Tag: mantra

On the necessity of mantrasiddhi and its primary means(puraścaraṇa in this context)

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vīracūḍamaṇyām kālītantre ca:-

puraścaraṇahīnasya mantrasiddhirnajāyate।
ādau puraṣkriyaṃ kuryat niyamena yathāvidhi॥

vīratantre:

ādau mantrasya siddhyarthaṃ puraścaraṇamācaret।
tato siddhamanurmantri kāmyakarmāṇi sādhayet॥

uttaratantre:

sarvasvenāpi kartavyam puraścaraṇamuttamam।
anyathā nādhikāraḥ syat tasyapūjādiṣu priye॥

yoginīhṛdaye:

gurorājñāṃ samādāya śuddhāntaḥkaraṇo naraḥ।
tato puraṣkriyāṃ kuryānmantra saṃsiddhi kāmyayā॥
jīvahīno yathā dehaḥ sarvakarmasu na kṣamaḥ।
puraścaraṇahīno’pi tathāmantraḥ prakīrtitaḥ॥

yāmale:

akṛtvā tu puraścaryāṃ yo yatkarma samācaret।
tat tasya cābhicārāya jāyate nātra saṃśayaḥ॥

rāmārcanachandrikāyām:

saṃsāre duḥkhabhūyiṣṭhe ya icchet sukhamātmanaḥ।
pañcāṅgopāsanenaiva rāmaṃ bhajatu bhaktitaḥ॥
pañcāṅgopāsanaṃ bhaktyā puraścaraṇamucyate।
etat hi viduṣāmsreṣṭhaṃ saṃsārocchedakāraṇam॥
nānena sadṛṣo dharma nānena sadṛśantapaḥ।
nānena sadṛśaṃkiñcit iṣṭārthasya tapodhana॥

वीरचूडमण्याम् कालीतन्त्रे च:-

पुरश्चरणहीनस्य मन्त्रसिद्धिर्नजायते।
आदौ पुरष्क्रियं कुर्यत् नियमेन यथाविधि॥

वीरतन्त्रे:

आदौ मन्त्रस्य सिद्ध्यर्थं पुरश्चरणमाचरेत्।
ततो सिद्धमनुर्मन्त्रि काम्यकर्माणि साधयेत्॥

उत्तरतन्त्रे:

सर्वस्वेनापि कर्तव्यम् पुरश्चरणमुत्तमम्।
अन्यथा नाधिकारः स्यत् तस्यपूजादिषु प्रिये॥

योगिनीहृदये:

गुरोराज्ञां समादाय शुद्धान्तःकरणो नरः।
ततो पुरष्क्रियां कुर्यान्मन्त्र संसिद्धि काम्यया॥
जीवहीनो यथा देहः सर्वकर्मसु न क्षमः।
पुरश्चरणहीनोऽपि तथामन्त्रः प्रकीर्तितः॥

यामले:

अकृत्वा तु पुरश्चर्यां यो यत्कर्म समाचरेत्।
तत् तस्य चाभिचाराय जायते नात्र संशयः॥

रामार्चनछन्द्रिकायाम्:

संसारे दुःखभूयिष्ठे य इच्छेत् सुखमात्मनः।
पञ्चाङ्गोपासनेनैव रामं भजतु भक्तितः॥
पञ्चाङ्गोपासनं भक्त्या पुरश्चरणमुच्यते।
एतत् हि विदुषाम्स्रेष्ठं संसारोच्छेदकारणम्॥
नानेन सदृषो धर्म नानेन सदृशन्तपः।
नानेन सदृशंकिञ्चित् इष्टार्थस्य तपोधन॥

Some points to be noted from the above quotes

  • It is essential for kāmya rites
  • Without puraścaraṇa,one does not do pūjā etc(basically mantrasiddhi at its various levels is essential for the deity to be responding to the ritualist:This is the point being hinted at here)
  • The classic simile of a lifeless body being unable to perform any work;and a mantra that is not siddha is employed in the Yoginīhṛdaya
  • A yāmalatantra even goes as far as to say that one who does rites without doing puraścaraṇa,his rites are akin to abhicāra
  • Rāmārcana-candrikā,a text on Rāma worship notes that the puraścaraṇa ritual is also the cause of breakage of the bonds of saṃsāra;hence this is not merely recommended only for kāmya rites alone. And the ritual is also praised highly. This sentiment on the importance of mantrasiddhi at various levels is thus,not something that exists only in Śākta works but can be seen in Vaiṣnava works as well.

मेधादक्षिणामूर्तिमन्त्रविधिः(कुछ बात श्री गीर्वाणेन्द्रसरस्वती विरचित प्रपञ्चसारसारसंग्रह से)

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जो बात प्रपञ्चसारसारसंग्रह से नहीं है,वो Green highlight से है और् परम्परा भेद् के कारण मे है।

ब्रह्मा ऋषिः(वा शुकब्रह्म)।गायत्री चन्दः।मेधा दक्षिणामूर्तिर्देवता।मेधा बीजम्।स्वाहा शक्तिः।(अथवा:मेधा बीजम्।प्रज्ञा शक्तिः।स्वाहा कीलकं।)शड्दीर्घ न्यास(आं इत्यादि)।…प्रज्ञापादरहितो वा मन्त्रः।

कृष्णाष्टमिरारभ्य कृष्णचतुर्दशीपर्यन्त चत्वारिंशत्सहस्रं जपेत्।आज्येन दशांश पुरश्चरणहोम।लक्षं वा जपेत्,विष्ण्वालये वा पश्चिमद्वारशिवालये वा।अस्मिन्पक्षे क्षीरप्लुतशुद्धतिलैराज्येन पायसान्नेन वा दशांशं पुरश्चरणाहोमः।

ये सब करने के लिए मेधा दक्षिणामूर्ति मंत्र उपदेश(द्वाविंशाक्षर अथवा चतुर्विंशाक्षर) आवश्यक है। बिना मंत्रोपदेश से उपरोक्त कार्य करणीय नही है।

On right view,Buddhist-coloured deities and Hindu practice

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Ths is a novice’s attempt to answer about why the practice of some deities:tArA,chinnamastA(to a small extent vajrayoginI too),vilAsinI also is soiterologically relevant:

[Edit:Please do not take this as some word of shAstra or AchAryavAkya or something,I am not any guru,I am just thinking my thoughts out loud after asking my question and trying to process what I got]

An example of animus Buddhists displayed to Hindu systems can be seen about. This ritual consumption of brahmin flesh(a huge NO in any Hindu system that will ever exist) stems from two sources:(1)A kApAlika background is suggestible,as noted by the offering of brahmapuShpa to gain power as recorded by the author(I am not saying that that system existed in toto like that at Adi Shankara’s time but it transmits some relevant information about a cult with similar practices) and (2)actual dvesha for brAhmaNas,the gurus and systemizers of a lot of the native systems in the first place from where they took our mantras from:Hence these deities under the influence of the Bauddha transmitters took on Bauddha dresses in various aspects(like Rishi,etc)

With deities worshipped by such people,how is it that our people gain mukti?Taking leads from this article suggested by the author of the Kamakotimandali blog suggests that without a proper understanding of the tattvic scheme,such Bauddha upAsakas in the 36 tattva scheme would attain at best Buddhi tattva,mahAdevIing the chintAmaNI she is, granting the sAdhakas according to their view. Or worse,worldly siddhi mainly only more often.

Another thing is that in Hindu views,the deity with the same iconography is interpreted differently. An example is here where the image which is considered that of Arya achala is interpreted as that of krodharAja rudra trampling some demonic yakSha. Sometimes the descriptions in the Astika version are superficially different(sarvasiddhi and sarvabuddhi rather than sarvabuddhaDAkinI).

So the transmissions which have come back to Hindus with that Buddhist dress have in key,a different understanding than the Buddhists of what they are worshipping+when they got back the tranmissions from those who achieved only siddhi,their correct understanding put them on higher states of AdhyAtma than the Bauddhas they got it from.(albeit coloured by the ‘shunya’ type of language they inherited)[because they could understand the tattvas better and the devI granted them a place in those higher tattvas]. Another core difference is a practical respect in terms of ritual to brahmins(in the bhojana anga of the Hindu method of attaining siddhi in mantras).

Addendum by @TheRajarshi:

1. The necromancy practices are still prevalent even among H Kapalika-s (few are there still) but neither done in public nor publicized.
2. The actual consumption is mostly a tokenism in ritual setting to gain powers. 3. The mention of “brahmin” is because brahmins were the ones who had the tapa-shakti, other Vs did not. Same way even today in H viracara when taking a kapalapatra one cannot take random one…. else there is no Shakti in it, and becomes useless. Specific type of kapalas are useful. Guru decides basd on nature of sadhaka/na. Same logic baudhas were using. A kapala of a an individual who was a good yogi/sadhaka is highly prized. Or a chandala for certain rituals.
3.The icons of baudha deities trampling on H (IMO) was result of assimilation + abhicara practices which each group was doing on the other. But by time of Kalacakra tantra the Baudhas had come full circle and accepted H deities without any modification/distortion – post-Islam.
4. Coming to practical upasana Vajrayanists also produced terrific siddhas (not lower level at all if one knows how to judge the level of a siddhi) as did Hindus.

Determination in daily mantrasādhanā

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ihāsane śuṣyatu me śarīraṃ tvagasthimāṃsaṃ pralayaṃ ca yātu।
aprāpya bodhiṃ bahukalpadurlabhāṃ naivāsanāt kāyamataścaliṣyate॥

[Let my body dry up on this very seat,let the bones,skin and flesh perish,but without attaining the rare state of Buddhahood,never shall I leave this seat]
(From the Buddhacharita)

This can be taken in its Astika version as:
ihāsane śuṣyatu me śarīraṃ tvagasthimāṃsaṃ pralayaṃ ca yātu।
aprāpya siddhiṃ bahukalpadurlabhāṃ naivāsanāt kāyamataścaliṣyate॥

Here the Buddhahood conception is replaced by siddhi.

And about siddhi(from the text mantrayogasaṃhitā)

samādhirlayayogasya mahālaya itīritaḥ।
haṭhasya ca mahābodho yathāyogaparāyaṇaiḥ।
tathaiva mantrayogasya mahābhāvaḥ prakīrtitaḥ॥
dhyānādhikāraḥ samprokto yāvadvai tripuṭīsthitiḥ।
vilīnāyāṃ ca tasyāṃ vai mahābhāvasamudbhavaḥ॥
mantrasiddhyā devatāyāṃ vidhāya manaso layam।
tripuṭīnāśato yogī samādhimadhigacchati।
mano mantrastathā devo jñāyate prathamaṃ pṛthak।
tataḥ parasparaṃ tattajjñāne linaṃ prajāyate॥
dhyeya-dhyātṛ-dhyāna-rūpatripuṭīvilayo bhavet।
imāmavasthāṃ saṃprāpya sādhakeṣu prajāpate।
romodugasamastabdhā ca tathā”nandāśruvarṣaṇam॥
krameṇa ca manolīne samādhiḥ kila jāyate।
samādhinā bhavantyāśu kṛtyak^ityā hi sādhakāḥ।
mahābhāvopalabdhirhi mantrayoge’ntimaṃ phalam॥

And from the devīgītā:
yāvan manolayaṃ yāti devyāṃ samvidiṃ parvata।
tāvanadiṣṭamanuṃ mantrī japahomaiḥ samabhyaset॥

[The sādhaka must do japa and homa until manolaya has occured].

[The above post is inspired by a point Sri Mahendranath Gupta made in a book on him written by Swami Nityatmananda].




A practical note on purascharaNa(cited from kulArNava tantra and muNDamAlA tantra)

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yad yad a~Ngam vihiyeta tatsaMkhyAdviguNo japaH|
kuryAd dvitrichatuHpa~nchasaMkhyaM vA sAdhakaH priye||
kurvita chA~Ngasiddhyartham tadashaktau sa bhaktitaH|
tachcheda~Ngam vihiyeta mantri neShTam avApnuyAt||

-kulArNavatantra,pa~nchadasha ullAsa (15th chapter,Kularnava tantra)

In Devanagari:

यद् यद् अङ्गम् विहियेत तत्संख्याद्विगुणो जपः।
कुर्याद् द्वित्रिचतुःपञ्चसंख्यं वा साधकः प्रिये॥
कुर्वित चाङ्गसिद्ध्यर्थम् तदशक्तौ स भक्तितः।
तच्चेदङ्गम् विहियेत मन्त्रि नेष्टम् अवाप्नुयात्॥

-कुलार्णवतन्त्र,पञ्चदश उल्लास

If one limb of a five limbed purashcharaNa is lacking,one does japa dviguNa(twice),triguNa(thrice),chaturguNA or 5 times to make up for it. [Apparently according to Buhnemann,a text called PA;perhaps is it the purashcharyArNava? states that the number of times one has to repeate this substitute japa depends on the varNa of the person doing the purashcharaNa,like brAhmaNas doing 2x,and the others in increasing orders:I’m not able to check for myself the original text of the purashcaryArNava].

Anyway,these are the range of rules the tantra has stated,what suits the individual sAdhaka is best learned from his guru who can clarify(and is the ultimate authority).

So,if one had the homa saMkhyA 10,000:He would have to do at least 20,000 japa to make up for the missed limb(a~Nga) of the purashcharaNa.

Practically,the author has seen mostly people recommending 2x or 4x to make up for the a~Ngas that could not be done(like homa,tarpana,etc).

Another note from muNDamAlA tantra(5h paTala):

nyunAdhikam na japtavyAmAsamAptaM sadA japet|

Also

rAtrisheshe japenna cha|

yastha yAvAn japaH proktastaddashAMshAmanukramAt|
tattaddravyairjapasyAnte homaM kuryAd dine dine||
homasya cha dashAMshena tarpaNaM proktameva cha|
tarpaNasya dashAMshena shiromArjanamiShyate||
taddashAMshena viprendrAn kurvIta kulakanyakAH|
saMbhojayet prItiyuktairdravyairnAnAvidhairapi||
homAdyAshakto deveshi!kuryAchya dviguNaM japam|
yadi pUjAdyAshaktaH syAd dravyAlAbhena sundarI|
kevalaM japamAtreNa purashcharyA vidhIyate||

Translation of the above relevant points that I cited:One should not do more or less japa every day till the very end. One should not do japa at the end of rAtri. One should do successive dashAMshas of homa,tarpaNa,mArjana,and brAhmaNabhojana. If one is incapable of homa,etc,he should do 2x the japa. If he is incapable of pUjA etc a~Ngas due to lack of dravyas,by japa alone he can complete the whole purashcharaNa.
Swami Sacchidananda Saraswati in his Purascharanapradipa states: অশক্তকল্পে:কেবল জপে জপেই যে কোন সাধক পুরশ্চরণ হইতে পারে। এমন কি ব্রাহ্মণভোজন অঙ্গের অন্যকল্পেও জপদ্বারাই তাহা সিদ্ধ হইতে পারিবে। যথা:-(and then quotes the last shloka I had cited here).

Personal note(I am no AchArya):pratyakSha brAhmaNabhojana is still the best option even if one has substituted all the other a~Ngas with japa for the reason it falls in the same category as kumAribhojana:Both of these remove all the doshas that might have been committed in the process of the mantrasAdhanA. And of course,the brAhmaNas should be vedaj~na or should be doing upAsanA of the same mantra as the sAdhaka is doing/be dIkShita in that same mantra.

(note on 11th May 2021):Another note from reading the Purascharanapradipa again in the section on brAhmaNa bhojana :যদিও ‘আচার্য্যমতে’ বিপ্রভোজনের অনুকল্পরূপে জপ করিবার আদেশ আছে,তথাপি ব্রাহ্মণভোজন-রূপ পুরশ্চরণ-অঙ্গের অনুকল্প জপে বাধা দিবার কারণ এই যে,ইহাদ্বারা জপাদি অন্যান্য সকল অঙ্গেই যদি কোন প্রকার হানি বা অজ্ঞাতে তাহাতে কোনরূপ অসম্পূর্ণতা হইয়া থাকে,সে সকল ব্রাহ্মণভোজন দ্বারাই পূর্ণ হইয়া থাকে।  (Even despite from ‘AchAryamata’ there is a provision of anukalpa of virabhojana,still an obstruction is given to this provision because if there is any hAni or incompleteness due to unknown fault in the purashcharaNa,all that can be rectified by brAhmaNabhojana itself.