Cidvilasastava by Amrtananda
by Brian Campbell and Ben Williams | 2023 | 36,420 words
This page relates 鈥榁erse 36: Shaddarshana Pujana鈥� of the English translation of the Cidvilasastava by Amrtananda (fl. 1325-1375 C.E.). This work combines the ritualistic worship of Shrividya with the philosophy of non-dualism, influenced by Pratyabhijna Shaivism. More specifically, the Cidvilasa-Stava outlines and provides the non-dual Bhavanas (i.e., creative contemplations that fuse the mind with reality) for several important steps in the ritual worship of Tripurasundari.
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Verse 36: 峁岣峝ar艣ana P奴jana
Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation of verse 36:
啶啷嵿啶啶о啶班ぃ啶距え啶� 啶ぞ啶ㄠじ啶� 啶︵ぐ啷嵿ざ啶ㄠぞ啶ㄠた 啶掂た啶粪く啶啶班う啶班啶多え啶距い啷� 啷�
啶︵ぐ啷嵿ざ啶ㄠぞ啶ㄠた 啶粪ぁ啷� 啶呧ぎ啷傕え啶� 啶むぞ啶ㄠた 啶むい啷嵿お啷傕啶ㄠ 啶さ啶むた 啶むげ啷嵿げ啶ざ啷� 啶氞た啶むた 啷� 啷┼ガ 啷�pa帽cabodhakara峁嚹乶i m膩nasa峁� dar艣an膩ni vi峁yapradar艣an膩t |
dar艣an膩ni 峁岣� am奴ni t膩ni tatp奴jana峁� bhavati tallaya艣 citi || 36 ||The worship of the six traditions is when the mental perceptions of the five-fold senses arising from the perception of objects is dissolved into pure awareness.
Notes:
The worship and veneration of multiple traditions, as well as the particular (惫颈艣别峁) and universal (蝉腻尘补苍测补) aspects of the deity, is a critical aspect of tantric ritual. While not named explicitly, the six 诲补谤艣补苍补蝉 (lit. views, but also lineages) mentioned in this verse most likely refer to the Bauddha, Vedic, 艢补颈惫补, Saura, 痴补颈峁ａ箛补惫补, and 艢腻办迟补 traditions.
The twelth chapter of the 艢谤墨惫颈诲测腻谤峁嘺惫补迟补苍迟谤补 corroborates these six traditions (峁岣峝补谤艣补苍补) when giving their individual 驳腻测补迟谤颈 mantras in the following verses:
atha 峁岣峝补谤艣补苍补g膩yatrya岣� brahmag膩yatr墨 spa峁ａ弓aiva ||
n膩r膩ya峁嚹亂a vidmahe v膩sudev膩ya dh墨mahi tan no vi峁ａ箛u岣� pracoday膩t |
膩dity膩ya vidmahe m膩rta峁囜笉膩ya dh墨mahi tan na岣� s奴rya岣� pracoday膩t |
艣ivag膩yatr墨 tu pr膩geva dar艣it膩 |
mah膩siddh膩ya vidmahe sarvaj帽膩ya dh墨mahi tan no buddha岣� pracoday膩t |
sarvasa峁僲ohinyai vidmahe vi艣vajananyai dh墨mahi tan na岣� 艣akti岣� pracoday膩t |
iti 峁岣峝补谤艣补苍补g膩yatrya岣� ||
痴颈诲测腻苍补苍诲补, in the first chapter of his 闯帽腻苍补诲墨辫补惫颈尘补谤艣颈苍墨, teaches the worship and installation of the six traditions as a meditation on the six cakras within the body and understood the six traditions to consist of the same six 诲补谤艣补苍补蝉 mentioned above:
atha cakra峁� 峁岣峝ar艣an膩tmaka峁� j帽膩tv膩 p奴jayet |
ukta峁� hi bauddha峁� br膩hma峁� tath膩 艣aiva峁� saura峁� vai峁ａ箛avam eva ca |
艣膩kta峁� 峁峁ａ弓ha峁� tu vij帽eyam cakram 峁岣峝ar艣an膩tmakam ||
The 驰辞驳补办丑补峁囜笉补 of the 惭补苍迟丑腻苍补产丑补颈谤补惫补迟补苍迟谤补 teaches a slightly different order of the six 诲补谤艣补苍补蝉 and links them with six principles as follows:[1]
buddhitattva峁� tu bauddh膩n膩峁� arhat膩n膩峁� gu峁嘺trayam |
pradh膩na峁� vedav膩d墨n膩峁� vai峁ａ箛av膩n膩峁� ca pauru峁m ||
k膩latattva峁� tu saur膩n膩峁� 艣aiv膩n膩峁� ca para峁� 艣ivam |
Buddhism 鈥� intellect;
Jainsim 鈥� the three qualities of nature;
Veda 鈥� fundamental nature;
痴补颈峁ａ箛补惫颈蝉尘 鈥� 辫耻谤耻峁;
Saura 鈥� time;
艢补颈惫补 鈥� supreme 艢颈惫补;
It seems rather unlikely, but worth mentioning (due to its prevalence in contemporary forms of worship) that 础尘峁泃腻苍补苍诲补 might also be referring to the Pa帽c膩yatana p奴j膩, a popular form of worship in South India where five deities (骋补峁嘺辫补迟颈, 艢颈惫补, 痴颈峁ａ箛耻, 厂奴谤测补, and the 顿别惫墨), who represent five traditions, are venerated together through the bathing of five small stones鈥攐ften with the addition of a spear, representing Murugan, to make six.
Regardless of which six traditions 础尘峁泃腻苍补苍诲补 is referring to in this verse, it is clear that he envisions the higher form of worshiping them as dissolving the five senses, along with the mind, into pure consciousness.
Footnotes and references:
[1]:
Dyczkowski 2009 Vol II, 339, fn. 1.