शुक्लाम्बरधरम् विष्णुम् शशिवर्णम् चतुर्भुजम्|
प्रसन्नवदनम् ध्यायेत् सर्व विघ्नोपशान्तये||
श्रीगुरुभ्योनमः
शिवः शक्तिः कामः क्षितिरथ रविः शक्तिकिरणः
स्मरॊ हम्स: शक्रस्तदनु च परामार हरयः ।
अमीहृल्लॆखाभिस्तिसृभिरवसानॆषु घटिता
भजन्तॆ वर्णास्तॆ तवजननि नामावयवताम् || (Soundaryalahari – 32)
First few namas of the sahasranama stotra describing Amma from head to toe (kesaadi-paadaanta), connote the gross form holding sugarcane bow, flower arrows, a noose and a hook. A few subsequent namas portray the victorious war Amma raged on the demon Bhandasur, a personification of ego, bespeak the play of Supreme Consciousness, in aspirants’ plexuses starting from the muladhara to sahasrara.
The forthcoming set of namas describe Amma’s subtle form. The subtle form any deity comprises of yantra, mantra and tantra. Yantra is the geometrical representation of the deity while mantra is the phonetic representation of the Gross form and tantra refers to the procedure that connects these two with the subtlest form of the deity, the Supreme Consciousness. यंत्रम् मन्त्रमयम् प्रॊक्तम् दॆवता मन्त्ररूपिणी So, mantra, yantra and tantra are inseparable representations any deity. Vagdevaas highlight this fact by grouping the namas Sarva-mantra-swaroopini, Sarva-yantra-atmika, Sarva-tantra-roopa and Maha-tantra, Maha-mantra, Maha-yantra in the sahasranama stotra.
A note about mantra:
मननात् त्रायतॆ इति मन्त्रम् Mananaat traayate iti mantram. A mantra is a single letter or collection of letters, potent with powerful sound energy when meditated upon, protects the aspirant.
A strong correspondence between sound and form is known to exist from time immemorial. Though every letter is considered to be a mantra, our sages have perceived that the collective sound energy of certain combinations of letters, corresponds to the gross form of a deity.
तद्विमर्शस्वभावा हि सा वच्या मंत्रदॆवता (Tantraloka 16.286)
It is interesting to note that, the associated gross form of a deity depends on the number of letters of the mantra and their combinations.
One of the several meanings of the Sanskrit word mantra, is secret. सदसि न मन्त्रम् प्रकाशयॆत् Sadasi (in a sadas or an assembly) na mantram prakaasayet (uttered loud) Being secret, mantras are not supposed to be uttered loudly or sung with a tune.
Self-medication is dangerous, and one needs a doctor’s prescription. Also, a doctor would not prescribe the one medicine for all patients with the same complaint. A medicine and its dosage must be administered as per individuals’ sensitivity and requirement. In a similar way, mantras should not be self-taught from a book or a CD/DVD and practiced without an initiation from a Guru. Also, a (true) Guru does not do mass initiation. Depending on an individual's need and capacity, the Guru showers his mercy on his disciples with an appropriate mantra.
We have learnt that Amma’s mantra is Panchadasi-mantra, yantra is Sri-chakra and tantra is called Sri Vidya. Now, let us understand the purport of the namas starting from Srimad-Vagbhavakootaika-swaroopa-mukha-pankaja to Sakti-kutaikata-apanna-katyadho-bhagadharini.
Panchadasi mantra
Since mantras are highly secretive and to be known only to those initiated by a Guru, our sages encode these mantras in normally looking verses. It is the Guru, who decodes and initiates the disciples.
कामॊयॊनिः कामकला वज्रपाणिर्गुहा हसा मातरिश्वा S भ्रमिन्द्रः
पुनर्गुहा सकला मायया च पूरुच्यॆषा विश्वमाता SSदिविद्या ॥ (Tripuropanishad– 8)
This verse containing kaama, yoni, kamakala, vajrapani, guha, ha-sa, maatarisva, abhra, indra, guha, sa-ka-la, maya has got the Panchadasi mantra encoded in it.
Similarly, Sankara bhagavatpada’s 32nd verse/sloka of Soundarya-lahari is also an encrypted Panchadasi mantra.
This Panchadasi mantra containing 15 letters, is divided into three groups/kutas Vagbhava, Kamaraja and Sakti. Bhaskararaya encoded the mantras corresponding to these three kutas in the following verses of Varivasyarahasya.
Vagbhava kuta:
क्रॊधीशः श्रीकंठारूढः कॊणत्रयम् लक्ष्मीः
मांसमनुत्तररूढं वाग्भवकूटम् प्रकीर्तितम् प्रथमम् ॥ (Varivasyarahasya – 1.9)
Kamaraja kuta:
शिवहंस ब्रह्मवियच्चक्राः प्रत्यॆकमक्षरारूढाः ।
द्वैतीयकम् कूटम् कथितम् तत् कामराजकूटम्॥ (ibid1.10)
Sakti Kuta:
शिवतॊवियतॊ मुक्तम् तृतीयमिदमॆव शक्तिकूटाख्यम्।
हृल्लॆखानाम् त्रितयम् कूटत्रितयॆपि यॊज्यमन्तॆ स्यात्॥ (ibid1.11)
A deity is known by the corresponding mantra. Thus, Panchadasi mantra with three kutas corresponds to Amma Lalita-Maha-Tripurasundari’s gross form and Vagdevatas disclose this correspondence in the upcoming three namas.
Srimad-Vagbhavakutaika-Swaroopa-mukha-pankajaayai namah
Pranams to Amma with Vagbhava kuta as Her has lotus like face.
KamThaathaH kaTi paryanta -Madhyakootaswaroopinyai namah
Pranams to Amma who has got the Madhya kuta as Her middle portion of the body from the neck upto waist
Saktikootaikata-aapanna-katyadhobhaaga dhaarinyai namah
Pranams to Amma with Saktikuta as Her lower portion of body, below the waist.
Let us try to understand the Siva-Sakti tattva secret behind these namas.
मंत्राः वर्णात्मकाः सर्वॆवर्णाः शिवात्मकाः (Sivasutra Vimarsini 2.3)
Mantras are made up of letters (Varnas) and Varnas are of Sivaatmaka. व्यक्तमम्बामयम् सर्वम् अव्यक्तम् तु महॆश्वरम् All that is manifested is of Amma, Sakti nature and unmanifested is of Siva. Since (Vagbhava, Kamaraja, Sakti kuta) mantras are held in secrecy, they could be considered as unmanifested. Thus, the manifested gross form mentioned in these namas corresponds to Amma and the secretive mantra parts correspond to Siva.
कत्रयम् हद्वयम् चैव शैवॊ भागः प्रकीर्तितः
शक्त्यक्षराणि शॆषाणि ह्रींकार उभयात्मकः ॥
Three ‘ka’s and two ‘ha’s of the Panchadasi mantra are personified as Siva and the rest as Sakti and the ‘hrim’ as both in unison.
From this, we can infer that the Vagbhava and Sakti kutas have got only one Siva-akshara while the middle one, the Kamaraja kuta, has three. Vagdevatas seem to have indicated this through the word ‘eka’ or one, as in Vagbhagavakutaika and Saktikutaikata.
Praying to Panchadasakshari,
श्रीमात्रेनमः
