The Svachchhanda Tantra With the commentary of Kshemaraja

THE

KASHMIR

SERIES

OF

f

tfcxte

jmrt

tudiw.

No.

XXXI.

THE

SWACCHANDA=TANTRA

WITH

COMMENTARY

BY

KSHEMARAJA.

EDITED

WITH

NOTES

BY

f>ANDlT

MADHUSUDAN

KAUL

SHASTRl, M. A., M. o. _L.,

Superintendent Research Department,

JAMMU AND

KASHMIR

STATE,

SRINAGAR.

Published under the Authority of the

Government

of

His _Highness Lieut.-General _Maharaja

Sir

PRATAP

_{SINGH SAHIB BAHADUR,}

0. C. S.I., G. C.I._E.,

MAHARAJA

OF

JAMMU AND

KASHMIR

STATE.

BOMBAY

t

AT THE 'NlKNAYA-SAGAR1

PRESS.

869005

(All rights reserved).

PrintedbyRamchandraYesu Shcrlge, at the

*

Nirnaya-sagar' Press

23,KolbhatLane,Bombay.

PublishedbyPandit

Madhusudan

KaulShastrl,M. A.,M.o.L,,

for the Research Department,

1

SRIS\VACCHANDA*TANTRAM,

PREFACE,

The

_present edition of the

Swacchanda-Tantram

1

\vith the "

_Uddyota

" is based

on

collation of the

following manuscripts:

A.

_Belongs to Pandita _Raja

Ram

S'astri, late

Principal of the Rajakiya Pathas'ala, Srinagar.

The

Ms.

is an old

one

and

written out on old Kashmiri

paper in S'arada character. It is _generally correct.

A

copy

of the

same

_by

Pandita Sridhara _Gadaroo,

who

formerly

worked

in this office, lies in the _Library of

this _Department.

B. This

was

written out

_by

_Rajanaka

Ratna-kantha in 1608

Anno

S'aka as is manifest from the

colophon2 of the first Patala. It is _very old

and

belongs to Pandita

Kantha

Kaula Sahib of Purushayar,

Srinagar, Kashmir. Character, old S'arada. _Paper,

1. The Honourable Sir

John

Woodroffe of the

Calcutta

_High

Court was found _by

_my

_{predecessor to use}

the editionof this _{book prepared by} this _{Department, and}

Pandita

Kara

Bhatta, a Panditaof this _Department, was

suspected tohave given him assistanceby

way

of_supplying

him with the edited text of this _Department. But the

Home

Minister,

Jammu

and Kashmir State, after

institut-ing full_enquiries inthe matter, dropped it for reasonson

record in this office.

2.

The

_colophon runs thus (f^fic^t

^T

*<?TJFi'3

^T

I

TO^rflM

?&!% (5^<:)<5TFto

*M

^,

*'. e

; 4762)i. e.

Has

been _{copied by}

me

Ratna Kantha in 1608 S'aka _year, correspondingtothe Laukika _year4762."

II PREFACE.

Kashmiri. Leaves,

worm-eaten and

repaired here

and

there.

The

Ms. is

bound

in leather

and

_carefully

preserved. Slips of

pen

are _occasionally

met

with

herein.

C. This

Ms.

_belongs to Pandita

Lasa

Dutta

of

Srinagar. It is written out

on

Kashmiri _paper in

S'arada character. It does not

seem

to be _very

old

and

there are

some

mistakes _sparsely found in

the book.

In _preparingthis

Tantram

for_{the press the Pandits} of this

_Department

_have, as _usual, contributed their

mite to

make

the edition _really useful

and

_interesting

by

their learned labour

and

_{scholarly help} for the

Sanskrit

_knowing

_{public, especially for} those

who

are

keenly interested in the Tantrik lore.

For

this _they

deserve

_my

heartfelt thanks.

The

_English staff too

has _similarly

won

_my

thanks as it hasin _every

_way

facilitated_{the preparation of the}

book

forthe Press.

SRNSWACCHANDA--TANTRAM,

INTRODUCTION.

Introductory.

The

Swacchanda-Tantram

is

one

of the _leading

Tantras of the Dakshina-chara as it _panegyrises

and

initiates into the secret _worship of _Ayhora, the _Right

mouth

of the Swacdianda-Lhairava.1

Unlike

_Mrgendra

&

_Matanga,

Tantras of the

Dakshindchdra

where

the

doctrines discussed are understood to _represent the

dualistic _{school of philosophy, the}

Swacchanda-Tantra

adheres to the _purely monistic side or the

Adwaita

System

of the _{Saiva Philosophy}

and

is considered to be

one of the best authorities

on

the Saivaistic Initiation

or Siva Dikshd, its cheif

theme

_being meditation

(

Updsand

)

and

ritual (

Kriyd

).

The

very

name

2 _ofthe

book

indicates its inborn _{tendency towards} the _pure

monism

_{which, to distinguish} it from other _systems of

philosophy,

may

safely be designated as the Trika

system ofKashmir.

1 Swacchanda-Bhairava ia _represented as _{having the}

five faces Is'dna, Tatpurusha, Sadyojdta, Vdmadeva,

&

Aghora, (respectively representing,in name, U'rdhva Vaktra,

Purva Vaktra, Pas'chimo, Fakira,Dakshiya Vaktra,

& Vdma

Vaktra) which are the symbols of His fivefold _glory i. e.

Chit, A'nanda, Icchd,

Jndna

&

Kriyd. The same divine

faces are said tobe the five _{respective sources} of

Urdhvd-mndya, Ptirvdmndya, Pas'chimdmndya, Dakshindmqdya

&

Vdmdmndya,

2 Swacchanda is _synonymous with Swatantra or one

possessed of Swdtantrya or Free Will, the keynoteofthe

Kashmir S'aivaisra,

IV INTRODUCTION,

Trika System.

The

Trika

_System

of

Kashmir seems

to _{be very} old

and

_only a few_{vestiges reminiscent} of its

_predominant

influence in _{the past} are found _lingering in

some

of the

families in Kashmir. ₍Cf.

The

_{family of the}Tikkoos.

The

term

Tikkoo

is an

_Apabhrams'a

of TriJea). This

system has been peculiarised

by

its native _tendency to

discuss doctrines

and

_practices in the _light of _pure

monism

and

_consequently to_{emphasise the} difference

in its outlook

from

those of other _{philosophical}

systems

which

teach ttoe^eternal Saiva faith in the

aspects of

Bheda

(diversity)

and Bheddbheda

(

diversity-in-unity).

Divine Authorship

of

theTantra.

Just like other _Tantras,

Swacchanda

Tantra

is

regardedas an

_Agama

_{S'dstra and, hence, of}

superhu-man

_authorship. It takes the

form

of a _dialogue

between

Devi

&

Bhairava, Perusal of a

few

intro-ductory verses leadsus to understand that _{the present}

Tantra isan abstractofthe _original

Swacchanda Tantra

which

is said to have

been

a _{very voluminous Tantra}1

consisting of a

hundred

croreof verses

and

_consequently

bafflingthe

power

of _study

_by

men

_particularly in the

Iron

_Age

wherein _{shortlivedness,}

penury,

and

mental

and

moral _{lassitude prevail,}

Commentary.

The

_only

_commentary

now

available

on

the

INTRODUCTION.

V

"Uddyota".

That

there were several commentaries

on

the

Tantram

in _question before is evidenced

_by

a few allusions confronted with here

and

there in the

volume

of the book.

The

first reference that

we

come

across

on

_{page 4,} Patala II of the

Smicchanda

Tantra,

viz., (

^

T%^*farftnfTn:

etc. etc.), clearly convinces

us about the existence of another

_commentary

on

the

Tantra without

_{any mention}

either of its

name

orthe

author. Further _on,

we

find the second reference

etc., leaf 119,

Ms.

B,

Pat. X.) which, in _{plain terms, gives us the}

name

of

one of the commentaries anterior to the "

_Uddyota"

as Vrhat_Tikd, at the

same

time

_making

us _acquainted

with the author's

own

name, mz.

} Bhullaka

Edjdnaka.

Xo

definite information can be

had

about this author

of Vrhattika.

The

same

_uncertainty is feltabout his

compositions also.

The method

of _{interpretation} is

far different from that of the _Uddyota. Several

in-dications induce us to believe that _profane

_meanings

were

_{given to the} hallowed sentences

_by

the followers

ofthe dualistic _systems ofS'aiva _{Philosophy, (}Cf. the

references _{on pages 75}

and

72 of the II Patala).

Other

commentaries, to all intents

and

_purposes,

seem

to

have run

on

the dualistic lines

_though

there is

no

explicit confession

made

by

Kshemaraja

thereabout.

The

commentaries most

_probably did exist_during his time,but neither of

them

is to be

had

at_present.

The

Author

of

_{the Uddyota.}

The

author of the

_commentary,

the _Uddyota, is

Kshemaraja as is evident from the fifth verse

in the _beginning of the

_commentary,

which

is

.

The commentary

explains the

moot

points in the Tantra in the _light of

pure

monism, which

endeavour

on

the _part of the

author _is, it is _believed, first ofits kind

and

is

VI INTRODUCTION;

were

commented

_upon

on

the lines of dualism

_nay

pluralism, the corroboration

whereof

is

made by

atriad

of verses at the

end

of the

_commentary

(Uddyota),

which

runs as under:

I.

n

ii.

ill.

I.

"The

venerable

Swacchand-Tantra

does not

brook

the dualistic _{interpretation.} Its _very

name

has

shattered to pieces sucha notion, viz., the theory of

dualism; for

_any

such _theory is

_opposed

to the

doctrine of "Free-Will".

II. _People,

under

the inebriationdue to constant

imbibingof the dualistic _view,

do

fail _{to perceive the}

Reality inthe nature of thefree

and

_pure Chit.

III. It is, therefore, that the

commentary

called

Uddyota

(lit.blaze of light), surcharged, asit is, with

the ambrosia of _pure

_monism,

is here undertakento

remove

the dark notions that

_hang

about as a result of the dualistic _{interpretations}

handed

down

to us.

Kshemaraja's Parentage.

A

veil of

_mystery

_hangs over the _parentage of

Kshemardja.

From

the verses1 at the

end

of the

I

H (Stav. oh P. 130 ScriesX.)

1XTUODUCTIOX, VII

Vivrti

on

Stawachintdmani (

Xo.

X

of the series of

this _Department), it is manifest that he lived at the

Vijaycs'wara, the

modern

Bijbiftdra (in Kashmiri

Vyajibror),a

town

aboutthirtymiles offSrinagar

on

the

eastern _side,

where

he, being once requested, or rather

encouraged

by one

S'tirdditya, son of one Gundditya,

commented

_upon

_Ndrdyana

Bhatta's Stawachintdmani.

No

mention

_{of Silrdditya alluded to} above has

been

made

in the

Kashmir

_{Rdjatarangini,}

which

fact

suggests that he had, presumably,

done

little or

no-thingto attract the notice of thehistorian

Kalhana

and

to place himselffar

above

the masses.

Date

of

_Kshemaraja.

One

has not to exercise his brain _very

much

in

grappling with the

problem

ofthetimeof _Kshemaraja,

as it willbe atonce got at

by

catching hold of the fact

that he feels _proud to share the

honour

_{of pupilage to}

Mahamaheswaracharya Abhinava

Gupta,

who,

as

ad-mitted

on

all _hands, lived either in the latterhalf of

the

Xth

or in _{the early part of the}

Xlth

_{century A.}

D.

Kshemaraja's

Style

of

_Commenting.

Kshemaraja's style of

commenting

is modelled

upon

that of

Abhinava

_Gupta, the voluminous writer

on

the

Adwaita

_{S'aiua Philosophy.} It is _{philological,}

vigorous, generally pithy but to the point.

Occasion-ally, the author does full _justice to the text with

due

attention to the

_economy

of

words

_pregnant

_enough

to expresshis_deep erudition in the field of

Adwaita

S'aivaism ofKashmir.

Works

_by

the Author.

The

_{chief existing}

works

of

_Kshemaraja

are:

(i) Vimars'ini onthe'S'iva Sutras.

(2) Vivrti on Stavachintamaui.

VIII

INTRODUCTION

(4) Parapraves'ika. (5)

Swacchandoddyota.

(6) Vijfianabhairavoddyota. (7)

Netra-Uddyota.

(8) Pratyabhijna

Hrdaya.

(9)

Spanda

Nirnaya. (10)

Spanda

Sandoha. (11)

Dwanyaloka-lochanoddyota.

(12) Tika

on

Samba-paiichas'ika.

Another

work

_{namely Tattwa sandoha}

viz., (

Shat-Trimsattattwa sandoha)hasbeenascribed to

_Kshemardja

by

Mr.

J. C. _Chatterji (see his

Kashmir

'Saivaism-Page 35)

which

seems

to be

open

to objection, as

several quotations

from

the _Dipika

_(Comm.

on

Yogini

Hrdaya

by

Amitananda

Natha, pupil to

Punya-nanda

Natha

)

on

Yogini

Hrdaya,

clearly entitle

Amitananda

Natha

to _{the authorship of the}

book

in _question.

Arrangement

Observed

in

the

Swachhandatantram.

The

Tantram

consists of fifteen Patalas or

chapters.

No

sense of

harmony

seems

to

have

ad-equately been used in the _{arrangement of the chapters}

as

some

of

them

are

_imp

_{roportionally lengthy} while

the others are _very small.

The names

of the Patalas

are given below, each one of

them

_{indicating the}

sub-ject it deals with:

(1) *T*?teTC: I (2) ar^frffrc:! (3) (6) (7) (8)

INTRODUCTION, IX

(11)

(12) vTK1Tf^*J

TORT

(15)

Conclusion,

In _fine, the

Swacchanda-Tantram

is one of the

best

Mantra

S'astras.

The

_dogmatic formulas discussed

therein _{can be apprehended only with} the aid of the

best S'aiva Teachers of the _Valley.

What

with its

fascinatingtreatment of the Ritual or S'aivaistic

Ini-tiation,

what

with its _description of

charms

and

the

Mantra

S'akti,

and

lastly,

what

with its _dealingswith

the occult

and

wondrous

_powers

of the Yoga,

Swacchanda-Tantra ranks _high

_among

other Tantras

as it _chiefly aims at the realization of the

Adwaita

Tattwa or the _height of _spirituality

which

is but an

unalloyed bliss.

II ? II 11

^

u

n

^

n

II tt II I ||

^

||

I _[

ii

i

ii

II II

I _[ :, rf^TT

^M

i

H

^sR^rw^

5

'

:

T^I

3Trf

:

T--

_3TT

TPTT

TJ

I _[

i _[

II*

ii

v

ii

ii

i

I _[

'53IT

3

cIT^t,

^f%

5%

t

IFTT'%

[ { f

stf

35

wft

: ? JT-i

srsr

flr-II

U

II

H

I _[

cT^TT

u

^

ii

f

?[r:

$Snil,

^

ff

T:

ftr-II

\\

II

I _[

H

^

II

H

u

u

u

II

<:

n

f%*TTT

:

a

^

_n

n

n

g

q^ir

n

_\%

n

: _{(I ||}

II II

II

II

vs

ii

1

I _[

ii

n

R-I

t

ii

z

ii

ii

^o

u

5

n

u

* II

n

tftf

n

so

(I

^

U

-srtfir, s _ii ,

t II

n

H

i _[

'

5HT:

_f

f^T

:,

f

u

%n

u

I _[

n

i

n

irfi

J

^^Tt,

rFT

'3ff

5J

ii

u

'

f

fa

I [

%f

II II

n

n

II

^

II

l _[

wrft

n

n

ii ii

n

_$&

ii

n

ii

n

n

II

V:

II

I _[

-II

n

ftr^r

u

vsi

n

5FTfTT: II

^^

U

sff

f J

u VSR

ii

-.

\

II

f

"I

II

VSH

II

'

f

Tcf

II

[ ?

II

VS

II

II

II

^^

II

* I

:

u

<\

\\

t _II

_<^

_II

I _[

X'

n

^

n

I _[ ?

ft

3

'3TT

I _[

n

^

n

II

fft

-

: II

11

u

r

fiftw

II

^

(I

II

^

II

5

f

^r-ii

n

f

RT

II

^

II

f

5

II

V9

| _[

II vs II

ii _<*>

H

in

Pi

-:

U

U

M

I _[

inn

H

11

^

n

5

u

ii

u

: _I II

u

^

n

U

II

: _II

₁

_II

5TT

: II II

i?fcrfrr

^Tf^f

u

^

u

^

fire

T

3TFfteff

H

II

n

n

II II

fa

II

TO

H

II

*

, I

II II

II II

f

f

u

: I ^T'

_f

'

f

fa

u

n

f

frf II

^

II I

''

;

3T

?

cf: II

H

II

u

: I K

_f

frf I t

n

n

II

^rfireft

I

3T5T

II

I

^r

ii

^

it \

\c\\

3

v

H

u

ii

n

tf

n

,

3T<T

I

3T?qfqf

* _I)

%\

II

I [ i

nw*Rr

ii

2^

u

: _I II

*

II

f>fW

: II

n

w

n

u

II

82

II

ft

n

s

n

n

r\ *

n

$<*

ii

n

^ n

:

_n

_u

| _[

t I

: II

H^

II

n

ii

: I

H

]

^w^^

II II

u

^H

u

TR-u

ii

: II

$>

II

K

II

^

II

f

ft

_ft

'

fft

i ii

* I

TrfT

3T?TTcTTf^r

TT^JlfflT

II II

:

u

v

\\

: I

4

at

J _I

g

u ^vs

n

U

||

n

u

ii

I)

i

swiifr

if

:

n

: i)

[

^

f

?f

TrT

TO

I _[

II

<^

II

3

: I

3

u

_<^

n

i

ii

<&

u

u

<^

u

I _[

II

<%

II

u

n

as

n

I _[

II II

ii

n

n

<*

v '

i _[

f

far i

f

fa

u

_%^

i)

n

_%vs

u

II

%

II

II

ll'

o

₁

fT%

I

II

^o?

||

in

_^

II

f

f^T

II*

u

:

n

n

I _[

II

a

10^9

,

rT^TTT

I _[ I

11

|| t

I

""""

'

HI

111

II * i ii

II

W

II

]

^TTO^I

u

I _[

^

n

n

u

'srw

'V

:

U

I [

II

<

II

n

n

:

f^TT

_f^PTT

n

w

n

n

: _II (

[

R

\\

...

rue*iK+i

...

M

w

\

_ferrraC

f

m

i

U

II

i [

y

lfTm

II

u

?H

n

II

1

II

*iti"

I _[

^T

'flf-I I) II

1W

II II

_^

II

! _II

n

i

u

u

u

I _[

"TO

u

ivs

u

: I

ii

II

!H^

II

: _II

_?

II

n

_^H

u

II

t _I

^i II i '

u

II

'ITT:'

: I

u

\

u

Rrif

'sff

(I

1

||

3

I

I _[

: I

II

^^

II

II

: I II ii

w

n

qr^t

:

u

TT

i _[ : II II ii

i<

H

f

^Tt

TTT

,-f

RT,

rTrft

u

II

KR

II

o o I _[

I

'

U

n

II

^%o

II

3

in

^

u

[

R

n

1

ii

t

_n

H

_n

u

111

II

[

^

^w

^terr II

ft*

cfjo q-o

_go

^o

₅₀