Map
Rudrayāmala Uttara Tantra
A Yāmala of the Vidyāpīṭha, a Śākta compendium of the eastern schools, and a title cited far more often than it can be found — the text the Vijñāna Bhairava names as its source.
Few titles are quoted more often in tantric Sanskrit than the Rudrayāmala, and few are harder to hold. Abhinavagupta cites it; Jayaratha cites it; the Bengali Śākta digests cite it constantly; the Vijñāna Bhairava names it as its own parent. The book that now circulates under the name will not account for most of what is credited to it — and that discrepancy is itself one of the more instructive facts about how this literature travelled.
What a yāmala isयामल
Yāmala means a pair, a couple, a union; the ordinary Sanskrit word for twins stands beside it. A Yāmala tantra is revelation arising from the union of Rudra and his Śakti rather than from Śiva alone, and the consequence is formal as well as doctrinal. Texts of this class are dialogues throughout — Bhairava and the Goddess in alternating question and answer, neither of them merely the audience. The teaching that Śakti and the possessor of Śakti are never separate is, in a Yāmala, a statement about the shape of the book as much as about the nature of things.
Within the Bhairava stream the Yāmalas belong to the Vidyāpīṭha, the goddess-centred half of the revelation, and the canonical lists count eight of them — a yāmalāṣṭaka. Which eight varies from source to source. Brahmayāmala, Viṣṇuyāmala, Rudrayāmala, Skandayāmala, Ruruyāmala, Vetālayāmala, Svacchandayāmala, Ātharvaṇayāmala are among the names that recur, in shifting combinations and sometimes with others in their place. As with the twenty-eight Āgamas and the sixty-four Bhairava tantras, the number describes how the tradition conceived its canon rather than what can be counted on a shelf.
One Yāmala survives in something close to its early form, and it shows what the class was. The Brahmayāmala, also called the Picumata, is preserved in a Nepalese palm-leaf manuscript copied in the eleventh century, and it is uncompromising: its deity is Kapālīśabhairava with the goddess Caṇḍā Kāpālinī, its practitioner carries the skull-staff and the skull-bowl, and its rites belong squarely to the cremation ground and the cult of the yoginīs. That is the world the Yāmalas came out of — older, fiercer and far more concretely ritual than the philosophical Trika that grew from the same soil.
Two Rudrayāmalas
The Rudrayāmala that the Kashmirian authors knew is not extant. Abhinavagupta and Jayaratha quote a text of that name; later digests quote it at length; and no manuscript answering to those quotations has been identified. What does survive, printed repeatedly in Calcutta and Varanasi since the later nineteenth century, is the Rudrayāmala Uttara Tantra — the "latter" Rudrayāmala, a long Śākta work whose language, cast of goddesses and ritual assumptions place it in eastern India and centuries after the Kashmirian citations. Estimates of its date differ and none is secure; few would put its present shape earlier than the fifteenth or sixteenth century, and portions of it are probably later still.
What the Uttara Tantra contains
None of that makes the surviving text uninteresting. It is a substantial and wide-ranging Śākta compendium, and it is one of the places where a reader can watch several currents run together.
- Mantroddhāraमन्त्रोद्धार · extraction
- The drawing-out of mantras from a lettered diagram. The syllables are not simply given; they are extracted from a grid by a stated procedure, so that a mantra arrives as an operation rather than as a word. A great deal of the text is taken up with this, and it is the most technical thing in it.
- The Goddess
- Tārā above all, but also Kālī, Bhairavī and material belonging to the Śrīvidyā, together with the hymns, protective kavacas and thousand-name litanies that attend them. The theology is that of the Mahāvidyās, the eastern Śākta cult of the ten great goddesses — one of the clearest indications that the text as we have it is not an early Kashmirian Vidyāpīṭha work.
- Cīnācāraचीनाचार · the way of Mahācīna
- The text carries the well-known story of Vasiṣṭha, who fails to propitiate Tārā by orthodox austerity, is directed to Mahācīna, and finds there a teaching conducted in wine and flesh and the company of women, which he is made to accept before he can succeed. It is one of the tradition's own accounts of why a transgressive rite exists at all, and it is largely through this text that the story is known.
- The subtle body
- The channels, the centres, the ascent of kuṇḍalinī, the retention and movement of breath. This is the material that made the book useful far outside its own school, and it is the physiology that the breath teachings assume throughout.
- Yoga and observance
- Long stretches on posture, prāṇāyāma and mudrā, on the discipline and the grades of the practitioner, and on initiation, the qualifications of the guru, and the calendrical and domestic ritual of a Śākta household.
A conduit
The Uttara Tantra's real historical importance is as a channel. Material passed through it into compilations that had a far wider circulation than any Vidyāpīṭha scripture ever enjoyed — the Bengali Śākta digests, the ritual handbooks that depend on them, and from there into the printed devotional literature of the nineteenth century and after. A very large number of hymns, armours and mantra-prescriptions in ordinary use carry a colophon assigning them to the Rudrayāmala. Some of them are in the printed Uttara Tantra. Many are not, and were attached to the name for the authority it conferred.
That is worth stating plainly rather than treating as a scandal. Attribution in this literature is a claim about lineage and legitimacy, not a bibliographical statement, and a tradition which holds that its scriptures are fragments of an unbounded revelation has no difficulty at all with the idea that a teaching may be from the Rudrayāmala without being in any particular copy of it. The historian's problem and the tradition's self-understanding are simply not the same problem, and the honest course is to keep them apart.
The Vijñāna Bhairava's claim
The most consequential of these attributions is the Vijñāna Bhairava's. Its colophons place it within the Rudrayāmala and the tradition has always cited it so: one hundred and twelve dhāraṇās, a dialogue between Bhairava and the Goddess, presented as an extract drawn from the greater Yāmala.
What the claim is worth needs care in both directions. It cannot be verified, because the Rudrayāmala it refers to is lost; and it cannot be refuted from the surviving Uttara Tantra, which does not contain the Vijñāna Bhairava and is in any case too late to be the text meant. But the Vijñāna Bhairava's own antiquity does not rest on the attribution. It was known and quoted in Kashmir in the tenth and eleventh centuries; Kṣemarāja began a commentary on it, the Uddyota, which breaks off after the opening verses; and Śivopādhyāya completed the exegesis long afterwards with his Vivṛti. The text stands on that evidence whatever its parentage.
What the attribution does tell us is what its transmitters took its pedigree to be, and the choice is exact. A Yāmala is revelation issuing from the union of the two; and the Vijñāna Bhairava's opening argument, before it reaches a single practice, is that Śakti and the holder of Śakti are never in fact two, so that to enter Śakti is to enter Bhairava. A text that begins there names as its source the one class of scripture defined by precisely that union. Whether or not the descent is historical, the claim is doctrinally well judged — and that, in a tradition where lineage is a statement of what a teaching is, is not a trivial thing to have got right.
7,694 verses · page 86 of 129
कुणपः कौलपाकाशा स्वकान्तः कामवासिनी | सुकृतिः शाङ्करी विद्या कलकः कलनाश्रया
kuṇapaḥ kaulapākāśā svakāntaḥ kāmavāsinī | sukṛtiḥ śāṅkarī vidyā kalakaḥ kalanāśrayā
कर्कन्धुस्थः कौलकन्या कुलीनः कन्यकाकुला | कुमारः केशरी विद्या कामहा कुलपण्डिता
karkandhusthaḥ kaulakanyā kulīnaḥ kanyakākulā | kumāraḥ keśarī vidyā kāmahā kulapaṇḍitā
कल्कीशः कमनीयाङ्गी कुशलः कुशलावती | केतकीपुष्पमालाढ्यः केतकीकुसुमान्विता
kalkīśaḥ kamanīyāṅgī kuśalaḥ kuśalāvatī | ketakīpuṣpamālāḍhyaḥ ketakīkusumānvitā
कुसुमानन्दमालाढ्यः कुसुमामलमालिका | कवीन्द्रः काव्यसम्भूतः काममञ्जीररञ्जिनी
kusumānandamālāḍhyaḥ kusumāmalamālikā | kavīndraḥ kāvyasambhūtaḥ kāmamañjīrarañjinī
कुशासनस्थः कौशल्याकुलपः कल्पपादपा | कल्पवृक्षः कल्पलता विकल्पः कल्पगामिनी
kuśāsanasthaḥ kauśalyākulapaḥ kalpapādapā | kalpavṛkṣaḥ kalpalatā vikalpaḥ kalpagāminī
कठोरस्थः काचनिभा करालः कालवासिनी | कालकूटाश्रयानन्दः कर्कशाकाशवाहिनी
kaṭhorasthaḥ kācanibhā karālaḥ kālavāsinī | kālakūṭāśrayānandaḥ karkaśākāśavāhinī
कटधूमाकृतिच्छायो विकटासनसंस्थिता | कायधारी कूपकरी करवीरागतः कृषी
kaṭadhūmākṛticchāyo vikaṭāsanasaṃsthitā | kāyadhārī kūpakarī karavīrāgataḥ kṛṣī
कालगम्भीरनादान्ता विकलालापमानसा | प्रकृतीशः सत्प्रकृतिः प्रकृष्टः कषीणीश्वरी
kālagambhīranādāntā vikalālāpamānasā | prakṛtīśaḥ satprakṛtiḥ prakṛṣṭaḥ kaṣīṇīśvarī
भगवान् वारुणीवर्णा विवर्णो वर्णरूपिणी | सुवर्णवर्णो हेमाभो महान् महेन्द्रपूजिता
bhagavān vāruṇīvarṇā vivarṇo varṇarūpiṇī | suvarṇavarṇo hemābho mahān mahendrapūjitā
महात्मा महतीशानी मेहेशो मत्तगामिनी | महावीरो महावेगा महालक्ष्मीश्वरो मतिः
mahātmā mahatīśānī meheśo mattagāminī | mahāvīro mahāvegā mahālakṣmīśvaro matiḥ
महादेवो महादेवी महानन्दो महाकला | महाकालो महाकाली महाबलो महाबला
mahādevo mahādevī mahānando mahākalā | mahākālo mahākālī mahābalo mahābalā
महामान्यो महामान्या महाधन्यो महाधनी | महामालो महामाला महाकाशो महाकाशा
mahāmānyo mahāmānyā mahādhanyo mahādhanī | mahāmālo mahāmālā mahākāśo mahākāśā
महायशो महायज्ञा महाराजो महारजा | महाविद्यो महाविद्या महामुख्यो महामखी
mahāyaśo mahāyajñā mahārājo mahārajā | mahāvidyo mahāvidyā mahāmukhyo mahāmakhī
महारात्रो महारात्रिर्महाधीरो महाशया | महाक्षेत्रो महाक्षेत्रा कुरुक्षेत्रः कुरुप्रिया
mahārātro mahārātrirmahādhīro mahāśayā | mahākṣetro mahākṣetrā kurukṣetraḥ kurupriyā
महाचण्डो महोग्रा च महामत्तो महामतिः | महावेदो महावेदा महोत्साहो महोत्सवा
mahācaṇḍo mahogrā ca mahāmatto mahāmatiḥ | mahāvedo mahāvedā mahotsāho mahotsavā
महाकल्पो महाकल्पा महायोगो महागतिः | महाभद्रो महाभद्रा महासूक्ष्मो महाचला
mahākalpo mahākalpā mahāyogo mahāgatiḥ | mahābhadro mahābhadrā mahāsūkṣmo mahācalā
महावाक्यो महावाणी महायज्वा महाजवा | महामूतीर्महाकान्ता महाधर्मो महाधना
mahāvākyo mahāvāṇī mahāyajvā mahājavā | mahāmūtīrmahākāntā mahādharmo mahādhanā
महामहोग्रो महिषी महाभोग्यो महाप्रभा | महाक्षेमो महामाया महामाया महारमा
mahāmahogro mahiṣī mahābhogyo mahāprabhā | mahākṣemo mahāmāyā mahāmāyā mahāramā
महेन्द्रपूजिता माता विभालो मण्डलेश्वरी | महाविकालो विकला प्रतलस्थललामगा
mahendrapūjitā mātā vibhālo maṇḍaleśvarī | mahāvikālo vikalā pratalasthalalāmagā
कैवल्यदाता कैवल्या कौतुकस्थो विकषीणी | वालाप्रतिर्वालपत्नी बलरामो वलाङ्गजा
kaivalyadātā kaivalyā kautukastho vikaṣīṇī | vālāpratirvālapatnī balarāmo valāṅgajā
अवलेशः कामवीरा प्राणेशः प्राणरक्षिणी | पञ्चमाचारगः पञ्चापञ्चमः पञ्चमीश्वरी
avaleśaḥ kāmavīrā prāṇeśaḥ prāṇarakṣiṇī | pañcamācāragaḥ pañcāpañcamaḥ pañcamīśvarī
प्रपञ्चः पञ्चरसगा निष्प्रपञ्चः कृपामयी | कामरूपी कामरूपा कामक्रोधविवजीता
prapañcaḥ pañcarasagā niṣprapañcaḥ kṛpāmayī | kāmarūpī kāmarūpā kāmakrodhavivajītā
कामात्मा कामनिलया कामाख्या कामचञ्चला | कामपुष्पधरः कामा कामेशः कामपुष्पिणी
kāmātmā kāmanilayā kāmākhyā kāmacañcalā | kāmapuṣpadharaḥ kāmā kāmeśaḥ kāmapuṣpiṇī
महामुद्राधरो मुद्रा सन्मुद्रः काममुद्रिका | चन्द्रार्धकृतभालाभो विधुकोटिमुखाम्बुजा
mahāmudrādharo mudrā sanmudraḥ kāmamudrikā | candrārdhakṛtabhālābho vidhukoṭimukhāmbujā
चन्द्रकोटिप्रभाधारी चन्द्रज्योतिःस्वरूपिणी | सूर्याभो वीरकिरणा सूर्यकोटिविभाविता
candrakoṭiprabhādhārī candrajyotiḥsvarūpiṇī | sūryābho vīrakiraṇā sūryakoṭivibhāvitā
मिहिरेशो मानवका अन्तर्ग्गामी निराश्रया | प्रजापतीशः कल्याणी दक्षेशः कुलरोहिणी
mihireśo mānavakā antarggāmī nirāśrayā | prajāpatīśaḥ kalyāṇī dakṣeśaḥ kularohiṇī
अप्रचेताः प्रचेतस्था व्यासेशो व्यासपूजिता | काश्यपेशः काश्यपेशी भृग्वीशो भार्गवेश्वरी
apracetāḥ pracetasthā vyāseśo vyāsapūjitā | kāśyapeśaḥ kāśyapeśī bhṛgvīśo bhārgaveśvarī
वशिष्ठः प्रियभावस्थो वशिष्ठबाधितापरा | पुलस्त्यपूजितो देवः पुलस्त्यचित्तसंस्थिता
vaśiṣṭhaḥ priyabhāvastho vaśiṣṭhabādhitāparā | pulastyapūjito devaḥ pulastyacittasaṃsthitā
अगस्त्यार्च्योऽगस्त्यमाता प्रह्लादेशो वलीश्वरी | कर्दमेशः कर्दमाद्या बालको बालपूजिता
agastyārcyo'gastyamātā prahlādeśo valīśvarī | kardameśaḥ kardamādyā bālako bālapūjitā
मनस्थश्चान्तरिक्षस्था शब्दज्ञानी सरस्वती | रूपातीता रूपशून्या विरूपो रूपमोहिनी
manasthaścāntarikṣasthā śabdajñānī sarasvatī | rūpātītā rūpaśūnyā virūpo rūpamohinī
विद्याधरेशो विद्येशी वृषस्थो वृषवाहिनी | रसज्ञो रसिकानन्दा विरसो रसवजीता
vidyādhareśo vidyeśī vṛṣastho vṛṣavāhinī | rasajño rasikānandā viraso rasavajītā
सौनः सनत्कुमारेशी योगचर्येश्वरः प्रिया | दुर्वाशाः प्राणनिलयः साङ्ख्ययोगसमुद्भवा
saunaḥ sanatkumāreśī yogacaryeśvaraḥ priyā | durvāśāḥ prāṇanilayaḥ sāṅkhyayogasamudbhavā
असङ्ख्येयो मांसभक्षा सुमांसाशी मनोरमा | नरमांसविभोक्ता च नरमांसविनोदिनी
asaṅkhyeyo māṃsabhakṣā sumāṃsāśī manoramā | naramāṃsavibhoktā ca naramāṃsavinodinī
मीनवक्त्रप्रियो मीना मीनभुङ्मीनभक्षिणी | रोहिताशी मत्स्यगन्धा मत्स्यनाथो रसापहा
mīnavaktrapriyo mīnā mīnabhuṅmīnabhakṣiṇī | rohitāśī matsyagandhā matsyanātho rasāpahā
पार्वतीप्रेमनिकरो विधिदेवाधिपूजिता | विधातृवरदो वेद्या वेदो वेदकुमारिका
pārvatīpremanikaro vidhidevādhipūjitā | vidhātṛvarado vedyā vedo vedakumārikā
श्यामेशो सितवर्णा च चासितोऽसितरूपिणी | महामत्ताऽऽसवाशी च महामत्ताऽऽसवप्रिया
śyāmeśo sitavarṇā ca cāsito'sitarūpiṇī | mahāmattā''savāśī ca mahāmattā''savapriyā
आसवा ढ्योऽमनादेवी निर्मलासवपामरा | विसत्तो मदिरामत्ता मत्तकुञ्जरगामिनी
āsavā ḍhyo'manādevī nirmalāsavapāmarā | visatto madirāmattā mattakuñjaragāminī
मणिमालाधरो मालामातृकेशः प्रसन्नधीः | जरामृत्युहरो गौरी गायनस्थो जरामरा
maṇimālādharo mālāmātṛkeśaḥ prasannadhīḥ | jarāmṛtyuharo gaurī gāyanastho jarāmarā
सुचञ्चलोऽतिदुर्धर्षा कण्ठस्थो हृद्गता सती | अशोकः शोकरहिता मन्दरस्थो हि मन्त्रिणी
sucañcalo'tidurdharṣā kaṇṭhastho hṛdgatā satī | aśokaḥ śokarahitā mandarastho hi mantriṇī
मन्त्रमालाधरानन्दो मन्त्रयन्त्रप्रकाशिनी | मन्त्रार्थचैतन्यकरो मन्त्रसिद्धिप्रकाशिनी
mantramālādharānando mantrayantraprakāśinī | mantrārthacaitanyakaro mantrasiddhiprakāśinī
मन्त्रज्ञो मन्त्रनिलया मन्त्रार्थामन्त्रमन्त्रिणी | बीजध्यानसमन्तस्था मन्त्रमालेऽतिसिद्धिदा
mantrajño mantranilayā mantrārthāmantramantriṇī | bījadhyānasamantasthā mantramāle'tisiddhidā
मन्त्रवेत्ता मन्त्रसिद्धिर्मन्त्रस्थो मान्त्रिकान्तरा | बीजस्वरूपो बीजेशी बीजमालेऽति बीजिका
mantravettā mantrasiddhirmantrastho māntrikāntarā | bījasvarūpo bījeśī bījamāle'ti bījikā
बीजात्मा बीजनिलया बीजाढ्या बीजमालिनी | बीजध्यानो बीजयज्ञा बीजाढ्या बीजमालिनी
bījātmā bījanilayā bījāḍhyā bījamālinī | bījadhyāno bījayajñā bījāḍhyā bījamālinī
महाबीजधरो बीजा बीजाढ्या बीजवल्लभा | मेघमाला मेघमालो वनमाली हलायुधा
mahābījadharo bījā bījāḍhyā bījavallabhā | meghamālā meghamālo vanamālī halāyudhā
कृष्णाजिनधरो रौद्रा रौद्रा रौद्रगणाश्रया | रौद्रप्रियो रौद्रकर्त्री रौद्रलोकप्रदः प्रभा
kṛṣṇājinadharo raudrā raudrā raudragaṇāśrayā | raudrapriyo raudrakartrī raudralokapradaḥ prabhā
विनाशी सर्वगानां च सर्वाणी सर्वसम्पदा | नारदेशः प्रधानेशी वारणेशो वनेश्वरी
vināśī sarvagānāṃ ca sarvāṇī sarvasampadā | nāradeśaḥ pradhāneśī vāraṇeśo vaneśvarī
कृष्णेश्वरः केशवेशी कृष्णवर्णस्त्रिलोचना | कामेश्वरो राघवेशी बालेशी वा बाणपूजितः
kṛṣṇeśvaraḥ keśaveśī kṛṣṇavarṇastrilocanā | kāmeśvaro rāghaveśī bāleśī vā bāṇapūjitaḥ
भवानीशो भवानी च भवेन्द्रो भववल्लभा | भवानन्दोऽतिसूक्ष्माख्या भवमूतीर्भवेश्वरी
bhavānīśo bhavānī ca bhavendro bhavavallabhā | bhavānando'tisūkṣmākhyā bhavamūtīrbhaveśvarī
भवच्छायो भवानन्दो भवभीतिहरो वला | भाषाज्ञानीभाषमाला महाजीवोऽतिवासना
bhavacchāyo bhavānando bhavabhītiharo valā | bhāṣājñānībhāṣamālā mahājīvo'tivāsanā
लोभापम्दो लोभकर्त्री प्रलोभो लोभवधीनी | मोहातीतो मोहमाता मोहजालो महावती
lobhāpamdo lobhakartrī pralobho lobhavadhīnī | mohātīto mohamātā mohajālo mahāvatī
मोहमुद्गरधारी च मोहमुद्गरधारिणी | मोहान्वितो मोहमुग्धा कामेशः कामिनीश्वरी
mohamudgaradhārī ca mohamudgaradhāriṇī | mohānvito mohamugdhā kāmeśaḥ kāminīśvarī
कामलापकरोऽकामा सत्कामो कामनाशिनी | बृहन्मुखो बृहन्नेत्रा पद्माभोऽम्बुजलोचना
kāmalāpakaro'kāmā satkāmo kāmanāśinī | bṛhanmukho bṛhannetrā padmābho'mbujalocanā
पद्ममालः पद्ममाला श्रीदेवो देवरक्षिणी | असितोऽप्यसिता चैव आह्लादो देवमातृका
padmamālaḥ padmamālā śrīdevo devarakṣiṇī | asito'pyasitā caiva āhlādo devamātṛkā
नागेश्वरः शैलमाता नागेन्द्रो वै नगात्मजा | नारायणेश्वरः कीतीः सत्कीतीः कीतीवधीनी
nāgeśvaraḥ śailamātā nāgendro vai nagātmajā | nārāyaṇeśvaraḥ kītīḥ satkītīḥ kītīvadhīnī
कातीकेशः कातीकी च विकर्ता गहनाश्रया | विरक्तो गरुडारूढा गरुडस्थो हि गारुडी
kātīkeśaḥ kātīkī ca vikartā gahanāśrayā | virakto garuḍārūḍhā garuḍastho hi gāruḍī
गरुडेशो गुरुमयी गुरुदेवो गुरुप्रदा | गौराङ्गेशो गौरकन्या गङ्गेशः प्राङ्गणेश्वरी
garuḍeśo gurumayī gurudevo gurupradā | gaurāṅgeśo gaurakanyā gaṅgeśaḥ prāṅgaṇeśvarī
प्रतिकेशो विशाला च निरालोको निरीन्द्रिया | प्रेतबीजस्वरूपश्च प्रेताऽलङ्कारभूषिता
pratikeśo viśālā ca nirāloko nirīndriyā | pretabījasvarūpaśca pretā'laṅkārabhūṣitā
प्रेमगेहः प्रेमहन्त्री हरीन्द्रो हरिणेक्षणा | कालेशः कालिकेशानी कौलिकेशश्च काकिनी
premagehaḥ premahantrī harīndro hariṇekṣaṇā | kāleśaḥ kālikeśānī kaulikeśaśca kākinī
कालमञ्जीरधारी च कालमञ्जीरमोहिनी | करालवदनः काली कैवल्यदानदः कथा
kālamañjīradhārī ca kālamañjīramohinī | karālavadanaḥ kālī kaivalyadānadaḥ kathā
कमलापालकः कुन्ती कैकेयीशः सुतः कला | कालानलः कुलज्ञा च कुलगामी कुलाश्रया
kamalāpālakaḥ kuntī kaikeyīśaḥ sutaḥ kalā | kālānalaḥ kulajñā ca kulagāmī kulāśrayā