By images, ceremonies,
mind, identification, and knowing the self, a mortal attains liberation
- Shaktirahasya
This work falls into the Shri Vidya class of tantras
and is a relatively brief and comparatively straightforward example of
the genre. Jnanarnava means Ocean of Knowledge. There is a transcription
of this text in Sanskrit now at the
Muktabodha Project.
Consisting of 26 patalas (chapter), the Jnanarnava
amplifies information relating to the Shri Vidya tradition in other
works of the school. No date can be assigned to it. It does have some
interesting information on inner worship, rather than the external
rituals (bahiryaga).
Chapter One
Cast in the familiar agamic form as a discourse between
Devi and Ishvara, the goddess starts the tantra by asking of the true
nature of Shri Vidya. Ishvara opens by saying that the letters of the
Sanskrit alphabet from A to Ksha, endued with the 14 vowels and the
three bodies, constitute the body of Matrika Devi, which is one with the
circle of time (Kalamandala). This is the absolute as sound
(Shabdabrahma). It is the true form of the Atma and is Hamsa.
Ishvara then dilates on the three bindus. Hamsa
indicates the three gunas; the three Shaktis Iccha, Jnana and Kriya; the
three tattvas; the three cities; the true nature of Bhur-Bhuvah-Svah and
the states of waking, dreaming and deep sleep. The waking state is
sattvik, and is the true form of Shakti, while the deep sleep state is
tamasik and is the Shiva form. The dream state is rajasik, says Ishvara.
The Turiya (the fourth) pervades all these states and is the supreme
Kala, the Jnanachitkala, a state of true consciousness. This is Tripura
and the true rosary of the letters (akshamala).
Chapter Two
Devi wants to know about the different mantras and forms
of Tripura. Ishvara says that Tripura has three forms of which the first
is Bala. He outlines a
three syllable mantra which is Aim Klim Sauh. She is the mother of great
good fortune, the giver of great eloquence, the great destroyer of death
and consists of all the worlds. The rest of this chapter is mainly given
over to details of external puja (worship), including tantrik gayatri
and the other usual details including nyasa and the like.
Chapter Three
Ishvara starts to talk about internal worship
(antaryaga). Before beginning external worship, the devotee should
visualise the root mantra as pervading the body from the Muladhara to
the top of the head, and visualise it as effulgent as kotis of fires,
suns and moons. Then, facing east, the devotee should inscribe the
yantra. The text gives detailed instructions on how to draw the figure,
including the mantras and bijas which should be drawn on it.
The yantra may be inscribed on gold, silver, copper
or on the ground, and should be scented with perfumes including
sandalwood, as well as coloured with kumkum, vermilion and camphor. It
may also be inscribed on bhurja (a type of birch bark). Then follows a
detailed dhyana (meditation image). She is adorned with many strings of
pearls, a bright diadem. In her two left hands she holds a book and a
bow, and with her two right hands she banishes fear and bestows boons to
the sadhaka. She is pure white as milk or snow and has a sweetly smiling
face.
Chapter Four
Here, Devi asks Ishvara about how to perform puja in the
chakra or mandala described earlier. Shiva describes twelve pitha
shaktis whose names are Vama, Jyeshtha, Raudri, Ambika, Iccha, Jnana,
Kriya, Kubjika, Riddhi, Vishaghnika, Dutari and Ananda. They are adorned
with strings of pearls and rubies, resemble the moon, are as white as
the Ganges river in flood, and have two arms. The twelve shaktis are to
be worshipped from the east (of the goddess) and are adorned with the
nine jewels.
There follows a description of the five corpses, the
five lion seats. Ishvara says that these are the bodies of Brahma,
Vishnu, Rudra, Ishvara and Sadashiva. Brahma, Vishnu and Rudra represent
the three gunas and the states of creation, maintenance and destruction.
There then follows a detailed description of different mudras and other
ritualistic details in the puja, as well as a description of the other
deities who receive offering in the yantra.
Chapter Five
The subject of puja is continued here. There is a very
lengthy meditation image of the goddess, followed by passages about the
worship and the mantras of the yoginis, Batuka, and the other bali
devatas, as outlined in Gandharva Tantra.
The five great corpses form the base of the Hamsa mattress. See
elsewhere on this site, in the section on the
paradise island, to understand the next few chapters.
Chapters Six to Nine
Chapter six deals with the eastern lion seat, and
describes the different Devis and shaktis who dwell in the direction.
The mantra of Tripura Bhairavi is given. The Tripura Bhairava vidya is
said to be hard to obtain in the three worlds.
Sampatprada Bhairavi is the great giver of
prosperity. She is as bright as a thousand suns, with a crest gem like
the rising moon, wearing numberless gems and pearls. Her face is like
the full moon, and she has three eyes, with large swelling breasts,
wearing red clothes, and has a youthful, intoxicated form. She holds a
book and dispels fear with her left hands, while with her right she
holds a rosary of rudrakshas and shows the mudra giving boons. There
then follows a description of Chaitanya Bhairavi. The next chapters
describe the southern, the western and the northern directions. Although
the dhyanas differ from those given in the Paradise Island section, the
different devis have similar forms. Here their yantras and vidyas are
also outlined.
Chapter Ten
This is a lengthy chapter which covers a number of
mantras necessary to the worship of the Devi. These include the
hand-purifying mantra (karashuddhi), the asana or seat mantras, and the
other vidya mantras used in her worship.
Chapter Eleven
A very brief chapter of only 14 verses which describes
the Panchadashi (fifteen letter) Kadi vidya, all in code form.
Chapter Twelve
Describes the other divisions in Shri Vidya, starting
with the Lopamudra mantra.
Chapter Thirteen
Deals with the Sodashi Devi, whose mantra has sixteen
letters. It describes the different sections of the mantra and says that
the sixteenth letter should never be revealed to anyone. Unless it is
obtained from a guru, its use bestows a curse. It is made up of four
parts which correspond to the states of waking, dreaming, deep sleep and
the fourth state. The fourth state, Turiya, is the supreme kala, above
being and non-being, above the gunas and pure.
Chapter Fourteen
Describes the placing of the golden vessel or jar, and
details the ten kalas of Fire, the twelve kalas of Sun, and in the moon
mandala, the sixteen kalas, together with the mantras used in this
worship. Reference can be made here to the Gandharva Tantra
introduction, which you can find on this site.
This patala speaks then of the special offering, and
of the yantra for this offering, which is made up of a triangle, a
circle, six angles, and an earthsquare or bhupura. The sun is to be
worshipped in this yantra.
The different six limbs of nyasa are also worshipped
in this yantra, and a sadhaka should perform bhutashuddhi, or
purification of the elements in the human body.
Different more complex nyasas should be performed,
including the Mahashoda
Nyasa, which is elsewhere on this site, and detailed in the
Yoginihridaya. The different meditation images to be used are
outlined. The puja includes the visualisation and placing of the 50 (51)
letters of the Sanskrit alphabet.
This is a very lengthy chapter, much of which repeats
information about puja which is rather neatly summarised in the
Subhagyodaya.
Chapter Fifteen
Ishvara starts by saying to the Devi that he will
declare the utmost Nitya mandala, and starts by speaking of Kameshvari,
the mahavidya who subdues all of the worlds. Her mantra is then given in
code form.
The vidyas of the other fourteen
Nitya devis are then
related. Mudras and nyasas related to Lalita are outlined. Inner worship
(antaryaga) is recommended over external puja.
Chapter Sixteen
The text then proceeds with a question from Shri Devi
about inner yaga and outer yaga (worship). Devi, replies Shiva, exists
between the muladhara and brahmarandhra chakras.
There then follows a beautiful and lengthy dhyana
(meditation image) of the queen of queens, who has a face like the full
moon, a mouth like a lotus, and who consists of all mantra, all agamas,
all places, all vidyas, all worship and puja, all shastras or holy
texts, all amnayas, and who is pure bliss and consciousness herself, the
supreme Mother. She should be invoked in the centre of the chakra using
mudras, and all the mudras should be shown to her. She is surrounded by
her fifteen Nitya attendants, and by the nine gurus, all of whose names
end in Anandanath, as well as by masses of enlightened gurus. She is the
Navachakreshvari, or Lady of the Nine Chakras. Then follows a very
lengthy description of her other attendants in the Shri Yantra, much of
which material is outlined elsewhere on this site, as well as her nine
forms in the nine mandalas of the Shri Yantra.
Chapter Seventeen
Shiva is asked about the sixteen letter vidya, about the
rules of reciting the mantra, as well as some instructions for the
substance the Shri Yantra may be drawn on, which include bhurja bark,
gold, silver, copper and the like.This chapter also has some prayogas
(applications) for subjugation and the like, and the flowers and other
substances used to obtain the desired results.
Chapter Eighteen
This short chapter deals with a rite known as the ratna
or jewel puja, which is also described in the
Gandharva Tantra.
Performing this rite for a period of one month removes the blemishes
accrued from seven incarnations, the text claims.
Chapter Nineteen
Shakti asks the lord to explain the nature of the three
bijas, the essence of Tripurasundari.
There follows a dhyana of Kamakala, which, the text
says, deludes the entire world, and delivers every other type of
benefit, including destroying death, and so forth.
Chapter Twenty
Deals with the rules of japa and homa, and describes
successive homas which involve the recitation of mantra many hundreds of
thousands of time.
This chapter is reminiscent of a similar chapter in
Vamakeshvarimatam.
The successive recitations and the more intensive homas eventually cause
every denizen of the three worlds to become attracted to the sadhaka.
It also describes the construction of the kundas
(fire pits) to be used in these homas, together with other diagrams
employed in the homas, along with the substances such as camphor and
kumkuma which should be used in the worship.
Chapter Twenty One
Speaks of inner (antar) homa, which is figuratively
described as using a four square kunda.
In this inner homa, the 21,600 breaths of inhalation
and exhalation feed the fire of consciousness. These breaths make up the
embodied being, or jiva, which, however, is one with the atman.
By sacrificing everything in the microcosm, which is
one with the macrocosm, into the central sushumna fire, knowledge
(Jnana) is obtained.
Chapter Twenty Two
Feeding and worship of the kumaris or virgins is the
topic of this chapter.
The kumaris should be treated with great reverence
and fed good food, adorned with jewels and fine clothes and the like.
Following the rules relating to the kumaris, the
chapter then goes on to describe the Duti, or shakti of a sadhaka. This
section of the chapter contains reference to the virasadhana.
Chapter Twenty Three
Continues the topic of Dutis (messengers) by speaking of
the Inner Duti. She is Iccha, Jnana and Kriya Shakti, the self of Shiva
and Shakti, the parabrahma, or supreme absolute, in which everything is
dissolved.
She is the form of the sixteen vowels of the
alphabet, the form of the absolute, and the sixteen kalas. Whosoever
knows her through the grace of the guru, becomes one with her.
A fine verse towards the end of this chapter says
that there is no difference between the four varnas (so-called castes)
and the chandala. The Duti, or inner goddess, is free from such
distinctions. In her, all such distinctions do not exist.
Chapter Twenty Four
Ishvara starts to speak about the rules for initiation (diksha),
without which worship of the Devi is fruitless. Would-be candidates who
do not have the right attitude are not suitable for initiation.
He then speaks of a pavilion to perform the
initiation, and of diagrams to be created and of the devis who rule over
the initiation, as well as the regulation of breath (pranayama) and
other particulars of the time of initiation.
The chapter contains an unusual description of the
chakras and of initiation in these chakras, as well as giving the right
times to bestow initiation upon a candidate, which refer to particular
times according to the rules of sidereal astrology when initiation will
be successful.
Chapter Twenty Five
A very brief chapter which contains the rules for making
a pavitra. This sacred thread must be scented with rochana, kumkuma and
the like, and fashioned in particular way with 118 threads intertwined
together.
Chapter Twenty Six
The last chapter in the tantra speaks of the damana
rite, which must be preceded by elaborate precautions to protect the
sadhaka performing it.. 
