Elements of yoga in Tantras

Despite the fact that some traditions criticise methods of other sampradāya, sometimes it happens, however, that they themselves utilise them. For example, Abhinavagupta and others criticised Patañjali’s methods. Even though you can often come across the usage of methods of yoga in Kaśmir Śaivism and other tantric traditions, they are actually considered there as an integral part of tantra. In the same way as tantra, they are supporting elements on the path of yoga. I can cite a simple example of such quotations from the description of several techniques from Vijñāna Bhairava Tantra (VBT), which were commented by Śivopadhyaya. In one part, he explains a method from VBT quoting Patañjali, and in another he quotes Viveka-mārtaṇḍa of Gorakśanāth.

सर्वस्रोतोनिबन्धेन प्राणशक्त्योर्ध्वया शनैः |
पिपीलस्पर्शवेलायाम् प्रथते परमं सुखम् || ६७ ||

sarvasrotonibandhena prāṇaśaktyordhvayā śanaiḥ |
pipīlasparśavelāyām prathate paramaṁ sukham || 67 ||

By blocking all channels (jñānendriyas), the force of prāṇa slowly goes upwards. Then there is a sensation like the motion of an ant, and it comes the highest state of euphoria.

First of all, it is clear that it is a description of yoni-mudrā (or ṣaṇmukhi-mudrā). Also, there is an interesting description of kuṇḍalinī movement, which is characterised as pipīlikā-calana (like the motion of an ant) in Nātha texts. That could often be found in Nātha texts in the description of Śakti uprising, in addition to some other motions like vihaṅgama (bird), sarpa (snake) etc. Furthermore, Śivopadhyaya, in his comments to this technique quotes Patañjali, where he defines prāṇāyāma.

.बाह्याभ्यन्तरस्तम्भवृित्तः देशकालसङ्ख्यािभः पिरदृष्टो दीघर्सूक्ष्मः॥५०॥

bāhyābhyantarastambhavṛttirdeśakālasaṅkhyābhiḥ paridṛṣṭo dīrghasūkṣmaḥ 50

The fluctuations of prāṇa could be outward and inward (exhales and inhales), it could also come to a standstill (of breathing). It should be observed, that this process would be elongating, subtle, happens according to time, place and quantity.

Also, Śivopadhyaya cites sutra 49, where Patañjali defines prāṇāyāma as a cessation (vicchedaḥ) of inhales and exhales (śvāsapraśvāsa). Although the term ‘viccheda’ could indeed be translated like that, I would define it in other way. It could also mean ‘cutting off’, like something that is no longer needed ‘comes off’. If the goal of prāṇāyāma is calming of consciousness and prāṇa (with which it’s connected), than it is exactly ‘cutting off’ prāṇavṛtti and cittavṛtti. But, it is actually happening in a natural way with the involvement in the process of proper contemplation. Consciousness, being agitated by the sensual experience is unable to calm down, it is fragmented. Only when the practise enables an involvement in higher orientations and higher dimension, it subsides and everything in excess ‘comes off’, ‘cuts off’ by itself. It happens as at the level of sensual perception, as well as of prāṇa and mind.

Equally interesting explanation of the quotation from the Viveka-mārtaṇḍa, also the Bhagavadgītā appears in the description of a technique from VBT in the other part of the text:

मध्यजिह्वे स्फारितास्ये मध्ये निक्षिप्य चेतनाम् |
होच्चारं मनसा कुर्वंस् ततः शान्ते प्रलीयते || ८१ ||

madhyajihve sphāritāsye madhye nikṣipya cetanām |
hoccāraṁ manasā kurvaṁs tataḥ śānte pralīyate || 81 ||

With the middle of the tongue (it is the tip, if you look at it from the particular angle), pointed in the centre of something that is widely open (the head area – ‘ākāśa’), you should mentally recite the uprising sound ‘ha’, dissolving your mind in calm.

Śivopadhyaya quotes this śloka:

कपालकुहरे जिह्वा प्रविष्टा विपरीतगा|भ्रुवोरन्तर्गता दृष्टिर्मुद्रा भवति खेचरी ॥

kapālakuhare jihvā praviṣṭā viparītagā|bhruvorantargatā dṛṣṭirmudrā bhavati khecarī

When the tongue points backwards and enters the cavity of skull, and the look is directed between the eyebrows – it is khecarī-mudrā.

Śivopadhyaya points out that it is from the Viveka-mārtaṇḍa (68), although you can come across it in many texts – it seems that many authors have copied it from Gorakśanāth. You can see it in the Dhyānabindu Upaniṣad, the Yogacūḍāmaṇi Upaniṣad, in the Haṭha Yoga Pradīpikā, the Gheraṇḍa Saṁhitā etc. It’s quite obvious that Śivopadhyaya implies khecarī-mudrā, which is known in haṭhayoga in particular, in spite of the fact that in Kaśmir Śaivism it is also known as the practise performed inside consciousness. It is clear, that in India, some masters could claim that practises from different traditions cannot be mixed, but other gurus boldly mixes them and see their interconnection. I incline towards the latter approach. It is interesting that Śivopadhyaya quotes śloka from the Bhagavadgītā while commenting this śloka from VBT:

स्पशार्न्कृत्वा बिहबार्ह्यांश्चक्षुश्चैवान्तरे भ्रुवोः।
प्राणापानौ समौ कृत्वा नासाभ्यन्तरचािरणौ ।।५.२७।।

sparśānkṛtvā bahirbāhyāṃścakṣuścaivāntare bhruvoḥ
prāṇāpānau samau kṛtvā nāsābhyantaracāriṇau ।। 5.27।।

Leaving with external (world) the tangency (of consciousness), concentrating the look between the eyebrows, a yogin balances prāṇa and apāna.

This technique is known in haṭhayoga as bhrūmadhyadṛṣṭi or śāmbhavī-mudrā. It is for a reason, that it is often associated with sādhana of khecarīmudrā. However, in Kaśmir Śaivism, this practise means the way to achieve pratimilanasamādhi, or bhairavīmudrā (the union of internal and external spaces), that is often acquired through the practise of maithuna in kaula ritual. Then in accord with the Tantrāloka and the Mahārtha Mañjarī (the text which is connected with Gorakśanāth according to nāthas), the sound ‘ha’, which is made during mahākśobha (orgasm) – is the sound of anāhata, which dissolves (laya) the mind. However, it is more likely that in this practise it is implied ‘the internal coition’ of Kuṇḍalinī Śakti, upraised to Śiva in sahasrāra cakra, where Śakti was released in the space above the crown of the head.

All these methods, actually, could become the one unified process for those who don’t stuck in modern yoga, where everything is being ‘divided’,everyone ‘comes up with something new’ because of the obsession with markets and trade concepts.

 

My perception of the right āsana

Over the years of yoga practice, I have developed my own definition of what the true āsana is. The right āsana is that, which leads to the interconnection of the two main dimensions of all. And through this in particular you will find explanations of any categories of āsanas. What those dimensions are, physical and spiritual or other explanations will be found for this, for everyone at their stage of practice, this can vary and can always be flexible. But, for any practitioner at any moment, this awareness of polarities must be total.

One more meaning of the Gorakṣanātha’s name

The name Gorakṣanātha in Sanskrit or its derivative Gorakhnāth in Hindi, if translated literally, will not carry much meaning. It could literally be translated as: rakṣa (a protector) and go (of cows). But, if you meet some Indians, who have heard about Gorakṣanātha and associated him with yoga, most likely they will explain go as senses. Thus, many translate it as “one, who protects the senses or controls the senses,” which is often interpreted as the practice of pratyāhāra, etc. Of course, the control of indriyas, redirection of prāṇa and perception of ātman within oneself are very important in yoga. However, while reading Yāska’s Nirukta and Śrī Aurobindo’s most interesting works, the Secret of the Veda, I found an even deeper meaning of the term goŚrī Aurobindo gives many references to the Rig Veda, where the term go (like the sun rays) refers to the Absolute as a whole. Yāska says in Nirukta:

आदित्योऽपि गौरुच्यते |
ādityo’pi gaurucyate |

The sun is also called ‘go’.

In further explanation, there is a quotation of the hymn from the Yajur Veda (adhyāya 18 / 40) containing suṣumṇa:

सुषुम्णः सूर्यरश्मिश्चन्द्रमा गन्धर्वस्तस्य नक्षत्राण्यप्सरसो भेकुरयो |
suṣumṇaḥ sūryaraśmiścandramā gandharvastasya nakṣatrāṇyapsaraso bhekurayo |

Suṣumṇa, whose moonbeams are like the sun, is gandharva playing with nakṣatras, who are āpsaras.

In the other ślokas of this hymn, gandharva is the wind and his āpsaras are the waters, etc. Different elements are divided into male and female poles through the images of the ganharva and āpsaras.

Interestingly,Yāska connects the rays of suṣumṇa with go, this is also found in other parts of his Nirukta. Aurobindo in his Secret of the Veda, has many references to the Rig Veda as well, where cows can be understood to mean the light of the sun, ātman and Absolute in general. Indeed, if you look in the dictionaries, then go can mean both the sun and the moon, and light as such. Accordingly, Gorakṣanātha can be perceived as one, who unites (yoga) the power of ha (sun) and ṭha (moon) within suṣumṇa. The veneration of Śiva Gorakṣanātha awakens suṣumṇa, unites opposites, He is the patron saint of this path.

Four levels of speech

The earliest mention of the four speech levels I found in the Rig Veda (1.164.45):

च॒त्वारि॒ वाक्परि॑मिता प॒दानि॒ तानि॑ विदुर्ब्राह्म॒णा ये म॑नी॒षिणः॑॥
गुहा॒ त्रीणि॒ निहि॑ता॒ नेङ्ग्॑यन्ति तु॒रीयं॑ वा॒चो म॑नु॒ष्या वदन्ति॥ ४५॥

catvāri vāk parimitā padāni tāni viduḥ brāhmaṇā ye manīṣiṇaḥ।
guhā trīṇi nihitā neṅgayanti turīyaṃ vāco manuṣyā vadanti ॥ 45 ॥

Speech is divided into four categories; they are known by the wise brāhmaṇās.
Three of them are hidden, and the fourth category is spoken by ordinary people.

Yāska, in his Nirukta, gives other interpretations of this śloka – he does not link them to the four forms of vāk(c), which are popular in Vedanta, Tantrism and Nātha yoga, but of course, not everything has to do with his Nirukta. Basically, in terms of meaning, I think that there is the form of speech, which can be heard by everyone and the other three are at the level of manas (madhyamā), buddhi (the awakened “seeing” consciousness of paśyantī). The level of parā is Brahman himself. Parā is not a manifested creative vibration or logos, but it is a creation in the form of a seed in its potential, the latent one. We could call it the primordial Parabrahman, who is not manifested and from whom we are not initially separated. Further, it manifests itself in the form of its free will (svatantriya), in the likeness of a flash of light (sphoṭa) and the spontaneous expansion of the sound (anāhata), that is a natural expression of the will (icchā) of the Absolute, who is Śabda-brahman. This level is called paśyantī (seer). It should be clarified here, that unlike parā, we, as the ones who are seeing, are not separable from the object of our vision, i.e. there is nothing separate from us, but in the case of paśyantī, a separation of the object from the subject (us, as Absolute) already appears. Although, even when there is a separation, our expression is still conditionally separated from us. After that, the logos itself reveals its purpose in the form of the archetypal image of our consciousness, which still exists at the stage between the physical and the subtle levels. Therefore, it is called madhyamā (the middle). Then, we “express our thought” – this is vaikharī (physical level). To make it easier to understand, we can correlate vaikharī with kriyāmadhyamā with jñāna and paśyantī with icchā, and parā is the unity of Atman and Paramātmā (Brahman), Śiva and Śakti.

About Bhuvaneśwari

On the Bhuvaneśwari jayantī I want to write something about her famous and very significant mantra ह्रीँ (hrīm̐), which is sometimes called Mahāmāyabīja (the seed syllable that includes all dimensions). According to the Vedas, the first sound of the original yajña and creation was the famous praṇava Om. Out of it three mātras () three worlds arose, it is also a form of anāhatanāda creating or absorbing the creation. The practice of nāda is very significant for layayoga. However, each tradition has its own forms of praṇava, for example, in the Śаivasampradāya it is the bīja हुं (huṃ), in the Kaulasampradāya it is the bīja ऐँ (aim̐), in the Trika tradition it is the bīja सौः (sauḥ), and for the Śаktas the praṇava will be ह्रीँ (hrīm̐). Since so many do not at all distinguish the concept of tantra with śaktiupāsanā, in India praṇava is often associated with tantrism. Thus, the Goddess Bhuvaneśwari is the Mother of all worlds, of different dimensions (bhuvanas) and is very significant for Śaktism in general.

Alternative view on Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa

Speaking of Rādhā, we cannot leave out her śaktimānKṛṣṇa. As you know, a number of Tantras correlate Kṛṣṇa with Kālī, who is manifested through him. However, Tantras are an immense ocean of the most diverse possibilities, multidimensional perception of apparently one and the same phenomenon. So for example, according to the Tantra-rāja-tantra (34/11), the Goddess Lalitā Tripurasundarī is also manifested through Kṛṣṇa:

कदाचिदाद्या ललिता पुंरूपा कृष्णविग्रहा |
kadācidādyā lalitā puṃrūpā kṛṣṇavigrahā |

Sometimes (kadācit) the primordial (ādyā) Lalitā appears in the masculine form of Kṛṣṇa (puṃrūpā kṛṣṇavigrahā).

It may seem contradictory for those, who are used to dividing the  worshipping of Lalitā and Kālī in a strict way, but Kālī  could also be a part of Śrīkula. When through Śrīkula you obtain the experience of fullness, you come to the liberation from limitations of time, for which Kālī is responsible. Therefore, she is also inseparable from Tripurasundarī. We can say that Kāmakalā Kālī (the highest form of Kālī), worshiped in Urdhvāmnāya (of Kālī–kula krama), is most strongly associated with Tripura. Or, we can consider Tripurasundarī itself as Rakta Kālī (Red Kālī). Thus, we can see one reality from different perspectives.

The unity of Śrī and Kālī-kula is  revealed in the story described in the kaula text the Rādhā Tantra. In short, it describes a long story of how Viṣṇu with the blessings of Tripurasundarī is embodied in the form of Kṛṣṇa, and Lakṣmī in the form of Rādhārānī (in fact, she herself is considered as a manifestation of Tripurasundarī). They both worshiped Kālī and also Kāmākhya, where Kṛṣṇa invokes Kālī into the Rādhā’s body. The first part of the Rādhā-tanra describes the famous mantra of Lalitā Pancadaśī, it also speaks of Ten Mahāvidyās, of which Tripurasundarī is the main one (tasmād daśasu vidyāsu pradhānaṃ tripurā parā). These Mahāvidyās are worshiped in a special way in Śrīyantra by experienced practitioners. The Rādhā Tantra speaks of her as giving realisation of the four puruṣarthas (dharmārthakāmamokṣadāyinī), and because of her worship in kaula-sādhana, Kṛṣṇa realised all siddhis. We know many stories about the successes of Kṛṣṇa, and all His siddhis, according to the Rādhā Tantra, were achieved through this upāsana. The text also frequently mentions  the term ‘yoga’ in relation to tantric sādhana; in the second part of the RT (ślokas 3-4), the union of Kṛṣṇa and Śakti (Rādhā) is called Śakti Yoga. The famous Hare Kṛṣṇa maha-mantra can also be found in there. There is also a description of the preliminary practice of purification (karṇa-shuddhi), the ability to purely hear the tantric mantras of Mahāvidyā. Periodically, recommendations for contemplating sacred places in one’s own body are given there (Ch. 5, ślokas 11-12 or Ch. 14, ślokas 1-2), for example, Govardhan Hill in sahasrāracakra, etc. It also refers to the kula-kuṇḍalinī awakening through yoni-mudrā (Ch. 15 / 19-21). Apparently, the text speaks of yoni-mudrā as the body of the Goddess, rather than the technical practice of haṭha-yoga in the likeness of ‘ṣaṇmukhi–mudrā’. Although, for a long time, it is no secret that the essential elements of tantra are also connected with many practices of the well-known and popular haṭha–yoga, the essence of which is currently understood by  a very small number  from millions of practitioners.

From my point of view, Gaudiya Vaiṣṇavism was once influenced  exactly by vāmācāra, but in a Vaiṣṇava Śakti format. In the  course of time, most likely, everything came down to formal substitutions (anukalpa) and symbolism, so the doctrine became more refined.

Today is the Rādhāṣṭamī festival associated with Śrī Rādhika, Śakti of Kṛṣṇa.

My congratulations and blessings to everyone. Jay Śrī Rādhe!