The Indian Magna Mater
I The Divine Mother
by Arthur Avalon (Sir John Woodroffe)
The worship of the Great Mother as the Grand Multiplier is one of
the oldest in the world. As I have elsewhere said, when we throw our
minds back upon the history of this worship, we discern even in the
most remote and fading past the Figure, most ancient, of the mighty
Mother of Nature. I suspect that in the beginning the Goddess
everywhere antedated, or at least was predominant over, the God. It
has been affirmed (Glotz: gean Civilization, 243) that in all
countries from the Euphrates to the Adriatic, the Chief Divinity was
at first in woman form. Looking to the east of the Euphrates we see
the Dusk Divinity of India, the Adya-Shakti and Maha-Shakti, or
Supreme Power of many names—as Jagadamba, Mother of the World,
which is the Play of Her who is named Lalita, Maya,
Mahatripurasundari and Maha-kundalini, as Maha-Vaishnavi, the
Sapphire Devi who supports the World, as Mahakali who dissolves it,
as Guhyamahabhairavi, and all the rest.
This Supreme Mother is worshipped by Her devotees from the
Himalayas, the"Abode of Snow," the northern home of Shiva, to Cape
Comorin in the uttermost south—for the word Comorin is a
corruption of Kumart Devi or The Mother. Goddesses are spoken of in
the Vedas as in the later Scriptures. Of these latter, the Shakta
Tantras are the particular repository of Mother-worship.
To the Shakta, God is his Supreme Mother. In innumerable births he
has had countless mothers and fathers, and he may in future have
many, many more. The human, and indeed any, mother is sacred as the
giver (under God) of life, but it is the Divine Mother of All
(Shrimata), the"Treasure-House of Compassion", who alone is both
the Giver of life in the world and of its joys, and who (as Tarini)
is the Saviouress from its miseries, and who again is, for all who
unite with Her, the Life of all lives—that unalloyed bliss named
Liberation. She is the Great Queen (Maharajni) of Heaven and of yet
higher worlds, of Earth, and of the Underworlds. To Her both Devas,
Devis, and Men give worship. Her Feet are adored by even Brahma,
Vishnu, and Rudra.
The Shakta system, in its origin possibly Non-Vaidik, is in several
respects an original presentment, both as regards doctrine and
practice, of the great Vedantic Theme concerning the One and the
Many. As an organic and dynamic system it interprets all in terms of
Power, from the atom of Matter, which is said by modern science to
be a reservoir of tremendous energy, to the Almighty, which is the
commonest name in all Religions for God. It is the cult of Power
both as the Partial and as the Whole, as the worshiper may desire.
God is here regarded under twin aspects; as Power-Holder or
the"male"Shiva, and as Power or Shakti, the Divine Spouse and
Mother.
The symbolism of the Shaktas'"Jeweled Tree of Tantra"Is brilliant,
and meets the demand of Nietzsche that the abstract should be made
attractive to the senses. It is largely of the so-called"erotic"
type which is to be found to some and varying degree in Hinduism as
a whole.
The symbols employed are either geometric—that is, Yantric—or
pictorial. A Yantra is a diagrammatic presentation of Divinity, as
Mantra is its sound-expression. The former is the body of the
latter. The higher worship is done with Yantra.
Pictorial symbolism is of higher and lower types. The former is
popular, and the latter may be described by the French term peuple.
I will now describe a Yantra and the greatest of Yantras, namely the
Shriyantra. We have no longer to deal with pictures of persons and
their surroundings, but with lines, curves, circles, triangles, and
the Point.
The great symbol of The Mother is the Shriyantra, from the center of
which She arises like the solar orb at morn, but in a blaze of light
excelling the brilliance of countless midday suns and the coolness
of innumerable moons. The center is the Point, or Bindu—that is,
The Mother as Concentrated Power ready to create. Around Her is the
Universe, together with its Divinities or Directing Intelligences.
From the Point the World issues. Into it on dissolution, it enters.
The extended Universe then collapses into an unextended Point, which
itself then subsides like a bubble on the surface of the Causal
Waters, which are the Immense.
I. The Divine Mother
The Real as Shiva-Shakti may be regarded from three aspects —
namely, as Universe, as God, and as Godhead. The Real is the World,
but the Real is more than the World. The Real is God. The Real is
God, but it is also more than what we understand by the word God.
The Real is, as it were, beyond God as Godhead. This does not mean,
as some have supposed, that God is a"fiction," but that the Real as
it is in its own alogical being is not adequately described in terms
of its relation to the world as God. I will deal, then, first with
its aspect as Godhead, then as the Supreme Self, or Person, or God,
and thirdly, with Shiva-Shakti as the manifest and limited Universe.
Pervading and transcending the Existent is the"Spiritual Ether,"
also called the"Immense"In which is the Measurable, which Immense
is also called the"Fact" (Sat), in which are the Fact-Sections
(Kala) which Fact is also called alogical Experience-Whole (Purna),
in which are all Experience-Modes (Vritti) of the limited Selves.
The ultimate that is Irreducible Real is, in the system, not mere
undetermined Being, but Power which is the source of all
Determinations. This Power is both to Be, to self-conserve, and to
resist change, as also to be the efficient cause of change, and as
material cause to Become and suffer change. Relatively to the World,
Immutable Being is as Divinity called Shiva the Power-Holder, and
His Power is Shakti or The Mother Shiva, but in the supreme alogical
state, Power to Be and Being-Power-Holder are merged in one another.
What is the nature of the Alogical Experience? In the Yoginihridaya
Tantra it is asked.”Who knows the heart of a woman? Only Shiva
knows the heart of Yogini"—that is, the Divine Mother so called,
as being one with, that is in the form of, all that exists, and as
being in Herself the One in which they are.
Since the Irreducible Real is the Whole, it cannot be conceived or
described. It is neither Father nor Mother, for it is beyond
Fatherhood and Motherhood and all other attributes. It is alogical.
Though it cannot be conceived or put into words, some concepts are
held to be more appropriate to it than others. And thus it is
approximately said to be infinite undetermined Being, mindless
Experiencing, and Supreme Bliss unalloyed with pain and sorrow. As
Being and Power are merged in this alogical state, Power, in its
form as Power to Be (Cidrupini ), is also Being-Consciousness and
Bliss. Shiva-Shakti, the"two in one," are here the Nameless One.
The experience of this alogical state is not, however, that of
an"I" (Aham) and"This" (Idam). The next or causal aspect of the
Real is a Supreme Self. Its third and effectual aspect is the
limited selves or Universe.
The physical Ether is a symbol of this alogical state, in which the
twofold Shiva-Shakti are the One in the unitary state, which is
called the"Ether of Consciousness" (Cidakasha).
Physical Ether is the all-extending, homogeneous, relative Plenum in
which the Universe of particulars exists. The"Spiritual Ether,"
or"Ether of Consciousness," is the undetermined, all-diffusive,
though inextended, absolute Plenum (Purna), in which both these
particulars and the physical Ether itself exists. Ether is the
physical counterpart of Consciousness, just as the Notion of Space
is its psychical counterpart. These are such counterparts because
Consciousness becomes through its Power as material cause both
Matter and Mind. Each is a manifested form of Spirit in Time and
Space. The shoreless Ocean of Nectar or Deathlessness is another
symbol of the alogical Whole.
We now pass to a consideration of the same Real in its aspect as
related to the Universe, which is the appearance of the Immense as
the Measurable or Form. The Real is here related to the Universe as
the Cause, Maintainer, and Directing Consciousness. Form is Maya,
which, however, in this system (whatever be its meaning in Mayavada)
does not mean"Illusion.” All is power. All is real.
The alogical One is here of dual aspect as Shiva and Shakti. The two
concepts of Being and Power are treated as two Persons. Shiva is the
Power-Holder, who is Being-Consciousness-Bliss, and Shakti is Power
and the Becoming. She, in the alogical state, is also Being-
Consciousness-Bliss. Without ceasing to be in Herself what She ever
was, is, and will be, She is now the Power of Shiva as efficient and
material cause of the Universe and the Universe itself. Whilst Shiva
represents the Consciousness aspect of the Real, She is its aspect
as Mind, Life, and Matter. He is the Liberation (Moksha) aspect of
the Real. S4>e is in the form of the Universe or Samsara. As Shiva-
Shakti are in themselves one, so Moksha and Samsara are at root one.
Shiva, in the Kularnava Tantra, says that His doctrine is neither
non-dualist nor dualist, but beyond both. We have here a non-
dualistic system as regards its teaching concerning the Alogical
Whole, in which Shiva-Shakti are fused in one. We have again a kind
of Duo-Monotheism. It is Monotheistic because Shiva and Shakti are
two aspects of one and the same Reality. It is dual because, these
two aspects are worshipped as two Persons, from whose union as Being
and Power the Universe evolves.
The experience of this state, relative to the Alogical Whole, is a
disruption of unitary alogical experience. I say"relative"because
the Whole is always the Whole. Such disruption is the work of Power.
She, as it were, disengages Herself as Power, from the embrace in
which Power-Holder and Power are fused in one, and then represents
Herself to Him. On this representation, Consciousness-Power assumes
certain postures (Mudra) preparatory to the going forth as Universe,
and then, when Power is fully concentrated, manifests as the World.
The term Consciousness, which is inadequate to describe the alogical
state, is here approximately appropriate, for the experience of this
state is that of an"I"And"This.” But it is to be distinguished
from man's Consciousness. For the experiencer as man is a limited
(and not, as here, a Supreme Self ) and the object is experienced as
separate from, and outside, the Self (and not, as in the case of the
Lord and Mother, as one with the experiencing Self). The experience
of Shiva as the Supreme Self, viewing the Universe is," All this, I
am.”
As contrasted with the alogical, all-diffusive, Spiritual Ether, the
symbol of the second aspect of Shiva-Shakti, as the Supreme Self and
Cause of the Universe is the metaphysical Point (Bindu) or Power as
a Point. What, then is the meaning of the latter term? In Being-
Power about to evolve there is a stressing of Power which gathers
itself together to expand again as Universe. When it has become
concentrated and condensed (Ghanibhuta Shakti) it is ready to
evolve. Bindu, or the Point, is, therefore, Power in that
Concentrated state in which it is ready and about to evolve the
Universe. Though infinitely small, as the Absolute Little, when
compared with the Absolute Great or Spiritual Ether, it is yet a
source of infinite energy as (to borrow an example from modern
science) the relatively Little or Atom, or other unit of matter,
existing in the relatively Great or the physical Ether, is said to
be a source of tremendous energy. Just as, again, the relative point
or atom is as a fact in the relative Ether, so the Absolute Point is
conceived to be in the Absolute Ether. I say"conceived," because,
as both Spiritual Point and Spiritual Ether are each absolute, it is
only figuratively that the one can be said to be"within"The other.
The"Isle of Gems" (Manidvipa) in the"Ocean of Nectar"
(Amritarnava) is another symbol of this state.
There is a painting that exhibits both the Alogical Immense and the
Point of Power or Bindu"In"It. The former is here symbolized by
the shoreless"Ocean of Nectar" (Amritarnava)—that is,
Immortality. This symbol of all-diffusive Consciousness is similar
to that of the all-spreading Ether. In the blue, tranquil Waters of
Eternal Life (Amritarnava) is set the Isle of Gems (Manidvipa). This
Island is the Bindu or metaphysical Point of Power. The Island is
shown as a golden circular figure. The shores of the Island are made
of powdered gems. It is forested with blooming and fragrant trees —
Nipa, Malati, Champaka, Parijata, and Kadamba. There, too is the
Kalpa tree laden with flower and fruit. In its leaves the black bees
hum, and the Koel birds make love. Its four branches are the four
Vedas. In the center there is a house made of Cintamani stone which
grants all desires. In it is a jeweled Mandapa or awning. Under it
and on a gemmed and golden throne there is The Mother
Mahatripurasundari as the Deity of the Bindu, which as shown later,
becomes the three Bindus or Puras. Hence Her name"Three Puras"or
Tripura. She is red, for red is the active color, and She is here
creative as Vimarsha Shakti, or, the"This"of the Supreme
Experiencer, which through Maya becomes the Universe. What man calls
Matter is first experienced by mindless Consciousness as a"This,"
which is yet though the"Other"one with the Self. Then, by the
operation of Maya, the"This"Is experienced by mind as separate and
different from and outside the Self, as complete"otherness.” She
holds in Her four hands, bows and arrows, noose and goad, which are
explained later. She sits on two inert male figures which lie on a
six-sided throne. The upper figure is Shiva (Sakala), who is awake,
because, he is associated with his Power as efficient and material
cause. On His head is the crescent Digit of the Moon, called Nada,
the name for a state of stressing Power, His Shakti being now
creative. He lies inert, for He is Immutable Being. He is white
because he is Consciousness and Illumination (Prakasha). Consciousness
illuminates and makes manifest the forms evolved by
its Power, which in its turn by supplying the form (as object
unconscious) helps Shiva to display Himself as the Universe which is
both Being and Becoming. Under him is another male figure, darker in
color, to represent colorlessness (vivarna), with closed eyes. This
mysterious figure (Nishkala Shiva) is called Shava or the Corpse. It
illustrates the doctrine that Shiva without his Power or Shakti can
do and is, so far as the manifested is concerned, nothing. There is
profundity in the doctrine of which this Corpse is a symbol. To
those who have understood it a real insight is given into the Kaula
Shakta system.
This representation of Shiva and Shakti as of the same size, but the
former lying inert, is perhaps peculiar to the Kaula Shaktas, and is
the antithesis of the well-known"Dancing Shiva.”
I will here note some other symbolism, pictorial and geometric or
Yantric.
Pictorially, Shakti is shown either as the equal of Her Spouse —
that is, as an Androgyne figure in which the right half is male and
the left female—or as two figures, male and female, of equal
size. Inequality is indicated where the Shakti is smaller than the
male Divinity. The meaning of this difference in dimension of the
figures of Shakti lies in a difference of theological and
philosophical concepts which may yet be reconciled. In the Shakta
view, the Power-Holder and His Power as She is in Herself, that is,
otherwise than as the manifested form, are one and equal. But He is
recumbent. Alternatively, Shakti is The Mother as the Warrior Leader
or Promachos with Shiva under Her feet. Where the figures are
unequal it is meant to assert (a fact which is not denied) that
Supreme Power as manifested is infinitely less than Power
unmanifest. That Power is in no wise exhausted in the manifestation
of the Worlds which are said to be as it were but dust on the feet
of The Mother.
Passing to Yantric symbols, the Male Power-Holder Shiva is
represented by a triangle standing on its base. A triangle is
selected as being the only geometric figure which represents Trinity
in Unity—the many Triads such as Willing, Knowing, and Acting in
which the one Consciousness (Cit) displays itself. Power or the
feminine principle or Shakti is necessarily represented by the same
figure, for Power and Power-Holder are one. The Triangle, however,
is shown reversed—that is standing on its apex. Students of
ancient symbolism are aware of the physical significance of this
symbol. To such reversal, however, philosophic meaning may also be
given, since all is reversed when reflected in the Waters of Maya.
Why, it may now be asked, does the Shakta lay stress on the Power or
Mother aspect of Reality? Like all other Hindus, he believes in a
Static Real as Immutable Being-Consciousness, which is the ground of
and serves to maintain that which, in this system, is the Dynamic
Real. He will point out, however, that The Mother is also in one of
Her aspects of the same nature as Shiva, who is such Static Real.
But it is She who does work. She alone also moves as material cause.
He as Immutable Being does and can do nothing without Her as His
Power. Hence the Kaula Shakta. symbolism shows Shiva as lying inert
and to be, if deprived of His Power, but a corpse (Shava).
Even when associated with his Shakti as efficient cause, Shiva does
not move. A not uncommon picture, counted obscene, is merely the
pictorial symbol of the fact that Being, even when associated with
its active Power, is Immutable. It is She as Power who takes the
active and changeful part in generation, as also in conceiving,
bearing, and giving birth to the World-Child. All this is the
function of the divine, as it is of the human, mother. In such work
the male is but a helper (Sahakari) only. In other systems it is the
Mother who is the Helper of Shiva. It is thus to The Mother that man
owes the World of Form or Universe. Without Her as material cause,
Being cannot display itself. It is but a corpse (Shava). Both Shiva
and Shakti give that supreme beyond-world Joy which is Liberation
(Mukti, Paramananda). They are each Supreme Consciousness and Bliss.
The Mother is Anandalahari or Wave of Bliss. To attain to that is to
be liberated. But Shakti The Mother is alone the Giver of World-Joy
(Bhukti, Bhaumananda), since it is She who becomes the Universe. As
such She is the Wave of Beauty (Saundaryalahari). Further, it is
through her Form as World that She, as also Shiva, are in their
Formless Self attained. If, however, union is sought directly with
Reality in its non-world aspect, it must necessarily be by
renunciation. Liberation may, however be attained by acceptance of,
and through the World, the other aspect of the Real. In the Shakta
method, it is not by denial of the World, but, by and through the
World, when known as The Mother that Liberation is attained. World
enjoyment is made the means and instrument of Liberation (Mokshayate
Samsara). The Shakta has both (Bhukti, Mukti). This essential unity
of the World and Beyond World, and passage through and by means of
the former to the latter is one of the most profound doctrines of
the Shakta, and is none-the-less so because their application of
these principles has been limited to man's gross physical functions,
and such application has sometimes led to abuse. For these and other
reasons primacy is given to The Mother, and it is said: "What care I
for the Father if I but be on the lap of The Mother?”
I note here in connection with primacy of The Mother-God that in the
Mediterranean (Aegean) Civilization the Male God is said to have been
of a standing inferior to The Mother, and present only to make plain
Her character as the fruitful womb whence all that exists springs
(Glotz, 243, et seq.).
Such, then, is the great Mother of India in Her aspect as She is in
Herself as the alogical world-transcending Whole (Purna), and
secondly, as She is as the Creatrix of the World. It remains now but
to say a word of Her as She exists in the form of the universe.
The psycho-physical universe is Maya. The devotee Kamalakanta
lucidly defines Maya as the Form (Akara) of the Void (Sunya) or
formless (not Nothingness). Is it Real? It is real, because Maya,
considered as a Power, is Devi Shakti, and She is real. The effect
of the transformation of that Power must also be real. Some make a
contrast between Reality and Appearance. But why, it is asked (apart
from persistence), should appearance be unreal, and that of which it
is such appearance alone be real? Moreover, in a system such as
this, in which Power transforms itself, no contrast between Reality
and Appearance in the sense of unreality emerges. The distinction is
between the Real as it is its formless Self and the same Real as it
appears in Form. Moreover, the World is experienced by the Lord and
Mother, and their experience is never unreal. We are here on a
healthy level above the miasma of Illusion. The experience of man
(to take him as the highest type of all other selves) is not the
Experience-Whole. He knows the world as the other than Himself, just
because Power has made him man—that is, a limited Experiencer or
center in the Whole. That is a fact, and no Illusion or Deceit. When
He realizes Himself as"All this I am"that is, as an"I"Which
knows all form as Itself—then Consciousness as man expands into
the Experience-Whole which is the Fact (Sat).
Man is Shakti, or The Mother, in so far as he is Mind, Life in Form,
and Matter. He is Shiva in so far as his essence is Consciousness
as It is in Itself, which is also the nature of The Mother in Her
own alogical Self.
This union is achieved by rousing the sleeping Power in the lowest
center of solid and leading it upwards to the cerebrum as the center
Consciousness.
The Indian Magna Mater - 1 The Divine Mother
www.sacred-texts.com/tantra/sas/sas20.htm
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