Rasarnava 2

English (machine translation) 2

Language: English

2.97 — 1 part

2.1

The holy Devī said: / How should the teacher of mercury be? Tell me, O Lord. / And how should the disciple be, O God, who is devoted to the practice of mercury?

2.2

The holy Bhairava said: / Free from longing, free from ego, devoid of greed and deceit, / constantly delighting in the Kula path, and devoted to worship of the guru,

2.3

self-controlled, knowing the instruction of disciples, powerful, free from envy, / knowing dharma, truthful in speech, skillful, virtuous, endowed with merits, pure,

2.4

knowing many treatises on mercury, skilled in the mercury pavilion, / knowing the rules of alchemical initiation, the apparatuses, the herbs, and the great minerals,

2.5

the count of colorations, the part of seed, the combination of opposites, the alchemical flux, / coloring, flowing process, oil, leaves, and penetrations,

2.6

excellence of color, softness, digestion of the infant and bound [states], / and both the sky-faring and earth-faring [powers]—he who knows this is considered a guru.

2.7

Knowledgeable in place, time, and rite, endowed with compassion and courtesy, / completely freed from greed and deceit, devoted to the practice of mantra,

endowed with the bodily marks from physiognomy, profound, affectionate toward the guru, / constantly devoted to the worship of gods, fire, the circle of yoginīs, and the Kula— / such a disciple is humble, knowledgeable in the tantras, truthful in speech, and firm of vow.

2.9

Men who are marked on their hands with the water jar, mattock, flag, conch, and so forth, O Devī, / should be employed in the accomplishment of treasure.

2.10

Strong, of great vigor, with dark-red eyes, / crooked noses, and ever fierce—they are recommended for the cave rite.

2.11

Those whose topknots are lean, with red hair, devoid of indolence, / tough, and with hot feet, one should employ in metallurgy.

2.12

First, O Devī, one should examine the well-collected practitioners, / brāhmaṇas, kṣatriyas, vaiśyas, and śūdras, in regular succession.

2.13

Those who have conquered their senses, endure hardship, are endowed with constant endeavor, / heroic, and well-educated, are praised as practitioners, O beloved.

2.14

Those destitute of alchemical initiation, devoid of the stated characteristics, / disturbers, and devoted to sin—one should avoid them with effort.

2.15

She who is unchaste, of bad conduct, harsh, fond of quarreling, / gluttonous, wicked-minded, hollow-eyed, pitiless, / and reviles mercury—that woman one should completely avoid.

2.16

With such women, O fair-hipped one, the whole earth is filled; / there is no woman like the one who binds mercury.

2.17

The Kākiṇī, Kīkaṇī woman, and likewise the Kāñcikācinī; / she who is menstruating in the dark fortnight is known as a Kākiṇī woman;

2.18

she who is menstruating in both fortnights is regarded as a Kīkaṇī woman;

2.19

she who is menstruating in the bright fortnight is a Kāñcikācinī woman.

2.20

Endowed with fresh youth, shapely, with a lovely smile, / possessing fine hair, a woman ever fond of a milk diet,

2.21

always speaking kindly, fond of stories from the Śiva scriptures, / whose face has the form of a lotus, whose gaze is shaped like a blue lotus,

2.22

whose teeth resemble diamond, whose lower lip resembles coral, / whose two breasts, O Devī, are high, plump, and symmetrical,

2.23

whose vulva resembles an aśvattha leaf, whose yoni is symmetrical, / whose feet are fleshy, smooth, and possess circular swirls of hair,

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youthfully dark, slender in the waist, delicate, devoted in devotion to Śiva— / she is to be recognized as a Padminī, cheerful, with deer-like eyes.

2.25

Menstruating at the full moon or the new moon, fortnight after fortnight, / divided into six types by the name Kākiṇī, stated earlier, she bestows mercury.

2.26

He with whom Mahādeva is pleased accomplishes rejuvenating alchemy; / through her alone, O goddess of the gods, should one carry out the operations of mercury.

2.27

For his intellect is pure and resolved in the accomplishment of mercury; / therefore, the guru and disciple mentioned earlier will share in accomplishment.

2.28

The holy Devī said: / From where does the practitioner obtain a woman with such characteristics? / Where there is beauty, O Mahādeva, the [auspicious] mark is not found;

2.29

where the mark is found, devotion is not found; / or else, by what means does beauty arise in one who is devoid of beauty?

2.30

Where have you seen the triad of marks, O Maheśvara? / Tell me the means, O Lord, by which this comes to be.

2.31

The holy Bhairava said: / Hear, O Devī, the supreme secret, which is difficult even for gods to obtain: / the birth produced from father Sadāśiva in Caṇḍikā's womb.

2.32

Their intellect, O Devī, becomes pure in the accomplishment of mercury; / one should give her the Tvaritā mantra, and free from pride, she should recite it.

2.33

She who recites a hundred thousand mantras becomes endowed with good marks; / adopting the khecarī mudrā, she should recite the Pheṭkārabhairavī [mantra].

2.34

She should contemplate thus: 'This Caṇḍikā is my mother, and my birth is from the Destroyer of Tripura; / I am Kālikā arisen.'

2.35

She can then declare the past, present, and future in the three worlds; / his helpers become such as his destiny warrants.

2.36

The holy Devī said: / O God of gods, Mahādeva, vessel of all knowledge, / I ask about alchemical initiation for the benefit of practitioners.

2.37

The holy Bhairava said: / Hear, O Bhairavī, that unprecedented state which I shall describe to you; / hear now the ritual procedure of alchemical initiation as it is spoken.

2.38

Where the king is devoted to wise policy, powerful, and intent upon righteousness, / and the minister knows the truth of righteousness and is endowed with devotion and faith,

2.39

there one should undertake this work: the binding of mercury and rejuvenating alchemy. / One should undertake it in a place where the people are devotees of Maheśvara.

2.40

One should carry it out in a solitary place where no uninitiated beast is found, / in a well-concealed, beautiful place free from all obstacles,

2.41

provided with a wall and a moat, protected by doors and bolts, / secluded, spotless, delightful, and furnished with diverse flowering trees,

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thronged with swans and water-fowls, adorned with cakravāka birds, / supplied with clusters of divine herbs, having water, with dark green grass,

2.43

adorned with clumps of white lotuses, blue lotuses, water lilies, and plantains, / in a multicolored mansion-garden, O Supreme Lady, one should construct [it].

2.44

In the middle of that, O Ruler of the gods, [a hall] fitted with a veranda, / furnished with windows, with smoke ascending upward,

2.45

equipped with red banners, and likewise with implements prepared, / a place with well-arranged herbs, husks, firewood, and wild cow-dung,

2.46

having the directional deities painted, Vināyaka worshipped, / consecrated by Umā and Īśa, and protected by the guardians of the directions.

2.47

One should construct a pavilion of one story or of two stories. / Then, O Devī, in the bright fortnight endowed with the strength of the moon and stars,

2.48

on an auspicious lunar day, auspicious hour, and ascendant aspected by benefic planets, / bathed, wearing white garments, adorned with white garlands and unguent,

2.49

having worshipped young maidens with honey, ghee, curds, milk, and sesame seeds, / upon [ground] smeared with the dung of a tawny cow, surrounded by golden jars,

2.50

strewn with barley and white mustard seeds, adorned with perfume and garlands, / upon a raised platform built there with bricks, O Sovereign of the gods,

2.51

having carved a stone slab and fitted the stone-slab bolt, O dear one, / having performed nyāsa with the Rasāṅkuśa mantra on the fingers, heart, and other parts,

2.52

one should place the mercurial linga there together with gold, O dear one. / "Oṃ hrīṃ śrīṃ" is proclaimed as the root mantra of the king of mercury.

2.53

Upon that, one should invoke the goddess Rasāṅkuśī with the root mantra, O dear one; / having worshipped the guardians of the directions in sequence outside on the square,

2.54

Nandin, Mahākāla, Bhṛṅgirīṭa of great strength, / Kumbhakarṇa, Sugrīva, Bhṛṅgīka, and Dṛḍhāyudha,

2.55

having placed them in fourfold division at the door, one should worship them on the right and left. / Having worshipped Śukra in the east, Skanda in the southeast quadrant,

2.56

then Rudra in the south, Pavana in the southwest, / Śiva in the western part, one should place Pāvaka in the northwest, / Umā in the northern part, and Vyāpaka in the northeast quadrant.

2.57

Lepikā, Kṣepikā, Kṣārikā, Rañjikā, / Lohaṭī, Bandhakārī, Bhūcarī, Mṛtyunāśinī,

2.58

Vibhūti, and Khecarī: the ten female messengers in order / are to be worshipped on an eight-petalled lotus, on the petals above and below.

2.59

Pyrite, vimala, mountain [bitumen], capala, calamine, / blue vitriol, sulfur, and orpiment, in order starting from the east,

2.60

the eighteen-armed Rudras, five-faced, three-eyed, / their diadems adorned with the crescent moon, blue-necked, having the bull on their banners,

2.61

all bearing their respective colors—thus the eight lords of wisdom / are to be worshipped, O Great Sovereign, on the second eight-petalled lotus.

2.62

On the pericarp, first, the quartet of śaktis beginning with the east: / Mālinī and the golden śakti; the transcendent śakti is taught to be Balā; / the immanent one is Vajraśakti; Kānti is to be known as both transcendent and immanent.

2.63

In the middle of those śaktis, [one should visualize] the omniscient Rasabhairava, / resembling pure crystal, five-faced, three-eyed,

2.64

with blazing, tawny, fierce eyes, with a mouth of blazing tongue, / with blazing eyebrows, with blazing hair, terrible to behold, seated on a corpse,

2.65

bearing a crown of matted hair, with the crescent moon forming its crest, / wearing a tiger skin, with a serpent sacred thread, having a bull banner,

2.66

the eighteen-armed god, with a face gently smiling. / With the thirty-two-syllable mantra one should worship Śiva in his full form.

2.67

Learn from me the mantra of the Lord of Mercury as it is declared:

2.68

"Oṃ hrīṃ krīṃ to the Lord of Mercury, to Mahākāla, to Aghorabhairava of great strength, vajra-hero, wrathful skeleton, kṣlauḥ kṣlaḥ."

2.69

Upon his lap [one should visualize] the Great Goddess, adorned with jewel ornaments, / brilliant like refined gold, wearing yellow garments, three-eyed,

2.70

standing between two white whisks, adorned with a pearl parasol, / holding a goad and a rosary in her right hands,

2.71

a noose and the gesture of fearlessness with her left [hands], with the crescent moon on her crest, / the Great Goddess Rasāṅkuśī, blue-necked, full of compassion.

2.72

One should worship her for the attainment of mercurial perfection with the five-seed vidyā: / the vāgbhava, the bhuvanīśī, and the śrībīja, O Sovereign of the gods,

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the mādana, and the śaktibīja: the vidyā exceedingly difficult to attain. / With incenses, lamps, food offerings, flowers, betel, and sandalwood,

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with the resonance of peace recitations, with the auspicious sounds of hymns, / accompanied by the ringing of bells, having performed worship according to rule,

2.75

one should carefully offer an oblation with the Aghora mantra for the pacification of all obstacles / to spirits, yakṣas, rakṣasas, and piśācas,

2.76

accompanied by the Aghora mantra, beginning with the syllable "oṃ" and ending with "namaḥ", / which accomplishes all works, O Devī, and destroys obstacles and afflictions.

2.77

Having recited according to one's capacity this very Rasāṅkuśī vidyā, / and having fashioned a sacrificial pit, O Queen of the gods, in the form of a yoni-wheel with girdles,

2.78

having performed oblations there in due order with ghee and sesame seeds, / one should place a jar, O Devī, filled with water and provided with fruit,

2.79

supplied with the five gems, wrapped around with cloths. / Having consecrated it there separately with the eighteen vidyās,

2.80

filled with fragrant flowers and other items, adorned with sprouting twigs, / and having worshipped the guest-offering vessel and sprinkled the practitioner with the vardhanī vessel,

2.81

one hundred and eight times with the water of the guest-offering vessel / and consecrated him according to rule with the water of the jar, the knower of mantras

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should impart the vidyā, O Devī, and instruct the alchemical practitioner. / Then, with appropriate foods and drinks, one should satisfy

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virgins, yoginīs, yogins, and practitioners, and should keep a vigil there. / The practitioner initiated in this manner, O sovereign of razors,

2.84

consisting of the great elements, composed of the five syllables, / the vidyā whose essence is the five seeds, upon the inner thread of breath-control,

2.85

having formed the Rasāṅkuśī mudrā, should recite one hundred thousand times, O dear one. / For him, Rasabhairava is attained without obstacle, O Sovereign of the gods.

2.86

Beginning with the praṇava and ending with "namaḥ", the supreme recitation takes place at the end of the libation. / Non-violence is the sandalwood paste, truth is the flower, non-stealing is the incense,

2.87

celibacy [serves as] the great lamp, non-acceptance of gifts as the bell, / and rice cooked in milk, O supreme goddess, having compassion for all beings as its nature.

2.88

Secretly worshipping the Goddess, he becomes a vessel of success; / he should recite this [mantra] either a thousand times or a hundred times at the three junctures of the day.

2.89

By the grace of her command, mercury becomes a sky-farer, / and divine herbs are mastered for him alone, O one praised by the gods.

2.90

Just as one who mounts a rutting elephant in the forest without a goad [comes to grief], / so one ignorant of the mercury-goad comes to grief upon obtaining the lord of mercury.

2.91

Along with the esoteric lore, [the teaching] must be learned from a guru belonging to the true tradition / by one desiring total success in the multitude of mercurial operations.

2.92

Now, for the invocation of a divination, with concentrated mind one should meditate / upon the previously mentioned Rasabhairava and practice becoming absorbed in him.

2.93

Having placed the mind in the anāhata [chakra] and in the faultless brahmarandhra, / having first performed the ritual placement on the hands and then the ritual placement on the limbs, / one should, collected in mind, recite the mantra of the lord of mercury according to one's capacity.

2.94

Then, having drawn a square, in the center a hexagonal diagram, / measuring one cubit or two cubits, with clean grains of rice,

2.95

in a place smeared with fragrant substances, one should worship it with sandalwood and other offerings.

2.96

In the pericarp, O Devī, one should place the previously mentioned Rasabhairava; / in the hexagon, one should arrange the six deities beginning with Mahākāla:

2.97

one should place Mahākāla, Mahābala, Aghora, Vajravīra, / Krodha, and Kaṅkāla, and worship them with the garland mantras:

2.97.p1

‘Oṃ hrīṃ krauṃ kṣlaiṃ kṣlaṃ hrīṃ hrīṃ hrīṃ hrūḥ huṃ phaṭ to the Lord of Mercury, to Mahākālabhairava, of terrible form, with dark yellowish-brown eyes: / descend, descend! cause to descend, cause to descend! speak, speak! cause to speak, cause to speak! declare the good and bad, declare, declare! make great protection, make, make! grant mercurial success!’ / Thus the garland mantras. / ‘Oṃ to Mahākālabhairava, to the heart, namaḥ.’ / ‘Oṃ to Mahābalabhairava, to the head, svāhā.’ / ‘Oṃ to Aghorabhairava, to the crest, vauṣaṭ.’ / ‘Oṃ to Vajravīrabhairava, to the armor, huṃ.’ / ‘Oṃ to Krodhabhairava, to the eye, vauṣaṭ.’ / ‘Oṃ to Kaṅkālabhairava, to the weapon, phaṭ.’ / Everywhere ending in svāhā. / Thus the placements on the limbs. / One should perform the placements on the fingers first in this way. / These are the root mantras for the six limbs and for worship.

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Rasārṇava — Sanskrit

Rasarnava 2

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