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Obscure Religious Cults as Background of Bengali Literature c10: Chapter IV: The Practices of the Sahajiyās and the State of Supreme Bliss (Mahā-Sukha)

Obscure Religious Cults as Background of Bengali Literature c10

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Chapter IV: The Practices of the Sahajiyās and the State of Supreme Bliss (Mahā-Sukha)

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We have said in connection with the nature and function of the Tantras that the Tāntric systems, whether Hindu or Buddhist, never profess to discover and preach any truth anew; their main function is to indicate practical methods for the realisation of truth. The Sahajiyā cult, as an offshoot of Tāntric Buddhism, lays the highest stress on the practical method for realising the Sahaja-nature of the self and of all the Dharmas. From the point of view of literature, however, we are not much interested in the details of the yogic practice of the Sahajiyās, and we, therefore, do not propose to go into all the details. We shall give here a very brief account of the main practices and also of the state of supreme bliss produced through this process of Sādhanā.

(i) The Guru-vāda

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The most important thing in connection with the practical aspect of the Sahajiyā religion is the selection of a proper preceptor. The whole field of Indian philosophy and religion is characterised by a unanimous emphasis on the Guru-vāda or the doctrine of the preceptor. It will be seen that in a sense all the systems of Indian philosophy and religion are mystic,—for according to all the systems truth always transcends intellectual apprehension or discursive speculation,—it is to be intuited within through the help of the preceptor, who has already realised it. Truth is transmitted from the preceptor to the disciple just as light from one lamp to the other. The only way of knowing the truth is, therefore, to seek the grace of the Guru, who, and who alone, can make a man realise the Supreme Reality. It is believed that the true preceptor in his non-dual state identifies himself with the disciple and performs from within the disciple all that is necessary for the latter's spiritual uplift. The true disciple becomes an instrument in the hands of the true preceptor. It is for this reason that in Indian religions the Guru is held in the highest esteem. In many of the Indian religious systems the Guru is a substitute even for God, or at least God is to be realised through the medium of the person of the Guru, who stands as the living proof for the existence of God. To ordinary people God is a mere time-honoured belief; but the preceptor opens the eyes of the disciple and makes him realise the existence of God. Tāntricism, which lays the greatest emphasis on the practical aspect of religion, naturally, lays equal stress on the function of the Guru. Moreover, many of the Tāntric practices are secret practices involving complex processes of esoteric yoga. Because of this stringent nature of the Tāntric practice the help of the Guru is enjoined to be sought at every step. These intricate esoteric practices, when properly and systematically carried out, may lead a man to the highest spiritual elevation,—on the other hand there is the chance of physical and mental aberration at every step, and if they are not pursued very cautiously and methodically with the guidance and directions of the experienced Guru they may lead, and are very likely to lead, a man into the darkest abyss of hell. Because of their stringent nature these practices have repeatedly been declared in all the Tantras as the secret of all secrets (*guhyād* guhyam), and therefore, there is no other way of being initiated into this method of Yoga save the practical help of the Guru. In almost all the Tantras the Guru is always praised in the superlative terms and is declared to be the highest reality itself.¹ Almost all the Caryā-songs speak highly of the Guru, who is the only help in the path of Sādhanā, and in almost all the songs the yogins are warned of the pitfalls of the path and are enjoined repeatedly to seek the help of the Guru, wherever there is an iota of doubt in mind and wherever there is the slightest difficulty. So copious, so clear and so emphatic are the references to the preceptor in the Caryā-songs that we need not illustrate our statement by quotations. We shall see later on that the theory of Guru-vāda, as we find in the Dohās and the Caryā-songs, may be recognised as one of the main characteristics of all the religious sects represented by our old and mediaeval literature.²

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¹ See the first part of the *Subhāṣita-saṃgraha*, edited by Cecil Bendall, where various quotations are to be found from various Buddhist Tāntric texts in praise of the Guru and also defining the nature of a true preceptor.

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² *Vide Infra*, Ch. V, Ch. VII, Appendix A.

(ii) The Importance of the Body in the Sādhanā

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In connection with the practical aspect of the Buddhist Sahajiyā cult we should also notice that along with the uncompromising spirit of revolt against all formalities and orthodoxy in religion, great emphasis is laid in the Sahajiyā literature on the human body, which is conceived as a microcosm of the universe. This feature, we have hinted, predominates in all the Tantras in general, wherever the yogic element prevails; but as the Sahajiyās laid their whole stress on the yogic element this theory of the body being the epitome of the whole universe was most emphasised. In the *Hevajra-tantra* we find that the Lord (*Bhagavān*) was asked by a Bodhisattva whether there was any necessity at all of this physical world and the physical body, everything being in reality nothing but pure void. To this the reply of the Lord was that without the body there was no possibility of the realisation of the great bliss and here lies the importance of the body.¹ But though the truth is within the body and arises out of it, it should never be confused to be something physical.² In the *Śrī-kāla-cakra* we find that without the body there cannot be any perfection, neither can the supreme bliss be realised in this life without the body,—it is for this reason that the body with the nervous system is so important for yoga; if perfection (*siddhi*) of the body be attained, all kinds of perfection in the three worlds are very easily obtained.³ In discouraging going on pilgrimage and bathing in the sacred rivers, Saraha says,—" Here (within this body) is the Ganges and the Jumna, here the 'Gaṅgā-sāgara' (the mouth of the Ganges), here are Prayāga and Benares,—here the sun and the moon. Here are the sacred places, here the *Pīṭhas* and the *Upa-pīṭhas*—I have not seen a place of pilgrimage and an abode of bliss like my body."⁴ The *Tattva* is within the house of our body; yet, curious indeed it is, that we generally roam about in the whole world in search of it. It is nicely said by Saraha,—" He is within the house,—but you are enquiring about him outside. You are seeing your husband within, yet are asking the neighbours as to his whereabouts.” “Know thyself, O fool,” says Saraha,—“the truth is neither to be meditated nor to be held in the body as a Dhāraṇī, neither is it to be muttered as a Mantra.”¹ The scholars explain all the scriptures,—but do not know the Buddha residing within the body.² “Some one bodiless is hiding himself in the body,—he who knows him there (in the body) is liberated.”³ In the Caryā-songs also the body is highly spoken of as the abode of truth. Thus Kāṇha-pāda says in a song,—“The yogin Kāṇha has become a Kāpāli,⁴ and has entered into the practices of yoga, and he is sporting in the city of his body in a non-dual form.”⁵ Again he says,—“Make the five Tathāgatas the five oars and, O Kāṇha, steer the body on and tear off the snare of illusion.”⁶ The image of the body being the boat and a pure mind the oar for proceeding on to the way of realising the truth is very popular with the poets of the Caryā-songs.

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¹ *dehā-bhāve kutaḥ saukhyam, etc.* *Hevajra-tantra*, MS. p. 36(A).

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² *dehastho' pi na dehajaḥ*. Ibid.

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³ *kāyā-bhāve na siddhir na ca parama-sukham prāpyate janmanīha* || *tasmāt kāyā-rtha-hetoḥ pratidina-samaye bhāvayet nāḍī-yogam* | *kāye siddhe anya-siddhis tribhuvana-nilaye kiṅkaratvam prayāti* || *Śrī-kāla-cakra-tantra*, MS. (Cambridge, Add. 2364) p. 33(B).

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⁴ *etthu se surasari jamuṇā etthu se gaṅgā-sāaru* | *etthu paāga vaṇārasi etthu se canda divāaru* || *khettu pīṭha upapīṭha etthu maim bhamai pariṭthao* | *dehā-sarisaa tittha maim suha aṇṇa ṇa diṭṭhao* || *Dohākośa* of Saraha. Nos. 47, 48 (Dr. P. C. Bagchi's Edition).

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¹ ghareṃ acchai vāhire pucchai | pai dekkhai padivesī pucchai || saraha bhaṇai vaḍha jāṇau appā | ṇau so dhea na dhāraṇa jappā ||

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² paṇḍia saala sattha bakkhaṇai | dehahim buddha vasanta ṇa jāṇai ||

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³ asarira (koi) sarīahi lukko | jo tahi jāṇai so tahi mukko ||

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⁴ Kāpāli is the general name given to the Tāntric Yogins, but here, in the commentary of the Caryās (and also in the commentary of the Hevajra-tantra, MS. Cambridge, Add. No. 1699) the word is derived in the following way :—kam mahā-sukhaṃ pālayati'ti kāpālikaḥ, i.e., he who nurses “Ka” which means Mahā-sukha is a Kāpālika.

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⁵ Song No. 11

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⁶ pañca tathāgata kia keḍuāla | bāhaa kāa kānhila māā-jāla || Ibid., Song No. 13. Cf. kāa ṇavaḍi khaṇṭi maṇa keḍuāla | sadguru-vaaṇe dhara paṭavāla || cia thira kari dha(ra)hu re nāi | āna upāye pāra ṇa jāi ||

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ghareṃ acchai vāhire pucchai |
pai dekkhai padivesī pucchai ||
saraha bhaṇai vaḍha jāṇau appā |
ṇau so dhea na dhāraṇa jappā ||

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paṇḍia saala sattha bakkhaṇai |
dehahim buddha vasanta ṇa jāṇai ||

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asarira (koi) sarīahi lukko |
jo tahi jāṇai so tahi mukko ||

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The body being thus recognised as the abode of all truth the fundamental principles of Mahāyāna as transformed into Vajra-yāna began to be located within the physical system. Thus, corresponding to the six nerve-plexuses (ṣaṭ-cakra), or the six lotuses as they are also called, along the spinal cord,¹ as conceived in the Hindu Tantras as well as in the other texts on yoga, the Buddhists conceived of three plexuses or lotuses, with which they identified the three Kāyas. Thus the lowest Cakra in the region of the navel represents the lowest Kāya, *i.e.*, the Nirmāṇa-kāya (body of transformation); the Cakra in the heart is identified with the Dharma-kāya, (*i.e.*, the body of ultimate reality as the cosmic unity); and the Cakra just below the neck is said to be the Sambhoga-kāya (the body of bliss).² The Vajra-kāya or the Sahaja-kāya, which is the fourth Kāya with the Tāntric Buddhists, is located in the Uṣṇīṣa-kamala, or the Sahasrāra of the Hindus. It is also called the Mahā-sukha-cakra or the Mahā-sukha-kamala, being the seat of supreme realisation.

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¹ The theory of the plexus as associated with the theory of the Kāyas. These are (1) Mūlādhāra-cakra, or the sacri-coccygeal plexus, situated between the penis and the anus and facing down with four petals of red colour; (2) Svādhiṣṭhāna-cakra, or sacral plexus, near the root of the penis with six petals of the colour of vermilion; (3) Maṇipura-cakra, or the lumber plexus in the region of the navel with ten petals of the colour of the cloud; (4) Anāhata-cakra in the heart with twelve petals of the colour of Bandhuka-flower (red); (5) Viśuddha-cakra or the laryngeal and pharyngeal plexus at the junction of the spinal chord and the medulla oblangata with sixteen petals of smoky colour; and (6) Ajñā-cakra between the eye-brows with two petals of white colours. Above all, there is the Sahasrāra-cakra or lotus (padma) in the highest cerebral region.

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² In the natural order, however, the Cakra in the heart, being next to the Cakra of Nirmāṇa-kāya, ought to have been the Sambhoga-kāya and the Cakra below the neck ought to have been the Dharma-kāya; this would have been consistent with the general order of the Kāyas.

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We have seen that the Bodhicitta is constituted of two factors, *viz.*, Śūnyatā and Karuṇā, or Prajñā and Upāya. Among the nerves of the body, which are innumerable, thirty-two are more important,³ of which again three are the most important, two by the two sides of the spinal cord and one in the middle; with these two side-nerves are identified the cardinal principles of Prajñā and Upāya, and the middle nerve, which is the meeting-place of the other two nerves, is spoken of as the path for the Sahaja, or rather Avadhūti-mārga or simply Avadhūtikā. Avadhūti is explained as being that, through the effulgent nature of which all sins are destroyed,¹ or that which washes away the beginningless thought-construction of existence,² or that which removes the evils of afflictions very easily.³

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³ See Śrī-sampuṭikā, MS. p. 3(B).

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¹ Commentary on the Dohākoṣa of Kānha-pāda, Dohā No. 4. (MS. B. N. Sans. No. 47) p. 39(B).

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² Comm. on Caryā No. 2.

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³ Comm. on Dohākoṣa of Kānha pāda, Dohā No. 4 (comm. discovered by MM. Śāstrī).

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The theory of the nerves. The two nerves on the left and the right, which are identified with Prajñā and Upāya, and which meet together to produce the Bodhicitta, are variously termed in the Buddhist Tantras and the Caryā-songs. The nerve in the right which is the Upāya and which in the Hindu Tantras and the yoga literature is most generally known as the Piṅgalā, is also called rasanā, sūrya, ravi, prāṇa, camana, kāli, bindu, yamunā, rakta, rajas, bhāva, puruṣa, grāhya, vyañjana (consonants) and also the syllable vam. Again the nerve in the left, which is the Prajñā, and which is known generally as the nerve Iḍā, is also called lalanā, candra, śaśin, apāna, dhamana, āli, nāda, gaṅgā, śukra, tamas, abhāva, (also nirvāṇa), prakṛti, grāhaka, svara (vowel) and also ‘e’.⁴ Without entering into the details of the significance of these names, it may be said that the two nerves represent the principle of duality and the middle nerve (known as Suṣumnā or Avadhūtikā) represents the principle of absolute unity.

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⁴ For a detailed study of the significance of these names, see Introduction to Tantric Buddhism by the present writer.

(iii) The Esoteric Practice

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Coming to the question of the esoteric practice of the Sahajiyās, the first thing that we should take notice of is the importance attached to the process of Kāya-sādhana or the yogic practices for making the body strong and fit for higher realisations. This principle and practice of Kāya-sādhana is, we shall see, common to all schools of esoteric yoga and the exclusive emphasis of the Nātha-siddhas was on this Kāya-sādhana.¹ Yoga in general involves psycho-physiological processes; it is therefore that higher kinds of yoga should never be entered upon without a mature or perfect body. For this purpose of making the body mature or perfect the practices of Haṭha-yoga are to be adopted. It is for this reason that the Buddhist Siddhācāryas were, in the practical field, great Haṭha-yogins. In the Caryā-songs we find frequent reference to the strengthening of the ‘Skandhas’ or the elements whose aggregate constitutes the body. Until and unless the ‘Skandhas’ are strengthened, or, in other words, the body is made ripe² through practice of Haṭha-yoga, the supreme realisation, known in the Buddhist fold as Mahā-sukha becomes a lulling sleep of the senses or something like a swoon. It will be a blunder to confuse this state of swoon with the state of Mahā-sukha. It has been said in the Rati-vajra that if the body and the mind fall into a swoon in the practice of yoga, how can there be perfection in yoga?³ The yogin has, therefore, been repeatedly advised to acquire a strong body before entering on the yogic process for the attainment of Mahā-sukha.

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¹ Vide Infra.

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² For ripe (pakva) and unripe (apakva) body, see Infra.

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³ mūrcchite skandha-vijñāne kutaḥ siddhir aninditā || Quoted in the commentary of the Caryā-song No. 1.

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It has been explained before how the principles of Prajñā and Upāya were identified with the female and the male (or even with the female organ and the male organ which are known also as the lotus and the thunder), and Bodhicitta was identified with the bliss produced through the union of the female and the male. The actual esoteric practice of the Buddhist Sahajiyās is the production of this Bodhicitta in the Nirmāṇa-cakra or the Maṇipura-cakra (in the region of the navel) through processes of Haṭha-yoga and then to give it an upward motion so as to make it pass through the Dharma-cakra and the Sambhoga-cakra and then make it motionless in the Uṣṇīṣa-kamala where it produces Sahaja of the nature of Mahā-sukha. It is held that the Bodhicitta has two aspects; in the ordinary restless aspect (i.e., in the form of gross sexual pleasure which accompanies the discharge) it is called Saṃvṛta, and in the motionless aspect of intense bliss it is called the Vivṛta or the Pāramārthika. This Saṃvṛta and Pāramārthika aspects of the Bodhicitta represent the Saṃvṛti-satya, i.e., the phenomenal or the provisional aspect of reality and the Pāramārthika, i.e., the ultimate reality of Mahāyāna philosophy. The yogic Sādhanā of the Sahajiyās is employed first for the production of Bodhicitta through the union of the Prajñā and the Upāya and then for transforming the Saṃvṛta Bodhicitta into Pāramārthika. The contention of the Sahajiyās is that so long as the intense bliss produced through the union of the Prajñā and the Upāya remains in the region of Maṇipura-cakra or in the region of the navel which is the Nirmāṇa-cakra or the gross physical plane of bondage and suffering, it keeps the yogin in the world of grossness. But as according to standard Mahāyāna philosophy the Bodhicitta, after its production, must march upwards through ten stages known as the Bodhicitta-bhūmis and reach the highest state of *Dharma-megha* and attain Buddhahood there, so according to the view of the Sahajiyās this flow of bliss must be made to march upwards through the different Kāyas (corresponding to the *Bhūmis*) and finally reach the region of Vajra-kāya or Sahaja-kāya. In the process of upward march the bliss first produced goes on acquiring a higher nature and when it reaches the Uṣṇiṣa-kamala or the Vajra-kāya or Sahaja-kāya it becomes Mahā-sukha, where all kinds of duality vanish in a unique realisation of supreme bliss.

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(iv) The Middle Path in the Esoteric Sādhanā

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A dominant feature of Mahāyāna is its stress on the middle path avoiding the opposite extremes of views. Thus the philosophical system of Nāgārjuna is known as the ‘Mādhyamika’ system, or the philosophical school of the middle course, and it is held that Nāgārjuna’s school is a school of the middle course in the sense that he steered clear a transcendental path which denies the views of the positivists as well as the negativists. The philosophy of the *Abhūta-parikalpa* of Vasubandhu as expounded in his well-known treatise *Madhyānta-vibhāga* is again a challenge to both the extreme realists (like the Sarvāsti-vādins) and the extreme negativists (like the Mādhyamikas),¹ and the Vijñāna-vādins always professed to be the followers of the middle path. Apart from these philosophical speculations we find in the religious sphere on the whole that the Mahāyānists were opposed to the Idea of Nirvāṇa as much as to that of existence in the world of suffering (*bhava* or *saṃsāra*); and according to them the final state is neither the Bhava, nor the Nirvāṇa,—it is rather a state of non-duality where Bhava and Nirvāṇa become one and the same. In connection

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¹ The Mādhyamika school was always criticised by the Vijñāna-vādins (as also by the Vedāntins) as a pure negativistic school.

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The view of the middle path.

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with the idea of *Advaya* or *Yuganaddha* we have seen that the final state is that where all kinds of duality are absorbed in a principle of non-duality. This principle was adopted also by the Sahajiyās in their process of yoga. We have seen that the nerves in the right and the left in the microcosm of the body represent the principles of duality; their separate function which binds one to the world of sufferings must, therefore, be checked by the Yogin and they must unite with the middle nerve and function there conjointly. The middle nerve is, therefore, the middle path which leads to the non-dual state of Sahaja.

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The flow of Bodhicitta must be regulated along the middle nerve, and this is the most important and at the same time the most difficult part of the Sādhanā, and it is for this reason that in the Caryā-padas and the *Dohākoṣas* as well as in many of the Buddhist Tāntric texts we find repeated warnings to the novice to take practical suggestions from the preceptor at this stage. If the flow of Bodhicitta moves either left or right, the whole thing is spoiled. In the Caryā-padas, therefore, we find repeated warnings not to go either right or left, but to steer clear through the middle path. We often find injunctions in the Caryās for securing perfect control on the two nerves in the right and the left and to join them together (*i.e.*, to make them function together) in the middle nerve. Thus in a song Lui-pā says, "I have intuited the (non-dual truth) through the suggestion (of the preceptor). I have sat where the couple of the nerves Dhamana (the nerve in the left) and Camana (the nerve in the right) are united together."' Guṇḍari-pāda says,—"Destroy the mother-in-law (vital breath) in the house (*i.e.*, the body) and control the Maṇimula,—and split up the sides of the sun and the moon.'¹ Again Cāṭilla-pāda says,—" The deep river of existence is flowing on in a tremendous flow; there is mud on either side of the river, but the middle is unfathomable.

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For the sake of ' Dharma ' (i.e., for the realisation of the non-essential nature of all the Dharmas) Cāṭilla has built up a bridge, and people, desirous of going to the other shore, can now cross (the river of existence) fearlessly......... After walking up the bridge go neither right nor left,—near is the *Bodhi*, do not go far."² From the yoga point of view this river of existence refers to the nervous system mainly with the three principal nerves, which are described in the Commentary as *ābhāsa-traya* (viz., Śūnya, Ati-śūnya and Mahā-śūnya), which are the principles of defilement and therefore also the cause of all existence. The two sides, *i.e.*, the two nerves on the left and the right are muddy, *i.e.*, they are the paths which lead to the principles of defilement,³—and the middle nerve leads to the depth of the truth and so it is unfathomable. The bridge however, signifies the establishment of the unity between the two aspects of the Bodhicitta, *viz.*, *Saṃvṛti* and *Pāramārthika*,⁴ in other words, it is the way to realise as well as demonstrate how the physical Bodhicitta can be transformed into the ultimate Bodhicitta through processes of yoga. Cāṭilla-pāda warns that when one is on the bridge, *i.e.*, when one is engaged in transforming the *Saṃvṛti* Bodhicitta into the *Pāramārthika* through the yogic process, one should go neither left nor right,--the Bodhi is to be attained through the middle nerve.

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Kānha-pāda says in one of his songs,—" The path (i.e., the right path) is obstructed by the *Āli* and the *Kāli*."¹ Again we find,—he (Kānha) enters the lotus-pool of Sahaja by breaking the two posts of 'e' (representing Prajñā, or the left nerve) and 'vam' (representing Upāya or the right nerve).² Again we see that after entering into the yogic practice Kānha has made the *Āli* and the *Kāli* the anklets of his legs and the sun and the moon his earrings.³ Both these metaphors signify that Kānha has got full control over the *Āli* and the *Kāli* or the moon and the sun (which refer to the two principles of Prajñā and Upāya as well as to the two nerves). Kānha says that he has realised the wave (i.e., the vibration of bliss) in the middle course.⁴ In his Dohās also he says that he has broken off the two nerves *lalanā-rasanā* or *ravi-śaśi* in the two sides.⁵ Kambalāmbara-pāda says that after pressing the left and the right (nerves) and keeping close to the middle way he has been able to realise supreme bliss.⁶ Again Ḍombi-pāda says in a song,—" The boat is steered through the middle of the Ganges and the Jumna ; there the exhilerated lady (i.e., Nairatmā, absorbed in the Sahaja-bliss) smoothly carries her children (i.e., the yogin) to the other shore. Steer on,—steer on, Oh Ḍombi, (exclaims the poet,) time is high up in the way ; through the (blessings of the) lotus-feet of the Guru we shall go to the land of the Jinas (i.e., the self-controlled ones).

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Five oars (taken in the commentary to indicate the five-fold instructions given in the *Pañca-krama*) are moving;—when in the way tie up the rope of the boat with the *pīṭha*, (*i.e.*, arrest the flow of the Bodhi-citta, which is compared here to the boat, in the Maṇi-mūla). Throw out water with the pot of void, so that water may not enter through the joint. The moon and the sun are the two wheels, and (the unity of) creation and destruction is the mast (*pulinda*); the two paths to the left and the right are not seen,—steer the boat at your own pleasure."' Śānti-pāda also says that he is roaming avoiding the two ways in the left and the right.² In another song of Viṇā-pāda he says that he has made a *vīṇā* (*i.e.*, lyre) of which the sun is the gourd (*lāu*) and the moon is the string and Avadhūtī is the stand. On hearing the tune of the *Āli* and the *Kāli*, he says, the mighty elephant has entered Samarasa.³ Here the sun which is said to be the gourd and the moon which is said to be the string, are but the two nerves in the two sides, and the stand (*daṇḍa*) is the middle nerve. When the two nerves in the left and the right are controlled and fitted to the middle one, an *anāhata* sound⁴ is produced and it leads the elephant (*i.e.*, *citta*) to the state of Samarasa. Saraha-pāda says, "In the right and the left are canals and falls,—the straight path is the safe path."⁵

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¹ *bhaṇai lui āmhe sāne diṭhā | (jhāne diṭhā—Bagchi)* *dhamana camaṇa beṇi pāṇḍi baiṭhā || Song No. 1.*

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¹ sāsu ghareṃ ghāli koñcā tāla | cānda-suja-beṇi pakhā phāla || Song No. 4.

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² bhavanai gahaṇa gambhira vegem bāhi | duānte cikhila mājhe na thāhi || dhāmārthe cāṭila sāṅkama gaḍhai | pāragāmi loa nibhara tarai || . . . sāṅkamata caḍile dāhiṇa bāma mā hohi | niyaḍi bohi dūra mā jāhi || Song No. 5.

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³ vāma-dakṣiṇam cikhilam iti prakṛti-doṣa-paṅka-nuliptam | Comm.

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⁴ Cf. Comm. sa(m)kramam iti saṃvṛtti-paramārthayor aikyam.

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¹ Song No. 7.

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² Song No. 9.

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³ *āli kāli ghaṇṭā neura caraṇe |* *ravi śaśi kuṇḍala kiu ābharaṇe* || Song No. 11.

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⁴ *mājha beṇī taraṅgama muniā* || Song No. 13.

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⁵ *lalanā-rasanā ravi-sasi tuḍia veṇṇa vipāse* | Dohā No. 5.

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⁶ *bāma-dāhiṇa cāpī mili mili māṅgā |* *bāṭata milila mahāsuha sāṅgā* || Song No. 8.

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¹ Song No. 14.

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² Song No. 15.

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³ > *suja lāu sasi lāgeli tānti |*

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⁴ See *Introduction to Tāntric Buddhism* by the present writer.

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⁵ > *bāma dāhiṇa jo khāla bikhalā |*

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We need not multiply the instances and the analogies given in connection with the yogic process of controlling the two nerves on the two sides and the raising of the Bodhi-citta along the middle nerve. But what is the process for giving

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*aṇahā dāṇḍi eki kiata avadhūtī ||*
* * *
*āli kāli beṇi sāri suṇiā |*
*gaavara samarasa sādhi guṇiā ||* Song No. 17.

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*saraha bhaṇai bāpa ujuvāṭa bhāilā ||* Song No. 32.

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the Bodhi-citta an upward motion? The Apāna wind, it is held, has always a downward motion and the Prāṇa an upward motion; the yogin, therefore, should arrest the course of both the Prāṇa and the Apāna and then make them flow through the middle nerve and with this flow of the vital wind within the middle nerve the Bodhi-citta will also flow upward and reach the Uṣṇīṣa-kamala,—and thereby Mahā-sukha will be produced. The Bodhi-citta should then be made steady by making steady the breath, and this state of Yoga is the ultimate stage for the yogin.

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In this production of the Bodhi-citta four stages, associated with the four Cakras or lotuses, are distinctly marked, and on the basis of these four stages we find mention of the four Mudrās (viz., Karma-mudrā, Dharma-mudrā, Mahā-mudrā and Samaya-mudrā), which are the four stages of yoga. There are again four mental states called the four moments (viz., Vicitra, Vipāka, Vimarda and Vilakṣaṇa,¹ and four kinds of bliss, viz., Ānanda, Paramānanda, Viramānanda and Sahajānanda. Ānanda is the bliss when the Bodhi-citta is in the Nirmāṇa-cakra, Paramānanda in the Dharma-cakra, Viramānanda in the Sambhoga-cakra and Sahajānanda in the Mahā-sukha-cakra. Ānanda means light pleasure, Paramānanda is more intense; Viramānanda means the detachment from the worldly pleasure, and Sahajānanda is the final bliss.²

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¹ Vide Catur-mudrā in the Advaya-vajra-saṃgraha (G O S.). Also Sampuṭikā, MS., p. 10 (A); Hevajra-pañjikā, MS., p 2 (B). ² Śrī-kāla-cakra-tantra, MS., p. 57(A); Hevajra-tantra, MS., p. 27(B).

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(v) The Yogic Sādhanā of the Sahajiyās and the Female Force.

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Another thing that deserves special attention in connection with the yogic practice of the Sahajiyā Buddhists is the conception of the female force. In the Caryā-songs we find frequent references to this female force variously called as the Caṇḍālī, Ḍombī, Śavarī, Yoginī, Nairāmaṇi, Sahaja-sundarī, etc. and we also find frequent mention of the union of the yogin with this personified female deity.

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This Yoginī or the Sahaja-damsel should not be confused with the woman of flesh and blood, associated with the actual yogic practices; she is but an internal force of the nature of vacuity (Śūnyatā) or essencelessness (nairātmā) and great bliss residing in the different plexuses in different stages of yogic practice.

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In the Hindu Tantras we find that in the Mūlādhāra-cakra (which is the lowest of the Cakras) remains coiled an electric force known as the Serpent-power (coiled like a serpent) or the Kula-kuṇḍalinī Śakti, and the Sādhanā consists in rousing this Śakti, lying dormant in the Mūlādhāra, and in making her unite with the Śiva in the Sahasrāra; and we have seen that the union of the Śakti with the Śiva is what is meant by perfection in Tantric Yoga. Corresponding to this Kula-kuṇḍalinī Śakti of the Hindu Tantras we find the conception of a fire-force of the Buddhists in the Nirmaṇa-kāya, and she is generally described as the Caṇḍālī. Thus it is said by Kāṇha-pāda in one of his songs,—" One is that lotus, sixty-four are the petals,—the Ḍombī climbs upon it and dances."' In the Hevajra-tantra we find, "The Caṇḍālī burns in the navel and she burns the five Tathāgatas and the goddesses like Locanā and others, and when all is burnt, the moon pours down the syllable hum."² This Caṇḍālī is the goddess Nairātmā or Avadhūtikā or Prajñā, and when she is roused through the yogic practice in the navel, all the five Skandhas or the material elements represented by the five Tathāgatas and all the goddesses like Locanā and others associated with these Tathāgatas are burnt away, and when all is burnt the moon, which represents the Bodhi-citta, pours down *hum*, which again represents the ultimate knowledge (*vajra-jñāna*).¹ In a song of Guñjarī-pāda we find,--" The lotus and the thunder meet together in the middle and through their union Caṇḍālī is ablaze; that blazing fire is in contact with the house of the Ḍombī,—I take the moon and pour water. Neither scorching heat nor smoke is found, but it enters the sky through the peak of mount Meru."² When the lotus and the thunder are united through the emotion of Mahā-sukha (which is happily compared to a gush of wind) Caṇḍālī is ablaze in the Nirmāṇa-cakra in the navel.¹ In contact with this fire of Mahā-sukha the house (i.e., the store of all complexes, desires and root-instincts) is burnt, but the moon (i.e., Bodhi-citta) pours water in the fire. This fire of Mahā-sukha has neither heat nor smoke, but it enters into vacuity (gaaṇa) through the spinal column (mount Meru).

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¹ eka so padumā cauṣaṭṭhi pākhuḍi | tahīṃ cadi nācaa ḍombī bāpudi || Song No. 10.

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² caṇḍālī jvalitā nābhau dahati pañca-tathāgatān | dahati ca locanādīni dagdhe hum sravate śaśi ||

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¹ In the *Hevajra-pañjikā* we find as many as four interpretations of this verse. In the first interpretation we find that Caṇḍā means Prajñā as she is of very fierce (*caṇḍa*) nature in controlling all the great and minor afflictions (*kleśopakleśa*) and Āli means Vajra sattva; therefore Caṇḍālī means the union of Prajñā with the Vajra-sattva; and as a result of that union the fire of great emotion (*mahā-rāga*) burns away the five Skandhas and the five elements of earth, etc. *Cf* *locanādīn'ti pṛthivyā-dīnīti* and the *Śaśī* as the Vajra-sattva adopts the nature of *hum*, (it may be remembered in this connection that *hum* is the bīja mantra of the Vajra-sattva) The second interpretation is almost the same as the first. Another sectarian view (*sampradāya vyākhyā*) is that Caṇḍā is Prajñā, or the left nerve (i e., flowing from the left nostril) and Āli is Upāya or the right nerve; when they are combined together through the instructions of the preceptor, it is called Caṇḍālī: *Nābhi* indicates the middle, i.e., the Avadhūtikā (i.e, the middle nerve) through which the fire of great emotion (*mahā-rāgāgni*) all the five Skandhas and the material elements (earth, etc.) are burnt, and when they are burnt the knowledge of the Mahā-sukha is produced. Again, another sectarian explanation is,--Caṇḍā is Prajñā, i.e., Śūnyatā-knowledge,—and Āli means the mind full of universal compassion; *caṇḍālī* then means a commingling of these Śūnyatā and Karuṇā and when it is thus combined *Śaśī*, i.e., the Vajra-dhara attains an illuminating Samādhi (*prabhāsvaramaya-samādhi*) where the world of the past, present and the future is realised to be one and unchanging. [(Vide *Hevajra-pañjikā*, MS., pp. 9 (B)-10(B).]

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² *kamala kulisa mājhem bhaia miali* | *samatā joem jalia caṇḍālī* || *dāha ḍombī-ghare lāgeli āgi* | *sasahara lai siñcahūm pāṇī* || *nau khara jālā dhūma na disai* | *meru-śikhara lai gaana paisai* ||

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¹ Cf. the Com. kamala-kuliśam ityadi | prajñopāya-samatāṃ satyākṣara-mahāsukha-rāga-nilā-vartān nābhau nirmāṇa-cakre caṇḍālī jvalitā mama | Ibid., p. 72 (Śāstrī's edition)

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In the Sādhana-mālā we find that Mahā-mudrā resides in the navel and she is the producer of Mahā-sukha and for intense scorch she is described as of the nature of fire. She is of the nature of the first vowel, she is taken to be the wisdom by the Buddhas,—she remains pervading the three elements (tri-dhātu), and is never known by lay people (pṛthag-jana).²

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² Sādhana-mālā, Vol. II, p 448 (G O. S.).

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In the Sampuṭika this Caṇḍālī is depicted as the female counterpart of the Vajra-sattva; she is absorbed in him, as Prajñā and when roused by the yogic practice she becomes ablaze in the region of the navel. She is known as the goddess Nairātmā as well as the Vasanta-tilaka, she consumes in her thousand heaps of fire—her lustre is like the dazzle of the lightning; at the time of the yogic practice (of making oneself a god) that Śakti moves throughout the whole body with all her power,—she burns the Dharma-cakra in the heart and then through the Saṃbhoga-cakra proceeds forward and enters the Cakra in the head and then after burning everything and producing bliss returns to the region of the navel again.³ In the commentary on the Marma-kalikā- tantra we find a description of the nature of this Caṇḍālī. It is said to be of the nature of a peculiar affection produced through the application of all yoga-practices with the instructions of the preceptor,—it is like juice extracted from sugarcanes through pressure,—like great light produced in the wood through friction,—like the pleasure produced in the couples through their intense love in copulation,—like cream produced in milk through churning,—like the most substantial thing (*ghṛta*) produced in cream through the power of heat,—like hard pottery produced from mud through the power of whirling,—like the best potency (wine) produced in grapes, etc., through medicinal processes, like the actual presentation of the desired one through the power of attraction produced in Mantra, etc.¹ Thus it seems from all these descriptions that the goddess Caṇḍālī is nothing but an internal force produced through the yogic process and that the rising of the Caṇḍālī marks the first perception of the Mahā-sukha produced through esoteric yogic practices; when in her upward march she reaches the Uṣṇīṣa-kamala, she

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³ tasyaiva sahajā prajñā sthitā tadgata-rūpiṇī | karma-māruta-nirddhūtā jvalanti’ha nābhi-maṇḍale | nairātmeti vikhyātā vasanta-tilakā smṛtā | bala-grasat-sahasrāgni vidyuc-chaṭā-samaprabhā |

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¹ *tatra ca śrī-matī caṇḍālī yoga-sakala-śakti-nidhāne guru-vākyādiṣu saṃyoga-śukti-samutpādita-viśiṣṭa-rāgavat | ikṣvādiṣu piḍana-śakti-samupajāta-divya-rasavat | kāṣṭhādiṣu śayanīya (?)-śakti-samutpādita mahālokavat | maithuneṣu dampati-prīti-śakti-samutpādita-sukhavat | kṣīrādiṣu dhārā-śakti-samutpādita-sāravat | navanīteṣu jvālā-śakti-samutpādita-viśiṣṭa-sāravat | mṛttikādiṣu āvartana-śakti-samutpādita-taijasavat | drākṣādiṣu bhaiṣajya-śakti-samutpādita-bala-viśeṣavat | mantrādiṣu ākarṣaṇaśakti-samutpādita-saphala-vāñchitavat |* Com. on Marma-kalikā-tantra, MS., p. 39 (B)

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*devatā-yoga-kāle roma-kūpāgra sandhiṣu* |
*niścaranti diśo daśaḥ sarvān tarjayanti surāsurān* ||
*hṛdaye dharma cakram dagdhvā sambhoga-cakrataḥ* |
*nāsā randhrena niṣkramya dakṣiṇena samantataḥ* ||
*uṛṇā-koṣa-gatenapi randhreṇa daśa-dikṣu vai* |
*buddhānām bodhisattvānām nāsā-randhreṇa vāmataḥ* ||
*praviśanti śikhā-cakre samadahya viniṣkramet* |
*pūrvoktenaiva randhreṇa sikhāyām praviśet punaḥ* ||
*dagdhānām sarva-buddhānām ānandam janayet tataḥ* |
*nābhi-maṇḍalam āgatya sthitā bhavati pūrvavat* ||
*Śrī-sampuṭikā*, MS., pp. 48 (B)-49 (A).

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becomes of the nature of pure Mahā-sukha. This conception of Śakti of the Buddhist Sahajiyās is an adoption of the general Tāntric conception of the Śakti mixed up with the principle of the destructive fire, or the fire-force situated in the navel as postulated and emphasised by the Nātha-yogins.¹ When through the yogic-process this Śakti is made to move upwards and is gradually dissociated from the principles of grossness and defilement, she gradually reveals to the yogin her pure nature of bliss and in the region of the lotus in the head, *i.e.*, in the highest state completely dissociated from the principle of grossness and defilement, she becomes pure Mahā-sukha.

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¹ *Vide infra* Ch. IX.

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In the upward march the Caṇḍālī is often described as the Ḍombī and when in the Mahā-sukha-kamala, she is the Sahaja-damsel (*Sahaja-sundarī*) with whom the perfect yogin is always united. In the Caryā-padas we often find that the yogin is sporting with the goddess Nairātmā in the Sambhoga-kāya near the neck. Thus Śavara-pāda says in a song,—“(I chew the) betel-leaf of my heart and chew camphor in great bliss,—and then with the goddess Nairāmaṇi in the neck I pass the night in Mahā-sukha.”² Here the ‘betel-leaf of heart’ stands for the luminous Citta, and camphor (*kāpura = karpūra*) for semen.³ Nairāmaṇi (or Nirāmaṇi) is the goddess Nairātmā or Prajñā,—neck implies the Sambhoga-cakra, and night implies the darkness of ignorance and afflictions. In a song of Kāṇha-pada we find that the uninitiate speak ill of the Ḍombī (Nairātmā) but the wise never separate her transcends all sense-perception.¹ She, therefore, lives outside the city, *i.e.*, outside the world of senses. In the metaphor of selling the loom and the basket of bamboo there seems to be a pun on some of the words; *tanti* in the vernacular means a loom, but it may also be associated with the Sanskrit word *tantrī* or *tantra* to signify the thread of mental constructions; the word *cāṃgeḍā* means a basket (made of bamboo), but the commentary explains it as *viṣayābhāsam*, *i.e.*, the defiling principle of objectivity. The lake mentioned above is the body and the lotus-stalk is the Bodhi-citta;

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and the Ḍombī, unless she is perfectly purified, spoils both of them. It is for this reason that the Ḍombī should be purified and made steady in order to attain the Bodhi-citta. This latter Ḍombī, however, seems to be the vital wind, impure and uncontrolled, and in the *Hevajra-tantra* we find that the element of air is represented by the goddess Ḍombī.² In a song Vīṇā-pāda, who has made a lyre with the sun, the moon and the Avadhūtī, says that when the lyre produces sound, the Vajradhara (the yogin himself) dances and the goddess (*Nairātmā*) sings and thus the drama of the Buddha is played.³ Kāṇha-pāda says in another song,—" Of what nature is, O Ḍombī, thy cleverness?—the aristocrats are outside thee and the Kāpālīs are within (*i.e.*, the arrogant pundits and the orthodox priests can never have any access to the Sahaja-Nairātmā, but only the Kāpālī yogins can realise her). Thou hast spoiled everything, through the law of cause and effect thou hast destroyed the moon. (The significance is that the Nairātmā, when covered with the veils of ignorance, deceives the whole world through illusory knowledge, in that respect she spoils the moon, *i.e.*, the Bodhi-citta). Some speak ill of thee, but the learned never cast thee off from the neck (i.e. the Sambhoga-cakra). Thou art the Kāma-caṇḍālī,—there is no woman more cunning and unfaithful than the Dombi.' In another song of Kāṇha-pāda we find a beautiful analogy of marriage with the Dombi.

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First follows a wedding procession in which existence and extinction are made the musical instruments paṭaha and mādala and the mind and the vital wind are similarly made two other musical instruments,—the drum is proclaiming a victorious sound and Kāṇha is on his march for marrying the Dombi. By marrying the Dombi the gain is the escape from birth, and the transcendental region (ānaṭu-dhāma = anuttara-dhāma) of Mahā-sukha is obtained as the dowry. After marriage day and night pass away in sex-discourse and the night is passed in the bright company of the Yoginī (i.e., the dark night of ignorance vanishes away at the appearance of the effulgent Sahaja-knowledge). The yogin who is in love with the Dombi never leaves her even for a moment and always remains mad in the Sahaja-bliss.² In a song of Kukkurī-pāda we find it put into the mouth of the Nairātmā,—"I am free from all hopes and desires and the void-mind is my husband,—the nature of the realisation of bliss that proceeds from me cannot be expressed."³ In another song, Śavara-pāda says, "High is the mountain (i.e., the spinal column) and there on it (i.e., in the Mahā-sukha-cakra which is above the spinal column) sits the Śabarī girl; she is decked with the coloured feathers of the peacock and with a garland of jequirity on her neck. O exhilarated Śavara, O mad Śavara, (exclaims the girl on the mountain), do not revel in wordly pleasure; I am thy dear consort of the name of Sahaja-sundarī (i.e., beautiful Sahaja-lady).

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Many are the trees on the mountain whose branches touch the sky,—the Śavarī girl decked with earrings and the thunder plays alone in this forest. The bed-stead of the three elements (viz., body, speech and mind) are placed and the Śavara spreads the bed in great bliss, and the serpent-like Śavara (i.e., the citta) and the goddess Nairātmā (who destroys all the afflictions) pass their night of love on that bed."' ¹ In another song of Bhusuka-pāda he says,—" 'I have steered the thunder-boat through the canal of the lotus,—and have left off all the afflictions after reaching the non-dual Bengal. To-day Bhusuka has indeed become a Bengalee, for he has taken Caṇḍālī as his own wife.'" ² Here the Vajra (the thunder) stands for the Citta-vajra (i.e., the adamantine mind) and the lotus stands for the Prajñā, and through their union the non-dual truth (Bengal) is obtained.³ By making Caṇḍālī (produced through the union of the thunder and the lotus) his wife, the yogin has realised the purely non-dual truth.

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² *hia tāṃvolā mahāsuhe kāpura khāi |* *suna nirāmaṇi kaṇṭhe laiā mahāsuhe rāti pohāi |* Song No. 28.

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³ *Cf. śukram karpūrakam matam |* *Hevajra-tantra*, MS., p. 44 (A).

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¹ *asparśā bhavati yasmāt tasmāt ḍombī prakathyate* | *Hevajra-tantra*, MS., p. 2 (B).

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² *Cf.* Earth is Pukkaśī, water Śavarī, fire Caṇḍālī and air is the Ḍombī. *Hevajra-tantra*. MS., p. 26 (A).

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³ *nācanti vājila gānti dei* | *buddha nāṭaka visamā hoi* || Song No. 17.

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¹ Song No. 18.

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² Song No. 19.

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³ hāmu nirāsī kha-maṇa-bhaṭāri | mohora vigoā kahaṇa na jāi || Sor.g No. 20.

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¹ ūcā ūcā pāvata tahim basai savarī hālī | morangi piccha parahiṇa savarī givata guñjarī mālī || umata savaro pǎgala savaro mā kara guli guhaḍā tohori | ṇia ghariṇī nāme sahaja sundarī || nānā taruvara maulila re gaaṇata lāgeli dālī | ekelī savari e baṇa hiṇḍai karṇa-kuṇḍala-vajradhārī || tia dhāu khaṭa paḍilā savaro mahāsukhe seji chāīli | savaro bhujaṅga nairāmaṇi dārī pemma rāti pohāīli || Song No. 28. Cf. also. varagiri sihara uttuṅga muṇi savare jahi kia vāsa | Dohākoṣa of Kānha-pāda, Dohā No. 25.

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² bāja nāva pāḍi pāuā khāle bāhiu adaa-vaṅgāle klesa luḍiu || āji bhusu baṅgālī bhailī ṇia ghariṇī caṇḍālī leli || Song No. 49.

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³ It is to be noticed that Bengal here represents non-duality. (Cf. also, bange jāyā nilesi etc. Song No. 39). How it came to be so we do not know. MM. Haraprasāda Śāstrī, however, says in his introduction to the Bauddha-Gān-O-Dohā (Intro., p. 12) that in the Sahajiyā School there are three ways of Sādhanā - viz., Avadhūtī, Caṇḍālī and Ḍombī, or Vaṅgālī (i.e., Bengalee). In the Avadhūtī there is only duality, Caṇḍālī seems to be a mixture of dualism as well as non-dualism,

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Various transformations of the Caṇḍālī into Ḍombī, Nairāmaṇi, Śavarī, Sahaja-sundarī, etc.

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(vi) The Final State of Bodhi-citta or the State of Mahā-sukha.

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From our previous discussions it will be clear that the question of the production of the Bodhi-citta and its upward march through the different Kāyas to the Uṣṇīṣa-kamala so as to be transformed there into Mahā-sukha is closely associated with the question of raising the Śakti from the lowest pole of phenomenalism to the highest pole of absolute truth. When the Śakti reaches the Vajra-kāya or the Sahaja-kāya she becomes Śūnyatā herself,—and our perfected Citta becomes the lord Vajra-sattva; real Mahā-sukha follows only when this Śūnyatā is united in the Sahaja-kāya with the Vajra-sattva.

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There are, however, some signs which are observed by the yogin when the ultimate state is produced. In the Śrī-guhya-samāja we find mention of five such signs: the first is of the form of a mirage, the second of the form of smoke, the third in the form of a firefly, the fourth is like a burning lamp and the fifth is like the stainless sky.¹ These signs are rather significant. In the commentary on the Marma-kalikā-tantra it has been explained that the sign of mirage signifies the knowledge about the

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¹ prathamam marīcikākāraṃ dhūmrākāraṃ dvitīyakam | tṛtīyam khadyotākāraṃ caturtham dīpavaj jvalam || pañcaman tu sadā-lokam nirabhram gagana-sannibham | Śrī-guhya-samāja-tantra, Ch. XVIII, p. 164, (G. O. S.),.

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but in Ḍombi there is only uncompromising non-duality. In Bengal, continues MM. Śāstrī, there was a predominance of monistic thought and therefore the author Bhusuka says that he has become a Bengalee or a pure non-dualist. We, however, do not know on the authority of what text or texts MM. Śāstrī has made these observations. We have never come across any text explaining or even mentioning these three ways of Sahajiyā Sādhanā and it seems a puzzle to us why Avadhūtī should represent dualism. His assertion that Bengal has always stood particularly for non-dual knowledge does not also seem to be historical.

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nature of the world, which at that time appears to the yogin to be as illusory as a mirage. When the illusory nature of the Dharmas is thus realised, there remains no appearance (*pratibhāsa*) and, therefore, everything appears to be smoky, a mere illusory happening through the collocation of the causes and conditions like the origination of an elephant in magic; this dependent origination (*pratītya-samutpāda*) is the smoky nature of the world and hence is the second sign.¹ Again, as for the third sign it is said that as the firefly shines in the sky now and then for a single moment, so also in this stage perfect knowledge appears through the void-nature of the Dharmas like momentary flashes and hence is the appropriateness of the third sign.² In the fourth stage knowledge becomes as bright as a burning lamp and in the fifth or the final stage it becomes like the clear blue mid-day sky of autumn. These signs are referred to also by the *Śrī-kāla-cakra-tantra*;³ but there as well as in the *Ṣaḍaṅga* it is found that smoke is the first sign and mirage is the second.⁴

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¹ māyā-gajādiva't) māyā-gajaḥ pratītya-samutapanno niḥsvabhāva iti viśvam eva pratītya-samutpāda-rūpaṃ dhūmam paśyatītyarthaḥ | Com. on the Marma-kalikā-tantra, MS. (BN. Sans. No. 83), p. 45(B).

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² yathā khadyotaḥ khe ākaśe kṣaṇam kṣaṇam dyotate tathaiva ......... bhāvena śūnyatāyāṃ jñāna(ṃ) yāti ......... iti tṛtīyam cihnam | Ibid., MS., p. 45 (B).

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³ Cf. śūnye dhūmādi, etc. MS. (Cambridge, Add. 1364) p. 33(B). dhūmādīnām nimitta-grahaṇam api, etc., Ibid., p. 110 (A).

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⁴ Cf śūnyād dhūmo mariciḥ prakaṭa-vimala-khadyota eva pradīpaḥ | Ibid, MS, pp. 109(A)-110(A). Also Cf. tatra gurūpadeśena prathamam yogī dhūmam paśyati na maricīkām iti | Ṣaḍaṅga quoted in the com. on the Marma-kalikā-tantra, MS, p 45(A).

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But what is the condition of the yogin when the Bodhi-citta is produced and the ultimate realisation is obtained? It is said in the *Vyakta-bhāvānugata-tattva-siddhi*⁵ that at that time all the senses are absorbed within, all thought-constructions are destroyed, all the seeds of existence are annihilated; it is full of lustre of bliss,—it is like the vacant sky and yet cool and congenial.¹ It is said elsewhere that at that stage it seems as if the senses are all asleep,—the mind enters within,—and the body completely absorbed in supreme bliss seems to be without any function.² In the Caryā-padas we find many songs describing this ultimate state of perfection or the realisation of the Sahaja-nature in the form of Mahā-sukha. Kānha-pāda in a song compares himself, when absorbed in the Sahaja bliss, to an intoxicated elephant; like the elephant he has trampled down all the posts of ‘e’ and ‘vam’ or the moon and the sun and torn asunder all the various ties, and like the elephant under strong intoxication has entered the lake of the lotus and become perfectly pacified there.³ Mahidhara-pāda says in a song that he has identified himself with the three wooden boards (i.e., the three kinds of bliss as belonging to the body, speech and mind), or, in other words, he has identified the bliss of the body with that of the speech and that again with that of the mind and finally identified all with the self,⁴ and there follows a tremendous roar of the spontaneous anaha (anāhata) sound;—on hearing that sound the arch-enemy, Māra, and all the desires and afflictions of the body vanish away. The exhilarated elephant of Citta is marching on—and in the sky it is always rubbing the sun and the moon (i.e., all principles of duality). Both vice an merit are destroyed, the chain is torn away—the posts trampled, and the sound of the sky is rising—the Citta enters into Nirvāṇa. The Citta neglects all the three worlds, drinks the great liquor (of Mahā-sukha) and revels in intoxication; thus he becomes the lord of the five objects, i.e., becomes the Vajra-sattva himself,—and no enemy is then to be found anywhere. In the scorching heat of the rays (of Mahā-sukha) he has entered the skirt of the sky. Mahīdhara says, "When here I sink within—nothing is seen by me."' Bhusukapāda says in a song,² "The clouds of compassion are shining always after pressing down the duality of existence and non-existence. The wonderful has risen up in the sky,—behold, Bhusuka, the Sahaja-nature! On seeing and hearing it (i.e., the Sahaja-nature) all the senses are destroyed and the mind within revels in solitude."' As all darkness vanishes with the rise of the bright moon in the sky, so also all darkness of ignorance is removed through the rise of the Bodhi-citta and through the realisation of the Sahaja-bliss the ultimate reality underlying the objects is also realised.

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