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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)

Page:

135 (of 511)


External source: Shodhganga (Repository of Indian theses)


Download the PDF file of the original publication


Warning! Page nr. 135 has not been proofread.

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¸�.
�

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