22nd Chapter
This chapter describes the duties of a Sadhaka. These are:- (1) Realization of the Supreme Reality as identical with the individual soul. Anything offered with this conviction receives sacredness. (2) The worship of Tripura. It is to be done either as Nitya or as Naimittika or as Kamya. By the first is meant that which is done everyday and omission of which is sinful. By the second is meant that which is done occasionally with a definite end in view and failure in the performance of which is artended with the evil consequences. The last denotes that kind of worship which is done avowedly to gain some object. In rendering all these kinds of worships it is to be kept in view that nothing is done contrary to the popular usage. Worship in all its forms if done without any desire to gain this or that object is viewed as Sattvika. (3) Performance of the acts that are prescribed for him by the Shruti and Smriti such as service to the parents and entertainment of friends and relations, maintenance of protection of the dependents; preservation of peace and order with a view to honouring the righteous and punishing the wicked. (4) Meditation upon Tripura Sundari and Tripura Bhairava four times a day in the morning, mid-day, evening and midnight.
23rd Chapter
This describes the importance of worshipping the girls, their prescribed ages and the way in which they are to be worshipped. Maidens also are mentioned in this chapter to receive the worship of the practitioner as representing the eight mothers Brahmi etc.
24th Chapter
It describes the importance and fruit of offering worship to the girls and the Prayaschitta or penance, that is to be done by the devotee when he misses performance of daily worship. It lays stress on the daily worship as compared with the occasional or purposeful and instructs that on the 14th, 8th or 15th days of the bright half of the month as also on the 14th day of the dark half falling on Tuesday, Yajna or sacrifice should be offered to Tripura. Yajna is considered as a body in which meditation, worship, muttering of the mantra and Homa constitute the four hands, devotion head, faith heart, skill in action eyes, knowledge of the Atman the Soul and Nyasas the remaining parts of the body. Such a 14th day of the dark half of the month on which Tuesday and the constellation Tishya fall simultaneously is the most sacred day for the devotee of Tripura.
25th Chapter
This chapter is devoted to the description of the sacred spots in India and the merits that a devotee gains by offering worship in these places. The sacred places are river banks, caves, mountain tops, sources of water, confluences of rivers, forests, gardens, mountain feet, Tulasi groves, cow-sheds, root of the Ashvattha or Amalaki, temple of Shiva, sea shore of ocean, solitary places and those where the preceptor lives or which help in the concentration of the mind, the cities of Benares and Dwarika, the Vindhya mountain, Aryavarta, Brahmavarta, Prayaga, Pushkara, the river Karatoya, Nandikunda etc. It also tells that the devotee is not held back from worship by the consideration of impurity arising from death or birth and that he should offer worship mentally in times of such a calamity.
26th Chapter
It deals with Diksha or initiation. It is necessary for the practitioner of mantras because it imparts right knowledge and removes sins. Before having been done by man to man initiation was started by the holy line of nine divine teachers, viz. Prakasha, Vimarsha, Ananda, Jnana, Satya, Purna, Svabhava, Pratibha, Subhaga, the first three living eternally in heaven, the middle three partly in heaven and partly on earth and the last three only on earth. These receive their worship between Vimala and Jayani in Shrichakra. Qualifications are laid down of both the initiator and the initiate. The former among other things must have all good qualities = be free from vanity, greedless, healthy, pure, speaking truth and knowing sacred laws of the Tantras. The latter must be orthodox, merciful, attached to the teacher, considerate and greedless. He should avoid all acts of indecency, especially when in the presence of the teach and should have as much faith in him as in his own God or Mantra and be respectful towards him. The months which are prescribed for initiation are given in the following order of importance:-
Assoon, Katak, Baishakh, Phagan, Maghar, Chet, Har and Magh. Days of the lunar reckoning and the week days prescribed for the said purpose are 15th, 5th, 2nd, 7th, and 13th and 10th and Sunday, Thursday, Friday, Monday and Wednesday.
The initiation is said to be of three kinds that of mantras, that of Shakti and that of Shiva. The first involves the use of mantras, worship, postures, meditation and concentration etc. The second has a reference to that in which the initiator infuses his own spiritual power in the initiate. The third is that in which a spiritualist par excellence sanctifies the person with no regard to qualifications merely by his glance to the extent that the Reality becomes visible to him.
The end of the chapter explains the details of initiation such as selection and preparation of a place for initiation, making offering to Vastupala together with the Vedic recitation and blessing of the learned Brahmins, sowing of seeds, and rendering worship to the Dikpalas with a view to invoking their help in performing initiation, purification of the place, Shrichakra and the disciple with Panchagavya, performing Homa and disclosing the mantra called Svapnamanava, i. e. hili hili shuulapaaNaye svaahaa to the disciple and putting him to sleep afterwards, The disciple is instructed to carefully remember the dreams good or bad he has seen in sleep. The good dreams are those in which the objects seen are a girl, an umbrella, a chariot a lamp, a palace, a river, saffron etc. Bad dreams on the other hand, involve reference to an ass, a crow, ditch etc. The preceptor has to make a hundred offering with the Astra mantra in case the initiate sees bad dreams.
27th Chapter
This also is devoted to the description of initiation. The seeker after initiation is to approach the initiator with the request for initiation after having duly done worship to gods and the manes. Initiator is to enter the pavilion raised for the purpose and instal a water-pot of gold or silver or copper on the Shrichakra drawn on the earth. The water-pot is to be filled with fragrant substances and certain herbs and varieties of earth, and wrapped with a couple of cloths. The same is to be placed on a stand. The stand, the water-pot and the water respectively representing the Fire, the Sun and the Moon are to receive worship through their Kalas. The candidate for initiation is asked after this to fill his hands with flowers and throw them so as to see whether their throw is in the auspicious direction or otherwise. In the latter case the initiator is to ward off the evil by performing a Homa. After performing worship to the attendant deities of Tripurasundari sacrificial food is to be prepared of which a part is to be offered to her and the rest to the fire, care being taken that the fire is ablaze. The candidate is to have his face covered with a cloth and then be besprinkled with the water from Vishesharghya and the initiator is to request the goddess to be kind to the candidate and inspire him with her devotion. After this he has to receive instruction from the initiator as to the line of action he should follow in future. The initiator should imagine that the fetters of sins binding the body of the candidate have been burnt down with the fire of Kundalini rising from the Muladhara to the Brahmarandhra and also enter his body through the Yogic power and unite his soul with his own. After having him seated on a diagram of the alphabet the onitiator should bathe him with the water of the water-pot, muttering the three Bijas of the Mulamantra and then dress him and oint him with sandal-wood and other pastes. He should also instruct the candidate to perform the Matrika-nyasa and the Mantra-nyasa at the end of which his face is to be unveiled and he sees things required for the worship and takes food, while muttering the mantras of the Tattvas with the Mudra of morsels. Then the initiator acquaints him with the mantras of the Guru and Bala and the mantra of the candidate’s choice or all mantras at once. In doing the latter the initiator keeps his foot on the head of the candidate. He also gives him a new name of initiation consisting of two or three syllables with the word aanandanaatha coming at the end. Having thus brought him up to the same footing with himself in the spiritual sphere, the initiator should embrace him and smell him on the head. In order to keep his own spiritual power intact the teacher should also perform the Japa of the Mulamantra one thousand and eight times. The cadidate should offer due and costly presents so that his preceptor may be satisfied.
28th Chapter
In this are given the instructions regarding Purashcharana which is necessary for obtaining success in the mantra. Purushcharana means performance of the Japa of a mantra either one thousand and eight times or fifty thousand times. This is necessary to remove the obstacles due to lack of faith, scepticism and the demerits of the previous lives. This may be done either by the disciple or by the preceptor or by some worthy Brahmin in some sacred place either on the 14th or the 8th or the 15th day of the dark half of the month. The practitioner is to keep a fast for the previous day and perform worship to Brahmins or teachers, Ganesha, mother deities and manes. The Japa is to be done in a suitable place which is to be selected carefully by testing the same with the help of the diagram called Kurmachakra consisting of nine sections in which the alphabet or the Matrika is arranged in a prescribed manner.
The rosary to be used is to consist of the beads of pearl, crystal etc. Beads may number a hundred, fifty or twentyeight. One of them which stands for the Meru should be the biggest, the rest being gradually smaller in size and each bead should have a knot. The holy articles of food, such as, curd, milk, Ghee etc. should be taken and those of the opposed character should be avoided. The practitioner should also observe sleeping on the earth, celibacy, silence, absence of envy, three daily baths, avoidance of mean acts, daily worship, daily charity, praising of the deity, occasional worship, reliance on the teacher and the deity and avoid the company of and eating with women, Sudra, outcast, etc., lying, cheating, deceitful talk, hearing the music and seeing a dance etc. Japa should not be done when the doer is without a Pavitra in the hand, naked, with the head covered, without a seat, asleep, going or standing in the street, dark places or talking. It should not be continued on seeing, talking to and hearing an outcast, sneezing, discharging the wind and yawning. Everyday such an amount of Japa should be done from the morning till midday as has been fixed per day.
There should not be a pause of even one day in the period of Purashcharana. At the end of Japa the offering should be made to the extent of its 10th part in the purifying fire. Tarpana, Marjana and the feeding of the Brahmins should be done respectively to the extent of the 10th part of the Homa, 10th part of the Tarpana and 10th part of the Marjana.
The five acts of a sacred bath, purging of the sins, offering water to the Sun, sipping of water and Pranayama come after the above. The large scale worship is to be conducted at the end to complete the Parashcharan.
There is yet another way of performing the same. According to this the Sadhaka is to keep a fast previous to the day on which a Solar or Lunar eclipse fails and stand in the river navel-deep and mutter the mantra during the time of the eclipse, and after having done so perform Homa etc.
29th Chapter
In the above the practitioner is instructed to mutter the mantra of Devi with his wife at the time of midnight, because anything done of religious merit at this time has got far greater significance than if done at others. Performance of Japa nine-hundred thousand times of Devi is calculated to qualify the practitioner for approach to her.
This is to be done in the following manner:-
Three hundred thousand times when the practitioner has to concentrate his mind upon Kundalini in the Muladhara centre coiling herself round a phallic mass of light called Svayambhu. Again three hundred thousand times in the heart with the mind fixed on Kundalini with the Linga as above called Bana. Lastly the same number of times in the head with attention fixed on Kundalini with. the Linga called Itara.
Mind loses its separate entity and becomes one with the object of meditation when Japa is performed a crore times. The serpent power lying dormant is to be awakened and raised from centre to centre in the body of the Sadhaka and these centres number nine and are located in the Muladhara, Linga, navel, heart, throat, middle of the eyebrows and so on. The practitioner is advised farther to see that the mautra when muttered is not subjected to the impurity, attendant on birth and death. Each breath before its beginning and termination is said to have this pollution. Immunity from such impurity is obtained by that practitioner who knows the meaning of the mantra, the life of the mantra and the Yonimudra.
The meaning of the mantra of Devi Tripurasundari is said to be sixfold, i.e. literal meaning, traditional meaning, inner meaning, Kaulika meaning, occult meaning and real meaning.
According to the literal meaning, the mantra is to be understood as implying the union of Shiva and Shakti because the constituent syllables of the same represent either Shiva or Shakti. Hence the first part of the mantra called Vagbhava, i.e. ha sa ka la hrii.m represents Vama Shakti, Brahma, Goddess of wisdom, volition and Purvbamnaya, the second called Kamaraja, i.e. ha sa ka ha la hrii.m, Jyeshta Shakti, Vishnu, Goddess of earth, cognition and Dakshinamanya, and the third called Shakti, i e. sa ka la hrii.m, Raudri Shakti, Rudra, action and Pachimnaya. The syllable at the end of all these parts represents Ambika Shanti, Shambhu, Santa, all the three aspects volition etc. and Uttaramnaya.
All these parts are further viewed as representatives of the three acts of creation, sustenance and destruction. In this way in the Vagbhava with reference to the creation as beginning, ha denotes Brahma, sa Goddess of wisdom; with reference to the same as continuing (considered as sustenance) ka denotes Vishnu, la Goddess of earth; with reference again to the same as ending, ha denotes Rudrani and ra Rudra and the syllable ii denotes Shiva Shakti and their combination (Anakhya). In the Kamaraja ha and sa represent continuity as beginning, ka & la continuity as continuous, ha continuity as ending and ii as Anakhya. Addition of ha in this part indicates that it refers to the stage of continuity. In the Shakti, sa as abbreviation of ha sa denotes destruction as beginning, ka la destruction as continuity, ha destruction as ending and ii the same as before.
According to the Sampradayartha ha denotes sky ka air ra fire sa water and la earth, giving birth respectively to sky etc. The goddess of the mantra is to be meditated upon as identical with the whole unvierse. The fifteen syllables of the mantra respectively represent also the 15 qualities of the elements, i.e. one of the sky, two of the air, three of the fire, four of the water and five of the earth.
The mantra when analyzed into its constituents including both vowels and consonants resolves itself into the 37 parts as five vowels (four a + one ii) and six consonants ha sa ka la ha ra in the first part, as six vowels (five a + one ii) and seven consonants ha sa ka ha la ha ra in the second part, as four vowels (three a + one ii) and five consonants sa ka la ha ra in the third part, as three Bindus at the end of these parts and as a whole. These 37 constituents represent the 36 categories both individually and collectively. The six ha’s in the mantra represent the sound as effect (fivefold) and as cause. The three ii’s and the Bindu at their end stand for the four forms of touch, three ra’s represent three aspects of form, two sa’s represent two kinds of water, gross and subtle and the third. Sa stands for the connection between water and nectar. Three la’s represent the earth as existing in the three worlds, three ka’s also represent three classes of cognisers – Ashuddha, Shuddha and Mishr, 12 a’s represent Jiva as such, Jiva as breath, Jiva as spirit, three Bindus, purusha, Raga, Vidya, Kala, Niyati, Kala, Maya, Shuddhavidya, Ishvara and Sadashiva and three Nadas, Shanti, Shakti and Shambhu.
According to the inner meaning, the mantra reminds of the identity between Shiva, the teacher and the disciple.
According to the Kaulika meaning it reminds of the identity between the mantra, the diagram, the deity, the teacher and the disciple. Identity between the mantra and the diagram is thus established:-
Three la’s = three rectangles, three sa’s = three circles enclosing the two lotuses, thrice three parts of hrii.m, i.e. ha ra ii = nine triangles, three ha’s = one 14 sided figure and two decagons, three ka’s = the centre.
Identity between the diagram and the deity is shown as below:-
One hundred and eleven deities that are worshippod in the different parts of the diagram attend upon the Devi and hence she is the main deity of the chakra. She is also manifest in the form of the planets counting nine as she constitutes the essence of the moon, the sun and the fire, volition cognition and action, Sattva, Rajas and Tamas.
She appears in the form of constellations representing sense organs (5) active organs (5) sense and action objects (10) mind, wisdom, ego, chitta, matter, qualities, and spirit.
The six Yoginis Dakini to Hakini as presiding deities of the six constituents of the body skin etc. and the eight mothers Brahmi etc. as presiding over vowels, gutturals, palatals, linguals, dentals, labials, semi-vowels and aspirates are mere representations of the Devi. As one with the ten vital currents, limited soul and supreme soul she appears as twelve signs of the zodiac.
The above forms of Ganesha are also traceable from the mantra. The three parts of the mantra respectively represent Vaikhari, Madhyama, and Pashyanti as presiding over the three groups of sixteen letters each (tha to sa, ka to ta, a to aH). Hence Devi the deity of the mantra stands as the mistress of all the forms of speech.
As the mantra has three parts, three Bindus and three Nadas, it reminds of her planetary form. Again as it possesses three parts having five letters (ha ra ii Bindu and Nada) at the end of each in addition to the remaining letters numbering 12 she is to be considered as one with constellations. As the six letters suggestive of Shakti, i. e. three hrii.m and three la’s represent Yoginis she assumes their form. Similarly all the letters of the mantra excepting the three ending hrii.m counting 12 stand for the 12 signs of zodiac and hence she appears in the form of Rashis also.
The identity between the teacher and the taught
This can be acquired and realized just as that between the Deity and her body either as a mantra or as chakra, which has been described above.
According to the occult meaning the mantra reminds the practitioner again and again to be attentive to the idea of identity between his self and Kundalini which wakes up in the Muladhara and rises from there to the lunar seat in the head.
According to the real meaning the Sadhaka has to merge himself in the Transcendental Self.
