ISSN 0392-4866 UNIVERSITA DI ROMA «LA SAPIENZA» DIPARTIMENTO DI STUDI ORIENTALI RIVISTA DEGLI STUDI ORIENTALI VOLUME LXXIII Fasc. 1-4 (1999) ESTRATTO PISA - ROMA ISTITUTI EDITORIALI E POLIGRAFICI INTERNAZIONALI® 2000BL TANTRIC GODDESSES AND THEIR SUPERNATURAL POWERS IN THE TRIKA OF KASHMIR (Bhedatraya in the Siddhayogesvarimata)' The bhedatraya or ‘threefold division’ is a characteristic that has been at- buted to the Siddbayogesvarimata both by the Malinivijayottara and the yadrathayamala. In this study, first I intend to investigate what the threefold vision means in the Siddbayogesvarimata. | shall give examples of the way in rich it permeates various levels of the doctrine and the practice, namely the sualization of the three goddesses (1), the characterization of various abstract res that govern the universe (2), the classification of female spirits (3) and ¢ classification of supernatural powers (4). Then I hope to demonstrate that spite of the existence of this triadic pattern - which seems to be based on the ree principles, Sattva Rajas and Tamas of the Samkhya ~ the doctrine of the idbayogesvarimata is in fact the result of the fusion of fo opposite streams: ¢ that attempts to subjugate and control impure forces related to the cult of > Eight Mothers, and another that mainly conforms to orthodox Hindu rms of purity adopting in its cult the orthodox goddess, Sarasvati. Finally, I I argue that this syncretism or inclusivism — which is present already at this ly scriptural level of the Trika — has relevance and importance primarily for dhakas, aiming at the attainment of various supernatural powers through ntrolling ail domains and powers acting in the world. The Matinzvijayottara, which claims to be a shorter version of the Sid- ayogesvarimata, mentions two facts about its alleged source. One is that the dhayogesvarimata consists of ninety million verses, the other is that it has * This analysis is based on the text of the Siddbayogetvarimate, which is probably the oldest tural source of the Kashmiri Trika (see SaNDeRsON 1990: 31). The critical edition of the short redac- of the text is being prepared by the present author, All the references to the text are based on the cal edition. Varients, tantric usage and related rextual problems are only discussed here if they are vant for the argument. On the two redactions of the text, see e.g. SANDERSON 1990: 31. For the manu ats used, see the list of references at the end of this article,been formulated in / with bbedatraya, i.e. in three chapters or three versions”. The Jayadrathayamala, which includes the Siddbayogesvarimata in its desctip- tion of the canon, states it more clearly: it says that this text has come down to us in three parts or pethaps redactions’, taught by three masters: the first part called Para was taught by Amarendra’, the second called Pardpara by Bhisma and the third named Apara by Siddbayogin’. These statements about the three chapters or divisions are not necessarily meant to be understood literally, just as the improbable length of the Siddhayo- gesvarimata referred to in the Malinivijayottara. Although I have found no trace of the existence of three chapters, there is another interpretation ot meaning of bbedatraya that may characterize the Siddbayogesvarimata: the threefold classi- fication of deities, female spirits and supernatural powers. Moreover, this three- fold classification can be seen as derivative of the distinction between the three goddesses, and this seems to be the main feature of the Trika and what actually gives the name Trika to this tradition, as the Jayadrathayamala suggests in its description of the ayatikrama®. 1, BHEDATRAYA IN THE VISUALIZATION First, I would like to look at the visualization of the goddesses and see what the basis of this classification is; what these deities look like and in what hierarchy they are arranged — if there is such a hierarchy. The description of the goddesses seated on the three prongs of the trident can be found in Siddbayo- gesvartmata 619-27: daksine tatra Silagre nyased devine pariparam f astatrimsams tatha varnan jalatpavakasaranibham (1 kapalamalabharanam netratritayabhasuram / susilakhatvangadbarim mabapretakertavandme // vidyujjibvim mabakaydm mabasarpavibbisitam / vikavalam mabidamestram mabogram bhrukuttksanam // mabapannagasamvitam Savamalavibhisitam / mahasavakarambbojacarukarndvatamsakam / 2 Siddhayogetvartmatam navakofipravivtaram: / yat tvaya kathitam piiroam bbedatrayavisarpiia”’ (Malinivijayottara 1.8cd-9ab} > ‘That ‘redaction’ may be meant here has been sugxested by Prof. SANDERSON, + Not by Mahendra as in Dyczxowskt 1989: 111 5 parabbyam amarendrena bbigmena ea pariparam / avataritam tatha tantra apararr siddbayogind Uayadrathayamala, 1st satka 174v) © CE footnote 5 above. pralaydmbudanirghosam grasantim iva cimbaram // idrgriipadharam devim pranatartivinatanim / Salagre vinyased vame tryaksaram aparam punah // vamam daksinam evitra daksinam cottaram smrtam / paraparoktariipena vidyaisa krsnapingala // me vinyased devim sarvitksaramayin Subbam / Sphuraisiiryayutaprakbyam dyotayantim idam jagat // nyaset tasyab Sikbagre tu astapatram sakarnikam / harnikaydm nyased devim param ekaksaram subbam // utkrstasphatikaprakhyans samantad amrtasvavam / pyayanakarim devim param siddbipradayikam // There, on the right prong, one should place the goddess Paraparl i ofl hiny ight allable, eed a blaing Sie wenting seater of ale hk three eyes Lie. with three glowing eyes). With trident and skull-stuff in her tates aie el on [Sadasival the Great Transcended. Her tongue is [flickering in and out] like lightening, she is gross-bodied and is adorned with great serpents. Her mouth yawns wide, and she has huge fangs. Ferocious, with her eyebrows knitted [in rage]. ‘wih asa cred thread in the form of a huge snake, adorned with a garland of human eospses, with the [severed] lotus hands of a human corpse as beautiful earrings, her voice like th thunder of the clouds at the world’s end, she seems to swallow space itcl?. sg Dist ite suru should place the odes of thee slabs, Apr, dennopen of ihe ins of the humble, with the sume appearance on the left prong of the In this description, ‘left’ (from the point of view of the mandala] means “right” tom the pont of view othe performer ofthe situ ad ight’ means in fact] ‘lef’ 6 dese This female mantra i.e. Apa] looks lke Pardpars [except that] she One should place the beautiful deity of all letters {the Alphabet Goddess, Malin] on the middle prong. She illuminates this world and is beautiful like myriads of shining suns, Then one should place atthe top of her hea! crest [a lotus] with eight petals and a Bevicap. On the pericarp af the los, one should place the beaut onesable god: s, Para, She is [white] like the best crystal and she pours out nectar everywhere, Th goddess Para promotes welfare and bestows success, “ In this visualization, while Para is above th " e other goddesses as a higher is of the Alphabet Goddess related to the brahmanical goddess Sarasvatt®, os aps and Apara are not arranged in a further hierarchy, but are treated as equally ferocious Kapilika deities, The equality between Parapara and Apara is 2s : ge basse of the translation is almost identical with SANDERSON 1990: 51. SANDERSON 1990: 43-51. .also suggested by their position in varimata and the Malinivijayottara, where the lotuses corresponding to these level, slightly below the lotus of Para’, However, two goddesses are at the same there is a threefold hierarchy, suggested by the attribution of the colours white, red, and tawny-black. In both the Siddhayogetvarimata and the lost Trisirobb- airave™®, the hierarchy suggested by the colours — corresponding to the pan-In- dian colours of saitva, rajas and tamas — is further supported by the hierarchy of these deities in the placement of their mantras. For in the widydtrayanyasa, one is to place Para, Parapara and Apara on the head (or the top-knot), heart and feet respectively!!. Morcover, this ‘ordering’ of the goddesses is reflected in the scant remarks in the Malinivijayottara on visualization, where Para is mild, Parapara is a little ferocious but not frightening and Apara is terrifying”. 2. ABSTRACT ECTYPES OF THE GODDESSES The triadic arrangement can be observed in the classification of the ab- stract ectypes of the goddesses. These female spirits (fakt-s) called auspicious cot mild (aghorah), terrible (ghora}), and more terrible than the terrible, or sur- passing the terrible (ghoraghoratarah or ghorataryab)” are in fact three kinds of forces that govern this world. Among the scriptural sources, it is the Siddhayo- gesvarimata (2.23-31) that gives the most detailed account of their func- tion. yogesvariti vikbyatd tasya muartis tridha priye / tasim bhedane pravaksyami yathad vitve vyavasthitah // pramrjydjnanatimirant pasudehe vyavasthitar / yah Saklayo ‘nugrbnanti agboras tab sivapradah (/ rudras tabbir aghorabbib saktibbib samadbisthitah / sadasivarpitadhiyo bandhanan mocayanty anum “be % The two mandalas are almost cal, see Tantraloka and -viveka 31.155 ff. The detailed de- sctiption of the mardala of the Siddbayogesvarimata can be found only in the Tantriloka, not in our mss, © For the colours of the deities in the Tritirobhairavatantra, cf. Tantritoka 31.115-118 and SA- DERSON 1990: 52-53. 1 CE, Malinivijayottara 8.37 12 Pardpardm svariipena raktavarndne mabalalane / iccharzpadbarine dhyatea kinrcid- ugriim na bP sande / aparirn vamasrige tu Bbisandn: krsnapigaline / iccharlpadbarira devim pranatarininasinit: ¢ param cipyayanim devint candrakotyeyuteprabbim. (Malinivijayottara 8,72¢8-74cd) 1 Ag Prof. Sanderson has pointed out, the two designations reflect two interpretations of the third unit of the Aghora mantra: (1) ghoraghoratarebbyas ca (2) ghora [vocative] ghoruterebbyas ca. The second one is followed by Kaundinya ad Pasupatasitra 3.23. muktimarganirodbinyo ghorataya tu tah smrtah// Gvistah Saktibbis tabbib sargapralayakirinah/ hridante vai tana radra bala mrdvrsabbair iva // adhabsrotavidbayinyah pudgalam rafijayanty api / bhogesv eva pasutve ca pudgalary ratijayanti yah // muktimarganirodbinyo ghorataryas tu tah smth / upodbalitacaitanya rudras tabhir adbisthitab// — pasubbogesu sarsaktan adbo 'dhah patayanty api / Saktitrayasamaveso yasmat sarvatra Sankarah // ghoraghoratardghoraghoras tab pavibirtitah / evar bhuvanam paleyit rudrataktivyavasthitab // (he power of Rudral is called ‘Yogesvart’ and her form is threefold, o Beloved One. Now I will tell you their division as they exist in this world. The powers / Sela who bestow grace by clearing up the darkness of ignorance which resides in the bod, of the bound soul are called ‘the Auspicious Ones’, they bestow Sivafhood]. The Rudess pried by these Auspicious Powers and focusing their minds on Sadisiva, release the soul from its bondage. .. [other powers / Saktis] who obstruct the way to liberation are known as ‘the Terrible Ones’. The Rudras who are possessed by them perform creat wad dissolution, they play in the body like children with clay bulls, Those Tpovers] who a downward flow [of the souls into lower levels of the universe] and grati sou who make it indulge in objects of enjoyment and in the colle o ieelen ae the way to liberation and they are called ‘the Ones Surpassing the Terrible’ Rudras whose minds are empowered by them and wh ned by them, throw down and down those who are gi 4 sures ofthe endval See the Raaecamm and down these ‘s siven to the pleasures of the bound soul, Since the fo ene ten of] powers is always beneficient / [leads to] Siva{ness] ee tears cal the ‘Ones More Terrible Than the Terrible’, the “Terrible ue ‘and the picious Ones’. Thus, ruled by the Power of Rudra, they are to go- “4 sos a Bipvras eatths triad goes back toa Vedic mantra of Rudra, which is also ioe i Pa uupata practice and is the mantra of the Aghota face in Saiva Ble santras . Without suggesting any direct connection, it is of some : Bevan v in the context of the Trika that Sayana in his commentary attributes “ As Dr Isaacson has poi s be pon aacson has pointed out to me, there is a pun on the name of Siva / Sank: ‘leat here, who is identified with the three kinds of Powers, Although the three Pedas of the lager Mantra are i ¥; Aot names of Siva, but of Rudra (see the mantra below mamas te rudrarapebbyab), they are Weeciied with Sankara inthis passage 2 Aghorebya ‘tha gh yo ‘tha ghorebbyo ghoraghoratarebhyah / sarvatah Sarva sarve . (Tatteirtya Brabmana X45 and Matheyenreccrbia oo sige mem i———_— XxX sattvika, rajasa and tamasa nature to the three elements of the Vedic mantra’’, for the same association is made in Trika scriptures and exegetical works as we shall see. ‘Although one could easily associate sattva, rajas and tamas with these three groups of Sakis, the Siddbayogesvarimata does not explicitly make this connec- tion. However, the Malinivijayottara, the Jayadrathayamala and the Tantraloka add further triadic sets in association with these powers, as summarized in the following table"”: ‘Aghorah: auspicious / mild, Parah [Malinivijayottara], lech / Siva [Jayadrathayamalal, Srsti / nonduality (abbeda) /knower (pramaty) (Yantraloka 372-74, 3,103-104) Ghotah: terrible, Paraparah [Malinivijayottara], Jéina / Sakti Uayadrathayamala], Sthiti / duality-cum-nonduality (bbedabheda) / means of knowledge (pramdna) (Tantraloka] Ghoraghoratarah / Ghotataryah: more terrible than the terrible / surpass- ing the terrible, Aparah (Malinivijayottaral, Kriya 7 Nara (= Agu) [Jayadrathayamalal, Samhara / duality (bbeda) / abject of knowledge (prameya) [Tantralokal. 3. FEMALo SPIRITS The Siddhayogesvartmata is chiefly concerned with how to attain supernat- tral powers, usually with the belp of female spirits called yogints, dakinis ot akinis. This topic occupies almost two thirds of the text, the remaining one third mainly describing mantras and initiation. The way in which a Sadhaka is to perform these, is given in chapters 10 and 13. First, he is to perform an ob- servance called widyavrata ot vidyarigevrata, associated with the ‘ancillary mantras’, This includes besmearing the body with ashes, wandering in uninhab- ited places, laughing with boisterous laughter (aftahdsa), and reciting the ap- propriate mantras loudly. After this, he is to perform a worship of the deities (yaga) with the arghapatra. This is followed by the recitation of mantras (apa), accompanied by the prescribed fire offerings (agn/karya). “Then he is to perform worship again and finally, invoke the appropriate goddess and / or Yoginils whose power he wants to employ. ‘The Siddhayogesvarimata gives details of numerous groups of female spir- ° aghorandmako daksinavektrarpo devas tasya vigrabi aghorth “sdttvikatvena Santa / anye fH hora rajasatvenoyrah / apare tw tamasatvena ghordd apt ghoratardh. Sayana ad loc. 7 See SANDERSON 1990; 35-58 its (yogintcakra- . its Qosintearas) tobe worshipped and it also describes various ways in whi thes sit beasicoed "his later must usally happen sv cighe whe rinapakse), in a cremation 7 ak ground. The Sadh oa ames wh ass ne shoul re eae pis by oflecner ot in ; a or the ‘perfect nectar’ (siddbai = i 1 sexual fluids), He isto offer his own blood from his iam anaigel eee So itn (vdmariga) to tame sam Patlt.26 we in brie clasiicnon ofthese ating ets fom incio such as goddess yogints (devas) and human. yogint mins) seria three asifienton within the on soi cd vith acts or deeds (karmayogints or dakint): auspicious, fightful and sei (it dain drain ad dint yur ‘ oly tows loreover, there is another passage i j hes ge in Payala 2 i sean have a similar classification in mind, However, hore teh wedeldcae ication applies not only to dakinis as above, but to all yoni, They x ee . They. are-asso- ciated with three different parts of a prone ia parts of the day, three colours and three types of su- etavanto mababbagah pirvabne Sasisaprabhah / madbyabne lobitakara indragopakasuprabbab // Arsnaé caivipartbne tw abbiciraphalapradah / Santipustivasyakarsavidvesamaranaprajah // These pre-etni in A At midday mn cpanel Pa are s aie as the moon at the first part of the day. ! , indragopakas (red ants]. At the li : are bila . At the last watch ck and they besow acess n lack age. Thy the white ones eve foe ive tise to pacification and welfare, [the red . ones] to hypnosi i to the faculty of arousing enmity and of Tiling, ‘ni annem ana be Black nee The cad . the Fey aga in the Trika scriptures can be found in conte o nea 1 Although the Tantrasadbhava’s Yogini aged 3 bee vai a arc tse of the seven mothers (saptamatrkab) eat bth oP these metic (casika, cumbika etc.), in one passage heave hoa ven, un let three groups: the first group is one of of ria nate and the tied conie of Motes Eaee yogis of tone nature, However, she Tavtrsabaus difersin that dots oe scene iP mah i sepia by etab sattvarajasatamasah / by at as . etab si prabminyar raindryanssa al “ne eh dl a ee Catto classify supernatural powers on the basis of the three classes of Yo- pins. 4, CLASSIFICATION OF SUPERNATURAL POWERS On the basis of various passages on supernatural powers (siddbis) scat- tered in chapters 11-31 of the Siddhayogesvarimata, it is possible to reconstruct the three groups of siddhis which seem to be attributed to the three classes of creatures’. 1. sattvika siddbi-s: well-being / being well-fed (pusti / apyayana), expia- , [saving things] in case some disaster occurs (upa- ering death (mrtyumjaya), eloquence 7 poetic talent finitely small, big ete. (amimadigunab), final re- tion / pacification (santi)” sarge samutpanne)”', conqu' (kavitva)”, the ability to be in! lease (moksa)”. 2. rajasa siddbi-s: subjugating people to one’s will (vasya), attracting people (esp. women, akarsana', going to the underworld (paralecararvar?), flying (kbecaratvant), disappearing (antardhdnam), ‘pill-Siddbi’ (the pill, put in the mouth is said to make one invisible, gulikasiddbi), and a Siddbi with the magic wand and a bowl (siddbakasthakamandaluy”. 3. tamasa siddbi-s, twelve kinds of black magic (abbicara-s) listed in chapter 24: murder (marana), expelling someone (uccatana), annihilation (jamibhana), paralysing (stambbana), benumbing (mobana), ‘nailing down’ (Eilana), taking away someone's speech (vdcapahara), making someone dumb ‘The list I have reconstructed follows the logic of the Siddhayogetvarimata along the lines of the above mentioned threefold pattern, Nevertheless, mention must ‘be made of the fact that in the classifi- canton of Siddhis, although the pattera is present, itis not perfectly systematic or consistent, eg, atttae ting of hypnotizing people can be classified under any of the three categories, depending on ‘one's aims. Hraver T think that in spite of these inconsistencies, the classification is present - though not always explicitly ~ in the Siddbayogesvarimata, 2 The first two are associated with the White Yoginis in Siddbayogesvarimnata 28,29 cited above and with the white Para eg. in 6.27 (where she is called apy2yanakari) and in 14.5. 21 ‘This ig mentioned in 7.36ed with reference to the white Pari. 2 Conquering death and eloquence are obtained through the Sadhana of Para. ® ‘The last wo ~ classical yogic Siddhis and final release ~ are categorised as the Highest Siddis in 29.8¢d. 2 These two are associated with the red Yoginis in 28.29. 2 The last five are listed in 29.9-10b as Middle Siddhis. (mukatva), deaf (badbirya), blind i ores forms Capa aa pi enamel impotent (sazdbikaraya), changing Although various other Tantras also b. ave a threefold classification of Si dhs {ew ite Svacchandabbairavatantra, 2.145), the Tels ne guna tere Se haath fers, too for they tend to asf Sidi accord culty and the kind of mantra recitation one should : te Schade a mental recitation for expiation or pacification tee me ering for well-being (pusti) and loud recitation for all iddhis, which : the other Siddhis, whi = cisgorized a black magic (abbicara), The closest parallel to the Silline esvarimata is perhaps a passage in a later compilati ‘i i the imate is pilation of is, i Indraialaviyasemarab, Although the clsicaion of Siddhis felons rhein pes of recitation and not the thee Gunas, the text prescribes mental jution for pacification, expiation and final release, muttering for subjugati and a. traction of people and loud japa for the ‘lowly’ Siddhiy” 2. ‘WHERE THE THREEFOLD CLASSIFICATION FAILS The evi gaat rm cvidence pour so far suggests a systematic arrangement of goddesses ind Sel ae ba a her ectypes promote the ‘white siddhis’, Parapara a re ‘red’ ones and Apara with her ectypes the ‘black’ However, i . ro vet we look at the observances, the mantras and visualizations a gscociate with various superhuman effects, the whole triple system = pees: PI fc ice, it is almost exclusively the mantras and dhyanas of Para ne pat that recur regularly, and defying the logic of the postulated tte ystem, it is Parapara and not Apara who is associated with all the dak Siddhis. ** Bel the sack Siddn T rambles to demonstrate the association of Parapara with aind not Apara is vi nieiela that ~ in spite of our expectations ~ Parapata vations visu zed for killing (maraga). The second one teaches the vi- get een 2 portant group of Yoginis, whose names correspond to the ob blind Gah aoibiaice Gambbana), benumbing (ohana), making some- the same forn ee spare text prescribes that they are to be visualized with i of 9. ite Qed-11 also includes various kinds of subjugati 's wil Hides , of ubjommion people to one’s will, which shows that In °! ore ern Sorenea —___—_———- japet paréparam devint sampasyed raktalocanam / atam astottaram yavan nitfivans kurute bhesam // One should recite Parapara and look at her, who has red eyes. After 108 recita- tions, one will be able to kill immediately. (7.34) jambbant mohani vami andbint kartrr eva ca / kilant damant catva tatha pramath- aniti ca / pardparoktaripena piljya dhyeyas ca sarvada Destroyer, Stupefier, Left (2), She Who Makes One Blind, and She Who Cuts (?); She Who Nails People Down, She Who Tames and the Killer - [these Yoginis] are al- ways to be worshipped and visualized with the form of Patapara, described above. (Patala 25) This disappearance of Apara — or, rather, her merging into Parapara — in the context of magic could explain the Piigalamata’s unusual attribution of colours. That text, while keeping Para white, attributes the colour black to Parapara, while Apara is said to be yellow™. Moreover, the Sadhanas of Para, aiming at conquering death, gaining well- being, and acquiring poetic talent, seem to follow a very different pattern from that of the attainment of other Siddhis. For in these Sadhanas (Siddbayogesvari- mata, patalas 11 and 12), Para is visualized as a solitary deity, without a retinue of Yoginis, as in the kavitvasadbana below. frnu devi param gubyam gihanivyane prayatnatah / kavitvam jayate yena tam Srausvaikamanast “ arcayitod prayatnena devyah samyak svartipatah / butvagnint ca yathanyayant dhyanam pascit prayojayet uM dhyatvd param svarapena vyomapadmasane sthitan f vamabastenivistena sarvajidnamayena ti “ pustakena vararobe daksinena tatah punah / sphatikenaksasitrena divyena pravarena tu // hadambagolakakaraily sphurajivdlavaltdbaraih / granthitam divyartpam tu malam bi galasamsthitan // apadalambani casau sphatikabba samantatah / sravantin amrtam divyam kadambavanamadhyagam // udgirantim mabd-oghath sarvajanamayam tatab / mukbe svake visad dbyayet tadriipam caiva-m-atmanah // evar ketvd tatah paseat svavakirac camrtam maban // oghas caiva tu Sasirandne cintayet sadbakottamah / 2% See SANDERSON 1990: 52 evam dhyanam prayufiita tatas tasya prayayate // havitvam masamatrena salankdramanobaram / jayate niScitam devi sarvarthapratipadakah // sadbbir masaih svayam karta Sastranam ‘jayate tu sah / fardmalakavad vettd SAstrindm caiva sarvatab // yat kimeid vanmayam loke vettavyam yat prakirtitam / tat sarvam tasya devesi granthatas carthato ‘pt va // _ Listen, o Goddess, to the highest secret, which i tbe proteted with care, by which poetic talent will come about; listen to it attentively. After worshipping the deities properly, with their own forms, maki i i a making effort, and after making fire offerings as One should visualize Para with her own form, sitti in the air, wit _ book ofall knowledge in her left hand, o Beautiful Gs ud holdings ‘eet ‘i cal rosary of crystal inher right hand. One isto visualize garland on her neck, a gar “land of heavenly beauty, made up with beads which are round like the buds of the Kadamba tree and which shine forth lke fite. This garland reaches down tober fet ancl is as spotless as crystal all over. One should then visualize het as pouring out the divin fectar of immortality, in the middle of a Kadamba grove. One should see her pouri : forth the nectar of all knowledge in great floods and one should see his nectar ‘ener in 40e's mouth, and that one's self has the same form, After this, the best of Sadhakas uld visualize that this nectar comes out of his mouth as a flow of Sastras. If he does visualization, he will be able to produce fascinating ornate poetry rth a month. Ei bers teacher of el: doctiines; end efter months; hewill be able wo produce a Sastras himself. He will know all the sciences as the fruit of the Myrobalan in the hand ie. deal, as iftey were self-evident truth]. Whatever has something to do with words : we Sok) e known in this world, will be his, both as to its formulation and awaken other hand, for the attainment of more violent Siddhis the Sidhaka a no ew a ey differen biscestt he should summon Yoginis in a crema- of in the way described above. i it i apara vo and the way desc above. In this context, it is the Parapara a fs llenwig peammge lon doco thaw fe thie Ia ¢ foll the actual be ~ svets of Siddhis are the hordes of Yogint isn cabo zation ss of Si ginis, and the a igualizati unlike in the case of the Pardsadhana. reieno eaborate wsualzaton rsnapakse caturdasyam trirdiram ca upositah / mi8i gatud Smasanam tu sabayath parivarfitah // nagno muktasikho bhatva kauberyabhimukhabsthital / tirdhuakayo japen maniri suniskampah paraparimn uw chacittasthito virah sa mabatma prasannadbib / ORP PSStavad yavat samayala yogesvaryab samantatah / tasdm caiva tu riipani bbisanani babiini ca / drstva naiva bhayan kuryad vidya eva -m- anusmaret // On the 14th day of the dark half of the lunar month, after fasting for three nights, one should go to the cremation ground without companions. Naked, with the top-knot untied, facing North, with erect body, the Mantrin should recite Parapara [mantra] fearlessly. The high-minded hero, concentrating and with tranguil mind, should per- form this till Yoginis gather together on all sides. Seeing their various frightening forms, he should not be afraid, he should mentally recite the female mantra [ie. Parapara]. (13.11-14) The contrast between practices associated with Para on one hand, and with the other goddesses and Yoginis on the other, suggests that we may have two entirely different sources for these practices. Para as an ectype of the brah- manical goddess Sarasvati is a solitary, mild and ‘orthodox’ deity; in patala 12, the optional observance (vrata) associated with her involves a strictly vegetarian diet with fruits, roots, vegetables, barley-meal and milk products”, Altogether we may say that this deity is associated with brahminical learning, welfare and orthodox purity. On the other hand, the cult of Yoginis is not a cult of one or two specific goddesses (Parapara and Apara are just two representatives of them), but that of a whole horde of female spirits who indulge in impure sub- stances and are associated with witchcraft, Although some of them may take up mild forms in the first watch of the day’®, their main occupation is getting in- toxicated with blood and amta in their frightening forms. Moreover, if these Yoginis are classified or mentioned by name, they are divided into cight and not two or three. This eightfold division is present at var- ious levels, The female mantra with which one invokes the Yoginis, the Para- para mantra, is divided into eight segments, each representing a goddess: ‘Aghora, Paramaghora, Ghorariipa, Ghoramukht, Bhima, Bhisana, Vamant and Pibani, These eight Yoginis of Paripard are also placed on the body from top to toe, similarly to the three main mantra goddesses”. The Alphabet Bhairava (Sabdaraéibhairava) bas a retinue of eight goddesses, cach representing a con- sonant group: Brahmi, Vaisnavi, Mahesvari, Yamya, Kaumasi, Vasavi, Kar- namoti and Aghores?. The typology of worldly Yoginis in chapter 29 - from ® Siddhayogesvarimata 12.15cd-16ed % See Patala 22, teaching the mixed nature (miSrakanr rapa) of Yoginis. 3" See the mantra given in 3.23-39, 3.21 refers to these cight Yoginis as parts of Parapata’s body (anges). » See eg, Siddbayogesvarimata 7.2627 » Sce Siddhayogesvarimata 1641-43 which a substantial portion is certainly lost ~ is also based on the typology of the eight Mothers (astamatykas): Brahmani, MaheSvari, Kaumari, Vaisnavi and ‘Yamya (the descriptions of Aindri, Yogesi and Camunda are probably lost)™. Finally, while the mandala drawn for the Samaya initiation is empowered by the three mantra goddesses placed on the three prongs of a trident in the middle, ‘the Initiation Mandala has an eight-petalled lotus in the centre, representing a group of eight goddesses starting with Aghort”. The Siddhayogesvarimata seems to try to fuse the system of eight Yoginis / Mothers and the cult of the pure goddess Pari in its cult of the three goddesses by placing two representatives of the Yoginis as Parapara and Apari into its triad, thus attenuating the fundamental differences between the solitary Para and the Yoginis™, The threefold classification in fact serves as a very good de- vice to merge the two cults by superimposing the classification of Gunas on them. However, even though this triple classification (bhedatraya) is reinforced gt several levels, it cannot conceal the underlying bifurcation, the contrast be- tween Para and the Yoginis. , joo me conclusion I would like to draw on the basis of the above consists of *" 1. I propose the hypothesis that the cult of the Trika from an exorcistic base, dominated by the worship of eight sie ne ition of the cult of the Eight Mothers, in which perhaps the pure goddess, Pata. Was also a leader of the eight impure Yoginis™, It is also conceivable thet Parg had a separate cult, for which the Pardtrinzsikd may be an additional testimony, This system was then te-arranged by the superimposition of the threefold clas- sification borrowed from the Samkhya and related traditions™. ae M The first four are named in Siddbayogesvarimate 29.25, 32, 39 and 45, Yamya is not mentioned, Bizt can be idenuified fromm the descript if ription of the last Yogint, whose si the Fi 7 Bod doch are the rib of Yana: sls sen bengan cote shea and ¢ compound Yamada The teaning Yogin-families can be supplied from a ist inthe Mali. ABbijayottara 3. eit Brabant coiva Kaumnart Vaisnavt tatha / Aindrt Yamya ca Cantunda eteima/ Howcrais aap char he emg ee ere cle Vases Ketone Ashore ets te case of the consonant-deities of Sabdarasibhairava mentioned above. ____nis can be inferred from Siddbayogesvarimata 6.55 and 8.10. This mandala dent ial tbe te goddesses, but it is not clear from the very ctyptic se pw sea per 8 seh 4, 1 fact that Para as a Yogint retinue does not change th i ‘ he fact h ange the fact that it is her which dominates in visualizations, Her Yoginicakra is formed probably to ‘inteprate” hee Een hordes. 7 This is a role reminis fF th iyanir i 1353, iniscent of the god Aiyapar in Tamil Nadu as described by Dumont % By: Tris, of course, also possible ition wis if Senn also possible to presume that a tradition with a threefold classification adopted that the the eight Yoginis and that of Pasa, or that these cults merged in sore other way. ‘The pont ek 7 here. le triadic arrangement is not the only - and not necessarily the first and foremost — constituent im2. Through the adoption of the iconography and powers of the orthodox goddess, Sarasvati, into the figure of Para, an element of the orthodox domain was also colonized and combined with the features of the popular goddess of illnesses”. (Cf. Pata’s double role as Sarasvati to bestow learning, and as a god- dess promoting health in separate Sadhanas.) This adoption of the orthodox goddess in turn served for Kashmirian brahmin exegetes as a basis to colonize the root texts of the Trika ‘from above’. 3. In the Siddbayogesvartmata, this colonization of a brahmanical deity and the identification of the Yoginis is important primarily for the Sadhaka. For it is the Sadhaka’s aim to control all forces of the universe, including the orthodox domain with its sastric knowledge and purity. At this point, the cult was inclu- sivistic for the Sadhaka’s sake. On the other hand, when later exegetes assimi- lated the texts of the Trika, the process was reversed: the exegesis was done for the sake of brahmins seeking liberation (veumuksu), and it was the inclusion of Para-Sarasvati that made the cult particularily susceptible for a brahmanical colonization which saw Pard-Sarasvati as the centre of the cult, and ‘absorbed’ the texts through her in order to control impure forces through the pure“. In this sense, the story of the Siddhayogesvarimata and the cult of the Trika is a story of competing forces attempting in turn to conquer each other’s domain. 4. The Siddbayogesvarimata represents an early stage of the cult, where certain inconsistencies still reveal that there is a twofold classification of the Yogints and Para (bhedadvaya) behind the threefold one (bhedatraya). The Malinivijayottara, however, seems to make a further step towards systematization, and there the threefold classification seems to be perfect. Therefore, I propose that in the Malinivijayottara, the visualization of the deities (Para — mild, Parapara — slightly ferocious, Apara — frightening)" has been adjusted to accord with their places and hierarchy in the placement of their mantras (mantranyasa, Para on the head, Parapara on the heart and Apara on the feet). In the Malinivijayottara, the goddesses exist almost exclusively as mantra deities and they do not figure in Sadhanas or yogic practices (dhdrand-s). Just as the Malinivijayottara has a more systematic way of presenting the parts of the alphabet goddess Malini (from ‘top 49 Th this latter role, ber function may remind us of the popular goddesses of illnesses sul tala (also asso. th the white colour and the ‘cooling’ nectar} or Mariyammap, although no relation can be she between them. © On ‘purity and power’, see SANDERSON 1985. ‘“ Malinivijayortara 8.7274 2 Oxford, - i ae Sa _toe’, fom fa to. Pha, nadipbanta)”, it seems to have attempted to st a letail of the visualization — making Parapara just a irttle ferocious, that it should not contradict the triadic arrangement. Jupir Torzsox ‘This was demonstrated by Somdev Vasudeva in a lecture, in May 1996, at All Souls College,REFERENCES: Abbreviations KSTS = Kashmir Series of Texts and Studies; NAK = National Archives, Kathmandu Sanskrit Indrajalavidyasamgraha [Indrajalasastram + Kamaratnam + Dattatreyatantram + Satkarmadipika + Siddhanagarjunakaksaputam] Calcutta: Vacaspatya. 1915. Jayadrathayamala, NAK 5-4650 (satkas 1 & 2); 5-1976 (satka 3); 1-1468 (satka 4 A 151-16) Tantrasadbbava, NAK 5-1985; NAK 5-445. Tantraloka by Abhinavagupta, with the commentary -viveka of Jayaratha, Ed. with introduction R.C. Dwivedi and N. Rastogi. Delhi: Motilal Banarsi- dass. 1987. (The text is a reprint of KSTS 1918-1938) Taittitirtya Brabmana of the Black Yajurveda. Ed. V.G. Apte. 3 vols, Pune: Anandagrama Series 37. 1934-38 Pardtrimsika with commentary -Vévarana by Abhinavagupta. See Gnoli 1985. Pasupatasitra with Paricarthabhasya of Kaundinya. Ed. R.A. Sastri. Trivan- ‘drum: The Oriental Manuscripts Library of the University of Travancore. (Trivandrum Sanskrit Series vol. 143) 1940. Malinivijayottaratantra, Ed. Acharya Krishnanand Sagar. Varanasi: Krish- nanand Sagar. 1985. (1st ed. Madhustidan Kaul, Bombay 1922 KSTS 37) [The 1985 edition contains more typographical errors than the first edi- tion and shows no improvement on the text] Maitrayaniya Samhita 4 vols. Ed. L. von Schroeder, Leipzig, 1881-1886. Siddbayogesvarimata Asiatic Society, Bengal MS No. G5465; NAK 5/2403. Svacchandatantra, with the commentary -uddyota of Ksemarija. 2 vols. Ed. V.V. Dvivedi, Delhi: Parimal Publications. 1985. Secondary literature Dumont 1953/1970 «A structural definition of a folk deity of Tamil Nad: Aia- nar, the Lord» In: Religion, politics and history in India; collected papers in Indian sociology. Paris / The Hague: Mouton. 1970. [Adapted from the French ‘Définition structurale d'un dieu populaire tamoul’ in Journal Asta- tique t. 241, 1953, pp. 255-270] czKOwsKI, M.S.G. 1989. The Canon of the Saivigama and the Kubjika Tantras of the Western Kaula Tradition. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass. (1988" Albany) Gnout, R. 1985 Il commento di Abbinavagupta alla Paratrimsika (Paratrim- Sikdtattvavivaranam). Traduzione e testo. (Serie Orientale Roma LVI) Roma: Istituto Italiano per il Medio ed Estremo Oriente. SANDERSON, A. 1985 «Purity and Power among the Brahmans of Kashmir» In: The Category of the Person. Ed, M. Cartithers, S. Collins and S, Lukes, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 190-216. : , SATEEN, 4 ae acre Visualisation of the Deities of the Trika» In: L’Image Nivine: Culte et Méditation dans V'Hindouis is: Edi Divine Cilio Meiation U'Hindouisme, Ed. A. Padoux. Paris: Edi-