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CHAPTER VI ON MANDALA Mandala as mystical diagram. Its symbolism. Distinctive features of mandalas in saiva tantra. The symbolism of the trident (trisula). Projection of mandala into the practitioner's body. Different techniques of outlining mandalas in Saiva tantra. Damara the Saivite sacrifice of mandala. The mandala of Swastika. doors. The mandala is a diagram that represents a h potent centre of psychic energy, a consecrated enclosed space from the profane by barricades of magical figures of any "gardians" of the The various marked spaces within the mandala represent the heavenly or terrestrial abodes of deities, such as places, altars, temples, citadels, figures of consecrated objects etc., and contain their images or emblems. The mandala is generally drawn on the ground 鈥� O on plane surfaces of different things as well as directly on the worshipper's body. Those who have got the necessary powers of concentration frequently build up mandalas mentally. During the inscribing of mandala the Saiva tantrika will perform special rites and mantras are intoned in order to fix the various parts of the diagram in a transcendental space of

119 -> pure spirituality. When this operation is completed the gods or other entities are invoked by further rites and incantations and are then believed to appear and occupy the place in the diagram assigned to them. In tantrism the mandala is often a specialized .. figure referred to as a yantra, "instrument" or "engine", which is used by the Saiva tantrika also. The difference between a mandala and a yantra consists in the fact that the first is the diagram of a complex process of self-realization represented dynamically, while the latter is the diagram of a particular thought. Both of them discharge the same function of supporting the concentration. In mandala "Sri cakra" the triangle pointing down represents the yoni %; the triangle pointing up, i.e. standing on its base, is the linga ; the superimposed triangles, like the Seal of David, symbolize the union of yoni and linga, hence the universal equilibrium of the supreme Siva. This union of Siva with his own powers is imagined in the Saiva iconology through the flower of lotus which is often built up on interfering triangles. The Saiva tantrika represents the three functions of the union of Siva with Sakti through an equilinear triangle whose three sides symbolize Sadasiva, Isvara and Suddhavidya or iccha, jnana, and kriya, i.e. volition, cognition and conation (v.fig. 1). This mandala is always used during the performance of important rituals concerning the whole spiritual family (kula) such as the so-called "sacrifice of bodies", erotical sadhana, etc. In other Saiva vision on the yantra mandala of "Sri cakra", the two interfering triangles are the six limbs of

Fig. I E The mandala of Kula school (Tantraloka, XXIX, 25-55).

121 Siva on whose symbolism I have already speculated in the previous chapter. However, I will mention here that even the designation of the limbs are not immovable. recognised as In the case of Siva they are sometimes heart, head, hairtuft, his accessories, viz. the trident .. and the drum, and his third eye. The central point of Saiva mandala is called the bindu, "the drop", and represents the focal area of psychic power which the third Siva's eye is considered to be. Although drawn flat, a Saiva mandala imagines a three dimensitional figure. The most elaborated mandalas have four .. directions, symbols for Siva (generally linga) and Sakti, sanctuaries for the deities and guardians of the entrances, the whole being enclosed within lotus petals framed by a wavy line called the sisirata shivery. Though the general concept of all mandala like patterns is believed to be basically sexual, a lot of Saiva mandalas express it through drawing the particular objects involved in Saiva mythology. The Saivites use these drawings for protective, benedictive etc. purposes, but the main application of them is to indicate a spiritual itinerary which the adept must follow. In this manner, on every stage of spiritual development a tantrika will easily see, on a graph, his place on the way to the final freedom: the steps already covered as well as the remaining endeavours. This way, the mandala is a "mirror" of one's own consciousness, inasmuch as it adds to decipher the mysteries of one's own inner life. That is the reason that, side by side with the hatha-yoga techniques, mandala was well received by modern scientific investigation. C.G. Jung drew attention

- 122 on the importance of mandala for psychoanalysis (C.G.Jung .. Symbolism" in "Archetypes and the collective Unconscious" - - "On Mandala ET, London, 1959) Mandala, the magical diagram, is one of the most elaborate elements for Saiva tantric initiation. Mandala means literally "circle". The main motives of mandalas for the Saivite schools are the drawing of one or more tridents and lotuses disposed in manifold ways inside of a square. The mandala has to be outlined on a sandy and smooth ground by means of a good deal of threads (sutra). Having imbued these threads into coloured powders (especially white and red lead), the performer begins to outline the circles and the network necessary for the construction of mandala. The fundamental mandala in Saiva tantra is composed of three tridents circumscribed into three lotuses (in the center, on the right hand, and on the left) or, according to the Malinivijaya, of only one trident. .. Like mantra and mudra, mandala is also a support for meditation, a kind of mnemonic instrument. The adept modulates his contemplation in accordance with special rites and circumstances, following that diagram. The mandala occupies a sacred space which is revealed at an ascertained moment when the temporal and symbolical structure is strictly known. That sacred space is opposed to the profane and changeable space from which the first is delimited by a surrounding line. A Saiva mandala expresses graphically the same conceptual reality expressed usually by words and concerning both ideological speculation and ritualistic behaviour. Thus, mandala embraces the synchronic and diachronic moments of existence, integrating them into a structural unity.

123 In this sense mandala is spoken of as a graphical projection of the whole cosmos with its manifold entities living inside. One of the most important rites concerning mandala practice is the so-called "inner sacrifice", consisting of a homology between different "principles" of the reality and the own body. The essential element of such a mandala is the trident, the traditional weapon or emblem of Siva. The various .. parts of the trident drawn on the mandala, have to be meditated upon, each of them in identity with a certain part of the body and a certain category of the exterior reality. The lower part of the trident is an axle or the stick (danda) ending in the inferior side with a triangle whose apex points downwards (v. fig. 2). This triangle is the kundalini, i.e. the asleep power in the shape of a snake found in the perinaeal zone of the practitioner's body. The protuberance next to that triangle, called after its shape amalasaraka, i.e. the fruit of the tree Emblica Officinalis, corresponds to the so-called "bulb" (kanda) which is thought to be under the navel and, from the cosmological point of view, to the four perceptible elements: earth, water, fire and air (the ether is implicit in them) which are usually projected on that area of the body. The axle or the stick of the trident corresponds to susumna which lifts up to the tongue. The axle embraces all the cosmical categories from the subtle elements to the final efficient principle. Above it, there is the "knot" or the "junction" corresponding to maya. The "knot" is surpassed by the so-called quadrilateral base (catuskika) and by the central lotus, which cover the last five levels of the axle corresponding

Fig. 2 The mandala of trident and lotuses in its .. essential structure (Malinivijaya-tantra, IX, 6-30 & Tantraloka, XXXI, 62-85a).

125 to the pure world or transmayic world. The tantric Saivite will meditate upon these five categories, projecting them along the space between the tongue and Brahma's foramen. Sadasiva resides in the middle of the central lotus. The tantric iconography imagines him as the great corpse, viz. without his power. He is conceived nere in his hypostasis as pure light without thinking. The trident appear s from Sadasiva's navel, piercing with its points the top of the tantrika's head through three orifices named the three "ethers". Sadasiva is visualized lying in the center of mandala. According to different traditions of outlining the Saiva mandala, one or sometimes three tridents will spring out through the three holes of the head. The three points or, respectively, tridents, symbolize the power of will, of knowledge and of action, Para, Parapara and Apara, etc. There are three lotuses above the trident, i.e. correspond ing to each point, which signify the abodes of the three mentioned powers. This mandala is conceived also as a graphical projection of the mantra SAUH, which is, as it has been already shown, one of the main mantras in Saiva tantra. The letter S that "pervades" the categories beginning with the earth up to the maya, is correlated with the axle of the trident. The letter AU whose "pervasion" reaches the power, is tantamount to the trident. The emission AH has to be meditated upon in the ethereal space of the lotuses, beyond the trident. For the Saivite tantrika, the trident is his main 鈥� emblem in so far as it embodies in its symbolical shape all the theore-

- 126 tical and ritualistic subtilty. The three points can represent at the same time the knowing subject, the means of knowledge and what is to be known. Actually, the trident could be interpreted in the terms of Kashmir Saivism as the fundamental triads whose pattern is a permanent synthesis of polarity. This synthesis is often represented through the central point which is obviously longer than the other two points on the sides. The technique of projection is the central operation connected with the mandala and the texts affect an important space dealing with this method. The basic triangle of kundalini must occupy the perinaeal region up to where the "bulb" begins, four fingers under the navel. Each of the four basic elements occupies a finger within the "bulb" and the tantrika must become aware of them all, one by one, by meditating upon them. The axle of the trident (asya), called also ananta, climbs up to the top of the tongue. Generally, the Saiva tantrika follows this way through a sudden movement of mind, imagining the process to be similar to a quick unfolding of a coiled snake (i.e. kundalini) in order to cross from one hidden place to another, i.e. from the navel to the top of the tongue. Above this spot there is the "knot" of maya, the most difficult barrier to be overcome. "O, great Goddess, he who does not succeed in passing through this knot ocean of meshes and tiesdoes not obtain the union (yoga) with Siva" (Malinivijaya-tantra, VIII, 55). The four qualities of the mind, viz. compassion, knowledge, detachment and restraint, must be recognized in the angles of the knot which is visualized as the central square of the mandala;

127these qualities are placed starting from SE angle to NE. The four opposite attributes are seen on .. In accordance with a vision the sides corresponding to the cardinal points of the knot of mandala, starting from E to N. of this mandala of trident, the endeavour of the Saivite concerning the mayic knot is to turn this central square (named also quadrilateral base) 90掳 round, such as its angles will replace the sides barring the ascendent way of kundalini. The four negative attributes of mind, viz. adharma, ajnana, avairagya and anaisvarya, have to be removed starting from the east to the north. Afterwards the Saivite must meditate on the four bands (gatraka) that adorn Siva's throne from angle to angle uniting the four cardinal points, beginning with the orient (Ksemaraja, SvT, II, 63: simhasanapattikarupah; and in Netra-tantra, XVIII, 41: gatrakani konantaralaga avayavavisesah, etc.). The gatrakas are white according to SVT and they are seen yellow in Netra-tantra Within the quadrilateral base between the knot of maya and the trident there is the category of wisdom with two veils. It has to be meditated upon in the interval between the tongue and Brahma's foramen. Inside it, Isvara appeares in the form of a lotus in bloom, with a rich wreath, stamens and seeds. 鈥� The eight powers in progressive order, viz. Vama, Jyestha, Raudri, Kali, Kalavikarani, Balavikarani, Balapramathini and Sarvabhutadamani reside in the petals of the lotus, starting from the east. The ninth power, Manonmani, resides in the center of the lotus. The other nine power, viz. Vibhvi, Jnani, Kriya, Iccha, Vagisi, Jvalini, Vama, Jyestha and Raudri are disposed in the opposite directions and symbolize the time which burns and devours everything, like fire (Malinivijaya-tantra, VIII, 63-66a).

- 128 The tantrika must meditate on the lotus which is pervaded by Rudra, Visnu and Brahma who master the fire, the moon and the the sun (SVT, II, 72-75). They are the supporters of/petal-powers and are pervaded by powers at the same time. Isvara will be projected above Rudra. Isvara is represented laughing in this mandala; his body is shining "ten thousand times more than the fire of time" (Malinivijaya-tantra, VIII,68). All these gods form the "throne". Sadasiva is lying on the throne; the trident arises from his navel and reaches dvadasanta. Sakti bears the three lotuses - from the tops of the trident - which support the existent. This is the "supreme throne" (Malinivijaya-tantra, VIII, 70). Reaching this level, the initiate meditate on on the murti called vidya, i.e. the "body of wisdom" (vidyamurti), and afterwards on the "body of self". The goddess Parapara is found on the right point of the trident and is painted in rosy colours, with a slightly irritated countenance, but not terrific. On the left point, Apara is painted in red and black colours, inspiring fright. On the middle point the goddess Para is shining "like ten million moons" (Malinivijaya-tantra, VIII,74). the The projection of the five vidyangas on the Saivite's mandala and body is performed afterwards, following the direations: SE, NE, SW, NW and S. In the same way, saktangas and sivangas are projected on the four cardinal points, carefully putting the "eye" in the middle of/mandala and both eight gods beginning with Aghora etc. the .. and their eight corresponding goddesses Aghori etc. must be placed on the eight environing petals. Also, the adept must meditate on the guardians of the regions and on their weapons, reciting their mantras.

2075 now 1 1 129- "The above-discussed trident has only an axle and three powers (i.e. points). He who, o, Goddess, does not knows this trident of power made as it was shown, accompanying it by the 'ethereal mudra, he does not rise from the ground. Such a trident is a divine one" (Malinivijaya-tantra, VIII, 81-82b). Besides this kind of trident there are also two others: a "powerful" trident and that named "particular". It is obvious that each means of self-realization has its own trident and consequently, its own mandala. The manner of outlining mandala and mainly its square, differs from text to text. I have presented in the nearby drawings three such possibilities practiced by Saiva schools (v.Fig. 3&4). It is necessary to outline with exactitude a mandala because its square is the center of the world or, more accurately, the center of all the worlds, a common place where the levels of existent meet simultaneously. For the Saivite, a mandala is the universe in its process of emanation and reabsorption. When the tantrika stands in the center of it, he identifies himself with the forces that govern the universe and collects their thaumaturgical and mystic powers within himself. To the same end, the Saiva tantrika will employ a vase, a round receptacle which has a more ancient source than tantra itself and which was not abandoned even when the theory of the mandala was elaborated in all its details and in a definitive manner. After a certain time a syncretic sadhana appears where the use of vases is mixed with mandala practice. Thus five vases are placed in the five sectors of the mandala, one in the middle and one on each of the four sides.

Fig.3 The procedure of drawing the square of mandala .. according to Abhinavagupta (Tantraloka, XXXI, 1-4). Its eastern side is established by imaging a small being facing the cast, in the centre of the mandala. The lateral gates are usually .. added afterwards.

131Each is filled with various substances. The vase is still conceived as the best receptacle able to bring down the divine essence (avahana) and the as the to stock it. The outline of/mandala has to be connected with all the magical operations concerning the establishment of any kind of center (generally in constructions). This way mandala is spoken about axis mundi. The tantrika identifies himself with this center which is the first condition for the success of his work. Yet the Saivite no longer wants only to return to the centre of the universe; he longs for the state of concentration in which he finds the unity of a secluded and undiverted consciousness. So the mandala is no longer a cosmogram but a psychocosmogram, i.e. the scheme of disintegration from One to the many and of reintegration from the many to the One. According to Abhinavagupta, the number of such psychocosmograms are a hundred in Saiva schools, but the most important are those representing one trident, three, or nine tridents. The manners of arawing them are countless, but the building up of the mandala as the Trikasadbhavatantra indicates is the "well and matrix of all the others" (Tantraloka, XXXI, lo). This method is similar to that employed for copying different images even today. A square is divided into small will/ squares for a detailed guidance of the future image which represent three tridents in this case (v.Fig. 5). The proper drawing is begun from the upper part of the square. In the center o 1 the great circle, where Aules vari resides, a zero (vyoma), a point (tilaka) or a lotus of six or twelve petals has to be drawn. The different number of lotuses,

Fig.4 Fig.5 The procedure of drawing the square of mandala .. according to Malinivijaya-tantra, IX, 2-5. Tantraloka describes it with some variations (Tantraloka,XXXI, 4b-7a). The field of "mandala of three tridents" described in the Trikasadbhavatantra. It is divided into sixteen small squares, to which the squares of the gates are added afterwards, becoming in this way twenty-four. Each small square has four fingers. Twenty-four fingers form a hand or an elbow.

- 133circles, zeros, rays etc., as well as their disposal determine the mandala's specific nature (Haracarita-cintamani & Tantraloka, XXXI, 26-29). The place where the goddess kundalini resides on the lowest part of the axle is marked with bright red. The lour gates open on to the four cardinal points, facing towards all that lies outside our consciousness. These gates are protected by some guardians of terrifying aspects. Armed, aweinspiring and monstrous in appearance, they keep watch, either alone or accompanied by their female counterpart. These guardians are found also at the entrances of those architectonic mandalas which are the Saiva temples. These beings are name a the vighnantaka "those who put an end to vigana (impediments)". By "impediments" is understood in tantric gnosis, those forces which menance the sacral purity of the places where the rites are performed, and also those forces which are obscurely present within us and hamper our journey towards the light. They are vighna plural in the an indistinct mass, whirling about in the depths of the subconscious. They are obscure and almost invisible in the darkness that submerges them. Their supreme ruler is Yama, the God of Death who is mounted on a buffalo and wields a club that is the spinal column of a huge skeleton. in which The variety of mandalas depends upon the manner manifold details are drawn: the pedestal (pitha), the platform (vithi), the auxiliar ground for the gates etc., the neck, the ear, the cheek and the main and secondary "ornaments" of the deities, the parallel lines of the edge, additional swastikas consis ing of eight pairs, and so on (Tantraloka, XXXI, 36b-38). Thus, according to Netra-tantra, XVIII, 44, the neck

134- (kantha) must have the width of vidni (two small squares) and the height, hall of vidhi (one small square). The under-neck (upakantha) measures .. the length of six small squares and a finger, from the top. The "cheek" had the length of vidhi (in this case four small squares) and the breadth, half of it (two small squares) (Ksemaraja, SVT, V, 34); in the case of the mandala from Netra-tantra, its breadth is one smoll square. The Sobha or the "ornament" is, according to Ksemaraja (SVT,V,34), "an element of a certain breadth which arises across the neck of the gate", and the under-ornament (upasobha) is a "little section which is found under it". In his commeltary at the Netra-tantra, XVIII, 44-45, Ksemaraja specifies that the sobha and the upasobha have the aspect of a twisted (or rolled - paravrtta ) gate. In the case specified in Netra-tantra, the sobha has the length of five small squares and the upasobha of only one (also Agni-purana, XXIX, 15-18). The "under-cheek" (upakapola) which is mentioned in certain texts (for extension, the Isanasivagurudevapaddhati, I, 6, 37, 58, etc.) analogically with the "under-neck" (or throat), is a smaller "cheek" found under the proper one. " Ears" (karna, karnika) are two square prominences on the angles of the mandala. The best colours for painting the three main .. goddesses are the powders of the red lead, of the rajavarta and of white chalk (Tantraloka, XXXI, 59-40). The editor of the Visnudharmottarapurana (Baroda, 1958, vol. I, p.397) affirms that the rajavartam is the blue of lapis lazuli which is a very dark blue, almost black. The goddess Para is painted white as the moon, Parapara red and Apara black and terrific. It has to be noted that the Saiva tantric iconography has very rigorous

- 135 canons whose observance is the only possibility leading to the accomplishment of the mystic purpose. In the analysed mandala, the three goddesses are caught in a "dance of joy". The continuous worship of this mandala with three tridents bestows on the devotee the knowledge of Trika in six months. This knowledge gives the true power of discernment and hence, the disciple will know what is worthy to be followed or to be avoided; when his body h has exausted the earthly cycle he will become identical with Bhairava. In a mandala with four tridents the stick or the common axle is partially covered by the fourth trident. This mandala Symbolizes four cosmic processes: the creation, the maintenance, the obscutation and the dissolution. After outlining a main trident in the middle of the square, three other tridents are placed, each of them in front of an entrance, excepting the occidental gate which is the support of the worship, viz. the initiate will enter mentally there (Haracarita-cintamani & Tantraloka, XXXI, 54-59). The wreath of the lotus has to be painted yellow, and the stamens white, red and yellow in accordance with their distance from the wreath. The petals are white like the edge of the whole mandala. The quadrilateral peuestal is supported by four legs which are constituted of our lions with a terrific aspect, painted in white, red, yellow and black, from SE to NE. The lions signify the four mental qualities: dharma, Jnana, vairagya and aisvarya (SVT, II, 61-62; Somashambhu-paddhati, III, 49 etc.). The length of the axle will be painted violet (nilarakta) and the "bulb" yellow; sometimes the whole trident or group of tridents is imagined as a tree with branches and the kundalini will be the root, painted in a red colour.

136 The sacrilice concerning the mandala of the trident was employed is named Damara. The term damara nas a Kashmiri origin and it in the sense of the "owner of the ground" or the "master of the ground" (Stein, Netra-tantra, II, pp.504-308). When this word is ture term is three main applied to the sacrifice, a slightly new meaning will arise, suggesting the ceremonial of investimore nobilium, which is anyway an initiatory rite.in Tibetan the translaced with hdul byed, "oppressor", "conqueror" etc. Hence, features of this sacrifice will be pointed out by the word damara: a) the operation of "investiture" with certain Supernatural powers during the sacrificial act; b) taking in "possession" of the mandala, wich is a mystical ground; c) the Saivite tantrika will become 3 in this way a true mandala. conqueror and a "landlord" of the "inhabitants" of the The Saivite tantrika will start the building of the mandala by worshipping the ground, the coloured powders, the chalk, the thread and all the instruments which are employed in his endeavour. All of them are purified by reciting a mantra and sprinkling them with "ambrosia of leit" which is an euphemistic pase o alconol. Another manuala widely used in Saiva schools is .. the mandala OI Swastika. Beside the swastika, other elements are found, Such as the locus, the moon, weapons etc. The mandala of swastika mas the shape of a "citadel with its lace towarus the interior" (antarmukhah puryakarah Haracarita-cintamani, XXXI, 156-137) and "its inclination (talacchanda) is of a temple of the Meru type" (ibidem). Petals of lotus are painted white, stamens with orange, the wreath with gold, the ends of the petals are red,

- 137has the edge of mandala is adorned with black zeros, the swastika is made of four colours, the pedestal is coral-red etc., and the "shrine of the Lord of the Gods who leads to the accomplishment of all the desires, to be redish of flames from outside" (Tantraloka, XXXI, 154). I will not insist here on the swastika symbolism which is generally well-known. It is a cross "in action" reuniting in a single sign two separate symbols: the cross which means the fixity, stability, "cardinality" and the circle that means dynamism and a cyclical nature. All these features have a wide speculative field in the Saiva thought. ' The liturgic experience of mandala takes place in two ways: "As with the great mandalas adopted in initiatory ceremonies when the mystic, after having passed through the different parts of the mandala, finds himself physically present at the center and so experiences the mandala's catharsis in himself. Or it may occur mentally when by concentrating his mind on the pattern of the mandala he realizes in himself the truth which this pattern typifies" (Giuseppe Tucci - The Theory and Practice of the Mandala, London, 1971, p.106).