Ciphering the Supreme: Mantric Encoding

in Abh|navagupta's Tantr loka

Paul Muller-Ortega

T H E M E S OF HIDDENNESS AND
DIALECTICS OF SECRECY

In his masterful and encyclopedic work, the Tantraloka (Light on the Tantras),
the tenth-century Kashmiri Saivfic~rya, Abhinavagupta, often draws a veil over
certain considerations claiming they are too secret (rahasya, guhya) to be fully
discussed in a text and should only be imparted orally by a qualified preceptor.
Thus, in Abhinavagupta's Tantraloka, we encounter the statement: "But enough
of telling of secret things! The Heart of the yogin[ is hidden by its vet3' nature.
The wise one who reposes there has attained his purpose" (5.73). 1 Similarly,
Abhinavagupta states that while the Vedic tradition may consider a corpse or the
alcohol used in the Tantric ritual as impure, such is not the truth. Rather, that
which is separated from consciousness is impure and that which is identical to
consciousness is pure. He adds that while the ancient enlightened sages knew
this truth, they kept it secret in order not to perturb the established order of the
world (Tantraloka 4.243b). Elsewhere, Abhinavagupta indicates that a certain
,~gamic theory has only been hinted at, rather than being presented in detail,
because of its extreme secrecy (Tantraloka 4.145). A similar statement occurs
with regard to the kulayaga, the secret ritual: Abhinavagupta states that the
method has not been explained precisely because of its secrecy (Tantraloka
29.169).
Such statements may be found scattered throughout Abhinavagupta's writings
(and indeed in this genre of literature more generally). One of the puzzles that
scholars of such esoteric traditions face centers on how to deal with such
tantalizing statements. Is it possible to compensate for the lack of closure

International Journal of Hindu Studies 7, 1-3 (2003): 1-30

© 2005 by the W o r d Heritage Press Inc.
2 / Paul Muller-Ortega

introduced into the almost exclusively textual study of these traditions by such
reservations on the part of the author.'? Naturally, the scholar will bring to bear
whatever supplementary interpretive tools are available: commentaries, parallel
traditions, and modem representatives. Nevertheless, even with such supports, a
lingering sense of incompleteness afflicts the study of such a tradition.
This essay seeks to address a specific problem--that of mantric encoding--
within the larger sphere of notions of secrecy and concealment in the context of
South Asian religions. To begin let us ask two general questions. First, how
has the dimension of secrecy and concealment in the South Asian religions
usually been characterized in works of scholarship? And, second, are there
implicit presuppositions and assumptions in these characterizations that it might
be useful to revisit and rethink?
Let us begin with Hinduism. It might be said that from the casual phrases of
early scholars about the "jealous guardians" of the Veda to modern sociological
analyses that seek to expose the "restrictive power relations" inherent in the
notion of caste, scholarly discourse concerning the Hindu tradition (or rather
Hindu traditions) has been often marked by the too easy assumption that we
know and have clearly established what the roles played by secrecy, hiddenness,
and concealment have been in this large tradition. Too often, secrecy has been
represented as a kind of arbitrary obfuscation, a minor and inessential if
persistently irritating feature of an otherwise interesting tradition. Many times,
it has been conceived as a barrier to be "gotten past," a meaningless veil that
obscures the "real truths" the investigator seeks to unveil. It is my contention
that these assumptions, when operative, have missed an essential feature of the
tradition, that is, that secrecy and concealment respond to the very core of the
tradition, that they are not arbitrary or secondary but directly expressive of the
tradition's most formative insights.
From the notion of Siva's concealing power (the tirodhanagakti) to the
pervasive notion of Vi.s.nu's power of illusion or maya, concealment is deeply
embedded in Hindu thought and practice. In fact, it could be argued that the
Hindu tradition is grounded in a fundamental dialectic of concealing and
revealing and that this dialectic represents an inescapable fact for the under-
standing of this tradition. In order that scholarship about the Hindu tradition be
descriptively accurate, it must therefore reflect this dialectic as a fundamental
hermeneutical tool of understanding.
To return to the Saivite notion of the tirodhanagakti: The tradition argues that
what is real, what is true, abiding, and divine is hidden. Saivism tells us that
because the formless Absolute is qualityless and inconceivable, it is hidden by
its very nature. Cloaked in layers of form, it is obscured by its own formless-
ness. It is these very layers that give form to the transparency of being by
 Mantric Encoding in Abhinavagupta's Tantr~loka / 3

revealing an array of ever-changing variety and creativity.

At the same time, Saivism would say, what is real, what is true and abiding
is unconcealable. The arising of layers of form thus displays and reveals the
inherent nature of the Absolute. And, indeed, Saivism would further claim that
for those who have eyes to see, this Absolute, far from remaining obscured,
shines forth, ever revealed in the midst of all arising forms. Then, Saiva
traditions would say, life reflects this self-revealing hiddenness that echoes
through it in a dance of concealment and mystery.
It might be argued that this dialectic of concealing and revealing, here
expressed in Saivite terms, is in fact pervasively replicated in the multifarious
dimensions and aspects of the complex religions tradition of Hinduism. In all
of its domains--mythological, ritual, social, doctrinal, ethical, iconographical,
experiential--the Hindu tradition displays and responds to the dialectical tension
between revealing and concealing.
We turn now to introduce the parameters of this essay's investigation of
mantric encoding.
The thirtieth ahnika (chapter) of Abhinavagupta's Tantraloka catalogs and
organizes a large number of mantras for a variety of ritual and meditational
purposes. One of the features of Abhinavagupta's discussion is that the mantras
are not spelled out "in clear." Rather, they are encoded by means of names
assigned to the various phonemes of the mantra. This process makes such
mantric passages very difficult for the uninitiated (and indeed for the scholar) to
approach. At first inspection, therefore, this chapter seems to function to contain
and obscure its contents rather than to release and reveal them. Fortunately, in
the case of this particular text, its twelfth-century commentator, Jayaratha,
provides the equivalences which make possible the retrieval and extraction of
such encoded mantras.
Though this process of encoding and decoding mantras is commonly found
in the literature of Hindu Tantric and Agamic texts, it has received little
scholarly scrutiny. Indeed, to my knowledge, the morphology and syntax of
mantric encoding have not yet been systematically explored. Since in the wider
ambit of Asian scholarship mantric encoding has been largely ignored, it is not
surprising that when it is glancingly alluded to, it most often continues to be
understood stereotypically and exclusively in terms of conventional notions of
secrecy and concealment. For example, the comments of Dirk Jan Hoens are
typical: "This cryptic style of writing has been adopted to keep the contents
concealed from non-initiated people. These can only be read by those who have
the key" (1979: 104).
In this essay I first approach the practice of mantric encoding descriptively in
order to explore the various features of encoding in the fairly representative
4 / Paul Muller-Ortega

sample found in the Tantrdloka. I argue that the intended "clientele" of the
Tantraloka (and of many similar texts) would almost certainly have been
understood to be initiates for whom the mantras were not secret. Therefore,
while the perceived motive of the exclusion of the uninitiated remains a
plausible, initial explanation for the process of encoding, there is clearly
something more here. Encoding served as a protective hedge to guard not so
much what was secret but what was sacred. To spell out an important or central
mantra directly in a text would have offended against what was understood to
be the proper context for the transmission of a mantra.
I then examine what I term "deep" encoding, instances where the occasion
of encoding is taken as an opportunity to reveal the symbolic sequences of
meaning that are understood to be contained in that mantra. I show that the
process of "deep" encoding seeks not to conceal but to reveal. It attempts to
expose in conceptual terms that which makes the mantra inherently powerful,
the so-called mantrav~rya or the potency of the mantra. While the mantravfrya
is not finally amenable to conceptual explication--it represents nothing less
than the very force and power of the ultimate consciousness itself--I argue that
the most interesting mantric encodings in the Tantraloka endeavor to reveal this
mantrav~rya. If a mantra truly encodes the pattern of the Supreme, of Siva, then
its symbolic explication through "deep" encoding allows for the expression of
this hidden cipher of the Supreme. Mantric encoding thus allowed the important
mantras of the tradition to be packed densely and explicitly with ultimate
meanings without thereby rendering the mantras possessed of conventional
signification (sa.mketika).

MANTRIC ENCODING: A R E S E A R C H AGENDA

Andr6 Padoux, in his book Vac (1990: 380n16), quotes from a Yamalatantra a
rather sfitric passage, which reads: "devatayah. gar[ram, tu bfjad utpadyate
dhruvam" (Verily, the body of the devat(t arises from the bfja-phonic seed). This
connection between mantras and the deities they express is now well known and
has been studied as an important, if rather special, instance of the relation of that
which "signifies" (vacaka) and that which is "signified" (vacya). As Padoux
summarizes:

Two powers are associated with every Mantra: one power (vacakagakti), which
"expresses" or "signifies," is the Mantra itself. [The other] (vacyagakti), which
is "to be expressed" or "signified," is the devata [the god or "object" of the
 Mantric Encoding in Abhinavagupta' s Tantraloka / 5

mantra]. Here as elsewhere the second aspect follows from the first, for it is
the Word which is primal, the fecundator who precedes her object (1963: 298,
cited in Alper 1989a: 267).

This fundamental relationship of mantric word and divine object stands in the
backdrop of the present exploration of mantric encoding. For if it might be
said that the absolute consciousness is first phonically, divinely, and subtly
"fleshed out" in mantra, then it is further the case that these subtle, mantric
"bodies" are many times "ornamented" or "clothed" in the various encodings
through which the mantric "subtle body" of the deity is carefully presented in
the many texts of Hindu Tantrism. The first part of this fundamental
relationship is articulated, for example, by Abhinavagupta in his Paratrggikala-
ghuv.rni, when he says:

For just as in the body, which is made up of all the principles and depends
on various different parts, such as the skin, that heart is called the place
where there is a repose in the pure light and pure consciousness, which is not
different from the parts of the body. In the same way, the body of the blessed
Lord Bhairava, which is composed of various principles, worlds, and so on,
which has a universal form, has a self-referential consciousness as its essence
and is composed of the fifty phonemes. The Heart [-mantra] is the very
essence of that and is a self-referential consciousness which is non-different
from all the parts of the body [of the supreme deity, Bhairava] (commentary
on ~loka 9). 2

This complex passage plays on analogies between the macrocosmic body of the
deity Bhairava (which is the entire complex of the visible universe) and the
microcosm of the human body. Just as the heart is the source of the human
body (and by "heart," in this case, Abhinavagupta clearly intends the subtle,
pr~n.ic consciousness that nourishes and sustains the outer physicality of the
body), so too the mantric Heart (in this case the bfja, SAU.H) forms the
sustaining inner "life" of the outer form of the deity.
Clearly, there are many fascinating issues and ambiguities here. Assumed in
this passage is an entire argument regarding the complex process of the emana-
tion of the Word, occurring in three successive stages. There is also an assumed
argument regarding the parallel and complex process of the manifestation of the
"objective" reality in terms of the thirty-six principles (tattva) of Saivism (see
Padoux 1990). I will not here dilate on these matters. However, it is important
to insist that the "bodying forth," if you will, of the formless and bodyless
absolute consciousness in terms of the powerful matrix of vibratory sound is
6 / Paul Muller-Ortega

the first (and ever-repeated) "move" in the divine play of Siva. The complex
structures of emergent vibratory sound both reveal and conceal aspects of the
supreme divinity. In some cases, and especially in the specific case of certain
crucial mantras, they are further "clothed" in the "draperies" of textual encoding.
By this complex and multistaged process, the absolute consciousness is
repeatedly concealed and revealed. In addition, its otherwise nakedly powerful
expressions in terms of vibratory, mantric sounds are suitably "ornamented,"
"concealed," and symbolically framed and "loaded" by the multivalent and
multipurpose process of encoding.
In his pioneering study, The Tantric Tradition, Agehananda Bharati
maintains that:

As to the construction of mantra within the textual framework the material is

vast. Every tantric text, in all the three religions inculcating mantra, abounds
in instructions about the correct form and pronunciation of the mantra; in
fact, these instructions seem to be obligatory in every tantric text, although
this is not directly enjoined in any canonical text I have seen.
There are two ways in which instructions about how to arrive at a mantra
are given: the direct way, in which the mantra is simply listed in the text;
and the indirect way, in which the instruction is couched in heuristic
propositions using circumlocutory terms for mantra-constituents and Mjas
which are known only to the initiate or to scholars conversant with tantric
terminology. These instructions are therefore in sandh~bha.sa, and they are the
only sandha-passages in mantric instructions of any kind; that is to say,
instructions about dh~r~n, i, y~mala, kavaca, yantra, and man. imla, are not
couched in intentional language. The reason for this seems to be that secrecy
attaches itself only to the mantra itself in a degree comparable to instructions
on esoteric practices, especially of the left-handed variety. Mantra loses its
power if revealed to the non-initiate ....
The votaries of mantra are, however, not too consistent about the secrecy of
the mantras so laboriously camouflaged in these sandh~-instructions; there
are numerous manuals which list them in toto; they are the "Mjakoias" of the
various mantra schools; there is certainly no mantra arrived at by means of
sandha-instruction, which is not listed in manuals like the Mantramah~m.ava
and the Mantramahodadhi (1975:118, 120-21).

These insightful and apt comments provide us with a baseline of understanding

as to the textuality of mantras. In general terms, Bharati accurately describes the
reality that surrounds mantras in the Tantr~loka. They are held concealed
within a text and often revealed by the commentary to that text.
 Mantric Encoding in Abhinavagupta' s Tantrdloka / 7

Further Harvey Alper writes:

The techniques for safeguarding mantras were relatively straightforward. The

most common procedures for indicating a mantra that should not be expressed
directly in writing simply involved writing it in reverse order (vilomena,
vyutkramen.a), "interchanging the syllables of a line" (vyakulitaksara) .... or
paraphrasing it. This illustrates the tension between concealment and
disclosure, for as Bharati (1965, 276, n. 69) observes...the secret is open to
anyone in a position to care.
In many instances, more elaborate precautions were taken to guard mantras.
The most extreme involved various forms of encoding that required posses-
sion of a key, and knowledge of a procedure, before decoding would be
possible. The best example of this about which I am aware are the devices
known as prastara and gahvara, which are specific to the tradition of the
Kulalika-or Pagcimamnaya .... This involves secreting the mantra through
something like a "substitution cipher." To get the mantra, one must first
know how to construct the diagram in which the Sanskrit ak.saras are
rearranged and know the terminology by which they are indicated.
Sometimes one gets the impression that the secrecy of Tantra became
an end in itself, part of the game .... In any case, the subject of the encoding
of mantras in such a manner clearly merits further study. One wonders
whether these procedures are derived from Vedic precedents or were part of a
continuous tradition of Indian cryptography (1989b: 415). 3

Alper's comments that the "secrecy of Tantra became an end in itself, part of the
game" are precisely what we seek to understand in this essay. However, we will
try to demonstrate that at least in the case of Abhinavagupta's Tantraloka,
the game is played with a completely serious intent: to expose to view the
mantravgrya, the potency of the mantra. I will not attempt a systematic survey
of what little else has been said by scholars on this topic. As far as I can
ascertain, the topic of encoding mantras has been treated en passant and with
an eye towards other goals. 4 Other scholars who have written on related topics in
mantra~astra include Alexis Sanderson (1990: 57) who makes reference to a
"cryptic analysis" of some of the same mantras we will consider below.
Sanderson (1990: 58n115) further speaks of "code terms" and "code names";
Alper (1989a,b) of "substitution ciphers." Gudrun Biihnemann (1992) has
written in detail about the topic of mantras and treats perforce the processes of
encoding and decoding as a fact of life in the textual literature of mantras.
Padoux (1978) deals in detail with the "extraction" (uddh~ra) of mantras. The
comments of Douglas Brooks (1990, 1992) in his treatments of the Srividy~
8 / Paul Muller-Ortega

tradition on the issues of secrecy and mantric encoding are important. For
mantric encoding in the Vais.nava T~ntrikas, Edward Dimock's (1966) classic
book gives some relevant and interesting details, s
We now turn to Abhinavagupta's T a n t r ~ l o k a . We find that its thirtieth
chapter catalogs and organizes a large number of m a n t r a s . Coming fairly deep
into a large Sanskrit Tantric manual, this chapter appears to serve as a vessel for
the tools of power that are the m a n t r a s . This text, it seems, was not meant for
public scrutiny or for those who had not received the proper initiator), warrant.
Possibly to guard against its inappropriate circulation, most of the m a n t r a s in
the text are conveyed by means of a process of encoding. Here the concept of
~aktipata ("the graceful descent of the power of Siva") is inextricably allied with
the theoretical understandings of the textual preservation and transmission of the
m a n t r a s . There is a crucial connection here, which will be touched on below,
between the reception of this most fundamental initiatory energy and the
development of the intellectual and intuitive capacities considered necessary to
penetrate the secrets of the tradition. In any case, it is one of the compelling
features of Abhinavagupta's discussion of m a n t r a that the m a n t r a s are, for the
most part, not spelled out "in clear.'" Rather they are encoded, primarily by
means of what appear to be names assigned to the various phonemes that
compose the mantra.
This procedure allows Abhinavagupta to convey m a n t r a s in a text without
explicitly expressing them. By this method the exact m a n t r a is concealed from
those who do not know the equivalent phonemes of the symbolic names given.
At the same time, the process of encoding allows Abhinavagupta to inculcate
sequences of symbolic meanings into the m a n t r a , without thereby assigning a
conventional verbal signification to the m a n t r a itself. To the uninformed reader
of the text, these passages appear to be abstruse and sometimes incoherent
philosophical or ritual discussions. To the informed reader--perhaps the initiate
who is no longer tempted to make illegitimate use of the m a n t r a outside of the
proper ritual--the text reveals and conveys the m a n t r a it contains.
Therefore, this chapter and other places in the oeuvre of Abhinavagupta serve
as a useful source of data for the encoding of m a n t r a s . They also serve as a
source of data for investigating the procedure for encoding m a n t r a s that appears
to be a widespread practice in Tantric literature. For most important Tantric
manuals contain a section on m a n t r a s (Hindu Tantra is after all many times
characterized as m a n t r a i a s t r a ) , and often the m a n t r a s are conveyed therein by
various kinds of cryptographic devices and encoding subterfuges. Clearly,
further examination of this mechanism would be beneficial.
Naturally, the process of encoding makes such mantric passages difficult to
translate without the assistance of decoding commentaries. In the case of the
 Mantric Encoding in Abhinavagupta's Tantrgdoka I 9

Tantraloka, Jayaratha provides the equivalences that make possible the retrieval
of such encoded mantras. These mantric passages in the Tantrdloka are
particularly interesting because in them we can examine the juxtaposition of
Abhinavagupta's often symbolic encodings and Jayaratha's decodings. These
juxtapositions reveal insights concerning the morphology and meaning of
Tantric mantra encoding.
Even though encoded mantric cryptograms are a widespread feature of Hindu
Tantric texts, this topic has received little scholarly scrutiny. As part of an
ongoing agenda of research, I am studying the process of the encoding of
mantras following three specific lines.
First, the examination of this process as part of a descriptive charting of the
morphology and syntax of mantric encoding; in other words, how is it done?
Narrowly, what is the nature of the process of mantric encoding? Is there any
perceivable logic to the code names used for the various phonemes?
Second, the inquiry into the immediate environment of meaning of this
phenomenon; in other words, why is mantric encoding such a pervasive and
indeed commonplace feature of Tantric texts? What does it appear to mean?
Third, and most speculatively, what is its larger interpretive horizon? What
does this rather microscopic and "esoteric" inquiry reveal about the larger
meanings of Hindu Tantra? What, if anything, does this process of encoding tell
us about the larger meanings of mantras and their textuality as they were
understood in this medieval Kashmiri lineage of Hindu Tantra?
The method followed in this essay will be to investigate a single textual
environment of mantric encoding as exemplary of such Tantric compilations of
encoded mantras. While most of the examples are drawn from the Tantr~loka,
there are two parallel examples drawn from a closely related text, Par~tr~gi-
k~laghuvrtti by Abhinavagupta. Also, it might be commented that the process
of mantric encoding in Tantric texts must be carried out with an alertness
towards the "sociology" of Hindu Tantric texts: the circumstances that surround
the composition of a text; the presuppositions of the authors about the audience
of such a text, that is, their understanding of the nature and category of a text,
about the life span of the text; the textual composition as a temporary fabrica-
tion for the assistance of the process of transmission and memorization; the
restricted distribution of such texts (and of their decoding commentaries); and
what may have been the secondary or subservient relationship of the text to
traditions of oral commentary. These kinds of "sociological" and presupposi-
tional concerns represent the wider horizon within which the narrower inquiry of
mantric encoding may become particularly relevant.
To conclude our statement of a research agenda on mantric encoding, it might
be said that the study of the encoding of the various phonemes of the mantra
10 / Paul Muller-Ortega

would include gathering systematic information on the naming of the various

yarn.as; the naming and variety of the pran. ava; the naming and variety of the
usually postpositional mantras, such as NAMA.H and SV,,~H,~; the different
kinds of Mjas, the names or terms by which they are referred to stereotypically;
the variety of nasalizations used for the ending of bgjas, especially the variation
between the use of the labial nasal M, the anusvara M, and the guttural or velar
nasal d.; and the naming of multisyllable, multiword, or multicomponent
mantras such as the name pa~c~k.sari for NAMAH. SIV,~YA.
Also, it might be noticed that mantras do occur in the Tantraloka chapter 30
(and its related textual environments) that are not necessarily encoded. Why is
this the case? In what follows, we will proceed with an examination of the
morphology and syntax of mantric ct3,ptograms as well as their decoding in the
Jayaratha commentary. A further desideratum of research would create an initial
typology of the various kinds of encoding and attempt to see if there is some
pattern related to the following: association with various elements (earth, water,
fire, water, ether); association with various cakras; numerical references to the
list of varn.as; association with tattvas; association with various deities and the
varn. as contained in deity names; association with parts of the body, possibly
with reference to the practice of nydsa; famous Mjas that are named; famous
varn.as that are named like the anunara A and iccha I; mantric constituents like
SV,~H,~, VAU.SAT, and PHAT.; and formulas for the construction of ritual
series of repetition.
In the following section, I have gathered, for the sake of clarity, a summary of
the major mantric passages in the Tantraloka.

MANTRIC ENCODING: SOME DATA FROM

ABHINAVAGUPTA'S TANTR2{LOKA

As an introduction to the consideration of mantric encoding in chapter 30, it

would be useful to survey the Tantraloka on the topic of mantra and relevant
matters. I summarize here for purposes of brevity:

Chapter 3 considers the various phonemes in their cosmological sense, in the

context of the ~dmbhavopaya ("the method relating to Siva or Sambhu").
Chapter 4, verses 181-93 deal with the notion of mantravirya; the first
encoded mantras, the Par~-mantra SAUH (Heart of manifestation or creation)
and KHPHREM (Heart of dissolution)6
Chapter 5, verses 74-78 deal with the mantra KHPHREM.
 Mantric Encoding in Abhinavagupta 's Tantrdloka / 11

Chapter 5, verses 140--50 deal with the mantras SAU.H and KHPHREM in
code; also another mantra is spelled out in code, K.SMRYUM. 7
Chapter 7, verses 53-71b (with the subtitle mantravidyabhid) mention OM
and NAMAITI..
Chapter 15, verses 191b-93 deal with the mantras PHAT and HUM..
Chapter 15, verses 377-401a deal with the Astra-mantra, PHAT.
Chapter 15, verses 460--63 deal with PHREM; this mantra is also mentioned
in code in 16.48b-49a.
Chapter 16, verses 131-63, 207-23a mention a series of mantras; verses
250--95a contain a long dissertation on the nature and purpose of mantras
(mantrasattaprayojanam).
Chapter 17, verses 7-64 give a variety of formulas for the process of
tattvaguddhi.
Chapter 19, verses 23b-56 discuss the rite known as the brahmavidyd.
Chapter 22, verses 20-27a mention a series of mantras, including OM,
HRiM, OM NAMA.H SIV,~YA, the Aghora-mantra from the Taittidya
Upanis.ad, and the Netra-mantra, OM JUM SAH..

This leads to the most extended consideration of mantras, which is to be

found in chapter 30 and in which many of the above mantras are also discussed.
This chapter contains numerous mantras: BhairavasadbhAva, the consort of
Goddess Par~; Ratigekhara, the consort of Goddess Par~par~; and Nav,~tm~, the
consort of Goddess Apart. It contains the vidyas or wisdom formulas for these
deities as well. I will now summarize this long and complex chapter. I am here
limiting myself to the mantric analysis, setting aside the ritual context of these
deities and the employment therein of these mantras. As well, I do not consider
the prior textual sources from which Abhinavagupta draws these mantras.

Verses 1-3 give a general statement of the nature of the mantras; verse 2
alludes to the power of freedom of consciousness once the m a n t r a s are
awakened. They partake in the vimarga or self-referential nature of consciousness
that is sv~tantrya or freedom.
Verses 4-10a give the m a n t r a s for the adoration of the trident throne,
explored in chapter 15.
Verses 1 0 b - l l a give the mantra of Rati~ekhara, RYLVOM...
Verses 11 b-12a give the mantra of Nav~tm~, RHRK.SMLVYOM..
Verses 16b-17 give the mantra of Bhairavasadbh~va, JHK.SHOM..
Verses 18-19 contain a general formula that gives a method for deriving a
mantra for the adoration of any deity whose mantra is not contained in the
M~liMvijayottara Tantra (Pfirvag~stra).
12 / Paul Muller-Ortega

Verses 20-26a give the vidya of Goddess Par~par~, according to the Trika
scriptures.
Verse 26b gives the mantra of Apart, (mayti and visarga =) HR[IH.; and then
HUM. and PHAT.
Verses 27-28a give the mantra of Parfi, SAUtJ..s
Verses 28b-36a give three variants of the mantra SALT/:/.: SHAUI7I., HSAUIq.,
and SHSAUH.. They also convey the m a n t r a HRiH. and repeat a different
formula for the derivation of the mantra SHAUH.
Verses 36b-40a give additional m a n t r a s : Vidy~d.gah.rdaya, Brahma~iras,
Sikh~, and Puru.s.tuta,
Verses 40b-41a give the so-called Netra-mantra, OM JUM. SA.H.
Verse 41b gives the Astra-mantra, OM SLIM. PASU HUM. PHAT, where
only OM is given in encoded form as tara while the rest of the mantra is "in
clear."
Verses 42-43a give a formula for the mantras of the guardian Lords of the
eight directions.
Verses 43b-45a name the six jdtis (species) of m a n t r a as connected with
six mantric operations: NAMA.H (recitation); SVAHA (oblation); VAU.SAT
(increment); HUM. (elimination); VA.SAT (pacification); and PHAT (cursing).
Verses 45b-46 give the mantra KHPHRE.M.
Verse 47 gives a variant form of the mantra KHPHREM, HSHREPHREM.
Verses 52-53 give a complex variant of the SAUH. mantra,
RSJJHLK.SVYl]q-J.AU.
Verses 54-62a give additional mantras, including SKR.K, RRAH., HK.SJA.H,
KRAITI., KS.RAH., and SRKS.R.YOM.
Verses 62-88 give the so-called brahmavidyd, to be pronounced at the time of
death; it is also discussed in 19.23-56.
Verse 90b-91a give the m a n t r a s OM, HR|, HfJM, PHREM,
RHRK.SMLVYI3M...
Verse 91b gives the mantra HSVYOM..
Verse 93 gives the mantra OM SMRYI3M NAMAH.
Verses 94-95a give the mantra HK.SJHOAUb.I.
Verses 95b-98 give formulas built on the mantras HRi~I., KL~/I., VLEM,
KLEM.
Verses 99-121a give three complex and long vidyds.

The above listing is in no way exhaustive but merely a survey of the major
mantras to be found in this rich text. I will now proceed to subject a few of the
most important of these mantras to analysis, in order to glimpse the processes
of encoding used here.
 Mantric Encoding in Abhinavagupta' s Tantr6loka / 13

THE MORPHOLOGY OF MANTRIC ENCODING

I briefly examine the morphology and syntax of mantric encoding in

Abhinavagupta's Tantr~loka and (two examples from) his PardtrT~ila~laghu-
v.rtti. Following this, I attempt to specify some of my own understandings
about the meanings of mantric encodings.
We begin by noticing that some mantras and mantric components do occur in
unencoded, "clear" form; for example at 22.22-27a: PHAT, SV,~HA, and
VAU.SAT. Some mantras are partially encoded. In a multielement mantra, one
element is given in encoded form while the rest is spelled out "in clear." For
example at 30.41b, the Astra-mantra, OM SLIM.. PASU HUM. PHAT, where
OM is in encoded form as t~ra while the rest of the mantra is "in clear."
Examples of this simple "named-substitute" form of encoding specific mantric
elements abound: Pra.nava for OM, M~yfi for HRIM, .Sad.ak.sara for OM
NAMA .H SIV,~YA, and so on (22.20-21). These kinds of encodings are what
might be called first level or light encodings. They may, in fact, simply be
names that were given for specific mantras and may not fully qualify for the
notion of encoding as we are considering it here .9
We now move to slightly more complicated and more typical examples.
Example 1: Chapter 30, verses 10b-lla give the mantra of Ratigekhara, the
Bhairava consort of Goddess Pa~pa~.

agnim~rutap.rthvyambu-
sa.sa.st,hasvarabindukam
ratigekharamantro 'sya

We can see that while the mantra is being conveyed in some form of syllabic
substitution code, Abhinavagupta nevertheless alerts us that he is giving us a
mantra, saying: ratigekharamantro'sya (This is the mantra of Rati~ekhara).
Turning to the commentary, Jayaratha's analysis is as follows:

agnih, fire repha RA

maruto wind ya YA
p.rthvi earth la LA
ambu water va VA
s.a.st.ha svara the sixth vowel fik~ra 0
bindu "point" (terminal vocalic nasalization) M

Here, basically, Jayaratha provides a series of direct equivalences. However,

14 / Paul Muller-Ortega

nowhere in his commentary does he actually "spell out" the entire reconstruction
of the mantra. From the clues that he provides, it may be assumed that the
mantra of Ratigekhara is derived as RYLVI3"M..
In Example 2, we encounter a slightly different form of encoding. It occurs in
chapter 5.148-50 and gives the mantra K.SMRYUM. as follows:

varn.agabdena niladi yadva diks.ottare yath~

sam. haranragnimaruto rudrabinduyutansmaret
h.rdaye tanmayo lak.syat.npagyetsaptadin~datha
visphuliizgagnivann[lap[taraktadicitritam
jajvalrti h.rdambhoje bfjadfpaprabodhitam
d~pavajjvalito bindurbhrisate vighanarkavat

According to certain texts, for example, the D[k.sottara Tantra, the word
"varn a" refers to colors, blue and so on. He who remembers in his own Heart
the reabsorption, the man, the fire, and the wind, united with Rudra and the
bindu, sees at the end of seven days the goal of his practice. This is a fire
which, awakened by this seed, flames violently in the lotus of his Heart, like
a flame made of variegated sparks of different colorswblue, yellow, red--
which surrounds it. The bindu shines flaming like a flame, just like the sun
without clouds.

Here the phonemes of the mantra are given in the expressions "sat.nh~ranragni-
maruto rudrabindu." Even though a mantra is being conveyed, Abhinavagupta
does not alert us to this fact. He merely launches into a series of terms that, if
we try to construe them, do not make any sense: "the reabsorption, the man, the
fire, and the wind, united with Rudra and the bindu." In the commentary,
Jayaratha glosses this as follows:

sa .mharah. ~akara K.SA

na (n.r) pum~n makdra MA
agnih, repha RA
marut yakara YA

After this he uses the expression "pin.il~bhatan," which can be taken to mean
"all in a cluster" (vowel-less consonants, without the short a). Jayaratha
continues his decoding:

rudra uk~ra U
bindu M
 Mantric Encoding in Abhinavagupta's Tantrdloka / 15

The mantra can thus be reconstructed as K.SMRYUM.. Even though portions

of the passage can still be translated intelligibly, the experienced eye will detect
the presence of something else. And while the commentary does decode the
mantra as outlined above, Jayaratha does not actually write the mantra out "in
clear." Thus, even Jayaratha's decodings, while highly useful, continue to
promote a level of secrecy and concealment.
Example 3 brings us to the most complicated and interesting kind of
encoding. It occurs in 4.186b-91b. Upon first reading, this passage appears to
be a rather abstruse discussion of Tantric philosophy. And, indeed, this example
is typical of "deep" encoding, in which the passage containing the encoded
mantra does not simply lapse into an untranslateable sequence of code terms but
is actually renderable as expressive of an intelligible discussion.

tath(t hi sad idam. brahmamalam, mayan,imsam.j~itam.

icchajTu~nakriyaroham, vina naiva sad ucyate
tacchaktitritiyarohad bhairav[ye cidatmani
vis.rjyate hi tat tasmad bahir vatha vis.rjyate
evam. sadrfipataivai.sa.m satam gaktitrayatmatam
visargam, parabodhena sam~k.sipyaiva vartate

tat sad eva bah[rapam, prag bodhagnivildpitam

antarnadatparamargage.s[bhfitam, tato 'pyalam
khatmatvam eva sam.praptam, gaktitritayagocarat
vedanatmakat(tm etya sam hardtmani l~yate
ida.m sa.mharah.rdaya.m pr(tcym.n s.r.st.auca h.rnmatam

For this real existence [S], rooted in the sphere of Brahms and known as the
sphere of M~y~, can only be called "real" because it rises up through the [three
powers of] will, knowledge, and action [AU]. For it is only because it rises
up through these three powers that it can be emitted [.H] into the Bhairava
consciousness. Moreover, it is only because of that, that it is able to be
emitted externally [out from that Bhairava consciousness]. Thus, these
[spheres] are real [S] because they are identical with the three powers [AU] and
because they are emission [H], and they thus abide powerfully conjoined with
that supreme consciousness.

This real existence that at first has an external form is then dissolved in the
fire of awakening. What remains as a residue is simply a cognition that is an
internal sounding. Then it attains the ethereal state, and because it abides in
the triad of powers, it goes to the condition whose nature is the pure knower,
16 / Paul Muller-Ortega

and finally it is dissolved into that whose essence is re-absorption. This

mantra is known as the Heart of Reabsorption, and the prior is known as the
Heart of Emission.

The first part of this passage conveys twice the mantra SAUIJ., termed the Heart
of Emission. The relevant bits are the term "sad," which encodes the phoneme
SA; the expression tacchaktitritiya, the triad of the ~akti, which refers to the
diphthong vowel AU; and the verbal form vis.rjyate, which conveys the visarga
H.. The mantra is given again in the sequence sadrapat~, ~aktitraya, and
visarga.
In his decoding of this mantra--which is perhaps the most famous mantra
in the Trika Kaula tradition--Jayaratha essentially "spells it out" saying:
"anena ca sakArayaiva auk~ravisarga...~rfparabijasya" (The Mja of the blessed
goddess Par~ is constructed with the phoneme SA, the vowel AU, and the
visarga H.).
Next, Abhinavagupta gives coded clues for another mantra--termed the Heart
of Reabsorptionl°--KHPHREM. In his commentary Jayaratha supplies the
decoding clues, giving the following equivalences:

bodh~gnina: agnib[jasya: the fire of awakening, the fire seed, the p h o n e m e

RA.
khatmantvam: vyomAtmanah, khavarn, asya: the ethereal state, the void state,
the phoneme KHA.
nada: kut.avarn, asya: the crooked consonant. This is the least explicit and
most ambiguous (if not controversial) clue. From evidence elsewhere, it is
reconstructed as the phoneme PHA, which is covertly given in the
commentary several times in the word "prasphurita."
~aktitritaya: yonib~jasya: the triad of powers, the womb-vowel, that is,
the vowel E. Here a different vowel is intended by the same encoding
expression--~aktitritaya--that is used to decode the vowel in the first
mantra.
vedandtmakatam: bindvantavarn, a: the pure knower, having the phoneme
hindu or M at its end.

The phonemes in this decoding passage are not in the usual order that we
expect for this mantra but are given as RA KHA PHA E M- Jayaratha tells us
that this is the "ideal order" (sa.mvitkrama) of the mantra. In order to decode the
sequences of phonemes properly, though, we must attend to two other passages
in the Tantrdloka and their commentaries. I give these as Examples 4 and 5;
example 5 gives us the SAUIJ. mantra as well. From these examples we decode
 Mantric Encoding in Abhinavagupta's Tantraloka / 17

the Pin.d.angaha-mantra as the unpronounceable KHPHREM. 1~

In Example 4 this same Pin.d.an~tha-mantra is given again in encoded form (in
5.76-79), and the following equivalences are provided by Jayaratha:

kharapa KHA
phulla PHA
vahni RA
trikon, a E
bindu M

We now have the proper order of the phonemes for the mantra, but there is
still some ambiguity in the decoding of the second phoneme. It is given as
phulla blossomed, yet another word containing the consonant PHA.
It is only in Example 5---drawn from chapter 5, verse 146---that we get an
unambiguous decoding of this phoneme by Jayaratha:

kha KHA
phullam, phakara PHA
tejas repha RA
tryagram ekara E
bindu M.

As was just mentioned, in 5.142-44 the mantra SAUH is given as well.

First, Abhinavagupta sets forth a series of words, all beginning with the
phoneme SA. He then creates a pun or double-entendre by saying that the first
form of consciousness (that is, the first part of the mantra) is sukha, s~tk~ra,
sat, samyak, and s~mya. Jayaratha glosses all of these terms with sakaramd-
trarapa, "of the form merely of the SA phoneme." The second part of the
mantra is given by caturdaga or fourteenth phoneme, glossed by Jayaratha as
trigala, the trident AU, and then ending in visarga H. And so these two
passages help to confirm the decodings of these two very famous mantras,
SAUIzI. and KHPHREM.
Example 6: Chapter 30, verses llb--12a give the mantra of Nav~tm~, the
Bhairava consort of Goddess Aparfi:

agnipr~nagnisamhara-
kalendrambusam~ranah.
sa.sa.stasvarabindvardhacandrady~h, syurnavdtmanah.

Jayaratha gives the following equivalences:

18 / Paul Muller-Ortega

agnih, free repha RA

p ran.o breath ha HA
agnih, fire repha RA
sat.nharah, the destruction or end ks.a K.SA
kMo time ma MA
indro Indra representing earth la LA
ambu water va VA
samfran.o the breeze, wind, or air ya YA
.sa.st.hah. svara the sixth vowel akara 0
bindu point M

The mantra of Nav~tm~ is therefore derived as RHRK.SMLVYUM.

Example 7: Chapter 30, verses 16b--17 give the mantra of Bhairavasadbh~va,
the consort of Goddess Par~:

jhakara sa .mh.rtipran.~.h
sa.sa4, t.hasvarabindukah.
e.sa bhairavasadbhavagcandrdrdhadivibha.sitah.

Jayaratha gives the following equivalences:

jha~ra jha ("in clear") JHA

sa.mh.rtih, the destruction or end ~a K.SA
pran. o breath ha HA
sas.a.sthasvara the sixth vowel akara 0
bindu M

The mantra of Bhairavasadbhfiva is therefore derived as JHKS.HI]'M. In this

case, Jayaratha is straightforward in his decoding, actually providing the
corresponding phonemes. He is not being obscure, as in the case of phulla
(Example 4 above). Indeed, in several places in the commentary, entire mantras
are given completely "in clear" (which is never the case, to my knowledge, for
the SAU.H and KHPHREM mantras). So in these examples from TantrMoka
chapter 30, we find cases of relatively "light" encoding. This chapter contains
dozens of mantras given in various degrees of encoding. The above examples,
however, suffice to convey some of the flavor of the process, as it is present in
Abhinavagupta's TantrMoka.
In order to further exemplify the process of mantric encoding, let us turn to
the first description of the Heart-mantra, SAUH., in Abhinvagupta's Par~trf-
gikMaghuvftti, which illustrates this process very well.
 Mantric Encoding in Abhinavagupta' s Tantraloka / 19

Example 8 is drawn from Paratrfgikalaghuv.rni verse 9 and its commentary.

In typical form, the mantra itself is not spelled out. Instead, its specific
phonemes are given in coded terms:

caturdagayutam bhadhre tithfgSntasamanvitam

tFtfya.m brahma sugroni h.rdayam, bhairavatmanah.

O Beautiful One, the Heart of the Self of Bhairava is the third Brahman. It is
united, O Fair Hipped One, with the fourteenth, and it is followed by the last
of the Lord of the Lunar Stations.

caturdagena svaren, a pariparn, anuttaranandagalina

sa .mpfim.akriyagaktigar~ronme.satvasam, padakriyagaktidvarantarl[neccha-
jftanangaktiyugalena, yutam satata.m migrfbhatam, yad idam. t.rt~,am brahma
sadagivatattvatmakam, aghoraprakagasvarapam
asphut.ibhatedantatmakagrahyaragilak.san, am. sadrapam, vigvam, tat tith~ganam.
paftcadaggmam svaran, am. yo' ntah. paryantabhittibhftto visargah, tasmin
samyak aviyogena anvitam vigrantam, sat bhairavatmano bhagavatah.
gabdarageh, vigvagar~rasya h.rdayar.n.

[Commentary:] The third Brahman, whose nature is the Sad~iva principle

and whose essence is the light of Aghora, is characterized by the entire group
of knowable objects, in a condition in which their "objectivity" has not yet
become clear, which is to say, the totality in the form of "Being" (sad). The
third Brahman is continually fused, connected with the fourteenth vowel
[AU], as well as reposing, that is, being inseparably connected with, that
which is the end, in the sense of ultimate basis, of the lord of the stations, of
the fifteen vowels, reposing, that is, on the visarga [H.]. This is the heart of
the essence of the Self of Bhairava, that is to say, of the blessed group of
sounds that has the totality as its body.

The clues given in the Paratrigikalaghuv.rtti verse, as well as in Abhinava-

gupta's commentary, are sufficiently obscure that an uninitiated reader may miss
their significance altogether. In the Sanskrit the verse is even more opaque than
the translation might suggest. All that the verse gives as clues are (in this
order): "the fourteenth," "the Lord of the Lunar Stations," and "the third
Brahman." It is Abhinavagupta who specifies in the commentary that "the
fourteenth" refers to the vowels (svara) and that "the Lord of the Lunar Stations"
is the visarga that belongs at the end of the mantra. The most difficult reference
is to the "third Brahman." Abhinavagupta links it to the Sad~iva principle and
20 / Paul Muller-Ortega

to the notion of Being or real existence (sad). However, if we did not know that
the pentad of Brahman here refers to the five phonemes at the end of the
Sanskrit alphabet--namely, S, .S, S, H, and K.S--we would be at a loss to
interpret the term "third Brahman." Abhinavagupta has explained the concept of
the brahmapa~caka in the comment on the previous verse (when he lays out the
idea of the aparavisargaiakti), but he is silent about it in the comment to this
verse.

We receive confirmation that the mantra conveyed in this verse has been
correctly deciphered by the analysis of the mantra presented in other passages.
As we have seen, Abhinavagupta considers this mantra to be of sufficient
importance to warrant the repetition and amplification of his analysis.
Example 9: In another long passage (Paratrfgikalaghuvrtti comment to verses
21-24), Abhinavagupta's analysis of this mantra may be used to confirm that
the above reading of the mantra is warranted.

Just as when one abandons the manifest expansion of an earthenware jug, all
that truly remains is clay. When the manifest form of clay is left behind, all
that truly remains is an odor. When the specific form of the odor is not
cognized, what truly remains is the "I." When such a distinction has been
shattered, what remains is an essence formed of happiness, suffering, and
error. When these three have been excised, there remain only the forms of the
knower and the knowable. In the end, when even the distinction formed by
subject and object has disappeared, all that remains is Being (sad). Even
there, when the cognition of the three phonemes [of the word "sad"] has
ceased, there ensues a repose in the first letter S alone. Then, this last repose
in the phoneme S is also the repose of All--from the "water" principle to the
maya principle---of the entire range of knowable objects which appears in the
midst of the impure path. At the moment of this last repose there appears the
Brahman, the All, one homogeneous mass, immortal, which has become the
dtman. This is the last repose of brahmavadins--the followers of Vedanta.
According to us, however, there occurs, beyond that, Bhairava, who
manifests the entire universe by means of his activity of "churning" that state
of repose. As it says in the Bhagavad Gfta (14.3):

My womb is the great Brahman and in it I place seed.

From this derives the origins of all beings, O Bh~rata!

When, because of the disappearance of the distinction of its own-nature, the

condition of repose in mere Being is no longer cognized, then Being appears
to enter into a condition where it is absorbed into the powers of appearing
 Mantric Encoding in Abhinavagupta's Tantrdloka / 21

light and self-referential consciousness. Because, in reality, that state of mere

Being is not different from the true nature of such powers--what remains is
the true nature of the power. That power is either will, action, or knowledge,
because nothing at all can appear without reposing on the power of such self-
referential consciousness that is "I will," "I act," and "I know."
In the thought "I will" are intermixed the three powers--and in the same
way in "I know" and "I act," because they are inseparably connected. Therefore,
that which is becoming manifest appears as reposed in the own-nature that is
composed of the triad of powers.
The true nature of this triad of powers is one, namely freedom, and because
of this freedom, a true body made of two dots, formed of two knots, one
above and one below, a body made of consciousness, whose nature is the
supreme deity, Bhalrava. The nature of these three phonemes is that they ate
composed of three states of repose in, respectively, the knowable object IS],
the process of knowing [AU], and the knowing subject [.H]. Depending upon
which state of repose one selects, the "pronunciation" extends as far as that
phoneme alone. There thus occurs a threefold prounciation. There are thus
three types of perfection: enjoyment, enjoyment and liberation, and liberation.
When, in reference to an external object such as a pot, the place of repose is
a single "cognition," then the All, devoid of succession, in the form of Being
is emitted, thrown into the supreme Bhairava, by the power of the will, and
that Being residing in the supreme Bhairava, nondifferent from it, by the
same power of the will, and so on, is emitted outwards into the external
world where it assumes the form of the "knowable" objects. This is the
abiding in the Emission [.H].
The repose in the "fourteenth" [AU], which is the repose in the [three]
powers, and that because of contact with both, that is, now with knowable
objects whose nature is the Being, and now with the knowing subject whose
nature is the supreme Bhairava. With the descent of the knower and the
process of knowing, Bhairava and the power, [H. and AU], there occurs the
repose in Brahman [S], that is, a state of undifferentiated identity with the
"knowable object." The reality which unifies, that makes of one taste
(ekarasa) this triangle characterized of three Emissions, one appeased, one
aroused, and one that is both, and is thus made of three reposes--that reality
is the supreme Emissional principle, and it is the consciousness, the lord
Bhairava himself.

As one reads this and the passage in Example 8, it becomes evident that
Abhinavagupta's intention encompasses much more than the secret embedding
of a mantra into a text. Rather, these passages function to convey important
22 / Paul Muller-Ortega

theoretical justifications for the specific phonemic composition of the mantra.

The passage in this example begins by describing the process of progressively
stripping away the attributes and characteristics of any finite object, until one is
simply left with the sheer existential "Is-ness" of that object. Abhinavagupta
identifies this residual pure "Being" (sad) with the Brahmanlatman of the
Vedanta. This is the first phoneme, SA, of the mantra.
Nevertheless, the nondual Saiva tradition considers it premature to stop short
with this rather inert, if transcendent, ultimate. Abhinavagupta argues that
beyond the level of sheer Being resides Bhairava, seen here as the dyad prakaga-
vimarga, the light of consciousness, and the self-referentiality of that conscious-
ness. Bhairava is never separated from his gakti, so the supreme dyad of
Bhairava and his consort is to be found beyond the level of sheer Being. One of
the forms that this power, this gakti, takes is the triad of powers, the iccha
(willing), j~ana (knowing), and kriya (acting) gaktis (capacities) inherent in
consciousness. This triad of powers is identified with the trigala or trident, the
fourteenth vowel---AU--and second phoneme of the mantra.
Continuing, Abhinavagupta states that the innermost nature of this triad
of powers is the condition of freedom that they enjoy and represent. In turn,
this freedom manifests itself as the two dots (or knots) which compose the
devanagarf representation for the visarga, H., the third and final component of
the mantra.
The "Being," or rather the first syllable of the word for Being, sad, gives SA
or S, which, as we have seen in the previous passage, is also called the third
Brahman. The argument about "Being" gives us the first phoneme of the
mantra. Next, the allusion to the power of Siva and to the specific group of
powers known as the trident gives us the vowel AU. This confirms the
identification of the "fourteenth" given in the previous passage. Finally, the last
phoneme is described as composed of two dots, a clear reference to the written
form of the visarga, H. Indeed, later in the passage, explicit reference is made to
the visarga. From sad or the unitary, absolute Being, one moves to Bhairava
and his consort to Siva and Sakti. There then occurs the fundamental triad of
ultimate energies in the trigala, AU. Finally, there comes into operation the
explosively manifestational power of the visarga, H..
In this way, hidden in the fabric of a rather abstruse philosophical discussion,
the Heart-mantra SAU.H is both spelled and fleshed out with inherent meaning.
The mantra fashions a subtle body for the deity of the Supreme, Par~. The
process of the encoding of the mantra ornaments and clothes that subtle,
vibratory "body" in the sacred meanings appropriate to the deity (in this case,
centering on the supreme manifestational energy of the cosmos). We now move
to draw some more general observations and conclusions.
 Mantric Encoding in Abhinavagupta 's Tantraloka / 23

T H E MEANINGS OF ENCODING

I would argue that such elaborate passages are not arbitrary ornamentation.
While we have seen that mantras can be encoded in less "complex" ways--with
cryptographs of a less coherently philosophical sort--a double purpose of
concealing and revealing is simultaneously taking place. While it is true that
the mantra itself is concealed by such encodings, the "heart" of the mantra is
in fact simultaneously being exposed to view. Like an x-ray photograph
that obscures the surface of an object but reveals the patterns of its inner core,
these encodings of the SAUH. m a n t r a - - w h i c h is often called the "Heart of
Emission"--display the sequences of meaning captured within the mantra's
phonemic structure. These phonemic sequences narrate symbolic elements that
recapitulate the intrinsically manifestational nature of the absolute conscious-
ness. Draped in meanings, the mantra nevertheless retains its pristine purity,
for these meanings are not of the nature of conventional, linguistic meaning.
Rather, free of conventional associations and conveyed in encodings, the mantra
reveals its intrinsic innermost pattern, the sequence of vibratory impulses that
forever abide as the pulsating matrix of power.
There is a curious question that we might ask at this point. As far as I can
ascertain, there appears to be no name given to the process of encoding in these
texts. Is this because the process is such a routine feature of this Tantric world
as to go unremarked? Or is this in order to sustain the very secrecy of the
mantras? On the other hand, the decoding process is often called the extraction
(uddhara) of the m a n t r a from its encoding. In his commentary, Jayaratha
will often say "tasyoddh~ra k.rtah.," "thus the extraction [of the mantra] is
accomplished" (see, for example, the commentary on Tantraloka 4.190; see also
Padoux 1978 on the process of uddhara, which has additional connotations
beyond those of simple "decoding").
Our survey of mantras reveals a spectrum of several different "levels" of
encoding. The process can range from no encoding, that is, the mantra is given
"in clear"; to its constituent varn.as (phonemes) given "in clear"; to names given
for the b~jas or constituent mantras; to "deep" encoding in which the crypto-
graphic verse has a philosophical meaning in addition to containing the mantra
given.
The process of "extraction" of the mantra ranges from the really opaque; to a
decoding in which the encoding words are given in substitute; to the name of
the mantra being given; to actual varn as of the mantra being spelled out "in
clear"; and to the whole mantra being transcribed.
From a modern perspective, we might say that these are complex and even
24 / Paul Muller-Ortega

playful word games. And indeed from one perspective, they may be said to be
just that. But, just as clearly, it must be emphasized that they are not just trivial
word games (like those we play in newspapers: jumble, acrostic, anacrostics,
and crosswords). The "word games" of mantric encoding mirror and reflect the
cosmic game of Siva's hide and seek. And, like the cosmic kr~ha or sport
of existence itself, mantric encoding carries the weight of an ultimate and
salvational purpose.
The arcane lore of mantric encryption is redolent with the complex correspon-
dences of Abhinavagupta's matrkagastra or philosophy of language. In this
view, the phonemes that compose the m a n t r a s are expressions of the most
fundamental, cosmogonic forces of reality. It is no accident that chapter 30 of
Abhinavagupta's Tantraloka (as well as major portions of his Paratri.mgikavi-
varan, a and Paratrggikalaghuv.rtti) are given over to an examination of these
fundamental linguistic, conceptual, and world-building correspondences.
The complex linkages between tattvas (fundamental principles) and v a ~ a s
(phonemic linguistic elements) are central to an understanding of what
Abhinavagupta entails in the process of encoding.
Within this process of encoding, we encounter one of the "payoffs" for the
confection of this complex philosophy of language. For it is this that allows
Abhinavagupta to load the m a n t r a s with complex sequences of symbolic
meanings, even as the m a n t r a s remain devoid of conventional signification
(asat.nketika). This process allows for the remarkable fluency of symbolization
that, for example, is built into the encodings of the mantra SAUH.. It must be
granted, however, that certain later uses of mantric encryption give way to a
kind of baroque ornamentation and that the enterprise of the symbolic loading of
mantras loses its subtlety, appearing routine and even pointlessly mechanical.
Thus, the sparkling freshness of Abhinavagupta's encodings will eventually
devolve into the formulaic routines of encoding, summarized in such later
digests as the M a n t r a m a h o d a d h i . But this later devolution should not
discourage us from appreciating the importance and centrality of the early
process of mantric encoding. As we have said, the T~ntrikas' word games a~e
not trivial. They have a salvific, ritual, and doctrinal purpose.
We began the inquiry into mantric encoding in this essay by asking, in
essence: Does the encoding itself reveal some meaningful pattern or is it
random? If it is not random cryptography, is the encoding itself amenable to
some form of interpretation? At least in the case of the mantra SAU .H, we have
arrived at some preliminary answers to such a question. The process of mantric
encoding is clearly not a random event of simple encryption engaged in only for
the multiple purposes of secrecy. Rather, we have seen how the encoding
process is used as an occasion for a kind of "symbolic loading" of the mantra.
 Mantric Encoding in Abhinavagupta's Tantraloka / 25

By "symbolic loading" we mean not so much the logical description of doctrine

but rather a kind of teaching that evokes the richness and density of meaning
contained in the mantra, its multivalency, and the dynamism inherent in its
structure.
The examination of such details gives us entry into another crucial notion
related to mantras: the mantrav[rya or potency of the mantra. About this
potency Abhinavagupta says:

The pure and spontaneous cognition of the mantra is the " r ' itself. Thus
say the ancient masters. This is the very capacity for illumination of light.
This, in fact, is the very force of all the mantras, whose nature is the Heart.
Without this [potency of the mantras] they [the mantras] would be inert, like
living beings without a heart (Tantraloka 4.192-93). ~2

The mantrav~rya is the energy of ultimacy ritually injected into the mantra by
the teacher at the time of initiation. It is conceived as the very gakti or energy of
the enlightened consciousness of the teacher, the energy of the AHAM or 'T'
consciousness. In this way, the phonemes of the empowered mantra congeal
and contain the powerful superfluidity of the prak~ga, the ultimate light of
consciousness, the immense vibrating light. The mantra harbors within itself
the roaring sound of the pran.ava. This mantravfrya is the supreme spanda, the
vibrant and sonic potency of the Absolute, which is somehow captured and
harnessed within its phonemes for the purposes of ritual and meditation. It is
only because of this potency that the mantra becomes an efficient and capable
instrument that can reliably give access to power and to definitive transforma-
tion. Though this fluid energy of ultimacy is mutational, recombinant, ever
changing with a quicksilver fluidity, once it is set into the mantra it gains a
permanence of being, a powerful unchangingness.
We have seen that in their phonemic forms, the mantras display a playful and
powerful sense of mutation, of being bits and pieces of this harnessed energy,
and display in their structure the vibratory sequences of consciousness. The
mantras exhibit, therefore, this contained dynamism of the mantrav~rya as they
reduplicate, expand, and mutate in form. For example, with the addition of
vowels and preceding consonants, SAUH changes into SHAUH and HSAUIzl.
and SHSAUI:t. (Tantraloka 30.27-30). These recombinant mutations of sound
are not necessarily meant to make sense to the mind. This however does not rob
them of meaning. Like the apparently meaningless sequences of binary code that
reveal an inherent pattern when applied to the proper configuration, so too the
mantric "software" reveals its inherent meaningfulness, becoming understandable
in terms of its ritual and meditational effectiveness or inherent efficacy, its gakti.
26 / Paul Muller-Ortega

The argument I am hazarding in this essay is that the instances of what has
been termed "deep" encoding obliquely signal a symbolic conveyance of the
mantrav~rya. In those cases where encoding has been taken as an opportunity to
reveal the symbolic sequences of meaning in a particular mantra, it could be
said that the process of "deep" encoding is as much about revealing as it is
about concealing. It attempts to expose in conceptual terms that which makes
the mantra inherently powerful soteriologically, the so-called mantravfrya or
potency of the mantra.
While in the ordinary sense, the mantravfrya is n o t finally amenable to
conceptual explication--as we have seen, it represents nothing less than the very
force and power of the ultimate consciousness itself--the argument presented
herein seeks to demonstrate that the most interesting mantric encodings in the
Tantr~loka (and elsewhere) seek to reveal this mantravfrya to view. If a mantra
truly encodes the pattern of the Supreme, of Siva, then the explication of such
a m a n t r a symbolically--by means of "deep" encodings--allows for the
expression of this hidden cipher of the Supreme. Mantric encoding thus allows
the important mantras of the tradition to be packed densely and explicitly with
ultimate meanings without thereby rendering the m a n t r a s possessed of
conventional signification (sat.nketika).
It must again be emphasized that the mantrav[rya lies far deeper than this
lattice of philosophical meanings and phonemic structures. Nevertheless, I
would argue that this sequence of meanings does expose to view a conceptual
analogue of the nonconceptual potency of the mantrav~rya. If the mantravirya
functions as a kind of transcendent and invisible pulsation of consciousness, the
phonemes of the m a n t r a and, at a different level, their symbolic meanings
crystallize this potency into visible, tangible, and comprehensible forms. The
mantravTrya is what makes the mantra inherently powerful and salvifically
efficacious. Therefore, insofar as this potency can be conceptualized, it is present
both as the m a n t r a (in terms of its phonemes) and in the mantra (in this
sequence of meanings exposing the hidden cipher of the Supreme).
Paradoxically, it is the encodings of the mantra that allow this hidden cipher to
be seen.
In the passages examined, we have seen the complex interweaving of the
containment of a m a n t r a hidden in a text, coupled with a philosophical
exploration of the meanings structured into that mantra--itself never explicitly
or directly given in the text. This kind of analysis alerts us, as students of
esoteric texts, to the way Hindu Tantric teachers utilized such texts. In these
textual environments we have encountered the way that texts were used as a
means to preserve the mantras (which are the keys to unlock the "descent of
energy"). Appropriate ritual and meditational use of the empowered mantras
 Mantric Encoding in Abhinavagupta' s Tantraloka / 27

by sadhakas finally disclosed the salvational experience of the ultimate reality

of Siva. Like a locked box that contains its own key, the text, with its
embedded mantras, presents us with a puzzling scholarly paradox. Insofar as we
manage to extract this key, we gain access to what is literally the phonemic
dimension at the heart of Saivite esotericism: Siva's playful matrix of power.

Notes

1. "ala.m rahasya kathayd guptam etat svabhavatah., yogiMh.rdayam tatra

vigrantah, syatkra budhah.." All translations from the Sanskrit are mine.
2. "yatha hi sarvatattvamayagar~rasya vibhaktatvagadisantdnatantritasya
tadavibhagaprakgzgavimargavigrantidhama h.rdayapadam ucyate, tathaiva
bhagavato bhairavanathasya tad ida.m vibhaktatattvabhuvanadimayam, vigva-
r~pam, pardmargasara.m pa~caiadvarn, amaya.m ~ar~ram tasya tadavibhaga-
par~margasgtram, idam. h.rdayal.n."
3. On manuals of mantragastra, including digests of mantras and Tantric
lexica where he mentions the Udddrakoga and B~janighan.t.u, see Alper (1989b:
420--443). He states:

The significance of these little noticed works cannot be sufficiently stressed: If

it is ever going to be possible to write a social history of the use of mantra, to
portray and assess the role mantra plays in the life of the Hindu world today,
in different regions and communities, this literature must be mastered and
digested. It is often repetitious and inelegant. It can easily strike one as
tiresome and insignificant. Therefore, the process of studying it has barely
begun (421-22).

He continues:

One caveat is in order, a single basic Indological imperative must govern

future research on both the ritualistic and meditative sides of Mantragastra. To
understand mantric utterance as it was meant to be practiced means deci-
phering the technical terminology in which [it] is couched. The process of
mapping this terminology has only just begun and what Goudriaan
(Goudriaan & Gupta 1981, 1.26) says about the vocabulary of Tantra in
general applies afortiori to the vocabulary of mantra: 'ffantric literature offers
a jungle growth of specialized terminology rarely defined or paraphrased; of
unexpected hidden meanings; of mutual intersection of fundamental ideas,
categories or prescriptions" (422-23).
28 / Paul Muller-Ortega

Further, Alper maintains with regard to the Tantric "alphabet":

Although it is conventional to speak in this context of an "alphabet," this is

somewhat misleading. Rather, one has an ordered cosmogonic procession of
phonemes understood to be eternal, primordial sounds that are the building
blocks of the cosmos in its entirety. Utilized in cosmogonic, ritual,
meditative, and mantric contexts, the alphabet is conceived of [as] the primal
matrix out of which the ordinary (vyavaharika) world emerges and to which
the adept may return (431).

On b[ja and other exemplary mantras, he remarks:

Central to Tantric mantrag~stra is the use of bgjas: adamantine, unbreakable

syllables lacking meaning outside a mantric context. Insofar as I know, no
one has catalogued the textual descriptions of bfjas. But Hoens (Gupta,
Hoens, & Goudriaan 1979, 105) provides a useful definition. A bija is "a
mantra consisting of one syllable with no ordinary meaning and always
ending in the anusvara: .m." The problem that is most vexing is that of the
etiology of bijas: Where do they come from? Questions concerning their
history and function will not be solved until the question of their origin,
which should not be understood as a diachronic question, has been clarified.
Bharati (1965, 113-18) outlined the problem over twenty years ago, but he
does not seem to have addressed it in his subsequent work (434-35).

4. The comments by Alper and Bharati cited above are quite typical.
5. For a lucid and insightful account of the nature of mantras for the Sahajiya
tradition, see Dimock (1966: 225-48).
6. See Muller-Ortega (1989: 179). On this mantra in variant form, see
M~lin~vUayottara Tantra 8.39-43.
7. See Muller-Ortega (1989: 180-81).
8. On this mantra, see Paratrit.ngikavivaran. a and PardtrTgikalaghuv.rtti
iloka 9 and comment; Tantraloka 3.169-72a, 4.181b-93, 5.142-45; see also
Malin~vijayottara Tantra 4.25.
9. One of the conventional associations of the semivowels with elements is as
follows: earth: p.rthvg--la; water: ap---va; fire: tejas--ra; air: vayu--ya.
10. This mantra is also quite famous and known by a variety of names:
M~t.rsadbhava, the true being of consciousness; K~laka~i.ni, the one who draws
along time; Pi.n.dan~tha, the master of the pinna; and Paficapi.n.dan~tha, the
fivefold master of the pin.ha.
11. There are alternate decodings possible of the clues that are given for this
 Mantric Encoding in Abhinavagupta's TantrMoka / 29

mantra (see Sanderson 1990: 58nl 15).

12. "etadrapapara-mariamak.rtrimamanabilam, aha .mityahure.saiva prakaga-
sya prakagata, etad v~ryam hi sarve.sam mantran.~tn h.rdayatmakam, vinanena
jahaste syur fiva iva vina h.rda.'"

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PAUL E. MULLER-ORTEGA is Professor of Religion at the University of

Rochester, New York. <rashivam@rochester.rr.com>