The Serpent Power. Arthur Avalon

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СКАЧАТЬ purely a mental or imaginary one, and therefore forms part of Upāsanā, and not Yoga. Further, as a form of worship the Sādhaka may, and does, adore his Ishtadevatā in various parts of his body. This, again, is a part of Upāsanā. Some of the Shāstras however, next mentioned, clearly refer to the Yoga process, and others appear to do so.

      In what are called the earliest Upanishads,{16} mention is made of certain matters which are more explicitly described in such as are said by Western orientalists to be of later date. Thus, we find reference to the four states of consciousness, waking, and so forth; the four sheaths; and to the cavity of the heart as a “soul” center.

      As already stated, in the Indian schools the heart was considered to be the seat of the waking consciousness. The heart expands during waking, and contracts in sleep. Into it during dreaming sleep (Svapna) the external senses are withdrawn, though the representative faculty is awake; until in dreamless sleep (Sushupti) it also is withdrawn. Reference is also made to the 72,000 Nādīs; the entry and exit of the Prāna through the Brahmarandhra (above the foramen of Monro and the middle commissure); and “up-breathing” through one of these Nādīs. These to some extent probably involve the acceptance of other elements of doctrine not expressly stated. Thus, the reference to the Brahmarandhra and the “one nerve” imply the cerebro-spinal axis with its Sushumnā, through which alone the Prāna passes to the Brahmarandhra; for which reason, apparently, the Sushumnā itself is referred to in the Shivasanghitā as the Brahmarandhra. Liberation is finally affected by “knowledge,” which, as the ancient Aitareya Āranyaka says,{17} “is Brahman.” “He, Vāmadeva, by his knowing self having left the world and having attained all delights in the world of heaven, became immortal.”

      The Hangsa Upanishad{18} opens with the statement that the knowledge therein contained should be communicated only to the Brahmachārī of peaceful mind (Shānta), self-controlled (Dānta), and devoted to the Guru (Gurubhakta). Nārāyana the Commentator, who cites amongst other works the Tantrik Compendium the Shāradā Tilaka, describes himself as “one whose sole support is Shruti”{19} (Nārāyanena shrutimātropajīvinā). The Upanishad (§ 4) mentions by their names the six Chakras, as also the method of raising of Vāyu from the Mūlādhāra—that is, the Kundalīnī Yoga. The Hangsa (that is, Jīva) is stated to be in the eight-petalled lotus below Anāhata{20} (§ 7) where the Ishtadevatā is worshipped. There are eight petals, with which are associated certain Vrittis. With the Eastern petal is associated virtuous inclination (Punye mati); with the South-Eastern, sleep (Nidrā) and laziness (Ālasya); with the Southern, badness or cruelty (Krūra mati); with the South-Western, sinful inclination (Pāpe manīshā); with the Western, various inferior or bad qualities (Krīdā); with the North-Western, intention in movement or action (Gamanādau buddhi); with the Northern, attachment and pleasurable contentment (Rati and Prīti); and with the North-Eastern petal, manual appropriation of things (Dravyagrahana).{21} In the center of this lotus is dispassion (Vairāgya). In the filaments is the waking state (Jāgrad-avasthā); in the pericarp the sleeping state (Svapna); in the stalk the state of dreamless slumber (Sushupti). Above the lotus is “the place without support” (Nirālamba pradesha), which is the Turīya state. The Commentator Nārāyana says that the Vritti of the petals are given in the Adhyātmaviveka which assigns them to the various lotuses. In the passage cited from the Hangsopanishad, they, or a number of these, appear to be collected in the center of meditation upon the Ishtadevatā. In § 9 ten kinds of sound (Nāda) are mentioned which have definite physical effects, such as perspiration, shaking, and the like, and by the practice of the tenth kind of Nāda the Brahmapada is said to be attained.

      The Brahma Upanishad{22} mentions in v. 2 the navel (Nābhi), heart (Hridayam), throat (Kantham), and head (Mūrdhā), as places (Sthāna) “where the four quarters of the Brahman shine.” The Commentator Nārāyana says that the Brahmopanishad, by the mention of these four, indicates that they are the centers from which the Brahman may (according to the method there prescribed) be attained.{23} Reference is made to the lotuses at these four places, and the mind is spoken of as the “tenth door,” the other nine apertures being the eyes, ears, nostrils, and so forth.

      The Dhyānabindu Upanishad{24} refers to the hearing of the Anāhata sounds by the Yogī (v. 3). The Upanishad directs that with Pūraka meditation should be done in the navel on the Great Powerful One (Mahāvīra) with four arms and of the color of the hemp flower (i.e., Vishnu); with Kumbhaka meditate in the heart on the red Brahmā seated on a lotus; and with Rechaka think of the three-eyed one (Rudra) in the forehead. The lowest of these lotuses has eight petals; the second has its head downwards; and the third, which is compounded of all the Devatās (Sarvadevamaya), is like a plantain flower (vv. 9-12). In v. 13, meditation is directed on a hundred lotuses with a hundred petals each, and then on Sun, Moon, and Fire. It is Ātmā which rouses the lotus, and, taking the Bīja from it, goes to Moon, Fire, and Sun.

      The Amritanāda Upanishad{25} refers to the five elements, and above them Arddhamātrā—that is, Ājnā (vv. 30, 31). The elements here are those in the Chakras, for v. 26 speaks of the heart entrance as the aerial entrance (for the Vāyu Tattva is here). Above this, it is said, is the gate of liberation (Mokshadvāra). It is stated in v. 25 that Prāna and Manas go along the way the Yogī sees (Pashyati), which the Commentator says refers to the way Prāna enters (and departs from) Mūlādhāra, and so forth. He also gives some Hatha processes.

      The Kshurikā Upanishad{26} speaks of the 72,000 Nādis, of Idā and Pingalā, and Sushumnā (vv. 14, 15). All these, with the exception of Sushumnā, can “be severed by Dhyāna Yoga” (ib.). Verse 8 directs the Sādhaka “to get into the white and very subtle Nāda (Quære Nādī) and to drive Prāna Vāyu through it”; and Pūraka, Rechaka, Kumbhaka, and Hatha processes are referred to. The Commentator Nārāyana, on v. 8, remarks that Kundalī should be heated by the internal fire and then placed inside the Brahmanādī, for which purpose the Jālandhara Bandha should be employed.

      The Nrisinghapūrvvatāpanīya Upanishad{27} in Ch. V., v. 2, speaks of the Sudarshana (which is apparently here the Mūlādhāra) changing into lotuses of six, eight, twelve, sixteen, and thirty-two petals respectively. This corresponds with the number of petals as given in this work except as to the second. For, taking this to be the Svādhishthāna, the second lotus should be one of ten petals. Apparently this divergence is due to the fact that this is the number of letters in the Mantra assigned to this lotus. For in the six-petalled lotus is the six-lettered Mantra of Sudarshana; in the eight-petalled lotus the eight-lettered Mantra of Nārāyana; and in the twelve-petalled lotus the twelve-lettered Mantra of Vāsudeva. As is the case ordinarily, in the sixteen-petalled lotus are the sixteen Kalās (here vowels) sounded with Bindu or Anusvāra. The thirty-two-petalled lotus (Ājnā) is really two-petalled because there are two Mantras here (each of sixteen letters) of Nrisingha and His Shakti.

      The sixth chapter of the Maitrî Upanishad{28} speaks of the Nādīs; and in particular of the Sushumnā; the piercing of the Mandalas Sun, Moon, and Fire (each of these being within the other, Sattva in Fire, and in Sattva Achyuta); and of Amanā, which is another name for Unmanī.

      Both the Yogatattva Upanishad{29} and Yogashikhā Upanishad{30} refer to Hathayoga, and the latter speaks of the closing of the “inner door,” the opening of the gateway of Sushumnā (that is, by Kundalī entering the Brahmadvāra), and the piercing of the Sun. The Rāmatāpanī Upanishad{31} refers to various Yoga and Tantrik processes, such as Āsana, Dvārapūjā, Pīthapūjā, and expressly mentions Bhūtashuddhi, which, as above explained, is the purification of the elements in the Chakras, either as an imaginative, or real process by the aid of Kundalinī.

      I have already cited in the Notes numerous passages on this Yoga from the Shāndilya Upanishad of the Atharvaveda, the Varāha and Yogakundalī Upanishads of the Krishna Yajurveda, the Mandalabrāhmana Upanishad of the Shukla Yajurveda, and the Nādabindu Upanishad of the Rigveda.{32}

      The great Devībhāgavata Purāna (VII. 35, XI. 8) mentions in a full account the six Chakras or Lotuses; the rousing of Kundalī (who is called the Paradevatā) СКАЧАТЬ