.1. The essentials of this sadhana are also found in the Prapafi- system_ Like the Kubjika cult it has incorporated and inflected
casara attributed to Sari.kara. in the chapter on the cult of the elements central to the Trika. 31
goddess Tripurabhairavi (one of the basic forms of Tripurasun-
darl) : 26 2.7.3. It has incorporated not merely the mantra but also the two
If he meditates on the last of the three seed-syllables he will be free of the specific functions which are associated with its sadhanas in the
danger of reincarnation after his death and will win the favour of the [goddess Siddhayogesvarimata : the defeat of death and the granting of
of] Eloquence-and-Learning. He must visualize a lotus [in his heart] and this eloquence and knowledge. We have just seen its application to the
[syllable] gleaming white as the moon or jasmine in its centre. He must then second of these goals in the Prapaficasrira_ Its application to the first
visualize the goddess of the syllable holding a book and a rosary, then is evident in the mantras Mrtasamj1van1 [Para] ('Para Who-restores-
imagine the alphabet pouring forth from her mouth again and again, [rising
up from his heart] and emerging from his mouth in an unbroken stream.
the-dead-to-life') and Mrtyuii.jayapara ('Para-as-conqueror-of-death')
which occur among the Throne-goddesses (siT?thtisanadevya/:t) of
The goddess in this visualization is certainly identical with the Tripurasundari in the KaHmata subsystem taught in the
Trika's Para. For the seed-syllable which she embodies in this Dak$ir:tamllrtisamhita. 3 ~ The second of these carries the book and the
meditation is hsrauh, the third in the tripartite mantra of Tripu- rosary, like the Para taught for eloquence and learning in the
rabhairavi (hsraim-hsklrfm-hsrauh). 27 It is therefore equivalent to Siddhayogesvarfmata and the Prapaficasara. 33 The first too is white
saul;, the seed-syllable of Para in the Trika; ZR for this and two-armed; but instead of the book and the gesture or the book
hsraim-hsklrfm-hsrau/:t is an inflection of aim-klzm-sau/:t, the matrix and the rosary she has the rosary and the gesture. 34
mantra in the Tripurasundari cult. 2 ~
2.8.1. As I have shown elsewhere, the influence of the Trika is even
more pervasive in the case of the cult of Kubjika. 35 The Ku.bjikri-
(25) SiYogM 12.4-11: dhyiilv<l pariirr1 svarupel)a(jaye~a) vyomapadmiisane sthilam I
vamahasle nivistena sarvajiianamayena tu /1 pllslailena variirohe dailsi~e < na > lata/:! purwb mata, the root text of the cult, also incorporated the Trika's
I sphatikena(cli}ksasulreQa divyena pravareQa lu II kadambagolakiik<irai/:l sthulajv<il<ivalidha· meditation on Para for the attainment of eloquence. The goddess is
rai/:l / granthitarn dit'yarllpa(a)rn lu mala <m> hi gala(ti)sarnsthitiim 1/ iipadalamhanf casau described there as white and two-armed, displaying all three of the
sphatik<ibha samantata/.1 I sravantfm amrtarn divyarn kadambavanamadhyagiim /1 udgiranli·
< f!l > mahci·oghai <I;> sarvajii<inama_varn tala/.!/ mukhe svake visad(m) dhyaye <I> tadr!l- hand-attributes seen in the variants above, since the hand that holds
pam(iis) caiuam iitmanab II evarn krtva tala/! pascal svavaktriic <c>iimrtarn mahan I oghais
caiva lu siislra~iim cintayel siidhakotlama/.1 II evarn dhyiinam pra_vuiijfta tatas tasya(tasca)
prajiiyate I ilat•ilvarn miisamiilreQ.a salarikiira <rr•> manoharam II jayate niscilarr1 devi (30) For evidence that the Yoginfhrdaya is south Indian see my forthcoming "Dualism
sarviirthapratipiidakam / sadbhi < r > mrisaib (e) suayarn karla saslraniif!l jiiyale tu sa/.1 II. and Non-dualism in the Tantras."
(26) PrapancS 9.42: antyarn bijam alhendukundavisadarn sarncintya citt<imbuje (31) For evidence that the Trika predates the cults of Kubjikii and Tripurasundari see
tadbhutarn dhrtapuslakiik~at•alayarrz devff!l muhus lanmukhal I udyantarn nikhilaksararn my arguments at CNRS 1986, 164-65 and Sandcroon 1988, 687-88.
nijamukhenandratasrolasa niryiintarn ca niraslasarnsrtibhayo bhuydl sa '"igval/abha/:1//. (32) Mrtasamjivani: hrfrn. harn sab saf!l}ivani jU.rn harn sa/:l kuru kuru sau/:l sau/1. sviihti;
(27) See Prapai\cS 9.3 and SarTi\ 12.3-5 for the uddhiira of this mantra of Tripurabhai- see SVidyiiri)T 118a31-32. Mrtyunjayapara: vada vada vagviidini hsairn klinne kledini
ravi. For her visualization see, e.g., PrapancS 9.8 and SarTi! 12.31. She is close to Par!\ in mahak~obharn kuru kllru hsnm orn moksarn kuru kuru hsau!t; see ~bid. 118bl0-ll. The
that ohe shows the gesture of knowledge and the rosary with her principal hands, and the seed-syllabe hsau/:l is an ectype of Para's saub in the Trika itself; see TAV 12 (31) 188, 13·14
two common or supplementary gestures of protection and generosity with the other two. But (quoting the 1hsirobhairava ).
she is rPd, wears a garland of severed heads. and her breasts are smeared with blood. A (33) See SVidyiiri)T 11blR-19 (Dak$i~amurtisamhita): puslakarn udmahastena
drawing of this goddess is given in PurascArl). dhyeyadevatiicilraryi, p. 23. dak~inenak~asutrak(lm 1 bibhratim kundadhavaltim kumiirfm cintayel param 1/.
(28) The :Vityii~ot;ia.<ikiirnat•a. the root-agama of this cult, is conscious of this identity: · (34) See SVidyari)T 118b1·2 (Dak$iT)amtirtisarnhita): karpiiriibhiim hframuktabhii$a(wir
saklibije para saklir icchait•a sivanipiryr (4.18ab). bh11$itambardm I jniinamudriim ak$amiiltim dadhalfm cinlayel par<im 1/.
(29) Jnaniiri)T patalas 6·9 and SVidyari)T 115a20·119b13. See also SiirTilPA 10. 5·6 (35) See my evidence at CNRS 1986. 163·64. Goudriaan and Schoterman 1988. xii
concerning Biila (airrz·klfm·sauh): [lripurajbhairav_vadrnam api sa eva [mantra/ mu/abhuta/1. ( > 14·24, 488·96).
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the rosary does so in the gesture of consciousness (cinmudra). as 2.8.4. In the Kularatnoddyota an expanded version of this alternative
However, this deviation is superficial, since the rosary and the dhyana is prescribed. The goddess is five-faced and ten-armed. She
gesture are synonymous. 37 shows the gestures of generosity, protection, and knowledge (jfiana-
mudra), and holds a book and a rosary, a noose and a goad, a bow
2.8.2._In a series of Newar ink drawings of Tantric deities belonging and a cluster of five arrows, and a skull-cup filled with wine. 41 She
to this cui+, we see a representation of the six-faced twelve armed appears to fuse an elaboration of the Trika's Para with Tripura·
~ubjika in the embrace of her dancing consort, the ten-armed, sundari; for the noose, goad, bow and five arrows are the hallmark
five-faced Navatman. Beneath this is a drawing of a four-armed of the latter. 42
goddess showing the book in her outer left hand, the rosary and the
gesture of consciousness in the outer right, and the common or 2.8.5. Para appears in another variant in the [Kubjika-]Nitydhnikati-
supplementary gestures of protection and generosity in her inner left laka. There she is to be visualized emerging from her seed-syllable,
and right. The manuscript identifies her as Kubjikesvari. This tells white, seated on a bull, showing the gesture, the trident and lotus
us no mo_re than that she is some form of the system's principal deity; (or lotuses). 43 We are not told how many hands the goddess has. If
but she Is probably to be seen as an elaboration of the two-armed the lotus is a separate hand-attribute, then the text remains silent
form just discussed. 38 on a least one hand, their number always being even. We do not need
to assume. however, that she has more than two hands; for the
2.8.3. Also related is the one-faced, four-armed form of Kubjika ambiguous compound sulabja- may refer not to a trident and a single
taught in the Kubjikdmata and the Nitydhnikatilaka as one of two lotus but to three lotuses visualized on the cusps of the trident itself
alte~nati~es. to the six-faced, _twelve-arme? icon which is the god- as the thrones of deities. Such a design is seen in the basic initiation
dess s prmcipal form. Accordmg to the first source she carries a mar;(iala of the Trika (the [tri]Sulabjamar;(lala). 44 That the deity
book, p_ot 3~kamm:u;l~lu/:l) and rosary, and shows the gesture of should hold such a trident is also paralleled : the Siddhayogesuarf·
generosity.· Accordmg to the second, she shows the gestures of mata teaches a yaga in which Para, Parapara and Aparii. (the three
protection and generosity, and holds a rosary and a pot. 40 goddesses who are enthroned on the lotuses on the tips of the trident
in the ma7J4ala) are to be installed on the three cusps of a trident
visualized in the hand of Bhairava. 45 That a form of Para should be
visualized carrying a trident which enthrones not only the other two
(36) _KubiM__~.30c-33: ~akramadhye ca sa171cintya susuklii171 ca pariipariim 11 pustaka- goddesses but also herself might appear illogical and therefore
uyagrahasta,. ~a Jnanamudradharti'71 lathii I sphatikeniik~asiilre(za saroiibhara~;~abhii~itiim 11
sragda_ma/ambt~aga/~171 prabhiima~;~(iala~a~;~r;iitiim I duibiihu-r-ekauadaniif!l candrakotyayuta· implausible. In fact it is entirely appropriate, since the goddess here
prabham II udgiran-tt < m > mahaughena siistrakotfr anekasa/11 eua,.dhytinasamaui~ta/1 sak~iid
Viigi_suar? b?ave~ /. cr. the visualization text of the SiYogM quoted above, n. 25. The expression
pan:param In this passage does not mean that the Trika goddess here is Paraparii rather than
Para. The a?onymous commentary on the long redaction of the Kubjikiimata, the Sa!;siihTipp, (41) KulRatnU f. 66r (... yu.vakrame ).
glosses It With sthiilasuk~miim '[both] gross and subtle' (f. 46v4). It also explains, ibid., how (42) See, e.g., Nityii~o<.l 1.130 - 146. A finely executed painting in the Kangra style of
the goddess shows the three attributes with only two hands: jiiiinamudriiualambanena Tripurasundari seated in a pavilion on the prostate body of Sadasiva is reproduced in Rawson
sphotikiik~asutrahastena ... 1973, 124 (Ill. 105: "Mahavidya icon.").
. (37). When the worshi~pers of Tripurasundari show the mudriis of the goddess's hands (43) NityiihnTil f. 42v3-4: ... tadudbhauam I murti < rrt > sukla171 un;asthita171
du;mg their regular cult (n<tyakarma) they show the jfiiinamudrii (/cinmudrii, bodhamudrii) vyiikhycl§ulclbjadhari~;~im I tattuatrayamayf < 171 > deuf171 jatakha~;~(iendu.sekhara < m > 1. The
tW1ce_:_ ~nee for t_he hand that s~ows this gesture and once for the hand that holds the rosary. word vyakhyii in this passage = vyakhyiinamudrii, 'the gesture of text-exposition.' Presumably
The Jnanamudra and the ak$asutramudrii are thus synonymous; see Ji\iiniir1,1T 4.40c-41 b quoted this = cinmudrii here.
above. n. 17. The gesture of consciousness/wisdom suggests the presence of the rosary in the ( 44) For the exact outline of this ma~;~(iala drawn following the instructions of the
hand that shows it. The KubjM's icon makes this presence explicit. Ma/inivijayottara see Sanderson 1986, 171.
(38) Reproduced in Rawson 1978, 19 without identification. The connection of these (45) SiYogM 25.44c-49b: tatas tu k~atajaf!l grhya uiimiirigiid ultamiid budha/111 bhai-
drawings with the cult of Kubjikii, but_ not their precise identities, was first pointed out by ravya sahita171 devaf!l bhairava171 purva(ma)var(litam I .iarikhamadhye likhed uidviin trisularp(e)
Schoterman (1982: 10, n. 7, acknowledgmg K.R. van Kooy). dak$ir,te hare II jvalaya *nmaca • sa,.kasaf!l tribhi):l srr\gai):l (tribhisyangai/IJ sujajvalam I
(39) KubjM 17.18: kaumiirakramamadhvasthii ekauaktra caturbhuja 1 pustaka· bhairavfsahita171 deua171 puroavac casane sthitam II trisulastha171 parli171 devi171 tathcl caiva
mm;(ialudharii ak$asutrauarapradti 1/. • parciparam I aparlil'fl devadeveSi(e) yajet pU.roavad eva hi /1 dak~ir,te cair•a sulagre nyased devi171
(40) !\ityiihnTil f. 28v4·29rl: yuviikramo yathii: ekavaktrii caturbhujii abhayauara- partiparam I ekonai§(akakarais) ca subhair var(lais catuari,.satir(ur) eva hi I uiime
diik$amaliikama~;~(ialudharii 1/. sardhatriuar(lenaikiirl,liirp (?.atyar(l(le) madhye pariif!l nyasetl.
 .,.
f t f f
f f
40 41

is not simply Para but the icon of the Trividya, a mantra peculiar of speech.' 52 There is also a four-armed Para in the second of the
to the Kubjika cult, which runs together all three of the mantras two functions, namely the conquest of death, which is taught for the
(Para, Para para and Apara) into a single whole. 46 stidhana of the third seed-syllable of the mantra of Tripurasundari
in the Jiitinan;ava and the Kaultivalinin;aya. 53 She is to be visua-
2.9. According to the Piligalamata, a Saiva agama of the Bhairava lized holding a jar full of lunar nectar and showing the gestures of
canon dealing with the installation (prali$thti) of idols and other consciousness, generosity and protection. 54
su?strates of worship, 47 all three of the Trika's goddesses when
pamted as a group are to carry tridents. According to the same
2.10.3. Finally there is the four-armed deity who embodies the
source they must be three-faced. 48 This unusual feature is shared
"!antras Prasadapara (hsaurrr.l:t) and Paraprasada (s-haurrr-1;). va-
with, and may have been derived from, the Trika goddesses of the
nants of the Trika's Para (saul;), at the centre of the Kaula system
lost Trisirobhairava. No visualization texts from that text are quoted
of t~e Kulan;avatantra. 55 This deity, who may be visualized as male
in our literature; but the title ('[The Tantra of] Bhairava the ( = Siva), female ( = Sakti), or as both in one body (Ardhanarisvara),
Three-headed') and a section of the Jayadrathayamala suggest this.
shows the gesture of consciousness and carries the book the
The section in question is clearly based on the Trisirobhairava
drinking vessel (ptinapatram), and the trident. 56 '
system and it teaches that Para Trisir!?a should be visualized with
this feature. 49

2.10.1. There are also four-armed forms of Para. The Trikasara

teaches an icon of this kind, though without telling us what
implements or gestures her hands display. She is said to be white,
four-armed, four-faced, and surrounded by her standard retinue: the
twelve Yoginis who embody the 'fertile' vowels (a a i i u rl e ai
o, au, a7!1 [anusvara], and a}), [visarga]). 50 The p~r;o~e· of the ~ult
is the attainment of eloquence and learning. 51

2.10.2. Here too the literature of the cult of Tripurasundari shows

parall:ls. The Sa_undaryalahari, a work which. like the Prapaiicastira,
1s attnbuted to Sankara, praises without name a white four-armed . ~52) SaundLah 15: sarajjyotsnasubhrlifll sasiyutajatajutamakutdfll uaratrasatra~;asphat·
manifestation of the goddess who holds a crystal rosary' and a book, tkaguttktipustakakariim I sakrn na tuii natuti kat ham iva sallifll safllnidadhate madhuk$iradrtik$·
and shows the common gestures (of protection [abhayamudrti] and timadhuri~;ti bha~;titaya/:l 1/. This visualization is illustrated in the Baroda MS; see ibill. p. 178,

generosity [varadamudra]}, saying that her cult bestows 'sweetness plate lOa. The commentator Lak~midhara has the reading sphatikaghatika in the second ptida.
He takes it to mean 'crystal cup' (sphatikaptinaptitram); see SaundLahL 104.4; also LaghSt 7
and AmbSt 14.
. _ (53) _Jii_anarr;~T 19.28c-34b (= Kaulii.vN 16.150-56). The verses elaborate a passage in the
Nttya$ot;iaszkar~;taua (4.47-50), wh1ch teaches an aniconic siidhana of this syllabe.
(54) Jnanii.r(IT 19.29b-31c (- KaulavN 16.150d-52): ... sarire cintayet parcim 1 srauatpiyu-
(46) See below, nn. 73 and 74. $adhririibhir uar~ant[fll Vi$ahriri~;tim II hemaprabhribhrisamtinlifll uidyunnikarasuprabhrim 1
(47) For the place and scope of this important text see my forthcoming 'Dualism and sphuraccandrakalapur~;takalasafll uaradiibhayau II jiianamudrlifll ca dadhalifll siik$tid
Non-dualism in the Tantras.' MSS: NAK 3 I 376 (AD 1169/70); 5 I 1929; British Library MS amrtarrlpi~;im 1.
Or. 2279 (AS 1193194). (55) For these two seed-syllabes see Kuliir(IT 4.4-5b: ananta( = 1;)-candra(- s)-bhuua-
_ (~Bl_ Ping;\11 5.37c-38b: pariidyiil; sulahastiis tu trisirns(as) tu tripadmake 1 svasastrok- nam(= au) indu(= fll)·binduyugtinuitab (=+b) I sriprtisiidapariimantro bhuktimuktiphala-
tyathaua hkhya cakrasafllsihritha paliktigtib 1/. pradab II partiprtiscisamantras tu sadir (= s-haufll/1) uktab kulesuari f. also Mahii.tripV 256,
(49) JayadYamT 4, ff. 187v3-199r3. See also below, n. 127. 26-28. On the extraordinary combination fllb see SarTilPA 10, 22·23: biilriyti mantrabhede$u
(50)_ TAV 2 (3) ~36, 6-7: _pa:afll_ tv ekrik$arlif11 madhye salikhakundendusundaram 1 kuacid bindub kuacid uisarga/:l kuacid binduuisargtiu apy uddhrtau.
caturbhuJUfll ~atun.•aktraf11 _vogm1dvadasiivrtam /1. . _ (56). Kul_iirr;~~ 4.112c·ll3b: panapiitrarr~ ca cinmudrlifll tri:iulafll pustakafll karai/:1 II
(51) TAV 2 (3) 236, 15 qu. the Trikasiira: athrital; saf11prauak$yiimi utiguidhrinam mdyasafllstddhtrrJ btbhrti~;tlifll sadtinandamukhek~a~;tim 1.
anuttamam/.
 f f f f f f f f
f f f f
42 43

2.11. 3. PARA AND SARASVATI

2.11. Table. Visualizations of Para. 3.0. Her colour, her association with eloquence and learning, and,
above all, the attributes of her hands, show that Para is an ectype
of the goddess Sarasvati, more precisely of Sarasvati as embodiment
SOURCE COLOUR FACES ARMS RIGHT LEFI' of the Word (Vagisvari) or, which is the same conception, of the
PITatDip alphabet (Mat:rkasarasvati, Lipidevi).
ParasurKS Gesture
RahPaiic (1) White 2 of Book 3.1. Thus the Mat:rkasarasvati of the Prapafi.casara and the closely
Sahajananda Consciousness related Saradatilaka shows the gesture of consciousness, carries the
Lalitop (G of C) book, the rosary and the jar or skull-cup of nectar; 58 and the
AhirbSam
equivalent goddess of the Agnipurci.l').a and other texts, known as
RahPaii.c (2) White 2 Pen Book Lipidevi or Vagisvari, carries· the book, the rosary, the jar, and
SiYogM Crystal a lotus. 59 The Sarasvati of the Kashmirian Vi$1).udharmottarapura1).a
Prapaii.cS White 2 Rosary Book (3.73.25) carries the rosary, the book, the water-jar (kamal').{ialul:t)
Dak~MSam (1) (CRos) and the trident; 60 the many-armed Vidyavidyesvari form of Sarasvatl
Dak$MSam (2) White 2 CRos G of C
taught in the Jayadrathayamala holds the Book of All Knowledge
and the crystal rosary in her two principal (i.e. innermost) hands,
KubjM White 2 CRos, G of C Book and like Para, she is to be visualized pouring forth nectar from her
NityahnTil White 1 G of C Trident-and
lotuses
PingM White 3 Trident (58) PrapaiicS 7.3: paiictisadva17J.abhedair vihitavadanadob,ptidayukkuk$ivak$odestim
bhtisvatkapardtikalitasasikalam indukundtiuadiittim I ak~asrakkumbhacintiilikhitavarakariim
Trikasara White 4 4 trik~ar:r.iim padmasamstham acchiika/piim atucchastanajaghanabhariifl'l bhiiralff/'1 tiifl'l namtimi
11. According to PrapaiicSPKD ad Joe. (535. 24-25) cintti- here = vytikhyiina[ =jiiiina}-mudrti
SaundLah White 4 CRos Book and likhitavara- = pustakavara-; cf. Nityots 196, verse 5 quoted at n. 14 above. But this
Protection Generosity interpretation of the verse is not universal. Umiinandaniitha gives it as the visualization text
in the installation of the Alphabet (mtitrktinytisall) at Nityots 94, 1·5; but he takes cintiilikhita-
Jii.aniiri)T ?57 4 G of C Jar of Nectar vara- quite differently. He divides the compound into cintalikhita- and vara- and interprets
these as the book of knowledge and the gesture of generosity. He is not alone. He could have
KaulavN Protection Generosity cited SVidyiirt;~T 232, 12-13, which is clearly based on this verse of PrapaiicS and takes it in
Kulari)T the same way: ... ak~asrakkumbhasobhittim I cinttilikhitasatpar:r.im samagravaradtiyinfm 11.
4 G of C Book
There is also Siir'I'il's visualization of Lipitanu-Viigisvari ('The Goddess of the Woi-d, whose
Cup of Nectar Trident body is the Alphabet'); see 7.14cd: bibhriir:r.iim anisam varijiipavatfm vidyiim kapalarp. karaib,
11. This is the dhyana of Antarmiitrkii according to MahiitripV 51, 1-17. It too is based on
Prapai'icS 7.3 in the second interpretation. The first interpretation, however, is the source of
the dhyana of Viigisvari at Siir'I'il 6.4: paiictiiallipibhir vimuktamukhadobpanmadhyavak~ab­
sthalarp. bhiisvanmaulinibaddhacandra§akaltim tipinaturigastanfm I mudriim a~agur:r.arp.
sudhti(jhyakalasarp. vidyiirp. [i.e. pustakarp.] ca hasttimbujair bibhrar:r.iim visadaprabhiim
trinayanarp. viigdevatiim asraye 1/. isanSGDPaddh MP 17.64cd is also based on the first
interpretation: sabodhamudrapustakarp. sakumbhajtipyamaliktim sitambariidibhil~itam
sitiivrtim numo giram 1/.
(59) AgnP 293.51: lipidevi siik~asri.trakumbhapustakapadmadhrk I kavitvtidi prayac-
(57) Her colour is not stated precisely. She is said to be radiant with the lustre of gold chet ... ; AgnikPaddh f.7lr 8·13: dorbhir yukttirp. caturbhib sphatikamat:timayim ak$amiiliirp.
and to resemble a mass of lightning (Jiiiiniirt;~T 19. 30ab [- KauliivN 16. 15lcd]: hema- dadhantirp. hastenaikena padmarp. sitam api ca~akarp. pustakarp. caparer:r.a I yti sci kundendu-
prabhribhtisamantim vidyunnikarasuprabham /). She might therefore be thought to be golden. sarikhasphatikamar:r.inibhti bhasamtinasamtina sa me vagdevateyam nivasatu vadane sarvada
However, according to the commentator Vidyiinanda (see Nityii~oi,IARA 247 21 and 248 14 ), the suprasanna 1/.
Sakti of the seed-syllable is white in the aniconic visualization (taught at Nityii~ol,l 4.47) which (60) Vi~t:~DhUP 3.73.25: caturbhuja tu kartavya tathti devi sarasuati I ak~amcila trisri.lam
is the substratum of this icon. ca pustakarp. ca kamar:r.(ialum I ...
f f
44 45

mouth into the stidhaka's; 61 and D-utl, the 'mother of mantras' The Siddhantasara of lsanasiva teaches the same form, with
(mantramata) who is worshipped as the goddess of the bell rung in the addition of the neutral or supplementary gestures of protection
Tantric ritual, carries the book and rosary, and shows the gestures and generosity. 67
of protection and generosity. 62
4. PARA AND THE ALPHABET-DEITIES IN RITUAL
3.2. Of these various hand-attributes of Sarasvat! the principal are
the book and the rosary, the two items held by the Para of the 4.1. That the icon of Para should be an ectype of Sarasvati reflects
Siddhayogesvarfmata. 63 It is because these are the fundamental the relation in ritual between Para and the alphabet-deities. Thus
attributes that they are held by Sarasvatl's two-armed retinue-sak- in the Siddhayogesvar!mata Para and Malin! are deployed in a
tis, 64 and by almost all the numerous variants of the alphabet- manner which suggests that they are indeed two aspects of a single
goddess Mat:rka taught in the cult of Tripurasundarl. 65 Word-Absolute. When the worshipper installs the three goddesses
Para, Parapara, and Apara on to the cusps of the mar;t{lala's trident
3.3. The pen (lekhan!, tulika), which takes the place of the gesture he places Para and Malini on the central cusp, between Parapara
of consciousness in the second visualization of the Rahasyapaficadas- on the left cusp (as seen by the sadhaka) and Apara on the r1gh~.
ika, is also characteristic of Sarasvatl. Indeed the visualization of First Parapara, Malin! and Apara are installed; and then Para 1s
the ten-syllabled (dasiik$arf) Vag1svar1 which is given in the Prapafi- installed above MalinL 68 Abhinavagupta, referring to this order of
casara agrees with this form exactly : 66 installation in his Tantraloka, explains that Malini and Mat:rka
(who, he reports, may take the place of Malin! here) are identical
Seated on a spotless lotus, her lotus-like hands holding pen and book, white with Para herself. 69 Elsewhere he identifies Para with Malin! as the
as jasmine or mandara flowers, with the moon's cresent shining on top of her
mass of braided hair, may Sarasvati destroy for you all the terrors of
ultimate consciousness, the thirty-seventh reality-level (tattv_am)
existence. which is the unity and totality of the thirty-six from [Anasrita-]Siva
down to Earth (prthivf) recognized in the common Saiva tradition. 70

4.2. The same interpenetration or coessentiality of Para and the

(61) JY 2 f. 112r 4·8: ata~ paratara mlirti<r>vidyavidyesuariti yt'i I tci'll dhyayet alphabet-deities ( < Sarasvati) is encoded in the Anuttara system.
sitahtiren.dusvacchasphatikasa'llnibh6.m II tuhin.acalalak$aughasadrs6.Til padmamalin.im I There, according to one interpretation of the Paratrimsika (the
k~irabdhik$obhasubhrtibhrahaTils6.(1{1asadrsaTil sitam II tiryaksudh6.rasavahapurapuritadik·
tatam I sarvabhara(laSaT/ldoha(ti)vicitritasariri(lim II sarvajfl.tin.odayaudaryasatpustaka·
karambujam I ak~asutra < . > ga(lan.acalacitritahastikam II sukla(ra)pretamah6.skan.dha·
samsthill'i'll vitivavigraham I mah6.mukutakeyurahciravalivirajitam II pasarikusakaravyagrt'iT/l (67) isii.nSGDPaddh MP18.30: mrgarikama(lirandrikakumuda$a(l{lakundadyu_ti'll
varadabhayapciQinim I padmahastt'iT/l sun.ayan.6.m can.drarkaru(ladhiiri(lim II prodgiran.ti'll sasankasakalollasajjatilamaulikam trik~a(lam I sitambaravilepanam amalaharahcinsraJam
svakad vaktran n.6.n.abh6.$6.~ prabhedata/:11 svavaktram avisan.lam tac cin.tyam suravararcite II dhrtabhayavilekhan.i(iT/l)varadapustak6.Til bhiiratim 11.
(62) KarmK 4, 216 (187d): duli'll saumyiiT/l caturbahu'll sugho$t'iT/l man.tragho~i(lim I (68) SiYogM 6.19·28b: dak$i(le tatra sulcigre(ye) _n.yased devim paraparam 111911 ...
ak$amalapustakasragvarabhayakarii'll yajet II There is the same verse (with smaret for yajet) suUigre vinyased vame tryak~'!ra<m> Ii.e. Aparam; see TA 30.26cd] pa~amii<m>_pun.a/.1 1125
at AgRah 5.883. 11 ... <madhya>me [see TAV 9 (15) 167, 2] vmyased devi'll sarvak$aram~y<m [I_.e. the
(63) See de Mallmann 1963: 190, 23·25. alphabet-goddess] subham 112611 sphuratsuryayutaprakhyam dyotayantim <dam Jagat I
(64) PrapaiicSV 103, 20·21: ... saktaya/.1 I tas ca sukla/.1 ak~avalayapustakadhiiri(lya/.1 I kar(likayci'll nyased de vim param ekak$ara71l subhiim 112711. That 'she who. consists of all the
(referring to the eight Saktis of Matrkasarasvatl); and isanSGDPaddh MP 18.33ab: sapustaka· letters' (sarvak~aramayi) is Miilini is clear from 3. 7-19b; see also TA 15.333·334b and
japasrajo ... saktaya/.1 (referring to the same). commentary. _ .
(65) See SVidyilri)T S3a5 · 85b27; also Lipibhairavi at BrahmiiP (Lalitop) 44.19cd·23d. (69) TAV 9 (15) 166, 10·13: na kevalam ekar(laiva madhyagii para devi yavan matrket<
(66) PrapaiicS 8.29: amalakamalasa'llslhii lekhan.ipustakodyatkarayuga/asaroja kunda· malinfti cocyata ity aha "para tu matrka devi malini madh_yagodita". . . _
man.daragauri I dhrtasasadharakha(l{lollasikotiracu{la bhavatu bhavabhayan.dm bhafl.jini (70) TA 3.233-34; bijayonisamtipattivisargodayasun.dara I malin.i hi para sakt1r n<r(l<!ti
bhdrati va~ll. The ten-syllabled Yilgisvari is {om] vada vada vagvadini svahci; see ibid. 27 visvarlipi(li 11 e$a vastuta ekaiva para kalasya kar$i(li I saktisaktimadyogen.a yamalatva'll
and isiinSGDPaddh MP 18.17. In the rasmimalajapa-<Jequence in the south Indian Lalita cult prapadyate 11. isvPratVivVim 2, 204, 16·20, citing the Trikasara: seyaT/l saptatrimsi tattv~kala
this same verse is used for the visualization of Viigviidini Sarasvati (aim klim sau/.1 vada suddhti $0/triT/lSYa~ para'll taltvam iti SaT/lbandha/t I iyata saratva'll nir(lila'll yad V!tatya
vagvadini svaha), worshipped as a subordinate of Syiimii I Syiimalii (/ Miitailgi, 1 sriviqamadar5anasarasastre [i.e. trika(darsan.a)sarasastre l n.irlipita'll saktilak$a(lena I (206.
Sailgitamiitrkii), the 'minister' (mantri(li) of the 'Empress' (mahiirajfl.i) Lalita; see Nityots 1271-4, 18·20:) an.yatrapi ·~vat saram as_ya jagata~ sa saktir ma/in.i para." This quotation is from the
1345"10 , 1455• Trikasara; see isvPratVim I. 211.
 f f f
' •
46 47

scripture of that system), Mat:rka I Sabdarasi (the alphabet in the M") are enclosed in turn by the corresponding Sabdarasi letters
standard order from a to ha + k$a) is enclosed (saT(!putfkrta-) by (Sl-5° [a to k$a]) : Sn M" T" M" Sn. Finally each of these sets of five
Para. She (saub) is placed at its beginning and end, and at the is enclosed on each side by a set of five syllables known as the
beginning and end of each of its fifty letters : sau.Q saul), aT(! saul), pral).avas and serving, as it were, as the signature or hallmark of the
saul), am saul), saul), im saul), etc. through to saul), k$a11l saul), sau.Q 71 Kubjika cult (P1• 5 [aim hrfm srfl'fl ph,rem hsaul),]) S" M" T" M" S"
In another interpretation, enabling a more condensed order of p5·l [ hsaul), phrem srf111 hrfl'fl aiT[! ]). 14
worship, Mat:rka is even more intimately fused with Para : she is The Trividya of this complex is visualized as either of the two
taken to be represented by the final 1), of saul), itself, the rest of the icons of Para given above from the Kubjikiimata and the Nityiihnika·
seed-syllable being placed before and after it (sau-1),-aus). 72 tilaka. 75 It appears, therefore, that it was seen not merely as the
combination of all three of the mantras (vidyas) of the Trika
4.3. An elaboration of this model, known as the Tadgraha, is found goddesses, but also as Para in her transcendental aspect, that is, as
in the cult of Kubjika. The three mantras (or more properly vidyiis) Para as the unity of the three. 76 We may say, then, that Para is
of the Trika's goddesses Parapara, Apara and Para (in that order) presented here as the core and the two alphabet-deities Malini and
become a continuous whole (the Trividya) slightly expanded to bring Sabdarasi as the retinue.
the total of its syllables up to fifty. In this way it is brought into line
with the two alphabet-deities Sabdarasi and Malin!. 73 These three 4.4. In the Trika's Tantrasadbhiiva this relation is reversed. There
sets of fifty (Trividya, Sabdarasi, and Malin!) are then worked into Para, Parapara and Apara are the emanations of the alphabet·
a series of fifty units each consisting of fifteen syllables. The deities. In the centre of the initiation mal).c;iala of that agama the
syllables of the Trividya (T1.50 ) appear one by one as the eighth officiant (iiciiryal),) installs Mat:rka as Bhairava with Malin! as his
(central) syllables of these fifty units of fifteen. Each is enclosed to consort, and surrounds them with circuits (avaral).iini) of female
the right and the left by the corresponding letter of the Malini powers. Among these we find Para, Parapara and Apara, in their
alphabet (M 1.50 [nato pha ]), and the resulting units of three (M" T" customary circuits of twelve, eight and three Yoginls. 77

(71) PI' 29·30b: caturda§abhijaptena pu~penasanakalpanii I tatra sr~tiTfl yajed uira/l 4.5. Para's intimate relation with the alphabet is also apparent from
punar evasanaTfl tata/l II sr~tiTfl tu saTflputikrtya pasciid yajanarn iirabhet /. PI'Viv 278, 2·3 (265, the Ahirbudhnyasamhitii of the southern Paii.caratra. For she is
7·8): saTflputikarar:&aTfl sr~ter iidik~iintiiyii/l pratyekaTfl saruasas ca hrdayabijena. The 'heart-seed'
(hrdayabijarn) is sau/l.
(72) PI'Lagh Vr 21, 18 · 22. 5: yena rnadhyavartivisarga ubhayakotigatasvara[ i.e. au]·
sadvrtti[i.e. s ]·sparii; PI'TiitD 401 · 409b: yena visargo 'yaTfl tanrnadhyastho(?.ii)'nubhiiuatah;
RahPanc 27a: sauvaT'(IaSaTflputakarnadhyabhuui pravi$tarn; Sahajiinandaniitha's hymn to Pa~ii (74) KubjM 18.32: prar:&auocciirasaTflyuktii vidyii tattvatrayiitrnikii I sabdamalinirntlrtisthii
at Nityots 196, 9: sauvaT'(IaSaTflputiinta/lstharn; Pariikrarna at YogHrD 276, 4: sauvaT'(Iajaptaku· vidyiidehagur:&ojjualii 11. For the manner in which these three sets of fifty are combined see
~urnak$epeniisanata,. nyaset. In this last passage I emend the edition's guptiiditapta· in the Sa?;iih'fipp on patala 11, f. 42v6·: tadgrahaTfl tac ca vyiivaT'(Iayi$ye I yathiitripaiiciisapradhiinarn
h~ht of PI' 29ab (evidently the authority behind this verse). The reading guptiidi· is
1 yatha rnalini paiicasauaT'(Ia / sabdarasi/l paiicasauaT'(Ia I trividyii paiicaiavaT'(Ia I iti I
d1ttography: see the guptadiyogininiirn immediately before (YogHr 3.90c) and after (YogHrD tripaiiciiiapradhiinaTfl I kathaTfl tasya vinyiisab I yathii I "vidytik$araTfl daden rnadhye
276, 5). Note also the reading sauvaT'(Iatapta· in several of the editor's MSS. rnalinipadarnadhyaga,. I sabdariisipadaTfl taduat pancaprar:&avarnadhyata/l I anulornavilornena
(73) In the Trika Pariiparii_ has thirty· nine syllables (counting the final fs of the two nyiisab saTflparikirtita/l" II iti 11.
phats as half a syllable each [TAV 12 (30) 186, 7-11 ]): OTfl aghore hri/l pararnaghore huTfl (75) The first icon (see above n. 36 citing KubjM 6.30c·33) is prescribed for the Trividya
ghorariipe h_ab ghorarnukhi bhirna bhi~ar:&e varna varna piba piba he ro ro ra phat huTfl ha/l at Sa~Siih'fipp 46v5 . 47r6 (iti viigiiuaritrividyiisthtl/asrlk$rnadhyiinarn II). For the prescription
phat (see TA 30. 20·24b); Aparii has three syllables: hri/l hiiTfl phat (TA 30.20cd); and Parii of the second see above n. 43.
has ?ne: saub (see TA 30.27ab). In the cult of Kubjikii (the Pascimiimniiya) as taught in the (76) For these two aspects of Parii. (as one of the three and as the their sum and unity)
KubJM Pariiparii has forty-two and a half syllables: aiTfl aghore hriTfl hsa/l pararnaghore hrlTfl see Sanderson 1986, 194.
ghorariipe hsauTfl ghorarnukhi bhirna bhi$ar:&e varna varna piva ha/l he ro ru ra ra hriTfl htlTfl (77) TanSadbh f. 17rl2· : bhairavaTfl ptljayet tatra paiiciisiirl)a (?. se)saririr:&arn I tadut·
phat _{~ddhiira at KubjM 18.4-24); Aparii has six and a half: aiTfl hriTfl hriiTfl phreTfl hrlTfl phat sarigagattiT/1 deviTfl niidiphiintasvariipir:&irn [i.e. rnalinirn] I vidyiirigais ca sarnope!iiTfl
(see 1b1d. 25·29); and Para remains mono-syllabic: hsriiauTfl (see ibid. 30·31). When the three saruiilarikarabhrl$itiirn I dvibhujii<Tfl> padrnahastiup(aT/1) tu sitapadrnasane sthitiirn I
are taught as a continuous whole (the Trividyii.) there are minor variations, though the vargiikhyiis cii$tabhib patrair yadihdntakrarner:&a tu I aghoryadye(?.iiste)kavaT'(IaTfl tu patriigre
syllables are always fifty; see NityiihnTil f. 42v2 · 44v4 (trividyiinyiisa/l) and KubjM 24.36. In tu nivesayet I dviitriTflsavaT'(IavinyiisaT/1 dvii!riTflse viniyojayet I parii < rp > duadasabhedena
the latter only 49 syllables are 'raised'; but 18.56 suggests that aiTfl, the opening syllable, should dviidaiiire prayojayet I tryarake tu tatas cakre sarnyag jiiatuii yathauidhi I spsriirp ptljya yatneva
be repeated at the end. vidhidmena karmar:&ii I kesaraib saktaya/l ptljya yakariidi yathiikrarnarn 1...
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f f
f
49
48

worshipped in the ritual of that text as a deity of the alphabet Rudra l§vara and Sada§iva), and then installs Bii.lii. on this throne.
(matrkacakram) itself. not merely in association with it. 78 In the' account of the Devfrahasya the series of Saktis is extended:
after installing the twelve on the petals of the throne-lotus one
4.6. This same view of Para as goddess of the alphabet, that is, as installs Manonman1 in their centre, and then the three goddesses
a variant of MatJ;kasarasvatl, is found in the rituals of Tripura- Para, Apara and Parapara [above them], before making obeisance
sundari. Bala, a major form of that popular goddess and the object to Sada§iva, the Great Transcended (mahapretal;), the highest of the
of an independent cult, 79 is worshipped upon a yantra containing the five and the only one mentioned in this version. R2 The order would
letters of the alphabet. 80 She is evidently Para's double, as we can be more rational if Sada§iva were worshipped after Manonman1, the
see from the visualization given in the Jnanan;tavatantra, her three goddesses of the Trika after him, and Bala above the three as
principal agama. 81 She is described there as white, white-robed, their unity. For this is the order in the Trika proper. There Sada§iva,
adorned with pearls, with the new moon upon her hair, three-eyed, the Great Transcended, is installed below the three goddesses in the
and four-armed, holding the book and rosary, and showing the two centre of the central lotus just underneath the base of the central
common gestures. Her association with the Trika finds further cusp. The three goddesses are worshipped above him on lotuses upon
expression in the detailed account of her worship (Balapaddhati) in each of the cusps, and the fourth goddess (Para in her transcen-
the Deuirahasya. In the version of the Jnanamavatantra one dental aspect) above these. 83 It seems likely, then, that the
worships twelve Saktis in a circle around her, inst~lls above them text-of-ritual preserved in the Devirahasya is the result of a compro-
the five Transcended Deities (pancapretasanam: Brahma. Vi~!)u, mise. Its formulators want to say that Bala is not just Para, but Para
in her higher role as the unitary ground of all three; but they have
kept Sada§iva at the end of the throne-series because that is his
place in the original version of the throne taught in the Jnanan;tava-
(78) AhirbSarn 24. 14-19 give the icons of Mii.trka, Cintii.mani, Para, Pariivarii. and Sri
as the deities of the matrkacakram. For the icon of Para at 24. 16 see above, p. 5, n. 1. That tantra.
Para should appear in this role in a Va~nava text is unexpected. But the whole text is pervaded That this goddess is not simply Matrka. but rather a reflex of
by the influence of the Trika, and nowhere· more than in -its sixteenth chapter, in which its Para as the essence of Matrka. is evident from the fact that the
alphabet-cosmogony (:natrkiivamotpattiM is based directly of indirectly on the third chapter
of Abhinavagupta's TA. The identity of the AhirbSarn's Parii is confirmed bv 23. 107cd which
text gives a separate visuali~ation for Mat:rka proper: 84 she too is
gives her mantra: para nama mahiividyii somasthaurvasthasr#ikii, 'the great- vidyci called Para white, adorned with pearls, and white-robed, with the crescent of the
consists of Emission [ /1 I on Aurva [au I on Soma[s 1.' moon on her hair, and she too carries the book and the rosary; but
(79) See, e.g., the Balapaiicariga which is the fourth Parisi$ Ia of the Devfrahasya. Here while Bala shows the gestures of generosity and protection, Mat:rka
we see her as one of the principal family goddesses (kuladevf) of the Kashmirian brahmins,
the other Paiicarigas in these Pari.oii~tas being those of Jvitliimukhl, Sitrikii, and Mahitriiji\i. has a water-jar (Jwmar:u;l.alub.) in place of the latter.
Biilitdevl has a pltha in Kashmir at Biil'h6m ( < Skt. Baliisrama), a village about a mile
to the north-ECast of Piimpar ( < Skt. Padmapura) in the Vihi Parga!) a; see Stein 1900, II 459;
and KasmD1lrthSarn f. 24r2-3: bo./asrame bo.lii tripurii devf saralavrk$ii8ritii, ' ... at the foot of 4.7. Finally, there is the evidence of the similarity between the
a Deodar pine'.
(80) See Ji\iinari)T 3. 6-21 for the diagram and the distribution of the letters.
(81) Ji\iiniiri)T 3. 27c-36: muktarekhalasadratnatilakiirr< mukutojjvalam 1127 II visuddha-
muktaratniit;fhyarr< candrarekhiikirftinfm I bhramadbhramaraniliibhanayanatrayariijinfm 11 28
II suryabhiisvanmahiiratnakur;<;ialiilarikrtiirr< param I sukriikiirasphuranmuktiihrirabhli$a-
r;abhu$itiim II 29 II graiveyiirigadamuktiibhi/:1 sphuratkiintiviriijitiim I garigiitararigakarpurasu- (82) Devirah 492" 15 : patre~u vamaym - [i.e. namab I I jye$/hayai - I raudryai - I
bhriimbaraviriijitiim II 30 II nak$alramii/iisarr<kri.oiamuktiimafijiramar;<;litiim II 33 II viimena ambikiiyai - 1 icchiiyai - I jiiriniiyai - 1 kriyiiyai I kubjikiiyai - I citrayai - I vi$aghnikiiyai - I
piir;inaikena pustakarr< ciiparer;a tu I abhaya'll ca prayacchantfrr< siidhakiiya varanane 11 34 11 dutaryai -I iinandiiyai -II madhye manonmanyai II airr< parilyai- I apariiyai- I pariiparilyai
ak$amriliirr< ca varadarr< dak$apiiT;Lidvayena hi j dadhatirr< cintayed devirr< vasya- - II hsaurr< sadilsivamahilpretapadmasaniiya nama/! I paramesivaparyarikiiya nama/:1 II iti
pitharr< nyasya tatraiva hrdaye sribaliim dhyiiyet 1/. There is the same incorporation of the
saubhiigyauiikpradiim II 35 II k$frakundendudhavalarr< prasanniirr< sarr<smaret priye II 36 II iti
three goddesses before Sadiisiva in the cult of Tripurabhairavl: see Prapai\cS 9.13-14:
tnpure§van-dhyiinarr< nama trt(va/1 patala/1 11. This visualization text is incorporated in the
Biilapaiiciiriga of the Devfrahasya, pp. 492-493. Because Biilii. is a form of Tripurasundari, she Prapaii.cSV 130°
is sometimes visualized in the manner of Tripurasundari as red and red-robed (see, e.g., ibid. (83) See Sanderson 1986, 178-194.
pp. 482-483 and p. 503) or even further hybridized by the substitution of the noose (piisa/1) and (84) Ji\iiniirnT 2. 65c-67b: paiica.-iadvamarlipii'll ca kaparda (Ed. kandarpa-)
the goad ( arikusa/:1) proper to Tripurasundari for the two gestures of Billa's extra hands (see, . -sa.oiibhli$aT)am II suddhasphatikasa,kiisd'll suddhak$aUmaviriijitiim / muktiivajrasphuradbhU$·
e.g., 1b1d. p. 500). See also PurascArl) p. 806 on these three variants. The white, white-robed iif!l japamalarr< kamar;t;falum II pustakarr< varadanarr> ca bibhratirr< parame8varfm I eva,
form. is evidently original. dhyiitvii ...
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seed-syllables of Matrka and Para. That of the former is hsaul;, 85 nothing to contradict the orthodox perception of the outer reach~s
hsaurrt, 86 or h$aUT(t. 87 That of the latter is saul;. 88 of the Tantric tradition, that of the Trika's Para responds to th1s
perception by boldly appropriating the orthodox s~mbolism of t~e
revealed Word, extending it to cover both the Tantr1c and the Ve_d~c,
5. THE ICON OF PARA AND THE TRIKA'S SELF-PERCEPTION and assigning the latter, the scriptural tradition which is the ongm
of this symbolism, to the Word's lowest, most exoteric level.
5. The Trika sees itself as the highest level within the Saiva
revelation : below it are the Bhairava cults of the Southern Stream;
below these is the common or exoteric Saiva system known as the 6. PARAPARA AND APARA
Siddhanta; below the Siddhanta are the various Pasupata systems
(Lakula, Vaimala, Mausula and Karuka); below Saivism is the 6.1. The icons of Parapara and Apara, however, have no such
Vai$Qava Tantric system of the Paii.caratra; and finally there is the symbolic power. In keeping with the norms of the early slikta S!liva
universal prescription (samanyo dharrna/:t) of the smarta and srauta tradition of which the Trika is part they have an essentially
traditions. Thus the Trika locates itself at the furthest remove from Kapalika character. Evidence for these icons, unfortunately, is less
neutral, 'vedic' orthodoxy. It might be somewhat surprising therefore complete than for that of Para. Our fullest visualizations are found
that its highest deity should be an ectype of Sarasvat1, the exoteric, in the Siddhayogesvarimata. There Parapara is described as fol-
nonsectarian consort of Brahma. The goddesses of the Krama, the low!:i : 90
Trika's rival for the position of ultimate esoteric revelation, could
[Red) as blazing fire, wearing a garland of skulls, with three glowing eyes 91 ,
not be more different in this respect. Their transcendence of the she sits with trident and skull-staff in her hands on [the shoulders of
common Hindu religion is vividly revealed in fearsome images of Sadasiva,] the 'Great Transcended'. 92 Her tongue flickers in and out like
Kapalika non-duality. How the appearance of Para was read within lightning. She is gross-bodied and adorned with great serpents. Her mouth
the Kashmirian Trika is uncertain, since there is no explicit analysis yawns wide and at its corners are terrible fangs. Ferocious, with her brows
of her icon in its surviving literature. However, the theory of knitted in rage, wearing a sacred thread in the form of a huge snake, adorned
with a string of human corpses round her neck, with the [severed) hands of
scriptural revelation expounded in the works of Abhinavagupta a human corpse for lotuses to deck her ears. her voice like the thunder of
suggests that the nonsectarian neutrality of her image would have the clouds at the world's end, she seems to swallow space itself.
been understood to express the doctrine that the Trika encapsulates
the universal essence of the divine Word (vak). Para would then be Apara is said to have exactly the same appearance, except that
seen as the embodiment of revelation (iigamal;) in its entirety, both she is red-black (kr$r.wpiligalii) in colour rather than red. 93
the Tantric and the Vedic. 89 Thus while the icons of the Krama do
6.2. The Tantrasadbhava too has visualization texts for these more
sinister, subordinate goddesses. That for Parapara is related tex-
(85) See, e.g., the mantra of Matrkasarasvati at AgnikPaddh ff. 70vl5 . 71r1: hsau/.1
tually to the dhyana just quoted from the Siddhayogesvarimata. It
a171 0:171 i171 U'7' ri171 ..... sa171 $al7l sa111 ha171 la111 hsau/.1 sarasuatyai namalt; and Jiliiniiro.T 3. contains a number of the same quarter and half verses. However,
16cd, which places this syllable in the centre of the central triangle of the alphabet-yanlra
of Bala.
(86) See, e.g., KarmK 4, 222 15 ; SVidyiiro.T 83b32 (re Srikao.thadimiitrka).
(87) See lsanSGDPaddh KP 6, p. 61 12 • (90) SiYogM 6.20 . 24b: [dak$i~;te tatra suliigre nyased deui171 partipartim (see above n.
(88) See, e.g., TA 30. 27ab. The Trisirobhairauatantra adds variants, of which one, 68) 11 a$(atril7lSiilJls(iis) tathii uan;tiin('7') jualatptiuakasa171nibhiim l/20 II kaptila~~~;alti~~ar~(liiTTl
hsau/l, is identical with one of the forms of the Matrka seed-syllable; see ibid. 28cd and netratritayabhiisuriim I sasulakhaturirigadhariiTTl mahii.pretakrttisaniim II 21 II urdyu;;rhua <m
commentary. Note also the mantra of Parasakti given in the Kaula system of Devirah: 0171 8n171 > mahiiktiya111 mahiisarpauibhri$ittim 1 uikariilii171 mahtidal7l$lriil7l mahogrii111 bhrkutek$a(tiim II
hn171 kli171 sau/.1 hsau/.1 pariisaktyai ai111 suiiha (2. 68c. 69b). 22 11 mahiipannaga(na)sa'7'VitiilJI(?pidiil7l) savamiiliiuibhri$iliim I mahtis_auak~riim·
(89) She may be compared here with Parani~kaladevi, the goddess of 0171, the pan-Hindu bhoja(gal7l)ciirukan;ttiuatal7lsakiim //23// pralayiimbudanirgho$0.171 < ?sa111 > -grasanl!m wamba·
seed-syllable. She is white and two-armed like Para, but has only one hand-attribute: the ram/.
consciousness-gesture. See SVidyiirQT 121a33 · b3: atha uak$ye mahesiini parani$kaladeuatiim (91) Literally 'shining with three eyes.'
I yasyii/l smara~;tamiitre(ta cidiinandiiyate tanul;r II anugrahiidir[ =a} deuesi binduniidakaltitma· (92) See Sanderson 1986, 179·180 concerning TA 15.309-312.
kai;r f + 111} I parani$kaladev()"al1l parabrahmasuarripi(ti II sukltimbarapan-dhiina suklamalya· (93) SiYogM 6. 25-26b: sri/tigre uinyased viime tryak$arti<l7l> [i.e. apariirp] parama-
nulepanti I jfitinamudrii!ikitti yogipatiurndena seuita //. <17l>Punal;r 1 ... 1,1 25// pariiparoktarriper)a(na) uidyai(e)$ii kr$(1apirigalii(tit) /.
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it mentions neither the goddess's colour nor the attributes of her twelve-petaled. These are evidently the thrones of Parapara, Apara
hands. There are also crucial differences and additional details. She and Para respectively, since the number of petals prescribed for each
is to be visualized in the Ardhanarisvara form, th~t is, as the left lotus is that of the these goddesses' attendant Yoginis. 99 Since the
half of a composite body whose right half is her consort Bhairava. colours of the lotus-thrones of the three goddesses are exactly those
She is eight-armed, laughs wildly, intoxicated with wine; and assigned to the goddesses themselves by the Siddhayogesvarimata,
scorpions are added to the snakes which adorn her. 94 She shares this it is virtually certain that the Trisirobhairava's goddesses were of the
last feature with Aghora in his eighteen-armed form as Svacchan- same colours.
dabhairava. 95
The same_ text describes Apara as seated in the lap of the 6.4. South Indian Tantric sources, though generous with information
alphabet deity Sabdarasibhairava in the centre of a red three-spoked concerning Para, are almost entirely silent on the icons of these two
wheel. She laughs intoxicated, her eyes rolling with drunkenness. 96 secondary goddesses. Research in this area is far from complete :
there are various works preserved in southern manuscript collec-
6.3. The Piligalamata, which, as I have indicated above, gives tions which will doubtless add to our knowledge of this and related
instructions for the paintipg of all three goddesses as a group, says systems of esoteric Saiva worship. So far, however, I am aware of
only that while Para should be white, Parapara should be black and only one description of Parapara and Apara in the literature of the
Apara yellow; and that both, like Para, should be three-faced, carry Tamil-speaking region; and this deviates from the agamic icons to
the trident, and be enthroned on lotuses. 97 Their three-facedness such an extent and in such a manner that we are bound to conclude
may derive from the Trika's Trisirobhairavatantra; 98 but the unusual that the original, strongly Kapalika icons of these two goddesses,
colours attributed to the subsidiary pair do not. For that the were suppressed or little known, and that the present description
Trisirobhairava agrees with the Siddhayogesvarimata in making exploits this lacuna for the text's own and quite local sectarian
Parapara red and Apara red-black can be inferred from a section purpose. The passage occurs in the Lalitopakhyana of the south
of that Tantra summarized by Abhinavagupta in his Tantraloka, Indian Brahma7J,r;lapurdr:ta. Its concern is the glorification of
when he teaches its version of the ma~:u:iala of the trident-and-lotuses Kamakf;!i, the goddess Lalita (Tripurasundari) in the south Indian
(trisulabjama7J{ialam). We are not told the colours of the goddesses city of Kaf\ci (Kaficipuram), and the focal point of the south Indian
enthroned upon it; but we do learn that the three lotuses upon the cult of that important goddess : 100
trident's cusps, which serve as the seats of the goddesses, are (i) red
and eight-petaled, (ii) red-black and three-petaled, and (iii) white and
(99) TA 31.115: kajatraya171 tu sulagre(a171) vedti1718air dvtidastiliRulam I kramad
dak$tinyamadhye$u trya$tadvtidasapatrakam II. 'three lotuses on the cusps of the trident [with
(94) TanSadbh f. 44v3 · (4. 15 · 20b): ata/t para171 provak$yiimi vidyii<171> caiva a radius] of twelve finger-breadths across their four segments, on the right, the left, and in
pariipariim I ekaviravi(?. pro)dhanena bhairaviirdhasariragam II 15 /I kart~ika(a)slhlil71 smared the centre, with three, eight, and twelve petals respectively'. 118cd: rakta171 rakttisita171 sukla171
devi171 catvtiri171siik$arti <171>subhtim I patrti$/ake tv aghoryadyii/t padabhede yajet priye II 16 kramtid rlrdhviimbujatrayam II. 'the three upper lotuses are red, red-black, and white respec·
II prahasanti < 171 > madonmattti < 171 > dal71$trotkatabhayanaka < m > I vikartilti171 mahiibhimti171 tively.' The eight Yoginis forming the retinue of Parii.parii. are Aghora, Paramaghora,
sarmmtilavibhU$ilam II 17 II gontisair v,.Scikais caiva sarpair tibhara(lais tatha 1 mahtisava· Ghoran'ipa, Ghoramukhi, Bhima, Bhi~aQii, Vamani and Pibanl (the deities of the eight parts
karambhojacarukart~iivata171sakam II 18 II pralaytimbudanirgho$iim O$/ahaslii171 subhi$a(liim 1 [padtini] of her mantra [see above n. 73]); see TAV 12 (33) 341 10·13 quoting Trisirobhairava. The
'""';.,.·.,;"! ~k$ti-~ ca mahiida171$1ram udgirantim iviinalam II 19 II icchiinlpadhara171 devi171 pra(lalti· three Yoginls of Aparii (embodied as the three syllables of her vidyti) are Mii.nasi, Cakravegii
rtwmtismi<m> 1. and Mohanl; see SiYogM f. 34v; TanSadbh f. 43r·v. The twelve of Parii (embodied as twelve
(95) SvT 2. 90ab: v,.Scikair agnivart~<ibhair htire(la tu virtijitam I transformations of saub arising through the substitution for :au/t of the twelve vowels (a, a,
(96) TanSadbh 4. 1c · 5b: apartiyti vartirohe .~tidhana < 171 > yad vyavasthitam II I II i, i u, rl, e, ai, o, au, a171, ab) are Siddhi, !;tddhi, Lak~mi, Dtpti, Miilii, Sivasiva, Sumukhi,
tryarake tu tatas cakre ntibhinemisamanvite I javtikusumasa171kiise dti(iimikusumtirci$i II 2 II Viimani, Nandii, Harikesi, Hayiinanii and Visvesi; see MiilVijUT 20.46·47.
tatrastha171 prljayed der•a171 sarvavart~adharal71 [i.e. sabdartisibhairava171] haram 1 ta· (100) Brahmii.P (Lalitop) 39.9-14b: tidyti yanuttara(ytiQutarti) sa sytic citparti tv
dutsa(ccha)ngagatti171 deuil71 tri(lr)vart~tim llpllrii <ITJ> subhtim 11311 prahasantirp(n) rna· tidiktira(lam I anakhyeti(antakhyeti) tath6. proktii svan'ipa(svanlptit)tattvacintakaib II 9 II
donmaltaljl{a171) madavibhrantalocanti <m> I ta(iitsahasrasa171ktisti171 sarvtilaliktirabhrl$iltim II dvitiytibhrlt tatab §uddhapara dvibhujasa171yutti I dak$ahaste yogamudrti171 uiimahaste tu
4 II ittha171nlpe(la sa devi prljaniyti samtihinti 1. pustakam II 10 II .bibhrati himakundendumukttisamavapurdyuti/t I pariiparii trtiyti sytid
(97) PingM 5.18: para ...... sarve suklti/t; 5.21·23c: apara...... sarve pitti/t; 5.25c-26a: btiliirktiyutasa171mitti II II II sarvtibhara(lasa171yuktti dak~a(§a)hastadhrttimbujti I vcimorunyasta·
partipara ...... kr$Qti/t smrtti hy ettib ./. This passage lists the Tantric deities according to the hastii ca(vti) kirittirdhendubhri$a(lti II 12 II pasccic caturbhujti j{itti siiparii [ =sti aparll}
colours in which they must be paint<>d. See also PingM 5.37c · 38b quoted above, n. 48 .. tripuriiru(lti lpastilikusek$ukoda(l(iapaiicabti(lalasatkarti II 13 II IalitA saiva kiimiik$i ktiiicyti171
(98) See above, p. 00. rryaktim uptigatti 1.
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54

The primordial [Goddess) than whom nothing is greater is Parii-as Maharthamafijanparimala of Mahesvarananda (here in the context
Consciousness, the First Cause. Those who contemplate the nature of the Self of the Krama), 102 and the Anandatav4avavilasastotra of the latter's
also call her the N~meless (Aniikhyii). She is the source of Parii proper, the guru Mahaprakasa. 103 The same projection has occurred in the
second [Power]. Th1s Parii is two-armed. She shows the yoga-gesture with her variant of the Kubjika cult known as the [Sa<;lanvaya] Sambhava. 104
right hand and holds a manuscript in the other. Her body shines [white] as
snow, jasmine, the moon, and pearls. Third is Pariiparii. Red with the radiance
of a m:, riad of rising suns she is decked out with every variety of adornment.
7. SCRIPTIJRAL AND POSTSCRIPTIJRAL INTERPRETATION OF THE THREE ICONS
She holds a lotus in her right hand and rests her left hand upon her thigh.
She wears a crown and the new moon upon it. After her came Aparii. This
is the red, four-armed Tripurii. She carries a noose, a goad, a sugar-cane bow 7.1. The Malinivijayottaratantra, the scripture expounded in Abhina-
and [a set of) five arrows. It is this same goddess Lalita that has manifested vagupta's Tantraloka, describes Pariipara and Apara only in the
herself in Kiiflci as Kiimiikl?I. barest outline. Following the Siddhayogesvanmata and echoing
These verses tell us more about the relationship between the some of its wording it makes them red and red-black respectively.
Trika and the cult of Kamak!;il/Lalita than about the Trika itself. However, it also distinguishes them with regard to the sentiments
They seek to universalize the cult by fitting it into the Trika's which they embody. Apara, it says, is terrifying (bhi$a1Jfi), the
triadic-tetradic schema of the three goddesses and their transcen- opposite of the gentle, nourishing Para, while Parapara is half-way
dental unity. What is remarkable is the position assigned to Lalita between these extremes, being "not terrifying, yet somewhat fero-
herself. In spite of the fact that she is the true focus of the cult and cious (kimcidugra na bhi:$a~J-fi)." 105 This accords with the doctrine
although it is her glorification that is the principal purpose of this that the three goddesses are the sources and archetypes of the three
text, no more is claimed for her than that she take the place of great divisions of the Mothers (matarab.), namely the Mild (aghorab.,
Apara, the lowest of the three goddesses. At the same time, however, santab.), the Terrible (ghoral;), and the Utterly Terrible (ghorataral:t,
she is made to harness the full power and prestige of the Trika. For ghoraghoratarab.J1°6 These three divisions, which, in the exorcistic
we can see from the eighth khar:u;ia of the Parasuramakalpasiitra context of the Trika's cult of Yoginis, are subdivided into various
that the worship of Para, following the Anuttara system based on classes of female spirits, 107 are presented by the Malinivijayottara in
the exegesis of the Paratrimsika, was incorporated within the cycle
of her worship : Para became the 'heart' of Lalita. So the rela- (102) See MahiirthMP p. 19426-26 • The same is perhaps implied at 18822•23 in which
tionship was not necessarily conceived as one of subordination : Bhairava (189 16 : Svacchandabhairava) is said to be in a jewelled pavilion in the saqwidakasa!l.
The latter and cidambaram (/Cidamharam) are synonyms.
Kamak~?i I Lalita could be seen as incorporating the whole of the
(103) Quoted at Mahii.rthMP 15926 • 1602•
Trika pantheon in such a way that the four-armed manifestation on (104) See the verse for Parasambhunii.tha in the rasmimalci, a sequence of mantras used
the surface of the cult was only one level of her identity, Para, her in the dawn japa of the Lalita cult: pur7;1ahantasuanipaya tasmai paramasambhaue I
iinandatA~;u;Javoddai;J(iaps.I.Jt!itiiya namo nama!III(Nityots 132 1 ~ 14 ). The mantra: aiJTI hriJTI SriJTI
heart, being seen as a higher form of Kamak$1 herself. Also local hskhphreJ71 hsau!l aham aha'fl hsau!l hskhphreJTI sriJTI hriJTI aiJTI (Nityots 1268.9). In this system
is the red, two-armed goddess holding a lotus in her right hand. who Siva as Naviitman I Navakesvara is visualized dancing as he embraces his consort Samayii
is placed between the two as the Pariipara of this scheme. She is Kubjika; see, e.g., SambhNirr;. 3.10: (mrirtiM naufnauaridaktirci nrtyanti yauvananuita /; Ni-
tyiihnTil folio 26r: nilab pancanano nrtyann urdhvaparyarikasaJTlsthitab I duira$1auaT~~adesiyo
evidently the goddess Adilak~?ml, who is said in the Lalitopakhyana ... nauab 11. This icon is illustrated in Rawson (1978: 19); see above, n. 38.
to dwell in the cave (bilakasab., guhdkasab.) which is the heart of the (105) MiilVijUT 8. 72b-74b: dak$i~:tottarayor duayam I pariiparii.rp svanipe~:~a rakta-
Kamak~?i temple (40.103-107). What we have, then, is not simply vaT"f;IGJTI mahabaltim II 72 II icchiinipadharaJTI dhyiituii kiJTlcidugriiJTI na bhfsa~:~am I aparii.rp
viimasrrige tu bhfsa~:~aJTI kT"I1~:~apirigalam II 73 II icchcinipadharaJTI deufJTI pra~:~atartiuinasinam I
a case of the Trika colonizing and subordinating a local cult, but a (106) MiilVijUT 3. 30-33; TA 3. 71c-75c (concerning Parii. and Parii.parii); JayadYamT
case of a local cult incorporating the Trika and superimposing the satka 1. patala 26 (sulesuanvidhiM. 36-38b: cakraMJTI trisuanipa~:~aJTI santaghoratighori~:~am I
identity of its goddesses upon the Trika's agamic pantheon. We see yonayab kfrtita hy e <tab> ... II 36 II abhib sa.J71pujitabhis tu siddhtlbhis trisuanipa(i)kam I
visuaJTI yad(sa'fl) yoginfjalaJTI santaghorauimisrakam II 37 II uasam ayaty asaJ71dehat setsyante
the same process _at Cidambaram, probably the most important of saruasiddhaya!ll. Hence at JayadYiimT satka 4, folio 190r2 (bhairauananavidhau bhUmikauid-
all south Indian Saiva centres. The famous Siva Lord of Dancers hipatala!l, verse Slab) the three goddesses are termed Aghorii, Ghorii and Ghoraghoratarii:
(Nataraja) enshrined there is made the symbol of the Trika's aghora ghoranipti ca ghora(a)ghorataratmika I The same equation is seen at RahPai\c 12.
(107) See the Yogini-taxonomy of YoginfjalasaJ71uaratantra (one of the Saktitantras of
dynamic Absolute m the Pariitrimsikattitparyadfpika, 101 the the Vidyiipitha division of the Bhairava canon) which is given in the YoginfsaJTlcara[-prakara~:~­
am] of the Jayadrathayiimalatantra (3. folio 172r5- v4 [yoginicakrestoarotpattipatala verses
(101) See above. p. 00.
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more abstract terms. The three classes of Siva's Powers (sivasak- autonomous (svatantrd), unseconded (advitfyd) consciousness
taya/:t), as it calls them, are defined as (i) those which liberate souls (sarrwit, cit) which must project all reality within itself; and the
(aghord_l; I para/;), (ii) those which hold souls where they are, categories of non-duality and the subject or agent of cognition
preventmg them from progressing towards liberation by causing (pramata) are generally presented from the same point of view : as
them to cling to the fruits of their actions (ghordl; I parapara/:t), and the basis or source of appearance in consciousness rather than as
(iii) those which immerse souls in sensuality, drawing them down- that which remains when this appearance has been dissolved. The
wards to ever lower levels of existence (ghorataral; 1 aparal;). 108 Supreme Power (para saktil;) is certainly both projector and resor-
ber of phenomena in Abinavagupta's non-dualism; but his exposition
7.2. In the Jayadrathayamala and in the exegesis of Abhinavagupta of the Trika as a system of encoded ritual and meditation is
this abstraction is developeq further. In the former Para, Parapara definitely and explicitly weighted towards an emanationist rather
and Apara are equated with Siva's great powers of icchd, jfidnam and than a resorptionist representation of this dynamic non-duality. He
kriyd, that is, with (i) the prediscursive impulse which precedes all reveals this inflection in the following cryptic analysis of the
c:ognition and acti<?n, (ii) cognition, and (iii) action, and also with meaning of Para's seed-syllable saul).: 112
Siva, his Power (Sakti) and individualized consciousness (narah This real [world] (sat [ = s ]), which begins from [the Sphere (a~(iam) of)
aT),u/;), 109 the triad whose non-duality is the central doctrine of th~ Brahma and is referred to [in the Malinivijayottara 113 ] as the Sphere of
K~shmirian Trika. 110 The latter records yet other metaphysical Matter (maya~(iam) derives its reality from the fact that it traverses [the
tn~ds as the real nature of the goddesses: (i) emission (sr$til;}, 'trident' ( = -au·) of the three powers of) precognitive impulse (iccha),
~.amtenance of the emitted (sthitil;), and its resorption (saTflhdra/:t); cognition and action. For it is only by traversing these three powers that it
is projected into (visrjyate [=·b. (visarga)]) [, i.e. comes to rest in] the
(n) the agent of cognition (pramata), the medium of cognition consciousness of Bhairava. Or rather it is only by this means that it is
(pra'!"dTJam), and the object of cognition (prameyam); (iii) non- projected out from that [innermost consciousness]. Thus the fact that these
duality (abhedal; I advaitam), duality-cum-non-duality (bhedabhedal; [Spheres, of Brahma, prakrti/:1 and maya) are real [s·] entails that they are
I dvaitadvaitam), and duality (bhedal; I dvaitam). 111 identical with those three powers [·au·]. that they are the projection [ ·/:1] [of
the ultimate consciousness] and are of the essence of that consciousness.
7.3. Of these equations the most resonant in the system is certainlv The commentator Jayaratha points out that in this passage
that in which Para is identified with the cosmic process of emissio~ Abhinavagupta is reading saul). from both perspectives : both from
or creation. For this links the concrete qualities of the goddess as that of resorption (saT{Lharakrama/:t) and from that of emission
the nectar effusing invigorator of life and knowledge with the (sr$tikramal:t). Abhinavagupta gives two meanings to the projection
abstract categories of non-duality and cognitive agency (subjectivity expressed by the -l:t element of the seed-syllable, so that saul). is made
(pramatrta]). The quality of invigoration (apydyanam) contemplated to express both (i) [the awareness of] the projection of the universe
m her sadhanas is easily translated into the concept of emission into consciousness, the fact that it comes to rest (visrantil:t), through
when this is understood as the inexhaustible creative power of an resorption, within the non-duality of the transcendental subject

7lc · 82]~. See also patala 15 of the Trika's Tantrasadbhava, parts of which are cited in an
exorc1sbc context by K~emarii.ja commenting on the Netratantra; see NeTU 2 (19) 1453·20 and (112) TA 4. 186b-89b: tathti hi sad idam brahmamulam mayat;~t;iasamjnitam II 186 II
146 1 ·~·1 JEmendati~ns: for dll~tika, nakradll~ti, d!l$ale, and dll~tikti read cll~tika, nakrocll~ti etc.; icchiijiiiinakriyaroham vina naiva sad ucyate I tacchaktitritayarohtid bhairaviye cidatmani II
for asadya read acchiidya, for patralekhi read patralehi]. 187 II visrjyate hi tat tasmiid bahir vatha visrjyate I evam sadrripataivai$am satiim sakti·
(108) Mii.lVijUT 3. 30·33; trayatmatam II 188 II visargam parabodhena samiik~tipyaiva variate 1.
(109) J_aya~Y_ii.mT_ 4, .folio 190r1·3 (bhairavananiividhau bhiimikavidhipatala/:1 verses (113) Mii.lVijUT 2. 49: parthiva, prakrtam caiva mayiyam siiktam eva ca I iti samk$·
~9b·62b): para cawapara cawa sattii.(nta) cawa parapara II 59 11 triskandha sa tridhiimastha epata/;1 proktam etad at;~t;iacalu$jayam 1/. The 'sphere of earth' (parthivam at;~t;iam) is the sphere J Oi
•cchajiian~kriyatmik~ I ~ii~a j~~$/~ii tatha raudra trisir$a trisirotthitii 116011 aghorii ghorarripa (or 'egg') of Brahmii. (brahmqi'p(lam) which occupies the lowest lattva (prthivitattuam). The
ca ghora(a)ghorataratm1ka I santa ghorii tatha raudrii bhava caiuabhava tathii 11 61 11 tathii prakrtam ap(iam is that and everything up to and including prakrti/;1, the twenty-fourth tattua
hy atrbhava devi narasaktisiviitmikii /. (the ultimate non-spiritual substance or primal matter of the Sii.mkhyas). The miiyiyam apt;iam
(110) See, e.g., TAV 7 (10) 1241-8; PI'Viv 187 verse 3 (2 5·8); PTI'iitD 12c-16c. (Miiyap(iam), i.e. the Sphere of Maya, is these and everything else up to an including maya,
(Ill) See TA 1.2; 5.23c·25b; 33.30 (reading para pariiparii rather than the edition's the thirty-first tattva and the material cause of all samsii.ric manifestation. All this and the
pariiparii para); TSara 28J.l3; RahPaiic 13. For the equation with iccha etc. see, e.g., pure tattvas up the thirty-fifth (§aktitattvam) are the saktam ap(iam. Beyond these is Siva, the
Bodhpai\c 15. thirty-sixth and final tattva. See also ParamSii.ra 4 and commentary.
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(pa~ap~amata.. akalpitapramata), and (ii) [the awareness of] its pretation of the triadic, emission-centred system of the Siddhayo-
proJectwn out of that non-duality, its emission into consciousness gesvarimata and the Malinivijayottara in the light of the tetradic
~rom within. 114 Nonetheless, Jayaratha explains, Abhinavagupta Trika of the Devydydmala 117 in which one worships Kalasarpkar!iliQi
mtends the mode of emission to be understood as the basic sense as a fourth, resorptive goddess above Para, Para para and Apara. 118
of the syllable. For the Tantraloka speaks of saub- as the 'heart in We do not have the Devyayamala's visualization of this goddess; but
emission' (sr$tau hrt [ = sr$tihrdayam]), contrasting it with khphrem, we do have her mantras and these lead us to parallel sources from
the 'heru:t in resorption' (samharahrdayam). 115 It analyses both which we can form an idea of the missing icon.
syllables m such a way that each expresses reality both in the mode
of emission and in the mode of resorption; but in saul:z it is the 8.1.2. The mantras are two, one nine-syllabled (navdk$ari vidyd) and
former which is essential and predominant, and in khphrem it is the the other seventeen-syllabled (saptadastik$ari): (i) khphrem
la_tter. 116 Thus A?hinavagupta's interpretation of saub- is in keeping mahdca~;u,layogesvar 119 and (ii) hrim mahdcar:uJ,ayogesvari tht dht tht
With the aesthetics of creation, creativity and invigoration encoded phat phat phat phat phat. 120 They show that this form of the Trika
in Para's agamic icons and sddhanas; and it is so in spite of a general is an extension of the tradition of Kall worship propagated in the
tendency in his exegesis to assimilate the understanding of the Trika agamas of the Krama and in the Jayadrathayamalatantra. The first
in~o the _doctrines of the Krama with their emphatically resorptionist mantra, that of nine syllables, is central to the former; 121 and the
onentabon. second, that of seventeen syllables, is almost identical with the
latter's principal mantra of Kalasarp.kar~iQi (hrim mahdcar:tc;l.ayoges-
vari thrim dhrim thrim phat phat phat phat phat 122).
8. KALASAI\.fKARSI~I, THE FOURTH GODDESS

8.1.3. There is nothing in the agamas of the Krama comparable to

8.1.1. I have shown elsewhere certain aspects of this influence of the the ydga of the Devydydmala : the pantheons of those texts are
Krama on the Trika in Kashmir, notably Abhinavagupta's inter- entirely independent of the Trika. The Jayadrathayamala, on the
other hand, contains among its many yagas of Kall I Kalasarp.kar~iQi
_ _ ~114) TA.Y 3 (4) 217 14 -2185 : parapramiitrritmani bhaivarfye nlpe visrjyate tatra visrrinti171 four which are of the same kind as the Devyayamala's, the goddess
y~y~d 11! s_aqJ~srakrama.P I atha vii s~tikrame(Ja tasmrid bhairaviyrid nlpiit tad visva171 bahir
vzsrJyate saktlsopiinrivarohakramel)a kalridik~itiparyantena sthrilena nlpel)rivabhrisata ity ar-
thah/. (117) See Sanderson 1986, 188-204.
(115) TA 4. 191cd: ida171 sa171hrirahrdaya171 priicya171 sr~tau ca hrn matam 1/. The (118) See TAV 2 (3) 82 16- 18 and 12 (31) 271 4 quoting the Devyiiyiimala: tanmadhye tu parii
resorptio~-seed here is def!nitely_ khphre171. Padoux (1963: 356-358) gives it as rkhk~e171 (for devi dak$il)e tu pariiparii I aparii viima.orn«e tu madhyasrngordhvatah srou II yii sii sa171kar$il)f
rk$khe171.), wh1ch goes agamst TA 5. 146 and commentary, where it is khphre171. However, he devi pariititii vyavasthitii/, TAV 12 (31) 2701 ·17 : pariiyii api para miitrsadbhriviidisabdavyapadeti-
does follow Jayaratha, who refers to the letter which is either k~a or kha as kritavamah (TAV yii kalasa171kar$il)f bhagavaty uktii ...
3 [4] 2_224 : .9a171hiirak_ul){ialinyritmakasyaitadnlpalipetl kritavaT'I)asya ... 'the krita lett~r: which (119) The vidyii is raised at TA 30. 45c-46b (khphre171) + 30. 54·55b (mahacaQ{iayo-
embod·~~ the Ku~:u~alml of Resorption, and shows this in the shape of its written form.'). The gesvar)-
term kuta-_ occurs With reference to the alphabet only in the expression kritabijam applied to (120) This vidyii is given in the Malinl code (explained at, e.g., MaiVijUT 3. 37-41b) in
k~a; see TAV 2 (3) 1784• 11 • Gnoli (1972: 176) takes Abhinavagupta to be referring to khphre 171 a passage of the Devyayiimala quoted at TAV 11 (29) 491-1 3• For nasiiT'I)a171 in line 3 read
here and he is certainly right to have done so. However, he does not come to terms with the niisciT'I)al1l.
fact that Ja~aratha see~s to disagree. I propose that the reading kritavaT'I)asya in his (121) It is raised at DevidvyS 85-87 (folio 8v 1-4 {navavaT'I)ii ku/esvarf]). KallkulaKA
commentary 1s a corruption of kul){ialavaT'I)asya. JayadYamT ~atka 4, folio 200v 2-3 gives folios 15v7-16r2 paraphrase this and prescribe the vidya for the worship of each of the five
kul){iala_m _among code-terms for k$a (kui;Jt,lala.m bhairava171 riiva171 riivil)i yoginipriyam 1 Krama cycles, Emission (sr$/i-), Presence (sthiti-, avatiira-), Resorption (sa171hiira-), the
kui;Jt,lalmatham atula171 knlra171 vai bhimam ankusam I phakiira171 dhiimadhamrina171 nrimabhih Nameless (aniikhya-), and the [Pure] Light (bhiisa-) (paficacakrasiimiinyii naviik$arf vidyii). In
samudiihrtam II) and Jayaratha quotes this same passage on the code-names of ha at TAV both texts a seventeen syllabed form is produced by separating its letters: kha pha ra e171 ca
2 (3) 1455.
(Ia {Ia ya o ga e sa va ri; see DevidvyS 89ab (folio 9v 4-5): navauaT'I)avibhedena jfieya sii
(116) TA 4_. 191cd: ida171 sa171hiirahrdayam [i.e. khphre171] priicya171 [i.e. saul!] sr$/au ca so{iasiidhikii; and KallkulaKA folio 15v5. At DevipancS 3. 35-40 and 4. 63-68 the nine syllabed
hrn .'!"atam 1(- TAV 3 (4) 219 15' 16 : srfpariibijasya Sa171hiirakramel)odaye 'pi Sf$/ipriidhiinyena vidyii is raised as the formula of the cycles of emission ( sr$/ikramab) and resorption
dars•!a'!' I; 1b1d. 223 7' 1D: _asya ca srfpariibijavat Sf$/ikramel)a sa171bhavaty apy udaye rephiidinril1l (sa171hrirakramab). It is also given in the Kallmata tradition of the cult of Tripurasundarl as
V~T'I)~na171 b!zedasa171harakatvrit talprtidhiinyena nirdesab sa171hiirahrdayam iti /. See also the mantra of the Uttaramnaya; see JniiniirJ;ZT 9. 7-8b. Compare also the seventeen syllabed
N1ty~~oc;I~RA 248 18 : saktibijasvanlpri para saktir divyiimrtakalayii samasta171 jagad utpiidayanti vidya raised at DevipancS 5. 57-63 for the worship of the cycle of the Nameless (anii-
d~yatavya!, and Kulacri{iiimaQitantra quoted at SivSiiVim 58 16 ': eka171 RT$/imayal1l b(iam.'That khyakramab): ii171 khphre171 phii171 phim mahiicaQdayogetivar phat phat phat phat phat
th1s last passage refers to sautz 1s clear from the context of its citation at PTViv 269 6 (242 6). (122) See JayadYamT 1.11.32-39.
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in each being worshipped above and/or as the unity of Para, siddhis fearsome granter of success in rites to summon the hoardes of
Parapara and Apara. These yagas are (i) that of [Tri-]sulesvari in celesti;l Yoginis, Bhairavi Supreme, [dark] as a sky filled *~th rain-laden
the first ~atka, and those of (ii) Mahapara, (iii) Para-Uttarakali: clouds* (?), lean-limbed, her face terrible to behold, ommform, of vast
strength, sitting on [the shoulders of Sadii.siva] the Great. Trai?-scende~,
(/Tricakresvari), and (iv) Tris1r!;!a (/ Bhairavanana) in the fourth. holding all manner of weapons in her hands. He should v1suahze Para,
Their visualizations are as follows. Parii.para and Aparii., and then, *0 Uma* (?), this supreme goddess ~bove
them. And those [three should be visualized] on [the cusps of a] tr1dent,
Sulesvari : 123 seated [likewise] on Sadasivas.
He should trace the trident so that its cusps face east or north. In the centre Tris1r$ii (Bhairavanana) :127
between the lateral cusps he should draw a square eleven finger breadths by
eleven. In a circle centred on the tip of the central cusp * ... * there should She should be visualized black as a crow, as a swarm of bees or the clouds
be a lotus with eight petals, a 'hub' and sixteen filaments. He should colour at the world's end, three-faced, awesome, eighteen-armed, roaring horribly as

II
as before. On this lotus he should worship the goddess [SUlesvari, visualizing she destoys the universe, mounted emaciated and terrible on [the shoulders
her as] adorned with a mass of three-eyed serpents, open-mouthed and fanged, of] the Great Transcended with various weapons in her hands, her limbs clad
shining with the colour of lamp-black, carrying in her hands a knife, a with [a skirt made of] strings of bones, and her hair flowing upwards.
skull-bowl, a great trident and a skull-staff, richly decked with all manner of
adornment, her body white with the ashes [of the cremated], sitting on [the If any one of these four is likely to be akin to the lost icon it
shoulders of] Ananta ................ Then, having drawn three * ... * on the cusps is the ash-white Sulesvart, carrying the knife and skull-bowl, the
he should install upon them the three goddesses [Para, Parapara and Apara].
I trident and the skull-staff. For her yaga is taught as one of a basic
set of five through which one may be initiated into the cult of the
Mahapara : 124
The white goddess Mahapara (the Great Para), the supreme Kalasamkar$·
I seventeen-syllabled mantra of Kalasarp.karl;lini. 128 This mantra, as ~~
have seen, is virtually identical with the mantra of Kalasarp.kar$101
ani, 125 three-eyed and single-faced, upon a white lotus, sitting on [the taught in the Devytiyiimala. The mantras of the other thr:e Kalasarp.·
shoulders of] a white [Sadasiva] Transcended, finely dressed in white
garments, four-armed, beautiful, lean-limbed, adorned with serpents, with a
serpent as her sacred thread, with serpents as bracelets about her upper
I
I
I
kar$iiJ.1S are quite unrelated to it. That of Mahapara 1s the seed-
syllable jhphriirrt. 129 Para-Uttarakall's is rhrim pare pariipare apa~e
tricakresvari hral; phat phat. 130 That of Trisirsa I Bhairavanana 1s
arms ...
r svtim hrim svtimini jaya vidyesvari cakresvari bhairavanane hrim
Para - Uttarakall ;126 svam phat phat phat. 131
Eighteen-syllabled, terrible, eager to devour the three worlds, bestowers of all
8.2. Ekantavasini (/ Kalasarp.kar~?iiJ.l)
This identification gains some support from an unexpected
(123) JayadYiimT 1. 26. 18c-23: priigagraT/'1 vartayec chrilam(TI'Im) ath.avottarakar;~thakam source, the practical handbooks for the non-Tantric, domestic
1118 II •prakiira• srngamadhyasthlllll(/:1) k$etra<TTI> rudriirigula, samam I •vandhyii$tiiTI'I'
madhyasrftgiigravrttiispavibhiigagam II 19 II a$tapatrafll saniibhiTI'I tu da8a$atkesariikulam II vii §uddhii hy aparotha paratha va I evafll dhyiiyed devadeviTI'I tasciT/'1 pr$the •:h!t~m ?me(?.ama)
purvavat purayet tad dhi tatra deviTI'I prapiljayet II 20 II kariilasarpa(syarpa)cakre(la 11 1611 tiiS ca sillasthiUi devyo mahapretakrtiisanab(ii) I The name Uttarakah 1s g1ven by the
daTI'I$/ri(IO(ii)gratricak$U$ii I rajitiim (riijiiitiim) aiijaniibhiisivar(lena ca sphurattvi$8(ci)m II 21 JayadYiimMUddh, folio 61v 7; and I have restored the colophon of the chapter (pa-
II kartrikiidya (krttikala)mahiisulakhatviirigodyatapa(linim I sarvabhil$a(labhri$ii(ihya,. bhas- rotta < ra > kalisadhana-) accordingly.
mapar;~(iuvapu$matiTI'I II 22 II anantasanam aro(ihtim ... II 31 II atha srngatraye tnr;~i krtya (127) JayadYiimT $atka 4, folio 198r 1·2 (bhairavavyiiptividhipat'. vv. 46c·4~):
camikarar;~i tu I tatra devitraya.(afll)nyiisa,. kuryad ... kr$(1ii <,. > kiikiilinihiirakiilamegha(tha)samadyutim II 46 II trivaktraT/'1 SBT/'1 ( sa)smared ~audram
(124) JayadYiimT $atka 4, folio 115v1-3: sukl<i<TTI> mahtipar<i<TTI> devf<fT/'1> a$tiidasabhujanvitiim 1 sukrsiiT/'1 bhfmanirhriidahradinfT/'1 visvaghattanfm II 471( ma~apretakr·
kalasa,.kar$O(If <TTl> pariim I trine tram ekavaktra,. ca svetapadmopari sthitam I svetapreta· tavasthiiT/'1 niiniipraharar;~odyatiim I halamalavanaddharigim ilrdhvakesiiT/'1 bhayanakam II 48 1/.
samiirri(ih<iTI'I svetiimbaravibhU$itam I caturbhuja,. suvapu$iiTI'I krsiirigiT/'1 sarpamar;~(iitiim I (128) The first and basic $atka of the JayadYamT teaches a primary yiiga of the
vyii/ayajiiopavitiT/'1 ca vyiiliiligadavibha$itiim /. seventeen-syllabled mantra (pat' 15 [ + 11 (kiilasa,.kar$O(Ifvidyoddharab) )), and four alter-
(125) The form ·•BTT~kar~ii;Ji is better Sanskrit and used by the commentators. In the natives: the yiigas of (i) Bhairava or Bhairavi and six Yoginis (pat' 19), (ii) Lak~~~b~attii·
agamas themselves we find ·Sa!Jlkar~BJ;li. rika and sixteen Kalis (pat' 21), (iii) Sulesvari and the three goddesses Para. Parapara and
(126) JayadYamT $atka 4 folio 136r 2-4 (parotta <ra > kiilisiidhanapatalab. verses Aparii (pat' 26), and (iv) Vajresvari (pat' 28).
13c-17b): a#iidasiik$arci ghorii trailokyagrcisaghasmarii II 13 II sarvasiddhikarf raudro cakra- (129) Raised at JY 4, $atka 4, folios 115v7-116rl.
meliipasiddhidci I 'dhyayohuya• ghaniiktisaprakhyii paramabhaivarf II 14 II krsarigf ghora- (130) Raised ibid., folios 135v6-136r2.
vadanci visvarripci mahaujasa I mahiipretasamiirri(ihci sarvayudhakarodyatii II 15 II paroparatha (131) Raised ibid., folio 188r 3-7.
 ( f f f
f f f f f
62 63

(grhya-) rituals of the Kashmirian brahmins; for an icon of Kalasarp- noose and a goad, the gestures of generosity and protection, a sword and a
kar!?i.t:li similar to that of Sulesvari has made its way into these trident, shining white as crystal.
rituals from the Tantric tradition. The presentation of offerings to Evidently this is closely related to the Sulesvari icon of the
series of mother-goddesses (matrkapuja) represented by idols, pain- seventeen-syllabled uidya of Kalasarpkar$ii)L Sulesvari has a knife
tings, or small heaps of unhusked barley is standard in smtirta Vedic where Ekantavasini: has a sword; but with the exception of this
ritual, being a constituent preliminary of the presentation of minor difference the four weapons attributed to Sule§vari: by the
offerings to the Rejoicing Ancestor-deities (ntindfmukhasraddham) Jayadrathaytimala are the attributes of the four principal hands of
which is itself a constituent preliminary of all such auspicious EkantavasinL
ceremonies as those of birth, investiture, marriage and the consecra-
tion of homes (vesmaprati$tha), temples and idols (prati$tha); 132 but 8.3. Siddhalak$m1
in Kashmir this exoteric goddess-worship has been moulded to I have encountered no representation of this Kalasarpkar!?ini:,
reflect the prestigious Tantric cults that flourished in this region. either painted or sculpted. However two eleventh or twelfth century
The mothers, who are usually just a linear series, are worshipped Kashmirian bronzes (Plates 1 and 2) 136 depict a form of the goddess
here in Tantric fashion as the emanations or retinue of a central which differs only slightly from that of Ekantavasini: Kala-
goddess. In the standard handbooks for these domestic rituals this sarpkar~inL She certainly belongs to the same iconic type. She is
central goddess is termed Ekantavasini: ('She-who-dwells-in-soli- five-faced rather than one-faced, and ten-armed rather than eight-
tude') without further information; 133 but a versified account of the armed; but she too is white and eight of her ten hands show the same
cult found in a birch-bark Kasmfrikakarmakar;dapaddhati identifies attributes as Ekantavasini: - onlv a book and a hatchet (tar;kaf:t)
Ekantavasini: as the goddess Kalasarpkar$ii)i:. 134 It also gives a are added. Naturally, the colour ~f her body is not represented in
dhyana : 135 a bronze. However, the deity may be identified as Siddhalak$mi: on
One should visualize her seated on a lotus, one-faced, eight-armed, three-eyed the evidence of the visualization text for this goddess found in the
and richly adorned, displaying in her hands a skull·bowl and skull·staff, a Kashmirian handbooks of Tantric ritual; 137 and these record her
(132) See DhKos 3, III, pp. 1695-1707 for this smarta matrkiipuja.
(133) See VivV 1-2 (kanyiisarrtskarauidhi/:L) and VedKalpD 136 (uesmaprati$1hauidhi/:L). (136) The term Kashmirian here includes neighbouring areas within the sphere of
Accordmg to these texts of the Kashmirian tradition the mothers are grouped into five sets Kashmirian culture, these two bronzes being said to be from Kangra and Himachal Pradesh
of seven and one pair: (i) Brii.hmi, Mii.hesvari, Kaumari, Vai~l)avi, Vii.rahl, NarasiJllhi and (Pal 1975: 226, 228). For reproductions see Chhabra 1966; Sharma 1971; Pal 1975, plates 89
Aindrl; (ii) Gauri, Padmii., Saci, Medha, Siivitrl, Vijayii and Jaya; (iii) Devasenii, Svadha, and 90 (pp. 226-229); and Mitchell, Lampert and Holland 1982, 71 (colour plate of exhibit 455).
Sviihil, the Matrs. the Lokamiltrs, Dhrti and Tu~ti; (iv) Pu~~i and Atmadevata; (v) Lalita, Umii, Chhabra (1966) identifies the image as Svacchandahhairavi, consort of Svacchandabhairava.
Gauri, Ambikii, Salilasraya, Bhagiihi and Bhagak~i; and (vi) Anumati, Riika, Sinivali, Kuhu, But that deity's consort is not Svacchandabhairavi but Aghoresvari, is eighteen-armed and
Dhiitri, Sarvesvari and Annesvari. These are worshipped in (i) seven walnuts, (ii) seven has quite different hand-attributes; see SvT 2. 88-97b and 114c-116, which describe Svac-
vert1cal hnes of melted butter (- the uasor dhtiral), poured down the surface of a low wall chandabhairava in detail and his consort briefly, saying (115cd) that her from is identical with
[see DhKos 3, III, 1708-1710)); (iii) a coloured and spotted veil (worn by women on festive his [with regard tc hand-attributes and other such particulars].
occasions [Kashm. tek'- puC"; see Grierson 1049a (under tyok" )], (iv) oneself, (v) the branches (137) AgnikPaddh folio 73r 7-: devfTfl suddhasphatikadhavaliirn paiicavaktrrirrt trinetrcirrt
of the representation of the wishing-tree (kalpaurk$a/!) plastered on the wall [Kashm. diw(lta dorbhir yuktriTfl dasabhir abhita/.I §obhitarn ratnahiirail) I kridyarrt khar;igarn smim amasmaTfl
- mlin"; see Grierson 265a (under diwath )]. and (vi) seven balls of cooked rice [Kashm. diw(lta §ulam acchiicchadhararn siircit stirarrt varam anavararrt daksahastair vahantim II utkhatuiiligarn
- glif'; see ibid. 1_- Ekiintaviisini is worshipped in the midst of these in an earthenware pot filled kathinavikatarrt tarikam lirjasvitarikarrt piisa,. jiirinrimrtarasamayarrt pustakarn ciibhayarrt ca
With water, fruit etc. [Kashm. diwai:a- war"; see ibid.]. See VedKalpD 136. An outline drawing I kiimarrt uiimail) liubhakaratalair bibhratirn vi.<vauandyarn padmapretopari krtapada,. siddha-
of this arrangement can be seen at KarmK 4, iii and xxiii. Outside Kashmir the norm is tc Jakt>mim namiimi II This same text is included in the DevidhyRatnM, p. 68 with mur;t;i.arrt
worship Gal)esa + the mothers in groups (ii) to (iv); see DhKos 3, III, 1696a 22-24, b 3-9 etc. wrongly for khar;igarn in the first verse. AgnikPaddh has the following verse to be recited as
The latter are either fourteen or sixteen, in accordance with whether one includes the Matrs one makes the final, full oblation to the goddess (plirr;adhyiinam): khatutirigakiidya-
and Lokamatrs mentioned in the verses listing the recipients (mtitaro lokamiitara/:L). Some take varadiibhayasrllatarikapiisiirikwiiisivarapustakahastapadmam (padmahastiim) I paflciinancirrt
these plural nouns as merely q\lalifying the fourteen singular names. According tc Sridatta dasa(vasu[against sense and AgnikPaddh 2J)bhuj<irrt girisridhirlit;i.htirrt tva,. dhyiiyato 'sti bhuvi
and others, the mother called Atmadevatii in this list is whoever is one's (alma-) family or kasya narasya bhiti!t 1/. The two bronzes in question agree with these dhytinas, except that
personal goddess (kuladevatii, i$/adevatti); see ibid. 1695b 3; 1696b I, 10; 1702a 11. the former do not adhere to the latters' distribution of the hand-attributes to left and right.
(134) KiismKarmKPaddh folio 295r14-15, 18-19: ekiintf d < e >vat <ii> yii <sri> krilasarrt- The hands on the viewer's right show from top to bottom a goad, a manuscript, a noose, the
kar$ar;i para I ... sarrtkar$ar;i nama devf ekantf hy atha socyate 1 gesture of generosity and a hatchet (talikal)). Those on the left show a sword, a trident, a
(135) KiiSmKarmKPaddh folio 295v19-296r3: ekavaktriirrt Cri$(abhujarrt trinetrtibharanair skull-staff, a skull-bowl and the gesture of protection. The bronzes provide a clear illustration
yutiim I kapiilakhatualigadhartirrt pristilikusakartirpitrirrt varadtibhayahastrirrt ca khat;i.gasuiad- of the meaning of padmapretopari krtapadrim in the Kashmirian visualization text, i.e. 'resting
hartirrt subham I suddhasphatikavarr;abhiirrt padmarlit;i.hti,. vicintayet! on a lotus and the Transcended [Sadiisiva].'
 • • • • •
• ' ' ' ' ' ' • ' • • '
Pl. 1
64 Alexis SANDERSON

whiteness, as do the slightly different dhytinas employed for her cult

in the Kathmandu valley. 138 The similarity between the icons of
Siddhalakl?mi and Kalasarpkar$in1 is backed by a close association
in ritual practice. Siddhalakl?mi is taught in the Jayadrathayamala,
a work devoted to the cults of various forms of Kalasamkar$ii;li; 139
in the Kalasamkar~ar:tfmata the worship of Siddhalak$m1 is a
constituent of the cult of that goddess; 140 and in the Nepalese text
of the annual Kaula pavitrarohar:ta ritual of the Uttaramnaya the
icon of Siddhalaki?ml is associated with a seventeen-syllabled vidya
which is evidently a variant of the basic Kalasarpkarl?iOI mantra. 141
Furthermore, her cult in Nepal is often combined with that of
Guhyakall. The cult of that goddess is a product of the tradition of
Kalasarpkar$i01 worship represented by the Jayadrathayamala; and
it incorporates the associated tradition of the Krama. 142

9. ABHINAVAGUPTA ON VISUALIZATION

9.1. In his account of the regular cult (nityakarma) performed by the

officiant as he prepares to carry out a ceremony of initiation (dik$ii)
Abhinavagupta has the following to say on the subject of the
installation (nyiisab) and visualization of the three goddesses : 143
[The officiant] should install the three Bhairavas and the three goddesses as
follows: Bhairavasadbhii.va [jh-k$-hrlrrz (TA 30. 16c - 17b)] on the central[lo-
tus], Ratisekhara [r·y-1-vrlrrz (ibid. lOc · llb)] on the [lotus to his] right, and

(138) See TridasaciiimPratyailgVNT folios 2v2-3r3 (Trida:ia(lamaramahatantra), 19r6-v4

(Siddhalak$mimata), 28v6-29r5 (Umayamala), 33r4·5 (Umayamalapiijakrama), 43r6-44r2
(Siddhilak$mipai!ca.iataka), 73v2 (Kiilasarrzkar$animata); GuhyKaPuV folio 3v3-5 (Siddhilak$·
mipiijiipaddhati); UttAmnPavArohV folio 8v3-5. A fine Newar bronze of Siddhalak~mi (locally
'Siddhilak~mi'), which follows the dhyana of the Kalasa171kar$a(timata, is reproduced in
Macdonald and Vergati Stahl 1979, 50.
(139) JayadYamT $atka 2, last kalpa.
(140) See Tridasac,Hi.mPratyVNT folios 59rl-83r 6.
(141) UttAmnPavArohV.
(142) See, e.g., GuhyKaPuV for this combination, also TantrDigUnkN, a Nepalese
digest of Tantric sources on the cults of these two goddesses. On the Uttaritmnaya, Guhyakali
and the Krama see Sanderson 1988, 682-686. See ibid. Fig. 36.6 for a drawing of Guhyakali
following Newar models.
(143) TA 15. 323b-329b: ... parikalpayet I madhye bhairava.<adbhava171 dak$i(le ratisekha-
ram II 323 II navatmana171 viimatas taddevivad bhairavatrayam I madhye para171 piir(lacandra-
pratim<iiT' dak$i(le puna/; II 324 II pariiparii171 raktavar(l<iiT' ki,.cidugr<iiT' na bMsa(liim I apara171
vamasrnge tu bhisa(liiiT' krs(lapiligalam II 325 II priigvad dvidhiitra so(lhaiva nyaso dehe yatha
krtab I tata/:! sa,.kalpika171 yukta171 vapur asa171 vicintayet II 326 II krtyabhediinusare(la
dvicatu/;$a(lbhujridikam I kapiilasiilakhatvaligavarabhayaghatiidike(ka171) II 327 II vamadak·
si(lasa,.sthiinacitratvarp (tvat) parikalpayet I vastuto visvariipas ta devyo bodhatmika yatal; II
328 II anavacchinnacinmatrasara/:! syur apavrktaye I
The goddess Siddhalak~ml. Panjab, Kangra Valley, 11th-12th c.
Bronze. Height: 22,2cm. Pan-As1an CollectiOn.
' • ' • • ' ' '
Alexis SANDERSON Pl. 2 67

Naviitman [r-h-r-k(l-m-1-v-yum (ibid. llc 12b)] on the [lotus to his] left; then
Parii [white] as the full moon on the central [lotus], Pariiparii on [her] right,
red and somewhat ferocious (kimcidugra 144 ) but not terrifying, and Aparii on
the [lotus of the] cuspid on her left, terrifying and red-black. He should then
subject them to the same double six-fold mantra-installation to which he has
already subjected his body. 145 Thereafter he may contemplate [the goddesses
in detail, visualizing] whichever of their desiderative (samkalpikam) forms 146
may be appropriate, i.e. with two, four, six or more arms, according to which
of the various goals of worship he is pursuing; and [in that case] he should
variously dispose in their left and right hands such attributes as the
skull-bowl (kapalam), the trident (tri§ulam), the skull-staff (khatvarigab), the
gestures of generosity (vara/:1) and protection (abhayam), and the jar [of
nectar] (ghata/:1). 147
In reality these goddesses are consciousness itself. They are therefore
embodied as everythihg that exists [rather than in any single form].
Consequently, if they are to bestow liberation [through their worship) they
must be [contemplated as being) essentially this same, unlimited, 148 unin-
flected consciousness (cinmatram).
Evidently Abhinavagupta considers the greater part of the
details with which we have been concerned to be relevant only to
those who are performing desiderative rites. Since the particulars
of these rites are outside the scope of the Tantriiloka he does no
more than exemplify these details (the number of arms and the
attributes in the hands) without telling us which combinations fit
which goal. 149 The performer of nondesiderative worship is required
to visualize the goddesses, but only, it seems, in their most basic
outline : he is to grasp their colours and moods alone; and then to
submerge these icons within the entirely aniconic contemplation
that the goddesses are ultimately none other than the imageless
power of consciousness itself.

(144) For kir,.cidagriir,. (ed.) read kir,.cidugriir,. following sense and MiilVijUT 8. 73b.
(145) See TA 15. 239c·258 (vise$anyii.•a/;).
(146) I take the term sii.,.kalpikam here to be synonymous with kiimyam and therefore
to refer to those forms of the icon which are inflected for contemplation in desiderative cults
(kiimyakarma).
(147) The edition of 327c-328b has kapiilasulakhatviitigavariibhayaghatadikam II vama-
dak$i(lasa'flsthiinacitratvat parikalpayet 1. But this would mean that Abhinavagupta required
the sadhaka to 'accomplish the skull-bowl, trident etc. because of the diversity of left and
right positions.' This is absurd. I therefore emend -ghatadikam to ghatadike, and -citratvat to
-citratvam.
(148) By 'unlimited' (anavacchinna-) he means 'not circumscribed by place, time or
form;' see, e.g., SivSiiVim on 1.1.
(149) See TA 26. llbcd: nityanaimittike bruve(dhruve) I kiimyavarja.,. yata~ kamas citriiS
citriibhyupayaka~ II. '! shall teach regular and incidental ritual, but not the desiderative; for
desires being manifold are accomplished by an equal diversity of means.' My emendation of
The goddess Siddhalak~ml. Panjab, Kangra Valley, 11th-12th c. the edition's dhruue to bruve gives sense at the cost of minimal emendation, since ba and dha
Bronze. Height: 36,7cm. National Museum, New-Delhi. are easily confused in the Saradii script.
 f f f f f f f f f f f f t t
f f f f f f
68 69

9.2. This prescription is idiosyncratic. The norm is that a Tantric movement from archetype to ectype is from the general to the
cult, whether Saiddhantika or not, has a goal-neutral, common form particular in all its varieties, here it is a movement from the formless
of its deity (sadharar;a,. I samanyafTI. rrlpam), which serves in all nonduality of the uninflected consciousness sought by the libera-
m~des of worship, or in all but the desiderative, that is, in all regular tionist (mumuk$u/:t) into the plurality and detail required by the class
(mtyam). ahd i~c_i~e~tal (naimittikam) rites, the latter including the of initiates which seeks specific goals through desiderative worship
cere?'l?mes of Imbatwn (dfk$ii). Where specific forms are taught for (bubhuk$u/:t).
specific purposes they are generally modifications of this neutral
archetype. 150 9.3.1. One may wonder why, if this interpretation is correct,
It might be thought that Abhinavagupta's dichotomy between Abhinavagupta did not exclude form entirely from worship for
nondesiderative and desiderative visualizations differs from this liberation. That this was the direction of his thought is evident
norm simply in this, that the nondesiderative archetype is an enough from his interpretation of the ParatrifTI.sikti on the subject
inchoate base to which desiderative details are added, while in the of the regular worship of Para in the Anuttara system. That text
normal practice the secondary forms modify an archetype that is describes the goddess in this context as "full of all the tattvas and
certainly fully detailed and is often more elaborate than they are. beautified with all [manner of] adornments". 156 He refuses to allow
Thus the neutral and all-purpose image in the Siddhanta is the the second half of this description (sarvabharar;abhll$itam) its
ten-armed Sada§iva combining !sana, Tatpuru~a. Aghora, Vamadeva literal meaning. Instead he raises it on to the level of the first by
and Sadyojata (the personifications of the five brahmamantras ). 151 forcing it to yield a purely non-visual, metaphysical sense. This is
One or other of these component deities is worshipped if one seeks achieved by means of an ad hoc etymology (nirvacanam). The known
a particular goal. 152 While the composite Sada§iva is five-faced and (rrlr;lha-) lexical sense of the word tibharar;am ('adornment') is
ten-armed, they are each single-faced and have two, four, eight, two rejected in favour of one constructed etymologically by reactivating
and two arms respectively. 153 However, this difference is the the meanings of its constituent parts : bharalJ,am from -J bhr 'to
consequence of a quite different perspective. In the norm the neutral support' in the meaning 'the action of supporting', and the preverb
image is all-purpose (sarviirtham 154 ) : it is not limited to the seekers a- in the meaning 'entirely' (a samantad bharal)am ). The word
of liberation. On the contrary, a icon for the liberationists is sarva- ('all'), which in the literal sense ('all adornments') is in
included among the modifications. 155 Thus while in the norm the apposition to -abharar;a-, is now taken in the locative (in a sap-
tamftatpuru$a compound). Thus where the text intended us to
understand that the goddess is 'beautified with all [manner of]
(150) See Mrg KP 3.41-45b and Niiriiya!)akar:~tha's commentary on the.icon of Sadiiiiiva adornments' Abhinavagupta instructs us to read 'beautified by total
and its variants in the Siddhiinta. In the cult of Svacchandabhairava too the basic image is support in everything.' He explains that 'total support in everything'
goal neutral; see Sv'I' 2. 88b-97; 97ab (sarvakiimaphalapradam). It coexists with such
desiderative variants as Vyiidhibhak~asvacchanda, Kotariik~asvacchanda, Jvarasvacchanda (sarvabharar;am) is the fact that as autonomous Consciousness she
and Vrddhasvacchanda, fo_r whom see Sv'I' 9 (Kotarii~a-), SvTU 4 (9) 3111.325 (Vyii.dhi- establishes identity with the totality (sarviitmfkarar;am) in every-
bhak~a-), and TantrColl foho 421r6·v3 (Jvara- Vyiidhibhak~a- and Vrddha-).
thing (sarvatra), even in the smallest constituent of matter (parama~­
(_151) These pan-Saiva mantras were inherited from the pre-agamic Piiiiupata tradition
and ulttmately from the Yajurveda (Taittiriyiira~yaka 10. 43-47). ' av api) 157 • He concludes and explains : 158
(152) See Mrg KP 3. 45-49c and commentary.
(153) See lsanSivGDP KP 12. 34-39. So it is that there is no mention [in this text) of the visualization of weapons
(I54) Mrg KP 3. 48ab: sarvasiddhyai siidhara~am; 44d: sarviirtha'fl sdmudiiyikam.
(155) See, e.~., _M_rg KP 3. 45: tac ca siidhara~a'fl riipa171 vai8e$ikam ato 'nyatha 1 mahodagrii'fl mahdbhimd'fl k$ayamdrutanisvandm I eua,.uidha < 111 > yantranase krtyiikhdrkho-
muktyartha111 sphat•kakara111 prasannal'fl cetasii smaret 1/. The same is seen in non- damardane 11 42 II cintayet paramesanlm abhicarupramardane I ... mok6e suddhenduropi~im
Saiddhiintika traditions. It occurs, for example, in the cult of Mantramatrka one of the four /. This visualization is in the Kashmirian AgnikPaddh, folio 74r with certain variants,
Pratyangirii deities of the JayadYamT. Having described her as black, four:armed, carrying notably kakalikokiladinii'fl tulyakiintinibhopamam I caturbhujam ekauaktriim ... I svetapreta-
skull-bowl, skull-staff, noose and cudgel, and mounted on Sadasiva, the text gives alternative samarii(ihiim ...
~olour~ for ~urposes. othe~ than that of countering malevolent magic (her basic function), (156) PT 30cd: sarvatattuasusa,.pa~al'fl sarviibhara~abha$iliiml/.
mcl~dmg wht:e for _h~er~twn; see Jaya~YamT $atka 3, patala 9 (pratyangiriividhi/;1), 39c-43b: (157) PTViv 278~ 7 (265 13 · 1 •): sarvatra paramd~iiu api yad a samantad abhara~a'fl
d~ya~et kalp~nta~alagmlak$apra(ura)tlmabhf$a~am II 39 II kdk(l)alikokiliidina111 *nibhd* sarodtmikara~am.
kant1171 subha1rauam I caturbhujiim ekaulrii'fl netratritayabhiisuriim II 40 II mahapretasamd· (158) PTViv 278~ 10 (265 1 ~ 18 ): ata eua ui8i$tiikrtyiiyudhiididhydnam eua nokta'fl tasya
rii(ihii'fl piitrakhatuangadhdri~im I pasamudgarahasldl'fl liil'fl vasdrudhiralampatiim 11 41 11 ninneyatuiit.
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or of any of the other features with specific form [that usually constitute the commentary (slokavartikam) and Paddhati. 163 For the core of the
icon of a Tantric mantra-deity]; and the reason for this is that [all] such
passage from the Tantrdloka translated above on the installation and
[visualizations] are [merely] the creations [of that goddess, and therefore
inadequate as representations of the goddess herself]_ visualization of the deities is a paraphrase of the following verses
of that text : 164
9.3.2. The same formlessness is taught in the Tantrtiloka, though at
a distance from the part of that work which is devoted to the Trika's Having visualized the [three] Siva-mantras [Bhairavasadbhava etc.] who are
rituals. For in the introductory chapter, in which he gives an outline to be installed first, he should visualize the Sakti Para on the central [lotus]
and the other two [Saktis] to her right and left: Parapara, with the appea-
of his soteriology, he explains that : 159 rance proper to her, red and mighty, adopting whatever form accords with
the worshipper's desire, 165 somewhat ferocious but not terrifying; the
The inner creativity (pratibhii) which is the essence of the unseconded Lord
goddess Apara on the [lotus of the] left cuspid, terrifying and red-black,
Consciousness (salf!vinniithasya) is worshipped [by siidhakas] as limited
adopting whatever form accords with the worshipper's desire, banishing
configurations of that consciousness's surging power; and these are either
the ills of her devotees; and the goddess Para [on the central lotus],
pacific (saumyam) or terrible (anyat) [according to the worshipper's purpose].
nourishing, shining [white] as countless moons. Then when he has done the
He exemplifies such inflected worship with a stidhana whose six fold installation of the Sakti-mantras ...
purpose is to restore health and vigour (pufiti/:t, apyayanam) and then Abhinavagupta, then, could hardly prescribe non-visual medita-
sums up his position as follows : 160 tion on the goddesses in place of the usual visualization without
The [same] Lord of the Universe, Bhairava as Consciousness, is worshipped
openly contradicting his source.
specifically by seekers of lesser goals, and non-specifically by those whose only
purpose is liberation. 9.5.1. Yet he manages an interpretation of these verses which goes
a long way towards that goal, by exploiting the circumstance that
The non-specific form of this Bhairava is, of course, conscious- the Malinivijayottara states no more than the basic characteristics
ness itself, the impersonal identity of the initiate, 161 uncircumscribed of the three goddesses before adding that these may be adjusted [in
by place or time, and formless. 162
desiderative worship (kamyakanna)] in order to accomplish specific
a1ms.
9.4. Why, then, does Abhinavagupta allow the goddesses form in his
account of their regular, liberationist cult in his Tantraloka? The 9.5.2. Now it does not say that these inflected forms are more
answer to this question is surely that he has gone as far as he can developed than the neutral archetypes. Nor is that implied by the
in this direction given the constraints imposed on him by the brevity of the descriptions. It is true that these cover only the
Malinzvijayottaratantra, the agama of which the Tantraloka is both goddesses' colours and moods. But such brevity is a common feature

(159) TA I. 116 : ekasya sarrwinnathasya hy antar! pratibha tanu/t I saumya171 vanyan (163) See TA 1.14·17.
mita171 sa171uidurmicakram upasyate 11.
(164) MalVijUT 8. 7ld·74: (anucintayet) ... puruanyiisarn iiivatmakam 1171 lltato madhye
(160) TA 1.123: yasmad uiAuesuaro bodhabhairaua/t samupiisyate I auacchediinavac· para171 sakt.i171 dak$i(!ottarayor duayam I parapar<i171 suarllpe(!a raktavan.tii171 mahiibaliim II 72
chidbhyii171 bhogamok$arthibhir janai/t 11.
II icchiirllpadhariirn dhyiitua kirncidugrarn na bhf$a(!iim I apariirn vamasrnge tu bhr$al.!iirn
(161) This view that the deity to be worshipped is the undifferentiated identity of the kr$(!apingalam 11 73 II icchtirllpadharli171 devf171 pra(!atartiuinasinfm I parii171 ciipyiiyanf171 devi171
worshipper would seem tc point tc the transcendence of worship itself. Jayaratha has it candrakotyayutaprabhtim II 74 II $ar;luidhe 'pi krte sakte mrlrtyiidtiv api ...
attacked by the Vedic ritualists on precisely these grounds in his commentary on TA 1. (165) This translates iccharllpadhariim. My translation of this rather vague expression
124c-125b: nanu devatodde8ena drauyatyiigo yaga ity ukte/t drauyatyagiirtham uddi#aiva deuata (lit. 'desire-form·assuming') follows, e.g., NeT 10.14b-16b, where its meaning is clear:
bhauati na ca bodbaikariip~sya sviitmatattvasya tathtituenoddelio 'stiti(?. sti) katham asya ... anusmaret 1 (14b) ... icchiirllpadlrara171 devam icchasiddlriphalapradam lyiidrsenaiua uapu$6
yajyatvam /, 'Surely [. the M1miimsaka will say,] 'worship', or 'offering' (yaga/t) is defined as sadhakas tam anusmaret II 15 II tadrsa171 bhajate rllpa171 ... I, 'He should visualize ... the god
the formal abandonment of an owned object with the naming of a deity [as the recipient]. It in whatever form accords with his desire, [that is], as the bestower of the siddhi he desires.
follows from this definition that nothing can be the deity [in an offering] which is not named He adopts any form in which a sadlraka visualizes him.' K~emaraja ad loc. analyses icchci·
[in the recited text of the ritual] for the purpose of such abandonment. Now that identity rllpadhara- as follows: cidbhairava eva tattatsiddhyabhilti$ukatattats<idhakasayecchaya tat tad
of one's self, whose only substance is consciousness, is [nowhere] named for such a rllpa171 grh(!tit!ty artha/t /, 'The meaning is that Bhairava as Consciousness takes on
purpose. How, then, can it be the 'recipient of the offering.' ? [ < -dhara/1] various forms [ < ·rllpa-] through desire [ < iccha-], that is, according tc the
(162) See TA 4. 196·199. intention of this or that sadhaka seeking this or that siddhi.'
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in agamic accounts of ritual, particularly in texts like the Malinf- advocate it. By grouping the Miilinfvijayottara wit? th~se !exts he
vijayottara which say that they are based on more detailed sources, primes it with a predisposition to transcend mere v1suahza~10~; and
in this case the Siddhayoge8varfmata. 166 The normal procedure when this predisposition justifies him in reading its brief descnptwn of
interpreting such passages for practical application is to take any the goddesses as exhaustive rather than intention~lly lac':lnose, so
absence of information to mean that the text is intended to be that even if it does not actually articulate the Ideal dichotomy
supplemented from the nearest equal or subordinate scriptural between formless deities and inflected icons which Abhi~av~gup_ta
source within the ordered whole of the Saiva revelation. Thus, for finds in the Pariitri1?1iikii, it nonetheless supports the prmciple ?f
example, the Saiva who follows the ritual of the Miilinfvijayottara this dichotomy by teaching that the higher mode of worship
finds that this agama instructs him to make offerings to the deities practised by the liberationist is a~ least cl~ser to_ t~e formless than
that guard the entrance to his place of worship but does not indicate that practised by the siidhaka m pursmt of l~mi~ed goals. And
their names or their positioning about the door. This might be taken because the text has been read as pomtmg the wor-
to mean that he is to worship them collectively, forming a single shipper towards this principle Abhinavagu?ta ~an claim that it
mantra in which they are named simply as 'the door-guardians' (*ol'/1 implies that one should be aware as on~ VIsua_hzes these subtl~r
diil'/1 dviirapiilebhyo namal:t). In fact one is to read in the names and icons that the reality which they embody IS nothmg other than this
positions of the deities from the Trisirobhairavatantra, a work which same formless power of consciousness. He can require the wor-
like the Miilinfvijayottara belongs to the Trika system of ritual. The shipper to project the icons in his imagination only to dissolve them
method, according to Jayaratha, is always to search the canon until into the metaphysical concept of his own identity.
one requires no further information in order to translate one's text
into practice ( apek:;;iinivrttil:t). If one does not find what one needs 9.5.4. This same shift of emphasis from objective image to subjective
in texts on the same level, one is to go to the one beneath it; and concept is also required by Abhinava~~ta _in his ac_count of the
if one does not find it there, one is to descend to the one below that, summoning and visualization of the deities m the dmly cult to be
until one reaches the agamas of the Siddhanta, the level of the carried out by all initiates. 168 When the worshipper has completed
greatest generality. In this hierarchy of texts the higher is the more the internal cult which always precedes the external : 169
specialized : it needs to say only what is not available to be read in
He should meditate on the cult-platform (sthaiJ.r:iilam), imagining that it is
from below. 167 So if a silence within a superordinate text is not to transparent, like a crystal or a pure radiant sky. [Concentrating_ on t~ese
initiate this process of supplementation, it must be prevented from qualities] he should identify it with consciousness. In. t~Js [m1rror-hke]
doing so by some specific or general instruction. consciousness he should contemplate the images of the de1t1es as reflectiOns
and himself as the reflected. 170
9.5.3. No such instruction occurs in the Miilinfvijayottara to affect
the interpretation of its visualization texts. Abhinavagupta might (168) All initiates who are competent-and-obliged (adhikrta/.1) to perform rituals. have
appear, then, to have chosen to forget this principle of automatic this daily duty. Those who are not required to do this or any other Tantr1c :ntual are (1) th~
supplementation in his eagerness to achieve an interpretation of the subclass of putrakas who have received nirb!ja _rather than sab!ja dfk$6. and (n) lokadharmzsa-
text which makes room for the ideal of imageless contemplation. dhakas. For these and their exemption see TA 15. l-2b and commentary. _
(169) TA 26. 4I-42b: tatas tat stha(!(iilafl'l vfdhravyomasphatikanirmalam I bodhatmakafl'l
There is. however, no need to assume this. If the Miilinivijayottara samalokya tatra svafl'l devatclga(lafl'l II pratibimbataya pasyed bzmbatvena ca bodhata/.1 /.
is at the highest level of the Saiva scriptural corpus, as he (I70) Abhinavagupta has expressed himself obscurely here. He could be taken to me_an
that one is to look upon 'one's deities' (sva'71 devataga(!am) as both the reflectwn (pratzbzm-
maintained, it ought after all to show some awareness of this ideal. bataya) and that which is reflected (bimbatvena ca). This, of course, lacks reference to the
For there are other texts in the subcorpus of the Trika which self of the worshipper; and the verse would not be relevant to the context m wh1ch I have
cited it. However, 1 find the 'self in svam, taking it i': its less common but_well atu;sted use
as a substantive. In this reading the verb has two objects: svam and. devataga(lam, self a~d
(166) See MalVijUT L._oo~TA 37. 24c-25b: vidyap!thapradhiinafl'l ca siddhayoge(f)s- 'the deities'; the two adverbial expressions pratibimbataya 'as refle~twn' and bzmbatvena as
varfmatam II tasyapi paramafl'l sarafl'l malin!vijayottaram.l reflected' qualify meditation on these two. But, of course, the order 1s mverted: 1t must be the
(167) See TAV 3 (4) 279 1-281 8 for this procedure and its application to the reference self which one is to see as the reflected (bimbam) and the deities as the reflect1?ns, not Vl~e
to the door-guardians at MiHVijUT 8. 16a (tatra dvarapat!n i$/VO. .. .). It hardly needs to be versa. In favour of this interpretation there is the parallel passage m Abhmava~pta s
pointed out that this ordering of text-levels in the Kashmirian exegesis corresponds only partly Tantrasara (17916·18 ): tatra hrdye stha(l(iile vimalamakuravad dhyate svam eva nlpafl'l ya}yade-
to the actual interrelations between the text-groups in question. vatacakrabhinnafl'l murtibimbitam iva dr$tva ... 'Having meditated on that pleasmg surface as
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9.6. Thus Abhinavagupta directs the awareness of the worshipper to my doubts persist. What is the real form of Bhairava the terrible? Is it the
[fifty letters of) of Sabdariisi? Is it Naviitman ? 114 Is it Trisirobhairava ? 175
a point beyond both ritual and devotion. For if the initiate realizes Is it the three Saktis [Para, Pariiparii, Aparii)? Is it the Point (bindu/:z) and
t?at the deities are nothing less than his own liberated identity, then the Resonance (nada/:z)? Is it the Half-moon, the Impeder and the other
ntual, which is based on an imagined difference between offerer and [subtle levels of the mantras' utterance) ? 116 Is it the vowelless (anackam)
recipient, will be superfluous. Nor can his identity be circumscribed [consonant) installed in the circle [with each of the vowels in turn]? Is it
by devotion to one deity rather than another, for all will be Sakti? 171 Furthermore if Para is iconic like Pariiparii and Aparii, then tJ;!e
absoluteness (paratvam) [claimed by her name) is contradicted. She cannot
recognized in their diverse mantras and icons as so many projections be absolute if she has a particular colour and form. To be absolute she must
of the one autonomous, self-articulating consciousness. be formless (ni$kala-). She cannot be absolute if she is qualified by form
(sakala-). 0 Lord, favour me. Remove my doubts entirely."
9.7. This doctrine that the forms of the deities in ritual and devotion Bhairava replied, "I congratulate you, beloved; for the answer to your
are merely provisional, to be abandoned at higher levels of practice, question is the very heart of the Tantras. 0 virtuous one, even though this
is the ultimate secret I shall reveal it to you. Know, 0 goddess, that all the
did not enter the Trika with Abhinavagupta or his immediate structured forms which I have taught as Bhairava's [in the various scriptures
predecessors in Kashmir. It was already fully explicit in the of the Trika] are without essence. They are like rainbows, like the illusions
Vijfianabhairavatantra, an agama which dms not deal with ritual but created by magicians, like dreams, like the [imagined] cities of the Gandharva
can nonetheless be assigned to the Trika as I have defined it at the celestials [in the sky]. I have taught them only so that those who are caught
beginning of this paper, since it makes it clear that it is the ritual up in the empty turmoil of ritual, being confused and overwhelmed by the
dichotomies of thought, may have a means of concentrating their awareness
of the Trika that it is transcending. It tells the followers of this
in meditation. In reality Bhairava is not Naviitman, nor Sabdara§i, nor the
system how they must aspire to see their rituals. It begins as Three-headed [Trisirobhairava], not the three Saktis. He is not the Point or
follows : 1; 1 the Resonance. He is not the Half-moon, the Impeder and the rest. He is not
multiplied through entering the wheel [of combinations with the vowels]. Nor
The goddess sai~. "From its source in the < Rudrayamala> I <the union of is he the [all-encompassing] Sakti [KalasaJllkar$il)I]. For [all] these [forms]
Rudra and his Sakti > 172 and in scriptures of ever greater essentiality you are strictly for the unenlightened. I have taught them only as a means of
have taught me, 0 Lord, the Trika division [of your revelation]. 113 But still setting pe~ple on the right path, as a mother uses threats and sweets to
influence her children's behaviour. Know that there is only one 'form' which
a perfect mirror, and having come to see himself on [the surface of] that [mirror] as identical is ultimately real: the spotless [reality] which fills everything, the state of
With the series of deities to be worshipped, as though the [visualized] icons [of those deities] 'Bhairava'[called) 'Bhairavi' [because it is] absolutely replete (bharitakarii), 178
were his own reflection ... ' being beyond determination by direction or time, unlocated, impossible to
. (171) VijnBh 1-16: (sridevy ut1aca I) srutam deva maya saroam rudrayiimalasambhavam indicate, ultimately indescribable, blissful with the selfs innermost experience
I tnkabhedam aseF(la sariit saravibhiigasa/;1 II 1 II adyapi na nivrtto me samsaya/;1 parame§vara
I kzm nlpam tattvato deva sabdariisikaliimayam II 2 II kim vii naviitmabhedena bhairave
bhairaviikrt~u I trisirobhe~abhinnam vii kim va saklitrayatmakam II 311 nadabindumayarn vapi
(174) In TA Navatman is simply the consort of Apara, the lowest of the three goddesses.
kzm_ can_d~ardhanzrodhzka/;1 I cakriinlt;iham anackarn va kim uri saktisvanlpakam 11 4 11 But in SiYogM he is also worshipped as the highest deity, in the heart of the assemblage of
paraparaya_/.l sakal~m aparayas ca va puna/;! I paraya yadi tadvat syat paratvarn tad virudhyate Viras and Yoginis known as the Khecaricakra or Khacakravyiiha; see patala 20 (folios
II 5 II na hz var(lambhedena dehabhedena vii bhauet I paratuam ni$ka/atvena saka/atve na tad
b~avet II 6 I~ prasadam kuru me niitha ni/;l.qe$arrz chinddhi sarrzsayam I (bhairaua uvaca I) s<idhu
35v·42r).
(175) Presumably the text refers to the eponymous deity of the lost Trisirobhairava-
sadhu lvaya pr$1am tantrastiram idam priye II 7 II giihaniyalamarrz bhadre tathiipi kalhayami
t_e I yat kzmczt sakalam nlpam bhairavasya prakirtitam II 8 II tad aslirataya devi uijiieyarn tantra.
(176) See, e.g., TA I. 63. Abhinavagupta refers here to 'the Dtk$oftara and other texts'
sakraJ<ilavat I mayasrmpnopamam caiua gandharoanagaropamam II 9 II dhyaniirtharrz bhran· (62cd); and the Dtk$ottara is an iigama of the Siddhii.nta rather than the Trika. But the
tabuddhinarrz kriyiidambarauartinrim I kevalam var(litam pu.rrzsarrz vikalpanihatatmanam 11 10 passages quoted by Jayaratha in his commentary of 1.63 are also found in the Trika's
II tattvato na naviitmasau sabdarasir na bhairava/;1 I na casau trisirri devo na ca saktitraya-
Tantrasadbhiiva (folio lOr).
tmaka/.1 _II 11 II nadabindumayo vapi na candrardhanirodhika/.l 1 na cakrariit;lhasarrzbhi~no (177) This probably refers to Kalasamkarsini I Matrsadbhava, the fourth Sakti, who
na ca saktzsuanlpaka/.l II 12 II aprabuddhamatfnrirrz hi eta balavibhi$ikii/.l 1 matrmodakavat
unites the three goddesses; see, e.g., TA 3.68·70h.
s~roa"'! P_ravrttyart~am udahrtam II 13 II dikkiilakalanonmuktii desodde§aui8e$i(lf 1 uyapade$/Um (178) I take bharitiik<irii 'absolutely replete' as an etymology (niroacanam) from vbhr
a~akyas~v akat~ya_ f!aram.iirt~ata/;1 _II 14 II anta/zsviinubhaviinandii vikalponmuktagocarii 1 'to pourish, to fill' intended to explain why the name Bhairavi, lit. 'consort of Bhairava', is
ya~ast~a bhanlakara bhazraw bhazraviilmana/.l II 15 II tad uapus tattuato jiieyarrz uimalarrz
appropriate to (anvartha·) this transtheistic Absolute. The same etymology of Bhairava I
uzsuapurattam I evarrzvzdhe pare tattue ka/.l piijya/.l kas ca trpyati II 1611. Bhairavl is seen at JayadYiimT ~atka 4 folio 88v 2·3: bhara~iid bhairaue§uari; ibid. folio 202v
.. (172) This second interpretation is that of K$emaraja ad loc. In favour of the first see 1: bhara(lad bhairavesvaram; TA 1.96ab (uisvarrz bidharti posal)a-(pura(la)dhiira(layogena tena
V!Ji'lBh 162. ca bhriyate 1. I am indebted to Eivind Kahrs [Cambridge] for the emendation piira(la· >
(17~) J{$emaraja takes the ascent in essentiality to begin from the SiYogM followed
po$a(la-. See Jayaratha ad lac.: bibharti dhtirayati pO$ayati ca).
by the MaiV!JUT; see ad loc.: szddhiimtilinyuttaradi.
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of its own identity, free of all thought. Within such an Absolute how can one 9.9. I have examined elsewhere how in the cults of the Trika, of
distinguish a recipient of worship or gratification ?"
Kubjika, Tripurasundar1, Svacchandabhairava, and Netranatha
It is this state of fullness, we are told, this complete centredness (Am:rtesvara[l-bhairava]), Abhinavagupta, Ki;iemaraja, and south
in the thoughtless essence of consciousness, rather than the com- Indian scholars under their influence, have read this 'true ritual'
posite images or mantras of ritual, that the Trika scriptures really (akalpitdrctidi) back on to the rituals themselves, so that they could
mean when they speak of the goddess Para. 179 show how this gross level of practice, which after all was crucial to
the institutional identity and hierarchy of these traditions, could still
be seen as an effective means of liberation (uptiyal:t) for those
9.8. The Vijiianabhairava then details one hundred and twelve means incapable of purely cognitive or immediate methods. 182 This interpo-
of realizing union with this redefined goddess without recourse to lation of non-dualistic meaning was far from complete. Not all the
ritual. Its closing section (verses 140-163) reaffirms this view of elements of Tantric ritual lent themselves equally to such semantici-
ordinary Tantric worship by translating on to the plane of abstract zation. Nor, in fact, was completeness necessary. It was enough that
contemplation the acts of offering, visualizing the deity, cycling the a given order of worship (paddhatil;) should be overcoded in its
mantras, and so forth, which compose it : 180 general structure and principal particulars. What was not justified
The goddess said, "If, 0 Lord Mahe§vara, it is this that is the true form by being shown to signify the higher truths of the gnostic exegetes
(vapu/:1) of Para, then what place can there be in the state you have described was not assumed to be meaningless. On the contrary, the text of
for any mantra (japyal;) or its repetition ? What, Great Lord, could be ritual was treated as a mine of latent meaning always open to deeper
visualized, worshipped and gratified ? How and why would there be oblations and more thorough exegesis of this kind.
into fire (hamal;) or the presentation of offerings to any other substrate of
worship (yaga/;)? And what would there be to receive them ?" Bhairava
replied, "In this [teaching] (atra), doe-eyed one, such ritual procedures 9.10.1. The decision to attribute meaning to one element and not to
(prakriya) are considered gross [if practised] external[ly] (bahyii). 181 At this another is generally without particular significance. There are
level (atra) the repetition of the mantras is simply the cultivation of an ever instances, however, in which absence of interpretation may be seen
more intense awareness of the ultimate reality. The mantra repeated accords as expression of an exegete's doctrinal orientation. Abhinavagupta's
[with this higher practice] (fdrsaf:t): it is the innate resonance [of that treatment of the visualizations of the Trika looks to be just such a
reality], the essence of [all] mantras (mantratmii). As for visualization, this
is no longer the process of imagining [the deity with] a body, eyes, faces, (so case. He adheres to the view expressed in the passage of the
many] arms, and the like, but simply a motionless, form-free (niriikara) and Vijntinabhairaua quoted above that the reality to be realized through
unsupported (niriisrayii) awareness [of its real nature]. Worship (piljii) like- the Trika transcends the particulars of the deities' mantras just as
wise is not what is accomplished by [offering] flowers and the rest. It is much as it transcends those of their icons_ Yet it is only in the case
awareness made firm, dissolution into that final void [within consciousness] of the former that he is concerned to read in appropriate meaning.
which is free of all thought (niroikalpe pare uyomni), through intense
conviction [that this is the goal] (iidarat)." We have seen that he demonstrates to his readers how sau/:t, though
a mere mantra, can function through ritual as a means of liberation
because it expresses or embodies that state of all-inclusive
autonomy; and he provides similar ~eys to the mantras of Parapara,
Apara, and the two alphabet-deities Sabdarasi and MalinL 183 But the
(179) This is the gist of the next verse, VijnBh 17: evarrwidha bhairavasya yavasth!i
parigiyate I sa para paranlper:ta paradevi prakirtita 11. mental icons, and therefore the painted, cast or incised represen-
(180) VijnBh 142c-47: (srfdevy uvaca I) ida,. yadi vapur deva parayas ca mahesvara 11
142 II evamuktavyavasth!iydl'/'l japyate ko japas ca kai) 1 dhyayate ko maharultha pujyate kas
ca trpyati II 143 II huyate kasya va homo yagai) kasya ca ki1fl katham 1 (srfbhairava uvaca I) (182) See Sanderson 1990.
e$atra prakriya bahya sthU/ety eva mrgek$ar;<e II 144 II bhllyo bhuyai) pare bhave bh!ivana (183) See PTViv 226 20 ·227 1 (123H) on the mantra of Parapanl., referring to MalVijUT
bhavyate hi ya I japai) so 'tra svaya,. nado mantratma japya idrsai) II 14511 dhyana,. hi nisca/6. 4. 19-:b; and PTViv 227 1·5 (1244-1°) on the mantra of Apara, referring to Ma!VijUT 4. 24. These
buddhir nirakara nirasraya I na tu dhy6.na17l sarfrdk$imukhahastaprakalpana 11 146 11 puja verses of the Ma!VijUT explain the correspondence between the constituents of the mantras
nama na pu$padyair ya matii) kriyate drr).ha I nirvikalpe pare vyomni sa pujii hy adariil and the levels of the cosmic order. For the same for Sabdan\si (!Mii.trkii) and M_alini, the two
layai) /11471/.
alphabet·deities, see PTViv 219 27 ·259 30 (98 9·218 6). TA 3. 66-197b (Sabdarasi), and TAV 9 (15) 68 1' 15
(181) I have followed the reading sth!ilety eva given by Bhatta (I Bhattaraka) Ananda (Mii.lini). For an exhaustive treatment of the non-dualistic reading of the two alphabet·de1t1es
(VijfiBhD 58 5) rather than the sthule$v eva of Sivopadhyiiya (VijfiBhViv 129 12 ). see Padoux (1963: 183·260).
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78 79

~ati~ns o~ the ~eities based upon them, are left without any such or suppression of the dhyanas of the deities of a cult will therefore
JUstificatwn. H1s lead was not followed by K:;;emaraja. For he signify that it is superior to the mainstream of Tantric worship. The
though adhering to Abhinavagupta's soteriology in all essentials' outstanding scriptural example of such a cult - and we known that
give.s us elaborate and detailed metaphysical readings of the iconi~ it exerted a strong influence on Abhinavagupta's exegesis - is the
attnbutes of Netranatha I Am:rtesvara and Svacchandabhairava in Krama, the cult of Kall which is taught in the Devfpancasataka
his surviving Tantric commentaries, those on the Netratantra and (!Kalfkulapancasataka), the Kramasadbhtiva (/ Kalfkulakrama-
the Svacchandatantra respectively. He also wrote the Bhairava- sadbhava) and other such agamas. 186 There are also the related and
nukaraT).astotra, a hymn to Svacchandabhairava whose form is a equally aniconic cults of the esoteric goddesses Prajiiakiili,
meditation on the non-dualistic meaning of ea~h feature of that Kui).Q.alesvari and Saptakoti:svari taught in the Jayadrathayamala. 187
deity's icon. 184 Abhinavagupta has elevated the cult of the Paratrirrtsika on to the
same level by eliminating that text's brief but unambiguous refe-
9.10.2. The key to this difference in exegetical policy lies in the fact rence to concrete visualization; and he has done what he could in
that in Tantric ritual mantras are more real than visualized forms this direction for the cult of the Malinfvijayottara.
(dhyanani). The identity of a Tantric deity rests principally in its
mantra and only secondarily and dispensably in its icon. This 9.10.4. However not all Trika ritual was required by Abhinavagupta
principle is illustrated in Abhinavagupta's treatment of Netratantra to transcend the common form of Tantric worship. For in his longer
18. 119c-121b. That passage permits the officiant (acaryal;) to install commentary on the Paratrimsika he says that those who desire to
on_ behalf of the deceased at the place of cremation an image of a realize the Trika but are unable to establish themselves in such a
de1~y proper to the esoteric Bhairavagamic tradition, namely a subtle practice
variant of Kotarak:;;abhairava, one of the ectypes of Svacchanda-
... should resort to the ritual taught in the Siddhtitantra (! Siddhayoges-
bhairava. Since the installation (prati$tha) of a deity is understood varfmata) or some other [more exoteric agama of the Trika] which describes
to. mean the_ installation of the mantras of that deity in an appro- the deities' visualizations and other such [conventional,) contracted me-
priate matenal substrate, this permission might appear to contradict thods.188
a fundamental rule of his system, namely that the mantras of the
esoteric, non-Saiddhantika traditions should never be established in Since it is clear that he refers here to worship practised by
idols within the public domain. He predicts this objection by ruling liberationists it follows that he recognizes or rather advocates three
that the Netratantra refers not to the deity Bhairava in its essential levels of ritual practice within the stream of the Trika with which
identity as embodied in its mantra, but only to the physical represen- he is concerned : (i) that of the Siddhayogesvarfmata, whose Tantric
tation of the icon in an idol. The mantra which should be installed rites are parallel to those of such 'lower' systems as the cults of
in a Bhairava idol of this public variety should come not from the
Bhair~va canon but should be one of the 'common' (sadhtiraT).a-), (186) The present author is preparing critical editions of these unpublished works.
exotenc mantras of the Siddhanta system such as the mantra of (187) See JayadYii.mT 2, patala 22 (prajnakalividhtinam), folios lOOr 9-102v 3; ibid. 3,
Netranatha himself. 185 ku{'(iale8uariuidhipatalah, folios 107v 1-118v 5; ibid. 4, prayogamanjarikuhakadiuidhipafalasap-
takotisuariprakara{'am, folios 178v 5-179v 5. I have not been able to decode the mantra of
Prajiiii.kiili. (That of] Km,1(,!alesvari is the syllable hskhphre,.; ant (that of] Saptakotisvari is
9.10.3. Where the various Saiva cults are ranked according to the the seven syllabled mantra kah sah ca{'(iini sa/! kah. The mantras are taught in code ('raised')
at JayadYii.mT 3, folio 108r2-5 and ibid, 4, folio 178v6-7. For Saptakotisvari in the Krama
degree to which their methods approach ultimate, non-sequential (/Uttariimnii.ya) see UttCaru folio 7r 1-3 and MahiirthMP 187 2• She is included among the
intuition, as is the case in the Trika of Abhinavagupta, the omission goddess-mantras that receive oblations in the fire-sacrifice of the Kashmirian AgnikPadrlh:
see folio 75r 1-10, where she does have a visualization text but one in which she is
contem)llaterl without specific form, an auyaktaT/'1 dhyiinam: ekiitarikarikamudra kaualananiratii
saptamu{'(iasanastha prodbhlltadharacakrat pralayasikhisikha saptadha prasphu-
(184) See NeTU I (3) 73 10 -74 5; SvTU 1 (2) 53 5-55 19 ; BhairAnukSt throughout; and ranti I nad(c)adyantantarale dhuaninidhanamahciuyomauamesvari ya sa deui ghoraca{'(iii
Sanderson 1990. paharatu duritaT/'1 saptakotisuari na/1 /1.
. (1~5) For thi~ iss~e of the cremation ground Bhairavas see TA 27. 7-8 and commentary. (188) Pl'Viv 278 1 ~ 13 (265 18-2664): (aruruk$u.r etauattrikiirthiibhilti$ukas ca katham arohatv
Thts toptc and the tdenttty of the common mantras is covered in my forthcoming 'Idols and iti eel kasyayam arthibhaual_t I mel tarhy aruk$at I) siddhiitantradiuidhim eva tadasayenaiua
Other Substrates of Worship in the Trika.' ninlpitataddhyanadisarr1kocam alambatcim I.
 f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f t f t t t t
f f f f
80 81

Svacchandabhairava, Netranatha and the Saiddhantika Sadasiva in of unknown authorship surviVmg in quotations in Am:rtanandana-
which the deity of regular and incidental ritual is worshipped w'ith tha's commentary on the Yoginrhrdaya. 196 We have already seen
a common, all-purpose icon; (ii) that of the Malinfvijayottara, in what is perhaps the most striking evidence of the prevalence of this
which this pattern is broken, most but not all visualization being cult among the Saivas of south India during the second millenium :
referred to the practice of the non-liberationists; and finally (iii) that its incorporation into the system of goddess-worship which centres
of the Paralri'f1sika, in which the worship of the liberationist is fully on Lalita and is recorded in the Parasuramakalpasutra. Extremely
aniconic, resting entirely on the mantra and subjective contempla- learned practical commentaries on this text survive to testify to its
tion. enduring status : the Nityotsava composed in AD 17 45 by U manan-
danatha (Jagannathapai).Q.ita), a Maharashtrian devotee of Lalita
who was honoured, he tells us, by the Bhosle of Cola, that is, by the
10. THEORY AND PRACTICE
ruler at the Maratha court of Tanjore; 197 and the Saubhagyodaya
composed in AD 1831 by Aparajitanandanatha (Ramesvara), another
10.0. It is this last system, known variously as the Anuttara, Ekavira
Maharashtrian. 198 A commentary, now lost, was also composed by
or Parakrama, which appears to have been the most enduring and
the great Bhasuranandanatha (Bhaskararaya Makhin) of Banaras,
influential. Madhuraja, south Indian ascetic from the great Saiva
who initiated Umanandanatha on the banks of the Kaveri during
centre of Madurai and pupil of Abhinavagupta, 189 speaks of himself
a visit to the south. 199 A. Mahadeva Sastri, the editor of these two
as having attained enlightenment (literally 'having mastered the
universe') by its power, 190 and is careful to distinguish it from the (196) YogHrD 276 2'3 (see above, p. 00, n. 0); 286H; 294~ 13 •
Trika when praising his master as the highest authority on all (197) See Nityots 2247-1 2: srutapetavopaniimnii coliidhipabhosalendumiinyena I
niitakakiivyiidikrtii mahitamahiirii$trajiitihlrena II trayyantatattvaSIIanadalitajaga-*chat-
branches of the Saiva revelation. 191 His pupil Varadaraja/K:r:madasa tra *jalamohena I bhiiratyupiikhyabhiiskaramakhidesikalabdhadaik$aniimnayam II
speaks of Madhuraja in similar terms as 'having attained sudden amniiyatantrajiiliilokapareniiryasampradiiyaju$1i lalitiipadiibjarolambena jag~nniithapa(l(iitena.
penetration into the totality of the thirty-six tattvas through the I kalyabdegu rasiinJ-avakarivedamite$V iha vyatltegu I navya/.l krodhanasarad1 nyabandht
nityotsava/.l sivapntyai /, 'I the most learned Jaganniitha, surnamed Srutapetava, honoured
Parakrama'. 192 He was himself, perhaps, the author of the by the Bhosle of Cola, author of dramas and kiivyas, bringer of glory to the line of the caste
Paratri'!lsikatatparyadfpika, composed in the southern temple-city of of the Maharashtrian [Desastha brahmins), who by the study of the Upani~ads have broken
Cidambaram, 193 which expounds in verse Abhinavagupta's laghuvrtti through the ignorance [which is the basis of) the world • ... *, who received my initiation-name
[Umanandaniitha) from the teacher Bh8skara Makhin titled -bharati, who am devoted to the
on the Paratri'!lsika, the root text of this tradition. 194 Other works study of the Vedas and the Tantras, a recipient of the venerable tradition, a bee [drawn] to
from south India in this system are the Parlipaficasika alias Anut- the lotuses which are the feet of the goddess Lalitii, have composed [this I new Nityotsava for
taraprakasapaficasika of Adyanatha 195 and the Parakrama, a text the pleasure of Siva in the autumn of the fifty-ninth year of the Jovian cycle, 4846 years of
the Kali age having passed.' The editor (ParasurKS Pt. 1, xi) reads this as 4876 (AD 1775)
by interpreting -anJ-ava- 'oceans' as 7 rather than as 4. But this is an error, as can be seen
from the same author's dating of his HrdA (91 18.19): kalyabde$U gate$v agni{3}-
, . (189) See ~uruP_41 (miidhura/:1); 40, 43, 44,46 and colophon (madhuraja/:1); 19,20 (namo sruti{4}-niiga[8/-bdhi-[4}samkhyayii, 'Kali Era 4843 [AD 1742].' See also HrdA viii on the dates
bhmavaguptaguruttamaya); 32 (na madgurvadhika/.l ka:icid); 33 ( maddaisikal;.).
of his various works.
(190) GuruP 40: parakramakrantavisvadikcakre ... madhuriije mayi ...
(198) ParasurKSSaubhBhiisk 336 16 -337 3 gives the author's 1mt1ation name
(191) GuruP18: siddhantavamabhairavayiimalakaulatrikaikavfravidam 1 abhinavagup- (Aparajitanandanatha) and the date of composition (agnibiiniidribhrlsarikhye siike tapasi
ta/.l :inman acaryapade sthito jayati II. 'The glorious Abhinavagupta reigns victorious for he gf$patel; 1 viisare suklapak$asya dina iidye nisiimukhe) II. 'At the beginning of the. night on
is the ultimate human authority (iicarya/.l) for all who know the Siddhiinta, the Vii~a. the Thursday, the first day of the bright fortnight of the month Phiilguna, Saka 1753'). Hts secular
Bhairava. the Yiimala, the Kaula, the Trika or the Ekavira.' The use of the term Ekavira for name is given in the colophons. That he too was a Maharashtrian brahmin is evident from
this system is also seiin K~emariija's gloss on NeT 13. 39c (yiimale caikavfre ca): ekavfra iti the fact that he gives Mariithi glosses on certain obscure terms (see, e.g., 114 2• 3· 4-6), refers to
paratn:iikiimatatrim:iikadau (NeTU 1 (13] 274 7·8). differences in the rites of passage observed by Maharashtrians, Driivi<,las and Andhras (11~ 10 ),
(192) SivSuViirt 2!2-214b: akhar:u;iasamvitsamrajyayauvarajyiidhikarinam 1 parakrama- and quotes the Hiranyakesigrhyasiitra and a commentary thereon (92 1•; 18 1). This Grhyasutra
hathakriintagattrim:iatattvasampadam II madhuriijakumartintim mahiihantadhirohintim 1 is that of the Km'lka(lastha (Citpiivana) brahmins of Mahara~tra (see Gazetteer of the Bombay
pascimena tadalokadhvastapa:icimajanmanii II maya varadarajena ... Presidency, Vol. XVII, Pt 1 [Poona], Bombay, 1885).
(193) See above p. 00, nn. 9 and 10. (1~9) The existence of this commentary, called -ratniiloka, is testified by Umiinan-
(194) The P'ITiitD Is"anonymous in its edition; but there are MSS of a Paratrimsika- danatha f Jagannatha in his Bhaktiviliisakiiuya; see Pandey 1963, 588-589. It is also referred
laghuvrttivimarsinf by Kr~(ladiisa in Kerala which may well be the same work (Trivandrum to by Umiinandanatha at Nityots 2 1 ~: tat sarvam snguruprokte ratniiloke 'dhigamyatii~. For
Univ. MSS Library Cat. 537 - 8[MSS 5854F and C.2108D]). "the initiation of Umanandaniitha see Nityots 1H Bhiiskararaya too was Maharashtnan, as
(195) See PPancas 50cd: parakramaparo bhurikte svabhavam a:iiviipaham /. Note also can be seen from the names of his paternal grandfather and great-grandfather: Tukadeva and
the reference to hrdayam ( =sau/.1) as the essence of Miitrkii (a- k$a) at 41. Ekaniitha; see Pandey 1963, 585.
f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f
• f f

82
83

texts, refers to the commentary of yet another Maharashtrian, to be less unorthodox than it might otherwise seem. What it did not
Lakl;lmai).a RanaQ.e, composed in AD 1883. Finally, there is the do was to change the ritual itself for those who performed it.
Mahatripurasundarfvariuasyii compiled from these earlier works by Whatever they might think while performing it, or whatever they
the late Karapatrasvami and edited by his pupil Pattabhirama Sastri might aspire to through assimilating the works of Abhinavagupta
(AD 1962). and the other advanced literature of the tradition, they continued
to visualize Para as they would any other Tantric deity.
10.1. This south Indian tradition is fully aware of its debt to
Abhinavagupta and the other Kashmirian authorities of the ninth
and tenth centuries. Their works were held in the highest esteem and
ABBREVIATIONS IN THE NOTES
continued to provide the theoretical basis of an agamic, non-
Upanishadic non-dualism among the devotees of the Goddess at least BN = Bibliotht\que Nationale, Paris. Bod. ~ Bodleian Library, Oxford. GOS ~ Gaekwad's
into the nineteenth century. 200 Since their system incorporates the Oriental Series. KSTS ~ Kashmir Series of Texts and Studies. MP ~ Mantraptida. NAK ~
Anuttara cult and considers Para to be the inner nature of Lalita National Archives, Kathmandu. PIFI ~ Publications de l'Institut Fran~ais d'Indologie. STK
7 ~ Photographically reproduced by Lokesh Chandra in Sanskrit Texts from Kashmir,
herself, we might assume that they would have inherited Abhinava- Volume 7 (Satapitaka Series No. 333), New Delhi, 1984. TI ~ Tantrih Texts.
gupta's position on this cult, namely that the worship of Para should
be aniconic. But it has not. It is precisely the south Indian sources Primary Sources
on the Anuttara cult that have provided our best evidence for Para's AgnikPaddh Agniharyapaddhati. BN, MS Sanscrit 166A.
AgnikPaddh 2 Agnihtiryapaddhati. Bod., MS Chandra Shum Shere f. 110.
visualization. The Paratri171sikatatparyadipikii itself contains this
AgnP Agnipurtir:w. Ed. Baladeva Upadhyiiya. Kashi Sanskrit
icon, though in general it is a faithful exposition of Abhinavagupta's Series 174. Varanasi. 1966.
shorter commentary on the seminal scripture of this tradition. It AmbSt Ambiistava. See PancSt.
might appear, then, that this was one matter on which the pres- AhirbSam Ahirbudhnyasarrthitii. Ed. Pandit M.D. Ramanujacharya, rev.
cription of the Kashmirian tradition was not considered binding. Pandit V. Krishnamacharya. Adyar Library Series. Volume
4.2 Parts. Madras. 1966 (2nd ed.).
However it would be more accurate to say that Abhinavagupta's
AgRah Agamarahasya [ uttarardha] by Sarayiiprasiid Dviveda. Ed.
icon-less Anuttara cult never was and never could be a reality in Gailgadhar Dviveda. Rajasthana Puratana Granthamala
action. His exegesis of the Paratri171sika is an exercise in translating 110. Jodhpur. 1969.
ritual into pure thought, and ultimately into a metaphorical des- IsanSGDPaddh lsanasivagurudevapaddhati [Siddhtmtasiira]. Ed. T.
cription of an absolute reality that cannot descend without distor- Gaoapati Sastri. Trivandrum Sanskrit Series 69, 72, 77, 83.
Trivandrum. 1920-25.
tion even into the sequence of ratiocination. The purpose of such lsvarapratyabhijntivimarsini by Abhinavagupta. Ed. Mukund
IsvPratVim
writing was no doubt to prescribe an attitude of transcendence to Ram (Vol. 1) and Madhusudan Kaul (Vol. 2). KSTS 22, 33.
be cultivated while perf~rming rituals, an attitude which could Bombay. 1918, 1921.
justify ritual activity for Saivas who were being asked to accept a IsvPratVivVim !Svarapratyabhijiitivivrtivimarsini by Abhinavagupta. Ed.
Madhusudan Kaul. KSTS 60, 72, 75. Bombay. 1938-43.
non-dualistic metaphysics which would seem to make it redun-
UttCaru Uttaracaruvidhiina. NAK MS 1/1559.
dant. 201 It could also justify the existence of Saivas who performed Uttartimniiyapavitrtiroha(tavidhi. NAK MAS 1/70.
UttAmnPavArohV
no rituals in the true sense : their purely conceptual or yogic religion KarmK Karmahtir:t~;la Volume 4. Ed. Par:u;lita Kesavabhatta Jyotirvid
could thus be shown to be a kind of ritual after all, and therefore [ ~Keshav Bhat Zutish]. Bombay. 1936. [STK 7].
KasmDTirthSam Kasmfradesatfrthasa,.graha (Skt.) by Pt. Sahib Ram. Bod.,
' MS Stein. or. d. 2.
(200) The Tripuriirahasyajnanahharp}.attitparyadfpikii is an outstanding example of this. KallkulaKA .Kiilfhulakramtircana by Vimalaprabodha. NAK MS 5 I 5188.
Composed in AD 1832 by Srlniv~sabhatta. an inhabitant of Mahii.pu~kara, one of the five KiismKarmKPaddh [KtiSmirihakarmahtiT.tr:fapaddhati ]. Bod., MS Sansk. d. 335
grii.mas of Madurai (TripRahTatDip 4523"12 ), it follows the [Kashmirian] Sivadvaita of the text ('Awaiting description'). [Folios 295r13-296r19:
(itself composed in Tamilnadu), supports it with quotations from the works of Vasugupta, Ekantavtisinfdevattiydga/.t ].
Somananda, Utpaladeva, Abhinavagupta and K~emaraja, and has a keen sense of the KubjM Kubjihtimatatantra: Kuliilihamniiya Version. Ed. T. Gou·
opposition between its own agamic doctrine and that of the Aupani~adas (the Advaitavediinta driaan and J.A. Schoterman. Leiden. 1988.
of the Sankariiciiryas).
KulRatnU Kularatnoddyota. Bod., MS Chandra Shum Shere c. 348.
(201) See Sanderson 1990.
 t f f f ,
f f
84
f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f
85
' ' f

KuliiruT KuliiTt~avatantra. Ed. Tliriiniitha Vidyii.ratna. TT 5. London.

1917. ParamSiira Paramiirthasiira by Abhinavagupta, with the commentary
KauliivN (uiurti) of Yogarii.ja. Ed. J.C. Chatterji. KSTS 7. Srinagar.
KauliivaliniTt~aya by Ji\iiniinandagiri. Ed. A. Avalon. TT 14. 1916.
Calcutta. SalJlvat 1985 [AD 192819). ParasurKS, -SaubhBh Parasuriimakalpasutra, with the commentary (·saubhiigya·
GuhyKiiPo.V Guhyakiilipujavidhi. NAK MS 1 I 1696 I 239. bhiiskara) of Rii.mesvara (Aparii.jitii.nandanii.tha). Ed. A.
GuruP Guruniithapariimaria by Madhurii.ja. Ed. P.N. Pushp. KSTS Mahadeva Sastri. GOS 22. Baroda. 1923.
85. Srinagar. 1960. PT, -LaghVr Pariitri'Tisikii, with the [shorter) commentary ·laghuvrtti, also
JayadYiimT Jayadrathayiimalatantra. NAK MS 514650 ($atkas 1 and 2); called Anuttarauimariini) of Abhinavagupta. Ed. Jagad·
NAK MS 5 I 1976 (Iatka 3); NAK MS 1 I 1468 (~atka 4). dhara Zadoc. KSTS 68. Srinagar. 1947.
JayadYii.mMUddh Jayadrathayiimalamantroddhiiratippani (anonymous). NAK PT, -Viv Raniero Gnoli, n Commento di Abhinauagupta alia
MS 1 11514. Pariitri'Tisikii (Pariitri'TIIiikiiviuarat;~am). Traduzione e Testa.
Ji\iinii.ruT Serie Orientale Roms LVIII. Roma: IIMEO. 1985. Referen·
.[na.niiTt~avatantra. Ed. Gauesa Slistri Gokhale.
Anandii.Srama Sanskrit Texts Series 69. Pune. 1952 (2nd ed.). ces are to this edition, followed in parentheses by references
TanSadbh to the edition of Mukund Ram Sastri (KSTS 18. Bombay.
Tantrasadbhiiva. NAK MS 1 I 363.
TSii.ra 1918).
Tantrasiira by Abhinavagupta. Ed. Mukund Ram Sastri. PTI'ii.tD Pariitrisikiitiitparyadipikii (anonymous commentary on the
KSTS 17. Bombay. 1918.
TA, -V Pariitri'Tisikiilaghuurtti of Abhinavagupta). Ed. Jagaddhara
Tantriiloka by Abhinavagupta, with the commentary (·vi· Zadoc Shastri KSTS 74. Sri nagar. 1947.
veka) of Jayaratha. Ed. Mukund Ram Sastri. KSTS 23, 28, PPai\ciis Pariipancasikii {/ Anuttaraprakiisapaiicasika} by Adyanii.tha.
30, 35, 29, 41, 47, 59, 52, 57, 58. Bombay. Srinagar. 1918-38. Ed. V.V. Dvivedi as an appendix in YogHrD (395-400).
TantrColl
Tantric Collectanea. Bod., MS Chandra Shum Shere e. 264. PingM Piligaliimata. NAK MS 3 I 376.
TantrDigUnkN A Tantric Digest of Unknown Name. Asiatic Society of
Bengal. MS 11354. PicM-BY Picumata-Brahmayamala. NAK MS 3 I 370.
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~
litfjj
t f f
88
f f
'
f f f f f f f f f f f f f f f
'' '
!."IMAGE DMNE. CULTE ET MtDITATION
DANS L'HINDOUISME.
f f

Editions du CNRS, Paris, 1990.

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MEDITATION ET CULTE DANS LA SRIVIDYA
Introduction to the Pancaratra and the Ahirbudhnyasarnhita.
Madras: Adyar Library.
(Quelques exemples tires du Yoginih:rdaya)*
Sharma, B.N.
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Stein, M.A.
1900. ANDRE PADOUX
Kalha~a·s Rajatararigini. A Chronicle of the Kings of
Kashmzr. Translated with an introduction, commentary &
appendices. 2 Volumes. London.

La tradition de la Srividya, ou se pratique le culte des Yogin!,

se rattache par la a une ancienne tradition §iva'ite, nee dans ce qu'on
nomme parfois la « voie des mantras » (mantramarga}, ou les divers
plans du cosmos ont pour regents des divinites feminines, les Yogin!.
Elle apparait comme une des branches de !'ensemble du Kula, dont
elle aurait forme - au moins a ses debuts - la « transmission
meridionale» (dak$ir;amnayay. La divinite principale y est Tripura-
sundarl., «La Belle des Trois mondes », parfois nommee Kame§varl.
(elle est alors associee a Kamesvara, dieu de l'amour ou plutot de
la jouissance erotique). Son culte, ses rites, avec les speculations qui
les entourent, ont, de fait, une tonalite plutot erotique, ou en tout
cas aimable et ils sont en cela assez differents des cultes de Kall ou
d'autres divinites terribles du tantrisme.
Mais ce qui caracterise surtout la Srl.vidya, c'est que la Deesse
y a pour mrllamantra la srividya 2 et qu'elle est adoree au moyen d'un
diagramrrte, le sricakra, qui est a la fois sa forme diagrammatique
et l'aire sur laquelle se fait son culte : Tripurasundari siege au milieu

(*) Je developpe ici un peu une breve intervention faite au cours de Ia discussion qui
avait suiyj !'expose de Fran~ois Chenet, qu'on lira plus loin.

(1) Sur !'evolution probable des sectes ou traditions sivaites au cours des ages, on se
reportera a !'etude d'Alexis Sanderson, « Saiyjsm and the Tantric Tradition>>, parue dans
Sutherland et al., eds. The World's Religions (London: Routledge, 1988, pp. 660·704).
(2) Mantra forme de trois groupes de bija ayant ensemble le plus souvent quinze ou
seize sylla bes.
 t t t f f f

CENTRE NATIONAL DE LA RECHERCHE SCIENTIFIQUE

UPR 249 « L'hindouisme, textes, doctrines, pratiques ))

L'IMAGE DIVINE
CULTE ET MEDITATION
DANS L'HINDOUISME

Etudes rassembl~es par

Andre Padoux ·· -
Directeur de recherche au CNRS

EDITIONS DU CENTRE NATIONAL

DE LA RECHERCHE SCIENTIFIQUE
15, Quai Anatole France - 75700 PARIS

1990