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 156 of: Svacchandatantra (history and structure)
156 (of 511)
External source: Shodhganga (Repository of Indian theses)
Download the PDF file of the original publication
150
can stand in for all the others, as the text itself explains (p.50),
since each path pervades and interiorizes the other five. 1
The ritual commences (pp. 54-60) with the description of the
pervasion of the first and lowest of these energies, Nivá¹›ttih. The
master will purifiy each of these, in turn, until the disciple gains
complete initiation. Before describing the purification of the next
energy, however, the text contains a lengthy interlude.
In the preceding book, the preparatory rites mentioned the
energies, and the six paths only in a later parenthetical section. 2
Instead, these rites seemed primarily structured on imposing and
readying the triple, bonding impurity for liberation. At this point,
the text reintroduces the triple bond, as the object of the ritual
purification, and Ká¹£emarÄjaá¸�, accordingly, attempts to smooth the
transition between the two alternative metaphysics: that of the six
paths and that of the three bonds. Just as the path of the
energies pervades and include the other paths, he states, so it
pervades and includes the triple bonds, because ultimately, they
both are only manifestations of the supreme lord's power of
activity. 3 Here he echoes the earlier statements and intentions of
1 The text explains (p.49, vs. 95, p.50, vs. 96) this
interiorization ("antarbhavi-") of one path by another without
further elaboration as possible through the relations of pervaded and
pervader ("vyapyavyÄpakabhedataá¸�") and expressed and expresser
("vÄcyavÄcakayogataá¸�). (V. supra section 1.2.4 on these paths.)
2 V. bk.3, pp.234ff.
3 V. his commentary on pp.50-53. Since the text uses the
terminology of pervasion and inclusion (pp. 50-51), Ká¹£emarÄjaá¸�
naturally assumes that it shares his non-dual philosophy of
emanation: "asya sarvasya adhvagranthasyÄyam piṇá¸Ärthaá¸�
parameÅ›varaÅ›cidÄnandaghanaá¸� svatantrabhaá¹á¹Ärakaá¸� ekÄdaÅ›apaá¹ala-
nirÅ«payiá¹£yamÄṇasthityÄ unmanÄkhyayÄ svasvÄtantryaÅ›aktyÄ
śūnyÄdiká¹£ityantamanantam vÄcyavÄcakarÅ«pam svabhittau
svÄnadhikamapyadhikamiva yugapadavabhÄsayati.â€�
