We had a discussion with an acquaintance regarding the local linguistic pride and chauvinism among those who identify with desha bhAShA-s in bhArata. We had encountered the effect most forcefully in two modern states of the secular Indian republic, namely mAhArAShTra and tamiL nADu. In both the above states it was easy to encounter people, usually in towns, who were extremely proud of their desha bhAShA-s, and had their identities strongly intertwined with them. Such people in mahArATTa country they would insist that the people use their desha-bhAShA and on occasions refuse to speak in any other language even if they knew it. We have heard from others of related phenomena existing to a degree in some other linguistic states of the republic, such as the chera (where it is a certain anxiety to be different from dramiDa; hence anti-dramiDa) and karNATa countries. In our days, some pretAchArin-backed English medium schools in the mahArATTa state attempted to suppress the use of their desha-bhAShA by insisting that the students only use English on the school premises, even when not in the classroom. This evoked considerable anger and resentment among the mahArATTa-s, as though reminding them of the fact that the empire of India had been seized from their hands by the English. Not surprisingly, it sparked the unsuccessful reaction on their part to ban English as the primary medium of education.

This discussion on the modern linguistic landscape of bhArata reminded us of a notable literary figure who was an extensive polyglot in days of the origin of the mahArATTa empire – jayarAma kavI (aka jayarAm piNDye). To students of Hindu history he better known for his kAvya, the parNAla-parvata-grahaNa, which describes the reconquest of Panhalgad from Moslem control by koNDAjI ravLekar. But among students of late medieval literature he is also known for a peculiar poem known as the rAdhA-mAdhava-vilAsa-champu. On its face the champu has a rather common place theme, i.e. the erotic sports of kR^iShNa and rAdhA and is laid out in 11 chapters. The first 10 chapters are primarily in AryavAk, while the 11th chapter is a very long one in a gamut of deshabhAShA-s, and comprises a good fraction of this book. Indeed, jayarAma boasts that he capable of composing poetry in 12 different languages. This work has several interesting historical implications. First, jayarAma is said composed this work in the court of shAhjI rAje the father of shivAjI at Bengaluru [Though he probably completed it under shIvajI in mahArAShTra because he has a poem in the last chapter on how shivAjI defeated four Mohammedan tyrants]. He opens it by praising the literary legacy of old saMskR^ita kavI-s ending with that of rAjA bhoja-deva parmAra. The context of its composition is presented as a vidvat-sabha presided by shAhjI, where samasyA-s are presented, and he lavishes praise on the mahArATTa warrior as an independent rAjA in chapter 6. This shows that shAhjI, despite being officially under the Adilshahi Sultanate, was clearly being seen as a reviver of Hindu traditions – a patron of kAvya. This image of a proper Hindu rAjA was centered on bhoja-deva, the last great king etched in the Hindu imagination prior to the vivisection of Hindu tradition by the marUnmatta-s [Let us not forget that even kR^iShNadeva rAya of vijayanagara saw himself as an abhinava-bhoja]. Thus, shAhjI and his court are presented in the RMVC as connoisseurs of saMskR^ita kAvya-s in accordance with classical Hindu tradition.

A second point which emerges from the RMVC is the literary activity in the vernaculars in the medieval period. It is not that vernaculars were not used as a vehicle of literature prior to this point. Rather, by the time of jayarAma they had a long literary history of about 2000 years, both in Indo-Aryan and Dravidian tongues. This began with the works of the nAstika-s in the vulgar pAlI and ardhamAgadhi tongues, and is followed by the saMgaM poetry in the dramiDa bhAShA (e.g. the heroic poems of the puranAnUru and the erotic poetry of the akanAnUru). Closer in time to jayarAma, we already see the pan-subcontinental spread of the vulgar apabhraShTa tongues and prAkR^it-s as literary languages, as suggested by the mAnasollAsa of someshvara-deva and their formalization in the grammars of the jaina scholar hemachandra-sUri (i.e. the siddha-haima). What we learn from jayarAma’s work is their revival concomitant with the Hindu revival under the mahArATTa-s. The 12 languages that jayarAma uses in his work are:
1) saMskR^ita: Of course this is the dominant language used for more than half the work and he shows his ability in producing elegant prose and verse in same (as daNDin had defined champu-s as being gadya-padya-mayI).
2) panjAbI: The language of the panjAb and the vehicle of the literary productions of the sikh guru-s.
3) hindusthAnI: From the poems it appears that he meant kharIboli and rekhtA.
4) gopAchalIya: This is the original braj bhAShA (i.e. language of gopAchala), which became important in northern India in the zone centered on mathurA as a major vehicle of north Indian classical music.
5) vaktara: As this language is congruent to that used by the bundelI bards. It might be inferred that it is the form of bundelI used in the 1500-1600s.
6) DhUnDhAD: Since this name refers to the province around Jaipur, it is clear that this language was one used by rAjasthAnI bards of the region. It was used extensively in late medieval bardic poetry on rAjpUt heroes.
7) gurjara: The pre-modern form of gujarAtI.
8) bAggul: The language of the rAjpUt kingdom of rAThoDs of baglAnA. The kingdom was destroyed by Awrangzeb and the rAjA was forcibly converted to Islam. It bears features of mahArATTi, hindI and gujarAtI.
9) prAkR^ita: By this jayarAma appears to have usually referred to mahArATTI. At one point he has a mahArATTI poet durga ThAkur tell jayarAma: “kavI, thor Ahe yAs bhAShA aplA |”
10) karNATa: kannaDa, the sister of tamiL, had a long history of its own. Interestingly, an early attestation of it comes from a vulgar bilingual Greek play in the Oyxrynchus papri regarding the woman Charition. It was widely spoken over mahAraShTra at some point before the rise of the seuna yAdava-s. This is the only Dravidian language used by jayarAma.
11) yAvanI: In the lay Hindu’s mind the Moslem invader was already conflated with the ancient Macedonian barbarians of Alexander and their successors. Hence, the yavana was indiscriminately transferred to the Mohammedan, and Persian was termed yAvanI.
12) dakShiNAtya yAvanI: As the Mohammedan Sultanates entrenched themselves in the old dakShiNapatha, a southern dialect emerged with an Indo-Aryan grammatical scaffold and Perso-Arabic vocabulary, known as dakkhanI. This is what jayarAma terms the yavana language of dakShiNApatha. It was widely known to the people of mahArAShTra and was used as medium by Sufi subversionists to target Hindus for conversion.

This illustrates a certain level of cosmopolitanism in the revived Hindu court of age, with a knowledge of a wide range of languages from different parts of the country. The preference of languages found in jayarAma’s work is generally reflected in terms of certain connections that developed even further with the expansion of the mahArATTa empire. For example, the vaktara language echoes the later links between ChatrasAl who inspired by his meeting with shivAjI liberated Bundelkhand from the Mohammedans. Likewise the panjAbI connection is echoed in the incorporation of mahArATTa bhakti saints works into the sikh compendium. The mahArATTa-s were also conscious of the rAjpUt-s as fellow Hindu kShatriya-s (whether they were honorary or original is a secondary point) and had a certain knowledge their bardic literature. This is evidenced by the conscious identification (genuine or otherwise) of the bhosle, ghorpaDe, pavAr and other clans with rAjput clans like the shishoDiyA-s [e.g. the jayarAma himself terms the bhosle as such] and paramAra-s along with emulation of their vernacular bardic productions. There also appears to have been a retro-influence of rAjpUt bardic traditions in bundelI and DhunDhaD languages on saMskR^ita productions in the deep south, as seen in saMskR^ita epics on various mahArATTa rAjA-s [Footnote 1]. The languages of the Kannada, Gujarat and Bagalana provinces were of course geographically closely linked to that of mahArATTa country and there had been a long custom of interactions between them. On the whole, such multilingual compositions in the incipient Hindu revival of shAhjI rAje can be compared favorably with the multilingualism seen in the mature vijayanagaran court of kR^iShNadeva. There we encounter a famous polyglot in the form of rAma of tenAlI, who used saMskR^ita and prAkR^ita along with the desha bhAShA-s of andhra, dramiDa, karNATa, mahArAShTra and gopAchalIya (or perhaps more correctly an older apabraShTa language related to the later hindI-s). We see the dominance of the geographic effect with jayarAma having a greater northern range and tenAlIya rAma having a greater southern range in their respective multilingualism. Thus, while the Hindu regimes accorded the natural position of primacy to the devabhAShA, they also appear to have supported the local linguistic diversity enabling considerable multilingualism. In contrast, the Mohammedan tyrannies tended to enforce Persian, with the lower ranks of the army and the Sufi subversionists fostering the emergence of the hybrid dakkhani and urdu zabAn-s [Footnote 2].

Finally, the RMVC also throws hints regarding how desha-bhAShA-s like mahArATTI were viewed in the resurgent Hindu regime of shAhjI. The statement attributed to durga Thakur in the text suggests that there was a certain special respect towards it as their particular vernacular. However, at the same time it appears that the exclusivism observed in modern mahArATTa linguistic politics was not present then – to the contrary, there appears to have been a much wider appreciation of regional languages from other parts of the subcontinent. The preeminence accorded to saMskR^ita in the text is also mirrored in actions of shivAjI in course of the establishment of svarAjya. It restored the natural position of saMskR^ita as the language of the Hindu cosmopolis, as would befit a true Hindu empire. This is seen in many actions of him and also those of his son shaMbhAjI: his seal was in Sanskrit rather than Marathi, specifically to reverse centuries of Islamic indoctrination he set up the royal thesaurus project to establish the Sanskrit forms for all administrative terms and his coronation was performed as per the ancient Vedic model of the indrAbhisheka. The officiant priest of the rite, paNDita vishveshvara (gAgabhATTa) wrote a prayoga manual in saMskR^ita termed the shrI-shivarAjAbhisheka-prayogaH to record these rites. At the same time he also revived the tAntrika jayAbhisheka by having a second coronation done as per tAntrika traditions.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::
Footnote 1: A shrauta ritualist and paNdita, shaMkara dIkShita, from svAmImalaya, whose ancestors were from the mahArATTa country, became a student of our clansman in kaumAra shAsana and tAntrika topics. He reputed as being an expert on heroic poetry on mahArATTa and shishodiyA kings in a rAjpUt bardic languages. One of the poems he had was an account of the great war under rAjArAm during the 26 year jihad of Awrangzeb.

Footnote 2: Of course an Indian secularist, a “liberal”, or a white indologist and his imitators might claim that the Mogol courts of Dilli encouraged the native languages. But what is lost here is that the Mogol court was shaped by several distinct events: 1) The apostasy of the Padishaw Akbar gave the first break for Hindus in dilli after they lost ruler-ship of the city. Note that Akbar tried to model himself after a Hindu monarch in many ways after his apostasy [an introduction to the same might be found in shrI sharvesha tivarI's work]. 2) Though after akbar the despots Jahangir and Shah Jahan were far more antagonistic to Hindus they did not bother reverse some of his pro-Hindu actions. Shah Jahan was also open to heeding to non-violent petitions by Hindus regarding Jaziya and the like being imposed on Kaffrs. 3) Further, Akbar had given a break for rAjpUt-s in the Mogol court and their role did not diminish after him. So much of the Mogol patronage was actually due to influential rAjpUt-s at the court much to the disdain of the Mohammedan ulema. 4) It should also be noted that during a part of Shah Jahan’s reign, his son Dara Shikoh and general Shaista Khan (who studied hindI and saMskR^ita with chaturbhuja mishra) were generally well-disposed towards Hindu scholars, and this only increased until Dara’s military defeat and execution for apostasy from Mohammedanism (After all in his Sirr-e-Akbar he stated that he learned more from the Vedic texts than from Sufis). Thus, the Hindu literary activities in the Mogol are a consequence of the weakening of the Mohammedan grip due to Akbar and Dara preferences, Shah Jahan’s weakness and the rise of rAjpUt-s. They do not imply any conscious liberality on part of the upholders of Mohammedanism or any general rapprochement between Hindus and Mohammedans. After all in describing this phase of the Mogol power the jihad theorist Waliullah and the mentally diseased proto-Taliban Ahmed Barelvi repeatedly emphasized that practices of the Kaffr were taking precedence over pure Mohammedanism and that jihads had to be waged to clear the Hindu influence on Mohammedan power in India.

One thing that dawned on us from our explorations of life was that panspermia is likely to have happened, even though life on earth is emphatically found to be monophyletic. We suspect that the very emergence eukaryotic life forms, such as us, was due to at least two seedings happening in very early in the history of the earth. This we learned from one the most revelatory scientific events in our lifetime, i.e., the sequencing of the genomes of life. The other great revelatory scientific event of our lifetime (of course leaving aside Higgs boson) has been the Kepler mission. We are happy to have to participated in both in a very active capacity in the former and as a minor public planet-finder in the latter. The results from the Kepler mission are most remarkable. Below are sampling of plots that are made using the tools made available by JPL/NASA with the data published by Batalha et al. They appear to provide the inferred planet temperature range of 185 K to 303 K as the habitable zone – a rather liberal one. However, it should be kept in mind that though 185 K is way below freezing, even the Earth would be inferred to be absolutely freezing based on merely its distance from the sun. It is the greenhouse gases in its atmosphere keep it rather warm and balmy (at least closer to the equator). It was not always so, because we have some evidence that when the cyanobacterial photosynthesis-driven oxygenation event swept the Earth, the loss of the greenhouse gas methane resulted in a great freeze (the Huronian glaciation), which was followed by smaller, but still completely frozen (i.e. poles to equator) periods between 850-600 Mya. The Earth’s composition allows for volcanic activity and plate tectonics that can both enable the onset and the rebound from the frozen earth state by respectively moving continents to the equator and pumping greenhouse gases into the atmosphere on a large scale. On the other hand, while Venus is close to the edge of the habitable zone, its runaway greenhouse atmosphere has elevated temperatures beyond those that could sustain life. This shows that a lot depends on the composition of the planet and its atmosphere, beyond it being in the habitable zone, in terms of whether it can sustain life after all. What strikes you right away in the Kepler data is that there are lots of planets in the habitable zone – they are not necessarily earth-like planets, but are often huge gas giants in the size range of Neptune to Jupiter. Of course one could envisage life not on these gas giants themselves, but their moons like Europa, Titan or Triton.
Planets determined by the Kepler mission as being in the habitable zone are circled in blue. Note that they range in size from earth-like (rare) to gas giants through super-earths, which we lack in our planetary system.

Now, in addition to the issues of atmospheric, tectonic and other chemical factors which could affect the actual habitability of these planets, we also find that several of these planetary orbits are highly eccentric, suggesting that they only temporarily visit the habitable zone and might again not be suitable for life unless some exceptional chemical factors are invoked. Examples of such can be visualized well using the orbits plotted by Kane and Gelino using the smaller, but well-curated exo-planet dataset.

A sampling of known planetary systems. Note that the planets around Mu Arae and HD 10180 are gas giants in the habitable zone around sun-like stars, whose moons could possibly support life. The other two systems have rather eccentric orbits putting them only partly in that zone.

Furthermore, looking at the Kepler data from the Batalha et al paper, we find that many of the habitable zone planets are actually rather close to dim parent stars, i.e., red dwarfs of the late K to M spectral types with surface temperature of about 2500-4000 K and masses < .6*mass(Sun). These stars are often UV Ceti-type variables and are known frequently undergo eruptive flares with intense X-ray and visual wavelength outputs. So, even if their planets are in the habitable zone, their closeness could make any life of them rather susceptible to destruction by the UV Ceti type flares.

The planets in the habitable zone are circled in blue. Note that several systems are rather close to their parent red dwarfs.

All this said, based on the Kepler data there have been estimates floating around suggesting that there could be 5 * 10^8 to 2 *10^9 planets in the habitable zone across the Milk Way. So even if only one in a hundred of these can really sustain life, we might still have anywhere between 10^6-10^7 planets in our galaxy that could potentially have aliens on them. So, should we be hearing from them ?

Great men like Karl Gauss and Nicola Tesla felt we should be contacting them, while Enrico Fermi asked where are the aliens and why are we not hearing from them? Indeed, as far as we can tell there is no evidence thus far for any physical alien visitation since the two seeding events early in earth’s history [of course in stating this we are blithely dismissing all those who believe they had contact with the guy in the UFO or likes of Wickramasinghe and Hoyle, who despite their early contributions of note to the subject, took the rather untenable stance of microbes routinely raining down from space]. Now, we must clarify that we can expand on the above to distinguish several distinct scenarios: 1) physical arrival of non-intelligent (i.e. in the sense we understand animal intelligence) on Earth. As noted, a couple of related, but subtle arguments based on genomic evidence, support this happening early in Earth’s history. 2) The physical arrival extraterrestrial life or artificial intelligence equipped with intelligence similar to that seen in animals. We find no evidence for such thus far, and indeed it seems rather improbable. 3) Signals from extraterrestrial life, intelligent or otherwise. Life can send out signals both intentionally and unintentionally. For instance, we may have water planet wherein bioluminescent organisms could set up a planet-wide glow that we might detect, although the reason for their glowing might not be to communicate with aliens. Even intelligent life might not seek to communicate directly but set up planet-/solar-system-wide chemical alterations that might signal their presence. Thus, far we have received no such communication.

Given the Kepler results, we are learning a number of things: 1) It is clear, as many thinkers have been suspecting for at least the past 3000 years that the solar system is not exceptional and planetary systems are common place. 2) Even conservatively there are large number of planets that could sustain life in the Milky Way itself. 3) The Kepler data is clearly biased in favor if short period planets, i.e. those close to the sun, but over all the distribution of planets is already suggesting that our system is unlikely to be extraordinary in basic characteristics, i.e., planets closer to earth-size closer to the parent star and large planets farther out. 4) At the same time, it is telling us that there is an extraordinary diversity of planetary systems. This means we are still in the infancy our of understanding of planetary diversity and evolution and that there might be a lot of surprises. 5) The line between brown dwarfs and planets is a thin one and that they are part of the continuum all the way to regular stars. Talking of brown dwarfs, some of these are becoming rather interesting, namely the methane stars, which show a characteristic spectrum with both methane and water, which is similar to gas giants and the atmospheres of some of their moons. These methane dwarfs present themselves as yet another potential source for providing the raw materials for life.

Continued…

The worship of the mAtR^ikA-s lies at the root of the kaula system. We have earlier discussed the links of the mAtR^ikA worship with the kaumAra system. The presence of female deities, later explicitly termed mAtR^ikA-s or yoginI-s, in the retinue of rudra is alluded to even in the Vedic saMhitA-s. Indeed, those mantra-s are central to the mAtR^ikA krama, which will be described below. This mAtR^ikA krama is a basic ritual for the worship of the seven mAtR^ikA-s who constitute to the mAtR^ikANAM-kula-chakra. The additional deities in the chakra are vIrabhadra or vIraka and rudra. The seven mAtR^ikA-s and vIrabhadra/vIraka are placed in an octagon around the central rudra.

He may perform the rite during the day in his devagR^iha, or at night in a secluded spot or cremation ground. He procures a yoni-shaped lamp and lights it with the tip of the yoni image facing west. He himself is seated facing east. If he has a consecrated (dIkShitA) kulA~NganA, she sits facing west opposite to him. They then recite the following to initiate the rite:

shuklAmbaradharaM viShNuM shashi varNaM chaturbhujam |
prasanna vadanaM dhyAyet sarva vighnopa shAntaye ||

atha mAtR^ikA-kramaM kariShyAmi siddhir bhavatu me sadA ||

For each goddess/vIrabhadra he first begins with the following invocation:
brAhmIm AvAhayAmi dhyAyAmi namAmi |
mAheshvarIm AvAhayAmi dhyAyAmi namAmi |
kaumArIm AvAhayAmi dhyAyAmi namAmi |
vaiShNavIm AvAhayAmi dhyAyAmi namAmi |
varAhIm AvAhayAmi dhyAyAmi namAmi |
indrANIm AvAhayAmi dhyAyAmi namAmi |
chAmuNDAm AvAhayAmi dhyAyAmi namAmi |
vIrabhadram AvAhayAmi dhyAyAmi namAmi |

After the invocation formula specific to each goddess in the above list he follows it with the performance of pa~nchopachAra pUjA for her thus:
Scent offering (He smears sandal paste on the yonyAkAra dIpa): laM pR^ithivyAtmikAyai gandhaM samarpayAmi |
Flower offering (He places flowers around the yonyAkAra dIpa): haM AkAshAtmikAyai puShpaiH pUjayAmi |
Incense offering (He waves the incense stick before the yonyAkAra dIpa): yaM vAyvAtmikAyai dhUpamAghrAyAmi |
The lamp offering (He waves burning camphor before the yonyAkAra dIpa): raM agnyAtmikAyai dIpaM darshayAmi |
The food offering (He offers naivedya of sugar cane juice, vaTaka-s etc or whatever food offering he has): vam amR^itAtmikAyai amrita-mahAnaivedyam nivedayAmi |
The total offering (He bows to the yonyAkAra dIpa): saM sarvAtmikAyai sarvopachAra-pUjAM samarpayAmi |

He then offers tarpaNa-s uttering the formula specific to the given devI:
OM + brAhmIM; mAheshvarIM; kaumArIM; vaiShNavIM; vArAhIM; indrANIM; chAmuNDAM + tarpayAmi | (3 or 10 X)

When he comes to vIrabhadra he performs the pa~nchopachAra pUjA for him thus:
laM pR^ithivyAtmane gandhaM samarpayAmi |
haM AkAshAtmane puShpaiH pUjayAmi |
yaM vAyvAtmane dhUpam AghrApayAmi |
raM agnyAtmane dIpaM darshayAmi |
vam amR^itAtmane amR^itaM mahAnaivedyaM nivedayAmi |
saM sarvAtmane sarvopachArapUjAM samarpayAmi |

He follows this with the tarpaNa of vIrabhadra:
OM vIrabhadraM tarpayAmi | (3/10 X)

If accompanied by his kulA~NganA, he performs the secret ritual of pleasure accompanying each of the upachAra, which the kaula ritualist never reveals to the public. For this rite he invokes the goddesses in the dUtI and vIrabhadra in himself. For success in this practice, it is important that he never lose focus visualization of the goddesses and vIrabhadra in the organs. Moreover, his dUtI should necessarily have the instruction and dIkSha in the yoga of the offering to the deities in their respective organs and should do so both during the pa~nchopachAra pUjA at the utterance of each tarpaNa formula. Tradition holds that a veda-knowing brAhmaNa offers regular naivedya, while a tAntrika brAhmaNa or member of the remaining castes might offer kuladravya-s as specified in the the tripurArNava tantra of the shrIkula tradition. The meditation of the goddesses/vIrabhadra in the organs is done as per the following scheme:
brAhmI – East – brain
mAheshvarI – Southeast – heart
kaumArI – South – mind
vaiShNavI – Southwest – ears
vArAhI – West – skin
indrANI – Northwest – eyes
chAmuNDA – North – tongue
vIrabhadra – Northeast – nose

After the tarpaNa of each deity he then recites the below mantra each time followed by the specific mAtR^ikA mantra:
nama AvyadhinIbhyo namaH | vividhyantIbhyashcha namaH | vo namaH | nama ugaNabhyo namaH | tR^iMhatIbhyashcha namaH | vo namaH || (c.f. shatarUdrIya, TS).

If he is an atharvavedIn he instead utters the mantra:
namas te ghoShiNIbhyo namas te keshinIbhyaH |
namo namaskR^itAbhyo namaH saMbhu~njatIbhyaH |
namas te jAyamAnAyai jAtAyai uta te namaH || (c.f. AV-P 16.107.1b)

The specific mAtR^ikA mantra-s are:
brAhmI: OM bhUr bhuvas svaH | tat savitur vareNyaM bhargo devasya dhImahi | dhiyo yo naH prachodayAt | brAhmyai huM phaT namaH ||

mAheshvarI: OM bhuvaH | OM bhUr bhuvas svaH | tat savitur vareNyaM bhargo devasya dhImahi | dhiyo yo naH prachodayAt | mAheshvaryai huM phaT namaH ||

kaumArI: kvAm OM namo bhagavatyai kaumaryai shikhivahanyai mAM pAlaya pAlaya sakalAsuramardini ehy ehi ripUn mardaya mardaya huM huM phaT svAhA ||

vaiShNavI: OM vaM saM tat savitur vareNiyaM bhargo devasya dhImahi | dhiyo yo naH prachodayAt | vaiShNavyai huM phaT namaH ||

vArAhI: vaM vArAhyai namaH ||

indrANI: OM bhUr bhuvas svaH | indrAnI mAsu nArisu supatnI mahamashravam | na hyasyA .aparam cha na jarasAmarate patiH | svaH bhuvaH bhUrOM namaH ||

chamuNDA: hrIM namo bhagavatyai chAmuNDIshvaryai | sarva-shatru-vinAshinI sarva-loka-bhayaMkarI ehyehi mAM rakSha rakSha mama shatrUn bhakShaya bhakShaya huM phaT namaH ||

For the deployment of each of the above mantra-s the deshika performs the visualization of the respective goddess by reciting the below dhyAna verses. If he is accompanied by his dUtI he invokes the goddess into her and also visualizes the goddess in her.

brAhmI:
raktAM rakta-sumAlya-lepa-vasanAM bhUShAdibhir-bhUShitAM |
shuddhAM smera-chatur-mukhIM shubhataragrIvAM dvinetrAMchalAM ||
devIM daNDa-kamaNDaluM-sruva-sruchAkSha-srag-karAMbhoruhAM |
brAhmIM bhakta-janeShTadAna-niratAM vande suhaMsAsanAM ||

mAheshvarI:
shvetAbhAM shveta-vastrAM kuchabharanamitAM shveta-mAlyAbhirAmAm |
tredhA shUlaM kapAlaM kanaka-maNi-japAsrag-vahantIM karAbjaiH ||
vande .anaDvAha-rUDhAM smita-vishada-chatur-vaktra-padmAM trinetrAM |
mAheshIM snighdha-keshIM maNimaya-valayAM manyu-yuktAM prasannAM ||

kaumArI:
pItAbhAM shakti-khaDgAbhaya-vara-subhujAM pItamAlyAM shukADhyAM |
devIM barhAdhirUDhAM himakara-shakalA baddha-nIlAlakAntAM ||
nAnA-ratnair virachitair anukhachita-mahAbhUShaNair bhUShitA~NgAM |
dhyAyet sarvArtha-siddhyai praNata-bhayaharAM divyahArAM kumArIM ||

vaiShNavI:
marakata-maNi-nIlA nIlavAsovasAnA |
vidhR^ita maNi-japAsrag-kaMbu-chakrAmbujADhyA ||
chapala-garuDAruDhA sarvato vaktra-padmA |
dishatu sumaghadeyI jivanI vaiShNavI naH ||

vArAhI:
vajropalasamAM nIlAM prasannAM mahiShAsanAM |
sarva-dukhaharAM ghorAM stabdhalomAnanAM numaH ||

indrANI:
hemAbhAM varamAlikAbhirachitAM hemAM prasannAnanAM |
nAnA-ratna-vibhUShitAM nava-navAM nAthAM harIshAdinAM ||
mAyAtIta-parAkramAM mada-gaja-skandhe-nibaddhAsanAM |
vande nAga-vinAshinIM vanakaraM vajrAyudhodyat-karAM ||

chAmuNDA:
dhyAyet pretAsanasthAM musala-shara-gadA-khaDga-kuntAsy-abhItIH |
gotrAdAnaM sharAsaM-parigha-jaladhikaM-pAsha-kheTaM-varaM cha ||
hastAMbhojair vahantIM shashi-ravI-nayanAM akSha-varNAtma-rUpAM |
chAmuNDAM muNDamAlAM sakala-ripuharAM shyAmalAM komalA~NgIM ||

For vIrabhadra he uses the following mantra (he invokes vIrabhadra in his own forehead):
namo gaNebhyo namaH | gaNapatibhyash cha namaH | vo namaH ||
An atharvavedIn instead utters the incantation:
rudrasyailabakArebhyo .asaMsUktagilebhyo .akaraM namaH ||

Any of the above are followed by:
OM vIrabhadrAya vairivaMsha-vinAshAya sarvalokabhayaMkarAya bhImAveShaya huM phaT shmrauM shmrauM hrIM khaM phaT ripUn phaT namaH ||

He visualizes vIrabhadra thus:
marakata-maNi-nIla ki~NkiNI-jAla-mAlam |
prakaTita-mukham-IshaM bhAnu-somAgni-netram |
ari-daram-asi-kheTaty-agra-muNDAgra-hastam |
vidhudharam-ahi-bhUShaM vIrabhadraM namAmi ||

Then he invokes rudra in the flame of the yonyAkAra dIpa:
bhavam AvAhayAmi dhyAyAmi namAmi |
sharvam AvAhayAmi dhyAyAmi namAmi |
ishAnam AvAhayAmi dhyAyAmi namAmi |
pashupatim AvAhayAmi dhyAyAmi namAmi |
rudram AvAhayAmi dhyAyAmi namAmi |
ugram AvAhayAmi dhyAyAmi namAmi |
bhImam AvAhayAmi dhyAyAmi namAmi |
mahAdevam AvAhayAmi dhyAyAmi namAmi |

He then performs the pa~nchopachAra:
laM pR^ithivyAtmane gandhaM samarpayAmi |
haM AkAshAtmane puShpaiH pUjayAmi |
yaM vAyvAtmane dhUpam AghrApayAmi |
raM agnyAtmane dIpaM darshayAmi |
vam amR^itAtmane amR^itaM mahAnaivedyaM nivedayAmi |
saM sarvAtmane sarvopachArapUjAM samarpayAmi |

Then he performs the tarpaNa:
bhavaM tarpayAmi |
sharvaM tarpayAmi |
ishAnaM tarpayAmi |
pashupatiM tarpayAmi |
rudraM tarpayAmi |
ugraM tarpayAmi |
bhImaM tarpayAmi |
mahAdevaM tarpayAmi |

Then he identifies with rudra and deploys the pa~nchabrahma mantra-s followed by kad rudrAya:
sadyojAtaM prapadyAmi sadyojAtAya vai namo namaH |
bhave bhave nAtibhave bhavasva mAm |
bhavodbhavAya namaH ||

vAmadevAya namo jyeshThAya namash shreshThAya namo rudrAya namaH kAlAya namaH kalavikaraNAya namo balavikaraNAya namo balAya namo balapramathanAya namas sarva-bhUtadamanAya namo manonmanAya namaH ||

aghorebhyo .atha ghorebhyo ghora-ghoratarebhyaH |
sarvebhyas sarva-sharvebhyo namaste astu rudra rUpebhyaH ||

tat puruShAya vidmahe mahAdevAya dhImahi |
tanno rudraH prachodayAt ||

IshAnas sarva-vidyAnAm Ishvaras sarva-bhUtAnAm brahmA.adhipatir brahmaNo.adhipatir brahmA |
shivo me astu sadAshivOM ||

kad rudrAya prachetase mIDhushTamAya tavyase |
vo chema shantamaM hR^ide |
sarvo hy eSha rudras tasmai rudrAya namo astu ||

The atharvavedin replaces the kad rudrAya mantra with the following triad of mantra-s:

yas samAno yo .asamAno .amitro no jighAMsati |
rudraH sharavyayA tAn amitrAn no vi vidhyatu || AV-P 1.20.3

rudra yat te guhyaM nAma yat te addhAtayo viduH |
shivA sharavyA yA tava tayA no mR^iDa jIvase || AV-P 1.95.2

stuhi shrutaM gartasadaM janAnAM rAjAnaM bhImam upahatnum ugraM |
mR^iDa jaritre rudra ha stavAno anyam asut te ni vapantu senyaM || AV-P 18.60.10

His dUtI, if present, performs the yoga of the pleasing of rudra mentally meditating on rudra as the great fire.

The visualization for rudra is done with the following dhyAna shloka:
dhyAyAmi vai rudra-rUpaM sarva-loka-maheshvaram |
shuddha-sphaTika-saMkAShaM triNetraM pa~ncha-vaktrakam ||
ga~NgAdharaM daSha-bhujaM sarvAbharaNa-bhUshitam |
nIlagrIvaM shashA~NkA~NkaM nAga-yaj~nopavItinam ||
vyAghra-charmottariyaM cha vareNyam abhayapradam |
kamaNDvalv-aksha-sUtrANi dhAriNaM shUlapANinaM ||
jvalantaM pi~Ngala-jaTaM shikhAmadhyoda-dhAriNaM |
vR^iSha-skandha samArUDhaM shAshvataM vishvatomukhaM||
amR^itenAplutaM shAntaM divya-bhoga-samanvitaM |
dig-devatA-samAyuktaM surAsura-namaskR^itaM ||
nityaM cha paramANuM vai dhruvam-aksharam-avyayaM |
sarva-vyApinam-IshAnaM rudraM vai vishva-rUpiNaM ||

This is followed by vaishvadeva-tarpaNaM:
agniM tarpayAmi | vAyuM tarpayAmi | somaM tarpayAmi | indraM tarpayAmi | marutaH tarpayAmi | IshAnaM tarpayAmi | varuNaM tarpayAmi | mitraM tarpayAmi | aryamaNaM tarpayAmi | viShNuM tarpayAmi | pUShaNaM tarpayAmi | bhagaM tarpayAmi | devaM savitAraM tarpayAmi | tvaShtAraM tarpayAmi | dhAtAraM tarpayAmi | ashvinau tarpayAmi | bR^ihaspatiM tarpayAmi | prajApatiM tarpayAmi | R^ibhUn tarpayAmi | skandaM tarpayAmi | yamaM tarpayAmi | vaishravaNaM tarpayAmi | dhanvantariM tarpayAmi | tArkShyaM ariShtanemIM tarpayami | sarvAn devAn tarpayAmi |aditiM tarpayAmi | sarasvatIM tarpayAmi | nirR^itiM tarpayAmi | sarva-deva-patnIH tarpayAmi | sarva-deva-gaNAn tarpayAmi | sarva-deva-gaNa-patnIH tarpayAmi ||

He can perform this krama as a stand alone or initiate it with a preceding homa. For this he kindles the fire with the mantra: “tvam agne rudro asuro mahodivaH…” and makes it blaze with “A vo rAjAnaM adhvarasya rudraM …” He make offering with the svAhAnta mantra-s instead of the namo.anta mantra-s specified above. He concludes the offerings with “agne naya supatha…”

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Notes
* The yonyAkAra-dIpa: Below is an example of the yonyAkAra dIpa we use in this ritual.

* The krama is predominantly observed among those closely linked to the smArta tradition, with links to the now largely lost AV system. The connections between the AV-tradition and the later mantra-mArga are found in texts such as the a~Ngirasa kalpa, which links the AV-P tradition to the kAlIkula and pA~NcharAtra. The tripurArNava tantra of the shrIkula also have a chapter on the deployment of the atharvaveda (will be discussed eventually on these pages). The kubjikA- kula or paschimAmnAya has the atharvan connection in the form of the kubjikA upaniShad. The Asuri-kalpa links the AV tradition to the daurgA mata. Such texts were studied in Kashmir, Nepal, Orissa, Gujarat and the Vijayanagaran empire.

* Most mantra-s follow the forms specified in the AkAshabhairava tantra.

* Atharvavedin-s performed such a krama in the remote and once glorious Sathalapur saptamAtR^ikA temple in kali~Nga, which is now in ruins.

* A parallel to the yoga performed in this ritual is found in the famous dehasta-devatA-chakra stotraM of the illustrious abhinavagupta. There the deities invoked within the body are placed in the maNDala of the kaula deities Ananda-bhairava and Ananda-bhairavI. The order of deities in that maNDala is thus:
gaNapati – vaTuka
Ananda-bhairava – guru – Ananda-bhairavI
brAhmI-mAheshvarI-kaumArI-vaiShNavI-vArAhI-chAmuNDA-mahAlakShmI
kShetrapAla

The mAtR^i-s and gaNa-s of rudra:
The image of rudra being accompanied by female deities is an ancient one which goes back to the shruti. In the shatarudrIya of the yajurveda the following mantra-s are seen:
nama AvyadhinIbhyo vividhyantIbhyash cha vo namaH | nama ugaNAbhyas tR^igMhatIbhyash cha vo namaH |

Similarly in the atharvaveda the following mantra-s are seen:
namas te ghoShiNIbhyo | namas te keshinIbhyaH |namas saMbhu~njatIbhyo | namo namaskR^itAbhyaH | namas te jAyamAnAyai | jAtAyA uta te namaH | AV-P 16.106.11

These mantra-s describe rudra’s agents, female deities who assume various forms, who are organized as female hordes, who strike with tridents (tR^iMhatI) and devour their targets (saMbhu~njatI). In the KS, kAlIdAsa furnishes a great poetic description of the march of the mAtR^I-s and kAlI in rudra’s retinue. Though, here rudra is portrayed as being as yet unmarried, he is never separated from his kula of shakti-s, who accompany his marriage procession along with his gaNa-s. This association is the root of the yoginI tradition, which in turn lies at the root of the tAntrika kaula tradition. The intermediates between the ugaNA-s and vividhyantI-s of the shruti and the mAtR^ikA-s of the later tradition are seen in the form of the mAtR^ikA-s associated with kumAra in the mahAbhArata and early kaumAra texts. The ritual system of manthAna rudra preserves early elements of the yoginI-rudra association similar to what is alluded to in the shruti. Now on to kAlIdAsa’s verses:

taM mAtaro devam anuvrajantyaH sva-vAhana-kShobha-chalA-vataMsAH |
mukhaiH prabhA-maNDala-reNu-gauraiH padmAkaraM chakrur ivAntarIkSham || 7.38 ||

The mAtR^i-s who followed the god, with their earrings swaying to movements of their respective mounts, seemed to make the welkin like a field of lotuses, with their faces hallowed by the radiant orbs of fair pollen.

tAsAM cha pashchAt kanaka-prabhANAM kAlI kapAlAbharaNA chakAse |
balAkinI nIlapayodarAjI dUraM puraH kShipta shatahradeva || 7.39 ||

Behind those [mAtR^i-s] shining like gold, was kAlI dressed in gleaming white [implied by the metaphor of the egrets] skulls, like a flock of egrets against dark blue clouds [also a metaphor for the breasts of kAlI] that cast hundred flashes of lighting far ahead of them.

tato gaNaiH shUlabhR^itaH purogair udIrito ma~Ngala-tUrya-ghoShaH |
vimAna-shR^i~NgANy avagAhamAnaH shashaMsa sevAvasaraM surebhyaH || 7.40 ||

Those gaNa-s [of rudra], holding tridents, flew in the sky in front [of him], with the auspicious sounds of pipes resonating with the crests of their airplanes declared that the time for the service [of rudra] by the deva-s had come.

The kavI as a naturalist:
The great Kashmirian savant kShemendra had pointed out that a kavI should be a naturalist among other things. Indeed, this tradition is well-borne at least among the kavI-s before the assault on Hindu traditions by the marUnmatta-s. On these pages we have illustrated this in the form of the sketches of bhavabhUti and vAkpatirAja from the neo-mauryan court of yashovarman and alluded to it in the works of the great bhoja-deva. In kAlidAsa we see some relative early examples of the same tradition:

vanecharANAM vanitAsakhAnAM darI-gR^ihotsa~Nga-niShakta-bhAsaH |
bhavanti yatrauShadhayo rajanyAm atailapUrAH surata-pradIpAH || 1.10 ||

Junglemen with girlfriends residing in caves with glowing walls can pursue their sexual pleasures without needing to fill oil lamps as the glowing “herbs” light up darkness.

This in our opinion is one of the earliest records of a bioluminescent fungi. In Hindu tradition we encounter the mention of glowing “herbs” as special toxins or remedies held by the ashvin-s:
oShadhIr dIpyamAnAsh cha jagR^ihAte .ashvinAv api | Mbh 1.218.032a

This suggests that kAlidAsa was not the first in Hindu tradition to record these bioluminescent fungi. Interestingly, bioluminescent fungi can be encountered in the wet hilly regions in several parts of India. For example we have seen them in the remarkable forest surrounding the bhImashaMkara jyotirli~Nga. However, despite the Hindu knowing of them for ages they remain poorly characterized to date. They probably are from the mycenoid lineage

kapola-kaNDUH karibhir vinetuM vighaTTitAnAM sarala-drumANAm |
yatra srutakShIratayA prasUtaH sAnUni gandhaH surabhI-karoti || 1.9 ||

Where elephants trying to rub off the itch [due to the ichor oozing from their] temporal glands on pine trees give rise to flows of resin and make the mountain ridges sweet-scented.

Here kAlidasa makes the observation regarding tree-rubbing by elephants in musth. With a long history of elephant domestication going back to the Indus civilization, the Hindus were well familiar with the behavioral patterns of the elephant. kalidAsa’s observation regarding tree-rubbing by the Indian elephant in musth may be compared with the description of of the same by modern naturalists studying its African counterpart:

“This Musth-Temporal gland secretion may be distinguished from Temporin by its congealed appearance and strong odor… Musth males rub their temporal glands against trees…Marking may be so vigorous that the male departs with bark and debris on the side of his face. Dissected temporal glands have been found to have pieces of bark embedded deep inside them. Non-musth elephants also mark, but the behavior is more ritualized among musth males.” – Poole and Granli in The Amboseli Elephants: A Long-Term Perspective on a Long-Lived Mammal

One may take this verse to imply that the mountain flanks (of the himAlAya which he is describing here) are made fragrant by virtue of both the resin oozing from the conifers abraded by the elephant and also by the musk-like odor of the temporal gland secretion with odoriferous compounds. As with the luminescent fungi, whose biology is unclear, the biology of musth is also mysterious. It clearly corresponds to a huge (up to 60 fold) spike in the testosterone levels in the male elephant with corresponding behavioral and physiological changes. The temporal gland itself is a modified sweat gland, and its secretions are believed to elicit an avoidance response in calves and females. The odoriferous compounds in it include dimethyl disulfide (foul odor), cyclohexanone (has a peculiar sweet odor), 2-Nonanol (a cucumber-like odor), 2-Nonanone (a cheesy odor), and (E)-farnesol (a compound found in many scents). Thus, marking its presence based on odoriferous compounds appears to be an important aspect of musth.

Continuing with elephants, we may also consider:
nyastAkSharA dhAtu-rasena yatra bhUrja-tvachaH ku~njara-bindu-shoNAH |
vrajanti vidyAdhara-sundarINAm ana~Nga-lekha-kriyayopayogam || 1.7 ||

Where [i.e. the himAlAya-s] the vidyAdhara beauties go for birch bark to use in writing their love letters with mineral extracts, which are like the pink spots on the elephant skin.

Here kAlidAsa compares the writing of the vidyAdhAra females on birch bark to the depigmented spots appearing on elephants skin with age. Such depigmentation is largely seen only in Indian elephants and develops mainly around the head, trunk and ears. This depigmentation on the frontal surface of the trunk in particular is indeed reminiscent of the lenticular bark of the Himalayan white-barked birch with the writing on it. This birch can grow high in the himAlAya along with the conifers that are also mention in 1.9.

He has more allusions on conifers, for example:
bhAgIrathI-nirjhara shIkarANAM voDhA muhuH kampita devadAruH |
yad vAyur anviShTa mR^igaiH kirAtair Asevyate bhinna-shikhaNDi-barhaH || 1.15 ||

Whose [i.e. the himAlaya's] breeze carrying the mists from cascade of bhAgIrathI (i.e. ga~NgA), which repeatedly causes the Himalayan cedars to tremble and the spreads apart the crests and plumage of the peacocks is enjoyed by the tribesmen in the quest for animals.

shR^i~NgAra:

The whole of the kumAra-saMbhava is a shR^i~NgAra kAvya – so what more needs to be said one might ask? In the earliest days of kAvya, as seen in its beginnings in the veda, and then in the itihAsa-s, the kavI-s were most eloquent in the vIrya rasa – be it in the sUkta-s of the R^igveda praising the heroic acts of the great indra or in the itihAsa-s praising the many heroes at founding of the Hindu nation. Indeed, this might even be considered the heritage of the warlike Indo-Europeans, from whom the Hindus trace a part of their genetic and most of their cultural ancestry. This rasa was also not lost on the drAviDa-s, as can be seen in their earliest expressions upon contact with the Indo-Aryans – the purAnanuru as a whole is a paean to the heroic society of the Tamil regions. But as Hindu civilization matured, the one rasa Hindu poets consistently excelled at was shR^i~NgAra. The roots of this in the saMskR^ita world, while seen an nascent form in the rAmAyaNa and the purANa-s, really came of its own only in the classical kAvya realm. This was mirrored in the earliest Tamil expressions in the form of the akanAnuru. Hence, we shall give a few sketches, for after all in kAlidAsa we see not just relatively early examples of this rAsa that was to dominate later kAvya, but some of its most splendid examples.

yatrAMshukAkShepa-vilajjitAnAM yadR^ichChayA kiMpuruShA~NganAnAm |
darI-gR^iha-dvAra-vilambi-bimbAs tiraskariNyo jaladA bhavanti || 1.14 ||

Where [i.e. himAlaya], fortuitously, if the kinnara ladies were to turn shy when their clothes are taken off, the hanging masses of clouds become curtains for the doors of their cave dwellings.

This is a classic example of how a kavI works into his description of natural beauty, i.e. the cloud-girt slopes of the himAlaya, the trope of the shR^i~NgAra rasa.

Of course 8th sarga, describing the dalliance of rudra and umA that resulted in kumAra’s birth, is one of the best pieces of this rasa in saMskR^ita literature and has to be enjoyed as a whole for its unmatched beauty, which is not easily rendered in any other language. Here we just reproduce a pentad:

lohitArka-maNibhAjanArpitaM kalpa-vR^ikSha madhu bibhratI svayam |
tvAm iyaM sthiti-matIm upasthitA gandhamAdana-vanAdhidevatA || 8.75 ||

[rudra tells umA]: “The prime goddess of the gandhamAdana forest is arriving, she herself bringing for you in a chalice made of sun-red ruby wine made from the kalpa trees.”

Ardra-kesara-sugandhi te mukhaM matta-rakta-nayanaM svabhAvataH |
atra labdha-vasatir guNAntaraM kiM vilAsini madaH kariShyati || 8.76 ||

“By your own nature your mouth is naturally fragrant as the fresh saffron flower, and your eye lids have a red shade, sensuous one, what further sensual merits can wine give you?”

mAnya bhaktir athavA sakhIjanaH sevyatAm idam ana~Nga dIpanam |
ity udAram abhidhAya sha~Nkaras tAm apAyayata pAnam ambikAm || 8.77 ||

“However, honor the devotion of your friend by accepting this [beverage] which will light up love”, saying so, with his generosity shaMkara gave aMbikA the liquor.

pArvatI tad upayoga sambhavAM vikriyAm api satAM manoharAm |
apratarkya-vidhi-yoga-nirmitAm Amrateva sahakAratAM yayau || 8.78 ||

When pArvatI had drunk that wine, she was transformed, yet she captivated the mind as though by some inconceivable procedure an ordinary mango were to become a sahakAra mango (the most flavored of the Indian mangoes).

tat-kShaNaM viparivartita-hriyor neShyatoH shayanam iddha-rAgayoH |
sA babhUva vashavartinI dvayoH shUlinaH suvadanA madasya cha || 8.79 ||

At that moment, her pretty face was in the control of both trident-bearer and the liquor, both took away her coyness, and both led her to the bed and both became kindled passion.

brahmA:
The late Vedic period saw the spectacular rise of the deity prajApati. Diversifying as a god of many functions, including the deity of the year, the progenitor of the deva-s and asura-s, the source of the universe in the form of the hiraNyagarbha, the supreme deity and the embodiment of the Vedic ritual, he began encroaching in a big way on the primacy of the old great gods of proto-Indo-European vintage in the Vedic pantheon. It was his role as the embodiment of the Vedic ritual that appears to have greatly fueled his evolution and dominance in the circles of the ritualists who were reorganizing the older rites into the classical shrauta form represented by the later layers of the brAhmaNa literature. As consequence he appears to have been a major deity in system of the early post-Vedic mImAmsaka-s. This emerging preeminence of prajApati in the Vedic circles also started coloring the developing mythosphere of the Hindus. In the rAmAyaNa, while, indra the foremost deity of the old IE system is still the dominant figure of poetic metaphor and the model for the epic, we find that his position is seriously challenged by prajApati under his preferred post-Vedic apellation, brahmA, who is presented as the preeminent member of the pantheon. This trend is retained in the first concrete layer of the purANa-s as they survive. It was this preeminent brahmA who came in competition with the expanding sectarian cults of the powerful deities of the old IE system, rudra and viShNu, as also the other new ascendent deity kumAra. It was this brahmA, as the foremost symbol of the post-Vedic mImAmsaka-s, whose paramountcy was targeted by the anti-Vedic attacks of the tathAgata. Eventually, the dominance of the cults of rudra and viShNu within the Astika realm, along with the attacks from without, resulted in the decline of brahmA. Nevertheless, as late as abhinavagupta’s works we still encounter holdouts of the system of brahmA worship, which appears to have survived among the remaining prAjApatya mImAMsaka-s. In sarga-2 of the KS we encounter a great stuti of brahmA, suggesting that he had not yet lost his place to ascendent gods in the Astika realm. Indeed, many descriptions of him in this sarga still evocative of the grandeur from his heydays.

His role is primarily presented as different flavors of the saMkhyan universal progenitor:

namas trimUrtaye tubhyaM prAk sR^iShTeH kevalAtmane |
guNatrayavibhAgAya pashchAd bhedam upeyuShe || 2.4 ||

[The deva-s said:] “Obeisance to you for three fold form, who prior to the emission [of the universe] you existed as the sole consciousness, you who divided yourself into the three primary facets of matter and thereafter became the diversity of matter.”

yad amogham apAm antar uptaM bIjam aja tvayA |
atash charAcharaM vishvaM prabhavas tasya gIyase || 2.5 ||

“Because all mobile and sessile organisms are from the infallible germ you, the unborn one, sowed in water, you are sung as being their origin.”

sva-kAla-parimANena vyasta-rAtriM divasya te |
yau tu svapnAvabodhau tau bhUtAnAM pralayodayau || 2.8 ||

You divide night and day by your measure of time and your sleep and awakening are the end and the begin of beings.

dravaH saMghAta kaThinaH sthUlaH sUkShmo laghur guruH |
vyakto vyaktetarash chAsi prAkAmyaM te vibhUtiShu || 2.11 ||

“You are fluid, and also solid when compacted, you are both bulk matter and the minute particles, light and heavy, manifest and unmanifest, you appear as you wish in all your manifestations.”

tvAm Amananti prakR^itiM puruShArtha-pravartinIm |
tad darshinam udAsInaM tvAm eva puruShaM viduH || 2.13 ||

They opine that you are the the prakR^iti [matter] that is evolving, for the sake of the puruSha [consciousness], are also known as the puruSha that is the unaffected witness of the evolution of prakR^iti.

The below account is mainly for mantra-theorists and practitioners in the circle but certain points might interest others who are in the know. Certain things will left unstated, which can be understood “between the lines” by such sAdhaka-s. While the practice under discussion is a nAstika one its deeper links will not be lost to Astika mantravAdin-s.

The worship of AkAshagarbha is specified in the charyA layer of the tAthAgata tantra-s. Its practice belongs to the texts of the mahAvairochanAbhisaMbodhi tantraM family. This class of texts was transmitted to the chIna-s by the tAntrika-s (vajrabodhi of kA~NchIpuraM and amoghavajra) who journeyed to the Tang court to perform rituals for the emperors. From there it was transmitted to Japan. In 717 CE, the illustrious kShatriya mantravAdin shubhakara-siMha revealed to the chIna-s a new mantra-vidhi for AkAshagarbha that was supposed to confer the siddhi of extraordinary hearing, memory and vision on to the sAdhaka. In 718 CE a Japanese mantra-sAdhaka, Doji, obtained dIkSha in this vidhi directly from shubhakara-siMha (whose portrait is preserved in Japan) and transmitted it to the island. In around 796 CE the Japanese genius kUkai learned the vidhi from a mantravAdin and became an ubasoku (Skt: upAsaka) of this mantra practice. He assiduously practiced this in isolation on the Pacific coast by scaling the cliff of Mount tairyU in awa and the cape of muroto in tosa. As result he is supposed to have attained the remarkable vision of AkAshagarbha that eventually led him to found the shingon tradition in Japan and eventually compose an enormous tAntrika work titled “himitisu mandara jUjUshinron” (Ten abiding stages of the mind according to the secret maNDala-s). Those familiar with Japanese mantra tradition inform us that this a very well-developed paddhati for mantra practice. Not surprisingly, this vidhi of AkAshagarbha, known to the Japanese as the “kokUzO bosatu nOman shogan saishOshin dhAraNI gumonji hO”, which is a close translation of the Chinese translation produced by shubharakara-siMha in 717, has an important place in their tAntrika practice.

It is an arduous practice like several other related nAstika and Astika mantra practices aimed at obtaining siddhi-s and cannot be easily performed by aspirants. An account of its performance in 1955 CE is given by the great Japanese mantravAdin, professor taikO yamasaki. Before going into his account we shall consider the mantra of AkAshagarbha used in this practice:

The Japanese record it as:
nObO akyashakyarabaya OM Ary kyamAri bori sowaka ||

Which is a distortion of the original saMskR^ita form:
namo AkAshagarbhAya OM Arya kAmAri maulI svAhA ||

This mantra is from the paddhati of shubhakara-siMha [Footnote 1] and is not found in the complex yantra recorded in the mahAvairochana sUtra as preserved by chIna-s (lost in bhArata). There it is:
[namaH samantabuddhAnAM] AkAsha-samatAnugata vicitrAmbaradhara svAhA ||

An interesting point to note is that the Japanese have changed some of the original instructions to shubhakara-siMha’s vidhi in order suit their practice. This illustrates how rituals change as they are adapted by new practitioners in different settings. In shubhakara-siMha’s instruction the sAdhaka used a sealed vial of milk symbolizing the “amR^ita” of mantra-siddhi. After performance of the akAshagarbha-vidhi the milk vial was opened and the way in which the milk had fermented was used to indicate the degree of success of the sAdhana. In Japan as milk was not commonly known due the lactose-intolerance of the Easterners this process was omitted. The original vidhi also specified the use of a sphaTika mAlA, but the Japanese found that to oheavy to use and replaced it with a mAlA made from the wood of the beautiful Torreya nucifera pine. The original Indian version of the rite was performed at a more relaxed pace with 10800 repetitions of the mantra every day for 100 days, with daily japa sessions of about 5 hours, reaching a count of 1080000 at the end. The Japanese practice is half that with 21600 repetitions per day in two sessions totaling to 10 hours. This practice is typically initiated by the sAdhaka at the brahma muhUrta (~3.00 AM) while he has withdrawn into isolation.The practitioner also limits his salt intake before the performance and during the performance does not eat after noon. Thus, this kind of sAdhana cannot be undertaken by any one except those in best physical condition. The ritual hall itself is open so that the sAdhaka can glimpse the stars. On the eastern side there is a wall with an opening in the middle to see the the stars and the eastern horizon (this is the reason we hear of kUkai performing it high in the mountains). On the wall a picture of AkAshagarbha is hung which is covered by a white cloth except at the time of the sAdhana. Immediately below the painting, a maNDala of AkAshagarbha, along with the rest of the pantheon of the mahAvairochanAbhisaMbodhi texts, carved in wood, specified in the paddhati of shubhakara siMha is kept on an wooden four-legged stool. An oil lamp is placed in front of it which is keep burning through the rite. In Japan such meditation halls exist in a few places, including at a temple at the original place where kUkai had performed his sAdhana.

The core of the sAdhana involves the meditation of AkAshagarbha in the disc of the planet Venus even as it seen above the eastern horizon. The right is done such that the last day corresponds to a solar or lunar eclipse with the number of days of sAdhana counted backwards. The practice itself begins with a pUja of AkAshagarbha in Venus just before it rises in the East. Then he draws two pails of water for ritual use. With water from one of the buckets he performs Achamana with the purificatory visualization. Then he prepares the offerings and enters the ritual arena wearing a white mask over his nose and mouth. In the hall he bows to the image of AkAshagarbha and lifts the white screen with a special stick while seated in the svastikAsana. Thereafter, he performs pa~nchA~Nga nyAsa while visualize being absorbed by AkAshagarbha followed by the other deities of the maNDala. Then he utters a mantra on the water and sprinkles it over the maNDala and the floor. Then he displays dhUpa and invokes a kavacha of the maNDala deities. Thereafter, he meditates on his unity with AkAshagarbha as depicted in the image and invokes the deity into the maNDala. Then he uses the ritual water specified for the deity to wash his feet, rings the bell and makes the five-fold offerings. He worships the tathAgata-s thereafter and performs a sarvA~Nga nyAsa and digbandha. This done he gets into the core ritual visualizing AkAshagarbha in the rising Venus, while doing japa with his akShamAla. He conceives a white disc on the chest of the deity in which the arNa-s of the mantra appear. He meditates on the mantra thus flowing from the deity emitting a golden hue and entering himself through the crown of his head, exiting via his mouth and reentering the deity via his feet. This cycle is kept throughout the ritual. However, in the last round the he performs the dharmadhAtu pravesha meditation in which he conceives the white disk with the mantrArNa-s expanding to occupy the entire universe and then contracting back to the original size. After this he concludes the ritual with the with the initial maNDala vidhi and the japa of the mantra of mahAvairochana and the other primary deities of the maNDala. Then after stuti-s and stotra-s he performs the digvimochana and upasthAna of the deity.

taikO yamasaki’s first person account of the ritual gives some important points: He mentions that early in his sAdhana he suffered from physical pain in the legs and back that eventually gave way to a tranquil clarity. He also experienced non-dual consciousness, and described this experience in no different terms than the various sAdhaka-s who have been there before. He also mentions intense hallucinatory experiences that he states could have shaken anyone with a weaker physique or mental constitution. He mentions a vivid vision in which a mantravAdin appeared and offered him a secret mudra, but he did not get distracted as that could have completely ruined his sAdhana. Interestingly, he notes that shubhakarasiMha had a similar experience while performing this sAdhana in which he was tempted with a mantra for invisibility. This is what is implied in certain tAntrika texts which talk of siddhi-s which can distract as also in the classical yoga tradition. At the end yamasaki attained siddhi from his sAdhana as mentioned in the texts of his tradition.

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Footnote 1: This mantra while for bauddha devatA has elements of a shaiva mantra – kAmArI and maulin being epithets of shiva. A bauddha informed me that the correct bauddha saMskR^ita form was actually:
namo AkAshagarbhAya OM Arya kamala-maulI svAhA ||
or
namo AkAshagarbhAya OM Arya kamalI maulI svAhA ||

Where he is perceived as having a lotus garden or lotus diadem. This is consistent with taikO yamasaki’s interpretation of the mantra. It is possible that the conversion of Astika-s to the nAstika fold in bhArata led to reinterpretation of it using more familiar shaiva epithets or that originally shaiva epithets were reinterpreted in a nAstika form. A mantra-theorist might ponder upon how a grossly mispronounced mantra might still confer siddhi upon a prAchya sAdhaka.

S has a remarkable collection of tales concerning her observations at the interface between disease, folk tAntrika ritual and the high realms of mantra prayoga. With her permission I retell a few. She had agreed to revisit this topic many years back but her niece came in the way that time :-) In the mean time, she consulted her notes and got a chance to tell us some of the tales, of which we shall reproduce one here in our own words:

When she was an intern before leaving for the shores of the krau~ncha continent, she encountered one such case. A juvenile male patient was afflicted by pains in his legs and knees. He was taken to a practitioner of modern medicine who treated him with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. This did not make any difference to the patients pain. Then he was x-rayed and prescribed injections of steroids, which also failed to help him in anyway. He then started developing fevers that would irregularly affect him in the evenings but generally disappear by morning. When the modern physician failed to treat the patient, his family took him to an Ayurvaidika, who treated him with massages of different taila-s and dietary prescriptions. Even as the modern treatments, these failed too. The Ayurvaidika then told the patient’s parents to take him to a follower of the nAtha tradition known as bhagat (a bhakta). The bhagat conducted a “bhUt darshan” in which he claimed that he was informed by a bhUta the patient was afflicted due a valaga that had been implanted in their residence. He recommended that the valaga be uprooted, but the patient’s parents were unable to locate the valaga in their search of their residence. He then suggested that they seek help from the bhairava from a temple in the great holy city of jalandhara [CP says that he has been to the temple but did not see any bhagat-s himself]. So they went there and found a bhagat in that temple who said that if the valaga was not uprooted then due to his ritual the effects of the valaga will be transferred to someone else in the family. The parents accepted this deal and said they would take it from their son. Three days after the ritual their son was completely relieved of all the symptoms and now they appeared in his mother instead. They went again to the temple in jalandhara but could no longer find the bhagat, and the mother was saddled with the affliction for three years. While other bhagat-s worked on her, it apparently made no difference.

At this point the patient visited S for some kind of medical relief because she helped patients of lower economic status with subsidies or free consultation. In the first visit S suspected some kind of inflammatory trouble in the joints and treated the patient with an NSAID. S was intrigued to note that the patient reported no improvement whatsoever and and in the second visit made a more detailed “chikitsa”. She asked for X-rays, but at the same time heard of the abhichAra angle from the patient. At this point she decided to follow two alternative paths – one treat her with vitamin B complex and D supplements and explore the possibility of folie a deux-like psychosis. As the former course was likely to be generally beneficial S decided to prescribe them anyhow and decided to test the latter by treating with a syrup of chlorpromazine. After a two weeks she felt some noticeable improvement but not complete relief. So pursuing the psychosis angle S told her patient that it might better if she goes to her parents house and stay there for a month so that she is away from the “abhichAra” while simultaneously prescribing her chlorpromazine tablets. By doing this S reasoned she would be additionally breaking off any stimulus caused by “association with the locus”. S said she sort of fooled her patient into saying that her treatment will not be complete unless she saw S again after a month for a final “golI”. She feared that if she was effectively cured she might never see her again and she would lose closure on an interesting case. S noted that the prescribed action resulted in apparently complete remission. However, S said that she got a shelling from her higher-up for such “indiscriminate” treatment with an anti-psychotic, but she said she hardly cared as she was happy with her results.

In the glorious summer we sought, through the secret practice, the enlightenment, which the elixir of viveka confers upon the lucky. We reclined in the holy land of bhArata, now sullied by the faded vigor of our peoples and the vileness of the mlechCha and the turuShka, in the shade of an ashoka tree. The ashoka reminded us of the stuff from legend, depicted in various forms of Indic art, the tree which symbolizes vernal delights, the epitome of the shR^i~NgAra rAsa (hence a~NganApriya). Both kavI-s and shilpin-s of all hues have sought to introduce the ashoka in this capacity in their masterpieces.

Depiction of an a~NganA leaning on an ashoka from a derelict shaiva prAsAda in the kali~Nga country

Shielded by the ashoka’s shadow in its native land we wondered as to when it became so central to the expression shR^i~NgAra by the Arya-s. It has no presence in the core Vedic layers of Arya texts. While some people have erroneously identified the Vedic shiMshapa tree with the ashoka, it is clear that tree is actually the Indian Rosewood. It has a very limited presence in the mahAbharata that still largely pertains to events in the original zone of the Arya-s in India. It is in the rAmAyaNa that we first find its repeated mention. Thereafter it becomes rather common place, with nAstika-s of both the tAthAgata and jaina variety claiming association for their respective founders with the tree. Indeed, in the latter nAstika stream it takes a central place as the chaitya vR^ikSha for the ford-makers. This suggested to us that the ashoka was not originally present in the uttarApatha that the Arya-s initially occupied but was rather a natural inhabitant of dakShiNApatha (in particular the western ghats). Since the time the Arya-s came to know of it, we suspect they dispersed it as far north as the foothills of the hima-parvata-s. Indeed, the ashokavana of la~NkA probably had the southern species distinct from Saraca asoca of the upper peninsula.

Though it was a hot summer, we were in the spring of our life, and the embrace of our dUtI saroruhA in the the shade of the ever-green ashoka, was much like it was hymned by kAlidAsa of yore. Indeed, he said:
nitamba-bimbaiH sa-dukUla-mekhalaiH stanaiH sa-hArAbharaNaiH sa-chandanaiH |
shiroruhaiH snAna-kaShAya-vAsitaiH striyo nidAghaM shamayanti kAminAm || R^itusaMhAra 1.4

The commentator says: dukUlAni kShaumANi mekhalA rasanAH tAbhiH sahitaiH sa-dukula-mekhalaiH | nitaMba-biMbaIH nitaMba maNDalaiH | hArA evAbharaNAni taiH sahitaiH sahArAbharaNaiH | sachandanaiH chandanAnuliptaiH |stanaiH | snAne yaH kaShayo .a~Nga-rAgaH tena vAsitaiH sugandhIkR^itaiH snAna-kaShAya-vAsitaiH | shirasi rohantiiti shiroruhAH keshAH taiH shiroruhaiH cha | striyaH kAminAM nidAghaM grIShmoShmANam | shamayanti shAntiM nayanti | nivArayantiiti yAvat |

Thus we might say: With well-rounded hips girdled with flaxen apparel, with breasts smeared with chandana and graced by garlands and ornaments, with hair tied up scented with the shampoo from the bath the women soothe their lovers’ oppression by the summer’s heat [or keep off the summer's oppression from their lovers].

Coming back to the ashoka-s, cooling us with her stanau, saroruhA asked us: “We know and have seen the red and the yellow ashoka-s but O bhR^igu what is the blue ashoka (nIlAshoka) of vAlmIki?”
We: “It might be that the bluish tinge of the new ashoka leaves have given that name.”
saroruhA: “What if there were a real plant of that type? Is there a blue flowered Saraca.”
We: “Not that I know of, but we should explore this more.”
saroruhA: “Remember that Saraca deviates from other caesalpinioids in that it has only sepals not petals. Is there another caesalpinioid like that?”
We: “Indeed this gives us a clue – we have Dialium, which among the caesalpinioids has no petals but only sepals.”
saroruhA: “The Dialium native to la~NkA has blue fruits, and hence it might have been termed the nIlAshoka. Perhaps vAlmIki purposely chose the Lankan plant to make his botany match the story line.”
We: “Indeed that seems like a plausible solution to the issue of the nIlAshoka”.
saroruhA: “How can we account for the convergent petal loss in these?”
We: “Probably the expression of the B class genes are being pushed backwards?”
saroruhA: “So does this have something with the emergence of extrafloral nectaries in Saraca? Look at them. They are feeding the ants. Is it that they are paying their body guards for protection?”
We: “We wish we could find the answer for these questions?”
saroruhA: “As also to the question if the great radiation of the legumes was due to the emergence of symbiosis with the rhizobia?”

We were to learn many important lessons of life from the rhizobia. We were to learn many important lessons of life from the rhizobia. Verily, the rhizobia first opened the door for one of the biggest insights of our very existence.

But as the cycle of the R^itu-s turns, much as the six-spoked chakra of viShNu, the pleasure of spring and the blaze of summer gave way the withering frigidity of the sunless months. In the depth of the freeze, when the only heat was from that of the funeral pyre saroruhA asked: What led the crackling pyre on the break of deathly chaitra chaturthi, when it seemed that the spring of life had been sucked by the trunk of a vinAyaka graha? Like virtue during the downward turn of the yuga-chakra was it all gone.”
We: “We were right there. We were few steps away from the great curtain with the painting of kumAra, when all of it came to an end. It was like the dreadful noise and sparks at a fight between vinAyaka and skanda. Then there was the funeral; we were watching the fizz and snorts of the funeral pyre, where much was consumed by vaishvAnara who had become kravyAda, but not all. Even as we were in dismal retreat, we recalled the words of bhAravi placed in the mouth of deva commander reproaching the retreating gaNa troops .”

In bhAravI’s great work the kirAtArjunIya, skanda scolds the retreating gaNa-s thus:
devAkAnini kAvAde vAhikAsvasvakAhi vA |
kAkArebhabhare kAkA nisvabhavyavyabhasvani ||

It has two aspects to it: one is the set of constraints (bandha-s) pertaining its symmetry, which can be pictorially depicted (chitra) as what may be termed a sarvatobhadra maNDala:

It shows the symmetry of the square to both reflection and rotation – hence the term sarvatobhadra.Hence, the Andhran commentator mallinAtha sUrI from the Vijayanagaran court of devarAya states: chatuSh-koShThe chatura~Nga bandha krameNa adya pa~Nkti chatuShTaye pAda-chatuShTayaM vilikhyAn antar-pa~Nkti-chatuShTaye .apy adhaH krameNa pAda-chatuShTaya-lekhane prathamAsu chatasR^iShu pa~NktiShu prathamaH pAdaH sarvato vAchyate, dvitIyAdiShu dvitIya ityAdi ||

The second aspect to such bandha-s is that with such constraints, the entropy of the text reduces, i.e. it becomes low in complexity. Thus, the problem arises as to how a more complex meaning can be extracted from it. This has an interesting parallel to a problem in biology – how is it that meaning is extracted from low complexity protein sequences. A globular protein typical has a high complexity of sequence and can be compared to a verse with fewer constraints that can easily express considerable nuance in terms of meaning (equivalent to higher specificity in biochemistry). One of the ways in which more complex information is extracted from low- complexity protein sequences in biology is by having enzymes that post-transcriptionally modify the low complexity sequences to allow for much greater nuance in “meaning”. This is seen in the form of the modifications like phosphorylation, methylation, acetylation, ubiquitination and the like which can extract various “meanings” from the same low-complexity tails of histones or low complexity proteins like silaffins in formation of the exquisitely structured siliceous shells of diatoms. Thus, for our low-complexity sarvatobhadra verse we need the meta-knowledge of the kAvya-specialists to decode meaning from it. From the commentators mallinAtha and ratneshvara we get:
devAkAnin = deva + A-kAyati (derived from the root kai meaning noise/sound) : possessed of the shouts of the deva-s or devAkAnin = deva A-kan: inciting the deva-s; devAkAnini = masculine locative case.

kA-vAde = confused cries; locative, hence: wherein there are confused shouts or kAvAde=ka(head) + ava-A-dA (cut down): wherein heads are cut down.

Continued…

In the early 1900s the English archaeologist John Marshall began excavations at Bhita (pronounced: bhiTA) near prayAga, modern Uttar Pradesh. He wrote an account of this excavation aided by the native assistants in the archaeological survey of India’s annual report of 1911-12. In that account he describes and pictures a baked clay seal which was discovered during the excavation. It bears the writing in brAhmI:
“shrI vindhyA-vedha-mahArAjasya maheshvara-mahAsena atisR^iShTha-rAjyasya vR^iShadhvajasya gautamIputrasya”

This is taken to mean: “[Seal] belonging to the great vindhyA penetrating king, who donated his kingdom to the great god mahAsena [or whose kingdom was created by the great god mahAsena], vR^iShadhvaja the son of gautamI”

Similar phrases are seen in two inscriptions very far away from prayAga. The first of these comes from the inscription of nAla arthapati bhaTTAraka found at Kesaribeda, Koraput district modern Orissa from the 7th year of the reign of the said ruler. The second, bearing the same phrase is from the inscription of the nAla mahArAja bhavadattavarman from Rithapur in Amaravati district of Vidarbha (modern mahArAShTra).: “maheshvara-mahAsena atisR^iShTha-rAjya vibhava…”

Continued…