CONTENTS Introduction Khanda I From Yagamandirapravega to Chakrapaja II Bhitasuddhi etc. III Nyasas IV Patrasadana V_ From Antaryaga to Layangapaja VI Navavarana Pija etc VIL Kamakaladhyana VIII Homa IX From Balidana to Havihpratipatti X = Pijasamarpana and Devatodvasana XI Santistave and Viseshargh yodvasana - Page 1 AL 74 81 99 135 159 217 222 228 240 243ERRATA. Page Line For Read 48 2 upaska upasaka 78 20 jfiana yoga jfiana yaga 112 22 appeareth appearest 136 25 hining shining 164 2 Insert after “a” bija and a 212 27 incapabel incapable 224 18 aeh- the 19 Parahantt Pardhanta ” 231 20 fePaearers — PaPaRePrererewe AVRO Eat AA: | sftaerrorqa’a 7a: | U atrareacatarsat SRIVIDYASAPARYAVASANA INTRODUCTION. Sri Vidya Saparya Vasana or Parapija Vasana Vimaréa is an elucidation of the highest form of wor- ship-(Sri Vidya Upasané—which consists in the constant practice of identifying the individual self with Brahman? Piija (worship), to start with, is of three kinds, (1) Para (highest), (2) Apara (ordinary) and (3) Para. para (intermediate), ser ereraey THT Tea se TTIT | weaSeaATTeT aaTTTTTT | (Yoginihrdaya VIII-2-3) That supreme form of worship where there is no trace of duality (dvaitabhana) of any kind i.e., where every thought, word or deed is worship,2 éxivipy isaPaRyAVASANA is called Para-paja; and that variety, on the other hand, Where there is no trace of non-duality {advaitabhana) and the worshipper adores an external chakra or image as distinct from himself is Aparapijd; but(where the duality that is per- ceived at the outset is gradually made to merge in oneness by constant thought of identity (aikya), it is Paraparapaja.d Prasaarans ca, weeTAaaraATy waz, datearnageral Tae grates 1 erat adratg a rer aftatftar 1 era g aftterarmnasrtaatr goes areret Ramet Asa: wa | sea Prat ager srareaeataea: (The attitude of a Para worshipper towards the daily routine of life consecrating every thought, word and deed as an offering in one unceasing worship, is described by Sri Sankaracharya in the following stanza (No, 27) in Saundaryalahari. wh wee: fed aseafdaafierat aft: srqhqouamaorarerarergeery: | sora: wag: Gaaseaeartrea4r avatralrert wag at freftraz i- INTRODUCTION 3 cThe same idea is clearly brought out in the following stanza also:— arent e@ faifesn aft: aeaa: som: Tht TE gar & fraatadtresar far aarfriee: | war: veal: safer: etter aat fare ¢ 2 oN aaa Sd aaefes wel aareraq td The Yoga Sastra calls it the Rtambhara-prajna state, i.e, where one’s cognitive senses drop the name and form (nama-ripa) from the phe- nomena they cognise and get hold of their real essence-—sat-chit-ananda. Such Para-paja or Paja par excellence being for the most part mental, can obviously be possible only for a few adepts— the Uttamadhikaris. attramtg mag 2 fraareg afeqradi- Taga a, a agredaaETa: | eT BATT arafafe sftra 1 ar gen cerns aeae | Next below in order of merit comes the Para. para-pijé. Here the feeling of the Apara worship- per that he is different from the world outside and the world inside himself is being gradually wiped -out by the discriminating mind. Such a stage of mental development can be possible only for one who has the requisite preliminary qualifications— the Madhyamadhikari. It is the constant thought of4 SRIvIDY ASAPARYAVASANA his oneness with Brahman eliminating all sense of separateness (manana, nididhyasana) that. enables him in due course to reach the state of the Uttamadhikari who does the Para-pija. The Parapara form of worship is aptly described by a suggestive simile comparing the worship to a sacri- fice and the offering of flowers etc., to oblations. of clarified butter. - sartera of FeeTeTaaT THT | ffeoreataarer aera garget: i - The Aparé-pija comes last, It is the purely external worship of an image or chakra and con- sists in bringing together the several articles need- ed for worship and offering them in the prescribed manner with appropriate mantras and the like. It is primarily meant for beginners or the Manda- dhikaris. are g aftieraoraersatare: i Paja is Yajfia or sacrifice. It is Saparya or worship. It is Upasana or continued meditation. The famous(Sri Vidya Upasana>which aime at the realisation of the identity of the individual self with Brahman (Brahmatmaikyachidupasti) is made up of(tbree constituent parts Nangas)—the formula or the mantra, the image or the chakra and the ritual or the pija proper. Just as the meaning ofINTRODUCTION 5 ‘a sentence cannot be understood without a know- ledge of the meaning of the words comprising it, 0 also the meaning of the whole upasana (angi) cannot be learnt without understanding the mean- ing of its constituent parts (angas). It is therefore necessary to enquire into the @hilosophical signifi- cance of the three parts)first, before we can under- stand the upasana asa whole, which is the uninter- rupted contemplation of the Brahman (akhandanu- -sandhana). The hidden philosophical import of each of the. parts is termed its Sanketa.C The three Sanketas—Mantra-Sanketa, Chakra-Sanketa and PajaSanketa—are treated at length in the 6th, 7th and 8th chapters (visramas) of the latter part 4known as Yoginihrdaya) of the Vamakeévara- tantra.) A short account of them is given below, WeaaAsa: | Mantra-Sanketa. “May thou destroy the sense of separateness due to Avidya which has made me feel that I am only a jiva or a limited soul.” %This part of the man- tra, therefore, suggests that the jiva, #@ of the mahavakya inits primary sense (areard), becomes the kiitastha in the secondary sense (aeard) when the super-imposed avidya is dropped. Thus this portion explains the word @ of the mahavakya. wa = Make me attain gi=a sense # (@)=of Brahman €& (@)= which is all-pervasive. “Make me feel that I am Brahman, sat-chit- ananda in essence” by removing the mayopadhi which, when it is super-imposed on Brahman, makes it Ivara. Here the primary sense of the word aq of the mahavakya which is Isévara and the secondary sense which is Brahman are suggested. (a)=(Make me attain) asugi=a feeling of unbroken oneness (akhan- dakara-vrtti), This feeling is of the kind suggested by the mahavakya where the outside world (jagat), the