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PANCHADASI, THE SUPREME MANTRA The next five namas 85-89 discuss the mantra form of Lalithambigai.

The mainmant ra of Lalithambigai is Panchadasi which consists of 15 bijas. A bija need notbe a single alphabet in Sanskrit. It could be a combination of alphabets also. For example sa is a bija and it is a single alphabet. If you take hrim it is also a bija but a combination of many alphabets. Each alphabet in Sanskrit has a meaning.If you take the first letter a in Sanskrit alphabet, it means so many things. It isth e origin of OM; it also means unification, non-destruction, etc. Theinterpretati on of meaning for such bijas mostly depends on the context in which itis used. S ince we are going to discuss about the Panchadasi mantra in the nextfive verses, instead of discussing it under various namas, it is better for us todiscuss and know the secrecy of the Panchadasi mantra as whole.Panchadasi means 15. Since t his mantra has fifteen letters it is called asPanchadasi. The explanation and un derstanding of this mantra is certainlybeyond our capacity. But let us try to ha ve a broader understanding of thismantra. Mantra consists of two phonetics man+t ra. Man means repetition and trameans protection. By repeating a mantra, the sad aka is protected. No mantra willfructify, if the meanings of the bijas in the ma ntra are not known to us. Mantra isthe second stage in self realization, the fir st one being external rituals. Eachmantra has dhyan verse. This dhyan sloka or v erse gives a description of thedeity, making it easier for the sadaka (practitio ner) to visualize the form of thedeity. When sadaka is able to visulaize the dei ty, the next step is to infuse power to the concerned deity by chanting the mant ra. It is like consecration. After theprescribed number of recitation and after performing purascharana (ritualinvolving japa, homa, feeding, tarpana and marjan a), the sadaka will have thevision of the deity concerned. We will discuss about purascharana and theeffects of mantras separately, not in this series.Panchadas i mantra consists of three lines of bijas and each line is called kuta or group. T hough there are different meanings for kuta, I would like to go with the meaning intricate in this context, as each bija is involved with the potency of thisman tra in its own way. The three kutas are known as vakbhava kuta, kamarajakuta or madhya kuta and shakthi kuta. Vakbhava kuta represents Lalithai s face,kamaraja ku ta represents the portion between Her neck and hip and the last oneshakthi kuta represents the portion below Her hip. The whole form of Lalithambigai is made up of these three kutas. This is one of the reasons whyPanchadasi is considered as very powerful. These three kutas are joined in sucha way that an inverted trian gle is formed around Her yoni. This is why this mantrais considered as highly se cretive. Vakbhava kuta is the right side of this triangle,kamaraja kuta, the upp er side and Shakthi kuta forms the left side of the triangle.We will discuss mor e about this later.Vakbhava kuta consists of five bijas viz. ka-a-e-la-hrim. Mad hya kuta consists of six bijas ha-sa-ka-ha-la-hrim. Shakthi kuta consists of fou r bijas sa-ka-la-hrim.Thus we have 15 bijas of Panchadasi. This mantra is consid ered as the mostsecretive mantra of Lalithambigai. As a matter of fact this mant ra is not revealedby these bijas, but by the following verse in Sanskrit. Kaaman yoni: kamalavajrabhanir-guhahasa madharishvabra mintraha. Punar guha sakala maay ayaacha pooshyaesha vishwamaadhaathi vidya . This is the verse where in the fiftee nbijas of Panchadasi are hidden. This is a clear indication about highly secreti venature of this mantra. We will discuss about the importance of each bija in ou r next posting, though it is not appropriate for us to discuss the nature andmea ning of this mantra.Let us now understand how the verse mentioned in the last po sting gives thebijas of Panchadasi. Kaaman (ka) yoni: (a) kamala (e)vajrabhanir( la)-guha(hrim)ha (ha)sa (sa) madharishva (ka)abram (ha) indraha (la). Punar (pun ar means again) guha (hrim) sakala (sa,ka,la) maayayaa cha (hrim) pooshyaeshavis hwamaadhaathi vidya . With this we get all the 15 bijas of Panchadasi.Now let us u nderstand the first kuta vakbhava kuta . This kuta has five bijas ka-a-e-la-hrim. T he entire three kutas end with hrim and this hrim is called hrilekha.A lot of impo rtance is attached to this hrilekha which is also called as maya bija.Vakbhava k uta is also known as agni kandam and indicates jnana shakthi of Lalithambigai. Ka means Brahma, the creator. a means Sarawathi the goddessof jnana. e means Lakshmi, la means Indra and hrim means the merger of Shiva and Shakthi. The bija ka is the root of kama bija kleem . ka also bestowspeace and prosperity to the sadhaka. The next bij

a a prevents all types of evilevents to the sadaka. e bestows wealth and all good th ings to sadhaka. The bija la gives victory to the sadhaka. Thus the first four bija s give peace, prosperity,prevention of misfortunes, auspiciousness and a status like Indra or also couldmean victory to sadaka in the all the steps he puts forw ard. (Indra is the chief of all devas and devis and is victorious in all the bat tles against demons).The last bija of the first kuta is hrim . This is also known a s hrilekha. This bija hasa peculiar form. You will be surprised to know that hrim is made up of 12 letters.h+r+i+m+and a bindu. Bindu is a dot on the letter m. Bu t this is not just a dot. This dot comprises of ardachandra, rodhini, nada, nadanta, shakthi, vyapika,sama na and unmani. Beginning from bindu and including these eight , is nadaha(total 9). This nadaha comprises of two v s one above the other (each v has twolines and two v s together have four lines) and four dots each at the open endsof v and one dot on the top these four dots. This is the combination of the bija hrim . What we have di scussed about the bija hrim is not complete. But it isenough to understand this mu ch at this point of time. More than these v s anddots, the pronunciation is importa nt. As a matter of fact the entire vakbhava kutaconsists of 18 alphabets. There is no point in discussing such minute details.There are specifications of length of timing for pronunciations of each bija. Theentire kuta should be pronounced in 11 matras (a matra is the time taken for awinking, possibly lesser than a sec ond). There are guidelines for pronouncing thebijas. For example pronunciation s hould begin from the throat and released tothe ether through mouth and nose. The pronunciation of vakbhava kuta shouldcommence from muladhara chakra and end at anahat chakra, contemplating theentire kuta as the fire.The second and third kut as will be discussed in the next posting.This is the third and concluding part o f our discussion on Panchadasi , thesupreme mantra of Lalithambigai. The second kut a is kamaraja kuta or Madhyakuta is to be meditated upon Lalithambigai s neck to h ip. This kuta has thehighest number of bijas viz 6. They are ha-sa-ka-ha-la-hrim . Out of these wehave dealt with, ka, la and hrim, in the first kuta and let us assume the samemeaning for this kuta. There are very detailed interpretations an d analysis for each of these bijas and we are not going into the same at this st age. We havetwo new bijas in this kuta. Out of the new bijas ha has been repeated twice. Thefirst ha means Shiva; the second ha means akash element (Soundarya Lahari3 2 refers this second ha as the sun) and sa in this place means Vishnu. Withreference to the five basic elements, sa means air element. The bija ha is alsoknown as eunuc h bija. Probably this is the reason why the bija hrim refers to theunion of Shiva and Shakthi. The hrim bija is also known as the maya bija. In thefirst kuta, Brahm a was mentioned, as the first kuta refers to creation. In this kutaof sustenance , Vishnu is mentioned as he is the lord of sustenance. It isinteresting to note that there are 22 bijas in this kuta. This kuta should bepronounced in a time fr ame of 11.50 matra. This kuta is to be contemplated fromanahat chakra to ajna ch akra in the form brightness that is equivalent to millionsof suns. This kuta is also called surya kandam and forms the second act of Brahman viz. the sustenance . Since it is associated with sustenance, desire isattached to this kuta.The thi rd and the last kuta which is called shakthi kuta, have only four bijas. Thiskut a is to be meditated upon the portion between hip and the feet of Lalithambigai. The four bijas are sa-ka-la-hrim. The first kuta has six bijas,second kuta five bijas and the third has only four bijas. Possibly this could meanthat creating is the most difficult act and dissolution is the easiest act. It can benoticed t hat two ha bijas in the madhya kuta is removed in this shakthi kuta. Let us take t he meanings of these bijas from the earlier two kutas. This kuta has 18bijas. If we add the total of all the three kutas we get 58 bijas (varnas) in thewhole of Panchadasi. This kuta is to be pronounced in a time frame of 8.50matras. The en tire Panchadasi mantra should be pronounced in 31 matras. Inthe case of continuo us recitation of this mantra, without leaving time gapbetween the kutas only 29 matras are prescribed. But the time factor does notapply when the mantra is reci ted mentally. This kuta is to be contemplated fromanahat chakra to the middle of the forehead in the forms of brightnesscomparable to the millions of moons. The re are nine stages from anahat to themiddle of the forehead. These nine stages a re nothing but the nine componentsof nadaha which we have discussed under hrim in

the previous posting. Thiskuta is called Chandra kandam and forms the third act of Brahman, thedissolution. The dissolution is represented by the bija la which me ans thedestructive weaponries viz. vajra (thunder bolt), chakra (the wheel. Poss iblymeaning the sudarsana chakra of Vishnu), trishul or trident of Shiva and the gadaof Sri Vishnu. There are three hrim s in Panchadasi. As we have seen earlier,h rim represents union of Shiva and Shakthi. Each of the three hrim s representcreati on, sustenance and dissolution. The usage of hrim three times in thismantra confir ms our discussion that Shiva and Shakthi are interdependent. Theone without the other will become action less.Shankara also talks about the bijas of Panchadasi in a secretive manner inSoundarya Lahari verse 32. This is more or less based on the verse which wehave discussed in our posting Lalithambigai s Panchadasi mantra . In the secondkuta out of the two ha bijas, Shankara means sun instead of akasha element.The interpretations of the bijas differ from scholar to scholar. It is a lso pertinent tonote that chanting of one round of Panchadasi mantra is equivale nt to threerounds of recitation of Poorna Gayathri mantra. Poorna Gayathri means anaddition of paro rajase savadom as the last line in addition to the existing th reelines. With this we conclude our discussions on the great mantra Panchadasi .

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