The Heart of The Yogini The Yoginihrdaya

The Heart of the
Yoginī
This page intentionally left blank
THE HEART OF
THE YOGINĪ
The Yoginīhṛdaya, a Sanskrit
Tantric Treatise
z
Introduction, translation, and
commentary
by
ANDRÉ PADOUX
with
ROGER-ORPHÉ JEANTY
1
3
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Padoux, Andre´.
The heart of the yoginī : The Yoginīhrdaya, a Sanskrit tantric treatise /
Introduction, translation, and commentary by Andre Padoux with
Roger–Orphé Jeanty.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978–0–19–998232–5 (hardcover : alk. paper)—ISBN 978–0–19–998233–2
(pbk. : alk. paper)—ISBN 978–0–19–998234–9 (ebook) 1. Tantras.
Yoginihrdaya—Criticism, interpretation, etc. 2. Tripurasundari (Hindu
deity)—Cult. 3. Srividya (Sect) 4. Tantrism. 5. Hinduism—Rituals.
I. Jeanty, Roger-Orphe. II. Tantras. Yoginihrdaya. English. III. Title.
BL1142.6.Y656P33 2013
294.5'95—dc23
2013003295
1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2
Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper
To the memory of Professor Vraj Vallabha Dvivedi and of
Pandit R. N. Bhatt
Contents
Preface ix
Note on the Transcription and Pronunciation of Sanskrit xi
Introduction 1
1. Encounter in the Cakra: Cakrasamketa 24
2. Encounter in the Mantra: Mantrasamketa 58
3. Encounter in the Worship: Pūjāsamketa 93
Notes 163
Glossary 181
Bibliography 185
Index 187
Preface
this book originates in a French translation of the Yoginīhṛdaya from

Sanskrit by André Padoux, published in 1994 in Paris by the Collège de
France. It was printed by Editions de Boccard as an annotated translation
with transliterated Sanskrit of the three chapters of the Yoginīhṛdaya and of
its commentary by Amṛtānanda, meant for an academic readership.
Pursuant to his interest in the Śrī Vidyā tradition, this book was read
by Roger-Orphé Jeanty, living in the United States. Assuming that the
Yoginīhṛdaya would be of considerable interest to a larger English-speaking
readership, he proceeded in 2003 to translate its three chapters into
English, working with his colleague Sarah Caldwell, using Padoux’s French
translation and a Sanskrit devanāgari edition. This was published infor-
mally in English with the original Sanskrit both in the Indian devanāgari
script and in transliteration. It was designed for use by readers interested
in or practicing within contemporary Śrī Vidyā communities.
Some time after completion, Jeanty sent a copy of this effort to Padoux,
in recognition of the considerable effort required for the original published
French version. In fact, Padoux had already considered the possibility of
such a translation and began writing an English introduction to the text
and attempted a translation of the first chapter. But he found translating
Sanskrit into English very difficult and the attempted translation very awk-
ward and unsatisfactory, and he therefore abandoned it.
Upon receiving a copy of this English translation, Padoux found it
quite satisfactory, while admiring the beautiful devanāgari text that accom-
panied it. He thought it a pity that such useful work should be known and
made use of by only a few people, and he suggested that they take up the
job together.
Padoux emended Jeanty’s translation when needed to make it more
true to the original Sanskrit text, and Jeanty corrected Padoux’s English (in
x P ref ace
the introduction and the notes and in the translation) whenever necessary
to make it more grammatically correct, more fluent, and conforming to
American usage.
It is sincerely hoped that this conjoined effort will make this important
text much more widely known and distributed within an English-speaking
readership.
Note on the Transcription and
Pronunciation of Sanskrit
the sanskrit alphabet has forty-nine letters, which are transcribed in

this book when necessary using diacritical signs according to a common
international system.
The vowels are pronounced very much like Spanish or French vowels.
The short a, however, is pronounced like the u in “but,” and the long ā
is pronounced like the a in “fast.”
As for the consonants, g is pronounced as in “guest,” c as ch in “church,”
and j as in “jungle.” The aspirated consonants (tha, dha, pha, bha) are pro-
nounced marking the aspiration, as in “top hat,” for instance. And ṛ is a
vowel pronounced more or less like “ri.”
The Heart of the Yoginī
Introduction
in spite of its modest size, the Yoginīhṛdaya (abbreviated as YH hereafter),

whose title may be translated as “The Heart of the Yoginī,” rates among the
principal works of Tantric Hinduism. For the lay reader who is not a scholar,
this text may be surprising or disconcerting because of its language, its obscu-
rities, and its challenging concepts. We have made every effort in our com-
ments and annotations to clarify these difficulties in the text and have used
extensively the commentary by Amṛtānanda called the Dīpikā (“The Lamp”).
Some help to the reader would first consist in placing the YH in its
context, which is Tantric Hinduism, the world of Hindu Tantra. This,
naturally, cannot be done satisfactorily within the limits of this introduc-
tion. A few points, however, may be made to situate the YH in the histori-
cal development of Indian Hindu culture and, in that culture, within the
Tantric phenomenon.1
this particular aspect of Hinduism, as far as we can say, seems to

have appeared around the fifth century of our era (we do not know exactly
where), as cults arose of mostly feminine, often fearsome deities whose
worship included having the officiants become “possessed” by the deity,
occasional sexual rites, and having the adepts follow particular obser-
vances (vrata). In contrast with mainstream orthodox Hinduism, the reli-
gious doctrines of these groups were not traced back to the Veda by their
followers but attributed to deities, a male god, most often an aspect of
Śiva/Bhairava or of Viṣnu, or a goddess, usually Kālī. The religious beliefs
of these ascetic groups were deemed to have been revealed by these dei-
ties. The texts upholding them are usually called Tantra but also Āgama
(tradition) or Samhitā (collection). They were composed in Sanskrit by
brahmins, which demonstrates that these traditions did appear within the
socioreligious Hindu fold. The Tantric traditions, in effect, did not reject
entirely the Vedic fund of doctrines and practices. They considered it only
2 t he hea rt of the yo ginī
as socially valid but unable to give liberation, which could only be attained
through the complementary and higher teachings of the Tantras.
First limited to small esoteric transgressive groups of ascetics, this
teaching progressively spread to larger groups, being adopted by (exter-
nally) orthodox Hindu householders who, from a certain time (perhaps
the seventh or eighth century) onward, formed the vast majority of Tantric
believers. This was in spite of the fact that Tantric teachings are esoteric
and in principle meant only for initiates, initiation (dīkṣā) being theoreti-
cally the necessary first step toward liberation—a liberation giving both
mukti (liberation) and bhukti (the enjoyment of mundane or supramun-
dane rewards or supernatural powers) and, of course, to be enjoyed while
still living: a jīvanmukti. The Tantric jīvanmukta, the liberated in this life, is
not only free from this world, but he also dominates it magically.
In the course of time, Tantric traditions developed, expanded, and
diversified. As they spread, their notions and ritual practices progressively
permeated the whole Hindu world, so much so that for the last thousand
years, there has been practically no Hindu tradition entirely devoid of
Tantric elements. The Hindu worship, the pūjā, for instance, is Tantric in
its conception and ritual process, the principles of Hindu temple building
and iconography are Tantric, and so on. The Tantric domain penetrated
also the social and political field. It spread to the whole Indian subconti-
nent and South Asia. Its textually most active period was (approximately)
from the eighth to the fourteenth centuries. One of its main centers
in the Indian subcontinent was in Kashmir, where several important
Śaiva traditions appeared, such as the Spanda, Krama, Pratyabhijñā, or
Trika. Abhinavagupta, one of the most remarkable and brilliant Indian
philosophers and mystics, the master of the Trika, was from Kashmir (fl.
c. 975–1025).
Among the Kashmiri nondualist systems and forming one of the four
“transmissions” (āmnāya) of the Kula is the Śrīvidyā, whose main deity is
Tripurasundarī, the supreme goddess of the YH.
the YH is a very typical text of Tantric Hinduism and embodies archetypal

characteristics. As is often the case in such works, its esoteric teaching is
expounded in a dialogue between two deities, the Goddess Tripurasundarī
(or Mahātripurasundarī), “The Beautiful [Mistress] of the Three Cities” (or
“Fortresses”)—of the three worlds,2 that is—who questions, and the god
Bhairava, a fearsome form of Śiva, who answers her in the form of these
teachings.
Introduction 3
Tripurasundarī, a beautiful, auspicious (and erotic) form of the great

Hindu Goddess, is the main deity of an important Tantric Śaiva tradition,
often called srīvidyā because such is the name of her main or root mantra
(mūlamantra).3 The term srīvidyā, however, is not usual in ancient works
and has come to be used mainly to refer to a modern form of this tra-
dition, which (as we shall see) is still active in India today. It is there-
fore better to call this system the tradition of Tripurā (traipuradarsana or
traipurasampradāya,4 in Sanskrit, the doctrine or tradition of Tripurā),
as is done in most texts. We shall do this here. It is also sometimes
referred to as saubhāgyasampradāya, the srīvidyā being sometimes called
saubhāgyavidyā. Saubhāgya means good fortune, happiness, and success,
in addition to beauty and charm; all of these terms evoke an important
aspect of this goddess and therefore of this tradition.
The name Tripurasundarī is often explained as referring to that god-
dess’s character as “Mother”5 of various triads—all the more so when the
exegetes of the system interpret it in the spirit of the Kashmirian Śaiva
nondualist system of the Trika, the “Triad” (which happens to be the case
of Amṛtānanda, whose commentary on the YH we follow here when
trying to elucidate this sometimes obscure text). She is also Kāmesvarī,
associated with Kāmesvara as the Mistress and the Master of Love.6
Tripurasundarī is sometimes called Lalitā. She is also considered as one
of the ten Mahāvidyāṣ, or Nityās,7 in which case she is sometimes named
Ṣoḍasī (“Sixteenth”) or even Śrīvidyā. There exist, too, such aspects of her
as Tripurabhairavī or Balatripurasundarī. Indian deities commonly have
many aspects, corresponding to different characters or aspects of the deity,
auspicious or fearsome, receiving different types of worship. In the aus-
picious form that she has in the YH, she is usually shown as a beautiful
shining woman, three-eyed, with the waxing moon on her forehead, wear-
ing a red garment, seated on a lotus, holding in her four hands goad and
arrow, bow and noose.
There are very few stone images of Tripurasundarī, but there are many
paintings. Her worship is done using the srīcakra, and no concrete image
is used, but during the ritual, she is to be visualized by the officiating
adept as described in the texts.
as is frequent in India, next to nothing is known of the origins of the

tradition of Tripurā. It goes back probably to the tenth or eleventh century
a.d. It has survived until our day and has produced important and interest-
ing works well into the modern period. As far as we know, its two oldest
and most basic texts are the Vāmakesvara/Vāmakesvarīmata Tantra (VM),

also known as the Nityāṣodaskārnava (NṢA) and the YH. These works
may date from the tenth or eleventh century. It seems that a passage of
the VM was quoted by Abhinavagupta (11th c.) in two of his works, the
Parātrīsikavivarana and the Mālinīvijayavārttika; and Jayaratha, who lived
in the twelfth century and wrote a commentary on the VM, mentions sev-
eral earlier commentators on this Tantra, one of whom may have lived as
far back as the ninth century. But there is no proof of this.
There also does not seem to exist any iconographical evidence of
Tripurā’s worship before the tenth or eleventh century. It has indeed been
suggested that an allusion to the srīvidyā and perhaps to the srīcakra is
to be found in the South Indian Tamil work Tirumantiram, which some
scholars date as far back as the seventh or eighth century. This, however,
remains to be proved. There is also a belief in the modern Śrīvidyā tradi-
tion that a srīcakra was installed in Sṛṅgeri, together with an image of the
goddess Śāradā, by Śaṅkarācārya (8th c.). But this is mere imagining.
the tradition of Tripurā is one of the four “transmissions” (āmnāya)

of the vast Kula (or Kaula) ensemble of Tantric Śaiva systems that devel-
oped from the earlier Śaiva fund of beliefs and practices based on the
so-called kāpālika form of practice, on traditions in which the fearsome
Bhairava was the main deity, the basic form of observance (vrata) was
that of the skull (kāpālavrata),8 and the worship was carried out in cre-
mation grounds (smasāna). These cults may have originated in northern
India, perhaps in Kashmir. They were visionary transgressive cults whose
adepts were possessed by the deity and in which the main deity, male or
female, was surrounded by secondary deities reflecting his or her power
and pervading the cosmos with their (usually fearsome) energy. These
secondary female deities, the Yoginīs, were considered to be grouped in
lineages (gotra), clans, or families (kula), hence the name Kula given to
this religious ensemble. In the course of time, the earlier transgressive
practices tended to be replaced by more staid ones, the main adepts being
henceforth usually householders of pure castes rather than skull-bearing
ascetics. The ancient Tantras, their terminology, and their deities were,
however, retained but tended to be symbolically interpreted. The actual
performance of the most “Tantric” rites (the sexual ones in particular)
was now limited to a few religious “virtuosi,” and possession (āvesa) by
the deity was replaced by mystical union or fusion (samāvesa, although
the term āvesa continued to be used) of the adept’s consciousness with
Introduction 5
the divine Absolute. This combination of Tantric visionary elements with

an intellectual and mystical approach is clearly visible in the YH and still
more in its commentaries and also in other texts of the Tripurā tradition
(or in other Kula systems).
the kula ensemble of traditions is traditionally divided into four “trans-

missions” (āmnāya), named according to the points of the compass: east-
ern (pūrva), northern (uttara), western (pascima), and southern (dakṣina).9
The pūrvāmnāya (pūrva being understood both as eastern and as pri-
mary or earlier) was perhaps the original kula system. It includes a num-
ber of elements (pīṭhas,10 lineages, coded language, rituals, etc.), which
are found in all four transmissions; we shall see some of them here. The
worship included sexual rites. The Trika system, the Kashmirian and best
known of the Śaiva nondualist traditions, seems to have developed mainly
from this āmnāya. So does the Spanda, “Vibration.” The Trika has long
since disappeared as a living religious tradition but has survived to this
day as the Kashmirian main form of nondualist shaivism.
The uttarāmnāya, the Northern transmission, is that of the Kālī cults.
It included three traditions. One is the Mata (the “Doctrine”), of which
very little is known and which has disappeared. Another is the Krama (the
“Sequence”), so called because its pantheon and its worship are organized
in sequences or phases (krama). In it, the Goddess dominates Bhairava.
A number of Krama texts have survived; some are edited. Abhinavagupta
included krama elements in his Trika, as did many Śaiva authors, includ-
ing commentators on the YH. The third tradition is that of the worship of
the fearsome goddess Guhyakālī, which survives in Nepal as the worship
of Guhyesvarī.
The pascimāmnāya, the Western transmission, has as its main deity the
hunchbacked goddess Kubjikā, with the beautiful mantra god Navātman
as consort. Its main text is the Kubjikāmatatantra (which is edited). Here,
too, the goddess is placed above her consort.
Finally, the dakṣināmnāya, the Southern transmission, is the one to
which the YH belongs. Its chief deity is Kāmesvarī, goddess of erotic plea-
sure (with Kāmesvara as consort), or Tripurasundarī (with Bhairava). It is
(or was) in many respects a cult of erotic magic, as appears notably in the
VM/NṢA. Its main characteristic is the use in ritual and meditation of a
particular diagram, the srīcakra, and of a particular mantra, the srīvidyā. It
is probably the most recent of the four āmnāyas. It has lasted until today,
producing several interesting works. It does not seem to have divided into
different schools. There are, however, at least since the thirteenth century,
two different lineages, with two different forms of the srīvidyā (as we shall
see). Variants also appeared. There is in particular a modern South Indian
Śrīvidyā, based in Sṛṅgeri, very largely “vedantized” and “de-Tantricized,”
which is, however, not socially unimportant since it has been adopted by
the Śaṅkarācāryas.11
as we have seen, the four āmnāyas have different main deities, different
pantheons and mantras, and so on; however, because of their common
Śaiva kāpālika origin, they have, if not exactly a common esoteric core, at
least a common fund of metaphysical (and sometimes theological) notions
or doctrines, or ritual or spiritual practices, expressed by using a common
vocabulary, such as the use of the term kula and its derivatives (akula,
kaula, kaulika). Some mantras, too, are common to different āmnāyas.
although it is still the most active tradition of the Kula, the Tripurā
tradition is little known outside India. There is, as far as we know, no
complete and systematic study of its vast literature.12 This includes,
among earlier authors, such people as Punyānanda, who was the master
of Amṛtānanda, who often refers to his Kāmakalāvilāsa,13 and Śivānanda or
Vidyānanda, both of whom commented on the YH but also wrote various
ritual, theological, or philosophical works. Later came Lakṣmīdhara (16th
c.) and the polymath Bhāskararāya (c. a.d. 1700), who wrote a commen-
tary on the YH to which we sometimes refer here; Kasināthabhaṭṭa is also
worth mentioning.
The tradition includes such works as the vast mythical and speculative
Tripurārahasya, a number of Tantras or Tantric compilations such as the
Gandharvatantra, the Tantrarāja, the Tripurārnava, the Śaktisaṅgama, the
Vidyārnava, and so on. There are Upaniṣads, too, such as the Tripurā, the
Tripurāttāpinī, or the Bhāvanopaniṣad. Very important from the ritual point
of view is the Parasurāmakalpasūtra (where the goddess is Lalitā), com-
mented on by Umānanda in the Nityotsava (1745) and then by Ramesvara
in 1831. A number of other works—digests, ritual manuals, hymns, and
so on—would deserve mentioning.14 Of these, we only refer to one of the
best known, the Saundaryalaharī, traditionally attributed to Śaṅkarācārya.
no precise information can be given on the origin of the YH or on

that of its parent text, the VM/NṢA. No ancient manuscript has been
found. Abhinavagupta (c. 975–1025) does not mention its name, nor does
Introduction 7
Jayaratha (12th c.) in his commentary on the Tantrāloka (TĀ). It is not

one of the sixty-four Bhairavatantras listed by him when commenting on
TĀ 1.18, nor is it quoted or alluded to in other lists of the Śaiva canon.
A Yoginīhṛdaya is indeed mentioned in a Nepalese manuscript of the elev-
enth century, but we do not know if this text is the same as the one we have
now; it is probably not. Amṛtānanda, who lived probably in the thirteenth
or fourteenth century, says in his commentary on the YH, the Dīpikā (Dī),
that his was the first one made on that work. But surely, if the YH were by
then an ancient work, other commentaries would have existed. All of this
makes it very unlikely that the date of the YH is earlier than the eleventh
century, and it might well be later.
There are many reasons for believing that the Tripurā tradition origi-
nated in northwestern India, more specifically in Kashmir. Jayaratha, who
was certainly a Kashmiri, mentions in his commentary on the VM two
masters as having introduced this darsana into Kashmir, and he appears
to believe that there was a long tradition of local exegesis. Śivānanda, the
thirteenth- or fourteenth-century commentator on the same text, explains
certain peculiarities of the srīvidyā as being a result of the Kashmirian ori-
gin of the tradition. Of course, the fact that Jayaratha mentions the tradition
as having been brought down into Kashmir (kasmireṣu avatārakam) may
mean that it came from elsewhere, and some scholars believe it originated
farther northwest, not far from Kashmir, in Uḍḍiyāna, the valley of Swat
(now in Pakistan), a region often, but perhaps rather mythically, quoted as
the place of origin of several Śaiva Tantric practices or traditions. Central
India, too, has sometimes been named as the birthplace of this tradition.15
All of this is possible. The metaphysics and the vocabulary of the YH,
however, are so close to those of the postscriptural Śaiva texts, and espe-
cially to those of the later Pratyabhijñā16 as expounded by Kṣemarāja, that
its Kashmirian origin seems very likely. (But since a number of authors
on the tradition, such as Punyānanda, Śivānanda, and Vidyānanda, were
from the south, a South Indian origin of the YH, however unlikely, cannot
be entirely ruled out.)
The Tripurā cult was certainly present at a comparatively early date
in the North Indian Himalayan area. There seem to be ancient traces of
it in Nepal. Even if it began in the north, Tripurā’s cult appears to have
soon spread to the south, as shown by works of such authors as those
noted above. A large number of Śrīvidyā works come from the south,
and the many manuscripts mostly in South Indian scripts that are found
nowadays in libraries all over India testify to the comparatively early and
widespread popularity of the Tripurā cult. This fact is also interesting in

that it shows the vitality and importance, from ancient times, of intellec-
tual contacts between different parts of the Indian subcontinent.
there are two important commentaries on the YH. The earlier one is
the Dīpikā (“The Lamp”) by Amṛtānanda, which we often refer to here
(abbreviating it as Dī) since it is used as the basis of our explanation of
the YH. The other one is the Setubandha by Bhāskararāya, who lived in
Mysore and Varanasi at the end of the seventeenth and the beginning of
the eighteenth centuries. It is a commentary on both the VM/NṢA and the
YH, treating them as one and the same work. Amṛtānanda’s Dī interprets
the YH in the spirit of the later Pratyabhijñā as developed by Kṣemarāja,
which shows that even if Amṛtānanda was South Indian, he was neverthe-
less steeped in the Kashmirian Śaiva nondualist tradition. Bhāskararāya’s
Setubandha, on the other hand, which was finished, we are told, on the
Śivaratri day of Śaka 1655 (a.d. 1733), is the work of a much later remark-
able polymath (more than forty works are ascribed to him), not charac-
teristically written in the spirit of a particular sectarian tradition but very
true to the Tantric spirit of the YH. It is clear and useful.17 There are other
commentaries of lesser interest.
It may be useful here to draw the reader’s attention to the fact that
Indian religious or philosophical texts, often obscure or arcane or cast in
brief elliptical statements,18 were meant to be made explicit by commen-
taries given orally through the teaching of masters or in written exegetical
works. This is how Indian traditions appeared and developed, permitting
“change in continuity.” Truth being deemed to have been proclaimed in
the origins of time—or out of time—in the Veda, or by deities, nothing
could be added to it except by way of commentaries and explanations.
A problem that arises concerning the text of the YH is its relation-
ship to the VM/NṢA. The three chapters of the YH have often been con-
sidered to be the latter part of a work in eight chapters, the first five of
which constitute the VM/NṢA. The YH begins with the Goddess asking
Bhairava to explain to her “the many unknown elements that are in this
Vāmakesvaratantra” (vāmakesvaratantre ‘sminn ajñātārthas anekasaå). The
YH would thus appear to be an esoteric complement to the more exoteric
VM, which is a work of erotic magic and ritual, whereas the YH is mainly
metaphysical and devotional, even in its third chapter on the srīcakrapūjā.
To this can be added that Amṛtānanda sometimes refers to the VM in his
Dī, notably when explaining why a particular point is or is not mentioned
Introduction 9
in the YH or in his own commentary, and that Bhāskararāya later wrote

his commentary, Setubandha, on all eight chapters of the two texts as if
they constituted a single work, and he states explicitly that the YH is the
latter half of the Tantra: tantrottarārdham.
There are, however, convincing reasons to believe that these two works
are related but distinct texts, probably of different periods. For instance,
Śivānanda and Vidyānanda never refer to the YH in their commentaries
on the NṢA. Jayaratha, when commenting on the VM, mentions several
earlier commentators on the same, while Amṛtānanda, in his Dī, says that
he is the first to comment on the YH. Not only is the spirit of the two
works very different, but the YH also gives the srīvidyā in the so-called hādi
form, whereas the NŚA/VM gives it in the kādi form.19 For these reasons
and several others, we believe that the VM and the YH are two differ-
ent works, the VM being the earlier one and the YH being composed to
complement it philosophically, which is why these two texts came, at some
later period, to be considered as two sections of one work.
the Śr ī vidyā or Tripurā tradition constitutes one of the “transmis-

sions”—the dakṣināmnāya—of the Kula, and the YH, which is one of its
basic texts, is a Tantric work. It is Tantric both in its spirit, its theology, and
its metaphysics and in its ritual practices and forms of worship.
It is Tantric in its conception of the supreme deity as inseparably male
and female, Bhairava and Tripurasundarī, the latter being, theologically,
the supreme goddess but metaphysically subordinated to Bhairava, who
is Śiva. The Goddess is also Śakti, the divine universal power that creates
and animates the cosmos in all its aspects, human, material, mundane, or
supramundane, her power spreading out as a hierarchy of feminine dei-
ties or energies radiating concentrically from her; this characteristically
Tantric “mandalic” aspect of the pantheon is found in the whole of South
Asia. It is illustrated here by the srīcakra with the deities who abide in it.
Also Tantric is the notion of the kunḍalinī, the divine cosmic power
present in the human body. The Tantric adept lives with the image of this
both human and divine power present in the image of his body, this struc-
ture of centers (cakras, etc.) or nodal points (granthis) connected by sub-
tle tubes or channels, the nāḍis, where the life breath, the prāna (prānas,
rather, for they are numerous) circulates along with the mantras.
This structure, imagined, visualized, even sometimes “felt” as pres-
ent (“intraposed”) within his physical body by the yogin, is usually called
“subtle body” in English. We do not use this expression because it is a
misnomer. In all Sanskrit texts, the term sūkṣmasarīra (or sūkṣmadeha),

which means “subtle body,” designates not this structure but the transmi-
grating element in the human being, which is made up of different tattvas
and therefore has no shape, no visible aspect. It cannot be visualized as is
the inner structure of cakras and nāḍis. We call it yogic body or imaginal
yogic body, not subtle body.
The presence and the meditative and ritual use of this purely mental
(but existentially perceived) image of the body is fundamentally Tantric,
even though it is used by most non-Tantric practitioners of yoga. Also
Tantric, of course, is the worship beginning with an inner (āntara), entirely
mental pūjā, followed by the outer (bāhya) worship organized following the
traditional Tantric pattern, which includes not only visualisations (dhyāna)
but also yogic phases during which the officiating adept is to awaken his
kunḍalinī. The pūjā ends with a japa of the srīvidyā, which is, in fact, a
practice of kunḍalinī yoga. The offerings made during the worship, being
Tantric, include meat and alcohol. But there are no sexual rites.
We will comment further on these Tantric aspects, and mention other
ones, as they occur in the three chapters of the YH. Here we underline
only a few particular points.
Yoginī
The Yoginī of the title is the goddess Tripurasundarī. Amṛtānanda, in
his Dī, explains that she is so called because she manifests the coming
together (yoga) of all the constitutive elements of the universe. She bears
this name, he says, because she is eternally in union, yoga, with Śiva.
These explanations are of some value insofar as they underscore the at
once transcendent and immanent nature of the Goddess Śakti and her
indissoluble union with Śiva.
The name Yoginī is also interesting as a reminder of the links between
the Tripurā tradition, as an āmnāya of the Kula, with the ancient (but still
surviving) Yoginī cults. This tradition having as its main deity a goddess
who is the supreme power, Śakti, surrounded by a retinue of feminine
secondary deities/powers—ṣaktis, which are also Yoginīs—could be called
Śākta. But the so-called Śākta systems developed in a Śaiva context and
are in effect Śaiva. Metaphysically, Tripurasundarī is subordinated to
Paramasiva, the supreme level of the godhead. The YH is expounded by
Bhairava, the fearsome form of Śiva, in answer to a question of the Goddess.
True, he does so because she orders him (“I am ordered by You,” tvayāham
Introduction 11
ājñaptaḥ), but this order is a form of his own will (madicchārūpayā, 3.202).
As the Dī explains, the universe is the “play” (līlā, kṛḍ) of Śakti, but Śiva
is her master. Theologically, in the devotion and worship of her devotees,
the Goddess is supreme; but if Śiva and Ṣakti are inseparable, Śiva, the
masculine aspect of the total supreme godhead, is higher: Ṣakti is Śiva’s
energy. Tripurā’s tradition is therefore Śaiva.20
Surrounded by the Yoginīs abiding in the srīcakra—in the cosmos, that
is—Tripurasundarī is the first of them, infusing them with her power and
presiding over their activity. They emanate from her in a hierarchical order,
embodying and spreading her power on all planes of the cosmos and ful-
filling the functions allotted to them. As Bhairava says in YH 3.194: “You
alone it is, Enchantress of the worlds, who are playing under the guise of
these [deities].” They are aspects (rūpa) she takes on in her cosmic play.
In the Tantras and the Purānas, the Yoginīs are usually said to be
sixty-four in number, which is eight times eight, that is, eight times the
Eight Mothers (aṣṭamātaraḥ, aṣṭamātṛkā).21 In the third chapter (3.193), the
YH multiplies this number by ten million, mentioning sixty-four crores22
of Yoginīs, to be worshipped in an eightfold ritual. In the srīcakra, how-
ever, although they are in eight groups (plus the Goddess), corresponding
to the structure of the diagram, they number seventy-eight. Their names
also are not those usually found in the Purānas.
Hṛdaya
The great secret (mahāguhya) disclosed to initiates by the YH is the
Yoginīhṛdaya, the “Heart of the Yoginī,” by which is meant the supreme
reality, the supreme divine plane where the Goddess, consciousness (of)
itself, manifests her power and her glory. She does this by means of the
srīcakra and the srīvidyā, which are not a mere ritual diagram and a mere
mantra but her visual, or diagrammatic, and her phonic form, two aspects
of her cosmic creative (and destructive) power.
The heart as the supreme reality, as the spiritual plane, and as the
center in the human body (or, more exactly, in the image of the body)
where this reality is revealed and experienced is an ancient Indian notion.
It was taken over and developed in nondualist shaivism by such authors
as Utpaladeva, Abhinavagupta, and Kṣemarāja, who described it in his
commentary on the Śivasūtras as being “the light of consciousness since
it is the place where everything abides” (visvapratiṣṭhasthānatvāt citprakāso
hṛdayam). He also describes it as throbbing and flashing consciousness
(sphurantīm samvidam) or as both made of the world and transcending it

(visvātmakam taduttīrnam). It is therefore the total plenitude of the god-
head as mystically experienced in one’s heart.23 (We must not forget that
in traditional India, the center of consciousness is in the heart, not in the
brain.)
Mudraˉ
Mudrās do not play a fundamental role in the YH. Their case, however,
needs to be mentioned here because of the particular conception of
mudrās in Tantric texts. They are not mere symbolical gestures evoking a
deity or some person or entity, object, or feeling, as is true of the mudrās
(or hastas) of dance or theater. They are both evocative/invocative gestures
and—in the case of deities or powers—the supernatural entity they evoke
or symbolize. They are both bodily gestures or attitudes by which the per-
former invokes and makes present (and, up to a point, identifies with) the
entities they symbolize and these very entities. The nine mudrās described
in sl. 59–61 of the first chapter of the YH are nine deities, ancillary god-
desses of Tripurasundarī made present by a gesture whose performance
(together with the mental visualization) identifies the adept with that deity.
(Such deities are to be worshipped during the srīcakra pūjā, as we shall see
in the third chapter.)
Gestures are an important element in human communication. They
play a role in support of language. They also supplement it. In ritual, they
have meaning and power, and they act, usually by accompanying a mantra
but also sometimes by their own visual/bodily power; this appears clearly
here in chapter 1.
For many texts, mudrās are more than gesture; they are mystical atti-
tudes, and in practicing them, the yogin identifies with a deity or even with
the absolute. Such is the case, for instance, with the mudrās described in
the Vijñānabhairava or those described in chapter 32 of Abhinavagupta’s
Tantrāloka, where he explains that the mudrā, together with the mental
concentration of the adept, brings about the presence of the deity invoked
and identifies the adept with it.
Metaphysics
The philosophical conceptions of the YH can be said to be those of the non-
dualist Kashmirian shaivism, and especially those of the pratyabhijñā-based
Introduction 13
Trika as expounded notably by Abhinavagupta. This is one more reason for

believing the YH to have been elaborated, if not in Kashmir, then at least,
and certainly, in circles where the Kashmirian Śaiva tradition was active.
The supreme reality (paramam mahat, mahātattva, or mahāsattā, the
“Great Being”) is described as transcendent, undivided (niṣkala, 1.27), tran-
scending space and time, pure light (prakāsa, 1.11),24 and consciousness
(samvit, 1.10). It is also the phoneme A, the “unsurpassed” or “peerless
one” (anuttara). This absolute flashes forth, vibrates luminously (sphurattā,
ullāsa). It expands as a luminous wave (sphuradūrmi, 1.10) by its own free
will (svecchayā, 1.9) and manifests thus the whole cosmos made up of the
thirty-six tattvas, from Śiva to the earth (pṛthivī, 2.32–33). This universe,
manifested25 as if by play (līlā), is pervaded by the divine power or energy;
everything, from the gods to this earthly world, is in fact the Goddess her-
self, supreme splendor (param tejas, 1.72), “surrounded by the sparkling
waves of her multitudinous energies” (1.55). Of this manifestation, the
Goddess is luminously conscious (prakāṣāmarsana) as it unfolds “on the
screen of her own self” (ātmabhittau, 1.56). She vibrates (spandarūpinī),
being immersed in bliss (ānanda). Although transcendent (visvottīrna),
the Goddess as supreme power (paramasakti) is also immanent, “made
of the world” (visvamaya), that is, embodied in everything that exists. The
cosmos is her manifested form, but although she is shining, “Flame of the
essence of divine play” (divyakrīd rasojjvala, 2.76) as the absolute, she is
ever pure, undivided light and bliss. All these notions and the terms used
are typical of nondualist shaivism.
The YH, however, is not a philosophical treatise aiming at expounding
particular metaphysical tenets. Neither was that the aim of the Dī, in spite
of the fact that its interpretation of the sutras always develops their meta-
physical import. The aim of this text (and of practically all Indian meta-
physical systems)26 was, while conveying an esoteric teaching, to show a
way toward liberation—more precisely to a Tantric form of liberation in
this life, jīvanmukti, which is both liberation from the fetters of this world
and domination over it. This is the raison d’être of the three chapters of
the YH.
Chapter 1: Cakrasamketa (86 slokas)

The YH does not say here how to draw the srīcakra (nor does Amṛtānanda
in the Dī). It describes how it appears as an outward manifestation of the
power of the Goddess, who is deemed to have agreed with her consort,
Śiva, to be present with him in the srīcakra, hence the title of the chapter,
Cakrasamketa. What is described is a cosmic process bringing about the
existence of the cakra that embodies this process and mediates it to the
sādhaka who is to visualize mentally its aspect and its dynamism through
an intense identifying form of meditation called bhāvanā.27
After presenting the dialogue, in the Absolute, between the Goddess
and Bhairava, which makes up the text of the YH, the chapter first
describes the cosmic unfolding of the srīcakra from the central bindu to
the outer square (sl. 10–21). Then the adept, following a reverse movement,
since he is a human being, is to visualize and perceive within himself the
three main constituent parts of the cakra, going from the outer square
to the center. Now, once the meditation of the sādhaka has reached the
central bindu, he is to evoke and follow mentally the ascending levels of
phonic energy (the kalās, “parts”), from ardhacandra to unmanā, of the
utterance (uccāra)28 of the bīja HRĪṂ, the basic mantra of the Goddess.
The mental process goes thus from the spatial, visual domain of the
diagram to the oral one, as if sound were felt as a subtle extension of
space. The adept is to meditate there on three planes of the Word, vāc,
from the supreme, parā, to the intermediate, madhyamā,29 and to evoke
the fifty phonemes of the Sanskrit alphabet while also meditating such
entities as pīṭhas or liṅgas (sl. 37–49). He is to conceive the srīcakra as
being the universe produced by the will (icchā) of the deity, a will that is
eventually to become action (kriyā) and which is then mudrā “because it
rejoices [mud] the universe and makes it flow [rā].”30 Stanzas 57–71 then
describe ten mudrās that are both ritual hand gestures and aspects of the
Goddess, corresponding also to the nine parts of the srīcakra (and to its
entirety). The mudrās symbolize or, more accurately, are actually stages in
the progression of the sādhaka from the outer world where he lives to the
godhead.
Other meditations on the srīcakra are then prescribed, all meant to
help the adept to realize the metaphysical import of the diagram as the
form the Goddess takes on in her cosmic creative (and destructive) play;
added to the preceding ones, this bhāvanā will lead him to liberation.
Chapter 2: Mantrasamketa (85 slokas)

Although this chapter is entirely based on the phonetic pattern of the
srīvidyā (in which the Goddess and Śiva have agreed to meet; this is
the samketa of the chapter’s name), its syllabic composition—its
Introduction 15
“extraction,” uddhāra,31 as it is usually called—is not given. In this, the

YH differs from its parent text, the NṢA, which does give it. It appears,
however, that the srīvidyā is considered to be made up of fifteen syl-
lables grouped in three clusters, as follows: HA SA KA LA HRĪṂ • HA
SA HA KA LA HRĪṂ • SA KA LA HRĪṂ. This is, as we have said, the
srīvidyā in the so-called hādi form, because it begins with HA. There
is also another form, called kādi (because the first cluster begins with
KA): KA E I LA HRĪṂ. These two forms are used in two Tripurā tradi-
tions called, respectively, hādimata and kādimata, which seem to have
existed from comparatively ancient times since they are mentioned by
such authors as Śivānanda (13th c.).32 The three clusters of the srīvidyā
are called kūṭa, which means “summit” or “group”; they are also called
bīja or pinḍa.
The mantrasamketa’s purpose is to give six different “meanings” (artha)
by means of allegorical symbolical interpretations of its syllables—that is,
to expound six different ways to understand, perceive, and experiment by
bhāvanā its inner nature and hidden meaning, a practice that will lead the
sādhaka toward liberation. These interpretations are abstruse and often
far-fetched, and we have not always understood them in spite of help
received from Professor V. V. Dvivedi of Varanasi.
The chapter begins by enumerating the vidyās (i.e., mantras) of the
nine cakresvarīs, the regent deities of the nine parts of the srīcakra,
which the adept must place by nyāsa on nine parts of his yogic body and
worship there as present in the nine constitutive cakras of the srīcakra.
Then is expounded the first artha, the bhāvārtha (sl. 16–25). It is based
on symbolical values given to the syllables of the vidyā, the three parts
of which are described as resulting from the union of Śiva and Śakti,
from whose interactive union (samghaṭṭa)33 the “flow,” the creative play
of the mantra, is deemed to issue. This very flow expressed by the pho-
netic constituents of the srīvidyā, manifests, sustains, animates, and
ultimately reabsorbs the cosmos, a process the adept must experience
spiritually through a bhāvanā in which the three parts of the mantra
are experienced as fused with his kunḍalinī. The power of the vidyā also
takes on here the form of the kāmakalā (sl. 21–25), a diagram whose
symbolism, based on the sexual union of Śiva and Śakti, is both visual
and phonic.34
The sampradāya artha, the “traditional meaning” (sl. 26–48) shows how
the cosmic process is pervaded by the srīvidyā, that is, by the united Śiva
and Śakti. To this effect, the YH explains how the constitutive elements of
the universe—tattvas, gunas, prānas, and so forth, even the gods—come to

be manifested. All of this is grasped and experienced by bhāvanā.
The nigarbha artha, the “inner meaning,” very briefly considered,
(sl. 48–51), is the essential oneness of Śiva, the guru, and the self of the
sādhaka, who is to realize it by bhāvanā, thanks also to his devotion and to
the power of the guru’s gaze (nirīkṣana).35
The kaulikārtha, the Kula meaning of the vidyā (sl. 51–68), is meant to
bring about a realization by the adept of the essential oneness of the cakra,
the godhead, the vidyā, the guru, and his own self. The srīcakra is shown
as being born from the phonemes of the vidyā; as being the cosmic, essen-
tial body (vapus) of the Goddess; and as having the vidyā as its essential
nature. The Goddess is described as present in the cosmos as five differ-
ent groups of divine aspects or entities, Yoginīs and so on. The adept is to
realize and experience by bhāvanā that all of this is present in the cakra
and in the vidyā and in his own body and that of the guru. To realize this
is to gain liberation.
The sarvarahasya, the “most secret of all” arthas (sl. 69–72), is secret
because it is a most direct way to fusion with the godhead. It is a kunḍalinī
yoga practice where the parts of the srīvidyā, the fifty Sanskrit phonemes,
and the thirty-eight cosmic kalās are interiorized by the adept and made to
ascend with his kunḍalinī. He thus experiences a cosmic pervasion lead-
ing to liberation.
Finally, the mahātattva artha, the one concerning the highest reality (sl.
73–80), is the nondual realization of the Absolute “in the flashing forth
of the essence of the divine play.” This artha is meant for the “heroes”
(vīra), followers of the kaulācāra, the practice of Kula, who participate in
the ritual meetings of the Yoginīs (yoginīmelana). The practice described
here seems to be mainly meditative, not actually sexual. It shows, how-
ever, the surviving links of the Tripurā tradition with the earlier kāpālika
Kula practices, an aspect that the adepts of the South Indian Śrīvidyā later
tried to blot out.
Chapter 3: Pūjaˉsamketa (204 slokas)

This chapter is the longest of the YH. It accounts for more than half of
the work. Although the Goddess is to be visualized during the worship,
which is performed on the srīcakra without any material icon, she is not
described here as she is, for instance, in sl. 130–146 of the first chapter
of the NṢA. Only her theological and metaphysical traits as the supreme
Introduction 17
deity are given. Tripurasundarī, in NṢA, is described as a beautiful young

woman, luminous like the rising sun, having three eyes, a half-moon on
her forehead, and a crown of jewels on her hair. She wears gold brace-
lets, is clad in a red garment, and is seated on a lotus. She holds in her
two upper hands a noose (pāsa) and an elephant-goad (aṅkusa) and in her
two lower hands a bow (dhanus) and arrows (bāna). These four attributes
are quoted in YH 1.53 as those of Kāmesvara and Kāmesvarī, who, taken
together, are forms of Tripurasundarī.
The first pūjā described is the nityāpūjā, the worship all Hindus
must perform daily. Some are occasional (naimittika) rites, and a few are
optional (kāmya).36 It is not described in full detail, except for the nyāsa
and the japa, two rites meant to identify the officiating adept with the
deity. Some rites are hardly dealt with. The YH underscores the parts of
the ritual that aim more specifically at helping the sādhaka to identify
with the godhead, which is the raison d’être of the YH but which is an
essential aspect of Tantric worship. Its performance is a means, if not to
gain, at least to progress toward liberation. In fact, no Tantric worship
may be performed if one is not already divinized by a preliminary ritual.
It is said, nādevo devam arcayet (“One who is not God must not worship
God”). But although he is thus already ritually divinized, the officiant
must still perform during the worship several rites that will advance him
toward the goal of identification with the deity he worships.37 In such a
view, the ritual is seen more as a spiritual exercise than as a mere worship
of the deity.
This explains why the chapter begins by saying that there are three sorts
of pūjā, the lowest of which is the ritually performed one. The highest one
(sl. 3a, 4b–7), the “supreme worship,” is purely spiritual. It is a bhāvanā
associated with an ascent of the kunḍalinī, by which the adept experiences
mystically his unity with the supreme Śiva. It is the total plenitude of the
absolute I (pūrnāhambhava), an experience of the nature of the Goddess
as the flashing forth of consciousness. The second sort is “nonsupreme”
(apara). It is the cakrapūja as described in this chapter. Bhairava says here
(sl. 3b) that he performs it ceaselessly; it is a divine, not a human, activity.
Then there is (sl. 4a) the “supreme-nonsupreme worship” (parāparāpūjā).
It consists in “seeing all that appears of itself” and especially, it seems, all
rites as being in truth of a purely spiritual nature.
The description of the nonsupreme (aparapūjā), ritually performed
worship begins next. It fills sl. 8–199. It conforms to the usual pattern
of the Tantric worship, whose dual (if somewhat contradictory) aim is to
identify the performer with the deity while worshipping her. It includes
the following items:
Four succeeding series of ritual placings (nyāsa) of mantras, of

deities, and of the srīcakra on the body of the officiating adept
(sl. 8–89).
The construction of the throne (āsana) of the Goddess and the offering
of a propitiatory oblation (a bali) to the Yoginīs (sl. 90). This is where
an “inner sacrifice” (antaryāga), or “worship of the self (ātmapūjā),
should normally take place, but the YH does not mention it.
Removal of obstacles (vighnabheda) (sl. 92–93).
Worship of the sun (sūryapūjā). This is a preliminary rite of all Śaiva
cults, with the sun being worshipped as an aspect of Śiva (sl. 94–95).
Drawing of the srīcakra on which the ritual worship is to be performed
(sl. 95–97).
Offering of the “common arghya”—consecrated water and so on—on a
special diagram; worship of the āsana and pīṭha and of the kalās of
fire, sun, and moon (sl. 98–100).
Preparation of the “special arghya” (viṣesārghya), which, as appears later
on, includes wine, and offering it to Bhairava and to the succession
of masters (gurupaṅkti) (sl. 103–104).
Inner oblation (homa) in the “fire of desire” (kāmāgni). This is normally
performed materially at the end of the ritual. Here it is an interior-
ized, mystical oblation (sl. 105–108).
Śrīcakrapūjā, worship of the Goddess and of her retinue of deities
(āvaranadevatā) with sixteen offerings or services (upacāra), on each
of the different parts of the srīcakra, from the outer square to the
center (sl. 109–161). This is the main part of the pūjā. It ends with
the offering of the “lamp of Kula” (kūladīpa), together with wine
and pieces of meat (sl. 165–168).
Japa of the srīvidyā (sl. 169–188).
“Satisfaction” (tarpana) of the deities of the cakra with offerings of
wine, meat, and fish (sl. 190).
Occasional (naimittika) rituals to be performed on certain days to the
Yoginīs of the srīcakra (sl̥. 191–197).
Taking in by the officiant of the leftovers of the offerings to the deity
and final bali to Baṭuka and Kṣetrapāla.
Introduction 19
The last stanzas (199–204) deal with the fruits, worldly or otherworldly,
resulting from the performance of the pūjā.
All of these rites will be explained and discussed later, with the translation
of chapter 3. The following, however, may be said now about some of them.
Nyaˉsa
Eighty-one stanzas, nearly one-fifth of the chapter, are taken up by the
prescription of this long and complex ritual, which is indeed important
since it infuses the body of the officiating adept with the powers of the
Goddess, identifying him with her. First, six different “forms” (rūpa)—
we could say epiphanies, divine and cosmic—of the Goddess are placed.
This ritual placing (or imposition) being sixfold, it is called ṣoḍhānyāsa. It
is considered particularly important and efficacious. It is prescribed and
extolled in many of the texts, ancient or modern, of the Tripurā/Śrīvidyā
tradition. It is also mentioned in other Śaiva traditions.38 Next (sl. 41–68)
comes the nyāsa of the srīcakra, first of its nine concentric parts, then of
the deities abiding in those parts, going from the outer square, imposed
on the extremities of the body, to the Goddess, imposed on the heart. This
is followed by another placing (the third series of nyāsas) of these dei-
ties, starting with the Goddess and ending with the Siddhis of the outer
square. These two rites will increase the feeling of identification of the
officiant with the Goddess by an interiorization of her diagrammatic cos-
mic form. The YH says (sl. 81) that he is now to consider himself as insepa-
rable from her (svābhedena cintayet). Then, as a fourth series of nyāsas (sl.
81–86), come eight different placings of various entities on the hands and
on other parts of the body. The nyāsas end with a libation (samtarpana)
to the Goddess, which is, in fact, a meditative practice with an ascent of
kunḍalinī; this somehow confirms the ritual identification of the adept
with the deity he worships.
Śrīcakrapūjaˉ
This is not a worship of the srīcakra but a worship, performed on the cakra,
of Tripurasundarī, who resides in its center while also pervading it, and of
all the deities of her retinue placed in concentric tiers around her in the
different parts of the diagram. They are worshipped going from the outer
square to the inner triangle, the Goddess herself being worshipped in the
whole srīcakra since it is her diagrammatic cosmic form.
We have already enumerated the different parts of this pūjā. We note
here, however, that in each of the constituent parts of the srīcakra, a Siddhi
is worshipped, which is both a deity and a supernatural, magical power.
Thus, the worship in each of the cakras confers on the sādhaka one of
the eight main magical powers, the mahāsiddhis, animā, and so on.39 The
ritual worship, therefore, is not only a means to approach the Goddess
and identify with her but also a means to acquire supernatural powers, as
is expressly stated in sl. 189 and 203 of the chapter. This is in conformity
with the Tantric conception of liberation in this life, which confers worldly
powers along with liberation.
The pūjā is made up of a number of sometimes complex rites orga-
nized as a dynamic, coherent ritual process, with two intermediate medi-
tative periods, carrying the worshipper from the outer, ordinary world to
the realm of the gods, a process during which he acts out symbolically
an inner transformation from his condition of a mere mortal being to
that of jīvanmukti by identification with the godhead. Progressing along
this structured ritual and spiritual path, the officiating adept, after “enter-
ing” the diagram by paying homage to the lower and most external deities
abiding in the outer square, the bhūgṛha; purifies his hands and his prāna
(in the two lotuses); then causes his kunḍalinī to ascend and feels thus
absorbed into the cosmic energy (the kulasakti), which is also present in
his body, this in the cakra of fourteen triangles. As he concentrates on
an inner subtle phonic resonance (nāda), he raises his kunḍalinī again
from the mūlādhāra to the ājñācakra (in the first cakra of ten angles),
and then, along with the kunḍalinī (in the second ten-angles cakra), he
becomes absorbed in his own essence. After that, as his prāna is concen-
trated in his heart (cakra of eight triangles), he realizes the pure essence of
consciousness, and (having attained the central triangle) he worships the
higher deities destructive of the cosmos surrounding the Goddess, which
means that he rises to the source of the universe. The worship having now
reached the central bindu “whose nature is that of the supreme brahman,”
the adept worships Tripurasundarī in the whole srīcakra since she per-
vades it. This he does “in total freedom,” that is, with the absolute liberty
of one who has outsoared (ritually, of course) all limitations.
Perceived in this way, as a movement from this world to the supreme
deity, the pūjā is for the adept not a random succession of discrete ritual
actions but a total and fulfilling existential experience of participation in
Introduction 21
the divine, a coherent progress toward the Absolute realized by an identi-

fication with the cosmic play of the Goddess.
Japa
Finally comes the japa, the recitation of the srīvidyā, the mūlamantra of
the Goddess, a rite performed in the last part of all ritual Hindu worships.
The japa prescribed here is, however, not really a recitation. It is a com-
plex spiritual and yogic exercise associating the enunciation (uccāra) of the
vidyā with visualizations and with the ascent of kunḍalinī. The uccāra is, in
fact, an upward movement of the phonic resonance of the srīvidyā along
the suṣumnā, going from the mūlādhāra up to the dvādasānta,40 insepa-
rable from the ascent of the kunḍalinī. It is therefore a practice of Tantric
mantrayoga where the srīvidyā is used as a means to facilitate the fusion of
the adept with the cosmic divine power of the Goddess.
The japa is made up of four meditative-yogic practices:
Japa of the three parts of the srīvidyā (sl. 169–173). This consists in
visualizing the three parts and the nine constituent cakras of the
srīcakra as tiered along the suṣumnā, then to perceive the kalās
of the subtle vibration of the bīja HRĪṂ, which ends these three
parts (kūṭa) of the mantra as ascending from the mūlādhāra to the
heart, then from the heart to the ājñācakra and thence up to the
dvādasānta, where the threefold phonic vibration reaches the plane
of unmanā, the “transmental,” and dissolves into the silence of the
Absolute, with which the adept also fuses. Table 3.1 in chapter 3
shows the pattern of this japa.
Japa of the sixfold void, sūnyaṣaṭkam (sl. 174–175). This practice involves
only the uccāra of the three HRĪṂ and their kalās, the uccāra being
organized along six “voids,” or points of the yogic body. It does
not seem to include visualizations. Like the first one, it leads to a
fusion with the Absolute “in the central void of the divine undivided
Consciousness,” says the Dī.
Japa of the five states of consciousness, the avasthās: jāgrat, waking;
svapna, dream; suṣupti, dreamless sleep; turya, the “fourth” state;
and turyātīta, “above the fourth” (sl. 176–180). It is also an uccāra of
the srīvidyā with which the adept experiences these states, from the
ordinary waking state up to the highest, “above the fourth,” which
is identical with the absolute divine Consciousness.
Japa of seven “equalizations,” viṣuvas (sl. 181–193). This is the longest

practice, since it includes seven japas. It is also the most difficult to
understand, since the nature of these viṣuvas—apparently states of
equilibrium of the prānas—does not appear clearly. It is also a medi-
tative practice whose aim, as with the preceding ones, is to bring
about a fusion of the adept with the Absolute. It is a somatopsy-
chic—bodily, mental, and spiritual—practice; in the Tantric domain,
whatever is experienced spiritually is also “lived” in the body.
Finally, the third chapter describes the last offerings of the pūjā. It ends,
too (sl. 188–189), by promising the adept who has performed all of these
deifying rites or practices (and who is, we may believe, on the way to lib-
eration) not liberation, jīvanmukti, but that he will rapidly be in possession
of all possible supernatural powers. This may strike us as something of
an anticlimax. But on the one hand, is this ritual worship meant to lead
progressively, by its daily practice, toward liberation, or is it not rather
an acting out of such liberating experiences? Be that as it may, the fact is
that the srīcakrapūjā, being performed repeatedly every day, cannot but
create mental impregnations (vāsanas) which can eventually bring the per-
former, if not to liberation, at least to its threshold. This salvific efficacy
can act progressively with the repeated performance of the pūjā, whereas
the magical powers are “rapidly” obtained; both can therefore be given
by the same ritual. On the other hand, in the Tantric perspective, libera-
tion and powers are inseparably linked: a jīvanmukta may despise super-
natural powers, consider them as fetters, but he is necessarily endowed
with them. We may recall here the Śivasūtras, or Abhinavagupta stating
that whatever the jīvanmukta says is mantra and that all of his actions are
mudrās; these are supernatural actions resulting from the condition of lib-
eration in life. The Tantric perfection is metaphysically not of this world,
but it takes place in it. It is not disincarnate. It is total plenitude (pūrna). It
is experienced, “lived,” on all planes of being. The liberated person is free
from the fetters and illusions of this world: he or she outsoars it but also
dominates it. The quest of a magical domination of the world is, as much
as the hope for liberation, an Indian dream.
the edition used for this translation is the one prepared, on the basis
of several manuscripts, by Pdt. Vrajvallabh Dvivedi, former head of the
Yoga-Tantra Department of the Varanasi Sanskrit University, which
was published by Motilal Banarsidass in Delhi in 1988, together with
Introduction 23
Amṛtānanda’s commentary, the Dīpikā. It is a good edition both of the

YH and of the commentary. Professor Dvivedi kindly let me use it before
it was published for the French translation I made of this work.41 For this,
and for the help he otherwise extended me, I wish to thank him once
more very sincerely. The YH—of which a large number of manuscripts
exist in India and Nepal—was first edited in 1923, together with the com-
mentaries of Amṛtānanda and of Bhāskararāya, by Gopinath Kaviraj; this
edition is still available, but it is not very reliable. The YH was also pub-
lished together with the Nityāṣoḍasikārnava and with the Setubandha of
Bhāskararāya as vol. 53 of the Ānandāsram Sanskrit Series.
1
Encounter in the Cakra

cakrasam k eta
the yogin ī h Ṛ daya begins with the Goddess asking her

consort, Bhairava, to enlighten her on the secret teachings of the
Vāmakesvaratantra—by which is meant either the text of this name or a
larger textual ensemble of the Tripurā/Śrīvidyā tradition (see introduction,
above). This dialogue being carried out between two deities is viewed as
taking place out of time, in the Absolute.
On the complex meaning of the term samketa, which cannot be satis-
factorily translated by one word and which we try to render here both by
encounter (or co-presence) and by agreement, see the introduction, above.
It is this commonly agreed presence of Śiva/Bhairava and the Goddess in
the srīcakra that transforms it in the (visible) embodiment of the differ-
ent aspects of the cosmic creative and reabsorbing power of the Goddess
united with Bhairava. It gives its powers and efficacy to the srīvidyā and
ensures the soteriological efficacy of the pūjā.
The Goddess said:
srīdevyuvāca
O God of gods, great God, expanding in total fullness, there are in
this Vāmakesvatatantra many unknown elements //1// please reveal
them entirely, O Bhairava!
devadeva mahādeva paripūrnaprathāmaya /
vāmakesvaratantre’sminnajñātārthas tvanekasaḥ //1//
tāmstān arthān aseṣena vaktum arhasi bhairava /
Encounter in the Cakra 25
Bhairava said:
srībhairava uvāca
Hear, O Goddess, the great secret, the Heart of the Yoginī, supreme.
//2// What I tell you now out of love for you is to be kept carefully
hidden. On earth, it has [always] been taught and received by word
of mouth. //3// It must not be given to the disciples of other [mas-
ters], nor to unbelievers, O Goddess! nor to those who do not wish
intensely to hear it, or who do not give over riches. //4//
sṛnu devi mahāguhyam yoginīhṛdayam param //2//
tvatprītyā kathayāmy adya gopitavyam viseṣataḥ /
karnāt karnopadesena samprāptam avanītalam //3//
na deyam parasiṣyebhyo nāstikebhyo na cesvari /
na susrūṣālasānām ca naivānarthapradāyinām //4//
It can be given to [someone] who has been examined and tested

during half a year. As soon as one knows it, O Woman with beautiful
hips! one attains the state of khecara. //5//
parīkṣitāya dātavyam vatsarārdhoṣitāya ca /
etajjñātvā varārohe sadyaḥ khecaratām vrajet //5//
Secrecy is always insisted upon in Tantric traditions, which are initiatory.

The teaching is therefore transmitted secretly by the master, the guru, to a
carefully chosen disciple, intent on acquiring the esoteric knowledge of the
tradition, fully devoted to his master and careful not to divulge the doctrine
to unbelievers. The mention of those who give over riches may well surprise
us, but it was traditionally considered one of the ways to gain knowledge—
or at least a means to approach a master.1 More generally, as is often said
in ritual texts, to spend lavishly on costly rituals is meritorious or even a
religious duty: one must never be stingy in one’s relationship with the deity.
We must not forget that in India, poverty is not meritorious; it is an imper-
fection, a stigma, the result of the play of karma, therefore not unmerited.
As for khecaratā, it is a supernatural power (a siddhi) consisting in
being able to move (caratā) freely in space (khe) but, more specifically, to
move—that is, to fuse spiritually—in the inner space or sky, the heart,
the central void (kha) of consciousness. The Sanskrit term kha means a
hole, an opening, and, more technically, the void for the axle in the hub of
a wheel, a notion metaphysically transposed to mean the “void” (sūnya),
which is the “central” inner essence of the deity: one who moves (cara) in
that void is identified with Śiva. The state of khecaratā is thus the highest
spiritual attainment: liberation.
The teaching as expounded by Bhairava now begins:
O Supreme Goddess! Threefold is the agreed co-presence of the

goddess Tripurā: the agreement2 concerning the cakra, and those
concerning the mantra and the worship. //6//
cakrasamketako mantrapūjāsamketakau tathā /
trividhas tripuradevyāḥ samketaḥ paramesvari //6//
As stated in the introduction above, the adept must realize and experi-
ence ritually and mystically the divine co-presence of the two aspects, male
and female, of the supreme deity during the practices and observances
prescribed in the three chapters of the YH, their spiritual efficacy resulting
from this active, dynamic co-presence.
The first chapter will now describe this divine presence and power as
found and understood in the srīcakra:
As long as one does not know this threefold agreement, one will
not be recipient of the supreme authority [inherent] in the cakra of
Tripurā. //7//
yāvad etan na jānāti samketatrayam uttamam /
na tāvat tripurācakre paramājñādharo bhavet //7//
The YH now describes the agreement concerning the cakra, that is to

say, both the diagrammatic structure of the cakra with the deities who reside
there and the understanding the disciple must have of this cakra as embody-
ing the cosmic manifestation of the power of the Goddess united with Śiva.
This [cakra includes] five energies directed toward emanation

(srṣṭyā), and four fires turned toward resorption (layena). The cakra
is [therefore] produced by the conjunction of five energies and four
fires. //8//
tacchaktipañcakam sṛṣṭyā layenāgnicatuṣṭayam /
pañcasakticaturvahnisamyogāc cakrasambhavaḥ //8//
The concentric series of triangles that make up the srīcakra result from
the intersections of five triangles apex downward:3 the energies or powers
(sakti), the female aspect of the godhead, and four triangles apex upward: the
so-called fires, the male aspect. The energies (sakti) are creative. The cos-
mos appears through their play. Fire, on the contrary, evokes destruction,
resorption. The total cosmic play of the Goddess, who creates and dissolves
the universe, is thus implicitly present in the very pattern of the srīcakra.
I will tell you, O Perfect One, the descent [on earth] of your cakra.
etac cakrāvatāram tu kathayāmi tavānaghe /
The srīcakra being the diagrammatic form of the Goddess is a divine,

transcendent reality. It therefore comes down to earth (a process known as
avatāra) so as to be perceived and worshipped by the adepts or devotees.
This happens because the Goddess wills it:
When She, the Supreme Power, [becoming] out of her own free will
embodied as all that exists (visvarūpinī), perceives herself as flash-
ing forth, the cakra then appears. //9//
yadā sā paramā saktiḥ svecchayā visvarūpinī //9//
sphurattām ātmanaḥ pasyet tadā cakrasya sambhavaḥ /
The srīcakra being the cosmic form of the Goddess results from the
same act of consciousness or awareness (vimarsa) of the deity as the cos-
mos. As Amṛtānanda says in the Dī, “The intensely luminous flashing
forth of the Supreme Power is nothing else than the emission of the cos-
mos.” The apparition of the srīcakra is therefore described in slokas 10–17
in terms of a cosmic process that simultaneously manifests the geometric
pattern of the srīcakra and brings about the apparition of the deities that
abide in the cakra and animate, nay manifest it, by their power. This is why
the process is described starting from the center, that is, from the Goddess.
Note that each of the nine constituting parts of the srīcakra is called
cakra. (See figures 1.1 and 1.2.)
From the void letter A and from that which ends by emission, [that
is] from the bindu, vibrating consciousness whose supreme nature
is light and which is united with the flashing flow [of divine power,
appears] the throne of the bindu (baindavāsana) which is the [birth]
place of the flow made up of the three mātṛkās. It then assumes a
threefold aspect. // 10cd–12a //
sūnyākārād visargāntād bindoḥ praspandasamvidaḥ //10//
1–2 3
bindu vasu-kona
. or asta-kona
.. .
trikona
.
4 5
antar-daśaˉśra bahir-daśaˉśra
figures 1.1 and 1.2 The nine constitutive parts (cakras) of the srīcakra.
prakāsaparamārthatvāt sphurttālaharīyutāt /
prasṛtam visvalaharīsthānam mātṛtrayātmakam //11//
baindavam cakram etasya trirūpatvam punar bhavet /
“The void letter A” (sūnyākāra) is to be understood as the supreme

Śiva, and since Śiva precedes creation, it is considered as void. A, the first
letter of the Sanskrit alphabet, is traditionally considered the origin and
substrate of the whole alphabet, which, in the Śaiva system of phonetic
emanation, is the source and essence of the cosmos. Hence the identifica-
tion of A with the supreme deity.
6 7
manu-aśra or caturdaśaśra vasu-dala or asta-dala
.. padma
8 9–10
sodaśa-dala-padma
. . bhuˉpura
figures 1.1 and 1.2 (Continued)
The bindu, the anusvāra, the nasal addition to the preceding vowel (A,
in this case), written as a dot over the letter it prolongs, is conceived of
as the fusion of Śiva and Śakti into one point of concentrated energy: the
notion is both visual (a dot) and metaphysical. Bindu is thus metaphysi-
cally both the totality of the Absolute and the power that will manifest the
universe. Being a concentrate of creative power, bindu is always described
as luminous and vibrating, throbbing.
The “flow of the three mātṛkās” issuing from it are (says the Dī)
the three levels of the Word: pasyantī, madhyamā, and vaikharī,4 which
is another way of saying that the central bindu is the birthplace of the
whole cosmos, while underlining the fact that the levels of the cosmos
appear together with those of the Word and with the letters of the Sanskrit
alphabet, which, as we shall see, are in effect associated with the different
parts of the srīcakra.
The triangle surrounding the bindu is said to have a threefold aspect
insofar as the two triangles (one of energy, one of fire, therefore one female,
one male) are added to the central one, which makes three times three.
This is why the triangular cakra surounding the bindu is called navayoni,
ninefold womb. This navayonicakra is associated with, or rather brings
about the apparition of, nine elements, as follows:
[Thus appear] dharma and adharma, then the [ four] ātman,5 the
knower, what is to be known and knowledge: the cakra is thus a
ninefold womb. It is immense, a compact mass of consciousness
and bliss. A division of mantras in nine [corresponds to] this nine-
fold cakra. //12–13//
dharmādharmau tathātmanau mātṛmeyau tathā pramā //12//
navayonyātmakam idam cidānandaghanam mahat /
cakram navātmakam idam navadhā bhinnamantrakam //13//
Dharma6 is the socioreligious Hindu law, adharma its opposite, for

there is no rule without its contrary. The four ātmans—a notion developed
notably in Vedānta—correspond to four levels of the Self as conscious-
ness, from the Absolute to the living being. Together with the knowing
subject, objectivity, and knowledge, they make up the whole cosmic mani-
festation. This is why this cakra is considered the womb—the ninefold
womb (navayoni)—of the universe. This cakra is said to include nine man-
tras, those of the of the regent-goddesses (cakresvarī)7 of the nine parts
(cakras) of the srīcakra.
The three categories—knower (pramātṛ), object of knowledge
(prameya), and means of knowledge (pramā or pramāna)8—are deemed
to recapitulate the totality of the world as experienced by the subject who
“knows,” perceives what is to be known: the objectivity and who does this
using means or criteria of knowledge. It is a very common philosophical
notion, which we will meet several times here.
[This ninefold cakra] is present in the [next cakra], of eight triangles,

in the form of Ambikā, surrounded by vowels, it is the dynamism
of consciousness,9 the fire of resorption rising from the throne of
the bindu. //14//
baindavāsanasamrūḍhasamvartānalacitkalam /
ambikārūpam evedam aṣṭārastham svarāvṛtam //14//
The cakra of eight triangles results from the expansion of the navayoni,
says the Dī. This is why the navayoni is said to be present in it as Ambikā,
the Mother, the Goddess, who dominates and brings together the three
first energy-goddesses, Vāmā, Jyeṣṭhā, and Raudrī, and who is to be imag-
ined as encircled by the fifteen “vowels,” from A to bindu, the sixteenth
one, visarga, remaining inside.
The two next cakras are made up of ten triangles:
The [first of the two cakra] of ten triangles is a shining form born
from the flashing forth of the nine triangles. It causes the luminos-
ity of the ten phonemes, from the one preceding sakti10 to the last
of the nine [ following ones]. //15// It is the support of the light of
the ten subtle and gross elements. The flashing form of the second
ten-pointed [cakra is associated with the ten] phonemes beginning
with krodhīsa. //15–16//
navatrikonasphuritaprabhārūpadasārakam /
saktyādinavaparyantadasārnasphūrtikārakam //15//
bhūtatanmātradasakaprakāsālambanatvataḥ /
dvidasarasphuradrūpam krodhīsādidasārnakam //16//
The nine triangles are the eight of the navayoni together with the
so-called baindavāsana, the throne of (or the throne that is) the bindu.
In each of the ten triangles of this cakra is a phoneme, beginning with
YA (which, in the Sanskrit alphabet, precedes RA) and going up to the
last phoneme, KṢA.11 The light (prakāsa)—the essence, that is—of the ten
gross and subtle elements (bhūta and tanmātra) abides also in these ten
triangles. The ten phonemes “beginning with krodhīsa” are the five gut-
tural and the five palatal phonemes, from KA to ÑA (krodhīsa12 being a
name for KA); they are associated with the objects of the senses and the
organs of action (speech, etc.).
The transformation of the luminescence of the [first] four cakras con-

joined [with the cakra of ten angles] results in the fourteen-angled one
whose nature is that of sense perception and of the sense organs. [The
next cakra] is made up of the expansion, in the highest sense, of the
phonemes from khecarī to jayā, its nature being therefore that of the
luminescence of Raudrī flashing forth as fire and energy. //17–18//
catuscakraprabhārūpasamyuktaparināmataḥ /
caturdasārarūpena samvittikaranātmanā //17//
khecaryādijāyantārnaparamarthaprathāmayam /
evam saktyanalākārasphuradraudrīprabhāmayam //18//
The cakra of fourteen triangles is associated with sense perception

(samvitti) and the five senses of apperception and the five of action, to
which are added mind (manas), “egoity” (ahamkāra), and intellect (bud-
dhi)13, to these—so as to have a total of fourteen—is added a fourth element,
which, according to the Dī, is citta, the limited empirical consciousness.
[Then appear] the square, a form of Jyeṣṭhā, and the threefold circle,
a form of Vāmā. //19a//
jyeṣṭhārūpacatuṣkonam vāmārūpabhramitrayam /
The square is the outer quadrangular part of the srīcakra, sometimes called
bhugṛha, the house of the earth, since it is the part of the diagram deemed
to be metaphysically on the level of the earth. The “threefold circle” refers
to the two eight- and sixteen-petal lotuses with the three circular lines that
enfold them.
Another vision of the nature of the srīcakra, as associated with the five-
fold cosmic division of the kalās, is now propounded:
The inner triangle participates in consciousness (cit). The eight

triangles, of sāntyātīta[kalā]. //19// The two ten-pointed [cakras] as
well as the fourteen-pointed one are part of sānti[kalā]. [The one
that] is surrounded by eight petals is made up of the effulgence of
the vidyākalā. //20// The sixteen-petaled lotus shining clearly is in
the body of the pratiṣṭhā[kalā]. When the aspect of the nivṛtti[kalā]
shines forth, the square shines. //21//
cidamsāntas trikonam ca sāntyatītāṣṭakonakam //19//
sāntyamsadvidasāram ca tathaiva bhuvanārakam
vidyākalāprabhārūpadalāṣṭakasamāvṛtam //20//
pratiṣṭhāvapuṣā spaṣṭasphuraddvyaṣṭadalāmbujam /
nivṛttyākāravilasaccatuṣkonavirājitam //21//
One of the divisions of the cosmos of the Tantric traditions is that of

the kalās. It is part of an all-embracing cosmic and soteriological concep-
tion that divides the ways of apparition and maintenance of the cosmos
(and the ways toward liberation) into “six paths” (or ways, adhvans): the
ṣaḍadhvan. It is a sixfold division into two groups of three notions or enti-
ties, all spreading from the deity to our world, to create and animate the
cosmos, and manifest ways also to be followed, going upward, toward
liberation.
These adhvans are: the way of time (kālādhvan), which includes the
phonemes, the mantras, and the “words,” entities that exist in time,
not materially; and the way of space (desādhvan), which includes the
kalās, the tattvas, and the bhuvanas, which are more concrete elements,
existing in space. The bhuvanas are the infernal, terrestrial, and divine
“worlds,” numbering usually 224. The tattvas are the thirty-six entities
or cosmic levels, from Śiva to the earth. The kalās, “portions,” are divi-
sions too complex to be described here. They include tattvas and bhuva-
nas in addition to phonemes, mantras, and “words” (padas). The highest
kalā is sāntyātīta, “transcending sānti,” made up of Śiva and Śakti; then
comes sānti, made up of the next three tattvas; then vidyā, made up of
the tattvas from puruṣa to māyā; then pratiṣṭhā, from prakṛti to water; and
finally, nivṛtti, earth.
The correspondences between the parts of the srīcakra and the five
kalās are logical since they both give expression to the same cosmic
hierarchy, going from the deity to our world: the creative and animat-
ing process of emanation, embodied diagrammatically by the pattern
of the srīcakra, which is the Goddess, as creating and embodying the
cosmos.
An opposite movement is shown in slokas 22–24, the parts of the
srīcakra, with their attending deities, being enumerated in the reverse
order, from the outer square to the center, according, that is, to the pro-
cess of resorption (samhārakramena), a process that goes metaphysically
from the level of this world to the plane of the supreme deity and is also
symbolically present in the srīcakra. The nine parts are quoted not by their
names but by the divine entities or deities abiding in them. These are
divided in three groups:
In the nine cakras, Trailokyamohana and so forth, O Suresvarī! are

found nāda, bindu, kalā, Jyeṣṭhā, Raudrī then Vāmā, //22// as well
as Viṣagnī, Dūtarī, and Sarvānandā, in this order. Nāda and bindu

are undivided, Kālī has the nature of will, //23// Jyeṣṭhā is knowl-
edge, the remaining ones being activity. The cakra is thus threefold.
It is a form of kāmakalā; its essential nature is expansion. //24//
trailokyamohanādye tu navacakre suresvari /
nādo binduḥ kalā jyeṣṭhā raudrī vāmā tathaḥ punaḥ //22//
viṣagni dūtarī caiva sarvānandā kramāt sthitāḥ /
niramsau nādabindū ca kalā cecchāsvarūpakam //23//
jyeṣṭhā jñānam kriyā seṣam ity evam tritayātmakam /
cakram kāmakalārūpam prasāraparamārthataḥ //24//
The Dī explains the triplicity of the srīcakra mentioned in these three

stanzas as linked to three forms of energy-goddesses, each being present
in a group of three cakras. Thus, the peaceful, sāntā, which is conscious-
ness (cit), is indivisibly present in the outer square and in the sixteen-petal
lotus, with nāda and bindu. The eight-petal lotus is made of the energy of
will (icchā). Jyeṣṭhā is the energy of knowledge (jñāna) and is present in the
fourteen-triangle cakra. The remaining five cakras (the two ten triangles,
navayoni, central triangle, and bindu), in which are located the goddesses
Raudrī, Vāmā, Viṣagnī, Dūtarī, and Sarvānandā, are pervaded by the energy
of activity (kriyā). The srīcakra is thus pervaded by the three basic energies
of Śiva, their places in it being inverted, since the highest, sāntā, is in the
outer square and the lowest in the center, an inversion that expresses the
omnipresence of the whole energy of Śiva in the whole diagram.
To say that the srīcakra is a form of kāmakalā is to say that it is a form
of the (sexual) union—and therefore both embodying and causing the
expansion/emanation of the cosmos—of Śiva and Śakti expressed by the
kāmakalā.14
Yet another manner of conceiving and making a yogic and meditative
use of the srīcakra is expounded in the following eleven slokas (25–35):
In akula, in what is called viṣu, in energy and in fire, then in [the

cakra of ] the navel, in the anāhata, the [vi]ṣuddha, the uvula, the
forehead, //25// in the moon and the half [moon], in rodhinī, nāda,
nādānta, and sakti, then in vyāpikā and in the domain of samanā
and unmanā, //26// then in the mahābindu, one must meditate in
this way the [sri]cakra in a threefold manner.
Up to the ājñā [cakra, the meditation] is said to be with parts (sakala),

then up to unmanā it is with and without parts (sakalaniṣkala).
On the supreme level, it is without parts (niṣkala). It is [therefore]
threefold.
On the forehead [the kalā] is round, like a lamp; [the enunciation,
there, lasts] a half a mora.15 //28// Ardhacandra [located above it] has
the same aspect and lasts one fourth of a mora. Rodhinī, appearing
like moonlight is triangular in shape; it lasts an eighth of a mora.
//29// [Nāda, to be visualized as] a line between two dots, is shaped
like a penis, scintillating like a jewel, lasts a sixteenth of a mora.
//30// Lasting half as long is nādānta flashing like lightning, in the
shape of a plow, with a bindu on its right. Then sakti like an upright
line above and to the left of two bindus. //31// Vyāpikā appears when
bindu, by its play, becomes triangular. Samāna, then, is a straight
line between two bindus. Unmanā [appears] when the play of bindu
produces a straight line.16
The essential body17 of sakti, etc., shines like twelve blazing suns.
//33// The fractions of mora of the [enunciation] from sakti onward
are 1/64 of a mora, then two times less, then again half as much for
manonmanī. Then [comes] unmanī. //34//
Higher still, [there is] the Supremely Great, transcending the limita-
tions of time or space, of innate beauty, overflowing with supreme
bliss. //35//
akule viṣusamjñe ca sākte vahnau tathā punaḥ /
nābhāv anāhate suddhe lambikāgre bhruvo ‘ntare //25//
indau tadardhe rodhinyām nāde nādānta eva ca /
saktau punar vyāpikāyām samanonmanigocare //26//
mahābindau punascaivam tridhā cakram tu bhāvayet /
ājñāntam sakalam proktam tataḥ sakalaniṣkalam //27//
unmanyantam pare sthāne niṣkalam ca tridhā sthitam /
dīpākāro ‘rdhamātras ca lalāte vṛtta iṣyate //28//
ardhacandras tathākāraḥ pādamātras tadūrdhvake /
jyotsnākārā tadaṣṭāmsā rodhinī tryasravigrahā //29//
bindudvayāntare danḍaḥ sevarūpo maniprabhaḥ /
kalāmso dvigunāmsa s ca nādānto vidyujjvalaḥ //30//
halākāras tu savyasthabinduyukto virājate /

saktir vāmasthabindūdyatsthirākārā tathā punaḥ //31//
vyāpikā binduvilasattrikonākāratām gatā /
bindudvayāntarālasthā ṛjurekhāmayī punaḥ //32//
samanā binduvilasad ṛjurekhā tathonmanā /
ṣaktyādīnām vapuḥ sphurjaddvadasādityasamnibham //33//
catuṣṣaṣṭis tadūrdhvakam tu dvigunam dvigunam tataḥ /
ṣaktyādīnām tu mātrāmso manonmanyas tathonmanī //34//
desakālānavacchinnam tadūrdhve paramam mahat /
nisargasundaram tat tu parānandavighurnitam //35//
The YH prescribes here to meditate, that is, to visualize each of the

nine constituent parts of the ṣrīcakra in each of nine bodily cakras (also
called padma, lotus) tiered along the suṣumnā, from its lowest part to the
mahābindu, a system of cakras proper to this text (see figure 1.3).
As the Dī explains, these cakras are the following: at the base, at the
root of the suṣumnā, is the akulapadma, a red thousand-petal lotus, turned
upward, above which is another, eight-petal lotus supporting a third,
six-petal lotus. These three elements form what is called viṣu, a word that
means poison but is taken to come from the Sanskrit root VIŚ, to enter or
be present, this lotus being deemed to pervade in essence all thirty lotuses
tiered along the suṣumnā. What these thirty lotuses are is not explained
by the Dī, but the YH probably refers to secondary subtle centers (ādhāra,
sthāna, etc.), which we will meet later. Above these lotuses are the usual
seven cakras: mūlādhāra (“fire”); svādhisthāna, considered as the place
of sakti; manipūra; anāhata; viṣuddha; lambika (on the uvula); ājñā (or
bhrūmadhya), above which the yogin is to meditate on the bindu. On the
top of the head is another thousand-petal lotus, on the brahmarandhra. All
this is usual.
But now the bhāvanā takes on a different aspect, since the adept is to
“meditate” the kalās, the subtle phonic “parts” of the bīja HRĪṂ starting
with the bindu (the anusvāra Ṃ, that is, which prolongs the M of HRĪṂ)
and ending with unmanā. He is to cause to appear in his mind (bhāvayet)
all these kalās, seeing them mentally as described in slokas 27–34. The Dī
explains that in this meditation, the conventional shapes and colors of the
kalās, along with the aspect of the deities abiding in the nine bodily cen-
ters, are to be visualized.
The cakras tiered between the two one-thousand petal lotuses
mahābindu
unmanā
sahasrāra
ājñā (bindu) bhrūmadhya
lambika
viśuddha kantha
..
anāhata hrdaya
.
manipūraka
. nābhi
svādhisthāna
..
śākta
mūlādhāra
kulapadma
visu
.
kanda
akulapadma
figures 1.3. The cakras tiered between the two one-thousand-petaled lotuses.
The adept should do this while giving to each of these mental images
the prescribed length of time. These, however, are so infinitesimal as to
be entirely theoretical. We may therefore surmise that they are meant
merely to express the extreme subtlety and transcendence of these phonic
elements.
When this supreme kalā sees the flashing forth of the Self, assum-
ing the aspect of Ambikā, the supreme Word is being uttered. //36//
ātmanaḥ sphuranam pasyed yadā sā paramā kalā /
ambikārūpam apannā parā vāk samudīritā //36//
When the supreme Goddess perceives herself as identical with the
supreme Śiva—that is, when the supreme godhead, in total plenitude,
at once male and female, becomes conscious of this state—she becomes
Ambikā, the Mother, the origin, in other words, of all that is. She is then
also the supreme Word (parā vāk), which is the basic ground and substrate
of the universe, and the absolutely peaceful, Śāntā, energy deity.
This metaphysical level is to be imagined diagrammatically as in the
center of the srīcakra.
The creative function of the levels of the Word is then shown as visibly
embodied in the geometrical structure of the inner triangle of the srīcakra:
When she turns toward [creation] so as to manifest the universe

which is held [within her] as a seed, taking on the form of a hook,18
[she becomes] Vāmā because she vomits the universe. //37// Then,
being the energy of will, this very [goddess] embodies herself as the
visionary [word]. Then, as energy of knowledge, she is Jyeṣṭhā, and
the intermediate word is being enunciated. //38// With the conser-
vation of the universe, her form spreads out as a straight line. Then,
on the level of resorption, she takes on the form of bindu. //39//
When the reverse process takes place, she flashes forth in a body
[shaped like] a sṛngāṭa. She is then energy of action. She is Raudrī,
the corporeal [word], appearing as the universe. //40//
bījabhāvasthitam viṣvam sphuṭīkartum yadonmukhī /
vāmā visvasya vamanād aṅkusākāratām gatā //37//
icchāsaktis tadā seyam pasyantīvapuṣā sthitā /
jñānasaktis thatā jyeṣṭhā madhyamā vāg udīritā //38//
ṛjurekhāmayī visvasthitau prathitavigrahā /
tatsamhṛtidasāyām tu baindavam rūpam āsthitā //39//
pratyāvṛttikramenaivam sṛṅgāṭavapur ujjvalā /
kriyāsaktis tu raudrīyam vaikharī visvavigrahā //40//
These four slokas describe the process whereby the Goddess, hav-
ing perceived herself as the supreme (divine) limiting creative power
(paramakalā), manifests the universe through the three stages or levels
of the Word (vāk), starting out from paravāk, the supreme Word, which is
the eternal, omnipresent, pervasive ground of the whole process. This pro-
cess, in the metaphysics of nondualist shaivism, brings about the cosmic
manifestation as resulting from the Word: the world exists because it has
been and is eternally being enunciated, expressed by the supreme deity,
which is essentially Word.
There are, based on parā, three stages or levels in this process. First is the
visionary (pasyantī) word, in which there appears in the divine consciousness
a vision of what will be manifested—the word and the vision being inextri-
cably mixed. Then comes the plane of madhyamā, the intermediate word, in
which there appears a differentiation between elements of word or speech
and in which the lineaments of the objective world appear but still ideally.
There is a third and lower plane of the word, that of vaikharī, the “cor-
poreal,”19 in which words and objects appear manifested and separately.20
But in the present case, what appears after the intermediate word is not the
next stage of manifestation but the opposite movement: toward resorption,
with the bindu, the dot in the center of the central triangle. This is because
the whole process takes place within the deity and because creation and
destruction are always present together in the supreme godhead.
This process, which unfolds on the highest divine plane, is thus
described as resulting from the Goddess assuming the aspect of four
goddesses and of four energies. First is Ambikā, the Mother of creation,
together with the highest peaceful (sāntā) goddess form of energy, on the
plane of parā vāk. Then comes vāmā, “because she vomits the universe”
(visvasya vāmanāt), projects it outside, that is, together with the energy
of will (icchā). She also visualizes ideally the universe in herself, the
level of the word being pasyantī. After this comes the goddess Jyeṣṭhā,
together with the power of knowledge (jñānasakti), since she takes cog-
nizance of her creation on this plane. It is the level of madhyamā vāk.
Since the creative movement stops here and a reverse, resorption move-
ment appears, the Goddess takes on now the form of the fearsome Raudrī,
deemed to arise together with the divine power of action (kriyāsakti),
described as abiding in the central bindu wherein all powers are united
and concentrated. The central triangle is thus complete, its three sides
being made by the forms taken on by Ambikā, Vāmā, and Jyeṣṭhā, with
Raudrī on bindu in the center.
What the adept is to realize here is the first creative movement of the
supreme Goddess manifesting the inner triangle of the srīcakra together
with the four basic forms of energy and four forms of herself as four
energy-goddesses, while retaining all this within herself: hence the fourth
goddess, Raudrī, and the return to the bindu.
In or around this central triangle, other entities are now to appear:
While manifesting21 everything that exists in essence then exter-

nally, these four energies [produce] KA PŪ JĀ O, in that order. //41//
These pīṭhās are located respectively in the bulb, the word, the form,
and beyond all form. Their forms are respectively those of a square,
a circle with six bindus, a half-moon, and a triangle. They are known
as being yellow, smoke-gray, white, and red. //42–43//
bhāsanād visvarūpasya svarūpe bāhyato ‘pi ca /
etās catasraḥ saktyas tu kā pū jā o iti kramāt //41//
pīṭhāḥ kande pade rūpe rūpātīte kramāt sthitāḥ /
caturasram tathā binduṣaṭkayuktam ca vṛttakam //42//
ardhacandram trikonam ca rūpāny eṣām kramena tu /
pīto dhumras tathā sveto rakto rūpam ca kīrtitam //43//
The four basic energies, from sāntā to kriyā, present in the central tri-
angle around the Goddess are now said to bring about the apparition of
more concrete cosmic elements, the pīṭhas, which are the four main seats
or centers of presence and power of the Goddess. They are quoted by the
initials of their names, which are Kāmarūpa, Pūrnagiri, Jālandhara, and
Oḍḍiyāna, four places ensuring “geographically” the concrete presence
of the Goddess in the Indian subcontinent.22 A characteristic of Tantric
sacred geography is that it is mentally and bodily interiorized, so the pīṭhas
are also to be visualized by the adept on four points of his yogic imagi-
nary body. The bulb (kanda in Sanskrit) is a bulge in the lower part of the
suṣumnā usually considered as the center from which issue and radiate in
the body the 72,000 nāḍīs, the channels in which the prāna circulates. It is
also assimilated to the lower yogic center, the mūlādhāra.
The three terms “word” (pada), “form” (rūpa), and “beyond the form”
(rūpātīta)—together, usually, with pinḍ a rather than kanḍ a—are the names
of four centers of the yogic body. According to the Dī, “word” refers to the
hamsa, which we may understand here as the inner breath in the heart. The
“form” (rūpa) would be the bindu, on the forehead, on the so-called ājñā
center. “Beyond the form” (rūpātīta) refers to the brahmarandhra. The pīṭhas
appear thus as tiered along the kunḍ alinī, where they are to be visualized as
colored geometrical shapes, which are, in fact, those of the manḍ alas of four
elements, the tattvas of earth, water, fire, and air. Their being associated with
cakras of the yogic body, from the base to the summit of the kunḍ alinī, corre-
lates cosmic and human levels. This practice (since the pīṭhas are to be visual-
ized and “interiorized”) is thus at once mental-spiritual, diagrammatic-visual,
bodily (in the yogic sense), and cosmic, the description of this part of the
srīcakra being at the same time the prescription of a yogic practice. This is
one more instance of the tantric association of ritual and yoga.
Now liṅgas are described as present in the same places:
The self-existing liṅga, the bānaliṅga and the itara, then the supreme
[one], O Dear One, are present in the pīṭhas. //44//
They shine like gold, [like] the bandhūka flower, the autumn
moon. The great svayambhuliṅga is surrounded by the vowels and
is three-pronged. //45// The bānaliṅga, triangular, is encircled by
the phonemes from KA to TA. [The itara] is shaped like the round
flower of the Kadamba and is encircled by the letters from THA
to SA. //46// The supreme liṅga is subtle; it is enclosed by all the
phonemes. It is the bindu, root of supreme bliss, arising from the
eternal plane. //47//
svayambhūr bānaliṅgam ca itaram ca param punaḥ /
pīṭheṣvetāni liṅgāni samsthitāni varānane //44//
hemabandhūkakusumasaraccandranibhāni tu /
svarāvṛtam trikūṭam ca mahāliṅgam svayambhuvam //45//
kāditāntākṣaravṛtam bānaliṅgam trikonakam /
kadambagolakākāram thādisāntākṣarāvṛtam //46//
sūkṣmarūpam samastārnavṛtam paramaliṅgakam /
bindurūpam parānandakandam nityapadoditam //47//
The sādhaka is to imagine these liṅgas as being on the same places as

the pīṭhas: three on the three angles of the inner triangle, the fourth on the
bindu in the center. Since liṅgas are icons of Śiva, we may assume that to
conceive them as placed on the pīṭhas, the seats of the Goddess, is to mark
symbolically the co-presence (the samketa), the union, of these two, male
and female, aspects of the supreme deity.23
A liṅga is an icon of Śiva of any aspect, shape, or material, not nec-
essarily the more or less visibly phallic image one usually means when
using the term.24 Liṅgas are classified in Tantras or in iconography manu-
als under different names and categories, notably that of “special” (siṣṭa)
liṅgas, which is the case of those mentioned here, where their shape and
color are specified for the adept to visualize them.
The self-existing (svayambhu) liṅga is normally any sort of natural
object that has been declared to be a visible icon of Śiva. In the present
case, it is described as three-pronged (that is, says the Dī, having three
bindus on its summit) and golden in color. Bānalingas, as a rule, consist
mostly of quartz and are egg-shaped pebbles. Here it is triangular and
red. The itaralingas, as their names indicate (itara means “other”), are nor-
mally all other sorts of liṅgas. Here it is said to be round like a ball and
white. The paraliṅga is colorless, invisible, since it is above the field of the
senses. It is, says the Dī, “the root made of bliss of the liana extending
from A to KṢA whose boughs are the [levels of the Word] pasyantī,25 etc.,
and whose imperishable root is the supreme (parā) word. It ‘arises from
the eternal plane’ because the mātṛkā is eternal. This liṅga arises as the
primordial vibration (prathamaspanda)26 from the eternal plane which is
to be reached by all those who wish to be liberated from the fetters of this
world.”
Here, too, the phonemes of the Sanskrit alphabet are present but in their
subtle form, as the mātṛkā, the “mother” of the phonemes, not as utterable
phonic elements. The vowels are associated with the svayambhuliṅga since
they are of a higher nature than the consonants, associated with the bāna
and itara liṅgas, whereas the whole alphabet, the totality of the power of
the Word, is associated with the supreme liṅga.
Such are the kula and kaula entities expressed by the whole mantra
taken as a whole with its three bījas. //48//
Such [too] are the states called waking, dream, deep sleep, and
fourth, as well as the one beyond, supreme splendor [wherein]
appears the consciousness of the Self. //49//
bījatritayayuktasya sakalasya manoḥ punaḥ /
etāni vācyarūpāni kulakaulamayāni tu //48//
jāgratsvapnasuṣuptākhyaturyarūpāny amūni tu /
atītam tu param tejas svasamvidudayātmakam //49//
Having associated the four liṅgas with the mātṛkā and with the levels
of parā, pasyantī, and so on, that is, with the total power of the Word, the
YH now considers these entities to be expressed or predicated (vācya), that
is, brought to existence by—or to have their essence in—the three parts,
here called bījas, of the srīvidyā and (for the supreme liṅga) by or in the
ṣrīvidyā taken in its totality. The term kula is understood by the Dī as refer-
ring to the three human and cosmic divisions: knower, object of knowl-
edge, and knowledge—or subject, objectivity and cognition; or measurer,
measurable, and criteria of measurement—(pramātṛ-prameya-pramāna,

which we have already seen above, sl. 12–13), taken separately, kaula refer-
ring to these three elements taken together.27
Then (sl. 49) another, human group of four elements is added as pres-
ent in the center of the srīcakra: the four avasthas, which are states or
modalities of consciousness going from the ordinary waking conscious-
ness (jāgrat) to a fourth (turya/turīya) subtle one, these four being sub-
sumed and dominated by a fifth “above the fourth” (turyātīta) transcendent
state, identical with the supreme uncreated divine Consciousness.28
What comes forth appearing as a self-willed visible layout of every-

thing in the shape of the universe is Consciousness, a form of the
Self, beauty of uncreated bliss. //50//
svecchāviṣmayollekhakhacitam visvarūpakam /
caitanyam ātmano rūpam nisargānandasundaram //50//
Having shown the goddesses or energies present in or around the

central triangle as issuing from the absolute while having it as their
essence and substrate, the YH now comes back to the cosmic aspect
of the srīcakra: by drawing it out by an act of her own will (svecchā) as a
visible layout of everything that exists (visvamayollekhakhacita) consist-
ing in the universe (visvarūpaka), the Goddess manifests the universe
as the srīcakra, entirely pervaded by her power. The Dī quotes here
Kṣemarāja’s Pratyabhijñāhṛdaya,29 2: “By the power of her own will she
unfolds the universe on her own screen” (svabhittau), that is, on herself
as the essence and substrate of all. The Dī also quotes a well-known for-
mula:: “The Lord Śiva gladdens having seen the infinite diversity of the
world which he has drawn out with the brush of his own will.” Another
quote: “the supreme energy inseparable from Śiva has as her body the
whole cosmic process.”
That the diagrammatic and the cosmic processes are one and the same
is again stated, as follows:
When the measurable, the measurer, and the criteria of measure

spread out, the brightness contracts, being will, knowledge, and
activity. [Consciousness then] takes on a triangular30 form. //51//
meyamātṛpramānamānaprasaraiḥ samkucatprabham /
sṛngāṭarūpam āpannam icchājñānakriyātmakam //51//
What appears now in the supreme Consciousness is the condition of

the knower (pramātṛ), the empirical subject (the measurer), and what the
subject can know (the objects, which are measurable, meya), knowledge
(pramā), and its criteria (pramāna). This development implies a “contrac-
tion” (samkoca) of Consciousness since it evolves from an absolute fullness
and undifferentiation to the differentiated, discursive thought (vikalpa) of
the empirical, individual subject, an evolution whose dimension here is
cosmic: the divine energy takes on the form of the universe without, how-
ever, losing her divine, absolute, luminous nature. This is expressed by
saying that she acts as the three fundamental divine powers of will, cogni-
tion, and activity (icchā, jñāna, and kriyā). These being three, she becomes
threefold, a condition expressed in the YH by saying that she assumes the
shape of a water chestnut (sṛṅgāṭa).
The YH now says (sl. 52–55) how the adept is to conceive meditatively—
by bhāvanā—and visualize the supreme deity as abiding in the srīcakra:
[One must see the energy of consciousness as] the resting place of
the very nature of Śiva as the sustaining power of the expansion
of the forms of the universe, supremely beautiful, resting as on a
couch against the hip of Kāmesvara. //52// Shining, she holds the
noose made of the energy of will, the hook which is [energy of ]
knowledge, the bow and the arrows made of energy of action. //53//
Split into support and supported, divided into eight, bearer of weap-
ons, arising from the cakra with eight points, she has the ninefold
cakra as a throne. //54//
visvākāraprathādhāranijarūpasivāsrayam /
kāmesvarāṅkaparyaṅkaniviṣṭam atisundaram //52//
icchāsaktimayam pāsam aṅkusam jñānarūpinam /
kriyāsaktimaye bānadhanuṣī dadhadujjvalam //53//
āsrayāsrayibhedena aṣṭadhā binnahetimat /
aṣṭāracakrasamrūḍham navacakrāsanasthitam //54//
The supreme energy of the godhead, supreme consciousness, is now

to be conceived as the metaphysical resting place of Śiva, who supports
the expansion of the cosmos. She is also to be visualized as the goddess
Kāmesvarī resting on the lap of the god Kāmesvara:31 a division in two of the
absolute oneness of the supreme which will bring about the multiplicity
of the expansion (through the thirty-six tattvas) of the cosmos. This divine
pair is described as each bearing the four symbolical “weapons” (āyudha,
here called heti) of Tripurasundarī, each identified with one of the four32
basic energies of Śiva, and is therefore said to be divided into eight.
Although arising from the bindu, in the center of the inner triangle,
this pair, which is somehow the Goddess herself, stretches out in the
whole srīcakra, which is ninefold, and is thus her throne.
This is the form in which the supreme splendor abides embodied33

as the srīcakra, surrounded by the sparkling waves of her
multitudinous energies. //55//
evamrūpam param tejaḥ srīcakravapuṣā sthitam /
tadīyasaktinikarasphuradūrmisamāvṛtam //55//
The supreme splendor is the supreme godhead, Tripurasundarī, in her

cosmic aspect as the srīcakra, with all the deities that animate it surround-
ing her. The image is that of a central throbbing core of light and power
surrounded, as by the waves of the sea, by the energies emanating from
this center.
More technically, but interestingly, the Dī explains as follows this flow
of the divine energies as linked to, or embodied as, the srīcakra: “When
Kāmesvara and Kāmesvarī, who are pure light and reflective aware-
ness [prakāsavimarsamaya]34 assume by their own free will the forms of
the constitutive parts of the srīcakra, then the energies which constitute
these parts surround them in the form of the āvaranadevatās Kāmesvarī,
Vajresvarī, Bhagamālinī (etc.).”
As for the word “wave” (ūrmi), it is explained as follows: “the supreme
Lord, who is light [prakāsa] is the sea, Kāmesvari, which is awareness [vimarsa]
is the water, the waves being the numberless energies into which they divide
themselves. As the waves appear and subside in the sea, so the cakra made of
the thirty-six tattvas, with its energies, appears and disappears there.”
Having visualized in this way the srīcakra in its dynamic cosmic aspect,
the adept is now to visualize and experience bodily and mentally, while
displaying them, nine divinized powers, the mudrās, which are deemed to
reside in the cakra (sl. 56–71):
When Consciousness becomes luminously aware of the universe

[appearing] on the screen of her Self, filled with the desire for
action, she [produces it] by her own free will. //56// [She is then]
energy of activity, called mudrā because she gladdens the universe
and makes it flow.
cidātmabhittau visvasya prakāsāmarsane yadā /
karoti svecchayā pūrnavicikīrṣāsamanvitā //56//
kriyasaktis tu visvasya modanād drāvanāt tathā /
mudrākhyā
The awareness that the Goddess, supreme consciousness, has of the

universe born from her is said to be luminous since the cosmic manifes-
tation has just been described as an ocean of light. In nondualist Tantric
Śaiva traditions, the apparition of the cosmos is viewed as a real trans-
formation of the deity into the universe: she is “made of everything [that
exists]” (visvamaya). The world, therefore, is not purely illusory.35 The cre-
ation is also viewed as an image the godhead projects as with a ray of light
on herself, as on a screen, which is to say that she is not only the origin but
also the substrate of the world. Since the world is being manifested, the
energy acting in this case is the energy of activity (kriyāsakti).
The interpretation of the term mudrā as gladdening (modana, from
the verbal root MUD, therefore mu) and causing to flow (dravayati, from
the root DRU, to flow or dissolve, therefore drā) is traditional.36 The term
can thus be taken as denoting the blissful flow of the universe, differ-
ent aspects of which will be shown as appearing in different parts of the
srīcakra (which is a cosmic diagram), as a result of the action of such sec-
ondary deities as the Mudrās, who embody different aspects or stages
of the cosmic activity of the Goddess. They are described in the YH as
energy-goddesses, not as hand gestures, the usual meaning of mudrā.
Only in the Dī (and in Bhāskarāya’s commentary) are they shown as ges-
tures (and as deities or energies). These hand gestures are to be displayed
by the adept, who will thus not only evoke the mudrās as deities but also,
through this physical action, experiment in mind and body the cosmic
activity of the Goddess as she manifests the cosmos, or, in this case, reab-
sorbs it, a process parallel to that of the quest for liberation.
When this consciousness, Ambikā, made of three kalās, //57//

becomes divided into three, she causes the continuous presence
[of the Goddess in the srīcakra.]. She is celebrated as pervading the
whole cakra. //58//
sā yadā samvidambikā trikalāmayī //57//
trikhanḍārūpam āpannā samnidhikārinī /

sarvasya cakrarājasya vyāpikā parikīrtitā //58//
Consciousness (samvit) is said to be made of three kalās, since kalās

are limiting forms of power (see above, sl. 21, and n. 10). The term
denotes the three energy-goddesses Vāmā, Jyeṣṭhā, and Raudrī, who,
taken together, are Ambikā, the Mother of all powers, the Goddess, who,
“becoming divided into three,” is present as these three goddesses in
the whole srīcakra but also as the mudrās. As such, she “causes her con-
tinuous presence” (samnidhi) in it, since, in Hindu ritual, a deity is to be
actually, continuously, and favorably present in the icon when it is to be
worshipped.
Samnidhi, or samnidhāna, is the third of a series of four ritual actions
to be performed at the beginning of all worship to ensure this divine pres-
ence.37 The Goddess is, of course, always present in and as the srīcakra.
The samnidhi here is to ensure her presence as mudrās who symbolize
nine different aspects of her cosmic activity.
This same [consciousness as Trikhanḍā mudrā], when [in her,

the aspect of ] yoni increases, [becomes] the universal agitator
[Sarvasamkṣobhinī] who abides in the cakra of the doors and in
whom the energy Vāmā dominates. //59//
yoniprācyuryataḥ saiṣā sarvasamkṣobhinī punaḥ /
vāmāsaktipradhāneyam dvāracakre sthitā bhavet //59//
The Mudrās,38 as divine aspects of the cosmic activity of the Goddess,

are now enumerated, going from the outer square section of the srīcakra
to its center. The first aspect of this activity to be considered is that of
creation, in the outer square (bhūg ṛha, house of the earth), which cor-
responds, in the cosmic symbolism of the srīcakra, to the plane of the
manifested world. The mudrā Sarvasamkṣobhinī, the universal agitator,
disturbs the cosmos, that is, embodies the action of the Goddess as actively
present in this world, not purely quiescent and transcendent.
In Śaiva nondualist systems, the term kṣobha, which, like samghaṭṭa,
has sexual connotations, implies creation. As the Dī says, sṛṣtir
eva kṣobhaḥ, “agitation is indeed creation” (or “creation is indeed
agitation”).39
The quadrangular external part of the srīcakra is called cakra of the
doors (dvāracakra), because each of its four sides includes a portion
1 2
Sarvasamksobhinı̄
. . . Sarvavidrāvinı̄
.
3 4 5
Sarvākarsinı̄
. . Sarvāveśakarı̄ Sarvonmādinı̄ Sarvonmādinı̄
present practice
6 7 8
.
Sarvamahānkuśā Khecarı̄ Sarvabı̄jā
9 10 (1) 10 (2)
Sarvayoni Sarvatrikhandā
.. Sarvatrikhandā
..
figures 1.4 and 1.5 The ten mudrās.

technically called a door (dvāra), by which the officiating adept can enter or
leave40 the diagram. Being considered on the level of the empirical world,
of māyā, this cakra is fittingly called Trailokyamohana (“delusion of the
three worlds”), since the Goddess deludes, enchants, the world by uphold-
ing its deceiving nature through her māyā.
The goddess Vāmā is so called, it is said, because she “vomits” (vamati),
that is, brings out, manifests, the world.
The YH mentions only the metaphysical aspect of the mudrās, their
role as divine energies. They are, however, also hand gestures, to be dis-
played by the adept. This is explained in the Dī for each of the ten mudrās.
These explanations are interesting, but translating these passages would
take too much space here. Sketches of these hand poses, made by a panḍit
of the French Institute of Indology in Pondicherry, are given in figures 1.4
and 1.5.
When Jyeṣṭhā predominates, she ensures the conservation of the

universe
[which had been] agitated. As the kalās of the gross aspect of the
phonic subtle vibration, she bestows grace to all. //60// This
selfsame Mudrā whose form flashes forth is in the cakra called
Sarvāsapūrana.
kṣubdhaviṣvasthitikarī jyeṣṭhāprācuryam āsritā /
sthūlanādakalārūpā sarvānugrahakārinī //60//
sarvāsāpūranākhye tu saiṣā sphuritavigrahā /
After the creative agitation caused by Vāmā, the energy-goddess Jyeṣṭhā

now causes the preservation (sthiti) of the universe. This action is consid-
ered to take place (diagrammatically) on the level of the sixteen-petal lotus
called Sarvāsapūrana (“fulfillment of all wishes”). The kalās mentioned
here are the sixteen “vowels,” from A to visarga, in their gross, that is,
audible, form.41
According to the Dī, these kalās are also sixteen “attracting” divine
energies, Kāmākarṣinī and so on, which are to be worshipped in this cakra
during the pūjā.42
The Dī gives the name of this Mudrā: Sarvavidrāvinī (“causing every-
thing to flow”) and, naturally, describes the corresponding hand gesture.
“Because its nature is conservation,” it says, “it consists in raising the
joined middle and index fingers and joining the ring and little fingers. Its
nature being to attract desires, it causes fullness of divine grace.”
When Jyeṣṭhā and Vāmā are in equilibrium, creation predominates.

//61// This Ākarṣinī mudrā is known as the agitator of the universe.
jyeṣṭhāvāmāsamatvena ṣṛṣṭeḥ prādhānyam āsritā //61//
ākarṣinī tu mudreyam sarvasamkṣobhinī smṛtā /
The role of this mudrā does not seem to differ greatly from that of the
preceding one, whose action it seems merely to confirm. Interestingly,
the Dī says that if this mudrā is attracting (ākarṣinī), it is “because of the
curved position (like a hook) of the two index fingers”; the gesture is given
as explaining a metaphysical element. This is one more case of the total
interpenetration of the theoretical and the bodily, characteristic of the
mudrās.
This mudrā is localized in the lotus of eight petals called
Sarvasamkṣobhanacakra, the cakra of universal agitation.43
[The mudrā ] who holds herself in the interval between two vyo-
mans, O Mahesvarī! //62// is known as causing the absorption into
the deity resulting from the conjunction of Śiva and Śakti. It is an
embodiment of the bliss of consciousness, located in the cakra of
fourteen triangles. //63//
vyomadvayāntarālasthabindurūpā mahesvari //62//
sivāsaktyākhyasamsleṣād divyāvesakarī smṛtā /
caturdasāracakrasthā samvidānandavigrahā //63//
The term vyoman, which means sky, space, or ether, refers here to sec-
ondary centers of the yogic body sometimes also called sūnya, void. They
are described as numbering five, tiered along the suṣumnā, where they are
located between the bodily cakras, from mūlādhāra to ājñā. The Dī adds
that between these elements there are also five other secondary centers,44
bindus, to be identified with the gross elements (the mahābhūtas).
The absorption (āvesa) in the union of Śiva and Śakti embodied in this
mudrā, called Sarvāvesakarī, is displayed in the corresponding hand ges-
ture, which consists in a joining of the hands, the fingers being inter-
locked. It embodies the bliss of consciousness (samvidānanda), since the
fusion (samslesa) of Śiva and Śakti is intensely blissful.
The cakra of fourteen triangles where this mudrā is to be contemplated

is called Sarvasaubhāgyadāyaka (“giver of total happiness”).
When she flashes forth between the bindus as a subtle flame, the
energy Jyeṣṭhā predominating, she intoxicates all beings. She
remains, staying in the [external] cakra of ten triangles, O Praised
by the heroes! //64–65a//
bindvantarālavilasatsūkṣmarūpasikhāmayī /
jyeṣṭhāsaktipradhānā tu sarvonmādanakārinī //64//
dasāracakrāsthāyā samsthitā vīravandite /
This mudrā, looking like a flashing flame, extends, according to the Dī,
from a yonibindu placed in the mūlādhāra to a mahābindu, on the level of
the brahmarandhra, therefore along the suṣumnā, which means that the
experience of the adept is one of kunḍalinīyoga, not a merely mental, visual
one. What with the visual evocation of the mudrā in the yogic body as
part of a practice of kunḍalinī yoga, conjoined with the display of the cor-
responding hand gesture, this practice appears as a particularly complex
mental-bodily experience.
The mudrā’s name is Sarvonmadinī (“totally intoxicating”). The cakra
of ten triangles is called Sarvārthasādhaka (“accomplisher of all [human]
aims”).
Then the energy Vāmā predominating [again], she becomes the

Great Hook. //65// Thus, vomiting the universe, she abides in
the second [cakra] of ten triangles, being full of joy, remaining in
the form of mudrā. //66//
vāmasaktipradhānā tu mahāṅkusamayī punaḥ //65//
tadvad visvam vamantī sā dvitīye dasārake /
samsthitā modanaparā mudrārūpam āsthitā //66//
The energy-goddess Vāmā is considered to permeate the second cakra

of ten triangles, named Sarvarakṣākāra (“bringing protection to all”). As we
saw previously (sl. 37), Vāmā (the word means also left, crooked, oblique)
was associated with the left, oblique side of the inner triangle. Now she is
similarly associated with the hook mudrā, her joy being the bliss of fusion
with the supreme godhead. An aṅkusa is a hook or goad of an elephant
driver. It is one of the attributes (āyudha,45 “arms”) held by Tripurasundarī.
Born from the unifying interaction of dharma and adharma in the

form of intelligence, she destroys the faults of omission in ritual
action resulting from differentiated thought. //67// [This mudrā,]
the supreme khecarī, destroyer of the diseases born from differenti-
ated thought, abides, made of consciousness, in the Sarvarogahāra
cakra. //68//
dharmādharmasya samghaṭṭād utthitā vittirūpini /
vikalpotthakriyāloparūpadoṣavighātinī //67//
vikalparūparoganānām hārinī khecarī parā /
sarvarogaharākhye tu cakre samvinmayī sthitā //68//
Dharma here means Śiva, and adharma is Śakti. That the khecarī mudrā
should be born from their conjunction, samghaṭṭa (their total fusion,
sāmarasya, says the Dī), is not surprising, since this mudrā has a very high
position in many kula traditions. It is the main mudrā described in the
Tantrāloka (chapter 32), where it is described as a complex bodily-mental atti-
tude deemed to bring about the presence of the deity and unite the adept with
it. In the Parātrīsikā, a basic Trika work, the highest spiritual state the adept
can reach is khecaratā, the state of being khecara, of moving (cara) in the void
of consciousness (khe46), a state described as the state of Śiva (sivāvasthā). In
such a state, all forms of discursive, differentiated thought evidently disappear.
Then, in the sky [of consciousness], in the flashing forth of the

embrace of Śiva and Śakti, making the universe which is there in a
subtle form to shine forth perpetually, //69// she holds herself in the
Sarvasiddhimaya [cakra] as the Great Mudrā whose nature is seed.
Then, in this place where one enjoys the fullness of light, //70// this
Yonimudrā which is the power to act, stays in the Sarvānandamaya
[cakra].
sivasaktisamāsleṣasphuradvyomāntare punaḥ /
prakāsayantī visvam sā sūkṣmarūpasthitam sadā //69//
bījarūpā mahāmudrā sarvasiddhimaye sthitā /
sampūrnasya prakāsasya lābhabhūmir iyam punaḥ //70//
yonimudrā kalārūpā sarvānandamaye sthitā /
The luminous state of identification with the union of Śiva and Śakti
having been reached while displaying the khecarīmudrā, the adept, enjoy-
ing the bliss of the full luminousness of the divine consciousness, displays
the last yonimudrā, which evokes by hand gesture the yoni of the Goddess
and also the Goddess as yoni, source or seed (bīja) of the universe. The Dī
says that this mudrā embodies the dynamic power of the conscious aware-
ness (vimarsakalā) of the supreme deity: the deity, in Tantra, is never static
but is dynamic: bliss, absolute total consciousness, but also life, power, as
is underlined in the next half-stanza.
The yoni being always symbolized by a triangle, this mudrā abides
therefore in the central triangle of the srīcakra.
The YH concludes:
This is how the [energy of ] activity, whose nature is consciousness,

abides in the [srī]cakra. //71//
kriyā caitanyarūpatvād evam cakramayam sthitam //71//
This half-stanza is commented on as follows by the Dī: “As has been

said before (sl. 57), the power of activity is named mudrā because she glad-
dens the universe and makes it flow.”
It is therefore only the energy of activity that, dividing herself, beauti-
fies and diversifies herself by the division and the (successive) predomi-
nance of the energy-goddesses Vāmā and so on, and assuming the forms
of the various mudrās, from Samkṣobhinī to Yoni, her nature being that
of a consciousness (caitanya) that becomes the cakra, that is to say, that
assumes the aspects of the ninefold cakra, from Trailokyamohana to
Sarvānandamaya. To avoid, however, that one should believe that only the
power of activity acts in the srīcakra, the YH adds:
The awakened must always meditate intensely on the supreme

splendor which is will. //72a//
icchārūpam param tejaḥ sarvadā bhāvayed budhaḥ /
The adept must never forget that it is the supreme deity, the united
Śiva and Śakti, that acts through the energies of which kriyāsakti, that
of activity, is the lowest. The YH reminds us, therefore, that the deity
acts through her own free will, svecchayā. This the devotee must medi-
tate in his heart, perceiving it directly, being however helped by his
spiritual master, his guru (who for him is Śiva), and whose compas-
sionate glance falls on him. This is called in Sanskrit gurukatākṣapāta,
the descent of the glance (bearer of the power of Śiva) of the guru, who
thus transmits the divine saving energy of the deity, sometimes called
saktipāta.
Two other forms of “encounter” (samketa) with the srīcakra—different

visions and practices of it, that is—are now described:
Now [here] are the threefold and the ninefold encounter of the
cakra. //72b//
tridhā ca navadhā ca cakrasamketakaḥ punaḥ //72//
First the threefold division:
The first [section of the cakra is to be imagined as being produced]

by one fire and two energies, the [second] one by three fires and the
triad of energies, //73// and the [last] as made up of two lotuses and
the triple bhūgṛha. Five energies, four fires, two lotuses, and the triple
earths //74// [constitute thus] the great cakra in its complete fullness.
This aspect [of the cakra] is explained [thus]: the first [portion] is that of
the navayoni. To this are added the two [cakras of] ten triangles, //75//
then the fourteen yoni and, immediately after, the third [portion made
up of eight and sixteen petals, followed by the triple square.] //76//
[Thus], O Paramesvarī, is described the threefold [aspect of ] the
cakra. The emanation, then, //77// goes from the navayoni to the
earth and the resorption from the earth to the navayoni. Such is the
teaching of the treatises.
vahninaikena saktibhyām dvābhyām caiko ‘paraḥ punaḥ /
tais ca vahnitrayenāpi saktinām tritayena ca //73//
padmadvayena cānyaḥ syād bhūgṛhatritayena ca /
pañcasakti caturvahnipadmadvayamahītrayam //74//
paripūrnam mahācakram tatprakāraḥ pradarsyate /
tatrādyam navayoni syāt tena dvidasasamyutam //75//
manuyoni param vidyāt tṛtīyam tadanantaram /
aṣṭadvyaṣṭadalopetam caturasratrayānvitam //76//
cakrasya triprakāratvam kathitam paramesvari /
sṛṣṭiḥ syān navayonādipṛthivyantam samhṛtiḥ punaḥ //77//
pṛthivyādinavayonyantam iti sāstrasya nirnayaḥ /
The srīcakra is here conceived as made up of three portions. The first

one results from the interaction of one triangle apex upward (the “fire”)
and two triangles apex downward (the “energies”), this constituting the
eight-angle figure of the navayoni. The next portion is seen as adding to
the preceding one two series of three triangles, one male (“fire”), the other
female (“energies”), which results in the two ten-triangle cakras and the
fourteen-triangle one. The third portion is made up of the threefold circle
and the square outer portion enclosed by three lines.
The reason the srīcakra is to be conceived and meditated upon as made
up of three section is—as the Dī explains—that each of these three threefold
portions has a particular aspect (prakāra). In the central section, resorption
(samhāra) predominates, and in the middle one, conservation (stithi) pre-
dominates, while manifestation (sṛṣṭi) predominates in the outer portion. In
addition, in each of these three cakras, samhāra, sthiti, and sṛṣṭi are respectively
considered as predominating. Thus, the dynamism of the srīcakra taken as a
whole is that of emanation when going from its center to its outward portion,
that of resorption when going from the outer portion to the center.
But since resorption, conservation, and emanation are all present in each
of the three sections, the whole srīcakra is, at the same time, entirely per-
meated by these three aspects of the cosmic activity of the Goddess, who is
thus eternally and everywhere at once the creator, the maintainer, and the
destroyer of the universe, a fact expressed by this three-times-threefold struc-
ture of her cakra. As the diagrammatic form of the Goddess, the srīcakra thus
symbolizes and expresses her ever living, throbbing, creative, and destructive
power. To meditate and realize this mystically, as is here prescribed, is to real-
ize and to fuse with this divine dynamic plenitude. Hence the usefulness of
the srīcakra, whose nine sections are now again enumerated and then named:
[Now], O Paramesvarī, is told in its entirety the cakra of Tripurā //78//

through whose knowledge alone one becomes a knower of Tripurā.
The division of the cakra into nine, I am telling you, O Dear
One! //79//
There must first be the threefold earth,47 second the sixteen-petal
[lotus], then the one with eight petals, then the fourteen triangles;
fifth comes the [cakra with] ten angles and, sixth, the [other of ] ten
angles. In seventh position comes the [cakra of ] eight triangles,
then, eighth, the central triangle, the ninth being in the center of
[this] triangle. //80–82a//
etat samaṣṭirūpam tu tripurācakram ucyate //78//
yasya vijñānamātrena tripurājñānavān bhavet /

cakrasya navadhātvam ca kathayāmi tava priye //79//
ādimam bhūtrayena syād dvitīyam ṣoḍasārakam /
anyad aṣṭadalam proktam manukonam anantaram //80//
pañcamam dasakonam syāt ṣaṣṭham cāpi dasārakam /
saptamam vasukonam syān madhyatryasramathāṣṭamam //81//
navamam tryasramadhyam syāt
Hear now their names: Trailokyamohana cakra, Sarvāsaparipūraka,

//82// Sarvasamkṣobhana, O Gaurī! Sarvasaubhāgyadāyaka,
Sarvārthasādhaka cakra, Sarvarakṣākara, supreme, //83//
Sarvarogahara, O Goddess! then Sarvasiddhimaya and the ninth,
Sarvānandamaya, listen, O Beautiful One! //84//
teṣām nāmāny ataḥ sṛnu /
trailokyamohanam cakram sarvāsāparipūrakam //82//
sarvasamkṣobhanam gauri sarvasaubhāgyadāyakam /
sarvārthasādhakam cakram sarvarakṣākaram param //83//
sarvarogaharam devi sarvasiddhimayam tathā /
sarvānandamayam cāpi navamam sṛnu sundari //84//
The constituent cakras of the srīcakra are enumerated going from

its outer portion to its center: from this world, that is, to the supreme
Goddess, which is the course of liberation. The Dī explains the names of
the cakras and the rewards or power the adept is deemed to acquire when
worshipping the Goddess and her retinue of ancillary deities and powers
abiding in each cakra, as we shall see in chapter 3 below, where the differ-
ent parts of the pūjā are described.
Trailokyamohana, “deceiving the three worlds”: the three worlds are to

be understood as the ensemble formed by the objective world, the
apprehension of this duality, and the subject, the “knower” who
knows it and who is deceived by duality and discursive thought.
Sarvāsāparipūraka, “satisfying all desires”: a satisfaction attained, says
the Dī, when complete fusion with the supreme Śiva is attained.
Sarvasamkṣobhana, “agitation of the universe”: interpreted as alluding
to the movement (samkṣobhana) through which the tattvas, from
earth to Śiva, are reabsorbed into the supreme godhead.
Sarvasaubhāgyadāyaka, “giver of all happiness”: the happiness is that

of the union with supreme Śiva.
Sārvārthasādhaka, “accomplisher of all [human] aims”: the highest of
these aims is liberation (mokṣa) by union with the godhead.
Sarvarakṣākāra, “effecting all protection”: putting away all obstacles to
liberation.
Sarvarogahara, “destroyer of all illnesses”: the illnesses are the mani-
fested world, duality, all that is not liberation.
Sarvasiddhimaya, “made of all accomplishments or powers”: these are
the creation, maintaining, and reabsorption (sṛṣṭī, sthiti, samhāra)
of the cosmos, of which the central triangle is diagrammatically the
origin.
Sarvānandamaya, “whose nature is all bliss”: this is the nature of the
supreme godhead, the eternal union of Śiva and Śakti symbolized
by the central bindu.
Since the srīcakra is not only the diagrammatic form of the Goddess
but also the means to be used to worship her, the YH adds:
This is where must be worshipped the great Goddess

Mahātripurasundarī. Such is, in its perfect fullness, the great cakra
giver of eternal youth and immortality. //85
atra pūjyā mahādevī mahātripurasundarī /
paripūrnam mahācakram ajarāmarakārakam //85//
One could be tempted here to note that the practice of the srīcakra
appears to be conferring immortality and not merely liberation, that is,
a physical, worldly benefit, not a purely spiritual one. The Dī, however,
interprets this by saying that the one who has immortality and liberation
is the supreme Śiva. Therefore, what is obtained by the worship of the
srīcakra is in effect acquiring the perfect and immortal state of Śiva, a
point confirmed by the last sloka.
Thus has been said, O supreme Goddess! the encounter with the
great cakra of the goddess Tripurā, giver of liberation while still in
life. //86//
evam eṣa mahācakrasamketaḥ paramesvari /
kathitas tripurādevyā jīvanmukti pravartakaḥ //86//
2
Encounter in the Mantra

mantrasam k eta
the purpose of this chapter is to teach how to understand the inner hid-
den meaning—and thus the mystical efficacy—of Mahātripurasundarī’s
mantra, the srīvidyā. As was the case for the srīcakra, this efficacy results
from the agreed common presence (samketa) of Śiva and Śakti in Tripurā’s
mantra, whose constituent phonemes will be shown to be pervaded by the
interactive presence and power of these two, male and female, aspects of
the supreme deity and therefore as imbued with saving power. Different
aspects assumed by the Goddess, along with cosmic elements, are also
shown as expressed by the phonemes of the vidyā.
The interpretations given in this chapter of the hidden meanings of the
srīvidyā are, however, often extremely far-fetched and sometimes very dif-
ficult to understand, even with the help of Amṛtānanda’s commentary. Even
Professor Dvivedi, whose edition was used to translate the YH and the Dīpikā
and with whom I read and discussed this chapter, was in many cases unable
to explain the meaning of some stanzas and the corresponding passages of
the commentary. We therefore do not expect the reader to find our attempt at
deciphering such passages very satisfactory or always fully intelligible.
I will now tell you the divine presence of [Siva and the Goddess
embodied] in the mantra. Whoever knows this becomes, like
Tripurā, master of the circle of heroes. //1//
mantrasamketam divyam adhunā kathayāmi te /
yad vettā tripurākāro vīracakresvaro bhavet //1//
Encounter in the Mantra 59
The master of the heroes (vīra), that is, of those who have attained the
highest knowledge and supernatural powers, is the supreme Śiva. The
realization of the inner secret meaning of the srīvidyā leads thus to identi-
fication with the supreme godhead.
The srīvidyā being the root mantra (mūlavidyā) of the Goddess is con-
sidered to be, like the deity, surrounded by secondary (or ancillary) femi-
nine mantras—those of the Cakresvarīs, the regent-goddesses of the nine
parts of the srīcakra, which the sādhaka is to assign by nyāsa on the nine
centers of his yogic body, thus mentally identifying himself with these
nine powers. These nine vidyās are the following:
The first is the Karasuddhikarī, the second one Ātmarakṣikā, the

third Ātmāsanagatā; then, after her, //2// [comes] Cakrāsanagatā,
then Sarvamantrāsanasthitā. Sādhyasiddhāsana is the sixth one,
her nature being that of Māyā and Lakṣmī, supreme. //3// The
one called Mūrtividyā is the seventh goddess. The eighth one is the
vidyā Āvāhinī; the ninth is the supreme Bhairavī, //4// also called
Mūlavidyā, subjugating the three worlds.
karasuddhikarī tvādyā dvitīyā ātmarakṣikā /
ātmāsanagatā devī tṛtīyā tadanantaram //2//
cakrāsanagatā pascāt sarvamantrāsanasthitā /
sādhyasiddhāsanā ṣaṣṭhī māyālakṣmīmayī parā //3//
mūrtividyā ca sā devī saptamī parikīrtitā /
aṣṭamy āvāhinī vidyā navamī bhairavī parā //4//
mūlavidyā tathā proktā trailokyavasakārinī /
These nine Vidyās preside over the nine parts of the srīcakra, from the
outer square to the central triangle with the bindu in its center. To each of
them a particular role or function, expressed by her name, is ascribed. The
first is Karasuddhikarī, “purifier of the hands,” since the hands of the adept
are to be purified before he performs the ritual. He is also to protect himself
against all mental or spiritual imperfections and especially against egoism
and the illusion of duality, hence the name Ātmarakṣikā, “protector of the
Self,” of the second Vidyā. The third one, “who stays on the throne of the
Self,” embodies, according to Amṛtānanda, the consciousness of the unity of
the sādhaka, the cakra, the mantra, and the Self. The fourth is Cakrāsanagatā,
“having the cakra as a seat,” while the fifth, Sarvamantrāsanasthitā, “abiding
60 the heart of the yogin Ī
on the throne of all mantras,” presides over the portion of the srīcakra called
Sarvārthasādhaka, “which fulfills all wishes.” The sixth, Sādhyasiddhāsana,
“the seat of the accomplishment of what is to be accomplished,” governs the
powers nearest to the Goddess, the accomplishment alluded to being the
cosmic work of the Goddess as symbolized by the srīcakra and the srīvidyā.
The seventh is the Mūrtividyā, the visible form of the Goddess. The eighth
one, Āvāhinīvidyā, is the one used to invoke and keep (during worship) the
presence of the Goddess. The ninth vidyā is Bhairavī, the Goddess herself;
she is therefore the srīvidyā, the mūlamantra of Mahātripurasundarī.1
Thus, O Mistress of Kula, these nine kinds [of vidyās] are to be care-
fully placed //5// at the time of worship, in order, by the sādhaka.
evam navaprakārās tu pūjākāle prayatnataḥ //5//
etāḥ kramena nyastavyāḥ sādhakena kulesvari /
The term kula, or Kula, is often met with in the YH and the Dīpikā.
It refers in a general way to the ensemble of nondualist Śaiva traditions
formed by four āmnāyas (see the introduction, above). But it also has
technical meanings. It is used to designate not only the yogic imaginal
body but also the physical body or the universe conceived as a body: the
grouping of diverse elements. In its usual meaning, kula means family or
clan, notably the clan of the Yoginīs. The Goddess as “Mistress of Kula” is
thus the mistress of the universe in all its cosmic or bodily aspects.
The places where these nyāsas are to be made are as follows:
On the end of the feet, on the legs, the knees, the thighs, the anus,
the tip of the penis. //6// On the [mūl]ādhāra is to be imposed
the Mūrti[vidyā] on which is to be placed the Āvāhinī. With the
Mūla[vidyā] one must do a vyāpakanyāsa,2 Paramesvarī! //7//
pādāgrajaṅghājānūrugudaliṅgāgrakeṣu ca //6//
ādhāre vinyasen mūrtim tasyām āvāhinīm nyaset /
mūlena vyāpakanyāsaḥ kartavyaḥ paramesvari //7//
Once these nyāsas are made,
One must, on the spots previously mentioned, namely akula and

so forth,3 concentrate one’s thought on the nine cakras already enu-
merated, associating [each of them] with [its own] cakresvarī. //8//
akulādiṣu pūrvoktasthāneṣu paricintayet /

cakreṣvarīsamāyuktam navacakram puroditam //8//
The adept is to evoke meditatively each of the nine constitutive cakras of

the srīcakra in each of the nine cakras of his yogic body. He must thus med-
itate intensely (bhāvayet), first, on the Trailokyamohanacakra, the square
outer portion of the srīcakra, presided over by Tripurā in the thousand-petal
red akulapadma at the root of the suṣumnā. Then he meditates on the
Sarvāsaparipurakacakra presided over by Tripuresī, in the vahnyādhāra,
that is, the mūlādhāra, and so forth, up to the Sarvānandamayacakra, with
Mahātripurasundarī, in the bindu, on the forehead.
In this way, the adept perceives mentally the nine parts of the srīcakra
and the nine deities abiding there up to the supreme Goddess as present
in his body, tiered along his suṣumnā. This identifies him with the deity
both in her diagrammatic form and in her fullness as the nine aspects she
assumes in the srīcakra.
Of these I shall tell the names in their proper order. The first is the
goddess Tripurā; the second is Tripuresvarī; //9// the third is the
the goddess named Tripurasundarī; the fourth, a great goddess, is
Tripuravāsinī. //10// The fifth is Tripurasrī, the sixth Tripuramālinī;
the seventh is Tripurasiddhi, the eighth Tripurāmbikā. //11// As for
the ninth, she is the great Goddess Mahātripurasundarī. These god-
desses are to be worshipped in their proper order in the ninefold
cakra previously described. //12//
tāsām nāmāni vakṣyāmi yathānukramayogataḥ /
tatrādyā tripurā devī dvitiyā tripuresvarī //9//
tṛtīyā ca tathā proktā devi tripurasundarī /
caturthī ca mahādevi devī tripuravāsinī //10//
pañcamī tripurāsrīḥ syāt ṣaṣṭhī tripuramālinī
saptamī tripurasiddhir aṣṭamī tripurāmbikā //11//
navamī tu mahādevi mahātripurasundarī /
pūjayec ca kramād etā navacakre purodite //12//
The worship prescribed here is purely mental, each of the nine

Cakresvarīs being mentally visualized and worshipped as abiding in each
of the nine yogic bodily cakras, from the red thousand-petaled akulapadma
to the bindu. This identifies the adept with these nine forms of the supreme
Goddess, who appears thus as ninefold though remaining the one and
supreme power, bestowing youth and immortality through identification
with Śiva:
O Parvati! The primordial One [ādyā] appearing thus at the time of

worship under nine [different] aspects has in truth only one form,
that of the primordial Power [ādyasakti] bestowing eternal youth
and immortality //13//
evam navaprakārādyā pūjakāle tu pārvati /
ekākārā hy ādyasaktir ajarāmarakārinī //13//
The Dī explains here that the only one who is eternally young and
immortal is Śiva, and therefore, what the worshipper will now enjoy is the
condition of Śiva. The reader will note that the above stanza shows that
the aim of the rites described in the Tantra is the gaining of supernatural
rewards or powers in addition to liberation.
The reason stanzas 1–13 of this chapter enumerate the deities of the
srīcakra and prescribe their nyāsa and worship in the srīcakra is not clear,
since the theme of this chapter is the expounding of the esoteric mean-
ings of the srīvidyā. We may imagine, however, that such a worship and
the spiritual union with the deity are to precede and facilitate the mental
exertion needed to understand the often abstruse reasoning and arcane
speculations of stanzas 16–80 of this chapter, which are now expounded.
The practice of the mantra [mantrasamketaka] of that [primordial

power] can take different forms. It is only by following the tradition
and the regular order of the various mantras that one can obtain [its
knowledge]. //14//
mantrasamketakas tasyā nānākāro vyavasthitaḥ /
nānamantrakramenaiva pāramparyena labhyate //14//
We have already explained the meanings of the term samketa in the

introduction and chapter 1. Here the term is to be understood as the
expounding and, of course, the spiritual understanding of the inner expe-
rience, the esoteric meanings of the srīvidyā. As sloka 81 underlines, this
understanding can be obtained only by following the traditional inter-
pretation of the mantra as transmitted by the succession of the masters
(gurupāramparā) of the Śrīvidyā school; no outside or personal interpreta-

tion is valid. Six such esoteric interpretations are given here.
The “various mantras” alluded to above are not different mantras but
the various meanings given to the srīvidyā, each considered a different
mantra since each discloses a different understanding of it. The expres-
sion refers also to the three subdivisions, the kūṭas or bījas, of the srīvidyā
or to its constituting phonemes, all of which are mantras in their own
right. The term may also refer to the nine Vidyās we have just seen, which
are both deities and feminine mantras.
This [practice] is sixfold, O Mistress of the Gods! I will tell it to you,

O Perfect One!
There is the natural meaning, the traditional one, the inner mean-
ing, the kaulika meaning, //15// then the completely secret mean-
ing, and finally the meaning according to the highest reality.
ṣaḍvidhas tam tu devesi kathayāmi tavānaghe /
bhāvārthaḥ sampradāyārtho nigarbhārthas ca kaulikaḥ //15//
tathā sarvarahasyārtho mahātattvārtha eva ca /
As we shall see, the six symbolic interpretations of the srīvidyā give

mainly the esoteric meanings to be extracted from it, but they also describe
meditative and yoga practices to be followed so as to experiment in mind
and body the purport and power of the mantra. The interpretations given
by the YH are in some cases complex and far-fetched. The most obscure
and difficult to understand fully, even with the help of Amṛtānanda’s (or
Bhāskararāya’s) commentary, are the “natural” (bhāvārtha) meaning (sl.
16–25) and the “traditional” (sampradāya) meaning (sl. 26–48a). The other
ones are more briefly expounded.
Although the explanations given are entirely based on the syllabic pat-
tern of the srīvidyā, neither the YH nor Amṛtānanda’s Dīpikā gives its syl-
labic composition, its “extraction” (udhāra)4. It is clear, however, that for
the YH, the vidyā is—as we noted in the introduction—in the so-called
hādi form, namely its fifteen syllables, shared out into three groups called
kūṭa (or sometimes bīja): HA SA KA LA HRĪṂ • HA SA HA KA LA HRĪṂ
• SA KA LA HRĪṂ.
The natural meaning is simply the meaning of the phonemes

[akṣara] [of the vidyā], O Paramesvarī! //16//
akṣarārtho hi bhāvārthaḥ kevalaḥ paramesvari //16//
The king of mantras, O dear One! is at all times engendered by the

union of Śiva and Śakti and by that of the Yoginīs, the Vīras, and
the Vīrendras. //17//
Thus constituted, delighting in the utmost bliss, the Goddess,
whose nature is vibration [spanda], of innate beauty, once known, is
to be freely worshipped. //18//
yoginībhis tathā vīraiḥ vīrendraiḥ sarvadā priye /
sivasaktisamāyogāj janito mantrarājakaḥ //17//
tanmayīm paramānandananditām spandarūpinīm /
nisargasundarīm devīm jñatvā svairam upāsate //18//
As we will see in the following pages, the interpretation that the YH gives
in stanzas 18–25 of the bhāvārtha of the srīvidyā is anything but a description
of “simply the meaning of the syllables” (akṣarārtha) of the vidyā; of all the
six arthas, this is by far the most obscure and difficult to understand.
The above stanzas 17 and 18 describe the whole srīvidyā (considered the
highest and best mantra and thus called the king of mantras, mantrarāja)
as resulting from the conjunction (samāyoga) of Śiva and Śakti and also
from that of the pairs of male and female deities surrounding them. In
this respect, too, the srīvidyā is, like the srīcakra, the place and the embodi-
ment, and the result, of the “meeting” (samketa) of Śiva and Śakti.
Amṛtānanda interprets the term Yoginī as referring to the three
goddesses Bhāratī, Pṛthivī, and Rudranī and to the three basic powers
of Śiva, namely will, cognition, and activity (icchā, jñāna, kriyā); these
entities, being feminine, correspond to the aspect of consciousness
(vimarsāmsa) of the Goddess. The Vīras, associated with the Yoginīs, are
Brahmā, Viṣnu, and Rudra, who, being male, are aspects of the light of
consciousness (prakāsāmsa) aspect of the supreme godhead, who is con-
sidered to be in its fullness prakāsāvimarsamaya, both pure conscious
light and supreme active consciousness. The Vīrendras, we are told by
Amṛtānanda, transcend the cosmos, their nature being pure energy, and
whereas the Yoginīs and the Vīras are considered to be present in the
three kūṭas, the three groups of syllables of the srīvidyā, the Vīrendras
are associated with the three HRĪṂ (here called kāmakalā) which end
the three kūṭas.
We thus have to understand the srīvidyā as pervaded by Śiva and Śakti
together with their retinue of male and female ancillary deities. Being thus
engendered and permeated by the united Śiva and Śakti and by their threefold
divine aspects, the srīvidyā is a veritable embodiment of the Goddess as

united with Śiva. This the adept must “know,” that is, experience, realize
meditatively, the fact that the vidyā is the very self of the Goddess who is
then to be worshipped. Neither the YH nor its commentary explains in what
respect this worship is to be “freely” (svairam) performed. We may take it,
perhaps, that it is to be performed with all the rites and offerings that will
please and honor the deity and help the worshipper to identify with her.
In the next five stanzas, the YH shows, first, that the srīvidyā encapsu-
lates symbolically the creative power born from the interaction of Śiva and
Śakti (that is, the Goddess surrounded by her retinue of secondary deities)
(sl. 19–20), this interaction being visibly manifested and experienced in
the kāmakalā (sl. 21). Then the supreme power is shown as abiding in the
three kūṭas of the vidyā (sl. 22), this omnipresent Goddess (sl. 23a) having
to be intensely meditated upon and understood.
[The Goddess], in mantra form, is thought [manana], made up of

the knower and the known. She abides in the eternal Brahman in
the form of the conjunction of Śiva and Śakti on the plane where
[Śiva] adheres to the flow of his expansion which [ for him] is but an
Indraic secondary trait. //19–20a//
sivasaktyākhyasamghaṭṭarūpe brahmani sāsvate /
tatprathāprasarāsleṣabhuvi tvaindropalakṣite //19//
jñātṛjñānamayākāramananān mantrarūpinī /
The srīvidyā is the Goddess in mantra form. She is thought (manana),

intelligence or consciousness, a condition described as consisting of (or
resulting from) the unifying interaction (samghaṭṭa)5 of Śiva and Śakti,
since the mantra is the locus of this interaction. Being divine, this inter-
action takes place on the supreme plane of the eternal Brahman, a plane
where Śiva and Śakti, in their embrace and interpenetration, expand and
transform themselves into (and therefore adhere to) the cosmos. The
srīvidyā is thus, like the srīcakra, a symbolic form of the cosmic activity
of the Goddess. This creative action of Śiva and Śakti is called “Indraic”
because, bringing about the universe which is ruled by māyā, it is similar
to the action of the god Indra, who is conceived since the Ṛgveda6 as tak-
ing up many forms thanks to his magical power, his māyā. This activity,
too, though important, is nevertheless, for the supreme godhead, not a
main trait but a secondary one.
The supreme energy is the mother of these [deities] taken

together. //20//
teṣām samaṣṭirūpena parāsaktis tu mātṛkā //20//
The srīvidyā as supreme power (parā sakti) made up of the coalescence

of Śiva and Śakti appears thus as the mother of all the deities and of the
cosmos, which issues from her. The term describing this creative aspect
is mātṛkā, which denotes also the fifty phonemes of the Sanskrit alphabet
taken together, that is, the totality of the Word (mātṛkā can also designate
one of these phonemes, being in that case a synonym of varna or akṣara).
The srīvidyā is therefore described here as including, or being, both
the whole pantheon and the whole universe and, implicitly, the totality of
the Word: the three levels, that is, of vāc issuing from paravāc and going
down to vaikharī.7 This allows Amṛtānanda to end his commentary on
the last half-stanza by saying: “What is expressed [vācaka] by the whole
mantra,8 which is made up of the [male gods] Brahma and so forth and
of the [ female ones] Bharatī, etc., is the total fusion [in the supreme god-
head] of light [prakāsa] and consciousness [vimarsa] expanding as pasyantī,
madhyamā, and vaikharī.” The srīvidyā as a whole, we are to understand, is
identical with the divine power insofar as she is the Word (vāc). She holds
within herself all the forms and planes of the Word and all the deities and
all the cosmos, which we saw in chapter 1 as present in the srīcakra; she
is, phonetically, in a mantric form, what the srīcakra is diagrammatically.
The interactive presence of Śiva and Śakti in the srīvidyā is now shown
as manifesting itself in a diagrammatic form as the kāmakalā:
[Held] between the middle bindu and the visarga, the supreme [power]
in her coiled form has space and kalā as reflected image. //21//
madhyabinduvisargāntaḥ samāsthānamaye pare /
kuṭilārūpake tasyāḥ pratirūpe viyatkale //21//
According to Amṛtānanda (and Bhāskararāya), this stanza describes (or,

rather, alludes to) the kāmakalā diagram (see figure 2.1). One can hardly
say that the wording of this obscure stanza justifies such an interpretation,
which, however, is traditionally upheld in the Śrīvidyā system. It is as follows.
The supreme power, sakti, in her coiled form (kuṭilārūpaka), is the kunḍ alinī,
which stretches between the “middle bindu and the visarga.” This is to say that
she is inscribed within an upward-pointing triangle (a masculine symbol, that
A
sun kâma
face
fire moon
kalâ kalâ
breast HA breast
yoni
hârdhakalâ
figure 2.1. The kāmakalā diagram.
of Śiva) on whose apex is a bindu and on each of whose two lower angles is
also a bindu: two bindus, therefore, which make up a visarga whose written
form is that of two dots (:). The upper bindu, it is said, is kāma, desire or pas-
sion; it is considered to be made up of the coalescence of the whole Sanskrit
alphabet, from A to HA and as being the Sun. The visarga results from the
division in two of bindu. It is the sixteenth “vowel” of the alphabet symbol-
izing the creative power9 of vāc, its two dots being symbolically Moon and
Fire.10 It is kalā, that is, active power. Between these two, between kāma and
kalā, extends the kunḍ alinī, which is graphically drawn as the letter Ī inscribed
within a triangle pointing downward (a feminine symbol, that of Śakti). On
the down-pointed apex of this triangle is the letter HA, or hārdhakalā, “the
power of the half of HA” (a term that denotes also the visarga).
These two triangles with kunḍalinī located inside them are considered
a symbol of the totality, from A to HA. They are also, mainly, a figure of
the Goddess (sexually united with Śiva), her face being the “middle” upper
bindu, the two lower bindus on the ends of the lower line of the masculine
triangle being her two breasts, and the apex of the down-turned feminine
triangle (where HA or hārdhakalā is) being her yoni. The shape of kunḍ alinī,
the letter Ī (or, rather, the bīja ĪṂ, since kunḍ alinī is topped by the middle
bindu), evokes her coiled form. This kunḍ alinī, says the YH, is reflected by
the two lower bindus, a statement not clearly explained by the commenta-
tors. Thus, this diagram, with kunḍ alinī and the two superposed intersecting
triangles, represents the co-presence of the sexually united Śiva and Śakti.11
The interpretation of this stanza as a description of the srīvidyā embody-

ing the kāmakalā diagram, however arbitrary, is confirmed by other works
of the Tripurā tradition, such as Nāṭanānandanātha’s commentary on the
seventh stanza of Punyānandanātha’s Kāmakalāvilāsa or the NṢA, 2.185–
186, with the commentaries of Śivānanda and Vidyānanda. It is also to be
found in the Gandharvatantra, 30.37–64, which prescribes a visualization
of kunḍalinī shaped as the letter ĪṂ extending in the yogic body of the
adept from the mūlādhāra to the brahmarandhra.
This is why she is described as supremely blissful and beautiful and
animated by the spanda, the primordial vibration that creates and ani-
mates the universe.
The equally obscure next stanza is explained by the commentaries as
describing the role played by the letters A and HA of the srīvidyā.
She holds herself in the central block [pinḍa] of the mantra in the
sky of the primordial vibration [ formed by] the expansion of the
central breath. Then, in the third block, //22// she flashes forth
undivided in the kūṭa of Rahu. //23a//
madhyaprānaprathārūpaspandavyomni sthitā punaḥ /
madhyame mantrapinḍe tu tṛtīye pinḍake punaḥ //22//
rāhukūṭādvayasphūrjat
The explanation given by the Dī of the first sentence, which alludes to

the middle section of the srīvidyā, called kāmarāja, identifies the letter HA of
this section of the mantra with the HA in the lower triangle of the kāmakalā
diagram, since its says that it is placed between the two lower bindus of this
figure. As in the kāmakalā, this HA is an aspect of the Goddess and, as such,
“expands,” being made up of the fulguration of the power of consciousness
(vimarsasakti), in the “firmament of the primordial cosmic vibration.”
Then one is to imagine that in the third subdivision (kūṭa) of the
srīvidyā, the Goddess flashes in the letter SA of that group of phonemes
made up of the letters A and HA, that is, the whole Sanskrit alphabet,
which is also the totality of the Word (vāc).
The next two stanzas refer (in the same very obscure way) to the srīvidyā
as a whole, expressing the cosmic power and role of the Goddess:
When, in a state of palpitation, she is joined to the syllables express-

ing what is to be expressed [that is] dharma and adharma, made of
poison and nectar, She is called Omniform.
[Thus,] by meditating intensely on the primordial power, the

Goddess made of three subdivisions, taking her either in her total-
ity or in her constitutive parts, she who is the Mother, the supreme
Power conjoining [in herself all] these [elements], one understands
the natural sense [of the vidyā]. //23b–25//
calattāsamsthitasya tu /
dharmādharmasya vācasya viṣāmṛtamayasya ca //23//
vacakākṣarasamyukteḥ kathitā visvarūpinī /
teṣām samaṣṭirūpena parāsaktim tu mātṛkām //24//
kūṭatrayātmikām devīm samaṣṭivyaṣṭirūpinīm /
ādyām saktim bhāvayanto bhāvārtha iti manvate //25//
What is to be understood here is that the Goddess, taken to be made up

of the three subdivisions (kūṭa) of the srīvidyā, is in a state of palpitation—
that is, active—because she is both the cosmos (meant here by dharma)
and its destruction (called here adharma). The first of these two aspects is
called poison (viṣa), since the samsāra is poisonous for the ordinary mor-
tal; the other, nectar (amṛta, a term that, in Sanskrit, means immortality),
“is the death of death whose destruction is liberation” (Dī) or immortal-
ity. Creation and destruction—sṛsti and samhāra—are the two sides of her
cosmic activity symbolized by the srīvidyā.
As for the two syllables expressing this double notion, they are A, the
first letter of the alphabet usually considered to be what “expresses” Śiva,
and HA, the last letter associated here with Śakti. This “natural sense”
(bhāvārtha)12 of the srīvidyā is what is to be understood through intense
identifying meditation (bhāvanā).
The second meaning will now be expounded in stanzas 26–47. It is
the one transmitted by tradition (sampradāya), that is, the secret knowl-
edge received by the disciple from the mouth of his spiritual master.
Underlining the fact that the whole cosmic manifestation is pervaded
(vyāpta) by the srīvidyā, that is, by the united Śiva and Śakti, it shows how
the phonetic elements that constitute it “express” (are the vācakas), that is,
evoke or denote and thus bring into existence and pervade the universe
made up of the thirty-six tattvas, the three gunas, the three sorts of know-
ers (pramātṛ), the prānas, and the gods.
The srīvidyā and the cosmos, in their structure and in their existence
or function, are inseparably one. To understand the vidyā is thus to under-
stand the universe and liberation, a knowledge obtained by bhāvanā
(sl. 39), but only insofar as one receives it from an initiated master well
versed in the traditional teaching, hence the name of this artha.
The oral tradition is the great knowledge present in the mouth of

the spiritual master. The greatness of that which spreads [thus] in
the form of the universe dwells in this [mouth]. //26//
sampradāyo mahābodharūpo gurumukhe sthitaḥ /
visvākāraprathāyās tu mahatvam ca yad āsrayam //26//
Repeating that the ultimate knowledge is to be transmitted secretly

from the mouth of the master into the ear of the disciple, the Dī says that
the knowledge thus transmitted is that of the real nature of the universe,
“which results from the transformation, in the form of the three bījas [of
the vidyā], of the complete fusion [of Śakti and] of the supreme Śiva, which
can only be received from the mouth of the guru.”
This cosmic role of the srividyā is first underscored by the Tantra:
Through the mūlavidyā, of which Śiva and Śakti are the primary
[cause], by her, O Paramesvarī! the whole universe is permeated.
Listen to this carefully, O Dear One! //27//
sivasaktyādyayā mūlavidyayā paramesvari /
jagatkṛtsnam tayā vyāptam sṛnuṣāvahitā priye //27//
Śiva is the letter A, and Śakti is HA; the whole universe is therefore
permeated by the totality of the Sanskrit alphabet, by the totality of the
word with which the mūlavidyā, the “basic vidyā,” the srīvidyā, that is, is
identified.
The universe made of the five elements is what [the Goddess] is

made of, O Ever Eternal One! Such too is the mūlavidyā that I am
telling you. //28//
From the letter HA space is born, from KA, wind, from RA fire; from
SA comes the tattva of water. //29// Earth is born from the letter LA.
In this way [is made] this [reality] which contains the universe.
pañcabhūtamayam visvam tanmayī sā sadā ‘naghe /
tanmayī mūlavidyā ca tat tathā kathayāmi te //28//
hakārād vyoma sambhūtam kakārāt tu prabhañjanaḥ /
rephād agniḥ sakārāc ca jalatattvasya sambhavaḥ //29//

lakārāt pṛthivī jātā tasmād visvamayī ca sā /
The Goddess and her mantra are deemed to be made of the five gross
elements (the bhūtas) constituting the gross, concrete level of the cosmos.
This is said to show that the universe as identical with the deity is meta-
phorically present in the srīvidyā.
HA, KA, RA, SA, and LA are, in all traditions, considered the bījas, the
vācakas, of the five gross elements. “Thus,” says the Dī, “the five gross ele-
ments and the phonemes which express them are born in this way from
the light and consciouness (prakāsa and vimarsa) which form the supreme
Reality whose nature is the total fusion of Śiva and Śakti. The nature of
this supreme vidyā is the total fusion of these two [aspects of the deity]. In
other terms, she is made of the phonemes that compose her and of the
universe [that they ‘express’].” The Dī then quotes stanzas 9, 10, 13, and 14
of Punyānanda’s Kāmakalāvilāsa.13
It is said that the fifteen gunas of the gross elements [are also found
there]. Thus formed, she is favorable. //30//
gunāḥ pañcadasa proktā bhūtānām tanmayī sivā //30//
There are, in fact, only three gunas  : sattva, rajas, and tamas (goodness,
passion, and darkness). This number could be explained by the fact that
there are five gross elements (bhūtas), which would result in 5 x 3 = 15. But
the commentary explains this number by the fact that the bhūtas “interpen-
etrate mutually”; that is, the higher ones are present in those that follow,
 . This is a peculiar conception, not
which results in 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 = 15 gunas
the generally admitted one of the Sāmkhya, for whom the gross elements
issue from the subtle ones (tanmātra). Fifteen, however is the number of the
phonemes of the srīvidyā. There are, therefore, two series of fifteen elements.
In any object one can say that there is energy [sakti]. This [energy]
is the Goddess, the universal sovereign. And any object is the
supreme Lord. //31//
yasya yasya padārthasya yā yā saktir udīritā /
sā sā sarvesvarī devī sa sa sarvo mahesvaraḥ //31//
In this world, says Amṛtānanda, everything that is active is energy.

And all energy is the Goddess, the universal sovereign, mistress of all
The thirty-six tattvas of Tantric shaivism
Śiva
Śakti
Sadāsiva the eternal Śiva
Īsvara the Lord
suddhavidyā pure wisdom
māyā cosmic illusion
kalā limitation
vidyā (limited) wisdom; the cuirasses (kañcuka)
rāga passionate attachment
niyati necessity
kāla time
puruṣa Spirit, or the Lord
prākṛti the source matter, Nature
buddhi intellect
ahamkāra “egoity”
manas understanding (sensorium commune)
srotra hearing
tvāk touch
cakṣus sight; organs of perception (buddhīndriya)
rasana taste
ghrāna smell
vāk speech
pāni holding
pāyu excretion; organs of action (karmendriya)
upaṣṭha copulation
pāda movement
sabda sound
sparsa contact
rūpa form; subtle elements (tanmātra)
rasa savor
gandha smell
ākāsa ether, space
vāyu air
tejas fire; gross elements (bhūta)
jala water
pṛthivī earth
that exists, from Śiva to the earth, whereas all that is object is the supreme
Lord, the supreme Śiva. These two, he adds, take on in the vidyā the aspect
of objects (the fifteen male gunas of the five tattvas) and that of the fif-
teen (female) phonemes of the vidyā. The basic male-female dichotomy
is therefore present in the vidyā. This, however, includes other elements:
This vidyā, made up of the elements and the gunas, is pervaded by

fifteen phonemes [namely] by five, then six and four syllables. //32//
vyāptā pañcadasārnaiḥ sā vidyā bhūtagunātmikā /
pañcabhis ca tathā ṣaḍbhis caturbhir api cākṣaraiḥ //32//
These three groups of syllables are those of the three kūṭas of the
srīvidyā, which have six, then five, then four syllables. These phonemes
are said to pervade the vidyā, since she is made up in her totality of these
fifteen letters.
If she is parceled up into vowels and consonants, she is divided

into thirty-seven. If divided into thirty-seven, she is formed of the
thirty-six tattvas, //33// her essential nature transcending the tat-
tvas. This vidyā, one must ceaselessly meditate.
svaravyañjanabhedena saptatrimsatprabhedinī /
saptatrimsatprabhedena ṣaṭtrimsattattvarūpinī //33//
tattvātītasvabhāvā ca vidyaiṣā bhāvyate sadā
If we divide the vidyā into vowels and consonants, we have eleven letters
in the first kūṭa, thirteen in the second, and nine in the third; thirty-three
phonemes to which are to be added the three bindus which crown the
three HRĪṂ; thirty-seven in all.14 Divided in this way, the vidyā can be con-
sidered as made up symbolically of the thirty-six tattvas and thus to have
the same nature as these cosmic divisions of the universe. The srīvidyā
is the Goddess in her cosmic activity, carried out by the tattvas, which
she dominates, transcends, being in this sense a thirty-seventh tattva. Her
essential nature, says Amṛtānanda, is that of Śiva, and it is as such that she
is to be meditated (bhāvyate).15
The Dī quotes here the first twenty-seven stanzas of the
Saubhāgyasudhodaya, which describe the cosmic creative activity of the deity
as Śakti, and the divisions and aspects of this work. The passage is inter-
esting but is too long and needs too many explanations to be quoted here.
The YH now considers again the fifteen elements and the three gunas
previously mentioned in sl. 32:
In the elements earth, etc., each element that is above is pervading,

 whose recep-
//34// the one below is pervaded. / This is why the gunas
tacles are the pervading [elements] are in those which are pervaded,
O Goddess! being [themselves] divided into gross and subtle. //35//
pṛthivyādiṣu bhūteṣu vyāpakam cottarottaram //34//
bhūtam tvadhastanam vyāpyam tadgunā vyāpakāsrayāḥ /
vyāpyeṣvavasthitā devi sthūlasūkṣmavibhedataḥ //35//
Thus, sound, the guna of space, pervades the [gross elements] air,
etc., the fivefold sound [present in these elements] being denoted by
the bījas of space which are in the vidyā. //36//
Of these [five sounds], what stays in addition as [their] cause is made
of dhvani. [The phoneme HA] must be [understood as being] the
seed of those that carry the gunas and also as that which expresses
the gunas. //37// The fact that they have [respectively] the nature of
cause and effect shows their unity.
tasmād vyomagunaḥ sabdo vayvādīn vyāpyā samsthitaḥ /
vyomabījais tu vidyāsthair lakṣayecchabdapañcakam //36//
teṣām kāranarūpena sthitam dhvanimayam param /
bhaved gunavatām bījam gunanām api vācakam //37//
kāryakāranabhāvena tayor aikyam vivakṣayā /
What is to be understood here seems to be that each subtle element is

present in the corresponding gross element but also that a gross element
may be present in another one becoming subtle with regard to it.16 The
so-called bījas of space (vyomabīja) denoting the five elements are the five
letters HA present in the three sections of the srīvidyā. The element added
to these five HA is, according to Amṛtānanda, the sixth HA of the vidyā,
that is, the HA of the third kūṭa, placed between the KA and the LA of the
kāmarājakūṭa. This HA is, for some reason, considered to be “made of
dhvani,” that is, embodying a subtle form of sound, which would explain
why it is the cause of the five other ones.
The YH continues by expounding the links that exist between the gunas,
the gross elements (bhūta), and the letters deemed to “express” them:
One must meditate intensely, O Goddess! on the apparition of the

[elements] air, fire, water, and earth, distinguishing the gross from
the subtle ones, and on that of [the gunas of ] contact [which pervade
them] as originating all from the three Mahāmāyā and from the
bindu which is their origin. //38b–39//
mahāmāyātrayenāpi kāranena ca bindunā //38//
vāyvagnijalabhūmīnām sparsanām ca catuṣṭayam /
utpannam bhāvayed devi sthūlasūkṣmavibhedataḥ //39//
The Mahāmāyās are the letters Ī of the three HRĪṂ of the srīvidyā, the
bindus being the three Ṃs.
The three [gunas] of [the tattva of ] form [rūpa] are to be meditated

on in the same manner using the three RA. Their essential part has
the form of fire. [They are] indeed engendered by this bīja. //40//
rūpānām tritayam tadvat tribhī rephair vibhavitam /
pradhānam tejaso rūpam tadbījena tu janyate //40//
These three gunas are those found in the tattvas of earth, water, and
fire. RA, to be used to meditate them, is the bīja of fire, since their essen-
tial part is fire. This implies the presence of form in these three tattvas.
According to the Dī: “The three gunas of form, which is the guna of
fire, having been [described as] denoted by the phonemes which are the
vācaka of fire, the guna of water is now described by the phonemes that are
the vācakas of that element.”
Taste, both subtle and gross, is evoked through the lunar bījas pres-
ent in the vidyā. In this world also one knows the association of rasa
and amṛta. //41//
vidyāsthaiṣ candrabījais tu sthūlaḥ sūkṣmo rasaḥ smṛtaḥ /
sambandho vidito loke rasasyāpi amṛtasya ca //41//
The lunar bījas are the letters SA of the three kuṭas of the srīvidyā, the letter
SA often being given the name candra (moon). Taste is the guna of water. It is
therefore in its natural gross form in the tattva of water, which is taken to be
pervading; in the tattva of earth, which is pervaded, it is subtle, the Dī explains.
It also explains (more comprehensibly) that according to the Purānas,  the
amṛta appeared from the water of the ocean when it was churned by the gods
and the asuras. Hence the link between these two elements.
The guna of the earth is smell. Its letter is that which expresses
smell. The threefold nature [of this letter] is to the result of the link
existing between the three worlds, O Mahesvarī! //42//
vasundharāguno gandhas tallipir gandhavācikā /
bhuvanatrayasambandhāt tridhātvam tu mahesvari //42//
The bīja of earth is LA, and it is denoted by one LA only, whereas

there are three LA in the srividyā. If one were to object to this fact, the
Dī answers: there are three worlds (lokatraya) in the universe, which are
mutually supporting and supported, and, because of that, the earth is also
considered triple though being one.
The other body in the three [sorts of ] conscious subjects—pure,

impure, and mixed—is manifested by the triple krodhīsa present in
the vidyā. //43//
asuddhasuddhamisrānām pramātṛnām param vapuḥ /
krodhīsatritayenātha vidyāsthena prakāsyate //43//
The triple krodhīsa are the three letters KA of the srīvidyā. They denote
the three sorts of conscious subjects (pramātṛ), which represent three dif-
ferent levels or modes of consciousness. They are, says Amṛtānanda, the

vijnānākalā 
, who suffer only the ānavamalā , the innate impurity of the soul
 ), their minds being already purified and in essence like Śiva; then
(the anu
the pralayākala, bound souls who will be endlessly reborn to “burn” their kar-
man till the next pralaya; and the sakala, who are bound by all the fetters of
this world.17
Just as the ten srīkanṭ has are that which expresses the nonmani-
fested, O Goddess! so the eleventh remains in the form of breath, the
other one //44// is the puruṣa: being unique, he becomes multiple.
srīkanṭhadasakam tadvad avyaktasya hi vācakam /
prānarūpaḥ sthito devi tadvad ekādasaḥ paraḥ //44//
ekaḥ sann eva puruṣo bahudhā jāyate hi saḥ /
The ten srīkanṭhas are the ten letters A of the twelve syllables that form
the srīvidyā (which are twelve if one excludes the three HRĪṂ). The non-
manifest (avyakta) which these the letters express is, says the Dī, the vital
principle, the jīva, of the human individual bound by the senses linked to
the inert, insentient (jaḍa), not illuminated by divine Consciousness. The
other one, linked to the two other A, is the puruṣa, the supreme soul, Śiva,
who is, in fact, unique but becomes multiple by his infinite appearances
and by being present in the vital breath of all living beings.
The deities named Rudra, Īsvara, and Sadesa, limited [divine]

forms, are invoked by the three bindus. The totally unlimited forms,
those of Śanti, Śakti, and Śambhu, are denoted by the three nādas.
//45b–46//
rudresvarasadesākhyā devatā mitavigrahāḥ //45//
bindutrayena kathitā amitāmitavigrahāḥ /
sāntiḥ saktisca sambhus ca nādatritayabodhanaḥ //46//
The Dī, referring for that to the Svacchandasamgraha, expatiates on

the role of the deities enumerated in this stanza. Rudra, it says, pre-
sides over the tattva of fire, in which are the five tattvas from puruṣa
to māyā, the tattvas suddhavidyā, sadāsiva, and īsvara depending from
the tattva air. Being linked to tattvas, these three deities are limited in
time and scope. They are invoked by the three bindus which “crown”
the M of the three HRĪṂ of the srīvidyā. The three unlimited divine
forms, Śānti, Śakti, and Śambhu (Śiva), are denoted (have for vācaka)
three nādas. Śānti is thus the not-manifest subtle sound (avyaktadhvani)
produced in the brahmarandhra cakra, where all the highest energies
are deemed to be appeased; one thus shifts here from syllables of the
mantra to the body of the adept. Śakti is the highest aspect of saktitattva,
Śambhu being the sivatattva.
The YH concludes the section on the bhāvārtha as follows:
As the threads of a net are gathered in its initial thread, in the same
way the mantras are all found together in the vidyā. //47//
vāgurāmūlavalaye sūtrādyāḥ kavalīkṛtāḥ /
tathā mantrāḥ samastās ca viyāyām atra samsthitāḥ //47//
The Dī explains that the net alluded to here is a net for catching fish, the
threads of whose mesh are gathered at their “root” in a metal ring from which
they, as it were, issue forth. In the same way, the vaikari, manifested form of
the word, of all uttered mantras, and, of course, the srīvidyā when made use
of, is gathered initially in the supreme, parā, plane of the Word, vāc.
Then comes the so-called traditional meaning (sampradāyārtha), which
is transmitted through the (oral) teachings of the succession of spiritual
masters of the Śrīvidyā school (gurūpadesakramena). In this respect, this
artha does not bring anything new, as appears from its being expounded
in one half-sloka:
[The meaning] that one can attain through the succession of spiri-
tual masters is called the traditional meaning.
gurukramena samprāptaḥ sampradāyārtha īrithaḥ /
The Dī quotes here a long (unidentified) passage from the

Svacchandabhairavatantra which describes how the teaching issuing
from the supreme “transmental” (unmanā) plane of the divinity or of
the Word (vāc) goes through several lower divine planes down to the god
Śrīkanṭha, who then reveals it to human masters. Śrīkanṭha, we note
here, is not one of the five masters of the divyaugha, the “flow of divine
masters” of the Śrīvidyā tradition in the pāramparas given by Śivānanda,
Vidyānanda, and Amṛtānanda. This can be explained by the fact that
the Svacchandabhairava, which is often referred to in the Dī, is not—
if we identify it with the Svacchandatantra—a Tantra of the Śrīvidyā.
Concluding on the subject, Amṛtānanda says: “Whoever who, ignorant
of the exact meaning of the words and of the tradition, would, without
attending the teaching of a master, try to discover alone the meaning of
the words as one can do for the stanzas of the Purānas and so forth, shall
never be able to find it.”
The next meaning is the inner or secret (nigarbha) one. It is not merely
alluded to but briefly considered:
As for the inner meaning, O Great Goddess! it is an experience (or

perception) of Śiva, the spiritual master and the self. //48//
nigarbho ‘pi mahādevi sivagururātmagocaraḥ //48//
This sense is secret and/or inner (nigarbha)18 insofar as Śiva is tran-

scendent, unattainable by thought and word. The spiritual master consid-
ers Śiva his own inner transcendent self, this same omnipresent self being
also the self of the disciple, who is to have a personal inner experience of
this full omnipresent pure divine Consciousness, “all his fetters having
been destroyed by the compassionate gaze of the guru” (Dī, p. 174). This
“sense”—this experience, that is—of the vidyā, concludes the Dī, consists
in “the concentration of the mind [anusandhāna] on the experience of the
unity of Śiva, the master, and the self.” But how is one to concentrate on
this unity? The answer is:
I give you only a mere indication of how it is done, O Mistress of the

gods! [A fusion] of this sort results from the one-pointed attention
on the unity of Śiva, the guru, and the self. //49//
tatprakāram ca devesi diṅmātrena vadāmi te /
sivagurvātmanām aikyānusandhānāt tadātmakam //49//
Namely:
Having understood that there is no division within Śiva and that

the spiritual master has the same quality, the [disciple], bent down
in devotion, unsullied by the presence of contraction, must realize
thanks to the power of the gaze of his master that he has himself
the nature of Śiva. //50–51a//
niṣkalatvam sive buddhvā tadrūpatvam guror api
tannirīkṣanasamarthyād ātmanas ca sivātmatām //50//
bhāvayed bhaktinamraḥ san saṅkonmeṣākalaṅkitaḥ /
The general meaning of this stanza is clear. The term “contraction”

(samkoca) may, however, surprise the reader. The Dī explains that it
is the condition of a person whose mind is attached to the life in this
world, this condition being revealed (unmeṣa) by the pleasure one finds
in “such external objects as wife, son, and the like.” More philosophi-
cally, it is the state of the soul that has lost its original omnipresence
and freedom.
The saving power of the gaze (nirīkṣana) of the master which “falls”
(katākṣapāta) on his disciple—one also says ḍṛṣṭipāta—is a common
theme. The practice is also used ritually: nirīkṣana is one of a group of

four purifying rites in Śaiva ritual.
We may also note here the attitude of devotion (bhakti), both mental
and bodily, prescribed to the adept: a tāntrika is not merely a ritualist and
a yogin; he is also a devotee.
The next artha is expounded in the next seventeen stanzas. Although it
is complex, it is not difficult to understand:
I will now tell you the kaulika meaning: it is the unity of the cakra
and the deity, //51// the vidyā, the spiritual master, and the self.
What this [unity] consists of will be shown.
The four-sided lines [are born] from the letters LA. The two lotuses,
which are fire and moon and are accompanied by a triple circle, are
born from [the phonemes of ] energy, O Dear One! From the letters
numbering nine which form the three hṛllekhā //53// [when] joined
to three bindus is born the cakra with nine yonis, O Dear One!
The cakra that is in contact with the triple circle and which is
fire and energy //54// is born only from the triple bīja of space.
Accompanied by the triple subject, associated with the three
“intoxicatings,” will, knowledge, and activity, //55// is the throne of
Sadāsiva, O Goddess! constituted by the mahābindu, supreme. This
is why the nature of the cakra is that of the mantra.
kaulikam kathayiṣyāmi cakradevatayor api //51//
vidyāgurvātmanām aikyam tatprakāraḥ pradarsyate /
lakāraīscaturasrāni vṛttatritayasamyutam //52//
saroruhadvayam sāktair agniṣomātmakam priye
ḥṛllekhātrayasambhūtair akṣarair navasamkhyakaiḥ //53//
bindutrayayutair jātam navayonyātmakam priye /
manḍalatrayayuktam tu cakram saktyanalātmakam //54//
vyomabījatrayenaiva pramātṛtritayānvitam /
icchājñānakriyārūpamādanatrayasamyutam //55//
sadāsivāsanam devi mahābindumayam param /
ittham mantrātmakam cakram
In these stanzas, the YH goes on describing the mutually interwo-

ven condition and interdependence of the sricakra and the srīvidyā. This
is shown by saying that the different parts of the cakra are born from
different letters of the vidyā. The four-sided figure is the external square
enclosure of the cakra made of three lines—hence the plural (caturasrāni)
form used. The “energy phonemes” are the letters SA of the three kūṭas,
this being justified by a quotation from a Tantra: “Śiva is HA, Śakti is SA.”
As for the two lotuses, the outer one with sixteen petals is soma, a usual
designation of the moon, the number sixteen being a lunar number.19 The
letters numbering nine are the three letters H, R, Ī of each of the three
HRĪṂ (here called hṛllekhā, “the letter HRĪṂ”), the bindu joined to them
being the Ṃ of HRĪṂ.
We have seen the navayoni cakra in chapter 1. The cakra that is in con-
tact with the triple circle is the cakra of twelve triangles inside which are
the two other cakras of, respectively, fourteen and ten triangles, all three
being deemed to issue from the three bījas of space, that is, the three HA.
The throne of energy is the central triangle, the three “intoxicating” (or
maddening) phonemes being the letters KA deemed to be the phonetic
aspect of the subjects submitted to the powers of will, knowledge, and
activity.
But if the cakra is identical with the mantra, it is also, fundamentally,
an aspect of the Goddess. The YH, therefore, says:
It is the other body of the deity. //56//

devatāyāḥ param vapuḥ //56//
The Dī refers here to stanza 55 of the first chapter, which says that the
cakra is “the cosmic body of the Goddesss all surrounded by the sparkling
waves of her multitudinous power.” This cosmic aspect of the Goddess
(which we will find again in the third chapter, beginning at sl. 9, where the
Ganesas, etc., are placed by nyāsa on the body of the worshipper) consists
of deities (Ganas, Yoginīs, Ḍākinīs, etc.), breaths, and aspects of the word,
shown as linked to different parts of the vidyā. The mantra brings together
all these inseparably divine and human realities.
That the Goddess could, while always supreme and unique, appear as
so many different epiphanies should not surprise us. The multiple aspects
of deities go back to the Veda; it gives an expression to the diversity of their
power. This multiplication, which implies the multiplication of sanctuar-
ies, concretizes (today and in the past) the omnipresence of a deity on the
Indian soil, sacred space being delimitated by their sanctuaries.
This totality is shown as follows:
In addition, since her nature is that of one hundred and eleven

deities, the Great Goddess has the supremacy over the ganas; fur-
ther, because of the fact that will, cognition, and activity, together
with moon, sun, and fire, are associated with the three gunas, this
Goddess has a planetary aspect. //56b–58a//
ekādasādhikasatadevatātmatayā punaḥ /
ganesatvam mahādevyāḥ sasomaravipāvakaiḥ //57//
iccchājñānakriyābhis ca gunatrayayuktaiḥ punaḥ /
graharūpā ca sā devī
The one hundred and eleven deities—called “troups” (ganas)20—

are those surrounding Tripurasundarī, abiding in the nine parts of the
srīcakra, from Kāmesvara and Kāmesvarī, in the center, to the Mudrās
and Siddhis, in the outer square. We have already met them in the
first chapter and will see their worship in chapter 3. The Goddess,
says Amṛtānanda, is both the deities of the cakra and the totality of the
deities, of the Godhead. As such, she is the three basic energies, will,
knowledge, and activity, in the powers symbolized by the three luminar-
ies (dhāman),21 moon, sun, and fire, and is also the nine planets, the
grahas.22
Her aspect as constellations comes from the senses of apperception

and action as well as from their objects, O Mistress of the gods!
from the internal organs, from prakṛti and from the gunas and from
the self and the state of pumān. //58b–60a//
jñānakarmendriyair api //58//
tadarthair eva devesi karanair āntaraiḥ punaḥ /
prakṛtyā ca gunenāpi pumstvabandhena cātmanā //59//
nakṣatravigrahā jātā
The Goddess as mantra takes on the aspects or nature of the

twenty-seven constellations (nakṣatra);23 these astral aspects are corre-
lated, in the vidyā, with the tattvas, enumerated here going from the five
faculties of action (speech, grasping, evacuation, copulation, movement),
the five senses of apperception (hearing, contact, seeing, taste, smell),
their ten objects (the subtle and gross elements: the five tanmātras and
the five bhūtas), and then the internal organs, manas, ahamkāra, buddhi,
plus prakriti and puruṣa and the gunas. The Dī concludes: “It is because
these twenty-seven [elements] make up her constitutive parts that the

Goddess appears as the constellations, an aspect she takes on of her own
free will.”
[Her] nature of Yoginī is now expounded. Because of the Ḍākinis,

etc., mistresses of the body elements, the skin, etc., she is associ-
ated with the eight Yoginīs presiding over the eight groups of pho-
nemes. Assuming the condition of the Yoginīs, she shines forth,
having the world as her form. //60a–61//
yoginītvam athocyate /
tvagādidhātunāthābhir ḍākinyādibhir apy asau //60//
vargāṣṭakaniviṣṭābhir yoginībhis ca samyutā /
yoginīrūpam āsthāya rājate visvavigrahā //61//
The elements that constitute the human body (dhātu) number tra-
ditionally seven: skin, blood, flesh, fat, marrow, semen, bones. The Dī
quotes only six, omitting bones. Their number does not coincide with
that of the Yoginīs which are, says Amṛtānanda, Ḍākinī, Rākinī, Lākinī,
Kākinī, Śākinī, and Hākinī. These deities, generally collectively called
Ḍākinīs, are traditionally associated with the bodily elements. Here they
come together with the eight Yoginīs, which are, in fact, the eight Mothers
(Mātṛ or Mātṛkā), Brahmī, and so on, traditionally considered the regents
of the eight groups of phonemes of the Sanskrit alphabet.24 Together,
these Yoginīs, says the Dī, embody or stand for the totality of the cosmos.
It adds: “the Goddess plays in the form of these Yoginīs.”
Then follows another aspect taken up by the Goddess:
[The ten breaths,] prānā, apāna, samāna, vyāna, udāna, nāga, kūrma,
kṛkāra, devadatta, and dhanañjaya, along with the individual soul
and the supreme Self—it is through them that she assumes a zodia-
cal nature. //62–63a//
prānāpānau samānascodānavyānau tathā punaḥ /
nāgaḥ kūrmo ‘tha kṛkaro devadatto dhanañjayaḥ //62//
jīvātmaparamātmā cety etair rāsisvarūpinī /
This series of ten vital breaths (prāna ) is a current one. Together with
the individual soul, or vital principle (jīvātman), and the supreme soul,
paramātman, they number twelve, like the signs of the zodiac, which are the
same in India as in the West, from which they were borrowed by the Indians.
The next aspect is less evident:
The great vidyā made of supreme Word and of the other [three lev-
els of the Word], having as nature the triple group [of phonemes] A,
KA, THA, and the other ones, becomes mistress of the ganas, start-
ing with the third [of these groups]. //63b–64a//
akathāditripaṅktyātmā tārtīyādikramena sā //63//
ganeso ‘bhūn mahāvidyā parāvāgādivāṅmayī /
The Sanskrit alphabet, from A to HA, is the totality of the Word (vāc)
which—in the view of most Tantric traditions—is considered as existing
on four levels: parā, the supreme; pasyantī, the visionary; madhyamā, the
intermediate; and the plane of the gross, empirical speech, of discursive
thought, vaikharī.25 A here designates the sixteen vowels, the first of which
is A; KA stands for the sixteen consonants from KA to TA; THA is for the
sixteen letters from THA to SA. The A group is considered to be included
in the last kūṭa of the srīvidyā, the saktibīja; the KA group is in the middle
kūṭa, kāmarāja; and the THA group is in the first kūṭa, vāgbhava. The total-
ity of the alphabet is thus present in the whole srīvidyā.
When in the three kūtas [in the form] of bīja, bindu, and dhvani, she
takes on the nature of the planets. //64b//
[When made of her] syllables numbering fifteen: the three
hṛllekhas and the twelve other phonemes, her form is that of the
constellations. //65//
bījabindudhvanīnām ca trikūṭeṣu grahātmikā //64//
hṛllekhāttrayasambhūtais tithisamkhyais tathākṣaraiḥ /
anyair dvādasabhir varnair eṣā nakṣatrarūpinī //65//
Since there are three elements, bīja, bindu, and dhvani, in each of the
three kūṭas, the total is nine, which is the number of the grahas. Bīja, the
commentary explains, is the HRĪ of the three kūṭas, bindu being the Ṃ and
nāda the subtle phonic vibration that ends the HRĪṂ.
As for the nakṣatras, which number twenty-seven, this number is
obtained by counting first the fifteen phonemes of the srīvidyā (fifteen
being also the number of the lunar days, the tithis),26 then its twelve pho-
nemes without the three HRĪṂ. “Thus,” concludes the DĪ, “the vidyā in
the form of constellations being formed by fifteen and twelve phonemes,
we get twenty-seven in all.”
The state of Yoginī of the vidyā [results from] six syllables: [those of ]

energy and those preceding the energies that are present in the vidyā.
Its zodiacal state [arises] when one removes those that are at the
end. //66//
vidyāntarbhūtasaktyādyaiḥ sāktaiḥ ṣaḍbhis tathākṣaraiḥ /
yoginitvam ca vidyāyā rāsitvam cāntyavarjitaiḥ //66//
The syllables of energy are the three HRĪṂ; what precedes them are
the three letters LA, the total of six being reached if one counts the HRĪṂ
as one syllable only. The aspect of energy of the Goddess is that of the six
Yoginīs, Ḍākinī, and so on, that we have already seen.
For the twelve signs of the zodiac, one counts the syllables of the vidyā
without the three HRĪṂ.
Mahesvarī [when] in the form of the cakra [has] in the same way a
cosmic aspect. //67a//
evam visvaprakārā ca cakrarūpā mahesvarī /
The srīcakra, along with the srividyā, is the Goddess in her cosmic activity.
All the forms we have just seen taken over by her as the vidyā—as mistress
of the ganas , and so on—she also assumes when in the form of the cakra.
The Dī tells which parts of the srīcakra are to be associated with the differ-
ent aspects (ganas , planets, constellations, etc.) quoted in stanzas 57–66:
[All the aspects just] described as in the body of the Goddess [are to be
found] in the same way in the body of the spiritual master, and, through
his grace, the disciple will also shine in this form. //67b–68a//
devyā dehe yathā prokto gurudehe tathaiva hi //67//
tatprasādāc ca siṣyo ‘pi tadrūpaḥ samprakāsate /
The body of the Goddess Tripurasundarī, says Amṛtānanda, is the one

she has assumed, in her play, of her own free will (svecchāgṛhīta-līlāvigraha).
The nature of the guru, he adds, being that of the deity’s body, the deity
is also in his body. And this is also to be found in the body of the disciple,
who “having benefited from the grace of his master, shines, like him, like
the deity.” We note here again the importance always given in Tantric tra-
ditions to the grace bestowed by the spiritual master, which replicates on
the human level the movement of the divine grace (anugraha), also called
“descent of the [divine] energy” (saktipāta).
Thus is said the kaulika meaning, O Perfect One! Celebrated by the

heroes. //68//
I will tell you also the most secret of all meanings, O Perfect One!
ity evam kaulikārthas tu kathito vīravandite //68//
tathā sarvarahasyārtham kathayāmi tavānaghe /
This interpretation of the srīvidyā is the most secret one, says the Dī,
because thanks to it, the disciple may attain the supreme (para). It is, in
fact, a yogic practice.
The vidyā having taken on, in the mūlādhāra, the condition of the
vāgbhava, similar to lightning, //69b// her body being made of
fifty phonemes associated with thirty-eight kalās, in the form of
the kunḍalinī, pierces the three manḍalas. //70// Shining like ten
million flashes of lightning, shaped like a lotus fiber, she attaches
herself to the manḍala of the moon of the inner sky, her nature
being that of a flow of nectar //71// of which she pervades the whole
universe, her nature being constant bliss. The thought: “this energy
is my own self,” such is the secret meaning, O Mahesvarī! //72//
mūlādhāre taḍidrūpe vāgbhavākāratām gate //69//
aṣṭatrimsatkalāyuktapañcāsadvarnavigrahā /
vidyā kunḍalinīrūpā manḍalatrayabhedinī //70//
taḍitkoṭinibhaprakhyā bisatantunibhākṛtiḥ /
vyomendumanḍalāsaktā sudhāsrotaḥsvarūpinī //71//
sadā vyāptajagatkṛtsnā sadānandasvarūpinī /
eṣā svātmeti buddhis tu rahasyārtho mahesvari //72//
The term vāgbhava here does not designate the first kūṭa of the srīvidyā
but the condition (bhava) of the Word (vāc) whose fourfold division we
have seen above (sl. 63). The vidyā is thus identified with the totality and
the full power of the Word. This explains why her body (in the shape of the
kunḍalinī) is “made of fifty phonemes,” the Sanskrit alphabet being, as we
have seen, the totality of the Word.
Going upward, from the mūlādhāra, in the body of the adept, the vidyā
as kunḍalinī pierces three manḍalas not otherwise identified by the YH
and its commentary, except (by the Dī) as being those of the fire, the sun,
and the moon, traditionally considered to have, respectively, ten, twelve,
and sixteen divisions called kalās, totaling thus thirty-eight. These kalās
are cosmic and divine entities with which are associated the fifty Sanskrit
phonemes; here, too, is the totality of the Word. The moon, called soma
(the sacred beverage of the Veda), is traditionally associated with the
amṛta, the nectar, which, when this center is pierced by the kunḍalinī,
flows over and fills up the universe and, evidently, the body and mind
of the adept, who is then identified with the divine sakti, saying, “This
energy is my own self.”
“The thought [buddhi] that ‘this kunḍalinī sakti made of consciousness
[cinmayī] is my own self’ [svātmeti], that is to say, the total fusion by iden-
tification [tadātmatayā samāvesaḥ] with this form [of power], such is the
sense of the secret meaning,” says the Dī, which also says that kunḍalinī,
having pierced the moon manḍala, enters the akula center.27
The experience described here is therefore both cosmic and bodily.
The Dī quotes a stanza from the Svacchandasamgraha which says that the
supreme sky (param vyoman) is placed on the head between the forehead
and the summit of the head (between the brumadhya or bindu and the
brahmarandhra).
Then comes the next meaning:
The meaning [relating to] the highest reality, I will tell you,
O Goddess.
It [consists in] uniting oneself with the indivisible, supreme, sub-
tle, imperceptible, with no concrete existence, the reality supreme,
above the inner sky, light and bliss, both transcending the universe
and identical with it. //73–74//
mahātattvārtha iti yat tac ca devi vadāmi te /
niṣkale parame sūkṣme nirlakṣye bhāvavarjite //73//
vyomātīte pare tattve prakāsānandavigrahe /
visvottīrne visvamaye tattve svātmaniyojanam //74//
This stanza heaps up terms to describe the indescribable divine Absolute.

The Dī explains the terms, but the passage does not really need to be inter-
preted. It underlines the total transcendence of the Absolute, adding,
“but this supreme reality is also identical with the universe [visvamaya]”;
it manifests itself through the infinite diversity of the world. Quoting the
Upaniṣadic saying tat tvam asi, “This thou art,”28 the Dī concludes: “Such
is the supreme truth. And the meaning relating to the highest reality is
to identify oneself totally with it, that is to say, to unite one’s self, whose
pure essential nature is awakened by the spiritual master, with the supreme
Śiva, giver of the supreme vidyā brimming with this supreme meaning.”
But how are we to know this nature of our self? The answer is:
Since luminosity is the state of things that are luminous and also
that of those that are dark, there is therefore a necessary and essen-
tial connection between the universe and the [highest reality]. //75//
tadā prakāsamānatvam tejasām tamasām api /
avinābhāvarūpatvam tasmād visvasya sarvataḥ //75//
Commenting on this stanza, the Dī gives a summary of some of

the main tenets of the nondualist Śaiva vision of the deity and the cos-
mos: “Even as Śiva shines in the mind [citte] of all living beings, in the
same way the self is united to the senses and these to the objects; thus
the state of luminosity exists in luminous things, such as the sun, etc.,
and also in those that are insentient, dark, such as pots and pans and the
like. It shines first in consciousness, in the supreme Śiva, who is the Self
of consciousness [cidātman], then through the play of sense organs; the
perception of reality shines also on the plane of the diversity of objects. As
the Revelation says: ‘Everything shines as a reflection of His Light, by His
brightness this [world] shines’ (Katha Upaniṣad, 5.15).”
This vision of the cosmos as something that shines (prakāsate) as a
reflection of the divine light (a theme developed notably by Abhinavagupta
in the Tantrāloka, chapter 3) is stated again in the next half-stanza:
The highest reality shines, O Flame of the essence of the divine

play! //76a//
prakāsate mahātattvam divyakrīḍārasojjvale /
This play (krīḍā) of the Goddess is the unlimited power of divine

Consciousness (cicchakti), a power whose work is to manifest and animate
the universe: “Thou, O Goddess! art the blazing light bursting forth from
this action, being [ for us and in us] the intuitive comprehension [pratīti]29
eternally fastened on the total union of Śiva and Śakti.”
The secret meaning, [the attainment of which is] preceded by the

stability of the spirit that appears when all volition and all doubt
are banished, is completely hidden. It gives immediate certainty.
//76b–77a//
nirastasarvasamkalpavikalpasthitipūrvakaḥ //76//
rahasyārtho mahāguptaḥ sadyaḥ pratyayakārakaḥ /
The state of mind necessary to have this mystical experience of the high-
est reality is the complete nakedness, or void, of consciousness, without any
will to act or any doubt about what is to be done. Once this state is present,
the certainty flashes forth that “I am Śiva” (sivo ‘ham), says the commentary.
It is seen in the ocean of the high knowledge. There, no doubt [sur-

vives], O Pārvatī! //77b// Giver of divine powers, it is present in the
[three kūṭas] composing the seat [pīṭha] of the vidyā. //78a//
mahājñānārnave dṛṣṭaḥ saṅkā tatra na pārvati //77//
vidyāpīṭhanibandheṣu samsthito divyasiddhidaḥ /
Amṛtānanda explains the term vidyāpītha, saying that the Śrīvidyā is

herself the pīṭha, since she is the place where Śiva and Ṣakti rest together.
This seat is made up of the three constitutive parts (the kūṭas or bījas) of
the srīvidyā, whose meaning or spiritual import is to be experimentally
realized by following the phonic process that extends from the first syl-
lable of each kūṭa to the ultimate phonic vibration of the HRĪṂ that ends
each of them: the phonic plane of unmanā, the “transmental.”30
As for the divine powers (divyasiddhi), they are defined as consisting
of the total knowledge and understanding of the supreme reality, not as
the possession of supernatural powers, which is the usual meaning of the
term siddhi—a meaning that is, however, given to it in stanzas 203–204 of
the last chapter: Amṛtānanda, as we know, interprets the YH according to
the Śaiva nondualist tradition, insisting on its metaphysical and spiritual
aspects, not the magical ones.
Will enjoy this, O Goddess! those who follow the practice of Kula
and who meditate on the feet of the Master, who take part zealously
in the meetings with the Yoginīs, who have received the divine unc-
tion, are free from the stain of doubt, their spirit ceaselessly joyful
and well versed in the secret meaning known through the uninter-
rupted succession [of masters]. //78b–80//
kaulācāraparair devi pādukābhāvanāparaiḥ //78//
yoginīmelanodyuktaiḥ prāptadivyābhiṣecanaiḥ /
saṅkākalaṅkavigataiḥ sadā muditamānasaiḥ //79//
pāramparyena vijñātararahasyārthavisaradaiḥ /
labhyate
“The kaulas,” says the Dī, “are those who know that kula is the body
and that it can have a very great use.”31
Concerning the meditation on the feet of the Master, the Dī quotes
the following stanza: “One is the shape of Śiva, luminous by himself
[prakāsa]. [One, too,] is the ‘being’ or essence [tanu] which is its aware-
ness [vimarsa]. The supreme, total fusion of these two aspects [of the
supreme deity], such is the imprint of the feet [of the Master]. It is
in essence the supreme Śiva.” The supreme godhead is, in the non-
dualist Śaiva traditions, both light (prakāsa) and free consciousness
(vimarsa), a reality that only those who are devoted to the feet of the
Master will enjoy.
The “meeting with the Yoginīs” (yoginīmelana) is a collective kula
ritual in which participants, by pair, male and female, under the guid-
ance of their guru, worship the deity, the ritual usually including the
sexual union of the participating couples. The Dī underlines the fes-
tive, joyful atmosphere of the rite, in which the adepts, fully instructed
according to the traditional teaching, free from doubt, enjoy the union
with the deity.
[So it is and] not otherwise, I promise you, O Goddess, Beauty of the

Family! //80// Those who, deprived of the tradition, are infatuated
with their own science, since they transgress the rule, the rays [of
consciousness] destroy them. //81//
nānyathā devi tvām sape kulasundari //80//
pāramparyavihīnā yejñānamātrena garvitāḥ /
teṣām samayalopena vikurvanti marīcayaḥ //81//
The infatuated adepts are those who, being without an initiated guru,
do not benefit from the teachings of the Tantras, do not know the mean-
ings expounded here, and therefore do not understand the full meaning
and import of the srīvidyā and of its constituting syllables: the rules of
utterance (uccāra) of the mantras, and so forth.
The rays of consciousness (cinmarīci), the Dī explains, are the Mothers of
Kula (kulamātaraḥ), the goddesses Brahmī, and so on, along with the deities
of the bodily elements (dhātudevatā)32, the Ḍākinīs. These divine rays destroy
the bodies of the bad adepts by causing a disequilibrium of these elements.
But he who experiences consciously the joy of the divine essence,

staggering in the bliss of alcohol, propitiates the rays [of conscious-
ness] at all times and especially in the morning, on lunar days, and
on those of the constellation of the deity, obtains the fullness of
[awakened] consciousness. //82–83//
yas tu divyarasāsvādamodamānavimarsanah /
devatātithinakṣatre vāre ‘pi ca vivasvataḥ //82//
marīcīn prīnayaty eva madirānandaghūrnitaḥ /
sarvadā ca viseṣena labhate pūrnabhodhatām //83//
The yogin who follows the practices of Kula (kaulācāra) is deemed to be

always united with Śiva. His experience is that of “the uncreated flashing
bliss of the intense absolute consciousness [parāmarsa] of his unity with
the supreme Śiva.” Then, says the Dī, having partaken of the ritual offer-
ings (arghya) to the Goddess (which include meat and alcohol), he staggers.
The particular times and days mentioned here are those when occa-
sional mandatory rituals, prescribed in Tantric manuals of worship, are to
be practiced by the adept.
O Mistress of the gods! such a state [of mind] made of highest

knowledge is immediately obtained by human beings thanks to the
grace of the best of spiritual masters. //84//
evambhavas tu devesi desikendraprasādataḥ /
mahājñānamayo devi sadyaḥ samprāpyate naraiḥ //84//
The chapter concludes:

Thus, the knowledge that gives all this, which is attained through
the science of the phonemes of the vidyā, O Goddess! and is secret,
has been explained to you in six ways, O Durgī! because of my love
[ for you]. He who understands this becomes immediately lord of
the circle of heroes. //85//
evam etatpradam jñānam vidyārnāgamagocaram /
devi guhyam priyenaiva vyākhyātam durgi ṣaḍvidham /
sadyo yasya prabodhena vīracakresvaro bhavet //85//
The lord of the circle of heroes, says the Dī, is the supreme Śiva, which
means that the initiated adept who has obtained the knowledge of the six
meanings is identified with Śiva.
3
Encounter in the Worship

p Ū j Ā sam k eta
this chapter is also called samketa, since wherever male and female prin-
ciples or deities are present in couples during the pūjā, Śiva and Śakti can
be held to be present in conjunction: they meet and/or fulfill their promise
(samketa) to be there. The worship, too, although it is that of Tripurasundarī,
is aimed at the supreme godhead, which both includes and transcends the
masculine and the feminine. Since the chapter describes ritual practices,
the term samketa could also be translated as “practice,” which is one of the
meanings of this Sanskrit word.
This chapter is the longest. With 204 stanzas, it accounts for more than
half of the Yoginīhṛdaya. It does not describe precisely the visible aspect of
the Goddess, although she is to be visualized as clearly and precisely as
possible during the worship, which is performed on a srīcakra, without
any material icon, the deities to be worshipped being placed immaterially
by nyāsa, using their mantras, on the different parts of the cakra,1 where
they are to be visualized and imagined as present. The fact that the YH
consists of instructions given by Bhairava to Tripurasundarī may explain
why she is not described. The main reason, however, for the lack of prac-
tical informations is that the YH is not a mere ritual manual to be read
and used privately by any person. It is a revealed text to be transmitted by
word of mouth to a chosen disciple by a master who would give him all
necessary information for understanding the doctrine and performing the
sometimes very complicated prescribed ritual actions.
The pūjā is to be performed using a srīcakra diagram, usually drawn
ritually and according to precise rules, with colored powders, and adorned
as mentioned in stanzas 95b–97. But if this geometrical figure is the
necessary material basis of the worship of Tripurasundarī, the pūjā, its
performance appears (as is, in fact, the case in all Tantric ritual worship) to
consist more in evoking mental images and uttering (audibly or mentally)
mantras than in concrete visible actions. At some points, the officiating
adept is to concentrate intensely and/or follow the ascent of his kunḍalinī.
He is therefore intensely and completely implicated, immersed, in what
he is doing, The srīcakrapūjā is (or ought to be) a total—bodily, mental,
spiritual—divinizing experience. This aspect appears from the start, in
the first stanzas of this chapter, and is continuously underlined by the Dī.
Now, O Incomparable One! I will tell you the practice of the worship
whose mere knowledge causes the liberated in life to exult. //1//
Your worship, eternally present and manifest, is threefold, O Gaurī! It
is supreme, nonsupreme, and thirdly, supreme-nonsupreme. //2//
pūjāsamketam adhunā kathayāmi tavānaghe /
yasyaprabodhamātrena jīvanmuktaḥ pramodate //1//
tava nityoditā pūjā tribhir bhedair vyavasthitā /
parā cāpy apara gauri tṛtīyā ca parāparā //2//
The Sanskrit term used to characterize the ritual worship of the Goddess
is nityodita, which means eternally (nitya) appearing or arising (udita), being
eternally present. The term is often used by Jayaratha in his commentary
on the Tantrāloka as the characteristic of the divine Consciousness, which
is ever present, active, manifested. It is applied here to the pūjā because the
supreme deity is deemed to be ceaselessly worshipped in the heart of her
devotees, a worship made in the luminous center of nonduality (advaya
dhāmni), “in the grandeur of the inner void,” says Amṛtānanda. The non-
supreme worship is the ordinary ritual worship, which will be described in
this chapter. The supreme-nonsupreme one consists in “intense medita-
tion [bhāvanā], absorption in the absolute Consciousness, in nonduality
and in the nondualistic element present in the dualistic worship.”2
The main traits of these three types of worship are now shown:
The domain of the first [type of worship] is the activity of all [senses]
insofar as they remain in the condition of nonduality. //3a//
prathamādvaitabhāvasthā sarvaprasaragocarā /
This worship is purely spiritual. The Dī quotes here stanzas 116–117 of

the Vijñānabhairava, the first of which states: “Wherever the mind goes,
Encounter in the Worship 95
toward the exterior or the interior, there is the state of Shiva. Since he is
omnipresent, where can [the mind] go to avoid [Him]?” There is no way to
evade the omnipresence of the supreme deity.
The second one, the worship of the cakra, is ceaselessly performed

by me. //3//
dvitiyā cakrapūjā ca sadā niṣpadyate mayā //3//
We may well wonder how Bhairava would ritually worship

Tripurasundarī. He says this, however, in spite of his being omniscient, in
order to help the devotees understand nonduality.
The third one, O Goddess! consists in [placing] that which arises by

itself in what is pure knowledge. //4a//
evam jñānamaye devi tṛtīyā svaprathāmayī /
This practice is “supreme-nonsupreme” (parāpara) in that it consists

(insofar as we can understand the YH and the Dī), for the adept, in seeing
mentally by an intense meditation of nonduality (advaitabhāvanā) all the
rites he performs—the worship of all the deities abiding in the srīcakra,
that is—as immersed in the Absolute. The Dī quotes: “With the offering,
I throw the mental constructions of the limited being, and all such ele-
ments, into the fire which is a compact mass of consciousness, just as
one pours clarified butter into the sacrificial fire.” We will see later several
ritual acts interpreted metaphysically in the same way.
The highest is known as the supreme one. Listen now to how it

must be done. //4//
Having evoked mentally within the vāgbhava placed in the forest
of the great lotus the footprint of the [divine] Master which fills the
form of the universe by pouring down the supreme ambrosia, //5//
[the adept] totters, intoxicated with the realization of nonduality
with the supreme.
uttamā sā parā jñeyā vidhānam sṛnu sampratam //4//
mahāpadmavanāntasthe vāgbhave gurupādukām /
āpyāyitajagadrūpām parāmṛtavarṣinīm //5//
samcintya paramādvaitabhāvanāmadaghūrnitaḥ /
This practice is considered supreme because it implies a complete

fusion of the adept with the Absolute.
Vāgbhava, here as in stanza 69 of chapter 2 (see above), designates
not the first kūṭa of the srīvidyā but the place where the four planes of the
Word (vāc) are situated (bhavanti). This totality of the Word is to be visual-
ized by the adept as shining in the “forest of the great lotus,” that is, the
akulapadma, which, as we have seen in chapter 1, is, in this system, a white
thousand-petaled lotus located on the summit of the suṣumnā, where the
vyāpinī kalā of the uccāra of the mantra is located, pouring incessantly a
flow of ambrosia (amṛta). The Dī explains that this flow of ambrosia is “the
flow of the essence of the undivided divine Consciousness.” The adept is
to have an intimate direct awareness (svātmatayā vimṛsya) of this. Note
that the above visualizations are to be mentally “seen” in the yogic body of
the adept; yoga and worship are inseparable.
The footprint of the Master is the presence in this world of the supreme
Śiva. Amṛtānanda quotes again the first stanza of his Cidvilāsastava: “One
is the form of Śiva, luminous by himself. One [also] is the ‘being’ [tanu]
which is the awareness of this. The supreme [reality], total fusion of these
two [elements], such is the footprint of [the Master]: it is in essence the
supreme Śiva.”
On the realization of nonduality, the Dī adds: “The mystical realization
of the absence of all duality with Him consists in being totally absorbed
in the [awareness of ] ‘This, verily, I am’ [saivāham asmīti samāvesa], a
state called intoxication since it makes one [divinely] intoxicated; and it is
because of the state thus caused that the [adept], full of joy, totters.”
He must turn away from the chatter of discursive thought, being

entirely devoted to the contemplation of the nāda which arises
inside the Small One. //6//
daharāntarasamsarpan nādālokanatatparaḥ //6//
vikalparūpasamjalpavimukhaḥ
To define the Small One (dahara), the Dī quotes the Mahānārāyana

Upaniṣad: “The Small One, without defects, residence of the supreme
Lord, lotus of the heart abiding in the center of the citadel.” It is therefore
the space in the center of the lotus of the heart: “In this Small One is the
inner space” (daharo’sminn artarākāsaḥ), says the Chāndogya Upaniṣad.
The adept must therefore contemplate, meditate, this symbol of the
supreme, concentrating on the nāda, the inner subtle vibration he feels in
his heart, leaving therefore aside such discursive activity as the recitation
of mantras.
The adept must meditate (dhyānam kuryāt) as follows:
Ceaselessly looking inward, [he participates] in the intense beauty

that is the destruction of contraction by the shining forth of the
power of consciousness. //7//
antarmukhaḥ sadā /
citkalollāsadalitasamkocas tvatisundaraḥ //7//
The actual, material worship is now described in the 156 stanzas that
follow:
The worship of oneself must be done with elements that are pleas-
ing to the senses. //8a//
indriyaprīnanair dravyair vihitasvātmapūjanaḥ /
The worship to be done is not of the self of the worshipper but of the
deity that is the very essence—the deity of one’s self (svātmadevatā)—of
the worshipper. The Dī quotes here a text that says: “To worship in a natu-
ral fashion the deity that is one’s own self by using perfumes etc. to which
the doors of the senses are opened, such is the great sacrifice of one who
knows.” And it adds: “as has been said, the highest sort of pūjā consists
in attaining a complete fusion [sāmarasīkarana] thanks to the great felicity
born from the experience of the sounds, etc., perceived by the ears and
the other senses of the worshipper.” The identification of the worshipper
with the deity being worshipped, which is the aim of the Tantric pūjā, is
considered in all Tantras as being more easily achieved when helped by
the beauty and charm of the ritual.
The description of the “nonsupreme” (apara) pūjā begins now, with the
preliminary rite of nyāsa, which is very complex, a large number of ele-
ments having to be ritually imposed on the body of the officiant in order to
purify and divinize it: identifying it with the mantra, the srīcakra, and the
deities abiding in it. Seventy-nine stanzas (8–87) are devoted to this rite.
Impositions (nyaˉsa)
Four series of nyāsas are to be performed: first, the “sixfold imposition”
(ṣoḍhānyāsa), sl. 8–40; second, the imposition of the srīcakra, sl. 41–68; third,
the imposition of the deities abiding in the srīcakra, sl. 69–79. Then come
four series of placings: the purification of the hands (karasuddhi), an impo-
sition of the srīvidyā, then another karasuddhi, and finally a group of impo-
sitions of the throne (āsana) and of several entities. Finally this is completed
(sl. 85–86) by a tritattvanyāsa on the whole body deemed to achieve the total
“cosmicization” and divinization of the officiating sādhaka.3
One must [first] perform the placing of mantras on the body start-
ing with the sixfold placing. //8//
nyāsam nirvartayed dehe ṣoḍhānyāsapuraḥsaram //8//
The first placing [must be done] with the Ganes  as, the second one
with the planets, the third with the nakṣatras, the fourth with the
Yoginīs, //9// the fifth with the signs of the zodiac, and the sixth
with the pīṭhas. The sixfold nyāsa [now] told to you is said everywhere
to be invincible. //10// The one whose body is touched in this way
is worthy of being worshipped by all yogins. In the worlds there is
no [being, even his] father, mother, etc., that he should revere. //11//
He alone is to be venerated by all [ for] he is himself the supreme
Lord. If he were to bow in front of someone who has not received
the sixfold nyāsa, O Parvatī! //12// he would soon die and go to hell.
ganesaiḥ prathamo nyāso dvitīyas tu grahair mataḥ /
nakṣatraisca tṛtīyaḥ syād yoginibhis caturthakaḥ //9//
rāsibhiḥ pañcamo nyāsaḥ ṣaṣthaḥ pīṭhair nigadyate /
ṣoḍhānyāsas tvayam proktaḥ sarvatraivāparājitaḥ //10//
evam yo nyastagātras tu sa pūjyaḥ sarvayogibhiḥ /
nāsty asya pūjyo lokeṣupitṛmātṛmukho janaḥ //11//
sa eva pūjyaḥ sarveṣām sa svayam paramesvaraḥ /
ṣoḍhānyāsavihinam yam pranamed eṣa pārvati //12//
so ‘cirān mṛtyum āpnoti narakam ca prapadyate /
The sixfold nyāsa (ṣoḍhānyāsa, sometimes called mahāṣoḍhānyāsa, the

“great sixfold nyāsa”), which imposes on the body of an adept or officiant
six aspects or forms of a deity, is described in many Tantric texts and even
in some purānas. It is considered particularly effective in pervading the
body of the adept with divine power. The divinization of the officiant of the
worship is a necessity, for it is only after having shed his human ordinary
condition and becoming divine that an adept is permitted to approach a
deity and to perform its ritual worship, the pūjā. As the saying goes, “One
should worship God [after] having become god” (devam bhutva devam
yajet). This is the paradox of the Tantric pūjā that it aims at the diviniza-
tion of an officiating person who, to be permitted to reach this goal, must
first be already divinized. The paradox—the ritual redundancy—is all the
greater since, as we shall see, the ṣodhānyāsa is followed by other imposi-
tions: those of the srīcakra and of the deities that abide in it.
I will tell you how to do the sixfold placing, O Perfect One! //13//

ṣodhānyāsaprakāram ca kathayāmi tavānaghe //13//
First is described the nyāsa of fifty-one Ganesas, enumerated as follows:
Vighnesa and Vighnarāja, Vināyaka and Śivottama, Vighnakṛt,

Vighnahartā and Ganarāja,
 Gananāyaka,
 //14// Ekadanta and
Dvidanta, Gajavaktra, Nirañjana, Kapardavān, Dīrghamukha,
Śaṅkukarna, Vṛṣadhvaja, //15// Gananātha  and Gajendra,
Ṣurpakarna,  Trilocana, Lambodara and Mahānāda, Caturmūrti,
Sadāsiva, //16// Āmoda and Durmukha, Sumukha and Pramodaka,
Ekapāda and Dvijuhva, Sūra, Vīra and Ṣanmukha,  //17// Varada
and Vāmadeva, Vaktratunḍ  a, Dvitunḍ aka, Senānī, Grāmanī , Latta,
Vimatta, Mattavahana, //18// Jāṭī, Munḍ  ī and Khaṅgī, Varenya, 
Vṛṣaketana, Bhakṣyapriya and Ganes
 a, Meghanāda, Ganesvara. //19//
These [gods] have three eyes, the face of an elephant; they are like
the rising sun. They hold in their hands the noose and the hook
and make the gestures of granting wishes and of fearlessness. They
are accompanied by their saktis. //20// One must place them on
the body as one does for the imposition of the mātṛkā, O Dear One!
vighneso vighnarājas ca vināyakasivottamau /
vighnakṛd vighnahartā ca ganarāḍ gananāyakaḥ //14//
ekadanto dvidantas ca gajavaktro nirañjanaḥ /
kapardavān dīrghamukhaḥ saṅkukarno vṛsadhvajaḥ //15//
gananātho gajendras ca surpakarnas trilocanaḥ /
lambodaro mahānādas caturmūrtiḥ sadāsivaḥ //16//
āmodo durmukhas caiva sumukhasca pramodakaḥ /
ekapādo dvijihvas ca sūro vīras ca ṣanmukhaḥ //17//

varado vāmadevas ca vaktratunḍo dvitunḍakah /
senānīr grāmanīr matto vimatto mattavāhanaḥ //18//
jaṭī munḍī thatā khaṅgī varenyo vṛsaketanaḥ /
bhaksyapriyo ganesas ca meghanādo ganesvaraḥ //19//
tarunārunasamkāsān gajavaktrān trilocanān /
pāsānkusavarābhītīhastān saktisamanvitān //20//
etāms tu vinyased dehe mātṛkānyāsavat priye /
That there could be fifty-one Ganesas should not surprise the reader.
Tantric deities tend to multiply: there are nine Durgās, sixteen Nityās,
eighteen (or fifty-one) Rudras, even six hundred forty million Yoginīs (sl.
193); the supreme deity manifests thus the omnipresence of its power.
Since there are fifty-one Ganesas, to be placed by nyāsa on the same places
as the phonemes of the mātṛkā, the latter must be made up of fifty-one let-
ters, including therefore the so-called Vedic ḷ, which is not usual.
Being Tantric, these Ganes as are accompanied by their consorts, fifty-one
saktis, enumerated in the Dī. In iconography, they are shown sitting on the
Ganes as’ left thighs, sometimes holding his erect liṅga. The adept, when
performing their nyāsa, is probably supposed to visualize these couples as
he utters or evokes mentally the mantra of each of these gods. The names
of the Ganes as and of their saktis are not exactly the same in all Tantras.
The nyāsa of other deities or entities is then described, starting with
the planets (graha):4
One must impose Sūrya below the heart accompanied by the vowels,
//21// the Producer of Nectar on the place of the bindu with the four
phonemes YA, etc.; on the eyes, the Son of the Earth presiding over
the group of the gutturals, O Dear One! //22// Then, on the heart,
one must place Venus, regent of the group of palatals; above the
heart one will impose Mercury, regent of the cerebrals. //23// On
the region of the throat, Bṛhaspati, who presides over the dentals, O
Dear One. On the navel, Saturn, master of the pavarga, O Mistress
of the Gods! //24// Then one must impose Rahu accompanied by
the four phonemes ŚA, etc., on the face, and Ketu accompanied by
the letter KṢA on the anus, O Mistress of the Gods! //25//
svaraistu sahitam sūryam hṛdayādhaḥ pravinyaset //21//
bindusthāne sudhāsutim yādivarnacatuṣṭayaiḥ /

bhuputram locanadvandve kavargādhipatim priye //22//
hṛdaye vinyasecchukram cavargādhipatim punaḥ /
hṛdayopari vinyaset ṭavargādhipatim budham //23//
bṛhaspatim kanṭhadese tavargādhipatim priye /
nābhau sanaiscaram caiva pavargesam suresvari //24//
vaktre sādicaturvarnaiḥ sahitam ṛahum evaca /
ksākarasahitam ketum pāyau devesi vinyaset //25//
The constellations (nakṣatra) are then to be imposed:
Then, on the forehead, the right and left eye, the two ears, the lobes
of the nose, the throat, the shoulders, //26// then on the elbows
and on the wrists, on the nipples and on the area of the navel, on
the hips and lastly //27// on the thighs and the knees, the ankles
and the feet [are to be placed the nakṣatras] Asvinī and the others
who shine like the blazing fire [destroyer] of time, their hands mak-
ing the gesture of granting of wishes and of reassurance //28//
and that of salutation and who are wearing all the ornaments. One
must impose them on those places, O Goddess honored by the
gods!5 //29//
lalāṭe dakṣanetre ca vāme karnadvaye punaḥ /
puṭayor nāsikāyās ca kanṭhe skandhadvaye punaḥ //26//
pascāt kūrparayugme ca manibandhadvaye tathā /
stanayor nābhidese ca kaṭibandhe tataḥ param //27//
uruyugme tathā jānvor jaṅghayos ca padadvaye /
jvalatkālānalaprakhyā varadābhayapānayaḥ //28//
natipānyo ‘svinīpūrvāḥ sarvābharanabhūṣitāḥ /
etās tu vinyased devi sthāneṣveṣu surārcite //29//
The Yoginīs are then to be placed:
One must impose the deities Ḍā, etc., mistresses of the constituent
elements of the body, on the viṣuddha, heart, navel, svādhisthāna,
mūl[ādhāra], and ājñā [cakras]. //30// They are to be visualized
exactly through meditation on the feet and on the liṅga and the
belly, on the heart and on the root of the arms, associating them
with Amṛtā, etc., O Mistress of the gods! //31//
visuddhau hṛdaye nābhau svādhiṣṭhāne ca mūlake /
ājñāyām dhātunāthāsca nyastavyā ḍādidevatāḥ //30//
amṛtādiyutāḥ samyag dhyātavyās ca suresvari /
pāde liṅge ca kukṣau ca hṛdaye bāhumūlayoḥ //31//
The “deities Ḍā, etc.” are a group of secondary goddesses, or Yoginīs,

the name of the first one beginning with ḍa. They are: Ḍākinī, Rākinī,
Lākinī, Kākinī, Sākinī, and Hākinī. They are traditionally considered the
regents of the dhātus, the seven constituent elements of the body, of which
the commentary here quotes only six: skin, blood, flesh, fat, marrow, and
semen,6 because the YH associates them with six bodily cakras only.
Amṛtā is the first of a group of sixteen saktis or Mothers (mātṛkās); their
names are enumerated in a passage of the Svacchandasaṅgraha quoted in
the Dī (p. 238).
All these deities are placed mentally on the imaginal body of the offici-
ating adept by an āntaranyāsa, an inner imposition, which is a mental rite;
this is explained in the commentary, which also says that the dhyāna, the
mental visualization of all the deities, can be found “in another āgama.”
Starting with the right foot and ending with the left foot, one must
impose the signs of the zodiac, Aries, etc., with the phonemes [of
the mātṛkā], O Parvatī! //32//
dakṣinam padam ārabhya vāmapādāvasānakam /
meṣādi rāsayo varnair nyastavyā saha pārvati //32//
For this nyāsa, the fifty phonemes of the Sanskrit alphabet are distributed in
twelve groups, beginning with the group of the vowels and ending with KṢA.
Finally to be placed on the body of the officiant are the fifty seats of
power (pīṭha) of the Goddess, that is, the fifty places on the Indian subcon-
tinent to which the pieces of the dismembered body of Śiva’s wife, Satī, fell
from his shoulders while he roamed, desperate, after her death when she
had jumped into the sacrificial fire of Dakṣa:7
Then, O Goddess, one must impose the pīṭhas on the places where
the mātṛkanyāsa [is made]. Their names are [now] given. Listen
carefully, O Dear One! //33//:
Kāmarūpa, Vāranasī, Nepāla, Paunḍravardhana, Purasthira,

Kānyakubja, Pūrnasaila and Arbuda, //34// Amrātakesvara,
Ekāmra, Trisrotas, Kāmakoṭaka, Kailāsa, Bhṛgunagara, Kedāra and
Pūrnascandraka, //35// Śrīpīṭha, Omkārapīṭha, Jālandhra, Mālava,
Utkala, Kulānta, Devīkoṭṭa, Gokarna, Marutesvara, //36// Aṭṭahāsa
and Viraja, Rājagṛha, Mahāpatha, Kolāpura, Elāpura, Kālesa and
Jayantikā, //37// Ujjayinī, Vicitra and Kṣīraka, Hastināpura, Oḍḍisa,
the one named Prayāga, Ṣaṣthī then Māyāpuri, //38// Jalesa,
Malayasaila and the Meru, the best of all mountains, Mahendra and
Vāmana, then Hiranyapura, //39// Mahālakṣmīpura and Uḍyāna
and, lastly, Chāyāchatra. [Thus are] enumerated these pīṭhas [which
are to be imposed] on the same places as the mātṛkā. //40//
pīṭhāni vinyased devi mātṛkāsthānake punaḥ /
tesām nāmāni kathyante srnusvāvahitā priye //33//
kāmarūpam vārānasīm nepālam paundravardhanam /
purasthiram kānyakubjam pūrnasailam thatārbudam //34//
āmrātakesvaraikāmre trisrotaḥ kāmakoṭakam /
kailāsam bhṛgunagaram kedārapūrnacandrake //35//
srīpīṭham omkārapītham jālandhram mālavotkale /
kulāntam devikoṭṭam ca gokarnam mārutesvaram //36//
aṭtahāsam ca virajam rājagṛham mahāpatham /
kolāpuram elāpuram kālesam tu jayantikā //37//
ujjayinī vicitram ca kṣīrakam hastināpūram /
oḍḍīsam ca prayāgākhyam ṣaṣṭḥī māyāpurī tahtā //38//
jalesam malayam sailam merum girivaram tathā /
māhendram vāmanam caiva hiranyapuram eva ca //39//
mahālakṣmīpuroḍyāne chāyāchatram ataḥ param /
ete pīṭhāḥ samuḍḍiṣṭhā mātṛkārūpakāḥ sthitāḥ //40//
We have seen in chapter 1 (sl. 41–43) the four main pīthas of the Tripurā
tradition. Enumerated here are the fifty sākta ones, the list of which var-
ies according to different texts. The list given here is perhaps ancient, but
this is not certain. Some pīṭhas can be identified (Kāmarūpa, Nepal, and
Varanasi, for instance), others not. Attempts have been more or less con-
vincingly made at locating all of them geographically. They seem to spread
out all over India but not to include Kashmir.
The Dī explains that each phoneme is to be uttered distinctly when

placing it on the body, together with the name of the pīṭha concerned.8
The sixfold [nyāsa] having thus been done, the imposition of the
srīcakra is then to be performed. Listen, O Dear One! to the imposi-
tion of the cakra of the venerable Tripurasundarī //41// which has
never been told to anyone, purifies the body, and is supreme.
evam ṣodhā purā kṛtvā srīcakrancakrayāsam ācaret /
srīmattripurasundaryās cakranyāsam sṛnu priye //41//
yan na kascid ākhyātam tanusuddhikaram param /
The Dī here extols the nyāsa of the cakra of the supreme goddess
Tripurasundarī, who is “the supreme dynamism of consciousness
(paracitkalā), the object of supreme love (parapremāspada), her cakra being
made up of all the tattvas from Śiva down to the earth, which is the place
where she reveals herself. The process of this nyāsa is to be kept secret.
It purifies the body and is supreme.” This, says the Dī, is to say that “it
transforms the body made of the thirty-six tattvas by bringing it up to the
level of the supreme essence”; this is why this imposition is superior to
all others.
First, while saying “Praise to the first line of the square,” one must
make a pervasive imposition on the right side: on the back of the
shoulder, the extremity of the hand, the hip, and the toes and, on
the left side: on the toes, the hip, the extremity of the hand, and the
back of the shoulder //43// and also on the base and the back of the
head, O Beautiful One!
caturasrādyarekhāyai nama ity ādito nyaset //42//
dakṣāmsapṛṣṭhapānyagrasphikkapādāṅgulīsvathā /
vāmāṅghryanguliṣu sphikke pānyagre cāmsapṛṣṭhake //43//
sacūlīmūlapṛṣṭheṣu vyāpakatvena sundari /
The imposition to be made here is called a vyāpakanyāsa, a term we

translate as “pervasive” imposition or placing. This practice, very often
prescribed, consists of touching the body on several places according to
the usual rules of nyāsa, the effect of these several placings being con-
ceived as spreading from one point to the other in order to (in the present
case) trace on the body the lines of the srīcakra. A vyāpakanyāsa may also
be made with the two hands, which rub or stroke the body to pervade it
with the power of a mantra.
One may well wonder how a square structure with circles inside it
can, even in imagination, actually be placed on a human body. The idea,
however, is not so much to place a structure on the body of the adept as
to place there all the deities abiding in the srīcakra, thus pervading him
with the divine elements, which are in, and constitute, this diagrammatic
supremely energetic form of the supreme Goddess.
On the same ten locations, one must impose the ten Siddhis, Animā,
and the others.9 //44// Then, back from these, one is to impose [the
second line of the square, conceived] as stretching along the body,
with the mantra “Praise to the middle line of the square,” O Dear
One! as well as the energies Brahmānī, etc., on eight locations of
this line: on the big toes of the feet, on the right side, then on the
other side of the head, //46// on the left and right knees, then on
the outsides of the two shoulders.
What is to be imposed [next] must be placed with [the mantra]
“Praise be to the inside line of the square” //47// as stretching
along10 the body behind the points just described.
On ten points of this [line], one will impose the ten Mudrās. //48//
Eight of them must be imposed on the eight locations of Brahmanī,
etc., and the last two on the dvādasānta and on the big toe. //49//
atraiva sthānadasake animādyā dasa nyaset //44//
siddhīḥ tadantaṣ ca tanuvyāpakatvena sundari /
caturasramadhyarekhāyai nama ityapi vallabhe //45//
vinyaset tasyāḥ sthāneṣu brahmānyādyās tathāṣṭasu /
pāḍaṅguṣṭhadvaye parsve dakṣe mūrdhno ‘nyapārsvake //46//
vāmadakṣinajanvos ca bahiramsadvaye tathā /
nyastavyās caturasrāntyarekhāyai namā ityapi //47//
vinyased vyāpaktevena pūrvoktāntas ca vigrahe /
tasyāḥ sthāneṣu dasasu mudrānām dasakam nyaset //48//
brahmānyādyaṣṭhānāntas tāsām aṣṭau nyaset tataḥ /
siṣṭe dve dvādasānte ca pādāṅguṣṭhe ca vinyaset //49//
The Mudrās are the deity aspects of the ten mudrās we have seen in
chapter 1, sl. 56–71, which are hand gestures but are also forms of divine
power and deities.
The dvādasānta, the “end of twelve,” is the cakra considered to be
located over the head twelve finger-breadths above the brahmarandhra. It
is the highest of the cakras. The Svacchandasamgraha identifies it with the
sky of consciousness, the vyoman.11
Then is told the vyāpakanyāsa of the sixteen-petaled lotus:
Inside this [square], after having imposed the mantra “Praise to the
sixteen-petaled lotus,” one must impose on these petals Kāmākarṣinī
and the other [powers]. //50// The petals are considered as being,
on the right side, on the back of the ear, on the shoulder, the elbow,
the back of the hand, the thigh, the knee, the ankle, and the sole of
the foot, //51// and, on the left side, on the symmetrical [spots], but
starting from the sole of the left foot.
tadantaḥ ṣoḍasadalapadmāya nama ity api /
vinyasya taddale kāmākarīnyādyās ca vinyaset //50//
dalāni dakṣinasrotrapṛṣṭhamsam ca kūrparam /
karapṛṣṭham corujānugulphapādatalam tathā //51//
vāmapādadalādy evam etad evāṣṭakam matam /
Now, the vyāpakanyā of the eight-petaled lotus:
Thereafter, on this [lotus], after having made an imposition using

the mantra “Praise to the eight-petaled lotus,” //52// one must
place the eight energies Anaṅgakusumā, etc., on these petals, on
the right temple, collarbone, thigh, and ankle and on the left ankle,
thigh, collarbone, and temple. //53–54a//
tadantare cāṣṭadalapadmāya nama ity api //52//
vinyasya taddaleṣveṣu dakṣasaṅkhe ca jatruke /
ūrvāntargulphorujatrusaṅkhe ca vāmataḥ //53//
anaṅgakusumādyās tu saktir aṣṭau ca vinyaset /
The commentary gives the names of these eight minor goddesses,

which all begin with Anaṅga. They are Guptatarayoginīs, “very secret
Yoginīs.” Their worship is described in sl. 131–135 of this chapter.
The preceding ones, Kāmākarṣinī, and so on, to be placed with the

imposition of the sixteen-petaled lotus, are Guptayoginīs, “secret Yoginīs”
(ritual described in sl. 120–130).
Then follow (sl. 54–80) the impositions (all of which are pervasive,
vyāpakanyāsa) of the circles of triangles that are inside the lotuses and sur-
round the Goddess; the deities abiding in theses cakras are also placed on
the body of the officiant:
Having made an imposition inside this [lotus] with [the mantra]

“Praise to the cakra with fourteen [tri]angles,” //54// one must impose
on these [tri]angles the fourteen energies Sarvasamkṣobhinī,12 etc.
These [tri]angles, I will tell you [where to impose them]. //55// [They
are to be imposed] on the right side of the forehead, on the middle
of the right cheek and of the shoulder, on the [right] side, on the
inside of the right thigh and the right leg. Then on the left cheek,
and so forth, O Pārvati! //56// on the left thigh, the left side, the
left shoulder, the left side of the forehead, and on the back [of the
head]. //57//
After this, one must also [make an imposition with the mantra]
“Praise to the cakra with ten [tri]angles,” O Pārvati!
The [tri]angles [of this cakra are to be placed] on the right eye, at
the root of the nose and on the left eye, on the northeast and the
northwest angles of the trunk, the knees, and the anus, then on the
angles of the trunk named nairṛti and vahni. //58–59a//
tadantas caturdasāracakrāya nama ity api //54//
vinyasya tasya koneṣu nyasecchaktīs caturdasa /
sarvasamkṣobhinyādyās tu tasya konāni vacmyaham //55//
lalāte dakṣabhāge ca dakṣagānḍāmsamadhyataḥ /
pārsvāntarūrujaṅghāntarvāmajaṅghādi pārvati //56//
vāmorau vāmapārsve ca vamāmse vāmaganḍake /
lalāṭavāmabhāge ca tathā vai pṛṣṭha ity api //57//
tato dasāracakrāya nama ity api pārvati /
tasya konāni dakṣākṣināsikāmūlanetrake //58//
kukṣīsavāyukoneṣu jānudvayagudeṣu ca /
kukṣinairṛtivahnyākhyakoneṣveṣu
Even for a reader able to follow the Sanskrit text, the two last stanzas
are not very clear. The commentary explains, therefore, that the constitu-
ent triangles of this cakra are to be mentally visualized (bhāvanīyāni). The
term kukṣi, which we translate as “trunk,” means usually the belly, but it is
explained by the commentary to mean “the part of the body which extends
from the thighs to the arms,” that is, the trunk. The upper portion of the
trunk is considered to be on the east side, the lower part on the west, the
left and right sides respectively on the south and the north. The “angles”
of the trunk would then be where the arms and the thighs begin. “Thus,”
the Dī concludes, “the root of the left arm will be in the northeastern angle
[īsa], the left groin will be in the northwest [vāyu], the right groin in the
southwest [nirṛti], and the root of the right arm in the southeastern13 angle.”
Then he shall impose //59// the ten energies Sarvasiddhipradā,

etc., O Dear one!
Then, having made the imposition with [the mantra] “Praise to the
first cakra with ten [tri]angles” in that [inner cakra of ten angles],
//60// one is to place Sarvajñā, etc., on its angles. [These are to
be placed] on the right nostril, the right corner of the mouth, the
right breast, the [right] testicle, the scrotum, the left testicle, the left
breast, the corner of the mouth and nostril, and the tip of the nose.
Such are, one should know, the ten [tri]angles. //62//
nyaset punaḥ //59//
sarvasiddhipradādīnām saktinām dasakam priye /
tadantasca dasārādicakrāya nama ity api //60//
vinyasya tasya koneṣu sarvajñādyāṣ ca vinyaset /
dakṣanāsā sṛkkinī ca stanam vṛsanam eva ca //61//
sīvanīvāmamuṣkam ca stanam sṛkkininasike /
nāsāgram caiva vijñeyam konānām dasakam tathā //62//
Now is described the pervasive imposition of the eight-triangle cakra:
Having imposed inside that one [the mantra] “Praise to the origi-
nating cakra with eight [tri]angles,” one must impose on its angles
the eight energies Vasinī, etc. //63//
tadantar aṣṭakonādicakrāya nama ity api /
vinyaya tasya koneṣu vasinyādyaṣṭakam nyaset //63//
We may take the Vāgdevīs mentioned here to be the eight Mātṛkās,

regents of the vargas of the alphabet.
The chin, the throat, the heart, and the navel are considered as forming

the right side [of this cakra]; the manipūra, etc., being the foursome of
the left side, //64// the whole forming the [cakra] with eight [tri]angles.
cibukam kanṭhahṛdayanābhīnām caiva dakṣinam /
jñeyam pārsvacatuṣkam ca manipūrādi vāmakam //64//
catuṣṭayam ca pārsvānām etat konāṣṭakam punaḥ /
The cakra of eight triangles is considered “originating” because the

three larger cakras encircling it, which we have just seen, are deemed to
issue from it. This is consistent with the inner movement of the srīcakra,
which goes from the center to the periphery. The central position of this
cakra, encircling the central triangle within which is the bindu—the place
of the Goddess—is underlined by the fact that it is imposed on four places
along the axis of the body, one of which is not a part of the physical body
but is the manipūracakra, a center of the yogic imaginal body14 situated on
the level of the navel (as the Dī explains). The weapons (āyudha)15 that the
Goddess holds in her four hands are then to be imposed:
One must impose on the outside, in the four directions, around

[this] triangle which is in the heart, the arrows, the bow, the noose,
and the goad. //65//
hṛdayasthatrikonasya caturdikṣu bahir nyaset //65//
saracāpau pāsasṛni
Then, having done the imposition with the mantra “Praise to the tri-
angle,” one must impose on the angles [of this triangle], in front, to the
right and to the left, //66// the Goddesses Kāmesvarī, etc., and, in the
middle, the Goddess.
trikonāya namas tathā /
vinyasya tasya koneṣu agradakṣottareṣu ca //66//
kāmesvarādidevīnām madhye devīm ca vinyaset /
The central triangle of the srīcakra being, as it were, its heart is, quite
naturally, to be imposed on the heart of the officiating adept—the heart
being, as is well known, the spiritual, mystical center of the human being.
The lines of this triangle (to be placed by a vvāpakanyāsa, whose efficacy
spreads along all of the outside lines) are to be imposed with the mantra
trikonāya namaḥ. To avoid any misunderstanding, the Dī explains that the
heart is “in the middle of his breast.” Three goddesses are to be imposed
there—Kāmesvarī, Vajresvarī, and Bhagamālinī—on the three points of
the triangle and, on its center, on the bindu (also called baindavacakra),
the Goddess. The weapons, it is explained, are those of Kāmesvara and
Kāmesvarī,16 two different deities that are the male and female aspect of
the Goddess; eight āyudhas are thus to be placed.
Thus, O Goddess! I have told you the imposition, a most secret

procedure. //67// It is indeed to be performed by you most secretly,
O Praised by the heroes! It is to be entrusted to those [only] who
follow the rule [of Kula], never to anyone who is not the [initiated]
disciple [of a master of this tradition]. //68//
This [ritual] is more secret than any secret I have revealed to
you today.
evam mayodito devi nyāso guhyatamakramaḥ //67//
etad guhyatamam kāryam tvayā vai vīravandite /
samayasthāya dātavyam nāsiṣyāya kadācana //68//
guptād guptataram caitat tavā ‘dya prakaṭīkṛtam /
The extreme importance given to secrecy is, as we have already said, a

characteristic Tantric trait. Amṛtānanda gives here a metaphysical reason
for this secrecy. He says, speaking for Śiva: “All this I have revealed to you
because you are my beloved, your nature being that of the light of con-
sciousness which is a portion of myself” (madamsa bhūtavimarsātmikā). The
supreme godhead is indeed prakāsavimarsamāya, both conscious light and
absolute Consciousness, a supreme truth not to be revealed to unbelievers.
After this, one must do an imposition beginning with the originat-

ing Goddess and ending with Animā. //69//
mūlādevyādikam nyāsam animāntam punar nyaset //69//
After having described the placing of the circles of deities abiding in

the srīcakra, going from Animā to the Goddess (called here mūladevī,
“root-goddess,” since she is the originating cause of the whole universe),17
the YH now prescribes the imposition of the same deities in the reverse
order, from the Goddess to Animā. This is to be done as follows:
On the triangle of the head, one must impose, starting from the
east [the goddesses] Kāmesvarī, etc.
One must impose—on the right and on the left—the arrows on the
eyes, the two bows on the eyebrows, //70// the nooses on the ears,
the goads on the tip of the nose.
sirastrikone pūrvādi kāmesvaryādikā nyaset /
bānān netre bruvos cāpau karne pāsadvayam nyaset //70//
sṛnidvayam ca nāṣāgre dakṣināgram tu vinyaset /
The “triangle of the head” is probably the place of the fontanel. The Dī
describes it: “there is on the center of the head a triangular place, which is
easily seen, being very fragile, on small children.” The deities accompany-
ing Kāmesvarī are Vajresvarī and Bhagamālinī. The officiant is to imagine
on the top of his head a triangular place where he imposes the Goddess
surrounded by her three first āvaranadevatās.18 The “weapons” (āyudha)
to be imposed on the left and the right of this triangle are those held by
Kāmesvara (on the right) and Kāmesvarī (on the left).
Along a rosary placed on the head, one must impose the eight
Vāgdevatas. //71//
munḍamālākramenaiva nyased vāgdevatāṣṭakam //71//
These eight deities of the word, also named Mātryaṣṭaka, or

Aṣṭamātarāḥ, “the eight Mothers,” presiding over the eight groups
(varga) of phonemes of the Sanskrit alphabet are usually Mahālakṣmī (or
Brahmī),19 and so on. The Dī says they are “Vasinī, etc.,” a list proper to
the Śrīvidyā, however, not given. They are also considered to form a group
of eight siddhayoginī, as we will see later (3.154).
The cakra of the bindu and the other ones are [the only elements
now] to be imposed, O Beautiful One! on the inside and outside
corners of the eye, then in front and in the back of the ear. //72//
In front of the tuft20 one must impose the half [of these deities], the
other half being imposed on the tuft behind the ear, in front of the
ear, and on the inner and outside corners of the eye. //73//
baindavādīni cakrāni nyastavyāni varānane /

netramūle tvapāṅge ca karnapūrvottare punaḥ //72//
cūḍādike ‘rdhanimne ‘rdham seṣārdham karnapṛṣṭhake /
karnapūrve tvapāṅge ca tasya mūle ca vinyaset //73//
The deities of the retinue of the Goddess, surrounding her, are now to
be imposed on the body of the officiant:
One must then impose the [Yoginīs] Sarvasiddhi[pradā], etc., on the

neck, going from the right to the left. Then on the heart, in the same
way, the energies abiding in the cakra of fourteen triangles. //74//
The lotus with eight petals is to be imposed on the navel; this, how-
ever, is made on the spine, on the left, then on the other side of the
belly, this for the first group of four [saktis]. //75// The other group
of four [saktis] is imposed between the spine and the left side, etc.
sarvasiddhyādikam kanṭhe prādakṣinyena vinyaset /
hṛdaye manukonasthāḥ saktayo ‘pi ca pūrvavat //74//
nābhāvaṣṭadalam tat tu vamse vāme ca pāṛsvake /
udare savyapārsve ca nyased ādicatuṣṭayam //75/
vamsavāmāntarālādi nyased anyaccatuṣṭayam /
The exact places on the body on which to impose all these deities
are explained in the commentary. For instance, “in front of the tuft” is
explained as the forehead. Since our readers are not expected to practice
this pūjā, we do not believe it is necessary to clarify the text.
The two next impositions are to be made on two cakras; they are to be
imposed by nyāsa on the parts of the body corresponding to the cakras. For
the svādhiṣṭhāna, the group of four deities is to be placed circularly on four
places on the lower part of the belly. As for the ten Mudrās to be imposed
on the mūlādhāra, they are, in fact, to be imposed there and (according to
the Dī) on the right and the left of the spine:
On the svādhiṣṭhāna one must impose, starting from the east in

front of oneself and finishing in the south, //76// the [energies] in
groups of four, successively, in the four directions of space.
The best of sādhakas must impose the ten Mudrās on the mūlādhāra.
//77// Then [impose] again the ten Mudrās on the spine, on the left
and the right, in between and above and below.
svādhiṣṭhāne nyaset svasya pūrvād dakṣāvasānakam //76//

catasras tu catasras tu caturdikṣu kramān nyaset /
mūlādhāre nyasen mudrādasakam sādhakottamaḥ //77//
punar vamse ca savye ca vāme caivāntarālake /
ūrdhvādho dasamudrāṣ ca
According to the commentary, the ten Mudrās, after having been

imposed on the body where the mūlādhāra is situated, are to be imposed
on the right and the left sides of the spine, four in places corresponding
ideally to the four directions of space, the nadir and the zenith (these two
directions meant by “above and below”).
[The locations] above and below being excluded, //78// one will
impose the eight [energies, or Mothers] Brahmanī, etc., on the right
leg, this being done as [was described] previously. Then, begin-
ning by the left leg, //79// one must impose eight Siddhis, starting
from the left, on the same locations, and two others on the soles of
the feet.
ūrdhvādhovarjitam punaḥ //78//
brahmānyādyaṣṭakam dakṣajaṅghāyām tās tu pūrvavat
vāmajaṅghām samārabhya vāmādikramato ‘pi ca //79//
siddhyaṣṭakam nyaset teṣu dvayam pādatale nyaset
“Brahmanī, etc.,” are the eight Mothers (mātṛkā) who preside over the
eight groups of phonemes (varga) of the Sanskrit alphabet. They are called
Vāgdevatā, “Goddesses of the Word” (sl. 71), and Vāgdevīs (sl. 84).
The ten Siddhis, which are deities or Yoginīs and supernatural human
powers, have already been mentioned above (sl. 44).
The YH now concludes on the nature and role of nyāsa:
The imposition spreads from its cause as a lamp, it is said, [is

lighted] from [another] lamp. //80// [Thus,] who has performed
the imposition in this way, O Mistress of the Gods! will consider
himself as not different from the Self.
kāranāt prasṛtam nyāsam dīpād dīpam evoditam //80//
evam vinyasya devesi svābhedena vicintayet /
As the Dī explains, this stanza is to be understood metaphysically.

What is the “cause,” or, better, what is at the root of the imposition
of the sricakra (together with the Goddess and the deities abiding in
it), is the total fusion of the light and the act of consciousness (prakā
svimarsasāmarasya):21 the supreme deity insofar as it is identical with
the totality of the universe (akhilajagadrūpa), which, as we have seen,
is the real nature of the srīcakra. By imposing on the body of the offici-
ant, section by section—as lamps are lighted going from one lamp to
another—all the constitutive parts and all the deities of the srīcakra,
the adept’s body becomes progressively, part after part, identified with
this cosmic Absolute in its several aspects and in its totality. To quote
the Dī: “Having meditated and made mentally appear [vibhāvya] all the
parts of the srīcakra together with their energies as not different from
the various parts of his body [on which they are imposed, the adept]
must meditate and realize mystically [bhāvayet] that there is no distinc-
tion between himself and the supreme [Goddess] presiding over this
[cakra].”
This identification once obtained, the adept must still perform a few
other preliminary rites:
Then [the officiant] must do the impositions of purification of

the hands, etc., his mind being fully concentrated. //81// He
must impose the vidyā on the head, the sex organs, and the
heart, on the three eyes, on the ears, O Goddess! then on the
mouth and on the arms, //82// on the back, on the knees, and
on the navel. After this, he must perform the purification of the
hands, then impose the throne, the six aṅgas //83//, Śrīkanṭha,
etc., and the Vāgdevīs. Then he must impose the cakras of fire,
etc., on the [mul]ādhāra, the heart, the tuft, and on the place of
the bindu. //84//
tatas ca karasuddhyādinyāsam kuryāt samāhitaḥ //81//
mūrdhni guhye ca hṛdaye netratritaya eva ca /
srotrayor yugale devi mukhe ca bhujayoḥ punaḥ //82//
pṛṣṭhe janvosca nābhau ca vidyānyāsam samācaret /
karasuddhim punas caiva āsanāni ṣaḍaṅgakam //83//
srīkanṭhādimsca vāgdevīḥ ādhāre hṛdaye punaḥ /
sikhāyām baindavasthāne tvagnicakrādikā nyaset //84//
The imposition of the vidyā is that of the three bījas (or kūṭas) of the
srīvidyā, the vāgbhavabīja being imposed on the head, the kāmarājabīja on
the sexual organs, and the saktibīja on the heart.
The Dī does not identify the throne. The six aṅga are the six “limbs” of
Śiva: hrdaya (heart), siras (head), sikha (tuft), kavaca (cuirass), netra (eyes),
and astra (weapon), which are, in fact, not limbs of the body but attributes
or powers of the god (or of any other deity). The nyāsa of Śrīkanṭha is
an imposition of fifty Rudras, of which Śrīkanṭha is the first. The eight
Vāgdevīs, as we have seen, are the Mātṛkās, Kāmesvarī, and so on, mis-
tresses of the vargas of the Sanskrit alphabet.
The imposition of “the cakras of fire, etc.” is a complex procedure. First
to be imposed are the cakras of the three luminaries (dhāman), Fire, Moon,
and Sun; then the four main pīṭhas of the Śrīvidyā, Oḍḍiyāna, Kāmarūpa,
Jālandhara, and Pūrnagiri, with their regents, powers, and attendant god-
desses. The details of this process are given in the Dī.
Then a last imposition is to be made:
Having made a general imposition of the three tattvas [separately] and

together, accompanied by the three bījas of the vidyā, from the feet to
the navel, the neck, and the head, //85// then having identified himself
with the Supreme, [the officiant of the rite] must offer to the Goddess a
libation whose liquids are the nectars of moon and fire. //86//
tattvatrayam samastam ca vidyābījatrayānvitam /
pādādinābhiparyantam āgalam sirasas tathā //85//
vyāpakam caiva vinyasya svātmīkṛtya param punaḥ /
samtarpayet punar devīm saumyāgneyāmṛtadravaiḥ //86//
The three tattvas (tritattva) are Śiva, sakti, and nara (God, the energy,
and man), the three components of the cosmos, each being imposed
while uttering one of the three parts of the srīvidyā, the cosmic divine
totality being thus imposed on the adept before he begins the ritual of
the pūjā.
According to the Dī, the moon is the “half-kalā of HA without sec-
ond” (anuttara), that is, Ḥ, which is in the triangle at the center of the
thousand-petaled lotus placed at the base of the kunḍalinī, whereas the fire
is the letter S in the triangle at the center of the four-petaled lotus of the
mūlādhāra. (The mantra to be imposed is therefore SAUḤ, the bījamantrra
of Paṛā, the supreme goddess of the Trika.) From there, a flow of nectar
issues, resulting from the fusion of the amṛtakunḍalinī of moon and the
agnikunḍalinī of fire, one flowing downward and the other upward, assum-
ing the double (sexual) aspect of the union of yoni and liṅga.
It is thus, O Worshipped by the Gods! that the fourfold imposition

is to be performed. The sixfold nyāsa, O Dear One! that of Animā,
etc., and that of the mūladevī, and so forth, //87// and also that of
the purification of the hands [must be performed completely] by the
adept in order to completely effect his object.
evam caturvidho nyāsaḥ kartavyo vīravandite /
ṣoḍhanyāso ‘nimādyas ca mūladevyādikaḥ priye //87//
karasuddhyādikas caiva sādhakena susiddhaye /
This object, says the Dī, is liberation, not the possession of supernatu-
ral powers, since these are already possessed by the adept who is a sādhaka.
They are to be performed each separately in the morning, at the

time of the ritual worship, during the rite of homa //88/ and the
japa; or the best of adepts will do all of them during worship.
prātaḥkāle tathā pūjāsamaye homakarmani //88//
japakāle tathā teṣām viniyogaḥ pṛthak pṛthak /
pūjākāle samastam vā kṛtvā sādhakapuṅgavaḥ //89//
The commentary explains that the sixfold nyāsa is to be done in the

morning, at the time of the worship, the nyāsa of the Siddhis, Animā, and
so on; the imposition of the Goddess, and so on, taking place with the
homa and the karasuddhinyāsa, and so on, having to be performed when
doing japa. Otherwise, all the impositions can be performed before begin-
ning the pūjā, as prescribed here.
Other preliminary rites
Having imagined the throne [of the Goddess] as going up to the
thirty-sixth tattva, [the officiant] must offer a bali22 with a mantra to
the secret Yoginīs and to the other ones //90//
ṣaṭtrimsattattvaparyantam āsanam parikalpya ca /
guptādiyoginīnām ca mantrenātha balim dadet //90//
The Goddess dominates the universe; her throne is therefore made up

of all the tattvas that constitute it, from the tattva of earth to that of Śiva.
One would be tempted to imagine this throne as rising up from the central
bindu of the srīcakra. The commentary, however, says that it is the whole
srīcakra that is to be imagined as the throne of the Goddess, “because it
is the receptacle of the rays of light of consciousness [cinmarīci],23 of the
deities, that is, who abide in the srīcakra.” Regarding the mantra and the
ritual action to be performed, a stanza is quoted as stating: “One must,
while meditating in one’s heart the tattvas from earth to Śiva, cause the
throne to appear by throwing lotuses on which the phoneme SAU24 has
been recited.” (How and on what the lotuses are to be thrown is not said.)
The “secret Yoginīs” (guptayoginī), says the Dī, are not hidden
but are all those that are manifested (prakaṭa). The other ones form
seven groups: Guptatara (very secret), Sampradaya (traditional),
Kulakaula, Nigarbha, Rahasya (hidden), Atirahasya (very hidden), and
Parāpararahasya. This makes eight groups in all, which are to be found,
under the same or under different names, in many Tantric Śaiva tradi-
tions. We shall meet these Yoginīs later, in sl. 113–155 of this chapter, dis-
tributed in the different parts of the srīcakra, from the outer square to the
central triangle
The Dī adds that since the adept must first perform an inner, purely
mental worship, he must meditate on the srīcakra “made of all the tat-
tvas” as being his own body and perform a worship on his head with the
mūlamantra of the Yoginis.
He will then proceed by removing the internal obstacles:
Since they are shared out among the [centers named] pinḍa, rūpa,
pada, and granthi, the [internal] obstacles [are destroyed] by the
imposition of the vidyā on the secret place,25 the heart, the face, and
the head, O Beautiful One! //91//
pinḍarūpapadagranthibhedanād vighnabhedanam /
guhyahṛnmukhamūrdhasu vidyānyāsena sundari //91//
Pinda, rūpa, pada, and granthi are places or elements of the structure of the
yogic body that are also bodily centers of focused awareness, normally tiered
along the suṣumnā. As such, they represent stages of (bodily) experience in
the ascending movement toward liberation. They are proper to the Kula tra-
ditions, notably the Kubjikāmata. The internal obstacles to be destroyed are
mental or sensual dispositions that tend to block the way toward liberation
and, in the present case, to prevent the officiant from reaching the state of
purity necessary for the inner worship he is now to perform.
How to destroy these obstacles ritually is now described:
He who knows the mantras, driving away the obstacles in the tem-
ple of the sacrifice, will expel the obstacles that are on the earth by a
kick with the heel, those in the atmosphere by clapping the hands,
//92// and with the astramantra and the casting of a glance those
that are in the sky.
yāgamandiragāmscaiva vighnān utsārya mantravit /
pārṣnighātena bhaumāmsca tālena ca nabhogatān //92//
astramantrena dṛṣṭyā ca divyān vighnān apohayet /
Tantric rites can only be performed in a place or an area that is perfectly

pure, free from all impurities and (more) all evil, dangerous, or impure
forces, hence this threefold rite, whose pattern is customary. The casting
of a glance (īkṣana or nirīkṣana) is used in many circumstances in the
Hindu world for ritual or spiritual reasons.
[Thereafter] one must visualize mentally with precision the form of

a great fire [shining] in all directions, above and below. //93//
dikṣvadhordhvam mahāvahniprākāram paribhāvayet //93//
The Dī, true to its metaphysical interpretation of the YH, says that this
great fire is nothing other than the Supreme Consciousness flashing forth
everywhere. This fire, it adds, must be impassable so that none of the
obstacles resulting from dualistic thought may enter the consecrated area
of the sacrifice or the mind of the officiating adept who has mentally con-
structed this luminous image.
O mistress of the gods! one is to perform with the common arghya

the worship of Mārtanḍa accompanied by the energy of light. He is
of a red color, resplendent, //94// surrounded by the Seizers, and
others, manifesting the brilliance of the universe.
sāmānyārghyena devesī mārtanḍam paripūjayet /
prakāsasaktisahitam arūnākalpam ujjvalam //94//
grahādiparivāram ca visvatejo ‘vabhāsakam /
Mārtanḍa is a name of the sun god, Sūrya. The worship of the sun
(sūryapūjā) is the first item of the daily mandatory (nitya) ritual worship
(pūjā) of Śiva. The sun is generally considered golden but is also seen as
red, especially in the Āgamas or Tantras. When represented in human
form, he is often white with a red garment. Red is the color of the Goddess;
it is also the color of passion, attachment, and vimarsa, self-consciousness,
while prakāsa, light, is white, the color of Śiva. Insofar as Mārtanḍa mani-
fests the universe, he is on the side of vimarsa and redness.
The Seizers (Graha), who number nine, are, as we have seen before
(see chapter 2, sloka 58), the planets, but they are also demonic, dangerous
supernatural beings who “seize” their victims. The planets, too, are seizers
insofar as they “seize,” or influence, human beings. The “others” (ādi) are
the six “limbs” (aṅga) of Śiva, hṛdaya, siras, sikha, and so on,26 according
to the Dī; but ādi, in grahādi, can also be understood as “the sun being the
first (ādi)” (of the Seizers).
Arghya—there is no satisfactory translation of the term—is the spe-
cially prepared water offered as oblation to a deity.27
The sun worship having been performed (neither the YH nor the Dī
describes it), the worship of the Goddess can begin:
O Goddess! one must make appear in the right manner the king of
cakras [drawing it] with orpiment, agalloche, and kunkuma mixed
with lunar and igneous [substances] while reciting the mūla[mantra]
of the Yoginīs. //95–96a//
saumyāgneyayutair devi rocanāgurukunkumaiḥ //95//
mūlam uccārayan samyag bhāvayec cakrarājakam /
By “in the right manner,” the YH means “following carefully the

instructions given by an expert.” Orpiment (rocana, also called gorocana)
is a mineral form of arsenic, of a yellow color. Agalloche is also a yellow
stuff, as is kunkuma (turmeric). The lunar (saumya) substance is cam-
phor, which is white, like the moon; while the igneous or fiery one is saf-
fron, “for it looks like a flame,” says the Dī, which also explains that these
items are to be mixed “with nectar,” sudha, a term usually synonymous
with amṛta. It may, however, also mean powder; manḍalas to be used only
once are most often drawn with powders. The Dī explains, too, that the
srīcakra is to be drawn on a sheet of gold “or another” (ādi) material with
a needle of gold. It adds that some experts say that the diagram may be
drawn “with musk, saffron, camphor, sandal, and nectar.”
The mūlamantra to be recited is that of the manifest Yoginīs

(prakaṭayoginī), says the Dī; see our commentary on sl. 90 above.
Then one must throw on it flowers held in one’s joined hands.

//96// Or [one may adorn it] with gems and coral while [reciting]
the mūlavidyā backward One must, in all cases, ensure that [the
cakra] is not empty, [ for] if it were empty, the obstacles would be
innumerable. //97//
yoginīmūlamantrena kṣipet puṣpāñjalim tataḥ //96//
manimuktāpravalair vā vilomam mūlavidyayā /
asūnyam sarvadā kuryāt sūnye vighnās tvanekasaḥ //97//
The rule that the cakra or the chalice used for the ritual worship of a
Tantric deity must never be empty of the prescribed offerings is a general
rule. In the case of Bhairava, the Tantrāloka says that if the chalice were
empty, the god, always furious and voracious, would immediately devour
the adept. More sedately, the Dī says that if the cakra were empty of these
offerings during the worship, the ritual would be fruitless.
[The sādhaka] must place the arghya between the srīcakra and him-
self on [a figure] of six angles inside a square, O Beloved of the gods!
//98// where, after having worshipped the six āsanas and having
honored successively inside the triangle the four pīṭhas Kā, Pū, Jā,
O, //99// he must sacrifice on the place of the arghya to the ten
kalās of Fire.
srīcakrasyātmanas caiva madhye tvarghyam pratiṣṭhayet /
caturasrāntarālasthakonaṣaṭke suresvari //98//
ṣaḍāsanāni sampūjya trikonasyāntare punaḥ /
pīṭhāni caturo devi kā pū jā o iti kramāt //99//
arcayitvā ‘rghyapāde tu vahner dasa kalā yajet /
The Dī describes the diagram in which a six-angled figure with a small

triangle in its center is inscribed in a circle, which is inside a square. The
chalice into which the arghya has been poured (the arghyapātra) is to be
placed on this inner small triangle. The Dī gives the names of the six
āsanas who seem to be throne deities (or deities of the throne), sacralizing,
as it were, the “throne,” the place of the arghyapatra.28
Kā, Pū, Jā, and O are the initials of the names of the four main pīthas
of the Ṣrīvidyā tradition, Kāmarūpa, Pūrnagiri, Jālandhara, and Oḍyāna,
as we have already seen in chapter 1, (slokas 41–43).
The kalās are energies associated with a deity and formed (or symbol-
ized) by letters of the Sanskrit alphabet. Fire as a deity (Agni) has ten kalās
associated with the last letters, from YA to KṢA.29
Once the arghyapātra is placed, [the officiant] must perform there a

sacrifice to the twelve kalās of the Sun. //100// He will [thus] wor-
ship on the chalice the kalās of the Sun [associated with the letters]
KA-BHA, etc. Then, with clarified butter and [another] substance,
he will offer a sacrifice to the sixteen kalās of the Moon. //101//
arghyapātram pratiṣṭhāpya tatra sūryakalā yajet //100//
pātre sūryakalās caiva kabhādi dvādasārcayet /
vighṛte tu punar dravye ṣoḍasendukalā yajet //101//
The sādhaka is to worship a (mental) image of the sun god in the center
of the chalice by invoking its image in his heart while uttering its mantra and
worshipping its twelve kalās, associating each with one of twelve letters of the
Sanskrit alphabet from KA to THA and from BHA to ḌA, while uttering their
names, this being done with an offering of perfumed water. The sixteen kalās
of the moon are worshipped in the same way, with the sixteen first letters of
the alphabet, from A to visarga,30 and sprinkling of clarified butter associated
with “another substance,” which, according to the Dī, is wine (madya).31
And in its center he must meditate intensely on Amṛtesī with the

Navātma[mantra]. Then, with the Navātman, O Goddess! he must
make a libation of the goddesses of the constituent elements [of the
body] //102// and to Ānandabhairava with [a mantra] ending with
vauṣaṭ.
amṛtesīm ca tanmadhye bhāvayed ca navātmanā /
navātmanā tato devi tarpayed dhātudevatāḥ //102//
ānandabhairavam caiva vauṣaḍantena tarpayet /
Amṛtesī, “the Mistress of the Nectar,” is a goddess who pours amṛta on

the world, thus helping and stimulating it. The Navātmamantra is usu-
ally given as HSKṢMLVRYŪṂ. It is an important mantra of the Trika.
It is also the mantra form of the beautiful god Navātma, the consort of
the crooked goddess Kubjikā, the main deity of the Tripurā tradition of
the Kula. We translate the verb bhāvayet as “meditate intensely,” which
implies a mental concentration so intense as to create in the mind of the
adept a precise image of the deity. Anandabhairava is a form of the god
Bhairava. The mantra ending with vauṣaṭ is the Navātmamantra to which
is added ānandabhairavāya vauṣaṭ.32
The best of sādhakas must also prepare carefully, in the same way,
the special arghya. //103//
Having worshipped the sandals of the [succession of ] masters, he
must then offer this arghya to Bhairava. Being impelled by the lat-
ter’s order, he must offer it to the succession of masters. //104//
tathaivārghyam viseṣena sādhayet sādhakottamaḥ //103//
gurupādālim āpūjya bhairavāya dadet punaḥ /
tadājñāpreritam tacca gurupaṅktau nivedayet //104//
The sandals or footprints (pādukā) of the gurus are those of all the
masters of the tradition of Tripurā, from Śiva to one’s own guru. These
pādukas are metaphysically the imprint, the trace of the presence of the
supreme deity in this world; to worship them is therefore to worship
the deity as present in this world. The gurupūjā is a mandatory element
of the first part of the Tantric pūjā.
In this tradition, the succession of the gurus is deemed to go through
three stages, called flows (ogha). First, the divine (divya) flow, starting with
Śiva followed by four masters, one for each of the four cosmic cycles, the
yugas from Kṛtayuga to Kaliyuga; then the flow of perfect or accomplished
masters (siddhaugha); and finally, the human ones (mānavaugha), the
succession of the masters of this world, going from the first revelation of
the doctrine to our days. The Dī tells how to worship them: the arghya is
to be elevated three times up to his head by the officiant, then offered to
Bhairava, who, as the Master, is in a triangle in the center of the “forest of
the great lotus,” which, as we have seen (sl. 3–5), is on the brahmarandhra.
Having collected what remains of it, one must perform [with it] an
oblation in the fire of desire where the whole universe is burning
while reciting the mūlavidyā and the [ formula of worship of ] the
sandals of the Master. //105//
tadīyam seṣam ādāya kāmagnau visvatastviṣi /

pādukām mūlavidyām ca japan humam samācaret //105//
As is underlined at length by the Dī, this oblation is not so much

a material as a symbolic rite. Actual pouring may take place, but the
process is a mental, spiritual one. The officiant, namely, is to imagine
the Master as standing on his head, and, as the Master (the godhead)
orders, he is to offer mentally in the “fire of consciousness,” that is, to the
supreme godhead in her aspect of cosmic destruction, the whole creation
together with his own mental constructions. It is an oblation consisting
of symbolically throwing duality into the fire of consciousness in order
to burn it entirely.
In spite of the symbolic nature and meaning of the oblation, what
remains of it after it has been offered to the deity is supposed to be
absorbed by the officiant.
The YH explains further its metaphysical value:
One must pour in oblation, together with the internal organ or

intellect, the activity of the rays of light in the great light [located] in
the mouth of Kunḍalī, where the resorption and vomiting forth of
the cosmic flow take place. //106//
mahāprakāse visvasya samsāravamanodyate /
marīcivṛttir juhuyān manasā kunḍalīmukhe //106//
The YH pursues the metaphysical aspect of the oblation:
Conceiving the unity of I-ness and objectivity as being in the ladle

srùc, which is unmanī, what is born there through the intensity of
the rubbing is the great oblation. //107// Pouring and pouring him-
self the oblation, [the adept] becomes spontaneous bliss.
ahantedantayor aikyam unmanyām sruci kalpitam /
mathanodrekasambhūtam vasturūpam mahāhaviḥ //107//
hutvā hutvā svayam caivam sahajānandavigrahaḥ /
The ladle srùc is one of the two ladles used since Vedic times for offer-
ing the ritual oblation in the fire, the homa. This ladle, in the present
case, is not a material object. It is the “transmental” (unmanī), the highest
plane of consciousness.33 It is on this level that the oblation takes place;
it consists of pouring (in spirit) all the aspects of the cosmic manifesta-
tion in the central, both human and divine, void of consciousness. This
is why a “spontaneous” (that is, uncaused) bliss arises in the officiating
adept. The Dī says: “Having poured again and again the full oblation (both
human and divine) of clarified butter, which in reality is the total fusion
of the objectivity and the I-ness (ahāntā)34 born from the rubbing of the
aranis of the mantra, [one reaches] the supreme fulgurating bliss. Such is
the internal oblation.”
According to a passage of the Dī (which also quotes stanza 72 of the
Vijñānabhairava), the oblation may be made of amṛta and may even include
an alcoholic substance—a possibility the Dī mentions again when, com-
menting the next half-sloka, it says that a wise man is somebody who, because
he drinks alcohol, keeps his mind concentrated in a single intent. From this
concentration (dhāranā ), meditation (dhyāna) is born: “without concentra-
tion, the worship is fruitless.” Thus, having offered to the Masters, Śiva, and
so forth, alcohol transformed into nectar (amṛta) and having poured it in
offering into the fire of the self, the spirit of the adept will become perfectly
stable, and he will experience the supreme, blazing bliss. The practice is
mental, spiritual, rather than actually performed with an alcoholic beverage.
Thus, as stated in the next half-sloka:
The wise [adept] must then perform the worship of the srīcakra, the
form that the expansion of his consciousness takes as it spreads
out. //108//
svaprathāprasarākāram srīcakram pūjayet sudhiḥ //108//
The srīcakra can be said to be the form taken by the adept’s con-
sciousness as it spreads out, because in the nonduality of consciousness
(samvidadvaya) of Kashmir Shaivism, there is no difference between
human consciousness and the deity’s absolute consciousness. To quote
the Dī: “What shines (i.e., appears) as the srīcakra is nothing else than the
cosmic expansion of the godhead who is his (the adept’s) consciousness,
an expansion formed by the fourfold antahkarana, the inevolute (avyakta),
the mahant, and the ahamkāra, along with the subtle elements (tanmātra),
the ten senses (indriya), their ten activities, their objects, the puryaṣṭaka,
and the expansion [which goes down] to the gross elements (dhātu) and
[ forms] the sixteen ‘evolutes’ (vikāra).”35
Now comes the description of the srīcakra pūjā proper, slokas 109–168.
The srīcakra pū jaˉ

This pūjā consists of the worship of Tripurasundarī and her retinue of
ancillary deities: of the several deities abiding in the srīcakra, from those
in the outer square section to the Goddess in the central triangle. The wor-
ship is followed by the japa of the srīvidyā and a final offering in the fire,
a homa.
A sacrifice36 to Ganesa and to Dūtarī, to the Master of the Field, and

to Dūtī is to be performed, O Goddess! as also, on the external door,
to the goddesses headed by Svastikā. //109//
ganesam dūtarīm caiva kṣetresam dūtikām tathā /
bāhyadvāre yajed devi devīsca svastikādikāḥ //109//
The Dī explains that the ritual worship of the first group of deities is to
be performed “on the frame of the door” of the outer square section of the
srīcakra. The Master of the Field, Kṣetresa or Ksetrapāla, is the god Baṭuka,
an aspect of Bhairava; Dutī is his consort. The goddesses headed by Svastikā,
worshipped on the external part of the door, number five; they are “singing
goddesses” (gāyikā), deemed to delight Tripurasundarī with their songs.
Then the line of masters, which abides, threefold, in the inner tri-
angle is also [to be worshipped].
tatas cāntastrikone ‘pi gurupaṅktim tridhā sthitam /
The succession of the masters of the Tripurā tradition is said to be three-

fold because, as we have seen (sl. 104), starting from Śiva, it is divided into
three groups: divine, perfect, and human gurus. This succession is secret,
says the Dī. It is not to be found in books but learned by word of mouth.
and in this [baindavacakra] he will worship, after having invoked her,

the great Goddess //110// who holds herself in the forest of the great
lotus, resting against my side, her body [filled with] the joy of the
“cause”: You, Goddess, who gives the fruits that the will desires! //111//
[This] worship is to be performed with offerings of food, etc., of
which you are yourself formed.
tadantas ca mahādevīm tām āvāhya yajet punaḥ //110//

mahāpadmavanāntasthām kāranāndavigrahām /
madaṅkopāsrayām devīm icchākāmaphalapradām //111//

bhavatīm tavanmayair eva naivedyādibhir arcayet /
The “Forest of the Great Lotus,” as we have seen (sl. 5), is the akula
lotus of one thousand petals on the summit of the suṣumnā. It is there-
fore on a spot of his own yogic body that the adept is to mentally perform
this worship. The ritual process of the pūjā appears here—as it will do
again later—as a total process, both bodily and mental. The Goddess is
seen in this lotus leaning against Bhairava, on whose left thigh she is
sitting.
As for the “cause” (kārana)37 that fills her with joy, it is an alcoholic bev-
erage, as is appropriate in a Tantric ritual. This, says the Dī, when drunk
by the Goddess, becomes nectar and fills her body with joy, her body being
henceforth pure, supreme, luminous bliss.
The offerings of “food, etc.,” are the usual ritual offerings of perfume,
food, lights, incense, and flowers, each corresponding to one of the five
constitutive gross elements of the cosmos and of the body: earth, water,
fire, air, and space, elements of which the Goddess is also constituted inso-
far as she is identical with the cosmos.
The Dī expatiates at length on the metaphysical symbolic interpreta-
tion of these offerings; as interesting as they are, these developments are
too long and complex to be reported here.
Then, on the triangle, [one must worship] the reflected forms of her
flashing forth, //112// the Nityās made of all the tithis, their aspects
being those suitable for optional rites.
trikone tatsphurattāyāḥ pratibimbākṛtīḥ punaḥ //112//
tattattithimayīr nityāḥ kāmyakarmānurūpinīḥ /
This worship is to be performed on the three lines of the central tri-

angle. The Nityās (the Eternal Ones) are ancillary deities numbering
sixteen, identified with the phonemes of the srīvidyā, which surround
the Goddess. They are also identified with the tithis, the lunar days,
which are divine entities and also number sixteen.38 The srīcakrapūjā
being performed to attain a desired (kāmya) goal, all the rites it includes
are so-called optional or desiderative (kāmya) rites; the mentally visual-
ized forms of all the deities must therefore be adapted to that type of
worship.39
There, in the Trailokyamohana[cakra], are the manifested Yoginīs.

//113// Because they are gross forms of the mātṛkā, these Yoginīs per-
vade the skin, etc. They are known as manifest for they are [located
in a cakra] whose nature is to support the gross world. //114//
tatra prakaṭayoginyas cakre trailokyamohane //113//
mātṛkāsthūlarūpatvāt tvagādivyāpakatvataḥ /
yoginyaḥ prakaṭā jñeyāḥ sthūlavisvapradhātmani //114//
The skin is one of the seven constituent elements of the organic body
which are therefore gross (sthūla), a character shared by the so-called
manifest Yoginīs, who, appropriately, abide (and are worshipped) in the
outer square part of the srīcakra (also named bhūgṛha, “underground
room”), a part that can be said to support the world, since it is the sec-
tion of the diagram that is metaphysically on the level of the manifested
universe. It is also the plane of vaikharī, the lowest, gross level of the
Word (vāc).
[There, too,] abide the eight siddhis Animā and the others, O great
Goddess! They are deep red in color; their hands make the gesture
of propitiation and protection. //115// They hold the great fabulous
gem and thus give the fruit one desires.
animādyā mahādevi siddhayo ‘ṣṭau vyavasthitāḥ /
tās tu raktatarā varnair varābhayakarās tathā //115//
dhṛtacintāmahāratnā manīṣitaphalapradāḥ /
We have already seen the siddhis (sl. 44). The “great fabulous gem” is
the cintāmani (or mahācintamani) supposed to fulfill all desires of its pos-
sessor. It is mentioned in many Sanskrit works.
There also one must worship, in order, Brāhmī, etc., O Dear One.
//116//
Brahmānī, yellow in color and adorned with four faces, her hands
in the varadā and abhaya mudrās, holds a jug and a rosary, radiant.
//117//
Māhesvarī, white in color, having three eyes and holding in her
hands the trident, the skull, the antelope, and the axe, O Dear One!
//118//
Kaumārī must be visualized as being yellow in color, carrying a

spear and a javelin, [her two other] hands displaying the varadā and
the abhaya [mudrā], O supreme Mistress! //119//
Vaiṣnavī, dark in color, carrying in her hands the conch, the discus,
the mace, and the lotus and adorned with divine jewels. //120//
Vārāhī, dark in color, her face as the blazing snout of a boar, carrying
in her hands the plow, the mace, the sword, and the shield. //121//
Aindrī, dark in color, holding in her hands the lightning bolt and
the shining lotus. //122//
Cāmunḍā, dark blue, holding in her right hands trident and ḍamaru,
a sword, and a vetāla and in her other [hands] a shield, a serpent and
a bell, along with a skull. //123//
As for Mahālakṣmī, supreme mistress, of shining yellow color, she
holds two lotuses, a mirror, and the fruit of the wild lemon tree.40
//124//
brāhmyādyā api tatraiva yaṣṭavyāḥ karmasaḥ priye //116//
brahmānī pītavarnā ca caturbhiḥ sobhitā mukhaiḥ /
varadā ‘bhayahastā ca kunḍikākṣasragujjvalā //117//
māhesvarī svetavarnā trinetrā sūladhārinī /
kapālam enam parasum dadhānā pānibhiḥ priye //118//
kaumārī pītavarnā ca saktitomaradhārinī /
varadābhayahastā ca dhyātavyā paramesvari //119//
vaiṣnavī syāmavarnā ca saṅkhacakragadābjakān /
hastapadmais ca bibhrānā bhūṣitā divyabhuṣanaiḥ //120//
vārāhī syāmalacchāyā potrivaktrasamujjvalā /
halam ca musalam khadgam kheṭakam dadhatī bhujaiḥ //121//
aindrī syāmalavarnā ca vajrotpalalasatkarā /
cāmunḍā kṛṣnavarnā ca sūlam ḍamarukam tathā //122//
khaḍgam vetālam caiva dadhānā dakṣinair bhujaiḥ /
nāgakheṭakaghantākhyān dadhānānyaiḥ kapālakam //123//
mahālakṣmīs tu pītābhā padmau darpanam eva ca /
matuluṅgaphalam caiva dadhānā paramesvarī //124//
All these goddesses, being feminine aspects of male gods, carry the
attributes and bear the colors of these gods, Brāhmanī having four faces
like Brahmā, Mahesvarī carrying Śiva’s (Maheṣvara’s) attributes, Vaiṣnavī

those of Viṣnu, and so on.
Having thus visualized [these goddesses], one must worship them,

then [worship] Tripurā, mistress of the cakra.
Because she purifies the organs of action, she is called She Who
Accomplishes the Purification of the Hands; //125// and there is
found the siddhi Animā arising from the purification of the hands.
evam dhyatvā yajed etās caktesīm tripurām tataḥ /
karmendriyānām vaimalyātkarasuddhikarī smṛtā //125//
kāryasuddhibhavā siddhir animā cātra samsthitā /
The purification of the hands (karasuddhi) is a mandatory prelimi-

nary ritual, since in order to perform ritual acts of worship of a deity,
the hands of the officiant must be perfectly pure. This rite normally
consists of imposing on the hands the astra (weapon) mantra. Here it
is the Goddess who is symbolically deemed not only to purify but also
to cause the siddhi goddess Animā to exist. But why Animā? Because,
says the Dī, the siddhi animā (and thus the goddess Animā) reduces
the self, the living being (of the officiating adept), to its finest, most
subtle state.
The worship in the second cakra, the sixteen-petaled lotus, is then
described:
In the group of sixteen vibrations, the kalās whose nature is won-

der //126// are what animate the sixteen vital breaths, prāna, etc.
They are seeds because their nature is that of vowels; they have the
form of seeds because they incite. //127// Because they are internal,
the Yoginīs who abide [there] are hidden. They are Kāmākarṣanā,
etc. Since they dominate in emanation, O Dear One! //128// they
are to be worshipped [going from right] to left in the cakra called
Sarvāsāpūrana.
ṣoḍasaspandasamdohe camatkṛtimayīḥ kalāḥ //126//
prānādiṣoḍasānām tu vāyūnām prānanātmikāḥ /
bījabhūtāḥ svarātmatvāt kalanād bījarūpakāḥ //127//
antaraṅgatayā guptā yoginyaḥ samvyavasthitāḥ /
kāmākarṣanarūpādyāḥ sṛṣṭeḥ prādhānyataḥ priye //128//
sarvāsapūranākhye tu cakre vāmena pūjayet /
These stanzas must be explained. The Yoginīs that abide in the

sixteen-petaled lotus of the srīcakra are identified with an aspect of the
cosmic vibration that animates the universe, the spanda. This spanda is
said, in the present case, to be sixteen-fold, being identified with the six-
teen “vowels” of the Sanskrit alphabet, which, in Ṣaiva cosmogonies, are
the sixteen kalās, limiting energies, of Bhairava when he manifests the
cosmos. Their nature is described as “wonder” (camatkāra), by which is
meant that they are pervaded with consciousness (cit), that is, subtle. They
are also identified with the vital breaths, prāna, apāna, udāna, and so on,
which, in fact, are usually considered to number only ten, not sixteen: “the
names of the six others can be found in other āgamas,” says the Dī, with-
out quoting any reference. These kalās, being active, are “seeds” (bīja),
which is the case of the “vowels.”41
The Yoginīs abiding in this inner portion of the srīcakra are called
Guptayoginīs (see above, sl. 90). This, says the Dī, is because they are
evolutes that are pervaded with consciousness. They are to be worshipped
in the reverse order, starting from the right, not simply because they are
Tantric deities but, says the Dī, because they are associated with the ema-
nation that is done by “vomiting” (vāmena,) the universe.
They hold the noose and the goad; they are red and clothed in red.
//129// The siddhi of he who enjoys [them] is lightness, made of
the purification of the breaths. Tripuresī, mistress of the [srī]cakra,
must be worshipped with all the ritual services. //130//
pāsāṅkusadharā hyetā raktā raktāmbarāvṛtāḥ //129//
prānasuddhimayī siddhir laghimā bhoktur ātmanaḥ /
tripuresī ca cakresī pūjyā sarvopacāraiḥ //130//
Since the aspect of pure, nondiscursive consciousness pervades this

cakra, laghimā, the supernatural power of lightness (the prānas being also
purified), it is, quite naturally, the power deemed to be given by these
secret Yoginīs to the adept who worships them.
This part of the worship ends with a renewed ritual worship of the
main Goddess to which all the prescribed ritual services (upacāra) are to
be offered. The lists of upacāras vary, going from five to thirty-six; they are
offerings of lights, incense, food, flowers, clothes, jewels, and so forth, all
that can be offered to a distinguished guest. In a Tantric context, the vari-
ety of the upacāras, pure or impure, is very great.
Now comes the worship in the third cakra, the eight-petaled lotus:
Linked to the enjoying puryaṣṭaka absorbed in the experience

of the body, subtle, associated with the eightfold vāgbhava, hav-
ing for essence the classes of phonemes, //131// all these Yoginīs,
Anaṅgakusumā, etc., are very hidden [and are to be worshipped]
in the [cakra] Sarvasamkṣobhana. They are adorned with red cui-
rasses, //132// beautiful, their braids of hair hanging down, carry-
ing bow and arrows.
kaulikānubhavāviṣṭabhogapuryaṣṭakāsritāḥ /
vāgbhavāṣṭakasambaddāḥ sūkṣmā vargasvarūpataḥ //131//
tās tu guptatarāḥ sarvāḥ sarvasamkṣobhanātmake /
anaṅgakusumādyās tu raktakañcukasobhitāḥ //132//
venīkṛtalasatkesās cāpabānadharāḥ subhāḥ /
The puryaṣṭaka, “the eight in the body,” is the subtle transmigrating

body, a nonmaterial, all-pervading soul, which, while the person lives, is
absorbed in the experience (the enjoyment, bhoga) of the body it animates.
The “eightfold vāgbhava” is the phoneme AI repeated eight times with the
eight Yoginīs whose essence (svarūpa) is constituted by the classes (varga)
of consonants of the Sanskrit alphabet. The very hidden (guptatara) Yoginīs
are one of the several categories of Yoginīs of the Śrīvidyā tradition.
Paramesvarī, mistress of this cakra, is purification of the intellect.

The quality she possesses is beauty. //133// She rests on the planes
of pinḍa, etc., of the Lord, the subject who enjoys all that can be
enjoyed, which is to say, the intellect and the variety of all [that the
intellect perceives]. //134// Her nature is the supernatural power of
growing at will. She must be worshipped with all the ritual offer-
ings and services.
tattadākārabuddhyātmabhogyabhoktur mahīsituḥ //133//
pinḍādipadavisrāntisaundaryagunasamyutā /
cakresvarī buddhisuddhirūpā ca paramesvarī //134//
mahimāsiddhirūpā ca pūjyā sarvopacarākaiḥ /
To say that Paramesvarī is purification of the intellect means that the

intellect is purified when it reaches her level. The intellect (buddhi) is the
plane of consciousness that grasps the objects of the senses whose savor
is enjoyed by the supreme subject, Śiva, who, as the Dī says, is therefore
called the “knower of the field” (kṣetrajña) of perception.
The expression “planes of pinḍa, etc.,” refers to the conception of the
subtle body as including four ascending planes called pinḍa, pada, rūpa,
and rūpātīta, planes also conceived of as tiered along the suṣumnā; the
highest of these, rūpātīta, is on the consciousness level of turīya, where
one attains liberation.42
To say that the nature (rūpa) of Paramesvarī is the supernatural power
of growing at will is to say that she bestows that siddhi.
[This worship is to be performed] by a penetration, going up to

the extreme point of the visarga, of consciousness, which flashes
forth while piercing the twelve knots after experiencing energy.
//135b–136a//
dvādasagranthibhedena samulasitasamvidaḥ //135//
visargāntadasāvesācchāktānubhavapūrvakam /
The Dī explains this obscure stanza as follows. Consciousness here is, in

fact, the kunḍalinī, which ascends following the path of the suṣumnā along
which are tiered twelve subtle centres (granthi)—the usual six cakras and
six “knots” placed between them—and goes up to a center called ṣoḍasānta
(“end of sixteen”), probably to be imagined as sixteen fingers-breadths
above the head. This ascending energy within the body of the adept, being
Consciousness, is luminous; it flashes forth. The same movement was
described previously in chapter 2, sl. 71 of the YH: “Shining like ten mil-
lion flashes of lightning, . . . she attaches herself to the manḍala of the
moon of the inner sky”. This was said above about the inner ascent of the
srīvidyā; the same experience is taking place here. Here the manḍala of
the moon is not mentioned, but with sixteen being a lunar number,43 the
ṣoḍasānta is also a “lunar” center. This ascent is described as “going up to
the visarga,” because the visarga is the sixteenth “vowel” of the Sanskrit
alphabet; saying visarga is therefore equal to saying “sixteen.”
While performing this worship, the adept is to cause his kunḍalinī to
go up to this center. This is one of the cases in which a yogic process is
to take place during a ritual action. As we know, in Tantra, yoga and rites
cannot be entirely separated; they are two aspects of the total, both bodily
and mental, active experience of ritual.
[The worship is to be done] with [what is born] from the expansion

of the energy of awakening, the predominance of the energy of will,
//136// and with the four phonemes formed by her unifying inter-
action with akula, [then] with the phonemes the main of which is
SA, vapor of the knowable, and with those that are produced by the
mixed energy of will, //137// accompanied by the two phonemes
corresponding to the absorption in the energy of kula. [Thus,] by the
expansion of the essence of the energy, O Mahesvarī, //138// [is to
be performed] in the Sarvasaubhāgyadāyaka cakra [the worship of
the Yoginīs] received through traditional transmission.
unmeṣasaktiprasarair icchāsaktipradhānakaiḥ //136//
tathaivākulasamghaṭṭarūpair varnacatuṣṭyaiḥ /
vedyuṣmarūpasādyarnair misrecchābhāvitair api //137//
kulasaktisamāvesarūpavarnadvayānvitaiḥ /
sakteḥ sāramayatvena prasṛtatvān mahesvari //138//
sampradāyakramātās cakre saubhāgyadāyake /
The worship, progressing toward the center, is to be done now in the

next three cakras: the first of fourteen angles and the two others of ten
angles. The practice is based on the so-called bhūtalipi, the “writing—
lipi—of the elements,”44 of forty-two letters. We saw previously the place
of yoga in ritual; we see now the role of the letters. The Sanskrit alphabet
(as we have said before) is divine, appearing first, and being eternally pres-
ent, in the supreme godhead and thus the source and origin of the whole
cosmic manifestation.
The above stanzas first enumerate the letters of the bhūtalipi. These
are to be visualized by the adept as present in the so-called akula white,
thousand-petaled lotus turned downward placed on the brahmarandhra-
cakra, on the top of the head. There is the first letter of the alphabet, A,
which is the supreme Śiva. It is in “unifying interaction” (samghaṭṭa) with
the energies of will (icchā, hence I) and of awakening (unmesa, hence U);
we have thus A +I = E, A + U = O. Akula/A now interacts with E and O,
which gives AI and AU. The process goes on in the same way in order to
produce all forty-two letters of the bhūtalipi. The “phonemes of which the
main is SA” are the sibilants ŚA ṢA SA and the aspirate ḤA, usually called
vapor (ūṣman), and so forth. We cannot decrypt here the whole procedure
to produce all the letters.
The last stanza underlines the fact that the expansion of the energy of
will (icchāsakti) realized in the ascent of the kunḍalinī is the effective ele-
ment of this worship of the Yoginīs present in this cakra. These are said to
be “received through traditional transmission,” not because they are more
received than the other ones by the tradition transmitted by the gurus but
because they are called Sampradāyayoginīs, “traditional Yoginīs.”45
These Yoginīs are now described:
O goddess! the [Yoginīs] having at their head Sarvasamkṣobhinī , mag-

nificent, looking like Animā,
 [are those to be worshipped] in the cakra
whose name agrees with what it is, by uniting oneself to the force of
the beauty that spreads without interruption. //140// The siddhi Īsitva,
also, purifier of the body, the senses, etc., in the triple city already
described, to be realized, [along with] Tripuravāsinī, by destroying the
original impurity of the conjunction [with duality]. //141// All these
[deities], O Goddess, must be worshipped with all the offerings.
nirantaraprathārūpasaubhāgyabalayogataḥ //139//
anvarthasamjñake devi animāsadṛsāḥ subhāḥ /
sarvasamkṣobhinīpūrvā dehākṣādivisuddhidā //140//
īsitvasiddhir api ca proktarūpe puratraye /
yogādiklesabhedena siddhā tripuravāsinī //141//
etāḥ sampūjayed devi sarvāḥ sarvopacārakaiḥ /
The name of the cakra is Sarvasaubhāgyadāyaka, “the giver of all felici-

ties,” which agrees with its nature, since it is deemed to bestow on the
adept all forms of felicity. The Yoginīs, Sarvasamkṣobhinī, and so on,
look like Animā, and so on, since, like these, they are clothed in red and
bear the same ornaments. The “force of the beauty that spreads without
interruption” with which the worshipper is to unite is the power born
from the uninterrupted intense meditation on the nonduality from Śiva
(sivādvaitabhāvanā):46 this mental state is apparently to be maintained by
the adept during the worship of the Yoginīs of this cakra.
The Siddhi Īsitvā, also worshipped there, gives the adept the state of
Śiva, which implies, says the Dī, the purification of the body and of the
senses of the adept and also of the objects. This threefold purification gives
to the adept the state of Īsvara. To say that it takes place “in the triple
city” (pūratraye) means that “the knower, knowledge, and the known,”
the perceiving person and what he perceives—man and the world he per-
ceives—are “purified,” (mentally) deified, understood sub specie aeternitatis.
Worship in the fifth (ten-angled) cakra, Sarvārthasādhaka, is as follows:
[The energy of the Goddess in the fifth cakra] takes on the nature
of the eternal nādas abiding in the nine apertures, //142// along
with a general and common aspect while being made of distinct
sounds. [She is manifested] by ten phonemes, shadows of the mov-
able and immovable objects of knowledge. //143// They are the
Kulakaulikāyoginīs who bestow all the powers or perfections.
sadātanānām nādānām navarandhrasthitāṭmanām //142//
mahāsāmānyarūpena vyāvṛttadhvanirūpinī /
asthtirasthiravedyānām chāyārūpair dasārnakaiḥ //143//
kulakaulikayoginyaḥ sarvasiddhipradāyikāḥ /
Here, too, the Yoginīs to be worshipped are identified with phonetic

aspects of the divine energy experienced by the officiant as present in his
body, a spirit-mind-body experience.
Nāda is a subtle form of sound, a stage in the process of dissolution of
uttered sound or phonemes into the silence of the Absolute. It is not audibly
perceptible; it is “unstruck,” anāhata, sound, being a form of sabdabrahman,
the cause of the apparition and of the efficacy of the phonemes. In spite of this
unique and absolute nature, nāda is sometimes considered divisible, divided in
eight, nine, or ten nādas, often associated with different parts of the yogic body;
such is the case here. The nine apertures (randhra) are nodal points, cakras, of
the yogic body. The Dī describes them as parts of the inner space (gaganabhāga)
of the suṣumnā and enumerates them: “mūlādhāra, svādhisthāna, manipūra  ,
anāhata, then above these vajrapadma, kanṭ ha, lambikā, viṣuddha, and ājñā,” of
which only the first four and the last three are the usual cakras of this system.
As the Dī also explains, the Goddess, in addition to these “distinct sounds,” is
present in the body in a general way as an indistinct sound (nirviseṣadhvani).
The ten phonemes that manifest her are the cerebrals and the dentals. They
are “shadows” of the various objects of knowledge in that they are deemed to
manifest these objects. The long commentary of the Dī on this stanza is rich
and interesting but too abstruse to be given here.
White, clothed in white, wearing white ornaments, //144//

the [Kulakaulayoginīs] Sarvasiddhipradā, etc., are in the
Sarvārthasādhaka cakra, whose name agrees with what it is because

of the expansion of the proper nature of the mantras that takes
place [there]. //145//
svetāmbaradharāḥ svetāḥ svetābharabhūṣitāḥ //144//
mantrānām svaprathārūpayogād anvarthasamjñake /
sarvasiddhipradādyās tu cakre sarvārthasādhake //145//
The “expansion of the mantras,” according to the Dī, means that they
help the officiant to realize that the true nature of his self is the same as that
of the “absolute I” of Śiva (sivāhambhāvabhāvanā). Because such a mystical
realization takes place in this cakra, it is called Sarvārthasādhaka, “fulfiller
of all wishes,” the highest of which is, of course, the wish for union with
Śiva, which is precisely being fulfilled in this cakra (says the Dī).
The Mistress of the cakra is Tripurāsrī, O Great Sovereign! [named

thus] because she is the cause of the prosperity of the three worlds.
In addition, born from the purification of the mantras, //146// it
is said [that she gives] the power of subjugation. All these [deities]
must be worshipped.
lokatrayasamṛddhīnām hetutvāc cakranāyikā /
tripurāsrīr mahesāni mantrasuddhibhavā punaḥ //146//
vasitvasiddhir ākhyātā etāḥ sarvāḥ samarcayet /
Tripurāsrī means “prosperity of the three cities,” that is, of the three
worlds—of the universe, in other words. The purification of the mantras,
it is explained, results from the prolongation of their utterance (uccāra)—
in the case of OṂ, HRĪṂ, etc.—from the final Ṃ to the transmental
(unmanā) plane, where the utterance disappears in the utter silence of
the Absolute. If the adept is able to ascend to such a supreme level, he
acquires the supernatural power to subjugate all beings (īsitva).
Worship in the sixth (ten-angled) cakra, Sarvarakṣākara, is as follows:
O Goddess! the phonemes KA, etc., as they expand, are manifested

by the kunḍalinī facing upward and [then] downward //147// when
she externalizes herself by the will of Kula. They are manifested
by the supreme interior Yoginīs, Sarvajñā, etc., located in the
Sarvarakṣākara cakra, which, being totally absorbed in its own inner
nature, brings about total absorption. These [Yoginīs] carry a book

and a rosary. //148–149//
ūrdhvādhomukhayā devi kunḍalinyā prakāsitāḥ //147//
kulecchayā bahirbhāvāt kādivarnaprathāmayāḥ /
nigarbhayoginīvācyāḥ svarūpāvesarūpake //148//
sarvāvesakare cakre sarvarakṣākare parāḥ /
sarvajñādyāḥ sthitāḥ etāḥ saha pustāksamālikāḥ //149//
The divine energy, kunḍalinī, facing first upward, reaches the supreme;
then, facing downward, coiling back in the mūlādhāra, she manifests the
universe through the phonemes KA, and so on, the consonants. This she
does by the will of Kula, the deity, as identical with the cosmos (or, as the
Dī says, holding in herself the thirty-six tattvas, together with the pho-
nemes).47 These are manifested by the ten Nigarbha (“interior”) Yoginīs
whose names begin always with Sarva, abiding as they do in the cakra
Sarvarakṣākara (“causing total protection”).
In this cakra, the officiant, is supposed to be absorbed in his own nature
or essence (svarūpāvesa), thinking, “I am the supreme Śiva.” “Through
this absorption,” says the Dī, “the deity shines without duality in the sixth
cakra, which produces in the worshipper a total absorption in Śiva,” while
the cakra protects him from everything that could hinder his spiritual
search.
Nourishing the [three] cities of the knowing subject, the knowable,

and knowledge, the mistress of this cakra, magical enchantress of
this world, is called Tripurāmālinī. //150//
mātṛmānaprameyānām purānām paripoṣinī /
tripurāmālinī khyātā cakresī sarvamohinī //150//
We have already seen the triad of knowing subject, knowledge, and

known (mātṛmānaprameya or mātṛ, māna, meya) used to designate the
totality of the world, which the Goddess both nourishes by her sakti and
deludes by her māyā.
The supernatural power that is purification of the energy of the

vidyā is called prākāmya. All these goddesses must be worshipped
with all the ritual services. //151//
vidyāsaktivisuddhim ca siddhim prākāmyasamjñitām /

etāḥ sarvopacārena pūjayed devatāḥ kramāt //151//
The energy of the srīvidyā, says the Dī, is “expressed,” that is, man-
ifested, by her phonemes. It is in reality the power of the all-powerful
Supreme Consciousness. The siddhi given here is therefore quite naturally
prākāmya, irresistibility. The adept who acquires it can transform himself
or act freely everywhere, like Śiva.
Now comes the worship in the seventh, eight-triangled cakra,
Sarvarogahara, destroyer of all illnesses, with all the mental constructions
that go with it:
As the knots open because of the unifying interaction of the vital

breaths when becoming immobile, [the energy] extending from
the root-granthi to the heart, where consciousness is, as the void
subtle transmigrating body, [one must worship] the goddesses, the
secret Yoginīs, Vasinī, etc., abiding, O Beloved of the heroes, in
the Sarvarogahara cakra, in the blazing fire of destruction of the
samsāra, by following the groups of consonants touched by the
kalās of the vowels, which are seeds. //152–154a//
niruddhavāyusamghaṭṭasphuṭitagranthimūlataḥ /
hṛdayāntarasamvittisūnyaṣṭakātmanā //152//
bījarūpasvarakalāspṛṣṭavargānusārataḥ /
rahasyayoginīr devīḥ samsāradalanojjvale //153//
sarvarogahare cakre samsthitā vīravandite /
The worship in this case consists, for the officiating adept, of mak-
ing his kunḍalinī go up from the “root-granthi,” the mūlādhāra, that
is, to the heart cakra, the cakras (or granthis) between these two points
being “opened,” awakened, by the conjunction (samghaṭta)—which
consists, in fact, of their immobilization—of the prāna and apāna vital
breaths. These two breaths stop in the central void of the heart, which
is where the subtle transmigrating body (the puryaṣṭaka) is generally
supposed to stay. Therefore, there arises in the adept a subtle, “void”
state of mind.
The Dī expresses this as follows: “meditating on [the kunḍalinī] as a
snake whose brightness is made to palpitate by the syllable HUṂ, one
makes it go upward together with the ascent of the breath and the thought.
Thus, the kunḍalinī rises up from the mūlādhāra. As an expert master
says: ‘then one must meditate in the lotus of the heart the blazing power
of consciousness,’ the adept’s consciousness, blazing in his heart, being
the self which is consciousness itself (cidātman).”
This mental process also has a phonetic aspect, the Yoginīs to be wor-
shipped there being associated with the sixteen “vowels,” from A to visarga
(also called here kalās) associated with the groups (varga) of consonants,
KA, CA, and so on, these syllables being what brings about the presence
of the secret—Gupta—Yoginīs who are to be worshipped. Their subtlety,
says the Dī, explains why they are in the Sarvarogahara cakra where the
fire of cosmic destruction is deemed to be present, its fire being able to
destroy the “illness” (roga) of the samsāra, “impermanent, stained, and
impure.”
The Yoginīs endowed with supernatural powers, Vasinī, and so

forth, are red in color, [their hands] forming the gesture of pro-
tection and of reassurance and holding the book and the rosary.
//154b–155a//
The siddhis of enjoyment and the siddhi of pure knowledge,
O Mahesvarī, //155// [and] Tripurasiddhi, mistress [of this cakra,
all these deities] are to be worshipped by the offering of drops [of
arghya].
vasinyādyāḥ raktavarnā varadābhayamudritāḥ //154//
pustakam japamālām ca dadhānāḥ siddhayoginīḥ /
suddhavidyāvisuddhim ca bhuktisiddhim mahesvari //155//
īsvarīm tripurāsiddhim pūjayed bindutarpanaiḥ /
Pure knowledge (suddhavidyā), says the Dī, is the consciousness of

the nonduality of the subject and the object: all is pure, unique, divine
Consciousness. The realization of the nonduality of consciousness
(samvidadvaita), of the nonduality with Śiva, is the highest, liberating
knowledge. “Thus, the supernatural power of enjoyment [bhukti] is the
great power to enjoy the whole diversity of the world gained by the adept
when worshipping in this seventh cakra.” This he does, adds the Dī, “by
offering drops of arghya, together with unhusked grains of barley corn
(akṣata) and flowers, with the mudrā of union of Śiva and Śakti made by
joining the thumb and the little finger.”
The pūjā in the eighth (three-angled), Sarvasiddhimāyā, cakra is now

described:
O Goddess! [the Yoginī] whose nature is that of the three ener-

gies, auspicious, splendid, and powerful flow of consciousness,
//156// forms of the fire of cosmic destruction, supremely secret,
are the cause of the supernatural power whose nature is fullness
and nonfullness, O Suresvarī! In the cakra called Sarvasiddhimaya,
adorned by the divine weapons, are the four deities of the pīṭhas
with Kāmesvarī at their head. //158//
saktitrayātmikā devi ciddhāmaprasarāḥ sivāḥ //156//
samvartāgnikalārūpāḥ paramātirahasyakāḥ /
pūrnāpūrnasvarūpāyāḥ siddher hetuḥ suresvari //157//
sarvasiddhimayākhye tu cakre tvāyudhabhūṣite /
sthitāḥ kāmesvarīpūrvās catasraḥ pīṭhadevatāḥ //158//
The deities in this cakra are, by their nature, nearer to the Goddess
than the Yoginīs we saw previously. They are more important ones.
The three energies are the three basic energies of Śiva: will, knowl-
edge, and action (icchā, jnāna, kriyā). Consciousness, says the Dī, is
the Supreme Consciousness named Ambikā, the Mother; her splendor
(dhāman) is made of light rays (kirana) whose expansion (prasara) is
the cosmic vibration (spanda) produced by the three regents of the cos-
mos identified here with the three energy goddesses Vāmā, Jyeṣṭhā, and
Raudrī. The four regents of the ages of the world (the yuganāthas) are
also there.
All these entities form the first circle of deities surrounding
the Goddess. They are said to be forms of the fire of destruction
(samvartāgni), for when one approaches the Goddess, the world tends
to disappear. The power they bestow is fullness, because it is the com-
plete absorption (samāvesa) in the supreme Śiva. It is also nonfull-
ness, because it includes the totality of the cosmic manifestation. The
Siddhi present here, having these two aspects, gives liberation in life
(jīvanmukti).
The pīṭhas are the four sacred seats of the Goddess, the ritual and spiri-
tual (more or less mythical) centers of this tradition. They are Kāmarūpa,
Pūrnagiri, Jālandhara, and Oḍḍīyāna, as we have already seen.48 Kāmesvarī
is the first of a group of four goddesses; the three others are Vajresvarī,
Bhagamālinī, and Tripurasundarī. Only the first three are in this cakra,
Tripurasundarī residing in the next, central, cakra.
As for the weapon deities, shining with an intense red brilliance,

each carrying its weapon on its head, their hands making the ges-
ture of reassurance and protection, they are to be worshipped.
They give the fruit desired by those who visualize them in medita-
tion. //159// They are yours and mine and bestow power on men
and women.
āyudhās tvatiraktābhāḥ svāyudhojjvalamastakāḥ /
varadābhayahastāsca pūjyā dhyātṛphalapradāḥ //159//
tvadīyāsca madīyās ca pumstrīvasyavidhāyinaḥ /
All Tantric deities are represented as holding in their hands objects

called weapons (āyudha), which are sometimes arms (bow and arrows, for
instance), sometimes tools (such as a goad) or various symbolic objects.
Although objects, āyudhas, being elements of a divine figure, are consid-
ered deities, devatās, and may in such cases be represented (or, as is the
case here, be visualized by dhyāna) as human figures bearing their “weap-
ons” on their heads. They are then to be worshipped as deities, bestowing
boons on their worshipper. They can also be associated with phonemes or
mantras.
O Suresvarī! these arrows of yours are associated with the second

vowel, their nature being that of [the constituent elements of the
body,] skin, blood, flesh, fat, and with what follows bone and mar-
row. //160b–161a//
tvagaṣṛnmāmsamedo ‘sthimajjārnāntāḥ suresvari //160//
dvitīyasvarasamyuktā ete bānās tvādīyakāḥ /
We are to understand here that the arrows are associated with the man-
tras of the dhātus, the constituent elements of the body, which are formed
by the second vowel, Ā, of the Sanskrit alphabet and by one of five con-
sonants and ending with Ṃ. These consonants are the four semivowels,
YA for the skin, RA for the blood, LA for the flesh, VA for fat, and “what
follows bone and marrow,” which is SA, for semen, which is designated
in this way because, in the lists of the dhātus, semen (sukra) usually fol-
lows bone and marrow. The mantras of the five arrows to be used in the
worship to invoke them are (as given in the Dī): YĀṂ, RĀṂ, LĀṂ, VĀṂ,
and SĀṂ.
[The Mistress of this cakra is] Tripurāmbikā, who generates the three
cities Vāmā, etc., //161// These [deities], O Lovely-faced Woman, are
to be worshipped with all the ritual offerings and services. [They
bestow] the supernatural power of unlimited will because their
nature is that of supreme freedom. //162//
vāmādīnām purānām tu jananī tripurāmbikā //161//
parasvātantryarūpatvād icchāsiddhir mahesvari /
etāḥ sarvopacārena pūjayet tu varānane //162//
Vāmā is one of the three main goddesses surrounding

Tripurasundarī: Vāmā, Jyeṣṭhā, and Raudrī. They are called “cities” prob-
ably because they are near Tripurasundarī, the “Beautiful [Mistress] of the
Three Cities.” The Dī, however, says that it is because they are presided
over by Kāmeṣvarī, whose nature is that of the three basic energies, icchā,
jñāna, and kriyā.
Then comes the worship in the ninth, central, cakra:
In the supreme Sarvānandamaya cakra, O Goddess, whose nature

is that of the supreme brahman, one must worship with all freedom
of practice Mahātripurasundarī, [supreme] consciousness, who is
both egoity and objectivity. She is the great Kāmakalā. She gives the
supernatural power of [attaining], the vidyā, the pīṭhas, and so forth.
//163–164//. [This] goddess, the great mudrā, must be worshipped.
sarvānandamaye devi parabrahmātmake pare /
cakre samvittirūpā ca mahātripurasundarī //163//
svairācārena sampūjyā tvahantedantayoḥ samā /
mahākāmakalārūpā pīṭḥavidyādysiddhidā //164//
mahāmudrāmayī devī pūjyā
That the supreme Goddess should be parabrahman and consciousness

goes without saying. The Dī adds, however, that she is, for the worship-
per, the goddess of his own consciousness (svasamviddevatā), underlining
thus the samvidadvaita (the “nonduality of consciousness”) conception of
the Trika: that there is only one conscious principle, Śiva, of which the
individual consciousnesses of human beings are merely aspects. It is in

this respect that she is equally ahantā and idanta, both the absolute pure
I and the multiplicity of the objective world.
Tripurasundarī is also “the great Kāmakalā.” This refers to the kāmakalā
diagram, symbolizing the union of Śiva and Śakti, which we have already
seen in chapter 2, sl. 21.
She is to be worshipped with all freedom of practice (svairācārena), that
is, says the Dī, “with elements pleasing to the senses and whose nature
is what the worshipper desires,” a practice, it adds, characterized by an
intense one-pointed mental concentration on the blazing pulsation (pari-
sphurat paramānusamdhāna) of the supreme. Tantric worship, as we have
already seen, implies the total mental and bodily, intensely lived participa-
tion of the officiant in the ritual action. The Dī quotes here stanza 74 of
the Vijñānabhairava: “Wherever the mind of the individual finds satisfac-
tion, on this supreme point the mind is to be firmly concentrated, for the
supreme bliss shines intensely there.”
The siddhi gained here is prāpti, the power to attain everything. Here
it is the power to realize the nature of the srīvidyā, to reach (symbolically)
the four pīṭhas of the Śrividyā tradition, and to unite with the four deities,
Kāmesvarī, and so on, all of which gives the adept the power to rest in the
supreme, on the plane “beyond the fourth” (turyātīta)49—and therefore to
be omnipotent, like Śiva.
The great mudrā is the yonimudrā, which is in this cakra because it is a tri-
angle, the triangle being the usual symbolic representation of the feminine
sexual organ, the yoni. We have seen the yonimudrā in chapter 1, sl. 70b–71a.
Made up of fifteen [syllables] and as many tithis, eternal, she is the

ninth supreme Bhairavī //165// [to be worshipped in] each cakra,
together with the mudrās described in the [first chapter] “Encounter
in the cakra.”
pañcadasātmikā
tattattithimayī nityā navamī bhairavī parā //165//
praticakram samudrās tu cakrasamketakoditāḥ /
The Goddess is said to be made up of fifteen syllables, because the

srīvidyā of fifteen syllables is herself in her mantric aspect. She is also
made up of the tithis, the fifteen lunar days, because they form together
the whole moon, another totality. In fact, the number of the totality (and
of the moon) is not fifteen but sixteen. The Dī explains, therefore, that
if one adds to the fifteen tithis or syllables of the srīvidyā the ṣrīvidya as a
whole, taken as a unit, one has 15 + 1 = 16. The mūlavidyā worshipped in
this central triangle is thus seen as made up of her separate syllables plus
their ensemble, thus being sixteenfold.
The Goddess is to be worshipped also in the whole srīcakra, since she
pervades it entirely.
The worship in the nine cakras of the srīcakra ends with another ritual
worship:
The sage must perform a sacrifice to Nityaklinnā, etc., using

optional rites, //166// either in the triangle or in the intermediate
space of the square.
nityaklinnādikās caiva kāmyakarmānusārataḥ //166//
caturasrāntarāle vā trikone vā yajet sudhīḥ /
Nityaklinnā is placed on the left side of the central triangle between two
other goddesses, Kāmesvarī and Bhagamālinī. The other goddesses of the
inner retinue of Tripurasundarī (meant by “etc.”) are thirteen Nityās.50 They
are to be worshipped either in the central triangle or on the sixteen-petaled
lotus, meant here by “the intermediate space of the square.”
The use of so-called optional rites (kāmyakarmani), that is, rites under-
taken to attain a desired object, is normal in the present Tantric context,
since the worship of all these deities gives siddhis, which are desired
(kāmya) by the adept. The Dī describes these rites as consisting of “flowers,
visualizing meditation [dhyāna], syllables, etc., adapted to such optional
rites as subjugation, etc.” The next stanza is more explicit:
Having honored the deities with alcohol, pieces of cooked meat,

perfumes, and incense, //167// the worship of the cakra is thus
accomplished. [The officiating adept] must [then] offer the lamp of
kula, blazing with its own splendor, shining forth internally and
externally, O Dear One! //168//
alinā pisitair gandhair dhūpair ārādhya devatāḥ //167//
cakrapūjām vidhāyettham kuladīpam nivedayet /
antarbahirbhāsamānam svaprakāsojjvalam priye //168//
The term we give here in English as “alcohol” is hetu, which means

“cause.” It is one of the several terms used to mean an alcoholic beverage
without mentioning it explicitly.
The offering of lights to the deity is the waving of lights in front of

the image, which is a part of all pūjās (called arati, it is nowadays often its
main, if not its sole, part).
This action is here metaphysically interpreted, kula being, as we
have seen, one of the terms used to mean the body, whether cosmic or
human. Kula, says the Dī, is “the body made of the thirty-six tattvas”,
in other words, the whole world, which is thus symbolically offered to
the Goddess. But the Dī also interprets this as follows: this lamp “is the
dynamism of consciousness shining in the lotus of the heart and which,
through the senses, shines in the same way in all objects.” “This lamp it
adds, “shines by its own light, which is the direct intuitive perception of
the supreme reality,” the act of offering being, for the adept, “the inner
quiescent tranquillity [visrānti] in consciousness that he experiences when
turning inward.”
Now comes the last rite of this pūjā, the japa.
Japa
The japa is the mandatory penultimate act of all pūjās (normally,
but not here, followed by an offering in the sacrificial fire, a homa).
It consists of reciting a more or less large number of times the
root mantra, the mūlamantra, of the deity being worshipped. This
is, however, not the case here, for this japa is, in fact, a long and
complex meditative and yogic practice in which the enunciation
(uccāra) of the srīvidyā, associated with the ascent of the kunḍalinī,
is accompanied by mental visualizations of elements of the srīvidyā
imagined (and, to a certain extent, experienced) as taking place in
the yogic body of the adept together with the ascent of kunḍalinī.
We have described its general pattern above in the introduction.
Here we will follow, with the help of the Dī, the details of the
process as described (or alluded to) in stanzas 169b–189a. (See
table 3.1.)
Then, having done the añjali with flowers, he must practice japa
with a composed and steady mind. //169a//
puṣpajlalim tataḥ kṛtvā japam kuryāt samāhitaḥ /
O Great Goddess! [The japa consists of ] the conjunction of the cakras

placed one above the other [realized] by the nāda in the three kūṭas and the
threefold kunḍalinī. //169b–170a//
Table 3.1 The japa of the three kūṭa of the sr īvidyā.

srīcakra bodily cakras kunḍalinī Śrividyā
dvādasānta unmanā
↑
samanā
|
vyāpinī
|
↑ sakti
|
nādānta
|
nāda
|
brahmarandhra nirodhinī
|
ardhacandra
|
HRĪM
bindu SA KA LA
central triangle bindu samhāra (saktibīja)
8-angled cakra bhrūmadhya somakunḍalinī samanā
↑
nādānta
↑ tālu nāda
↑ |
bindu
visuddha HRĪM
inner 10-angled |
cakra sthiti HA SA KA HA LA
external 10-angled sūryakunḍalinī (kāmarājakūṭa)
cakra anāhata samanā
14-angled cakra ↑
manipūra nāda
rodhinī
↑ svadhiṣṭāna ↑ ardhacandra
bindu
HRĪM
mūlādhāra sṛṣṭi HA SA KA LA
aṣṭadalapadma
ṣoḍasadalapadma viṣu agnikunḍalinī (vāgbhava)
caturasracakra akulapadma
kūṭatraye mahādevi kunḍalītritaye ‘pi ca //169//

cakrānām pūrvapūrveṣām nādarūpena yojanam /
In these [kūṭas] are the phonemes prāna, agni, and māyā, followed by
the kalās: bindu, ardhacandra, rodhinī, nāda, nādānta, sakti, accom-
panied by vyāpikā, samanā, and unmanā, who are in the dvādasānta,
O Dear One. //171// Then, for [the kūṭa] whose nature is the root
kunḍalinī, and for the middle one, turned [the first] toward emana-
tion, [the second] toward the resorption of the cosmos, O Mahesvarī!
//172// The conjunction [goes on] rising higher and higher only as
the subtle nāda. In the modified third [kūṭa], O Goddess, the twelfth
kalā [is enunciated]. //173//
teṣu prānāgnimāyāṛnakalābindvārdhacandrakāḥ //170//
rodhinīnādanādāntāḥ saktivyāpikayānvitā /
samanā conmanā ceti dvādasānte sthitā priye //171//
mūlakunḍalinīrūpe madhyame ca tataḥ punaḥ /
sṛṣṭyunmukhe ca visvasya sthitirūpe mahesvari //172//
kevalam nādarūpena uttarottarayojanam /
sabalākārake devi tṛtīye dvādasī kalā //173//
This first part of the japa is to proceed as follows: The adept is to

imagine that along his suṣumnā are tiered the nine constituent cakras
of the srīcakra (from its square outside part to the central triangle),
each associated with one of the nine cakras of his yogic imaginal body,
from the mūlādhāra to the dvādasānta. Going upward along this axis,
the kunḍalinī is conceived of as being threefold. Its lower part, from
mūlādhāra to the heart cakra (hṛdaya or anāhata), is the so-called
agnikunḍalinī; it is fiery and associated with emanation, sṛṣṭi. Then,
from heart to bhrūmadhya (the cakra between the eyebrows, also called
bindu or ājñā), extends the sūryakunḍalinī, which is solar and associated
with conservation, sthiti. Third, from bhrūmadhya to dvādasānta, rises
the somakunḍalinī, which is lunar and linked to resorption, samhāra.
This conception of the kunḍalinī as in three sections that have respec-
tively the nature of fire, sun, and moon is found in several Tantric Śaiva
texts. Its point seems to be to give a cosmic dimension to the ascent of
the kunḍalinī.
Now the adept is to imagine that in the mūlādhāra lies the first part,
or kūṭa, of the ṣrīvidyā, HA SA KA LA HRĪṂ. Then, in the heart cakra,
is the second kūṭa, HA SA KA HA LA HRĪṂ; and in the bhrūmadhyā is
the third kūṭā, SA KA LA HRĪṂ. The enunciation of these three HRĪṂ,
like that of all bījas ending with Ṃ (bindu), is deemed (as said in sl. 170) to
be prolonged by a subtle phonic vibration, the nāda, which goes through
eight ever subtler phonic stages, the so-called kalāṣ, named ardhacandra,
rodhinī, nāda, nādānta, sakti, vyāpinī, samanā, and umanā, with the last,
“transmental,” kalā, which finally dissolves in the silence of the Absolute.
This being so, the japa consists, for the officiant, of the mental enun-
ciation (uccāra) of the three kūṭas of the srividyā, enunciating first their
letters, from SA or HA to the bindu, Ṃ, then prolonging the uccāra of Ṃ by
the eight kalās, from ardhacandra to samanā, this subtle vibration ascend-
ing for the first kūṭa from mūlādhāra to the heart, for the second kūṭa from
the heart to the bhrūmadhya, and for the third kūṭa from bhrūmadhya to
the dvādasānta, where it reaches its ultimate form, unmanā, the “trans-
mental.” This it does, however, together with the unmanās of the two first
HRĪṂ, with which it intermingles (this is why it is called “modified” in
ṣl. 173b). There the phonic vibration unites with and disappears in the
Absolute. The kalās are said by the YH to number twelve, because one is
to add to the eight subtle ones, ardhacandra to unmanā, the four elements
that constitute HRĪṂ: H R Ī + bindu.
This japa is thus not a recitation but a purely mental mantric utterance
(mantroccāra), conceived by the adept as carrying upward the three parts
of the srīvidyā, through the cakras of his yogic body united with the con-
stitutive parts of the srīcakra, with the kunḍalinī and with his mind, to the
highest level of sound vibration, where it merges in Mahātripurasundarī,
supreme Consciousness. It is a complex, both visual and phonic-mental,
process. It is a mental process, we note, that also has a cosmic dimen-
sion, since, as it unfolds from distinct syllables to unmanā, it includes,
with the three kūṭas, the whole cosmic process, from emanation to
resorption, a process parallel to, isomorphic with, the phonic one, which
goes from distinct sound to the silence of the Absolute and, implicitly,
from ordinary waking awareness (jāgrat) to the supreme nondualistic
turyātīta state of mind. This japa, therefore, if effectively carried out,
requires an extremely intense and difficult mental/spiritual exercise in
creative imagination.
This, however, is only the first part of the japa; three other japas are
now prescribed.
One must perform the japa mentally while meditating on the six-
fold emptiness, O Goddess, the five conditions of the mind, and the
seven equalizations. //174//
sūnyaṣaṭkam tathā devi hyavasthāpañcakam punaḥ /
viṣuvam saptarūpam ca bhāvayan manasā japet //174//
These entities—the six emptinesses (sūnya), the five states or condi-

tions (avasthā) of the mind, and the seven viṣuvat (a term we translate as
“equalization”), says the Dī, are to be meditatively realized (bhāvayet) in
the constitutive elements of the srīvidyā of which this is therefore a japa—
of a particular sort.
Dividing into groups of three [the kalās of the uccāra] from agni
to the dvādasānta, O Fair-Faced Woman! one will give birth to the
threefold emptiness, each [of the emptinesses] being in the interval
between each [of the groups of three], O Dear One! //175// In the
supreme abode, beyond the threefold emptiness, one is to meditate
on the great emptiness.
agnyādidvādasānteṣu trīmstrīn tyaktvā varānane /
sūnyatrayam vijānīyād ekaikāntaraḥ priye //175//
sūnyatrayāt pare sthāne mahāsūnyam vibhāvayet /
Although called “threefold” (sūnyatrayam), there are six emptinesses.

They are linked to the ascending enunciation (uccāra) of HRĪṂ—its let-
ters, then its kalās—the sūnyas being imagined as nodal points placed on
the level of a kalā between two others, beginning with the R of HRĪṂ
(called agni, since RA is the bīja of fire) and ending on the level of unmanā,
which is in the dvādasānta, as shown in table 3.1 above.
The officiating adept is apparently to meditate intensely on these imag-
inary points. The Dī explains that he is to see in his mind the sūnyas look-
ing like “the multicolored circles adorning the feathers of a peacock,” for
which it quotes sūtra 32 of the Vijñānabhairava: “If one meditates on the
five voids [using as support] the multicolored circles adorning the feathers
of a peacock, one penetrates in the heart, supreme void.”
The Dī also quotes part of stanza 41 of the same text: “he will be
absorbed in the marvelous ether of consciousness.”
The first line of sl. 175 implies that there is a still higher, “emptier” level
of emptiness, above the sixth one.
The YH then explains the meditation on the five conditions of the

mind, the avasthas: waking (jāgrat), dream (svapna), deep sleep (suṣupti),
the “fourth” (turya) state, and the one “above the fourth” (turyātīta):
The meditative realization of the waking senses, then, [must be

done] through the state of waking, //176// in the fire, O Goddess,
a state of great wakefulness, together with the two [categories of ]
faculties.
prabodhakaranasyā ‘thā jāgaratvena bhāvanam //176//
vahnau devi mahājāgradavasthā tvindriyadvayaiḥ /
The two categories of faculties are the five organs or faculties of apper-
ception (jñānendriya or buddhīndriya), sight, hearing, smell, taste, and
touch, and the five senses of action (karmendriya) corresponding to the
functions of speaking, holding, walking, excreting, and copulating. These
two categories correspond to two groups of tattvas in the classification of
the Sāmkhya, categories that are active in the waking state. A meditative
realization, an inner experience of the plane of consciousness correspond-
ing to these sense experiences or activities is probably what the adept is
supposed to have in this part of the japa.
The meditative realization of the great wakefulness is to take place “in
the fire” (vahnau), which is to say, the Dī explains, “in the letter RA present
on the tip of the third bīja,”51 that is, in the R of the HRĪṂ of the third kūṭa
of the srīvidyā—something we may find difficult to visualize but which is
important, since there is no japa without (at least a part of) a mantra.
Since there are five ascending conditions of the mind, the meditative
process of the japa goes on as follows:
[Linked] to the internal organs is the dream state revealed by māyā

//177// in the region of the throat.
āntaraiḥ karanair eva svapno māyāvabodhanaḥ //177//
galadese
The state of dream (svapna) is defined by the Dī as the condition of the

knowing subject (pramātṛ)52 when his mental activity is separated from
the senses of action and linked to the internal organs. The internal organ,
the antaḥkarana, is made up of the three tattvas between the senses of
apperception and prakṛti, namely the mind (manas), the principle of the
ego (ahamkāra), and the intellect (buddhi). These are “revealed by māyā in
the region of the heart,” which is, says the Dī, by the letter Ī53 of HRĪṂ to
be felt and meditated as present in the region of the heart, which is the
“region of dream” (svapnasya sthānam).
Suṣupti is the perception of what was previously dissolved with the

dissolution of the domain of the movements of the internal organ.
//178// [The meditation bears here] on the preceding phonemes taken
in the reverse order. It takes place on the bindu, between the eyebrows.
suṣuptis tu līnapūrvasya vedanam /
antaḥkaranavṛttīnām layato viṣayasya tu //178//
pūrvārnānām vilomena bhrūmadhye bindusamsthitā /
Suṣupti is the state of deep sleep, where no dream appears. All mental
activities stop there, because the movements of the internal organ, the
antaḥkarana, of which one was conscious in the previous, dream state, have
now disappeared. In this state, one is intensely conscious (parāmṛsyate)
only of one’s self (svātma) and of happiness (sukha), says the Dī.
As for the japa to be done here, it would consist of meditating on the syl-
lables of the central kūṭa of the srīvidyā, the saktibīja, taking them in reverse
order, LA KA SA, these phonemes being meditated, visualized as being “on
the bindu placed on the hṛllekhā (on the Ṃ of the HRĪṂ, that is) which is
in the bhrūmadhyacakra”—the HRĪṂ would thus be imagined as placed
there, between the eyebrows. This part of the japa, like the others, is a yogic
practice based on the structure of the mental image of the yogic body.
[The meditation] of turya is the grouping together there of the

half-circle, etc. //179// Being the cause of the manifestation of con-
sciousness, [this state] is knowledge of the nature of the nāda.
turyarūpam tasya cātra vṛttārdhades samgrahaḥ //179//
caitanyavyaktihetos tu nādarūpasya vedanam /
Turya, the fourth condition of the mind, is above the three normal states
of consciousness, being considered their cause. It is not merely peaceful
but dynamic. In its bhāvanā, says the Dī, there appears an intense aware-
ness (parāmarsa) of the phonic vibration, the nāda, of the srīvidyā on the
three levels of the uccāra following bindu: ardhacandra (the “half-circle”),
rodhinī, and nādānta, these three kalās being considered as together “on
the apex of the third bīja.” What the adept is to realize there, we are told, is
the inciting (kalana) nature, the dynamism, of the nāda, which causes the
apparition of a pure consciousness of the self.54
Turyātīta, O Dear one, is a state of happiness. It is on the level of

nādānta and what follows it. //181// In that very place, the awak-
ened must, during the time of japa, remember the five conditions
of the mind.
turyātītam sukhasthānam nādāntādisthitam priye //180//
atraiva japakāle tu pañcāvasthāḥ smared budhaḥ /
The Dī defines the essence of the condition of turyātīta as supreme bliss

transcending word and thought (manovāgatītaparamānanda), which is,
however, to be experienced on the level of nādānta, sakti, vyapinī, samanā,
and unmanā, which are the “region of happiness” (sukhasthānam). This
“remembrance”55 is to take place “in that very place,” which (according to
the Dī) is to be understood “in the saktibīja,” the third kūṭa of the srīvidyā.
“He must remember” (smaret) is taken as the equivalent of bhavayet: he
must meditate intensely.56
Another series of japa follows now, that of the seven viṣuvas. There is no
satisfactory translation of the term viṣuva because of our uncertainty about
what the term designates. In astronomy, it is the equinox. More generally,
it means a central or middle point, a point of equality or equalization, equi-
librium. Here it evokes a point of equilibrium or equalization between the
prāna , or nāda, of the mantra and some other element brought into play by
the japa. With each of these japas, the adept would experience in mind and
body a particular union with the phonic vibration, the nāda, of the srīvidyā
and would thus progress toward union with the supreme.
The viṣuva named prāna is the union of breath, the self, and the
mind. //181//
yogaḥ prānātmamanasām viṣuvam prānasamjñakam //181//
This description of the prānaviṣuva is clear enough, but neither the YH

nor the Dī explains how this union is realized or the role the vidyā may
play in this practice.
Knowing that what assumes the form of the self is dissolved in the
nāda which rises from the [mūl]ādhāra, conjoining and disjoining
the phonemes of the mantra, O Mahesvarī, //182// [then] perceiv-

ing that what has the nature of nāda57 [rises] from the anāhata to the
ultimate [cakra, this is the mantra]viṣuva.
ādhārotthitanāde tu līnam buddhvātmarūpakam /
samyogena viyogena mantrārnānām mahesvari //182//
anāhatādyādhārāntam nādātmavicintanam /
viṣuvam
“What assumes the form of the self” is the divine Consciousness. This
Consciousness, assuming the form of the consciousness of the adept, is
to be imagined as dissolved in the phonic vibration, the nāda, which rises
from the mūlādhāra up to the brahmarandhra, a movement during which it
is associated with the three parts of the srīvidyā, first taken separately, then
taken together, and, in this case, considered as rising from the anāhata,
the cakra of the heart, to the highest cakra. This is done, says the Dī, “enun-
ciating up to the heart the nāda present on the apex of the vāgbhava (the
third kūṭa) which is in the mūlādhāra, and dissolving there. The spiritual
experience the adept has by one-pointed attention (anusamdhāna) is that
the real nature of his self is divine; such is the mantraviṣuva.”
What is called nāḍīviṣuva is produced by the phoneme when the

twelve granthis are pierced inside the nāḍī in conjunction with the
nāda, O Dear One! //183b–184a//
nādasamsparsān nāḍīviṣuvam ucyate //183//
dvādasagranthibhedena varnād nāḍyantare priye /
The phoneme (varna), says the Dī, is the kāmakalā akṣara—the letter
Ī—present on the apex of the three kūṭas, the letter Ī, that is, of the three
HRĪṂ of the srīvidyā. This phoneme is to pierce the twelve granthis, the
“knots,” namely the six cakras, from mūlādhāra to brahmarandhra and six
intermediary knots, tiered along the suṣumnā nāḍī. This ascending move-
ment is associated with the equally ascending subtle phonic vibration,
the nāda, of the three HRĪṂ, as we have seen in the first japa. ; It is, in
fact, practically the same mental yogic practice, with the same spiritual
effect.
Conjunction with the nāda, the prasānta[viṣuva] falls within the

range of the appeased senses. //184// One is to meditate the fire,
māyā and kalā, cetanā, ardhacandra, rodhinī, nāda and nādānta dis-
solved in sakti. //185//
nādayogaḥ prasāntam tu prasāntendriyagocaram //184//
vahnim māyām kalām caiva cetanām ardhacandrakam /
rodhinīnādanādāntān saktau līnān vibhāvayet //185//
“The fire is the letter RA, māyā is Ī, and kalā is the half-kalā following SA
placed in the middle of this letter [Ī] which has the shape of a line.58 Cetanā is
the bindu which is the inner impulsion of consciousness [caitanya]. As for ard-
hacandra, rodhinī, etc., they are to be meditated on, being dissolved in sakti, as
previously described,”59 says the Dī. This is, it adds, because the energy here
is the energy of the officiant who thus feels appeased as he evokes mentally
this ascent of the phonic kalās of HRĪṂ along the way of the kunḍ alinī.
The viṣuva named sakti is above her. [It consists of ] applying one’s
thought to the nāda. Still above this is the kālaviṣuva, which extends
up to unmanā, O Mahesvarī! //186// The perception of the nāda
[lasts] muni, candra, eight and ten tuṭis.
viṣuvam saktisamjñam tu tadūrdhvam nādacintanam /
tadūrdhvam kālaviṣuvam unmanāntam mahesvari //186//
municandrāṣṭadasabhis tuṭibhir nādavedanam
The saktiviṣuva is “above sakti” because it is to be meditated as extend-

ing up to the samanā kalā. The kālaviṣuva, the viṣuva of time, is still above
it, since the adept is to consider its meditation as reaching the supreme
level of unmanā, which transcends time.
The Dī explains that muni means seven, and candra means one. If one
adds eight and ten, the length of the uccāra of the vidyā from the HA of
HRĪṂ to unmanā would be ten thousand eight hundred seventeen tuṭis,
a tuṭi being an extremely small division of time; it is described in a text
quoted by the Dī as a hundredth part of the twinkling of the eye.
The equalization which is the cause of the manifestation of con-

sciousness is called tattva[viṣuva]. //187//
caitanyavyaktihetusca viṣuvam tattvasamjñakam //187//
This viṣuva is described in the Dī as the one-pointed attention

(anusamdhāna) to one’s own self resulting from the dissolution of the
nāda during the length of time described above as counted in tuṭis, this
being experienced on the level of unmanā—an experience of a purely tran-
scendent state of consciousness, the summit of which is reached in the
last, supreme viṣuva:
The supreme stage, O Great Goddess, is the beauty of uncreated bliss.

param sthānam mahādevi nisargānandasundaram /
This ultimate stage, says the Dī, transcends the sound and move-
ment that existed in the five vacuities and in the six preceding viṣuvas. Its
beauty is “the beauty of the place of rest [visrānti] of the universe,” which
is the Absolute. It both includes and transcends all forms of bliss. It is the
supreme level of the deity that is the cause and origin of all that exists and
holds it in herself: it is the supreme Goddess as mistress and place of rest
(visrānti) of the world, for, as we may say, all is in God.
The YH concludes the passage on the japas as follows:
Who applies thus his mind during the times [prescribed for] japa,
O Pārvati! //188// will rapidly obtain all the supernatural powers
thanks to your favor.
This being done, he must offer the japa to the Goddess in her left
hand. //189//
evam cintayamānasya japakāleṣu pārvati //188//
siddhayaḥ sakalās tūrnam siddhyanti tvatprasādataḥ /
evam kṛtvā japam devyā vāmahaste nivedayet //189//
The symbolical offering of the japa (japanivedana) into the hand of

the deity being worshipped is one of the usual actions of the pūjā. It is
a mark of respect and devotion. The Dī, however, true to its nondualist
philosophical doctrine, interprets it symbolically.
In this perspective, the japa that has just been performed is lived by
the officiating adept as bringing about a fusion with the srīvidyā associ-
ated with the kunḍalinī, a power both human and cosmic-divine, and thus
as having a transcendental-cosmic dimension. It is a lived experience of
the resorption of the cosmos into the deity. Given in the left hand of the
Goddess, the japa is considered as being offered to the dissolving aspect
of the deity. The Goddess holds it and reabsorbs it in herself and, with it,
the sādhaka, who is thus symbolically liberated.
The last rites of the pūjā are now to be performed; first, the ritual liba-
tion, tarpana:
With the joined thumb and ring finger, he must satiate the deities
of the cakra.
anāmāṅguṣṭhayogena tarpayec cakradevatāḥ /
The joined thumb and ring finger symbolize the union of Śiva (thumb)
and Śakti (ring finger). The offering is to be done to all the deities of the
cakra. How it is done, and with what consecrated water, is not said. The Dī
gives a metaphysical interpretation of this rite
The oblation to the Goddess follows:
He will offer to the Goddess wine, meat, and fish. //190//

madyam māmsam tathā matsyam devyai tu vinivedayet //190//
Those are usual Tantric offerings. No sexual practice is prescribed here,

as is, however, sometimes the case in the tradition of Tripurā.60
He will worship her in the company of heroes devoted to the prac-

tices of Kula.
kaulācārasamāyuktair vīrais tu saha pūjayet /
There is no indication that this pūjā is a collective worship. It is called

cakrapūjā because it is done with the srīcakra, not because worshippers
are placed in circles. We may therefore believe that this prescription aims
merely at excluding the presence of noninitiates: the Dī says it excludes
those who are not perfected (siddha).
The cakrapūjā of the Yoginīs is to be performed in a special man-

ner under the constellations of puṣya, when the sun is dominant,
O Paramesvarī! //191// on the birthday of the guru, on that of one’s
own constellation, and also on the eighth and fourteenth lunar days.
//192//
puṣyabhedena tu vāre saure ca paramesvari //191//
guror dine svanakṣatre caturdasyaṣṭamiṣu ca /
cakrapūjām viseṣena yoginīnām samācaret //192//
“In a special manner” (viṣesena) is to be understood (says the Dī) as

using the sort of “occasional [naimittika] rites that would satisfy the group
of sixty-four, or other categories of, Yoginīs.” This precision is not useless,
since the part of the pūjā performed in the nine cakras of the srīcakra was
to be done using “optional” (kāmya) rites; see sl. 166.61
Puṣya is the sixth or seventh lunar day. The day when the sun is domi-
nant would now be Sunday (sun-day).
Since sixty-four crores of very powerful Yoginīs are assembled in

this cakra, O Beloved of the Heroes! //193// [their worship] is to
be performed eight times eight times, without cheating on the
expenses.
catuḥṣaṣṭir yataḥ koṭyo yoginīnām mahaujasām /
cakram etat samāsritya samsthitā vīravandite //193//
aṣṭāṣṭakam tu kartavyam vittisāṭhyavivarjitam /
A usual number of Yoginīs is sixty-four. From each of these sixty-four, a

crore (ten million) emanate. Surely, they are merely to be mentally evoked,
even if imagined as crowding the srīcakra. No indication is given about
when and how these sixty-four pūjās are to be performed.
The rule to act without cheating, without limiting the expenses, is a gen-
erally valid principle, already alluded to in the fourth stanza of the first chap-
ter of the YH. Hindu ritual works on a do ut des principle: one cannot expect
the deity’s favor or generosity if one does not worship with generosity.
[But] you alone it is, Enchantress of the Worlds, who are playing
under the guise of these [deities]!
tvam eva tāsām rūpena krīḍase visvamohinī //194//
As a consequence of this, says the Dī, when one worships all these
deities who are but fragments of the Goddess, it is in reality the supreme
Goddess who is worshipped.
Who, not knowing the doctrine and practices of Kula or paying

respect to the sandals of the guru, penetrates in this doctrine, you
will assuredly punish him. //195//
ajnātvā tu kulācāram ayaṣṭvā gurupādukām /
yo ‘smin sāstre parvarteta tam tvam pīḍayasi dhruvam //195//
The YH repeats the rule already given in the first chapter that only
adepts initiated by a guru of the sect and following its rules of behavior are
permitted to study and try to follow its doctrine and practices. The efforts
of the uninitiated are necessarily fruitless.
O Woman of beautiful hips! [the adept] who has thus learned,

who follows ceaselessly the rules and behavior of the Kula, having
offered us wine and meat changed into something else, //196//
must consider carefully the forms of the flow of your expansion
which is [in fact] none but You.
evam jñātvā varārohe kaulācāraparaḥ sadā /
āvayoḥ sabalākāram madyam māmsam nivedya ca //196//
tvatprathāprasarākāras tvām eva paribhāvayet /
The forms taken by the expanding flow of the Goddess are the deities
that surround her (the āvaranadevatā), whose forms, the Dī says, are born
from her and who therefore are to be considered as mere forms taken by
her: “They are figures born from the playful shining forth [vilāsa] of the
energy of free consciousness [vimarsasakti] which are to be seen and medi-
tated as being none other than you.”
The offerings of alcohol and pieces of meat are “changed into some-
thing else,” since they are believed to be transformed into ambrosia by the
ritual of offering. The Dī quotes here a saying: “Wine is Śiva, meat is Śakti;
bliss is said to be liberation.”
You, Goddess who takes on the form you desire, are to be perceived
under the aspect of the spiritual master. //197// Having made an
offering to the master who is no other than yourself, [the adept]
must unite with himself what remains of it.
tvām icchāvigrahām devīm gururūpām vibhāvayet //197//
tvanmayasya guroḥ seṣam nivedyātmani yojayet /
It seems best here to quote all of Amṛtānanda’s commentary:
The Goddess is embodied in all forms that exist [visvarūpa]. Wishing

to spread her grace on the universe, she takes on forms by play
[līlā]. She assumes thus the form she desires. You only are to be
perceived under the aspect of the guru. To this master “who is no
other than yourself,” who has your nature [tvadrūpa], one must have
offered “cause (= wine); then the sādhaka will unite with himself
this offering: what remains, that is, of what he first offered to the
deity and to the master. Which is to say that the sādhaka, insofar as
he has absorbed this remain, will be united, fused [samarasī bhavati]
with the one and the other.
O Great Goddess! the bali is to be offered, using “cause,” to myself
who am the Guardian of the Field and to Baṭuka who is the self of
the Yoginīs. //198b–199a//
yoginīnām mahādevi baṭukāyātmarūpine //198//
kṣetrānām pataye mahyam balim kurvīta hetunā /
The rite of bali is one of the last parts of the pūjā. It is given here a
metaphysical dimension underscored in the Dī, which says that the inner
nature of Baṭuka is the vibration (spanda) of the supreme bliss, which is
the self of the Yoginīs.
As for Kṣetrapāla, the “Guardian of the (sacrificial) Field,” the “field,”
it says, is the body. It is, therefore, in the mind (manasi) to the guardian
of the body and in reality to Bhairava that the bali is given. The Dī con-
cludes: “It is by appeasing the movement of the prāna and apāna breaths
and by annihilating the threefold62 differentiation, and with the thought ‘I
am Śiva,’ that one offers the inner bali.”
Divinized by the pūjā, the sādhaka may henceforth act freely:
Ceaselessly drinking, devouring, and rejecting, acting on his own of

his own free will, //199// realizing meditatively the unity of subject
and object, the [adept] will remain in happiness.
nityam piban vaman khādan svvecchācāraparaḥ svayam //199//
ahantedantayor aikyam bhāvayan viharet sukham /
This drinking, devouring, and rejecting may be taken literally as refer-

ring to daily life. The Dī, however, understands it as drinking and eating
the ritual offerings while rejecting them mentally.
Acting of one’s own free will is explained as considering that whatever the
sādhaka wishes, he must consider permitted. To realize the unity of I (ahanta,
I-ness) and this (idantā, objectivity) is to realize the truth of nonduality.
Amṛtānanda quotes a stanza of the Vijñānabhairava which we may
attempt to render as follows: “Because of the blossoming of the bliss
arising from the pleasure of eating and drinking, one is to fuse mentally
with the perfection of this joy; one will then identify with the supreme
bliss.”
The YH concludes the pūjāsamketa, saying:
This divine and excellent threefold practice has been told to you.
//200//
It is to be kept carefully hidden, as one does one’s secret parts,
O Dear One! Neither to a frivolous being nor to one who merely
desires knowledge is it to be revealed, O Perfect One. //201// One
must not, in contradiction to the rules, entrust it to unbelievers,
O Mahesvarī!
etat te kathitam divyam samketatrayam uttamam //200//
gopanīyam prayatnena svaguhyam iva suvrate /
cumbake jñānalubdhe ca na prakāsyam tvayānaghe //201//
anyāyena na dātavyam nāstikānām mahesvari /
This prescription was already formulated in the first chapter, 1.4.
I am thus ordered by You who are the form taken by my own will,
O Mistress! //202//
evam tvayāham ājñapto madicchārūpayā prabho //202//
Bhairava, the supreme God, a form of Śiva, appears here as both domi-
nant, since the Goddess is the form taken by his will, and subordinated,
since he is ordered by the Goddess to question her. We may see this as
expressing the contradiction between the metaphysical principle that the
supreme transcending reality is the male Śiva and the fact that theologi-
cally, the Goddess, Śakti, is the supreme deity. She is supreme, but Śiva is
metaphysically above her. We must not forget that the Tantras were com-
posed by men.
Who will give [this teaching] contrary to the rules will surely perish.
Who understands [this] practice will become dear to the Yoginīs.
//203//
Receptacle of the fruits of all desires, he will obtain all the fruits he
wishes for.
anyāyena tu yo dadyāt sa pareto bhaviṣyati /

samketam yo vijānāti yoginīnām bhavet priyaḥ //203//
sarvepṣitaphalāvāptiḥ sarvakāmaphalāsrayaḥ /
The Yoginīs, “rays of light of the supreme Consciousness,” says the

Dī, have a particular connection (yoga) with the supreme Śiva, the master
of all powers. The adept who follows this teaching, helped by the Yoginīs,
“will therefore become the supreme Śiva,” omnipotent and omniscient.
The statement that the adept will enjoy all the fruits he desires may
come as a surprise to the reader who has seen that all the practices pro-
pounded in this Tantra were deemed to lead the adept to liberation. This,
however, is normal in a Tantric context. The Tantric liberation in life—
which can be reached, in principle, by using the means of this world, nota-
bly kāma, passion—gives, in fact, both mukti and bhukti, liberation and
rewards. This is liberation from the fetters of this world but also magical
domination over the world thanks to the possession of supernatural pow-
ers, siddhis.
The Śrīvidyā’s initiated adept permitted to perform a pūjā is a
sādhaka: one who possesses siddhis. He is usually considered a bubhukṣu,
a being “desirous of bhukti,” of worldly and otherworldly rewards, that is,
rather than a mumukṣu,63 a seeker of liberation. The tāntrika, we might say,
is not of this world but in this world, which he has not left but transcends
and dominates. This is what the YH offers.
The YH concludes:
What is visible everywhere, O Goddess, how can the sage not turn
his thought toward it? //204//
yato ‘pi dṛsyate devi katham vidvān na cintayet //204//
Śiva’s—or the Goddess’s—omnipresence is surely visible, understand-

able, by the sage if he follows the YH’s teaching. Amṛtānanda concludes
his commentary: “O Mother! your nature, which Śiva did not expose
clearly because it is very secret, has been explained at the request of the
Master”—that is, by the YH.
We hope that the reader will have found this text illuminating and that
our attempt at an explanation has been useful.We would conclude in the
traditional Sanskrit way—as Amṛtānanda has done in the Dīpikā—by say-
ing, “be indulgent to us for that,” no kṣamasva tat.
Notes
in t roduc t ion
1. There is also a very important, and still very active, Buddhist Tantric domain,
sharing many traits with Hindu Tantra but very different in practice and
notions.
2. The world is traditionally considered as threefold: sky, air, and earth. This is an
ancient Indian notion. There are also other threefold cosmic divisions.
3. Or rather, in the present case, mūlavidyā, since the goddess is feminine. A vidyā
is a feminine mantra—the mantra, that is, of a female deity. Mantra/vidyā and
deity are, in fact, identical.
4. For the reader who might be surprised by the shift in Sanskrit terms from i to
ai (Śiva to Śaiva, Tripura to Traipura), let us explain that in Sanskrit, the adjecti-
val form of a verbal or nominal root is made by adding an a, hence tri + a = trai.
5. Though very often called “Mother,” the Hindu goddess in her various forms
and names, is not a “mother-goddess.” She has no children (or, at any rate, does
not give birth to them normally). Tripurasundarī has Bhairava as a consort but
is not married to him.
6. There are ardhanārī, half-female, half-male images of this divine pair.
7. On this group of deities, see David Kinsley, Tantric Visions of the Divine: The
Ten Mahāvidyās (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1997).
8. This observance consisted for the practitioner in wandering while carrying a
skull-topped staff and an alms bowl fashioned of a human cranium.
9. The best description of the āmnāya system and, more generally, of the Śaiva
traditions is that of Alexis Sanderson, “Śaivism and the Tantric Traditions,” in
Stewart Sutherland et al., eds, The World’s Religions (London: Routledge, 1981),
pp. 606–704.
10. On the pīṭhas, see note 22 of chapter 1 below.
164 Notes
11. This tradition has been studied by Douglas R. Brooks, notably in Auspicious
Wisdom: The Texts and Traditions of Śrīvidyā, Śākta Tantrism in South India
(Albany: SUNY Press, 1992).
12. There is Brooks’s study quoted above and also his The Secret of the Three Cities.
An Introduction to Hindu Śākta Tantrism (Chicago: University of Chicago Press,
1990). Though informative, these two books do not cover the vast area of texts
of the Tripurā tradition of the dakṣināmnāya.
13. Edited and translated by Arthur Avalon in the Tantrik Texts, first published in
1922 (reprint Madras: Ganesh & Co., 1953).
14. The Subhagodaya and the Subhagodayavāsanā of Śivānanda or the
Jñānadīpavimarsinī of Vidyānanda, for instance.
15. This was done by Pdt. V. V. Dvivedi in the introduction (in Hindi) of his edi-
tion of the YH. The hypothesis does not lack probability. Abhinavagupta
mentions central India (madhyadesa) as the seat of all the Śaiva treatises
(niḥseṣasāstrasadanam). This remains to be proved.
16. The Pratyabhijñā (the “Recognition”), one of the philosophical systems of
Kashmirian nondualist shaivism, was propounded first by Somānanda (c.
900–950), then by his disciple Utpaladeva, whose work was commented on
and expanded by Abhinavagupta. It is one of the most remarkable Indian philo-
sophical systems. Its main contention is that liberation is gained by the recog-
nition (pratyabhijñā) of the identity of the human self (ātman) and the supreme
Lord, Śiva. The “transpersonal” self thus realized contains the totality of subjec-
tive and objective phenomena in a nondualistic synthesis where all distinctions
disappear in the fullness of the Absolute. A concise and clear presentation of
the Pratyabhijñā was made by Kṣemarāja in the Pratyabhijñāhrdaya. It is trans-
lated into English by Jaideva Singh, Pratyabhijñāhṛdayam, Sanskrit text with
English translation and notes (Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1963).
17. It has not been translated into English. Bhāskararāya wrote a short and use-
ful treatise on the srīvidyā, the Varivasyārahasya. It was edited with an English
translation in the Adyar Library Series, no. 28 (1948). I translated Amṛtānanda’s
Dīpikā together with the YH in Le coeur de la Yoginī: Yoginīhṛdaya avec le com-
mentaire Dīpikā d’Amṛtānanda (Paris: Collège de France, 1994)
18. A typical, though extreme, case of this is Pānini’s Sanskrit grammar, the
Aṣṭādhyāy, which is entirely cryptic. Its first sutra is: vṛddhirādaic . . .
19. On these two forms, see below.
20. Other Śaiva traditions have a goddess as their main deity, such as the Kubjikā
tradition or the Krama, with Kālī. The Śaiva nondualist Kashmirian system of
the Trika has three supreme goddesses: Parā, Parāparā, and Aparā. We may
underscore here the fact that with very few exceptions, the Tantric traditions
whose main deity is a goddess nevertheless hold the male divine form of the
deity, usually Śiva/Bhairava, as metaphysically higher. Tantras, we must not
forget, were composed by male brahmins; their extolling of the goddess or of
Notes 165
feminine powers were (to quote an American anthropologist) “male construc-

tions of femaleness.”
21. The mātṛkās are either seven, the saptamātṛkā, or eight (aṣṭamātṛkā or
matāṣṭaka). The number eight is important in Tantric texts. Eight times eight
is the (theoretical) number of Bhairava Tantras. Sixty-four is also four times
sixteen, which is an important lunar number, the number of fullness. Sixteen
is also the number of the Nityās, the first of which is Tripurasundarī (see YH
3.113); and the name of the VM/NṢĀ, Nityāṣoḍasikārnava, means “The Ocean
of the Sixteen Nityās.”
22. A crore (koṭi) is ten million.
23. On the Śaiva nondualist conceptions of the heart, see Paul Eduardo
Muller-Ortega, The Triadic Heart of Śiva (Albany: SUNY Press, 1989).
24. But a light that is consciousness, a conscious light.
25. We say “manifested” rather than “created,” for in a nondualist system, the deity
does not create outwardly the world; she manifests, causes to appear outwardly
(though in herself), the cosmos, which is in seed in herself. There is no fiat tak-
ing place at the beginning of time; creation as manifestation is being eternally,
perpetually manifested by the godhead who pervades and animates it—other-
wise, it would disappear.
26. Indian philosophical systems, like the classical Western (Greek) philosophies,
are not abstract theoretical constructions but ways of life, traditions to live by.
27. Bhāvanā is a very important practice in the universe of Tantra. The term is
derived from the causative form of the Sanskrit verbal root BHU, to cause to
exist (bhāvyate). It designates a practice consisting of evoking mentally the
image of a deity with the same precision as a concrete image or creating, by
calling it intensely to mind, any image, vision, or thought, thus identifying the
meditating person with the subject or theme being meditated. It differs from
dhyāna in its intensity and identifying power and in the fact that it creates its
object, which is not necessarily the case in dhyāna. Its role is fundamental in
Tantric mental practices, spiritual life, and ritual. As is well known, in Tantrism,
dhyāna designates meditation but also, and more important, the mental visual-
ization of a deity as described in stanzas of ritual manuals called dhyānaslokas.
28. Uccāra is an utterance of a mantra that is both an enunciation and an upward
thrust of the phonic subtle sound, the nāda, of the mantra in the body of the
mantrin. This ascending phonic movement is often associated with the ascent
of kunḍalinī along the suṣumnā; it is more a yogic practice than a verbal enun-
ciation. This is, notably, the case of the japa of the srīvidyā described in the third
chapter (sl. 169–188) of the YH.
29. On the levels of vāc, see chapter 2, sl. 63, and n. 25 ad loc.
30. See the commentary and notes to sl. 1.57.
31. The uddhāra of a mantra is the ritual procedure by which one “extracts”
(ud-DHRĪ) its constituent syllables from the ensemble of the Sanskrit
166 Notes
alphabet, this being displayed, according to particular rules, on a consecrated

surface or placed in a particular order in a diagram called prastāra (“display”)
or gahvara (“cavern” or “hiding place”). This permits revealing the composi-
tion of the mantra only to initiates who know how to “extract” the syllables
thus hidden. The uddhāra can also consist of listing the syllables of a mantra,
giving them conventional, theoretically secret names, or by alluding esoteri-
cally to them.
32. There are, in fact, various other forms, made of three clusters but of varying
length, quoted notably in Purnānanda’s Śrītattvacintāmani.
33. On this important term, see YH 1.67 and its commentary.
34. The basic work on the kāmakalā is Punyānanda’s Kāmakalāvilāsa, which was
edited and translated by Arthur Avalon in 1922 (reprint Madras: Ganesh & Co.,
1953). A careful and interesting study of this diagram is found in chapter 4
of David G. White’s Kiss of the Yoginī: “Tantric Sex” in Its South Asian Contexts
(Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2003).
35. Nirīkṣana, also called dṛṣṭipāta (“the casting of a glance”), as a means to influ-
ence, harm, or else help spiritually, plays an important role in Indian religious
or magic practice. The compassionate glance of the guru helps his disciple.
36. Hindu rites are traditionally divided into three classes. Nitya, “regular,” are
daily and mandatory rites; their performance does not bring any merit, but
not to perform them is a fault. The naimittika, “occasional,” rites are obligatory
but are to be performed on particular prescribed occasions; they bring merit.
Kāmya, “optional,” rites are undertaken to attain desired aims; mantric rites are
kāmya, as are, of course, all “magical” rites.
37. On the practice and spirit of the Tantric Śaiva worship, see Richard H. Davis,
Ritual in an Oscillating Universe: Worshipping Śiva in Medieval India
(Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press), especially the chapter titled
“Becoming a Śiva.” This book is a study of dualist shaivism, for which only
ritual liberates one from the fetters of this world, a conception opposed to that
of nondualist shaivism and therefore of the YH. The rites are, however, gener-
ally the same.
38. It is mentioned by Abhinavagupta in the Tantrāloka and in Tantras of the
Kubjikāmata.
39. There are traditionally eight main siddhis always quoted, beginning with
animā, the power to become as small as an atom (anu). The others are laghimā,
to be light; mahimā, being large; prāpti, to obtain all; prakāmya, being irresist-
ible; īsitva, domination; vasitva, subjugation; and yatakāmavasayitā, to be able
to go to whatever place one wishes. A ninth siddhi, garimā, to become heavy, is
sometimes added.
40. On this center of the yogic body, situated twelve finger-breadths above the head,
see chapter 3.49.
41. See note 17 above.
Notes 167
c h a p t er 1
1. There are innumerable instances both in the past and in the present of the nar-
row relationship between economics and religion in India. The large Hindu
temples are very rich, and some rites are very costly, so much so that temple
priests today are sometimes not fully initiated because they cannot afford the
financial cost of a dīkṣā.
2. The Dī glosses samketa by several words, among which is samaya, which means
not only agreement but also a conventional rule or practice or an observance.
3. A triangle apex downward is the usual symbol of the yoni, the feminine sexual
organ, which is also called janmasthāna, the place of birth.
4. On these notions, see the commentary below on sl. 40.
5. The text has ātmanā, a dual form, meaning two ātmans. But the Dī interprets
this as referring to the “four ātmans,” four aspects of the Absolute Self, a notion
found in some Upaniṣads (see, for instance, the Ātmopaniṣad). These ātmans
are: ātman, the Absolute, the Brahman; antarātman, the inner self who enjoys
the world; parāmātman, the supreme Self, the level of the subtle living creature
(ṣūkṣmajīva); and jñānātman, which is the Brahman as nonseparate from the
living being (jīvābhinna).
6. There is no sanskrit term for religion, a notion that is foreign to traditional
India. For Hindus, the dharma regulates the social and what we would call the
religious aspect of their life.
7. Their names are given in chapter 2, sl. 3–5.
8. Pramā or pramāna means, in fact, measure: the subject “measures” the world,
which is the work of māyā, a word whose root is MĀ, to measure.
9. Citkalā could be more precisely translated as a limiting dynamism, for kalā, in
shaivism, is a limiting form of energy or power to act, a dividing or parceling
energy.
10. The Sanskrit saktyādi could also be understood as “the first (ādi), which is sakti”
(this is how Bhāskarāya understands it). There are, in any case, not ten but nine
letters between YA and KSA; the exact meaning of this passage is therefore
uncertain.
11. The forty-nine phonemes of the Sanskrit alphabet are, in their traditional order

(the varnasamāmnāya ): sixteen “vowels,” from A to the aspirate visarga; then
twenty-five consonants, in five groups (varga) of five, classified according to
their places of articulation, from the throat to the lips (guttural, palatal, cerebral,
dental, labial), ordered in each group according to their phonetic characteristics
(voiced, voiceless, aspirate, nasal); then four “semivowels,” YA, RA, LA, VA;
then three sibilants; and finally, the aspirate HA, to which is added the con-
sonantal group KṢA, so as to have fifty letters. The reader will note that the
Sanskrit alphabet is not in a complete phonetic disorder, as is our own, but
168 Notes
is shown (for more than two thousand years) in a logical and phonologically
grounded order, an order that European linguists discovered only about two
hundred years ago.
12. The name krodhīsa is given to KA because, in the ritual placing (nyāsa) on the
body of the fifty Rudras (called srīkanṭhādinyāsa), which is done together with
the fifty letters of the alphabet, the Rudra Krodhīsa is to be placed with KA.
13. Those are twelve tattvas corresponding to the mind and the senses of human
beings.
14. On the kāmakalā, see note 34 in the introduction, above. We shall come back to
the subject later (chapter 2, sl. 21). For a theoretical and well-informed study of
the subject, see David G. White, “Transformations of the Art of Love: Kāmakalā
Practice in Hindu Tantric and Kaula Traditions,” History of Religions 38
(November 1998): 172–198, or his book, Kiss of the Yoginī: “Tantric Sex” in Its
South Asian Contexts (Chicago:University of Chicago Press, 2003).
15. A mora (mātra) is a prosodic instant. It is defined in traditional Indian phonet-
ics as the length of time required to pronounce a short vowel.
16. To associate a particular visual aspect to the infinitely subtle planes of pho-
nic energy of the kalās may seem surprising. These are, however, traditional
notions. They are shown on the table of the japa of the srīvidyā at the end of
the Adyar edition and English translation of Bhāskararāya’s Varivasyāprakāsa
(Adyar, 1948).
17. The term thus translated (in fact, mistranslated) is vapus, which means shape,
appearance, or body but not an ordinary body—a beautiful one, the body or
apparition of a deity. It evokes, too, the essence of something, notably when
it is contemplated in deep meditation (bḥavanā)or in mystical absorption
(samāvesa).
18. The term used is aṅkusa, which means hook or curb and also oblique. The
meaning here is “oblique,” referring to the left, oblique line of the triangle.
19. There is no satisfactory translation of the term vaikharī, which evokes the
notion of spreading out (∙vi) and is generally understood as evoking the
external, concrete, perceptible dispersion of articulate speech, as opposed to
the subtle concentration, and of the preceding stages of the word. In Indian
thought, the less concrete, the briefest, the inaudible, is always the better or the
best; the manifest, the concrete, the audible, is considered the lowest.
20. The complex and interesting process of apparition or spreading out of the
Word, from parā to vaikharī, both as a cosmic process and as the process of
apparition of speech and consciousness in humans, was described notably in
Abhinavagupta’s Parātrīṣikāvivarana and in the third chapter of his great Tantric
work, the Tantrāloka. There is no easily readable English translation of the first
work and none of the second. The subject was studied and described by A.
Padoux in Vāc: The Concept of the Word in Selected Hindu Tantras (Albany: SUNY
Press, 1990; Delhi, 1992). The theory of the levels of vāc (without parā) was
Notes 169
originally put forward by the philosopher-grammarian Bhartṛhari (5th c. a.d.)

in his treatise “On the Sentence and the Word,” Vākyapadīya, a difficult work,
part of which can be read in an English translation.
21. The term rendered in English by “manifesting” is bhāsanā, from the verbal root
BHĀS, to shine, to be bright, which is used because in such systems as that
of Tripurā, the manifestation of the cosmos (in fact, all manifestation) is con-
ceived as a shining forth, a luminous manifestation, ābhāsa. This is an essen-
tial notion of the Pratyabhijñā philosophy, explained at length by Utpaladeva
and Abhinavagupta.
22. The pīṭhas are seats or places of power sacred to the Goddess. They are usually
said to number fifty-one, being the places of the Indian subcontinent where
pieces from the dismembered body of Satī, Śiva’s consort, fell as he roamed
with it after she died following Dakṣa’s sacrifice. Their numbers, however, vary.
The oldest traditions have only four (or five); of those mentioned here, the prin-
cipal is Oḍḍiyāna, even when, as here, it is not mentioned first. Kāmarūpa’s
tattva is the earth. It is a yellow square. Geographically, it is Kamākhya, in
Assam. Pūrnagiri’s tattva is air. It is gray, shaped as a circle with six bindus
inside. It is difficult to locate in the Indian subcontinent. Jālandhara’s tattva
is water. It is white, shaped as a half-moon. It would be in the present region
of Jullundur, in the Punjab. Oḍḍiyāna’s is fire, red, triangular. It is identified
with the valley of Swat, now in Pakistan. On the colors attributed to the ele-
ments, see T. Goudriaan, Māyā Divine and Human (Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass,
1978), chap. 4. The pīṭhās are here manifestations of the Goddess. They are also
places where esoteric doctrines were revealed—hence the use of the word piṭha
for particular traditions or ritual practices (e.g., Mantrapīṭha and Vidyāpīṭhā
to designate two divisions of the Bhairavatantras). The pīṭhas are also consid-
ered aspects or forms of energy corresponding to planes of the yogic imaginary
body, as is the case here.
23. Some Śaiva texts say: “The pīṭha is Śakti, the liṅga is Śiva.”
24. In many Tantras, notably those of the Trika, the best liṅga is said to be the tūra,
a human skull decorated with incisions.
25. See the commentary above on sl. 40, on the theory of the four levels of the word.
26. Spanda is the primary subtle vibration that animates the eternal dynamism
of the supreme deity and pervades and animates the cosmos. Spanda is one
of the fundamental notions of the Kashmirian nondualist shaivism. It was
expounded in the Spandakārikā deemed to have been composed by Utpaladeva
(10th c.). On this important system, see Mark S. G. Dyczkowski, The Stanzas
on Vibration (Albany: SUNY Press, 1992).
27. The repartition of items into a certain number of parts to which is added another
part made of the totality of these parts is quite frequent in India, especially the
division into 3 + 1: three parts plus the whole. This is what we have here. The
170 Notes
srīvidyā is also sometimes described in this way: its three parts taken separately,
then taken as a whole, which is sometimes called turīyavidyā, the fourth vidyā.
28. The theory of the avasthās (also called sthāna) goes back to the early Upaniṣads,
notably the Maitri, where the fourth is described as acittam cittamadhyastham
acintyam, a thoughtless unthinkable present in thought: it is a condition of
pure consciousness (caitanyamātravṛtti), says the Dī. Jagrat is the waking state;
svapna, which more specifically means dream, is the state of sleep, whereas
suṣupti is deep, dreamless sleep. The state «“above the fourth” (turiyātīta, a
more recent notion) is described in the Dī as a transcendent state (atītarūpam)
of consciousness of the Self. It is the «“unsurpassed” (anuttara), the absolute,
«“light of all lights” (to quote the Mundaka Upaniṣad II.2,10), which, though
transcendent, is present as their self (ātman) in all living creatures.
29. The Pratyabhijñāhṛdaya, by Kṣemarāja (11th c.), a disciple of Abhinavagupta,
is a short philosophical treatise describing the main traits of the Pratyabhijñā
system. It has been translated into English by Jaideva Singh (Delhi, 1963); see
introduction, note 16, above. It is not a difficult text and is well worth read-
ing. The Dī on sl. 50 is rich and interesting. It is unfortunately too long to be
translated here.
30. The term we translate by triangular is sṛṅgāṭa, which is the nut of the water
chestnut, the which is triangular in shape. Śṛṅgāṭa is often used to mean a
triangle or something triangular or threefold.
31. As mentioned in the introduction above, Kāmesvarī (with Kāmesvara) can,
along with Tripurasundarī (with Bhairava), be considered the chief deities of
the dakṣināmnāya. The coincidence of two, male and female, figures under-
lines the twofold though nondual nature of the supreme deity. This character is
sometimes iconographically shown in images of Kāmasvara and Kāmesvarī as
one bisexual ardhanari (half-female) figure—see, for instance, Ajit Mookerjee,
Kunḍalinī (London: Thames & Hudson, 1982), plate X).
32. The energies are four when a supreme one, the Peaceful, sāntā,, or Ambikā, the
Mother, is added to the basic three.
33. The expression we translate as “embodied as the srīcakra” is srīcakravapuṣā,
“having the srīcakra as body”(vapuḥ). This last word means form, figure, beauty,
beautiful appearance, or a form one discovers in meditation, rather than a con-
crete body. It is therefore sometimes translated as essence, cosmic, beautiful
form or presence. The srīcakra is in effect viewed as a cosmic embodiment of
the Goddess, not as a concrete body or form.
34. In the nondualist Śaiva systems—the Trika or Pratyabhijñā, especially—the
supreme godhead is described as being inseparably light (conscious light) and
reflective awareness (vimarsa), prakāsa being masculine, Śiva, and vimarsa
feminine, Śakti. Vimarsa (a term found in the Dī but not in the YH) desig-
nates the consciousness or awareness one has of what is being perceived or
experienced, contributing in this respect to the autonomy and total freedom of
Notes 171
consciousness. This is why the supreme deity is free and active, not unmovable
as in the Vedānta; this is one of the points on which Vedānta and Tantra differ.
35. The Goddess, says the Dī, transforms herself really into the world, as milk
becomes curd. This point is also one of the main differences between the
Tantric views and those of the Vedānta.
36. This sort of interpretation, called nirukta, goes back to Vedic times. It is some-
times falsely called etymology and then criticized as fanciful, but it is not an
etymology. It is an imaginative way to enlarge the semantic field, the aura of
meanings, of a word by associating it with other verbal roots, as shown here.
37. These actions are avahāna, inviting the deity to come; sthāpana, fixing it in the
icon; samnidhāna; and, finally, samnirodhāna, detaining it there.
38. We write Mudrā when referring to the goddesses so-called and mudrā when
referring to the notion or to the hand gesture, it being understood that they are
perceived by the YH and the Dī as being simultaneously both deity and gesture.
39. Kṣobha—which may be translated as effervescence—is, among Trika authors
such as Abhinavagupta, the state of consciousness in which the cosmic man-
ifestation appears, perturbing by its diversity the original quiescence of the
Absolute. This role of kṣobha is also found in other traditions, such as the
Viṣnupurāna, I.2.29–31.
40. Such doors here are symbolical, since one does not enter a srīcakra. But when
a cakra or yantra drawn on the ground is large, as is the case in various rituals,
the officiant can actually enter or leave it using these doors.
41. In the third chapter (sl. 127), these kalās or “vowels” are called vāyu, or winds,
that is, vital forces, prānas.
42. See chapter 3, sl. 126–128.
43. On kṣobha, see note 39, above.
44. The number of cakras varies according to traditions. In the Tripurā tradition,
they number nine, corresponding to the nine divisions of the srīcakra. There
are also secondary centers (adhāra, sūnya, vyoman, bindu, etc.), the number and
places of which in the imaginal yogic body vary also according to traditions.
45. On the āyudhas of deities, see chapter 3, commentary on sl. 159, and n. 15.
46. Khe is the locative form of kha: “in kha.”
47. Bhūtraya: not because there are three earths but because the outer part of the
cakra, called bhūgṛha, “house of the earth,” is encircled by three lines.
c h a p t er 2
1. This, we may note, is a case in which mantra and deity are indistinguishable.
2. A vyāpakanyāsa, a diffusive or spreading placing of a mantra on the body, is
normally made with the two hands over the whole body or on a whole part of
it, the power thus placed being deemed to pervade the whole region thus sub-
mitted to the power of the mantra. In the present case, the mūlavidyā would
172 Notes
pervade the whole body of the adept with the power of the Goddess. Although
it is mantric, this practice is therefore entirely mental. For the performer, how-
ever, it is a total—both mental and bodily—experience.
3. These nine centers of the yogic body with their presiding deities are enumer-
ated in sl. 25–27a of chapter 1; see above.
4. On the term uddhāra, “extraction” of the letters of a mantra, see above, note 11.
5. Samghaṭṭa means coming together and also rubbing, interacting. It there-
fore has a sexual connotation, hence its use to denote the union of Śiva
and Śakti.
6. “Indra, thanks to his magical powers [māyābhiḥ], takes on diverse forms”
(Ṛgveda, VI.47.18). See also the Bṛhadāranyaka Upaniṣad II.5.19.
7. On the planes of the Word (vāc), from parā to vaikharī, see our commentary
above on chapter 1, sl. 36–40.
8. Amṛtānanda says, in fact, “the fourth mantra,” the totality of the srividyā being
taken as a fourth element made up of the three kūṭas: 3 + 1 = 4.
9. Visarga means emission. In the phonematic emanation system of the nondual-
ist Śaiva traditions, visarga, as the last “vowel,” preceding the consonants in the
traditional order of the Sanskrit alphabet, is deemed to “emit” them.
10. Sun, Moon, and Fire (Sūrya, Soma, and Agni) are the three astral luminaries
(dhāman, dhamatraya) of the Śaiva traditions. They are usually conceived as
three concentric discs visualized on top of one another. Their symbolic mean-
ings or correspondences are often mentioned. They are homologized with vari-
ous powers: the three gunas, yogic nāḍīs, etc. Dhāman, a locus of light or glory,
is the place where a deity or power is present, manifesting itself luminously.
The indologist Jan Gonda defined it as “a holder or container of numinous
potency.”
11. On the theory and symbolic meaning of the kāmakalā, the reader is referred to
Punyānandanātha’s Kāmakalāvilāsa, edited, translated, and with commentary
by Arthur Avalon, a study first published in 1922. This diagram was especially
studied by David G. White in Kiss of the Yoginī: “Tantric Sex” in Its South Asian
Contexts (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2003).
12. Bhāva has, in fact, many meanings: it may mean natural, simple, but also con-
jectural or meditative, etc. Since it is to be attained by meditating intensely
(bhāvayan), “a meaning attained by meditation” could perhaps be a likely ren-
dering of the term.
13. See Arthur Avalon’s edition and English translation of this work, published in
the Tantrik Texts series (Madras: Ganesh & Co., 1953 ).
14. The YH takes over the notion, expounded notably by Abhinavagupta, that there is a
thirty-seventh tattva, called parasiva, which is “emptier than empty” (sunyātisūnya)
and represents Śiva as identical with and inseparable from the universe. Still
higher, there is, for Abhinavagupta, a thirty-eighth tattva, which is unlimited and
is taught mainly for meditation (see Tantrāloka beginning at 11.22).
Notes 173
15. On the intense identifying form of meditation called bhāvanā, see note 27 of the
Introduction, above.
16. The cosmology of the YH is, as in all Tantric texts, that of the Sāmkhya, for which
the constituting elements of the cosmos are the twenty-five tattvas, “realities,”
going from puruṣa, the Lord, to the earth (pṛthivī), to which are added, above
puruṣa, from five to eleven other tattvas corresponding to higher planes of the
godhead. The subtle elements (tanmātra) are, in descending order, sound, contact,
form, taste, and smell; the gross ones (bhūta) are ether, air, fire, water, and earth.
17. Pralayākalā is to be understood as “without kalā, etc., thanks to the prayala”; they
are subjects, that is, who will survive the next pralaya (the end of the cosmos)
because they have not burned away all their karma. The vijnānakalas are “with-
out kalā [and other fetters] thanks to their discriminative knowledge.” The sakalā,
“associated with [the tattva] kalā,” which is the lowest of the kañcukas (the cuirasses
which imprison the soul), are submitted to all possible fetters and limitation. The
YH and its commentary mention here three pramātṛ only, although there is, in all
Śaiva systems, a hierarchy of seven pramātṛ (the term is variously translated as sub-
ject, conscious or experiencing subject, or experiencer, no translation being very
satisfactory) going from Śiva, the highest, to the sakala, The three quoted here are
the three lowest ones. The other, higher ones are, after Śiva, the Mantramahesvaras,
Great Lords of the Mantras, the Mantresvaras, Lords of Mantras, and the Mantras.
18. Nigarbha: Bhāskararāya, in his commentary (Setubandha, p. 155), explains this
rather unusual term, saying that nigarbha is as if entirely in a womb (nitaram
garbhe), thus completely secret (rahasyottama). Jayaratha, in another text, says
that it is an inner (āntaratayā) experience of the pure Self (even if it is differen-
tiated into master, disciple, etc.).
19. The moon has fifteen “sections” (kalā) or digits (tithi) for its half-month but six-
teen if one counts the āmāvasya, the night of the new moon; see note 26 below.
20. The term ganeṣatva is to be taken as “the state of mistress [īsatva] of the troup
[gana]” of deities, not as “having the nature of Ganesas.” These deities are to
be placed by nyāsa on the body of the officiant of the pūjā which we will see in
chapter 3, sl.14–21.
21. See note 9, above.
22. The nine grahas are: Sun, Moon, Venus, Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn, to
which are added Rāhu and Ketu, heavenly bodies that are favorable or danger-
ous. The Grahas, “Seizers,” are also a category of demons that “seize” human
beings, especially women and children. Their worship, the grahapūjā, aims at
pacifying them, stopping their dangerous action.
23. The nakṣatras are the lunar mansions, the constellations through which the
moon passes. They are both divisions of the ecliptic and goddesses. Like the
Grahas, they have influences, either bad or good, on humans.
24. These are the sixteen vowels; the five groups of consonants; the four semivow-
els YA, RA, LA, and VA; the sibilants ŚA, ṢA, SA); and ḤA.
174 Notes
25. The theory of the levels of the Word was first propounded by the
grammarian-philosopher Bhartṛhari (5th c.), for whom there were only three
levels. Later on, Tantric authors, notably Abhinavagupta, added a fourth (or,
rather, a first) transcendent, supreme, parā level, considered the basis of the
three others, those through which the word first appears in consciousness,
then becomes subtly formulated, then is fully manifested as speech, these
three stages being also the stages of the manifestation of the cosmos. On the
subject, see A. Padoux, Vāc: The Concept of the Word in Selected Hindu Tantras
(Albany: SUNY Press, 1990; Delhi, 1992), pp. 166–222.
26. The lunar month has thirty days, called tithi. It is also considered to be divided
(for the half-month) into sixteen kalās, the fifteen days, plus the so-called
amākalā, which is the amāvasya, the night of the new moon during which
sun and moon are supposed to be together; this kalā is deemed invisible and
immortal. The division of the supreme reality into sixteen goes back to ancient,
even to Vedic, times; see the Bṛhadāranyaka Upaniṣad, I.5, 14–15, on the divi-
sion of Prajāpâti into sixteen parts.
27. As we have seen in the first chapter (1.25), there are in this system two lotuses
with a thousand petals, one at the base, the other at the summit of the course
of the kunḍalinī.
28. Chāndogya Upaniṣad 6.8, 7.
29. The term pratīti is often used in the Dī in the sense of an intuitive nondiscursive
comprehension of the reality. It is defined notably as pramātṛvisrānti, that is,
repose, meditative contemplation, spiritual absorption in the supremely con-
scious. The Goddess is here defined as such insofar as she must be understood
by the adept in this way, in her cosmic glory, through a mystical experience.
30. On the kalās of HRĪṂ, see chapter 1, the commentary on stanzas 25–35, above.
31. Mahāprayojanam, that is to say, a very high use, a very prominent goal: the
realization of the highest meaning, liberation, the union with Śiva. See also the
commentary on stanza 5, Chapter 1, above.
32. On the Ḍākinīs and the bodily elements, see the commentary on stanzas 60
and 61, above.
c h a p t er 3
1. We have already seen nyāsas in chapters 1 and 2. It consists of the ritual placing
(or imposition) of mantras on the body or on some support. It is done by uttering
(and/or evoking mentally) a mantra while placing it where needed with a partic-
ular hand gesture, a mudrā. The effect of the placing is sometimes conceived of
as extending pervasively on a whole part of the body; this is called a vyāpakanyāsa
(usually done with both hands; see chapter 2, note 2). Such is the case here for
the lines of the square that form the outer limit of the srīcakra. For a thorough
overview of the subject of nyāsa as expounded in Sanskrit texts, see A. Padoux,
Tantric Mantras (London and New York: Routledge, 2011), pp. 54–80.
Notes 175
2. The division of a category of subjects or objects into three groups—highest, mid-

dling, inferior (uttama, madhyama, adama) or supreme, supreme-nonsupreme,
nonsupreme (para, parāpara, apara)—is usual in Indian philosophy and
metaphysics.
3. The term sādhaka is seldom used in the YH, but only an adept who has received
the sādhaka (or nirvāna) dīkṣā (initiation) has the formal capacity (adhikāra) to
perform the ritual. The adept, here as in the preceding chapters, is therefore a
sādhaka.
4. The planets (called graha) include, in addition to fourteen heavenly bodies,
Sun, Moon, etc., Rahu and Ketu, which are two lunar nodes. Grahas, as their
name shows (it means “seizer”), are powers that can magically “seize,” that
is, influence, human beings. Different sorts of demons or evil supernatural
beings are also called graha.
5. The twenty-seven nakṣatras were already mentioned in chapter 2, sl. 58b–60a.
6. When considered as numbering seven, this group of Yoginīs includes Yākinī.
7. The episode is described in several Purānas.
8. The pīṭhanyāsa would thus be performed uttering a mantra such as “AIṂ
HRĪṂ ŚRĪṂ AṂ Kāmarūpāya namaḥ” on the head, for the first pīṭha and the
phoneme A.
9. The siddhis, supernatural powers, are also minor goddesses, Yoginīs. We
therefore sometimes refer to them as Siddhis. Their number is not the
same in all texts. Their list, however, usually begins with animā, the power
to be as small as an atom (anu). The usual number of siddhis is eight. They
are animā, laghimā (to become light), garimā (to become heavy), mahimā
(greatness), prāpti (to obtain what one wishes), prakāmya (to be irresistible),
īsitva or īsitā (domination), and vasitva (to subjugate). To this canonical list
is sometimes added sānti (pacification) or even other ones, The Dī lists ten
siddhis. See sl. 115.
10. This translates vyāpakatvena as “pervasively.”
11. The term vyoman designates the inner “space” of the mystical heart (also called
kha, a term that refers to the central void of the axle of a wheel and, by exten-
sion, the void of the heart). It is therefore also the highest level of conscious-
ness. There are sometimes several vyomans that are centers of the yogic body.
See above, chapter 1, the commentary on sl. 62.
12. The Dī gives the names of these fourteen energies and the names of the series
of twice ten (Sarvasiddhipradā, Sarvajñā, . . . ) ones. We will meet them again
later, starting at sl. 115.
13. The term used to mean southeast is agni, fire, because Agni, the god of the
sacrificial fire, presides over this direction of space.
14. On the yogic imaginal body, see the introduction, above.
15. The so-called weapons (āyudha) are the objects that the deities hold in their
hands. They are not always arms but different tools or symbols. Tripurasundarī
(or Kāmesvara/Kāmesvarī) holds the elephant goad (āṅkusa), the noose (pāsa),
176 Notes
a bow (dhanus), and arrows (bāna). Āyudhas are also deities and are then shown
in human form, each carrying one of the weapons. They are then part of the
deity’s retinue (āvaranadevatā).
16. These deities are often shown in “half-woman” (ardhanarī) form, both male
and female, the male aspect forming the right half of the image, the female the
left half.
17. Her mantra, the srīvidyā, is similarly the mūlamantra of this tradition.
18. The āvaranadevatā, “surrounding deities,” are those forming the retinue of a
main deity. They are usually disposed around her or him in concentric cir-
cles—a “mandalic” pattern, as one often says.
19. The number and the names of the Mātṛkās vary according to traditions and
texts, the first being often Brahmī/Brahmanī. They are enumerated and
described in sl.116–123 for their worship.
20. The Dī explains: “that is to say, on the forehead.”
21. On the absolute as inseparably Light and Act of Consciousness,
(prakāsavimarsamaya), see the Introduction.
22. A bali is a ritual offering to a deity, notably, in a Śaiva context, to Yoginī, or to
Baṭuka, and Kṣetrapāla, both often seen as forms of Bhairava. It may consist of
food, various beverages, or ingredients. It sometimes includes an animal sacrifice.
23. The term “ray” (marīci), or “ray of consciousness” (cinmarīci), is used for the
Yoginīs and also for the sense organs, which underlines the luminous and con-
scious character of these deities with which the sense organs are sometimes
identified.
24. AU is the central part of SAUḤ, the bījamantra of Parā, the supreme goddess
of the Trika.
25. The secret place (guhya) is “the place between the anus and the male organ”
(the perineum), says the Dī. By face (mukha), one is to understand the forehead.
26. The six aṅgas are, in fact, not the limbs (which is the usual meaning of aṅga) of
a deity but attributes, perfections, or powers of a deity. They number six: hṛdaya
(heart), siras (head), sikhā (tuft), kavaca or varman (cuirass), astra (weapon), and
netra (eye). They play a role in ritual, being imposed (nyāsa) by their mantras.
27. Arghya usually consists of water specially prepared, mixed with various sub-
stances, and accompanied by a mantra. One traditionally distinguishes between
ordinary or common arghya (sāmānārghya) and special arghya (viseṣārghya).
The latter is used for particular deities or specific rites. In Tantric rites, arghya
may include blood, different bodily fluids or excretions, or other “transgres-
sive” elements. Arghya is one of the ritual “services” (upacāra) presented to a
deity during worship. Here the arghya prescribed is the common one.
28. We have not found any information on these deities.
29. The composite phoneme KṢA is, as we have seen, often added to the forty-nine
letters (ending with the aspirate HA) in order to have fifty letters. The so-called
Vedic Ḷ is sometimes also added in order to have fifty-one letters.
Notes 177
30. The sequences of Sanskrit letters given here are not arbitrary; they follow the
traditional grammatical order (the varnasamāmnāya) of the Sanskrit alphabet.
31. The term madya may refer to different alcoholic beverages, but when several dif-
ferent terms are used, madya tends to designate wine (made with grape juice).
32. Vauṣaṭ is one of the exclamations, the jātis, added at the end of a mantra to adapt
it to different uses. Jātis are of Vedic origin. They are six in number: namaḥ,
svāhā, vauṣaṭ, hūm, vaṣaṭ, and phaṭ.
33. See YH 1.34.
34. In the Pratyabhijnā system, the ahantā is the I-ness, the conscious perceiving
subject, the state of being “I,” as opposed to all that constitutes the objectivity,
the objective world, the “this-ness” (idantā).
35. This rather obscure list of elements includes all the “realities” (tattva), or
principles, constituting the cosmic manifestation. Each of them is consid-
ered here as corresponding to a section of the srīcakra: the fourfold inner
organ corresponds to the central triangle; avyakta, ahamkāra, and the five
tanmātra to the eight-triangle cakra; and so forth, down to the sixteen “evo-
lutes” (buddhi, ahamkāra, the senses, and the elements) corresponding to the
sixteen-petaled lotus.
36. We write “sacrifice” because the Sanskrit verb used here (for metrical reasons)
is yajet. It refers, however, to the usual Tantric pūjā.
37. Many different terms are used for ritual alcoholic beverages, the most usual
being hetu and kārana, which both mean “cause.”
38. There are sixteen when one adds to the fifteen lunar days the amāvasya, the
night when sun and moon are deemed to coincide and which is invisible.
These days are also called kalas, “portions.” As for the srīvidyā, it numbers
sixteen syllables when the vidyā as a whole is added to its fifteen constitutive
letters. Sixteen is a lunar number. It is also the number of divisions of Prajāpati
or of the Puruṣa, since the Veda.
39. A general rule in Tantric worship is that the aspect of the deity to be wor-
shipped (usually to be visualized) is to be adapted to the aim of the ritual: a
fearful form, for a “cruel” (krura) rite, a peaceful one for an appeasing one, and
so forth, the shape, clothes, ornaments, color, etc., of the deity being different
in each case.
40. The term matuluṅga is variously translated as “wild lemon” or (in the
Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English dictionary) as “horn-apple.”
41. In the traditional Sanskrit grammar, the “vowels” (svara) are considered male
and active, as seeds (bīja), whereas the consonants (vyañjana) are deemed to be
feminine and inactive by themselves; they are yonis (wombs). In the traditional
Indian view, the role of the womb is passive, as a mere receptacle of the male
seed. (We put “vowels” in quotes because the sixteen svaras include two diph-
thongs and two accessory signs—bindu and anusvara—which are not gram-
matically vowels.)
178 Notes
42. See our commentary on chapter 1, sl. 42, above.

43. A lunar month is made up of thirty lunar days; half of it (waxing or decreasing)
lasts fifteen lunar days, to which is traditionally added the āmavasya, the day of
the new moon, which makes sixteen.
44. Bhūtalipi is often translated as “demon-writing” (in the Monier-Williams
Sanskrit-English dictionary, for instance). But this is a misnomer, its differ-
ent groups of phonemes being associated with the gross elements (bhūta) of
the cosmos, an association mentioned in the Dī. The bhūtalipi is made up
of forty-two letters only, from A to SA, ventilated into nine groups (varga) of
vowels, diphthongs, and semivowels, then of consonants ending with the sibi-
lants, the last of which is SA. In spite of its being called a writing, lipi, its uses
seem more oral and metaphysical than concrete; here we are on the plane of
madhyamā, a subtle, nonmanifested level of the Word (vāc).
45. The names of the different categories of Yoginīs of the Tripurā tradition are
given above in the explanation of sl. 90 of this chapter.
46. On bhāvanā, see chapter 2, note 12 above.
47. This conception of kula will be seen again with stanza 168.
48. See chapter 1, sl. 41–43, and chapter 1, note 22.
49. On the five conditions or states (avasthā) of the mind, from waking (jāgrat) to
turyātīta, see chapter 1, sl. 49, above.
50. The Nityās as quoted in the YH number sixteen (see sl. 112b–113a). They
include Nityā, Kāmesvarī, and Bhagamālinī, mentioned here first, followed by
the thirteen others.
51. RA is traditionally the bīja of fire (agnibīja), LA is that of water, etc
52. On the notions of pramātṛ, prameya, and pramāna, see chapter 1, sl. 13, above.
53. Māyā often designates HRĪṂ. The Ī here is the Ī of the saktikūṭa.
54. Other Tantric Śaiva texts give different definitions of turya.
55. Smarana (or smṛti) has an important role in nondualist shaivism, for, in join-
ing the past to the present, it abolishes time. (An analogous role is given to
memory by Marcel Proust in Time Regained.)
56. In Śaiva philosophy, remembrance or memory (smṛti, snarana) is an important
state of consciousness, since in remembrance, consciousness, turning back
upon itself and desisting from the perception of new objects, recalls those pre-
viously perceived and rests within itself in a subtle state. Also, connecting time
past with time present, memory transcends time and thus opens the way to the
Absolute.
57. We have translated mantrātmā in this way, but ātmā does not, in fact, add any-
thing to nada. Rūpa at the end of a word often does not convey any special
meaning.
58. This refers to the curved shape of the letter Ī in devanāgari script.
59. In the commentary to YH 1.29–30.
Notes 179
60. The so-called pañcamakāra is a modern notion. Older texts mention as Tantric
offerings only wine, meat, and sex (madya, māmsa, mithuna), a triad, inciden-
tally, already mentioned in Manu’s Laws as involving no fault (na doṣaḥ).
61. Naimittika rites are obligatory; they must be performed, but not every day, only
on particular occasions or at particular times of the year, such as the parvans,
or in special cases, such as initiation (dīkṣā), rites of installation (pratiṣṭha) etc.,
and, of course, on the occasions mentioned here.
62. The traditional triad of knower, known, and knowledge, which is taken to refer
to the totality of the world.
63. In Tantric texts, the category of mumukṣu includes women and children.
Glossary
Sanskrit terms whose meanings are customarily well known (Brahman, liṅga, māyā,
mudrā, śakti, for instance) are not included here. All terms are listed in the index.
adhvan: path, way, both of cosmic manifestation and to be followed to reach

liberation.
ājñā cakra: the cakra between the eyebrows where the adept receives the command
(ājñā) of his guru.
akula: a name of the Absolute in the Kaula systems.
āmnāya: transmission, of which there are four in the Kula tradition.
amṛta: nectar of immortality, ambrosia.
anāhata: “unstruck”; the most subtle, totally inaudible aspect of nāda, deemed to
underlie all audible sounds.
ānanda: bliss; not to be confused with pleasure (sukhā).
ardhacandra: crescent moon; one of the divisions (kalā) of the utterance
(uccāra) of OM ..
arghya: untranslatable; the liquid offering to the deity done during worship and of
which the worshipper is to partake; consists usually of water (or other fluid),
mixed with various substances; the two sort of arghya are ordinary (sāmānya)
and special (viśeṣa).
artha: meaning; also object.
āsana: throne of a deity.
ātman: the human self or the Absolute divine Self (there is also a system of four
ātmans, four aspects of the absolute Self).
avasthā: the five states or conditions of the spirit—waking, sleep, deep dreamless
sleep, the fourth, and above the fourth.
āveśa: possession or absorption.
182 Glossary
āyudha: “weapon”; the name for the different instruments or objects a deity holds
in his or her hands.
bali: offering to a deity or to ancestors.
bhāvanā: intense creative and identifying meditation.
bhukti: mundane or supramundane joys or rewards.
bhūta: gross elements, the five lowest tattvas.
bīja bījamantra: seed, seed mantra; always monosyllabic.
bindu: dot, drop.
brahmarandhra: the opening of Brahmā, the thousand-petaled lotus on the top of
the head.
cakreśvarī: the mistress (the presiding deity) of a cakra.
cit: consciousness.
citta: mind.
dakṣina: right, the right side of a figure; a category of Tantras as opposed to
Tantras “of the left,” vāma, those of the right being seen as more staid than
those of the left.
darśana: view, viewpoint; the main philosophical systems of Hinduism notably
described and classified from the point of view of Śaṅkara’s Vedānta in
Mādhava’s Sarvadarśanasam . graha.
dhāman: “splendor”; luminary, place of light, of which there are three cosmic
ones: Sun (sūrya), Moon (candra), and Fire (agni), often mentioned in ritual;
also forms of power present in the yogic body.
dhātu: constituent element of the body, traditionally seven in number—lymph,
blood, flesh, bone, fat, marrow, and semen.
dhvani: general term for sounds of all kinds; sometimes a subtle form of sound.
dhyāna: meditation, visualization.
dhyānaśloka: stanza of visualization of a deity or mantra.
dīkṣā: initiation in a particular Tantric tradition; not to be confused with the
upanayana, the initiation of boys of the three higher varṇas (Brahmin, Kṣatrya,
Vaiśya).
dvādaśānta: the cakra twelve finger’s breadths above the head, the highest point
reached by the ascending kuṇḍalinī.
granthi: “knot”; a name for the cakras of the yogic body.
guṇa: quality, property, notably the three qualities that pervade all the tattvas—
sattva, rajas, and tamas.
hṛd hṛdaya: the heart, especially as a mystical center; name of a cakra.
icchā (icchāśakti): will, the power of will, of the deity; the highest of Śiva’s three
basic powers.
jāgrat: waking, one of the five avasthas.
japa: ritual recitation of a mantra.
jīvanmukta: liberated in this life; jīvanmukti is the state of liberation in this life.
jñāna: knowledge, gnosis.
Glossary 183
jñānaśakti: the power of knowledge, the second of the three powers through
which Śiva manifests the cosmos.
kalā: limited power to act; usually the first evolute of māyā; kalās are phonic
subdivisions of mantras, notably of the subtle uccāra of bījamantras ending
with M.. .
kāmakalā: a ritual diagram symbolizing the sexual union of Śiva and Śakti.
kapāla: skull (worn by a yogi); kāpālika is a skull-bearing ascetic.
karaśuddhi: purification of the hands (before a ritual action).
kaula, kaulika: “of the Kaula” ensemble of traditions.
kha: inner void (like the central void for the axis of a wheel).
khecara: moving in space or the void; khecarī is she who moves in space or the
void; a class of Yoginīs; also a very high spiritual state where one moves freely
in the space of pure (divine) Consciousness.
kriyāśakti: energy or power of action, the third (after icchā and jñāna) power of
Śiva when manifesting the cosmos.
kṣobha, kṣobhana: agitation, effervescence, perturbation; a creative divine (or
human) state of agitation, appearing also in creative imagination, sensual
pleasure, or aesthetic enjoyment.
kula: family or clan; a name first used for the clans of Yoginīs; also the name
of the main nondualist Śaiva ensemble of traditions, divided into four
“transmissions” (āmnāya); in these traditions, also used for the highest—but
not transcendent—divine plane; also used for the human body seen as a
microcosm.
kulācāra, kaulācāra: the correct behavior according to the Kaula.
kuṇḍalinī: “she who is coiled”; the divine śakti as present in the yogic body and
active in the cosmos.
līlā: the divine cosmic “play.”
mātṛ mātṛkā: mother; name used for the eight Mothers, Brāhmī, etc.; also used for
the phonemes of the alphabet, seen as aspects of vāc when they are placed on
the body by nyāsa, for instance.
mūlādhāra (cakra): “the root support”; the bodily cakra on the level of the perineum
where the kuṇḍalinī lies coiled
mūlamantra: root mantra, the main mantra of a male deity or power.
mūlavidyā: root mantra of a female deity or power.
nāda: subtle phonic vibration.
nāḍi: channel of the yogic body of which there are seventy-two thousand in the
human body.
nirīkṣaṇa: rite of gazing, this gaze being considered as powerful; the gaze of the
guru saves, for it is charged with the grace of God (anugraha).
pīt.ha: seats or places of power of the Goddess; there are four main pīt.has
considered as the sources of the Śrīvidyā doctrine—Kāmarūpa, Pūrṇagiri,
Jālandhara, Oḍḍiyāna.
184 Glossary
prakāṣa: light; in nondualistic shaivism, the supreme godhead is prakāśa, pure

light that is absolute Consciousness by which it manifests the world; it is also
vimarśa, the free consciousness of that state of freedom.
pramātṛ: “experiencer”; the subject that perceives the object (prameya) and judges
according to criteria (pramāṇa).
prāṇa: breath, vital energy; a generic term for all the breaths, respiratory or vital;
different prāṇas have different functions.
pūrṇa pūrṇatā: fullness, plenitude of being.
puryaṣt.aka: “the eight in the body”; the subtle transmigrating body.
śabda: sound, one of the five subtle elements (tattvas).
sādhaka: initiated adept, looking for or possessing siddhis.
samāveśa: complete absorption in the divine.
siddhi: supernatural or magic power.
spanda: “vibration”; the subtle vibration of the divinity that pervades and animates
the cosmos.
sṛṣt.i sthit.i sam
. hāra: the cyclical cosmic ensemble of emanation (sṛṣt.i), continuation
or preservation (sthiti), and destruction or resorption (sam
. hāra) of the cosmos
going on eternally from age (yuga) to age.
śūṇya: void.
suṣumnā: the main channel (nāḍī) of the yogic body; a vertical axis going from the
lowest cakra to the brahmarandhra or dvādaśānta.
suṣupti: dreamless sleep.
svapna: sleep (including dreaming).
turya: the fourth state or condition of the spirit.
turyātīta: the state above the fourth.
uccāra: utterance of a mantra; upward movement of prāṇa.
uddhāra: the rite of “extraction” of a mantra, giving its phonetic composition.
ullāsa: splendor, shining forth, especially that of the godhead in its cosmic action
bringing forth the universe as a shining forth of light.
unmanā: the transmental.
vāmā: left, oblique; see dakṣiṇa.
vīra: hero, a fully initiated adept, able to meet and unite sexually with Yoginīs.
visarga: emission; the name of the letter of the Sanskrit alphabet transcribed as H ..
vimarśa: the consciousness aspect of the supreme godhead who is both prakāśa
(pure light) and vimarṣa.
yoni: the female sexual organ, graphically shown as a triangle point downward.
Bibliography
With only a few exceptions, this bibliography is limited to works in English and
excludes works meant for a limited scholarly readership.
TEXTS
Abhinavagupta. There are Italian translations but no English translations of

Abhinavagupta’s great treatise, the Tantrāloka, or of his very interesting work, the
Parāttrisikāvivarana, on which, however, see Bettina Baümer’s study listed below.
Kāmakalāvilāsa by Punyānanda with the Commentary of Natanānandanātha, trans-
lated with commentary by Arthur Avalon in Tantrik Texts. Madras: Ganesh &
Co., 1958.
Kṣemarāja. Pratyabhijñāhrdayam, Samskṛta text, English translation and notes by
Jaideva Singh. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1963.
Lakshmī Tantra: A Pāñcarātra Text, translation and notes by Sanjukta Gupta.
Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1972.
Muktananda (Swami). Play of Consciousness (Chitshaktivilas). South Fallsburg
N.Y.: SYDA Foundation, 1978.
The Serpent Power, Being the Shat-chakra-nirūpana and Pādukapañchaka, trans-
lated from the Sanskrit, with introduction and commentary by Arthur Avalon.
Madras: Ganesh & Co., 1953.
The Stanzas on Vibration: The Spandakārikā with Four Commentaries, translated
with an introduction and exposition by Mark. S. G. Dyczkowski. Albany: State
University of New York Press, 1992.
Tantrarājatantra: A Short Analysis, by Sir John Woodroffe. Madras: Ganesh &
Co., 1954.
186 Bibliography
Utpaladeva. Sivastrotrāvalī of Utpaladeva: A Mystical Hymn of Kashmir, exposition

by Swami Lakshman Joo, transcribed and edited by Ashok Kaul New Delhi:
D. K. Printworld, 2008.
Vijñānabhairava, or Divine Consciousnesss: A Treasury of 112 Types of Yoga, translation
by Jaideva Singh. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1979.
STUDIES
These are in addition to the studies referred to in the notes.

Baümer, Bettina. Abhinavagupta’s Hermeneutics of the Absolute, Anuttaraprakriyā: An
Interpretation of His Parātrīsikā Vivarana. New Delhi: D. K. Printworld, 2011.
Brooks, Douglas. The Secret of the Three Cities: An Introduction to Hindu Śākta
Tantrism Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1990.
Dyczkowski, Mark S. G. A Journey in the World of the Tantras. Varanasi: Indica
Books, 2004.
Flood, Gavin. Body and Cosmology in Kashmir Śaivism. San Francisco: Mellon
Research University Press, 1993.
———. The Tantric Body: The Secret Tradition of Hindu Religion. London:
I. B. Tauris, 2005.
Fürlinger, Ernst. The Touch of Śakti: A Study in Non-Dualistic Trika Śaivism of Kashmir.
New Delhi: D. K. Printworld, 2009.
Harper, Katherine Anne, and Robert L. Brown, eds. The Roots of Tantra. Albany: State
University of New York Press, 2002.
Hawley, John Stratton, and Donna Marie Wullf, eds. Devī, Goddess of India.
Berkeley: University of California Press, 1996.
Kinsley, David. Tantric Visions of the Divine Feminine: The Ten Mahāvidyās.
Berkeley: University of California Press, 1997.
Muller-Ortega, Paul Eduardo. The Triadic Heart of Śiva. Albany: SUNY Press, 1989.
Silburn, Lilian. Kunḍalinī: The Energy of the Depths. Albany: State University of
New York Press, 1988.
White, David Gordon. Kiss of the Yoginī: “Tantric Sex” in Its South Asian Contexts
Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2003.
Index
Abhinavagupta, 2–4, 7, 12–13, 88 āyudha, 44, 51, 110–111, 141

adhvan, 33
ahaṃkāra, 32, 82, 124, 150 baindavāsana, 27, 31
ājñā (cakra), 35–37, 40, 101, 135, 147 bali, 18, 116, 159
akula, 34, 60, 87, 126, 133 bāṇa, 17
akulapadma, 36, 61, 96 bāṇaliṅga, 41–42
āmnāya, 2, 4–6 Bhāskarāya, 8–9, 23, 46, 63, 66
anāhata, 36–37, 135, 147 bhāvanā, 14, 17, 36–37, 44, 69
ānanda, 13 bhāvārtha, 15, 63–69, 77
āṇavamalā, 76 bhrūmadhya, 36, 148, 151
aṅkuśa, 17, 51 bhūgṛha, 20, 32, 47, 54, 127
antaḥkaraṇa, 150 bhukti, 2, 161
antaryāga, 18 bhūta, 31, 71, 82
anugraha, 85 bhūtalipi, 133
anusvāra, 29 bhuvana, 33
aparapūjā, 17 bīja, bījamantra, 15, 36, 42, 63
ardhacandra, 14, 35, 148, 151 associated with elements, 74–76,
ardhanārī, 163, 170, 176 80–81
arghya, 18, 91, 118–119, 122 imposition of the, 115
artha, 15 in the japa of the śrīvidyā, 148, 150
āsana, 18, 119 lunar, 75
aṣṭamātaraḥ, 11 bindu, 110
aṣṭamātrkā, 11 in the śrīcakra, 27–30, 34–37, 44, 57
˚
ātmapūjā, 18 in mantrasaṃketa, 62, 66–67, 77, 81
āvaraṇadevatā, 18, 44, 111, 158 in the japa of the śrīvidyā, 154
avasthā, 21, 43, 148–150 brahmarandhra, 36–37, 40, 51, 68, 77,
āveśa, 4 87
avyakta, 77 in the pūjā, 122, 133, 153
188 Index
Brahmanī, Brahmī etc., 111, 113, 127–128 īśvara tattva, 77

buddhi, 32, 82, 131, 151 itaraliṅga, 41–42
caitanya, 53, 154 jaḍa, 77

cakra, 9, 24–57 jāgrat, 21, 43
cakrasaṃketa, 13–14, 24–57 japa, 21–22, 145–155
cakreśvarī, 30, 60 jīva, 77
caturasrāṇi, 80 jīvanmukta/ī, 2, 20, 140
cit, citta, 32, 34, 88 jñāna (śakti), 34, 39, 44
darṣana, 7 kādi(vidyā), kādimata, 9, 15

dakṣināmnāya, 5–6, 9–10 kalā, 21, 33–37, 46–49, 67, 86–87
deśādhvan, 33 in the japa of the śrīvidyā,
dhāman, 82, 115, 140 148–151, 154
dhanus, 17 in the pūjā, 115, 120–121, 126
dharma, adharma, 30, 52, 69 kālādhvan, 33
dhātu, 83, 102, 124, 141 kāmāgni, 18
dhvani, 84 kāmakalā, 15, 34, 66–68, 143
dhyāna, 124, 144 Kāmeśvara, Kāmeśvarā, 17
dīkṣā, 2 kāmya, 126, 144
Dīpikā, abbr. Dī, 8 kaṇḍa, 40
dvādaśānta, 21, 105–106 kapāla, kapālika, 4, 16
in the japa of the śrīvidyā, 147–149 karaṇa, 126
karaśuddhi, 98, 129
gaṇas, 82 Kashmir, 7, 13
Gaṇeśa, 99–100 kaula, see kula
gāyikā, 125 kaulācāra, 16
graha, 82, 100–101, 119 kaulikārtha, 16, 80–86
granthi, 9, 117 khecara, khecarī, 25, 48, 52
guṇa, 69, 71–75, 82 khecaratā, 25–26, 52
gurukatākṣapāta, 53 khecarimudrā, 52
gurupaṅkti, 18 krīḍa, 88
kriyāśakti, 34, 39, 44
hādi (vidyā), hādimata, 9, 15, 63 krodhīśa, 31, 76
haṃsa, 40 kṣobha, kṣobhanā, 47
hārdhakalā, 67 kula, kaula, 4–6, 42, 60, 90–91, 145
homa, 18, 116, 122 kūladīpa, 18
hṛd, hṛdaya, 11–12 kuṇḍalinī, 9, 17, 20–21, 40, 51
hṛdaya cakra, 147–148 ascent during penultimate japa,
hṛllekhā, 80, 151 145–148, 155
during śrīcakrapūjā, 132–134, 137–139
icchā (śakti), 34, 39, 44 in sixfold nyāsa, 115–116
imaginal body, 10 in the mantra (vidyā), 66–68, 86–87
Index 189
kūṭa, 14, 21, 115 nityodita, 94

in the japa of the śrīvidyā, 145–151, 153 Nityāṣodaśkārṇava (NSA), 4, 6–9, 23, 68
in the mantra (vidyā), 63, 68–69, 73, nivṛtti, 33
80, 84 nyāsa, 18–19, 60, 81, 97–116
lambika, 36–37 pada, 40, 117, 131

layena, 26 padma, 36–37
līlā (cf. krīḍa), 11, 13, 88 paduka, 122
liṅga, 41–42, 116 para (vāk), 14, 38–39, 63
parāpara/ā, 95
madya, māṃsā, etc., 177 paramaśakti, 13
madhyamā (vāk), 14, 29, 39, 63, 84 parāparāpūjā, 17
mahābhūta, 50 pāśa, 17
mahābindu, 36, 51, 80 pāścimāmnāya, 4
mahāsiddhi, 20 paśyantī, 29, 39, 63
mahātattva artha, 16 piṇḍa, 15, 40, 117, 131
manas, 32, 82, 150 pīṭha, 40–41, 102–103, 115, 120, 140–141
maṇipūra, 36–37 prakāśa, 13, 30, 44, 66, 71, 90, 119
mantra, generalities, 15 prakṛti, 33, 82, 150
mantrasaṃketa, 14–16, 58–92 pralayākala, 76
mātṛ, mātṛkā, 27–29, 42, 66, 102, 109, pramā, 30, 44
113, 127 pramāṇā, 30, 44
māyā, 65, 77 pramātṛ, 30, 44, 76, 150
mora, 35 prameya, 30, 44
mudrā, 12, 14, 45–53, 139 prāṇa, 9, 83, 130, 138, 152, 159
mukti, 2, 161 pratiṣṭhā, 33
mūlādhāra (cakra), 20, 21, 36–37, 112, 137 pratyabhijñā, 12–13
in mantrasaṃketa, 51, 61, 68 Pratyabhijñāhṛdaya, 43
in the japa of the śrīvidyā, 147–148, 153 pūjā, 10, 93–94, 97–99, 122, 125, 145
mūlamantra, 21, 120 final stage, 156–157
mūlavidyā, 59, 70, 120, 122, 144 pūjāsaṃketa, 16–19, 93–161
pūrṇāhaṃbhava, 17
nāda, 20, 34, 77, 96, 135 puruṣa, 33, 76–77, 82
in the japa of the śrīvidyā, 148, 151, 153 pūrvāmnāya, 4
nādānta, 35, 151–152 puryaṣṭaka, 124, 131, 138
nāḍi, 9
naimittika, 17, 18, 157 rodhinī, 35, 148, 151
nakṣatra, 82, 84, 101 rūpa, 40, 117, 131
navayoni, 30–31, 54–55 rūpātīta, 40, 131
nigarbha artha, 16, 78–79
nirīkṣaṇa, 77, 118 śabdabrahman, 135
Nityā, 3, 100, 126, 144 ṣaḍadhvan, 33
nityāpūjā, 17 sadāśiva tattva, 77
190 Index
sādhaka, 41, 59, 116, 122, 159, 161 sūryapūjā, 18, 119
sakala, sakalaniṣkala, 35, 76 suṣumnā, 36, 50–51, 61, 96, 126
śakti, 26–27, 35, 148, 152 suṣupti, 21, 43, 151
śaktipāta, 53, 85 svādhisthāna, 36–37, 112
śaktitattva, 77 svapna, 21, 43, 150
samāna, 35, 83, 148, 152 svayambhuliṅga, 41–42
samāveśa, 4
saṃghaṭṭa, 15, 133, 138 tanmātra, 31, 82, 124
saṃhāra, 55, 69 tarpana, 18
saṃhārakrameṇa, 33 tattva, 13, 33, 72–75, 82, 115, 150
saṃketa, 24, 54, 93 tithi, 84, 126, 143
saṃkoca, 44, 77 triangles, in the śrīcakra, 26–32
saṃnidhi, saṃnidhāna, 47 Tripurā, 3–4, 6–9
saṃpradāya artha, 15, 63, 69–78 Tripurāsundarī, 3, 104, 125, 142
saṃvit, 13 turya, 21, 43, 151–152
saṃvitti, 32 turyātīta, 21, 43, 152
śāntā, 34, 39
śānti, śāntyātīta, 33 uccāra, 14, 21, 136, 148–149
sarvarahasya artha, 16 uddhāra, 15, 63
secrecy, in Tantric traditions, 25, 110, unmanā, unmani, 14, 35–36, 123, 136
160 in the japa of the śrīvidyā, 148–149,
Setubandha, 8–9, 23 152–155
siddhi, 20, 24, 89, 127, 134, 138–139, upacāra, 18
143–144, 161 uttarāmnāya, 4
śivatattva, 77
śmaśāna, 4 vāc, vak, 14, 66, 84
ṣoḍhānyāsa, 19, 97–104 vāgbhava, 86, 95–96, 131
spanda, 130, 140 vaikharī, 29, 39, 63, 127
sphuraṇa/tta, 13 vāmā, 39, 49
śrīcakra, 9, 14, 26–57, 125, 144 Vāmakeśvara, Vāmakeśvarīmata, Tantra
śrīcakrapūjā, 19–21, 94, 125–145, 156 (VM), 4, 6–9, 24
śrīkaṇṭha, 76 varṇa, 66, 153
śrīvidyā, 3, 6, 14–15, 58–92 vidyā, 15–16, 33, 59–60, 80–92
sṛṣṭi, 55, 69 vighnabheda, 18
sṛṣṭya, 26 vijṇānākalā, 76
sthiti, 49, 55 vimarśa, 27, 44, 66, 71, 90, 119
subtle body, 10 vīra, 59
śuddhavidyā tattva, 77, 139 visarga, 31, 49, 66–67, 132
śūṇya, 25, 50, 148 viṣa, 69
śūnyākāra, 28 viṣeśārghya, 18
śūnyaṣaṭkam, 21 viṣu, 36
Index 191
viṣuddha, 36–37 Yoginī, 10–11

viṣuva, 22, 148, 152–154 during śrīcakrapūjā, 130–131,
vrata, 4 134–135
vyāpakanyāsa, 60, 104–105, 110 final pūjā, 156–157
vyāpikā/ ni, 35, 148, 152 in sixfold nyāsa, 101–102, 106–107,
vyoman, 50, 106 112, 117
yoginīmelana, 16, 90
yoga, 63, 96, 132, 133 yoni, 53, 67, 116
yogic body, 10 yonimūdrā, 53, 143

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The Heart of the

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

this book originates in a French translation of the Yoginīhṛdaya from

the sanskrit alphabet has forty-nine letters, which are transcribed in

in spite of its modest size, the Yoginīhṛdaya (abbreviated as YH hereafter),

this particular aspect of Hinduism, as far as we can say, seems to

the YH is a very typical text of Tantric Hinduism and embodies archetypal

Tripurasundarī, a beautiful, auspicious (and erotic) form of the great

as is frequent in India, next to nothing is known of the origins of the

and most basic texts are the Vāmakesvara/Vāmakesvarīmata Tantra (VM),

the tradition of Tripurā is one of the four “transmissions” (āmnāya)

the divine Absolute. This combination of Tantric visionary elements with

the kula ensemble of traditions is traditionally divided into four “trans-

no precise information can be given on the origin of the YH or on

Jayaratha (12th c.) in his commentary on the Tantrāloka (TĀ). It is not

widespread popularity of the Tripurā cult. This fact is also interesting in

in the YH or in his own commentary, and that Bhāskararāya later wrote

the Śr ī vidyā or Tripurā tradition constitutes one of the “transmis-

misnomer. In all Sanskrit texts, the term sūkṣmasarīra (or sūkṣmadeha),

(sphurantīm samvidam) or as both made of the world and transcending it

Trika as expounded notably by Abhinavagupta. This is one more reason for

Chapter 1: Cakrasamketa (86 slokas)

Chapter 2: Mantrasamketa (85 slokas)

“extraction,” uddhāra,31 as it is usually called—is not given. In this, the

the universe—tattvas, gunas, prānas, and so forth, even the gods—come to

Chapter 3: Pūjaˉsamketa (204 slokas)

deity are given. Tripurasundarī, in NṢA, is described as a beautiful young

Four succeeding series of ritual placings (nyāsa) of mantras, of

the divine, a coherent progress toward the Absolute realized by an identi-

Japa of seven “equalizations,” viṣuvas (sl. 181–193). This is the longest

Amṛtānanda’s commentary, the Dīpikā. It is a good edition both of the

Encounter in the Cakra

the yogin ī h Ṛ daya begins with the Goddess asking her

It can be given to [someone] who has been examined and tested

Secrecy is always insisted upon in Tantric traditions, which are initiatory.

O Supreme Goddess! Threefold is the agreed co-presence of the

The YH now describes the agreement concerning the cakra, that is to

This [cakra includes] ﬁve energies directed toward emanation

The srīcakra being the diagrammatic form of the Goddess is a divine,

“The void letter A” (sūnyākāra) is to be understood as the supreme

Dharma6 is the socioreligious Hindu law, adharma its opposite, for

[This ninefold cakra] is present in the [next cakra], of eight triangles,

The transformation of the luminescence of the [ﬁrst] four cakras con-

The cakra of fourteen triangles is associated with sense perception

The inner triangle participates in consciousness (cit). The eight

One of the divisions of the cosmos of the Tantric traditions is that of

In the nine cakras, Trailokyamohana and so forth, O Suresvarī! are

as Viṣagnī, Dūtarī, and Sarvānandā, in this order. Nāda and bindu

The Dī explains the triplicity of the srīcakra mentioned in these three

In akula, in what is called viṣu, in energy and in ﬁre, then in [the

Up to the ājñā [cakra, the meditation] is said to be with parts (sakala),

halākāras tu savyasthabinduyukto virājate /

The YH prescribes here to meditate, that is, to visualize each of the