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 410 of: Svacchandatantra (history and structure)
410 (of 511)
External source: Shodhganga (Repository of Indian theses)
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[constituting] the form of the fire-stick of all formulæ, [are joined
with] the split drop (bindu�), [which is] composed of the
undifferentiated awareness ( vedana from vid in b(v)induḥ] of all
formula knowledge (vidyā), and therefore in the manner which
will be described in the section on the five Praṇavā�, can be
uttered, through having become a formula [by adding that drop];
the form (mūrti�), i.e., the establishment of the self designated
as the form on account of loss of awareness (moha-) of the
pervasion of duality up to the head [of the corpse], and on
account of the emergence of the stage of the pure self; he should
construct, i.e., he should reflect upon (vimarset); [and] what
sort of [form is this]; [it is that] by which there is an swelling
(atopa�), made residing on the form of the drop, i.e., on the
halfmoon (ardhacandra�), i.e., [which] has an effort undertaken
for splitting the knot of the forehead; [this] is the meaning. And
by splitting that [knot, it is] self-sounding (svasvanām), i.e., in
being the form of resonance (dhvani�), it has the form of
reflexive I awareness, and so is similar to snow, i.e., [it has] the
form of the light of consciousness shaped like a ball of kadamba
blossoms; [and] this has been stated in the blessed Trikahṛdayam:
"When there is the emergence of Bhairava� on Ananta�, [then]
this is the intermediate form, through the mere touch of which,
atornicity is dissolved."
Next, also,
Above that he should construct the god Svacchanda� with
parts./40/
[35] [Above] that, i.e., above the form of consciousness, after he
has submerged the contraction of that [consciousness]; with parts,
i.e., [whose] body is the totality of all expressers and things
expressed; the god, i.e., [whose] essence is as previously
explained, Svacchanda�, i.e., come forth after one has pierced the
screen of the form of consciousness, for the sake of [giving] grace
to those worthy of grace; he should construct, i.e., he should
contemplate (bhāvayet).
