Kankalamalini Tantra
Women are divine, women are life, women are jewels.
One should always be either amongst hosts of women or with one's own
woman. When she is on the breast of a sadhaka in sexual intercourse,
then speedily she becomes like the cow of plenty - Devirahasya
The word kankalamalini means garlanded in
bones, or skeletons, a constant theme of texts related to the goddess
Kali. This work
therefore falls into the Kalikula category of tantrik texts. The edition
used for this abstract was published by Kalyana Mandir Prakashan in 2033
Samvat (1973 c.e.).
The Kankamalinitantra is a relatively short
work of only five patalas (chapters). Like many tantras, each is of
uneven length. Chapter five is probably longer than the previous four
chapters put together. In the colophon at the end of each chapter, the
tantra is ascribed to the Dakshinamnaya, or southern tantrik current.
Mantras are given below using the iTrans format to preserve their
correct form and pronunciation (see
Tantrik Texts for
more information on iTrans). There is a transcription of this text in
Sanskrit now at the
Muktabodha Project.
Chapter One
The first chapter opens with Bhairavi asking Bhairava to
tell her about the letters of the alphabet. He says that the letters A
to Ksha form the absolute as sound (Shabdabrahma), and then
proceeds to enumerate the female shaktis associated with these letters.
Bhairava says that the letters A to Ksha consist of Shiva and Shakti,
and without knowledge of their true meaning, it is not possible to be
successful practising the Vama path. The letters are made up of the
three gunas. This chapter, shorter than the others, then discusses the
major bija or seed mantras, including OM, shrii.m (Lakshmi bija),
krii.m, klii.m, hrii.m , hu.m, huu.m, hrau.m, ai.m, krau.m, svaahaa,
drii.m and duu.m, prii.m, Tha.m Tha.m and sphrii.m.
Chapter Two
Bhairavi addresses Bhairava as Nilakantha (the blue
throated) Mahadeva and asks him to explain to her the meaning of yoni
mudra and the three tattvas. He says that yoni mudra is very secret and
should not be revealed. It is the very form of the absolute,
representing the chaitanya or consciousness of mantra and bestows
liberation. By grace of the yoni mudra, Bhairava says he was able to
conquer death. Semen, blood and their conjunction are the temple of
Manmatha (the god of love). The yoni bija mantra should be recited 108
times and the yoni itself is the true form of the supreme absolute. The
yoni should be encircled with three threads, which are the ida, the
pingala and the sushumna. The yoni of Devi is the primordial (Adya) form
of Prakriti (nature). It is Kundalini and Mahakundalini, says Shiva.
Bhairava then speaks of the nadis or channels of
energy in the body. There are 3.5 koti (a koti is 10 million) nadis, but
the three nadis mentioned above are the chief, and represent the moon,
the sun and fire. Bhairava then goes on to describe the six well known
chakras through which runs the thread of the sushumna or central nadi in
the spine. Details are given of the Dakinis, the gods and goddesses, and
the bijas of each of these chakras, with very similar details to those
published by Sir John Woodroffe in The Serpent Power. Above the
Ajna chakra, says Bhairava, is a lotus of 1,000 petals, which is the
place of the seventeenth kala.
Kundali Shakti is the form of mantra, dwelling in the
muladhara chakra and rising through the Chitrini to the Brahmanda or
1,000 petal lotus, is the rosary of letters, says Bhairava.
There then follows a Yoni
kavacha which is of
some interest. Ishvara says that by holding it and reading it, it causes
all shaktis to give boons.
The rishi of the kavacha is Sadashiva, the metre for
it to be pronounced in is Gayatri, the devata is the Eternal Yoni form,
while it gives the four aims of mankind.
OM ma.m maa.m mi.m mii.m mu.m muu.m me.m mai.m mo.m
mau.m maH mama shiro raxantu svaahaa .
OM ma.m maa.m mi.m mii.m mu.m muu.m me.m mai.m mo.m mau.m maH OM maa.m
OM aakuuTaa.m mama raxantu svaahaa ma.m maa.m .
OM ma.m maa.m mi.m mii.m mu.m muu.m me.m mai.m mo.m mau.m maH
hR^idayaadi daxa bahu.m raxantu .
OM ma.m maa.m mi.m mii.m mu.m muu.m me.m mai.m mo.m mau.m maH
hR^idayaadi vaama bahu.m raxantu .
OM ma.m maa.m mi.m mii.m mu.m muu.m me.m mai.m mo.m mau.m maH daxa
paada.m raxantu mama .
OM ma.m maa.m mi.m mii.m mu.m muu.m me.m mai.m mo.m mau.m maH vaama
paada.m raxantu mama sadaa svaahaa svaahaa .
OM ma.m maa.m mi.m mii.m mu.m muu.m me.m mai.m mo.m mau.m maH
hR^idaadiSu naasaa.m raxantu svaahaa .
OM ma.m maa.m mi.m mii.m mu.m muu.m me.m mai.m mo.m mau.m maH upastha.m
raxantu mama sadaa svaahaa .
OM ma.m maa.m mi.m mii.m mu.m muu.m me.m mai.m mo.m mau.m maH ida.m hi
yoni kavacha.m rahasya.m paramaad.hbhuta.m .
The kavacha should be recited in the Muladhara,
before the eternal yoni. It gives equality with the sun and the moon,
and through the grace of Devi causes success in the yoni mudra. The text
says it should be recited with one's own woman or with another woman,
following which there should be intercourse. This is an example of
tantrik code. The "other woman", according to tantrik insiders, is one's
wife or woman, while one's own woman here refers to the Devi within.
From this point of view, sex with one's own woman is adultery. On the
other hand, this tantra may well be speaking literally.
The kavacha, continues Ishvara, should be written on
bhurja leaf (birch) and written with svayambhu flowers (menstrual
blood), and semen, and with other scents such as gorochana. It should be
placed inside a gold ball and worn on the body. Reciting the kavacha 108
times gives success in whatever is desired. The chapter closes with the
mantra namo yonyai namo yonyai kuNDalinyai namo namaH.
Chapter Three
This chapter returns to comparatively more sedate
matters, including guru puja, the guru mantra and a guru gita (song).
Ishvara says the two syllables of the word guru
represent that which is without qualities and the supreme absolute,
respectively. This mantra, he says, is the mahamantra, and should be
concealed.
He follows by giving a dhyana of the guru, situated
in the 1,000 petal lotus. He is seated in the virasana, with his two
hands showing the mudras dispelling fear and giving boons. On his left
thigh sits his shakti, whose face shows compassion. She wears red
clothes and jewels.
The guru and his shakti should be worshipped with
mental offerings (upachara). After reciting the mantra of the shakti,
the kavacha of the guru should then be read. This kavacha differs from
that given in the Matrikabhedatantra. Wearing the kavacha on
different parts of the body washes away demerit in the same way as the
Ganges river washes it away. The chapter closes with a brief song (gita)
extolling the virtues of the guru.
Chapter Four
This chapter centres around the worship of Mahakali.
Parvati asks Shiva to give the Kali mantra, and describe her puja.
Ishvara (Shiva) says that the mantra of Mahakali
bestows every type of success. All the gods and rishis achieved what
they did through her worship. It gives both liberation and enjoyment and
bestows liberation through enjoyment, when heard from the mouth of the
guru.
Shiva gives the mantras of Mahakali and and says her
one syllable mantra is the gives siddhi in the Kali age. He then gives a
three syllable mantra of Dakshina Kalika, followed by other three
syllable mantras producing different results.
Conventional rules in the worship of Mahakali are
suspended, says Shiva. There is no rule as to time, as to the woman who
is the shakti, or to defects of the mantra. Similarly, one need not pay
attention to bodily defects. The sadhana may be done during the day or
at night, and the recitation (japa) of the mantra may be done anywhere.
By pleasure one gains liberation, Shiva says. He
says: "This is true, true, true and again true, I say."
Puja is of three types, he says: daily, every so
often, and according to desire (kamya). Here he says he will speak of
the daily puja of Mahakali. Bhairava is the rishi, Ushnik is the metre,
and the devata is Mahakali, who gives the four aims of mankind.
Without five fold purification, any puja undertaken
is black magic (abhichara). Those five purifications are of the atma,
bath, the materials, the mantra and the devata. Following the placing of
the materials, one should bow to the gurus on the left and to Ganapati
on the right, and should then perform bhutashuddhi, the purification of
the elements. (This is a meditation in which the different elements
within a sadhaka are purified. There is a complete explanation and
translation of this process in Woodroffe's edition of the
Mahanirvanatantra).
Different
nyasas are then
performed, and the text follows with a meditation image of Mahakali.
One should meditate on Adya Mahakali as being in a
celestial spot, on the central peak of the Himalaya range, under a
jewelled pavilion which is the great pitha, her lotus feet served by
Narada and the best of saints, worshipped by Bhairava. She is the colour
of sapphire, with two large high breasts, wears variegated colour
clothes, and has four arms and three eyes.
The text then follows with a description of her inner
meditation, where she has limbs the colour of thunderclouds, dishevelled
clothing, three eyes and is seated on Shiva's corpse. She is ornamented
with a chain of skulls. In her left upper hand she holds a man's severed
head, and with the lower hand holds a cleaver. She has dishevelled hair.
Shiva then gives a further dhyana of Mahakali, where
she has a fierce, fanged mouth, is completely naked, and has three eyes.
She sits in virasana on Mahakala and makes a terrifying noise, wears a
garland of skulls (mundamala) and has streams of blood pouring over her
full breasts. She sways backwards and forwards, as if intoxicated. In
her left hands she holds a cleaver and a severed head, and in her right
shows the mudras giving boons and dispelling fear. She has a terrifying
face and her tongue rolls wildly. She has earrings made up of a bird's
wing and an arrow. She is served by terrifying, roaring jackals in the
cremation ground and by Bhairavas making fearful laughing noises, and
who dance over men's skeletons, making their victory cries.
Whew. The text then follows with a description of
Kali's fifteen attendants, the
Kalinityas. This
leads up to the left-hand worship with the panchatattva or panchamakara.
Shiva says whoever does Kula puja without wine or flesh loses the merit
of 1,000 good incarnations. "Without wine, there is no mantra, there is
no mantra except with wine," Shiva says. After performing the rite of
the five makaras (see virasadhana, elsewhere on this site), one should
bow again to Mahakali before doing the dismissal and cleansing rites.
Chapter Five
This chapter is concerned with purashcharana, the rites
to be performed by an initiated tantrika to make a mantra successful.
Elsewhere on this site, we have described the
elaborate rules, stretching over several days, which a sadhaka has to
undertake. But the Kankalamalini, in a similar matter to the
Devirahasya and the Brihadnilatantra seems to suspend these
rules.
Parvati is told by Ishvara that in the Kali Yuga,
folk are short lived and unable to perform rites in the way they were
able to do in previous times. He says that for this worship there is no
bad time, no special day or night, no need to do the puja on "great
nights", such as the eighth or fourteenth of a dark fortnight, nor is
there a necessity for worship at the twilights (sandhya).
There are no rules about directions, places,
recitation of mantra, time to do the worship. "Here, svecchacharya
(doing the rite according to will) is the rule for the mahamantra in
sadhana," Ishvara says.
Performing worship in the Kali Yuga in this fashion
brings siddhi in six months, according to the text. Shiva says: "Devi,
in the Kali Yuga, there are no tirthas (bathing spots), no vows to
undertake, no homa, no bath, and no twilight worship (sandhya). " Those
rites belong to the previous eras of the Saya, Dvapara and Treta Yugas,
he says.
However, purashcharana is still necessary, he adds,
and proceeds to give the rite suitable for tantriks during the Kali
Yuga. There then follows a lengthy rite which includes the giving of
substances including ghee, milk, and sugar, and the recitation of many
mantras, the performance of many nyasas. The importance of the rudraksha
rosary is stressed at
great length. The sadhaka should smear himself with ash, and put three
lines on his forehead as well as a tilak.
Rules are given about the use of the Gayatri mantra,
and towards the end of chapter five, there is a lengthy discourse on the
Devis of the bodily dhatus, such as Dakini, Lakini, Rakini and so forth,
along with their bija mantras and their various meditation images. These
Devis are situated in the different chakras.
