महामनुस्तवः

THE DEITY

The Deity adored through Sri Vidya is the Divine Mother. She is the Primordial Mother, not only of all the created beings in the universes but also of all Gods and Goddesses. She is their mainstay and sustenance. She is the Aditi of the Vedas, the unslayable Cow of Radiance, the infinite Mother. She leads the Aryan, the indefatigable toiler, the ardent aspirant to the summits of Light and Delight. Her auspicious glory is proclaimed through the children of the triple universe for verily they are her extensions, santana¹⁵

She is also the Great Queen sri maharajni, presiding over the cosmos with her consort, the Supreme Lord. All the myriads of gods and goddesses derive their authority and power from this Supreme Goddess, Her Most Imperial Majesty, para bhattarika, and function in Her name. The Powers that reign over the cosmos do so with the grace of this Empress of all sovereignties, rajarajeshwari.

The Tantra conceives the Supreme that is Transcendental Absolute, immutable, ineffable as Effulgence prakasa. When it is self-moved to manifest something of itself, there is a deliberation, vimarsa on itself. This deliberation which is the precursor of all manifestation is the Supreme Goddess. This deliberation takes the forin of an impulsion, a desire, kama. This desire, again, is a division, a digit kala of the Divine and so is the Goddess known as kamakala. Kamakala is the Divine Desire in the macrocosm. It manifests as the digit of the Eternal in the microcosm.¹⁶

The impulse of prime Desire creates a throb spanda which vibrates as nada. This nada concentrates itself into a point bindu which in turn, turns itself into three bindus, forming itself into a triangle. This triangle is the prime triangle in the Sri Chakra, the yoni, the source of all manifestation, the base triangle moola trikora in the subtle body, the Muladhara centre where the Serpent Power, Kundalini Sakti, lies coiled, ready to be awakened. The triangle represents the threefold aspect, tripura, pura standing for city, place or field of action. Brahman is threefold, Sat-Chit-Ananda, Truth-Consciousness-Bliss. The life is threefold, annam, pra and manas, physical, vital and mental. The worlds are three. The states are three, jagrat waking, svapna dream and sushupti deep sleep. The forces are three, iccha, will, jnana, knowledge and kriya, action. Thus, the great Goddess who subjects herself to a threefold division is known as Tripura or Tripurasundari. The Kalika Purana says that everything about the Goddess is three in number: the triangle, the three girdles of the Bhupura in Sri Chakra, her three-lettered Mantra, her three forms, the triple Kundalini Sakti and her creation of the trinity and hence she is known as Tripura. Because she transcends the triad also, her name is Tripura¹⁸

Her another name is Lalita. She is the Mother of Grace who has her play far transcending all the worlds, lokanatitya lalate. When Manmatha, the God of Love, disturbed the penance of Siva, Siva in anger reduced him to ashes. A Gandharva, in fun, ġave life to the heap of ashes which became the formidable Bhandasura. The ashes were the resultant of distorted love working against Divine’s Law and the Divine’s wrath on it. And so, an Asura was born. Lalita, as the Mother of Grace and Love, had to vanquish Bhandasura, Love in its most distorted and ugly form, and re-establish true love in the universe. This is the real significance of the exploits of Lalita and her hosts against Bhandasura and his men, which are vividly portrayed in the Brahmanda Purana.

Thus, the deity of Sri Vidya is variously known as Sri Mata, Kamakala, Kameshwari, Rajarajeshwari, Lalita, Mahatripurasundari, Para Bhattarika. But she is not worshipped alone. She is always thought of as united with her Lord, Siva. The Sri Chakra is the one body of the Siva-couple, sricakram sivayor vapuh and of the letters of the Sri Vidya Mantra some belong to Siva, some to Sakti and the rest to both of them. No aspirant can make progress in the Sadhana of Sri Vidya if he does not think of Kameshwari along with Kameshwara, the two in one form. She is ever installed in the heart-seat of Siva and is full of Siddhis that belong to the sovereign realms of Siva-state. The Lord of the three worlds guards the knowledge leading to her, the know-ledge which manifests her play²⁰

POWERS AND PERSONALITIES

Many are the Powers and Personalities of this God-head. She is served by sixty four crores of the great yoginis, maha catusshashthi koti yogini gana sevita, says Lalita Sahasranama. The Sri Chakra is the abode of all her Powers. For each of the nine chakras, there is a mistress, a Power of the Divine Mother, a Tripura deity. Again, her fifteen lettered mantra is presided over by her fifteen Powers, tithinityas, the days of the fortnight.

Apart from these, three of her great Personalities stand out to lead the aspirant on the path of Sri Vidya. They are Bala, Mantrini and Dandanatha. For one who directly worships the Divine Mother, the grace of these Personalities is assured. It may happen that an aspirant has not got the competency to be directly launched into the worship of the Divine Mother. Then the worship of these Personalities is fruitful in preparing him for initiation in the Sri Vidya lore, as the favour of these deities bring him near to the precincts of the Divine Mother.

Bala is a little girl, daughter of the Divine Mother. She is known as Bala Tripurasundari and shares all the characteristics of her mother. Her Mantra consists of three seed-sounds Aim Klim Sauh and is known as Sri Vidya. They are the seed-letters bijaksharas of the three kutas and become amplified as the fifteen-lettered pancadasi. They are conjoined with the three kutas peaks of pancadasi to form the Mantra known as saubhagya vidya. Bala being a little girl is easily approachable. She has not the formidable majesty of her mother and her presence does not strike awe in the mind of the worshipper. In the worship of the Divine as a child, the filial feelings of the sadhaka have full play. He loves, caresses, chides, fondles and has the Divine as his play-mate. Krishna is adored as Balakrishna, Kumara as Balasubrahmanya. Likewise, Goddess Tripurasundari is worshipped as Bala. It is common in the Sri Vidya tradition to initiate a neophyte into the Bala Mantra first and afterwards lead him to the great Mantra of the Divine Mother. It is also a fact of spiritual experience that in the initial stages of the sadhana of Sri Vidya, the Divine Mother reveals herself as Bala.

Mantrini represents the knowledge-aspect of the Divine Mother, while Dandanatha denotes her strength aspect. Mantrini is the Counsellor, Minister to Raja-rajeshwari. Her sagacity and wisdom she gives to her worshippers. She is dark and is known as Shyamala or Rajashyamala. She is the Matangi of the Dasha Maha Vidyas. Her worship leads one to the worship of Sri Vidya either in this birth or in subsequent births.

Dandanatha, as her name indicates is the Supreme Commander of Rajarajeshwari’s armed forces. She is the Might of the Mother. She is known as Varahi, the great consumer. She destroys the hostile forces and infuses strength in the worshipper. She corresponds to Bagalamukhi of the Dasha Maha Vidyas, one who can paralyse anything sarva stambhanakari. She also leads her worshipper to the worship of Sri Vidya ultimately.

These are the three great Personalities of the Divine Mother. In the case of those who are able to approach the Divine Mother direct, these three deities of their own accord shower their grace on the sadhaka.