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 402 of: Svacchandatantra (history and structure)
402 (of 511)
External source: Shodhganga (Repository of Indian theses)
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direction ascertained, or [having its being] level [ascertained], as
was stated: "the best flow is northern etc. ;"1 [25] free from
thorns, i.e., devoid of bones, cinders, etc.; [endowed with all]
qualities; this very statement (vÄkyam), although [apparently]
intended [to make] a [secondary] explanatory [statement]
(anuvÄdaá¸�), is [actually] injunctive (vidhÄyaka-), on account of
the absence [in this verse] of any other injunctive statement.
[Then] having resorted to such a ground,
Endowed with choice fragrances, beautified with scattered
flowers, abounding in the fragrance of fine incense, adorned
with a pandal above;/29/
The rest [to be supplied is] after [he] has made the [ground]; the
meanings is that first he should worship the ground [which is] the
supreme lord's supportive power.
Next, he states the ritual procedure for the extraction (uddhÄraá¸�)
of the formulæ, preceded by an illustration of the suitable master:
The master, having purified [himself], covered with
sandalwood and aloes wood, beautifully incensed, his self
clarified, holding chalk in his hand;/30/
[26] facing either east or north, concentrated, recollected,
he should there sketch out the matrix, in sequence, from a
to ká¹£a./31/
[having] purified, i.e., having performed the bath of his choice;
[by the statement, covered] with sandalwood, etc., [is indicated]
that the daily worship has been carried out; and for that very
reason his self is clarified, i.e., has the [supreme] nature of Śiva�
emerged, through the submersion of the [inferior nature] of the
body, etc.; [and] it is stated that the master is facing either east
1 Cf. N.R. Bhatt, ed., MatangaparameÅ›varagama, (KriyÄpÄda,
YogapÄda, et CaryÄpÄda), avec le commentaire de Bhatta-
RÄmakaṇá¹ha, Publications de l'institut français d'indologie 65
(Pondichery: Institut français d'indologie, 1982), vs.45b, p.421:
“udakplavam sadÄ kÄryam.
"
