Verses 28-29

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of verses 28-29:

विशुद्धाख्यं कण्ठे सरसिजममलं धूमधूम्रावभासं
  स्वरैः सर्वैः शोणैर्दलपरिलसितैर्दीपितं दीप्तबुद्धेः ।
समास्ते पूर्नेन्दुप्रथिततमनभोमण्डलं वृत्तरूपं
  हिमच्छायानागोपरि लसिततनोः शुक्लवर्णांबरस्य ॥ २८ ॥
भुजैः पाशाभीत्यङ्कुशवरलसितैः शोभिताङ्गस्य तस्य
  मनोरङ्के नित्यं निवसति गिरिजाभिन्नदेहो हिमाभः ।
त्रिणेत्रः पञ्चास्यो ललितदशभुजो व्याघ्रचर्माम्बरढ्यः
  सदापूर्वो देवः शिव इति च समाख्यानसिद्धः प्रसिद्धः ॥ २९ ॥

viśuddhākhyaṃ kaṇṭhe sarasijamamalaṃ dhūmadhūmrāvabhāsaṃ
  svaraiḥ sarvaiḥ śoṇairdalaparilasitairdīpitaṃ dīptabuddheḥ |
samāste pūrnenduprathitatamanabhomaṇḍalaṃ vṛttarūpaṃ
  himacchāyānāgopari lasitatanoḥ śuklavarṇāṃbarasya || 28 ||
bhujaiḥ pāśābhītyaṅkuśavaralasitaiḥ śobhitāṅgasya tasya
  manoraṅke nityaṃ nivasati girijābhinnadeho himābhaḥ |
triṇetraḥ pañcāsyo lalitadaśabhujo vyāghracarmāmbaraḍhyaḥ
  sadāpūrvo devaḥ śiva iti ca samākhyānasiddhaḥ prasiddhaḥ || 29 ||

In the throat is the Lotus called Viśuddha, which is pure and of a smoky purple hue. All the (sixteen) shining vowels on its (sixteen) petals, of a crimson hue, are distinctly visible to him whose mind (Buddhi) is illumined. In the pericarp of this lotus there is the Ethereal Region, circular in shape, and white like the full Moon.^[1] On an elephant white as snow is seated the Bīja^[2] of Aṃbara,^[3] who is white of colour.

Of His four arms, two hold the noose^[4] and goad,^[5] and the other two make the gestures^[6] of granting boons and dispelling fear. These add to His beauty. In His lap^[7] there ever dwells the great snow-white Deva, three-eyed and five-faced, with ten beautiful arms, and clothed in a tiger’s skin. His body is united with that of Girijā,^[8] and He is known by what His name, Sadā-Śiva,^[9] signifies.

Commentary by Śrī-Kālīcaraṇa:

The Viśuddha Cakra is described in four verses beginning with these.

“Because by the sight of the Haṃsa the Jīva attains purity, this. Padma (Lotus) is therefore called Viśuddha (pure), Ethereal, Great, and Excellent.”

“In the region of the throat is the Lotus called Viśuddha.”—Pure (Amala, without impurity) by reason of its being tejo-maya^[10] (its substance is tejas), and hence free from impurity.

“All the vowels” (Svaraiḥ sarvaiḥ)—i.e., all the vowels, beginning with A-kāra and ending with Visarga—altogether sixteen in number.

“Shining on the petals” (Dala-parilasitaiḥ).—The vowels being sixteen in number, the number of petals which this lotus possesses is shown by implication to be sixteen also.

Elsewhere this has been clearly stated: “Above it (Anāhata) is the Lotus of sixteen petals, of a smoky purple colour; its petals bear the sixteen vowels, red in colour, with the Bindu above them. Its filaments are ruddy, and it is adorned by Vyoma-maṇḍala.”^[11]

“Distinctly visible” (Dīpita [Dīpitam]).—These letters are lighted up, as it were, for the enlightened mind (Dīpta-buddhi).

“Whose mind (buddhi) is illumined” refers to the person whose buddhi, or intellect, has become free from the impurity of worldly pursuits as the result of the constant practice of Yoga.

“The Ethereal Region circular in shape, and white like the full Moon” (Pūrṇendu-prathita-tama-nabhomaṇḍalaṃ vṛtta-rūpāṃ).—The Ethereal Region is circular in shape (Vṛttarūpa), and its roundness resembles that of the full Moon, and like the Moon it is also white. The Śāradā says: “The wise know that the Maṇḍalas participate in the lustre of their peculiar elements.”^[12] The Maṇḍalas are of the colour of their respective Devatās and elements: Ether is white, hence its Maṇḍala is also white.

“In the pericarp of this lotus is the circular Ethereal Region” (Nabho- maṇḍalaṃ vṛtta-rūpaṃ).—In the lap of this white Aṃbara (or Ethereal Region) ever dwells Sadā-Śiva, who is spoken of in the second of these two verses.

“On an elephant white as snow is seated” (Hima-cchāyānāgopari lasita-tanu).—This qualifies Aṃbara.

Nāga here means an Elephant, and not a serpent. The Bhūta- śuddhi clearly says: “Inside it is the white Bīja of Vyoma on a snow-white elephant.” Literally, “His body shows resplendent on an elephant,” because He is seated thereon.

“The Bīja of Aṃbara” (Tasya manoḥ).—Tasya manoḥ means literally “His mantra” which is the Bīja of Ether or Haṃ.^[13]

“His four arms, (two of) which hold the Pāśa (noose), Aṅkuśa (goad) and (the other two) are in the gestures granting boons and dispelling fear, add to his beauty” (Bhujaiḥ pāśābhītyaṅkuśa-vara-lasitaiḥ śobhitāṅgasya).—The meaning, in short, is that in His hands He is carrying the pāśa and aṅkuśa, and making the gestures of dispelling fear and granting boons.

“In the lap of his Bīja” (Tasya manor anke).—He is here in His Bīja form—in the form of Haṃ which is Ākāśa-Bīja. This shows the presence of the Bīja of Ether in the pericarp of this Lotus, and we are to meditate upon it as here described.

“The snow-white Deva whose body is united with (or inseparable from) that of Giri-jā” (Girijābhinna-deha).—By this is meant Arddhanārīśvara.^[14] The Deva Arddhanārīśvara is of a golden colour on the left, and snowwhite on the right. He dwells in the lap of Nabho-Bīja. He is described as “the Deva Sadā-Śiva garbed in white raiment. Half His body being inseparate from that of Girijā, He is both silvern and golden”. He is also spoken of as “possessed of the down-turned digit (Kalā) of the Moon which constantly drops nectar”.^[15]

The Nirvāṇa Tantra,^[16] in dealing with the Viśuddha-Cakra, says: “Within the Yantra^[17] is the Bull, and over it a lion-seat (Simhāsana). On this is the eternal Gauri, and on Her right is Sadā-Śiva. He has five faces, and three eyes to each face. His body is smeared with ashes, and He is like a mountain of silver. The Deva is wearing the skin of a tiger, and garlands of snakes are His ornaments.”

The Eternal Gaurī (Sadā Gaurī) is there as half of Śiva’s body. She is in the same place spoken of as “the Gauri, the Mother of the Universe, who is the other half of the body of Śiva”.

“With ten beautiful arms” (Lalita-daśa-bhuja).—The Author here has said nothing of what weapons the Deva has in His hands. In a Dhyāna elsewhere He is spoken of as carrying in His hands the Śūla (trident), the Taṅka (battle-axe), the Kṛpāṇa (sword), the Vajra (thunderbolt), Dahana (fire), the Nāgendra (snake-king), the Ghaṇṭā (bell), the Aṅkuśa (goad), Pāśa (noose), and making the gesture dispelling fear (Abhītīkara).^[18] In meditating on Him, therefore, He should be thought of as carrying these implements and substances and making these gestures in and by His ten arms. Great (Prasiddha, lit, known), here well-known for his greatness. The rest can be easily understood.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Ether is the element of this Cakra, the sign (Maṇḍala) of this Tattva being a circle (Vṛtta-rūpa). See Introduction.

[2]:

Manu=Mantra = (here) “Haṃ”.

[3]:

Aṃbara=the Ethereal Region; the word also means “apparel”—“Vyom-nivāṣasi” (Amara-kośa). On an elephant of the colour of snow is seated Aṃbara, white in colour in his Bīja form. The Saṃskṛt is capable of another meaning: “On an elephant is seated the Bīja whose raiment is white.”

[4]:

Pāśa.

[5]:

Aṅkuśa.

[6]:

Mudrās.

[7]:

Of the Nabho-bīja or “Haṃ”.

[8]:

“Mountain-born,” a title of the Devī as the daughter of the Mountain King (Himavat—Himālaya). The reference is here to the Androgyne Śiva-Śakti form. See Commentary.

[9]:

Sadā=ever. Śiva=the Beneficent One. Beneficence.

[10]:

Fire purifies.

[11]:

The Ethereal Circle.

[12]:

That is, each Maṇḍala (i.e., square, circle, triangle, etc.,) takes after the characteristics of its elements. (Vide Śāradā-tilaka, I, 24.)

[13]:

The Bīja of a thing is that thing in essence.

[14]:

Hara-Gaurī-mūrti (Śaṃkara).

[15]:

This is the Amā-Kalā.

[16]:

Paṭala VIII. The text translated is incorrect. In Raśikamohana Chattopādhyāya’s Edition it runs as: “Within the Yantra is the bull, half of whose body is that of a lion.” This is consistent with the Arddha- nārīśvara, as the bull is the Vāhana (carrier) of Śiva, and the lion of the Devī.

[17]:

That is Ṣaṭkoṇa-yantra.

[18]:

This gesture is called also Astra or a weapon which is thrown, because it throws goodness on the Sādhaka.