{"collection":"tantra","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/browse/tantra/htg/htg07.htm","path":"tantra/htg/htg07.htm","source_url":"https://sacred-texts.com/tantra/htg/htg07.htm","text":"Hymns to the Goddess, by John Woodroffe (Arthur Avalon), [1913]\n1\nTHUS shall I pray to Thee, O Tripur\u0101,\u00a03\n To attain the fruit of my desires,\n In this hymn by which men attain that Lak\u1e63m\u012b,\u00a04\n Who is worshipped by the Devas.\n2\nOrigin of the world thou art,\n Yet hast Thou Thyself no origin,\n Though with hundreds of hymns.\n Even Brahm\u0101, Vi\u1e63\u1e47u, and Mahe\u015bvara\u00a05 cannot know Thee.\u00a06\n Therefore we worship Thy breasts, Mother of all \u015a\u0101stra,\u00a07\n Shining with fresh saffron.\n3\nO Tripur\u0101,\u00a01 we adore Thee,\n Whose body shines with the splendour of a thousand risen suns,\n Holding with two of thy hands a book\u00a02 and rosary of rudr\u0101k\u1e63a beads,\u00a03\n And with two others making the gestures\n Which grant boons and dispel fear.\u00a04\n With three lotus eyes is Thy lotus face adorned.\n Beauteous is Thy Neck with its necklace of large pearls.\u00a05\n4\nO Mother, how can the ignorant, whose minds are restless with doubt and dispute,\n Know Thy form ravishing with its vermilion,\u00a06\n Stooping with the weight of Thy breasts,\u00a07\n Accessible only by merit,\n Acquired in previous birth?\n5\nO Bhav\u0101n\u012b,\u00a01 the munis\u00a02 describe thee in physical form;\u00a03\n The \u015aruti speaks of Thee in subtle form;\n Others call Thee presiding Deity of speech;\n Others, again, as the root of the worlds.\n But we think of Thee\n As the untraversable ocean of mercy, and nothing else.\n6\nWorshippers contemplate Thee in their heart\n As three-eyed, adorned with the crescent moon,\n White as the autumnal moon,\n Whose substance is the fifty letters,\u00a04\n Holding in Thy hands a book, a rosary, a jar of nectar, and making the vyakhya mudr\u0101.\u00a05\n7\nO Tripur\u0101, Thou art \u015aambhu\u00a01 united with P\u0101rvat\u012b.\u00a02\n Thou art now Vi\u1e63\u1e47u embraced by Kamal\u0101,\u00a03\n And now Brahm\u0101 born of the lotus.\u00a04\n Thou art again the presiding Dev\u012b of speech,\n And yet again art the energy of all these.\n8\nI, having taken refuge with the four--\n Bh\u0101vas,\u00a05 Par\u0101, and others\u00a06 born of the v\u0101gbhava (b\u012bja),\u00a07\nShall never in my heart forget Thee, the supreme Devat\u0101,\n Whose substance is existence and intelligence,\u00a01\n And who expresseth by Thy throat and other organ\n The bh\u0101va appearing in the form of letters.\u00a02\n9\nThe blessed, having conquered the six enemies,\u00a03\n And drawing in their breath,\u00a04\n With steady mind fix their gaze on the tip of their nostrils,\n And contemplate in their head Thy moon-crested form,\u00a05\n Resplendent as the newly risen sun.\n10\nThe Vedas proclaim that Thou createth the world,\n Having assumed the other half of the body of the enemy of K\u0101ma.\u00a06\n Verily is it true, O Daughter of the mountain and the only World-mother,\n That had this not been so,\n The multitude of worlds would never have been.\n11\nIn company with the wives of the Kinnaras,\u00a01\n The Siddha women,\u00a02 whose eyes are reddened by wine\u00a03\n Having worshipped Thee with the flowers of celestial trees\u00a04\n In Thy p\u012btha\u00a05 in the caverns of the golden mountain,\u00a06\n Sing Thy praises.\n12\nI worship in my heart the Dev\u012b whose body is moist with nectar,\u00a07\n Beauteous as the splendour of lightning,\n Who, going from Her abode to that\u00a08 of \u015aiva,\u00a09\n Opens the lotuses on the beautiful way\u00a010\nof the su\u1e63u\u1e41n\u0101. 1\n13\nO Tripur\u0101, I take refuge at Thy lotus feet,\n Worshipped by Brahm\u0101, Vi\u1e63\u1e47u, and Mahe\u015bvara;\n The abode of bliss, the source of the Vedas,\n The origin of all prosperity;\n Thou whose body is Intelligence itself.\u00a02\n14\nI shall never forget Her who is the giver of happiness;\n She it is, O Mother, who, in the form of the Moon,\n Creates the world full of sounds and their meanings,\n And again, by Her power in the form of the Sun,\n She it is who maintains the world.\n And She, again, it is who, in the form of Fire, destroys the whole universe at the end of the ages.\u00a03\n15\nMen worship Thee under various names--\n As N\u0101r\u0101ya\u1e47a\u00a01; as She who saves from the ocean of Hell;\u00a02\n As Gaur\u012b;\u00a03 as the allayer of grief;\u00a04 as Sarasvat\u012b,\u00a05\n And as the three-eyed giver of knowledge.\u00a06\n16\nO Mother of the world, such as worship Thee with twelve Verses of this hymn attain to Thee, and gain all powers 7 of speech and the supreme abode.\n23:1 Fem. of Bhairava, a name of \u015aiva.\n23:2 P. 596, Ed. Rasik Mohun Chatterjee.\n23:3 See Tripurasundar\u012b--post.\n23:4 Dev\u012b of prosperity.\n23:5 \u015aiva.\n23:6 In the Vi\u1e63\u1e47u Y\u0101mala, Vi\u1e63\u1e47u says of the Dev\u012b: \"Thy supreme form none know \"(m\u0101tastvatparamar\u016bpam tannaj\u0101n\u0101ti kashchana), (see chap. iii \u015a\u0101kt\u0101nandatarangin\u012b).\n23:7 V\u0101ngmaya.\n24:1 See post.\n24:2 Vidy\u0101.\n24:3 Seed of a plant sacred to the worship of \u015aiva.\n24:4 That is, She makes the mudr\u0101 vara and abhaya. In the first the hand is held forth in front of the body with the palm upward and horizontal, the fingers together, and the thumb crossing the palm to the fourth finger. In the second the hand is held up with the fingers and thumb in the same positions with the palm towards the spectator.\n24:5 T\u0101r\u0101, the ordinary pearl, is called mukt\u0101.\n24:6 Sind\u016bra, the Bhairav\u012b's body is painted with vermilion and Her garments also are red.\n24:7 Kuchabhara\u1e47amr\u0101m (see Introduction).\n25:1 The Dev\u012b is Bhav\u0101n\u012b as the spouse and giver of Life to Bhava.\n25:2 Sages.\n25:3 There are three forms of the Dev\u012b--the gross or physical, with hands, feet, etc.; the subtle (s\u016bk\u1e63ma), consisting of mantra and the supreme (par\u0101), which is the real or own (svar\u016bp\u0101). The form of the Dev\u012b has both prak\u0101\u015ba and vimar\u015ba aspects--that is real and secondary or manifested. Thus the V\u0101make\u015bvara Tantra says: \"The Dev\u012b Tripur\u0101 is Her real form. She who is of a red colour is the manifested one.\"\n25:4 Of the alphabet or m\u0101t\u1e5bk\u0101 (panch\u0101\u015bad\u0101k\u1e63aramay\u012bm). These letters stand for the v\u1e5btti (functions and qualities of being). The Dev\u012b is thus m\u0101t\u1e5bk\u0101may\u012b, or composed of m\u0101t\u1e5bk\u0101.\n25:5 Vyakhya. according to the \u015aabda Kalpadruma = vivara\u1e47am (description), or grantha (book), and also commentary, but here denotes a mudr\u0101 of that name.\n26:1 \u015aiva, one of the forms of the four mah\u0101preta, whose b\u012bja is \"Hsau.\"\n26:2 The androgyne form, called ardhan\u0101r\u012b\u015bvara, half being \u015aiva and the other half \u015aakti. According to Hindu belief, the wife is the pure and sacred (pu\u1e47y\u0101) half of her husband's body, and besides shares the purity and merits of her husband according to the common saying \u015aar\u012br\u0101rdham sm\u1e5bt\u0101 j\u0101y\u0101 pu\u1e47y\u0101 pu\u1e47y\u0101phale sam\u0101.\n26:3 Lak\u1e63m\u012b.\n26:4 That is, the power of destruction, maintenance, and creation.\n26:5 The four bh\u0101vas are states or conditions of Ku\u1e47\u1e0dalin\u012b appearing as sound and its subtle elements, and are Par\u0101, whose abode (sth\u0101na) is the m\u016bl\u0101dh\u0101ra; Pa\u015byant\u012b in the sv\u0101dhi\u1e63\u1e6dh\u0101na; Mad\u1e25yam\u0101 in the an\u0101hata; and Vaikhar\u012b in the vi\u015buddha issuing through the throat (see next note). There appears, however, to be some difference as to the location of the second.\n26:6 Par\u0101 is the first condition of Ku\u1e47\u1e0dalin\u012b in the form of t\u0101masik sound in the M\u016bl\u0101dh\u0101ra; Pa\u015byant\u012b is the bh\u0101va when Ku\u1e47\u1e0dalin\u012b, associated with manas, reaches the position variously stated as the sv\u0101di\u1e63\u1e6dh\u0101na or manip\u016bra; Madhyam\u0101, when it reaches the an\u0101hatacakra, associated with buddhi; and Vaikhar\u012b is when Ku\u1e47\u1e0dalin\u012b issues through the throat in the form of the fifty letters. It is said that though there are thus four kinds of speech, the gross-minded do not understand the first three, and think speech to be Vaikhar\u012b alone.\n26:7 That is, \u0100im the b\u012bja of Sarasvat\u012b. The Dev\u012b is 'three syllabled' (Tryak\u1e63ar\u012b)--that is, the b\u012bja of the three divisions of the p. 27 Panchada\u015bi, V\u0101gbhava, K\u0101m\u0101r\u0101ja and \u015aakti. According to the V\u0101make\u015bvara Tantra, V\u0101gi\u015bvar\u012b is the jn\u0101n\u0101 \u015bakti, which is in the v\u0101gbhava division, and confers salvation, the k\u0101m\u0101r\u0101ja and \u015bakti divisions being the kriy\u0101 and ichchh\u0101 s\u0101kti (see the Lalit\u0101, verse 126).\n27:1 Sacchinmay\u012b, the Brahman being sat and chit.\n27:2 That is, they ultimately so appear, though previously existing as subtle elements of sound.\n27:3 The six sins: Lust (k\u0101ma), anger (krodha), greed (lobha), delusion (moha), pride (mada), envy (m\u0101tsary\u0101).\n27:4 Akunchya vayam by p\u016braka of pr\u0101n\u0101y\u0101m\u0101.\n27:5 As \u015aakti of \u015aiva.\n27:6 \u015aiva. The Androgyne form ardhan\u0101r\u012b\u015bvara.\n28:1 A lower order of Devas (devayoni).\n28:2 Wives of the Siddhas, also celestial spirits (devayoni) inhabiting the atmospheric plane (bhuvah).\n28:3 Asv\u0101dit\u0101savaras\u0101runa netrapadma.\n28:4 P\u0101dapa, so called because the tree drinks by its roots. As to the celestial trees (see \"Wave of Bliss\" post).\n28:5 Seat or shrine.\n28:6 Sumeru.\n28:7 For She as Ku\u1e47\u1e0dalin\u012b goes from the m\u016bl\u0101dh\u0101ra to the \u015bivasth\u0101na in the sahasr\u0101ra and returns moist with the nectar of Her union with Him.\n28:8 Raj\u0101dhani. Literally capital city of \u015aiva.\n28:9 That is from the m\u016bl\u0101dh\u0101ra cakra to the \u015bivasth\u0101na.\n28:10 The su\u1e63u\u1e41n\u0101 is the central \"nerve\" (n\u0101d\u012b), or, rather, channel of energy in the body in which the lotuses (\u1e63atcakra) are threaded with their heads normally downwards. As Ku\u1e47\u1e0dalin\u012b becomes stirred by the yoga process, She ascends from the p. 29 m\u016bl\u0101dh\u0101ra and enters the higher cakra. As She does so, the lotuses upturn and expand again, closing on her departure.\n29:1 The text which has sausuvartma kamal\u0101ni vik\u0101shayantim, is not, however, intelligible, and the metre is short. Possibly it is a misprint for saumyang.\n29:2 That is, nothing but intelligence caitanyam\u0101tra tanu.\n29:3 N\u0101d\u0101, as R\u0101ghava Bhatta says, exists in the three states of nibodhik\u0101 or bodhin\u012b, n\u0101da, and in the form of bindu, according to the predominance of the gu\u1e47a. These three and the \u015baktis, jn\u0101n\u0101, kriy\u0101 and ichh\u0101, of which they are special manifestations, are said to be in the form of sun, moon, and fire respectively. The moon (indu) is ichchh\u0101 (will and desire), the eternal precursor of creation. Kriy\u0101 is like the sun, which makes all things visible. Jn\u0101n\u0101 is fire, as it burns up all actions (see \u1e62atcakranir\u016bpa\u1e47\u0101, verse 49, and S\u0101rad\u0101 Tilaka, chap. i.).\n30:1 As Vi\u1e63\u1e47u.\n30:2 Narak\u0101rnat\u0101rin\u012b.\n30:3 Spouse of \u015aiva. The Dev\u012b Pur\u0101\u1e47a says; \"She who was burned by the fire of yoga was again born of Him\u0101laya; as She has the colour of the conch, jasmine, and moon, she is called Gaur\u012b.\" Her colour is golden. \u015aiva said to P\u0101rvat\u012b: \"O Daughter of Himalaya, I am white as the moon and thou art dark. I am the sandal-tree, and thou art, as it were, a snake entwined round it.\" P\u0101rvat\u012b, taking umbrage at this remark upon Her dark complexion, went away to the forest, and there, by the performance of austerities, gained for herself a golden complexion beautiful as the sunlit sky.\n30:4 Khed\u0101sh\u0101mine.\n30:5 \u015aiva.\n30:6 Dev\u012b of speech and learning.\n30:7 V\u0101ksiddhi or siddhi of words.","title":"Hymns to the Goddess: From Tantra: Bhairav\u012b (Bhairav\u012bstotra) from the Tantras\u0101ra","type":"page"}