Verse 36 [Power group of Śakti (Śaktivṛnda)]

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English commentary of verse 36:

त्वन्मुखं त्रिपथनेत्रि भात्मकं शक्तिवृन्दमिह तुर्यथागमम् (यद् यथागमम्) ।
द्वादश क्रमपदं पदादिभिर्जृम्भितं जगति तच्चतुस्त्रिकैः ॥ ३६ ॥

tvanmukhaṃ tripathanetri bhātmakaṃ śaktivṛndamiha turyathāgamam (yad yathāgamam) |
dvādaśa kramapadaṃ padādibhirjṛmbhitaṃ jagati taccatustrikaiḥ || 36 ||

Comparative analysis of commentaries and excerpts in English:

[Power group of Śakti (Śaktivṛnda)]

Siddhā conceives Śakti residing in the three physical-word form as, “a”, “i”, “u”—Śabdamaya śarīra, or the body of meaning Arthamaya śarīra as physical, mental and spiritual. Her face is lustrous. She is the chief source of all powers. She shines in creation through the twelve fold subtle path or form. In Śabdamaya śarīra she shines as the twelve svarās, vowels, excluding the Ṣaṇda Svarās, “ṛ”, “ṝ”, “ḷ”, “ḹ”. Her Arthamaya śarīra is revealed as twelve fold as the three worlds, physical, mental and spiritual, each having a four fold state, Jāgrat (wakeful), Svapna (dream), Suṣupti (deep sleep) and Turīya (transcendental)stage.^[1]

Emergence of Kālī with twelve powerful forms

Śakti is the substratum of all the triads. She forms the Śakti-vṛnda consisting of her four luminous forms viz.,

1. Parā,
2. Parāparā,
3. Aparā and
4. Kālākarṣiṇi.

Kālī with these prime four forms multiplies as twelve forms at the stages of Sṛṣṭi, Sthiti, and Saṃhāra^[33].

They percolate through the Ṣaḍadhvas viz.,

1. Varṇa,
2. Pada,
3. Mantra,
4. Kalā,
5. Tattva, and
6. Bhuvana.

They exist in Akrama pada as eternal and omnipresent not being limited by place and time. Yet they are present in the Kramapada too which is limited by the time and place. These four forms multiply as twelve powers at the stages of Sṛṣṭi, Sthiti and Saṃhāra.

Notes and Sanskrit references:

[1] Cf. [Divyacakorikā] p 68-[Cidgaganacandrikā] 36.—

pūrvamuktaprakāreṇāntarātmavibhavena saha bahiḥ kālavibhūtimapi sāmarasyena vitatya varṇayituṃ dvādaśamāsātmakasaṃvatsarakalpepi dvādaśāntabindusāmarasyena sṛṣṭikālīmukhacatuṣṭayātmakaṃ caturthakramavarṇanamārabhate.

[2] Cf. [Kramaprakāśikā] p 23 - [Cidgaganacandrikā] - 36.—

parā, parāparā, aparā, kālakarṣiṇītyetā bhagavataḥ śaktayaścatasraḥ pradhānībhūtāḥ, tāśca pratyekaṃ tridhaiva vartante sṛṣṭau sthitau saṃhāre ceti dvādaśa bhavanti | etāsāmeva ca ṣaḍadhvabhirvarṇapadamantra kalātattvabhuvanātmakairjṛmbhaṇam | prāguktāścatasraḥ śaktyo nityatvavibhutvābhyāṃ deśakālāpa ricchedya tayā'kramā api ṣaḍadhvarūpairjṛmbhitāḥ kramapadaṃ bhavanti |