INTRODUCTION TO MANTRA 2

She is seen as one and as many, as it were, but one moon reflected in countless

waters. She exists, too, in all animals and inorganic things, since the universe

with all its beauties is, as the Devi Purana says, but a part of Her. All this

diversity of form is but the infinite manifestations of the flowering beauty of

the One Supreme Life, a doctrine which is nowhere else taught with greater

wealth of illustration than in the Shakta Shastras, and Tantras. The great

Bharga in the bright Sun and all Devatas, and, indeed, all life and being, are

wonderful, and are worshipful, but only as Her manifestations. And he who

worships them otherwise is, in the words of the great Devi-bhagavata, "like unto

a man who, with the light of a clear lamp in his hands, yet falls into some

waterless and terrible well." The highest worship for which the sadhaka is

qualified (adhikari) only after external worship and that internal form known as

sadhara, is described as niradhara. Therein Pure Intelligence is the Supreme

Shakti who is worshipped as the Very Self, the Witness freed of the glamour of

the manifold Universe. By one’s own direct experience of Maheshvari as the Self

She is with reverence made the object of that worship which leads to liberation.

Guna

It cannot be said that current explanations give a clear understanding of this

subject. Yet such is necessary, both as affording one of the chief keys to

Indian philosophy and to the principles which govern Sadhana. The term guna is

generally translated "quality," a word which is only accepted for default of a

better. For it must not be overlooked that the three guna (Sattva, rajas, and

tamas), which are of Prakriti, constitute Her very substance. This being so, all

Nature which issues from Her, the Maha-karana-svarupa., is called tri-gunatmaka,

and is composed of the same guna in different states of relation to one another.

The functions of sattva, rajas, and tamas are to reveal, to make active, and to

suppress respectively. Rajas is the dynamic, as sattva and tamas are static

principles. That is to say, sattva and tamas can neither reveal nor suppress

without being first rendered active by rajas. These gunas work by mutual

suppression.

The unrevealed Prakriti (avyakta-prakriti) or Devi is the state of stable

equilibrium of these three guna. When this state is disturbed the manifested

universe appears, in every object of which one or other of the three guna is in

the ascendant. Thus in Devas, as in those who approach the divya state, sattva

predominates, and rajas and tamas are very much reduced. That is, their

independent manifestation is reduced. They are in one sense still there, for

where rajas is not independently active it is operating on sattva to suppress

tamas, which appears or disappears to the extent to which it is, or is not,

subject to suppression by the revealing principle. In the ordinary human jiva,

considered as a class, tamas is less reduced than in the case of the Deva, but

very much reduced when comparison is made with the animal jiva. Rajas has great

independent activity, and sattva is also considerably active. In the animal

creation sattva has considerably less activity. Rajas has less independent

activity than in man, but is much more active than in the vegetable world. Tamas

is greatly less preponderant than in the latter. In the vegetable kingdom tamas

is more preponderant than in the case of animals, and both rajas and sattva less

so. In the inorganic creation rajas makes tamas active to suppress both sattva

and its own independent activity. It will thus be seen that the "upward" or

revealing movement from the predominance of tamas to that of sattva represents

the spiritual progress of the jivatma.

Again, as between each member of these classes one or other of the three guna

may be more or less in the ascendant.

Thus, in one man as compared with another, the sattva guna may predominate, in

which case his temperament is sattvik, or, as the Tantra calls it, divyabhava.

In another the rajoguna may prevail, and in the third the tamoguna, in which

case the individual is described as rajasik, or tamasik, or, to use Tantrik

phraseology, he is said to belong to virabhava, or is a pashu respectively.

Again the vegetable creation is obviously less tamasik, and more rajasik and

sattvik than the mineral, and even amongst these last there may be possibly some

which are less tamasik than others.

Etymologically, sattva is derived from "sat," that which is eternally existent.

The eternally existent is also chit, pure Intelligence or Spirit, and ananda or

Bliss. In a secondary sense, sat is also used to denote the "good." And commonly

(though such use obscures the original meaning), the word sattva guna is

rendered "good quality." It is, however, "good" in the sense that it is

productive of good and happiness. In such case, however, stress is laid rather

on a necessary quality or effect (in the ethical sense) of "sat" than upon its

original meaning. In the primary sense sat is that which reveals. Nature is a

revelation of spirit (sat). Where Nature is such a revelation of spirit there it

manifests as sattva guna. It is the shining forth from under the veil of the

hidden spiritual substance (sat). And that equality in things which reveals this

is sattva guna. So of a pregnant woman it is said that she is antahsattva, or

instinct with sattva; she in whom sattva as jiva (whose characteristic guna is

sattva) is living in an hidden state.

But Nature not only reveals, but is also a dense covering or veil of spirit, at

times so dense that the ignorant fail to discern the spirit which it veils.

Where Nature is a veil of spirit there it appears in its quality of tamoguna.

In this case the tamoguna is currently spoken of as representative of inertia,

because that is the effect of the nature which veils. This quality, again, when

translated into the moral sphere, becomes ignorance, sloth, etc.

In a third sense nature is a bridge between spirit which reveals and matter

which veils. Where Nature is a bridge of descent from spirit to matter, or of

ascent from matter to spirit, there it manifests itself as rajoguna. This is

generally referred to as the quality of activity, and when transferred to the

sphere of feeling it shows itself as passion. Each thing in Nature then contains

that in which spirit is manifested or reflected as in a mirror or sattvaguna;

that by which spirit is covered, as it were, by a veil of darkness or tamoguna,

and that which is the vehicle for the descent into matter or the return to

spirit or rajoguna. Thus sattva is the light of Nature, as tamas is its shade.

Rajas is, as it were, a blended tint oscillating between each of the extremes

constituted by the other guna.

The object of Tantrik sadhana is to bring out and make preponderant the sattva

guna by the aid of rajas, which operates to make the former guna active. The

subtle body (lingasharira) of the jivatma comprises in it buddhi, ahangkara,

manas, and the ten senses. This subtle body creates for itself gross bodies

suited to the spiritual state of the jivatma. Under the influence of prarabdhda

karmma, buddhi becomes tamasik, rajasik, or sattvik. In the first case the

jivatma assumes inanimate bodies; in the second, active passionate bodies; and

in the third, sattvik bodies of varying degrees of spiritual excellence, ranging

from man to the Deva. The gross body is also trigunatmaka. This body conveys

impressions to the jivatma through the subtle body and the buddhi in particular.

When sattva is made active impressions of happiness result, and when rajas or

tamas are active the impressions are those of sorrow and delusion. These

impressions are the result of the predominance of these respective guna. The

action of rajas on sattva produces happiness, as its own independent activity or

operation on tamas produce sorrow and delusion respectively. Where sattva or

happiness is predominant, there sorrow and delusion are suppressed. Where rajas

or sorrow is predominant, there happiness and delusion are suppressed. And where

tamas or delusion predominates there, as in the case of the inorganic world,

both happiness and sorrow are suppressed. All objects share these three states

in different proportions. There is, however, always in the jivatma an admixture

of sorrow with happiness, due to the operation of rajas. For happiness, which is

the fruit of righteous acts done to attain happiness, is after all only a

vikara. The natural state of the jivatma – that is, the state of its own true

nature – is that bliss (ananda) which arises from the pure knowledge of the

Self, in which both happiness and sorrow are equally objects of indifference.

The worldly enjoyment of a person involves pain to self or others. This is the

result of the pursuit of happiness, whether by righteous or unrighteous acts. As

spiritual progress is made, the gross body becomes more and more refined. In

inanimate bodies karma operates to the production of pure delusion. On the

exhaustion of such karma the jivatma assumes animate bodies for the operation of

such forms of karma as lead to sorrow and happiness mixed with delusion. In the

vegetable world sattva is but little active, with a corresponding lack of

discrimination, for discrimination is the effect of sattva in buddhi, and from

discrimination arises the recognition of pleasure and pain, conceptions of right

and wrong, of the transitory and intransitory, and so forth, which are the fruit

of a high degree of discrimination, or of activity of sattva. In the lower

animal sattva in buddhi is not sufficiently active to lead to any degree of

development of these conceptions. In man, however, the sattva in buddhi is

considerably active, and in consequence these conceptions are natural in him.

For this reason the human birth is, for spiritual purposes, so important. All

men, however, are not capable of forming such conceptions in an equal degree.

The degree of activity in an individual’s buddhi depends on his prarabdha karma.

However bad such karma may be in any particular case, the individual is yet

gifted with that amount of discrimination which, if properly aroused and aided,

will enable him to better his spiritual condition by inducing the rajoguna in

him to give more and more activity to the sattva guna in his buddhi.

On this account proper guidance and spiritual direction are necessary. A good

guru, by reason of his own nature and spiritual attainment and disinterested

wisdom, will both mark out for the sishya the path which is proper for him, and

aid him to follow it by the infusion of the tejas which is in the Guru himself.

Whilst sadhana is, as stated, a process for the stimulation of the sattva guna,

it is evident that one form of it is not suitable to all. It must be adapted to

the spiritual condition of the sishya, otherwise it will cause injury instead of

good. Therefore it is that the adoption of certain forms of sadhana by persons

who are not competent (adhikari), may not only be fruitless of any good result,

but may even lead to evils which sadhana as a general principle is designed to

prevent. Therefore also is it said that it is better to follow one’s own dharma

than that, however exalted it be, of another.

The Worlds (Loka)

This earth, which is the object of the physical senses and of the knowledge

based thereon, is but one of fourteen worlds or regions placed "above" and

"below" it, of which (as the sutra says) knowledge may be obtained by meditation

on the solar "nerve" (nada) sushumna in the merudanda. On this nadi six of the

upper worlds are threaded, the seventh and highest overhanging it in the

Sahasrara Padma, the thousand-petalled lotus. The sphere of earth (Bhurloka),

with its continents, their mountains and rivers, and with its oceans, is the

seventh or lowest of the upper worlds. Beneath it are the Hells and Nether

Worlds, the names of which are given below. Above the terrestrial sphere is

Bhuvarloka, or the atmospheric sphere known as the antariksha, extending "from

the earth to the sun," in which the Siddhas and other celestial beings

(devayoni) of the upper air dwell. "From the sun to the pole star" dhruva) is

svarloka, or the heavenly sphere. Heaven (svarga) is that which delights the

mind, as hell (naraka) is that which gives it pain. In the former is the abode

of the Deva and the blest.

These three spheres are the region of the consequences of work, and are termed

transitory as compared with the three highest spheres, and the fourth, which is

of a mixed character. When the jiva has received his reward he is reborn again

on earth. For it is not good action, but the knowledge of the atma which

procures Liberation (moksha). Above Svarloka is Maharloka, and above it the

three ascending regions known as the janarloka, tapoloka, and satyaloka, each

inhabited by various forms of celestial intelligence of higher and higher

degree. Below the earth (Bhuh) and above the nether worlds are the Hells

(commencing with Avichi), and of which, according to popular theology, there are

thirty-four, though it is elsewhere said there are as many hells as there are

offences for which particular punishments are meted out. Of these, six are known

as the great at hells. Hinduism, however, even when popular, knows nothing of a

hell of eternal torment. To it nothing is eternal but the Brahman. Issuing from

the Hells the jiva is again reborn to make its future. Below the Hells are the

seven nether worlds, Sutala, Vitala, Talatala, Mahatala, Rasatala, Atala, and

Patala, where, according to the Puranas, dwell the Naga serpent divinities,

brilliant with jewels, and where, too, the lovely daughters of the Daityas and

Danavas wander, fascinating even the most austere. Yet below Patala is the form

of Vishnu proceeding from the dark quality (tamogunah), known as the Sesha

serpent or Ananta, bearing the entire world as a diadem, attended by his Shakti

Varuni, his own embodied radiance.

Inhabitants of the Worlds

The worlds are inhabited by countless grades of beings, ranging from the highest

Devas (of whom there are many classes and degrees) to the lowest animal life.

The scale of beings runs from the shining manifestations of Spirit to those in

which it is so veiled that it would seem almost to have disappeared in its

material covering. There is but one Light, one Spirit, whose manifestations are

many. A flame enclosed in a clear glass loses but little of its brilliancy. If

we substitute for the glass, paper, or some other more opaque yet transparent

substance, the light is dimmer. A covering of metal may be so dense as to

exclude from sight the rays of light which yet burns within with an equal

brilliancy. As a fact, all such veiling forms are maya. They are none the less

true for those who live in and are themselves part of the mayik world. Deva, or

"heavenly and shining one" – for spirit is light and self-manifestation – is

applicable to those descending yet high manifestations of the Brahman, such as

the seven Shivas, including the Trinity (trimurtti), Brahma, Vishnu, and Rudra.

Devi, again, is the title of the Supreme Mother Herself, and is again applied to

the manifold forms assumed by the one only Maya, such as Kali, Sarasvati,

Lakshmi, Gauri, Gayatri, Sandhya, and others. In the sense also in which it is

said, "Verily, in the beginning there was the Brahman. It created the Devas,"

the latter term also includes lofty intelligencies belonging to the created

world intermediate between Ishvara (Himself a Purusha) and man, who in the

person of the Brahmana is known as Earth-deva (bhudeva). These spirits are of

varying degrees. For there are no breaks in the creation which represents an

apparent descent of the Brahman in gradually lowered forms. Throughout these

forms play the divine currents of pravritti and nivritti, the latter drawing to

Itself that which the former has sent forth.

Deva, jiva and jara (inorganic matter) are, in their real, as opposed to their

phenomenal and illusory, being, the one Brahman, which appears thus to be other

than Itself through its connection with the upadhi or limiting conditions with

which ignorance (avidya) invests it. Therefore all beings which are the object

of worship are each of them but the Brahman seen through the veil of avidya.

Though the worshippers of Devas may not know it, their worship is in reality the

worship of the Brahman, and hence the Mahanirvana Tantra says that, "as all

streams flow to the ocean, so the worship given to any Deva is received by the

Brahman." On the other hand, those who, knowing this, worship the Devas, do so

as manifestations of the Brahman, and thus worship It mediately. The sun, the

most glorious symbol in the physical world, is the mayik vesture of Her who is

"clothed with the sun."

In the lower ranks of the celestial hierarchy are the Devayonis, some of whom

are mentioned in the opening verses of the first chapter of the text. The Devas

are of two classes: "unborn" (ajata) – that is, those which have not, and those

which have (sadhya) evolved from humanity as in the case of King Nahusha, who

became Indra. Opposed to the divine hosts are the Asura, Danava, Daitya,

Rakshasa, who, with other spirits, represent the tamasik or demonic element in

creation. All Devas, from the highest downwards, are subordinate to both time

and karma. So it is said, "Salutation to Karma, over which not even Vidhi

(Brahma) prevails" (Namastat karmmabhyovidhirapi na yebhyah prabhavati). The

rendering of the term "Deva" by "God" has led to a misapprehension of Hindu

thought. The use of the term "angel" may also mislead, for though the world of

Devas has in some respects analogy to the angelic choirs, the Christian

conception of these Beings, their origin and functions, does not include, but in

fact excludes, other ideas connoted by the Sanskrit term.

The pitris, or "Fathers," are a creation (according to some) separate from the

predecessors of humanity, and are, according to others, the lunar ancestry who

are addressed in prayer with the Devas. From Brahma, who is known as the

"Grandfather" Pita Maha of the human race, issued Marichi, Atri, and others, his

"mental sons": the Agnishvattvah, Saumnyah, Havishmantah, Ushmapah, and other

classes of Pitris, numbering, according to the Markandeya Purana, thirty-one.

Tarpanam, or oblation, is daily offered to these pitris. The term is also

applied to the human ancestors of the worshipper generally up to the seventh

generation to whom in shraddha (the obsequial rites) pinda and water are offered

with the mantra "svadha."

The Rishi are seers who know, and by their knowledge are the makers of shastra

and "see" all mantras.

CONTD.....

MATERIAL FOR BA PART 3 PAPER 5

MATERIAL FOR BA PART 1 PAPER 5