Introduction to Tantra Sastra - Aghori
Introduction to Tantra Sastra - Aghori
Introduction to Tantra Sastra - Aghori
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THE HUMAN BODY 53<br />
and drinking-cup, and making the sign of blessing, and<br />
that which dispels fear. She wears a garland of human<br />
bones. She is excited, and her heart is softened with<br />
wine. 1 Here, also, are several other Śaktis, such as<br />
Kala-ratri, as also the bīja of air (vāyu) or “yaṃ.” Inside<br />
the lotus is a six-cornered smoke-coloured maṇ ḍ ala and<br />
the circular region of smoke-coloured Vāyu, who is<br />
seated on a black antelope. Here, <strong>to</strong>o, is the embodied<br />
ātmā (jīvātmā), like the tapering flame of a lamp.<br />
VIŚUDDHA<br />
Viśuddha-cakra or Bhāratisthāna, abode of the Devī<br />
of speech, is above the last and at the lower end of the<br />
throat (kaṇ ṭ ha-mala). The Tattva of this cakra is<br />
“ether.” The lotus is of a smoky colour, or the colour of<br />
fire seen through smoke. It has sixteen petals, which<br />
carry the red vowels—“aṃ,” “āṃ,” “iṃ,” “īṃ,” “uṃ,” “ūṃ,”<br />
“ṛ ṃ,” “r¯̣ ṃ,” “ḷ ṃ,” “l¯̣ ṃ,” “eṃ,” “aiṃ,” “oṃ,” “aṃ,” “aḥ ”; 2 the<br />
seven musical notes (niṣada, ṛ ṣabha, gāndhāra, ṣadja,<br />
madhyama, dhaivata and pañcama): “venom” (in the<br />
eighth petal); the bījas “huṃ,” “phat,” “vauṣat,” “vaṣat,”<br />
“svadhā,” “svāhā,” “namah,” and in the sixteenth petal,<br />
nectar (amṛ ta). In the pericarp is a triangular region,<br />
within which is the androgyne Śiva, known as Ardhanārīśvara.<br />
There also are the regions of the full moon<br />
and ether, with its bīja “haṃ.” The ākāśa-maṇ ḍ ala is<br />
1 [“… more than a little drunk, and more than a little mad.”]<br />
2 [The last two are the anusvarā and viśarga, not strictly vowels but<br />
marks which modify vowel sounds, traditionally counted with the vowels in<br />
the alphabet. The former is romanized as “ṃ<br />
” or “ṃ .” In the symbolic representation<br />
of the letters on the lotuses, (see, e.g., plates in The Serpent Power)<br />
they are written with the anusvara dot above, whereas the anusvara and<br />
viśarga are attached <strong>to</strong> the first vowel, A (a), so both the a and anusvara<br />
appear the same both in the Devanagari script (A