Essay name: Svacchandatantra (history and structure)
Author: William James Arraj
The essay represents a study and partial English translation of the Svacchandatantra and its commentary, “Uddyota�, by Kshemaraja. The text, attributed to the deity Svacchanda-bhairava, has various names and demonstrates a complex history of transmission through diverse manuscript traditions in North India, Nepal, and beyond.
Page 135 of: Svacchandatantra (history and structure)
135 (of 511)
External source: Shodhganga (Repository of Indian theses)
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129
follows the formula for the main deity (pp. 34-39) who resides on
top of the seat, designated here (p.34) as the with parts (sakala-)
form of Svacchanda-bhairava� (pp. 34-39). The early Bhairava
stratum had evidently appropriated for its cult this well known
“Om Aghorebhyo ..." formula, incorporated here in the text of
Svacchandatantram, as the main formula for Svacchanda-
bhairava� 1 The panegryic coda at the end of the formula (p. 39)
gives evidence of this incorporation. The early Saiva tradition had
also evidently used the simple Praṇava�, (h + aum) as the
formula of Śiva�. The later redactors of the early Saiva and
Bhairava traditions attempted to resolve this discrepancy through
the use of the sakala- and niá¹£kala- (without parts) distinction,
retaining the “Om Aghorebhyo ..." formula for the sakala-
Svacchanda�, which also designates Svacchanda� as the Praṇava�
with his formulæ retinue, and the Praṇava� alone for the niskala-
Svacchanda� (p. 55). Elsewhere in the text, however, rituals still
employ their original “Om Aghorebhyo
formula or Pranava�
without these qualifications; as expected, Ká¹£emarÄjaá¸� recognizes
and attempts to harmonize these inconsistencies. 2
As part of the identification of Svacchanda-bhairava� and
sakala- Śiva�, the text next (pp. 40-49) presents the formulæ for
the five faces of Śiva�. This description includes the patterns of
their imposition on the body (p.41), the mode of their clarification
with energies (kalÄá¸�) (pp. 42-44), another pattern of their
imposition with these energies (pp. 45-46), and the enumeration of
1 V. supra section 1.1.3.
"
2 V. for the redactorial attempts to harmonize these formulæ,
bk.6, pp.120, vs.17: “saguṇa� sakalo jñeyo nirguṇo niskala� śiva�,
and vs.19, "rupam sakalam tasy dvidhÄvastham prakÄÅ›itam. â€V.
also Ká¹£emarÄja's commentary here (p.58) that declares their
ultimate equivalence: "atha ca akÄrokÄramakÄrabindvÄdikalÄyogÄc-
catuá¹£kalaÅ›abdavÄcyo ‘pi vastuto niá¹£kalÄnÄhatadhvani-
paramarthatvÄt niskalaá¸�.
�
