The Khecarividya of Adinatha by Mallinson James

Author:Mallinson, James
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Taylor & Francis (CAM)

The stem form brahma found here and in many other compounds in the KhV is ambiguous: it can denote the deity Brahmā or the ultimate reality brahman. In tantric texts and early works of haṭhayoga it usually refers to the deity (as in the system of the three granthis, brahma°, viṣṇu° and rudra°, at e.g.HP 4.70–76; cf.KhV 3.3b where dhāma svāyaṃbhuvaṃ is used as a synonym of brahmadhāma). The inherent ambiguity allows later authors to interpret such compounds in a Vedantic light: e.g. HPJ 3.106 where brahmasthānam is glossed by Brahmānanda with brahmāvirbhāvajanakam sthānam, “the place that reveals brahman”. I have chosen to translate brahma° as Brahmā.

241 “the region above the nape of the neck” (cūlitalam): as far as I am aware, cūlitala occurs only in the MaSaṃ (9.24a), the KhV and derivative texts. From the evidence of 2.49–59 it appears to mean the region above the nape of the neck, on the same level as the forehead and temples. This meaning fits well with the context here. Ballāla (f. 21r6−7) agrees, taking cūli as a variant form of cūḍā, “the crown of the head”, and tala as meaning “the area below”: tiryak cūlitalaṃ śikhādhobhāgaṃ yāti cūliḥ śikhā / śikhā cūḍā ity amaraḥ / ḍalayor abhedaḥ. See also 2.18 and note 285.

242 See note 239.

243 “not all at once” (yugapan na hi): Ballāla (f. 22r3) glosses yugapat with ekasamayāvachedena, “cutting [the frenum] all at once”. One of my informants, Govind Dās Jī Mahātyāgī, did cut his frenum all at once. He told me that the cut bled a great deal but that otherwise he had no problems. See also 1.46–48 and the notes thereon. Ballāla adds (f. 22r2−3): yady api abhyāsakāle kadā cid asvāsthyaṃ tadā taddine heyo ’bhyāso ’nyadine susthatāyāṃ kartavyo na jhaṭiti, “if ill health should ever arise during the practice then it should be abandoned for that day and taken up on another day when good health has returned, not straight away”.

244 brahmabila is synonymous with brahmarandhra in its first sense (see note 240).

245 “the bolt [of the doorway] of Brahmā”(brahmārgalam): Ballāla (f. 22r9) equates the brahmārgala with the brahmadvāra: brahmārgalaṃ brahmamārgapratibaṃdhakaṃ rājadaṃtordhvadvāraṃ, “the brahmārgala is the door above the uvula which blocks the pathway of Brahmā” (on the rājadanta see note 258). In the text, however, the two seem to be distinguished. The brahmārgala, “the bolt”, is to be rubbed away for three years, after which time the tongue enters the brahmadvāra, “the door”. 2.1a and 3.44 mention the brahmārgaladvāra, “the bolted door of Brahmā”. In descriptions of the goddess Kuṇḍalinī she is often said to be asleep blocking the brahmadvāra at the base of Suṣumṇā and this is its usual location (HP 3.5, GŚN 47, YCU 37,. ṣCN 3 and 50). In the KhV the brahmadvāra is at the other end of Suṣumṇā, at the opening at the base of the palate.

1.55c–57b is puzzling. After a total of seven years the yogin is instructed to start rubbing at the brahmārgala so that after a further three years the tongue might enter the brahmadvāra.

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