Kamadhenu Tantra

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Kamadhenu Tantra (Original Sanskrit Text) Kamadhenu Tantra

That self of the nature of food is pervaded by the self of the nature of vital energy; similarly the self of vital energy is by nature pervaded by the self of the nature of mind - - Katharudropanishad, 24 This text, of 24 chapters, deals at length with the matrikas or letters of the alphabet, considered by the tantrik tradition to represent the goddess as sound. The text used for the abstract below was published by alyana !andir "rakashan. #hapter 22 and most of chapter 2$, are missing from this edition. The word Kamadhenu means the wish-fulfilling cow, and here is adjectivally a lied to the !evi in her form as Sarasvati, who rules s eech, elo"uence, words, music and all letters of the al ha#et$ She is re resented as the shakti or consort of %rahma, one of the trinity (trimurti) in &induism$ The tantra is cast in the normal "uestion and answer fashion #etween 'arvati (Shakti) and (ahadeva (Shiva)$ )ha ter one starts with 'arvati asking a#out the *+ letters of the Sanskrit al ha#et and their relationshi with the tattvas$ Shiva says that #y knowing this doctrine, a sadhaka can #ecome li#erated whilst still alive ( jivanmukta)$ The devi, he says, has different vidyas, or female mantras, so that in her form as the (atrikadevi, she consists of all of the others$ The letters , to Ksha, together with visarga and #indu re resent her tri le form, the #ody of the a#solute$ -rom the letters come %rahma, .ishnu and Shiva$ Shiva gives a meditation on the letters of the al ha#et re resenting the tattvas in which they are as effulgent as the autumn moon, consisting of five angles which also re resent the five devas$ She, as the very self of the #indu tattva, is #oth with "ualities and without "ualities$ /n cha ter two, (ahadeva roceeds to descri#e the fifteen vowels of the al ha#et (iTrans transliteration scheme used)$ The letter aa is the self of %rahma, .ishnu, and 0udra, conch-coloured, and consists of the five (main) #reaths or ranas$ The first letter of the al ha#et, a, is not mentioned here$ /t is 'aramakundali (su reme Kundalini)$ The letter i is su remely #lissful, like a sweet smelling flower, consisting of &ari, %rahma and 0udra$ /t is the guru, it is Sadashiva, and also 'ara#rahma$ /t is Kundali$ 1etter ii is again descri#ed as com osed of %rahma, .ishnu and Shiva and #eing fourfold knowledge as well as su reme Kundalini$ /t consists of the five devas$ The letter u is descri#ed as effulgent as the yellow cham aka flower, and giver of the four aims of mankind, that is dharma, artha, kama and moksha$ /t also includes the five ranas$ 1etter uu is called the su reme #ija, very hard to o#tain$ /t is as white as the kunda flower, consists of the three gunas and is called the #estower of ha iness, also including the five ranas$ 02i is descri#ed also as #eing of an effulgent yellow colour, is made of the three shaktis and consists of fourfold knowledge$ 02/, the next letter descri#ed, is also of a yellow hue, and has a ractically identical descri tion to the last letter$ The letter 12i is called the 'aradevata, where %rahma resides constantly$ /t is made u of the five ranas, the three gunas, and is also of a yellow, lightning-like colour$ The next letter, 12/, is effulgent as the full moon, has the self of the three gunas, and

also re resents the four aims of human existence$ 1etter e is called the su reme, celestial self of %rahma, .ishnu and Shiva, and is of the colour of a #andhuka flower, the very self of su reme Kundalini$ )ha ter three continues in the same tone as cha ter one #ut then moves on to more detailed matters$ Surely !evi must #y now #e wondering why Shiva is re eating himself, #ut she olitely listens until the se"uence of vowels is com leted$ The letter ai is called (ahakundalini, and is effulgent as 3+ million moons, com rises in itself the three #indus and the five ranas$ The letter o is of the a earance of red lightning, and is made of the three gunas, and like the rest re resents the five ranas and is su reme Kundalini$ ,lso red is the letter au, which is said to #estow the four aims of existence and conjoined with /shvara, as well as #eing the five main vital #reaths in a human$ The letter am is yellow in colour, consists of all knowledge, has within it the three #indus and the three shaktis, the five ranas and is su reme Kundalini$ The letter a&, says Shiva, is red in colour, consists of all knowledge, includes the five devas and the five #reaths, and ,tma and the other tattvas$ )ha ters four to six descri#e the consonants$ Ka is as #right as Kundali and is the essence of the four aims of mankind$ The letter Kha is as #rilliant as a snow white conch$ 4a is ure and the essence of the Shakti$ /n cha ter seven, Shiva says he will descri#e the ja a of the (atrikas this #eing the ultimate mantra$ The text starts to descri#e the letters of the al ha#et, each of which is receded and followed #y O$m - so O$m a$m O$m, O$m ,$m O$m, O$m i$m O$m, O$m /$m O$m and so forth to the letter Ksha$ &e then gives a dhyana of the (atrika !evi$ She is effulgent as a koti of (oons, seated on a white lotus with her three eyes moving layfully to and fro$ The white shining !evi has various faces corres onding to the sacred texts and she is adorned with white gems and white clothes$ The cha ter goes on to say that a erson ends u in hell and all uja is useless without the eight letter grou s a-ka-cha-Ta-ta- a-ya-sha$ %y worshi ing the letters with the #indu and visualing them as effulgent as the sun, doing this a lakh times, a mantrin #ecomes successful in giving the letters of the al ha#et life$ )ha ter eight s eaks of the greatness of (atrika as the *+ letters$ /n her are all macrocosms and vidyas and she exists as #oth the !evi with "ualities (gunas) and without "ualities (nirguna)$ She is the self of all .ishnu mantra, Shiva mantra, 4anesha mantra, Saura mantra, Shakti mantra$ The fifty letters as fifty young maidens are the self urana, of veda, and of smriti$ /n her form like this she is the self of %rahma, .ishnu, 0udra, /shvara and Sadashiva$ She is also the very self of Kundalini$ The #rief ninth cha ter descri#es the chief nadis in the human #ody, with sushumna in the centre, wound around #y the ida and ingala nadis$ The vital #reath ( rana) flows through these$ %y reciting the fifty letters of the al ha#et with the out and in #reaths, 35 times at the three twilights (sandhya), one does jiva nyasa and #ecomes the e"ual of Shiva$ )ha ter 3+ descri#es how the (atrika is related to the #ody$ The letter a is on the forehead, the letter , is on the mouth, the letter i is on the right eye, the letter / is on the left eye, the letter u is on the right ear, the letter 6 is on the left ear, the letter 02i is on the right nostril, and the letter 02/ on the left nostril$ The letter 12i is on the right cheek, while the letter 12/ is on the left cheek$ The letter e is on the u er li , the letter 7 on the lower li , the letter o is on the u er teeth, while the letter au is on the lower teeth$ The letter ,$m is on the head, while the letter a& is the face itself$ The five letters of Ka-varga are on the right arm, while the five letters of cha-varga are on the left arm$ On the right foot are the the Ta-varga, while ta-varga is on the left foot$ The a is on the right of the #ody, while ha is on the left of the #ody$ The letter #a is on the #ack, while the letter #ha is on the navel$ The letter ma is on the #elly, while the

letter ya is on the heart$ The leter ra is on the right shoulder, while the letter la is on the left shoulder$ This cha ter goes on to descri#e a correlation #etween the letters of the al ha#et and the tattvas, then correlating different letters with the five elements aether, air, fire, earth and water$ The letters are then related to *+ forms of !evi$ )ha ter 33 is the Kulluka and Setu cha ter, while cha ter 35 deals with (atrika !hyana as well as #ija dhyana$ The su#ject of #ija dhyana is continued in cha ter 38 and the effects of ronouncing each of the (atrikas se arately$ )ha ter 39 deals of dhyanas of the letter Ka using different colours and scents$ :hen red, the #ija #estow kingshi , when white and used with white sandal it gives li#eration, with rochana it su#jugates, with aguru or kumkuma it causes delusion, and with #lack it causes destruction and death$ 'lacing the letter Ka on the forehead using rochana is called the ; eo le deluding; tilak$ The fifteenth cha ter descri#es the merits of visualising the ishta devata in the heart lotus of 35 etals and visualising a #ija in each etal along with the vidya of the desired devata causes unity with the deity$ The sixteenth cha ter descri#es a rite to #e erformed on a Saturday (Shani) or Tuesday ((angala)$ This involves a detailed uja using the full set of ritual accessories, and a num#er of detailed nyasas$ )o er lates for each letter of the al ha#et are to #e inscri#ed with each of the (atrikas, and anointed with various sweet smelling su#stances$ /n cha ter seventeen, it<s said that the letter ka is the root of all the varnas, and so a erson should worshi this letter with every effort$ )ha ter eighteen continues to raise the greayness of the letter ka, descri#ed as the 1amini !evi$ .arious rayogas for o#taining success are rescri#ed$ The nineteenth cha ter continues this to ic and says that success in worshi ing ka and Kamini causes one to realise the essence of the Kamadhenu$ Kamini continues to #e eulogised in cha ter twenty, which descri#es Kamini as the form of light, while she should #e meditated u on in the 3,+++ etal lotus - the su#ject is continued in cha ter twenty one$ There<s a #reak in the tantra with only a fragment of cha ter twenty three remaining, cha ter twenty two is com letely missing in this edition$ The last cha ter, cha ter twenty four, closes with a dhyana of devi as having two arms, golden, with fair lim#s, wearing yellow clothes, adorned with various #right jewels, newly adolescent, as #right as the moon, with long fingers and shining nails, the colour of kadam#a, chewing aan, with a sindura forehead mark$