History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v7.c92.182.1

v7.c92.182.1

Mantras are the very heart and core of Tantraśāstra so much so that the śāstra is often spoken of as mantraśāstra. The theory of Tāntrik writings such as the Prapañcasāra and Śāradātilaka about mantras may be briefly stated as follows: In the human body there are ten nāḍīs, the three principal being Iḍā (on the left side from the left testicle to the left nostril), Susumṇā (in the middle of the body in the spinal chord) and Pingalā (on the right side from the right testicle to the right nostril). The Kundalinī lies asleep coiled like a snake in the Mūlādhāra-cakra. It is a form of the *śabda-brahma*. The Devī (or Śakti) assumes the form of Kundalinī, all gods reside in Devī and all mantras are Her forms (Śāradātilaka I. 55-57). It has already been stated how from contact with light (Jyotiḥ) Śakti becomes conscious and has a desire to create, then it solidifies and appears as a *bindu*. Through the instrumentality of Kāla (Time) bindu divides itself into three, gross (i. e. bīja), subtle (sūkṣma i. e. nāda which is bījabindu) and para (i. e. bindu which is kāryabindu). This last is of the nature of an unmanifest sound and is called *śabdabrahma*1782a by the sages (Śāradātilaka I. 11-12, Prapañcasāra I. 41 ff). Śabdabrahma exists in all things as consciousness; it exists in the bodies of living human beings in the form of Kuṇḍalinī and then appears as letters in prose, poetry and so forth, being carried by Vāyu (air) to the throat, palate, teeth &c.