Alphabet de la Déesse

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The alphabet goddess Mtk in some earlyaivaTantras*

Judit Trzsk

1. Introduction. Mtrk mother of all mantras?

Mtk is a well-known alphabet goddess mentioned in many tantric texts, irrespective oftheir age or affiliation. Her name is traditionally explained as the matrix or source (yoni),i.e. the source of all mantras, all stras, and in general, of everything that is made of words.This explanation is commonly given by exegetes, who paraphrase her name with synonymsfor Mother, mt. Thus Nryaakaha, in his commentary on the Mgendratantra, saysthat she is associated with iva, and that she is called Mtk because she is like a Mother:she gave birth to everything that is made of words.1 Similarly, Kemarja glosses her nameas she who gave rise to all mantras and Tantras.2 Kemarja also points out in other passages

that she is the cause of the universe, which is made of whatever is expressed and whateverexpresses.3 He also adds that uninitiated bound souls (pau) do not know her as such, butshe is taught in various aiva scriptures, and bestows supreme knowledge if one recognizesher identity with the universe.4 Kemarja also adds a nondualist interpretation to theunderstanding of Mtk as the Mother of all mantras when he associates her with theinsight of nonduality (abheda) through the alphabet god, abdari.5

*This paper was first presented in a shorter form at the second Early Tantra Project workshop, inPondicherry, July, 200 I am grateful to all the participants, especially to P. S, for comments,suggestions and corrections.

1Nryaakaha on Mg kp 2: bhagavata sambandhinnikhilavmayajanantvn mteva mtk. Thesuffix-k is glossed by the particle iva.

2KemarjaadSvT 31: mtk panm ajn vivamtara sarvamantratantrajananm.3KemarjaadSvT 1144ab iya mtk vcyavcakeavivahetutve pi paubhis tathtvenpart

mt4Kemarja ad SvT 199b na vidy mtkpar : s hi bhagavat aeavcyavcaktmakajagadabheda-

camatkrtmakaabdarivimaraparamrth sarvamantrrais tatra tatrgameu nirdiyate | s cai vivva-maranena para jna prayacchati.

5Lit. She concentrates on the consciousness ofabdari, which is made of the intuition of the nondualityof the world, the world consisting of everything that is expressed and that expresses.

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Author manuscript, published in "Second International Workshop on Early Tantras, Pondicherry : India (2009)"
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But is this goddess really omnipresent in aiva scriptures? And what is her relation toother alphabet deities? This paper shall certainly not give definitive answers, but attemptsto sketch a few possible lines of inquiry as to the early history of the alphabet goddess

Mtk.

As a preliminary, it must be noted that this alphabet goddess is almost always called Mtkwith the suffix-ka, and never simply Mt, mother, contrarily to other Mother goddesses.This distinction of terms needs to be insisted upon because the secondary literature speaksmore oen than not of mother goddesses, especially of the seven or eight mothers, asmtks. Calling these mother goddesses sapta- or aamtks is thus misleading not onlybecause our sources commonly name them mt-s without the suffix-ka, but also becausethe term Mtk seems to be reserved for the alphabet goddess. That the alphabet goddessis the only mother goddess to receive the suffix -ka is not just a hypothesis. As we shallsee, Abhinavagupta uses this suffix to give an exegetical interpretation to the name, andthus confirms that it belongs to the alphabet goddess in particular.6

Nevertheless, the word Mtk can also denote various other concepts. It may simply meanthe alphabet without any reference to a deity, or in some contexts it refers to the vowelsalone. The word may sometimes also denote a specific mantra.

At the same time, various other alphabet deities also figure in the gamas. Vgevar orVgvar, the goddess of Words, is oen identified with Mtk, although Vgvar is nottaken to be an alphabet goddess. The Sanskrit alphabet is personified in other deities too:abdari, the Heap of Sounds, is a male equivalent of Mtk; while the goddess Mlin,the Garlanded One, appears as an alphabet goddess whose letters are not in the traditional

order. The appearance and development of these other alphabet deities are oen inseparableom the ways in which the concept of Mtk evolves.

2. The absence of Mtrk

Several texts of what one could consider to be the earliest phase of the evolution of aivascriptures lack any reference to the alphabet goddess Mtk. It is of course difficult toconclude anything certain om the absence of something, especially since many texts havebeen lost or probably not preserved in their original form. Therefore, it cannot be affirmed

that at the time of the composition or compilation of these texts the concept of this alphabetgoddess did not exist, but if it did, it was not considered crucial enough to deserve muchmention. For instance, the earliest layer of the Nivsa corpus, the Mlastra does not seemto know about it, although it does mention Vgvar or Vg twice, in whom the initiate

6As pointed out above, Nryakahas commentary also shows that he considers the suffix an integralpart of the name, which expresses comparison, like a mother.

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is ritually reborn in the course of the initiation for liberation (muktidk).7

Another, possibly early text, the Vikhtantra of the Vma current, does not appear to

know of Mtk either. The absence of this goddess here is potentially more significant,for two reasons. First, because the Vikh prescribes what is later known as the alphabetgrid (prastra) of Mtk, but without mentioning her. Had it known of her, it could haveor perhaps would have not omitted her name in this context. Second, because it attributesthe power of mantric syllables to the highest form ofiva, without mentioning any goddessor even any abstract concept ofivas power in the feminine.

Just as all the stars, the circle of planets and constellations is presided over bythe pole star and revolves without moving [i.e. without the pole star moving],so too is the body of the God, for it is the multitude of all mantric seed syllables.Knowing them to be presided over byiva [as the stars are presided over by

the pole star], one shall obtain success in magic.8The world, up to the world of Brahm, [is made of] the letters starting with

A and ending with KA. Everything is born and dissolves therein. This is thehighest subtle god, established as the locusand what is to be supported.9

Turning back to the Siddhnta, the short Rauravastrasagraha, which is another demon-strably early text, does not mention Mtk either. However, it does speak of the powerof mantras and attributes it to iva or to ivas power. ivas power is not necessarily per-sonified as a goddess, and is designated here not only by the word akti, but also bykal.Two verses cited below attribute the power of mantras to iva and identi the god withthem.

All gods are made of mantras and all mantras are made ofiva. Knowing this[world] to be made ofiva, one should always meditate on iva.10

To release [people] om the bonds of My, seventy million mantras, endowedwith ivas power, were produced om the imperishable Soul, the Lord.11

Another passage, however, suggests that it is ivas power as a separate entity that ensuresthe efficacity of mantras.

713 and The latter passage also describes her mantra.8248cd-250ab: yath tragaa sarva grahanakatramaalam // dhruvdhihita tat sarvam acala

parivartate / tadvac charra devasya sarvabjagaa hi yat //ivendhihita jtv tantre siddhim avpnuyt.Alternatively, the last pda could be translated as one shall obtain success according to the Tantra. However,I propose that Tantra has the more conventional sense of magic here.

9252cd-253cd: akrdikakrntam brahmabhuvana jagat // asmi codpadyate sarva tatraivapralaya bhavet / ea deva para skma dhrdheyasasthita

1028: sarve mantrtmak dev sarve mantr ivtmak /ivtmakam ida jtv ivam evnucintayet //1112: mybandhavimokya krad tmano vyayt / mantrakoyo bhavan sapta ivaaktisamanvit //

(akti co. J.T. : bhakti ed.)

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All the female mantras that are associated with the [supernatural] effects ofbeing infinitely small etc. and depend on the mastery of magic possess thepower / a part (kal) ofiva. All these [mantras] are parts ofivas power /parts ofiva and akti and have been taught by the Omniscient. They areauspicious and bestow magic effects, liberation, happiness, lordship, moneyand virility.12

Thus, The Rauravas description may represent a transition between the idea that iva isthe source of mantras and the concept of Mtk as ivas akti.

3. Mtrk in the Nivsa, after the Mlastra

Although Mtk is absent in the Mlastra, she is mentioned several times in the subse-quent layers of the Nivsa. The Uttarastra praises her as the source of all words, whilethe Nayastra describes a practice for sdhakas to imitate each letter. The Guhyastra elab-orates on these elements and adds further homologisations, through which it identifiesMtk with Vg and Kualin.

3.1 Uttarastra: Mtrk as a Vidy, the source of all mantras and stras, also identifiedwith iva (mtkiva)

The Uttarastra clearly speaks of Mtk as the alphabet, stating that she consists of eight

letter groups, vargas. She is said to be the source of everything made of words, mantrasand stras, in the manner of later definitions. She is defined as a mantra or female mantra(vidy) herself, and is accordingly listed in association with other mantras, notably the

pikara or navtman, which is also said to consist of eight parts. In these passages sheseems to be treated as a goddess. However, her gender and identity may not be entirelyseparated om ivas person, for in one passage the text uses the compound mtkiva,an expression that occurs in the Guhyastra too and will later be echoed by the Svacchan-datantras mtkbhairava.

In the first occurrence, Mtk is the personification of the alphabet, i.e. of the eight vargas.These eight are, as later parallels show, the sixteen vowels (including the Anusvra and

the Visarga), 2-6: the five groups of stops with the nasals, the semivowels, thesibillants with HA. The counct KA, which is later listed as the last letter of the alphabet,may not have been included here, or it was included in the last group. Mtk is also saidto be the source of all words.

1244-6: aimdiguair yukt yogaivaryvalambit / yvatya kathit vidy sarv ivakalnvit // i-vaaktikal sarv et sarvajabhit / yogamokasukhaivaryadhanavryaprad ubh //

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And these are the eight letter groups (homologisation with the pikara),due to which it is also called Mtk, om whom the stras and whatever ismade of words have been born in due order, om whom all divine, nondivineand semi-divine words, of mantras and of languages, were produced. 13

A subsequent line confirms that she is the source of stras and mantras, and that perhapsshe herself is considered to be a mantra.

Several thousands of millions of stras and innumerable millions of mantraswere all produced om Mtk. There is no mantra beyond her.14

The next chapter starts with a similar praise:

Lord, if Mtk is said to be the supreme mantra, then tell me her worship;a branch grows om the root [and similarly, the worship of other mantras

derives om the worship of Mtk].15

This chapter describes amlayga, which is identified with the worship of Mtk. Indeed,it is performed with various single letters for each deity. More precisely, the consonantsare used only at the beginning, when it is eoined that the practitioner must place thevowels (considered male and called seeds, bjas) on the right, and the consonants (female,called yoni) on the le.16 Thereaer, each deity is worshipped in or as a vowel or a vowelgroup. This may be important, for it attests the possible early usage of the word mtk inthe sense of vowels, similarly to several passages of the Brahmaymala.

The yga described is in fact partly based on using various prosodical lengths of the vowels

(hrasva, drgha, pluta) for the worship of various deities. If this is what the text calls mtkworship, then it suggests that the use of the word mtk may be based on the meaningofmtr in the sense of prosodical length. This in turn suggests that originally the wordMtk may have been derived om mtr, prosodical length (of vowels), rather than mt-in the sense of mother. This meaning was then perhaps first extended to the vowels andfinally to the whole alphabet.

Whatever the origin of Mtks name is, she is also identified with Sadivas akti in the

13Or: om whom all perfect divine and worldly mantras, speeches and words were produced. 20cd-21:tny eva cavargi mtk yais tu kathyate // anukramea jtni yata stri vmayam / divydivynisiddhni mantrabhapadni tu //

14Or: there is no mantra beyond what is produced by her. 41: strakoisahasri mantrakoy hy anekaa/ mtksambhav sarve nsti mantram ata param //

151: mtk paramo (paramo em. H. Isaacson : parato msss) mantro yadi deva nigadyate / mtkygamkhyhi mlc chkh prarohate //

168ab: dakie yojayed bj vme yonin tu kalpayet. It is not clear where these should be placed. Perhapson the place of worship, ygabhmi; but it is also possible that the practitioner is to place them on himself,

for it is followed by the line ivbhta prasanntm ivasyrcanam caret, having become iva, with appeasedmind, he should perform ivas worship.

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Uttarastra.

Pikara and the eight letter groups: these two are in fact one. They stand

for Sadiva and akti, and [the one is] iva, beyond both.17

Furthermore, she is praised as the most important mantra in a passage which later becameparticularly popular, for it was borrowed by the Svacchanda as well as by the Tantrasadb-hva.

There is no liberation comparable to [what] initiation [bestows], there is nomantra beyond Mtk; there is no knowledge higher than that of the tattvas(prakriy), there is no yoga without a meditational target.18

In spite of the independent existence of Mtk in the Uttarastra, she is still oen iden-tified with various forms ofiva himself. The above examples showed that she is homolo-

gised with the Pikara mantra. In another passage, a yogic practice prescribes the use ofMtk-iva (sic!) for visualisation at the level of Vidy (vidydhyna, aer mydhyna).The result of the practice is accordingly twofold, female and male: one obtains success inmagic using female mantras, and becomes comparable to iva.19

3.2 Nayastra: Mtrk and the body

The Nayastra adds some more praises of Mtk to what the Uttarastra contains. Butit also elaborates her worship with an additional practice. The sdhaka must imitate eachletter with his own body, thus a new equivalence is created between the alphabet and thebody. No similar equivalence is found in the Uttarastra, or at least not in such a detailedand elaborate way. Furthermore, both Mtk and each letter, in particular the letter A, issaid to contain all the tattvas. He who recognises these equivalences between his body, theletters and the ontological levels of the universe is promised to be liberated.

He who knows this form of Mtk in his body and, in the same way, in theletter A, shall be released om this existence. This is the highest, supremeknowledge, the greatest of all secret teachings. Knowing the true nature ofMtk, the guru can destroy the bonds [that tie the soul to this world]. Allthe mantras shall be under his sway and obey his commands when instructed.

For he shall be like iva on the surface of the earth: the guru is known as the1749: pikaravarga ca dvv etau eka eva ca / sadivasya akteca dvbhy paratara iva1851cd-52ab: nsti dksamo moko na vidy mtkpar / prakriy na para jna nsti yogam

alakaka //(= unpolished Svacchanda 119 = Tantrasadbhva 195 with the variant mtktfor mtk)The KSTS edition of the Svacchanda reads nsti dksamo moko na vidy mtk par / na prakriyparajna nsti yogastvalakaka.

197cd-8ab: ekaikkarayogena abhyasen mtkivam // vidysiddhim avpnotiivatulyaca jyate/

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liberator.20

3.3 Homologisations in the Guhyastra

Several additional identifications can be found in the Guhyastra, in which she is also calledVg, and is said to be divided into female powers starting with Vm.21

Moreover, it is in the Guhyastra that she is unambiguously treated as a goddess, for hereiva speaks to Dev as Mtk herself. He states that they are the ultimate source of theuniverse with the recurring line everything is produced om my seeds and is born om

your womb. Various kinds of verbal creation are listed here: the Vedas, systems of thought(mata) whether attributed to divine, semi-divine or worldly authors, and, last but not least,languages, Sanskrit, Prakrit, and even Apabhraa.22

In this series of homologisations, she also appears to be identical with Kualin or Kuilin a passage reminiscent of the above mentioned verse in the Uttarastra (51).

41ivena vi na vin moko na vidy lokamtk/-2- khyate mtr kuil rdhvagmin//

Although the passage is lacunose, a few important points can be clearly identified. Firstly,initiation is not mentioned here. It seems that iva is held responsible for liberation, andMtk for mantric knowledge. Vidy in this context may possibly refer to the mastery ofsiddhis obtained with the help of mantras. The word lokamtk may signal that she is alsoa goddess who creates or maintains the world. In any case, she appears to be equated withthe upward going Kuil, the most subtle form of sound.

Although these identifications tend to strengthen the female aspect of the alphabet as

2075cd-78ab: mtkvigraha hy etac charre yas tu vindati // akre ca tathaiveha sa sasrd vimucyate /etaj jnam para reha sarvaguhyottamottamam // jtv mtkasadbhva gurur bhavati pah /mantrstasya va sarvej kurvanti codit //ivavad bhtale so hi mocakas tu guru smta /

21251cd-252ab:s dev ca kal eva [vg]ti nigadyate // aabhedavibhinn tu vidy s eva pahyate /vmdyai aktibhir bhinn punaca paripahyate. The first two lines are borrowed in Svacchanda 1143cd-44ab: s eva param dev vgti nigadyate / aavargavibhinn ca vidy s mtkaiva tu. In addition to theSvacchanda being more explicit, it is also notable that it does not call her kal. The use ofkal in the sense

of energy or power seems more equent in earlier Tantras. Furthermore, the omission of the last line mayalso be deliberate, for the Svacchanda identifies the constituent powers of Mtk with different goddesses.22128-133: aha tva ca vilki mla sarvajagasya tu / mtkivarpea siddhisambhavapdapam //

brahmastambhaparyanta jagat sarva carcaram / mama bjodbhava sarva tava yonivinirgatam // veddypaca ye prokt mahjs tu bhtale / -6- dbhav hyete tava yonivinirgat // riidevamatny eva martyabud-dhiktni ca / mama bjodbhav hy ete tava yonivinirgat // saskta prkta caiva apatra snunsikam/ (=apabhranunsikam ?) divydivya tu yat kicid vmaya samprasyate // tva sad guri(= gurvi?)devi aha kmayit sad / vikrs tava jyante yat sarva sampratihitam //

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Mtk, the Guhyastra still refers to her as Mtk-iva occasionally: What is the use ofseveral other mantras if one knows iva in the form of Mtk?23

4. The multiplication of Mothers in the recensions of the Svacchanda

The Svacchanda is certainly not one of the earliest tantras and its dependence on the Nivsahas already been amply demonstrated.24 Here I would only like to draw attention to twofacts, for the Svacchanda is again closely related to what we find in the Nivsa about Mtk.First, that Mtk is divided into eight vargas or sections in the earlier and unpurifiedrecension of this text, which thus continues the tradition of the Nivsa.

Second, while the Guhyastra of the Nivsa mentions Mtks division into aktis start-ing with Vm, here she is divided into the eight mothers. However, as it has been pointedout,25 the names of these mothers were added later, in what became the standard Kash-mirian recension.26 Since the longer recension is what was available to Kmarja, he triesto defend the consistency of the text.27 For, surprisingly, the additional passage mentionsonly seven mothers,28 which contradicts the immediate context, as it lists eight of them,29

as well as another passage in the Svacchanda.30

Another inconsistency is that the original, again agreeing with the Nivsa, treats the vowelsas male (Bhairava) and the consonants as female (Bhairav).31 But the additional passageassigns the first mother, Mahlakm, to the vowels instead of starting its list with theconsonants.32

Thus, the original, shorter Svacchanda already refers to the alphabet mothers (mt), andits later recension enumerates their names. This fact is significant in the light of otherbhairavatantric passages. As we shall see, the Siddhayogevarmata develops this systemfurther and gives a different list of mothers.

2315cd: kim anyair bahubhir mantrair viditv mtkivam //24See especially the edition of the Nivsa in progress, with remarks and parallels pointed out by D. Goodall.

He also mentioned some parallels in a series of papers given in May 2009 at the Ecole Pratique des HautesEtudes, Paris.

25See T 1999 Appendix 5, H2007:67 citing S.26The additional lines are 34cd-36cd27See commenatryad Svacchanda 3 Kemarja understands that the vowels represented by Mahlakm

must be omitted here, for at the level of Bhairava, there are only seven mothers.2836cd: et sapta mahmt saptalokavyavasthit.2934cd-36ab, with one mentioned in each pda.30Namely1144ab: aavargavibhinn ca vidy s mtkaiva tu.3132-34ab: di oaabhedena skd vai bhairava smta / kavarga caavargau ca tapay as tathaiva

ca // sahrea samopetau yonir vai bhairav smt / mtkbhairava devam avargea prapjayet // bhairavkdin pjy mtr vargai prapjayet /

3234c: avarge tu mahlakm

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5. Mtrk, alphabets and goddesses in the Brahmaymala

The earliest surviving text of the yogin cult, the Brahmaymala, appears to use the term

mtk in various meanings, some of which are not entirely clear om the context. It is cer-tain that it can refer to the full alphabet, eitherom A to HA33 or to KA.34 But it can alsodenote perhaps a single vowel, as in the recurring expression lnta() mtkay saha, theletter VA with Mtk;35 or it may also be the name of a mantra in the masculine.36

Whatever is the apparently changing meaning of Mtk, she is not treated as a goddess,not even as ivas abstract power. She is not worshipped or lauded. The word mtk seemsto be used as a technical term for a certain group of phonemes.

However, this does not mean that the Brahmaymala does not include the alphabet in itsvarious methods of goddess worship. A large number ofcakras are prescribed for the wor-

ship of the alphabet in chapters 17, 24 and 2 In most cases, the letters are representedby or identified with goddesses or yogins, and thus the cakras bear names such as khecar-cakra. The letters are homologised with the levels of the universe (33 tattvas) in chapter11, and they are placed on the body, in accordance with general tantric practice, in chapter37

Although the Brahmaymala does not praise Mtk as a goddess, in one passage it appearsto honour an alphabet goddess, who receives the epithet Mlin. Mlin is the alphabetgoddess par excellenceof the Trika, and she displays an irregular sequence of letters. Thissequence does not seem to be mentioned in the Brahmaymala, and therefore the goddessdescribed there cannot be considered identical with the well-known alphabet goddess of

the Trika, but she is certainly an alphabet goddess: she is treated as a goddess who pervadeseverything made of speech and is said to consist of a group of forty-nine, i.e. the forty-nineletters (excluding KA). The passage is found in the chapter entitled prakriypaala (31),and it describes the level ofmy. The text compares the alphabet goddess to a bee-hiveor a honey comb with its cells; creation is effected by the shaking (kobha) of the bee-hive/ my / alphabet goddess.38

I shall now teach you another goddess, in the form of My, who has a garland[in the form of letters?]. She has several cells,39 and resembles a mass of diluted

33220cd (in the context ofmraa): hakrdi akrnt vipartan tu mtk; and in ch. 14: akrdi-

hakrnt mtk y na saaya342155ab: akrdikakrnt mtrik vibhajya mantarvit(hypermetrical).35See also the expression, born om the letter Mtk mtkkaraja in 735d36A mantra called mtka is spoken of in 639cd ff.37It is not possible to give a full account of all the ritual uses of M tk here, in its various meanings, in

the Brahmaymala. Nevertheless, I have tried to point out some important rites involving this term.38This creative shaking is suggestive of a sexual act, especially in the Brahmaymala, in which kobha and

its derivatives oen appear to mean to cause to reach orgasm. See TAK forthcoming vol. III on kobha.39This word (anekakandaropet) and the comparison to the red lotus (raktotpaladalaprakhy) also figure in

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yellow orpiment, has the form of a beehive / honeycomb, the female mantraof the most supreme form. She looks like petals of a red lotus ornated withall the letters om A to KA? She pervades whatever is made of speechwith her great strength. She is Apar comprising [the letters] between A andKA,40 oh goddess with a beautiful complexion. Conceived of in this way,she is the group of forty-nine [letters], which is born om the levels of theuniverse, no doubt. This whole world made of my is created through ivawill, in the abode, which is the beehive.41 The goddess is established thereand is always shaken by the Lord, o great goddess. Thus is the triple worldalways created. In the place of innumerable cells, in thousands of ten millionsof them, other forms are established with their own nature, o virtuous one.She has the form of fiery energy everywhere, she is like a fire-fly in trees.42

6. Mtrk, Mlin and abdari in the Siddhayogevarmata

Both Mtk and Mlin figure as alphabet goddesses in the Siddhayogevarmata, whoseshort recension is perhaps the second earliest surviving tantra of the Yogin cult. Mtk ispraised in the usual way as the source of all tantras and as that which bestows success.

The Power of Rudra is known as Mtk, possessing all letters (om A toKA). These excellent tantras have come om her, [transmitted] orally by

yogins.43

As seen elsewhere, Mtks letters are placed on the body of the practitioner before theplacement of mantras;44 and similarly to the Svacchanda, the Siddhayogevarmata under-

another passage (372-3), which describes Kuil as a female power in the form of My (myrp akti).40This meaning and the coecture om kaka- to aka- have been proposed by S. H. P.

S has suggested to keep the reading of the manuscripts in the sense in small compartments.41Ex co.42359-65: apar tu pravakymi myrp tu mlin /anekakandaropet haritlbhrapakavat // mad-

hukosasamkr vidy paramarpi/ raktotpaladalaprakhya sarvvodikopaobhita // yat kicid vgmayasarva vypayant mahojas / akapu[a]k[a]nyyena apar varavarini (akapuakanyyenaco. H: kakapuknyyena MS) // evavidhyamy caiknapacsaka gaa / (understand: vidhyamn?)tatvnn tu samutpanna sakn ntra saaya // mytma ya jagat sarva jate tu ivecchay / (per-haps understand mytmya?) madhuplayasasthne sasthit kobhyate sad // (madhuplaya co. P.S : madhupolaka MS) varea mahdevi trailokya jate sad / anekakandarasthne koi koi sa-hasrake // sasthitny anyarpi svabhvenaiva suvrate / khadyotam iva vkeu tejorp samantata //

43314cd-15ab: rudraakti samkhyt mtk sakalkik // asmt tantravar m et nirgat yogin-mukht

44See e.g. 25ab: mtka sakala devi nyase dehaparicchade. O goddess, one should place the wholeMtk on the covering, which is the body.

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stands Mtk to be made of the mothers of the vargas.45

But Mtk is not the most important alphabet goddess in this system. The commonly

used alphabet goddess, whether in the course of the placement of mantras46

or for encodingthem, is Mlin. The letters equated with her body parts are listed in chapter 3, and thiscode is used throughout the text to cite mantras.

In spite of her importance, the name Mlin is rarely mentioned in the text. In most cases,she is simply called the goddess (dev), the power of Rudra (rudraakti), who is made of allletters (sarvkaramay).47

Somewhat surprisingly, these two alphabet goddesses do not seem to suffice in this system.For in chapter 16, the Siddhayogevarmata suddenly introduces yet another alphabet deity,a Bhairava called abdari. He is a male version of Mtk, for he contains the alphabetin the usual order. But the context and the way in which he is introduced is particular.For chapter 16 starts with a summary of the previous chapters given by the goddess, aerwhich she asks Bhairava about abdari and various types of sdhanas in the Uttaratantra.Bhairava refers once more to this Uttaratantra when he replies:

Just as the wish-fulfilling gem bestows everything one thinks of, so too Mtkin this world makes one obtain ones desires. She was previously taught as afemale power (akti), o goddess with beautiful hips. Now in the Uttaratantrashe is taught as a Bhairava.48

It seems possible that this so-called Uttaratantra, or a substantial part of it, is a relativelylater addition to the first half. The first 15 chapters include the description of all the

mantras, initiation, prvasev and sdhanas related to the core pantheon. Chapter 16 is adouble of chapter 3 in a sense, for Mlin is defined in chapter 3, while abdari figuresin chapter From chapter 17 the text contains prescriptions to worship various cakras,in order to obtain various supernatural effects. The last chapters are, however, different, inthat they include a list of scriptures, a section on how to recognise human Yogins and ashort chapter on the transmission of the text. Both the Niva and the Brahmaymala havesections called Uttaratantra, which are relatively later additions (although in the Brahmay-mala, the division of what is earlier and later does not seem to correspond to this textual

45See e.g. 218ab: krya sarvrthada devi mtka mtsabhavam O goddess, one should performthe Mtk, who is born om Mothers and bestows everything).

46See 31d: mlinprvaka.47See e.g. 6d-7ab: rudraakti samlikhet / sarvkaramay dev sarvavaropaobhitm. One should

write down the power of Rudra, the goddess made of all the letters and ornated with all the sounds. See also19: eva samyagvidhnena rudraakti samlikhet / sarvkaramay dev tato mantra samuddharet //Inthis way, following the right method, one should write down the power of Rudra, the goddess made of allthe letters. Then one can extract the mantras.

489-10: cintmair yath loke cintitrthapradyik / tathaiva mtk loke vchitrthaprasdhik // yathakti varrohe s tath kathit pur / idnm uttare tantre khypyate bhairava yath //

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division).

Thus, there are more than one reason to think that the Uttaratantra of the Siddhayoge-

varmata is a full or partial addition.49

Nevertheless, one must also bear in mind that whatwe have today is the short recension of this text. A much longer recension was available toKashmirian exegetes, which may or may not have had the same division into two.

In any case, abdari is not very well integrated in the ritual system of this text. Apartom his description in chapter 16, he is mentioned only once, in chapter 2 His presenceis far less notable than that of Mtk or Mlin. Moreover, his alphabet code given inchapter 16 is not commonly used, mantras are mainly given in the Mlin code throughoutthe text.

This suggests that abdari as a male double of Mtk is something of an alien here.A possible source om which the Siddhayogevarmata adopted him, whether directly orindirectly, is the Svyabhuvastrasagraha. As pointed out by P. S,50 thereare several common features of the Svyambhuva and the Trika.51 The Svyabhuva, whichknows the alphabet as aakti, names nevertheless abdari as the source of verbal creation.He is a kind of demiurge, identified with the Lords power.

In the beginning, sound was producedom the Lord, who is the cause; there-fore it is the imperishable letter (akara). The knowers of sacred words knowthis cause, the Lord, as the sacred word that bestows liberation. Thus, thegod, who bestows everything, is also known as the Heap of Sounds, who hasnine parts and fimembers, the supreme one made of seeds and matrices.

The seed consists of the sixteen letters om A to the Visarga. The remain-ing thirty four [the consonants, including KA] are the unchangeable matrix,which is imperishable. This is the Power of the God of Gods, this world ispermeated by Her. The supreme and subtle aiva knowledge is what ultimatelytakes one to the other side [of this existence]: it is divided into vedic and otherknowledges and into branches of aivism. It is like a wish-fulfilling gem andis established as the cause of everything.52

In addition to abdaris appearance in this passage, it may also be significant that heor his power is compared to the wish-fulfilling gem, just as in the Sidhayogevarmata.

49I shall present some more arguments in the forthcoming edition of the Siddhayogearmata.50See T 1999: vii, note 251See also V 2004:381 on the closeness ofSvyambhuvastrasagraha 20 and Mlinvayottara 52Svyabhuvastrasagraha 1-5 (electronic edition by D. G): athdv abhavac chabda krad

akara tata / kraa mokada brahman brahma brahmavido vidu // tasmt sarvaprado deva abdarir itiruta / navaparvaatrdhtm yonibjtmaka para // akrdivisargnta bja tat oakaram /e yonicatustriat avyay hy akartmik // s aktir devadevasya tay vyptam ida jagat / jna aiva paraskma yat tat trakam uttamam // veddnabhedena ivajnavibhedata / cintmair ivtrsau sthitasarvasya kraam //

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Although such a comparison is not unique, it is not commonly used by other texts inthe context of an alphabet deity. The simile is also taken over by a later Trika text, theTantrasadbhva.53

Just as in the case of Mlin, abdaris body parts consist of letters in the Siddhayogevar-mata. But in the case ofabdari, parts of his face are made of the vowels, while his body,somewhat surprisingly, consists of eight mothers (mt), who stand for eight sections ofthe alphabet. This is a new element compared to the Svacchanda. For according to theSvacchanda, Mtks body is made of eight Mts altogether, including the vowels: thevowels, the five consonant groups, the semi-vowels and the sibilants. The Siddhayogevar-mata does not identithe vowels with a Mt, but then adds the letter KA as the lastconsonant, identified with the last Mt on its list, Aghore. Perhaps the Siddhayogevar-mata attempts to create a system which is consistent with the idea that vowels are male andconsonants are female and that is why it identifies Mothers only with consonants. But sinceit needs to fit in eight mothers, it adds the letter KA as a last, separate element.54

This extension and analysis of the alphabet deities confirm that the Siddhayogevarmatabuilds partly on what is found already in the Svacchanda. The Siddhayogevarmata itselfseems to admit its textual dependence: in the chapter concerning its transmission (32), itpresents itself as a later version of the Svacchanda.55

7. Exegetical solutions

Kashmirian exegetes accommodate all these alphabet deities. When abdari shakes orstirs up the goddess called Mtk, she becomes Mlin. The idea of kobha is alreadypresent in the Parkhya, in which abdari is born om the shaking of Bindu, and is thenidentified with Mtk.56

The relation ofabdari, Mtk and Mlin is explained in the Tantrloka (198-9ab), in

5360cd54Perhaps the Svyabhuvastrasagraha has the same distribution in mind when it speaks of nine parts:

the vowels and the eight consonant groups.55The fact that the Svacchanda is mentioned as a precursor of the Siddhayogevarmata does not necessarily

mean that the text the Siddhayogevarmata speaks of is the same that we know today as the Svacchanda (and

if yes, it is still a question which recension is meant). Moreover, such presentation of the transmission maybe purely fictitious. Nevertheless, it seems that similar references usually indicate textual dependence, coupled with other elements, this fact can support the hypothesis that some form of the Svacchanda is earlierthan at least the second half of the Siddhayogevarmata.

562-4: sikle sa sarvaja pururthaprayojanm / vyakti nayati bjra bindo sa paramevara //bindu kubdhas tadicchta abdarir abht tad / khaadvayena sajta svardya khaabhedata // svaraioaabhi eais trayastriadbhir akarai / mtkeya mat loke varoccrasya mtk //The wording of the

Parkhy also suggests that the name abdari is less commonly used than Mtk; Mtk is said to beabdris layname so to speak.

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which Abhinavagupta uses the word saghaa, rubbing, iction, to describe abdarisand Mtks union. He then employs adouble entendreto explain how Mtk, the orderedSanskrit alphabet, in whom vowels and consonants (viewed as seeds and female organs) are

separated, becomes Mlin, the alphabet goddess in whom consonants and vowels are mixed: Mtk becomes bhinnayoni, which means having the female organ split as well as havingthe consonants split / mixed up.

Bhairava is abdari when his nature is nondual reflection, and through hislink with the form of the object of reflection, he is identical with the PowerMtk. When Mtk is united with (lit. rubbed violently by) abdari, herfemale organ is split / her consonants are out of sequence and she is Mlin.57

The commentator, Jayaratha, aer explaining the procedure as described by Abhinavagupta,adds a few relevant semantic analyses of the word Mlin.

She is Mtk, and through her union with abdari, which is characterisedby the oneness ofakti and the Possessor ofakti, just as salt and sour gruel[become mixed], because of their mutual union, her female organs, i.e. theconsonants, are broken, i.e. split, by the seeds [ofabdari, identified withthe vowels]. When she is in this state, she is Mlin, ALIN meaning shehas the consciousness,58 of M, meaning opposition.59 The name Mlin can[also] be derived om the verb malate, meaning that she holds the world inher own form;60 om the verb mlayati, meaning she interiorizes the wholeuniverse.61 She starts with NA and ends with PHA because her seeds andfemale organs [i.e. vowels and consonants] are mixed up, due to the splitting

of her female organ.62

In another passage of the Tantrloka (130-1), Abhinavagupta also clarifies how he anal-yses the name Mtk. He derives it om the verbal root m-, to measure, to experience.He interprets the agent noun suffix (-t) as being used to form the periphrastic future andthe suffix -ka as indicating comparison, likeness. Thus, Mtk is defined as she who islike the one who will be the subject of experience, for she is still within abdari without

57ekmarasvabhvatve abdari sa bhairava / myacchyay yogt saiva akti ca mtk // s ab-darisaghad bhinnayonis tu mlin

58This derivation seems to involve the invented verbal root al-, perhaps in the sense to be able to.59The prohibitive particle m is understood in this sense, as P. S has kindly pointed out.60The verb malateis given in the sense to hold, to possess in Dhtupha I.522-3: mal-a mall-a dhrae.

Abhinavagupta also emphasizes that she has the form of the universe and identifies her with the supremegoddess of the Trika, Par in Tantrloka 233cd: mlinhi par aktir nirt vivarpi.

61The denominative mlayatiis referred to here, probably in the sense to encircle, to envelope, to enclose.62saiva mtk abdarisaghac chaktiaktimadaikytmyalakat lavaranlavat parasparamelant,

bhinn bjair bhedit yonaya vyajanni yasy s tathvidh sat, m itivcyasya pratiyogyabhvasya, alinvi-marik / malate viva svarpe dhatte, mlayati antakaroti ktsnamiti ca mlinti vyapadiyate / bhinnayonitvdeva ca asy bjayonn visasthulatvt ndiphntatvam /

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being manifest as a separate entity. Only when she becomes manifest will she be Mlin,responsible for the obtainment of supernatural effects as well as liberation.

She is known to be endowed with differentiations as the main goddess start-ing with NA ending with PHA called Mlin. She is inside abdari Bhairavawithout being a swelling in him. Since she is like (K) a measurer / subjectof experience (M), because she measures / becomes a subject of experiencein the future (T), she is called the Measurer-Like. She is Mlin [when]surrounded / crowned by Rudras,63 she possesses success in magic and libera-tion.64

It is difficult to conclude anything certain in a situation in which only a small action of thetexts has survived, and even that in secondary recensions in some cases. Moreover, I havecertainly not been able to collect all the passages on Mtk even om the available sources.Therefore, the above way of seeing how Mtks cult evolved may be very distorting. Ishall nevertheless attempt to draw a provisional sketch of the ways in which the figure andthe cult of this goddess and related deities evolved in early aiva scriptures, based on thematerial presented here.

The development of aiva doctrine and ritual concerning the alphabet goddesses and godsconfirms the relative chronology of the texts as it can be deduced om other aspects of the

cult. It seems that the power of letters and words, whenever the question was treated at all,was attributed to iva himself in the first place (as seen in the Vikh for instance). Thispower came to be increasingly personified and the cult of Mtk evolved. It seems that thepost-Mlastra layers of the earlyNivsa corpus placed particular emphasis on Mtk. Shecontinued to be an important manifestation ofivas power, but other deities also appearedin this function. It was perhaps a saiddhntika scripture, the Svyabhuvastrasagrahaor a related text, that introduced a male double of iva responsible for verbal creation:abdari. At the same time, another alphabet goddess, Mlin, also developed into animportant figure. First, her name was perhaps just one of Mtks epithets (as in theBrahmaymala); but she became a particular mantra code and an independent alphabetgoddess in the Trika. At the same time, Mtk or abdari became sources for increasinglyelaborate homologisations involving Mother goddesses, who were assigned various vargasor sections of the alphabet (for which we saw the example of the Svacchanda and then theSiddhayogevarmata). The idea that vowels are masculine and consonants are feminine is

63The expression may also suggest that she is made into a garland or rosary (ml) ofrudrka beads, i.e.she represents the alphabet in the form of a rosary used for mantra recitation.

64bhedair gt hi mukhyeya ndiphnteti mlin / abdarer bhairavasya ynucchnatayntar // s mtevabhaviyattvt tensau mtkodit / mlinmlit rudrair dhrik siddhimokayo

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present throughout the corpus; but no attempt seems to have been made to harmonize thisdoctrine with the conception of the alphabet deity until the Siddhayogevarmata.

Finally, this multiplication of alphabet deities gave rise to an ingenious explanation in theexegetical literature, which, nevertheless, respects the chronology of the appearance of thesedeities in the scriptures: when Mtk is shaken with all the tantric connotations thisword can entail byabdari, she becomes Mlin.

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Alphabet de la Déesse