THE
ALCHEMICAL
BODY
Siddha
Traditions
in
Medieval
India
DAVID
GORDON
WHITE
THE
UNIVERSITY
OF
CHICAGO
PRESS
/
CHICAGO
AND
LONDON

The
University
of
Chicago
Press,
Chicago
60637
The
University
of
Chicago
Press,
Ltd.,
London
©
1996
by
The
University
of
Chicago
All
rights
reserved.
Published
1996
Paperback
edition
2007
Printed
in
the
United
States
of
America
16
15
14
13 12
II
10
ISBN-
I
3:
978-0-226-89497-3
(cloth)
ISBN-Io:
0-226-89497-5
(cloth)
ISBN-13:
978-0-226-89499-7
(paper)
ISBN-Io:
0-226-89499-1
(paper)
345
6
Library
of
Congress
Cataloging-in-Publication
Data
White,
David
Gordon.
The
alchemical
body:
Siddha
traditions
in
medieval
India
/
David
Gordon
White.
p.
cm.
Includes
bibliographical
references
and
index.
ISBN
0-226-89497-5
(cloth:
alk.
paper)
1.
Siddhas.
2.
Alchemy-Religious
Tantrism.
3.
Yoga,
Hatha.
4.
Tantrism.
5.
Natha
sect.
I.
Title.
BLI241.5
6
.
W
47
1996
§
The
paper
used
in
this
publication
meets
the
minimum
requirements
of
the
American
National
Standard
for
Information
Sciences-Permanence
of
Paper
for
Printed
Library
Materials,
ANSI
Z39.48-
199
2
.

CONTENTS
PREFACE
/
ix
NOTE
ON
TRANSLITERATION
/
xv
ABBREVIATIONS
/
xvii
ONE
Indian
Paths
to
Immortality
/
I
TWO
Categories
0/
Indian
Thought:
The
Universe
by
Numbers
/
15
THREE
The
Prehistory
0/
Tantric
Alchemy
/
48
FOUR
Sources
jor
the
History
0/
Tantric
Alchemy
in
India
/
78
FIVE
Tantric
and
Siddha
Alchemical
Literature
/
123
SIX
Tantra
in
the
Rasatl}ava
/
171

viii
Contents
SEVEN
Corresponding
Hierarchies:
The
Substance
if
the
Alchemical
Body
/
184
EIGHT
Homologous
Structures
if
the
Alchemical
Body
/
218
NINE
The
Dynamics
if
Traniformation
in
Siddha
Alchemy
/
263
TEN
Penetration,
Perfection,
and
Immortality
/
303
EPILOGUE
The
Siddha
Legacy
in
Modern
India
/
335
NOTES
/
353
SELECTED
BIBLIOGRAPHY
/
521
INDEX
/
555

PREFACE
In
the
new
age
India
of
the
1990s,
it
has
become
popular,
even
fashionable,
to
have
the
name
of
a
tiintrika,
a
kind
of
all-purpose
sexologist,
medicine
man,
and
shaman,
in
one's
little
black
book
of
phone
numbers.
This
same
phenomenon
has
brought
with
it
the
appearance,
preceding
the
title
page
of
books
on
magic
and
tantra,
of
"disclaimers"
to
the
effect
that
said
book
does
not
guarantee
the
results
of
the
techniques
it
is
treating
and
that
its
editors
are
not
responsible
for
unhappy
side-effects
of
said
techniques
when
they
are
practiced
in
the
privacy
of
one's
home.
The
present
work
carries
no
such
disclaimer
because
it
in
no
way
purports
to
be
a
"how-to"
book
for
realizing
immortality.
Nor
is
this
a
study
in
the
history
ofIndian
medicine
or
science:
a
great
number
of
Indian
scholars
and
scientists
as
well
as
a
growing
number
of
western
authors
have
written
excellent
works
on
the
matters
I
will
be
treating
from
these
perspectives,
incorporating
into
their
writings
comprehensive
overviews
of
Indian
chemistry,
human
physiology,
pharmacology,
and
therapeutics.
The
present
work
is
rather
a
history-of-religions
study
of
the
medieval
Siddha
traditions
of
Hindu
alchemy
and
yoga,
which
formed
two
portant
fields
of
theory
and
practice
within
the
vast
current
of
Indian
ticism
known
as
tantra.
It
is
the
religious
and,
more
specifically,
tantric
features
of
these
interpenetrating
traditions
that
I
will
be
treating
in
these
pages,
from
both
a
historical
and
a
phenomenological
perspective.
In
the
main,
this
will
be
a
study
of
the
language
of
mystic
experience
and
sion,
and
it
will
be
from
the
standpoint
of
language
that
I
will
chart
out
the
theoretical,
symbolic,
and
analogical
parameters
of
the
alchemical
and
hathayogic
disciplines
within
their
broader
tantric
and
Hindu
contexts.
And,
working
from
the
semantic
and
symbolic
fields
of
meaning
that
the
alchemical
material generates,
this
study
will
also
look
at
a
much
wider
array
of
Hindu
and
Indian
phenomena
through
"alchemical
eyes!'
This
will
furthermore
be
a
scholarly
work,
nearly
entirely
divorced
from
ix

x
Preface
any
ground
of
personal
mystical
experience.
Apart
from
a
short
period
of
schooling
in
hafha
yoga
undertaken
in
Benares
in
1984-85,
I
have
never
experienced
anything
that
one
could
qualify
as
a
genuine
master-disciple
relationship.
I
have
never
levitated,
read
other
people's
minds,
or
even
seen
auras.
This
being
the
case,
it
may
well
be
that
I
belong
to
the
great
mass
of
those
who
"must
go
on
blundering
inside
our
front-brain
faith
in
Kute
Korrespondences,
hoping
that
for
each
psi-synthetic
taken
from
Earth's
soul
there
is
a
molecule,
secular
and
more
or
less
ordinary
and
named,
over
here-kicking
endlessly
among
the
plastic
trivia,
finding
in
each
Deeper
Significance
and
trying
to
string
them
all
together
like
terms
of
a
power
series
hoping
to
zero
in
on
the
tremendous
and
secret
Function
whose
name,
like
the
permuted
names
of
God,
cannot
be
spoken
...
to
make
sense
out
of,
to
find
the
meanest
sharp
sliver
of
truth
in
so
much
cation."!
Ultimate
reality
is
beyond
my
reach,
either
to
experience
or
express.
I
nonetheless
hope
that
these
pages
may
serve
to
bridge
a
certain
gap
tween
raw
experience
and
synthetic
description,
and
thereby
contribute
to
an
ongoing
tradition
of
cultural
exchange
that
is
at
least
as
old
as
the
Silk
Road.
In
reading
these
pages,
the
reader
may
come
to
experience
a
sensation
of
vertigo,
as
the
horizon
of
one
mystic
landscape
opens
onto
yet
another
landscape,
equally
vast
and
troubling
in
its
internal
immensity.
It
may
be
that
these
landscapes,2
with
their
dizzying
multitudinous
levels
of
interpretation,
may
inspire
analysis
by
psychologists
of
both
the
armchair
and
professional
varieties.
J
I
believe,
however,
that
the
most
useful
western
companion
to
the
present
study
is
the
work
of
the
French
philosopher
ton
Bachelard
entitled
The
Poetics
of
Space.
4
Bachelard's
work
is
a
nological
study
ofliterary
depictions
of
the
experience
of
space,
from
cellar
to
attic,
from
Chinese
boxes
to
the
interiors
of
seashells.
In
these
pages
I
will
endeavor
to
follow
just
such
a
phenomenological
approach,
pointing
out
homologies
where
the
sources
would seem
to
indicate
connections
ternal
to
the
traditions
themselves,
without
attempting
to
force
the
textual
data
into
any
preconceived
model.
s
I
treat
alchemical
and
tantric
discourse
as
self-referential,
as
part
and
parcel
of
a
self-enclosed
network
of
specifically
Indian
symbols
and
signs,
my
assumption
being
that
the
words
and
images
of
these
traditions
are
always
referring,
before
all
else,
to
other
words
and
images.
6
Therefore,
the
best
way
to
formulate
a
theory
concerning
the
nature
of
the
experiences

for
which
these
words
and
images
are so
many
signposts
is
to
generate
a
symbolic
lexicon
from
the
multitude
of
intersecting
words
and
images
the
sources
offer.
7
Rather
than
exposing
the
doctrines
of
any
single
school,
movement,
or
exegetical
tradition,
this
study
seeks
to
lay
bare
the
words,
that
a
wide
lindu,
and
part
to
be
the
he
main,
a
studv
ifftve
Indian
worlz
!chemical
perspei
i
we
follow
Di
when
he
maintains
that
Hindu
tantrism
has
been
treated
as
"an
unwanted
stepchild
in
the
family
of
Hindu
studies";8
and
if,
as
Betty
Dobbs
has
ten
with
regard
to
its
rejection
of
alchemy
as
so
much
fuzzy
mysticism,
that
"modern
science,
like
adolescence,
denies
its
parentage;'9
then
the
subiect
of
this
study
has
a
troubled
family
life
Perhaps
it
is
the
stel
parents'
aw
f
judgment
that
question
here.
T
he
fruit
of
twelvif
fUffarch
begun
at
ot
where
I
began
to
biinzs,
the
myst
poems
of
Gorakhnath,
under
the
dIrectIOn
of
Professor
Kali
Charan
Bahl.
The
use
of
metaphor
and
imagery
in
these
poems
reminded
me
of
similar
language
from
an
alchemical
work
entitled
the
Rasiirt?ava
(The
Flood
of
Mercury),
which
I
had
attempted
to
translate
(with
mitigated
success)
for
a
self-styled
French
mystic
a
few
years
earlier.
basis
of
these
fii
identifications
thiH
India
in
1984
ute
for
Indian
mtGmon,
in
undertakinh
nh
tour,
to
find
alit
sit
at
his
feet
'v
ilved
all
the
riddkt
'Yfava
and
the
Gorakh
Biinz
had
posed
for
me.
This
endeavor
was
a
total
failure.
There
were
no
alchemists
to
be
found
in
the
places
in
which
I
sought
them
out
(although
I
did
meet
a
number
of
amateurs
and
tans),
and
the
few
Nath
Siddhas
who
struck
me
as
genuine
practitioners
of
the
hathayopa
taught
by
Gorakhnath
made
it
clear
that
they
would
be
will-
their
secrets
to
long
period
of
lhis
path,
in
spili
India,
under
thu
a
ofessors
of
and
later
in
Eu
Vi
United
States,
then
in
India
and
Nepal
once
again,
under
the
auspices
of
a
grant
from
the
Council
for
the
International
Exchange
of
Scholars,
I
fol-

xii
Preface
lowed
the
leads
the
texts
offered
me.
In
spite
of
my
rush
at
the
outset,
it
is
only
now,
after
an
additional
ten
years,
that
I
feel
myself
capable
of
standing
these
mystic
disciplines
sufficiently
to
be
able
to
share
certain
of
my
insights
on
them.
Let
the
reader
be
forewarned,
then,
that
my
tations
of
the
language
of
the
Hindu
alchemical,
hathayogic,
and
tantric
traditions
bear
no
stamp
of
approval
from
any
Indian
guru
of
any
sect
whatsoever.
This
is
a
textual
study,
one
that
is
based,
in
any
case,
on
a
number
of
texts
for
which
the
all-important
chain
of
transmission
of
oral
tradition
from
teacher
to
disciple
has
long
since
been
broken.
In
the
sence
of
a
teacher
from
the
tradition
itself,
I
have
taken
the
difficult
road
of
letting
the
texts
speak
for
themselves
and
even
communicate
among
themselves
as
the
exemplars
and
followers
of
the
medieval
Siddha
tions
under
study
here
would
have
done.
I
hope
they
will
speak
to
the
reader
of
this
work
as
well.
I
feel
somewhat
justified
in
my
textualist
bias,
however,
since
it
is
shared
by
the
alchemical
tradition
itself.
We
read
in
three
major
alchemical
works
that
"neither
sequence
(oral
teachings)
without
written
sources
nor
written
sources
without
sequence
[are
acceptable].
Knowing
the
written
sources
to
be
conjoined
with
sequence,
the
person
who
then
practices
[alchemy]
takes
of
the
siddhis."
\0
On
still
another
score
I
also
believe
this
to
be
an
authentic
work.
The
twelve
years'
preparation
this
book
has
required
of
me
corresponds
to
the
standard
period
of
preparation
of
a
yogin
in
the
traditions
under
study
here.
Twelve
years,
the
mystic
homologue
of
a
year
of
twelve
months
in
which
the
seasons
and
the
dance
of
sun
and
moon
are
brought
full
circle,
seems
to
me
to
be
an
appropriate
period
for
this
arly
exercise,
which
will
have
succeeded
if
its
final
transmutation
of
raw
data
into
food
for
thought
pleases
the
reader's
palate.
Many
are
the
people
to
whom
lowe
thanks
for
their
help
in
the
tion
of
this
book.
A
great
number
of
these
persons'
names
will
be
found
in
the
text
of
this
book
itself
or
in
the
endnotes,
under
the
rubric
of
"personal
communication!'
This
group
includes
several
of
the
countless
Nath
dhas
who
offered
to
share
their
chillums
and
knowledge
with
me
(usually
in
that
order)
as
well
as
fellow
academics
from
both
India
and
the
west.
In
India,
these
include
Bhambhulnath,
the
late
abbot
of
the
Hardwar
tery;
Avedyanath,
abbot
of
the
Gorakhpur
monastery;
and
the
great
Nath
Siddha
scholar
Narharinath,
abbot
of
the
Caughera
monastery
in
the
Dang
region
of
southern
Nepal;
Sivaprasad
Dabbaral,
Dr.
Laxmi
Chandra
Sastri,
Dr.
Surya
Kumar
Yogi,
Dr.
N.
Sethu
Raghunathan,
Dr.
Rajendra
Kumar

xiii
Preface
Agrawal
of
Gurukul
Kangri
University
in
Hardwar,
Dr.
Damodar
Joshi
of
Benares
Hindu
University,
Dr.
Siddhinandan
Mishra
of
Sampurnanand
Sanskrit
University
(Benares),
Dr.
Hari
Shankar
Sharma
of
Gujarat
urved
University
(Jamnagar),
Mahavir
Prasad
Gill
of
the
Anup
Sanskrit
Library
in
Bikaner,
Vijaya
Shrestha
of
the
Nepal
National
Archives
in
Kathmandu,
and
Thakur
Nahar
Singh
Jasol,
Director
of
the
Mehrangar
Museum
Trust
in
Jodhpur.
Back
in
the
west,
a
number
of
students
in
my
undergraduate
and
ate
courses
have
played
a
catalytic
role
in
the
writing
of
this
book,
forcing
me,
through
their
stimulating
discussions
and
questions,
to
shape
and
sharpen
my
thinking
on
a
number
of
issues:
Bryan
Cuevas,
Than
Garson,
Bill
Gorvine,
Paul
Hackett,
Chuck
Jones,
Spencer
Leonard,
Derek
Maher,
Amir
Muhammadi,
David
Need,
Mark
Siebold,
Kerry
Skora,
Phil
Stanley,
Dennis
Swaim,
and
Steve
Weinberger.
I
also
wish
to
thank
Bronwen
Bledsoe,
Veronique
Bouillier,
Douglas
Brooks,
Mark
Dyczkowski,
Morten
and
Jytta
Madsen,
Jan
Meulenbeld,
John
Roberts,
Bo
Sax,
Alain
Wattelier,
and
Dominik
Wujastyk
for
the
scholarly and
material
support
they
forded
me
at
various
stages
of
this
book's
development.
I
am
especially
indebted
to
Dr.
Arion
the
greatest
living
western
historian
of
Indian
medicine,
for
the
fatherly
guidance
he
has
shown
me
over
the
past
decade.
To
Alexis
Sanderson,
without
whom
the
sixth
chapter
of
this
work
would
still
be
the
shambles
that
it
was
when
he
first
read
it,
I
also
owe
special
thanks.
Finally,
lowe
a
great
debt
of
gratitude
to
the
late
Mircea
Eliade
-the
greatest
modern
"midwife"
of
historians
of
religions-whose
groundbreaking
studies
inspired
me
to
explore
the
field
of
Indian
chemy,!'
and
who
helped
me
to
publish
my
first
article
on
the
subjectY
Publication
of
this
book
was
funded
in
part
by
the
Office
of
the
Vice
Provost
for
Research
at
the
University
of
Virginia.

NOTE
ON
TRANSLITERATION
Unless
otherwise
noted,
all
transliterations
from
the
Sanskrit
follow
dard
lexicographical
usage,
with
the
following
exceptions:
(1)
toponyms
still
in
use
are
transliterated
without
diacritics
(thus
Srisailam
and
not
SrIsailam),
except
in
the
case
of
sites
identified
with
deities
(thus
nath
and
not
Kedarnath);
(2)
names
of
authors
and
editors
from
the
nial
and
postcolonial
periods
are
transliterated
without
diacriticals;
(3)
the
term
Niith
is
transliterated
in
its
modern
Hindi
form
as
opposed
to
the
Sanskritic
Niitha;
(4)
proper
names
of
historical
Nath
Siddhas
are
erated
with
the
-niith
suffix,
as
opposed
to
the
Sanskritic-niitha
(however,
see
note
8
to
chapter
I).

ABBREVIATIONS
AK
Anandakanda
of
MBhT
Miit,,:kabheda
Tantra.
Mahabhairava.
MSL
Maharaja
Man
Singh
Library,
ASL
Anup
Sanskrit
Library,
Mehrangarh
Fort,
Jodhpur,
Lalgarh
Palace,
Bikaner,
India.
India.
NNA
Nepal
National
Archives,
BhP
BhiitiprakaraTfa
of
the
Kathmandu,
Nepal.
Samhita.
NSC
Ramlal
Srivastav,
ed.,
"Niith
GAU
Gujarat
Ayurved
University,
Siddh
Carit"
Vifefiink
(Yog
Jamnagar,
India.
vaTfi,
special
issue
no.
I
for
HT
Sanjukta
Gupta,
DirkJan
1984).
Gorakhpur:
Hoens,
and
Teun
Goudriaan,
Gorakhnath
Mandir,
1984.
Hindu
Tantrism.
Handbuch
Ocean
The
Ocean
of
Story
Being
C.
H.
der
Orientalistik,
2.4.2
Tawney's
Translation
of
(Leiden:
Brill,
1979).
Somadeva's
Kathii
Sarit
Siigara
HTSL
Teun
Goudriaan
and
(or
Ocean
of
Streams
of
Story),
Sanjukta
Gupta,
Hindu
ed.
N.
M.
Penzer,
10
vols.
Tantric
and
Siikta
Literature
(London:
Chas.
J.
Sawyer,
(Wiesbaden:
Harrassowitz,
Ltd.,
1924-28).
19
81
).
RA
Rasiirr;ava.
HYP
Ha!hayogapradfpikii
of
RAK
Rasiirr;avakalpa.
Svatmarama.
RC
RasendraciiqiimaTfi.
KCKT
KiikacaTfqifvara
Kalpa
Tantra.
Rasah,,:daya
Tantra
of
KCM
KiikacaTfqefvarfmata.
RHT
KhV
Khecarf
Vidyii
of
Adinatha.
Govinda.
KJiiN
Kaulajiiiinanirr;aya
of
RM
Rasendra
Mangala
of
Sdman
Matsyendranath.
Nagarjuna.
KM
Kubjikiimata.
RPS
Rasaprakiifa
Sudhiikara
of
KPT
Kakfapu!a
Tantra
of
Siddha
Yasodhara.
Nagarjuna.
RRA
Rasaratniikara
of
Nityanatha.

xviii
Abbreviations
RRS
Rasaratnasamucchaya
of
$SS
Samhitii.
Vagbhana
II.
SV
"Siddh
Vandana11l."
RU
Rasopanifat.
SvT
Svacchanda
Tantra.
RV
Veda.
TA.
Tantriiloka
of
Abhinavagupta.
SDS
Sarvadarfana
Sa1!lgraha
of
Madhava.
VRA
VarTfaratniikara
SSP
Siddha
Siddhiinta
Paddhati
of
YRM
Yogaratnamiilii.
Goraksanatha.
YSA.
Yogisampradiiyiivifh:t
i

ONE
Indian
Paths
to
Immortality
The
emperor
Aurangzeb
issued
a
firman
to
Anand
Nath,
the
abbot
of
Jakhbar,
an
obscure
monastery
in
the
Punjab,
in
1661
or
1662:
The
letter
sent
by
Your
Reverence
has
been
received
along
with
two
tolahs
of
quicksilver.
However,
it
is
not
so
good
as
Your
Reverence
had
given
us
to
understand.
It
is
desired
that
Your
Reverence
should
carefully
treat
some
more
quicksilver
and
have
that
sent,
without
necessary
delay.
A
piece
of
cloth
for
a
cloak
and
a
sum
of
twenty-five
rupees
which
have
been
sent
as
an
offering
will
reach
(Your
ence).
Also,
a
few
words
have
been
written
to
the
valiant
Fateh
Chand
to
the
effect
that
he
should
always
afford
protection.
1
The
greatest
Mogul
persecutor
of
Hinduism
in
history
offers
his
tection
to
a
Hindu
abbot
named
Nath
in
exchange
for
twenty
grams
of
treated
mercury.
What
is
the
story
behind
this
curious
missive?
I.
Sexual
Fluids
in
Medieval
India
Some
time
around
the
sixth
century
A.D.,
a
wave
of
genius
began
to
sweep
over
India,
a
wave
that
has
yet
to
be
stilled.
This
wave,
which
took
the
form
of
a
body
of
religious
thought
and
practice,
has
been
interpreted
in
a
number
of
different
ways
by
Indians
and
westerners
alike.
What
some
have
called
madness
and
abomination,
others
have
deemed
a
path
to
ecstasy
or
the
sublime.
Such
have
been
the
evaluations
of
this
phenomenon,
which
has,
over
some
fourteen
hundred
years,
never
ceased
to
enthuse
and
found.
The
Indians
who
innovated
this
body
of
theory
and
practice
called
it
tantra,
"the
warp
(of
reality):'
The
word
has
a
most
ancient
pedigree.
Its
root,
tan,
means
"to
stretch;'
as
one
would
a
thread
on
a
loom
(also
called

Chapter
One
tantra)
or,
in
Vedic
parlance,
a
body
(tanu)
to
be
sacrificed
on
an
altar
within
the
ritual
framework
(tantra).2
Those
persons
who
followed
the
way
of
tantra
were
called
tiintrikas,
and
their
written
and
orally
transmitted
works
the
Tantms.
Indian
tantrism,3
in
its
Hindu,
Buddhist,
and
Jain
varieties,
did
not
emerge
out
of
a
void.
It
was
on
the
one
hand
influenced
by
cultural
actions
with
China,
Tibet,
central
Asia,
Persia,
and
Europe,
interactions
which
had
the
Silk
Road
and
medieval
maritime
routes
and
ports
as
their
venue.
Much
more
important,
however,
were
the
indigenous
Indian
roots
of
tantrism,
which
was
not
so
much
a
departure
from
earlier
forms
duism
as
their
continuation,
albeit
in
sometimes
tangential
and
heterodox
ways.
This
book
explores
the
uniquely
Indian
foundation
of
tantrism.
More
specifically,
this
book
is
an
inquiry
into
those
Hindu
sectarian
groups
that
have
come
to
be
known
as
the
Siddhas,
which,
appropriating
traditions
that
were
more
ancient
than
those
of
tantrism
itself,
did
not
in
fact
fully
flower
until
the
twelfth
and
thirteenth
centuries.
As
a
loosely
structured
religious
community
identified
with
a
particular
body
of
practice,
the
dhas
have
had
greater
staying
power
than
the
tantrikas
and
continue
to
form
a
visible
part
of
the
Indian
religious
landscape.
As
a
common
noun,
siddha
4
means
"realized,
perfected
one;'
a
term
erally
applied
to
a
practitioner
(siidhaka,
siidhu)
who
has
through
his
tice
(siidhana)
realized
his
dual
goal
of
superhuman
powers
(siddhis,
izations;'
"perfections")
and
bodily
immortality
(jzvanmuktz).
As
a
proper
noun,
Siddha
becomes
a
broad
sectarian
appellation,
applying
to
devotees
of
Siva
in
the
Deccan
(Miihefvara
Siddhas),S
alchemists
in
Tamil
Nadu
tars),
a
group
of
early
Buddhist
tantrikas
from
Bengal
(Mahiisiddhas,
dhiiciiryas),
the
alchemists
of
medieval
India
(Rasa
Siddhas)6
and,
most
cially,
a
mainly
north
Indian
group
known
as
the
Niith
Siddhas.
7
These
last
two
groups
greatly
overlapped
one
another,
with
many
of
the
most
important
Nath
Siddhas-Gorakh,
Matsyendra,
Carpa!i,
Dattatreya,
Nagnath,
Adinath,s
and
others-being
the
authors
(if
only
by
attribution)
or
transmitters
of
a
wide
array
of
revealed yogic
and
alchemical
teachings.
The
medieval
Nath
Siddhas
and
Rasa
Siddhas
further
interacted
with
a
third
group.
This
was
the
pafcimiimniiya
(Western
Transmission),
a
Sakta
sect
devoted
to
the
worship
of
the
goddess
Kubjika
which, based
mainly
in
Nepal,
also
incorporated
tantric,9
yogic,
and
alchemical
elements
into
its
doctrine
and
practice.
A
major
point
of
convergence
between
these
three
groups,
within
the
broader
tantric
matrix,
was
their
cult
of
the
Siddhas
who
were
for
them

3
Indian
Paths
to
Immortality
not
historical
figures
but
rather
demigods
and
intermediaries
between
the
human
and
the
divine.
Cults
of
these
semidivine
Siddhas
go
back
to
at
least
the
beginning
of
the
common
era;
they
and
their
peers
the
Vidyadharas
(Wizards)
are
a
standard
fixture
of
Indian
fantasy
and
adventure
literature
throughout
the
medieval
period.
lo
Central
to
these
cults
was
their
lar"
soteriology,
which
had
little
in
common
with
the
"authorized"
ologies
of
Vedic
and
classical
Hinduism.
The
worlds
of
the
Siddhas
and
Vidyadharas
were
the
closest
homologue
India
has
known
to
popular
ern
notions
of
heaven
as
a
place
of
sensual
gratification
and
freedom
from
the
human
condition.
Those
capable
of
acceding
to
these
atmospheric
els
remained
there,
liberated
from
the
fruits
of
their
acts
(karma)
and
ever
exempted
from
the
lower
worlds
of
rebirth
(san.zsiira)
but
not
divested
of
their
individuality
as
is
the
case
with
the
impersonal
workings
of
release
into
the
Absolute
(mok{a).
A
precursor
of
the
Puranic
notion
of
the
enth
heaven"
of
brahmaloka
or
satyaloka,
the
world
of
the
Siddhas
was
a
place
that
endured
even
beyond
the
cyclic
dissolution
(pralaya)
at
the
close
of
a
cosmic
eon
(kalpa).
This
popular
tradition,
whose
reflection
is
found
in
the
lower
hierarchies
of
the
Hindu
and
Buddhist
pantheons,
in
ture
and
fantasy
literature,
and
in
humble
shrines
to
these
anonymous
demigods,
lay
beyond
the
pale
of
brahmanic
control
and
legitimation.
So
too
would
the
medieval
Siddha
movements,
which
appropriated
for
selves,
with
certain
modifications,
the
preexisting
Siddha
soteriology.
The
most
important
innovation
of
these
medieval
Siddha
traditions
(the
Nath
and
Rasa
Siddhas
in
particular)
was
the
concrete
and
coherent
method
they
proposed
for
the
attainment
of
the
Siddha
world
and
Siddha
status.
This
is
what
had
been
lacking
in
the
earlier
Siddha
cults:
the
belief
system
was
there,
but
the
notions
of
how
to
reach
that
blessed
abode
were
vague
at
best.
Certain
traditions
maintained
that
it
could
be
reached
through
travel,
II
others
through
the
miraculous
intervention
of
the
dhas
one
propiated,12
others
through
more
serendipitous
means.
The
later
medieval
Siddha
movements
proposed
the
following
working
principle:
mere
humans
could,
through
their
tantric,
yogic,
and
alchemical
practice,
climb
the
ladder
of
being
and
accede
to
the
ranks
of
the
semidivine
dhas.
In
this
new
perspective
one
could,
by
perfecting
oneself,
transform
perfected
role
models
into
colleagues.
A
trace
of
the
notion
of
a
primordial
ontological
difference
between
those
born
perfect
and
those
who
made
themselves
perfect
(not
unlike
the
difference
between
old
money
and
new)
remains
in
works
which
categorize
the
Siddhas
into
the
three
oghas
(streams)-the
divine,
the
perfected,
and
the
human-but
the
dividing
line

4
Chapter
One
between
them
was
a
dotted
one
that
could
be
crossed
through
a
systematic
body
of
esoteric
practice.
[J
Apart
from
this
common
heritage,
a
second
point
of
convergence
tween
the
Nath
Siddhas,
Rasa
Siddhas,
and
the
Western
Transmission
lies
in
their
common
body
of
mystic
doctrines
and
practices
involving
sexual
fluids-male
and
female
sexual
fluids,
to
be
sure,
but
ever
so
much
more.
Since
the
time
of
the
Vedas,
rasa-the
fluid
element
found
in
the
universe,
sacrifice,
and
human
beings-has
been
more
or
less
identified
by
Indians
with
the
fount
of
life.
All
fluids,
including
vital
fluids
in
humans,
plant
resins,
rain,
the
waters,
and
the
sacrificial
oblation,
are
so
many
tions
of
rasa.
14
So
too,
since
at
least
the
dawn
of
the
common
era,15
Indians
have
known
that
the
miracle
of
conception
occurs
through
the
union
of
male
and
female
vital
fluids,
semen
and
uterine
blood.
With
early
tantrism,
these
procreative
fluids
came
to
be
conceived
as
"power
substances"
for
the
worship
of
and
ultimately
the
identification
with
gods
and
goddesses
whose
boundless
energy
was
often
portrayed
as
sexual
in
nature.
Nearly
always,
the
god
in
question
was
some
form
of
Siva,
the
god
whose
worship
in
the
form
of
a
linga
(phallus)
dates
from
at
least
the
second
century
B.C.
16
The
way
to
becoming
a
"second
Siva"
-for
this
has
nearly
always
been
the
goal
of
tantric
practice
in
its
various
forms-was,
in
early
tantrism,
ized
through
the
conduit
of
a
horde
of
wild
goddesses
(which
the
tantrikas
identified
with
their
human
consorts),
generally
known
as
yoginls.
These
"bliss-starved"
goddesses,
attracted
by
offerings
of
mingled
sexual
fluids,
would
converge
into
the
consciousness
of
the
practitioner,
to
transform
him,
through
their
limitless
libido,
into
a
god
on
earth.
17
Following
the
brilliant
tenth-
through
eleventh-century
reconfiguration
ofTrika
Kaulism
by
Abhinavagupta
and
others,
most
of
the
messy
parts
of
tantric
practice
(at
least
outward
practice)
were
cleaned
up,
aestheticized,
and
internalized
in
different
ways.18
For
the
later
"high"
tantric
schools,
the
cult
of
the
yogin
Is
and
the
ritual
production,
offering,
and
consumption
of
sexual
fluids
were
continued,
but
only
within
the
restricted
context
of
the
"secret
practice"
of
an
inner
circle
of
initiates.
Outwardly,
however,
ritual
sexuality
had
undergone
a
paradigm
shift.
Sexual
fluids
themselves
were
no
longer
the
way
to
godhead;
rather,
it
was
in
the
bliss
of
sexual
orgasm
that
one
realized
god-consciousness
for
oneself.
19
In
certain
cases,
all
such
transactions
involving
sexual
fluids
became
wholly
internalized
and
incorporated
into
the
so-called
subtle
body
(siiks:ma
farlra).
Here,
all
humans
were
viewed
as
essentially
androgynous
with
sexual
intercourse
an
affair
between
a
female
serpentine
nexus
of
en-

5
Indian
Paths
to
Immortality
ergy,
generally
called
the
ku"!4alinl,
and
a
male
principle,
identified
with
Siva,
both
of
which
were
located
within
the
subtle
body.
An
intricate
physics
of
the
subtle
body-its
relationship
to
the
brute
matter
of
the
gross
body
as
well
as
to
the
universal
divine
life
force
within,
the
bipolar
ics
of
its
male
and
female
constituents,
etc.-was
developed
in
every
tric
school.
20
It
was
especially
within
two
tantric
sects,
the
Western
Transmission
and
the
YoginI
Kaula
(transmitted
by
Matsyendra),
that
a
practical
concomitant
to
this
speculative-and
in
some
cases
gnoseological
or
metaphysics
came
to
be
elaborated.
This
was
hafha
yoga,
the
"method
of
violent
exertion;'
whose
system
of
the
six
cakras
("wheels
[or
circles]
of
transformation")
became
the
centerpiece
of
the
doctrine
and
practice
of
the
Nath
Siddhas-who
claim
their
origins
in
the
person
and
teachings
of
Matsyendranath.
21
For
the
Nath
Siddhas,
the
siddhis
and
jlvanmukti
were
the
direct
results
of
the
internal
combination
and
transformation
of
sexual
fluids
into
amrta,
the
divine
nectar
of
immortality.
Matsyendranath
and
the
founders
of
the
Western
Transmission
were
not
alone,
however,
in
their
persistent
emphasis
on
the
sexual
fluids
as
(generally
internalized)
power
substances,
rather
than
simply
as
products
of
a
transubstantiating
experience
of
bliss.
At
about
the
same
time
as
their
hathayogic
systems
were
being
elaborated,
the
matter
of
sexual
fluids
was
being
broached
from
a
novel
and
rather
unexpected
angle
by
a
third
group.
These
were
the
Rasa
Siddhas,
the
alchemists
of
medieval
dia,
whose
doctrines
are
best
summed
up
in
a
classic
aphorism
from
the
foundational
yatha
lohe
tatha
dehe,
"as
in
metal,
so
in
the
body."
22
In
a
universe
that
was
the
ongoing
procreation
of
the
phallic
god
Siva
and
his
consort
the
Goddess,23
a
pair
whose
procreative
activity
was
rored
in
the
fluid
transactions
and
transformations
of
human
sexuality,
in
a
universe
whose
every
facet
reflected
the
fundamental
complementarity
of
the
male
and
female
principles,
the
mineral
world
too
had
its
sexual
valences
and
fluids.
In
the
case
of
the
Goddess,
her
sexual
emission,
her
seed,
took
the
form
of
mica,
while
her
uterine
or
menstrual
blood
was
identified
with
sulfur.
There
are
a
number
of
reasons
for
these
tions,
not
the
least
of
which
are
chemical:
mica
and
sulfur
are
important
reagents
in
the
purification
and
activation
of
the
mineral
homologue
to
divine
semen.
This
is
mercury,
and
if
there
ever
was
an
elective
affinity
to
be
found
at
the
interface
between
chemistry
and
theology,
this
is
it.
For
what
a
miraculous
mineral
mercury
is!
Mercury
is
a
shining
liquid,
ingly
volatile,
seemingly
possessed
of
a
life
of
its
own:
what
better
homol-

6
Chapter
One
ogy
could
one
hope
to
find
for
the
semen
of
a
phallic
god?
But
this
is
not
all.
Mercury's
chemical
behavior
as
well
is
nothing
short
of
miraculous,
and
as
such
it
stands,
in
the
words
of
an
early
twentieth-century
scholar
alchemist
as
the
"central
idea
upon
which
the
whole
structure
of
the
Hindu
Chemistry
is
erected:
viz.,
the
fact
that
mercury
can
be
made
to
swallow,
by
special
processes,
a
considerable
quantity
of
gold
or
other
metals,
out
any
appreciable
increase
in
the
weight
of
the
swallowing
mercury.
"24
Mercury,
which
when
"swooned"
drives
away
disease,
"killed"
revives
itself,
and
"bound"
affords
the
power
of
flight,25
is
the
presence
in
the
mineral
world
of
the
sexual
essence
of
the
Absolute.
As
such,
it
is
as
all-absorbing
as
Siva
who,
at
the
end
of
cyclic
time,
implodes
the
entire
universe
into
his
yogic
body,
thereby
transforming
existence
into
essence.
This
is
precisely
what
occurs
in
alchemical
reactions.
A
"seed"
(bija)
of
gold
or
silver
is
planted
in
mercury
(whose
powers
of
absorption
have
been
massively
enhanced
through
a
series
of
treatments
in
sulfur,
mica,
and
other
mainly
"female"
elements),
which
then
becomes
possessed
of
a
"mouth"
capable
of
"swallowing;'
of
absorbing
into
itself,
according
to
the
alchemical
scriptures,
millions,
even
billions
and
trillions,
of
times
its
mass
in
base
metals.
These
are
thereby
transmuted
into
gold,
and
in
a
dition
in
which
"gold
is
immortality,"26
that's
saying
a
mouthful.
All
that
remains
is
for
the
alchemist
to
swallow
the
mercury
in
question
to
himself
become
a
second
Siva,
an
immortal
superman
(Siddha)
whose
every
bodily
secretion
becomes
transmutative
and
transubstantiating.
In
tandem
with
his
work
in
the
laboratory,
the
Hindu
alchemist
also
engages
in
the
tice
of
hatha
yoga,
as
well
as
a
certain
number
of
erotico-mystical
tantric
operations
involving
the
sexual
fluids
that
he
and
his
female
laboratory
assistant
generate
in
order
to
catalyze
reactions
between
divine
sexual
fluids
in
their
mineral
forms.
In
the
end,
all
is
a
continuity
of
sexual
fluids.
2.
Tantrikas,
Siddhas,
and
Yogis
The
sole
surviving
heirs
to
this
medieval
legacy
are
the
Nath
Siddhas,
who
continue
to
be
revered,
on
a
popular
level
at
least,
as
India's
masters
of
yoga
and
wizards
of
alchemy,
the
last
living
guides
along
the
secret
paths
to
supernatural
power
and
bodily
immortality.
Theirs
is
a
powerful
legacy.
On
the
one
hand,
they
are
perfected
immortals
who
have
chosen
to
remain
in
the
world
of
men,
moving
through
it
even
as
they
transcend
its
tran-

7
Indian
Paths
to
Immortality
sience
and
attendant
sorrows.
On
the
other,
for
persons
still
trapped
in
this
world,
a
good
Siddha
is
hard
to
find.
Hindu
tantrism
disappeared
as
a
major
sectarian
phenomenon
a
number
of
centuries
ago,
a
victim
of
its
own
excessesY
These
excesses
were
marily
of
two
orders.
The
first
and
best
documented
is
nonetheless
less
important
than
the
second.
This
excess
was
one
of
bad
publicity.
In
ing
to
truly
live
out
their
principles
of
nondifference-between
god
and
creature,
elite
and
preterite,
squalor
and
grandeur,
the
exalted
and
the
demented-many
tantrikas,
openly
indulging
in
cross-caste
adultery,
prophagy,
and
all
manner
of
other
purity
violations
and
antisocial
behavior
(or
at
least
openly
claiming
to
do
so),
were
simply
revolting
to
the
general
public.
The
second
excess,
which
truly
sounded
the
death
knell
of
tantrism
as
an
important
religious
movement,
came
as
the
result
of
a
sea
change
in
tantric
theory
and
practice.
Following
Abhinavagupta,
tantrism
became
transformed
into
an
elite
mystic
path
that
was
all
too
complicated,
refined,
and
cerebralized
for
common
people
to
grasp.
The
man
on
the
street
could
not
recognize
himself
in
its
discourse.
It
bore
too
little
resemblance
to
his
experience
as
a
mortal
being
inhabiting
a
body
doomed
to
age
and
die,
entangled
in
the
meantime
within
a
network
of
family
and
social
relations;
wielding
plowshares,
hammers,
and
the
like;
living,
loving,
and
dying
on
the
trampled
earth
of
a
village
his
people
had
inhabited
for
hundreds
of
years.
The
thirty-six
or
thirty-seven
metaphysical
levels
of
being
were
comprehensible
to
India's
masses
and
held
few
answers
to
their
human
concerns
and
aspirations.
For
the
Nath
Siddhas,
whose
institutionalized
sectarian
orders
dayas)
mainly
grew
out
of
earlier
and
more
heterodox
Saiva
orders
(the
Pasupatas
and
Kapalikas
in
particular),
the
"brahmanization"
of
tantrism
and
its
departure
from
the
realm
of
the
concrete
into
that
of
the
sublime
came
as
a
boon
of
sorts.
For
whereas
"high"
tantrism
was
now
mainly
fering
transcendence
of
the
world,
the
Nath
Siddhas'
path
continued
to
offer
concrete
and
relatively
accessible
power
in
the
world.
For
the
masses,
as
well
as
for
kings
whose
concerns
were
often
more
this-worldly
than
those
of
brahman
metaphysicians,
the
Naths
and
many
of
their
fellow
dhas
became
the
supernatural
power
brokers
of
medieval
India.
The
dhas,
yogins
and
alchemists
that
they
are,
have
always
been
technicians
of
the
concrete:
specialists
in
the
concrete
transmutation
of
base
metals
into
gold
and
the
concrete
transformation
of
mortal,
aging
man
into
a
fected,
immortal
superman,
masters
of
the
natural
processes
rather
than
mere
victims
of
or
bystanders
to
them.
Theirs
has
always
been
a
path
to

8
Chapter
One
mastery
and
raw,
unadulterated
power-mastery
over
the
forces
of
nature,
including
the
inexorable
processes
of
aging
and
death,
and
dominion
over
the
temporal
powers
of
even
the
greatest
kings
and
armies.
In
this
context,
the
Nath
Siddhas
have
often
been
cast
in
the
role
of
kingmakers,
elevating
untested
boys
to
the
thrones
of
kingdoms
out
medieval
south
Asia,
at
times
bringing
down
mighty
tyrants
in
the
cess.
28
But
India
has
also
always
been
a
country
of
villages,
and
the
Nath
Siddhas,
whose
backgrounds
have
generally
been
humble,
have
long
been
the
special
champions
of
village
India.
These
are
cowherd
boys
who,
ing
performed
minor
miracles
at
an
early
age,
were
initiated
into
a
Siddha
order
and
grew
up
to
be
immortal,
hail-stopping
"god
men;'
Many
are
the
accounts
I
have
heard,
from
traveling
salesmen,
university
students,
monastic
novices,
and
village
plowboys
alike,
of
these
perfected
beings
who
have
dotted
and
even
defined
the
religious
landscape
of
village
India
with
their
awesome,
death-defying
presence.
The
Nath
Siddhas'
persistent
popular
success,
coupled
with
their
erally
humble
social
backgrounds,
the
relative
accessibility
of
their
path,
and
the
this-worldly
focus
of
their
practices
and
goals,
has
long
made
them
the
object
of
scorn
and
censure
on
the
part
of
India's
social,
cultural,
and
religious
elites-the
upper
castes,
urban
intelligentsia,
and
cosmopolitan
literati
whose
religious
proclivities
have
tended
more
towards
refined
and
cosmeticized
orthodoxy
or
cerebralized
tantrism.
Indeed,
the
Nath
dhas
have
long
been
accused
of
being
charlatans
or
mere
conjurers-an
accusation
that
India's
street
magicians
have
long
used
to
their
advantage,
posing
as
yogins
or
tantrikas
in
their
performances.
29
It
is
in
this
context
that
we
must
introduce
yet
another
important
term
to
our
lexicon.
This
is
the
term
Yogi
(Jogi,
in
vernacular
parlance),
which
has
to
a
certain
extent
supplanted
the
terms
"tantrika:'
"Kapalika:'
and
"heretic"
in
orthodox
Hindu
discourse.
While
yogi[nJ
is
nothing
more
than
an
adjectival
or
sessive
form
of
the
term
yoga,
used
to
designate
a
practitioner
of
yoga,
the
term
came
to
take
on
a
sectarian
and
often
pejorative
connotation
in
eval
India,
a
connotation
which
has
remained
operative
down
to
the
ent
day.
"Yogi"
or
"jogi"
has,
for
at
least
eight
hundred
years,
been
an
purpose
term
employed
to
designate
those
Saiva
religious
specialists
whom
orthodox
Hindus
have
considered
suspect,
heterodox,
and
even
heretical
in
their
doctrine
and
practice.
On
the
one
hand,
the
Yogis
are
defined
(like
the
tantrikas
of
an
earlier
time)
by
their
nonconformity
to
and
exclusion
from
orthodox
categories:
they
are
that
troubling
aggregate
of
sectarian
groups
and
individuals
whose
language
and
behavior
subvert
the
canons
of

9
Indian
Paths
to
Immortality
Vedic,
devotional,
and
"high"
tantric
religion.
On
the
other
hand,
they
are
defined
by
certain
features
of
their
sectarian
affiliations
and
practices:
heirs
to
the
heterodox
Pasupatas
and
Kapalikas
of
an
earlier
age,
they
are
tees
of
terrible
forms
of
Siva
(usually
Bhairava)
who
besmear
themselves
with
ashes,
leave
their
hair
uncut,
and
continue
to
adhere
to
the
practices
of
"primitive"
tantrism.
As
such,
their
"yoga"
is
more
closely
identified,
in
the
jaundiced
eyes
of
their
critics,
with
black
magic,
sorcery,
sexual
sion,
and
the
subversion
of
alimentary
prohibitions
than
with
the
practice
of
yoga
in
the
conventional
sense
of
the
term.
In
recent
times,
"Yogi"
has
been
most
specifically
applied
to
the
Nath
Siddhas,
who
are
widely
known
as
Kanpha!a
(Split-eared,
for
the
very
visible
earrings
they
wear
in
holes
bored
through
the
thick
of
their
ears,
the
hallmark
of
the
order)
Yogis
or
Jogis-a
term
that
they
themselves
eschew.
This
book,
then,
is
about
those
tantric
movements
and
sects
which
called
themselves
and
continue
to
call
themselves
Siddhas,
but
which
were-following
the
"brahmanization"
of
the
tantrism
with
which
they
had
interacted
throughout
their
early
development-branded
as
Yogis
by
the
Hindu
orthodoxy.
That
these
Yogis
were
alchemists
is
borne
out
by
no
less
a
person
than
Marco
Polo
who,
describing
a
group
of
ciugi
(Jogis)
whom
he
had
encountered
on
the
Malabar
coast
of
India
at
the
close
of
the
thirteenth
century,
attributed
their
superhuman
life
spans
of
ISO
to
200
years
to
their
ingestion
of
an
elixir
composed
of
mercury
and
sulfur.30
Some
five
hundred
years
later,
Marco
Polo's
observations
are
seconded by
the
French
traveler
Franc;ois
Bernier,
a
Catholic
man
of
letters,
when
he
notes
that
the
Yogis
"know
how
to
make
gold
and
to
prepare
mercury
so
admirably
that
one
or
two
grains
taken
every
morning
restore
the
body
to
perfect
health."
31
What
links
these
two
accounts
in
a
most
startling
way
is
that
their
descriptions
of
Yogis
both
seem
to
define
these
figures
as
alchemists.
Yogis
were
healthy,
had
good
digestion,
and
lived
for
hundreds
of
years
because
they
ingested
mercury
and
sulfur
as
part
of
their
daily
regime.
Here,
let
us
also
recall
that
the
firman
Aurangzeb
sent
to
the
Nath
Siddha
abbot
of
the
Jakhbar
monastery
was
a
request
for
treated
mercury.
These
data,
set
against
the
backdrop
of
the
vast
wealth
of
yogic
literature-as
well
as
a
sprinkling
of
alchemical
works-produced
by
such
illustrious
Nath
dhas
as
Gorakhnath
and
Matsyendranath,
can
lead
to
only
one
conclusion.
The
Siddhas,
the
Yogis,
of
medieval
India
were
both
alchemists
(Rasa
has)
and
pioneers
of
hafha
yoga
(Nath
Siddhas).
Yoga
and
alchemy
were
complementary,
interpenetrating
disciplines
for
the
medieval
Siddhas.

10
Chapter
One
The
Rasa
Siddhas
and
Nath
Siddhas,
if
they
were
not
one
and
the
same
people,
were
at
least
closely
linked
in
their
practice.
The
balance
of
this
book
is
devoted
to
proving
this
thesis.
3.
The
Quest
for
Immortality:
The
Vedic
Legacy
The
altogether
human
aspiration
to
be
possessed
of
a
body
not
subject
to
the
trammels
of
death
finds
its
earliest
Indian
expression
in
the
ca.
1200
B.C.
l!-g
Veda,
in
which
a
poet
pleads
"Deliver
me
from
death,
not
from
nondeath:'
32
Here,
the
Vedic
term
am1J:a
is
a
polyvalent
one,
at
once
fying
nondeath
(a-m1J:a),
immortality,
the
immortals
(the
gods),
the
world
of
the
immortals
(heaven)-and
nectar
or
ambrosia
(which
is
the
Greek
cognate
of
am1J:a)
,
the
draft
of
immortality,
by
which
the
gods
remain
mortal.
It
is
this
final
gloss
that
is
the
most
pregnant
with
meaning
for
the
later
traditions
I
treat
in
these
pages.
In
the
Vedic
context,
the
gods
win
and
maintain
their
eternal
life
by
offering
soma,
the
miraculous
herb
of
immortality,
as
a
sacrificial
oblation
among
themselves.
Here,
the
rich
Vedic
(and
Indo-European)
mythology
of
the
theft
of
soma
33
-from
either
the
atmospheric
Gandharvas
or
the
rival
Asuras
gods)-is
given
a
particularly
sacrificial
gloss
in
the
priestly
tradition
of
the
brahmanic
literature.
It
is
not
enough
to
simply
possess
the
soma-or
any
sacrificial
oblation
for
that
matter-to
benefit
from
it.
Rather,
as
the
gods
first
discovered,
it
is
by
offering
or
surrendering
the
sacrifice
to
other
(god)
that
its
benefits
accrue
to
the
sacrificer.
The
brutish
Asuras,
unable
to
fathom
this
secret,
each
offered
the
oblation
into
his
own
mouth
and
so
failed
to
win
(the
benefits
of)the
world
of
the
sacrifice.34
In
the
Vedic
present,
humans
who
have
now
learned
the
secret
of
fice
come
to
reap
its
benefits
by
offering
the
sacrificial
oblation
(idealized
as
soma
regardless
of
the
oblatory
material)
to
the
gods.
The
oblation
tains
the
gods
and
maintains
their
immortality;
moreover,
the
fruit
of
the
sacrifice
that
accrues
to
the
human
sacrificer
also
takes
the
form
of
a
certain
order
of
immortality.
35
In
addition
to
fulfilling
to
the
more
or
less
mundane
aspirations
of
the
brahmanic
sacrificer-wealth
in
cows,
faithful
wives,
sons,
etc.-the
principal
fruit
of
the
sacrifice
was
a
mitigated
immortality
for
a
"full
life
span"
(vifviiyus)
of
one
hundred
years.
Therefore,
in
order
to
live
a
full
life,
one
had
to
sacrifice
constantly,
"for
a
hundred
years
is
mount
to
immortality."
36

II
Indian
Paths
to
Immortality
There
were
two
ways
in
which
sacrifice
saved
one
from
death.
The
first
of
these
was
the
mechanism
of
sacrifice
itself.
According
to
brahmanic
ory,
the
body
one
inhabited
in
life
was
in
fact
a
loan
from
the
gods
or,
more
precisely,
from
Yama,
the
Lord
of
the
Dead.
As
such,
sacrifice
was
nothing
other
than
a
payment
on
a
loan;
failure
to
pay
(i.e.,
offer
sacrifice)
resulted
in
repossession
(i.e.,
death).
In
order
that
his
debtors
might
keep
up
on
their
payments,
Yama,
Vedic
Hinduism's
cosmic
"repo
man:'
threw
in
a
piece
of
land
with
the
body
he
loaned:
this
was
the
parcel
on
which
the
sacrificer
installed
his
household
(glirhapatya)
fire.
37
In
this
context,
the
English
term
"mortgage"
(literally
"dead
pledge")
for
"the
conveyance
of
real
or
personal
property
by
a
debtor
to
a
creditor
as
security
for
a
debt"
38
to
be
repaid
within
a
fixed
period
of
time
takes
on
a
new
fullness
of
ing.
Under
the
terms
of
Yama's
and
the
gods'
contract,
no
human
could
occupy
a
body
for
more
than
one
hundred
years,
since
such
would
have
been
tantamount
to
(divine)
immortality.
Thus,
once
again,
"a
hundred
years
is
tantamount
to
immortality."
The
second
way
in
which
the
sacrifice
saved
humans
from
death
lay
in
the
nature
of
the
oblation
itself.
Soma,
the
divine
nectar
of
immortality,
was,
in
the
time
of
the
Vedas,
considered
(or
fantasized)
to
be
accessible
to
humans,
whence
such
hymns
as:
"We
have
drunk
the
Soma;
we
have
come
immortal;
we
have
gone
to
the
light;
we
have
found
the
gods
....
Far-famed
Soma,
stretch
out
our
lifespans
so
that
we
may
live
....
The
drop
that
we
have
drunk
has
entered
our
hearts,
an
immortal
inside
mortals."
39
Like
fire
(agnz),
soma
is
both
a
substance
and
the
god
identified
with
that
fluid
oblation.
4o
Early
on,
however,
Soma
the
god
became
identified
with
the
moon
(Indu,
in
Vedic
parlance),
which
was
considered
to
be
a
drop
(indu)
of
nectar
(amrJa),
of
soma,
shining
in
the
heavensY
But
the
moon,
this
drop
of
nectar,
was
nothing
other
than
divine
seed
(retas),42
which
was
identified
by
analogy
with
vital
fluids
both
animal
and
vegetable
(rasa),43
as
well
as
with
the
vivifying
rains
and
waters
(lip),
which
were
so
many
cines
or
remedies
for
all
that
ails
mortal
man.
44
It
is
the
fluid
element
(rasa),
then,
that
the
Vedic
theoreticians
conceived
as
the
support
of
all
life
and
indeed
of
nondeath
for
humans
as
well
as
gods.
As
I
have
already
noted,
however,
the
potential
of
the
fluid
oblation
could
not
be
activated
or
realized
without
the
dynamic
of
sacrifice,
which
also
brought
two
other
elements
into
play:
these
were
fire
(agnz),
divinized
as
Agni,
the
god
of
fire;
and
wind
(VliyU)
,
the
active
element
of
exchange,

which
conveyed
the
essence
of
the
sacrificial
oblation
from
the
world
of
humans
to
the
divine
realm.
This
trinity
of
elements
(and
gods)
was
plemented
by
another
conceptual
triad,
which
served
and
continues
to
serve
as
the
ground
for
the
network
of
homologies
and
analogies
that
are
of
the
entin'
miian
symbol
SySl
lhe
uted
by
the
hum;;
n
crocosm),
the
sacrifice
i;e
universe
as
is
often
concCircz2
of
a
univers;.zl
45
;om
the
Satapafh;,
(9.5.I.I1)
play;,
i;;,se
interrelations:
"\Vhen
he
[the
sacrificer]
has
offered
in
the
fire,
he
drinks
[soma];
for
that
[fire
altar]
is
his
divine
body,
and
this
[the
sacrificer's
body]
is
his
[the
fire
god
Agni's]
human
one."
As
I
will
show,
this
threefold
structure,
in
combination
with
the
triad
of
fluid-fire-wind,
comes
to
inform
both
medical
and
yogic
models
of
difCes-
ufion,
metabolisf;';
regeneration,
as
;;f
the
chemical
een
the
fluid
;i'i;;;ry
and
the
fiery
fransmutation
in
;;;;:,ubstantiation
01
hody.
Already
m
Vedic
traditions
we
find
embryonic
notions
of
this
interplay
between
the
human,
divine,
and
sacrificial-and
mineral-realms.
In
a
hymn
of
praise
to
adana,
the
sacrificial
porridge,
the
Atharva
Veda
(I
1.3.
1-
2,7-8)
states
that
"of
this
porridge
Brhaspati
is
the
head,
Brahman
the
mouth,
heaven
and
earth
the
ears,
sun
and
moon
the
eyes,
the
seven
seers
mt-breaths
. . .
flesh,
red
metal
its
complexion!'46
Satapatha
;unts
of
the
ere;;;
god-man
puts
a
minen]
miverse
through
Verily,
Prajapati
alone
was
here
in
the
beginning.
He
desired
"May
I
exist,
may
I
reproduce
myself."
He
toiled,
he
heated
himself
with
ner
heat.
From
his
exhausted
and
overheated
body
the
waters
flowed
forth
...
from
those
heated
waters
foam
arose;
from
the
heated
foam
clay;
from
the
sand;
from
the
the
heated
grif
fhe
heated
rock
the
smelted
ore,
of
ice
ritual
in
which
and
decomp;;''''';
the
creative
self-sacrificer
Prajapati
was
restored
to
wholeness
was
called
the
agnicayana,
the
"piling
of
[the]
Fire
[altar];'
of
which
an
important
moment

13
Indian
Paths
to
Immortality
was
the
installation
of
a
golden
image
of
a
man
(hira1Jya-pur'Ufa)
beneath
a
corner
of
the
altar
emplacement.
With
this
ritual,
the
adhvaryu
priest
toned,
"He
is
Prajapati,
he
is
Agni,
he
is
made
of
gold
for
gold
is
light
and
fire
is
light;
gold
is
immortality
and
fire
is
immortality.
He
is
a
man
for
Prajapati
is
the
Man."47
Let
us
note
here
that
the
thermal
energy
that
transforms
the
body
of
Prajapati
into
gold
(and
in
other
myths
of
this
sort,
the
entire
created
verse
in
all
its
parts)
is
an
inner
fire
or
heat
that
is
kindled
through
religious
austerities.
Within
a
few
centuries
of
the
composition
of
this
Brahma1).a
text,
a
revolution
in
Indian
thought
would
issue
into
the
notion
that
mans
too
could
internalize
the
sacrifice
and
thereby
entirely
bypass
the
mechanism
of
external
sacrifice.
This
inward
turn,
which
would
ground
the
entire
gnostic
and
nondualist
project
of
the
also
sowed
the
seeds
for
the
innovation
of
a
body
of
techniques
for
internal
bodily
formation-i.e.,
for
the
practice
of
hafha
yoga.
Here
one's
bodily
fluids,
and
semen
in
particular,
become
identified
with
the
oblation,
the
heat
of
inner
austerities
with
fire,
and
breath
with
the
dynamic
element
of
wind.
48
It
is
in
the
Atharva
Veda
in
particular
that
we
find
the
most
important
foundations
for
the
later
medical
and
alchemical
traditions,
which
sought
to
extend
(indefinitely)
the
life
span
of
human
beings.
Indeed,
it
is
in
this
text
that
one
finds
the
greatest
preponderance
of
healing
hymns
involving
the
use
of
charms
and
herbal
remedies
to
restore
the
ailing
patient
to
health.
At
the
center
of
this
practice
stood
the
healer
who
was
also
a
possessed
"shaker"
(vipra)
and
an
inspired
master
of
incantation
(kavl).49
Part
physician,
part
shaman,
part
sorcerer,
the
atharvan
priest
was
viewed
as
both
powerful
and
dangerous
by
Vedic
society.
For
this
very
reason,
perhaps,
his
heir,
the
itinerant
Ayurvedic
physician
(ciira1Ja-vaidya)
was
also
regarded
with
suspicion
by
"good"
brahmanic
society.
50
That
the
Hindu
medical
tradition
(Ayurveda,
the
"science
oflongevity")
is
the
self-conscious
heir
to
the
Atharvavedic
synthesis
is
clearly
evinced
in
the
Caraka
Sa'lhhitii,
the
textual
cornerstone
of
this
tradition:
"The
cian
[vaidya]
...
should
manifest
his
devotion
to
the
Atharva
Veda
...
cause
the
Veda
of
the
atharvans
has
discussed
medicine
[cikitsii]
by
way
of
prescribing
donations,
propitiatory
rites,
offerings,
auspicious
rites,
tions,
observance
of
rules,
expiations,
fasting,
and
mantras;
and
because
it
indicates
that
medicine
improves
the
quality
of
life."
51
Within
the
Indian
medical
science
of
Ayurveda,
the
term
employed
for
the
prestigious
body
of
techniques
devoted
to
rejuvenation
therapy
is
iiyana,
the
"path
of
rasa,"
of
which
an
important
component
consists
in
the

14
Chapter
One
application
of
herbal
remedies,
inherited
in
part
from
the
Atharva
Veda.
This
same
term,
rasiiyana,
is
also
used
by
the
Rasa
Siddhas
to
designate
their
alchemical
"Work
in
two
parts;'
with
its
dual
emphasis
on
tion
and
bodily
transubstantiation.
In
this
alchemical
context,
rasa
is
a
term
for
the
fluid
metal
mercury,
the
mineral
hierophany
of
the
vital
seed
of
the
phallic
god
Siva.

TWO
Categories
of
Indian
Thought:
The
Universe
by
Numbers
I.
Microcosm,
Macrocosm,
and
Mesocosm
Of
all
the
conceptual
constructs
I
treat
in
this
book,
the
most
pervasive
and
persistent
by
far
is
that
which
treats
of
the
multivalent
relationships
or
homologies
obtaining
between
the
individual
and
the
world,
or
the
cosm
and
the
macrocosm.
Spanning
the
history
of
ideas
the
world
over,
three
broad
strategies
for
describing
this
relationship
have
predominated.
These
are
the
monist
(which
maintains
that
creature,
creation,
and
creator
are
essentially
one),
the
dualist
(all
is
two),
and
the
atomist
(all
is
with
a
myriad
of
permutations,
qualifications,
and
recombinations
on
these
three
basic
organizing
principles.
Although
the
sacrificial
worldview
of
the
Vedas
was
a
dualistic
one,
it
was
one
that
nonetheless
allowed
for
a
breakthrough
or
transfer
to
occur
-via
the
sacrifice-between
man
in
the
world
and
the
gods
in
heaven,
between
the
human
world
order
and
divine
cosmic
order
(which
together
formed
a
whole
called
1Ja).
As
a
transfer
mechanism
or
template
between
the
two
orders
of
being,
between
the
human
(adhyatman)
and
the
divine
(adhidevata),
the
sacrifice
became
possessed
of
an
ontological
status
of
its
own.
That
which
pertained
to
the
sacrifice
(yajfia),
to
that
pivot
between
the
human
and
divine
worlds
without
which
neither
could
survive,
was
termed
adhiyajfia.
1
This
tripartite
configuration,
undoubtedly
the
most
pervasive
structure
to
be
found
in
the
Indian
world
of
ideas,
has
come
to
be
applied
to
a
myriad
of
domains,
across
a
wide
array
of
religions,
phies,
and
scientific
disciplines,
including
those
of
yoga
and
alchemy.
I
term
the
three
members
of
this
configuration-of
human
+
mediating
structure
+
divine-as
microcosm,
mesocosm,
and
macrocosm.
2
Over
time,
the
mechanism
of
sacrifice
itself
came
to
take
precedence
over
both
the
humans
who
enacted
it
and
the
gods
to
whom
it
was
offered,
and
so
we
find,
in
the
tenth-
through
eighth-century
B.C.
body
of
reve-
15

Chapter
Two
lation
known
as
the
BriihmaTfas
(Priestly
Books),
the
notion
that
the
fice
(or
the
ritual
of
sacrifice)
is
all
that
truly
matters
in
the
universe.
mans
and
gods
become
tributary
to
the
sacrifice
in
this
period,
and
the
sole
gods
granted
any
importance
are
precisely
gods
of
sacrifice.
These
are
(I)
the
"Man"
or
"Lord
of
Creatures"
whose
primal
(self-)
sacrifice,
which
"created"
the
universe,
stands
as
the
model
for
every
fice
that
has
followed;
(2)
Agni,
"(Sacrificial)
Fire;'
and
(3)
Soma,
the
"Fluid"
god
of
the
sacrificial
oblation.
In
a
sense,
this
brahmanic
triad
of
sacrificial
gods
is
itself
a
reworking
of
the
triune
Vedic
universe,
with
two
static
elements
(gods
and
humans,
oblation
and
fire)
being
mediated
by
an
active
third
element
(the
enacted
sacrifice).
Throughout
the
history
of
Indian
thought,
no
set
of
concrete
elements
has
been
as
pervasive
as
this
sacrificial
triad-of
fluid,
fire,
and
air;
of
rasa,
agni,
and
viiyu.
Although
the
three
members
of
this
triad
have,
according
to
their
specific
fields
of
application,
taken
the
form
of
moon-sun-wind,
semen-blood-breath,
or
mercury-sulfur-air,
they
have
always
borne
the
same
valences
as
they
did
in
their
original
Vedic
context.
Much
of
this
book
will
be
devoted
to
describing
the
ways
in
which
fluid,
semen,
moon,
and
mercury
on
the
one
hand,
and
fire,
blood,
sun,
and
sulfur
on
the
other-always
mediated
by
the
active
element
of
air,
wind,
and
have
interacted
with
one
another
through
the
"sacrificial"
structure
of
microcosm-mesocosm-macrocosm,
across
a
dozen
interpenetrating
ritual
and
belief
systems
and
some
three
thousand
years
of
cultural
history.
Two
other
features
of
the
Vedic
synthesis
which
have
persisted
through
time
need
also
to
be
mentioned
here.
The
first
of
these
is
a
fascination
with
number.
If,
as
the
Brahmanic
sources
assert,
the
sacrifice
in
all
its
parts
is
identical
to
the
universe
in
all
its
parts,
then
it
is
necessary
to
enumerate
all
of
those
parts,
and
"cross-list"
them
with
other
parts.
More
than
this,
the
number
of
parts
in
a
given
whole-for
example,
the
4
XII
syllables
of
the
meter-has
a
significance
which
is
independent
of
that
gregate
of
parts
for
which
it
is
the
numerical
index.
Thus,
it
was
not
common
for
the
priestly
commentators
on
the
ritual
to
wax
poetic
on
the
"eleven-ness"
of
the
number
eleven,
and
so
on.
J
This
Vedic
fascination
becomes
a
veritable
obsession
in
tantrism,
in
which
we
witness
nothing
less
than
an
explosion
of
numbers,
categories,
and
numbers
as
categories.
In
the
tantric
case,
the
hallucinating
proliferation
of
number-based
ogies-between
microcosm,
mesocosm,
and
macrocosm-appears,
in
the
final
analysis,
to
serve
to
reassure
the
tantric
practitioner
of
the
efficacy
of
his
ritual
acts-something
akin,
perhaps,
to
the
many
numerical
proofs
for

17
Categories
of
Indian
Thought
the
existence
of
God
that
illuminated
western
savants
have
proferred
over
the
centuries.
Number
and
proportion
become
the
very
foundation
of
the
good,
the
true,
and
the
beautiful,
in
the
petals
of
the
lotus,
just
as
they
do
in
their
western
reflection,
the
Secret
Rose.
Much
of
this
chapter
will
be
devoted
precisely
to
this
matter
of
cal
progression,
from
duality
to
ternarity
and
thence
to
pentads,
the
ber
sixteen,
and
the
staggering
figures
given
in
Hindu
reckonings
of
the
duration
of
the
cosmic
eons
(kalpas).
Out
of
all
these
dilations
of
number,
however,
there
emerges
a
single
bipolar
4
dynamic
that
has
played
itself
out
in
the
form
of
four interrelated
temporal
cycles
that
Hindus
have
ployed,
over
the
centuries,
to
situate
the
microcosmic
individual
within
(or
without)
the
macrocosmic
flow
of
time.
A
series
of
charts
will
illustrate
these
interrelated
cycles.
A
second
leitmotif
concerns
the
dynamics
of
the
sacrificial
and
later
tems.
The
aggregate
of
microcosm-mesocosm-macrocosm
would
not
be
an
interesting
or
useful
one
were
an
exchange
not
possible
among
the
three
levels.
This
is
the
exchange,
nay
the
transformation,
that
is
effected
through
sacrifice,
that
most
exalted
of
human
activities,
in
which
men
"do
what
the
gods
did
in
the
beginning!'
5
As
I
have
already
indicated,
the
ficial
world
order
was
dualistic:
there
was
a
sharp
break
between
the
human
order
and
the
divine,
cosmic
order,
which
only
sacrifice
could
bridge.
This
it
did
as
if
magically:
a
pot
broken
in
this
world,
that
is,
in
the
sacrificial
context,
becomes
a
whole
pot
in
that
world
of
the
gods.
6
The
metaphysics
that
flowed
from
this
system
therefore
assumed
the
building
blocks
of
ity
to
be
discrete
and
impermeable.
Its
dynamic
was
one
of
differentiation
and
reintegration.
This
dualistic
approach,
which
finds
early
expression
in
the
Rgvedic
"Hymn
of
the
Man"
(10.90),
is
restated
time
and
again
in
later
texts,
sometimes
taking
on
sexual
valences
(to
describe
a
universe
in
which
all
is
ultimately
two),
such
as
in
a
Brhadara7!yaka
Upani{ad
myth
which
picts
Prajapati
as
splitting
into
male
and
female
halves
to
incestuously
tegrate
"himself"
through
all
manner
of
human
and
animal
forms.
7
This
is
the
mythic
foundation
of
Sarp.khya,
literally
the
"enumerating"
philosophy,
the
earliest
of
the
Indian
philosophical
systems.
Out
of
this
dualist
system,
or
perhaps
in
response
to
it,
there
emerged
another
current
of
thought,
this
a
mystic
and
monistic
one
which,
on
the
contrary,
assumed
a
continuity
of
being,
extending
unbroken
from
the
preme
absolute
down
to
the
lowest
forms
of
inert
matter.
Because
all
being,
every
being,
was
emanated
from
a
primal
and
ultimate
source,
it
thereby
participated
in
some
way
in
the
very
Being
of
that
Absolute.
This
gno-

Chapter
Two
seological
doctrine,
first
promulgated
in
the
Ara1!yakas
(the
ca.
century
B.C.
"Forest
Books")
and
the
classic
Upani{ads
(the
ca.
century
B.C.
traditions
of
"Placing
in
Equivalence")
maintained
that
all
bodies,
but
especially
all
souls
(iitman),
participated
in
the
nature
of
the
absolute
or
universal
soul
(brahman).
If
"iitman
is
brahman
in
a
pot
[the
body];'
then
one
need
merely
break
the
pot
to
fully
realize
the
primordial
unity
of
the
individual
soul
with
the
plenitude
of
Being
that
was
the
lute.
To
know
it
was
to
be
it.
8
This
early
monism
is
known
by
the
name
of
Vedanta,
because
it
is
broached
in
the
that
corpus
which
stitutes
the
"end
(anta)
of
the
Veda;'
As
we
will
see
later
in
this
chapter,
it
was
likely
the
concrete
experience
of
yoga
that
gave
rise
to
this
mystical
and
monistic
vision.
All
apparent
oppositions-between
god
and
man,
tween
male
and
female,
etc.-here
become
consumed
as
it
were
in
the
fires
of
yogic
austerities
(tapas)
conceived
as
the
internalization
of
the
sacrifice.
The
notion
of
transfer
(from
one
plane
to
another)
becomes
phosed
into
one
of
transformation
(one
plane
primordially
and
ultimately
is-the
same
as-the
other),
with
the
human
body
itself
becoming
the
seat
of
the
sacrifice
and
the
human
soul
the
indwelling
Absolute.
These
two
dynamic
systems,
of
dualist
differentiation
and
reintegration
and
monist
emanation
and
participation,
inform,
singly
or
in
combination,
all
of
the
Indian
traditions
that
pass
in
review
in
these
pages.
They
are
vital
to
an
understanding
of
anyand
every
Indian
metaphysical
system.
If
we
are
to
understand
the
dynamics
of
these
systems,
two
further
tions
are
absolutely
essential
here.
The
first
concerns
the
nature
of
the
"body"
that
transmigrates
from
the
corpse
of
a
deceased
person
to
a
world
of
intermediate
afterlife,
identified
in
Upanishadic
Hinduism
with
the
moon.
This
body,
termed
the
"body
of
enjoyment"
(bhoga-farlra),
is
an
elaboration
on
the
subtle
body
(siik{ma
farlra),
i.e.,
the
"living
being"
Viva)
that,
according
to
nondualist
thought,
mediates
between
the
eternal
but
wholly
intangible
soul
and
the
gross
body
(sthula
farlra)
composed
of
the
five
elements:
earth,
water,
air,
fire,
and
ether.
As
I
demonstrate,
the
subtle
body-especially
when
it
is
"clothed"
in
the
body
of
enjoyment-becomes
lunar
at
certain
points
in
its
cyclic
existence,
filling
out
and
diminishing,
in
the
unending
course
of
births
and
deaths,
around
the
"core"
of
the
tal
soul.
Like
the
moon
itself,
this
transmigrating
body
is
also
"fluid";
like
the
moon,
the
subtle
body
is
composed
of
incremental
digits
or
members
(kaliis)9
that
come
into
being
and
pass
away,
to
be
renewed
yet
again.
The
second
basic
notion
concerns
the
five
elements
to
which
I
referred
a
moment
ago.
In
the
individual,
it
is
via
these
elements
that
a
correlation

19
Categories
of
Indian
Thought
exists
between
the
subtle
and
gross
body.
To
the
five
gross
elements
that
are
the
building
blocks
of
the
gross
body
and
the
universe
correspond
the
five
subtle
elements
(as
well
as
the
five
senses
of
grasping
and
of
tion).
More
than
this,
the
universal
macrocosm
and
the
human
microcosm
are
essentially
composed
of
a
"layering"
of
the
elements.
Armed
with
the
knowledge
that
the
body
is
nothing
more
than
a
series
of
overlays
of
the
five
hierarchized
elements,
Indian
mystic
thought
innovated
a
concrete
technique
for
the
return
of
being
into
essence,
for
the
resorption
of
the
human
microcosm
into
its
divine
source.
By
first
"imploding"
the
lower
gross
elements
into
the
higher,
the
practitioner
could
thence
implode,
via
the
subtle
ether,
the
gross
into
the
subtle
and
by
degrees
telescope
the
tle
back
into
its
essential
source,
the
individual
soul
(atman)
which,
as
the
Upanisadic
gnosis
never tired
of
reiterating,
was
identical
to
the
universal
Soul,
the
absolute
brahman.
Later,
Hindu
Tantra
would
carry
this
ing
to
its
logical
conclusion,
conceptually
imploding
body,
individual
soul,
and
divine
Soul
into
One:
Ultimately
the
conscious
bits
of
the
universe,
like
stones,
are
also
God
and
hence
consciousness,
but
a
consciousness
that
has
decided
to
conceal
itself
(atmasan:zkoca)
...
The
world
of
the
Tantric,
then,
is
ultimately
all
God,
but
it
contains
a
vast
range
of
things,
from
things
as
gross
as
stones
to
things
as
subtle
as
God
...
Looking
from
God
downwards,
we
have
the
range
from
conscious
to
unconscious,
the
range
from
simple
to
complex,
and
the
range
from
subtle
to
gross.
These
three
ranges
are
co-ordinate;
in
fact
they
are
different
aspects
of
the
same
thing.
Moreover,
movement
down
the
scale
is
precisely
what
happens
when
God
creates
the
universe.
10
2.
Ternarity
and
Bipolarity
in
Veda
and
Ayurveda
Two
practical
disciplines
that
grew
out
of
the
Vedic
matrix
to
interact
with
Hindu
and
Buddhist
philosophical
and
mystic
traditions
well
before
the
beginnings
of
the
tantric
age
were
Ayurveda
and
the
body
of
physical
and
meditative
techniques
known
as
yoga.
Both
traditions
have
their
origins
in
the
Vedas,
both
emerge
as
systems
of
thought
and
practice
in
or
around
the
sixth
century
B.C.,
and
both
continue
to
share
common
methods
and
goals
down
to
the
present
day.
When
we
go
back
to
the
very
first
use
of
term
yoga,
in
the
Veda
(7.86.8;
10.166.5),
we
find
that
it
is
part
of
a

20
Chapter
Two
compound:
yoga-kfema
means
"harmonious
adjustment."
11
As
we
will
see,
the
principal
aim
of
Ayurvedic
practice
is
also
adjustment:
sama-yoga
is
the
harmonious
conjunction
of
microcosmic
and
macrocosmic
"climates;'
Also
growing
out
of
the
Vedic
matrix
is
the
metaphor
of
cooking
for
such
formative
processes
as
sacrifice,
cremation,
digestion,
aging,
and
the
yogic
austerities.
As
in
Vedic
sacrifice,
so
in
yoga
and
Ayurveda:
the
body
is
to
be
"cooked
to
a
turn"
(paripakva).12
The
extent
to
which
the
yogic
and
Ayurvedic
perspectives
interacted
with
other
nascent
Indian
traditions
is
incalculable.
The
organizing
ciples
of
the
sixth-century
B.C.
teachings
of
the
Buddha
on
suffering
and
its
cessation
were
essentially
medical;
13
conversely,
one
finds
Buddhist
minology
as
well
as
an
inductive
method
that
is
clearly
Buddhistic
l4
in
the
most
venerable
textual
pillar
of
Ayurveda,
the
Caraka
Samhita
(compiled
between
the
third
century
B.C.
and
the
fourth
century
A.n.).15
This
same
source
contains
what
is
perhaps
the
earliest
complete
expression
of
khya
philosophy
that
has
come
down
to
US.
16
Towards
the
end
of
this
same
period,
such
as
the
Prafna
(3.6),
and
Maitrt
(6.22,
30;
7.I
I.
2-5)
were
tentatively
charting
the
yogic
body
and
practicing
yoga
as
a
means
to
concretely
experiencing
the
absolute
in
ways
that
were
deeper
than
reason
could
know.
I?
It
is
not
our
intention
here
to
trace
a
chain
of
transmission
of
ideas
from
one
tradition
to
another,
but
rather
to
present
them
as
ations
on
a
sensus
communis
that
existed
in
India
from
a
very
early
time,
even
before
the
recorded
teachings
of
the
Buddha,
the
proto-Sal1lkhya
of
Caraka,
and
the
dualist
Sal1lkhya
and
the
monistic
Vedanta
of
the
early
Here,
we
follow
the
French
physician
and
historian
of
Indian
medicine
Jean
Filliozat,
when
he
states
that
"the
Samkhyan
concepts,
like
those
of
Ayurveda,
are
part
and
parcel
of
the
intellectual
baggage
common
to
all
Indian
thinkers."
18
According
to
Ayurveda,
the
human
being
is
composed
of
a
triad
of
chic
being
(sattva),
soul
(atman),
and
body
(farlra),
which
arises
from
yet
is
distinct
from
purufa,
the
transcendent
self.
Ayurveda
is
thus
a
dualistic
tem.
Like
all
living
creatures,
the
human
being
is
possessed
of
natural
acteristics
(prak1Jt),
which
are
sixfold:
the
five
gross
elements
(mahabhutas)
presided
over
by
the
atman:
"Earth
is
that
which
is
solid
in
man,
water
is
that
which
is
moist,
fire
is
that
which
heats
up,
air
is
breath,
ether
the
empty
spaces,
brahman
is
the
inner
soul
(atman):'
19
As
such,
the
human
self
is
an
exact
replica
of
the
macrocosm:
"Indeed,
this
world
is
the
measure
mita)
of
the
man.
However
much
diversity
of
corporeal
forms
and
sub-

21
Categories
of
Indian
Thought
stances
there
is
in
the
world,
that
much
[diversity]
there
is
in
man;
however
much
there
is
in
man,
that
much
there
is
in
the
world."
20
When
applied
to
the
medical
tradition
proper,
these
concepts
define
the
physician's
craft:
the
treatment
of
imbalances
between
the
bodily
cosm
and
the
universal
macrocosm,
i.e.,
of
diseases.
Critical
to
the
vedic
understanding
of
the
body
and
its
metabolic
functions
is
its
tualization
of
the
process
of
digestion.
This
is
a
seven-step
process,
in
which
the
food
one
eats
is
serially
"burned"
or
refined,
over
the
seven
"fires
of
digestion"
(dhiitvagnis)
into
the
seven
bodily
constituents
(dhiitus)Y
In
order,
these
are
chyle
(rasa),22
blood
(rakta),
flesh
(mii'l1!sa),
fat
(medas),
bone
(astht),
marrow
(majja),
and
finally,
in
men,
semen
or
sperm
(§Ukra,
retas).23
In
women,
the
seventh
dhiitu
is
uterine
or
menstrual
blood
(foTfita,
artava),
or,
after
childbirth,
breast
milk.
24
Ayurveda
further
conceives
of
bodily
metabolism
in
terms
of
an
action
between
the
the
three
"morbid
states"
25
or
humors,
of
phlegm
bile
(pitta),
and
wind
(viita).
While
we
may
see
in
the
humors
a
reapplication
of
the
Vedic
rasa-agni-viiyu
triad,
we
should
note
that
they
also
anticipate
one
of
India's
most
important
metaphysical
constructs,
that
of
the
three
"strands"
(guTfas)
of
manifest
being,
the
discussion
of
which
is
first
broached
in
the
classic
According
to
Sarp.khya,
the
three
strands-white
sattvii,
red
rajas,
and
black
tamas-remain
in
a
state
of
librium
for
so
long
as
the
universe
persists
in
a
nonmanifest
state.
It
is
an
unexplained
disturbance
in
their
equilibrium
that
triggers
a
gradual
fall
into
manifestation,
which
is
cast
as
the
self-reproduction
of
the
original
materiality
(prakrtt).26
The
Ayurvedic
are
of
the
same
order
as
the
guTfas
in
the
sense
that,
for
so
long
as
a
human
being
is
not
exposed
to
the
outside
world
(when
in
the
womb,
for
example),
it
enjoys
a
perfect
balance
of
When,
ever,
it
becomes
exposed
to
the
outside
world,
the
fall
out
of
balance
and
the
individual
becomes
subject
to
health
disorders.
It
is
in
these
cases
that
the
Ayurvedic
physician
must
intervene
to
restore
the
lost
equilibrium
between
the
bodily
microcosm
and
the
universal
macrocosm,
a
macrocosm
whose
climatic
changes
are
governed
by
the
interactions
of
moon
(rasa),
sun
(agnt),
and
wind
(ViiYU).28
As
we
will
show,
the
physician's
most
ful
weapon
against
such
humoral
imbalances
is
the
sequestering
of
his
tient
in
an
edifice
identified
with
that
womb
within
which
his
had
originally
been
in
perfect
balance.
The
identification
of
the
three
with
the
three
components
of
sacri-

22
Chapter
Two
fice
is
also
explicit
in
Ayurveda.
The
body's
inner
fire
(antaragm)
is
resented
by
the
fiery
liquid
that
is
bile;
phlegm
is
"lunar"
(saumya)
fluid,
and
the
microcosmic
wind
bears
the
same
name
as
it
does
in
the
cosm:
vayu
(or
vata).
Each
of
these
three
do{as
is
further
subdivided
into
five
types.
In
the
case
of
the
windy
humor,
the
five
breaths
are
known
as:
pra'Ffa,
the
in-breath
that
enters
the
body
via
the
nostrils
and
sustains
the
body;
udana,
the
out-breath
that
is
the
vehicle
of
speech;
samana,
the
breath
that
moves
food
through
the
digestive
organs
and
kindles
the
fires
of
tion;
apana,
the
breath
that
voids
the
lower
body
of
excretions;
and
vyana,
the
breath
that
circulates
throughout
the
body,
vehiculating
the
inner
fluids
and
producing
bodily
locomotion.
29
Similarly,
there
are
five
"lunar"
phlegms
and
five
"fiery"
biles,
the
first
of
which
is
the
fire
of
digestion
(pacaka).
In
the
process
of
digestion,
the
product
of
each
cooking
process
is
of
a
more
refined
nature,
but
also
of
a
lesser
volume
than
that
dhatu
from
which
it
is
produced.
30
This
is
perceived
as
a
long
and
even
dangerous
process.
Over
the
period
of
twenty-eight
days
required
for
the
"raw"
food
one
consumes
to
be
fully
transformed
into
semen,
the
human
microcosm
is
subject
to
a
certain
number
of
gers.
These
dangers
are
of
two
orders.
The
first
of
these
concerns
only
males
directly.
This
is
the
sex
drive,
which
inclines
men
to
lose,
in
a
single
stroke,
all
that
a
full
month
of
digestion
has
provided
them:
I
returnto
this
special
problem
at
the
end
of
this
book.
The
second
of
these,
of
a
more
general
order,
is
the
nature
of
the
universal
macrocosm
or
ecocosm,
the
many
climatic
changes
of
which
constitute
so
many
threats
to
the
human
microcosm
and
so
many
challenges
to
the
Ayurvedic
physician.
The
vaidya
is
armed
with
two
powerful
weapons
for
battling
the
moral
imbalances
that
so
threaten
the
harmonious
functioning
of
the
gestive
and
metabolic
processes.
First,
he
may
calm
(famana)
the
cumulation
of
a
given
do{a
internally,
through
dietary
regimen
and
the
use
of
pharmaceutical
preparations,
the
scientific
development
of
which
owes
much
to
the
alchemical
tradition
in
India.
Should
this
fail,
he
may
take
recourse
to
external
purifications
(fodhana)
through
clinical
therapy
which
in
an
unexpected
way
constitutes
an
adaptation
of
a
number
of
yogic
ciples
and
techniques.
We
now
turn
to
the
conceptual
foundations
that
undergird
these
two
Ayurvedic
techniques.
In
a
groundbreaking
study
written
twenty
years
ago,31
Francis
mann
set
forth
the
Ayurvedic
principles
for
adjusting
the
human
cosm
to
the
universal
macroclimate
or
ecocosm.
Here,
he
outlined
the
ways
in
which
the
Ayurvedic
physician,
by
employing
dietary
regimens,

23
Categories
of
Indian
Thought
medicines,
and
clinical
techniques
appropriate
to
a
specific
locus
in
time
and
space
(rtu-satmya),
is
able
to
ensure
the
continuity
of
the
good
life.
Ultimately,
one
may
conceive
of
the
physician's
practice
as
one
of
fronting
time-both
the
time
that
ages
mortals
and
saps
them
of
life
(time
as
death)
and
the
time
that
takes
the
form
of
seasonal
or
temporal
changes
which
have
more
immediate
effects
on
the
human
organism.
In
Vedic
rifice,
"articulating
activity"
(1JU)
is
the
foundation
of
a
universe
that
is
well-ordered,
regulated,
or
"articulated"
(rta).
Thus
the
Vedic
god
of
fice
Prajapati,
who
is
also
the
year,
is
reordered,
rearticulated,
and
structed
through
the
human
activity
of
sacrifice.
With
the
last
of
the
Brahmal}as,
the
Gopatha
Brahma'/fa,
these
notions
become
applied
to
the
treatment
of
disease:
"It
is
at
the
turning
points
between
seasons
that
afflictions
arise;
therefore,
sacrifices
are
performed
at
the
turning
points
between
seasons."
32
In
Ayurveda,
however,
the
situation
becomes
altered
if
not
reversed:
time
is
of
two
orders,
both
"objective"
and
"subjective:'
with
the
physician
able
to
act
on
the
latter
alone,
i.e.,
the
ternal
evolution
of
the
patient's
disease,
his
imbalance
of
the
three
humors.
External
time
takes
the
form
of
the
changing
of
the
seasons,
which,
when
they
are
excessively
unbalanced,
constitute
an
excessive
conjunction
yoga)
or
insufficient
conjunction
(a-yoga)
of
time
(kala).
Kala,
that
conquering
deity
of
the
Atharva
Veda
(19.53.1-9),
is
capable
of
destroying
life
in
this
way;
the
physician
pits
himself
against
Time's
excessive
or
ficient
conjunctions
by
adjusting
the
microcosm
to
the
macrocosm:
this
is
called
sama-yoga.
33
In
Ayurveda,
the
excessive
manifestations
of
time
that
the
physician
must
most
often
combat
are
the
three
"extreme"
seasons
of
the
Indian
year,
seasons
that
correspond
to
the
three
do{as.
To
winter
correspond
tions
and
disturbances
in
the
phlegm;
the
hot
season
is
identified
with
cesses
of
wind;
and
the
rainy
season
with
excessive
bile.
34
More
important
for
our
concerns
than
this
tripartite
division,
however,
is
the
bipolar
ture
underlying
it.
In
models
that
were
being
developed
simultaneously
in
Upanishadic
and
Ayurvedic
circles,
the
round
of
the
seasons
and
the
cycles
of
life
and
death
were
ultimately
reducible
to
a
single
dynamic:
this
was
an
ongoing
tug-of-war,
between
sun
and
moon,
in
which
the
prize
was
ture,
in
the
especial
form
of
vital
fluids.
So
the
year
was
divided
into
two
semesters:
the
fiery
(agneya),
in
which
a
blazing
sun,
which
rose
higher
in
the
sky
with
every
passing
day,
drained
(adana,
"captation")
the
fluid
life
principle
out
of
all
living
creatures,
and
the
lunar
(saumya),
during
which
the
moon,
relatively
higher
in
the
sky
than
the
lowering
sun,
poured
(vi-

Chapter
Two
sarga,
"release")
more
moisture
into
the
world
(through
the
rains
of
which
it
is
the
presumed
source)
than
the
sun
was
able
to
draw
out.
35
The
first
of
these
two
semesters
roughly
corresponds
to
the
period
tween
the
winter
and
summer
solstices,
during
which
the
sun's
angle
of
elevation
increases
and
the
point
of
sunrise
moves
northward
along
the
horizon
with
each
passing
day;
the
second
approximates
the
period
tween
the
summer
and
winter
solstices,
when
the
sun's
angle
of
elevation
decreases
and
its
apparent
movement
along
the
horizon
follows
a
southerly
course.
In
India,
these
are
known
as
the
northern
course
(uttariiya1fa)
and
southern
course
respectively:
their
"turning
points"
kriintz)
fall
on
14
January
and
(approximately)
14
July,
respectively.36
The
northern
course
is,
throughout
much
of
the
Indian
subcontinent,
a
long
period
of
increasing
dessication,
culminating
in
the
blazing
dry
heat
of
the
hot
season;
the
southern
course
begins
with
the
torrential
rains
of
the
summer
monsoon
and
ends
with
the
gentler
winter
monsoon.
The
latter
is
a
life-giving
season
in
which
creatures
thrive;
the
former-in
which
wind
and
heat
are
combined-can
prove
deadly
to
all.
The
latter
is
a
time
of
life,
even
immortality;
the
former
a
time
of
death.
37
It
is
precisely
with
the
culmination
of
the
northern
course
that
the
tological
disease"
of
riijayaks.ma,
"royal
consumption:'
is
said
to
occur
in
humans.
According
to
both
medica1
38
and
literary39
convention,
the
king
who
allows
himself
to
become
debauched
in
the
clutches
of
too
many
sionate
women
also
falls
prey
to
"royal
consumption":
as
a
result,
his
dom,
sapped
of
all
its
rasa,
withers
and
dies.
In
Hindu
mythology,
the
totypical
king
to
suffer
from
royal
consumption
is
the
moon
itself,
the
same
moon
that
is
responsible
for
revivifying a
dessicated
world
at
the
end
of
each
hot
season,
the
same
moon
whose
substance,
whose
fluid
rasa,
has
been
identified,
since
at
least
the
time
of
the
Taittirrya
Samhitii
(2.3.5.2)
with
semen.
In
his
mythic
loss
and
recovery
of
his
rasa,
Candra,
King
Moon,
is
married
to
the
twenty-seven
(or
twenty-eight)
daughters
of
who
are
the
stars
that
make
up
the
the
lunar
mansions
through
which
the
moon
passes
in
its
waxing
and
waning
phases.
On
each
night,
he
dallies
and
makes
love
to
his
wives,
but
it
is
in
the
embrace
of
his
favorite,
Rohil)l,
that
he
passes
the
most
time.
It
is
here
that
Candra,
at
that
point
at
which
he
is
"closest
to
the
sun:'
spends
himself
completely
in
the
clutches
of
his
starry
wife,
and
the
moon
disappears.
His
rasa,
his
vigor,
his
semen
completely
dried
up,
the
moon
must
perform
a
soma
(which
is
both
a
name
for
and
the
stuff
of
the
moon,
the
rasa
par
excellence)
sacrifice
in
order
to
recover
his
lost
rasa,
and
so
the
cycle
begins
anew.
40

25
Categories
of
Indian
Thought
The
importance
of
this
myth,
and
of
the
conjunction
of
the
disease
of
royal
consumption
and
the
height
of
the
hot
season,
lies
in
the
dire
effects
of
sun
and
fire
(agnz)
on
moon
and
fluid
(rasa).
Here
the
parallel,
between
the
fiery
(agneya)
and
lunar
(saumya)
semesters
of
the
year
on
the
one
hand,
and
the
waning
and
waxing
fortnights
of
the
lunar
month
on
the
other,
is
transparently
evident.
In
both
cases,
that
half
of
a
temporal
cycle
ized
by
dessication
(of
the
ecosystem,
of
the
moon's
rasa)
is
associated
with
the
heat
of
the
sun
and
death.
Royal
consumption
is
most
likely
to
occur
at
the
end
of
the
solar
semester,
just
as
the
disappearance
of
King
Moon
occurs
at
the
end
of
a
dark
fortnight
during
which
he
has
dissipated
himself
by
exposing
himself
to
the
draining
heat
of
the
sexual
embrace
of
the
starry
woman
Rohil)I.
King
Moon's
loss
of
rasa
is
manifested
in
the
latter
half
of
his
monthly
cycle,
by
the
waning
of
the
moon,
by
its
diminution,
by
one
digit
(kala)
on
each
succeeding
night.
And,
at
the
end
of
its
dark
fortnight,
the
moon,
completely
dissipated,
disappearsY
The
moon
can
and
does,
however,
returnto
wholeness,
over
the
fifteen
days
of
the
waxing
fortnight;
and
versions
of
the
myth
of
King
Moon
found
in
Ayurvedic
sources
demonstrate
his
rehabilitation
(as
well
as
that
of
mans
smitten
with
the
same
ailment)
through
elixir
therapy,
rasayana.
deed,
one
of
the
earliest
medical
references
we
have
to
the
internal
use
of
mercury-also
called
rasa,
the
vital
fluid
of
the
god
Siva-prescribes
it
as
a
treatment
for
increasing
the
production
of
male
semen
(fukravrddhz).
The
duration
of
the
treatment
is
most
significant:
"like
the
moon
(fafanka),
the
bodily
dhatus
are
replenished
over
fifteen
days:'42
This
connection,
between
the
gradual
replenishment,
even
tion,
of
a
dissipated
moon
and
that
of
dissipated
human
bodies
takes
us
to
the
heart
of
the
two
crowning
disciplines
of
the
Indian
medical
tradition.
These
are
rasayana,
elixir
or
rejuvenation
therapy;
and
vajfkararJa,
sexual
rehabilitation
therapy.
Both
of
these
branches
of
Ayurveda
assume
that
youthful
vigor
is
primarily
a
matter
of
good
digestion
which,
when
overly
troubled
by
"excessive
manifestations
of
time;'
must
be
restored
through
more
radical
treatments
than
special
dietary
regimens
or
purification
techniques.
As
we
have
noted,
the
end
product
of
digestion
is,
in
males,
semen-semen
that
is
homologized
with
the
rasa
of
the
moon,
soma,
the
nectar
of
immortality.
As
such,
semen
is
called
saumya,
lunar,
like
the
semester
characterized
by
an
outpouring
of
vitalizing
moisture
into
the
ecosystem.
As
such,
microcosmic
semen
is
subject
to
many
of
the
same
dangers
as
the
macrocosmic
moon.
On
the
one
hand,
it
takes
either
a
lunar
fortnight
(as
indicated
above)
or
a
lunar
month
(the
same
time
it
takes
a

Chapter
Two
woman's
body
to
produce
an
ovum)
for
the
food
males
ingest
to
become
fully
transformed
into
semenY
On
the
other,
it
requires
a
prodigious
quantity
of
food
to
produce
a
single
gram
of
semen.
44
These
perceived
dangers
to
the
very
survival
of
the
male
sexual
fluid
are
compounded
by
an
Ayurvedic
identification
of
female
uterine
blood
with
the
fiery
(agneya)
sun
that
drains
the
ecocosm
of
all
its
vitalizing
moisture
in
the
first
semester
of
the
year:
45
the
"lunar"
semen
a
male
is
capable
of
producing
is
but
a
drop
in
the
fiery
maelstrom
of
his
partner's
sexual
fluid.
In
this
context,
the
venerable
Ayurvedic
treatments
for
the
ishment
of
vital
male
fluids
have
come
of
late
to
enjoy
a
renaissance
all
across
India.
Ayurvedic
gupta
rag
(the
"secret"
or
"hidden
affliction")
ics,
which
specialize
in
the
treatment
of
"sexual
disorders"
whose
prime
symptom
is
the
birth
of
daughters,
have
been
mushrooming
across
India
for
the
past
several
decades.
The
techniques
these
modern
clinics
employ,
however,
and
the
medicines
they
dispense
are
essentially
the
same
as
those
employed
over
the
past
two
millennia
for
such
ailing
kings
(royal
patrons
of
the
medical
and
alchemical
authors)
as
King
Moon.
In
the
classic
urvedic
sources,
rasayana,
the
seventh
branch
of
Ayurveda,
is
a
holistic
approach
to
increasing
bodily
longevity
through
the
use
of
plant-
and
mineral-based
elixirs
in
combination
with
clinical
therapeutic
techniques.
Intimately
associated
with
rasayana
is
the
eighth
and
final
branch
of
Indian
medical
science.
This
is
vajlkarar:a,
treatments
for
increasing
male
vigor
and
virility,46
which
the
fathers
of
Ayurveda
quite
sensibly
placed
after
sayana,
reasoning
that
a
long
and
healthy
life
was
a
necessary
precondition
to
a
long
and
happy
sex
life.
This
near
identification
of
virility
with
ity
is
a
fundamental
one
in
India,
linking
together
the
bodily
processes
of
digestion,
semen
production
and
retention,
conception,
and
reproduction.
Here,
the
most
elaborate
and
prestigious
body
of
rasayana
therapy
once
again
refers
back
to
the
myth
of
King
Moon.
This
is
the
treatment
known
as
"entering
into
the
hut;'
in
which
the
patient
is
sequestered
within
the
triply
enclosed
(trigarbha)
innermost
chamber
of
a
hut
called
the
"womb
of
the
womb"
(garbha-garbham).
Any
resemblance
to
the
female
reproductive
system
is
altogether
intentional
here,
with
the
rebirth
of
the
patient
being
portrayed
quite
literally:
The
soma
plant
brought
into
the
kufi
...
[is]
cut
with
a
gold
ment,
and
[its]
milk
collected
in
golden
cup.
With
one
dose
of
soma
milk
in
the
a
person
passes
through
several
severe
states
of
cleansing
in
about
ten
days,
and
then
begins
to
grow
as
quickly
again.

27
Categories
of
Indian
Thought
On
successive
days
in
the
first
week,
he
vomits,
purges,
and
emits
fluids
...
His
hair,
nails,
teeth,
and
skin
fall
off
and
are
soon
ated.
But
before
the
regeneration
begins,
he
is
a
ghastly
sight
...
Very
soon
the
skin
of
the
man
begins
to
grow
normal
...
For
some
time,
the
person
thus
has
to
be
nursed
through
all
the
growing
stages
of
a
new-born
babe,
oil
smearing,
bathing,
feeding,
and
putting
to
sleep
in
[a]
soft
bed.
Before
the
close
of
the
first
month,
the
person
begins
to
develop
a
new
set
of
teeth
...
Mter
some
more
time
...
his
old
hair
is
removed
and
then
he
develops
a
luxuriant
growth
of
jet
black
hair.
Later
still
...
exposure
is
practised
as
in
the
case
of
a
child.
[He
is]
carefully
and
gradually
[taken]
from
the
innermost
room
of
the
ku#
into
the
second
enclosure,
then
into
the
third,
and
finally
into
the
open
sun
and
air,
all
in
the
course
of
about
thirty
days.
After
nearly
three
months
or
more
...
he
may
be
in
a
fit
condition
to
go
about
in
the
worldY
This
Ayurvedic
technique
bears
striking
parallels
to
sacrificial
in
which
the
initiate
is
sequestered
in
and
reborn
out
of
a
closed
initiation
hut.
It
also
reminds
us
of
the
common
perspective
of
early
Ayurveda
and
Sarp.khya,
in
which
a
fall
into
manifestation,
triggered
by
a
disturbance
in
the
equilibrium
of
the
or
f!:UTfas,
is
reversed
through
a
return to
the
"womb"
of
nonmanifestation.
Finally,
it
appears
to
work
from
the
same
principles
and
assumptions
as
do
a
number
of
yogic
techniques
for
the
generation
of
inner
heat
(tapas)
and
the
production
of
a
new
transcendent
self.48
It
is
here,
at
the
level
of
the
replenishment
and
maintenance
of
vital
fluids,
and
most
particularly
the
vital
fluid
that
is
semen,
that
the
plines
of
Ayurveda
and
hafha
yoga
intersect:
the
same
semen
that
the
cian
identifies
with
male
virility
and
vitality
is
the
sine
qua
non
of
yogic
practice:
semen
is
the
raw
material
and
fuel
of
every
psychochemical
formation
the
yogin,
alchemist,
or
tantric
practitioner
undergoes,
mations
through
which
a
new,
superhuman
and
immortal
body
is
ceived"
out
of
the
husk
of
the
mortal,
conditioned,
biological
body.
In
the
royal
consumption
myth,
we
saw
that
King
Moon
lost
his
rasa,
his
semen,
through
sexual
contact
with
fiery
women
close
to
the
SUll.
In
the
yogic
tradition,
some
of
whose
descriptions
of
the
subtle
body
may
be
traced
as
far
back
as
the
sixth-century
B.C.
Chandogya
(8.6.1-2,6),
we
find
a
similar
homology,
one
that
becomes
a
commonplace
in
later
gic
traditions.
The
yogin's
lower
abdomen
(the
solar
plexus)
is
the
place
of

28
Chapter
Two
the
female,
sanguineous
sun,
which
provides
the
heat
necessary
to
gering
the
yogic
process,
but
which
can
also,
like
Time
(Maitri
6.
I
5),
wholly
consume
the
body,
causing
aging,
disease,
and
death.
The
head,
and
more
specifically
the
cranial
vault,
is
the
locus
of
the
sun's
counterpart,
the
cooling
moon,
a
moon
whose
rasa
is
nothing
other
than
semen
that
has
been
carried
upwards
by
the
yogic
process
and
so
been
transmuted
into
nectar,
amrta,
which
is
equivalent
to
soma,
the
draft
of
immortality.49
We
should
not
conclude
from
these
observations
that
an
ideal
world
would
be
one
in
which
there
were
no
sun,
fire,
women,
or
uterine
blood
at
all.
Sacrifice,
the
medical
year,
and
the
rhythms
of
yoga
are
all
bipolar
tems
in
which
two
opposed
principles
interact,
constructively
and
tively,
after
the
fashion
of
the
up-and-down
motion
of
a
firing
rod,
piston,
or
camshaft,
to
produce
a
cycle
characterized
by
alternations
between
fluid
and
fire,
dry
and
rainy
seasons,
male
and
female
offspring,
and
a
death
that
leads
to
immortality.
Indeed,
the
genius
of
each
of
these
three
the
sacrificial,
Ayurvedic,
and
yogic-lies
in
the
particular
way
with
which
each
comes
to
terms
with
this
bipolar
fact
of
life.
Whereas
the
Vedic
ficer
sought
to
regulate
macrocosmic
time
as
a
means
to
ensuring
cosmic
and
social
order
and
the
Ayurvedic
physician
strives
to
adjust
microcosmic
time
to
excesses
in
macro
cosmic
time
in
order
to
ensure
bodily
health,
the
yogin
claims
to
be
capable
of
imploding
these
two
temporal
orders
into
one
another
as
a
means
to
transcending
both
and
freeing
himself
from
time
(and
every
other
natural
and
cultural
constraint)
altogether.
In
this,
the
hathayogic
synthesis
appears
to
subscribe
to
the
same
basic
working
principle
as
the
erotico-mystic
practices
of
Hindu
tantrism,
i.e.,
that
one
must,
if
he
is
to
transcend
the
human
condition,
work
through,
rather
than
against,
the
overwhelming
energy
of
the
feminine.
In
Tantra,
sexual
intercourse,
the
abandonment
of
male
semen
(the
sacrificial
ing)
into
the
fiery
maw
of
the
female
sexual
organ,
is
identified
as
a
fice,
the
benefits
of
which
accrue
to
the
sacrificer.
During
the
act,
the
male
practitioner
will
therefore
recite,
"Ol!l,
thou
the
Goddess,
resplendent
by
the
oblation
of
dharma
and
non-dharma,
into
the
fire
of
the
self,
using
the
mind
as
sacrificial
ladle,
along
the
path
of
the
sus:um'f!li,
I
who
am
engaging
in
harnessing
the
sense
organs,
constantly
offer
this
oblation!'
50
Techniques
for
palliating
or
channeling
the
effects
of
this
bipolar
namic
are
by
no
means
restricted
to
these
elite
traditions.
In
fact,
the
same
sorts
of
principles
and
techniques
also
ground
the
cycles
of
the
ceremonial
year
in
modem-day
popular
Hinduism.
This
is
particularly
evident
in
the

Categories
of
Indian
Thought
religious
calendar
of
the
hot
season
in
north
India,
which
is
more
or
less
framed
by
the
vernal
equinox
and
the
summer
solstice.
In
rural
Madhya
Pradesh,
nearly
all
of
the
major
religious
festivals
of
this
period
are
cerned
with
ritually
"cooling
down"
goddesses
who
are
considered to
be
malevolent,
dangerous,
bloodthirsty
causes
of
disease.
"Hot"
diseases,
with
their
attendant
fevers
arise,
for
example,
from
the
anger
of
the
smallpox
goddess
Sitala
(whose
name
means
"cooling:'
a
reference
to
her
ideal
ture,
which
manifests
itself
when
she
has
been
appeased
through
ritual),
who
is
identified
or
associated
with
the
"Seven
Sisters:'
seven
varieties
of
smallpox.
The
heat
of
these
goddesses'
fury
is
ritually
distributed
into
wheat
seedlings
which,
after
eight
days
of
sprouting,
are
carried
in
pots
on
women's
heads
before
being
immersed
in
water;
it
is
also
transformed
into
types
of
possession
("which
comes
on
like
a
fever"),
whose
"seizures"
are
calmed
by
the
imposition
of
cooling
nim
(margosa)
leaves.
These
"hot"
goddesses
are
further
appeased
through
songs
of
praise
and
the
offering
of
blood
sacrifices.
51
All
of
these
treatments-elite
and
popular,
ritual,
medical,
yogic,
erotic,
and
mythological-are
ultimately
grounded
in
a
body
of
metaphysical
sumptions
that
date
back,
in
some
cases,
to
the
time
of
the
classical
Since
at
least
the
beginning
of
the
common
era,
there
have
existed
two
more
or
less
parallel
models
for
depicting
the
bipolar
interaction
of
fluid
and
fire
in
the
microcosm
and
macrocosm.
The
first
of
these
is
the
Ayurvedic
model
of
the
seasons
in
their
interactions
with
the
do{as.
The
second
is
a
yogic
model,
which
depicts
yogic
withdrawal
from
and
return
to
mundane
consciousness
in
terms
of
the
interaction
between
the
sun
cated
in
the
lower
abdomen
and
the
moon
located
in
the
cranial
vault
of
the
subtle
body.
This
model,
which
respects
the
Ayurvedic
seasonal
digms
of
solar
captation
and
lunar
release
of
vital
fluids,
can
be
effected
only
through
the
"regressive
practice"
(ula!ii
siidhana)
that
is
the
hallmark
of
hathayogic
practice.
I
return
to
this
model
later
in
this
chapter:
suffice
it
to
say
here
that
it
literally
stands
all
other
models
"on
their
heads!'
There
is
also
a
third
model
which,
dating
from
the
earliest
is
logically
prior
to
those
of
both
the
Ayurvedic
and
yogic
syntheses.
This
model
is
based
not
on
the
dynamics
of
heat
convection
and
fluid
transfer,
but
rather
on
a
photic
opposition
between
darkness
and
light.
This
is,
in
fact,
the
earliest
systematic
statement
of
the
doctrine
of
karma
and
birth-or,
alternatively,
liberation
from
rebirth-to
be
found
in
all
of
dian
literature.
Here,
in
describing
the
fate
of
the
soul
after
death,
these

immortality
devayana
waxing
moon
lowering
slln
sun
at
winter
solstice
Figure
2.I.
3
0
Chapter
Ftl!o
1dd
of
the
year
death-laden
existence
pitr:;ana
waning
moon
lowering
slIn
new
moon
sources
state
whom
liberation
1:0
into
the
fire
the
funeral
p'
into
the
day,
lunar
fortnight,
the
sun
(alonn
the
gods,
the
however,
wi
must
suffer
rebirth
go
into
the
smoke
of
the
funeral
pyre
and
thence
into
the
night,
the
dark
lunar
fortnight,
and
the
moon
(along
the
path
of
the
ancestral
fathers,
the
pitryiina),
where,
after
they
have
been
"eaten"
by
the
gods,
are
"rained"
down
to
earth
again,
and
become
part
of
the
food
cycle
and
thereby
the
C\de
of
rebirth.
52
In
this
last
ion
arises
that
the
transmigral
ing
human
fluid
and
luna1
his
commentap
on
this
passag1
great
eight-century
A.D.
synthesincr
coherently
d1
lineates
for
the
first
time
the
relationship
between
the
soul,
the
subtle
body,
the
body
of
enjoyment,
and
the
moon.

3
1
Categories
of
Indian
Thought
Jul
14
uttarayana
adana
agneya
A:uary14
o
sun
at
winter
solstice
y
Figure
2.2.
Ayurvedic
model
of
the
year
saumya
visarga
full
moon
On
the
lunar
orb,
[the
dead,
in
compensation
for
their
accumulated
merits]
obtain
a
body
of
aqueous
nature
for
the
enjoyment
of
sures.
The
liquid
elements
employed
in
the
funerary
rites
combine
with
other
elements,
and
reach
the
heavenly
regions.
There,
they
amalgamate
with
the
structure
of
the
moon
and
become
the
[new]
bodies
of
those
who
have
performed
sacrifices,
etc.
[during
their
earthly
existence].
When
the
final
oblation
[is]
made
into
the
ary
fire,
and
when
the
body
[is]
entirely
consumed,
the
humors
that
arise
from
it
fuse
with
the
rising
smoke
and
envelop
the
[subtle
body
of
the]
sacrificer.
Upon
reaching
the
moon,
they
form
the
primary
matter
of
[his]
new
body,
in
the
same
way
as
straw
and
clay
[serve
to
construct
the
ephemeral
"statue"
of
a
divinity].53
When
this
body
of
enjoyment
has
exhausted
the
merits
that
permitted
it
to
enjoy
its
temporary
lunar
sojourn,
it
"melts"
to
once
again
become
a

Chapter
Two
vehicle
for
the
subtle
body.
Returning
to
its
prior
state
of
an
amorphous
vapor,
it
fuses
with
the
clouds,
falls
to
earth
with
the
rains,
enters
into
the
sap
of
plants
and
thence
into
the
blood
and
seed
of
the
animals
and
humans
who
eat
those
plants.
Here,
it
enters,
as
it
has
done
an
infinite
number
of
times
before,
into
an
embryo
formed
of
the
mixture
of
blood
and
seed
produced
in
sexual
intercourse
to
once
again
become
a
living
creature.
54
The
"fluid"
or
"thermodynamic"
and
lunisolar
Ayurvedic
model
of
the
year
together
with
its
mirror
image,
the
"photic"
but
nonetheless
lunisolar
model
are
presented
in
chart
form
in
figures
2.1
and
2.2.
I
ent
the
yogic
model
later
in
this
chapter.
55
3.
Physical
and
Metaphysical
Factors
of
Five
Like
the
fingers
on
the
hand,
the
number
five
in
India
has
long
been
"good
to
think
with:'
Even
if
its
multiple
pentads
are
expansions
on
the
primal
sacrificial
triad-of
fire
(agnt)
,
oblation
(rasa),
and
the
wind
(viiyu)
that
conveyed
the
smoke
and
aroma
of
the
offering
to
the
gods-the
Hindu
cosmos
has
been,
for
at
least
three
thousand
years,
a
fivefold
one.
56
It
is
the
BrahmaJ?as
that,
even
as
they
continue
the
Vedic
discourse
of
the
triune
universe,
first
elaborate
the
concept
of
the
universe
as
fivefold.
This
they
do
most
especially
in
their
speculations
concerning
the
piling
of
the
great
fire
altar
(agnicayana),
which
is
composed
of
five
layers
of
bricks.
These
five
layers,
the
Satapatha
Briihma"!a
tells
us,
are
the
five
bodily
constituents
of
the
god
Prajapati,
as
well
as
the
five
seasons,
the
five
directions,
etc.
57
The
brahmanic
identification
of
this
sacrificial
god
with
the
year
and
with
food
would
in
turn
give
rise,
in
the
early
Taittirrya
Upanifad
(2.1),
to
a
cal
representation
of
the
five
elements
in
their
relationship
to
the
universal
and
microcosmic
man:
"From
this
atman
verily
ether
arose;
from
ether
air;
from
air
fire;
from
fire,
water;
from
water,
earth;
from
earth,
herbs;
from
herbs,
food;
from
food,
semen;
from
semen,
Man:'
This
notion
of
the
physical
universe
as
an
aggregate
of
the
five
elements
is
one
that
informs,
as
we
will
see,
not
only
the
three
great
metaphysical
systems
of
ancient
and
classical
India
(Sal1lkhya,
Vedanta,
and
the
Buddhist
Dhamma),
but
also
permeates
commonsense
discourse
on
the
nature
of
life
and
death.
The
perennial
expression
paficatvam
gamana,
"going
to
the
fiveness
[the
five
elements]:'
is
particularly
disclosive
of
this
worldview.
Indians
have
employed
this
term
since
at
least
the
time
of
the
epics
as
a
euphemism
for
death,
the
dissolution
of
bodily
integrity.
58

33
Categories
of
Indian
Thought
This
deconstruction
of
a
perceived
unity
called
"self"
was
a
central
cern
of
Buddhism,
for
which
the
reality
of
this
world
was
nothing
more
or
less
than
an
ever-changing
configuration
of
five
"heaps"
or
"aggregates"
(khandhas).
Rather
than
there
being
bodies
inhabited
by
individual
souls
thirsting
for
reintegration
into
a
universal
soul,
as
the
taught,
the
Buddha
showed
existence
to
be
nothing
other
than
a
series
of
cent
recombinations
of
appearances,
sensations,
conceptions,
mental
mations,
and
consciousness.
The
extinction
(nirvlirJa)
of
suffering
sisted
in
dissociating
the
five
aggregates
from
any
notion
of
"self;'
for
this
was
what
trapped
one
in
existence.
Ultimately,
however,
the
Buddha
was
working
from
the
same
basic
problematic
as
were
proto-Samkhyan
and
proto-
Vedantic
thought
in
the
early
Buddhism
denied
the
reality
of
self
in
order
to
emphasize
an
ethical
attitude
towards
an
impermanent
world
characterized
by
ing
born
of
ignorance.
Sal1lkhya
affirmed
the
existence
of
a
plurality
of
selves
and
the
reality
of
the
world
for
so
long
as
spirit
remained
confused
with
nature
or
original
materiality
(prakrti).
Vedanta
asserted
the
identity
of
the
individual
soul
(litman,
jlvlitman)
with
the
universal
soul
(brahman,
paramlitman)
while
denying
the
reality
of
the
phenomenal
world.
59
Yet
underlying
these
divergent
philosophies,
there
remained
a
common
ground
that
no
subtlety
of
argumentation
could
efface.
This
was
the
concrete
experience
of
the
human
body-and,
as
we
shall
see,
most
particularly
the
very
concrete
yogic
experience
of
the
body-in
its
relation
to
the
external
world.
60
Thus,
despite
the
important
points
of
divergence
between
the
metaphysics
of
these
three
schools,
the
identity
of
microcosm
and
macrocosm-already
evoked
in
Brahmanic
speculations
on
the
fication
of
the
fire
altar
with
the
body
of
the
cosmic
man
Prajapati)
and
the
universe-was
constantly
undermining
the
philosophical
tions
drawn
between
them.
In
the
end,
"wet"
experience
would
win
out
over
"dry"
philosophical
speculation.
61
In
the
early
the
cosmogonic
metaphysics
that
was
generated
to
link
the
individual
to
the
universe
and
its
absolute
source
was
nothing
other
than
a
reverse
account
of
the
stages
by
which
the
yogin
withdraws
from
the
external
world
to
realize
the
absolute
within.
62
For
the
monistic
Vedantins,
this
was
a
process
of
resorption
that
was
implied
in
the
primal
cosmic
emanation:
yoga
was
a
remounting
of
those
stages
through
which
absolute
poured
itself
out
to
form
our
manifold,
manifest
universe.
This
universe
was
a
continuum,
a
single
reverberation,
out
of
the
primal
essence
that
was
brahman,
down
into
subtle
and
gross
(sthula)
forms
of
life

34
Chapter
Two
and
matter.
All
was
interconnected,
both
structurally
and
materially;
and
because
all
being
contained
a
trace
of
the
absolute
brahman
(in
the
form
of
the
individual
soul,
the
iitman)
within,
all
was
potentially,
and
thereby
virtually,
one
with
the
universal
essence.
Yogic
practice,
meditation
and
insight
(jfiiina)
were
the
means
to
realizing,
in
the
gnoseological
sense
of
the
word,
this
inner
potential.
Although
monist,
Vedanta
constructed
its
model
of
an
emanated
verse
upon
a
Samkhyan
prototype,
which
was
dualist.
According
to
khya,
the
manifold
universe
in
all
its
parts
was
essentially
a
mistake.
That
is,
Spirit
deluded
(for
reasons
that
are
never
clearly
explained)
into
identifying
itself
with
a
rather
scatterbrained
Mother
Nature
(Pralq-ti),
moves
her
to
undergo
internal
modifications
that
serially
generate
lower
and
lower
strata
of
being.
Rather
than
a
process
of
emanation,
this
is
one
of
differentiation:
in
spite
of
its
temporary
loss
of
discrimination,
is
wholly
spirit
and
therefore
not
of
the
same
stuff
as
Pralq-ti
or
the
lower
differentiates
with
which
he
identifies
himself.
spirit,
and
Pralq-ti,
the
world,
are
proximate,
though
never
in
actual
contact.
Thus
the
various
levels
of
metaphysical
reality
remain
disconnected
materially,
with
their
structural
sequentiality
being
the
result
of
"fall"
into
(identifying
itself
with
these
ever-descending
mutations
of)
Pralq-ti.
63
In
spite
of
the
fundamental
differences
between
them,
the
basic
model
employed
by
these
two
metaphysical
systems
is
one
and
the
same.
The
shape
of
reality
is
composed
of
five
sets
of
five
categories,
headed
by
the
"preternatural"
pentad
of
purufa,
prak1J:i,
buddhi
(intellect),
ahan;zkiira
(ego),
and
manas
(mind).
Below
this
pentad
are
four
parallel
pentads,
which
act
with
and
interpenetrate
one
another.
These
are
the
five
buddhlndriyas
(sense-capacities:
hearing,
feeling,
seeing,
tasting,
smelling);
the
five
mendriyas
(action-capacities:
speaking,
grasping,
walking,
excreting,
erating),
the
five
tanmiitras
(subtle
elements:
sound,
touch,
form,
taste,
smell)
and
the
five
mahiibhutas
(gross
elements:
ether,
air,
fire,
water,
earth).64
It
is
at
the
level
of
the
twenty
lower
tattvas
that
another
constant
feature
of
the
Indian
worldview
emerges.
This
is
the
pattern
of
sponding
hierarchies
that
proliferates
throughout
a
wide
variety
of
ent
yet
parallel
disciplines.
In
the
case
of
the
Samkhyan
categories,
there
is
a
point-for-point
correspondence
between
the
members
of
each
level
of
each
of
the
four
parallel
groups.
Thus,
the
buddhlndriya
of
hearing
sponds
to
the
karmendriya
of
speaking,
the
tanmiitra
of
sound,
and
the
hiibhuta
of
ether,
and
so
on,
down
to
the
correspondence
between
olfactory
sensing,
procreation,
odor,
and
earth.
65
The
Samkhyan
system
thus
com-

35
mninrlP'-
oflndirm
prised
twenty-five
metaphysical
categories,
five
hierarchical
series
of
five.
This
system
was
taken
as
given
by
Vedantic
thought
in
its
description
of
emanated
(as
opposed
to
differentiated)
reality
and,
as
I
now
show,
by
tric
Buddhism
and
Hinduism
in
their
maps
of
a
theistic
universe,
in
which
fhe
impersonal
fi;;Jbman
was
replacd
Buddhas,
fir
by
forms
of
;;;ddess.
In
the
Hindu
:1
physical
principles
(tat-
t-as)
of
Satpkhy;!
early
on,
in
the
wenty-five
faces
;;f
Mahasadasiva_
was
an
"explodi;
that
denied
any
primal
essence,
absolute
or
universal,
Buddhism
resisted
the
Samkhyan
model
for
several
centuries;
but
here
too,
yogic
experience
eventually
vailed.
Already
in
Asvaghosa's
(A.D.
80)
theory
of
"suchness"
(tathata)
,
the
unbridgeable
gap
that
the
Buddha
taught
between
existence
(san:zsara)
and
its
cessation
(nirvana)
was
beginning
to
yield
to
the
irresistible
force
of
ogic
experienct:
ies
later,
it
WOf!
tmpletely
with
he
Mahayana
Dharmakaya
body"
com-
posed
of
the
bod'!
teachings-
;Iute
or
universal
!;oul,
a
Buddhist
fhe
Vedantin's
which
the
prac-
tItioner
entered
mto
mystIc
union.
67
Once
the
mVIolate
gap
between
sara
and
nil"valla
had
been
breached,
the
familiar
corresponding
hierarchies
of
the
Indian
cosmos
came
rushing
in
through
the
back
door,
as
it
were.
Thus,
while
logicians
like
Santideva
and
Diimaga
were
devising
splitting
arguments
by
which
to
interpret
the
world
as
a
void
entity/8
Bud-
dhist
tantrikas
and
hypostasi;;
;ddha
into
five
emanated
Budd!;;!
Amitabha_
Amoghasiddhi,
hiiatnasambhava,
illS
were
subse-
quently
equated
heing
that
cos-
mic
expansion,
fon
of
the
absoL;;-
;d;;mental
forces,
could
be
represented
by
lineages
of
gods
just
as
easily
as
by
metaphysical
categories.
Thus,
each
of
the
five
primal
Buddhas
presided
over
five
eages
of
five
bodhisattvas
which,
added
to
the
transcendent
Dharmakaya,
generated
a
total
of
twenty-five
divine
beings,
the
same
as
the
number
of
Samkhyan
categories_
Thus
we
read
in
the
Jiianasiddhi:
"Since
they
have
he
nature
of
the
the
five
constitutnr!i
1-
;Iman
personal-
Ity
are
called
jind;
and
the
five
correspond
the
Buddha'shnefore
our
body
hody.
"71
This
complet;;!
tffected
before
tl;iiitury,
gave
rise
to
Buddhist
tantra.
Hindu
tantrism
as
well
came
to
generate
clan
or
family
lineages
(kulas)
of
divinities
that
were
so
many
deifications
of
the
Sam-

3
6
Chapter
Two
khyan
categories,
adding,
as
had
the
Buddhists,
transcendent
categories
(totaling
as
many
as
thirty-seven
in
the
Trika
Kaula
synthesis)
to
score
the
superiority
of
its
pantheon
of
supreme
deities.
In
the
Hindu
case,
the
supreme
god
Siva
and
his
consort
Sakti
(or
the
Goddess
by
one
of
her
many
other
names)
are
transparent
appropriations,
but
now
with
a
sexual
reinterpretation,
of
the
Samkhyan
pair
of
and
Pralq-ti.
These
tantric
reworkings
of
the
Samkhyan
categories
would
have
a
iad
of
practical
applications
in
the
fields
of
hatha
yoga
and
alchemy,
both
of
which
stressed
the
importance
of
the
five
elements.
In
the
former
system,
the
five
lower
cakras
were
identified
with
the
five
elements,
while
in
chemy,
mercury,
the
semen
of
Siva,
was
viewed
as
incorporating
the
five
elements
in
itself.
I
discuss
these
applications
in
detail
in
later
chapters.
4.
The
Lunar
Cipher
of
Sixteen
in
Veda,
Yoga,
and
Tantra
In
the
royal
consumption
origin
myth
related
above,
the
moon
was
revived
and
replenished
in
its
bright
fortnight
through
the
offering
of
a
soma
fice.
Soma
is
the
fluid
essence
of
the
moon,
which,
in
the
sacrificial
context,
must
be
bought.
With
what
does
King
Moon
buy
back
his
vital
fluids?
With
a
red
cow,
whose
name,
rohiTff,
is
the
same
as
that
of
the
starry
woman
who
was
the
original
cause
of
his
woes.72
The
Brahmal)as
offer
another
explanation
for
the
moon's
ability
to
wax
anew,
indeed,
for
its
immortality.
Of
the
moon's
sixteen
digits,
the
last
is
said
to
descend
to
earth
to
dwell
in
animals
and
plants:
"Now
this
King
Soma,
the
food
of
the
gods,
is
none
other
than
the
moon.
When
he
is
not
seen
that
night
either
in
the
east
or
west,
then
he visits
this
world;
and
here
he
enters
into
the
waters
and
the
plants.
And
since
during
that
night
he
dwells
(vasatt)
[here]
at
home
(ama),
that
is
called
the
new
moon
(amavasya)."
"Then,
on
the
night
of
the
new
moon,
entering
by
means
of
its
sixteenth
digit
(kala)
into
all
that
is
sessed
of
breath,
it
[the
moon]
is
reborn
in
the
morning."73
What
is
this
sixteenth,
immortal
digit
of
the
moon?
Clearly,
it
is
to
be
identified
with
the
immortal
soul,
which
persists
through
an
infinite
series
of
rebirths
and
redeaths.
Why
the
number
sixteen?
In
all
likelihood,
the
intimate
association
of
this
figure
with
the
moon
is
the
result
of
the
Indian
penchant
for
"rounding
up"
from
a
given
set
of
aggregates
to
express
the
notion
of
perfect
wholeness.
In
this
case,
the
fifteen
observable
nights
of
a
lunar
fortnight
are
taken
as
fifteen
separate
units,
to
which
is
added
an
additional
unit
(the
whole
lunar
fortnight
as
the
sum
of
its
parts).
Here,

37
Categories
of
Indian
Thought
the
fifteen
nights
are
also
taken
to
be
the
spokes
of
a
wheel,
with
its
felly,
the
sixteenth,
identified
with
the
atman.
This
transcendent
sixteenth
unit,
the
amrta-kala,
"fills
out:'
renders
perfect,
the
fifteen
units
of
the
mundane
lunar
fortnight.
74
Let
us
dwell
for
a
moment
upon
the
Hindu
concept
of
the
kala,
the
lunar
digit,
and
most
especially
on
the
sixteenth,
immortal
digit
(amrta-kala)
of
the
moon
as
it
applies
to
the
yogic
body.
In
Ayurvedic
parlance,
the
term
kala
is
used
as
a
synonym
for
dhatu
75
or
for
the
invisible
supports
(dharas)
of
or
divisions
between
each
of
the
seven
dhatus.
76
This
usage
probably
originates
from
the
original
concept
of
rificial
initiation
(dfk{a)
in
the
Vedic
tradition.
Here,
when
the
sacrificer's
body
is
made
anew,
the
embryo
of
his
sacrificial
body
is
symbolically
erated
by
adding
layer
upon
layer
of
bodily
constituent:
semen,
blood,
caul,
placenta,
etcJ7
Indeed,
the
original
sacrificial
body-that
of
Prajapati
who
is
reconstructed
time
and
again
in
brahmanic
is
said
to
be
divided
into
sixteen
kalas,
which
are
each
of
his
eight
dhatus,
taken
twice.
78
An
Upanisadic
identification
of
Prajapati's
body
with
the
moon
would
appear
to
reinforce
this
interpretation.
Indeed,
sixteen
is
also
a
key
figure
in
Indian
reckonings
of
a
woman's
menstrual
cycle.
In
the
words
of
the
Yiijfiavalkya
Smrti,
"sixteen
nights
are
the
season
of
a
woman
...
from
the
appearance
of
menses,
sixteen
nights
is
for
a
woman
the
son,
i.e.
the
time
for
the
conception
of
the
fetus."
As
with
the
moon,
which
fills
out
through
an
addition
of
layers
(digits),
so
with
the
(re)constitution
of
sacrificial
and
embryonic
bodies,
as
well
as
the
ovum.79
Elsewhere,
in
Saiva
Siddhanta
ritual,
the
body
parts
of
God,
which
the
devotee
poses
upon
his
own
body
through
the
recitation
of
mantras,
are
called
kalas.
80
A
similar
perspective
appears
to
underlie
a
popular
ritual
observance
found
throughout
modern
north
India:
the
"sixteen
Mondays
vow,"
during
which
one
fasts
and
offers
coarse
wheat-flour
cakes
to
Siva
on
sixteen
cessive
Mondays.
As
in
English,
Monday
means
"moon-day"
(soma-vara)
in
the
modern
Indo-Aryan
languages;
this
ritual
observance
may
be
preted
as
a
practice
by
which
to
fill
out
the
moon-through
the
ary
of
Siva,
the
god
whose
semen
is
identified
with
soma-in
successive
phases,
until
it
is
sixteen
kalas
full.
81
The
original
use
of
the
term
kala
is
found
in
the
If-g
Veda,
where
it
was
used
to
signify
"any
single
portion
of
a
whole,
especially
a
sixteenth
part."
82
It
was
somewhat
later
that
the
term
came
to
be
applied
to
each
of
the
teen
digits
of
the
moon,
but
by
that
time
its
meaning
had
already
expanded
to
encompass
a
wide
array
of
other
sets
of
sixteen.
83
The
standard
number
of
priestly
specialists
(excluding
the
yajamana)
in
a
brahmanic
soma
sacrifice

3
8
Chapter
Two
was
sixteen;84
already
in
the
Brahmal}as,
the
number
sixteen
was
identified
as
the
numerical
attribute
of
brahman,
the
absolute.
85
When
the
cation
of
the
universal
macrocosm,
ruled
by
brahman,
and
the
corporeal
microcosm,
ruled
by
atman,
was
made,
the
sixteen
attributes
of
brahman
translated
into
the
aggregate
of
the
five
breaths,
the
five
organs
of
action
(karmendrryas),
the
five
organs
of
sensation
(jiianendrryas)
and
the
mind,86
or
into
the
sixteen
components
of
the
living
being
of
which
only
sixteenth
is
unmanifest
(avyakta)
and
transmigrates.
87
Nowhere,
however,
does
the
notion
of
wholeness
and
perfection
late
more
fully,
on
both
microcosmic
and
macro
cosmic
levels,
than
in
the
dynamics
of
the
waxing
and
waning
of
the
moon,
in
the
increase
and
nution
of
lunar
digits,
the
kalas.
The
moon
fills
out
with
each
lunar
month
to
become
brimful
of
this
nectar,
which
it
pours
into
the
world
in
the
form
of
vivifying
rain,
the
fluid
source
of
every
creature's
vitality.88
In
this
text
the
invisible
sixteenth
kala,
that
digit
that
makes
the
moon
fully
whole,
takes
on
its
fullness
of
meaning
as
the
amrta-kala,
the
"digit
of
tality."
The
increase
and
diminution
of
the
moon,
both
in
its
lunar
fortnights
and
in
its
relationship
to
the
sun
in
the
system
of
the
solar
and
lunar
ters
of
the
year,
is
intimately
tied
into
yogic
theory
and
practice
relative
to
the
subtle
body.
This
is
a
bipolar
body
that
is
divided
into
two
halves
at
the
level
of
the
navel.
Of
these,
the
lower
half
is
associated
with
femininity,
with
male
semen
that
is
"prey"
to
blood
and
to
the
fire
of
the
sun;
and
the
upper
with
masculinity,
with
semen
that
has
been
refined
into
nectar
identified
with
the
moon.
The
lower
half
is
further
identified
with
dane
existence,
with
the
dispersal
of
the
individual's
life
into
a
myriad
of
worldly
concerns
paralleled
by
the
dispersal,
in
his
lower
body,
of
his
seed:
this
is
pravrtti,
extroversion.
The
upper
half,
on
the
contrary,
is
identified
with
supermundane
consciousness,
with
the
reintegration
of
all
that
is
mally
dispersed
in
mundane
existence:
this
is
nivrtti,
introversion.
In
this
system,
human
life
itself
is
seen
as
dependent
upon
the
tenance
of
the
immortal
digit
of
lunar
nectar.
Even
at
such
times
as
an
individual
is
not
practicing
yoga,
he
remains
alive
by
virtue
of
the
sixteenth
digit
of
nectar
that
endures
in
the
cranial
vault,
identified
as
the
abode
of
brahman
or
Siva
(both
of
whom
are
identified
with
the
number
sixteen)
in
the
subtle
body:
this
is
the
microcosmic
homologue
of
the
single
immortal
lunar
digit
that
dwells
in
the
world
on
new-moon
nights.
89
The
realization
of
supernatural
powers
and
bodily
immortality
requires
that that
same

39
Categories
of
Indian
Thought
moon
in
the
cranial
vault
be
replenished
to
its
fullness
and
shine
with
all
of
its
sixteen
digits.
It
is,
however,
impossible
for
these
sixteen
digits
to
be
regenerated
without
the
"seed"
that
is
the
immortal
digit,
also
known,
in
yogic
parlance,
as
the
nivrtti
kala,
the
digit
of
yogic
introversion.
90
The
subtle
body
is
in
fact
composed
of
two
sets
of
sixteen
digits,
the
one
solar
and
fiery
and
the
other
lunar
and
fluid.
In
the
body
of
a
titioner,
it
is
the
former
set
that
holds
sway:
the
sun
or
fire
of
time
in
the
lower
abdomen
burns
with
all
of
its
twelve
digits
91
and
thus
consumes,
ages
the
body.
In
addition
to
these
twelve
solar
digits,
there
are
also
said
to
be
four
fiery
digits
in
the
body.92
These
are
located
in
the
medial
channel
of
the
subtle
body,
the
sUfUm"!a
naql
or
brahmamarga
(the
"path
of
brahman"),
which
runs
up
the
spinal
column
from
the
lower
abdomen
to
the
cranial
vault.
Yoga,
and
most
especially
yoga,
involves
forcefully
controlling,
even
reversing
the
body's
natural
tendencies
through
the
combined
niques
of
breath
control,
fixed
postures,
and
meditation.
What
these
niques
aim
to
reverse
is
the
aging
process,
which
yogic
traditions
identify
with
the
predominance
in
the
body
of
the
solar
and
fiery
digits.
This
yogic
battery
of
techniques
for
reversing
the
course
of
nature
and
time
is
ously
called
sadhana
(regressive
practice),
kaya
kalpa
(bodily
gration),
and
paravrtti
(retroversion).
Yogic
practice
reduces
the
influence
of
the
sixteen
digits
of
the
lower
body
while
simultaneously
increasing
that
of
the
sixteen
lunar
digits
of
the
moon
located
in
the
cranial
vault.
This
it
does,
in
practical
terms,
by
raising
the
yogin's
semen
from
his
lower
domen
along
the
length
of
the
medial
channel
until
it
fills
out
the
moon
in
his
head.
As
it
rises,
this
same
semen
is
gradually
transformed
into
amrta,
the
stuff
of
the
macrocosmic
moon,
the
divine
nectar
of
immortality
which
pours
itself
into
the
world
in
the
form
of
vivifying
rain.
The
way
in
which
this
transformation
occurs
lies
at
the
heart
of
yogic
theory
and
practice.
yoga
is
the
forceful
channeling
and
control
of
the
vital
breaths
(pra,,!as)
and
of
the
thermal
energy
(tapas,
yogagnz)
of
the
subtle
body.
Yogic
transformation
begins
when
the
yogin
concentrates
all
of
his
vital
breaths
at
the
base
of
his
medial
channel,
in
the
region
of
the
subtle
sun
that
is
burning
with
all
of
its
twelve
digits.
This
concentration
of
breaths
opens
the
medial
channel,
the
mouth
of
which
had
theretofore
remained
closed,
at
which
point
the
process
of
yogic
reversal
truly
begins.
Through
heroic
efforts
of
mental
concentration
and
physical
exertion,
the
yogin
now
initiates
a
controlled
raising
of
his
seed,
the
heat
of
his
solar
fires,
and
his
breath
along
the
medial
channel.
93
At
each
stage
of
this
pro-

lunar
fqii
in
left
side
of
body
Chapter
Two
July
14
full
sun
mundane
consciousness
-c)-
I
o
January
14
full
moon
samiidhi
Figure
2.3.
Yogic
model
of
the
year
//-solar
pingala
in
right
/
side
of
body
cess,
the
fire
of
the
sun
in
his
abdomen
decreases
incrementally:
what
the
yogin
is
in
fact
doing
is
burning
up
the
fire
of
death
(kiiliigni)
with
the
immortalizing
fire
of
yoga
(kiiliignirudra).94
In
its
simplest
terms,
this
channeling
of
vital
fluid,
breath,
and
heat
ergy
is
a
six-stage
process.
These
six
stages
are
described
as
the
piercing
(bheda)
by
these
vital
elements
of
six
energy
centers
or
circles
of
mation
called
the
cakras.
The
six
cakras,95
strung
along
the
length
of
the
spinal
column
in
the
subtle
body,
are,
in
order,
the
milliidhiira
(at
the
level
of
the
anus),
sviidhis;:hiina
(at
the
level
of
the
genitals),
ma'l'fipura
(navel),
aniihata
(heart),
vifuddhi
(throat),
and
ii/flii
(between
the
eyebrows).
The
prodigious
heat
generated
with
the
piercing
of
each
cakra,
coupled
with
the
fact
that
upward
movement
is
here
equated
with
absorption,
allows
for
a
homologization
of
each
circle
of
transformation
with
a
tion
ground,
the
place
of
the
final
sacrifice,
and
a
pralaya,
a
cosmic
dissolu-

sun
at
summer
solstice
uttarayana
adana
agneya
41
Categories
of
Indian
Thought
optimal
health
-------
new
moon
saumya
visarga
,=
at
w;nte",ol,tice
-(Suary
'0
fun
moon
Figure
2-4.
Ayurvedic
model
of
the
year
tion.
96
This
heat,
concentrated
within
the
infinitesimal
space
of
the
medial
channel,
effects
the
gradual
transformation
of
"raw"
semen
into
"cooked"
and
even
perfected
nectar,
amrta;
it
is
this
nectar
that
gradually
fills
out
the
moon
in
the
cranial
vault
such
that,
at
the
conclusion
of
this
process,
the
lunar
orb,
now
brimming
with
nectar,
is
possessed
of
its
full
complement
of
sixteen
digits.
The
brimming
down
turned
moon
in
the
cranial
vault
is
also
identified
as
a
thousand-petaled
lotus:
this
is
the
so-called
"seventh"
cakra,
the
sahasriira.
This
transformation
of
semen
into
nectar
wholly
transforms
the
body,
rendering
it
immortal.
Because
the
yogin
reverses
all
natural
tendencies
(inertia,
towards-death,
extroversion)
through
his
practice,
he
quite
literally
verses
the
flow
of
time;
because
his
is
a
"regressive
practice:'
it
stands
the
conventional
models
of
the
temporal
cycles
on
their
heads.
Here,
we
lustrate
with
a
chart
these
reversals-between
the
interplay
of
the
macro-

Chapter
Two
cosmic
sun
and
moon
in
the
visarga
and
adana
semesters
of
the
Ayurvedic
year
on
the
one
hand
and
the
cyclic
interplay
of
lunar
and
solar
kalas
in
the
subtle
body
of
hafha
yoga
on
the
other
(figs.
2.3
and
2-4).
The
application
of
the
hathayogic
model-of
a
full,
male,
ing
moon
in
the
upper
body
and
a
blazing,
female,
deadly
sun
in
the
lower
body-becomes
greatly
expanded
in
the
Puranic
reckoning
of
the
great
cosmic
time
cycles,
the
kalpas
or
eons.
Here,
a
divine,
cosmic
yogin
gers
the
creation
or
dissolution
of
the
universe
through
his
cycles
of
yogic
withdrawal
from
(which
corresponds
to
cosmic
dissolution)
and
return to
(which
corresponds
to
cosmic
emission)
mundane
consciousness.
97
Here
as
well,
the
phases
into
which
eons
are
divided,
i.e.,
of
nonmanifestation
and
manifestation,
are
termed
ni{kala
and
sakala,
with
kalas
and
without
kalas,
respectively.98
In
fact,
time
(kala)
is
always
lurking
in
the
background
of
any
discussion
of
the
kalas,
because
to
each
kala
there
corresponds
a
lunar
day
(titht):99
with
each
passing
kala,
another
day
goes
by.
Normally,
man
is
the
victim
of
this
relentless
passing
of
the
kalas,
the
march
of
time,
which,
just
as
it
diminishes
the
moon
in
its
waning
fortnight,
wears
down
the
human
body
and
brings
man
a
day
closer
to
his
death.
Only
the
yogin,
through
his
gressive
practice,
can
effect
a
returnto
a
primordial
plenitude,
abling
himself
to
stave
off
and
even
reverse
and
gain
back
"lost
time."
So
it
is
that
as
he
enters deeper
and
deeper
into
his
practice,
the
yogin
turns
back
the
hands
of
time,
moving
backwards
through
his
earlier
life
and
prior
existences
and
thereby
annulling
the
karma,
the
effects
of
the
accumulated
fruits
of
past
acts,
attached
to
them.
Still
deeper
into
his
yogic
trance,
when
he
has
remounted
the
emanated
order
of
creation
back
to
its
very
a
source
prior
to
sameness
and
difference,
life
and
death,
male
and
female,
ego
and
other-he
realizes a
state
of
being
that
is
unconditioned
even
by
Time
itself.
The
yogin
then
becomes
a
kala-vaficaka,
a
"tricker"
or
"skewer"
of
Time,
100
and
many
are
the
myths
of
Siddhas
who
harrow
hell
and
give
Death
a
thrashing
for
his
having
presumed
to
hold
sway
over
one
of
their
fold.
For
the
Indian
yogin,
following
the
example
of
the
yogic
god
whose
withdrawal
from
and
returnto
mundane
consciousness
synchronize
the
arising
and
passing
away
of
the
cosmic
ages,
time
need
not
merely
move
forward:
there
are
also
the
options
of
fast
forward
and
reverse.
It
is
in
this
way
that
the
yogin,
even
though
he
employs
the
same
bipolar
system
for
time
reckoning
as
do
all
other
Indians,
relates
to
time
in
his
own
unique
way.
Rather
than
being
a
slave
to
time,
he
is
its
master.
He
becomes
a
ond
Siva:'
the
master
of
a
universe
he
knows
to
be
of
his
own
making.

43
Categories
of
Indian
Thought
Following
their
supreme
fusion
in
hafha
yoga,
the
lunar
digits
and
the
number
sixteen
seem
to
pursue
separate
careers
in
later
Hindu
traditions.
On
the
one
hand,
the
number
sixteen
becomes
expanded,
through
an
flationary
tendency
quite
endemic
to
Hinduism,
into
eighteen.
On
the
other,
kala
becomes
a
tantric
metaphysical
category
more
or
less
divorced
from
its
prior
associations
with
the
waxing
and
waning
moon.
It
is
cially
in
the
context
of
the
phonematic
emanation
of
the
tantric
universe,
in
which
the
self-manifestation
of
the
absolute
is
effected
through
the
garland
of
the
fifty-one
ordered
phonemes
(va17!a-mala)
of
the
Sanskrit
alphabet-which
are
at
once
acoustic
matrices
and
mother
goddesses
(matrkas)IOI-that
the
term
kala
is
most
broadly
employed
in
nondualist
tantra.
Here,
through
the
"particularizing
energy"
of
the
kala,
the
manifest
acoustic
nature
of
the
absolute,
called
nada,
"resonance:'
becomes
condensed
into
the
differentiated
phonemes
of
manifest
speech.
102
It
is
here
that
tantrism
coopts,
in
its
own
way,
the
notion
of
the
kalas
as
lunar
digits:
the
fifteen
vocalic
phonemes
of
the
Sanskrit
language,
together
with
a
nasalization
called
the
bindu,
are
identified
with
the
first
fifteen
digits
of
the
moon.
The
sixteenth
kala,
the
invisible
and
immortal
digit
that
is
ent
in
all
that
flows
from
it,
becomes
the
turning
point
between
vowels
and
consonants
in
the
order
of
the
emanated
phonemes:
this
is
the
visarga,
the
surd
aspirate
often
found
at
the
end
of
Sanskrit
words.
As
such,
the
teenth
phonemic
kala,
the
visarga
is
pictured
as
the
point
of
intersection
or
union
between
utterance
and
meaning,
between
language
and
event,
signifiant
and
signifie.
IOJ
These
sixteen
phonemic
kalas,
while
identified
with
Siva,
are
only
enlivened
through
his
interaction
with
his
manifest
pect,
the
goddess
Sakti.
104
As
such,
this
group
of
sixteen
may
also
be
fied
as
sixteen
divine
mothers.
105
In
addition
to
its
extended
applications
of
the
full
complement
of
lunar
digits
in
its
theory
and practice,
tantrism
also
expands
on
the
number
of
digits
in
the
full
moon,
raising
it
to
eighteen.
This
is
a
process
that
was
already
under
way
prior
to
the
time
of
the
tantras
themselves.
The
cal
attribute
of
the
absolute
brahman
is
raised,
in
the
Mahabharata,
from
sixteen
to
eighteen.
106
Likewise,
in
the
writings
of
the
Mahayana
pher
Asanga,
as
well
as
of
certain
Nath
Siddhas,
the
number
of
inner
"voids"
(fiinyas)
alternates
between
sixteen
and
eighteen.
107
Finally,
in
Hindu
tantra,
the
number
of
kalas
is
raised
from
sixteen
to
eighteen,
to
accomodate
for
additional
metaphysical
categories.
lOS
There
is
yet
another
important
sphere
of
Hindu
life
in
which
the
ber
sixteen
plays
an
important
role.
These
are
the
sa,"!skaras,
the
Hindu

cosmic
night
44
Chapter
Two
God
returns
to
mundane
consciousness
srsti
a
cosmic
begins
o
God
in
samiidhi
pralaya
a
cosmic
night
begins
Fig;ure
2.5.
Yogic
model
of
the
cosmic
year
(Kalpa)
sarrzsiira
"sacraments"
or
"life-cycle
rites:'
which,
extending
from
conception
to
cremation,
respect
the
numerical
determinism
of
the
number
sixteen.
109
Over
the
millennia,
this
term
has
come
to
take
on
a
wide
range
of
tions,
one
of
which
is
an
alchemical
one:
the
series
of
16
+
2
processes
which
lead
to
the
transformation
of
mercury,
the
"lunar"
semen
of
Siva,
into
a
transmuting
agent,
are
called
the
san:zskaras.
110
The
alchemical
skaras
moreover
retain
a
number
of
the
"lunar"
elements
intrinsic
to
the
number
sixteen.
Thus,
the
alchemical
BhutiprakaraTfa,
in
a
clear
reference
to
the
myth
of
the
origin
of
royal
consumption,
states
that
the
mineral
rasas
arose
from
the
union
of
Bhairava
and
Rohi1).l,
the
erstwhile
spouse
of
King
Moon.
The
same
source
goes
on
to
state
that
it
is
only
under
a
waxing
or
full
moon
that
alchemical
operations
leading
to
bodily
rejuvenation
will
succeed.
11
1
We
will
return
to
a
detailed
discussion
of
the
alchemical
skaras
in
chapter
nine.

lunar
lqii
in
left
side
of
body
45
Categories
of
Indian
Thought
July
14
full
sun
mundane
consciousness
c
January
14
full
moon
samiidhi
Figure
2.6.
Yogic
model
of
the
year
/
solar
pingalii
in
right
//
side
of
body
5.
Yogic
and
Cosmic
Cycles
In
yoga,
the
principal
motor
behind
the
transformations
of
mundane
semen
into
divine
nectar
of
immortality-and
of
mundane
mind
(manas)
to
a
state
beyond
mind
(unmana)-is
a
pneumatic
one.
It
is
wind,
the
namic
element
in
the
ancient
Vedic
triad,
which
here,
taking
the
form
of
controlled
breathing,
plays
a
crucial
transformative
role
in
the
hathayogic
system.
When
the
breath
is
stable,
mind
and
semen
are
stabilized;
but
more
important,
when
through
breath
control
(pra1fayama)
the
base
of
the
dial
channel
is
opened,
that
same
breath
causes
the
reversal
of
mundane
polarities.
Rather
than
descending,
semen,
energy,
and
mind
are
now
forced
upwards
into
the
cranial
vault,
effecting
total
yogic
integration
madht),
a
reversal
of
the
flow
of
time,
immortality
and
transcendence
over
the
entire
created
universe.

4
6
Chapter
Two
The
importance
of
yogic
pra1fayama
is
underscored
in
Indian
systems
of
time
reckoning,
especially
as
concerns
two
extreme
units
of
measurement.
It
is
here
that
we
find
not
a
mere
dilation
of
number-as
has
been
the
case
with
two,
three,
five,
and
sixteen-but
a
veritable
explosion
thereof,
with
numerical
progressions
raising
these
figures
to
powers
of
fourteen
or
tors
of
trillions.
Yet,
as
always,
the
same
phenomena,
of
bipolarity
and
mology,
lie
at
the
root
of
such
mathematical
exultation.
We
have
already
outlined
the
correspondences
between
the
semesters
of
the
solar
year
and
the
fortnights
of
the
lunar
month.
Moving
down
the
scale
from
these
temporal
units,
we
find
that
each
of
the
days
in
a
lunar
month
is
divided
into
bright
(day)
and
dark
(night)
halves
and
so
on
until
one
arrives
at
the
basic
"bipolar
time
unit"
of
human,
or
more
particularly
yogic,
respiration.
This
is
the
matra
("measure"),112
or
the
elapsed
time
of
a
yogic
inhalation
(homologized
with
the
day,
the
bright
lunar
fortnight,
and
the
northern
path)
and
exhalation
(homologized
with
night,
the
dark
lunar
fortnight,
and
the
southern
path).
Ninety-six
matras
constitute
one
ghafa;
sixty
ghafas
one
day
and
night;
thirty
days
one
month
(a
day
of
the
ancestors);
twelve
months
one
year
(a
day
of
the
gods);
12
X
360
X
1000
years
a
mahayuga
(a
day
of
the
god
Brahma);
and
one
thousand
mahayugas
a
kalpa
(a
day
of
the
cosmic
yogin
According
to
nearly
every
yogic
and
tantric
tradition,
Siva
is
an
even
greater
yogin
than
As
such,
a
kalpa
is
but
a
single
matra,
a
divine
inbreath
and
an
outbreath
for
Siva-the
proof
of
this
being
the
garlands
of
skulls,
of
Brahmas
and
of
innumerable
past
creations
that
he
wears
around
his
neck.
In
the
words
of
the
twelfth-century
Virasaiva
poet
BasavaI).I).a,
When
the
ghosts
read
the
writing
on
the
skulls
Siva
wears
around
his
neck,
they
know,
"This
one
is
Brahma,
this
one
is
this
one
is
Indra,
this
is
Death:'
as
they
play
happily
with
them,
Siva
smiles,
he
laughs,
our
god.llJ
In
the
monistic
or
pneumatic
perspective
of
the
yoga-based
Indian
seologies,
it
is
ultimately
breath,
breathing
in
and
breathing
out,
that
unites
the
microcosm
to
the
macrocosm
(indeed,
atman
can
be
translated
as
"spirit"
or
"breath,
re-spir-ation").114
The
lunar
months,
solar
years,
etc.
are
so
many
temporal
mesocosms,
so
many
levels
at
which
the
human
comes
joined
to
the
absolute,
through
the
bipolar
dynamic
of
breathing
in

47
Categories
of
Indian
Thought
and
breathing
out.
It
is
for
this
reason
in
particular
that
breath
control
plays
such
a
paramount
role
in
the
entire
yogic
enterprise.
With
these
remarks,
I
present
two
final
charts
which
compare
the
basic
bipolar
model
of
yogic
withdrawal
and
return
on
the
one
hand
and
the
kalpic
cycle
of
divine
withdrawal
(dissolution,
pralaya)
and
return
sion,
on
the
other
(figs.
2.5
and
2.6).

THREE
The
Prehistory
of
Tantric
Alchemy
I.
Six
Alchemical
Accounts
a.
The
Zawgyis
or
Weikzas,
the
alchemist-monks
of
Burma
whose
teric
alchemical
tradition
dates
from
the
fifth
century
A.D.,
are
indebted
at
least
in
part
to
India
for
their
knowledge
of
the
mercurials
with
which
they
are
expert
in
"pickling"
their
bodies.
A
Burmese
legend
set
in
the
time
of
the
eleventh-century
king
Anawrahta
also
betrays
an
Indian
connection:
l
[A
monk,
having
saved
two
boys
from
drowning]
discovered
that
they
were
...
Indians
by
race.
He
took
them
to
his
monastery
and,
ing
them
Byat-wi
and
Byat-ta,
he
brought
them
up
as
his
pupils.
Years
passed
and
the
boys
became
fully
grown
young
men.
One
day
the
monk
found
on
the
hill-side
the
body
of
an
alchemist
who
had
died
during
the
final
stages
of
his
experiments,
and
he
instructed
his
pupils
to
carry
it
to
the
monastery
and
roast
it.
After
the
body
had
been
roasted,
the
monk
said,
"Look
here,
pupils,
the
roasted
flesh
of
the
alchemist
is
to
be
eaten
only
by
the
Great
King
of
Thaton,
so
that
he
will
become
a
mighty
man
of
endeavour
and
protect
our
country
from
its
enemies.
So
I
must
go
to
the
city
to
invite
the
King
to
ner"
...
In
the
darkness,
the
roasted
body
of
the
alchemist
shone
like
gold,
and
it
gave
out
such
a
sweet
flavour
that
the
two
youths
yearned
to
taste
the
strange
flesh
...
"Let
us
just
take
a
bite
each:'
and
they
cut
off
a
tiny
part
of
the
roasted
body
and
ate
it,
but
as
the
flesh
tasted
so
good
they
greedily
went
on
eating
until
the
whole
body
was
finished
...
The
elder
brother
[said]
"
...
let
us
enjoy
ourselves?'
Then,
feeling
gay
and
strong,
he
lifted
the
monastery
from
its
dations
and
turned
it
upside
down.
"Is
that
all
you
can
do?"
mocked
the
younger
brother,
and
he
lifted
a
huge
rock
and
placed
it
on
the

49
The
Prehistory
of
Tantric
Alchemy
path
...
The
monk
saw
the
huge
rock
and
the
upside-down
tery
and
realized
that
the
worst
had
happened.
''Alas,
Lord
King,"
he
exclaimed,
"
...
I
fear
that
my
boys
have
eaten
the
roasted
alchemist,
and
unless
they
are
quickly
apprehended
they
will
rebel
against
you."
b.
The
seventh-century
Indian
author
and
playwright
Ba:t;labhaTIa
vides
the
earliest
literary
account
we
have
of
an
Indian
tantrika
in
the
comic
description
he
gives
of
a
south
Indian
ascetic
who
superintended
a
temple
of
the
goddess
on
the
road
to
Ujjain:
2
He
had
a
tumor
growing
on
his
forehead
that
was
blackened
by
stantly
falling
at
the
feet
of
the
mother
Goddess
...
and
was
blind
in
one
eye
from
a
batch
of
invisibility
salve
[siddhiifijana]
given
him
by
a
quack
...
He
had
brought
a
premature
fever
on
himself
with
an
improperly
prepared
mercurial
elixir
[rasiiyana]
used
as
a
vermifuge
...
He
had
a
collection
of
palm-leaf
manuscripts
containing
material
on
conjuring,
tantra,
and
mantra,
which
were
written
in
letters
of
smoky-red
lacquer.
He
had
written
the
doctrine
of
Mahakala
as
such
had
been
taught
to
him
by
an
old
Maha-pasupata.
He
was
afflicted
with
the
condition
of
babbling
about
buried
treasure
and
had
become
very
windy
on
the
subject
of
transmutational
alchemy
[dhiituvada]
...
He
had
increased
his
grasp
on
the
mantra-siidhana
for
becoming
visible,
and
knew
thousands
of
wonderful
stories
about
SrIparvata.
c.
Alberuni,
the
Muslim
savant
who
accompanied
Mahmud
of
Ghazni
in
his
conquest
of
western
India
between
A.D.
998
and
1030,
relates
a
ber
of
Indian
alchemical
legends,
including
the
following:
3
In
the
city
of
Dhara,4
the
capital
of
Mala
va,
which
is
in
our
days
ruled
by
Bhojadeva
[1000-55],
there
lies
in
the
door
of
the
Government
house
an
oblong
piece
of
pure
silver,
in
which
the
outlines
of
the
limbs
of
a
man
are
visible.
Its
origin
is
accounted
for
by
the
following
story:-Once
in
olden
times
a
man
went
to
a
king
of
theirs,
bringing
him
a
Rasiiyana,
the
use
of
which
would
make
him
immortal,
ous,
invincible,
and
capable
of
doing
everything
he
desired.
He
asked
the
king
to
come
alone
to
the
place
of
their
meeting,
and
the
king
gave
orders
to
keep
in
readiness
all
the
man
required.
The
man
began
to
boil
the
oil
for
several
days,
until
at
last
it
quired
consistency.
Then
he
spoke
to
the
king:
"Spring
into
it
and
I
shall
finish
the
process."
But
the
king,
terrified
at
what
he
saw,
had

50
Chapter
Three
not
the
courage
to
dive
into
it.
The
man,
on
perceiving
his
ice,
spoke
to
him:
"If
you
have
not
sufficient
courage,
and
will
not
do
it
for
yourself,
will
you
allow
me
myself
to
do
it?"
Whereupon
the
king
answered,
"Do
as
you
like!'
Now
he
produced
several
packets
of
drugs,
and
instructed
him
that
when
such
and
such
symptoms
should
appear,
he
should
throw
upon
him
this
or
that
packet.
Then
the
man
stepped
forward
to
the
cauldron
and
threw
himself
into
it,
and
at
once
he
was
dissolved
and
reduced
into
pulp.
Now
the
king
ceeded according
to
his
instruction,
but
when
he
had
nearly
finished
the
process,
and
there
remained
only
one
packet
that
was
not
yet
thrown
into
the
mass,
he
began
to
be
anxious,
and
to
think
what
might
happen
to
his
realm,
in
case
the
man
should
returnto
life
as
an
immortal,
victorious,
invincible
person,
as
has
above
been
mentioned.
And
so
he
thought
it
preferable
not
to
throw
the
last
packet
into
the
mass.
The
consequence
was
that
the
caldron
became
cold,
and
the
dissolved
man
became
consolidated
in
the
shape
of
the
said
piece
of
silver.
d.
In
the
account
he
gives
of
his
travels
in
India
in
the
last
years
of
the
thirteenth
century,
Marco
Polo
offers
the
following
description
of
a
group
of
persons
he
encountered
on
the
Malabar
Coast
of
India:
5
Here
these
Braaman
live
more
than
any
other
people
in
the
world
....
Moreover
they
have
among
them
regulars
and
orders
of
monks
...
who
are
called
ciugi
[Yogis,
J
ogis]
who
certainly
live
more
than
all
the
others
in
the
world,
for
they
commonly
live
from
ISO
to
200
years
...
And
again
I
tell
you
that
these
ciugi
who
live
so
long
...
eat
also
what
I
shall
explain
...
I
tell
you
that
they
take
quicksilver
and
sulphur
and
mix
them
together
with
water
and
make
a
drink
out
of
them;
and
they
drink
it
and
say
it
increases
their
life
...
They
do
it
twice
on
the
week,
and
sometimes
twice
each
month
...
and
without
mistake
those
who
live
so
long
use
this
drink
of
sulphur
and
silver.
e.
At
the
close
of
the
seventeenth
century,
the
French
traveler
Bernier,
a
Catholic
man
of
letters,
gives
a
more
nuanced
account
of
the
religious
practices
he
observed
in
Mogul
India.
While
he
either
ridicules
or
shows
disgust
or
contempt
for
nearly
all
that
he
sees
of
Hindu
religious
life,
one
group,
whom
he
calls,
as
had
Marco
Polo,
Yogis,
seems
to
mand
his
respect:
6

51
The
Prehistory
ofTantric
Alchemy
There
are
others
quite
different
from
these
[other
Hindu
sectarian
groups];
strange
fellows
these,
almost
constantly
travelling
hither
and
thither;
these
are
people
who
scoff
at
everything,
and
whom
nothing
troubles.
They
are
people
with
secrets
who,
it
is
said,
even
know
how
to
make
gold
and
to
prepare
mercury
so
admirably
that
one
or
two
grains
taken
every
morning
restore
the
body
to
perfect
health
and
so
fortify
the
stomach
that
it
digests
very
well,
such
that
it
is
nearly
impossible
for
them
to
eat
their
fill.
f.
Two
hundred
years
after
Bernier,
John
Campbell
Oman,
a
relatively
open-minded
7
subject
of
the
British
Empire-for
whom,
however,
western
superiority
and
the
propriety,
even
the
necessity
of
the
colonial
and
sionary
enterprise
were
never
open
to
question-gives
a
report
of
an
Indian
alchemist
that
is
less
flattering
than
those
of
his
two
western
cessors:
8
A
learned
Sikh
told
me
of
an
...
unfruitful
experience
he
had
with
a
gold-making
Nirmali
sadhu.
This
man
made
friends
with
the
Sikh,
and
insinuated
himself
into
his
confidence.
He
...
revealed,
under
the
seal
of
secret,
that
he
was
acquainted
with
the
occult
art
of
transmuting
metals.
The
Sikh
...
was
much
excited
at
finding
that
his
new
friend
was
a
potent
alchemist
...
The
transmuter
of
metals
seemed
to
live
very
well,
yet
occasionally
borrowed
money,
showing
special
favour
to
the
Sikh
in
this
matter
.
..
One
day
the
sadhu
showed
the
Sikh
a
common
bronze
...
coin,
and
then
in
his
presence
put
it
into
a
small
furnace
along
with
various
leaves
and
roots
he
had
collected.
After
an
hour
or
so
he
produced
from
his
crucible
a
golden
fac-simile
of
the
[
coin].
The
Sikh,
not
to
be
taken
in
even
by
his
dear
friend,
asked
to
be
allowed
to
have
it
tested
by
a
goldsmith.
sion
was
given
and
acted
upon,
with
the
result
that
the
experts
in
the
bazaar
pronounced
it
gold
of
the
purest
quality.
The
Sikh
was
now
agog
to
learn
the
important
secret
of
gold-making,
and
many
were
the
rupees
he
willingly
lent
the
sadhu,
in
the
hope
that
he
would
cept
him
as
a
pupil.
But
the
saintly
man
of
science
suddenly
and
expectedly
decamped.
''Alas:'
said
the
Sikh
after
he
had
narrated
these
circumstances
to
me,
"I
lost
more
than
sixty
rupees
through
that
imposter.
I
have
since
learned
how
he
fooled
me,
but
never
a
Nirmali
sadhu
has,
since
those
days,
had
so
much
as
a
drop
of
water
from
my
hand!"

Chapter
Three
2.
Religious
Alchemy
in
India:
Three
Typologies
The
six
accounts
presented
hereepitomize
the
historical
evolution
and
volution
of
religious
akhemy
in
India.
The
Burmese
folktale
and
bhana's
seventh-century
caricature
typify
magical
akhemy,
which
held
the
field
from
the
second
to
the
tenth
century
A.D.
Al-Biruni's
century
account
is
a
legendary
portrayal
of
an
operation
proper
to
tantric
akhemy,
which
enjoyed
its
golden
age
from
the
tenth
to
the
fourteenth
century.
Marco
Polo's
and
Frans,:ois
Bernier's
descriptions
of
Yogis
ment
the
tradition
of
Siddha
akhemy,
which
thrived
from
the
thirteenth
to
the
seventeenth
century.
The
decline
of
Siddha
alchemy,
already
hinted
at
in
the
Aurangzebian
firman
with
which
this
book
opened,
is
chronicled
in
Oman's
nineteenth-century
account.
We
may
begin
to
generate
a
working
definition
of
religious
alchemy
by
distinguishing
it
from
what
it
is
not.
Throughout
the
three
phases
I
have
evoked,
religious
alchemy
interacted
with,
and
was
at
times
even
guishable
from,
other
theoretical
and
applied
sciences
in
which
mercurial
and
mineral-based
preparations
played
a
central
role.
The
most
important
of
these
(though
perhaps
not
the
earliest)9
was
Ayurveda,
whose
two
dational
works,
the
Caraka
Samhita
(ca.
A.D.
100)10
and
the
Sufruta
Samhita
(ca.
fourth
century
A.D.),ll
contain
references
to
external,
therapeutic
uses
of
mercury.
Following
these,
the
sixth-
to
seventh-century
A.D.
A{fanga
San:zgraha
of
Vagbhana
the
Elder
contains
the
earliest
Indian
reference
to
the
internal
use
of
mercury
for
therapeutic
ends.
12
In
spite
of
the
fact,
however,
that
Ayurvedic
uses
of
mercury
predate
those
of
the
tantric
and
Siddha
alchemical
traditions
that
will
concern
us,
and
although
Ayurveda
later
incorporated
many
of
the
technical
ies
made
by
tantric
alchemy
(especially
following
the
decline
of
the
latter
in
the
fourteenth
century),
its
use
of
mercurial
and
mineral-based
tions
falls,
for
the
most
part,
outside
the
purview
of
this
study.
The
reason
for
this
is
that
the
goals
of
the
Ayurvedic
"mercurial
science"
(rasa
i.e.,
mineral-based
pharmacy-are
essentially
therapeutic
(rogavada)
,
13
whereas
the
hallmark
of
religious
alchemy
is
its
dual
emphasis
on
tational
(lohavada)
alchemy
and
elixir
(dehavada)
alchemy,
on
the
bodily
transformation
of
the
living
practitioner
into
a
perfected
immortal,
a
dha,
Vidyadhara,
or
a
"second
Siva;'
The
Ayurvedic
tradition
has
no
such
pretensions.
The
Ayurvedic
physician's
goal
is
to
heal
the
man
and
not
to
create
a
superman.
Because,
however,
a
vast
wealth
of
religious
alchemical
doctrine
has
remained
fossilized
as
it
were
within
the
canons
of
Ayurveda

53
The
Prehistory
of
Tantric
Alchemy
and
rasa
siistra,
we
will
have
the
occasion
to
refer
to
a
wide
array
of
medical
and
pharmacological
sources
throughout
this
study.
I
have
chosen
the
term
magical
alchemy
to
designate
the
earliest
phase
of
religious
alchemy
for
a
simple
reason:
it
is,
for
all
intents
and
purposes,
the
stuff
of
fairy
tales.
Transmutation
and
bodily
immortality
are
its
stated
goals,
but
the
means
to
these
ends
are
a
matter
of
serendipity
throughout
this
period.
Its
watchword
is
the
term
rasa-rasiiyana-a
mercurial
elixir
cum
philosopher's
stone
and
one
of
the
eight
magical
siddhis
of
Mahayana
Buddhism,14
as
well
as
medieval
Hinduism
l5
and
Jainism
l6
-but
this
is
a
power
or
object
to
be
won
or
wrested
from
gods,
demigods,
or
demons
rather
than
produced
in
the
laboratory.
While
most
of
the
alchemical
lore
of
this
period
is
found
in
Buddhist
sources,
the
secular
literature
of
the
time
(of
which
Ba1).a's
Kiidambari
is
a
prime
example)
also
contains
its
share
of
accounts
of
Hindu
alchemical
heroes
and
buffoons.
Indeed,
the
Gupta
age
was
a
period
of
great
syncretism
between
Hinduism
and
Buddhism.
Both
the
Burmese
folktale
and
Ba1).a's
account
also
square
with
a
number
of
other
features
of
the
alchemy
of
this
period,
not
the
least
salient
of
which
is
that
it
rarely
seems
to
work.
Also,
as
Ba1).a's
account
intimates,
alchemy
appears
to
be
a
mainly
south
Indian
phenomenon
in
this
period,
as
denced
in
frequent
mentions
of
Srisailam-Srlparvata
in
period
sources.
Since
India's
original
fascination
with
alchemy
most
probably
arose
out
of
early
contacts
with
a
China
(India
was
exporting
Buddhism
to
China
in
this
period)
whose
Taoist
speculative
alchemical
tradition
had
been
oping
since
the
second
century
A.D.,
one
might
conclude
that
such
tions
reached
south
India
via
a
maritime
route.
17
While
Biil).a's
seventh-century
description
of
the
hydrargyriasic
ascetic
also
contains
India's
earliest
literary
reference
to
tantric
scripts,
it
would
not
be
until
some
three
centuries
later
that
tantric
alchemy,
as
I
define
it,
actually
emerged.
Here,
Alberuni's
eleventh-century
legend
proves
to
be
nothing
other
than
the
narrativization
of
an
actual
alchemical
operation,
as
described
in
the
final
verses
of
the
Rasiirf!ava
(RA).18
runi's
legend
is
entirely
faithful
to
the
tantric
spirit
of
the
RA
and
other
texts
of
this
period.
The
goal
of
tantric
alchemy
is
bodily
immortality,
invincibility,
and
transcendence
of
the
human
condition.
The
tantric
chemist,
like
most
of
his
brother
tantrikas,
seeks
through
his
practice
to
render
himself
godlike,
a
second
Siva.
The
means
to
this
end
also
distinguishes
tantric
alchemy
from
magical
alchemy
as
well
as
from
the
therapeutic
uses
of
mercurials
proper
to
the
Ayurvedic
tradition.
In
the
procedure
of
which
Alberuni's
text
is
a
mytho-

54
Chapter
Three
logization,
the
alchemist
is
instructed
to
first
"test
out"
his
mercury
on
metals
before
throwing
himself
into
his
alchemical
cauldron.
Only
cury
that
has
proven
itself
capable
of
transmuting
ten
million
times
its
mass
of
base
metals
into
gold
will
suffice
here.
19
This
dual
focus
is
indeed
the
watchword
of
the
tantric
alchemical
method,
which
the
RA
summarizes
with
the
pithy
formula:
yatha
lohe
tatha
dehe-
"as
in
metal,
so
in
the
body
...
first
test
[mercury]
on
a
metal,
then
use
it
on
the
body."20
Moreover,
the
two
elements
placed
in
relation
here,
metals
(loha)
and
bodies
(deha)
,
define
the
two
branches
of
the
tantric
alchemical
synthesis:
these
are
10-
havada,
"transmutational
alchemy"
and
dehaviida,
"elixir
alchemy."
As
this
verse
makes
clear,
however,
the
transmutation
of
base
metals
into
gold
is
not
an
end
in
itself,
but
rather
the
necessary
means
to
the
ultimate
end
of
bodily
immortality.
Not
only
are
the
goals
of
tantric
alchemy
consistent
with
those
of
the
broader
Hindu
tantric
tradition,
but
so
are
its
means
to
attaining
those
goals.
The
alchemical
Tantras
abound
in
references
to
tantric
formulae
(mantras)
and
diagrams
(ma1J4alas),
as
well
as
in
descriptions
of
divine
archies,
yogic
and
meditative
techniques,
sexual
and
ritual
practices,
and
the
Sakta-Saiva
devotionalism
that
are
the
hallmarks
of
the
tantric
tradition
as
a
whole.
Many
of
the
major
alchemical
works
of
the
period
call
selves
Tantras
and
are
cast
as
the
revealed
teachings
of
Siva
(often
in
his
tantric
Bhairava
form)
to
some
tantric
form
of
the
Goddess.
For
reasons
that
will
be
made
clear
shortly,
tantric
alchemy
was,
in
the
main,
a
Hindu
rather
than
a
Buddhist
occult
science.
Alberuni's
account
is
set
in
Dhara,
the
capital
of
the
great
king
Bhoja
of
the
Paramara
dynasty,
located
in
ern
Madhya
Pradesh-and
it
was
indeed
in
western
India
that
the
greatest
flowering
of
tantric
alchemy
occurred.
What
truly
sets
tantric
alchemy
apart
from
magical
alchemy
is
the
rigor
of
its
method
and
the
remarkable
breadth
of
the
botanical,
mineralogical,
chemical,
geographical,
religious,
and
technical
knowledge
it
mobilizes
in
the
pursuit
of
its
ambitious
ends.
Seemingly
out
of
nowhere,
the
alchemical
science
burst
upon
the
Indian
scene
in
the
tenth
century
with
a
laboratory
full
of
specialized
equipment
and
mineral
and
botanical
raw
materials
in
its
theoretical
inventory
which
magical
alchemy
had
in
no
way
anticipated.
While
Chinese
(Taoist
alchemy)
and
Persian
(the
Shi'a
Jabirian
school)
traditions
no
doubt
interacted
with
tantric
alchemy,
the
Indian
material
is
so
specifically
Indian-as
much
in
the
subcontinental
provenance
of
its
materiae
primae
as
in
its
nearly
exclusively
Hindu
religious
and
cal
presuppositions-as
to
preclude
any
possibility
of
this
being
a
matter

55
The
Prehistory
of
Tantric
Alchemy
of
wholesale
borrowing.
The
roots
of
the
revolution
that
was
tantric
chemy
may
be
traced
back
to
the
powerful
impact
of
tantrism
on
Indian
mystic
and
metaphysical
speculation
on
the
one
hand
and
to
developments
within
the
medical
schools
on
the
other.
In
this
latter
context,
a
gradual
phasing
out
of
the
practice
of
surgery
(falyatantra)-a
development
some
attribute
to
the
pervasive
influence
of
the
Buddhist
ideal
of
noninjury
(ahin:zsa)-seems
to
have
been
counterbalanced
by
discoveries
and
vations
in
the
field
of
mercurial
and
mineral-based
medicinesY
Tantric
alchemy
would
have
inherited
some
portion
of
its
science
from
these
new
developments,
which
begin
to
appear
both
in
Ayurvedic
works
and
such
tantric
alchemical
classics
as
the
Rttsahrdaya
Tantra
(RHT)
and
RA
in
the
tenth
to
eleventh
centuries.
Sometime
in
the
fourteenth
century,
we
witness
the
gradual
ance
of
tantric
alchemy
and
the
appropriation
of
its
techniques
and
goals
of
transmutation
and
transubstantiation
by
other
Indian
systems
of
thought
and
practice,
both
old
and
new.
As
already
noted,
many
of
the
techniques
of
tantric
alchemy
were
churned
back
into
the
Ayurvedic
tion
from
which
they
had,
at
least
in
part,
originated.
Here
the
legacy
of
tantric
alchemy
is
rasa
fastra,
Ayurvedic
pharmacy,
a
sine
qua
non
of
urvedic
practice
and
a
discipline
that
continues
to
be
taught
in
Ayurvedic
universities
and
colleges
in
India
down
to
the
present
dayY
I
have
already
qualified
this
reapplication
of
transmutational
and
elixir
alchemy
to
therapeutic
ends
as
rogavada,
the
"medical
alchemy"
specific
to
north
Indian
Ayurveda.
Another
development
of
the
same
order
is
kitsa,
"mercurial
medicine."
Although
this
school
retains
certain
of
the
gious
elements
of
tantric
alchemy
(its
devotional
cult
of
mercury,
for
example),
it
nonetheless
shifts
the
emphasis
of
the
latter
away
from
transmutation
and
bodily
immortality
towards
therapeutic
ends.
The
cikitsa
school
continued,
for
centuries,
to
thrive-and
even
to
rival
classical
Ayurveda-in
south
India,
the
eastern
states,
and
the
Sind
and
was
ported
along
with
classical
Ayurveda
to
Tibet,
China,
southeast
Asia,
and
Sri
LankaY
Yet
another
spin-off
of
the
decline
of
tantric
alchemy
was
the
emergence
of
transmutational
alchemy
as
an
independent
pursuit.
Here,
aurifaction,
the
production
of
alchemical
gold,
became
an
end
in
itself,
rather
than
a
means
to
the
tantric
end
of
bodily
transubstantiation
and
immortality.
Kings
interested
in
increasing
the
royal
treasury
are
known
to
have
taken
a
lively
interest
in
this
discipline.
24
The
fourth
evolute
of
tantric
alchemy
was
the
tradition
I
will
call
Siddha
alchemy,
which
is
most
readily
identified
by
its
emphasis
on
the
combined

56
Chapter
Three
use
of
mercurial
preparations
with
techniques
of
hafha
yoga
for
the
ment
of
immortality
and
a
mode
of
being
on
a
par
with
that
of
the
divine
Siddhas
and
Vidyadharas.
In
this,
it
bears
certain
similarities
with
the
physiological
alchemy
(nei-tan)
of
Taoist
traditions.
25
The
ity
of
these
two
modes
of
practice
is
intimated
in
the
accounts
of
Marco
Polo
and
Bernier,
inasmuch
as
both
present
figures
they
call
gis"
(yogins,
practitioners
of
yoga)
who
are
long-lived
and
healthy
because
they
eat
mercury.
An
important
Indian
witness
to
this
complementary
phasis
is
the
fourteenth-century
Madhavacarya,
who
devotes
chapter
nine
of
his
Sarvadarfana
San:zgraha
to
the
"Rasesvara
Darsana;'
the
"revealed
system
of
the
Lord
of
Mercury."
26
What
is
significant
in
Madhava's
thesis
is
that,
while
he
mainly
draws
on
the
tantric
alchemical
classics
(the
RA,
etc.)
to
expound
the
basic
principles
of
the
alchemical
doctrine,
the
inferences
he
draws
from
them
relate
specifically
to
the
characteristically
dual
emphasis
of
Siddha
alchemy,
and
to
its
emphasis
on
stabilizing
and
immortalizingthe
body
through
yoga.
27
The
south
Indian
ciugi
alchemists
were,
in
the
words
of
Marco
Polo,
an
"order
of
monks;'
while
those
whom
Bernier
chronicles
in
the
north
were
a
itinerant
order
"almost
constantly
travelling
hither
and
thither:'
Now,
while
there
were
many
monastic
orders
and
even
many
orders
of
itinerant
monks
circulating
in
medieval
India,
there
was
only
one
such
order
whose
highly
mobile
members
enjoyed
a
reputation
as
alchemists
in
this
period,
and
these
were
the
Nath
Siddhas,
also
known
as
Nath
Yogis.
The
Siddha
alchemists
were,
by
and
large,
Nath
Siddhasj
and
because
the
Nath
Siddhas
were
itinerant,
they
made
Siddha
alchemy
a
pan-Indian
phenomenon.
A
significant
number
of
alchemical
works
from
this
period
are
uted
to
Nath
Siddhas,
although
it
must
be
said
that
none-with
perhaps
two
important
exceptions
28
-are
as
weighty
or
innovative
as
the
tantric
alchemical
classics.
Two
reasons
may
be
adduced
to
explain
this
non.
The
first
of
these
is
that
the
Nath
Siddhas
were,
for
the
most
part,
not
members
of
the
Indian
literati.
Sons
of
the
people-if
not
the
salt
of
the
earth-they
simply
practiced
their
alchemy,
and
when
they
wrote
about
it,
it
was
more
often
in
compact,
even
elliptical,
poetry
cribbed
down
in
the
vernaculars
of
the
day
than
in
Sanskrit.
Had
the
Nath
Siddhas
written
in
Sanskrit,
more
of
their
alchemical
works
would
perhaps
be
extant
today.
However,
their
forte
was
not
writing
Sanskrit,
but
rather
living
and
ing
in
the
popular
speech
of
their
time.
The
second
reason
for
the
relative
paucity
of
Siddha
alchemical
works
is
that
the
old
tantric
alchemical
clas-

57
The
Prehistory
of
Tantric
Alchemy
sics
contained
all
that
needed
to
be
known
to
carry
out
the
alchemical
complement
to
the
hathayogic
practices
proper
to
a
two-pronged
approach
to
bodily
immortality.
This
is
clearly
the
purport
of
the
RA
(I.18b)
when
it
states:
"Mercury
and
breath
[control]
are
known
as
the
Work
in
two
parts:'
It
was
the
complementary
discipline
of
hatha
yoga
that
required
ther
explanation,
and
in
this
field
of
expertise
the
Nath
Siddhas
simply
had
no
rivals.
Nearly
all
of
India's
hathayogic
classics
are
the
works
of
Nath
Siddhas
(with
the
most
important
of
these
being
attributed
to
tha,
i.e.,
Gorakhnath),
and
all
date
from
the
period
of
Siddha
alchemy.
thermore,
as
we
will
demonstrate,
the
language
of
the
Nath
Siddhas'
hatha
yoga
is
often
nothing
other
than
a
projection
of
alchemical
discourse
upon
the
human
body.
The
human
body
is
an
alchemical
body.
3.
Magical
Alchemy
The
term
"Siddha"
is
an
ambiguous
one,
given
that
a
great
number
of
Hindu
and
Buddhist
schools,
sects,
and
traditions
have
been
so
fied-either
by
themselves
or
(retrospectively)
by
others-since
the
Gupta
period.
The
original
referent
of
the
term
was
a
class
of
demigods:
in
dhist
and
Hindu
traditions
alike,
the
Siddhas
shared
the
interface
between
earth
and
sky-mountaintops
and
the
atmospheric
region-with
a
horde
(ga,,!a)
of
semidivine
beings.
In
the
words
of
the
fifth-century
Amarakofa,
"The
Wizards
(Vidyiidharas),
Nymphs,
Dryads,
Protectors,
Celestial
sicians,
Centaurs,
Ghouls,
Hidden
Ones,
Perfecti
(Siddhas)
,
and
Beings:
these
constitute
the
class
of
the
demigods."29
Gradually,
however,
the
tion
arose
that
the
world
or
level
of
the
Siddhas
and
Vidyadharas
was
one
to
which
humans
too
could
accede,
and
so
it
was
that
throughout
the
Indian
middle
ages,
a
growing
pool
of
such
Siddhas
came
to
be
shared,
together
with
an
expanding
body
of
legend
on
their
subject,
by
Hindus,
Buddhists,
and
Jains
alike.
3D
Vyasa,
a
fifth-century
commentator
on
Patafijali's
Yoga
SUtras,
provides
us,
albeit
in
an
apophatic
way,
with
what
may
be
called
the
"Siddha
ter";
that
is,
a
comprehensive
account
of
the
goals
of
the
human
who
pires
to
Siddha-hood.
This
he
does
in
his
commentary
on
Yoga
Sutra
3.51,
which
states:
"When
invited
by
the
celestial
beings,
that
invitation
should
not
be
accepted
nor
should
it
cause
vanity
because
it
involves
the
ity
of
undesirable
consequences."
Vyasa's
commentary
reads:

58
Chapter
Three
The
celestial
beings
residing
in
high
regions
noticing
the
purity
of
the
intellect
of
those
who
have
attained
unalloyed
truth
...
try
to
invite
them
by
tempting
them
with
enjoyments
available
in
their
gions
in
the
following
manner:
"0
Great
Soul,
come
and
sit
here
and
enjoy
yourself.
It
is
lovely
here.
Here
is
a
lovely
lady.
This
elixir
vents
death
and
decay.
Here
is
a
vehicle
which
can
take
you
to
the
skies.
The
tree
which
fulfils
all
wishes
is
here
...
here
are
the
fected
Siddhas
and
the
great
seers.
Beautiful
and
obedient
nymphs,
supernormal
eyes
and
ears,
a
body
of
adamantine
strength,
all
are
here;'ll
In
his
Jiitakamiilii,
Aryasura
refers
to
experts
in
demonology
or
monic
medicine"
for
the
exorcism
of
demons
(bhutavidyii,
the
fourth
limb
of
Ayurveda),
as
Siddhavidyas,
persons
versed
in
the
occult
knowledge
of
the
Siddhas.
32
At
first
blush,
there
appears
to
be
no
connection
between
these
two
fields
of
expertise.
Yet,
upon
closer
inspection,
we
in
fact
find
a
number
of
uncanny
correspondences,
of
which
many
are
specifically
south
Indian,
between
the
two.
To
begin,
the
classic
work
on
Ayurvedic
ology,
the
Kumiira
Tantra,
is
attributed
to
the
great
arch-demon
of
the
south
and
villain
of
the
Sanskrit
Riimiiya'f!a,
Raval).a.
33
In
the
ca.
century
Tamil
Iriimiivatiiram
of
KampaIi,
the
daughters
of
Raval).a
are
said
to
be
the
wives
of
the
Sittars,
the
Tamil
equivalent
of
the
Siddhas.
34
In
his
commentary
on
Yoga
Siltra
4-
I,
Vyasa
glosses
"botanicals"
-which
Pataiijali
designates
as
one
of
the
four
means
to
obtaining
siddhis-with
rasiiyana,
which
he
says
may
be
found
"in
the
dwellings
of
Asuras
gods,'
'demons']!'35
Vyasa's
association
of
botanicals
with
Asuras
is
echoed
in
later
mentaries,
including
that
of
the
ninth-century
Vacaspati
Misra,
who
also
glosses
as
rasiiyana
into
which,
he
says,
a
man
may
be
initiated
"by
alluring
Asura
maidens."
36
A
similar
reading
is
found
in
the
Bhiigavata
ii'f!a
(5.24.13),
which
employs
the
term
rasa-rasiiyana
to
refer
to
the
nal
herbs
employed
by
the
many
denizens
of
the
subterranean
regions
to
ensure
eternal
youth
and
good
health.
37
Even
today,
the
Sittar
physicians
of
south
India
qualify
one
class
of
treatment
as
38
The
great
wealth
of
the
subterannean
Asuras
39
is
also
enjoyed,
according
to
epic
and
Puranic
traditions,
by
the
Yalq;as
(the
Dryads
of
India,
whose
leader
Kubera
is
the
god
of
wealth
in
both
Hindu
and
Buddhist
traditions),
and
the
Nagas,
Serpent
deities,
subterranean
plutocrats
as
well,
and
India's
version
of
the
archetypal
dragon
who
lies
atop
hoards
of
buried
treasure.

59
The
Prehistory
of
Tantric
Alchemy
The
Asuras
and
the
subterranean
locus
of
their
wealth
seem
to
be
nected
to
an
obscure
passage
from
the
eleventh-century
RA,
which
scribes
the
types
of
persons
best
adapted
for
"Treasure
Practice"
siidhana),
and
"Hole
in
the
Ground
Practice"
(bila-siidhana):
the
former
are
identified
by
the
digging
tools
they
carry,
and
the
latter
by
their
blance
to
male
Asuras
(who
are
ugly
and
terrible,
in
contradistinction
to
their
female
counterparts).40
With
regard
to
the
Serpents
as
custodians
of
fabulous
underground
treasures,
a
living
tradition
among
the
proclaimed
"Jogis"
of
the
Sind
province
of
Pakistan,
who
claim
descent
from
the
great
magician
and
serpent
master
Gfiga
Chauhan,
is
highly
trative:
41
Jogi
tradition
has
it
that
seven
jogis
are
required
to
catch
a
single
cobra
because
although
the
cobra
strikes
only
two
and
a
half
times,
it
spits
out
a
substantial
amount
of
venom
that
can
be
lethal
even
from
a
distance.
The
seven
jogis
make
seven
dunghills,
dig
seven
ditches
behind
them,
fill
these
with
water
and
climb
inside
with
only
their
heads
visible
on
the
surface.
Then
they
start
playing
their
chanting
tunes
on
their
beens
to
lure
the
cobra,
silently
reciting
cal
man
tars
[Sanskrit:
mantras]
at
the
same
time
...
Explains
Punoo
Jogi,
"When
the
sheesh
nang
["king
cobra":
skrit
niiga]
is
provoked,
he
strikes
at
the
first
dung
heap
and
sets
it
aflame.
While
he
strikes,
the
jogi
submerges
himself
in
water
so
that
no
harm
comes
to
him.
Then
he
lunges
again,
and
yet
again
but
with
less
force.
Once
he
has
disgorged
all
his
poison,
he
can
no
longer
fight.
You
should
see
his
rage
then.
In
one
final
blow,
he
strikes
at
the
treasure
he
has
been
guarding
for
years
and
destroys
it
before
finally
succumbing
to
the
seven
jogisY
That
is
why
the
jogis
have
never
found
the
treasure
that
the
sheesh
nang
guards!'
The
Dryads
and
Serpents,
perhaps
the
most
archaic
divinities
of
India,
were
gradually
absorbed,
quite
literally,
as
"props"
for
the
high
gods
of
Hinduism
and
Buddhism
when
these
became
the
great
religions
of
the
subcontinent.
In
classical
Hinduism,
it
is
a
Serpent
that
serves
to
support
the
entire
universe
atop
his
bejeweled
hood;
at
times
when
the
universe
is
nonexistent
(exactly
half
the
time),
he
supports
the
sleeping
god
ViglU,
in
whom
the
universe
is
contained
in
a
nonmanifest
state,
serving
as
his
couch.
43
Like
the
Buddha
too
is
sheltered
by
the
hood
of
a
Serpent,
and
the
earliest
iconographic
depiction
of
such
is
in
fact
Buddhist
rather
than
Hindu.
This
is
the
third-century
A.D.
sculpted
image
of
the
Buddha,

60
Chapter
Three
on
a
Serpent
couch,
from
Nagarjunikonda
(Andhra
Pradesh)
in
south
dia.
It
is
precisely
in
this
region
that
the
ca.
third-century
A.D.
Buddhist
Ga1!4avyuha
locates
the
seat
of
the
bodhisattva
MaiijusrI,
whom
it
says
converted
many
indigenous
Serpents
to
Buddhism.
44
This
region
is
also
one
that
produces
a
great
number
of
figures
with
names
containing
Naga
(serpent):
the
most
illustrious
of
these
is
Nagarjuna,
whom
a
number
of
later
traditions
identify
as
a
Siddha
alchemist
hailing
from
Srlparvata.
The
ca.
first-century
A.D.
south
Indian
play,
the
Mfcchakafika
(The
Little
Clay
Cart),
the
first
literary
source
to
make
mention
of
what
is
parently
a
human
Siddha,
is
the
work
of
an
author
from
Andhra
Pradesh,
who
very
likely
would
have
hailed
from
SrIparvata
(also
mentioned
in
the
text).45
This
Siddha
reminds
us
once
more
of
Bal).abhana's
hapless
south
Indian
Saiva
ascetic
who
had
lost
his
sight
in
one
eye
due
to
an
invisibility
salve
called
siddhaiijana
("perfected,
super
ointment"),
and
who
knew
ads
of
stories
concerning
SrIparvata.
Slightly
prior
to
Bal).abhana,
the
south
Indian
author
Subandhu
provides
an
early
mention
of
mercury
ada),
as
well
as
of
Srlparvata,
in
his
comic
play,
the
Vasavadatta.
46
Now,
frtparvata
(or
frtfailam)-generally
identified
with
a
holy
peak
located
in
the
central
Deccan
plateau
(Kurnool
district,
Andhra
Pradesh)
of
south
India
47
-is
a
highly
generic
term
for
a
mountain
or
hilltop
in
the
Sanskrit
and
Hindi
languages:
both
simply
mean
"splendid,
auspicious,
or
excellent
peak."
Therefore,
while
the
greatest
wealth
of
Siddha
lore,
both
Hindu
and
Buddhist,
is
attached
to
this
toponym,
we
cannot
be
certain
that
it
is
always
the
Srisailam
or
Srlparvata
of
the
east
central
Deccan
that
is
being
evoked.
The
earliest
Hindu
mention
of
Srisailam
is
found
in
the
Mahabharata
which,
precisely,
identifies
it
as
a
place
at
which
to
attain
siddhis,
the
stuff
that
Siddhas
are
made
of.48
It
is
the
Buddhist
religious
literature,
ever,
that
contains
the
greatest
wealth
of
early
references
to
Srisailam.
Located
in
the
heart
of
the
Andhra
country,
a
south
Indian
"Buddhist
fief"
in
the
first
centuries
of
the
common
era,
this
site
was
a
launching
point
for
missionaries
to
Kashmir,
China,
Bengal,
and
Sri
Lanka.
49
There
are,
however,
no
mentions
of
siddhis
(fddhis
in
Pali)
or
dhas
in
Buddhist
evocations
of
SrIparvata,s°
unless
one
chooses
to
see
in
the
name
of
the
third-century
A.D.
heretical
"Siddhathaka"
school
of
that
region
a
forerunner
of
the
term
Siddha.
51
Buddhism
was
fast
losing
ground
to
Saivism
in
the
region
by
the
seventh
century,
with
temples
to
Siva
dheSvara
("Lord
of
the
Siddhas")
beginning
to
appear
at
Srisailam
at
that
time.
52
It
is
a
figure
from
Tamil
Nadu,
some
distance
to
the
south
of
the
Andhra

The
Prehistory
of
Tantric
Alchemy
country,
who
first
talks
about
the
Siddhas
in
an
informed
way.
This
is
the
seventh-century
Tirumiilar
who,
while
he
is
generally
held
to
be
the
first
of
the
eighteen
Sittars
(i.e.,
the
Siddhas
of
Tamil
tradition)
and
the
founder
of
the
Sittar
school,
speaks
of
the
Siddhas-although
it
is
unclear
whether
he
means
the
semidivine
or
the
human
variety-as
if
they
were already
an
established
institution.
In
his
Tirumantiram,
Tiruml1lar
defines
the
Siddhas
as
those
"who
have
experienced
divine
light
and
divine
energy
[fakti]
from
within
and
through
yogic
integration
[samadhi]:'53
Sittar
tradition
tains
that
Tiruml1lar
was
the
disciple
of
the
alchemist
Nandi(kesvara);
while
a
certain
alchemist
by
the
same
name
is
cited
in
a
number
of
twelfth-century
sources,
these
never
attribute
any
alchemical
texts
to
him,
nor
are
there
any
extant
works
of
his
to
prove
he
was
ever
anything
more
than
a
legendary
human
or
a
god
of
alchemists.
54
The
discipline
of
Siddha
medicine,
butressed
by
a
Siddha
alchemy
that
is
in
fact
a
synthesis
of
hathayogic
and
alchemical
practice,
is
the
daylegacy
of
the
Sittars
in
Tamil
Nadu.
While
the
extant
alchemical
works
of
the
eighteen
Sittars,55
the
storied
founders
of
these
traditions,
turn
out
to
be
quite
recent,s6
the
body
oflegend
attached
to
these
figures
carries
us
back,
once
again,
to
the
lore
of
magical
alchemy.
A
limited
number
of
documents
indicate
that
a
historical
figure
named
Nandi
may
have
lived
in
the
same
century
as
Tiruml1lar.
This
Nandi,
a
Buddhist
monk
from
central
India,
left
India
in
the
middle
of
the
seventh
century,
traveling
by
sea
to
Sri
Lanka
and
southeast
Asia
before
arriving
in
China
in
A.D.
655.
A
year
later,
the
emperor
of
China
shipped
him
off
to
sea
again
to
collect
medicinal
herbs.
He
returned
to
China
in
663.
57
Prior
even
to
Nandi,
according
to
Sittar
tradition,
was
the
alchemist
Bogar
(or
Pokar
or
Bhoga),
whose
links
with
China
are
also
remarkable.
The
tar
Bogar,
who
is
said
to
have
lived
in
the
third
to
fifth
centuries
A.D.,
is
today
worshipped
at
that
site
in
the
Palani
Hills
of
Tamil
Nadu
where
he
is
said
to
have
practiced
and
taught
alchemy.58
Traditions
concerning
Bogar
cast
him
either
as
a
Chinese
philosopher
who
came
to
India
for
the
study
of
medicine,
traveling
first
to
Patna
and
Bodhgaya
before
taking
up
dence
in
Madras;
or
as
a
south
Indian
Sittar,
who
traveled
to
China
and
taught
alchemy
to
a
ruler
named
Kong
(his
disciple
Konganar,59
according
to
Sittar
tradition)
before
returning
to
south
India.
60
The
greatest
historical
value
of
these
accounts
of
Bogar
and
Nandi
lies
in
their
references
to
early
maritime
exchanges
between
India
and
China.
The
sea
trade
between
India's
southeast
coast
and
Han
China
(via
the
trepot
of
Hanoi),
already
well
under
way
by
the
beginning
of
the
common

62
Chapter
Thre!
era,
especially
thrived
during
the
golden
age
of
Sino-Indian
exchange-of
religious
ideas
as
well
as
goods-of
the
third
to
eighth
centuries
A.D.
This
was,
of
course,
the
period
that
first
saw
the
export
of
Buddhism
from
India
to
China
and,
slightly
later,
the
introduction
of
certain
elements
of
Taoism
into
Indian
n
1
!lture.
(Overland
the
Silk
Road-
which
brushed
!nhwest
frontier
!i!id
Peshawar,
a!!
1
slightly
aboY!
River
in
the
spurs,
which
down
into
the
great
trading
t
of
Bhrgukacd
(Broach),
Vjj!!
(via
Kathmandu!
been
flourishine
since
about
110
B.C.).6I
We
have
already
seen
that
Taoist
alchemical
speculation
and
mentation
had
already
reached
an
appreciable
level
of
sophistication
by
the
time
of
these
exchanges.
62
Here
let
us
also
note
the
important
fact
that
nearly
all
the
mercury
the
Indian
alchemists
would
later
use
came
from
China:
given
here
exist
no
me!
s
on
the
subcon
tinent,
Chin!!
nearest
and
obi
63
It
is
therefm
rather
curiom
of
historic!
1
jim
this
period
i!!
dicate
that
it
was
looking
to
+hemical
drugs
data.
When
the
Han
emperors
first
asked
for
InstructIon
in
the
Buddhist
faith,
they
also
requested
a
"drug
of
immortality"
they
supposed
India
to
possess.
64
While
the
Chinese
have
no
record
of
having
been
visited
by
an
Indian
alchemist
named
Nandi,
they
do
mention
an
Indian
scholar
named
Naray-
at:lasvamin,
whir
n!i!d
and
held
in
YUrt
in
about
A.!
649
because
elixir
of
life;
laii!
Indian
physici!ZI1
named
he
summoned
as
an
alchemist
in-residence.
;lier,
in
about
k!
Chinese
offered
Sanskrit
tram
Tao
te
ching
to
I!!!!!manlpa
(AssamL
purportedly
in
exchange
for
information
concerning
transmutational
and
elixir
alchemy.66
In
charge
of
that
translation
was
the
great
seventh-century
Chinese
pilgrim
Hsuan-tsang
who
would,
in
his
Su
yu
chi
(Buddhist
Records
of
the
Western
World)!
record accounts
he
had
heard
in
the
court
of
King
Harsa
concermng
lirrn
alchemist
this
was
the
sami
royal
patron
13!il1!!bhatta
wrote
h!!
of
the
hydrargyr
iasic
south
Ind;!!
his
Kiidambarl;!!
seventh-centun
India
in
which
pilgrim
I
-Chi
in
the
account
gave
of
his
travels
there
between
A.D.
671
and
695,
cases
of
grave
misuse
of
mercuric
ores
as
elixirs.1i9
It
was
also
an
India
in
which
a
sixth-century

63
The
Prehistory
of
Tantric
Alchemy
Indian
king
(of
Udyana,
in
the
Swat
region
of
present-day
Pakistan)
quizzed
two
Chinese
Buddhist
visitors
to
his
court
on
the
"Taoist
matters"
of
medicine
and
science
and
the
silver
and
golden
palaces
of
the
mortals/o
The
picture
that
emerges
from
this
period
is
one
of
an
ongoing
change between
India
and
China
regarding
matters
alchemical,
matters
in
which
China,
even
if
it
appears
always
to
have
been
ahead
of
India
in
vations
throughout
this
period,
nonetheless
looked
to
India
for
tion.
71
Such
is
perhaps
understandable,
given
the
incredible
impact
Indian
Buddhism
was
having
on
China.
If,
however,
Indian
religion
and
science
were
in
vogue
in
China,
so
too
were
Chinese
traditions
in
India.
More
than
this,
whatever
India
exported
over
the
mountains
to
China
seemed
to
come
back,
in
altered
form,
to
be
reappropriated
by
the
Indians
a
few
centuries
later.
A
prime
example
is
the
Indian
yogic
tradition,
which
China
received,
in
a
fairly
unsophisticated
state,
along
with
Buddhism,
in
the
third
century
A.D.
But
the
Taoist
China
of
the
time
was
already
experimenting
with
what
it
termed
"embryonic
respiration"
and
the
"feeding
of
the
vital
principle"
-practices
that
were
more
or
less
equivalent
to
Indian
yogic
techniques,
but
which,
in
the
nese
context,
already
bore
a
veneer
of
alchemical
symbolism.
A
yogic
nique
of
apparent
Chinese
origin,
called
huan-ching
or
"making
the
Yellow
River
flow
backwards:'
identified
with
either
the
practice
of
urethral
tion
or
that
of
internally
raising
semen
along
the
spinal
column,
would
first
make
its
appearance
in
Indian
Mahayana
sources
72
and
later
reappear
as
an
erotico-yogic
technique
of
the
Nath
Siddhas.
73
Indeed,
Indian
tantra
first
appeared
at
points
of
contact
with
Taoist
China
and,
in
the
words
ofJoseph
Needham,
upon
whose
masterful
Science
and
Civilisation
in
Ancient
China
I
have
been
relying
throughout
this
section,
"the
Taoist
department
of
dhism
was
Tantrism."
So
it
was
that
when
Indian
tantrism
was
first
duced
into
China
in
the
eighth
century
by
the
Buddhist
monks
sirilha,
Vajrabodhi,
and
Amoghavajra,
a
certain
number
of
its
techniques
were
merely
"returning"
to
their
country
of
origin,
from
which
they
had
been
exported
but
a
few
centuries
earlier.74
The
principal
Sino-Indian
points
of
contact
in
this
period
of
exchange
were
(I)
the
mountain
passes
located
in
the
northwestern
region
of
the
subcontinent
(Himalayan
Pakistan
and
Mghanistan)
and
(2)
Assam
to
the
east-these
being
the
two
regions
through
which
the
Indian
spurs
of
the
Silk
Road
passed-as
well
as
(3)
the
major
seaports
on
the
coastlines
of
Tamil
Nadu
and
Gujarat,
which
linked
India
to
China
and
the
west
via

64
Chapter
Three
the
maritime
routes
of
the
day.
According
to
the
evidence
at
our
disposal,
two
illustrious
travelers
along
these
trade
routes
in
this
period
would
have
been
the
"Chinese
goddess"
Tara
and
the
element
mercury
(parada),75
whose
entrances
into
the
subcontinent
appear
to
have
been
curiously
linked.
Both
are
said
to
be
sixth-century
imports
from
"greater
China"
(mahacTna,
a
blanket
Sanskrit
term
applied
to
both
China
and
Tibet)
into
a
nascent
Indian
Buddhist
tantric
tradition,
and
both
are
purported
to
have
been
brought
to
India
by
none
other
than
NagarjunaJ6
The
question
then
arises:
Did
"Nagarjuna"
bring
Tara
and
mercury
to
India
by
land
or
by
sea?
Both
mercury
and
Tara
are
mentioned
in
the
sixth-to
seventh-century
south
Indian
Vasavadatta,77
which
would
indicate
a
maritime
link
with
eastern
China;
but
both
are
also
mentioned
in
the
sixth-century
San:zgraha,78
which
was
probably
composed
in
Ujjain,
in
western
Madhya
Pradesh.
The
earliest
recorded
case
of
Tara
worship
in
India
comes
to
us
from
seventh-century
Nalanda,
the
great
Buddhist
plex
located
in
modern-day
Bihar
(whose
main
links
to
China
were
land,
via
Patna
to
the
north)/9
a
century
later,
we
read
of
a
temple
built
to
the
"Chinese
goddess"
in
Kaiici,
on
the
coast
of
Tamil
Nadu.
80
This
coastal
location
reminds
us
of
what
may
have
been
Tara's
original
role:
she
was
a
goddess
of
navigation,
of
sea
crossings-tara
is
generated
from
the
verb
tr,
to
cross
over
the
sea.
81
A
fanciful
eighteenth-century
betan
source,
the
dPag-bsam-ljon-bzan,
brings
these
elements
together
in
a
unique
way.
Saying
that
Nagarjuna
was
born
in
Kaiici,
it
goes
on
to
scribe
how
he
sailed
across
the
sea
on
a
craft
made
of
two
fig
leaves,
until
he
came
to
an
intermediate
continent,
from
which
he
brought
a
making
elixir
back
to
his
monastery
at
Nalanda.
82
Now,
Tibet's
source
of
mercury
has
long
been
Yunnan,
in
southeastern
China,83
which
shares
a
border
with
Annam
(Vietnam),
of
which
Hanoi
was
the
major
port
for
maritime
commerce
with
India
and
southeast
Asia.
That
the
back
country
of
Annam
was
rich
in
mercurial
ores
is
strated
by
a
historical
anecdote
from
China:
the
great
mercurial
alchemist
Ko
Hung
(ca.
A.D.
300)
requested
and
received
a
transfer
to
that
province,
into
an
administrative
position
unworthy
of
his
rank
in
the
imperial
reaucracy,
in
order
that
he
might
have
ready
access
to
the
cinnabar
(red
mercuric
sulfide)
he
needed
to
conduct
his
experiments!84
We
further
know
that
mercury
was
carried
in
the
cargo
holds
of
the
ships
that
plied
these
Sino-Indian
trade
routes
in
later
centuries.
On
the
one
hand,
we
find
a
report
of
over
a
ton
of
the
stuff
being
warehoused
in
the
Malaysian
port
of
Malacca;85
and
on
the
other,
we
know
that
the
Indian
port
cities
of
Surat

65
The
Prehistory
of
Tantric
Alchemy
(Gujarat),
Murshidabad
(Bengal),
Calcutta,
and
Madras
have
long
been
centers
for
the
fabrication
of
synthetic
cinnabar
and
calomel
(mercurous
chloride),
using
native
Indian
minerals
and
imported
mercury,
since
at
least
the
sixteenth
century
A.D.
86
Also
supporting
a
direct
Sino-south
dian
maritime
link
in
matters
alchemical
is
the
fact
that
Sittar
alchemy
and
medicine
have
always
been
more
mineral
based
and
"Taoist"
than
the
more
herb-based
northern
traditions.
87
Against
a
maritime
link,
and
in
favor
of
an
overland
connection
in
the
mercury
and
Tara
trade,
we
can
marshal
the
following
evidence.
The
betans
themselves
have
historically
purchased
their
mercury
from
Chinese
traders
who
transported
it
to
Tibet;
here,
the
obvious
link
would
have
been
an
overland
one.
88
So
too,
the
mercury
that
reached
Varahamihira
(author
of
the
Br:hat
Samhitii)
and
Vagbhana
the
Elder
in
northwest
India
quite
certainly
traveled
overland,
via
the
Silk
Road
or
one
of
its
spurs.
What
of
Tara?
On
the
strength
of
two
passages
from
the
third-
to
eleventh-century
A.D.
Siidhanamiilii
(The
Garland
of
Practice),
Tara
is
generally
considered
to
have
been
brought
to
Nalanda,
directly
from
(Tibet)
by
juna.
Yet,
in
fact,
the
passages
in
question
concern
two
different
forms
of
Tara,
named
Vajra
("Diamond")
Tara
and
("One
Lock
of
Hair").
89
Now,
is
also
known
as
Mahacinatara,
as
if
to
emphasize
her
betan
roots.
In
the
Tibetan
Buddhism
of
the
Dragon
Kaju
sect,
is
in
fact
the
consort
of
an
"ancient"
Nyingma
divinity
named
Quicksilver
(i.e.,
mercury),
identified
with
Bhairava
Yamantaka
("Terrible
Slayer
of
Death").
In
the
Padmaist
literature
of
the
same
Nyingma
school,
she
is
the
consort
of
the
god
AmrtakuJ:!.<;lali,
who
is
also
known
by
the
epithet
"King
of
Elixirs!'90
With
this,
we
perhaps
arrive
at
the
source
of
the
tradition
that
juna
brought
"mercury,"
together
with
Tara,
from
Tibet
in
this
period.
Yet
ifNagarjuna
did
indeed
bring
Tara
and
mercury
to
India
from
Tibet,
it
is
curious
that
the
sixth-
to
seventh-century
Sa"!lgraha,
which
tions
both
Tara
and
mercury,
should
make
no
mention
of
Nagarjuna.
More
than
this,
Tibetan
tradition
itself
maintains
that
the
worship
of
Tara
was
introduced
into
that
country
from
Nepal-in
the
seventh
century,
i.e.,
later
than
the
earliest
mentions
of
her
in
Indian
sources!91
This
would
make
the
claim
that
Nagarjunaintroduced
Tara
to
India
"from
Tibet"
an
untenable
one,
unless
it
is
the
two
specifically
Tibetan
forms
(Vajratara
and
of
the
goddess
that
are
intended.
As
we
will
shortly
see,
the
mist
Nagarjuna
manages
to
elude
thehistorian
at
nearly
every
tum.
I
have
already
noted
that
there
are
no
mercurial
ores
native
to
the
Indian

66
Chapter
Three
subcontinent.
The
same,
in
fact,
holds
true
for
Tibet,
which
means
that
if
Nagarjuna
brought
mercury
to
India
from
Tibet
at
the
end
of
the
Gupta
age,
then
it
was
very
likely
Chinese
mercury
that
he
brought
from
there;
for
it
is
from
Yunnan
in
southeastern
China
that
the
Tibetan
supply
came.92
This
Chinese
source
likely
lies
at
the
origin
of
one
of
the
many
Sanskrit
terms
employed
for
cinnabar,
the
most
commonly
occurring
curial
ore
in
the
world.
This
is
the
word
clnapi{fa,
"Chinese
powder."
Many
of
the
other
terms
for
mercury
or
its
ores
also
indicate
regions
to
the
northwest
of
India
(and
west
of
Tibet)
as
its
region
of
provenance.
Parada,
the
most
common
alchemical
term
for
mercury,
refers
to
Parada-dda,
the
land
of
the
Parthians
or
Paradas
of
Transoxi
ani
a
or
the
Baluchistan
region;
darada,
red
cinnabar,
to
Darada-desa,
the
modern
Dardistan,
in
northern
Kashmir;
hingula,
cinnabar,
to
Hiilglaj
(-Devi)
in
Baluchistan
or
to
a
try
called
Hiilgula.
The
term
mleccha,
"(proper
to)
the
(central
Asian)
barian
(races)"
would
have
been
a
more
blanket
term.
93
Cinnabar
and
other
mercurial
ores
occur
naturally
throughout
the
trans-Himalayan
regions
of
central
Asia,
as
well
as
in
Chitral
(Pakistan),
Garmshir
(Mghanistan),
and
Yunnan,
and
it
was
from
these
regions
that
India's
supply
of
mercury
would
likely
have
come.
94
4.
Desperately
Seeking
Niigarjuna:
The
Buddhist
Evidence
The
origins
of
Indian
alchemy
are
closely
linked
to
the
figure
of
juna,
who,
whenever
one
attempts
to
pin
him
down
as
a
historical
age,
proves
to
be
quite
as
protean
and
mercurial
as
quicksilver
itself.
One
has
the
feeling
that
if
it
were
only
possible
to
extract
Nagarjuna
the
chemist
out
of
the
welter
of
the
Nagarjunas
who
dot
the
mythology
and
history
of
Indian
religions
and
medicine,
one
would
be
well
on
the
way
to
generating
a
coherent
history
of
Indian
alchemy.95
Yet,
there
are
so
many
Nagarjunas
to
choose
from.
In
addition
to
the
Nagarjunas
I
have
already
mentioned
to
this
point
(the
Nagarjuna
who
purportedly
brought
mercury
and
Tara
to
India,
and
the
Nagarjuna
who
sailed
to
theintermediate
nent
on
a
fig-leaf
boat
to
recover
a
"gold-making
elixir")
there
are
perhaps
a
dozen
other
figures
with
the
same
name-who
mayor
may
not
have
been
the
same
person,
and
who,
all
told,
would
have
authored
over
a
hundred
works
on
a
wide
array
of
subjects
96
-connected
in
some
way
with
the
dian
alchemical
tradition.
These
include
Nagarjuna
the
Madhyamika
losopher,
Nagarjuna
the
tantric
Buddhist
author
and
commentator,
Nagar-

Ilchemy
juna
the
Hindu
tantric
sorcerer,
Nagarjuna
the
Nath
Siddha,
Nagarjuna
the
north
Indian
medical
author,
Nagarjuna
the
south
Indian
medical
thor,,!7
Nagarjuna
the
Buddhist
alchemist,
Nagarjuna
the
Jain
alchemist,
Nagarjuna
the
northern
Hindu
alchemist,
Nagarjuna
the southern
Hindu
the
eye
the
fmneur-so
many
,lied
him
the
"99
Max
Wall;
probably
toih
d
concluded
ever
historians
have
had
it
both
ways,
simply
allowing
that
a
single
figure
named
Nagarjuna
alchemically
prolonged
his
life
for
529
to
1000
years,
during
which
he
found
the
time
to
dabble
in
or
master
all
of
the
fields
tioned
above.
Nallariuna
bursts
upon
the
sta,re
of
intellectual
and
religious
histon
as
"di;m
founder
(ca.
;;ry
A.D.)
of
the
within
the
current
of
Bud;
was
the
author
on
"Teachings
of
the
Perfection
of
WIsdom
(Prajiiiiparamita
Sutras).
cording
to
legend,
these
teachings
had
been
preserved
for
millennia
in
the
netherworld
of
the
Nagas,
before
being
restored
to
the
world
by
juna.
Chinese
sources
relate
that
a
great
serpent
(mahiiniiga)
opened
a
seven-jeweled
chest
for
Nagarjuna,
from
which
he
recovered
the
Vaipulya
acco;
Tibetan
(whence
his
the
Perfe;;
from
eeracity
is
equalh
Madhyamika
,';
was
the
companion
of
a
certain
ruler
of
the
Satavahana
dynasty
which
ruled
over
the
Andhra
country
between
the
first
century
B.C.
and
the
second
century
A.D.
\04
speaks
in
his
Har{acarita
of
"a
monk
named
Nagarjuna"
who
had
presented
Satavahana
with
an
elixir
in
the
form
of
a
jewel
called
"Pearl-Wreath
Mandakini,"
which
had
been
f;iven
to
him
by
the
of
the
to
Hsuan
hnese
pilgrim
whn
rrt
the
court
of
lhdhisattva
cct
of
compOUlli
that
he
had
pn
lad
extended
his
dl
as
that
of
his
ion
for
many
hundreds
of
years.
Later,
as
Hsuan-tsang
relates,
it
happened
that
the
king
ran
out
of
funds
while
building
a
monastery
for
Nagarjuna
at

68
Chapter
Three
Bhramaragiri,
"Black
Bee
Hill!'
At
this
point,
"the
Bodhisattva
Nagarjuna
(Lung-Meng
Phu-Sa)
scattered
some
drops
of
a
numinous
and
wonderful
pharmakon
over
certain
large
stones,
whereupon
they
all
turned
to
gold;'
thus
resolving
Satavahana's
problems
and
his
own.106
While
there
is
good
evidence
that
such
a
monastery
was
built
in
the
Andhra
country,
we
cannot
be
sure
that
it
was
built
prior
to
the
fifth
century
A.D.,
at
which
time
it
is
mentioned
by
the
Chinese
pilgrim
Fa-hsien
(who
identifies
it
with
vata).107
Hsuan-tsang
further
describes
a
meeting
he
had,
somewhere
in
the
northeastern
Punjab,
with
a
brahmin
disciple
of
bodhisattva
Nagarjuna
who,
although
he
was
seven
hundred
years
old,
looked
to
be
only
thirty.108
Even
in
those
Chinese,
Tibetan,
and
Indian
legends
in
which
the
losopher
Nagarjuna
is
made
out
to
be
an
alchemist
of
sorts-the
possessor
of
an
elixir
of
long
life
and
some
rudiments
of
transmutational
there
is
never
any
specific
mention
of
the
raw
materials
(such
as
mercury)
or
techniques
he
employs
in
his
craft.
This
omission
is
of
a
piece
with
the
magical
alchemy
of
the
period
on
the
one
hand
and,
on
the
other,
with
a
handful
of
vague
references
to
aurifaction
contained
in
a
number
of
hayana
texts,
of
which
at
least
two
are
attributed
to
thephilosopher
juna.
These
are
the
Mahiiprajiiiiparamitiifiistra,
which
contains
four
ences
to
transmutational
alchemy;
and
the
Avatal1!Saka
Sutra
(attributed
to
Nagarjuna
by
Fa-hsien
and
translated
into
Chinese
in
A.D.
699).109
In
tion
to
these
sources,
references
to
magical
alchemy
are
found
in
the
fourth-
through
sixth-century
Mahayana
Sa'f!lg;raha
Bhasya
(a
commentary
on
Asanga
translated
into
Chinese
in
about
A.D.
650
by
Hsuan-tsang)
and
the
Abhidharma
(translated
and
considerably
lengthened
over
a
fifth-century
recension
by
Hsuan-tsang
himself,
in
A.D.
659).11
0
Given
the
paucity
of
alchemical
references
in
writings
attributed
to
the
second-century
philosopher
Nagarjuna,
one
wonders
why
this
figure
should
have
been
perceived,
in
the
seventh-century
sources
I
have
been
citing,
to
have
been
such
a
great
alchemist.
The
most
plausible
explanation
would
be
that
Bal).abhana
and
Hsuan-tsang
had
heard
of
another
juna,
a
near
contemporary
of
themselves,
and
had
conflated
this
later
figure
with
the
renowned
Madhyamika
philosopher-a
not-untenable
tion,
given
the
tradition
that
he
had
produced
an
elixir
of
long
life.
A
ber
of
lineage
lists
identify
a
Nagarjuna
who
would
have
lived
in
the
first
half
of
the
seventh
century
as
the
disciple
of
Saraha
at
the
great
Buddhist
monastic
university
of
Nalanda,
where
alchemy
was
reputedly
part
of
the
curriculum.'"
It
is
just
such
an
assumption
that
a
number
of
Sanskrit,
Chinese,
and

69
The
Prehistory
of
Tantric
Alchemy
Tibetan
sources
make,
mainly
in
the
form
of
retrospective
prophecies
concerning
the
Buddha.
These
prophecies,
which
begin
to
appear
in
the
fourth-
through
fifth-century
Mahamegha
Sutra,
are
the
reef
against
which
every
attempt
to
locate
the
historical
Nagarjuna
has
foundered.
The
pivot
of
these
so-called
prophecies-a
figure
whom
tradition
identifies
as
dha
Nagarjuna"
-would
have
been
an
important
seventh-
or
century
teacher
in
the
fledgling
tantric
Buddhist
tradition.
It
is
this
juna
who
is
said
to
have
been
Saraha's
disciple
at
Nalanda
and
to
have
brought
mercury
and
the
goddess
Tara
from
Tibet
to
India.
Before
we
proceed
any
further,
two
points
need
to
be
made
clear
cerning
"Siddha
Nagarjuna."
The
first
of
these
is
that
he
is
nowhere
ferred
to
as
"Siddha"
in
the
period
(ca.
seventh
through
eighth
centuries)
in
which
he
purportedly
lived.
He
is
either
simply
called
Nagarjuna
or
has
the
title
Arya
prefixed
or
the
ending
-pa
(or
-pada)
suffixed
to
his
name.112
The
Siddha
appellation
is,
as
we
will
see,
an
ex
post
facto
categorization
on
the
part
oflater
tantric
genealogists
who,
in
the
eleventh
century,
began
to
refer
to
their
founding
gurus
as
the
Siddhacaryas
("perfected
teachers"),
Mahasiddhas,
or
simply
the
eighty-four
Siddhas.
However,
just
as
persons
living
in
Palestine
prior to
the
birth
of
Jesus
Christ
did
not
refer
to
their
age
as
"B.C.:'
so
the
Indian
innovators
of
tantric
Buddhism
did
not
call
themselves
"Siddhas!'
Second,
the
confusion
of
this
seventh-
to
eighth-century
figure
(whom
later
convention
identifies
as
"Siddha
Nagarjuna")
with
the
century
philosopher
of
the
same
name
likely
derives
from
the
fact
that
each
was
associated
with
a
figure
named
Aryadeva.
Nagarjuna
the
philosopher
was
the
teacher
of
Aryadeva,
while
"Siddha"
Nagarjuna's
disciple
ipa
was
also
known
as
Aryadeva.
l13
Grafted
to
this
composite
Nagarjuna
are
associations-which
I
have
already
noted
in
the
writings
of
tsang
and
others-with
a
king
named
Satavahana
and
the
site
of
Sriparvata.
The
most
baroque
concatenations
of
these
data
are
the
work
of
the
betans,
whose
"prophecies"
concerning
Nagarjuna
maintain
that
he
was
born
in
Saurashtra
(Gujarat)
400
years
after
the
Buddha's
parinirva1'fa114
and
lived
for
over
500
years,
passing
the
first
200
years
of
his
life
at
anda,
the
second
200
"in
south
India:'
115
and
the
final
129
or
171
years
at
Sriparvata,
where
he
voluntarily
gave
up
his
life
at
the
request
of
na's
son.
In
nearly
none
of
these
prophecies-neither
those
of
the
Tibetans
nor
the
Indian
or
Chinese
sources
upon
which
they
drew-is
Nagarjuna
ever
referred
to
as
a
Siddha;
on
the
other
hand,
the
name
of
this
figure
alternates
between
Nagarjuna,
Nagabodhi,
Nagahvaya,
and
NagarajaY6

7
0
Chapter
Three
His
amazing
longevity
is
a
tenable
proposition
only
if
one
is
prepared
to
accept
the
notion,
as
the
Tibetans
did,
that
Nagarjuna's
alchemy
served
to
dilate
his
life
span.
It
is
only
in
the
late
Tibetan
sources,
moreover,
that
we
find
explicit
references
to
Siddha
Nagarjuna
as
an
alchemist.
The
fourteenth-century
historian
Bu-ston
states
that
Nagarjuna
procured
a
gold-making
elixir
from
the
intermediate
continent
and
so
saved
Nalanda
from
the
ravages
of
famine.
In
the
early
seventeenth
century,
Taranatha
expatiates
on
this
theme,
stating
that
"with
the
help
of
the
art
of
alchemy,
he
maintained
for
many
years
five
hundred
teachers
of
the
Mahayana
doctrine
at
Sri
endra
[sic]."
Later,
he
adds
that
"from
the
time
he
became
a
rasiiyana
siddha,
his
face
shone
like
a
gemstone!'
In
a
similar
vein,
another
late
Tibetan
source
states
that
after
Nagarjuna
had
received
his
tantric
initiation
from
his
guru,
the
Siddhacarya
Saraha-pa,
he
"attained
success
...
especially
in
rasiiyana"
such
that
his
body
became
as
hard
as
a
diamond
siddht).
This,
however,
runs
against
the
teachings
of
his
guru,
given
the
fact
that
Saraha-pa
criticizes
those
who
practice
rasa-rasiiyana
in
one
of
his
vernacular
songs.
1l7
Of
the
fifty-nine
works
attributed
to
Nagarjuna
and
translated,
in
the
twelfth
through
thirteenth
centuries
A.D.
into
Tibetan
in
the
Tanjur,
none
contains
any
alchemical
material.
118
One
would
therefore
have
to
assume
that
if
a
seventh-
through
eight-century
Nagarjuna
did
practice
alchemy
at
Nalanda,
he
left
no
written
records
of
his
work
there.
Elsewhere,
the
Tibetan
mythology
of
the
eighty-four
Siddhas
casts
a
number
of
"debates"
between
Buddhist
and
Hindu
figures
as
so
many
"siddhi-contests!'
So
we
read
that
Lalitavajra
had
a
contest
of
magic
power
with
the
Hindus
in
the
kingdom
of
Naravarma
in
the
west.
"The
teacher
swallowed
a
quantity
of
poison
and
two
wine-jars
full
of
mercury.
Still
he
remained
unaffected.
The
king
was
full
of
reverence!'
119
If,
however,
the
Buddhists
won
this
particular
battle,
in
the
end
they
lost
the
Indian
war:
a
victim
of
the
Muslim
invasions
that
were
overtaking
the
continent,
as
well
as
of
its
own
growing
resemblance
to
Hindu
Tantra,
Buddhist
Tantra
and
Buddhism
effectively
disappeared
from
the
Indian
subcontinent
by
the
twelfth
century.
In
a
sense,
the
early
alchemical
tradition
epitomized
a
cretistic
trend
that
had
been
ongoing
since
the
origins
ofTantra,
with
tras,
clan
lineages,
and
divinities
converging
with
one
another.120
The
chemists'
gods
were
precisely
those
divinities
who
had
come
to
occupy
the
no-man's-land
of
the
Hindu-Buddhist
tantric
divide:
Tara
and
Alq;obhya,
of
whom
Hindu
forms
would
emerge
in
about
the
tenth
century;
itesvara,
whom
the
Hindus
would
identify
with
Siva
Lokanatha;
Vajra-

,I
The
Prehistory
of
Tantric
Alchemy
sattva-Adibuddha,
whom
they
would
identify
with
Adinatha;
and
Bhairava,
Bhairavi,
and
Mahakala,
whom
Buddhism
borrowed
from
Hinduism.
In
concrete
terms,
Indian
Buddhism
was
losing
its
specificity,
and
thereby
its
royal
patronage,
a
situation
which,
in
the
face
of
the
Muslim
conquests,
proved
fatal.
Of
course,
export
Buddhism
of
a
tantric
stamp
continues
to
flourish
in
Tibet
(into
which
it
was
introduced,
from
eastern
India,
perhaps
from
Nalanda
itself,
in
the
eighth
century)
down
to
the
present
day;
and
it
is
precisely
in
Tibet
that
we
may
glimpse
what
became
of
the
Buddhist
chemical
tradition.
What
is
intriguing
about
the
alchemy
of
Tibetan
dhism
is
that
it
more
closely
resembles
earlier
Taoist
practices
and
porary
Hindu
erotico-mystical
techniques
than
it
does
the
procedures
and
goals
of
transmutational
and
elixir
alchemy.
For
all
intents
and
purposes,
external
alchemy
disappears
from
Buddhism
at
about
the
same
time
as
Buddhism
disappears
from
the
Indian
subcontinent.
So
it
is
that
we
find
very
few
Tibetan
references,
apart
from
those
cited
a
moment
ago,
to
the
practice
of
any
sort
of
alchemy
by
the
Siddhacaryas-i.e.,
by
the
teachers
who
founded
the
tantric
Buddhist
path,
between
the
seventh
and
twelfth
centuries
A.D.
Kaqlari-pa
obtains
an
elixir
from
urine;
gains
the
power
to
transmute
as
well
as
an
elixir
of
immortality
from
a
boy's
penis
and
anus,
respectively;
and
produces
an
alchemical
elixir
with
the
aid
of
a
prostitute;
this
last
figure
is
also
the
author
of
two
of
only
four
Indian
alchemical
works
to
be
translated
into
Tibetan
and
included
in
the
Tanjur.
121
The
Kalacakra
Tantra,
with
its
early
eleventh-century
Vimalaprabha
commentary,
offers
us
the
most
penetrating
view
we
have
of
any
cally
Buddhist
alchemical
system.
122
In
contradistinction
to
the
"external"
Hindu
tantric
alchemy
that
was
emerging
in
the
same
century,
Buddhist
alchemy
was
headed
in
an
"internal"
direction.
This
is
precisely
what
we
find
in
the
Kalacakra
Tantra
tradition:
the
external
manipulation
of
metals
and
mercurials,
which
it
calls
gold
making
(gser
'gyur),
has
been
declared
"mundane"
and
inferior
to
the
"transmundane"
inner
alchemy
(rasayana)
of
"channels
and
winds;'
which
can
lead
to
direct
enlightenment.
12l
Those
passages
of
the
Vimalaprabha
which
do,
however,
speak
of
external
chemy,
are
remarkable
in
their
resemblance
to
portions
of
the
century
Hindu
tantric
alchemical
classic,
the
RA.124
But
from
a
closer
spective-or
at
least
from
the
perspective
adopted
by
both
the
Padmaists
of
the
Nying-ma
school
125
and
the
encyclopedist
Bo
dong-inner
alchemy
is
tantamount
to
an
"extraction
of
the
essence"
(bcud
len)
that
is
quite
iden-

Chapter
Three
tical
to
the
Taoist,
Mahayana,
and
Hindu
hathayogic
techniques
of
urethral
suction
and
the
"hydraulic"
raising
of
the
semen
along
the
spinal
column.
In
Vajrayana
parlance,
"alchemy"
consists
of
the
fixing
of
the
by
combining
the
ambrosial
essences
(bdud
rtst)
of
Prajiia
(the
goddess
"Wisdom")
and
Upaya
(the
male
"Skill
in
Means")-and
the
cultivation
of
a
"rainbow
body"
(ja'
Ius)
or
a
"body
of
light"
('od
lus).126
In
concrete
terms,
the
goal
of
tantric
Buddhist
alchemy
is
to
produce
the
nectar
of
immortality
and
wisdom
through
a
combination
of
semen
and
uterine
blood
that
is
at
once
yogic
and
sexual.
Hindu
alchemy
employs
the
same
techniques,
but
complements
these
with
the
mineral-based
elixirs
of
nal
alchemy.
Whereas
the
erotico-mystical
practices
of
tantra
(which
Hindu
yogins
would
later
term
vajroli
mudra)
become
identified
as
chemy"
in
Tibetan
Buddhism,127
erotico-mystical
practice
and
external
chemy
remain
two
complementary
yet
distinct
disciplines
in
Hindu
tric
alchemy.
It
is
apposite
to
note
that
the
tenth-century
twilight
of
magical
alchemy
is
also
the
dawning
of
no
fewer
than
three
distinct
forms
of
tantric
practice
from
within
and
beyond
the
borders
of
India.
On
the
one
hand,
we
observe
the
emergence
of
tantric
alchemy,
which
combines
an
"external"
tational
and
elixir
alchemy
with
the
"internal:'
but
nonetheless
concrete
(and
explicitly
hydraulic)
practices
of
hafha
yoga
and
tantric
sexual
niques.
Its
goal
is
the
production
of
an
immortal
yet
concrete
diamond
body
that
transcends
the
laws
of
nature.
Second,
there
is
the
Tibetan
Buddhist
internalization
of
alchemy
into
a
meditative
and
ritualized
form
of
yoga,
whose
goal
is
the
acquisition
of
a
spiritualized
body
of
light.
128
Third,
there
is
the
Hindu
Trika
Kaula,
which
sublimates
the
same
concrete
hathayogic
and
sexual
techniques
into
a
meditational
and
ritual
system
whose
goal
is
the
acquisition
of
a
divinized
body
of
sound.
129
All
three
of
these
emergent
systems
were
in
fact
refinements
upon
an
original
tantric
synthesis,
which
was
based,
to
a
great
extent,
on
the
worship
of
terrible,
ravenous
deities,
with
the
fluids
produced
in
sexual
intercourse.
All
three
were,
like
the
trix
from
which
they
arose,
soteriologies,
individual
paths
to
salvation
from
the
trammels
of
human
existence,13o
and
all
three
were
unique
and
vative
inasmuch
as
they
professed
self-divinization-of
three
different
types-as
the
means
to
such
transcendence.
The
India
that
Buddhism
left
behind
was
in
many
ways
tantric,
and
a
number
of
Buddhist
elements
find
their
way
into
Hindu
tantrism
in
this
period.
These
include
a
number
of
Buddhist
deities,
the
four
Buddhist
pifhas,131
various
elements
of
Buddhist
discourse
and
practice
and,
as
we

73
The
Prehistory
of
Tantric
Alchemy
shall
see,
a
significant
number
of
Buddhist
teachers,
in
whose
number
garjuna
figures
prominently.
Elsewhere,
we
may
attribute
uncanny
lels
between
the
Buddhist
and
Hindu
tantrism
of
this
pivotal
period
to
the
simple
fact
that
the
two
traditions
were,
in
spite
of
their
professed
mutual
animousity,
so
close
to
one
another.
132
Most
striking
in
this
regard
is
the
resemblance
between
Tibetan
alchemy's
"extraction
of
the
[innate,
divine]
essence
[from
the
gross
corporeal
body]"
and
a
Hindu
tantric
practice
scribed
by
Bhavabh-iiti
in
his
eighth-century
play,
Miilatt-Miidhava.
Here,
a
female
Kapalika
tantrika
named
KU-9-9akapala
attains
the
power
of
flight
by
extracting
the
quintessence
(paiiciimr:ta)
of
her
five
bodily
elements.
This
same
passage
is
also
a
Hindu
watershed
inasmuch
as
it
constitutes
the
earliest
mention
in
Indian
literature,
sacred
or
secular,
of
the
six
energy
centers
(cakras)
of
the
subtle
body
in
the
practice
of
hafha
yoga.
It
may
be
herein
that
the
original
sense
of
the
term
rasiiyana
lies:
it
is
the
"coming
forth"
(iiyana)
of
the
fluid
essence
(rasa).l3J
Now,
the
Hindu
134
tantric
schools
in
whose
works
the
six
cakras
of
thayogic
practice
make
their
earliest
appearance
are
the
pafcimiimniiya
or
Western
Transmission
and
the
Yogini
Kaula
founded
by
Matsyendranath,
which
predate
the
Trika
Kaula
reformer
Abhinavagupta,
who
makes
veiled
allusions
to
both
in
his
ca.
A.D.
1000
Tantriiloka.135
As
we
will
show
in
some
detail,
these
two
Kaula
sects
were
closely
related,
mainly
through
the
son
of
Matsyendra,
whom
the
Nath
Siddhas
would
later
claim
as
their
founding
guru.
Matsyendra's
classic
work,
the
Kaulajiiiinanin:aya
(KJiiN)
(Discussion
of
the
Kaula
Gnosis),
revealed
in
Kamarupa
(Assam)
in
the
ninth
or
tenth
century,
is
important
inasmuch
as
it
constitutes
the
earliest
explicit
account
we
have
of
Hindu
India's
earliest
Siddha
clans
or
sects,
the
Siddha
and
Yogini
Kaulas.
1J6
The
revelations
of
the
KJiiN
were
"brought
down"
(avatiirita)
at
a
site
called
Candradvipa
("Moon
Island"),
a
toponym
which
further
links
Matsyendra's
Siddha
and
Yogini
Kaulas
to
the
Western
Transmission,
whose
textual
canon
was
"brought
down"
-by
a
figure
ously
called
Srinatha,
Srika-9-!ha,
Adinatha,
or
Siddhanatha-at
a
lunar
location
called
Candragiri,
Candradvipa,
Candrapurl,
or
Candrapi!ha.ll7
In
one
such
canonical
text,
the
Kubjikiinityiihnikatilaka,
we
find
an
account
that
appears
to
dramatize
the
changes
that
were
occuring
on
the
Indian
tantric
landscape
in
this
period.
Here,
we
are
told
that
Srinatha-with
the
aid
of
three
Siddhas
named
Sun,
Moon,
and
Fire-founded
the
tantric
kula
tradition,
"at
the
beginning
of
the
Kali
Yuga;'
at
a
site
called
Candrapuri
("Moon
City"),
located
in
Konka-9-a,
in
coastal
western
India.
The
original
core
of
this
new
kula,
the
text
continues,
was
composed
of
nine
Naths
who,

74
Chapter
Three
originally
Buddhist
monks,
had
converted
when,
through
a
miracle
duced
by
Srlnatha,
the
roof
of
their
monastery
had
collapsed!
138
This
"conversion;' from
Buddhism
to
Hinduism,
carries
much
further
in
this
context.
First
of
all,
a
lineage
found
in
the
Grub
thob,
a
ca.
fourteenth-cenrury
Tibetan
translation
139
of
Abhayadatta's
eleventh-
to
twelfth-cenrury
Caturafitisiddha
Prav1Jti
(Acts
of
the
Eighty-four
Siddhas),
identifies
two
figures,
Vyaqi
and
Kubjika,
as
disciples
of
"Siddha
juna:'
140
As
already
noted,
Vyaqi
is
an
alchemist
(he
is
the
last
of
the
four
Siddhacaryas);
as
we
will
see,
he
is
an
alchemist
who
figures
nently
in
Hindu
lists
of
the
Rasa
Siddhas
(the
traditional
founders
of
the
alchemical
tradition),
lists
that
appear
in
a
number
of
the
major
alchemical
tantras.
Such
also
appears
to
be
the
case
with
Kubjika:
the
same
name
is
applied
to
a
male
Siddhacarya
in
Buddhist
tantrism
and
to
a
female
deity
(Kubjika)
in
Hindu
tantrism.
Whether
it
was
the
Hindus
or
the
Buddhists
who
had
the
first
claim
to
these
figures
is
a
moot
question;
what
is
portant
here
is
that
both,
like
the
Nagarjuna
with
whom
they
are
associated
in
this
particular
lineage,
are
pivotal
figures
in
the
Buddhist-Hindu
tantric
syncretism.
With
the
deparrure
of
Buddhism
from
the
subcontinent,
the
alchemist
Vyaqi,
the
goddess
Kubjika,
and
the
polymath
Nagarjuna
come
transformed,
in
medieval
India,
into
exclusively
Hindu
figures
who
are
closely
linked,
moreover,
to
the
history
and
mythology
of
tantric
alchemy.
They
also
become
linked
with
figures-divine,
symbolic,
or
(super)human-identified
as
"Naths"
or
"Siddhas:'
But,
just
as
was
the
case
with
tantric
Buddhism
and
its
Mahasiddhas
or
Siddhacaryas,
the
Hindu
application
of
the
terms
Nath,
Siddha,
and
Nath
Siddha
to
semihistorical
human
figures
is
an
ex
post
facto
one.
Once
again,
it
is
not
until
the
eleventh
or
twelfth
cenrury
that
we
find
these
terms
being
applied,
retrospectively,
to
such
historical
and
legendary
figures
as
the
Hindu
Nagarjuna,
Vyaqi,
Goralq;a,
or
Matsyendra.
(While
this
last
figure
defined
the
Siddha
Kaula,
and
was
retrospectively
identified
as
the
guru
of
Gorakhnath,
founder
of
the
Nath
Siddhas,
he
is
nowhere
referred
to
as
"Matsyendra
Siddha"
or
"Siddha
Matsyendranath"
prior
to
the
fourteenth
cenrury).
I
by
no
means
wish
to
imply
that
such
figures
did
not
live
during
the
period
I
have
been
chronicling.
There
can
be
no
doubt
that
historical
figures
named
Nagarjuna,
Matsyendra,
Goralq;a,
etc.,
defined
the
religious
landscape
of
a
certain
Gupta
and
post-Gupta
India.
It
must,
however,
be
allowed
that
these
figures'
lives,
acts,
and
words
became
fused,
in
the
lar
imagination,
with
those
of
gods
and
demigods,
in
whose
number
the
divine
Siddhas
and
Vidyadharas
must
be
counted.
141

75
The
Prehistory
of
Tantric
Alchemy
We
can
also
argue
that
by
the
tenth
century,
human
individuals
or
ders
known
as
Siddhas
already
existed
in
everything
but
name
in
India.
In
the
centuries
that
followed,
these
individuals
and
their
real
or
alleged
ings
would
come
to
be
collated,
anthologized,
canonized,
and
alized
into
(I)
Siddha
lists,
(2)
a
massive
body
of
Siddha
literature,
and
(3)
a
loosely
structured
confederation
of
Siddha
religious
orders.
All
of
these
post-tenth-century
enumerations,
canonizations,
and
institutionalizations
would
look
to
the
age
of
magical
alchemy
for
their
origins,
and
invariably
find
them,
in
a
name,
a
text,
or
a
real
or
imagined
lineage.
The
proclaimed
Siddhas
of
later
history
invented
their
past
as
a
means
of
fying
their
own
lives,
works,
and
institutions:
the
"charismatic"
heroes
of
the
past-fast
on
their
way
to
becoming
"divinized"
through
an
identification
of
them
with
the
Siddhas
and
Vidyadharas
of
earlier
were
also
becoming
"institutionalized"
into
the
sectarian
founders
they
never
had
been.142
As
I
demonstrate
in
the
next
chapter,
historiographers
of
the
medieval
Siddha
traditions
have
failed
to
come
to
terms
with
this
fact,
and
have
therefore
always
found
themselves
struggling
to
bridge
unaccountable
gaps
of
hundreds
of
years
between
the
legendary
"biographies"
of
many
of
these
Siddhas
and
their
literary
productions
or
institutional
roles.
Their
efforts
have
been
in
vain:
just
as
new
individuals
named
Nagarjuna
or
Matsyendra
appeared
on
the
Indian
religious
landscape
once
every
one
to
two
hundred
years,
so
too
entire
founding
lineages
were
created
or
reappropriated
by
proclaimed
Siddha
traditions
at
several
centuries'
remove
from
the
time
in
which
their
founders
may
have
lived.
143
Before
turning
to
the
Hindu
side
of
the
Siddha
phenomenon,
I
must
attempt
to
account
for
the
alchemical
reputation
of
the
Buddhist
"Siddha
Nagarjuna"
for
the
period
just
discussed,
the
seventh
to
tenth
centuries.
As
with
the
case
of
the
philosopher
Nagarjuna,
there
is
little
hard
evidence
to
go
on,
beyond
the
body
oflegend
bequeathed
to
us
by
Hsuan-tsang
and
others.
In
this
light,
it
appears
significant
that
the
seventh-century
Chinese
scholar-pilgrim
claimed
to
have
met
an
alchemical
disciple
of
Nagarjuna
who
looked
to
be
only
thirty,
in
spite
of
his
seven
hundred
years.
If
he
was
indeed
thirty,
or
slightly
older,
then
we
have
grounds
to
believe
that
a
puted
alchemist
named
Nagarjuna
did
in
fact
live
in
the
first
half
of
the
seventh
century.
The
Yogafataka,
datable
to
either
the
seventh
or
ninth
century
and
the
work
of
an
"Acarya
Sri
Nagarjuna;'
is
mainly
devoted
to
herbal,
rather
than
mercurial,
remedies,
although
some
of
its
preparations
are
called
"elixirs"

7
6
Chapter
Three
(rasiiyanas)
or
"nectars"
(amrJas).l44
This
same
Nagarjuna
may
have
been
(I)
the
editor
of
the
Sufruta
Samhitii
responsible
for
the
appendix
entitled
"Uttara
Sthana"
(although
this
section
contains
no
innovative
data
on
curial
medicines);145
(2)
the
figure
singled
out
by
the
ninth-century
Vrnda
as
having
carved
instructions
for
the
ophthamological
use
of
black
curic
sulfide-a
preparation
he
calls
niigiiryuna-varta-into
a
pillar
at
taliputra
(Patna,
the
capital
of
modem-day
Bihar);l46
(3)
an
alchemist
whom
the
eleventh-century
Alberuni
mentions
as
having
lived
some
one
hundred
years
prior
to
himself;147
and
(4)
the
author
of
a
work
on
lurgy
referred
to
as
the
Lohafiistra
of
Nagarjuna
by
Cakrapal).idatta,
in
the
ca.
A.D.
1075
Cikitsiisan:zgraha,
a
commentary
on
the
Caraka
Samhitii
and
itself
an
Ayurvedic
watershed
in
the
use
of
mercurial
medicines.
148
This
composite
ninth-century
Nagarjuna
would
therefore
have
had
to
have
been
a
figure
distinct
from
the
seventh-century
Nalanda
alchemist-monk,
if
one
ever
existed.
149
To
conclude,
then,
we
can
very
tentatively
identify
three
Nagarjunas
from
what
has
been
called
the
period
of
"magical"
alchemy.
These
are
(I)
the
ca.
second-century
A.D.
Madhyamika
philosopher
whose
cal
feats
were
mythical;
(2)
the
early
seventh-century
disciple
of
Saraha,
and
resident
of
Nalanda
and
Sriparvata,
whose
alchemical
reputation
reached
the
ears
of
Hsuan-tsang
(who
was
himself
the
translator
of
two
Mahayana
texts
containing
references
to
magical
alchemy),
but
who
left
no
alchemical
works
for
posterity;
and
(3)
the
ninth-century
author
of
the
Yogafataka
and
the
appendix
to
the
Sufruta
Samhitii,
about
whom
Alberuni
heard
reports
in
the
early
eleventh
century.
It
is
only
some
two
to
three
centuries
after
Alberuni
that
we
encounter
an
alchemical
author
named
either
Siddha
or
Sriman
Nagarjuna
in
chapter
colophons.
These
are
three
extant
Hindu
works,
which
shade
in
their
content
from
tantric
sorcery
into
alchemy-the
Kakfapufa
Tantra,
the
Yogaratnamiilii
(also
called
the
Afcaryaratnamiilii)
and
the
Rasendra
Mangala.
Finally,
I
close
this
chapter
on
the
age
of
magical
alchemy
with
a
note
of
caution
to
anyone
who
would
attempt
to
interpret
the
general
history
of
this
period.
This
I
do
mainly
as
a
corrective
to
south
Indian
historians
of
Siddha
medicine
who
maintain
that
the
Sittar
alchemists
had
already
perfected
their
craft
long
before
the
time
of
the
sixth-
to
seventh-century
Tirumular
and
Nandi.l5°
First,
there
is
no
evidence
to
show
that
any
chemy-even
as
practiced
by
persons
who
may
already
have
been
calling
themselves
Siddhas-prior
to
the
tenth
century
A.D.
was
anything
but
"magical."
Second,
while
most
of
our
data
concerning
magical
alchemy
is

77
The
Prehistory
of
Tantric
Alchemy
of
southern
provenance,
this
in
no
way
implies
that
it
was
of
Tamil
origin.
In
fact,
nearly
all
signs
from
this
period
point
either
to
the
Andhra
country
(Sriparvata-Srisailam)
or
to
western
India
as
the
cradle
of
the
alchemical
art
in
India.
It
is,
moreover,
in
these
two
regions
that
the
so-called
Mahesvara
Siddhas
begin
to
appear
in
the
tenth
century
and
that
magical
alchemy
became
transmuted,
as
it
were,
into
tantric
and
Siddha
alchemy.

FOUR
Sources
for
the
History
of
Tantric
Alchemy
in
India
I.
Medieval
Lists
of
Rasa
Siddhas
and
Nath
Siddhas
Among
the
most
valuable
historical
documents
we
have
at
our
disposal
for
charting
which
(I)
"OtilL
L
"
disappeared
frow
Buddhism,
(21
disappeared
fronl
(3)
Hindu
Siddb
alchemy
fusion
of
tantric
the
discipline
yoga
are
compiled
list'L
hoth
Buddhist
aLH
Hindu)
and
Hindu),
thil
throughout
Indo-Tibetan
world
between
the
eleventh
and
fifteenth
centuries.
It
is
in
these
sources
that
the
appellation
Siddha
comes
to
be
used
extensively,
as
a
blanket
term
covering
most
of
the
figures-some
historical,
others
ary,
others
divine,
and
still
others
clearly
undecided-whose
lives
and
acts
I
review
in
these
pages.
\Vhile
we
nLlain
that
such
W,L'l
he
ordering
of
tiLL'
names
in
the
Lit
times
appearl
to
guruparam
of
teachers
hrough
which
LLde
transmitted
:',jddha
lists
would
constitute
lf
an
earlier
sethese
were
the
c
L.
ninth-century
A.D.
idealized
"post-scriptural
systematizations"2
of
the
jor
tantric
sects
and
texts.
These
records
often
took
the
form
of
mystic
diagrams
(ma7!4a1as),
in
which
the
clans
(kulas)
of
the
divinities
and
ary
preceptors
of
the
major
sectarian
divisions
of
Hindu
tantrism
were
set
forth
schemal'
SLwh
maT!4a1as
or
yantrLl'
divine
and
man
genealohKi meditational
models
of
and
fL
microcosmic,
and
macrocosmiz"
\\'hich
color,
nun,
ber,
direction,
vital
breath,
lOusness,
senSOL
organ,
etc.,
simultaneous
prl
coherence
of
thl'
world
system
they
charted:
structure
and
function
were
congruent.
l

79
Sources
for
the
History
of
Tantric
Alchemy
In
the
absence
of
anything
comparable
to
a
systematic
theology
(for
which
god
would
one
choose?)
or
a
religious
anthropology,
Puranic
ism
lent
much
attention
to
what
one
scholar
has
termed
"systematic
phy,"
the
elaboration
of
a
spatial
grid
of
the
great
chain
of
being,
from
the
highest
gods
to
the
most
abject
demons,
via
the
realms
of
humans,
demigods,
sages,
and
all
manner
of
other
creatures.
4
In
the
tantric
context,
however,
it
is
perhaps
more
proper
to
speak
of
"systematic
genealogy"
rather
than
tematic
geography
or
cosmology,
given
the
fact
that
the
cardinal
directions
to
which
the
major
clans
of
the
tantric
ma'fJ4a1as
were
assigned
appear
to
bear
no
correlation
whatsoever
to
the
geographic
locations
of
these
sects
or
their
founders.
Rather,
these
were,
in
a
quite
literal
sense,
organizational
"flow
charts:'
in
which
the
flow
in
question
was
of
sexual
fluids
emanating
first
from
the
godhead
and
radiating
outwards,
through
the
biological
sion,
via
goddesses
and
yoginis,
of
the
clan
nectar
(kuladravya),
into
the
ous
sectarian
clans,
orders,
and
sects.
Through
their
systematic
genealogies,
the
tantrikas
at
once
located
themselves
within
the
cosmic
chain
of
being
and
within
a
network
of
socioreligious
institutions.
The
major
tantric
classificatory
systems
that
will
concern
us
asmuch
as
certain
names
found
in
them
correspond
to
names
found
in
the
Siddha
lists
detailed
below-are
those
of
the
plfhas
and
iimniiyas.
While
the
former
term
is
nearly
always
employed
to
denote
a
"footstool"
or
grimage
site
of
the
Goddess
in
Sakta
devotionalism,
there
also
emerged,
around
the
time
of
the
Brahmayiimala
Tantra
(ca.
ninth
century
A.D.)
a
dition
of
four
"literary"
plfhas.
Here,
the
major
texts
(together
with
the
practices
and
methods
they
espoused)
of
earlier
tantrism
were
classified,
purportedly
on
the
basis
of
the
principal
subjects
they
treated-but
in
fact
rather
artificially-under
the
headings
of
vidyii,
mantra,
mudrii,
and
ma'fJ-
4a1a
plfhas.
Most
of
the
important
texts
of
this
classificatory
system
fell
under
the
rubrics
of
the
vidyiiplfha
5
and
mantraplfha.
Somewhat
later,6
the
classificatory
system
of
the
iimniiyas
("lines
of
transmission")
was
devised
to
classify
Kaula
sects
and
texts.
While
ian
cleavages
based
on
the
name
of
the
major
cult
goddesses
figure
most
prominently
here,
the
theoretical
classifications
are
geographical.
The
four
iimniiyas
are
the
eastern
(Trika,
whose
cult
centers
on
the
three
Para
desses),
northern
(Krama,
which
worships
Kali),
western
(which
worships
the
goddess
Kubjika,
the
"Contracted
One:'
an
alloform
of
the
hathayogic
kU'fJ4alint)
,
and
southern
(Srividya,
which
worships
the
goddess
sundari)
transmissions.
7

80
Chapter
Four
While
it
is
likely
that
the
historical
value
of
the
Siddha
lists
is
as
limited
as
that
of
the
ma1fqalas
of
tantric
pttha
and
amnaya
classifications,S
a
parative
overview
will
offer
insights
into
what
the
medieval
mystics
of
dia-Buddhists,
Hindus,
Jains
(and
later,
Muslims),
yogins
and
alchemists
alike,
from
Tibet
to
south
India-considered
to
be
their
heritage.
In
the
words
of
Giuseppe
Tucci,
the
"Siddhas
are
the
most
eminent
personalities
of
medieval
India's
esoterism and
represent
the
ideal
link
between
Sivaism
and
Vajrayana,
indeed
the
expression
of
the
same
religious
and
mystical
endeavor,
translated
through
analogous
symbols."9
These
figures
were
ways
first
and
foremost
Siddhas,
and
it
would
be
erroneous
to
maintain
that
the
inclusion
of
a
figure's
name
in
a
Buddhist
Siddha
list
made
him
a
Buddhist,
or
that
a
name
figuring
in
a
Rasa
Siddha
list
necessarily
made
that
person
an
alchemist.
The
Siddhas,
a
pool
of
wizards
and
demigods,
supermen
and
wonder-workers
that
all
south
Asians
(and
Tibetans)
could
draw
on
to
slake
the
thirst
of
their
religious
imagination,
were
the
most
syncretistic
landmarks
on
the
religious
landscape
of
medieval
India.
10
Our
presentation
of
the
medieval
Siddha
lists
will,
with
a
single
tion,
be
a
chronological
one:
we
will
insert
the
list
from
the
century
Hathayogapradtpika
(HYP)
of
Svatmarama
before
two
century
lists
(from
the
VarrJaratnakara
and
the
Anandakanda
[AK])
because
its
content
corresponds
more
closely
to
that
of
earlier
eleventh-
to
thirteenth-century
lists
than
do
the
latter.
We
will
begin
our
survey
with
the
Indo-Tibetan
lists
of
the
eighty-four
Mahasiddhas
or
Siddhacaryas.
Two
nearly
identical
lists
are
found
in
the
Grub
thob,l1
a
century
Tibetan
text
based
on
a
ca.
eleventh-
to
twelfth-century
Sanskrit
work
attributed
to
the
Indian
Abhayadatta;
and
the
A.D.
1275
Sa-skya-bka
'bum,12
which
purports
to
be
a
list
of
the
gurus
who
taught
at
the
Saskya
monastery
between
A.D.
1091
and
1275.
In
these
lists,
the
-pa
endings
to
many
names
are
shortenings
of
-pada:
these
endings,
rather
than
the
term
Siddha,
are
the
authentic
mark
of
the
eastern
Indian
figures
and
lineages
that
founded
tantric
Buddhism.
Following
what
has
become
a
scholarly
convention,
we
will
assign
numbers
to
these
figures,
in
accordance
with
their
ordinal
placement
in
these
various
lists:
I.
LUI-paiMatsyendra
8.
MIrra-pa
9.
Gora4a-pa
ro.
CauraIigi-pa

Sources
for
the
History
of
Tantric
Alchemy
12.
Tanti-pa
16.
Nagarjuna
17.
Karaha-palKiinha-pa
18.
30.
Kambala-palKamari-pa
46.
Jalandhara-pa
64.
Carpa!a-pa
71.
Kanthali-pa
72.
Kapala-pa
76.
Nagabodhi-pa
77-
Darika-pa
84.
Bhali-paNyali-pa
In
fact,
the
names
of
many
of
the
figures
in
these
lists
are
identical
to
those
of
the
authors
of
the
earliest
mystic
poetry
of
"Buddhist"
tantrism,
the
so-called
Caryiipad
as
13
(composed
in
Old
Bengali
in
eastern
India
fore
the
twelfth
century),
as
well
as
of
a
number
of
authors
whose
writings
are
found
in
the
Sanskrit
Siidhanamiilii,
which
dates
from
the
same
period.
14
Exceptions
to
this
rule
are
(9)
(10)
Caurangi,
(16)
Nagarjuna,
(64)
(71)
Kanthali,
(72)
Kapala,
(76)
Nagabodhi,
and
(84)
Vyali,
whose
"signatures"
are
found
in
neither
the
Caryiipadas
nor
the
Siidhanamiilii
garjuna
is
the
author
of
two
siidhanas
in
this
latter
work).
A
later
Tibetan
recension
of
the
caryii
songs,
incorporated
into
the
Tanjur,
includes
works
by
(sic),
Caurangi,
and
not
found
in
the
nal
anthology.ls
Six
of
these
names-Caurangi,
Nagarjuna,
Kapala,
bodhi,
and
Vyali-figure
in
another
enumeration
ofSiddhas.
These
are
the
lists
of
the
twenty-seven
Rasa
Siddhas,
as
such
are
found
in
three
alchemical
works.
16
Two
of
these-a
list
found
in
the
thirteenth-
to
century
Rasendra
Mangala
[RM]
of
Srlman
Nagarjuna
l7
and
a
list
in
the
fourteenth-century
Rasaratnasamucchaya
[RRS]
(1.2-4)
[a]
of
Vagbhana
Ip8-
are
nearly
identical;
whereas
a
second
list,
found
in
both
the
thirteenth-century
Rasaratniikara
[RRA]
(3.1.66-69)
of
Nityanatha
dha
l9
and
the
RRS
(6.51-53)
[b],
differs
slightly
from
the
first.
more,
certain
recensions
of
the
RRS
supply
as
many
as
forty
additional
names
(following
1.5)
to
the
original
list
of
twenty-seven:
we
will
call
this
supplementary
list
RRS
[C].20
Figures
whose
names
have
already
appeared
above,
in
the
Tibetan
lists,
are
given
here
in
italics.

RMIRRS[a]
I.
Adima/Aduma
21
2.
Candrasena
3.
Lailkda
4.
Visarada
5.
KapaJa/KapalI
6.
MataiMatta
7.
MaI).<)avya
8.
Bhaskara
9.
SurasenaiSurasenaka
10.
RatnaghosaiRatnakosa
II.
Sambhu
12.
Ekaratna/Sattvika
13.
Vahana
14.
Indra[da]
IS.
Gomukba
16.
Kambalp2
17·
Vyaqi
18.
Nagarjuna
19.
SuravidaiSurananda
20.
Nagabodhi
21.
'{asodharafYasodhana
22.
KhaI).<)a
23.
Kapalika
24.
Brahma/Brahma
25.
Govinda
26.
Lampaka
27.
Hari
82
Chapter
Four
RRAIRRS[b]
2.
Candrasena
3.
Lailkesa
22.
Sarada
10.
MaI).<)avya
12.
Surasena
6.
Ratnaghosa
20.
Sambhu[rloka]
19.
iattvika
4.
N
aravahana
I.
Vyalacarya
5.
Nagarjuna
7.
Surananda
14.
Nagabuddhi
8.
'{asodhara
IS.
KhaI).<)a
16.
KapaJika
25.
Govinda
21.
Lampa!a
17.
Hara
Nine
names
included
in
the
RRAIRRS
[b]list
do
not
accord
with
those
found
in
the
RMIRRS
[a]
list.
They
are:
(3)
Subuddhi;
(9)
Indradyumna;
(II)
(13)
(IS)
KamarilKamali;
(23)
(24)
(26)
Kapila;
and
(27)
Bali.
All
of
these
names,
however,
figure
among
the
forty
additional
Rasa
Siddhas
listed
in
RRS
[c].
We
now
present
the
lists
of
these
additional
Rasa
Siddhas
as
they
occur
in
the
continuation
of
RRS
[a]
(1.5-7)
and
RRS
[c],
names
which,
as
Vagbhana
II
explains,
are
"names
of
authors
of
other
alchemical
texts?'
To
these,
we
juxtapose
data
from
another
list,
that
of
thirty
mahasiddhas
"who
had
bro-

83
Sources
for
the
History
of
Tantric
Alchemy
ken
Time's
rod"
found
in
the
HYF
(1.5-9).
This
list
is
nearly
identical
to
a
list
drawn
up
by
Caturbhujamisra,
a
15th-
to
16th-century
commentator
on
the
RHT,
with
the
difference
that
the
latter
identifies
the
twenty-four
names
on
his
list
as
Rasa
Siddhas.
24
As
before,
names
occurring
in
Tibetan
lists
are
italicized;
those
already
noted
in
RRS
[b]
have
their
numbering
from
that
list
shown
in
parentheses.
RRS
1.5-10
[cJ
28.
Rasal}kusa
29.
Bhairava
30.
Nandi
3
I.
Svacchandabhairava
32.
Manthanabhairava
33.
34.
Mahadeva
35.
Narendra
36.
Ratnakara
37.
HarIsvara
38.
39.
Siddhabuddha
40.
Siddhapada
41.
Kanthaqi
42.
43.
Vasudeva
43.
KriyatantrasamucchayI
44.
Rasendratilaka
45.
Bhanukarmerita
46.
Pl1jyapada
47.
Ka"!eri
48.
Nityanatha
49.
Nirafijana
50.
Carpafi
(I
I)
51.
Bindunatha
52.
Prabhudeva
53.
Vallabha
54.
Valakhilya-jfia
[Balakiryanja]
55.
56.
Ti"!!ani
RRS
1.5-7
[aJ
28.
Rasailkusa
25
29.
Bhairava
30.
Nandi
3
I.
Svacchandabhairava
32.
Manthanabhairava
33.
40.
Mahadeva
41.
Narendra
43.
HarIsvara
39.
Maithila[hvaya]
35.
Srilga
42.
Vasudeva
36.
KriyatantrasamucchayI
37.
Rasendratilaka
Yogi
38.
Bhaluki
HYP
1.5-9
4.
Bhairava
10.
Manthanabhairava
23.
28.
Naradeva
13.
Koral}!aka
I
I.
Siddhirbuddha
15.
Siddhipada
12.
27.
Bhaluka
18.
Pl1jyapada
17.
Kal}erI
19.
Nityanatha
20.
Nirafijana
16.
22.
Bindunatha
24.
[Allama]
Prabhu
25.
26.

RRS
1.5-IO
[c]
57.
Kalacarya
58.
Subuddhi
(3)
59.
Ratnaghosa
(6)
60.
Susenaka
61.
Indradyumna
(9)
62.
Agama
(13)
63.
Kiimiiri
(18)
64·
Val).asura
(23)
65·
(24)
66.
Kapila
(26)
67·
Vali
(27)
84
Chapter
Four
RRS
1.5-7
[a]
HYP
1.5-9
Apart
from
its
parallels
with
the
RRS
lists,
the
HYP
list
also
appears
to
borrow
a
number
of
its
Siddhas
from
the
Tibetan
Grub
thob.
To
these
lei
lists
we
also
juxtapose
data
from
yet
another
source,
the
ca.
A.D.
1300
Varr:aratnakara
(vM)26
list
of
seventy-six
Siddhas:
HYP
1.5-9
Grub
thob
VRA
7
2.
Matsyendra
1.
LUI-paiMatsyendra
41.MIna
3.
Sabarananda
5.
Sabara-pa
43.
Savara
5.
Caurailgi
IO.
Caurailgi-pa
3.
Caurailginatha
6.
MInanatha
8.MIna-pa
1.
Mlnanatha
7.
Gorakhnath
2.
16.
Carpa!i
64.
Carpa!a-pa
31.
Carpa!i
17.
Kanha-pa
13.
Kanha
21.
KapalI
II.
Kapali
26.
Til).!ini
13·
Tal).!i-pa
5.
Tal).!i-pa
16.
Nagarjuna
22.
Nagarjuna
30.
Kamari-pa
12.
KamarI
46.
Jalandhara-pa
I9·Jalandhara
nDarika
9.
Dari-pa
The
Varnaratnakara
further
accords
with
various
Rasa
Siddha
lists
in
its
mention
of
Carpati,
Kapali,
Nagarjuna,
Kamari-listed
above-as
well
as
of
(71)
Govinda
(no.
25
in
three
lists)
and
(73)
Bhairava
(no.
29
in
two
lists).
The
(I)
Adima
of
the
RMIRRS
[a]
list
is
to
be
identified
with
the
(I)
Adinatha
of
HYP
1.5:
adi
denotes
origins;
Adinatha
is
therefore
the
original
and
divine
Rasa
Siddha
or
Mahasiddha:
as
such
he
is
sometimes
identified

85
Sources
for
the
History
of
Tantric
Alchemy
with
Matsyendranath.
The
relationship
here
between
Goralq;anatha
and
his
guru
Mlnanatha
in
the
two
Hindu
works
listed
here
is
symmetrical
to
that
obtaining
between
the
figures
(9)
and
Mina-pa
(8)
in
the
Tibetan
Grub
thob.
This
squares,
moreover,
with
the
statement
made
by
Goralq;a
in
the
second
verse
of
his
earliest
work,
the
that
his
guru
was
Mlnanatha.
It
is
a
later
conflation
(as
in
the
15th-century
"Sidh
below)
that
identifies
Matsyendra
(the
second
Siddha,
listed
after
Adinatha,
in
the
HYP
list)
or
Lm-pa
(the
first
Siddha
of
the
Grub
thob
list)
with
Mlna.
The
identification
is
a
simple
one:
all
three
of
these
names
include
the
term
fish.
As
I
will
demonstrate,
the
historical
Goralq;a
or
akhnath
was
a
I2th-
to
13th-century
figure,
whereas
Matsyendra,
his
ported
guru,
could
not
have
lived
later
than
the
roth
century;
it
is
another
figure,
named
Mlna,
who
was
Gorakhnath's
guru.
The
final
two
lists
to
be
reproduced
here
also
begin-both
logically
and
chronologically-with
Adinatha,
the
Lord
of
Beginnings.
The
first
of
these
is
the
14th-century
Anandakanda
[AK]
(I.3-47-51),27
certainly
the
longest
extant
alchemical
text,
and
also
the
most
convoluted
in
many
ways.
Behind
its
complexity,
however,
we
may
glimpse
a
number
of
Siddha
eages
which
it
was
attempting
to
decant
into
a
single
authoritative
list.
Of
exceptional
interest
is
the
fact
that
it
divides
its
list
of
twenty-five
names
into
a
set
of
"Nine
Naths"
and
"Sixteen
Siddhas."
In
this,
as
well
as
in
a
number
of
other
unique
hathayogic
elements
found
in
this,
but
no
other
alchemical
source,
we
find
ourselves
in
the
presence
of
a
truly
syncretic
Siddha
alchemical
tradition.
The
data
it
contains
will
also
lead
us,
in
a
ment,
into
a
second
corpus,
the
myriad
lists
of
the
Nine
Naths.
The
list
we
will
juxtapose
here
with
the
AK
is
quite
unusual,
inasmuch
as
it
purports
to
constitute
a
list
of
the
"eighty-four
Siddhas"28
and
"nine
yogefvaras
(Lords
of
Yoga)"
-but
which
in
fact
only
lists
fifty-six
names.
This
ular
work,
entitled
"Sidh
[SVj29
(Praise
of
the
Siddhas)
is
tively
late,
given
that
it
mentions
the
15th-century
Kabir
as
its
fiftieth
dha.
For
purposes
of
comparison,
we
juxtapose
elements
from
the
HYP
list
with
those
of
the
AK
and
the
sv.
We
will
list
the
Nine
Naths
and
sixteen
Siddhas
of
the
AK
list
continuously,
numbering
from
I
to
25.
Italics
refer
to
names
that
also
appear
in
Rasa
Siddha
lists
from
earlier
sources:
I.
Adi-natha
2.
Minana
tha/Mulanatha
SV
1-27
I.
Adinath
2.
Machindra
3.
r.Adinatha
6.
Minanatha
7.

4-
Konkal).eSvara
5.
Jalandhresa
6.
KanthanIsa
7.
8.
Cific[h]inIsvara
9.
CauraIigi
10.
CauraIigi30
II.
Carpa!a
12.
13.
Ramadvaya
14.
Bhola/Bala
15.
Govinda-siddha
16.
Vyii4i
17.
Niigiirjuna
18.
I
9.
20.
MuktayI/DuktayI
2
I .
Reval).alRel).ava
22.
Kukkurapada
23·
SUr
papada
24.
Kal).airika
25.
KiIikinikafTil).!i
ni
86
Chapter
Four
SV
1-27
IO.JalandharI
28.
27.
CauraIigi
4.
Carpata-ray
14.
Balanath
23.
Kal).erI
26.
Tal).tanI
30.
KapalI
32.
33.
Kag
34.
Suriinand
35.
Bhairu
Nand
36.
Savara
Nand
HYP
1.5-9
I
I.
Kanthadi
5.
CauraIigi
16.
Carpa!i
26.
17.
Kal).erI
27·
Til).t
ini
21.
Kapali
2
3.
14.
Suriinanda
4.
Bhairava
3.
Savarananda
2.
The
Anandakanda
List
and
Medieval
Western
Indian
Saivism
A
number
of
apparently
incongruous
names
in
the
AK
list
may
be
shown
to
correspond
to
names
of
Nath
Siddhas
found
in
southwestern
Indian
sources.
The
names
Surpakan;ta
("Shovel
Ears")
(19)
and
Surpapada
("Shovel
Feet")
(23)
resemble
that
of
Surpanath
who-according
to
a
thirteenth-century
inscription
from
the
Nath
Siddha
monastery
of
Kadri,

87
Sources
for
the
History
of
Tantric
Akhemy
located
on
the
northern
outskirts
of
Mangalore
(Karnataka)-would
have
lived
in
the
early
part
of
that
century.31
According
to
Maharashtran
tions
dating
from
at
least
the
final
quarter
of
the
thirteenth
century,
Reval}a
(2
I)
is
listed
as
one
of
the
Nine
Naths.
Elsewhere,
the
Vlrasaivas,
who
have
always
been
concentrated
in
southwestern
India,
revere
Reval}a
(or
Rel}uka)
Siddha
as
one
of
their
five
great
founders.32
UMlsa
(7)
is
the
name
of
a
work
on
tantric
sorcery33;
and
Kukkura-pada
(22)
is
a
Mahasiddha
(no.
34)
from
the
Grub
thob
list.
Other
names
on
this
list
are
found
to
correspond
to
those
of
certain
of
the
eighteen
Sittars,
the
alchemist-physicians
of
Tamil
Nadu.
34
The
Sittar
lists-of
which
there
exist
at
least
eighteen
variants-are
infuriatingly
erogeneous.
No
two
are
alike,
and
anyone
is
likely
to
include
names
of
Vedic
sages
(Agastya,
Lorna
demons
(Pulastya),
and
nymphs
(Urvasl),
as
well
as
classical
Hindu
gods
(Rama,
Subrahmanian),
the
divine
or
semidivine
founders
of
Ayurveda
(Dhanvantari),
yoga
(Patafijali),
Advaita
Vedanta
(Sankaracarya),
and
south
Indian
orthodox
Saivism
(Iqaikkadar,
Pambatti,
Auvai,
Manika
Vachagar,
etc.),35
and
the
odd
pean
(Yacoppu,
i.e.,
Jacob).
In
addition
to
these,
however,
we
also
counter
names
found
in
the
Anandakanda
list:
Tirumular
(whom
the
Nath
Siddhas
call
Mulanatha
[23]),
Macchendrar
(=
Matsyendranatha
[2b]);
Korakkar
Nadhar
(=
Gorakhnath
[3]),
and
Konganar
(Konkal}eSvara
[4]).
One
exemplary
list
of
the
eighteen
Tamil
Siddhas
36
enumerates
the
ing
(names
from
earlier
lists
are
italicized):
Nandi
(I),
Mulanatha
(2),
langanatha
(3),
Bhoga
(4),
Konkar:a
(5),
Agastya
(6),
Pulastya
(7),
Bhufur:4a
(8),
Romamuni
(9),
Dhanvantari
(10),
Sanaimuni
(II),
Mat.ryamuni
(12),
Kanva
(13),
Pidinakk!sa
(14),
Gorak{a
(IS),
Terayar
(16),
Yuhimuni
(17),
and
Iqaikkaqar
(18).
The
last
chapter
discussed
alchemical
lore
on
the
subject
of
two
other
recurring
names
from
the
Tamil
lists,
Bogar
and
Nandi;
as
was
noted,
ganar
was
the
disciple
of
one
of
these
two
alchemical
gurus.
37
Also
worth
noting
here
are
the
Sittars
named
Kambali
Siddhar
(number
IS
in
the
RMI
RRS
[a]
list);
Navanadhar
(navanatha,
the
"Nine
Naths"),
and
Sattainathar
(Satyanatha).
This
last
figure,
whom
Tamil
traditions
credit
with
having
authored
twenty-one
alchemical
works,
is
identified
by
the
Nath
Siddhas
with
the
historical
founder
of
one
of
its
twelve
(modern)
subdivisions,
as
well
as
with
a
yogic
incarnation
of
the
god
Brahma.
38
Adinath,
Mulanath,
Konkal}eSvara
(4),
and
Ciiicinisvara
(8)
belong
to
another
sectarian
tradition
that
interacted
with
the
Nath
Siddhas
and
Rasa
Siddhas
throughout
this
period.
This
is
the
pafcimamnaya,
the
Western

88
Chapter
Four
Transmission.
To
begin,
we
find
lists
in
this
tradition's
fourteenth-century
Kubjikiinityiihnikatilaka
and
twelfth-century
Manthiinabhairava
Tantra
that
are
structurally
identical
to
that
of
the
AK
that
is,
they
are
subdivided
into
a
set
of
nine
and
a
set
of
sixteen
of
teachers.
Two
consecutive
chapters
in
the
$SS,
itself
an
expansion
on
the
Kttbjikiimata
(KM),
treat
of
the
Kubjika
revelations
that
were
brought
down
to
earth
by
Adinath
(I)
and
Mulanath
(2).
That
these
sources
are
in
some
way
related
is
further
supported
by
the
fact
that
the
Koli.kal)a
in
Koli.kal)-dvara-the
"Lord
of
Koli.kal)a"-is
precisely
the
(western)
coastal
region
in
which
the
Western
Transmission
claims
to
have
been
founded,
through
the
agency
of
a
group
called
the
"Nine
Naths."J9
In
a
list
of
the
Nine
Naths
that
probably
originates
from
the
Deccan,
one
of
the
group
is
named
Koli.kal)anath.
40
The
name
Ciiicinisvara
(8)
evokes
the
title
of
another
important
ern
Transmission
work:
this
is
the
Nepali
Ciiicinimatasiirasamucchaya,
which
states
in
its
first
verse
that
the
cult
of
CiiicinI
was
founded
by
a
figure
named
Siddhanatha.
Ciiicini
("tamarind")
is
moreover
identified
with
Kubjika,
the
goddess
whose
cult
lies
at
the
heart
of
the
Western
sion.41
Siddhanatha
is,
according
to
a
number
of
texts,
an
alternative
name
for
Matsyendranath,
whose
name
is
also
cited
in
the
laka
as
one
of
the
appellations
of
its
fifth
teacher.
42
Inasmuch
as
he
stands
as
the
prototypical
Siddha,
I
returnto
the
pivotal
figure
of
Matsyendra
throughout
this
and
the
next
chapter.
In
addition
to
having
a
role
within
the
Western
Transmission,
Matsyendra
is
also
ered
to
have
founded
a
number
of
other
tantric
clans.
More
than
this,
he
is
at
once
revered
as
the
superhuman
intermediary
who
transmitted-or
"brought
down"
(avatiirita)
from
the
divine
to
the
human
plane-the
inal
tantric
revelation
and
as
the
human
reformer
responsible
for
having
transformed
the
old
Kula
tradition
into
"reformed"
KaulismY
As
such,
his
principal
teaching,
the
KJiiN,
is
a
watershed
for
all
manner
of
tantric
and
Siddha
traditions.
In
this
work,
Matsyendra
describes
himself
as
an
ent
of
the
sectarian
Siddha
Kaula,
the
founder
of
the
Yogini
Kaula,
and
revealer
of
the
(hathayogic)
doctrine
of
Matsyodara
("Fish
Belly").
The
KJiiN
is,
in
fact,
one
of
the
earliest
Indian
texts
to
make
wide
and
general
use
of
the
term
"Siddha";
moreover,
it
anticipates
the
hafha
yoga
of
later
Nath
Siddhas
(who
also
claim
Matsyendra
as
their
founder)
and
contains
a
wide
array
of
original
data
on
tantric
theory
and
practice.
Abhinavagupta
singles
out
"Macchanda
Vibhu"
(Matsyendra)
for
praise
in
the
opening
lines
of
his
monumental
A.D.
IOOO
Tantriiloka
44
and
incorpo-

89
Sources
for
the
History
of
Tantric
Alchemy
rates
Matsyendra's
Yogini
Kaula
cult
into
the
secret
ritual
of
the
Trika
Kaula
virtuosi.
45
Elsewhere,
Abhinavagupta
calls
Macchanda
the
great
Kaula
master
of
his
age,
the
kali
Juga;
and,
following
earlier
scriptural
tradition,
places
Macchanda,
together
with
his
consort
KonkaI,la,
in
the
northern
quadrant
of
the
Siddha
Cakra.
46
In
this
way
as
well,
Matsyendra
may
be
identified
with
KonkaI,leSvara
(4):
he
is
the
lord
(ifvara)
of
his
sort
KonkaI,la.
Now,
it
happens
that
both
the
scriptures
of
the
Western
Transmission
47
and
the
early
works
of
Matsyendranath
have,
for
centuries,
been
extant
in
Nepal
alone.
How
is
it
that
revelations
transmitted
at
a
"Moon
Island"
(Candradvtpa)
or
"Moon
Hill"
(Candragiri)
either
on
the
west
(the
ern
Transmission's
KonkaI,la)
or
east
(the
Yogini
Kaula's
Kamarupa)
coast
of
India
should
now
find
themselves
in
a
landlocked
Himalayan
valley?
An
abundance
of
local
legends
explain
Matsyendra's
"transfer"
from
rupa
to
Nepal.
48
As
for
the
latter
toponym,
a
geographical
explanation
is
possible:
Candragiri
is
the
name
of
a
hill
located
at
the
western
end
of
the
Kathmandu
Valley
which
was,
according
to
myth,
originally
flooded,
prior
to
being
drained
by
Mafijusrt:
this
western
Moon
Mountain
would
nally
have
been
a
Moon
Island.
49
Another
probable
explanation
is
of
a
torical
order.
There
exist
significant
medieval
links
between
southwestern
and
eastern
India
on
the
one
hand,
and
Nepal
on
the
other,
by
which
the
transplantation
of
these
cults
can
be
explained.
From
the
early
twelfth
tury
onwards,
the
Kathmandu
Valley
was
penetrated
first
by
religious
proponents
of
south
Indian
Saivism
and
subsequently
by
kings
from
the
Deccan
region.
Following
the
fourteenth-century
MalIa
restoration,
priests
from
Bengal
and
the
Deccan
officiated
in
temples
in
the
city
of
Bhaktapur,
at
the
shrine
of
Pasupatinath,
and
elsewhere
in
the
Kathmandu
Valley.50
A
number
of
Nepali
religious
institutions
and
traditions
reflect
this
historical
connection,
down
to
the
present
day.51
A
third,
esoteric,
planation
for
these
toponyms
will
be
discussed
in
chapter
eight.
Nepal's
relative
isolation
has
also
fostered
the
preservation
of
forms
of
Hindu
tantrism
that
have
long
since
disappeared
from
India
itself.
The
Kathmandu
Valley
remains
a
"living
museum"
of
both
Hindu
and
Buddhist
tantrism,
in
which
caryii
songs
belonging
to
the
same
tradition
as
that
of
the
seventh-
through
twelfth-century
Siddhacaryas
continue
to
be
sung
at
religious
performances,
where
the
old
Western
Transmission
cult
of
jika
continues
to
be
observed,s2
and
where
hordes
of
tantric
Bhairavas
and
Kalis
continue
to
receive
blood
sacrifices
on
a
massive
scale.

Chapter
Four
3.
Excursus:
The
Nine
Naths,
the
Twelve
Panths,
and
the
Historical
Gorakhnath
At
this
point,
it
becomes
necessary,
for
historiographical
reasons,
that
we
trace
the
origins
of
the
Nath
sampradiiya
or
Nath
panth,
the
tionalized
religious
order
or
sect
of
the
Nath
Siddhas.
The
reason
for
this
is
simple.
It
is
entirely
impossible
to
make
historical
sense
of
the
Nath
Siddhas
if
we
fail
to
separate
pre-thirteenth-century
legend
from
thirteenth-century
historical
fact.
Armed
with
this
interpretive
tool,
we
will
be
able
to
neatly
bypass
such
burning
nonissues
as
whether
nath
was
originally
a
Buddhist
living
in
eastern
India
and
at
the
same
time
dovetail
historical
and
geographical
evidence
for
a
western
Indian
origin
of
the
Nath
Siddhas
with
data
concerning
the
Rasa
Siddhas,
such
as
that
found
in
the
.ilK
list.
The
point
I
wish
to
make
here
is
that
the
Nath
sampradiiya,
a
great
eval
changing
house
for
western
Indian
sectarian
Saivism,
could
not
have
emerged
prior
to
the
late
twelfth
to
early
thirteenth
century
A.D.
I
will
show
that
this
was
not
a
monolithic
order,
but
rather
a
confederation
of
groups
claiming
a
similar
body
of
Saiva
and
Siddha
tradition,
the
basis
for
whose
unity
was
and
remains
(I)
the
identification
of
the
twelfth-
through
thirteenth-century
historical
Gorakhnath
with
earlier
historical,
ary,
or
divine
figures
named
Gorakh
or
Goralq;a;
(2)
the
retrospective
ciation
of
this
or
some
earlier
Gorakh-often
in
the
role
of
guru
or
ciple-with
founders
of
other
Siddha
or
Saiva
sects
and
clans,
many
of
which
came
to
be
absorbed
into
the
Nath
sampradiiya,
(3)
the
tion
of
the
abstract
concept
of
the
Nine
Naths
into
a
number
of
historical
lineages;
and
(4)
the
continued
appropriation,
in
later
centuries,
by
groups
outside
the
Nath
sampradiiya,
of
the
names
Gorakh
and
other
of
the
Nine
Naths
as
a
means
to
integrating
themselves
into
that
order.
We
begin
our
discussion
by
undertaking
a
conceptual
archaeology
of
the
Nine
Naths
(navaniitha).
To
date,
no
scholar
has
ever
doubted
that
these
were
ever
anything
but
a
group
of
legendary,
if
not
historical
figures.
But
what
we
find
when
we
look
at
the
Nine
Naths
historically
is
that
they
were,
at
least
a
century
prior
to
their
transformation
into
historical
eages,
an
abstract
or
symbolic
category
belonging
to
the
Western
mission.
The
earliest
veiled
reference
that
we
find
to
this
group
is
found
in
the
Kubjikiimata
which
calls
a
(presumably
divine)
Nath
the
"lord
of
the
nine
cakras"
(niitho
"founder
of
all
the
Siddha
[lineages]"
(sarvasiddhiiniim
...
and
"governer
of
the
six
cities
[cak-

9
1
Sources
for
the
History
ofTantric
Alchemy
ras?],
lord
of
the
Kaulas
and
leader
of
the
Kula"
We
have
already
mentioned
a
later
text
belonging
to
the
same
tradition:
this
is
the
Kubjiklinitylihnikatilaka,
which
relates
that
the
clan
was
founded,
in
KoilkaJ}a,
by
Srlnatha,
who
was
accompanied
by
"twice
nine
Naths;'
He
emanated
into
three
Siddhas,
who
had
nine
sons
whom
they
made
their
disciples;
from
these
originated
the
sixteen
ciples.
54
Two
later
works
place
an
equally
allegorical
gloss
on
the
Nine
Naths:
the
Tantrarlija
Tantra
correlates
the
Nine
Naths
with
the
nine
bodily
orifices,55
while
the
Tantra
Mahlirf!ava
identifies
eight
Nath
Siddhas
with
the
eight
cardinal
directions.
This
latter
list
places
Adinath
at
the
"center"
of
the
Indian
universe,
in
the
land
of
Kurulq;etra;
a
location
that
would
correspond
to
a
widespread
Kaula
doctrine,
which
calls
the
central
plfha
of
its
mystic
universe
the
Adip1tha.56
According
to
the
Western
mission,
the
supreme
goddess
(Para,
Kubjika)
dwells
in
a
plfha
of
the
same
name:
radiating
out
from
her
are
eight
other
such
centers,
at
each
of
which
is
found
a
Nath
through
whom
she
generates
her
empowering
energy.57
Here,
the
Nine
Naths
appear
to
be
nothing
other
than
a
nonuplication
of
Matsyendranath:
they
are
the
superhuman
intermediaries
who
brought
the
Western
Transmission
teachings
down
to
earth.
58
In
the
!iSS
and
the
San;zvartlirthapraklifa,
two
other
works
of
the
Western
Transmission,
this
group
of
nine
(abstract)
Naths
is
doubled
into
a
set
of
eighteen
Naths
or
Siddhas.
In
this
light,
it
is
noteworthy
that
Tamil
tradition
holds
that
there
were
originally
nine
Sittars,
before
their
number
was
doubled
to
teen.
59
Finally,
the
abstract
or
symbolic
becomes
merged
with
the
historical
in
the
vernacular
Gorakh
Upani{ad,
whose
list
of
the
Nine
Naths
begins
with
seven
stages
in
an
emanatory
schema,
followed
by
a
set
of
eight
torical"
Nath
Siddhas,
of
which
Matsyendra
is
the
first
and
Gorakh
the
last.
60
When,
however,
the
aggregate
of
the
Nine
Naths
came
to
be
identified,
some
time
in
the
twelfth
to
thirteenth
century,
with
the
legendary
or
torical
founders
of
the
Nath
sampradliya,
the
"historical"
name
that
headed
most
lists
was
that
of
Matsyendra.
If,
as
many
have
done,61
we
conflate
Matsyendra[-nath]
with
Mlna[-nath]
and
LUI[-pa]
(all
three
names
can
be
loosely
taken
to
mean
"Lord
of
Fishes"),
we
find
that
it
is
he
whose
name
figures
the
most
frequently
(together
with
Goralq;a,
Carpa!i,
and
juna)
in
the
Siddha
lists
we
have
compared
to
this
point
(six
times).
Next
in
frequency
are
Caurailgi,
Vya<;li,
Adinath,
TaI,l!i
/
TiI,l!ini,
KarI,larI
/
KaI,lerI,
and
Bhairava
(five
times),
followed
by
Jalandhara,
Kantha<;lI,
and
Govinda
(four
times).
Of
these,
the
following
names
appear
in
all
three

Chapter
Four
types
of
Siddha
lists-i.e.,
of
the
Indo-Tibetan
Siddhacaryas,
Indian
hasiddha
yogins,
and
Indian
Rasa
Siddhas:
Matsyendra-Mina,
Goralq;a,
Nagarjuna,
Carpati,
Caurangi,
Tar:tti
/
Tir:ttini,
Karr:tari
/
Kar:teri,
and
tha1i.
In
fact,
many
of
these
names
correspond
to
most
frequently
pearing
names
in
the
myriad
lists
of
the
nine
"historical"
Nath
Siddhas.
The
most
commonly
occurring
names
in
such
lists
are
(I)
Matsyendra,
(2)
Gorakh,
(3)
Carpati,
(4)
Jalandhara,
(5)
Kar:teri,
and
(6)
Caurangi.
Also
figuring
in
many
lists
are
(7)
Nagarjuna,
(8)
Bhartrhari,
and
(9)
Gopicand
(Govinda-candra,
who
is
never
identified
with
Govinda
the
alchemist).
There
exist
a
seemingly
infinite
number
of
permutations
on
this
set
of
nine,
with
historical
and
subsectarian
variants
abounding.
Adinath
is
often
added
to
head
the
list,
in
the
role
of
creator
god
or
demiurge:
this
is
a
tradition
that
dates
back
at
least
to
the
Kula17Java
Tantra
(6.63),
which
places
him
at
the
head
of
the
divine
stream
(divyaugha)
in
its
enumeration
of
the
founding
Kaula
guruS.
62
Furthermore,
there
are
regional
variations
in
the
name
employed
for
any
given
Nath
Siddha:
just
as
Matsyendra
can
become
Mina;
so
Nagarjuna
can
become
Nagnath
or
Arjun
Naga;
Kar:teri
either
Karr:tari,
or
Kanha;
Gorakh
Goralq;a;
Carpati
either
pati
or
Carpa!a;
Caurangi
Purar:t
Bhagat;
and
Jalandhara
Ha1i-pa.
By
way
of
illustrating
such
variants,
I
offer
four
lists
of
the
nine
founding
Naths,
all
of
which
date
from
the
thirteenth
through
sixteenth
centuries.
In
gal,
two
sources
dating
from
the
seventeenth
century
but
harking
back
to
earlier
traditions
63
provide
the
following
data
(in
which
the
ninth
Nath
is
lacking):
(I)
Adinath
(identified
with
Siva)
is
the
founder
of
the
order;
his
two
disciples
are
(2)
Minanath
(Matsyendranath)
and
(3)
Jalandhari-pa
(Ha1i
Siddha);
(4)
Gorakhnath
is
the
disciple
of
Minanath;
(5)
Queen
Mayanamati
the
disciple
of
Gorakhnath;
(6)
Kanha-pa
and
(7)
Gopicand
the
disciples
of
Jalandhari-pa;
and
Bail
Bha1ai
(8)
the
disciple
of
pa.
According
to
a
thirteenth-
to
fourteenth-century
Maharashtran
source,64
the
divine
founder
of
the
clan
is
who
is
the
guru
of
(I)
Matsyendranath
and
(2)
Jvalendra
(Jalandharanath).
dra
is
the
guru
of
(3)
Gorakhnath,
(4)
Carpati,
and
(5)
Revar:ta;
while
lendra
is
the
guru
of
(6)
Karir:ta-pa
(Karr:tari-pa);
(7)
Bhartrhari
and
(8)
Gopicand.
Gorakhnath
is
the
guru
of
(9)
Gahar:tinath.
The
third
list
is
found
in
a
ca.
A.D.
I400
Telugu
text
from
Andhra
Pradesh,
the
caritra
of
Gaurana,
which
was
written
at
the
behest
of
the
abbot
of
a
Saiva
monastery
at
Srisailam.
65
The
fourth
list
is
adapted
from
a
ca.
century
parampara
recorded
in
the
Punjab,66
which
gives
the
following
cession:
Sakti
and
Siva
(I)
initiated
U
de
(2),
second
of
the
Nine
Naths
and

93
Sources
for
the
History
of
Tantric
Akhemy
founder
of
the
Jogi
panth.
His
descendants
were
two
demons,
Rudragal).
andJalandhar.
Descended
from
Jalandhar,
the
demon
convert
and
initiate,
were
Matsyendra
(3)
and
JalandharI-pa
(4).
Matsyendra
was
the
guru
of
Gorakh
(5),
Arjan
Naga
(6),
and
the
father
and
guru
of
the
two
Jain
ttrthan:zkaras
Nlmnath
and
Parasnath
(7).
JalandharI-pa's
disciples
were
Bartrinath
(Bhartrhari)
(8)
and
Kal).ipa
(Kanha-pa)
(9).67
Bengal
Maharashtra
Andhra
Punjab
1.
Adi
Matsyendra
Sivanath
Siva
2.
MIna
Jalandhara
MIna
Ude
(Udaya)
3.
Jalandhari
Gorakh
Sarangdhara
68
Matsyendra
4.
Gorakh
Carpa!a
Goraksa
JalandharI-pa
5.
MayanamatI
Reval)a
Meghnad
Gorakh
6.
Kanha-pa
Karil)a
Nagarjuna
ArjanNaga
7.
GopIcand
Bhartrhari
Siddhabuddhu
Nlm-/Paras-nath
8.
Bail
Goplcand
Bartrinath
9·--
Kal)ika
Kal)ipa
Elsewhere,
multiple
lists
of
names
of
the
founders
of
the
twelve
cial"
subdivisions
of
the
Nath
order
(biirah
panth)-generally
disciples
of
either
Matsyendra
or
Gorakh-often
include
Bhartrhari,
Goplcand,
ailgi,
Nagnath,
and
Satyanath
(or
Satnath).69
Once
again,
the
lineages
of
masters
and
disciples
(guruparampariis)
of
these
subdivisions
are
useful
in
dating
the
origins
of
the
Nath
Siddhas
as
a
structured
religious
order
(sampradiiya),
as
opposed
to
an
idealized
list
of
names,
a
body
of
legend,
or
a
corpus
of
literature.
All
of
these
data
point
to
a
twelfth-
to
century
western
Indian
watershed,
which
witnessed
a
major
realignment
of
a
number
of
preexisting
Saiva
religious
orders,
the
creation
of
a
number
of
new
orders, and
the
appearance
of
a
"canon"
of
literature
on
the
nical
and
experiential
aspects
of
harha
yoga.
This
historical
convergence
lends
credence
to
the
notion
that
a
historical
figure,
named
Gorakhnath,
actually
founded
a
new
religious
order-the
Nath
sampradiiya-in
this
period.
By
way
of
demonstration,
let
us
look
at
the
suborder
of
the
Nath
pradiiya
known
as
the
Vairag
panth,
which
was,
according
to
tradition,
founded
by
Bhartrhari,
a
thirteenth-century
disciple
of
Gorakhnath.7°
The
current
head
of
this
suborder
is
a
householder
Nath
named
Narayal).
Nath,
whose
family
compound,
in
a
village
named
Padu
Kala
(Meerta
City
tehsil,
Nagaur
district,
Rajasthan)
is
attached
to
a
temple
containing
a
dozen

94
Chapter
Four
extremely
worn
burial
tumuli
(samiidhis).
These
are,
according
to
Narayal).
Nath,
the
tumuli
of
Bharq'hari's
immediate
disciples,
as
well
as
of
certain
of
the
twenty-six
other
Nath
Siddhas-most
of
whom
he
could
name
from
memory-who
had
intervened
between
Bharq-hari
and
himself
as
titular
leaders
of
that
subsect.
If
these
samiidhis
do
indeed
contain
the
bodily
mains
of
seven
centuries
ofNath
Siddhas
(and
they
certainly
appear
to
be
very
ancient),
they
constitute
stronger
evidence
for
the
actual
institutional
existence
of
this
sect
than
do
the
lists,
legends,
and
even
writings
of
its
purported
founders
that
have
come
down
to
us.7
1
Another
piece
of
archaeological
evidence,
also
from
the
thirteenth
tury,
is
an
A.D.
1279
inscription
from
Karnataka
(Jagalur
taluka),
which
records
the
donation
of
a
village
by
a
general
of
the
Yadava
king
dra
to
a
"yogi
world-conquerer"
(yogi
cakravarti)
named
Prasada
Deva.
In
this
inscription,
we
find
what
appears
to
be
an
enumeration
of
Prasada
Deva's
lineage:
''Adigadedunatha
Caturaraginatha
Gorakhanatha
devi
...
natha
Kaha!inavi
Surppal).anatha
Lonanatha
tha
pantha!'
Although
no
one
of
the
twelve
modem
subsects
of
the
Nath
sampradiiya
appears
to
ever
have
been
based
in
Karnataka,
the
ancient
and
prestigious
monastery
of
Kadri,
located
on
"Jogi
Hill"
on
the
northern
outskirts
of
Mangalore,
is
a
permanent
fixture
of
Nathdom,
and
it
is
the
founding
lineage
of
the
abbots
of
this
monastery
that
is
recorded
in
this
inscription.
72
Located
in
the
monastery
precincts
at
Kadri
is
a
certain
junatha
temple,
whose
principal
image,
of
Lokanatha,
was
dedicated
in
A.D.
968.
In
the
inscription
that
records
that
dedication,
it
is
stated
that
"the
image
of
the
god
Lokdvara
[was
placed]
in
the
beautiful
vihiira
of
Kadirika!'
Now,
vihiira
is
a
term
that
can
refer
only
to
a
Buddhist
stery;
this,
in
conjunction
with
a
number
of
other
indices
Lokdvara's
three-faced
image
conforms
with
northern
descriptions
of
the
Buddhist
Avalokitesvara,
etc.),
indicates
that
coastal
Karnataka
and
Kadri
were
Buddhist
until
shortly
before
the
end
of
the
tenth
century.
All
of
this
is
most
interesting,
in
the
context
of
the
ca.
twelfth-century
Western
Transmission
legend,
related
above,
which
stated
that
the
"Nine
Naths"
of
KoIikal).a
converted
from
Buddhism
to
Hinduism
after
the
collapse
of
their
monastery,73
and
in
light
of
the
fact
that
Nath
Siddha
traditions
at
Kadri
maintain
that
the
Mafijunatha
appeared,
in
the
form
of
the
three-faced
age
of
Lokanatha,
to
the
three
Jogi
gurus
Gorakhnath,
Matsyendranath,
and
SarIiganath.
Shrines
to
these
three
founders
enclose
the
vihiira-temple
of
Mafijunatha.
74
The
Kadri
monastery
is
also
the
venue
for
a
number
of
Nath
legends,
and
is
mentioned
by
the
Italian
traveler
Pietro
della
Valle,

9S
Sources
for
the
History
of
Tantric
Alchemy
who
in
1624
visited
"the
famous
hermitage
of
Cadiri"
to
see
the
"Batinate
[panthi
nath?],
called
King
of
the
Gioghi
[YOgiS]:'75
It
was
also
on
this
coast
that
Marco
Polo
encountered
his
"Ciugi"
alchemists,
in
or
around
the
year
1295.
While
we
can
be
certain
that
a
historical
Matsyendranath
lived
and
wrote
at
least
two
centuries
before
the
symbolic
Nine
Naths
begin
to
pear
in
twelfth-century
Western
Transmission
sources,
the
notion
of
nine
historical
figures
who,
taken
as
an
aggregate,
constituted
the
Nine
Naths
probably
did
not
solidify
until
the
foundation,
by
Gorakhnath,
of
the
Nath
sampradiiya
as
an
institutionalized
religious
order,
in
the
twelfth
to
teenth
century.
Additional
datable
evidence
from
this
period
includes
the
Maharashtran
Jiianesvara's
ca.
A.D.
1290
reference
to
Gorakhnath
as
his
guru's guru's
guru;76
and
a
reference
in
Visobakhecara's
thirteenth-century
Ghafasthala
to
the
founders
of
his
lineage
as
Adinath,
Minanath,
and
Gorakhnath.
This
proof
is
also
supported,
apophatically,
by
further
dence
from
Maharashtra.
Less
than
a
century
prior
to
Jiianesvara,
the
first
poet
to
write
in
the
Marathi
medium,
gives
an
account
of
his
lineage
in
his
Vivekasindhu.
Adinatha,
who
founded
the
lineage,
had
Harinatha
(A.D.
1159-86)
for
his
disciple.
Harinatha's
disciples
were
Surendranatha,
Bharatinatha,Janardana,
Nagnatha,
Visvambharnatha,
and
Raghunatha-with
the
last
of
these
being
Mukul).garaja's
guru.?7
Here,
we
are
presented
with
a
lineage
founded
by
Adinatha,
and
in
which
a
large
number
of
individuals
whose
names
end
in
-natha
are
figured,
but
from
whose
number
Gorakhnath
is
conspicuously
absent.
Another
early
Marathi-Ianguage
work,
the
twelfth-
to
thirteenth-century
Ula
Caritra
of
Cakradhara
Svami,
founder
of
the
Mahanubhava
sampradaya,
also
lists
number
of
familiar
Nath
Siddhas,
with
the
significant
omission
of
nath.?8
Gorakhnath's
appearance,
in
Jiianesvara's
A.D.
1290
]iianefvari,
as
the
disciple
of
a
semidivine
Matsyendra
and
as
Jiianesvara's
guru's guru's
guru,
indicates
the
appearance
of
the
historical
reformer
Gorakhnath
on
the
western
Indian
scene
in
the
late
twelfth
to
early
thirteenth
century.
Additional
evidence
of
the
same
order
may
be
elicited
from
an
A.D.
1030
inscription
from
Karnataka
(Nelamangala
taluka)
which
commemorates
the
founding
of
a
Siddhesvara
("Lord
of
the
Siddhas")
temple
there.
While
this
inscription
names
the
Candrapuri
("Moon
City")
of
Western
mission
tradition,
a
founding
guru
named
Adinatha,
and
a
number
of
other
figures
with
names
ending
in
-natha,
as
well
as
the
orthodox
Saiva
textual
corpus
(faivagama),
it
makes
no
reference
to
Gorakh
or
anyone
of
the
"authorized"
nine
founders
the
Nath
Siddhas:
79

9
6
Chapter
Four
At
the
foot
of
a
wonderful
tree
in
Candrapuri,
[which
is]
situated
in
the
Western
Ocean,
Adinatha
is
installed.
By
merely
recalling
his
excellent
lotus
feet,
the
residual
effects
of
acts
commited
in
past
lives
are
destroyed.
His
disciple
...
was
Chayadhinatha
["Shadow
tha."
His
disciple
was
Stambhanatha]
...
His
son,
versed
in
the
meaning
of
the
Kalagama,
was
the
yati
Dvipanatha
...
His
disciple
was
born
Mauninatha
munipa.
The
bearer
of
the
latter's
commands
was
Rupasiva
[the
priest
given
charge
of
the
temple]
...
devoted
to
the
faiviigama.
As
is
common
practice,
the
founder
of
the
Siddhesvara
temple
traces
the
lineage
of
its
priest
back
to
the
divine
founder
of
his
sectarian
tradition.
As
such
the
greatest
historical
interest
of
this
guruparamparii
lies
in
the
fact
that
it
does
not
mention
the
traditional
"historical"
founders
of
the
Nath
Siddhas
(who
figure
in
the
later
A.D.
1279
Kadri
inscription,
from
the
same
region,
mentioned
above),
even
as
it
commemorates
the
founding
of
a
"Siddha"
temple.
In
this,
it
supports
the
proof
elicited
from
the
ashtran
data
a
moment
ago.
There
were,
priorto
the
thirteenth
century,
a
number
of
groups,
mainly
Saiva,
who
called
themselves
Siddhas,
as
well
as
groups
whose
founding
gurus
had
the
suffix
-niitha
appended
to
their
names.
There
were,
however,
no
groups
calling
themselves
Siddhas
with
names
ending
in
-niitha
who
traced
their
lineage
back
to
a
founder
named
Gorakhnath
prior to
this
time.
It
is
not
until
the
thirteenth
century
that
such
specifically
"Gorakhnathi"
lineages
suddenly
appear,
in
at
least
half
a
dozen
places
in
western
India.
It
is,
moreover,
to
the
same
period
that
the
major
Sanskrit-language
hathayogic
works
of
Gorakhnath,
as
well
as
a
"canonical"
body
of
lar
mystic
poetry-attributed
to
Gorakhnath
and
others
and
written
in
a
mixture
of
Old
Rajasthani
(Diilgal),
Old
Punjabi,
Kha<;li
Boli,
and
bhrarilsa-are
dated.
80
We
also
find
external
references
to
Gorakhnath
in
(I)
the
hafha
yoga
section
of
the
Siirilgadhara
Paddhati,
a
work
dating
from
the
thirteenth
to
fourteenth
century;81
(2)
the
A.D.
1372
foundation
of
the
important
Nath
monastery
at
Dhinodara
(Kacch
district,
Gujarat)
by
Dharamnath;82
and
(3)
two
Kathmandu
Valley
inscriptions,
dating
from
A.D.
1382
and
1391,
left
by
"a
follower
of
the
sect
of
Gorakha;'
and
by
a
Yogi
named
Acintanath.
83
Prior
to
this
surge
of
solid
historical
data,
forced
by
the
literary
evidence
of
the
thirteenth-century
"canon"
uted
to
Gorakhnath,
we
have
little
but
legend
to
go
on.

97
Sources
for
the
History
of
Tantric
Alchemy
A
significant
volume
of
evidence,
then-archaeological,
literary,
and
scriptional-points
to
the
institutionalization
of
the
Nath
sampradaya,
via
the
recognition
of
Gorakhnath
and
other
figures
as
its
historical
founders,
in
the
thirteenth
century.
What
appears
to
have
occurred
was
the
ization"
of
disparate
monasteries
(Kadri),
lineages
(the
Vairag
panth),
and
even
entire
religious
orders
(the
Pasupatas
and
Kapalikas),
which
became
absorbed
into
this
new
institutional
entity.
In
the
case
of
the
latter
two
old
Saiva
orders,
an
A.D.
1287
inscription
from
Somnath
Ounagadh
district,
Gujarat),
the
original
homeland
of
the
Pasupata
sect,
is
significant,
much
as
we
find
in
it
the
name
of
Gorakh
appearing
together,
for
the
first
time,
with
that
of
the
"Lakulisas"
(i.e.,
of
Pasupatas).84
In
many
ways,
the
Nath
Siddhas
appear
to
be
the
direct
heirs
to
the
Pasupatas
and
Kapalikas.
Saiva
sectarianism
in
fact
begins,
some
eleven
hundred
years
before
the
advent
of
Gorakhnath,
with
this
former
order,
whose
teachings
were
revealed
by
Srikal).!ha
or
Nilakal).!ha
Siva
himself
to
the
sect's
founder
Lakulisa-the
"Lord
with
the
Stave"-who
hailed
from
Kayavarohana
(the
modern
Karvan,
Baruch
district,
Gujarat)
in
the
first
half
of
the
second
century.
The
Pasupatas
were
the
prototypes
of
the
Saiva
ascetic,
whose
daily
"bathing"
in
ashes,
antisocial
behavior,
sectarian
markings,
goals
of
siddhis
and
bodily
immortality,
and
even
an
emphasis
on
"yoga"85
have
been
passed
down
to
present
day
Saivites
via
such
sects
as
the
Kapalikas.
This
latter
group,
which
emerged
in
the
beginning
of
the
first
millennium
of
the
common
era,
constituted
the
more
heterodox,
left
wing
of
Saiva
sectarianism.
Situated
at
the
orthodox
end
of
the
Saiva
spectrum
in
this
period
were
the
Kalamukhas,
mainly
based
in
Karnataka,
and
the
Saiva
Siddhantins,
who
were
based
in
both
south
(Tamil
Nadu
in
particular)
and
north
(Madhya
Pradesh,
Kashmir)
India.
While
the
Pasupatas
and
Kapalikas
were
clearly
the
forerunners
of
the
Nath
Siddhas,
and
whereas
the
disappearance
of
the
Kalamukhas
more
or
less
coincided
with
the
appearance
of
the
Virasaivas
in
the
Deccan,
it
is
the
Saiva
Siddhantins
who
have
defined
mainstream
Saiva
ritual
devotionalism
for
the
past
twelve
hundred
years
or
more.
Saiva
Siddhanta
was,
by
the
ninth
century,
the
Saiva
orthodoxy
of
both
north
and
south
India.
86
Following
this
ninth-century
watershed,
however,
a
north-south
rift
developed,
with
much
of
Kashmir
Saiva
metaphysics
being
propelled
in
the
direction
of
a
ist
idealist
gnoseology
by
such
great
theoreticians
as
Abhinavagupta
and
the
south
remaining
dualist
and
more
concerned
with
external
practice
than
ner
realization.
Because,
however,
the
Nath
Siddhas
have
historically
sub-

9
8
Chapter
Four
scribed
to
none
of
the
central
tenets
or
canons
of
the
Saiva
Siddhanta
doxy-devotion
to
Siva,
external
worship,
conventional
behavior-this
important
tradition
need
not
concern
us
furtherY
A
number
of
Nath
Siddha
traditions
maintain
that
there
originally
isted
twelve
Saiva
subgroups-the
"Yogis"
of
the
post-Gupta
age;
i.e.
patas,
Kapalikas,
Kalamukhas,
etc.-to
which
Gorakhnath
added
another
twelve
of
his
own
creation.
88
These
figures
are
indirectly
supported
by
a
list
from
the
relatively
recent
Sabara
Tantra
(quoted
in
the
ca.
century
Gorakfa
Siddhanta
San:zgraha)
of
the
"twelve
Kapalika
teachers"
and
their
twelve
"disciples:'
The
former
list,
which
is
headed
by
Adinatha,
tains
names
that
hark
back
to
the
older
Saiva
orders:
Kala,
Karala,
kala,
Kalabhairava-natha,
Varuka,
Bhutanatha,
Viranatha,
SrIkaI).tha,
etc.
In
the
latter
list,
of
the
twelve
"disciples"
of
these
teachers,
we
recognize
the
names
of
the
traditional
founders
of
a
number
of
the
twelve
panths
of
institutionalized
Nathdom:
Nagnath
(or
Nagarjuna),
Satyanath
(or
nath),
Carpata,
Vairagya
Kanthadhari
Jalandhara,
etc.
89
Nath
Siddha
tradition
further
maintains
that
the
twelve
Saivite
orders
and
the
twelve
Gorakhnathi
orders
battled
one
another,
with
all
but
six
of
each
of
the
two
groups
being
destroyed.
These
twelve
surviving
orders
were
confederated
by
Gorakhnath
to
form
the
twelve
original
panths
of
the
Nath
sampradaya.
90
All
of
these
twelve
original
subsects
were
based
in
Saivism's
ancient
heartland,
i.e.,
the
northwestern
part
of
the
Indian
continent
(Gujarat,
Punjab,
Sind,
Rajasthan),
with
one
group,
the
Rawals
or
Nagnathis,
having
its
base
in
Mghanistan.
91
This
configuration
or
federation
has
changed
over
the
centuries:
twentieth-century
tions
of
the
twelve
panths
base
two
of
these
in
Bengal,
one
in
Orissa,
one
in
Nepal,
and
one
(the
important
Gorakhpur
monastery)
in
Uttar
Pradesh.92
The
emergence
of
the
Nath
Siddhas
or
Nath
sampradaya
was
probably
of
a
less
dramatic
order
than
that
described
in
this
legend.
Its
coalescence,
both
prior
and
subsequent
to
the
institutional
organization
founded
by
Gorakhnath,
was
more
likely
a
gradual
process,
catalyzed
by
the
itinerant
lifestyles
of
India's
sadhus
and
the
oral
communications
network
they
have
always
maintained
at
the
many
pan-Indian
pilgrimage
sites
they
have
quented
over
the
past
seven
centuries.
The
end
result
of
this
process
was
the
loose
confederation
of
lineages
that
is
today
known
as
the
barah
panth,
a
hydra-headed
group
with
no
single
leader,93
which
holds
general
blies
of
sorts
on
the
occasions
of
major
religious
festivals
(for
example,
at
the
kumbha
melas
at
Hardwar
and
Allahabad).94
The
term
panth,
"path:'
is

99
Sources
for
the
History
of
Tantric
Alchemy
a
significant
one
here;
one
who
belongs
to
a
panth
is
a
panthi,
a
"path-taker:'
and
an
itinerant
lifestyle
has
long
been
the
hallmark
of
the
Nath
order.
For
our
purposes,
it
is
most
important
to
note
that
the
twelfth-
to
thirteenth-century
Gorakhnath,
while
he
was
a
reformer,
innovator,
and
tematizer,
did
not
innovate
either
the
techniques
of
yoga
or
the
Nath
sampradaya
out
of
whole
cloth.
There
was
already
something
there:
an
bryonic
hathayogic
tradition,
a
body
oflegend
in
which
there
already
figured
a
Siddha
or
Vidyadhara
named
or
Gorakh,
and
several
religious
ders
and
sects,
some
of
whose
adherents
were
already
calling
themselves
"Nath"
or
"Siddha"
before
Gorakhnath
appeared
on
the
scene.
95
While
such
may,
at
first
blush,
appear
to
be
overly
facile,
we
may
quite
safely
characterize
the
emergence
of
the
Nath
Siddhas
as
a
marriage
tween
Naths
(i.e.,
Saiva
groups-Pasupatas,
Kapalikas,
and
Saktas-for
whom
Siva
had
long
been
called
Nath,
"Lord")
and
Siddhas
(Mahesvara
and
Rasa
Siddhas
and
Sittars,
as
well
as
the
Buddhist
Siddhacaryas)96
which
took
the
institutionalized
form
of
the
Nath
sampradaya.
Starting
in
this
period,
all
manner
of
preexisting
Saivite
and
Siddha
clans,
lineages,
or
sects
would
have
funneled
themselves
into
the
Nath
suborders
or
have
been
identified
as
Nath
Siddhas
by
outside
sources.
In
addition
to
groups
ready
mentioned,
we
also
find
the
Avadhuta
sampradaya
(founded
by
Dattatreya),97
DasnamI
Nagas,]ains,
Sufi
Muslims,
and
a
group
of
snake
charmers
claiming
allegiance,
in
the
fourteenth
and
later
centuries,
to
one
or
another
of
the
twelve
subsects.
98
By
claiming
descent
from
Gorakh
or
Matsyendra,
or
some
other
founding
Nath
Siddha,
these
various
groups
grafted
themselves
onto
what
they
considered
to
be
a
past
with
a
future.
99
It
appears
that,
from
the
outset,
there
have
always
been
more
candidates
for
the
twelve
"slots"
than
there
have
been
panths,
which
has
made
for
a
protean
aggregate.
IOO
Indeed,
even
the
correct
name
for
members
of
the
aggregate
I
have
been
blithely
referring
to
as
the
Nath
Siddhas
is
a
matter
of
disagreement.
Other
terms
include:
Yogi
or
Jogi,
which
is
both
too
broad
a
term,
covering
as
it
does
all
manner
of
itinerant
sadhus,
including
certain
of
the
historical
forerunners
of
the
present
order,
101
and
too
pejorative,
since
Jogi
has
long
been
the
name
of
a
scheduled
caste
in
India;
102
("split-eared")
Yogi,
which
applies
to
the
sectarian
marking
of
some,
but
not
all,
cenobitic
members
of
this
order,
who
wear
great
earrings
(ku"!4a1as,
mudras,
darfanas)
through
the
thick
of
their
ears,
which
are
bored
open
upon
full
initiation;
Gorakhnathi,
which
evokes
the
name
of
the
founder
or
reformer
of
the
institutional
order
(however,
many
suborders
trace
their
lineage
back
to
Matsyendra
or
]alandhara,
and
not
Gorakh,
and
those
who

100
Chapter
Four
claim
descent
from
Jalandhara
generally
eschew
the
ku"!4a1a
earrings,
even
upon
full
initiation,
and
call
themselves
''Aughars;'
rather
than
or
"DarSanis");103
and
Nath
Panthi
or
Nath
Sampradayi,
which
appear
to
be
overly
institutional
in
their
emphasis.
If
we
are
to
judge
from
recent
publications
coming
out
of
the
important
Gorakhpur
monastery,
Nath
Siddha,
the
term
I
employ,
is
the
term
most
favored
by
the
leadership
of
the
order
itself.
104
This
is
also
a
term
that
knowledges
the
historical
Saiva
and
Siddha
roots
of
the
sect,
roots
evoked
in
the
Yogabija
of
Gorakhnath,
which
evokes
both
the
siddha-mata
(Siddha
doctrine),
and
the
natha
marga
(Nath
path).
105
It
also
acknowledges
the
fact
that
most
adherents
to
this
sect
suffix
their
names
with
-nath.106
Having
said
this,
we
must
allow
that
the
reality
of
the
situation
cannot
be
decanted
into
the
neat
typologies
I
have
been
attempting
to
generate
here.
So
it
is
that
we
find,
under
the
umbrella
heading
of
Nath
Siddha,
Nath
daya-or
any
of
the
other
alternatives
enumerated-notions
of
both
sect
and
subcaste
(especially
among
the
large
communities
of
householder
Naths
found
scattered
throughout
north
India)
and
a
wide
array
of
lineage
claims,
as
well
as
variations
in
dress,
vows,
devotional
worship,
and
forms
of
behavior
that
appear
to
be
both
regional
and
sectarian
in
origin.
107
At
this
point,
let
us
returnto
the
.ilK
list,
which
was
the
point
of
ture
for
this
long
excursus
on
the
sectarian
origins
of
the
Siddhas.
Our
hypothesis-that
the
Nath
sampradaya
emerged
in
the
early
thirteenth
century
as
a
great
medieval
changing
house
of
Saiva
and
Siddha
ism-is
supported
by
this
source.
Here,
our
thirteenth-century
terminus
ante
quem
is
clearly
demonstrated
by
the
fact
that
no
alchemical
source
prior
to
the
fourteenth-century
.ilK
lists
the
"Nine
Naths;'
including
akh
(whose
name
it
sanskritizes
to
in
its
Rasa
Siddha
lists.
In
the
final
analysis,
the
myriad
Siddha
lists
of
eleventh-
to
fifteenth-century
dia
provide
us
with
the
pool
of
names,
mystic
disciplines,
and
sectarian
orientations
that
would
come
to
funnel
themselves
into
the
Nath
order,
confederated
in
the
late
twelfth
or
early
thirteenth
century
by
the
western
Indian
reformer
Gorakhnath.
This
order,
which
inherited
the
techniques
of
tantric
alchemy
from
the
Rasa
Siddhas,
would
transform
that
discipline
into
what
we
have
termed
Siddha
alchemy,
the
melding
of
external
alchemy
with
internal
hathayogic
practice,
as
such
was
taught
by
the
tenth-century
Matsyendra
and
systematized
by
the
twelfth-
to
thirteenth-century
rakh.
It
is
in
this
sense
that
all
manner
of
medieval
Indian
traditions
have
been
quite
correct
in
their
retrospective
identifications
of
the
Nath
Siddhas
with
the
tantric
alchemists,
the
semidivine
revealers
or
transmitters
of

101
Sources
for
the
History
of
Tantric
Alchemy
Saiva
and
Sakta
traditions,108
as
well
as
with
the
seventh-
to
twelfth-century
founders
of
tantric
Buddhism,
known
as
the
Mahasiddhas
or
Siddhacaryas.
4.
Sorting
Out
the
Siddhas
While
the
Nath
Siddhas
have
left
us
burial
tumuli
and
a
living
(though
perhaps
not
thriving)
institutional
order-in
which
disciples
are
initiated
by
gurus,
often
in
a
monastic
setting,
within
the
barah
panth
structure-all
that
the
Rasa
Siddhas
have
bequeathed
us
are
lists
of
names and
a
corpus
of
alchemical
literature.
Just
as
there
are
no
gurus
initiating
disciples
into
alchemical
orders
or
lineages
today,109
we
can
be
quite
certain-in
spite
of
the
Rasa
Siddha
lists
and
scattered
references
one
finds
to
the
Rasesvara
doctrine
(darfana,
mata),
or
to
alchemical
initiations
of
disciples
by
gurus-that
there
never
were
institutionalized
orders
of
alchemists
in
dieval
India.
This
is
supported
in
the
classic
RA,
which,
like
a
number
of
other
chemical
sources,
discusses
alchemical
gurus,
disciples,
and
initiation,
but
which
simply
states,
on
the
subject
of
lineages,
that
the
guru
should
be
"devoted
to
the
kula-marga"
and
"the
member
of
a
true
order
dayin)!'ll0
More
significant
is
its
contention
(I.27)
that
"to
those
who
say
this
[alchemical]
order
(sampradaya)
is
not
a
'womb,'
it
is
maintained
that
mercury
is
a
'womb.'''111
In
the
context
of
tantric
doctrines
according
to
which
initiation
into
an
order,
i.e.,
a
clan,
consists
in
partaking
of
the
nectar"
that
streams
from
the
womb
of
the
Goddess,
this
statement
is
a
defense
of
the
fact
that
the
medieval
alchemists
were
"biologically"
linked
through
initiation,
even
if
theirs
was
not
an
institutionalized
sect.
silver
entrepreneurs,
they
took
their
initiation
directly
from
Siva.
This
squares
with
the
rare
autobiographical
data
the
alchemical
authors
offer
in
their
own
writings,
which
indicate
that
these
figures
were
attached
to
royal
courts,
rather
than
to
any
monastic
or
religious
order.
The
mercury-eating
regular
and
secular
orders
about
which
Marco
Polo
and
Franc;ois
Bernier
wrote
belonged
to
"Yogi"
(i.e.,
Siddha
alchemical),
and
not
Rasa
(i.e.,
tantric
alchemical)
lineages.
At
this
point,
we
must
clarify
the
position
of
yet
another
Siddha
tion,
an
aggregate
that
overlaps
many
of
the
other
Siddha
groups
I
have
been
discussing.
This
is
a
group
called
the
Mahdvara
Siddhas.
As
their
name
indicates,
this
group
defines
itself
by
its
devotion
to
Siva,
the
Great
Lord
(mahefvara);
and
in
fact
nearly
every
Saiva
sect,
school,
or
institu-

102
Chapter
Four
tion-the
Pasupatas,
Kapalikas,
Kalamukhas,
Saiva
Siddhantins,
and
saivas
(or
Liilgayatas)-has
called
itself
or
been
called
Mahesvara.l12
mology
and
logic
would
then
lead
one
to
conclude
that
the
term
mahefvara
siddha
ought
to
apply
to
any
mystic
devotee
of
Siva
Mahesvara
who
has
perfected
(siddha)
himself
through
his
practice.
The
specific
use
of
the
term
is
more
restricted,
however,
and
relates
directly
to
our
subject.
The
MaheSvara
Siddhas
were,
generally,
alchemists
who
did
not
seek
bodily
mortality
(jzvanmuktt)
as
the
final
goal
of
their
practice,
but
rather
aspired
to
another
sort
of
liberation
(paramuktt).
Rather
than
a
perfected
deha)
or
adamantine
(vajradeha)
physical
body,
the
Mahesvara
Siddhas'
goal
was
a
divine
body
(divyadeha)
of
a
more
ethereal,
even
incorporeal
nature.
At
times,
one
has
the
impression
that
the
MaheSvara
alchemists
(the
thors
of
the
Rnsahrdaya
Tantra
[RHY]
and
Rnsopanifat
[RU]
are
examples)
were
seeking
the
same
sort
of
liberation
(mokfa)
that
nearly
all
mainstream
Hindus
aspire
to-i.e.,
the
absorption
of
the
individual
soul
(atman)
into
the
absolute
(brdhman)-and
that
their
alchemy
was
merely
a
means
to
prolonging
the
lives
of
bodies
within
which
their
hearts
and
lects
could
discover
their
innate
unity
with
the
universal
essence.
Such
is
also
the
purport
of
the
"RaseSvara
Darsana"
chapter
of
Madhavacarya's
fourteenth-century
Sarvadarfana
San:zp;raha,
which
opens
with
the
ment:
"Other
Mahesvaras
there
are
who,
while
they
hold
to
the
identity
of
self
with
ParameSvara,
insist
upon
the
principle
that
the
liberation
in
this
life
taught
in
all
the
systems
depends
upon
the
stability
of
the
body,
and
therefore
celebrate
the
virtues
of
rasa
...
as
a
means
for
stability
of
the
body."
As
minister
to
King
Bukku
I
(A.n.
1356-77)
of
Vi
jay
ana
gar
a
ern
Hampi,
Bellary
district,
Karnataka),
Madhavacarya
identified
what
he
termed
the
"revealed
system
of
the
Lord
of
Mercury"
with
the
doctrines
of
the
MaheSvara
Siddhas,
who
were
active
there
in
his
time.
113
This
emphasis
differs
radically
from
that
of
both
the
Nath
Siddhas
and
the
RA,
whose
powerful
rhetoric
regarding
the
this-worldly
nature
of
bodily
liberation
will
be
discussed
in
chapter
Six.1l4
In
practical
terms,
the
alchemy
of
the
Mahesvara
Siddhas
was
more
therapeutic
than
transmutational,
for
which
reason
it
funneled
directly
into
south
Indian
Siddha
medicine.
In
certain
sources,
the
distinction
tween
this
group
and
the
Rasa
or
Nath
Siddhas
is
cast
in
more
subtle
terms,
with
the
distinction
between
vifuddha-maya
and
maha-maya
categories
ing
emphasized.
A
legend
from
a
Virasaiva
source
illustrates
the
difference
between
the
two
sectarian
and
philosophical
perspectives.
Gorakhnath
and
Allama
Prabhu
(also
known
as
Prabhudeva,
no.
52
in
the
RRS
[c]
list)
have

10
3
Sources
for
the
History
of
Tantric
Alchemy
a
siddhi
contest.
When
Allama
Prabhu
takes
a
sword
to
Gorakh,
its
blade
shatters
on
his
adamantine
body;
when
Gorakh
does
the
same
to
Allama
Prabhu,
it
passes
through
his
body,
which
is
wholly
ethereal.
Allama
Prabhu
then
chides
Gorakh,
saying
that
such
bodily
density
is
merely
the
mark
of
a
density
of
illusion.
II
S
Another
Vlrasaiva
source
maintains
that
it
was
Allama
Prabhu
who
initiated
Gorakh
and
Nagarjuna
into
the
cal
arts
at
Srisailam.
Yet
the
same
Allama
Prabhu
(and
he
was
not
alone
in
this)
scorns
Gorakh
and
the
Nath
Siddhas
for
the
"this-bodily"
emphasis
of
their
alchemy.1I6
We
may
therefore
conclude
that
while
all
or
some
of
the
Mahesvara
Siddhas
may
have
been
alchemists,
and
while
certain
of
the
Vlrasaivas
may
have
even
been
itinerant
alchemists,
they
were
not
chemists
of
the
same
stripe
as
the
Nath
Siddhas,
the
Siddha
alchemists
of
medieval
India.
The
Mahesvara
Siddhas
were
concentrated
in
the
Deccan
and
western
coastal
region
of
India.ll7
As
noted,
a
Siddhesvara
temple
was
dedicated,
in
A.D.
1030,
in
coastal
Karnataka.
Several
centuries
earlier,
a
number
of
temples
to
Siva
Siddhesvara
were
constructed
in
the
Srisailam
region
of
Andhra
Pradesh,
in
the
Deccan.
lIS
Elsewhere,
architectural
or
cal
data
provide
us
with
very
few
clues
to
the
history
of
tantric
alchemy.
The
Viff!udharmottara
PuriilJa,
a
ca.
eighth-century
Kashmiri
text
that
is
most
attentive
to
the
iconography
and
plastic
reproduction
of
divine
ages,
contains
descriptions
of
mercurial
preparations
used
to
coat
stone
sculptures
and
thereby
increase
their
resistance
to
the
elements.
ll9
The
leged
presence
of
mercury
and
other
elements
in
a
number
of
metal
images
from
the
Buddhist
monastic
university
complex
at
Nalanda
(Bihar)
would
indicate
that
alchemy
was
part
of
its
curriculum
prior
to
its
destruction
in
the
twelfth
century.120
A
ca.
twelfth-century
sculpted
image,
dominating
the
southern
facade
of
the
sikhara
of
the
Menal
(Mahanadakala)
temple
in
the
Bhilwara
district
of
southeastern
Rajasthan
is
said
to
be
a
tion
of
Siva
Rasesvara.
l21
In
Malaysia,
the
foundations
of
a
twelfth-
to
thirteenth-century
Siva
temple
containing
a
mercuriallinga
and
other
chemically
prepared
elements
are
evidence
for
the
spread
of
medieval
Hindu
alchemy
to
greater
India.
122
This
paucity
of
hard
evidence
and
a
plethora
of
mythic
references
have
spawned
a
number
of
wild
hypotheses
concerning
the
origins
and
ogy
ofIndian
alchemy.
A
persistent
theory
has
it
that
the
Muslim
conquests
drove
the
Buddhist
alchemists
in
residence
of
such
intellectual
centers
as
Nalanda
(Nalanda
district,
Bihar)
south
into
the
Deccan
or
up
into
the
northern
perimeter
of
the
subcontinent,
where
they
converted
to
Hindu-

Chapter
Four
ism
or
took
on
Hindu
disciples.
According
to
this
theory,
the
great
works
of
Hindu
tantric
alchemy
would
have
issued
from
this
diaspora,
in
such
far-flung
places
as
Bhutan,
Srisailam,
Devagiri
(the
capital
of
the
Yadavas,
in
present-day
Maharashtra),
and
Junagadh
(Gujarat).
A
parallel
theory,
dear
to
historians
of
medieval
Hindu
sectarianism,
maintains
that
the
Nath
Siddhas
were
originally
a
group
of
Buddhists
who
apostasized
in
the
face
of
the
Muslim
invasions
in
order
to
continue
their
tantric
practices.
Both
theories,
attractive
as
they
may
appear
as
explanations
for
the
medieval
emergence
of
the
Rasa
Siddhas
and
Nath
Siddhas
respectively,
are
ously
flawed.
Through
the
compounding
of
a
scholarly
error,
first
promulgated
by
Prafulla
Candra
R
ay
123
in
1903,
and
later
amplified
by
Sylvain
Levi,
Jean
Filliozat,
and
Mircea
Eliade,
124
it
has
been
standard
practice,
in
the
ography
ofIndian
alchemy,
to
identify
a
work,
attributed
to
Nagarjuna
and
entitled
Rasaratnakara
(RRA),
as
India's
primal
and
primordial
alchemical
classic.
However,
in
an
article
written
in
1983,
Dominik
Wujastyk
125
proved
that
the
so-called
RRA
of
Nagarjuna
was
a
conflation
of
three
rate
texts:
the
RRA
ofNityanatha,
and
the
RM
and
Tantra
(KPT),
both
authored
by
Nagarjuna.
The
youngest
of
these
three
works,
the
RM,
a
derivative
source
which
borrows
extensively
from
other
Hindu
alchemical
tantras,
is
a
thirteenth-
to
fourteenth-century
work.
It
is
unique,
however,
in
its
dramatic
presentation
of
a
portion
of
its
data
(most
of
its
fourth
ter,
which
it
shamelessly
cribs
from
the
RA)126
in
the
form
of
a
dialogue,
atop
Srisailam,
between
the
Madhyamika
philosopher
Nagarjuna,
the
dhist
goddess
Prajiiaparamita,
King
Salivahana,127
a
haunting
a
cred
fig
tree,
and
a
host
of
mainly
Buddhist
luminaries,
including
ghosa,
Surasena,
and
Nagabodhi.
A
smattering
of
Buddhist
terminology
completes
the
tableau,
leaving
the
superficial
impression
that
the
juna
who
authored
the
RM
was
the
same
figure
as
the
Nagarjuna
who
had
received
the
Perfection
of
Wisdom
teachings
a
millennium
earlier.
In
spite
of
the
fact
that
this
text
is
in
every
other
respect
a
ward
Hindu
alchemical
Tantra,
which
terms
mercury
(the
seed
of
Hara,
i.e.,
Siva),
and
invokes
Saiva
gods,
goddesses,
and
tantric
practices,
Ray
finds
in
its
fourth
chapter
proof
positive
that
"the
Rasaratnakara
[sic]
seems
to
us
to
be
a
typical
production
representing
the
Mahayanist
period
of
intellectual
activity
and
we
may
not
be
wide
of
the
mark
if
we
put
down
7th
or
8th
century
A.D.
as
its
latest
date:'
From
here,
Ray
passes
from
the
specific
to
the
universal:
"From
the
5th
to
the
lIth
century
A.D.
the
leges
in
connection
with
the
monasteries
of
Nalanda,
Vikra-

10
5
Sources
for
the
History
of
Tantric
Alchemy
masIla,
Udal).<;lapura,
etc.,
were
the
great
seats
of
learning
...
and
alchemy
was
included
in
the
curricula
of
studies."
Therefore,
Ray
concludes,
most
of
the
early
alchemical
tantras
were
Buddhist.
128
Later,
in
a
very
ously
worded
passage,
Ray
notes
that
the
(then)
recently
discovered
kamata
"presupposes
the
existence
of
other
schools
and
we
have
the
distinct
mention
of
the
Mahayana";
then,
vaguely
citing
Shastri's
logue,
he
quotes
a
passage
from
this
work
in
which
"Siva
himself
speaks
of
parada
(mercury)
as
his
generative
principle
and
eulogises
its
efficacy
when
it
has
been
killed
six
times."
129
The
Sanskrit,
which
he
gives
in
a
footnote,
is
nowhere
to
be
found
in
Shastri's
description
of
the
mata,
nor
have
I
been
able
to
locate
it
in
the
manuscript
which
Ray
claims
was
Shastri's
source
(NNA
MSS
no.
1-285
ka).
Yet,
Ray's
confabulations
have
been
duly
reiterated
by
scholars,
including
me,
throughout
the
tieth
centuryYo
In
addition
to
the
western
scholars
cited
above-who
accepted
the
dhist
cachet
of
Nagarjuna's
"Rasaratnakara"
as
authentic,
and
who
thereby
subscribed
to
the
theory
that
the
foundations
of
Hindu
tantric
alchemy
were
Buddhist-P.
V.
Sharma,
India's
most
respected
historian
of
urveda,
is
clearly
following
Ray
when
he
states
that
when,
due
to
the
12th
century
advance
of
[Muhammad]
Bakhtyar
Khilji,
the
universities
of
Nalanda
and
Vikramasila
were
deserted,
their
scholars
and
scientists
fled,
some
to
Nepal,
Bhutan,
and
Tibet,
and
others
to
south
India-most
especially
to
Devagiri,
where
they
took
refuge
in
the
courts
of
the
Yadava
kings
...
In
south
India,
rasa
sastra
continued
to
develop
under
the
custodianship
of
the
Siddhas
[Sittars].
The
Siddhas
are
said
to
have
been
eighteen
in
number
...
They
have
been
dated
to
the
loth
century
and
after.l3l
In
spite
of
the
fact
that
the
Muslim
scholar
Alberuni
himself
maintained
that
the
invasions
of
his
own
patron,
Mahmud
of
Ghazni,
was
the
cause
for
the
flight
from
western
India
of
"the
Hindu
sciences;'
132
a
number
of
data
militateagainst
this
hypothesis.
The
first
of
these
is
the
absence
of
any
extant
medieval
Buddhist
alchemical
works
outside
of
the
Kiilacakra
and
Tibetan
Nying-ma
traditions.133
Once
one
allows
that
the
RM
and
RHT
were
not
Buddhist
works,
and
when
one
takes
into
account
the
fact
that
the
Tibetan
Tanjur-which
seemingly
incorporated
every
extant
Buddhist
text
into
its
voluminous
mass-contains
only
four
alchemical
works,
of
which
none
bears
a
clearly
Buddhistic
stamp,
one
begins
to
wonder
who
the
arInies
of
university-trained
Buddhist
alchemists
were
who
flocked

106
Chapter
Four
to
the
Himalayan
kingdoms,
the
Deccan,
and
Tamil
Nadu.
Elsewhere,
Sharma
musters
ample
evidence
to
prove
that
the
Yadavas
of
Devagiri
were
indeed
great
patrons
of
the
alchemical
arts.
l34
Yet,
as
he
himself
strates,
on
the
basis
of
solid
historical
evidence,
the
Yadavas'
twelfth-
and
thirteenth-century
alchemist
proteges
were
a
highly
mobile
group.
kara
circulated
between
Kashmir,
south
India,
and
Devagiri;
his
son
hala
between
Devagiri
and
Gujarat
(where
Muslim
penetration
had
begun
in
the
closing
years
of
the
tenth
century);
and
so
on.
135
One
does
not
have
the
impression
that
the
Hindu
scholars
of
this
period
were
huddling
in
Hindu
refuges
from
Islam;
why
would
the
Buddhists
have
done
so?
Moreover,
there
is
good
evidence
that
Hindu
physicians
and
chemists
were
welcomed
into
the
courts
of
Muslim
princes
whose
thirst
for
immortality,
increased
virility,
and
the
philosopher's
stone
would
have
been
stronger
than
their
religious
fervor.136
Finally,
we
know
that
Muslim
physicians,
alchemists,
and
mystics
were
avid
for
the
wisdom
of
their
dian
counterparts,
as
evidenced
by
the
translation,
in
the
sixteenth
century,
of
a
treatise
on
hafha
yoga,
attributed
to
entitled
the
Am1Jakur:4a
(The
Pool
of
N
ectar).137
Some
time
prior
to
the
seventeenth
century,
it
may
have
been
a
Bengali
Muslim,
Sheikh
Fayzulla,
who
glorified
the
ploits
of
Gorakh,
Matsyendra,
and
other
Nath
Siddhas,
in
his
Gorakfa
(or
Gorakha)
Vijay.138
Elsewhere,
the
venerable
and
powerful
Nath
monastery
at
Tilla
Qhelum
district,
Punjab,
Pakistan)
has
been
a
center
of
Hindu-Muslim
syncretism
since
a
very
early
date.
139
Finally,
as
we
cated
on
the
opening
page
of
this
book,
at
least
one
highly
placed
lim-the
fanatically
anti-Hindu
Mogul
emperor
Aurangzeb-was
still
petitioning
the
Nath
Siddhas
for
their
alchemical
expertise
well
into
the
seventeenth
century.
Theories
concerning
relations
between
the
Nath
Siddhas
and
Buddhists
in
the
period
of
the
Muslim
conquest
bear
a
certain
resemblance
to
those
I
have
reviewed
on
the
subject
of
India's
alchemists,
with
a
number
of
scholars
maintaining
that
certain
of
the
founders
of
the
Nath
sampradaya
were
originally
Buddhists
hailing
from
eastern
India.
140
Such
theories
erally
take
the
Siddha
lists
as
their
starting
point.
Seven
of
the
figures
whose
names
most
frequently
occur
in
enumerations
of
the
nine
cal"
Naths-Matsyendra
(Lui-pa;
Mina),
Caurangi,
Nagarjuna,
KaI).eri
(Kanha-pa;
KaI).ipa;
KarI).ari),
Jalandhara
(Ha<;li-pa),
and
(Carpa!a)-figure
in
the
Buddhist
Siddhacarya
lists.
In
addition,
a
number
of
scholars
evoke
the
"Buddhist"
terminology
(fUnya,
sahaja,
etc.)
employed

Sources
for
the
History
of
Tantric
Alchemy
in
the
poetry
and
technical
works
of
the
Nath
Siddhas
to
indicate
that
the
"origins"
of
the
Nath
Siddhas
were
something
other
than
Saiva.
141
Armed
with
this
data,
writers
since
at
least
the
time
of
l1iranatha,
the
Tibetan
author
of
the
A.D.
1608
History
of
Buddhism
in
India,142
have
vanced
all
manner
of
argument
to
demonstrate
the
following
thesis:
that
due
to
the
similarity
between
names
of
Siddhacaryas
and
many
of
the
nine
founding
Nath
Siddhas
beginning
with
LUi-pa
(who
was
one
of
the
ers
of
the
Siddhacarya
lineage)
and
Matsyendra[nathD,
143
and
because
pa
and
other
early
Siddhacarya
figures
(including
Kanha-pa
and
pa)
authored
a
number
of
the
pre-twelfth-century
Caryapadas,
which
were
written
in
Old
Bengali,
some
or
all
of
the
Nath
Siddhas,
whose
legendary
founding
guru
was
named
Matsyendra,
were
originally
Buddhists
based
in
eastern
India,
who
abandoned
the
faith
as
a
means
to
escaping
Muslim
persecution
in
the
first
half
of
the
thirteenth
century.
l1iranatha
does
not
mince
his
words:
''At
that
time,
most
of
the
Yogi
followers
of
were
fools;
driven
by
the
greed
for
money
and
the
honour
fered
by
the
tirthaka
[Hindu]
kings,
they
became
the
followers
of
I§vara.
They
used
to
say
'we
are
not
opposed
even
to
the
[Turks,
i.e.,
the
Muslims]."'I44
To
be
sure,
certain
of
the
Siddhacarya
guruparamparas,
as
preserved
in
both
the
Caryapadas
and
Tibetan
sources,
parallel
data
on
the
original
Nath
Siddhas
found
in
pre-seventeenth-century
Bengali
sources.
145
So,
for
example,
in
carya
song
no.
1
I,
Kanha-pa
calls
himself
a
"Kapalika"
disciple
ofjalandhari-pa,
and
mentions
the
unstruck
sound
(anahata)
and
the
ing
of
earrings
(ku1JrJala)
that
are
hallmarks
of
Nath
Siddha
theory
and
practice.
146
It
is
also
significant
that
the
Nath
Siddha
lineage
(pantha)
founded
by
Jalandhara
is
the
sole
lineage
in
which
initiates'
names
are
fixed
with
-pa
or
-pada,
rather
than
-nath;
and
that
the
-pa
suffix
is
ployed
only
by
Naths
or
Siddhas
in
the
eastern
part
of
the
subcontinent:
Uttar
Pradesh,
Bihar,
Bengal,
Nepal,
and
Tibet.
147
While
there
is
no
plicitlegend
on
this
subject
in
the
Grub
thob
(which,
it
must
be
recalled,
is
a
mid-fourteenth-century
translation
of
an
eleventh-
to
twelfth-century
Sanskrit
source),
a
legend
concerning
the
Siddhacarya
Caurangi
carya
no.
IO)-who
is
dismembered
after
being
falsely
accused
by
an
evil
stepmother-does
bring
a
cowherd
(go-rakfa)
into
play,
who
is
tal
in
restoring
Caurangi's
limbs.
The
sole
figure
to
be
identified
as
a
yogin
in
this
account
is,
however,
Mina-pa
(no.
8),
and
not
(no.
9).
Later,
in
l1iranatha's
seventeenth-century
work,
it
is
rather
than
Cau-

108
Chapter
Four
rangi
who
is
the
dismembered
and
restored
yogin.
148
Finally,
the
existence
in
eastern
India
of
large
"Jogi"
and
"Kapalika"
subcastes
is
marshaled
as
evidence
for
a
mass
apostasy,
from
Buddhism
to
Hinduism
(and
thence
to
Islam!),
that
would
have
been
led
by
"Gorakhnath."
149
However,
just
as
Taranatha
gets
legend
wrong,
so
too
he
and
scholars
who
follow
him
are
wrong
when
they
attempt
to
make
Nath
dhas
out
of
those
seventh-
to
twelfth-century
A.D.
Buddhist
Siddhacaryas
who
were
based
in
eastern
India.
First,
while
there
were
indeed
Vajrayana
figures
named
LUI-pa,
Kanha-pa,
Jalandhara-pa,
and
so
on,
their
writings,
as
preserved
in
the
Tanjur,
are
either
clearly
Buddhist
or
heavily
indebted
to
Hindu
sources.
ISO
Second,
it
makes
no
sense
that
he
lived,
as
the
Grub
thob
says
he
did,
in
the
time
of
the
ninth-century
king
Gopala
l51
-would
have
had
to
have
led
his
mass
conversion
of
Buddhist
Siddhas
to
Hinduism
some
four
hundred
years
prior
to
the
Muslim
quest
(1256-60)
of
Bengal!
In
fact,
there
are
no
extant
Bengali
works
by
anyone
named
or
Gorakh
and
no
tradition
whatsoever
of
there
ever
having
been
a
Bengali
Siddha
author
named
A
very
short
work
on
the
physiology
of
the
subtle
body,
attributed
to
(or
Ghorakha,
but
not
i.e.,
Siddhacarya
no.
9),
is
included
in
volume
2 I
of
the
Tanjur.
152
This
work,
included
in
the
"Tantra"
section
of
the
Tanjur,
may
date
from
as
late
as
the
fourteenth
century,
as
might
a
number
of
caryii
songs
attributed
to
the
same
author,
found
in
the
same
source.
The
Amr:taku"!4a,
attributed
to
a
certain
from
Kamarupa
(Assam),
cannot
be
dated
prior
to
the
late
sixteenth
century,
153
and
Bengali
literary
versions
of
the
Gorakfa
Vijay
postdate
fifteenth-century
Nepali
and
thili
versions
of
the
same
by
at
least
two
centuries.
If
these
data
constitute
proofs
for
the
existence
of
a
pre-thirteenth-century
"historical"
in
eastern
India,
it
nonetheless
remains
the
case
that
the
contents
of
these
two
works
in
no
way
resemble
the
hathayogic
summa
of
Gorakhnath
(even
if
this
figure's
name
is
sanskritized
to
in
these
works).
The
existence
of
a
ninth-
to
eleventh-century
eastern
Indian
is
proven;
a
more
likely
scenario
would
have
the
works
of
the
twelfth-
to
thirteenth-century
western
Indian
Gorakhnath
being
transmitted
back
to
Bengal
and
attributed
to
a
Bengali
in
the
thirteenth
through
teenth
centuries.
Prior
to
this
thirteenth-century
watershed,
the
sole
in
Bengal
or
eastern
India
would
have
been
a
Siddha
demigod
worshipped
by
herds
for
the
protection
of
their
livestock,
with
no
connection
to
the
his-

10
9
Sources
for
the
History
of
Tantric
Alchemy
torical
author
and
reformer
Gorakh.
Indeed,
he
is
portrayed
as
a
cowherd
in
his
Grub
thob
legend.
154
This
figure
may
well
have
been
"Buddhicized"
into
a
Vajrayana
deity
in
the
northeastern
Indian
subcontinent:
three
posed
images
in
a
monastery
in
Sikkim
are
identified
as
the
divine
Buddha
Amitabha,
the
human
founder
Gautama
Buddha,
and
Another
striking
piece
of
evidence
comes
from
Gorakhpur,
where
Gorakhnath
...
discovered
at
the
site
of
the
present
[Gorakhnath]
temple
a
shrine
sacred
to
the
god
Gurakh
or
Gorakh,
who
appears
to
have
been
a
deity
of
great
fame
in
the
Nepal
country;
and
having
devoted
himself
to
the
service
of
this
deity,
practiced
the
greatest
terities.
He
...
took
the
name
of
Gorakhnath
or
servant
of
Gorakh.
Shortly
after
his
death
...
members
of
the
[ruling
Satasi]
tablish[ed]
themselves
near
the
shrine,
from
which
the
town
they
founded
took
the
name
of
Gorakhpur.
156
I
have
already
noted
that
images
of
were
being
worshipped
from
an
early
date
at
both
Kadri
and
Somnath.
Elsewhere,
the
century
alchemical
Rasakaumudl
(3.50)
prescribes
the
worship
of
the
Nine
Naths.
The
worship
of
a
semidivine
Gorakh
or
as
well
as
of
many
other
Nath
Siddhas,
remains
widespread
in
India
and
Nepal
down
to
the
present
day.
To
conclude:
since
no
extant
tantric
or
Siddha
alchemical
works,
either
Hindu
or
Buddhist,
emerged
out
of
Bengal
priorto
the
thirteenth
century,
we
need
not
concern
ourselves
any
further
with
the
imagined
east
Indian
Buddhist
origins
of
Gorakhnath
or
the
Nath
Siddhas.
157
Elsewhere,
the
Nath
Siddhas
were,
more
than
any
other
medieval
Hindu
sect,
most
nable
to
syncretism
with
Islam.
Many
are
the
Nath
Siddhas
who
are
known
as
"Guru"
or
"Nath"
by
their
Hindu
devotees
and
"Pir"
by
Muslims.
The
Bauls
of
Bengal
are
a
prime
example
of
such
a
phenomenon:
they
are
often
Muslims
who
revere
Gorakh
and
other
Nath
Siddhas,
and
whose
sung
etry
curiously
resembles
that
of
the
Buddhist
Mahasiddhas.
158
The
nent
place
occupied
by
Jogis
in
Indian
Sufi
hagiography
is
a
further
tion
of
this
syncretism,
a
subject
that
is
only
now
beginning
to
receive
the
scholarly
attention
it
deserves.
159
The
volume
oflegend
surrounding
Gorakh,
Matsyendra,
Kanha,
cand,
Bhartrhari,
Carpati,
Cauratigi,
and
the
other
major
Nath
Siddhas
is
so
massive
as
to
constitute
an
entire
field
of
study
in
itself.
The
names
of
these
traditional
founders,
common
enough
to
begin
with,
have
over
the
centuries

110
Chapter
Four
been
constantly
reappropriated
in
such
a
way
as
to
generate
a
plethora
of
figures
with
the
same
names
and
often
the
same
gurus
and
disciples,
but
ing
in
different
centuries,
under
different
kings,
and
in
different
regions
of
India.
Our
discussions
of
the
historical
and
legendary
data
pertaining
to
the
major
Nath
Siddhas
will
therefore
be
limited
to
those
cases
which
serve
to
trace
the
history
and
doctrines
of
tantric
and
Siddha
alchemy.
160
5.
Western
India:
The
Heartland
of
Tantric
and
Siddha
Alchemy
As
soon
as
we
turn
away
from
Buddhism
and
eastern
India
and
towards
Saivism
and
the
west
of
the
subcontinent,
the
alchemical
trail
suddenly
becomes
hotter.
I
have
already
noted
that
all
of
the
original
twelve
panths
of
the
Nath
order
were
based
in
western,
and
especially
northwestern,
dia.
161
As
I
will
show,
nearly
all
the
historical
data
we
have
at
our
disposal
indicate
that
the
medieval
alchemists,
too,
were
centered
in
western
India,
although
further
to
the
south
than
the
Nath
Siddhas'
original
haunts.
However,
as
already
noted,
the
Nath
Siddhas
were
also
an
important
ence
at
Kadri
in
Karnataka;
and
we
know
too
that
their
well-traveled
work
of
sacred
pilgrimage
sites
also
drew
them
north
into
the
Himalayas
and
as
far
south
as
Srisailam.
In
broad
terms,
the
geographical
area
of
vergence
between
the
medieval
Nath
Siddhas
and
Rasa
Siddhas
covers
a
region
roughly
corresponding
to
the
modern
Indian
states
of
Rajasthan,
Gujarat,
Maharashtra,
and
Karnataka.
a.
Srisailam
Our
survey
begins,
however,
with
Srisailam,
perhaps
the
same
site
as
the
Sriparvata
of
Buddhist
fame
around
which
an
early
body
of
alchemical
lore
concerning
Nagarjuna
coalesced.
As
already
mentioned,
from
the
seventh
century
onwards,
a
number
of
temples
were
dedicated,
on
or
around
this
peak,
to
Siva
Siddhesvara.
Already
mentioned
in
the
sixth-century
datta
(together
with
the
goddess
lara
and
the
element
mercury)
as
a
site
at
which
liberation
could
be
realized,
Srisailam
was
portrayed,
in
descriptions
from
two
thirteenth-
to
fourteenth-century
Hindu
alchemical
sources,
as
an
alchemical
wonderland.
162
It
was
also
a
center
for
the
Pasupatas,
Kapalikas,
and
Kalamukhas,
three
sects
that
rode
the
wave
of
Saivism
that
swept
dhism
out
of
western
and
southern
India,
from
the
seventh
century
onwards.
Indeed,
it
was
these
sects
that
controlled
Srisailam
down
to
the
twelfth
cen-

III
Sources
for
the
History
of
Tantric
Akhemy
tury,
at
which
time
they
were
supplanted
or
absorbed
there
by
the
Virasaivas
who,
under
the
leadership
of
Basava,
were
emerging
as
an
important
south
India
sect,
in
much
the
same
fashion
as
were
the
Nath
Siddhas
further
to
the
north.
163
The
jyotirlinga
named
Mallikarjuna,
the
heart
of
the
Saiva
cultus
at
Srisailam,
was
reconsecrated
there
by
the
Virasaivas.
164
Following
BaJ?abhana's
seventh-century
description
of
the
gyriasic
south
Indian
Saiva
ascetic
who,
in
his
mercury-provoked
delirium,
recounted
"thousands
of
wonderful
stories
about
Sriparvata,"
we
also
counter
references
to
Kapalikas
from
Srisailam
in
Bhavabhuti's
century
Malatl
Madhava
and
tenth-century
Ca1fqakaufika.
The
former
of
these
is
also
important
inasmuch
as
it
contains
the
earliest
extant
Indian
literary
reference
to
the
yogic
physiology
of
the
six
cakras
and
the
ten
naqls;
in
the
latter
drama,
the
Kapalika
hero
is
cast
as
a
nized
alchemist.
165
Following
the
twelfth-century
advent
of
Virasaivism,
alchemical
references
to
Srisailam
multiply.
The
Viramahefvaragama
tains
that
Gorakhnath
was
schooled
in
alchemy,
by
a
Mahesvara
Siddha,
on
the
shore
of
the
Tungabhadra
River.
He,
in
turn,
taught
what
he
had
learned
to
Rasesvara
Siddhas
in
the
''Antarvedi''
region
of
Maharashtra.
166
According
to
the
sixteenth-century
Telugu
Prabhulingailia
of
Pigapatti
manatha
Kavi,
Gorakhnath
and
Nagarjuna
were
both
initiated
into
the
chemical
art
by
the
Virasaiva
teacher
Allama
Prabhu
at
Srisailam
itself.
167
The
Tamil
Sittars
echo
the
same
tradition,
tamilizing
Gorakh's
name
to
"Korakkar";
and
adding
that
Nagarjuna
established
a
transmuting
favedht)
linga
of
Siva
there.
168
According
to
a
work
by
the
Sittar
Kotiganar,
Korakkar
had
an
animated
mercurial
pill
called
"bogi"
[bhogi?]
which,
when
he
held
it
in
his
mouth,
afforded
him
the
power
of
flight.
169
He
was
the
author
of
a
work
entitled
Korakkar
Malai
vagatam
(Korakkar's
tain
Medicines),
the
lore
of
which
he
collected
during
his
life
in
the
can
region.
170
Perhaps
influenced
by
earlier
Buddhist
traditions,
Nityanatha
who
was
very
likely
a
Nath
Siddha-states
in
his
RRA
that
Nagarjuna
set
up
an
alchemical
laboratory
on
Srisailam.
171
The
A.D.
1400
tra
of
GauraJ?a
indicates
that
Gorakh
attained
yogic
bliss
(yogananda)
in
a
cave
near
a
subterranean
stream
of
the
Ganges
River,
somewhere
below
the
sacred
peak.172
The
same
source
has
Nagarjunanath
teaching
his
son,
Siddha
Nagarjuna,
the
"gold-making"
siddhi
at
Srisailam.
When
the
young
alchemist
sets
about
to
transmute
the
entire
mountain
into
gold
(in
an
vious
retelling
of
accounts
of
the
alchemist
Nagarjuna
of
Buddhist
legend)
his
experiments
are
halted
by
Here,
the
alchemical
trail
from
Sri-

112
Chapter
Four
sailam
ends.
What
is
most
troubling
is
the
fact
that
there
exists
no
hard
evidence-geological,
chemical,
archaeological,
or
epigraphical-to
cate
that
mercurial
alchemy
was
ever
practiced
at
Srisailam!174
Inasmuch,
however,
as
it
was
a
hub
of
Saiva
activity,
prior
to
and
following
the
advent
of
the
Virasaivas
(whose
links
with
the
MaheSvara
Siddhas
were
strong),
Srisailam
was
in
fact
linked
to
those
regions,
to
the
west
and
north,
in
which
both
alchemical
raw
materials
and
expertise
were
abundant.
175
b.
Maharashtra.
The
highly
generic
Srffailam,
"excellent
peak;'
has
been
identified,
throughout
history
and
across
several
regional
traditions,
with
a
number
of
mountains
of
the
Indian
subcontinent.
In
addition
to
the
two
or
even
three
candidates
for
this
toponym
within
Andhra
Pradesh
itself,
there
have
also
been
peaks
called
Srisailam
in
western
Uttar
Pradesh
(at
Devalgadh,
a
hill
eighteen
kilometers
northeast
of
Srinagar,
in
Pauri
Garhwal
district),
Kerala,176
and
Maharashtra.
The
Garhwal
toponym
is
closely
connected
to
Satyanath
who,
according
to
the
Sankaravijaya
of
Auandagiri,
conversed
with
Sankaracarya
atop
this
peak
in
the
Himalayan
foothills.
The
Nath
Siddhas
identify
this
Satyanath
with
the
Sittar
author
of
twenty-one
chemical
works.
177
Elsewhere,
the
KJiiN
clearly
identifies
Srisailam
with
the
Pftha
of
the
Goddess
at
Kamakhya;
the
KM
locates
a
frffaila-vana
above
the
brahmarandhra
and
the
four
pfthas;
and
Siddha
Nagarjuna,
in
his
KPT,
refers
to
Sriparvata
as
a
kula-parvata
or
"clan
peak;'
These
three
cations
ought,
however,
like
the
"Nine
Naths"
of
the
Western
sion,
to
be
consigned
to
the
realm
of
the
subtle
physiology
of
the
bodily
microcosm,
rather
than
to
the
geography
of
the
Indian
subcontinent.
178
Nath
Siddha
traditions
locate
a
Maharashtran
Srisailam
in
the
vicinity
of
the
upper
Godavari
River,179
a
region
that
was,
for
at
least
three
ries,
an
important
center
of
activity
for
Nath
and
Rasa
Siddhas
alike.
It
was
near
the
headwaters
of
the
Godavari
that
Devagiri
(modern
Daultabad,
Aurangabad
district,
Maharashtra),
the
capital
city
of
the
Yadava
kings,
was
situated.
180
In
the
centuries
prior
to
the
fall
of
their
kingdom
to
the
sultans
of
Delhi
in
1318,
the
Yadavas
appear
to
have
directly
patronized
all
of
the
groups
I
have
been
discussing
in
this
chapter.
Bhillama
(1175-91),
the
founder
of
the
dynasty,
was
the
royal
patron
of
Bhaskara,
the
guru
of
the
Nagarjuna
who
authored
the
Yogaratnamiilii.
181
Bhillama's
successor,
was
instrumental
in
introducing
Saivism
into
the
Kathmandu
ley;
successor
Singhal).a
was
himself
an
Ayurvedic
physician
and
a

113
Sources
for
the
History
of
Tantric
Alchemy
great
patron
of
vaidyas
and
alchemists.
182
Thirty
years
after
his
demise,
it
was
during
the
reign
of
the
Yadava
king
Ramacandra
(127
1-13
I
I)
that
the
Nath
Siddha
Jiianesvara
wrote
his
Jfiiinefvarl
and
(YSA),
and
that
a
grant
of
land
was
made
by
that
king
to
the
same
Nath
order
in
the
Jagalur
taluka
of
Karnataka
in
1279.183
According
to
Nath
dha
tradition,
Jiianesvara's
guru
Nivrttinath
fully
realized
his
yogic
practice
at
Tryambaka
("Plain
of
the
Three-Eyed
[Siva]"),
the
source
of
the
Godavari.
184
Gahal).inath,
the
disciple
of
Gorakhnath
and
guru
of
tinath
in
JiianeSvara's
lineage,
is
mentioned
together
with
"Goralq;anath"
by
Nityanatha
in
his
thirteenth-century
alchemical
Rasaratniikara,
an
cation
that
this
was
a
Maharashtran
work.
The
Tantra
Mahiirf!ava,
possibly
a
Western
Transmission
text,
maintains
that
Nagarjuna
hailed
from
"a
est
near
the
Godavari";
still
another
states
that
Gorakh
was
born
on
(yet
another)
Candragiri,
on
the
banks
of
the
Godavari.
18s
The
Avadhuta
sect
of
the
Nath
Siddhas,
said
to
have
been
founded
by
a
twelfth-
to
thirteenth-century
figure
named
Dattatreya,
was
also
originally
based
in
this
region;
the
Dharamnathi
subsect
is
presently
based
there.
186
Another
pan-Indian
toponym
found
this
region
is
KadalI-vana
tain
Forest"),
which
rivals
Moon
Mountain
and
Moon
Island
as
the
most
frequently
recurring
venue
of
Nath
Siddha
legend.
A
Plantain
Forest,
cated
in
the
vicinity
of
Tryambaka
187
corresponds
to
a
toponym
found
in
the
RA:
this
is
Kadall-nagara
("Plantain
City"),
which
this
text
too
locates
on
the
Godavari.
In
fact,
in
all
of
the
rare
cases
in
which
the
RA
gives
specific
geographical
data-most
of
it
on
the
subject
of
"magical
waters"
188
(hot
springs,
corrosive
mineral
waters,
poisonous
waters,
the
locations
it
details
are
clustered
around
the
headwaters
of
this
river;
when
the
discussion
is
more
general,
it
is
locations
in
southwestern
India
that
predominate.
So,
for
example,
this
work's
Plantain
City
description
states
that
"in
the
south
...
is
a
pure
and
auspicious
river,
as
renowned
as
the
Ganges,
called
the
Godavari.
On
its
southern
shore
is
a
city
called
Plantain
City;
to
its
south
is
the
world-famous
mountain
called
('Black
Hill');
nearby
is
a
town
called
Ambika,
where
safijlvinl
jalam
citating
water')
is
found!'
189
Yet
another
RA
(I2.260-62)
reference
to
this
region
designates
a
tion
in
the
Sahyadri
(Vindhya)
range
to
the
north
of
the
Godavari
as
the
site
of
a
hot
spring
(uSJ?odaka);
a
Nath
Siddha
source,
the
Kadallmafijuniitha
Miihiitmya,
locates
the
Plantain
Forest
on
the
southern
flank
of
the
same
range.
190
This
data,
together
with
what
appears
to
be
a
reference,
in
the
RRS,
to

II4
Chapter
Four
the
author
of
the
RA
having
indirectly
passed
down
the
formula
for
a
eral
preparation
to
SiilghaJ?a-the
Yadava
king
of
Devagiri
from
A.D.
1210
to
I
247-make
it
likely
that
this,
India's
most
important
work
on
tantric
alchemy,
was
compiled
along
or
near
the
upper
Godavari,
albeit
prior to
the
A.D.
I
175
founding
of
the
Yadava
dynasty.191
c.
Gujarat
One
of
the
physicians
who
graced
the
Yadava
court
was
Bhaskara,
who
came
to
Devagiri
from
Kashmir
in
the
latter
half
of
the
twelfth
century.
Two
of
Bhaskara's
disciples,
however,
were
based
in
Gujarat.
The
first
of
these
was
his
son
S09hala,
who
was
the
author
of
the
an
Ayurvedic
lexicon
entitled
Soqhalanigha1Jfu,
and
the
second
was
Nagarjuna,
who
eulogizes
this
Bhaskara
as
his
teacher
in
the
opening
verse
of
his
Yogaratnamiilii.
This
same
Nagarjuna
may
have
been
the
author
of
the
Tantra:
both
are
works
on
tantric
healing
and
sorcery,
and
a
number
of
verses,
formulae,
and
colophons
in
both
works
are
identical.J
92
We
can
be
more
or
less
tain
of
the
date
of
the
Yogaratnamiilii
because
its
important
"Laghu
Vivrtti"
commentary,
written
by
Svetambara
GUJ?akara,
is
dated
to
A.D.
1239.
While
GUJ?akara
was,
as
his
title
indicates,
a
Jain,
he
was
also
very
likely
a
tantrika
(a
Jain
tantric
tradition
did
indeed
exist
alongside
the
Hindu
variety)
with
a
knowledge
of
alchemy.
He
was
also
from
Gujarat,
as
evinced
in
the
use
he
makes
of
a
number
of
vernacular
terms.
193
Now,
Gujarat
has
long
been
a
stronghold
of
Jainism
in
India,
and
it
is
here
as
well
that
Jain
alchemical
lore
is
the
most
frequently
encountered.
So,
for
example,
two
SvetambaraJain
sources,
the
A.D.
1304
Prabandha
tiimal#
of
Merutuilga
and
the
A.D.
1349
Prabandhakofa,
give
accounts
of
a
Nagarjuna
who
is
a
Jain
alchemist,
accounts
which
appear
to
borrow
freely
from
Buddhist
and
Hindu
lore
on
his
subject.
According
to
the
latter
work
Nagarjuna
is
born
the
son
of
the
snake
king
Vasuki
and
the
human
princess
Bhopala,
from
Mt.
Dhailka,
[a
peak
identified
with
the
credJain
site
ofMt.
Satrufijaya,
also
in
Gujarat],
an
alchemical
derland.
194
He
grows
up
to
become
the
preceptor
of
a
Satavahana
king,
but
leaves
him
to
go
to
Palinanakapura,
the
city
of
the
Jain
wizard
Padalipta.
195
After
a
series
of
incidents,
Padalipta
accepts
him
as
his
student,
and
instructs
him
in
the
preparation
of
an
elixir
of
immortality
(rasasiddht),
with
the
aid
of
a
magical
image
of
the
Jain
tlrthan:zkara
Parsvanatha,
and
a
chaste
woman
to
stir
[grind]
the
po-

"S
Sources
for
the
History
of
Tantric
Alchemy
tion.
He
manages
to
secure
both,
and
prepares
the
elixir
on
the
shore
of
the
Sedi
River,
with
the
aid
of
his
royal
patron's
queen
lekha.
Her
two
sons
kill
him
before
he
can
benefit
from
the
elixir
(but
not
before
he
buries
some
of
the
elixir
on
Mt.
Satruiijaya);
the
site
on
the
Sedi
where
he
made
it
becomes
the
Jain
pilgrimage
site
called
Stambhana
Tlrtha,
the
"holy
site
of
immobilization;'
for
this
is
where
Nagarjuna
solidified
his
[mercurial]
elixir.196
A
number
of
elements
found
in
this
legend
link
it
to
other
sites
on
the
Kathiawar
peninsula
of
Gujarat,
as
well
as
to
a
site
in
Assam.
Mount
truiijaya/Dhanka
was
a
peak
renowned
for
wells
and
springs
said
to
contain
the
elixir
of
immortality.
A
mid-fifteenth-century
work,
the
kalpa,
relates
a
story
in
which
a
young
man
learns
from
a
Jain
monk
of
a
well
of
rasa
at
the
site,
which
is
only
visible
to
persons
who
perform
gious
austerities
in
front
of
an
image
of
the
Jlna
Santinatha
and
make
a
nocturnal
offering
to
a
snake
goddess
named
Vairothya.
Satisfied
by
the
young
man's
acts,
Vairothya
opens
the
well
for
him, and
he
gains
the
elixir.
This
account
closely
resembles
a
myth
from
the
ca.
fourteenth-century
Simhasanadvatrin;zfika
(Thirty-two
Tales
of
the
Throne),
in
which
King
kramaditya,
by
offering
his
own
head
to
the
tantric
goddess
fords
access
to
a
Siddha
who
has
been
attempting,
without
success,
to
enter
into
a
sealed
cave,
next
to
Kamakhya
in
which
a
vessel
containing
the
elixir
is
hidden.
197
The
second
connection
concerns
the
toponym
Dhanka.
According
to
another
Jain
source,
the
A.D.
1277
Prabhavakacarita,
Nagarjuna
was
born
not
on
a
peak
named
Dhanka-Satruiijaya-
Palinanakapura,
but
rather
in
the
town
of
Dhanka.
On
the
urging
of
Dominik
Wujastyk,
who
had
been
there
two
years
previously,
I
visited
this
site
in
the
winter
of
1993.
A
series
of
caves
behind
the
Siva
DuilgareSvara
temple
to
the
west
of
this
village
tain
old
bas-reliefs
and
a
sculpted
image
which
the
local
residents
say
is
a
representation
of
Nagarjuna.
It
was
in
these
caves
that
Nagarjuna
would
have
practiced
his
alchemy.198
A
third
connection
lies
in
the
many
mountains
that
become
conflated
in
the
Jain
sources.
In
addition
to
the
three
mentioned
a
moment
ago,
a
fourth,
ValabhI-saila-either
another
name
for
the
same
peak
(identified
with
the
modern
Palitana,
in
Bhavnagar
district)
or
another
peak
in
the
area-is
also
reputed
to
have
been
a
center
for
Jain
alchemy.
199
Valabhipur
is
the
name
of
a
town
(twenty-five
miles
north
of
Palitana)
which,
over,
becomes
the
focal
point
for
what
has
to
be
the
most
oft-repeated

II6
Chapter
Four
legend
in
Gujarat.
This
is
the
legend
of
the
sudden
destruction
of
a
city
by
fire,
through
the
agency
of
an
angry
holy
man
(often
a
Nath
Siddha)
or
in
some
connection
with
alchemy.
In
Kathiawar,
the
name
of
the
destroyed
town
is
Valabhi;
in
Kacch,
it
is
called
Pattan.
The
historical
source
of
the
Valabhi
version
of
the
story
was
the
sack
of
the
city
by
Amru
ibn
Jamal
of
the
Sind
in
A.D.
788.200
Apparently,
physical
traces
of
this
destruction
remained
visible
for
several
centuries
after
the
event
and
gave
rise
to
a
body
of
legend.
An
early
account
is
that
related
by
Alberuni
in
the
first
half
of
the
eleventh
century,
according
to
which
a
merchant
who
had
become
fabulously
wealthy
through
the
possession
of
an
alchemical
touchstone
had
managed
to
buy
up
an
entire
town,
which
a
king
named
Vallabha
was
also
eager
to
own.
The
merchant
entered
into
an
alliance
with
a
"Lord
of
who
made
a
night
attack
on
King
Vallabha
and
destroyed
his
town.
20l
Alberuni
concludes:
"People
say
that
still
in
our
time
there
are
such
traces
left
in
that
country
as
are
found
in
places
which
were
destroyed
by
an
unexpected
night
attack:'
202
At
the
town
of
Dhank
some
one
hundred
miles
to
the
west
of
Valabhipur,
blackening
on
certain
of
the
outer
facades
of
Nagarjuna's
caves
is
identified
by
the
local
people
as
traces
of
the
sack
ofValabhi.
203
Some
one
hundred
miles
to
the
northwest
of
Dhank,
on
the
southern
coast
of
Kacch,
is
a
town
named
Mandavi.
According
to
Nath
Siddha
end,
a
city
named
Pattan
was
once
located
two
miles
to
the
north
of
davi.
Unfortunately
for
Pattan,
the
Nath
Siddha
Dharamnath,
who
was
on
his
way
east
from
Peshawar
in
the
fourteenth
century,
chose
to
stop
near
this
town
and
sent
two
of
his
fellow
Yogis
to
beg
alms
there.
With
a
single
exception,
the
hard-hearted
people
of
Pattan
gave
nothing;
and
for
this,
Dharamnath
upset
his
alms
bowl
and
cursed
the
people
saying,
"be
fallen
[pattan]
all
the
Pattan
cities:'
So
it
was
that
all
the
cities
in
Kacch
bearing
this
name
were
swallowed
up,
together
with
their
inhabitants.
204
(The
source
of
all
of
these
legends
may
in
fact
be
a
Linga
Pura'lfa
myth
of
a
demon
named
Jalandhara,
in
which
it
is
stated
that
with
the
fire
from
his
third
eye,
Siva
destroyed
two
cities
of
the
Sind,
which
fell
into
the
ocean.)205
In
his
Kakfapufa
Tantra,206
Nagarjuna
refers
to
what
appears
to
be
the
fall
of
a
city
named
Pattan;
this
would
further
support
the
theory
that
he
was
a
Gujarati
author.207
In
about
the
year
1030,
Alberuni
indicates
that
a
Nagarjuna
practiced
his
alchemy
some
one
hundred
years
before
him-i.e.,
in
the
early
tenth
century-at
a
site
north
ofSomnath
that
he
calls
"Fort
Daihak";
this
would
appear
to
correspond
to
the
toponym
Dhank,
which
was
mentioned
a
mo-

Sources
for
the
History
of
Tantric
Alchemy
ment
ago
in
the
context
of
Nagarjuna
legends.
Now,
if
a
tenth-century
Gujarat-based
Nagarjuna
indeed
wrote
a
treatise
on
alchemy,
that
work
has
been
lost:
none
of
his
extant
Hindu
alchemical
works
predate
the
teenth
century.
It
is,
however,
worth
noting
that
the
sole
text
attributed
to
Nagarjuna
in
the
Jain
canon
is
a
rasa
tantra.
208
Elsewhere,
the
Jain
lent
of
the
Buddhist
Caryapadas,
the
Paduha-doha
written
by
Muni
sirhha
in
the
Apabhral1lsa
vernacular
in
about
the
year
A.D.
1000,
contains
an
alchemical
poem.
209
An
untitled
anonymous
Jain
work
on
Ayurveda,
written
in
Gujarati
script,
is
perhaps
the
earliest
Indian
medical
work
ten
in
a
medieval
vernacular.
It
dates
from
the
twelfth
century.210
These
vernacular
works
aside,
a
number
of
major
Hindu
alchemical
works,
ten
in
the
Sanskrit
medium
and
straddling
the
line
between
tantric
alchemy
and
therapeutic
alchemy,
are
Gujarati
productions.
The
most
important
of
these
are
the
twelfth-
to
thirteenth-century
Rasendraciiqama'lfi
of
deva,
a
resident
of
(the
lost
Gujarati
city
of)
Bhairavapura;
and
the
thirteenth-century
Rasaprakafa
Sudhakara
ofYasodhara
Bhana,
who
hailed
from
Junagadh.
211
Surat,
on
the
Saurashtra
coast
of
Gujarat,
has
long
been
a
center
for
the
manufacture
of
synthetic
cinnabar,
through
the
sublimation
of
imported
mercury
with
native
sulfur.
Gujarat
moreover
continues
to
be
a
leader
in
alchemy
and
Ayurvedic
rasa
fastra,
down
to
the
present
century.
The
Rasayansala
(Gondal,
Rajkot
district)
was,
throughout
the
first
half
of
this
century,
a
center
for
the
edition
of
the
major
alchemical
texts
by
the
resident
vaidya,
Yadavji
Trikamji
Acarya.
It
was
at
the
Gujarat
Ayurved
University
in
Jamnagar
that
the
first
critical
edition
and
translation
of
the
Caraka
Samhita
was
compiled;
and
at
the
same
site
that
alchemical
gold
was
most
recently
synthesized,
in
1968.
Many
ofIndia's
greatest
day
specialists
in
rasa
sastra
have
received
their
training
there
from
sor
Hari
Shankar
Sharma.
212
Some
twenty
minutes
by
scooter
rickshaw
to
the
south
of
Junagadh
is
the
magnificent
peak
of
Girnar
which,
according
to
the
A.D.
1333
vidhatlrthakalpa
of
Jinaprabhasuri
and
the
Skanda
Pura'lfa,
is
also
a
site
abounding
in
mercurial
pools
(rasa-kupika)
and
alchemical
miracles.
21l
Girnar
is
also
a
peak
abounding
in
Jain
temples,
as
well
as
caves
and
crags
sacred
to
the
Nath
Siddhas,
and,
to
all
appearances,
the
two
groups
have
been
enjoying
a
symbiotic
relationship
there
for
centuries.
Girnar
is
dotted
with
shrines
to
a
number
of
important
Nath
Siddhas
(Gorakh,
Dattatreya,
Bhartrhari,
Gopicand),
and
has
been
an
important
pilgrimage
site
for
the
order
since
at
least
the
thirteenth
century;
the
site
is
already
mentioned
by

II8
Chapter
Four
Hsuan-tsang,
in
connection
with
"supernatural
by
which
Pasupatas
of
the
sort
described
by
his
contemporary
Balfabhana
are
likely
tended.214
The
beautiful
Jain
temples
located
on
its
southern
flank
date
from
the
thirteenth
century,
but
Jains
may
well
have
been
there
from
an
earlier
date
as
well.
Gujarat
is
also
a
region
with
a
relatively
high
tration
of
Nath
Siddhas,
who
have
monasteries
and
temples
throughout
the
state.
21
;
d.
Rajasthan
Another
western
Indian
site
at
which
one
finds
a
similar
sort
of
symbiosis
between
Nath
Siddhas
andJains
is
the
equally
ancient
sacred
site
of
Arbuda
Devl
(Mount
Abu,
Sirohi
district,
Rajasthan),
located
some
250
miles
to
the
northeast
of
Girnar
as
the
Siddha
flies.
Like
Girnar,
Abu
has
an
chemical
reputation:
in
the
early
stages
of
my
fieldwork,
I
was
assured
by
Yogi
Narharinath,
abbot
of
the
Caughera
monastery
(in
the
Dang
Valley
of
the
inner
Terai
region
of
Nepal)
and
the
most
illustrious
Nath
Siddha
scholar
of
our
time,
that
I
would
find
living,
practicing
alchemists
at
that
site.n
6
In
fact
there
is
a
curious
symmetry
between
Girnar
and
Abu,
ning
with
the
fact
that
both
are
located
on
east-west
ridges
comprising
a
series
of
three
peaks.
At
the
base
of
both
pilgrimage
routes,
one
encounters
Nath
establishments
called
"[Gorakh]
Tileti!'217
From
these,
the
pilgrim's
west-to-east
progress
first
passes
through
the
Jain
temple
complexes,
lowed
by
shrines
devoted
to
the
Hindu
goddess
Amba
(on
the
first
peak)
and
other
mainstream
Hindu
deities;
on
the
second
peak
is
a
Nath
shrine
(Gorakh
at
Girnar;
Goplcand
at
Abu);218
and
both
pilgrimage
routes
nate
or
culminate,
at
their
easternmost
points,
at
sites
identified
with
tatreya.
This
last
peak
is
called
Guru
Sikhara,
the
"Guru's
Pinnacle:'
at
Abu,
while
it
is
simply
called
Dattatreya
at
Girnar.
So
too,
the
central
peak
at
Girnar
is
referred
to
not
as
Gorakh
ki
Dhilni
(Gorakhnath's
Fireplace),
which
is
technically
more
exact,
but
simply
as
Gorakhnath.
The
reason
for
these
Girnar
toponyms
goes
back,
I
believe,
to
the
chaic
Buddhist
and
Hindu
cults
of
divine
Siddhas
and
Vidyadharas,
who
were
denizens
not
only
of
the
atmospheric
regions,
but
also,
in
the
Hindu
popular
imagination,
of
mountaintops.
The
Girnar
peaks
of
Gorakhnath
and
Dattatreya
are
so
called
not
because
they
feature
shrines
to
these
Nath
Siddhas,
but
because
they
are
these
Siddhas.219
In
fact,
one
might
quite
aptly
summarize
the
legacy
of
the
Nath
Siddhas
by
calling
theirs
a
quest
of
high
places.
From
identifications
with
the
Siddhas
and
Vidya-

Sources
for
the
History
of
Tantric
Alchemy
dharas
identified
with
such
heights,
to
Pasupata
spells
to
gain
power
over
the
same
Vidyadharas,
to
the
yogic
cultivation
of
the
power
of
flight
ara),
to
the
claim
they
have
laid
to
the
high
places
of
the
Indian
nent,
to
the
widespread
practice
of
using
cannabis
as
a
means
to
"getting
high;'
220
the
Nath
Siddhas
have
always
been
upward
bound.
The
Jain
temples
at
Abu
and
Girnar
alike
feature
massive
images
of
Nemlnatha
(in
black
stone)
and
Parsvanatha,
who
are
considered
to
have
been
the
twenty-second
and
twenty-third
tfrtha?'!lkaras
of
that
faith.
It
will
be
recalled
that
it
was
a
miraculous
image
of
the
former
that
was
employed
by
Nagarjuna
to
produce
an
alchemical
elixir
in
the
Jain
legend
recounted
in
the
Prabandhakofa.
Parsvanath's
name
can
in
fact
be
simply
read
as
"Lord
of
the
Touchstone"
(parfva,
paras),
making
the
alchemical
connection
an
obvious
one.
There
is
another
dimension,
however
to
this
figure
and
his
successor,
which
moreover
aids
us
in
understanding
the
apparent
Nath
Siddha
symbiosis
encountered
at
Abu
and
Girnar.
This
is
the
body
ofNath
legend
that
transforms
Parsva
and
NemI
into
Nath
Siddha
sons
of
Matsyendra.
In
a
variant
on
the
classic
myth
of
Matsyendra's
brush
with
death
in
the
form
of
sexual
dissipation
in
the
Kingdom
of
Women
in
sam,
Matsyendra
becomes
a
king
in
Sirilhala
(generally
identified
with
Sri
Lanka),
and
fathers
two
sons,
Parsvanath
(or
Parasnath)
and
Nemlnath
(or
Nlmnath).
In
a
classic
ruse,
Gorakh
seeks
to
"disenchant"
Matsyendra
by
killing
the
two
boys,
skinning
them,
and
hanging
their
hides
out
to
dry.
When
Matsyendra
grieves
for
his
sons,
Gorakh
decries
his
attachment
to
the
gross
bodily
husk
and
revives
the
two
boys.
Matsyendra
returns
to
the
yogic
path
and
initiates
his
sons
as
Nath
Siddhas.
They
become
the
ers
of
the
Nlmnathi
and
Parasnathi
panths,
the
two
Jain
suborders
of
the
Nath
sampradaya.
221
In
such
a
syncretistic
milieu,
we
should
not
be
prised
to
find
Hindu
and
Jain
alchemists
exchanging
expertise
with
one
another
or
Hindu
and
Jain
sectarians
sharing
sacred
mountains.
There
also
exist
historical
connections
between
the
two
sites,
tions
which
account
in
part
for
the
significant
numbers
of
Marwari
and
Mewari
Hindus
who
travel
to
Girnar
and
of
Gujarati
Hindus
who
come
to
Abu
(of
course,
Jains
from
both
regions
circulate
between
the
two
sites
as
well).
Southeastern
Rajasthan
and
Gujarat
are
linked,
both
culturally
and
linguistically,
in
a
number
of
ways
that
point
to
a
common
historical
legacy.
This
legacy
dates
back
to
the
time
of
the
Maitraka
kings
of
ValabhI.
cording
to
legend,222
when
ValabhI
was
sacked
and
Siladitya
VI,
its
last
ruler,
slain,
his
queen,
was
returning
to
the
capital
from
a
grimage
to
Amba
BhavanI,
in
her
native
land
of
Candravati,
a
short
dis-

120
Chapter
Four
tance
to
the
south
of
Abu.22J
Great
with
child,
she
hid
herself
in
a
cave
in
the
mountains
of
Malia
to
give
birth
to
a
son.
She
then
committed
suttee.
Her
son,
raised
by
a
foster
mother,
was
named
Guha,
"Cave-Born."
The
child,
who
grew
up
among
the
aboriginal
Bhils
of
nearby
Idar
tha
district,
Gujarat)-in
the
Rajasthan-Gujarat
border
region-was
later
elected
to
be
their
king.
So
it
was
that
he
became
the
founder
of
the
lot
(from
Guha)
clan,
the
family
of
the
future
Riinas
of
Mewar.224
Ninth
in
line
from
Guha
was
Bappa
("father")
Rawal,
who,
according
to
the
fifteenth-century
Ekalinga
Miihiitmya,
founded
the
kingdom
of
Mewar
in
A.D.
728
and
the
Ekliilgji
temple
(fourteen
miles
north
of
his
capital
of
Udaipur).
In
fact,
there
is
no
extant
epigraphical
mention
of
Bappa
Rawal
priorto
the
A.D.
971
Ekliilgji
inscription
of
Naravahana.225
The
Ekalinga
Miihiitmya
and
a
number
of
other
legends
further
associate
Bappa
Rawal
with
sectarian
forerunners
of
the
Nath
Siddhas.
According
to
these
sources,
the
young
Bappa,
forced
to
live
in
forest
exile
after
the
ing
of
his
father
Nagaditya
by
the
Bhils,226
encounters
an
itinerant
Saivite
ascetic
named
Harita
Rasi,
who
accepts
him
as
his
disciple.
Harita
Rasi
agrees
to
initiate
Bappa
into
his
Saiva
order
and
thereby
imbue
him
with
immortality
and
supernatural
powers.
But
when
Bappa
comes
to
the
pointed
initiation
site,
the
ascetic
has
already
begun
an
ascent
to
the
spheric
realms.
Before
rising
out
of
sight,
however,
he
spits
down
upon
his
disciple,
commanding
Bappa
to
receive
his
expectorate
in
his
mouth.
"Bappa
showed
his
disgust
and
aversion
by
blinking,
and
the
projected
blessing
fell
on
his
foot,
by
which
squeamishness
he
obtained
only
nerability
by
weapons
instead
of
immortality."
227
With
these,
he
grows
up
to
defeat
his
father's
slayers
and
become
the
founder
of
the
Mewar
dom.
As
I
show
in
chapter
ten,
this
common
theme
of
Saivite
and
Nath
Siddha
legend
has
important
philosophical
and
practical
implications.
Legend
has
it
that
another
itinerant
ascetic
whom
Bappa
met
in
his
wanderings
in
the
wilds
of
Udaipur,
and
who
gave
him
a
two-edged
sword
with
which
to
defeat
his
enemies,
was
none
other
than
Gorakhnath.
Of
course,
this
is
chronologically
impossible.
However,
inscriptional
and
mismatic
evidence
supports
the
Ekliilgji
temple's
claims
to
antiquity
and
Bappa's
connection
with
the
Saivas
of
his
time.
A
gold
coin
from
the
time
of
his
reign
is
inscribed
with
the
words
Sri
Voppa
on
the
obverse,
together
with
a
trident,
a
Siva
linga,
and
a
bull;
below
is
the
image
of
a
man,
trate,
having
large
pierced
ears,
the
holes
exaggerated.
228
As
such,
this
seal
would
appear
to
be
a
representation
of
Bappa's
initiation,
featuring
the
ear
boring
that
has
so
long
been
identified
with
the
Nath
Siddhas.
Given
the

12I
Sources
for
the
History
of
Tantric
Alchemy
chronology,
however,
it
is
far
more
likely
that
Bappa's
ear-boring
initiation
was
performed
by
a
Pasupata.
This
is
further
supported
by
the
name
of
his
initiator:
Riifi
was
a
common
name
ending
among
the
Pasupatas.
229
It
is
certain,
however,
that
the
custodianship
of
the
temple
passed
through
the
hands
of
the
Nath
Siddhas
before
being
given
over
to
the
Ramanandls
in
the
sixteenth
century.230
Following
his
initiation,
Bappa
assumed
the
title
of
"Rawal"
(from
the
Sanskrit,
riija-kula,
"royal
lineage")
whence
the
name
by
which
he
is
known
to
history:
Bappa
Rawal.
According
to
Hazari
Prasad
Dvivedi,
Rawal
was,
already
in
the
eighth
century,
a
clan
name
proper
to
the
Pasupatas
which,
in
the
thirteenth
century,
became
the
third
of
the
old
Saivite
clans
absorbed
into
the
Nath
sampradiiya.
The
Rawals
have,
in
the
course
of
the
vening
centuries,
become
transformed
into
a
Muslim
suborder,
based
for
the
most
part
in
Pakistan
and
Mghanistan.
231
These
were
"great
ers"
(they
give
the
Persian
rawinda,
"wanderer:'
as
the
etymological
root
of
their
name),
who
were
to
be
found
peddling
quack
medicines
and
other
wares
of
a
dubious
nature
in
nineteenth-century
Europe
and
who
continue
to
sell
their
services
as
hail
stoppers
in
Kumaon,
where
they
are
called
yas,
"hail
men."
Rawals
are
also
based
in
Andhra
Pradesh,
Himachal
Pradesh
(JwalamukhI),
and
Hariyana
(Asthal
Bohar).
As
a
suborder,
the
Rawals
are
closely
associated
with
the
Dharamnathis,
Satnathis,
Pagalpanthis,
and
Parasnathis.232
They
are
also
known
as
nathis,
by
virtue
of
which
fact
they
are
said
to
bear
some
connection
to
the
Nath
Siddha
known
as
Arjun
Naga
or
Nagarjuna,
whose
suborder
is
based
atJwalamukhI
in
the
Kangra
district
of
Himachal
Pradesh.
If
only
by
virtue
of
his
name,
this
figure
is
identified
as
an
alchemist. Elsewhere,
Gorakh
refers
to
an
unnamed
Rawal
Yogi
as
an
alchemist
in
one
of
his
biinls.
2ll
Nagnath,
the
legendary
founder
of
the
Rawal
suborder,
is
said
to
have
been
a
disciple
of
Gorakh;
since,
however,
this
clan
was
originally
Pasupata,
it
predates
Gorakhnath
by
several
centuries.
Another
early
Nath
Siddha
ing
from
the
present-day
region
of
Himachal
Pradesh
is
who
is
said
to
be
the
disciple
of
Matsyendranath.
A
historical
is
named
in
a
tenth-century
van;zfiivali
from
Camba,
and
his
samiidhi
is
located
at
ChambadevI
(Chamba
district),
to
the
north
ofJwalamukhI.234
JwalamukhI
was
already
a
pilgrimage
site
in
the
time
of
the
Mahiibhiirata;235
at
present,
the
Nath
Siddhas
control
a
subsidiary
shrine-a
miraculous
pool
of
cold
boiling
water-at
the
site.
136
Today,
it
is
the
Nagnathi-Rawals
who
accompany
pilgrims
to
the
flung
western
plfha
known
as
Hinglaj
DevI
(Las
Bela
district,
Baluchisthan,

122
Chapter
Four
Pakistan).237
A
gas
vent
and
"fireplace
of
Gorakhnath"
are
maintained
there
down
to
the
present
day.2J8
In
spite
of
the
inaccessibility
of
her
original
worship
site,
Hiilglaj
Devi
remains
an
important
goddess
for
Hindus
in
western
India,
and
temples
consecrated
to
her
are
found
throughout
this
regIOn.
Tradition
links
Pasupata
forerunners
of
the
Nath
Siddhas
with
the
founding
of
yet
another
dynasty
in
western
Rajasthan.
These
were
the
wal
kings
ofJaisalmer.
239
According
to
the
bardic
chroniclers
who
were
the
informants
of
Colonel
James
Tod,
the
founding
of
this
dynasty
occurred
in
the
following
fashion:
Deoraj
[b.
A.D.
836],
the
future
founder
of
the
Rawal
dynasty,
is
a
prince
without
a
kingdom.
One
day,
he
is
visited
by
a
Jogi
named
Rita
who
bestows
upon
him
the
title
of
Sid[dhaj.
Rita,
who
possesses
the
art
of
transmuting
metals,
one
day
goes
away,
but
leaves
his
tered
cloak
fja'ljari-kantha]
behind.
Inside
the
folds
of
this
cloak
is
Rita's
elixir
vessel
[rasa
kumbha],
from
which
a
drop
falls
upon
oraj's
dagger,
turning
it
to
gold.
Deoraj
decamps
with
the
elixir
sel,
and
uses
it
to
raise
an
army
and
the
walls
of
a
fortified
city.
Rita
is
well
aware
of
the
theft,
and
later
comes
to
visit
Deoraj
in
order
to
legitimate
the
latter's
possession
of
his
stolen
property.
This
he
does
on
the
condition,
however,
that
Deoraj
become
his
disciple
and,
as
a
token
of
his
submission
and
fidelity,
adopt
the
external
signs
of
his
order.
He
gives
him
the
ochre
robes
of
his
order,
places
the
earrings
(mudrii)
in
his
ears,
the
little
horn
[singniid]
around
his
neck,
and
cloth
[langoti]
about
his
loins;
in
this
garb,
and
with
gourd
in
hand,
Deoraj
then
perambulates
around
the
dwellings
of
his
kin,
exclaiming
alakh!
alakh!
Then,
having
exacted
that
these
sectarian
rites
of
tion
should
be
continued
to
the
latest
posterity,
Rita
disappears.
Thereafter,
the
title
of
Rao
was
abandoned
for
that
of
Rawal,240
If
this
account
is
historically
accurate,
then
the
ninth-century
western
Rajasthani
forerunners
of
the
Nath
Siddhas
were
already
Nath
Siddhas
in
everything
but
name.
The
jarjari-kantha,
mudriis,
singniid,
and
use
of
the
expression
alakh
("attributeless:'
an
apophatic
description
of
the
absolute)
are
all
hallmarks
of
the
sect.
If
it
contains
elements
from
a
later
time
than
it
purports
to
describe,
it
nevertheless
portrays
the
Nath
Siddhas
as
working
king-making
alchemists.
241
Given
the
chronology,
Deoraj's
erant
Yogi
Rita
would,
like
Bappa
Rawal's
Hanta,
have
been
a
Pasupata
rather
than
a
Nath
Siddha.

FIVE
Tantric
and
Siddha
Alchemical
Literature
In
an
important
theoretical
work
written
in
1981,
Marcel
Detienne
argues
that
"raw
myth:'
if
such
a
thing
ever
existed,
would
have
taken
the
form
of
lists
or
catalogues
of
names,
lists
from
which
generally
oral
native
exegesis
would
have
subsequently
generated
genealogies
or
lineages,
and
which
written
interpretation
would
later
have
transformed,
from
the
vantage
point
created
by
the
act
of
writing,
into
mythology.
The
myth,
fragile
and
nescent,
is
metamorphosed
into
something
else
as
soon
as
it
is
recounted.
Therefore,
for
all
intents
and
purposes,
the
myth
does
not
exist:
it
is
rather
mythology,
the
exegesis
and
interpretation
of
myth
that
scholars
study,
whether
they
be
located
"inside"
or
"outside"
the
tradition
in
question.!
With
the
lists
of
Rasa
and
Nath
Siddhas
that
grounded
our
discussion
in
the
preceding
chapter,
we
seemed
to
find
ourselves
in
the
gray
area
tween
the
ground
zero
of
myth
(catalogues
of
names)
and
the
first
impulse
of
native
exegesis,
i.e.,
the
organization
of
list
into
lineage.
We
also
nessed
the
written
interpretation,
and
thus
the
transformation
of
these
original
"myths"
into
mythology,
in
the
legends
of
the
eighty-four
siddhas;
the
creative
appropriation,
in
chapter
four
of
the
RM,
of
certain
of
the
names
figuring
in
the
Rasa
Siddha
lists;
and
the
proliferation
of
thology
generated
by
the
multiple
lists
of
the
Nine
Naths.
By
reading
tween
the
lines
of
these
mythologies,
I
attempted
to
glean
a
certain
number
of
elements
to
aid
in
reconstructing
a
history
of
the
medieval
Siddha
tions.
In
the
present
chapter,
I
attempt
to
effect
a
similar
hermeneutics
of
retrieval,
this
time
through
a
survey
of
the
alchemical
literature.
I.
General
Survey
of
Alchemical
Literature
in
the
Sanskrit
Medium
Of
what
value
are
the
Rasa
Siddha
lists
for
anyone
who
would
attempt
to
reconstruct
the
history
of
Hindu
alchemy?
Nearly
half
of
the
names
on
the
12
3

Chapter
Five
early
lists
(RM;
RRS
[a];
RRA)
appear
to
be
so
many
voyageurs
sans
baggages,
with
either
no
alchemical
texts,
attributions,
or
citations
connected
to
their
names
in
later
sources,
or,
at
best,
unverifiable
references
in
this
or
that
solitary
source.
2
Many
appear
to
simply
be
the
names
of
gods.
As
we
have
already
noted,
Adima
(I)
is
none
other
than
a
variant
on
Adideva
or
tha,
the
Lord
of
Beginnings.
Sambhu
(II),
Brahma
(24)
and
Hari
(27)
are
the
three
gods
of
the
so-called
Hindu
trinity.
Ratnaghosa
(10)
is
a
Buddhist
figure,
while
Kambali
(16)
and
Nagabodhi
(20)
are
names
carried
over
from
the
Buddhist
Mahasiddha
lists.
These
would
appear
to
be
names
of
figures
classified
as
divine
or
semidivine
Siddhas.
3
Another
group
of
names
are
so
many
black
holes
in
an
alchemical
void.
Who
were
Visarada
("Skilled"),
Matta
("Intoxicated"),
Ekaratna
("One
Jewel"),
Indrada
("Gift
of
Indra"),
Surananda
("Joy
of
the
Gods"),
and
KhaI).<;la
("Portion")?
Were
they
teachers
of
known
alchemists
and
as
such
mute
links
in
lost
alchemical
lineages?
If
they
were
authors
of
alchemical
works,
were
their
works
lost
to
or
simply
disregarded
by
all
later
alchemical
authors?
Or
have
their
works
and
the
works
of
later
authors
who
may
have
cited
them
all
been
lost?
Indeed,
certain
south
Indian
historians
of
alchemy
maintain
that
all
of
the
major
alchemical
works
were
originally
committed
to
writing
in
the
medieval
Grantha
script
of
Tamil
Nadu
and
that
certain
of
these
were
never
transliterated
into
the
north
Indian
Devanagari
script.
As
evidence,
they
note
the
fact
that
many
south
Indian
alchemical
works
cite
alchemical
sources
of
which
north
Indian
traditions
ignore
the
tence.
4
Another
possibility
is
that
these
were
individuals
whose
teachings
were
oral,
rather
than
written;
or
that
these
were
people
who
were
living
exemplars
of
the
alchemical
arts.
Such
persons
may
be
living,
even
today,
in
bodies
immortalized
through
the
use
of
mercurial
preparations.
Or,
like
the
Zawgyi
alchemists
of
Burma,
they
may
have
lived
fast,
died
young,
and
left
good-looking
corpses
(for
mercury
does
indeed
tend
to
"pickle"
one's
epidermis,
in
life
and
after
a
premature
death),
prior
to
realizing
a
certain
modicum
of
immortality
in
the
Rasa
Siddha
lists.
The
most
likely
explanation
is
that
these
unaccountable
names,
like
so
many
of
the
"begats"
of
the
Old
Testament,
were
fillers
in
"systematic
nealogies"
that
manuscript
copyists
dutifully
passed
on
to
posterity
for
the
simple
reason
that
copyists
copy.
Or
again,
they
were
names
that
filled
the
lotus
petals
of
so
many
lost
alchemical
worship
ma1!4a1as.
Elsewhere,
my
remarks
concerning
the
interplay
between
divine
and
human
Siddhas
and
Vidyadharas
appear
to
be
apposite:
a
number
of
the
Rasa
Siddhas
were

Tantric
and
Siddha
Alchemical
Literature
gods
whose
divine
works
have
yet
to
be
revealed
to
humanity.
Whatever
the
case,
I
will
follow
the
lead
of
the
tantric
and
Siddha
alchemical
authors
themselves
and
generally
disregard
those
Rasa
Siddhas
whose
names
they
but
rarely
mention,
save
in
the
lists
reviewed
in
the
last
chapter.
A
number
of
names
from
the
early
lists
appear
to
correspond
to
authors
of
various
works.
Candrasena
(2)
is
said
to
be
the
author
of
a
lost
work
entitled
Rasacandrodaya.
5
Lankesa
(3)
is
generally
identified
with
Lanka's
Lord
(lanka-If
a)-who
authored
the
Kumiira
Tantra,
an
early
and
important
text
on
the
treatment
of
childhood
diseases,
and
whose
ters
are
said,
in
the
tenth-
to
eleventh-century
Tamil
Iriimiivatiiram
of
Kampan,
to
be
the
wives
of
the
eighteen
Tamil
Sittars.
6
Mal)gavya
(7)
is
the
name
of
an
Ayurvedic
teacher
cited
by
the
Elder
in
the
Sa11fgraha
and
the
author
of
a
lost
alchemical
work
entitled
Rasaviiridhi.
He
is
also
cast,
in
a
passage
from
the
fourth
chapter
of
the
RM,7
as
a
tion
partner
to
Nagarjuna
and
[co-
]
author
of
a
work
entitled
vya.
(As
we
have
already
indicated,
however,
the
historicity
of
many
of
the
figures
introduced
as
alchemists
in
the
RM-including
Ratnaghosa
[10]
and
Nagabodhi
[20)B-is
doubtful).
Somadeva,
the
twelfth-
to
century
Gujarati
author
of
the
Rasendracil4iima7!i
[RC],9
mentions
Bhaskara
(8)
and
Sambhu
(II),
but
gives
no
details
on
who
they
were
or
what
they
wrote.
10
Since
Somadeva
was
himself
from
Gujarat,
however,
the
Bhaskara
he
invokes
may
well
have
been
the
guru
of
the
twelfth-
to
century
Nagarjuna
who
authored
the
Yogaratnamiilii.
Sfirasena
(9)
is
portedly
the
author
of
the
lost
Rasendrasuraprabhiiva,
Naravahana
(13)
that
of
the
lost
Rasiinandakautuka,
and
Lampata
that
of
the
equally
lost
pafa
TantraY
It
is
with
the
names
that
appear
in
the
latter
portions
of
the
older
lists,
as
well
as
a
number
of
names
from
the
later
lists
(RRS
[b]
and
[c]),
that
we
appear
to
move
from
the
realm
of
legend
into
that
of
textual
history:
many
correspond
to
known
authors
of
often
extant
alchemical
texts.
As
was
tioned
in
the
last
chapter,
Vyagi
(17)
is
an
alchemist
whose
legend
was
known
to
the
eleventh-century
Alberuni
and
two
of
whose
alchemical
works
were
translated
into
Tibetan
in
the
Tanjur.
In
addition,
the
Garu4a
Purii7!a
praises
Vyagi
as
an
authority
on
gemstonesY
Nagarjuna's
(18)
chemical
pedigree
is
solid:
we
will
return
to
him
shortly.
Govinda
(25)
is
the
name
of
the
author
of
the
ca.
tenth-
to
eleventh-century
RET,
very
likely
the
earliest
extant
Hindu
alchemical
tantra.
Carpati-the
figure
whose
name
appears
the
most
often,
after
Nagarjuna,
in
lists
of
both
Nath

126
Chapter
Five
and
Rasa
Siddhas,
is
the
author
of
two
short
post-fourteenth-century
vernacular
alchemical
works,
entitled
Carpaf
Rasayan
and
Carpaf
Nath
jt
ke
flok-as
well
as
of
two
lost
Sanskrit
works,
entitled
Svargavaidyakapalika
and
Carpafi-siddhanta.
Conclusive
textual
evidence
(a
local
va"!lfavall;
and
the
Grub
thob,
which
names
him
as
Vya9i's
guru)I3
indicates
that
a
lived
in
the
kingdom
of
Camba
(Himachal
Pradesh)
in
the
tenth
century;
if
this
figure
was
the
author
of
the
two
Sanskrit
alchemical
works
tioned
above,
he
would
have
been
one
of
the
earliest
of
the
Hindu
mists.14
is
also
the
subject
of
alchemical
legend
in
both
Tibetan
Buddhist
and
south
Indian
traditions
and
is
cast
as
an
alchemist
in
a
Sikh
work,
the
Pra1f
Sankall.
15
By
far
the
biggest
name-dropper
among
the
alchemical
authors
was
madeva,
whose
RC
was
mentioned
a
moment
ago.
In
addition
to
naming
Bhaskara,
Sambhu,
Govinda,
and
Nagarjuna,
he
also
mentions
Nandi
(no.
30
in
the
RRS
[a]
and
[c]
lists)
and
Bhaluki
(no.
38
in
the
RRS
[a]
list),
as
well
as
Manthanabhairava,
Svacchandabhairava,
Bhairavacarya,
and
others.
whose
name
appears
in
none
of
the
lists
passed
in
review
here,
is
simply
another
name
for
Siva:
the
Pasupata
teachings
were
revealed
to
Lakulisa
by
Srikal)!ha
(or
He
is
cast
as
sant
(with
the
goddess
Vma)
in
an
alchemical
work
that
has
recently
been
edited
under
the
title
of
Gorak{a
Samhita:
it
is
likely
to
this
work
that
deva
is
referring.
16
Although
Manthanabhairava
(no.
32
in
RRS
[a]
and
[c])
does
not
appear
in
the
Rasa
Siddha
list
of
the
RM,
this
work
mentions
him
elsewhere
and,
after
the
fashion
of
nearly
every
other
century
alchemical
work,
describes
an
elixir
called
manthiinabhairava
rasa.
According
to
P.
V.
Sharma,
Manthanabhairava
would
have
been
the
author
of
the
Anandakanda
(AI{)
and
personal
physician
to
the
king
of
Sirilhala
(Sri
Lanka?).
I
have
found
no
evidence
to
support
this
claim.
On
the
one
hand,
the
AK
as
a
text
is
at
least
a
century
younger
than
any
of
the
ences
to
Manthanabhairava
found
in
other
tantric
alchemical
works;
on
the
other,
the
AK's
chapter
colophons
state
that
it
was
revealed
by
MahabhairavaY
The
eleventh-
to
twelfth-century
Manthanabhairava
Tantra
is,
however,
one
of
the
most
important
works
of
the
Western
mission,
and
one
that
is
moreover
linked
to
the
Gorak{a
Samhita.
18
As
we
will
see
shortly,
a
RM
reference
to
a
text
entitled
Manthanabhairava
may
be
a
clue
to
the
presence
of
an
eponymous
figure
in
the
Rasa
Siddha
lists.
Apart
from
the
AK,
three
other
important
tantric
alchemical
works
are

Tantric
and
Siddha
Alchemical
Literature
also
cast
as
divine
revelations
transmitted
by
human
authors
who
chose
to
remain
anonymous.
One
of
these
presents
us
with
no
problems,
however.
This
is
the
Kiikaca1f4efvartmata
(KCM),
a
text
revealed
by
Siva
to
"Fierce
Crow[-faced]
Goddess"-and
clearly
the
text
uted
to
the
alchemical
author
(no.
33
in
RRS
[a]
and
[C]).19
The
two
other
such
works
are
more
problematic.
The
(RU)
is,
according
to
Siddhinandan
Misra,
the
work
of
a
certain
Kapalika
master,
which
evokes
the
name
"Kapalika;'
the
twenty-fourth
Rasa
Siddha
in
the
RMIRRS
[a]
lists.
In
its
first
chapter,
the
itself
states
that
it
is
nothing
other
than
an
abridgement,
in
eighteen
chapters,
of
an
earlier
work,
in
twenty-nine
chapters,
entitled
the
Mahodadhi.
20
Now,
there
is
a
tradition
according
to
which
a
certain
KapalI
(no.
5
in
the
RMIRRS[a]
list)
authored
an
alchemical
work
entitled
Rttsariija-mahodadhi.
If
this
is
the
case,
then
the
author
who
epitomized
the
Mahodadhi
in
his
work
could
have
been
a
"Kapalika"-i.e.,
a
follower
of
KapalI
rather
than
a
member
of
the
"skull-bearer"
Saiva
sect-or
both.
A
lost
work,
simply
entitled
Mahodadhi,
is
attributed
to
a
certain
Sivanath
Yogi;
if
this
is
the
work
to
which
the
refers,
then
Misra's
theory
is
untenable
less
Sivanath
Yogi
was
a
Kapalika).2'
The
last
work
in
this
group
is
the
most
tantalizing
of
all,
given
that
the
anonymous
Rttsii17Java
is
truly
the
summum
of
tantric
alchemy.
According
to
P.
V.
Sharma,
the
history
of
this
text
is
intimately
connected
to
a
Yadava
king
named
SiIighal).a
(1210-47),
who
was
one
in
a
series
of
great
royal
patrons
of
the
medical
and
alchemical
arts.22
Sharma
maintains
that
a
tain
"Bhairavananda
Yogi"-whom
theRRS
(16.126)
names
as
having
cated
a
preparation
called
the
"Lokanatha
packet"
(pofalz)
to
a
King
SiIighal).a-was
the
author
of
the
RA.
Three
manuscript
copies
of
the
RA,
held
by
the
Anup
Sanskrit
Library
in
Bikaner,
carry
the
following
colophon:
"thus
concludes
Isvara's
alchemical
dialogue
...
the
great
tise
[entitled]
Rttsii17Java
...
[as]
uttered
by
Yogananda."23
By
metathesizing
the
two
components
of
this
latter
name,
one
arrives
at
Ananda-yoga.
The
work
is,
moreover,
cast
as
a
dialogue
between
Bhairava
and
BhairavI:
by
juxtaposing
the
name
of
the
divine
revealer
of
this
work
to
that
of
the
figure
who
recounted
it,
one
could
conceivably
generate
the
name
ananda-yog[i].
If,
however,
we
accept
Sharma's
argument
that
the
vananda
Yogi
who
indicated
an
Ayurvedic
preparation
to
SiIighal).a
was
also
the
author
of
the
RA,
this
pushes
the
date
of
this
work
forward
to
the
early
thirteenth
century,
which
is
chronologically
impossible.
24
The
RRS
passage

128
Chapter
Five
cited
by
Sharma,
which
concerns
a
preparation
called
the
Vaisvanara
packet,
states
that
"this
preparation
was
declared
by
king
Siilghal)a
...
Its
application
is
known
[to
be
the
same
as
that
of]
Siilghal)a's
packet
called
Lokanatha,
which
was
handed
down
(vinirdiffii)
by
Bhairavananda
Yogi."
The
operative
term
here
is
"handed
down":
the
vi-
prefix
here
indicates
that
the
Bhairavananda
Yogi
who
handed
down
this
alchemical
preparation
was
not
a
contemporary
of
Siilghal)aY
It
is
moreover
curious
that
the
preparation
the
RRS
attributes
to
Bhairavananda
Yogi
is
nowhere
to
be
found
in
the
RA.
As
I
will
demonstrate,
the
RA
is
an
eleventh-century
text.
It
therefore
follows
that
its
author
is
not
to
be
identified
with
the
figure
to
whom
Siilghal)a
attributes
the
invention
of
this
preparation.
The
author
of
the
RA
would
more
likely
have
lived
under
the
imperial
predecessors
of
the
Yadavas,
i.e.,
the
Calukyas
of
Kalyal)i,
whose
tenth-
through
century
kingdom
covered
most
of
the
same
western
territory
of
India
as
did
that
of
the
Yadavas.
26
It
is
much
easier
to
simply
identify
the
RA
with
its
divine
revealer,
which
is
what
I
believe
Somadeva
does
when
he
refers
to
"Bhairavacarya"
and
what
Vagbhana
II
(RRS
[a]
and
[cD
does
when
he
lists
Bhairava
as
its
twenty-ninth
Rasa
Siddha.
The
evidence
of
the
RRS
lists
is
all
the
more
compelling
for
the
fact
that
the
Rasa
Siddha
whose
name
immediately
cedes
that
of
Bhairava
is
Rasailkusa:
throughout
the
RA,
Bhairava
describes
the
worship
of
his
own
and
the
Goddess's
alchemical
forms.
Whereas
he
is
called
Rasabhairava,
the
"Mercurial
Bhairava:'
she
is
always
referred
to
as
Rasailkusi,
the
"Elephant
Goad
of
Mercury."
It
follows
that
the
two
should
appear
together
in
the
Rasa
Siddha
listsY
The
RRS
([a]
and
[cD
also
lists
a
third
Bhairava-named
abhairava-as
a
Rasa
Siddha
(no.
3
I).
This
figure
is
cited
as
an
ical
author
in
the
thirteenth-century
RPS
of
Yasodhara
Bha!!a
and
the
sixteenth-century
Rnsakalpa.
28
In
its
chapter
colophons,
the
so-called
chemical
Gorakfa
Samhitii
calls
itself
(among
other
things)
the
faktyavatiira
([The
Revelation]
Brought
Down
by
Svacchanda
Sakti).
A
number
of
references
are
made
in
this
text
to
the
cult
of
Svacchanda
(Bhairava),
and
the
opening
chapter
intimates
that
this
is
an
abridgment
of
a
greater
alchemical
work
in
twenty-five
thousand
verses
originally
vealed
by
Svacchanda.
29
As
already
noted,
however,
this
work
is
a
dialogue
between
Srikal)!ha
and
the
goddess
Vma.
Moreover,
in
the
final
verses
of
a
number
of
manuscripts
of
this
work,
the
"Nath
[named]
is
mentioned.
30
Like
Manthanabhairava,
and
Bhairava
tout
court,
dabhairava
is
first
and
foremost
the
name
of
an
important
tantric
divinity;

12
9
Tantric
and
Siddha
Alchemical
Literature
and
a
number
of
important
tantric
texts,
including
the
massive
Svacchanda
Tantra
(SvT),
quite
naturally
bear
his
name.31
It
is
therefore
uncertain
whether
this
Rasa
Siddha
was
a
human
alchemist
or
an
alchemists'
god.
Indeed,
the
alchemical
god
Rasabhairava,
whose
iconography
is
described
in
the
RA
(2.63-64),
is
an
ectype
of
Svacchanda
BhairavaY
With
this,
we
return
to
"signed"
alchemical
works.
Rasendratilaka
Yogi
(no.
37
in
RRS
[c])
is
the
name
of
the
author
of
the
Rasasaratilaka.
Vasudeva
(no.
42
in
RRS
[c])
is
the
purported
author
of
the
lost
Rasasarvefvara.
33
The
name
Kriyatantrasamucchayi
(no.
43
in
RRS
[c]),
literally
the
"Compiler
of
the
Kriya
Tantra:'
is
likely
a
reference
to
the
ninth-
to
tenth-century
Kriyakalag;u1Jottara
Tantra,
an
early
work
on
tantric
sorcery
and
healing.
This
work
is,
however,
revealed
by
the
ubiquitous
SrlkaIHha.
34
Srlnatha,
who
doubles
with
Srikaln:ha
as
the
divine
revealer
of
the
Western
mission
texts,
is
also
the
purported
author
of
an
alchemical
work
entitled
the
Rasaratna.
This
work
has
also
been
attributed
to
Manthanabhairava.
35
Gho<;la
ColI
(no.
55
in
RRS
[c])
is
the
author
of
a
short
Sanskrit
alchemical
work
entitled
Gho4a
ColI,
or
Gho4acoll
Viikya.
36
He
is
also
identified
with
Colinath,
the
founder
of
the
AI
panth,
one
of
the
original
twelve
Nath
orders.37
We
have
already
noted
the
south
Indian
traditions
concerning
Allama
Prabhu
(also
known
as
Prabhudeva,
no.
52
in
RRS
[c]),
a
founder
of
the
Vlrasaiva
sect
and
considered,
in
Tamil
traditions,
to
be
an
tion
of
the
alchemist
Nandi.
38
Ratnakara
and
Nityanatha
(nos.
36
and
48
in
RRS
[c])
may
be
one
and
the
same
figure:
Nityanatha
is
the
author
of
the
thirteenth-century
ratnakara,
the
same
text
from
which
Vagbhana
II
would
have
copied
his
second
([b]
=
RRS
6.51-53)
list
of
Rasa
Siddhas
verbatim.
The
fifth
vision
of
the
RRA,
entitled
"Siddha
Khal}<;la"
or
"Mantra
Khal}<;la:'
is
the
manifest
source
of
the
KPT
of
Siddha
Nagarjuna,
a
work
on
tantric
cery.39
Like
the
"Mantra
Khal}<;la:'
the
Sabaracintama1Ji,
which
treats
mainly
of
tantric
sorcery,
is
also
a
work
of
Nityanatha
Siddha,
"son
of
Parvati"j
in
it,
the
author
states
that
the
teachings
of
his
work
were
originally
pounded
by
Matsyendra.
40
In
addition
to
being
listed
as
a
Rasa
Siddha
in
the
RRS,
Nityanatha
is
also
listed,
in
the
HYP
(no.
19),
as
one
of
the
yogic
Siddhas
who
had
"broken
Time's
rod!'
Was
Nityanatha,
as
his
name
and
his
writings
would
seem
to
indicate,
a
Nath
Siddha?
Chances
are
that
he
was.
Certain
manuscript
colophons
to
the
Siddha
Siddhanta
Paddhati,
erally
attributed
to
Gorakh,
call
it
a
work
of
Nityanatha
Siddha.
4
!
If
this
is
the
case,
then
Nityanatha,
whose
RRA
is
dated
to
the
thirteenth
century,
was
a
Nath
Siddha
polymath
who,
not
unlike
his
near
contemporary
Gor-

13°
Chapter
Five
akh,
would
have
been
well
versed
in
the
alchemical,
yogic,
and
tantric
ciplines.
It
may
be,
on
the
other
hand,
that
Nityanatha
Siddha
and
natha,
son
of
Parvati,
were
two
distinct
persons,
in
which
case
the
double
listing-as
Nityanatha
and
"Ratnakara"
in
the
RRS
[c]-would
be
an
rate
one.
The
authors
of
approximately
half
of
the
major
extant
tantric
alchemical
works
are
found
to
correspond
to
names
figuring
in
the
Rasa
Siddha
lists.
These
texts
are
the
Rttsahrdaya
Tantra
of
Govinda,
the
KiikacaTf4efvarimata
and
KiikacaTf4lfvara
Kulpa
Tantra
attributed
to
Kakacal).gIsvara,
the
Rttsendra
Mangala
of
Nagarjuna,
the
BhutiprakaraTfa
(or
Svacchandafaktyavatiira
or
Gorak{a
Samhitii)
attributed
to
and
the
Rttsaratniikara
of
natha.
Major
extant
alchemical
texts
by
authors
whose
names
do
not
figure
in
the
Rasa
Siddha
lists
all
date
from
the
thirteenth
century
or
later
and
crease
in
the
originality
of
their
content
with
the
passing
centuries.
over,
following
a
paradigm
shift
that
occurred
in
the
thirteenth
to
teenth
century,
the
content
of
most
of
these
later
works
tends
to
shade
from
an
emphasis
on
tantric
elixir
alchemy
towards
either therapeutic
or
purely
transmutational
ends.
These
works
include
the
ca.
13th-century
sendracil4iimaTfi
of
Somadeva,
Rasaprakiifa
Sudhiikara
ofYasodhara
and
Rttsapaddhati
of
Bindu;43
the
13th-
to
14th-century
chaya
of
Vagbha!!a
II
and
Rttsiidhyiiya
of
Kailkala
YOgl;44
the
14th-century
Rttsariijalak{mi
and
Rasasindhu
of
or
14th-
to
I
century
Rttsasiira
of
Govindacarya;46
the
15th-century
Rttsaratnadlpika
of
Ramaraja;47
the
15th-century
RttsacintiimaTfi
of
Anantadeva
Suri;48
the
I
century
RttsendracintiimaTfi
of
J?hunghukanatha;49
the
15th-century
sanketakiilikii
of
CamUl).gakayastha;50
the
ISth-
to
16th-century
druma
of
Sivanatha;51
the
ISth-
to
16th-century
RttsariijafiromaTfi
of
surama;52
the
16th-century
Rttsakalpa,
Piiradakalpa,
Gandhakakalpa,
and
Dhiitukalpa
(all
of
which
spuriously
claim
to
be
portions
of
the
Rudrayiimala
Tantra,
and
authored
by
Nagarjuna)53
and
Rttsapradzpa
ofPral).anatha;54
and
the
17th-century
Rttsendrakalpadruma
of
The
reader
will
have
noted
that
a
significant
number
of
these
texts
are
the
work
of
authors
whose
names
end
in
Yogi
or
Niith.
There
is,
however,
little
or
no
internal
evidence
to
indicate
that
any
of
these-with
the
possible
tions
of
the
RRA
of
Nityanatha
and
the
RttsendracintiimaTfi
natha-were
in
fact
the
work
ofNath
Siddhas.
In
addition
to
these
works
on
Hindu
alchemy,
a
number
of
other
sources
lend
an
important
place
to
alchemy,
even
though
their
main
subject
matter

13
1
Tantric
and
Siddha
Alchemical
Literature
is
of
another
order.
So,
for
example,
we
find
a
sizable
corpus
of
works
on
tantric
sorcery-works
that
may
be
classified
under
the
general
heading
of
Kriya
Tantras-which
include
chapters
on
or
references
to
alchemical
preparations
and
procedures.
56
The
earliest
of
these
is
the
tara
Tantra,
a
work
dating
from
the
ninth
to
tenth
century.
This
text,
which
takes
the
form
of
a
dialogue
between
Srlkal).!ha
(identified
with
Siva)
and
Karttikeya,
is
a
work
on
tantric
healing
through
the
use
of
mantras,
lets,
rituals
and
sorcery.
57
Another
later
work,
the
Yogaratnavali
of
a
Saiva
master
named
Srikal).!ha
Siva,
is
a
so-called
"poison
tantra"
dating
from
perhaps
the
fifteenth
century.
Its
sixth
chapter
contains
alchemical
data.
58
From
the
same
period
is
another
work
on
tantric
sorcery,
the
ma1Ji
of
Pratapadeva,
which
contains
a
significant
amount
of
data
on
ally
"magical"
alchemy-potions
for
invisibility,
magical
flight,
attraction,
projection,
etc.
59
Two
texts
dating
from
the
twelfth
to
thirteenth
century-the
KPTand
the
shorter
Yogaratnamala
(or
Afcaryaratnamala)-are
both
the
work
of
a
Siddha
(or
Srlman)
Nagarjuna.
Their
content,
moreover,
is
so
similar
that
they
are
likely
the
work
of
one
and
the
same
author:
the
former
work,
however,
is
little
other
than
a
reworking
of
a
portion
of
the
RRA
of
nath
Siddha.
60
Both
the
RRA
and
the
KPT
postdate
the
Dattatreya
Tantra
and
the
KCM;
all
three
cite
their
sources
in
their
opening
verses;
apart
from
a
nearly
identical
list
of
four
works
(in
which
both
give
vara"
for
Kiikaca1J4efvara),
the
RRA
and
KPTboth
add
another
twenty-four
sources
not
mentioned
in
the
Dattatreya
Tantra.
61
A
final
text
belongs
to
a
category
all
its
own.
This
is
the
ca.
thirteenth-century
Matr:kabheda
Tantra
(MBh
1)
, a
Sakta-Saiva
work
on
the
tantric
worship
of
Siva
and
the
dess,
whose
first,
fifth,
and
eighth
chapters
contain
original
alchemical
data
mainly
pertaining
to
the
fabrication
of
mercuriallingas.
62
This
is
also
the
sole
alchemical
work
under
discussion
here
to
betray
an
east
Indian
origin.
Also
containing
data
on
tantric
alchemy
are
a
number
of
medieval
pendia
and
encyclopedias,
all
of
which
are
of
western
Indian
origin.
These
include
the
ca.
A.D.
1040
Riijamarta1J4a
of
Raja
Bhoja
of
Malava;
the
A.D.
I
131
Manasollasa
of
the
Calukya
king
Somesvara
III
"Bhulokamalla"
;63
the
fourteenth-century
Sar1igadhara
Paddhati;64
and
the
fourteenth-century
Sarvadarfana
San:zgraha
of
Madhavacarya.
Those
portions
of
the
lasa
that
are
devoted
to
yoga
closely
resemble
passages
of
the
which
is
one
of
nine
works
from
the
south
Indian
corpus
of
108
that
borrow
visibly
from
works
by
Gorakh
and
other
Nath
Siddhas.
65
Also
contained
in
this
work
are
discussions
of
elixir
(rasayana)
therapy
(in-

13
2
Chapter
Five
eluding
the
technique
of
"entering
into
the
hut"),
and
the
vation
of
a
divine
body,
possessed
of
the
siddhis
of
flight,
etc.
66
2.
Matsyendra
and
Gorakh:
The
Nath
Siddha
Literature
The
two
greatest
modern
contributions
to
the
historiography
of
the
nacular
literature
of
the
Nath
Siddhas
have
been
a
critical
edition
of
the
mystic
poems
of
Gorakhnath,
compiled
by
Pitambaradatta
Barthwal
in
194267
and
that
of
a
corpus
of
poetry
attributed
to
a
number
of
other
Nath
Siddhas,
compiled
by
Hazariprasad
Dvivedi
in
1957.
Both
editors,
who
consulted
a
number
of
manuscript
sources
in
the
preparation
of
their
works,
found
that
"standard
anthologies"
of
the
poetry
of
Gorakhnath
on
the
one
hand
and
a
number
oflater
Nath
Siddhas
on
the
other
have
existed
since
at
least
the
fourteenth
century
and
that
these
standard
gies
have
not
been
greatly
altered
over
time.
There
is,
moreover,
general
agreement
that
the
language
of
these
poems
appears
to
be
a
blend
of
gal
(Old
Raj
asthani)
,
western
Punjabi,
Kha91
BholI,
and
Apabhratp.sa.
68
Following
Gorakhnath,
whose
literary
output
(at
least
by
attribution),
in
both
the
medieval
vernaculars
and
Sanskrit
media,
dwarfs
that
of
any
other
Nath
Siddha
or,
for
that
matter,
nearly
any
other
medieval
poet,
we
find
the
following
frequently
recurring
"signatures"
on
the
medieval
mystic
etry
of
the
order.
These
authors,
in
order
of
the
volume
of
their
gized
literary
production,
are
(I)
Gorakh,
(2)
JatI
Hanavant,
(3)
Carpati,
(4)
GopIcand,
(5)
Bhartrhari,
(6)
Mahadev,
(7)
Datta
[treya],
(8)
Gh09a
ColI,
and
(9)
JalandharaIHa9
i
-pa.
Two
of
the
names
listed
here-Jad
Hanavant
(2)
and
Mahadev
(6),
who
figure
in
none
of
the
lists
of
the
nine
Nath
Siddhas-will
not
concern
us
here.
A
single
verse
from
a
poem
by
Bhartrhari
(5)
is
alchemica1.
69
There
are
no
alchemical
works
attributed
to
either
Caurailgi,
Kal)erI,
or
cand
(4),
nor
do
alchemical
references
appear
in
any
of
their
mystic
poems.
All
do,
however,
have
much
to
say
about
hatha
yoga,
and
alchemical
motifs
recur
in
all
of
their
legends.
The
sparse
extant
alchemical
works
of
Carpati
(3)
and
Gh09a
ColI
(8)
have
already
been
surveyed;
a
poem
contained
in
Dvivedi's
anthology,
the
"Sri
jI
ki
sabadI;'
is
a
short
treatise
on
the
subtle
body.
Carpati
also
figures
in
a
number
of
alchemical
legends.
70
The
two
short
poems
by
Naga
Arjan
found
in
Dvivedi's
anthology
contain
no
references
to
alchemy,?'
and
it
is
doubtful
that
this
is
the
same
figure
as
any
of
the
candidates
for
the
historical
alchemist
named
Nagarjuna.
While

133
Tantric
and
Siddha
Alchemical
Literature
none
of
his
poems
in
the
Nath
Siddha anthologies
treat
of
alchemy,
the
figure
of
Dattatreya
(7)
does
in
fact
bear
a
tenuous
connection
to
the
chemical
tradition:
the
Dattatreya
Tantra,
a
ca.
twelfth-century
work
uted
to
him,
contains
a
chapter
on
"magical"
alchemy.
A
lost
alchemical
work
perhaps
attributed
to
him
is
the
Rilsaratnavali
of
Guru
Datta
Siddha.72
Belonging
to
Dattatreya's
Maharashtran
lineage
is
[Siddha],
to
whom
two
lost
alchemical
works
have
been
attributed:
the
Rilsadarpa1?a
and
Rasarajafiroma1?i.
73
Major
Nath
Siddhas
who
are
conspicuous
by
their
relative
absence
from
these
vernacular
anthologies
are
Adinatha
(no
poems),
Matsyendra
(one
poem),
and
Caurailgi
(four
poems).
The
Sankali;'
Caurangi's
bution
to
the
standard
anthologies
is,
however,
exceptional
in
its
length,
content,
and
antiquity.
The
literary
productions
of
Matsyendra
and
juna
are
nearly
wholly
restricted
to
the
Sanskrit
medium.
There
are
a
number
of
Sanskrit
works
attributed
to
Adinatha.
As
with
Dattatreya
and
however,
it
is
difficult
to
determine
whether
we
are
to
take
these
as
the
works
of
a
historical
author,
or
rather
the
received
revelations
of
Siva,
the
"Lord
of
Beginnings;'
Some
of
these
works
belong
to
the
Western
Transmission/
4
however,
the
principal
work
attributed
to
Adinatha,
as
far
as
our
interests
are
concerned,
is
the
ca.
century
Khecarf
Vidya,
the
''Aviator's
Science;'
This
Sanskrit
work,
which
places
itself
squarely
in
the
hathayogic
tradition
of
the
Nath
Siddhas,
is
unique
in
that
its
final
chapter
is
devoted
to
a
description
of
the
alchemical
complement
to
yogic
practice.
As
such,
it
is
an
exemplary
work
of
Siddha
alchemy.75
None
of
the
eight
works
76
attributed
to
Matsyendranath-either
in
skrit
or
vernacular
languages-contains
any
alchemical
data.
This
withstanding,
his
teachings
are
recognized
by
a
vast
number
of
later
tantric
authors
as
fundamental
to
their
own
syntheses,
as
I
demonstrate
in
this
and
later
chapters.
A
mention
of
the
Siddha[-amrta]
Kaula
in
Matsyendra's
masterwork,
the
KJiiN
(I6.47a,
48b;
21-4-7),
is
significant
inasmuch
as
Siva-Bhairava
is
praised
as
the
leader
of
the
Siddha
Kaula
in
an
opening
verse
of
the
RA
(I.4b);
the
same
alchemical
work
(I8.228a)
closes
and
perhaps
takes
its
title
from-a
verse
it
appears
to
borrow
from
the
KJiiN
(IS.7a).
It
also
mentions
worship
of
the
Siddha
Cakra
(RA
14.24),
a
tantric
"systematic
genealogy"
in
which
Matsyendra
figures
prominently.
77
In
this,
we
may
see
that,
in
addition
to
his
pivotal
role
within
the
broader
tantric
tradition,
Matsyendra
also
constituted
a
bridge
between
stream
works
of
the
Hindu
tantric
tradition
and
the
alchemical
tantras.

134
Chapter
Five
Matsyendra's
KJfiN
is
itself
a
synthesis
of
the
Siddha
and
Yogini
Kaula
traditions,
inasmuch
as
it
portrays
the
latter
as
emerging
out
of
the
mer.78
The
Mrgendragama,
a
ninth-
to
tenth-century
Saivasiddhanta
work,
casts
the
two
as
separate
but
equal
groups:
"The
sages
know
of
eight
[other]
currents,
connected
respectively
to
Siva,
the
Mantrdvaras,
the
Gods,
Guhyas,
the
Yogini
Kaula
and
the
Siddha
Kaula
...
The
ginis
received
a
wisdom
that
immediately
causes
yoga
to
shine
forth.
It
was
called
yoginzkaula
because
it
never
went
beyond
the
limits
of
their
circle.
The
same
is
the
case
for
the
other
[i.e.,
the
Siddha
Kaula
current]."
This
relationship
between
Matsyendranath
the
Siddha
and
the
yoginzs
of
upa
(Assam)
becomes
the
subject
of
a
rich
body
of
Nath
Siddha
legend
in
later
centuries.
79
Matsyendra
also
constitutes
an
early
and
vital
link
between
two
nial
heartlands
of
tantric
practice:
eastern
India
(Assam,
Bengal,
Orissa)
and
Nepal.
While
his
KJiiN
was
revealed
in
Kamarupa,
both
the
oldest
manuscript
of
the
work
and
the
oldest
mythology
of
Matsyendra
hail
from
Nepal.
80
Nepal
has
also
long
been
the
homeland
of
the
Western
sion
and
its
cult
of
Kubjika,
and
it
is
in
the
Kathmandu
Valley
that
nearly
all
the
important
manuscripts
of
the
Western
Tradition
scriptures
are
found.
A
great
number
of
other
data,
some
of
which
I
have
already
noted,
further
link
Matsyendra
(and
later
Gorakh)
with
this
latter
Kaula
tradition.
Both
the
revelations
of
Matsyendra's
Yogini
Kaula
and
the
Western
mission
were
"brought
down"
at
the
"lunar"
site
of
Candra-dvipa
(or
Candra-giri)81-
even
if,
in
Matsyendra's
case,
Candradvipa
is
to
be
tified
with
coastal
Assam
and
the
Western
Transmission's
Candradvipa
or
Candragiri
with
coastal
Karnataka.
The
YSA
locates
Gorakh's
birthplace
at
Candragiri,
"on
the
shore
of
the
Godavari
River"
in
western
India.
82
The
KJiiN
of
Matsyendra
and
the
Western
Transmission's
KNI
contain
the
earliest
extant
references
we
have
to
the
six
cakras
of
hathayogic
tice.
Whereas
the
earliest
mention
of
the
six
cakras
of
Hindu
83
hafha
yoga
appears
in
an
eighth-century
A.D.
literary
source,
the
Malati
Madhava
of
Bhavabhuti,84
a
number
of
scholars
maintain
that
it
was
in
such
Western
Transmission
works
as
the
Kubjikamata
(KM)
that
these
practices
were
first
discussed
systematically.85
Here,
I
offer
evidence
to
the
contrary.
In
fact,
Matsyendra's
KJfiN
gives
a
more
extensive
account
of
the
subject
than
does
the
KNI.
In
KJfiN
17.2b-4a,
Matsyendra
lists
the
six
cakras
by
their
tions
i.e.:
(I)
gilqha
(anus),
(2)
guhya
(genitals),
(3)
nabhi
(navel),
(4)
hrd
(heart),
(5)
ghaTffikagrantha
(throat),
and
(6)
bhriimadhye
(between
the
eye-

135
Tantric
and
Siddha
Alchemical
Literature
brows),
to
which
he
adds
the
crowning
brahmarandhra;86
he
notes
the
niques
of
prii1!iiyiima
and
kapiilabheda
(20.2b-3a),
khecarf
mudrii
(6.18-19),
"binding"
and
"piercing"
(4-II);
and
one
may
discern
in
matsyodara
belly"),
the
name
he
gives
for
his
sect
in
the
fourth
and
present
age,
the
Kali
Yuga,
an
occult
reference
to
the
hathoyogic
technique
of
matic
retention
(kumbhaka).87
There
is,
moreover,
no
conclusive
evidence
to
prove
that
Matsyendra's
YoginI
Kaula
and
KJiiN
are
later
than
the
ern
Transmission's
Kubjika
cult
and
KM.
On
the
one
hand,
the
earliest
manuscript
of
the
KJiiN
is
older
than
the
oldest
Kubjika
manuscripts;88
Abhinavagupta
mentions
Macchandanatha
89
and
the
KM;90
and
both
hinavagupta
91
and
the
KM92
mention
Matsyendra's
YoginI
Kaula.
On
the
other
hand,
Matsyendra
makes
no
direct
mention
of
either
the
goddess
Kubjika,
the
Western
Transmission,
or
Abhinavagupta's
Trika
Kaula.
Matsyendranath's
pivotal
role
in
the
history
of
tantric
sectarianism
became
further
expanded
when
the
myth
of
his
"recovery"
of
the
original
tantric
teachings
of
Siva
related
in
the
KJiiN
(16.27-36)
became
priated
as
the
origin
myth
of
the
Eastern
Transmission
(purviimniiya),
that
tradition
within
which
the
Trika
Kaula
scriptures
were
classified.
It
is
moreover
through
an
appropriation
of
this
myth
that
Abhinavagupta
was
able
to
reincorporate-into
the
"secret
worship"
of
the
same
Trika
Kaula
whose
reforms
had
removed
such
practices
from
the
public
the
orgiastic,
power
substance-based
observances
that
had
been
inherited
from
the
Kapalika
practices
associated
with
the
scriptures
of
the
old
Vidya
PItha.
This
he
did by
adapting
into
his
synthesis
the
diagrammatic
ing
of
that
Eastern
Transmission
"systematic
genealogy"
known
as
the
dha
Cakra,
the
"Circle
of
the
Siddhas;'
This
diagram
was
used
as
a
support
for
the
tantric
worship
of
the
Kaula
lineage
deities
(Kuldvara,
Kuldvarl,
and
the
eight
Mother
Goddesses
together
with
their
Bhairava
consorts),
as
well
as
of
the
yuganiithas,
the
"Naths
of
the
Cosmic
Ages:'
i.e.,
the
Kaula
masters
who
taught
in
the
four
yugas.
Of
these
four
mythic
Naths,
each
of
whom
bore
an
animal
name,
the
fourth
and
last,
associated
with
our
own
Fourth
Age
was
Macchanda
(i.e.,
Matsyendra).93
While
Macchanda
was
identified
with
the
northern
direction
in
the
Siddha
Cakra,
his
female
sort
was
named
Konkal).a,
whose
name
again
evokes
the
region
in
which
SrInatha
and
the
"Nine
Naths"
founded
the
Western
Transmission.
The
Siddhas
as
a
group
are
placed
in
the
southern
quadrant
of
this
diagram,
and
the
siddhaugha
("Siddha
stream")
in
the
western
quadrant.
94
We
may
therefore
see
in
this
diagram
evidence
both
for
the
tantric
reappropriation

13
6
Chapter
Five
of
the
preexisting
cult
of
the
divine
Siddhas
and
for
the
incorporation
of
certain
human
or
divinized
Siddhas,
led
by
Matsyendra,
into
that
elite
circle.
The
Trika
Kaula
considered
Macchandanatha
to
have
been
the
founder
of
the
kula,
the
line
of
transmission
of
the
Kaula
tantras.
This
is
explained
in
a
myth
according
to
which
Macchanda
fathered
twelve
sons,
sending
six
of
them
out
(from
Srisailam)
into
the
Indian
subcontinent
to
found
six
Kaula
orders
in
the
Fourth
Age:
these
are
the
six
ovallis
("currents
of
trine")
of
the
Trika
Kaula.
95
Elsewhere,
it
is
likely
that
Matsyendra's
ings
also
influenced
the
development
of
the
Buddhist
Kapalika-Yoginl
cult
within
the
highest
yoga
tantra
(anuttarayoga)
current
of
Vajrayana
dhism.
96
To
what
are
we
to
attribute
Matsyendra's
pivotal
role?
The
answer
to
this
question
may
be
elicited
from
a
passing
reference
made
by
vagupta
to
the
distinction
between
the
earlier
Kula
practices
of
primitive
tantrism,
and
the
later
Kaula
traditions,
for
which
Matsyendra's
reforms
would
have
constituted
a
watershed.
In
the
words
of
Alexis
Sanderson,
The
distinction
between
Kula
and
Kaula
traditions
...
is
best
taken
to
refer
to
the
clan-structured
tradition
of
the
cremation-grounds
seen
in
the
Brahmayiimala-Picumata,
Jayadratha
Yiimala,
sadbhiiva,
Siddhayogefvarfmata
Tantra,
etc.
(with
its
Kapalika
kaulikii
on
the
one
hand
and
on
the
other
its
reformation
and
mestication
through
the
banning
of
mortuary
and
all
sect-identifying
signs
(vyaktalingatii),
generally
associated
with
endra.
97
In
other
words,
Siddha
Matsyendra,
founder
of
the
Yoginl
Kaula,
shifted
the
emphasis
of
early
tantrism
away
from
the
"terrible"
practices
and
based
(Kula)
system
featured
in
the
scriptures
of
the
Vidya
Pl!ha,
and
towards
the
erotico-mystical
practices
that
became
the
bedrock
of
later
Kaulism.
In
the
ninth
and
tenth
centuries,
we
witness
the
emergence
and
three-stage
evolution
of
Trika
Kaulism,
which
reached
its
peak
of
ment,
in
the
eleventh
century,
in
the
exegetical
summa
of
Abhinavagupta
and
his
disciple
K!?emaraja.
While
publicly
carrying
Matsyendra's
reforms
to
a
still
higher
level
of
abstraction
(in
order
to
render
Trika
ritual
able
to
the
broader
Kashmiri
Saiva
community),
the
Trika
reformers
served,
as
a
cult
of
their
virtuosi,98
the
erotic
ritual
of
Matsyendra's
Yoginl
Kaula,
described
in
the
KJfiN
Whereas
early
(pre-A.D.
800)
Trika
and
the
KJfiN
both
emphasized
the
cult
of
yoginfs
(who
were
to
be
invoked
with

137
Tantric
and
Siddha
Alchemical
Literature
offerings
and
the
communal
consumption
of
blood,
flesh,
wine,
and
sexual
fluids),99
Abhinavagupta's
later
synthesis
toned
down
the
grimmer
side
of
the
public
cult
while
promulgating
a
"sublimated"
form
of
its
mystical
practices
for
public
consumption.
lOo
(The
notion
of
the
kula
ertheless
remains
operative
in
the
Kaula
context.
The
Kaulas
are
those
sons
who
belong
to
a
kula,
i.e.,
to
a
clan
lineage,
a
particular
tantric
line
of
transmission
through
a
series
of
masters
and
disciples,
and
who
make
use
of
the
power
substance
of
the
Goddess's
sexual
emission,
also
called
kula).101
Abhinavagupta's
reinterpretation
of
the
kula
practices
turned
ciallyon
the
matter
of
sexual
orgasm
and
the
use
of
its
by-products:
While
its
principal
purpose
in
the
Vidyapl!ha
was
to
produce
the
power-substances
needed
to
gratify
the
deities,
here
the
ritual
of
ulation
is
aestheticised
...
the
emphasis
has
now
moved
to
orgasm
itself.
It
is
no
longer
principally
a
means
of
production.
It
is
a
leged
means
of
access
to
a
blissful
expansion
of
consciousness
in
which
the
deities
of
the
Kula
permeate
and
obliterate
the
ego
of
the
worshipper.
102
Even
as
he
plays
to
the
Kashmir
Saiva
gallery,
Abhinavagupta
does
in
fact
retain
the
concrete
use
of
sexual
fluids
in
the
secret
ritual
of
those
initiated
into
the
Trika
Kaula.103
In
certain
cases,
he
prescribes,
for
the
attainment
of
siddhis,
the
consumption
of
sexual
fluids
after
intercourse.
Here,
the
partners
are
to
pass
these
fluids
from
mouth
to
mouth
prior
to
placing
them
into
a
collecting
vessel
as
an
offering
to
the
gods
of
the
tric
"sacrifice."
104
In
the
Siddha
Cakra
worship
of
the
yuganathas,
the
ciant
offers
to
Bhairava
(with
whom
he
has
identified
himself),
as
well
as
to
the
circle
of
energies
that
surround
him,
by
drinking
a
mixture
of
male
and
female
sexual
fluid
from
a
sacrificial
jar.
lOS
Noteworthy
here
is
the
gloss
given
by
Jayaratha,
the
thirteenth-century
commentator
on
the
TA,
for
the
term
siddhi:
he
identifies
this
term
with
pi'f!4asthairya,
"stability
of
the
body,"
which
is
precisely
the
watchword
of
the
alchemical
RA
(I.I4b,
ISa,
2Sb)
and
the
hathayogic
works
of
the
Nath
Siddhas.
In
the
same
mentary,
Jayaratha
refers
to
the
fluids
produced
by
sex
as
"the
best
of
irs
(rasayana)!'
106
Elsewhere,
Abhinavagupta
employs
alchemical
imagery
to
describe
the
abstract
states
of
consciousness
ideally
realized
by
the
practitioner.
So,
for
example,
he
compares
the
attainment
of
absolute
consciousness
with
the
transmutation,
by
mercury,
of
base
metals
into
gold;
and
speaks
of
the
burning
away
of
all
difference
within
the
"stomach
of
consciousness"
in
a

13
8
Chapter
Five
way
that
draws
an
analogy
between
digestion
in
the
gross
body,
the
effects
of
hatha
yoga
and
alchemy
on
the
subtle
body,
and
the
gnoseological
tification
between
the
finite
and
absolute
self.107
Elsewhere,
he
invokes
Matsyendra's
"fish-belly"
technique,
stating
that
the
yogin
is
to
"repose
devoted
to
the
condition
of
the
belly
of
fish!'
108
In
this,
the
Trika
Kaula
theoreticians,
even
as
they
effected
their
formation
of
Hindu
tantra,
remained
in
touch
with
the
concrete
ground
of
the
tantric
enterprise,
which
was
and
remains
human
sexual
fluids
and
their
symbolic
correlates.
The
cosmic
force
that
activates
and
actualizes
every
facet
of
tantric
practice-that
originates
from
the
womb
of
the
Goddess
and
passes
through
every
link
in
the
chain
of
transmission,
from
guru
to
disciple
and
thence
to
his
or
her
disciple,
via
the
inner
channels
of
yogic
transformation
and
through
the
channels
that
energize
the
mystic
grams
that
serve
as
supports
for
worship
and
meditation-is
ultimately
nothing
other
than
a
stream
(ogha)
or
flow
(srotas)
of
sexual
fluid.
The
life
and
structure
of
the
tantric
family
or
clan
(kula)
is
defined
by
the
life-
and
immortality-giving
flow
of
the
clan
essence
(kulamrta)
that
is
transmitted,
concretely
and
in
the
form
of
sexual
fluids,
in
tantric
initiation
and
worship
rituals.
This
is
attested
in
a
wide
array
of
sources.
In
his
KJfiN
(22.2-3),
Matsyendra
speaks
of
the
transmission
of
the
kaulamrta
through
the
six
yoginlsj
elsewhere,
his
entire
twenty-first
chapter,
in
which
he
discusses
the
kaula-sadbhava
("true
essence
of
the
Kaula"),
is
of
the
same
order:
this
term
as
well
is
used
to
designate
the
yoginl's
sexual
emission.109
Down
to
the
present
day,
Assamese
tantrikas
identify
their
"lineage
nectar"
rta)
with
the
goddess's
menstrual
fluid
or
the
commingled
sexual
fluids
of
Siva
and
the
Goddess.
llo
If
then
the
preservation
of
the
universe
depends
upon-indeed,
is
ing
other
than-the
endless
cosmic
orgasm
of
the
divine,
and
if
the
bliss
of
orgasm
is
that
human
experience
which
is
closest
to
the
very
being
of
godhead,
then
the
stuff
of
orgasm-male
semen
and
the
female
sexual
emission
and
uterine
blood-will,
of
necessity,
playa
vital
role
in
the
tric
quest
for
divine
autonomy,
immortality,
and
power.
No
matter
how
abstract
and
refined
tantric
practice
has
become
over
the
centuries
ing
Abhinavagupta's
reformation
of
the
Trika
Kaula,
sexual
fluids
remain
present,
in
one
or
another
sublimated
form,
to
every
sect
or
order
claiming
tantric
affiliation.
In
the
idealist
and
nondualist
syntheses
of
gupta
and
the
sublimation
of
sexual
fluids
took
the
(outer)
form
of
a
remarkably
complex
and
coherent
semanticization
of
ritual
(especially

139
Tantric
and
Siddha
Akhemical
Literature
in
the
realm
of
ritual
mantra),
which
was
subsequently
adopted
into
the
Srividya
cult
of
the
Southern
Transmission
(dakfi1fiimniiya).111
These
intellectualized,
abstract
forms
of
late
"high"
Hindu
which
have,
of
late,
defined
the
field
of
western
scholarship
on
fall
outside
the
purview
of
the
present
study.
I
12
We
will
rather
concentrate
on
the
Siddha
perpetuation
of
the
tantric
legacy,
a
tradition
whose
three
components
are
neatly
summarized
by
the
great
tantric
scholar
Gopinath
Kaviraj:
"Some
...
were
accomplished
(siddha)
in
the
chemical
path
(rasa-miirga),
some
accomplished
through
hafha
yoga,
and
still
others
had
perfected
themselves
through
tantric
practices
or
through
the
use
of
sexual
fluids
(bindu-siidhana)."
113
Herein
lies
the
"Siddha
tion."
Whereas
the
tantric
synthesis
generally
ignores
alchemy
and
gates
hafha
yoga
to
a
secondary
role
in
its
hierarchy
of
practice
while
ing
a
very
high
premium
on
worship
through
the
use
of
real
or
sublimated
sexual
fluids,
the
Siddha
traditions
privilege
all
three
forms
of
mentary
practice.
The
guiding
principle
here
remains
one
of
controlling
a
universe
that
is
understood
to
be
a
body,
the
body
of
the
divine
consort
of
Siva,
the
body
of
one's
own
consort,
and
the
feminine
in
one's
own
body.
In
the
Siddha
play
of
analogies
between
microcosm
and
cosm,
and
the
corresponding
hierarchies
of
the
interpenetrating
realms
of
universal
being,
this
body
is
at
once
a
divine,
human,
and
alchemical
body,
to
be
perfected
through
yogic,
alchemical,
and
erotico-mystical
practice.
Following Matsyendra's
lead
is
Gorakh
who
is,
in
nearly
every
Nath
Siddha
lineage
reckoning,
called
the
disciple
of
Matsyendra/Mina.
While
Gorakh
certainly
embraced
and
greatly
expanded
upon
the
hathayogic
pole
of
Siddha
practice,
his
relationship
to
those
of
erotico-mystical
ritual
and
alchemy
is
more
ambiguous.
In
spite
of
the
fact
that
the
historical
Gorakh
and
Matsyendra
lived
at
least
three
centuries
apart,
a
rich
body
of
legend
describes
the
freeing
of
Matsyendra,
by
Gorakh,
from
sexual
bondage
in
a
Kingdom
of
Women
in
Assam.
As
I
will
demonstrate
in
a
later
chapter,
this
is
a
narrativization
of
the
reforms
Gorakh
effected
within
the
(Nath)
Siddha
tradition,
which
he
purged
of
its
erotico-mystical
elements
in
favor
of
a
nearly
exclusively
hathayogic
emphasis.
It
nonetheless
remains
the
case
that
Gorakh
is
considered
to
have
been
the
author,
if
only
by
attribution,
of
a
distinctly
Western
Transmission
text,
entitled
the
Gorakfa
Samhitii,
that
was
devoted
to
precisely
this
sort
of
practice.
In
fact,
there
exist
no
fewer
than
three
major
works
known
by
the

Chapter
Five
title
of
Gorak{a
Samhita,
in
which
we
find
all
three
of
the
building
blocks
of
the
medieval
Siddha
traditions:
alchemy,
hatha
yoga,
and
tantric
worship
involving
the
use
of
sexual
fluids.
The
first
of
the
three
works,
entitled
the
"Kadi
Prakaral).a"
of
the
Gorak{a
Samhita,
is
a
thirteenth-century
Sakra
work belonging
to
the
canon
of
the
Western
Transmission,
yet
another
indication
of
the
interconnectedness
of
this
and
Nath
Siddha
traditions.
114
(Its
ninth
chapter
is
attributed
to
another
Nath
Siddha,
Jalandhara.
Like
the
rest
of
the
Kadi
Prakaral).a
this
chapter
is
Sakta
in
its
orientation.)1l5
This
is
a
work
in
twenty-seven
chapters
which,
devoted
for
the
most
part
to
tantric
worship
of
the
Goddess
in
a
variety
of
her
forms,
also
lends
space
to
a
discussion
of
hatha
yoga,
the
Siddhas
of
the
Western
Transmission,
and
tantric
cosmology.
Another
thirteenth-century
work,
also
referred
to
by
certain
authors
as
the
Gorak{a
Samhita,
is
one
of
the
major
texts
of
the
tantric
alchemical
tradition.
This,
by
far
the
most
voluminous
alchemical
work
attributed
to
Gorakh,
is
variously
known
as
the
Gorak{a
Samhita,
BhiltiprakaraTfa
[BhP],
Svacchandafaktyavatara,
and
Hadibheda.
It
is,
nonetheless,
cast
as
a
dialogue
between
and
the
goddess
Uma,
the
former
being,
much
like
Adinatha,
a
pseudonym
for
Siva
in
works
of
the
Western
Transmission.
I
discuss
this
alchemical
work
at
length
later
in
this
chapter.
Apart
from
the
Bhp,
a
small
number
of
Gorakh's
vernacular
mystic
poems
and
technical
writings
in
Sanskrit
include
references
to
alchemy;
curiously,
as
many
of
these
disparage
alchemy
as
praise
it.
In
the
latter
category,
the
sixth
Pad
of
his
banfs
presents
an
allegorized
description
of
the
yogic
body
as
a
smithy
cum
alchemical
laboratory.1l6
Another
vernacular
work
attributed
to
Gorakh,
entitled
the
Yogadtpika,
is
written
in
the
Old
Kannada
uage.
I
have
not
consulted
this
work;
however,
a
description
of
it
leads
me
to
believe
that
it
is
a
south
Indian
version
of
the
Hathayoga
Pradtpika
of
Svatmarama,
a
fifteenth-century
work
that
borrows
heavily
from
the
Gorak{a
Sataka
and
other
Sanskrit
hathayogic
works
attributed
to
akh.
Unlike
the
HYP,
however,
the
Yogadfpika
contains
some
alchemical
passages.
ll7
By
far
the
most
important
body
of
teaching
attributed
to
Gorakh,
in
both
the
Sanskrit
and
vernacular
media,
is
that
consecrated
to
hatha
yoga,
in
which
field
he
was
India's
major
systematizer
and
innovator.
Gorakh's
major
poetic
works,
anthologized
in
the
Gorakh
Bani,
include
the
Sabadi,
Pad,
Pral).
Sankali,
[Machindra-]
Gorakh
Bodh,
Gyan
Tilak,
Atma
Bodh,
Caubis
Siddhi,
Danian,
Naravai
Bodh,
and
Kafir
Bodh.
Another
portant
vernacular
work,
not
included
in
this
anthology,
is
the
Gorakh

Tantric
and
Siddha
Akhemical
Literature
Upani{ad.
118
A
great
number
of
hathayogic
works,
written
in
Sanskrit,
are
attributed
to
Gorakh.
There
is
a
great
deal
of
overlap
between
these
texts,
most
of
which
appear
to
be
elaborations
on
the
so-called
Gorak{a
Sataka,
the
"Hundred
Stanzas
of
(of
which
the
critical
edition
contains
201
verses!),
which
is
datable
to
the
thirteenth
century.
119
These
works
clude
the
Amanaska
Yoga,
Amaraugha
Prabodha,
Amaraughafiisana,
Gorak{a
Siddhiinta
San:tgraha,
Gorak{a
Paddhati,
Mahiirthamafijarl,
Siddha
Siddhiinta
Paddhati,
Vivekamiirta1?4a,
Yogamiirta1?4a,
Yogablja,
and
Yogacintiima1?i.
120
As
for
the
"third:'
hathayogic
Gorak{a
Samhitii,
this
is
a
work
that
ously
links
Gorakh
with
Dattatreya,
who,
in
western
India
and
tra
in
particular,
is
more
of
a
god
(incorporating
Brahma,
Vigm,
and
Siva-but
especially
his
iconography)
than
a
legendary
human
figure;
and
in
this
he
plays
a
role
similar
to
that
of
Adinatha.
Yet,
there
was
at
least
one
historical
Dattatreya,
who
authored
a
number
of
works
on
yoga
and
tantra
in
the
twelfth
to
thirteenth
century.
In
fact,
the
century
Siirilgadhara
Paddhati
goes
so
far
as
to
classify
the
two
major
forms
of
yogic
practice,
the
"six-limbed"
practice
and
the
"eight-limbed"
tice,
as
"Gorakhnathi"
and
"that
of
the
son
of
(a
reference
to
Dattatreya,
inasmuch
as
it
is
this
figure
who
reveals
the
yogic
doctrine
of
the
Miirka1?4eya
Purii1?a)
respectively.
In
the
Gorakh
Upani{ad,
Gorakh
terms
the
former
akula
and
the
latter
avadhuta.
121
Indeed, there
exists
a
work
entitled
the
Dattiitreyagorak{a
Samviida
(A
Conversation
between
Dattatreya
and
whose
principal
subject
is
yogic
practice.
This
work
is
known
by
a
number
of
other
names,
however.
The
most
common
of
these
is
the
title
Avadhuta
GUii,
which
indeed
mentions
both
Dattatreya
and
in
its
opening
verses.
122
However,
this
dialogue
appears
to
be
nothing
other
than
the
fifth
and
final
chapter
of
the
hathayogic
Gorak{a
Samhitii
(whose
third
chapter
moreover
bears
a
striking
blance
to
the
Akulavlra
Tantra
of
Matsyendranath).
The
organization
of
this
third,
hathayogic,
Gorak{a
Samhitii
also
resembles
that
of
the
Siddha
Siddhiinta
Paddhati,
another
of
Gorakh's
seminal
hathyogic
works.
The
Gorak{a
Paddhati,
a
manual
on
hafha
yoga,
also
refers
to
itself,
at
one
point,
as
the
Gorak{a
Samhitii.
123
In
fact,
the
alchemical
Gorak{a
Samhitii,
i.e.,
the
BhP
(9.133),
states
that
the
Gorak{a
Samhitii
is
a
work
in
five
parts.
124
In
the
light
of
the
evidence
we
have
passed
in
review,
we
must
conclude
that
these
were
originally
independent
works
which
became
concatenated
into
the
Gorak{a
Samhitii,
Compendium:'
a
fact
that
points,
if
nothing
else,
to
Gorakhnath's
imposing
medieval
reputation
as
a
Siddha
virtuouso.

Chapter
Five
3.
On
the
"Tantric"
Element
in
Tantric
and
Siddha
Alchemy
A
number
of
scholars
have
maintained
that
neither
hafha
yoga
nor
alchemy
is,
properly
speaking,
a
component
of
Hindu
Tantra.
125
To
the
extent
that
mainstream
tantric
literature
appears
to
turn
a
blind
eye
toward
the
two
disciplines,
or
at
least
ignores
the
names
of
their
founders
or
exponents
in
their
elaborate
"systematic
genealogies;'
this
contention
appears
to
have
an
element
of
truth
to
it.
The
matter
is,
however,
of
a
rather
more
complex
order.
On
the
one
hand,
a
number
of
tantric
sources
do
mention
alchemy
and
hafha
yoga,
either
directly
or
by
way
of
illustrating
this
or
that
abstract
concept
or
process.
On
the
other,
the
alchemical
and
hathayogic
sources
themselves
often
claim
to
be
tantric.
Finally,
there
is
the
matter
of
ogy.
With
the
important
exception
of
Matsyendra,
who,
as
we
have
seen,
is
included
in
tantric
reckonings
oflineage
founders,
nearly
all
the
cal
and
hathayogic
teachers
and
authors
postdate
the
foundational
tantric
compendia
and
their
postscriptural
systematizations.
In
his
compelling
study
of
Sakta
tantrism,
Douglas
Brooks
argues
for
a
polythetic
approach
to
"tantric"
phenomena,
in
which
one
is
to
look
to
family
resemblances
between
the
various
tantras
(texts
with
the
word
tra
in
their
title,
sects
which
claim
such
texts
to
be
their
foundational
tures,
etc.)
without
taking
any
single
feature
or
body
of
features
found
in
such
traditions
to
be
normative.
126
It
is
such
an
approach
that
I
follow
here
in
my
treatment
of
Hindu
alchemy,
the
discourse
of
which
was
as
much
"in
the
air"
in
medieval
India
as
were
the antinomian
cremation-ground
rites
of
the
Kapalikas
and
the
refined
metaphysics
of
Abhinavagupta
and
araja.
Here,
we
will
assert
that
Hindu
alchemy
is
tantric
because
(a)
it
says
it
is;
(b)
it
is
tantric
in
its
language
and
referents;
(c)
it
is
tantric
in
its
physics;
(d)
it
is
tantric
in
its
practice;
(e)
it
is
tantric
in
its
theology;
(f)
it
is
tantric
in
its
goals;
and
(g)
alchemical
terminology
is
employed
sively
or
metaphorically
in
tantric
works
of
a
more
general
order.
The
alchemical
classics
are
revealed
by
the
same
gods
(Siva,
Bhairava,
Srlka1).!TIa)
to
the
same
goddesses
(DevI,
BhairavI,
Sakti,
C31).qI[ka])
as
are
the
majority
of
Hindu
tantras.
Their
form
and
style
are
tantric,
with
most
texts
consisting
of
"semidialogues"
between
god
and
goddess.
Several
chemical
preparations
bear
the
names
of
tantric
deities
(NIlaka1).!TIa,
dabhairava,
Svacchandabhairava,
Lokanatha,
etc.).127
A
great
number
of
alchemical
classics
contain
the
term
Tantra
in
their
titles:
128
others
call
themselves
Sarizhitiis,
or
-matas,
also
appellations
proper
to
the
broader

143
Tantric
and
Siddha
Alchemical
Literature
tantric
tradition.
129
The
content
of
these
works
contains
references
to
a
number
of
tantric
sects
(the
Kaulas,
Kapalikas,
Pascimamnaya,
etc.),
while
a
number
of
alchemical
authors
and
Rasa
Siddhas
(Nagarjuna,
[-keSvara],
Carpa!i,
Manthanabhairava,
and
Svacchandabhairava)
bear
the
same
names
as
do
the
divine
or
legendary
founders
of
other
tric
traditions.
Also
in
the
pages
of
the
alchemical
sources,
we
find
myriad
references
to
the
mystic
geography
of
tantrism,
concerning
the
fakta
plfhas
of
the
Goddess
as
well
as
the
Himalayan
and
other
mountain
shrines
generally
associated
with
the
cult
of
Siva.
Tantric
mantras,
yantras,130
initiation,
13l
forms
of
worship
and
devotion
to
the
tantric
gods,
and
"guruism"
132
also
figure
in
the
alchemical
sources.
Lastly,
Hindu
alchemy
is
tantric
in
its
goals
and
in
the
means
it
priates
to
realize
those
goals.
Total
autonomy,
omniscience,
superhuman
powers,
bodily
immortality,
and
a
virtual
identification
with
though
not
at
the
expense
of
one's
autonomy-are
the
aims
of
the
Hindu
alchemist,
just
as
they
are
of
the
great
majority
of
nondualist
tantrikas.
133
In
a
more
general
sense,
Hindu
alchemy
shares
the
same
universe
as
do
many
of
the
other
medieval
Hindu
traditions
that
identified
themselves
as
tantric
and
which
western
and
Indian
scholars
alike
today
identify
with
tantrism,
particularly
of
the
nondualist
variety.134
This
is
a
divine,
affirming
1l5
universe,
the
field
upon
which
the
godhead
fully
realizes
itself,
and
offers
realization
to
those
humans
who
propitiate
it.
It
is
also
an
thropic
136
universe,
seemingly
created
for
human
self-realization,
with
man
the
measure
of
all
things
and
that
creature
who
is
specifically
adapted
to
plumbing
the
depths
of
its
mysteries.
The
tantric
universe
is
a
pulsating,
vibratory
universe,137
in
which
matter,
souls,
and
sound
are
the
stuff
of
the
outpouring
of
godhead
into
manifestation,
with
godhead
generally
fied
with
Siva
and
his
self-manifestation
or
self-reflection
taking
the
form
of
the
Goddess.138
It
is
a
bipolar,
sexualized
universe,
139
in
which
all
change
and
transformation
are
viewed
as
so
many
instances
of
an
interpenetration
of
male
and
female
principles,
with
metaphysical
categories,
animals,
plants,
and
minerals
all
being
possessed
of
a
gender
marking.
It
is
a
tically
hierarchized
universe,
in
which
that
which
is
higher,
closer
to
the
source
of
all
manifestation,
is
subtler
and
capable
of
encompassing,
trating
into,
and
reabsorbing
into
itself
that
which
is
lower
on
the
great
chain
of
being.
It
is
a
radiating
universe,
140
with
the
source
of
the
manifest
world
being
located
at
the
center
of
a
vast
network
of
metaphysical
ries,
divinities,
phonemes,
etc.,
all
of
which
are
interconnected
through
a

144
Chapter
Five
complex
interplay
of
correspondences.
And,
ultimately,
the
tantric
universe
is
an
emancipating
universe,
a
universe
that
is
primordially
and
virtually
free:
born
of
the
boundless
playing
out
of
divine
consciousness,
its
every
constituent
part,
including
the
human
body
and
spirit,
as
well
as
brute
ter,
are
intrinsically
free.
Tantrism
therefore
places
a
high
premium
on
perience-bodily,
practical,
concrete
experience-which,
in
conjunction
with
knowledge,
is
liberating.
141
4-
Hindu
Alchemy:
The
"Canonical"
Works
Generating
a
description
of
the
Hindu
alchemical
canon
is
a
perilous
task,
given
the
number
of
Rasa
Siddhas
whose
works
are
either
unknown
or
not
extant
on
the
one
hand
and
the
paucity
of
critical
editions
of
extant
chemical
works
on
the
other.
Also
clouding
the
picture
is
the
absence
of
any
certitude
that
the
texts
which
have
come
down
to
us
are
single-author
works
and
not
compilations
made
over
a
period
of
several
centuries.
Much
of
what
follows
will
therefore
be
tentative,
given
the
numerous
gray
or
blank
areas
remaining
in
our
textual
"map"
of
the
Hindu
alchemical
tion.
To
this
point,
the
limited
historical
treatment
I
have
given
of
certain
of
these
major
works
has
been
based,
for
the
most
part,
on
data
external
to
the
texts
themselves.
Here,
the
analysis
will
be
based
on
textual
and
textual
data.
The
presentation
of
the
"canon"
will
follow
what
I
feel
to
be
the
most
plausible
chronological
order.
In
fact,
the
evidence
at
our
disposal
indicates
that
most
of
the
alchemical
classics
were
compiled
over
a
tively
brief
period,
with
the
great
majority
being
generated
within
a
two
hundred-year
span
covering
the
twelfth
and
thirteenth
centuries.
Just
as
exegetes
evoke
the
"five
attributes"
(pancalakfa1Ja)
that
define
a
so
we
can
point
to
a
number
of
common
features,
or
family
blances,
that
unite
the
major
works
of
the
tantric
alchemical
canon.
These
include
(I)
an
opening
statement
concerning
the
divine
origins
and
ness
of
mercury
and
sulfur,
and
(2)
a
praise
of
the
alchemical
path
as
rior
to
all
other
Hindu
forms
of
religious
practice.
Here,
bodily
liberation
(jivanmuktt)
is
compared
favorably
to
the
impersonal
workings
of
mokfa,
and
the
complementarity
of
yogic
and
alchemical
practice
is
noted.
(3)
Many
works
include
origin
myths
of
mercury,
sulfur,
and
other
of
the
prime
chemical
reagents.
(4)
Many
also
contain
an
aphorism
in
their
ing
chapter
that
is
quite
identical
from
one
text
to
another:
"Swooned,
mercury
...
drives
away
disease;
killed,
it
revives
itself;
bound,
it
affords

145
Tantric
and
Siddha
Alchemical
Literature
the
power
of
flight!'
(5)
Ritual
worship,
initiation,
and
the
use
of
mar:4alas,
mantras,
etc.
as
necessary
adjuncts
to
the
manipulation
of
alchemical
stances
are
stressed
in
most
works.
(6)
The
alchemical
laboratory
and
its
apparatus
(yantras),
crucibles
(mUfas)
,
and
enclosed
"fire-pits"
for
the
roasting
of
mercurial
preparations
(pufas),
and
materiae
primae
(herbs,
minerals,
gemstones,
metals,
animal
substances,
salts,
etc.)
are
described.
Most
sources
list
eight
primary
(maharasas)
and
eight
secondary
(uparasas)
minerals,
nine
gemstones
(ratnas),
anywhere
from
six
to
twelve
metals
(10-
has,
dhatus),
and
(7)
eighteen
principal
alchemical
operations
(san:zskaras).
Following
this,
most
alchemical
works
launch
into
(8)
an
extended
sion
of
these
operations,
by
means
of
which
mercury
and
other
minerals
and
metals
are
prepared
and
combined
prior
to
transmutation,
(9)
followed
by
a
discussion
of
applications
of
said
preparations
to
the
human
body
of
the
alchemist,
by
which
he
is
rendered
immortal.
(10)
Later
works
also
contain
sections
on
the
preparations
of
various
elixirs
and
aphrodisiacs,
to
therapeutic
ends:
this
is
rogavada,
the
appropriation
of
tantric
alchemy
into
Ayurvedic
mercury-based
pharmacy
(rasa
fastra).
As
is
the
case
with
most
Tantras,
these
works
are
written
in
a
dialogue
style,
in
which
Siva-Bhairava
reveals
the
alchemical
gnosis
to
Bhairavi.
Unlike
most
Tantras,
however,
a
great
emphasis
is
placed
on
texts
(fastras,
granthas)
as
opposed
to
knowledge
communicated
orally
by
a
ter,
even
if
initiation
by
a
guru
is
described
in
many
of
these
works.
No
single
alchemical
Tantra
contains
all
of
these
elements;
all
contain
some
of
them,
and
some
contain
additional
elements.
Not
all
of
the
texts
I
review
here
are,
properly
speaking,
alchemical
tantras;
in
fact,
only
five
of
the
Rttsarr:ava,
Kiikacar:4efuartmata,
Rttsendra
Mangala,
Rttsaratnakara,
and
Bhutiprakarar:a-can
be
said
to
belong
to
this
category.
What
distinguishes
these
from
the
other
major
alchemical
works
is
their
overriding
dehavada
emphasis
upon
bodily
immortality
as
the
alchemist's
ultimate
goal.
Here,
they
may
be
contrasted
with
the
softer
line
taken
by
Mahesvara
Siddha
works,
which
may
be
qualified
as
muktivada
(i.e.,
using
increased
longevity
as
a
means
to
the
higher
end
of
gnoseological
release
into
the
absolute)
on
the
one
hand
and,
on
the
other,
the
emphasis
on
dhatuvada
and
the
ment
of
siddhis
found
in
a
number
of
late
works.
The
alchemical
Tantras,
whose watchwords
are
jtvanmukti
and
kalavaficana
("skewing
Time"),
are
works
of
Kaula
inspiration,
which
implicitly
follow
the
doctrines
gated
in
such
texts
as
the
KJfiN
of
Matsyendra,
the
KM,
and
the
Kularr:ava
Tantra,
as
well
as
the
old
Yamala
texts
(Rudrayamala,
Brahmayamala,
etc.).
Generally
speaking,
muktivada
works
take
Ayurvedic
rasayana
as
their

14
6
Chapter
Five
scientific
starting
point,
are
Saiva
Siddhanta
in
their
metaphysical
and
teriological
orientations,
and
feed
quite
directly
into
later
Ayurvedic
rasa
fiistra.
142
Many
of
the
major
extant
works
of
Hindu
alchemy-the
daya
Tantra,
Rasopani!fat,
RasendracuqiimaTfi,
Rasaprakiifa
Sudhiikara,
aratnasamucchaya,
and
Anandakanda
-
fall
into
this
category.
That
is,
the
preponderance
of
data
found
in
these
works
are
rogaviida
and
muktiviida,
although,
as
we
will
see,
they
are
not
wholly
bereft
of
references
to
viida
and
dehaviida
alchemy.
Tantric
works
emphasizing
this-worldly
attainments
and
powers
viida,
siddhis)
generally
take
their
inspiration
from
the
old
"Kriya
Tantras:'
works
on
tantric
sorcery.
None
of
the
major
alchemical
works
falls
into
this
category,
although
nearly
all
contain
references
to
sorcery
and
attendant
practices.
Two
works
that
may
be
classified
as
Siddha
alchemical
works
are
the
Miitrkabheda
Tantra
[MBhT]
and
Khecarl
Vidyii
[KhV].
The
former,
rather
than
being
an
alchemical
Tantra
per
se,
is
a
Sakta
Tantra
tout
court,
but
one
that
devotes
significant
space
to
alchemy
and
hafha
yoga.
As
its
name
indicates,
the
latter
is
a
work
on
the
hathayogic
technique
known
as
khecarl
mudrii;
however,
since
the
term
khecarl
("one
who
moves
in
space:'
the
"aviator")
also
has
a
number
of
tantric
and
alchemical
applications,
we
include
it
here.
It
has
generally
been
held
that
the
RM
of
Nagarjuna,
by
one
or
another
name,
is
the
oldest
extant
tantric
alchemical
work.
In
the
preceding
ter,
I
advanced
arguments
to
refute
this
misconception.
I
now
reinforce
those
arguments
with
additional
material
from
other
alchemical
texts.
a.
The
Rasahrdaya
(Heart
of
Mercury)
Tantra
(RHT)
of
Govinda,143
a
work
in
nineteen
chapters
dating
from
the
tenth
to
eleventh
century,
is
very
likely
the
oldest
extant
Hindu
alchemical
work.
As
such,
it
is
unique
in
a
number
of
ways.
To
begin,
Govinda,
unlike
all
later
authors,
first
(1.2)
identifies
the
combination
of
sulfur
(or
mica)
and
mercury
with
and
Siva
(Hari-
Hara),
before
making
the
standard
identification
(1.33)
between
sulfur-mica
as
the
menstrual-sexual
emission
of
the
Goddess
(Gaud)
and
mercury
as
the
semen
of
Siva.
He
praises
the
Rasa
Siddhas
(I.
7),
but
does
not
name
any
of
them.
Govinda
is
himself
the
twenty-fifth
Rasa
Siddha
in
the
RMIRRS
[a]
list;
the
RM
also
appropriates
his
verse
1.2,
verbatim,
as
the
opening
verse
of
its
final
chapter:
the
RHT
is
therefore
older
than
the
RM.144
Govinda's
aphorism
(1.3)
concerning
the
miraculous
powers
of
mercury
is
shorter
than
those
found
in
most
other
works
and
is
unusual
in
that
it
equates
bound
mercury
with
liberation
(muktt)
rather
than
with
the
power

147
Siddha
Alchemical
of
flight.
145
This
distinction
seems
to
be
of
a
piece
with
Govinda's
general
outlook,
which
clearly
follows
the
soteriology
of
the
Mahdvara
Siddhas.
Very
rarely
does
Govinda
mention
jivanmukti;
rather,
yogic
and
alchemical
practice
produce
a
stable
body
with
which
one
may
accede
to
the
highest
md
of
liberation
ion
into
the
absn
knowledge
of
[he
absolute
Govinda
lists
lf2hteen
san;zskara',
eight
uparasas
but
only
six
He
lists
ninl
His
descrip-
ions
of
the
first
are
very
brid
of
the
body
of
the
work
being
devoted
to
the
preparation
of
mineral
"essences"
(sattvas)
which,
combined
with
mercury,
serve
to
transmute
base
metals
into
gold
or
silver.
The
final
chapter
is
devoted
to
the
priming
of
the
human
body
for
the
ingestion
of
transmuting
mercury,
and
the
preparation
of
four
curial
elixirs,
in
the
form
of
pills
(gufikas).
Nowhere
does
Govinda
assert
lhat
such
elixirs
immortality:
gOl
lving
wife,
and
he
birth
of
SOil'l
as
he
promises
ays,
the
RHT,
ith
its
sober,
is
a
prolegomel
er
alchemical
lllltras,
which
leaves
off.
In
the
final
verses
of
the
RHT,
Govinda
praises
his
king,
"SrI
Madana,
scion
of
the
Lunar
Lineage
(fftan;zfuvan;zfa)
born
into
the
Haihaya
clan
...
lord
(natha)
of
the
Kiratas"
as
a
master
of
alchemy
(rasacarya)
whose
chemical
gnosis
(rasavidya)
was
not
learned,
but
innate.
"I,
Govinda,
having
learned
much
from
that
king
of
the
Kiratas,
am
the
author
of
the
antra
called
number
of
hil,ll
ndian
medicine
was
a
uf"Kirata-desa;'
blanket
term,
10
the
epics,
fOl
Assam
border
egion;
however,
Puranas
locate
the
Vindhya
mountain
region
,orinda's
RHTpaslll
"l,l
lltes
is
that
Ma-
dana
is
a
Somavarpsin
and
Haihaya
by
birth,
lord
of
the
Kiratas
by
princely
avocation,
and
an
alchemist
by
vocation.
Now,
there
did
exist,
in
the
ninth
through
thirteenth
centuries
A.D.,
a
royal
family
called
the
Kalachuris
who
traced
their
lineage
back
through
Haihaya
and
Yadu
to
the
Moon
and
who
therefore
considered
themselves
to
be
Haihayas
and
Yadavas
of
the
Lunar
)ynasty.
The
Kl
from
Tripura
north
of
Ja-
halpur)
over
a
borders
more
or
llllld
to
those
of
llodern-day
Mad!
Their
influencll,
{'lltended
well
to
the
west
(into
Maharashtra,
lllld
east
(Bihar,
Orissa)
of
their
boundaries.
From
the
tenth
century
onwards,
there
isted,
in
the
same
region
(Orissa),
a
religiously
latitudinarian
royal
family

14
8
Chapter
Five
known
as
the
Somavaf!1sis,
who
were
patrons
of
Buddhism
as
well
as
of
and
Saivism.
Finally,
two
dynasties
that
ruled
in
Assam
from
ca.
A.D.
800
to
IIOO
traced
their
descent
from
a
king
of
the
"barbarian
Cinas"
and
the
Kiratas.
152
I
am
therefore
inclined
to
locate
Govinda's
Somavaf!1si-Haihaya
king
Madana,
lord
of
the
Kiratas,
at
the
eastern
tremity
(eastern
Madhya
Pradesh,
Orissa)
of
the
Kalachuri
sphere
of
fluence
(which
extended
into
the
western
Indian
regions
I
have
termed
the
heartland
of
tantric
alchemy).
As
for
Govinda
himself,
he
could
have lived
anywhere
within
the
boundaries
of
this
Kalachuri
sphere
of
influence.
A
tenth-
to
eleventh-century
date
for
this
text
is
plausible,
in
the
light
of
the
dates
of
later
works
that
refer
back
to
the
RHT.
b.
The
Rasii'f7!ava
(Flood
of
Mercury)
is
the
oldest
and
most
tant
of
the
alchemical
Tantras
and
may
be
dated
to
the
eleventh
century.153
It
is
an
anonymous
work
in
eighteen
chapters,
cast
as
a
dialogue
between
Bhairava
and
Devi.
It
has
been
attributed
by
a
number
of
scholars
to
a
certain
Bhairavananda
Yogi;
"Bhairava;'
the
twenty-ninth
Rasa
Siddha
in
the
later
lists,
may
be
a
reference
to
this
text's
divine
revealer.
It
is
possible
that
later
texts
also
refer
to
its
author
as
Manthanabhairava,
for
reasons
that
will
be
discussed
momentarily.
The
RA
cites
no
other
author
or
work
(with
the
possible
exception
of
the
Piimara
Tantra)154
by
name.
A
son
with
the
early
eleventh-century
A.D.
Vimalaprabhii
commentary
to
the
Kiilacakra
Tantra
reveals
a
number
of
striking
similarities
in
both
language
and
subject
matter
with
the
material
found
in
the
former
work,
which
pears
to
be
slightly
more
archaic
than
that
of
the
RA.
155
Nowhere
in
the
RA
do
we
find
a
comprehensive
accounting
of
the
teen
san:zskiiras.
In
fact,
the
first
eight
operations,
by
which
mercury
is
fied
prior
to
being
applied
as
a
transmuting
agent
to
other
minerals
and
metals,
are
reduced
in
the
RA
to
two:
purification
(fodhana)
and
rubbing
(mardana).
This
is
possibly
due
to
the
fact
that
the
RA
followed
a
rapid
Skull-Bearer
method
(kiipiilika-yoga)-as
opposed
to
the
slower
Lunar
(saumya)
method-for
these
primary
operations.
156
The
RA
is
far
and
away
the
alchemical
text
that
most
frequently
evokes
these
kiipiilika
methods,
for
the
liquification
of
gemstones,
the
coloration
of
mercury
and
metals,
etc.
157
Like
most
alchemical
works,
the
RA
lists
eight
primary
(7.2)
and
secondary
(7.56)
rasas,
but
lists
only
six
metals
(7.97),
as
opposed
to
the
nine
found
in
most
sources.
The
RA
(7.57-66)
is
the
earliest
text
to
provide
an
origin
myth
for
sulfur;
only
in
later
texts,
however,
does
one
find
a
mythic
account
of
the
origins
of
mercury.
The
abundant
tantric
elements
found
in
the
RA
will
be
discussed
at
length
in
the
next
chapter.

149
Tantric
and
Siddha
Alchemical
Literature
A
number
of
passages
from
the
RA
are
nearly
identical
to
passages
from
the
RHT;
these
may
either
be
paraphrases
of
the
latter
on
the
part
of
the
former,
evidence
for
the
oral
transmission
of
the
alchemical
gnosis,
or
dications
of
the
existence
of
a
common
source
from
which
both
borrowed
material.
158
The
last
appears
to
be
the
case,
for
example,
with
the
tion
of
a
preparation
that
stabilizes
and
strengthens
the
body
tissues
prior
to
the
ingestion
of
mercury.
The
RA
(18.14)
copies
the
Asj;iingasa11f?7aba
(6.50.245)
verbatim,
whereas
the
RHT
(19.19)
appears
to
paraphrase
that
work.
159
As
we
have
already
noted
on
a
number
of
occasions,
the
RM
borrows
widely
from
the
RA.
160
That
the
contrary
is
not
the
case
is
proved
time
and
again
by
the
fact
that
the
RM
either
unnecessarily
embellishes
passages
from
the
RA
or
changes
the
order
of
passages
in
ways
that
do
not
make
the
same
sense
as
they
do
in
the
RA.
A
prime
example
of
the
former
non
is
the
case
of
the
aphorism
concerning
the
powers
of
mercury.
In
no
other
source
is
the
matter
stated
more
succinctly
and
powerfully
than
in
the
RA
(1.19):
"0
Goddess!
Swooned,
mercury,
like
the
breath,
drives
away
disease;
killed,
it
revives
itself;
and
bound,
it
affords
the
power
of
flight!'
Compare
the
derivative,
embellished,
and
thereby
weakened
aphorism
of
the
RM:
"When
bound,
[mercury]
affords
the
state
of
flight;
it
removes
the
heap
of
diseases
when
swooned;
calcinated
it
is
a
destroyer
of
birth
and
worldly
existence;
progressed
and
colored
it
affords
pleasure
and
tion;'
161
Elsewhere,
the
RM's
list
of
twenty-seven
Rasa
Siddhas
appears
to
be
an
expansion
on
a
group
of
twenty-four
(Rasa)
Siddhas
mentioned
(but
not
named)
in
the
RA.162
The
latter
case
in
point
is
demonstrated
by
the
treatment
the
RM
gives
of
the
most
elaborate
alchemical
operation
found
in
the
entire
RA.
This
passage,
which
constitutes
the
powerful
conclusion
of
the
RA
(18.208-28),
is
dramatized
in
a
myth
related
by
Alberuni,
in
about
A.D.
1030,
on
the
subject
of
the
silver
threshold
of
the
government
house
in
Dhara
(Dhar
district,
Madhya
Pradesh).
Alberuni's
account
is
reproduced
at
the
ning
of
chapter
three
of
this
book;
its
close
similarity
to
the
procedure
described
in
the
RA
is
a
further
indication
that
this
is
an
eleventh-century
text.
In
the
RA,
"diamond-bound"
mercury,
which
has
proven
its
efficacy
by
restoring
cripples,
freaks,
and
mutants
to
wholeness
and
transmuting
ten
million
times
its
mass
of
base
metals
into
gold,
is
to
be
employed
in
the
ultimate
alchemical
Work,
the
transformation
of
the
entire
person
of
the
alchemist
into
an
Alchemical
Man.
This
he
will
do
by
plunging
himself-

Chapter
Five
after
an
appropriate
worship
ritual-into
a
cauldron
of
superheated
oil
into
which
pellets
of
diamond-bound
mercury
have
been
placed.
At
this
point,
the
RA
explains
the
principle
behind
this
operation:
the
five
gross
ments-"
earth,
water,
fire,
air,
and
ether"
-of
his
material
body
will
be
ally
transformed
into
their
subtle
correlates
(tanmatras),
beginning
with
that
of
earth
and
ending
with
that
of
ether.
The
process
is
at
once
a
crete
application
of
the
principles
of
(I)
Tantric
bhiUafuddhi;
(2)
"extracting
the
essence
(paficamlJa)"
of
the
five
elements,
as
described
in
the
thayamala;163
and
(3)
the
basic
Siddha
principle
of
telescoping
the
gross
into
the
subtle
as
a
means
to
generating
a
siddha
body.164
Once
the
alchemist
has
plunged
himself
into
the
cauldron,
his
tory
assistant
serially
adds
the
alchemical
equivalents
of
the
five
elements
to
the
mix,
culminating
with
kha
(ether,
but
also
mica),
which
is
to
be
placed
inside
the
alchemist's
skull
(presumably
all
that
remains
of
his
gross
body
at
this
point):
it
is
noteworthy
here
that,
as
with
the
hathayogic
tice
of
khecari
mudra,
this
operation
climaxes
with
ether
in
the
cranial
vault.
165
Then,
"pumping
the
bellows
[until
the
mix
has]
the
look
of
molten
gold,
[the
assistant]
should
add
an
alkaline
substance
(kfara).
No
sooner
has
this
been
done
than
he
[the
Alchemical
Man]
rises
up
with
a
mighty
roar:
'Hun:z!'"
Then
follows
a
description
of
the
Man's
alchemical
sis,
in
which
he
sports
in
the
world
of
the
Siddhas
with
a
hundred
thousand
Siddha
maidens.
166
The
RM's
treatment
of
the
same
operation
is
punctuated
by
breaks,
consistencies,
and
asides,
which
indicate
a
more
or
less
random
priation
of
the
RA
passage.
The
RM
concludes
its
description
of
the
aculous
healing
powers
of
diamond-bound
mercury
with
the
statement:
"Thereupon,
one
becomes
[takes
on]
another
body:
there
is
no
need
to
speculate
on
this
matter;'
Then,
in
a
very
interesting
aside
not
found
in
the
RA,
the
RM
continues:
"This
is
the
Great
Work
which
is
called
'Five
tars'
in
either
the
Manthanabhairava,
or
then
again
mentioned
in
the
demon
Rava1).a['s
Kumara
Tantra].167
All
the
manifold
[life
forms]
in
these
three
worlds,
including
all
that
moves
and
all
that
does
not
move
are
posed
of
the
following]:
Earth,
water,
fire,
air,
and
ether."
It
then
abruptly
segues
back
to
diamond-bound
mercury,
which
is
capable
of
transmuting
ten
million
times
its
mass
of
base
metals
into
gold,
at
which
point
it
follows
the
RA
description
of
the
operation,
with
minor
variations
and
one
portant
omission:
the
RM
leaves
out
the
pentultimate
operation
of
placing
kha
in
the
skull
of
the
Alchemical
Man.
168
One
might
think
that
Nagarjuna,
author
of
the
RM,
had
missed
the
en-

Tantric
and
Siddha
Alchemical
Literature
tire
point
of
this
operation-i.e.,
the
creation
of
an
Alchemical
were
it
not
for
the
fact
that
he
refers,
in
his
aside,
to
the
"Great
Work
called
the
'Five
Nectars'
(pancam1Ja):'
This
is
precisely
the
term
employed
in
the
Jayadrathayamala
for
the
tantric
"extraction
of
the
essence"
of
the
five
gross
corporeal
elements
as
the
means
to
generating
a
Siddha
body
possessed
of
the
power
of
flight.
Most
fascinating
here
is
Nagarjuna's
tion
of
the
texts
entitled
Manthanabhairava
and
"Demon
RavaI).a."
While
the
latter
can
only
refer
to
RavaI).a's
Kumara
Tantra
(which
is
based
in
part
upon
the
tantric
sorcery
of
the
KriyakalaguTfottara
Tantra),169
the
former
gives
rise
to
thought.
There
are
two
candidates
for
the
Manthanabhairava
to
which
Nagarjuna
refers.
The
first,
and
less
likely
of
the
two,
is
an
eponymous
alchemical
text
by
this
name,
which
would
then
account
for
the
name
of
ava
as
the
thirty-second
Rasa
Siddha
and
for
the
numerous
references
to
Manthanabhairava
(especially
to
an
elixir
called
manthanabhairava
rasa)
in
later
alchemical
works.
In
fact,
all
mentions
of
Manthanabhairava
postdate
the
RA,
by
which
logic
one
might
posit
that
Nagarjuna
is
referring
to
the
RA
as
the
(work
revealed
by)
Manthanabhairava.
However,
the
preparation
called
manthanabhairava
rasa,
as
it
is
described
in
the
RM
itself,
as
well
as
in
many
later
works,
is
nowhere
to
be
found
in
the
RA.170
Moreover,
while
the
RA
is
obviously
Nagarjuna's
source
here,
at
no
time
does
that
text
refer
to
this
or
any
other
operation
as
the
Great
Work
called
the
"Five
Nectars!'
The
second,
and
more
likely,
source
to
which
juna
may
be
referring
is
the
twelfth-century
Manthanabhairava
Tantra,
one
of
the
core
texts
of
the
Western
Transmission,
a
source
to
which
the
RC
seems
also
to
refer.
171
(While
Nagarjuna
appears
to
be
the
sole
alchemical
author
to
ever
have
cited
this
seminal
work
of
the
Western
Transmission,
the
RA
itself
contains
at
least
one
passage
that
indicates
its
author's
iarity
with
that
tradition's
cult
of
the
goddess
Kubjika.
172
We
will
returnto
the
impact
of
the
Western
Transmission
on
the
tantric
and
Siddha
ical
traditions
in
the
next
chapter.)
The
question
then
arises
as
to
whether
the
citations,
in
later
alchemical
works,
of
Manthanabhairava
all
refer
to
a
Rasa
Siddha
by
that
name,
or
at
times
to
a
work
of
the
Western
Transmission;
and,
if
the
former
is
the
case,
whether
Manthanabhairava
the
alchemist
is
to
be
identified
with
the
Bhairava
who
revealed
or
authored
the
RA.173
The
RM
copies
or
paraphrases
the
RA
in
scores
of
other
places,
most
especially
in
its
fourth
chapter,
in
the
course
of
which
it
samples
mately
sixty-four
verses
from
the
RA,
even
repeating
itself
in
the
same

Chapter
Five
places
as
those
in
which
the
RA
is
repetitive
(which
only
occurs
in
the
RA's
final,
eighteenth
chapter).
Ironically,
it
is
in
this
fourth
chapter
that
we
find
the
"Buddhist"
dialogue,
set
atop
Srisailam,
between
Nagarjuna,
the
goddess
Prajiiaparamita,
and
a
host
of
other
luminaries,
that
convinced
Ray
and
others
that
this
was
a
Mahayana
text.
In
fact,
the
passage
we
have
just
compared
with
RA
18.206-228
is
cast
in
the
RM
is
a
dialogue
between
Nagarjuna
and
Ratnaghosa!174
c.
The
RA
is
copied,
paraphrased,
or
cited
in
a
significant
number
of
later
works,
with
a
particularly
long
passage
(18.278-337)
on
the
subject
of
magical
waters
being
borrowed
into
the
Kiikaca1!qtfvara
Kttlpa
Tantra
(KCKT)
(8.2-49).175
This
work,
which
deals
mainly
with
tantric
healing
through
the
use
of
botanicals,
has
little
or
no
relationship
to
the
qefvarimata
(Doctrine
of
the
Fierce
Crowl-faced]
Goddess)
(KCM),176
an
alchemical
text
in
which
tantric
elements
abound.
Here
too,
a
number
of
nearly
identical
passages
in
the
RA
and
the
KCM
would
appear
to
indicate
borrowing
from
an
unknown
common
source.
l77
As
its
title
indicates,
the
KCM
is
Sakta
in
its
sectarian
orientation.
More
exactly,
Kakacal).9eSvarI's
corvocephaly
is
of
a
piece
with
such
Kaula
cults
of
KalI
as
the
Kaula
Mata
and
the
cult
of
GuhyakalI,
which
has
been
lar
in
Nepal
since
at
least
the
eighth
century.
In
both
of
these
cults,
phalic
or
avicephalic
goddesses
have
figured
prominently.178
The
Saktism
of
the
KCM
is
explicit
from
the
outset:
while
it
is
the
god
Bhairava
who
is
doing
the
revealing,
he
is
nonetheless
ringed,
atop
Mount
Kailash,
by
a
circle
of
''yogints;'
named
KapalI,
KalaratrI,
Kakacal).9a,
Ambika,
KaralI,
Kalakarl).I,
and
Kakacal).9eSvarI,
who
are
accompanied
by
Gal).anayaka
(Gal).eSa).
In
the
course
of
this
work,
Bhairava
refers
to
Kakacal).9eSvarI
by
a
number
of
names,
including
KakacamUl).9a,
BhairavI,
and
Cal).9alI.
Bhairava
himself
is
called
Siva,
Sadasiva,
Isvara,
and
Sarvajiia;
and
a
ence
is
made
in
the
text
to
the
worship
of
Ba!Ukanatha
(the
"Boy
Master")
Bhairava.
179
Like
the
RA,
the
KCM
contains
an
abundance
of
references
to
worship,
mantras,
and
sexual
practices
that
place
it
squarely
within
the
tric
tradition.
Which
tantric
tradition
is
another
question,
however;
the
KCM
appears
to
be
as
much
inspired
by
the
old
Kriya
Tantras
as
it
is
by
the
alchemical
tradition.
The
opening
verse
of
the
KCM
resembles
those
of
the
Kuliinanda
Tantra
of
Matsyendra
and
the
Buddhist
Lalitiivistara.
18o
Following
this
and
a
very
powerful
opening
statement
(second
only
to
that
found
in
chapter
one
of
the
RA)
on
the
inability
of
the
various
philosophies
and
religions
to
viate
human
suffering,
the
KCM
comes
directly
to
its
raison
d'etre, the

153
Tantric
and
Siddha
Alchemical
Literature
method
or
expedient
of
the
"fluid"
or
"power
substance"
(dravyopaya):181
"Without
the
power
substance,
there
can
be
no
realization
(siddhz),
and
no
enjoyment
or
pleasure.
Without
the
power
substance,
men
become
embodied
ghosts
(pretas)
when
they
die.
They
who
employed
inferior
stances
[i.e.,
who
followed
inferior
doctrines]
in
life
roamabout
blindly
in
the
world
of
the
dead!'
Following
this
introduction,
however,
the
KCM
suddenly
becomes
very
much
a
Kriya
Tantra,
plunging
directly
into
a
very
long
description
of
a
number
of
pills
which
render
the
user
highly
attractive
to
divine
females
(nymphs,
yoginfs,
Gandharva
maidens,
and
even
Bhairavi
herself)
and
eminently
capable
of
satisfying
their
sexual
desires.
In
this,
it
closely
resembles
discussions
of
magical
"attraction"
and
"the
acquiring
of
a
heavenly
nymph"
strfvafyam)
found
in
works
on
tric
sorcery.
The
highly
evocative
names
of
these
are
found
in
a
number
of
later
texts;
the
earlier
RA
describes
one
of
these,
the
sundar[
("Immortal
Beauty")
pill
in
some
detail.
Of
much
greater
interest
to
the
RA,
however,
is
a
pill
that
affords
magical
flight
(khecarf
and
the
KCM
follows
its
instructions
for
the
preparation
of
this
and
other
aphrodisiacs
with
its
own
discussion
of
the
same.
182
From
here,
the
KCM
abruptly
changes
its
orientation
once
again
and
launches
into
a
long
cussion
of
gold
making
(dhatuvada)
through
the
use
of
mercury
that
has
been
treated
with
mica,
herbs,
and
sexual
fluids
before
returning,
ably,
to
its
discussion
of
aphrodisiacs.
183
Next,
it
lists
the
best
nights
of
the
year
for
meeting
divine
maidens
(devakanya),
discusses
the
miraculous
panacea
called
"rock
water"
(failodaka),
and
describes
the
use
of
orpiment
(haritala)
and
other
mineral
and
plant
substances
in
the
preparation
of
elixirs.
184
To
this
point
in
the
text,
it
would
be
extremely
difficult
for
an
alchemist
to
carry
out
any
of
the
operations
described
in
the
KCM
for
the
simple
reason
that
none
of
the
basic
principles
of
alchemy
have
been
cally
explained:
terminology,
materiae
primae,
apparatus,
procedures
are
all
taken
for
granted.
Now,
over
halfway
through
the
work,
the
author
seems
to
have
second
thoughts
and
undertakes
a
systematic
exposition
of
the
eighteen
san;skaras
and
a
number
of
other
fundamentals
of
his
discipline.
The
san;skara
list
is
unusual
inasmuch
as
neither
transmutation
nor
bodily
transubstantiation
is
enumerated;
in
their
place,
it
names
two
operations
not
counted
as
san;skaras
in
other
works:
vidhana
("apportioning")
and
maraTfa
("killing").
Following
this,
it
singles
out
eight
of
the
eighteen
ations
as
the
"Eight
Works!'
Its
enumeration
of
these
resembles
that
found

154
Chapter
Five
in
RA
10.10-12.
185
In
its
expanded
discussion
of
these
eight
procedures,
the
KCM
describes
the
"class
of
enemies"
(arivarga),
i.e.,
minerals
that
tack
and
"kill"
each
of
the
eight
metals.
Similar
classifications
are
found
in
the
later
RC
(4.50;
14.14
[ariloha])
and
AK
(7.28).186
Next
follows
a
cussion
of
the
purification
of
the
secondary
rasas,
of
which
six
are
listed:
there
is
no
systematic
description
of
the
primary
rasas.
187
At
this
point,
a
commentary
is
inserted
into
the
text
of
the
KCM,188
which
continues
intermittently
until
the
conclusion
of
the
work:
a
similar
fippaTfa
is
inserted
at
a
similar
point
in
the
RM.
Devotional
praises
of
mercury
and
sulfur
(or
mica)
in
combination
low,
a
commonplace
that
most
alchemical
tantras
place
in
their
opening
chapter.
189
A
brief
description
of
the
four
colors
of
mica
is
innovative
asmuch
as
it
classifies
the
four
colors
of
mica
according
to
"caste"
white
mica
is
brahman,
red
is
kfatriya,
yellow
is
vaifya,
and
black
is
fUdra.
A
number
of
other
works
classify
mercury
in
this
way;
the
KCM
is
the
sole
early
text
to
do
so
for
mica.
190
Hereafter,
the
KCM
once
more
becomes
a
work
on
tantric
sorcery
and
healing.
A
section
on
"skewing
Time"
(kiila-vaiicana)
describes
a
number
of
means
by
which
to
predict
the
future
and
revive
the
dead
or
dying.
The
use
of
a
mixture
of
male
and
female
sexual
fluids
(kuTf4agolaka)
constitutes
a
portion
of
a
discussion
on
a
rite
through
which
the
yogin
may
gain
natural
powers
and
immortality.
(The
MBhT
also
gives
a
prominent
place
to
the
kUTf4agoiaka
and
other
such
cocktails;
the
RA
and
RM
also
use
the
term,
but
desexualize
it
into
a
combination
of
the
herbal
essences
of
the
ciiTf4iilt
and
riikfast
plants
).191
The
KCM
states
that
this
rite
renders
the
titioner
a
kavi;l92
we
will
return
to
Siddha
uses
of
this
term
in
chapter
ten.
The
work
concludes
with
a
long
section
on
tantric
healing
through
the
use
of
herbs and
mantras.
One
such
mantra
contains
a
long
evocation
of
,(fis
(Kasyapa,
Kapatu),
gods
(Surya),
kings
(Sugrivaraja,
the
monkey
ally
of
Rama),
bhutas,
and
all
manner
of
other
creatures
(water-goers,
sky-goers
...
pifiicas,
4iikints,
etc.).193
In
every
manuscript
version
of
the
work
I
have
consulted,
these
final
folios
are
written
in
a
curious
mixture
of
Sanskrit
and
a
vernacular
in
which
many
Hindustani
words
are
recognizable
(ciival,
ser,
suhiig,
iifiit,
lasanu
[=
lesiln?],
thambhana
hoi,
etc.).
Given
the
heterogeneous
nature
of
this work,
it
is
extremely
difficult
to
date.
While
the
concluding
portion
(which
is
likely
a
commentary
by
a
later
hand)
is
certainly
quite
recent,
the
KCM's
treatment
of
much
of
the
alchemical
and
other
material
appears
to
be
quite
archaic.
In
any
case,
some
version
of
the
KCM
was
already
extant
in
the
twelfth
century,
as
it
is
cited
in
three
twelfth-
to

155
Tantric
and
Siddha
Alchemical
Literature
thirteenth-century
works
on
tantric
sorcery:
the
Dattatreya
Tantra
(1.5),
the
RRA
(5.1.7),
and
the
KPT
(1.9,
which
merely
copies
the
RRA),
all
of
which
refer
to
it
as
the
Kiilacanclefvaramata.
At
the
same
time,
an
apparent
reference
it
makes
to
a
fourteenth-
to
fifteenth-century
work
entitled
the
Rasasara
and
the
presence
of
quite
modem
vernacular
terms
in
its
sion
make
it
clear
that
this
is
a
text
that
was
reworked
over
a
period
of
several
centuries,
prior
to
taking
its
definitive
form.
194
d.
Like
the
RHT
the
(RU)195
is
a
Mahesvara
Siddha
work,
concentrating
more
on
transmutational
and
therapeutic
alchemy
than
on
the
goal
of
jrvanmukti
through
the
use
of
alchemical
elixirs.
It
is
unique
in
comparing
mercury
to
the
atman,
the
individual
soul
(15.50),
and
in
its
praise
of
liberation
(muktt)
as
the
highest
goal
(I.
5).
Cast
in
the
form
of
a
dialogue
between
Mahadeva
and
ParvatI,
it
is
datable
to
the
twelfth
to
teenth
century.
It
is
a
southwest
Indian
work,
composed
in
Kerala.
196
It
purports
to
be
an
abridgment
of
a
work
entitled
Mahodadhi;197
both
it
and
the
Mahodadhi
are
namedin
the
BPh
(1.114),
also
a
twelfth-
to
century
work.
A
number
of
other
textual
sources
are
cited
in
the
same
chapter
(1.14):
these
are
found
in
no
other
work.
198
It
describes
a
tion
discovered
by
Sdman
Nagarjuna-muni
(16.10):
chapter
colophons
to
the
thirteenth-
to
fourteenth-century
RM
call
that
text
the
work
of
Sdman
Nagarjuna.
Elsewhere,
the
RU
paraphrases
a
passage
from
the
RA,
in
which
mercury
is
compared
to
a
wild
elephant
in
rut,
which
can
only
be
brought
under
control
by
the
"elephant
goad
of
mercury"
(rasankufa).
In
the
case
of
the
RA,
the
elephant
goad
is
a
mantra
identified
with
the
chemical
goddess
RasankusI;
in
the
RU,
it
is
simply
stated
that
mercury
can
be
stabilized
only
through
decoction
(ghanat).
The
"elephant
goad"
is
a
commonplace
tantric
mantra,
whose
use
makes
sense
in
the
context
of
the
RA;
borrowed
as
it
is
into
the
nontantric
RU,
the
metaphor
loses
most
of
its
impact.
199
Rather
than
the
usual
eight,
the
RU
(4-4-6)
names
only
seven
primary
and
secondary
minerals
and
seven
metals.
Its
presentation
of
the
alchemical
san:zskaras
is
also
highly
idiosyncratic,
with
only
six
of
its
san:zskaras
corresponding
to
the
standard
terminology
employed
for
the
alchemical
operations.
Another
six
operations,
which
appear
to
correspond
to
more
familiar
san:zskaras,
are
presented
under
the
heading
of
kurpa,
a
term
found
nowhere
else
in
the
alchemical
canon.200
The
RU
makes
no
mention
of
the
final
san:zskara
of
transubstantiation.
All
of
these
cies
arise
from
the
fact
that
this
is
a
work
that
is
relatively
early
and
rather
peripheral,
both
in
geographic
and
sectarian
terms,
to
tantric
alchemy.
e.
As
already
stated
a
number
of
times,
the
most
problematic
element

15
6
Chapter
Five
in
the
Bhlltiprakara1Ja
(BhP)
(Production
of
Supernatural
Powers)201
is
its
title.
To
this
point
I
have
generally
referred
to
this
work
as
"the
so-called
alchemical
Gorak{a
Samhitii"j
this
I
have
done
because
the
sole
edition
of
this
work
was
published
under
that
title,
by
Janardana
Pandeya,
in
1977.
In
fact,
the
chapter
colophons
to
Pandeya's
edition
read:
"here
ends
...
the
Siva
Slltra,
contained
in
the
Bhuti-prakaral}a
of
the
Gorak{a
Samhitii
in
100,000
verses,
brought
down
[to
earth]
by
Svacchanda-Sakti:'
This
is
in
fact
an
abridgment
of
the
colophon
to
what
I
have
termed
the
"Sakta
ak{a
Samhitii,"
a
work
that
is
nearly
identical
to
the
Western
Transmission
work
known
as
the
Srtmatottara
Tantra.
The
colophon
to
this
work
reads:
"here
ends
...
that
section
of
the
Kula-kauli1Jt-mata
(in
90
million
verses,
brought
down
[to
earth]
at
the
yogints'
secret
by
known
as
the
Kiidi
section,
which
is
included
in
the
latter
portion
of
the
100,000
verse
Gorak{a
Samhitii
which
was
brought
to
earth
by
sakti,
who
had
received
its
seventy
million-million
[verses]
from
the
most
excellent
Maha-manthana
[-bhairava]:'202
Here,
we
are
in
the
presence
of
textual
attribution
carried
to
an
exponential
level.
The
BhP
bears
little
or
no
connection
to
the
Sakta
work
of
the
same
name,
save
for
the
fact
that
the
two
are
revealed
by
the
same
form
of
Siva
It
is,
like
nearly
every
alchemical
work,
a
Saiva
treatise
(Siva
Slltra)j
however,
this
mention
is
missing
from
chapter
colophons
of
most
of
the
manuscript
versions
that
I
have
consulted.
As
for
the
claim
that
this
work
is
a
portion
of
the
"Gorak{a
Samhitii
in
100,000
verses:'
a
single
verse
(9.136),
found
at
the
end
of
Pandeya's
manuscript,
states
that
"the
Nath
made
this
[work]
manifest
for
the
benefit
of
king
Sirhha:'
and
quotes
"the
immortal
Nath
[named]
and
but
does
not
make
it
clear
that
is
the
author
of
the
work.
These
verses,
moreover,
are
not
found
in
every
manuscript
of
this
work.
203
A
rare
alchemical
reference
to
Gorakh
is
found
in
the
ca.
sixteenth-century
Rasakiimadhenu
(2.362-63),
which
cites
a
work
entitled
the
Gorak{amata
(The
Doctrine
of
in
its
tion
of
the
alchemical
uses
of
a
flower
called
han:zsapada:
this
passage,
ever,
is
nowhere
to
be
found
in
the
Bhp'204
The
Svacchanda
Sakti
who
is
said
to
have
brought
the
Gorak{a
Samhitii
down
to
earth
is
referred
to
but
once
in
the
work
itselfj
however,
a
number
of
references
to
male
Svacchanda
deities
and
Svacchanda
mantras
indicate
that
this
work
belongs
to
the
Svacchandabhairava
canon
(the
cult
of
chandabhairava
was
especially
important
in
Kashmir,
and
the
SvTwas
the
principal
work
of
the
so-called
Mantra
The
title
of
this
work,
then,
is
Bhlltiprakara1Ja,
and any
connection
between
it
and
the
two
other

157
Tantric
and
Siddha
Alchemical
Literature
so-called
Gorak{a
Sa'lithitiis
is,
as
has
so
often
been
the
case
in
the
annals
of
tantrism,
a
case
of
ex
post
facto
attribution
or
"postscriptural
zation;'
On
the
other
hand,
an
attribution
of
this
work
to
a
Rasa
Siddha
named
Svacchandabhairava
ought
not
to
be
rejected
out
of
hand:
in
its
opening
chapter,
the
BhP
intimates
that
it
is
an
abridgment
of
a
much
longer
Rasa
Tantra
revealed
by
Svacchanda.
206
This
is
a
work
in
nine
chapters,
presented
in
the
form
of
a
dialogue
between
and
Vma.
The
latter's
name
is
significant
in
this
work,
given
that
it
refers
to
sulfur
as
umiiyoni
("Vma's
womb").
Also
original,
in
certain
manuscript
versions,
is
the
use
of
the
term
farvaja
("born
from
dra,]
the
Arrow").207
The
mercurial
Siva
is
also
referred
to
as
Paradesvara
(5.27)
and
Rasesvara
(5.289).
The
three
Trika
goddesses,
Para,
Apara,
and
Parapara,
are
also
mentioned
(1.106),
as
are
the
divine
Mothers
(miitrkiis)
(6.281).
The
alchemist
is
to
worship
Bhairava
and
the
circle
of
yogin
is,
as
well
as
GaI}eSa,
the
regents
of
the
cardinal
directions,
and
brahmin
maidens
(3.7-8).
Ritual
sex
is
also
prescribed.
20s
The
BhP
makes
vague
references
to
a
number
of
tantric
works
and
pora.
It
mentions
the
three
srotas
of
the
tantric
corpus,
as
well
as
(a
work
entitled?)
the
Uttarottara
Miitrtantra.209
In
addition
to
the
Svacchanda
mulae,
it
describes
a
number
of
other
mantras,
including
one
that
appears
to
refer
to
Matsyendra.
210
It
mentions
the
alchemist
Nandi
(9.134)
and,
in
at
least
one
manuscript,
also
makes
mention
of
the
[Rasa-]
Ratniikara
(RRA)
(however,
the
RM
[4.4.100]
names
and
his
disciple
GahaI}inath).211
It
also
cites
the
Rasopani{at
and
the
Mahodadhi,
both
of
which
it
attributes
to
the
goddess
Vma,
and
goes
on
to
give
titles
of
tant
alchemical
works
authored
by
a
number
of
divine
alchemical
Siddhas
(of
which
two-Sukra
and
Brhaspati-are
also
mentioned
in
the
RU).212
It
is
cited,
under
the
title
of
Svacchandafaktyavatiira,
in
the
century
These
data
would
place
the
BhP
in
the
twelfth
to
thirteenth
century,
which
squares
with
an
apparent
reference
to
it
by
Somadeva,
when
he
cites
in
his
thirteenth-century
RC
(7.1).
Its
sole
geographical
references
are
to
the
Vindhya
range
(6.60),
to
a
site
"to
the
southeast
of
the
Himalayas"
(2.56),
and
to
a
(probably
mythic)
location
called
"Virgin
Island"
(kumiiridvipa),
where
divine
herbs
abound
(7.
1
13).
In
nearly
every
respect,
the
BhP
is
a
garden-variety
alchemical
tantra.
Its
oft-repeated
goals
are
siddhis,
Sivahood,
and
sporting
in
the
heavens
with
divine
maidens;214
and
its
means
to
that
end
are
a
blend
of
alchemy,
tantric
worship,
and
devotion
to
mercurial
Siva
lingas
and
the
Siddhas.215

15
8
Chapter
Five
Significant
in
this
regard
is
its
quite
frequent
reference
to
mercury
as
vya,
the
fluid
or
power
substance,
without
which
the
use
of
mantras
and
other
forms
of
worship
are
vain.
In
this,
the
BhP
resembles
the
KCM,
which
it
also
follows
in
its
numerous
preparations
in
which
menstrual
blood
is
used.2l
6
It
also
resembles
the
latter
work
in
its
frequent
use
of
vernacular
terms,
of
which
one,
khiinepiine
(4.77),
used
as
a
synonym
for
siddhi,
is
also
found
in
the
RM,
Matsyendra's
Akulavira
Tantra,
and
the
tiitreya
Tantra.217
Its
aphorism
on
the
powers
of
swooned,
killed,
and
bound
mercury
(I.
5
I)
is
a
paraphrase
of
that
found
in
the
RA.
The
BhP
devotes
much
of
its
seventh
chapter
to
alchemical
uses
of
the
sixty-four
divine
herbs
(divyau{adhl),
which
it
identifies,
after
an
alchemical
commonplace,
with
the
sixty-four
yoginis.
These
are
said
to
grow
in
those
places
where
Siva
and
the
Goddess
had
sexual
intercourse
and
are
to
be
culled
and
used
at
certain
specific
times
of
the
lunar
month
and
the
solar
year.
218
Its
description
of
the
construction
and
layout
of
the
alchemical
oratory
and
the
qualities
of
laboratory
assistants
generally
follow
those
found
in
the
RA.2l9
The
eight
primary
and
secondary
minerals
(2.19,
28)
and
eight
metals
(2.31),
as
well
as
the
eighteen
alchemical
san;zskiiras
(3.4-
6),
listed
in
the
BhP
correspond
to
those
found
in
most
alchemical
sources.
f.
The
Rnsendracn4iima1!i
(Crest-jewel
of
the
Lord
of
Rasas)
(RC)
of
madeva,
a
work
in
sixteen
chapters,
cites
a
great
number
of
tenth-
to
thirteenth-century
alchemical
authors:
Manthanabhairava,
Nandi,
juna,
Bhairavacarya,
Govinda,
Bhaskara,
Bhaluki,
Srlkal).tha,
etc.
220
The
RC
is
mentioned
in
the
thirteenth-century
RRA
(1.10.51-61)
and
RPS
(7.37;
9.II),
and
copied
extensively
by
the
thirteenth-
to
fourteenth-century
RRS:
it
therefore
dates
from
the
twelfth
or
thirteenth
century.
Somadeva
calls
himself
the
lord
of
Karavala
Bhairavapura,
a
name
that
corresponds
to
no
known
Indian
toponym,
either
medieval
or
modern;
however,
deva's
mention
of
both
Nagarjuna
and
Bhaskara,
as
well
as
a
familiarity
with
Mount
Abu
"in
the
Gujarat
region"
(11.1
I
I)
and
the
local
Saurashtran
term
for
a
specific
type
of
clay
(11.49)
indicate
that
he
was
from
Gujarat.
221
Somadeva
states,
on
a
number
of
occasions,
that
he
is
one
of
the
greatest
alchemists
on
the
face
of
the
earth,
and
that
certain
techniques
are
known
to
none
save
Siva,
Nandikesvara,
and
himself.
In
spite
of
his
self-assurance,
Somadeva,
like
many
before
and
after
him,
copies
or
paraphrases
large
tions
of
earlier
works,
especially
the
RA.
Chapter
one
closely
follows
the
first
chapter
of
the
RA
in
structure
and
content,
from
its
evocation
of
the
Kaulas
(1.6-7,
II-IS)
and
its
discussion
of
"eating
the
flesh
of
the
cow
and

159
Tantric
and
Siddha
Alchemical
Literature
drinking
liquor"
(I.8-ro)
to
its
paraphrase
of
that
work's
aphorism
on
the
powers
of
swooned,
bound,
and
killed
mercury
(I.28)
and
its
discussion
of
the
devotional
cult
of
mercury
(I.30-5I).
Chapter
two's
discussion
of
initiation,
including
instructions
for
the
establishment
of
images
of
bhairava
and
Rasailkusi
in
the
midst
of
an
alchemical
ma1!4a1a
(2-4-50)
closely
follows
RA
2-4-8,
44-76.
No
fewer
than
forty
verses
in
chapters
ten
through
fourteen
are
borrowed
from
the
seventh
chapter
of
the
RA.222
Somadeva
is,
nonetheless,
original
on
a
number
of
counts.
His
is
the
earliest
work
to
contain
the
origin
myth
of
mercury,
as
well
as
the
tion
of
a
fantastic
procedure
for
the
extraction
of
mercury
from
its
terranean
"wells"
(I5-4-22).
He
is
the
first
alchemical
author
to
identify
the
nine
gemstones
(I2.I)
with
the
nine
heavenly
bodies
(wahas),
and
the
first
to
describe
five
types
of
alchemical
transmutation,
which
correspond
to
the
five
elements
(4.
ro7-
II).
Curiously,
he
devotes
very
little
attention
to
the
ninth
through
sixteenth
sa'f!Zskaras,
preferring
to
concentrate
on
the
ultimate
operations
of
transmutation
(vedha)
and
transubstantiation,
which
he
terms
sevana
(I5.28).
Apart
from
the
anonymous
author
of
the
RA,
Somadeva
is
the
most
stylish
of
the
alchemical
authors.
His
work
bears
the
stamp
of
a
powerful
personality.
g.
The
Rasaprakasa
Sudhakara
(Effulgence
of
Mercury,
Wellspring
of
Nectar)
(RPS)
ofYasodhara
Bha!1a
is
a
work
in
thirteen
chapters
devoted
to
medicinal
uses
of
mercurials
and
other
alchemical
preparations.
dhara's
name
figures
in
all
the
Rasa
Siddha
lists,m
and
he
mentions
the
twelfth-
to
thirteenth-century
Somadeva
(9.I2)
and
opium:
therefore
his
is
a
thirteenth-century
work.224
Yasodhara
states
that
he
is
a
resident
of
the
Saurashtran
town
of
JiIT).abhidha,
which
likely
corresponds
to
the
modern
toponym
of
Junagadh.
225
In
the
opening
verses
of
his
work
(I.I-4),
he
evokes
a
series
of
deities-Sarada,
i.e.,
Sarasvati;
GaI).apati,
i.e.,
GaI).esa;
and
Harihara.
This
last
name
is
of
course
a
reference
to
the
conjoined
a
god
whose
name
is
also
evoked
in
the
opening
verses
of
the
RHT
(I.2).
Given
that
Yasodhara
identifies
his
father
as
a
Vaisnava
named
Padmanabha
("Lotus-Navel:'
i.e.,
of
the
Gau<;liya
(Srig;uqa)
min
lineage,226
we
can
be
nearly
certain
that
the
author
of
the
RPS
was
a
rather
than
a
Saiva
or
Sakta
alchemist.
He
refers
to
himself
as
a
kavi
and
a
kavivara
(13.
I4-
I
5)·227
In
spite
of
Yasodhara's
probable
his
account
of
the
divine
origin
of
mercury
(I.
5-
I2)
is
based
on
the
standard
Saiva
myth
of
the
birth
of
Skanda.
Enumerations
of
the
eighteen
alchemical
sa'f!Zskaras
(I.30-I64)

160
Chapter
Five
and
the
eight
principal
(5.2-3)
and
secondary
(6.1)
rasas
are
unexceptional.
Chapter
eight
includes
descriptions
of
the
preparations
called
bhairava
rasa
(8.132-33)
and
manthiinabhairava
rasa
(8.173-74).
In
chapter
nine,
Yasodhara's
enumeration
of
the
sixty-four
divine
herbs
(divyaus.adhts)
is
based,
by
his
own
admission
(9.11),
on
Somadeva's
RC.
An
unusually
long
list
of
forty
yantras
is
presented
in
chapter
ten;
chapter
eleven
is
devoted
to
gold
making.
Chapters
twelve
and
thirteen
are
devoted
to
Ayurvedic
techniques
of
viijtkarar:a.
In
addition
to
Somadeva,
Yasodhara
mentions
Bhairava
(7.26),
Nagarjuna
(5.107),
and
Nandi
(6'73)'
h.
Because
of
the
corrupt
nature
of
the
manuscript
he
consulted,
P.
C.
Ray
mistook
the
RM
for
the
Rasaratniikara
(Mine
of
Gemstones
and
Rasas)
(RRA),
which
he
attributed
to
Nagarjuna.
As
already
noted,
the
century
RRA
was
authored
by
Nityanatha
Siddha,
who
says
as
much
(1.1.25)
and
who
names
Nagarjuna
in
an
opening
verse
of
his
work
(1.1.17a).
In
the
same
passage,
he
also
mentions
the
Rasiirr:ava
of
bhu."228
It
is
also
in
the
RRA
(3.1.66-70)
that
we
find
an
alternate
(to
the
RMIRRS
[aJ)
list
of
Rasa
Siddhas,
a
list
that
notably
includes
Carpati
(whose
name
is
absent
from
the
RMIRRS
[a]
list);
the
RRA
(1.1.17b)
also
cites
a
work
by
Carpati,
entitled
Svargavaidya-kiipiilika.
229
The
RRA
is
a
later
work
than
the
KCM
as
well
as
the
RC,
both
of
which
it
cites;2JO
but
is
earlier
than
the
RAK,
which
cites
it,231
and
the
RRS
and
£iK,
which
borrow
from
it
extensively.
I
have
already
indicated
the
ubiquity
of
Nityanatha
Siddha,
"son
of
van:'
as
the
tantric
author
of
works
on
alchemy,
ha!ha
yoga,
and
tantric
sorcery,
and
as
a
name
figuring
in
both
Rasa
Siddha
(RRS)
and
yogic
dha
(HYP)
lists.
I
have
also
surmised
that
Nityanatha
Siddha
may
have
been
a
Nath
Siddha
polymath,
after
the
fashion
of
the
founder
akhnath,
whom
he
names
in
RRA
4.4.100.
(He
also
names
Gahananatha,2J2
who,
if
he
is
the
same
figure
as
the
Gahal).inatha
who
was
Gorakh's
ciple-and
JiianeSvara's
guru's
guru-in
Maharashtran
Nath
Siddha
eages,
offers
further
proof
that
this
is
a
late
thirteenth-century
Nath
dha
text,
likely
from
Maharashtra).
The
contents
of
the
RRA,
while
they
betray
the
author's
interest
and
expertise
in
the
fields
of
tantric
alchemy
and
sorcery,
as
well
as
Ayurvedic
therapy,
make
no
reference
to
hathayogic
techniques.
Nityanath
sets
forth
the
agenda
to
his
very
prolix
work
in
his
opening
verses
(RRA
1.1.4b-6a):
"This
treatise
in
five
sections
(khar:4as)
is
offered
for
the
benefit
of
practitioners;
[for
the
benefit
of]
Ayurvedic
physicians
(vaidyas)
in
the
[first]
Rasa
division;
[that
of]
the
afflicted
in
the
[second]
Rasendra
[division];
theoreticians
in
the
[third]
Vada
division;

Tantric
and
Siddha
Alchemical
Literature
[and]
the
aged
in
the
[fourth]
Rasayana
[division].
Supernatural
power
of
an
alchemical
order
(rasa-siddhl)
is
proffered for
the
sake
of
[tantric]
sors
in
the
[fifth]
Mantra
division:'233
The
Rasa
and
Vada
divisions
of
the
RRA,
composed
of
ten
and
twenty
chapters
or
"teachings"
(upadefas)
respectively,
treat
for
the
most
part
of
the
operations
proper
to
transmutational
(dhatuvada)
alchemy,
while
the
Rasendra
division,
seventy-one
chapters
in
length,234
treats
of
therapeutic
(rogavada)
alchemy.
The
Rasayana
division,
eight
chapters
in
length,
is
a
discussion
of
elixir
(dehavada)
alchemy,
save
its
concluding
chapter,
which
is
a
panegyric
of
the
alchemical
wonderland
of
SrI
Parvata
(Srisailam)
and
the
alchemical
practices
specific
to
that
site.
Much
of
the
final
Siddha
or
Mantra
division
of
the
RRA
appears
to
have
been
borrowed,
more
or
less
piecemeal,
into
the
KPT
of
Siddha
Nagarjuna.
This
is
made
manifestly
clear
in
KPT
I.l3a,
which
states:
"This
is
called
the
Mantra
division
(mantra-kha1f4a)
[which
is
offered]
for
the
welfare
of
practitioners:'
The
same
half
verse
is
found
in
the
Mantra
of
the
RRA
(5.1.1
la),
where
the
statement
makes
perfect
sense.
The
twenty-seven
chapters
of
the
Mantra
division
become
condensed
into
twenty
chapters
in
the
KPT;
however,
the
chapter
order
of
the
two
is
quite
identical.
Even
if
it
is
divided
into
fewer
chapters,
the
KPT
is
substantially
longer
than
the
Mantra
of
the
RRA,
again
indicating
that
it
is
a
later
expansion
Nityanatha's
work.
235
Given
that
the
RM
cites
the
KPT,
we
must
conclude
that
it
too
is
a
later
work
than
the
RRA:
therefore,
the
Rasa
Mangala
named
in
RRA
1.1.16b
cannot
be
the
same
work
as
the
RM.
Nityanatha
Siddha
makes
a
number
of
statements
that
are
more
or
less
unique
to
this
alchemical
source.
He
mentions
both
the
necessity
of
longing
to
an
order
(sampradaya),
and
states
that
his
work
is
a
blend
of
his
guru's
teachings
and
his
own
practical
experience
(1.1.2Ia,
22a).
where,
he
states
that
the
alchemical
teachings
were
received
directly,
by
the
Siddhas,
from
Siva's
mouth;
this
mystical
technique
has
been
kept
hidden
in
the
writings
of
their
order,
which
he
has
himself
surveyed
(3.1.9-10).
Then
follows
an
oft-repeated
aphorism,
of
which
Nityanatha
appears
to
be
the
original
source:
"Neither
sequence
(oral
teachings)
without
written
sources
nor
written
sources
without
sequence
[are
acceptable].
Knowing
the
written
sources
to
be
conjoined
with
sequence
(oral
teachings),
the
son
who
then
practices
[alchemy]
partakes
of
the
siddhis:'
236
Nityanatha's
discussion
of
Srisailam
(4.8.1-185)
is
by
far
his
most
vative
contribution
to
the
alchemical
literature:
that
this
is
the
Saiva
center
in
western
Andhra
Pradesh
is
clearly
proven
by
references
to
the
jyotirlinga

Chapter
Five
ofMallikarjuna
(4.8.2,5,
129,
135,
173)
that
is
the
heart
of
the
cultus
there.
His
catalog
of
alchemical
wonders
at
a
number
of
sites
(a
grove
called
dali
Vana,
pools,
wells,
etc.)
is
by
far
the
most
comprehensive
of
its
genre.
Elsewhere
(I.
I.
I2a-1
3a),
he
expands
on
an
aphorism
first
introduced
in
RA
10.29
and
compares
various
types
of
mercury
with
the
gods
Brahma,
Vigm
(Janardana),
Rudra,
MaheSvara,
and
Sadasiva.
These
last
two
names
for
Siva
would
appear
to
indicate
that
Nityanatha's
pantheon
was
that
of
thodox
Saiva
Siddhantaj
yet
his
alchemy,
concerned
with
jlvanmukti
as
an
end
in
itself
rather
than
a
means
to
the
orthodox
end
of
mokfa,
betrays
a
more
heterodox
orientation.
Elsewhere,
he
also
mentions
ava
(4.3.197).
Explicit
references
to
the
perfection
of
the
human
body
as
the
alchemist's
highest
goal
(4.1.2),
to
sexual
relations
with
menstruating
women
as
a
suggested
adjunct
to
work
in
the
laboratory
(4·1.4aj
4.3.197-
199),
and
to
cremation
ground
rites
(4'4.113)
reinforce
this
emphasis,
as
does
the
entirety
of
the
Mantra
or
Siddha
Kha1)4a,
which
is
wholly
devoted
to
the
subject
of
tantric
sorcery.
Nityanatha
appears
to
follow
the
lead
of
the
RA
in
his
discussions
of
alchemical
worship
and
initiation,
the
ideal
guru,
disciple,
and
female
ratory
assistant,
etc.:
he
is
in
turn
copied
by
Vagbha!!a
II,
author
of
the
RRS.
The
RRA's
rendering
of
the
classical
aphorism
concerning
the
ers
of
swooned,
killed,
and
bound
mercury
(I.
1.24)
may
be
the
source
from
which
the
RM
borrows
most
directlyj
the
RM
also
appears
to
follow
natha
who,
in
the
final
verses
of
this
chapter,
discusses
the
dOfas
of
mercury
and
suggested
quantities
of
mercury
to
be
employed
in
the
alchemical
erations
(1.1.25b-33a).
The
RRA
lists
no
fewer
than
twelve
metals
(1.8.1-2),
among
which
it
includes
three
alloys
and
iron
rust.
On
the
basis
ofNityanatha's
name,
cations
of
Gorakhnath
and
Gaha1)inath,
his
emphasis
on
the
practitioner's
adherence
to
a
sampradiiya,
his
inclusion
in
the
HYP,
and
the
other
yogic
and
tantric
works
attributed
to
him,
I
am
inclined
to
think
that
Nityanath
was
a
Nath
Siddha
who
lived
slightly
later
than
Gorakhnath
but
earlier
than
the
BhP
that
is
attributed
to
the
latter.
237
i.
The
Miit'!:kabheda
Tantra
(MBhT)
is,
on
at
least
two
counts,
a
lar
work
in
the
annals
of
tantric
alchemy.
On
the
one
hand
it
is,
in
the
lest
sense
of
the
term,
a
Siddha
alchemical
work,
combining
the
standard
theoretical,
yogic,
ritual,
and
behavioral
components
of
practice
with
chemy.238
On
the
other,
it
is
the
sole
Hindu
work
containing
significant
alchemical
data
to
be
a
clearly
eastern
Indian
product.
Most
manuscripts
of
the
MBhT
are
found
in
Bengal,
and
a
list
of
sacred
waters
found
in
the

16
3
Tantric
and
Siddha
Alchemical
Literature
text
(4.28)
mentions
only
Himalayan
and
eastern
Indian
toponyms.239
Its
title
and
strong
emphasis
on
the
cult
of
the
Goddess
make
this
a
Saiva
Tantra.
The
MBhT,
a
work
in
fourteen
chapters,
is
cast
as
a
dialogue
between
Sankara
and
the
goddess
Of
its
twelve
chapters,
three
(chapters
five,
eight,
and
nine)
are
devoted,
in
the
main,
to
alchemy.
Here,
however,
the
use
of
mercurials
is
not
presented
as
an
end
in
itself,
but
rather
as
a
means
to
the
higher
end
of
ritual
devotion
to
Siva
and
the
Goddess.
At
the
heart
of
this
devotion
is
the
worship
of
Siva
in
the
form
of
a
mercurial
linga,
the
mercury
of
which
has
been
stabilized
and
calcinated
with
strual
blood.
No
alchemical
Tantra
is
as
attentive
to
the
miraculous
powers
of
uterine
or
menstrual
blood
as
the
MBhT.
It
classifies
this
fluid
(dravya)
into
six
types-according
to
the
age,
marital
status,
and
sexual
experience
of
the
woman
in
question-and
invokes
its
use
in
a
number
of
practices,
both
ritual
and
alchemical.2
40
The
use
the
MBhT
makes
of
the
term
dravya-to
refer
to
both
sexual
emissions
and
mercury
as
"power
substances"
-parallels
usages
we
have
already
noted
in
the
RA,
KCM,
and
BhP.
Chapter
four
of
the
MBhT
is
voted
to
the
worship
of
CamuI)4a
Kalika,
whose
name
evokes
that
of
one
of
the
names
by
which
is
identified:
there
is,
moreover,
a
certain
symmetry
between
the
of
the
MBhT
and
the
of
the
KCM.
The
MBhT
is
thoroughly
conversant
with
the
subtle
body
of
hatha
yoga
and
includes
extended
discussions
of
the
cakras,
the
"nine
doors"
(9.20),
and
the
kU1fqalint.
Here,
the
MBhTfollows
mainstream
tantric
discourse
when
it
states
that
the
alcohol,
flesh,
fish,
etc.
ritually
consumed
by
the
practitioner
are
offerings
to
the
Goddess
who,
dwelling
within
the
subtle
body
in
the
form
of
the
kU1fqalint,
rises
up
to
the
practitioner's
tongue,
in
order
to
enjoy
them.
The
muladhara
cakra,
in
which
the
kU1fqalint
dwells,
is
identified
with
the
Goddess's
pttha
of
Kamarupa.
241
Worship
of
Siva
in
the
form
of
a
linga
is
central
to
this
work,
with
the
mercuriallinga
being
the
optimum
type.
Neither
worship,
nor
ritual,
nor
alchemy
is
effective
without
the
use
of
mantras,
to
which
the
MBhT
votes
much
attention.
242
The
work
also
discusses
the
importance
of
the
guru,
the
establishment
of
lakes,
reservoirs,
and
temples,
and
various rules
of
worship-the
standard
subject
matter
of
a
Tantra.
The
practitioner
who
follows
its
instructions
gains
siddhis
and
becomes
a
"Siddha
who
is
the
manifest
equal
of
Siva."
243
The
MBh
T
mentions
the
eighteen
PurilI)as,
and
cites
the
Klilt
Tantra,
Nitya{foqafikaJ
Tantra
(=
Vamakeivara
Tantra,
which

r64
Chapter
Five
it
also
cites),
the
Guptasadhana
Tantra,
Vzra
Tantra,
and
Toqala
Tantra.
244
Commentaries
on
the
Vamakefvara
Tantra,
by
Jayaratha
and
Sivananda,
date
from
the
thirteenth
century;
245
the
Toqala
Tantra
is
also
likely
a
thirteenth-century
work,
making
the
MBhT
a
relatively
late
text,
probably
dating
from
of
the
thirteenth
j.
It
has
alre;tdv
llhverved,
at
some
,,"hat
the
Rasend;;J
Mangala
"5;
;;;;ment
of
Mercun;
neither
larlyancient
reely
copying
as
he
RA
and
a
nUf;;
ber
of
other
!iical
works.
It
is"
an
important
a1
chemical
Tantra
and
one
that,
like
the
KCM,
may
have
certain
archaic
elements
embedded
in
the
thirteenth-
to
fourteenth-century
recension
that
has
come
down
to
us.
The
two
manuscript
versions
of
the
RM
that
I
have
consulted
both
provide,
in
their
opening
verses
(I.3-5),
a
"table
of
contents"
which
indicates
that
this
is
a
work
in
eieht
chapters,
which
treat
of
the
followi
operations
reb
imary
and
secon;
ary
minerals
(2)
the
"killine
and
the
cation
of
all
;;rcurial
pills
(gU!
ika);
(5)
hum
unguents
the
visual
olfactory
senses;
(7)
pOIsons
(vi{a);
and
(8)
the
host
(ga7!a),
a
possible
ence
to
a
Saiva
goal
of
becoming
a
lord
of
Siva's
host.
However,
the
same
manuscripts
contain
only
the
first
four
of
these
chapters,
together
with
an
auto-commentary
which
does
not
discuss
the
subject
matter
of
chapters
five
through
eight
as
indicated
in
the
table
of
contents.
246
The
RM
from
the
RAlfanthanabhaira;"""
[Tantraj.
It
al";ll
k;;k{apufa
Tantra
noted,
an
sion
on
the
M;lIW
of
the
thirteem
of
Nityanath;
It
is
cited
in
1;;;;
vi
eenth-century
of
Visnudeva
Vitthala:
24H
the
ch;;;
ifore
a
work
of
;th
or
early
foUf
teenth
century.
While
its
elaborate
mise-en-scene
of
Nagarjuna,
paramira,
Ratnaghosa
and
others
atop
Srisailam
was
sufficient
to
hoodwink
Ray
and
a
number
of
other
scholars,
the
author
of
the
RM
may
not
have
intended
deceit.
For
we
read
in
the
second
verse
of
this
work
that
"the
therapist
who
carries
out
his
treatment
after
hearink
the
RM
will
undoubt-
edly
meet
wi;
said
Nagarjuna
loreover,
the
lists
"Nagarjun;;
;teenth
Rasa
Now,
the
to
this
work
Sri
Nagarjun;;
ion
therefore
ari;";v
Nagarjuna
who
wrote
this
work
referring?
He
d!!sendramangala
Nagarjuna
is
tff!
may,
on
the
one
hand,

16
5
Tantric
and
Siddha
Alchemical
Literature
be
referring
to
himself
in
the
third
person,
in
which
case
he
would
have
done
well
to
include
a
section
on
bhiUa-vidya
in
his
work,
to
sort
out
his
multiple-Nagarjuna
personality
disorder.
On
the
other,
the
Nagarjuna
he
quotes
and
places
in
dialogue
with
other
Buddhist
luminaries
may
be
the
legendary
seventh-century
alchemist
whose
biography
was
conflated,
by
Hsuan-tsang
and
others,
with
that
of
the
ca.
second-century
mika
philosopher.
Finally,
the
Nagarjuna
who
authored
the
RM
may
be
referring
to
an
alchemist
Nagarjuna
who
lived
and
taught
only
slightly
prior
to
his
time
or,
indeed,
who
was
his
own
guru.
Here,
it
is
useful
to
recall
that
GauraI).a
maintains,
in
his
A.D.
1400
Telugu
Navanatha
Carita,
that
Nagarjuna[-nath]
"gave
his
own
(atmfya)
name
to
his
disciple,
who
was
thenceforth
known
as
Nagarjuna
Siddha
or
Siddha
Nagarjuna:'
It
is
this
figure
who,
in
GauraI).a's
account,
attempts
to
transform
Srisailam
into
a
heap
of
gold.
In
the
RM,
this
is
precisely
what
Nagarjuna
promises
to
do
for
the
goddess
Prajiiaparamita.
250
However,
the
author
of
the
RM
is
not
called
Siddha
Nagarjuna,
but
simply
Sri
Nagarjuna.
Contrariwise,
the
thor
of
the
KPT
is
known
as
Siddha
Nagarjuna,
and
the
RM
evokes
the
KPT
at
one
point.
The
KPT
is,
as
noted,
more
a
work
on
tantric
sorcery
than
on
tantric
alchemy;
it
would
appear
from
the
"table
of
contents"
to
the
RM
that
its
latter
chapters
deal
precisely
with
the
subject
of
tantric
sorcery
(chapters
on
anjana
and
are
found
in
every
Kriya
Tantra).
I
have
already
noted
that
the
twelfth-
to
thirteenth-century
mala
(YRM)
may
have
been
authored
by
the
same
Nagarjuna
as
was
the
KPT
(which
nonetheless
copies
from
the
thirteenth-century
RRA);
and
I
have
indicated,
on
the
basis
of
its
use
of
vernacular
language
and
the
authorship
of
its
commentary,
that
the
YRM
is
a
Gujarati
work.
251
I
have
also
noted
that
the
KPTrefers
to
both
Sriparvata
and
Pattan,
with
the
latter
name
corresponding
to
a
number
of
Gujarati
toponyms.
We
also
know
that
in
about
A.D.
I030,
Alberuni
had
heard
of
an
alchemist
named
juna
who
had
been
based at
the
Gujarati
site
of
"Fort
Daihak"
some
one
hundred
years
prior to
his
time.
If,
then,
we
maintain
that
the
author
of
the
RM
is
referring
to
a
historical
Nagarjuna
who
was
only
slightly
prior
to
his
time,
or
who
was
indeed
his
own
guru,
this
"Nagarjuna
in
the
text"
may
have
been
the
twelfth-
to
thirteenth-century
author
of
the
YRM
(and
the
thirteenth-century
KPT?),
who
came
to
Srisailam
from
Gujarat,
where
he
became
the
guru
of
the
Nagarjuna
who
authored
the
RM.
Whatever
the
case,
it
is
impossible
to
identify
the
author
of
the
RM
or
his
teacher
with
the
Nagarjuna
referred
to
by
Alberuni,
who
could
not
have
lived
later
than

166
Chapter
Five
the
tenth
century.
On
the
other
hand,
"Nagarjuna"
may
have
been-as
was
the
case
with
Matsyendra-a
title
applied
to
alchemists
who
had
reached
a
certain
level
of
expertise,
in
which
case
we
should
not
be
surprised
to
be
confronted
by
a
host
(gar:a,
the
title
of
chapter
eight
of
the
RM)
of
junas!
In
any
case,
the
premise
for
all
of
these
speculations-i.e.,
that
the
Nagarjuna
in
the
text
of
the
RM
was
a
historical
figure-may
itself
be
groundless.
Following
its
table
of
contents,
the
RM
launches
into
a
praise
of
cury,
stating
that
"through
the
use
of
the
mercurial
method
yogiit),
one
becomes
a
superior
yogin
on
this
earth,
surpassing
even
the
Lord
[Siva]
(niitha-atitulya),,:
Siva
is
called
"Lord"
(niitha)
in
a
number
of
sages
in
this
work.
252
Hereafter,
the
work
lists
the
impurities
present
in
mercury
and
gives
an
incomplete
list
of
the
alchemical
operations,
which
it
calls
the
"eighteen
Works"
and
gives
the
suggested
quantities
of
mercury
to
be
used
in
these
operations.
253
Chapter
two
begins
with
a
description
of
the
"Kapalika
method"
for
the
liquification
of
gemstones,
a
technique
this
work
borrows
directly
from
the
RA.
254
The
same
chapter
concludes
with
another
seminal
teaching,
cribbed
from
the
RA
(7.151):
"killed
metals
become
adequate
for
internal
use."255
This
is
precisely
the
subject
of
the
third
chapter,
i.e.,
therapeutic
uses
of
herbal
and
mercurial
preparations
and
elixirs,
most
of
which
bear
the
names
of
Saiva
or
Sakta
deities.
256
Chapter
three
concludes
with
a
long
section
on
eye
medicines
(afijana),
for
which,
it
will
be
recalled,
a
ca.
century
Nagarjuna
was
renowned.257
It
is
in
the
very
long
chapter
four
of
the
RM
that
we
find
nearly
all
of
the
"Buddhist
legend"
and
the
borrowings
from
the
RA
discussed
above.258
This
chapter,
on
the
subject
of
mercurial
f5Ufikiis,
gives
a
description
of
the
same
"Immortal
Beauty"
pill
referred
to
in
the
RA
and
KCM;
the
RM
preparation
differs
slightly
from
that
of
the
two
other
texts.
259
It
is
also
in
this
chapter
that
we
find
a
list
of
the
eight
primary
rasas,
although
lists
of
the
secondary
rasas
and
metals
are
lacking.
260
A
long
section
in
this
chapter,
devoted
to
the
use
of
"leech-bound"
mercury
(i.e.,
treated
mercury
whose
consistency
is
that
of
a
leech),
placed
in
the
vagina
as
a
female
aphrodisiac,
appears
to
be
an
expansion
on
a
similar
discussion
found
in
the
KCM.261
The
latter
portion
of
this
chapter
has
already
been
discussed
at
some
length.
Following
the
RA,
it
stipulates
that
mercury
that
has
been
cinated
six
times
in
sulfur
is
optimal
for
transmutation
and
tion.
262
Like
the
KCM,
the
KJfiN,
and
most
other
Siddha
works,
it
devotes

16
7
Tantric
and
Siddba
Alchemical
Literature
some
space
to
"skewing
Time"
(kala-vaficana).263
It
makes
mention
of
the
tantric
worship
of
a
virgin
and
of
the
dravya
"power-substance"
to
be
ployed
therein.
264
Following
chapter
four
in
the
Paris-
Bikaner
manuscripts
of
this
work
are
several
folios
which
neither
correspond
in
their
contents
to
any
of
the
final
four
chapters
of
the
work
nor
have
a
name
given
to
them
in
the
final
colophon
of
these
manuscripts.
Contained
in
this
"appendix"
are
an
commentary
(fippa'f!a),265
a
verse
borrowed
from
the
RHT(I.2),
and
the
list
of
the
twenty-seven
Rasa
Siddhas
which
is
borrowed
directly
into
the
RRS.
As
noted
above,
this
auto-commentary
is
similar
to
that
found
in
the
KCM
and
is
basically
a
companion
to
the
work
as
a
whole,
giving
the
five
names
for
mercury
(including
farvaja,266
a
term
also
found
in
the
BhP,
but
where
else),
types
of
female
laboratory
assistants,
etc.
Until
the
critical
tion
of
this
work
appears,
the
authenticity
of
this
final
section
is
open
to
doubt.
k.
The
Rasaratnasamucchaya
(Amassing
of
Rasas
and
Gemstones)
(RRS)
of
Vag
bhatt
a
II
is
a
thirteenth-
to
fourteenth-century
work
in
thirty
ters,
of
which
fourteen
(I-II,
28-30)
are
alchemical
or
iatrochemical
and
sixteen
(12-27)
are
Ayurvedic.
In
spite
of
its
great
prestige
this
is,
at
least
in
its
alchemical
content,
a
highly
derivative
text.
Its
first
chapter
is,
for
the
most
part,
a
patchwork
of
passages
cribbed
from
the
RA,
RM,
and
cially
the
RHT.267
Of
its
remaining
alchemical
chapters,
much
of
their
tent
is
a
transparent
adaptation
of
the
RC
of
Somadeva
and
the
RRA
of
Nityanatha.
268
Its
mention
of
the
Yadava
king
SiIighaJ.la
(d.
A.D.
1220)
and
of
opium
support
a
mid-thirteenth-century
date;
if,
as
some
commentators
maintain,
it
borrows
eleven
verses
(5.132-142)
from
the
ca.
A.D.
1375
Rasaratnapradtpa
of
Ramaraja,
then
it
is
a
late
fourteenth-century
work.
269
1.
The
Anandakanda
(AK)
(The
Root
of
Bliss),
the
most
encyclopedic
work
of
the
entire
Hindu
alchemical
canon,
is
a
massive
text,
over
six
sand
verses
in
length.
In
its
colophons,
it
calls
itself
the
work
of
Bhairava;
the
apparent
referent
here
is
the
tantric
god,
given
that
the
entirety
of
the
text
is
cast
as
a
dialogue
between
Bhairava
and
BhairavI.
The
AK
is
divided
into
two sections,
curiously
called
"recreations"
or
"places
of
repose"
§Yantis),
which
are
subdivided
into
a
total
of
thirty-six
chapters
and
an
appendix.
The
second
section,
entitled
"work"
(kriya)
is
essentially
devoted
to
the
chemistry
of
metals
and
gemstones.
The
first
section,
entitled
tar
making"
(amftikara'f!a),
may
be
termed
a
Siddha
alchemical
text,
taining
as
it
does
chapters
on
both
alchemical
and
hathayogic
(chapters
20

.68
Chapter
Five
and
21)
techniques
for
the
realization
of
bodily
immortality,
a
chapter
(12)
on
the
alchemical
wonders
of
Srisailam,
discussions
of
initiation,
etc.
As
already
noted,
it
is
in
this
work
that
the
sole
attempt
is
made
to
fuse
the
Nath
Siddhas
together
with
the
Rasa
Siddhas:
this
is,
from
a
history
of
religions
standpoint,
the
.AK's
greatest
innovation.
In
spite
of
its
dual
emphasis
on
alchemy
and
hafha
yoga,
the.AK
is,
erly
speaking,
less
a
work
on
Siddha
alchemy
than
an
encyclopedic
work,
which
incorporates
and
synthesizes
(i.e.,
copies
and
paraphrases)
all
that
falls
within
its
fourteenth-century
purview.
So
it
is
that
the
.AK's
mous
author
also
incorporates
extended
discussions
of
Ayurvedic
elixir
therapy,
seasonal
dietary
regimens,
and
a
number
of
other
ancillary
topics
into
his
work.
It
has
generally
been
maintained,
mainly
on
the
strength
of
the
fact
that
its
three
original
manuscript
sources
are
housed
in
south
Indian
tions,
that
the
.AK
is
a
south
Indian
work.
270
This
is
further
supported
by
the
inclusion,
in
the
.AK's
Siddha
lists,
of
names
whose
origins
are
clearly
south
Indian
(Mulanatha,
Reval)a,
Koilkal)eSvara,
etc.).
If
this
is
a
south
Indian
work,
however,
it
likely
emerged
from
the
Deccan
plateau
rather
than
either
of
the
southern
coastal
regions:
the
seasonal
cycles
it
describes
in
chapter
nineteen
correspond
to
a
temperate
and
continental
(versus
a
tropical
and
coastal)
climate.
It
is
also
possible
that
this
chapter,
like
so
much
of
the
rest
of
this
work,
is
a
wholesale
borrowing
from
external
(and
northern)
sources.
The.AK
is
most
ingenious
in
its
ability
to
inflate
the
content
of
passages
it
borrows
from
other
alchemical
works,
most
especially
the
RA,
RRA,
RC,
and
RRS.
Of
these,
the
RRA
is
the
.AK's
prime
source.
So,
for
example,
the
.AK
chapter
(1.12.1-200)
on
Srisailam
is
borrowed
nearly
piecemeal
from
RRA
4.8.1-185.271
It
contains
the
standard
origin
myth
of
sulfur
(1.13.3-24)
as
well
as
of
mercury
(I.
1.8-2
3:
an
expansion
on
that
found
in
RRS
1.60-
66);
its
mythic
description
of
the
extraction
of
mercury
(1.1.53-62)
from
its
well
in
"Cinnabar-Land"
also
expands
on
the
RRS
(1.85-88)
account
of
the
same.
Instructions
for
the
worship
of
Rasabhairava,
Rasailku§i,
the
ten
Dutis,
the
eight
VidYeSvaras,
the
yoginls,
and
Kubjika
(1.2.165)
rely
heavily
on
the
rasama'f!4ala
of
the
RA
(2.53-72).
Whereas
most
alchemical
works
list
six
to
nine
metals,
the
.AK
lists
twelve
(2.1.9);
it
lists
twenty-three,
rather
than
the
standard
eight
uparasas
(2.14-8).
Its
list
of
the
"eighteen"
san:zskiiras
does
not
include
"body
work"
(farlra
yoga);
appended
to
it
are
a
list
of
subsidiary
operations.
The
.AK's
(2.9.1-97)
discussion
of
the
sixty-four
divine
herbs
(divyaUfadhls)
is
bor-

Alchemical
rowed directly
from
the
RC
(6.r-72).
Its
discussions
of
the
use
of
mantra,
yantra,
nyiisa,
etc.
are
likewise
more
prolix
than
those
found
in
other
chemical
sources.
Its
chapters
on
hatha
yoga
make
no
mention
of
nath
or
any
other
Siddha;
the
content
of
these
chapters
is,
however,
clearly
mspired
by
the
'and
the
other
yoga
drat
it
spawned.
2
lon
of
the
medii
is
similar
to
hat
of
Ayurvedii
therapy,
inasmuch
threefold
struc-
ture
(I.2I.4-5).
ndrer
alchemical
its
Rasa
(iend
Nath)
Sidd
context:
they
of
water
offerings
in
the
"conventional
initiation"
(samayii
section
of
the
work.271
Graphic
representations
of
the
nine
Naths
and
sixteen
Siddhas
are
also
to
be
figured,
together
with
the
eight
Puranic
(and
not
Tantric)
vas,
the
sixty-four
yogin
is
,
and
other
deities,
on
the
outer
walls
of
the
tation
hut
(I.2I.-r--
m.
The
small
Khecari
Vidyii
iator's
Science;
nr
The
Arcane
light)
is,
in
spite
late
date,
a
paradigmatic
ddha
alchemical
like
the
AK-
hose
encompasses
yoga,
and
nearly
everything
else
under
the
medieval
sun-the
KhV
never
strays
from
its
single
object.
The
object
in
question,
the
siddhi
of
human
flight,
is
treated
in
an
extensive
and
generally
derivative
way:
the
Kh
V
draws,
for
the
most
part,
on
preexisting
hathayogic
traditions.
\Vhat
is
original
about
the
Kh
V
is
its
triadic
focus,
on
hathayogic,
erotico-mystical,
and
alchemical
niques
for
the
niil
end,
a
focus
I
qualified
as
he
"Siddha
distii
The
KhV,
a
W[lV
i
henerally
calls
ntled
the
lciipters
and
285
Vi;
i:muscript
Two
late
id
to
Adinatha,
of
a
work
en-
itators,
Brah-
mananda
and
Narayal}a,
refer
to
a
work
of
the
same
title
as
a
treatise
on
hatha
yoga:
they
are
presumably
referring
as
well
to
the
KhV.
m
This
withstanding,
every
manuscript
of
this
work
that
I
have
found
calls
itself
the
Kh
v.
275
The
sole
works
that
the
Kh
V
itself
cites
are
called
"Mahiikiila"
and
"Martal}4arp
The
latter
of
these
is
the
Yohamiirta1Jqa
or
Vivek-
v:miirtanda
work
that
is,
in
thi
i:ansion
on
the
ioraksa
Sataka.
:er,
if
it
is
not
itself,
may
be
the
a
"Kapalika"
vttvibuted
to
"Ad-
matha"!276
Therv
(dian
hich
comprise
only
the
first
chapter
of
northern
versions;
this
first
chapter
is
moreover
often
reproduced
as
the
second
chapter
of
the
Yogaku1Jqali
Else-

Chapter
Five
where,
three
verses
of
the
KhV
are
reproduced
in
the
fifteenth-century
HYF
(3.33-35),277
in
the
light
of
which
evidence
we
may
conclude
that
the
KhVis
a
fourteenth-century
north
Indian
work.
The
KhVbegins
with
a
praise
of
itself
(1.1-28),
followed
by
an
account
of
the
khecari
mantra
(1.29-40).
The
balance
of
the
first
chapter
is
devoted
to
a
discussion
of
the
mechanical
preparations
for
and
hathayogic
practice
of
the
so-called
khecari
mudra
(1.41-74).278
The
second
and
longest
chapter
is
an
extended
description
of
the
siddhis,
as
well
as
of
the
subtle
body-the
cakras,
na4is,
kalas,
etc.
A
portion
of
this
chapter
(2.81-97)
describes
the
effects
of
hathayogic
practice
on
the
humors
of
Ayurvedic
theory.
Chapter
three
discusses
the
raising
of
the
ku"!4alini,
her
union,
in
the
nial
vault,
with
Siva,
who
is
figured
as
an
internallinga,
and
the
realization,
on
the
part
of
the
practitioner,
of
bodily
liberation.
This
is
described
in
terms
of
the
reintegration,
or
telescoping
back
into
their
subtler
essences,
of
the
five
elements
(3-49-52).
It
is,
however,
by
virtue
of
its
short
final
chapter
that
the
Kh
V
stands
as
a
paradigmatic
Siddha
alchemical
text.
This
emphasis
is
clearly
stated
in
the
chapter's
opening
verse:
"I
will
now
speak
of
the
'divine
herbal
cines'
Without
herbal
medicines,
absolutely
no
siddhis
can
be
realized."
A
short
way
into
its
discussion
of
these
"herbal
medicines:'
however,
the
Kh
V
recommends
the
consumption
of
"mercury,
sulfur,
orpiment,
and
realgar:'
the
mineral
mainstays
of
elixir
alchemy.
The
work
concludes
(4.13)
with
the
following
statement:
"Having
risen
at
daybreak,
one
should
eat
a
decoction
of
mercury,
the
sap
of
the
silk-cotton
tree,
and
sulfur,
[blended]
together
with
the
three
sweets
[honey,
sugar,
and
butter].
In
the
space
of
six
months,
one
becomes
unaging
and
immortal."
This
is
precisely
the
regime
of
the
Yogis
described
by
Bernier,
a
regime
which,
taken
in
the
morning,
"restored
the
body
to
perfect
health."
279

SIX
Tantra
in
the
Rasarnava
I.
Chapter
One
of
the
Rnsii"!ava:
The
Text
in
Its
Tantric
Context
As
we
have
already
noted,
the
use
of
alchemical
imagery
was,
for
several
centuries,
a
pervasive
fixture
of
both
Hindu
and
Buddhist
tantrism.
This
chapter
looks
at
this
phenomenon
from
another
perspective
and
examines
what
the
alchemists
themselves
had
to
say
about
Kaula
and
Sakta
tantrism.
No
alchemical
source
has
more
to
say
on
tantric
theory
and
practice
in
general,
and
the
Kaulas
in
particular,
than
does
the
eleventh-century
RA,
decidedly
the
greatest
work
of
tantric
alchemy.
More
than
any
other,
this
source
attests
to
the
highly
cosmopolitan
ture
of
the
alchemical
tradition.
Written
in
a
quite
grammatical
Sanskrit,
this
text,
while
it
was
likely
authored
in
western
India,
appears
to
be,
like
many
of
the
alchemical
classics,
the
production
of
a
quite
albeit
geographically
widespread-tradition.
This
homogeneity
may
be
tributed
in
part
to
the
sociology
of
alchemical
knowledge
to
which
I
luded
in
previous
chapters:
the
authors
of
these
texts
were
most
probably
court-based
brahmin
physicians
to
Hindu,
Buddhist,
or
Muslim
rulers.l
What
sets
the
RA
apart
from
all
other
alchemical
works,
indeed,
from
the
great
majority
of
the
Hindu
Tantras
in
general,
is
the
rhetorical
flourish
its
author
gives
to
its
opening
chapter.
I
therefore
reproduce,
as
much
for
their
style
as
for
their
content,
a
number
of
excerpts
from
this
introductory
diatribe,
in
which
the
alchemical
gnosis
is
favorably
compared
and
trasted
to
the
other
philosophical
and
religious
schools
and
movements
of
the
day.
Our
author
begins
to
delineate
his
position
in
the
fourth
verse
of
this
chapter.
The
Goddess
(DevY),
Bhairava's
interlocutor,
addressing
him
for
the
first
time,
says,
"0
God
among
gods,
0
Great
God,
0
incinerator
of
Time
and
Love,
0
leader
[fasaka]
of
the
Kaula,
Mahakaula,
Siddhakaula,
etc.
lineages!"2
This
introduction
immediately
reminds
us
of
the
sectarian
pedigree
of
Matsyendra:
a
member
of
the
Siddha
Kaula
and
heir
to
the

Chapter
Six
Mahakaulas,
he
was
the
founder
of
the
Yogini
Kaula:
the
author
of
the
RA
is
thereby
claiming
a
similar
pedigree
for
his
work.)
He
nuances
his
tion,
however,
in
a
number
oflater
verses,
in
which
he
unambiguously
demns
what
he
considers
to
be
excessive
practices
on
the
part
of
some
tantric
groups.
So,
for
example,
in
verse
10
he
states
that
"ifliberation
is
to
be
identified
with
the
excitation
of
the
female
genitalia,
would
not
even
donkeys
be
erated?
Indeed,
why
are
rams
and
bulls
not
liberated?"4
And
two
verses
later:
"If
liberation
came
from
utilizing
one's
semen,
urine,
and
ments,
which
of
the
races
of
dogs
and
swine
would
not
be
liberated?"
5
And
in
verse
24:
"For
those
people
who
have
lost
their
powers
of
reason
through
indulgence
in
liquor,
flesh,
sexual
intercourse,
and
the
male
and
female
organs,
the
mercurial
science
is
exceedingly
difficult
to
realize."6
The
two
verses
that
immediately
follow
(1.25-26)
are
placed
in
point
to
all
that
has
preceded:
"However
(tu),
mercury
is
not
perfected
by
those
who
lack
the
teaching
of
the
[true]
lineage
(kula)
and
who
have
no
desire
for
the
true
doctrine.
They,
a
Goddess,
are
[like
men]
drinking
a
mirage.
7
He
who
eats
cow
meat
[and]
who
drinks
the
liquor
of
immortality,
him
I
consider
to
be
one
of
the
kula
[and]
a
knower
of
rasa.
Other
rasa
experts
are
inferior."
8
At
first
blush,
we
would
appear
to
be
in
the
presence
of
a
text
that
tradicts
itself.
The
truth
is
of
a
somewhat
more
subtle
order,
however.
The
attacks
on
the
excessive
indulgence
in
erotico-mystical
practices
and
the
fire
makaras
are
just
that:
Siva's
alchemical
revelation
is,
generally
speaking,
a
"post-
Trika
reformation"
one.
Following
the
lead
of
Matsyendra
and
haps
Abhinavagupta
in
toning
down
the
more
extreme
mortuary
and
erotic
elements
of
earlier
tantrism,
this
alchemical
Tantra
presents
itself
as
a
"meta-Sakta-Saiva"
work,
superior
not
only
to
orthodox
Saiva
Siddhanta,
but
also
to
the
practices
of
the
earlier
Kula
and
prereform
Kaulism.
As
noted
in
a
previous
chapter,
the
author
of
the
RA
does
consider
the
alchemical
school
to
constitute
a
lineage,
a
line
of
transmission
(kula)
with
a
kula-teaching
of
its
own.
9
Because
the
lineage
nectar
of
the
ical
lineage
(sampradaya)
is,1O
like
that
of
other
tantric
sects,
transmitted
through
female
sexual
emissions
(called
siddhadravya
in
the
RA),
he
also
prescribes
sexual
intercourse
and
erotico-mystical
worship
as
means
to
chemical
transformation
(with
an
exception
made
for
yogins,
who
are
monished
to
remain
celibate
in
their
preparation
of
mercury).l1
Elsewhere,
a
female
"laboratory
assistant"
(and,
especially,
her
sexual
and
menstrual

173
Tantra
in
the
RasarI.1ava
fluids)
is
crucial
to
the
alchemist's
practice.
12
However,
"the
fluid"
(dravya)
is
to
be
withheld
from
"other
women"
(paradarat).13
It
is,
however,
with
our
author's
mention
of
the
heterodox
tantric
ters
of
eating
cow
meat
(goman:zsa)
and
drinking
the
liquor
of
immortality
(amaravaru1ft)
that
the
light
truly
dawns.
Such
expressions
are
places
of
the
"code
language"
of
hafha
yoga.
As
a
commentator
explains
on
the
subject
of
an
identical
passage
in
the
fifteenth-century
HYP,
these
two
terms
actually
refer
to
the
exalted
practice
of
khecarl
mudra,
whereby
the
yogin
internally
absorbs
his
own
semen,
which
has
been
transmuted
into
nectar
through
yogic
practice.
14
Neither
meat
nor
alcohol
is
actually
being
consumed;
here,
the
reference
is
to
the
hathayogic
complement
to
cal
operations,
a
complementarity
that
is
the
hallmark
of
"the
[alchemical]
Work
in
two
parts!'
15
The
tantric
alchemist
tempers
his
tantrism
and
sublimates
certain
Kaula
erotico-mystical
practices
with
hathayogic
and
laboratory
techniques
(even
if
many
of
these
are
called
kapalika
techniques).16
This
sublimation,
of
the
male
and
female
sexual
essences
so
vital
to
the
yoginl
cults
of
the
Vidya
into
mineral
essences
to
be
manipulated
by
the
alchemist,
is
clearly
stated
by
Siva:
"You,
0
Goddess,
are
the
mother
of
all
beings,
and
I
am
the
eternal
father,
and
that
which
was
generated
from
the
great
sexual
union
of
us
two,
that
is
rasa."
17
The
hathayogic
component
of
tantric
alchemy
will
concern
us
out
much
of
the
balance
of
this
book;
let
us
first,
however,
take
a
longer
look
at
those
elements
of
the
RA
which
may
be
designated
as
properly
"tantric!'
As
I
will
presently
demonstrate,
the
RA
remains
mainstream
in
its
tantrism,
in
its
use
of
mantra,
yantra,
initiation,
worship,
etc.
At
the
same
time,
it
purports
to
be
superior
to
both
the
orthodox
Siva
Siddhanta
and
the
more
heterodox
Kaula
forms
of
Tantra
in
the
results
it
promises.
For,
whereas
the
former
can
offer
liberation
only
at
death
and
the
latter
liberation
only
in
life,
tantric
alchemy
offers
certain,
verifiable
bodily
mortality
in
life,
an
immortality
whose
effects
are
enduring.
18
The
opening
benediction
of
the
RA
sets
the
tone
of
the
entire
work:
"He
in
whom
everything
[dwells],
from
whom
everything
[is
issued],
who
is
everything
and
everywhere,
who
is
all-encompassing
and
eternal,
tations
to
that
universal
soul!"
19
Following
the
Goddess's
salutation,
Siva's
first
words
speak
to
the
goals
of
every
non
dualist
tantric
practitioner,
gardless
of
sectarian
affiliation:
"Eternal
youth,
immortality
of
the
body,
and
the
attainment
of
an
identity
of
nature
with
Siva,
that
is,
liberation
in

174
Chapter
Six
the
body
(jlvanmuktt),
which
is
difficult
even
for
the
gods
to
attain."
20
From
here,
the
god
launches
into
a
condemnation
of
all
other
forms
of
religious
practice,
reserving
his
greatest
scorn
for
the
six
major
schools
of
losophy-the
philosophical
foundations
of
nontantric
Hinduism-which
equate
liberation
with
release
from
the
body
(i.e.,
which
assume
that
tion
is
realized
only
after
death):21
The
liberation
that
occurs
when
one
drops
dead
22
is
indeed
a
less
liberation.
[For
in
that
case]
a
donkey
is
also
liberated
when
he
drops
dead.
Liberation
is
indeed
viewed
in
the
six
schools
as
curring]
when
one
drops
dead,
but
that
[kind
of]
liberation
is
not
immediately
perceptible,
in
the
way
that
a
myrobalan
fruit
in
the
hand
[is
perceptible]
(karamalakavat).23
The
concrete
emphasis
of
the
alchemical
quest
is
hereafter
emphasized
repeatedly:
Liberation
[arises]
from
gnosis
(jiiana),
gnosis
[arises]
from
the
tenance
of
the
vital
breaths.
Therefore,
where
there
is
stability,
cury
is
empowered
and
the
body
is
stabilized.
Through
the
use
of
mercury
one
rapidly
obtains
a
body
that
is
unaging
and
immortal,
and
concentration
of
the
mind.
24
He
who
eats
calcinated
mercury
(m1JasUtaka)
truly
obtains
both
transcendent
and
mundane
edge,
and
his
mantras
are
effective.
25
Supernatural
powers
and
bodily
immortality,
the
goals
of
the
tantric
practitioner,
cannot,
however,
be
realized
through
alchemy
alone.
The
solute,
Siva,
too
plays
an
active
role
in
alchemical
transformation:
"So
long,
however,
as
Siva
does
not
descend
to
block
the
impurity
that
impedes
the
soul's
liberation,
and
so
long
as
one's
fetters
to
this
world
remain
cut,
there
is
no
way
that
true
discrimination
can
arise
through
the
use
of
calcinated
mercury."
26
Divine
grace
implies
its
human
complement
of
votion
(bhaktt)
,
which
is
also
present
in
the
alchemical
synthesis,
even
if
such
is
unusual
to
tantrism,
which
places
a
greater
emphasis
on
ritualized
forms
of
worship
(puja,
upasana)
than
it
does
upon
devotionalism.27
To
which
gods
does
the
alchemist
offer
his
devotion
and
worship?
Not
surprisingly,
the
divine
revealers
of
the
RA
single
themselves
out,
at
the
conclusion
of
the
first
chapter
of
the
work,
as
the
prime
objects
of
the
alchemist's
worship:
these
are
Rasa-Bhairava,
the
"Mercurial
Bhairava:'28
and
Rasiili.kusl-Bhairavi,
"Bhairavi,
the
Elephant
Goad
of
Mercury."29
Bhairava
is,
of
course,
one
of
the
tantric
names
for
Siva,
and
Bhairavi
is
his

175
Tantra
in
the
Rasarnava
female
consort.
Therefore,
the
alchemist
is
to
worship
a
mercurial
linga,
the
phallic
emblem
of
Siva,
visualizing
it
as
embodying
the
eighteen-armed
Rasa-Bhairava
and
his
consort
Rasankusi-Bhairavi.
Of
course,
this
riallinga,
the
support
for
such
worship,
is
composed
the
stuff
of
Siva
self,
i.e.,
of
rasa,
mercury.30
The
alchemist's
Rasa-Bhairava
is
an
ectype
of
the
eighteen-armed
Svacchanda
Bhairava,
the
deity
of
the
Svacchanda
tra
(SVT).31
It
is
on
the
subject
of
this
icon
and
its
mercurial
content
that
the
RA
and
a
number
of
other
alchemical
works
wax
the
most
eloquent
in
praises
that
bear
all
the
marks
of
Hindu
devotionalism.
The
most
propitious
days
for
worship
are
the
eighth
and
fourteenth
days
of
the
bright
lunar
night;
in
addition
to
worship
on
these
fixed
dates,
the
observance
of
a
cial
"alchemical
celebration"
(rasotsava)
also
produces
miraculous
results.
32
Viewing,
touching,
eating,
recalling,
worshipping,
and
making
an
offering
to
mercury
yield
six
types
of
fruits.
The
merit
one
gains
from
viewing
all
of
the
lingas
in
the
world
(including
Kedarnath)
is
gained
from
the
mere
viewing
of
mercury.
By
worshipping
Siva
in
the
form
of
calcinated
cury,
with
sandalwood,
camphor,
and
saffron,
one
attains
Siva's
heaven,
Sivaloka.
Eating
mercury
destroys
the
triad
of
sins
(in
word,
deed,
and
thought),
afflictions,
and
morbid
states.
The
combined
fruits
that
one
might
gain
from
worshipping
one
thousand
of
Siva's
self-generated
ambhu)
lingas
is
reaped
IOo,ooo-fold
by
worshipping
the
rasa-linga
of
Siva.
33
But
woe
to
those
ignorant
persons
who
do
have
no
faith
in
mercury,
or
who
speak
ill
of
it:
they
will
suffer
1,000
rebirths
as
dogs,
300,000
as
cats,
100,000
as
donkeys,
100,000
as
crows,
100,000
as
worms,
100,000
as
wild
cocks,
and
100,000
as
vultures!34
It
is
to
this
cult
of
mercury
that
a
number
of
authors
refer
when
they
identify
rasacikitsa
"chemiatry,"
i.e.,
the
worship
of
chemicals.
35
In
addition
to
such
external
forms
of
devotional
worship,
the
RA
also
discusses
external
worship
of
a
distinctly
tantric
stamp,
as
well
as
internal
worship,
mainly
in
the
context
of
alchemical
initiation,
dlkfii.
36
2.
Alchemical
MaJ;l4alas
in
Chapter
Two
of
the
Rosii"!ava
We
must
not
hastily
conclude
from
so
much
sound
and
fury
on
the
matter
of
the
rasalinga
that
Siva
in
his
mercurial
and
phallic
form
was
the
sole
god
in
the
alchemical
universe.
If
the
alchemical
tradition
was
a
tantric
one,
then
it
too
should
have
had
a
number,
nay
a
pantheon,
of
supporting
deities

17
6
Chapter
Six
in
its
micro-
and
macrocosms,
and
this
it
in
fact
does,
as
the
second
and
third
chapters
of
the
RA
reveal
with
a
multitude
of
details.
As
in
nearly
every
Hindu
tantric
sect,
all
the
gods
of
the
alchemical
pantheon
are
either
forms
of
Siva,
his
divine
consort
the
Goddess,
or
one
of
their
divine
attendants.
Because
the
specific
names
of
these
deities
evoked
in
the
alchemical
sources
are
so
many
indications
of
the
various
sectarian
ties
of
the
alchemical
school,
it
behooves
us
to
dwell
on
these
for
a
moment.
The
RA
compares
mercury,
inasmuch
as
it
incorporates
the
five
elements,
with
the
five-faced
Sadasiva.
37
As
already
noted,
however,
Bhairava,
the
supreme
divinity
of
the
RA,
is
an
ectype
of
Svacchanda
ava
(whose
cult
is
mentioned
explicitly
in
the
Bhp).38
Indeed,
the
RA's
ography
of
Rasa
-
Bhairava,
including
his
enthronement
upon
the
mahapreta
Sadasiva
strongly
indicates
that
the
cult
of
Svacchanda
Bhairava
is
its
plicit
model.
As
noted
in
the
last
chapter,
however,
the
RA
and
such
texts
as
the
BhP,
MBhT,
and
KCM
are
also
possessed
of
an
important
Sakta
ponent,
referring
on
numerous
occasions
to
the
circle
of
the
Mother
desses
and
Yoginis
and
the
erotico-mystical
ritual
associated
with
this
figuration.
The
worship
of
the
Yoginis
and
tantric
forms
of
the
Goddess
are
also
evoked
at
a
number
of
points
in
the
RA.39
A
highly
refined
current
of
nondualist
Sakta
tantrism
was
the
Trika
Kaula
of
the
Eastern
Transmission,
the
purvamnaya,
so
called
for
its
cultic
focus
on
a
triad
(tri-)
of
goddesses
named
Para,
Apara,
and
Parapara.
40
No
doubt
taking
its
lead
from
the
Trika,
the
RA
incorporates
these
three
desses,
together
with
a
fourth,
MalinI,41
into
a
complex
ma'f!4ala,
which
it
instructs
the
alchemist
to
construct
for
the
external
and
internal
tantric
worship
of
Rasabhairava
and
the
goddess
Rasankusi.
42
This
diagram,
whose
concrete
support
consists
of
a
square
stone
slab
measuring
ten
hand
widths
on
each
side,
serves
a
dual
purpose.
It
is
to
be
used
both
for
the
cration
of
the
newly
constructed
alchemical
laboratory
and
for
the
sake
of
gaining
alchemical
siddhisY
Its
form
is
that
of
a
lotus
composed
of
two
concentric
sets
of
petals
ringing
a
central
pericarp,
with
the
whole
rounded
by
the
standard
four-sided,
four-gated
bhupura
enclosure.
In
the
lotus's
peri
carp,
as
well
as
on
each
of
its
petals
and
at
the
articulations
of
the
bhupura,
are
placed
the
entire
host
of
the
RA's
alchemical
pantheon,
into
the
heart
of
which
we
now
descend.
The
alchemist
begins
his
construction
of
this
diagram,
at
the
heart
of
his
laboratory,
with
the
installation
of
a
rasalinga,
composed
of
mercury
(rasa).
Simultaneously
with
his
installation
of
this
concrete
image,
he
uses
the
"Elephant
Goad
of
Mercury"
mantra
to
establish
the
alchemical
god

177
Tantra
in
the
Rasarnava
Rasabhairava
in
sexual
union
with
his
consort
RasankusI
within
his
own
body.44
Following
the
installation
of
this
divine
pair,
the
alchemist
structs
his
maTfqala,
mentally
and
concretely,
from
the
outside
in,45
starting
at
the
bhupura.
On
either
side
of
each
of
the
four
gateways
of
this
enclosure,
he
installs
and
worships
eight
demonic
and
semidivine
Saiva
guardians,
while
at
each
of
its
eight
cardinal
points
within
the
enclosure,
he
installs
and
worships
an
array
of
seven
Puranic
gods
together
with
the
goddess
Uma.
46
Working
inwards,
he
installs
and
worships,
on
the
petals
of
an
outer
lotus,
the
ten
female
attendants
(dutis),
whose
names
are
nothing
other
female
adjectival
forms
of
alchemical
processes
and
potenciesY
On
the
petals
of
the
same
lotus
he
worships
the
eight
principal
mineral
reagents
(maharasas)-all
"male"
in
gender-that
are
employed,
in
combination
with
mercury,
in
the
processes
of
transmutation.
48
On
the
petals
of
an
inner
lotus,
he
installs
eight
Rudras-who
are
to
be
identified
with
the
eight
"Lords
of
Wisdom?'49
On
the
pericarp
of
this
lotus
are
placed
the
four
faktis-MalinI,
Para,
Apara,
and
Parapara-who
are
identified,
tively,
with
the
four
alchemical
energies
(faktis):
the
energy
of
gold,
of
fur
(bala
[for
vali?]),
of
diamond,
and
of
magnetite.
50
In
the
midst
of
this
group
of
four
and
at
the
center
of
the
maTfqala
is
Rasabhairava.
Seated
upon
the
shoulders
of
a
preta,
he
engages
in
sexual
intercourse
with
the
goddess
RasankusI,
who
is
seated
on
his
lap.51
Both
of
these
deities
are
described
in
detail.
Rasabhairava
is
crystalline,
eighteen-armed,
five-faced,
and
eyed,
with
flaming
hair,
tongues,
eyes,
etc.,
and
a
crescent
moon
in
his
piled-up
ascetic's
chignon.
52
He
wears
a
tiger
skin
and
has
a
serpent
for
his
sacred
thread.
As
for
RasankusI,
her
complexion
is
the
color
of
molten
gold,
and
she
is
clad
in
yellow-colored clothing.
She
has
one
face,
three
eyes,
and
four
arms,
which
bear
the
elephant
goad
(ankufa),
rosary,
and
noose
and
show
the
gesture
of
protection.
She
is
to
be
worshipped
with
the
five
Vidya
seed
mantras
(bijas).53
This
diagram,
with
its
"superenthroned"
divinities,
is
our
key
to
the
theological
and
sectarian
stance
of
the
RA's
author.54
In
such
asystem,
that
which
is
closer
to
the
center
of
the
maTf4ala
is
closest
to
the
ultimate
reality
of
the
divinity
at
the
heart
of
the
maTfqala,
from
whom
all
radiates
wards,
while
that
which
is
further
from
the
center
is
lower,
in
terms
of
the
order
of
the
divine
revelation
it
represents.
Working
from
the
outside
in,
the
eight
divinities
of
classical
Hinduism
are
far
removed
from
the
center
of
this
tantric
system
and
therefore
from
the
immediate
concerns
of
the
alchemist.
On
and
around
the
two
concentric
rings
of
lotus
petals,
the
ten
female
attendants
(dutis)
are
a
probable
evocation
of
the
Vidya
P1tha's
old

17
8
Chapter
Six
and
terrible
cremation
ground-based
cult
of
the
yoginzs
that
was
reformed
by
Matsyendra's
Yogin!
Kaula
cult.
55
The
basic
configuration
of
the
inner
lotus
is
that
of
the
old
Saiva
Siddhanta
system,
surmounted
by
that
of
the
Trika
goddesses;
these
are,
in
turn,
superseded
by
the
supreme
divinities
of
the
alchemical
system,
who
are
iconographic
ectypes
of
ava
and
Bala
Tripurasundari,
respectively.
So
it
is
that
the
eight
Rudras
located
on
the
inner
lotus
are
identified
with
the
eight
Vidydvaras
("Lords
of
Wisdom")
who
ring
Sadasiva
in
the
worship
marJ4ala
of
the
Saiddhantika
puja
and
who
stand
as
mediating
gories,
in
the
dualist
Saiva
Siddhanta,
between
the
"pure"
and
"impure"
worlds,
and
as
beings
through
whom
the
lower
order
of
beings
may
attain
to
higher
evolutionary
stages.
56
As
for
Sadasiva
himself,
he
has
become
demoted,
as
he
is
in
the
iconography
of
Svacchandabhairava,
to
the
tion
of
a
mere
vehicle:
he
is
the
preta
upon
whose
shoulders
Rasabhairava
is
installed.
57
In
a
later
description,
in
which
the
RA
(2.IIO-I6)
elaborates
on
the
mystic
body
of
Rasabhairava
himself,
we
find
another
adaptation
of
SvTtraditions.
Here,
the
RA
identifies
various
members
of
Rasa
Bhairava's
body
(knees,
loins,
heart,
mouth)
with
the
five
faces
of
Sadasiva,
of
which
the
last,
Isana,
is
located
between
the
deity's
eyebrows.
Upon
his
forehead
is
a
half
moon;
above
this
is
a
dot
or
drop
(bindu),
surmounted
by
the
nada.
Higher
still,
located
at
the
fontanelle,
is
the
goddess
Sakti.
Above
her
is
the
goddess
Unmana
("Beyond
Mind"),
above
whom
is
the
triadic
void
or
ether
(trifilnya).
This
configuration
is
identical
to
those
found
in
SvT
and
Netra
Tantra
descriptions
of
the
yogic
meditative
utterance
(uccara)
of
the
syllable
0111.
58
In
yet
another
description
of
its
principal
deity-in
this
case,
his
thirty-two-syllabled
aghora
mantra-the
RA
(2.68)
further
fies
Rasa
Bhairava
with
Svacchanda
Bhairava
and
his
cult.
59
As
for
bhairava's
consort,
Rasailkusi,
she
is
patterned
not
after
va's
fakti
Aghordvari,
but
rather
after
Bala
Tripurasundari
of
the
Srividya
Kaula.
60
One
might
choose
to
see
in
these
iconographic
data
a
reflection
of
sectarian
developments
occurring
within
the
Saiva
fold,
in
tenth-
to
eleventh-century
Kashmir,
where
the
cult
of
Svacchandabhairava
was
the
dominant
Saiva
cult,
as
it
continues
to
be
today.
During
the
same
period,
the
dominant
Saiva
doctrine
in
Kashmir
was
the
Saiva
Siddhanta,
whose
particular
dualistic
interpretation
of
the
SvT
was
countered
by
later
Trika
nondualism,
in
the
form
of
a
(later
authoritative)
commentary
on
the
text
by
Abhinavagupta's
pupil
(fl.
ca.
A.D.
1000-50)'
The
new
alism
also
entered
the
Srividya
Kaula
cult
of
the
goddess
Tripurasundari,
which
became
popular
in
Kashmir
during
the
eleventh
century.
By
the

179
Tantra
in
the
Rasar1).ava
twelfth
century,
this
cult
had
spread
south
to
the
Tamil
country,
where
it
continues
to
thrive.
61
Our
author,
who
probably
lived
midway
between
Kashmir
and
Tamil
Nadu
(i.e.,
in
the
region
of
Maharashtra)
in
the
enth
century,
was
therefore
adapting
the
prevailing
Saiva
cults
and
trines
of
his
day
into
an
alchemical
"superenthronement"
of
the
images
of
Rasabhairava
and
his
consort
Rasankusi
over
those
of
the
supreme
deities
of
other
tantric
sects
and
cults.
3.
Mantra
and
Initiation
in
Chapters
Two
and
Three
of
the
Rosii"!ava
Following
its
description
of
the
rasamaTfrJala,
the
RA
turns
to
a
detailed
discussion
of
mantra,
of
those
"tools
for
thought"
by
which
the
tantric
practitioner,
like
the
Vedic
ritualist
before
him,
empowers
himself
to
nipulate
the
divinities
whose
acoustic
being
is
nothing
other
than
the
gregate
of
the
phonemes
of
the
Sanskrit
alphabet.
In
a
universe
that
is
bratory
in
nature,
it
is
through
these
primal
vibrations
that
one
may
most
efficiently
return to
the
absolute
source
of
all
vibration.
Mantras
are
thus
indispensable
for
the
alchemist
who,
like
every
other
tantric
practitioner,
has
for
his
ultimate
goal
the
conscious
realization
of
a
transcendent
self
(i.e.,
identification
of
oneself
with
the
Self
of
godhead).
At
the
culmination
of
its
description
of
its
alchemical
maTf4ala,
the
RA
identifies
the
mantra
of
Rasesvara,
of
(Siva)
the
"Lord
of
Mercury"
as
the
thirty-two-syllabled
aghota
mantra
of
Svacchanda
Bhairava
"with
tributes!'62
The
mantra
of
the
goddess
Rasankusi,
the
rasankufa
mantra
is
given
in
encoded
form.63
The
RA
also
instructs
the
alchemist
to
make
use
of
a
number
of
other
garden-variety
tantric
mantras:
these
include
the
praTfava
(On:z),64
the
so'han:z
han:zsa,65
the
aghora,
the
mrtJuiijaya,66
the
seventeen-syllable
kali
mantra,67
the
kalapa§a,68
mahapafupatastra,69
etc.
These
are
to
be
variously
used
before,
during,
and
after
every
alchemical
operation
to
ensure
success.
Other
mantras,
perhaps
peculiar
to
this
work,
are
the
mala
("garland")
and
mula
("root")
mantras
which,
like
the
Rasesvara
mantra,
combine
seed
mantras
with
evocations
of
Bhairava-Siva.
70
These
latter
mantras
are
ployed
in
the
practice
of
mantra-nyasa,
the
imposition
of
mantras-each
of
which
is
identified
with
one
or
another
tantric
deity-upon
the
titioner's
own
body,
by
which
process
that
body
is
divinized.7
1
This
zation
of
the
body
is
crucial
to
two
components
of
tantric
practice.
These

180
Chapter
Six
are
initiation
(dlkfii),
by
which
a
teacher
renders
a
disciple
capable
of
ing
upon
the
tantric
path;
and
worship,
because
all
tantric
worship
assumes
an
identification
of
self
with
the
divine,
in
order
that
one
may
worship
one's
self
as
the
divinity.
In
both
cases,
this
imposition
of
mantras
effects
the
transformation
of
the
body,
purging
it
of
its
gross
elements
and
filling
the
void
left
by
their
implosion
with
divine
essences,
in
the
form
of
nemes.72
In
the
latter
of
these
practices,
this
procedure
is
doubled
by
the
neous
preparation
of
a
concrete
worship
site,
in
this
case
the
alchemical
laboratory.
This
practice,
called
bhutafuddhi,
"purification
of
the
elements;'
is
a
commonplace
of
tantric
propitiation.
73
We
now
turn
to
this
practice,
as
it
is
delineated
in
the
rather
obscure
language
of
chapter
three
of
the
RA.
Here,
Bhairava
begins
his
exposition
by
saying
that
he
will
now
describe
"another
acoustic
image"
(punaranya'l1}
mantramurtim)
of
the
goddess
saIikusi.
74
He
begins
his
discussion
by
speaking
of
the
fifth
element,
space
or
ether
which
is
called
the
fifth
"house!'
This
he
distinguishes
from
the
four
other
houses,
which
are
"placed
in
front"
(pradhiina);
that
is,
they
are
arranged
like
the
arms
of
a
cross,
with
the
empty
fifth
house
standing
as
a
central
"courtyard!'
Because
the
element
ether
is
the
substrate
of
sound,
this
fifth
house
is
also
the
"house
of
the
ha'l1}sa
[mantra];'
in
which
"the
siddhis,
five
makiiras,
etc.
stand!'
It
is
within
this
space
that
the
practitioner
will
install
the
goddess
RasaIikusi,
in
the
form
of
mantras.
75
With
this,
the
kiilapiifa
("noose
of
Time")
mantra
of
the
"house
of
the
ha'l1}sa"
is
given:
o'l1}
fiva
hrl'l1}
kro'l1}
ha'J1!Sa.
The
practitioner
is
then
instructed
to
repeat
this
mantra-called
the
"mercurial
goad"
kufa)-one
hundred
thousand
times
as
the
"doorkeeper"
(pratlhara)
at
the
beginning
of
the
worship.
This
recitation
of
"doorkeeper"
mantras
at
the
opening
of
a
worship
is
standard
in
Sakta-Saiva
tantrism.7
6
Next,
"using
that
same
[kiilapiifa]
mantra,
he
should
take
up
the
dung
of
a
young
calf,
and
using
that
alone,
0
Goddess,
he
should
take
up
the
ashes
of
a
funeral
pyre;'77
to
ritually
prepare
the
"most
excellent
worship
site
in
which
Lord
Mercury
(Rasendra)
dwells"
and
empower
the
alchemical
apparatus
he
will
use
in
his
experimentation.
78
He
then
sweeps
the
site
with
a
brush
he
has
empowered
by
installing
and
worshipping
Kubjika-the
goddess
of
the
Western
Transmission-in
it
(with
the
thirty-two-syllabled
kubjika
mantra)
together
with
her
full
sequence
of
subordinates.
These
ordinates,
which
are
so
many
seed
mantras,
are
termed
the
four
Siddhas,
the
eighteen
the
five
elements,
and
the
six
Yoginls.7
9
Here,
we
appear
to
be
in
the
presence
of
a
number
of
elements
proper
to
the
pafci-

181
Tantra
in
the
Rasarnava
mamnaya.
Kubjika
is,
of
course,
the
cult
Goddess
of
the
Western
sion.
So
too
are
the
six
yoginis:
chapter
15
of
the
KM
and
chapter
24
of
the
!iSS
are
entitled
and
there
is
in
this
tradition
a
fixation
on
the
number
six
that
one
finds
nowhere
else
in
the
Hindu
corpus.
As
for
the
four
Siddhas,
these
are
to
be
identified
either
with
the
gurucatw:ka,
the
"Four
Gurus"
(Mitranatha,
Oqqlsanatha,
and
Caryanatha)
of
Western
Transmission
tradition
8
!
or
with
the
four
yuganathas,
the
Lords
of
the
Ages
(Khagendranatha,
Kiirmanatha,
and
natha)
of
the
Siddha
Cakra
of
earlier
Kaula
tradition.
82
The
eighteen
mentioned
in
the
RA
evoke
the
eighteen
Nathas
of
the
nikatilaka
and
San;tvartarthaprakafa,
figures
whom
the
!iSS
specifies
are
puru{as,
i.e.,
human
males,
as
opposed
to
the
divine
(three
or)
four
Siddhas,
of
whom
they
are
the
sons
and
disciples.
These
eighteen
are
said
to
be
"distinguished
in
couples";
that
is,
they
are
a
redoubling
of
the
Nine
Naths
who
were
intermediaries
between
the
divine
and
the
human
in
the
Western
Transmission.
83
Following
his
installation
of
Kubjika,
the
alchemist
of
the
RA
smears"
the
site
with
the
Cal)qaghal)ta
("The
Goddess
of
Furious
Bells;'
a
tantric
name
of
Durga),
the
mantra
of
the
Goddess
in
the
eastern
house;
takes
up
cow
dung
in
order
to
smear
the
site
with
the
Cal)qabhairavi
("The
Furious
Goddess
of
Terror"),
the
mantra
of
the
Goddess
in
the
southern
house;
and
sprinkles
water
over
it
with
the
Cal)qakapalinl
("The
Furious
Goddess
of
the
Skull);'84
the
mantra
of
the
Goddess
in
the
northern
house.
Thereafter,
he
installs
the
seventeen-syllabled
Kall
mantra
in
the
stone
mortar,
the
thirty-two-syllabled
Aghora
mantra
in
the
pestle,
etc.
8S
While
it
is
difficult
to
say
whether
the
author
of
the
RA
was
attempting,
in
this
passage,
to
systematize
the
tantric
amnayas
or
pifhas
in
his
placement
of
the
goddesses
of
the
four
houses
around
the
central
han;tsa
house,
we
can
maintain
without
hesitation
that
his
was
a
syncretistic
endeavor.
Chapter
three
contains
mantras
from
Mantra
Pl!TIa
(Aghora),
PaScimamnaya
jika),
Uttaramnaya
(seventeen-syllabled
Kall)
,
and
Srlvidya
bhairavi)
worship
traditions.
86
Now
that
the
alchemist's
body
and
laboratory
have
been
ritually
fied,
the
narrator
Bhairava
turns
to
the
alchemical
apparatus,
consecrating
each
with
a
particular
mantra,
until
all
that
the
alchemist
will
employ
in
his
ritual
manipulations
of
elements
has
been
purified
and
transformed.
87
From
this
point
on,
all
of
these
mundane
instruments,
chemicals,
herbal
preparations
have
been
transformed
into
so
many
tools
(yantras)
with
which
the
alchemist
may
master
the
one
divine
energy
that
surges
through

Chapter
Six
both
the
universe
and
his
own
body.
He
is
now
prepared
to
embark
upon
the
alchemical
life-cycle
rites
(sa11Jskiiras)
that
will
ultimately
render
him
a
second
Siva.
It
would
appear
from
the
above
discussions
that
the
matter
of
initiation
(dlkfii)
into
alchemical
practice
is
quite
entirely
omitted
from
the
opening
chapters
of
the
RA.
Yet
we
find
that
the
second
chapter
of
the
work
is
titled
"rules
for
initiation"
(dlkfii-vidhiina)
and
that
verses
36
to
83
of
this
chapter
give
a
lacunary
account
of
dlk.fii.
88
Many
if
not
most
of
the
standard
elements
of
dlk.fii
are
present:
a
description
of
a
suitable
site
for
initiation,
i.e.,
upon
which
to
build
an
alchemical
laboratory
(2.37-43);
a
description
of
said
initiation
hall/laboratory
(2.44-47a);
information
on
the
auspicious
time
for
initiation
(2.37b-48a);
the
preparatory
nityapujii
by
the
teacher
including
the
visualization
and
worship
of
the
supreme
deities
in
the
midst
of
the
elaborate
alchemical
maTf4ala
discussed
above
(2.48b-74);
"terrible
offerings"
(aghorabalt)
to
demonic
beings
who
would
otherwise
obstruct
the
ritual
(2.75-76);
worship
of
the
"elephant
goad"
or
rasiinkufl
(2.77a);
oblatory
offerings
(2.77b-78a);
establishment
of
the
consecration
vase
(2.28b-79);
annointment
(abhifeka)
of
the
initiate
with
water
impregnated
with
mantras
and
poured
from
that
vase
(2.80-81);
teaching
the
mantra
to
the
initiate
(2.823);
and
the
celebratory
all-night
cakrapujii
for
Kumarls,
Yoginls,
and
Sadhakas
(following
Kaula,
but
not
orthodox
Siddhanta
tions;
82b-83).
What
is
missing
in
this
account
is
the
dlk.fii,
or
initiation
proper
(as
opposed
to
abhifeka,
annointment,
by
which
one
is
empowered
to
give
initiation
to
others),
that
intervenes,
between
the
nityapujii
and
the
abhifeka
ritual,
in
standard
tantric
procedure.
Nowhere
in
this
portion
of
the
chapter
do
we
find
explicit
references
either
to
dlk.fii
in
fire
in
which
the
initiate's
karmas
are
destroyed
with
oblations
into
a
consecrated
fire
or
to
the
internal,
yogic
"initiation
by
penetration"
(vedhamaYI
dlk.fii)
of
the
Kaulas.
89
What
reasons
might
we
adduce
for
the
relative
paucity
of
material
in
the
RA
on
the
trans
formative
heart
of
dlk.fii?
It
may
be
that
the
concrete
details
of
initiation
were
too
secret
to
be
committed
to
writing
and
were
passed
on
via
oral
tradition.
Alternatively,
it
may
be
that
the
alchemical
practices
themselves
were
considered
to
be
the
realization
and
culmination
of
the
process
set
in
motion
by
dlk.fii.
This
latter
explanation
is
supported
in
a
quite
explicit
way
in
a
number
of
nonalchemical
sources,
which
identify
mercurial
transformations
with
dlksii
itself.
So
the
tenth-
to
century
Tantra,90
a
seminal
Kaula
source,states
that
"just
as
iron,

18
3
Tantra
in
the
Rasart:ava
penetrated
by
mercury,
attains
the
state
of
gold,
so
the
soul,
penetrated
by
initiation
(dtksii),
attains
the
state
of
Siva:'
In
a
sense,
the
relative
paucity
of
material
on
dtkfii
in
the
alchemical
sources
may
be
explained
by
the
fact
that
alchemical
transmutation
(vedha)
served
as
the
original
model
for
tantric
initiation,
especially
that
most
tigious
form
called
the
"initiation
of
penetration;'
vedha[-mayt]
dtkfii.
91
Similarly,
the
purificatory
mantras
of
the
broader
tantric
discipline
fuddhi,
etc.)
are
also
rendered
redundant,
inasmuch
as
purification
is
a
crete
enterprise
in
alchemy.92
Lastly,
the
all-important
yantras
and
las
used
as
supports
for
tantric
meditation
are
themselves
abstractions
of
alchemical
apparatus.
93
In
the
alchemical
(and
to
a
lesser
extent
the
yogic)
sphere,
purification,
identification
with
the
divine,
and
initiation
are
so
many
techniques
for
the
concrete
transformation
of
the
"power
stances"
that
are
the
human
and
divine-and
mineral,
in
the
case
of
chemy-sexual
fluids.
Much
of
the
balance
of
this
study
is
devoted
to
lineating
the
myriad
ways
in
which
the
language
of
such
transformations
was
a
common
language,
shared
by
the
interpenetrating
alchemical,
yogic,
Siddha,
and
tantric
syntheses
of
medieval
India.

SEVEN
Corresponding
Hierarchies:
The
Substance
of
the
Alchemical
Body
I.
Rasa
and
Rasiiyana
in
Indian
Systems
of
Thought
Rasa
(from
the
same
Indo-European
root
as
the
English
word
resin)
has
one
of
the
broadest
semantic
fields
of
any
term
in
the
Sanskrit
language.
Originally
employed
in
the
Vedas
l
to
signify
the
waters
and
liquids
in
eral-vital
fluids,
animal
juices,
and
vegetable
saps-applications
of
the
term
rasa
have
proliferated
over
the
millennia
to
embrace
such
fields
as
Ayurvedic
medicine,
yoga,
alchemy,
and
Indian
aesthetics.
More
erally,
rasa
was
and
remains
the
"fluid
essence"
of
Indian
thought.
If
the
universe
is
a
great
pulsating
flow
of
essence
and
manifestation,
rasa
is
the
fluid
"stuff"
of
that
flow.
Already
in
Vedic
speculation,
rasa
was
homologized
with
water
(lip),
men
(retas),
the
vital
fluid
(ojas),
herbal
remedies
(o{adhi,
aw:adhz),
nectar
(amrJa),
and
soma
as
the
moon,
the
Moon
god
(also
named
Candra),
and
the
mythic
liquor
of
immortality.2
In
its
most
general
sense,
rasa
was,
in
the
sacrificial
system
of
the
Vedas,
a
term
that
could
be
applied
to
any
oblation
offered
into
fire
(agnz).
The
essence
of
said
rasa
was
thence
veyed,
via
the
wind
(vliyu),
up
to
heaven
where
it
was
enjoyed
by
the
gods.
3
This
triad,
of
rasa-agni-vliyu,
is
one
that
has
been
reappropriated
and
reformulated
throughout
the
sweep
of
Indian
history.
With
the
zation
of
the
sacrifice,
the
major
conceptual
and
practical
breakthrough
of
the
Ara'f!yakas
and
Upani{ads,
rasa
became
identified
with
the
"body
as
oblation"
whose
fluid
essences
were
cooked
and
transformed
over
the
tempered
fires
of
ascetic
ardor
(tapas),
fires
that
were
fanned
by
the
winds
of
the
vital
breaths
(prli'f!a).4
Once
the
bodily
microcosm
was
transformed
into
the
seat
of
the
sacrifice
(to
the
detriment
of
external
sacrifice,
which
had
been
on
the
wane
ever
since
the
seventh
century
B.C
in
India),
interest
in
the
internal
workings
of
the
body
became
greatly
expanded.
Speculation
and
research
took
two
directions,
the
one
mystical
and
the
other
medical.

18
5
!!sponding
Hierarch!!
00
On
the
one
hand,
we
find
in
the
late
classical
the
origins
of
the
mystic
subtle
physiology
of
the
human
body.
In
these
works,
we
find
early
vague
references
to
yogic
techniques
by
which
to
generate
formative
inner
heat
in
tandem
with
the
meditative,
gnoseological
realiza-
ion
(jiiiina)
of
tI!t!
individual
soul
universal
soul
rlmihman).
TogeThumd
thereby
ne-
ate
the
accumu
affording
liberation
is
context,
rasa
vvas
the
term
e;
he
MaitrT
Upam;;;J
the
high-
est
emanate
of
the
highest
gUT!a,
the
strand
known
as
sattvii,
"essence"
or
"purity."
5
Early
on,
the
internal
dynamics
of
yoga
came
to
be
viewed
as
so
many
interactions
between
lunar
(candra)
,
solar
(siirya)
,
and
vital
(priiT!a)
principles,
a
transparent
variation
on
the
Vedic
triad
of
raova-agni-viiyu.
In
hiter
hathayogic
ell
as
in
more
ge;;;!
orks
on
yogic
md
psychologiC!
;;s
the
technical
to
the
real-
it!ation
of
total
encounter
the
it
;;m
of
samarasa.
iterally,
"of
eV;J!
the
same
rasa;'
according
to
the
numerous
systems
III
which
it
is
employed,
a
state
of
!'fluid
rium,"
a
condition
of
stasis
in
which
the
emanatory
and
resorptive
impulses
of
the
Absolute
are
balanced
within
the
human
microcosm.
6
In
the
yogic
system
of
the
Nath
Siddhas,
the
rasas
in
question
are
portrayed
as
male
and
female
"drops"
(bindu)
,
which
are
lunar
and
solar,
seminal
and
vanguineous,
Siy;
,
;spectively.
Re;;
!!f
equilibrium
!etween
the
two
this
pair
is
tantamn
formation
of
a
"great
drop"
(;gic
zygote
of
so;
wh!1°h
the
new,
lib-
;orated,
all-powe+
!1!!!!!!!rtal
self
of
the
emerges.
7
Coeval
with
Upanisadic
;ocientific
disci-
pline
of
traditional
Indian
medicine,
Ayurveda.
It
was
in
this
field
that
an
important
new
application
of
the
term
rasa
was
promulgated
at
a
very
early
date.
Here,
the
term
rasa
came
to
be
applied
to
the
product
of
the
first
stage
of
the
digestion
process:
rasa
was
chyle,
food
that
had
been
moistened
and
broken
down
b;
saliva
prior
to
swallowinl!o
In
a
more
extended
sense,
;asa
retained
its
Ayurvedic
usap;!"o
huid.
8
This
was
;!ll
echo
both
of
tfI!ations
of
rasa
wn
and
of
emerg-
identified
each
dements
with
a
o;ensory
organ
!!cHvoryactivity.
Inlement
water,
rasa,
was
identified
with
the
sense
of
taste.
This
notion
gave
rise,
in
urveda,
to
the
system
of
the
six
rasas
or
tastes-sweet,
acid,
saline,
hot

.86
Chapter
Seven
and
pungent,
bitter,
and
astringent-with
each
of
the
tastes
arising
from
a
mixture
of
water
together
with
the
other
four
gross
elements,
in
varying
proportions.
9
Emerging
out
of
this
Ayurvedic
matrix,
India's
classic
theory
of
aesthetics,
i.e.,
of
taste
(rasa)-through
which
the
cultivated
spectator
reinterpreted
the
raw
emotions
(bhiivas)
portrayed
in
drama,
dance,
and
literature
into
their
corresponding
cultivated
rasas-was
developed
some
centuries
later.
lO
Drawing
on
the
Vedic
tradition
which
maintained
that
it
was
water
which
upheld
all
plant
and
animal
life,
Ayurvedic
theory
takes
rasa
to
be
the
support
of
all
of
the
bodily
constituents
(dhiitus).
As
we
saw
in
chapter
two,
digestion
is
conceived
in
Ayurveda
as
the
serial
"cooking"
(pacana)
of
the
bodily
constituents
on
the
constituent
fires
(dhiitvagnis)
,
11
with
the
end
product
of
this
process
being
semen
in
men
and
uterine
blood
in
women.
These
in
turn
combine
in
conception
to
give
rise
to
the
human
embryo.
Rasiiyana
(the
"way
of
rasa"),
the
seventh
branch
(anga)
of
Indian
cine,
is
the
most
holistic
and
prestigious
of
all
Ayurvedic
systems
of
ing,
taking
the
body
to
be
an
integrated
whole,
the
microcosmic
reflection
of
the
universal
macrocosm.
Its
prestige
also
lies
in
the
results
it
promises:
rasiiyana
is
rejuvenation
therapy
which,
combining
clinical
practice
with
the
internal
use
of
elixirs,
affords
long
life,
whence
the
classical
statement
of
the
Caraka
Sarhhitii
(6.
1.7-8):
"Long
life,
heightened
memory
and
ligence,
freedom
from
disease,
a
healthy
glow,
good
complexion,
a
deep,
powerful
voice,
great
bodily
and
sensory
powers,
the
capacity
to
see
one's
pronouncements
realized,
respectability,
beauty-all
these
does
one
obtain
from
rasiiyana.
It
is
called
rasiiyana
because
it
is
a
means
to
replenishing
the
rasa
and
other
dhiitus
of
the
body."
12
In
the
same
Ayurvedic
context,
the
rasiiyanas,
in
the
plural,
are
the
elixirs
the
physician
employs
in
rasiiyana
therapy;13
and
it
was
out
of
this
ground
that
the
term
rasiiyana
emerged
as
a
blanket
Sanskrit
term
for
chemy.
Here,
the
"way
of
rasa"
was
a
mercurial
path
since
rasa,
the
semen
or
fluid
essence
of
Siva,
was
identified
with
mercury,
the
transmuting
ment
par
excellence.
While
we
do
not
know
at
what
time
this
absolutely
crucial
identification-of
the
vital
sexual
fluid
(rasa)
of
the
phallic
god
with
quicksilver,
the
fluid
metal-came
about,
we
can
be
sure
of
another,
prior,
"alchemical"
use
of
the
term
rasiiyana.
This
was
the
compound
rasiiyana,
which
was
employed,
in
Hindu
and
Buddhist
sources
alike,
as
far
back
as
the
second
century
A.D.,
to
signify
the
supernatural
power
(siddht)
of
alchemical
transmutation
and
bodily
transubstantiation.
One
finds
no
description
whatsoever
of
a
practical
method
(siidhana)
for
the
realization

18
7
Corresponding
Hierarchies
of
this
siddhi
in
these
early
sources.
Here,
rasa-rasiiyana
was
but
one
of
eight
magical
powers
(listed
together,
for
example,
with
piidalepa,
the
smearing
of
the
feet
with
a
cream
that
produced
the
power
of
flight)
fantasized
by
Buddhists
and
Hindus
in
the
first
centuries
of
the
common
era.
14
It
is
only
later,
with
the
alchemical
Tantras
of
the
tenth
century
and
after,
that
laboratory
methods
for
transmutation
first
come
to
be
discussed
systematically,
under
the
heading
of
rasiiyana.
It
is
also
in
this
later
period
that
we
find
references
to
alchemical
practitioners
as
Rasa
Siddhas
and
to
the
alchemical
doctrine
that
Madhava
terms
"Rasesvara
Darsana!'
What
rendered
this
later
form
of
Indian
alchemy
tantric
was
the
pivotal
notion
that
alchemical
mercury
was
nothing
other
than
divine
semen,
and
that
its
principal
reagents
(sulfur,
gandhaka;
mica,
abhraka)
were
the
uterine
blood
and
sexual
emissions
of
the
Goddess.
ls
Working
from
these
basic
cations,
the
tantric
alchemists
were
able
to
construct
an
integrated
tual
framework
for
their
art,
a
framework
that
mirrored
the
general
worldview
of
Hindu
tantrism.
Once
again,
bodily
fluids,
and
the
rasa-agni
polarity
of
the
archaic
triad
we
have
already
referred
to
on
several
occasions
(reproduced
here
as
fluid
mercury
and
fiery
sulfur)
stand
as
the
basic
categories
of
this
new
synthesis.
So
it
is
that
Siva
states
in
the
RA
that
"because
[mercury]
is
the
rasa
[vital
fluid]
of
my
body,
one
is
to
call
it
rasa
[mercury]!'
A
more
elaborate
ogy
is
found
in
the
RRS:
"Because
of
its
power
to
assimilate
(rasaniit)
all
other
metals,
it
is
known
as
rasa.
Or,
indeed,
it
is
considered
rasa
because
it
is
effective
(rasyate)
in
the
destruction
of
aging,
disease,
and
death!'
16
The
term
rasa
may
also
be
employed
in
the
plural
in
Hindu
alchemy,
in
which
case
the
notion
of
"essential
element"
becomes
operative.
17
Here,
the
sixteen
principal
mineral
reagents
are
generally
divided
into
eight
hiirasas
and
eight
uparasas,
primary
and
secondary
rasas
that
are
so
called
because
they
participate
in
the
transformative
powers
of
mercury,
the
rasa
par
excellence.
IS
It
is
in
this
context
that
the
RC
can
portray
mercury
as
Lord
Rasa
(rasefvara)
who
leads
the
[mahii-]rasas
and
uparasas
to
victory
in
battle
against
disease
and
death.
19
This
same
source
also
provides
an
urvedic
usage
of
the
compound
rasa-rasiiyana,
which
it
uses
to
designate
a
mercurial
elixir
that
is
highly
effective
both
therapeutically
and
cally
(a
usage
not
far
removed
from
that
of
rasiiyana
in
a
number
of
ical
sources).
While
rasiiyana
has
been
used
as
a
generic
term
for
alchemy
in
India
since
the
tenth
century,
the
means
and
ends
of
the
discipline
are
more
properly
identified
by
two
other
terms.
These
are
dhiituviida,20
"the
doc-

188
Chapter
Seven
trine
of
elements"
and
dehavada,
"the
doctrine
of
the
body."
These
two
branches
of
tantric
alchemy
form
a
unified
whole:
dhatuvada
alchemy,
which
concerns
itself
with
the
transmutation
of
base
metals
into
gold,
is
the
necessary
propaedeutic
to
dehavada
alchemy,
the
alchemy
of
elixirs
of
bodily
immortality.
Their
complementarity
is
underscored
in
a
classic
sage
from
the
RA:
''As
in
metal,
so
in
the
body.
Mercury
ought
always
to
be
employed
in
this
way.
When
it
penetrates
a
metal
and
the
body,
[mercury]
behaves
in
an
identical
way.
First
test
mercury
on
a
metal,
then
use
it
on
the
body."21
The
RRA
explains
rasendra,
the
"lord
of
rasas"
(one
of
the
five
names
for
mercury),
in
similar
fashion:
"It
is
called
rasendra
because
through
its
proper
use,
both
metals
and
the
body
become
possessed
of
rasa."22
In
the
end,
all
is
but
a
continuity
of
the
same
fluid
(rasa):
divine
semen
transmutes
base
metals
into
gold
and
transforms
human
semen
into
nectar
by
which
the
mortal
practitioner
is
rendered
an
immortal
superman,
a
second
Siva,23
whose
bodily
secretions,
like
Siva's
own,
transmute
base
metals
into
gold.
For
reasons
unknown
to
us-although
we
may
hazard
a
guess
that
cury
poisoning
had
a
part
to
play-there
was,
in
the
north
Indian
heartland
at
any
rate,
a
gradual
shift
of
emphasis,
from
the
thirteenth
century
wards,
away
from
the
goal
of
bodily
immortality
and
towards
a
more
peutic
use
of
mercurials
and
other
"elixir"
preparations.
Here,
rasa
fastra
("mercurial
science")
came
to
apply
the
scientific-and
some
of
the
tic-discoveries
and
techniques
of
tantric
alchemy
to
the
Ayurvedic
pline.
So
it
is
that
the
internal
application
of
mercury
and
other
mineral
and
metallic
rasas
would
come
to
constitute
a
subdivision
of
Ayurvedic
rasayana.
It
is
in
this
subordinate
form,
as
Ayurvedic
pharmacy,
that
tantric
alchemy-which
gave
up
nearly
all
pretension,
by
the
fourteenth
century,
to
being
a
path
to
immortality-has
persisted
over
the
centuries
and
tinues
to
thrive
down
to
the
present
day
throughout
India.
24
Siddha
chemy,
with
its
persistent
emphasis
on
bodily
transformation
and
tality
through
the
combined
disciplines
of
yoga
and
alchemy,
has
remained
more
faithful
to
the
original
spirit
and
goals
of
tantric
alchemy
than
has
rasa
fastra.
2.
Myths
of
the
Origins
of
Minerals
from
Divine
Bodily
Fluids
The
most
concrete
point
of
intersection
between
the
yogic
and
alchemical
traditions
in
India
lies
in
the
identification
of
mercury
(rasa,
parada,
stita)

18
9
Corresponding
Hierarchies
with
the
semen
of
Siva,
and
of
sulfur
(gandhaka),
red
arsenic
or
mica
(ahhraka)
with
the
menstrual
blood
(khapuspa,
rajas,
sO'f!ita,
iirtava)
or
sexual
emission
(virya)
of
the
Goddess.
This
identification
of
bodily
fluids
or
compounds
with
the
metals
did
not
originate
with
the
yogic
or
cal
traditions.
The
moon
is
identified
in
the
Vedas
with
the
draft
of
tality,
i.e.,
soma
or
amrta,
as
well
as
with
the
vital
fluids
of
living
beings
(rasa):25
this
last
term
comes
to
be
employed
to
signify
mercury
in
cal
traditions.
The
divine
origins
of
gold,
the
subtlest
of
the
metals
(dhiitus),
is
described
in
the
Satapatha
Briihma'f!a,
which
states
that
it
arose
from
the
seed
of
Visvarupa,
whose
body,
after
he
was
slain
by
Indra,
was
shattered
into
fragments
by
the
divine
smith
of
the
Vedas:
"From
his
seed
his
form
[ropa]
flowed
and
became
gold."26
In
the
same
early
source
we
find
a
reference
to
gold refined
and
produced
from
the
body
of
Prajapati
through
the
heat
of
his
austerities.n
Brahma,
a
later
form
of
Prajapati,
is
born
from
a
primal
union
of
water
and
the
seed
of
Agni,
called
the
Golden
Egg
(hira'f!yagarhha).28
And
of
course,
the
statement
"gold
is
immortality"
becomes
a
leitmotif
of
the
brahmanic
sacrifice.
29
In
these
prealchemical
traditions,
gold
is
considered
to
be
the
ultimate
product
of
a
long
period
of
germination
or
gestation
within
the
womb
of
the
earth.
This
notion,
also
held
by
the
Roman
Seneca
(ca.
A.D.
60)
and,
much
later,
by
Arabic
(the
eleventh-century
Avicenna)
and
Chinese
ers,30
is
already
voiced,
in
India,
in
the
pre-second
century
A.D.
Riimiiya'f!aY
In
this
source,
the
six-headed
child
god
Skanda-Karttikeya
is
born
from
the
seed
of
Agni
(Fire)
who
ejaculates
into
every
opening
of
the
goddess
Earth
when
he
sees
the
goddess
Ganga
"in
her
magnificent
splendor."
Earth
generates
an
embryo,
which
becomes
the
metals
gold
and
silver;
and
from
the
splendor
of
these
metals
the
divine
child
arises.
From
the
various
rays
emitted
by
this
effulgent
child,
as
well
as
from
various
residues
duced
in
his
childbirth-afterbirths
of
sorts-are
produced
the
metals
copper,
iron,
tin,
and
lead.
Taken
together,
these
are
the
classic
"six
metals"
of
Indian
tradition,
first
listed
in
the
Yajur
Veda.
32
This
myth
is
important
for
two
reasons.
First,
metals
are
treated
in
it
as
living
substances,
with
distinctions
between
animal,
vegetable,
and
mineral
blurred:
"bodies"
of
whatever
composition
or
configuration
may
interact
with
and
even
be
generated
from
one
another.
In
this
case,
fire,
fluid,
and
earth
give
birth
to
a
god,
the
six
metals,
and
the
natural
coloring
of
certain
trees
and
plants.
Here,
it
is
the
emanatory
dynamic
of
the
proto-Vedanta
metaphysics
of
the
system
that
is
very
similar
to
the
tion
and
participation
of
Neoplatonist
thought-that
facilitates
such
anal-

ll}O
Chapter
Seven
ogies
between
the
animal,
vegetable,
and
mineral
kingdoms.
The
universe
in
all
its
parts
is
a
single
organic
entity,
with
all
that
exists
on
the
great
chain
of
being
the
internal
flux
of
a
divinely
constituted
whole,
to
which
all
emanated
form
necessarily
returns
in
the
fullness
of
time.
As
such,
all
in
the
universe
is
shot
through,
"like
the
scent
in
a
flower;'
33
with
the
divine
essence.
Moreover,
since
all
exists
on
the
same
continuum
of
this
divine
outpouring,
all
is
comparable,
even
identifiable.
The
corresponding
archies
of
the
elements,
body
fluids,
metals,
tastes,
cakras,
etc.
are
not
crete
and
distinct
from
one
another;
rather,
they
are
so
many
expressions
of
a
single
unified
whole.
Thus
they
are
interchangeable,
even
trating.
In
such
a
quite
nearly
"pantheistic"
context,
metals
are
not
merely
comparable
to
body
fluids,
they
are
body
fluids.
34
The
second
point
that
arrests
our
attention
in
this
origin
myth
of
gold
is
the
god
who
issues
from
it:
this
is
a
very
early
account
of
the
birth
of
Skanda-Karttikeya.
35
This
is
a
myth
that
comes
to
constitute
a
nent
fixture
in
every
Saiva
PuraI).a,
where
Skanda
(also
known
as
keya,
Murugan,
Subrahmanian,
Kumara,
etc.)
is
depicted
as
arising
from
the
seed
Siva
emits
into
the
mouth
of
Agni
(fire)
and
thence
into
a
bed
of
reeds
on
the
shore
of
the
Ganges,
where
he
is
suckled
by
the
six
daughters
of
Dalq;a,
the
Krttikas
(whence
his
name
Karttikeya
and
his
six
heads),
in
preparation
for
his
victorious
battle
against
the
demon
'laraka.
In
a
wide
array
of
other
Saiva
myths,
Siva's
seed
is
said
to
be
fluid
gold.
36
Once
this
central
metaphor
was
established-i.e.,
that
gold
(and,
as
we
will
see
shortly,
mercury
and
sulfur)
were
the
quintessential
reproductive
fluids
of
the
great
tantric
gods-the
floodgates
were
thrown
open,
as
it
were,
to
similar
myths
of
the
origins
of
the
lesser
elements.
So,
we
learn
that
diamond
(vajra)
arose
from
drops
of
am1Ja
that
fell
from
the
gods'
mouths
to
earth
after
they
had
churned
the
Ocean
of
Milk
(RA
6.65-66).
Tourmaline
gems
(vaikranta)
are
the
drops
of
blood
the
Buffalo
Demon
shed
when
he
was
slain
by
Durga
(RA
6.123-25;
RRS
2.56-57).
Blue
vitriol
or
copper
sulfate
(sasyaka)
is
the
poison
and
nectar
vomited
by
Garuqa
after
his
theft
of
Soma
(RA
7.39;
RC
10.71-72;
RRS
2.II9);37
and
copper
pyrites
(makfika)
the
blood
that
flowed
from
a
wound
in
foot
(RA
7.3-4).
Natural
gold
(prak1Ja-svarlJa)
arose
from
the
abstract
quality
of
activity
(rajoguTfa)
that
set
the
universe
in
motion;
another
form
of
"natural"
gold
(svahaja-svarlJa)
is
the
golden
placenta-deposited
atop
Mount
from
which
the
god
Brahma,
the
golden
embryo,
was
born
at
the
ning
of
our
cosmic
eon.
38
The
ca.
sixteenth-century
Rasakamadhenu
(Wish-fulfilling
Cow
of
Mer-

Corresponding
Hierarchies
cury)
identifies
the
six
metals
with
(the
seminal
emissions
of)
six
gods:
gold
arises
from
Agni,
silver
from
the
moon
(Candra),
copper
from
the
sun
(Surya),
tin
from
Indra,
lead
from
the
serpent
king
Vasuki,
and
iron
from
Yama,
lord
of
the
dead.
39
Other
sources,
such
as
the
twelfth-century
sarvasvam
and
the
late
nineteenth-century
Rasendra
Bhiiskara,
trace
the
gins
of
a
great
number
of
other
elements
and
metals
back
to
the
bodies,
blood,
semen,
sweat,
and
tears
of
a
still
wider
array
of
gods
and
demons.
4o
Nath
Siddha
sources
identify
the
indestructible
body
of
the
Siddha
with
mercury41
and
a
hierarchy
of
holy
men
with
the
hierarchy
of
metals.
42
3.
Blood
and
Semen
By
far
the
richest
and
most
elaborate
homologies
drawn
between
human
and
divine
body
fluids
on
the
one
hand
and
elements
from
the
mineral
world
on
the
other
are
that
between
mercury
and
the
semen
of
the
phallic
god
Siva
and
that
between
sulfur
and
the
uterine
or
menstrual
blood
of
his
consort,
the
Goddess.
It
is
in
the
context
of
the
myth
of
the
divine
birth
of
Skanda,
once
again,
that
we
find
the
myth
of
the
origin
of
mercury,
in
the
RC
(15-4-12),
RRS
(1.23-29),
AK
(1.8-15),
and
a
number
of
other
ical
sources.
4l
The
novel
element
in
these
accounts
is
that
it
is
mercury
rather
than
gold
that
is
produced
from
that
portion
of
the
semen
emitted
by
Siva
which
did
not
contribute
directly
to
the
generation
of
Skanda.
As
in
the
gold
origin
myth,
Agni
has
a
role
to
play
in
the
alchemical
account
of
the
origin
of
mercury,
as
it
is
he
who
drops
from
his
mouth
the
semen
that
becomes
the
transmuting
element:
In
a
hidden
cave
of
the
Himalayas,
Siva
and
the
Goddess
were
engaged
in
love-play
when
the
gods
came
to
plead
that
they
produce
Skanda
in
order
that
the
demon
Taraka,
who
was
threatening
the
entire
universe,
might
be
destroyed.
44
The
god
Agni
[Fire],
having
taken
the
form
of
a
pigeon,
peeked
in
through
the
round
window
of
the
apartment
within
which
they
had
closed
themselves
in
order
to
generate
a
son.
Upon
seeing
Agni,
Siva,
filled
with
shame,
shed
his
seed.
That
seed,
of
blinding
brilliance,
fell
into
the
mouth
of
Fire.
Fire,
unable
to
bear
the
heat
of
that
seed,
spit
it
into
the
waters
of
the
goddess
Ganga
[the
Ganges
river].
She
too,
overcome
by
the
sity
of
that
semen,
pushed
it
with
her
waves
to
her
shores,
where
a
child,
Skanda,
was
born.

Chapter
Seven
In
those
places
where
Agni
dropped
that
seed
from
his
mouth
45
[on
his
way
to
the
Ganges],
it
burrowed
into
the
ground
to
form
five
wells
of
mercury,
100
yojanas
[about
900
miles]
in
depth.
It
is
there
that
that
semen
is
found
today,
in
the
form
of
mercury.46
It
is
by
drinking
this
elixir
that
the
gods
themselves
enjoy
immortality.
Jealous
of
humans
who
might
do
the
same
and
so
threaten
their
hegemony,
the
gods
requested
that
Siva
adulterate
it
with
impurities,
and
so
it
is
that
the
mercury
found
on
earth
comes
in
a
variety
of
colors.
The
mercury
of
the
eastern
well
is
white,
that
of
the
western
well
yellow,
and
that
of
the
southern
well,
controlled
by
Nagas,
is
blue.
The
well
at
the
center
of
this
pentadic
mercurial
mar:4ala
contains
"mixed"
mercury,
called
mifraka,
which
is
said
to
be
mayura,
variegated
like
the
throat
or
tail
feathers
of
a
peacock.
Of
the
five
wells
in
which
this
mercury
is
said
to
have
established
itself,
however,
the
RRS
and
AK
single
out
the
northern
well,
in
which
mercury
is
red
and
pure,
as
superior
to
the
other
fourY
This
northern
well
is
implicitly
identified
with
Darada-deSa
(Dardistan,
located
to
the
north
of
Kashmir),48
a
likely
overland
source
of
mercury
for
India
in
the
age
of
tantric
alchemy.
The
name
of
this
land
evokes
the
prime
Sanskrit
term
for
cinnabar,49
which
is
darada.
So
too
does
the
color
signed
to
the
mercury
of
this
well,
given
that
cinnabar
(a
compound
in
which
one
atom
of
mercury
is
chemically
bonded
to
one
atom
of
sulfur),
the
most
common
naturally
occurring
mercurial
ore,
is
red
in
color.
Sulfur
too
has
its
origin
myth,
which
parallels
that
of
mercury
inasmuch
as
it
is
the
sexual
essence
of
the
Goddess
that
gives
rise
to
this
primary
alchemical
reagent,
the
female
counterpart
to
male
mercury.
50
This
myth
is
framed
in
the
Puranic
account
of
the
churning
of
the
Ocean
of
Milk,
from
which
the
gods
gained
(through
the
intervention
of
Dhanvantari,
the
divine
physician
and
revealer
of
Ayurveda)
the
am1J:a
that
rendered
them
immortal
and
capable
of
defeating
the
antigods,
the
asuras,
in
their
ternal
war
for
universal
supremacy.51
Once,
when
the
Goddess
was
sporting
together
with
the
female
ards
(vidyadharfs),
Siddha-maidens,
Goddesses,
and
celestial
nymphs
in
the
Ocean
of
Milk
off
the
coast
of
White
Island,
blood
issued
from
her
body.
That
wonderfully
scented
blood
was
captivating.
Because
it
stained
her
clothes,
she
left
these
on
the
shore,
and
bathed
to
purify
herself.
When
she
wished
to
returnto
the
town,
her
clothes
were
no

193
Corresponding
Hierarchies
longer
lying
in
that
place,
the
tide
having
carried
them
out
into
the
middle
of
the
Ocean
of
Milk.
During
the
churning
of
the
Ocean
of
Milk,
that
blood
rose
to
the
surface,
together
with
the
nectar
(am1Ja).
All
the
gods
and
the
gods
were
pleased
with
the
aroma
(gandha)
that
wafted
on
her
blood.
The
gods
and
antigods
thereby
said,
"May
this
be called
gandhaka
("aromatic":
sulphur).
May
it
be
used
in
the
calcination
and
fixing
of
mercury.
May
those
qualities
that
are
found
in
mercury
also
be
found
in
this
sulphur!'
Thus
[sulphur]
is
called
gandhaka
here
on
earth.
This
myth
appears
to
have
both
an
alchemical
and
a
geological
tion.
First,
the
opening
verses
of
the
Mat1:kabheda
Tantra
(1.9-14)
seem
to
evoke
the
myth
of
the
origin
of
sulfur
in
a
description
of
an
alchemical
operation
that
involves
the
heating
of
sewn
cloth
and
menstrual
blood
gether
in
a
vessel
of
milk.
52
Elsewhere,
this
account
has
been
interpreted
as
a
mythic
description
of
a
submarine
volcanic
eruption,
from
which
marine
deposits
of
sulfur
would
have
formed.
Similarly,
the
Puranic
thology
of
the
submarine
mare
(baeJava)
,
and
the
doomsday
fire
(baeJava)
that
issues
from
her
mouth,
may
refer
to
the
phenomenon
of
submarine
gas
vents
or
fire
jets.
As
such,
biicJava
would
be
the
oceanic
equivalent
of
naturally
occurring
terrestrial
gas
vents
(jvalamukhl),
which
are
considered
in
India
to
be
geothermic
manifestations
of
the
Goddess.
The
most
lar
pilgrimage
site
in
all
of
Himachal
Pradesh
is
JvalamukhI,
a
blue
flame
that
burns
within
a
natural
freshwater
spring,
identified
with
the
tongue
of
the
Goddess.
It
has
also
long
been
an
important
center
for
the
Nath
Siddhas.
53
In
the
light
of
these
glosses
on
this
myth
and
the
hard
fact
that
India
possesses
no
measurable
deposits
of
mercurial
ores,
the
following
ment,
from
the
Shorter
Oxford
Economic
Atlas,
appears
to
be
significant:
most
all
the
world's
mercury
is
obtained
from
the
red
sulphide
mineral
cinnabar,
HgS,
but
a
little
of
the
metal
occurs
naturally
as
small
globules
associated
with
cinnabar
in
certain
rocks
in
the
neighborhood
of
old
nic
regions
where
the
minerals
were
deposited
from
hot
aqueous
solutions
during
volcanic
activity.
Many
hot
springs
in
such
regions
are
still
iting
some
cinnabar!'
54
This
statement
implies
that
there
may
have
been
and
continue
to
be
traces
of
mercury
in
regions
of
geothermal
activity
in
India.
This
would
explain,
for
example,
the
purported
existence
of
a
"mercurial
pool"
located

194
Chapter
Seven
in
the
vicinity
of
a
hot
sulfur
spring
in
the
region
of
Kedarnath,
an
ancient
Saiva
pilgrimage
site
in
the
Garhwal
Himalayas.
In
the
light
of
these
data,
the
myth
of
the
origin
of
sulfur
may
be
read
as
a
reference
to
those
sites
at
which
alchemists
garnered
the
materia
prima
of
their
art.
Cinnabar,
mercuric
sulfide-composed
of
mercurial
semen
and
rous
uterine
blood-is
a
mineral
hierophany
of
the
sexual
union
of
Siva
and
the
Goddess,
a
union
that,
according
to
Hindu
tradition,
creates
and
sustains
the
universe.
Indeed,
the
Tamil,
Malayalam,
and
Sinhalese
term
for
cinnabar
is
lingam,
a
clear
evocation
of
its
sexual
valence.
55
Now,
bar
is
also
one
of
the
eight
amalgamated
elements
used
in
the
installation
of
divine
idols,
and
it
is
here
that
the
obligatory
installation
of
a
mercuriallinga
at
the
heart
of
the
alchemical
laboratory
becomes
most
meaningful.
Here,
the
rasalinga
is
formed
of
either
an
amalgam
of
gold
56
and
mercury,
or
of
sulfur
and
mercury,57
i.e.,
of
synthetic
cinnabar.
where,
the
RA
(I
I
-4)
compares
the
mortar
in
which
mercury
is
pounded
to
the
yoni-shaped
chasing
(pifha)
in
which
the
image
of
a
Siva-linga
is
set,
and
the
mercury
in
question
to
the
linga
itself.
In
another
passage
(I
I.
102),
the
same
text
notes
that
mercury
that
has
been
calcinated
in
a
particular
mixture
of
gemstones,
minerals,
and
herbs
becomes
phallomorphic
kiira).
This
appears
to
be
the
north
Indian
cognate
to
the
production,
in
south
Indian
alchemy,
of
"mercurial
phalluses;'
called
gulikiis
(the
lent
of
the
Sanskrit
gufikii,
"pill").58
Here
as
well,
the
MBhT
substitutes
human
menstrual
blood
for
its
vine
mineral
equivalent,
as
if
to
emphasize
the
sexual
symbolism
of
this
operation:
"Place
tamarind
(cificini,
the
botanical
equivalent
of
the
goddess
Kubjika)
and
mercury
together
on
the
support.
Mix
these
together
...
so
that
the
mixture
resembles
mud
...
Having
shaped
it
into
a
linga,
one
should
then
harden
it
[in
the
following
way].
One
should
tie
it
up
inside
cloth
that
[has
been
soaked]
with
menstrual blood
[and
place
it]
over
a
fire
[fueled
by]
cow
dung.
Some
heating
will
be
necessary
in
order
that
it
become
hard:'
59
The
red
color
of
compounds
of
mercury
and
sulfur
inspires
all
manner
of
homologization
in
Hindu
traditions.
Indeed,
the
compound
cinnabar
is
naturally
red
in
color;
sulfur
and
mercury
both
redden
when
heated,
the
latter
taking
on
the
ruby
(mii'l!ikya)
red
color
of
the
rising
sun
when
dized
at
a
temperature
of
3000
C,60
This
redness,
identified
with
that
of
blood,
has
long
been
associated
with
the
life
force
or
vital
energy
in
both
India
and
China.
The
ancient
Chinese
used
both
cinnabar
and
red
minium

195
Corresponding
Hierarchies
(oxide
of
lead)
to
color
the
bones
of
the
dead,
as
a
means
of
ensuring
them
an
eternal
afterlife.
Here,
the
"element
metal"
cinnabar,
identified
with
living
blood,
was
long
employed
as
an
elixir
of
immortality
for
the
living
as
well.
61
In
India,
where
gold
and
other
metals
are
also
employed
in
the
cult
of
the
dead,62
vermilion
(sindura:
red
mercuric
oxide
or
synthetic
cinnabar)
has
long
been
employed
as
a
substitute
for
or
a
complement
to
blood
ings.
63
Of
course,
blood
is
also
closely
identified
with
fertility
and
ation,
and
so
it
is
in
India
that
married
women
wear
vermilion
in
the
part
of
their
hair
as
a
sign
of
connubial
felicity.
The
term
saubhagyam
refers
both
to
this
happy
state
and
to
the
lead
peroxide
or
vermilion
that
is
the
mark
thereof:
here,
the
term
hingula
(another
common
term
for
cinnabar)
may
also
be
employed.
64
Also
in
India,
red
arsenic
is
identified
with
the
uterine
blood
of
the
Goddess:
this
is
especially
the
case
at
the
"seat"
(pifha)65
of
the
goddess
called
Kamakhya
(Gauhati,
Assam),
at
which
site
the
goddess's
yoni
(in
the
widespread
Puranic
myth
of
the
ment
of
the
goddess
Sati)
is
said
to
have
taken
the
form
of
a
great
block
of
red
arsenic
where
it
fell
to
earth.
66
In
the
more
abstract
schemata
of
yonipuja,
the
tantric
worship
of
the
female
sexual
organ,
the
yoni
is
represented
as
a
downturned
triangle,
at
the
heart
of
which
is,
once
again,
Kamarupa,
the
abode
of
the
goddess
Kamakhya,
who
is
identified
with
the
kur:4alini
and
with
feminine
ality
(praktJt)
in
the
form
of
menstrual
flux
(puspartipir:t).
At
the
pifha
of
Kamakhya
itself,
Assamese
tantrics
identify
their
"lineage
nectar"
(kulam-
1Ja)
with
the
Goddess's
menstrual
fluid
(or
the
commingled
sexual
fluids
of
Siva
and
the
Goddess);
it
is
at
the
time
of
the
Goddess's
menses,
in
September,
when
the
water
that
oozes
from
this
stone
becomes
reddish
in
color,
that
their
annual
gathering
takes
place.
67
The
powers
of
the
Goddess's
menstrual
blood
are
directly
linked
to
its
redness.
Persons
suffering
from
leucodermia
(par:4uroga)
come
to
khya
to
smear
their
bodies
with
the
Goddess's
menstrual
blood,
thus
oring"
themselves
with
the
ooze
of
her
red
mineral
hierophany.
The
ocher
dye
(gerua)
with
which
the
Nath
Siddhas
color
their
traditional
garb
tha)
is
said
to
originate
from
theblood
of
the
goddess
Parvati,
who
resorted
to
self-mutilation
to
dye
the
robe
of
Gorakhnath.
Cloth
dyed
in
this
color
is
considered
by
the
Nath
Siddhas
to
aid
in
yogic
semen
retention
stambha
faktt).68
This
red
mineral
manifestation
of
the
Goddess
at
khya
is
also
capable,
according
to
the
Kiilikii
Puriir:a,
of
transmuting
base

19
6
Chapter
Seven
metals
into
gold.
According
to
medieval
legend,
a
sealed
cave,
containing
a
pot
of
mercury
(rasakumbha)
the
drink
of
which
confers
immortality,
is
located
in
its
vicinity.69
As
we
have
noted,
accounts
of
such
conjoined
mineral
manifestations
of
Siva
and
the
Goddess
in
the
form
of
mercurial
"wells"
and
sulfurous
or
arsenious
phenomena
may
have
their
basis
in
geological
fact.
Of
the
five
sacred
"alchemical"
sites
ofIndia,
three-Hitiglaj
Devi,
Gaur!
KU1)4
(near
Kedarnath),
and
Kamakhya-combine
a
mineral
manifestation
of
the
Goddess
with
a
mercurial
pool
or
source.
The
two
other
sites,
Girnar
nagadh
district,
Gujarat)
and
Srisailam
(Kurnool
district,
Andhra
Pradesh)
appear
to
lack
the
feminine
complement
to
masculine
mercury.
Hitiglaj
Devi
is,
in
a
sense,
a
geographical
and
mythological
mirror
to
Kamakhya.
Located
at
the
westernmost
fringe
of
the
Indian
subcontinent,
on
the
edge
of
Baluchistan,
this
shrine
is
said
to
be
that
site
at
which
the
goddess
Sad's
fontanelle,
her
brahmarandhra,
fell.
Like
Kamakhya,
Hitiglaj
features
a
number
of
caves
and
wells,
of
which
one,
known
for
its
geothermic
ties,
is
called
Candrakupa,
"Moon
Well!'
Hitiglaj
is
clearly
named
for
nabar
(hingula-ja);
and
one
of
the
many
local
names
by
which
she
is
known
is
"Red
Goddess!'
The
keepsake
which
pilgrims
take
with
them
from
Hitiglaj
Devi
is
not,
however,
a
piece
of
cinnabar,
but
rather
a
lump
(or
lumps,
polished
and
strung
together
in
a
rosary)
of
nummelite,
a
type
of
yellow
limestone,
called
thumrii.
These
lumps
are
variously
described
as
the
petrified
seed
of
the
Creator
or
a
combination
of
cereal
grains
(khichri,
a
rough
rice
and
lentil
dish
favored
by
Siva)
and
the
blood
of
a
demon.
As
we
will
later
show,
rice
often
doubles
for
semen
in
yogic
legend,
so
the
combination
of
semen
and
blood
is
indeed
present
in
the
thumrii
of
the
Hitiglaj
Devi
pilgrimage.
Indeed,
it
is
with
a
large
thumrii
stone
that
Nath
Siddhas
at
the
pur
monastery
ensured
easy
delivery
to
women
in
the
former
half
of
this
century:
the
stones
were
washed
in
water
and
the
liquid
then
given
to
the
women
to
drink.
70
Elsewhere,
a
number
of
"womb-caves"
of
the
Goddess,
which
are
legion
throughout
south
and
east
Asia,
are
considered
sacred
by
Hindus,
dhists,
and
Taoists
alike.
One
such
cave,
called
Ca-ri,
in
extreme
ern
Tibet,
has
long
been
revered
by
Hindus
and
Buddhists
as
the
abode
of
Siva
Mahesvara
and
the
Goddess
(or,
in
Tibetan
Buddhism,
of
vara
and
Vajravarahi).
This
cave,
entered
through
a
narrow
fissure
fied
as
the
Goddess's
yoni,
is
said
to
contain
a
lake
of
sindura
(red
mercuric
oxide),
identified
with
the
commingled
sexual
fluids
of
divinities
inhabiting

197
Corresponding
Hierarchies
the
"womb-cave"
of
the
Goddess.
We
will
returnto
the
symbolism
of
this
cave
in
the
next
chapter,?l
In
the
alchemical
laboratory,
such
homologies
come
to
be
practically
applied
through
techniques
that
involve
the
commingling
of
human,
divine,
and
mineral
blood
and
semen.
Here,
the
point
of
convergence
tween
these
interpenetrating
systems
is
the
person
of
the
alchemist's
female
laboratory
assistant,
who
is
described
in
the
RA
and
a
number
of
other
sources.
This
assistant
may
be
of
four
types:
kakiTfI
(a
woman
who
menstruates
in
the
dark
half
of
the
lunar
month,
i.e.,
when
the
moon
is
on
the
wane),
klkaTfI
(who
menstruates
in
the
middle
of
the
lunar
month),
kaficikacinl
(who
menstruates
in
the
bright
half
of
the
lunar
month),
or
mint
(who
menstruates
either
on
the
full
moon
or
the
new
moon).72
The
names
for
this
assistant
(kakiTfI
means
"cowrie
maiden";
padminl
means
"lotus
maiden")
appear
to
be
direct
references
to
her
sexual
organ,
which
is
also
described
in
these
texts,
in
ideal
terms,
as
"resembling
an
afvattha
(Ficus
religiosus)
leaf!'73
In
fact,
everything
about
the
alchemist's
female
assistant
is
ideal:
she
is
young,
beautiful,
raven-haired,
doe-eyed,
perfectly
proportioned,
fair
of
speech
and
light
of
laughter,
gentle
when
she
kisses
and
embraces,
a
lover
of
dairy
products,
and
a
devotee
of
Siva.
74
It
is,
however,
her
sexual
organ
as
well
as
the
menstrual
blood
that
flows
from
it
that
seems
to
be
at
the
center
of
interest
here,
and
this
for
a
very
concrete
reason,
which
the
RRS
(6.34)
explains.
"She
who
menstruates
erally,
"she
who
flowers;'
puspavatt]
in
the
dark
half
of
the
lunar
month
is
most
excellent
for
the
fixation
of
mercury
[rasabandha]
in
alchemical
tice."
In
what
way
is
the
assistant
useful
to
the
alchemist's
craft?
"For
twenty-one
days,
she
is
to
eat
sulfur
[mixed
with
clarified
butter]
...
Her
menstrual
blood
[then]
becomes
efficacious
in
the
fixation
and
calcination
of
mercury."
75
Other
sources
instruct
the
alchemist
to
place
said
mercury,
wrapped
in
a
piece
of
cloth,
deep
in
his
wife's
vulva,
to
the
same
end;
or
to
macerate
sulfur
in
a
woman's
menstrual blood
in
order
to
increase
its
potency.
76
The
BhP,
which
terms
sulfur
umayoni-san:zsarga
("that
which
issued
from
the
vulva
of
[the
Goddess]
Vma"),
states
that
mercury
can
be
bound
and
made
complete
(san:zskrta)
only
by
entering
into
that
yoni,
i.e.,
sulfur.
productive
symbolism
is
explicit
here:
mercury,
of
which
one
name
is
sUta
("that
which
is
born,
generated"),
and
which
transmutes
through
the
agency
of
bljas
("seeds")
of
noble
metals
in
combination
with
sulfur
or
mica,
here
enters
into
the
womb
of
the
Goddess
(sulfur)
to
become
vated.
77
Alternatively,
the
same
source
states
that
the
alchemist
may
bind

19
8
Chapter
Seven
or
stabilize
mercury
by
placing
it
in
his
urethra
(pu[n:zJrandhre)
"together
with
the
menstrual
blood
of
Gauri:'
Here,
Gauri
may
be
taken
as
a
name
for
the
Goddess,
in
which
case
it
is
sulfur
that
is
being
manipulated
here;
or
it
may
be
taken
adjectivally
to
stand
for
any
"fair
woman:'
in
which
case
it
is
human
menstrual
blood
that
he
is
commingling
with
his
own
seed
(tadbfjena),
in
all
probability
through
the
yogic
technique
of
urethral
tion
(vajroll
mudra)J8
In
this
latter
case,
we
are
once
more
in
the
presence
of
the
"power
substances"
of
early
tantric
practice.
A
reference
in
this
source
(BhP
1.77)
to
the
khecari-cakra
("sky-going
circle")
of
ritualized
tric
sex,
as
well
as
to
the
ku"!4agola[kaJ
as
an
elixir
in
other
alchemical
sources,
further
documents
this
connection
between
ritual
and
alchemical
uses
of
the
products
of
human
and
divine
sexual
intercourse.
79
At
the
end
of
such
processes,
which
serve
to
stabilize
and
fortify
cury,
this
divine
semen
in
its
mineral
form
may
at
last
be
ingested
by
the
alchemist
in
the
ultimate
san:zskara
of
sarlra
yoga,
transubstantiation.
Here,
the
RA
stipulates
that
sexual
intercourse
is
essential
to
the
activation
of
the
mercury
the
alchemist
has
ingested
(and
adds
that
said
mercury
turns
him
into
a
sexual
animal,
whence,
no
doubt,
this
text's
insistence
on
his
female
laboratory
assistant's
many
charms).8o
This
remarkable
interplay-between
human
sexual
fluids
and
their
vine
and
mineral
counterparts-spills
over
into
the
genre
of
courtly
erature
as
well,
as
in
the
ca.
A.D.
1540
Padmavat
of
Muhammad
Jayasi,81
who
allegorically
portrays
the
star-crossed
love
of
his
hero
and
heroine
in
alchemical
terms.
Here
King
Ratansen,
who
has
taken
up
the
celibate
life
of
a
Nath
Siddha,
is
first
questioned
by
the
pining
Padmavati's
female
panions:
Where
did
you
lose
the
fair
plant
[birava
lona:
Padmavati]
that
makes
the
silver
and
the
gold?
Are
you
unable
to
blend
yellow
arsenic
mavati]
with
mercury
[Ratansen]?
Why
have
you
forsaken
sulfur
[Padmavati]
for
the
cold
fare
[of
the
celibate
yogin]
?"
82
[Ratansen
plies,
as
if
to
Padmavati
herself]:
"
...
If
I
were
but
able
to
blend
the
mercury
with
the
yellow
arsenic
[i.e.,
to
abandon
my
vow
of
bacy],
I
would
give
up
my
life
just
to
see
the
sulfur
...
I
who
was
[transparent,
i.e.,
dispassionate
as]
mica,
having
been
turned
over
the
fire
[of
love],
am
become
[red,
impassioned
as]
cinnabar.
My
brass
body
can
become
yellow
gold,
if
you
but
choose
to
make
it
so
...
If
the
mercury
cannot
swallow
the
sulfur,
how
shall
I
call
my
life
yellow
arsenic?"
83

199
Corresponding
Hierarchies
Here,
the
ingestion
of
the
mineral
equivalent
of
sexual
fluids
stands
as
a
metaphor
for
the
consummation
of
love.
In
the
alchemical
sources,
such
emissions,
both
divine
and
human,
are
taken
to
be
elixirs
of
immortality.
So
the
RA
states:
"Until
such
time
as
one
eats
Siva's
seed,
that
is,
mercury,
where
is
his
liberation,
where
is
the
maintenance
of
his
body?"
84
The
RHT
elaborates:
''A
divine
body
is
afforded
through
the
union
of
the
[sexual]
emissions
of
Siva
and
the
Goddess."
85
And,
in
yet
another
source,
"a
an's
flower
mixed
with
semen,
eaten
for
a
year"
is
proposed
as
an
elixir.
86
Here,
the
flower
(pufpa)
in
question
is
menstrual
blood
(especially
that
of
a
virgin,
a
woman
who
has
yet
to
be
deflowered),87
and
we
should
not
fail
to
note
here
that
sulfur
in
its
purest
form
is
known
in
this
tradition,
as
it
is
in
the
west,
as
"flowers
of
sulfur"
(pufpita
gandhaka).88
Such
analogies
carry
over
into
the
vegetable
kingdom
as
well,
in
which
the
"divine
herbs"
(divyaUfadht)
are
said
to
grow
in
those
places
in
which
Siva
and
the
Goddess
once
made
love.
89
A
case
in
point
is
the
ca"!4all
plant,
undoubtedly
named
for
those
outcaste
women
whose
menstrual
blood
has
perennially
been
prized
by
tantrics
for
its
trans
formative
powers.
The
root
of
the
ca"!4all
exudes
a
red
milk
(kflra)
that
is
used,
like
sulfur
and
menstrual
blood,
for
the
fixing
of
mercury.90
Elsewhere,
Alberuni's
celebrated
account
of
Vyaqi's
discovery
of
the
alchemical
elixir
portrays
this
alchemist
as
searching
in
vain
for
an
essential
ingredient
called
raktamala,
which
he
sumes
to
be
red
myrobalan,
a
plant
with
red,
bloodlike
sap.
It
is
only
when
he
bumps
his
head
and
bleeds
into
his
alchemical
cauldron
that
his
elixir
"takes!'
The
same
source
relates
an
account
of
a
Siddha
who
employs
the
red
milk
of
the
plant
called
thohar
to
transmute
the
body
of
a
shepherd
and
his
dog
into
gold.
91
A
moment
ago,
I
mentioned
the
practice
known
as
vajroll
mudra,
through
which
the
male
practitioner
enabled
himself
to
tap
directly
into
the
fluid
"power
substance"
naturally
occurring
in
his
tantric
consort,
the
yoginl.
In
technical
terms,
vajrollmudra
is
urethral
suction
or,
more
cally,
the
"fountain
pen
technique:'
by
which
the
male
practitioner,
having
ejaculated
into
his
female
partner,
withdraws
his
own
semen,
now
catalyzed
through
its
interaction
with
her
sexual
essence
or
uterine
blood,
back
into
his
own
body.
In
so
doing,
he
also
draws
back
into
himself,
along
with
his
own
refined
seed,
a
certain
quantity
of
that
female
essence
which
may
in
turn
serve
to
catalyze
the
yogic
processes
(the
raising
of
the
ku"!4alinl,
etc.)
by
which
his
semen
becomes
transmuted
into
nectar.
A
number
of
sources
note
that
the
woman
may
do
the
same
as
the
man,
i.e.,
retain
his
seed
within
herself
to
thereby
catalyze
her
own
yogic
trans-

200
Chapter
Seven
formations.
92
Such
techniques
on
the
part
of
the
woman,
which
are
scribed
only
in
the
hathayogic
sources,
appear
to
be
redundant
when
viewed
from
the
erotico-mystical
perspective
of
a
number
of
Kaula
tions.
It
is
a
basic
assumption
among
these
traditions
that
the
fluid
lineage
or
clan
nectar,
the
subtle
fluid
essence
of
liberating
consciousness,
is
rally
present
in
women,
and
it
is
precisely
for
this
reason
that
the
male
tantric
practitioner
engages
in
sexual
intercourse
with
her.
This
was
the
basic
doctrine
of
Matsyendranath's
venerable
Yoginl
Kaula:
women,
cause
they
are
embodiments
of
the
Goddess
and
because
it
is
through
their
"wombs"
that
the
lineage
is
perpetuated,
have
something
that
men
do
not;
it
is
therefore
necessary
for
males
to
tap
into
the
female
in
order
that
that
boundless
source
of
energy
be
activated
within
them.
This
fluid
power
stance
(dravya)
or
lineage
nectar
(kulam1J:a),
also
simply
known
by
the
term
"true
being"
(sadbhava)-the
purest
substance
found
in
the
human
is
unique
to
women
in
their
multiple
roles
as
sexual
consorts,
practitioners
of
yoga,
and
biological
mothers.93
All
three
roles
are
present
in
the
fluid
exchange
involved
in
the
practice
of
vajrolt
mudra.
When
the
sadbhava
of
a
tantric
consort
is
conjoined
with
the
semen
of
her
male
partner,
a
"great
fluid"
(maharasa)
is
produced,
out
of
which
a
perfect
yogicchild
(yogintbhu)
is
born.
Because
women
are
rally
endowed
with
a
greater
abundance
of
vital
breath
(praTfa)
than
men,
the
raising
of
the
kUTf4alint
is
easier,
even
natural,
for
them;
thus,
when
her
partner
emits
his
seed
into
her
womb,
it
commingles
with
her
vital
breath
and,
transformed
through
her
yogic
energy,
becomes
pure
maharasa.
In
erotico-mystical
practice,
it
is
originally
in
the
female
partner
that
the
pure
substance
[the
maharasaJ
resides.
It
is
this
that
is
transmitted
to
the
male
ner
and
is
returned
to
the
female
in
an
endlessly
renewed
exchange
effected
through
the
"two
mouths"
-i.e.,
the
sexual
organs
of
the
partners:
"This
knowledge
beyond
duality
...
is
rightly
said
to
be
transmitted
from
mouth
to
mouth
...
it
goes
from
the
chief
mouth
[that
of
the
yogint]
to
[the
ept's]
own
mouth
and
vice
versa.
Bestower
of
immortality
and
youth,
it
is
named
kula,
supreme:'94
This
practice
becomes
internalized
in
certain
hathayogic
sources,
in
which
one
internally
drinks
the
"brilliant
red"
nectar.
95
The
common
end
result
of
both
the
yogic
and
the
erotico-mystical
techniques
is
identical
to
that
obtained
through
the
ingestion
of
the
chemical
cognates
to
these
male
and
female
power
substances:
white
hair
and
wrinkles
disappear,
and
one
becomes
rejuvenated.
96
Indeed,
mercury

lOI
Corresponding
Hierarchies
is
made
to
double
for
male
seed
in
certain
preparatory
techniques
for
vajroli
mudra,
as
described
by
a
contemporary
practitioner,
the
Aghori
malananda:
To
learn
Vajroli
you
must
first
thoroughly
clean
out
your
body
...
The
urinary
passage
is
cleansed
by
sucking
water
through
the
penis
into
the
bladder
and
through
the
ureters
into
the
kidneys
and
then
releasing
it
...
After
you
have
been
able
to
suck
up
water
through
the
penis
and
hold
a
bladder
full
of
water
for
three
hours,
you
proceed
to
use
milk,
to
cool
the
genital
organs.
Then
...
clarified
butter
to
bricate.
Honey
next;
it
is
very
sticky
and
hard
to
make
flow
upward.
Finally
you
do
it
with
mercury,
which
is
extremely
heavy
...
When
you
can
hold
a
bladder
full
of
mercury
for
three
hours
without
ing
a
single
drop,
you
have
reached
the
level
of
the
first
qualification
[for
Vajroli].
A
woman
prepares
for
Vajroli
in
exactly
the
same
way.97
Let
us
consider
for
a
moment
the
etymology
of
this
rather
obscure
term
vajroli
mudra.
While
we
can
be
certain
that
mudra
means
"seal"
and
that
vajra
means
"penis;'
the
-oli
suffix
(which
also
appears
in
the
names
of
the
related
practices
of
amaroli
and
sahajoli
mudras)
is
more
problematic.
In
at
least
one
other
context,
-oliappears
to
have
the
sense
of
"sphere"
or
"ball":
one
manuscript
of
the
SSP
(I.
73)
calls
the
developing
embryo
garbh-oli.
98
By
extension,
the
-oli
suffix
may
refer
to
the
spherical
form
of
the
womb
of
the
consort,
which
would
give
a
reading
of
"the
seal
of
the
penis
in
the
womb!'
In
the
concomitant
hathayogic
techniques
associated
with
urethral
tion,
the
upward
rise
of
the
combined
sexual
fluids
culled
by
the
male
titioner
through
vajroli
mudra
does
not
culminate
in
his
lower
abdomen.
Urethral
suction
is
but
the
beginning
of
a
process,
which
in
fact
raises
these
combined
sexual
essences,
via
the
medial
channel
of
the
SUfUm1!a
naqi,
all
the
way
up
to
the
cranial
vault.
In
this
light,
the
fluid
essence
of
the
subtle
body
travels
along
a
single
channel,
which
runs
from
the
tip
of
the
penis
to
the
top
of
the
head.
We
are
aided
in
our
considerations
of
this
technique
by
descriptions
from
two
Buddhist
sources,
the
fifth-century
A.D.
nasiurala'f!Zkara
Siltra
99
and
a
Tibetan
Buddhist
alchemical
source,100
which
describe
what
we
have
been
calling
vajroli
mudra
as
maithunasya
paravrtti,
"retroverting
[the
product]
of
intercourse;'
and
bcud
len,
the
"extraction
of
the
essence;'
respectively.
Here,
a
drop
of
fluid
containing
the
combined
male
and
female
essences
is
carried
upward
along
the
sus.um1!a
to
the
cranial

202
Chapter
Seven
vault.
In
these
two
Buddhist
contexts,
the
practitioner's
realization
is
of
a
gnoseological
order:
concomitant
to
the
raising
of
this
drop,
he
comes
to
realize
for
himself
the
nondifference
of
san:zsiira
and
nirvii'Yfa,
of
suffering
existence
and
the
extinction
of
suffering,
and
thereby
experiences
the
great
bliss
(mahiisukha).lOl
These
Buddhist
examples
find
their
direct
homologue
in
the
Hindu
tric
notion
of
samarasa
or
siimarasya,
in
which
the
process
initiated
by
roll
mudrii
is
brought
to
culmination
in
the
yogin's
cranial
vault.102
While
the
term
becomes
exalted
to
the
point
of
being
identified
with
samiidhi
and
other
enstatic,
beatific
states,
the
concrete
and
original
sense
of
the
term
appears
to
be
that
employed
by
the
Nath
Siddhas,
for
whom
samarasa
is
the
commingling
of
two
drops
(bindus).
One
of
these,
solar
and
red
lOl
is
identified
with
Sakti,
while
the
other,
lunar
and
white,
is
identified
with
Siva;
combined
into
a
great
drop
(mahiibindu)
of
"white-red
nectar:'
they
form
a
yogic
zygote
of
sorts.
104
A
south
Indian
alchemical
source,
the
Kongana
3000,
identifies
the
male
drop
(which
it
calls
bindu)
with
Siva
and
mercury,
and
the
female
drop
(which
it
calls
niida)
with
Sakti
and
sulfur,
which,
when
combined,
produce
bodily
immortality
in
a
process
called
kalpasiidhanai:
this
is
the
homologue
of
the
Nath
Siddhas'
kiiyakalpa,
a
general
term
meaning
"bodily
tion;'
105
It
may
be
that
the
HYP
(4-96)
is
referring
to
the
same
yogic
union,
in
similar
alchemical
terms,
when
it
states
that
"the
mercurial
mind,
when
calcinated
by
the
niida
of
sulfur,
becomes
bound
and
immobilized;'
The
fruit
of
this
union,
of
the
yogin's
commingled
male
and
female
sences,
is
nothing
less
than
the
new,
supernatural,
immortal
self
that
will
now
emerge
from
the
"husk"
of
the
gross
body,
as
the
result
of
this
yogic
process.
106
This
is
the
siddha-
or
vajra-deha,
the
yogin's
perfected
or
mond
body,
his
innate
immortal
essence
which
he
has
now
restored
to
its
pristine
perfection
by
burning
away
the
gross
and
refining
the
subtle
ments
within
himself.
This
is
a
body
possessed
of
all
the
yogic
siddhis,
including
the
ability
to
transmute
base
metals
into
gold
with
one's
crements,
spittle,
etc.10
7
It
is
this
new
self
that
is
the
subject
of
the
first
of
the
biinls
of
Gorakhnath:
"In
the
empty
vault
[of
the
cranium]
a
child
is
making
sounds.
How
can
one
give
him
a
name?"
108
Such
a
child
of
yoga
is
to
be
placed
in
parallel
with
the
yoginlbhu
mentioned
a
moment
ago;
it
also
evokes
the
transformation,
even
the
procreation,
of
a
disciple
by
his
guru
through
initiation,
a
process
I
discuss
in
the
penultimate
chapter
of
this
book.

20
3
Corresponding
Hierarchies
4.
A
Cosmopolitan
Alchemical
Theme
These
multifarious
identifications
and
interactions
between
human
and
mineral
equivalents
of
divine
sexual
fluids
are
brought
to
their
analogical
conclusions
in
a
truly
astonishing
set
of
instructions
for
the
extraction
of
mercury
from
its
mercurial
well
in
Darada
country:109
Upon
seeing
a
well-adorned
maiden
who,
having
bathed
after
first
coming
into
season,
[rides
by]
mounted
upon
a
horse,
mercury,
which
is
found
in
wells,
[becomes]
possessed
of
a
desire
to
seize
her,
[and]
rushes
up
out
[of
its
well].
Upon
seeing
it,
she
gallops
away.
The
mercury
pursues
her
for
the
distance
of
one
yojana
[eight
to
nine
miles]
.
[When]
that
[mercury
which
is]
born
of
Siva
then
quickly
turns
to
the
well,
it
is
caught
in
troughs
dug
in
its
path.
That
mercury,
because
of
its
heaviness,
fell
from
the
mouth
of
Agni
in
Darada-desa.
That
mercury,
absorbed
into
the
surface
of
the
earth
there,
came
to
remain
in
that
country.
By
placing
that
[mercury-rich]
ore
in
a
patana-yantra,
one
kills
the
mercury.
What
makes
this
description
of
the
extraction
of
mercury
from
its
northern
well
all
the
more
astonishing
is
the
fact
that
this
is
an
account
that
is
found
in
at
least
two
other
alchemical
traditions.
One
of
these
is
a
seventeenth-century
Chinese
encyclopedia,
the
Ho
han
sans
ts'ai
t'ou
hui,
whose
section
entitled
yin-shui
("silver
water,
quicksilver"),
gives
the
same
information,
but
locates
its
mercurial
well
"in
the
land
of
Fou-lin"
-i.e.,
Syria-"far
to
the
west?'11O
This
detail
is
corroborated
by
the
earliest
tant
source
that
we
have
for
this
account:
Syriac
recensions
of
the
ical
works
of
Pseudo-Zosimus,
dated
to
the
fourth
to
fifth
century
A.D.,
describe
how
mercury
is
induced
to
rise
up
out
of
its
well
when
a
beautiful
naked
maiden
walks
past
it
and
then
runs
quickly
away.
Young
men
attack
the
flowing
metal
with
hatchets
and
cut
it
up
into
bars.
III
This
account
is
further
corroborated
by
the
Syrian
toponym
Bir
es
Zeibaq,
which
means
"Well
of
Quicksilver."
112
The
implications
of
these
three
parallel
accounts
are
staggering.
First,
they
attest
to
the
very
cosmopolitan
nature
of
the
world's
classical
ical
traditions.
We
can
well
imagine
that
the
Silk
Road,
which
was
India's
pipeline
for
the
raw
materials
of
alchemy,
would
also
have
served
as
a
duit
for
alchemical
knowledge
and
legend,
of
the
sort
alluded
to
here,
tween
the
Mediterranean
world
and
east
and
south
Asia.
More
than
this,

Chapter
Seven
we
may
glimpse,
behind
the
language
of
this
extraction
technique,
ences
to
another
very
cosmopolitan
tradition-that
of
the
unicorn.
The
presence
of
a
virgin,
a
horse,
and
the
theme
of
capturing
an
elusive
"game"
are
all
present
in
the
alchemical
account.
While
the
western
unicorn
end
was
very
probably
born
out
of
the
Indian
myth
of
113
it
is
only
in
the
west
that
the
hunting
of
the
unicorn-with
the
aid
of
a
virgin,
who
tamed
it
by
grasping
its
horn-and
the
transmutative
properties
of
its
horn
are
brought
to
the
foreY4
This
same
theme
is
treated
in
Persian
alchemical
legend
as
well,
in
an
account
of
a
wondrous
creature
called
the
Physician
of
the
Sea.
l1S
The
Physician
of
the
Sea
is
described
as
having
a
golden
stone
set
into
its
head
which,
when
removed,
transmutes
base
metals
into
gold
and
cures
all
diseases.
The
Jabirian
corpus
of
Persian
alchemy,
generally
dated
to
the
ninth
to
tenth
century,
describes
the
capture
of
one
of
these
fishlike
tures
which,
upon
being
netted
and
brought
aboard
a
ship
off
the
coast
of
an
island
called
Sindiyyat,116
shows
itself,
after
the
fashion
of
a
mermaid,
to
be
a
beautiful
woman.
She
remains
on
ship,
bears
a
son
by
one
of
the
sailors,
and
later
jumps
back
into
the
sea,
where
she
becomes
a
great
sea
monster
who
swallows
the
entire
ocean
during
a
great
storm.
These
legends
present
more
problems
than
can
possibly
be
treated
here.
Not
the
least
of
these
is
the
direction
of
transmission
of
alchemical
legend,
lore,
techniques,
and
raw
materials
throughout
the
first
fifteen
centuries
of
the
common
era.
As
Joseph
Needham
has
demonstrated,
China
stands,
according
the
best
evidence,
as
the
primal
source
for
the
world's
tational
and
elixir
alchemy.
According
to
Needham's
historical
tion,
the
first-century
A.D.
Chinese
technique
of
kim
or
chin,
"aurifaction;'
would
have
been
carried
west
to
the
Mediterranean
world
in
perhaps
the
third
century
A.D
.Ł
This
Chinese
term
would
then
have
been
transliterated,
by
Pseudo-Zosimus,
as
chymeia
or
chemeia,
later
arabicized
into
al-chymeia,
and
introduced
into
European
traditions
as
alchymia,
alchemy.ll7
If
ham
is
correct,
then
Syria,
which
received
its
alchemy
from
China
in
the
third
century
A.D.,
would
have
"exported"
its
legendary
extraction
nique
back
to
the
east,
via
our
thirteenth-century
Indian
sources,
to
China
in
the
seventeenth
century.
It
is
impossible
to
say
with
any
certainty
that
this
was
in
fact
the
route
that
this
tradition
took.
It
is
equally
impossible
to
determine
the
ways
in
which
the
many
alchemical
exchanges
of
this
long
period,
effected
along
the
Silk
Road,
may
have
occurred.
Another
detail
of
the
Indian
alchemical
account
is,
however,
tantalizing
in
this
regard.
One
of
the
regions
in
which

20
5
Corresponding
Hierarchies
both
the
western
Ptolemy
and
the
Indian
Pura1).as
located
the
Daradas
(called
Daradrai
by
Ptolemy)
was
the
Indus
River
region.
In
his
version
of
the
Indo-Persian
account
related
above,
Somadeva
calls
this
country
Parada-dda,
"Mercury
Land:'
rather
than
Darada-desa.
The
Paradas
were
also
located,
by
ancient
and
medieval
Indian
and
western
sources,
in
this
same
general
region
as
the
Daradas,
i.e.,
to
the
northwest
or
west
of
India,
in
either
Mghanistan
or
Baluchistan.
ll8
Now,
the
Indus
River
valley
is
also
that
region
from
which
there
have
been
unearthed
a
great
wealth
of
clay
seals,
many
of
which
are
figured
with
what
have
to
be
the
world's
most
ancient
images
of
unicorns
(as
distinguished
from
rhinoceri,
which
are
also
represented).
But
unicorns
are
not
all
that
this
region
has
in
common
with
the
ancient
and
medieval
west.
The
goddess
Hiilglaj,
whose
shrine
stands
astride
the
coastal
range
dividing
the
Indus
River
plains
and
the
highlands
of
Baluchistan,
also
appears
to
be
possessed
of
a
venerable
pedigree.
In
fact,
she
is
referred
to
by
her
many
Muslim
devotees
as
Bibi
Nani,
the
"lady
grandmother:'
a
denomination
which
evokes
a
wide
array
of
cognate
names
for
other
ancient
mother
goddesses,
most
particularly
the
Persian
Anahita,
the
Nanaea
of
the
apocryphal
Book
of
Maccabees
(2
Mac
1:13-15),
the
Chaldean
Nana,
and
others.u
9
While
there
is
no
well
of
mercury
per
se
at
Hiilglaj,
the
principal
feature
of
her
pilgrimage
is
Candrakupa,
the
"Moon
Well:'
a
place
of
impressive
geothermic
activity,
whose
waters
do
indeed
periodically
gush
up
out
of
its
depths
and
which
also
is
said
to
belch
fire.
Pilgrims
who
come
here
drop
pellets
of
bread
into
this
pool
and
interpret
their
destiny
in
terms
of
the
eruptions
that
follow.
Similar
descriptions-of
an
Indian
"Well
of
Proof"
whose
waters
contained
realgar
and
were
considered
to
possess
magical
properties
and
of
a
nearby
fiery
crater
that
gave
off
a
lead-colored
flame
but
which
never
overflowed-are
found
in
the
third-century
A.D.
Life
of
Apollonius
of
Philostratus.1
2o
The
site
also
features
rock-hewn
images
of
the
sun
and
moon,
the
description
and
location
of
which
correspond,
most
intriguingly,
to
data
found
in
the
fourth-century
B.C.
Indika
of
Ctesias,
a
work
that
was
written
during
a
protracted
stay
in
the
Persian
Achaemenian
court
of
Artaxes
Mnemon
II.
Sun
and
moon
are,
as
well,
absolutely
pivotal
images
in
the
hathayogic
system
of
the
Nath
Siddhas,
who
are
the
nial
pilgrim's
guides
to
and
custodians
of
Hiilglaj
and
whose
illustrious
founders
are
said
to
have
come
from
points
as
far
west
as
Khorasan,
in
eastern
Iran.
We
may
therefore
see
in
the
isolated
shrine
of
which
remained,
at
least
down
into
the
middle
of
the
present
century,
only
accessible
by
a
twenty-day
camel
journey-a
possible
crossroads
for
the

206
Chapter
Seven
exchange
of
alchemical
knowledge
and
imagery
in
the
ancient
and
eval
world.
121
It
is
possible
to
dig
down
to
a
still
deeper
mythological
stratum
and
see
in
these
accounts
variations
on
the
quite
widespread
Indo-European
theme
of
a
well
whose
fiery
liquid
contents
erupt
in
pursuit
of
a
woman
but
are
eventually
channeled
and
thereby
neutralized.
If
this
is
an
Indo-European
mytheme
(the
myth
is
attested
in
Rome
as
well
as
Ireland
and
India),
it
would
necessarily
date
from
the
third
millennium
B.C.
or
earlier.122
In
this
case,
Pseudo-Zosimus's
alchemical
gloss
would
have
been
a
much
later
addition.
5.
Pentads
in
Metallic
and
Yogic
Hierarchies
of
the
Elements
The
RA
(I2.83)
states
that
"Sadasiva
exists
[in
the
state
of]
mercury,
[which
is]
composed
of
the
five
elements."
123
One
scholar
has
analyzed
this
ment
in
the
following
highly
literal
terms:
"cinnabar
is
mined
from
the
earth,
on
roasting
yields
mercury,
which
is
a
liquid
metal,
which
boils
to
form
a
gas."
124
While
this
explanation
makes
perfect
sense,
it
is
probably
not
what
the
author
of
the
RA
had
in
mind
when
he
composed
this
verse:
he
was
rather
referring
to
the
five
elements
as
the
warp
and
weft
of
a
nature
that
was
the
self-manifestation
of
the
god
Siva,
the
Absolute.
Drawing
on
a
map
of
reality
whose
first
grid
may
well
have
been
the
Vedic
fire
altar,
the
alchemical
and
other
later
Hindu
traditions,
both
teric
and
exoteric,
assumed
the
cosmos
to
be
pentadic
in
its
structure
but
unified
in
its
essence.
However
many
constituent
parts
the
universe
had,
these
were
always
reducible
to
familiar
sets
of
five,
fives
that
radiated
ward
from
a
common
divine
center
of
gravity
like
so
many
spokes
on
a
wheel.
Sarp.khya
and
Vedanta,
the
most
perennial
and
pervasive
sical
systems
of
India,
emerged
in
the
same
Upanisadic
period
as
did
the
earliest
traditions
of
Ayurveda.
Indeed,
some
scholars
argue
that
Ayurveda
was
the
source-rather
than
a
reflection-of
a
number
ofUpanisadic
(and
Buddhist)
doctrines
and
theories.
Also
in
this
period
there
appeared,
in
such
classical
as
the
sixth-century
B.C.
Kiifhaka
(6.16-17),
early
rudimentary
descriptions
of
the
physiology
of
the
subtle
body.
These
three
systems-the
Upanisadic,
the
Ayurvedic,
and
the
as
well
as
the
alchemical
synthesis
that
would
follow
some
centuries
were
all
hierarchical
systems.
More
than
this,
Indian
thinkers
were
quick
to
tabulate
all
manner
of
correspondences
between
these
systems,
between

Corresponding
Hierarchies
wholes
as
well
as
parts.
We
may
take,
by
way
of
example,
the
hierarchy
of
the
five
gross
elements
in
Sarp.khya
and
the
parallel
case
of
the
five
metals
in
alchemy.125
In
both
systems,
that
which
is
higher
on
the
hierarchy
nates,
differentiates,
or
penetrates
(vyiipana)
into
that
which
is
lower,
and
is
likewise
capable
of
resorbing
(Iaya)
that
which
is
lower
back
into
itself.
That
which
is
higher
is
subtler
than-and
therefore
capable
of
passing,
even
imploding-that
which
is
lower
back
into
itself
without
ing
modified.
126
Thus,
each
of
the
higher
elements
telescopes
into
itself
the
cumulation
of
all
elements
lower
than
it,
together
with
their
characteristic
properties
and
qualities.
In
Samkhyan
metaphysics,
the
interfaces
of
the
five
lowest
differentiates
of
Spirit
with
materiality
(prakrtt)
are
the
five
gross
elements
hiibhutas)
that
make
up
the
material
world
as
perceived
by
the
five
senses:
these
are,
in
descending
order,
ether,
air,
fire,
water,
and
earth.
127
The
thayogic
subtle
body
respects
the
same
hierarchy
as
it
incorporates
these
five
elements
into
the
five
lower
cakras,
which
are
aligned
along
the
spinal
column
from
the
perineum
up
to
the
throat.
In
Ayurveda
as
well,
the
body
is
imagined
to
be
composed
of
the
five
elements:
the
element
earth
sponds
to
that
which
is
solid
in
the
body,
water
to
bodily
fluids,
fire
to
body
heat,
air
to
breath,
and
ether
to
the
bodily
orifices.
128
Also
in
Ayurveda,
the
process
of
digestion
involves
the
progressive
refinement
of
food
from
chyle
(rasa)
to
semen
(§Ukra)
through
seven
tervening
stages,
which
are
called
dhiituS.
129
It
is
semen,
the
end
product
of
digestion,
that
becomes
the
raw
fuel
that
the
techniques
of
hafha
yoga
progressively
refine
into
nectar
(amrta).
Dhiitu
is
also
the
term
employed
in
the
alchemical
tradition
for
certain
of
its
basic
elements:
the
dhiitus
are
the
metals.
lJO
Like
the
elements
in
Sarp.khya,
the
metals
may
be
reckoned
as
five
in
number;
this
figure
is
often
rounded
up
to
six
or
seven
(the
same
as
the
number
of
dhiitus
in
Ayurveda
and
the
cakras
in
yoga)
through
the
addition
of
iron
and
one
or
another
alloy.
In
the
RA,
six
metals
are
listed:
gold,
silver,
copper,
tin,
lead,
and
iron.
These
metals
already
appear,
in
a
hierarchized
schema,
in
the
Chiindogya
The
most
explicit
connections
between
these
parallel
systems
are
those
made
between
the
five
mahiibhutas
of
Sarp.khya
and
the
five
cakras
of
hafha
yoga
on
the
one
hand
and
the
five
metals
of
alchemy
on
the
other.
In
this
latter
case,
the
absorption
of
herbs
takes
place
in
lead.
Lead
is
absorbed
in
tin,
tin
in
copper,
copper
in
silver,
silver
in
gold,
and
gold
in
mercury.

208
Chapter
Seven
Mercury
that
has
been
calcinated
in
sulfur
is
capable
of
integrating
the
body
and
is
capable
of
"cooking"
all
the
elements.
In
the
same
way
that
earth
is
absorbed
into
water,
water
is
absorbed
into
fire,
fire
into
air,
air
into
ether,
ether
into
the
soul
(atman),
and
the
soul
into
the
Absolute
(brahman).
Therefore,
just
as
earth
and
the
other
ments
associated
with
it,
by
virtue
of
being
gross
(sthilla)
are
absorbed
into
water,
they
and
all
that
follow
[water,
on
the
hierarchy
of
ments]
are
absorbed
into
the
most
subtle
(sukfltla)
element,
which
is
Brahman.
In
the
same
way,
wood
and
other
herbal
elements
are
sorbed
into
the
more
subtle
element
lead,
such
that
they
and
all
that
follow
[lead,
on
the
hierarchy
of
metals]
are
absorbed
into
mercury.132
The
south
Indian
discipline
of
Siddha
medicine
goes
one
step
further
and
expressly
identifies
the
five
elements
with
five
metals.
Here,
gold
is
identified
with
earth,
lead
with
water,
copper
with
fire,
iron
with
air,
and
zinc
with
ether.133
In
yoga,
the
raising
of
the
yogin's
energy,
figured
as
the
female
ku"!4alinl
serpent,
through
the
system
of
the
cakras,
also
effects
a
resorption
of
gross
into
subtler
elements.
Thus,
when
the
ku"!4alinl
rises
from
the
muladhara
cakra
(located
at
the
level
of
the
perineum
and
identified
with
earth)
to
the
svadhif1:hana
(located
at
the
level
of
the
sexual
organs
and
tified
with
water),
the
element
earth
becomes
resorbed
into
and
passed
by
the
element
water.
Likewise,
water
is
resorbed
into
fire
in
the
third
cakra,
the
ma"!ipura
(at
the
level
of
the
navel);
fire
into
air
in
the
hata
cakra
(at
the
level
of
the
heart);
and
air
into
ether
in
the
vifuddhi
cakra
(located
in
the
throat).134
As
in
Sarp.khya,
yoga,
and
the
other
archical
systems,
so
too
in
alchemy:
that
which
is
higher
encompasses,
sorbs,
that
which
is
lower.
By
way
of
demonstration,
I
cite
the
ca.
century
RHT:135
"Woody
plants
are
absorbed
into
lead,
lead
into
tin,
and
tin
likewise
into
copper.
Copper
[is
absorbed]
into
silver,
silver
into
gold,
and
gold
is
absorbed
into
mercury."
136
Earlier
in
this
chapter,
I
identified
a
set
of
pentads
unique
to
the
ical
tradition
itself.
When
mercury
first
comes
into
the
world,
it
divides
itself
into
five
parts,
burrowing
down
into
five
deep
wells,
in
each
of
five
color-coded
directions:
the
mercury
in
the
northern
well
is
red,
while
that
in
the
eastern
well
is
white,
southern
blue,
western
yellow,
and
the
center
variegated,
like
a
"peacock's
tail."
The
five
classic
names
or
varieties
(bhedas)
of
mercury
correspond
to
these
five
wells:
mercury
originating
from
the
northern
well
is
rasa;
that
from
the
eastern
well
is
parada
("that

Corresponding
Hierarchies
which
gives
[-da]
the
far
shore
[para-]
[of
immortality]"),
that
from
the
southern
well
is
rasendra
("lord
of
rasas"),
that
from
the
western
well
is
silta
("that
which
was
engendered
[by
Siva]")
and
that
from
the
central
well
is
mifraka
("mixedj
that
which
mixes
with
all
other
rasas").137
A
number
of
sources
hierarchically
order
these
naturally
occurring
forms
of
mercury
in
the
mineral
world.
This
they
do
by
assigning
a
"caste"
(albeit
in
an
idiosyncratic
way)
to
the
mercury
of
each
of
the
four
tions:
white
parada,
located
to
the
east,
is
identified
with
the
brahmin
castej
blue-black
rasendra,
to
the
south,
is
k{atriya;
yellow
silta,
to
the
west,
is
vaifya;
and
red
rasa
to
the
north
is
fudra.
No
value
is
given
for
the
central
well,
which
is
said,
in
this
text,
to
be
the
source
of
the
mercury
found
in
all
the
other
wells.
138
The
KCM
assigns
castes
to
four
types
of
mica
(abhraka)j
the
RA
does
the
same
for
four
types
of
diamond
(vajra).139
Mercury
is
again
cast
in
the
hierarchical
mold
of
the
five
gross
elements
when
the
alchemical
texts
discuss
the
five
"[modes
of]
going
away"
(gatis)
of
mercury.
140
The
gatis
are
in
fact
the
five
ways
in
which
mercury
is
lost
through
physical
or
chemical
reaction.
141
The
first
of
these,
mala-ga
("dross-gone")
is
mercury
that
is
lost
in
solid
formjjala-ga
("water-gone")
is
mercury
lost
in
liquid
formj
ha'f!lsa-ga
("goose-gone")
is
mercury
lost
into
air,
through
evaporationj
and
dhumra-ga
("smoke-gone")
is
mercury
lost
through
fire.
The
final
gati
of
mercury
is
jIva-ga,
142
"soul-gone"
cury,
which
is
the
loss
of
mercury's
vital
essence
into
ether,
space.
Whereas
the
first
four
gatis
of
mercury
may
be
remedied
through
laboratory
cedures,
the
fifth
and
"invisible"
loss
of
mercury
can
be
countered
only
through
the
use
of
the
invisible
and
mystic
techniques
of
mantradhyana,
mantric
meditation.
143
It
is
this
subtlest
form
of
mercury,
which
dwells
"within
the
pericarp
[of
the
lotus]
of
the
ether
(vyoma)
of
the
heart;'
which
the
RA
instructs
the
alchemist
to
recall
in
order
that
he
may
be
cleansed
of
all
sins
of
present
and
past
lives.
144
The
same
hierarchical
principle
applies
in
discussions
of
the
ways
in
which
mercury
transmutes
(vedha)
metals.
Here
too,
the
hierarchy
of
the
five
elements
is
fully
respected:
lepa
[-vedha]
([transmutation
through]
"smearing")
corresponds
to
the
solid
element
earth,
k{epa
("casting,
[into
molten
metal]")
to
the
liquid
element
water,
kunta
("dart[ing]"
to
air,
mra
("smok[ing]")
to
fire,
and
fabda
("speech,
speaking")
to
ether.145
This
last
form
of
transmutation
occurs
when
the
alchemist,
holding
a
mercurial
pill
in
his
mouth,
blows
upon
a
base
metal,l46
The
parallels
between
these
two
hierarchized
mercurial
pentads,
that
of
gati
and
of
vedha,
is
especially
clear
with
respect
to
the
last
two
members
of
each
of
the
hierarchies.
In

210
Chapter
Seven
both
cases,
the
fourth
member
is
dhumra,
smoke,
while
the
fifth
element,
corresponding
to
the
element
ether,
sound,
and
hearing,
involves
mystic
speech
(fabda).
It
is
in
this
context
that
the
alchemical
use
of
mantras,
tailed
in
the
last
chapter,
is
to
be
understood.
The
alchemical
tradition
knows
of
a
great
number
of
other
pentads
which,
while
not
arranged
hierarchically,
nevertheless
bear
witness,
by
the
simple fact
that
they
are
presented
as
groups
of
five,
to
the
pervasiveness
of
Samkhyan
metaphysics.
These
include
the
five
gemstones
(ratnas),
the
five
salts
(lavaTfas),
the
five
greater
and
lesser
poisons
the
five
animal
oils
(vasiis),
urines
(mutras),
biles
(pittas),
excrements
(vifas),
as
well
as
the
classes
(vargas)
of
the
five
white,
red,
and
yellow
substances.
147
Here
too,
alchemy
is
a
particular
case
of
a
general
rule:
other
realms
of
tantra
know
of
the
five
faces
of
Siva,
the
five
makiiras,I48
the
five
am1J:as,I49
the
five
cipal
pifhas,
150
the
five
clans
(kulas),
the
five
transmissions
(iimniiyas),151
the
five
primordial
Nath
Siddhas,152
the
five
colors,
tastes,
and
dispositions,
153
and
so
on.
6.
Bird
and
Serpent
In
general,
it
is
the
upper
and
lower
poles
of
a
hierarchical
system
that
define
the
nature
of
the
entire
range
of
interrelationships
that
obtain
tween
that
system's
constituent
elements.
154
So
it
is
that
we
should
expect
to
find
the
mineral
or
metallic
equivalents
of
ether
and
earth,
the
highest
and
lowest
of
the
five
elements,
playing
salient
roles
within
the
ical
system.
It
is
not,
however,
gold,
the
highest
of
the
metal
dhiitus,
that
doubles
for
the
element
ether
in
tantric
alchemy,
but
rather
mica
(called
abhraka,
gagana,
vyoma
or
kha),155
one
of
the
three
major
mineral
tations
of
the
Goddess.
Mica
is
already
identified
with
the
Goddess's
sexual
emission
in
the
RA
(6.1-3)
and
RRS
(2.2),
and
a
short
account
of
its
origin
is
found
in
the
Rnsakiimadhenu:
156
"One
day
the
hillborn
Goddess
saw
the
mind-boggling
Haraj
the
'semen'
(vfrya)
she
shed
produced
brilliant
mica."
The
Rnsendra
Bhiiskara
reproduces
this
account
with
minor
emendations,
adding
that
"because
it
fell
from
the
firmament
(gaganiit)
it
is
also
called
gagana;
because
it
wandered
(abhramiit)
through
the
clouds
(abhra),
it
is
called
abhraka."
157
These
are
the
two
principal
Sanskrit
terms
for
mica.
Another
name
for
mica,
the
Goddess's
emission,
is
vyoma.
Now,
vyoma
is
also,
at
least
from
the
time
of
the
Sufruta
Samhitii,158
a
term
used

211
Corresponding
Hierarchies
for
the
element
ether,
which
is
identified,
in
Sarp.khya,
as
the
substrate
of
the
sound
tanmatra
as
well
as
of
the
sense
of
hearing.
Like
vyoma,
gagana
and
kha
are
also
terms
that
signify
both
mica
and
ether.
Located
as
it
is
at
the
summit
of
the
hierarchy
of
the
five
elements,
ether
is,
both
temporally
and
logically,
the
first
of
the
elements
that
emanates
from
the
second
guTfa,
rajas.
As
such,
it
constitutes
a
turning
point
in
the
play
of
nature
k1Jz):159
it
is
the
most
subtle
differentiate
to
be
found
in
the
visible
world
and
the
least
subtle
differentiate
to
be
found
in
the
invisible
world.
It
is
fitting
that
ether
should
be
identified,
through
the
term
vyoma,
with
the
sexual
essence
of
the
Goddess.
In
Sarp.khya,
and
even
more
so
in
a
number
of
tantric
classifications
of
the
tattvas-cosmic
essences
and
physical
categories-the
pivot
between
pure
essence
and
impure
creation
is
the
maya
tattva,
which
is
identified
with
the
creative
power
and
activity
(rajas,160
the
second
of
the
three
guTfas)
of
the
female
principle,
the
dess,
who
is
the
manifestation,
or
act
of
reflection,
of
Siva,
consciousness.
The
position
of
ether
is
therefore
an
elevated
one
and
is
translated,
in
the
subtle
physiology
of
hafha
yoga,
into
the
identification
of
the
cranial
vault-called
the
"sphere
of
the
void"
(fUnya-maTf4ala)-with
vyoma[n),
gagana,
and
kha,
i.e.,
ether.
Here,
however,
ether
is
as
much
an
extremely
subtle
element
located
conceptually
at
the
acme
of
a
hierarchy
as
it
is
a
locus
of
empty
space,
a
cavity,
hollow,
or
void
(which
one
is
to
fill
with
the
"stuff"
of
mystic
ence)161
located
spatially
at
the
summit
of
the
subtle
body.
It
is
in
both
of
these
senses
that
ether
is
associated
with
han:zsa,
a
term
translated
as
"swan;'
"goose;'
or
"migratory
bird!'
Since
the
time
of
the
Vedas,
the
han:zsa
has
been
the
bird
of
predilection
for
authors
wishing
to
discuss
the
movements
of
the
vital
breath
(praTfa,
a
term
etymologically
related
to
atman,
soul
or
spirit).
Indeed,
the
Veda
(4-40.5)
itself
calls
the
ether
(kha)
the
"seat"
of
the
han:zsa,
and
a
series
of
later
sources,
continuing
down
to
the
Tantras,
identifies
inbreathing
and
outbreathing
with
the
syllables
han:z
and
Han:zsa
is
at
once
the
sound
that
the
breath
makes
when
one
inhales
and
exhales
and
the
vibratory
resonance
(nada)
of
the
Absolute
that
the
practitioner
hears
internally
in
the
course
of
the
spiritual
exercises
that
lead
to
samadhi,
total
yogic
integration.
162
In
the
subtle
body,
the
han:zsa
is
identified
with
the
empty
(fUnya)
medial
channel
through
which
the
vital
energy,
breath,
and
consciousness
descend
in
the
individuation
of
the
solute
into
an
individual
being.
163
In
all
of
these
traditions,
breathing
is
tantamount
to
identifying
the
individual
soul
with
the
absolute:
han:zso
'ham

212
Chapter
Seven
is
a
palindrome
that
can
be
read
either
as
"the
goose!
the
goose!"
or
"I
am
That;'
i.e.,
"I,
litman,
am
That,
brahman."
The
cosmic
goose,
honking
in
the
void,
thus
becomes
a
metaphor
for
the
resorption-of
individual
breath,
sound,
and
soul-into
the
Absolute.
The
void,
the
empty
space
of
the
heart,
su{Um'f!li
nliq,f,
or
cranial
vault,
is
also
termed
kha-hole,
cavity,
empty
space-whence
statements
in
thayogic
sources
concerning
the
free-floating
state
of
the
meditative
mind,
intellect,
or
consciousness
in
the
ether:
this
is
khecara,
"moving
in
the
ether!'
164
This
principle
becomes
concretized
on
an
alchemical
level
as
well.
Mercury,
when
bound,
is
said
to
become
khecari,
possessed
of
the
power
of
flight,
a
power
it
transmits
to
the
alchemist
who
holds
a
capsule
of
said
mercury
in
his
mouth.
165
If,
however,
it
is
heated
before
it
has
been
properly
prepared,
or
too
rapidly,
it
can
be
lost
to
evaporation.
Here,
it
is
said
that
until
its
wings
have
been
clipped
(pak{a-ccheda)166
through
various
stabilizing
techniques,
unrefined
mercury
becomes
subject
to
flight,
i.e.,
evaporation
(plitana),
and
may
be
"gone
like
a
goose"
(han:zsaga).167
Here,
mercury
behaves
like
the
han:zsa
of
the
vital
breaths:
unless
these
are
ered by
yogic
discipline,
the
breath
will
eventually
fly
up
out
of
the
body
to
be
lost
forever,
and
the
person
will
die.
The
ideal
thus
becomes
one
of
fettering
168
that
modality
of
the
yogic
or
alchemical
subject
which
has
a
tendency
to
volatilize;
by
so
doing,
the
wholly
integrated
subject
may
enjoy
the
power
of
controlled
flight,
rather
than
disintegrating,
i.e.,
losing
parts
of
itself
that
would
otherwise
fly
off.
This
is
the
difference
between
khecara,
"moving
in
the
ether;'
and
han:zsaga,
being
"gone
like
a
goose!'
Here
again,
the
original
inspiration
appears
to
be
Upanisadic.
Referring
to
the
soul,
the
Kiifhaka
Upani{ad
(2.21)
states:
"seated,
he
travels
afar,
and
recumbent
goes
everywhere!'
As
we
have
shown,
vyoma,
as
both
mica
and
ether,
is
identified
with
the
Goddess's
sexual
emission.
Mercury,
when
it
is
identified
with
the
soul
(jfva),
when
it
transmutes
through
speech
of
which
the
substrate
is
ether
(fabda-vedha),
and
when
it
becomes
possessed
of
the
power
of
flight
a[tlij),
is
itself
associated
with
ether.169
In
this
way,
both
mercury
and
mica,
the
sexual
emissions
of
Siva
and
the
Goddess,
located
at
the
summit
of
the
alchemical
hierarchy,
are
likened
to
the
ethereal
goose.
Siva's
seed
is
further
associated
with
another
sort
of
bird-as
well
as
with
a
serpent-in
Somadeva's
account
of
the
origin
of
mercury,
which
varies
significantly
from
the
chronologically
later
RRS
account
presented
earlier
in
this
chapter.
17o
Like
the
RRS,
the
RC
states
that
Siva
first
cast
the

ZI3
Corresponding
Hierarchies
semen
he
had
shed
into
the
mouth
of
Agni
(Fire),
who
had
taken
the
form
of
a
pigeon.
Somadeva
then
goes
on
to
say
that
those
dhatus,
in
overflowing
abundance,
were
indeed
the
same
as
tar.l7l
That
which
dripped
from
Siva's
hand
truly
became
mercury
(parada).
From
the
dross
[of
those
dhatus]
born
from
the
immortal
and
unaging
supreme
god,
there
arose
the
metals
(dhatus),
eight
in
number.
And
that
rasa
which
fell
from
the
mouth
of
Agni
[who
had
taken
the
form
of
a
pigeon]
was
indeed
used
by
the
Lord
of
Serpents,
who
wished
to
leave
behind
old
age
and
death.
But
that
[mercury]
which,
while
being
drunk
[by
the
snake]
fell
to
the
ground,
did-due
to
its
heaviness-fall
through
the
ground
into
one
hundred
deep
wells.
This
interaction-between
a
bird
(Agni,
in
the
form
of
a
pigeon,
from
whose
mouth
drops
of
divine
semen/nectar/mercury
fall)
and
a
snake
(the
Lord
of
Serpents,
who
drinks
up
what
has
fallen
in
order
to
gain
tality)-harks
back
to
mythic
themes
from
both
the
Ved
as
172
and
ancient
Mesopotamia.
173
In
these
archaic
accounts,
a
bird
is
identified
with
the
theft
of
an
elixir
of
eternal
life,
of
which
a
serpent
(who
recovers
its
youth
every
time
it
sheds
its
skin)
would
once
have
been
the
custodian.
The
counterpart-or
more
exactly
the
archenemy-of
this
bird
who
flies
through
the
ether
of
the
heavens
to
perch
atop
the
tree
of
life,
to
name
but
one
tree,
is
the
serpent
who
lives
at
the
foot
of
the
same
tree.
This
theme
is,
moreover,
the
starting
point
for
a
multitude
of
Indian
variants
on
the
epic
myth
of
thebird-god
battles
with
the
serpent
descendants
of
Kadru.
174
So
it
is
that
we
find
in
the
alchemical
appropriation
of
certain
perennial
themes
from
Hindu
mythology,
as
well
as
metaphysical
ries
from
Slil11khya,
a
return
to
one
of
the
most
ancient
"creative
tions"
known
to
humanity.
Indeed,
there
is
much
of
the
serpent
in
Hindu
imagery
of
death
and
eternal
life.
As
early
as
the
BrhadaraTfyaka
Upani{ad
(4-4-7),
the
immortal
self
is
said
to
discard
its
mortal
body
"like
a
snake
sheds
its
slough."
The
slough
that
a
snake
periodically
sheds
is
an
important
image
in
alchemy
as
well.
Here,
mercury
in
its
unrefined
state
is
said
to
be
covered
with
seven
"sloughs"
or
"sheaths"
(kancukas).
These
are
coatings
of
various
base
als
and
other
impurities,
which
float
on
the
surface
of
mercury
(whose
cific
gravity
is
greater
than
that
of
all
the
metals,
save
gold),
and
which
are
said
to
be
the
creations
of
jealous
gods
who
feared
that
mercury
would

Chapter
Seven
render
human
alchemists
their
equals.
Mercury,
the
semen
of
absolute
godhead,
must
be
purged
of
these
coatings
if
it
is
to
be
used
with
success
in
alchemical
operations.
175
No
doubt
working
from
the
Upanisadic
image
evoked
above,
a
number
of
Saiva
schools
and
sects
came
to
apply
the
notion
of
the
kancukas
to
a
much
broader
range
of
ideas.
In
a
number
of
these
systems,
a
group
of
five
kancukas
("sheaths")
become
an
important
metaphysical
construct
ployed
to
explain
the
difference
between
God
in
his
transcendence
and
God
in
his
immanence,
between
essence
and
existence,
the
unity
of
the
divine,
infinite
self
and
a
plurality
of
finite
selves.
Such
is
especially
the
case
in
the
orthodox
Saiva
Siddhanta,
according
to
whose
Kirar:agama
creatures
are
provided
with
the
five
kancukas
while
in
the
"bosom
of
Maya:'
the
material
cause
of
the
impure
worlds.
These
impure
worlds
are
said
to
owe
their
existence
to
Ananta
(or
AnanteSa)
the
first
of
the
eight
aras.
Now,
Ananta
is
one
of
the
names
of
the
Hindu
cosmic
serpent,
whose
relationship
to
the
kancukas
is
an
obvious
and
immediate
one.
This
being
the
case,
the
intermediate
role
of
the
VidYeSvaras
appears
to
double
that
of
the
kancukas
themselves:
they
constitute
the
gray
area
between
divinity
and
humanity,
essence
and
manifestation.
176
Abhinavagupta,
in
his
discussion
of
the
untraceable
boundary
between
Siva
and
his
creation,
may
well
have
had
the
mercurial
kancukas
in
mind
when
he
wrote
the
following
passage,
so
close
are
the
conceptual
parallels
between
the
chemistry
of
mercury
and
the
metaphysics
of
gnoseology
here:
The
God,
whose
nature
is
a
free
consciousness,
whose
characteristic
is
the
supreme
light,
due
to
his
own
intrinsic
nature
and
as
a
result
of
his
enjoyment
of
the
sport
of
concealing
his
own
nature,
becomes
the
atomic,
finite
self,
of
which
there
are
many.
He
himself,
as
a
result
of
his
own
freedom,
binds
himself
here
by
means
of
actions
whose
ture
are
composed
of
imagined
differentiations.
Such
is
the
power
of
the
God's
freedom
that,
even
though
he
has
become
the
finite
self,
he
once
more
truly
attains
his
own
true
form
in
all
its
purity.
Here,
the
dividing
line
between
the
impure
path
(afuddhadhvan:
the
twenty-five
Samkhyan
tattvas
of
the
manifest
world)
and
the
pure
path
(fuddhadhvan:
the
five
transcendent
categories
of
the
Trika
Kaula)
is
posed
of
the
intervening
six
kancukas.
Taken
together,
these
are
the
six
(25
+
6
+
5)
categories
of
Kaula
metaphysics.
177
A
final
alchemical
parallel,
which
also
brings
us
back
to
the
important

Corresponding
Hierarchies
place
of
the
feminine
in
the
alternation
of
the
divine
between
concealment
and
self-discovery,
may
be
elicited
here.
In
describing
the
mercury
produced
from
Siva's
semen,
the
BhP
states
that
this
next
bined
with
the
substance
emitted
from
the
Goddess's
sexual
organ
to
duce
four
colors
and
two
types
of
mercury.
Mercury,
the
mineral
form
of
the
body
of
the
wholly
transcendent
Siva,
is
mediated
in
the
world
by
the
Goddess,
whose
interposition,
in
the
form
of
her
sexual
emission,
renders
said
mercury
impure.
178
In
alchemy,
the
image
of
the
serpent
is
not
limited
to
the
mercurial
cukas.
It
is
also
widely
employed
as
a
signifier
for
the
lower
end
of
a
system
that
is
crowned
by
an
ethereal
bird:
the
lowest
metal
on
the
ical
hierarchy
is
lead,
most
commonly
called
niiga,
"serpent"
or
stsa[kaj,
an
allomorph
of
the
name
of
the
cosmic
serpent
or,
more
rarely,
ahiriija,
"serpent
king."179
The
Rasakiimadhenu
(2.1.4)
and
Rasendra
Bhiiskara
(4.I08)
state
that
lead
arose
from
the
semen
ofVasuki,
the
king
of
a
mythic
race
of
serpents
known
for
the
great
wealth
it
possessed
in
its
subterranean
treasure
hoards.
This
bird-serpent
opposition
is
made
most
explicit
in
the
ca.
sixteenth
century
Rasakiimadhenu,
which
identifies
gold,
at
the
summit
of
the
hierarchy
of
metals,
with
semen
shed
by
Agni,
and
lead,
at
the
base
of
the
system,
with
the
seed
ofVasuki.
Let
us
also
recall
here
the
Riimiiya1!a
myth,
related
at
the
beginning
of
this
chapter,
in
which
lead
and
tin
(often
used
interchangeably)
are
said
to
arise
from
the
residue
(mala)
or
afterbirth
of
the
generation
of
gold.
180
This
further
recalls
the
serpent
("Remains;'
"Residue")181
who
holds
the
golden
egg
of
the
universe
on
his
many
hoods
and
whose
coiled
body
is
composed
of
the
dregs,
the
calcinated
residue
of
past
creations.
Of
what
sort
of
residue
is
composed?
According
to
the
PuraI).as,
the
mic
dissolution
or
reabsorption
(pralaya)
that
occurs
at
the
end
of
a
great
age
(mahiiyuga)
of
some
4,320,000
human
years
is
a
two-phase
process.
The
first
of
these
is
a
universal
conflagration,
in
which
Siva,
in
his
tive
Kalagnirudra
form,182
incinerates
all
the
gross,
inert
matter
located
inside
the
cosmic
egg
(while
preserving
the
subtle
souls
of
liberated
beings
in
the
ether
of
the
highest
levels
of
the
cosmic
egg,
well
above
the
gration).
Then
follows
a
great
rain
and
flood,
the
true
dis-solution,
which
extinguishes
the
fire
and immerses
the
world
in
a
great
ocean.
183
There
remains
a
calcinated
or
ashen
residue
from
the
fire,
however,
which
sinks
to
the
bottom
of
the
ocean
of
dissolution,
to
coalesce
into
the
serpent
at
the
bottom
of
the
cosmic
egg.
At
the
end
of
a
cosmic
eon
(kalpa),
of
one
thousand
mahiiyugas
in
length,

216
Chapter
Seven
the
entire
cosmic
egg-and
not
merely
the
lower
levels
of
its
interior-is
consumed,
and
it
is
upon
the
chaotic
waters
of
the
ensuing
flood
that
the
mahiiyogin
NarayaJ?a,
the
''Abode
of
Mankind;'
sleeps,
in
a
state
of
total
yogic
integration
(samiidhi)
for
a
kalpic
night.
184
(Here,
yogic
sleep
is
the
divine
model
for
the
samiidhi
of
the
human
yogin
who
has
drawn
all
breath,
seed,
and
consciousness
to
concentrate
these
into
a
single
point
of
pure
being-consciousness-bliss.
In
case,
all
that
is
subtle
and
eternal
in
the
universe
has
been
withdrawn
into
that
single
point.)185
What
of
the
gross
matter
of
the
previous
kalpa?
It
too
is
preserved,
once
again
in
the
ever-recyclable
serpent
body
of
who
serves,
this
time,
as
couch,
upon
which
he
sleeps
away
the
kalpic
night
in
yogic
enstasis.
In
this
way,
the
cosmic
serpent
who
ever
renews
himself
from
one
cycle
to
another,
remains
the
same
serpent
even
as
he
is
reconstituted
from
a
new
mixture
of
recycled
elements.
As
such,
his
body
is
an
endless
source
of
raw
material
for
renewed
creations.
For
this
reason,
he
is
also
called
Ananta,
"Endless?'
186
The
serpent
at
the
base
of
a
system
is
a
commonplace
of
Hindu
ogy
and
metaphysics.
In
both
sacred
and
profane
constructions
in
India,
a
spike
is
symbolically
driven
into
the
head
of
this
serpent,
a
head
that
upholds
the
world,
to
ensure
a
solid
foundation.
187
Elsewhere,
the
endary
figures
who
laid
down
the
foundations
ofIndian
medicine
(Caraka),
yoga
(Pataiijali),
and
alchemy
(Nagarjuna)
are
all
said
to
be
incarnations
of
great
serpents.
188
Similarly,
the
ashes
that
compose
the
body
of
the
serpent
also
bear
a
Vedic
pedigree.
In
the
logic
of
sacrifice,
there
can
be
no
"first
sacrifice";
rather,every
"new"
sacrifice,
ignited
with
the
embers
of
the
sacrifice
which
preceded
it,
is
a
reenactment
of
that
prior
sacrifice:
this
holds
as
well
for
the
primal
sacrifice
of
the
Purusa-recounted
in
1fg
Veda
IO.90-in
which
we
find
that
the
"primal"
sacrifice
out
of
which
the
universe
was
created
itself
arose
out
of
preexisting
sacrificial
materials!
Ashes
of
prior
sacrifices
are
the
seeds
of
future
sacrifices,
and
so
it
is
that
the
erotic
ascetic
Siva
can
call
the
ashes
of
cosmic
dissolution
that
he
smears
upon
his
body
his
"seed?'
189
Similarly,
when
the
Vedic
sacrificer
used
a
fire
drill
and
block
to
create
a
spark
with
which
to
ignite
a
sacrificial
fire,
it
was
presumed
that
the
fire
produced
was
latent
in
the
wood
of
the
fire
block.
In
the
language
of
hafha
yoga,
the
ku,,!q,alinl
serpent
is
described
in
the
same
way:
until
she
is
awoken,
she
is
fire
that
is
latent
in
the
fire
block;
once
awoken,
she
is
the
spark
that
bursts
into
manifestation
through
the
"churning"
of
yogic
practice.
190

21
7
Corresponding
Hierarchies
Just
as
"serpentine"
lead,
at
the
base
of
the
alchemical
hierarchy
of
als,
must,
of
teleological
necessity,
fully
actualize
its
potential
by
ultimately
becoming
alchemical
gold,
so
too
the
sleeping
ku"!4alinl
must
awaken
to
remount
the
hierarchy
of
emanated
being
and
reunite
with
the
absolute
in
the
"place
of
the
ether;'
the
human
cranial
vault.
The
temporal
endpoints
of
these
processes-of
the
ripening
of
metals
and
the
yogic
transformation
of
the
subtle
body-are
spatially
located
within
the
hierarchized
systems
for
which
they
serve
as
fundaments.
So
it
is
that
we
find,
in
the
coils
of
these
symbolic
serpents,
the
nexus
of
a
Hindu
time-space
continuum.
With
this,
we
turn
to
the
structure
of
these
parallel
and
interpenetrating
systems.

EIGHT
Homologous
Structures
of
the
Alchemical
Body
I.
The
Two
Ku"!4a1inis
Nagarjuna's
name,
in
its
Tibetan
inscription
(klu
sg;rubs),
evokes
terms
that
signify,
in
that
language,
"confused
mass:'
"a
mass
in
the
spiral
form
of
a
conch
shell:'
"abyss:'
"abdominal
cavity"
(klan),
and
"valley
floor"
(klUn).l
These
associations,
of
a
founding
alchemical
wizard,
a
serpent,
the
inal
cavity,
and
the
base
of
an
enclosed
environment,
evoke
the
perennial
hathyogic
image
of
yet
another
serpent.
This
is
the
female
kur:4alinf,
who
is
explicitly
identified
with
the
serpent
at
the
base
of
the
cosmic
egg,
or,
alternatively,
Ananta,
"the
endless
one;'
2
In
every
human
body,
the
female
kur:4alinf
serpent
sleeps
coiled
in
the
place
of
the
"fire
of
time"
(kiiliigm),
3
with
her
mouth
closed
over
an
internal
linga
in
the
lower
abdomen.
4
It
is
only
in
the
body
of
a
yogin
that
she
is
ever
awakened,
and
her
awakening
corresponds
precisely
to
the
initiation
of
the
yogin's
progressive
withdrawal
into
total
yogic
integration
(samiidhi)
or
fluid
equilibrium
(samarasa).
On
a
more
concrete
level,
it
is
the
rise
of
the
kur:4alinf
that
brings
about
the
transmutation
of
raw
semen
into
nectar
in
the
cranial
vault,
a
locus
associated
with
the
ethereal
goose.
In
the
last
chapter,
I
evoked
the
identification
of
the
han:zsa
of
the
cranial
vault
with
the
subtlest
channel
of
the
subtle
body,
the
medial
su{Umr:ii
nii4i.
Like
the
subtlest
of
minerals,
mercury,
the
SU{Umr:ii
can
also
double
as
both
a
bird
and
a
serpent:
5
thus
this
channel
is
identified,
as
well,
with
the
kur:4alinf
serpent
who,
when
awakened,
pierces
its
opening
at
the
base
of
the
spinal
column
"like
a
key
in
the
lock
of
a
door-panel:'
to
rush
upwards
to
the
cranial
vault.
6
The
kur:4alinf
in
the
body
of
the
yogin
is
an
incarnation
of
the
feminine
in
this
tradition
and
thereby
incarnates
all
the
perils
and
joys
that
women
can
represent
for
men.
She
is
divine
energy
(faktt)
and
female
materiality
(prakrti),
but
she
is
also
a
tigress
who
can
drain
a
man
of
all
his
energy
and
218

21
9
Homologous
Structures
of
the
Alchemical
Body
seed.
7
She
is
twofold,
and
it
is
in
this
perspective
that
yogic
sources
speak
of
this
internal
female
serpent
by
another
name:
she
is
bhogavatt,
a
term
that
at
once
bespeaks
her
enjoyment
(bhoga,
from
bhuj,
"partake,
enjoy"),
her
coiled
form
(bhoga
from
bhuj,
"coil,
curl"),
and
her
female
sex
(-vatf
is
a
feminine
ending).
As
bhogavatf,
she
is
the
serpentine
female
principle
within
the
subtle
body.8
It
is
when
her
name
is
interpreted
in
terms
of
bhoga
as
pleasure
that
this
female
serpent's
twofold
role
is
brought
to
the
fore
in
the
tantric
context.
The
ku"!4alinf
as
bhogavatt
is
a
female
who
both
takes
pleasure
and
gives
pleasure.
In
tantric
metaphysics,
it
is
the
ku"!tJalinf's
coiled
body
itself
that
is
the
turning
point
between
emanation
and
participation,
emission
and
resorption.
9
At
ground
zero
of
the
self-emission
of
the
absolute
into
nomenal
being
is
the
ku"!4alinf
who
takes
pleasure
as
she
allows
the
cosmic
life
force
to
drain
away
into
her
sleeping
mouth.
Her
sleep
is
the
sleep
of
dumb
matter,
and
her
head
or
mouth
the
sole
obstruction
to
the
opening
of
the
upward
path
to
her
own
return,
from
existence
to
essence
as
it
were.
Her
awakening
blows
open
the
"door
to
the
absolute"
madviira)
at
the
base
of
the
medial
channel,
and
her
rise
along
the
length
of
this
channel
effects
the
return-on
the
part
of
the
yogin
in
whose
body
she
has
been
awakened-to
the
wholeness,
being-consciousness-bliss,
and
absolute
godhead
that
is
his
true
nature.
Here
too,
we
can
glimpse
the
ku,,!-
4alinf's
role
as
the
microcosmic
homologue
of
the
cosmic
serpent
and
endpoint
of
a
prior
creation
and
the
starting
point
of
a
future
creation,
who
is
located
as
well
at
the
base
of
a
self-enclosed
system.
We
can
also
see,
however,
why
the
ku"!4alinf
is,
unlike
a
female
serpent.
When
she
slumbers,
"as
if
stupefied
by
a
poison;'
in
a
man's
domen,
the
ku"!4alinf
is
identified
with
human
mortality,
with
death-laden
existence,
and
the
bondage
of
the
ignorant,1O
which
is
figured
by
the
cessant
drain
of
semen
that
she,
as
woman,
effects
in
man.
In
this
role,
the
sleeping
ku"!4alinf
is
identified
with
the
fire
of
time
(kiiliignz)
because
the
mortal
who
allows
her
to
drain
away
his
semen
is
doomed
to
be
consumed
by
the
fire
of
time
and
die.
Such
is
the
fate
of
a
number
of
yogins
ofNath
legend.
Most
famous
among
these
is
Matsyendranath,
who,
having
had
his
yogic
energy
and
life
force
drained
away
by
years
of
debauchery
in
a
dom
of
Women,
is
fated
to
die
within
three
days
if
Gorakhnath
cannot
reawaken
him,
i.e.,
awaken
his
sleeping
ku"!4alinf.
It
is
when
the
ku"!4alinf
is
awakened
that
she
becomes
capable
of
giving
pleasure-and
here
too,
it
is
appropriate
that
she
be
figured
as
a
female
serpent.
Her
awakening
is
the
beginning
of
the
return
or
resorption,
on
a

220
Chapter
Eight
microcosmic
level,
of
the
phenomenal
world
back
into
the
absolute
from
which
it
was
originally
emitted.
The
yogin,
in
rousing
her
from
her
ber,
finds
in
the
rising
kUTf4alini
a
vehicle
by
which
to
raise
himself
from
mundane
existence
to
the
god-consciousness
that
renders
him
a
second
Siva.
Indeed,
the
final
aim
of
the
yogin,
like
that
of
any
tantric
practitioner,
is
twofold.
11
On
the
one
hand,
he
strives
toward
liberation
muktt)
from
conditioned
mortal
existence;
at
the
same
time,
however,
he
also
seeks
to
realize
for
himself
the
enjoyment
(bhoga,
bhuktt)
that
the
absolute,
Siva,
knows
in
his
very
being.
l2
This
pleasure
that
Siva,
the
absolute,
takes
in
his
manifold
creations,
his
self-realizations,
is
often
cast
as
his
sexual
union
with
his
female,
manifest
aspect,
i.e.,
with
the
Goddess,
who
is
tified
with
vimarfa
(reflective
consciousness),
maya
(creativity),
fakti
ergy),
and
the
kUTfqalini.
It
is
a
pleasure
of
the
same
order
as
that
enjoyed
by
Siva
in
his
union
with
the
Goddess
that
the
yogin
comes
to
know
in
awakening
and
raising
his
kUTfqalini.
It
is
in
this
light
that
the
kUTfqalini
becomes
identified,
in
tantric
practice,
with
both
the
male
practitioner's
sexual
partner
and
a
goddess
to
whom
he
makes
sacrificial
offerings.
As
the
MBhT
explains,
the
practitioner's
bhoga
takes
the
form
of
the
pleasure
he
enjoys
in
his
imbibing
the
makaras
that
precede
sexual
intercourse
with
his
partner.
The
wine
that
he
drinks
and
the
flesh
and
fish
he
eats
become
offerings
into
the
mouth
of
the
kUTfqalini,
who
rises
up
to
his
tongue
to
consume
them.
His
bhoga,
when
accompanied
by
the
proper
mantras,
becomes
an
inner
sacrifice
to
the
Goddess,
with
whom
he
thus
shares
his
pleasure.
Like
his
human
partner,
she
becomes
his
lover,
and
because
she
is
the
Goddess,
his
savior
as
well.
The
bhoga
offered
into
her
mouth
comes
nectar,
and
her
rise
transforms
his
very
being.
ll
Riding
the
kUTfqalini
upwards
on
a
wave
of
mutual
pleasure,
against
the
grain
of
the
entropic
processes
of
aging
and
death,
the
yogin
comes
to
experience
liberation
and
bliss.
Ultimately,
he
becomes
"a
second
Siva;'
in
eternal
embrace
with
the
Goddess.
How
does
the
yogin
awaken
the
slumbering
kUTfqalini
to
reverse
the
order
of
nature
on
a
microcosmic
level?
By
assuming
a
number
of
postures
(asanas),
by
breath
control
(praTfayama),
and
by
means
of
a
number
of
ternal
blocks
(bandhas)
and
seals
(mudras)
that
fan
the
fire
of
yoga
(yogagnt),
the
fire
that
consumes
the
fire
of
time
(whence
its
synonyms
kalagnirudra
and
yamantaka).
So,
for
example
the
HYF
states
that
the
"Matsyendra
asana
...
arouses
the
kUTfqalini";
that
the
maha-mudra
causes
the
"kuTfqalini
[to]
suddenly
become
straight
just
as
a
coiled
snake
when
struck
by
a
rod

221
Homologous
Structures
of
the
Alchemical
Body
straightens
itself
out
like
a
stick";
and
that
the
mula
bandha
"awakens
the
ku"!eJalinf,
who
straightens,
entering
the
medial
channel,
like
a
snake
ing
a
hole;'
14
The
ku"!4alinf's
awakening
marks
the
beginning
of
the
yogin's
own
withdrawal
into
his
yogic
sleep
or
trance,
into
the
total
integration
that
is
samadhi.
In
this
light,
we
can
see
that
in
the
universal
scheme
of
things,
the
great
yogin,
be
he
named
Siva
or
ultimately
pours
himself
out
into
mundane
being
of
which
the
sleeping
ku"!4alinf
is
the
end-
or
turning-point-in
order
that
human
yogins
might
find
a
way
to
genuinely
"fall
asleep:'
i.e.,
enter
into
the
yogic
sleep
of
samadhi.
On
the
microcosmic
level,
this
yogic
reintegration
affords
liberation
and
bliss;
on
the
macrocosmic
level,
it
is
nothing
other
than
the
pralaya,
the
universal
resorption
of
all
mundane
existence
into
the
primal
and
primordial
essence
that
is
the
Absolute,
God.
These
two
poles
of
the
ku"!4alinf's
mode
of
being-sleeping
and
waking,
taking
and
giving
pleasure,
allowing
the
body
to
be
consumed
by
the
fire
of
time
and
consuming
the
fire
of
time-these
mundane
and
transcendent
poles
are
identified
as
her
"poison"
and
her
"nectar;'
15
The
ku"!4alinf
is
poison
when
she
remains
asleep
in
the
lower
abdomen;
she
is
nectar
cisely
when
she
rises
up
through
the
medial
channel
of
the
subtle
body
to
reunite
with
Siva,
the
Absolute,
in
the
yogin's
cranial
vault.
16
In
the
yogic
sources,
this
union
is
in
fact
accompanied
by
an
outpouring
of
nectar,
which
renders
the
yogin
immortal.
This
connection
between
poison,
nectar,
and
yogic
prowess
has
its
flection
in
Hindu
mythology,
in
which
the
serpent
king
Vasuki
serves
as
churning
rope
in
the
mythic
churning
of
the
Ocean
of
Milk.
This
churning
(which
produced
sulfur
in
the
alchemical
myth
related
in
the
last
chapter)
is
best
known
for
its
production
of
the
nectar
(amrJa)
of
divine
immortality.
Another
byproduct
of
this
process
is,
however,
the
production
of
the
most
virulent
of
poisons
in
the
universe
(kalakuta,
halahala)
,
which
arose
from
the
Vasuki's
venom.
17
This
poison,
churned
out
of
the
ocean,
would
have
consumed
the
entire
universe
had
Siva,
whose
yogic
austerities
rendered
him
powerful
enough
to
do
so,
not
swallowed
it.
It
is
the
trace
of
this
feat
that
accounts
for
the
dark
blue
mark
found
on
Siva's
throat
in
Hindu
iconography,
and
his
epithet
of
"Blue-Throat:'
Nilakal).!ha.
18
Lastly,
cury,
Siva's
semen,
is
a
poison
for
the
uninitiated
who
would
presume
to
partake
of
it
without
the
proper
preparations;
for
the
initiated
alchemist,
however,
it
is
the
nectar
of
immortality.
This
coincidence
of
opposites
is
divinized
in
the
Tibetan
Buddhist
homologue
of
Yamantaka-that
is,
of
Siva
as
"the
Death
of
Death;'
This
is
the
Tibetan
divinity
named
"Quick-

222
Chapter
Eight
silver"
(i.e.,
mercury)
who,
although
he
is
a
"black
poison-faced
divinity,"
is
also
the
"black
master
oflife;'
19
The
twofold
ku"!4alinf,
who
incarnates
the
two
prevailing
Hindu
tudes
toward
the
manifest
world,
a
world
which
it
always
views
as
nine-i.e.,
the
Vedantic
view
of
the
world
as
imprisoning
maya
and
the
tantric
view
of
the
Goddess
as
a
limitless
source
of
energy,
fakti-is
but
one
of
a
wide
variety
of
redoubled
images
proper
to
the
yogic
and
alchemical
body.
This
dual
role
of
feminine
energy-of
the
Goddess
bodied
in
the
world,
in
a
human
woman,
or
in
the
internal
is
clearly
expressed
in
a
verse
from
the
Spanda
Kiirika
of
gupta's
ninth-century
forerunner,
the
philosopher
Vasugupta:
"It
is
Siva's
sakti,
that
is,
his
power
to
act,
who,
dwelling
within
limited
creatures,
causes
bondage;
When
she
is
known
as
herself
the
path,
she
is
the
one
who
makes
perfection
(siddht)
possible;'20
In
the
balance
of
this
chapter,
I
amine
a
number
of
such
phenomena
in
these
interpenetrating
symbol
systems,
in
images
that
range
from
human
mouths
to
wells
to
rivers
to
forests,
cities,
and
even
entire
kingdoms!
Throughout,
it
will
be
shown
that
each
image
at
once
points
to
the
imminence
of
death,
the
great
izer,
and
to
its
opposite-immortality,
the
cheating
of
death
vaiicana)-on
the
part
of
the
Siddha
who
knows
how
to
reverse,
on
the
mesocosmic
level
of
his
subtle
body
or
alchemical
laboratory,
the
towards-death
that
is
the
erstwhile
fate
of
all
creatures
who
are
bound
to
this
world.
2.
Charting
the
Subde
Body:
The
Legends
of
Matsyendranath
a.
Fish
Belly
Like
the
supreme
yogic
god
Siva,
the
hathayugin
is
himself
through
his
raising
of
the
ku"!4alinf-of
transmuting
poisons
into
nectar.
More
properly
speaking,
that
which
is
poison
for
mere
mortals
is,
for
the
yogin
who
has
realized,
through
his
practice,
a
divine
"identity
in
ence"
view
of
reality,
identical
to
nectar,
am1J:a.
21
Numerous
Nath
Siddhas
are
known
for
their
ability
to
control
(and
charm)
serpents,
yet
another
metaphor
for
their
mastery
of
the
female
ku"!4alinf,
and
for
their
ability
to
treat
poisons
as
elixirsY
Likewise,
mercury,
which
is
a
poison
for
the
uninitiated,
becomes
an
elixir
of
immortality
for
the
alchemist
who
knows
its
secrets.
21
In
this
section,
I
interpret
a
number
of
yogic
metaphors
for

223
Homologous
Structures
of
the
Alchemical
Body
the
mastery
of
the
forces
that
sleep
in
the
lower
part
of
the
body,
forces
that,
when
awakened,
transform
the
yogin's
being
completely.
A
moment
ago,
I
evoked
Matsyendranath,
the
original
guru
of
the
Nath
Siddhas,
who
was
rescued
from
death
in
a
Kingdom
of
Women
by
his
more
disciplined
pupil
Gorakhnath.
It
is
on
this
mythic
ground
that
Matsyendra
the
guru
becomes
Matsyendra
the
disciple:
after
Gorakh
has
rescued
syendra
from
the
Kingdom
of
Women,
he
must
give
his
teacher
a
fresher
course"
in
hatha
yoga.
Indeed,
it
is
a
leitmotif
of
Nath
legend
that
Matsyendra,
the
teacher
of
Gorakh,
is
much
more
susceptible
to
the
lures
of
the
fair
sex,
to
the
world
of
appearances
(maya),
than
is
his
pupil,
who
must
constantly
awaken
him
to
the
reality
behind
appearances.
To
be
sure,
the
erotic
rituals
of
the
Yogini
Kaula
sect
of
which
Matsyendra
was
the
purported
founder
lie
behind
much
of
this
mythic
imagery.
So
it
is
that
the
yoginis
of
Kamarupa,
from
whom
Matsyendra
received
his
tantric
elation,
become
the
"Plantain
Forest"
women
who
ensnare
him,
in
an
portant
myth
cycle
of
Gorakh
and
Matsyendra.
24
In
a
curious
way,
Matsyendra
is
doubly
connected,
by
his
name,
to
the
lower
half
of
the
yogic
body,
the
place
of
the
sleeping
kU1Jqalint.
However,
just
as
the
kU1Jqalint
sleeps
at
a
turning
point
in
the
play
of
divine
festation
and
resorption,
so
too,
the
symbol
system
constructed
around
Matsyendra's
name
is
an
ambivalent
one.
An
extensive
body
of
medieval
sources
connect
Matsyendra
to
his
doctrine
of
the
fish
belly
through
a
mythic
gloss
of
his
name.
Matsyendranatha
means
"He
Whose
Lord
is
the
Lord
of
Fishes"
(or
the
pleonastic
"Lord
Lord
of
Fishes"),
and
his
tion
with
fish
is
explained
through
a
myth
in
which
the
Goddess,
seated
on
or
near
the
shore
of
Candradvipa
("Moon
Island"),
has
asked
Siva
to
teach
her
the
most
secret
of
all
esoteric
knowledge,
things
he
has
never
told
her
before.
25
This
Siva
agrees
to
do,
but
he
has
barely
launched
into
what
will
turn
out
to
be
the
essence
of
the
Hindu
tantric
teachings
than
does
the
Goddess
fall
asleep.
Siva's
words
do
not,
however,
go
unheeded.
endra,
who
has
been
swallowed
by
a
fish
(whence
his
name
in
these
sources),
draws
up
to
the
shoreline
and
overhears
everything.
It
is
in
this
way
that
the
"historical"
Matsyendra
26
becomes
both
the
link
between
the
divine
and
human
in
the
transmission
of
the
tantras
and
the
founder
of
numerous
sectarian
traditions.
27
In
a
number
of
these
sources,
Matsyendra
is
further
identifiedwith,
or
called
the
father
(or
son
or
brother
or
nephew
or
daughter)
of,
Minanatha,
a
name
which
also
means
"Lord
of
Fishes:'28
The
earliest
mythic
account
of
Matsyendra,
that
found
in
the
KJnN
(16.27-56)
itself,
tells
a
somewhat
different
story.
This
source,
which
calls

224
Chapter
Eight
him
Macchaghna,
"Killer
of
Fishes"29-
an
indication
that
he
was
a
erman-makes
no
reference
to
his
overhearing
Siva's
teachings
from
the
belly
of
a
fish.
Rather,
it
relates
that
Siva
has
committed
the
kuliigama
to
writing,
the
which
his
son
Karttikeya
has
thrown,
in
a
rage,
into
the
sea.
These
teachings
are
then
swallowed
by
a
great
fish.
The
god
Bhairava
takes
the
form
of
Matsyendra
the
fisherman
to
recover
the
teachings
out
of
the
fish's
belly,
at
a
site
called
CandradvIpa.
3o
Later,
it
is
stated
that
this
ing
(fiistra)
was
brought
down
at
CandradvIpa;31
earlier
in
the
text,
ever,
it
is
stated
that
it
was
brought
down
by
Siva
and
the
Goddess,
at
Kamaliipa.
32
As
a
killer
of
fishes
and
the
founding
guru
of
a
tantric
lineage
and
ion,
Matsyendra
may
be
further
linked
with
another
tantric
founder.
This
is
the
ca.
ninth-century
Buddhist
Siddhacarya
LUI-pa
(or
Lo-yi-pa,
Ll1-
yi-pa,
Ll1-hi-pada,
Ll1-yi-shabs).
The
original
Siddhacarya
of
the
Tibetan
Grub
thob
33
lists
and
author
of
two
Bengali
caryii
songs
(nos.
I
and
29),
pa's
name
means
"Venerable
Red-Fish."
In
Nepal,
Lw-pa
appears
to
be
further
conflated
with
a
Buddhist
divinity.
Here,
a
famous
red
image
of
the
bodhisattva
Avalokitesvara
has
been
worshipped
in
the
village
of
Bunga
and
the
city
of
Patan
since
the
seventh
century.
Since
the
sixteenth
century,
this
same
image
has
been
identified
with
Rato
Macchandernath,
the
"red
Matsyendranath";
and,
indeed,
an
old
Newari
bhajan,
still
sung
in
mandu,
refers
to
this
deity
as
"LuIpada-nath."34
While
scholars
generally
agree
that
this
is
a
late
and
spurious
identification,
there
are
a
number
of
piscine
elements
to
the
names
and
roles
of
this
Buddhist
divinity
that
serve
further
attention.
First,
"LUI"
is
a
vernacularization
of
lohitalrohita,
i.e.,
"red":
LuI-pa's
fish
is
a:
red
fish,
which
squares
with
the
color
of
the
Patan
image.
35
Second,
AvalokiteSvara
has,
in
at
least
one
case,
been
sented
in
a
pis
cine
mode:
at
Ratnagiri
(Cuttack
district,
Orissa),
the
bust
of
a
mutilated
Avalokitesvara
image
was
found
to
be
superimposed
upon
the
image
of
a
large
fish,
"so
as
to
convert
the
Bodhisattva
into
Matsya,
the
first
Avatara
of
Vigm."
The
Hindu
Matsyendranath
has
himself
been
portrayed
in
a
manner
similar
to
that
fish
incarnation,
emerging
out
of
the
mouth
of
a
fish.
36
Of
much
greater
interest
to
us
is
the
identification
we
find
of
endra
or
LuI-pa's
name
with
the
term
matsyodara,
which
simply
means
"fish
belly."
Tibetan
translations
of
LuI-pa's
name,
found
in
the
Tanjur,
include
fia'i-rgyu-ma-za-ba,
which
means
"one
who
eats
the
intestines
of
a
fish";
and
fia-lto-pa,
which
restored
into
Sanskrit
yields,
precisely,
matsyodara,
"fish
belly."
37
Abhinavagupta,
who
praises
Macchanda
in
an
opening
verse

Homologous
Structures
of
the
Alchemical
Body
(1.7)
of
his
monumental
Tantraloka,
cryptically
refers
to
matsyodara
in
a
later
passage
of
the
same
work:
"On
the
level
of
the
highest
kU'1fqalinl
is
the
Emissional
Power
which
is
beautiful
because
it
contains
within
itself
the
vibration,
there
the
yogin
should
repose
devoted
to
the
condition
of
belly
of
the
fish."J8
What
this
term
means
is
stated
in
elliptic
fashion
in
the
century
Amaraugha
Prabodha
of
Gorakhanath,
who
further
intimates
that
this
doctrine
constituted
the
very
first
revealed
teachings
of
Siva,
which
that
god
gave
to
an
audience
consisting
of
MInanath
and
the
Goddess,
i.e
on
the
shore
of
CandradvIpa.
Here,
Gorakhnath
states:
"Holding
the
breath
[when
it
is]
restrained
by
force
(hafhat)
is
[called]
swallowing
into
the
fish-belly
(mlnodare).
He
[who
is]
blessed
with
detachment
is
not
scious
until
he
releases
it
[i.e.,
his
breath]."J9
What
I
wish
to
argue
here
is
that
Matsyendra's
doctrine
of
the
fish
belly-a
revolutionary
doctrine
deed,
given
the
perennial
importance
that
has
been
attached
to
it
in
Hindu
tantrism
over
the
past
one
thousand
years-is
about
diaphragmatic
tion
and
its
effects
on
the
body
and
consciousness
of
the
yogic
practitioner.
This
meaning
is
greatly
expanded
in
the
unexpected
context
of
a
scription
of
the
holy
city
of
Benares
given
in
a
number
of
Saiva
As
any
armchair
traveler
knows,
the
city
of
Benares
is
situated
on
a
wide
bend
in
the
holy
Ganges
River,
at
the
last
point
at
which
the
river
turns
north,
as
if
to return to
its
Himalayan
source.
It
is
also
a
city
that
is
said
in
certain
sources
to
resemble
a
fish
in
shape.
40
Though
not
because
of
its
piscine
outline,
the
beauty
and
holiness
of
Benares
are
such
that
Siva,
in
a
distant
mythic
past,
chose
to
make
Benares,
or
!(asI,
his
home
whenever
he
was
not
meditating
atop
Mount
Kailash.
41
For
Hindu
pilgrims
from
time
immemorial,
it
is
not
the
beauty
of
the
site,
but
rather
the
liberating
effects
of
bathing
in
the
waters
of
the
Ganges
there-the
salvific
powers
of
which
are
enhanced
by
Siva's
presence-that
has
been
the
prime
reason
for
undertaking
a
journey
to
that
fabled
city.
The
Ganges
(Ganga)
is,
however,
but
one
of
a
triad
of
holy
rivers-and
of
river
goddesses-its
two
sister
rivers
being
the
Yamuna
(which
joins
the
Ganges
at
Prayag,
the
modern
Allahabad),
and
the
Sarasvati.
There
is
a
mystery
to
this
last
river,
the
earliest
river
to
be
identified
with
a
goddess
in
the
Vedic
literature:
rising
in
the
highlands
of
southwestern
Rajasthan,
it
is
a
river
that
"disappears"
into
the
plains
of
Kacch
before
ever
reaching
the
sea-and
it
is
this
hidden
nature
of
the
Sarasvati
that
is
brought
to
the
fore
in
the
Puranic
descriptions
of
matsyodarl-yoga,
the
"fish-belly
tion"
of
Benares.

226
Chapter
Eight
Before
we
can
explain
this
phenomenon,
however,
we
must
first
briefly
review
a
commonplace
of
yogic
physiology,
according
to
which
the
three
principal
subtle
channels
(naqis)
of
the
life
force
are
identified
with
these
three
major
rivers
(nadis):
the
solar
pingala
is
the
Yamuna
River,
the
lunar
iqa
is
the
Ganges,
and
the
medial,
"empty"
sufUm'f!a
is
the
"fiery,"
"hidden"
Sarasvati.
42
In
the
practice
of
breath
control,
pra'f!ayama,
it
is
by
pumping
up
and
thereby
emptying
the
two
peripheral
subtle
channels,
the
iqa
and
the
pingala,
that
the
theretofore
empty
sUfUm'f!a
suddenly
becomes
filled
with
the
subtle
breath
or
life
force
(pra'f!a)
to
become
the
yogin's
internal
upward-tending
channel
to
liberation.
This
yogic
homologue
to
these
three
river
systems
of
India
is
so
obvious
as
to
not
require
explanation
here.
Benares,
the
greatest
pilgrimage
site
(tirtha)
of
India,
is
said
to
contain
all
of
the
rivers
and
all
of
the
tfrthas
of
India
within
its
precincts.
It
is
in
this
context
that
the
geography
of
the
city,
as
well
as
seasonal
floods
there,
contributed
to
the
unusual
riverine
phenomenon
known
as
the
"fish-belly
conjunction:'
down
to
at
least
the
sixteenth
century.
Prior
to
its
tion
over
the
past
two
centuries,
the
inner
limits
of
riverine
Benares
were
constituted
by
a
string
of
inland
pools,
tanks,
and
lakes.
One
of
these
was
named
Matsyodari,
the
"[Lake
of
the]
Fish
Belly."
In
particularly
heavy
rainy
seasons,
these
reservoirs
would
flood
into
one
another
to
form
a
single
channel-also
called
the
Matsyodari-that
ran
for
no
less
than
three
miles
between
the
river
known
as
the
VaraI).a,
the
tributary
to
the
Ganges
forming
the
city's
northern
border,
and
the
stream
known
as
the
Asi,
which
flowed
into
the
Ganges
at
the
southern
end
of
the
city.4l
According
to
folk
etymology,
the
classic
name
of
Benares-
VaraI).asi-derives
from
the
fact
thatthat
city-state
lay
between
the
VaraI).a
and
Asi
rivers.
For
certain
tographers
of
the
subtle
body,
the
symbolism
was
clear:
44
"The
two
vessels
called
the
iqa
and
the
pingala
are
the
real
vara'f!a-asi.
The
space
between
them
is
called
Vara'f!asi.
There
it
is
said
that
[Siva]
Visvanath
dwells
...
From
the
right
side
of
the
ajna
[cakra]
and
going
to
the
left
nostril
flows
the
iqa.
It
is
here
called
VaraI).a,
the
upward-flowing
[Ganges]
...
Rising
from
the
left
side
of
the
ajna
lotus
45
and
going
to
the
right
nostril,
this
upward-flowing
pingala
has
been
called
of
yore
the
Asi."
This
schematization
flows
directly
into
the
rainy-season
phenomenon
I
have
been
describing:
when
the
seasonal
Matsyodari
opened
its
periodic
channel,
the
normal
flow
of
Benares's
rivers
became
reversed:
the
Ganges
would
actually
back
up
into
its
tributary,
the
VaraI).a,
and
flow
therefrom
into
the
seasonal
Matsyodari
channel;
the
Matsyodari
would
in
turn
drain
into
the
Asi,
out
of
the
mouth
of
which
the
Ganges
would
empty
back
into

227
Homologous
Structures
of
the
Alchemical
Body
"itself:'
The
waters
of
the
Ganges
that
were
so
channeled
therefore
ran
against
the
river's
normal
flow,
along
the
underbelly
of
the
piscine
outline
of
Benares-within
which
the
permanent
Matsyodari
Lake
was
whence
the
designations
of
matsyodari
for
the
periodic
stream
itself,
and
matsyodari-yoga,
the
"fish-belly
conjunction:'
for
those
periods
in
which
it
appeared
(and
for
the
site
at
which
the
overflow
of
Matsyodari
Lake
ran
into
the
waters
of
the
flooding
Ganges).
This
anomaly,
of
a
periodic
backflooding
of
the
Ganges,
is
given
a
yogic
gloss
in
the
ca.
tenth-century
Linga
Purii1fa,
a
gloss
that
will
at
once
explain
the
great
yogin
Matsyendranath's
piscine
associations:
Pingalii
is
the
name
by
which
the
fiery
nii4i
is
praised,
and
it
is
known
to
be
that
dried
up
stream
(the
Asi)
[which
runs
by
the
place]
where
[the
tank
named]
"the
trembling
sun"46
stands.
14ii
is
the
name
by
which
the
lunar
nii4i
is
praised.
It
is
known
to
be
the
Vanu).a
[River],
where
the
Kdava
[temple]
is
situated.
That
nii4i
[which
runs]
between
the
two
is
glorified
as
the
SUfUm1fii
and
known
as
Matsyodari;
it
is
praised
as
"[a
stream]
running
in
both
directions"
(vifuvam)Y
There
where
[two
currents]
come
together
at
the
Fish-Belly
Pool,
a
bath
yields
liberation
...
It
is
an
extraordinary
conjunction
when
the
Ganges
runs
into
the
Fish-Belly
channel
to
the
west
of
Kapilesvara.
A
bath
at
that
juncture
yields
[the
fruits
of]
a
thousand
horse
fices
...
That
place
is
indeed
praised
as
the
fluvial
brahma-syllable.
48
In
a
passage
from
the
somewhat
later
Kasi
Khal).<;la
of
the
Skanda
ii1fa,
the
Matsyodari
is
said
to
be
bahir-antafcarii,
"flowing
both
inside
and
outside"
(i.e.,
surrounding
Benares,
via
the
Ganges'
normal
outer
channel
as
well
as
that
of
the
inner
Matsyodari),
and
taking
the
path
of
retraction
(samhiira-miirga).49
With
this,
we
now
hold
all
the
necessary
elements
for
a
symbolic
interpretation
of
the
term
"fish-belly
conjunction:'
yoga.
The
belly
of
the
fish,
and
that
"path
of
retraction"
at
which
a
reversal
of
the
normal
flow
occurs,
is,
assuredly,
the
opening
of
the
medial
channel,
the
sufUm1fii
nii4150
at
the
base
of
the
subtle
body.
The
two
peripheral
nels
(the
i4ii
and
pingalii)
are
the
Varal).a
(Ganges)
and
Asi
(Yamuna)
rivers,
whose
flow
is
reversed
such
that
the
"empty"
medial
channel,
the
SUfUm1fii
(the
Sarasvati
River;
and
in
Benares,
the
Matsyodari),
may
be
opened
and
filled
with
the
reversed,
upward
flow
of
semen,
life
force,
breath,
and
mind,
which
yields
liberation
and
immortality.
In
this
schema,
the
flowing
Ganges
itself
doubles
as
the
"disappearing"
Sarasvati
River,
which

228
Chapter
Eight
"reappears"
in
a
feat
of
yogic
reversal
when
it
becomes
the
MatsyodarI,
the
fish-belly
channe1.
51
Matsyodart-yoga,
the
"fish-belly
conjunction;'
is,
however,
more
than
a
mere
macrocosmic
reproduction
of
a
structure
of
the
subtle
body.
It
also
refers
to
a
particular
yogic
practice,
specifically
to
that
practice
to
which
Gorakhnath
alludes
in
the
Amaraugha
Prabodha
passage
quoted
above.
"Holding
the
breath
when
it
is
restrained
by
force
(hafhiit)
...
in
the
fish
belly
(mtnodare)"
is
a
description
of
that
most
fundamental
aspect
of
breath
control
called
kumbhaka,
the
"potlike"
diaphragmatic
retention
of
the
breaths.
52
Here,
the
iqii
and
pingalii
channels
are
"pumped
like
bellows;'
by
means
of
breath
control,
until
the
surum,,!ii
channel
suddenly
opens.
At
this
point,
the
two
peripheral
channels
empty
and
lie
"swooned."
What
follows
is
automatic:
the
vital
breath
that
rushes
into
the
surum,,!ii
rises
upward,
against
the
normal
downward
flow
of
all
bodily
fluids,
affords
yogic
tion.
53
In
Puranic
mythology,
it
is
precisely
by
bathing
during
the
period
of
the
"fish-belly
conjunction"
that
the
god
Bhairava
was
liberated
from
the
skull
of
Brahma
that
had
clung
to
his
hand
for
twelve
years.
Having
thus
completed
his
"skull
bearer's
vow"
(kiipiilika
vrata),
Bhairava
lished
himself
as
the
guardian
deity
of
Benares,
at
a
temple
on
the bank
of
the
Kapalamocana
("Liberation
from
the
Skull")
tank.
54
This
god's
mythic
liberation
from
his
terrible
vow
is
tantamount
to
the
wholly
unconditioned
state
of
Sivahood
enjoyed
by
the
yogin
at
the
culmination
of
his
practice
of
"swallowing
into
the
fish
belly."
Matsyendra's
doctrine
of
the
fish
belly
would
therefore
have
been,
if
nothing
else,
a
teaching
on
hatha
yoga.
This
is
supported
by
the
fact
that
Gorakhnath,
in
the
opening
verses
of
his
twelfth-
to
thirteenth-century
Sataka,
invokes
Mlnanath
as
his
guru.
55
Now,
while
it
has
been
maintained
that
six-cakra
yoga
was
an
innovation
of
the
Western
sion,
it
would
appear
that
Matsyendra's
doctrine
of
the
fish
belly
(kumbhaka
as
the
culmination
of
breath
control),
together
with
a
significant
number
of
other
references
to
the
subtle
body
and
hathayogic
practice
found
in
the
KJfiN,
would
make
him
the
founding
guru
of
this
discipline,
or
at
least
of
one
of
its
major
canons.
56
Abhinavagupta
may
also
be
singling
Macchanda
out
for
praise
on
these
grounds;57
it
is
also
possible,
however,
that
the
image
of
the
fish
belly
also
had
a
sexual
connotation
in
Kaula
mystical
practice.
Such
is
certainly
the
case
in
the
religious
belief
and
practice
of
the
Bauls,
a
Bengal-based
syncretic
sect
whose
ties
to
the
Nath
Siddhas
are
numerous

229
Homologous
Structures
of
the
Alchemical
Body
and
well-documented.
As
June
McDaniel
has
demonstrated,
the
Bauls
portray
Isvara
or
the
man
of
the
heart
[as]
a
fish
(mtn-rUpa).
This
fish
[which]
swims
in
the
"high
tide"
of
[a
woman's]
menstrual
flow
...
is
caught
by
the
enjoyer
(rasika),
the
Baul
who
is
full
of
love.
This
is
the
"tide
time
in
the
river;'
the
overflowing
of
rasa
[sexual
fluids].
He
catches
the
fish
and
causes
it
to
move
in
an
upward
direction.
The
fish
must
be
caught
at
the
right
time,
or
the
waters
dry
and
he
is
gone
...
The
right
time
is
once
a
month,
a
Mahayoga.
It
includes
the
new
moon,
the
period
regarded
by
the
Bauls
as
the
time
before
the
fish
emerges;
this
is
the
time
oflust
(klima).
When
the
fish
is
present,
it
is
the
time
of
the
menstrual
flow
designated
as
full
moon.
The
third
day
[of
a
woman's
menses]
is
the
time
to
catch
the
fish;
he
is
not
present
before
that,
and
there
is
the
danger
of
the
black
crocodile
of
desire.
58
In
this
context,
we
may
read
matsyodan-yoga
as
a
temporal
conjunction
in
the
menstrual
cycle
of
a
yogint.
Matsyendra
the
fisherman
catches
his
"fish"
of
the
Kaula
revelation
at
that
precise
moment
and
thereby
becomes
the
revealer
of
the
Yogin!
Kaula.
b.
Moon
Island
With
this,
we
exhaust
the
symbolism
of
the
yogic
fish
belly;
in
so
doing,
however,
we
bump
up
against
another
riddle
of
tantric
parlance.
Here,
we
must
consider
that
in
the
times
of
the
fish-belly
conjunction,
the
city
of
Benares,
surrounded
by
the
Ganga,
Varal).a,
Matsyodar!,
and
Asi
rivers,
became
an
island.
59
Here,
we
are
reminded
of
Moon
Island,
off
the
shore
of
which
Matsyendra,
in
the
belly
of
a
fish,
overheard
Siva's
original
tantric
teachings.
This
island
has
never
ceased
to
tantalize
scholars
who
have
attempted,
without
success,
to
localize
the
toponym
Candra-dvtpa
where
on
the
India
subcontinent
60
and
to
explain
its
implicit
identification,
in
a
number
of
tantric
sources,
with
Candra-giri
("Moon
Hill")
or
parvata
("Moon
Mountain").
Here
again,
it
may
be
argued,
on
the
basis
of
data
found
in
the
tantric
texts
themselves,
that
Moon
Mountain
and
Moon
Island
(for
what
is
an
island
if
not
a
mountain
with
its
feet
in
the
water?)61
are,
like
the
Fish
Belly,
locations
that
appear
within
the
subtle
body
when
a
certain
body
of
tice
is
carried
to
its
conclusion.
That
this
is
an
inner
landscape
of
the
subtle

23°
Chapter
Eight
body
is
already
borne
out
by
the
KJiiNs
statement
that,
by
using
the
net
of
yogic
energy
(fakti-jiilam)
,
Matsyendra
the
fisherman
pulled
his
fish
(containing
the
kula
teachings)
out
of
the
seven
oceans
(i.e.,
the
seven
cakras),62
an
impossible
act
in
the
"real
world."
In
this
case,
the
mountain
or
island
in
question
is
located
either
in
the
cranial
vault
or
the
abdominal
cavity,
but
in
either
case
on
the
left
side
of
the
body,
i.e.,
that
half
of
the
body
through
which
the
lunar
iq,ii
niiq,f
passes.
The
KJiiN
itself,
which
maintains
in
its
chapter
colophons
63
that
its
ings
were
brought
down
(avatiirita)
at
Moon
Island,
offers
a
certain
body
of
evidence
to
this
effect
when
it
describes
the
oozing
of
nectar,
via
the
brahmarandhra
(the
"cleft
of
brahman:'
i.e.,
the
fontanelle),
as
"gladdening
the
moon"
(candriihladakara)
and
associates
the
lunar
posture
(candriisana)
with
the
hathayogic
practice
of
khecarf
[mudrii],
also
effected
within
the
cranial
vault.
64
In
addition,
both
this
source
and
a
number
of
other
yogic
works
of
the
Nath
Siddhas
and
the
Western
Transmission
place
great
emphasis
on
the
"western"
or
left
side
of
the
body
as
the
locus
of
the
most
critical
transformations
occurring
within
the
subtle
body.65
The
teachings
of
tlle
KM
were
brought
down,
as
well,
at
Moon
Island;
however,
this
text
places
equal
or
greater
emphasis
on
Moon
Mountain
or
Moon
Hill,
which,
as
indicated,
likely
refers
to
the
same
locus
within
the
subtle
body.
This
appears
to
be
the
meaning
of
a
statement
found
in
the
first
chapter
of
this
work,
which
states
that
Moon
Mountain
is
located
to
the
west
of
Meru,
i.e.,
the
subtle
spinal
column,
which
culminates
in
the
brahmarandhra
at
the
summit
of
the
cranial
vault.
66
This
lunar
location
is
found
in
other
Western
Transmission
sources,
which
declare
that
the
textual
canon
was
"brought
down"
-by
a
figure
iously
called
Srlnatha,
SrIkaI).!ha,
Adinatha,
or
Siddhanatha-at
a
lunar
location
called
Candragiri,
CandradvIpa,
CandrapurI,
or
CandrapI!haY
Once
again,
however,
this
location
appears
to
be,
at
least
to
a
certain
tent,
an
internal
one.
This
is
borne
out
by
a
passage
from
an
A.D.
1395
manuscript
of
the
Kubjikiinityiihnikatilaka,
which
maintains
that
with
the
aid
of
three
Siddhas
named
Sun,
Moon,
and
Fire-founded
that
tantric
kula,
"at
the
beginning
of
the
Kali
Yuga:'
at
a
site
called
Candrapurl
("Moon
City"),
located
in
the
western
region
of
Konkana.
68
In
spite
of
this
purportedly
geographical
reference
to
Konkana,
the
most
satisfactory
interpretation
of
this
account
remains
an
allegorical
one:
Moon
City
is
the
site,
in
the
left
(western)
side
of
the
subtle
body,
in
which
the
hathayogic
praxis
culminates,
through
the
interaction
of
the
three
principle
niiq,fs
ured
here
as
the
Siddhas
Sun,
Moon,
and
Fire.
This
is
further
supported

23
1
Homologous
Structures
of
the
Alchemical
Body
by
a
passage
from
the
Cificinlmatasiirasamucchaya,
a
Western
Transmission
text
which
identifies
the
founding
Siddhas
Mlnanatha
with
the
moon,
with
the
sun,
and
Kurmanatha
with
fire.
69
In
the
later
works
of
Gorakhnath
and
other
synthesizers
of
the
yogic
gnosis,
the
identification
of
the
cranial
vault
as
the
place
of
the
crocosmic
moon
becomes
a
commonplace.
It
is
moreover
in
a
work
uted
to
Gorakhnath,
the
Amaraughafiisana,
that
the
left
side
of
the
head,
or
the
cavity
of
the
left
nostril,
is
explicitly
identified
with
the
circle
of
the
moon.
70
We
may
imagine
that
the
city
of
Benares-identified
with
the
ii/fiii
cakra
of
the
cranial
vault
and
theoretically
situated
atop
three
hilltops
on
the
northern
bank
of
the
Ganges
River,
between
the
VaralJa
and
Asi
ers-could
have
been
identified
with
both
a
mountain
and
an
island,
after
the
fashion
of
Candragiri
and
CandradvIpa,
by
medieval
cartographers
of
the
subtle
body.
When,
through
the
practice
of
diaphragmatic
retention,
the
central
su{Um,,!ii
channel
opened
to
serve
as
an
upward
conduit
for
the
yogic
life
force,
seed,
and
energy,
a
lunar
site
in
the
left
side
of
the
cranial
vault
called
Candragiri,
"Moon
Hill;'
would
have
flooded
to
become
dradvIpa,
"Moon
Island;'
as
in
the
case
of
Benares
during
the
fish-belly
conjunction.
71
c.
The
Mare's
Mouth
This
is
not
the
sole
possible
gloss
of
this
phenomenon,
however.
In
tion
to
the
microcosmic
Moon
Island/Moon
Mountain
located
in
the
left
side
of
the
cranial
vault,
there
is
another
site
at
which
a
similar
non
appears
to
occur:
this
is
the
inner
linga
covered
by
the
mouth
of
the
sleeping
ku"!4alinl:
located,
according
to
certain
sources,
in
the
left
side
of
the
abdominal
cavity,
this
is
referred
to
as
the
pafcima-linga,
the
"western
linga."
72
In
his
fourteenth-century
Chos-hbyung
(History
of
Buddhism),
the
Tibetan
historian
Bu-ston,
citing
an
Indian
source
entitled
the
daya
Tantra,
gives
the
following
account:
''A
certain
fisherman,
having
been
swallowed
by
a
fish,
will
die
and
be
reborn
as
the
yogin
called
Darika.
This
one
will
cast
wine
into
the
river
Ganges
and
in
an
hour
an
island
called
will
appear."
73
The
fisherman
in
the
belly
of
a
fish
once
again
evokes
Matsyendra;
moreover,
in
a
Tibetan
list
of
the
eighty-four
siddhas,
Darika
is
listed
as
the
disciple
of
LUI-pa
who
is,
as
noted,
a
sible
equivalent
of
MatsyendraJ4
Darika
may
therefore
be
symbolically
identified
with
Matsyendra
himself
or
with
his
double,
his
"son"
Mlnanath
(especially
since
the
Tibetan
source
says
the
fisherman
dies
and
is
reborn

23
2
Chapter
Eight
as
Darika).
The
mention
of
an
island
suddenly
appearing
out
of
the
Ganges
would
also
be
an
apparent
reference
to
matsyodari-yoga,
during
which
times
Benares
became
an
island.
What,
then,
of
the
name
Baqava?
The
term
baqava,
"that
which
arises
from
a
mare
(baqava):'
has
a
ular
resonance
in
Hindu
mythology
or,
more
properly
speaking,
Hindu
eschatology.
is
the
name
of
the
submarine
fire-or,
more
precisely,
of
the
fiery
fluid
composed
of
both
fire
and
soma-which
originated
from
Siva's
third
eye
when
he
incinerated
Kama,
the
Hindu
Eros.
When
that
fire,
once
released,
threatened
to
engulf
the
entire
universe,
it
was
placed
by
Siva
inside
the
mouth
of
a
"submarine
mare"
at
the
bottom
of
a
ern
sea,
whence
it
continues
to
belch
flame
down
to
the
present
day.
One
day,
when
it
will
have
burned
away,
evaporated,
all
the
water
in
that
ocean,
it
will
incinerate
the
entire
universe,
reducing
all
to
ashes.
75
is
therefore
the
fire
of
the
cosmic
dissolution,
in
potentia,
as
well
as
a
fire
in
the
mouth
of
a
female
creature.
Which
brings
us
back
to
the
sleeping
kUTfqaJini,
who
sleeps
(like
the
Goddess
in
the
myths
of
Moon
Island)
in
the
left
(western)
side
of
the
subtle
body.
(The
KJiiN
itself,
while
it
mentions
a
goddess
named
KU1)4ali,
makes
no
explicit
mention
of
the
kUTfqaJini
in
this
role.
76
One
may,
ever,
see,
in
its
imagery
of
the
baqava-the
fire
of
universal
dissolution
or
retraction
(samhiira)
in
the
mouth
of
a
submarine
mare
(baqava)-a
figuration
of
this
more
common,
but
later,
image
of
this
female
serpent
power.)
Let
us
recall
here
that
the
kUTfqaJini,
when
she
sleeps,
is
identified
with
the
kaJiigni,
the
fire
of
time
that
cooks
all
creatures
to
death,
through
the
aging
process.
Let
us
also
bear
in
mind
that
the
fire
of
yoga
(yOgiignl)
that
destroys
the
fire
of
time,
is
identified
as
kaliignirudra,
the
"Rudra
of
the
Fire
of
Time:'
that
is,
a
fire
which
is
greater
than,
which
consumes,
the
fire
of
time.
77
When
she
sleeps,
the
kUTfqalini
is
associated
with
the
fire
of
time,
a
time
whose
passage
is
marked
by
the
movements
of
sun
and
moon
in
the
subtle
body;
when
she
awakens,
sun
and
moon
(here
the
itfii
and
pingaJa
naqis)
are
immobilized,
and
the
kUTfqaJini,
doubling
as
the
niiqi,
is
said
to
"consume
time."78
Therefore,
while
the
kUTfqaJini's
sleep
is
associated
with
the
fire
of
time,
the
loss
of
the
yogic
fuel
that
is
semen,
and
being-towards-death,
her
tential
for
reversing
such
a
process
likens
her
more
to
the
mythic
biiqava
fire
at
the
bottom
of
the
southern
sea,
a
fire
that,
once
it
has
consumed
the
waters
of
the
ocean,
will
become
the
kalagnirudra,
the
fire
that
consumes
time.
Once
again,
it
is
Matsyendra's
KJiiN
that
offers
a
primal
and
mental
reading
of
this
yogic
process.
Here,
it
is
said
that
the
universal

233
Homologous
Structures
of
the
Alchemical
Body
retraction
(samhiira)
will
occur
when
the
fire
of
the
kiiliignirudra,
the
stroyer
of
the
Fire
of
Time-a
fire
he
identifies
with
the
mouth
of
the
submarine
mare
(baqaviimukha)-flares
upward.
This
cryptic
utterance,
made
at
the
beginning
of
general
discussion
of
"yogic
retraction;'
precisely
concerns
the
awakening
of
the
fire
of
yoga
in
the
base
of
the
subtle
body,
an
awakening
that
leads
to
total
yogic
resorption
in
the
cranial
vault,
the
microcosmic
equivalent
of
the
pralaya,
the
cosmic
dissolution.
The
biiqava
is
that
fire,
in
potentia,
that
slumbers
in
every
subtle
body:
when
mastered
and
channeled
upwards,
it
affords
liberation;
when
allowed
to
burn
mally,
it
is
the
fire
of
time
that
cooks
all
beings
to
death,79
It
will
also
be
recalled
that
matsyodarl-yoga
is
at
once
a
description
of
the
yogic
practice
of
diaphragmatic
retention
(kumbhaka),80
by
which
the
niiqis
peripheral
to
the
medial
the
channel
of
the
rising
kur:qalini,
are
emptied.
This
practice
not
only
suddenly
fills
the
with
breath;
it
also
fills
this
channel
with
semen,
and
it
is
here
that
Darika's
island
in
the
Ganges
suddenly
comes
into
view.
Earlier,
I
cited
a
passage
from
the
KasI
KhaI).<;la
of
the
Skanda
Puriir:a
that
described
the
MatsyodarI
as
taking
the
"path
of
retraction"
(samhiira-miirga),81
i.e.,
as
draining
the
Ganges
into
a
channel
that
flowed
in
a
direction
opposite
to
its
normal
flow.
Such
is
also
the
case
with
the
subtle
body:
when
the
kur:qalini
rises,
she
also
siphons
upwards
the
semen
that
had
previously
remained
inert
and
subject
to
loss
in
the
yogin's
abdomen.
In
this
light,
we
must
evoke
another
yogic
monplace:
kiiliigni,
the
fire
of
time,
is
identified
with
adhoretas,
that
is
with
"downward-tending
semen;'
while
kiiliignirudra
is
identified
with
varetas,
"upward-tending
scmen."82
What
happens
when
the
kur:qalini
rises?
A
"column"
of
ambrosial
men
is
raised,
via
the
niiqi,
to
flood
the
cranial
vault.
This
is
the
meaning
of
the
island
called
"Mare's
Mouth"
that
suddenly
appears
in
the
Ganges
when
Darika
throws
wine
into
its
waters:
when
matsyodarl-yoga
takes
place
and
the
normal
downward
current
of
bodily
entropy
is
reversed,
the
upward
channeling
of
seed
causes
the
theretofore
submerged
biiqava
fire
to
flare
up
from
the
base
of
the
subtle
body.
This
reading
is
supported
by
a
poem
of
the
fifteenth-century
mystic
poet
Kablr,
who
instructs
the
yogin
to
"reverse
the
[flow
of
the]
Ganges,
and
dry
up
the
ocean!'83
When
applied
to
the
sacred
geography
of
Benares,
the
"path
of
retraction"
taken
by
the
Ganges
during
a
fish-belly
conjunction
transforms
the
city
into
an
island.
When
applied
to
the
sacred
geography
of
the
KJiiN
and
KM,
the
landform
of
the
subtle
body
that
appears
through
this
dynamic
is
known
as
Moon
Island
or
Moon
Mountain.

234
Chapter
Eight
Lastly,
there
is
the
matter
of
the
wine
Darika
throws
into
the
Ganges
to
trigger
this
process.
Here,
we
should
note
that
the
tantric
Buddhist
tion
of
which
Darika
was
an
exemplar
was
a
form
of
tantrism
which
phasized
the
symbolic
use
of
the
five
makiiras,
the
"antisacraments"
of
wine,
fish,
flesh,
parched
grain,
and
sexual
intercourse.
It
now
suffices
to
return to
the
MBhT
passage
cited
above
to
understand
the
meaning
of
Darika's
gesture.
The
sacramental
wine
that
the
tantric
practitioner
bibes
becomes
an
offering
into
the
mouth
of
the
ku"!4alinl
who,
sharing
his
enjoyment
(bhoga),
awakens
to
rise
and
thereby
transform
him
into
a
second
Siva.
84
The
biicfava,
the
fire
in
the
mouth
of
the
submarine
mare,
has
a
number
of
other
usages
in
tantric
and
alchemical
geography.
A
natural
gas
vent
at
the
important
fiikta
plfha
of
Kamakhya
is
called
bii4ava
ku"!4a,
the
"pool
of
the
submarine
[-mare]
fire."85
This
evokes
another
such
vent,
also
identified
with
a
goddess;
this
is
JvalamukhI,
"She
of
the
Flaming
Mouth;'
in
chal
Pradesh.
In
a
generic
sense,
jViilamukhl
can
also
have
the
sense
of
"(mouth
of
a)
volcano;'
and
it
is
here
that
we
are
brought
back
to
the
ogy
of
alchemy,
according
to
which
mercury
and
sulfur
naturally
occur
in
areas
of
volcanic
and
geothermic
activity.
In
fact,
the
origin
myths
of
cury
and
sulfur
evoke,
for
certain
modem
Indian
interpreters,
volcanic
eruptions.
In
the
latter
case,
the
sulfur
that
arises
from
the
churning
of
the
ocean
of
milk
would
be
the
mythologization
of
a
submarine
volcanic
eruption.
86
If
this
is
in
fact
the
case,
then
the
origin
of
sulfur-the
uterine
blood
of
the
Goddess
associated
with
the
lower
half
of
the
body
in
which
the
cfalinl
sleeps-is
to
be
identified
with
a
flaring
up
of
a
female
submarine
fire,
a
biiqava.
d.
The
"Plantain
Forest"
in
the
Midst
of
"Love's
Body"
Gas
vents
and
volcanos
that
are
so
many
"mouths"
of
fire
or
flame
in
these
mythic
and
geographical
contexts
evoke
other
types
of
mouths
from
tric
imagery.
Apart
from
the
oral
orifice
in
the
head,
the
most
celebrated
mouth
in
tantrism
is
the
"lower
mouth"
(adhovaktra)
i.e.,
the
vulva
(yom)
of
the
yoginl.
And
indeed,
the
ca.
twelfth-century
$SS
(2.14),
a
foundational
text
of
the
Western
Transmission,
identifies
the
muliidhiira
cakra
with
the
submarine
fire
(viiqaviinala),
which
its
commentator
locates
in
the
upper
part
of
the
yoni.
87
Like
the
ku"!cfa1inl
herself,
the
vulva
is
an
organ
fraught
with
danger
but
also
the
promise
of
great
power
and
pleasure
for
the
prac-

235
Homologous
Structures
of
the
Alchemical
Body
titioner
who
can
master
himself
in
its
presence.
Whence
the
most
seminal
of
all
of
the
biinfs
of
Gorakhnath,
who
adds
an
alchemical
nuance
to
this
sexual
image:
"Penis
in
the
vulva's
mouth,
mercury
in
the
mouth
of
fire,
he
who
can
retain
these
[volatile
substances
of
semen
and
mercury],
him
I
call
my
guru:'88
There
is
a
certain
irony
to
this
verse,
if
we
recall
that
in
myth,
Gorakh's
guru
Matsyendra
was
a
teacher
who
was
quite
incapable
of
retaining
his
seed
in
proximity
to
beautiful
women,
to
yoginfs.
This
weakness
of
syendranatha
for
the
fair
sex
is
the
subject
of
a
body
of
legend
set
in
the
land
of
Kamariipa,
which
is
itself
identified,
precisely,
with
the
center
of
the
adhovaktra,
the
lower
mouth
or
vulva
of
the
yoginf,
but
also
with
the
center
of
a
mystic
triangle
located
at
the
base
of
the
subtle
body,
in
the
same
region
as
the
ku,,!qalinf.
89
Once
again,
the
locus
of
these
myths
is
not
only
a
geographical
site-the
region
identified
with
Assam,
in
which
the
temple
of
the
goddess
Kamakhya
is
found-but
also
a
locus
within
the
subtle
body.
Here,
the
geographic
symbolism
plays
itself
out
on
a
double
register:
Kamariipa
is
both
that
region
of
eastern
India
from
which
the
Saktism
identified
with
the
Yogini
Kaula
is
said
to
have
originated
90
and
a
portion
of
the
body,
subtle
or
concrete,
identified
with
feminine
sexuality.
The
mythic
perils
of
Matsyendranath
are
very
likely
a
reflection
of
a
age
within
the
tantric
tradition.
While
a
number
of
sects,
including
the
Matsyendra's
Yogini
Kaula,
incorporated
sexual
intercourse
into
their
practice,91
others,
including
the
Nath
Siddhas
whose
main
doctrinal
nent
was
Gorakh,
were
overtly
misogynous,
treating
sexuality
(epitomized
by
the
vulva)
as
a
trap
into
which
the
yogin
could
fall
and
thereby
lose
all
the
benefits
of
his
prior
efforts
(in
the
form
of
his
precious
semen).92
As
Lillian
Silburn
explains,
this
cleavage
may
be
reflected
in
two
ings
of
the
term
fish
belly,
the
one
sexual
and
the
other
hathayogic:
the
yogin
resides
at
the
source
of
the
movements
of
emanation
and
resorption
of
the
universe,
a
state
praised
as
matsyodarfmata
because
it
is
comparable
to
the
stomach
of
the
fish,
which
continuously
tracts
and
expands
automatically.
This
realm
of
bliss
has
some
nection
with
sexual
experience
for,
like
the
SUfUm,,!ii,
the
organs
are
subjected
to
a
similar
contraction
and
expansion
conductive
to
an
intimate
union
which,
in
a
yogin,
involves
a
perfect
coincidence
of
Siva
and
the
energy,
of
subject
and
object,
of
seed
and
womb.
It
is
from
this
coincidence
that
supreme
Beatitude
and
Consciousness
originate.
93

13
6
Chapter
Eight
The
mythic
cycle
of
the
perils
of
Matsyendra,
most
fully
developed
in
two
ca.
seventeenth-century
Bengali-language
dramas,
the
M,n
Cetan
(The
Awakening
of
Mina)
and
Gorak{a
(or
Gorakha)
Vijaya
(Gorakh's
Victory),94
are
a
garden
of
yogic
verse
on
human
weakness
and
yogic
mastery
in
the
face
of
female
sexuality.
These
works
offer
two
mythic
explanations
for
Matsyendra's
fall.
The
first
is
connected
to
later
versions
of
the
myth
of
the
revelations
made
by
Siva
on
Moon
Island:
the
Goddess,
angry
that
Matsyendra
has
overheard
a
revelation
reserved
for
her,
curses
him
that
he
too
will
one
day
"fall
asleep"
and
forget
all
he
has
overheard.
95
A
second
account
casts
the
Goddess
as
the
"stepmother"
of
the
four
original
Naths,
whom
she
tests
by
tempting
them
with
her
sexual
charms.
When
dra
becomes
sexually
aroused,
she
curses
him
to
be
debauched
in
the
dom
ofWomen.
96
The
YSA97
explains
Matsyendra's
fall
as
a
direct
upshot
of
his
yogic
powers.
Wishing
to
experience
the
sensual
life
of
a
king,
syendra
performs
the
act
of
parakiiyapravefa,
entering
into
the
body
of
other
person.
98
In
this
case,
however,
Matsyendra,
debauched
by
Queen
Kamala,
into
whose
husband's
body
(King
Trivikrama)
he
has
entered,
gets
his
true
yogic
self.99
At
this
point,
the
western
YSA
account
dovetails
into
the
Bengali
account
of
Gorakh's
rescue
of
his
guru
(called
Mlna
in
the
Bengali
song
cycle)
from
the
Kingdom
of
Women
or,
more
properly,
the
Kadallrajya,
the
"Kingdom
of
the
Plantain
Forest:'
100
which
is
generally
located
in
Kamaliipa
(Assam)
or
Sirilhala
(Sri
Lanka).101
The
story
opens
when
Gorakh
learns,
from
Kar:teri
(or
Kanha),
another
Nath
Siddha,
that
his
guru
is
three
days
away
from
his
death
in
the
dom
of
Women,
where
he
has
been
the
prisoner
of
sixteen
hundred
women.
102
The
kingdom
of
KadalI,
as
Gorakh
quickly
learns,
is
prohibited
to
all
males,
save
for
the
imprisoned
"king"
Matsyendra,
and
so
it
is
sary
for
Gorakh
to
find
a
subterfuge.
This
he
does
by
taking
on
the
ance
of
a
woman
and
engaging
himself
in
a
female
musical
troupe.
It
is
in
this
disguise
that
Gorakh
comes
to
the
court
of
Queen
Kamala
and
her
sixteen
hundred
female
subjects,
where he
finds
his
guru
fallen
into
a
swoon,
at
death's
door.
103
The
music
begins,
and
when
Gorakh
plays
the
first
beat
on
his
headed
drum,
the
drum
sings
out
''Awaken,
Matsyendra,
Gorakh
has
come!"
Upon
hearing
this
drumbeat
(niida)
,
104
Matsyendra
awakens
from
his
stupor.
But
Gorakh
and
Matsyendra
are
not
yet
out
of
the
woods.
akh
must
now
return
his
guru's
strength,
his
yogic
powers
to
him.105
This
he
does
by
urging
him
to
perfect
his
body
anew:
kiiyii
siidha,
kiiyii
siidha
guru
mochandar.106

237
Homologous
Structures
of
the
Alchemical
Body
Ultimately,
however,
Gorakh
must
shock
Matsyendra
back
into
yogic
consciousness.
Matsyendra's
fall
into
mundane
consciousness
is
best
bolized
by
a
son,
named
Binduknath
("he
who
is
formed
of
the
drop
[of
yogically
transformed
semen]"),
whom
he
has
fathered
on
Kamala
while
her
prisoner
in
KadalI.
Gorakh
kills
and
skins
the
boy,
scrubs
his
skin
like
a
washerman
to
remove
all
its
bodily
impurities,
and
hangs
this
skin
on
the
roof
to
dry,
like
the
hide
of
some
skinned
beast-all
of
these
metaphors
for
yogic
purification.
Matsyendra
and
Kamala
are
horrified
at
this
act,
and
when
they
bewail
the
murder
of
their
son,
Gorakh
revives
108
naths!
Seeing
at
last
the
illusion
of
the
world
to
which
he
has
become
attached
through
his
sexuality,
Matsyendra
now
truly
"awakens;'
and
akh
leads
him
out
of
the
Kingdom
of
KadalI
(not
before,
however,
the
women
of
the
kingdom
attempt
to
take
Gorakh's
life-Gorakh
avenges
himself
by
transforming
them
into
bats!).107
Let
us
dwell
for
a
moment
on
the
name
of
the
kingdom
into
which
Matsyendra
has
fallen
into
a
sexual
lethargy
as
the
plaything
of
some
teen
hundred
women:
KadalI
Rajya
is
the
Kingdom
of
the
Plantain
Forest.
Why
plantains?
Our
first
clue
comes
from
classical
Indian
poetics,
in
which
the
thighs
of
a
beautiful
woman
are
compared
to
the
smooth,
firm
trunks
of
the
plantain
tree.
In
this
perspective,
Matsyendra
has
been
guishing
in
a
forest
of
beautiful
thighs,
a
fair
statement
arrived
at
through
simple
arithmetic.
Moreover,
the
plantain
is
that
one
of
nine
sacred
trees
representing
the
Goddess
most
closely
associated
with
vegetative
power.
So
it
is
that
plantain
fruit,
a
small
banana
with
seeds
in
its
interior,
is
used
in
fertility
rites
in
Bengal,
in
which
men
swinging
on
hooks
drop
plantain
fruits
on
women
below.
The
imagery
here
needs
no
explanation.
lOS
where,
"plantain
house"
(kadalfg;:ha)
is
a
term
employed
in
Sanskrit
drama
to
designate
a
pleasure
garden
in
which
the
king
assigned
trysts
with
women
to
whom
he
was
not
yet
wedded.
109
This
metaphor
is
greatly
expanded
in
the
south
Indian
Vlrasaiva
poetry
of
Allama
Prabhu
or
Prabhudeva,
who
time
and
again
compares
the
human
body,
subject
to
passion
and
sorrow
in
a
world
of
death
and
rebirth,
to
a
plantain
forest:
llo
I
see
no
one
who
can
conquer
the
body's
vast
plantain
grove:
the
seven
seas
of
the
world
encircle
it.
In
life's
vast
wood
the
poisonous
rain
of
the
five
senses
pours.
Anger's
huge
tiger
roars
and
roars
...
The
child
of
sin
called
greed
is
eating
and
eating
...
The
well
of
passions
cannot
be
usedY
1

23
8
Chapter
Eight
The
Plantain
Grove,
KadalI
Vana,
to
which
Prabhudeva
is
referring,
is
first
and
foremost
a
geographical
location:
this
is
a
grove
at
Srisailam,
a
cultic
center
of
Vlrasaivism,
but
also
an
important
center
for
such
sects
as
the
Kapalikas,
Nath
Siddhas,
and
Rasa
Siddhas.l12
Quite
unlike
the
tive
portrayal
Prabhudeva
gives
of
his
metaphorical
Plantain
Grove,
the
KadalI
Vana
at
Srisailam
was
a
source
of
healing
herbs
and
magically
venating
waters.
This
tradition,
however,
of
such
a
grove
enclosing
a
pool
of
healing
and
life-giving
waters
is
not
original
to
this
site
or
this
period:
in
the
third
book
of
the
Mahabharata,
Bhlma
finds
such
a
pool
in
the
midst
of
a
plantain
forest
located
on
the
flanks
of
the
Himalayas!l13
There
are,
in
fact,
a
number
of
medieval
literary
references
which
port
this
reading
of
the
KadalI
Vana
toponym.
One
of
these
is
Malik
hammad
]ayasI's
sixteenth-century
Padmavat,
a
beautiful
yogic
allegory
of
the
wooing
of
Padmavati,
princess
of
Simhala,
by
a
prince-turned-Nath
Siddha
named
Ratansen.
This
source
makes
more
than
one
reference
to
a
KadalI
Van
which,
accessible
to
Siddhas
alone,
contains
a
"fountain
of
life:'
In
this
source,
variant
readings
of
KajarI
and
KajalI
are
also
given,
variants
which
may
be
read
in
three
ways.
The
term
is
either:
(1)
kadalivan,
tain
forest:'
a
place
identified
with
the
sensual
life
(as
in
the
legends
of
Matsyendranath),
but
also
with
a
grove
of
yogic
realization
and
ity
(in
the
Padmavat);
(2)
kajali
van,
"forest
of
black
mercuric
sulfide:'
of
the
mineral
hierophany
of
the
sexual
essences
of
Siva
and
the
Goddess,
which
does
in
fact
constitute
an
elixir
of
immortality;
or
(3)
kajari
van,
identified
with
Zulmat,
the
name
of
the
land
of
death
and
darkness
(jJali
also
means
"lampblack")
to
which
Iskandar
(Alexander
the
Great)
traveled,
according
to
Muslim
legend.
114
I
have
already
discussed
the
first
reading
at
length,
The
third
reading
is
treated
in
the
Padmavat
with
specific
reference
to
Alexander,
as
well
as
to
the
prince-turned-Nath
Siddha
named
Goplcand,
who,
realizing
the
sience
of
this
world,
left
his
kingdom
and
went
to
KajarI
Van,
where
he
realized
yogic
perfection.
Like
Prabhudeva,
Kablr
identifies
the
KajarI
Van
with
the
human
body
that
is
subjected
to
the
trammels
of
carnal
passions:
"This
body
is
a
kajari
ban
and
the
mind
is
an
elephant
gone
mad,
the
jewel
of
wisdom
is
the
goad
but
few
are
the
Saints
who
can
apply
it!"
115
Another
source,
the
oral
epic
entitled
the
Alha
KhaTf4,
has
its
eponymous
hero
schooled
by
Gorakhnath
in
the
transitory
nature
of
mundane
existence
and
the
virtues
of
the
renunciant
life.
He
follows
Gorakh
into
KajarI
Forest,
"a
mysterious
land
from
which
it
is
said
that
someday
he
will
return."
116
The
second
reading,
which
combines
the
first
and
third
(the
alchemical

239
Homologous
Structures
of
the
Alchemical
Body
kaj[j]all
is
both
black
in
color
and
an
elixir
of
immortality),
would
sound
far-fetched,
were
it
not
for
the
fact
that
the
same
term
is
found,
in
a
similar
context,
in
another
source.
This
is
the
Punjabi
legend
of
the
Nath
Siddha
named
Pfiral).
Bhagat.
This
yogin
has
been
dismembered
(whence
his
nate
name
of
Cauranginath,
"Four-[dismembered]-limbs
Nath"),
thrown
down
a
well,
and
left
for
dead
by
his
evil
stepmother,
whose
sexual
advances
he
had
refused.
He
prays
to
Gorakhnath,
who
restores
him
to
wholeness
and
initiates
him
into
the
Nath
order,
following
which
Pfiral).
Bhagat
mains
in
his
well
for
twelve
years,
at
the
end
of
which
he
attains
ity.
Pfiral).
Bhagat's
well-also
a
fountain
of
life
of
sorts-is
located
in
jaIl
Van,
near
Sialkot
(Jhelum
district),
in
the
Punjab
state
of
Pakistan.ll7
The
eighth
-to
twelfth-century
Yoga
Vasi{fha
generates
a
polar
opposition
between
the
well
and
the
forest
that
surrounds
it:
here,
the
human
mind
(which
is
trapped
in
an
existence
of
its
own
making)
is
allegorized
as
a
man
who,
having
inflicted
all
manner
of
wounds
upon
his
own
body,
plunges
into
a
well
(the
torments
of
hell);
he
then
leaves
the
well
to
enter
into
the
Plantain
Forest
(the
pleasures
of
heaven).
118
There
are
a
number
oflevels
upon
which
one
may
interpret
these
positions,
either
of
a
well
or
fountain
oflife
at
the
heart
of
a
Plantain
Forest
identified
with
bodily
proclivities,
a
Forest
of
Mercuric
Sulfide,
identified
with
bodily
immortality,
a
land
of
death
and
darkness,
identified
with
a
failure
to
attain
superhuman
goals-or
a
combination
of
all
three.
jail,
which
can
be
black
poison
for
the
uninitiated,
is
an
elixir
of
immortal
life
for
the
consummate
alchemist.
Matsyendra's
KadalI
kingdom
was
doubtedly
a
forest
of
women's
thighs,
in
the
midst
of
which
he
nearly
lost
his
life-albeit
through
a
form
of
tantric
practice-but
where
he
in
the
end
realized
yogic
immortality
through
Gorakh's
intervention.
Pfiral).
gat
too
should
have
died
in
his
empty
well
in
the
midst
of
the
KajalI
Forest,
but
instead
realized
bodily
immortality
through
his
initiation
by
Gorakh.
In
the
final
analysis,
the
common
theme
to
these
evocations
of
an
tality
that
one
may
grasp
even
in
the
midst
of
bodily
sufferings
is
once
again
a
tantric
one.
A
woman's
thighs
can
lead
to
the
death
of
a
yogin,
but
they
can
also
constitute
a
"boat
to
immortality."
Just
as
the
kU1!4alinl
can
both
drain
a
yogin
of
his
semen
(in
a
process
called
called
"eating
poison"
in
one
source)
and
transmute
that
essence
into
the
draft
of
immortality,
so
too
the
space
between
a
woman's
thighs-the
Kamarupa
in
the
midst
of
her
yoni-can
arbor
a
fountain
of
life
for
the
tantric
practitioner
who
knows
his
way
around.1l
9
The
tantric
hero
(vlra)
of
the
Kaula
traditions
was
precisely
that
excep-

Chapter
Eight
tional
individual
who
was
capable
of
experiencing,
to
its
very
limit,
the
life
of
the
body
in
ways
that
would
utterly
destroy
the
beastlike
noninitiate
(pafu)
for
whom
every
venture
into
the
prohibited
world
of
feminine
ality
was
a
deadly
enterprise.
Whereas
the
latter,
bound
like
a
sacrificial
victim
(pafu)
to
religious
and
social
convention,
could
only
come
to
know
pain
and
death
through
the
mystico-erotic
practices
of
the
tantric
sects,
the
former
could
use
the
same
to
transcend
the
human
condition
and
rience
the
bliss
of
Sivahood.
We
illustrate
the
double
register,
upon
which
the
landscapes
of
the
subtle
body
have
been
interpreted,
with
a
chart:
being-towards-death
normal
respiration
downward-flowing
Ganges
sleeping
kU1Jefalini
kiiliigni
underwater,
simmering
biiqava
san:zsiira
adhoretas
Kamarupa!
adhovaktra
deadly
Plantain
Forest
overcoming
death
swallowing
into
the
fish-belly
Fish-Belly
Conjunction
rising
kU1Jqalini
kiiliignirudralyogiigni
exposed,
upward
flaring
biiqava
samhiira
iirddhvaretas
Candradvipa/yoginivaktra
120
rejuvenating
Plantain
Forest
3.
Lunar,
Empty,
and
Hg
Wells
in
Hindu
Tantrism
In
the
last
chapter,
we
spoke
of
the
creative
opposition
between
a
bird
in
the
vault
of
the
"cranial"
heavens
and
a
serpent
in
the
hollow
of
an
dominal"
cave.
Apart
from
their
symbolization
as
bird
and
snake,
these
two
poles
of
the
Samkhyan
hierarchy
of
elements,
the
alchemical
hierarchy
of
metals,
and
the
yogic
hierarchy
of
the
cakras
may
also
be
represented
as
a
set
of
two
wells.
The
image
is
a
powerful
one,
in
any
tradition,
for
what
is
a
well
if
not
a
channel
between
our
sunlit
world
and
the
dark
subterranean
regions?
Chthonic
dragons
guarding
enchanted
wells,
wishing
common
fare
in
western
folklore,
they
attest
to
the
universality
of
this
theme.
In
the
yogic
and
alchemical
traditions,
the
first
of
these
two
wells
is
conventional,
in
the
sense
that
it
is
upturned
and
set
into
the
"base"
of
these
parallel
structures.
The
second
well,
corresponding
to
the
upper
end
of
these
parallel
hierarchies,
is
down
turned
and
placed
above
the
second.
When
the
two
are
brought
together
into
a
double-well
image,
their
com-

Homologous
Structures
of
the
Alchemical
Body
bination
evokes
the
internal
unity
of
these
bipolar
systems.
The
head
and
torso
of
the
human
body,
the
communicating
chambers
of
a
bicameral
chemical
apparatus,
the
vault
of
heaven
reflected
in
the
waters
at
the
tom
of
a
well:
121
all
of
these
are
so
many
images
of
the
unity
in
difference
(bhedabheda)
that
is
the
hallmark
of
nondualist
tantric
thought.
It
is
within
such
a
symbol
system
that
the
locus
of
ether
(kha,
akafa,
vyoman,
filnya)
in
the
human
body
is
identified
with
the
cranial
vault,
which
is
characterized,
in
a
number
of
sources,
as
a
downturned
well.
The
terms
kha
and
akafa
at
once
signify,
from
the
onwards,
"heaven:'
"cave:'
"hole:'
and
"[empty]
space."
According
to
the
bharata,
akiifa
has
the
following
properties:
it
is
the
elemental
substrate
of
sound
(fabda),
it
is
all-permeating
(vyapitva),
and
it
has
the
nature
of
a
hollow
or
cavity
(chidratva).122
In
Ayurvedic
physiology
as
well,
the
ment
ether
is
present
in
the
body
in
the
form
of
bodily
cavities
or
orifices.
In
its
quality
as
void
or
empty
space,
ether
is
vital
to
tantric
worship:
it
is
in
a
clearing
within
one's
own
being
that
one
meditatively
constructs
the
divine
object
of
ritual
devotion.
12l
As
I
demonstrate,
the
realization
of
an
analogous
void
is
necessary
to
the
hathayogin,
in
his
quest
for
the
solute.
Since
the
time
of
the
the
seat
of
the
soul
has
been
located
in
the
heart.
124
There,
the
soul
is
suspended
in
the
midst
of
a
void
that
extends
outwards
for
ten
finger
breadths
from
the
core
of
the
subtle
body.
The
void
or
ether
(kha,
akiifa)
of
the
heart
remains
a
key
notion
in
Hinduism,
down
into
the
Tantras.
125
However,
the
concept
of
another
"inner
void"
also
emerges
in
the
to
continue
down
into
the
tantric
period.
This
is
the
void
of
the
medial
channel
of
the
subtle
breath,
which
bisects
the
subtle
body
vertically.
126
This
channel,
running
upward
from
the
muladhara
cakra
through
the
heart
(which
bisects
the
body
horizontally),
ends
in
the
"cleft
of
brahman"
(brahmarandhra),
the
fontanelle,
in
the
top
of
the
cranial
vault.
Whence
the
statement
in
the
Kiifhaka
Upanirad
(6.16):
"There
are
a
hundred
and
one
channels
of
the
heart.
One
of
these
passes
up
to
the
crown
of
the
head.
Going
up
by
it,
one
goes
to
immortality."
It
is
this
channel,
but
more
especially
the
upper
endpoint
of
its
tory,
that
the
Nath
Siddhas
and
a
number
of
other
tantric
schools
identify
with
the
ether
or
void,
which
they
also
call
kha
or
funya.
For
the
Nath
Siddhas,
funya
is
at
once
the
highest
metaphysical
principle
(par
am
tattva),
the
cranial
vault
or
fontanelle,
and
the
abode
of
Siva.
127
Here,
the
tance
of
the
ether
lies
not
in
what
it
is
but
rather
in
that
which
it
contains
in
its
empty
space-and
here,
once
again,
yogic
and
alchemical
elixirs
be-

Chapter
Eight
come
identified
with
one
another,
this
time
through
their
association
with
the
"wells"
in
which
both
are
found.
In
no
other
medieval
Indian
tradition
do
we
find
greater
importance
attached
to
this
image,
of
the
body
as
a
set
of
wells,
than
in
that
of
the
Nath
Siddhas.
Gorakhnath,
who
uses
the
terms
gagan
[ma1!4al},
funya,
and
kh
a
l2S
to
speak
of
the
cranial
vault,
also
states,
in
perhaps
his
most
renowned
banf:
"In
the
circle
of
ether
is
an
inverted
well
that
is
the
place
of
nectar.
He
who
has
a
guru
drinks
his
fill;
he
who
has
no
guru
goes
thirsty."
129
Here,
Gorakhnath's
well
of
nectar
in
the
ether
is
at
once
the
seventh
and
most
cakra,
the
thousand-petaled
sahasrara
located
in
the
cranial
vault,
and
the
moon,
repository
of
immortal
soma,
shining
in
the
heavens.
The
moon,
identified
with
the
god
Candra/Soma,
has
been
viewed
as
a
primal
source
of
ambrosia
since
the
time
of
the
Veda.
130
In
Gorakhnath's
banf,
the
ntumed
well
that
quenches
mortal
man's
thirst
for
the
nectar
of
ity
is
identified
with
the
soma
that
is
the
stuff
of
the
full
moon.
Another
of
Gorakhnath's
poems,
contained
in
the
Gyan
Calfsa
(Forty
Gnostic
Stanzas),
1Jl
combines
the
image
of
the
well
with
the
attainment
of
yogic
and
alchemical
siddhis.
Here,
the
yogin
who
fills
the
akafa
(the
ether
of
the
cranial
vault)
with
water
from
a
subterranean
well
gains
bodily
mortality
and
the
power
of
transmutation.
The
same
symbolism
is
found
in
a
number
of
poems
ofKabir,
the
language
and
imagery
of
whose
mystic
poetry
was
greatly
influenced
by
the
verses
of
Gorakhnath.
In
one
of
these,
Kabir
says:
"The
well
of
heaven
has
its
opening
below;
its
bucket
is
in
the
underworld
(patale);
the
ha1lfsa
drinks
of
its
water,
but
few
know
of
its
source:'
132
In
another,
he
speaks
of
a
land
with
"an
inverted
well,
with
an
opening,
as
narrow
as
a
thread,
through
which
the
married
soul
draws
water
...
From
the
well
in
the
lotus
above,
the
devotee
drinks
the
nectar:'
133
These
images
are
similar
to
those
found
in
a
longer
poem
by
nath,
who
once
again
uses
the
dynamics
of
drawing
water
from
a
well
to
describe
the
workings
of
the
subtle
body.l34
Here,
he
compares
the
human
body
to
a
city
filled
with
all
manner
of
hungry
and
thirsty
animals,
which
are
so
many
allegorical
representations
of
the
human
condition.
So
the
cows
and
buffalo
of
the
city,
tethered
to
the
stake
of
illusion,
represent
the
absence
of
discrimination
(aviveka),
while
its
dogs
are
the
mind
that
steals
away
and
conceals
true
knowledge.
In
this
city,
however,
is
a
well
whose
water
slakes
these
animals'
thirst
(for
liberation).
From
this
well,
the
women
of
the
city
draw
water
which
they
carry
in
pitchers
on
their
and
these
pitchers
thus
constitute
portable
wells.
In
this
way,
there
are
two

Homologous
Il£hemicai
Body
metaphorical
wells
in
the
city,
the
well
set
into
the
earth
and
that
which
takes
the
form
of
water
pots
on
the
women's
heads.
On
the
level
of
the
bodily
microcosm,
the
interpretation
is
the
ing:
the
well
set
into
the
earth
here
is
the
muliidhiira,
the
lowest
of
the
\Fhrch
the
yogin's
material
of
his
lilised.
As
it
rises
of
the
medial
rrltllsformed
into
ooilhllooriira
cakra-thl
o
ill
II
]
ethereal
sphere
or
gagan
is
figured
in
Gorakh's
poem
by
the
water
pot
atop
the
female
water
bearers'
heads.
Just
as
these
female
water
carriers
(who
may
be
further
identified
with
the
kU1Jqalini)
slake
the
thirst
of
the
animals
in
Gorakh's
metaphorical
city,
so
the
yogin's
refined
semen,
now
transformed
into
nectar,
fills
the
"void
(funya
purl)
of
the
cranial
vault
VVhen
allowed
to
flow
back
1100ds
the
yogin\
fluid
of
immOlII!
I
°
llogin's
body
as
lill
upper
water
lhe
lower
is
a
SOUlll
and
the
of
the
subtle
essence
of
those
raw
materials.
In
a
Nath
Siddha
legend
as
well,
a
sImIlar
identification
is
made
between
the
body
and
two
superposed
water
pots
carried
on
a
woman's
head.
In
the
tale
of
Guru
Gilga,
or
Gilga
PIr,
a
caste
woman
speaks
of
her
body
in
terms
of
these,
protesting
to
Gilga
that
she
cannot
give
him
water
to
drink
from
her
earthen
pot
(because
the
vessel
impure).
Gilga
IW,
smashing
tk
which
the
wo
the
words
"Loot
s!'
1
J(,
Once
agaf
n
imagery
in
Kablr
mocking
the
Sil
SIP
Between
the
sky
haworld,
in
the
the
two
gourds
[is
the
Path]:
the
six
dat-fanas
tripped
and
tumbled
down
along
with
the
eighty-four
Siddhas!"
137
In
the
raising
of
vital
breath,
seed,
and
energy,
it
is
at
the
level
of
the
navel
that
a
preponderance
of
raw
semen
and
thermal
yogic
energy
yield
to
a
pre!
onderance
of
cool,
refined
nectar;
therefore,
it
is
here
that
the
upper
and
lower
yogic
body
an."
metaphorical
s"j
;Wi.en
these
two
Above,
male
soma,
nectar,
al
e
identified
with
dl;
and
below,
blood,
sun,
fire,
energy,
the
Goddess,
dessication,
and
heat
are
localized
in
a
lower
well.

244
Chapter
Eight
This
image
of
the
body
as
a
well
into
which
the
yogin
enters
in
order
to
succeed
in
his
siidhanas
carries
over
into
Nath
Siddha
myth
and
legend
as
well.
The
fullest
account
to bring
such
imagery
into
play
is
the
Punjabi
legend
of
PuraI).
Bhagat,
already
mentioned
above,
who
is
dismembered
and
thrown
into
an
empty,
broken-down
well
(jfrfJiindhakupa).
Gorakhnath
comes
to
rescue
and
restore
him,
after
which
he
returns
to
the
well
to
form
yogic
austerities
for
twelve
years:
when
he
emerges,
he
has
been
formed
into
a
Siddha.138
Down
to
the
present
day,
Punjabi
women
come,
on
the
new
moon,
to
partake
of
the
cool
healing
waters
of
PuraI).
Bhagat's
well
(which
is
no
longer
empty),
which
are
said
to
cure
barrenness.
139
In
a
number
of
versions
of
the
Gopicand
legend
cycle,
this
Nath
Siddha
seals
his
guru
Jalandharanath
(or
Haqi-pa)
into
a
well;
upon
his
release
from
the
well,
again
after
twelve
years,
Jalandharanath
reduces
metal
ies
of
Gopicand
to
ashes.
l
4{)
A
nineteenth-century
hagiography
has
nath,
another
Nath
Siddha,
creating
a
well
to
save
the
besieged
city
of
his
princely
protege
Man
Singh.
141
Gorakhnath
dries
up
wells
in
anger,
but
also
fills
wells
that
are
empty.142
Elsewhere,
he
throws
gold
bricks
or
coins
into
a
well
near
Kamakhya,
thereby
turning
its
waters
to
gold.
When
his
teacher,
Matsyendranath,
insists
that
such
will
upset
the
order
of
the
world,
Gorakhnath
turns
the
well
water
into
crystal;
and
this
is
theorigin
of
tal
in
the
world.
143
Nath
Siddha
accounts
of
yo
gins
who
create
and
enter
into
wells
in
order
to
meditate
seem
to
parallel
Taoist
myths
of
"old
men
of
the
gourd"
who
suspend
a
gourd
from
the
roofbeam
of
their
huts
and
enter
into
the
verse
of
that
gourd
in
order
to
attain
the
Absolute,
the
Tao.
The
Taoist
alchemical
sources
dating
from·
the
first
half
of
the
first
millennium
A.D.
are
particularly
rich
in
legends
on
this
subject,
such
as
the
following:
Che
Ts'ouen,
who
came
from
Lu,
was
a
student
of
the
Great
ical
Path.
After
meeting
Chang
Chen,
he
became
the
administrator
of
Yun-t'ai
(i.e.
the
mountain
called
Chiang-su).
It
was
his
habit
to
suspend
a
hu[-luJ
vessel
of
about
ten
liter's
volume
[from
the
roof
of
his
house].
This
hu[-luJ
vase
transformed
itself
into
Heaven
and
Earth;
it
contained sun
and
moon.
Che
Ts'ouen
passed
his
nights
there,
and
called
himself
"Heaven
in
a
[Double-]Gourd"
(hu-t'ien).
The
people
called
him
the
"Old
Man
of
the
Gourd:'
Following
this
he
realized
the
Tao
[and
became
an
immortal].i44
As
in
the
Taoist
case,
entering
into
a
well
is,
for
the
Nath
Siddhas,
mount
to
entering
into
yogic
practice,
in
which
consciousness,
breath,
and

245
Homologous
Structures
of
the
Alchemical
Body
semen
are
simultaneously
raised
into
the
cranial
vault,
the
abode
of
Siva.
It
also
evokes
a
ref!7essus
ad
uterum
from
which
the
yogin,
like
the
Vedic
sacrificer
in
his
initiation
hut
and
the
Ayurvedic
patient
in
his
womb
hut,
emerges,
reborn,
as
well
as
the
ultimate
alchemical
operation
described
in
the
RA,
in
which
the
alchemist's
own
body
becomes
the
corpus
alchymicum
when
he
plunges
into
a
cauldron
of
boiling
oil.
145
We
will
return to
this
image,
of
a
Siddha
entering
a
well
that
is
a
mesocosmic
double
of
his
own
body,
in
chapter
ten.
Wells
are
generally
considered
to
possess
healing
properties,
the
well
of
Vaidyanath
in
Benares-as
well
as
Pfirat:l's
Well
and
wells
of
Gorakh
in
Kacch
(Gujarat)
and
other
Nath
Siddha
holy
sites
throughout
India
l46
-
being
prime
examples.
147
Many
tantras
contain
instructions
for
the
tion
of
wells
to
the
Goddess;
and
while
the
fiikta
plfhas
are
not
wells
selves,
they
are
generally
located
in
the
proximity
of
a
well
or
spring.
148
The
HYF
(1.13)
instructs
yo
gins
to
live
alone
in
a
small
monastery
in
whose
courtyard
a
well
should
be
located.
The
alchemist's
laboratory
should
also
be
equipped
with
a
well
in
its
northeast
corner,
which
is
that
part
of
the
laboratory
in
which
are
also
housed
his
all-important
ing
elements.
149
Yet
another
case
of
such
structural
homologies
between
body,
cal
apparatus,
and
universe
is
to
be
found
in
the
tantric
geography
of
the
Indian
subcontinent.
In
the
last
chapter,
we
briefly
passed
in
review
a
ber
of
alchemical
hierophanies
found
at
such
fiikta
plfhas
as
Hinglaj
in
luchistan
and
Kamakhya
in
Assam.
15o
In
addition
to
these,
such
important
Saiva
sites
as
Girnar
in
Gujarat
l51
and
Srisailam
in
Andhra
Pradesh
l52
are
also
possessed
of
alchemical
mythologies.
The
most
systematic
and
ing
example
of
the
geographical
and
geological
macrocosm
reproducing
the
alchemical
and
yogic
macrocosm
is
that
found,
however,
at
Kedarnath,
an
important
and
ancient
Siva
temple
built
over
a
jyotirlinga
located
in
the
Chamoli
district
of
northwestern
Uttar
Pradesh.
The
final
stage
of
this
pilgrimage,
the
fifteen
kilometers
that
separate
the
village
of
Gaur!
Kut:l9
and
the
temple
of
Kedarnath
itself,
has
been
marked,
at
least
as
far
back
as
the
twelfth
century
and
down
to
the
present
day,
by
a
series
of
natural
springs
or
pools
(kuTf4s).
Down
in
the
village
of
Gaur!
KUt:l9
(this
being
the
name
of
a
natural
hot-water
spring
in
which
pilgrims
bathe),
a
reddish,
sulfurous
pool
close
by
the
side
of
the
Gaur!
Temple
is
known
as
Kut:l9
("the
menses
pool;'
where
the
Goddess
takes
her
menstrual
bath),
while
at
the
upper
end
of
this
final
stage
and
some
thousand
meters
higher
in
elevation,
behind
the
temple
of
Siva
Kedarnath

24
6
Chapter
Eight
and
at
the
foot
of
the
peak
of
the
same
name,
is
a
clear
pool
called
Ret
KUI)4
("the
semen
pool"),
which
is
said,
in
both
Puranic
sources
and
ern
pilgrim's
guides,
to
contain
the
mercury
that
arose
from
Siva's
seed,
dropped
from
the
mouth
of
Agni
when
he
transported
it
to
the
shore
of
the
Ganges.
Slightly
higher,
just
behind
the
temple
is
the
Amrt
KUI)q,
"pool
of
nectar";
and
still
higher,
some
three
kilometers
to
the
north
of
Kedarnath,
is
the
Brahmagupha,
the
"cave
of
brahman!'
Once
again,
but
this
time
on
a
quite
massive
scale,
the
alchemical
body
is
reproduced,
with
Siva,
semen,
and
mercury
located
at
the
upper
end
of
a
geographic
hierophany
and
the
Goddess,
uterine
blood,
and
sulfur
at
the
lower
end
of
the
same
self-enclosed
system.
The
relative
locations
of
these
two
pools
on
the
Kedarnath
pilgrimage
route
also
clue
us
into
the
fact
that
the
imagery
here
is
hathayogic
as
well:
the
pool
of
blood
below
and
to
the
south
is
to
be
identified
with
the
yogin's
lower
cakras,
the
place
of
the
sun
and
uterine
blood;
the
pool
of
semen
above
and
to
the
north
is
the
place
of
the
moon
and
of
semen
that
has
been
transmuted
into
the
nectar
that
rejuvenates
the
yogin's
body
and
so
affords
him
jivanmukti.
Still
higher,
the
pool
of
nectar
and
cave
of
Brahman
are
further
indications
that
the
upper
reaches
of
the
Kedarnath
site
correspond
to
the
ambrosial
climes
of
the
cranial
vault
and
the
fontanelle,
the
cleft
of
brahman.
153
It
will
be
recalled
that,
in
the
schema
of
the
fiikta
Pffhas,
it
is
the
shrine
of
Hiilglaj
Devi,
located
on
a
mountaintop
in
southeastern
Baluchistan,
that
is
identified
as
the
Goddess's
brahmarandhra.
Like
Kedarnath,
the
route
to
Hiilglaj,
too,
is
spangled
with
images
of
the
yogic
body.
The
most
important
of
these
is
the
Moon
Well,
candrakupa,
which,
at
the
upper
end
of
the
pilgrim's
long
journey,
is
a
place
of
great
geothermic
activity,
of
fire
and
water
that
well
up
out
of
the
depths
of
the
earth.
Both
sun
and
moon
are
also
present
here,
in
the
form
of
massive
carvings
hewn
into
the
living
rock:
this
may
indeed
be
the
earliest
such
image
on
the
Indian
nent,
already
appearing
as
it
does
in
the
writings
of
the
fourth-century
Greek
geographer
Ctesias.
154
Yet
another
yogic
schematization
of
a
natural
landscape
may
be
found
in
the
description
of
a
Nath
Siddha
site
called
located
in
the
eastern
Iranian
region
of
Khorasan.
Here,
the
intrepid
pilgrim
passes
by
a
series
of
six
pools
until
he
comes
to
a
cave
upon
whose
door
is
figured
a
some
cakra."
Over
the
door
hangs
a
sword.
Whoever
touches
this
cakra
"will
explode
into
a
thousand
pieces:'
but
he
who
succeeds
in
passing
through
this
door
gains
access
to
the
all-transmuting
philosopher's
stone
(sparfamaTfz)
locked
inside
and
to
the
Ganges
River,
which
flows
through

247
Homologous
Structures
of
the
Alchemical
Body
the
place.
Here,
the
seven
pools
of
A!aka,
crowned
by
a
door,
a
sword,
a
river,
and
a
philosopher's
stone,
appear
to
be
so
many
representations
of
the
yogic
body
and
the
raising
of
the
ku,,!qalinl
up
to
the
seventh
cakra
which,
when
pierced,
yields
the
nectar
of
immortality.155
Another
parallel
may
be
found
in
the
Indo-Tibetan
Buddhist
tradition,
mentioned
in
the
previous
chapter,
of
the
cave
known
as
Ca-ri
in
eastern
Tibet.
This
cave,
entered
through
a
narrow
cleft
identified
with
the
Goddess's
yoni,
opens
into
a
series
of
caves
and
lakes
(inhabited
by
gods,
goddesses,
and
qiikinls),
which
are
explicitly
identified
with
the
niiqls
and
cakras
of
the
Buddhist
subtle
body.
The
pilgrim
who
follows
the
nean
passages
of
this
"womb-cave"
to
their
very
end
is
in
fact
effecting
the
ascent
of
the
goddess
Vajravarahi's
medial
channel,
from
her
yoni
up
to
her
brahmarandhra.
The
pilgrim,
borne
upward
as
it
were
by
streams
of
divine
blood,
semen,
and
sindura
(mercuric
oxide),
concretely
effects
the
union
of
Prajiia
and
Upaya
(the
Buddhist
homologues
of
Siva
and
Sakti)
and
preme
realization.
156
In
addition
to
the
important
role
they
play
in
alchemical
geography
and
the
poetry
of
yogic
experience,
wells
also
are
vital,
as
we
saw
in
the
last
chapter,
to
myths
of
the
origin
of
mercury.
157
Also
in
the
last
chapter,
we
reproduced
an
account,
from
the
RRS
and
other
sources,
of
the
tion
of
mercury
from
one
such
well,
in
Darada-desa,
by
knowers
of
tantra
(tantrajfiiis)
and
semidivine
Wizards
(vidyiidharas).
This
is
the
technique
by
which
a
maiden
on
horseback
entices
mercury
to
rise
up
out
of
its
well
and
pursue
her
over
hill
and
dale.
Once
it
has
been
caught
in
troughs
dug
to
this
end,
these
sources
tell
us
that
this
mercury
is
purified
in
a
sublimation
apparatus
(piitana
yantra).158
The
medieval
alchemists
in
fact
knew
of
three
types
of
sublimating
paratus
(yantras)159
for
the
extraction
(iikr{!t)
of
mercury
from
cinnabar,
i.e.,
the
naturally
occuring
mercuric
sulfide
(dar
ada)
in
which
it
is
most
commonly
found:
these
are
the
apparatus
of
upward
sublimation
piitana),
downward
sublimation
(adhopiitana),
and
transverse
sublimation
(tiryakpiitana).
In
all
three
apparatus,
mercury
is
made
to
sublimate
and
thereby
leave
behind
its
residual
impurities
in
the
ores
in
which
it
naturally
occurs
(or
with
which
it
is
amalgamated),
and
thereafter
to
recondense
through
the
interposition
of
cold
water.
160
The
upward-sublimation
apparatus
is
composed
of
two
superimposed
vessels,
whose
mouths
are
sealed
together
with
several
layers
of
smeared
cloth
stretched
across
their
interface.
A
slow
fire
beneath
the
lower
vessel
heats
a
mixture
of
herbs
and
powdered
mercury
ore,
mercuric

24
8
Chapter
Eight
sulfide,
most
often
in
the
form
of
cinnabar.
The
mercury
that
evaporates
upwards
condenses
on
the
inner
surface
of
the
down
turned
base
of
the
upper
chamber,
which
is
cooled
from
above
by
a
cloth
soaked
in
cold
water
(or
by
a
superimposed
cold-water
recipient).
The
mercury
that
has
densed
on
this
downturned
inner
surface
has
a
smoky
luster
to
it:
when
rubbed
with
a
cloth,
it
immediately
takes
on
the
properties
of
fluidity,
ter,
etc.
one
associates
with
pure
quicksilver.
In
the
bottom
of
the
lower
vessel
there
remains
the
dross
of
this
reaction:
free
sulfur
together
with
other
mineral
and
plant
matter,
oxidized
and
devoid
of
its
original
cury
content.
161
Because
of
the
function
it
serves,
this
apparatus
is
known
as
the
patana.
This
is
not,
however,
the
sole
name
by
which
it
is
known:
a
number
of
medieval
alchemical
sources
also
call
it
the
4amaru
yantra
(Siva's
headed
drum
apparatus),162
the
fambhavl
mudra
(the
hermetic
seal
of
bhu,
Siva),163
and
the
vidyadhara
yantra,
the
"wizard
apparatus:'
164
This
first
term
clearly
refers
to
the
shape
of
this
apparatus,
the
second
to
a
technique
of
hafha
yoga,
and
the
third
to
both
such
a
technique
and
to
the
mythic
Wizards
who
were
the
innovators
of
a
body
of
techniques
that,
precisely,
fused
alchemical
and
yogic
practice
into
a
single
Saiva
system.
The
structure
and
dynamics
of
this
yantra
appear
to
replicate
the
namics
of
yogic
reversal-known
as
urddhvaretas
from
the
time
of
the
habharata-as
such
is
described
by
Gorakhnath
in
his
poems
about
wells
and
water
jars.
In
this
case,
the
upper
chamber
of
the
apparatus
is
the
nturned
celestial
well
in
the
yogin's
head,
and
the
lower
chamber
the
matrix
of
matter
and
energy-in
the
"pot"
formed
by
the
diaphragm
through
the
hathayogic
technique
called
kumbhaka-from
which
the
gross
elements
are
caused
to
rise
through
heating.
The
fire
beneath
and
cool
water
atop
the
two
chambers
complete
the
parallel.
These
are
the
equivalent
of
the
visceral
sun
and
cranial
moon,
through
the
balancing
of
which
the
yogin
comes
to
enjoy
the
nectar
(mercury,
the
refined
semen
of
Siva)
that
denses"
to
ooze
downward
from
the
top
of
the
cranial
vault,
the
lunar
circle.
These
parallels
are
made
explicit
in
a
number
of
medieval
texts.
In
the
fifteenth-century
alchemical
Rasendracintamar:i
of
this
bicameral
alchemical
apparatus
is
termed
fambhavi
mudra.
Now,
this
same
term
is
used,
in
the
Amanaskayoga
of
to
introduce
a
yogic
technique
thatthat
text
seems
to
identify
with
the
vidyadhara
yantra:
"Here
is
the
description
of
the
fambhavi
mudra:
The
fist
[?]
above
and
the
gaze

249
Homologous
Structures
of
the
Akhemical
Body
(dmt)
below,
the
cleft
(bheda)
above
and
the
channels
below,
one
becomes
liberated
in
the
body
by
using
the
[vidya]dhara-yantra."
165
Here,
the
yogin
whose
"gaze"
and
"channels"
are
below
is
clearly
ing
on
his
head:
the
sole
description
of
a
hathayogic
technique
in
which
the
term
is
employed
in
the
plural
is
that
of
the
"chin
lock;'
or
ham
bandha,
so
called
in
honor
of
the
great
Nath
Siddha,
but
also
in
ence
to
the
"net[work]"
or
"ganglia"
(jalam)
of
channels
which
meet
in
the
region
of
the
throat.
This
practice
effects
a
lock
(bandha)
on
these
channels
and
thus
seals
offthe
head
as
the
recipient
(dhara)
of
the
nectar
held
in
the
cranial
vault
and
not
allowed
to
fall
downward
into
the
fire
of
the
sun
in
the
yogin's
lower
abdomen:
jalam-dhara
bandha.
This
upside-down
version
of
that
technique
is
the
structural
parallel
to
the
vidya-dhara
yantra:
the
two
chambers
of
the
alchemical
apparatus
are
the
head
and
torso
of
the
yogin,
the
mud-smeared
layers
of
cloth
stretched
across
their
mouths
are
the
work
of
channels,
and
the
nectar
that
is
held
in
the
head
is
the
mercury
that
condenses
on
the
incurved
inner
surface
of
the
downturned
upper
chamber.166
A
number
of
other
interpretations
of
this
verse
are
possible,
including
a
sexual
one:
the
Yoni
Tantra
employs
the
term
dharaka
to
signify
both
"vulva"
and
"vessel!'
167
Most
alchemical
sources
enjoin
the
practitioner
to
follow
his
use
of
the
iirddhvapatana
yantra
with
that
of
the
adhopatana
yantra,
the
"apparatus
of
downward
sublimation":
after
having
sublimated
mercury
three
times
in
the
former,
one
is
to
do
so
seven
times
in
the
latter.
168
The
adhopatana
yantra
is
identical
to
the
iirddhvapatana
with
the
difference
that
in
this
case,
the
"cool"
chamber
is
placed
rightside-up
in
a
hollow
dug
into
the
ground.
Its
mouth
is
bonded
to
that
of
the
"hot"
chamber,
here
placed
facedown,
with
the
cooking
fire
burning
atop
its
upturned
base.
In
this
case,
one
smears
the
inner
surface
of
this
downturned
"hot"
chamber
with
an
gam
of
mercury
and
copper.
When
this
is
heated,
the
mercury
sublimates
and
falls
down
into
the
"cool"
chamber,
which
is
this
time
filled
with
water.
There,
it
recondenses
into
its
natural,
but
purified
and
stabilized,
form.169
The
adhopatana
yantra
is
in
fact
a
closer
homologue
to
the
upside-down
yogic
posture
Gorakhnath
describes
in
his
Amanaskayoga
than
is
the
yadhara
(or
iirddhvapatana)
itself.
In
both
the
alchemical
adhopatana
yantra
and
the
dhara
yantra
described
by
Gorakhnath,
the
"seminal"
fluid,
fonned
by
a
heat
source
located
above,
drips
downward
to
remain
(held
there
by
gravity)
in
the
reversed
upper
chamber
of
the
apparatus
or,
in
the
yogic
case,
of
the
cranial
vault.
This
posture
also
evokes
the
viparltakara'f!a,

Chapter
Eight
or
"reverse
practice"
of
yoga,
which
Gorakhnath
praises
in
his
taka
(133-35)
as
a
foolproof
method
for
retaining
in
one's
head
the
cious
nectar
one
has
so
carefully
distilled
from
"raw"
semen.
Here,
the
description
of
the
posture
itself
is
clearly
the
inspiration
for
that
of
the
dhiirayantra,
in
everything
but
name:
"The
navel
above,
the
palate
below;
the
sun
above
and
the
moon
below."
170
Gorakh
refers
to
this
posture
in
one
of
his
biinis,
in
which
he
says
to
hold
the
yantra
upside-down
(ula#
yantr
dhare)
by
standing
on
one's
head.
These
structures
and
dynamics
of
the
alchemical
body
become
dramatized
in
a
nineteenth-century
phy
of
Lalla,
or
Lal
Ded,
the
fourteenth-century
Kashmiri
mystic
poetess,
who
demonstrated
"true
penance"
to
her
guru
SrikaI).!:ha.
"She
placed
an
earthen
pot
on
her
head
and
another
under
her
feet;
and
with
the
waning
of
the
moon,
her
body
waned
till,
on
the
fifteenth
night
of
the dark
fortnight
(amiivas),
nothing
was
left
of
her
except
a
little
quantity
of
trembling
silver.
Then,
with
the
waxing
moon
her
body
waxed
and,
on
the
full-moon
night,
she
was
herself
again."
17l
This
body
of
Hindu
practices,
which
incorporates
alchemical
and
thayogic
techniques,
bears
striking
similarities
to
an
earlier
Taoist
tion,
which
constitutes
a
still
more
graphic
projection
of
alchemical
ery
upon
the
subtle
body.
This
is
the
practice
termed
"feeding
the
vital
principle!'
This
technique,
described
in
a
fourth-century
Chinese
source,
the
Taishang
suling
dayou
miaojing,
represents
the
human
body
as
a
set
of
three
"cinnabar
fields;'
of
which
the
uppermost,
located
in
the
head,
tains
an
ordered
hierarchy
of
nine
"palaces."
The
third
and
innermost
of
these
palaces,
the
Palace
of
the
Cinnabar
Field,
is
the
culminating
point
of
breath
absorption,
the
Taoist
precursor
of
the
Indian
priiTfiiyiima.
ately
behind
this
is
the
fourth
palace,
called
the
"Palace
of
Moving
Beads;'
i.e.,
of
quicksilver,
fluid
mercury.
Once
again,
the
question
of
whether
these
striking
parallels-between
this
feature
of
the
archaic
Taoist
body
and
the
"alchemical
body"
of
Hinduism-are
reflective
of
cultural
and
entific
exchanges
between
China
and
India
in
this
period,
a
period
ing
the
export
of
Indian
Buddhism
into
China,
must
remain
outside
the
scope
of
the
present
study.
172
The
basic
structure
of
the
Hindu
alchemical
yantras,
with
their
turned
upper
and
upturned
lower
chambers,
may
be
taken
as
a
model
for
both
the
universe
and
the
human
body.
Another
somewhat
simpler
ogy
to
the
vidyiidhara
yantra
is
the
two-chambered
4amaru
(indeed,
there
exists
an
alchemical4amaru
yantra
as
well),173
the
"shaman's
drum"
carried
by
the
god
Siva
and
his
sectarian
followers
throughout
north
India
and

Homologous
Structures
of
the
Alchemical
Body
Nepal,
as
well
as
by
Tibetan
Buddhist
monks.
This
is
an
instrument
made
from
two
conical
or
hemispherical
drums,
joined
together
at
their
tapered
ends,
with
their
heads
facing
outwards.
Held
at
its
tapered
middle,
the
4amaru
is
played
by
turning the
wrist
back
and
forth
such
that
a
bead
or
thong,
attached
by
a
cord
to
the
tapered
portion,
strikes
the
two
heads
in
alternation.
The
two
chambers
of
the
drum-like
those
of
the
vidyadhara
yantra,
the
upper
and
lower
halves
of
the
human
body,
and
the
upturned
and
downturned
wells
of
the
macrocosm-represent
the
bipolar
ship
between
feminine
and
masculine
principles
common
to
so
many
tic
Hindu
traditions.
These
are
the
states
of
involvement
in
and
ciation
of
the
manifest
world
through
which
the
human
yogin
alternately
passes,
in
imitation
of
the
divine
yogin,
whose
yogic
withdrawal
from
and
return
to
mundane
consciousness
mark
the
successive
resorptions
layas)
and
emissions
(sr:f#s)
of
the
cosmic
eons.
The
bead
that
successively
strikes
the
two
ends
of
the
4amaru
to
emit
the
drum's
sound
(nada)
is
also
identifiable
with
the
mercury
that
rates
out
of
one
chamber
of
these
yantras
to
sublimate
in
the
other.
It
also
represents
the
yogin's
seed
(called
bija,
which
is
often
closely
identified,
in
tantrism,
with
nada)174
which
rises
(urddhvaretas)175
with
the
kur:4alini
and
returns
to
the
lower
body
when
the
yogin
returns
to
mundane
ness
and
activities
at
the
conclusion
of
his
austerities.
It
is
another
sort
of
two-headed
drum
(called
a
m'(danga)
that
nath
carries
in
the
legend
already
discussed,
in
which
he
"awakens"
his
teacher Matsyendranath
from
a
life
of
debauchery
in
the
Kingdom
of
Women
with
the
first
beat
(nada)
that
he
strikes
on
it.
Tibetan
Buddhism,
whose
lists
of
Mahasiddhas
include
the
names
of
Gorakh,
MIna,
and
other
illustrious
figures
who
came
to
be
identified
with
the
Nath
Siddhas,
also
uses
the
4amaru
in
its
ritual
practice.
A
number
of
4amarus,
used
by
titioners
of
tantric
Buddhism
in
Mongolia
and
Tibet,176
are
fashioned
from
two
human
skulls,
joined
together
near
the
fontanelle,
with
a
rectangular
hole
l77
drilled
between
them
which,
establishing
communication
between
the
two
hemispheres,
"allows
the
instrument
to
breathe
and
thereby
have
a
better
sound."
This
hole
is
called
the
nada.178
The
4amaru
player
ally
holds
a
bell
(ghar:ta)
in
his
left
hand,
which
thereby
complements
the
4amaru
held
in
the
right.
Taken
together,
the
two
are
said,
in
the
yana
context,
to
symbolize
sun
and
moon,
the
right
and
left
channels,
and
skill
in
means
(upaya)
and
wisdom
(prajiia),179
the
Buddhist
homologues
to
Siva
and
Sakti.
More
than
this,
the
two
skulls
which
make
up
the
drum
are
ideally
those
of
a
sixteen-year-old
young
man
and
a
sixteen-year-old

Chapter
Eight
maiden.
Of
course,
sixteen
is
a
figure
signifying
wholeness
or
plenitude
in
these
traditions,
but
it
will
be
recalled
that
the
origin
of
this
identification
goes
back
to
the
lunar
symbolism
of
hathayogic
practice:
sixteen
is
the
number
of
digits
in
the
full
moon
that
brims
with
nectar
in
the
fully
ized
yogin's
head.
180
Another
source
from
the
same
Vajrayana
tradition
reproduces
this
structural
homology
of
the
two
chambers
as
the
two
peripheral
channels.
In
a
Carya
song
(no.
3),
Viruva-pa
analogizes
the
fermentation
of
wine
with
the
dynamics
of
yogic
breath
control:
181
The
female
wine-dealer
[avadhiltl,
the
Buddhist
kur:4alinl]
is
alone,
but
she
seals
together
the
two
chambers
[the
two
channels,
sun
and
moon]
and
introduces
the
powder
for
fermenting
the
wine
[bodhicitta,
semen].
The
wine
[varur:1]i82
now
flows
[borne
upward
on
the
subtle
breaths]
straight
to
the
Sahaja
[sahasrara]
and
that
brings
immortality.
On
seeing
the
sign
[of
the
wine]
at
the
tenth
door
[the
brahmadvara,
at
the
upper
endpoint
of
the
central
channel],183
the
customer
[the
yogin]
comes
of
himself
and
drinks
the
nectar
from
the
lotus
of
great
bliss
[mahasukha,
the
Buddhist
sahasrara].
With
these
astonishing
structural
homologies,
we
are
brought
back
to
the
cranial
vault
in
which
we
began
this
section
and
to
the
fusion
of
all
the
polarities
we
have
been
discussing.
4.
Mouths
and
Doors:
The
Khecari
Mudra
in
Tantric
Practice
The
bipolar
locations,
on
a
vertical
axis,
of
male
mercury
and
semen
above
and
female
sulfur
and
uterine
blood
below
are
but
one
means
to
charting
the
basic
structure
of
a
hierarchized
tantric
universe.
However,
in
a
tantric
metaphysics
that
stresses
unity-in-difference
(bhedabheda),
or
in-duality
(dvaitadvaita),
there
has
as
well
to
be
a
stress
on
equipose,
alence,
and
equanimity,
on
the
union
or
coincidence
of
polar
opposites.
In
practical
terms,
the
factoring
of
the
two
into
the
one
has
been
perennially
enacted,
in
tantra,
through
sexual
union
between
practitioner
and
consort.
However,
every
subtle
body
is,
in
the
traditions
under
study,
intrinsically
androgynous,
being
divided
along
the
vertical
axis
between
male
and
male
halves
after
the
fashion
of
ArdhanarIsvara,
the
"half-female"
form
of
Siva.
Following
an
Indian
(if
not
human)
commonplace
that
a
woman's
place
is
on
the
distaff,
the
left
side
of
her
husband,
the
image
of
Siva
Ardha-

253
Homologous
Structures
of
the
Alchemical
Body
narisvara
comprises
the
right
half
of
Siva's
body
and
the
left
half
of
that
of
Sakti,
the
Goddess.
With
this,
we
are
brought
back
to
our
discussion
of
a
subtle
body
whose
left
or
western
(pafcima)
side
is
female
(in
spite
of
the
fact
that
the
lunar,
male
iqij
channel
issues
from
the
left
nostril
and
the
solar
pingala
from
the
right).
As
I
have
argued,
the
subtle
landform
known
as
Moon
Island
is
located
either
in
the
left
side
of
the
lower
abdomen
or
cranial
vault.
It
is
in
the
cranial
vault
that
the
complementary
processes
of
breath,
seed,
and
mind
control
culminate
in
the
production
of
nectar,
a
new
yogic
body,
and
the
state
of
total
yogic
integration
that
is
samadhi.
184
The
titioner
cannot,
however,
merely
fill
his
head
with
transmuted
semen
and
expect
instant
immortality.
In
the
last
chapter,
I
evoked
the
yogic
and
alchemical
notions
of
khecara,
"moving
in
the
ether;'
and
the
mystical
and
hathayogic
technique
of
vajrolt
mudra,
while
a
moment
ago
I
discussed
the
image
of
the
cranial
vault
as
an
empty
space
(kha,
fUnya)
or
well
that
comes
to
be
filled
with
nectar
through
a
variety
of
yogic
niques.
At
least
one
hathayogic
source
designates
the
practice
of
khecart
mudra,
"the
seal
of
moving
in
the
ether;'
as
the
culmination
of
vajrolt
mudra
and
samarasa.
185
The
Kh
V,
which
treats
of
every
imaginable
variation
upon
the
theme
of
khecara,
includes
discussions
of
the
khecart
mudra,
the
khecari
mantra,
and
the
khecari
cakra.
186
We
now
turn
to
a
closer
examination
of
this
body
of
techniques.
Although
a
passage
in
the
Maitrt
Upanifad
appears
to
allude
to
this
tice,
the
classic
description
of
khecart
mudra
as
a
hathayogic
practice
is
found
in
the
Goraksa
Sataka:
"The
consciousness
wanders
in
the
ether
(khe)
because
the
tongue,
having
entered
into
the
hollow
(khe)
above
the
throat
moves
about.
For
this
reason,
the
khecart
mudra
is
revered
by
all
plished
yogins;'
In
practical
terms,
khecart
mudra
is
a
technique
that
enables
the
yogin
to
retain
in
his
cranial
vault
the
nectar
that
he
has
accumulated
there
through
his
practice.
Here,
rather
than
allowing
that
nectar
to
fall
into
the
fiery
sun
at
the
base
of
his
spine,
even
when
"in
the
embrace
of
a
beautiful
woman;'
187
the
yogin
internally
drinks
that
transmuted
semen
and
is
thereby
rendered
immortal.
The
key
to
the
technique
of
khecart
mudra
lies
in
the
left/right
division
of
the
human
body
and
the
hathayogic
notion
of
mudra
itself.
In
literal
terms,
the
various
mudras
are
so
many
"seals;'
by
which
the
yogin
is
able
to
close
off
or
isolate
portions
of
the
subtle
body,
or
the
body
in
its
entirety,
in
order
to
realize
the
"pneumatic"
or
"hydraulic"
188
feats
of
his
craft.
As
does
the
alchemist
with
his
various
apparatus,
the
yogin
must
begin
his

254
Chapter
Eight
practice
by
hermetically
sealing
his
body
off
from
the
outside
ment.
This
he
does
by
closing
the
"nine
doors:'
the
bodily
orifices.
189
lowing
this,
through
the
practice
of
breath
control,
etc.,
he
gradually
closes
off
all
of
the
seventy-two
thousand
nii4fs,
the
breath
and
energy
channels
in
his
body,
save
the
medial
surum'IJii,
through
which
he
will
raise
his
breath,
seed,
and
mind
up
into
his
cranial
vault.
According
to
the
yogic
physiology
of
the
subtle
body,
the
surum'IJii
ally
branches
into
two
conduits,
at
the
level
of
the
medulla
oblongata
taka
granthi).
Here,
one
branch
veers
slightly
to
the
left,190
towards
the
"lunar"
side
of
the
body,
at
which
point
it
connects
with
the
tenth
channel,
called
the
fankhinf,
the
"conch."
191
It
is
this
turn,
as
well
as
an
inner
ture
known
as
the
tenth
door
(dafama
dviira),
that
affords
the
yogin
the
possibility
of
preserving
and
using
to
his
advantage
the
nectar
he
has
neled
upward
to
this
point.
In
order
to
effect
khecarl
mudrii,
the
yogi
forces
the
tip
of
his
tongue
192
back
and
upwards
into
the
opening
at
the
back
of
the
soft
palate.
Then,
by
concentrating
his
gaze
inwardly
to
a
point
between
the
eyebrows,
he
causes
his
"capitalized"
nectar
to
flow,
via
the
fankhini,
into
the
throat,
where
he
drinks
it.
This
process
was
explained
to
me
by
a
young
yogin
of
the
jUna
Akha9a193
(a
suborder
of
the
"militant"
Naga
division
of
the
Dasnaml
der,
a
division
that
has
long
been
closely
related
to
the
Nath
Siddhas),
whom
I
met
on
the
Kedarnath
pilgrimage
trail
in
May
1984.
As
he
scribed
it,
all
depended
on
forcing
the
Goddess
(ku'IJ4a1int)
up
into
the
head,
from
whence
the
rain
of
nectar
(am1Javarfa)
would
flood
down
into
the
body
through
the
m'f!)'ilfijayii
nii4f,
a
synonym
for
the
fankhinf.
194
It
is
here
that
yet
another
sort
of
doubling
occurs
in
the
subtle
ogy.
First,
the
Amaraughafiisana
explicitly
states
that
the
tenth
door
is
fold
(dvividha),
composed
of
"the
seminal
path
of
immortality,
and
the
path
of
death."
195
The
former
of
these
is
the
"upper
mouth"
of
the
fankhini,
located
in
the
cranial
vault,
within
the
subtle
riijadanta,
the
"royal
tooth:'
which
resembles
an
ivory
tusk.
It
is
this
tenth
door
that
one
causes
to
open
through
the
practice
of
khecari
mudrii.
196
The
latter,
the
lower
mouth
of
the
fankinf,
is
the
place
where
the
medial
channel
issues
into
the
cranial
vault:
by
closing
off
this
aperture,
the
yogin
ensures
that
the
nectar
in
his
cranial
vault
will
not
drain
back
down
this
channel
and
fall
into
the
fire
of
the
sun
at
the
base
of
his
subtle
body.197
Not
only
are
there
two
mouths
to
the
fankhini,
but
there
appear
to
be
two
fankhinfs
as
well.
On
the
one
hand,
the
Gorakfa
Sataka
(v.
3
I)
states
that
this
duct
is
located
at
the
base
(millasthiine)
of
the
body;
on
the
other,
this
"conch:'
spiral
or
curved
in
form,
is
doubled

255
Homologous
Structures
of
the
Alchemical
Body
by
the
two-mouthed
kUTf4a1inl,
who
can
also
at
times
be
referred
to
as
khinl.
198
Whence
Gorakh's
succinct
statement:
"The
tongue
and
penis
are
[joined
by]
a
single
channel.
He
who
retains
[his
rasa
within
it]
tricks
Time!'199
With
this,
all
the
yogin
needs
to
know
is
which
valves
to
open
and
which
to
close.
The
identification
of
the
two-mouthed
fankhinlwith
a
channel
ing
in
the
left
side
of
the
cranial
vault
evokes
one
of
the
esoteric
tion
systems
of
the
postscriptural
systematization
of
the
Hindu
tantras.
This
is
the
pafcimiimniiya
or
Western
Transmission,
a
tradition
marked
by
a
certain
emphasis
on
hafha
yoga
and
by
its
cult
of
the
goddess
Kubjika,
the
"crooked
one:'200
whose
teachings
were
brought
into
the
world
on
a
lunar
western
mountain
(Candragiri)
or
island
(CandradvIpa),
associated
with
the
western
face
(Sadyojata)
of
Siva.
As
already
argued,
these
"western"
venues
correspond
less
to
the
topography
and
toponymy
of
the
Indian
continent
than
to
the
physiology
of
the
subtle
body.
On
the
one
hand,
the
western
direction,
when
transposed
upon
the
bodily
microcosm,
becomes
the
left
side
of
the
body;
and
indeed,
one
Nath
Siddha
poem
refers
to
a
"western
door"
(pafchima
dviira).
This
corresponds
to
an
internal
"western
linga,"
of
which
there
are
two,
another
case
of
doubling
in
the
subtle
body.201
In
a
universe
identified
with
the
Goddess's
subtle
body,
microcosm
and
macrocosm
can
at
times
become
confused.
So,
for
example,
the
MBhT
states
that
Srlnatha
is
situated
on
the
left
side
(viimabhiigasthii);
and
in
fact,
he
is
the
consort
of
the
Goddess
at
the
westernmost
plfha
of
the
tinent,
at
HiIiglaj,
the
site
identified
as
the
Goddess's
fontanelle
randhra).202
Two
other
readings
of
pafcima
are
possible
here.
Mark
Dyczkowski
gues
that
the
term
is
to
be
taken
temporally:
the
pafcimiimniiya
is
the
sequent"
or
"latter"
transmission,
as
opposed
to
the
"former"
transmission
of
the
purviimniiya.
203
Elsewhere,
Gorakhnath
identifies
the
medial
sufUmTfii
channel
with
the
pafcimamiirga
or
pafcimapatha
in
his
Yogablja.
204
Now,
one
could
read
this
latter
compound
as
"western
path:'
and
perhaps
even
as
"subsequent
[to
the
emptying
of
the
left
and
right
channels]
path!'
One
could
also,
however,
read
pafcima
here
as
"back"
as
opposed
to
purva,
"front."
In
this
case,
the
pafcimadviira,
pafcimamiirga,
and
pafcimalinga,
would
be
the
"back
(i.e.,
secret,
difficult
of
access)
door:'
the
"back
way,"
and
the
"linga
at
the
[entrance
to
the]
back
[way]!'
We
now
returnto
the
mouths
at
the
ends
of
the
channels
we
have
been
discussing.
In
Abhinavagupta's
discussion
of
the
"clan
sacrifice"
(kulayiiga),
we
are
told
that
"knowledge
is
to
be
placed
in
the
mouth
of
a
woman
and

25
6
Chapter
Eight
then
taken
from
the
mouth
of
[that
same]
woman:'
The
woman
in
question
is
the
tantric
practitioner's
consort
(dutl)
in
erotic
Kaula
ritual
practice,
and
her
mouth
is
her
sexual
organ.
205
Such
is
also
stated
clearly
in
the
miirga,
a
twentieth-century
guide
to
ritualized
tantric
sex,
in
which
the
male
adept
is
enjoined
to
assimilate
himself
to
Siva
and
his
partner
to
the
Goddess
and
offer
his
father-mouth
into
her
mother-mouth.
206
There
are,
in
fact,
two
mouths
at
play
here
as
well,
or
rather
a
single
aperture
which,
located
at
the
apex
of
a
mystic
triangle
in
the
muliidhiira
cakra,
is
called
the
"lower
mouth"
(adhovaktra)
when
it
is
turned
wards,
at
which
time
it
feeds
into
the
(female)
sexual
organ.
When
through
yogic
or
erotico-mystical
practice
the
same
is
turned
upwards,
however,
it
is
called
the
"chief
mouth"
or
the
"mouth
of
the
yoginf"
and
is
identified
with
the
womb
of
consciousness,
the
"circle
of
bliss
from
which
the
energy
of
emission
(visargafaktt)
flows
forth
as
kU1f4alinf
.
..
the
matrix
of
creation,
and
the
essence
ofKaula
doctrine:'
207
Similarly,
the
Manthiinabhairava
tra
of
the
Western
Transmission
speaks
of
an
upper
and
a
lower
yoni,
cated
at
the
base
and
the
upper
end
of
the
medial
channe}.208
In
the
midst
of
so
many
mouths,
let
us
recall
here
that
each
tantric
system
had
its
own
variations
on
the
subtleties
of
the
subtle
body,
making
it
impossible
to
erate
a
single,
unified
account
of
the
two
upper
branches
of
the
split
sw:um1fii
channel,
the
two
"conch
ducts:'
the
two
"tenth
doors:'
the
two
"western
lingas:'
the
two
''yonis:'
the
two
"mouths
of
the
yoginf,"
etc.
As
in
erotico-mystical
practice,
so
too
in
alchemy,
the
practitioner
must
reckon
with
the
body's
doors
and
mouths.
So
it
is
that
the
MBhT
(9.19)
states
that
the
alchemist,
once
he
has
ingested
edible
mercury
(together
with
meat
and
a
woman's
milk),
must
close
the
nine
doors.
More
often
than
actually
swallowing
said
mercury,
the
alchemist
will
hold
it
in
his
mouth,
under
his
tongue
or
in
a
hollow
he
has
cut
into
his
palate.
But
this
mercury,
held
in
the
alchemist's
mouth,
is
said
to
possess,
at
a
certain
stage
of
its
preparation,
a
mouth
or
mouths
of
its
own,
with
which
it
swallows,
or
more
literally,
"has
its
mouthful
(griisa)"
of
the
elements
it
causes
to
dissolve
within
itself.
In
these
intermediate
phases
of
its
preparation,
mercury
may
be
either
"mouthed"
(sa-mukha)
or
"mouthless"
(nir-mukha).209
As
we
saw
earlier
in
this
chapter,
hermetically
sealing
two
mouths
of
a
two-chambered
apparatus
is
also
vital
to
the
alchemist's craft.
Here,
while
the
term
mudrii
may
be
employed,
it
is
the
term
[sam
]pufa
that
more
often
comes
into
play.
A
is
a
capsule
or
envelope,
generally
having
the
form
of
a
closed
crucible
formed
by
placing
two
earthen
plates
face
to
face
and
sealing
the joint
between
them
with
seven
layers
of
mud-smeared
cloth.

257
Homologous
Structures
of
the
Alchemical
Body
This
container
is
placed
in
the
midst
of
a
fire
pit
filled
with
cow
dung
cakes,
which
provide
constant
and
controlled
heat,
for
the
roasting
of
mercury
in
combination
with
various
metallic
and
herbal
elements.
21o
In
fact,
when
any
two
halves
of
a
dual,
bipolar
system
(a
man
and
a
woman
for
example)
are
brought
together
in
tantric
sources,
it
is
generally
the
term
samputa
("interlocked:'
"encased")
or
samputlkara'Jfa
ing:'
"encasement")
that
is
employed.
211
Applications
of
this
term
extend
well
beyond
the
realm
of
alchemical
apparatus
to
a
number
of
yogic
and
tantric
configurations
as
well.
In
tantric
initiation,
for
example,
the
guru
is
said
at
one
point
to
encase
himself,
or
his
mouth,
in
the
body
or
mouth
of
his
initiate.
212
While
there
can
be
no
doubt
that
an
exchange
of
substance
takes
place
between
the
guru
and
his
disciple
in
tantric
initiation,
and
that
the
guru
symbolically
enters
into
the
body
of
his
initiate,
the
precise
nature
and
location
of
this
mouth-to-mouth
transfer
is
difficult
to
pinpoint.
While
phrases
like
"give
me
[your]
mouth
in
[my]
mouth"213
would
lead
one
to
imagine
that
the
guru
actually
locks
his
mouth
over
that
of
his
ate,
at
least
one
other
reading
is
possible.
This
latter
reading
would
have
the
guru
entering
his
disciple's
subtle
body
to
place
his
mouth
at
the
mouth
of
the
fankhinl
nii4l
and
thereby
open
that
"valve"
to
liberation
in
the
body.214
Alternatively,
the
guru,
having
filled
his
mouth
with
the
nectar
falling
from
his
own
fankhinl
nii4l,
then
transfers
that
nectar
directly
into
the
mouth
of
his
disciple.
In
many
forms
of
tantric
initiation,
the
guru
is
described
as
coursing
through
the
body
of
his
initiate,
in
which
he
enters
into
union
with
the
initiate's
fakti
and
opens
his
channels
to
liberation.
215
I
discuss
important
parallels
between
the
language
of
initiation
of
this
sort
and
that
of
alchemical
transmutation
in
the
penultimate
chapter
of
this
book.
In
the
physiology
of
the
subtle
body,
the
two
nostrils,
as
well
as
the
lunar
and
solar
channels
that
issue
in
them,
are
termed
putas.
In
hathayogic
practice,
these
two
putas
are
said
to
"swoon"
or
fall
"lifeless"
when
the
seal
that
joins
them
together
is
pierced,
by
the
opening
of
the
medial
rum'Jfii.216
Yet
another
yogic
use
of
this
notion
may
be
found
in
the
term
"interlocking
crow's
beak"
(kiikacaiicu-puta),
which
is
a
synonym
for
khecarl
mudrii.
217
As
we
know,
the
khecarl
mudrii
of
hatha
yoga
is
a
technique
by
which
the
practitioner
ensures
himself
the
benefits
of
the
fluid
of
immortality
he
has
culled
through
long
yogic
practice.
218
While
the
alchemical
sources
first
treat
khecari
as
the
power
of
flight
attained
by
mercury
when
it
reaches
a
perfected,
stable,
solid
state,
they
also
reserve
a
yogic
application
for
the

25
8
Chapter
Eight
term.
219
Mercury
is
rendered
khecari
by
refining,
stabilizing,
and
fortifying
it,
in
the
ilrddhvapiitana
and
other
apparatus,
in
red
"female"
sulfur.
A
pill
of
khecari
mercury,
held
in
the
yogin's
mouth
during
his
siidhanas,
catalyzes
the
transmutation
of
his
semen
into
nectar
and
greatly
multiplies
his
ers
and
longevity.
This
practice,
called
gufikii
bandha,
is
in
fact
the
ultimate
end,
the
final
san:zskiira
of
the
alchemist's
art:
the
application
of
perfected
mercury
to
his
own
body
(farlra
yoga).
Treated
at
length
in
hathayogic
and
alchemical
sources
alike,
this
is
the
prime
alchemical
adjunct
to
yogic
practice.
220
We
will
return to
these
final
ends
of
yoga
and
alchemy
in
chapter
ten.
5.
Two
Architectural
Mesocosms
Earlier
in
this
chapter,
I
showed
that
the
wells
of
poem
and
legend
into
which
Nath
Siddhas
entered
in
their
meditative
practices
were
the
mystic
homologues
of
their
own
cranial
vaults.
In
Ayurveda,
the
practice
of
tering
into
the
hut"
(kufl
pravda)
is
cast
as
a
return
to
the
womb.
Another
meso
cosmic
world
of
the
same
order,
which
the
tantric
practitioner
may
create
and
inhabit
as
a
means
to
identifying
body
and
universe,
self
and
absolute,
is
the
alchemical
laboratory,
appropriately
called
rasama1!4apa,
the
temple
or
pavilion
of
mercury.
221
The
alchemist
who
inaugurates
or
reconsecrates
such
a
laboratory
gins
bytracing,
in
red
sindilra
(mercuric
oxide,
a
mineral
representation
of
the
Goddess),
upon
a
raised
altar
in
the
center
of
this
structure,222
an
cate
ma1!4ala
upon
which
all
of
the
alchemical
raw
materials,
processes,
etc.,
of
his
craft
are
symbolically
represented.
223
At
the
heart
of
this
ma1!4ala
he
establishes
a
phallic
emblem
of
Siva
composed
of
mercury
(rasalinga)
in
amalgam
with
either
gold
or
sulfur,224
which
he
must
propitiate
daily
if
he
is
to
hope
to
meet
with
success
in
his
practice.
225
This
linga
is
set
into
a
semicircular
silver
chasing
(plfha),
which
may
be
taken
as
yet
another
eral
emblem
of
the
Goddess's
sexual
organ.
226
Also
at
the
heart
of
this
ture,
the
alchemist
installs
a
fire
pit
or
basin
(kU1!4a)
called
the
yonicakra
that
will
serve
as
a
support
for
his
ritual
propitiation
of
the
tantric
desses
of
his
craft.
227
Lastly
the
alchemist
uses
his
rasalinga
as
a
support
for
his
meditation
(dhyiina),
projecting
upon
it
an
image
of
Siva
RaseSvara
(or
Rasabhairava)
in
sexual
union
with
the
goddess
Rasabhairavi
(or
Rasankusi).228
That
the
union
of
these
divine
principles
is
a
creative
one
is
made
ex-

259
Homologous
Structures
of
the
Alchemical
Body
plicit
in
descriptions
of
the
layout
of
the
laboratory
proper:
radiating
ward
from
this
divine
center,
the
cardinal
directions
are
identified
with
a
maTf4a1a
of
divinities
as
well
as
with
the
practical
"rites
of
passage"
skiiras)
of
the
alchemist's
art.
Thus,
the
eastern
wall
of
the
structure
is
served
for
the
storage
of
herbs
and
other
plant
matter:
in
the
Hindu
ization
of
space,
the
east
is
the
direction
whose
regent
is
Indra,
the
god
renowned
for
the
theft
of
Soma,
divine
herb
of
immortality.
To
the
east,
the
direction
of
Agni,
Fire,
are
located
the
alchemist's
distilling
ments.
To
the
south,
the
direction
of
the
dead
and
Yama,
lord
of
the
dead,
the
alchemist
stores
his
oxidizing,
"metal-killing"
(lohamara)
chemicals.
To
the
southwest,
the
direction
of
Niq1:i,
the
dread
goddess
of
disorder,
are
arranged
mortar,
pestle,
and
other
grinding
and
pulverizing
instruments.
Arrayed
along
the
western
wall,
the
region
of
VaruI).a,
god
of
the
waters,
are
the
alchemist's
liquifying
apparatus.
To
the
northwest,
the
direction
of
Vayu,
Wind,
are
the
bellows
of
the
alchemist's
furnace.
The
north
is
the
quarter
of
the
god
Kubera,
lord
of
the
Vidyadharas
and
possessor
of
lous
riches
and
wealth.
Here
are
located
coloring
(raiijana)
agents,
the
son
for
this
being
that
half
the
alchemist's
art
of
aurifaction
(or
aurifiction,
counterfeiting
gold)
lay
in
the
tinting
of
base
metals
with
amalgams
of
gold
and
mercury.229
Lastly,
the
northeast,
the
direction
identified
with
that
form
of
Siva
known
as
Isana,
is
consecrated
to
the
use
of
mercury
as
agent
of
transmutation
(rasavedha).
The
layout
of
the
alchemist's
temple-laboratory
not
only
follows
the
logic
of
the
Hindu
organization
of
space,
consecrating
as
it
does
each
ter
of
the
structure
to
an
activity
that
corresponds
to
the
regent
of
that
direction;
it
also
follows
the
serial
logic
of
the
alchemical
operations,
the
san:zskaras,
which
he
effects
in
transforming
"raw"
unrefined
mercury
into
a
"perfected"
agent
of
transmutation
and
elixir
of
immortality.
All
things
Hindu
begin
in
the
east,
the
direction
of
the
sunrise,
where
the
day
begins.
So
too,
the
enumeration
of
the
quadrants
of
the
laboratory
begins
with
this
direction,
with
the
herbs
that
are
the
raw
materials
of
the
alchemist's
work
and
the
lowest
elements
on
the
hierarchy
of
"metals:'
230
and
at
that
point
at
which
the
alchemical
"life-cycle
rites"
begin.
Following
the
east,
this
orientational
arrangement
of
the
laboratory
also
reproduces
the
order
of
the
alchemical
san:zskaras,
which
begin
with
the
distillation,
grinding,
and
killing
of
mercury
and
continue
with
its
transformation
of
other
metals
through
liquification,
heating,
and
coloring,
to
culminate
in
their
tation.
The
principal
role
in
this
alchemical
ordering
of
space
and
time
is
still

260
Chapter
Eight
played
by
the
alchemist
who,
holding
the
center
stage-in
which
he,
as
a
tantric
practitioner,
identifies
himself
with
Siva
in
union
with
the
Goddess
in
the
rasali1iga
located
at
the
center
of
his
laboratory-orchestrates
the
alchemical
sa'll}skiiras
that
will
have,
for
their
final
result,
the
ation
of
the
body
and
being
of
the
alchemist
himself.
Just
as
we
find
a
reasoned
ordering
of
time
and
space
in
the
alchemical
mesocosm
that
is
the
laboratory,
so
too
do
we
encounter
a
wide
array
of
yogic
representations
of
the
subtle
body,
in
which
that
body
is
projected
upon
a
given
mesocosm,
or
vice
versa.
A
most
graphic
example
of
such
a
projection
is
the
early
nineteenth-century
Harp.sesvarI
(Our
Lady
of
the
Cosmic
Goose)
temple
(Hooghly
district,
West
Bengal),
whose
six
stories,
labyrinthine
floor
plan,
and
maze
of
ladders
reproduce,
in
explicit
fashion,
the
niiqfs
and
cakras
of
the
subtle
body.231
A
similar
projection,
on
a
far
more
massive
scale,
is
that
of
the
Pfthas,
the
"footstool"
pilgrimage
sites
of
the
Goddess
which,
since
the
earliest
Buddhist
Tantras,
have
at
once
constituted
geographic
locations
on
the
Indian
subcontinent
and
centers
within
the
subtle
body.
Thus
the
four
"original"
pfthas
of
marupa,Jalandhara,
Purl).agiri,
and
U99iyana-are
identified
with
the
four
cakras
of
the
Buddhist
subtle
body.
This
number
comes
to
be
expanded
to
51
(the
Sanskrit
phonemes)
in
the
KM
and
the
pfthanirTfaya,
68
in
Nath
sources,
134
in
the
$atsiihasra
Sarhhitii,
and
so
on.232
At
least
five
sacred
Sakta-Saiva
sites-Kamakhya,
Srisailam,
Hinglaj
Devi,
Kedarnath,
and
Girnar-have
alchemical
traditions
connected
to
them;
to
these
may
be
added
Siva's
Mount
Kailash,
which
is
described
as
an
alchemical
land
in
the
opening
lines
of
the
RasiirTfava.
233
We
have
noted
that
the
Nine
Naths,
rather
than
being
historical
figures,
are
in
fact
symbolizations
of
various
elements
of
the
universal
macrocosm
-the
nine
directions,
including
the
zenith
or
center,
and
the
subtle
body
(nine
of
the
"ten
doors:'
the
principal
niiqIs,
etc.).234
This
is
appropriate
inasmuch
as
there
was
no
medieval
sect
in
India
that
was
as
fascinated,
even
obsessed,
with
the
array
of
correspondences
it
discovered
between
the
universal
macrocosm
and
the
microcosm
of
the
subtle
body.
While
the
Nath
Siddhas
mapped
out
these
"static"
homologies,
in
all
their
splendored
detail,
in
such
works
as
the
Siddha
Siddhiinta
Paddhati,
Gorakh
Bodh,
and
Prii'f!
Siinkall,
235
nowhere
are
they
presented
more
dynamically
and
dramatically
than
in
Muhammad
JayasI's
Padmiivat,
in
which
the
storming
of
the
fort
of
Sirilhala
is
made
into
an
explicit
allegory
for
formations
within
the
hathayogic
body.
Before
we
enter
into
the
heart
of
the
matter,
a
word
on
Sirilhala
or
San-

Homologous
Str!!
,/khemical
Body
galdlp
itself
is
in
order,
appearing
as
it
does
in
a
great
number
of
Nath
Siddha
legends.
Like
Ratansen
in
the
Padmavat,
Pural!
Bhagat
nath)
is
also
required
to
go
to
this
kingdom.
However,
rather
than
going
to
conquer
a
woman
as
does
Ratansen
when
he
wins
PadmavatI,
he
is
sent
Gorakhnath
til
of
yogic
resi!,!
!!dvances
of
that
!!!!cen,
Sundran
("
in
a
similar
waf
"'!il!ith
country"
by
hi"
mto
the
clutch!!,
named
Hlra
her
advances,
him
into
a
ra!!!
harnath
has
to
come
and
rescue
him.
According
to
one
source,
Goplcand's
own
sister
CandravalI,
prior
to
deciding
to
follow
in
her
brother's
footsteps
and
become
a
yoginl,
is
married
the
king
of
Sirilhala.
We
therefore
appear
to
be
in
the
presence
of
a
common
motif
which
is,
however,
in
the
cand
lef'ends,
distributed
between
the
Nath
Siddha
himself
and
his
sis-
whose
own
sion
of
his
legc!
the
junior
Nath
h!!se
accounts,
b!!!
due
to
hIs
connections
with
the
YOgInI
Kaula.2l8
In
every
case,
we
may
conclude
that
this
southern
island-fortress
is
a
mythic
multiform
of
the
Plantain
Forest
already
described
above,
at
once
a
locus
of
lethal
sensuality
and
rejuvenating
yogic
liberation.
Here,
then,
is
the
allegorical
ascent
of
the
fortress
of
Sirilhala.
In
it,
we
will
recognize
a
great
number
of
land-
the
subtle
body,
'!in
described
"I
will
tell
you
of
Sirilhala:
th'
eys.240
No
one
foot
on
the
has
returned
as
a
living
being.
The
fortress
is
as
bent
(bank)
as
is
your
body:
man,
as
you
may
see,
is
an
image
of
it.
It
is
not
to
be
attained
by
fighting,
through
the
use
of
force
(harh);241
those
who
do
attain
it
are
those
who
have
attained
the
marks
[of
yoga].242
There
are
nine
gates
in
that
fortress
and
five
constables
patrol
a
hidden
tenth
nuccessible
is
th!!
way
is
exceedinLih
(I,a7iki).244
Only
secret
(bhed)
and
!m
ant
can
penet!
At
the
base
of
a
deep
pool
midst
of
this
there
is
a
path,
as
I
declare
to
you
...
246
As
the
diver
plunges
into
the
ocean
and
only
then
does
the
pearl
come
to
his

Chapter
Eight
hand;
so
he
who
seeks
out
the
door
of
heaven
will
make
the
ascent
of
Simhala-dvipa.
The
tenth
gate
is
[as
narrow
and
lofty
as]
the
silhouette
of
a
palm
tree:
he
who
has
reversed
his
gaze
(ulafi
di{iu)247
can
see
it.
He
who
advances
while
restraining
(bandt)
his
breath
and
his
mind
...
can
go
there
...
248
Then
king
[Ratansen]
received
the
siddhi
g;ufikii.
249
Thereupon
he
realized
the
siddhi[s]
...
When
Siva
gave
him
the
siddhi
[g;ufikii],
a
great
clamor
arose
as
the
yogins
assailed
the
fortress.
All
the
lotus
maidens
climbed
up
(on
the
roofs)
to
observe.
In
laying
siege
to
the
Simhala
fortress,
[it
was
as
if]
the
yogins
had
raised
a
grove
of
tion
huts
[in
its
place].250
This
dramatic
depiction
of
the
subtle
body
plunges
us
into
the
dynamics
of
yogic
and
alchemical
transformation,
which
are
to
be
the
subject
of
the
following
chapter.

NINE
The
Dynamics
of
Transformation
in
Siddha
Alchemy
I.
The
"Work
in
Two
Parts"
In
an
earlier
chapter,
I
showed
that
the
tantric
universe
was
a
unified
tem
that
oscillated
between
withdrawal
(niv'(ttz)
and
return
(prav'(ttz)
on
the
part
of
a
cosmic
yogin,
between
effulgence
(prakafa)
and
reflection
marfa)
on
the
part
of
supreme
consciousness,
between
emission
and
sorption,
etc.
In
such
a
system,
the
yogic
body
becomes
the
stage
for
the
return
of
the
absolute
from
existence
to
essence
through
the
descent
and
ascent
of
the
kU1f4alinl.
As
has
been
indicated,
the
absolute
emanates
into
the
manifest
universe
and
human
bodies
as
a
means
to
enjoying
its
less
potential.
The
return,
however,
to
unity
and
wholeness
is,
for
those
human
manifestations
of
this
emanatory
dynamic,
anything
but
natural,
requiring
as
it
does
a
forceful
reversal
(ulafa)
of
what
are,
in
mortal
creatures,
irreversible
tendencies
(entropy,
aging,
disease,
death).
Thus,
while
it
is
the
case
that
the
process
of
return
is,
from
a
divine
or
absolute
perspective,
internal
to
the
process
of
emanation,
it
is
nevertheless
an
ous
task
for
the
individual
who
would
attempt
to
realize
such
through
his
own
subtle
body.!
So
it
is
that
long
before
the
much
-glorified
stage
of
yogic
or
alchemical
reintegration,
in
which
an
emanated
or
differentiated
fest
world
implodes
on
itself,
into
a
single
essence-a
drop,
vibration,
neme,
wave,
photon,
quantum,
etc.-a
great
deal
of
unglorious
tory
work
must
be
carried
out.
That
work
is
the
subject
of
this
chapter.
The
human
techniques
for
reversing
the
natural
tendency
(in
an
nated
universe)
towards
greater
differentiation
or
entropy
and
for
realizing
for
oneself
the
primordial
unity
of
the
absolute-with
its
concommitant
bliss
(bhoga),
supernatural
powers
(siddhis),
and
bodily
liberation
muktz)-are
the
stuff
of
yoga.
However,
as
the
texts
themselves
tell
us
time
and
again,
the
human
microcosm
is
intimately
entwined
with
the
alchemical
and
hathayogic
mesocosm,
with
the
latter
two
at
once
constitut-

16
4
Chapter
Nine
ing
parallel
and
interpenetrating
systems.
\Vhence
the
classic
statements
of
the
RA:
''As
in
metal,
so
in
the
body.
...
By
means
of
the
Work,
a
stable
body
is
attained.
Mercury
and
breath
[control]
are
known
as
the
Work
in
two
parts
(karmayogo
dvidha):'2
This
statement
is
echoed
in
Gorakhnath's
Amaraugha
Prabodha
(v.
5),
which
describes
the
twofold
rajayoga
as
cal
and
spiritual
and
the
twofold
hafha
yoga
as
the
"practice
of
breath
and
seed."
J
The
quest
of
the
alchemist
and
that
of
the
yogin
are
one
and
the
same.
This
is
the
credo
of
Siddha
alchemy.
Not
only
the
ends,
but
also
the
means
these
two
interpenetrating
tems
employ
for
the
realization
of
their
final
goal
are
also
strikingly
ogous.
In
the
last
two
chapters,
I
showed
the
content
and
structure
of
the
two
systems
to
be
parallel
and
interpenetrating;
in
the
present
chapter,
I
turn
to
their
common
dynamic.
Stated
in
their
simplest
terms,
gic
and
alchemical
techniques
for
immortality,
termed
sadhanas
tions")
and
sa'f!lskaras
("perfectionings")
respectively,
comprise
four
phases:
purification,
immobilization,
reversal,
and
transformation.
Quite
often,
the
language
employed
to
describe
these
sequential
techniques
is
identical
in
the
two
systems;
and
even
when
such
is
not
the
case,
structural
gies
abound,
with
references
to
digestion,
consciousness-raising,
flux,
phase
changes
(from
the
virtual
to
the
actual),
and
a
vertical
dynamic
vasive
in
both
systems.
These
sequences
further
constitute
models
of
or
for
a
number
of
sacrificial,
medical,
and
tantric
practices
and techniques,
which
I
also
outline
here.
Sa'f!lskara
is
a
Sanskrit
term
that
has
come
to
cover
an
extremely
wide
semantic
field
in
India.
Derived
from
the
same
prefix
+
root
(sa'f!l[sJ-k,()
as
is
the
word
Sanskrit
itself,
its
literal
sense
is
to
"per-fect:'
to
render
whole
or
complete;
more
technical
definitions
include
the
"production
of
new
qualities"
and
"that
which
makes
a
person
or
thing
fit
for
a
given
tion."4
It
is
in
this
latter
sense
that
the
term
sa'f!lskara
plays
a
pivotal
role
in
Hindu
alchemy.
The
sa'f!lskaras
are
those
operations
that
render
mercury
fit
for
transformation,
for
the
production
of
new
qualities
in
the
mineral
world.
From
another
perspective,
the
alchemical
sa'f!lskaras
may
be
seen
as
the
exalted
"rites
of
passage"
of
those
humans
who,
applying
the
element
mercury-first
"generated"
in
the
form
of
the
"raw"
semen
of
the
god
Siva-to
metals
and
thence
to
their
own
bodies,
transform
themselves
into
equals
of
the
gods
(who,
out
of
jealousy,
asked
Siva
to
adulterate
mercury
with
impurities).
As
in
the
case
of
the
human
rites
of
passage,
the
principal
aim
of
the
alchemical
sa'f!lskaras
is
to
purify
a
(mercurial)
body
that
has
been
tainted
through
the
process
of
birth,
of
coming
into
existence.
Here

26
5
The
Dynamics
of
Transformation
it
is
significant
that
suta,
"that
which
was
generated;'
is
one
of
the
five
standard
alchemical
terms
for
mercury,
Siva's
seed,
which
lodged
itself
in
the
womb
of
the
goddess
earth,
at
the
conclusion
of
the
origin
myth
of
mercury.
5
In
alchemy,
as
in
other
spheres
of
Hindu
culture,
the
number
attached
to
the
sa11fskiiras
is
eighteen,
or
more
properly
speaking,
sixteen
plus
two.
6
The
first
sixteen
sa11fskiiras
prepare
mercury
and
other
elements
for
mutation,
while
the
final
two
are
the
issue
of
all
that
has
preceded:
these
are
the
transmutation
of
base
metals
into
gold
(called
vedha,
"penetration")
and
transubstantiation,
the
generation
of
an
immortal
body,
called
yoga
("body
Work"),
bhakfana
("eating"),
dehavedha
("penetration
of
the
body"),
or
simply
sevana
("use").7
In
yoga
in
general,
and
hafha
yoga
in
particular,
the
siidhanas
tions")
are
so
many
homologues
of
the
alchemical
sa11fskiiras.
As
outlined
in
the
introductory
chapter,
the
term
siidhana
is
derived,
like
siddhi
ization;'
"supernatural
power")
and
siddha
("realized
individual;'
man")
from
the
verb
sadh,
to
"realize,
accomplish,
perfect."
At
least
one
hathayogic
sources
lists
seven
siidhanas
together
with
their
results.
These
are
purification
(fodhana)
through
the
six
practices
(fafkarmiiTfi);
solidity
(dr4hatii)
through
the
postures
(iisanas);
immobility
(sthairya)
through
the
yogic
seals
(mudriis);
composure
(dhairya)
through
the
retraction
of
the
senses
(pratyiihara);
lightness
(liighava)
through
breath
control
yiima);
direct
perception
(pratyakfa)
through
meditation
(dhyiina);
and
maculateness
(nirlipta)
and
release
(mukti)
through
total
yogic
integration
(samiidht).
2.
The
Alchemical
Sa11!skiiras
If
we
are
to
demonstrate
a
more
explicit
connection
between
the
cal
sa11fskiiras
and
the
hathayogic
siidhanas,
we
must
go
beyond
these
eral
observations
and
undertake
a
point-for-point
comparison
of
the
graded
practices
that
define
the
two
disciplines.
We
begin
our
comparison
here
with
a
summary
of
the
alchemical
sa11fskiiras,
in
which
the
sixteen
dard
sa11fskiiras
are
listed
with
Arabic
numerals,
supplementary
operations
with
roman
numerals,
and
the
effects
of
such
operations
with
roman
ters.
Following
this
summary,
the
balance
of
this
chapter
will
consist
of
a
commentary
in
which
a
series
of
yogic
(and,
where
applicable,
sacrificial,
medical,
and
tantric)
practices
will
be
juxtaposed
with
homologous
al-

266
Chapter
Nine
chemical
operations-by
which
it
will
be
shown
that
Siddha
alchemy
did
in
fact
constitute
a
"Work
in
two
parts:'
I.
Sodhana
is
the
"(preliminary)
purification"
of
mercury,
its
physical
cleansing
through
washing,
melting,
marinating,
and
roasting
it
in
ous
preparations.
9
II.
K{etrikarar:a,
"making
(oneself
master
of)
the
field:'
is
the
cation
of
the
human
body,
through
special
diets,
emetics,
etc.,
such
that
it
becomes
capable
of
absorbing
mercurial
preparations.
Although
the
tion
of
such
preparations
constitutes
the
eighteenth
and
final
san:zskiira,
the
preparation
of
the
body,
analogous
in
certain
ways
to
the
preliminary
fication
of
mercury,
must
be
undertaken
well
in
advance
of
its
ingestion.
It
is
for
this
reason
that
I
introduce
it
here.
I.
Svedana
is
the
"sweating:'
"steaming:'
or
"fomentation"
of
mercury
in
a
water
bath
together
with
plant
and
mineral
substances.
This
is
the
first
san:zskiira,
i.e.,
the
first
step
in
the
chemical
transformation
of
unrefined
mercury
into
an
agent
of
transmutation.
As
such,
it
differs
from
fodhana,
in
which
the
mercury
ore
is
first
cleansed
physically
or
mechanically,
rather
than
purified
chemically.lO
2.
Mardana
is
the
"rubbing:'
"grinding:'
or
"trituration"
of
steamed
mercury
in
a
mortar,
together
with
plant
and
acidic
substances.
3.
Murcchana
is
the
"fainting"
or
"swooning"
of
mercury,
by
which
it
is
ground
in
a
mortar
together
with
vegetable
matter,
until
it
loses
its
ral
characteristics
(luster,
density,
volatility,
etc.)
and
form
and
becomes
purged
of
certain
naturally
occurring
toxins,
impurities,
and
defects.
II
This
is
to
be
distinguished
from
another
process
of
the
same
name.
III.
Murcchana
as
a
supplementary
operation
takes
mercury
that
has
ready
been
processed,
either
through
the
first
eight
san:zskiiras
or
by
other
means,
and
combines
it
with
sulfur
to
produce
a
number
of
medical
rations
for
Ayurvedic
rasiiyana
or
viijikarar:a
therapy.
12
For
reasons
that
will
be
made
clear
later
in
this
chapter,
we
pass
directly
from
our
discussion
of
"swooning"
to
that
of
two
other
vital
transformations
of
mercury,
known
as
"binding"
and
"killing:'
a.
As
a
result
of
the
process
of
swooning,
mercury
becomes
"swooned:'
murcchita.
b.
Bandhana
is
the
"binding"
or
"fixation"
of
mercury,
which,
like
swooning,
leaves
mercury
stable
and
thereby
manipulable,
in
a
state
in
which
it
is
not
subject
to
evaporation,
even
when
heated
over
fire.
Left
unbound,
mercury
remains
volatile
whenever
it
is
exposed
to
heat
or
light.
Once
purified,
it
can
be
"fixed"
via
anyone
of
the
twenty-five
or

26
7
The
Dynamics
of
Transformation
twenty-six
alchemical
bandhas.
Each
of
these
bandhas
has
a
specific
cal
application.
ll
c.
Miira1!a,
the
"killing"
of
mercury
(or
any
metal)
reduces
it
to
a
fine
ash
or
oxide
(bhasma),
such
that
the
human
body
is
able
to
absorb
it
when
it
is
taken
in
medical
preparations.
Metals
other
than
mercury
are
generally
killed,
in
preparation
for
internal
use,
by
heating
them
together
with
iron
pyrites
and
mercuric
sulfide.
When
mercury
is
killed,
it
loses
its
fluidity,
density,
luster,
and
brilliance.
Tantric
alchemy
attributes
fantastic
powers
of
transmutation
to
said
mercury,
which
it
identifies
as
"killed
ash"
bhasma)
or
"killed
mercury"
(mrJasiltaka).14
4.
Utthiipana
is
the
"resurrection"
of
swooned
mercury,
effected
by
steaming
it
with
alkalis,
salts,
and
plant
matter
and
by
rubbing
it
in
the
open
air.
Through
"resurrection;'
mercury
recovers
the
brilliance,
etc.
it
had
lost
through
miircchana.
5.
Piitana,
the
"sublimation"
or
"distillation"
of
mercury
refers
to
the
three
processes
by
which
mercury
is
distilled
upwards,
downwards,
or
transversally.15
6.
Bodhana,
"awakening;'
or
rodhana,
"countering,
coagulation;'
are
ternative
terms
for
the
sixth
sa'l1!skiira,
by
which
mercury,
which
has
come
purged
of
its
toxic
content
but
also
its
strength
through
the
ing
operations,
has
its
"virility"
(vlrya)
restored
to
it
through
irrigation
in
a
salt
bath.
This
operation
gives
mercury
a
"mouth"
(mukha)
with
which
to
absorb
other
elements
in
the
sa'll}skiiras
that
follow.
16
7.
Niyamana,
"regulation"
or
"restraint;'
reduces
the
motility
of
cury
(which
it
has
recovered
through
the
previous
sa'll}skiira)
,
raising
its
temperature
of
evaporation
and
rendering
it
lustrous
in
appearance.
This
is
done
by
soaking
mercury
in
a
bath
of
alkaline
and
herbal
substances
and
then
steaming
it.17
8.
Dlpana,
"kindling"
or
"enflaming;'
further
enhances
mercury's
tency
and
luster
through
steaming
in
an
alkaline
bath.
This
operation
is
said
to
kindle
mercury's
desire
to
"consume"
other
metals.
IS
d.
Taken
as
a
group,
the
first
eight
sa'll}Skiiras
serve
to
purify
and
detoxify
mercury
such
that
it
may
be
used
internally
in
the
treatment
of
diseases.
19
It
is
here,
however,
that
the
great
divide-between
the
medical
use
of
curials
(rogaviida)
and
the
use
of
the
same
for
the
ends
of
transmutational
(lohaviida)
and
elixir
alchemy
(dehaviida)-is
drawn.
The
realization
of
these
higher,
tantric
aims
requires
eight
additional
sa'll}skiiras,
by
means
of
which
mercury
truly
begins
to
behave
like
a
living
being,
hungering
after
metals
to
consume,
penetrate,
and
thereby
transmute.
The
transubstantia-

Chapter
Nine
tion
of
the
alchemist's
own
body,
similarly
penetrated
by
mercury,
then
follows
automatically.
Of
the
remaining
san:zskaras,
(9)
[gagana]grasa,
(10)
caral?a,
(II)
bhadruti,
and
(12)
bahyadruti
are
but
phases
in
a
single
continuous
process,
which
culminates
in
(13)jaral?a,
"digestion"
or
"assimilation."
These
begin
with
the
measuring
out
(mana)
of
a
given
quantity
(a
"seed;'
consisting
of
the
calcinated
ash,
or
the
"essence;'
sattva)
of
mica
or
a
metal
for
its
consumption
(grasa)
by
mercury.
This
is
followed
by
the
"chewing"
al?a,
literally
"coursing")
of
the
mica
or
metal
by
said
mercury,
followed
by
either
its
internal
(to
the
mass
of
mercury)
or
external
processing
and
liquification
(garbha-druti
and
bahya-druti,
respectively),21
with
the
end
sult
being
in
that
metal's
total
digestion
or
assimilation
(jaral?a)
into
the
mercury.
Iv:
Because
it
issues
from
a
series
of
operations,
jaral?a
may
be
viewed
as
the
culmination
of
these
alchemical
san:zskaras
as
much
as
an
operation
in
itself.
From
this
point
onwards,
it
becomes
quite
artificial
to
distinguish
mercury
from
the
metals
to
be
transmuted.
Once
mercury
has
digested
a
given
metal,
that
metal
no
longer
exists
per
se;
rather,
it
is
alchemically
activated
mercury
itself
that
will
become
transmuted
into
silver
or
gold.
22
14.
Raiijana,
"tinting"
or
"coloration;'
involves
the
heating
of
mercury
with
"seeds"
of
gold,
silver,
copper,
sulfur,
mica,
and
salt,
such
that
cury
takes
on
the
natural
colors
of
the
minerals
it
has
absorbed
or
lowed.
23
15.
Saral?a
(literally,
"flowing"),
the
"potentialization"
of
mercury
in
preparation
for
transmutation,
is
effected
by
heating
it
in
oil
into
which
molten
"seeds"
of
metals,
diamond,
etc.
are
poured.
24
16.
In
kramal?a
("taking
hold,
"progression"),
mercury
is
smeared
with
a
mineral
and
herbal
paste
and
heated
in
a
such
that
it
becomes
pable,
as
a
transmuting
agent,
of
penetrating
both
metals
and
bodily
tissues.
25
V.
The
final
two
san:zskaras,
(17)
vedha
("transmutation")
and
(18)
rayoga
("transubstantiation"),
together
constitute
the
final
end
of
the
mist's
work.
As
such,
they
are
as
much
the
issue
of
the
sixteen
prior
skaras
as
alchemical
operations
in
themselves.
With
these
operations,
mercury
truly
confounds
itself
with
the
metallic
or
flesh-and-blood
"bodies"
in
question,
ultimately
replacing
them
with
a
mercurial
or
alchemical
body.
If
life
is,
as
the
Buddha
said,
to
be
regarded
as
a
disease
or
a
wound,
then
it
is
appropriate
to
liken
mercury
to
a
healing
virus
(from
vir,
the
Indo-European
root
denoting
masculinity-as
in
semen

26
9
The
Dynamics
of
Transformation
virile
and,
by
extension,
virility)
which
takes
over
the
body
into
which
it
enters,
transforming
human
tissue
into
alchemical
diamond
or
gold-gold
which,
in
the
immortal
words
of
the
Brahma.t:as,
"is
immortality."
26
In
the
following
chapter,
I
provide
further
discussion
of
these
final
san.zskiiras.
3.
Purification
It
is
in
the
ancient
sacrificial
tradition
that
we
find
the
earliest
statements
concerning
the
alternation
between
manifestation
and
nonmanifestation
on
the
part
of
the
absolute.
This
is
described
in
terms
of
an
alternation
of
divine
generations
and
of
the
trans
formative,
even
reanimating
ties
of
fire.
The
primordial
creator
(Purup-Prajapati),
having
poured
self-indeed,
poured
his
rasa-into
the
manifest
world,
lies
broken
and
dying.
He
can
be
restored
to
his
prior
unmanifest
wholeness
only
through
the
intervention
of
his
son,
Agni,
who
is
the
sacrificial
fire.
By
piling
a
fire
altar
(agnicayana)
Agni
reconstitutes
the
body
of
his
father
and
thereby
becomes
known
as
"his
father's
father!'
It
is
through
this
alternation
of
generations
that
it
is
possible
for
the
divine
to
be
at
once
one
and
many,
transcendent
and
manifest;
and
it
is
only
through
the
offering,
on
the
part
of
a
human
sacrificer,
of
a
major
sacrifice
that
this
alternation,
this
rection
of
the
father,
can
be
effected.
Indeed,
it
is
in
this
very
same
ficial
context
that
one
finds
the
earliest
use
of
the
verb
san.zskr,
to
refer
the
restoration
to
original
wholeness
of
a
god
whose
body
has
been
identified
with
what
Jan
Heesterman
has
termed
the
"broken
world
of
sacrifice!'27
Whenever
such
a
sacrifice
was
to
be
offered
in
ancient
India,
the
piece
of
ground
upon
which
that
sacrifice
was
to
take
place
had
to
be
prepared
long
in
advance
of
the
actual
ritual
offering.
Preparation
essentially
volved
sealing
off
a
theretofore
mundane
parcel
of
land
through
a
series
of
purificatory
acts.
Here,
purification
involved
plowing
and
cultivating
the
land,
allowing
it
to
lie
fallow,
and
finally
covering
it
with
a
layer
of
sand,
which
symbolized
the
semen
of
the
"emptied"
Prajapati.
The
language
here
was
sexual:
the
raised
altar
was
the
womb
(yOnt)
upon
which
the
semen
(retas)
ofPrajapati
was
spread,
thus
filling
the
void
that
was
left
when
pati's
body
had
first
become
dispersed.
28
Only
after
the
sacrificial
ground
had
been
renewed
in
this
way
could
it
serve
as
the
mesocosm
for
a
zation
of
cosmos,
society,
and
the
sacrificer,
through
the
offering
of
the
sacrifice
itself.
It
was
not
sufficient,
however,
that
the
sacrificial
ground
alone
be
puri-

Chapter
Nine
fied
in
preparation
for
the
sacrifice.
A
similar
sort
of
preparation
had
also
to
be
effected
upon
the
person
of
the
sacrificer,
the
human
pivot
of
the
ritual
act.
Here,
it
was
necessary
that
the
human
sacrificer,
no
doubt
in
imitation
of
the
primal
sacrificer,
renew
his
body
in
order
that
it
be
rendered
fit
to
perform
the
sacrificial
act.
29
This
act
of
preparing
the
sacrificer's
body,
of
transforming
it
from
a
mundane
human
body
into
a
body
worthy
of
communing
with
the
divine
through
sacrifice,
is
dlk{ii
(literally
"habilitation"),
a
term
generally
translated
as
"initiation."
Here,
the
mechanics
of
initiation
entail
the
same
dynamic
as
the
preparation
of
the
sacrificial
ground:
the
purification
of
a
mundane
body
transforms
it
into
a
sacrificial
body.
As
with
the
preparation
of
the
sacrificial
ground,
the
preparation
of
the
sacrificer
himself
is
described
in
terms
of
sexual
duction
and
animal
gestation.
Sequestered
within
the
initiation
hut,
the
sacrificer,
"cooked"
through
the
inner
heat
of
his
austerities
(tapas)
and
the
external
heat
of
burning
fires
placed
in
the
hut,
symbolically
sheds
his
mundane
body.
An
embryo
of
his
"new"
sacrificial
body
takes
form,
bates,
and
is
born
out
of
the
"womb"
of
the
hut,
three
days
later.
3D
The
symbolism
of
this
homologous
preparation
through
purification,
of
both
sacrificial
ground
and
sacrificial
body,
is
directly
appropriated
by
the
three
elements
of
Siddha
practice:
hafha
yoga,
alchemy,
and
tantric
ual.
This
first
groundbreaking
phase
is
called
k{etrlkararJa,
"mastering,
paring
the
field"
in
the
first
two
systems,
and
bhtltafuddhi,
"purification
of
the
elements"
in
the
third.
This
metaphor
of
the
tilled
field
is
altogether
natural
within
an
agrarian
society
and
is
not
original
to
these
three
tions.
Classical
Samkhya
calls
the
body-mind
complex
the
field
(k{etra)
and
the
soul
the
farmer
(k{etrajfiii,
literally,
"knower
of
the
field")
who
tends
said
field
without
himself
being
affected
by
it.
31
In
Hinayana
Buddhism,
the
notion
of
the
transfer
of
merit
is
explained
through
the
image
of
the
assembled
saints,
who
constitute
an
excellent
field
(khettilpamii)
in
which
meritorious
acts
may
be
sown
and
thereafter
bear
fruit
for
the
benefit
of
others.32
It
is
in
the
medical
tradition
that
the
theories
and
techniques
pertaining
to
the
preparation
of
the
body
as
field
are
most
fully
developed.
In
its
juvenation
therapy,
the
term
k{etrlkararJa
refers
to
the
preparation
of
the
body
for
the
medicines
that
will
be
absorbed
in
the
treatment
per
se.
33
This
class
of
treatments-called
san:zfodhana
cikitsii,
"purificatory
medicine"
or
paficakarmiirJi,
"the
five
treatments"
-combines
such
clinical
treatments
as
emetics,
purgatives,
sudation,
etc.
as
means
to
purifying
the
body
by
ing
it
of
the
elements
responsible
for
its
humoral
imbalance.
34
At
the
end

The
Dynamics
of
Transformation
of
these
five
sequences-each
a
fortnight
in
duration
and
interspersed
with
five-day
rest
periods-the
rejuvenation
therapy
proper
may
begin.
Interfacing
as
it
did
with
the
therapeutic
alchemy
of
Ayurveda,
tantric
alchemy
makes
a
nearly
identical
use
of
the
term
kfetrfkara'f!a,
with
its
place
in
the
order
of
operations
homologous
to
that
found
in
Ayurveda.
neous
to
his
preparation
of
the
mercury
he
will
eventually
ingest,
the
mist
must
also
prime
his
body,
in
order
that
it
be
capable
of
absorbing
that
potent
elixir.
Here,
k{etrlkara'f!a
means
observing,
over
a
fifteen-day
riod,
a
strict
purificatory
diet
which
effects,
through
the
same
five
ments
as
those
employed
in
rejuvenation
therapy,
the
evacuation
of
every
bodily
impurity
with
which
the
mercury
might
abreact.
35
As
a
result
of
this
operation,
the
body
becomes
a
field
in
which
a
mercurial
seed
(rasa-bija),
when
ingested,
will
germinate.
The
fruit
this
seed
will
produce
is
an
mortal,
alchemical
body.
While
apparently
agricultural,
the
language
here,
too,
is
sexual.
The
first
three
san;rskiiras
of
the
human
rites
of
passage,
which
effect
the
purification
of
the
womb,
are
called
the
"perfectionings
of
the
field:'
the
k{etra-san;rskiiras,
by
which
the
female
womb
is
prepared
to
ceive
the
seed
(bija)
that
is
male
semen.
36
Here,
the
planting
of
a
mercurial
seed
in
the
body
also
reminds
us
of
tantric
initiation
(dfk{ii),
which
may
be
performed
either
with
or
without
"seed"
(sabija
or
nirbija).37
As
the
MBhT
describes
it,
the
"seed"
is
the
densed
mantra-identified
with
the
semen
of
Siva,
who
is
himself
fied
with
the
guru
here-that
the
guru
plants
in
the
initiate's
body.
Indeed,
no
mantra
can
be
effective
without
a
"seed:'
and
no
tantric
deity
exists
independent
of
his
or
her
seed
mantra
(bija).38
Like
Prajapati
and
Agni
in
Vedic
sacrifice,
the
relationship
between
the
guru
who
plants
the
seed
and
the
disciple
in
whose
body
he
plants
it
is
one
of
an
alternation
of
tions.
So
too,
the
alchemist
whose
corporeal
field
has
been
properly
pared
gives
birth
to
a
new,
immortal
self,
out
of
the
old,
through
the
curial
seed
he
has
planted
there.
39
Even
if
the
body
so
produced
is
most
often
called
a
golden,
adamantine,
or
realized
body
(svarrza-deha,
deha,
siddha-deha),
it
is
in
fact
a
mercurial
body,
an
alchemical
body.
Like
the
Ayurvedic
physician
and
the
alchemist,
the
hafha
yogin
must
also
effect
a
preliminary
cleansing
(fodhana)
of
his
body.
This
he
does
through
a
series
of
operations
known
as
bhUtafuddhi,
the
"purification
of
the
elements:'
or
the
fafkarmii'f!i,
the
"six
practices:'
in
which
the
inner
contours
of
his
body
are
purified
with
air,
water,
and
fire.
40
Like
the
five
treatments
of
Ayurveda,
the
majority
of
these
practices
ranging
from
nose
wash
(nett)
to
enema
(vastt),
flush
out
the
body's
physical
impuritiesY
Such

Chapter
Nine
practices,
which
cleanse
the
channels
of
the
subtle
body,
channels
through
which
the
five
vital
breaths
must
freely
circulate,
are
already
anticipated
in
the
preparation
of
the
fire
altar
mentioned
above:
the
furrows
plowed
into
the
site
create
the
channels
through
which
the
vital
airs
circulate
in
the
body
of
Praj
apati
,
the
sacrifical
Man.42
Given
the
task
he
has
set
to
reintegrate
bodily
microcosm
with
divine
macrocosm-these
naries
are
vital
to
the
yogin's
success
in
all
that
follows.
From
the
outset,
the
intrinsically
gross
human
body
cannot
be
charged
with
the
slightest
impurity
as
such
would,
like
a
speck
of
dust
on
a
mirror,
skew
the
perfect
interface,
reflection,
and
realization
of
one
world
in
another.43
The
term
bhiltafuddhi
has
a
much
more
extended
application
in
the
realm
of
tantrism,
where
it
also
forms
an
important
element
of
worship
and
initiation.
44
In
tantric
ritual,
bhiltafuddhi
refers
to
the
preliminary
fication
of
the
divinities
residing
in
each
of
the
five
elements
(bhiltas)
that
make
up
the
body.45
Here,
bhiltafuddhi
is
the
purification
of
both
a
cosmic
worship
site-once
again
referred
to
as
a
"field:'
the
microcosmic
body
of
the
worshipper
himself
(when
the
two
are
not
tified),46
a
situation
that
mirrors
that
of
the
twofold
Vedic
preparation
of
sacrificial
ground
and
the
sacrificer's
person.
Both
are
dessicated,
"blown
out:'
and
burned
up
before
being
cleansed
with
water
and
flooded
with
"nectar:'
processes
which,
identified
with
the
dissolution
of
the
mundane
self,
constitute
the
first
step
towards
the
creation
of
a
new
divinized
self.
Here,
the
lower
elements
of
earth,
water,
fire,
and
air,
are
successively
ploded
into
their
higher
emanates,
until
there
only
remains
the
most
lime
element
on
the
pentadic
hierarchy.
This
is
ether,
the
empty
space
left
by
this
dissolution,
within
which
the
tantric
practitioner
will
establish,
through
visualization
techniques
and
the
planting
of
seed
mantras,
a
new
world
at
the
center
of
which
he
will
construct
the
body
of
that
divinity
with
whom
he
will
come
to
identify
himselfY
The
tantric
worshipper
or
initiate
who
has
transformed
his
own
being
through
these
processes
becomes
capable,
in
turn,
of
transforming
other
beings,
indeed,
the
entire
universe,
through
his
limitless
powers.
Such
is
also
the
case
with
mercury
in
the
alchemical
context.
In
its
mundane
form,
as
it
is
found
in
ores
and
its
various
compound
forms,
mercury
is
incapable
of
transforming
other
mineral
substances
in
any
way
whatsoever
and
is
capable
only
of
poisoning
the
foolish
alchemist
who
would
attempt
to
gest
it.
Like
the
bodies
of
the
Ayurvedic
patient,
hafha
yogin,
and
tantric
practitioner,
and
like
the
sites
upon
which
Vedic
and
tantric
rituals
are

273
The
Dynamics
of
Transformation
carried
out,
the
element
mercury
must
be
primed,
purified,
and
crated
before
further
operations
may
be
undertaken.
It
is
in
this
context
that
the
term
employed
for
the
alchemical
formations,
san;zskara,
takes
on
its
greatest
fullness
of
meaning:
"San;zskara:
those
acts
and
rites
that
impart
fitness.
Fitness
is
of
two
kinds.
It
arises
from
the
removal
of
taints
or
by
the
generation
of
fresh
qualities."48
Of
the
classic
enumeration
of
the
eighteen
alchemical
san;zskaras,
the
first
eight
concern
nothing
more
or
less
than
the
preliminary
tion
of
the
element
mercury
for
its
eventual
application
to
other
minerals.
Of
these,
the
first
two-svedana
and
mardana,
"sweating"
and
deal
most
directly
with
mercury's
physical
or
mechanical
purification.
49
The
"sweating"
of
mercury
immediately
reminds
us
of
the
initiation
of
the
Vedic
sacrificer
and
the
treatment
of
Ayurvedic
rejuvenation
therapy.
It
is
by
sweating
off,
purging
oneself
of
one's
old
body
that
it
comes
possible
to
take
on
a
new
one.
The
same
is
the
case
in
yoga.
It
is
only
after
his
effecting
of
the
"six
acts"
that
the
practitioner
begins
to
truly
transform
his
body-by
sweating,
which
is
viewed
as
the
first
stage
in
the
process
of
yogic
transformation.
Here,
he
induces
perspiration
through
a
number
of
techniques
of
breath
control
(prar:ayama),
techniques
which
culminate
in
diaphragmatic
retention
(kumbhaka).
The
sweat
that
is
voided
through
the
pores
(literally,
"hair
wells;'
roma-kupa)
has
in
fact
been
forced
out
through
the
seventy-two
thousand
na4is,
thereby
purging
them
of
all
impurity.
50
The
parallel
with
the
alchemical
san;zskaras
appears
to
be
deliberate
here,
since
immediately
following
this,
the
yogin
is
instructed
to
rub
(mar
dana)
his
body
with
the
perspiration
that
has
been
so
produced.
The
combination
of
these
two
processes
renders
the
body-not
unlike
mercury
at
the
clusion
of
the
first
two
alchemical
san;zskaras-firm
and
light.
51
4.
Immobilization:
Murcchana,
Bandhana,
and
Miira"!a
The
second
verse
of
Pataiijali's
Yogasutras
defines
yoga
as
"preventing
thought
from
going
around
in
circles."
One
may
indeed
consider
the
entire
history
of
yogic
theory
and
practice
to
be
a
footnote
on
this
formula.
52
Reduced
to
its
simplest
terms,
yoga
("yoking")
is
concerned
with
impeding
movement,
with
the
immobilization
of
all
that
is
mobile
within
the
body.
This
is
a
point
that
the
HYP
makes
clear
in
its
opening
chapter:
"The
pos-

274
Chapter
Nine
tures,
the
various
[methods
of
breath
control
leading
to]
kumbhaka[s],
the
practices
called
mudra,
then
the
practices
concentrating
on
[hearing]
the
nada:
this
is
the
sequence
[to
be
observed]
in
hafha
[yoga]."53
One
first
mobilizes
the
body
through
the
postures;
next,
one
immobilizes
the
breaths
through
diaphragmatic
retention;
one
then
immobilizes
the
seed
through
the
"seals";
and
finally
one
immobilizes
the
mind
through
concentration
on
the
subtle
inner
reverberation
of
the
phonemes.
The
theory
here
is
simple:
stop
this,
that
stops.
But
the
practice
is
thing
but
simple
as
anyone
who
has
attempted
to
maintain
a
yogic
posture,
sit
still,
or
simply
stop
thinking
for
any
length
of
time
knows
all
too
well.
What
a
difficult,
even
heroic
undertaking
the
immobilization
of
the
body
constitutes,
yet
what
fantastic
results
it
yields!
For
immobilization
leads
to
reversal,
reversal
to
transformation,
and
transformation
is
tantamount
to
bodily
immortality
and,
precisely,
to
the
supernatural
ability
to
transform,
reverse,
or
immobilize
whatever
one
desires
in
the
physical
world
(siddht).
Immobilization
or
stabilization,
in
the
form
of
swooning,
binding
(or
ation),
and
killing,
constitute
the
"hump"
that
the
Siddha
alchemist
must
get
over
in
order
for
his
goals
to
be
realized.
All
that
follows
does
so
more
or
less
automatically,
as
if
a
critical
mass
has
been
reached
and
a
chain
reaction
triggered-whence
the
most
frequently
recurring
passage,
in
the
entire
alchemical
tradition.
A
single
summary
passage,
concerning
the
matters
of
immobilization,
stability,
death,
resurrection,
and
the
power
of
flight,
appears,
in
nearly
identical
form,
in
all
of
the
alchemical
classics-the
RasarTfava,
Rasahr:daya
Tantra,
Rasendra
Mangala,
Bhutiprakara'f!a,
Rasendracilqama'f!i,
and
nasamucchaya.
54
More
remarkable
is
the
fact
that
this
exact
same
verse,
at
least
in
the
form
in
which
it
is
found
in
the
RA,
also
occurs
in
the
century
HYP
of
Svatmarama.
In
this
latter
case,
however,
Svatmarama
is
able
to
employ
"alchemical"
terminology
to
make
a
yogic
point.
That
is,
the
same
verse
may
be
read
on
two
different
registers,
the
one
cal
and
the
other
yogic.
In
the
context
of
the
"Work
in
two
parts"
and
the
vital
matter
of
immobilization,
however,
the
two
perspectives
ultimately
become
fused
into
one.
The
verse
in
question
reads,
in
the
RA
and
the
HYP,
as
follows:
"Swooned,
rasa,
like
the
breath,
drives
away
diseases,
killed
it
revives
itself,
bound
it
affords
the
power
of
flight!'
55
In
the
alchemical
RA,
the
term
rasa
refers
to
swooned,
bound,
and
killed
mercury,
the
ingestion
of
which,
in
tandem
with
the
practice
of
breath
control,
renders
the
practitioner
healthy,
immortal,
and
possessed
of
the
power
of
flight.
The
hathayogic

275
The
Dynamics
of
Transformation
HYPpromises
the
same
results,
but
takes
rasa
to
mean
semen,
the
lization
and
retention
of
which
are
paramount
to
the
hathayogic
discipline,
as
witnessed
in
a
poem
attributed
to
Gopicand:
56
"Steady
goes
the
breath,
and
the
mind
is
steady,
steady
goes
the
mind,
the
semen.
Steady
the
semen,
and
the
body
is
steady,
that's
what
Gopicand
is
sayin':'
A
number
of
other
references
further
elaborate
on
the
ity
of
mind,
breath,
and
rasa
in
the
techniques
evoked
in
the
hathayogic
and
alchemical
sources.
The
HYP
equates
the
immobilized
mind
with
bound
or
fixed
mercury
and
states
that
the
former
results
in
the
immobilization
of
both
breath
and
body
and
thereby
bodily
immortality.
In
like
fashion,
the
RA
emphasizes
the
necessity
of
unwavering
mental
concentration
for
cess
in
the
performance
of
alchemical
operations.
57
Gorakhnath,
with
the
directness
we
have
come
to
expect
of
his
poetry
of
yogic
experience,
states
the
matter
clearly
and
succinctly:
"Penis
in
the
vulva's
mouth,
mercury
in
the
mouth
of
fire;
he
who
can
retain
these
[semen
and
mercury],
him
I
call
my
guru:'58
Here,
it
is
the
same
image,
of
immobilized
rasa-that
is
at
once
cinated
mercury
and
semen-that
comes
to
be
employed,
in
a
wide
array
of
applications,
to
describe
the
parallel
yet
interpenetrating
processes
of
Siddha
alchemy.
Although
swooning
is
the
sole
member
of
the
triad-of
murcchana,
bandhana,
and
mararJa-to
actually
constitute
an
alchemical
san:zskara
per
se
(the
latter
two
being
the
effects
of
a
number
of
combined
operations),
all
three
are
nevertheless
central
to
the
alchemist's craft.
cording
to
a
list
provided
in
the
RA,
all
seven
of
the
standard
forms
of
alchemical
mercury
produced
through
the
san:zskaras
are
either
swooned
(murcchita)
,
bound
(baddha)
,
or
killed
(m1Ja).59
We
now
turn
to
a
closer
examination
of
this
triad,
within
the
Work
in
two
parts.
a.
Murcchana
It
will
be
recalled
that
alchemical
san:zskara
known
as
"swooning;'
following
directly
upon
the
"sweating"
and
"rubbing"
of
mercury,
causes
the
liquid
metal
to
lose
its
luster,
lightness,
volatility,
etc.,
which
are
immediately
stored
to
it
in
the
course
of
a
fourth
operation,
called
"resurrection."
calling
the
intimate
connection
between
immobilizing
the
mind,
breath,
and
rasa
in
the
Work
in
two
parts,
we
should
expect
to
find
hathayogic
murcchana
playing
an
analogous
role.
Hathayogic
"swooning"
is
in
fact
a
direct
result
of
kumbhaka,
of
"potlike"
diaphragmatic
breath
retention,
the
methods
for
the
realization
of
which
it
is
now
time
to
describe.

27
6
Chapter
Nine
The
yogin
first
draws
the
subtle
breath
(pra,,?a)
in
through
the
left
nostril
and
thereby
into
the
lunar
channel.
Having
retained
it
for
as
long
as
sible
in
the
abdomen,
he
exhales
it,
via
the
solar
channel
and
through
the
right
nostril.
He
then
inhales
through
the
right
nostril,
retains
the
breath
in
the
abdomen
as
before,
and
releases
it,
via
the
lunar
channel,
out
the
left
nostril.
By
continuing
this
process,
pumping
the
outer
naqis
"like
a
blacksmith's
bellows:'
the
yogin's
diaphragm
will,
at
a
certain
point,
remain
filled
with
air,
the
pressure
of
which
will
force
open
the
orifice
(known
as
the
"door
of
brahman:'
the
brahmadvara)
of
the
medial
channel.
60
The
subsequent
inrush
of
air
into
the
medial
channel
causes
the
two
peripheral
channels
to
empty.
Deflated
in
this
way,
they
are
called
"swooned"
cha),
and
indeed,
one
of
the
eight
types
of
kumbhaka
is
itself
called
milrccha,
"because
it
causes
the
[normally
volatile]
mind
to
swoon:'
i.e.,
to
become
one-pointed
in
its
concentration.
61
It
is
not
the
swooning
of
the
two
peripheral
channels
that
itself
"drives
away
diseases:'
as
HYF
4.27
states.
It
is
rather
the
effect
of
their
ing-i.e.,
the
opening
and
filling
of
the
medial
channel-that
is
essential,
as
this
becomes
the
path
by
which
the
ku,,?qalini
surges
upwards,
carrying
with
her
the
life
force,
seed,
and
"swooned"
mind
into
the
cranial
vault.
Just
as
the
swooning
of
mercury
is,
in
the
alchemical
context,
a
necessary
intermediate
step
to
the
transformation
of
metals
and
the
human
body,
so
too
in
hafha
yoga,
swooning
affords
the
practitioner
mastery
over
disease
and
death.
The
parallel
is
explained
in
these
very
terms
by
Brahmananda,
in
his
commentary
to
this
verse:
"Through
the
use
of
certain
herbs,
cury,
which
is
inclined
to
be
volatile,
becomes
swooned
(milrcchita)
in
the
same
way
that
the
breath
becomes
swooned
in
the
culmination
of
bhaka,
when
one
has
exhaled
and
stopped
inhaling."62
b.
Bandhana
The
hathayogic
texts
recommend
a
combination
of
postures,
together
with
a
number
of
respiratory
and
"hydraulic"
techniques,
for
the
zation
of
the
breaths
and
the
diaphragmatic
retention
that
trigger
the
rise
of
the
ku,,?qalini
and
all
that
follows.
This
body
of
hydraulic
techniques
is
generally
subdivided
into
"hermetic
seals"
(mudras
such
as
the
vajroli
and
khecari)
and
contractions
or
"locks"
(bandhas).
These
sources
describe
three
principal
locks
which,
effected
at
the
levels
of
the
abdomen,
thorax,
and
head,
work
hydraulically
to
effect
internal
changes
in
pressure,
such
that
breath
and
seed
become
immobilized
or
begin
to
be
drawn
upward.
These

277
The
Dynamics
of
Transformation
are
the:
(I)
mula
bandha,
("root
lock"),
an
inner
contraction
of
the
anus
which
draws
the
downward-tending
apiina
breath
upward
through
the
dial
channel;
(2)
u44iyiina
bandha
("the
lock
of
the
upward-flying
[bird]"),
a
contraction
of
the
abdomen
which,
by
emptying
the
lungs,
drives
them
and
the
diaphragm
up
into
the
upper
thorax
and
causes
the
prii'l!a
to
"fly
up"
through
the
medial
channel
into
the
cranial
vault;63
and
(3)jiilan:zdhara
bandha
("the
lock
of
the
net
bearer"),
a
contraction
of
the
throat
by
means
of
which
the
yogin
seals
off
his
head
from
his
torso
and
constricts
the
work
(jiila)
of
subtle
channels
and
supports,
thereby
arresting
the
ward
flow
of
nectar
that
has
accumulated
in
the
cranial
vault.
64
The
joined
aim
of
the
three
bandhas
is
to
gradually
restrict
the
field
in
which
the
volatile
breath,
seed,
and
mind
may
move.
First
forcing
them
up
out
of
the
abdomen,
they
"lock"
them
into
the
torso;
they
next
"contract"
them
inside
the
neck
and
head;
and
lastly,
they
"bind"
them
there.
The
alchemical
parallel
to
these
hathayogic
techniques
is
introduced
by
a
verse
from
the
HYP:
"Instability
is
a
natural
characteristic
of
mercury
and
of
the
mind.
When
mercury
is
bound,
when
the
mind
is
bound,
who
in
this
world
does
not
become
realized
(siddhyatt)?"65
In
alchemy
per
se,
there
are
twenty-six
bandhas
which
effect
the
binding
(bandhana),
fixation,
or
immobilization
of
mercury
by
altering
its
physical
and
chemical
sition
and
behavior.
Through
the
bandhas,
mercury
takes
on
the
tency
of
a
gel,
paste,
or
solid
powder,
in
which
states
both
its
temperature
of
evaporation
and
its
powers
as
a
transmuting
agent
are
augmented.
ing
the
alchemical
discipline
to
that
of
hafha
yoga
is
an
evocative
tion
of
a
general
principle
for
the
fixation
of
mercury:
"In
the
midst
of
the
Ganges
and
Yamuna
rivers
there
is
a
riik{asa
named
Application
(prayoga).
In
his
presence
mercury
is
immediately
bound;'
Here,
Ganges
and
Yamuna
stand
for
the
bright
and
dark
lunar
fortnights,
respectively,
mediated
by
the
full
moon
night.
The
nocturnal
"application"
in
question
consists
of
culling
a
number
of
powerful
herbs
which,
on
the
full
moon
night,
stabilize
mercury.66
Here
again,
we
are
reminded
of
the
Work
in
two
parts,
as
well
as
of
the
yogic
immobilization
of
the
breaths
in
the
lunar
and
solar
(Ganges
and
Yamuna)
channels,
which
fill
out
the
subtle
moon
located
in
the
nial
vault.
The
same
cranial
vault
is
the
locus
for
another
sort
of
bonding
of
yogic
and
alchemical
method.
Here
we
are
referring
to
the
technique
known
as
gufikii
bandha,
in
which
the
yogin
fixes
a
mercurial
pill
(gufikii)
in
a
recess
of
the
palate
as
a
means
to
catalyzing
the
effects
of
his
yogic
practices.
This
technique
will
be
described
at
greater
length
in
the
next
chapter.
67

27
8
Chapter
Nine
Apart
from
these
specialized
contexts,
both
the
yogic
and
alchemical
traditions
employ
metaphorical
images
of
binding
or
snaring
to
describe
the
rigors
of
their
respective
and
complementary
tasks.
So,
for
example,
the
RA
(2.90)
praises
the
mantra
called
rasankufa,
the
"elephant
goad;'
in
the
following
terms.
"One
who
attempts
to
obtain
mercury
without
edge
of
the
elephant
goad
[mantra]
is
like
one
who
attempts
to
mount
an
enraged
elephant
in
the
jungle
without
a
goad.
He
is
beset
[with
tions]:'
Similarly,
in
one
of
his
banIS,
Gorakhnath
states
that
by
ing
the
breaths,
one
may
bind
(bandhilai)
the
elephant
of
the
mind
and
bring
it
into
its
pen.
68
As
we
have
already
seen,
the
fixing
of
mercury
is
also
referred
to
as
the
clipping
of
its
wings
by
which
it
is
vented
from
volatizing
and
"flying
upwards"
(evaporating).
Similarly,
in
yogic
practice,
it
is
crucial
that
the
"cosmic
goose"
(han/sa)
of
the
breaths
and
vital
energy
be
tethered
so
as
not
to
leave
the
body.69
In
India,
all
of
these
images-of
binding,
ensnaring,
tethering,
and
the
like-are
as
old
as
sympathetic
magic
and
sorcery
itself.
As
far
back
as
the
Veda,
we
meet
gods
like
Indra
who,
through
the
use
of
magical,
invisible
cords,
defeat
their
demonic
enemies
in
battle.
Indra's
greatest
victory
is
won
when
he
"envelops
the
enveloper;'
the
archdemon
Vrtra
(the
loper"),
who
has
trapped
the
world
in
his
coils
of
drought
and
darkness.
Once
the
binder
has
been
bound,
the
entire
universe
is
set
free,
released
from
its
bondage.7°
Indra's
feat
is
reproduced,
with
variations,
by
nath,
who,
according
to
a
relatively
late
Nepali
myth,
binds
nine
"serpent
clouds:'
This
provokes
a
drought
which
only
ends
when
his
guru
dranath
comes
to
Nepal
from
Assam,
and
Gorakh
rises
to
salute
him.71
In
the
case
of
the
Vedic
and
post-Vedic
Indra,
this
god
seemingly
saves
the
world
in
order
to
ensnare
it
in
his
own
magical
web,
for
Indra's
net
of
magic
(indrajala)
is
also
a
veil
of
maya
for
those
lacking
the
insight
to
cern,
behind
a
world
of
appearances,
what
is
really
real.
All
of
the
gods,
in
fact,
impose
their
maya
upon
the
world,
if
only
to
differentiate
themselves
from
humans
who,
were
they
to
penetrate
the
ultimate
reality
behind
the
phenomenal
worlds,
might
otherwise
stop
offering
them
sacrifices.
In
more
philosophical
terms,
the
chief
cause
of
[the
individual
soul's]
bondage
in
the
objective
world
is
...
Maya,
usually
considered
to
be
an
aspect
of
the
(dess)'s
eternal
Sakti.
It
finds
itself
...
in
the
traditional
series
of
gories.
The
Maya
is
that
power
by
which
the
Supreme
Being
veils
itself,
so
that
the
jfva
[the
individual
soul],
enveloped
by
ignorance

279
The
Dynamics
of
Transformation
about
its
true
cosmic
nature,
falls
into
the
state
of
an
individual
ject
with
limited
knowledge.
This
means
that
the
nature
of
Maya
is
twofold:
limitative
and
dispersive.
72
Ropes
and
knots;
binding,
loosing,
and
cutting;
it
is
in
these
terms
that
India
has
perennially
portrayed
the
conundrum
of
existence.
Creatures
(pafus)
are
bound
to
a
phenomenal
world
that
is
a
tightly
stitched
net
of
magic
or
a
veil
of
maya;
and
when
this
life
ends,
it
is
the
noose
(piifa)
carried
by
Death
himself
that
ensnares
them.
In
such
a
world
of
bondage,
what
term
could
better
describe
liberation
and
salvation
than
mok{a-which
precisely
means
the
loosing
or
releasing
of
the
knots
and
webs
and
snares
that
fetter
all
of
creation?
73
Maya
need
not,
however,
be
viewed
as
a
net
of
illusion
spread
to
obscure
the
numinous
absolute.
It
can
also
be
seen
as
the
self-actualization
of
the
divine
creative
impulse,
as
the
"measuring
out"
(ma)
or
manifestation
of
pure
consciousness,
which
is
free
to
bind
itself
if
it
so
chooses.
In
this,
the
tantric
perspective,
the
phenomenal
world,
rather
than
being
a
straitjacket
to
the
soul,
becomes
a
field
of
play
for
the
realized
(siddha)
individual.
By
extension,
it
is
no
longer
mok{a
or
release
from
conditioned
existence
that
is
the
Siddha's
goal,
but
rather
liberation
in
the
body
(jivanmuktz),
in
which
the
individual
experiences
the
world,
for
himself,
in
the
same
way
as
does
the
divine
absolute.
74
Once
one
enters
into
the
universe
of
the
Siddhas,
the
veil
of
maya
becomes
as
if
turned
in
on
itself.
How
does
one
escape
the
trammels
of
existence?
By
binding
the
bondsman,
cutting
the
cords,
ing
the
burner-and
even
consuming
Death,
the
great
Eater.
Once
bound,
normally
volatile
mercury
and
breath
afford
normally
earthbound
humans
the
power
of
flight.
The
medial
channel,
when
opened,
becomes
"the
eater
of
Death;'
and
the
upward
surge
of
energy
that
courses
through
it
cuts
through
the
three
knots
(called
f!7anthis)
which
are
the
sole
remaining
stacles
to
the
yogin's
immortality
and
freedom.7
5
When
the
flighty
gazelle
of
the
mind
is
at
last
snared
in
net
of
the
unstruck
sound,
individual
sciousness
becomes
dissolved
in
the
pure
universal
consciousness
of
the
divine.
76
The
Siddha
not
only
transcends
the
laws
of
nature,
he
also
breaks
out
of
the
bonds
of
the
human
condition:
"the
yogin
is
unbind
able
(abadhya)
by
any
incarnate
creature.
He
can
neither
be
bound
by
[the
noose
of]
Death,
nor
by
karma."
"The
great
binding
(mahabandha)
[affords]
release
(vimocana)
from
the
noose
of
death
(kalapafa)!'77
Like
the
god
Indra
of
yore,
the
yogin
or
alchemist
binds
in
order
to
be
released
from
bondage;
now,

Chapter
Nine
however,
rather
than
doing
battle
with
enemies
from
without,
he
is
able
to
domesticate
Death,
time,
illusion-nay,
human
finitude-without
ever
having
to
leave
the
inner
landscape
of
his
subtle
body.
Herein
lies
the
critical
importance
of
the
yogic
and
alchemical
bandhas:
they
bind
the
mechanism
of
bondage
itself,
hobbling,
binding
with
its
own
noose
a
Time
(Kala)
which
is
identified
with
death
(kala)
before
actually
turning
it
back
on
itself.
None
of
the
trammels
of
existence
can
fetter
the
Siddha
at
play
in
the
world,
least
of
all
the
ultimate
sorrow,
the
sorrow
of
death.
For
whenever
Death
tries
to
catch
a
Siddha
in
his
noose,
the
latter
either
slips
away,
thus
cheating
Death
("skewing
time":
kalavaficana)78
or
actually
beats
him
up.
This
is
a
theme
found
in
the
legend
of
Gopicand,
in
which
Oalandharanath),
upon
learning
that
his
young
disciple
has
been
taken
by
Yama's
minions
to
the
world
of
the
dead,
thrashes
them
and
their
master
so
thoroughly
that
they
promise
to
never
meddle
with
the
Nath
Siddhas
again.
79
Mayana,
Gopicand's
sorceress
mother,
following
her
initiation
by
Gorakhnath,
holds
similar
powers
over
Yama:
"If
she
should
die
in
the
day-time,
he
[Gorakh]
would
not
let
the
sun
go,
but
would
bind
him
down,-if
she
should
die
at
home,
he
would
not
let
Yama
go,
but
bind
him
down,-if
she
should
die
of
a
cut
from
a
flat
sword
(kha'a
=
a
large
sacrificial
knife),
he
would
bind
the
goddess
[who
bears
such
a
weapon]
down-Mayana
would
[out-]survive
even
the
sun
and
the
moon:'80
In
a
later
episode
of
the
same
legend
cycle,
Gopicand
has
bound
in
chains
and
buried
beneath
a
stable
(or
at
the
bottom
of
a
well),
under
several
feet
of
horse
manure.
These
tears
away
by
means
of
a
single
mantra.
The
chain
on
his
hand
becomes
transformed
into
a
rosary
of
beads;
the
heavy
stone
placed
upon
his
chest
becomes
his
yogic
garb;
and
the
rope
with
which
he
was
bound
becomes
his
loincloth.
81
The
regalia
and
sectarian
markings
worn
by
the
Nath
Siddhas
are,
in
fact,
all
explicitly
symbolic
of
those
various
elements
of
their
yogic
practice
which
afford
them
their
fabled
mastery
over
the
processes
of
aging
and
death.
As
such,
they
constitute
a
mesocosm,
a
model
of
and
for
the
cosm
of
the
subtle
body
and
the
macrocosm
of
the
universe.
In
the
words
of
"the
form
of
the
Jog
[yoga]
is
the
ear-ring,
the
patched
quilt,
the
wallet,
the
staff
and
the
horn,
the
sound
of
which
is
emitted
in
the
Universe:'82
Here,
the
horn
is
the
singnad,
a
piece
of
gazelle
horn
into
which
the
Nath
Siddhas
blow
to
produce
the
nada,
the
silent
sound
that
serves
to
bind
and
control
the
wavering
mind.
83
In
the
legend
of
the
japamala
is
a
rosary
of
beads
used
as
an
aid
in
mantric
recita-

281
The
Dynamics
of
Transformation
tion;
the
mudriis
are
great
hoop
earrings
which,
placed
in
the
thick
of
the
ears
at
initiation,
open
a
subtle
channel
vital
to
yogic
practice;
and
the
kantha
is
the
patchwork
tunic
traditionally
worn
by
the
Nath
Siddhas.
84
c.
MiiraTfa
Since
at
least
the
time
of
the
epics,
the
final
of
the
four
idealized
stages
of
life
observed
by
males
in
India
has
been
termed
sannyiisa,
because
it
is
marked
by
the
act
of
"laying
together"
the
sacrificial
fires
that
had
defined
one's
social
existence.
Abandoning
one's
sacrificial
fires
is
tantamount
to
abandoning
the
world:
henceforth,
although
one
remains
in
the
world,
one
is
no
longer
a
part
of
it.
Of
vital
importance
to
the
yogic
tradition
is
the
fact
that
the
sacrificial
fires
in
question
are
gathered
together
within
one's
body.
There,
they
serve
both
as
a
cremation
pyre-by
which
the
now-obsolete
mundane,
social
body
is
shown
to
have
truly
died
to
the
world-and,
in
the
postcrematory
existence
of
the
sannyiisin
(the
"renouncer"),
as
the
seat
of
sacrifice,
which
has
now
been
internalized.
It
is
here,
in
the
inner
fires
of
tapas,
which
fuel
the
offerings
of
one's
vital
breaths
in
the
inner
sacrifice
known
as
the
Tfiignihotra,
that
the
practice
of
yoga
very
likely
had
its
theoretical
origins.
85
In
the
experience
of
the
renouncer,
the
internal
processes
of
yoga
do
nothing
less
than
sustain
him
in
a
life
beyond
death.
It
is
to
this
notion
that
the
HYF
passage
we
evoked
at
the
beginning
of
this
section
alludes:
"killed,
rasa,
like
breath,
revives
itself."
86
It
is
through
this
paradoxical
cess
that
the
hafha
yogin
and
alchemist
ultimately
realize
the
bodily
tality
that
is
the
final
end
of
their
practice.
The
language
both
traditions
employ
to
describe
this
process,
through
which
the
practitioner,
once
"slain"
(m1Ja),
is
able
to
revive
himself
by
tricking,
even
killing
Death,
ries
us
to
the
very
heart
of
Siddha
mysticism:
you
have
to
first
die
to
come
immortal.
This
is
the
import
of
one
of
Gorakhnath's
most
celebrated
biinfs:
"Die
yogi
die,
dying
is
sweet
[when
you]
die
that
death
by
which
Gorakh,
in
dying,
gained
his
vision
[of
the
Absolute,
immortality]."87
An
alchemical
echo
is
provided
in
the
Padmiivat:
"The
Siddha's
immortal
body
is
like
mercury.
You
can
break
it
down,
you
can
kill
it,
but
you
can't
make
it
die."88
What
is
it
that
dies?
It
is
the
gross
body,
a
husk
that
is
to
be
cast
off
like
the
slough
of
a
snake.
How
is
this
body
made
to
die,
in
order
that
the
golden,
adamantine,
or
siddha
body
may
emerge?
As
in
the
processes
cussed
above,
breath
control
plays
an
important
role
here.
So
too,
however,

282
Chapter
Nine
does
the
generation
of
yogic
heat,
of
the
fire
of
yoga
(yogagm)
that
burns
up
the
fire
of
time
or
death
(kalagm).
In
the
former
case,
it
is
once
again
the
two
peripheral
naqls
whose
emptying
is
likened
to
a
death
that
ates
new
life
(the
filling
of
the
sUfUmTfa).
In
the
seal
called
the
mahavedha
(the
"great
penetration"),
"the
breath,
overflowing
the
two
pUfas
...
quickly
bursts
[into
the
medial
channel].
The
union
(sambandha)
of
moon,
sun,
and
fire
which
is
to
occur
surely
results
in
immortality.
When
the
like
state
(m-rtavastha)
arises,
how
can
there
be
fear
of
death?"
89
Passing
through
a
state
of
death
to
bodily
immortality
is
most
especially
effected
through
the
mediation
of
fire-here,
the
inner
fire
in
which
the
renouncer
has
immolated
his
mundane
body
once
he
has
"laid
together"
his
sacrificial
fires.
This
image
is
carried
over
into
the
hathayogic
system,
in
which
the
fires
of
yoga
(also
called
the
fire
of
the
absolute,
the
magnt),
kindled
at
the
base
of
the
subtle
body,
renders
the
medial
channel
a
"cremation
ground"
(fmafana).90
The
hallmark
of
any
cremation
ground
is,
of
course,
its
ashes,
and
it
is
with
ashes
that
every
Saiva
renouncer,
from
time
immemorial,
has
smeared
his
body.
Internal
fires
and
external
ashes
are
brought
together,
in
the
hathayogic
context,
in
two
variations
on
the
vajroll
mudra,
called
the
sahajoll
and
amaroll
mudras.
In
the
former,
the
ners
smear
their
bodies
with
a
mixture
of
cow-dung
ash
and
water
ing
vajroll;
in
the
latter
it
is
a
mixture
of
"the
nectar
that
flows
from
the
moon"
and
ash
that
one
smears
over
one's
body.91
What
are
the
tions
of
this
externalization
of
an
internal
process,
this
wearing
of
one's
yoga
on
one's
sleeve?
The
answer
to
this
question
is
quite
nearly
as
old
as
the
Veda
itself.
5.
Ashes
to
Nectar
I
have
already
mentioned
the
primacy
given
by
the
RA
to
the
eating
of
killed
or
oxidized
mercury
(m1JasUtaka,
also
called
"dead
ash:'
m1Jabhasma)
for
realizing
immortality.92
I
have
further
alluded
to
the
process
of
tion
(jaraTfa)
by
which
such
is
obtained
and
to
the
fabulous
properties
sessed
by
said
mercury.
"Killed"
mercury,
itself
"unresurrectable"
uttha)-that
is,
incapable
of
returning
to
its
prior,
native
state-is
now
capable
of
reviving
other
"killed"
metals.
93
What
is
it
that
makes
rasa
in
its
ashen
(bhasmlbhuta)
state
the
most
optimum
form
of
mercury,
both
for
transmutation
and
transubstantiation?
Throughout
this
book,
we
have
emphasized
the
complementarity
of
the

28
3
The
Dynamics
of
Transformation
three
primal
sacrificial
elements
of
fire,
fluid,
and
air
and
of
their
logues
in
the
bodily
microcosm
and
the
alchemical
mesocosm.
But
what
happens
when
these
essences,
these
these
g;ur:as,
actually
combine?
What
is
the
composite
or
compound
that
is
produced?
Since
the
time
of
the
Vedas,
the
ringing
answer
to
this
question
has
been
ashes.
94
Here,
we
should
note
a
certain
symmetry
between
the
rasa
of
Vedic
sacrifice
and
the
rasa
of
alchemical
practice.
In
the
former
case,
the
raw
material
of
the
sacrificial
oblation
has
no
true
ontic
being
until
it
has
been
cooked,
refined,
transformed,
through
exposure
to
fire.
In
this
context,
ery
natural
and
cultural
process
becomes
a
matter
of
cooking:
in
the
aging
process,
one
is
said
to
be
"cooked
by
time!'95
Elsewhere,
the
advance
into
the
Indian
subcontinent
by
Vedic
culture
was
led
by
Agni,
the
sacrificial
fire
that
was
carried
in
a
firepot,
at
the
vanguard
of
"civilization";
it
is
this
same
sacrificial
fire
that
restores
and
perfects
(sa11fsk,,:)
the
rasa
of
Prajapati
that
flowed
from
him
to
create
the
world.
So
too,
initiation,
cremation,
and
the
passage
into
the
renunciant
stage
of
life
are
all
so
many
cases
of
cooking
"to
a
tum"
that
which
would
otherwise
remain
unaltered,
in
a
raw,
untamed,
undomesticated,
even
uncivilized
form.96
Thus
the
turned-yogi
Goptcand
can
state,
"I
used
to
be
an
unfired
pot,
thrown
whichever
way
[the wheel]
turned.
When
I
was
made
a
Jog!
my
g;uru
did
the
firing."97
In
the
exemplary
cooking
process
that
is
the
sacrifice,
the
most
subtle
remainder
of
the
process
of
combustion,
beyond
the
cooked
"leftovers"
consumed
by
humans
and
the
smoke
and
aroma
of
the
cooked
offering
enjoyed
by
the
gods,
are
ashes,
bhasma[nJ
(from
bhas,
"consume:'
but
also
"shine").
Ashes
are
the
shining
remains
of
what
has
been
consumed;
they
are
the
solid
essence
of
the
combustion
of
fluid
oblation
by
purificatory
fire.
As
such,
ash
is
rasa
in
its
optimal
form-which
is
exactly
what
the
alchemical
tradition
tells
us
in
its
myth
of
the
origin
of
mercury
(rasa).
Its
original
cosmic
matter
being
concealed
by
the
"accidents"
(kaficukas)
of
its
outward
form,
native
mercury
cannot,
in
and
of
itself,
afford
immortality.
It
is
only
after
these
superfluous
accretions
have
been
dispersed,
by
ing
mercury
to
ashes
through
the
alchemical
sa11fskaras,
that
its
inherent
basic
properties
can
be
actualized.
Ash,
bhasma,
is
the
supreme
tion
of
primal
matter.
It
therefore
follows
that
the
reduction
of
mercury,
the
rasa
of
the
absolute,
to
ash
is
tantamount
to
the
recovery
of
a
dial
perfection,
of
the
absolute
before
its
fall
into
nature,
into
tion.
Preternatural
(prior
to
nature)
its
powers
are
therefore
supernatural
(transcending
nature).
At
the
same
time
they
are,
in
a
cyclic
universe,
a

28
4
Chapter
Nine
reminder
of
the
ultimate
destiny
of
the
universe
when
all
things
will
be
reduced
to
dross
(the
serpent
"Remains:'
whose
body
is
composed
of
ash)
and
only
the
pure
gold
remain.
98
Herein
lies
the
root
of
the
Hindu
calcinatory
gnosis.
It
is
in
the
context
of
early
Saivism
that
a
true
"cult"
of
ashes
first
comes
incorporated
into
the
Hindu
tradition.
Ashes,
called
either
bhasma
or
vibhuti
("omnipresent:'
a
term
synonymous
with
siddhi,
or
the
eight
dhis
taken
as
an
aggregate),
have
since
at
least
the
time
of
the
Pasupatas
been
integral
to
Saiva
initiation
and
worship.
Initiation
involves
bathing
in
ashes
(bhasma-sniina),
while
the
worship
of
Bhairava
entails
smearing
dung
ash
on
the
forehead-in
place
of
the
normal
blood-red
sindura-as
well
as
consuming
a
pinch
of
said
ash.
99
In
so
doing,
humans
are,
of
course,
merely
imitating
the
supreme
god
himself,
whose
own
dark
body
is
made
luminous
by
the
patina
of
iridescent
ashes
with
which
he
besmears
himself
and
the
stuff
of
whose
body
is
in
fact
ashen.
Tradition
in
fact
holds
that
Siva
first
took
to
wearing
ashes
ing
his
incineration
of
Kama,
the
Hindu
Eros,
in
an
irrefutable
proof
that
the
fires
of
yoga
(yogiignt)
were
greater
than
those
of
burning
passion
miignt)'
Unmoved
after
having
been
pierced
by
Kama's
arrows
of
lust,
Siva
opened
his
third
eye-located
at
the
level
of
the
iijiiii
cakra-and,
with
the
supernatural
accumulation
of
thermal
energy
that
his
yoga
had
afforded
him,
reduced
Love's
body
to
ashes.
The
fire
that
burned
Kama
was
at
once
the
sublimate
of
Siva's
rasa
(for
Siva,
as
a
yogin,
is
urddhvaretas),
his
yogic
breaths,
and
the
heat
of
his
yogic
austerities.
The
refined
essence
of
these
three
elements-ashes-were
taken
by
Siva
and
smeared
over
his
body
together
(as
we
are
told
in
one
version
of
the
myth)
with
mercury,
said
to
be
the
concrete
form
taken
by
his
agitation
at
the
sight
of
Parvati
in
this
myth.
100
In
another
myth,
Siva
shows
his
superiority
over
a
human
ascetic
named
Mankanaka
when
the
latter,
having
pierced
his
skin,
"bleeds"
pure
table
sap
(fiikarasa).
He
then
dances
for
joy,
proclaiming
that
his
austerities
have
been
successful
(siddha).
When
Siva
does
likewise,
and
bleeds
pure,
snowy-white
bhasma,
the
chastened
ascetic
is
obliged
to
acknowledge
the
great
god's
supremacy.lO!
Elsewhere,
a
myth
from
the
RA
(II.IS8-6I)
lates
how
the
demon
Ruru,
having
eaten
a
pala
of
twelve-times-calcinated
mercurial
ash
(bhasmasiitaka),
uproots
the
earth
and
pulverizes
Siva's
Mount
Kailash.
Siva
"kills"
mercury
in
combination
with
lead
and
red
nic,
smears
this
amalgam
on
the
tips
of
his
trident,
and
laminates
Ruru.
This
parallelism,
between
ash
and
rasa,
is
explained,
in
what
may
be

.85
The
Dynamics
ofTransfonnation
termed
a
"theology
of
ashes:'
at
the
conclusion
of
the
important
myth
of
Siva
in
the
Pine
Forest.
Here,
after
the
phallic
god
has
brought
a
group
of
uncomprehending
Vedic
sages
to
heel,
he
explains
to
them
the
importance
of
ashes.
I
am
Agni
joined
with
Soma
...
The
supreme
purification
of
the
verse
is
to
be
accomplished
with
ashes;
I
fortify
my
seed
with
ashes
and
sprinkle
creatures
with
it
...
By
means
of
ashes,
my
seed,
one
is
released
from
all
sin
...
Ashes
are
known
as
my
seed,
and
I
bear
my
own
seed
upon
my
body
...
Let
a
man
smear
his
body
until
it
is
pale
with
ashes
...
Then
he
attains
the
status
of
Lord
of
the
Host
(gii,,!apatyam)
...
and
grasps
the
supreme
ambrosia.10
2
Siva's
subsequent
initiation
of
the
Vedic
sages
culminates
in
an
ashen
bath,
a
bhasma-sniina,
after
the
model
of
Pasupata
initiation
rites.
The
role
of
ashes
in
initiation
has
a
much
more
ancient
pedigree,
however,
as
tested
in
an
important
myth
from
the
Mahiibhiirata.
This
is
the
epic
myth
ofKavya
Usanas
and
his
disciple
Kaca,
a
myth
which,
while
it
bears
a
ber
of
common
themes
with
an
Indo-Iranian
myth,
is
nonetheless
Hindu
in
the
detail
that
concerns
US.IO
J
Here,
Kaca,
the
son
of
Brhaspati,
the
lain
of
the
gods
(and
grandson
of
Ailgiras,
"Ember"),
has
been
sent
to
vya
Usanas,
the
chaplain
of
the
Asuras,
the
antigods,
to
wrest
the
secret
of
immortality
from
him.
Through
a
number
of
plot
twists,
Kaca
not
only
becomes
the
disciple
(for
five
hundred
years)
ofKavya
Usanas,
but
also
the
beloved
of
the
latter's
daughter,
Devayani.
He
is
hated
and
feared,
however,
by
the
anti
gods,
who
see
him,
quite
rightly,
as
an
enemy
agent.
They
fore
kill
and
feed
the
boy
to
wolves,
only
to
see
him
revived
when
Kavya
Usanas
pronounces
his
immortality
formula
over
the
boy's
scattered
mains.
The
formula
once
pronounced,
the
boy
bursts
out
of
the
bodies
of
the
wolves,
killing
them
as
he
himself
is
reconstituted.
The
anti
gods
then
kill
the
boy
again,
but
this
time
they
bum
his
body
and
place
the
ashes
in
Kavya
Usanas's
evening
cordial.
When
the
guru
calls
out
to
his
disciple,
the
boy
answers
him
from
within
his
belly.
Now
the
only
way
to
save
Kaca
is
to
reveal
to
him
the
secret
of
immortality,
such
that
Kaca,
once
he
has
been
revived
by
bursting
out
of
Kavya
Usanas's
body,
might
revive
his
guru
in
tum.
When
Devayani
says,
"Do
it,
Daddy,"
Kavya
Usanas
has
to
give
in
and
so
initiates
his
disciple
into
the
secret
of
immortality.
When
the
formula
is
spoken,
the
boy
bursts
"like
a
full
moon"
out
of
his
guru's
body;
he
then
revives
his
guru.
This
myth,
which
brings
together
the
consumption
of
ashes,
the
trans-

286
Chapter
Nine
mission
of
a
secret
of
immortality,
and
initiation,
also
seems
to
be
the
totype
for
myths
of
tantric
transmission,
in
which
the
guru
becomes
the
disciple
of
his
disciple,
and
the
disciple
the
guru
of
his
guru.
It
is,
as
well,
a
humanization
of
the
myths
of
the
great
gods
Agni
and
Prajapati
and
an
alloform
of
the
legend
of
Gorakh
and
his
guru
Matsyendra.
As
such,
it
may
well
be,
as
Georges
Dumezil
maintains,
that
"within
the
corporate
body
of
sorcerers,
the
disciple
is
just
as
important
as
his
master
as
concerns
the
continued
transmission
of
the
...
supernatural
knowledge
that
is
its
monwealth
and
its
justification.
Each
needs
the
other!'
[04
In
this
particular
myth,
Kaca's
initiation
further
serves
to
render
him
Kavya
Usanas's
"biological"
son.
As
such,
he
is,
in
a
sense,
Siva's
grandson,
given
that
Kavya
Usanas
himself
once
entered
into
the
body
of
Siva,
from
which
he
exited
in
the
form
of
a
figure
named
Sukra
("Semen")
as
the
result
of
that
god's
yogic
powers
of
digestion.
!Os
Kavya
Usanas's
legacy
lives
on
in
medieval
alchemical-as
well
as
certain
modern
medical-traditions,
in
which
the
perfected
alchemist
is
called
a
kavi
(an
alchemical
wizard)
and
the
Bengali
Ayurvedic
physician
a
kaviriij.
The
successful
alchemist
is
a
kavi
because
he,
like
the
asura
Kavya
Usanas
(Usanas,
son
of
a
kavz),
is
capable,
through
his
poetic
incantations
and
mystic
knowledge,
to
bend
nature
to
his
will
and
thereby
realize
wealth,
invincibility,
and
immortality
for
himself.
106
The
symbolic
use
of
ashes
by
Saiva
sectarians
has
become
greatly
panded
since
the
age
of
the
initiatory
practices
we
have
outlined
to
this
point.
So
it
is
that
the
cremation
ground,
upon
which
human
corpses
are
summarily
reduced
to
ashes,
was
long
the
preferred
haunt
of
tantrikas
who,
in
their
drug-
or
austerity-induced
trances,
saw
and
danced
with
the
wild
and
fulminating
Kali
and
Bhairava.
The
infernal
dance
of
this
divine
pair
is
purificatory,
serving
as
it
does
to
burn
away
the
decaying
matter
of
a
dying
cosmos-both
within
themselves,
in
the
bodies
consumed
there,
and
in
the
universal
conflagration
for
which
the
burning
ground
is
a
cosm-for
it
is
only
when
an
ash-smeared
Siva
incinerates
the
universe
with
his
ecstatic
dance
that
universal
liberation
becomes
possible.
A
body
of
devotional
practices
offered,
in
coastal
Andhra
Pradesh,
to
the
terrible
Saiva
divinity
Virabhadra,
constitutes
yet
another
practical
tension
of
the
Saiva
theology
of
ashes.
Here,
the
"growing"
bodies
of
"ash
fruits:'
formed
of
a
mixture
of
cow-dung
ash
and
acacia
gum,
are
at
once
ritual
reminders
of
the
postmortem
life
of
the
dead,
the
"fruits"
of
ka'l7tla,
and
manifestations
of
the
expansive
power
of
vibhiiti,
which
is
homologized
with
semen,
blood,
and
bone
in
this
tradition.
These
"ash
fruits"
are
called

28
7
The
Dynamics
of
Transformation
pi,,!qas,
"balls:'
which
is
the
same
term
as
is
employed
for
the
rice
balls
offered
to
the
deceased
in
Hindu
funerary
rites,
for
aniconic
stone
ments
to
the
dead
which
go
back
to
the
dawn
of
human
civilization,
for
the
embryo
in
the
womb
(all
signified
by
the
Marathi
pi"!4>,
as
well
as
the
Siva
linga
(Marathi
pi"!4t),
the
head
as
sacrificial
offering
or,
conversely,
the
man
torso
or
body
as
a
whole.107
It
is
this
final
usage
of
the
term
pi,,!q
that
is
most
common
among
the
Nath
Siddhas.
The
human
body
is
a
pi,,!q,
a
"ball:'
which
can
be
transformed,
through
initiation,
yoga,
and
alchemy,
into
an
immortal
body.
In
the
last
chapter,
I
noted
another
usage
of
this
minimalist
definition
of
the
body
as
a
sphere
or
globe:
this
was
the
suffix
-oli
found
in
such
terms
as
garbholi
(the
round
fetus
in
the
womb),
a
term
that
may
bear
some
connection
with
the
Hindi
term
for
hailstone,
olt.
where,
the
insignia
of
the
Naga
akha4as
(whose
close
relationship
to
the
Nath
Siddha
orders
has
been
noted)
are
nothing
other
than
globes
(golas)
of
ash;108
and
the
pills
of
mercurial
ash
which,
held
in
the
mouth,
cause
a
wholly
subtle
and
immortal
alchemical
body
to
emerge
out
of
the
husk
of
the
gross,
biological
body
are
called
gulika
(or
gut
ikas
),
"globules."
109
According
to
Siddha
logic,
these
are
the
wombs
from
which
new
life
will
emerge:
ashen
globules
engender
immortal
globes.
This
leitmotif
of
Siddha
theory
and
practice
is
epitomized
in
the
legend
of
the
birth
of
Kayanath
("Body-Nath"),
a
figure
who
likely
lived
in
the
seventeenth
century,
in
the
Jhelum
district
of
present-day
Pakistan,
cally
one
of
the
most
important
centers
of
the
Nath
sampradaya.
110
One
day,
Gorakhnath
held
a
great
feast
for
his
fellow
yogins.
When
the
food
had
been
dished
out
on
leaf
plates,
the
place
of
honor
was
given
to
Gorakhnath's
venerable
disciple
Ratannath.
As
fate
would
have
it,
there
were
two
plates
of
food
lying
before
Ratannath
when
he
sat
down.
After
eating
the
food
from
the
first
plate,
Ratannath
then
stood
before
the
second
plate.
Having
pronounced
a
mantra,
he
then
caused
ashes
to
flow
from
his
body,
after
the
fashion
of
Siva.
These
he
fashioned
into
a
ball,
which
he
placed
before
the
second
plate
of
food.
He
then
announced
that
that
ball
of
ashes
would
eat
the
food
sitting
in
front
of
it.
The
other
yogins,
who
had
begun
to
laugh,
were
quickly
silenced
when
they
saw
that
Ratannath's
yogic
energy
was
causing
the
ball
of
ashes
to
expand.
The
ball
then
split
open
and
a
laughing,
fully-formed
boy
emerged
from
it
and
set
about
eating
the
food
on
the
plate
before
him.
It
was
then
decided
that
this
boy
should
be
given
a
name
and
initiation
into
the
Nath
order.
Gor-

Chapter
Nine
akh
named
the
boy
Kayanath,
son
of
Ratannath;
and
Vicarnath
ated
him.
Kayanath
later
became
the
abbot
of
the
Bhera
monastery,
performed
many
miracles,
and
lived
to
the
age
of
IO
I
years
before
quitting
his
body.1l1
While
the
account
of
Kayanath's
birth
constitutes
the
richest
example
of
the
symbolic
use
of
ashes
by
the
Nath
Siddhas,
it
is
by
no
means
the
earliest
such
legend.
No
less
a
figure
than
Gorakhnath
himself
is
the
uct
of
a
similar
manipulation
of
ashes.
In
a
legend
known
throughout
northern
India
and
Nepal,
Gorakhnath
is
himself
the
product
of
ashes
and
cow
dung-whence
his
name
Go-rakh
("Cow-Ash").
As
the
story
goes,
a
brahmin
woman
who
desires
a
son
is
given
a
pinch
of
ash
by
Matsyendra,
who
instructs
her
to
eat
it
together
with
milk,
following
her
purificatory
bath
after
her
next
menses.
Instead
of
eating
the
ash,
she
throws
it
onto
a
heap
of
cow
dung
behind
her
hut.
Twelve
years
later,
Matsyendra
returns
and
asks
for
news
of
his
son.
When
the
woman
avows
that
she
had
carded
the
ash,
Matsyendra
scoops
away
twelve
years
of
accumulated
cow
dung
to
reveal
a
perfect
twelve-year-old
child
yogin-for
the
boy
has
been
practicing
his
sadhanas
there
since
birth-whom
he
names
Gorakh
and
makes
his
disciple.
112
Gorakh's
ashen
dunghill,
both
a
womb
(like
the
wells
in
which
Nath
Siddhas
of
legend
meditated
for
twelve
years)
and
a
tumulus
(like
the
dhis
under
which
Nath
Siddhas
are
buried),
has
its
most
significant
tural
parallel
in
what
is
perhaps
that
sect's
most
important
external
tribute.
This
is
the
dhilni
(from
dhil,
"waft")
a
conical
pile
of
wood
ash
and
cow-dung
ash
which
the
wandering
yogin
heaps
up
wherever
he
alights.
Its
fire
warms
him,
its
coals
serve
to
light
his
chillum
pipe,
and
its
ash
is
both
the
present
or
grace
(prasada)
he
bestows
upon
all
who
come
to
visit
him
and
the
substance
with
which
he
smears
his
own
body
in
imitation
of
Siva.113
More
than
a
rough
and
ready
hearth,
the
dhilni
is,
quite
literally,
a
double
of
the
yogin's
subtle
body,
a
body
that
has
already
been
cooked
and
transformed
through
his
yogic
austerities.
The
ashes
of
the
dhilni
represent
the
continuity
of
his
unending
sadhanas
and
thereby
of
his
immortal
subtle
body.
Long
after
a
yogin
has
quit
his
mundane
body,
his
dhilni
(maintained
and
kept
burning,
in
some
cases,
for
centuries),
like
his
samadhi,
remains
as
a
memorial
and
testimony
to
his
continuing
presence
in
the
world.
India
is
a
country
dotted
with
the
samadhis
and
dhilnis
of
its
great
yogins,
whose
eternal
essence
is
epitomized
through
ashes.u
4
This
is
an
identification

28
9
The
Dynamics
of
Transformation
that
is
borne
out
in
a
great
number
of
Nath
legends,
which
we
now
pass
in
review.
Just
as
his
divine
guru
Siva
had
done
to
him
upon
his
own
initiation,
Matsyendra,
after
he
has
exhumed
Gorakh,
initiates
him
with
a
bath
of
ashes.
Gorakh
does
the
same
to
his
disciples,
first
"creating"
them
from
ashes
and
then
initiating
them
with
more
of
the
same.
The
Nath
Siddhas,
and
Gorakh
in
particular,
are
great
yogic
progenitors,
fecundating
women
with
their
yogic
"seed:'
which
they
carry
in
their
wallets
(jholt)
in
the
form
of
rice
grains,
barleycorns,
ashes,
or
water
in
which
their
loincloth
has
been
washed.
A
number
of
Gorakh's
illustrious
disciples,
including
Guga
Pir
and
are
conceived
and
born
in
this
way.
115
Like
calcinated
mercury,
the
ashes
of
a
Nath
Siddha
are
capable
of
transforming
matter
in
a
myriad
of
other
ways.
In
the
legend
of
PfiraJ?
Bhagat,
Gorakh
turns
bullocks
into
men
and
women
into
asses
with
ashes;
with
ashes
he
dries
up
wells
and
causes
a
garden
to
burst
into
bloom.
In
the
legend
of
Gfiga
Pir,
Gorakh
creates
gemstones
and
caters
a
wedding
with
ashes.
Pavannath
enriches
an
old
brahmin
couple
with
a
gift
of
ashes
that
transforms
their
poverty
into
wealth.
With
ashes
from
his
dhunf,
iknath
flattens
a
wall.
1l6
Another
Nath
Siddha
tradition
relates
the
creation
of
the
earth
from
ashes
from
the
dhunf
of
the
Goddess
Sakti.
When
Siva
promises
to
marry
her,
Sakti
gives
Siva
two
handfuls
of
ash
from
her
dhunf:
when
these
ashes
are
strewn
upon
the
waters,
the
earth
is
created.
In
a
similar
account,
creates
the
earth
with
ashes
from
Gorakh's
dhunf.
Yet,
it
is
also
ashes
to
which
the
universe
will
return,
and
these
are
the
ashes
that
form
the
body
of
the
cosmic
serpent
But
is
also
a
venomous
serpent,
whose
fiery
breath
itself
reduces
all
matter
to
ashes.
117
As
such,
he
is
like
Siva
who,
possessed
of
an
ashen
body
and
wearing
ashes
on
his
yogic
body,
also
reduces
all
matter
to
ashes
in
the
universal
tion-a
dissolution
dramatized
in
his
incineration
of
Kama
with
the
yogic
fire
he
emitted
from
his
third
eye.
Siva's
creative
semen
becomes
tive
when
it
has
become
transformed,
yogically,
through
the
raising
of
the
internal
kUTfqalinf
serpent,
into
fire;
yet
it
is
also
by
virtue
of
his
yogic
tice
that
he
is
immune
to
the
calcinating
poison
spat
by
the
great
serpent
Vasuki,
which,
when
he
drinks
it
in
the
myth
of
the
churning
of
the
Ocean
of
Milk,
turns
his
throat
blue.
The
symmetry
that
emerges
out
of
this
data
parallels
that
of
the
course
of
binding
and
piercing:
just
as
the
Siddha,
by
virtue
of
has
having
bound
and
pierced
the
volatile
elements
of
his
alchemical
body,
himself

Chapter
Nine
becomes
unbindable
and
impenetrable
and
all-binding
and
all-penetrating;
so
the
same
Siddha,
by
virtue
of
having
calcinated
and
reduced
his
ical
body
to
ashes,
himself
becomes
uncalcinable
and
all-calcinating,
an
ashen,
ash-smeared,
ash-producing,
alchemical
touchstone.
6.
Reversal
and
Transformation
Our
discussion
of
the
transformative
powers
of
the
ashes
of
death
has
ried
us
somewhat
far
afield
of
our
survey
of
the
serial
progression
of
the
alchemical
operations
in
their
relationship
to
the
theory
and
practice
of
hatha
yoga.
In
order
that
we
might
return
to
this
progression,
let
us
recall
here
that
while
swooning
(murcchana),
the
third
alchemical
is
a
prelude
to
the
powerful
and
trans
formative
operations
of
binding
dhana)
and
killing
(mara"!a),
it
also
precedes
four
through
teen,
as
those
operations
are
described
in
the
alchemical
sources.
With
four
through
eight,
we
find
ourselves
in
the
presence
of
what
appears
to
be
a
series
of
priming
techniques
not
unlike
those
of
yogic
pra,,!ayama
or
the
alternating
ascent
and
descent
of
the
ku"!4alini.
Following
its
swooning,
mercury
is
first
resurrected
(utthapana),
after
which
it
is
made
to
fall
(patana).
Next,
it
is
awakened
(bodhana)
or
suppressed
(rodhana),
then
restrained
(niyamana),
and
lastly
kindled
(dtpana).
As
in
alchemy,
utthapana
is
a
term
employed
in
hathayogic
discourse
to
designate
an
important
"phase
change?'
The
ku"!4alini,
when
she
is
enedfrom
her
sleep,
rises
up
(ut-tha)
along
the
length
of
the
medial
nel.
Because
the
raising
of
the
ku"!4alini
is
a
repeated
practice,
she
quite
naturally
falls
down
again
(pat)
to
the
base
of
the
subtle
body
after
the
yogin
has
reemerged
from
his
state
of
yogic
withdrawal.
As
shown
in
the
last
chapter,
the
ku"!4alini
can
be
made
to
fall
or
fly
upwards
as
well,
after
the
fashion
of
the
alchemical
patana
apparatus.
118
The
experienced
yogin
may,
of
course,
raise
and
lower
his
vital
breath,
energy,
seed,
and
sciousness
at
will,
which
translates
into
so
many
withdrawals
from
and
turns
to
mundane
consciousness.
When
he
finally
chooses
to
opt out
of
mundane
existence
altogether,
he
definitively
halts
the
downward
flow
and
enters
into
samadhi.
More
common
than
the
term
utthapana
in
hathayogic
parlance
is
the
term
bodhana,
the
awakening
of
the
ku"!4alini.1l9
Now,
it
happens
that
chemical
sources
alternate
between
the
terms
bodhana
and
rodhana
to
nate
this
sixth
operation,
in
which
wholly
stabilized
mercury
is
naturally

The
Dynamics
of
Transformation
activated
through
combination
with
female
sulfur.
The
same
alternation
is
found
in
the
KauliivaltnirFfaya,
a
sixteenth-century
ritual
compilation,
which
terms
the
bindu
of
the
subtle
body,
located
above
the
sixth,
the
iijfiii
cakra,
as
either
Bodhini
("she
who
awakens")
or
Rodhini
("she
who
structs").
In
order
to
understand
this
terminology,
we
must
recall
that
the
tion
of
the
Kaula
universe
is,
on
the
microcosmic
level,
phonematic
as
well
as
material.
All
that
exists
is
ultimately
acoustic,
vibratory
in
nature,
an
emanate
or
devolute
of
the
primeval
sonic
vibration
that
gave
rise
to
all
creation,
the
mantra
On:z.
When
projected
upon
the
subtle
body,
this
acoustic
emanation
takes
the
form
of
the
fifty-one
phonemes
(miitrkiis,
"matrices"
of
subtle
sound)
of
the
Sanskrit
alphabet,
which
are
situated
on
the
petals
of
the
cakras
(styled
as
lotuses)
of
the
subtle
body.
When
the
yogin
raises
the
inner
kUrJqalint,
he
is
in
effect
telescoping
these
phonemes
back
into
their
higher
emanates,
causing
the
last
and
"lowest"
phonemes,
the
final
letters
of
the
alphabet,
to
be
absorbed
into
ever
more
subtle
nemes,
culminating
in
the
vowels
and
the
phonemes
ha
and
kfa.
These
two
ultimate
phonemes
are
located
on
the
two
petals
of
the
sixth
cakra,
the
iijfiii,
which
is
situated
behind
the
meeting
point
of
the
two
eyebrows.
The
hierarchy
of
sound
does
not
end
here,
however,
since
manifest
sound
is
but
the
emanate
of
a
subtler,
nonmanifest
vibration.
Beyond
the
iijfiii,
fore,
exist
a
number
of
levels
of
increasingly
subtle
substrates
of
sound,
through
which
manifest
sound
is
made
to
shade
into
nonmanifest
sound.
These
shadings,
located,
in
the
subtle
body,
between
the
iijfiii
and
the
crown
of
the
head
(or
even
beyond,
i.e.,
outside
the
contours
of
the
body,
in
a
number
of
systems),
generally
include
niida
(resonance),
bindu
(drop),
and
btja
(seed).12o
This
brings
us
back
to
the
bodhintlrodhint
alternation,
which
presumably
occurs
because
the
mundane
mind
(manas)
becomes
obstructed,
held
back
at
this
point
in
tantric
meditation:
but
this
suppression
(rodhana)
of
the
fickle
mind
is
nothing
other
than
the
first
awakening
(bodhana)
of
divine
consciousness.
121
The
hathayogic
use
of
the
latter
term
has
been
described:
after
a
period
of
sleep,
the
kUrJqalint
awakens
to
rise
along
the
medial
nel
and
thereby
transform
the
yogin's
body
and
being.
The
former
is
also
an
important
term
in
the
yogic
practice
of
the
Krama
Kaula,
in
which
dhana
designates
"coagulation!'
When
the
yogin
penetrates
the
void,
he
falls
prey
to
the
residues
of
prior
thoughts,
acts,
events,
and
impressions.
The
yogin
coagulates
(rodhana)
these
residues
into
a
single
mass
which
he
then
melts
down
or
liquidates
(dravarJa)
through
meditation
on
the
circle

Chapter
Nine
of
Kalis.
Through
successive
coagulations
and
liquifications
these
are
mately
annihilated,
permitting
the
mystic
to
penetrate
the
ineffable
void.
122
With
this,
there
comes
the
dawning
of
the
light
of
pure
consciousness,
a
possible
parallel
to
the
eighth
alchemical
operation,
dlpana.
While
most
of
the
parallels
between
these
four
preparatory
alchemical
san:zskaras
on
the
one
hand
and
yogic
and
tantric
precept
and
practice
on
the
other
are
nonexplicit
and
tenuous
at
best,
we
find
ourselves
on
firmer
ground
in
the
case
of
jararJa,
the
thirteenth
san:zskara.
]ararJa,
it
will
be
called,
consists
of
the
stadial
consumption
or
digestion
of
ever-increasing
quantities
of
mica
or
sulfur
by
mercury,
until
said
mercury
becomes
bound
(baddha)
or
killed
(m1Ja).123
This
is
a
progressive
operation,
in
which
cury;
by
taking
increasingly
large
mouthfuls
(f!7asa)
of
mica,
in
six
sive
operations,
becomes
calcinated.
At
each
stage
in
this
process,
the
cury
in
question
becomes
physically
altered:
in
the
first
stage,
in
which
it
consumes
one
sixty-fourth
of
its
mass
of
mica,
mercury
becomes
rodlike
(darJ4a[vat]).
It
next
takes
on
the
consistency
of
a
leech,
then
that
of
crow
droppings,
whey,
and
butter.
With
its
sixth
and
final
"mouthful;'
in
which
mercury
swallows
one-half
its
mass
of
mica,
it
becomes
a
spherical
solid.
124
This
six-step
process,
by
which
mercury
is
bound,
is
followed
by
other
six-step
process,
in
which
the
proportions
of
mica
or
sulfur
lowed
by
mercury
greatly
increase.
It
is
this
latter
process
that
constitutes
jararJa
proper.
Mter
praying
to
Lord
Siva
that
he
"swallow
my
ful;'
125
the
alchemist
causes
mercury
to
absorb
a
mass
of
mica
equal
to
its
own.
Next,
mercury
is
made
to
swallow
twice
its
mass
of
mica,
and
so
on
until
the
proportions
ultimately
reach
I
:6,
with
mercury
absorbing
six
times
its
mass
of
mica.
In
this
final
and
optimal
phase
mercury,
said
to
be
"six-times
killed;'
is
possessed
of
fantastic
powers
of
transmutation.
126
More
superior
yet
is
a
sequence
called
khecari
jararJa,
in
which
mercury
is
made
to
absorb
vast
quantities
of
powdered
gemstones,
the
densest
stances
known
to
man.
At
the
conclusion
of
this
process,
mercury
takes
the
shape
of
a
linga.
The
alchemist
who
ingests
said
mercury
is
immediately
transported
to
the
realms
of
the
gods,
Siddhas,
and
Vidyadharas.
J27
ern
researchers
in
rasa
sastra
lament
the
fact
that
a
certain
step
in
the
nique
of
jararJa
has
been
lost,
and
with
it
the
ability
to
transmute
base
metals
into
gold
and
afford
immortality
and
eternal
youth.
128
We
may
adduce
three
hathayogic
parallels
to
alchemical
jararJa,
i.e.,
sorption
or
digestion.
The
first
and
most
obvious
of
these
is
the
six-stage
process
of
the
piercing
of
the
cakras.
When
the
yogin
raises
his
seed,
breath,
and
energy
through
the
six
cakras,
he
does
nothing
less
than
effect

293
The
Dynamics
of
Transformation
the
reabsorption,
on
a
microcosmic
level,
of
the
five
sense-CapaCItleS,
action-capacities,
and
subtle
and
gross
elements
back
into
their
ethereal
essence.
So
it
is
that
the
element
earth,
predominant
in
the
lowest
cakra,
the
muladhara,
becomes
absorbed
into
the
element
water
at
the
level
of
the
second
cakra,
the
svadhiffhana.
Water
is
absorbed
back
into
fire
at
the
third
cakra,
the
m01!ipura;
fire
into
air
at
the
fourth,
or
anahata
cakra;
and
air
into
ether
at
the
fifth
cakra,
the
vifuddhi.
All
are
telescoped,
swallowed
back,
into
the
mind
(manas)
which,
identified
with
the
sixth
cakra,
the
ajfia,
will,
in
the
final
phases
of
this
process,
itself
be
absorbed
into
its
source
and
essence,
the
pure
Siva-consciousness
located
in
the
thousand-petaled
cakra
of
the
cranial
vault.
This
process
is
said,
in
a
banI
of
Gorakhnath,
to
effect
the
absorption
or
digestion
(jar
ana)
of
the
celibate
yogin's
seed
back
into
its
ambrosial
sence,
by
which
he
himself
is
rendered
immortal.
He
who
is
unable
to
retain
his
seed,
however,
is
condemned
to
death.
129
As
we
have
already
shown,
it
is
not
semen
alone
that
is
raised
and
transformed
through
the
stage
piercing
of
the
cakras.
The
rise
of
the
kU1f4alini
is
also
a
telescoping
of
sound
back
into
its
primal
unmanifest
substrate.
It
is
this
dynamic
that
grounds
the
practice
of
mantra
yoga,
the
acoustic
complement
to
the
hydraulic
techniques
of
hafha
yoga.
This
process,
characterized
by
deepening
states
of
yogic
absorption,
is
qualitatively
measured
in
terms
of
the
audition
of
increasingly
subtle
sounds
(nada).
An
important
turning
point
in
this
process,
known
as
"reversing
the
nada,"
130
occurs
when
the
external
voicing
of
mantras
yields
to
the
audition
of
unvoiced
mantras
called
the
"unstruck
sound"
(anahata
nada).lll
So
it
is
that
as
the
yogin's
consciousness
is
raised
through
the
final
phases
of
yogic
practice,
the
anahata
nada,
which
begins
to
reverberate
at
the
level
of
the
heart,
undergoes
a
series
of
qualitative
transformations,
successively
sounding
like
the
roar
of
the
ocean,
of
clouds,
the
sound
of
the
kettledrum,
conch,
bell,
horn,
flute,
lute,
and
finally,
the
buzzing
of
bees.132
These
transformations,
to
ever
subtler
levels
of
sound,
effect
the
total
absorption
of
the
yogin's
mind.
Becoming
one
with
its
object
of
knowledge-i.e.,
the
Siva-consciousness
that
is
the
substrate
of
all
sound
and
being-it
becomes
fused
with
this
object
of
knowledge
and
telescoped,
absorbed,
dissolved
into
it.
III
These
homologies,
between
hafha
yoga,
mantra
yoga,
and
alchemy,
are
seemingly
taken
for
granted in
a
passage
from
the
HYP
(4.96),
which
states
that
"the
mind
is
like
mercury
which,
bound
(baddham)
and
freed
from
its
transitory
nature
through
its
assimilation
(jara1fa)
of
the
sulfur
of
mantric
vibration
(nada),
wanders
about
in
the
ether."
134
A
similar
use
of

294
Chapter
Nine
terminology
may
be
found
in
the
alchemical
RRS,
which
designates
the
ultimate
phase
of
alchemical
jiira,,?a,
by
which
a
mercurial
compound
is
roasted
in
a
pUfa
with
six
times
its
mass
of
sulfur,
as
sabija-bandha
("binding
with
seed").
135
In
addition
to
such
qualitative
measures
of
absorption
as
the
inaudible
sounds
heard
by
the
yogin
in
his
practice,
there
also
exists
a
set
of
tive
measures
of
the
same,
which
moreover
appear
to
bear
a
direct
ship
to
an
alchemical
progression
of
a
similar
order.
These
are
related
to
the
iisanas,
the
yogic
postures,
through
which
the
yogin
not
only
lizes
his
body,
but
also
his
breath,
seed,
and
mental
activities.
IJ6
taining
a
yogic
posture
alone
requires
tremendous
powers
of
tion,
and
so
we
should
not
be
surprised
to
find
a
quantitative
measure
of
immobility
combined
with
breath
retention
to
be
a
yardstick
for
yogic
tegration.
Here
it
is
the
four-second
miitra
("measure
of
time")
or
paia
(the
equivalent
of
six
miitras,
i.e.,
24
seconds)
that
is
of
critical
interest.
As
one
retains
a
yogic
posture
and
one's
breath
for
an
increasing
number
of
paias,
ever-dilating
durations
of
time,
one
acquires
ever
more
fantastic
siddhis.
After
twenty-four
years-i.e.,
60
X
24
X
365
X
24
paias,
the
highest
tiple
in
this
progression-of
total
yogic
absorption,
one
outsurvives
the
universal
dissolution,
in
which
even
the
gods
Brahma,
and
Siva
perish.
l37
This
notion
of
a
"geometric
progression"
of
a
durational
order
has
its
alchemical
parallel,
in
which
the
consumption
of
an
increasing
number
of
paias
("straws;'
here
a
unit
of
weight
equivalent
to
82.624
grams)
of
cury
that
has
undergone
the
process
of
jiira,,?a
with
mica
yields
a
dilating
life
span,
such
that
the
consumption
of
ten
paias
renders
the
alchemist
a
second
Siva.
lJ8
When
rasa
and
breath
control
constitute
the
Work
in
two
parts,
a
time-mass
continuum
of
this
order
is
quite
natural.
The
impacts
of
these
two
allied
practices
on
the
human
body
are
also
identical:
one
can
neither
be
consumed
by
old
age
(ajara)
nor
by
death
(amara).
We
will
cuss
other
important
progressions
of
the
same
order
in
the
next
chapter.
7.
The
Legends
of
Gopicand
and
Cauratiginath:
Alchemical
Allegories?
According
to
legend,
countless
Nath
Siddhas
have
closed
themselves
into
wells
or
caves
for
twelve-year
periods
to
emerge
with
transformed
bodies;
six
months
of
yogic
or
alchemical
austerities
are
said,
in
guides
to
hatha-

295
The
Dynamics
of
Transformation
yogic
practice,
to
produce
the
same
result.139
Elsewhere,
we
have
already
seen
how
Dharamnath
was
able
to
incinerate
the
(since
then)
lost
city
of
Pattan
and
a
good
part
of
the
Sind
bysimply
remaining
motionless,
ing
on
his
head
atop
a
betel-nut
or
sopari
stone
for
twelve
years.
140
There
exist,
however,
a
number
oflegends
of
the
Nath
Siddhas
in
which
yogic
immobility
is
raised
to
a
higher
level
than
the
mere
retention
of
some
fixed
posture.
These
are
the
many
accounts
of
dismemberment,
tion,
or
exile
that,
in
a
sense,
set
the
Nath
Siddhas
apart
from
other
yogic
traditions.
Shashibhushan
Dasgupta
refers
to
these
in
his
discussion
of
the
"general
air
of
supernaturalism"
proper
to
Nath
Siddha
traditions.
Others,
such
as
Eliade
and
Van
Kooij,
find
in
these
accounts
traces
of
the
shamanic
origins
ofNath
Siddha
practices.
While
many
of
these
feats-like
those
of
the
Taoist
magicians
and
mortals
in
China-may
indeed
be
typologized
as
shamanic,
following
the
"morphology"
of
this
phenomenon
so
beautifully
developed
by
Mircea
Eliade,141
they
also
betray
an
alchemical
stamp.
Mercury
and
its
pounds
in
flux
are
never
anthropomorphized
in
the
Indian
alchemical
texts
(where
they
are
either
deified
or
zoomorphized)
as
they
are
in
western
chemical
traditions,
in
which
the
corpus
alchymicum
of
the
"Ethiopian"
or
"Son
of
God"
is
dismembered,
crushed,
cooked,
etc.
to
be
resuscitated
in
a
new
divine
form.
It
is
rather
in
the
legends
of
the
Nath
Siddhas
that
such
allegorical
dismemberments
and
tortures
occur;
and
while
the
origins
of
these
accounts
may
be
as
old
as
religion
itself,
the
"gloss"
they
receive
in
Nath
Siddha
mythology
appears
to
be
both
alchemical
and
yogic.
Of
all
the
legend
cycles
of
the
Nath
Siddhas,
the
song
cycles
concerning
Goplcand
are
the
among
the
richest
in
this
sort
of
imagery.
142
The
outline
of
this
legend
is
as
follows:
Mayana[mati],
the
mother
of
Goplcand
and
a
"sorceress"
disciple
of
Gorakh,
loses
her
husband
MaI,likcand
to
Yama
(i.e.,
he
dies).
When
she
is
unable
to
wrest
her
husband
back
from
Death,
she
is
"given"
a
son
to
replace
him,
as
it
were,
by
Gorakh.
She
learns,
however,
that
her
son
will
not
survive
his adolescence
if
he
does
not
become
a
yogin.
The
intrigue
of
the
cycle
lies
in
the
ends
to
which
Mayana
goes
to bring
her
son
under
the
tutelage
of
a
guru-who
in
this
case
is
or
Jalandharanath.
143
The
origins
ofJalandhara
go
back
to
the
original
cosmogony,
as
related
in
the
Bengali
Gorakfa
Vijay
and
Mfn
Cetan.
Out
of
a
void
(fUnya)
there
appears,
like
a
bubble,
the
Egg
of
Brahman.
The
unmanifest
Niraiijana
then
manifests
itself
as
Adinatha
who,
from
his
tapas,
creates
the
goddess
KetakI,l44
out
of
whom
arise,
from
her
mouth,
the
god
Brahma;
from
her

29
6
Chapter
Nine
forehead,
the
god
ViglU;
and
from
her
yoni,
the
god
Siva.
To
test
these
three,
Adinatha
takes
the
form
of
a
decayed
corpse,
rotting
in
the
wash
of
a
river.
Only
Siva
is
willing
to
perform
Adinatha's
funeral
rites:
in
so
doing,
he
uses
as
his
firewood
and
Brahma
as
his
fire.
From
the
burning
corpse
of
Adinatha
arise
the
five
original
Nath
Siddhas:
Mlna,
from
his
navel,
Gorakh
from
his
matted
hair,
Jalandhara
from
his
bones
(hiiqa),
Kanha-pa
(KaI,lerinath)
from
his
ears
(kii1?a),
and
CauraI,lgi
from
his
limbs
(anga).
Siva
then
takes
Adinatha's
Ketakl
as
his
consort:
she
becomes
the
goddess
Gaurl.
Gaur!
then
decides
to
test
these
four
sons'
(Caurangi
is
left
out
of
this
episode)
yogic
constancy.145
All
fail
except
Gorakh,
who
looks
upon
her
as
his
mother-and
as
a
reward
is
"reborn;'
as
his
own
son,
from
water
wrung
from
his
karpafi
(loincloth)
and
drunk
by
the
Goddess:
this
son
is
Carpa1i.
Matsyendra
is
cursed
to
be
debauched
by
sixteen
dred
women
in
the
forest
or
kingdom
of
KadalI;
Kanha-pa
is
exiled
to
a
country
called
Qahuka;
and
is
turned
into
a
low-caste
sweeper
Such
is
the
mythic
origin
of
Goplcand's
guru.
Mayana
learns
that
it
is
only
by
taking
yogic
initiation
from
a
that
Goplcand
can
be
saved.
But
the
young
prince
appears
to
be
more
troubled
by
his
sorceress
mother
and
the
prospect
of
exchanging
his
kingship
for
servitude
to
a
sweeper
than
he
is
by
the
hearsay
that
he
should
otherwise
die
young.
He
therefore
puts
his
mother
through
a
series
of
terrible
deals,
which
are
so
many
tests
of
her
yogic
power:
She
was
thrown
into
fire,
but
even
her
garment
was
not
stained
with
smoke;
she
was
drowned
in
water
bound
within
a
bag,
but
mother
Ganga
herself
came
forward
to
welcome
her
into
her
[Ganga's]
som;
she
walked
on
a
bridge
made
of
hair;
she
walked
on
the
edge
of
a
razor;
she
was
shut
up
for
seven
full
days
and
nights
within
a
boiler
containing
boiling
oil,
which
was
being
heated
from
below
stantly;146
she
crossed
all
the
rivers
in
the
boat
made
of
the
husk
of
a
corn,
but
nothing
could
bring
about
her
death,
neither
was
any
part
of
her
body
damaged
in
any
way.
Mayana
herself
declared
to
her
son
Goplcand,
"By
the
practice
of
mystic
knowledge
one
becomes
mortal
...
just
like
the
current
of
the
tide-wave
running
backward
...
When
the
creation
will
sink
below
and
finally
dissolve,
and
the
earth
will
be
not
and
there
will
remain
only
all-pervading
water,
the
sun
and
the
moon
will
set
forever
and
the
whole
universe
will
be
destroyed-I
shall
float
on
for
ever-I
shall
have
no
death."
147

'97
The
Dynamics
of
Transformation
(As
we
shall
see,
the
RA,
in
its
concluding
verses,
promises
just
such
an
end
for
the
Rasa
Siddha
who
has
perfected
his
craft:
he
will
live
on,
above
the
terrible
ocean
of
existence
and
beyond
the
cosmic
dissolution,
in
the
world
of
the
divine
Siddhas.)148
Gopicand
is
eventually
persuaded
to
become
disciple.
In
order
to
test
his
sincerity,
however,
sells
him-for
twelve
cowries
worth
of
cannabis-into
bondage
in
the
house
of
a
sorceress
named
Hira
mond),
in
the
"southern
land:'
for
twelve
years.
During
this
time,
sits
at
the
bottom
of
the
sea,
beneath
fourteen
fathoms
of
water.
Hira
forms
Gopicand
into
a
ram
and
later
sends
him
to
hell,
which
rows
to
save
him.
At
the
end
of
this
period,
completes
Gopicand's
initiation;
then,
judging
that
he
has
made
improper
use
of
his
yogic
powers,
nullifies
them.
A
furious
Gopicand
has
sealed,
with
horse
dung,
into
the
bottom
of
a
well.
Twelve
years
later,
Kanha-pa,
also
a
disciple
of
is
informed
by
Gorakh
that
his
guru
has
been
buried
in
a
well
by
Gopicand.
Kanha-pa,
through
a
subterfuge,
manages
to
exhume
Knowing
that
cumulated
yogic
energy,
to
say
nothing
of
his
wrath
at
being
buried
in
such
a
way
by
his
disciple,
might
well
destroy
Gopicand
entirely,
pa
makes
three
effigies
of
Gopicand:
one
of
iron,
one
of
silver,
and
one
of
gold.
149
When
is
called
up
out
of
the
well,
his
angry
gaze
reduces
the
three
effigies
to
ashes.
His
fury
sufficiently
diffused
at
this
point,
is
presented
with
the
real
Gopicand,
whose
yogic
powers
he
then
restores.
ISO
These
themes,
of
dismemberment
and
restoration,
and
of
twelve-year
periods
of
forced
meditation,
are
quite
common
to
Nath
Siddha
legend.
Gorakhnath
explains
in
a
poem
that
he
was
born,
after
twelve
years passed
inside
the
womb
of
a
barren
woman,
with
both
arms
and
legs
cut
off:
the
commentator
to
this
passage
glosses
this
as
birth,
through
yoga,
of
a
new
body
from
which
the
net
(arms
and
legs)
of
maya
has
been
cut
away.ISI
In
another
account,
Gorakh
awakens
after
twelve
years
of
"death"
(muva).IS2
In
still
another
legend,
Gorakh
hangs
himself
upside
down
from
a
tree
over
a
raging
fire,
until
the
odor
of
his
burning
flesh
attracts
the
attention
of
the
god
Brahma,
who
grants
him
a
boon.ls3
While
still
a
novice,
Gorakh
plucks
out
the
pupil
of
his
eye,
which
he
barters
for
food
to
feed
his
guru
Matsyendra:
Matsyendra
restores
his
eye,
through
the
use
of
a
mantra.
IS4
This
is,
of
course,
the
same
Matsyendra
whose
own
recumbent
and
lifeless
body
is
diced
up
by
Queen
Kamala,
when
he
has
entered
into
the
body
of
her
husband.
Siva
has
these
pieces

29
8
Chapter
Nine
brought
to
his
abode
on
Mount
Kailash,
where
he
safeguards
them
until
Gorakh's
return,
twelve
years
later.
Matsyendra's
soul
is
then
restored
to
his
reconstituted
body.I55
More
often
than
reconstituting
Matsyendra,
however,
Gorakh
is
busy
dismembering
Matsyendra's
various
erally
to
awaken
Matsyendra
from
his
attachment
to
phenomenal
tence.
On
one
occasion
it
is
Matsyendra's
son
MIna
that
Gorakh
beats
against
a
stone
like
a
washerwoman
until
he
is
dead.
I56
In
another
legend,
Gorakh
kills
and
skins
Matsyendra's
two
sons
NemI
and
Parsva-whose
names
are
identical
to
those
of
two
founders
of
the
Jain
religion-and
later
revives
them.
157
Elsewhere,
he
transforms
certain
of
his
disciples
such
that
one
half
of
their
bodies
becomes
gold
and
one
half
iron.
158
These
supernatural,
fantastic,
and
clearly
shamanic
elements,
a
staple
of
Nath
Siddha
legend,
are
nowhere
as
evident
as
in
the
best
known
and
perhaps
the
oldest
of
such
accounts,
the
legend
of
Caurangi
Limbs")
or
Pural)
Bhagat.
This
latter
name,
by
which
he
is
known
in
the
longest
recension
of
his
legend,
from
the
Punjab,I59
may
be
read
as
"Total
Devotee"
(purTfa
bhakta).
Its
second
member
may,
however,
be
read
in
other
way:
among
many
tribal
and
popular
traditions
bhagat
is
a
term
ployed
for
a
shaman,
soothsayer,
sorcerer,
exorcist,
or
a
person
who
munes
with
the
dead.
Elsewhere,
the
term
is
applied
to
oracular
devotees
of
the
Goddess.
When
one
considers
that
the
Mongol
term
biigelbii'elbeki
means
"male
shaman:'
this
alternate
reading
for
Pural)
Bhagat's
name
(i.e.,
"Total
Shaman")
ought
not
to
be
rejected
out
of
hand.
I60
While
Caurangi
is
generally
held
to
be
the
son
of
King
Salivahana
(Sal
Vahan,
Salwan,
Sulivan,
Sulwahan
in
vernacular
transcriptions),
a
Punjabi
recension
of
his
legend
first
calls
him
King
Sankh.
Finally,
one
source
maintains
that
Cauranginath
was
born
of
Siva's
seed.
I6I
Pural)
Bhagat
is
the
son
of
Sankh/Salwan's
first
queen
Acchran,
and
it
is
not
until
the
age
of
twelve
that
has
his
first
audience
with
the
junior
queen,
Liil)a
(or
Liil)anl
NUl)anINol)an).I62
This
queen, who
is
in
reality
a
terrible
witch,I63
falls
in
love
with
her
adolescent
stepson
and
attempts
to
seduce
him.
When
he
refuses
her
advances,
she,
like
Potiphar's
wife
in
the
biblical
story
of
seph,
denounces
him
to
the
king,
claiming
that
he
had
seduced
her.
I64
To
say
that
death
has
no
fury
like
a
woman
scorned
would
be
a
great
understatement
in
LUl)a's
case.
At
her
urging,
the
king
orders
that
Pural)
Bhagat
be
bound
(bandhke)
hand
and
foot
and
that
his
head
be
cut
off
and
kebab'ed.
I65
When
the
boy
is
brought
before
the
king,
he
takes
a
vow
of
truth:
let
the
king
plunge
him
into
a
cauldron
of
boiling
oil;
his
innocence
will
be
proven
if
no
part
of
his
body,
not
even
one
of
his
fingers,
be
burnt.

299
The
Dynamics
of
Transformation
LUl).a
lights
the
fire
and
puts
on
the
cauldron,
and
Pural).
Bhagat
is
plunged
into
the
boiling
oil
for
four
hours,
from
which
he
emerges
unscathed.
166
LUl).a
nevertheless
has
her
way,
and
an
outcaste
is
ordered
to
cut
off
Pural).
Bhagat's
hands,
gouge
out
his
eyes,
and
throw
him
down
a
well.
167
The
outcaste,
pitying
the
young
prince,
spares
him,
and
instead
slays
a
fawn
and
brings
its
eyes
and
blood
to
LUl).a;
she,
however,
tests
this
blood
by
plunging
a
pearl
into
it
and
sees
that
it
is
not
that
of
her
stepson.
168
The
outcaste,
fearing
for
his
own
life,
goes
to
the
forest
where
Pural).
Bhagat
has
hidden.
In
order
to
spare
him,
Pural).
Bhagat
has
him
do
LfLl).a's
ding.
His
arms
and
legs
are
cut
off,
his
eyes
gouged
out,
and
his
body
thrown
down
a
dry,
broken-down
well
(jlrYfiindhakiipa).
Also
at
Pural).
gat's
request,
he
returns
to
the
city
to
tell
Acchran
that
her
son
will
return
after
twelve
years.
169
Acchran,
turned
out
of
the
city
by
the
king,
comes
to
the
well
in
which
Pural).
Bhagat
has
been
thrown.
He
cries
up
to
her
"Set
my
elephant
free,
mother,
to
go
to
the
Kajali
Forest
..
;'170
Twelve
years
pass,
until
one
day
Gorakh
and
his
retinue
of
yo
gins
come
to
Pural).
Bhagat's
well
on
their
way
from
their
monastery
at
Tilla
to
kot.
There
they
find
the
young
man
and
draw
him
out
with
a
single
thread
of
spun
cotton.
Gorakh
then
restores
his
eyes
and,
sprinkling
nectar
(am-
1Ja)
over
him,
his
limbs.171
Twenty-four
years
later,
Gorakh
returns
again
to
the
well
and
finds
that
Pural).
Bhagat
has
remained
inside,
in
the
practice
of
yoga.
When
Pural).
Bhagat
asks
Gorakh
to
initiate
him
into
the
Nath
order,
Gorakh
first
tests
his
mettle
by
sending
him
to
beg
alms
from
dran
("Beautiful"),
the
queen
of
Sirhhala.
There,
after
an
episode
evocative
of
the
experiences
of
Gopicand
and
Matsyendra
in
that
land,
but
in
which
Pural).
Bhagat
remains
celibate
and
free
(and
Queen
Sundran
kills
herself),
Gorakh
and
his
disciple
Kanipa
(Kanha-pa)
initiate
him
with
ashes
and
earrings
(mundriin
).172
Now
a
full-fledged
yogin,
Pural).
Bhagat
returns
to
Sialkot,
his
hood
home,
where
his
mere
presence
causes
his
garden
to
burst
into
bloom.
He
restores
his
mother
Acchran's
sight
and
forgives
Salwan
and
LfLl).a.
To
the
latter
he
gives
grains
of
dhiik
and
rice
from
his
yogin's
wallet,
promising
that
by
swallowing
them
whole,
she
will
conceive
and
bear
a
son,
Rasalu.
173
Apart
from
their
clearly
"shamanic"
motifs,
the
accounts
we
have
passed
in
review
may
in
certain
cases
be
also
be
read
as
so
many
alchemical
aIle
ries.
174
Dismemberment,
binding,
sealing
under
the
earth
with
horse
dung,
boiling
in
oil,
and
birth
from
a
burning
corpse
evoke
the
alchemical
tions
of
mardana,
bandhana,
sampu!a,
siira1ja,
utthiipana,
and
miira1ja.
Ha4i-

3
00
Chapter
Nine
pa's
incineration
of
metallic
effigies
of
Gopicand,
Gorakh's
transformation
of
the
stuff
of
his
disciples'
bodies
into
bonded
gold
and
iron,
the
names
Hira
("Diamond")
and
Kajali
Van,
and
an
array
of
other
elements
also
pear
to
betray
an
alchemical
matrix.
It
is,
however,
the
legend
of
Pural).
Bhagat
that
arguably
may
most
be
qualified
as
a
medieval
Indian
alchemical
allegory.
Like
mercury,
its
hero
is
born
of
Siva's
seed;
his
stepmother
LUl).a
(lavaTfa,
corrosive
"salt")175
causes
him
to
be
dismembered
(mar
dana,
miiraTfa)
,
after
first
boiling
him
in
oil
(siiraTfa).
The
well
he
is
thrown
into
is
jlr1Jiindha,
which
evokes
the
closed
(andha)
crucible
in
which
mercury
is
calcinated
(jlr1Ja,
the
past
sive
participal
form
of
the
same
root
jr
that
generates
jiiraTfa)
or
bound
(baddha).
This
well
is
moreover
identified
with
Kajali
Van,
the
"forest
of
black
mercuric
sulfide"
(kajjall).176
After
twelve
years,
he
is
drawn
out
of
his
well
and
restored
through
the
magical
techniques
of
Gorakhnath,
who
restores
him
to
wholeness
with
amrta.
The
legend
ends
with
Pural)
Bhagat
offering
LUl).a
grains
(gutikiis)
to
eat,
by
which
she
conceives
Rasalu,
"the
mercurial
one"
(rasa).177
8.
The
Man
with
the
Golden
Finger
and
Gorakh's
Smithy
Such
legends
of
bodily
dismemberment
and
restoration
as
that
of
Pural).
Bhagat
are
not
wholly
unique
to
the
Nath
Siddha
tradition.
A
number
of
similar
accounts,
apparently
of
Rasa
Siddha
inspiration,
are
recounted
by
the
eleventh-century
Muslim
savant
Alberuni.
One
is
"a
tale
about
...
the
city
of
Va
lab
hi":
A
man
of
the
rank
of
a
Siddha
asked
a
herdsman
with
reference
to
a
plant
called
Thohar,
of
the
species
of
the
Lactaria,
from
which
milk
flows
when
its
leaves
are
torn
off,
whether
he
had
ever
seen
Lactaria
from
which
blood
flows
instead
of
milk.
When
the
herdsman
clared
that
he
had,
he
gave
him
some
drink-money
that
he
should
show
it
to
him,
which
he
did.
When
the
man
now
saw
the
plant,
he
set
fire
to
it,
and
threw
the
dog
of
the
herdsman
into
the
flame.
raged
thereby,
the
herdsman
caught
the
man,
and
did
with
him
the
same
as
he
had
done
to
his
dog.
Then
he
waited
till
the
fire
was
guished,
and
found
both
the
man
and
the
dog,
but
turned
to
gold.
He
took
the
dog
with
him,
but
left
the
man
on
the
spot.
Now
some
peasant
happened
to
find
it.
He
cut
off
a
finger,
and
went
to
a
fruit-

3
01
The
Dynamics
of
Transformation
seller
who
was
called
Ranka,
i.e.
the
poor,
because
he
was
an
utter
pauper
and
evidently
near
bankruptcy.
After
the
peasant
had
bought
from
him
what
he
wanted,
he
returned
to
the
golden
man,
and
then
found
that
in
the
place
where
the
cut
off
finger
had
been,
a
new
finger
had
grown.
17S
In
another
such
account,
the
body
of
an
alchemist,
aided
by
the
king
of
Malwa,
becomes
transformed
through
a
series
of
alchemical
sa'f!lSkiiras.
This
account,
related
above
in
chapter
three,
ends
with
the
king
ing
the
final
"packet"
of
alchemical
preparations,
with
the
result
that
the
alchemist,
rather
than
arising
out
of
the
cauldron
as
a
perfect,
invincible
immortal,
is
transformed
into
a
anthropomorphic
lump
of
silver.
179
What
is
remarkable
about
this
latter
account,
apart
from
its
content,
is
that
it
appears
to
correspond
quite
directly
to
the
alchemical
operation
with
which
the
RA
closes,
at
the
end
of
its
eighteenth
chapter.
This
dure,
related
above
in
chapter
five,
culminates
when
the
Alchemical
Man
emits
the
mantra
"Hum!"
and
arises
out
of
the
cauldron with
a
massive
body
that
shines
like
the
sun
and
is
possessed
of
all
the
siddhis.
If
such
homologous
operations
are
only
implicit
in
the
GopIcand
and
Pural}
Bhagat
legends,
they
are
made
explicit
in
a
poem
in
which
nath
compares
his
subtle
body
to
goldsmithy:lso
I
take
the
gold
[the
void
essence]
in
the
goldsmithy
[the
cranial
vault]-I
am
a
goldsmith
by
trade.
Pumping
the
bellows
[of
my
breaths],
and
stabilizing
my
mercury,
I
have
fixed
it
and
then
mixed
it
together
with
mica.
I
the
goldsmith
am
in
my
gold.
The
root
cakra
[milliidhiira]
is
my
firepot.
I
forge
it
on
the
anvil
of
vibration
[niida]
,
using
my
drop
[bindu]
hammer
to
press
out
the
gold.
In
an
ever-verdant
forest
my
poisoned
charcoal
[bums,
with
its
fire]
blowing
upward
naturally,
through
the
bellows'
twin
jet.
lSI
Harmonizing
[the
jets
of]
sun
and
moon
[iqii
and
pingalii,
upbreath
and
downbreath]
I
stop
the
breath
[kumbhaka],
and
breath
is
merged
into
breath.
With
one
rattl
[grain]
of
work,
you
can
steal
away
a
miifii
[lentil's
weight]Is2-
an
d I
am
the
rattf
that
does
the
stealing.
Stealing
the
miifii,
I
remain
within
the
miifii:
by
gathering
up
[gold]
in
this
way,
it
is
I
who
am
gathered
into
myself.
ls3
Gold
above,
gold
beneath,
gold
in
the
midst
of
gold.
ls4
He
who

3
02
Chapter
Nine
makes
the
triadic
void
his
dwelling-place
has
a
body
that
is
neither
pure
nor
impure.
185
That
which
is
beyond
mind
[unmanz1
is
the
balance
beam.
Mind
is
the
weighing
pan,
and
six
lentil's-weight
of
breath
are
in
the
pan.
While
Gorakhnath
was
sitting
here
seeking
after
gold,
gold
came
in
[to
his
smithy]
of
its
own
accord."
186

TEN
Penetration,
Peifection,
and
Immortality
...
the
tiny
points
of
light
that
appear
all
over
the
Himalayas
when
the
holy
men
light
their
fires
...
1
Whereas
Indian
medical
tradition
defines
rasayana
as
the
regeneration
or
reconstitution
of
the
body,
through
the
restoration
of
the
vital
bodily
fluids
(rasas),
to
a
youthful
state
of
health
and
virility,2
the
alchemical
usage
of
the
term
is
a
more
ambitious
one.
In
alchemy,
the
rasa
in
question
is
cury,
which
substitutes
itself
for
human
bodily
fluids
and
thereby
forms
a
body
of
flesh
and
blood
into
a
golden
(svarYfa),3
adamantine
jra),4
or
perfected
(siddha)
body.
As
shown
in
chapter
five,
the
Siddha
path
consists
of
three
complementary
approaches
to
the
attainment
of
such
a
body:
the
erotico-mystical,
the
hathayogic,
and
the
alchemica1.
5
These
proaches
are
complementary
inasmuch
as
all
play
on
the
correspondence
between
human
and
divine
vital
fluids
(rasas)
on
the
one
hand
and,
on
the
other,
the
dynamic
of
"piercing"
or
"penetration"
(vedha),
which
effects
the
transformation
of
the
body
in
question
through
all
three
of
these
mentary
techniques.
This
same
term,
vedha,
is
employed
in
(I)
a
form
of
tantric
initiation
involving
a
transmission
of
vital
fluids
from
teacher
to
disciple,
(2)
the
hathayogic
piercing
of
the
cakras
as
well
as
in
a
particular
technique
(called
mahavedha,
the
"great
penetration")
employed
to
that
end,
and
(3)
the
alchemical
transmutation
of
base
metals
into
gold.
In
fact,
the
alchemical
use
of
this
term
makes
little
sense-for
why
should
mutation
be
referred
to
as
"piercing"?-until
it
is
viewed
in
the
light
of
these
parallel
and
complementary
practices.
6
I
begin
this
chapter
by
ing
the
ways
in
which
the
notion
of
"perfection
through
penetration"
was
meaningful
in
the
tantric
context
and
conclude
by
delineating
the
various
registers
upon
which
said
perfection
manifested
itself-in
the
form
of
supernatural
powers
(siddhis),
bodily
immortality
(jivanmuktt),
and
theosis
in
the
form
of
accession
to
the
higher
spheres
of
the
superhuman
Siddhas.

3
0
4
Chapter
Ten
I.
Initiation
in
Medieval
Indian
Literature
The
encounter
(or
high-impact
collision)
between
representatives
of
gious
and
temporal
authority
and
power
is
a
favorite
literary
theme
in
dia,
where
kings
have
been
running
into
one
or
another
sort
of
holy
man,
both
inside
and
outside
of
texts,
for
millennia.
One
of
the
best-known
myths
of
classical
and
modern
Hinduism
is
the
account
of
Hariscandra,
king
of
Ayodhya,
the
Job
of
Hinduism,
and
the
trials
he
suffers
at
the
hands
of
Vis
va
mitra,
who
had
earlier
been
the
officiating
priest
at
his
royal
cration.
Following
the
ritual
services
he
has
rendered,
Visvamitra
the
priest
(even
though
he
was
himself
a
prince
by
birth)
has
the
right
to
demand
a
fee
(dakri1!a)
from
Hariscandra.
According
to
brahmanic
ideology,
this
fee
is
Visvamitra's
due
not
only
because
he
has
performed
a
service
for
his
king,
but
also-and
most
important-because
temporal
rule
is,
tally,
a
brahman
prerogative
that
brahmans,
in
a
mythic
past,
delegated
to
their
juniors.?
This
they
did,
we
are
told,
in
order
that
brahmans
might
concern
themselves
with
the
more
elevated
matters
of
dharma
and
mokra,
leaving
for
kings
the
dirty
work
of
governing,
dispensing
justice,
waging
wars,
fathering
princes,
etc.
Brahmans
retained,
however,
their
thority
over
in
their
role
as
the
advisors,
the
mentors
(mantrins)
of
their
kings,
by
playing
a
sacerdotal
role
in
rituals
vital
to
the
harmonious
continuation
of
the
latter's
rule
and,
most
important,
by
deigning
to
form
the
ceremony
of
royal
consecration,
of
which
a
crucial
moment
was
the
ritual
"punishment"
(da1!4a)
,
by
a
brahman
priest,
with
a
rod
(called
da1!4a
in
the
hands
of
the
king,
but
called
a
sphya
in
the
sacerdotal
context)
of
the
otherwise
unpunishable
(ada1!4ya)
king.
8
And,
following
his
cration-the
delegation
by
his
brahman
initiators
of
their
own
sovereignty
to
him-the
king
also
found
himself
in
their
debt
in
the
matter
of
the
fee
that
was
their
due.
In
effect,
the
king
wrote
his
brahman
priests
a
blank
check
in
these
situations,
and
it
is
the
amount
of
this
check
that
sets
up
the
dramatic
tension
in
the
myth
of
Hariscandra.
In
this
Puranic
myth,9
Visvamitra,
who
is
furious
at
Hariscandra
for
a
number
of
reasons,
exacts
his
revenge
by
ruining
Hariscandra
financially.
The
dakri1!a
that
Visvamitra
demands
of
Hariscandra
is
astronomical,
an
amount
far
greater
than
even
a
king
can
possibly
pay.
The
righteous
candra
attempts
to
acquit
himself
of
his
debt
by
giving
his
entire
kingdom
to
Visvamitra,
yet
this
is
not
enough.
He
then
sells
his
wife
and
son
into
slavery,
but
Visvamitra
is
still
unsatisfied.
Lastly,
he
sells
himself
into
ery
and,
after
a
dozen
years
of
terrible
suffering
and
depradation,
has
his

3
0
5
Penetration,
Peifection,
and
Immortality
kingdom
and
family
restored
to
him
by
the
god
Dharma-who
has
been
disguised
as
HariScandra's
employer,
an
untouchable
disposer
of
corpses
on
the
Benares
cremation
ground.
The
happy
ending
has
the
royal family
and
its
entire
capital
city
elevated,
apotheosized
as
it
were,
to
an
spheric
level-with
Visvamitra's
blessing.
This
is
the
ca.
fourth-century
A.D.
Puranic
myth
of
Hariscandra,IO
in
which
an
old
and
uneasy
alliance
between
the
sacred
authority
of
the
man
priesthood
and
the
temporal
power
of
royal
sovereignty
is
the
source
of
narrative
tension.
But
India
is
changing.
The
Gupta
empire,
the
last
Hindu
empire
of
India,
collapses
in
the
seventh
century.
A
troubled
"middle
ages"
follows,
during
which
much
of
north
India
falls
under
the
yoke
of
foreign,
non-Hindu
rulers.
The
old
order
is
crumbling,
and
the
ritual
order
ensured
by
the
old
brahmanic
system
is
beginning
to
look
quated.
New
forms
of
religious
order
and
authority
(monastic
orders)
as
well
as
new
religious
sects
appear
to
fill
the
power
vacuum
or
to
aid
ism
in
going
underground
in
times
of
Muslim
rule.
When
paradigms
shift,
so
too
do
paradigmatic
narratives.
A
century
play
by
the
Ca1fq,akaufikall
(Wrath
of
Visvamitra),
is
a
case
in
point.
The
core
of
this
dramatic
narrative
is
the
same
as
that
of
the
Puranic
myth:
HariScandra,
suffering
the
fury
of
Vis
va
mitra,
has
been
relegated
to
a
position
of
abject
slavery
in
Benares.
What
is
novel
in
Isvara's
otherwise
rather
dreary
adaptation
is
the
sectarian
guise
of
candra's
savior.
Rather
than
having
Dharma,
the
Hindu
god
of
Universal
Order
disguised
as
the
untouchable
lord
of
the
Benares
cremation
ground
(a
figure
nowadays
called
the
q,om-riij),
has
the
god
parade
as
a
Kapalika.
12
He
bears
all
the
markings
of
a
tantrika:
he
is
ash
smeared,
decked
out
with
human
bones
and
skulls,
"having
the
appearance
of
Siva
BhfLtanatha;'
He
reads
Hariscandra's
mind,
controls
"vampires:'
and
sesses
alchemical
preparations
which
afford
him
immortality
(rasiiyana),
the
power
to
transmute
(dhiituviida),
and
the
power
of
flight
(piidalepa),
and
possesses
an
eye
unguent
(anjana)
that
permits
him
to
see
underground
to
find
buried
treasure.
13
This
Kapalika,
portrayed
most
sympathetically
by
having
introduced
himself
to
Hariscandra,
departs
and
then
returns
in
a
twinkling
with
a
vampire
in
tow;
on
the
vampire's
shoulders
is
an
immense
mineral
treasure,
discovered
with
the
aid
of
the
Kapalika's
see-underground-with-it
unguent,
which
Hariscandra
may
now
use
to
pay
off
his
debts
to
the
irrascible
ViSvamitra.
14
adaptation
of
the
original
Puranic
account
is
truly
able
when
we
consider
the
sort
of
people
the
Kapalikas
were
made
out
to

3
06
Chapter
Ten
be
by
their
orthodox
critics.
The
Kapalikas,
fornicators
with
menstruating
women,
cremation-ground
consumers
of
human
flesh,
worshippers
of
the
female
sexual
organ,
brahman
murderers,
were
the
Hell's
Angels
of
eval
India.
This
drama
is
therefore
a
watershed
of
sorts
in
the
history
of
the
literature
on
relations
in
classical
India.
What
candra
cannot
pay
the
brahmanic
priest
Visvamitra
retail
the
Kapalika
wizard
can,
through
his
supernatural
powers,
get
him
wholesale.
We
may
therefore
take
superimposition-of
a
Kapalika
guise
upon
a
god
of
moral
order-to
be
an
indication
of
just
how
tattered
that
old
order
was
looking
to
certain
elements
of
Hindu
society.
We
may
further
see
in
this
tenth-century
adaptation
an
indication
that
tantric
practitioners
were
replacing
old-order
brahman
priests
(even
if
Visvamitra
was
originally
the
most
heterodox
of
all
the
brahmanic
sages)
in
the
role
of
advisors
to
kings.
The
new
partnership
that
was
being
forged-between
Hindu
princes
and
representatives
of
one
or
another
of
the
Saiva
orders-such
as
the
palika
described
by
through
some
one
thousand
years
of
Indian
literature,
described
from
a
number
of
perspectives.
At
times,
the
new
world
order
curiously
resembles
the
old,
with
tantrikas
asserting
their
hegemony
over
their
princely
patrons
with
threats
and
violence.
In
nearly
every
case,
narrative
depictions
of
the
tantrika-prince
relationship
sparkle
with
the
serendipity
of
the
medieval
literary
style,
with
vampires,
ards,
mysterious
ascetics,
hidden
treasure,
and
the
supernatural
intervening
time
and
again.
Behind
all
the
glitter,
however,
one
important
leitmotif
emerges:
this
is
the
theme
of
a
yogic
or
tantric
initiation
of
the
king
by
a
Saiva
guru.
We
take
our
second
medieval
example
from
the
eleventh-century
miri
classic,
Somadeva's
Vetiilapancavi'l1!Jati
(Twenty-five
Tales
of
the
pire).
These
tales,
inserted
within
the
massive
Kathiisaritsiigara
(Ocean
of
Rivers
of
Story),
are
themselves
framed
by
a
narrative
that
begins
when
a
king
named
Trivikramasena
discovers
that
each
of
the
fruits
a
mysterious
ascetic
has
been
bringing
him
every
day
for
ten
years
has
a
precious
jewel
inside
of
it.
When
he
questions
the
ascetic
as
to
his
reasons
for
such
gesse,
the
mystery
man,
named
replies
that
he
needs
the
king
to
help
him
perform
a
secret
cremation-ground
rite.
On
the
appointed
night
(the
dark
of
the
moon),
the
king
comes
to
the
cremation
ground,
where
bids
that
he
bring
him
the
corpse
of
a
man
hung
in
a
sisoo
tree
a
short
way
to
the
south.
The
king
cuts
down
the
corpse
which,
as
it
turns
out,
is
possessed
by
a
loquacious
vampire
who
narrates
twenty-five

3
0
7
Penetration,
Perfection,
and
Immortality
stories
ending
in
riddles
which
the
king
must
solve
lest
his
head
burst
into
a
thousand
pieces.
At
the
end
of
the
final
story,
the
vampire
informs
the
king
that
true
intention
has
been
to
offer
him,
the
king,
as
a
human
sacrifice
to
the
vampire
storyteller,
in
order
to
win
for
himself,
lordship
over
the
Vidyadharas,
the
Wizards
of
medieval
Indian
tradition.
who
bears
all
the
markings
of
a
terrible
Kapalika,
has
the
tables
turned
on
him
by
the
king,
who
cuts
off
his
head,
the
which
he
then
offers,
together
with
the
heart,
to
the
vampire.
Siva
descends,
and
in
a
deus
ex
machina
scenario
reminiscent
of
the
Puranic
Hariscandra
myth,
grants
Trivikramasena
dominion
over
the
earth
as
well
as
the
Vidyadharas.
This
story
takes
up
all
of
the
major
elements
of
the
Ca1?4akaufika
drama,
but
with
all
the
pieces
turned
around.
Visvamitra,
the
wrathful
exemplar
of
the
priestly
function
who
empties
Hariscandra's
royal
treasury
in
order
to
better
abuse
him
is
here
replaced
by
the
evil
Kapalika
who
fills
Trivikramasena's
treasury
in
order
to
later
abuse
him.
The
good
lika
of
the
Ca1?4akaufika
is
here
replaced
by
the
vampire
who
had
been
his
treasure-bearing
coolie;
and
the
vampire
of
the
eponymous
tales
in
a
sense
effects
Trivikramasena's
initiation-in
this
case
to
lordship
over
the
zens
of
an
atmospheric
realm,
the
Vidyadharas.
An
interesting
feature
of
the
Vampire
Tales
narrative
is
the
need,
on
the
part
of
a
renouncer,
of
a
royal
hero
in
order
to
accomplish
his
ends.
A
similar
theme,
of
a
symbiotic
relationship
between
a
tantrika
and
a
heroic
prince,
is
found
in
an
episode
from
Bal)abha!!a's
seventh-century
ita
which
describes
the
meeting
between
king
and
carya,
a
powerful
south
Indian
ascetic,
who
is
decked
out
in
Kapalika
garb
and
wears
great
crystal
kU1?4a1a
earrings.
One
day,
Bhairavacarya
asks
the
king
to
come
and
assist
him
in
the
completion
of
a
powerful
rite,
the
goal
of
which
is
to
gain
control
over
a
vampire
and
become
lord
of
the
dharas.
Once
again,
the
setting
is
a
cremation
ground
under
the
dark
of
the
moon.
Once
again,
a
corpse
and
all
manner
of
tantric
paraphernalia
are
brought
into
play.
When
the
terrible
vampire
arises
out
of
the
corpse's
mouth,
the
king's
swordsmanship
saves
the
day,
and
Bhairavacarya
comes
a
Vidyadhara.
Here,
the
same
elements
are
present,
but
once
again,
in
a
slightly
different
order.
Now
it
is
the
vampire
who
is
evil
and
the
palika
who
is
good
rather
than
the
other
way
around;
now
the
king
aids
the
Kapalika,
rather
than
the
vampire
aiding
the
king,
to
become
the
lord
of
the
Vidyadharas.
What
remains
constant
is
the
ritual
structure,
the
formative
late-night
cremation-ground
rite
which
effects
a
breakthrough
to
another
world
and
superhuman
powers.

3
08
Chapter
Ten
Another,
less
obvious,
literary
account
of
power
politics
between
kas
and
kings
is
Kalha-':la's
chronicle
of
the
fall
of
the
tenth-century
miri
king
Cakravarman.
Whereas
Kalha-':la
wrote
his
Riijataranginf
in
the
twelfth
century,
the
amount
of
detail
he
gives
concerning
a
piece
of
palace
intrigue-which
had
occurred
some
two
hundred
years
earlier-leads
one
to
believe
that
the
story
was
grounded
in
something
more
than
Kalha-':la's
imagination.
While
Sir
Aurel
Stein,
who
translated
this
work
at
the
turn
of
the
century,
stated
that
Kalha-':la's
"amusing
anecdote
look[ed]
to
be
thentic;'
15
we
might
also
choose
to
see
in
it
an
allegorization
of
a
piece
of
tantric
sorcery.
In
the
spring
of
A.D.
936,
Cakravarman,
with
the
help
of
a
group
feudal
landholders
called
the
pamaras,
breaks
the
back
of
a
military
caste
called
the
Tantrins,
who
had
been
the
praetorian
guard
of
his
rival
for
the
throne.
Cakravarman
has
perhaps
not
seen
the
last
of
the
Tantrins
however;
over,
these
Tantrins
have
much
of
the
tantrika
about
them,
as
the
principal
episode
in
Cakravarman's
one-year
reignl6
would
appear
to
indicate.
One
night,
the
king
is
entertained
in
his
court
by
an
"outcaste"
porn
(the
same
porn
as
the
untouchable
q,om-raj
of
the
Benares
cremation
grounds)
singer
named
Ranga
and
his
two
dancing
daughters
("Goosie")
and
lata
("Serpentina").
These
last
two
quickly
steal
the
show,
enchanting
the
king
with
an
open
display
of
their
feminine
charms,
which
are
described
by
a
court
rogue
(a
description
which
Stein
leaves
out
of
his
translation):
o
Lord!
The
music,
as
if
enchanted
by
these
two
lovely
dames,
has
become
as
alluring
as
a
liquor
poured
into
a
crystal
glass!
It
seems
as
if
the
moon,
bewildered
by
the
shining
teeth
of
these
singing
girls,
is
passionately
kissing
the
gleaming
columns
of
the
ivory
hall!
Seeing
that
we
are
speaking
of
her,
one
of
them
has
shot
a
glance
of
ing
indignation
our
way.
The
one
singing
with
lowered
gaze
and
trembling
earrings,
who
looks
so
beautiful,
is
passionately
acting
out
the
reverse
(vipartta)
posture
oflove.
There
is
more
going
on
here
than
dirty
dancing,
especially
if
we
look
at
this
scene
and
what
follows
in
the
light
of
tantric
imagery.
First,
the
two
dancing
girls,
daughters
of
the
porn
Ranga,
are
pombfs,
the
most
prized
of
partners
in
ritualized
tantric
sex,
sex
in
which
the
reverse
vipartta
posture
is
the
rule.
Their
names
are
revealing
as
well:
as
we
have
seen,
in
the
subtle
body,
it
is
both
a
coiled
serpent
(the
ku,,!q,aiinf)
and
a
goose
(the
ha11!sa)
that
rise
from
the
level
of
the
sexual
organs
up
to
the
cranial
vault
to
afford
the
practitioner
immortality.
In
her
rise
through
the
yogic
cakras,
the
ku,,!q,aiinf

3
0
9
Penetration,
Peifection,
and
Immortality
serpent
is
said
to
dance
with
the
yogin.
And,
at
the
end
of
her
rise,
it
is
the
yogin's
own
sexual
fluid
which,
carried
upward
through
her
body,
is
transfonned
into
immortalizing
nectar.
As
a
conduit
for
the
yogin's
semen,
the
female
kU1f4alinl
may
be
likened
to
the
female
sexual
organ:
indeed,
she
is
sometimes
called
4ombl,
and
the
J?ombl,
as
the
tantrika's
favorite
sexual
partner,
was
most
prized
for
the
transformative
powers
of
her
menstrual
blood.
17
For
the
same
reason
that
there
could
be
nothing
more
defiling
to
an
orthodox
Hindu
than
the
menstrual
blood
of
an
outcaste
woman,
the
erodox
tantrikas
valued
the
same
as
the
most
powerful
fluid
in
the
universe.
For
the
uninitiated,
however,
the
stuff
was
dynamite,
as
Cakravarman
quickly
learns.
Following
the
night
of
the
big
dance,
he
becomes
the
J?ombls'
sexual
plaything.
He
makes
them
his
queens,
and
they
and
their
outcaste
relatives
take
over
the
royal
court,
polluting
the
entire
kingdom
in
the
process.
High
offices
are
bestowed
upon
those
who
eat
polluted
ings
(ucchi{ta)
off
the
J?ombls'
plates,18
and
J?om
ministers
proudly
wear
the
girls'
menses-stained
undergarments
over
their
courtly
attire.
varman,
his
mind
totally
gone,
rapes
a
brahman
woman
and
treacherously
puts
to
death
a
number
of
his
J?amara
allies.
Shortly
thereafter,
J?amaras
set
upon
him
one
night
in
the
royal
latrine
and
flay
his
body
as
it
lies
upon
the
swelling
breasts
of
his
J?ombl
concubine.
Now,
we
can
read
this
account,
with
Stein,
as
an
"amusing
anecdote;'
or
perhaps
glimpse
in
it,
once
again,
a
piece
of
tantric
power
politics
(on
the
part
of
the
Tantrins?),
the
destruction
of
a
king
through
a
sort
ofloaded
tantric
initiation.
Here,
the
closest
parallel
would
be
the
Vampire
Tales,
in
which
the
tantrika
is
the
heavy-with
the
difference
that
here
there
is
no
vampire
to
save
poor
king
Cakravarman.
A
final
group
of
accounts,
all
of
which
are
structurally
similar,
are
much
more
straightforward,
as
they
dramatize
a
king's
tantric
initiation,
by
a
Saiva
ascetic
of
the
Nath
order
or
one
of
its
forerunners,
in
terms
cent
of
the
Ca1f4akaufika
or
even
of
the
ancient
royal
consecration
of
kings
by
brahman
priests.
The
most
elaborate
of
these
accounts
is
that
of
Deoraj,
founder
of
the
Rawal
dynasty,
which
is
found
in
the
bardic
chronicles
of
the
Rawal
kings
of
Jaisalmer.
19
Here,
as
we
saw
in
a
previous
chapter,
Deoraj
(b.
A.D.
836),
the
future
founder
of
the
Rawal
dynasty,
is
visited
by
a
Jogi
named
Rita
who
bestows
upon
him
the
title
of
Sid[dha}
and
then
goes
off,
leaving
him
his
rasa
kumbha
or
elixir
vessel.
Deoraj
uses
the
gold
produced
by
this
vessel
to
raise
an
army
and
the
walls
of
a
fortified
city.
Rita
returns
and
exacts
that
Deoraj
become
his
disciple
and,
as
a
token
of
his
submis-

3
10
Chapter
Ten
sion
and
fealty,
adopt
the
external
signs
of
his
order.
He
places
the
earrings
(mudra)
in
Deoraj's
ears,
the
little
horn
(singnad)
around
his
neck,
and
cloth
(langotz)
about
his
loins.
Attired
in
this
way,
Deoraj
goes
about
claiming
"alakh!
alakh!"
Then,
having
exacted
that
these
sectarian
rites
of
initiation
should
be
continued
to
the
latest
posterity,
Rita
disappears.
Two
elements
of
this
account
are
to
be
retained.
The
first
is
that
we
have
returned
here
to
the
ancient
brahmanic
ideology
in
which
the
king
is
a
junior
partner
in
power
to
his
priestly
initiator,
who
grants
him
his
royal
power
in
exchange
for
a
token
of
his
submission
in
initiation.
The
second
is
that
his
priest,
Rita,
is
a
Jogi,
a
yogin,
probably
of
the
Pasupata
order
(or
some
other
forerunner
of
the
Nath
sampradaya).
He
bears
all
the
marks
of
these
Saiva
orders:
his
tattered
cloak,
great
earrings
(also
worn
by
the
palika
Bhairavacarya
in
the
account),
little
horn,
the
words
alakh!
alakh!
("attributeless!
attributeless!")
are
all
particular
to
the
Nath
sampradaya.
Medieval
and
modern
legend
and
history
abound
with
accounts
of
just
this
sort
of
alliance-sealed
through
initiation-between
a
tantrika
times
identified
as
a
Nath
Siddha)
and
a
fledgling
prince.
As
recently
as
the
early
nineteenth
century,
just
such
a
pact
was
struck
between
a
Nath
Siddha
and
the
Marwar
prince
Man
Singh;20
a
number
of
accords
of
the
same
order
were
made
between
Nath
Siddhas
and
princes,
in
earlier
ries,
well
to
the
north
of
Rajasthan,
in
Garhwal
(Uttar
Pradesh)
and
Nepal.
In
fact,
nearly
all
of
the
exemplary
Nath
Siddhas
of
legend
are
born
into
princely
families,
before
being
saved-from
rivals,
enemies,
evil
ers,
death-by
a
powerful
yogin,
usually
Gorakh,
who
then
initiates
him
into
that
order.
As
we
have
seen,
initiation
involves
the
piercing
of
the
ears
with
the
great
ku"!4a1a
or
mudra
earrings
that
are
the
hallmark
of
the
Nath
sect,
the
placing
of
the
little
horn,
the
giving
of
the
mantra,
etc.
There
is
another
feature
of
the
Nath
Siddhas'
tantric
kingmaking
that
should
also
be
noted
here.
This
is
a
facet
of
the
initiation
rite
which,
though
it
is
evoked
in
only
a
few
legendary
accounts,
plays
a
much
more
important
role
in
instructions
for
tantric
initiation
as
such
are
found
in
a
number
of
classic
tantric
texts.
The
most
comprehensive
tion
of
this
ritual
is
found
in
a
chronicle
of
the
Gurkha
(named
after
akh
for
reasons
that
will
be
made
clear)
dynasty
of
Nepal.
One
day,
young
PrthivinarayaJ?
Sah,
who
would
later
lead
the
Gurkhas
in
their
successful
conquest
of
the
Kathmandu
Valley
in
1768,
chances
upon
Gorakhnath,
who
is
meditating
in
a
cave.
Gorakh
sends
PrthivinarayaJ?
Sah
back
to
his

3
11
Penetration,
Perfection,
and
Immortality
palace
to bring
him
a
present
(prasaJ)
of
yogurt,
from
his
mother.
When
the
boy
returns,
Gorakh
instructs
him
to
hold
the
yogurt
out
to
him
in
his
cupped
hands.
Gorakh
then
draws
that
yogurt
into
his
mouth,
attempts
to
spit
it
back
out
into
PrthivinarayaJ:.l
Sah's
hand,
and
tells
him
to
eat
itY
PrthivinarayaJ:.l
Sah
however
opens
his
hands
and
lets
the
yogurt
fall
on
his
feet.
Gorakh
then
explains
to
the
boy
that
had
he
eaten
his
prasad,
the
gurt
he
had
spat
out,
he
would
have
become
a
universal
emperor.
But
cause
he
has
let
the
yogurt
fall
on
his
feet,
he
will
only
conquer
the
earth
as
far
as
his
feet
will
carry
him.
PrthivinarayaJ:.l
Sah's
feet
soon
carry
him
to
the
Kathmandu
Valley
where,
through
a
second
intervention
by
Gorakh,
his
Gurkhas
win
a
great
battle
and
become
the
rulers
of
Nepal.
The
great
guru's
intercession
is
commemorated,
down
to
the
present
day,
on
the
Nepali
one
rupee
coin,
upon
which
is
written,
verso,
"Long
live
nath!"22
This
spitting
incident
is
not
unique
to
the
biography
of
PrthivinaraYaI)
Sah.
Alberuni's
eleventh-centuryaccount
ofIndia
includes
an
episode
from
the
career
of
the Mahasiddha
alchemist
Vyaqi
that
is
quite
similar.
Here,
Vyaqi
has,
at
long
last,
discovered
the
alchemical
elixir
and
is
flying
through
the
air
over
the
royal
capital
of
Ujjain.
Looking
below,
he
sees
King
Vikramaditya
standing
at
the
gate
of
his
palace.
"Open
thy
mouth
for
my
saliva"
he
calls
down
to
the
king.
The
king
instead
steps
out
of
the
way
and
the
saliva
falls
on
the
threshold,
which
is
immediately
transformed
into
gold.
23
Similarly,
Bappa
Rawal's
guru
Harlta
Rasi,
having
risen
into
the
air,
attempts
to
spit
into
his
mouth
in
order
to
complete
his
initiation.
Like
PrthivinarayaJ:.l
Sah
and
Vikramaditya,
Bappa
Rawal
allows
his
guru's
expectorate
to
fall
at
(or
on)
his
feet,
and
thereby
receives
something
less
than
the
intended
effects
of
his
guru's
gift.
24
Yet
another
such
account,
cerning
the
site
of
Hiilglaj
Devi
in
Baluchistan,
is
all
the
more
surprising,
because
it
is
reported
by
the
Muslim
"Jogis"
of
the
Sind.
Jogi
Maula
Baksh
relates
the
story:25
One
day
Shah
Abdul
Latif
Bhitai,
the
Sind's
great
mystic
poet,
met
Jogi
Madan
Vaniyo
who
taught
him
ablutions
of
the
spirit
and
took
him
to
the
goddess
Hinglaj.
Shah
saw
the
Jogis
feed
Nani
Hinglaj
milk
that
she
promptly
vomited
out.
Nani
ignored
him
the
first
time,
but
the
third
time
she
obediently
drank
the
milk.
Taken
aback
by
Shah's
cess,
the
Jogis
decided
that
night
that
they
would
devour
Shah
so
that
his
powers,
as
evinced
by
his
success
with
Nani,
would
pass
on
to

3
12
Chapter
Ten
them.
Shah
overheard
their
plan
and
prayed
to
God
for
help.
So
Shah
was
swallowed
by
the
earth
instead
and
the
good
earth
brought
him
to
the
safe
haven
of
Bhit
where
he
started
to
preach
mysticism.
The
only
way
we
can
make
sense
of
these
accounts
is
by
interpreting
them
in
the
light
of
a
tantric
initiation
ritual
that
was
current
in
the
period
in
which
the
Nath
Siddhas
were
enjoying
their
heyday
in
northern
India.
We
now
turn
to
this
ritual.
2.
Vedhamayi
Dikfii:
Initiation
by
Penetration
Four
tenth-
to
fourteenth-century
tantric
sources-the
Tantriiloka
26
of
Abhinavagupta,
the
KuliirTfava
Tantra,27
the
Siiradatilaka
endra,28
and
the
"Sakta"
Gorakfa
Samhitii
29
-describe
an
initiation
known
as
vedhamayf
dfksii,
"initiation
having
the
form
of
penetration;'
This
tion
basically
consists
of
the
penetration,
by
the
guru's
fakti,
of
the
subtle
body
of
the
initiand.
Abhinavagupta
JO
states
that
initiation
by
penetration
may
take
six
forms,
of
which
one
is
called
binduvedha
(penetration
of
"virile
potency,"
but
also,
of
a
"drop;'
bindu,
of
semen).
In
all
of
these
variant
forms,
the
guru,
having
entered
the
body
of
his
disciple
(whose
ku"!4alinf
has
been
awakened)
unites
with
that
ku"!4alinf
within
the
disciple's
body
and
subsequent
raises
it
from
the
disciple's
lower
abdomen
up
to
his
cranial
vault.
The
form
the
guru
takes
as
he
courses
through
his
disciple's
body
may
be
that
of
a
drop
(bindu)
of
seed
or
of
speech.
In
many
descriptions
of
this
operation,
the
guru
is
said
to
exit
the
disciple's
body
through
the
mouth
and
thus
return
back
into
his
own
body
through
his
own
mouth.
31
By
means
of
this
initiation,
the
guru
reveals
the
supreme
Siva
to
his
ciple;J2
the
disciple
whose
bonds
have
been
cut
thereby
becomes
"a
fest
Siva;'
JJ
What
these
various
sources
appear
to
be
describing
is
a
"procreative"
transfer
of
yogic
seed
between
guru
and
disciple,
a
transfer
that
is
terized,
in
binduvedha,
by
a
powerful
seminal
flow,
in
both
guru
and
ciple,
that
spreads
through
their
bodies
and
rises
to
the
cranial
vault
of
both.
J4
In
a
Buddhist
account
of
the
Mahasiddha
lineage
of
Nagarjuna,
found
in
Nepal
and
edited
by
Giuseppe
Tucci
in
1930,
a
description
of
the
Siddha
initiation
ritual
climaxes
when,
the
guru,
having
meditated
on
the
heart
of
the
disciple,
transfers
from
his
own
mouth
into
the
mouth
of
his
disciple
"that
which
is
contained
in
the
vajra
vessel"
(i.e.,
"transformed"

3
1
3
Penetration,
Peifection,
and
Immortality
sexual
fluid),
and
"having
pronounced
I08
mantras,
[says]
'put
your
mouth
in
my
mouth.'
"35
In
the
Hindu
Siirada
Tilaka,
the
guru
is
said
to
transfer,
through
the
mouth
of
his
initiate,
"that
which
has
oozed
inside
his
mouth"
(vidruvaktriintare),
after
which
said
fluid
is
returned
back
into
the
mouth
of
the
guru.
36
Elsewhere,
the
Yogaku"?,,all
describes
the
yogin's
"pure
phlegm,
whose
white
color
is
that
of
the
moon
...
[which]
when
churned
by
the
breath
and
the
energy
of
the
ku"?,,alinl,
becomes
a
rich
flow
of
tar:'
37
Initiation
into
the
Saiva
Aghori
sect
is
effected
when
the
guru
places
a
drop
of
his
semen
upon
the
initiate's
tongue.
38
Finally,
in
a
verse
perhaps
inspired
by
the
K}fiN,
39
the
TA
(29.
I
2
7-3
2)
prescribes
the
mouth
transfer
of
sexual
fluids
for
the
attainment
of
siddhis.4D
In
the
light
of
this
data,
we
may
conclude
that
the
yogurt
that
Gorakh
"reverses"
and
offers
to
spit
into
prince
Sah's
mouth,
the
transmuting
spittle
that
lands
on
king
Vikramaditya's
threshold
and
on
Bappa
Rawal's
feet,
the
reverse
sexual
posture
that
the
dancing
Qombi
girl
(whose
name
evokes
the
ku"?,,alinl
serpent
through
which
the
tions
proper
to
yoga
and
initiation
take
place)
adopts
in
her
seduction
of
King
Cakravarman-may
all
be
read
as
so
many
thinly
veiled
accounts
of
initiations
by
penetration,
in
which
a
guru
attempts
to
transform
his
ciple
into
a
realized
(siddha)
being,
by
injecting
him
with
sublimated
semen.
Let
us,
however,
go
deeper
into
this
matter
of
the
apparent
fluid
transfer
that
takes
place
within
the
context
of
the
so-called
initiation
by
tion,
an
initiation
which,
as
we
have
seen,
has
the
power
to
transform
a
boy
into
a
king and
a
disciple
into
a
"second
Siva."
Here,
the
term
vedha[naJ,
"penetration;'
will
guide
us
as
we
attempt
to
penetrate
the
plays
of
respondences
proper
to
Siddha
alchemy
and
to
navigate
the
labyrinthine
internal
landscapes
of
the
subtle
body.
The
noun
vedha,
derived
from
vidh,
the
weak
form
of
the
Vedic
root
vyadh,
"pierce;'
makes
its
first
appearance
in
the
medical
literature,
where
it
has
the
sense
of
"puncturing,
wounding,
a
wound."
Vedha,
with
or
out
its
-na
suffix,
retains
this
sense
of
piercing
or
penetration
throughout
the
medieval
traditions
that
concern
us.
In
addition
to
these
usages,
ular
Middle
Indo-Aryan
forms
of
these
terms
introduce
a
ba-/va-
tion,
generating
such
terms
as
bedha
and
bedhana.
These
are
in
turn
flated,
particularly
in
hathayogic
sources,
with
the
terms
bheda
and
bhedana,
nominalizations
of
the
Sanskrit
root
bhid,
"split,
cleave,
pierce."
In
addition
to
the
use
of
this
term
for
the
form
of
initiation
described
in
the
literary
sources
we
have
passed
in
review,
the
term
vedha[naJ
is
also

3
1
4
Chapter
Ten
employed
in
the
vocabulary
of
Hindu
alchemy
and
hafha
yoga.
In
all
three
instances,
an
active
agent
penetrates
and
thereby
fundamentally
transforms
its
passive
counterpart.
As
we
will
see,
the
dynamics
of
the
processes
nated
by
these
three
uses
of
the
same
term
are
quite
identical.
More
than
this,
the
texts
which
describe
these
various
penetrations
explicitly
parallel
or
identify
these
processes
or
techniques
with
one
another.
I
have
already
broached
the
matter
of
vedhamayi
dik{ii,
"initiation
by
penetration?'
Let
us
now
return
to
the
Kulii'l7fava
Tantra,
which,
ately
following
its
treatment
of
this
and
other
forms
of
initiation,
makes
the
following
statement:
"Just
as
penetration
by
mercury
brings
about
faction
(suva'l7fatiim)
[in
metals],
so
the
soul,
penetrated
through
initiation
(dik{ii),
attains
Siva-hood
(fivatvam)?'41
This
identification
was
a
place
of
medieval
Indian
thought,
as
evidenced
in
the
echoes
we
find
of
this
statement
in
a
wide
array
of
nonalchemical
sources,
ranging
from
the
Buddhist
Siidhanamiilii
to
the
Virasaiva
Biisava
PuriiTfa
to
the
TA
and
paraprakiifika
of
the
Trika
Kaula,
to
the
Amanaska
Yoga
of
GorakhnathY
This
direct
comparison,
even
identification,
of
initiation
by
penetration
with
a
form
of
alchemical
penetration,
through
the
metaphor
of
physical
transmogrification
(into
gold/into
Siva),
leads
us
into
the
heart
of
the
ond
field
of
application
of
the
term
vedha:
Hindu
alchemy.
3.
Penetration,
Transmutation,
and
Transubstantiation
in
Siddha
Alchemy
The
Kulii'l7fava
Tantra
dates
from
the
same
period
(tenth
through
twelfth
centuries)
as
the
RHT,
in
which
we
find
one
of
the
earliest
uses
of
the
term
vedha[naJ
in
the
sense
of
"transmutation
through
penetration
[by
cury]?'
As
is
common
practice
in
the
alchemical
literature,
the
RHT
lists
vedha[naJ
as
the
seventeenth
and
penultimate
san:zskiira.
As
we
have
seen,
the
preceding
eight
alchemical
san:zskiiras
involve
the
progressive
ment
by-and
absorption
of
a
given
metal
or
mineral-into
mercury.
At
this
point,
a
threshold
of
critical
mass
and
energy
is
reached,
which
matically
triggers
vedha[naJ,
the
"piercing"
or
transmutation
of
said
metal
by
mercury,
such
that
the
mercury-metal
amalgam
is
immediately
formed
into
silver
or
gold.
Mercury
that
is
capable
of
transmuting
base
metals
into
noble
silver
or
gold
may
thereafter
be
taken
internally.
This
is
the
eighteenth
and
final
san:zskiira,
known
as
farira-yoga,
"body
Work"
or
"transubstantiation."
In
this
final
operation,
the
alchemist
will
generally

3
1
5
Penetration,
Peifection,
and
Immortality
hold
in
his
mouth
a
solid
"pill"
(gufikii)
of
mercury,
which
will
gradually
penetrate
his
body
and
so
transmute
it
into
an
immortal
golden,
diamond,
or
perfected
body.
This
transposition
of
vedhana,
penetration/transmutation,
from
lic
to
human
bodies,
is
directly
addressed,
in
the
terms
with
which
we
are
already
familiar,
in
the
eleventh-century
RA:
''As
in
metal,
so
in
the
body.
Mercury
ought
always
to
be
employed
in
this
way.
When
it
penetrates
(pravifan)
a
metal
and
the
body,
[mercury]
behaves
in
an
identical
way.
First
test
[mercury]
on
a
metal,
then
use
it
in
the
body."43
The
use
of
the
term
farira-yoga
for
the
application
of
perfected,
tested
mercury
to
the
body
is
not
fortuitous
here:
in
both
alchemical
and
hathayogic
sources,
the
complementarity
of
the
two
disciplines
is
stressed
time
and
again.
Whence
the
statement
in
the
opening
of
the
RA
(I.18b):
"Mercury
and
breath
trol]
are
known
as
the
Work
in
two
parts."44
As
already
noted
many
times,
the
goal
of
the
practitioner,
in
both
Hindu
alchemy
and
hafha
yoga,
is
the
attainment
of
both
supernatural
powers
and
bodily
immortality.
Nowhere
are
these
concrete
goals
identified
more
plicitly
than
in
alchemical
depictions
of
vedhana.
Thus,
the
RA
(14.25-36)
states:
A
mercurial
pill
[gufikii]
capable
of
transmuting
one
hundred
times
its
mass
of
base
metals
into
gold
[fata-vedha]
,
when
held
in
the
mouth
for
one
month,
yields
a
life
span
of
4,320,000
years.
One
vedha
mercury,
held
in
the
mouth
for
two
months,
permits
one
to
lives
as
long
as
the
sun,
moon,
and
stars.
Ten
thousand-vedha
cury,
held
in
the
mouth
for
three
months,
yields
a
lifetime
of
Indra.
One
hundred
thousand-vedha
mercury,
held
for
four
months,
yields
a
lifetime
of
Brahma;
one
million-vedha
divine
mercury,
held
for
seven
months,
places
one
on
an
equal
footing
[pada]
with
Isvara.
sight-vedha
mercury,
held
in
the
mouth
for
eight
months,
renders
one
Svayambhu
Mahdvara.
One
becomes
the
creator,
destroyer,
and
enjoyer
[of
the
universe],
a
maker
of
curses
and
boons,
omniscient,
omnipotent,
of
subtle
and
immaculate
beauty.
Such
a
man
acts
at
will,
creates
and
destroys
at
will,
moves
at
will,
and
himself
becomes
the
universal
body
[Visvarupa]
worshipped
by
all
of
the
gods,
including
Brahma,
and
Mahdvara.
Progressions
of
this
sort,
in
which
perfected
mercury's
powers
to
mute
base
metals
into
ever-increasing
amounts
of
gold
and
tiate
the
human
body
into
ever-more
exalted
Siddha
or
divine
bodies,
are

3
16
Chapter
Ten
legion
in
the
alchemical
sources.
Thus,
for
example,
an
adamantine
pill,
formed
of
a
combination
of
mercury,
gold,
the
"three
fruits;'
the
"three
hot
substances;'
and
"rock
water"
45
and
plunged
in
successive
oil
baths
ra1Jas),
has
the
following
effects
on
base
metals
and
the
human
body.
After
one
such
oil
bath,
this
pill,
held
in
the
mouth,
yields
a
life
span
of
a
sand
years;
after
two
oil
baths,
it
transmutes
ten
thousand
times
its
mass
of
base
metals
into
gold
and
affords
a
life
span
of
ten
thousand
years;
after
three,
the
figures
reach
one
hundred
thousand;
after
four,
ten
million
(and
the
power
of
flight
for
the
alchemist);
after
five,
one
hundred
million.
After
six
oil
baths,
this
pill
transmutes
one
billion
times
its
mass
in
base
metals
into
gold
and
affords
the
alchemist
a
life
span
of
the
same
duration
as
the
sun
and
moon
and
eternal
force
and
virility.
After
a
seventh
operation,
this
pill
is
given
the
name
of
khecari
(the
"aviator"):
"this
was
proclaimed
by
Bhairava
himself."
He
who
eats
a
grain
of
this
each
day
for
one
month
becomes
a
diamond-bodied
Siddha,
sporting
according
to
his
whim
with
the
other
heavenly
hosts,
and
attains
Sivahood.4<i
Progressions
of
a
similar
order
are
found
in
two
sources,
the
one
chemical
(RA)
and
the
other
hathayogic
(Amanaska
Yoga
1
-45-98),
in
which
a
measure
called
a
pala
is
employed
as
a
means
for
calibrating
the
siddhis
realized
by
the
practitioner.
In
the
RA
(18.56-60)
account
of
this
sion,
the
nature
and
quality
of
the
siddhis
realized
by
the
alchemist
vary
according
to
the
number
of
palas
of
mercury
that
has
been
calcinated
in
mica
one
consumes.
Eating
one
pala
47
renders
one
invulnerable
to
disease;
two
palas
produce
an
increase
in
semen;
three
palas
confer
heightened
powers;
eating
four
palas
cures
baldness;
with
five
palas,
all
wrinkles
appear;
six
palas
afford
a
telegraphic
memory;
seven
palas
destroy
eye
eases;
eight
palas
endow
one
with
a
bird's-eye
view
(tarksyad'mt)
and
a
life
span
and
powers
equal
to
those
of
the
god
Brahma;
nine
palas
make
one
the
equal
of
the
gods;
ten
palas
make
one
a
second
Siva.
48
In
the
Amanaska
Yoga
discussion
of
what
it
calls
"salvific"
or
"stellar
yoga;'49
the
length
of
time
one
holds
one's
breath
(called
the
"time
of
sorption":
laya-kala)
determines
the
degree
of
success
(siddht)
one
realizes,
in
a
mounting
progression.
Here,
the
term
pala
is
used
as
a
measure
of
time,
rather
than
of
mass.
50
Laya
for
one
full
breath
establishes
the
life
force
(pra1Ja)
in
the
body;
for
four
breaths,
the
replenishment
of
the
seven
bodily
constituents
(dhatus);
for
one
pal
a,
reduction
of
in
and
out
breaths.
When
the
breath
is
restrained
for
twelve
minutes,
the
kU1Jqalinl
straightens;
after
ninety-six
minutes,
a
trance
state
is
reached
in
which
one
has
a
vision
of
the
"drop
oflight"
(tejobindu);
after
three
hours,
one's
food
intake
and
pro-

3
1
7
Penetration,
Peifection,
and
Immortality
duction
of
excrements
are
greatly
reduced;
after
six
hours,
the
light
of
one's
soul
shines
forth;
after
twelve
hours,
the
light
of
the
ether
principle
tattva)
shines
forth;
after
a
day,
one
gains
supernatural
olfactory
powers;
after
two
days,
the
supernatural
gustatory
powers;
after
three
days,
vision"
(duradarfana);
after
four
days,
the
sense
of
touch
at
a
distance
sparfana);
after
five
days,
the
sense
of
hearing
at
a
distance
(durafrava1fa);51
after
six
days,
the
arising
of
the
mahabuddhi;
after
seven
days,
the
mystic
knowledge
of
the
entire
universe;
after
eight
days,
the
cessation
of
all
ger
and
thirst;
after
nine
days,
supernatural
speech
(vaksiddhl);
after
ten
days,
visions
of
hidden
wonders;
after
eleven
days,
mind
travel;
after
twelve
days,
the
power
to
move
over
the
earth
at
will
(bhucaratvam);
after
thirteen
days,
the
power
of
flight
(khecaratvam);
after
fourteen
days,
the
power
to
render
oneself
infinitesimally
small
a1fima);
after
sixteen
days,
the
power
to
render
oneself
infinitely
great
(mahima);
after
eighteen
days,
infinite
ity
(garima);
after
twenty
days,
the
unbearable
lightness
of
being
(laghima);
after
twenty-two
days,
the
attainment
of
all
one
desires
(prapu);
after
twenty-four
days,
the
fulfillment
of
all
desires
(prakamya);
after
twenty-six
days,
supremacy
(lfitva);
after
twenty-eight
days,
one
bends
the
universe
to
one's
will
(vafitva);52
after
a
month,
the
dawning
of
release
(moks:a);
after
nine
months,
a
diamond
body
and
mastery
over
the
element
earth;
after
eighteen
months,
mastery
over
the
element
water;
after
three
years,
tery
over
the
element
fire;
after
six
years,
mastery
over
the
element
air;
after
twelve
years,
mastery
over
the
element
ether.
He
who
practices
interrupted
breath
retention
for
twenty-four
years
gains
dominion
over
the
goddess
Sakti
and
the
entire
universe
and
enjoys
the
siddhi
of
"Love's
Body"
(kamarilpa).
Such
a
yogin,
established
in
the
mahatattva,53
retains
his
integrity
and
inviolability
even
after
the
universal
resorption
(pralaya)
of
the
gods
Brahma,
and
Siva.
The
pala
measure
constitutes
what
we
may
characterize
as
a
range
case
of
the
Hindu
time-space
continuum:
the
pala
is
at
once
a
sure
of
time
(24
seconds)
and
of
mass
(82.624
grams).
This
continuum
is
operative
at
the
two
endpoints
of
the
scale
as
well.
At
the
infinitesimal
end
of
the
spectrum
is
the
parama1fu,
"subatom;'
whose
theoretical
mass
is
approximately
0.00000017
grams,54
but
which
is
also
a
"space
of
time;'
i.e.,
the
time
it
takes
for
a
beam
of
sunlight
to
travel
across
an
atom
having
said
mass.
In
its
discussion
of
time
and
space,
the
Bhagavata
Pura1fa
joins
the
infinitesimal
to
the
infinite:
"The
subatom
[parama-a1fu]
is
indeed
[a
sure
of]
time,
i.e.,
the
time
[it
takes
the
sun]
to
pass
through
that
which
has
the
[spatial]
measure
of
a
subatom;'
A
homologous
case
is
the
greatest

3
18
Chapter
Ten
indivisible
measure
of
space,
which
is
also
the
"supergreat"
(paramo
mahan)
measure
of
time.
55
Following
the
logic
of
this
statement,
a
cosmic
eon
(kalpa)
is
the
time
it
takes
a
theoretical
light
beam
generated
by
the
scendent
absolute
(having
the
form
of
the
sun,
in
the
mundane
world)
to
pass
across
the
entire
expanse
of
bounded
space.
The
"two
infinites"
of
Blaise
Pascal,
as
well
as
the
time-space
continuum
and
light-years
of
ern
astrophysics
and
Douglas
Adams's
"Restaurant
at
the
End
of
the
verse"
all
appear
to
have
been
theoretically
anticipated
by
medieval
ans,
whose
universe
was
at
once
spatial
and
temporal.
56
There
is
yet
another
model
for
measuring
time
in
the
Hindu,
and
ticularly
the
yogic,
context.
This
is
the
unit
of
breath
called
a
matra
or
pala
57
which,
as
we
have
seen
in
the
context
of
laya-kala,
the
"time
of
breath
retention:'
deploys
into
life
spans
equivalent
to
the
duration
of
the
verse.
Here,
we
encounter
a
direct
link
between
breathing
and
the
duration
of
life.
Four
"measures"
(matra)
of
breath
equal
one
pala
(twenty-four
onds);
sixty
palas
equal
one
ghafika
(twenty-four
minutes),
and
sixty
kiis
one
day
and
night.
Fifteen
days
and
nights
constitute
a
lunar
fortnight,
of
which
two
make
a
human
month.
Six
such
months
equal
a
solar
semester
(ayana),
of
which
two
make
up
a
human
year.
One
hundred
such
years
are
the
allotted
life
span
of
a
human
being.
Nearly
every
creature
is
allotted
an
optimal
life
span
of
one
hundred
years.
However,
in
the
case
of
the
ancestors,
one
"year"
is
the
equivalent
of
30
human
years
(thus
the
tors
live
3,000
human
years);
and
a
"year"
of
the
gods
360
human
years.
Twelve
thousand
divine
years
equal
a
mahiiyuga,
of
which
one
thousand
equal
a
day
of
Brahma-who,
like
the
mayfly,
lives
but
for
a
day;
i.e.,
a
"day
of
Brahma"
is
the
equivalent
of
his
hundred-year
life
span.
58
A
day
of
Brahma
is
the
equivalent
of
a
kalpa,
a
cosmic
eon,
of
which
one
hundred
constitute
a
mahiikalpa,
or
great
eon,
a
life
span
of
out
of
whose
navel
Brahma
arises
at
the
beginning
of
each
kalpa.
For
the
Saivas,
ever,
a
life
span
is
nothing
more
than
an
in
breath
and
out
breath
of
the
supreme
god
Siva.
In
this
perspective,
all
of
time,
from
the
tesimal
to
the
infinite,
is
a
continuum
of
breath.
Extending
one's
breath
is
therefore
tantamount
to
extending
one's
life
span.
59
4-
Cakra
Piercing
and
Ear
Piercing
in
Nath
Siddha
Practice
Another
conceptual
model
for
effecting
the
yogin's
return to
and
cation
with
the
Absolute
brings
us
back
to
the
transformative
dynamics
of

3
1
9
Penetration,
Peifection,
and
Immortality
penetration.
According
to
the
metaphysical
teachings
of
Gorakhnath,
all
that
exists
in
the
universe,
from
the
most
inert
inorganic
matter
to
the
abstract
godhead,
is
ultimately
composed
of
the
same
substance-i.e.,
the
five
elements.
6o
Sentient
beings,
and
especially
humans,
consist
of
so
many
"overlays"
of
these
elements,
ranging
from
earth
to
ether.
Yogic
practice,
like
the
ritual
technique
of
bhiitafuddhi,
therefore
consists
of
imploding
lower
elements
into
hierarchically
superior
elements
until
all
has
been
sorbed
into
the
empty
space
of
the
subtle
ether.
This
vacuum
of
ness
in
the
heart
of
being-Gorakhnath's
child
crying
in
the
ether-is
a
"clearing"
of
pure
potential
out
of
which
supernatural
powers,
immortality,
and
a
divine
or
siddha
body
may
emerge.
61
This
"immanentism:'
the
notion
that
at
the
core
of
every
being
lies
its
perfect
essence,
is
given
an
alchemical
gloss
in
another
of
Gorakhnath's
mystic
verses:
"Just
as
within
every
stone
lies
the
indestructible
touchstone,
so
within
every
metal
there
is
gold."62
Of
course,
the
prime
technique
for
imploding
the
lower
constituents
of
one's
being
into
the
higher
is,
in
the
hathayogic
tradition,
the
ing
(vedha,
bhedana)
of
the
cakras,
through
breath
control
and
retention.
As
noted
in
the
laya-kala
progression
described
in
the
Amanaska
Yoga,
taining
the
breath
for
one
pala
reduces
up
and
down
breathing.
matic
retention
follows,
and
after
twelve
minutes
(i.e.,
thirty
pal
as)
the
qalinl
awakens,
straightens,
and
begins
her
rise
through
the
cakras,
piercing
them
as
she
mounts
toward
the
cranial
vault.
An
important
technique
to
this
yogic
end,
called
mahavedha,
the
"great
penetration:'
is
described
in
the
Gorakfa
Paddhati:
63
"With
one-pointed
mind,
the
yogin
should
inhale
and
retain
the
subtle
breath
within
his
body.
Then
he
should
halt
the
course
of
the
breaths,
through
the
use
of
the
throat
lock.
Placing
the
two
palms
flat
on
the
ground,
he
should
slowly
strike
the
ground
with
the
buttocks.
Thereupon
the
breath,
overflowing
the
two
outer
channels,
bursts
into
the
medial
channel
...
This
...
surely
generates
immortality
...
This
is
mahavedha,
the
practice
of
which
confers
the
great
siddhis."
On
a
conceptual
level,
the
piercing
of
the
cakras
effects
a
stadial
tion
or
implosion
of
the
lower
elements
into
their
higher
emanates.
Thus,
when
the
second
cakra
(the
svadhis;;hana)
is
pierced,
the
element
whose
support
is
the
lowest,
the
miiladhara
cakra-becomes
imploded
into
the
element
water,
the
second
element
on
the
hierarchy,
and
so
on,
until
nothing
remains
but
ether
in
the
cranial
vault.
It
is
not
a
coincidence
here
that
the
term
kha
at
once
means
"empty
space:'
"ether:'
"the
absolute:'
and
"zero"
in
the
Sanskrit
language.
64
The
cranial
vault,
the
locus
of
the
ether-both
the
site
at
which
Siddha
techniques
for
penetration
end
and

32
0
Chapter
Ten
that
at
which
mundane
existence
first
begins,
when
the
absolute
first
trates
the
human
microcosm
65
-is
the
zero
point
at
which
the
two
infinities
meet,
the
point
at
which
"black
holes"
issue
into
"white
holes."66
This
is
precisely
the
"end"
of
the
RA's
process
for
the
creation
of
the
Alchemical
Man,
which
was
outlined
in
an
earlier
chapter:
when
all
that
remains
of
the
practitioner
is
the
fifth
element,
ether,
in
the
cranial
vault,
he
arises-out
of
the
cauldron
in
which
his
lower
being
had
been
dissolved
and
imploded
into
its
higher
emanates-as
a
massive,
powerful,
perfected
Siddha.
67
Parallels
of
this
sort,
between
the
alchemical
and
hathayogic
techniques
of
the
Siddha
alchemist,
extend
to
the
ability
to
transmute:
the
highest
form
of
transmutation,
fabda-vedha,
is
effected
when
the
perfected
mist,
holding
a
mercurial
pill
in
his
mouth,
exhales
over
base
metals.
where,
the
yogic
and
alchemical
Siddha
is
capable
of
using
his
bodily
tions
to
"pierce"
and
transmute
base
metals
into
gold.
68
Penetration
is
not,
however,
solely
a
matter
of
breath,
or
of
the
implosion
of
the
hierarchized
five
elements.
As
we
have
already
seen
in
the
context
of
initiation
by
tration,
there
is
also
a
fluid
component
to
this
transformative
process.
Here,
the
technique
of
mahavedha
just
reviewed
is
but
a
particular
instance
of
the
more
general
phenomenon
of
penetration
or
piercing
that
occurs
within
the
yogic
body
when
the
breath,
energy,
and
seed
of
the
embodied
in
the
female
ku"?4alinf
serpent-pierce
the
six
cakras.
This
piercing
of
the
cakras-called
cakra-vedhana
or
cakra-bhedana-is
also
a
ual
penetration
of
sorts,
albeit
with
sexual
polarities
reversed,
given
that
it
is
a
female
ku"?4alinf
who
awakens,
stiffens,
rises,
even
rushes
upwards
wards
the
cranial
vault,
the
cavity
that
is
the
place
of
the
passive
male
Siva.
As
the
ku"?4alinf
pierces
each
of
the
cakras,
great
quantities
of
heat
are
duced,
which
refine
and
gradually
transmute
the
seed
that
is
the
stuff
of
her
body:
it
is
this
transmuted
semen
that
becomes
the
nectar
that
talizes
the
yogin
who
holds
it
in
his
cranium.
Just
as
in
the
alchemical
case,
in
which
the
practitioner
holds
a
pill
of
refined
mercury
in
the
mouth,
so
in
the
yogic
case,
in
which
his
head
is
filled
with
nectar:
it
is
refined,
perfected
semen
(of
the
god
Siva,
of
the
initiating
guru,
or
of
the
yogin
himself)
that
transmutes
his
mortal,
gross
body
into
an
immortal,
perfected
one.
Here,
vedha
refers
as
well
to
the
transformation
of
the
practitioner
himself.
We
have
already
seen
that
the
alchemist,
like
the
tantric
initiate,
becomes
a
second
Siva.
Similar
claims
are
made
for
the
"transmuted"
yogin,
especially
in
the
mystic
verses
uted
to
Gorakhnath
and
others
of
his
sect.
So
Gorakh
says,
"Now
that
you've
pierced
[bedhya]
the
lotuses
six,
go
and
drink
that
nectar
mix!
...

3
21
Penetration,
Peifection,
and
Immortality
Semen
is
yoga,
semen
is
what
pleases;
semen
averts
the
sixty-four
diseases/
The
rare
dude
who
pierces
semen's
mystery,
he's
the
creator,
he's
the
vinity."69
Gorakhnath,
the
author
of
the
hathayogic
Gorakfa
Paddhati
and
the
tic
biinTs
just
quoted,
is
also
the
purported
author
of
the
alchemical
BhP,
which
in
its
colophon
calls
itself
a
portion
of
the
Gorakfa
Samhitii;
in
the
Sakta
work
of
the
same
name,
the
initiation
of
penetration
is
also
scribed.
70
We
therefore
find
in
three
works
attributed
to
this
great
medieval
Siddha
references
to
all
three
uses
of
the
term
vedha[naJ-the
alchemical,
the
yogic,
and
the
tantric-
I
have
been
discussing
here.
This
is
also
the
same
Gorakh
who,
in
the
Nepali
royal
chronicle
we
summarized
earlier,
initiated
the
young
Prthivinarayal).
Sah
by
spitting
yogurt
he
had
versed"
in
his
subtle
yogic
body
into
the
young
boy's
hands.
Elsewhere,
in
the
legend
of
his
own
birth
and
initiation,
Gorakh
is
portrayed
as
the
first
human
to
have
had
his
ears
pierced
(or
punched,
or
split,
or
bored:
by
his
guru,
Matsyendranath.
Armed
with
this
knowledge,
it
becomes
sible
for
us
to
reproduce
the
symbolic
context
that
made
initiation
in
the
narratives
I
have
reviewed
the
trans
formative
act
that
it
was.
In
a
number
of
these
accounts,
a
boy
becomes
transformed
into
a
king
when
he
is
initiated
by
a
Siddha
who
either
spits
in
his
mouth
or
bores
his
ears
or
both.
In
the
first
instance,
as
we
have
seen,
the
guru
enters
and
thereby
transforms
his
disciple's
body
through
the
initiation
rite
known
as
vedhamayT
dTkfii,
initiation
by
penetration.
But
in
the
latter
practice
as
well,
something
is
being
penetrated
or
pierced.
This
is
the
thick
cartilage
of
the
initiate's
ear.
This
practice
of
ear
splitting,
a
hallmark
of
the
Nath
Siddhas,
has
also
earned
them
the
appellation
of
"Split-Eared
Yogis;'
the
Kanpha!a
Yogis.
As
we
saw,
however,
in
Bal).abhana's
seventh-century
description
of
the
Kapalika
Bhairavacarya,
the
kur:4ala
or
mudrii
worn
through
the
thick
of
the
ear
was
an
external sign
of
Saivite
sectarian
affiliation
even
before
the
emergence
of
the
Nath
Siddhas.
What
initiation
by
penetration
and
ear
boring
have
in
common
is
that
both
open
up
channels
in
the
subtle
body,
channels
which
must
be
opened
if
the
practitioner
is
to
succeed
in
his
hathayogic
practice.
When
the
guru
enters
into
his
disciple's
body
in
the
form
of
a
drop
of
saliva,
semen,
or
sound,
it
is
he
who
first
pierces
(bhed)
the
disciple's
six
cakras,
before
exiting
from
the
latter's
mouth
back
into
his
own
mouth.
So
too,
ear
boring,
sides
opening
a
hole
in
the
disciple's
ear,
also
opens,
as
if
by
synecdoche,
a
subtle
channel
inside
the
head
of
the
initiate.
71
Once
open,
this
channel
too
becomes
a
conduit
to
yogic
powers
and
bodily
immortality.
In
certain

Chapter
Ten
sources,
it
is
further
maintained
that
the
guru
actually
penetrates,
puts
his
mouth
in
the
mouth
of
his
disciple,
somewhere
inside
the
latter's
left
inner
ear,
at
the
opening
of
the
channel
called
the
"conch"
(fankhinfntiqi).72
When
we
look
closer,
we
find
that
the
subtle
body
has
at
least
ten
"mouths"
(mukhas:
a
better
translation
would
be
aperture
or
orifice),
that
the
kUTf4alinf
serpent
has
two
mouths,
and
that
mercury
itself
becomes
sessed
of
a
mouth
when
it
reaches
an
optimum
level
of
transmutation.
This
multitude
of
mouths
gives
rise
to
all
manner
of
complication
in
tions
of
processes
within
the
subtle
body,
as
well
as
to
all
manner
of
tions
on
the
initiation
process,
some
of
which,
of
an
overtly
sexual
order,
remind
us
of
the
perils
of
poor
Cakravarman
at
the
hands
(or
should
we
say
mouths)
of
the
J?ombI
temptresses
Goosie
and
Serpentina.
73
But
so
it
always
is
with
these
Siddha
and
tantric
traditions.
It
is
precisely
this
simultaneous
play
upon
multiple
levels
of
correspondence
that
makes
these
systemswork.
Each
instance
of
penetration
recalls
another
analogous
instance,
such
that
initiation,
transmutation,
and
yogic
integration
all
come
a
single
process;
every
mouth
refers
to
other
mouths.
These
parallel
processes
come
to
exert
a
cumulative
effect
as
well,
with
one
ously
catalyzing
and
being
catalyzed
by
all
the
others.
Thus,
for
example,
the
yogin
who
combines
the
internal
piercing
of
his
cakras
with
the
tice
of
holding
an
all-penetrating
mercurial
pill
in
his
mouth
dha)
and/or
the
sexual
penetration
of
vajrolf
mudrti
becomes
capable
of
alchemically
penetrating
all
matter
with
his
bodily
secretions,
thereby
transforming
minerals
to
gold
and
boys
to
princes
or
human
replicas
of
Siva.
Once
inside
the
system,
the
various
permutations
on
the
process
are
mutually
reinforcing.
The
Siddha
or
tantric
initiation
rites
behind
the
narratives
that
were
passed
in
review
in
the
first
part
of
this
chapter
were
the
medieval
cognates
of
the
Vedic
royal
consecration
of
old.
In
the
medieval
cases,
the
institution
of
priesthood
remains,
with
the
Vedic
sacrificial
priest
being
replaced
by
a
tantric
guru.
The
ritual
reiteration
of
the
priesthood's
seniority
and
ority
vis-a-vis
royalty
is
also
retained.
However,
instead
of
the
rather
tame
procedure
of
tapping
an
unpunishable
(adaTf4ya)
king
on
the
shoulder
with
the
rod
of
punishment
(daTf4a),
the
tantric
initiator
actually
renders
himself
the
biological
father
of
his
royal
disciple,
using
tantric
techniques
to
form
the
latter's
mundane
body
into
a
perfected,
tantric
one
and
thereby
afford
him
dominion
over
this
world
and
worlds
beyond.
For
the
Siddha,
transforming
a
boy
into
a
king
is,
in
such
a
situation,
child's
play.74

323
Penetration,
Peifection,
and
Immortality
5.
Kavi,
Siddha,
Vidyadhara
What
is
the
appearance
of
one
who
has
transformed
himself
into
an
chemical
Siddha?
As
described
in
the
RA
(12.366-68),
he
is
the
darling
of
fair-eyed
vixens,
slender-waisted
with
a
compact,
rock-hard
body,
as
inflamed
as
a
rutting
bull
elephant,
as
alluring
as
Love
himself.
The
beau
of
lustful
women,
his
body
is
a
bolt
of
ning
flashing
amidst
the
storm
clouds
of
his
curling
jet
black
hair.
As
immaculate
as
the
chaplain
of
the
gods
(Brhaspati),
he
is
an
cal
wizard
(kavz)
and
wonder-worker.
He
moves
with
the
imposing
gait
of
a
great
bull;
his
voice
is
deep
and
mellifluous.
Like
the
divine
elephant
Airavant,
he
surges
ever
forward
into
the
world,
able.
Radiant
as
a
lotus
pond,
he
outlives
even
the
sun,
moon,
and
stars
of
this
world.
A
consummate
logician
and
expert
in
all
the
ences,
he
is
a
protector
of
the
precepts
of
virtuous
men
because
he
knows,
by
his
power
of
inference,
what
is
righteous
and
proper.
The
heroic
[viral
equal
and
Siva/
5
he
is
as
enduring
as
the
sun,
moon,
and
sea.
A
number
of
terms
(siddha,
kavi,
vira)
and
allusions
found
in
this
passage
summarize
both
the
historical
origins
and
the
ultimate
goals
of
the
Siddha
alchemist.
The
last
of
these,
vira,
is
a
reference
to
the
broader
tantric
dition
within
which
the
Siddha
theoreticians
often
situated
themselves.
The
tantric
"hero"
is
a
practitioner
who,
through
his
initiation,
practice,
and
gnoseological
transformation,
has
transcended
the
bounded,
ridden
world
of
lower
creatures
(pafus)
of
this
world.
The
very
same
heterodox
practices
with
which
the
tantric
practitioner
reaffirms
his
scendence
and
absolute
freedom-caste-free
sexual
intercourse,
the
sumption
of
forbidden
power
substances-are
those
which
otherwise
demn
the
unwashed
masses
to
hell.
76
As
we
have
noted,
intercourse
with
Siddha
maidens,
yogiTfis,
even
goddesses,
is
a
desideratum
for
the
Siddha
practitioner
and
a
recurring
theme
in
every
tantric
alchemical
work.
77
More
specific
to
these
Siddha
traditions
is
the
goal
of
becoming
a
kavi,
a
wizard.
As
indicated
in
the
opening
chapter
of
this
book,
the
sense
of
the
term,
as
it
is
employed
here
and
in
alchemical
works,
differs
from
the
more
broadly
accepted
usage
of
"poetl'
The
Vedic
kavis,
of
which
the
Asura
chaplain
Kavya
Usanas
was
the
paragon,
were
not
only
wordsmiths
(poets)
but
also
death-defying,
wonder-working
wizards.
It
is
this
sense
of
the
term

324
Chapter
Ten
that
is
intended
here
and
in
a
number
of
Siddha
works
that
evoke
the
kavi.
Here,
it
should
also
be
recalled
that
the
"old"
supernatural
power
of
rasiiyana
was
one
that
was
to
be
wrested
from
the
subterranean
Asuras.
This
is
precisely
what
the
young
Kaca
did
when
he
won
the
formula
for
immortality
from
Kavya
Usanas,
who
was,
by
virtue
of
his
knowledge
of
healing
and
incantations
of
immortality,
the
Asuras'
greatest
wizard.
The
Ayurvedic
healers
of
Bengal
continue
to
be
called
kaviriijas
down
to
the
present
day.78
This
goal
or
supernatural
power
of
kavi-hood,
shared
by
alchemical
and
hathayogic
sources
alike,
is
evoked
in
the
KJiiN,
KCM,
RA,
Sataka,
Kh
V,
and
Siva
Samhitii.
79
The
successful
alchemist
is
a
kavi
because
he,
like
the
Asura
Kavya
Usanas
(Usanas,
son
of
a
kavt)
or
the
Vedic
singer
of
hymns,
is
capable,
through
his
mystic
omniscience,
to
shape
his
own
universal
order,
bend
nature
to
his
will,
and
thereby
realize
wealth,
invincibility,
and
immortality
for
himself.80
The
RA
compares
the
purity
of
the perfected
Siddha
to
that
of
pati,
the
chaplain
of
the
gods
and
divine
counterpart
of
Kavya
Usanas,
a
comparison
that
leads
us
from
the
"subterranean"
or
"nocturnal"
powers
of
the
kavi
to
those
more
closely
identified
with
the
light-filled
worlds
of
the
gods
and
demigods.
It
is
here
that
the
notion
of
bodily
tion,
from
human
practitioner
to
divine
Siddha
or
Vidyadhara,
comes
to
the
fore.
Here,
the
intermingling,
in
the
Siddha
lists
reviewed
in
chapter
four,
of
gods,
demigods,
and
perfected
humans,
is
reflective
of
the
essential
transformation
realized
by
the
Siddha
alchemist.
By
becoming
an
tal,
invincible
"second
Siva:'
he
literally
enters
the
ranks
of
the
semidivine
Siddhas
and
Vidyadharas,
if
not
of
the
gods
themselves.
There
is
ample
evidence
for
the
fact
that
cults
of
Siddhas
and
dharas
predated
the
emergence
of
those
human
practitioners
and
religious
orders
who
called
themselves
"Siddhas!'81
In
essence,
the
genius
of
these
orders
and
their
authors
was
to
appropriate
for
themselves
these
existing
traditions
and
incorporate
them
into
their
own
syntheses.
This
is
transparently
the
case
with
Matsyendranath,
revered
as
the
Siddha
founder
of
a
number
of
tantric
cults,
whose
KJiiN
is
replete
with
references
to
has
both
human
and
divine.
It
is
to
the
latter
that
he
clearly
refers
when
he
states
that
"the
planets,
serpents,
gods,
yoginls,
and
Siddhas,
all
of
them
worshipped,
themselves
worship
the
eight
Mother
Goddesses."82
Human
Siddhas
are
evoked
a
few
verses
later,
when
Matsyendra
speaks
of
the
sembly
(panktt)
of
gurus,
Siddhas,
and
yoginls.
83
The
four
lineage
Siddhas
(kula-siddhas)
are
semidivine
intermediaries
who
have
revealed
the
mystic
doctrine
to
the
world
in
the
four
cosmic
ages:
their
worship,
described
in

3
2
5
Penetration,
Peifection,
and
Immortality
the
final
verses
of
the
work,
was
adapted
into
Kaula
ritua1.
84
Of
course,
the
revealer
of
this
doctrine
in
the
present
age
is
none
other
than
Macchandal
Matsyendra
himself,
making
him
the
ideal
model
for
all
humans
who
would
raise
themselves
up
to
the
level
of
divine
Siddha.
85
Matsyendra
twice
mentions
Vidyadharls
(the
female
counterpart
of
the
Vidyadharas)
in
his
KJiiN;
in
both
cases
he
describes
techniques
for
tracting
and
sexually
exciting
Vidyadharls
and
other
female
demigods.
His
sole
mention
of
the
Vidyadharas
places
them
in
the
company
of
a
number
of
male
demigods,
all
of
whom
the
practitioner
is
to
visualize
within
his
body.86
I
have
already
reviewed
a
number
of
cases
in
which
the
matter
of
bee
ing
a
Siddha
or
Vidyadhara,
or
gaining
mastery
over
these
aerial
spirits,
was
broached
in
early
Saiva
literature.
In
the
Ca1!4akaufika
of
the
final
apotheosis
of
Hariscandra,
superintended
by
the
god
Dharma
in
the
form
of
a
Kapalika
alchemist,
is
effected
through
an
aerial
car,
brought
to
him
by
the
VidyadharasY
In
Bal).abhan:a's
Har{acarita,
the
Pasupata
Bhairavacarya's
goal
is
to
transform
himself
into
the
lord
of
the
dharas.
88
So
too,
a
Saiva
"Great
Vow-Taker"
seeks
to
become
a
Vidyadhara
in
the
Kathiisaritsiigara
tale
of
Devadatta
the
gambler.
89
This
theme,
of
transforming
oneself
into
a
Siddha
or
Vidyadhara,
is
also
a
standard
fixture
of
the
alchemical
literature.
So
we
read
in
the
century
RM
that
one
who
has
succeeded
in
fully
transmuting
his
by
jumping
into
a
cauldron
of
boiling
oil,
mercury,
and
other
alchemical
ingredients-swoons
and
then
recovers
to
find
himself
transformed
into
the
three-eyed,
four-armed
Gal).anatha
(lord
of
Siva's
host).
The
Siddhas
and
Vidyadharas
come
en
masse
to
view
the
transformed
alchemist,
and
together
with
these
denizens
of
the
atmospheric
region
he
flies
through
the
air
and
is
brought
before
Mahesvara
(Siva),
whom
he
worships.90
In
the
origin
myth
of
sulfur,
presented
in
the
same
source,
the
Goddess
is
picted
as
sporting
with
Vidyadharls,
Siddha
maidens,
and
a
host
of
other
semidivine
women.
91
According
to
the
MBhT,
the
practitioner
who
follows
its
instructions
gains
siddhis
and
becomes
a
"Siddha
who
is
the
manifest
equal
of
Siva."92
So
too,
the
Siva
Samhitii,
a
relatively
late
Nath
Siddha
guide
to
hafha
yoga,
ends
with
the
promise
that
the
yogin
may
see
the
vine)
Siddhas
and
gain
control
over
the
Vidyadharas
through
his
practice.
93
Finally,
the
AK
concludes
its
description
of
the
"lithe
virgin
on
horseback"
technique
94
for
the
extraction
of
mercury
with
the
following
statement:
"Mercury
is
found
in
all
of
those
places
that
the
Siddhas
and
Vidyadharas
caused
it
to
fall
[by
using
that
technique]."95

32
6
Chapter
Ten
It
is
in
the
alchemical
RA
that
we
find
the
most
extended
references
to
the
matter
of
becoming
a
Siddha.
In
its
discussion
of
"revivifying
water"
(safijtvanijalam),
it
relates
that
the
alchemist
who
has
drunk
three
measures
of
this
water
swoons
and
then
awakens
to
find
himself
transformed
and
possessed
of
supernatural
powers.
He
is
able
to
"see
into
cracks
in
the
earth
[to
find
buried
treasure]
throughout
the
seven
underworlds
[haunts
of
the
Asuras];
he
is
invulnerable
to
the
onslaughts
of
gods
and
antigods
alike."
After
further
treating
this
water
with
mercury,
realgar,
and
the
three
noble
metals,
"he
suddenly
disappears [from
human
sight]
and
becomes
the
lord
of
the
Vidyadharas,
surrounded
by
a
circle
of
Siddha
maidens
for
a
period
of
fourteen
kalpas."96
The
same
work
concludes
its
description
of
khecari
jaraTfa
("calcination
of
flying
[mercury]")
by
stating
that
the
alchemist
who
ingests
said
mercury
by
means
of
this
technique
is
immediately
uplifted
into
the
presence
of
the
gods,
Siddhas,
and
Vidyadharas,
with
whom
he
flies
through
the
air
at
Will.
97
The
work
concludes
on
a
similar
note:
98
He
mounts
into
an
aerial
car
made
of
divine
gold
studded
with
divine
gemstones
and
rubies
and
filled
with
flowered
garlands
and
banners
and
the
roar
of
conches
and
musical
instruments.
Thereupon,
a
vine
maiden,
a
singer
of
nymphen
melodies
and
an
alluring
dancer,
decked
out
in
divine
finery
and
garlands-a
lusty
beauty
and
a
table
image
of
Love
in
a
female
form-comes
to
him
and
takes
the
consummate
practitioner
to
dwell
in
the
world
of
the
Siddhas.
Then,
after
having
bathed,
wined
and
dined
him,
and
clothed
him
in
divine
finery,
the
love-starved
Siddha
maiden
sports
with
him
for
hundreds
and
thousands
of
years.
The
passage
and
the
entire
work
end
on
the
statement,
"When
all
the
fixed
and
moving
beings
in
the
universe
have
been
annihilated
in
that
rible
flood
[of
universal
dissolution],
the
Siddha
is
absorbed
into
the
same
place
as
are
the
gods."99
The
place
in
question
here
is,
according
to
the
most
widely
held
Hindu
beliefs
concerning
the
fate
of
the
universe,
one
of
the
two
highest
"worlds"
or
"heavens"
(tapalaka,
and
siddhalaka
or
laka),
which
together
serve
as
a
holding
tank
of
sorts
for
liberated
souls.
Suspended
high
above
the
general
conflagration,
they
are
saved
from
versal
dissolution
and,
most
important,
the
necessity
of
reincarnation
into
a
transmigrating
body
upon
the
reordering
of
the
cosmic
egg,
by
Brahma,
at
the
beginning
of
the
next
cosmic
age.
Once
one
accedes
to
these
sublime
levels,
one
need
never
return.

327
Penetration,
Peifection,
and
Immortality
6.
Mountains
of
Wisdom
A
number
of
tantric
sources
classify
the
Siddhas
into
three
groups:
gods,
semidivine
Vedic
sages,
and
humans
who
have
realized
a
perfected
(siddha)
body.
100
In
other
words,
a
number
of
the
Siddhas
found
in
the
lists
reviewed
in
-chapter
four
began
their
ongoing
careers
as
gods,
while
others
are
mans
who
acceded
to
a
divine
station
through
their
practice
of
Siddha
alchemy.
Nagarjuna,
a
Rasa
Siddha
who
clearly
belongs
to
the
last
of
these
three
groups,
nonetheless
shows
divine
pretensions
when
he
states
in
his
RM
that
"in
the
perfection
of
rasa,
I
shall
make
the
world
devoid
of
poverty
and
disease."
101
Here,
rasayana,
in
both
the
medical
and
alchemical
senses
of
the
term,
is
the
only
means
by
which
humans
may
enjoy
the
immortality
that
the
gods,
demigods,
and
denizens
of
the
underworld
possess
by
their
very
nature.
This
appears
to
be
the
intended
sense
of
a
passage
from
the
venerable
Caraka
Samhita
(6.1.78):
"Like
the
ambrosia
(amrta)
of
the
mortal
gods
and
the
nectar
(sudha)
of
the
serpents,
so
the
principle
of
yana
was
to
the
great
seers
of
old
...
he
who
uses
rasayana
in
the
prescribed
manner
not
only
obtains
long
life
on
earth
but
also,
upon
death,
betakes
himself
to
that
light-filled
realm
within
which
the
divine
sages
dwell."
102
There
are
thus
three
sorts
of
elixirs
of
immortality,
the
access
to
which
depends
upon
one's
ontological
status;
those
humans,
however,
who
make
use
of
the
elixir
available
to
them
can
hope
to
accede,
after
death,
to
a
level
of
existence
normally
reserved
for
a
certain
class
of
deities.
This
notion
of
an
exclusive
afterlife
in
the
company
of
semidivine beings,
already
glimpsed
in
this
medical
source,
becomes
a
central
concern
of
the
later
Siddha
traditions.
This
is
the
purport
of
the
RA
's
final
word
on
alchemy,
which
seems
to
imply
that
in
order
for
the
alchemist
to
fully
join
the
ranks
of
the
Siddhas
and
Wizards,
he
must
physically
enter
into
his
alchemical
apparatus.
This
is
a
principle
also
found
in
a
number
of
Chinese
alchemical
sources-sources
in
the
light
of
which
this
and
a
number
of
other
elements
of
Hindu
alchemical
lore
come
to
stand
out
in
higher
relief.
First
of
all,
transforming
oneself
into
an
immortal
by
entering
into
one's
alchemical
apparatus
is
a
commonplace
of
Taoist
alchemy.
In
the
Chinese
case,
the
apparatus
in
question,
called
hu-lu,
was
formed
out
of
two
superimposed
spherical
gourds,
a
configuration
at
once
identified
with
the
head
and
torso
of
the
subtle
body,
a
double
mountain
located
to
the
far
east
or
west
of
China,
and
an
abode
of
the
Immortals
(hsien).103
Entering
into
one's
chemical
apparatus
is,
in
these
sources,
somewhat
less
dramatic
than
the

3.
8
Chapter
Ten
operation
described
in
the
RA:
its
results
are,
however,
wholly
as
formative
as
those
promised
in
the
Hindu
alchemical
tradition.
Taoist
chemical
sources
dating
from
the
first
half
of
the
first
millennium
A.D.
are
particularly
rich
in
legends
on
this
subject,
one
of
which
was
reproduced
in
chapter
eight,
on
the
subject
of
a
certain
Che
Ts'ouen.
It
will
be
recalled
that
the
vessel
this
Taoist
alchemist
suspended
from
his
roof
beam,
called
hu
or
hu-lu,
was
at
night
transformed
into
Heaven
and
Earth.
Che
Ts'
ouen,
who
passed
his
nights
there,
called
himself
"Heaven
in
a
[Double]
Gourd"
(hu-t'ien)j
people
called
him
the
"Old
Man
of
the
Gourd!'
Following
this
he
realized
the
Tao
(and
became
an
immortal).104
In
the
Chinese
sources,
these
identifications-between
a
bicameral
alchemical
apparatus,
a
configuration
within
the
subtle
body,
a
double
mountain,
and
an
abode
of
the
immortals-are
made
much
more
explicitly
than
they
are
in
the
Hindu
sources
reviewed
to
this
point.
To
be
sure,
the
Hindu
use
of
the
term
vidyadhara,
Wizard,
applies
equally
to
a
bicameral
apparatus,
a
hathayogic
technique,
and
the
mountain
dwelling
alchemists
who
mastered
them.
What
appears
to
be
lacking
in
the
Hindu
material
is
the
explicit
identification
of
these
semidivine
figures
and
alchemical
ratus
with
these
sacred
mountains
themselves,
an
identification
which
the
Taoists
make
with
especial
reference
to
two
immortal
abodes.
These
are
the
mountains
H'un-Iun
and
K'un-Iun,
located
to
the
far
east
and
west
of
China
respectively.
The
names
of
both
of
these
peaks
are
derived
from
the
same
root
(hu)
as
the
term
for
the
double-chambered
gourd
of
Taoist
chemy:
more
than
this,
both
of
these
mythic
mountains
retain
the
shape
of
the
alchemical
apparatus:
H'un-Iun
has
the
form
of
two
superimposed
spheres,
while
K'un-Iun
that
of
two
superimposed
cones
joined
at
their
apex.
These
mountains
are,
moreover,
situated
within
the
subtle
body
of
the
alchemist,
in
his
lower
abdomen
and
head,
respectively.
As
such,
they
are
further
identified
as
the
Gates
or
Wells
of
Earth
(H'un-Iun)
and
Heaven
(K'un-Iun).105
Now,
the
Hindus
also
know
of
at
least
one
mythic
double
mountain:
this
is
Meru,
the
pivot
of
the
Hindu
universe,
which,
located
to
the
north
ofIndia,
has
the
form
of
two
cones,
the
one
inverted
and
the
other
upright,
joined
at their
tapered
ends.106
Like
the
Chinese
Hun-Iun,
Meru
has
its
microcosmic
homologue
as
well:
it
is
identified
with
the
spinal
column
(called
the
meru-daTf4a,
"Meru
rod")
of
the
subtle
body,
along
whose
tical
axis
the
nectar
of
immortality
is
drawn
upwards.
General
descriptions
of
Meru
locate
gods
and
demigods
of
the
likes
of
the
Vidyadharas
and
Siddhas
on
its
slopes
and
describe
its
summit
as
an
extensive
plateau,

3
2
9
Penetration,
Peifection,
and
Immortality
hemmed
in
by
a
ring
of
peaks
so
as
to
have
the
form
of
a
basin
or
saucer;
107
the
Ca1f4akaufika
(4.34)
states
that
this
mountain
abode
of
the
Siddhas
may
be
reached
through
alchemical
practice.
It
is
perhaps
incorrect
to
state
that
the
Hindus
made
no
explicit
tification
between
their
alchemical
wizards
or
immortals,
their
alchemical
apparatus,
and
their
sacred
mountains.
The
Sanskrit
term
dhara,
generated
from
the
root
dhr:,
means,
as
has
already
been
noted,
"bearer"
or
ent."
Another
sense
of
dhr:,
however,
is
"to
support:'
a
meaning
that
ates
another
reading
of
dhara:
a
mountain
(dhara)
is
that
which
supports
(dhr:)
the
earth
or
the
mineral
riches
within
the
earth.
In
this
case,
dhara
may
be
read
as
"Mountain
of
Wisdom:'
while
the
Vidyadharas,
the
Wizards,
may
be
considered
to
be
not
only
the
denizens
of
such
tains'
but
also
the
mountains
themselves.
What
we
are
suggesting
here
is
that
behind
the
medieval
Indian
cults
of
divine
Siddhas
and
Vidyadharas
as
denizens
of
mountains
there
lay
a
more
archaic
cult
of
these
mountains
themselves
as
a
group
of
demigods.
A
number
of
works
have
much
to
say
on
this
subject.
An
important
example
is
the
great
tantric
opus
entitled
the
Svacchanda
Tantra,
much
of
whose
cosmology
is
adapted
nearly
verbatim
by
Abhinavagupta
in
his
TA.
\08
Here,
in
an
enumeration
of
the
atmospheric
levels
located
above
the
terrestrial
disk
and
separated
from
one
another
by
distances
of
either
one
hundred
or
five
hundred
yojanas,
this
source
describes
cloud
masses
(megha)
(I)
that
strike
down
trees
on
earth
with
thunderbolts;
(2)
that
cause
rains
of
fishes,
frogs,
and
turtles
to
fall;
and
(3)
that
cause
disease-inducing
poison
rains
to
fall
(and
into
which
are
born
the
subgroup
of
embodied
beings
called
the
Plagues;
in
this
multitude
dwell
the
divine
ghouls
who
form
Skanda's
retinue,
as
well
as
the
Obstructors,
who
are
born
of
Siva
himself).
Still
paraphrasing
the
Svacchanda
Tantra,
Abhinavagupta
tinues:
Five
hundred
yojanas
higher
is
[the
abode
of]
the
Wind
[named]
"Lightning-Streak."
Here
at
[the
level
of]
"Lightning-Streak"
are
stationed
...
the
"lowest-level
Vidyadharas."
These
are
beings
who,
when
in
the
[prior]
form
of
human
wizards
(vidyapaurus:e)
carried
out
cremation
ground-related
practices.
When
they
died,
that
siddhi
[rendered
them]
Siddhas,
stationed
in
the
midst
of
the
Streak"
wind
...
\09
Five
hundred
yojanas
higher
...
there
at
Raivata
itself
are
the
primal
Siddhas
[named]
Yellow
Orpiment,
Black
Antimony,
and
Mercury
Ash.
110

33
0
Chapter
Ten
This
passage
goes
on
to
describe
ever-higher
levels,
inhabited
by
rior
Vidyadharas
who,
together
with
the
celestial
musicians,
sing
the
praises
of
Paramesvara,
the
highest
god;
and
still
higher
levels
in
which
the
most
elevated
(uttama)
Vidyadharas
are
stationed.
We
will,
however,
dwell
for
a
moment
upon
the
particular
case
of
Raivata
and
the
clearly
alchemical
siddhis
and
Siddhas
with
which
it
is
associated.
Concerning
the
latter,
I
first
reproduce
the
SvT
passage
upon
which
Abhinavagupta
based
his
description:
"On
Raivata
are
indeed
stationed
those great-souled
dhas.
Having
undertaken
the
practices
[dealing]
in
yellow
orpiment,
the
black
antimony
[of
invisibility],
the
ash
[of
transmutation],
the
shoes
[of
magical
flight],
the
hairy
skin
[of
the
tiger,
goat,
or
dog
worn
or
carried
by
the
Saiva
"Vow-Taker"
or
renouncer],
etc.,
these
great-souled
ones
became
Siddhas,
having
Love's
body
III
Here
we
can
see
that,
whereas
the
SvT
evokes
a
certain
number
of
eral
preparations
instrumentally-to
explain
that
the
Siddhas
of
Raivata
are
those
beingswho,
while
human,
gained
the
siddhis
of
invisibility,
mutation,
magical
flight,
etc.,
through
the
practices
of
alchemy
and
ciation-Abhinavagupta
transforms
these
alchemical
staples
into
a
group
of
demigods
whom
he
terms
the
"primal
Siddhas!'
Here
we
are
reminded
of
the
Siddhas
named
Fire,
Sun,
and
Moon
who,
according
to
the
kanityahnikatilaka,
aided
SrInatha
in
founding
the
kula,
"at
the
beginning
of
the
Kali
Yuga:'
at
a
site
called
Candrapuri.
ll2
In
both
cases,
these
ing
Siddhas
are
nothing
other
than
elements
of
the
Siddha
gnosis
itself
which,
like
the
Nine
Naths,
are
hypostasized
into
abstract
deities.
ogous
to
this
ambiguous
treatment
of
the
Siddhas,
who
are
here
portrayed
as
humans
and
here
as
atmospheric
demigods,
is
that
accorded
to
the
ards.
In
these
sources,
it
is
clearly
stated
that
the
"lowest
level
of
haras"
is
composed
of
those
beings
who,
when
still
human,
had
been
("men
of
occult
wisdom")
whose
cremation-ground
practices
had
won
them
an
atmospheric
station
after
death.ll3
It
is
to
this
level
that
such
figures
as
Bal)abha!!a's
Bhairavacarya
would
have
acceded
in
the
dievalliterature.
These
descriptions
are
for
us
proofs
of
what
we
have
been
arguing
throughout
this
book:
that
the
human
practitioners
of
the
Siddha
plines
of
alchemy,
yoga,
and
erotico-mystical
ritual
considered
selves
to
be
divine
or
semidivine
Siddhas
in
potentia
and
that
beyond
the
supernatural
powers
and
bodily
immortality
that
were
their
immediate
goals
lay
the
higher
end
of
apotheosis
to
the
loftier
realms
of
the
Siddhas
and
Vidyadharas.
This
archaic
component
of
their
practice
was
the
prime

33
1
Penetration,
Perfection,
and
Immortality
ground
for
their
Siddha
appellation,
in
spite
of
an
increasing
Saiva
(among
the
Hindu
Siddhas)
influence
that
never
ceased
to
diminish and
dilute
the
Siddha
coloring
of
their
gnosis.
So
it
is
that
we
find
quite
nearly
as
many
references
to
"becoming
a
second
Siva"
as
to
becoming
an
atmospheric
Siddha
or
Vidyadhara;
in
certain
sources,
the
issue
is
resolved
by
forming
those
same
semidivine
Siddhas
and
Vidyadharas
into
so
many
members
of
Siva's
celestial
retinue.
In
an
earlier
chapter,
I
argued
that
certain
mountaintops,
lofty
pivots
between
the
worlds
of
the
gods
and
demigods
and
the
world
of
men,
have
been
singled
out
since
the
medieval
period
as
sites
at
which
to
realize
the
various
siddhis
that
enabled
one
to
become
a
Siddha.
Among
these
were
Srisailam,
Kedarnath,
Mount
Abu,
and
Girnar.
This
brings
us
back
to
the
passages
just
cited
from
the
SvT
and
the
TA
which,
in
the
midst
of
their
descriptions
of
atmospheric
levels
located
thousands
of
miles
above
the
earth's
surface
(a
yojana
equals
approximately
nine
miles),
suddenly
present
the
reader
with
a
terrestrial
toponym
which
they
identify,
precisely,
with
the
alchemical
"primal
Siddhas"
Yellow
Orpiment,
Black
Collyrium,
and
Mercury
Ash.
This
is
the
toponym
Raivata
which
was
in
fact
a
medieval
name
for
the
cluster
of
peaks
known
today
as
Girnar,
in
the
Junagadh
trict
of
Gujarat.
In
praise
of
this
site,
the
Jain
"Raivatacala
Mahatmya"
calls
it
the
fifth
of
the
twenty-one
Jain
siddhiidris
(Siddha
mountains)
and
states
that
"[here]
sages
who
have
ceased
to
eat
and
who
pass
their
days
in
tion
...
worship
Neminath.
Here
divine
nymphs
and
numerous
heavenly
beings-Gandharvas,
Siddhas,
and
Vidyadharas,
etc.-always
worship
Neminath!'
114
A
number
of
Pural).as
beginning
with
the
ca.
ninth-century
Matsya
Purii'fJa
115
also
devote
long
descriptions
to
the
site,
which
they
term
Raivataka.
Two
to
three
centuries
later
than
the
Matsya,
the
Skanda
Purii'fJa
devotes
fifteen
chapters
to
the
wonders
this
site,
which
it
alternatively
calls
Raivata
or
Vastrapatha.
116
We
clearly
appear
to
be
in
the
presence,
in
this
wide
array
of
sources,
of
a
direct
identification
of
Girnar
as
both
a
terrestrial
site
to
which
human
experts
in
the
esoteric
sciences
come
to
perfect
themselves
through
Siddha
techniques
and
an
atmospheric
or
celestial
site
at
which
they
dwell
in
their
definitively
transformed
state
of
semidivine
Siddhas.
This
pedigree
of
nar
goes
back
further
still,
mentioned
as
it
is
by
the
seventh-century
Hsuan-tsang,
who
describes
a
meeting
there
with
"rishis
endued
with
itual
faculties
[siddhis]!'
117
It
is
also
present
in
earlier
Hindu
texts,
but
here
by
yet
another
name,
this
being
Gomanta.
118
We
find
this
early
toponym
for
Girnar
mentioned
once
in
the
Mahiibharata,119
in
the
context
of
the

332
Chapter
Ten
episode
of
Jarasandha,
a
regicide
king
and
very
early
devotee
of
Siva,
who
hailed
from
the
Kathiawad
region
of
present-day
Gujarat.
120
A
much
more
detailed
description
of
the
site
is
given
in
the
ca.
century
Harivan;tfa
"appendix"
to
the
epic,
which
also
relates
it
to
the
figure
ofJarasandha.
l2l
While
this
appears
to
be
no
different
from
a
great
number
of
other
praises
of
heavenly
mountains,
this
text
is
important
for
two
sons:
on
the
one
hand,
the
mountain
in
question
is
Girnarj
on
the
other,
this
is
perhaps
the
earliest
Hindu
source
to bring
the
Siddhas
and
dharas
"down
to
earth"
and
to
make
them
the
inhabitants
of
a
lofty
peak
rather
than
the
atmospheric
regions.
"The
[mountain]
called
Gomanta,
a
solitary
heavenly
peak
surrounded
by
a
group
of
[lesser]
peaks,
is
difficult
to
scale,
even
by
the
Sky-goers
...
its
two
highest
horns
have
the
form
of
two
shining
gods
...
122
The
interior
of
this
mountain
is
frequented
by
Siddhas,
CaraI).as,
and
and
the
surface
of
the
peak
is
ever
thronged
with
hosts
of
Vidyadharas!'
123
The
Girnar
peak
which
the
Jains
identify
as
Nemlnath
has
long
been
known
to
Hindu
pilgrims by
the
name
of
Dattatreya,l24
the
semidivine
founder
and
leader
of
the
Nine
Naths
of
western
Indian,
especially
ashtran
tradition.
Dattatreya
is
in
fact
one
of
a
pair
of
rocky
crags
that
dominate
the
formation
of
Girnar,
the
other
being
Gorakh:
these
twin
peaks,
having
heights
of
3450
and
3,470
feet
respectively,
are
by
far
the
highest
and
most
impressive
features
of
the
rim
of
mountains
that
form
a
basin
some
six
miles
in
circumference.
Girnar
has
furthermore
constituted
one
of
the
most
important
centers
ofNath
Siddha
activity
in
western
India,
as
evidenced
in
references
to
it,
from
the
fourteenth
century
onwards,
in
legends
concerning
their
founders.125
In
an
earlier
chapter
I
argued,
on
the
subject
of
these
twin
peaks,
that
they
were
called
"Gorakh"
and
treya"
not
because
they
featured
shrines
to
these
Nath
Siddhas
but
because
they
were
these
Siddhas,
i.e.,
that
the
bedrock
of
the
presence
and
eration
of
"human"
Nath
Siddhas
at
Girnar
were
the
semidivine
Siddhas
whose
ranks
the
latter
succeeded
in
joining
through
their
practice.
The
semidivine
Siddhas
dwelling
inside
Gomanta
(within
the
basin
formed
by
the
rim
of
peaks?)
and
the
Vidyadharas
dwelling
on
its
surface
(on
the
outer
slopes
of
those
peaks?)
preceded
the
likes
of
the
twelfth-
to
thirteenth-century
Gorakh
and
Dattatreya,
who
replaced
them,
and
thereby
became
the
demigods
identified
with
its
two
highest
twin
peaks.
In
this
light,
it
is
tantalizing
to
note
that
the
Kulii17fava
Tantra
(6.66)
lists
Dattatreya
and
Raivataka
in
immediate
succession
as
two
of
the
ten
gurus
of
the
Kaula
siddhaugha.

333
Penetration,
Peifection,
and
Immortality
Data
from
other
regions
of
the
Indian
subcontinent
appear
to
support
this
argument.
Gorakh,
who
is
called
a
Vidyadhara
in
the
"Song
of
Mal).ik
Candra"
is
depicted
in
the
"Legend
of
Pural).
Bhagat"
as
flying
through
the
air
at
the
head
of
fifty-two
hundred
visible
and
invisible
disciples.
126
lar
tradition
maintains
that
the
founding
Nath
Siddhas
are
still
living
in
the
Himalayas,
as
the
guardian
spirits
of
the
Himalayan
peaks.
In
the
mountainous
Gulmi
district
of
central
Nepal,
a
nondescript
"god
of
the
summit"
is
named
"Siddha;'
127
In
the
mountainous
Chamba
district
of
the
Punjab,
generally
nameless
"Siddhs"
are
worshipped,
in
the
same
fashion
as
serpents
and
minor
goddesses,
in
rustic
temples;
an
exception
is
Gugga
Mundalikh
Siddh,
identified
with
an
eleventh-century
historical
figure
named
Guga
Chauhan
and
with
the
Nath
Siddha
known
as
Guru
Guga
or
Guga
Pir,
whose
shrine
is
located
at
Shalu
in
Himgari.
128
As
noted
in
ter
four,
the
"historical"
Gorakhnath
is
said
to
have
discovered
a
shrine
to
the
Nepali
(Gurkha)
deity
Gorakh,
into
whose
service
he
devoted
himself.
Over
time,
this
mountain
godling
and
the
human
yogin
became
fused
into
a
single
figure:
Gorakhnath,
founder
of
the
Nath
sampradaya
and
the
site
of
Gorakhpur.
129
In
the
light
of
this
evidence,
we
must
conclude
that
such
historical
dhas
as
Gorakh,
Dattatreya,
and
Nagarjuna,
whose
acts
and
lives
defined
the
religious
landscape
of
a
certain
Gupta
and
post-Gupta
India,
became
fused
in
the
Hindu
imagination
with
certain
classes
of
gods
and
demigods,
in
whose
number
the
divine
Siddhas
and
Vidyadharas
must
be
counted;
and
that
it
was
at
such
peaks
as
Girnar,
in
western
India,
the
heartland
of
early
Saivism,
that
such
identifications
first
emerged.
130
While
we
cannot
say
to
what
extent
these
figures
were
and
are
identified
with
the
sacred
peaks
themselves,
my
reading
of
Vidyadhara
as
"Mountain
of
Wisdom"
should
not
be
entirely
far-fetched,
especially
in
the
light
of
the
description
of
Gomanta.
This
peak,
which
I
have
identified
with
Girnar,
is
said
to
be
inhabited
both
inside
and
out
by
Siddhas
and
Vidyadharas.
Like
many
sacred
tains,
Girnar
is
a
site
riddled
with
caves,
of
which
at
least
two
are
identified
with
Nath
Siddhas
(Bhartrhari
and
Dattatreya);
and
what
is
a
mountain
cave,
if
not
the
macro
cosmic
replica
of
the
cranial
vault
of
the
ing
yogin,
the
tumulus
(samadht)
in
which
deceased
yogins
are
interred,
or
the
upper
chamber
of
an
alchemical
apparatus
within
which
the
alchemist
transforms
himself
into
the
opus
alchymicum?
As
in
the
Taoist
case,
the
Mobius
universe
of
the
Siddhas
is
so
constructed
as
to
permit
its
titioners
at
once
to
identify
cosmic
mountains
with
their
own
subtle
bodies

and
to
enter
into
those
mountains
to
realize
the
final
end
of
their
practice,
the
transformation
into
the
semidivine
denizens
of
those
peaks.
So
it
is
that
these
myriad
allusions,
found
in
a
wide
array
of
Saiva,
dha,
tantric,
and
Jain
sources,
are
so
many
literary
vestiges
of
an
archaic
Siddhas
and
'Aho,
like
the
imn
m,
of
by
heroic
hUn\"n,
who,
through
\Us
trials,
transcend"d
condition.
TbJ"
ddha
of
tantrism:
the
gammg
power
dha
and
Vidyadhara
wizards
and
nymphs
funneled
into
the
tantric
cults
of
the
yoginis,
which
were
in
turn
internalized
into
the
practices
of
hafha
yoga
and
alchemy
as
practiced
by
superhuman
Nath
and
Rasa
Siddhas
and
the
more
refined
andabstract
ritual
practices
of
"high"
Tantra.

EPILOGUE
The
Siddha
Legacy
in
Modern
India
"My
dear
chap,
I
ask
you!"
said
Masood,
as
if
it
were
my
fault.
Those
sadhus
would
sometimes
come
to
Dewas
and
bless
the
Palace,
and
demand
a
hundred
rupees
each.
Malarao
would
speak
as
fair
as
he
could
and
give
each
of
them
one
rupee.
They
then
cursed
the
Palace
and
returned
to
Ujjain.
1
The
medieval
Siddhas
of
India
were
self-styled
imitators
of
divine
and
semidivine
Siddhas
who,
through
their
conjoined
practice
of
alchemy,
hafha
yoga,
and
tantric
ritual
(erotico-mystical
or
"sublimated;'
when
it
took
the
form
of
worship
of
the
divine
Siddhas),
sought
to
join
the
ranks
of
the
latter
at
the
end
of
their
practice
(sadhana)
or
at
the
end
of
their
lives.
Over
the
centuries,
the
cults
of
the
divine
Siddhas
and
Vidyadharas,
denizens
of
the
atmospheric
regions
or
of
lofty
peaks,
have
gradually
diminished
and
are
today
found
only
in
remote
mountain
regions
of
the
Indian
subcontinent.
In
other
parts
of
India,
these
demigods
have
been
supplanted
by
or
conflated
with
such
historical
figures
as
nath,
Gorakhnath,
Nagarjuna,
or
Dattatreya,
figures
who
self-consciously
aligned
themselves
with
the
former,
taking
their
names
as
honorary
titles
or
indications
of
various
degrees
of
realization
in
their
mystic
arts.2
A
case
in
point
is
"Gorakhnath"
who,
having
discovered
the
shrine
of
the
godling
Gorkha
(divinity
of
the
Gurkhas
of
the
Himalayan
region
of
Gurkha
in
Nepal),
took
the
name
of
Gorakhnath,
i.e.,
"he
whose
Lord
is
Gorakh."3
Such
a
conceptual
shift-from
"shrine
served
by
a
holy
man"
to
"shrine
of
the
holy
man"
himself-was
effected
in
the
Indian
popular
imagination,
and
in
the
generation
of
legends
that
grew
up
around
this
composite
figure,
in
the
same
way
as
such
has
occurred
in
Europe.
Alocal
godling,
identified
with
a
spring
of
healing
waters
or
one
or
another
graphic
anomaly
gradually
becomes
transformed
into
a
"saint"
whose
relics
are
the
source
of
the
magic
that
cures
the
sick
or
drives
away
plagues.
4
In
India,
the
nocturnal
sight
of
hermits'
fires,
tiny
points
of
light
nating
the
brooding
silhouettes
of
dark
mountains,
would
also
have
fueled
an
identification
of
the
semidivine
Siddhas
with
their
human
emulators.
335

33
6
Epilogue
Today,
the
majority
of
those
dark
hillsides
are
crisscrossed
by
metaled
roads,
over which
buses
full
of
pilgrims
and
tourists
travel.
The
hermits
have
withdrawn
deeper
into
the
mountains
or
have
disappeared
altogether
from
the
sight
of
men.
Their
departure
has
left
a
void
in
the
modern
Indian
soul,
perhaps
not
unlike
that
which
has
marked
the
American
soul
since
the
disappearance
of
the
frontier
some
one
hundred
years
ago.
Something
fundamentally
real,
something
whose
mere
existence
has
been
a
narian
source
of
spiritual
solace,
has
been
lost
or
is
in
the
process
of
being
lost.
How
has
twentieth-century
India
reacted
to
the
"disenchantment
of
the
world"?
I.
Transmutation
in
the
Twentieth
Century
I
have
met
Siddhas
who
claimed
to
be
alchemists
but
who
would
not
show
me
their
powers.
I
met
many
more
who
claimed
to
know
alchemists
out
ever
being
able
to
divulge
to
me
their
exact
whereabouts.
There
was,
however,
a
well-documented
case
of
transmutation,
carried
out
in
1940
by
an
Ayurvedic
pharmacist
in
a
Benares
Hindu
University
laboratory
before
a
group
of
scholars.
One
of
the
last
surviving
members
of
this
group,
nandan
Upadhyaya,
gave
me
an
account
of
the
experiment
at
his
Benares
home-cum-Ayurvedic
dispensary
in
the
spring
of
1984:
Krishna
Pal
Shastri,
a
vaidya
from
Jamnagar,
in
Gujarat,
performed
the
experiment
in
the
laboratory
of
Benares
Hindu
University
istry
professor
Phaldevasahaya
Varma,
in
the
presence
of
nine
or
ten
Ayurvedic
scholars
and
practitioners
and
the
great
industrialist
Birla.
Shastri
hollowed
out
a
soap
nut,
which
he
filled
with
mercury,
two
or
three
grams
of
borax,
and
a
grain
of
a
secret
powder.
He
sealed
the
nut
with
a
paste
of
lime
and
molasses
and
put
it
inside
a
crucible,
which
he
placed
on
a
charcoal
fire.
He
fanned
the
fire
until
the
nut
inside
the
crucible
began
to
burn.
When
the
smoke
cleared,
he
split
the
nut
open
with
an
iron
wedge.
Inside
was
a
metal
that
looked
like
silver.
Half
of
this
metal
was
taken
by
Professor
Varma
and
the
other
half
by
Mr.
Birla.
Varma
tested
it
at
BHU
and
Birla
at
one
of
his
firm's
laboratories
in
Calcutta.
In
both
cases,
the
metal
tested
out
as
pure
silver,
with
only
the
spectroscopy
showing
a
slight
variation
from
that
of
natural
silver.
Sastri
had
informed
those
who
were
pres-

337
The
Siddha
Legacy
in
Modern
India
ent
that
he
could
also
produce
gold
by
the
same
procedure,
by
merely
substituting
ammonium
chloride
for
borax.
Later
on,
at
Birla's
gation,
he
produced
gold
in
this
way.
He
continued
to
make
gold
in
this
way,
at
the
rate
of
three
grams
per
week,
to
cover
his
laboratory
and
personal
expenses.
Marble
plaques,
in
the
Visvanath
Temple
on
the
campus
of
ares
Hindu
University
and
at
the
Birla
Temple
in
Delhi,
bear
witness
to
Shastri's
alchemical
feats
and
state
that
the
gold
he
manufactured
over
time
totaled
seventy
thousand
rupees
in
value.
I
was
told
by
another
Banarsi
Ayurvedic
scholar,
Siddhinandan
Misra,
that
Shastri
used
up
all
his
gold
playing
the
horses
and
that
he
died
of
poisoning
by
persons
attempting
to
extort
his
secrets
from
him.s
I
was
unable
to
corroborate
either
of
these
statements.
Similar
accounts
of
alchemical
aurifaction
have
continued
to
appear
periodically
in
the
Indian
press.
The
8
June
1968
issue
of
the
Navabhiirat
Times
ran
a
story,
out
of
Ahmedabad,
concerning
an
Ayurvedic
pharmacist
named
A.
C.
Acharya,
who
had
produced
pure
gold
from
mercury
in
four
days,
atJamnagar
(Gujarat).
This
story
was
corroborated
by
Siddhinandan
Misra,
who
added
that
the
experiment
was
carried
out
under
the
eyes
of
ten
goldsmiths,
ten
chemists,
and
six
government
ministers.
Dharm
Yug's
7
September
1975
edition
states
that
the
"secret
ingredient"
used
in
these
experiments
was
"perfected
mercury"
(siddhasiita).6
Even
if
authentic
alchemists
have
become
a
scarce
commodity
in
twentieth-century
India,
the
Hindu
alchemical
tradition
seems
to
have
left
its
mark
on
the
Indian
psyche
in
a
number
of
often-unexpected
ways.
One
of
these
is
a
tendency
to
attribute
a
certain
order
of
consciousness
to
metals.
Such
a
tendency
ought
perhaps
not
to
surprise
us,
if
we
understand
tantric
thought
in
the
same
way
as
does
Sanjukta
Gupta
when
she
states
that:
ultimately
the
conscious
bits
of
the
universe,
like
stones,
are
also
God
and
hence
consciousness,
but
a
consciousness
that
has
decided
to
conceal
itself
(iitmasan:zkoca).
Here
we
come
to
the
double
ment
which
God
decides
on;
firstly,
He
conceals
the
fact
that
His
true
form
is
identical
with
the
individual
soul;
and
secondly
He
ceals
His
true
nature
as
consciousness
to
manifest
Himself
as
scious
phenomena.
The
world
of
the
Tantric,
then,
is
ultimately
all
God,
but
it
contains
a
vast
range
of
things,
from
things
as
gross
as
stones
to
things
as
subtle
as
God.?

33
8
Epilogue
A
number
of
twentieth-century
Indian
scientists
have
been
sympathetic
to
this
viewpoint.
In
his
renowned
Autobiog;raphy
of
a
Yogi,
Yogananda
gives
an
account
of
the
Bengali
scientistJagadis
Bose,
who
demonstrated
to
him
an
apparatus
he
had
invented
in
the
1930s:8
Graphs
of
my
delicate
apparatus
have
proved
that
trees
possess
a
culatory
system;
their
sap
movements
correspond
to
the
blood
sure
of
animal
bodies
...
The
more
deeply
we
perceive,
the
more
striking
becomes
the
evidence
that
a
uniform
plan
links
every
form
in
manifold
Nature
...
I
shall
show
you
experiments
on
a
piece
of
tin.
The
life-force
in
metals
responds
adversely
or
beneficially
to
stimuli.
Ink
markings
will
register
the
various
reactions.
[Yogananda
then
continues,
in
his
own
voice:]
Deeply
engrossed,
I
watched
the
graph
that
recorded
the
characteristic
waves
of
atomic
structure.
When
the
professor
applied
chloroform
to
the
tin,
the
vibratory
ings
stopped.
They
recommenced
as
the
metal
slowly
regained
its
normal
state.
My
companion
dispensed
a
poisonous
chemical.
taneously
with
the
quivering
end
of
the
tin,
the
needle
dramatically
wrote
in
the
chart
a
death
notice.
A
similar
body
of
assumptions
appears
to
underlie
the
theories
of
T
R.
Anantharaman,
who
was,
when
I
interviewed
him
in
December
of
1984,
the
dean
of
the
prestigious
Engineering
College
at
Benares
Hindu
sity.
In
a
lecture
entitled
"Transformations-Metallurgical
and
Mental:'
Professor
Anantharaman
proposes
that
the
four
states
of
human
ness
(matter,
life,
mind,
and
supermind)
correspond
to
the
four
gical
phases
(gas,
liquid,
single-phase
solid,
multiphase
solid).
Here,
the
three
culminating
stages
of
Pataiijala
yoga
correspond
to
phase
mations
(nucleation
and
growth)
in
the
metallurgical
solid
phase.
In
such
transformations,
"embryos"
or
small
nuclei
are
generated,
which
are
pable
of
further
growth
and
steady
increase
in
size
until
transformation
occurs.
This
process
of
nucleation
is
to
be
compared,
in
yogic
practice,
to
the
realization
of
samiidhi.
In
the
end,
the
transformations
undergone
by
the
meditating
yogin
are
to
be
viewed
as
so
many
monotectoid
tions,
effected
on
the
level
of
human
consciousness.
9
On
a
more
popular
level,
we
find
the
pervasive
notion
in
India
that
the
eight
metals
(af!adhiitu)
are
intimately
related
to
the
movements
and
logical
effects
of
the
nine
celestial
bodies
(navag;raha).
By
wearing
an
metal
ring,
one
wards
off
the
baneful
influences
of
such
dread
planets
as
Saturn,
while
enhancing
the
salutory
effects
of
the
auspicious
planets.
Cer-

339
The
Siddha
Legacy
in
Modern
India
tain
sources
identify
the
Nine
Naths
with
the
eight
metals
or
nine
planets;
in
an
interview
he
granted
me
in
1984,
Mangalraj
Joshi,
the
royal
ger
to
King
Birendra
of
Nepal,
identified
the
nine
planets
with
the
eight
metals.
lO
Of
greater
and
more
wide-ranging
impact
than
pseudoscientific
rizing
of
this
order
are
certain
effects
the
medieval
Siddha
traditions
appear
to
have
had-if
only
by
their
transformation
or
absence-on
a
number
of
medical
notions
and
political
strategies
in
late
twentieth-century
India.
These
are
the
subject
of
the
next
two
sections
of
this
chapter.
2.
Impotence:
The
Ravages
of
Gupta
Rog
High
in
the
snow-clad
Himalayas,
in
a
cave
above
Joshimath,
lives
a
five
hundred-year-old
man
whose
eyebrows
have
grown
down
over
his
eyes.
The
four
hundred-year-old
Sundarnath
Siddha,
an
expert
in
the
cal
arts
living
in
the
hills
above
Kathmandu,
disappeared
and
reappeared
at
will
before
definitively
disappearing
in
the
1970s."
The
alchemist
garjuna
lived
for
eight
hundred
years
before
giving
up
his
head
and
life
at
therequest
of
a
young
prince.
Gorakhnath,
the
yogic
superman,
has
stood
beside
kings
and
heroes
for
millenia,
abandoning
one
body
for
another
at
will.
He
and
his
brother
Nath
Siddhas,
immortal
guardians
of
the
yan
peaks,
are
as
old
as
the
mountains
themselves.
In
India,
whose
recorded
traditions
of
the
deeds
of
gods
and
humans
are
among
the
oldest
on
the
planet,
examplary
humans
have
ever
rivaled
the
gods
in
their
longevity
and
power.
Yet
this
is
the
same
India
upon
whose
sweltering
plains
men"
are
warned
in
"clinical
literature"
that
they
will
"look
old
at
the
age
of
2
5
[through]
the
horrors
of
the
wastage
of
semen
...
Many
youngmen
have
sex
many
times
at
night
and
thus
waste
this
essence
of
life
recklessly.
With
small
production
and
heavy
drainage,
supply
will
exhaust
soon
and
critical consequences
will
have
to
be
faced!'
12
What
connections
can
we
draw
between
the
grandeur
and
the
squalor,
between
immortality
in
the
highlands
and
misspent
youth
in
the
lowlands
of
India?
A
glance
at
Ayurvedic
theories
of
digestion,
metabolism,
and
the
production
of
sexual
fluids
provides
us
with
a
key
to
this
puzzle.
The
inform
us
that
humans
are
constantly
being
cooked
by
the
fires
of
time;
and
as
the
myth
of
King
Moon
demonstrates,
the
cooking
is
never
so
fierce
as
when
man
sheds
his
seed,
his
very
staff
of
life.This
sentiment

34
0
Epilog;ue
is
expressed
in
the
beautiful
poetry
of
Tayumagavar,
a
Tamil
Saiva
poet
who
lived
in
the
first
half
of
the
eighteenth
century:
Ecstatically,
you
think,
"sex
is
bliss."
This
embracing
becomes
more
frequent,
Growing
to
excess
Like
the
waning
moon,
Your
intellect
becomes
exhausted.
And
your
body
shrivels
up
Like
a
monkey's
wrinkled
skin.
You
grow
old
soon
[
...
]
When
the
dark
Lord
of
Death
comes,
Who
will
protect
you,
o
sinful
mind?
It
would
appear
that
the
male
sex
drive
puts
males
in
an
impossible
bind,
in
which
they
find
themselves
in
constant
danger
of
losing
their
seed,
a
seed
that
is
accumulated
only
very
slowly
and
in
minuscule
quantities
through
the
long
process
of
digestion.
According
to
Ayurvedic
theory,
this
is
a
seven-step
process,
in
which
the
food
we
eat
is
serially
"burned"
or
refined
into
rasa
(chyle),
blood,
flesh,
fat,
bone,
marrow,
and
finally,
in
men,
semen
(it
becomes
uterine
blood
or
breast
milk
in
women).
13
Here,
it
takes
some
twenty-eight
days-a
lunar
month,
and
the
same
time
it
takes
a
woman's
body
to
produce
an
ovum-for
the
food
males
ingest
to
become
transformed
into
semen.
14
Moreover,
it
requires
a
prodigious
quantity
of
food
to
produce
a
single
gram
of
semen.
15
Ayurvedic
theories
of
tion
l6
-according
to
which
male
children
are
produced
by
a
relative
ponderance
of
semen
to
uterine
blood
at
the
moment
of
conception,
while
females
are
produced
by
an
opposite
ratio
17
-compound
the
perils
of
men
depletion.
These
medical
notions
have
given
rise,
in
modern
India,
to
a
male
cern,
if
not
obsession,
with
semen
retention,
in
which
the
garnering
and
conservation
of
this,
the
end
product
of
digestion
and
the
most
vital
of
bodily
fluids,
is
quite
nearly
synonymous
with
the
maintenance
of
good
health
and
the
prospects
for
long
life.
Male
virility,
indeed,
male
life
tancy,
depends
upon
a
careful
conservation
of
this
rare
and
precious
vital
fluid
which,
in
addition
to
being
depleted
through
the
inexorable
aging

34
1
The
Siddha
Legacy
in
Modern
India
process,
is
in
constant
danger
of
being
burned
up
and
entirely
consumed
in
a
fiery
uterine
ocean
of
female
sexuality.
The
mythic
ground
for
this
cultural
obsession,
or
for
what
Gananath
Obeyesekere
has
termed
cultural
diseases
involving
the
loss
of
bodily
fluids,
is
the
Vedic
myth
of
the
origin
of
royal
consumption
(riijayakrma),
in
which
the
dissipation
of
semen
in
sexual
intercourse
results
in
the
"death"
of
King
Moon.
Is
Elsewhere,
the
yogic
sources
abound
in
admonitions
to
celibacy
(iirddhvaretas,
"semen
held
upwards;'
in
the
lunar
region
of
the
cranial
vault),
sometimes
comparing
the
vulva
to
a
vampiress
that
drains
a
man
of
his
life
and
virility.I9
A
"limit
situation"
of
this
attitude
was
stated
with
dramatic
clarity
by
the
very
this-woddy
Aghori
Vimalananda
just
over
a
decade
ago:
You
must
have
heard
of
women
in
the
Place
Pigalle
in
Paris
who
can
pick
up
one-franc
coins
from
tables
with
their
vaginas;
I
have
seen
this
with
my
own
eyes.
And
I
am
told
that
in
Laos
and
Vietnam,
some
bargirls
can
smoke
cigarettes
vaginally
. . . A
woman
who
knows
Vajroli
[here,
vaginal
suction]
can
"milk"
an
unsuspecting
man
of
his
semen
with
her
suction.
She
can
make
him
eject
over
and
over
again
until
there
is
nothing
left
to
eject,
which
will
sap
him
of
all
his
ojas
[human
vital
fluid,
of
which
there
only
exist
eight
drops].
Her
glands
will
be
well
benefited
by
this,
at
his
expense.
20
In
a
general
sense,
all
women
are,
according
to
such
popular
wisdom,
so
many
vampiresses
whose
mere
presence,
even
as
an
image
in
the
male
imagination,
is
sufficient
to
drain
a
man
of
his
seed:
indeed,
this
is
the
cause
of
male
nocturnal
emissions
(svapna
the
"sleep
flaw").
The
term
effect
of
this
nefarious
influence
is
death:
Hindu
India
holds
widows
implicitly
guilty
for
the
premature
deaths
of
their
husbands,
whose
very
lives
they
are
viewed
as
having
consumed
in
their
insatiable
feminine
sionY
More
than
once
I
have
been
told
by
Indian
men
that
my
hood
(which
they
have
equated
with
celibacy)
was
a
good
thing,
because
thanks
to
it
I
would
not
die
young.
On
a
more
immediate
and
visible
level,
the
upshot
of
these
concerns
is
that
Indian
males,
finding
themselves
constantly
beset
with
the
cultural
disease
of
gupta
rag,
the
"secret
ailment;'
have
been
pouring,
in
increasing
numbers,
into
so-called
Ayurvedic
gupta
rag
clinics.
These
are
clinics
that
treat
male
"sexual
disorders;'
of
which
the
prime
symptom,
judging
from
their
advertising
and
literature
on
the
subject,
is
the
birth
of
daughters.
Putra
hagii,
"you
will
have
a
son;'
is
the
promised
cureY
In
a

34
2
Epilogue
society
in
which
male
children
bring
wealth
into
a
household
(through
dowry),
while
females
take
it
out,
chronic
"fuel
shortages"
on
the
part
of
males
can
take
on
financially
catastrophic
proportions.
As
a
result,
the
gupta
rog
clinics
do
a
land-office
business
throughout
India,
as
evinced
in
ubiquitous
billboard
advertising
for
their
remedies.
The
economic
pressures
of
a
viciously
hyperinflated
dowry
system,
compounded
with
these
pervasive
notions
concerning
male
and
female
sexuality,
have
only
increased
the
perceived,
indeed
the
real,
need
in
India
for
the
remedies
sold
by
the
gupta
rog
clinics
(the
term
covers
all
manner
of
sexual
disorder,
including
impotence,
premature
ejaculation,
venereal
disease,
etc.).
Within
a
conceptual
context
in
which
women
are
piresses
and
the
loss
of
seed
is
tantamount
to
financial
ruin
if
not
death,
psychological
pressures
arising
from
the
urgency
of
producing
male
spring
cannot
help
but
have
a
powerful
negative
impact
on
male
sexual
response.
Can
there
be
any
outlet
for
this
cultural
disease?
3.
Omnipotence:
India's
"Men
in
Saffron"
For
a
large
segment
of
the
male
Indian
population,
life
is
in
some
ways
like
a
bomb
with
a
short
fuse,
which
none
save
the
distant
Siddhas
and
yogins
have
ever
been
capable
of
defusing
before
an
otherwise
inevitable
plosion.
It
is
in
this
way
that
Siddha
longevity
and
male
sexual
disorders,
seemingly
situated
at
opposite
poles
of
the
Indian
experience,
may
be
viewed
as
intimately
related
in
Indian
thought.
Indeed,
it
is
a
single
lenarian
symbol
system
that
joins
them
together-a
system
that
embraces
Ayurvedic
rejuvenation
therapy
(rasayana),
the
"yoga
of
violent
exertion"
(hatha
yoga),
and
elixir
alchemy
(dehavada).
In
a
sense,
this
ancient
legacy
has
taken
the
form
of
a
conundrum
(unavoidable
aging,
loss
of
virility,
death,
all
identified
with
failure
to
retain
semen)
for
which
a
satisfactory
solution
is
lacking.
This
false
problem
of
semen
depletion
may
be
rooted
in
a
deeper
"paradigm
depletion."
Yet,
a
solution
of
sorts
has
been
ing
in
India
of
late,
a
solution
that
has
the
potential
to
trigger
the
fall
of
the
"secular
state"
in
the
world's
largest
democracy.
Here,
I
wish
to
go
one
step
further,
in
the
certain
knowledge
that
some
will
find
my
speculations
offensive,
and
hypothesize
that
the
culturally
termined
form
of
impotence
known
as
gupta
rog
is
the
somatization
of
a
situation
of
sociopolitical
powerlessness
or,
conversely,
that
the
acceptance
of
certain
forms
of
sociopolitical
powerlessness
is
in
some
way
related
to

343
The
Siddha
Legacy
in
Modern
India
the
cultural
disease
of
gupta
rog.
I
have
already
suggested
that
this
sexual
disorder
was
"sociocultural"
inasmuch
as
it
assumed
a
cause-and-effect
relationship
between
Ayurvedic
and
yogic
notions
of
physiology
and
metabolism
on
the
one
hand
and
that
form
of
"impotence"
signaled
by
the
birth
of
daughters
as
opposed
to
sons
on
the
other.
If
it
is
the
case
that
this
disease
has
arisen
out
of
a
fundamental
misunderstanding
of
medical
and
yogic
notions
of
the
digestive
and
reproductive
processes,
this
does
not
mean
that
these
venerable
traditions
have
no
treatments
to
offer
for
those
suffering
from
such
ailments.
As
has
been
noted,
the
bodily
symptoms
of
the
medical
condition
I
have
been
discussing
are
treatable
through
celibacy,
continence,
and,
should
these
fail,
Ayurvedic
therapy
and
remedies.
What
of
the
more
pervasive
ailment
of
ical
impotence?
Does
India
know
of
a
cure
for
this
ailment?
A
growing
chorus
of
"men
in
saffron:'
armed
with
paradigmatic
proofs
for
their
treatment,
are
saying
yes,
and
a
growing
army
of
young
men
are
ing
them,
in
a
quest
to
recover
their
social,
political,
and
religious
tency.
In
order
to
understand
the
nature
of
their
proofs,
we
must
return
to
certain
of
the
legends
of
princes
and
Nath
Siddhas
recounted
in
the
last
chapter.
The
first
of
these
is
the
legend
of
young
prince
Prthivinarayal).
Sah
and
the
yogurt-spouting
Gorakhnath.
As
we
have
seen,
that
legend
described
the
empowerment,
through
tantric
initiation,
of
an
otherwise
powerless
figure,
a
petit
prince
without
a
kingdom.
It
is
a
commonplace
of
Nath
Siddha
legend
to
"Gorakh-ize"
the
acts
of
any
powerful
member
of
the
sect,
regardless
of
his
name.
So
it
is
that
we
find
that
the
Nath
Siddha
in
Prthivinarayal).
Sah's
life
was
in
fact
named
Bhagavantnath,
and
that
the
young
prince
himself
was
the
adult
leader,
in
the
mid-eighteenth
century,
of
the
diminutive
kingdom
of
Gurkha,
which
was
vying
with
no
fewer
than
forty-five
other
kingdoms
for
control
over
western
Nepal.
In
1763,
vantnath
commended
himself
to
the
ambitious
young
prince,
quickly
came
his
chief
strategist,
and
set
about
to
vastly
strengthening
the
prince's
position
by
using
his
tantric
charisma
to
negotiate
a
series
of
crucial
monial
and
military
alliances
between
Gurkha
and
other
of
the
forty-five
kingdoms.
In
1768,
five
years
of
strategy
were
crowned
with
success:
an
army
led
by
Prthivinaray3l).
Sah
and
Bhagavantnath,
and
composed
of
their
western
Nepali
allies,
conquered
the
kingdom
of
Kirtipur,
in
the
mandu
Valley,
inaugurating
the
reign
of
the
Gurkha
dynasty.
A
grateful
Prthivinarayal).
Sah
wished
to
reward
Bhagavantnath
by
ing
him
a
vassal
king;
the
Yogi
refused
temporal
rule,
but
allowed
that
he

344
Epilogue
would
be
satisfied
if
he
were
given
Vilas
Kumar!,
one
of
the
king's
ters,
in
marriage.
This
was
granted,
and
Bhagavantnath
received,
together
with
his
new
bride,
a
number
of
major
land
grants
which
served
to
truly
solidify
the
place
of
the
Nath
Siddha
order
on
the
religio-political
scape
of
Nepal.
With
this,
Bhagavantnath
was
elevated
to
the
head
of
his
order
in
Nepal.
After
his
death
in
1786
(eleven
years
after
that
narayal).
Sah),
the
Nath
Siddhas
continued
to
thrive
under
the
to
the
extent
that
they
were
frequently
called
upon
by
their
kings
to
loan
them
money,
which,
thanks
to
their
land
revenues,
they
were
able
to
do
and
for
which
they
were
repaid
with
interest.2J
This
is
not
the
sole
case
in
which
the
miraculous
transformation
of
a
powerless
prince
into
a
victorious
king,
mythically
portrayed
as
issuing
directly
from
the
intervention
of
(and
often
initiation
by)
a
Nath
Siddha,
turns
out
to
be
the
result
of
efforts
of
a
more
mundane
order.
In
the
ceding
chapter,
I
mentioned
the
case
of
Man
Singh,
the
king
of
Marwar
who
gained
his
throne,
in
the
first
years
of
the
nineteenth
century,
through
the
miraculous
intervention
of
another
Nath
Siddha.
According
to
legend,
young
prince
Man
Singh,
whose
army
was
under
siege
in
the
fortified
city
of
Jalore
by
that
of
his
evil
cousin
Bhlm
Singh,
was
met
one
night
by
a
mysterious
Nath
Siddha
named
Mastnath,
who
had
suddenly
materialized
out
of
nowhere.
Mastnath
led
Man
Singh
to
a
"hidden
well"
within
the
city
walls,
within
which
the
prince
found
provisions
enough
to
feed
his
starving
army.
Then,
cryptically,
Mastnath
predicted
that
Man
Singh's
menter
Bhlm
Singh
was
not
long
for
this
world.
Miraculously,
Bhlm
Singh
died
that
very
night.
24
Colonel
James
Tod,
who
toured
Rajasthan
in
the
first
decades
of
the
nineteenth
century
and
who
actually
met
Man
Singh,
tells
a
slightly
ent
story,
based
on
the
testimony
of
members
of
the
royal
household.
Man
Singh-who
was
quite
demented
by
the
time
Tod
met
him-did
indeed
credit
the
intercession
of
the
high
priest
of
Marwar,
whose
name
was
Ayas
Dev
Nath
or
Deonath,
for
the
twenty-fourth-hour
death
of
his
cousin.
Others
saw
matters
differently.
In
the
words
ofTod,
"a
dose
of
poison,
it
is
said,
was
deemed
a
necessary
adjunct
to
render
efficacious
the
prayers
of
the
pontiff."
Man
Singh's
gratitude
knew
no
limits.
He
offered
Deonath
a
share
of
the
throne,
which
this
Nath
Siddha
accepted.
Over
the
years
that
followed,
Deonath
himself
and
the
Nath
sampradaya
in
general
became
fantastically
wealthy
in
the
kingdom
of
Marwar,
with
Deonath's
income
amounting
to
one
tenth
of
the
revenues
of
the
state.
The
Mahamandir,
centerpiece
of
the

345
The
Siddha
Legacy
in
Modern
India
Nath
Siddha
presence
in
the
kingdom,
constructed
at
an
expense
of
over
fifty
lakhs
of
rupees
to
the
royal
treasury,
could
house
as
many
as
five
hundred
persons.
25
In
Tod's
words
once
again,
"During
the
few
years
[that
Deonath]
held
the
keys
of
his
master's
conscience,
which
were
veniently
employed
to
unlock
the
treasury,
he
erected
no
less
than
four
temples
...
with
monasteries
adjoining
them,
for
his
well-fed
lazy
...
disciples:'
None
but
Man
Singh
was
amused,
however,
and
after
a
meteoric
career,
Deonath
was
gunned
down
in
18
I
5.
26
That
these
two
cases
were
not
aberrant
is
borne
out
by
Peter
van
der
Veer's
provocative
Gods
on
Earth,27
a
recent
study
of
the
social,
political,
and
economic
role
played
by
the
Hindu
religious
orders
in
medieval
and
modern
north
India.
As
van
der
Veer
demonstrates,
the
"Yogis:'
Nagas,
and
other
ascetic
orders,
prior
to
the
coming
of
the
British
and
the
railroad,
used
the
annual
pilgrimage
circuit
between
Hardwar,
Bengal,
and
nath
Puri
(Orissa)
as
a
trading
network,
lived
in
fortified
temples,
fought
as
mercenaries
in
the
armies
of
the
highest
(at
times
Muslim)
bidder,
rolled
kings
and
generals
in
their
political
conquests,
and
played
an
able
and
extremely
lucrative
role
in
long-distance
commerce.
28
Indeed,
the
earliest
religious
group
to
take
up
arms
after
the
Muslim
conquest
may
have
been
the
Nath
Siddhas.
29
More
than
this,
as
Dirk
Kolff
has
demonstrated
in
his
carefully
mented
Naukar,
Rnjput
and
Sepoy,30
putting
on
the
garb
of
an
itinerant
gin
seems
to
have
been
standard
practice
for
all
sorts
of
mercenaries
and
traders
in
precolonial
India.
Kolff
moreover
notes
that
the
most
commonly
recurring
time
frame
for
such
pseudoascetic
peregrinations
was
a
period
of
twelve
years,
a
figure
that,
as
we
have
seen,
is
standard
for
the
tion
of
yogic
sadhanas
in
the
traditions
under
study.31
In
certain
cases,
torical
figures
clad
themselves
in
the
guise
of
the
yogic
god
Siva.
So,
for
example
the
late
thirteenth-century
Rana
of
Mewar,
Rana
was
known
as
the
"Regent
ofMahadeva":
"a
simple
necklace
of
the
seeds
of
the
lotus
adorned
his
neck;
his
hair
was
braided,
and
he
[was]
addressed
as
dra,
or
chief
of
ascetics."
32
Alternatively,
Siva
himself
was
portrayed
in
the
role
of
the
yogin-cum-itinerant
merchant.
A
Bhojpuri
folk
song
says
of
the
god
that:
33
Mahadev
has
gone
to
the
East
to
trade
And
four
months
are
passing
away.
Gaura
[sic]
sits
on
a
chairand
watches
the
road,
saying
When
will
my
ascetic
[tapast1
come
home?

34
6
Epilogue
The
principal
enterprise
of
many
of
these
itinerant
ascetic
who
were
often
indistinguishable
from
tribal
confederations
or
trading
cartels
in
the
precolonial
period-was
the
long-distance
trade
of
horses
and
elephants,
etc.
Their
this-worldly
ambitions
of
wealth
and
power
were,
however,
rudely
brought
to
a
halt
by
the
advent
of
the
British
raj
and
the
railroad.
Political
centralization
under
foreign
rulers
who
had
no
use
for
tantric
power
brokers
to
underwrite
their
authority
further
undermined
their
financial,
military,
and
spiritual
ambitions.
Stripped
of
their
tional
sources
of
income,
power,
and
prestige,
these
orders
began
to
lose
ground
well
before
the
end
of
the
nineteenth
century.
Over
the
past
dred
years,
they
have
become
increasingly
sedentary,J4
such
that
even
when
the
Nath
Siddhas
send
out
itinerant
groups
of
ascetics
(called
jha'f!qls)
from
such
centers
as
Gorakhpur,
they
have
nothing
to
trade,
save
for
songs
glorifying
their
powerful
forebears.
Independence
has
not
helped
matters;
and
now,
some
fifty
years
into
the
India's
democratic
experiment,
the
Nath
sampradiiya
appears
to
be
on
the
verge
of
collapse.
The
Mahamandir,
the
centerpiece
of
Deonath's
hegemony
in
Jodhpur,
the
capital
city
of
old
Marwar,
has
been
converted
into
a
public
school,
the
last
monk
of
the
once
powerful
Gorakh
Tilla
monastery
of
Benares
died
over
a
decade
ago,
and
the
list
goes
on.
Or
does
it?
Since
at
least
the
1920S,
the
monastery
of
Gorakhpur
in
northeastern
Uttar
Pradesh
has
been
the
"Rome"
ofNathdom,
and
its
hant,
its
abbot,
the "pope"
of
the
sect.
In
1969,
Digvijaynath,
this
tery's
charismatic
but
rather
ineffectual
abbot,
died
and
was
replaced
by
a
dynamic
figure,
already
active
in
regional
politics,
who
took
the
initiatory
name
of
Avedyanath.
When
I
visited
the
Gorakhpur
monastery
in
the
ter
of
1985,
the
same
Avedyanath
was
a
most
gracious
host
and
helpful
informant
to
me,
giving
me
the
run
of
the
monastery
and
impressing
me
with
his
exceptional
organizational
abilities.
Under
Avedyanath's
leadership,
the
monastery
of
Gorakhpur
has
been
transformed
into
a
force
in
the
community
and
even
the
Gorakhpur
trict
as
a
whole.
But
this
is
small
change
in
comparison
to
what
appears
to
be
the
national
agenda
of
Avedyanath,
if
not
of
a
much
broader
tion
of
monastic
leaders
who
have
been
flexing
their
political
muscles
of
late
in
India.
On
6
December
1992,
a
Hindu
mob,
composed
to
a
great
extent
of
kiir
sevaks,
"servants
of
the
cause"
-marginalized
young
men
in
search
of
social,
political,
and
religious
potency-reduced
the
45o-year-old
Babri
mosque
of
Ayodhya
(Uttar
Pradesh)
to
rubble,
claiming
that
it
had
been

347
The
Siddha
Legacy
in
Modern
India
built
over
the
birthplace
of
the
Hindu
god
Rama,
whose
temple
the
lims
had
torn
down
to
build
their
mosque.
This
was
anything
but
a
taneous
demonstration:
it
was
a
symbolic
gesture
and
show
of
strength
planned
and
executed
under
the
leadership
of
a
group
known
as
the
Visva
Hindu
(VHP),
the
Hindu
World
Council.
This
group, comprised
exclusively
of
members
of
Hindu
renunciant
orders,
the
heirs
to
the
Siddha
and
other
sectarian
movements
of
the
Indian
middle
ages,
are
a
resurgent
nationalist
Hinduism's
"men
in
saffron:'
The
political
cousin
of
the
VHP
is
the
BJP,
the
Bharatiya
Janata
Party
(Indian
People's
Party),
which
has,
over
the
past
years,
appeared
to
be
poised
to
replace
India's
secular
racy
with
a
Hindu
theocracy.
While
the
national
BJP
leaders
pedal
a
softer
line,
this
is
the
outspoken
agenda
of
the
VHP,
the
organizational
core
of
militant
Hindu
fundamentalism.
Given
its
reputation
as
the
birthplace
of
Rama,
the
seventh
incarnation
of
the
god
Ayodhya
has
long
been
a
major
religious
center
in
ern
India.
Its
location,
in
eastern
Uttar
Pradesh,
places
it
just
about
120
miles
from
Benares,
the
major
Saiva
religious
center
of
north
India,
and
80
miles
from
Gorakhpur,
the
political
epicenter
of
the
Nath
Siddha
ganization.
Sitting
on
the
nine-man
VHP
brain
trust
is
Avedyanath,
who
is,
in
addition
to
serving
as
the
leader
of
the
Nath
sampradaya
at
hpur,
also
the
most
powerful
political
figure
in
that
city:
he
presently
sents
Gorakhpur
district
as
its
member
of
the
Indian
parliament
in
Delhi.
Who
is
Avedyanath
if
not
the
Gorakhnath,
the
Bhagavantnath,
the
Deonath
oflate
twentieth-century
India?
And
ifhe
is
indeed
nothing
other
than
a
modern
power
broker
in
a
long
line
of
Nath
Siddha
power
brokers,
what
compunctions
need
he
have
to
respect
religious
or
political
tion?
In
addition
to
his
many
sacred
and
secular
functions
and
titles,
yanath
is
also
the
chairman
of
the
Ram
Janmabhumi
Mukti
Samiti,
the
Committee
for
the
Liberation
of
the
Birthplace
of
Rama.
35
As
anyone
familiar
with
Hindu
sectarian
theology
knows,
this
is
highly
ironic.
For,
whereas
Rama,
the
"boy
scout"
of
the
Hindu
pantheon,
is
the
god
whose
adherents
have
historically
constituted
the
"right
wing"
of
Hindu
religious
belief
and
practice,
the
Nath
Siddhas
have,
together
with
the
tantrikas
whose
legends
and
initiatory
ideology
I
have
been
treating
in
these
pages,
long
figured
among
the
most
"left-handed"
(vamacara)
sects
of
all
of
duism.
Avedyanath
and
the
VHP,
even
if
they
are
championing
the
symbolically
powerful
cause
of
restoring
a
Hindu
site
to
Hindu
hands,
are
not,
in
the
final
analysis,
fighting
for
issues.
Rather,
they
are
fighting
for
power,
for

34
8
Epilogue
a
sociopolitical
power
that
is
the
macro
cosmic
homologue
of
the
power
the
tantric
practitioner
gains
over
his
bodily
microcosm,
and
by
extension
over
the
entire
universe,
through
his
violent
(the
in
yoga)
nomian
practice.
36
The
goals
of
the
tantric
practitioner
were
and
remain
immortality
and
unalloyed
power
in
the
world.
Once
possessed
of
this
power,
the
practitioner
may
use
it
to
blast
or
bless,
to
raise
untested
boys
to
the
throne
(Bhagavantnath
and
Prthivinarayal).
Sah)
or
to
curse
entire
cities
to
destruction
(as
Dharamnath
did
to
Pattan).37
The
men
in
saffron
have
not
forgotten
these
goals,
and
they
seem
to
be
prepared
to
use
certain
tried-and-true
methods
from
that
past
to
realize
them,
in
the
firm
edge
that
such
will
be
mythologized
into
idealized
accounts
of
tive
initiation
rites
which
naive
western
orientalists
will
recount
as
ing
anecdotes"
to
audiences
across
the
world,
thereby
assuring
them
of
their
immortality.
At
times
I
think
that
a
Hindu
theocracy
could
not
be
more
harmful
to
India
than
the
cynical
bureaucracy
that
the
secular
democracy
has
spawned
over
the
past
half
century.
Indeed,
such
a
reversal
would
just
be
another
epicycle
in
the
broad
historical
sweep
of
what
Jan
Heesterman
has
termed
as
India's
"inner
conflict
of
tradition:'
an
inner
conflict
in
which
two
camps
inexorably
trade
places
in
filling
the
roles
of
world maintainers
and
world
renouncers.
Here
let
us
recall
that
Gandhi,
political
mastermind
that
he
was,
won
independence
for
India
by
playing
the
role
of
world
renouncer;
once
that
independence
was
won,
his
Congress
Party
activists
established
themselves
in
the
role
of
world
maintainers.
The
secular
Indian
state,
rupted
by
its
own
power,
seems
to
be
no
longer
capable
of
fulfilling
this
dual
role.
Has
the
time
then
come,
once
more,
for
the
world-renouncing
men
in
saffron
to
try
their
hand
at
world
maintenance?
They
certainly
think
so,
because
the
this-worldly
ideology
of
over
a
thousand
years
of
tantrism
tells
them
so.
One
need
only
think
of
the
medieval
myths
of
eration
between
kings
and
tantrikas:
power
and
transcendence
are
within
reach.
Yet,
should
the
men
in
saffron
gain
power,
they
will
immediately
find
themselves
faced
with
the
same
conundrum
as
has
faced
every
world
renouncer
who
went
the
world-maintenance
route.
As
soon
as
the
world
renouncer
becomes
involved
in
the
world,
playing
the
role
of
royal
lain,
minister,
or
even
surrogate
king,
he
forfeits
all
claim
to
transcendence,
to
the
very
ground
upon
which
he
founded
his
prior
authority.
He
becomes
just
another
player
in
the
power
game,
as
Prthivinarayal).
Sah's
nath
perhaps
foresaw,
but
Man
Singh's
Deonath
never
comprehended.
Between
the
two
extremes
I
have
outlined
lie
those
Siddhas
whose
ap-

349
The
Siddha
Legacy
in
Modern
India
proach
to
life
has
always
featured
not
a
small
amount
of
carefree
ness.
It
is
this
quality
that
has
always
impressed
me
the
most
among
Nath
Siddhas
whom
I
have
met:
they
always
seem
to
be
at
play-playing
with
words,
playing
with
other
people's
minds,
playing
games
with
the
world.
This
is
an
attitude
that
many
before
me
have
noted.
For
Bernier,
the
Yogis
were
people
"who
scoff
at
everything,
and
whom
nothing
troubles;'
38
while
Oman
provides
turn-of-the-century
photographs
of
Yogis
in
carefree and
uninhibited
repose
in
front
of
camera,
Yogis
whose
easy
and
well-adjusted
attitude
he
notes
with
a
mixture
of
respect
and
suspicion.
39
The
ideal
Nath
Siddha
is
a
god-man
who
plays
with
the
entire
universe,
with
the
lives
of
the
great
and
small
alike,
as
he
pleases.
Secure
in
the
knowledge
of
the
identity
of
microcosm
and
macrocosm,
of
the
nence
of
the
Absolute
in
every
creature
and
stone,
he
takes
the
universe
to
be
his
plaything,
with
its
every
element
(nectar
and
ashes,
cloaks
and
ies,
earrings
and
the
power
of
flight)
interchangeable
according
to
his
whim.
Like
the
holder
of
any
sort
of
power,
the
Nath
Siddha
can
use
his
knowledge
for
good
or
for
evil;
most
I
have
known
spend
much
of
their
time
"getting
high"
in
ways
I
evoked
in
chapter
four.40
Their
credo
is
haps
best
encapsulated
in
a
passage
from
the
hagiography
of
Mastnath:
"Whose
friend
is
a
Yogi
when
he
plays?
It
takes
so
little
to
please
him.
He
doesn't
give
a
thought
to
what's
high
or
what's
low.
Whatever
he
wants
to
do,
he
just
does
it
...
The
world's
four
cornerstones
are
[his]
playground;
when
you're
carefree
you
want
for
nothing.
From
a
pauper
to
a
king,
from
a
king
to
a
pauper,
[he's]
never
bothered
over
the
difference
between
the
two."41
4.
Bhandarinath
and
Me
Soon
after
I
began
my
fieldwork
in
India,
in
the
spring
of
I984,
I
met
the
droll
and
bearded
Bhambhulnath,
the
kindly
abbot
of
the
Nath
Siddha
monastery
at
Hardwar,
to
whom
I
expressed
my
interest
in
meeting
living
alchemists.
While
he
allowed
that
he
didn't
know
any
such
persons,
he
gested
that
I
should
go
to
Nepal,
where
the
great
Nath
Siddha
scholar
Narharinath,
abbot
of
the
Caughera
monastery,
would
be
able
to
give
me
some
pointers.
It
was
October
before
I
finally
managed
to
have
an
audience
with
Narharinath,
a
most
impressive
figure,
who
told
me
he
had
heard
rumors
of
alchemists
living
in
the
region
of
Mount
Abu,
in
western
than.
I
was
not
to
reach
Abu
until
my
next
research
tour
of
India,
in
the

35
0
Epilogue
winter
of
1993.
There,
Samundranath,
the
custodian
of
the
Gorakhnath
shrine
at
Oriya
village,
told
me
there
were
no
such
people
at
Abu.
ever,
Inder
Dan
Detha,
a
Rajasthani
bard
(Carat))
and
scholar-and
time
resident
of
Acalgarh
at
Abu-whom
I
met
in
Jodhpur
the
next
month,
in
March,
told
me
of
an
encounter
he
had had
with
a
certain
Motinath,
whom
he
had
met
at
the
RathaqllI).qa
monastery,
in
the
Meerta
City
district
of
eastern
Rajasthan,
some
twenty-five
years
earlier.
Motinath,
he
said,
had
had
a
reputation
as
an
alchemist
and
was
someone
who
could
tell
me
about
the
use
of
mercury
and herbs
as
means
to
immortality.
So
it
was
that
on
a
hot
day
in
April,
I
found
myself
at
RathaquI).qa
ing
to
the
two
Naths-one
very
senile
and
the
other
very
stoned-who
appeared
to
constitute
the
entire
population
of
that
monastery.
When
I
asked
about
Motinath,
the
younger
of
the
two
laughed
and
said,
"He's
side,
underneath
the
new
samiidhi.
42
He
gave
up
his
body
twenty
years
ago."
So
much
for
my
immortal
alchemist,
I
thought.
I
was,
however,
intrigued
by
the
Nath
Siddha's
aside
that
at
the
time
he
abandoned
his
body,
at
an
age
of
about
seventy-five,
he
still
had
the
appearance
of
a
old.
I
then
asked
whether
there
were
any
alchemists
living
in
Rajasthan
that
he
knew
of,
to
which
he
responded
with
a
loud
guffaw.
''Alchemists
in
Rajasthan?
Rajasthan's
a
desert!
There's
no
alchemists
here,
because
there's
no
herbs
here.
You've
gotta
go
to
the
mountains,
up
to
Nepal,
up
to
war,
to
find
alchemists!"
Hardwar
was
where
I
had
begun
my
search,
some
nine
years
earlier.
It
seemed
I
had
come
full
circle
in
a
futile
quest
for
something
that
no
longer
existed
...
One
cool
premonsoon
morning
in
the
Thamel
neighborhood
of
mandu,
a
month
after
I
had
left
RathaquI).qa,
I
nearly
ran
over
a
Nath
dha
on
my
bicycle.
There
could
be
no
doubt
that
he
was
a
Nath:
the
crystal
earrings
in
the
thick
of
his
ears
were
a
dead
giveaway.
''Adef!''
I
cried
out
to
him,
as
I
tumbled
down
off
my
bike,
"iidef!"43
Without
missing
a
beat,
the
Jogi's
answer
came:
"Will
you
have
a
vision
of
the
Lord
of
Serpents?"
''A
Sampela:'44
I
thought,
and
more
or
less
knowing
what
was
to
follow,
said
"Sure!"
at
which
point
he
pulled
a
wicker
basket
out
from
beneath
the
folds
of
his
capacious
saffron
tunic,
opened
the
lid-and
a
cobra
that
was
supposed
to
rear
up
and
scare
the
dickens
out
of
me
didn't.
Prodding
and
poking,
the
Sampela
tried
to
coax
his
serpent
into
showing
more
signs
of
life
but,
poor
guy,
it
was
a
cool
morning
and
the
snake
was
still
snoozing.
Seizing
the
moment,
I
tried
to
engage
the
Nath
in
some
small
talk.
"What's
your
name?
Where're
you
from?"
"My
name's
Bhandarinath
and
I'm
from
Hardwar,"
he
replied.
The
words
of
the
laughing
Nath
of
Ratha-

35
1
The
Siddha
Legacy
in
Modern
India
<;iU1).<;ia
came
rushing
back
to
me.
I
was
in
Nepal,
talking
to
a
Sampela
who
had
come
there
from
Hardwar.
Had
I
hit
the
mother
lode?
Bhandarinath
was
typical
in
many
ways.
He
was
on
the
road
most
of
the
year,
taking
a
side
trip
from
the
Himalayan
high
roads
to
the
four
dhams
(Kedarnath,
Badarlnath,
GailgotrI,
and
YamunotrI)
to
visit
Kathmandu
this
time.
And
by
the
way,
could
I
give
him
some
money?
At
this
point,
we
entered
into
concerted
negotiations.
His
main
concern
was
money,45
and
mine
was
information.
So
back
and
forth
we
went.
"How
much
money
you
gonna
give
me?
A
hundred
and
one
rupees
would
be
nice:'
to
which
I
replied,
"Ever
meet
any
alchemists?"
I
asked
him
if
he
knew
any
Nath
Siddhas
who
ate
herbs
and
mercury,
and
he
allowed
that
they
all
used
herbs
to
improve
their
quality
of
life.
Then,
quickly
changing
the
subject,
he
told
me
to
pick
up
a
pinch
of
dirt
from
the
side
of
the
road
on
which
we
were
standing.
I
did
so,
and
noted
that
here,
as
in
many
parts
of
the
valley,
the
soil
was
very
sandy,
with
a
high
white
mica
content.
"The
seed
of
Prajapati
46
and
the
sexual
fluid
of
the
Goddess:'47
I
thought.
"I've
got
a
handful
of
jizz!"
"Now,"
said
Bhandarinath
with
a
theatrical
flourish,
"put
the
dirt
in
my
hand
and
say
'Orp.
jai
Pasupatinath!"'48
He
then
returned
the
dirt
to
my
hand
and
instructed
me
to
repeat
the
mantra.
This
I
did,
at
which
point
he
told
me
to
open
my
hand.
There,
together
with
the
sand
and
the
mica,
were
grains
of
unhusked
rice!
"Shades
of
Caurailginath:'49
I
thought,
"more
sexual
fluids!"
I
fell
all
over
Bhandarinath,
telling
him
how
sed
I
was
at
his
piece
of
magic.
Encouraged,
he
reached
into
the
folds
of
his
still-capacious
saffron
tunic
and
pulled
out
a
jholt
50
from
which
he
duced
a
plastic
bottle,
out
of
which
he
spilled
two
pea-sized
pellets
into
my
hand.
They
appeared
to
be
of
mineral
composition
and
were
covered
with
vermilion.
These,
Bandarinath
assured
me,
would
bring
me
good
health,
good
life,
and
success
in
all
that
I
did,
warning
me
that
only
I
could
benefit
from
their
powers:
they
were
nontransferable.
Then
he
asked
me
to
feed
him,
and
I
gave
him
15
rupees.
He
said
he'd
done
a
lot
of
talking
for
15
rupees,
and
that
101
was
more
like
what
he
had
in
mind.
I
promised
him
more
the
next
time
I
met
him.
He
told
me
where
he
was
staying,
and
I
promised
to
come
and
see
him
in
the
coming
days.
As
it
turned
out,
that
was
the
last
I
saw
of
Bhandarinath
...
I
raced
home
on
my
bicycle,
tapping
my
shirt
pocket
all
the
way
to
be
sure
that
my
alchemical
(?)
booty
was
still
there.
As
soon
as
I
arrived,
I
took
out
a
pocketknife
and-not
without
some
trepidation-cut
into
one

35
2
Epilogue
of
the
two
gufikas
51
Bandarinath
had
given
me.
The
knife
went
through
the
pellet,
but
not
without
difficulty,
since
it
was
indeed
of
mineral
tion.
It
was
also,
clearly,
a
man-made
pill,
the
product
of
some
chemical
operation.
My
eyes
were
filled
with
images
of
the
alchemical
Grail.
I
had
passed
the
test!
The
Nath
Siddhas
on
high,
approving
of
my
sincerity
and
diligence,
had
sent
their
man
to
me
to
deliver
the
mystic
goods!
One
of
the
first
things
I
did
upon
my
return to
the
west
was
to
take
my
gufikas
to
a
laboratory
for
analysis.
52
A
week
later,
the
results
of
the
electron-microscopic
tests
came
back.
My
sample
was
composed
of
an
amalgam
of
mineral
and
vegetable
matter.
The
minerals
in
question
were
sulfur
0),
silver
(!),
silicon,
phosphorus,
potassium,
calcium,
iron,
and
rine-but
no
mercury!
Was
the
silver
some
base
metal
that
had
been
gested"
and
transmuted
by
mercury,
which
had
left
no
trace
of
itself
hind?
Without
a
guru,
how
could
I
ever
know
whether
this
was
in
fact
the
philosopher's
stone
I
had
cut
in
half
and
had
fried
under
an
electron
microscope
or
just
a
medical
tablet
for
chilblains?
The
second
gufika
was
still
intact.
Our
research
continues
...

NOTES
Preface
I.
Thomas
Pynchon,
Gravity's
Rainbow
(London:
Picador,
I975),
p.
590.
cording
to
our
best
evidence,
the
vast
majority
of
practitioners
of
tantric
alchemy
and
yoga
have
always
been
males.
So
it
is
that
I
employ
the
masculine
pronoun
he,
rather
than
she
or
slhe
when
referring
to
such
practitioners.
2.
Cf.
the
akam
genre
of
classical
Tamil
love
poetry,
whose
"five
landscapes"
are
discussed
in
A.
K.
Ramanujan,
The
Inner
Landscape:
Love
Poems
from
a
Classical
Tamil
Anthology
(Bloomington:
Indiana
University
Press,
I975),
pp.
I05-8.
3.
Sudhir
Kakar,
The
Inner
World:
A
Psychoanalytic
Study
of
Childhood
and
Society
in
India
(New
York:
Oxford
University
Press,
I978);
Ashis
Nandy,
The
Intimate
Enemy:
Loss
and
Recovery
of
Self
under
Colonialism
(Delhi:
Oxford
University
Press,
I983).
Given
that
many
of
the
interpretive
connections
made
between
les
mots
et
les
choses
in
this
book
are
my
own,
some
may
be
moved
to
turn
their
analytical
lights
on
my
own
psychological
profile
as
well.
4.
La
poetique
de
l'espace
(Paris:
Presses
Universitaires,
I974).
A
recent
western
study
of
an
eastern
tradition,
which
I
feel
to
be
most
respectful
of
the
logical
approach,
a
book
which
moreover
devotes
many
of
its
pages
to
charting
mystic
landscapes,
is
Norman
Girardot's
admirable
Myth
and
Meaning
in
Early
ism
(Berkeley:
University
of
California
Press,
I983).
5.
Even
if,
as
Gadamer
and
others
have
demonstrated,
such
is
patently
sible:
one
always
comes
to
a
text
with
a
forejudgment
of
its
meaning.
This
includes,
for
the
alchemical
portion
of
the
books,
the
models
of
the
modern
science
of
istry.
Many
are
the
historians
who
have
treated
tantric
alchemy
as
a
protochemistry
or
iatrochemistry
and
who
have,
working
from
this
methodological
assumption,
projected
the
writings
of
the
alchemical
tradition
upon
a
modern
chemical
grid.
Such
attempts
are,
I
believe,
tentative
at
best,
given
our
uncertainty
of
the
modern
equivalents
of
medieval
(and
often
local)
terminology.
This
is
especially
the
case
with
botanical
names,
in
which
the
sources
abound.
Similarly,
modern
tions
of
the
subtle
body
of
yoga
which
would
see
in
the
medieval
texts
proofs
353

354
Notes
to
Chapter
One
for
the
advanced
state
of
Indian
knowledge
of
physiology
and
psychology
force
the
textual
data
into
impossible
and
highly
prejudicial
directions.
6.
On
the
theological
uses
of
anagogy,
as
a
complication
of
analogy
and
allegory,
in
the
medieval
west,
see
Marie-Dominique
Chenu,
Nature,
Man
and
Society
in
the
Twelfth
Century,
tr.
and
ed.
Jerome
Taylor
and
Lester
K.
Little
(Chicago:
University
of
Chicago
Press,
1969;
reprint
Chicago:
Midway
Books,
1979),
pp.
123-24.
7.
Symbolic
language
is
employed
with
such
great
success
in
these
traditions
because
the
name
of
a
thing
bears
the
efficacity
of
a
given
object:
Jean
Filliozat,
"Taoi'sme
et
yoga;'
Journal
Asiatique
257
(1969):
63.
8.
Douglas
Renfrew
Brooks,
The
Secret
of
the
Three
Cities:
An
Introduction
to
Hindu
Siikta
Tantrism
(Chicago:
University
of
Chicago
Press,
1990),
p.
209.
9.
Betty
Jo
Teeter
Dobbs,
The
Foundations
of
Newton's
Alchemy
or
"The
Hunting
of
the
Greene
Lyon"
(London:
Cambridge
University
Press,
1975),
p.
xi.
ro.
RRA
3.IIb-12a:
na
kramel).a
vina
sastrarp.
na
sastrel).a
vina
kramalysastrarp.
kramayutarp.
jfiatva
karoti
sa
siddhibhakll.
Cf.
BhP
3.96;
4.139;
9.140b-141a;
and
RRS6.2.
11.
Mircea
Eliade,
Forgerons
et
alchimistes,
2d
rev.
ed.
(Paris:
Flammarion,
1977);
idem,
Yoga:
Immortality
and
Freedom,
2d
ed.,
tr.
Willard
R.
Trask
(Princeton,
N.].:
Bollingen,
1973).
12.
"Why
Gurus
Are
Heavy,"
Numen
33
(1984):4°-73.
Chapter
One
1.
Reproduced
with
translation
and
notes
in
B.
N.
Goswamy
and].
S.
Grewal,
The
Mughals
and
the
Jogis
of
Jakhbar:
Some
Madad-i-Ma'ash
and
Other
Documents
(Simla:
Indian
Institute
of
Advanced
Study,
1967),
pp.
120-2+
Jakhbar
monastery
is
located
in
the
Gurdaspur
district
of
the
Punjab.
2.
The
root
tan
is
a
cognate
of
the
English
tension
and
tensile,
in
which
the
senses
of
stretching
and
weaving
are
also
present.
On
tantra
as
ritual
framework,
see
Brian
K.
Smith,
Reflections
on
Resemblance,
Ritual,
and
Religion
(Oxford
University
Press,
1989),
p.
126,
citing
Afvalayana
Srauta
Sfttra
1.1.3.
3.
In
order
to
avoid
confusion
between
Tantra
as
written
work
and
tantra
as
religious
phenomenon,
I
follow
general
modern
usage
and
refer
to
the
latter
as
"tantrism:'
I
further
adjectivize
"tantra"
into
"tantric"
to
speak,
for
example,
of
tantric
ritual.
I
often
refer
to
tantric
practitioners
as
tiintrikas,
following
Sanskrit
usage.
4.
This
and
all
the
other
terms
discussed
here
are
generated
from
the
verbal
root
siidhlsadh
(weak
form
sidh),
which
means
"to
realize,
succeed:'
5.
On
the
uses
of
this
appellation,
see
below
chap.
4,
nn.
II
2-
14.
6.
To
these
groups
we
might
also
add
the
Burmese
Zawgyis
(=
Yogis)
or
Weikzas

355
Notes
to
Chapter
One
(=
a
group
of
more
or
less
suicidal
mercury-drinking
Theravada
Buddhist
monks:
Patrick
Pranke,
"On
Becoming
a
Buddhist
Wizard;'
in
Don
pez,
ed.,
Buddhism
in
Practice
(Princeton:
Princeton
University
Press,
I995),
pp.
343-58;
Maung
Htin
Aung,
Folk
Elements
in
Burmese
Buddhism
(London:
Oxford
University
Press,
I962;
reprint
Westport,
Conn.:
Greenwood
Press,
I978),
pp.
4I-50;
Melford
Spiro,
Buddhism
and
Society:
A
Great
Tradition
and
Its
Burmese
tudes
(New
York:
Harper
&
Row,
I970),
pp.
I63-7I;
and
Joseph
Needham
et
aI.,
Science
and
Civilisation
in
Ancient
China,
6
vols.
in
I7
tomes
(Cambridge:
Cambridge
University
Press,
I954-88),
vol.
5,
pt.
3
(1976),
"Chemistry
and
Chemical
nology:
Spagyrical
Discovery
and
Invention:
Historical
Survey,
from
Cinnabar
Elixirs
to
Synthetic
Insulin;'
p.
166.
7.
They
are
also
called
Niith
Yogis,
the
Niith
Sampradiiya,
Kanphafa
("Split
Eared")
Yogis,
Jogis,
and
Gorakhniithis
in
modern
northern
India.
8.
Most
fully
initiated
members
of
the
Nath
Siddha
order
are
given
names,
upon
initiation,
that
end
in
the
suffix
-niith.
Throughout
this
book,
however,
I
often
shorten
the
names
of
these
figures,
and
call
Gorakbnath
"Gorakh;'
Matsyendranath
"Matsyendra;'
etc.
Furthermore,
in
those
cases
in
which
I
retain
the
suffix,
I
ally
transliterate
it
as
-niith,
following
modern
usage,
rather
than
-niitha,
the
skritic
ending.
Only
in
those
cases
in
which
I
am
referring
to
a
given
Nath
Siddha
as
the
author
of
a
Sanskrit-language
work
do
I
retain
the
-niitha
suffix
(as
in
"the
Rasaratniikara
of
Nityanatha").
9.
On
the
overlap
between
the
terms
tantra
and
fiikta
(applied
to
those
sects
whose
immediate
object
of
devotion
was
the
Goddess,
Saktt),
see
HT,
pp.
5-7.
Most
Hindu
tantric
sects
were
in
fact
Sakta-Saiva,
worshipping
the
Goddess
as
a
more
accessible
form
of
Siva
than
the
god
himself.
10.
For
the
hundreds
of
references
to
the
semidivine
Siddhas
and
Vidyadharas
in
Somadeva's
monumental
11th
c.
Kathiisaritsiigara,
see
the
index
to
Ocean,
vol.
10,
pp.
302,
351
[s.v.
"Siddhas,
independent
superhumans"
and
"Vidyadharas,
pendent
superhumans"].
1
I.
So,
for
example,
according
to
a
Bengali
recension
of
the
RiimiiyaTfa,
the
dise
land
ofUttarakuru
was
reached
by
crossing
a
river
called
Sailoda
("Rock
ter"),
whose
touch
turns
men
into
stone.
On
either
bank
of
that
river
grow
reeds
called
kichaka,
which
carry
Siddhas
to
the
opposite
bank
and
back.
This
is
a
country
where
the
Siddhas
live
together
with
divine
nymphs
in
forests
whose
trees
and
flowers,
composed
of
precious
stones,
exude
a
miraculous
resin
that
is
nothing
other
than
the
nectar
of
immortality
itself.
On
this,
see
Encyclopedia
of
Religion
and
Ethics,
12
vols.,
ed.
James
Hastings
(New
York:
Scribner's,
1908),
s.v.
''Abode
of
the
Blest
(Hindu);'
by
H.
Jacobi.
On
"rock-water;'
see
below,
chap.
4,
n.
189.
I2.
See
below,
chap.
10,
nn.
82-85.

35
6
Notes
to
Chapter
One
13.
Parafuriimakalpasiitra
4.10
(ed.
A.
M.
Sastri
and
S.
Y.
Dave,
Gaekwad's
ental
Series,
no.
22
[Baroda:
Oriental
Institute,
1950],
p.
149).
Significant
here
is
the
redundancy
in
the
term
employed
for
the
second
category
of
Siddhas,
ing
between
the
divine
(divya)
and
the
human
(miinava):
these
are
the
perfected
(siddha)
Siddhas.
The
Lalitii
Sahasraniima
(cited
in
Bagchi,
introduction
to
jiiiinanirIJaya,
p.
20)
delineates
the
same
divisions.
The
earliest
enumeration
of
the
three
oghas
may
be
that
of
the
KuliirIJava
Tantra
(6.63-68),
which
divides
the
ing
Kaula
gurus
along
these
lines
(KuliirIJava
Tantra,
ed.
Taranatha
Vidyaratna
with
an
introduction
by
Arthur
Avalon
Uohn
Woodroffe][Madras:
Ganesh
and
pany,
1965;
reprint
Delhi:
Motilal
Banarsidass,
1975]):
see
below,
chap.
4,
n.
62.
The
Tantrariija
Tantra
(2.2-5)
divides
a
group
of
nine
Nathas
(identified
with
bodily
orifices)
into
three
groups
of
the
same
three
"streams":
in
John
Woodroffe,
trariija
Tantra:
A
Short
Analysis,
3d
ed.
(Madras:
Ganesh
and
Co,
1971),
p.
dana
Pandeya,
in
his
introduction
(p.
ja)
to
the
second
volume
of
his
edition
of
the
Gorak{a
Samhitii,
2
vols.
(Sarasvatibhavana
Granthamala,
vols.
110,
III
[Benares:
Sampurnananda
Sanskrit
Visvavidyalaya,
1976,
1977]),
divides
certain
of
the
Rasa
Siddhas
into
these
three
categories.
Four
of
the
eight
directions
in
the
Kaula
cle
of
Siddhas"
(Siddha
Calm)
are
assigned
to
the
Siddhas
(south)
and
the
dhaugha
(west),
Manavaugha
(northwest),
and
Divyaugha
(southwest):
Mark
S.
G.
Dyczkowski,
The
Canon
of
the
Saiviigama
and
the
Kubjikii
Tantras
of
the
Western
Kaula
Tradition
(Albany,
N.Y.:
SUNY
Press,
1988),
p.
81.
See
also
ibid.,
p.
90,
on
the
three
oghas
in
the
Ciiicinimatasiirasamucchaya,
a
text
of
the
Western
Transmission.
14.
Atharva
Veda
1.4-4;
3·31.10;
10.2.17;
and
19.53.1.
Rosa
and
the
waters
are
further
identified
with
notion
of
"healing
remedy"
(bhe{aja)
,
which
becomes
the
foundation
of
traditional
Indian
medicine
(iiyurveda)
and
elixir
therapy
(rasiiyana).
See
below,
chap.
7,
sec.
1.
IS.
The
foundational
works
ofIndian
medicine
(Ayurveda),
the
Car
aka
and
fruta
Samhitiis,
date
from
this
period:
see
below,
chap.
2,
n.
IS.
See
bibliography
for
editions.
16.
The
earliest
excavated
Siva
li1iga
is
the
Gu4imallam
image
from
Andhra
Pradesh.
On
its
dating,
see
Gritli
v.
Mitterwallner,
"Evolution
of
the
Linga"
(who
dates
the
image
to
the
first
century
B.C.)
and
Doris
Meth
Srinivasan,
"Significance
and
Scope
ofPre-Kusal).a
Saivite
Iconography"
(who
dates
it
to
the
fourth
to
third
centuries
B.C.),
both
in
Michael
Meister,
ed.,
Discourses
on
Siva:
Proceedings
of
a
posium
on
the
Nature
of
Religious
Imagery
(Philadelphia:
University
of
Pennsylvania
Press,
1984),
pp.
18-19,
34,
and
plate
18.
17.
Alexis
Sanderson,
"Purity
and
power
among
the
Brahmins
of
Kashmir;'
in
The
Category
of
the
Person:
Anthropology,
Philosophy,
History,
ed.
Michael
Carrithers,
Steven
Collins,
and
Steven
Lukes
(Cambridge:
Cambridge
University
Press,
1985),

357
Notes
to
Chapter
One
p.
199.
The
perspective
of
all
Hindu
tantric
texts
of
which
I
am
aware
is
that
of
the
male
practitioner.
Miranda
Shaw
(Passionate
Enlightenment:
Women
in
Tantric
Buddhism
[Princeton:
Princeton
University
Press,
1994])
has
recently
advanced
the
theory
that
it
is
the
female
practitioner's
perspective
that
originally
predominated
in
Buddhist
tantric
practice.
While
I
find
her
arguments
improbable,
I
leave
it
to
my
colleagues
in
Buddhist
studies
to
confirm
or
disprove
her
hypothesis.
18.
For
further
discussion,
see
below,
chap.
5,
sec.
2.
19.
Whence
the
maxim
"privately
a
fiikta,
outwardly
a
saiva,
and
a
vaif1!ava
in
court;
bearing
various
outward
appearances,
the
followers
of
the
kula-system
spread
over
the
earth":
Yoni
Tantra
4.20,
cited
in
The
Yonitantra,
critically
edited
with
an
introduction
by
J.
A.
Schoterman
(Delhi:
Manohar,
1980),
p.
16.
20.
This
relationship
was
first
charted
in
the
Sii11Jkhya
Kiirikas
(39,42)
and
mentaries.
For
a
discussion,
see
Lakshmi
Kapani,
La
notion
de
sa11JSkiira,
2
vols.
(Paris:
De
Boccard,
1991,
1993),
vol.
2,
pp.
422-28.
2
I.
For
further
discussion
of
the
origins
and
history
of
ha!ha
yoga,
see
below,
chap.
5,
nn.
83-92,
and
chap.
8,
sec.
2a.
22.
RA
17.165a.
23.
Whereas
Siva
is
the
name
that
takes
precedence
over
all
other
names
deva,
Bhairava,
etc.)
for
this
male
divinity,
there
is
no
such
order
of
precedence
for
the
Goddess's
many
names
(Durga,
Parvatl,
Sakti,
KaII,
DevI,
etc.).
I
fore
generally
refer
to
her
as
the
Goddess
(which
is
also
a
literal
translation
of
the
name
DevI).
24.
Bhudeb
Mookerji,
Rasa-jala-nidhi
or
Ocean
of
Indian
Chemistry
and
Alchemy,
5
vols.
(Calcutta:
K.
C.
Neogi,
1926-38),
vol.
I,
p.
xiv.
25.
RA
1.
I
9.
For
variant
readings,
from
other
alchemical
sources,
see
below,
chap.
5,
n.
161,
and
chap.
9,
nn.
54-55.
26.
Satapatha
Briihma1!a
7-4-1.15.
The
all-absorbing
capacities
of
mercury
are
those
of
any
element
at
the
summit
(although
it
is
more
accurate
to
say
the
center)
of
a
Hindu
hierarchy
(on
this
see
David
N.
Gellner,
Monk,
Householder,
and
Tantric
Priest:
Newar
Buddhism
and
its
Hierarchy
of
Ritual
[New
Delhi:
Cambridge
sity
Press,
1992],
pp.
45-48).
Concomitant
to
this
ability
is
also
the
inherent
power
of
expansivity,
the
power
to
become
all-encompassing.
This
is
precisely
the
nature
of
brahman,
the
Absolute
of
Vedanta
metaphysics:
the
verbal
root
of
brahman
is
bt:h,
"to
magically
expand:'
This
is
what
mercury
does
when
it
transforms
millions
of
times
its
own
mass
of
base
metals
into
gold.
27.
The
two
important
modern
exceptions
to
this
rule
are
the
SrI
Vidya
tion
of
Tamil
Nadu
and
the
tantric
form
of
Hinduism
that
continues
to
nate
in
Nepal.
28.
See
below,
chap.
10,
sec.
I,
and
chap.
II,
sec.
3.

35
8
Notes
to
Chapter
One
29.
This
scorn
and
mistrust
carries
down
to
nineteenth-century
Britain,
in
which,
according
to
the
ethnographer
H.
A.
Rose
(A
Glossary
of
the
Tribes
and
Castes
of
the
Punjab
and
Northwest
Frontier
Province,
3
vols.
[Lahore:
Superintendent,
ernment
Printing,
Punjab,
1911-19],
vol.
2,
p.
407),
certain
elements
of
the
Rawal
branch
of
the
Nath
Siddhas
had
made
their
way
to
Europe,
where
they
were
ous
purveyors
of
quack
medicines
and
cures!
On
the
modern-day
Indian
confusion
between
the
magicians
and
tantrikas,
see
Lee
Siegel,
Net
of
Magic:
Wonders
and
ceptions
in
India
(Chicago:
University
of
Chicago
Press,
1991).
30.
Joseph
Needham
et
al.
Science
and
Civilisation
in
China
vol.
5,
pt.
4
(1980):
"Chemistry
and
Chemical
Technology:
Spagyrical
Discovery
and
paratus,
Theories
and
Gifts;'
pp.
497-98.
3
I.
Bernier's
Voyages
were
originally
published
in
Amsterdam,
in
two
volumes,
in
1699,
by
David-Paul
Marret.
The
present
passage
is
translated
from
a
modern
edition
of
the
work,
Voyage
dans
les
Etats
du
Grand
Mogol,
with
an
tion
by
France
Bhattacharya
(Paris:
Fayard,
1981),
p.
245.
32·
RV7·59·12.
Cf.
RV
3·3·7;
9.100.1;
2.38.5;
7.90.6;
Atharva
Veda
18.3.62;
patha
Briihmarta
2.6.
1.12;
and
Wendy
Doniger
O'Flaherty,
Tales
of
Sex
and
Violence:
Folklore,
Sacrifice,
and
Danger
in
the
Jaiminrya
Briihmarta
(Chicago:
University
of
Chicago
Press,
1985),
p.
20.
33.
RV
4.26-27.
For
Indo-European
and
ancient
Near
Eastern
parallels,
see
David
M.
Knipe,
"The
Heroic
Theft:
Myths
from
IV
and
the
Ancient
Near
East;'
History
of
Religions
6
(1967):
328-60.
34.
Charles
Malamoud,
"Le
corps
contractuel
des
dieux:
remarques
sur
Ie
rite
vedique
du
tiinunaptra,"
in
Cuire
Ie
monde,
p.
238.
35.
Charles
Malamoud,
"Les
dieux
n'ont
pas
d'ombre:
remarques
sur
la
langue
secrete
des
dieux
dans
l'Inde
ancien;'
in
Cuire
Ie
monde,
p.
250.
On
the
brahmanic
definition
of
sacrifice,
see
idem.,
"Cuire
Ie
monde;'
in
ibid.,
p.
47,
citing
Apastambha
Yajiia
Paribhii{a
Sutra
1
and
Kiityiiyana
Srauta
Sutra
1.2.1.
36.
Satapatha
Briihmarta
10.1.5-4,
with
the
commentary
of
SayaJ?a
who
states
that
one
hundred
years
is
how
long
amrta
keeps
the
gods
immortal!
Cf.
RV
1O.161.3b;
Atharva
Veda
2.29.2.
37.
Charles
Malamoud,
"La
theologie
de
la
dette
dans
Ie
brahmanisme;'
in
Cuire
lemonde,
pp.
125-27.
38.
Compact
Edition
of
the
Oxford
English
Dictionary,
s.v.
"mortgage:'
39.
RV8-4
8
·3
a,
4
b
,
12a,
translated
in
Wendy
Doniger
O'Flaherty,
The
Rig
Veda
(Harmondsworth:
Penguin,
1981),
pp.
134-35.
40.
Satapatha
Briihmarta
9.5.1.7-8,11.
41.
RV
9.86.39; 10.107.2.
Later,
the
mediating
"drop"
is
dropped,
and
the
iden-

359
Notes
to
Chapter
One
tity
of
(King)
Soma
and
moon
is
made:
Satapatha
Briihma'f!a
10+2.1;
11.2.5+
See
below,
chap.
2,
sec.
2
and
4,
and
chap.
7,
n.
2.
42.
Satapatha
Briihma'f!a
6.1.2+
43.
Satapatha
Briihma'f!a
6.2.2.6.
44.
RV
I.23·19a;
10.137.6;
Atharva
Veda
1.4+
See
also
Kenneth
Zysk,
Religious
Healing
in
the
Veda,
Transactions
of
the
American
Philosophical
Society,
vol.
75,
part
7
(Philadelphia:
The
Society,
1985),
pp.
90,
92.
45.
See
below,
chap.
2,
n.
1.
46.
On
this
verse,
see
Louis
Renou,
"Etudes
vediques;'
Journal
Asiatique
243
(1955),
p.
437,
n.
2.
Cf.Jaiminrya
Briihma'f!a
3·335;
and
Kiifhaka
Samhitii
8,5
and
12.13,
discussed
in
Stephanie
W.
Jamison,
The
Ravenous
Hyenas
and
the
Wounded
Sun:
Myth
and
Ritual
in
Ancient
India
(Ithaca,
N.Y.:
Cornell
University
Press,
199
I),
pp.
191-93'
These
homologizations
are
assumed
by
the
Riimiiya'f!a,
in
its
account
of
the
birth
of
Skanda:
see
below
chap.
7,
sec.
2.
47.
Yajur
Veda
7+1.10.
48.
Prii'f!a,
breath
or
"life
force"
is
further
identified
with
the
soul
(iitman)
,
a
term
etymologically
linked
to
the
German
atmen
sich
and
the
Latin
animus.
It
may
further
be
equated
with
"spirit;'
which
is
present
in
"re-spir-ation:'
Breath
is
further
identified
with
the
universal
self
or
soul,
brahman,
in
Kaufltaki
Upanifad
2.1.
49.
Zysk,
Religious
Healing,
pp.
8,
241.
Cf.
Louis Renou,
Etudes
vediques
et
pan
neennes,
17
vols.
(Paris:
de
Boccard,
1955-69),
vol.
2,
p.
66,
note
(quoted
in
Andre
Padoux,
Viic:
The
Concept
of
the
Word
in
Selected
Hindu
Tantras
[Albany,
N.Y.:
SUNY
Press,
1989],
p.
6)
"In
fact,
the
creation
of
the
cosmos
is
similar
to
that
of
a
work
of
art,
either
being
the
kavi's
deed:'
An
equally
important
link
between
the
Atharva
Veda
and
the
medical
and
alchemical
traditions
lies
in
one
of
the
terms
employed
by
the
former
to
designate
the
physician.
The
image
of
the
kavi,
the
inspired
poet
of
the
Veda,
stands
behind
both
the
Ayurvedic
physician
(called
kavi-riija
in
Bengal)
and
the
alchemical
wizard
(kavz)
who
ultimately
creates
his
own
universe.
See
low,
chap.
9,
nn.
105-6
and
chap.
10,
nn.
78-80.
50.
Surendranath
Dasgupta,
A
History
of
Indian
Philosophy,
5
vols.
(Cambridge:
Cambridge
University
Press,
1922;
reprint
Delhi:
Motilal
Banarsidass,
1975),
vol.
2,
p.
284
and
n.
1.
According
to
the
Taittirlya
Samhitii
(6+9),
the
itinerant
cian
was
impure;
Brahmans
therefore
were
not
to
take
up
medicine
as
a
profession.
According
to
the
RV
(1.180.2),
the
divine
physicians,
the
ASvins,
are
drinkers
of
"mead"
(madhu)
rather
than
soma:
Jean
Filliozat,
La
doctrine
classique
de
la
medecine
indienne:
ses
origines
et
ses
paralletes
grecs,
2d
ed.
(Paris:
Ecole
d'Extreme
Orient,
1975),
pp.
15-
16
.
51.
Caraka
Samhitii
1.
3
o.
20.
Cf.
Dasgupta,
History,
vol.
2,
pp.
273-84.

3
60
Notes
to
Chapter
Two
Chapter
Two
I.
Smith,
Reflections,
pp.
46,
203,
224.
2.
The
term
mesocosm
was
coined
by
Paul
Mus
(who
further
uses
the
terms
tocosm" for
"microcosm"
and
"metacosm"
for
"macrocosm"
in
his
study
of
Indian
Buddhism)
in
his
lengthy
foreword
to
Barabudur
(Hanoi:
Imprimerie d'Extreme
Orient,
1935),
p.
100.
Mus's
terminology
has
been
further
expanded
by
John
S.
Strong
(The
Legend
of
King
Afoka:
A
Study
and
Translation
of
the
''Afokiivadiina''
[Princeton:
Princeton
University
Press,
1983],
pp.
104,
II
8-20,
131-33)'
On
this
see
my
"Dakkhina
and
Agnicayana:
An
Extended
Application
of
Paul
Mus's
ogy,"
History
of
Religions
26:2
(November
1986),
pp.
191-95.
3.
On
this
fascination
with
number,
see
Charles
Malamoud,
"Exegese
de
rites,
exegese
de
textes;'
in
Cuire
Ie
monde,
p.
282
and
throughout.
4.
By
"bipolar"
I
mean
two
polar
opposites
which,
in
spite
of,
or
indeed
because
of,
their
opposition,
interact
dynamically.
Male
and
female
are
bipolar,
as
are
moon
and
sun,
semen
and
blood,
etc.
See
HTSL,
pp.
1-2.
5.
Satapatha
BriihmaTfa
7.2.I.4:
Taittirfya
BriihmaTfa
I.5·9+
6.
Mus,
Barabudur,
pp.
53, 59,
20
3-4-
7.
B,,:hadiiraTfyaka
Upani{ad
I.4·
1
-
6
.
8.
Chiindogya
Upani{ad
6.8.7;
Ha!hayogapradipikii
4.50,56
(Hathayogapradipikii
of
Sviitmariiman,
with
the
commentary
of
Brahmananda,
ed.
and
tr.
Srinivasa
Iyengar
[Madras:
Adyar,
1972]).
For
an
early
mythological
account
of
the
"bottling
up"
of
the
absolute
brahman
within
the
human
body,
wherein
it
becomes
identified
as
the
iitman,
see
Aitareya
AraTfyaka
2+1-3.
9.
On
the
kaliis,
see
below,
sec.
4
of
the
present
chap.
10.
Sanjukta
Gupta,
"The
MaTf4ala
as
an
Image
of
Man;'
in
Richard
Gombrich
ed.,
Indian
Ritual
and
its
Exegesis.
Delhi:
Oxford
University
Press,
1988,
p.
35.
On
the
five
elements,
see
below,
sec.
3
of
the
present
chap.
and
chap.
7,
sec.
5·
I
I.
Cited
in
Jean
Filliozat,
"La
discipline
psychosomatique
du
yoga
et
ses
ments
theoriques;'
Annuaire
du
College
de
France
(1965-66),
p.
384.
12.
RV
1O.16.I.
See
also
Gopinath
Kaviraj,
Bhiiratfy
Sa1l}sk":fi
aur
Siidhanii
(Patna:
Bihar
Rashtrabhasha
Parishad,
1977-79),
vol.
2,
p.
281;
and
Malamoud,
"Cuire
Ie
monde;'
in
Cuire
Ie
monde,
p.
52
n.
52,
citing
the
Yiijiiavalkya
Sm":fi
(3.84).
13.
Robert
C.
Lester,
Theravada
Buddhism
in
Southeast
Asia
(Ann
Arbor:
sity
of
Michigan
Press,
1973),
pp.
23-24,53;
Caroline
A.
F.
Rhys-Davids,
"Original
Buddhism
and
Amrta;'
Melangeschinois
et
bouddhiques
[Brussels
1
6
(193
8
-39),
p.
378.
On
the
medical
language
of
the
later
Saiva
Piifupata
Siltras
(ca.
1st
c.
A.n.),
see
N
agendranath
Bhattacharyya,
History
of
the
Tantric
Religion
(A
Historical,
Ritualistic
and
Philosophical
Study).
Delhi:
Munshiram
Manoharlal,
1982,
pp.
16,
201-2.

3
61
Notes
to
Chapter
Two
14.
On
Buddhist
terminology
in
Caraka,
see
Priyavrat
Sharma,
Ayurved
ka
jiiiinik
itihiis,
2d
ed.,
Jaikrishnadas
Ayurveda
Series,
no.
I
(Benares:
Chowkhambha
Orientalia,
1982)
p.
102.
It
is
widely
held
that
the
replacement
of
surgery
(fiiliikya)
by
pharmacy
(rasa
fiistra)
in
Indian
medicine
was
also
due
to
Buddhist
influence:
see
below,
chap.
3,
n.
2
I.
15.
Dasgupta,
History
2
:393-99.
The
dating
of
the
foundational
Ayurvedic
texts
continues
to
be
a
matter
of
some
discussion.
The
Chronology
Committee
of
the
National
Institute
of
Sciences
ofIndia
dates
the
composition
of
the
Car
aka
Samhitii
to
ca.
A.D.
100,
and
that
of
the
Sufruta
Samhitii
to
the
3d-4th
centuries
A.D.:
D.
M.
Bose,
ed.,
A
Concise
History
of
Science
in
India
(New
Delhi:
Indian
National
Science
Academy,
1971),
p.
223.
16.
Caraka
Samhitii
4.1.1-156.
For
a
discussion,
see
Dasgupta,
History
1:212-
17.
Jean
Filliozat,
"Les
mechanismes
psychiques
d'apres
les
textes
de
yoga;'
Annuaire
du
College
de
France
(Paris:
1970-71),
p.
416.
18.
Ibid.,
p.
416.
19·
Car
aka
Samhitii
4.5.5·
20.
Car
aka
Samhitii
4+13.
2
I.
A
very
early
use
of
the
term
dhiitu
is
Atharva
Veda
11.3.78.
Cf.
the
ca.
11th
c.
A.D.
Siirada
Tilaka
(6.7)
[Siirdatilakam
of
Laks:ma1Jadefikendra
with
the
Padiirthadarfa
Commentary
by
RDghavabhat;t;a.
edited
by
Mukunda
Jha
Bakshi,
3d
ed.
[Varanasi:
Chowkhamba
Sanskrit
Series
Office,
1986]),
a
tantric
ritual
guide,
which
identifies
the
seven
dhiitus
with
the
seven
mother
goddesses
(miitr:kiis).
On
digestion
in
eral,
see
Caraka
Samhitii
6.15'3-38,
especiallyvv.
32-35.
22.
C.
Dwarkanath
(Introduction
to
Kiiyachikitsii
[Bombay:
Popular
Book
Depot,
19591,
pp.
318,
320)
defines
rasa
as
plasma,
including
interstitial
fluid
and
lymph;
and
the
dhiitus
as
"intermediary
metabolites;'
intended
for
the
maintenance
of
stable
formed
tissue.
See
below,
chap.
7,
sec.
I,
for
an
extended
discussion
of
the
term
rasa.
23.
In
digestion
the
lower
dhiitus
nourish
the
higher
ones
either
directly
or
directly
with
rasa
irrigating
each
of
the
higher
dhiitus
consecutively.
This
latter
(and
later)
conceptualization
holds
that
each
of
the
last
six
dhiitus
are
nourished
rectly"
by
the
food
one
eats
through
its
own
particular
channel,
via
the
rasa
dhiitu
(Caraka
Samhitii
4.28-4,
with
the
commentaries
of
Cakrapal).idatta
and
Sivadasa
Sena,
discussed
in
Dwarkanath,
Kiiyachikitsii,
pp.
319-26).
Cf.
Caraka
Samhitii
6.15.15-16;
Siirilgadhara
Samhitii
1.5.II-I2;
and
Yiijiiavalkya
Smr:ti
3.84.
24.
Caraka
Samhitii
6.15.17;
MBhT
2.5-6.
25.
Jan
Gonda
(Triads
in
the
Veda,
p.
2
10,
cited
in
Georges
Dumezil,
Les
dieux

3
62
Notes
to
Chapter
Two
souverains
des
Indo--Europeens,
3d
ed.
[Paris:
Gallimard,
1986],
p.
253)
calls
dOfas
"morbific
entities;'
A
more
general
translation
for
this
term,
which
would
take
into
account
its
uses
in
other
spheres
of
Indian
discourse,
is
"break
in
continuity."
26.
Edeltraud
Harzer,
s.v.
"Sarpkhya"
in
Encyclopedia
of
Religions,
ed.
Mircea
ade
(Chicago:
University
of
Chicago
Press,
1986).
27.
Car
aka
Samhitii
1.
I
2.
13;
SufrUta
Samhitii
4.33-3-
The
earliest
mention
of
the
tridofa
is
useful
to
the
dating
the
emergence
of
Ayurveda
per
se
in
India.
Whereas
wind
and
bile
are
already
mentioned
in
the
Vedas,
the
term
for
phlegm
(fles:ma)
does
not
appear
until
the
ca.
1000
B.C.
Satapatha
BriihmaTfa.
Following
this,
it
is
not
until
the
ca.
313
B.C.
viirttika
of
Katyayana
on
PaI}ini
(Affiidhyiiyi
5.1.
38)
that
the
three
are
mentioned
together
in
a
compound
(viitapittafles:man).
One
may
thus
mise
that
the
definitive
formation
of
Ayurvedic
medical
theory
occurred
between
1000
and
3
I
3
B.C.:
Filliozat,
Doctrine
classique,
pp.
154-59.
28.
The
dhiitus
are
the
material
causes
for
health,
while
the
dOfas
are
the
dynamic
causes:
Dasgupta,
History,
2:
3
34.
29.
Louis
Renou
and
Jean
Filliozat,
L'Inde
classique:
manuel
des
etudes
indiennes
(Paris:
Imprimerie
Nationale,
1947-53),
vol.
2,
pp.
152-53.
On
the
symbolic
role
of
the
five
breaths,
from
the
Chiindogya
Upanifad
(3.13;
5.19)
to
tantric
Buddhism,
see
Alex
Wayman,
Yoga
of
the
Guhyasamiijatantra:
The
Arcane
Lore
of
Forty
Verses
(New
York:
Samuel
Weiser,
1977),
pp.
70-71.
3
o.
The
higher
dhiitus
are
heavier
than
the
lower:
Car
aka
Samhitii
1.
2
7.337.
3
I.
Francis
Zimmerman,
Le
cycle des
saisons
et
Ie
principe
propriation;'
2
(1975),
pp.
87-105.
32.
Gopatha
BriihmaTfa
cited
in
Sharma,
Ayurved,
p.
SOL
33.
Zimmerman,
pp.
87-92.
Also
in
the
Atharva
Veda
(8.1.II-I2),
Time
is
identified
with
the
sacrificial
fire
that
can
cook
and
mature
(when
it
is
the
Jiitavedas
or
Vaifviinara)
or
consume
and
devour
(when
it
is
the
Kravyiida
fire).
34.
In
the
"complete"
system,
the
six
Indian
seasons
correspond
to
the
six
"tastes"
(rasas),
each
of
which
is
most
appropriate
to
one
of
the
seasons:
man,
pp.
94-95,
100-
10
4.
35.
The
effect
on
the
macrocosm
of
wind,
the
third
element
in
the
triad,
is
termed
vikfepa,
"dispersion."
An
explicit
paralleling
of
sun,
moon,
and
wind
with
their
macrocosmic
functions
and
the
three
dOfas
is
found
in
Sufruta
Samhitii
1.21.8.
36.
January
14,
called
makara
sa1'l!kriinti,
is
the
sole
fixed
solar
date
ofthe
lar
Indian
calendar:
Jean-Luc
Chambard,
"Les
trois
grands
dieux
aux
enfers:
tion
orale
et
cycle des
fetes
hindoues
dans
un
village
de
l'Inde
centrale
(M.
P.);'
in
Catherine
Champion,
ed.,
Litterature
populaire
et
tradition
orale
en
Inde
(Purufiirtha
17)
(Paris:
Editions
de
l'E.H.E.S.S,
1994),
appendix
2.
According
to
Chambard's
informants,
the
twenty-four-day
discrepancy
between
the
solstice
date
(December

3
6
3
Notes
to
Chapter
Two
21)
and
January
14
is
due
to
the
23.27°
angle
between
the
equator
and
the
ecliptic
in
central
India.
37.
Hiinta
Samhitii
4.20-30
(La
Hiirftasamhitii:
texte
medical
sanskrit,
ed.
and
tr.
Alix
Raison
[Pondicherry:
Institut
Franr,;ais
d'Indologie,
1974]).
Cf.
Zimmerman,
p.
94.
38.
Caraka
Samhitii
6.8.2-II;
SufrUta
Samhitii
6'41.4-5'
39.
Raghuvamfa
I9·37-47,
cited
in
Zimmermann,
p.
96.
40.
Taittinya
Samhitii
2.3.5.I-3;
MaitriiyaTfi
Samhitii
21.7;
Kiithaka
Samhitii
I1.3.
The
myth
has
its
origins
in
RV
Io.85.2.
41.
Rohil).l
may
alternatively
be
identified
with
the
sun:
Filliozat,
Doctrine
classique,
p.
85.
42.
Aftiinga
San;zgraha
6-49.245
(Snmadviigbharraviracita
Aftiingasan;zgraha,
ed.
with
a
Hindi
translation
by
Kaviraj
Atrideva
Gupta,
2
vols.
[Bombay:
Nirnay
Sagar
Press,
n.d.]).
This
verse
is
directly
borrowed
into
the
RA
I8.I4;
similar
formulas
are
found
in
Car
aka
Samhitii
6,7.69;
Samhitii
75.3;
and
RHT
I9.I9.
For
a
discussion,
see
Siddhinandan
Misra,
Ayurvediya
Rasafiistra
(Benares:
bha,
I
98
I),
pp.
I9-20.
The
classic
account
of
the
Ayurvedic
healing
of
is
found
in
Caraka
Samhitii
6.8.I-I91.
Cf.
Palmyr
Cordier's
translation,
with
synoptic
passages
from
the
works
of
Bhela,
Vrnda,
and
Cakrapal).i,
in
"Histoire
de
la
cine
indienne.
La
phtisie
pulmonaire;'
Annales
d'hygiene
et
de
medecine
coloniales
I5
(I9
I2
),
pp.
255-
66
and
535-48.
43.
Sufruta
Samhitii
1.I4.I4-I5;
but
see
6.I5.32
for
a
figure
of
six
to
seven
days.
44.
According
to
popular
traditions
in
Rajasthan
and
elsewhere
in
India,
it
takes
forty
days
and
forty
drops
of
blood
to
produce
one
drop
of
semen:
G.
Morris
stairs,
The
Twice-Born:
Study
af
a
Community
of
High-Caste
Hindus
(London:
garth
Press,
I961),
pp.
83-84.
Cf.
SSP
1.73
(in
Kalyani
Mallik,
ed.,
Siddha
hiinta
Paddhati
and
Other
Works
of
the
Niitha
YogiS
[Poona:
Oriental
Book
House,
I
954]).
45.
On
the
use
of
the
terms
saumya
and
iigneya
for
the
male
and
female
sexual
fluids
in
conception,
see
SufrUta
Samhitii
3-3-3.
46.
Viija
is
the
Sanskrit
cognate
of
the
English
(and
Latinate)
"vigor:'
It
is
also
related
etymologically
to
the
Sanskrit
ojas
(Monier
Monier-Williams,
A
English
Dictionary
[London:
Oxford
University
Press,
I899;
reprint
Delhi:
Motilal
Banarsidass,
1984],
s.v.
"vaja"),
the
so-called
eighth
dhiitu
(Atharva
Veda
2.
I
8.
I,
with
the
commentary
of
Sayal).a)
which
is
nothing
other
than
the
fluid
of
life
itself,
of
which
eight
drops
are
located
in
the
heart:
Car
aka
Samhitii
1.I7.74-75;
1.30.7.
47.
E.
Anantacharya,
Rasayana
and
Ayurveda
(Vishakapatnam:
World
Teacher
Publications,
I935,
I982),
pp.
I2-I4,
summarizing
discussion
from
the
Caraka
and
Sufruta
Samhitiis.

3
6
4
Notes
to
Chapter
Two
48.
Car
aka
Samhitii
6.I.I6-24;
Sufruta
Samhita
4.29.IO-I2;
and
the
A.D.
II3I
Manasolliisa
(2.I4-5I).
Dalhat:la's
commentary
to
Sufruta
Samhitii
3.3.4
provides
a
discussion
of
the
three-chambered
female
reproductive
system.
For
further
sion,
see
Arion
Ro§u,
"Yoga
et
alchimie;'
ZeitschriJt
der
Deutschen
Morgenliindischen
GesellschaJt
132
(I982),
p.
374;
and
idem.,
"Consideration
sur
une
technique
du
siiyana
ayurvedique;'
Indo-Iranian
Journal
I7
(I975),
7-28,
which
indicates
parallels
with
the
Vedic
initiation
hut
(dfkfiifiila)
and
similar
Taoist
structures.
cally
excavated
pre-4th
c.
A.D.
Buddhist
ascetics'
cells
in
the
Barabar,
Nagarjuni,
and
Guntupalli
Caves
clearly
reproduce
such
a
double-womb
structure:
Alexander
Cunningham,
Archaeological
Survey
of
India,
Four
Reports
Made
during
the
Years
I862-
63-64-65
(Simla:
Government
Central
Press,
I87I),
plate
I9
and
pp.
44-53;
bala
Mitra,
Buddhist
Monuments
(Calcutta:
Sahitya
Samsad,
I97I),
pp.
44-46
and
figs.
I4-I5.
49.
See
Gorakfa
Sataka
(verse
I33
of
Das
Gorakfafataka,
ed.
by
Karl
A.
Nowotny
[Wetterschlick
b.
Bonn:
Richard
Schwarzbold,
I976]):
nabhidese
vasati
eko
karo
dahanatmakaIy
amrtatma
sthito
nityan
taluml1le
ca
candramaJ:.
50.
Aghehananda
Bharati,
The
Tantric
Tradition
(London:
Rider
and
Co.,
I965;
New
York:
Grove
Press,
I975),
p.
264,
citing
Vansidhar
Sukul
Vaidyaraj,
miirg
(Allahabad:
Kalyan
Mandir,
I95
I),
p.
II
I.
5
I.
Lawrence
Babb,
The
Divine
Hierarchy:
Popular
Hinduism
in
Central
India
(New
York:
Columbia
University
Press,
I975),
pp.
I
28-40.
Babb
bases
his
analysis
on
fieldwork
he
carried
out
in
village
Madhya
Pradesh (Chattisgarh
district).
On
the
"meteorological"
origins
of
Goddess
worship
in
the
Vedic
literature,
see
A.
L.
Basham,
"Notes
on
the
Origins
of
Saktism
and
Tantrism;'
in
Religion
and
Society
in
Ancient
India:
Sudhakar
Chattopadhyaya
Commemoration
Volume
(Calcutta:
Roy
and
Chowdhury,
I984),
pp.
I48-53.
I
am
grateful
to
Douglas
Brooks
for
bringing
this
article
to
my
attention.
52.
B,,:hadiiraTfyaka
Upanifad
6.2.I3-I6;
Chiindogya
Upanifad
5.ro.I-7;
Prafna
Upanifad
I.9-IO;
KaUfuaki
Upanifad
I.2-3;
Satapatha
BriihmaTfa
2.I.3.I-9.
53.
Sankara'a
Commentary
on
the
Chiindogya
Upanifad
(5.ro4),
translated
in
chel
Hulin,
La
face
cacMe
du
temps:
L'imaginaire
de
l'au-dela
(Paris:
Fayard,
I985),
p.
369,
who
also
refers
to
Sankara's
Commentary
on
the
Brahma-Sutras
(3.I.6).
54.
Sankara's
Commentary
on
the
Chiindogya
Upanifad
(5.ro.6),
ibid.,
pp.
369-70.
55.
See
below,
sec.
4
and
nn.
88-96.
56.
On
the
evolution
from
three
to
five,
see
David
M.
Knipe,
"One
Fire,
Three
Fires,
Five
Fires:
Vedic
Symbols
in
Transformation;'
History
of
Religions
I2
(I972),
pp.28-4I.
57.
Satapatha
BriihmaTfa
6.I.2.I9;
ro.I.3.I-4.
Already
in
the
Atharva
Veda

3
6
5
Notes
to
Chapter
Two
(3.27.1-6)
five
"world
protectors"
(lokapiila),
the
gods
of
the
cardinal
directions,
are
identified
with
five
colors
and
five
elements.
58.
It
is
found,
for
example,
in
the
alchemical
Rasendra
Mangala
(1.9):
va'l1}
gati.
59.
Eliade,
Yoga:
Immortality
and
Freedom,
p.
32;
and
Haraprasad
Shastri,
ed.
Advayavajrasa'l1}graha,
Gaekwad's
Oriental
Series,
no.
40
(Baroda:
Oriental
tute,
1927),
p.
xxviii.
60.
Giuseppe
Tucci,
Tibetan
Painted
Scrolls,
3
vols.
(Rome:
Libreria
dello
Stato,
1949),
vol.
I,
pp.
233,
243·
61.
Louis
de
la
Vallee
Poussin,
"Le
Bouddhisme
et
Ie
Yoga
de
Pataiijali;'
langeschinoisetbouddhiques
[Brussels],
vol.
5
(1936-37),
pp.
224-27.
62.
See
Kiifhaka
Upanifad
3.IO-II
and
6'7-8,
and
its
discussion
by
Madeleine
Biardeau
in
Asian
Mythologies,
s.v.
"PuraI,lic
Cosmogony,"
p.
44.
63.
Gerald
James
Larson,
Classical
Sii'l1}khya:
An
Interpretation
of
its
History
and
Meaning,
2d
ed.
(Delhi:
Motilal
Banarsidass,
1979),
pp.
171-76.
64.
Ibid.,
p.
236.
65.
There
is
a
dynamic
relationship
that
obtains
between
the
tanmiitras
and
the
mahiibhutas:
sound
generates
ether;
touch,
catalyzed
by
ether,
generates
air;
color,
catalyzed
by
air,
generates
fire,
etc.
On
this,
see
Priyanaranjan
Ray,
History
istry
in
Ancient
and
Medieval
India
Incorporating
the
History
of
Hindu
Chemistry
by
Acharya
Prafulla
Chandra
Ray
(Calcutta:
Indian
Chemical
Society,
1956),
p.
264.
66.
T.
A.
Gopinath
Rao,
Elements
of
Hindu
Iconography,
2
vols.
in
four
tomes
(Madras:
Law
Road
Printing
House,
1914-16),
vol.
2,
part
2,
p.
374.
67.
Shashibhushan
Dasgupta,
An
Introduction
to
Tantric
Buddhism,
2d
ed.
cutta:
University
of
Calcutta
Press,
1958),
pp.
19,25,29-33.
68.
Bhattacharyya,
History,
p.
224.
69.
A
transcendant
sixth,
Vajrasattva,
was
equated
with
pure
consciousness
and
Adi
Buddha,
the
"primal"
Buddha:
ibid.,
pp.
232-33.
70.
Dasgupta,
Introduction,
pp.
85-86.
For
an
expansion
of
this
discussion,
see
also
Tucci,
Tibetan
Painted
Scrolls,
1:235-39'
71.
Ibid.,
p.
239·
72.
Taittinya
Samhitii
7.1.6.2,
cited
in
Filliozat,
Doctrine
c!assique,
p.
85.
73.
Satapatha
Briihma1!a
1.6+5;
B,,:hadiira1!yaka
Upanifad
1.5.14.
Sixteen
(or
enteen)
is
also
the
number
of
priestly
technicians
employed
in
a
soma
sacrifice
(Jan
Heesterman,
The
Inner
Conflict
of
Tradition
[Chicago:
University
of
Chicago
Press,
1985],
p.
210
n.
33).
Elsewhere,
the
soma
plant
is
said
to
be
sixteen
petaled:
hushan
Dasgupta,
Obscure
Religious
Cults,
3d
ed.
(Calcutta:
Firma
KLM
Limited,
1976),
p.
251.

3
66
Notes
to
Chapter
Two
74.
Brhadara1Jyaka
1.S.IS-16.
On
such
"participation
in
number"
see
Betty
Heimann,
Facets
of
Indian
Thought
(London:
Allen
and
Unwin,
1964),
pp.
9S-99,
"The
Discovery
of
Zero
and
Its
Philosophical
Implications
in
India."
See
above,
n.
3.
7S.
Monier-Williams,
Sanskrit-English
Dictionary,
s.v.
"kala."
This
carries
over
into
the
hathayogic
physiology,
in
which
the
iidhiiras,
the
"supports"
of
the
subtle
body,
are
sixteen
in
number:
SSP
2.IO-2S;
HYP
3.73.
76.
Dasgupta,
History,
2:317.
77.
Aitareya
Briihma1Ja
1.3·
78.
Satapatha
Briihma1Ja
IO.4.
1.
I
7.
Prajapati
is
also
called
"having
sixteen
parts:'
in
Yajur
Veda
8.36.
The
person
is
said
to
consist
of
sixteen
parts,
of
which
the
sixteenth
is
immortal,
in
the
Chiindogya
(6.7.1-3)
and
Prama
(6.2).
79.
Mahiibhiirata
12.224·43;
I2.298.IS.
It
is
in
this
context
that
the
use
of
the
term
soma
for
the
herbal
medicines
ingested
in
the
kU!lpravefa
technique
takes
on
its
greatest
fullness
of
meaning:
Sufruta
Samhitii
4.29.4-10.
On
the
duration
of
the
menstrual
cycle,
see
Yiijfiavalkya
Smrti
79,
quoted
in
the
13th
c.
Smrticandrikii
of
Deva1J1Jabharra,
Ahnika
KaI).9a
(an
English
translation
with
notes)
by
J.
R.
pure,
1st
ed.
(Bombay:
v.J.
Gharpure,
1946),
pp.
2S-26.
Cf.
Manu
Smrt
i
3.46
(Manu
Smrti,
with
the
commentary
of
Kulluka
Bhana,
ed.
Gopala
Sastri
Nene,
Kashi
Sanskrit
Series,
no.
114
[Benares:
Chowkhamba
Sanskrit
Series
Office,
197
0
]).
80.
Jan
Gonda,
Medieval
Religious
Literature
in
Sanskrit.
History
ofIndian
ature,
II,
I
(Wiesbaden:
Harassowitz,
1977),
p.
171.
8
I.
The
association
with
Siva
is
especially
powerful
if
the
new
moon
(amiiviisyii)
falls
on
a
Monday,
in
which
case
he
is
called
sompati,
"lord
of
the
moon":
Babb,
Divine
Hierarchy,
pp.
109-10.
A
north
Indian
guide
to
the
"sixteen
Mondays
vow"
is
the
anonymous
Solah
Somviir
tathii
Somviir
aur
Saumya
Vrat
Kothii
(Hardwar:
Ranadhir
Booksales,
n.d.).
82.
RV8-47.I7,
in
Monier-Williams,
Sanskrit-English
Dictionary,
s.v.
"kala."
83.
The
classical
study
of
this
subject
is
Jan
Gonda,
"The
Number
Sixteen:'
in
idem.,
Change
and
Continuity
in
Indian
Tradition
(The
Hague:
Mouton,
I96S),
pp.IIS-3°·
84·
Heesterman,
Inner
Conflict,
p.
2
IO,
n.
33.
8s.Jaiminiya
Briihma1Ja
3.38.8.
86.
Mahiinirvii1Ja
Tantra
IO.
127
(Arthur
Avalon,
Tantra
of
the
Great
Liberation
[London:
Luzac
&
Co.,
1913;
reprint
New
York:
Dover
Publications,
1972]),
cited
in
Gonda,
"Sixteen:'
p.
rr6.
87.
Mahiibhiirata
12.293-4-8.

3
6
7
Notes
to
Chapter
Two
88.
This
is
stated
most
graphically
in
the
five-fires
doctrine
of
the
Chiindogya
Upanifad
(5.4.I-5.9.2),
which
constitutes
the
earliest
systematic
Indian
statement
on
the
cycle
of
death
and
rebirth
in
its
relationship
to
the
cycle
of
the
year
and
the
food
chain.
89.
In
this
regard,
the
Mahiibhiirata
(12.293.3-7)
statement
that
the
other
fifteen
digits
of
the
moon
are
merely
"vestures"
(kofas)
of
the
immortal
digit
is
a
significant
one.
For
a
discussion
of
the
fifteen
fiery
and
one
lunar
kaliis
in
the
microcosm
and
macrocosm,
see
Ramlal
Srivastav,
ed.,
Yogavii,,!i:
"Gorakh"
Vifefiink
(Gorakhpur:
Gorakhnath
Mandir,
I977),
p.
40.
90.
The
SSP
(I
.64)
lists
seventeen
(I
6
+
I)
digits,
of
which
the
last
is
alternately
called
amrta
or
niv1Jti.
Cf.
Amaraughafiisana,
p.
I
2.
91.
The
SSP
(1.65)
lists
thirteen
(I2
+
I)
solar
digits.
92.
Gorakh
Biini
SabadI
89.
Cf.
the
Gyiin
Chautisii
(v.
2)
which,
after
evoking
the
sixteen
lunar
and
twelve
solar
kaliis,
speaks
of
the
four
remaining
digits
as
the
mortal
abode
of
the
gurudev.
The
SSP
(1.66)
however,
enumerates
eleven
(ro
+
I)
fiery
digits
in
the
body.
In
basic
tantric
worship
practice
as
well,
fire
is
said
to
be
composed
of
ten
kaliis:
HT,
p.
I46.
The
KuliiT'f!ava
Tantra
(6.37-40)
lists
and
names
sixteen
lunar,
twelve
solar,
and
ten
fiery
kaliis,
which
it
identifies
with
the
nemes.
93.
This
process
is
also
cast,
in
yogic
parlance,
as
a
raising
of
the
yogin's
female
energy
(faktt),
of
the
indwelling
Goddess
herself,
towards
union
with
her
beloved
Siva
who,
identified
with
the
absolute
brahman,
resides
in
the
moon
of
the
cranial
vault.
The
mounting
of
the
Goddess
(fakti-eiilana)
is
also
described
as
the
ing
and
raising
of
a
female
serpent,
named
ku"!4alini,
from
the
lower
abdomen
to
the
head.
In
Buddhist
Siddha
sources,
this
female
energy
is
termed
avadhuti,
rjiili,
or
40mbi,
all
names
for
"outcaste"
women:
Kaviraj,
Bhiiratiy,
2:262.
94.
Svetiifvatara
Upanifad
2.I2.
Kiiliignirudra
literally
means
"Rudra
[i.e.,
the
destroyer)
of
the
fire
of
time:'
95.
The
number
is
variable:
certain
systems
describe
a
system
of
nine,
twelve,
or
even
twenty-seven
eakras,
of
which
six
extend
beyond
the
top
of
the
head
into
space:
"The
System
of
Cakras
According
to
Gorak(;anatha;'
in
Gopinath
Kaviraj,
Aspeetsoflndian
Thought
(Calcutta:
University
of
Burdwan,
I966),
pp.
229-37.
9
6
.
HYP
3-4-
97.
Asian
Mythologies,
s.v.
Cosmogony."
See
below,
chap.
7
nn.
I8I
-86.
98.
In
this
perspective,
kalii
is
at
once
the
inactive
aspect
of
the
goddess
Sakti
as
principle
of
manifestation
and
the
active
aspect
of
the
god
Siva
as
principle
of
nonmanifestation:
Padoux,
Viie,
p.
89;
Gopinath
Kaviraj,
Tiintrik
Siidhanii
aur
skrti
(Patna:
Bihar
Rastrabhasa
Parisad,
I979),
pp.
209-ro.
99.
Dasgupta,
Obscure,
p.
243·

3
68
Notes
to
Chapter
Two
100.
Gorakh
Bani
SabadI
219;
Pad
56.2.
Cf.
HYP
3.3;
KJiiN
6.16,
28;
14.23,
26;
17.17.
101.
Harvey
Alper,
"The
Cosmos
as
Siva's
Language
Game:
Mantra
According
to
Sivasutravimarfini:'
in
idem.,
Mantra
(Albany:
SUNY
Press,
1989),
pp.
26
4,
274,
28
9
n.
44·
102.
The
matter
is
much
more
complex
than
this,
bringing
into
play
the
bindu
("drop"
of
energy,
sound,
and
light)
and
bija
("seed"),
which
are
identified
in
a
number
of
ways
with
Siva
and
Sakti,
according
to
the
textual
sources.
On
the
relationship
of
nada,
bindu,
and
blja
in
phonematic
emanation,
see
HT,
p.
94,
and
Padoux,
Vac,
pp.
96-121,
esp.
p.
II6.
In
the
tantric "initiation
of
penetration"
(vedhamayidikfa),
the
guru
completes
his
acoustic
penetration
of
his
initiate
by
scoping
the
final
letters
of
the
Sanskrit
alphabet
into
the
bindu.
This
he
unites
with
the
kala,
which
he
in
turn
unites
with
the
nada:
Sarada
Tilaka
5.137.
See
below,
chap.
10,
sec.
2.
103.
Paul
Eduardo
Muller-Ortega,
The
Triadic
Heart
of
Siva:
Kaula
Tantricism
of
Abhinavaf5Upta
in
the
Non-dual
Shaivism
of
Kashmir
(Albany:
SUNY
Press,
1989),
pp.
152-54.
The
sixteen
vowels,
especially
the
visarga,
are
identified
with
Siva,
the
consonants
with
Sakti:
Padoux,
Vac,
p.
417.
104.
Padoux,
Vac,
p.
79.
105.
Pratapaditya
Pal,
Hindu
Religion
and
Iconology
According
to
the
Tantrasara
(Los
Angeles:
Vichitra
Press,
1981),
pp.
18-19.
106.
Mahabharata
12.328.13.
107.
Dasgupta,
Obscure,
p.
47.
108.
Padoux,
Vac,
p.
91,
n.
12.
On
the
creation
of
new
"niches"
to
accomodate
an
ever-expanding
metaphysics,
see
HTSL,
p.
14;
Dyczkowski,
Canon,
p.
125.
In
a
veritable
explosion,
the
number
of
kaliis
is
quadrupled
in
some
sources
to
four,
itself
a
widely
employed
tantric
"round
number."
A
Nath
Siddha
text
speaks
of
the
sixty-four
lunar
digits,
which
have
as
their
homologues
sixty-four
locations
within
the
body:
Sarasvati
Sahagal,
Gorakh
Darian
(Hyderabad:
Madhu
Printers,
1979),
p.
123.
The
sixty-four
practical,
mechanical,
and
fine
arts,
have
also
been
referred
to
as
kalas
since
at
least
the
time
of
the
Tantras.
109.
Raj
Bali
Pandey,
Hindu
Sarizskaras
(Socia-Religious
Study
of
the
Hindu
ments),
2d
ed.
(Delhi:
Motilal
Banarsidass,
1969),
pp.
17-23.
110.
The
end
result
of
the
alchemical
san.zskaras
can
be
"sixteen-var1!a
gold;'
the
Indian
homologue
of
twenty-four-carat
gold:
Rasahrdaya
Tantra
bhagavatpadaviracita
Rashrdayatantram
with
the
commentary
of
Caturbhuja
Misra,
tr.
into
Hindi
by
Daultarama
Rasasastri
(Benares:
Chaukhamba
Orientalia,
1989)
translator's
introduction,
p.
xxxi.
This
carries
over
into
the
Indian
monetary
tem.
Since
at
least
the
time
of
the
Manu
Smrti
(8.136)
and
down
to
the
middle
of

3
6
9
Notes
to
Chapter
Three
the
twentieth
century,
a
basic
monetary
subunit
has
been
the
sixteenth
fraction
of
a
whole:
Gonda,
"Sixteen;'
p.
II7.
Just
as
the
ancient
karsapa1}a
was
divided
into
sixteen
mafa[kaJs,
so
the
pre-I947
Indian
rupee
was
divided
into
sixteen
annas,
whence
expressions
referring
to
gold
or
river
water
as
"sixteen
annas
pure":
Milton
Singer,
ed.,
Krishna:
Myths,
Rites,
and
Attitudes
(Chicago:
University
of
Chicago
Press,
1966),
p.
84;
Briggs,
Gorakhnath,
p.
130.
Cf.
BhP
6-408b-409a,
which
refers
to
mercury
that
has
been
combined
with
sixteen
"seeds"
of
other
elements
and
becomes
capable
of
producing
gold.
II
1.
BhP
6.485;
7.11.
I
12.
The
matra
(twenty-four
seconds)
is
defined
in
Brahmananda's
commentary
to
HYP
2.12.
Pra1}ayama
begins
with
the
holding
of
the
breath
for
12'/2
matras,
with
all
further
yogic
practice
merely
being
so
many
multiples
of
this
basic
unit,
culminating
in
samadhi,
total
yogic
integration,
when
the
breath
is
held
for
twelve
days.
A
similar
geometrical
progression,
working
from
a
basic
unit,
occurs
in
the
alchemical
domain
as
well:
see
below,
chap.
10,
sec.
3.
113.
Basava,
vacana
no.
537,
translated
in
A.
K.
Ramanujan,
"The
Myths
of
Bhakti:
Images
of
Siva
in
Saiva
Poetry,"
in
Meister,
ed.,
Discourses
on
Siva,
p.
213.
Cf.
Anne-Marie
Gaston,
Siva
in
Dance,
Myth
and
Iconography
(Delhi:
Oxford
versity
Press,
1982),
p.
164;
and
Stella
Kramrisch,
The
Presence
of
Siva
(Princeton:
Princeton
University
Press,
1981),
pp.
275-78.
114.
Monier-Williams,
Sanskrit-English
Dictionary,
s.v.
"atman;'
See
above,
chap.
I,
n.
48.
Chapter
Three
1.
Aung,
Folk
Elements,
pp.
68-69.
On
the
Zawgyis
and
Weikzas,
see
ibid.,
pp.
41-54
and
Needham,
Science
and
Civilisation,
vol.
2,
"History
of
Scientific
Thought"
(1956),
p.
I74;
and
vol.
5,
pt.
3,
p.
166.
See
also
above,
chap.
I,
n.
6.
2.
Ba1}a's
Kiidambari
(Purvabhaga
Complete),
ed.
by
M.
R.
Kale,
4th
revised
ed.
(Delhi:
Motilal
Banarsidass,
1968),
pp.
338-39.
Cf.
Kiidambari:
A
Classical
Sanskrit
Story
of
Magical
Transformations,
tr.
with
an
introduction
by
Gwendolyn
Layne
(New
York:
Garland
Publishing,
1991),
pp.
225-26.
3.
Alberuni's
India,
ed.
with
notes
by
Edward
Sachau,
2
vols.
(London:
Kegan
Paul,
Trench,
and
Trubner,
Inc.,
1910;
reprint
Delhi:
Munshiram
Manoharlal,
1983),
vol.
I,
pp.
191-92.
Variants
on
this
myth
are
found
in
both
Telugu
and
Cambodian
sources:
the
15th
c.
Telegu
Bhojarajiyamu
of
Ananta
names
the
mist
Sarpa!i
[Carpa!il:
Arion
Ro§u,
''Alchemy
and
Sacred
Geography
in
the
eval
Deccan;'
Journal
of
the
European
Ayurvedic
Society
2
(I992),
p.
ISS.
The
bodian
source
calls
the
alchemist
a
"brahmin"
and
the
king
the
"leprous
king
of
Angkor
Thorn":
Jean
Filliozat,
''Al-Biruni
and
Indian
Alchemy,"
in
Debiprasad

37
0
Notes
to
Chapter
Three
Chattopadhyaya,
ed.
Studies
in
the
History
of
Science
in
India,
2
vols.
(New
Delhi:
Educational
Enterprises,
1982),
vol.
I,
p.
342,
citing
G.
Poree
and
E.
Maspero,
Moeurs
et
coutumes
des
Khmers
(Paris:
193
8
),
p.
73.
4.
The
Nath
Siddha
Goplcand's
capital
city
is
called
Dhara
(Dharanagar)
in
Richard
Carnac
Temple,
Legends
of
the
Panjiib,
3
vols.
(London:
Turner
and
pany,
1884-86;
reprint
Patiala:
Department
of
Languages,
Punjab,
1963),
vol.
2,
p.
63
(legend
no.
18,
v.
680).
5·
Needham,
Science
and
Civilisation
in
China
vol.
5,
pt.
4
(19
80
),
pp.
497-98.
Less
than
forty
years
after
Marco
Polo,
the
Muslim
traveler
Ibn
Battfita
describes
yogis,
encountered
near
Gwalior
and
in
coastal
Tamil
Nadu,
who
specialized
in
the
preparation
of
mineral
pills:
Ibn
Batruta,
Voyages,
3
vols.,
tr.
into
the
French
by
C.
Defremery
and
B.
R.
Sanguinetti
with
an
introduction
and
notes
by
Stephane
Yerasimos
(Paris:
Maspero,
1982),
vol.
3,
pp.
17
1,
275.
6.
Bernier,
Voyage
dans
les
Etats
du
Grand
Mogol,
p.
245.
This
detail,
of
Yogis
being
great
eaters,
seems
to
run
against
the
accepted
image
of
such
persons
as
cetic
in
their
eating
habits.
Yet,
such
seems
not
to
be
the
case
with
these
Yogis,
who
have
no
use
for
self-mortification.
On
eating
sulfur
at
daybreak,
see
Khecarf
Vidyii
[KhV]
4.13
(NNA
MSS
no.
5-6568).
All
KhV
references
are
to
this
manuscript.
Elsewhere,
as
I
show
in
chap.
9,
mercury's
powers
of
"consumption"
are
also
gious.
7.
One
of
Oman's
later
works
is
entitled
Cults,
Customs,
and
Superstitions
of
India
(London:
1908).
8.
John
Campbell
Oman,
The
Mystics,
Ascetics
and
Saints
of
India
(London:
1903;
reprint
Delhi:
Oriental
Publishers,
1973),
pp.
60-61.
I
have
modernized
some
of
Oman's
language.
For
other
accounts
of
alchemists,
see
ibid.,
pp.
56-59.
9.
The
ca.
1st
c.
A.D.
Arthafiistra
(2.12.2;
2.13.3)
of
Kau!ilya
appears
to
refer
to
the
amalgamation
of
gold
with
mercury
in
mining,
metallurgy,
and
coinage,
when
it
uses
the
terms
rasaviddha
and
rasapiika:
R.
P.
Kangle,
The
Kau!ilya
Arthafiistra,
2
vols.
(Bombay:
University
of
Bombay,
1960),
vol.
I,
pp.
121-22
and
notes;
vol.
2,
pp.
55-56.
Rasa
may,
however,
mean
"smelted
ore"
rather
than
"mercury"
in
this
case:
Subarayappa,
"Chemical
Practice;'
in
Bose,
Concise
History,
p.
305.
In
his
6th
c.
Brhat
Samhitii,
a
work
devoted
mainly
to
astrology,
Varahamihira
(75.3)
mentions
an
aphrodisiac
preparation
containing
mercury
(piirada)
and
other
minerals.
ro.
Caraka
Samhitii
6.7.70-71.
II.
Sufruta
Samhitii
4-25.39;
5.3.14;
6.35.7.
Sharma
(Ayurved,
pp.
76,
89,113)
maintains
that
the
"original"
Sufruta
is
more
ancient
than
the
Caraka,
but
that
garjuna's
6th-9th
c.
recension
(and
addition
of
a
sixth
section,
called
the
tantra")
of
the
Sufruta
is
later
than
the
final
recension
of
the
Caraka.
Cf.
Majumdar,
"Medicine;'
in
Bose,
Concise
History,
p.
223.

37
1
Notes
to
Chapter
Three
12.
Affihiga
Sa'l1}graha
6-49.245.
The
Affailga
Hrdaya
(6.13.36)
prescribes
the
use
of
mercury
for
timira
raga.
Arion
Ro§u
(Gustave
Lietard
et
Palmyr
Cordier:
Travaux
sur
l'histoire
de
la
midecine
indienne,
Publications
de
I'Institut
de
Civilisation
dienne,
no.
56
[Paris:
De
Boccard,
1989],
p.
!xxxix
n.
148),
who
takes
his
citations
from
Kunte's
I9I2
Bombay
(4th)
edition
of
the
AH,
and
Athavale's
1980
Poona
edition
of
the
AS
respectively,
notes
the
following
classic
references
to
mercury
in
these
works:
AS
6,30.80
=
AH
6.13.36;
6.32.31;
6.25.6Ib-62a;
and
AS
6-49.392
=
AH
6.39.162.
On
the
dates
ofVagbhana
the
Elder,
and
the
closely
related
Affailga
Sa'l1}graha
and
Affailga
Hrdaya,
see
Sharma,
Ayurved,
pp.
172-90.
13.
Even
prior
to
the
medieval
emergence
of
rasa
fastra,
Ayurveda
had
its
own
form
of
elixir
or
rejuvenation
therapy,
called
rasayana,
with
which
it
claimed
to
be
able
to
prolong
life
for
one
hundred,
even
five
hundred
years.
Unlike
dehavada
and
rasa
fastra,
however,
rasayana
preparations
are
nearly
exclusively
herbal:
yappa,
"Chemical
Practice;'
in
Bose,
Concise
History,
p.
316;
and
Ro§u,
"Yoga
et
alchimie;'
pp.
365-66.
14.
The
earliest
list
of
the
eight
siddhis
is
found
in
the
pre-3d.
c.
A.D.
Buddhist
Subahupariprcchafastra
(par.
199,
translated
by
W
Wassiljew,
in
Der
Buddhismus,
seine
Dogmen,
Geschichte
und
Literatur
[Saint
Petersburg,
1860],
vol.
I,
p.
218).
ant
lists
are
found
in
the
3d-11th
c.
A.D.
Buddhist
Sadhanamala
(ed.
Benoytosh
Bhattacharya,
Gaekwad's
Oriental
Series,
51
[Baroda:
1928,
vol.
2,
pp.
lxxxv,
350
[vv.
3-5]'
and
509
[vv.
14-16],
as
well
as
in
the
9th-roth
c.
A.D.
Hindu
KJfiN
lajfiananirTfaya
and
Some
Minor
Texts
of
the
School
of
Matysyendranatha,
ed.
by
bodh
Chandra
Bagchi,
Calcutta
Sanskrit
Series,
no.
3
[Calcutta:
Metropolitan,
1934])
of
Matsyendranath
(5,3-4),
and
the
slightly
later
Hindu
alchemical
Tantra,
the
KCM
(NNA
MSS
no.
5-3969,
fol.
2b.3-4).
Unless
otherwise
indicated,
all
KCM
references
are
to
this
manuscript.
All
of
these
three
lists
include
the
siddhi
of
rasa-rasayana.
A
parallel
list,
from
a
Tibetan
Buddhist
source,
the
Dragpa
jets
'en,
is
found
in
Stephan
Beyer,
The
Cult
of
Tara
(Berkeley:
University
of
California
Press,
1973),
p.
252.
The
eight
siddhis
are
defined
in
Benoytosh
Bhattacharya,
An
duction
to
Buddhist
Esoterism
(Oxford:
Oxford
University
Press,
1932),
pp.
85-86.
Three
of
the
eight
are
found
in
the
6th
c.
A.D.
Affailga
Sa'l1}graha
of
Vagbhana
the
Elder:
Sharma,
Ayurved,
p.
179.
15.
Perhaps
the
earliest
occurance
of
the
term
may
be
construed
from
the
habharata
(I.I65.ro)
description
wish-fulfilling
cow,
which
in
addition
to
milk
gives
"the
six
flavors
and
the
fluid
ambrosial
elixir"
(faqrasa'l1}
cam'(tarasa'l1}
rasayanam).
Cf.
Ramaya1Ja
4.27+
An
alternative
Hindu
enumeration
of
the
eight
siddhis,
which
differs
entirely
from
the
eight
"magical"
siddhis,
is
first
found
in
Apastambha
Dharma
SiUra
2.9.23.6-7.
A
siddhi
not
generally
included
in
such
Hindu
listings
is
the
power
to
transmute
base
metals
into
gold
with
one's
bodily

37
2
Notes
to
Chapter
Three
secretions.
An
early
mention
is
verse
74
of
the
Yogatattva
Upani{ad
(tr.
in
Jean
nne,
Upanishads
du
yoga
[Paris:
Gallimard,
1971]),
p.
81.
16.
The
ninth-century
Jain
author
Ugraditya
devotes
the
twenty-fourth
and
penultimate
chapter
of
his
medical
work,
the
Kalya1fakaraka,
to
rasa-rasayana:
Bhagiratha
Prasada
Tripathi's
foreword
to
Gorak{a
Sarhhita
(Part
Two),
ed.
Pandeya,
p.
1.
Cf.
Sharma,
Ayurved,
pp.
194-95,
22
5.
17.
The
Chou
I
Tshan
Thung
Chhi
(A.D.
142),
attributed
to
Wei
Po-Yang,
is
the
earliest
Chinese
canon
of
theoretical
alchemy:
Needham,
Science
and
Civilisation,
vol.
5,
pt.
4
(19
80
),
p.
24
8
.
See
below,
sec.
3·
18.
RA
18.2II-21.
This
alchemical
operation
is
discussed
in
chap.
5,
sec.
4b.
19.
RA
18.211.
20.
RA
17.165a,
166a.
The
latter
part
of
the
Sanskrit
phrase
translated
here
reads:
pl1rvaI1l1ohe
tato
dehe
prayojayet.
2
I.
SO,
for
example,
Nagarjuna,
the
6th-9th
c.
final
redactor
of
the
Sufruta
hita,
removed
falyatantra
from
the
canon:
for
a
survey
of
the
question,
see
Arion
"Le
renouveau
contemporain
de
l'
Ayurveda;'
Wiener
ZeitschriJt
for
die
Kunde
Siidasiens
26
(1982),
p.
65;
and
Misra,
Ayurvediya,
pp.
9-10,
18;
and
Sharma,
Ayurved,
p.
540.
22.
On
rasa
fastra,
which
Prafulla
Chandra
Ray
and
others
have
termed
chemistry,"
see
Subbarayappa,
"Chemical
Practice;'
in
Bose,
Concise
History,
p.
314.
Cf.
"Yoga
et
alchimie;'
p.
365.
23.
On
rasacikitsa,
see
Ro§u,
"Renouveau;'
pp.
65-66;
and
Majumdar,
cine;'
in
Bose,
ed.
Concise
History,
p.
233.
Both
of
these
scholars
relate
rasacikitsa
to
the
south
Indian
school
of
Siddha
medicine.
See
below,
chap.
4,
nn.
I
12-
14
for
a
discussion
of
the
medieval
Mahesvara
Siddhas,
who
were
the
likely
pioneers
of
this
tradition.
24.
In
the
words
of
Alberuni,
"The
greediness
of
the
ignorant
Hindu
princes
for
gold-making
does
not
know
any
limit":
Sachau,
Alberuni's
India,
1:193.
25.
The
complementarity
of
mercurial
alchemy
and
breath
control
is
already
present
in
the
RA
(1.18)
and
other
texts
from
the
tantric
period.
It
is
the
greatly
increased
emphasis
on
the
latter
that
distinguishes
Siddha
alchemy
from
tantric
alchemy.
On
this
comparison,
see
Needham,
Science
and
Civilisation,
vol.
5,
pt.
5
(1983),
"Spagyrical
Discovery
and
Invention:
Physiological
Alchemy,"
p.
257.
26.
Sarvadarfana-sa11Jgraha
of
Saya1fa-Madhava,
ed.
with
commentary
by
dev
Shastri
Abhyankar,
Government
Oriental
Series,
Class
A,
no.
I
(Poona:
darkar
Oriental
Research
Institute,
1924;
reprint
1978),
p.
202;
English
translation
in
The
Sarva-darfana-sa11Jgraha
or
Review
of
the
Different
Systems
of
Hindu
Philosophy
by
Madhava
Acharya,
tr.
E.
B.
Cowell
and
A.
E.
Gough
(London:
Kegan
Paul,
Trench
&
Trubner,
1882;
7th
reprint
ed.
Benares:
Chaukhamba
Amarabharati,

373
Notes
to
Chapter
Three
1978),
p.
137.
Madhava
quotes
the
RHT,
RA,
RRS,
a
lost
work
entitled
dhiinta,
and
that
of
an
author
named
Sarvajfia
Ramesvara.
27.
See
Dasgupta,
Obscure,
pp.
254-55.
28.
The
Rasaratniikara
of
Nityanatha
and
the
Bhiitiprakara7fa
of
see
below,
chap.
5,
secs.
4f
and
4h.
29.
Amarakofa
LLII:
vidyadharapsaro
siddho
bhuto
'mi
(Sri
mad
Amarasimhaviracitan;z
giinufiisanam
Amarakofa,
2d
ed.,
ed.
with
Hindi
and
Sanskrit
commentaries
by
Brahmananda Tripathi,
Chaukhamba
Surbharati
Granthamala,
no.
52
[Benares:
Chaukhamba
Surbharati
Prakashan,
1982]).
The
Bhiigavata
Purii7fa
(5.24-4)
locates
the
Siddhas
and
Vidyadharas
at
the
highest
atmospheric
level,
immediately
below
the
spheres
of
the
sun
and
Rahu,
the
"descending
node"
of
the
moon.
In
the
dhist
Manjufri
Mulakalpa,
the
bodhisattva
Vajrapal).i,
the
foremost
of
the
dharas,
is
iconographically
placed
to
the
left
of
Sakyamuni:
David
Snellgrove,
dhist
Himalaya:
Travels
and
Studies
in
Quest
of
the
Origins
and
Nature
of
Tibetan
Religion
(Oxford:
Cassirer,
1957),
p.
287.
See
also
above,
chap.
I,
n.
ro.
30.
See
above,
chap.
I,
n.
13.
3
I.
Translation
in
Swami
Hariharananda
Aranya,
Yoga
Philosophy
of
Patanjali,
with
the
commentary
of
Vyasa
(Calcutta:
University
of
Calcutta,
1981),
pp.
333-34·
32.
Priyavrat
Sharma,
Indian
Medicine
in
the
Classical
Age,
Chowkhamba
Sanskrit
Studies,
vol.
85
(Benares:
Chowkhamba
Sanskrit
Series
Office,
1972),
p.
99.
As
an
Ayurvedic
category,
bhutavidyii
is
limited
mainly
to
mental
disorders
and
tions
in
childbirth,
both
of
which
arise
from
demonic
influences.
33.
The
classic
work
on
the
subject
is
Jean
Filliozat,
Etude
de
dbnonologie
dienne:
Ie
Kumiiratantra
de
Riiva7fa
et
les
textes
paralleles
indiens,
tibetains,
chinois,
bodgien
et
arabe,
Cahiers
de
la
Societe
Asiatique,
Ie
serie,
vol.
4
(Paris:
Imprimerie
Nationale,
1937).
This
work
is
an
expansion
of
an
earlier
article
by
Filliozat,
"Le
Kumaratantra
de
Raval).a;'
Journal
Asiatique
226
(1935):1-66.
The
Kumiira
Tantra
as
an
independent
work
is
certainly
pre-11th
century;
much
of
the
material
in
it
draws
on
the
Atharva
Veda,
the
epics,
and
the
Car
aka
and
Sufruta
Samhitiis.
34.
A
Sittar
alchemical
work,
the
Bogar
7000
(probably
of
late
date)
names
al).a's
son
Indrajit
as
an
alchemist:
personal
communication
from
N.
Sethu
nathan,
Madurai,
February
1985.
35.
asura-bhavanefU
rasiiyaneti:
Vyasa's
commentary
on
Yoga
Sutra
4.1
(this
verse
has
a
parallel
in
the
Buddhist
Abhidhammakofa
[7.122]).
It
has
been
argued
that
Yoga
Sutra
4.1
was
a
late
non-Patanjalian
addition
made
some
time
after
the
4th
c.
A.D.
On
this,
see
Ro§u,
"Yoga
et
alchimie;'
pp.
369,
371;
Vallee
Poussin,
"Le
Bouddhisme
et
Ie
Yoga
de
Patafijali;'
p.
241.

374
Notes
to
Chapter
Three
36.
upasampraptal,J.
kamanIyabhir
asurakanyabhir
upanItarp.
rasayanam:
Sa11,lkhya
Yogadarfana
or
Yogadarfana
of
Patanjali,
ed.
Gosvami
Damodara
Sastri
et
al.
nares:
Chaukhambha
Sanskrit
Sansthan,
1990),
p.
392.
The
ca.
A.D.
1040
king
Bhoja
of
Dhara
is
the
first
commentator
to
gloss
as
"such
elixirs
as
mercury,
etc."
(paradadi
rasayanadz):
for
a
discussion
of
these
commentaries
on
Yoga
Siitra
4.
I,
see
Ro§u,
"Yoga
et
alchimie;'
pp.
370-72.
See
also
RA
12.102-3
on
the
method
used
by
these
semidivine
and
demonic
females
to
recover
said
fluids;
and
KCM
(fo1.
6b4-7a.I)
on
alchemical
means
of
gaining
access
to
such
creatures.
37.
For
a
discussion,
see
Ro§u,
"Yoga
et
alchimie;'
pp.
376-78.
The
Bhagavata
Pura1'fa
is
dated
to
the
6th-12th
centuries
A.D.
38.
V.
R.
Madhavan,
Siddha
Medical
Manuscripts
in
Tamil
(Madras:
International
Institute
of
Tamil
Studies,
1984),
p.
27.
While
asuras
(antigods,
"Titans"),
bhiitas
(beings,
bogeymen),
and
(brahmin
ghouls;
technically,
Raval}a
was
one
of
these)
are
all
different
types
of
demons
according
to
Hindu
demonology
(see
Amarakofa
I.I.
I
I),
they
are
often
conflated
in
both
popular
and
literary
discourse.
39.
See
for
example
the
rich
epic
mythology
of
Kavya
Usanas,
the
chaplain
of
the
Asuras,
whose
sorcery
was
more
powerful
than
the
sacrificial
knowledge
of
Brhaspati,
chaplain
of
the
gods.
On
this,
as
well
as
the
semantic
field
of
the
term
kavi,
from
which
Kavya
Usanas'
name
as
well
as
terms
for
"(alchemical)
wizard"
are
generated,
see
below,
chap.
9,
sec.
5
and
chap.
ro,
sec.
5.
40.
RA
2.10-11.
41.
Hasan
Mujtaba
and
Nafisa
Shah,
"Taming
of
the
Serpent;'
Newsline
stan),
August
1992,
p.
82.
Guga
Chauhan,
also
known
by
the
names
of
Guru
Guga
(or
Goga),
Guga
PIr,
Guga
VIr,
or
ZahIr
PIr,
is
counted
by
the
Nath
Siddhas
as
one
of
their
own.
While
his
principal
shrine
is
located
in
Rajasthan,
Guga
is
also
revered
throughout
north
India,
in
Pakistan,
and
the
Deccan.
On
his
cult
and
legend,
see
Pushpa
Bhati,
Rajasthan
ke
Lok
Devta
eva11,l
Lok
Sahity
(Bikaner:
Kavita
Prakashan,
1991),
pp.
89-97;
Jacky
Assayag,
"Pouvoir
contre
'puissances':
Bref
essai
de
demonologie
hindou-musulmane;'
L'Homme
131
(July-Nov.
1994),
p.
47;
E.
C.
Lapoint,
"The
Epic
of
Guga:
A
North
Indian
Oral
Tradition;'
in
S.
Vatuk,
ed.,
American
Studies
in
the
Anthropology
of
India
(New
Delhi:
Manohar,
1978),
pp.
281-
308;
and
Stuart
H.
Blackburn,
Peter
J.
Claus,
Joyce
B.
Fluekiger,
and
Susan
ley,
eds.,
Oral
Epics
in
India
(Berkeley:
University
of
California
Press,
1989),
pp.
26-
2
7,
224-
2
7.
42.
On
the
hathayogic
symbolism
of
this
passage,
see
above,
chap.
2,
nn.
95-96;
on
a
similar
Nath
Siddha
tradition,
a
legend
involving
Jalandharanath
and
cand,
see
below,
chap.
9,
nn.
149-50.
43.
On
this
great
Serpent,
called
or
Ananta,
see
below,
chap.
7,
sec.
6;
and
chap.
8,
sec.
I.

375
Notes
to
Chapter
Three
44.
N.
Dutt,
"Notes
on
the
Nagarjunikol).9a
Inscriptions;'
Indian
Historical
Quarterly
7:3
(Sept.
1931),
p.
639;
Rahula
Sankrtyayana;'
(Recherches
Bouddhiques
II)
L'Origine
du
Vajrayana
et
les
quatre-vingt
siddhas;'
Journal
Asiatique
225:
2
(Oct.-Dec.
1934),
p.
212.
45.
aryaka
nama
Gopala-darakal?
siddhadesena
raja
Mt:cchakafika,
Act
2
(Mrcchakafika
of
Sri
Sudraka,
ed.
by
Jagdish
Chandra
Mishra
[Benares:
Chaukhamba
Surbharati,
1985],
p.
117).
For
discussions,
see
P.
Lal,
Great
Sanskrit
Plays
in
Modern
Translation
(New
York:
New
Directions,
1964),
p.
79;
kar
Pandey,
Gorakhnath
evam
unkl
Parampara
ka
Sahity
(Gorakhpur:
Gorakhpur
University,
1980),
p.
67;
and
Sankrtyayana,
"Recherches;'
p.
213.
46.
Vasavadatta,
vv.
78-79,
87
(in
Fitz-Edward
Hall,
The
Vasavadatta
of
dhu
[Calcutta:
Asiatic
Society
of
Bengal,
1859]).
47.
The
two
may
have
been
separate
toponyms,
for
mountains
in
the
same
gion.
The
Srisailam
of
the
Mahabhiirata
and
other
Hindu
sources
would
be
none
other
than
the
site
of
one
of
the
twelve
self-generated
(svayambhu)
liilgas
of
Siva
and
modern-day
Hindu
religious
center
in
the
Kurnool
district
of
Andhra
Pradesh,
while
the
Buddhist
Sriparvata
would
correspond
to
the
modern
Nagarjunikol).9a,
some
sixty
miles
to
the
east.
On
this
question,
see
Arion
Ro§u,
''A
la
recherche
d'un
tlrtha
enigmatique
du
Deccan
medieval;'
Bulletin
de
l'Ecole
Franfaise
d'Extreme
Orient
60
(1969),
p.
46.
See
below,
chap.
4,
sec.
5a.
48.
Mahabharata
3.83.16-21;
David
Lorenzen,
The
Kiipalikas
and
Kiilamukhas:
Two
Lost
Saivite
Sects
(New
Delhi:
Thomson
Press,
1972),
p.
51.
Other
early
skrit
references
to
Srisailam
are
the
Susrilta
Samhita
(4.29.27),
the
6th
c.
A.D.
Brhat
Samhita
of
Varahamihira
(16.3),
and
the
Padma
Pura1!a:
Ro§u,
''A
la
recherche;'
p.
39;
and
idem,
''Alchemy
and
Sacred
Geography,"
p.
153.
49.
"Brahmi
Inscriptions
at
Nagarjunikol).9a;'
South
Indian
Epigraphy.
Annual
Report
for
the
Year
Ending
3
ISt
March
I927
(Madras:
Archaeological
Survey
of
India,
1927),
pp.
73-74
(Brahmi
inscription
no.
214).
See
also
Etienne
Lamotte,
Histoire
du
Bouddhisme
indien,
des
origines
it
l'ere
Saka
(Louvain:
Universite
de
Louvain,
195
8
),
pp.
377>
3
82
, 5
8
3,
5
8
9.
50.
According
to
Kaviraj
(Bharatly,
vol.
I,
pp.
411-12,
citing
Vinaya
Pifaka
2.35),
the
Buddhists
of
Sriparvata
knew
of
the
rddhis
of
"transmutation"
and
stantiation:'
51.
The
Siddhathakas
were
one
of
four
Sriparvata-based
schools
to
form
the
Andhra
contingent
of
the
3d
c.
A.D.
Mahasailghika
heresy.
The
Mahasailghikas
were
branded
heretical
because
they
maintained
that
nirva1!a
was,
rather
than
the
extinction
of
suffering
as
taught
by
the
Buddha,
a
"positive
faultless
state":
Dutt,
"Notes;'
p.
650,
citing
Knthavatthu
9.2,
19.6.
52.
Ro§u,
''A
la
recherche;'
pp.
47-48;
idem.,
''Alchemy,''
p.
153.
I
cannot
say

37
6
Notes
to
Chapter
Three
whether
the
Siddhas
of
whom
Siva
is
made
the
Lord
here
were
of
the
divine
or
the
human
variety.
The
Saivas
who
apparently
eased
the
Buddhists
out
of
the
Andhra
country
included
the
Pasupata
sect
(BaI).a's
alchemist
is
called
a
"Maha-pasupata").
These
would
later
be
followed
by
the
Kapalikas
and
Vlrasaivas:
see
below,
chap.
4,
n.
16
3·
53.
Tirumular,
Tirumantiram
1463
(1490)
quoted
in
Kamil
V.
Zvelebil,
The
Poets
of
the
Powers
(London:
Rider
and
Company,
1973),
p.
27.
54·
Thiru
N.
Kardaswamy,
History
of
Siddha
Medicine
(Madras:
1979),
p.
3
II,
calls
Tirumular
the
disciple
of
Nandhi
Devar,
whom
he
says
later
incarnated
self
as
the
I2th
c.
Vlrasaiva
saint
(and
alchemist,
in
some
sources)
Allama
Prabhu
(ibid.,
p.
354).
A
certain
Nandi
is
cited
in
three
post-I2th
c.
works,
the
qiima,,!i,
the
Rasaprakiifasudhiikara,
and
the
Rasaratnasamucchaya:
see
below,
chap.
5,
nn.
16,
2II,
220.
A
certain
Nandikesvara
is
termed
an
"authority
on
alchemy"
(rasiidhikiirika)
in
a
9th
c.
work;
the
Jain
ayurvedic
writer
Ugraditya
(see
above,
n.
16)
calls
his
guru
Sri
NandI:
Sharma,Ayurved,
pp.
194-95,225,480.
Nandi
is
called
the
"god
of
alchemy"
in
Kiivyamfmiimsa
6:
idem,
Indian
Medicine
in
the
Classical
Age,
P·4
2
Ł
55.
Eighteen
independent
lists
of
the
eighteen
Sittars
are
culled
from
scripts
by
V.
R.
Madhavan
in
his
Siddha
Medical
Manuscripts
in
Tamil,
pp.
20-26.
56.
Zvelebil,
Poets
of
the
Powers,
p.
36
and
n.
44;
and
Renou
and
Filliozat,
L'Inde
classique,
vol.
2,
p.
163.
Sittar
medical
works
are
older.
57.
Moti
Chandra,
Siirthaviih
(Patna:
Bihar
Rashtrabhasha
Parishad,
1953),
p.
188,
quoted
in
Sharma,
Ayurved,
p.
480
n.
I.
58.
There,
at
the
Dhandhayuthapani
shrine,
associated
with
Bogar,
worshippers
obtain
a
sacred
ash
which
has
curative
powers:
A.
Shanmuga
Velan,
Siddhar's
Science
of
Longevity
and
Kalpa
Medicine
of
India
(Madras:
Sakthi
Nilayam,
1963),
p.
49.
gar
is
also
said
to
have
created
the
famous
image
of
Murugan
at
his
Hill
Temple
at
Palani
from
an
alloy
of
nine
poisonous
metalloids:
Manuel
Moreno,
"Paiiciimirtam:
God's
Washings
as
Food:'
in
The
Eternal
Food
ed.
Ravindra
Khare
(Albany:
SUNY
Press,
1992),
p.
159.
59.
On
Konganar,
see
below,
chap.
4,
sec.
2.
60.
Bogar's
principal
work,
the
Sattakiintam,
which
is
certainly
much
later
than
the
dates
of
the
Bogar
of
legend,
has
him
travel
to
Rome,
Jerusalem,
and
Mecca
as
well:
Filliozat
("Taolsme
et
yoga:'
p.
78
[citing
Paramananda
Mariadassou,
Medecine
traditionelle
de
l'Inde,
4
vols.
(Pondicherry:
Sainte
Anne,
1934-38),
vol.
3,
p.
6
n.
2])
and
P.
C.
Bagchi
("Compte-rendu
de
Benoytosh
Bhattacharyya,
edition
de
la
Siidhanamiilii,"
Indian
Historical
Quarterly
6
[1930],
pp.
584-87)
consider
Bogar
to
have
been
a
south
Indian
who
went
to
China;
Needham
(Science
and
Civilisation,

377
Notes
to
Chapter
Three
vol.
5,
pt.
5
[1983],
p.
285)
and
Shanmuga
Velan
(Siddhar
Science,
p.
18)
see
him
as
a
Chinese
(Taoist)
philosopher
who
came
to
south
India
to
study
medicine.
6
I.
Maritime
trade
between
China
and
ports
on
India's
west
coast
(Muzuris
and
Broach)
was
under
way
by
the
end
of
the
4th
c.
A.D.:
Needham,
Science
and
tion,
vol.
I
(1954),
pp.
17
1
,
174,
178-79;
vol.
5,
pt.
4
(1980),
pp.
354,4°6-7;
and
vol.
5,
pt.
5
(1983),
p.
282.
62.
Indeed,
the
very
term
"alchemy"
is
likely
derived
from
the
Chinese
root
kimlchim
("aurifaction")
or
the
term
chin
i
("potable
gold"):
Needham,
Science
and
Civilisation,
vol.
5,
pt.
4
(1980),
pp.
351-53,
355.
For
a
history
of
Taoist
alchemy
in
this
period,
ibid.,
pp.
213-59;
320-31.
63.
It
should
be
noted
that
mercury
naturally
occurs,
in
traces,
in
areas
of
thermic
activity,
where
(often
sulfurous)
hot
springs
throw
up
small
quantities
of
cinnabar
from
deep
in
the
earth:
Shorter
Oxford
Economic
Atlas
of
the
World,
2d
ed.
(London:
Oxford
University
Press,
1959),
p.
88.
Such
traces
may
have
sufficed,
prior
to
the
importing
of
foreign
mercury,
for
the
fledgling
alchemists
of
the
Indian
subcontinent.
See
below,
chap.
7,
sec.
3,
for
the
symbolic
importance
of
this
thermal
and
geological
phenomenon.
64.
Filliozat,
"Taolsme
et
yoga;'
p.
46,
citing
I
-Ching,
Ta
Tang
Hsi-yu
chiu
fa
kao
seng
chuan,
ed.
and
tr.
Edouard
Chavannes,
Memoire
compose
de
la
grande
dynastie
Tang
sur
les
religieux
eminents
qui
allerent
chercher
la
Loi
dans
les
pays
d'Occident
(Paris:
Ernest
Leroux,
1894),
pp.
23-24;
and
Arthur
Waley,
"Notes
on
Chinese
Alchemy,"
Bulletin
of
the
School
of
Oriental
Studies
6:1
(1930),
pp.
22-24.
65.
Needham,
Science
and
Civilisation,
vol.
I
(1954),
p.
212;
ibid.,
vol.
5,
pt.
3
(1976),
p.
160.
The
case
of
Narayal).asvamin
is
found
in
the
A.D.
863
Yu-yang
Tsa
Tsu
ofTuan
Cheng-Shih:
ibid.,
vol.
5,
pt.
4,
p.
197·
66.
Bhattacharyya,
History,
p.
99;
Prabodh
Chandra
Bagchi,
"On
Foreign
ment
in
the
Tantra;'
Studies
in
the
Tantras
(Calcutta:
University
of
Calcutta,
1975),
PP·4
8
-49·
67.
Su
yu
ki:
Buddhist
Records
of
the
Western
World,
Translated
from
the
Chinese
of
Hiuen
Tsiang
(A.D.
629)
by
Samuel
Beal,
2
vols.
(London:
Trubner
&
Co.,
1884;
reprint
ed.
Delhi:
Munshiram
Manoharlal,
1969),2:212-16.
For
a
discussion,
see
Thomas
Watters,
On
Yuan
Chwang's
Travels
in
India,
629-645
A.D.,
2
vols.
(London:
Royal
Asiatic
Society,
1904-05),
2
:200-8.
On
Hsuan-tsang's
role
in
the
translation
of
the
Tao
te
ching,
see
Filliozat,
"Taolsme
et
yoga;'
p.
41.
68.
also
describes
a
prince
who,
"mad
for
the
elixir
of
life;'
is
ing
from
the
medicines
given
him
to
counter
the
disease
of
royal
consumption
(riijayaks:ma);
and
a
young
physician
named
Rasayana
who,
although
he
had
tered
Ayurveda
in
its
entirety,
takes
his
own
life
when
he
is
unable
to
heal
an
ailing

37
8
Notes
to
Chapter
Three
king:
Harfacaritra
6.224
and
5.I78
(The
Harfacarita
of
BaTJabharra
with
Exhaustive
Notes
[Ucchvasas
I-VIII),
ed.
Pandurang
Vamana
Kane
[Bombay:
n.p.,
I9I8;
reprint
Delhi:
Motilal
Banarsidass,
I973]).
69.
I-Ching,
A
Record
of
the
Buddhist
Religion
as
Practiced
in
India
and
the
Malay
Archipelago
(A.D.
67I-695),
tr.]'
Takakusu
(London:
Clarendon
Press,
I896;
reprint
ed.
Delhi:
Munshiram
Manoharlal,
I966),
pp.
I34-35.
70.
The
two
pilgrims
were
named
Hui-seng
and
Sung
yiin.
The
date
was
A.D.
520:
Needham,
Science
and
Civilisation,
vol.
I
(I954),
pp.
207,
209;
and
vol.
5,
pt.
4
(I9
80
),
p.
354·
71.
China
also
imported
Indian
medicine
at
the
same
time
as
it
did
Buddhism:
a
text
entitled
Buddha-vaidyaraja-fastra
was
translated
into
Chinese
in
A.D.
230:
Needham,
Science
and
Civilisation,
vol.
5,
part
4
(I980),
p.
336.
Manuscript
ments
on
Hindu
sorcery
of
the
variety,
dating
from
the
Tang
period
(A.D.
6I8-906)
and
found
in
Kucha,
in
Chinese
Turkestan,
indicate
that
the
nese
were
interested
in
this
Indian
tradition
as
well:
Filliozat,
"Taolsme
et
yoga:'
p.
76.
On
the
Kakfapu!a
Tantra,
a I3
th
c.
Hindu
work
attributed
to
Siddha
Nagarjuna,
see
below,
chap.
5,
sec.
5j
and
nn.
60-61.
72.
In
the
5th
c.
A.D.
Mahiiyanasiltrala"!1kara
Sastra,
for
example:
Needham,
Science
and
Civilisation,
vol.
2
(I956),
p.
428;
and
vol.
5,
pt.
5
(I983),
pp.
270,
274-75·
73.
For
a
full
discussion
of
these
practices
and
their
Taoist
symbolism,
see
below,
chap.
7,
nn.
87,
92-I01.
Cf.
Needham,
Science
and
Civilisation,
vol.
2
(I956),
pp.
I48-50,
and
vol.
5,
pt.
5,
pp.
269-75.
The
Ayurvedic
rejuvenation
(rasayana)
nique
of
kU!i-pravefa,
"entering
the
hut:'
has
a
close
Taoist
parallel.
See
above,
chap.
2,
n.
48;
below,
chap.
IO,
nn.
I03-5;
and
David
Gordon
White,
Myths
of
the
Dog-Man
(Chicago:
University
of
Chicago
Press,
I99I),
pp.
I63, I76.
74.
Needham,
Science
and
Civilisation,
vol.
2
(I956),
pp.
425,
427;
vol.
5,
pt.
5
(I983),
p.
28
3.
75.
Indeed,
the
Persian
traders
who
did
much
of
the
actual
transporting
of
goods
along
the
Silk
Road,
especially
between
the
5th
c.
and
Ioth
c.,
were
popularly
regarded
as
alchemists
in
the
Chinese
capital
of
Chang-an,
due
to
the
magical
ders
and
precious
stones
in
which
they
traded:
Needham,
Science
and
Civilisation,
vol.
2
(I956),
p.
I87.
76.
Sharma,
Ayurved,
pp.
I79,
470,
473.
Nagarjuna's
connection
with
Tara
may
derive
from
the
fact
that
she
was
identified,
at
some
level,
with
Prajiiaparamita,
the
deified
"Perfection
of
Wisdom:'
the
eponymous
siltra
of
whichhe
wrote
the
itive
commentary:
Tara-Tantram
with
an
introduction
by
A.
K.
Maitra
(reprint
ed.
Delhi:
Bani
Prakashan,
I983),
p.
I9.
For
a
general
discussion,
see
Bharati,
Tantric
Tradition,
pp.
58-84.

379
Notes
to
Chapter
Three
77.
For
Tara,
see
p.
172
of
Hall's
edition
of
the
Viisavadattii,
cited
in
Beyer,
Cult
ofTiirii,
p.
7;
piirada
[-piTf4a}
is
mentioned
in
verse
181.
78.
Cited
in
Sharma,
Ayurved,
pp.
178-79,470.
Varahamihira's
Samhitii,
a
northwestern
text,
is
the
source
of
Vagbhana's
early
reference
to
mercury.
See
above,
n.
9.
79.
Two
images
of
"To-Io"
(Tara)
are
reported
by
Hsuan-tsang
in
the
early
7th
c.:
Beal,
tr.,
Buddhist
Records,
vol.
2,
pp.
103,
174.
Patna
had
overland
trade
links
with
Kathmandu
(Alastair
Lamb,
British
India
and
Tibet,
1766-1910,
2d
ed.
don:
Routledge
and
Kegan
Paul,
1986],
pp.
3-4,
also
a
locus
of
lara
worship
in
the
early
7th
c.
(Beyer,
larii,
p.
5),
and
with
and
Khotan,
the
great
hubs
of
the
Silk
Road
in
the
northwest.
80.
The
king
of
Kafici
erected
a
temple
to
the
"Chinese
goddess"
in
about
A.D.
720:
Needham,
Science
and
Civilisation,
vol.
5,
pt.
5
(1983),
p.
286.
Kaiici,
the
ern
Conjeevaram,
located
forty-three
miles
south
of
Madras,
was
the
capital
of
the
Cola
empire.
Buddhism
flowered
there
briefly,
in
the
period
under
study
here:
Lamotte,
Histoire,
p.
383.
8
I.
KalyiiTf
Sakti
Ailk
(Gorakhpur:
Gita
Press,
1934),
p.
227.
This
was,
moreover,
a
period
in
which
a
great
number
of
royal
ambassadors
were
sent
by
sea
from
south
India
to
China:
one
was
sent
from
Kaiici,
in
720
A.D.:
Needham,
Science
and
lisation,
vol.
5,
part
5
(1983),
p.
286.
82.
Ernst
Obermiller,
History
of
Buddhism
(Chos-hbyung)
by
Bu-ston,
2
vols.
delberg:
Harrassowitz,
1931-32;
reprint
Delhi:
Sri
Satguru
Publications,
1986),
vol.
2,
p.
122;
Misra,
Ayurvedfya,
p.
8;
Dutt,
"Notes;'
p.
637,
citing
Pag
Sam
Jon
Zang
by
Sumpa
Khan-po
Yese
Pal
Jor,
2
vols.,
ed.
Sarat
Chandra
Das
(Calcutta:
dency
Jail
Press,
1908),
vol.
I,
pp.
85-86.
83.
Lucette
Boulnois,
Poudre
d'or
et
monnaies
d'argent
au
Tibet
(Paris:
Editions
du
C.N.R.S.,
1983),
p.
124.
84.
Needham,
Science
and
Civilisation,
vol.
2
(1956),
p.
132.
Cinnabar
also
occurs
naturally
on
islands
in
the
Bay
of
Bengal,
perhaps
the
Andamans,
according
to
the
Suleiman
Saudagar,
a
9th
c.
travel
account
cited
in
Fitz-Edward
Hall,
Bibliography
(p.
363)
summarized
in
the
commentary
to
the
RRS
[Srfviigbha!iiciiryaviracital?
saratnasamucchaya,
ed.
with
Hindi
commentary
by
Dharmananda
Sharma
(Delhi:
Motilal
Banarsidass,
1962)]
p.
208).
85.
F.
E.
Treloar,
"The
Use
of
Mercury
in
Metal
Ritual
Objects
as
a
Symbol
of
Siva;'
Artibus
Asiae
34
(1972),
p.
239.
86.
Sharma,
commentary
to
RRS,
pp.
186,208-9;
Sharma
Ayurved,
p.
477;
and
George
Watt,
Dictionary
of
the
Economic
Products
of
India,
6
vols.
(Calcutta:
tendent
of
Government
Printing,
1889-96),
2d
reprint,
in
10
vols.
(Delhi:
cal
Exports,
1972),
vol.
5,
p.
232.

3
80
Notes
to
Chapter
Three
87.
Needham,
Science
and
Civilisation,
vol.
5,
pt.
5
(1983),
pp.
280-86.
88.
There
was
in
fact
an
ancient
overland
trade
route
which
linked
Szechuan
with
India,
via
Yunnan,
Burma,
and
Assam,
and
a
highly
syncretistic
alchemical
tradition
arose
in
Burma
in
about
the
5th
c.:
Needham,
Science
and
Civilisation,
vol.
2
(1956),
p.
174;
vol.
5,
pt.
3,
p.
166.
89.
Sadhanamala,
ed.
Bhattacarya,
vol.
I,
pp.
193-94;
vol.
2,
pp.
265-66.
Both
of
these
passages
are
followed
by
the
colophon:
"extracted
from
the
land
of
the
Bhoras
[Tibet]
by
the
Arya-nagarjuna-padas?'
Cf.
ibid.,
vol.
2,
pp.
xlv-xlvi,
for
a
cussion.
90.
While
the
Dragon
Kaju
was
not
founded
until
the
early
I
zth
c.,
the
ingma
sect
to
which
the
"ancient"
divinity
Quicksilver
belongs
dates
from
the
gins
of
Tibetan
Buddhism
itself:
Beyer,
Tara,
pp.
42-43,54;
Michael
Lee
Walter,
The
Role
of
Alchemy
and
Medicine
in
Indo-Tibetan
Tantrism
(Ph.D.
thesis,
Indiana
University,
1980),
pp.
44,
58-60,
90,
215,
216.
For
a
brief
survey
of
the
Nyingma
alchemical
systems
attributed
to
the
8th
c.
founders
of
Tibetan
Buddhism,
lamitra
and
Padmasambhava
(but
which
in
fact
date
from
the
12-13th
centuries),
see
ibid.,
pp.
28-29,
182,
and idem,
"Preliminary
Results
from
a
Study
of
Two
Rasayana
Systems
in
Indo-Tibetan
Esoterism;'
in
Tibetan
Studies
in
Honor
of
Hugh
Richardson,
ed.
Michael
Aris
and
Aung
San
Sun
Kyi
(Warminster,
Eng.:
Aris
and
Phillips,
1979),
pp.
319-
2
4.
91.
Sharma,
Ayurved,
p.
470.
Tara
was
introduced
into
Tibet
by
the
Nepalese
princess
Tr'itstin,
the
daughter
of
Arp.suvarman
and
wife
of
the
first
great
Tibetan
king
Songtsen
gampo
(A.D.
6
17-50),
who
brought
a
sandalwood
image
of
the
dess
to
her
husband's
palace
when
she
married
him:
Beyer,
Tara,
p.
5.
92.
The
Tibetan
Buddhists
nevertheless
had
and
continue
to
have
their
own
alchemical
tradition.
In
addition
to
the
alchemical
traditions
of
the
Nyingma
schools,
the
early
11th
c.
Kiilacakra
Tantra
contains
alchemical
data.
See
below,
nn.I22-
2
7·
93.
Sharma,
Indian
Medicine,
pp.
38-42;
Sharma's
commentary
to
the
RRS,
p.
207;
Needham,
Science
and
Civilisation,
vol.
5,
part
5
(1983),
pp.
187,
217;
D.
C.
Sircar,
Cosmography
and
Geography
in
Early
Indian
Literature
(Calcutta:
Indian
ies:
Past
and
Present,
1967),
pp.
74,
89,
106, 108,
128;
Andre
Wink,
AI-hind:
The
Making
of
the
Indo-Islamic
World,
vol.
I:
Early
Medieval
India
and
the
Expansion
of
Islam,
Seventh
to
Eleventh
Centuries
(Delhi:
Oxford
University
Press,
1990),
p.
232;
and
Watt,
Dictionary,
pp.
232-33.
On
mentions
of
the
countries
of
dda
and
Hingula-desa
in
the
age
of
PaI).ini,
see
Sharma's
commentary
to
RRS
1.68-75
(p.
12).
Kaurilya,
who
hailed
from
present-day
Pakistan,
knew
of
hingula:
Arthafastra
2.13.23.

3
81
Notes
to
Chapter
Three
94.
Sharma,
commentary
to
RRS,
p.
199;
Watt,
Dictionary,
5:233.
See
also
Ching-lang
Hou,
Monnaies
d'offrande
et
la
notion
de
Tresorerie
dans
la
religion
chinoise
(Paris:
Memoires
de
l'Institut
des
Hautes
Etudes
Chinoises,
1975),
p.
124.
The
richest
modern-day
deposits
in
the
entire
region
are
found
in
Khaydarkan
(Shorter
Oxford
Economic
Atlas,
p.
88),
in
the
central
Asian
republic
of
Kyrgyzstan,
which
would
correspond
to
the
mercury-rich
region
of
Farghana
mentioned
in
the
Hudud
al-
'Alam
25'45-49
(Hudud
al-
'Alam,
"The
Regions
of
the
World":
A
Persian
raphy
372
A.H.-982
A.H.,
tr.
and
explained
by
V
Minorsky
[1937;
reprint
ed.
chi:
Indus
Publications,
1980],
p.
II
6).
95.
Giuseppe
Tucci,
''Animadversiones
Indicae;'
Journal
of
the
Royal
Asiatic
ety
of
Bengal
n.s.
26
(1930),
p.
147.
96.
The
Tibetan
Tanjur
contains
fifty-nine
works
by
"Nagarjuna"
on
Buddhist
Tantra
(listed
in
Bhattacharya,
Siidhanamiilii,
vol.
2,
pp.
cvi-cviii);
Palmyr
Cordier
lists
twelve
magico-medical
and
nonmedical
works,
in
Sanskrit
and
Tibetan,
thored
by
Nagarjuna
(Niigiirjuna
et
l'Uttaratantra
de
la
Surrutasamhitii
narivo:
private
printing,
1896],
pp.
2-3).
To
these
may
be
added
the
works
of
the
Madhyamika
philosopher
Nagarjuna,
as
well
as
numerous
other
works
attributed
to
"Nagarjuna"
by
other
authors.
97.
or
Bhadant
Nagarjuna,
the
Keralan
author
of
a
cal
work
entitled
Sutra
(Renou
and
Filliozat,
l'Inde
classique,
vol.
2,
p.
168).
98.
SrI
Nagarjuna
Muni,
who,
according
to
the
ca.
nth
c.
(16.10),
discovered
a
method
for
whitening
copper
without
sulfur.
99.
Albert
Griinwedel,
"Die
Geschichten
der
vierundachtzig
Zauberer
siddhas)
aus
dem
tibetischen
ubersetzt;'
Baessler-Archiv
5
(1916),
pp.
137-228,
cited
in
Toni
Schmidt,
"Fu.nfundachtzig
Mahasiddhas;'
Ethnos
2-3
(1955),
p.
120.
100.
Max
Walleser,
"The
Life
of
Nagarjuna
from
Tibetian
and
Chinese
Sources;'
in
Bruno
Schindler,
ed.,
Asia
Major,
Hirth
Anniversary
Volume
(London:
19
2
3),
p.
4
2
4.
101.
Buddhist
legend
knows
of
two
Nagarjunas
who
would
have
preceded
the
historical
figure
I
am
now
discussing.
One
is
Menander's
ca.
140
B.C.
interlocutor
in
the
Milinda
Panha,
the
"Questions
of
King
Milinda";
the
other
is
a
bodhisattva
who
incarnated
himself
as
the
king
of
Kashmir
in
about
the
same
period,
according
to
the
12
th
c.
Riijatara1?1gi1,li
of
Kalhal).a
(I.I
73,
177)'
102.
According
to
the
5th
c.
Chinese
pilgrim
to
India
Fa-hsien,
Nagarjuna
also
received
the
Avatamsaka
(or
Paramiirtha)
Sutras
from
the
Nagas.
On
the
Chinese
traditions,
beginning
with
KumarajIva's
5th
c.
biography
of
Nagarjuna,
see
K.
kata
Ramanan,
Niigiirjuna's
Philosophy:
As
Presented
in
the
Mahii-Prajiiiiparamitii-

Three
Siistra
(Delhi:
Motilal
Banarsidass,
1975),
p.
27;
and
Cordier,
Niigii7juna
et
ta11tra,
p.
2.
The
term
mahii1Ziiga
has
an
esotericmeaning:
Tucci,
"Animadversiones
Indicae,"
p.
140.
103.
The
source
of
the
Tibetan
legend
is
the
A.D.
1322
Chos
hbyung
(History
of
Bu-ston:
Obcl
vol.
2,
p.
124.
The
Chos
the
legend
of
the
ilixir
'<
agarjuna
from
thi
aja
iautamaputra
"Epistle
to
lnind"
(Suhr:llehika)
was
written
to
this
figure:
Venkata
Ramanan,
Niigiiljunas
Philosophy,
pp.
27-28.
Cf.
Krishna
Gairola,
"Les
conditions
sociales
et
religieuses
it
l'epoque
de
Satavahana
dans
l'Inde
(Ie
siecle
avo
J
.-C.-lIe
siecle
ap.
J
.-c.);'
Journal
Asiatique
243
(1955),
pp.
281-95·
p.
162.
Har:a,aroita
8.283-84.
Banabhatta
also
states
in
two
places
(Harsacarita
15
393)
that
the
trik
1
the
Vindhya
mount
heir
Hercury
(piirada):
Science
and
,onlion:
Historical
Wedicine,
p.
2
17.
5,
pt.
3
(197
6
),
innabar
Elixirs
to
107.
But
Fa-hsien
merely
reports
an
account
he
heard
secondhand
of
the
maragiri
monastery,
which
he
never
himself
saw:
Watters,
On
Yuan-Chwangs
els,
2:208.
Cf.
Gairola,
"Conditions
sociales,"
pp.
289-90.
From
the
2d
through
6th
centuries,
the
Andhra
Vaitulyakas
popularized
the
cult
of
Prajiiaparamita-
,0i
o
ii1ciated
with
the
222.
meeting
occurred
Watters,
On
YzL,ii"
warjuna-in
this
iildled
Narasiritha,
all
!»vels,
vol.
I,
pp.
the
ooole
extant
manUSii'
irk
is
its
Chinese
Ta
chih
TIl
Lun,
completed
by
Kumarajlva
in
A.D.
406.
See
Etienne
Lamotte,
ed.
and
tr.,
'Fraite
de
la
grande
vertu
de
sagesse
de
Niigiiljuna
(lvlahiiprajiiiiparamitii
fiistl°a),
4
vols.
(Louvain:
Institut
Orientaliste,
1949-76),
vol.
I,
pp.
382-83;
and
Needham,
Science
and
Civilisation,
vol.
5,
pt.
3
(1976),
pp.
161,
164.
1100
lWahiiyiina
Sarl!graha
EM'Tao
22
1-220
The
Abhidhar7na
lWahiivibhiisa
re-
of
gold
making
b
v
Candragupta
nmllS-
"
i.e.,
Kaurilya,
,1.
5,
pt.
3
(197
6
),
t
'icharya,
Siidhanafjio.!o
xliii-xlvi.
On
HUr-
ported
BuddhIst
seat
of
alchemicallearnmg,
see
below,
chap.
4,
n.
120.
ThIS
Nagar-

3
8
3
Notes
to
Chapter
Three
juna
may
also
have
been
the
eye
doctor
mentioned
in
Chinese
sources
as
early
as
the
8th
c.,
and
reported
by
Vrnda
to
have
inscribed
the
instructions
for
an
eye
medicine
on
a
pillar
at
the
Buddhist
center
(Patna):
see
below,
n.
146.
I
12.
Indeed,
Alex
Wayman
refers
to
the
tantric
commentarial
tradition
(on
the
Guhyasamiijatantra),
founded
by
Nagarjuna,
who
authored
the
Pi1ft!ikrta-siidhana,
the
Paiicakrama,
and
the
A¥.iidafa-pafala-vistara-vyiikhyii,
as
the
"Arya
School."
He
dates
this
tantric
Nagarjuna,
the
guru
of
Aryadeva,
to
the
latter
half
of
the
8th
c.:
Alex
Wayman,
Yoga
of
the
Guhyasamiijatantra:
Arcane
Lore
of
the
Forty
Verses
(New
York:
Samuel
Weiser,
1980),
pp.
84,
91,
96.
113.
Bhattacharya,
Siidhanamiilii,
vol.
2,
p.
xiv;
Dutt,
"Notes;'
p.
638.
114.
Tucci,
''Animadversiones
Indicae;'
p.
145.
I
15.
This
vague
reference
may
have
been
inserted
to
square
with
another
tion
which
held
that
Nagarjuna
was
first
initiated
into
the
tantric
or
"diamond"
path
(vajrayiina)
by
the
bodhisattva
Vajrasattva,
at
a
place
called
the
Iron
Tower
in
south
India:
Dasgupta,
Obscure,
p.
17.
116.
The
earliest
such
prophecy
is
found
in
the
Sanskrit
Mahiimegha
StUra,
which
was
first
translated
into
the
Chinese
between
A.D.
414 and
42
I
(a
relatively
early
Tibetan
translation
of
this
passage,
much
less
confused
than
those
which
low,
is
found
in
the
Kanjur
[8.2]).
An
expanded
version
is
found
in
the
Laizkiivatiira
Stltra
appendix
known
as
the
"Sagathakam;'
which
first
appears
in
Chinese
tion
in
A.D.
5
I
3.
The
final
chapter
of
the
Maiijufrimulakalpa,
which
is
styled
after
the
Sagathakam
prophecy,
is
datable
to
about
the
11th
c.
A.D.
This
is
followed
by
the
Tibetan
prophecies
found
in
Bu-ston's
Chos
hbyung
(1322)
and
Taranatha's
Dam-pa'i-chos-rin-po-che
(1608).
This
last
source
further
conflates
all
that
had
preceded
it
with
both
a
Sanskrit
work
entitled
the
Mahiisiddha-vrttiinta
and
the
Grub
thob.
On
these
sources,
see
especially
Tucci,
''Animadversiones
Indicae;'
pp.
138-48;
Dutt,
"Notes;'
pp.
636,
639;
Ariane
MacDonald,
Le
ma1ft!ala
du
mulakalpa
(Paris:
Maisonneuve,
1962),
pp.
2-3,
20;
Watters,
On
Yuan-Chwang's
Travels,
vol.
2,
pp.
200-4;
Obermuller,
History,
vol.
2,
pp.
110,
120-28;
and
tha's
History
of
Buddhism
in
India,
ed.
Debiprasad
Chattopadhyaya,
tr.
Lama
Chimpa
Alaka
Chattopadhyaya
(Simla:
Indian
Institute
of
Advanced
Study,
1970),
pp.
102-10.
117.
Caryiipada
22,
cited
in
Dasgupta,
Obscure,
p.
39.
On
these
songs,
see
below,
chap.
4,
sec.
I.
I
18.
For
a
list
of
these
works,
see
Bhattacharya,
ed.,
Siidhanamiilii,
vol.
2,
p.
cvi.
On
the
dating
of
the
translation
of
medical
and
magical
works
into
Tibetan
and
their
incorporation
into
the
Tanjur,
see
Palmyr
Cordier,
Viigbhafa
et
asarithitii
(Besanc;on:
private
printing,
1896),
p.
I
I.
One
of
the
works
ofNagarjuna

3
8
4
Notes
to
Chapter
Three
found
in
the
Tanjur
(Derge
1609;
Peking
2480)
is
entitled
this
work,
however,
is
distinct
from
a
ca.
13th
c.
Hindu
work
by
the
same
title,
which
does
in
fact
contain
some
alchemical
data.
See
below,
chap.
5,
secs.
5h
and
5j.
II9.
Chattopadhyaya,
Tiiraniitha's
History,
pp.
I06,
IIO,
243;
Dasgupta,
duction,
p.
54.
120.
On
this,
see
David
Seyfort
Ruegg,
"Sur
les
rapports
entre
Ie
Bouddhisme
et
Ie
'substrat
religieux'
indien
et
tibetain;'
Journal
Asiatique
252
(1964),
pp.
82-88.
Apart
from
the
religious
syncretism
and
tolerance
of
the
Chandela
kings
of
Khajuraho,
as
well
as
the
Vijayanagara
kings,
is
well
documented:
for
references,
see
Ro§u,
''A
la
recherche;'
p.
48.
121.
James
B.
Robinson,
Buddha's
Lions:
The
Lives
of
the
Eighty-Four
Siddhas
(Berkeley:
Dharma
Publishing,
1979),
pp.
88-89,
206,
256-57.
Vya9i's
siistra
(Derge
4313)
and
Dhiituviidasiistra
are
found
together
with
the
siiyana
in
the
Ayurveda
section
of
the
Tanjur;
a
work
entitled
Dhiituviida
is
included
in
the
Tantra
section:
Edward
Todd
Fenner,
Rasiiyan
Siddhi:
Medicine
and
Alchemy
in
Buddhist
Tantras
(Ph.D.
thesis,
University
of
Wisconsin,
1979),
p.
23;
and
Misra,
Ayurvediya,
p.
21.
122.
The
Kiilacakra
Tantra
was
composed
in
north
India
by
a
native
of
Java
in
the
late
IOth
to
early
I
Ith
c.,
after
which
it
was
carried
to
Tibet.
Internal
evidence
indicates
that
the
Vimalaprabhii
commentary
was
composed
by
the
same
person
or
people
as
compiled
the
Kiilacakra
Tantra,
in
either
1012
or
1027:
John
Newman,
''A
Brief
History
of
the
Kalacakra;'
in
The
Wheel
of
Time:
The
Kiilacakra
in
Context
(Madison,
Wis.:
Deer
Park
Books,
1985),
n.
13
to
p.
85,
and
personal
tion,
Charlottesville,
Virginia,
February
1995.
The
only
other
alchemical
system
that
we
may
qualify
as
Buddhist
is
the
Burmese
zawgyi
or
weikza
system,
but
this,
although
practiced
by
Buddhist
monks,
has
a
decidedly
Taoist
stamp
to
it:
see
above,
chap.
I,
n.
6;
and
above,
ll.
I
to
the
present
chap.
123.
Vimalaprabhii
5.23°,
and
Fenner,
Rasiiyan
Siddhi,
pp.
80,
183-84.
Mundane
mercurial
alchemy,
whose
goals
are
gold
making
and
the
accumulation
of
power,
remains
acceptable
to
the
Tibetans,
but
because
the
practitioner
is
dependent
upon
external
elements
rather
than
his
own
contemplative
procedure,
it
is
deemed
a
lower
form
of
practice:
Beyer,
Tiirii,
p.
261.
In
chap.
nine
of
his
14th
c.
Rasasiira
the
Hindu
alchemist
Govindacarya
speaks
of
his
indebtednessto
the
Tibetan
dhists,
who
he
says
taught
him
the
art
of
or
rangadruti:
Jan
G.
lenbeld,
History
of
Indian
Medical
Literature
(Leiden:
Brill,
1996)
[draft
of
IO
May
1994],
p.
879·
124.
Compare
the
Vimalaprabhii
(5.206)
aphorism
on
the
powers
of
bound
and
killed
mercury
to
that
of
RA
1.19;
Vimalaprabhii
5.2°4
on
testing
mercury
on
als
before
consuming
it
to
the
classic
RA
(17.265)
statement;
the
Vimalaprabhii

3
8
5
Notes
to
Chapter
Three
(5.213-15)
description
of
an
alchemical
mandala
to
that
of
the
RA
(2.49-82);
and
the
Vimalaprabhii
(S.202b)
on
a
corrosive
mineral
water
called
kartariwith
a
sion
of
the
same
in
RA
12.20Sb-206.
The
Vimalaprabha
(2.108-1
II)
discussion
of
the
dynamics
of
praTfayama
closely
resembles
early
Hindu
yoga.
Cf.
Fenner,
Rasayan
Siddhi,
p.
77.
If
anything,
the
Vimalaprabha
data
is
slightly
more
archaic
than
that
of
the
RA:
it
lists
only
seven
maharasas
and
six
uparasas
in
tion
to
the
two
eightfold
categories
of
the
latter
Hindu
work.
125.
Walter,
Role
of
Alchemy,
p.
28.
Another
14th
c.
Tibetan
work,
brought
to
my
attention
by
David
Germano,
is
the
Tshig
Don
mDzod
(Precious
words
and
meanings)
of
kLong
Chen
Rab
'Byams
Pa
(1308-63)'
This
work,
citing
the
Thai
'Gyur
(Direct
consequence),
discusses
bcud
len
in
terms
similar
to
those
found
in
Bo
dong-i.e.,
in
the
form
of
both
"inner"
and
"outer"
alchemy-in
b.2.i.a.2.i,
"The
meditative
session
which
eliminates
attachment
to
food;'
126.
Bo
dong's
discussion
of
"outer"
and
"inner"
alchemy
is
found
in
his
14th
c.
bCud
len
gyi
man
ngag
bshad
pa
in
Encyclopedia
Tibetica:
The
Collected
Works
of
Bo
don
PaTf-chen
phyogs-las-ram-rgyal
ed.
S.
T.
Kazi
(New
Delhi:
Tibet
House,
1970),
vol.
2,
pp.
507-601.
Yet
another
variety
of
rasayana
is
a
Tibetan
Buddhist
practice
known
by
the
Mongolian
name
of
tuiurgnikji,
which
involves
the
preparation
of
holy
water:
J.
Deniker,
introduction
to
Gods
of
Northern
Buddhism,
by
Alice
Getty,
p.
xi,
cited
in
Dasgupta,
Obscure,
p.
39.
12
7.
See
also
Robert
Thurman,
tr.,
The
Tibetan
Book
of
the
Dead:
Liberation
through
Understanding
in
the
Between
(New
York:
Bantam
Books,
1994),
p.
146,
on
the
eighty-four
Mahasiddhas
as
persons
who
transmuted
"demon
blood
and
other
bodily
substances"
into
the
elixir
of
immortality.
Certain
elements
of
"outer
chemy"
have
persisted
in
Tibet,
down
to
the
present
day.
In
a
discussion
of
the
extraction
of
the
essence
(chu
len:
i.e.,
bcud
len),
the
present-day
Tibetan
Buddhist
teacher
Nankhai
Norbu
indicates
that
a
specially
prepared
mercury
pill
is
the
"medicine"
to
be
used
for
overcoming
hunger
in
the
"Dharmakaya-style"
chu-len
of
Dzog-chen
practice:
The
Teachings
ofNamkhai
Norbu,
I982
(typescript),
pp.
89,
93.
I
am
grateful
to
David
Germano
for
sharing
this
source
with
me.
128.
Light
metaphysics
is
absolutely
essential
to
the
early
Buddhist
system
of
the
Guhyasamaja
Tantra.
On
this,
see
Wayman,
Yoga,
pp.
77-83
and
throughout.
Cf.
Walter,
Role
of
Alchemy,
pp.
28-29,
who
notes
the
parallels
between
Nying-ma
and
Nath
Siddha practice.
129.
This
is
the
case
only
in
the
very
important
and
influential
philosophical
summa
of
Abhinavagupta:
on
this
see
Alexis
Sanderson,
"Meaning
in
Tantric
ual;'
in
Anne-Marie
Blondeau,
ed.,
Le
Rituel,
vol.
3.
(Paris:
Ecole
Pratique
des
Hautes
Etudes,
se
section,
199
6
),
pp.
15-95.
130.
Here,
I
am
using
the
Weberian-rather
than
a
theological-reading
of

3
86
Notes
to
Chapter
Three
the
term
soteriology:
for
a
discussion
see
Gellner,
Monk,
Householder,
and
Tantric
Priest,
p.
6.
13
I.
Ancient
pilgrimage
sites,
located
at
points
of
contact
with
China,
in
eastern
and
(perhaps)
northwestern
India,
the
four
pi!has
are
mentioned
in
the
miilii
(ed.
Bhattacharya,
vol.
2,
p.
453).
They
are
quickly
internalized
to
become
part
of
the
yogic
landscape
of
the
subtle
body
in
Buddhism
(Caryiipada
2
-4;
4·
3,
in
Per
Kvrerne,
An
Anthology
of
Buddhist
Tantric
Songs:
A
Study
of
the
Caryiigiti
[Oslo:
Universitetsforlaget,
1977;
reprint
Bangkok:
White
Orchid,
1986],
pp.
76)
and
later
Hinduism
($SS,
1.55-61;
4.II8-p,
in
J.
A.
Schoterman,
The
hitii,
Chapters
[-5
[Leiden:
Brill,
1982],
pp.
64,
141).
132.
In
particular,
the
VidyapI!ha
doctrines
and
practice
of
the
Hindu
Kapalikas
were
closely
paralleled
by
the
Highest
Yoga
(yogiinuttara)
Tantras
and
the
Kapalika
YoginI
cult
of
esoteric
Buddhism:
Alexis
Sanderson,
"Saivism
and
the
Tantric
ditiC'n"
in
The
World's
Religions,
ed.
Stewart
Sutherland
et
al.
(London:
Routledge
and
Kegan
Paul,
1988),
pp.
678-79.
133.
This
reading
of
rasiiyana
as
the
"coming
forth
(i.e.,
the
extraction)
of
the
elixir"
corresponds
quite
exactly
to
the
Tibetan
bcud
len.
I
am
grateful
to
Chris
Wilkinson
for
this
suggestion.
See
below,
chap.
5,
n.
84.
134.
See
below,
chap.
5,
n.
83·
135.
Schoterman,
$a!Siihasrasamhitii,
p.
6;
Dyczkowski,
Canon,
p.
48.
The
ences
to
the
Kubjikiimata
are
too
vague
to
be
verified.
For
an
extended
discussion,
see
below,
chap.
5,
nn.
85-92.
136.
The
Siddhas
and
Siddhaugha
are
worshipped
in
the
Siddha
Cakra
which
dates
from
well
before
the
IIth
c.:
Dyczkowski,
Canon,
p.
81.
See
above,
chap.
I,
n·13·
137.
Haraprasad
Shastri,
A
Catalogue
of
Palm-Leaf
and
Selected
Paper
Manuscripts
Belonging
to
the
Durbar
Library,
Nepal,
2
vols.
(Calcutta:
n.p.,
1905,
1915),
vol.
I,
pp.lxi,
lxiv,
lxx,
57,
99-100,
I I
1,258;
vol.
2,
p.
80;
and
Schoterman,
hitii,
pp.
5-6,
11-12,
36-39,
on
the
major
works
of
this
tradition,
all
of
which
date
from
the
14th
c.
or
before:
the
Kubjikiimata,
Ciiicinimata,
Manthiinabhairava
Tantra,
Kubjikiinityiihnikatilaka,
Srimatottara
Tantra,
and
the
$SS.
Closely
identified
with
the
latter
two
works
are
the
figures
of
Manthanabhairava
and
tioned
in
the
Kubjikiinityiihnikatilaka
(NNAMSS
no.
3-383;
cited
in
Bagchi,
K}iiN,
p.
68)
is
a
certain
Matsyendranatha.
Matsyendra
appears
to
identify
himself
with
Siddhanatha
in
the
}iiiinakiirika
(2.1;
in
Bagchi,
K}iiN,
p.
II6);
and
in
the
Niirada
Purii1!a
(Uttara
khal).qa
69.25,
cited
in
NSC,
p.
23),
where
it
is
said
that
Matsyendra
resides
in
Kamarupa
as
Siddhanatha:
Kamarupa
is
sometimes
identified
with
the
site
of
Candradvlpa
(Bagchi,
introduction
to
KJiiN,
pp.
29-32).
138.
Schoterman,
$a!Siihasrasamhitii,
pp.
36-39.
A
manuscript
of
the
Kubjikiini-

3
8
7
Notes
to
Chapter
Three
tyiihnikatilaka,
in
Newari
script,
is
dated
to
A.D.
II97
by
Shastri
(Catalogue,
I:lxiv,
III-I2)
and
to
A.D.
139S
by
Bagchi
(KJnN,
p.
67).
Further
evidence
for
the
tiquity
of
the
southwestern
Indian
origins
of
this
cult
is
found
in
an
inscription,
dated
to
A.D.
I030:
Saletore,
"Kanapha!a
Jogis;'
pp.
18-19.
139.
The
Grub
thob
brgyad
cu
rtsa
bzhi
10
rgyus
is
found
in
vol.
86,
pt.
I
of
the
Tanjur:
Palmyr
Cordier,
Catalogue
du
fonds
tibitain
de
la
Bibliotheque
Nationale,
vol.
3,
Index
du
Bstan-hgyur
(Tibetain
180-332)
(Paris:
Bibliotheque
Nationale,
I9IS),
p.
247.
Cf.
Tucci,
''Animadversiones
Indicae;'
p.
142;
and
idem.,
Tibetan
Painted
Scrolls,
vol.
I,
pp.
226-27.
On
the
mid-14th
c.
dating
of
the
Tibetan
translation,
see
Simon
Digby,
"To
Ride
a
Tiger
or
a
Wall?
Strategies
of
Prestige
in
Indian
Sufi
Legend;'
in
Winand
Caellewaert
and
Rupert
Snell,
eds.,
According
to
Tradition:
Hagiographical
Writing
in
India
(Wiesbaden:
Harrassowitz,
1994),
p.
IOS.
140.
Keith
Dowman
(Masters
of
Mahiimudra:
Songs
and
Histories
of
the
Four
Buddhist
Siddhas
[Albany,
N.Y.:
SUNY
Press,
I98S],
p.
386),
maintains
that
the
''Acts''
were
narrated,
and
not
authored
by
Abhayadatta;
they
were
translated
into
Tibetan
by
sMon
grub
shes
rab.
The
Tanjur
also
contains
lists
of
the
works
of
the
eighty-four
Siddhas.
Variants
of
Kubjika's
name
are
Kucipa,
Cubji,
KusulI,
and
Kubjipa:
Dowman,
Masters,
p.
206.
141.
The
Hindu
and
Jain
Vidyadharas
had
their
Buddhist
homologues
in
the
Vidyarajas:
Ruegg,
"Sur
les
rapports;'
p.
83.
We
have
noted
Nagarjuna's
tion
with
lara:
as
the
leader
of
the
Mahavidya
goddesses,
she
is
called
"VidyarajiiI":
Bhattacharyya,
History,
p.
22
S.
The
Vidyadharas
(rig
'dzin)
serve
as
intermediaries
for
the
preparation
of
the
elixir
in
Tibetan
sources
as
well:
Walter,
Role
of
Alchemy,
pp.
3
6
-37
and
n.
n
142.
My
use
of
Max
Weber's
terminology
is
intentional
here.
After
the
death
of
the
founder
of
a
given
social
or
religious
group,
a
founder
whose
personal
charisma
held
the
group
together,
that
group's
structural
cohesiveness
must
be
routinized,
i.e.,
reordered
along
pragmatic
lines,
if
the
group
is
to
survive
(unless,
of
course,
a
charismatic
figure
replaces
the
charismatic
founder,
which
is
a
rare
scenario).
143.
Two
complementary
processes
may
have
been
operative
here.
On
the
one
hand,
such
names
as
"Matsyendra"
may
have
been
titles
bestowed
upon
persons
who
had
reached
a
sublime
level
of
initiation
(Tucci,
''Animadversiones
cae;'
pp.
133-34;
cf.
John
K.
Locke,
Karunamaya:
The
Cult
of
Matsyendranath
in
the
VOlley
of
Nepal
[Kathmandu:
Sahayogi
Press,
1980],
pp.
422-27
and
notes).
On
the
other,
post-13th
c.
ascetics
may
simply
have
claimed
to
actually
have
been
the
"original"
Gorakhnath,
etc.
Simon
Digby
terms
this
matic
impersonation"
and
makes
a
cogent
argument
for
its
prevalence
in
what
may
be
the
most
widely
circulated
unpublished
manuscript
in
the
field
of
South
Asian
studies:
"Encounters
with
JogIs
in
Indian
SufI
Hagiography,"
typescript
of

3
88
Notes
to
Chapter
Four
paper
read
at
the
School
of
Oriental
and
Mrican
Studies,
London,
27
January
1970,
P·32·
144.
Yogafataka:
texte
medicale
attribue
a
Niigiirjuna,
ed.
and
tr.
Jean
Filliozat
(Pondicherry:
Institut
Franc;ais
d'Indologie,
1979),
pp.
vi,
105;
idem.,
Doctrine
classique,
pp.
10-II;
and
Palmyr
Cordier,
"Recentes
decouvertes
de
mss.
medicaux
sanscrits
dans
l'Inde
(1898-1902);'
Le
Museon,
n.s.
4
(1903),
pp.
336-39.
If
one
accepts
that
the
Yogafataka
is
mentioned
in
all
but
name
by
the
late
7th
c.
Chinese
pilgrim
I-Ching
(Sharma,
Ayurved,
p.
195),
then
this
is
a
7th
c.
work.
More
tenable
is
the
hypothesis
that
this
was
the
same
Nagarjuna
who,
in
about
the
9th
c.,
edited
the
Sufruta
Samhitii
and
added
to
it
the
final
"Uttara"
section.
A
Tibetan
translation
of
this
work
is
found
in
the
Tanjur.
145.
A
rare
reference
to
mercury
is
found
in
Sufruta
Samhitii
6.35.7.
Palmyr
Cordier
offers
a
compendium
of
convincing
textual
references
to
support
the
case
that
this
editor
was
indeed
named
Nagarjuna:
Niigiirjuna
et
l'Uttaratantra,
pp.
1-6;
and
"Recentes
decouvertes;'
pp.
332-33.
Cf.
Sharma,
Ayurved,
pp.
76-77,
for
other
"alchemical"
or
"tantric"
Sufruta
passages
attributable
to
Nagarjuna.
146.
Siddhayoga
16.149:
likhita
stambhe
Prafulla
Chandra
Ray
(A
History
of
Hindu
Chemistry
from
the
Earliest
Times
to
the
Middle
of
the
16th
Century
A.D.,
2
vols.
[Calcutta:
Prithwis
Chandra
Ray,
1904-09],
vol.
I,
pp.
xxxii,
liii,
xcii)
asserts
that
kajjali
was
the
active
ingredient
in
this
preparation.
Cf.
Sharma,
Ayurved,
pp.
195,33°.
Chinese
references
to
an
eye
specialist
named
garjuna
begin
to
appear
in
the
latter
half
of
the
8th
c.:
Needham,
Science
and
lisation,
vol.
5,
pt.
3
(1976),
p.
16
3.
147.
Sharma,
Ayurved,
pp.
229,
290-91,
479.
like
Vrnda,
also
quotes
extensively
from
the
Yogafataka:
Cordier,
"Recentes
decouvertes;'
p.
338.
148.
Sharma,
Ayurved,
p.
291.
Following
Vailgasena
would,
in
his
Cikitsiisiirasa"!lgraha,
introduce
further
innovations
in
mercury-based
rasa
fiistra;
but
by
this
time,
the
tantric
alchemical
tradition
was
well
established:
ibid.,
p.
295.
149.
Ayurvedic
works
attributed
to
Nagarjuna
include
the
Jivasiltra,
Yogasiira,
Siirasa"!lgraha,
Bhes:ajakalpa,
and
the
Arogyamanjari:
Bhattacharyya,
History,
p.
20;
Ray,
History,
vol.
I,
p.
xcii;
Jean
Filliozat,
"Liste
des
manuscrits
de
la
Collection
Palmyr
Cordier
conserves
a
la
Bibliotheque
Nationale;'
Journal
Asiatique
224
(1934),
pp.
155-73·
The
Jivasiltra
and
the
Bhes:ajakalpa
are
preserved
in
Tibetan
translation
only:
Sharma,
Ayurved,
p.
195.
IS0.
See
below,
chap.
5,
n.
4.
Chapter
Four
1.
There
is
an
important
distinction
between
"clan"
and
"lineage":
members
of
the
former
claim
descent
from
a
divine
ancestor;
those
of
the
latter
claim
a
human

3
8
9
Notes
to
Chapter
Four
as
their
founder.
On
this,
see
Daniel
Gold,
The
Lord
as
Guru
(New
York:
Oxford
University
Press,
1987),
pp.
18,
93-110.
2.
Sanderson,
"Saivism;'
p.
668.
The
Siddha
lists
"front-loaded"
certain
ments
of
the
old
Siddha
cults
into
their
idealized
genealogies:
Dyczkowski,
Canon,
pp.
79-82.
See
above,
chapter
I,
n.
13,
and
chap.
3,
n.
136.
3.
HTSL,
p.
40.
This
is
particularly
the
case
with
the
iimniiya
classification
of
Kaula
traditions,
as
set
forth
in
the
Nepali
Ciiicinimatasiirasamucchaya:
Dyczkowski,
Canon,
pp.
66-68.
4.
Wendy
Doniger
O'Flaherty,
Dreams,
Illusion
and
Other
Realities
(Chicago:
University
of
Chicago
Press,
1984),
p.
203,
evoking
comments
made
by
Diana
Eck
in
a
panel
discussion
of
the
American
Academy
of
Religion,
New
York,
2
I
ber
1983.
Cf.
Douglas
Brooks's
discussion
(Secret,
p.
63)
of
the
structure
and
tion
of
the
fricakra
or
friyantra,
the
greatest
of
all
tantric
cosmographs.
5.
The
texts
of
the
Vidya
PIJha
are
divided
into
the
yiimalas,
the
"Union
tras"
and
the
faktitantras,
the
"Power
Tantras";
this
latter
group
forms
the
textual
base
for
the
Trika
synthesis:
Sanderson,
"Saivism;'
pp.
668-72.
The
four
literary
pifhas
are
also
identified
with
the
four
primordial
pifhas
of
early
Hindu
and
dhist
tantrism
(Jalandhara,
UMiyana,
Po.rl}agiri,
and
Kamarupa,
mentioned
in
KJiiN
8.20-22,
which
substitutes
Arbuda
for
Po.rl}agiri),
with
four
cakras
of
the
subtle
body,
four
colors,
etc.:
Dyczkowski,
Canon,
pp.
49-55.
6.
Abhinavagupta
makes
no
mention
of
the
iimniiya
system;
it
is,
however,
tioned
in
the
Kubjikiimata
(KM),
the
root
tantra
of
the
Western
Transmission
zkowski,
Canon,
p.
66)
and
the
10th-14th
c.
Kulii17!ava
Tantra
(3.
r-
10).
See
below,
chap.
5,
n.
93
7.
It
is
also
along
the
lines
of
the
iimniiya
system
that
Alexis
Sanderson
organizes
his
excellent
survey,
"Saivism
and
the
Tantric
Traditions"
(especially
pp.
680-90).
But
see
Dyczkowski
(Canon,
p.
87)
and
Goudriaan
(HTSL,
p.
14),
who
characterize
this
classification
as
"empty":
it
is,
however,
to
the
artificiality
of
assigning
of
graphical
coordinates
to
the
four
schools
that
these
authors
are
referring.
A
fifth
("upper")
iimniiya
would
later
be
added:
HTSL,
p.
17.
8.
Scholars
have
been
attempting
for
decades
to
make
g;uru-parampariis
out
of
these
lists;
such
may
be
possible
for
certain
figures:
see,
for
example
Sankrtyayana,
"Recherches
Bouddhiques;'
interleaf
following
p.
2
I
8;
Bhattacharya,
Siidhanamiilii,
vol.
2,
pp.
xlii--cix;
and
Tucci,
''Animadversiones
Indicae;'
p.
142.
9.
Tucci,
Tibetan
Painted
Scrolls,
vol.
I,
p.
226.
10.
Hazariprasad
Dvivedi
(Niith
Sampradiiy,
3d
ed.
[Allahabad:
Lokabharati
kasan,
1982],
pp.
26-35)
reproduces
a
number
of
these
lists,
noting
that
a
total
of
148
distinct
figures
can
be
generated
from
them.
11.
See
above,
chap.
3,
n.
139.
A
similar
list,
dating
from
A.D.
1513,
is
found
in

39
0
Notes
to
Chapter
Four
the
Bhaktapur
(Nepal)
Museum;
another
has
been
found
inJava,
Indonesia:
Locke,
Karunamaya,
p.
422.
12.
Sankrtyayana,
"Recherches
Bouddhiques;'
p.
220;
Dharmavir
Bharati,
Siddh
Siihity,
2d
ed.
(Allahabad:
KitabMahal,
1955,
1968),
p.
31.
On
the
history
of
this
work,
see
A.
I.
Vostrikov,
Tibetan
Historical
Literature,
tr.
from
the
Russian
by
ish
Chandra
Gupta
(Calcutta:
R.
D.
Press,
1970),
p.
66.
This
text
also
lists
the
caste
and
country
of
the
Siddhas.
13.
The
doctrines
exposed
in
these
texts
correspond
to
those
of
the
late
yana
traditions
of
the
Yoginr-tantras
or
Yoganuttaratantras:
personal
tion
from
Alexis
Sanderson,
6
July
1992.
See
above,
chap.
3,
n.
132.
14.
On
the
dating
of
this
collection,
see
Dusan
Zbavitel,
Bengali
Literature,
tory
of
Indian
Literature,
vol.
9,
fasc.
3
(Lei
den:
Brill,
1976),
pp.
124-25,
who
also
notes
that
these
poems,
while
tantric,
are
neither
specifically
Buddhist
nor
Hindu.
Kva:rne,
Anthology,
has
produced
a
historical
study
and
quadrilingual
Bengali,
Sanskrit,
Tibetan,
English)
edition
of
this
fascinating
collection.
15.
P.
C.
Bagchi
("The
Cult
of
the
Buddhist
Siddhacaryas;'
Cultural
Heritage
of
India,
vol.
4,
p.
275)
indicates
that
the
enlarged
Tibetan
translation
of
these
songs
is
found
in
volumes
47-48
of
the
Tanjur.
In
addition
to
these,
the
Tanjur
contains
Tibetan
translations,
from
the
Sanskrit,
of
a
number
of
other
works
attributed
to
these
figures.
16.
The
RA
(14.40)
evokes,
without
naming
them,
twenty-four
[Rasa]
Siddhas,
which
I
take
to
be
an
indication
of
its
relative
antiquity.
See
below,
chap.
5,
n.
162.
17.
Bibliotheque
Nationale
(Paris),
Fonds
Cordier,
Sanscrit
MSS
no.
1222,
fol.
3oa.9-30b.2.
Meulenbeld
(History,
draft
of
10
May
1994,
p.
971)
maintains
that
these
verses,
forming
as
they
do
a
portion
of
the
tippa1Ja
(commentary)
on
the
work
(which
begins
at
fol.
30a.3
of
the
present
manuscript),
are
posterior
to
the
RM
proper,
and
borrowed
by
the
commentator,
from
the
RRS.
18.
This
author
is
so
named
in
order
to
distinguish
him
from
the
Vagbhana
the
Elder
and
Vagbhana
the
Younger,
who
authored
the
Ayurvedic
As;t;iiilgasan:zgraha
respectively:
Sharma,
Ayurved,
pp.
481-82
(who
calls
the
author
of
the
RRS
"Rasa-
Vagbhana").
19.
RRA
3.
I
.66-69,
in
Sripiirvatiputranityaniithasiddhaviracita
gatafcaturtho
[sic]
ed.Jivaram
Kalidas
Shastri,
Rasashala
Granthamala,
no.
9
(Gondal:
Rasashala
Aushadhashram,
1940).
20.
Dharmananda
Sharma's
edition
of
the
RRS
lists
fifteen
additional
Rasa
dhas
in
1.2-7;
whereas
Janardana
Pandeya,
the
editor
of
the
Sarhhitii
duction
to
vol.
2,
p.
cha),
presents
a
list
of
sixty-seven
Rasa
Siddhas
which
he
claims
to
be
from
the
RRS,
but
of
which
only
the
first
thirty-three
are
identical
to
those
listed
in
Sharma's
edition
of
the
RRS
(1.2-6a),
with
the
last
thirty-four
being

39
1
Notes
to
Chapter
Four
unique
to
Pandeya's
unspecified
source.
I
have
not
been
able
to
locate
an
edition
of
the
RRS
(there
are
several)
in
which
such
a
list
appears.
2
I.
One
modern
author
emends
the
first
names
on
this
list
into
an
alchemical
guru-disciple
lineage
(rasefvara
paramparii)
,
with
certain
variations:
(I)
Adinath;
(2)
Candrasena;
(3)
Nityananda;
(4)
Gorakhnath;
(S)
Kapali;
(6)
Bhaluki;
(7)
and
gavya:
Gananath
Sen,
Ayurveda
Paricaya
(Shantiniketan:
Visva
Vidya
Samgraha,
194
2
),
pp.
12-
1
3,
174·
22.
This
and
the
three
italicized
names
that
follow
correspond
to
a
Tibetan
g;uru-paramparii,
found
in
the
Grub
thob,
in
which
(17)
Nagarjuna
is
the
guru
of
(19)
Nagabodhi
as
well
as
of
(16)
Vyagi,
Kubjika,
and
Pankaja.
Vyagi
is,
in
turn,
the
guru
of
(IS)
Kambala:
Tucci,
"Animadversiones
Indicae:'
p.
142.
23.
This
is
the
sole
Rasa
Siddha
on
whose
name
the
RRA
and
the
RRS
6'SI-S3
do
not
agree.
24.
Meulenbeld,
History
(draft
of
IO
May
1994),
p.
83S.
The
only
names
listed
by
Caturbhujamisra
that
do
not
figure
in
the
HYP
list
are:
Gaja,
Khal!gin
(but
see
Khal!ga,
no.
22
in
the
RMIRRS
[a]
list),
and
Nagadeva.
2
S.
The
numbering
of
Siddhas
28
through
33
in
RRS
(a)
1.
S-7
is
identical
to
that
found
in
RRS
(c)
!.S-IO.
26.
The
list
is
found
in
the
seventh
chapter
of
the
Va17faratniikara,
ed.
S.
K.
Chatterji
and
Babua
Misra,
Bibliotheca
Indica,
no.
262
(Calcutta:
Bibliotheca
dica,
1940),
pp.
S7-S8.
The
Va17faratniikara
is
the
oldest
known
text
written
in
the
Maithili
language.
It
was
composed by
KavisekharacaryaJyot1svara,
the
court
poet
to
King
Harisirilha
Deva
of
Simraungagh
(Mithila,
a
kingdom
whose
ancient
borders
would
fall
between
modern-day
Bihar
and
Nepal),
who
reigned
from
A.D.
1300
to
132I:
Dasgupta,
Obscure,
p.
202,
n.
1.
See
below,
n.
So.
27.
An
edited
version
of
this
work
exists:
Anandakanda,
ed.
Sri
S.
V.
krishna
Sastri.
Tanjore
Sarasvati
Mahal
Series,
IS
(Tanjore:
TMSSM
Library,
19S2).
The
same
work
constitutes
MSS
no.
830
(Ayurveda,
no.
2)
of
the
Sri
vanesvari
PiJ:h
(Gondal,
Gujarat)
collection,
now
held
at
Gujarat
Ayurved
University,
Jamnagar.
28.
Under
the
patronage
of
King
Man
Singh,
the
Nath
Siddhas
of
Jodhpur,
drawing
on
Maharashtran
sources,
also
generated
lists
of
eighty-four
Siddhas:
P.
N.
Joshi,
ke
Niithpanthiya
Kaviyo,"!
kii
Hindi
Kiivya
(Mathura:
Jawahar
takalaya,
1976),
pp.
216-22,
cited
in
Pandey,
Gorakhniith,
pp.
I04-S'
Gorakhnath
heads
an
Oriyan
list
of
sixty-four
Siddhas:
ibid.,
p.
lOS.
29.
"Sidh
Vandana1!l"
is
the
first
poem
in
the
anthology
Niith
siddho'"!
ki
bii,,!iyii,"!,
ed.
with
an
introduction
by
Hazariprasad
Dvivedi,
2d
ed.
(Benares:
Kasi
pracarini
Sabha,
1978),
pp.
1-2.
One
also
finds
evocations
of
the
nine
Naths
gether
with
the
eighty-four
Siddhas
in
Muhammad
Jayasi's
16th
c.
Padmiivat
(Bhar-

39
2
Notes
to
Chapter
Four
ati,
Siddh
Siihity,
p.
28)
and
in
a
modern
work
by
the
great
Nepali
Nath
Siddha
scholar
Narharinath,
entitled
Nav
Niith
Cauriisi
Siddh
(Benares:
Rastriya
Press,
1968).
Worship
of
the
nine
Naths,
the
eighty-four
Siddhas
and
the
Srlvidya
dess
Balasundarl
concludes
the
Nath
Siddha
initiation
ceremony:
George
Weston
Briggs,
Gorakhniith
and
the
Kiinpha!a
Yogis
(Calcutta:
Y.M.C.A.
Press,
1938;
reprint
Delhi:
Motilal
Banarsidass,
19
82
),
p.
33.
30.
CauraIigi
is
the
ninth
Nath
and
CauraIigi
the
first
Siddha
in
the
.ilK
list.
3
I.
Saletore,
"Kanapha!a
Jogis;'
p.
19·
32.
RevaJ:.la
is
listed
with
eight
other
familiar
Naths
in
the
YSA
(ed.
Sivanath
Yogi,
tr.
Candranath
Yogi
[Ahmedabad:
Sivanath
Yogi,
1924]:
on
this
work,
see
below,
n.
183),
pp.
116-35.
He
figures
in
modern-day
Maharashtran
religious
ers
of
the
Nine
Naths.
On
the
Vlrasaiva
RevaJ:.la
Siddha,
see
Sunyasampiidane,
ed.
and
tr.
S.
C.
Nandimath,
L.
M.
A.
Menezes,
R.
C.
Hiremath,
et
al.
5
vols.
(Dharwar:
Karnataka
University
Press,
1965-72),
vol.
5,
p.
374;
and
Jan
Gonda,
Medieval,
p.
227.
33-
HTSL,
p.
I2.
34.
A
bibliography
of
Tamil
medical-alchemical
works,
prepared
in
1826
by
Whitelaw
Ainslie,
was
published
by
D.
V.
Subba
Reddy
in
Madras
Medical
Journal
2:3
(July
197
2
),
pp.
ISO-55·
35.
These
names
are
culled
from
lists
found
in
Madhavan,
Siddha
Medical
scripts,
pp.
20-26.
I
have
Sanskritized
the
Tamil
orthography
of
these
names.
On
this
last
group,
see
Ramana
Shastri,
"Doctrinal
Culture;'
p.
305,
on
the
eighteen
"Mahesvara
Siddhas
of
the
Suddha
Marga?'
36.
This
list
is
taken
from
Shastri's
Sanskrit
introduction
to
the
.ilK
(pp.
8-9),
to
which
the
editor
refers
as
"those
renowned
as
the
18
Siddhas,
of
which
Agastya
was
the
first,
among
the
Draviqas?'
37·
See
above,
chap.
3,
n.
59·
38.
His
name
is
rendered
Satnath
or
Satyanath:
he
is
one
of
the
Siddhas
referred
to
in
the
"Siddhamata-nirvahaJ:.lam"
chapter
(49)
of
the
14th-15th
c.
Sankaravijaya
of
Anandagiri
(Srisankaravijaya
of
Anantiinandagiri,
ed.
N.
Veezhinathan,
with
an
introduction
by
T.
M.
P.
Mahadevan
[Madras:
University
of
Madras,
1971]).
On
the
Satyanathl
(or
SatnathI)
panth,
see
Dvivedi,
Niith
Sampradiiy,
pp.
I2,
178-80.
On
his
identification
with
Brahma,
ibid.,
and
Gorakh
Upanifad
(in
Mallik,
SSp,
p.
73).
On
his
alchemical
works,
and
the
spread
of
the
SatnathI
panth
to
Uttar
Pradesh
(Srinagar,
Pauri
Garhwal
district)
and
Karnataka
(Dharwar),
see
NSC,
p.
219.
The
Nath
monastery
at
Mrgasthali,
above
the
Pasupatinath
temple
in
Kathmandu,
belongs
to
this
suborder,
as
does
the
monastery
at
Puri
(Orissa):
Pandey,
niith,
p.
65.

393
Notes
to
Chapter
Four
39.
The
nine-plus-sixteen
configuration
is
a
commonplace
of
such
Western
Transmission
sources
as
the
Manthiinabhairava
Tantra:
HTSL,
p.
56.
The
number
sixteen
here
is
linked
to
the
sixteen
ak{aras
of
the
Nine
Naths,
who
are
one
with
the
sixteen
nityii
divinities
({o4afanityiitmii):
Tantrariija
Tantra
2.
I
6.
Chapters
42
and
43
of
the
$SS
are
entitled
"Sri:
Adinathavaktravatara"
and
"Srimulanathavatara;'
respectively:
Schoterman,
$a!Siihasrasamhitii,
p.
IS.
40.
Bhiiradviija
Samhitii,
cited
without
reference
in
Pandey,
Gorakhniith,
p.
109.
The
KJiiN
(8.18)
names
a
Konkal}ai-pada.
See
below,
n.
54-
41.
On
the
Ciiicinimatasiirasamucchaya,
see
Shastri,
Catalog;ue,
vol.
I,
p.
!xi.
Cf.
Dyczkowski,
Canon,
pp.
67, 69,
90,
138
n.
23,
and
191
n.
222;
and
Schoterman,
$a!Siihasrasamhitii,
p.
39.
42.
The
Kubjikiinityiihnikatilaka
presents,
in
addition
to
the
given
names
of
its
teachers,
their
caryii-
name,
their
piljii-
name,
their
gupta-
name,
their
kirti-
name,
as
well
as
additional
names
based
on
fanciful
etymologies.
Here,
Matsyendra
is
one
of
the
seven
names
of
the
fifth
(in
a
series
of
nine,
followed
by
a
series
of
sixteen)
teachers,
whose
given
name
is
Bagchi,
KJiiN,
p.
68.
43.
Sanderson,
"Purity
and
Power;'
p.
214
n.
110.
See
below,
chap.
5,
n.
93.
44.
TA
1.7
(vol.
I,
p.
25).
For
editions,
see
bibliography.
On
the
identification
of
Macchanda
Vibhu
with
Matsyendra,
see
Pandey,
Gorakhniith,
p.
2
I.
In
his
mentary
to
this
verse,
Jayaratha
states
that
"he
[Macchanda]
is
also
renowned
for
having
brought
down
the
entire
kula-fiistra."
45.
Sanderson,
"Trika
Saivism;'
in
Encyclopedia
of
Religion,
vol.
13,
p.
IS.
46.
Dyczkowski,
Canon,
pp.
69,
79-82;
HTSL,
p.
54.
On
the
name
of
the
"north-
ern"
Matsyendra's
consort,
Konkal}a,
see
Sanderson,
"Saivism;'
p.
681.
47.
Dyczkowski,
Canon,
p.
89·
48.
These
are
summarized
in
Locke,
Karunamaya,
pp.
291-300.
49.
Another
geographical
explanation
for
this
toponym
may
be
found
in
the
Goan
site
of
Candranath
Hill
in
the
Salsete
tiiluka
of
Goa,
on
the
Konkan
coast
of
India,
upon
whose
summit
the
Saiva
temples
of
Candresvara
and
Bhuranath
are
situated.
The
custodians
of
these
temples
were
Nath
Siddhas-according
to
their
current
piljiiri-until
a
recent
date.
On
these
"lunar"
toponyms,
see
above,
chap.
3,
nn.
137-38;
and
below,
chap.
5,
n.
81.
50.
In
the
course
of
the
I2th
c.,
JailTIgi
(II91-I2
10),
the
Yadava
king
of
giri;
the
western
Calukya
king
Somesvara
III
Bhuloka
Malia
(II27-38),
to
whom
the
Manasolliisa,
which
contains
long
passages
on
dhiituviida
and
rasiiyana,
is
uted;
and
the
12th
c.
Kalacuriya
king
Tribhuvanamalla
Bijjana,
who
had
close
nections
with
Basava,
the
founder
ofVirasaivism,
all
claimed
to
have
reduced
pal
to
vassal
status.
The
Mallas
of
Bhaktapur
imported
brahmins
from
Bengal
to

394
Notes
to
Chapter
Four
serve
as
temple
priests:
Sylvain
Levi,
Le
Nepal,
3
vols.
(Paris:
Ernest
Leroux,
1905;
reprint
Paris:
Toit
du
Monde
&
Errance,
1985),
vo!'
I,
p.
364;
Sharma,
Ayurved,
p.
JI
I;
Bagchi,
"Further
Notes;'
Studies,
p.
19.
Harisimhadeva,
the
Maithili
king
who
commissioned
the
Varf!aratnakara
(see
above
n.
26)
in
the
early
14th
c.,
was
obliged
to
seek
refuge
in
Nepal
when
his
kingdom
was
destroyed
by
Muslims.
His
widow
and
court
found
refuge
in
Bhaktapur
with
Rudra
Malia,
where
they
exerted
a
profound
influence
on
the
political
and
cultural
history
of
the
Kathmandu
Valley
in
the
late
Malia
period.
Harisimhadeva
traced
his
dynastic
roots
back
to
taka:
Locke,
Korunamaya,
p.
422
n.
42.
5
I.
In
terms
of
mythic
geography,
the
linga
at
Pasupatinath,
the
national
temple
of
Nepal,
is
said
to
have
the
same
origin
as
that
of
located
on
the
coast
of
northern
Karnataka;
the
Godavari
River
of
Maharashtra
state
is
said
to
have
a
branch
in
Nepal;
the
Deccan
forest
of
is
transferred
to
the
Kathmandu
Valley.
In
terms
of
religious
institutions,
south
Indian
Saivite
brahmins
and
tanuikas
controlled
Pasupatinath
throughout
much
of
the
Malia
period.
Levi
surmises
that
it
was
the
Pasupata
"Yogis"
who
originally
transformed
Pasupatinath
from
an
indigenous
deity
into
a
form
of
Siva:
Levi,
Le
Nepal,
vo!'
I,
pp.
364-65.
Cf.
Axel
Michaels,
"On
12th-13th
Century
Relations
between
Nepal
and
South
India;'
Journal
of
the
Nepal
Research
Center
7
(19
8
5),
pp.
69-72.
52.
On
the
Carya
songs,
see
Locke,
Korunamaya,
p.
426;
on
Kubjika,
Mark
zkowski,
the
Erotic
Goddess:
Sexual
Potency,
Transformation
and
versal
in
the
Heterodox
Theophanies
of
the
Kubjika
Tantras;'
American
Academy
of
Religion
Annual
Meeting,
San
Francisco,
23
Nov.
1992,
p.
2
n.
3.
I
am
grateful
to
Dyczkowski
for
providing
me
with
a
typescript
of
his
lecture.
53.
This
passage
is
found
in
the
fourteenth
chapter
of
the
Kubjikamata
(London,
Wellcome
MSS
no.
g50I,
fo!'
69a
lines
4-7;
fo!'
69b,
lines
2-3)·
54.
Manthanabhairava
Tantra,
cited
in
HTSL,
p.
55;
Schoterman,
!iSS,
pp.
32,
37-3
8
.
55.
The
nine
Naths
(divided
into
divya-,
siddha-,
and
manava-oghas)
are
fied
with
the
bodily
orifices
in
the
Tantraraja
Tantra
2.2-5
(in
Woodroffe,
raja,
p.
19),
which
also
(2.58-72)
lists
nine
types
of
consecrations
in
which
nine
gemstones,
which
correspond
to
the
eight
bodily
dhatus,
are
placed
in
medicated
water:
ibid.,
p.
20.
The
RC
(12.1)
identifies
the
nine
gemstones
with
the
nine
heavenly
bodies.
See
below,
chap.
8,
n.
234.
56.
The
Tantra
Maharf!ava
is
quoted
without
reference
by
the
I
7th-
18th
c.
Siddhanta
Sa11}graha
(ed.
Janardana
Pandeya,
Sarasvatibhavana
Granthamala,
no.
IIO
[Benares:
Varanaseya
Sanskrit
Visvavidyalaya
Press,
1973],
pp.
44-45)'
I
base
my
dating
of
this
anonymous
work
on
a
citation
in
it
(p.
10)
of
the
gama
Tantra,
which
has
been
dated
to
the
16th-17th
c.
by
Goudriaan
(HTSL,
p.

395
Notes
to
Chapter
Four
69).
Adinatha's
role
here
closely
parallels
that
of
Adi
Buddha,
who
is
identified
with
Vajrasattva
in
Buddhist
tantra:
Dasgupta,
Obscure,
p.
195.
57.
The
Tantra
MahiirTfava
passage
is
cited
in
Dasgupta,
Obscure,
p.
206.
Cf.
Schoterman,
$SS,
p.
15;
and
Dyczkowski,
p.
13.
58.
Such
is
explicitly
stated
in
the
opening
verses
of
the
$oqafanityiitantra
(1.7b-8a:
reproduced
in
Shastri,
Catalogue,
vol.
2,
p.
148);
and
Tiirii
Tantra
1.24b-
26,
where
they
are
called
the
Kaula
gurus.
The
names
of
the
Nathas
in
this
and
other
lists
often
end
in
-iinanda,
rather
than
-niitha:
this
is
peculiar
to
the
Western
Transmission,
whose
initiates
received
names
with
just
such
endings:
Dyczkowski,
p.
1.
59.
Schoterman,
$SS,
pp.
6,32,35-38.
On
this,
see
also
Dyczkowski,
Canon,
p.
87;
HTSL,
p.
37;
and
Bagchi,
KJiiN,
p.
2
I.
On
Tamil
traditions
of
nine
Sittars,
see
Madhavan,
Siddha
Medical
Manuscripts,
p.
22.
60.
Gorakh
Upani{adreproduced
in
Mallik,
SSp,
pp.
72-75.
A
similar
list
is
found
in
the
Sriniithakathiisiira
of
Dwarkanath
(ed.
Narharinath
[Benares:
n.p.,
1951]),
p.
4;
and
Shastri,
Catalogue,
vol.
2,
p.
149.
61.
In
his
commentary
to
TA
1.6,
Jayaratha
quotes
an
unnamed
earlier
source
which
in
fact
makes
this
identification
(vol.
I,
p.
24).
For
an
expanded
discussion
of
this
complex
matter,
see
below,
n.
143;
and
chap.
8,
nn.
33-37.
62.
A
number
of
these
variant
lists
are
found
in
Pandey,
Gorakhniith,
pp.
105-8;
Dasgupta,
Obscure,
pp.
206-7.
Cf.
Dvivedi's
valiant
attempts
(Niith
Sampradiiy,
p.
169;
Niith
Siddho'll!,
p.
14)
to
generate
a
single
genealogy
from
these
numerous
lists.
Kalyani
Mallik
has
attempted
to
correlate
Siddhacarya
and
Nath
Siddha
lineages
in
the
same
fashion:
Pandey,
Gorakhniith,
p.
104.
See
below,
n.
160.
63.
The
Bengali
drama,
variously
known
as
the
Gorak{a
Vijaya
or
Min
Cetan,
gives
this
data:
Dasgupta,
Obscure,
p.
209.
No
manuscript
of
this
Bengali
work,
variously
attributed
to
Sheikh
Faysulla,
Kablndradas,
Syamdas
Sen,
and
Bhlmsena
Ray,
predates
the
17th
c.,
although
it
is
clearly
the
product
of
earlier
folk
traditions:
Zbavitel,
Bengali
Literature,
pp.
189-90.
The
earliest
literarywork
by
this
name
is
the
Sanskrit-Maithili
play
composed
berween
1412
and
1428
by
Vidyapati
rimohan
Misra,
ed.,
Kavikokil
Vidyiipati-krt
Gorak{avijay
[Patna:
hasha-Parishad,
1974])
at
the
behest
of
Sivasirilha,
king
of
Mithila
and
descendant
of
Harisirilha
Deva,
the
king
for
whom
the
VarTfaratniikara
was
composed
early
in
the
14th
c.:
Mataprasad
Gupta,
Priicin
Bhii{ii
niifak
Sangrah
(Agra:
Agra
University
Press,
1970),
pp.
29-37.
Nepali
popular
dramas
treating
similar
themes
also
date
the
Bengali
works:
Bagchi,
introduction
to
KJiiN,
p.
13.
An
edition
of
the
Bengali
drama
(Gorkha-bijay
of
Bhlmsen
Ray)
is
by
Pancanand
Mandai
(Calcutta:
Visvabharati
Granthalaya,
1949).
64.
YSA,
p.
14.
This
work
is
attributed
to
Jiianesvara:
see
below,
n.
183.
Cf.

39
6
Notes
to
Chapter
Four
Dasgupta,
Obscure,
p.
207
n.
3;
and
Pandey,
Gorakhniith,
p.
106.
Unique
to
this
Maharashtran
tradition
is
an
identification
of
these
nine
Naths
with
"nine
yaI).as"
of
the
Avadhuta
sampradiiya
founded
by
Dattatreya.
Jiianesvara's
tary
on
the
Bhiigavad
Gitii,
the
}iiiinefvari,
in
which
identical
data
is
found
in
18.1733-42,
is
dated
to
A.D.
1290.
65.
Navaniithacaritra
of
GauraI).a,
ed.
K.
Ramakrishnaiah
(Madras:
Madras
versity
Press,
1970),
cited
in
Ro§u,
''Alchemy
and
Sacred
Geography,"
p.
154;
and
Ashok
Prabhakar
Kamat,
Mahariiftra
ke
Niithpanthiya
Kaviyo'l'l}
kii
Hindi
Kiivya
thura:
Jawahar
Pustakalaya,
1976),
p.
26.
A
siInilar
list
is
found
in
the
Bhiiradviija
Samhitii:
Pandey,
Gorakhniith,
p.
109.
66.
Rose,
Glossary,
vol.
2,
p.
393,
reproduced
with
modifications
in
Briggs,
Gorakhniith,
p.
77,
as
chart
D.
This
lineage
account
is
found
in
the
Tahqiqiit-i-Cifti:
Raya
Bahadur
Munshi
Haradayal
Singh,
Ripon;
Mardumafumiiri
Riija
Miirviiq
Biibat
san[vatJ
1891
lsvi,
Tisariihissii,
2
vols.
0odhpur:
Vidyasal,
1895),
vol.
2,
p.
231.
67.
Additional
partial
or
impressionistic
lists
of
the
Nine
Naths
are
also
found
in
the
Agni
and
Brahmiivaivarta
Purii,,!as,
as
well
as
a
work
entitled
the
Kediirakha"!qa
(not
to
be
confused
with
the
opening
section
of
the
Skanda
Purii,,!a):
Pandey,
Gorakhniith,
p.
109.
68.
Sanigadhara
is
the
name
of
the
author[sl
of
the
14th
c.
Siirilgadhara
Paddhati
and
Siirilgadhara
Samhitii,
both
of
which
contain
alchemical
data,
and
of
which
the
former
also
contains
data
on
yoga
(and
mentions
Goralq;a
in
v.
4372).
For
editions,
see
bibliography.
Saniganatha
is,
together
with
Gorakh
and
Matsyendra,
considered
to
be
a
founding
guru
of
the
old
Nath
monastery
at
Kadri,
in
Karnataka:
see
below,
n.
74.
69.
See
especially
Briggs,
Gorakhniith,
pp.
62-77,
and
chart
A
(interleafbetween
pp.
74-75),
which
presents
twelve
alternative
listings
of
the
twelve
subdivisions
of
the
sect.
Cf.
Singh,
Ripon;,
p.
240;
and
Dvivedi,
Niith
Sampradiiy,
pp.
12-15;
165-68.
70.
Briggs,
Gorakhniith,
p.
65,
who
notes
that
Bharq-hari's
guru
is
considered
by
some
to
have
been
JalandharI-pa.
71.
Padu
Kala
is
located
on
the
main
road
between
Pushkar
and
Meerta
City,
approximately
40
km
northwest
ofPushkar.
NarayaI).
Nath's
leadership
is
contested
by
the
two
Naths
presently
living
at
the
monastery,
15
km
to
the
south,
who
claim
the
rightful
succession.
Inside
the
temple
containing
ten
of
the
samiidhis
in
question
was
also
a
moldering
stack
of
papers,
which
NarayaI).
Nath
maintained
contained
the
records
of
the
Vairag
Panth,
a
claim
I
was
unable
to
verify.
According
to
Briggs
(Gorakhniith,
pp.
122-24),
the
seat
of
this
suborder
is
at
Pae
dhuni,
in
Bombay.
72.
Saletore,
"Kanapha!a
Jogis;'
pp.
17-19.
Cf.
Briggs,
Gorakhniith,
p.
58.
Kar-

397
Notes
to
Chapter
Four
or
is
so
named
because
he
originally
hailed
from
(Vijayanagara
in)
Karnataka
or
Kanara: Dvivedi,
Niith
Sampradiiy,
p.
78.
73·
See
above,
chap.
3,
n.
13
8
.
74.
Bhasker
Anand
Saletore,
Ancient
Knrnataka,
2
vols.
(Poona:
Oriental
Books
Agency,
1936),
vol.
I,
pp.
94,
37?-84;
and
idem,
"Kanapha!aJogis;'
p.
18
and
n.
3.
A
similar
identification,
of
a
Nath
Siddha
(Matsyendra)
with
AvalokiteSvara,
is
found
in
the
cult
of
LokeSvara-
Rato
Macchendranath
in
the
Kathmandu
Valley.
75.
Pietro
della
Valle,
Travels,
vol.
2,
pp.
345-46,
quoted
in
Bhasker
Anand
Saletore,
Social
and
Political
Life
in
the
Vijayanagara
Empire
(A.D.
1346-A.D.
1646),
2
vols.
(Madras:
B.
G.
Paul
&
Co.,
1934),
p.
53.
76.}iiiinefvari
18.1733-42.
The
succession
he
traces
is:
-
Nivrttinath
- J
iianeSvara.
J
iianesvara's
grandfather,
Tryambaka
Pant,
who
purportedly
encountered
Dattatreya
on
Girnar,
was
a
contemporary
of
Pandey,
Gorakhniith,
p.
20.
n.
Pandey,
Gorakhniith,
p.
20,
and
Kamat,
Mahiirii{t;ra,
p.
288.
78.
Listed
are
Jalandhara,
Govindacandra,
Kanha,
Nagarjuna,
cull,
and
LUI-pa:
Pandey,
Gorakhniith,
p.
20.
79.
Saletore,
"Kanapha!a
Jogis;'
pp.
20-2
I.
80.
Charlotte
Vaudeville,
Knbir
Granthavali
(Doha),
Publications
de
l'Institut
Fran"ais
d'Indologie,
no.
12.
(Pondicherry:
Institut
Fran"ais
d'Indologie,
1957),
p.
v;
Bharati,
Siddh
Siihity,
pp.
333-34.
On
the
ca.
14th
c.
"canonization"
and
thologization"
of
a
corpus
of
vernacular
poetry
attributed
to
Gorakh
and
many
of
the
other
historical
nine
Naths,
see
below,
chap.
5,
sec.
2.
81.
Siirizgadhara
Paddhati,
vv.
4372-4419
(pp.
662-69
of
Peterson's
edition).
Cf.
Sharma,
Ayurved,
pp.
197-98.
82.
Nowotny,
Gorak{afataka,
p.
19.
83.
Locke,
Knrunamaya,
p.
433.
The
A.D.
1382
inscription
is
from
ltum
Baha;
and
the
1391
inscription
from
the
"Gorakhnath"
cave
in
Pharphing,
fifteen
miles
south
of
Kathmandu.
This
latter
inscription
commemorates
Acintanath's
ment
of
an
image
of
Gorakh's
feet,
for
worship
in
the
cave.
The
feet
and
inscription
are
currently
found
outside
the
cave,
inside
of
which
an
image
of
the
Tibetan
lama
Rinpoche
now
presides.
Acintanath's
name
curiously
resembles
that
of
and
Caurangi's
guru
in
the
Grub
thob:
MIna-pa
is
alternately
referred
to
as
ta-pa:
Dowman,
Masters,
p.
81;
Bagchi,
KJiiN,
p.
23.
84.
The
inscription
commemorates
the
installation
of
five
lingas,
together
with
images
of
Bhairava,
Aiijaneya
(Hanuman),
SarasvatI,
and
Siddhi
nayaka
Briggs,
Gorakhniith,
p.
247.
85.
Piifupata-Sutras
(1.2-38),
with
the
commentary
ed.
R.
Anan-

39
8
Notes
to
Chapter
Four
thakrishna
Sastri
(Trivandrum:
1940),
cited
in
Gonda,
Medieval,
p.
218.
The
pata
use
of
the
term
yoga
is
glossed
by
Kaw;H;linya
as
iitmefvarasamyoga:
ibid.,
p.
217
n.16.
86.
Gonda,
Medieval,
pp.
165-66.
87.
The
scriptures
of
the
Saiva
Siddhantins,
which
were
compiled
in
north
(Madhya
Pradesh,
Kashmir)
and
south
(Tamil
Nadu)
India
between
the
7th
and
10th
centuries,
are
called
the
Agamas,
which
traditionally
dealt
with
four
subjects:
jiiiina
("knowledge"),
yoga
(internalized
worship),
kriyii
("ritual,"
external
worship),
and
caryii
("conduct,
behavior").
In
fact,
most
of
the
content
of
the
iigamas
deals
with
the
last
two
(and
the
definition
of
kriyii
has
in
fact
been
altered
from
"magic,
sorcery"
to
its
present
meaning).
The
Saiva
Agamas
are
subdivided
into
four
classes
(Saiva,
Pasupata,
Soma,
and
Lakula),
with
the
Saiva
group
being
further
subdivided
into
left-hand,
right-hand,
and
Siddhanta.
The
pre-A.D.
924
KiraTfiigama
does,
however,
contain
a
section
on
"sixfold"
yoga
that
appears
to
anticipate
teachings
of
Gorakhnath:
Gonda,
Medieval,
pp.
164-67,
180-81,
189.
88.
Dvivedi,
Niith
Sampradiiy,
p.
11.
Briggs
(Gorakhniith,
p.
63)
gives
a
figure
of
eighteen,
rather
than
twelve,
original
Saivite
sects.
89.
Sabara
Tantra,
quoted
in
Gorakfa
Siddhiinta
Sa"!lgraha,
p.
14-
Cf.
Pandey,
Gorakhniith,
p.
107.
90.
Briggs,
Gorakhniith,
p.
63;
Dvivedi,
Niith
Sampradiiy,
pp.
II,
180.
91.
It
is
significant
that
all
but
four
of
the
twelve
celestial
images
(jyotirlingas)
of
Siva
are
located
in
northwestern
India.
The
exceptions
are
Mallikarjuna,
at
sailam;
Visvanatha
at
Benares;
Vaidyanatha
in
eastern
Bihar;
and
RameSvara
[-natha]
at
Ramesvaram.
The
2d
c.
B.c.-2d
c.
A.D.
Kushanas
who,
based
in
the
bul
Valley,
ruled
over
much
of
northwestern
India,
including
the
Punjab
and
ern
Rajasthan,
were
the earliest
imperial
devotees
of
Siva,
to
whose
name
they
joined
the
epithet
Mahadeva
or
Mahesvara.
92.
This
modern
list,
enumerated
by
a
disciple
of
Gambhlrnath,
a
former
abbot
of
the
Gorakhpur
monastery,
is
found
in
Dvivedi,
Niith
Sampradiiy,
p.
12.
Seven
alternative
modern
lists
are
given
by
Pradip
Kumar
Bandyopadhyay,
Niitha
Cult
and
Mahiiniid
(Delhi:
B.
R.
Publishing
Company,
1992),
pp.
71-73.
Cf.
Briggs
niith,
pp.
62-75),
who
attempts
a
historical
reconstruction
of
the
twelve
panths
(of
which
there
are
actually
at
least
thirty).
93.
Briggs
(Gorakhniith,
pp.
34-38)
indicates
that
the
organization
of
the
Nath
sampradiiya
is
ideally
quite
centralized,
but
that
such
is
not
the
case
in
practice.
Avedyanath,
the
current
abbot
of
the
Gorakhpur
monastery,
is
a
primus
inter
pares,
both
on
institutional
grounds
and
by
virtue
of
his
dynamism
and
powerful
ality.
See
below,
chap.
II,
sec.
3.
94.
Even
if
the
Niith
sampradiiya
has
always
been
a
loose
confederation
of
monas-

399
Notes
to
Chapter
Four
tic
orders
and
lineages,
certain
of
its
member
groups
have,
at
different
periods
in
history,
been
highly
successful
in
organizing
themselves
into
economic,
political,
and
military
powerhouses,
using
their
itinerancy
to
develop
wide-ranging
networks
of
trading
and
fighting
men
who
were
at
times
capable
of
removing
kings
from
their
thrones
and
replacing
them
with
princes
of
their
own
choosing.
See
below,
chap.
II,
sec.
3.
95.
In
addition
to
the
lineage
found
in
the
A.D.
1030
SiddheSvara
inscription
noted
above,
oral
and
written
traditions
concerning
the
JiiI).a
Akha1a
establishment
at
Ayodhya
known
as
"Siddhagiri's
monastery"
indicate
a
lineage
comprising
bots
whose
names
end
in
-niith
prior
to
A.D.
1300,
after
which
their
names
end
in
-giri,
the
traditional
Dasnami
suffix:
Peter
Van
der
Veer,
Gods
on
Earth:
The
agement
of
Religious
Experience
and
Identity
in
a
North
Indian
Pilgrimage
Centre,
don
School
of
Economics
Monographs
on
Social
Anthropology,
59
(London:
lone
Press,
1988),
p.
146.
96.
According
to
Pitambaradatta
Barthwal
(cited
in
Bharati,
Siddh
Siihity,
p.
323),
Niith
was
a
title,
meaning
guru
or
lama
in
Bengali
Vajrayana
or
"VajranathI"
Buddhist
traditions,
whence
allusions
to
niith
in
Saraha-pa
and
Kanha-pa
as
"one
whose
mind
is
unwavering"
(Dohakofa,
pp.
31,44,46).
97.
Bharati,
Siddh
Siihity,
p.
325.
See
below,
n.
213.
98.
The
Nimnathis
and
Parasnathis,
both
Jain
subdivisions,
claim
descent
from
two
sons
of
Matsyendra.
A
number
of
subdivisions
are
now
in
the
hands
of
Muslims
(Zafir Plrs,
Rawals
or
Nagnathis)
or
foreigners
(Dhajjannathis).
The
Sepalas,
pelas,
or
Samperas
are
(generally
low-caste)
snake
charmers.
Together
with
the
Bamarg
("left-handed;'
possibly
an
offshoot
of
the
Kapalikas)
subdivision,
they
claim
descent
from
Kal].ipa:
Briggs,
Gorakhniith,
pp.
63, 66, 69,
71, 72,
74.
Cf.
Dvivedi,
Niith
Sampradiiy,
pp.
163-64,
178.
See
below,
chap.
8,
n.
193,
on
the
tionship
between
the
Nath
Siddhas
and
the
DasnamI
Nagas,
and
chap.
I
I,
sec.
4,
for
my
encounter
with
a
Sapela.
99.
On
this,
see,
for
example,
Pitambaradatta
Barthwal,
Yog-Praviih
(Benares:
Kashi
Vidyapith,
1946),
p.
56,
on
the
subject
of
JfianeSvara's
guru,
Gahal].Inath.
Dvivedi
(Niith
Siddho7{l,
p.
15)
notes
that
the
so-called
"Saiva"
lineages
have
ally
been
more
tantric
in
their
orientation
than
the
"Gorakhnathis;'
whose
practices
reflect
their
founder's
hathayogic
legacy.
100.
See
Briggs
(Gorakhniith,
chart
A,
interleaf
following
p.
74)
for
twelve
ant
lists
of
the
twelve
panths;
ibid.,
pp.
62-77,
on
their
tangled
lineages;
and
Dvivedi,
Niith
Sampradiiy,
pp.
166-67,
who
indicates
the
four
different
orders
who
claim
descent
from
Hetunath
and
the
five
orders
who
claim
descent
from
Collnath
(Gho1a
ColI).
The
nature
of
the
confusion
and
competition
that
arises
from
too
many
groups
and
too
few
"slots"
is
illustrated
by
the
reaction
of
the
Nath
Siddhas

4
00
Notes
to
Chapter
Four
of
the
RathaejUl).eja
monastery
when
I
told
them
I
had
just
come
from
the
residence
of
Narayal).
Nath
at
Padu
Kala,
RathaejUl).eja's
rival
for
the
seat
of
the
Vairag
panth:
"He's
nobody."
rol.
In
the
middle
of
the
IIth
c.,
Alberuni
describes
"Jogis"
with
pierced
or
bored
ears
and
ochre
robes:
Singh,
Ripor!,
vol.
2,
p.
235.
Under
the
heading
of
''Jogi;'
Singh
lists
six
different
groups
for
the
case
of
r9th
c.
Rajasthan:
I)
Naths
or
Kanpha!as;
2)
MasaniyaJogls;
3)
Kalavells;
4)
Aughars;
5)
Aghoris;
and
6)
Rawals
(ibid.,
p.
241).
r
02.
Some
hold
that
Jogi
and,
in
Bengal,
Kiipalika
are
the
names
of
scheduled
castes
precisely
because
they
descend
from
yogins,
perhaps
Nath
Siddhas,
who
broke
their
vows
of
celibacy.
Indeed,
this
applies
to
the
majority
of
20th
c.
Nath
society:
i.e.,
most
Naths
are
noncelibate
householders.
For
(dated)
census
figures,
see
Briggs,
Gorakhnath,
pp.
4-6,
53,
where
he
notes
that
the
I88r
census
counted
350,000
"Jugls"
in
Bengal.
The
r895
census
Ripor!
(Singh,
vol.
2,
p.
235)
ofMarwar
counts
30,2
I3
Jogis,
of
which
16,427
are
male
and
13,786
are
female.
r03.
Briggs,
Gorakhnath,
pp.
63, 67,
and
passim;
Dvivedi,
Nath
Sampraday,
pp.
r63-64,
r78.
Certain
Naths
who
trace
their
lineage
back
to
Kanha-pa
wear
their
kU1!4alas
through
the
lobes,
rather
than
the
thick
cartilage
of
their
ears:
ibid.,
p.
5.
Occasionally
one
can,
by
looking
at
a
list,
discern
changes
within
a
lineage
or
a
monastery.
So,
for
example,
the
pothfratan
lineage
shows
a
shift
from
Kanpha!a
to
Aughar
leadership
in
the
succession
madas
(after
which
all
gurus
in
the
lineage
have
names
with
the
Aughar
suffix
of
-diis):
Pandey,
Gorakhnath,
p.
I07,
citing
Rangeya
Raghava,
Gorakhnath
aur
unka
Yug,
pp.
r8-I9.
I04.
These
include
the
periodical
109
Va1!l,
as
well
as
special
editions
of
the
same
publication,
on
Gorakhnath,
the
vernacular
poetry
(biinfs)
of
Gorakh,
Nath
Siddha
hagiography,
etc.
See
bibliography
under
Srivastav.
r05.
lOgabija
8,
8r,
r89
and
Gorakfasiddhiinta
San:zgraha,
p.
12.
For
other
ences,
see
Dvivedi,
Nath
Sampraday,
pp.
1-3.
I06.
Aughars
suffix
their
names
with
-das.
Members
of
the
Pa
panths,
who
trace
their
descent
back
to
JalandharI-pa,
suffix
their
names
with
-pa
and
are
for
the
most
part
Aughars
(but
do
not
use
the
suffix
-diis).
Members
of
the
Kanthaeji
subsect
suffix
their
names
with
-kantha4:
Briggs,
Gorakhnath,
pp.
33,
67;
Locke,
maya
p.
431.
r07.
Briggs,
Gorakhnath,
pp.
44-6r,
and
Nowotny,
introduction
to
taka,
p.
53.
I08.
RA
I.4;
KJiiN
1648.
I09.
Daulat
Ram
Shastri,
foreword
to Siddhinandan
Misra's
edition
of
the
RHT,
p.
r
I.
Modern
university-level
instruction
in
rasa
fastra
does
not
fit
the
traditional

4
01
Notes
to
Chapter
Four
guru-disciple
model
of
instruction.
Such
south
Indian
traditions
as
those
of
the
Sittars
of
Tamil
Nadu
and
the
a{favaidya
brahmins
of
Kerala
(on
which
see
Francis
Zimmerman's
excellent
Le
discours
des
remedes
au
pays
des
ipices:
Enquete
sur
la
cine
hindoue
[Paris:
Payot,
1989])
are
medical
rather
than
alchemical.
1I0.
RA
2.2,
91.
Cf.
RRA
1.1.2Ia,
22a.
Kayastha
the
15th
c.
author
of
the
Rnsasanketakiilikii,
twice
mentions
the
sampradiiya
of
his
guru
(4.85,
9
I).
II
1.
RA
I.27a:
na
garbhaJ:
sampradayatha
raso
garbho
vidhlyate.
1I2.
So,
for
example,
the
RA
(2.39)
advises
the
alchemist
to
establish
his
tory
in
a
country
where
the
people
are
Mahesvaras,
i.e.,
followers
of
Siva.
I
13.
An
alchemical
author
patronized
by
Bukku
I
was
author
of
the
Rnsasindhu
and
Meulenbeld,
History
(draft
of
lO
May
1994),
p.
943.
Neither
he
nor
his
works
are
mentioned
by
Madhava.
1I4.
See,
for
example
RU
1.5
and
15.50
and
RHT
1.15-17,20-26,31-32.
See
below,
chap.
5,
nn.
146
and
196.
1I5.
Dasgupta,
Obscure,
pp.
192-93,
254-55.
It
is
related
in
the
gallla;'
of
the
Bhavi{ya
Purii1fa
(cited
in
Gopinath
Kaviraj,
Tiintrik
Viinmay
me1J.l
Siikta
D-mi
[Patna:
Bihar
Rastrabhasa
Parisad,
1963],
p.
272).
1I6.
Sunyasampiidane
21.1-9
(vol.
5,
pp.
388-95).
The
same
source
(p.
374)
lates
a
similar
hostile
encounter
between
Gorakh
and
in
which
the
latter's
siddhis
prove
to
be
stronger
than
those
of
the
former.
See
below,
n.
167
and
chap.
8,
nn.
1I0-I2.
1I7.
Raman
Sastri's
analysis
("Doctrinal
Culture;'
pp.
300-8)
totally
confuses
matters
by
attempting
to
identify
the
"Mahesvara
Siddhas
of
the
Suddha
Marga"
with
the
Tamil
Sittars.
Far
more
useful
discussions
are
Dasgupta,
Obscure,
pp.
192-
93,
254-55;
and
the
editor's
introduction
to
the
RU
(with
Hindi
translation
and
commentary
of
Badrinarayan
Sarma,
2
vols.
[Ajmer:
Krsna
Gopal
Ayurved
Bhavan,
1959],
vol.
I,
p.
12).
II8.
Ro§u
(''Alchemy
and
Sacred
Geography,"
p.
153),
who
notes
that
cording
to
certain
archaeologists,
these
sanctuaries
may
have
been
founded
by
dha
ascetics
who
were
practitioners
of
alchemy
(rasaviida):'
In
the
balance
of
this
article,
however,
Ro§u
tends
to
discount
such
claims.
119.
Vi{1'fudharmottara
Purii1fa
3-40.1-9,
translated
in
Shiva
Sheikhar
Misra,
Fine
Arts
and
Technical
Sciences
in
Ancient
India
with
Special
Reference
to
Somefvara
s
solliisa
(Benares:
Krishnadas
Academy,
1982),
p.
lOI.
I
have
been
told
that
such
preparations
are
still
in
use,
in
Rajasthan,
where
they
are
called
candralepa
coating"),
and
in
Karnataka,
where
the
carving
style
is
called
hemarapanth.
120.
Sharma,
Ayurved
(pp.
471
[photo],
473),
maintains
that
there
was
an
chemical
laboratory
at
Nalanda,
noting
the
remains
of
an
oven
found
in
the
ruins
there
as
evidence.
However,
Satya
Prakash
(Priicfn
Bhiirat
me1J.l
Rnsiiyan
kii
Vikiis

4
02
Notes
to
Chapter
Four
[Allahabad:
Prayag
Visvavidyalaya,
1960],
pp.
835-37),
who
analyzed
the
chemical
content
of
a
number
of
metal
objects
found
at
Nalanda,
found
no
trace
of
mercury
in
any
of
them.
121.
Personal
communication
from
Dr.
Surya
Kumar
Yogi,
Menal,
Rajasthan,
March
1985.
122.
Treloar,
"Use
of
Mercury,"
pp.
232-33.
The
ruins
of
the
Chandi
Bukit
Batu
Pahat
temple
are
located
in
Kedah,
Malaysia.
123.
Ray,
History,
vol.
2,
pp.
xxxviii-xliii.
It
should
be
noted
that
in
1903,
shortly
after
the
publication
of
Ray's
first
volume,
Palmyr
Cordier
("Recentes
decouvertes:'
pp.
347-48)
described
this
text
under
its
proper
name
of
Rasendramangala,
noting
that
it
was
"quite
identical
to
the
Rasaratnakara
recently
used
by
Prof.
P.
C.
Ray."
124.
Levi,
p.
106;
Filliozat,
Doctrine
dassique,
p.
10;
Eliade,
Yoga:
Immortality
and
Freedom,
p.
416.
125.
Dominik
Wujastyk,
''An
Alchemical
Ghost:
The
Rasaratnakara
by
juna:'
Ambix
31:2
(July
1984),
pp.
70-83.
126.
See
below,
chap.
5,
sec.
4j.
127.
See
above,
chap.
3,
secs.
2
and
3,
for
the
historical
background
to
the
RM's
dramatization.
128.
Ray,
History,
vol.
2,
pp.
xli-xlii.
He
further
claims
(ibid.,
p.liii),
on
the
basis
of
a
manuscript
colophon,
that
Govinda,
the
author
of
the
RHT,
"was
evidently
a
Buddhist"
in
spite
of
the
fact
that
this
text,
too,
is
thoroughly
Hindu.
129.
Ibid.,
pp.
xlii-xlvi.
Ray's
note,
in
which he
speaks
of
his
indebtedness
"for
the
passages
cited
here"
to
Shastri,
"who
has
wended
his
way
through
the
bulky
MS:'
does
not
state where
in
the
Kubjikamata
Shastri
allegedly
found
these
sages:
they
are
certainly
not
in
his
Catalogue
(vol.
I,
pp.
lxxviii-lxxx),
which
Ray
also
cites.
Ray's
attribution
of
the
description
of
six-times
killed
mercury
to
the
Kubjikamata
is
repeated
by
Mircea
Eliade
(Forgerons
et
alchimistes,
revised
ed.
[Paris:
Flammarion,
1977],
pp.
II2-13)
and
White
("Why
Gurus
Are
Heavy,"
Numen,
33
[1984],
p.
52).
His
misconception,
that
many
of
the
early
alchemical
tantras
were
Buddhist,
is
followed
by
o.
P.
Jaggi,
Yogic
and
Tantric
Medicine
(Delhi:
Atma
Ram
and
Sons,
1973),
pp.
133-34.
130.
Here,
it
is
worthwhile
to
note
that
a
later
Indian
historian
of
alchemy,
Bhudeb
Mookerji,
states
in
the
introduction
to
volume
one
of
his
five-volume
jala-nidhi,
that
"it
is
earnestly
hoped
that
Dr.
Sir
P.
C.
Ray
will
live
to
bring
out
a
revised
edition
of
his
book,
which
contains
so
many
misinterpretations
...
due,
no
doubt,
to
a
hasty
and
superficial
study
of
the
subject?'
131.
Here,
Sharma
(Ayurved,
p.
474)
miscites
pp.
125-26
of
the
1956
revised
one-volume
edition
of
Ray's
History,
which
are
a
discussion
of
Tamil
Sittar
alchemy.
Khilji's
sustained
invasion
of
Bengal
began
in
A.D.
1202.

4
0
3
Notes
to
Chapter
Four
132.
Sachau,
Alberuni's
India,
vol.
I,
p.
22.
That
Alberuni
did
not
consider
chemy
to
be
a
science,
but
rather
a
popular
superstition
is
made
abundantly
clear:
ibid.,
vol.
I,
p.
193.
133.
As
I
have
argued
(see
above,
chap.
3,
nn.
122-24),
the
early
1
rth
c.
prabhii
commentary
to
the
Kiilacakra
Tantra
contains
alchemical
data
that
is
quite
identical
to
that
of
the
Hindu
RA,
which
belongs
to
the
same
century.
134.
See
below,
chap.
5,
nn.
22-26.
135.
Sharma,
Ayurved,
pp.
3IO-II,
402-3.
136.
Siirilgadhara
Sa'lhhitii,
ed.
and
tr.
K.
R.
Srikanta
Murty
(Benares:
khambha,
1984),
pp.
xiii-xiv.
137.
Carl
Ernst,
"The
Arabic
Version
of
'The
Pool
of
the
Water
of
Life'
takw:.t4a);'
has
identified
forty-five
manuscripts
of
the
Arabic
translation
of
this
work
and
notes
that
there
exist
two
Persian
translations,
two
Turkish
translations,
and
one
Urdu
translation
of
this
work.
One
manuscript
makes
reference
to
ical
events
transpiring
in
the
early
13th
c.:
personal
communication
from
Carl
Ernst,
Chapel
Hill,
N.C.
November
1994.
See
below,
n.
153.
138.
Needham,
Science
and
Civilisation,
vol.
5,
part
5
(1983),
p.
285;
Dvivedi,
Niith
Sampradiiy,
p.
22.
For
other
cases
of
Hindu-Muslim
mystic
syncretism
in
gal,
see
Dasgupta,
Obscure,
pp.
157-87,
on
the
Bauls
of
Bengal.
See
Zbavitel,
Bengali
Literature,
pp.
189-90
on
the
dating
of
this
literary
work
in
Bengali.
139.
Krsna
Kumar
Bali,
Tillii
Gorak{aniith
(Haridwar:
Pir
Kala
Nath
Trust,
1983),
p.
17
and
throughout.
Cf.
Bharati,
Siddh
Siihity,
pp.
325-26.
140.
Thus
Bandyopadhyay
(Niith
Cult,
p.
43)
states
(misquoting
Sukumar
Sen,
History
of
Bengali
Literature,
with
a
foreword
by
Jawaharlal
Nehru
[New
Delhi:
itya
Academy,
1960],
p.
42)
that
"there
is
no
doubt
that
the
Nath
cult
originated
in
Eastern
India,
probably
in
Bengal,
long
before
the
fourteenth
century
when
we
first
get
a
reference."
For
an
informed
discussion
of
such
theories
and
their
pitfalls,
see
ati,
Siddh
Siihity,
pp.
323-24.
Cf.
Pandey,
Gorakhniith,
pp.
18-19.
14I.
Bharati,
Siddh
Siihity,
pp.
335-38.
See
Vaudeville
(Kabir
Granthavali
(Doha),
pp.
viii-ix;
xviii-xx)
for
the
specific
terms
fUnya
and
sahaja.
142.
Chattopadhyaya,
ed.,
Tiiraniitha's
History,
p.
vii.
143.
See
above,
chap.
3,
n.
143,
and
below,
chap.
8,
nn.
33-37.
LUI-pa
is
the
author
of
six
Buddhist
works
preserved
in
the
Tanjur:
Chattopadhyaya,
Tiiraniitha's
History,
p.
393.
144.
Chattopadhyaya,
Tiiraniitha's
History,
p.
320.
Taranatha
also
maintains
that
was
born
as
a
Buddhist
by
the
name
of
Anangavajra,
and
was
the
son
of
the
Pala
king
Gopala.
145.
See
above,
n.
63.
146.
He
calls
Jalandharl-pa
his
guru
in
song
no.
36;
he
refers
to
ku"!4alas
(which

4
0
4
Notes
to
Chapter
Four
he
identifies
as
the
sun
and
moon,
i.e.,
the
two
peripheral
channels
of
the
subtle
body)
and
the
unstruck
sound
in
song
no.
I
I:
Kva:rne,
Buddhist
Tantric
Songs,
pp.
119,
21
5.
147.
Dvivedi,
Nath
Sampraday,
p.
7;
Rose,
Glossary,
vol.
2,
p.
390;
Moti
Singh,
Nirgu1J
Sahity:
San:zskrtik
P'tffhabhumi
(Benares:
Nagaripracarini
Sabha,
1963),
P·5
2
Ł
148.
Dowman,
Masters,
pp.
81-90.
Taranatha's
is
a
case
of
mistaken
identity:
Nowotny,
Gorakfafataka,
pp.
24-25;
and
Chattopadhyaya,
Taranatha's
History,
p.
227.
CauraIigi
gives
the
same
account
of
himself
in
verses
1-2
of
the
ca.
14th
c.
Pra1J
Sankali
(in
Dvivedi,
Nath
Siddhon:z,
p.
19);
but
the
Grub
thob
myth
is
clearly
the
source
of
later
Hindu
legends
of
PuraIf
Bhagat
of
the
Punjab:
ibid.,
p.
227;
and
Nowotny,
Gorakfafataka,
pp.
24-25.
While
the
Tibetan
sources
make
CauraIigi
and
Goralq;a
Pala
princes
of
Bengal,
the
vernacular
Indian
traditions
make
CauraIfgi
the
son
of
king
Salivahana
of
Sialkot
(Jhelum
dist.,
Punjab,
Pakistan).
The
accuracy
of
this
tradition
is
attested
by
a
reference
GahaIflnath
(13th
c.)
makes
to
Gorakh
as
the
guru
of
Pip
a:
in
the
19th
c.
Punjabi
songs
ofPuraIf
Bhagat,
Plpa
is
the
adoptive
father
of
LOIfa,
the
"Potiphar's
wife"
of
this
story:
Dasgupta,
Obscure,
p.
388;
Temple,
Legends,
vol.
2,
pp.
388-89.
See
below,
chap.
9,
sec.
7,
for
an
extended
cussion
of
this
legend.
149.
This
is
Rahul
Sankrtyayana's
theory
("Recherches
Bouddhiques;'
p.
228).
On
theJogi
and
Kapalika
subcastes,
see
Dasgupta,
Obscure,
pp.
368-69;
and
Briggs,
Gorakhnath,
pp.
4-6,
53.
As
far
as
conversion
to
Islam
from
Hinduism
is
cerned,
it
has
been
hypothesized
that
renouncers
who
were
dispossessed
by
their
religious
orders
for
having
broken
their
vows
of
celibacy
were
eventually
driven
to
embrace
Islam.
Here,
their
status
changed
from
dispossessed
Hindu
(called
"Jogi"
in
this
case)
to
Islamicized
julaha
(Kablr
belonged
to
this
group,
which
straddled
Hinduism
and
Islam).
These
Islamicized
subcastes
were
then
converted,
en
masse,
by
the
Nath
Siddhas,
which
would
thus
account
for
the
large
numbers
of
holder
Naths:
personal
communication
from
Nagendranath
Upadhyaya,
Benares,
March
1985.
150.
If
at
times
their
work
appears
to
have
Hindu
overtones,
this
is
because
they
cribbed
much
of
their
material
from
such
Hindu
tantric
texts
as
the
cara"
of
the
Jayadrathayamalatantra,
the
Picumata-Brahmayamalatantra
and
the
trasadbhava.
On
this
and
other
resemblances
between
the
esotericBuddhism
of
the
Highest
Yoga
Tantras
(yoganuttara
tantra)
and
the
YoginI
cults
of
the
Kapalika
see
Sanderson,
"Saivism;'
pp.
678-79.
lSI.
Chattopadhyaya,
History,
p.
227.
152.
Vayutattvan:z
Bhavanopadefa
(Tanjur,
Derge
2377;
Peking
3219)
is
less
than
one
folio
in
length.
It
is
a
poetical
description
of
a
number
ofhathayogic

4
0
5
Notes
to
Chapter
Four
phenomena,
in
the
colophon
of
which
the
author
identifies
himself
as
Acarya
Ghorakha.
Curiously,
the
text
that
follows
(Derge
2378)
bears
the
same
title
as
this
one
and
is
attributed
to
Caurailgi,
that
Siddha
with
whom
legend
comes
confused
in
Tibetan
hagiography.
I
am
grateful
to
Steven
Weinberger
for
translating
this
text
from
the
Tibetan.
On
the
caryii
songs
attributed
to
in
the
Tanjur,
see
above,
n.
15.
153.
On
this
date,
see
Digby,
"Encounters
with
JogIs;'
p.
34.
154.
This
is
a
role
continues
to
play
in
rural
Bengal:
for
a
study,
see
Sarat
Chandra
Misra,
"On
the
Cult
of
in
Eastern
Bengal;'
Journal
of
the
Department
of
Letters
(University
of
Calcutta)
14
(1927),
pp.
1-41.
155.
Pandey,
Gorakhniith,
p.
60.
See
above,
n.
74,
for
a
possible
parallel
ment
at
Kadri,
in
Karnataka.
156.
Ernst
Bruce
Alexander,
Statistical
Description
and
Historical
Account
of
the
North-Western
Provinces
of
India
[Gazetteer,
Northwest
Provinces,
vol.
6]
abad:
Northwest
Provinces
and
Oudh
Government
Press,
1881),
pp.
371,436.
Cf.
Pandey,
Gorakhniith,
p.
61,
citing
the
CitriivaliofUsman
Kavi
without
citation.
The
same
author
states
(ibid.)
that
''Allah
ud-Din
Khilaji
destroyed
the
famous
temple
of
Gorakhnath
in
the
13th
century,"
which
is
chronologically
impossible.
Its
tion
by
Aurangzeb
in
the
17th
c.
(ibid.)
is
more
likely
based
in
historical
fact.
157.
The
ca.
13th
c.
MBhT,
a
Sakta
Tantra
and
the
sole
text
with
any
significant
alchemical
content
to
have
come
out
of
eastern
India,
makes
no
mention
of
any
of
the
Siddhas.
158.
Edward
C.
Dimock,Jr.,
The
Place
of
the
Hidden
Moon:
Erotic
Mysticism
in
the
Vais:rJava-sahajiyii
Cult
of
Bengal
(Chicago:
University
of
Chicago
Press,
1966.
print
Delhi:
Motilal
Banarsidass,
1991),
pp.
249-70.
159.
A
ground-breaking
survey
of
the
often
sympathetic
relations
between
the
Nath
Siddhas
and
Sufis
in
medieval
India
is
Digby,
"Encounters
with
JogIs."
See
also
Gold,
Lord
as
Guru,
pp.
2O?-8;
and
Dominique-Sila
Khan,
"L'Origine
lienne
du
culte
hindou
de
Ramdeo
PIr;'
Revue
de
I'Histoire
des
Religions
210
(1993),
pp.
27-47;
and
idem,
"Ramdeo
Pir
and
the
Kama4iya
Panth;'
in
Folk,
Faith,
and
Feudalism,
ed.
N.
K.
Singhi
and
RajendraJoshi
(Jaipur:
Rawat
Publications,
1995),
pp.
295-3
2
7.
160.
Many
vain
attempts
have
been
made
to
generate
biographies
of
the
major
Naths
out
of
the
mass
of
legend
on
their
subjects:
Dasgupta,
Obscure,
pp.
191-92,
218,
36?-98;
Dvivedi,
Niith
Sampradiiy,
pp.
149-80;
idem,
Niith
Siddhoo/,
pp.
4-21;
and
Briggs,
Gorakhniith,
pp.
228-50.
161.
The
entire
Gangetic
Plain,
from
Bengal
in
the
east
to
J
alandhara
(Punjab)
in
the
northwest,
was
politically
unified
under
the
Pala
kings
of
Bengal
between
the
8th
and
12th
centuries:
Joseph
E.
Schwartzberg,
ed.
A
Historical
Atlas
of
South

4
06
Notes
to
Chapter
Four
Asia
(Chicago:
University
of
Chicago
Press,
1978;
second
impression,
with
tional
material,
New
York:
Oxford
University
Press,
1992),
p.
146,
pI.
xiv.
162.
Viisavadattii,
verse
87;
and
Ro§u,
''Alchemy
and
Sacred
Geography,"
p.
153.
The
RRA
(4.8.1-185:
Srfnityaniithasiddhaviracita
(Rasaratniikariintargataf
caturtha)
ed.
Yadavji
Trikamji
Acharya
[Benares:
Chaukhamba
Sanskrit
Pustakalaya,
1939]);
and
the
AK
(1.12.1-200)
contain
long
descriptions
of
lam.
See
also
Arion
Ro§u,
"Mantra
et
Yantra
dans
la
medecine
et
l'alchimie
ennes;'
Journal
Asiatique,
274:3-4
(19
86
),
pp.
25
1
,
255.
163.
The
Kapalikas,
who
had
important
ties
with
Srisailam,
were
also
especially
strong
in
the
south,
following
the
lOth
c.
Prior
to
that,
they
may
have
been
tered
in
the
Himalayan
regions,
where
their
practices
of
ritualized
sex
strongly
fluenced
the
nascent
tantric
tradition,
as
documented
in
the
ca.
9th
c.
mala
Tantra:
Gonda,
Medieval,
pp.
165,
216;
Lorenzen,
s.v.
"Saivism:
Pasupatas;'
in
Encyclopedia
of
Religion;
idem,
"New
Data;'
in
Hiltebeitel,
ed.,
Criminal
Gods,
p.
23
I;
and idem,
Kiipiilikas,
pp.
106-8.
164.
The
oldest
existing
edifice
on
the
peak
of
Srisailam
itself
is
the
juna
temple,
which
houses
the
jyotirlinga
of
the
same
name.
This
temple
dates
from
the
13th-14th
c.:
Ro§u,
''A
la
recherche;'
p.
34.
A
Mallikarjuna
is
located
at
vata
in
the
6th
c.
Viisavadattii:
Hall,
Viisavadattii,
p.
11.
165.
Miilatf-Miidhava
(Bhavabhiiti's
Miilatf-Miidhava,
with
the
Commentary
gaddhara,
3d
ed.,
M.
R.
Kale,
ed.
[Delhi:
Motilal
Banarsidass,
1967]),
act
5,
vv.
1-2.
See
also
Lorenzen,
Kiipiilikas,
p.
95,
and
below,
chap.
5,
n.
84·
166.
Sastri,
"Doctrinal
Culture;'
p.
304;
Bhattacharyya,
History,
p.
284.
The
Tungabhadra,
a
branch
of
the
Krishna
or
Kisma
River,
flows
past
Alampur
nool
district,
Andhra
Pradesh),
the
western
"gateway"
to
Srisailam
(Ro§u,
chemy
and
Sacred
Geography,"
p.
ISS),
and
on
to
the
modern
Hampi
(Bellary
district,
Karnataka),
i.e.,
the
capital
of
Vi
jay
ana
gar
a,
whose
kings
were,
in
the
14th-
17th
centuries,
great
patrons
of
the
Vlrasaivas.
Kadri,
the
great
"Yogi"
monastery,
was
also
located
within
the
borders
of
this
empire:
Saletore,
Social
and
Political
Life,
vol.
2,
p.
53.
In
more
common
usage,
the
term
Antarvedf
referred
to
the
Doab,
the
region
lying
between
the
Ganges
and
Yamuna
rivers
in
modern-day
south
central
Uttar
Pradesh:
D.
C.
Sircar,
Studies
in
the
Geography
of
Ancient
and
Medieval
India
(Delhi:
Motilal
Banarsidass,
1990),
pp.
303-7.
167.
This
is
not
the
same
text
as
that
portion
of
the
Bhavisya
PuriiTfa
cited
above
in
n.
II6.
In
the
Siinyasampiidane,
a
Vlrasaiva
source,
Allama
Prabhu
condemns
Gorakh's
alchemy
in
no
uncertain
terms:
Ramanujan,
Speaking
of
Siva,
p.
147.
While
Allama
Prabhu
lived
in
the
12th
c.,
this
work,
which
casts
him
as
a
porary
of
Gorakh,
was
compiled
during
the
reign
of
the
Vijayanagara
king
Devar-

4
0
7
Notes
to
Chapter
Four
aya
II
(A.D.
1419-47):
Sunyasampiidane,
foreword
to
vol.
I,
p.
ii.
See
also
Dasgupta,
Obscure,
p.
255.
168.
Kardaswamy,
History,
p.
354.
The
liilga
at
Pasupatinath,
the
"national
shrine"
of
Kathmandu
and
Nepal,
is
also
called
paraspati,
transmutational.
tion
holds
that
a
man
wearing
lead
bracelets
once
purposely
embraced
the
liilga.
The
bracelets
were
turned
to
gold,
but
the
man,
who
had
come
to
worship
out
of
desire
rather
than
devotion,
was
physically
unable
to
leave
the
temple
sanctum
until
he
had
removed
the
bracelets:
personal
communication
from
Purna
Giri,
Hardwar,
March
1984.
169.
Kardaswamy,
History,
p.
330.
Korakkar's
south
Indian
samiidhi
is
located
at
Poiyur
(Thanjavur
district),
a
village
near
Nagapattinam
on
the
Tamil
coast:
ibid.,
p.
354.
A
Nath
Siddha
establishment
is
located
at
the
same
site:
personal
cation
from
N.
Sethu
Raghunathan,
Madurai,January
1985.
170.
Korakkar
Malai
ftagatam
(Madurai:
G.
Ramasamkykone
Booksellers,
1968),
cited
in
N.
Sethu
Raghunathan,
"Contribution
of
Yoogi
Munivar
for
Siddha
tem
of
Medicine;'
Heritage
of
the
Tamils:
Siddha
Medicine,
ed.
S.
V.
Subrahmanian
and
V.
R.
Madhavan
(Madras:
International
Institute
of
Tamil
Studies,
1983),
p.
616.
171.
Ro§u,
''Alchemy
and
Sacred
Geography,"
p.
153.
On
Nityanatha's
probable
membership
in
the
Nath
order,
see
below,
chap.
5,
n.
41
and
sec.
4h.
172.
B.
Rama
Rao
and
M.
V.
Reddy,
''A
Note
on
and
his
Work
Yogadfpikii,"
Bulletin
of
the
Indian
Institute
of
the
History
of
Medicine
(Hyderabad)
12
(1982),
pp.
34-35.
Following
this
episode,
GauraJ:.1a
goes
on
to
relate
the
battle
between
the
diamond-bodied
Gorakh
and
the
divine-bodied
Allama
Prabhu:
see
above,
n.
II5.
The
so-called
Yogadrpikii,
as
these
authors
describe
it,
is
clearly
an
Old
Kannada
version
of
the
Harhayogapradlpikii
of
Svatmarama,
with
added
rial
on
the
transmutation
of
base
metals
into
gold:
ibid.,
p.
37.
See
below,
chap.
5,
n.117·
173.
Ro§u,
''Alchemy
and
Sacred
Geography,"
p.
154.
Another
Hindu
version
of
this
legend
is
found
in
the
Kathiisaritsiigara
(41.57):
Ocean,
vol.
3,
pp.
252-56.
Cf.
Watters,
Yuan-Chwang,
vol.
2,
pp.
201-6.
See
above,
chap.
3,
nn.
106-107.
174.
Watt,
Dictionary,
vol.
5,
pp.
232-34.
Cf.
Ro§u,
''Alchemy
and
Sacred
raphy,"
pp.
ISS-56.
175.
The
Vijayanagara
kings
(A.D.
1336-1565),
although
based
at
Hampi,
were
devotees
of
Siva
Mallikarjuna
at
Srisailam:
Konduri
Sarojini
Devi,
Religion
in
the
Vijayanagara
Empire
(New
Delhi:
Sterling,
1990),
pp.
88-89,
176,
180.
176.
Ro§u,
''A
la
recherche;'
pp.
44-46,
52.
See
above,
chap.
3,
n.
47.
177.
NSC,
pp.
215,
217;
idem.
"Gorakh"
Vife{iiilk,
pp.
266-68.
There
are
prob-

4
08
Notes
to
Chapter
Four
lems
of
chronology
here.
Satyanath
is
associated
with
the
16th
c.
Garhwali
king
Ajaypal;
Anandagiri,
if
he
is
the
same
hagiographer
of
Sankara
as
the
Anandagiri
who
authored
the
Sankaravijaya,
is
a
14th-15th
c.
author;
and
Sankaracarya
himself
is
an
8th
century
reformer
of
Hinduism.
178.
K}fiN
16·5-7;
KM
2.5-6;
KPT
15.2
and
16.9
(pp.
356
and
367
ofJivananda
Bhattacarya,
ed.
Indrajiilavidyiisan:zgraha
(Calcutta:
V V
Mukherji,
1925)
Cf.
dey,
Gorakhniith,
pp.
66-68.
179.
Srivastav,
ed.
"Gorakh"
Vifefiink,
p.
II9·
180.
Like
the
Calukyas
of
(roth-I2th
c.)
before
them,
the
Yadavas
of
Devagiri
(A.D.
II
7
5-
13
18)
ruled
an
area
comprising
Maharashtra,
Karnataka,
and
the
western
Deccan
(encompassing
the
region
of
the
Andhran
Srisailam):
Schwartzberg,
Historical
Atlas,
pp.
147-48,
pI.
xiv.
3).
181.
While
Bhaskara's
is
an
extremely
common
name,
it
may
well
be
that
the
same
Bhaskara
who
was
eulogized
by
Siddha
Nagarjuna
in
the
opening
verse
of
the
12th-13th
c.
Yogaratnamiilii,
was
also
the
author
of
a
lost
alchemical
work
entitled
the
Rasendra
Bhiiskara:
Priyavrat
Sharma,
Niigiirjuna's
Yogaratnamiilii
with
the
mentary
o!Svetiimbara
BhikfU
GU7Jiikara
(Benares:
Chaukhambha
Orientalia,
1977),
pp.
9-II;
and idem,
Ayurved,
p.
230.
182.
Sharma,
Ayurved,
pp.
pO-I2,
402-7,
474, 482,
697.
A
precious
document
which
records
the
royal
patronage
of
Ayurvedic
physicians
and
alchemists
by
the
early
Yadavas
is
a
passage
from
the
Sangltaratniikara
(1.2-13),
a
treatise
on
music
by
Sarri.gadeva,
the
grandson
of
Bhaskara:
the
passage
is
reproduced
in
Sharma,
Ayurved,
p.
3
I
I.
183.
This
is
the
Yogisampradiiyiivifk1Ji
(YSA).
In
an
introduction
to
the
YSA,
(p.
ca),
Candranath
Yogi
states
that
his
is
an
abridged
Hindi
translation
ofJiianeSvara's
translation
(into
"Maharashtran")
of
a
Bengali
original
written
shortly
before
his
time.
He
gives
no
explanation
for
this
"Bengali
original;'
which
I
find
implausible,
given
that
the
names
of
the
Nath
Siddhas
treated
in
the
work
correspond
to
those
found
in
western
Marathi
rather
than
Bengali
hagiographic
traditions.
At
this
point,
I
am
unable
to
confirm
Candranath
Yogi's
assertion
that
this
is
in
fact
a
work
(or
translation)
originally
composed
by
Jiianesvara;
however,
apart
from
some
mentioned
in
a
number
of
appendices,
none
of
the
persons
figuring
in
the
work
appears
to
be
later
than
Jiianesvara's
late
13th
c.
dates.
The
manuscript
used
by
Candranath
Yogi
is
dated
to
A.D.
1773-74.
184.
Pandey,
Gorakhniith,
p.
65.
185.
The
Tantra
Mahiir7Java
is
a
work
which
locates
the
Nine
Naths
at
eight
of
the
nine
cardinal
directions.
Nagarjuna's
Godavari
location
corresponds
to
the
southern
quadrant:
Dasgupta,
Obscure,
p.
206.
See
below,
chap.
5,
n.
82.

4
0
9
Notes
to
Chapter
Four
186.
Kaviraj,
Bharatfy,
vol.
I,
pp.
151,
191-92,
197,
203;
Briggs,
Gorakhnath,
p.
12
I.
187.
Srivastav,
"Gorakh"
p.
119.
The
7th
c.
BaI)a
mentions
that
plantain
flourishes
along
the
shore
of
the
Godavari:
Sharma,
Indian
Medicine,
p.
145.
188.
Chinese
and
Persian
reports
of
exceptional
Indian
waters
date
back
to
the
middle
of
the
9th
c.
Like
mercury
and
sulfur,
sal
ammoniac
occurs
naturally
in
regions
of
geothermic
activity:
Needham,
Science
and
Civilisation,
vol.
5,
pt.
4
(1980),
pp.
197-98,435-37-
189.
RA
12.236-39.
Cf.
yet
another
reference
to
a
Srisailam,
where
"rock"
or
"peak
water"-failodaka-is
found,
as
well
as
a
long
list
of
sources
of
low-grade
"rock
water;'
most
of
which
are
in
southwestern
India
(RA
12.282-87).
190.
Kadalimaiijunatha
Mahatmya
(p.
33),
quoted
in
Pandey,
Gorakhnath,
p.
66.
191.
The
reference
is
found
in
RRS
16.126.
See
above,
nn.
134-35,
and
chap.
5,
n.
269.
One
could,
however,
read
RA
12.236
("on
the
southern
path,
in
the
tion
of
Death")
as
an
indication
that
the
author
was
from
somewhere
further
to
the
north.
However,
such
is
a
commonplace
way
of
speaking
of
India
south
of
the
Vindhyas
(Yama,
Death,
is
the
regent
of
the
southern
quarter).
Prior
to
the
vas,
the
Calukyas
of
KalyaI)I
ruled
this
region.
While
the
Manasollasa
(A.D.
I
131),
written
by
or
for
the
Calukya
monarch
SomeSvara
III
("Bhulokamalla"),
contains
long
passages
on
medicine
(1.135-307),
sorcery
for
locating
buried
treasure
(2.332-61),
transmutational
alchemy
(2.377-94)
and
the
testing
of
gemstones
(2.378-536),
it
shows
no
direct
influence
from
the
RA,
which
dates
from
a
century
earlier:
Manasollasa
of
King
Bhulokamalla
Somefvara,
3
vols,
ed.
G.
K.
Srigondekar,
Gaekwad's
Oriental
Series,
no.
28,
2d
ed.
(Baroda:
Oriental
Institute,
1967).
192.
Sharma,
Yogaratnamala,
pp.
8-10,13;
idem,
Ayurved,
pp.
310-11,402.
See
below,
chap.
5,
nn.
60
and
251.
193.
Sharma,
Yogaratnamala,
pp.
14-17.
194.
Phyllis
Granoff,
"Jain
Biographies
ofNagarjuna:
Notes
on
the
Composing
of
a
Biography
in
Medieval
India;'
in
Phyllis
Granoff
and
Koichi
Shinohara,
eds.,
Monks
and
Magicians:
Religious
Biographies
in
Asia
(Oakville,
Ontario:
Mosaic
Press,
19
88
),
pp.
4
8
-49.
195.
The
"Satavahana"
king
is
an
obvious
carryover
from
Buddhist
traditions.
Palinanakapura
is
to
be
identified
with
both
the
modern
Palitana
and
Mount
trufijaya,
as
well
as
Vallabhi
and
Pattan,
and
by
extension,
Mount
DhaIi.k.
196.
Summarized
in
Granoff,
"Jain
Biographies;'
pp.
48,50-51.
The
cintama1Ji
calls
the
elixir
"ten-million
transmutation
mercury"
the
"grinding
of
mercury"
(parada-mardana)
is
the
second
alchemical
sa'l1!skara:
Dvivedi,
Nath
Sampradiiy,
p.
153.

Notes
to
Chapter
Four
197.
See
below,
chap.
7,
n.
69.
198.
Granoff,
"Jain
Biographies;'
p.
52.
Dhank
is
located
sixteen
miles
(by
road)
northwest
of
Upaleta
(Rajkot
district,
Gujarat).
Dominik
Wujastyk
also
describes
an
image
of
Nagarjuna-together
with
that
of
a
figure
named
"Baror"
(who,
he
was
told,
wrote
Nagarjuna's
biography)-which,
located
in
a
private
dwelling
in
the
village
of
Dhank
itself,
is
receiving
active
worship:
letter
dated
24
February
1993.
199.
According
to
Shantilal
PranjivanJoshi,
who
wrote
the
forward
to
the
1959
Ajmer
edition
of
the
RU(p.
II),
it
was
with
the
alchemical
gold
produced
at
ValabhI
that
the
Jains
financed
the
building
of
the
lOth-14th
c.
Dilwara
temples
of
Mount
Abu,
considered
by
many
to
be
the
most
beautiful
examples
of
Jain
temple
ture
in
India.
200.
ValabhI
had
been
the
capital
of
the
Maitraka
kings,
whose
charters
date
from
A.D.
502
to
766.
Popular
and
bardic
traditions,
which
maintain
that
ValabhI
fell
in
A.D.
524,
are
chronologically
impossible:
D.
C.
Sircar,
The
Guhilas
dhii
(Calcutta:
Sanskrit
College,
1965),
pp.
24-25.
On
Amru
ibn
Jamal,
see
cal
and
Cultural
Chronology
of
Gujarat,
ed.
M.
R.
Majumdar
et
aI.,
2
vols.
(Baroda:
University
of
Baroda,
1960),
vol.
I,
p.
226.
201.
For
a
complete
rendering
of
this
account,
see
below,
chap.
9,
sec.
8.
202.
Sachau,
Alberuni's
India,
vol.
I,
p.
193.
203.
Personal
communication
from
Dominik
Wujastyk,
London,
May
1992.
204.
Briggs,
Gorakhniith,
pp.
II6-I7.
This
leads
into
another
legend
concerning
Dharamnath
and
Dhinodar
hill,
the
site
of
an
important
Nath
monastery
to
the
north
of
Bhuj,
the
capital
of
Kacch:
Dalpatram
Pranjivan
Khakhar,
"History
of
the
Kanpha!as
of
Kacch,
Indian
Antiquary
7
(1878),
pp.
47-53'
These
accounts
further
resemble
the
myth
of
the
fall
of
capital,
Dvaraka,
which
was
swallowed
up
by
the
ocean
shortly
after
the
conclusion
of
the
great
Mahiibhiirata
war:
Dvaraka
is
located
across
the
Gulf
of
Kacch
from
Mandavi.
The
fact
that
the
Kathiawar
sula
and
Kacch
are
both
low-lying
regions
with
swampy,
shifting
coastlines
is
no
doubt
also
a
source
for
accounts
of
"fallen"
cities
of
Pattan.
See
the
maps
of
Gujarat
in
Schwartzberg,
Atlas,
pp.
8-32,
which
indicate
that
the
Kacch
region
has
been
periodically
submerged
by
the
ocean
over
the
past
millennia.
205.
Walter
Ruben,
Eisenschmiede
und
Diimonen
in
Indien,
Internationales
Archiv
fur
Ethnographie,
37,
suppl.
(Lei
den:
Brill,
1939),
p.
205,
citing
Linga
Purii1Ja
1.97.
1
-4
2
.
206.
KPT
2-40:
asya
purvamevayutarp.
japtva
tato
'nena
mantreI).a
pasanarp.
tabhimantritarp.
lqtva
pattane
vii
griime
va
tena
pasanena
taqayet!
grama
madhye
aprarthitarp.
sukhabhogam
prapnoti.
Cf.
KPT
I.
33
(in
Bhattacarya,
ed,
Indrajiilavidyiisan;zgraha,
pp.
267,
280).

4
II
Notes
to
Chapter
Four
207.
Nagarjuna's
toponym
may
correspond
to
Patan,
a
city
in
northern
war
that
has
been
continuously
inhabited
since
the
period
in
question
and
near
to
which
is
a
mountain
(Osam)
that
has
long
been
a
site
connected
to
the
practice
of
Ayurvedic
medicine:
Kalya1}
Sakti
Ailk,
pp.
661,
664.
The
Pattan
that
Dharamnath
brought
down
was
located
in
southern
Kacch,
over
two
hundred
miles
to
the
west.
Both
toponyms
are,
however,
within
Gujarat,
as
are
a
number
of
other
onyms
ending
in
-patan.
208.
Granoff
"Jain
Biographies;'
p.
60,
citing
Jyoti
Prasad
Jain,
"Jain
Authors
and
Their
Works;'
Jaina
Antiquary
33
[1980],
p.
27.
Granoff
does
not
give
the
title
of
this
work.
209.
Paduha-doha
no.
126,
cited
in
Srivastav,
ed.,
"Gorakh"
Viferailk,
p.
50.
Cf.
Dasgupta,
Obscure,
pp.
58-60.
210.
Elizabeth
Sharpe,
An
Eight-Hundred
Year
Old
Book
of
Indian
Medicine
and
Formulas,
Translated
from
the
Original
Very
Old
Hindi
into
Gujarati
Character
and
Thence
into
English
(London:
Luzac
&
Co,
1937;
reprint
New
Delhi:
Asian
tional
Services,
I979),
p.
6.
A
12th-14th
c.
alchemical
text,
entitled
muccaya,
was
the
work
of
the
Jain
monk
Suri:
J.
C.
Sikdar,
ed.
and
tr.,
The
Rasa-ratna-samuccaya
ofMa1}ikyadeva
Suri
(Jaipur:
Prakrta
Bharati
Academy,
1986),
p.
i.
It
in
no
way
resembles
Vagbhana
II's
alchemical
work
of
the
same
title.
211.
RC
2.I;
RPS
13.I5.
See
below,
chap.
5,
n.
225.
212.
Watt,
Dictionary,
vol.
5,
p.
233.
The
Jamnagar
alchemical
experiment
was
described
to
me
by
Siddhinandan
Misra:
personal
communication,
Benares,
March
1985.
213.
John
Cort,
"Twelve
Chapters
from
The
Guidebook
to
various
Pilgrimage
Places,
the
Vividhatfrthakalpa
of
Jlnaprabhasuri;'
in
Phyllis
Granoff,
ed.,
The
Clever
Adulteress
and
the
Hungry
Monk:
A
Treasury
of
Jain
Literature
(New
York,
Mosaic
Press,
1990),
pp.
251-58;
and
Skanda
Pura1}a
7.2.6.8.
the
Sanskrit
name
for
this
site,
reflects
a
link
with
the
cult
of
Dattatreya
as
an
incarnation
of
the
god
In
the
YSA,
the
nine
Naths
are
identified
with
nine
and
led
by
Dattatreya.
The
names
of
the
nine
are
found
in
the
Bhavisya
Pura1}a
(cited
in
Rajesh
Dikshit,
Sri
Navanath
Caritra
Sagar
[Delhi:
Dehati
Pustak
Bhandar,
1969],
pp.
13-14);
the
nine
Naths
mentioned
there
are
those
currently
revered
in
Maharashtrau
traditions.
214.
Watters,
Yuan-Chwang's
Travels,
vol.
2,
pp.
248-49;
Harracarita
8.226.
The
YSA
states
that
Matsyendra
ended
his
career
at
Girnar:
Mallik,
SSp,
p.
IO.
The
early
I9th
c.
Natha
Caritra
(ASL
MSS
no.
I5731r645)
of
Man
Singh,
king
ofMarwar,
devotes
no
fewer
than
fourteen
chapters
(1.2;
2.I-13)
to
Girnar;
most
of
these
concern
the
travels
of
Goplcand
to
the
site
and
the
meetings
he
had
with

412
Notes
to
Chapter
Four
Dattatreya,
Matsyendra,
and
other
Nath
Siddhas
there.
Man
Singh
was
married to
a
Gujarati
princess.
See
also
Kaviraj,
Bharatiy,
vol.
I,
p.
197,
on
the
Aghori
Baba
Kinnaram,
who
had
a
vision
(darfan)
of
Dattatreya
on
Girnar
in
1724.
2IS.
Briggs,
Gorakhnath,
pp.
rro-I9;
Pandey,
Gorakhnath,
pp.
63-64.
2I
6.
Personal
communication,
Kathmandu,
October
1984.
See
below,
chap.
I
I,
sec.
4,
for
the
fruit
of
my
searches.
The
geographical
remoteness
of
the
sites
of
Girnar
and
Abu
may
also
account
for
their
perennial
frequentation
by
Nath
dhas
and
members
of
other
tantric
orders
whose
practices
were
viewed
as
nable
by
mainstream
Hindu
society.
On
the
terrible
practices
of
the
Aghoris
at
these
two
sites,
see
H.
W.
Barrow,
"On
Aghoris
and
Aghorapanthis;'
Anthropological
Society
of
Bombay
3:4
(1893),
pp.
199,
2
rr-I4,
246.
217.
A
number
of
major
Nath
sites
are
called
"[Gorakh]
Tilla,"
an
alloform
of
"Tileti":
the
most
important
of
these
is
found
above
Jhelum
(Jhelum
district,
jab,
Pakistan):
Briggs,
Gorakhnath,
pp.
IOI-3.
Formerly,
the
Nath
Siddhas
had
an
important
monastery
called
Gorakh
Tilla
in
Benares:
ibid.,
p.
84.
218.
At
Mount
Abu,
"Gopkand's
cave"
is
located
near
the
top
of
the
central
peak
(above
it
is
a
temple
to
the
goddess
of
Acalgarh;
in
the
pass
tween
this
and
the
eastern
peak
is
a
shrine
to
Gorakh.
At
Girnar,
it
is
Bhartrhari
whose
cave
(an
image
of
Gopkand
is
there
as
well)
is
located
in
a
dip
between
the
first
and
second
peaks
and
Gorakh
whose
dhiini
is
found
atop
the
central
peak.
219.
See
below,
chap.
10,
nn.
I2S-30.
220.
Cannabis,
called
vijaya
"victory"
in
a
number
of
tantric
texts
is,
according
to
the
Tara
Tantra
(3.1-1
I),
essential
to
ecstasy.
The
7th
c.
south
Indian
Tirumular
sings
the
praises
of
marijuana
in
his
Tirumantiram
(Ro§u,
"Yoga
et
alchimie;'
p.
370);
and
the
kanja
plant
(ganja,
marijuana)
is
called
"Gorakh's
root;'
korakkar-muli,
in
Sittar
traditions
(Kardaswamy,
History,
p.
354).
221.
Briggs,
Gorakhnath,
p.
72.
See
above,
n.
67.
222.
This
and
a
number
of
other
Rajasthani
legends
that
follow
were
related
to
Colonel
James
Tod,
author
of
Annals
and
Antiquities
of
Rajasthan,
ed.
with
an
introduction
by
William
Crooke,
3
vols.
(London:
H.
Milford,
1920;
reprint
Delhi:
Low
Cost
Publication,
1990).
Tod
(vol.
I,
pp.
258-60)
presents
the
following
count
as
history;
Sircar
(Guhilas,
pp.
12-13)
demonstrates
that
it
is
a
legend.
Wink
(AI-Hind,
vol.
I,
p.
294)
maintains
that
the
Guhilots
who
would
become
the
lords
of
Mewar
originated
in
Gujarat,
noting
the
existence
of
a
forest
named
Guhila
in
that
province.
223.
The
Acalgarh
fort
at
Abu
was
the
old
stronghold
of
the
Paramaras
of
dravatI
and
Abu:
B.
N.
Dhoundiyal,
Rajasthan
District
Gazateers:
Sirohi
(Jaipur:
Government
Central
Press,
1967),
p.
430.
The
ruins
of
CandravatI
are
situated

4
1
3
Notes
to
Chapter
Four
about
halfway
between
Amba
Bhavanl
and
Abu,
at
about
twelve
miles'
distance
from
both
sites:
Alexander
Kinloch
Forbes,
Riis-miilii:
Hindu
Annals
of
Western
India,
with
Particular
Reference
to
Gujarat
(London:
Richardson,
1878;
reprint
New
Delhi:
Heritage
Publishers,
1973),
p.
210.
224.
Tod,AnnalsandAntiquities,
vol.
I,
p.
259;
and
Sircar,
Guhilas,
pp.
12-13.
A
number
of
legends
connect
the
aboriginal
BhIls
of
Rajasthan
and
Gujarat
with
the
alchemical
touchstone.
The
founder
of
the
Mandalgarh
branch
of
the
Calukya
race
raised
the
walls
of
his
fortress
(Mandalgarh)
with
the
gold
he
made
from
a
piiras
patthar
("touchstone")
found
by
a
certain
Mandoo,
a
Bhll
in
his
service:
Tod,
Annals
and
Antiquities,
vol.
2,
p.
545.
A
similar
scenario
involving
a
Bhll
blacksmith's
prentice
is
found
in
the
Kathiisaritsiigara
(Ocean,
vol.
3,
p.
161
n.
I).
225.
Tod,AnnalsandAntiquities,
vol.
I,
pp.
255,
259,
265-70;
and
Sircar,
Guhilas,
pp.
26-
2
7.
226.
Here,
Bappa's
legend
parallels
that
of
Guha.
Bappa's
mother
is
also
from
the
kingdom
of
Candravati.
227.
Ekalinga
Miihiitmyam
19.35-68
(Premlata
Sharma,
Ekalingamiihiitmyam
(Ekling
Mandir
kii
Sthalapurii'/'f
evan;z
Mewii4
ke
Riij-Van;zf
kii
Itihiis
[Delhi:
Motilal
Banarsidass,
1976],
pp.
85-88).
This
source
does
not
provide
the
important
account
of
spitting,
which
is
given
only
in
Tod
(Annals
and
Antiquities,
vol.
I,pp.
264-65),
who
also
indicates
that
the
initiatory
thread
with
which
Harlta
Rasi
invested
Bappa
Rawal
was
called
janeo,
which
is
a
specifically
Nath
Siddha
term.
228.
Gaurishankar
H.
Ojha,
''A
Gold
Coin
of
Bappa
Rawal;'
Journal
of
the
Asiatic
Society
of
Bengal,
new
series
no.
6,
vol.
23,
Numismatic
Supplement
no.
40
(1926-
27),
pp.
14-
1
9.
229.
On
Harita
Rasi's
name,
see
Sircar,
Guhila,
p.
25.
Rasi
was
also
a
common
suffix
to
names
of
Kalamukhas,
an
early
sectarian
evolute
of
the
Pasupatas:
A.
S.
Altekar,
"The
Rashtrak:uras;'
in
G.
Yazdani,
ed.,
The
Early
History
of
the
Deccan,
2
vols.
(London:
Oxford
University
Press,
1960-61),
vol.
2,
pp.
705,
707.
According
to
Singh's
19th
c.
Riporf
(vol.
2,
p.
241),
the
forerunners
of
the
Kanphara
logis
in
Rajasthan
were
called
"Rasl:'
2
30.
Briggs,
Gorakhniith,
p.
247;
and
Henri
Stern,
"Le
temple
d'EkliilgjI
et
Ie
royaume
de
Mewar
(Rajasthan)
(rapport
au
divin,
royaute
et
territoire:
sources
d'une
maltrise);'
in
L'Espace
du
Temple
[Pur'U{iirtha
ro]
(1986),
p.
30
n.
19.
231.
Dvivedi,
Niith
Sampradiiy,
pp.
174-75.
232.
Briggs,
Gorakhniith,
p.
66;
idem.,
The
Chamiirs
(Oxford:
Oxford
University
Press,
1920),
p.
76;
Rose,
Glossary,
vol.
2,
pp.
407-8;
NSC,
pp.
191-92;
Dvivedi,
Niith
Sampradiiy,
p.
179.
The
Pagalpanthis
may
be
connected,
through
the
persons
of
Caurailginath-Pural).
Bhagat
and
Rasalu,
with
an
11th
c.
king
named
Gaj,
whose

414
Notes
to
Chapter
Five
capital,
originally
called
GajapurI,
had
its
name
changed
to
RawalpiI)4i
(the
wal's
body"?):
ibid.,
p.
178.
There
is
also
an
Indian
jiiti
called
Rawal,
which
probably
descends
from
these
western
Yogis:
Briggs,
Gorakhniith,
pp.
49,
53, 54·
233.
Gorakh
Biini,
Pad
31.
Cf.
Briggs,
Gorakhniith,
p.
66;
Dvivedi,
Niith
diiy,
p.
165;
and
NSC,
p.
191-92,
226.
There
is
a
Nagnath
temple
located
at
hat,
north
of
Ranikhet,
in
the
Almora
district
of
western
Uttar
Pradesh:
Kanti
sad
Nautiyal,
The
Archaeology
of
Kumaon
(Varanasi:
Chowkhambha,
1969),
p.
219.
234.
NSC,
pp.
191,
224;
idem.,
ed.
"Gorakh"
Vife{iink,
p.
370;
Rose,
Glossary,
vol.
2,
p.
396;
and
Tucci,
''Animadversiones
Indicae;'
p.
137.
See
below,
chap.
5,
nn.15-
16
.
235.
On
JvalamukhI-Ba4ava,
the
"seven-tongued
flame;'
in
the
Mahiibhiirata
(3.80.106),
see
Surinder
Mohan
Bhardwaj,
Hindu
Places
of
Pilgrimage
in
India
(Berkeley:
University
of
California
Press,
1973),
pp.
44,
47-48.
On
the
bii4ava
of
the
subtle
body,
see
below,
chap.
8,
sec.
2C.
236.
The
Nath
Siddhas
associate
the
site
with
Gorakh
and
Nagarjuna:
Kathleen
M.
Erndl,
Victory
to
the
Mother:
The
Hindu
Goddess
of
Northwest
India
in
Myth,
Ritual,
and
Symbol
(New
York:
Oxford
University
Press,
1993),
pp.
44-48.
237.
On
the
role
of
the
Nagnathis
on
the
Hiilglaj
pilgrimage,
see
Devadatt
Sastri,
Agneyatirtha
Hingliij
(Bombay:
Lokaloka
Prakashan,
1978)
pp.
4,
6-8.
The
Rawal
"caste"
traditionally
worships
Hiilglaj
Mata,
together
with
Siva
Bhairava,
Gorakhnath,
and
Macchandranath:
R.
E.
Enthoven,
The
Tribes
and
Castes
of
Bombay,
3
vols.
(Bombay:
Government
Central
Press,
1923),
vol.
3,
pp.
306-8.
On
the
Muslim
Jogis
of
the
Sind
who
continue
to
go
to
Hiilglaj
on
pilgrimage,
see
Mujtaba
and
Shah,
"Taming;'
p.
83.
238.
YogviifJi
2:3
(March
1977),
pp.
44-46,
cited
in
Pandey,
Gorakhniith,
p.
64.
239.
Tod,AnnalsandAntiquities,
vol.
2,
p.
II96.
240.
I
have
summarized
Tod's
rendering
of
this
account.
The
name
of
Tod's
"Rita"
may
be
related
to
the
RItabiknath
"Yogi
caste"
of
the
Central
Provinces
who,
Briggs
reports
(Gorakhniith,
p.
50),
prepare
and
sell
soap-nut
(an
ingredient
used
in
an
alchemical
experiment
conducted
in
the
1940S:
see
below,
chap.
II,
sec.
1).
241.
See
below,
chap.
10,
nn.
19-21.
Chapter
Five
1.
Marcel
Detienne,
L'invention
de
la
mythologie
(Paris:
Gallimard,
1981),
pp.
13
1
-43.
2.
The
majority
of
these
solitary
citations
are
culled
from
a
list
found
in
Sharma
(Ayurved,
pp.
489-94),
who
inventories
alchemical
titles
together
with
their
alleged
authors,
without
any
other
descriptive
material.
He
notes
that
he
obtained
this
list
from
Siddhinandan
Misra,
author
of
Ayurvedrya
Rasafiistra
and
other
works,
and

4
1
5
Notes
to
Chapter
Five
suggests
that
other
data
are
available
in
the
Rasaratnakara
(there
are
three
distinct
works
by
this
title)
and
the
Rasakaumudf
(of
which
there
are
also
three),
as
well
as
the
Paradasamhita
and
other
20th
c.
works
on
rasa
fastra.
3.
The
names
Adinatha,
Rudra,
and
Brahma
figure
in
the
Kular1'!ava
tra
(6.63b-64)
list
of
the
twelve
deities
of
the
divyaugha.
4-
Personal
communication
from
N.
Sethu
Raghunathan,
Madurai,
January
1985,
referring
to
an
appendix
to
the
14th
c.
Sarilgadhara
Samhita.
I
am
more
clined
to
attribute
these
lacunae
to
the
fact
that
much
of
what
south
Indian
ography
treats
as
historical
fact
(names
of
authors
and
texts,
etc.)
is
in
fact
legend.
So,
for
example,
A.
Shanmugavelan
(Siddhar
Science,
p.
16)
maintains
that
the
Vedic
sage
Agastya
(Agathiar)
learned
the
Tamil
language
from
the
(Buddhist
sattva)
Avalogithar
in
north
India,
before
coming
south
to
found
the
discipline
of
Sittar
alchemy;
the
same
Agastya
would
have
taught
medicine to
the
elder
bhatta!
5.
Sharma,
Ayurved,
p.
491;
Ray,
History,
vol.
2,
p.
xcvi.
6.
RavaJ?a
is
mentioned
by
name
in
RM:
Paris
MSS
no.
1222,
fol.
27b,
lines
9-10.
In
the
Riimaya,,!a,
Candrasena
(2)
was
the
name
of
RavaJ?a's
father-in-law
(i.e.,
the
father
of
RavaJ?a's
wife
Mandodari),
a
king
of
Simhala-dvipa
(generally
fied
with
Sri
Lanka):
Singh,
Nirgu,,!
Sahity,
p.
63.
A
Sittar
alchemical
work
names
RavaJ?a's
son
Indrajit
as
an
alchemist:
see
above,
chap.
3,
n.
34.
Another
of
RavaJ?a's
sons,
Meghanada,
is
named
as
a
Nath
Siddha
in
a
ca.
1400
A.D.
Telugu
text,
the
Navanathacaritra
of
GauraJ?a:
see
above,
chap.
4,
n.
65.
7.
RM,
fol.
25a,
lines
6-10.
Cf.
Sharma,
Ayurved,
pp.
185,493.
8.
RM,
fols.
24b.I,
26b.9.
Cf.
Cordier,
"Recentes
decouvertes;'
p.
347.
9.
Ro§u,
"Yoga
et
alchimie;'
p.
376;
idem,
"Mantra;'
p.
252.
10.
RC
15.35.
Earlier
than
the
Bhaskara
who
was
Nagarjuna's
guru
(see
above,
chap.
4,
n.
181),
another
Bhaskara
would
have
authored
a
commentary
on
the
fruta
Samhita,
entitled
the
Sufruta
Paiijika,
in
the
12th
century:
Sharma,
mala,
pp.
9-II;
and
idem.,
Ayurved,
p.
230,
31O-II,
402-5.
Somadeva
also
tions
Dinesvara
(15.34),
and
the
sage
Brahmajyoti,
who
are
mentioned
nowhere
else.
I!.
Sharma,
Ayurved,
pp.
489-94.
Naravahana
is
a
title
of
Kubera,
the
Hindu
god
of
wealth;
Naravahanadatta
is
a
hero
of
Somadeva's
Kathiisaritsagara
who
comes
the
emperor
of
the
Vidyadharas:
Ocean,
vol.
8,
pp.
21-132,
and
vol.
9,
p.
II9.
12.
These
works
are
the
Rasasiddhifastra
(no.
4313
in
the
Derge
Tanjur)
and
the
Rasayana
Sastroddhrti.
See
above,
chap.
3,
n.
12
I.
13·
See
above,
chap.
4,
n.
235·
14.
The
Carpa!
Nath
jf
ke
flok
is
found
in
Dvivedi,
Nath
Siddhon.z,
p.
18.
A
ment
(5
folios,
72
verses)
of
a
vernacular
work
entitled
Carpa!
Rasayan
is
held
by

4
16
Notes
to
Chapter
Five
the
MSL
(Hindi
MSS
no.
669).
His
lost
Svargavaidyakiipiilika
is
mentioned
in
the
13th
c.
RRA
(!.I.I7).
A
Carpafi
Siddhiinta
is
mentioned
in
Priyanaranjan
Ray,
tory,
p.
128.
The
Nath
Siddhas
also
attribute
two
other
nonalchemical
works-the
Carpa!amaiijarf
(of
which
a
passage
is
quoted
in
Barthwal,
Yog-Praviih,
p.
71)
and
the
Caturbhaviibhiviisanakrama-to
Carpati:
NSC,
p.
199.
Three
Buddhist
works
attributed
to
him-none
of
which
are
alchemical-are
preserved
in
the
Tanjur:
Tucci,
''Animadversiones
Indicae;'
p.
137;
Bagchi,
KJiiN,
p.
28;
Chattopadhyaya,
ed.,
Tiiraniitha's
History,
pp.
153-54.
On
Carpati
and
Vya4i,
see
Dowman,
Masters,
P·3
82
.
IS.
On
the
Buddhist
Siddhacarya
Carpa!i's
alchemical
legend,
see
above,
chap.
3,
n.
121.
A
Telegu
myth
involving
"Sarpati"
is
found
in
the
Bhojariijiyamu
of
Ananta:
Ro§u,
''Alchemy
and
Sacred
Geography,"
pp.
154-55.
On
the
PriiTf
Sangalf,
see
NSC,
p.
194.
16.
According
to
Saiva
Siddhanta
metaphysics,
is
the
seventh
of
the
eight
VidYeSvaras,
emanates
or
devolutes
of
Sadasiva.
17.
Sharma,
Ayurved,
p.
697.
Chapter
colophons
to
the
Anandakanda
read:
iti
frf
bhairavokte
iinandakande.
Dvivedi
(Niith
Sampradiiy,
p.
190)
names
ava
as
the
author
of
the
lost
Rasaratna.
A
certain
Ma[n]thana-sirhha,
physician
to
the
king
of
Malava,
is
the
author
of
the
ca.
14th
c.
Ray,
History,
vol.
2,
p.
lx.
18.
Sanderson,
"Saivism;'
pp.
671, 699.
Manthana
(the
"Churner")
Bhairava,
which
is
the
name
of
a
wild
ascetic
form
of
Siva
whose
cult
belongs
to
the
old
Vidya
later
replaces
the
thirteenth
and
culminating
RaIl
in
the
krama
of
Kaula
dition.
The
northern
transmission
,also
had
the
same
tradition
of
four
"Yuga
thas"
as
did
Abhinavagupta.
It,
however,
called
these
the
gurukrama,
the
succession
of
teachers:
HTSL,
pp.
76-77.
19.
For
manuscripts
of
this
work,
see
bibliography.
This
work
is
cast
as
a
logue,
in
which
the
alchemical
gnosis
is
revealed
to
the
goddess
Rakacal).4esvarI
by
a
form
of
Siva
who
is
variously
called
Isvara,
Sadasiva,
or
Bhairava.
Another
work,
entitled
the
KiikacaTf4ifvara
Kalpatantra,
ed.
Kailashpati
Pandey,
Kashi
Sanskrit
Granthamala,
73
(Benares:
Chowhkambha
Sanskrit
Series
Office,
1963)
is
also
an
alchemical
work.
This
text,
substantially
shorterthan
the
KiikacaTf4efvarimata,
may
be
identical
to
the
Mahiirasiiyanavidhi,
referred
to
by
Shastri
in
his
Catalogue
(vol.
I,
p.
lviii).,
20.
RU
1.9,
46-58
(which
summarizes
the
chapter
contents
of
the
Mahodadht).
The
BhiUiprakaraTfa
(l.II4b)
states
that
the
Mahodadhi
(but
not
the
dadht)
is
a
work
in
twelve
thousand
verses,
while
the
is
a
work
in
six
thousand
verses.
This
work
goes
on
(1.
II
5-2
I)
to
list
a
number
of
divinely
au-

4
1
,
Notes
to
Chapter
Five
thored
(by
Vlrabhadra,
Sukra,
Indra,
Vinayaka,
etc.)
alchemical
works
mentioned
in
no
other
source.
21.
Misra,
Ayurvedfya,
pp.
39-40;
Sharma,
Ayurved,
p.
490.
Two
procedures,
called
the
"Kapalika
method"
and
the
"sequential
Kapali
method;'
are
described
in
the
RA
(6.84;
14.85;
16.34,
43)
and
later
works
as
techniques
for
the
coloration
or
liquification
of
gemstones,
mercury,
and
other
minerals.
A
work
entitled
the
Svargavaidya-kapalika,
attributed
to
Carpa!i
by
Nityanatha,
author
of
the
RRA,
is
also
a
possible
source
for
the
name
of
the
Rasa
Siddha
"Kapalika;'
See
above,
n.
13.
22.
Sharma,
Ayurved,
p.
482.
Cf.
Siddhinandan
Misra's
foreword
to
Tripathi's
edition
of
the
RA
(Rasarlfavam
nama
Rasatantram),
p.
13.
23.
Iti
ffvarasamvadan;z
rasavadan;z
sudurlabhaml
rasarlfavan;z
mahafastram
...
hasiddhi
yoganandena
ASL
MSS
4256
(dated
samvat
1732,
i.e.,
A.D.
1675-
76)
and
erroneously
catalogued
under
the
title
Rasarajafankara,
fo1.
I05a;
ASL
MSS
4273,
fo1.
109
(dated
samvat
1684
i.e.,
A.D.
1627-28);
and
ASL
MSS
4274,
fo1.
149.
24.
Bhairavananda
Yogin
is
the
purported
author
of
the
Dhatukriya
or
maiijarl,
a
post-16th
c.
work:
Satyaprakash,
Pracfn
Bharat,
p.
625.
However,
see
below,
n.
53.
25.
iyarp.
hi
po!alI
prokta
singhal).ena
mahIbhrta
...
singhal).asya
bhairavanandayogina lokanathoktapo!alya
upacara
iha
smrtal)..
26.
See
above,
chap.
4,
nn.
180, 191.
27.
The
mantras
and
iconography
of
this
alchemical
pair
are
described
in
RA
2.52-53,
62-7
2
.
28.
Like
a
number
of
alchemical
works
with
-kalpa
in
their
title,
the
Rasakalpa
claims
to
be
a
portion
of
the
Rudrayamala
Tantra:
Ray,
History,
vol.
2,
p.
lvii-lviii.
See
below,
nn.
153, 160.
29.
BhP
1.
II
Ib-I
I2b.
See
below,
n.
202.
30.
BhP
9·
13
6b
:
samprokta.
See
below,
n.
203.
31.
Svacchandabhairava
is
the
deity
of
the
Svacchanda
Bhairava
or
Svacchanda
Tantra,
the
principal
Tantra
of
the
mantra
pffha.
Like
Manthanabhairava,
dabhairava
has
an
alchemical
preparation
named
after
him:
the
RM
(fo1.
6b.4)
and
RPS
(8.132-33)
describe
a
svacchandabhairava
rasa.
Elsewhere,
one
also
finds
eral
preparations
called
anandabhairava
rasa,
sannipatabhairava
rasa,
and
bhairava
rasa.
32.
Letter
from
Alexis
Sanderson
dated
6
July
1992,
citing
Svacchandatantra
2.88c-94b,
and
who
also
notes
that
the
thirty-two-syllable
mantra
of
Rasabhairava
(RA
2.68)
is
a
variant
of
the
thirty-two-syllable
aghora
mantra
that
is
the
sakala
form
of
Svacchandabhairava:
(SvT
1.41-43).
See
below,
chap.
6,
nn.
59,
62.
33·
Sharma,
Ayurved,
p.
493·

4
18
Notes
to
Chapter
Five
34.
This
work
is
quoted
extensively
by
(fl.
A.D.
1000-50)
in
his
mentary
on
chapter
nineteen
of
the
Netra
Tantra.:
Dyczkowski,
Canon,
p.
42.
A
palm-leaf
manuscript
of
this
work
held
in
the
NNA
(MSS
no.
3-392
[Saivatantra
67])
is
dated
Nepal
samvat
304
(=
A.D.
II84).
See
Bagchi,
KJiiN(p.
2),
and
Gonda,
History
(p.
216),
on
Srlkal]!ha-guru
as
the
great
preceptor
of
the
Pasupatas.
35.
Sharma,
Ayurved,
p.
492.
Dvivedi
(Niith
Sampradiiy,
p.
190)
names
nabhairava
as
the
author
of
this
work.
See
below,
nn.
170-73.
36.
A
single
alchemical
manuscript
(no. I
.I4.ii.I9)
entitled
Gh04ii
Coli
is
held
in
the
private
collection
of
the
SrI
Ramacaral]a
Praya
VidyapI!h
in
J
aipur;
three
folio
manuscripts
of
the
Gh04iicoli
Viikya
(MSL
MSS
nos.
1481,
1482
[aJ,
and
1483
[b])
are
held
in
the
Maharaja
Man
Singh
Library
in
Jodhpur.
Gho4a
ColI
is
listed
as
a
Rasa
Siddha
in
the
AK
and
as
a
Mahasiddha
in
the
HYP.
37.
Barthwal,
Yog
Praviih,
pp.
68-69;
Dvivedi,
Niith
Sampradiiy,
p.
167.
38.
Kardaswamy,
History,
p.
354.
See
above,
chap.
3,
n.
54.
39.
See
below,
n.
235·
40.
Pandey,
Gorakhniith,
p.
I
18.
Another
work
on
tantric
sorcery,
the
Kiimaratna,
is
alternatively
attributed
to
Nityanatha
Siddha,
"son
of
Parvatl;'
or
to
Srlnatha,
Siddhanatha
(a
name
sometimes
identified
with
Matsyendranath),
or
Naga
Bhana:
HTSL,
p.
122.
41.
There
is
confusion
over
this
attribution.
The
Gorakfa
Siddhiinta
San.zgraha
knows
of
two
texts
entitled
SSp,
of
which
one
was
authored
by
and
the
other
by
Nityanatha.
Nowotny
(Gorakfafataka,
pp.
23-24)
indicates
that
Edward
Hall
found
a
copy
of
the
SSP
attributed
to
Nityanatha,
but
notes
that
Rajendralal
Mitra
(The
Yogic
Aphorisms
ofPataiijali
[Calcutta:
n.p.,
1883,
appendix,
''A
Descriptive
List
of
Works
Extant
on
the
Yoga
System
of
Philosophy,
"
S.S.
II8I)
disagrees.
Kaviraj
(Bhiiratly,
vol.
2,
p.
275
n.
I)
agrees
with
Hall;
while
Briggs
khniith,
p.
255),
citing
Mitra,
calls
the
author
Nityananda
Siddha.
This
last
name
corresponds
to
that
of
one
of
the
Siddhas
enumerated
in
chapter
49
of
the
vijaya
of
Anandagiri,
which
constitutes
a
Siddha
charter
of
sorts.
On
this,
see
David
Gordon
White,
"The
Nath
Siddhas;'
forthcoming
in
Constantina
Rhodes-Bailly,
Douglas
Renfrew
Brooks,
William
K.
Mahony,
and
Paul
Muller-Ortega,
eds.,
dha
Yoga:
Continuity
and
Freedom
in
a
Contemporary
Spiritual
Tradition,
vol.
2
(nn.
29-3
2
).
42.
Aciirya
Yafodhara
krta
Rasaprakiifasudhiikara,
with
a
Hindi
translation
by
dhinandan
Misra,
Jaikrishnadas
Ayurveda
Series,
no.
54
(Benares:
Chaukhambha
Orientalia,
1984).
43.
Edited,
together
with
a
12th
c.
work,
the
Lohasarvasvam
of
SureSvara,
by
Yadavji
Trikamji
Acarya
(Bombay:
Nirnay
Sagar
Press,
1925).

4
1
9
Notes
to
Chapter
Five
44·
Discussion
in
Misra,
Ayurvedlya,
p.
39.
45.
The
latter
of
these
two
works
is
ASL
MSS
no.
4267.
On
these
texts
and
the
dating
of
their
author
to
the
reign
of
Bukka
I
of
Vijayanagara,
see
Meulenbeld,
History
(draft
of
10
May
1994),
pp.
799-
800
,
943.
46.
ASL
MSS
no.
4260.
For
a
historical
discussion,
see
Misra,
Ayurvedlya,
p.
42.
47.
ASL
MSS
no.
4222.
For
a
historical
discussion,
see
Sharma,
Ayurved,
p.
409.
48.
Ed.
Jivaram
Kalidas
(Bombay:
Venkatesvara
Steam
Press,
1967).
49.
Ed.
Manirama
Sastri
(Bikaner:
Maniramasarma,
1934).
50.
Ed.
with
notes
by
Yadavji
Trikamji
Acarya
and
Hindi
commentary
by
dradeo
Tripathi,
Chaukhamba
Ayurveda
Granthamala,
10
(Benares:
Chaukhamba
Amarabharati
Prakashan,
1984).
For
a
discussion,
see
Sharma,
Ayurved,
pp.
336,
4
8
4.
51.
ASL
MSS
no.
4348.
52.
ASL
MSS
no.
4258.
53.
A
portion
of
the
Dhiitukriyii
is
reproduced
in
Priyanaranjan
Ray,
History,
pp.
414-42:
it
appears
to
be
the
same
text
as
the
Dhiitukalpa,
attributed
to
Nagarjuna
in
manuscript
colophons,
as
are
the
Piiradakalpa
and
Gandhakakalpa:
see
phy
and
Ray,
History,
vol.
2,
pp.
lvii-lviii.
54·
Sharma,Ayurved,
p.
4
8
5.
55.
ASL
MSS
no.
4280.
On
the
dating
of
this
text,
see
Meulenbeld,
History
(draft
of
10
May
1994),
p.
805.
56.
Tantric
sorcery
is
the
subject
of
three
classes
of
tantras, according
to
the
Netra
Tantra's
classificatory
scheme
of
the
frotas:
these
are
the
Vama
Tantras
(on
the
gaining
of
siddhis)
,
Tantras
(on
poisons),
and
Bhl1ta
Tantras
(on
sion
and
exorcism):
HTSL,
pp.
16-17.
All
such
works
are
placed
within
the
fourth,
lower
frota
of
an
alternative
classificatory
schema,
found
in
the
Brahmayiimala
tra:
Dyczkowski,
Canon,
pp.
39,
42.
57.
NNA
MSS
nos.
3-392
(dated
A.D.
II84)
and
5-4947
(reel
nos.
B25/32
and
AI49h);
Kaiser
Library
(Kathmandu)
MSS
no.
297
(reel
no.
C3oIr6).
58.
ASL
MSS
no.
4184.
59·
ASL
MSS
no.
3967.
60.
The
KPT
has
been
edited
and
constitutes
the
last
of
the
six
works
gized
in
the
Indrajiilavidyiisan.zgraha,
ed.
Bhattacarya,
pp.
264-390.
The
namiilii,
a
much
shorter
work,
has
been
edited
with
an
excellent
historical
duction
by
Priyavrata
Sharma.
Sharma
notes
parallel
verses
on
p.
13
of
his
introduction.
6
I.
The
Dattiitreya
Tantra
has
been
published
as
an
independent
work
by
Rajesh
Dikshit
(Delhi:
Dehati
Pustak
Bhandar,
n.d.).
It
is
also
included
in
Bhattacarya's

4
20
Notes
to
Chapter
Five
edition
of
the
Indrajalavidyasan:zgraha
(pp.
132-79).
Compare
1.5a
of
this
work
qife
merutantre
ca
kalacaT!qefvare
tatha)
with
RRA
5.
1.7
and
KPT
I
.9ab
(u44ife
vatule
tantre
siddhisavare
kiIikil).I
merutantre
ca
kalacaT!qefvare
mate).
62.
The
Mat,,:kabheda
Tantra
has
been
edited
by
Chintamani
Bhattacharya,
cutta
Sanskrit
Series,
7
(Calcutta:
Metropolitan,
1933,
1958);
and
translated
by
chael
Magee
[Loknath
Maharaj]
(Delhi:
Indological
Book
House,
1989).
63·
See
above,
chap.
4,
n.
191.
64.
Peter
Peterson,
ed.,
The
Paddhati
ofSaritgadhara,
A
Sanskrit
Anthology
bay:
Central
Book
Depot,
1888),
pp.
659-703.
For
a
historical
discussion,
see
Sharma,
Ayurved,
pp.
197-98;
and
K
R.
Srikanta
Murthy's
introduction
to
his
tion
and
Englishtranslation
of
the
Saritgadhara
Samhita,
which
states
(p.
v)
that
the
alchemical
portions
of
the
Paddhati
were
taken
from
a
lost
text
entitled
sayana.
65.
Kaviraj,
Bharatry,
vol.
2,
p.
292,
note
1.
On
the
role
ofthe
Yogafikhopanifad
in
later
108
traditions,
see
Christian
Bouy,
Les
Natha-Yogin
et
les
Upanifads,
Publications
de
l'lnstitut
de
Civilisation
Indienne,
no.
62
(Paris:
De
Boccard,
1994),
pp.
II2-
1
3·
66.
Manasollasa
1.2.10-51.
67.
Pitambaradatta
Barthwal,
Gorakh
Bani
(Allahabad:
Hindi
Sahitya
Sammelan,
1942),
who
offers
tentative
Hindi
translations.
Another
edition
of
this
collection,
which
includes
a
long
and
sometimes
useful
Hindi
commentary,
was
published
by
the
Gorakhnath
Mandir
in
Gorakhpur
in
1979:
Ramlal
Srivastav,
ed.,
"Gorakh
Bani"
Vifefailk
(Yog
VaT!i,
special
issue
no.
I
for
1979)
(Gorakhpur:
Gorakhnath
Mandir,
1979).
68.
Dvivedi,
Nath
Siddhon:z,
introduction,
pp.
1-2,
on
the
contents
of
Gorakh
Bani
(cf.
Barthwal's
introduction
to
Gorakh
Bani,
pp.
II-20)
,
and
pp.
2-4,
16,
21,
on
the
contents
and
dating
of
the
works
of
the
other
Nath
Siddhas.
Cf.
Vaudeville,
Kabir
Granthavali
(Doha),
p.
v;
Ronald
Stuart
McGregor,
Hindi
Literature
from
Its
Beginnings
to
the
Nineteenth
Century
(Wiesbaden:
Otto
Harrassowitz,
1984),
pp.
21-
22,
132;
and
Dasgupta,
Obscure,
p.
373.
69.
Dvivedi,
Nath
Siddhon:z,
p.
56
("Bhartharl
jI
kI
sabadI;'
v.
6).
70.
Reproduced
in
Mallik,
SSp,
pp.
82-87.
See
above,
chap.
3,
nn.
3,121.
71.
One
of
the
two
is
edited
in
Dvivedi,
Nath
Siddhon:z,
p.
39.
72.
Chap.
13
of
the
Dattatreya
Tantra
is
entitled
"Rasayanam"
and
contains
four
magical
recipes
that
make
use
of
mercury
and
sulfur,
as
well
as
other
mineral,
herbal,
and
animal
(herpal)
ingredients.
Other
chapters
contain
descriptions
of
"magical"
uses
of
minerals,
as
for
example
chap.
8,
which
explains
how
to
use
kajjali
on
one's
eyes
to
bring
a
woman
under
one's
power
(strivafikaraT!a
is,
moreover,
the
title
of
this
chapter).
See
Sharma,
Ayurved,
p.
492.
The
manuscript
of
a
work
en-

Notes
to
Chapter
Five
titled
the
Datta
Patala
was
in
the
possession
of
an
old
Delhi
vaidya
named
Sriram
Sharma
Shastri.
When
I
met
him,
in
January
of
1985,
he
was
attempting
to
produce
alchemical
gold
by
following
its
instructions.
73.
The
Rasadarparta
is
cited
by
the
16th
c.
Toqariinanda:
Sharma,
Ayurved,
pp.
4
86
,49
1
,493.
74.
The
colophon
to
the
NNA
MSS
no.
1-1473
of
the
KM
states
that
it
was
iidyiivatiire;
the
same
is
said
of
a
list
of
sixty-four
yoginfs
contained
in
the
piljii-paddhati
(fol.
52):
Shastri,
Catalogue,
vol.
I,
p.
58;
and
vol.
2,
p.
80.
Adinatha
is
the
author
of
the
Mahiikiila
Sa'lhhitii:
Pandey,
Gorakhniith,
p.
112.
The
Tara
Khal)9a
of
the
Saktisangama
Tantra
is
cast
as
a
dialogue
between
the
goddess
Sakti
and
(Siva-)Adinatha:
Dvivedi,
Niith
Sampradiiy,
p.
4
n.
1.
75.
Adinatha
is
invoked
as
a
divinity
in
the
opening
(I.
I)
of
the
SSP
of
nath,
and
is
later
(5.5-I2)
quoted
at
some
length
in
the
same
work.
76.
Five
of
these
are
edited
together
by
Bagchi,
in
his
KaulajiiiinanirTfaya.
They
are:
KaulajiiiinanirTfaya;
two
distinct
works
entitled
Kulavfra
Tantra
(A
and
B);
nanda
Tantra;
and
Jiiiinakiirikii.
A
short
vernacular
work,
entitled
Matsyendraniithjf
kii
pad,
has
been
edited
in
Dvivedi,
Niith
Siddho"!l,
pp.
64-65;
and
in
Mallik,
SSp,
p.
76.
The
Yoga
Vi{aya,
a
Sanskrit
work
on
hafha
yoga
attributed
to
Matsyendra,
is
edited
ibid.,
pp.
45-47.
A
relatively
early
work,
also
attributed
to
Matsyendra,
is
the
Candriivalocana:
it
is
quoted
in
the
HYP
(4.16,54):
Bouy,
Niitha-Yogin,
p.
82
n.
345.
A
very
late
hathayogic
source,
entitled
the
Matsyendra
Sa'lhhitii,
is
found
in
manuscript
form
in
the
MSL
and
the
NNA.
Cf.
Pandeya,
introduction
to
Gorak{a
Sa'lhhitii,
vol.
I,
p.
gha.
77.
RA
l.4b:
kulakaulamahakaulasiddhakauladi
sasanam
(here
I
emend
niifanam
of
Ray's
and
Tripathi's
editions
to
fiisanam,
which
is
the
reading
found
in
the
three
ASL
manuscripts
of
the
work,
and
which
makes
more
sense).
RA
18.228a:
nekarl)ave
ghore
naHasthavarajangame.
Cf.
Matsyendra's
Kuliinanda
Tantra
(in
Bagchi,
K}fiN,
p.
I07,
whose
opening
verse
is
repeated
nearly
verbatim
by
the
KCM
[1.1)).
78.
KJiiN
16-47-49'
Cf.
Bagchi's
interpretation,
on
p.
35.
79.
Mrgendriigama,
Caryapada
l.36b-37,
40b-4Ia
(Helene
Brunner-Lachaux,
Mt;gendriigama,
Section
des
Rites
et
Section
du
Comportement
avec
la
V.rtti
de
yartakartfha,
Publications
de
l'lnstitut
Franc;:aise
d'lndologie,
no.
69
[Pondicherry,
Institut
Franc;:ais
d'lndologie,
1985],
pp.
364,
366).
In
a
list
of
auspicious
dream
visions,
the
same
source
(Kriyapada
8.14a-I5b)
names
"seeing
white
mica
...
the
Siddhas
...
[and]
coming
upon
the
siddha-fluid;'
This
last
element
is
glossed
by
the
commentator
as
rasiiyana.
See
above,
chap.
3,
n.
133.
80.
Tarapada
Mukherji,
ed.,
Gopicandra
Niifaka
(Calcutta:
University
of
cutta,
1970),
p.
xliv;
Bagchi,
K}fiN,
p.
1.
A
ca.
14th
c.
palm-leaf
manuscript
in
the

422
Notes
to
Chapter
Five
Nepal
National
Archives,
entitled
Srikiimiikhyiiguhyasiddhi
purports,
in
its
phons,
to
be
have
been
"brought
down
by
SrI
Matsyendra-pada":
ibid.,
p.
60.
This
work
is
cited
in
the
late-13th
c.
Kubjikiinityiihnikatilaka:
Dyczkowski,
Canon,
pp.
163-64
(n.
23
to
part
2).
However,
as
Tucci
notes
(''Animadversiones;'
p.
134),
Matsyendra
may
have
been
an
initiatory
name
given
to
a
number
of
persons.
81.
See
chapter
colophons
to
the
KJiiN
and
KM,
discussed
below,
chap.
8,
sec.
2
b.
Like
Srisailam,
which
has
been
identified
with
at
least
three
peaks,
Candragiri
is
also
a
ubiquitous
mountain.
An
inscription
from
Karnataka
locates
a
CandrapurI
in
the
western
ocean
(Saletore,
"Kanapha!a
Jogis;'
pp.
20-21).
Candragiri
is
also
the
name
of
a
peak
situated
at
the
western
end
of
the
Kathmandu
Valley.
dvIpa,
Candragiri,
CandrapurI,
and
the
"western
country"
(pafcima
difi:
Dvivedi,
Niith
Siddho'f!l,
p.
9
=
v.
l0S)
are
also
mystic
locations
within
the
subtle
body.
82.
Cited
in
NSC,
pp.
49,
217;
Dvivedi,
Niith
Sampradiiy;
and
Pandey,
Gorakfa
Sa'lhhitii,
vol.
I,
p.
cha
(who
also
notes
that
the
Gorakfasahasraniimastotra
gives
the
southern
toponym
of
as
Gorakh's
birthplace).
On
this,
see
also
Bagchi,
KJiiN,
p.
64·
83.
Such
early
Buddhist
works
as
the
Guhyasamiija
Tantra
(with
the
Sekoddefa
and
other
commentaries)
know
of
six-limbed
(farJanga)
yoga,
but
only
speak
of
the
four
specifically
Buddhist
cakras.
In
Buddhist
systems,
the
Upanisadic
tarka
("analytical
reasoning")
is
replaced
with
anusm1Ji,
"recollection;'
and
in
Hindu
yoga
with
the
iisanas
("postures").
One
commentary
on
chapter
18
of
the
samiija
Tantra,
entitled
Yoga;'
is
the
work
of
Nagarjuna.
It
is
extant
in
Tibetan:
Wayman,
Yoga,
pp.
163-73'
The
Mahasiddha
authors
of
the
pre-I2th
c.
Caryiipadas
were
also
well
acquainted
with
a
number
of
hathayogic
techniques,
but
held
to
the
older
four-cakra
system.
See
also
Majjhimanikiiya
12
and
36,
as
evidence
that
the
Buddha
himself
was
a
teacher
of
yoga:
Nowotny,
Gorakfafataka,
p.
14.
A
number
of
hathayogic
techniques
are
vaguely
described
in
Pataiijali's
Yoga
Siltras
2-46-5°:
Vyasa,
in
his
5th
c.
commentary
to
the
Yoga
Sutras,
lists
a
number
of
tures
but
gives
no
account
of
the
cakras.
The
practice
of
diaphragmatic
retention
is
alluded
to,
by
the
term
of
stambha-v1Jti,
in
YS
2.50.
The
ca.
1st
c.
A.D.
mentions
one
yogic
posture
(1.1:
palankiisana);
none
are
mentioned
in
the
hiirata
(E.
W.
Hopkins,
"Yoga
Techniques
in
the
Epics;'
JAOS
22
[19
01
],
pp.
345-
48,
369,
373).
The
MBh
(5-42.33)
compares
the
yogin
who
cultivates
virya
with
"a
dog
that
eats
its
own
vomit:'
84.
nityarp.
hrtpadmamadhyoditaml
...
dayakrameI).a
Miilati-Miidhava
5.2.
On
the
importance
of
this
passage
for
the
history
of
ha!ha
yoga,
see
Dvivedi,
Niith
pradiiy,
pp.
82,
84;
and
Sanderson
("Purity
and
Power;'
p.
213
nn.
89,
108),
who

4
2
3
Notes
to
Chapter
Five
notes
that
this
method
of
extraction
is
described
in
minute
detail
in
chapter
3
of
the
Jayadrathayiimala
(NNA
MSS
no.
5-1975,
Saiva
tantra
429),
fo!'
184,
v.
5-8.
It
is
unlikely,
however,
that
this
source
is
as
old
as
Bhavabhuti.
The
process
is
also
described
in
Matsyendranath's
KJiiN
11.18.
The
RA
(18.217-19)
appears
to
scribe
a
similar
process,
but
on
an
external,
alchemical
register.
See
above,
chap.
3,
n·133·
85.
Sanderson,
"Saivism;'
pp.
687-88.
86.
This
list
is
also
found,
with
variations,
in
KJiiN
5.25b.
In
3.6-10,
endra
describes
a
set
of
nine
cakras.
These
correspond
precisely
to
standard
merations
in
later
sources.
87.
KJiiN
3.2-3
is
adapted,
nearly
verbatim,
by
the
HYP
(4.14):
Bagchi,
KJfiN,
p.
vii.
On
matsyodara,
see
below,
chap.
8,
sec.
la.
88.
The
earliest
extant
manuscripts
of
both
works
are
held
in
the
Nepal
tional
Archives.
The
KM
(NNA
MSS
no.
1-285)
is
dated
A.D.
II60;
the
KJiiN
(NNA
MSS
no.
2-362
[H])
is
dated
to
the
mid-11th
c.
A.D.
(Bagchi,
KJfiN,
p.
5).
89.
Abhinavagupta
(apparently
paraphrasing
KJfiN
22.8-9)
speaks
of
his
ence
for
Macchandanath
in
T.ii
1.7:
"May
Macchandanatha
be
propitious
to
me,
he
who
tore
apart
the
glowing
net
made
of
knots
and
holes,
a
batch
of
bits
and
pieces
unfolding
and
spreading
everywhere"
(tr.
in
Silburn,
Ku,,!qalinf,
p.
12
I).
Cf.
T.ii
29.32,
and
Jayaratha's
commentary
to
T.ii
1.18;
Sanderson,
"Saivism;'
p.
681;
and
Goudriaan,
HTSL,
p.
18.
90.
He
mentions
the
KM
in
his
Pariitrimfikiivivara"!a,
p.
184
(cited
in
ski,
Canon,
p.
172,
n.
79).
See
also
ibid.,
pp.
48-49,
65,
84,
and
Schoterman,
hasrasamhitii,
p.
6.
91.
The
T.ii
7-40
cites
a
work
entitled
Yoginfkaula,
on
the
subject
of
the
tion
of
the
faktitattva
into
padas,
mantras,
ak{aras,
and
cakras.
92.
Dyczkowski,
Canon,
p.
65,
n.
65.
The
KM
also
mentions
the
Siddha
Kaula
(ibid.,
p.
171,
n.
70)
and
the
Siddha-marga
(London,
Wellcome
MSS
g50I,
fo!'
35.7-
8
).
93.
Sanderson,
"Saivism;'
p.
681;
Dyczkowski,
Canon,
p.
163
(n.
23
to
p.
62).
The
other
three
are
Khaga
(Bird),
Tortoise
(Kurma),
and
(Ram).
gupta
never
employs
the
term
iimniiya
in
his
writings;
he
seems
however
to
assume
it:
ibid.,
p.
66.
94.
Dyczkowski,
Canon,
p.
81.
95.
The
Western
Transmission
subscribed
to
this
same
mythic
doctrine.
On
this,
the
sons
of
Macchanda
(or
Mlnanatha),
and
the
ovalli
system,
see
Dyczkowski,
Canon,
pp.
62, 70,
163-64,
166,
and
191
(nn.
23,
32,
and
233
to
part
2);
and
derson,
"Saivism;'
p.
681.

424
Notes
to
Chapter
Five
96.
For
historical
discussions,
see
Sanderson,
"Saivism;'
p.
679;
idem.,
"Trika
Saivism;'
p.
15;
Dyczkowski,
Canon,
pp.
65,
80;
and
HTSL,
p.
50.
See
above,
chap.
3,
n.
13
2
Ł
97.
Sanderson,
"Purity
and
Power;'
p.
214
n.
110,
citing
TA
13.301,
320-2Ib;
and
Mahiimniiyaprakiifa
1.3°.
98.
Sanderson,
"Trika
Saivism;'
in
Encyclopedia
of
Religion,
vol.
13,
p.
15.
In
spite
of
these
reforms,
and
the
broadening
of
the
Trika
base
in
loth-11th
c.
Kashmir,
it
was
the
dualist
orthodox
Saiva
Siddhanta
doctrines
and
the
cult
of
bhairava
that
remained
predominant
in
the
valley:
idem.,
"Kashmir
Saivism;'
vol.
13,
p.
16.
99.
On
the
collection
and
use
of
combined
sexual
emissions
(called
ku'!4agolaka,
etc.)
in
prereform
ritual
and
worship,
see
KJnN
11.18,32;
18.]-8;
HTSL,
p.
44;
Dyczkowski,
Canon,
p.
80;
and
Schoterman,
Yonitantra,
pp.
28-29,
32.
100.
See
KJnN
18.6-23
on
ritualized
sex;
8,31-32
for
an
explicit
discussion
of
the
use
of
eight
types
of
vidyii
[goddesses];
8,3°-45
on
means
to
gaining
access
to
the
sixty-four
yoginfs;
and
I
I.
1-43
on
the
offering
and
consumption
of
prohibited
foods
and
sexual
fluids.
See
also
14.56
and
17-42.
Cf.
Sanderson,
"Trika
Saivism;'
Encyclopedia
of
Religion,
vol.
13,
p.
15·
101.
Dyczkowski,
Canon,
pp.
60,
62,
82.
102.
Sanderson,
"Saivism;'
pp.
663,
679-80;
idem,
"Purity
and
Power;'
pp.
191-92;
idem, "Trika
Saivism;'
p.
15.
On
historical
clues
for
the
geographical
and
temporal
parameters
of
these
changes,
see
also
Dyczkowski,
Canon,
pp.
34-35,48,
55,86,92,189
n.
193.
On
the
Vidyapi!ha
as
the
most
important
subdivision
within
the
tantric
classificatory
system
of
the
four
pf!has,
ibid.,
pp.
49-52.
103.
TA
15.160-70b
with
Jayaratha's
commentary,
cited
in
Sanderson,
p.
176,
n.
29.
104.
TA
29.127-32.
This
practice
is
prescribed
for
those
whose
goal
is
ment
as
a
means
to
attaining
siddhi;
and
for
those
who
have
yet
to
attain
self-realization
(apriiptavibodha).
See
below,
chap.
10,
sec.
2.
105.
Dyczkowski,
Canon,
p.
80.
106.
Jayaratha's
commentary
to
TA
29.129a.
I
am
grateful
to
Alexis
Sanderson
for
bringing
this
reference
to
my
attention.
107.
TA
3.261-64
and
5.151.
Cf.
idem.,
Pariitrffikii-laghuv'(tti
11-16,
with
mentary,
in
Muller-Ortega,
Triadic
Heart,
pp.
181, 189,
and
195
(English
tions)
and
283, 286,
and
288
(original
Sanskrit).
108.
TA
5.58a,
translated
by
Muller-Ortega,
Triadic
Heart,
p.
123.
109.
On
this,
see
Silburn,
Ku"?4alinf,
p.
174;
and
Dyczkowski,
Canon,
p.
82.
110.
See
below,
chap.
7,
n.
67.
II
I.
See
above,
chap.
3,
n.
129.

4
2
5
Notes
to
Chapter
Five
I
12.
Important
works
include
Harvey
Alper,
ed.,
Mantra
(Albany:
SUNY
Press,
1989)
(much
of
his
volume
is
devoted
to
the
methodological
principle
of
treating
tantric
mantra
as
a
"language
game");
Brooks,
Secret
(mainly
on
the
SrIvidya
tion);
Muller-Ortega,
Triadic
Heart;
and
Padoux,
Vac.
On
the
parallel
Vedic
lectualization
of
concrete
sacrifice,
see
Frits
Staal,
Rules
Without
Meaning
(New
York:
Peter
Lang,
1989),
and
Jan
Heesterman,
The
Broken
World
of
Sacrifice
cago:
University
of
Chicago
Press,
1993).
II
3.
Gopinath
Kaviraj,
Tantrik
Sadhana
aur
Siddhiint
(Patna:
Bihar
bhasa
Parisad,
1979),
p.
392.
Bindu-sadhana
refers
to
practices
involving
"drops"
(bindu)
of
sexual
fluids.
114.
This
is
an
abridgement
of
the
Srfmatottara
Tantra,
which
is
also
closely
related
to
the
Manthanabhairava
Tantra,
a
work
that
also
refers
to
itself
as
Kadi
text:
see
HTSL,
p.
55,
and
below,
nn.
202, 209.
I
15.
Elsewhere,
Jalandhara
has
no
alchemical
works
to
his
name,
either
in
skrit
or
vernacular
languages.
His
anthologized
poems
are
on
the
subject
of
ha!ha
yoga.
Like
a
number
of
other
Nath
Siddhas,
Jalandhara
appears
to
have
been
too
busy
living
his
yoga
to
have
written
about
it.
The
rich
body
of
legend
surrounding
him
contains
a
wide
array
of
yogic
and
alchemical
motifs.
Jalandhara
has
seven
Buddhist
works
attributed
to
him
in
the
Tanjur:
Chattopadhyaya,
Taranatha's
tory,
p.
417.
He
is
also
the
author
of
a
Sanskrit
work,
definitely
from
within
the
Nath
Siddha
fold,
the
Siddhanta
Vakya:
Dvivedi,
Nath
Sampraday,
pp.
6-7.
His
nacular
poem,
"JalandhrI
Pav
jI
kl
sabadi;'
is
edited
in
idem.,
Nath
Siddh0'l'{l,
pp.
30-31,
and
Mallik,
SSp,
pp.
90-91.
I
16.
This
poem
is
translated
and
discussed
below,
chap.
9,
sec.
8.
Gorakh
ages
alchemy
and
other
tantric
practices
that
afford
siddhis
inferior
to
those
cured
through
yogic
practice
in
Yogabfja
174-
117.
Rao
and
Reddy,
''A
Note
on
and
His
Work
Yogadfpika,"
p.
37·
See
above,
chap.
4,
n.
17
2
.
II8.
The
Gorakh
is
edited
in
Mallik,
SSp,
pp.
72-75.
119.
This
work
is
often
referred
to
simply
as
the
Hafha
Yoga.
The
critical
edition
was
established
by
Nowotny
(Das
in
1976.
120.
For
a
longer
listing
of
these
works,
see
Dvivedi,
Nath
Sampraday,
pp.
98-99;
Briggs,
Gorakhnath,
pp.
252-53;
Pandey,
Gorakhnath,
pp.
82-83;
Nowotny,
pp.
23-24;
and
Gopinath
Kaviraj's
introduction
to
his
edition
of
the
Siddhanta
Sa'l'{lgraha
(Benares:
Vidya
Vilas
Press,
1925),
pp.
fa-,,!a.
121.
Sarilgadhara
Paddhati
4372:
dvidha
harJ1aJ:!
syadekastu
usadhitaJ:!!
anyo
mrka1f4aputradyaiJ:!
sadhitonisamudyataiJ:!.
Dattatreya's
exposition
of
yoga
is
found
in
Marka,,!qeya
Pura,,!a
39.1-65;
40.1-41;
and
41.1-26.
Cf.
Mallik,
SSP,
p.
75.

4
26
Notes
to
Chapter
Five
122.
Pandey,
Gorakhniith,
pp.
89-90.
Elsewhere,
a
manuscript
(MSL
MSS
no.
1557)
of
the
claims
to
be
a
portion
of
the
Tantra
MahiirFfava.
123.
The
sole
extant
recension
of
the
hathayogic
Samhitii
appears
to
be
a
ca.
16th
c.
manuscript,
written
in
Bengali
characters,
held
in
the
Nepal
National
Archives,
which
was
translated
into
Bengali
by
Prasannakumara
Kaviratna
in
1897.
For
a
discussion
of
the
relationships
between
the
these
works,
see
Tucci,
adversiones
Indicae;'
pp.
134-36;
Bagchi,
KJfiN,
p.
64;
and
Pandey,
introduction
to
Samhitii,
vol.
I,
p.
!a.
Chapter
I
of
the
Samhitii
parallels
chapters
1-3
of
the
SSP;
chapter
3
parallels
SSP
4;
and
chapter
5
parallels
chapter
6
of
the
SSp,
which
describes
the
avadhuta.
Cf.
Paddhati
104-
124.
Meulenbeld
(History,
draft
of
10
May
1994,
p.
lOll
n.
14010)
attempts
to
make
sense
of
this
statement
by
dividing
the
work
as
follows:
(I)
Kiidi-prakara"fa
(the
Sakta
work);
(2)
Bhutiprakara"fa
(the
alchemical
work);
(3)
Yoga-
kha
"f4
a;
(4)
Nii4ijfiiinadipikii;
and
(5)
the
Avadhutagitii.
125.
On
alchemy,
see
Bhattacharya,
Siidhanamiilii,
vol.
2,
p.
xxi.
On
ha!ha
yoga,
see
HT,
p.
165.
This
source
(p.
9)
nevertheless
includes
alchemy
and
ha!ha
yoga
in
its
list
of
the
eighteen
"constituents
of
tantra."
The
alchemical
literature
is
discussed
in
the
chapter
entitled
"Tantras
of
Magic"
in
the
survey
of
tantric
literature
produced
by
these
same
scholars:
HTSL,
pp.
117-26.
126.
Brooks,
Secret,
pp.
52-53.
127.
RRS
13.61;
16.7,
31.
128.
The
RasiirFfava
calls
itself
a
"great
Tantra"
in
1.57.
The
full
title
of
the
Rasah'(daya
is
Rasah,(daya
Tantra;
the
BhP
calls
itself
the
Bhuti
Tantra
(2.101),
etc.
129.
The
alchemical
Bhp,
for
example,
calls
itself
the
Hiidibheda
of
the
Samhitii.
130.
Ayantra
is
an
apparatus
which
controls
or
subdues
(yam)
the
volatile
ments
combined
in
it
(another
use
of
yantra,
as
a
synonym
for
ma"f4ala,
diagram,
has
the
same
meanings,
since
by
using
it
as
a
meditational
support,
the
yogin
is
able
to
concentrate
and
bring
his
mind
under
control).
131.
HT,
pp.
7
8
-
8
9.
13
2.
Brooks,
Secret,
p.
134;
Gupta,
"Paficaratra;'
in
Alper,
Mantra,
p.
235.
133.
Sanderson,
"Purity
and
Power;'
p.
192.
134.
This
description
therefore
excludes
the
important
orthodox
Saiva
dhanta,
which
was
dualist,
nonvibratory,
non
bipolar,
etc.
135.
In
opposition
to
Vedanta,
which
sees
the
phenomenal
world
as
miiyii,
sion
that
veils
ultimate
reality:
Navjivan
Rastogi,
The
[{yama
Tantrism
of
Kashmir
(Delhi:
Motilal
Banarsidass,
1979),
vol.
I,
p.
39,
citing
the
Mahiirthamafijari
of
Mahesvarananda,
p.
14.

4
2
7
Notes
to
Chapter
Five
136.
On
the
anthropic
principle,
see
John
D.
Barrow
and
Frank
J.
Tipler,
The
Anthropic
Cosmological
Principle
(New
York:
Oxford
University
Press,
1986).
Cf.
S.
K.
Ramachandra
Rao,
Srf-Cakra
(Delhi:
Sri
Satguru
Publications,
19
8
9),
p.
9:
"The
world
is
in
reality
a
deliberate
mechanism
for
the
objectification
of
ness
(prameya)
while
the
individual
is
an
equally
deliberate
mechanism
for
the
jectification
of
consciousness
(pramiita)?'
137·
Summarized
in
Padoux,
Viic,
pp.
51,
79-83.
138.
In
Trika
Kaulism,
an
optical
model
is
used
to
express
the
relationship
tween
Siva
and
Sakti:
Siva
is
pure
illuminating
consciousness,prakiifa;
and
the
dess
reflective
consciousness,
vimarfa:
Abhinavagupta,
Pariitrimfikii-viviira'f!a,
p.
90,
quoted
in
Muller-Ortega,
Triadic
Heart,
p.
98.
See
also
ibid.,
pp.
95-99.
139.
Brooks,
Secret,
pp.
66,
88-89.
140.
Brooks,
Secret,
p.
63;
Rao,
Sri-Cakra,
pp.
7-12.
141.
Brooks,
Secret,
pp.
49,
124;
Rastogi,
Krama,
p.
38.
142.
Another
instance
of
the
fundamental
cleavage
between
these
two
proaches
is
to
be
found
in
the
former's
system
of
nine
"alchemical"
diiya
or
kiipiilika)
sa'f!lskiiras,
as
opposed
to
the
latter's
eighteen
''Ayurvedic''
(bhagviin
fankara
or
saumya)
sa'f!lskiiras:
Misra,
Ayurvediya,
pp.
214-15.
143.
This
work
has
been
edited
twice
in
this
century,
by
Yadavji
Trikamji
Acarya
(Lahore:
Motilal
Banarsidass,
1927),
and
by
Daultarama
Rasasastri,
with
an
duction,
commentary,
and
Hindi
translation
(Benares:
Chaukhambha
Orientalia,
19
8
9).
144.
RM
fo!'
29b.IO-30a.l;
30b.1.
See
below,
n.
265.
145.
Vagbha!!a
II,
author
of
the
Rasaratnasamucchaya
(1.33),
copies
this
verse
verbatim,
as
he
does
much
of
Govinda's
first
chapter.
146.
RHT
1.15-32.
He
mentionsjivanmukti
in
1.33.
147.
The
eighteen
sa'f!lskiiras
are
discussed
in
detail
in
chap.
9,
sec.
2.
148.
The
four
elixir
pills
are:
amarasundarf,
mrtasaiijivani,
vajri'f!i,
and
khecarf.
These
and
the
results
they
produce
are
outlined
in
19.61-76.
149.
RHT
19.78-80
of
Misra's
edition.
These
concluding
verses
are
not
found
in
the
NNA
(MSS
no.
3-II81
reel
no.
B165h)
manuscript
of
this
work.
On
the
basis
of
the
word
bhikfU
in
19.80,
Ray
(History
[1956],
p.
149)
concluded
this
was
a
Buddhist
work.
150.
Sharma,
Ayurved,
p.
480;
Misra,
Ayurvediya,
pp.
34-35;
and
Romila
par,
"The
Image
of
the
Barbarian
in
Early
India"
Comparative
Studies
in
Society
and
History
In
(July
197
1
),
p.
424.
15
I.
On
the
genealogies
and
history
of
the
Chedi
or
Kalachuri
kings,
see
ander
Cunningham,
A
Report
of
a
Tour
in
the
Central
Provinces
in
I
873-'14
and
I874-

4
28
Notes
to
Chapter
Five
75,
Archaeological
Survey
of
India,
vol.
9
(reprint
ed.
Benares:
Indological
Book
House,
1966),
pp.
77-113;
R.
D.
Banerji,
The
Haihayas
ofTripuri
and
Their
ments,
Memoirs
of
the
Archaeological
Survey
of
India,
no.
23
(Calcutta:
ment
ofIndia
Central
Publication
Branch,
193
I),
pp.
I-II6;
and
Babb,
Divine
erarchy,
pp.
3-6.
Wink
(AI-Hind,
vol.
I,
p.
287)
surmises
that
they
were
driven
out
of
Malava
in
the
7th-8th
centuries
by
the
PratIharas.
152.
Wink,
AI-Hind,
vol.
I,
pp.
258-59.
Madana
could
not
have
been
an
important
Kalachuri
prince,
however,
since
his
name
occurs
nowhere
in
its
royal
inscriptions.
153.
A
later
work,
entitled
the
RasiirIJavakalpa
(RAK)
claims
to
be
a
portion
of
the
older
Rudrayiimala
Tantra:
HT,
p.
I
I.
This
work
has
been
edited
and
translated
into
English
by
Mira
Roy
and
B.
V.
Subbarayappa
as
RasarIJavakalpa
(Manifold
ers
of
the
Ocean
of
Rasa),
(New
Delhi:
Indian
National
Science
Academy,
1976).
RAK
78-207
is
borrowed
from
RA
12.8-182;
other
portions
of
this
text
bear
similarities
to
the
KCKT;
it
has
one
verse
in
common
with
the
RM:
Meulenbeld,
History
(draft
of
10
May
1994),
p.
873,
note
12450;
and
p.
875·
154.
In
its
two
printed
editions,
RA
3.23a
reads
"cjamarakhya
mahamantra
niyojayet?'
Certain
manuscript
versions
(ASL
MSS
no.
4256,
fol.I2a.IO)
read
cjamarakhyal11
mahatantram
....
There
exists
a
work
on
tantric
sorcery,
tled
the
U4t!iimara
Mahiitantra,
which
I
have
not
been
able
to
date.
A
work
entitled
f}iimara
Tantra
has
been
edited
and
translated
by
Ram
Kumar
Rai
(Benares:
chya
Prakashan,
1988).
ISS.
On
the
dating
ofthe
Vimalaprabhii,
see
above,
chap.
3,
n.
122.
156.
Cf.
the
KCM,
which
singles
out
eight
(of
which
six
figure
in
the
RA
meration)
of
the
eighteen
san:zskiiras
as
aSJakarma,
the
"eight
Works;'
See
above,
n.
142,
and
below,
n.
185.
157.
Partial
lists
of
the
san:zskiiras
are
found
in
RA
10.10
and
I1.2IO-I2.
cording
to
Siddhinandan
Misra
(Ayurvediya,
p.
214),
a
number
of
other
alchemical
works
follow
the
kiipiilika
method
for
the
purification
of
mercury.
Other
kiipiilika
methods
are
mentioned
in
RA
6-43,
84;
14.85;
16.34;
etc.
See
below,
chap.
6,
n.
16;
and
above,
n.
142.
158.
Quite
often,
the
sole
difference
between
passages
found
in
the
two
works
is
in
word
order.
Compare
RHT
2.3
and
RA
IO.4I;
RHT
12-4
and
RA
8.36;
RHT
17.3-5 and
RA
17.78;
and
RHT
19.2,9,
I8a,
20
and
RA
18.3,8,
I3a,
I5ab.
159.
For
a
discussion,
see
Misra,
Ayurvediya,
pp.
19-20.
160.
So
too
does
the
I2th
c.
RAK,
which
goes
so
far
as
to
co-opt
the
RA's
title
even
as
it
claims
to
be
a
portion
of
the
Rudrayiimala
Tantra.
161.
RA
1.19:
miircchito
harate
vyadhil11
mrto
jivayati
svayaml
baddhaJ:1
khecar-

4
2
9
Notes
to
Chapter
Five
atarp.
kuryat
raso
vaYUSca
bhairavi.
Cf.
RM
1.8:
baddha!).
khecaratarp.
padarp.nayed
dharate
vyadhisamiiho
miirchita!)./
jaritabhavo
janmabhavo
vinasana!).
kramito
jita!).
bhuktimuktida!)..
RA
I.I9
is
copied
verbatim
by
HYP
4.27.
See
below,chap.
9,
nn·54-55·
162.
RA:
14-40.
"The
Siddha
[who
uses]
'diamond-bound'
mercury
is
quite
vincible
to
the
gods
and
demons.
He
[becomes]
the
leader
of
the
twenty-four
has
(caturvi1J!fatisiddhiinii1J!
niiyaka),
a
bestower
of
all
the
siddhis;'
The
RM's
list
of
twenty-seven
Rasa
Siddhas,
which
occurs
in
its
commentary
(rippa'f!a),
may
be
rowed
from
the
RRS:
see
below,
n.
265.
163.
See
above,
chap.
3,
n.
133
and
n.
84
to
this
chapter.
164.
A
terse
exposition
of
this
theory
and
attendant
practice
is
found
in
the
Jiiiinakiirikii
(2.2b-4)
attributed
to
Matsyendranath
(in
Bagchi,
K]iiN),
p.
116.
See
also
the
metaphysics
of
Gorakhnath,
as
presented
in
Dvivedi,
Niith
Sampradiiy,
pp.102-
1
3·
165.
See
below,
chap.
8,
sec.
4.
166.
RA
18.221-27.
167.
RM
fol.
27b.9-1O:
paiicam-rto
mahayoga!).
hyukto
manthanabhairave
va
va
punastatraiva
168.
RM
fol.
28a.3-8.
169.
Ro§u,
Lietard
et
Cordier,
introduction,
p.
c.
170.
RM
foI.7a.I-3
prescribes
this
rasa
for
ailments
involving
wind
and
bile.
It
is
composed
of
mica,
orpiment,
copper,
iron,
saurabhariija,
and
mercury,
as
well
as
a
number
of
botanicals.
Manthiinabhairavarasa
is
also
described
in
the
RPS
(8.173-
74)
and
the
RRS
(14.90-92),
which
uses
more
or
less
the
same
ingredients
and
prescribes
it
for
the
treatment
of
coughs.
See
above,
n.
31.
171.
Dyczkowski,
Canon,
pp.
97-<)8.
Eagerly
awaited
is
Mark
Dyczkowski's
cal
edition
and
translation
of
this
monumental
work,
now
under
preparation.
The
RC
(6.1)
cites
the
Manthiinabhairava
Mahiigama
as
the
source
for
its
discussion
of
the
divine
herbs
(divyaUfadht).
See
also
above,
n.
114.
172.
Kubjika
is
mentioned
in
RA
3.8,
31,
referring
to
a
mudrii
and
a
mantra.
173.
This
entire
passage
opens,
in
the
RM
(fol.
26b.IO),
with
the
statement:
"I
will
now
tell
...
what
was
done
by
Miirta'f!qeya
[or
Miirka'f!qeya];'
The
former
would
refer
either
to
a
divine
father
of
Yam
a
(MartaI).9a);
the
sage
to
whom
was
revealed
an
eponymous
Pural).a;
or
to
the
Riija
Miirta'f!qa
of
King
Bhoja
(the
vization
of
this
operation
casts
Bhoja
as
the
alchemist's
royal
assistant
in
both
beruni's
and
the
Telugu
author
Ananta's
versions:
see
above,
chap.
3,
n.
3).
Evidence
from
the
12th-13th
c.
RC
militates
against
an
identification
of
Manthanabhairava
with
the
Bhairava
who
revealed
or
authored
the
RA.
This
author
evokes
both
a

43
0
Notes
to
Chapter
Five
Bhairavacarya
(whom
he
seems
to
identify
as
the
author
of
the
RA),
and
nabhairava:
RC
1.28,
6.1,12.25,16,55,16,72.
174·
RA
11.198-205,
209,
21
4,
218;
12.
I0
4-9,
34
8
-5
1
;
15.13
1
;
14.3-20;
18.165-69,174-77,194,201-3,
and
2I
1-2
I.
TheRM
copies
or
paraphrases
theRA
in
each
of
the
four
chapters
(with
!ippaT!a)
contained
in
the
two
manuscripts
I
have
consulted
(Paris
MSS
no.
1222
and
GAD
MSS
no.
862/34).
The
RA
repeats
itself
in
the
following
places:
18.165-70
=
18.201-3,
206-7,
218.
175.
The
KCrr
(41.6)
cites
Nagarjuna
and
a
work
entitled
Siddhayoga
(KCrr
8.
7-
IS,
referring
either
to
Nagarjuna's
Afcaryayogamiilii
-
Yogaratnamiilii,
or
to
Vrnda's
Siddhiyoga).
It
is
likely
a
13th
c.
work,
from
western
India.
176.
NNA
MSS
no.
5-3969
(reel
no.
A2I11r9).
A
partial
edition
(of
selected
portions
of
the
first
six
chapters)
of
the
KCM
is
found
in
Priyanaranjan
Ray,
History,
PP·34S-S
O
Ł
177.
Passages
that
are
nearly
identical
are
RA
6.34-38
and
KCM
6.21-25,29-30
(numbering
here
is
from
Ray's
partial
edition,
p.
350);
RA
7.IO
and
KCM
fo1.
19b.4-S;
RA
10.10-12
and
KCM
fo1.
17b.2-3;
RA
12.280,
293b-294
and
KCM
fo1.
13b.3-S;
RA
12.3II,
313-14
and
KCM
fo1.
14a'3-4
and
14b.2-3;
and
RA
18'94-95
and
KCM
fo1.
sa.7-8.
No
manuscript
of
the
KCM
numbers
its
chapters
or
verses.
178.
Sanderson,
"Saivism;'
pp.
682-85.
An
echo
of
these
cults
is
found
in
the
KJiiN
23.
2
-9.
179.
On
the
worship
of
Barukanatha,
see
KCM
fo1.
6a.s-6.
The
RA
(2.119-21)
prescribes
the
worship
of
Baruke§vara,
in
the
context
of
a
rite
intended
to
pacify
demons
who
might
otherwise
destroy
one's
Work.
Mercury
is
referred
to
as
bhairava
in
fo1.
7b.
I:
the
RA
calls
for
the
worship
of
Rasa
(the
"Mercurial")
ava.
Sarvajfia
is
likely
a
distortion
of
Sarvaja
(''Arrow-Born''),
a
name
of
Rudra-Siva
used
extensively
in
some
manuscript
versions
of
the
BhP.
180.
The
Kuliinanda
Tantra
passage
is
found
in
Bagchi,
KJiiN,
p.
I07;
on
the
Lalitiivistara
(v.
44
=
KCM
1.1)
see
Snellgrove,
Indo-Tibetan
Buddhism,
vol.
I,
p.
3
02
.
181.
KCM
1.28,
29,
33
(numbering
here
is
from
Ray's
partial
edition,
p.
348).
Cf.
BhP
1.1-I2.
The
term
dravya
is
employed
in
the
RA
to
signify
the
sexual
fluids
(2.I21b)
offered
in
tantric
worship
(siddhadravya),
as
well
as
all
the
"secret"
fluids
(124b-I2sa),
including
mercury,
used
in
alchemy.
Dravya-guT!a
is
the
term
ployed
in
modern
Ayurveda
for
pharmacology.
182.
The
amarasundarl
is
described
in
RA
18'94-95,
in
KCM
fo1.
sa'7-sb.6,
in
RM
fo1.
16a.s,
and
in
RHT
19.65-66.
The
RA
(18.174-75)
also
mentions
a
pill
called
vajriiilgasundarl,
the
"Diamond-Limbed
Beauty."
The
KCM
follows
its
cussion
of
these
aphrodisiacs
(fo1.
3a.g-6a.1)
with
an
account
of
the
khecarl
gu!ikii
(fo1.
6a.2-6b.1),
which
mainly
concerns
secretly
"sporting"
in
the
sky
with
fiikinls,

43
1
Notes
to
Chapter
Five
bhutas,
vetalas,
women
of
divine
beauty,
and
the
goddess
BhairavI.
In
the
RA,
the
emphasis
is
on
flight
and
immortality.
183.
KCM
fol.
6b.3-I2b.7.
184.
KCM
fol.
I2b.7-17a.S.
185.
KCM
fol.
17a.8-17b.3.
See
above,
n.
156.
186.
The
KCM
list
of
eight
metals
is
quite
idiosyncratic:
tin,
iron,
gold
(which
it
calls
lead,
white
copper
(kamsya),
copper,
copper
or
iron
pyrites
and
mercury.
187.
The
uparasas
are
discussed
in
KCM
fol.
2Ob.S-2Ia.9.
188.
The
auto-commentary
begins
at
fol.
20b.2
(cf.
RM,
Paris
MSS
no.
1222,
fol.
3oa.3).
It
is
found
in
every
one
of
the
manuscripts
of
the
KCM,
held
both
in
the
ASL
and
NNA
collections,
that
I
have
consulted:
see
below,
n.
265.
189.
KCM
fol.
22b.4-23a.3.
190.
KCM
fol.
2
3a.
3-4.
On
the
var1Ja-classification
of
mercury
by
color,
see
below,
chap.
7,
n.
138.
The
RA
(6.67b-68)
classifies
diamonds
according
to
caste
and
gender.
191.
KCM
fol.
24a-4-2sa.1.
Cf.
RA
15.131-32,
which
is
paraphrased
by
RM
fol.
9b·7-8
and
17b.3.
192.
KCM
fol.
28b.8.
193.
KCM
fol.
29b.3-7.
A
work
entitled
Sugnva[vaj-sa11fkaraTff-vidya
(Spell
Which
Subjugates
Sugrlva)
is
devoted
to
the
exorcism
of
a
host
of
evil
spirits
through
the
intervention
of
this
powerful
figure:
HTSL,
p.
124.
194.
KCM
fol.
22a.1.
The
numerous
manuscripts
of
the
KCM
I
have
consulted
are
more
or
less
identical,
in
spite
of
the
geographical
diversity
of
their
provenance.
The
sole
dated
manuscript
I
consulted
is
ASL
MSS
no.
3952,
dated
to
A.D.
1679.
The
Rasasara
(ASL
MSS
no.
4260)
of
Govindacarya
(not
the
same
as
the
RHT
author)
is
a
14th-15th
c.
text.
It
is
an
alchemical
tantra,
whose
content
is
similar
to
that
of
the
RA
and
the
KCM.
See
above,
n.
61.
195.
This
work
has
been
edited
twice
in
this
century:
ed.
iva
Sastri
(Trivandrum:
Superintendent,
Government
Press,
1928);
and
2
vols.
ed.
with
commentary
and
Hindi
translation
by
Badrinarayan
Sarma
(Ajmer:
Krsna
Gopal
Ayurved
Bhavan,
1959).
196.
A
detailed
description
of
a
site
in
Kerala
is
found
in
RU
16.11-13.
This
is
one
of
a
number
of
Keralan
works
on
therapeutic
alchemy.
Others
include
the
Sutra
of
Bhadant
Nagarjuna,
the
Vaidyamanorama,
Dharakalpa,
and
Sahasrayoga:
Sharma,
Ayurved,
p.
697.
The
RU
also
details
the
location
of
another
south
Indian
site,
named
Rasima.
This
source
does,
however,
list
sites
in
north
India:
sites
at
which
vaikrnta
is
found
include
Mewar,
Swat,
Nepal,
Jammu,
and
Kashmir:
Meulenbeld,
History
(draft
of
IO
May
1994),
p.
936.

432
Notes
to
Chapter
Five
197.
RU
1.9,56;
and
in
chapter
colophons.
198.
These
are:
the
Prabh'(tamata,
Vittulamata,
VaiffJavamata,
Aindramata,
aramata,
Br:haspatimata,
and
Saukramata.
199.
RA
2.90;
RU
1.90.
On
the
ankufii
mudrii
as
a
stabilizing
device
to
be
used
by
the
tantric
sorcerer
for
the
purposes
of
subjugation
and
attraction,
see
khatantra
84-87
(ed.
Teun
Goudriaan
[Delhi:
Motilal
Banarsidass,
1985],
with
Goudriaan's
commentary,
pp.
54, 56.
200.
On
the
san;skiiras,
RU
1.20-39;
on
kurpa,
RU
I
1.12.
201.
Bhuti
here
is
a
shortening
of
vibhuti,
a
synonym
for
the
siddhis
that
are
the
stated
goal
(along
with
bodily
immortality)
of
this
work:
Pandeya's
introduction
to
Samhitii,
vol.
2,
p.
ka.
202.
A
more
simplified
colophon
is
found
in
the
ASL
manuscript
(no.
4401)
of
the
work
(entitled
Svacchandafaktyavatiira):
"thus
ends
the
Production
of
ural
Powers
[which
is
contained
within]
the
Svacchandafaktyavatiira
("the
work
brought
down
to
earth
by
Sakti")
within
the
SatasiihasrfyJa
Samhitii
("the
dium
of
100,000
verses").
The
colophon
to
the
Bhp,
i.e.,
the
so-called
Hiidibheda,
follows
9.141
of
Pandey
a's
edition
of
the
Samhitii
(vol.
2,
p.
578).
The
phon
to
ASL
MSS
4401
occurs
at
the
end
of
an
additional
tenth
chapter.
The
colophon
to
the
Kiidi
or
"Sakta"
Samhitii
resembles
that
of
the
bhairava
Tantra,
which
also
ascribes
itself
to
the
Kadi
variety:
HTSL,
p.
55.
203.
BhP
9.I35a,
136b,
137a:
simhabhl1pahitarthaya
nathena
praka!JIq-talY
...
natha
samproktaJ:t
sarasal!l
kalaku.!avat
pl1rval!l
vijiiayate
samyak
amrtavadbhavet.
These
verses
are
missing
from
the
conclusion
of
chapter
nine
in
ASL
MSS
no.
4401
(entitled
Svacchandafaktyavatiira).
This
manuscript,
however,
contains
a
long
tenth
chapter,
on
tantric
sorcery,
whose
opening
verse
(10.1)
is
identical
to
RA
I.I.
This
chapter
does
not,
however,
belong
to
the
rest
of
the
work.
It
is
also
missing
from
MSL
MSS
no.
143
I.
204.
Rasakiimadhenu,
ed.
by
Yadavji
Trikamji
Acarya
(Bombay,
Nirnaysagar
Press,
1925;
reprint
Benares:
Chaukhambha
Orientalia,
1988).
205.
BhP
I.78b-79:
svacchandakaulave
natha
val
bhukaulave
natha
diptadyena
makhena
tuI
ebhir
etatkrameI)aiva
bhavajal!l
pl1jayet
sada.
Cf.
8.98
and
9.
I
29.
Through
the
use
of
mercury,
one
becomes
a
second
chanda
Siva
(5.178;
6.480).
Svacchanda
(Bhairava)
is
to
be
worshipped
together
with
Sakti,
"in
accordance
with
the
precepts
mentioned
in
the
Svacchanda"
(7.ro8).
The
term
kaulave
is
employed
in
the
KJiiN(II.7,
9;
16.24,62)
to
connote
an
pert
in
the
Kaula
practices"
(kaula-vit)
,
by
which
the
five
tantric
makiiras
are
plied.
206.
BhP
I.III-12.
The
"Svacchanda"
text
mentioned
in
BhP
7.ro8
is
more

433
Notes
to
Chapter
Five
likely
the
Tantra
by
the
same
name
than
a
lost
eponymous
alchemical
work.
See
above,
n.
3
I.
207.
On
umiiyoni,
see
BhP
2.6;
on
farvaja
(changed
to
sarvajfiii
in
a
number
of
manuscripts),
see
ASL
MSS
no.
4401,
chap.
I,
v.
ro,
and
throughout.
208.
BhP
1.77:
kamodayamahodayaily'
mahamarImakhena
va.
Cf.
6.514.
On
the
khecarfcakra,
see
below,
chap.
8,
n.
16
5.
209.
BhP
1.I5a:
siddhante
"Uttarottara
Matrtantra"
is
a
possible
reference
to
the
Srfmatottara
Tantra,
of
which
the
"Sakta"
or
"Kadi"
division
of
the
Gorak{a
Samhitii
is
an
abridgment:
Pandeya,
introduction
to
Gorak{a
Samhitii,
vol.
I,
pp.
fa-,,!a.
MSL
Hindi
MSS
no.
649,
entitled
Gorak{a
Samhitii
Bhii{a,
calls
the
Gorak{a
Samhitii
a
portion
(kha"!4a)
of
the
Srfmatottara,
in
its
chapter
colophons.
2
ro.
4.ro8:
kadall
vanaja
bandhya
guc,luclkandajal!l
rasaml
payasal!l
caiva
mlna
nama
japayasi
sandhitam.
The
aghora
mantra
is
evoked
frequently,
as
is
the
trailokya-4iimara
(7.163)
and
a
form
of
mantric
recitation
called
svayambhu.
See
below,
chap.
6,
nn.
59,
62,
66.
2I
I.
This
evocation
is
found
only
in
the
closing
verse
of
chapter
nine
of
ASL
MSS
no.
4401
(fol.
I06b4-5):
ratnakarokti
vikhyatal!l
bhutitantral!l
mahodayam.
212.
BhP
1.
II
1-23.
Cf.
RU
1.14,56.
213.
Meulenbeld,
History
(draft
of
10
May
1994),
p.
941.
See
above,
n.
202.
214.
BhP
1.28;
5.178,
262;
6.222;
7.144,152,244;
8.63-65.
215.
BhP
1.82-89,
5.62.
216.
BhP
1.5,
8,
II,
25
(in
ASL
MSS
no.
4401).
On
the
use
of
dravya
in
the
KCM,
see
above,
n.
181.
Cf.
RA
1.22,
which
states
that
mercury
renders
one's
tras
effective.
On
alchemical
uses
of
menstrual
blood,
see
below,
chap.
7,
sec.
3.
2I
7.
The
term
khiineptme
is
found
in
BhP
4.77;
RM
fol.
27a.9
(khiinipiina);
and
Dattiitreya
Tantra
9.13.
Khiinapiina
is
found
in
Akulavfra
Tantra
[Bl,
v.
I35b
(in
chi,
KJfiN,
p.
ro6).
A
general
discussion
of
vernacular
terms
in
the
BhP
is
found
in
Tripathi's
foreword
to
Pandeya's
edition
of
the
Gorak{a
Samhitii,
vol.
2,
pp.
7-8.
218.
BhP
7.II4-I9.
The
itinerant
alchemist
is
also
instructed
to
go
outside
of
India
in
his
search
for
divine
herbs
(7.125).
219.
BhP
4.II8-32.
See
below,
chap.
7,
sec.
3;
and
chap.
8,
sec.
5
on
the
RA
descriptions.
It
is
worthy
of
note
that
two
of
the
qualities
which
the
BhP
assigns
to
its
laboratory
assistants
correspond
to
names
of
"mystery"
Rasa
Siddhas
from
the
lists
reviewed
in
the
last
chapter.
Vifiirada
("expert")
is
the
name
of
the
fourth
Rasa
Siddha
in
the
early
lists;
while
fiira
("Mighty")
may
lie
at
the
root
of
the
names
Surasena
(no.
9),
Surananda,
and
Suravida
(no.
19).

434
Notes
to
Chapter
Five
220.
RC
6.1;
7.1;
11.88-90;
12.25;
15.32-35;
15.54;
16.72.
It
also
mentions
Svacchandabhairava
(14.52),
a
possible
reference
to
the
BhP.
221.
RC
2.1;
14.199.
See
also
Siddhinandan
Misra's
introduction,
pp.
12-13.
The
RC
also
mentions
Srisailam
(8.23),
the
Tapti
River
and
Kanauj
(ro.I29),
the
Vindhya
mountains
(14.91),
and
Saurashtra
(14-174).
The
type
of
earth
in
question
is
potash
alum,
phi!kari
in
Sanskrit.
Whereas
Mount
Abu
is
presently
located
within
the
state
of
Rajasthan,
its
cultural
and
political
ties
have
historically
been
Gujarati.
Only
the
1987
Bombay
edition
of
the
of
the
RRA
contains
a
reference
to
the
RC:
Meulenbeld,
History
(draft
of
ro
May
1994),
p.
954.
222.
RC
14.58;
16.60.
223.
Curiously,
he
is
called
Yasodhana
in
the
RRS
[a]
list.
On
the
basis
of
the
RPS's
use
of
the
terms
dVipiintarotthii
and
rasakarpura,
Jan
Meulenbeld
(History,
draft
of
10
May
1994
p.
871)
maintains
that
Yasodhara
Bha!!a
was
a
16th,
and
not
a
13th
c.
author
as
previously
supposed.
His
argument
is,
however,
based
upon
a
later
identification
of
the
former
preparation
with
cobacini,
a
plant
of
foreign
origin
introduced
into
India
in
the
16th
c.
224.
RPS
8,32,37;
13.1.
Opium,
imported
to
India
from
the
west,
is
first
tioned
in
the
ca.
A.D.
II
75-
1225
Gadanigraha
of
225.
RPS
13.15.
See
above,
chap.
4,
n.
211.
226.
RPS
13.14.
The
are
so
called
because
their
lineage
originated
in
i.e.,
Bengal-Orissa.
227.
Meulenbeld,
History
(draft
of
10
May
1994),
p.
871.
On
the
alchemical
usage
of
the
term
kavi,
see
above,
chap.
I,
n.
49,
and
below,
chap.
ro,
nn.
78-80.
228.
Rasiir7!ava
is
the
reading
found
in
all
of
the
manuscripts
of
the
of
the
RRA
I
consulted
in
the
Nepal
National
Archives
(see
bibliography);
however
Tripathi's
edition
of
this
work
gives
a
reading
of
"rasiiyane"
for
RRA
1.1.
16a.
229.
The
Svargavaidya-Kiipiilika
is
not
extant;
however,
Carpa!i
figures
as
a
Rasa
Siddha
in
alchemical
legend
and
is
the
author
of
a
number
of
extant
alchemical
manuscripts:
see
above,
chap.
3,
n.
121.
230.
The
RRA
cites
the
RC
in
Lro.51-61;
and
it
names
the
KCM
in
5.1.7.
On
the
former
citation,
see
above,
n.
221.
231.
Meulenbeld,
History
(draft
of
10
May
1994),
p.
955.
232.
Meulenbeld,
History
(draft
of
10
May
1994),
p.
954.
233.
The
RRA
has
never
been
edited
in
toto;
each
of
its
divisions
has,
however,
been
edited
separately,
although
many
are
extremely
difficult
of
access.
See
raphy.
234.
Meulenbeld,
History
(draft
of
ro
May
1994),
p.
947.
According
to
this
thor,
the
is
largely
in
agreement
with
the
Ayurvedic
diina
in
its
etiology,
symptomology,
and
treatment
of
diseases.

435
Notes
to
Chapter
Five
23
S·
Wujastyk,
''Alchemical
Ghost:'
p.
7
S.
Wujastyk
however
errs
in
identifying
the
RRA
as
an
epitome
of
the
KPT:
this
he
does
on
the
basis
of
chapter
colophons
to
two
of
the
manuscripts
of
the
Siddha
of
the
RRA
held
by
the
Wellcome
Institute,
London:
ibid.,
pp.
7S,
82.
Chapter
colophons
to
the
manuscript
of
the
Siddha
I
consulted
(NNA
MSS
no.
S-3092,
Ayurveda
266)
call
it
the
work
of
Nityanatha
Siddha,
son
of
Parvatl."
236.
RRA
3.IIb-I2a.
See
above,
n.
10
to
the
preface.
237.
RRS
6.1-60
=
RRA
3.1.10-76.
238.
On
the
"laks.a7fas"
of
the
Tantras,
see
HTSL,
p.
10.
239.
Listed
are
Benares,
Kamariipa
(Assam),
Hardwar,
(a
river
in
tral
Nepal;
nearby
is
the
Saiva
pilgrimage
site
of
Muktinath),
Vadarika
(Badarlnath,
in
the
Garhwal
Himalayas),
and
Gangasagara
(in
the
Ganges
delta,
West
Bengal).
The
RHT
of
Govinda
may
also
have
been
an
eastern
Indian
work:
see
above,
nn.
ISI-S2.
240.
MBhT
1.S-16;
S.17-33;
8.30-34.
See
above,
nn.
109-10,
on
the
more
or
less
synonymous
sadbhava,
kulam1Ja,
and
kauliim1Ja.
241.
MBhT
3.7-8,
18-20;
14.13-14.
242.
MBhT
7.S8-60;
8.18-24;
12.14-17.
243.
MBhT
7-36.
244·
MBhT
1.7;
S·4;
7·2-S,
60;
8.18;
10.22;
14.
2
1.
24S.
Andre
Padoux,
"The
Body
in
Tantric
Ritual:
The
Case
of
the
Mudras:'
in
Teun
Goudriaan,
ed.,
The
Sanskrit
Tradition
and
Tantrism
(Leiden:
Brill,
1990),
p.66.
246.
ASL
MSS
no.
4281
(of
which
Paris
MSS
no.
1222
is
a
copy,
commissioned
by
Palmyr
Cordier,
and
containing
a
number
of
corrections
on
the
Bikaner
nal);
and
GAU
MSS
no.
862.
This
last
manuscript
does
not
contain
the
tary
found
following
chapter
four
in
the
Bikaner
manuscript.
The
ASL
manuscript,
from
which
the
Paris
manuscript
was
copied,
continues
for
a
few
additional
lines
and
ends
with
the
colophon "thus
ends
the
RM
of
Sriman
Nagarjuna."
All
scripts
of
the
RM
are
four
chapters
in
length:
personal
communication
from
nik
Wujastyk,
May
1994.
247.
Paris
MSS
no.
1222,
fo1.
22a.6.
Cf.
GAU
MSS
no.
861,
fo1.
28a.9-10:
sarvahitartharp.
sarvasiddhikaram.
248.
Meulenbeld,
History
(draft
of
10
May
1994),
p.
986.
249.
rasendramangalarp.
srutva
yascikitsetcikitsakal].!
tasya
siddhir
na
sandeho
svayarp.
nagarjuno
'bravIt.
2
So.
RM
fo1.
2
sa.2-3:
parvatagrha
prasada
sasailavanakananarp.
kaiicanamayarp.
On
the
Navanatha
Carita,
see
Ro§u,
''Alchemy,''
p.
IS4,
citing
P.
V.
brahma
Sastry.

43
6
Notes
to
Chapter
Five
25
I.
See
above,
n.
60
of
this
chapter.
The
"Laghu
Viytt:i"
commentary
on
the
YRM
is
dated
A.D.
12
39.
252.RMfol.
Ib-4;6a·3·
253.
RM
fol.
Ib.'7--fol.
2a.!.
Here
too,
it
follows
the
RA
(10.36-37).
The
RC
(15.30)
gives
the
same
measures.
254.
RM
fol.
4a.I-4,
borrowing
from
RA
6.81-84.
255.
RM
fol.
6a.8:
mrtani
lohani
rasi
bhavanti.
I
am
grateful
to
Damodar
Joshi
for
this
interpretation
of
the
term
rasi,
i.e.,
digestible
in
the
same
way
as
is
rasa,
chyle,
the
first
of
the
eight
dhatus:
personal
communication,
Benares,
December
19
8
4.
2
56.
Names
include
ekalingefvara-rasa;
svacchandabhairava-rasa,
bhairava-rasa,jvalamukhi-rasa,
kumari-rasa,
varahi-rasa,
va4avamukha-rasa,
etc.
See
above,
n.
F.
257.
See
above,
chap.
3,
nn.
131, 146.
Here,
afijana
is
used
in
the
sense
of
balm,
unguent,
or
ointment,
rather
than
in
the
sense
of
a
miraculous
preparation
(usually
with
a
black
antimony-afijana-base)
which
affords
invisibility
and
other
natural
powers.
258.
Of
the
thirty-seven
folios
of
the
Paris
manuscript
of
the
RM,
fols.
15a
to
29b
make
up
chapter
four
alone.
259.
RM
fol.
16a.5.
Cf.
RA
18,95
and
KCM
fol.
3b.6-9.
260.
RM
fol.
17b.I-2.
26I.
RM
fol.
19b.IO-2Ia.lo.
Cf.
KCM
fol.
I2a'3-I2b.6.
262.
RM
fol.
2Ib.5-6.
Cf.
RA
11.70-73.
263.
RM
fol.
24b.6.
264.
RM
fol.
25b'3-4-
265.
RM
fol.
3oa.3.
266.
RM
fol.
30b.6.
See
above,
n.
188.
26
7.
RRS
I.32-59
=
RHT
I.3-33.
268.
Chaps.
2-5
and
7-8
of
the
RRS
are
mainly
drawn
from
the
RC
(chaps.
IO-I2,
14,
3-4,
respectively);
much
of
chap.
6
is
from
RRA
3.I.1-76.
Chap.
9
is
mainly
inspired
by
the
RA
and
RC;
chap.
10
samples
passages
from
chaps.
5-9
of
the
RC;
chap.
II
draws
on
the
RA
and
the
RRA:
Meulenbeld,
History,
draft
of
IO
May
1994,
pp.
979-80.
Its
two
RRS
Siddha
lists
(I.2-5
and
6.51-55)
are
borrowed
directly
from
the
appendix
to
the
RM
and
the
RRA
(3.166-71).
269.
Meulenbeld,
History
(draft
of
IO
May
1994),
p.
979
n.
1368I.
The
napradipika
is
ASL
MSS
no.
4222.
Its
author,
Ramaraja,
who
also
compiled
the
Madanavinodanigha1!!u
(NNAMSS
no.
4-2224,
reel
no.
AI289/4),
was
a
subject
of
the
Pala
king
Madanapala,
who
ruled
in
the
latter
part
of
the
14th
c.
On
his
dates,
see
Sharma,
Ayurved,
p.
409.

437
Notes
to
Chapter
Six
270.
See
Radhakrishna
Sastri's
long
Sanskrit
introduction
(pp.
1-14)
to
his
1952
edition
of
the
AK;
and
Misra,
Ayurvedfya,
p.
38.
Three
copies
of
the
Tanjore
script
are
housed
in
the
Gujarat
Ayurved
University's
collections:
GAU
MSS
nos.
829, 830,
and
831.
271.
These
parallel
passages
are
presented
in
the
form
of
a
chart
in
krishna
Sastri's
introduction
to
the
1952
edition
oftheAK(p.
13).
272.
See
alsoAK
1.3.lO1-3,
on
the
inner
yogic
production
and
consumption
of
the
nectar
of
immortality.
AK
1.20.22-34
also
clearly
borrows
from
RA
1.8-19.
273.
AK
1.3'9-56.
Four
other
types
of
initiation
are
described.
These
are:
sadhaka-,
nirvaTfa-,
acarya-,
and
siddha-dik{a
(AK
1.3.57-1°9).
274.
Brahmananda,
"Jyotsna"
commentary
to
HYP
I.I.
On
Narayat:a,
who
cites
this
work
in
his
17th
c.
commentary
on
the
Yoga
see
Bouy,
Natha-
Yogin,
pp.
68-74.
I
have
not
been
able
to
locate
an
independent
text
entitled
yogafastra.
275.
All
of
these
manuscripts
are
held
in
Jodhpur
(MSL
MSS
1468, 1469, 1470,
and
1471,
of
which
the
last
dates
from
samvat
1740
[A.D.
1683-84])
and
Kathmandu
(reel
nos.
A-999/7;
A-I289-9;
C-86/617;
E-II45/I2;
and
M-23/ro,
of
which
the
first
dates
from
samvat
1735,
or
A.D.
1678-79).
276.
The
YogamartaTf4a
is
reproduced
in
Mallik,
SSp,
pp.
56-71.
On
the
Maha-
kala
Samhita,
see
Pandey,
Gorakhnath,
p.
112.
277.
Bouy,
Natha-Yogin,
p.
41.
278.
This
technique
will
be
discussed
at
length
in
chap.
8,
sec.
4.
279.
Bernier,
Voyages,
p.
245.
Chapter
Six
I.
See
K
R.
Srikanta
Murthy's
introduction
to
his
edition
of
the
Sarilgadhara
Samhita
(p.
xiv).
Cf.
BhP
9.135,
in
which
the
author
calls
his
royal
patron
"Simha";
and
RHT
19'78,
in
which
Govinda
names
his
patron
as
"Madana
...
Lord
of
the
Kiratas."
I
have
translated
this
chapter
of
the
RA
in
its
entirety:
"The
Ocean
of
Mercury:
An
Eleventh
Century
Alchemical
Text;'
in
Donald
Lopez,
ed.
Indian
gions
in
Practice
(Princeton:
Princeton
University
Press,
1995)'
2.
Ray's
and
Tripathi's
editions
of
the
RA
substitute
narana
("destroying")
for
rasaka
in
this
half
verse
(I
4b),
which
makes
little
sense
in
the
light
of
what
follows.
Moreover,
fasaka
(or
fasana)
was
the
reading
I
found
in
the
three
manuscripts
of
the
RA
that
I
consulted
while
in
India
(ASL
MSS
nos.
4256,4273,4274).
3.
KJiiN
1647-49.
Cf.
RC
(1.6-7)
which
gives
the
"Kaula"
etymology
of
parada,
the
term
for
mercury.
See
above,
chap.
5,
sec.
5f.
4.
An
apparent
play
on
words:
whereas
the
first
half
verse
(lOa)
employs
the
third
person
plural
of
the
present
indicative
of
the
verb
muc,
"release,
liberate"

43
8
Notes
to
Chapter
Six
(muiicanti,
"they
liberate"),
this
half
verse
(lOb)
employs
the
past
passive
participle
(mukta),
which
must
therefore
be
read
in
the
sense
"what
ram
or
bull['s
semen
would?]
not
be
released?"
5.
This
is
a
reference
to
the
use
of
the
so-called
paiicamrta,
the
"five
nectars;'
which
include
the
male
and
female
sexual
emissions,
urine,
excrement,
and
row:
KJiiN
I
I.
I
I;
and
the
Vimalaprabha
commentary
on
Kiilacakra
Tantra
2.
II
9,
in
Fenner,
Rasayan
Siddhi,
p.
138.
6.
Elsewhere,
the
text
describes
as
feeble-minded
those
unknowing
persons
who,
indulging
in
liquor
and
flesh
and
deluded
by
Siva's
maya,
prattle
that
"we
have
gone
to
the
world
of
Siva"
(1.29)
and
sends
to
hell
those
persons
who,
knowing
mantra
and
Tantra,
corrupt
the
rasa-yoga
(1.45).
These
rhetorical
verses
are
niscent
of
those
found
in
the
coeval
Akulavira
Tantra
[B]
(1.79-86),
which
mocks
the
trappings
of
yoga.
7·
RA
1.25·
8.
RA
1.26.
Cf.
RC
1.8-10.
Gorakhnath
refers
to
drinking
the
liquor
of
tality
in
Gorakh
Bani
Sabadl
137.
9.
Cf.
RA
2.2,
8,
in
which
the
ideal
alchemical
guru
is
described
as
"one
who
is
attached
to
the
kula
path"
(kula-marga-rata)
and
the
ideal
pupil
as
"one
who
is
devoted
to
honoring
the
kula
[divinities]"
(kula-puja-rata).
See
also
RA
18.101.
10.
RA
18.48-55.
The
RA
(1.27)
refers
to
mercury
itself
as
the
"womb"
of
the
alchemical
lineage:
for
a
discussion,
see
above,
chap.
4,
n.
I I
I.
II.
RA
2.I21b;
18.1I5.
Cf.
RA
18.47-52,
132, 144.
See
above,
chap.
5,
nn.
1°9-
10
.
12.
RA
2.17-27;
6.90;
15.92,
IF;
18.169b.
See
below,
chap.
7,
sec.
3.
Such
an
assistant
woman
is
to
view
herself
as
the
daughter
of
the
goddess
(or
Kalika)
and
the
god
Siva
(Sadasiva,
Tripurantaka):
RA
2.3
1,
34-35.
13·
RA
2.124b-125a;
18·53-54·
14.
HYP
3.48-49,
with
the
commentary
of
Brahmananda.
See
below,
chap.
8,
sec.
4,
for
an
extended
discussion
of
this
practice.
IS.
RA
1.18.
A
second,
and
more
concrete
interpretation,
is
one
suggested
to
me
by
Professor
Mukunda
Raj
Aryal
of
Tribhuvan
University
(personal
nication,
Kathmandu,
June
1993).
Referring
to
modern-day
techniques
of
temple
roof
gilding,
which he
himself
witnessed
at
Bhaktapur,
one
of
the
three
royal
tals
of
the
Kathamandu
Valley,
Aryal
noted
the
use
of
mercury
for
the
ation
of
the
gold
used
in
such
work.
When
the
gilders
are
actually
working
with
the
mercury-gold
amalgam,
they
stuff
their
mouth's
with
chunks
of
raw
[buffalo?]
meat;
and
they
regularly
wash
their
mouths
out
with
alcohol.
These
would
ably
be
techniques
for
reducing,
as
much
as
possible,
the
likelihood
of
inhaling
or
ingesting
the
mercury
being
used.

439
Notes
to
Chapter
Six
16.
RA
6.84;
14.85;
16.34.
17.
RA
1.34;
RRS
1.79.
Rasa,
while
generally
referring
to
mercury
alone,
can
also
mean,
by
extension,
"essential
compound;'
e.g.,
mercuric
sulfide,
cinnabar,
mica,
etc.:
Ro§u,
"Yoga
et
alchimie;'
p.
363.
18.
I
am
grateful
to
Alexis
Sanderson
for
this
insight,
as
well
as
for
a
great
ber
of
other
comments
contained
in
a
very
long
letter
(of
6
July
1992)
in
which he
responded
to
an
early
draft
of
this
chapter.
While
many
of
the
details
(mainly
from
the
SvT)
concerning
tantric
iconography
and
mantra
found
in
this
chapter
come
from
that
letter,
I
will,
out
of
a
concern
for
brevity,
refrain
from
citing
it
repeatedly.
19.
This
passage
has
a
number
of
parallels
in
other
tantric
sources,
among
which
may
be
counted
a
passage
from
Abhinavagupta's
Paratrimfikavivara7Ja
(p.
88,
quoted
[po
276]
and
translated
[po
160]
in
Muller-Ortega,
Triadic),
in
which
that
author
identifies
the
ether
of
the
heart
with
the
eternal
absolute.
Abhinavagupta
is
himself
commenting
on
a
passage
from
the
Yogavasiffha:
Padoux,
Vac,
p.
81,
n.
139.
Cf.
Amanaska
Yoga
1.23.
20.
RA
1.8.
"Sivahood"
(fivatvam)
in
one's
own
body,
a
standard
goal
of
tantrism,
is
also
evoked
in
RA
1.31a;
12.337b;
17.25ab;
18.29b,
59ab.
2
I.
Although
he
does
not
call
it
so
by
name,
he
is
singling
out
orthodox
Saiva
Siddhanta
here.
See
Sanderson's
discussion
of
this
school,
which
dominated
miri
religious
theory
and
practice
prior
to
the
9th
century:
"Saivism;'
pp.
690-93.
22.
The
term
used
is
pi7J4apata,
literally,
the
"fall[ing
away]
of
the
body."
23.
RA
1.9,
13.
Cf.
RRS
1.54;
RHT
1.28.
Here,
the
author
is
denigrating
the
Saiva
Siddhanta
view
of
liberation
upon
death
in
favor
of
the
Kaula
doctrine
of
bodily
immortality,
which
is
itself
inferior
to
the
practical
techniques
of
the
mists,
whose
methods
and
results
are
proven
and
tangible.
24.
Here
I
emend
yatba
dhyanam
with
samadhanam.
25.
RA
1.20-22.
This
notion,
of
a
stabilizing
the
body
(pi7Jqadhara7Jam:
RA
LI8a),
or
bodily
stability
([pi7Jqa-]sthairya),
the
watchword
of
tantric
and
Siddha
alchemy,
appears
to
be
approprated
by
Jayaratha,
in
his
commentary
on
TA.
29.
I
2
r--
32,
in
which
the
mouth-to-mouth
exchange
of
sexual
fluids
practiced
by
adepts
whose
goals
are
siddhis:
here,
Jayaratha
glosses
siddhi
with
pi7Jqasthairyadi.
26.
RA
1.25.
This
descent
is
termed
faktipat.
But
see
the
editor's
comment
(p.
6)
on
a
variant
reading,
in
the
RC,
which
would
make
this
a
straightforward
ment
on
the
reduction
(pata)
of
volatile
energy
(faktt)
in
mercury.
Cf.
RC
10.54,
which
states
that
the
grace
of
Siva
is
necessary
for
the
liquefaction
of
mica.
27·
RA
1.37-40;
18.193b.
Cf.
BhP
6.217;
7.108;
9.76.
On
tantric
puja,
see
HT,
pp.
121-62.
See
also
below,
sec.
3.
28.
RA
1.59;
RC
1.4,
2.21.
Other
clearly
alchemical
names
of
Siva
mentioned
in
other
texts
are
Paradesvara,
"Lord
of
Mercury"
(BhP
5.27);
Rasesvara
(mentioned

44
0
Notes
to
Chapter
Six
together
with
Gaur!:
5.289),
etc.
The
RC
(following
2.50)
also
singles
out
the
five
tantric
(as
opposed
to
the
eight
Puranic)
Bhairavas,
of
which
each
corresponds
to
a
syllable
in
the
all-powerful
aghora
mantra.
NandikeSvara
is
singled
out
as
a
Saiva
alchemical
divinity
in
a
number
of
sources
(e.g.,
RC
14.58);
however,
this
may
be
a
divinization
of
a
Rasa
Siddha
named
Nandi,
who
is
cited
throughout
the
alchemical
literature,
most
especially
by
Somadeva,
author
of
the
RC
(5.77;
11.89-90;
14.128;
15.29,35,66;
16.64)·
Cf.
BhP
9.134;
RRS
1.5.
29.
RA
1.59;
RC
1.5,
2.21.
A
male
Rasankusa[-bhairava]
is
named
as
a
Rasa
dha
in
RRS
1.5.
30.
RA
1.
3
?-44;
RRS
1.23-28;
6.14-26;
MBhT
8.1-10;
RC
1.37-38.
See
also
Treloar,
"The
Use
of
Mercury,"
especially
pp.
237-38;
and
Siddhinandan
Misra's
introduction
to
the
RC
(p.
5),
in
which
he
discusses
the
alchemical
grounds
for
the
foundation
and
installation
of
the
rasalinga.
Cf.
MBhT
7.58-69
and
12.14-18,
with
notes
(pp.
38-39,
59)
on
the
benefits
of
worshipping
lingas
made
from
the
eight
metals,
mercury,
flowers
of
sulfur,
etc.
This
construction
is
discussed
extensively
in
chap.
8,
sec.
5.
31·
See
above,
chap.
5,
llll.
29-32,
205·
32.
RA
2.105-6,
126-30
Cf.
RC
2.42;
RRS
6.57.
33.
RA
1.37-40,43.
Cf.
RRS
6.19,
in
which
the
figure
is
raised
to
ten
million.
Other
Saiva
deities
evoked
in
the
RA
(18.186)
are
Nandikesa
and
Kumara.
On
the
alchemical
significance
of
the
important
Siva
linga
of
Kedarnath,
see
below,
chap.
8,
n.
153.
34·
RA
1.4
8
-51.
35.
Ro§u,
"Renouveau;'
pp.
65-66;
and
Majumdar,
"Medicine;'
in
Bose,
ed.,
Concise
History,
p.
233.
36.
RA
2.110-18
describes
an
image
of
Rasa-Bhairava
which
the
alchemist
ects
upon
on
his
own
subtle
body:
this
corresponds
to
similar
configurations
found
in
a
number
of
tantras
(Padoux,
Vac,
pp.
120-2
I;
Sanderson,
pp.
186,
190-92).
"Masters
of
yoga"
(yogindras)
are
to
be
worshipped
with
arghya,
flesh,
fish,
andyoginimantras:
RA
18.55.
Cf.
RRS
6.56.
37.
RA
12.83;
BhP
6-46.
The
five
faces
of
Sad
as
iva
(mentioned
in
RA
2.IIO-Il)
are
supports
for
that
great
god,
the
supreme
attributeless
divinity
of
the
Saiva
dhantins.
On
this,
see
T.
A.
Gopinath
Rao,
Elements
of
Hindu
Iconography,
2
vols.
in
4
tomes
(Madras:
Law
Road
Printing
House,
1914-16),
vol.
2,
pp.
3
6
7-
68
,
374;
appendix
B,
pp.
18'7-91.
38.
The
BhP
actually
calls
this
divinity
Svacchanda
Siva
(5.178),
Svacchanda
Kaulava
(8.98;
9.129:
the
Svacchanda
of
the
Kaula
virtuousi:
kaulavit),
"the
slayer
of
Time"
(kalaghna)
,
or
simply
Svacchanda
(7.108).
The
same
text
(8.98;
9.129)

441
Notes
to
Chapter
Six
also
mentions
Svayambhu
Kaulava,
a
common
name
of
Siva,
or
of
his
phallic
blem
the
linga
in
devotional
Saivism.
This
term
is
formed
by
grafting
to
the
term
Kaula
the
ending
-ve
or
-va:
this
is
apparently
a
shortening
of
-vit,
"knower,
expert,
virtuoso;'
a
term
used
extensively
in
the
KJfiN
(7.30;
11.79;
14-49;
16.24,
62;
18.1;
23.1).
The
BhP
(7.108)
also
describes
Svacchanda[-bhairava]
in
union
with
his
sort
Sakti
(faktisa11!yuktaq).
39.
RA
2.8,
I21a;
BhP
6.229,281,297,399,431;
Cf.
KJfiN
8.27-45.
The
BhP
(7.369)
states
that
offerings
to
demonic
female
divinities
(pifiicis,
riikfasis,
devis)
,
made
with
inauspicious
practices,
either
Svayambhuva,
mantra-based,
or
Sakta,
never
succeed.
40.
On
the
highly
elaborate
Trika
cult
of
these
goddesses,
see
Sanderson,
vism;'
pp.
673-74,
681-82;
and
idem,
pp.
188-
8
9,
199.
41.
RA
2.62.
Cf.
TA
15.331C-333b.
In
this
role
MalinI
"encompasses"
the
three
goddesses.
More
often,
this
role
is
played
by
either
or
bhava:
Alexis
Sanderson,
"The
Visualization
of
the
Deities
of
the
Trika;'
in
Andre
Padoux,
ed.,
L'image
divine:
mite
et
meditation
dans
l'hindouisme
(Paris:
Editions
du
CNRS,
1990),
pp.
45-47.
See
below,
n.
50.
42.
RA
2.47-73,
especially
2.51-63,
69-71.
A
nearly
identical
ma7!4ala
is
scribed
in
RC
2.23-35.
This
ma7!4ala
is
graphically
reproduced
in
"Mantra
et
Yantra"
p.
252.
Quite
different
is
the
ma7!4ala
described
in
RRS
6-40-57,
in
which
it
is
the
minerals
themselves,
as
well
as
the
twenty-eight
founding
Siddhas
of
the
alchemical
tradition,
that
are
worshipped
in
sequence.
43·
RA
2.5
0
-5
1
, 7
2
.
44.
RA
2.52-53.
The
RRS
(6.22)
is
more
explicit
than
the
RA
on
the
meditative
superimposition
of
these
anthropomorphic
images
upon
the
rasalinga.
45.
On
this
practice,
of
working
from
the
outside
in
(laya-krama),
see
HT,
p.
16
4.
46.
RA
2.56.
Moving
clockwise
from
the
east,
their
names
are
Sakra
(lndra);
Skanda;
Rudra;
Pavana
(Agni);
Siva;
Pavaka
(Vayu);
Uma;
and
Vyapaka
("the
anator").
47.
RA
2.57-58a.
Their
names
are
Lepika
("[Transmutation
by]
Smearing");
("[Transmutation
by]
Casting");
("Corroding,
Reducing
[Metals]
to
Ashes");
Rafijika
("Tinting,
Coloring"
[of
Metals]);
LohatI
("Metallica");
dhakarI
("Binder
[of
Mercury]");
Bhucara
("[The
Power
of]
Moving
over
the
Earth"
[at
Will]");
MrtyunasinI
("Destroyer
of
Death");
VibhutI
("Superhuman
Powers");
and
KhecarI
("Power
of
Flight").
In
the
Vidya
PIJha,
the
diUiis
the
secrated
consort
with
whom
the
tantric
practitioner
copulates
in
order
to
produce
the
mingled
sexual
fluids
he
offered
to
the
gods:
Sanderson,
"Saivism;'
p.
671.

442
Notes
to
Chapter
Six
48.
RA
2.59.
Their
names
are
(copper
pyrites);
Vimala
(iron
pyrites);
Saila
(filajatu,
bitumen);
Capala
(selenium);
Rasaka
(calamine);
Sasyaka
(copper
fate);
Gandhaka
(sulfur);
and
Tala
(haratala,
orpiment).
49.
RA
2.60-61.
These
are
the
VidYeSvaras:
see
below,
n.
56.
50.
RA
2.62.
"In
the
lotus's
pericarp
[at
the
heart
of
the
maf!4ala],
starting
from
the
east
are
the
four
faktis:'
Here,
Apara
is
described
as
vajrafakti
and
Para
para
as
kanti:
these
epithets
are
taken
up
by
Somadeva
in
RC
2.23-24,
who
names
the
four
alchemical
Goddesses
(rasa-faktis)
as
MalinI,
("Diamond
Maiden"),
Kanta
("Magnetite
Maiden"),
and
Abhra
("Mica
Maiden").
Para
and
Apara
are
also
tioned
in
this
source.
51.
RA
2.63a,
64b.
52.
RA
2.63b-64a,
65-66a.
53.
RA
2.69-7
2
.
54.
The
classic
discussion
of
the
tantric
superenthronements
is
Sanderson,
pp.
178-82,
187.
I
am
deeply
indebted
to
this
author
for
his
detailed
commentary
on
the
superenthronements
found
in
the
RA
passage,
which
I
duce
here.
55.
In
RA
2.8b,
the
alchemical
disciple
is
described
as
one
devoted
to
the
ship
of
the
circle
of
the
yoginfs
and
the
kula.
The
presence
of
the
eight
maharasas,
the
principal
reagents
with
mercury
in
the
alchemical
san;tskaras,
is
troubling.
though
these
are
the
"inner
circle"
of
mineral
reagents
vis-a-vis
mercury,
they
are
never
divinized
and
do
not
seem
to
fit
well
into
this
maf!4ala.
56.
Rao,
Elements,
vol.
2,
pt.
2,
pp.
396-97,
and
Sanskrit
appendix
B,
pp.
187-<)
I.
Their
names
are:
Anantesa,
Sivottama,
Ekanetra,
Ekarudra,
Trimurti,
kat:lrha,
and
57.
Svacchandabhairava
rides
on
the
shoulders
of
the
preta
Sadasiva
in
the
SvT
(2.81b);
Sadasiva
is
also
the
mahapreta
who
symbolizes
the
Goddess's
lotus
seat
in
her
tantric
worship:
HT,
p.
144.
Cf.
TA
5.322a.
Placed
before
the
tantric
image
of
Pancali
Bhairava
in
Kathmandu
is
the
recumbent
image
of
a
figure
called
Vetala,
whose
name
evokes
the
"vampires"
of
tantric
sorcery
who
possess
corpses
(pretas
in
this
context)
and
whose
services
are
sought
out
by
powerful
tantric
practitioners.
The
iconography
of
this
recent
image
appears
to
reproduce
that
of
hairava.
On
such
vampires,
see
below,
chap.
10,
sec.
I.
58.
These
passages,
from
book
four
of
the
SvTand
chap.
22
of
the
Netra
Tantra,
are
discussed
in
Padoux,
Vae,
pp.
404-1
I.
59.
More
specifically,
Rasabhairava
is
identifiable
with
the
sakala
("with
butes")
form
of
Svacchandabhairava.
See
SvT
2.88b-94a,
for
Svacchandabhairava's
appearance;
and
2.
II
sa,
which
states
that
his
consort
is
seated
on
his
lap.
For
a

443
Notes
to
Chapter
Six
discussion
of
sakala
and
ni{kala
mantras
in
nondualist
Kashmir
Saivism,
see
Padoux,
"Body,"
pp.
72-73.
60.
Nityii{oqafikii1"'l!ava
144b,
145a;
Devirahasya,
p.
100;
Purafcaryii1"'l!ava,
p.
806.
61.
Sanderson,
"Saivism
in
Kashmir,"
in
Encyclopedia
of
Religion,
vol.
13,
pp.
16-
1
7.
62.
RA
2.68:
Orp.
hrlrp.
krlrp.
rasesvaraya
mahakalaya
vaya
vajravira
krodhakarikala
The
same
mantra
is
found
in
SvT
1.4
1
-43.
63.
RA
2.72a:
pujayedrasasiddhyartharp.
vidyaya
paficabljaya.
Decoded,
kusi's
mantra
is
"airp.
hrlrp.
srIrp.
kllrp.
saul)."
-which
is,
like
her
iconography,
eled
after
that
of
Bala
TripurasundarI
(airp.
kllrp.
saulf).
It
also
resembles
the
five
pra7Javas
or
seed
mantras
of
the
Kubjika
cult
(airp.
hrlrp.
srlrp.
phrerp.
saul).).
Cf.
RA
2.84,
where
the
five
elements
are
identified
with
these
same
five
seed-mantras
of
the
rasiiizkufimudrii;
and
in
which
the
rasiiizkufa
mantra
is
praised
(2.89-90)
and
the
construction
of
a
circular
oblatory
basin-homologized
with
the
goddess's
sexual
organ
(yonicakra)
and
with
which
mantra-based
worship
is
also
to
be
is
described
(2.77-85).
64·
RA
3·5·
65.
RA
3.19,
which
identifies
the
"eighty-eight
thousand"
herbal
preparations
in
which
the
alchemist
will
later
macerate
his
mercury
and
other
elements
with
the
kula-kheciiri,
the
"sky-going
lineage."
These
are
all
brought
together
in
the
so'han.z
han.zsa
utterance.
66.
RA
2.76;
18.60b.
Cf.
RRS
6.38;
RC
2.47.
67.
RA
3.16.
68.
RA
3.6.
69·
RA
3.27.
70.
RA
2.97-98.
These
mantras
are
used
here,
in
conjunction
with
mantra-nyiisa,
for
predicting
the
success
of
a
future
alchemical
operation.
Using
a
hexagonal
qala
upon
whose
corners
are
figured
six
forms
of
Bhairava
and
at
whose
center
is
figured
Rasabhairava,
the
practitioner
causes
girls
and
boys
whom
he
has
brought
together
to
serve
as
media
for
posing
questions
to
the
divinity:
RA
2.92-103,
cussed
in
Ro§u,
"Mantra
et
Yantra;'
pp.
254-55.
71.
Padoux,
Viic,
p.
47;
Gonda,
Medieval,
p.
171.
The
title
of
chapter
three
of
the
RA
is
"mantra-nyasa."
72.
Sanderson,
pp.
174-75;
Wheelock,
"Vedic;'
in
Alper,
Mantra,
pp.
103-4;
Muller-Ortega,
Triadic
Heart,
pp.
162-81.
In
the
RC
(2.51),
alchemical
mantras
are
to
be
imposed
upon
a
patient
as
a
means
to
curing
him
of
disease:
Ro§u,
"Mantra
et
Yantra,"
p.
254.

444
Notes
to
Chapter
Six
73.
On
this,
see
below,
chap.
9,
nn.
40-47.
74.
RA
3.2.
Her
anthropomorphic
image,
to
be
worshipped
with
the
five
Vidya
bijas
("seed
mantras")
has
already
been
discussed
in
2.69-73'
75.
This
is
clarified,
somewhat,
in
RA
(3.4a):
"In
the
same
way
as
a
linga's
ing
(i.e.,
the
yoni
in
which
it
is
set)
defines
the
linga's
form,
so
that
which
i.e.,
miiyii
(lingimiiyii:
alternate
reading
lingitiiyii,
in
ASL
MSS
no.
4256,
fo1.
I
lb.
3)-is
to
that
which
is
"linga'ed:'
(Or,
"that
which
marks
defines
that
which
is
marked").
The
line
of
the
vulva
is
called
by
the
name
"ether"
in
the
fifth
house:
RA
3.4b.
Cf.
RA
2.II4-I6,
for
a
list
of
explanatory
synonyms
for
"ether"
as
a
support
for
the
inner
visualization
of
a
tantric
deity.
On
the
five
houses
as
the
five
elements,
see
Kaviraj,
Bhiiratfy
1:555-56.
On
the
five
houses
as
the
five
components
of
the
o'll!kiira,
of
which
the
fifth
is
the
subtle
niida,
see
Eck,
Banaras,
p.
I
IS.
76.
RA
3.5-7a.
Here,
I
am
following
the
reading
of
the
Kashmir
manuscript
used
by
Ray
in
his
critical
edition,
as
well
as
emendations
suggested
by
Alexis
Sanderson
(letter
of
6
July
1992),
who
substitutes
kro'll!-the
seed
syllable
which
animates
the
mantra
and
which
is
known
as
the
"goad"
-for
kri'll!,
which
is
not
a
normal
seed
syllable.
On
kro'll!
as
the
goad
(ankufa),
see
Nityafoqafikiirf!ava-
1juvimarfinl,
p.
ISO,
line
9.
Bhairava's
statement
in
3.3a,
that
"four
(houses)
are
placed
in
front,
while
ha'll!sa
is
the
fifth"
would
also
refer
to
the
fact
that
ha'll!sa
is
the
final
element
of
the
kiilapiifa
mantra.
77.
Cow
dung
and
ashes
are
standard
exoteric
and
esoteric
purifying
agents.
78.
RA
3.7-8.
79.
RA
3.9-12.
The
kubjika
mantra
is
mentioned
again
in
RA
3.3Ia.
80.
Schoterman,
$a!Jiihasra
Samhitii,
p.
14.
8I.
Ibid.,
p.
37.
82.
These
four
are
identified
with
the
four
cardinal
directions
on
the
inner
square
of
the
important
Kaula
siddhacakra,
which
is
graphically
reproduced
in
Dyczkowski,
Canon,
p.
81,
and
which
has
been
discussed
above,
chap.
5,
nn.
77,
93-94·
83.
$SS
I.2
with
Schoterman's
commentary
($a!Jiihasra
Samhitii,
pp.
32,
36-37).
The
KJnN
(16,50)
may
be
referring
to
the
latter
group
in
its
mention
of
the
four
kulasiddhas.
84.
Ca1).qakapalinI
is
the
supreme
goddess
of
the
yiimalas,
the
"Union
Tantras"
of
the
Vidya
PI!ha;
it
is
to
her
that
the
hathayogic
GherarJqa
Samhitii
is
revealed.
KilII
was
worshipped
as
Ca1).qakapalinI
in
mainstream
Saiva
funerary
rites
in
eval
Kashmir:
Sanderson,
"Ma1).qala;'
p.
201
n.
156.
85.
RA
3-13-16.
86.
The
tripuriibhairavimantra
is
found
in
3.25.
My
thanks
to
Alexis
Sanderson
for
clarifying
the
language
of
this
difficult
passage.

445
Notes
to
Chapter
Seven
87.
These
include
the
four-syllabled
han.zso'ham,
identified
as
the
kulakhecari(RA
3.19);
rasankuSf
(3.20b);
trifiras
(3·22a);
4amara
(3.23a),
etc.
88.
In
verse
38,
the
goddess
asks
Bhairava
a
question
concerning
dikfa;
verse
83
b
begins,
"The
practitioner
who
has
been
so
initiated
...
"
Cf.
RRS
6.27-31.
89.
Summarized
in
letter
from
Alexis
Sanderson,
dated
6
July
1992.
90.
Kula17!ava
Tantra
14.89.
91.
On
this,
see
Gonda,
in
Change
and
Continuity,
pp.
439,
443.
See
below,
chap.
10,
sec.
2.
92.
John
Woodroffe,
Principles
ofTantra:
The
Tantratattva
of
Sriyukta
Siva
Candra
Vidya17!ava
Bhatt;acarya,
2
vols.
(Madras:
Ganesh
and
Co.,
1970),
2:477,
cited
in
Walter,
Alchemy
and
Medicine,
p.
70
(n.
23
to
p.
16):
"In
order
that
this
unclean
body
may
be
purified,
it
is
dried
up
by
means
of
the
Vayumantra
and
burnt
and
reduced
to
ashes
by
means
of
the
Agnimantra!'
See
below,
chap.
9,
sec.
3.
93.
T.
A.
Gopinath
Rao,
Elements,
2:1,
pp.
IO-II,
cited
in
Gonda,
in
Change
and
Continuity,
p.
430:
"ancient
and
widespread
ideas
in
connection
with
'initiation,'
'consecration,'
or
'transmutation'
have
here
been
embedded
in
the
cally
Saivite
patrern
of
Hinduism
and
are
put
into
practice
in
the
framework
of
Hindu
ritual,
requiring
different
kU1!4as
(receptacles
for
fire)
and
ma1!4alas
tic
drawings'):'
Chapter
Seven
1.
RV
1.1°5.2
describes
the
exchange
of
a
certain
rasa
between
the
partners
in
sexual
intercourse.
2.
See,
for
example,
RV
1.23.19;
9.86.39;
Atharva
Veda
1.4-4;
1.6.2-3;
3.31.6-II;
Satapatha
Brahma1!a
1.6+5;
6.2.2.6;
7.3.1.3.
See
above,
chap.
I,
nn.
40-45.
3.
See,
for
example,
Satapatha
Brahma1!a
7.3.1.26.
4.
As,
for
example,
the
pra1!agnihotra:
Vaikhanasa
Smarta
Siitra
2.18.
5.
Maitri
Upanifad
5.2.
The
term
occurs
in
an
emanatory
schema,
in
which
tamas,
the
lowest
gn1!a,
differentiates
into
rajas,
which
in
turn
differentiates
into
sattva,
which
"when
impelled,
flowed
forth
as
rasa:'
6.
Indeed,
soma
as
oblation
and
agni
as
sacrificial
fire
are
identified
with
sun
and
moon
in
Satapatha
Brahma1!a
1.6.3.23-25.
An
alternative
reading
of
samarasa
is
samarasya.
7.
Gorakfa
Paddhati
1.71-75,
which
is
quite
nearly
identical
to
Yogamarta1!4a
61-
64.
The
two
texts
are
expansions
on
the
13th
c.
Gorakfa
Sataka.
8.
Caraka
Samhita
6.7.71.
9.
Dasgupta,
History,
vol.
2,
pp.
357-59.
10.
Natyafastra
6,
cited
in
G.
K.
Bhat,
Rasa
Theory
and
Allied
Problems
(Baroda:
M.
S.
University
of
Baroda,
1984),
p.
11.

44
6
Notes
to
Chapter
Seven
I
I.
A
yogic
parallel
are
the
seven
fires
of
yoga
(yogagnis),
which
render
the
body
"cooked":
Marka1!4eya
Pura1!a,
cited
in
Kaviraj,
Bharatiy,
vol.
I,
p.
178.
Cf.
Gorakh
Bani,
Sabadl
156-57.
A
late
south
Indian
alchemical
source,
the
Yogimuni
1000
([3.10-62],
ed.
and
tr.
S.
Raghunathan
[Madurai:
Madurai
University,
1982])
scribes
how
the
conjunction
of
the
five
elements
with
the
guru
brings
about
the
ripening
(pac)
of
the
elements
and
metals
into
gold.
On
the
wide
semantic
range
of
the
verb
pac,
see
Charles
Malamoud,
"Cuire
Ie
monde;'
in
Cuire
Ie
monde,
pp.
35-7
I.
12.
Cf.
Car
aka
Samhita
6.1.78-80
quoted
below,
chap.
10,
n.
102.
13.
Misra,
Ayurvediya,
pp.
SIr-8o.
14.
Ro§u,
"Yoga
et
alchimie;'
pp.
376-78.
See
above,
chap.
3,
nn.
I2,
3
0
-3
2
,
133.
IS.
RC
11.5·
16.
RA
1.36;
RRS
q6.
17.
The
term
rasa
in
the
singular
also
refers
to
essential
compounds,
such
as
cinnabar,
mica,
pyrites,
etc.,
in
their
native
states:
Ro§u,
"Yoga
et
alchimie;'
p.
363.
KauJilya's
ca.
1st
c.
B.C.
(Arthafastra
2.12.2-4)
reference
to
rasa
would
therefore
be
to
smelted
ore
(and
not
to
mercury,
as
some
have
argued).
See
also
Subbarayappa,
"Chemical
Practices;'
in
Bose,
Concise
History,
p.
305.
18.
The
maharasas
act
directly
on
mercury;
the
uparasas
catalyze
the
effects
of
the
maharasas:
Misra,
Ayurvediya,
p.
342.
Mercurial
preparations
in
which
plants
are
used
are
called
rasaus.adha
and
rasabhasma
rasayana
(RA
12.358).
A
number
of
"magical
waters"
are
alternatively
referred
to
as
rasas
or
udakas:
RA
12.189-292;
RRS
II.I25;
KCKT8.18-39;
Kardaswamy,
History,
p.
343;
Subbarayappa,
cal
Practices;'
in
Bose,
Concise
History,
pp.
336-37;
Vimalaprabha
202cd,
in
Fenner,
Rasayan
Siddhi,
p.
153.
19.
RC
1.3.
Elsewhere
(15.2),
Somadeva
states
that
the
essence
of
all
remedies
is
to
be
found
in
mercury
(sUta).
20.
Prior
to
the
I2th
c.,
this
branch
of
Hindu
alchemy
was
termed
lohavada,
"the
doctrine
of
metals":
personal
communication
from
Damodar
Joshi,
Benares,
September
1985.
The
modern
Hindi
term
for
alchemy,
kimiya[gari},
is
a
late
rowing
from
the
Persian:
Ramcandra
Varma,
ed.,
Sa'l1,lkfipt
Hindi
Sabd
Sagar
nares:
Nagaripracarini
Sabha,
1981),
p.
206.
21.
RA
17.165-66:
yatha
lohe
tatha
dehe
kartavya}:l
sl1taka}:l
sada/
samanarp
ute
devi
pravisan
dehalohayol:tl
pl1rvarp
lohe
tato
dehe
prayojayet.
22.
raslbhavanti
lohani
deha
api
susevanat
rasendrastena
vikhyata}:l:
RRA
2.1.7,
cited
in
Misra,
Ayurvediya,
p.
173,
n.
4;
Cf.
RM,
Paris
MSS
no.
12
22,
fol.
6a.8;
and
RA
7.15Iab.
Misra
takes
rasito
mean
"oxidized"
in
the
case
of
metals
and
"joined
with
chyle
and
the
other
dhatus"
in
the
case
of
the
human
body.
23.
RA
16.25b:
dvitiya
iva
Sankara}:l.

447
Notes
to
Chapter
Seven
24.
On
rasacikitsii,
see
Ro§u,
"Renouveau
contemporain;'
pp.
65-66;
and
Ma-
jumdar,
"Medicine;'
in
Bose,
ed.
Concise
History,
p.
233.
25.
Car
aka
Samhitii
6.7.1.
26.
Satapatha
Briihma1!a
12.7.1.7:
12.8.1.1,
IS.
27.
Satapatha
Briihma1!a
6.1.3.1-5.
28.
Satapatha
Briihma1!a
2.1.1.5;
11.1.6.1-11.
In
this
egg,
the
silver
part
of
the
shell
becomes
earth
and
the
golden
part
sky:
Chiindogya
Upanifad
3.19.1-2.
A
betan
creation
myth
reproduces
these
themes:
Asian
Mythologies,
s.v.
"Cosmogonic
Myths
of
Tibet:'
29.
Satapatha
Briihma1!a
3.5.2.27;
Aitareya
Briihma1!a
7+6;
Maitriiya1!z
Samhitii
2.2.2.
30.
Needham,
Science
and
Civilisation,
vol.
5,
pt.
4
(1980),
p.
362.
The
notion
of
a
"ferment"
(Greek:
mtitza)
that
could
be
used
to
effect
a
"biological"
replication
of
metals
is
found
in
the
pre-common
era
Corpus
Hermeticum,
the
Greco-Syriac
Pseudo-Zosimus
(ca.
A.D.
300),
the
Persian
Jabir
ibn
Hayyan
(9th
c.)
and
the
pean
Geber
(13th
c.):
ibid.,
p.
366.
F.
Riimiiya1!a
1.36.10-22.
Cf.
Mahiibharata
13.84-68-7°.
Another
such
mineral
myth
is
found
in
the
early
(pre-8th
c.
B.C.)
]aiminlya
Briihma1!a
(1.223).
32.
Yajur
Veda
18.13,
cited
in
Sharma,
Ayurved,
p.
466.
The
RC
(14.5)
states
that
the
semen
from
which
vahni-sambhuta
("fire-born")
gold
was
produced
was
that
of
Siva,
semen
which
Agni
vomited
after
having
swallowed
it
in
the
myth
of
the
birth
of
Skanda.
The
RRS
(5.6)
agrees,
calling
such
gold
(vahnija-svar1Ja).
See
below,
n.
56,
for
identifications
of
gold
with
female
sexual
fluids.
33.
Dhyiinabindu
Upanifad
1.5,
in
The
Yoga
Upanifads
with
the
Commentary
of
Sri
Upanifad-Brahmayogin,
ed.
A.
Mahadeva
Sastri,
Adyar
Library
Series,
vol.
6
dras:
Adyar
Library
and
Research
Center,
1968),
p.
189.
34.
As
early
as
the
Atharva
Veda
(11.
3.
7-8),
the
metals
are
identified
with
stituents
of
the
body,
according
to
the
brahmanic
system
of
adhidaivatii
system
of
homologies.
Here,
flesh
is
identified
with
the
"dark
metals"
(lead
and
iron?),
blood
with
copper,
ashes
with
tin,
and
complexion
with
gold.
See
above,
chap.
1,
n.
46.
35.
This
is
the
same
god
who,
in
Kaula
traditions,
throws
the
Kaula
scriptures,
revealed
by
Siva,
into
the
sea.
Matsyendranath,
the
"Lord
of
the
Fishes-Nath;'
covers
these,
and
later
transmits
them
to
humanity.
See
below,
chap.
8,
sec.
2b.
36.
Wendy
Doniger
O'Flaherty
summarizes
a
number
of
such
myths
from
the
epics
and
Pural).as,
in
Siva:
The
Erotic
Ascetic
(New
York:
Oxford
University
Press,
1981),
pp.
l0S,
107-8.
37.
Tamils
call
copper
sulfate
nzlaka1!!ha,
identifying
it
with
the
blue
of
Siva's

44
8
Notes
to
Chapter
Seven
throat
after
he
swallowed
the
poison
that
fell
into
the
Ocean
of
Milk
from
the
mouth
of
Vasuki,
the
serpent
churning
rope
employed
by
the
gods
and
antigods:
personal
communication
from
N.
Sethu
Raghunathan,
Madurai,
January
1985.
38.
RC
14.3-4;
reproduced
inRRS
5.4-5.
The
latter
form
of
gold
is
undoubtedly
a
reference
to
the
myth
of
the
golden
embryo,
the
hiraTfyagarbha,
of
Satapatha
maTfa
I
I.I.6.1-1
I.
39.
Rasakiimadhenu
2·I.4,
cited
in
Misra,
Ayurvediya,
p.
496.
40.
The
Lohasarvasvam
ofSn
Surefvara
(vv.
9,
72-74,
lO3-4,
and
116),
with
Hindi
commentary
by
Pavani
Prasad
Sharma,
ed.
Brahmashankar
Mishra
(Benares:
khamba,
1965);
and
the
Rasendra
Bhiiskara
(3.86-4.II9;
5.6-26;
6.12)
of
narayal).a
(Jaipur:
n.p.,
1896).
On
the
dating
of
the
former
text,
see
Meulenbeld,
History
(draft
of
May
lO,
1994),
p.
775.
41.
Padmiivat
24.2
(=
245).
A
complete
edition
of
this
work,
with
a
Hindi
mentary,
is
Rajnath
Sharma,
Jayasi
Granthiivali
(Padmiivat-
Jikii
Sahit)
(Agra:
Vinod
Pustak
Mandir,
1965,
pp.
476-81).
A
partial
edition,
but
with
a
superior
commentary,
is
The
Padumawiiti
of
Malik
Muhammad
Jaisi,
edited
with
a
[Hindi]
commentary,
translation,
and
critical
notes
by
George
Grierson
and
Sudhakara
Dvivedi,
Bibliotheca
Indica,
n.s.
877
(Calcutta:
Baptist
Mission
Press,
1896).
tial
English
translations,
based
on
Grierson
and
Dvivedi's
edition,
are
A.
G.
reff,
Padmiivati
of
Malik
Muhammad
Jaisi,
Bibliotheca
Indica,
267
(Calcutta:
Royal
Asiatic
Society
of
Bengal,
1944);
and
Lakshmi
Dhar,
Padumiivati:
A
Linguistic
Study
of
the
16th
Century
Hindi
(Avadhi)
(London:
Luzac
&
Co.,
Ltd.,
1949).
This
passage
is
found
in
Grierson
and
Dvivedi,
Padumawiiti,
p.
530;
Sharma,
Jayasi
Granthiivali,
p.
386;
and
Shirreff,
Padmiivati,
p.
148.
42.
Gorakh
Biini,
SabadI
II8,
attributed
to
Ratannath
or
Ratan
PIr,
identifies
iron
with
the
Muslim
holy
man
(pir),
whose
yogic
teachings
he
identifies
with
per.
Silver
is
equated
with
Muhammad
and
gold
with
God
(khudai,
s:udm).
43.
These
include
the
Rasakautuka
(ASL
MSS
no.
4203:
fol.
2b'4-II;
fol.
3a.I-5);
the
Sivakalpadruma
of
Sivanatha
(ASL
MSS
no.
4349:
fol.
2a.l-lO);
the
15th
c.
Rasasindhu
(ASL
MSS
no.
4267:
fol.
la.9-II);
and
the
15th
c.
Rasasanketakiilika
of
Camul).9akayastha
(I.2-4).
44.
Mercury
is
thus
a
remedy
for
tiiraka-roga,
the
disease
of
laraka:
Misra,
Ayurvediya,
p.
170.
45.
The
IIth-14th
c.
Skanda
PuriiTfa
(I.29.87)
seems
to
refer
to
this
myth
in
its
account
of
the
birth
of
Skanda.
At
one
point
in
this
myth,
the
gods
all
become
pregnant
because
Agni,
who
has
already
swallowed
the
semen,
is
the
mouth
of
the
gods.
Then,
"Siva's
semen
having
torn
open
their
bellies,
an
ugly
mercurial
[piirada]
lake
of
that
[semen],
lOO
yojanas
[in
expanse],
was
formed."
46.
A
Buddhist
version
of
this
myth
is
found
in
a
14th
c.
Tibetan
source,
the

449
Notes
to
Chapter
Seven
bCud
len
gyi
man
ngag
(On
the
Extraction
of
the
Essence)
of
Bo
dong.
This
differs
from
the
Hindu
myth
in
that
Siva
is
made
to
be
a
form
taken
by
Vajrasattva
to
unite
with
the
Goddess;
she
scatters
his
seed
about
to
make
mercury:
Encyclopedia
Tibetica,
vol.
2,
pp.
522-23,
cited
in
Fenner,
Rasayan
Siddhi,
pp.
80-81.
47.
On
the
adulteration
of
the
mercury
in
these
wells,
see
RRS
1.80,
and
ElK
I.
I
5.
Other
alchemical
works
containing
this
origin
myth
and
references
to
the
five
wells
include
the
Rasakautuka
(ASL
MSS
no.
4203,
fols.
2b-4-3a.5),
Sivakalpadruma
of
Sivanatha
(ASL
MSS
no.
4349,
fols.
2a.
1-
10),
and
Rasasindhu
(ASL
MSS
no.
4267,
fols.
Ia.9-2a.2).
48.
On
the
location
of
the
land
of
the
Daradas
see
Wink,
AI-Hind,
p.
232;
Ray,
History,
vol.
I,
p.
43,
n.
I;
D.
C.
Sircar,
Studies
in
the
Geography
of
Ancient
and
Medieval
India,
2d
revised
ed.
(Delhi:
Motilal
Banarsidass,
1977),
p.
34
and
n.
4;
p.
68
and
n.
9;
and
Sharma's
notes
to
RRS,
pp.
207-8.
See
also
above,
chap.
3,
n·93·
49.
The
word
cinnabar
is
derived
from
the
Greek
kinndbari,
which
has
the
same
(unknown)
root
as
the
Persian
zanjifrah:
Oxford
English
Dictionary,
s.v.
"cinnabar;'
Another
Sanskrit
term
for
cinnabar
is
hingula,
which
is
identical
to
the
Persian
term:
Watt,
Dictionary,
5:232.
The
nearest
source
of
naturally-occurring
are
bar
to
the
Indian
subcontinent
is
Garmsir
(Pir
Kisri)
in
Afghanistan
(Watt,
ary,
5:233).
50.
Whence
the
statements
of
RA
7.72
and
11.82:
"Sulfur
is,
by
its
nature
and
by
its
form,
the
form
of
mercury
(rasariipa);'
"None
of
the
rasas
or
uparasas
is
rior
to
sulfur;'
The
former
statement
is
a
reference
to
the
Indian
distinction
between
essence
and
existence
as
"name"
(nama)
and
"form"
(riipa).
In
fact,
all
the
major
iatrochemical
preparations
of
mercury
(kajjali,
rasasindhura,
rasaparpafi,
and
makaradhvaja
are
essentially
compounds
of
mercury
and
sulphur:
Bhagwan
Dash,
Alchemy
and
Metallic
Medicines
in
Ayurveda
(New
Delhi:
Concept
Publishing,
1986),
p.I02.
51.
RA
7.57-66;
RRS
3-2-12;
KCKT
44.2-3.
52.
The
problematic
term
in
this
passage
is
sambala,
which
the
commentary
to
recension
ii
of
the
MBhT
glosses
as
"that
which
is
released
monthly
by
one's
wives;'
This
commentary
is
indicated
by
Michael
Magee
in
his
translation
of
the
work:
Shri
Matrika
Bheda
Tantra,
pp.
iii
and
n. I
to
p.
1.
53.
For
the
theory
concerning
submarine
volcanos,
see
Sharma's
commentary
to
RRS,
chap.
II
(p.
210).
On
the
doomsday
fire
and
underwater
fire
jets
or
gas
vents,
see
Kalya1'f
Sakti
Ank
(Gorakhpur:
Gita
Press,
1934),
p.
640.
This
image
is
transferred
to
the
subtle
body
in
KJiiN
2.1-3;
and
the
"Sakta"
Gorakfa
Samhita
23.II7-18.
The
RA
(9.5,
8)
describes,
in
succession,
two
types
of
saline
reagents
(biqa)
called
vaqavamukha
and
jvaliimukha.
See
below,
chap.
8,
sec.
2C.

45
0
Notes
to
Chapter
Seven
54.
Shorter
Oxford
Economic
Atlas
of
the
World,
prepared
by
the
Economist
gence
Unit,
2d
ed.
(London:
Oxford
University
Press,
1959),
p.
88.
Cf.
Sharma's
commentary
(p.
184)
to
chap.
I I
of
the
RRS.
Much
of
the
sulfur
in
India
comes
from
sulfur
springs
which
are
also
pifhas
of
the
Goddess:
ibid.,
pp.
2
I
I,
214-15.
55.
On
the
term
lingam,
see
Watt,
Dictionary,
5:232,
and
Bose,
Concise
History,
P·3
1
7·
56.
Powdered
cinnabar
may
also
be
used
for
the
tracing
of
two-dimensional
mystic
diagrams
(yantras,
ma7J4alas).
The
preparation
of
gold
and
mercury
used
to
form
the
rasalinga
is
described
in
RRS
6.17-18.
Here,
in
contradistinction
to
the
the
epic
origin
myth
of
the
metal,
gold
is
made
to
be
the
mineral
homologue
of
the
Goddess:
see
Misra,
Ayurvediya,
p.
83,
quoting
an
uncited
source:
"The
Goddess
in
the
form
of
gold,
Sadasiva
in
the
form
of
mercury,
the
liriga
made
through
the
union
of
these
is
called
the
rasalinga."
It
should
be
recalled
that
two
forms
of
natural
gold
are
said,
in
the
RRS
(5-4-5)
to
arise
from
the
rajogu7Ja
and
from
the
placental
material
of
the
egg
of
Brahma,
respectively:
both
of
these
origins
evoke
the
male
element.
57.
Subbarayappa,
"Chemical
Practices;'
in
Bose,
Concise
History,
p.
330.
58.
This
constitutes
the
tenth
of
the
eighteen
branches
of
Sittar
alchemy.
The
practitioner
holds
three
such
gulikiis
in
his
hand
and
mouth
and
attached
around
the
waist
to
aid
in
raising
the
kU7J4alini,
and
transforming
the
subtle
body:
C.
S.
Narayanaswami
Aiyar,
''Ancient
Indian
Chemistry
and
Alchemy
of
the
Philosophical
Siddhanta
System
of
the
Indian
Mystics;'
in
Proceedings
and
tions
of
the
Third
All-India
Oriental
Conference,
Madras,
22-24
Dec.
1924
(Madras:
Law
Printing
House,
1925),
pp.
600-8.
Purusottamananda
Tirtha,
who
runs
an
Ayurvedic
dispensary
in
Trichur
(Tamil
Nadu),
carries
such
a
gulikii
on
a
belt
he
wears
around
his
waist:
personal
communication
from
Catherine
Clementin-Ojha,
Paris,
February
1992.
See
below,
chap.
9,
n.
109
on
the
term
gulikiilgufikii.
59.
MBhT
8'31-33'
The
term
svapuspa,
used
here
for
"menstrual
blood;'
is
fined
in
MBh
T
5.3
I
as
the
first
menstrual
blood
shed
by
a
woman
after
her
tion.
TheMBhT(5.27-33)
describes
the
six
types
of
women
whose
menstrual
blood
may
be
employed
in
tantric
ritual.
Cf.
RA
2.25.
On
ciiicini,
see
above,
chap.
4,
n.
41.
60.
Needham,
Science
and
Civilisation,
vol.
5,
pt.
4
(1980),
p.
456.
Yogiraja
araja,
"Yoga
Research
on
Mercury
and
the
Dhatus;'
Cakra,
A
Journal
ofTantra
and
Yoga
[New
Delhil4
(March
1972),
p.
186.
Cf.
the
"Sakta"
Gorakfa
Samhitii
13.99.
61.
S.
Madhihassan,
Indian
Alchemy
or
Rasiiyana
(New
Delhi:
Vikas,
1979),
pp.
47-4
8
.
62.
Gold
is
to
be
placed
in
the
tumuli
(samiidhis)
of
the
Nath
Siddhas:
Briggs,
Gorakhniith,
pp.
40,
42.
On
similar
practices
among
the
Munda-speaking
Asurs
of

45
1
Notes
to
Chapter
Seven
central
India,
a
metal-working
tribal
people,
for
whom
the
soul
is
composed
of
iron,
see
Ruben,
Eisenschmiede,
p.
88.
63.
Madhihassan,
Indian
Alchemy,
p.
47;
Briggs,
Gorakhniith,
p.
129.
64.
Sharma's
commentary
to
RRS,
p.
208;
and
NSC,
p.
295.
The
tribal
BhIls
and
Birhors
continue
the
use
of
blood:
Ruben,
Eisenschmiede,
p.
I
15.
65.
The
Kalyii7J
Sakti
Ailk
(p.
648)
reproduces
an
unspecified
Puranic
passage
which
states
that
wherever
the
body
parts
of
the
goddess
San
cut
away
by
discus
fell,
they
took
the
lithic
form
(piifanatiim)
of
the
siddha
plfhas.
The
most
complete
discussion
of
the
plfhas
of
the
Goddess,
and
the
correspondences
to
San's
body
parts,
is
D.
C.
Sircar,
The
Siikta
Plfhas
(Delhi:
Motilal
Banarsidass,
1973).
The
Goddess
is
herself
called
a
stone,
or
stone
or
mountain-born
(failajii,
Parvan)
and
identified
with
the
lithic
in
a
wide
array
of
Hindu
contexts:
see
Madeleine
Biardeau,
L'Hindouisme,
Anthropologie
d'une
civilisation
(Paris:
Flammarion,
1981),
p.
143.
66.
On
the
identification
of
the
Kamakhya
stone
as
red
arsenic,
see
Karel
R.
van
Kooij,
Worship
of
the
Goddess
According
to
the
Kiilikii
Purii7Ja,
pt.
I,
A
Translation
with
an
Introduction
and
Notes
of
Chapters
54-69
(Leiden:
Brill, 1972),
p.
26,
citing
Kiilikii
Purii7Ja
64.85-86
and
Heinrich
Zimmer,
"Die
Indische
Weltrnutter;'
in
anosJahrbuch
(Ancona,
Switzerland:
Eranos,
1938),
pp.
204-5.
Dyczkowski
<;lalini;'
p.
7,
note
13)
maintains
that
the
stone
is
black.
67.
The
Yonitantra,
ed.J.
A.
Schoterman
(Delhi:
Manohar,
1980),
p.
24;
Bharati,
Tantric
Tradition,
p.
259-60;
Bhattacharya,
History,
p.
133;
Frederique
Marglin,
Wives
of
the
God-King
(New
York:
Oxford
University
Press,
1985),
p.
240;
and
Dyczkowski,
p.
7n.
13·
68.
Dvivedi,
Niith
Sampradiiy,
p.
18;
Kalyii7J
Sakti
Ailk,
p.
640;
Briggs,
niith,
p.
18;
Dikshit,
Navaniitha
Caritra,
p.
22.
Gorakh
created
mountains
of
gold,
crystal,
and
ocher
(geru)
as
a
means
to
"awakening"
his
debauched
guru
dra,
according
to
the
Niitha
Caritra
of
Raja
Man
Singh
of
Jodhpur:
NSC,
p.
30.
69.
Van
Kooij,
Worship,
p.
26,
citing
Kiilikii
Purii7Ja
64.73
and
76.89.
The
jacent
mercurial
cave
is
a
creation
of
the
13th
c.
Simhiisanadvatrin:tfika
(Franklin
Edgerton,
Vikrama
s
Adventures
or
the
Thirty-two
Tales
of
the
Throne,
2
vols.,
Harvard
Oriental
Series,
26
(Cambridge,
Mass.:
Harvard
University
Press,
1926),
1:182-86;
2:166-67).
Coloring
(rafijana)
through
amalgamation
is
the
greater
part
of
mutation
in
a
number
of
alchemical
contexts:
see
below,
chap.
9,
n.
23.
70.
On
Hinglaj
DevI,
her
geography,
pilgrimage,
history,
and
the
present-day
relationship
of
the
Nath
Siddhas
to
her
cult,
see
Sastri,
Agneya
Tlrth
Hiilgliij,
throughout;
Briggs,
Gorakhniith,
pp.
89
(on
the
use
of
thumrii),
103-10;
and
pedia
of
Religion
and
Ethics
(New
York:
Scribner's,
1914),
s.v.
"Hinglaj;'
by
William
Crooke.

452
Notes
to
Chapter
Seven
71.
A
description
of
this
site
is
found
in
a
16th
c.
Tibetan
guide
to
Ca-ri,
written
by
Padma
dkar-po.
This
is
cited
at
length
in
R.
A.
Stein,
Grottes-Matrices
et
Lieux
Saints
de
fa
deesse
en
Asie
orientale
(Paris:
Ecole
d'Extreme
Orient,
1988),
PP·37-43·
72.
RA
2.17-19,
25.
The
kiiki1Ji
is
again
described
in
18.165-67,
where
she
is
called
kiimini.
She
is
called
kiilini
in
RRS
6.34.
Cf.
BhP
4.129-32;
and
RM
fols.
3Sb.3-S;
3
6a
.
I
-
2
.
73.
RA
2.23;
RRS
6.34.
Kiiki1Ji
is
the
name
of
a
female
divinity
whose
worship
is
described
at
length
in
chapters
58-62
of
the
Rudrayiimala
Tantra.
Here,
she
is
one
of
six
consorts
of
Siva
[Saktisj,
who
are
identified
with
the
six
cakras,
all
of
whose
names
are
derived
from
Sanskrit
phonemes:
qiikini,
riikini,
liikini,
kiikini,
fiikini
and
hiikini.
In
this
context,
kiiki1Ji
is
identified
with
the
aniihata
cakra,
located
in
the
heart
(15.54-56).
74.
RA
2.20-
2
4;
RRS
6.3
2
-33.
75.
RRS
6.35;
RA
14.2.
A
preparation
of
zinc
carbonate,
mercury,
and
menstrual
blood
transmutes
lead
into
gold:
RA
7.31.
In
fact,
the
percentage
of
sulfur
in
a
woman's
blood
is
the
highest
at
the
time
of
her
menses:
personal
communication
from
Siddhinandan
Misra,
March
1985.
Sulfur,
in
addition to
increasing
the
tency
of
mercury,
is
said
in
the
RRS
(3.17,
45)
to
increase
the
potency
of
male
semen.
76.
KCM
fols.
12a.8-9;
2
la.6-7.
A
procedure
similar
to
the
first
of
these
is
also
prescribed
in
the
eponymous
KCKT.
Here
(8.68-70),
an
alchemical
charm
for
vulnerability
in
battle
is
produced
by
placing
equal
amounts
of
gold,
silver,
and
copper
in
menstrual
blood,
wrapping
the
whole
with
a
lotus
filament,
sprinkling
it
with
cold
water,
and
placing
it
in
the
yantra
sthiina.
A
nearly
identical
preparation,
called
a
"tigress
pill"
(vyiighri-gu!ikii),
is
described
in
the
RA
(12.348-49)
and
the
RM
(fo1.
16b-4-S).
These
latter
two
sources
instruct
the
alchemist
to
place
this
preparation
inside
a
woman's
vulva,
her
guhya-sthiina
(rather
than
in
a
sthiina).
77.
BhP
2·sb-6a;
4.7;
5·1.
Cf.
RHT
3.28b
on
mercury
that
is
bound
when
it
enters
the
yoni
(yiivadvifati
na
yonau
tiivadbandha11f
kuto
bhajate).
78.
BhP
3.29b-30a:
purandhre
gaurirajasa
tadbljena
bhavantu
tat!
salpyukta1!l
bandhana1!l
yati
sutakal;t.
Later,
the
same
source
prescribes
a
tion
containing
menstrual
blood
for
increasing
the
powers
of
mercury
to
absorb
(griisa:
literally,
"swallow,
consume")
mica
(5.284-87);
and
for
"cutting
the
wings"
(pakfaccheda)
of
volatile
mercury
(6.15-
17).
Here,
one
is
to
dry,
on
a
piece
of
blue
cloth,
a
woman's
menstrual
blood.
Through
this
cloth,
one
is
to strain
human
breast
milk,
the
which
is
then
macerated
together
with
male
semen.

453
Notes
to
Chapter
Seven
79.
For
a
discussion
of
this
tantric
ritual,
see
Schoterman,
Yonitantra,
pp.
26-32.
KU1!4a{'I1}}golakam
is
an
elixir
in
KCM
(ASL
MSS
no.
3952,
fol.
32a.3-5);
a
kU1!4agola
produced
by
a
or
a
is
also
mentioned
in
the
RM
(fols.
9b.7-8;
17b.3).
Cf.
MBhT
5.19-21.
80.
RA
18,47-49,
II5-16,
144,
165-72.
An
alchemical
teaching
by
the
Tibetan
Vimalamitra
(the
sixth
of
the
eight
teachings
of
the
Bdud-rtsi-bam-po-brgyad-pa,
called
the
AmIJaku1!4ali
in
Sanskrit)
enjoins
that
"there
be
sexual
union
during
the
time
of
her
[the
female
consort's]
menstrual
flow
Cdzagpa)-her
great
blood
(khrag
chen)
together
with
the
yogin's
semen
will
be
known
as
the
most
excellent
sort
of
rasiiyana":
Walter,
Role
of
Alchemy,
pp.
144-45,
168,
173.
8
I.
For
a
historical
discussion
of
the
work
and
its
author,
as
well
as
a
summary
of
the
plot,
see
McGregor,
Hindi
Literature,
pp.
67-70.
For
full
bibliographic
tails,
see
above,
n.
41.
82.
Biravii
lonii
is
an
imaginary
transmuting
herb;
however
Lona
(from
the
skrit
lava1!a,
"salty,
beautiful")
is
also
the
name
of
a
powerful
witch
in
north
India:
see
below,
chap.
9,
n.
163.
Haratiira
(Sanskrit
haratiila),
yellow
arsenic
or
orpiment,
has
a
brilliant
orange-yellow
color
which,
like
red
arsenic
or
realgar
(manaqfilii)
lends
itself
to
an
identification
with
female
passion
and,
more
specifically,
strual
blood.
Mercury
"swallows"
sulfur
in
alchemical
reactions;
the
question
being
asked
here
is
why
Ratansen
does
not
allow
himself
to
enjoy
the
sweetly
perfumed
body
of
Padmavati:
see
the
origin
myth
of
sulfur
(gandhaka),
which,
when
churned
out
of
the
ocean
of
milk
was
declared
"aromatic":
above,
n.
51.
83.
Padmiivat
[310-12
=
27,3-5]
in
Sharma,
Jayast
Granthiivalt,
pp.
476-81;
and
Dhar,
Padumiivatt,
p.
56.
Cf.
a
description
of
such
color
changes
in
the
laboratory,
in
Dash,
Alchemy,
pp.
141-42.
As
McGregor
(Hindi
Literature,
p.
70)
notes,
vati
is
equated
with
Gorakhnath
slightly
later
in
this
text
(27.14).
Thus,
the
summation
of
love
is
also
an
allegory
on
a
yogin's
transformation
through
ation.
84.
RA
1.28.
The
same
source
[11.104-7]
describes
the
immediate
and
term
effects
of
eating
said
mercury.
85·
RHT
1.33:
divyatanurvidheya
86.
Vimalaprabhii
2.II9,
translated
in
Fenner,
Rasiiyan
Siddhi,
p.
138.
Menstrual
blood
both
transmutes
copper
into
gold
and,
when
eaten,
affords
immortality,
cording
to
MBhT
5.2
7-43,
especially
37-42.
See
also
Schoterman,
Yonitantra,
p.
29.
87.
MBhT
5.28.
A
number
of
tantric
sources
specifically
recommend
a
gin,
ideally
a
low-caste
woman
(especially
a
or
QombI),
for
such
practices:
Schoterman,
Yonitantra,
pp.
18-21, 24-25,
31-32;
and
Bhattacharya,
History,
P·13
6
.

454
Notes
to
Chapter
Seven
88.
Sharma,
note
to
RRS,
p.
121.
89.
BhP
7.II4-I5.
Such
herbs
are
to
be
gathered
with
devotion
to
Siva,
and
with
the
bijas
(seeds,
but
also
seed
mantras)
of
Sakti,
(pronounced)
one
by
one.
90.
RC
6.2
I.
On
the
role
of
the
outcaste
Cal).9all:
or
Qombi
woman
in
the
ship
of
the
female
sexual
organ,
and
the
subsequent
production
of
the
power
stance,
the
yonitattva,
through
sexual
intercourse
with
her,
see
Schoterman,
Yoni
Tantra,
pp.
24-25.
Cii"!qiilf
is
also
a
term
for
a
woman
in
the
first
day
of
her
menses
(ibid.,
p.
25),
and
for
the
female
energy
located
in
the
abdomen
(Kaviraj,
Bhiiratfy,
2:262-63.
A
15th
c.
Bengali
commentary
to
the
Buddhist
Laghu
Kiilacakra
Tantra
states
that
that
part
of
the
female
organ
which
resembles
the
beak
of
a
bird
is
called
"bird
mouth?'
The
canal
which
carries
semen
down
from
the
bird
mouth
is
called
cii"!qiilf
when,
instead
of
semen,
it
carries
menstrual
flow.
J?ombf
is
that
canal
which,
during
the
menses,
points
upward.
At
the
time
of
the
discharge
of
semen,
the
same
J?ombt
becomes
Avadhiitf:
Shastri,
Catalogue,
vol.
2,
pp.
iv-v.
91.
Sachau,
Alberuni's
India,
vol.
I,
pp.
189-92.
See
below,
chap.
9,
n.
178.
92.
HYP
3.83-91;
99-103;
Yoga
Siistra
of
Dattatreya
299-312;
Gorak{a
Paddhati,
appendix
to
1.82,
pp.
50-55.
Alternatively,
the
practitioner
may
use
his
partner's
yonitattva
for
purposes
of
external
ritual
and
worship:
Schoterman,
Yonitantra,
p.28.
93.
On
these
terms,
see
above,
chap.
5,
n.
109,
and
n.
67
of
the
present
chapter.
The
term
sadbhiiva
is
found
in
KJiiN
2
I.
10.
94.
TA
29.126,129,
translated
in
Silburn,
Ku,,!qalinf,
pp.
190-91.
These
multiple
roles
of
the
female
consort
and
her
sexual
essence
are
discussed
in
Silburn,
qalinf,
pp.
189-92.
Italics
are
my
own.
95.
Siva
Samhitii
4.1-5;
HYP
3.100,
102.
96.
Silburn,
Ku,,!qalini,
p.
192
(commentary
to
TA
29.128-29):
"The
process
of
breathand
efficience
going
from
the
yoginf's
mouth
to
the
siddha
and
vice-versa
is
precisely
sampufikara"!a
...
Prii,,!a
and
vfrya
are
so
intimately
mixed
as
to
be
formed
into
each
other
and
to
become
one
and
the
same.
According
to
the
dition,
the
adept
is
rejuvenated;
white
hair
and
wrinkles
disappear?'
In
alchemical
parlance,
elixir
mercury
is
valipalita
viniifana.
97.
Robert
Svoboda,
Aghora,
at
the
Left
Hand
of
God
(Albuquerque,
N.M.:
erhood
of
Life,
Inc.,
1986),
pp.
280-8
I,
quoting
his
Aghori
teacher
Vimalananda.
See
ibid.,
pp.
279-90
for
an
expanded
discussion
of
vajrolt
mudrii.
Here
as
well,
"heavy"
mercury
is
located
at
the
summit
of
a
hierarchy
of
fluids:
water,
milk,
fied
butter,
honey,
and
mercury.
98.
Viljra-
and
sahaja-
may
also
likely
refer
to
the
mystic
Buddhist
traditions
known
as
vajrayiina
and
sahajayiina.
Oli
may
be
a
middle
Indo-Aryan
shortening

455
Notes
to
Chapter
Seven
of
-alaya
("abode,
place
of"),
in
which
case
this
term
would
mean
the
"seal
of
the
place
of
the
penis."
Another
possible
source
of
the
-oli
ending
is
-oval/i,
which
means,
in
a
tantric
context,
a
"current
of
doctrine":
Dyczkowski,
Canon,
p.
81
and
n.233·
99·
Needham,
Science
and
Civilisation,
vol.
5,
part
5
(1983),
pp.
270-74,
who
also
discusses
the
Taoist
cognate
to
this:
huan
ching,
"making
the
Yellow
River
flow
backwards."
According
to
Dharmavir
Bharati
(Siddh
Sahity,
p.
325),
the
Naths
rowed
their
theory
and
practice
of
the
vajroli
mudra
from
the
Mahayana
Buddhists.
The
practice
is
referred
to
in
Gorakh
Bani
SabadI
141:
bajarI
karta
amarI
amarI
kararptarp
bal/bhog
kararptarp
je
vyarpd
te
ka
gurubhai.
Cf.
SabadI
142,
below,
chap.
8,
n.
88.
Jerzy
Kosinski
(The
Hermit
of
69th
Street
[New
York:
Zebra
Books,
1991
1
p.
69
n.
II
1)
refers
to
this
practice
as
"acclivity,"
a
term
not
found
in
the
Oxford
English
Dictionary.
100.
bCud
len
gyi
man
ngag
of
Bo
dong,
in
Encyclopedia
Tibetica,
vol.
2,
pp.
522-
23,556,
cited
in
Fenner,
Rasayan
Siddhi,
p.
82.
101.
At
least
two
secret
Tibetan
Buddhist
tantric
initiations
involve
these
same
elements:
sexual
intercourse
(which
is
literal
and
not
figurative
here),
the
gling
of
sexual
fluids
(the
red
drop
of
the
Prajiia-maiden's
pudenda
(padma)
and
the
white
drop
of
the
master's
vajra)
,
the
internal
raising
of
these
commingled
fluids
(described
as
nectar),
and
the
bliss
of
the
realization
of
Buddha
consciousness.
The
texts
of
these
initiations
are
translated,
with
commentary,
by
David
Snellgrove,
Indo-
Tibetan
Buddhism:
Indian
Buddhists
and
Their
Tibetan
Successors,
2
vols.
(Boston:
Shambhala,
1987),
vol.
1,
pp.
256-64.
102.
This
term
is
discussed
in
SSP
5.7;
Akulavira
Tantra
[Al43;
Paddhati
1.75;
Kulananda
Tantra
4,
58;
and
a
host
of
other
hathayogic
and
tantric
sources.
For
discussions,
see
also
Srivastav,
"Gorakh
Bani"
pp.
15,
238;
idem,
pp.
45-46,156-57;
Dvivedi,
Nath
Sampraday,
pp.
58-59,72;
Gonda,
Medieval,
p.
224;
and
Mallik,
SSp,
p.
21.
103.
The
red
bindu
is
said
to
shine
with
the
same
ruddy
brilliance
as
liquid
dura,
mercuric
oxide:
Yogamartaf!4a
61,
in
Mallik,
SSp,
p.
61;
and
Sataka
73.
This
mixture
of
red
and
white
fluids
may
have
its
origins
in
the
combination
of
(reddish)
soma
and
white
milk
in
Vedic
oblations,
and
a
tantric
parallel
in
the
ritual
consumption
of
the
yonitattva
together
with
wine:
Schoterman,
Yonitantra,
p.
30.
104.
Paddhati
1.71-75
(=
Sataka
72-76
=
Yogamartaf!4a
61-64).
Verse
64
reads:
sukrarp
candrel!a
sarpyuktarp
rajalf
suryel!a
sarpyutaml
dvayos
marasaikatvarp
yo
janati
sa
yogavit:
"Semen
is
conjoined
with
the
moon,
uterine
blood
is
conjoined
with
the
sun.
He
who
knows
samarasa
to
be
the
unity
of
the
two,
he
is
a
knower
of
yoga."
On
the
mahabindu,
see
Gorakh
Bani,
SabadI
237,
and

45
6
Notes
to
Chapter
Seven
p.
32
of
the
Gorakhnath
Mandir
edition
of
Gorakh
Bani,
which
equates
mahabindu
with
mahafUnya.
See
also
Dhyanabindu
Upani{ad
87-88,
in
Varenne,
Upanishads
du
yoga,
p.
I
II;
and
Filliozat,
"Taolsme
et
yoga;'
p.
66.
105.
Personal
communication
from
N.
Sethu
Raghnathan,
Madurai,
January
1985.
The
titles
of
a
great
number
of
the
Tamil
alchemical
sources
are
composed
of
the
name
of
the
author
followed
by
the
number
of
verses
in
the
treatise.
Cf.
HYP
3.100,
with
Brahmananda's
commentary,
on
the
notion
that
nada
becomes
bindu
in
a
woman's
body-whence
the
need
for
a
female
partner
in
erotic
tantric
rites.
On
bindu
and
nada,
see
above,
chap.
3,
n.
102.
106.
Yoga,
literally
"union"
is,
in
the
mystic
parlance
of
the
Nath
Siddhas,
the
union
of
sun
and
moon,
fire
and
fluid,
ovum
and
seed,
that
which
is
enjoyed
bhogya)
and
that
which
enjoys
(bhokta),
and
ultimately,
the
commingling
of
the
ciples
of
creation
and
destruction:
Dasgupta,
Obscure,
pp.
235,
238-39.
107.
Siva
Samhita
3.54;
Yogatattva
Upani{ad
74;
RA
11.144;
12.251,265;
18.28,
83,
163.
The
yogin,
whose
own
body
has
been
rendered
golden
or
adamantine
(Siv
Bavani
38,
in
Gorak{a
Stavaiijali,
ed.
Yogi
Bhambhulnath
[Haridwar:
Goraksanath
Mandir,
n.d.],
p.
20;
Gorakh
Bani
Pad
13.1;
50.2)
becomes
phously
perverse
at
this
point,
capable
of
transforming
base
metals
into
gold
(as
does
mercury),
base
and
noble
metals
into
human
bodies,
human
bodies
into
als,
stones,
animals,
etc.
The
mythology
of
the
Nath
Siddhas
is
replete
with
such
transformations,
often
effected
by
Gorakh.
108.
Gorakh
Bani,
Sabadi
1.1.
Kabir
expresses
a
similar
sentiment
in
doha
13.23
in
Vaudeville,
Kabir
Granthavali
(Doha),
p.
87:
"He
finds
himself
face
to
face
with
the
Lord,
and
becomes
a
child
(balak)
again."
For
a
differing
interpretation,
see
Bharati,
Siddh
Sahity,
pp.
337-38.
See
above,
n.
94,
and
chap.
10,
sec.
2.
109.
RC
15.13-15;
RRS
1.85-88;
AK
1.53b-62a;
Rasakautuka,
ASL
MSS
no.
4203,
fol.
4a.6-9;
Sivakalpadruma
of
Sivanatha,
ASL
MSS
no.
4349,
fol.
2b.I-6.
110.
M.
F.
de
Mely,
"L'alchimie
chez
les
chinois
et
l'alchimie
grecque;'
Journal
Asiatique,
ge
serie
6
(Sept.-Oct.
1895),
pp.
314-40,
especially
pp.
332-33.
II
1.
Needham,
Science
and
Civilisation,
vol.
5,
pt.
4
(19
8o
),
p.
33
7.
112.
De
Mely,
"L'alchimie
chez
les
chinois;'
p.
334.
II
3.
Mahabharata
3.110.1-3.113.25.
II4-
De
Mely,
"L'alchimie
chez
les
chinois;'
p.
334.
The
Renaissance
"Hunting
of
the
Greene
Lyon;'
as
a
metaphor
for
the
quest
for
the
alchemical
elixir,
may
be
of
a
similar
origin:
Betty
Jo
Teeter
Dobbs,
The
Foundations
of
Newton's
Alchemy:
"The
Hunting
of
the
Greene
Lyon"
(London:
Cambridge
University
Press,
1975).
II
5.
This
Jabirian
account
is
said
to
be
an
elaboration
of
an
Indian
legend
of
MaI).imekhala,
"the
jewel
engirdled
one."
MaI).imekhala's
story
is
referred
to
in
the
Kathasaritsagara
of
Somadeva
(Ocean,
vol.
9,
p.
5
I).
The
myth
is
discussed
in
Sylvain

457
Notes
to
Chapter
Seven
Levi,
"MaI).imekhala,
divinite
de
la
mer;'
in
Memorial
Sylvain
Levi
(Paris:
P.
mann,
1937),
pp.
37
1
-
8
3.
II6.
Paul
Kraus,
Jabir
ibn
Hayyan:
Contribution
a
I'histoire
des
idees
scientifiques
dans
l'Islam
(Paris:
Les
Belles
Lettres,
1986),
pp.
90-93.
Kraus
identifies
Sindiyyat
with
an
island
off
the
coast
of
the
Sind,
in
southern
Pakistan.
He
opines
(p.
91,
n.
4),
however,
that
SuvarTfa-bhumi,
the
"Golden
Land;'
generally
identified
with
the
"greater
India"
of
southeast
Asia,
perhaps
Burma,
may
be
intended
here.
On
this
toponym,
see
Wink,
AI-Hind,
vol.
I,
pp.
334-42.
II7.
Needham,
Science
and
Civilisation,
vol.
5,
pt.
4
(1980),
pp.
330-425,
cially
pp.
339-355.
II8.
On
Darada-desa,
see
above,
n.
48.
On
Parada-desa,
see
Sircar,
Studies,
p.
33
and
n.
4;
p.
68
and
n.
9;
and
p.
7
0
.
I
19.
On
possible
identifications
of
Bibi
Nani
with
other
mother
goddesses,
see
William
Crooke,
"Hinglaj;'
Encyclopedia
of
Religion
and
Ethics,
vol.
6,
p.
715.
120.
A
modern
description
of
the
Candrakiipa
is
found
in
Sastri,
Agneya
Tirth
Hinglaj,
pp.
29-47.
See
esp.
p.
45.
The
Life
of
Apollonius
is
a
work
of
fiction
which
nonetheless
contained
numerous
geographic
and
ethnographic
details
culled
by
Philostratus
from
ancient
travel
accounts.
Philostratus
localizes
his
"Well
of
Truth"
somewhere
in
the
Indus
River
region:
Philostratus,
Life
of
Apollonius,
tr.
C.
P.
Jones
and
edited,
abridged,
and
introduced
by
G.
W
Bowersock
(Harmondsworth:
guin,
1970),
p.
75.
See
below,
chap.
8,
sec.
2
b,
for
a
discussion
of
other
"lunar"
onyms.
121.
On
the
rock-hewn
images
of
the
sun
and
moon,
see
Crooke,
"Hinglaj;'
p.
45;
Briggs,
Gorakhnath,
p.
106
(reporting
an
account
given
by
Charles
Masson
in
1844);
and
Ctesias,
"Indika;'
in
Photios,
Bibliotheca
(46a.13-I9),
ed.
and
tr.
Rene
Henry,
6
vols.
(Paris:
Les
Belles
Lettres,
1959),
vol.
I,
p.
136.
122.
Jaan
Puhvel,
Comparative
Religion
(Baltimore:
Johns
Hopkins
University
Press,
1986),
"Fire
in
Water;'
pp.
277-83,
especially
p.
279,
on
the
Irish
Nechtan's
well.
Cf.
Georges
Dumezil,
My
the
et
epopee,
vol.
3,
part
I,
pp.
22-89,
especially
PP·27-31.
123.
pancabhutatmakaJ:1
sadasiva.
Cf.
BhP
1.32-37.
Sadasiva
is,
of
course,
a
god
who
is
represented
iconographically
with
five
heads:
see
above,
chap.
2,
nn.
64-66.
Elsewhere,
the
south
Indian
tradition
of
Siddha
medicine
bases
its
practice
of
paiicikara1!a
("the
five
practices;'
or
simply
"doing
five"),
the
cation
of
the
elements
used
in
its
therapy,
upon
the
assumption
that
Siva
and
Sakti
are
present
in
every
element:
Kardaswamy,
History,
p.
340.
124.
Treloar,
"Use
of
Mercury,"
p.
238.
125.
On
this,
see
David
Gordon
White,
"Why
Gurus
Are
Heavy,"
Numen
33
(19
8
4),
pp.
43-44
and
notes.

45
8
Notes
to
Chapter
Seven
126.
The
classic
theoretical
statement
is
Louis
Dumont,
Homo
hierarchicus,
Ie
systeme
des
castes
et
ses
implications
(Paris:
GaIIimard,
1978),
appendix
4,
"Vers
une
theorie
de
la
hiearchie;'
pp.
396-4°3.
127.
Each
of
the
five
elements
is
quadrupled
within
this
system:
to
each
of
the
five
tanmiitras
(subtle
elements,
senses)
there
corresponds
a
gross
element
bhiita),
a
"grasping
organ"
(karmendriya)
and
a
sensory
organ
(jfiiinendriya).
On
the
generation
oflower
elementsfrom
higher
in
Sarp.khya,
see
B.
N.
Seal,
"The
cochemical
Theories
of
the
Ancient
Hindus;'
appendix
to
Ray,
History
(1956),
pp.
26
4-
6
5.
128.
Caraka
Samhita
4.5.5.
The
same
schema
is
echoed
in
the
(4.24)
of
the
Western
Transmission
tradition:
Schoterman,
p.
129.
Cf.
the
slight
variations
suggested
by
Jean
Filliozat,
"Taolsme
et
yoga;'
p.
48.
129.
Dhatu,
"that
which
supports"
(from
the
Sanskrit
root
dha,
support,
ground),
is
the
Ayurvedic
term
for
the
constituent
parts
of
the
body
and
the
chemical
term
for
the
metals.
In
both
cases,
these
are
the
constituent
elements
of
their
respective
systems,
without
which
the
entire
(biological
or
metallic)
body
would
collapse
and
disintegrate.
See
above,
nn.
II,
20.
130.
Prior
to
the
12th
c.
alchemical
synthesis,
the
term
loha,
which
specifically
means
iron,
was
employed
as
the
generic
term
for
metal:
personal
communication
from
Damodar
Joshi,
Benares,
September
1984.
131.
RA
7'97-98.
Cf.
Chandogya
Upani{ad
4.17.7:
"Just
as
one
would
mend
gold
with
salt,
silver
with
gold,
tin
with
silver,
lead
with
tin,
iron
with
lead,
wood
with
iron;'
Enumerations
of
the
metals
vary
from
one
source
to
another,
some
adding
such
alloys
as
brass,
bronze,
bell
metal,
etc.
to
reach
totals
of
as
many
as
twelve
(in
AK
2.1.9)
metals.
See
Misra,
Ayurvediya,
pp.
493-96,
for
a
discussion
of
the
nomenclature
of
the
metals
in
all
the
major
alchemical
texts.
132.
Syamasundaracarya
Vaisya,
Rasayan
Sar,
5th
ed.
(Benares:
Syamasundar
Rasayansala,
1971),
vol.
I,
p.
70.
Although
this
is
a
modern
work
(the
first
edition
appeared
in
1914),
its
statement
of
the
process
of
resorption
(layakrama)
respects
the
classic
formulation.
133.
In
a
general
sense,
this
south
Indian
tradition
makes
greater
use
of
the
system
of
the
five
elements,
in
its
formulations
of
the
applications
and
powers
of
mercurial
medicines,
than
do
the
northern
traditions.
Personal
communication
from
N.
Sethu
Raghunathan,
Madurai,
India,
January
1985.
Cf.
Subbarayappa,
"Chemical
Practices;'
in
Bose,
Concise
History,
p.
334.
134.
HT,
p.
176.
Cf.
Saf-cakra-nirfipa"!a
4-29,
trans.
with
commentary
in
John
Woodroffe,
The
Serpent
Power,
9th
ed.
(Madras:
Ganesh
and
Co.,
1971),
pp.
33°-87·
135.
RHT
1.12:
nage
nagarp.
vange
vangamapi
liyate
sulbe
/
sul-

459
Notes
to
Chapter
Seven
baip
tare
taraip
kanake
kanakafi
ca
lIyate
stite.
An
identical
passage
is
RRS
1.60.
RA
7
·97
makes
the
same
statement
in
a
more
elliptical
way:
"that
which
precedes
[is
higher
on
the
hierarchy]
is
imperishable
with
regard
to
that
which
is
lower:'
The
Mahiibharata
(5.39.65)
describes
the
hierarchy
of
the
five
metals
in
the
ing
terms:
"Silver
is
the
dross
[mala]
of
gold;
copper
the
dross
of
silver;
tin
the
dross
of
copper;
lead
the
dross
of
tin;
and
dross
[mala:
here,
iron?]
the
dross
of
lead."
Cf.
Chiindogya
4.17.7
for
a
still
earlier
formulation.
136.
Two
modern
empirical
explanations
for
the
hierarchy
of
the
metals
are
offered
in
Misra,
Ayurvedfya,
pp.
494,
498:
that
which
is
higher
on
the
hierarchy
requires
greater
heat
for
its
purification
than
that
which
is
lower;
that
which
is
higher
on
the
hierarchy
loses
less
of
its
mass
when
heated
than
that
which
is
lower.
137.
RRS
1.30-37;
AK
1.18-23.
This
is
an
idealized
schematization:
as
noted,
the
term
piirada
likely
derives
from
the
name
of
the
country,
located
to
the
west
or
northwest
ofIndia,
from
which
mercury
was
imported
to
India:
see
RC
15.14-15.
Cf.
above,
chap.
3,
n.
93,
and
n.
II
8
of
the
present
chapter.
138.
RPS
1.17-18;
Rasakautuka
(ASL
MSS
no.
4203),
fol.
3a.5-6;
and
druma
(ASL
MSS
no.
4349),
fols.
6a.12-6b.2.
The
five
states
or
phases
of
mercury
(avasthii)
appear
not
to
be
arranged
hierarchically:
RA
10.1'{-18.
139.
KCM
(ASL
MSS
no.
3952),
fol.
30b.3-4;
RA
6.67-68.
140.
The
third
and
fourth
members
of
the
hierarchy
appear
to
be
reversed
in
the
discussions
of
the
gatis
and
vedha:
air
precedes
fire
in
both
cases,
in
opposition
to
the
Samkhyan
ordering
of
the
five
elements,
in
which
fire
is
the
third
and
air
the
fourth
element
on
the
pentadic
hierarchy.
141.
RA
10.13-15;
RRS
1.82-83.
142.
Mercury
is
identified
with
the
soul
(iitman)
both
here
(RRS
1.83)
and
in
RU
15.50.
The
fifth
gati
of
mercury
is
calledjiva-vat
in
AK
1.40.
In
the
Caraka
Samhitii's
Ayurvedic
analysis
of
semen,
only
the
four
lower
elements
are
present
(on
this,
see
Sharma's
notes
to
RRS
1.81-83,
on
p.
13
of
his
edition);
it
is
however
united,
at
conception,
with
iikiisa,
ether,
which
is
omnipresent
and
static
in
the
ovary:
Car
aka
Samhitii
4.2-4,
cited
in
Dasgupta,
History,
vol.
2,
pp.
3
02
,
307.
143.
RRS
1.83.
The
RA
(10.15)
stipulates
that
the
fifth
gati,
the
jfva-gati,
of
mercury
is
invisible,
while
the
first
four
are
visible.
Sharma,
in
his
notes
to
RRS
1.83
(p.
13),
states
that,
due
to
its
invisibility,
the
fifth
gati
of
mercury
is
also
called
daivf-gati,
its
"divine
motion:'
He
suggests
the
use
of
such
"Siddha
mantras"
as
the
aghora,
and
the
adjunction
of
yogic
practices
to
halt
the
loss
of
mercury
through
this
gati,
or
to
render
it
visible.
144.
RA
1.41.
Another
term
for
mercury
is
vyoma-dhiira1Ja,
"maintaining
mica
/
ether
[in
mental
concentration]":
Monier-Williams,
Sanskrit-English
Dictionary,
S.v.
"vyoman:'

4
60
Notes
to
Chapter
Seven
145.
RC
4.106-11;
RRS
8.90-94.
146.
RRS
8.95.
147.
RA
5.28,
3
2
-41.
148.
These
are
the
"M-words"
or
antisacraments
of
tantric
practice,
possibly
subversions
of
the
paficagavya,
the
five
pure
products
of
the
cow
that
were
the
orthodox
brahmin's
mainstay:
miin.zsa,
meat;
matsya,
fish;
mudrii,
parched
grain;
madhu,
spiritous
liquor;
and
maithuna,
sexual
intercourse.
149.
The
five
"nectars:'
here
are
bodily
secretions
used
in
secret
tantric
nies:
blood,
semen,
urine,
feces,
and
flesh:
KjiiN
II.
5,
I
I.
150.
These
are
the
"stools"
or
"seats:'
pilgrimage
sites
of
the
Goddess.
As
many
as
134
pi!has
are
enumerated
in
certain
lists.
Five
are
singled
out,
however,
and
are
identified
here
with
the
five
elements.
Kamakhya
(here
called
Kamarupa)
is
one
of
these:
Schoterman,
$SS,
appendix
2,
pp.
222-25.
15
I.
On
the
five
kulas,
see
Marie-Therese
de
Mallmann,
"Divinites
hindoues
dans
Ie
tantrisme
bouddhique:'
Arts
Asiatiques
10
(1964),
pp.
68,
72-74.
On
the
five
iimniiyas
("transmissions"),
emanating
out
of
the
five
faces
of
Siva,
see
KuliirYfava
Tantra
3.7-10.
152.
The
more
traditional
number
is
nine:
however,
the
Bengali
Gorakfa
Vijaya
and
other
traditions
speak
of
the
five
original
Naths.
These
are
Adinath,
the
primal
Nath,
and
four
Naths
who
arose
from
his
body
parts;
Gorakhnath,
who
arose
from
his
head;
Matsyendranath,
who
arose
from
his
navel;
Kal!erinath,
who
arose
from
his
ears;
Jalandharanath,
who
arose
from
his
bones;
and
Cauranginath,
who
arose
from
his
limbs:
Mukherji,
Gopicandra
Nii!aka,
p.
xxxvi.
153.
These
three
groups
of
five
are
treated
together
in
a
work
of
the
Nath
dhas
entitled
Goraf
Ganef
GUf!i
(in
Srivastav,
ed.,
"Gorakhbiini"
Vifefiiilk,
pp.
388-
90.
All
three
groups
are
related,
serially,
to
the
five
elements.
154.
Dumont,
Homo
hierarchicus,
pp.
104-5,397.
See
above,
n.
126.
155.
Abhraka
and
gagana
are
the
two
more
common
terms;
the
RA
(6.31)
also
mentions
vyoma.
The
RC
uses
all
four
terms
interchangeably
in
chapter
16,
ploying
kha
once,
in
16.37.
Kha-pUfpa,
"cavity-"
or
"hole-flower:'
is
a
common
term
for
menstrual
blood
in
tantrism:
Bhattacharya,
History,
pp.
132,
136.
156.
The
Rasakiimadhenu
passage
is
reproduced
without
verse
citation
in
ma's
commentary
to
RRS
2.1.
157.
Rasendra
Bhiiskara
3.42.
Abhra
connotes
wetness
in
such
Vedic
passages
as
Atharva
Veda
1.12.3
(cited
in
Dasgupta,
History,
vol.
2,
p.
331,
n.
2).
158.
See
above,
n.
144.
vyoman
is
the
"firmament"
in
Atharva
Veda
8.18.13.
The
five
iikiifas
are
identified
with
the
five
vyomas
in
the
SSP
and
are
discussed
by
raj,
Tiintrik
Siidhanii,
p.
401.

4
61
Notes
to
Chapter
Seven
159.
However,
RRS
5.5
states
that
natural
gold
(prakrta-svar1Ja)
originally
arose
from
the
rajoJ5Ur;a.
See
also
Biardeau,
Hindoufsme,
pp.
106, 110.
The
pivotal,
female,
and
creative
role
of
ether/empty
space
is
set
forth
in
the
Caraka
Samhitii
(4.24)
discussion
of
conception:
see
above,
n.
142.
160.
The
association
of
rajas,
the
J5Ur;a
of
activity,
with
the
Goddess,
is
supported
etymologically.
Rajas
at
once
means
menstrual
blood,
pollen,
redness,
and
passion,
all
terms
with
highly
feminine
connotations
in
India.
161.
Abhinavagupta
lends
a
pivotal
role
to
the
fifth
element,
which
he
calls
iikiifa-fakti,
the
"power
of
space;'
On
this,
he
says
that,
unlike
the
powers
of
the
four
lower
elements,
"the
power
of
space
plays
no
role
in
sustainingthe
finite
ject.
For
the
power
of
space
is
inherent
in
the
individual
soul
as
the
true
subjectivity,
at
once
empty
of
the
objects
and
providing
a
place
in
which
objects
may
be
known.
This
is
the Emissional
Power
in
its
lowest
form"
(commentary
on
Pariitrifikii
Laghuvrtti
5-9a,
translated
in
Muller-Ortega,
TriadicHeart,
p.
13
I).
See
below,
note
176,
on
the
kaiicukas.
162.
The
goose
seems
to
be
identified
with
the
breaths
even
before
the
syllables
of
its
name
come
to
represent
the
sound
of
inbreathing
and
outbreathing
selves.
The
original
notion
would
have
been
that
the
goose
of
the
breath
kept
one
alive
so
long
as
one
of
its
feet
remained
tethered
to
the
body:
its
flight,
up
and
out
of
the
body,
is
death.
This
is
the
implication
of
Aitareya
Arar;yaka
2.
1.8
(citing
Veda
1.164.38),
even
if
this
text
does
not
mention
ha'f'!lsa
explicitly.
163.
Silburn,
Kur;qalinf,
p.
23.
164.
Sataka
64-70,
especially
67.
165.
RA
2.89;
11.151.
Khecari
is
also
referred
to
in
the
context
of
a
syllable
Kubjika
mantra,
in
3.9.
A
khecari
clan
lineage
(kula)
is
named
and
its
mantra
discussed
in
3.17-20
and
12.59.
Certain
herbs
are
also
referred
to
as
khecari,
cause
they
produce
the
power
of
flight
in
mercury:
12.52-54.
One
of
the
uparasas,
kiisfsa
(ferrous
sulfate)
is
called
khecara
in
RC
II.I
and
RHT
9.5.
It
is
called
khaga
("sky-going")
in
RA
7.56.
Khecara
is
one
of
the
eight
"magical"
siddhis
listed
(along
with
rasa-rasiiyana)
in
the
3d-lIth
c.
A.D.
Siidhanamiilii:
Bhattacharya,
miilii
2
:lxxxv.
166.
RHT
4.5;
RC
164,
44,52-55,75.
Clipping
the
wings
of
volatile
mercury
is
the
remedy
for
the
"flaw
of
instability."
This
is
effected
through
mana
("regulation"),
the
seventh
of
the
eighteen
alchemical
sa'f'!lskiiras:
Misra,
Ayurvedfya,
p.
195.
167.
The
play
of
correspondences
is
not
perfect
here,
since
evaporation
can
be
identified
with
the
element
air,
rather
than
ether
or
space.
Both
appear
to
be
ent
here.
Ha'f'!lsaga
mercury
(RA
10.14-15;
11.126-31;
12.68-70;
RRS
1.81-83
and

4
62
Notes
to
Chapter
Seven
pp.
13,
133)
is
related
to
the
element
air,
referring
as
it
does
to
mercury's
tendency
to
evaporate,
han;zsaga,
in
the
sunshine
whose
beams
are
called
han;zsapiida
in
arva
Veda
11.4.2
I
-or
into
the
wind
as
breath,
also
called
han;zsa
in
yoga.
168.
On
this,
see
Cirpatjl
kl
sabadl
23,
in
Mallik,
SSp,
p.
84:
"bind
the
flying
han;zsa"
(udaina
han;zsii
liigai
bandh).
Cf.
HYP
4.92
and
BhP
5.148,
168-69.
169.
Elsewhere,
the
Gorak{a
Paddhati
(p.
60
of
the
Bombay
edition,
cited
in
Bharati,
Siddh
Siihity,
p.
340),
calls
the
ether
the
void
(filnya)
in
which
Siva
(whose
semen
is
mercury)
dwells.
170.
RC
15-4-12.
17
I.
Siddhinandan
Misra,
who
translated
this
text
into
Hindi,
chooses
to
see
in
the
plural
use
of
the
term
dhiitu
a
reference
to
the
sexual
fluids
of
both
Siva
and
the
Goddess
(fiv-piirvatl
ke
antim
dhiitu):
Misra,
RC,
p.
289.
Elsewhere
(16.8),
deva
calls
mica
(abhraka)
and
mercury
(piirada)
the
final
dhiitus
of
the
Goddess
and
Siva.
Here,
these
dhiitus
are
"final"
in
the
Ayurvedic
sense
of
the
term:
as
the
sexual
emissions
of
the
two,
they
are
the
final
distillates
of
divine
processes
of
digestion.
172.
This
is
the
Vedic
myth
ofIndra's
theft
of
Soma,
the
divine
draft
of
tality.
In
the
Veda
(4.26-27),
it
is
Indra
who,
mounted
on
an
eagle
or
falcon
(fye,,!a),
steals
the
soma
(later
identified
with
lunar
nectar
and
semen)
from
the
spheric
Gandharvas.
In
Brahmanic
myth
(Taittirlya
Samhitii
6.1.6;
Satapatha
ma,,!a
3.6.6.2),
the
rivalry
is
between
a
serpent
named
Kadru
and
a
falcon
named
Suparl}l.
This
develops,
in
later
epic
myth,
into
the
baroque
account
of
the
bird
Garu1a's
"theft"
of
the
soma
from
the serpents,
or
from
Indra
and
the
gods:
ya"!a
3.35;
Mahiibhiirata
1.20.1-1.30.25·
173.
For
the
Babylonian
myth
of
Etana
and
the
Zu
bird,
as
well
as
a
wide
array
of
Indian
and
Indo-European
parallels
to
this
mythic
theme,
see
David
M.
Knipe,
"The
Heroic
Theft:
Myths
from
IV
and
the
Ancient
Near
East;'
History
of
Religions
6:4
(May
1967),
pp.
328-60.
Cf.
Jarich
G.
Oosten,
The
TVtlr
of
the
Gods:
The
Social
Code
in
Indo-European
Mythology
(London:
Routledge
&
Kegan
Paul,
19
8
5),
pp.
69-71.
174.
Mahiibhiirata
1.20.1-1.30.25·
175.
RRS
1.80;
AK
1.35-37;
RC
15.24-25,
43-49;
BhP
p2.
Misra
(Ayurvedlya,
p.
197)
describes
this
purification
in
terms
of
a
snake
shedding
its
skin.
It
is
worthy
that
in
Ayurvedic
embryology,
heating
in
the
uterus
generates
seven
layers
(kaliis)
of
skin
and
the
seven
dhiitus
around
the
blood
and
semen
that
were
originally
present
at
conception:
Dasgupta,
History,
vol.
2,
pp.
3
12
,
317.
176.
On
the
kancukas
in
Saiva
Siddhlinta
thought,
see
Gonda,
Medieval,
p.
186;
on
the
VidYeSvaras,
see
Rao,
Elements,
vol.
2,
part
2,
p.
397,
and
above,
chap.
6,
n·5
6
.
177.
TA
13.103-4,
translated
in
Muller-Ortega,
Triadic
Heart,
p.
139.
Cf.
Parii-

4
6
3
Notes
to
Chapter
Seven
trffikii
Laghuv'(tti
5-9a,
translated
ibid.,
p.
131.
Cf.
Dasgupta,
Obscure,
p.
219,
and
Srivastav,
ed.,
"Gorak{a"
Vife{iiilk,
p.
272,
for
Nath
Siddha
interpretations.
178.
BhP
2.5b-7a:
tatradau
tu
rasaJ:t
sutaJ:t
sivadehadvinirgataJ:t!
tato
'nyattu
na1!l
khyatamumayonisamudbhavaml
sita1!l
P1ta1!l
tatha
rakta1!l
caiva
tu
varIJ.ataJ:t
II
vajrakhyan
caiva
maIJ.9uka1!l
dvividha1!l
tu
praklrtitam.
179.
For
ahiriija,
see
RA
13.370.
One
type
of
mica
is
called
niiga,
"serpent;'
because
of
the
hissing
sounds
it
makes
when
heated:
RC
10.6.
180.
The
alchemical
sources
refer
repeatedly
to
lead
and
tin
as
puta,
"smelly,"
a
fact
that
may
have
inspired
this
mythic
representation
of
them
as
mala,
dross.
In
the
gradual
transformation
of
the
human
body
into
an
alchemical
body,
the
first
of
an
eight-stage
process
is
called
"piercing"
or
"transmuting"
the
skin
(tvaciivedha),
by
which
the
body
is
transmuted
into
lead
and
tin
(pannaga):
RA
18.150.
181.
(along
with
his
brothers
Ananta,
Vasuki
and
is
the
Lord
of
Serpents
in
Hindu
mythology.
Somadeva's
evocation
of
the
Lord
of
Serpents
who
drinks
the
divine
semen
that
has
fallen
from
the
mouth
of
Agni
would
thus
refer
to
this
same
figure.
On
as
"remains;'
see
Charles
Malamoud,
"Observations
sur
la
notion
de
'reste'
dans
Ie
brahmanisme;'
in
Cuire
Ie
monde,
pp.
28-29.
182.
Siva's
name
here
is
to
be
identified
with
the
fire
of
yoga
(yogiignt)
that
destroys
the
fire
of
time
(kiiliignt)
in
the
microcosm.
The
universal
resorption
is
a
reabsorption
of
both
matter
and
time:
time
which generally
cooks
all
creatures
is
itself
cooked
by
the
dissolution.
Time
yields
to
eternity,
until
the
universe
is
emitted
by
the
great
yogin.
The
fire
of
Siva's
yoga
is
also
greater
than
the
fire
of
desire
(kiimiignl),
as
illustrated
in
the
myth
of
his
incineration
of
Kama,
the
Hindu
Eros,
with
fire
from
his
third,
yogic,
eye.
183.
Whence
the
final
verse
of
the
RA
(18.22
8),
which
states
that
the
perfected
Siddha
dwells
eternally
in
the
highest
level
of
the
cosmic
egg-sometimes
known
as
Siddha-loka-even
when
all
living
beings
have
been
annihilated
in
the
terrible
flood
(of
the
end
of
the
world).
18+
In
later
sources,
particularly
Saiva
PuraIJ.as
and
Tantras,
it
is
Siva
who
is
the
great
yogin,
a
distinction
he
has
retained
down
to
the
present
day
in
India.
In
this
light,
the
statement
that
mercury
is
the
exudation
or
sweat
of
the
sleeping
(i.e.,
yogically
withdrawn)
Siva,
is
a
telling
one:
RA
1.36.
See
above,
chap.
2,
sec.
5.
185.
Puranic
cosmogony
is
in
fact
an
appropriation,
run
in
reverse,
of
the
stages
of
yogic
withdrawal:
Asian
Mythologies,
S.v.
Cosmogony."
186.
Ibid.,
and
Biardeau,
Hindoui'sme,
pp.
121-22.
A
translation
of
the
VifllU
PuriiTfa
(6.3.14-41;
6+1-10)
treatment
of
cosmic
dissolution
is
in
Dimmitt
and
Van
Buitenen,
Classical
Hindu
Mythology,
pp.
41-43'
187.
Mircea
Eliade,
The
Sacred
and
the
Profane:
The
Nature
of
Religion
(New
York:
Harcourt
Brace
Jovanovich,
1959),
pp.
54-55;
Stella
Kramrisch,
The
Hindu
Temple,

4
6
4
Notes
to
Chapter
Eight
2
vols.
(Calcutta:
University
of
Calcutta,
1946;
reprint
Benares:
Motilal
dass,
1976),
vol.
I,
p.
62,
n.
105.
188.
Filliozat,
Doctrine
classique,
p.
19.
Nagarjuna
is
called
the
son
ofVasuki
in
a
Nath
source:
NSC,
p.
226.
A
Rajput
royal
lineage
calls
itself
the
niigava11!fi,
"serpent
lineage;'
claiming
descent
from
one
or
another
of
the
great
serpents
of
Hindu
myth:
Ruben,
Eisenschmiede,
p.
110.
189.
See
below,
chap.
9,
n.
102.
190.
Kaviraj,
Bhiiratiy,
vol.
I,
p.
311;
Silburn,
KU1?qalini,
p.
42,
citing
gupta,
Tantriiloka-viveka
22.
Cf.
Svetiifvatara
Upanifad
I.
I
3,
in
which
meditation
on
the
Orp
causes
the
subtle
mark
(linga)
of
the
divine
within
all
humans
to
manifest
itself.
Chapter
Eight
I.
Toni
Schmidt,
"Fiinfundachtzig
Mahasiddhas,"
Ethnos
2-3
(1955),
p.
120;
Rolf
Stein,
"Jardins
en
miniature;'
p.
54.
A
seemingly
identical
image
appears
in
the
context
of
the
pilgrimage
to
the
shrine
of
Hiilglaj
Devi,
in
eastern
Baluchistan.
This
is
a
lingam-yoni,
the
image
of
the
sexual
union
of
Siva
and
the
Goddess,
which
is
branded
on
the
upper
right
forearm
of
Nath
Siddhas
travelling
to
the
site.
The
image,
reproduced
by
Briggs
(Gorakhniith,
p.
110),
is
of
a
scrolled
letter
U
in
the
hollow
of
which
are
nested
two
concentric
circles.
2.
HYP
3.1.
3.
RHT
I.7;
MBhT
3.12-14;
SSP
3.5;
Gorakfa
Paddhati
1.60;
BhP
9.117-19.
Cf.
Dvivedi,
Niith
Sampradiiy,
pp.
187-88;
Misra,
Ayurvediya,
p.
28;
Kaviraj,
Bhiiratiy,
vol.
I,
pp.
555-56;
Srivastav,
"Gorakfa"
Vifefiink,
p.
132;
idem,
"Gorakh
Biini"
efiink,
p.
332;
NSC,
p.
131.
4.
Toqala
Tantra
9·
14
b
-
1
5
b
:
prthvicakrasya
madhye
tu
bhutaml
vegitarp
sada/
liilgacchidrarp
svavaktrel}a
sarpsthita.
Cf.
9.2
I.
Alternatively,
her
mouth
is
said
to
cover
the
brahmadviira,
the
"door
of
brahman;'
which
is
the
opening
to
the
lower
end
of
the
sufUm1?ii
niiqi:
Gorakfa
Paddhati
I.I7-I9;
Yoga
Miirta1?qa
36.
Cf.
NSC,
p.
131,
which
states
that
she
sleeps
with
her
mouth
closed
around
the
"western"
linga.
5.
Silburn,
KU1?qalini,
pp.
22-23.
This
discussion,
of
the
place
of
the
kU1?qalini
in
the
hathayogic
system
of
the
Nath
Siddhas,
differs
significantly
from
Silburn's
descriptions
(ibid.,
pp.
19-24,63-69)
of
the
two
kU1?qalinis
(the
and
kU1?qalinis)
or
the
three
aspects
of
the
kU1?qalinf
(fakti-,
prii1?a-,
and
parii-ku1?qalinfs)
in
the
Trika
Kaula
system
of
Abhinavagupta
and
others.
6.
Gorakfa
Paddhati
1.47-56;
Yoga
Miirta1?4a
36-4°.
The
editor
of
the
Gorakfa
Paddhati,
citing
"other
sources;'
reproduces
the
following
verse
(numbered
2)
on
p.
28:
"in
between
the
iqii
and
pingalii
is
the
child
widow,
the
kU1?4alini."

4
6
5
Notes
to
Chapter
Eight
7.
This
is
the
particular
perspective
of
the
Nath
Siddhas
who,
anti-Sakta
to
the
extreme,
deny
whenever
possible
any
constructive
role
to
the
feminine.
This
is
in
marked
contrast
to
the
Trika
system,
for
which
the
ku'?4a1inf
is
the
dynamic
manifestation
of
Siva
in
the
universal
macrocosm
as
well
as
the
human
microcosm:
Silburn,
Ku'?4alinf,
p.
24.
Gorakhnath
compares
women
to
tigresses
and
succubi:
see
below,
n.
92.
8.
Biardeau,
Hindoufsme,
p.
167.
Bhogavatf
is
the
name
of
the
city
or
a
sacred
tirtha
of
the
serpent
race,
in
the
Hindu
epics:
Monier-Williams,
s.v.
"[Ilbhoga;'
citing
the
Riimiiya,?a,
Mahiibhiirata,
and
Hariva'lJ!fa.
9.
Padoux,
Viic,
pp.
81-83.
Cf.
Sanderson,
"Mal}4ala
and
Agamic
Identity,"
pp.
178,
185;
Brooks,
Secret,
p.
II
I;
Silburn,
Ku'?4alinf,
pp.
19-24,52-53,64-66.
10.
Silburn,
Ku'?4alini,
p.
27,42,
citing
commentary
on
SivasUtra
2.3.
Cf.
Kaviraj,
Bhiiratry,
1:309.
1
I.
On
the
bhuktilmukti
dyad
see
Brooks,
Secret,
pp.
91,
105.
Rasik
VihariJoshi
("Notes
on
Guru,
and
Mantra;'
Ethnos
37
[1972],
pp.
106-7)
discusses
mok{a
and
bhoga
as
two
forms
of
tantric
initiation.
But
see
Sanderson's
("Saivism;'
pp.
667-68)
important
nuanced
discussion
of
the
mutual
exclusivity
of
mok{a
and
bhoga
in
early
tantrism.
Mok{a
was
the
goal
of
"liberation-seeking"
celibate
ascetics,
while
bhoga,
supernatural
experience
generally
gained
through
sexual
union,
was
the
goal
of
such
"power-seeking"
tantric
movements
as
the
Mantramarga.
12.
See
MBh
T
14.
3-
10,
on
divya-,
virya-,
and
pafu-bhoga,
also
in
relation
to
the
ku'?4alini.
13.
MBhT
3.1-16;
14.13-14;
and
Bharati,
Tantric
Tradition,
pp.
252, 260.
14·
HYP
1.27;
3·II;
3.61-69.
IS·
Silburn,
Ku'?4alinf,
pp.
IS,
27,
52.
16.
See
Silburn
(Ku'?4alini,
pp.
27,
52)
for
Abhinavagupta's
(TA
3.171)
play
on
the
word
vi{[a}:
when
she
sleeps,
the
ku'?4a1iniholds
the
poison
that
destroys
human
vitality;
when
she
awakens,
this
poison
transforms
itself
into
all-pervading
(vif)
power.
17.
This
is
the
origin
myth
of
poison,
in
RRS
29.1-1
I.
18.
It
is
this
mythic
feat
and
the
quest
to,
once
again,
become
a
"second
Siva;'
that
appears
to
be
the
raison
d'etre
of
the
so-called
"Poison
Tantras"
(vi{atantras),
of
which
the
Yogaratniivali
revealed
by
Srikal}!ha
Siva
(ASL
MSS
no.
4184)
is
an
ample.
19.
He
is
further
identified
with
Vajrabhairava.
This
god's
consort
is
Ekaja!a:
see
Beyer,
lorii
pp.
42-43,
54;
and
above,
chap.
3,
nn.
89-90.
20.
Spanda
Kiirikii
3.16,
trans.
in
Harvey
Alper,
"The
Cosmos
as
Siva's
Language-Game;'
in
idem,
Mantra
(Albany:
SUNY
Press,
1989),
p.
280.
21.
TA
3.171.

4
66
Notes
to
Chapter
Eight
22.
Giiga
Chauhan
or
Guga
Plr,
whom
the
Nath
Siddhas
claim
to
have
been
one
of
their
number,
is
renowned
for
his
power
over
serpents:
Rose,
pp.
395,
409.
Nepali
legend
maintains
that
Gorakhnath
held
back
the
"great
serpents"
of
the
rains
in
Nepal
for
some
twelve
years,
a
reference
that
at
once
harks
back
to
Vedic
myths
of
Indra
taming
the
rain
serpent
Vrtra
and
to
Gorakh's
yogic
control
of
the
kU7Jqalini.
23.
BhP
9.II8b-1
19a.
On
the
mythic
theme,
of
a
disciple
becoming
his
guru's
teacher
and
the
guru
becoming
his
disciple's
pupil,
in
its
relationship
to
the
ogy
of
brahmanic
sacrifice,
according
to
which
that
which
precedes
(e.g.
a
prior
sacrifice)
is
necessary
to
that
which
follows (e.g.
a
present
sacrifice,
lit
from
the
embers
of
the
prior
sacrifice);
but
also
that
that
which
precedes
can
only
persist
through
that
which
follows
(the
prior
sacrifice
is
reborn
through
the
present
fice),
see
below,
ch.
9,
n.
104.
24.
According
to
the
KJiiN
(22.10),
the
Yogini-Kauia
doctrines
were
found
"in
every
house
in
Kamariipa."
Three
Padas
(2,
43,
and
49)
of
the
Gorakh
Biini
take
the
form
of
teachings
made
to
his
guru
after
his
rescue
from
the
Kingdom
of
Women:
Srivastav,
"Gorakh
Biini"
Vi{efiiilk,
p.
327.
So
too,
in
the
Bengali
Min
Cetan-Gorak{a
Vtjay
cycle,
it
is
made
clear
that
the
yoginls
of
this
mystic
doctrine
and
the
women
of
the
Plantain
Forest
were
one
and
the
same.
Indeed,
the
origin
of
the
holder
Naths"
is
also
traced
back
to
these
yoginls,
who
inveigled
celibate
yo
gins
into
moving
in
with
them:
Dvivedi,
Niith
Sampradiiy,
pp.
22,
56.
25.
The
opening
lines
of
the
17th
c.
Bengali
work
Min
Cetan
are
the
Goddess's
question
to
Siva:
"Why
is
it,
my
Lord,
that
thou
art
immortal
and
mortal
am
I?
Advise
me
the
truth,
0
Lord,
so
that
I
also
may
be
immortal
for
ages"
(turi1.hI
kene
tara
gosaru
amhi
kene
mari/
hena
tattva
kaha
dev
joge joge
tari).
In
answer
to
her
question,
Siva
expounds
on
harha
yoga,
in
the
monologue
that
Matsyendra
hears:
Dasgupta,
Obscure,
p.
228.
26.
Matsyendra's
name,
like
that
of
Nagarjuna,
cannot
be
attached
to
a
single
historical
figure.
It
is
rather
to
be
seen
as
an
initiatory
title,
given
to
tantric
titioners
who
had
reached
a
certain
advanced
level
of
mastery:
Tucci,
ones
Indicae;'
p.
133.
27.
Matsyendra
is
described
as
dwelling
in
the
belly
of
the
fish
in
the
c.
A.D.
1290
}fiiinefvarf
(18.1729-35)
of
the
Marathi
saint
JfiiineSvara:
Avedyanath
ji
Maharaj,
"Mahayogi
Guru
Gorakhnath
evam
unkI
TapasthaII;'
in
Baba
Cunninathji,
ed.
Prakiis
(Gorakhpur:
Gita
Press,
1981),
p.
186.
The
same
description
is
given
in
another
Marathi
source,
the
13th
c.
YSA.
A
similar
account
is
found
in
the
Skanda
Purii7Ja
(6.263.33-61).
The
Gorak{a
Vijay
and
Min
Cetan
call
him
Mlnanath
and
say
he
took
the
form
of
a
fish
to
eavesdrop
on
Siva,
who
related
his
secret
teachings
to

4
6
7
Notes
to
Chapter
Eight
the
Goddess
in
a
raised
pavilion
amidst
the
Ocean
of
Milk:
Sen,
History,
p.
44.
Another
Nath
legend
explains
Matsyendra's
piscine
origins.
A
king
named
dhar
is
cremated.
His
navel
will
not
burn
and
is
cast
into
a
river,
where
a
fish
vours
it
to
give
birth
to
Matsyendra:
Rose,
Glossary,
p.
393;
Himavatkha1!4a
(of
the
Skanda
Pura1!a),
p.
73
(appendices);
and
Narada
Pura1!a,
2.69.6,
cited
in
NSC,
p.
22.
28.
Jayaratha,
in
his
commentary
to
TA
I.6
(vol.
2,
p.
24),
quotes
a
source
that
identifies
the
Siddha
Mlna
with
Macchanda,
in
this
episode.
The
relationship
tween
Goralq;anatha
(7)
and
his
guru
Mlnanatha
(6)
in
HYF
I.5
is
symmetrical
to
that
obtaining
between
the
figures
(9)
and
Mma-pa
(8)
in
the
Tibetan
Grub
thob.
This
squares,
moreover,
with
the
statement
made
by
Goralq;a
in
the
second
verse
of
his
earliest
work,
the
Gorakfafataka,
that
his
guru
was
Mlnanatha.
It
is
a
later
conflation
that
identifies
Matsyendra
(the
second
Siddha,
listed
after
Adinatha,
in
the
HYF
list)
or
LUI-pa
(the
first
Siddha
of
the
Grub
thob
list)
with
Mlna.
The
historical
Goralq;a
or
Gorakhnath
was
an
early
13th
c.
figure,
whereas
Matsyendra,
his
purported
guru,
could
not
have
lived
later
than
the
10th
c.;
it
is
Mlna
who
was
Gorakh's
guru.
29.
Matsyendra
calls
himself
matsyaghna
in
KJfiN
16.37,
where
he
says
he
is
from
the
kaivartta
fisher
caste
(see
below,
n.
108).
He
calls
himself
machli
ghana,
"Killer
of
Fishes;'
and
Machandar
Nath,
a
vernacularization
of
his
Sanskrit
name,
in
a
song
entitled
Matsyendranathji
ka
pad,
in
Mallik,
SSp,
p.
76.
He
is
also
known
as
Macchaghnapada,
Macchendrapada,
Matsyendrapada,
Mlnapada,
Mlnanatha,
Macchendra,
Macchendapada,
and
Macchindranathapada:
Bagchi,
KJfiN,
p.
6;
and
Dyczkowski,
Canon,
p.
163
(n.
23
to
p.
62).
On
Matsyendra's
ambiguous
ship
to
Mlna
in
Nepal,
see
Locke,
Karunamaya,
p.
427.
30.
There
are
actually
two
thefts
and
two
recoveries
of
these
scriptures
at
dradvrpa,
and
it
is
only
on
the
second
occasion
that
Siva-Bhairava
becomes
endra:
KJfiN
16.23-36,
52;
22.10-12.
The
many
variants
of
this
legend
are
viewed
in
Bagchi's
introduction
(pp.
6-32)
to
the
KJfiN
3I.
KJiiN
16.21:
yadavataritarp.
jiianarp.
kamarupe
tvaya
maya
("[When]
the
[Kaula]
gnosis
was
brought
down
at
Kamarupa
by
you
[and]
by
me").
Cf.
16.26a.
However,
22.lOb
and
I2ab
state
that
"this
teaching
[is
found]
in
the
household
of
every
yogini
in
Kamarupa
...
This
great
teaching
was
brought
down
at
dvrpa.
That
[teaching]
whose
abode
was
the
belly
of
a
fish
is
sung
at
Kamakhya:'
32.
Kamarupa
is
generally
identified
with
the
important
pifha
of
the
Goddess
at
Kamakhya
(Gauhati
district,
Assam).
It
is
also
a
site
within
the
subtle
body,
located
at
the
center
of
a
downturned
yoni,
which
is
itself
identified
with
the
sexual
organ
of
the
tantric
consort,
the
yogin1.
See
below,
nn.
89-90.

4
68
Notes
to
Chapter
Eight
33.
The
Grub
thob,
a
Tibetan
translation
of
Abhayadatta's
lIth-12th
c.
fttisiddha
Prav'(ffi
(''Acts
of
the
Eighty-four
Siddhas"),
is
found
in
vol.
86,
part
I
of
the
Tanjur:
see
above,
chapter
3,
nn.
139-40.
34.
Locke,
Karunamaya,
pp.
282,
297-3°0,433
n.
80.
35.
Bagchi,
KJiiN,
p.
22.
The
color
of
the
image
is
noted
in
the
earliest
datable
manuscript
(11th
c.)
in
which
it
is
mentioned:
Locke,
Karunamaya,
p.
300.
36.
Marie-Therese
de
Mallmann,
"Divinites
hindoues
dans
Ie
tantrisme
dhique;'
Arts
Asiatiques
ro:I
(1964),
p.
71,
referring
to
Archive
Photograph
no.
1623416/4,
cliche
no.
53.24,
of
the
Musee
Guimet.
The
depiction
of
Matsyendra
emerging
from
the
mouth
of
a
fish
can
be
cause
for
confusion,
particularly
in
ern
India
where
Dariyanath
(also
known
as
Jhullelal,
Khwaja
Khizr,
Amarlal,
Zinda
PIr,
etc.,
according
to
region)
the
"lord
of
the
current;'
is
the
god
of
the
dus
River:
Briggs,
Gorakhnath,
p.
65.
In
Pushkar,
where
there
is
a
temple
to
this
deity
and
a
temple
to
the
major
Nath
Siddhas,
a
Nath
custodian
of
the
latter
stated
that
"Matsyendra
was
the
same
as
Jhullelal":
personal
communication
from
Dominique-Sila
Khan,
Pushkar,
India,
April
1993.
37.
Chattopadhyaya,
Taranatha's
History,
p.
153
n.
28,
and
p.
178
n.
II;
Bagchi,
KJiiN,
pp.
22-23;
Mallik,
SSp,
p.
15;
and
V W
Karambelkar,
"Matsyendranath
and
His
Yogini
Cult;'
Indian
Historical
Quarterly
31
(1955),
p.
362.
38.
TA
5
·57b-58a,
translated
in
Muller-Ortega,
Triadic
Heart,
p.
123
(italics
my
own).
Muller-Ortega
translates
matsyodaradafii
as
"the
condition
of
the
belly
of
the
fish:'
The
term
found
in
KJiiN
22.12,
has
the
same
sense.
39.
Amaraugha
Prabodha
10:
bibhraJ?aJ:
pavanarr
ha!hanniyamitarr
graso
'sti
minodare
1
kaivalyo
bhagavanvimucya
sahasa
yavannacetatyasau.
This
text
is
found
in
Mallik,
SSp,
p.
49.
Gorakh
claims
to
be
quoting
a
text
entitled
the
Samputa.
These
words,
put
in
the
mouth
of
Siva
and
addressed
to
Parvati
and
MInanatha,
appear
to
constitute
the
beginning
of
the
teachings
offered
on
the
shore
of
dradvIpa.
I
am
grateful
to
John
Roberts
for
his
aid
in
translating
this
passage.
40.
Diana
Eck,
Banaras:
City
of
Light
(Princeton:
Princeton
University
Press,
1983),
p.
lI8.
4I.
Skanda
Pura7Ja
2.2.12.21-40,
cited
in
Eck,
Banaras,
p.
94-
42.
Rudrayamala
Tantra
2745,
which
further
identifies
the
three
rivers
with
aka,
recaka,
and
kumbhaka;
and
moon,
sun,
and
fire.
It
further
mentions
the
kU7J-
4alini
(as
kU7J4alt)
,
as
well
as
the
six
cakras,
which
it
associates
with
six
Sivas,
six
Saktis,
and
six
"shafts"
(fatfara):
27.42-56.
Cf.
CaurangInath,
"PraJ?
SankaII;'
verse
80,
in
Dvivedi,
Nath
Siddho'l1!,
p.
23.
On
the
geographical
disappearance
of
the
Sarasvati
River,
see
Kalya7J
SaktiAizk,
p.
651,
which
also
mentions
that
a
"Sarasvati
Ganga"
exists
near
Kedarnath,
in
the
Himalayas
(ibid.,
p.
671):
see
below,
n.
153.
43.
In
a
"normal"
monsoon,
the
MatsyodarI
would
flood
northward
into
a
series

4
6
9
Notes
to
Chapter
Eight
of
tanks
before
emptying
into
the
Varalfa.
It
was
only
in
exceptionally
heavy
ing
that
the
volume
of
water
flowing
in
the
Ganges
would
back
up
into
its
Varalfa
tributary,
and
in
turn
into
the
MatsyodarI
channel,
reversing
its
more
common
northward
flow.
A
small
tank,
all
that
remains
of
the
MatsyodarI
Lake
of
old,
is
today
called
MacchodarI:
Eck,
Baniiras,
pp.
116-18.
Following
James
Prinsep's
1822
map
of
Benares
(which
she
reproduces
schematically
on
p.
47),
Eck
maintains
that
the
"reversed"
southward
current
of
the
Ganges-MatsyodarI
emptied
into
the
Ganges
proper
near
Benia
'lalab
(the
"Confluence
Pool"),
slightly
to
the
north
of
DasaSvamedh
Gha!.
While
such
may
have
been
the
case
in
the
early
19th
century,
the
Puranic
sources
indicate
that
this
occurred
a
mile
further
to
the
south,
via
the
Asi
River.
A
string
oflesser
lakes
and
ponds,
located
by
Prinsep
between
the
century
outlet
and
the
Asi
River,
could
well
have
served
to
channel
the
MatsyodarI
down
to
the
Asi
in
earlier
centuries.
44.
Siva
Samhitii
5.100,
104,
109.
Cf.
Eck,
Baniiras,
p.
26.
45.
A
Hindu
commonplace
identifies
Benares
with
the
two-petaled
iijfiii
cakra
which,
located
at
a
point
behind
the
bridge
of
the
nose,
is
the
final
point
of
gence
of
the
iqii
and
pingalii
channels.
46.
Linga
Purii1!a,
Kapilesvara
Mahatmya,
Oqlkiiranirlfaya,
and
vaf1fanam,
chap.
9
(reproduced
in
the
12th
c.
KJ:tyakalpataru
of
Bha!!a
(vol.
8,
Tirthavivecanakii1!qa,
ed.
K.
V
Rangaswamy
Aiyangar
[Baroda:
Oriental
stitute,
1942]),
pp.
34-35.
Lolarka
KUlf9
lies
near
the
mouth
of
the
Asi
River,
near
the
southern
edge
of
Benares:
Eck,
Baniiras,
pp.
177-78.
Lolarka's
solar
associations
make
the
southern
Asi
River
the
obvious
macrocosmic
homologue
of
the
solar
galii
niiqf.
This
somewhat
skews
the
hathayogic
symmetry
in
another
way,
however:
ideally,
the
Ganges
ought
to
flow
backwards,
northwards,
and
upwards
from
the
sun
(Asi)
towards
the
moon
however,
since
the
Ganges'
normal
flow
is
northeasterly
at
Benares,
its
backward-flowing
stream
must
flow
in
a
southwesterly
and
"downward"
direction,
from
moon
to
sun.
What
is
essential
here
is
that
yodarf-yoga
is
identified
with
the
Ganges
running
against
its
normal
flow.
47.
KJ:tyakalpataru,
Tirthavivecanakii1!qa,
p.
35.
VifUvam
also
means
"at
the
nox":
the
flooding
that
would
have
precipitated
theappearance
of
this
stream
could
only
have
occurred
during
the
summer
monsoon:
it
is
therefore
possible
that
yodan
yoga
fell
on
the
autumnal
equinox,
at
the
culmination
of
the
monsoon
season.
The
Darfana
Upanifad
(4.43b-44a)
identifies
the
two
"equinoxes"
with
the
tration
of
the
life
force/yogic
breaths
in
the
miiliidhiira
(spring)
and
the
cranial
vault
(autumn),
respectively
(in
Sastri,
ed.,
Yoga
Upanifads).
Once
again,
the
latter
nox"
would
correspond
to
a
generalized
upward
flow
of
the
life
force
through
the
medial
channel.
48.
KJ:tyakalpataru,
Tirthavivecanakii1!qa,
p.
59.

47
0
Notes
to
Chapter
Eight
49.
Quoted
from
the
KasI
of
the
Skanda
Purii1!a
byMitramisra,
"Tlrtha
Prakasa;'
in
Viramitrodaya,
p.
240
(cited
in
KJ:tyakalpataru,
Tirthavivecanakii1!qa,
p.
lxxviii).
Cf.
Narayal).a
Bhaga's
(ca.
1580)
Tristhalisetu
(p.
140,
cited
in
Kubernath
Sukul,
Vtzranasi
Down
the
Ages
[Bhargava
Bhushan
Press,
1974],
p.
200):
"The
syodarI
tirtha
is
indeed
twofold
because
it
is
[both]
there
in
its
own
place
[the
syodarI
Lake]
and
outside
of
it,
due
to
its
channel
that
runs
around
[Benares].
It
is
most
preeminent
when,
during
the
rainy
season,
the
water
of
the
Ganges,
whose
course
is
swollen
during
the
rainy
season,
flows
in
a
reverse
direction
via
the
mouth
of
that
channel."
50.
Also
called
the
brahma-miirga,
the
"path
of
brahman;'
which
is
an
echo
of
the
Linga
Purii1!a
(in
KJ:tyakalpataru,
p.
59)
reference
to
matsyodari
as
the
fluvial
[form]
of
the
brahman-syllable.
Gorakhnath
refers
to
the
SUfUm1!ii
as
the
nean
Ganges":
Gorakh
Biini
SabadI
2.
51.
On
the
commonplace identification
of
kumbhaka
with
the
SUfUm1!ii
and
the
Sarasvati
River,
see
Rudrayiimala
Tantra
27-43-45'
A
cryptic
passage
from
the
third
chapter
of
Durjayacandra's
Amitapada
commentary
on
the
Buddhist
tra
is
adduced
by
Tucci
to
explain
Jayaratha's
gloss-in
which
he
gives
maccha
as
a
synonym
for
piifa-on
Abhinavagupta's
reference
to
Macchanda
in
TA
1.7.
The
Buddhist
commentary
gives
the
compound
makara-minaka:
Tucci,
ones
Indicae;'
p.
134.
I
maintain
that
this
compound
is
a
reference
to
the
two
erine
goddesses,
the
Ganga
and
Yamuna,
whose
marine
vehicles
are,
precisely,
the
makara
and
mina;
and
that
here
too,
this
pair
symbolizes
the
two
peripheral
nels
of
the
subtle
body,
which
must
be
emptied
before
the
SUfUm1!ii
can
be
filled.
52.
Kumbhaka
is
compared,
in
Brahmananda's
commentary
on
HYP
4.27,
to
the
binding
of
mercury.
53·
HYF
2.7-9,
35·
The
kU1!qalini
doubles
as
the
sus:um1!ii
niiqi
and
is
also
called
the
"infant
widow"
in
HYF
3.109-10.
A
Matsyodaratantra,
of
which
the
chief
subject
is
the the
subtle
body
of
hafha
yoga,
would
appear
to
take
its
name
from
the
tices
we
have
been
describing:
HTSL,
p.
102.
54.
Tristhalisetu,
p.
168,
cited
in
Eck,
Baniiras,
p.
119.
55.
Gorakfa
Sataka,
v.
2.
This
mention
of
Mlnanath
is
found
in
all
recensions
of
this
work.
Cf.
the
ordering
of
Matsyendra,
MIna,
and
Gorakh
in
the
Grub
thob
and
HYP
Siddha
lists.
See
above,
n.
28.
56.
See
above,
chap.
5,
nn.
83-92.
57·
See
above,
chap.
5,
nn.
93-96.
58.
McDaniel,
Madness,
pp.
182-85.
The
opposition
between
minaka
(fish)
and
makara
(crocodile)
in
Durjayacandra's
Amitapadii
(see
above,
n.
51)
may
also
refer
to
this
body
of
sexual
practice.

471
Notes
to
Chapter
Eight
59.
Eck,
Banaras,
p.
II7·
60.
Bagchi
identifies
Moon
Island
with
the
Chinese
"double-mountain"
known
as
K'un-Iun,
which
is
itself
located
within
the
Taoist
subtle
body
("The
Island
of
K'un-Lun
and
Candradvipa,"
in
Bharata-Kaumudi:
Studies
in
Indology
in
Honor
of
Dr.
Radha
KumudMookerji,
2
vols.
[Allahabad:
Indian
Press,
1945,
19471,
vol.
I,
pp.
47-55).
Cf.
idem,
KJiiN,
pp.
29-32·
Dasgupta
(Obscure,
p.
384)
locates
it
on
the
coastline
of
the
Bakerganj
district
of
Bangladesh.
S.
M.
Ali
(The
Geography
of
the
PuraTfas,
2d
ed.
[New
Delhi:
People's
Publishing
House,
19
66
,
1973],
pp.
77-78
[citing
Vayu
PuraTfa
45.51-58],
86-87,
and
fig.
8)
locates
it
to
the
west
of
Lake
Baikal
in
central
Asia.
61.
On
the
Candragiri
toponym
in
the
Kathmandu
Valley,
see
above,
chap.
4,
n·49·
62.
KJiiN
16.33-35·
63.
Chapter
colophons
to
the
KJiiN
call
it
the
revelation
of
the
"Great
kaula,
brought
down
to
earth
by
Matsyendrapada
at
Moon
Island:'
The
same
is
also
stated
in
textu
in
KJiiN
22.
I
2.
64.
KJiiN
5.6,
12.
65.
KJiiN
I7.23aj
20.IIa.
For
the
western
linga
in
the
head,
see
Gorakh
Bani,
Sabadl
I87a,
and
the
Raja
Rani
San.zbiid
of
Goplcand,
v.
I05
(in
Dvivedi,
Nath
dhon.z,
p.
9).
On
the
"microcosmic
west;'
see
also
Gorakh
Bani,
Sabadls
41
and
267.
66.
KM
(London,
Wellcome
MSS
g50I)
fo1.
4a.5-7.
67·
See
above,
chap.
3,
n.
137.
68.
Schoterman,
$SS,
pp.
36-39.
A
manuscript
of
this
work,
in
Newari
script,
is
dated
to
A.D.
II97
by
Shastri
(Catalogue,
I:lxiv,
I
II-I2)
and
to
A.D.
1395
by
chi
(KJiiN,
p.
67)·
69.
Dyczkowski,
Canon,
p.
68-69.
This
squares
with
Baul
tradition,
which
tifies
the
fish
(above,
n.
58)
with
the
moon:
"My
unknown
moon
moves
through
the
water
in
the
form
of
a
fish:'
(McDaniel,
Madness,
p.
184).
70.
Amaraughafasana,
p.
IO.
71.
If,
in
the
subtle
physiology
of
the
cranial
vault,
there
exists
a
ing
eastern
mountain
to
the
western
Candraparvata
of
the
KM
(see
above,
note
66),
then
the
three
mountains,
taken
together,
represent
the
so-called
trikuta,
the
"triple-peaked"
configuration
located
in
the
same
region,
which
is
also
identified
with
the
three
phonemes
of
the
syllable
Orr
(on
this,
see
Silburn,
KUTftialini,
p.
132).
This
would
further
correspond
to
the
sacred
geography
of
the
city
of
Benares,
which
is
built
upon
three
hills,
the
which
are
identified
with
the
three
tips
of
Siva's
trident,
called
the
trifulabhumi
in
the
geography
of
the
subtle
body
(ibid.,
p.
58).
72.
On
the
lower
western
linga,
see
Sataka
19.
Cf.
SSP
2.2,
which
states

472
Notes
to
Chapter
Eight
that
the
kU1!4alinf
sleeps
with
her
mouth
over
the
pafcima-linga,
located
in
the
ond
cakra,
the
svadhi{!hana.
It
is
out
of
this
vortex
that
seed
is
emitted
in
tion:
Srivastav,
"Gorakh"
p.
13
I.
73.
E.
Obermiller,
ed.
and
tr.,
History
of
Buddhism
(Chos-hbyung)
by
Bu-ston,
2
vols.
(Heidelberg:
Harrassowitz,
1931-32),
vol.
2,
"The
History
of
Buddhism
in
India
and
Tibet;'
p.
120
(=
fol
I09a
of
Bu-ston's
text).
Obermiller
gives
the
scription
"Badaha"
for
the
name
of
this
island,
a
name
which
makes
no
sense.
The
Natha-abhyudaya-tantra
cited
by
Bu-ston
is
called
the
Maha-kala-tantra-raja,
in
the
Knnjur.
A
microfilm
(reel
E-I358/7)
of
a
manuscript,
in
Newari
characters,
of
this
work,
held
in
the
Nepal
National
Archives,
gives
the
reading
bii4avam
(fol.
55b,
line
5).
It
is
with
this
reading
that
I
emend
Obermiller's
translation.
74.
Tucci,
Tibetan
Painted
Scrolls,
1:226-27,
citing
Tanjur
67,
p.
34.
The
cal"
Darika-pa
would
have
lived
in
Bengal
during
the
lOth
c.
reigns
of
Amrapala,
Hastipala,
and
Chattopadhyaya,
Ttiranatha's
History,
pp.
178,311.
75.
See
O'Flaherty,
Siva,
pp.
286-92,
citing
Mahabharata
6.8.26;
Bhagavata
a1!a
4.30-45,
for
the
mythology
of
the
submarine
fire
and
the
submarine
mare.
Cf.
TA
8'98,
which
locates
Va4ava
to
the
south
ofJambudvipa,
between
two
mountains,
named
Cakra
and
Mainaka.
The
southern
sea
in
which
the
Indian
submarine
mare/
fire
is
found
parallels
the
Scandinavian
Ml1spellsheimr,
the
fire
world
in
the
ern
Hemisphere
whose
raging
will
be
the
end
of
the
world:
Puhvel,
Comparative
Mythology,
p.
219.
This
is
an
alloform
of
the
myth
of
the
birth
of
Skanda
and
the
origin
of
mercury:
see
above,
chap.
7,
sec.
3.
76.
A
goddess
named
Kzt1!4alf,
who
appears
to
be
associated
with
the
left
side
of
the
body
(vamakhya)
is
mentioned
in
KJiiN
17.23
and
20.1
I.
77.
Siddha
Siddhanta
Samgraha
3.5,
cited
in
Dvivedi,
Nath
Sampraday,
pp.
18r-88;
Paddhati
1.60;
BhP
9.II7-19;
Gorakh
Banf,
p.
332.
Cf.
MBhT
3.
12
-
1
4.
78.
HYP
4.17.
Cf.
HYP
4-I08:
"the
yogin
in
samadhi
is
not
consumed
by
time."
79.
KJiiN
2.2
b-
3:
kalagnirudrasan;zjiia
tu
nakhiigre
nityasan;zsthitaml
yadii
prajvalate
urddhan;z
samharantu
tada
bhavetl
batfavamukhamahattvaiica
patale
sahasan;zsthital?
"That
which
is
known
as
the
Destroyer
of
the
Fire
of
Time
is
forever
located
at
the
tip[s]
of
the
toenail[s].
It
is
when
it
flares
upwards
that
the
universal
retraction
occurs.
On
the
universal
level
[mahattvam]
this
is
the
mouth
of
the
submarine
mare,
which
is
located
in
the
underworld
[patale]:,
See
also
Bagchi's
commentary,
p.
43.
A
late
paper
manuscript
of
the
found
by
Bagchi
in
the
Nepal
National
Archives
calls
the
land
of
Gorakhnath's
birth
"Ba4ava":
Bagchi,
KJiiN,
p.
64·
80.
Thus
a
parallel
passage
from
the
ca.
I2th
c.
Vfnafikha
Tantra
(vv.
70b-7Iab):

473
Notes
to
Chapter
Eight
nirodhe
kumbhakal:
proktal:
praI!ayama1!1
prakIrtitaml
dhyatva
kalagniblja1!1
tu
yugantanalasaprabhaml
nyaset
padatale
mantrI
jvalamalakulam
mahat.
8
I.
See
above,
n.
49.
82.
Misra,
.Ayurvedfya,
p.
28;
Kaviraj,
Bhiiratfy,
vol.
I,
pp.
555-56.
83.
gang
samudrahi
sokhai:
in
Kabfr
Granthiivalf,
ed.
Shyam
Sundar
Das
nares:
Kashi
Nagaripracarini
Sabha,
1954),
p.
14I.
Cf.
a
verse
from
another
Kablr
anthology,
Sant
Kabfr,
ed.
Ramkumar
Varma
(Allahabad:
1947),
p.
20:
gang
jamun
miliivul
binu
jal
sangam
man
mahi'fl.l
nhiivu.
See
also
Gorakh
Biinf
SabadI
55,
9
0
,115.
84.
See
above,
n.
13.
On
the
"five
nectars"
of
early
Buddhist
tantra,
see
miija
Tantra
(p.
26
of
Bhattacharya's
1931
edition),
and
K}fiN
1
I.I
5-16.
85.
Kalyii1J
Sakti
Ank,
p.
640.
86.
Sharma's
commentary
to
RRS,
pp.
39,
184-85;
Misra,
.Ayurvedfya,
p.
170;
Shorter
Oxford
Economic
Atlas,
p.
88.
87.
Dyczkowski,
Canon,
pp.
63-64;
Schoterman,
$SS,
p.
73.
88.
Gorakh
Biinf,
SabadI
142:
bhag
byand,
agani
para;
jo
so
guru
hamara.
This
is
a
continuation
of
SabadI
141,
which
is
a
discussion
of
vajroif
and
amarolf
mudriis:
bajarI
kara1!1ta1!1
amarI
amarI
kara1!1ta1!1
baI/
bhog
kara1!1ta1!1
je
vyand
te
ka
gurubhai.
89.
In
the
more
abstract
schemata
of
yonipujii,
the
tantric
worship
of
the
female
sexual
organ,
the
yoni
is
represented
as
a
downturned
triangle
(Silburn,
KU1Jqalinf,
p.
43),
at
the
heart
of
which
is,
once
again,
Kamarupa,
the
abode
of
the
goddess
Kamakhya,
who
is
identified
with
the
kU1J4alinf
and
with
feminine
materiality
(prak'(tt)
in
the
form
of
menstrual
flux
(pUfpariipint):
Schoterman,
Yonitantra,
p.
24;
Bharati,
Tantric
Tradition,
pp.
259-60;
Bhattacharya,
History,
p.
133;
and
ski,
"KUI).9alinI;'
p.
7,
n.
13·
See
above,
chap.
7,
n.
67·
90.
In
Assam,
specifically
at
Kamakhya,
whence
he
is
said
to
have
brought
it
to
Nepal:
Karambelkar,
"Matsyendranath;'
p.
365.
Cf.
K}fiN
16,46-49;
and
tha's
commentary
to
T.A
1.6.
(vol.
I,
p.
24).
As
their
names
indicate,
Kamakhya
and
Kamarupa
are
locations
identified
with
eroticism.
One
account
of
Matsyendra's
birth
has
him
born
the
son
of
Parvati
at
Kamakhya:
Niirada
Purii1Ja,
Uttara
KhaI!9a
69.6,
cited
in
NSC,
p.
50.
91.
When
Matsyendra
(Macchanda)
is
taken
to
be
the
founder
of
Kaulism,
it
is
his
six
sons
who
are
noncelibate
(adhoretas)
who
are
singled
out
as
qualified
to
be
revealers
of
the
Kaula
cult:
Sanderson,
"Saivism;'
p.
681.
According
to
the
dityaparamiigama
(cited
in
Bandhopadhyay,
Niitha
Cult,
p.
48),
Yoganatha
(an
carnation
of
Siva)
married
a
maiden
named
Surati,
who
was
a
manifestation
of
Sakti.
They
had
sixteen
sons,
beginning
with
Adinatha.
From
them,
six
house-

474
Notes
to
Chapter
Eight
holding
(i.e.,
noncelibate)
sons
were
born:
Adinatha,
Minanatha,
Satyanatha,
anatha,
Kapila,
and
Nanaka.
Ten
others-Giri,
Puri,
Varatyadi,
Saila,
Naga,
vati,
Ramanandi,
Syamanandi,
Sukumara,
and
Achyuta-left
their
homes
and
wander
from
place
to
place.
See
above,
chap.
5,
n.
95.
92.
See
Gorakh
Bani
SabadI
177,
on
the
loss
of
a
yogin's
semen
as
the
shame
of
his
guru;
Gorakh
Bani
Pad
48.1-3,
on
the
female
vulva
as
a
tigress
or
vampiress.
Cf.
Kablr,
Doha
20.6
(in
Vaudeville,
Kabir
Granthavali,
p.
98).
On
the
cleavage,
within
the
Nath
Siddhas,
between
the
celibate
and
hathayogic
"Gorakh"
and
noncelibate,
erotico-mystical
"Matsyendra"
branches,
see
Bharati,
Siddh-Sahity,
p.
324.
ever,
Dvivedi
(Nath
Sampraday,
p.
50)
divides
the
Nath
Siddha
lineages
between
the
descendants
of
the
"hathayogic"
Gorakh
and
Matsyendra,
and
the
mystical"
Jalandhara
and
Kanipa.
93.
Silburn,
KU1Jqalini,
p.
58.
94.
On
these
works,
see
Zbavitel,
Bengali
Literature,
pp.
189-90.
This
legend
cycle
is
summarized
in
Sen,
History
of
Bengali
Literature,
pp.
43-49;
Dvivedi,
Nath
Sampraday,
pp.
43-46;
and
Cunninath,
Tan-Prakaf,
pp.
197-200.
Other
versions,
which
differ
little
from
these
accounts,
are
the
Maharashtran
YSA;
the
mangala
of
Sa
hade
v
Cakravarti
(summarized
in
Dasgupta,
Obscure,
p.
368,
n.
I),
and
the
20th
c.
Natha
Caritra,
an
adaptation
of
three
works
from
the
Jodhpur
library
of
Man
Singh,
the
early
19th
c.
Marwari
royal
patron
of
the
Nath
Siddhas.
There
are
also
vernacular
versions
of
this
drama,
in
Nepali,
Maithili,
and
other
medieval
languages:
Mukherji,
Gopicandra
pp.
xxxvi,
xliv.
See
above,
chap.
5,
n.
80.
95·
Sen,
History
of
Bengali
Literature,
p.
44.
96.
Ibid.,
p.
45;
NSC,
pp.
95-97;
and
Pir
Premnath,
Siva-Gorak{a
(New
Delhi:
Vijnana
Prakashan,
1982),
p.
15.
97.
Summarized
in
Dvivedi,
Nath
Sampradiiy,
pp.
48-49.
98.
Matsyendra's
feat
of
parakayapravefa
(and
Gorakh's
role)
is
also
chronicled
in
the
I
5th-
17th
c.
Sankara
Digvijaya
(9.80-84)
of
Madhava.
On
this
feat,
see
also
NSC,
pp.
27,
57-59;
and
K}fiN
10.26-8.
The
god
Rudra
is
said
to
have
taken
the
human
form
of
LakulIsa,
the
ca.
2d
c.
A.D.
founder
of
the
early
Pasupata
sect
by
entering
and
reanimating
a
brahmin's
corpse
on
a
cremation
ground: Sanderson,
"Saivism;'
p.
664.
99.
Alternatively,
Matsyendra's
queen
dices
up
the
body
that
the
yogin
has
"left
behind;'
so
that
he
cannot
return
to
it:
Camanlal
Gautam,
Sri
Gorakhnath
Caritra
(Bareilly:
Samskrti
Samsthan,
1981),
p.
62,
96-97;
Dvivedi,
Nath
Sampradiiy,
pp.
48-49.
In
other
sources,
his
lusty
queen
is
named
Paramila,
Maitgala,
or
Kamala:
Cunninath,
Tan-Prakaf,
pp.
198-99.
100.
Sen,
History,
pp.
45-46;
NSC,
pp.
27,
57-59,
61;
Dvivedi,
Nath
Sampraday,
pp.
48-49.
Pir
Premnath
(Siva-Gorak{a,
p.
15)
simply
calls
this
kadali
van,
the

475
Notes
to
Chapter
Eight
"plantain
forest:'
The
alchemical
BhP
(4.108)
seemingly
evokes
this
myth
when
it
states
that
a
"barren
woman
born
in
the
Plantain
Forest
(kadali
vanaja
vandhya)
repeats
the
name
of
Mlna
in
incantation
(japayasl)"
when
a
number
of
ingredients
are
mixed
together.
101.
Cunninath,
Tan-Prakaf,
p.
198.
It
is
also
located
on
the
Malabar
coast:
the
site
of
the
old
and
important
Nath
monastery
of
Kadri
is
identified
with
KadalI:
Narharinath,
Nav
Nath,
p.
7.
102.
Dvivedi,
Nath
Sampraday,
p.
45.
NSC,
pp.
58-59.
As
a
multiple
of
sixteen,
the
figure
of
sixteen
hundred,
surely
symbolic,
is
given
in
a
number
of
sources:
Cunninath,
Tan-Prakai,
p.
199;
Temple,
Legends
of
the
Panjab,
vol.
2,
p.
6
(v.
50).
Pir
Premnath
(Siva-Gorak{a,
p.
15)
places
the
number
at
sixteen.
Ratansen
requests
and
receives
sixteen
thousand
padumini
women
in
Padmavat
62.6.
103.
Gorakh
is
conquering
death
with
this
feat,
and,
as
such,
he
is
specifically
said
to
harrow
hell
to
thrash
Yama
(the
god
of
Death),
who
had
presumed
to
take
his
guru
from
him:
Gorak{a
Vtjaya
pp.
45-48,
cited
in
Dasgupta,
Obscure,
p.
222.
104.
Temple,
Legends,
2:2
I
(v.
208);
Pancanand
MandaI,
ed.
Gorakha
Vtjaya
cutta:
Visvabharati
Granthalaya,
1949),
Gautam,
Gorakhnath
Caritra,
pp.
51-55;
Dvivedi,
Nath
Sampradiiy,
p.
48.
See
below,
nn.
174-78.
105.
He
must
also
return
Matsyendra's
soul
to
his
original
body:
this
he
does
with
the
help
of
a
yak{i1fi,
who
has
reconstituted
the
butchered
body
of
the
Nath,
and
placed
it
atop
Mount
Kailash
for
safekeeping:
Gautam,
Goraknath
Caritra,
PP·9
6
-97·
106.
Gorakha
Vtjaya,
pp.
21-22,
cited
in
Dasgupta,
Obscure,
p.
223.
107.
Gautam,
Gorakhnath
Caritra,
p.
62;
Dvivedi,
Nath
Sampradiiy,
p.
46;
gupta,
Obscure,
p.
2
I
3;
Srivastav,
"Gorakh"
Vife{ank,
p.
262.
In
another
legend,
akh
kills
and
revives
two
other
of
Matsyendra's
sons,
the
"Jain"
N
emlnath
and
vanath:
Briggs,
Gorakhnath,
pp.
190,
223;
Rose,
Glossary,
2:394.
108.
Jan
Gonda,
Vi{1fuism
and
Sivaism:
A
Comparison
(London:
Athlone,
1970),
p.
I
12.
In
the
case
of
the
group
studied
in
Bengal
by
Ralph
Nicholas
("Ritual
archy
and
Social
Relations
in
Rural
Bengal;'
Contributions
to
Indian
Sociology,
n.s.
I
[Dec.
1967],
p.
69),
the
young
men
who
do
the
swinging
are
"temporary
nouncers"
coming
from
the
Mahisya
caste,
whose
original
caste
name
was
rta,
i.e.,
the
same
as
that
of
the
fisherman
Matsyendra
in
the
KJiiN
(16.2
7-56)
myth
of
the
recovery
of
the
Kaula
teachings
from
the
Ocean
of
Milk:
see
above,
n.
29.
109.
Dasgupta,
Obscure,
p.
378
n.
2.
Dasgupta
notes
that
the
term
found
in
the
Bengali
Mangala-kavyas
is
kala-van.
Here,
a
philological
identification
of
plantains
(kadala)
with
lunar
digits
(kala)
is
significant
one:
the
full
moon
would
be
a
bunch
of
sixteen
plantains.
In
a
yogic
context
in
which
the
moon
in
the
cranial
vault
fills
with
semen,
the
plantain
would
again
bear
a
sexual
significance.

47
6
Notes
to
Chapter
Eight
110.
Sunyasampiidane
21.12
(vol.
5,
p.
399).
II
I.
Oddly,
it
is
a
rejection
of
Gorakhnath's
body-oriented
yogic
practice
that
the
poet,
Prabhudeva,
is
making
here.
See
above,
chap.
4,
nn.
II5-I6,
167.
112.
See
above,
chap.
4,
nn.
163-64.
113.
Mahiibhiirata
3.146.63-64,
cited
in
Grierson
and
Dvivedi,
Padumawiiti,
p.
253.
See
also
Madeleine
Biardeau,
Histoires
de
poteaux:
Variations
autour
de
la
Deesse
hindoue,
Publications
de
I'Ecole
d'Extreme
Orient,
154
(Paris:
Ecole
Franc,:aise
d'Extreme
Orient,
1989),
p.
286.
In
the
epic,
BMma
encounters
his
ther;'
Hanuman,
who
is
guarding
the
forest,
a
motif
found
in
one
of
the
legends
of
the
KadaII-rajya.
Dvivedi
(Niith
Sampradiiy,
pp.
53-54),
who
lists
a
number
of
sible
locations
for
a
historical
Kingdom
of
Women
which
may
have
lain
behind
this
motif,
favors
both
Garhwal-Kumaon,
in
the
Himalayan
foothills
of
western
Uttar
Pradesh,
and
Kamarupa,
in
Assam,
as
the
most
likely
venues.
114.
On
these
three
variant
readings,
see
Grierson
and
Dvivedi,
Padumawiiti,
p.
250.
Similarly,
Bengali
sources
on
Matsyendra's
imprisonment
give
the
variant
readings
of
kacali
and
kachar
for
kadali:
Bagchi,
introduction
to
KJiiN,
p.
17.
On
Alexander's
Zulmat,
see
Shirreff's
translation
of
and
notes
to
Padmiivati
166
[12.5]
and
528
[=
42.5]
(pp.
91,
288-89);
and
Sharma,}ayasiGranthiivali,
p.
804.
I
IS.
Kablr,
Siikhi
29.2
(in
Vaudeville,
Kabir,
p.
290)'
On
GopIcand,
see
Grierson
and
Dvivedi,
Padumawiiti,
pp.
251-52.
See
also
Shirreff's
translation
of
and
notes
to
Padmiivati
166
[12.5]
(p.
91).
II6.
On
the
Alhii
Kha"!4,
see
Stuart
H.
Blackburn,
Peter
J.
Claus,
Joyce
B.
Fluekiger,
and
Susan
Wadley,
eds.,
Oral
Epics
in
India
(Berkeley:
University
of
fornia
Press,
1989),
pp.
197-202.
Both
the
legends
of
Ratansen
and
of
Alha
concern
12th
c.
Rajput
princes facing
the
Turkish
conquest
of
north
India,
and
both
hail
from
the
same
Hindi-speaking
heartland
of
north
central
India.
The
Goplcand
legend
flourishes
in
Bengal
as
well
as
across
western
India:
a
Rajasthani
song
cycle
of
Goplcand
is
translated
and
interpreted
by
Ann
Grodzins
Gold,
A
Carnival
of
Parting:
The
Tales
of
King
Bharthari
and
King
Gopi
Chand
as
Sung
and
Told
by
Madhu
Natisar
Nath
ofGhatiyali,
Rajasthan
(Berkeley:
University
of
California
Press,
1992),
pp.
159-310.
Cf.
idem.,
"Gender
and
Illusion
in
a
Rajasthani
Yogic
Tradition,"
in
Tale,
Text
and
Time:
Interpreting
South
Asian
Expressive
Traditions,
ed.
Frank
Korom,
Arjun
Appadurai,
and
Margaret
Mills
(Philadelphia:
University
of
Pennsylvania
Press,
1990),
pp.
102-35.
A
Punjabi
version
is
given
in
Temple,
Legends,
vol.
2,
pp.
1-77
(legend
no.
18).
I
17.
On
kajali
ban
in
the
legend
of
Pural).
Bhagat
(who
appears
to
borrow
from
Kablr
when
he
tells
his
mother
to
"loose
his
elephant
in
Kajali
Van":
see
below,
chap.
9,
n.
170),
see
Temple,
Legends
2:426
(legend
no.
34,
"Pural).
Bhagat;'
v.
604)·
In
a
Rajasthani
folk
cycle,
Goplcand
cries
out
to
his
guru
Jalandharanath,
"Oh
ho

477
Notes
to
Chapter
Eight
ho,
Guru
Maharaj
...
your
eyes
are
closed
over
there
in
Kajali
Woods":
Gold,
"Gender
and
Illusion;'
p.
II8.
II8.
Yogavasifl:ha
3.98-99,
in
Swami
Venkatesananda,
Vilsifrha's
Yoga
(Albany,
N.Y.,
SUNY
Press,
1993),
pp.
II
9-20.
II9.
On
eating
poison
(vifiihiir),
see
Amaraughafiisana,
p.
8.
On
the
thighs
of
a
woman
as
a
boat
to
salvation,
cf.
the
words
of
the
Kapalika
Kapota
in
the
Kiilikii
Purii1!a
(49.1-53.217)
myth
of
Taravatl,
Candrasekhara,
Bhairava,
and
Vetala,
translated
in
O'Flaherty,
Siva,
p.
206.
120.
With
the
awakening
of
the
kU1!qalini,
the
triangle
of
the
downturned
mouth
reverses
its
direction
to
become
an
upturned
mouth
(urddhavaktra):
Silburn,
KU1!4alini,
pp.
27,
34-35
(plates),
173-74,
190;
cf.
Dyczkowski,
Canon,
p.
64,
citing
TA
28.147.
12
I.
On
this
perennial
image
in
Chinese
symbolism
of
the
microcosm
and
rocosm,
see
Rolf
Stein,
"Jardins
en
miniature
d'Extreme
Orient;'
Bulletin
de
rEcole
Frant;aise
d'Extreme
Orient
52
(1942),
pp.
100-4;
and
below,
chap.
10,
sec.
6.
122.
Mahiibhiirata
12.255.8,
cited
in
Malamoud,
"La
brique
percee;'
in
Cuire
Ie
monde,
p.
90.
123.
Van
Kooij,
Worship
of
the
Goddess,
p.
42;
Muller-Ortega,
Triadic,
p.
123;
and
Sanderson,
"MaI).9ala;'
pp.
169-76,
especially
174-76.
124.
B,:hadiira1!yaka
Upanifad
4.2.2-3;
4.4.22;
Chiindogya
Upanifad
3.14.
2-3;
8.1.1-4;
Maitri
Upanifad
7.2.
The
heart
is
also
said
to
be
the
seat
of
the
mind
(manas)
in
RV
8.89.5.
In
the
medical
tradition,
the
heart
is
said
to
be
the
seat
of
consciousness
and
the
site
of
the
"eighth
dhiitu"
of
the
body:
this
is
ojas,
the
fluid
that
keeps
the
body
alive,
of
which
there
are
only
eight
drops:
Caraka
Samhitii
1.17·74-75;
1.30·4,
7·
12
5.
A
number
of
tantric
sources
locate
the
ether
or
void
in
the
heart.
These
include
the
works
of
the
Trika
Kaula
reformers
(Muller-Ortega,
Triadic,
especially
pp.
142-46;
and
Padoux,
Viic,
pp.
28,
128
n.
II7,
137
n.
140),
in
which
the
heart
is
the
locus
of
the
void/ether,
because
it
is
here
that
sound
arises
in
its
subdest
form.
Ether
is
the
substrate
or
sound
source
of
the
primal
vibration
(HYP
4.101).
126.
Silburn,
KU1!qalini,
p.
40
n.
7,
citing
Kablr,
Granthiivali
31.1-3.
127.
Such
Upanisadic
identifications
of
the
void
with
the
absolute
brahman
(kham
brahman:
B,:hadiira1!yaka
Upanifad
5.1.1)
may
have
facilitated
this
tion:
the
cranial
vault
is
the
locus
of
brahman,
where
the
central
channel
(also
called
the
brahmamiirga)
culminates
in
the
brahmarandhra.
Abhinavagupta
(TA
3.13?-40)
terms
the
fivavyoman,
the
"heaven
of
Siva"
(vyoman,
however,
also
is
a
term
for
ether),
as
the
highest
of
his
metaphysical
categories
and
the
highest
point
in
the
subtle
body,
identifying
it
with
the
seventeenth
kalii
or
thirty-seventh
tattvii:
doux,
T1lc,
p.
91.
See
also
ibid.,
pp.
95-96,
281,
424,
on
the
connections
between

47
8
Notes
to
Chapter
Eight
this
metaphysical
concept
and
mantric
practice.
Nath
Siddha
localizations
of
the
void
in
the
cranial
vault
may
be
found
in
Gorakh
Biini,
SabadI
1.18,
23,45,51,55,
176,231,
etc.
128.
Gorakfa
Sataka
67.
Detailed
discussions
of
the
many
uses
of
the
term
fUnya
in
the
medieval
Hindu
and
Buddhist
mysticism
of
the
Bengali
Siddhiicaryas,
Nath
Siddhas,
Vlrasaivas,
Maharashtran
mystics,
Kablr,
etc.,
are
Vaudeville,
Kabir
thavali,
p.
xx;
Bharati,
Siddh
Siihity,
pp.
336-69;
and
Shankar
Gopal
Tulpole,
cism
in
Medieval
India
(Wiesbaden:
Harrassowitz,
1984),
pp.
196-97.
129.
gagan
ma1!ldal
mai1!ll11!ldha
kuba
taha1!l
amrt
ka
basal
sagura
hOI
su
bhari
bhari
plvai
nigura
jaI
piyasa:
Gorakh
Biini,
SabadI
23.
On
other
uses
of
fUnya,
cf.
SabadI
1,46,91,176.
Cf.
Siva
Samhitii
4.31.
130.
RV
1.164.36;
8.69,3;
Atharva
Veda
10.8.9.
Cf.
Satapatha
Briihma'Yfa
1.6.4.5;
6.1.2.4;
7.1.1.10-16;
10+2.1;
11.2.5.3;
12.7.3+
The
head
is
compared to
a
turned
vessel,
filled
with
yafas
that
is
identified
with breath
in
Chiindogya
Upanifad
2.2.3.
The
classical
study
on
the
early
history
of
such
identifications
is
Jan
Gonda,
"Soma,
Amrta
and
the
Moon;'
in
Change
and
Continuity,
pp.
38-7°'
lJI.
Gyiin
Calisa
24-26,
in
Srivastav,
"Gorakh
Biini"
Vifefiiilk,
p.
352.
This
work
is
not
included
in
Barthwal's
edition
of
the
Gorakh
Bii'Yfi.
132.
Doha
5.45,
in
Vaudeville,
Kabir
Granthavali,
p.
16.
lB.
v:
K.
Sethi,
ed.
Kabir:
The
Weaver
of
God's
Name
(Beas,
Punjab:
Radha
Soami
Satsang
Press,
1984),
pp.
233,461.
Cf.
Das,
Kabfr
Granthiivalf
14.40;
"Chalu
ha1!lsa
va
des."
On
Kablr's
language,
see
ibid.,
pp.
56,
199.
134·
Gorakh
Biini,
Pad
47.1-8,
with
Srivastav's
commentary,
pp.
3
02
-5.
Pad
47
is
found
on
pp.
141-42
of
Barthwal's
edition
of
the
Gorakh
Bii'Yfi.
135.
Verses
5-8
of
Barthwal's
edition
read
as
follows:
ujat/
fet/ii
nagar
majhiiri
tali
giigari
upar
panihiiri
magari
pari
ciilhii
dhundhiii
pova'Yfhiirii
kau
rori
khiii
kiin;zmini
jalai
agifhi
tiipai
bici
baisan;zdar
tharhar
kiin;zpai
ek
ju
rat/hiyii
rat/hti
iii
baM
biviii
siisii
jiii
nagari
kau
pii'Yfin;z
kUi
iivai
ulafi
carcii
goraf
giivai.
(Giigari,
the
term
employed
here
for
water
pot,
is
defined
as
a
"small
metal
vessel":
Samkfipt
Hindi
Sabd
Siigar,
s.v.
"gagara."
136.
Temple,
Legendi-,
vol.
I,
pp.
166-68
(vv.
513-38
oflegend
no.
6,
"The
end
of
Guru
Gllga").
Verses
536-37
read:
"hal
dekho
mere
tan
ka
/
phor
do
garhe
dIe
mahare."
On
doghar{ii},
the
practice
of
carrying
two
superposed
water
pots
on
one's
head,
see
v.
522,
and
note
on
p.
167.
137.
Siikhi
20.5
[=
Doha
31.II],
in
Vaudeville,
Kabir,
p.
262.
Already
in
the
Vedas,
heaven
and
earth
are
viewed
as
two
halves
of
a
single
whole,
at
once
joined
together
and
held
apart
by
a
pillar
(RV
1.160.4;
3.31.12-13,
etc.):
the
term
rodasiis
a

479
Notes
to
Chapter
Eight
dual
form
("heaven
and
earth")
that
was
primordially
a
singular:
Monier-Williams,
Sanskrit-English
Dictionary,
s.v.
"rodas."
138.
The
full
account
is
found
in
Temple,
Legends,
vol.
2,
pp.
375-456
and
Charles
Swynnerton,
Romantic
Tales
from
the
Panjiib
(Westminster:
Archibald
stable
&
Co.,
1903),
pp.
411-41.
It
is
summarized
in
Briggs,
Gorakhniith,
pp.
184-
85,
197-98.
The
original
myth
of
this
sort
may
be
the
Rgvedic
account
of
Trita,
who
is
thrown
down
a
heavenly
well
(the
dark
of
the
moon?)
by
his
treacherous
brothers.
He
performs
a
mock
soma
sacrifice
at
the
bottom
of
the
well,
and
the
gods
come
and
"flush"
him
out
(the
waxing
of
the
moon?):
RV
1.105.1-28;
Jaiminrya
BriihmaTfa
I.
I
84;
Mahiibhiirata
9.35.3-5
I,
in
O'Flaherty,
Tales
of
Sex
and
Violence,
PP·53-57·
139.
The
well,
called
Pural).'s
Well,
is
located
in
a
village
named
Puranwala,
five
miles
outside
of
Sialkot,
in
the
Punjab
(Pakistan):
Briggs,
Gorakhniith,
pp.
98-99,
185;
and
personal
communication
from
Alain
Wattelier
(who
visited
the
site
in
the
1970s),
Paris,]une
1985.
140.
Briggs,
Gorakhniith,
p.
194.
Another
Nath
Siddha,
Kantha<;linath,
also
seals
himself
into
a
well
to
mediate:
NSC,
p.
22.
141.
Tod,
Annals
and
Antiquities,
vol.
2,
pp.
825-26;
NSC
286;
Sankarnath
Yogisvar,
Sri
Mastniith
carit
(Srf
Mastniith
adbhut
lflii
prakiif)
(Delhi:
Dehati
tak
Bhandar,
1969),
p.
136.
Through
the
miracle
of
this
well
(related
in
chap.
20
of
Sankarnath's
work),
Man
Singh
acceded
to
the
throne
of
Marwar
in
18°4,
and
it
is
a
historical
fact
that
he
established
his
Nath
Siddha
miracle
worker
as
his
chief
minister:
see
below,
chap.
II,
sec.
3.
142.
Briggs,
Gorakhniith,
p.
188.
143.
Rose,
Glossary,
vol.
2,
p.
394ll.
144.
Stein,
''Jardins
en
miniature;'
pp.
57-58,
citing
the
Yun-ki
ts'i-tsein
(quoted
without
reference
in
the
P'ei-wen
yun-fou).
The
gourd
doubles
for one
of
the
three
"fields"
or
"wells
of
cinnabar"
located
in
the
Taoist
body.
Cf.
idem,
''Architecture
et
pensee
en
Extreme-Orient;'
Arts
Asiatiques
4:3
(1957),
pp.
176,
185.
145.
On
Vedic
dfk{ii,
see
Aitareya
BriihmaTfa
I.
3.
On
Ayurvedic
ku!fjJriivesa,
tering
the
hut;'
a
three-chambered
hut
that
is
explicitly
identified
with
the
female
reproductive
organs,
see
above,chap.
2,
nn.
47-48,
and
Caraka
Samhitii
6.1.16:
"The
sages
knew
of
two
sorts
of
rasiiyana:
that
of
entering
the
hut,
and
[the
practice
1
of
wind
and
sun
(viitatiipt);'
146.
Dalpatram
Pranjivan
Khakhar,
"History
of
the
Kanpha!as
of
Kacch;'
Indian
Antiquary
7
(February
1878),
p.
47;
Sriniith
TfrthiivalfofMan
Singh
(Churu,
than:
n.p.,
1951),
vv.
5,42,283-85.
147.
Briggs,
Gorakhniith,
p.
99;
J.V:tyakalpataru
of
vol.
8,
p.
84.
148.
Personal
communication
from
Surya
Kumar
Yogi,
Menal
(Rajasthan),

4
80
Notes
to
Chapter
Eight
March
1985.
For
a
general
discussion,
see
MBhT
11.23-35.
On
the
importance
of
wells
at
the
of
Kamakhya
and
Hiilglaj, see
Van
Kooij,
Worship,
p.
27;
and
Briggs,
Gorakhniith,
p.
108.
149.
RC
3.1;
Misra,
.Ayurvedrya,
p.
80.
ISO.
Such
mineral
theophanies
are
quite
a
commonplace
at
pfthas
of
the
dess-or
conversely,
many
sulfurous
pools,
in
areas
of
geothermic
activity,
are
sidered
to
be
manifestations
of
the
Goddess
(Sharma's
commentary
to
the
nasamucchaya,
pp.
lO-II;
184-85;
2
IO-II).
See
above,
chap.
7,
nn.
53,
70-71.
151.
Girnar
is
a
site
that
is
shared
by
Saiva
Hindus
and
Jains
alike.
In
the
case
of
this
tfrtha,
the
alchemical
mythology
is
Jaina,
and
is
found
in
chap.
4
of
the
Vividhatfrthakalpa,
trans.
John
Cort,
"Twelve
Chapters
from
The
Guidebook
to
ous
Pilgrimage
Places,
the
Vividhatfrthakalpa
of
Jinaprabhasuri;'
in
Phyllis
Granoff,
ed.,
The
Clever
Adulteress
and
the
Hungry
Monk
(New
York:
Mosaic
Press,
1990),
pp.
25-90.
Cf.
Granoff,
"Jain
Biographies
ofNagarjuna;'
pp.
48-49,
onJain
mythology
of
the
alchemist
Nagarjuna;
and
Ro§u,
''Alchemy
and
Sacred
Geography,"
p.
156.
152.
The
alchemical
wonders
of
Srisailam
are
praised
at
great
length
in
the
sayana
[part
4]
of
the
Rasaratniikara
of
Nityanatha.
Chap.
8
of
this
section
is
entitled
"SrIparvata
Sadhana."
Cf.
Ro§u,
ibid.,
pp.
151-56,
who
questions
the
alchemical
cachet
of
Srisailam
as
described
in
this
and
other
sources.
153.
Devf
Purii'Yfa,
cited
in
KJ:tyakalpataru,
vol.
8,
p.
23
I;
and
Skanda
Purii'Yfa
1.27.33-77;
1.29.87.
The
same
pools,
etc.
are
described
in
the
grim's
guide
I
purchased
while
on
the
Kedarnath
pilgrimage
in
May
1984:
Sri
iirniith
Miihiitmya
(l'iitrii
Giift/,
ed.
Shersingh
Shah
(Kedarnath:
Shersingh
Shah,
n.d.),
pp.
41-43.
154.
Sastri,
.Agneyatfrtha
Hingliij,
p.
54.
See
above,
chap.
7,
nn.
70,
120.
Given
the
fact
that
the
Ganges
and
the
Yamuna,
identified
with
the
it/ii
and
pingalii
nels
of
the
subtle
body,
rise
out
of
Himalayan
glaciers
to
the
east
and
west
of
nath
respectively;
and
that
a
"Sarasvati
Ganga"
(i.e.,
SUfUm1fii)
appears
near
darnath
(Kalyii1f
Sakti
Ank,
p.
671),
the
subtle
physiology
of
the
niit/ls
is
also
geographically
reproduced
here.
The
sixth
cakra,
the
iijfiii,
located
between
the
brows
at
that
place
at
which
the
three
major
niit/ls
are
said
to
meet,
is
moreover
called
Kedar
in
HYP
3.24.
The
Nine
Naths
and
"Kedar"
are
identified
with
the
ten
doors
in
Gorakh
Biinl
Pad
9.
I.
See
above,
sec.
2
b.
ISS.
Sriniith
Tirthiivali,
vv.
267-72.
A
similar
image,
that
of
hitting
a
brass
cup
atop
seven
bamboo
poles,
is
found
in
the
"Marriage
of
Sakhi
Sarwar:'
legend no.
22
in
Temple,
Legends,
vol.
2,
p.
127.
156.
Stein,
Grottes-Matrices,
pp.
37-43.
See
also
ibid.,
pp.
15-23
for
a
survey
of
Hindu
"womb-caves"
throughout
the
Indian
subcontinent,
including
those
of
Hiilglaj
and
Kamakhya.

4
81
Notes
to
Chapter
Eight
157.
The
medical
and
chemical
name
for
mercury
is
hydrargyrum,
from
hydros
+
argentum,
whence
the
symbol
Hg
in
the
periodic
table;
it
is
therefore
possible
to
abbreviate
"wells
of
mercury"
to
"Hg
Wells."
It
will
be
recalled
that
an
author
named
H.
G.
Wells
wrote
a
book
entitled
The
Food
of
the
Gods,
an
apt
denomination
for
the
mercury
that
alchemists
ate.
15
8
.
See
above,
chap.
7,
sec.
3·
159.
Ayantra
(from
the
root
yam)
is
that
which
controls
or
subdues.
In
alchemy,
the
term
is
applied
to
apparatus
of
the
sort
we
are
describing
here,
which
control
such
volatile
elements
as
mercury
and
fire.
For
other
uses
of
the
term
in
tantrism,
see
above,
chap.
6,
n.
93.
160.
The
extraction
of
mercury
from
cinnabar,
through
the
use
of
the
dhara
or
urddhvapiitana
yantra
is
described
in
RRS
9.56.
The
sublimation
of
cury,
through
amalgamation
with
copper
and
in
combination
with
various
plant
substances,
also
in
the
urddhvapiitana
yantra,
is
described
in
RRS
11.
37.
Similar
instructions
are
found
inAK4.38-43,
RHT2.8,
RA
10.55,
and
in
every
other
major
alchemical
work.
The
RA
(7-49)
also
describes
a
procedure
for
the
purification
of
cinnabar
in
the
same
yantra:
the
resulting
essence
(sattva)
of
cinnabar
has
the
pearance
of
mercury
(rasasankiifa).
161.
RRS
9.24-25.
In
some
sources,
the
upper
pot
is
upturned
and
filled
with
water,
such
that
mercury
condenses
on
the
outside
surface
of
its
base:
Misra,
Ayurvedfya,
p.
225.
162.
RRS
9.57.
163.
Rasendracintiima'f!i
8.3,
cited
in
Prakash,
Priicin
Bhiirat,
p.
575.
164.
Sharma,
identifying
the
urddhvapiitana
yantra
with
the
vidyiidhara
in
his
commentary
to
RRS
1.88
(p.
14),
cites
the
Rasapaddhati.
This
apparatus
is
also
scribed
in
RC
4.42;
5.51-52.
165.
Amanaskayoga
2.
I
5:
urddhvabhedastvadhai}
sirai}
Idharayantravidhanena
jivanmuktai}
The
fiimbhavi
mudrii
is
a
Kaula
technique
which
would
appear
to
have
some
connection
to
the
Kubjika
cult
of
the
Western
Transmission,
in
which
a
"masculinized"
form
of
practice
is
called
bhava
("pertaining
to
Sambhu,
Siva"):
Sanderson,
"Saivism;'
p.
687.
Siimbhavt-vidyii
is
the
subject
of
the
]iiiinasankiili'f!itantra
(HTSL,
p.
102);
and
fiimbhavi
dtkfii,
a
form
of
initiation
particular
to
the
Nath
Siddhas
(Bharati,
Tantric
Tradition,
pp.
90-<)I).
Siimbhavi
is
also
synonymous
with
the
medial
channel,
the
SUfUm'f!ii,
according
to
HYP
3-4;
and
the
hathayogic
fiimbhavtmudrii
is
nearly
identical
with
the
renowned
khecari
mudrii
(HYP
4.38-39).
On
this,
see
below,
sec.
4
of
this
chapter.
166.
Gorakfa
Sataka,
v.
62.
Other
verses
(I3Ia,
I38c)
speak
of
a
pool
(dhiira)
of
lunar
nectar
in
the
cranial
vault,
which
the
yogin
is
to
drink,
lest
it
fall
into
the
sun
in
the
lower
abdomen.

4
82
Notes
to
Chapter
Eight
167.
The
Yonitantra
passage
(68a)
is
translated
and
discussed
by
Schoterman
on
pp.
12-13
of
his
edition
of
the
text.
Elsewhere,
the
KCM
(fo1.
24a9-24b.1)
states
that
"by
using
[a
device]
composed
of
dharii,
one
attains
immortality"
(dhariimiiyii
pra[yoJgena
ciimaratviipnuyiit).
This
verse
of
the
Amanaskayoga
(ed.
Yognath
Swami
[Poona:
Siddh
Sahity
Samsodhan
Prakashan
Mandai,
1967])
is
singled
out
by
the
great
tantric
scholar
Gopinath
Kaviraj
(foreword,
p.
22)
as
the
most
singular
tion,
if
not
the
very
heart
of
this
text
(editor's
preface,
pp.
IO-II),
and
the
editor
and
Hindi
commentator
discusses
his
difficulty
in
making
sense
of
it
(pp.
11-14).
He
refers
to
the
Mahiibhiirata
(1.179.14-17)
account
of
Arjuna's
winning
of
padI,
in
which
the
epic
hero
pierces
the target
(vivyiidha
laksyam)
(called
"piercing
the
fish"
[matryavedha]
in
Hindi)
placed
atop
a
pole
with
an
arrow
shot
from
the
bow
Siva
has
previously
given
him.
This
he
does
by
looking
downward
into
a
pool
of
water
(dhiirayantra)
as
he
clenches
his
fist
around
his
upward-held
bow
his
head
is
turned
downwards
but
the
text
gives
as
his
target
(bheda)
is
above.
His
"piercing
of
the
fish"
is
at
once
the
hitting
of
his
target,
the
winning
of
DraupadI,
an
inward-looking
posture
of
yoga,
or
a
reverse
technique
of
sexual
intercourse.
This
interpretation
has
the
merit
of
serving
the
orthography
dhiira,
whereas
my
interpretation
requires
a
reading
of
-dhara.
168.
RRS
11.38.
169.
RRS
9.9;
11.39.
Cf.
Dash,
Alchemy,
pp.
58-62,
on
the
identification
of
the
various
-piitanas
as
variant
processes,
all
of
which
make
use
of
the
vidyiidhara
yantra.
170.
Gorak{a
Sataka
135.
Verses
133-34
read:
"In
the
region
of
the
navel
dwells
the
lonely
sun,
whose
essence
is
fire;
located
at
the
base
of
the
palate
is
the
eternal
moon,
whose
essence
is
nectar.
That
which
rains
down
from
the
downturned
mouth
of
the
moon
is
swallowed
by
the
upturned
mouth
of
the
sun.
The
practice
[of
viparitakaraTfa]
is
to
be
performed
as
a
means
to
obtaining
the
nectar
[which
would
otherwise
be
lost]."
This
passage
is
also
found
in
Gorakhnath's
taTfqa,
vv.
121-I22a,
12
3b.
This
posture
is
described
in
both
the
HYP
(3.77-79)
and
Gorak{a
Paddhati
(pp.
48-49),
immediately
before
their
respective
treatments
of
the
vajrolimudrii.
It
is
dramatized
in
a
legend
from
Dhinodar,
in
Kacch
(Gujarat),
scribed
above,
chap.
5,
n.
204.
171.
Gorakh
Biini,
appendix
1
to
Barthwal's
edition,
p.
242.
The
full
verse
reads:
ula!i
yantr
dhare
asat:
karel
...
silaha!
madhye
kaIpvaru
jItalel
nirmal
dhuni
gagan
maIphI.
The
upside-down
yantra
here
is
the
(normally)
downturned
triangle
of
the
inner
yoni,
located
in
the
miiliidhiira
cakra,
here
identified
with
the
old
dhist
pifha
named
Siriha!!a,
at
the
center
of
which
is
the
pifha
named
Kamarupa.
For
a
discussion
of
this
element
of
the
subtle
body,
see
above,
n.
170.
Lalla's
story

4
8
3
Notes
to
Chapter
Eight
is
told
in
the
larikh-i
hasan
of
PIr
Ghulam
Hasan:
Jayalal
Kaul,
Lal
Ded
(New
Delhi:
Sahitya
Akademi,
1973),
p.
14.
I
am
grateful
to
Patricia
Greer
for
sharing
this
reference.
172.
Henri
Maspero,
Le
Taoi"sme
et
les
religions
chinoises,
with
a
preface
by
Maxime
Kaltenmark
(Paris:
Gallimard,
1971),
p.
492
and
n.
6.
Cf.
Kristofer
Schipper,
Le
corps
taoiste
(Paris:
Fayard,
1982),
pp.
137-53.
The
Palace
of
the
Cinnabar
Field
is
also
termed
Nihan,
the
ideogram
for
which
was,
in
this
early
period,
the
same
as
that
for
the
nirvii7fa
of
import
Buddhism.
Also
qualified
as
the
residence
of
the
Highest
One
(Maspero,
Le
Taoi"sme,
p.
493),
its
resemblance
to
the
brahman
of
duism
and
the
fUnya
of
Siddha
traditions
is
equally
striking.
173.
In
alchemy
as
well,
there
is
an
apparatus
properly
known
as
the
4amaru
yantra.
This
apparatus
is
nearly
identical
to
and
may
be
used
interchangeably
with
the
urddhvapiitana:
see
RRS
9.57
with
Sharma's
commentary,
p.
143;
and
Rasahrdaya
Tantra,
introduction,
p.
xxiii.
174.
The
location
of
a
mystic
4amaru
in
the
head
would
appear
to
refer
to
this
tantric
schema:
Bhutafuddhi
Tantra
3.3,
in
Tantrasamgraha,
4
vols.,
ed.
Gopinath
iraj
and
Ramaprasad
Tripathi
(Benares:
Sampurnanand
Sanskrit
Visvavidyalaya,
1973-81),
vol.
4,
p.
313·
See
below,
chap.
10,
sec.
6.
175.
Literally,
"upward-tending
semen;'
this
term
is
most
often
translated
as
"celibacy,
chastity."
The
sense,
however,
was
that
the
ascetic
is
holding
his
semen
up
and
away
from
his
penis,
from
which
it
might
all
too
easily
slip
away
from
him.
Indian
popular
tradition
is
filled
with
accounts
of
"semen-headed
yogis;'
a
tion
of
this
interpretation:
G.
Morris
Carstairs,
The
Twice
Born
(London:
Hogarth
Press,
1958),
p.
86.
176.
Four
such
drums
(catalogue
numbers
RVlI-230,
R.xII-835,
RXII-836a,
and
RXII
-798a)
are
presently
housed
in
the
National
Museum
of
Denmark
in
penhagen.
I
am
grateful
to
Rolf
Gilberg,
curator
of
this
collection
at
the
National
Museum,
for
his
ready
cooperation
in
supplying
me
with
this
information.
177.
This
description
of
the
Tibetan
4amaru,
called
the
"skull
drum"
(thod-rna),
is
found
in
Mireille
Helffer
and
Marc
Gaborieau,
''A
propos
d'un
tambour
du
maon
et
de
I'ouest
du
Nepal:
Remarques
sur
l'utilisation
des
tambours-sabliers
dans
Ie
monde
indien,
Ie
Nepal
et
Ie
Tibet;'
in
Studia
instrumentorum
musicae
lares,
Festschrift
to
E.
Emsheimer
on
the
occasion
of
his
70th
birthday
(Stockholm:
Musikhistorika
Museet,
1974),
p.
78
and
pI.
13.
17
8
.
Ibid.,
p.
75.
179·
Ibid.,
p.
78.
180.
Personal
communication
from
Sangye
Sonam,
a
Tibetan
monk
at
Chatral
Rinpoche's
monastery,
Pharphing,
Nepal,
May
1993.
I
am
grateful
to
Peter
Moran,
who
served
as
my
interpreter
in
this
interview.

4
8
4
Notes
to
Chapter
Eight
181.
Caryapada
3,
with
the
commentary
ofMunidatta
and
the
translation
piled
in
"Yambu;'
in
Nepal)
ofKIrticandra,
reproduced
in
Bagchi,
"Some
Aspects
of
Buddhist
Mysticism
in
the
Caryapadas;'
Studies,
pp.
75,
79,
84-85.
I
have
hanced
and
"Hinduized"
Bagchi's
treatment
of
this
passage.
182.
Cf.
HYP
3.47
which
terms
a
homologous
process
"drinking
the
immortal
liquor"
(pibedamaravaruTflm).
183.
See
below,
sec.
4,
for
an
extended
discussion
of
the
"tenth
door"
of
the
subtle
body.
184.
YogamartaTf4a
177:
"When
the
upbreath
disappears
and
the
mind
is
sorbed,
that
is
then
called
the
unity
of
samarasa,
samadhi."
185.
Gorakfa
Paddhati
1.68-74.
Schoterman
(Yonitantra,
p.
29)
suggests
that
the
vajroll
mudra
may
have
been
used
in
lieu
of
the
khecarl
mudra
in
some
cases:
instead
of
maintaining
the
combined
bindus
in
the
head
through
the
latter,
the
practitioner
would
recover
the
same
fluids
through
urethral
suction
and
then
simply
drink
them.
186.
Khecaricakra
refers
to
an
elaborate
maTf4ala
of
sixty-four
yoginls
and
to
the
circle
in
which
tantrikas
engage
in
ritualized
sex.
On
this,
see
Dyczkowski,
"KuI).-
9alinl;'
p.
6;
BhP
1.77;
RA
3.17,
20;
and
Vidya
Dehejia,
Yoginl
Cult
and
Temples:
A
Tantric
Tradition
(New
Delhi:
National
Museum,
1986),
pp.
44-45.
The
contents
of
the
Kh
V
have
been
discussed
in
detail:
see
above,
chap.
5,
sec.
sm.
187.
Maitrt
Upanifad
(6.19):
"By
pressing
the
tip
of
his
tongue
against
the
palate
...
one
sees
brahman
through
contemplation."
Another
early
reference
is
found
in
KJiiN
6.
I
8-2
8.
Cf.
Gorakfa
Sataka
67;
Gorakfa
Paddhati
1.68;
YogamartaTf4a
58;
akh
BanI
Sabadl
133;
HYP
3-41-42.
188.
Kakar,
Shamans,
p.
203.
See
Bharati,
Tantric
Tradition,
pp.
242-43,
for
a
general
discussion
of
the
multiple
meanings
of
this
term.
189.
Atharva
Veda
10.8-43;
Svetafvatara
Upanifad
3.18.
The
yogin
seals
himself
off
doubly
from
the
outside
by
enclosing
himself
in
a
windowless
room
to
meditate:
Yogatattva
Upanifad
32,
in
Varenne,
Upanishads
du
yoga,
p.
74.
This
recalls
as
well
the
initiation
hut
of
Vedic
dlkfa
and
the
Ayurvedic
practice
of
kU!lpravefa.
See
above,chap.2,nn·47-4
8
.
190.
Kaviraj,
Aspects
of
Indian
Thought,
pp.
236-37;
Dasgupta,
History,
2:253.
191.
Amaraughafasana,
pp.
1O-II,
discussed
in
Silburn,
KUTf4alinl,
pp.
131-32;
Dasgupta,
Obscure,
pp.
239-42,
citing
Gorakha
Vtjaya,
ed.
MandaI,
pp.
141,
143-44.
Cf.
Yogavifaya
of
Matsyendranath,
vv.
30-31,
in
Mallik,
ed.
SSp,
p.
47.
192.
In
order
to
do
so,
he
has
already
cut
away
the
frenum, which
anchors
the
tongue
to
the
lower
palate,
through
a
technique
described
in
HYP
3.32.
193.
On
the
lUna
Akha9a,
see
Rajesh
Bedi,
Sadhus:
The
Holy
Men
at
India
(New
Delhi:
Brijbasi
Printers,
1991),
p.
79;
S.
Sinha
and
B.
Saraswati,
Ascetics
of
Kashi:

4
8
5
Notes
to
Chapter
Eight
An
Anthropological
Exploration
(Varanasi:
N.
K.
Bose
Memorial
Foundation,
1978),
PP·93-94·
194.
This
echoes
a
statement
from
the
attributed
to
Matsyendranatha
(v.
24
in
Mallik,
ed.
SSp,
p.
47):
"When
the
nada
is
heard,
the
fankhinf
showers
the
body
with
nectar."
The
fankhinT
runs
from
a
point
behind
the
forehead
to
the
throat:
Silburn,
Ku,,!qalini,
p.
130.
Drinking
nectar
is
a
commonplace
ofNath
tic
poetry:
Gorakh
Bani
SabadI
67,
171;
SSP
6.64.
195·
Amaraughafasana,
p.
7·
196.
Silburn
(Ku,,!qalinT,
p.
131)
and
Dasgupta
(Obscure,
pp.
239-42
and
notes)
assume
there
to
be
but
one
"tenth
door;'
an
impossibility
given
the
descriptions
of
this
door,
which
is
to
be
variously
opened
and
closed
in
different
textual
tions.
The
mouth
of
the
fankhinf
is
called
the
tenth
door
in
Gorakhnath's
aughafasana
(p.
I
I),
and
SSP
2.6.
The
Nine
Naths
and
"Kedar"
are
identified
with
the
ten
doors
in
Gorakh
BanT
Pad
9.1;
the
yogin
is
enjoined
to
lock
this
door
in
Pada
23.
I,
but
to
"blast
it
open"
by
closing
the
other
nine
in
Atmabodh
(in
"Gorakh
BanT"
p.
340).
In
the
legend
of
Pl1raJ).
Bhagat,
the
evil
stepmother
Ll1t:a
is
identified
as
the
tenth
door
of
the
royal
palace:
Temple,
Legends,
2:398
(vv.
265-66);
in
the
Padmavat,
it
is
the
tenth
door
by
which
the
fortress
of
Lailka
(the
body)
must
be
stormed:
see
below,
sec.
5
and
n.
243;
and
chap.
9,
sec.
7.
197.
The
clearest
discussion
of
this
doubling
of
the
tenth
door
is
found
in
raj,
Aspects,
p.
237.
On
the
fankhinf's
two
mouths,
see
MandaI,
ed.,
Gorakha
Vijaya,
p.
141,
cited
in
Dasgupta,
Obscure,
p.
240.
The
Nath
Siddhas
generally
identify
the
tenth
door
with
the
brahmarandhra,
by
which
the
fontanelle
is
intended:
Gorakh
Bani
SabadI
135
(in
which
the
yogin
is
said
to
throw
a
"door
panel"
[kapat]
across
this
opening).
The
lower
mouth
is
located
in
the
talu-cakra,
the
sixth
cakra
in
the
nine-cakra
system
which
expands
upon
the
more
conventional
system
of
6
+
I:
SSP
2.6.
Cf.
Gorakh
BanT
Pad
23.
I,
with
commentary;
and
Atmabodh
2
(in
Srivastav,
"Gorakh
BanT"
p.
340).
198.
Amaraughafasana,
discussed
in
Silburn,
Ku,,!qalinT,
p.
129:
she
is
so
called
because
when
she
sleeps,
she
is
coiled
three
and
one
half
times
around
the
linga
located
in
the
abdominal
region.
The
SSP
(1.67),
also
apparently
identifying
khiniwith
ku,,!qalinT,
states
that
the
fankhiniflows
in
the
urethra
(lingadvara)
and
via
a
straight
path
up
into
the
brahmarandhra
and
thence
into
all
of
the
ten
doors.
199.
Gorakh
Bani
SabadI
2I9a.
Identical
to
this
is
verse
5
of
"Mahadev
jI
kI
sabadI"
(Dvivedi,
Nath
Siddho'!1J,
p.
66).
The
same
concept
is
found
in
the
$SS
(chap.
42,
in
Schoterman,
$SS,
p.
87,
cited
in
Dyczkowski,
Canon,
p.
65),
which
states
that
the
goal
of
the
practitioner
is
"the
union
of
the
two
[the
highest
and
the
lowest]
mouths;'
identified
with
the
highest
and
lowest
of
the
seven
cakras,
as
well
as
with
the
upper
and
lower
yonis
of
the
Sakta
subtle
body.

4
86
Notes
to
Chapter
Eight
200.
Here,
a
"crooked"
goddess
may
be
easily
assimilated
to
a
curved
duct,
and
one
of
the
synonyms
for
both
the
fankhini
and
the
kUrJqalini
is
banka
nala,
"curved
duc!!'
This
term
also
has
an
alchemical
application:
this
is
a
curved
tube
which,
tapered
at
one
end,
is
used
as
a
blowpipe
for
ventilating
a
flame.
Yet,
the
14th
c.
Gorakh
Bodh
(v.
62
in
Barthwal's
numbering,
Gorakh
BarJi,
p.
186)
distinguishes
tween
SUfUmrJa,
fankhini,
and
banka
nala.
On
the
banka
nala
of
the
subtle
body,
see
also
Yogavi{aya
v.
22
(in
SSp,
p.
46)
and
Gorakh
Bani
Pad
53-3-
The
alchemical
banka
nata
is
described
in
RA
4.58
and
RRS
10.45.
Cf.
Misra,
Ayurvedrya,
pp.
147-4
8
.
201.
For
the
western
linga
in
the
head,
see
Gorakh
Bani
SabadI
187a
and
the
Raja
Rani
Sa'l1}biid
of
GopIcand,
v.
105
(in
Nath
Siddh0'l1},
p.
9).
On
the
"microcosmic
west;'
see
also
Gorakh
Bani,
SabadI41
and
267.
The
KJiiN(17.23,
20.II)
also
ciates
a
coiled
(kurJqalakrti,
kUrJqalt)
goddess
with
the
left
side.
On
the
lower
ern
linga,
see
Gorak{a
Sataka
19.
Cf.
SSP
2.2,
which
states
that
the
kUrJqalini
sleeps
with
her
mouth
over
the
pafcima-liilga,
located
in
the
second
cakra,
the
svadhi{1;hiina.
It
is
out
of
this
vortex
that
seed
is
emitted
in
ejaculation:
Srivastav,
"Gorakh"
e{ank,
p.
131.
202.
MBhT
7.18;
Srinathakathasara
of
Dwarkanath,
ed
Narharinath
Yogi
(Be-
nares:
n.p.
1951),
p.
23.
203·
Dyczkowski,
p.
3
n.
7.
204·
Yogabija
135, 148, 159.
Cf.
Kaviraj,
Bharatry,
vol.
2,
p.
285.
205.
TA
29.124-29.
On
the
female
sexual
organ
as
the
yoginivaktra,
the
"mouth
of
the
yogini;'
see
Tantraloka
Varttika,
vol.
2,
p.
104,
cited
in
Padoux,
Vac,
p.
61.
206.
Vamamarga
(in
Hindi),
by
Pandit
Vanisidhar
Sukul
Vaidyaraj
(Allahabad:
Kalyan
Mandir,
195
I),
v.
II
0,
English
translation
in
Bharati,
Tantric
Tradition,
p.
264.
The
Hindi
reads
(ibid.,p.
277):
"phir
sakti
ko
gaurI
kI
apne
ko
siv
kI
bhavana
kar
...
matrmukh
pitrmukh
arpit
kare."
207.
Silburn,
KUrJqalini,
p.
190,
citing
TA
29.124-26,
with
the
commentary
of
Jayaratha;
and
Dyczkowski,
Canon,
p.
64,
citing
TA
28.147.
For
further
discussion,
see
Silburn,
KUrJqalinf,
pp.
27,
173-74,
and
plates
on
pp.
34-35.
208.
Manthiinabhairava
Tantra,
13.
I
10-43,
summarized
in
Dyczkowski,
pp.
17-18
n.
27,
who
remarks
that
"although
one
can
distinguish
two
Yonis,
there
is
in
fact
only
one."
209.
RA
11.17-18,
29-41;
RRS
8.75-79.
The
image
may
be
based
on
moveable
Siva
lingas,
over
which
"mouthed"
sheaths
could
be
superimposed:
Bagchi,
ther
Notes
on
Tantrik
Texts
Studied
in
Ancient
Kambuja;'
Studies,
p.
2
I.
210.
On
the
term
mudra
in
alchemical
terminology,
see
Sharpe,
Eight-Hundred
Year
Old
Book,
p.
106.
Pu!as
are
discussed
in
RA
6.101-22;
RRS
1°-47-64,
and
every

4
8
7
Notes
to
Chapter
Eight
major
alchemical
work.
Their
construction
and
use
are
summarized
in
Dash,
chemy,
pp.
197-99.
2
I
1.
Silburn,
KU1Jqalini,
pp.
169, 192,
in
which
sampurikara1Ja
is
an
exchange
of
male
and
female
energies
that
occurs
through,
but
is
not
limited
to,
the
act
of
sexual
intercourse.
The
same
term
applies
to
the
telescoping
of
elements
back
into
their
source,
in
the
ascension
of
the
kU1J4alini
or
in
the
distillation
of
the
5I
phonemes
of
the
Sanskrit
language
into
the
bisyllabic
aham,
the
universal
I
(ibid.,
p.
9).
The
term
sampura
means
"skull"
or
"cranium"
in
Hindi:
Hindi
Sabd
Siigar,
s.v.
212.
Kaviraj,
Bhiiratfy
1:276,
282,
287-89;
KM
(London,
Wellcome
MSS
no.
g50I)
fo!'
35a.7-8,
describing
the
kaulaketu
ritual
of
the
Siddha
Marga.
213.
Tucci,
''Animadversiones
Indicae;'
pp.
154-55.
This
is
a
portion
of
a
text
describing
a
tantric
Buddhist
initiation.
Cf.
KM
(London,
Wellcome
MSS
no.
g50I)
fo!'
35a.7-8;
KJiiN
18.22-23;
and
KPT
(in
Bhattacarya,
ed.
Indrajiila
san.zgraha,
p.
265)
for
similar
language.
214.
Kaviraj,
Bhiiratfy,
2:293
n.
I:
"The
mouth
of
the
fankhini
niiqi
is,
in
tantric
treatises,
precisely
the
mouth
of
the
guru;
it
is
otherwise
designated
as
Siva's
upper
mouth.
It
is
from
this
site
that
the
teaching
of
the
[initiatory]
tiiraka
mantra
is
transmitted
into
the
disciple's
right
ear."
215.
The
Siirada
Tilaka
(5.139)
has
the
guru
transfer
"that
which
has
oozed
side
his
mouth"
(vidruvaktriintara)
into
the
mouth
of
his
disciple.
Often,
the
guru
is
said
to
directly
penetrate
the
heart
of
his
disciple
with
the
divine
energy
he
has
stored
up
inside
himself.
On
this
notion,
and
the
similarities
and
differences
tween
tantric
initiation
between
males
and
ritualized
sex
between
a
male
and
a
female,
see
Silburn,
KU1Jqalinf,
pp.
175-76.
216.
Paddhati,
appendix
to
1.62
[po
32]
and
2.16;
HYP
3·I2,
27.
217.
Rudrayiimala
Tantra
17·73,
85-87.
218.
Khecarlmudrii
is
also
the
term
employed
by
a
Nath
suborder,
the
Gl1daras,
for
the
cylinders
of
wood
which
they
pass
through
their
earlobes.
The
Gl1daras
were
founded
by
a
member
of
the
Dasnami
sect
and
are
not
generally
considered
by
Nath
sampradiiyins
to
be
one
of
their
own:
Briggs,
Gorakhniith,
p.
11.
Given
the
fact
that
the
piercing
of
the
ears
opens
a
channel
without
which
yogic
practice
cannot
be
effective,
the
term
is
an
apt
one:
on
this,
see
below,
chap.
10,
sec.
4.
219.
RA
11.151,
154,
162-63,
21
9.
220.
On
gurikii
bandha,
see
Gorakh
Biini
Sabadi
49;
on
the
khecarl
and
other
chemical
gurikiis,
see
RA
12.336-37,
RHT
19.65-76;
RRS
11.88;
and
da's
commentary
to
HYP
4.27.
On
the
siddhi
gurikii,
see
Padmiivat
222
[=
23.1]
(p.
482
of
Grierson
and
Dvivedi,
Padumawiiti;
and
p.
135
of
Shirreff,
Padmiivatt).
On

4
88
Notes
to
Chapter
Eight
khecari
mercury,
see
RA
2.89;
3.9,
17-20;
11.98-107,
149-53,
162-63;
12.380;
on
khecari
fakti,
see
KJiiN
5-4;
6.18-28;
7.14;
20.10;
and
Dyczkowski,
Canon,
p.
168
n.
52.
A
folktale
from
Benares
casts
Gorakhnath
in
the
miraculous
recovery
of
thousands
of
such
f5Ufikas:
personal
communication
from
Siddhinandan
Misra,
nares,
March
1985.
221.
In
the
RRS
(6.13-14),
there
is
a
"division
oflabor"
between
the
practical
and
the
spiritual
components
of
the
alchemist's
craft.
On
the
one
hand,
the
mist
carries
out
his
chemical
operations
in
a
laboratory
(rasafiila);
on
the
other,
he
effects
his
daily
worship
of
the
alchemical
gods
in
a
temple
(rasamaTfqapa)
built
nearby.
222.
The
RRS
(6.2
I)
says
the
rasalinga
is
to
be
located
on
the
eastern
side
of
the
alchemical
altar
(itself
located
at
the
center
of
the
rasamaTfqapa).
The
Chandi
Bukit
Batu
Pahat
(Malaysia)
alchemical
temple
site
studied
by
Francis
Treloar
("Use
of
Mercury,"
pp.
232-4°)
has
its
rasalinga
at
the
center
of
the
structure.
The
qapa
described
in
the
RA
(2.52)
also
has
the
rasalinga
at
its
center.
223.
On
this
maTfqala
in
the
RA
and
RC,
see
above,
chap.
6,
sec.
2.
The
RC
maTfqala
is
graphically
reproduced
in
"Mantra
et
Yantra,"
p.
252
(fig.
5).
A
simpler
maTftfala
is
described
in
Misra,
Ayurvediya,
p.
83.
224·
See
above,
chap.
7,
sec.
3
and
nn.
56-59·
225.
RA
1.43;
2.52;
RRS
1.23-28;
6.14-23;
MBhT
8.1-10;
RC
1.37-38.
See
also
Treloar,
"Use
of
Mercury,"
especially
pp.
237-38;
and
Siddhinandan
Misra's
duction
to
the
RasendracitqamaTfi,
p.
5,
in
which
he
discusses
the
alchemical
grounds
for
the
foundation
and
installation
of
the
rasalinga.
226.
Misra,
Ayurvediya,
p.
85.
In
his
description
of
the
Chandi
Bukit
Batu
Pahat
alchemical
temple
ruin,
Treloar
states
that
the
mercuriallinga
unearthed
there
was
set
in
a
silver
semicircle:
Treloar,
"Use
of
Mercury,"
pp.
23?-38.
227.
RA
2.77-82.
The
Vimalaprabha
commentary
to
the
Buddhist
cakra
Tantra
(2.213-15)
presents
a
similar
iconographic
representation
of
this
ship
support,
for
use
in
the
alchemical
Jambhala
rite:
Fenner,
Rasayan
Siddhi,
pp.
160-
6
3.
228.
RA
3.63-73;
RRS
6.22-23.
For
the
iconography
of
these
images,
see
above,
chap.
6,
nn.
61-63.
229.
See
below,
chap.
9,
n.
23.
230.
RHT
1.12.
See
above,
chap.
7
sec.
5.
23
I.
Bhattacharya,
History,
pp.
376-78.
232.
The
classic
source
on
the
Pffhas,
which
includes
a
critical
edition
of
the
16th
c.
Bengali
is
Sircar,
Sakta
pffhas,
passim;
for
a
lively
rejoinder,
however,
see
Pal,
Hindu
Religion,
pp.
24-27.
The
Nath
Siddha
reckoning
is
found
in
Gorakh
Bani
SabadI
163.
Much
of
the
latter
part
of
the
(especially
4.1-1
I)
is

4
8
9
Notes
to
Chapter
Eight
devoted
to
the
Goddess's
tour
of
her
footstools,
across
an
Indian
subcontinent
that
is
situated,
in
its
entirety,
within
her
body:
Schoterman,
$SS,
p.
I48.
233.
For
the
alchemical
lore
relative
to
Hinglaj
and
Kamakhya,
see
above,
chap.
7
nn.
65-70.
Kedar
has
been
discussed
above,
n. I5
3.
Alchemical
descriptions
of
Srisailam
are
found
in
RRA
4.8.I-I85.
The
RA
description
of
Kailash
is
in
I.2-3.
234.
On
the
symbolism
of
the
Nine
Naths,
see
Dasgupta,
Obscure,
p.
206,
citing
the
Gorakfa
Siddhiinta
San.zgraha,
pp.
44-45;
the
Tantrariija
Tantra
(2.2-5,
in
roffe,
Tantrariija
Tantra,
p.
I9);
and
Schoterman,
$SS,
pp.
3I-39.
See
above,
chap.
4,
nn.
53-
60
.
235.
The
Gorakh
Bodh,
a
vernacular
work
cast
in
the
form
of
a
conversation
between
Gorakhnath
and
his
guru
Matsyendranath,
is
a
veritable
"skeleton
key"
to
the
"intentional
language"
of
the
Nath
Siddhas
concerning
the
bodily
microcosm.
Cf.
the
Prii1J
Siinkali
of
CaurangInath,
vv.
206-34I
(in
Dvivedi,
Niith
Siddhon.z,
pp.
I9-28);
and
in
Sanskrit,
the
third
chapter
of
Gorakhnath's
SSP.
236.
Temple,
Legends,
2:44I;
Swynnerton,
Romantic
Tales,
pp.
426-33.
237.
Dvivedi,
Niith
Sampradiiy,
pp.
I85-86;
Grierson
and
Dvivedi,
Padumawiiti,
p.
25
I
-52.
J
ayasI
himself
speaks
of
Sirhhala
and
Lanka
as
two
different
places
reff's
notes
to
Padmiivati
2.I6),
even
if
he
clearly
knows
Sirhhala
or
SangaldIp
to
be
an
island
situated
to
the
south
of
India.
There
is,
however,
much
more
of
fairyland
than
hard
geography
to
JayasI's
Sirhhala,
just
as
there
is
to
the
Kingdom
of
Women
into
which
Matsyendra
falls
in
the
myths
we
related
above.
238.
It
is
Pural}
Bhagat
(Caurariginath)
himself
who
claims
Matsyendra
for
his
guru:
Prii1J
Sankali
vv.
207,
22
I,
307,
in
NSB,
pp.
I9,
20, 26.
On
the
localization
of
Matsyendra's
"Plaintain
Forest"
in
Sri
Lanka,
see
Cunninath,
Tan-Prakiif,
p.
I98;
Temple,
Legends,
2:I9
(v.
I94);
and
above,
n.
IOI.
Gorakh
Biini
Pad
I.I-4
presents
Matsyendra's
imprisonment
in
the
Kingdom
of
Women
as
the
result
of
his
Kaula
propensities.
The
text
of
the
poem
consists
of
Gorakh's
arguments
against
sexual
intercourse
as
a
component
of
tantric
practice.
239.
Padmiivat
2
I9-22
[=
22.8-IO;
2
3.I],
in
Grierson
and
Dvivedi,
Padumawiiti,
pp.
478-82;
Sharma,
Jayasi
Granthiivali,
pp.
347-55;
and
Shirreff,
Padmiivati,
pp.
I34-35.
A
similar
description
is
in
2.I6-I8.
This
translation
relies
to
some
extent
on
Shirreff's
translation;
it
relies
more
heavily,
however,
on
Dvivedi's
and
Sharma's
superior
Hindi
tikii
and
commentary.
Words
in
parentheses
correspond
to
Shirreff's
annotations;
words
in
square
brackets
are
my
own
additions.
240.
The
six
cakras
and
the
sahasriira:
see
above,
chap.
2,
n.
95.
Similar
imagery
is
found
in
such
popular
traditions
as
the
legend
of
the
marriage
of
a
Muslim
fakir
named
SakhI
Sarwar.
In
a
preliminary
test,
SakhI
Sarwar
is
made
to
hit
with
an
arrow
a
brass
cup
that
has
been
perched
atop
seven
superimposed
bamboo
poles:
"Marriage
of
SakhI
Sarwar;'
legend
no.
22
in
Temple,
Legends,
vol.
2,
p.
I27.

49
0
Notes
to
Chapter
Nine
241.
Ha!h,
the
modern
Indo-Aryan
form
of
ha!ha,
as
in
ha!ha
yoga.
242.
Ciilhe
(pl.),
"marks;'
"signs;'
are
the
emblems
a
yogin
wears
(earrings,
horn,
wallet,
etc.:
see
chap.
9,
nn.
82-84)
which
are
so
many
marks
of
his
initiation
into
a
given-in
this
case
the
Nath
Siddha-order.
243.
The
nine
gates
and
the
tenth
door
are
the
bodily
orifices
and
the
inner
brahmarandhra
or
fankhinf
niitff
(also
known
as
the
banka
niila);
the
five
constables
are
the
five
breaths:
see
above,
chap.
2,
n.
29.
244.
Biink[t},
an
alloform
of
banka,
as
in
the
bent
tube,
the
banka
niila,
another
name
for
the
fankhinf
niitff,
associated
with
the
dafama
dviira,
the
tenth
door,
located
in
the
head.
The
reference
to
the
body
as
"bent"
or
"crooked"
at
the
beginning
of
this
description
would
also
refer
to
the
crooked
body
of
the
fankhinf,
which
doubles
as
the
kU1Jqalinf.
See
above,
n.
200.
245.
Bhed,
"penetrate"
has
the
extended
meaning
of
"secret;'
as
such
are
ally
impenetrable
until
one
has
a
clue
with
which
to
unlock
them.
This
is
the
dard
hathayogic
term
used
for
the
"piercing"
of
the
eakras
by
the
kU1Jtfalinf.
In
chemical
parlance,
this
term
comes
to
be
closely
identified
with
vedh,
"pierce,
penetrate;'
which
is
the
term
employed
to
signify
transmutation,
in
which
mercury
is
said
to
penetrate
and
thereby
transform
base
metals
into
gold
and
mortals
into
immortals.
246.
Cf.
the
"pools"
in
the
ascent
of
Kedarnath
(above,
sec.
3,
nn.
I09-II);
and
the
channeling
of
the
Ganges
associated
with
matsyodarf.
The
path
rising
out
of
the
pool
at
the
base
of
the
fortress
(the
muliidhiira
eakra,
where
the
kU1Jtfalinf
sleeps)
is
clearly
the
medial
SUfUm1Jii
niitff:
see
above,
n.
153.
247.
Cf.
the
discussion
ofthe
reverse
(vipanta)
yogic
posture
and
the
alchemical
vidyiidhara
and
other
yantras:
above,
nn.
120-2
I.
248.
The
idea
here
is
that
one
must
dive
down
into
the
pool
at
the
base
of
the
fortress
(the
muliidhiira)
in
order
to
gain
access
to
the
path
(the
sUfUm1Jii
niitft)
that
rises
out
of
its
depths.
As
I
show
in
chap.
9,
sec.
46,
such
can
only
be
effected
by
restraining
or
binding
(bandh)
mind,
breath,
and
seed.
249.
See
above,
n.
220.
250.
At
once
a
reference
to
the
opening
of
the
lotuses
that
are
the
eakras
when
they
are
pierced
and
the
initiatory
role
of
the
padminf,
the
Lotus
Maiden,
in
tantric
initiation:
see
below,
chap.
10,
sec.
2.
Chapter
Nine
1.
Padoux,
Viie,
pp.
82,
124-26;
Silburn,
KU1Jtfalinf,
pp.
19-24,
52-53,
64-66.
The
human
body
is
the
turning
point
of
another
important
medieval
metaphysical
system.
This
is
the
Neoplatonist
emanation
and
participation
of
John
Scot's
sion
of
Nature;'
in
which
the
return
towards
cosmic
wholeness
begins,
after
the

49
1
Notes
to
Chapter
Nine
Fall,
through
the
sexual
union
of
Adam
and
Eve:
Mircea
Eliade,
The
Two
and
the
One,
trans.
J.
M.
Cohen
(Chicago:
University
of
Chicago
Press,
1979),
p.
104.
2.
RA
I7.I65a;
I.I8ab.
Cf.
RU
15.50
(cited
in
Misra,
Ayurvediya,
p.
31
n.
2),
which
describes
the
knower
of
mercury
(rasavid)
and
the
knower
of
the
soul
mavid)
as
the
two
"subtle
seers"
(silks:madarfinau).
One
may
choose
to
see
a
sor
to
this
twofold
method
in
the
Caraka
Samhita's
(6.1.16)
reference
to
the
two
complementary
elixir
therapies
(rasayanas)
,
i.e.,
kU!lpravefa
and
vatatapika,
"[the
practice
of]
wind
and
sun":
"Consideration;'
p.
7.
On
ku!lpravefa,
see
above,
chap.
2,
nn.
47-48.
3.
'dhyatmakasceti
rajayogo
dvidha
kvacit
/
ha!ho
'pi
kvapi
Cf.
RA
4.23,
which
calls
for
the
conjoined
use
of
botanicals
and
mantras.
4.
Sabara's
commentary
to
Jaiminiya
Sutra
3.1.3
and
Tantravarttika,
p.
1078,
cited
in
Pandey,
Hindu
San:zskaras,
p.
16,
who
also
gives
many
specialized
uses
of
the
term.
Cf.
Car
aka
Samhita
1.26.30.
See
also
Kapani,
Notion
de
san:zskara,
passim.
5.
See
RA
1.36
on
silta;
RRS
1.79-80
on
divine
jealousy
as
ground
for
the
chemical
san:zskaras;
and
Pandeya's
introduction
to
the
BhP
Samhita,
vol.
2,
p.
gha),
for
a
commentary.
See
Manu
Smrti
2.27
and
Yiijfiavalkya
Smrti
1.13
on
the
rites
of
passage.
Cf.
Kapani's
discussion:
Notion
de
san:zskara,
vol.
I,
pp.
89-94.
See
above,
chap.
7,
sec.
2,
on
origin
myths
of
metals,
in
which
gold
is
accompanied
by
various
metallic
"afterbirths;'
6.
The
figure
of
eighteen
alchemical
san:zskaras
is
reached
by
taking
the
classic
number
of
sixteen
san:zskaras
(cf.
Siddhinandan
Misra's
commentary
to
the
sion
of
the
san:zskaras
in
the
RC
preceding
4.85,
on
p.
54.)
and
adding
to
these
the
resulting
processes
of
transmutation
and
bodily
transubstantiation.
The
Vaikhiinasa
Smarta
Sutra
is
a
source
that
lists
eighteen
life-cycle
san:zskaras:
Kapani,
Notion
de
san:zskara,
vol.
I,
p.
86;
for
a
figure
of
sixteen,
see
M'fgendragama,
Kriya
6.9-II
(cited
in
Gonda,
Medieval,
p.
171).
See
above,
chap.
2,
sec.
4.
7.
The
eighteen
san:zskaras
are
listed
in
RHT
2.1-2.
Succinct
descriptions
are
found
in
RC
4.85-106.
This
material
is
copied,
for
the
most
part,
by
the
RRS
(8.62-
88),
which
also
lists
them
in
11.15-16.
A
synoptic
table
of
the
san:zskaras,
taken
from
fifteen
major
alchemical
sources,
is
given
in
Misra,
Ayurvediya,
pp.
2
12-
13.
An
adequate
English-language
description
of
the mechanics
of
the
eighteen
skaras
is
given
by
Subbarayappa,
"Chemical
Practice;'
in
Bose,
Concise
History,
pp.
320-22.
Subbarayappa's
informant
was
Dr.
Damodar
Joshi,
of
the
Rasasastra
partment
of
the
Ayurvedic
College
of
Benares
Hindu
University.
Dr.
Joshi
was
also
my
principal
informant
on
such
matters,
during
my
stay
in
Benares,
from
August
to
January
1984
and
in
March
1985.
8.
Gheral'f4a
Samhita
1.9-11.

49
2
Notes
to
Chapter
Nine
9.
Misra,
Ayurvediya,
pp.
94-96,
198-99;
and
Dash,
Alchemy,
pp.
91-92,
185-86.
10.
On
this
distinction,
see
Misra,
Ayurvediya,
p.
2
I
I.
11.
The
process
of
murcchana
is
described
in
RRS
11.35.
The
properties
of
swooned
mercury
are
described
in
RA
11.199.
12.
On
this
distinction,
see
Dash,
Alchemy,
pp.
92-93;
and
Misra,
Ayurvediya,
P·24
8
.
13.
The
RRS
is
the
most
systematic
source
on
bandhana,
which
it
defines
(8.66;
11.60);
it
also
gives
a
list
(II.61-64)
and
practical
descriptions
(II.65-II2)
of
the
twenty-five
means
for
fixing
mercury.
Cf.
Misra,
Ayurvediya,
pp.
309-21.
14.
Specific
procedures
for
the
killing
of
mercury
are
given
in
RRS
I
I.
I
13-2
I;
30.
1-2
1.
The
powers
and
properties
of
killed
mercury
(bhasmasilta,
mrtasiltaka)
are
given
in
RA
1.22
and
11.200;
and
RM
fo!'
9a.2-3.
The
RA
(12.82)
and
RC
(1.26)
stipulate
that
mercury,
as
the
semen
of
Siva,
is
not
truly
killed
when
reduced
to
ashes,
but
merely
"greatly
swooned:'
On
the
killing
of
other
metals,
see
ayappa,
"Chemical
Practice;'
in
Bose,
Concise
History,
pp.
325-26,
citing
RRS
5.13
and
RHT9.16.
15.
This
process
has
been
discussed
at
length
in
chap.
8,
sec.
3.
16.
RRS
11.47-48.
The
salt
in
question,
called
ambuja
("water-born")
or
dhava
("from
the
Sindhu
[Indus
River]
region"),
is
said
to
have
arisen
from
a
nation
of
"male
and
female
sexual
emissions
and
the
menstrual
blood
of
a
forbidden
woman":
Sharma's
commentary
to
RRS
11.48
(p.
167),
citing
the
Rasiivatara.
17.
RRS
11.49.
Cf.
Dash,
Alchemy,
pp.
63-64.
18.
RRS
11.51-52.
Cf.
Misra,
Ayurvediya,
p.
235.
19.
RRS
11.59.
Cf.
Dash,
Alchemy,
p.
65.
The
first
eight
san;zskiiras
are
treated
summarily
in
RHT
2.1-20.
20.
RRS
8.72.
21.
RRS
8.80-85.
Dash,
Alchemy,
pp.
65-73.
The
RHT
devotes
all
of
its
third
chapter
to
griisa,
its
fourth
chapter
to
ciira7fa,
its
fifth
chapter
to
garbhadruti,
and
its
fifteenth
chapter
to
biihyadruti.
22.
The
alchemist
knows
he
has
reached
the
stage
of
jiira7fa
when
the
mercury
no
longer
increases
in
weight
after
absorbing
a
given
mineral
substance:
ibid.,
p.
73.
Chapter
six
of
the
RHT
is
devoted
to
jiira7fa.
23.
RRS
8.87;
RHT8.1-19.
Indeed,
the
coloring
of
metals
with
mercury
colored
in
this
way
may
have
been
the
greater
part
of
so-called
transmutation
in
this
tion:
Subbarayappa,
"Chemical
Practice;'
in
Bose,
Concise
History,
p.
320.
24.
RRS
8.88;
RHT
16.1-36.
25.
RA
11.216-17;
RHT
17.1-8.
Neither
the
RC
nor
the
RRS
contains
tions
of
kriima7fa.

493
Notes
to
Chapter
Nine
26.
Satapatha
Briihma1Ja
3.8.2.27:
am'(tam
iiyur
hira1Jyam,
literally
"gold
is
death;
gold
is
longevity."
Cf.
Satapatha
Briihma1Ja
7.4.1.15-17
and
13+1.7.
27.
Satapatha
Briihma1Ja
6.1.2.13-26
and
7.3.1.16,
discussed
in
Malamoud,
"Briques
et
mots:
Obervations
sur
Ie
corps
des
dieux
dans
l'Inde
vedique;'
in
Cuire
Ie
monde,
pp.
262-63;
and
Kapani,
Notion
de
san:zskiira,
vol.
1,
pp.
58-71.
Cf.
White,
"Dakkhina
and
Agnicayana,"
pp.
192-94,212-13.
28.
Satapatha
Briihma1Ja
7.2.2.7-19;
7.2+1-26;
7.3.1.9-I1;
and
Apastamba
Srauta
StUra
16.19.II-13,
discussed
in
Charles
Malamoud,
"Cosmologie
tive:
Observations
sur
Ie
monde
et
Ie
non-monde
dans
l'Inde
ancienne;'
in
Le
temps
de
la
rifiexion
10
(1989),
pp.
320-21;
idem,
"Village
et
foret;'
in
Cuire
Ie
monde,
p.
101
n.
35;
and
Kapani,
Notion
de
san:zskiira,
vol.
1,
pp.
63-65.
29.
Malamoud,
"Cuire
Ie
monde;'
in
Cuire
Ie
monde,
pp.
60-62.
30.
Aitareya
Briihma1Ja
1.3.
Dikfii
is
defined
as
tattva-fuddhi,
"purification
of
the
constituent
elements;'
in
Kaviraj,
Bhiiratiy,
1:282.
31·
Maitri
Upanifad
2·5;
Manu
Sm'(ti
8.96;
12.12,14;
Yiijfiavalkya
Sm'(ti
3.178;
Bhagavad
Gftii
13.1-2;
Caraka
SO'Ihhitii
4.1.65.
Cf.
Dasgupta,
History,
1:214.
Kfetra
refers
to
the
lower
evolutes
of
Pralqti,
feminine
materiality,
while
kfetrajfiii
is
to
be
identified
with
male
spirit.
32.
White,
"Dakkhina
and
Agnicayana,"
pp.
205-6.
33.
Personal
communication
from
Siddhinandan
Misra,
Benares,
March
1985.
See
also
Misra,
Ayurvediya,
p.
326,
and
above,
chap.
2,
sec.
2.
34·
Zimmerman,
pp.
97-99'
Cf.
Sharma,
Ayurved,
pp.
276-77,
495-5
0
3.
35.
RA
18.2-I9;
RRS
11.66.
The
alchemist's
preparation
in
fact
begins
with
his
initiation,
by
a
guru,
into
the
alchemical
arts.
Once
again,
parallels-between
man
birth
and
the
san:zskiiras
as
rites
of
passage,
and
the
alchemical
san:zskiiras-are
explicit:
Pandeya's
introduction
to
BhP
(Gorakfa
Sa1hhitii,
vol.
2),
p.
fia.
36.
Ayurveda
Prakiifa
1.489,
cited
in
Misra,
Ayurvediya,
p.
327.
In
preparing
it
for
its
ingestion,
one
is
to
nourish
mercury
itself
with
bijas
of
gold
and
silver:
RA
8.16-22.
Cf.
KCM
(London,
Wellcome
MSS
no.
g473)
fol.
45.4-9,
in
which
menstrual
blood
is
used
as
an
adjunct.
On
the
kfetrasan:zskiiras
(garbhiidiina,
vana,
and
simantonnayana),
see
Manu
Sm'(ti
9.33,
36-38.
In
legal
terminology,
the
surrogate
male
who
fathers
a
child
on
a widow
(kfetra)
who
has
lost
her
husband
(kfetrin)
is
called
the
"inseminator"
(bijin):
Gautama
Dharma
Sutra
28,30,
cited
in
Kane,
History
oJDharmafiistra
vol.
2,
pt.
1,
p.
599,
quoted
in
Gail
Hinich
land,
"Bija
(Seed)
and
Kfetra
(Field):
Male
Surrogacy
or
Niyoga
in
the
ata;'
Contributions
to
Indian
Sociology,
n.s.
24
(1990),
p.
78.
37.
Joshi,
"Notes;'
pp.
106-7;
HT,
p.
85;
Kaviraj,
Bhiiratiy,
1:279.

494
Notes
to
Chapter
Nine
38.
MBhT
ro.3-4.
The
unity
of
Siva
and
Sakti
is
portrayed
as
that
of
seed
(bija)
and
sprout
(ankura)
in
a
number
of
sources:
Narharinath,
Nav
Niith
Cauriisi
Siddh
(Benares:
Rashtriya
Press,
1968),
p.
25
(v.
3).
Cf.
Kiimakaliiviliisa,
quoted
in
roffe,
Serpent
Power,
p.
132.
39.
There
is
a
certain
symmetry
here
between
the
father-son
relationship
of
Agni-Prajapati
and
the
guru-disciple
relationship
of
Gorakh-Matsyendra:
see
low,
n.
74
of
the
present
chapter.
40.
HYP
2.23.
Cf.
Renou
and
Filliozat,
L'Inde
classique,
vol.
2,
p.
52.
4I.
HYP
2.22-38.
This
identification,
of
as
the
means
to
bodily
fuddhi,
was
confirmed
for
me
in
a
personal
communication
from
Mahant
nath,
Gorakhpur,
January
1985.
42.
Satapatha
BriihmaTfa
7.2.2.18-20;
7.2+10.
43.
This
is
clearly
stated
in
Padmiivat
22.8
(=
219),
in
Grierson
and
Dvivedi,
Padumawiiti,
p.
479,
and
Shirreff,
Padmiivati,
p.
134:
"Now
that
you
are
a
Siddha,
you
have
obtained
a
state
of
purity
(fudhl).
The
mirror
(darpaTf)
of
your
body
has
been
cleared
of
dust!'
Cf.
Svetiifvatara
2.14.
44.
HT,
p.
8I.
Two
texts
entitled
Bhutafuddhi
Tantra
may
be
found,
in
edited
form,
in
the
Tantrasa"!lgraha,
vol.
3,
pp.
565-625;
and
vol.
4,
pp.
308-16.
45.
J
aggi,
Yogic
and
Tantric
Medicine,
p.
I
17.
The
term
may
originally
have
ferred
to
the
casting
out
of
"beings"
or
"spirits"
inhabiting
the
area
upon
which
the
ritual
was
to
be
performed.
Bhuta
at
once
means
"element"
and
"spirit":
Van
Kooij,
Worship,
p.
2I.
Cf.
BhP
7.368-74.
46.
Descriptions
of
outer
and
inner
bhutafuddhi
are
found
in
Kiilikii
PuriiTfa
52.18-19;
53.13-14;
57.93-ro8
(in
B.
N.
Shastri,
KiilikiipuriiTfa
[text,
introduction,
and
translation
into
English],
2
vols.
[Delhi:
Nag
Publishers,
1991],
vol.
2,
pp.
751,
756,816-19).
(The
same
passages,
with
different
chapter
and
verse
numbering,
are
translated
in
Van
Kooij,
Worship,
pp.
45,
166).
Cf.
HT,
pp.
136, 140,
143;
derson,
pp.
174-75;
and
Woodroffe
Principles
of
Tantra,
2:477
(cited
in
Walter,
Role
of
Alchemy,
p.
70).
47.
Kiilikii
PuriiTfa
55.21-35
(in
Van
Kooij,
Worship,
pp.
45-46)
gives
a
detailed
description
of
the
divinity
who
is
to
be
projected
upon
this
empty
space.
Cf.
MahiinirviiTfa
Tantra
(ed.
Woodroffe),
pp.
76-77;
Bharati,
Tantric
Tradition,
p.
246;
Gupta,
HT,
pp.
136, 140,
143;
Sanderson,
pp.
174-75;
and
Wheelock,
"Mantra
in
Vedic
and
Tantric
Ritual;'
in
Alper,
ed.,
Mantra,
p.
I2
I.
Compare
RA
18.208-2
ro.
On
a
Theravada
Buddhist
precursor
of
this
technique,
see
Paul
Mus,
"La
notion
de
temps
reversible
dans
la
mythologie
bouddhique;'
Ecole
Pratique
des
Hautes
Etudes.
Annuaire
I938-I939
(Melun:
Imprimerie
Administrative,
1938),
PP·3
0
-3I.

495
Notes
to
Chapter
Nine
48.
Tantravarttika,
p.
1078,
cited
in
Pandey,
Hindu
Sa"!lskaras,
p.
16.
Cf.
Kapani,
Notion
de
sa"?lSkara,
vo!.
I,
pp.
89-94'
49.
Sodhana
is
derived
from
the
same
root
as
fuddhi,
in
bhiUafuddhi.
Apart
from
the
first
eight
sa"!lskaras,
relatively
pure
mercury
may
be
obtained
through
tion
from
cinnabar
(in
the
vidyadhara
yantra,
through
the
process
of
distillation,
patana:
see
above,
chap.
8,
sec.
3),
and
a
number
of
simpler
methods.
Svedana
is
described
in
RA
10.41;
RHT
2.3;
RC
15.36;
and
RRS
8.62;
11.29.
50.
HYP
2.12,
19.
This
process
is
widely
reported
in
sources
(quoted
at
length
in
Brahmananda's
commentary
on
2.12)
that
range
from
the
Yiijfiavalkya
Sm1Ji
to
the
Linga
Pura1'fa.
Cf.
Caraka
Samhita
6.15.29-30
(cited
in
Dasgupta,
History
2:326)
on
the
body's
natural
voiding
of
waste
products
through
the
bodily
orifices
and
pores.
The
KJfiN
(14.32)
calls
the
first
of
a
list
of
five
sets
ofKaula
schools
"Starting
at
the
Pores"
(romakupadt).
51.
HYP
2.13·
52.
Yoga
SUfra
1.2
reads
yogaf
cittavrtti
nirodha,?,
of
which
the
most
generally
accepted
and
elegant
translation
is
"yoga
is
the
suppression
of
the
states
of
sciousness."
53.
HYP
1.5
6
.
54-
The
most
succinct
rendering
is
found
in
RA
1.19:
for
variant
readings
in
other
works,
see
above,
chap.
5,
nn.
145,
161,218,222,237.
55.
The
verse
is
found
in
HYP
4.27,
in
which
the
Sanskrit
reads:
murcchito
harate
vyadhln
mrto
jlvayati
svayam/
baddhaJ:!.
khecaratarp
dhatte
raso
vayusca
vati.
Cf.
RA
I.
I
9:
murcchito
harate
vyadhirp
mrto
jIvayati
svayam/
baddhaJ:!.
atarp
kuryat
raso
vayusca
bhairavi.
56.
Raja
rani
sa"!lbad,
v.
18
ill
Dvivedi,
Nath
Sidd0"!l,
p.
9.
Statements
of
this
kind
are
legion
in
the
hathayogic
sources.
Cf.
HYP
2.2
and
4-28
for
a
more
sober
lation.
57.
HYP
4.26,28;
RA
2.IIr-I8.
Cf.
RA
1.20-22,
the
verses
immediately
ing
the
classic
statement
of
1.19.
58.
Gorakh
Bani
SabadI
142.
Cf.
SabadI
238
and
RA
2.117-18.
59.
RA
11.197.
The
seven
forms-murcchita,
m1Jasitta,
jalukabandha,
bandha,
pat;t;abandha,
bhasmasitta,
and
khofa[bandhaJ-are
described
in
I
I.
I
98-208.
RA
10.29
establishes
a
metaphorical,
if
not
literal,
identification
between
various
forms
of
treated
mercury
and
Hindu
divinities:
"Through
the
power
of
the
Work
(karmayogabalat)
mercury
takes
the
form
of
Brahma
when
it
is
purified
(arofa);
J
anardana
when
it
is
swooned
(murcchita);
and
Rudra
when
it
is
bound
dha).
Other
sources
(RRA
1.1.
I2a-13a,
RM
fo!'
Ia.8-1O;
Rasasindhu,
ASL
MSS
no.
4267,
fo!'
1.5)
follow
this
enumeration,
adding
other
hypostases
of
Siva
(Mahes-

49
6
Notes
to
Chapter
Nine
vara,
Sadasiva,
Isana)
to
their
lists
to
correspond
to
further
transformations
of
mercury.
60.
HYP
2.7-9,35.
The
final
member
of
the
first
of
the
six
preliminary
practices
of
yogic
purification
(the
{a!karmiirp),
called
agnisiira
("the
coursing
of
the
inner
fire"),
involves
a
similar
body
of
practices
which
are
said
to
activate
the
five
inner
fires
(of
digestion,
etc.).
In
agnisiira,
one
is
to
repeatedly
fill
and
empty
the
abdomen
of
air,
after
the
fashion
of
a
blacksmith's
bellows:
Renou
and
Filliozat,
L'Inde
classique,
vol.
2,
pp.
52-53.
61.
HYP
2.69.
HYP
3.12,
calls
the
outer
niiqis
"lifeless";
3.73
says
they
are
lyzed";
and
3.74
calls
them
"bound;'
all
synonyms
for
"swooned:'
See
below,
n.
89.
62.
Brahmananda's
commentary
to
HYP
4.27.
Murcchana
has
a
number
of
other
meanings,
including
"swelling;'
"coagulation;'
"assuming
shape;'
which
together
lead
to
an
image
of
a
bruise
which,
taking
shape
as
it
swells,
becomes
deadened
to
touch:
Monier-Williams,
Sanskrit-English
Dictionary,
s.v.
"murch:'
63.
HYP
3.55-60.
Uqqiyiina
is
also
the
name
of
one
of
the
four
original
pi!has
of
both
Buddhist
and
Hindu
tantrism.
In
the
Nath
Siddha
system
of
the
nine
cakras
(which
alternates
with
the
6
+
I
cakra
system),
uqqiyiina
(here
called
oqyiina)
is
cated
at
the
level
of
the
second
cakra,
the
sviidhi{!hiina:
SSP
2.2.
64.
HYP
3.70-73.]iilan.zdhara
is
also
the
name
of
one
of
the
four
original
pi!has,
located
in
the
Nath
Siddha
system
of
the
nine
cakras
at
the
level
of
the
dhra-nirvii1fa
cakra,
the
eighth
cakra
identified
with
the
fontanelle:
SSP
2.8.
The
Nath
Siddhas
locate
the
two
other
original
pi!has,
KiimarUpa
and
PUr1Jagiri,
at
the
lowest
and
highest
cakras,
respectively:
SSP
2.1,9.
The
form
of
diaphragmatic
tention
called
murccha,
discussed
above
(n.
60)
in
fact
combines
breath
retention
with
thejiilan.zdhara
bandha:
HYP
2.69.
65.
HYP
4.26.
66.
On
the
seven
types
of
alchemical
bandhas,
see
RPS
2.2,
and
above,
n.
59.
The
verse
concerning
the
riik{asa
named
Method
is
RA
12.3,
and
the
commentary
is
from
the
glossary
to
Tripathi's
edition,
p.
373.
67.
See
above,
chap.
8,
n.
220.
68.
Gorakh
Biini
Sabadl
88.
Cf.
HYP
4.91,
which
calls
the
niida
an
elephant
goad
for
stabilizing
the
wild
elephant
of
the
mind.
This
passage
is
the
first
of
a
series
of
nine
verses
(HYP
4.91-99)
which
metaphorically
compare
the
effects
of
the
niida
on
the
mind
to
all
manner
of
immobilization
in
nature
and
culture.
In
Saiva
ritual,
the
ankufii
mudrii
(a
fist
with
the
index-finger
bent
in
the
form
of
a
hook)
is
ployed
to
generate
nectar
from
within
the
subtle
body:
Gonda,
Vi{1fuism,
p.
180.
69.
The
notion
dates
back
to
Atharva
Veda
11.4.21.
On
clipping
the
wings
of
the
cosmic
goose,
the
han.zsa,
see
Carpari
jl
ki
sabadi
47,
in
Dvivedi,
Niith
Siddhon.z,
p.
17;
and
HYP
4.92.
On
the
clipping
of
mercury's
wings,
see
RHT
4-5;
BhP
5.148,

497
Notes
to
Chapter
Nine
168-69;
6.176;
8.81;
9.81;
andRC
16-44,52-55,75,
See
also
above,
chap.
7,
n.
166.
70.
RV
ro.I
13.6,
cited
in
Jean
Varenne,
Cosmogonies
vediques
(Milan:
Arche,
1982),
p.
114·
71.
The
myth
of
Gorakh's
binding
of
the
nine
serpent
clouds
is
related
in
the
ca.
A.D.
1820
SriNiith
TirthiivaliofMan
Singh,
vv.
330-36
and
Levi,
Le
Nepal,
vol.
I,
pp.
351, 372,
citing
the
"lost"
Nepali
Buddha
PuriiTfa.
This
binding
may
be
a
reference
to
the
nine
cakras
of
a
system
described
in
Gorakhnath's
SSP
(2.1--9).
More
likely,
it
refers
to
a
commonplace
of
Siddha
literature,
that
through
a
given
practice,
one
becomes
more
powerful
than
nine
serpents:
KCM
fol.
20a.8;
BhP
(ASL
MSS
4401,
fol.
3b-49).
The
RA
(12.314)
raises
this
figure
to
ten.
72.
HT,
p.
53,
citing
Paramiirthasiira
I.I5;
and
Kaviraj,
Tiintrik
Viiilmay,
p.
58.
73.
Yogabija
52:
chedabandhairmukto.
Cf.
Abhinavagupta's
praise
of
Matsyendra
as
one
who
"tore
apart
the
glowing
net;'
in
TA
1.7.
Lee
Siegel's
delightful
Net
of
Magic
is
a
wide-ranging
discussion
of
this
entire
symbol
system.
74.
KJiiN
17·33-37·
Cf.
Gorakhnath's
statement
that
"bound
in
the
noose
[of
Death]
one
becomes
a
living
creature.
Freed
from
the
noose,
one
becomes
siva":
Sahagal,
Gorakh
Darfan,
p.
ro7
(without
citation).
The
Parafuriima
Kalpa
tra
(1.5)
makes
a
nearly
identical
statement.
Tantrics
also
have
the
power
to
kill.
This
one
of
the
"six
acts"
of
tantric
black
magic
is
called
miiraTfa:
HT,
P·35·
75·
HYP
4.
1
7.
On
the
three
knots,
HYP
4,7°,73,76.
7
6
.
HYP
4.94.
77.
YogamiirtaTf4
a
180,
in
SSp,
p.
71;
Yogabija
52;
and
HYP
3-24.
Cf.
HYP
4.ro8,
which
states
that
the
realized
yogin
is
not
bound
by
karma,
not
eaten
by
time,
and
is
beholden
to
no
one;
and
Gomkh
Biini
Sabadr
85,
which
makes
a
similar
statement
in
the
context
of
what
it
calls
the
aniihat
bandh,
the
"lock
of
the
unstruck
[sound];'
See
also
Akulaviratantra
[B]
30,49-50,65,
in
Bagchi,
KJfiN,
pp.
96-99.
The
dhuta
is
one
who
has
thrown
down
(ava-dhu)
the
bonds
of
existence:
NSC,
p.
126.
Cf.
SSP
6.1.
78.
Death
(named
Yama
or
Kala)
carries
a
noose,
as
does
the
divine
enforcer
of
order
and
binding
contracts,
Varul).a.
The
latter,
as
a
first-function
god,
is
a
ist
in
invisible
binding
weapons,
not
unlike
the
Scandinavian
Odin
who
ensnares
enemies
on
the
field
of
battle
with
his
invisible
fetters.
The
bonds
of
death
are
an
Indo-European
theme,
on
which
see
Bruce
Lincoln,
"Mithra(s)
as
Sun
and
Savior,"
in
Death,
Wtn;
and
Sacrifice:
Studies
in
Ideology
and
Practice
(Chicago:
University
of
Chicago
Press,
1991),
especially
pp.
78-81.
On
kiilavaficana,
see
HYP
3·
3;
KJfiN
17.17;
KCM
(ASL
MSS
no.
3952)
fol.
pa.3,
3Ib.2.
79.
Gopicandrer
Giin,
summarized
in
Dasgupta,
Obscure,
p.
227.
Gorakhnath
does
the
same:
Vijaya,
pp.
45-48,
cited
ibid.,
p.
222.

49
8
Notes
to
Chapter
Nine
80.
Gopicandrer
Piitica/i,
p.
345,
translated
in
Dasgupta,
Obscure,
p.
226.
81.
Gopfcandrer
Sannyiis,
p.
418,
cited
in
Dasgupta,
Obscure,
p.
2I
5.
82.
Ernest
Trump,
The
Adi
Granth
(London:
1877),
p.
xl,
cited
in
Briggs,
Gorakhniith,
p.
203.
Cf.
Padmiivat
129
[=I2.1]
for
an
extended
description
of
a
fully
equipped
Nath
Siddha;
and
Briggs,
Gorakhniith,
pp.
6-23
and
Dvivedi,
Niith
Sampradiiy,
pp.
15-21,
for
discussion.
83.
The
wavering
mind
is
itself
compared
to
a
gazelle
in
the
HYP
(4.94,99),
a
metaphor
dramatized
in
the
legend
of
Gorakh's
disciple
Bhartrhari:
Briggs,
Gorakhniith,
p.
132.
84.
Gorakh
Biini
Sabadi
48a,
in
which
the
kantha
is
identified
with
the
five
ments.
Cf.
the
Jain
legend
of
Kanthaqi,
a
disciple
of
Gorakh,
who
transfers
the
heat
of
a
fever
(or
his
yogic
energy)
into
his
kantha:
Prabandha
Cintiima1Ji,
pp.
22-23,
cited
in
Dvivedi,
Niith
Sampradiiy,
p.
51.
85.
On
dying
to
the
world
and
performing
one's
cremations
rites,
see
Pandurang
Vaman
Kane,
History
of
Dharmasiistra,
5
vols.
2d
ed.
(Poona:
Bhandarkar
Oriental
Institute),
vol.
2,
part
2,
pp.
954-55,
985.
On
the
prii1Jiignihotra,
see
Vaikhiinasa
Smiirta
Szura
2.18.
This
tradition
goes
back
to
the
Taittiriya
Ara1Jyaka:
Madeleine
Biardeau
and
Charles
Malamoud,
Le
Sacrifice
dans
/'Inde
Ancienne
(Paris:
Presses
Universitaires
de
France,
1976),
pp.
6,/68.
A
Prii1Jiignihotra
Upani{ad,
a
lation
of
earlier
Upanisadic
descriptions
of
this
practice,
is
found
in
Deussen,
Sixty
Upanisads,
2:645-51.
Because
the
renouncer
has
performed
his
own
cremation
rites
upon
taking
up
sannyiisa,
his
body
is
not
burned,
but
rather
inhumed
or
set
adrift,
upon
its
apparent
"death?'
On
this
see
Paingala
Upani{ad
4.5-8,
cited
in
Kapani,
Notion
de
san.zskiira,
vol.
I,
p.
153.
86.
RA
1.19.
The
optimum
fixation
(bandha)
of
mercury,
effected
through
its
"assimilation"
in
female
sulfur
and
mica,
leaves
it
in
an
ashen
state
(bhasmfkrta)
in
which
it
has
been
rendered
"lifeless"
(nirjfva:
in
opposition
to
the
quite
useless
sajiva-bandha,
which
leaves
mercury
subject
to
evaporation
and
has
little
medical
use:
RRS
11.75),
i.e.,
completely
immobilized
and
impervious
to
heat
and
thereby
most
effective
against
disease:
RRS
I
1.76.
87.
Gorakh
Biini
Sabadi
26:
marau
be
jogi
marau,
maral).
hai
mi!ha!
tis
maraniIp.
marau
jis
maraniIp.
mari
di!ha.
Cf.
Yogabija
5'/58a,
and
Kabir,
Siikhi
19.13
(=
Doha
41.8),
in
Vaudeville,
Kabir,
p.
260.
88.
Padmiivat
24-2,
in
Grierson
and
Dvivedi,
Padumawiiti,
p.
530.
89.
Amaraugha
Prabodha
40b-41,
which
is
nearly
identical
to
HYP
3.27b-28.
I
have
translated
the
problematic
jiiniyiit
in
this
passage
as
a
gerundive.
The
fourth
state
of
consciousness
is
called
either
murcchii
or
turiya
("trance").
A
fifth
may
be
added.
This
is
mara1Ja,
"death":
commentary
to
English translation
of
HYP
4.107,
P·
1
°7·

499
Notes
to
Chapter
Nine
90.
HYP
3+
In
classical
Indian
thought
as
well,
one
enjoys
one's
"third"
and
most
glorious
birth,
this
time
in
heaven,
when
one's
corpse
has
been
incinerated
in
the
cremation
fire:
Satapatha
BrahmaTJa
11.2.1.1.
91.
On
vajroli,
see
above,
chap.
7,
nn.
90-I02.
Sahajoli
and
amaroli
are
described
in
HYP
3.92-98.
These
practices
appear
to
be
connected
to
the
broader
tantric
ritual
practice
of
am1JikaraTJa,
which
involves
the
identification
of
ashes,
water,
and
nectar:
on
this
practice,
see
Gonda,
Vis:'!uism,
pp.
72,
180.
92.
See
RA
I2.79
on
the
state
of
the
question.
It
is
also
called
bhasma-nirmaTJa
parada:
MBhT
S.I.
See
above,
n.
14.
93.
RA
7.142.
Personal
communication
from
Siddhinandan
Misra,
Benares,
March
I98S.
94.
An
early
example
is
Vajasaneyi
Samhita
4o.IS:
"Now
my
breath
is
the
mortal
wind,
my
body
is
bhasma,"
cited
in
David
Knipe,
"Night
of
the
Growing
Dead:
A
Cult
of
Virabhadra
in
Coastal
Andhra;'
in
Alf
Hiltebeitel,
ed.
Criminal
Gods
and
Demon
Devotees:
Essays
on
the
Guardians
of
Popular
Hinduism
(Albany:
SUNY
Press,
1989).
9S.
Maitri
6.IS·
96.
Malamoud,
"Village
et
foret
dans
l'ideologie
de
l'Inde
brahmanique;'
in
Cuire
Ie
monde,
p.
102;
and
Kapani,
Notion
de
sa'f!lSkara,
vol.
I,
p.
60
n.
34,
citing
Satapatha
BrahmaTJa
6.2.2.6;
6.3.1.1.;
and
6.S.3.I.
97.
Gopicand's
statement
(in
Temple,
Legends
of
the
Panjab,
vol.
2,
p.
48
[legend
no.
18,
vv.
499-Soo)
reads
kacha
bartan
hove
jidhar
phere
phir
jae/ham
to
jogi
hue
gurU
ne
die
pakae.
Cf.
Svetafvatara
(2.12),
which
states
that
a
body
fired
by
yoga
(yogagni7IJ
maya7IJ
fariram)
cannot
be
reached
by
either
sickness,
aging,
or
death.
Whence
also
the
invocation
to
Agni
and
the
gods,
"May
we
be
well
cooked!":
RV
9.83-1.
Cf.
Siva
Samhita,
2.32-34;
and
Yogabija
34-3S,
SI,
76,
which
distinguishes
between
a
body
that
is
"cooked"
or
"fired"
(pakva)
by
yoga
and
one
that
is
not
(apakva);
and
evokes
a
"seven-dhiitu
body
fired
in
the
fire
of
yoga."
98.
Here
we
are
paraphrasing
the
formulation
of
Benjamin
Walker,
Hindu
World,
s.v.
"ashes;'
99.
On
the
Pasupatas,
see
Lorenzen,
"Saivism:
Pasupatas;'
in
Encyclopedia
of
Rei
gion,
vol.
13,
p.
18.
On
vibhuti,
Monier-Williams,
Sanskrit-English
Dictionary,
S.v.
"vibhiiti;'
On
the
consumption
of
ashes
as
a
component
of
see
Manu
Sm1Ji
6.2S,
38.
IOO.
Walker,
Hindu
World,
s.v.
"ashes;'
That
is,
Siva
ejaculated
at
the
sight
of
Parvati,
in
which
case
the
combination
of
elements
which
Siva
smeared
over
his
body
evokes
those
of
the
amaroli
mudra.
IOI.
Mahabharata
3.8I.98-rr8;
9.37.34-So;
Skanda
PuraTJa
S.2.2.2-37;
Padma
PuraTJa
I.27.1-1S;
S.18.I32;
Vamana
PuraTJa
17.1-22.
A
brief
Mahabharata

5
00
Notes
to
Chapter
Nine
(13.17.92)
reference
to
the
same
myth
has
Siva
calling
himself
bhasmabhiUa,
"made
of
ashes":
O'Flaherty,
Siva,
p.
245.
102.
Brahmiif!qa
Puriif!a
1.2.27.106b,
108ab,
109b,
Il3ab,
12Ia,
123a,
124b.
103.
Kavya
Usanas's
poetic
powers
are
hymned
in
RV
9.87.3;
a
Brahmanic
myth
of
his
rivalry
with
Indra
and
the
gods
is
found
in
Jaiminrya
Briihmaf!a
I.
I2
5-
2
7.
See
O'Flaherty,
Tales
of
Sex
and
Violence,
pp.
87-90.
104.
Georges
Dumezil,
My
the
et
epopee,
vol.
2,
part
2,
"Entre
les
dieux
et
les
demons:
un
sorcier;'
pp.
161-66;
197-205,
208.
The
myth
is
found
in
ata
1.71.2-1.72.25.
105.
Dumezil,
My
the
et
epopee,
2:200-4.
106.
On
the
alternation
between
kavi
and
Kavya
Usanas's
name,
see
Dumezil,
My
the
et
epopee,
vol.
2,
part
2,
pp.
148-56,204.
On
the
incantatory
element
in
Vedic
healing,
see
Zysk,
Religious
Healing,
pp.
8
and
241,
citing
Sayal.1a's
commentary
to
Atharva
Veda
4.2.6.
It
should
be
recalled
here
that
"magical
alchemy"
was
an
affair
of
Asuras:
see
above,
chap.
3,
nn.
35-40.
On
the
alchemical
kavi
and
the
medical
kaviriij,
see
above,
chap.
I,
nn.
49-50;
below,
chap.
10,
sec.
5.
107.
Knipe,
"Night;'
in
Hiltebeitel,
Criminal
Gods,
pp.
149-50.
In
the
Punjabi
Hills
cults
of
the
Seven
Sisters,
the
term
pif!qi
is
applied
to
"a
lump
of
stone,
what
resembling
a
Siva-linga"
that
are
manifestations
of
the
Goddess
herself:
Erndl,
Victory
to
the
Mother,
p.
66.
An
extensive
discussion
of
the
term
pi1!qa
is
found
in
Kapani,
Notion
de
san.zskiira,
vol.
I,
pp.
129-37.
108.
See
above,
chap.
7,
n.
98
on
the
-oli
suffix;
and
chap.
8,
n.
194,
on
the
relationship
between
the
Naga
suborders
of
the
Dasnami
sects
and
the
Nath
pradiiya.
On
ashen
goliis
carried
by
the
former,
see
Sadananda
Giri,
Society
and
yiisin:
A
History
of
the
Dafaniimi
Sannyiisins
(Benares:
n.p.,
1976),
p.
26.
109.
The
alchemical
texts
generally
keep
the
reading
gu!ikii;
however,
see
RA
12.330
for
gulikii.
See
Monier-Williams,
Sanskrit-English
Dictionary,
s.v.
"gu<ja."
IlO.
Pir
Premnath,
pp.
29,
61.
II
1.
pp.
29-34,
36,
41-46.
Throughout
his
account,
Premnath
identifies
Vicarnath
with
Bhartrhari.
The
Sri
Niith
Tirthiivali
of
Man
Singh
(v.
364)
relates
that
Bhartrhari
revived
a
dead
child
(whom
this
source
names
Siddha
nath)
in
a
cave
within
"Gorakh
Tilla"
which,
although
it
is
usually
identified
with
the
prestigious
Nath
Siddha
monastery
of
of
Sialkot
(Jhelum
dist.,
Punjab,
stan),
is
located
by
this
author
at
Pharphing,
in
the
Kathmandu
Valley
(an
A.D.
1393
inscription
at
this
site
states
that
sandals
were
established
there
by
Acintanatha;
Tibetan
traditions
identify
this
figure
with
Matsyendra:
chi,
introduction
to
Kaulajiiiinanirf}aya,
p.
23)!
Il2.
Levi,
Le
Nepal,
vol.
I,
pp.
351,
372
citing
the
Buddha
Puriif!a;
and
Dvivedi,
Niith
Sampradiiy,
p.
47,
citing
the
YSA.
This
latter
account,
which
includes
the

5
01
Notes
to
Chapter
Nine
detail
concerning
milk
and
menses,
is
adapted
into
Hindi
in
Gautam,
Sri
niith
Caritra,
p.
6.
A
Punjabi
variant
is
briefly
recounted
in
Rose,
Glossary,
p.
393.
Another
version
of
the
same
account,
from
the
Tahqfqiit-i-Ciftf,
is
cited
in
Briggs,
Gorakhniith,
pp.
182-83.
NSC
(p.
49)
gives
a
north
Indian
version
of
this
legend.
I
13.
These
specially
prepared
ashes
are
in
fact
twice
calcinated,
by
virtue
of
which
they
take
on
their
distinctive
snowy-white
color.
On
this
process,
see
Bedi,
Sadhus,
pp.
78-79.
II4.
Briggs,
Gorakhniith,
p.
21.
The
present-day
Gorakhnath
temple
complex
of
Gorakhpur
houses
both
an
eternal
flame
(akhaTJq
jyott)
and
an
eternal
dhiinf
khaTJq
dhiina).
115.
On
Gorakh's
initiation,
see
Dvivedi,
Niith
Sampradiiy,
p.
19.
On
Carpati's
conception
from
Gorakh's
langoti
water
and
Gaga's
conception
from
ashes
given
by
Gorakh
to
his
mother,
see
NSC,
pp.
193,256.
Gorakh
initiates
Para!}
Bhagat
with
ashes:
Temple,
Legends,
2:445-46.
II6.
Temple,
Legends,
2:436-37;
William
Crooke,
''A
Version
of
the
Guga
end;'
Indian
Antiquary
24
(1895),
pp.
52-53;
Gautam,
Sri
Gorakhniith
Caritra,
p.
106;
NSC,
p.
276.
II7.
Rose,
Glossary,
vol.
2,
pp.
390-2;
Srivastav,
ed.,
"Gorakh"
Vife{iink,
p.
90.
On
the
calcinating
breath
of
the
cosmic
serpents,
see
Temple,
Legends,
vol.
I,
p.
177
(legend
no.
6
["Guru
Gagga"],
v.
641).
118.
Above,
chap.
8,
sec.
4.
II9.
HYP
1.27,
48;
2.66;
3.III,
lIS;
4.10,
II,
19.
Somananda,
in
his
vijiiiina,
uses
the
term
utthiipana
(vv.
12-13)
for
the
act
of
raising
the
kUTJ4alinf;
and
bodhana
(vv.
14-15)
for
the
subsequent
act
of
causing
the
kUTJqalinf
to
pierce
the
granthis
of
Brahma,
Rudra,
and
enter
into
Isvara,
who
is
found
between
the
eyebrows,
and
finally
into
Sadasiva,
via
the
brahmadviira:
Silburn,
KUTJqalinf,
p.
I
13.
120.
Padoux,
Viic,
pp.
86-121
(especially
p.
87,
citing
Siirada
Tilaka
1.7-8)
scribes
this
interaction
at
length.
See
Gonda,
Medieval,
p.
186
(citing
gama,
Kriyapada
1.2);
and
Silburn,
KuTJqalinf,
p.
3
for
alternative
terminology.
121.
HT,
pp.
174,
177.
On
the
Kauliivalfnir7Jaya
of
Jfiananandagiri
harp.sa,
see
HTSL,
p.
144.
For
a
discussion
of
the
related
term
nirodhinf
in
the
tric
practice
of
chapter
2 I
of
the
pre-loth
c.
Netra
Tantra,
see
Padoux,
Viic,
pp.
103-4.
Suppression
(nirodha)
is
used
as
a
synonym
for
priiTJiiyiima
in
HYP
2.2
and
Gorakh
Biinf
Sabadi
82,
92.
122.
Lilian
Silburn,
"Le
vide,
Ie
rien,
l'abime;'
in
Le
Vide:
Experience
spirituelle
(Paris:
Hermes,
1969),
pp.
30-33.
This
technique,
also
known
to
Mahayana
dhism,
was
transmitted
via
China
to
the
Japanese
Zen
masters,
where
it
took
the
form
of
the
koan.
123.
RA
10.
I I :
jiiraTJiid
bandhanan.z
bhavet.

Notes
to
Chapter
Nine
124.
RA
11.50-54.
125.
RA
I
I.
12:
grasa'll!
f!!:h,,!a
mama
prabho.
126.
On
the
successive
absorption
by
mercury
of
six
times
its
mass
of
mica,
see
RA
I!.
70-73.
More
recent
sources
(Rasacintama,,!i
5.73)
suggest
that
sulfur
should
be
used
before
mica
in
this
process:
Misra,
Ayurvedfya,
p.
243.
In
modern
practice,
sulfur,
rather
than
mica,
is
used:
Ray,
History,
vol.
2,
pp.
xliii-xliv;
and
Dash,
chemy,
p.
100.
It
should
be
noted
here
that
mercury
has
six
times
the
atomic
weight
of
sulfur
and
that
synthetic
cinnabar
is
composed
of
84
%
mercury
and
16%
sulfur:
personal
communication
from
Damodar
Joshi,
Benares,
March
1985.
127.
RA
11.98-106.
128.
Personal
communication
from
Damodar
Joshi,
Benares,
August
1984.
Cf.
Dash,
Alchemy,
p.
100.
129.
Gorakh
Bani
SabadI
252a.
Cf.
SabadI
13b,
in
which
the
yogin
is
enjoined
to
absorb
(jaranam)
[his
mind]
in
[the
words
issuing
from]
his
guru's
mouth.
130.
This
practice,
dramatized
in
the
legend
ofMastnath
(Sankarnath,
Sri
nath
Carit,
pp.
109-10),
has
for
its
outward
correlate
the
playing
of
the
singnad,
the
antelope's
horn
worn
by
Nath
Siddhas,
which
is
made
to
emit
a
(barely
ible)
sound
by
blowing:
Veronique
Bouillier,
"La
caste
sectaire
des
Kanpha!a
JOgI
dans
Ie
royaume
du
Nepal:
l'exemple
de
Gorkha;'
in
Bulletin
de
I'Ecoie
Frant;aise
d'Extreme-Orient
75
(19
86
),
p.
147·
13
1.
Gorakhnath
mentions
(Gorakh
Bani,
SabadI
85)
the
anahat
bandh,
a
ful
lock
presumably
effected
at
the
level
of
the
heart,
by
which
the
yogin
is
dered
invulnerable.
132.
HYP
4.85-86.
133.
HYP
4.100.
134.
baddha111
vimuktacaiicalya111
nadagandhakajaraJ].atl
manaJ:!
paradam
apnoti
niralambakhyakhe
'!anam.
135.
RRS
lq8.
136.
HYP
1.17,27.
137.
A
matra
(4
seconds)
is
defined
as
the
time
it
takes
for
a
sleeping
man
to
breathe
in
and
out
once:
six
of
these
are
a
pala
(Yogacintama,,!i,
cited
by
nanda,
in
his
commentary
to
HYP
2.12).
Alternatively,
it
is
the
time
it
takes
to
circle
the
knee
three
times
with
the
palm
of
the
hand,
and
then
snap
one's
fingers
(loc.
cit.,
citing
Yiijfiavalkya
Smrtt).
Geometric
progressions
of
hathayogic
palas
are
found
in
Amanaska
Yoga
1.50-98;
the
relation
between
temporal
duration
and
the
successive
stages
of
Pataiijala
yoga
are
also
described
in
Brahmananda's
tary
to
HYP
2.12.
See
below,
chap.
10,
nn.
57-58.
138.
RA
18.56-60.

5
0
3
Notes
to
Chapter
Nine
139.
Maitri
6.28;
Gorakh
Bani
Sabadl33,
215.
140.
Khakhar,
"History,"
p.
49.
141.
Mircea
Eliade,
Shamanism,
Archaic
Techniques
of
Ecstasy,
tr.
Willard
R.
Trask
(Princeton:
Princeton
University
Press,
1972).
142.
Although
most
traditions
make
Goplcand
a
king
in
Bengal,
the
oldest
censions
of
his
song
cycle
appear
to
be
from
Nepal: Mukherji,
Gopicandra
Nafaka,
p.
xliv.
143.
Legend
cycles
ofJalandhara
(or
and
Goplcand
are
found
in
Bengal
(Govindacandrer
Gan,
summarized
in
Dvivedi,
Nath
Sampraday,
pp.
184-86),
the
Punjab
(summarized
in
Rose,
Glossary,
p.
395,
and
Temple,
Legends,
2:1-71
[legend
18]);
and
Rajasthan
(Gold,
Carnival,
pp.
159-310).
A
Marwari
recension
is
the
icand
ka
Akhyan,
ed.
Sridhara
Sivalal
(Bombay:
Jnan
Sagar,
1890).
The
Bengali
Goplcand
cycle
intersects
that
of
Gorakh's
rescue
of
Matsyendra
from
the
Plantain
Forest,
in
the
trilogy
comprising
of
Vtjaya,
Gopicandrer
Gan,
and
ATfila
aTfa:
Mukherji,
Gopicandra
Nafaka,
p.
xxxvi.
Three
banIs,
entitled
Gopicand
ji
ki
badl,
Raja
RanI
Sa1l!bad,
and
Rag
Ramagri,
offer
fragmentary
accounts
of
the
cand
legend:
Dvivedi,
Nath
Siddha1l!,
pp.
6-rr
(vv.47-I25).
144.
Kablr,
in
one
of
his
Sakhis
(4-8),
refers
to
the
Ketakl
(vernacular
kevm:a;
Latin
Pandarnus
odoratissimus),
a
fragrant
shrub
whose
creamy
colored
flowers
tract
bees:
Vaudeville,
KabIr,
p.
179
and
n.
7.
145.
The
motif
is
an
archaic
one,
going
back
at
least
as
far
as
the
BrahmaTfa
(6.1-2,
translated
in
O'Flaherty,
Hindu
Myths,
p.
3
I).
146.
Grierson,
"The
Song
of
Manik
Candra;'
Journal
of
the
Royal
Asiatic
Society
of
Bengal
47
(1878),
no.
3,
pt.
I,
p.
218,
stipulates
that
she
survived
this
ordeal
by
taking
the
form
of
a
mustard
seed
(siddhartha).
147.
Gopicandrer
Pancall,
pp.
366-69;
Govinda-candra-glta,
pp.
71-73;
candrer
Gan,
Bujhan
KhaTfqa,
pp.
87-130,
summarized
in
Dasgupta,
Obscure,
p.
226.
148.
RA
18.228.
149.
Temple,
Legends,
2:23,
cited
in
Briggs,
Gorakhnath,
p.
194.
NSC
(p.
210)
maintains
that
these
effigies
were
made
of
the
seven
metals
(sapta-dhatu);
other
Bengali
accounts
say
all
three
are
made
of
gold
(Mukherji,
Gopicandra
Nafaka,
p.
xli).
The
Bengali
Gopicandrer
Glt
says
merely
that
Kanha-pa
made
three
Goplcand
effigies:
Dvivedi,
Nath
Sampraday,
p.
186.
150.
Another
version,
from
the
Punjab,
states
that
Gorakh
created
a
man
from
a
blanket,
who
called
himself
"Goplcand"
when
Jalandharlpa
asked
him
who
he
was.
The
angry
yogin
reduced
him
to
ashes
seven
times,
after
which
the
real
cand
was
brought
forward.
Jalandharlpa
then
declared
that
since
he
had
not
been
consumed
by
fire,
he
should
become
immortal:
Rose,
Glossary,
p.
395.
Cf.
the

5
0
4
Notes
to
Chapter
Nine
Marwari
version,
which
states
that
Jalandhara
reduced
seven
Goplcand
effigies
to
ashes,
after
which he
declared
his
disciple
immortal:
Sivalal,
Gopicand
ka
Akhyan,
pp.
33-35·
151.
Gorakh
Bani
Pad
34.5,
glossed
in
Srivastav,
ed.,
"Gorakh
Bani"
pp.
282-83.
Alternatively,
he
uses
magic
to
restore
these
limbs,
which
his
stepmother
had
cut
off
(see
below,
for
an
identical
motif,
in
the
legend
of
Pural).
Bhagat):
Briggs,
Gorakhnath,
p.
191.
On
a
parallel,
from
the
Tibetan
Grub
thob,
see
above,
chap.
4,
n.
148.
152.
Gorakh
Bani,
Panc
Matra
2
la,
in
Srivastav,
ed.,
"Gorakh
Bani"
p.
392;
and
Barthwal,
Gorakh
Bani,
p.
221.
153.
Briggs,
Gorakhnath,
p.
197.
154.
Gautam,
Sri
Gorakhnath
Caritra,
pp.
14-16.
155·
Ibid.,
pp.
96-97.
156.
Ibid.,
pp.
59-62.
157.
Briggs,
Gorakhnath,
p.
72.
158.
Ibid.,
p.
187.
159.
The
principal
recensions
of
the
Pural).
Bhagat/Caurailginath
legend
are
those
found
in
Temple,
Legends,
vol.
2,
pp.
375-455
(no.
34);
Swynnerton,
Romantic
Tales,
pp.
411-41,
both
of
which
are
Punjabi;
and
the
twenty
opening
verses
of
the
Pra1J
Sankali
of
Caurailginath
(in
Dvivedi,
Nath
Siddhon;z,
pp.
19-20),
written
in
a
medieval
eastern
Rajasthani
dialect
(ibid.,
p.
16
of
the
preface).
It
is
also
recounted
by
JnaneSvara
in
his
YSA
(p.
372,
cited
in
Dvivedi,
Nath
Sampraday,
p.
177),
and
in
Gautam,
Sri
Gorakhnath
Caritra,
pp.
81-89.
160.
Asian
Mythologies,
S.v.
"Turkish
and
Mongolian
Shamanism;'
by
Jean-Paul
Roux;
idem.,
"Le
nom
du
chaman
dans
les
textes
turco-mongols,
Anthropos
53
(1958),
pp.
113-42;
Diane
M.
Coccari,
"The
Bir
Babas
of
Banaras
and
the
Deified
Dead;'
in
Hiltebeitel,
ed.,
Criminal
Gods,
p.
256;
and
William
Crooke,
Religion
and
Folklore
of
North
India
(London:
Oxford
University
Press,
1926),
p.
319.
Sialkot,
the
ancient
Sakala,
the
venue
of
the
Pural).
Bhagat
legend,
was
the
capital
of
the
central
Asian
HllI).as,
the
Ephthalite
Huns,
in
the
latter
half
of
the
first
millennium:
the
Punjabi
Ja!s,
of
which
Pural).
Bhagat
would
have
been
a
scion
(Briggs,
nath,
p.
239),
are
descended
from
this
people.
On
this,
see
White,
Myths
of
the
Man,
p.
120.
The
term
bhagat
is
employed
for
the
rasdhari
actors
whose
troupe
Gorakhnath
joins
to
release
Matsyendra
from
the
clutches
of
the
women
of
the
Plantain
Forest:
Rose,
Glossary,
p.
394
[n.].
161.
Pra1J
Sankali,
in
Dvivedi,
Nath
Siddhon;z,
p.
19
[=
v.
206].
On
the
Sailkhl
Salwan
alternation,
see
Temple,
Legends,
2:376,
378
[legend
34,
vv.
5,
28],
who
says
in
a
note
that
Sailkh
is
Salwan's
father.
Gautam,
Sri
Gorakhnath
Caritra
(p.
82)
calls
the
king
Sasailga
and
maintains
that
Caurailginath
was
born
from
Siva's
seed:
Sa-

5
0
5
Notes
to
Chapter
Nine
sanga
was
Caurangt's
surrogate
father.
The
Punjabi
legend
recounted
in
Temple
states
that
Pura!).
Bhagat
was
conceived
by
Acchran
"as
soon
as
the
Sun
saw
her"
(v.
93).
162.
This
he
does
in
spite
of
Acchran's
warning,
which
evokes
a
yogic
notion
of
the
body
already
discussed:
"There
are
nine
gates
to
the
city,
go
not
to
the
tenth,
The
tenth
is
the
palace
of
thy
stepmother,
N11I).an":
Temple,
Legends,
2:398
(vv.
265-66).
See
above,
chap.
8,
sec.
4.
163.
L11I).a,
who
is
said
in
Temple's
Punjabi
recension
of
this
legend
(Legends,
2:392
[v.
187])
to
be
of
the
Chamari
(currier)
subcaste,
is
widely
known
as
Lo!).a
(or
No!).a)
Chamari,
the
most
terrible
sorceress
of
north
India.
She
is
said
to
have
gained
her
powers
by
eating
the
corpse
of
Dhanvantari,
the
divine
founder
dian
medicine,
who
had
died
of
snakebite
at
the
fangs
of
the
great
niiga
Crooke,
Religion
and
Folklore,
p.
437.
Veiled
references
are
given
in
Temple,
Legends,
2:386
and
413
(vv.
II8-19,
441).
Curiously,
Salwan
is
himself
said
to
be
the
son
of
another
great
niiga,
Vasuki
(Basak)
in
another
version
of
this
legend:
Briggs,
Gorakhniith,
p.
184.
The
Jain
Prabandha
Cintiima1!i
gives
Nagarjuna
a
similar
gree:
see
above,
chap.
4,
n.
194.
No!).a
Chamari
is
said
to
have
belonged
to
an
Islamic
subdivision
of
the
Nath
sampradiiya,
that
of
the
Ismail
Jogis:
Rose,
Glossary,
P·39
6
.
164.
Temple,
Legends,
2:408
(vv.
383-86).
165.
Ibid.,
2:4II
(vv.418-19).
166.
Ibid.,
pp.
414-15
(vv.457-468).
16
7.
Ibid.,
p.
417
(vv.
498-502).
168.
Ibid.,
pp.
419-20
(vv.
517-33).
It
is
L11I).a's
maid,
Hlra
("Diamond"),
who
tests
the
blood.
It
will
be
recalled
that
Hlra
was
the
name
of
the
sorceress
who
enslaved
Goplcand
for
twelve
years:
see
above,
n.
149.
169.
Ibid.,
p.
422-23
(vv.
555-67).
The
well
is
so
described
in
Narharinath,
ed.,
Sriniithkathiisiira,
p.
18.
170.
Temple,
Legends,
p.
426
(v.
604).
Cf.
Kablr,
Siikhi
29.2
(in
Vaudeville,
Kabir,
p.
290),
quoted
above,
chap.
8,
n.
I
15.
171.
Temple,
Legends,
pp.
428-34
(vv.
630-701).
172.
Ibid.,
pp.
440-46
(vv.
774-846).
173·
Ibid.,
pp.
448-55
(vv.
875-956).
174.
See
above,
chap.
7,
nn.
82-83,
for
alchemical
allegory
in
the
Padmiivat.
175.
Both
smikha
and
[birwii}
I01!a
are
also
herbs
used
in
alchemical
operations:
KCM
fol.
I2a.9;
and
Padmiivat
310
[=
27.3].
176.
On
this
forest,
see
above,
chap.
8,
sec.
2d.
177.
This
would
parallel
such
Hindi
constructions
as
dayiilu,
from
dayii,
kindness
(thus
"kind");
or
krpiilu,
from
krpa,
"mercy"
(thus
"merciful").

5
06
Notes
to
Chapter
Nine
178.
Sachau,
Alberuni's
India,
vol.
I,
p.
192.
From
here,
the
story
takes
a
turn
and
becomes
an
account
of
the
sack
of
Va
lab
hI,
related
above:
see
chap.
4,
nn.
200-202.
179.
Sachau,
Alberuni's
India,
vol.
I,
pp.
191-92.
Such
traditions
have
remained
common
in
the
regions
of
the
Sind
and
Kacch,
on
the
western
fringe
of
India,
down
to
the
19th
c.:
Madhihassan,
Indian
Alchemy,
pp.
58-59.
180.
Gorakh
Biini,
Pad
6.1-5
in
Srivastav,
"Gorakh
Biini"
Vifefiiilk,
pp.
260-61.
181.
This
is
the
body
that
is
rejuvenated
through
its
calcination
in
the
fires
of
yoga:
cf.
Kablr,
Doha
46.64
(in
Vaudeville,
Kabir
Granthavali,
p.
70).
Cf.
Viikyiini
100,
cited
in
Silburn,
Ku,,!qalini,
p.
45:
"Give
thou
breath
to
the
bellows
even
as
doth
the
blacksmith.
Then
will
thine
iron
turn
to
gold
..
;'
The
Vedic
blacksmith's
bellows
are
fanned
with
birds'
wings:
Maurice
Winternitz,
A
History
of
Indian
Literature,
trans.
V.
Srinivasa
Sarma,
5
vols.
(Delhi:
Motilal
Banarsidass,
19
81
),
1:59·
182.
ra[tJti
kii
kiim
miise
ki
corfliterally
means
"the
work
[or
desire,
or
semen]
of
one
raft's
weight
[is]
the
theft
of
one
miifii's
weight!'
According
to
the
weights
and
measures
used
in
precious
metalworking,
8
ratis
(the
seed
of
Abrus
precatorius,
2'/2
grains,
121
milligrams)
equal
one
miifii
(lentil;
one-twelfth
of
a
tola).
Below,
in
verse
5,
the
unit
of
one
gadiyiinii
is
used:
one
gadiyiinii
equals
6
miifiis
and
therefore
48
ratis.
Kabir
makes
poetic
use
of
the
terms
ratti
and
tila
(sesame
seed,
another
unit
of
weight)
in
doha
35.7-8
(in
Vaudeville,
Kabir
Granthavali,
p.
56).
183.
Because
I
have
found
it
overly
"spiritualized"
(to
the
neglect
of
most
of
this
poem's
concrete
referents),
I
have
generally
avoided
the
fikii
provided
by
vastav
and
the
Nath
Siddha
editors
of
the
"Gorakh
Biini"
Vifefiiilk.
Here,
however,
I
find
their
commentary
useful:
the
grain
is
the
individual
soul,
into
which
the
universal
soul
(the
lentil's
weight)
has
emanated.
Gorakhnath,
who
has
stolen
his
way
into
the
universal
soul,
identifies
himself
with
it
and
dwells
within
it,
is
lost
in
it.
There
is,
however,
another
probable
reading
of
this
verse:
The
play
of
tions,
of
a
grain
acting
on
a
mass
eight
times
its
weight,
is
a
common
alchemical
phenomenon,
in
which
an
infinitesimal
quantity
of
perfected
mercury
can
mute
up
to
a
billion
times
its
weight
of
base
metals
into
gold.
184.
Cf.
HYP
4.56.
185.
Here,
the
triadic
void
is
the
trikufi,
the
three-crested
peak,
located
in
the
cranial
vault,
which
is
the
culminating
point
of
the
three
channels
[niiqis].
nately,
it
is
the
downturned
triangle
from
which
the
nectar
of
immortality
the
yogin
has
generated
drips
downward,
thereby
transforming
his
body.
At
this
point,
all
of
mundane
existence,
including
the
purelimpure
opposition,
has
been
transcended.
186.
Unmani
or
unmanii
is
a
transcendent
state
of
consciousness,
located
at
the
highest
level
of
the
subtle
body.
It
is
also
a
term
which
connotes
equanimity,
a
pure

5
0
7
Notes
to
Chapter
Ten
level
of
thought
which
is
sometimes
taken
to
be
the
homologue
of
samarasa.
The
gold
that
comes
in
(or
"permeates"),
by
its
very
nature
[sahaja],
refers
to
the
sistable
flow
of
refined
semen
realized
at
the
end
of
one's
hathayogic
practice
and
to
the
effects
of
the
alchemical
touchstone,
which
transmutes
all
it
touches
into
gold.
Chapter
Ten
1.
E.
M.
Forster,
The
Hill
of
De
vi
(Harmondsworth:
Penguin,
1965),
p.
88.
2.
In
particular,
it
is
the
ojas,
the
fluid
of
life
which
exists,
in
extremely
limited
quantity
in
the
heart,
that
is
to
be
restored.
See
above,
chap.
2,
n.
44;
and
charya,
Rasayana,
pp.
20-21.
3.
Gorakh
Bani
Pad
6;
13.1;
50.2;
Siv
BavanI
38.
4.
Gorakh
Bani
SabadI
60,
2II;
Pad
5.1;
15.1;
BhP
5.
260
;
5.297.
5.
See
above,
chap.
5,
n.
II3·
6.
Alchemical
and
other
uses
of
the
root
vedh
likely
remount
to
the
metallurgical
technique
of
amalgamation
of
mercury
with
gold
for
the
extraction
of
gold
from
the
ores
in
which
it
naturally
occurs.
The
earliestsuch
use
of
the
term
(rasaviddha)
is
found
in
the
Arthafastra
of
Kau!ilya
(2.12.2).
7.
On
this
relationship,
see,
for
example,
Brhadiira1Jyaka
Upani{ad
1.4.II;
habharata
12.72.9-12
and
13.8.21-22;
Manu
Smrti
8.37-39.
There
is
a
symmetry
between
the
relationship
and
that
obtaining
between
the
triyas
and
the
third
var1Ja,
the
vaisyas:
Satapatha
Brahma1Ja
12.7-3-8.
8.
Satapatha
Brahma1Ja
5-4+7-19.
9.
The
myth
is
related
in
Devibhagavata
Pura1Ja
7.17.45-7.18.58
and
Marka1Jqeya
Pura1Ja
7.1-69;
8.1-27°.
For
a
discussion
see
White,
Myths
of
the
Dog-Man,
pp.
80-86.
10.
The
Marka1Jqeya
Pura1Javersion
dates
from
the
3d-4th
c.
A.D.
11.
The
Ca1Jqa-Kaufika,
ed.
Sibani
Das
Gupta
(Calcutta:
The
Asiatic
Society,
19
62
).
12.
Ca1Jqakaufika
4.2
5ff.
13.
Ca1J4akaufika
4·30-31·
This
is
a
slightly
altered
version
of
the
old
Buddhist
set
of
eight
siddhis.
14·
Ca1Jqakaufika
4.32,34.
15.
M.
A.
Stein,
Kalha1Ja
S
Riijatararitgi1Jf,
Chronicle
of
the
Kings
of
Kashmir,
2
vols.
(London:
Constable,
1900;
reprint
Delhi:
Motilal
Banarsidass,
1979),
1:I02.
16.
This
is
the
third
and
final
regnal
period
of
Cakravarman.
He
had
also
ruled
in
A.D.
923-33
and
during
part
of
935:
Riijataranginf
5.288-92,
297-302.
17.
Kanha-pa
calls
himself
a
Kapalika
who
dances
with
a
J?ombl
(before
killing

5
08
Notes
to
Chapter
Ten
her)
in
Caryiipada
10
(in
Kvrerne,
Anthology,
p.
II3).
On
the
I;>ombI
as
portion
of
the
female
sexual
organ,
see
the
A.D.
1446
Bengali
commentary
to
the
Laghu
cakratantra,
reproduced
in
Shastri,
Catalogue,
vol
2,
p.
v.
18.
Ucchifta
CiirJqiill
("Outcaste-Leftover")
is
a
name
for
the
tantric
Goddess/
consort
in
a
number
of
traditions:
Apfel-Marglin,
Wives
of
the
God-King,
p.
240.
19.
Tod,
Annals
and
Antiquities,
2:
I
196.
See
above,
chap.
4,
n.
240.
20.
Tod,
Annals
and
Antiquities,
2:107.
This
is
portrayed
graphically
in
19th
c.
miniature
paintings,
found
in
miniatures
held
in
the
Jodhpur
Fort
Museum
as
well
as
murals
on
the
outer
walls
of
the
shrine
of
the
Mahamandir,
of
the
Marwar
king
Man
Singh
together
with
his
minister
"Jalandharanath:'
In
these
miniatures,
the
king
is
standing
or
pictured
in
a
subservient
position
to
his
Nath
Siddha,
who
is
seated,
in
conical
cap,
under
the
royal
parasol.
2
I.
Gorakhiiva11Jfiivall,
ed.
Yogi
N
arharinath
(Benares:
Rashtriya
Press,
1964),
p.
95
(in
Nepali):
duvai
hiit
thiipnu
bhayo
ra
uhi
hiitmii
dahi
chiidi
lau
fii
bhanda.
Cf.
araj
Pant,
Srl5
PrthivlniiriiyarJ
Sahko
Upadef
(Lalitpur:
n.p.,
n.d.),
pp.
545,
641-42.
This
episode
is
graphically
portrayed
in
a
painting
on
the
walls
of
the
Nath
Siddha
monastery
of
Caughera
(Srigau
district,
Dang,
Nepal):
personal
communication
from
Veronique
Bouillier,
Paris,
January
1993.
A
Hindi
translation
of
this
episode
is
found
in
Srivastav,
ed.,
"Gorakh"
Vifefiiilk,
p.
338.
The
crucial
phrase,
in
Hindi,
is
gorakhniithjl
ne
wahl
dahl
uskl
afijali
men.z
mukh
se
ulat
diyii
aur
kahii
ki
isko
khiio.
In
the
Hindi,
the
verb
ulatnii
means
both
"vomit"
and
"reverse;'
as
in
the
hathayogic
ulatii
siidhana.
This
latter
reading
would
imply
that
Gorakhnath
drew
the
yogurt
down
to
the
base
of
his
subtle
body
before
reversing
it
and
bringing
it
up
out
of
his
mouth.
22.
For
the
historical
reality
and
political
intrigue
behind
this
legend,
see
nique
Bouillier,
"The
King
and
His
YogI:
PrthivinarayaI).
Sah,
Bhagavantanath
and
the
Unification
of
Nepal
in
the
Eighteenth
Century,"
in
John
P.
Neelsen,
ed.,
der,
Caste
and
Power
in
South
Asia:
Social
Status
and
Mobility
in
a
Transitional
Society
(Delhi:
Munshiram
Manoharlal,
1991),
pp.
1-21.
23.
Sachau,
Alberuni's
India,
vol
I,
p.
180.
24.
Stern,
"Le
temple
d'Ekliilgji;'
nn.
8,
19.
This
detail
of
Bappa
Rawal's
tion
is
not
found
in
the
15th
c.
Sri
Ekaliilga
Miihiitmya.
It
is,
however,
related
in
Tod,AnnalsandAntiquities,
vol.
I,
pp.
264-65.
See
above,
chap.
4,
nn.
226-27.
25.
Mujtaba
and
Shah,
"Taming
of
the
Serpent;'
pp.
83-84.
26.
Abhinavagupta's
discussions
of
the
various
vedha
dlkfiis
are
found
in
TA
29.236-75.
A
partial
English translation
of
the
description
of
vedha-dlkfii
is
found
in
Silburn,
KUrJqalinf,
pp.
91-103;
a
full
Italian
translation
is
in
Raineiro
Gnoli,
Luce
delle
sacre
scritture
(Tantriiloka)
(Torino:
Unione
Tipografico-Editrice
Torinese,
1972),
pp.
7
08
-
12
.

5
0
9
Notes
to
Chapter
Ten
27·
KuliiNfava
Tantra,
14.62-68,78-79.
28.
Siirada
Tilaka
5.128-41.
An
English translation
of
this
passage
is
found
in
HT,
pp.
86-87.
29.
Samhitii,
vol.
I,
ed.
Janardana
Pandeya.
The
initiation
is
called
vedhavati
in
14.251-52
and
loosely
described
in
14.254-74.
This
Sakta
text
also
calls
itself
the
Kiidibheda
Tantra:
HTSL,
p.
55
and
n.
92.
30.
TA
29.239-40,
citing
the
Gahvara
Tantra.
31.
Siirada
Tilaka
5.138b:
tam
punarguruvaktre
tu
yojayed.
See
also
above,
chap.
7,
n.
94;
and
chap.
8,
nn.
213-15.
32.
TA
29.271.
33.
Siirada
Tilaka
5.140.
34·
Silburn,
Ku,,!qalini,
p.
95·
35.
Tucci,
"Animadversiones
Indicae;'
pp.
138,
154:
vaktrelp
vaktrarp.
dattva
tadhrdi
dhyanamukhamapurya
vajrabhrta
krtva
muhe
harp.
dei
mela
[mukhe
mukharp.
dehi,
me].
See
also
Snellgrove,
Indo-Tibetan
dhism,
vol.
I
pp.
254-62.
36.
Siirada
Tilaka
15.137b.
The
editor
suggests
two
readings-vidhuvakkriintare
and
of
which
makes
sense
and
which
I
amend
to
vaktriintare.
In
the
kaulaketu
rite
of
the
siddha
miirga,
the
guru's
mouth
is
said
to
be
"encased"
or
"interlocked"
(samputa)
in
or
with
that
of
his
disciple:
KM
(London,
Wellcome
MSS
no.
g50I)
fol.
35a.7-8.
37.
Yogaku,,!qali
7
1-72,
in
Varenne,
Upanishads
du
yoga,
p.
132.
These
verses
are
borrowed
directly
from
the
Kh
V:
the
Yogaku,,!qali
is
composed
of
the
seventy-five
verses
of
chap.
I
of
the
KhV,
together
with
164
"original"
verses:
Bouy,
Niith
Yogin,
p.
41
n.
157.
38.
Jonathan
Parry,
"Sacrificial
Death
and
the
Necrophagous
Ascetic;'
in
rice
Bloch
and
Jonathan
Parry,
eds.
Death
and
the
Regeneration
of
Life
(Cambridge:
Cambridge
University
Press,
1982,
p.
96,
citing
H.
W.
Barrow,
"On
Aghoris
and
Aghoripanthis;'
Journal
of
the
Anthropological
Society
of
Bombay
3
(1893),
p.
241.
Cf.
the
Hevajra
Tantra
(2.12)
description
of
a
secret
Indo-Tibetan
Buddhist
initiation
ritual,
in
which
the
initiate
is
enjoined
to
eat
the
semen
that
his
guru
has
shed
in
the
pudendum
of
a
"Wisdom
Maiden":
Snellgrove,
Indo-Tibetan
Buddhism,
vol.
I,
pp.
25
8
-59-
39.
KJfiN
18.22b-2
3C
(the
conclusion
of
its
chapter
on
initiation):
trarp.
siddhibhagyaJ:1
samanyathal
samanye
kathitarp.
kumbhe
trarp.
40.
I
am
grateful
to
Alexis
Sanderson
for
this
reference.
41.
rasendrel).a
yatha
viddhamayaJ:1
suvarl).atarp.
vrajet!
hyatma
sivatvarp.
labhate
priye:
Kulii17fava
Tantra
14.89.

5
10
Notes
to
Chapter
Ten
42.
Siidhanamiilii
(vol.
1,
p.
82
of
Bhattacharya's
edition);
TA
5.151;
kiifika
9
and
Biisava
Purii,,!a
A.38.87
(both
cited
in
Sadasiv
Balwant
Kulkarni,
ed.
and
Marathi
tr.,
Rasaratnasamucchaya,
2
vols.
[Kolhapur:
Sivaji
University,
1970,
1972],
vol.
1
[1970],
pp.
23-24);
Amanaska
Yoga
2.48.
43.
RA
17.164-65.
See
above,
chap.
7,
n.
21.
44.
rasafca
pavanafceti
karmayogo
dvidhii
mataq.
45.
The
"three
fruits"
are
the
fruits
of
three
varieties
of
myrobalan;
the
"three
hot
substances"
are
dry
ginger,
long
pepper,
and
black
pepper;
"rock
water"
is
a
naturally
occurring
mineral
acid.
46.
RA
12.331-37.
47.
As
a
unit
of
weight,
one
pala
equals
eight
tolas
(RA
10.34b).
A
tola
is
slightly
more
than
ten
grams.
Therefore
a
pala
is
82.624
grams,
or
about
three
ounces.
This
value
of
the
pala
is
calculated
from
equivalents
given
in
RA
10.32-34.
Other
alchemical
sources
yield
different
equivalents.
48.
Other
alchemical
texts
make
the
same
claim.
See
for
example
BhP
5.255,
7.
22
4.
49.
Amanaska
Yoga
1.50--98,
on
tiiraka
yoga.
Cf.
Srivastav,
"Gorak{a"
Vife{iiilk,
P·15
2
Ł
50.
As
a
measure
of
time,
one
pala
equals
one
sixtieth
of
a
ghatikii
of
four
minutes,
i.e.,
twenty-four
seconds.
51.
This
ordering
respects
the
hierarchy
of
the
five
elements,
with
their
sponding
senses.
52.
The
powers
acquired
between
days
fourteen
and
twenty-eight
correspond
to
the
eight
classical
Hindu
siddhis.
53.
This
is
Intellect,
the
second
tattva
or
metaphysical
category,
according
to
Samkhyan
thought.
Puru{a,
the
universal
principle
alone,
is
higher
than
this.
54.
I
have
arrived
at
this
measure
of
mass
by
extrapolating
data
from
the
vata
Purii,,!a
(3.11.5-6)
and
RA
IO.32-33a.
According
to
the
former
source,
two
paramii"!us
make
one
a"!u,
three
a"!us
constitute
a
trasare"!u
(or
trisare,,!u),
and
three
trasare"!us
equal
one
tru#
("mote"
-and
one
hundred
trutis
equal
one
vedha!);
cording
to
the
latter,
six
trutis
equal
one
lik{a
("nit"),
six
lik{as
one
yuka
("louse"),
sixyukas
one
rajas
("pollen
grain"),
and
six
rajases
one
sar{apa
(one
mustard
grain),
which
has
the
mass
of
approximately
0.004
grams.
55·
Bhiigavata
Purii,,!a
3.
1
1
4-
56.
Blaise
Pascal,
Les
Pensees
sur
la
religion
et
sur
quelques
autres
sujets
(Paris:
tions
du
Luxembourg,
1951),
pp.
134-39.
Douglas
Adams,
The
Restaurant
at
the
End
of
the
Universe
(New
York:
Ballantine
Books,
1995).
A
Hindu
equivalent
of
this
"restaurant"
is
the
cosmological
construct
called
Lokaloka
("World/non-World"),
located
at
the
outermost
edge
of
the
disk
of
the
earth,
within
the
cosmic
Egg
of

Notes
to
Chapter
Ten
Brahma.
On
this,
see
O'Flaherty,
Dreams,
pp.
204-5;
and
Malamoud,
ies
prescriptives;'
pp.
307-17.
57.
For
definitions
of
this
temporal
unit,
see
above,
chap.
3,
n.
Il2,
and
chap.
9,
n.
137·
58.
Bhagavata
Pura7fa
3.
1
1.9-
12
,
16-22,
32.
59.
For
the
tantric
perspective
on
breath
as
the
basis
for
all
time
reckoning,
see
Abhinavagupta,
Tantrasara,
chap.
6
(pp.
46-57
of
The
Tantrasara
of
Abhinavagupta,
ed.
with
notes
by
Mukunda
Ram
Sastri
[reprint
ed.
Delhi:
Bani
Prakashan,
1982].)
60.
For
summaries
of
Gorakhnath's
metaphysics,
see
Dvivedi,
Nath
Sampraday,
pp.
114-26;
and
Aksaya
Kumar
Banerjea,
Philosophy
of
Gorakhnath
with
Vacana-Sangraha,
2d
ed.
(Delhi:
Motilal
Banarsidass,
1983).
61.
This
notion
is
particularly
transparent
in
Jiianakarika
(2.2b-4b),
a
text
tributed
to
Matsyendra
(in
Bagchi,
KJiiN,
p.
116).
Cf.
Jean-Paul
Sartre,
Being
and
Nothingness,
trans.
with
an
introduction
by
Hazel
E.
Barnes
(New
York:
ton
Square
Press,
1972),
p.
56:
"Nothingness
lies
coiled
in
the
heart
of
being-like
a
worm."
62.
Gorakh
Bani
Gyan
Tilak
27-28,
in
Srivastav,
"Gorakh
Banf"
Vife{ank,
p.
362.
63.
Mahavedha
is
treated
on
p.
47
of
this
edition,
whose
versification
is
totally
confused.
It
quite
identical
to
the
description
given
in
the
15th
c.
HYP
3.26-31.
For
a
similar
quantification,
this
time
of
the
progressive
angas
of
Patafijala yoga,
see
Brahmananda's
commentary
to
HYP
2.12.
64.
Cf.
Heimann's
(Facets,
pp.
95-100)
discussion
of
the
term
filnya,
which
has
many
of
the
same
valences
in
the
Sanskrit
language.
65.
See
the
early
Aitareya
Upani{ad
1.1-3.12,
especially
3.Il-12.
This
notion
carries
over
into
the
tantric
worldview,
in
which
the
endpoint
of
emanated
creation
is
the
adhaq-ku7ftJalinl,
who
enters
the
human
microcosm
through
the
fontanelle,
to
slumber
at
the
base
of
the
system
of
cakras,
until
she
is
awakened
by
yogic
tice.
On
this,
see
above,
chap.
8,
sec.
I.
66.
Stephen
W
Hawking,
A
Brief
History
of
Time:
From
the
Big
Bang
to
Black
Holes
(New
York:
Bantam
Books,
1988),
pp.
81-113,
especially
p.
89,
in
which
Hawking
discusses
the
improbability
of
black
holes
issuing
into
"wormholes"
in
another
part
of
space-time.
67.
RA
18.217-20.
68.
On
fabdavedha,
see
RA
12.70
and
RRS
8.95.
On
transmuting
with
bodily
secretions,
see
Yogatattva
Upani{ad
74,
and
RA
18.28.
69.
Gorakh
Bani
Sabadl
171a,
148:
nliijhar
arp.mlrp.ras
dal
bedhya
jai
/
...
vyand
rurp.
jog
vyand
hlrp.
bhog
vyand
hlrp.
harai
causarhi
rog
/
ya
bind
ka
kOl
bhev
/
so
apairp.
karata
apairp.
dev.
70.
For
a
discussion
of
these
texts,
see
above,
chap.
5,
sec.
2.

5
12
Notes
to
Chapter
Ten
71.
Gorakh
in
Mallik,
ed.,
SSp,
p.
74,
which
suggests
that
the
outer
piercing
of
the
ears
is
tantamount
to
the
inner
khecarf
mudrii.
Cf.
Briggs,
niith
p.
6,
citing
the
testimony
of
Naths
in
Hardwar.
72.
See
above,
chap.
8,
nn.
213-15.
73.
See
above,
n.
17.
74.
Here,
the
mythic
paradigm
for
the
biological
relationship
between
priestly
teacher
and
disciple
may
go
back
to
even
pre-Vedic
times.
See
above,
chap.
9,
n.
10
4.
75.
Here
I
am
following
the
alternative
reading
suggested
in
Tripathi's
edition
of
the
RA
(p.
221
n.
I).
in
place
of
which
makes
no
sense,
the
editor
suggests
the
reading
76.
KuliirTfava
Tantra
5.93.
Cf.
KJiiN
11.21-23.
77.
This
theme
is
especially
dear
to
the
KCM,
which
devotes
over
a
fourth
of
its
content
to
techniques
for
attracting
Siddha
maidens,
nymphs,
goddesses,
and
females
of
every
stripe
into
one's
embrace.
Similar
themes
are
the
frequent
subject
of
the
BhP:
see
above,
chap.
5,
n.
214-
78.
On
the
Asura
siddhi
of
rasa-rasiiyana,
see
above,
chap.
3,
nn.
34-40.
On
Kavya
Usanas,
see
above,
chap.
9,
llll.
103-6.
On
the
Bengali
kaviriijas,
see
Ro§u,
"Lietard
et
Cordier;'
pp.
lxxxiv-lxxxv.
79.
KJiiN
7·
2Ia
,
14·
18a
,
26b;
RA
12.337;
KCM
fo1.
24a.8;
Sataka
147b;
KhV(NNAMSS
no.
5-6568),
fo1.
9b,
line
3;
Siva
Samhitii
3.73-
80.
On
the
alternation
between
kavi
and
Kavya
Usanas's
name,
see
Dumezil,
My
the
et
epopee,
vol.
2,
part
2,
pp.
148-56,204.
On
the
incantatory
element
in
Vedic
healing,
see
Zysk,
Religious
Healing,
pp.
8,
241,
citing
commentary
to
arva
Veda
4.2.6.
Cf. Padoux,
Viic,
p.
6.
8
I.
The
archaic
cults
of
these
beings
go
back
to
at
least
the
first
centuries
of
the
common
era,
in
Hindu
and
Buddhist
traditions
alike.
The
Siddhas
and
Vidyadharas
are
listed
as
beings
"born
from
divine
wombs"
in
the
6th
c.
A.D.
Amarakofa
I.I.
I
I.
See
also
Jean
Przyluski,
"Les
Vidyaraja;'
Bulletin
de
l'Ecole
Franfaise
d'Extreme
Orient
23
(1923),
pp.
301-18;
J.
A.
van
Buitenen,
"The
Indian
Hero
as
Vidyadhara;'
in
Milton
Singer,
ed.,
Traditional
India:
Structure
and
Change
(Philadelphia,
American
Folklore
Society,
1959),
pp.
99-105;
and
David
Seyfort
Ruegg,
"Sur
les
rapports;'
p.
83.
As
Przyluski
notes
(p.
317),
these
demigods
figure
in
the
entourage
of
Siva
(Gorakh)
in
Hinduism,
and
Avalokitesvara
(Matsyendra)
in
Buddhism.
82.
KJiiN8.30a.
Italics
my
own.
In
his
Yogabfja
(63),
Gorakhnath
speaks
of
dhas
through
whose
grace
(krya)
one
becomes
a
yogin.
83.
KJiiN
9·1.
Yet,
one
is
enjoined
to
worship
the
same
three
figures
in
18.4b.
The
term
yoginf
is
employed
both
for
human
"witches"
or
"sorceresses"
with
whom
tantric
practitioners
had
commerce
and
for
the
goddesses
to
whom
they
offered

513
Notes
to
Chapter
Ten
their
vital
fluids,
through
them.
In
Matsyendra's
Akulavira
Tantra
(verse
78a
of
sion
''A''
on
p.
91
of
Bagchi's
edition
of
the
KJiiN),
it
is
said
that
"that
which
is
difficult
for
divine
Siddhas
is
easily
accessible
for
the
Yoginls."
84.
KJiiN
16'47-50;
24.4-12.
On
the
"Naths
of
the
Four
Ages:'
of
which
endra
is
the
fourth
in
this
tradition,
see
above,
chap.
5,
n.
93.
85.
Matsyendra's
recovery
of
the
Kaula
teachings
is
described
in
chap.
16
of
the
KJiiN:
see
above,
chap.
8,
sec.
2.
Matsyendra
appears
to
identify
himself
with
"Siddhanatha:'
who
revealed
the
akulavlra
doctrines
to
the
world:
Akulavlra
Tantra
(A),
vv.
I-za;
Akulavlra
Tantra
(B),
vv.
39b,
I42a.
Cf.
Jiiiinakiirikii
2.1
(in
Bagchi,
KJiiN,
pp.
94,
97,
I06,
rr6).
See
above,
chap.
3,
n.
137·
86.
KJiiN
14-40,
55b-56,
63b-65b.
87.
Piifupata
SiUras
1.33-38,
quoted
in
Gonda,
Medieval,
p.
218;
CaTf4akaufika
(ed.
Bhattacharya),
pp.
I09-IL
K?emIsvara's
Kapalika
alchemist
is
described
as
possessing
eight
siddhis
that
are
quite
identical
to
the
eight
Buddhist
"magical
ers":
see
above,
chap.
3,
n.
14.
88.
Har{acarita
3.
II
2-28.
89.
Ocean,
vol.
2,
p.
236.
Mahavratin
is
a
generic
term
for
a
Saiva
ascetic-a
Pasupata
or
Kapalika-referring
as
it
does
to
the
"great
vow"
(i.e.,
the
slaying
of
a
brahmin
followed
by
twelve
years
of
expiation)
undertaken
by
them
in
their
ation.
90.
RM
(Paris
MSS
no.
1222,
fol.
28b.8-IO;
29a.I;
Gondal
MSS
no.
861,
fol.
36b-4-9).
This
passage
is
clearly
an
expansion
on
RA
18.208-28,
discussed
above,
chap.
5,
nn.
163-66.
This
apotheosis
corresponds
quite
closely
to
the
goal
of
the
Pasupata,
as
described
in
the
Piifupata
Sutras:
"(one)
moves
unobstructed
where;
being
equipped
with
these
qualities
one
becomes
the
great
chief
of
the
gaTfas
of
Bhagavan
Mahadeva:'
See
above,
chap.
4,
n.
85.
91.
RA
7.58.
92.
MBhT7-J6.
93·
Siva
Samhitii
4-46;
5.
202
,
204.
94.
For
a
complete
account
of
this
technique,
as
it
is
found
in
the
RRS
and
other
alchemical
sources,
see
above,
chap.
7,
n.
109.
95.
AK
1.1.61.
96.
RA
12.252-58,
especially
12.254
and
257.
97.
RA
ILI04b-I06.
Cf.
12·337·
98.
RA
18.222b-227.
Cf.
Amanaska
Yoga
1.98.
99.
RA
18.228.
See
also
RA
11.107:
"There
where
the
gods
are
absorbed
[at
the
end
of
a
cosmic
eon],
there
too
the
Siddha
is
absorbed:'
In
fact,
three
half-verses
follow
RA
18.228.
Cf.
Yogablja
65,
which
states
whereas
the
three
great
gods
pass
away
with
the
universal
dissolution,
the
perfected
yogin
is
indestructible.

514
Notes
to
Chapter
Ten
100.
See
above,
chap.
I,
note
13.
101.
This
is
the
text
of
an
inscription
in
the
Visvanath
Temple
at
Benares
Hindu
University.
Cf.
RM
fol.
8a.8;
26a.2;
BhP
2.1;
and
RA
15.16:
"Eaten,
(mercury)
fects
the
destruction
of
aging
and
poverty."
102.
Caraka
Samhitii
6.1.78,80.
103.
Stein,
"Jardins
en
miniature;'
pp.
53-55,
58.
104.
Ibid.,
p.
57,
citing
the
Yun-ki
ts'i-tsein
(cited
in
P'ei-wen
yun-fou).
105.
Ibid.,
p.
58;
and
idem,
''Architecture
et
pensee
en
Extreme-Orient;'
Arts
Asiatiques
4:3
(1957),
pp.
17
6
,
18
5.
106.
Bhiigavata
Purii1Ja
5.16.7.
This
passage
describes
that
portion
of
Meru
which
rises
up
from
the
earth's
surface:
a
mirror
image
of
this
mountain
extends
below
the
surface
of
the
earth,
into
the
subterranean
worlds
of
the
demonic
beings
who
inhabit
them.
The
"lower
half"
of
Meru
is
oflesser
dimensions
than
the
upper
half,
according
to
the
Puranic
texts.
On
this,
see
Ali,
Geography,
p.
48.
107.
Ibid.,
p.
49;
and
1.
W.
Mabbett,
"The
Symbolism
of
Mount
Meru;'
History
of
Religions
23
(1983),
pp.
68,
71.
The
Bhiigavata
Purii1Ja
(5.24-4)
locates
the
Siddhas,
Vidyadharas,
and
Caral).as
at
the
highest
atmospheric
(but
not
heavenly)
level,
mediately
below
the
spheres
of
the
sun
and
Rahu,
the
"descending
node"
of
the
moon.
See
above,
chap.
I,
n.
II.
108.
Here,
I
concentrate
on
TA
8.119-38
(vol.
4,
pp.
1441-51),
with
the
mentary
of
Jayaratha,
who
indicates
selected
passages
borrowed
from
the
chanda
Tantra
(10.424-51).
On
the
millennarian
importance
of
this
latter
text
and
the
cult
of
Svacchanda
Bhairava
in
Kashmir,
see
Sanderson,
"Saivism:
Saivism
in
Kashmir;'
in
Encyclopedia
of
Religion,
vol.
13,
p.
16.
109.
Vajriiilka
in
TA
8.128,
but
vajriiilga
("Lightning-Limbed")
in
SvT
10-446,
which
adds
that
the
"lowest-level
Vidyadharas
are
travelers
on
the
winds
of
the
mind
)?'
IlO.
TA
8.133.
The
names
of
these
Siddhas
are
[goJrocanii,
aiijana,
and
bhasma.
Gorocana
is
in
fact
an
organic
dye
having
the
same
intense
yellow
color
as
orpiment
(auripigmentum).
Gorocana
is
made
from
the
urine
of
the
cow.
I I
1.
SvT
10.452.
"Love's
body"
is
a
siddhi
enjoyed
by
the
consummate
alchemist
(RA
12.366:
madana
iva
and
yogin
(see
above,
n.
53).
Il2.
See
above,
chap.
3,
n.
137,
and
chap.
8,
n.
68.
I I
3.
The
thirty-sixth
and
final
chapter
of
the
Tantrariija
Tantra
(pp.
I I
5-2
I
of
Woodroffe's
edition),
entitled
"The
Siddha;'
seems
to
second
this
account
of
the
Siddhas,
albeit
in
a
rather
tame
way
(p.
12
I):
"The
Siddha
has
prior
(to
death)
been
freed
from
(attachment
to)
the
body
...
and
whenever,
wherever,
and
howsoever
he
may
leave
the
body,
he
goes
to
the
Good
Path,
for
he
was
liberated
whilst
ing
(}ivanmukta):'

5
1
5
Notes
to
Chapter
Ten
114.
The
"Raivatacala
Mahatmya"
constitutes
chapters
ten
through
thirteen
of
the
Jain
Satruiijaya
Mahatmya
(translated
in
James
Burgess,
Report
on
the
Antiquities
ofKflthiawa4
and
Kacch,
Being
the
Result
of
the
Second
Season's
Operations
of
the
logical
Survey
of
Western
India,
I874-I875
[London:
India
Museum,
1876;
reprint
Delhi:
Indological
Book
House,
1971],
p.
157,
note).
See
above,
chap.
4,
n.
213
for
other
Jain
references
to
this
site.
I
15.
The
bulk
of
the
Matsya
PuraTfa
is
older
than
this;
the
praise
of
the
Narmada
River
region
in
which
Raivataka
is
mentioned
is
a
late
addition
made
by
a
Saiva
resident
of
Maharashtra:
Surinder
Mohan
Bharadvaj,
Hindu
Places
of
Pilgrimage
in
India
(A
Study
in
Cultural
Geography)
(Berkeley:
University
of
California
Press,
1973),
pp.
66-67;
R.
C.
Hazra,
Studies
in
the
Puranic
Records
on
Hindu
Rites
and
toms,
2d
ed.
(Delhi:
Motilal
Banarsidass,
1975),
p.
46;
S.
G.
Kantawala,
Cultural
History
from
the
Matsya
Purana
(Baroda:
M.S.
University,
1964),
appendix
III.
116.
Skanda
PuraTfa
7.2.1-15
(on
Girnar).
On
the
dating
of
this
Pural]a,
and
of
book
seven,
the
Prabhasa
Khal]9a
in
particular,
see
Hazra,
Puranic
Records,
p.
165.
117.
Watters,
On
Yuan-Chwang's
Travels,
vol.
2,
pp.
248-49;
Beal,
Su-yu-ki,
vol.
2,
p.
269.
Hsuan-tsang's
contemporary,
the
Indian
author
Bal]abha!!=ll,
describing
a
conclave
of
such
"rishis;'
names
the
Pasupatas:
Harfacarita
8.226.
118.
On
the
identification
of
Raivata
and
Gomanta,
see
Vettam
Mani,
PuraTfic
Encyclopedia
(Delhi:
Motilal
Banarsidass,
1975),
s.v.
"Gomanta
I."
This
is
the
first
English
edition,
a
translation
of
the
original
1964
Malayalam
edition.
119.
Mahiibharata
2·13.53
of
the
Bengali
(B
1m
.
2
_
5
)
and
Bombay
Government
lection
(D)
manuscripts
only.
The
critical
reading
is
Bhavanta.
Another
peak
tioned
in
the
Mahiibhiirata
has
also
been
identified
with
Girnar:
this
is
Ujjayanta,
which
the
epic
(3.86.18-20)
describes
as
one
of
the
holy
places
of
Saurashtra
(i.e.,
eastern
Gujarat).
The
Mahabharata
(2.42.8)
names,
without
describing
it,
a
taka
Hill,
which
it
also
locates
in
Gujarat.
The
site
has
also
been
called
Girinagara
and
Girinarayal]a,
of
which
Girnar
is
a
vernacularization.
120.
On
this
king,
one
of
the
earliest
mythic
devotees
of
Rudra-Siva,
and
his
use
of
mountain
caves,
see
Dumezil,
My
the
et
epopee,
vol.
2,
pp.
96-105.
12
I.
The
passage
concerning
Gomanta
is
found
only
in
the
Bombay
and
cutta
recensions
of
the
Hariva'l1}fa
(2.40,
entitled
"The
Climbing
of
Gomanta"
or
"The
Journey
to
Gomanta");
in
the
critical
edition,
it
forms
a
portion
of
appendix
17
and
all
of
appendix
18,
found
in
vol.
2,
pp.
92-98
(lines
380-5°7).
Cf.
Mani,
PuraTfic
Encyclopedia,
s.v.
"Gomanta
I."
122.
Hariva'l1}fa,
appendix
17,
lines
381-82,
386.
Girnar
is
a
cluster
of
peaks,
of
which
two
twin
crags,
today
identified
by
Hindus
as
Gorakh
and
Dattatreya,
are
by
far
the
highest.
Lines
390-9
I
state
that
and
Balarama
would
later
defeat
Jarasandha
at
that
site;
the
battle
is
drawn
in
line
487.

51
6
Notes
to
Epilogue
123.
Hariva11}fa,
appendix
18,
lines
448-49.
See
above,
n.
106,
citing
the
later
(post-6th
c.
A.D.)
Bhiigavata
Purii1!a
(5.24.4),
which
gives
a
similar
description
of
Mount
Meru.
124.
Burgess,
Report,
p.
159.
125.
Girnar
figures
prominently
in
both
the
13th
c.
YSA
and
the
early
19th
c.
Niitha
Caritra
of
Man
Singh,
which
devotes
no
less
than
fourteen
chapters
(1.2;
2.1-13)
to
the
site
and
in
particular
to
Goplcand's
travels
there.
126.
Grierson,
"The
Song
of
Manik
Candra;'
p.
209;
Temple,
Legends,
vol.
2,
P·375·
127.
Dasgupta,
Obscure,
p.
207;
and
Marie
Lecomte-Tilouine,
"Des
dieux
aux
sommets
(Nepal);'
in
Veronique
Bouillier
and
Gerard
Toffin,
eds.,
Classerles
Dieux?
Des
Pantheons
en
Asie
du
Sud
[Purtl{iirtha
15l(Paris:
EHESS,
1993),
pp.
153-72,
esp.
PP·159-
62
.
128.
Punjab
States
Gazetteer,
vol.
22A,
Chamba
State
with
Maps,
[904
(Lahore:
Civil
and
Military
Gazette
Press,
1910),
pp.
183-84.
129.
See
above,
chap.
4,
n.
156.
130.
The
Hindu
and
Jain
Vidyadharas
had
their
Buddhist
homologues
in
the
Vidyarajas:
Reugg,
"Sur
les
rapports;'
p.
83.
In
the
Mafijufri
Mulakalpa,
the
sattva
VajrapaI;li,
the
foremost
of
the
Vidyarajas,
is
iconographically
placed
to
the
left
of
Sakyamuni:
Snellgrove,
Buddhist
Himalaya,
p.
287.
I
have
noted
(chap.
3,
nn.
75-91)
Nagarjuna's
connection
with
Tara:
as
the
leader
of
the
Mahavidya
desses,
she
is
called
"Vidyarajiil":
Bhattacharya,
History,
p.
225.
Epilogue
1.
E.
M.
Forster,
The
Hill
of
De
vi
(Harmondsworth:
Penguin,
1963),
p.
65.
2.
See
above,
chap.
3,
n.
143.
3·
See
above,
chap.
4,
n.
15
6
.
4.
On
this
process
in
medieval
Europe,
see
Jacques
LeGoff,
Pour
un
autre
Moyen
Age,
Temps,
travail
et
culture
en
Occident:
[8
essais
(Paris:
Gallimard,
1977),
P·231.
5.
Personal
communication
from
Siddhinandan
Misra,
Benares,
March
1985.
6.
Personal
communication
from
Siddhinandan
Misra,
Benares,
March
1985.
A
similar
experiment,
in
which
the
production
of
gold
from
mercury
was
cated
by
a
recognized
authority,
C.
P.
N.
Singh,
is
documented
by
S.
N.
wal
in
the
6-12
November
1983
edition
of
Saptiihik
Hindustiin,
pp.
41-44.
7.
Sanjukta
Gupta,
"The
Ma1!4ala
as
an
Image
of
Man;'
in
Richard
Gombrich,
ed.,
Indian
Ritual
and
Its
Exegesis
(Delhi:
Oxford
University
Press,
19
88
),
p.
35.
8.
Paramahansa
Yogananda,
Autobiography
of
a
Yogi,
2d
Indian
ed.
(Bombay:
Jaico,
1975),
p.
7
0
.

5
1
7
Notes
to
Epilogue
9.
T.
R.
Anantharaman,
"Transformations-Metallurgical
and
Mental:'
Prof.
N.
P.
Gandhi
Memorial
Lecture,
Varanasi,
18
December
1973,
pp.
1-25.
10.
Personal
communication,
3
November
1984,
Kathmandu.
On
this,
see
also
Yogananda,
Autobiography,
p.
163.
11.
Personal
communications
from
Surya
Kumar
Yogi,
Bhilbara
(Rajasthan),
March
1985;
and
Narharinath
Yogi,
Kathmandu,
Nepal,
October
1984.
See
Kakar
(Shamans,
p.
182)
for
names
and
descriptions
of
a
number
of
similar
illustrious
figures.
12.
Trevor
Fishlock,
India
File
(London:
John
Murray,
1983;
reprint
Calcutta:
Rupa
and
Co.,
1984),
p.
36,
quoting
the
advertising
of
a
"sex
clinic."
13.
iayumanavar,
Va1J1Jam,
unpublished
translation
by
Swami
Sevananda.
14.
MBhT
2.5-6;
Sufruta
Samhitii
1.14.14-15;
but
see
6.15.32
for
a
figure
of
six
to
seven
days.
15.
According
to
both
the
medical
and
folk
traditions,
it
takes
forty
drops
of
blood
to
produce
one
drop
of
semen:
Carstairs,
The
Twice-Born,
pp.
83-84.
Cf.
SSP
1.73-
16.
Conception
joins
the
four
lower
mahiibhutas,
already
present
in
semen,
to
ether,
the
empty
space
of
the
female
womb.
Also
present
are
mind
and
karma,
attached
to
the
soul:
Dasgupta,
History,
2:302,
307.
17.
Caraka
Samhitii
4.2.11-12;
Siirilgadhara
Samhitii
1.6.12-13;
MBhT
2.13-14;
SSP
1.71.
When
semen
is
predominant,
the
fetus
is
male
and
spherical;
when
blood,
it
is
female
and
elliptical;
when
equal,
is
hermaphrodite
and
hemispherical:
Dasgupta,
History,
2:314.
In
alchemy,
similar
genders
are
assigned
to
diamonds
(vajras)
of
different
shapes:
RA
6.69-71.
18.
Gananath
Obeyesekere,
cited
in
Kakar,
Shamans,
p.
234.
On
the
myth
of
King
Moon,
see
above,
chap.
2,
nn.
38-40.
19.
In
one
of
his
mystic
poems
on
hathayogic
practice,
Gorakhnath
identifies
the
vulva
as
a
vampiress
and
tigress:
Gorakh
BiiniPad
48.1-3.
An
identical
sentiment
is
voiced
by
Mayana,
mother
of
the
Nath
Siddha
Gopicand,
in
Gopicandrer
Giin,
cited
in
Dasgupta,
Obscure,
p.
246
n.
1.
The
alchemical
RA
(18.103-6)
provides
a
mantra
by
which
the
practitioner
may
protect
his
semen,
mercury,
blood,
flesh,
and
bones
from
hordes
of
goddesses
and
succubi
who
would
trouble
his
dreams
and
suck
him
dry
in
the
night.
This
may
be
a
reference
to
early
kula
tantrism,
which
imagined
the
"extraction"
of
vital
fluids
from
within
the
body
by
yogin
is
and
siikinis,
who
would
in
turn
offer
the
same
to
Mahabhairava
enthroned
in
the
heart
erson,
"Purity,"
p.
213
n.
89,
citing
Netra
Tantra
20.1-40
and
other
sources).
See
above,
chap.
5,n.
84·
20.
Svoboda,
Aghora,
pp.
280-81.
On
ojas,
see
Dasgupta,
History
vol.
2,
p.
343
n.
2,
citing
Cakrapal).i's
commentary
to
Caraka
Samhitii
1.30.6.

5
18
Notes
to
Epilogue
2
I.
On
this
and
related
attitudes
as
rationales
for
the
practice
of
widow
burning,
see
the
masterful
work
of
Catherine
Weinberger-Thomas,
Cendres
d'immortalite:
la
cremation
des
veuves
en
Inde
(Paris:
Editions
du
Seuil,
1996;
translation
forthcoming,
University
of
Chicago
Press).
22.
This
claim
was
displayed
prominently
on
the
billboard
over
the
storefront
of
a
gupta
rog
clinic
in
the
Lanka
district
of
Benares
in
1985.
Recall
here
that
the
eighth
and
ultimate
limb
of
traditional
Ayurveda
is
vajfkara1!a,
sexual
therapy:
see
above,
chap.
2,
n.
46.
23.
Here
I
am
simply
summarizing
two
detailed
studies
by
Veronique
Bouillier:
"The
King
and
His
YogI:'
pp.
1-21;
and
"Growth
and
Decay
of
a
Kanpha!a
Yogi
Monastery
in
South-west
Nepal:'
The
Indian
Economic
and
Social
History
Review
28:2
(1991),
pp.
151-70,
especially
pp.
152-60.
24.
This
legend
forms
chapter
20
of
the
late
19th
c.
SrI
Mastnath
Carita
(Acts
of
the
Illustrious
Mastnath)
of
Sailkarnath
YOgI,
which
places
the
action
in
the
tified
city
of
Chittor,
in
southeastern
Rajasthan.
25.
Padmaja
Sharma,
Maharaja
Man
Singh
of
Jodhpur
and
His
Times
(18°3-1843
A.D.)
(Agra:
Shiva
Lal
Agarwala
&
Company,
1972),
pp.
ISS-56.
26.
Tod,
Annals
and
Antiquities,
vol.
2,
pp.
825-27.
The
most
complete
and
sightful
accounts
of
the
relations
between
Man
Singh
and
Ayas
Dev
Nath
and
his
successors
are
Sharma,
Maharaja
Man
Singh,
pp.
153-82;
and
Daniel
Gold,
"The
Instability
of
the
King:
Magical
Insanity
and
the
Yogi's
Power
in
the
Politics
of
Jodhpur,
18°3-1843:'
in
David
N.
Lorenzen,
ed.,
Bhakti
Religion
in
North
India:
Community
Identity
and
Political
Action
(Albany,
N.Y.:
SUNY
Press,
1995),
pp.
120-3
2
.
27.
Peter
van
der
Veer,
Gods
on
Earth:
The
Management
of
Religious
Experience
and
Identity
in
a
North
Indian
Pilgrimage
Centre,
London
School
of
Economics
graphs
on
Social
Anthropology,
59
(London:
Athlone,
1988).
28.
The
ascetic
sects
were,
by
the
1780s,
the
dominant
money-lending
and
property-owning
group
in
Allahabad,
Benares,
and
Mirzapur:
ibid.,
p.
134,
ing
C.
A.
Bayly,
Rulers,
Townsmen
and
Bazaars:
North
Indian
Society
in
the
Age
of
British
Expansion,
1770-1870
(Cambridge:
Cambridge
University
Press,
1983),
p.
143·
29.
David
Lorenzen,
"Warrior
Ascetics
in
Indian
History,"
Journal
of
the
Ameri-
can
Oriental
Society
98
(1978),
pp.
68-70'
30.
Dirk
H.
A.
Kolff,
Naukar,
Rajput
and
Sepoy:
The
Ethnohistory
of
the
Military
Labour
Market
in
Hindustan,
1450-1850
(Cambridge:
Cambridge
University
Press,
1990),
pp.
74-85:
"The
warrior-ascetic
in
song,
ballad,
and
legend."
31.
Ibid.,
pp.
76,
81.

5
1
9
Notes
to
Epilogue
32.
Tod,
Annals
and
Antiquities,
1:300;
and
2:298
ff.,
cited
in
Kolff,
p.
82.
Italics
my
own.
33.
George
A.
Grierson,
"Some
Bihari
Folk-Songs;'
JRAS
16
(1884),
p.
236,
cited
in
Kolff,
p.
77.
34.
Van
der
Veer,
Gods
on
Earth,
pp.
126-30,
176.
35.
Yubaraj
Ghimire,
"The
Rise
of
the
Sadhus;'
India
Today,
pp.
61-63.
A
graph
on
page
62
shows
Avedyanath
seated,
sixth
from
the
left,
with
the
other
eight
members
of
the
VHP
brain
trust.
See
also
Veronique
Bouillier,
"La
violence
des
non-violents,
ou
les
ascetes
au
combat;'
in
Denis
Vidal,
Gilles
Tarabout,
and
Eric
Meyer,
eds.,
Violences
et
non-violences
en
Inde
vol.
16)
(Paris:
Editions
de
I'EHESS,
1994),
pp.
2
13-43
and
especially
p.
233
for
a
historical
overview
of
this
phenomenon.
36.
Cf.
Van
der
Veer,
Gods
on
Earth,
p.
133:
''Ascetics
use
violence
on
their
own
bodies
to
acquire
power
over
the
microcosm
of
the
body
and
over
the
connected
macrocosm
of
nature,
and
they
use
violence
to
acquire
power
in
society."
3
7·
See
above,
chap.
4,
n.
204.
The
dire
and
irreversible
effects
of
a
Yogi's
curse
are
feared
throughout
India.
E.
M.
Forster
takes
a
different
view,
as
stated
in
the
epigraph
to
this
chapter.
38.
See
above,
chap.
3,
n.
6.
39.
Oman,
Cults,
"A
Group
of
Yogis,
One
Man
Enjoying
His
Churrus
Pipe;'
facing
p.
4;
"A
Party
of
Wandering
Yogis;'
facing
p.
29·
Cf.
pp.
7,
29.
40.
See
above,
chap.
4,
n.
220.
41.
rank
se
riiv riiv
se
rankii,
chinme'lJ!
karai'lJ!
nahi'lJ!
kuch
fankii:
Satikarnath,
Sri
Mastniith
Carita,
p.
108.
42.
Illustrious
Nath
Siddhas
are
inhumed
under
burial
tumuli
called
samiidhis
after
death:
see
above,
chap.
4,
n.
7
I;
and
chap.
9,
n.
113·
43.
The
most
common
form
of
greeting
between
Nath
Siddhas,
iidef
means
"[what
is
your]
command
[?]";
a
mystic
interpretation
holds
the
term
means
"Adi
[-nath]
is
Lord
[ifa]!'
44.
On
this
serpent-keeping
and
-charming
suborder
of
the
Nath
sampradiiya,
see
Briggs,
Gorakhnath,
pp.
59-61
(who
calls
them
Sepalas);
and
Rose,
Glossary,
vol.
2,
p.
409.
45.
Like
many
of
the
itinerant
Nath
suborders,
the
Sampelas
generally
live
by
begging
(and
by
snake
charming).
46.
See
above,
chap.
9,
n.
28,
for
this
Brahmanic
identification.
47·
See
above,
chapter
7,
part
3·
48.
"Om,
Victory
to
the
Lord
of
Animals!"
Pasupatinath,
located
in
eastern
Kathmandu,
is
the
national
shrine
of
Nepal.

52
0
Notes
to
Epilogue
49.
See
above,
chap.
9,
n.
I73,
for
this
identification.
50.
The
"wallet"
in
which
Nath
Siddhas
carry
their
numerous
paraphernalia.
The
jholl
is
the
Siddha's
magical
bag
of
tricks.
51.
See
above,
chap.
8,
n.
220.
52.
I
am
grateful
to
Bob
Ladd,
of
the
Department
of
Materials
Sciences at
the
University
of
Virginia,
for
carrying
out
electromicroscopic
spectroscopy
on
my
sample.

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MSS
no.
6-1636
7).
Reel
no.
A-9991
7.
A.D.
16
7
8
.
---,
IS
fols.
Kathmandu.
NNA.
Reel
no.
M-23Iro.
---,
17
fols.
Kathmandu.
Kaiser
Library
MSS
no.
316
(Yoga).
Reel
no.
C32/12.
--,
II
fols.
Kathmandu.
NNA
MSS
no.
4-1817
(Tantra
347).
Reel
no.
A-
128
9-9'
KriyiikiilafSUTfottara
Tantra,
14
fols.
Kathmandu.
NNA
MSS
no.
3-392
(Saivatantra
67).
Reel
no.
B25/p.
A.D.
1184.
--,88
fols.
Kathmandu.
NNAMSS
no.
5-4947.
Reel
no.
A1491z.
---,
88
fo1s.
Kathmandu.
Kaiser
Library
MSS
no.
297.
Reel
no.
C301r6.
Kubjikiimata.
London.
Wellcome
Institute
for
the
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of
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MSS
no.
g50!.
This
is
a
copy
ofNNA
MSS
no.
1-285
ka.
of
Ramaraja,
71
fo1s.
Kathmandu.
NNA
MSS
no.
4-2224
(Ayurveda
no.
199)
1
reel
no.
A1289/4
Mahiikiilatantrariijii.
Kathmandu.
Reel
no.
E-1358/7.93
fols.
in
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script.
This
is
the
same
work
as
the
Niithiibhyudayatantra,
referred
to
by
Bu-ston
in
his
History
of
Buddhism.
See
Chos-hbyung
of
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Mahiikiilayogafiistra,
13
fols.
NNA
MSS
no.
5-6568.
Reel
no.
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This
is
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manuscript
of
the
Khecari
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Itself
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This
work
is
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into
five
sections
(khaTfcfas),
which
appear
as
separate
manuscripts
and
edited
works.
They
are
the
(I)
Rasa;
(2)
Rasendra;
(3)
Vada;
(4)
Rasayana;
and
(5)
Mantra-kha.Q.4as.
The
Rasa,
Vada,
and
Rasayana-kha.Q.4as
have
been
edited;
the
Rasendra
and
Mantra-kha.Q.4as
only
exist
in
manuscript
form.
Rasa
KhaTfcfa,
68
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Kathmandu.
NNA.
Reel
no.
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99
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Kathmandu.
NNA.
Reel
no.
Hl08/I.
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134
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NNA.
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Siddha
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22
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NNAMSS
no.
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urveda
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no.
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49
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NNA.
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106
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MSS
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A.D.
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Erroneously
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the
title
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---,109
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A.D.
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!0O
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MSS
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81
fols.
(incomplete).
Bikaner.
ASL
MSS
no.
4260.
A.D.
1649.
Rasasindhu
129
fols.
Bikaner.
ASL
MSS
no.
4267.
A.D.
1564.
Rasiivatiira,
10
fols.
Bikaner.
ASL
MSS
no.
4269.
Rasendrakalpadruma
51
fols.
Bikaner.
ASL
MSS
no.
4280.
Rasendramangala
of
Nagarjuna,
45
fo1.
Bikaner.
ASL
MSS
no.
4281.
---,
39
fols.
Paris,
Bibliotheque
Nationale.
Fonds
Palmyr
Cordier.
MSS
no.
1222
(Sanscrit).
This
is
a
copy
of
ASL
MSS
no.
4281.
--,37
fo1.Jamnagar.
GAD
MSS
no.
862/34'
Rudrayiimalatantrapiiradakalpa,
144
fols.
Bikaner.
ASL
MSS
no.
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A.D.
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See
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the
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A
Short
Analysis.
3d
ed.
Madras:
Ganesh,
1971.
---.
Tantra
of
the
Great
Liberation.
London:
Luzac
&
Co.,
1913;
reprint
New
York:
Dover
Publications,
1972.
Wujastyk,
Dominik.
"An
Alchemical
Ghost:
The
Rasaratnakara
by
Nagarjuna."
Ambix
31:2
0uly
1984>=70-83.
---.
"Ravigupta
and
Vagbha!ll."
Bulletin
of
the
School
of
Oriental
and
African
ies
48:1
(1985>=74-78.
Yazdani,
G.,
ed.
The
Early
History
of
the
Deccan.
2
vols.
London:
Oxford
University
Press,
1960-61.
Zbavitel,
Dusan.
Bengali
Literature.
History
of
Indian
Literature,
vol.
9,
fasc.
3.
Leiden:
Brill,
1976.
Zimmerman,
Francis.
Le
discours
des
remedes
au
pays
des
epices:
Enquete
sur
la
medecine
hindoue.
Paris:
Payot,
1989.
---.
Le
cycle
des
saisons
et
Ie
principe
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fiirtha
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(English
translation:
"Rtu-Satmya:
The
Seasonal
Cycle
and
the
Principle
of
Appropriateness."
In
Social
Science
and
Medicine
14B
[19
80
]:94-
106
.)
Zvelebil,
Kamil
V
The
Poets
of
the
Powers.
London:
Rider
and
Company,
1973.
Zysk,
Kenneth.
Religious
Healing
in
the
Veda.
Transactions
of
the
American
sophical
Society,
vol.
75,
part
7.
Philadelphia:
The
Society,
1985.

INDEX
Abhinavagupta,4,
7,
73,
88-89,
97,
135-38,142,172,178,213,222,
224,
255,
3
12
, 3
2
9,
330,
3
8
5,
389,416,423,461,464,465,47°,
496,
508.
See
also
vara7Ja;
Tantriiloka
Abu
(Mount),
II8-2O,
15
8
,
33
1
,
349-
5°,389,410,412-13,434
Acharya,
A.
c.,
337
Acintanath,
96,
397,
500.
See
also
Mats-
yendra
Adams,
Douglas,
318
adhopiitana
yantra.
See
piitana
adhoretas,
233,
24°,473.
See
also
urd-
dhvaretas
adhovaktra.
See
mouth
adhyiitman-adhiyajiia-adhidevatii.
See
crocosm-macrocosm-mesocosm
Adi[-nathJ,
2,
71,
n
82,
84, 88,
9
1
-93,
95-96,98,124,133,140-41,169,
23°,295,39°,392,415,421,460,
473
Advaita
Vedanta.
See
Sankara
Afghanistan,
63, 66,
98,121,204,398,
449
Aghoris,
201,
313,
341,
399,412,454
iigneya.
See
year,
solar
Agni,
II,
13,
16,
189, 190,
191,
203,
212,214,246,259,
269, 271,
283,
285-86,441,447,448,463,493,
499,
5I
2.
See
also
fire;
viiyu
agnicayana
(piling
of
the
fire
altar),
II,
32,
26
9
iijiiii
(the
"control"
cakra),
40,
226, 284,
291, 293,
4
6
9,
48o;
fied
as,
231
Akulavlra
Tantra
of
Matsyendra,
141,
15
8
,513
Alberuni,49,
53-54,
7
6
,
10
5,
II6,
12
5,
149,165,199,299,3°0,311,372,
4
2
9
alchemical
allegory,
294-300,
505.
See
also
Padmiivat;
Pural).
Bhagat
alchemical
canon,
144-70
Alchemical
Man,
149-51,245,301,
320;
in
western
traditions,
295
alchemists,
Indian.
See
Rasa
Siddhas
alchemy,
historical
etymology
of
the
term,
20
4,
376
Alexander
the
Great
(Iskandar),
238
Alhii
Kha7Jq"
23
8,
476
555
Allama
Prabhu,
83,102-3,
III,
129,
237-3
8
,375,4°
6
-7,475
alternation
of
generations.
See
[fUru
amalgamation.
See
gold,
amalgamation

Amanaska
Yoga
of
Gorakhna
th,
141,
249,314,316,319,481
Amarakofa,
57
Amaraugha
Prabodha
of
Gorakhnath,
228,
26
4
of
Gorakhnath
4
8
4
month,
lunar
iimniiyas
(tantric
Transmissions),
79-
80,
181,
2
IO,
388,423.
See
also
dividual
names
of
iimniiyas
Amrt
See
waters,
magical
Sr,"
mTtar
106,
108
497,
5
02
;
cakr,r
45
2
;
niida,
I07,
293
rlnandakanda,
80,
146, 154, 160,
167-
69,191,192,325,391,405,416,
418,437;
authorship
of,
126;
list
of
Rasa
Siddhas
in,
85-88,
90,
of
a
Serpent),
2
60-61,77,
IOj
121,161,286,356,375,382,406,
408.
See
also
Srisailam;
Telugu
erature
a7ijana
(black
antimony;
invisibility
60,
164-65,
166"
rOO"
33
1
,43
6
,5
1
4
,!ciple,4
26
Library,
Bikaner
435
aphrodIsIacs,
145,
153, 160,
166,370,
43
0
apotheosis.
See
Siddhas
(Perfecti),
ceding
to
the
world
of
Ardhanarlsvara,
252
arivarga
(class
of
"enemy"
metals),
154
'un
NagalNaga
132.
See
also
selllc
Siistra
of
Kaut?
Ie
44
6
Z82,
Aryadeva,
69,
81.
See
also
Kan;tari-pa
Aryal,
Mukunda
Raj,
438
iisanas
(yogic
postures),
220,
265,
274,
294,
422.
See
ah,
mat
r'
ndriirana;
viparitakara7?i
43
and
purification
fruits,
286;
CUraL!'
"
,rt
Bogar
shrine,
376;
galas
of,
287;
identified
with
nectar,
285,
349;
in
Nath
Siddha
legend,
287-88,
503;
initiation
with,
289,
299,499;
duction
of
mercury
to
(see
mer-
cury,
bhasmasiUakd
re-
use
of,
180;
85,499;
worn
by
Saiva
sectarians,
9,97,3
0
5,5
00
Asi
River.
See
Benares
Assam,
62-63,115,119,138-39,195,
235,
27
8
,
379,4
See
also
rupa
Younger,
390
A{rii7iga
San,zgraha
ofVagbhana
the
der,
52,64-65,125,149,371,390

557
Index
afuddhadhvan.
See
maya
Asuras
(antigods),
10,
58-59,
190, 192,
278,285,323,324,374,426,5°0,
5
12
ASvaghosa,
35
ASvins,
359
A!aka.
See
caves
Atharva
Veda,
12-14,23,359,373,447
Atma
Bodh.
See
Gorakh
Bodh
atman,
18-20,
33-34,
36-38,46,
102,
155,185,2°7,211,359,360,459.
See
also
brahman
Aughars,
100,
399
Aurangzeb,
1,52,106,4°5
aurifaction.
See
transmutation
ausadhi.
See
herbs
avadhiUa,
426,
497;
Avadhilta
GUa,
141,426;
Avadhl1ti,
in
Buddhist
subtle
physiology,
252,454;
form
of
yoga
taught
by
Dattatreya,
141;
sampradiiya,
99,
395
AvalokiteSvara,
70,
94,
224,
39
6
,4
1
5;
Siddhas
in
the
entourage
of,
5
I 2
Avedyanath,rii,
346-47,
398,493,
519
Avicenna,
189
Ayas
Dev
Nath.
See
Deonath
Ayodhya,
346-47,
398
Ayurveda,
13,
19-
2
9,
37,
52-53,
55,
87,
117, 160, 167,
184-88,206-7,
24
1
,
245,
25
8
,
270,
27
1
,
324,
339,
340, 343,
34
6
,
347,
35
6
,
377,
4II,
427, 430,
462;
definition
of
human
being,
20.
See
also
vidya,
kUfl-pravesa;
rasa
sastra;
yana,
Ayurvedic;
rogavada;
satmya;
vaidya;
vajikara1!a
Baba
Kinnaram,
founder
of
the
Aghori
sect,
412
Babb,LaWTence,
364
Babylonian
mythology,
212,462
Bachelard,
Gaston,
x
barjava
(doomsday
mare)
and
barjava
(doomsday
fire),
193,223,231-34,
414,472.
See
also
Vaqava
Bagchi,
Prabodh
Chandra,
467,
470
Bahl,
Kali
Charan,
ri
Bail
Bhaqai,
92-93
Balatripurasundarl,
name
of
the
God-
dess
in
the
SrIvidya
Kaula,
79,
17
8
,
181,
392,443
Baluchistan.
See
Pakistan
bahya-druti
(external
flux),
268,492
Bal).a[bha!!a],
49,
52-53,
60,
I
II,
II8,
321,33°,377,382,4°9.
See
also
Kiidambari;
Har{acarita
bandhana
(alchemical
and
hathayogic
binding,
fixation)
and
bandhas
(hathayogic
locks),
135, 164, 166,
197, 199,
202, 220,
249, 262,
266,
273, 275,
27
6
-
81
,
290,
29
2
,
293,
299,441,47°,49°,491,495,496,
49
8
;jalandhara
bandha,
249,
277,
31
9,
49
6
;
mahabandha,
279;
milIa
bandha,
22
I,
277;
sabija
bandha,
294;
u44
i
yana
bandha,
277.
See
also
stabilization
and
stability;
swooned,
killed,
and
bound
mercury
banis
of
Gorakh,
xi,
121,202,235,242,
25°,278,281,293,321,4°0,477,
488,502;
language
of,
96,
132;
names
of
specific
poem
cycles,
140.
See
also
Gorakh
Bodh
banka
nala
(the
"curved
duct"),
261,
4
8
5,4
8
9
Bappa
Rawal,
king
of
Mewar,
120,
122,
31
1
,313,413,5°
8

55
8
Index
Barthwal,
Pitambaradatta,
132,399
Basava
[l:llfa],
46,
393;
Biisava
Purii1!a,
3
1
4
430;
Ba!Ukanatha
Bhair-
ava,
152;
Ba!Ukesvara,
430
Bauls,
109,
228-29,4°3,471
bcud
len.
See
extraction
of
the
essence
bCud
len
gyi
man
ngag
bshad
pa
of
Bo
dong,
71,
385,449
Bdud-rtsi-bam-po-brgyad-pa,
of
lamitra,
453
Benares,
22
5-34
passim,
245,
305,
3
08
,
336,346,347,398,412,435,469,
471,487,518;
mystic
etymology
of
name,
226
Benares
Hindu
University,
336-38,
5
1
4
Bengal,
2,
60,
65,
89,
98,
107-9,
162,
237,260,3
2
4,345,393,399,
4°2-5,434,435,47°,472,476,
502.
See
also
Bauls;
eastern
India
Bengali
literature,
92-94,
223, 244,
295,333,395,4°3,4°8,426,454,
466,475,476,5°2,5°8.
See
also
Caryiipadas;
Gorakfa
Vtjay
Bernier,
Franl;ois,
9,
50-52,
56,
101,
17°,349
bhagat,
etymology
of,
298.
See
also
Pural!
Bhagat
Bhagavantnath,
343,
344, 347,
34
8
Bhairava[s],
9,
44,54,71,89,
127-
28
,
135,137,14
2
,145,14
8
,15
2
,157,
160, 167, 169, 171,
180,228,284,
286,316,397,414,416,429,44°,
443,444,476;
Anandabhairava,
142,
417;
Bhairava,
152;
called
leader
of
Siddha
Kaula,
133;
in
Siddha
lists,
83-84,
86,91;
Kalabhairava-natha,
98;
Mahabhairava,
I26,
517;
Paiicali
Bhairava,
442;
Rasailknsa
ava,
440;
Vajrabhairava,
465;
mantaka
Bhairava,
65.
See
also
Manthanabhairava;
Rasabhairava;
Svacchandabhairava
Bhairavacarya:
alchemical
author,
I26, I28,
158,430;
Saiva
ascetic
in
the
Harfacarita,
307,
310, 321,
33°
Bhairavananda
Yogi,
127,
148,417
Bhairavl,
71,127,142,145,152-53,
167,43°.
See
also
Rasailknsl
Bhaluki,
158,
390
Bhambhulnath,
xii,
349
Bhandarinath,
349-5
I
Bharati,
Dharmavir,
455
Bharatiya
Janata
Party
(Indian
People's
Party),347
92-94,
98,109,117,132,
333,
39
6
,4
12
,497;
called
arnath,
288,
500
Bhaskara,
82,
106,
1I2, 1I4,
125-26,
15
8
,4
08
,4
1
5
bhediibheda
(identity
in
difference),
222,
241,
25
2
bhedana.
See
piercing
Bhlls,
120,413,451
bhoga,
220, 234, 263,
465;
bhogavatfa
name
for
kU1!4alinf,
219,465
Bhoja[deva]:
King
of
Malava,
49,54,
373;
Bhojariijlyamu
of
Ananta
369,
429.
See
also
Riijamiirta1!4a
Bhutan,
104-5
Bhutas,
demonic
Beings,
374,494;
Bhuta
Tantras,
4
1
9,
493,494;
tanatha,
98,
305;
bhiltavidyii
monology),
58,
16
5,
373,
374

559
Index
bhiUafuddhi,
150, 180,
183,27°-72,
319;
Bhutafuddhi
Tantra,
493
Bhutiprakara7Ja,
44,
128,
130, 140, 145,
155-58,
162,
163,
167, 176, 197,
198,214,274,321,372,416,426,
43°,432,433,437,44°,474,512.
See
also
Gorakfa
Samhitii;
SrIkal).!ha
Bihar,
61, 64,
147,364,391,398.
See
also
Nalanda
bijas:
metallic,
6,
197,
369,493;
sabija
and
nirbija
initiation,
27
I;
seed
mantras,
177,
180,271,443,454;
subtle
matrix
of
sound,
291,
368;
rasa-bija
(mercurial
seed),
271;
gin's
seed,
251
binding.
See
bandhana
bindu:
as
nasalization,
43;
siidhana,
139,
425;
bindu-vedha,
312;
in
subtle
body,
178,
185,202,
312,368,455,483;
mahiibindu,
185,202,455;
tejobindu,
316.
See
also
phonemes
Bindulmath,
name
of
a
son
of
dra,
237
Bindunatha,
name
of
a
Rasa
Siddha,
83
bipolarity,
17,
23,
28,
38,42,46-47,
143,
24
1
,
25
1
-5
2
,
360
Birendra,
king
of
Nepal,
339
black
holes,
320,
5
II
bodhana,
awakening
of
mercury,
267,
290;
BodhinI,
291;
in
yogic
tice,
501
Bodhgaya.
See
Bihar
bodhisattvas,
35;
MaiijusrI,
60,
89;
garjuna,
67-68.
See
also
kitesvara;
Buddhist
divinities
Bogar,
87,
373,
37
6
Book
of
Machabees,
205
Bose,
J
agadis,
338
Bouillier,
Veronique,
508,
5
I
8
Brahma,
46,
87,124,141,189-90,228,
294,295,297,315,316,317,318,
326,392,415,495,5°1
brahman,
18-20,
33-35,
38,43,
102,
147,
18
5,
208, 212,
357,
359, 360,
47°,477,482,484.
See
also
iitman
Brahmal).as:
Gopatha,
23;
KaUfftaki,
503;
Satapatha,
II,
32,
362
brahmadvara.
See
doors
Brahmagupha.
See
Kedarnath
brahmii7J4a.
See
cosmic
egg
brahmarandhra
(cleft
of
brahman;
fonta-
nelle),
II2,
135,
178,
196,230,
24
1
,247,255,477,4
8
5
Brahmayiimala
Tantra,
79,
13
6
,
145,
4°4,4
1
9
breast
milk,
21,
256,
340,452
breath,
22,45,46-47,174,211,212,
215,227,243,278,279,
281,
284,
290,294,301,302,313,
3
18
, 3
1
9,
320,
369,461,468,495
(see
also
prii7Ja);
as
basis
for
units
of
time,
5
I I
(see
also
miitra;
pala);
control,
45-47,
135,220,226,25°,253,
254,264,265,274,281,29°,
294,
319, 369, 384,
501
(see
also
Work
in
Two
Parts)
Brhaspati,
28
5,
3
2
3,
3
2
4,
374
B,,:hat
Samhitii
of
Varahamihira,
65,
370, 375,
37
8
Briggs,
George
Weston,
39
6
,
399,
414,
4
18
,4
6
4
Broach
(Bhrgukaccha).
See
Gujarat
Brooks,
Douglas,
xi,
142,
364,
389
Buddha,
109,
268;
serpent
couch
of,
59;
teachings,
20,
3
2
-33,
35,
375,
422

5
60
Index
Buddhism
and
Hinduism.
See
tism,
Hindu-Buddhist
Buddhism,
Hinayana.
See
Hinayana
Buddhism
Buddhism,
Mahayana.
See
Mahayana
Buddhism
Buddhism,
Siddha
traditions
of.
See
Mahasiddhas
Buddhism,
tantric.
See
Vajrayana
dhism
Buddhism,
Theravada.
See
Hinayana
Buddhism
Buddhism,
Tibetan.
See
Vajrayana
dhism
Buddhist
alchemy,
71-73,
78,
I03,
105,
IIO-II,
382,
384
Buddhist
divinities,
22
1,247;
dha,
71,
365,
35,
70;
Amitabha,
35,
I09;
siddhi,
35;
as
divinizations
of
vas,
35;
Cakra
Sarhvara,
196;
nasambhava,
35;
the
Buddha's
dharmakiiya,
35;
Vairocana,
35;
VajrapaI).i,
516;
VajravarahI,
196,
247.
See
also
bodhisattvas;
paramita;
Vajrasattva
Buffalo
Demon,
190
Burma.
See
Southeast
Asia
cakras,
5,
3
6
,4
0
,
16
3,
170,
19
0
,
20
7,
208,23
0
-3
1
,24
0
,24
6
,247,260,
291-93,3°3,3°8,318-21,
3
8
9,
423,452,468,489,490,511;of
A!aka,
246;
earliest
Indian
ences
to
six,
73,
III,
134;
four
Buddhist,
422
(see
also
plfhas,
dhist);
nine,
9°,367,423,485,
495,
49
6
.
See
also
iijiiii;
aniihata;
r.nuliidhiira;sahasriira
Cakravarman,
king
of
Kashmir,
308,
3
0
9,
313,
3
22
,
507
calcination.
See
jiira,!a;
mercury:
r.nasRtaka,
r.nrtasRtaka
Calukyas
of
KalyaI).I,
128,
13
1
,
393,
4°
8
,4°9,4
1
3
Cambodia.
See
Southeast
Asia
CamUI).qa,
152,
163,412
CaI).qabhairavI,
18
I;
CaI).qaghaI).!:i,
181;
CaI).qakapalinI,
181,444
Ca,!qakaufika
of
I I
I,
305-7,309,325,329,513
CaI).qalI:
alternate
name
for
ku,!qalinI,
367;
name
of
a
goddess,
152;
name
of
a
plant,
154,
199;
caste
woman
used
as
tantric
sort,
453, 454,
508.
See
also
hun;
J?ombI
CaI).qI,
CaI).qika,
49,
142, 163,
280,
357,43
8
Candra.
See
King
Moon
CandradvIpa
and
Candragiri,
73,
89,
II3,
134,224,225,229-33,23
6
,
24°,253,255,386,422,467,468,
47
0
,47
1
Candrakupa,
196,205,246,457
CandrapI!ha,
73,
230
CandrapurI,
73,
95-9
6
,
230,
33
0
,4
22
Candrasena,
82,
125
Candriivalocana
of
Matsyendra,
42
I
cannabis,
II9;
called
korakkar-r.nuli,
412
Caraka
Samhitii,
13,20,52,76,117,
186,215,327,356,373,459,49°;
dating
of,
361,
370
ciira'!a
(coursing,
chewing
of
metals
by
mercury),
268,
492
CaraI).as
(atmospheric
cohorts
of
dhas
and
Vidyadharas),
514

5
62
Index
cranial
vault
(continued)
khecarl
mudra;
lower
abdomen;
sahasrara;
triku!a
cremation
ground:
favorite
haunt
of
tantrikas,
286,
305-8,
329-30;
in
subtle
body,
40,
282
cycles:
food,
30,
32,
367;
menstrual,
37,197,229,3
66
,454,473,5°
0
;
temporal,
17-18,
23-32,41-42,
45-47,215-16,317-18,367.
See
also
kalpa;
mahayuga;
month,
nar;
transmigration;
year,
solar
See
year,
solar
I!amara
Tantra,
428
qamaru,
25°-51,482-83;
tra,
248,
25°,482;
made
of
human
skulls,
251
darada
(name
for
cinnabar),
247;
ada-deSa,
66,
168,
192,202,247,
449,457
Darika,
231-35,472;
in
Siddha
lists,
81,84
Dariyanath,
468
darfanas,
earrings
worn
by
Nath
dhas
(see
ku"!4a1as;
mudras)
Dasgupta,
Shashibhushan,
295
Dasnamis,
99,
254,
399,487.
See
also
Nagas
Datta
Patala,
42
I
425
Dattatreya,
2,
9
2
,
99,
Il3,
13
2
-33,
14
1
,335,395,39
6
,4
12
tion
92,
411;
at
Abu
and
Girnar,
Il7-
18
,
33
2
-33,
SIS
Dattatreya
Tantra,
131, 133,
ISS,
159,
4
1
9-
20
death,
10,
23-25,
28,
32,42,187,222,
23
2
,233,
254,
274,
279-
82
,
293,
295;
rites,
162, 194,
28
3,
287,444,
461,496,497.
See
also
vaficana;
Yama
Deccan,
2,60,
89,
97,
103, 106,
II
I,
374,393,4°
8
dehavada
(elixir
alchemy),
52-54,
71-
72,130,145-46,
ISS,
161, 170,
18
7,
19
8
,
20
4,
26
7,
34
2
,
37
1
,
3
8
4
Deonath,
344-48,
518
Deoraj,
Rawal
king
ofJaisalmer,
122,
3°9
Detha,
Inder
Dan,
350
Detienne,
Marcel,
123
Devagiri,
Yadava
capital,
104-6,
Il2,
114,393
devayana.
See
year,
solar
Devl:,
142,
145,
14
8
,
17
1
,
357
Dhamma.
See
Buddha,
teachings
Dhank,
114, 116,
165,4°9-10
Dhanvantari,
87,
19
2
,
504
Dharamnath,96,
II6,
295,
348,410
Dhiitukalpa,
130
Dhatukriya
or
Dhiitumafijarl,
417,
419
dhiitus:
bodily
constituents
in
fiy-
urveda,
21-22,
25,
35,
37,
186,
2°7,213,316,361,363,394,446,
458,462,477,499
(see
also
rasa
[vital
fluid]
as
chyle;
ojas);
term
for
metal,
145,
189,
207, 210, 212,
458,
503
(see
also
metals)
dhiituvada
(transmutational
alchemy),
5
1
-55,7
1
,13
0
,145-4
6
,153,
ISS,
161,187,2°4,3°5,393,4°9,446;
Dhatuvadafastra,
383
Dhinodar,
96,
410,
482
dhunf,
288-89,412,5°0
dhyana.
See
meditation
diamond,
177, 190,
268,
269,431,517;

5
6
3
Index
72,
102,
202,
271,
281,
303,
315,316,4°7,456;
bound
cury,
149-50,
429;
limbed
Beauty
pill,
430;
Diamond
Maiden,
442
diaphragmatic
retention,
135,225,
228,23
1
,233,24
8
,273-75,3
01
,
319,422,470,495.
See
also
odara
Digby,
Simon,
387,4°5
digestion,
138;
in
fiyurvedic
theory,
21-22,186,207,339-4°;
yogic
power
of,
286.
See
also
jiira"!a
Digvijaynath,
346
dfksii.
See
initiation
DiIinaga,35
dfpana
(kindling
of
mercury),
267,
290,
29
2
dismemberment,
295-300
dissolution,
cosmic.
See
pralaya
Dobbs,
Betty,
xi
dogs,
422
J?ombi,
3°
8
-3°9,
313,
3
22
, 3
6
7,453,
454,5°7.
See
also
Avadhiiti;
Duti;
ha11!sa;
ku"!4alinf
Doniger,
Wendy,
447
doors
(in
subtle
body),
252-58;
madviira,
219, 252,
276,464,
S0l;
pafcima
dviira,
255.
See
also
nine
doors;
tenth
door
dOfas
("morbid
states;'
three
humors),
21-23,27,29,I70,283,362.See
also
mercury,
dOfas
of
double
mountains.
See
mountains
Dowman,
Keith,
467
Dragpajets'en,
371
dravya.
See
power
substances
Dumezil,
Georges,
286,
512
Durga,
181,
190,357
Duti
(tantric
consort),
168, 177,
256,
441.
See
also
Avadhuti;
J?ombi;
Yoginis
Dvivedi,
Hazari
Prasad,
121,
132,391,
475
Dyczkowski,
Mark,
255,
394,429
ear-boring,
I20,
318-22,487,
5I2.
See
also
ku"!4alas;
mudriis;
Nath
dhas,
called
Kanpha!as
eastern
India,
I07-IIO,
134,
16
3,
385,
403,405,435.
See
also
Bengal,
Bihar,
Uttar
Pradesh
Eastern
Transmission.
See
Trika
Kaula
Egg
of
Brahman.
See
cosmic
egg
Eighteen
180-81
Eighty-four
Siddhas,
69-70,
74,
80-
81,85,123,231,243,385,387,
391.
See
also
Grub
thob
Ekalinga
Miihiitmya,
120,
508
Eliade,
Mircea,
xiii,
104,
295,402
elixir
alchemy.
See
dehaviida
elixirs,
49,58,62,67-68,71,
II4-15,
II9,
122, 145, 153,
ISS,
166, 186,
188,194,19
8
,213,222,
23
8
,
241,259,311,381,385,4°9,427,
454;
sexual
fluids
as,
137,453;
three
types
of,
327
emanation,
17,
206, 219, 241,
263,
291,368,441,445,511.
See
also
smi;
withdrawal
and
return,
yogic
embryo,
201
eon,
cosmic.
See
kalpa
Ephthalite
Huns,
504
Ernst,
Carl,
402
erotico-mystical
practice,
6,
54,
71-72,
135-39,15
2
-54,17
2
-73,17
6
,
198,
199,
201,
207-11,
215, 216,
223, 228, 240, 253,
25
6
, 3
0
3,
330,

erotico-mystical
practice
(continued)
335,4°5,424,456,460.
See
also
bindu-siidhana;
vajrolf
mudrii
ether,
ISO,
189,
210-12,
241-43,
272,
293,317,319,320,444,459,461,
477;
as
substrate
of
sound
(fabda),
241.
See
also
fUnya;
vyoma
extraction:
of
panciim'(ta
in
Buddhist
and
Hindu
tantra,
73,
ISO-51,
438,460,472;
of
the
essence
(bcud
len)
in
Tibetan
alchemy,
7
1
,
73,
201,
384,
386
Fa-hsien,
68,381,382
femininity,
in
tantric
theory
and
tice,
139,
199-200,
214,
218,
222,
235,24°,252,341,456,465.
See
also
fakti
Filliozat,
Jean,
20,
104
fire,
II,
25,
38,
182,
282;
agnisiira,
495;
brahmiigni,
282;
crematory,
498;
gestive
(dhiitvagnl),
186;
of
desire
(kiimiignl),
284,463;
of
time
221,
23
2
-33,
282,
339,
362,463,472;
of
yoga
(yogiignl),
39,220,23
2
,233,24°,282,
28
4,
289,445,463,499,5°5;
three
types
of
sacrificial,
362.
See
also
Agni;
Kalagnirudra;
sacrifice,
Vedic
fish,
91,
229-31,466,471;
Benares
has
shape
of,
225.
See
also
Kaivartta;
LUI-pa;
Matsyendra;
matsyodara;
MIna
five,
16,32-36;
breaths,
22,
38,489;
ements,
18-20,
32,
34-35,
ISO,
170, 176,
180,
185, 190,
206-10,
240,272,293,317,319,320,444,
445,458,459,497,510,517;
faces
of
Sad
as
iva,
35,
255,44
0
,457;
fires
doctrine,
367;
khandhas,
33;
nectars
(see
extraction);
sets
of
five
tattvas,
34.
See
also
extraction,
of
panciim'(ta;
pancakarmii1Ji;
makiira
flight:
power
of,
73,
II9,
13
2
,
145,
147,151,169,187,
2II,
257,
274,
279,317,326,33°,333,349,431,
46
I;
mercury
possessed
of,
2I
1-
12,461.
See
also
khecari
funerary
ritual.
See
death,
rites
Gadamer,
Hans
Georg,
353
Gadanigraha
of
434
GahaI).inath,
92-93,
II3,
157,
160,
162,39
6
,399,4°3
GambhIrnath,
398
ga1Jas
(Siva's
host),
164,
166,
285;
GaI).a-
natha
(see
GaI).eSa)
Ga1J4avyuha,
60
Gandhakakalpa,
130,419
Gandharvas,
10,
153,331,462
Gandhi,
Mohandas,
348
GaI).eSa,
157,
159,
3
2
5,
397,4
1
7,513
Ganges
River
(Ganga),
II
I,
II
3,
189,
190,
19
1
,
22
5-34
passim,
240,
246,277,468,47°,480,49°
garbhadruti
(internal
flux
of
mercury
in
metals),
268,
492
190,
213,
462;
Tan-
tras,
419
gas
vents.
See
geothermal
phenomena
gatis.
See
mercury,
gatis
of
GaUd,
146,
197,
25
6
,
29
6
,
345,440;
GaurI
19
6
,
245
Geber,447
gemstones,
145,
148, 190, 194,
20
9,
289,394,4°9,417;
identified
with

5
66
Index
Gorakh
(continued)
TillaJTileti,
106,
II8,
299,
346,
412,500;
in
Siddha
lists,
80-81,
84-85,87,91-93;
in
Tibetan
tions,
107-8,403;
in
Western
Transmission
sources,
386;
aryworks
in
Sanskrit,
131,
139-
41,418
(see
also
individual
titles
of
Gorakh's
works);
metaphysical
tem
of,
5II;
on
the
Nepali
one
pee
coin
3
II;
smithy
of,
301-2;
south
Indian
traditions
of,
87,
102-3,
III,
131,396,4°1,4°7,
412;
(spurious)
guru-disciple
tionship
with
Matsyendra,
85,
139,
467;
theories
concerning
Buddhist
origins
of,
107-9;
ular
works,
140,
242,
260
(see
also
banis
of
Gorakh);
worshipped
as
deity,94,
107-9,335,339,350
Gorakh
biinis.
See
banis
of
Gorakh
Gorakh
Bodh,
485, 484,
488
Gorakh
91,
140
Gorakhnath.
See
Gorakh
Gorakhpur,
109,
333,420;
Nath
astery
at,
98,
100,
19
6
,
34
6
,
347,
398,
5°0
Paddhati,
141,319,321
Sa'lhhita,
126,
139-41, 156-57,
312,321,426,432,433,
See
also
Bhutiprakara1Ja
Siddhanta
Sa'l1,lgraha,
98,
141,
394,4
18
Vijay
of
Sheikh
Fayzulla,
106,
108,236,295,395,460,466,5°2
See
Gorakh
422,
472
85,
141,
169,
228, 250,
253,254,3
2
4,4
6
7
460
Goudriaan,
Teun,
432
Govinda,
12
5-26,
158;
in
Siddha
lists,
82,84,86,91.
See
also
Rasah'(daya
Tantra
grace.
See
prasada
granthis
(knots
obstructing
medial
channel),
279,
496,
501
grasa
(swallowing
of
metals,
minerals
by
mercury),
6,
256, 268, 292,
45
2
,49
2
Greer,
Patricia,
482
gross
body,
18-19,
207
Grub
thob,
74,
107-9,
I26,
224,
383,
3
86
,
390,
397,4°3,4
6
7,
503;
list
of
Mahasiddhas
in,
80-81, 84-85,
87,47°
Grtinwedel,
Albert,
67
Giiga
Chauhan
(Giiga
PIr;
Guru
Giiga)
,
59,
243,
28
9,
333, 374,
465,
5°0
Guhyasamaja
Tantra,
385,
422
Gujarat,
62-65,
69,
96-98,
104,
106,
109-IIO,
II4-
18
,
15
8
,
159,
16
5,
225,245,
33
I
-3
2
,
33
6
,
337,4
10
-
13,434,505,
SIS;
Gujarat
Ayurved
University,
391,437.
See
also
Dhank;
Girnar;
Pattan
gu1Jas,
21,
27,
19
0
,210,
283,445,45°,
4
61
Gupta,
Sanjukta,
337
gupta
rog,
26,
339-43
guru,
143, 145,
162,
257,
283,
28
5,
286,3°6,312,313,321,322,324,
332,446,487;
"alternation
of
erations"
with
disciple,
269, 286,
466,493,512;
Four
Gurus,
181,
3
2
4,
352,
394.
See
also
paras;
yuganathas

57
1
Index
khiinepiine
(vernacular
term
for
siddht),
15
8
,433
khecara,
253;
Khecarr
(name
of
a
Dl1ti
in
alchemical
ma1f4alas),
441;
ari
cakra,
198,253,484;
khecari
ikii,
153,
316,427,43°,487,496;
khecari
jiira1fa,
292,
326;
khecari
kula,
443,
461;
khecari
mantra,
17°,253;
khecarimudrii,
135,
14
6
,
15°,158-59,17°,173,23°,252,
254,257,258,276,481,483,487,
512;
khecari
fakti,
487;
khecari
dhi
(see
flight,
power
of)
Khecari
Vtdyii,
146,
169-70,
253,
324,
37°,4
8
4,5°9
Kingdom
of
Women,
119, 139,
219,
223,236,251,466,489·Seeako
Kadalr
Kira1fiigama,
21
3,
397
Kiratas,
147-48
Ko
Hung,
Chinese
alchemist,
64
koans,
501
Kolff,
Dirk,
345
Koilganar,
name
of
a
Siddha,
61,
87,
II
I;
works
attributed
to,
202
Koilkal].a,
consort
of
Macchanda
in
dha
Cakra,
89,
135
Koilkal].a,
west
coast
ofIndia,
73,
88,
9
1
,94,23
0
,393
Koilkal].eSvara,
name
of
a
Siddha,
86-
89,
168
Korakkar.
See
Gorakh,
south
Indian
tra-
ditions
of
Kosinski,
]erzy,
455
Krama,
79,
181,
291,416
kriima1fa
(progression
of
mercury),
149,268,49
2
Kraus,
Paul,
457
Kriya
Tantras,
129, 131,
146,
152-54,
160,162,165,3°8,397,4°9,418-
20,428,431,432,442,496.
See
also
Kautukacintiima1fi
of
deva;
Kriyiikiilagu1fottara
Kriyiikiilagu1fottara,
129,
13
I,
151
Kriyatantrasamucchayi,
in
Rasa
lists,
83,
129
410,
SIS
name
of
a
tantrika
in
the
Vetiilapaiicavin;zfati,
3
06
, 3
07
disciple
of
Abhinavagupta,
13
6
,
13
8
,
14
2
,
17
8
,4
18
,4
6
5
kfetnRara1fa
(preparation
of
the
body
in
alchemy
and
fiyurveda),
266,
27
0
-7
1
Kubera,
58,
259,415
Kubjika,
goddess
of
Western
sion,
2,
79,
88-89,
9
1
,
134-35,
15
1
,168,180,194,255,39°,443,
481;
kubjikii
mudrii,
429;
Kubjika
the
name
of
Buddhist
dha,
74,
387.
See
also
mantras;
Western
Transmission
Kubjikiimata,
88,
90,105,134-35,145,
180,23°,233,260,386,392,422,
4
2
3,47
1
Kubjikiinityiihnikatilaka,
73,
88,
91,
181,
23°,33°,386,392,422
Kubjikiipujiipaddhati,
42
I
kula,
200;
as
tantric
clan
or
lineage,
35,
137-3
8
,17
2
,210,33°,357,443,
460,461
(see
also
khecari
kula);
kula-parvata,
I
12;
kula-siddhas,
324,
444;
kulayiiga,
255;
KuleSvara
and
KulesvarI,
135;
term
for
early
tantrism
of
the
Vidya
prrh
a ,
73,
88,9
0
,101,13
6
,224,23
0
,43
8
,
5
1
7
kuladravya.
See
clan
nectar

57'
Index
kuliim1Ja.
See
clan
nectar
Kuliinanda
Tantra
of
Matsyendra,
152,
4
21
,43
0
Kulii'f"'IJava
Tantra,
92,145,312,314,
332,356,367,389,415,438
Kulavira
Tantra
of
Matsyendra,
42
I
Kumara.
See
Skanda
Kumiira
Tantra
of
Rava1).a,
58,125,
Iso-5
1
,
373
kumbhaka.
See
diaphragmatic
retention
154,
19
8
,4
2
4,453
(earrings
worn
by
Nath
Sid-
dhas
and
other
Saiva
sectarians),
99-IOO,
107,400,403.
See
also
mudriis
4,79,
16
3,
170, 195,
19
8
-
200,208,218-22,225,233,234,
235,239,243,
247,
25
1
,
25
2
,
254,
255,256,
26
3,
27
6
,
28
9,
290, 293,
3°8,312,313,320,322,367,45°,
464,465,468,47°,471,485,486,
489,
S0l;
waking
and
sleeping
of,
216-22,23
2
,234,24°,29
1
,3
1
9,
3
6
7,47
6
,5
II
See
waters,
magical
kurpa.
See
sa11fskiiras
9
I
kUfipravefa
("entering
the
hut";
mum
of
Ayurvedic
rejuvenation
therapy),
26-27,
169,
245,
258,
273,364,366,378,479,484,491;
structure
of
the
kUff,
364
laboratory,
alchemical,
140, 145, 158,
176, 180, 182, 194, 196,
222, 245,
25
8
-
60
,4
8
7
laboratory
assistant,
ISO,
158, 162,
167,
17
2
,
19
6
,
19
8
,45
2
LakulIsa,
Pasupata
founder,
97,
126,
474
Lalitiivistara,
152
Lalla
(Lal
Ded),
Kashmiri
mystic,
250,
4
82
,
5°5
laya.
See
resorption
lead
(niiga),
189, 190,
207, 208,
214,
216,284,431,447,452,458,459,
463.
See
also
Serpents
left
side
of
body,
230-32,
251-58.
See
also
liizga,
western
Levi,
Sylvain,
I04,
393
Life
of
Apollonius
of
Philostratus,
205,
457
light:
body
of,
72;
drop
of
(tejobindu),
316;
metaphysics,
385;
prakiifa,
26
3,
4
2
7;
vimarfa,
220,
26
3,
427
lineages.
See
parampariis
liizga,
4,
120,
194,287,375,393,397,
440, 444,
464;
calcinated
mercury
takes
shape
of,
194,
292;
earliest
excavated,
356;
Goddess's
images
have
form
of,
500;
internal
to
subtle
body,
17°,231,
tirliizgas,
III,
161,245,398;
curial
(rasa-liizga),
I03,
131,
157,
163,174,176,194,258,260,44°,
441,45°,487;
moveable,
486;
term
for
cinnabar
in
south
Indian
languages,
194;
transmutational,
III,
407;
"western;'
231,
225-56,
464,471,476,486.
See
also
Siva,
cult
of
liquification,
148, 164,
166,291,417,
439.
See
also
garbhadruti;
druti
Lohasarvasvam
ofSuresvara
191,418
Lohafiistra,
76

573
Index
lohaviida.
See
dhiituviida
Lokaloka,
5
IO
Lokanatha,
70,
94,
128,
142
lower
abdomen,
27,4°,201,2°7,218,
221,23
0
-3
1
,234,24
0
,249,253,
308,312,367,454,481.Seeako
cranial
vault;
linga,
western;
liidhiira
LuI-pa,
I07-9,
397,4°3,467;
in
dha
lists,
80,
84-85,
91,224,231;
Tibetan
translations
of
name,
224
Liil].a
(Lol].a;
NOl].a)
Chamari,
298-
3°0,4°3,453,484,5°4
Macchanda.
See
Matsyendra
Madana,
Kalacuri
king,
147-48,428,
437
MadanavinodanigharJtu
of
Ramaraja,
43
6
Madhya
Pradesh,
29,
54,
64,
97,
147-
49,298,364,370,383,397·See
also
Malava;
Ujjain
Madras.
See
Tamil
Nadu
Magee,
Michael,
449
magical
alchemy,
52-53,
57-
66
, 7
2
,
74,
76-77,499.
See
also
aiijana;
lepa;
rasa-rasiiyana
Mahiibhiirata,
43,
60,121,23
8
,24
8
,
285,331,367,371,375,410,414,
422,459,481,499,515
Mahadeva:
name
of
a
Rasa
Siddha,
83;
name
of
Siva,
155,
398,414
Mahakala,
49,71,98;
Mahiikiila
hitii
of
Adina
tha
42
I;
gasiistra,
169;
Mahii-kiila
riija,
471
Mahamandir,
344, 346,
508.
See
also
Jodhpur
mahiirasas
(primary
alchemical
agents),
145,
147-4
8
,
154, 155,
158, 160, 164, 166, 177,
18
7,
384,
44
1
,44
6
Maharashtra,
104,
IIO-14,
14
1
,
147,
160, 178,
391,
393,4°8,477,515,
See
also
Devagiri;
Godavari
River
Mahasiddhas,
2,
69,
71, 74,
80-82,
84,
87,89,9
2
,99,101,106-8,224,
25
1
,3
6
7,
3
86
,
of
in
Hafhayogapradtpikii,
82,
92.
See
also
Eighty-four
Siddhas
Mahavidya
goddesses,
516
Mahayana
Buddhism,
35,43,53,60,
63,66-7°,72,1°5,151,201,455,
5
01
Mahayana
literature,
67,76,201,371,
373,383,381,382,43°,516
mahiiyuga
(unit
of
time),
46,
215,
3
18
Mahesvara,
IOl,
162,
19
6
,
325,495
Mahesvara
Siddhas,
2,
77,
99,
IOI-3,
III-I2,
145,
147,
155,37
2
,39
2
,
4
01
Mahodadhi,
127,
155,
157,416.
See
also
Rasopanifat
Maithili
literature,
108,391,474,
See
also
VarfJaratniikara
Malabar
coast,
9,
50
Miilatt-Miidhava
of
Bhavabhuti,
73,
III,
134,423
Malava,
49,
4
16
,4
28
MalinI,
176-77,441,442.
See
also
Trika
Kaula
Mallik,
Kalyani,
395
Mallikarjuna.
See
Srisailam
Man
Singh,
king
of
Marwar,
244,
3
IO,
344-45,348,391,412,479,5°1.

575
Index
229,23
1
,3
2
4-
2
5,393,39
6
,399,
447,473,512,513;
as
honorific
tle,
75,
166,
335,
387,466;
rava
takes
form
of,
224,467;
cult
of,
94,
224,4
of
Siddha
Catr
dha
lists,
80,
400;
legends
passIm,
244,
r97,
298,299,412,451,475,476,5°3,
504;
literary
works,
133-36,421
(see
also
Koulajiiananir1Jaya
and
tles
of
individual
works);
matsyendra-
by
Abhinavaf'rrnr"
423;
(spuriou
rr
tionship
with
286,
288-89,
Z93,
rela-
also
Acintanatha;
fidinath;
matic
impersonation;
LuI-pa;
matsyodam;
MIna;
Siddhanatha
}o/Iatsyendra
Samhita,
42
I
Matsyendranath.
See
Matsyendra
rHatsyodara
(fish
z8,
222-29
passirr,
4
6
7-7
0
,49
0
maya,
220,
222-2r,
438;
vifuddha
>2,
17
8
,210,
21
3-
1
4
Mayana[-mati],
mother
of
GopIcand,
9
2
-93,
280,
295-96,
517
McDaniel,
June,
229
medial
channel,
28"
2 I
I,
2
18,
2
Hi"
33,235,24
1
,
57,27
6
,277,
3
19,
4
6
4,
4
6r
)
4
8
5,49°
meditation,
265
menstrual
blood.
See
cycles,
menstrual;
sexual
fluids
mercuric
sulphide.
See
cinnabar;
kajjali
mercury,
9,
II,
16,5°-5
2
,7°,
143,
162, 166,
222,234,235,
259,3
6
9,3770
4
81
,49°,
49
r.emen,
vital
fluid,
5,14,25,36,1°4,146,188,
194,
19
8
,
20
3,208,212-
14,221,246,248,265,284,289,
3°0,316,326,439,44°,442,443,
44
8
491,504;
bhas-
1;
chemical
be-
2 I
I,
278,452,461,496,5°6;
mentarity
with
breath
(see
Work
in
Two
Parts);
of,
162;
est
prescription
for
internal
use,
52;
extraction
of,
20
3,
247,
325,
48rr
["[rrmes
for,
167, 186,
18
20n
alsrr
194, 197,
212,213
(see
rasa;
msendra;
si/ter
r
phases
(avas-
tha),
459;
gatis
of,
20
9,
459;
gods
adulterate
with
impurities,
192,
2
I
3,
264,
449,
490;
identified
with
atman
in
155;
in
the
subtle
bod""
20
r:
maritime
trans-
porr
pcrtabhasmal
300,
267,
491,495
(see
also
[see
cinnabar;
kajjali;
smdiira);
orIgin
myth
of,
159,168,19
1
,212,234,247,
26
5,

577
Index
367,393,
See
also
Candradvipa;
Candragiri;
Candrapuri;
cranial
vault;
kalas;
month,
lunar;
sun
mother
goddesses,
43,135,157,176,
3
2
4,
361,424,457;
Seven
Sisters,
29,499
Motinath,35
0
mountains,
sacred,
II4-I9,
327-34.
See
also
Abu
(Mount);
Girnar;
yas;
Kedarnath;
Meru
(Mount);
Srisailam
mouth,
193,200,212,252-58,471,
482,487;
mercury
becomes
sessed
of,
6,
256,
267
(see
also
grasa);
passage
of
sublimated
ual
fluids
from
mouth
to
mouth,
137,200,255,312,313,321,322,
439;
sealing
of
(see
sampu!a);
YoginI's
upper
and
lower,
234-35,
24°,254,256,454,464,467,476,
482,485,486
(see
also
kUTf4alinf;
sankinf;
Yogin!;
yom)
M'(cchaka!ika
of
Sl1draka,
60,
422
M,(gendragama,
134,491,5°1
mudras:
alchemical
seals,
256;
ankufa
mudra,
432,
496;
earrings
worn
by
Nath
Siddhas,
281, 299,
310,
32
I
(see
also
kUTf4alas);
one
of
the
camakara,
234;
sambhavi,
248,481;
yogic
seals,
220, 265, 274,
276
(see
also
khecarf;
kubjika;
vajrolt)
muktivada.
See
moksa
mula
bandha.
See
bandhana
and
bandhas
muliidhara
(the
root
cakra),
40,
163,
208,234,24
1
,243,25
6
,293,
3
01
,
319,4
6
9,4
82
,49°
Ml1lanatha,
85,
87-88,
168,
392
Muller-Ortega,
Paul,
468
murcchana
(swooning),
of
mercury,
266,
273-75,
290,492,495;
yogic,
228, 257,
274-75,
495,
49
8
.
See
also
swooned,
killed,
and
bound
mercury
Murthy,
K.
R.
Srikanta,
420,
437
Murugan.
See
Skanda
Mus,
Paul,
360
Muslim
conquest
oflndia,
49,
70-71,
1°3-7,116,3°5,345,394,4°2,
47
6
Muslims
and
Hindus.
See
syncretism,
Hindu-Muslim
nada
(resonance),
43,202,
2II,
236,
251,274,280,291,3°1,444,456,
484,496,5°1;
location
within
tle
body,
178,
368;
reversing
the,
293.
See
also
anahata;
phonemes
na4fs
(breath
and
energy
channels),
111,17°,226-28,23
2
,247,25
1
-
54,257,260,273,27
6
,277,282,
3°1,319,321,464,469,480,495,
506;
three
portrayed
as
primal
dhas
Sun,
Moon,
and
Fire
(see
dhas,
three
primal).
See
also
banka
nala;
medial
channel;
sankhinf
Nagabodhi,
69,
81-82,
104,
124-25,
390.
See
also
Nagarjuna
Nagarjuna,
60, 62,
64-7
0
,
73,
75-76,
103,106,
IIO-II,
113-14,
II7,
121,125-26,131,133,143,15°-
51,158,160,165,215,218,312,
3
2
7,333,
339,
37
8
, 3
80
-
82
, 3
8
7,
410,411,414,415,422,43°,464,
516;
as
Ayurvedic
author,
370,
372,381,
388,431
(see
also
Sutra);
as
honorific
title,

57
8
Index
Nagarjuna
(continued)
75,
166,
335,466;
in
Siddha
lists,
81-82,
84, 86,
9
1
-93,
16
4,
397;
Jain
traditions
of,
II4-I9,
480,
505;
Nagarjunanath,
II
I,
165;
giirjuna-varta
(eye
salve),
76;
dha
Nagarjuna,
69,
74-76,
II
I,
165,4°8;
Sri
[man]
Nagarjuna,
76,
ISS,
16
4,435;
the
bodhisattva,
67-
68,381;
the
Madhyamika
76,
104, 165,
saratniikara
spuriously
attributed
to,
I04-5,
160;
portions
of
iimala
Tantra
spuriously
attributed
to,
130,419.
See
also
Arjun
Naga;
charismatic
impersonation;
guath;
and
individual
works
by
giirjuna.
Nagas,
Saiva
order,
99,
254,
27
8
,
345,
381,
398,484,5°0.
See
also
pents
garjuna
Nalanda,
64-65,
68-71,
76,
103-5,
3
82
,4°
1
Nandi[kesvara],
name
of
a
Siddha
or
alchemical
god,
61,
76,
83, 87,
I26,
129, 143, 157,
15
8
,
160,375,
440
Narayal).
Nath,
93-94,
39
6
,
399
Narharinath,
xii,
II8,
349,
39
1
,
517
Nath,
name
for
Siva,
99, 166;
title
meaning
"guru"
or
"lama"
in
gali
Vajrayana,
399
Nathsampradiiya,
7,90-100,107,121,
161,162,172,287,3°9,310,333,
344,34
6
,347,39
8
,399,4°
0
,473,
4
8
7,5°
0
,5°4,5
I
9;
householder
Naths,
466;
name
endings
in
-ananda,
das,
pa,
I07,
394;
Saiva
and
Gorakhnathi
lineages,
99,
399,474,
See
also
Aughars;
twelve
panths;
Rawal;
Vairag
panth
Nath
Siddhas,
xi,
2-4,
6,
9-10,43,56-
57,63,66,73,86,88,102-22,
131,
168, 185, 191, 196,
198,
202,
210,216,222,223,228,23
0
,235,
23
8
,24
1
,
24
2
,
244,
25
1
,
254,
25
8
,
261, 280,
287,
288, 289, 294,
295,
297,
29
8
, 3
18
,
349,
35
2
, 3
8
5,
39
1
,
393,395,420,425,465,478,481,
506;
as
alchemical
authors,
130;
as
guardian
spirits
of
sacred
tains,
332-33,
335,
339;
as
power
brokers,
8,
3
0
9-
II
,
343-49,
39
8
,
508,519;
called
Gorakhnathis,
99;
calledJogis,
9,
99,130;
called
pha!as,
9,
99-
IOO
, 3
21
,
399,4
1
3;
cult
of,
374,414;
definition
of
yoga,
456;
four
or
five
original,
210, 236,
296,
460;
give
sons
to
barren
women,
196;
lists
of,
83-86;
9I-IOO,
123;
regalia
of,
122,195,280,3
10
,349,4
1
3,4
8
9,
501
(see
also
ku"!4alas;
mudriis);
theories
concerning
Buddhist
gins
of,
104,
106-8.
See
also
Jogis;
Nath
sampradiiya;
Nine
Naths;
twelve,
Nath
panths;
and
names
of
individual
Niith
Siddhas
Niitha
Caritra
of
Man
Singh,
4II,
451,
474,
5
16
Niithiibhyudaya
Tantra,
23
I,
471
National
Museum
of
Denmark,
483
Navaniithacaritra
of
Gaural).a,
92,
II
I,
16
5,4°7,4
1
5
navel,
divides
upper
and
lower
body,
243

579
Index
nectar,
5,
7
6
,
173,
18
4,
190,
19
2
,
199,
2
°7,212,
28
5,
299,
300,
3
0
9,
3
1
3,
320,328,349,355,437,455,462,
481-84,496,498,5°6;
in
the
Vedas,
10-11,
358;
"red-white;'
202;
three
types,
327;
yogic
ation
of,
in
cranial
vault,
28,
38-
39,4
1
,218,221-22,24
2
-43,247-
5°,25
2
-54,257,25
8
,27
2
,277,
282.
See
also
waters,
magical;
traction;
clan
nectar;
soma
Needham,
Joseph,
63,
204
NeminathlNimnath,
93,
119,
29
8
,
33
1
-3
2
,399,475
Neoplatonism,
189,49°
Nepal,
2,65,89,98,
105,
10
9,
119,
134,152,224,
2SI,
278,
288,
310-12,321,333,349-51,
380,
389,391,393,431,435,465,467,
473,5°2,5°8;
C;urkhasin,
3
10
-
11,335,343-44,357
(seealsoPr
thi
-
vinarayal).
Sah);
National
Archives,
418,421,423,426,431,434,472.
See
also
Kathmandu
[Valley]
Nepali
literature,
108,465,474
Netra
Tantra,
178,418,419,442,5°1
Newman,
John,
384
Nicholas,
Ralph,
475
Nllakal).!TI
a
,
97,
126,
14
2
,221,447
nine
doors,
163,
254,
489,
504.
See
also
tenth
door
Nine
Naths,
85-88,
90-100,
109, 112,
12
3,
135, 169, 181,
260,
330, 332,
339,356,391,394,395,396,4°8,
484,
488;
identified
with
Nine
Narayal).as
in
Marathi
traditions,
395,
41
I.
See
also
Nath
Siddhas,
lists
of
nirviirJ
a
,
33, 35,
201,
375,4
82
Nityananda
Siddha,
39°,418
Nityanatha
Siddha,
83,
129,
160,4°7,
4
08
,
417;
"son
of
Parvati;'
129-30,
160,418,435,
See
also
kara;
SabaracintiimarJi
Nityafoqafika
Tantra,
16
3,
394
nivrt/:i.
See
withdrawal
and
return,
yogic
Nivrttinath,
113,
39
6
niyamana
(regulation,
restraint
of
cury),
267,
29°,461
numbers
and
number
symbolism,
15-47
passim.
See
also
five;
metric
progressions;
six;
sixteen;
three;
twelve
nummelite,
196.
nyiisa.
See
worship,
tantric
Nyingma.
See
Vajrayana
Buddhism
Obermiller,
Ernst,
471
Obeyesekere,
C;ananath,
341,
517
Ocean
of
Milk,
190, 192,
22
I,
234,
28
9,447,4
66
,475
oghas
("streams"
of
Siddhas),
3,
92,
135,327,332,356,386,394,415
ojas
(the
"eighth
dhiitu"),
184,
34
1
,
363,
477,
5
06
, 5
1
7
Old
Bengali
language,
81,
107,236,
390.
See
also
Caryiipadas
Old
Kannada
language,
14°,4°7.
See
also
Yogadipikii
Old
Punjabi
language,
96,132
Old
Rajasthani
language,
96,
132
On;z.
See
mantras,
prarJava
Oman,
John
Campbell,
51-52,
349,
37°
opium,
159,
167,434
oral
transmission,
2,
145,
16I.
See
also
written
transmission

5
80
Index
Orissa,
9
8
,
147-48,224,345,391,392,
434
orpiment
(haratiila),
153,
17°,320,
329,331,429,441,453,514
piidalepa,
187,
305
Padmiivat
of
Mallik
Muhammad
J
ayasI,
19
8
,23
8
,260-62,281,39
1
,453,
4
8
9,
5°5
Piiduha-doha
of
Muni
Ramasirilha,
I I
7
Pakistan,
62-63,
66,
106,
II6,
121-22,
2°4,311,374,380.
See
also
glaj
DevI;
Punjab;
Sind
pakfa-ccheda.
See
mercury,
clipping
the
wings
of
pala
(measure
of
time
and
mass),
294,
3I6-I9,502,5lO
Pala
dynasty.
See
Bengal
paiicakarmiiTfi
(five
treatments
of
urveda),
270
paiica-makiira,
163, 172,
180,
210, 220,
234,3
2
3,4
2
4,4
60
paiiciim1J:a.
See
extraction
Pandeya,Janardana,
156,356,390,
43
2
,49
0
,493
panths.
See
twelve,
Nath
panths
Para-Apara-Parapara,
79,
9
1
,
157,
176-77,441,442.
See
also
Trika
Kaula
piirada
(name
for
mercury),
188,
208,
37°,373,381,437,448,459,462,
49
8
;
Parada-dda,
65,2°4,380;
Piiradakalpa,
130,419;
Piirada
hitii,4
I
5
Paradesvara,
157,439
parakiiya-pravefa,
23
6
,
474
Paramesvara,
330
parampariis,
78,
92-93,
lOO,
123, 142,
171,
390.
See
also
clans;
kula
pariimukti,
lO2
Pariiparaprakiifika,
3
14
paras
patthar
(alchemical
touchstone),
4
0
7,4
1
3
ParasnathiParsvanath,
93,
114, 119,
29
8
,399,475
Parafuriima
Kalpa
SiUra,
496
PariitrimfikiivivaraTfa
of
Abhinavagupta,
4
2
3,439,
Parvati,
155,
195,
28
4,
357,45
1
,4
68
,
473,499,
See
also
Nityanatha
dha,
"son
of
Parvati"
Pascal,
Blaise,
3
18
pafcimiimniiya.
See
Western
Trans-
mISSIOn
pafu,
240, 279,
323,465,
See
also
vira
Piifupata
Siitras,
360,
397,
5
1
3
Pasupatas,
7,
9,49,97-99,
lO2,
IIO,
II8-I9,
I2
1-22,
I26,
284, 285,
3
10
,3
2
5,334,375,393,397,4
1
3,
4
18
,
499,
5I
5;
definition
of
yoga,
397;
-riifi
name
endings
of,
I2
I
(see
also
Kalamukhas).
See
also
LakulIsa
Pasupatinath,
89,
35
1
,
39
2
,
519
piitana
(sublimation,
evaporation
of
mercury),
212, 267,
290;piitana
yantras
(three
types
of
sublimation
apparatus),
203,
247-49,
25
8
,4
80
,
4
8
3
Patafijali,
87,
216.
See
also
Yoga
Siitras
Patna,
61-62,
64,
76,1°4,378,382
Pattan,
II6,
295,
348,
4II
Pavannath,
28
9
penetration.
See
piercing;
vedha
Persia,
exchanges
with
India,
2,
54,
2°5,246,247,378,4°9,446,449
Persian
alchemy,
54,
204.
See
also
nans

5
81
Index
Peshawar.
See
Pakistan
phonemes,
43,179-80,274,367,368,
452,471,486;
identified
with
miitt:kas,
291.
See
also
hindu;
niida
piercing,
289,
303, 313,
320,463;
of
cakras,
40,
135,
293,
314-
18
, 3
1
9,
489,
5
I
I.
See
also
ear-boring;
vedha
Pietro
della
Valle,
94-95
Pigalle,
Paris
red-light
district,
341
piTftfas,
287,
5
00
pingalii.
See
niitffs
pf!has:
Buddhist,
72,
260,
385,
389,482
(see
also
Jalandhara;
Ramariipa;
<;Iiyana);
chasing
in
which
a
Siva
linga
housed,
258;
fiikta
pl!has,
cred
sites
of
the
Goddess,
9
I,
II
2,
195,210,260,245,24
6
,4
6
7,4
88
(see
also
worship,
tantric);
tantric
literary
classification
system,
79-
80,
181,
389,424
(see
also
Mantra
Prrha;
Vidya
Prrha)
pitryiina.
See
year,
solar
Plantain
Forest.
See
Kadalr
poison;
164-65,
190,
209, 221, 222,
239,289,329,338,376,447,465,
47
6
;
Tantras,
131,419,465
(see
also
Garu<;la
Tantras;
Yogaratniivali)
power
substances,
4,
135, 137, 153,
158,163,167,173,183,198-200,
323,430,433,454.
See
also
clan
nectar;
yonitattva
PrabandhacintiimaTfi
of
Merutmiga,
114,
4
0
9,
5
0
4
Prabandhakofa,
114,
119
Prabhudeva.
See
Allama
Prabhu
Prabhulingaillii
of
Pi<;lapatti
Somanatha
Kavi,
II
I
Prajapati,
12-13,
17,23,32-33,189,
271,272,283,286,351,365,492
Prajiia[-paramita],
67,
72,104,152,
164,378,382;
and
Upaya,
247,
25
1
prakiifa.
See
light
Pralqti
(Nature,
feminine
principle
of
materiality),
20-2
I,
33-34,
36,
195,210,
21
5,218,473,49
2
pralaya
(cosmic
dissolution),
3,
232-33,
289,296,297,317,326,463,513;
as
withdrawal
of
cosmic
yogin,
33,
41,46-47,221,251,263,294,
463
(see
also
Narayal}a);
voked
by
dance
of
Siva
and
Ralr,
286;
within
subtle
body,
40.
also
samhiira;
St:S!:i
"Pral}
Sankalr"
ofCaurangi[nath],
133,
260,4
0
4,4
16
,5
0
4
priiTfa,
22,
39,
184, 185,
200,
2
II,
226,
31
6
,
359,445,454.
See
also
breath
priiTfiiyiima.
See
breath,
control
prasiida
(gift
of
grace
from
god
or
dha),
174,288,311,512
pravt:tti.
See
withdrawal
and
return,
yogic
PrthivInarayal}
Sah,
Gurkha
king
of
Nepal,
po,
3II,
3
1
3,
3
21
,
335,
343-44,34
8
Pseudo-Zosimus,
203-5,447
Ptolemy,
205
Punjab,
Indian
state
of,
1,98,
398;
stani
state
of
62,
239,
298-99,
333,404,479,
5
00
(see
also
Jhelum)
Punjabi
literature,
92-93,
239, 244,
298,333,476,500,502,503
Pural}
Bhagat,
92,
239,
244, 261, 289,
298-301,333,403,476,484,489,
500,503,
504.
See
also
nath];
wells

5
8
3
Index
rasacikitsii
(mercurial
medicine,
chemia-
try),
55,159,162,175,372,447
RasacintiimaTfi
of
Anantadeva
Suri,
130
RasadarpaTfa,
42
I
Rasiidhyiiya
of
Kari.kala
YogI,
130
Rasaht:daya
Tantra
of
Govinda,
55,
83,
102,
l0S,
125, 130,
14
6
-49,
ISS,
167,198,208,274,314,372,4°2,
4
26
,43
1
,435,437,49
2
Rasakalpa,
128,417,
130
Rasakiimadhenu,
156,
190,
210,
214
Rasakaumudi,
109,415
Rasakautaka,
448
Rasalu,
son
ofPural)
Bhagat,
299-300,
4
1
3
Rasari.kusa
(Elephant
Goad
of
Mer-
cury),
ISS,
182;
mantra
(see
tras);
name
of
a
Rasa
Siddha,
83,
128.
See
also
Bhairava
Rasari.kusI,
128,
ISS,
159,
168,
174-77,
179-
80
,25
8
,443,444
Rasapaddhati
of
Bindu,
13°,481
Rasapradipa
of
Pral)anatha,
130
Rasaprakiifa
Sudhiikara
of
Yasodhara
Bha!!a,
II7,
128,
130, 146,
158-
60,375,434
RasariijalakflJlf
of
130, 157,
16
4,4°°
RasariijafiromaTfi
of
Parasurama,
130
rasa-rasiiyana
(magical
elixir
siddhl),
53,
58,7°,187,324,371,420
Rasaratnadipikii
of
Ramaraja,
13°,436
Rasaratniikara
of
Nityanatha
Siddha,
10
4-5,
III,
113,
12
9-31,
145,
155,157,158,160-62,165,167,
168,188,372,4°0,4°5,417,434,
435,
480;
list
of
Rasa
Siddhas
in,
81-83,
124,
160;
Mantra
or
dha
of,
129, 161,
164
Rasaratnasamuccaya
of
[Jain
author]
Mal)ikyadeva
Suri,
4II
Rasaratnasamucchaya
of
II,
124-130,146,158,162,167-68,
247,274,294,37
2
,37
6
,39°,4
2
7,
429,492;
lists
of
Rasa
Siddhas
in,
81-
8
4,
113, 160,
19
0
-9
2
,
197,
210,212
Rasaratniivali,
of
Guru
Datta
Siddha,
133
Rasiir7fava,
xi,S,
53-57,
59,
71,
101-2,
10
4,
II3-
1
4,
133, 137, 145,
14
8
-
55,
15
8
-59,
160, 162, 163,
164,
167-68,
171-83
passim,
188, 190,
194,
19
6
,
19
8
,
206, 207, 209, 210,
245, 260,
26
4,
274, 275, 278, 282,
28
4,297,
3
01
, 3
1
5,
3
16
,
320,
3
2
3,
3
2
4,
3
26
, 3
2
7,
3
28
, 3
6
3,
374,
39
6
,
398,4°1,413,426,434,437,442,
487,510;
authorship
of,
127,
429-30;
mention
of
Siddha
Cakra
in,
133;
possible
influence
of
KJiiN
on,
133;
tantrism
in
the,
171-83
passim
Rasiir7fava
Kalpa,
160,428
Rasasanketakiilikii,
of
tha,
13°,4°0,448
Rasasiira
of
Govindacarya,
130,
ISS,
3
8
4,431
Rasasiddhiinta,
373
Rasasiddhifiistra
383,415
Rasasindhu
of
I
30,
448
Rasavaifefika
Sutra
of
Bhadant
Nagar-
juna,
381,431
Rasiivatiira,
49
I
rasaviddhi.
See
vedha
rasiiyana:
alchemical
elixir,
49,
58,
70,
7
6
,137,3°5,3
2
7,374,393,4
2
7,
436,
446
(see
also
elixirs,
rasa-

rasiiyana
(continued)
rasiiyana);
Ayurvedic
elixir
or
venation
therapy,
13,25-26,131,
145,
168,
169, 186,
188,
266, 270,
271,273,3°3,327,342,356,371,
378,479,491;
"coming
forth
of
the
essence;'
73,
386;
name
of
a
physician
in
the
Har{acarita,
377;
Tibetan
Buddhist
inner
alchemy,
71,
385;
term
for
alchemy,
14,
188
Rasiiyana
Siistroddhrti
of
Vya<#,
4
I
5
rasendra,
name
of
mercury,
188,
208;
name
of
Siva-Bhairava,
180
Rasendra
Bhiiskara,
191,
210,
214,4°8
Rasendra
Mangala
of
SrIman
juna,
76,
I04-5,
12
3-
2
7,
130,
145-4
6
,
149-5
1
,
154, 155,
15
8
,
160,161,162,
16
4-
6
7,274,3
2
5,
327,39°,4°1,415,428,43°,435;
list
of
Rasa
Siddhas
in,
8
1-84
RasendracintiimaTfi,
of
tha,
130,
248
Rasendracfu!iimaTfi
of
Somadeva,
I
17,
12
5-26,
128, 130, 146,
154, 157,
158-60,
167, 168, 169, 187, 190,
19
1
,212,274,375,394,4
1
5,4
2
9,
434,439,4
8
7,49
2
Rasendrakalpadruma
of
Bhaga,13°
RaseSvara:
name
of
mercury,
187;
name
of
Siva
as
god
of
alchemy,
I03,
157, 179,
258,439;
Rasesvara
Siddhas,
I
II,
390
Rasesvara
Darsana.
See
sa'l1,lgraha
Rasopani{at,
102, 146,
155,
157,
381,
4IO,
416,
431;
authorship
of,
127.
See
also
Mahodadhi
Ratha4Ul}4a.
See
Rajasthan
Ratnaghosa,
82,
84,
104,
124-25,
152,
16
4
Rattannath,
278-79,
400,
448
Raval}a,
58,
82,
12
5,
150-51,
373,
374,
415.
See
also
Kumiira
Tantra
Rawal:
kingdom,
122;
Nath
panth,
98,
121-22,358,399,414·Seeako
Bappa
Rawal
Ray,
Prafulla
Candra,
104-5,
152, 160,
16
4,
37
2
,4
01
realgar.
See
red
arsenic
rebirth.
See
transmigration
red:
arsenic
170, 189, 195,
20
5,
28
4,
326,451,453;
color
of
female
elements,
19
2
,
193, 194,
198,199,
202,
as,
224,
396,468
religious
alchemy,
typologized,
52-57
resorption,
17,
19,
33,
185,
206, 208,
211,215,219-23,233,263,272,
293,441,458,463;
time
of
kiila)
,
316-19.
See
ako
emanation;
pralaya;
withdrawal
and
return,
yogic
Ret
KUl}4.
See
waters,
magical
Reval}a,
86-87,
92-93,
133,
168,
391,
4
01
reversal,
yogic,
29,
39,41-42,
201-2,
227, 248,
262-
6
4,
274, 290,
3
1
3,
32
I,
508.
See
also
urddhvaretas
l!-g
Veda,
10,
17,37,211,216,242,278,
478;
earliest
use
of
term
yoga
in,
19-
20
rice,
196,
289, 299,
35
I
Roberts,
John,
468
rodhana
(coagulation
of
mercury,
tative
mind),
267,
290,
291;
hinl,
291

5
8
5
Index
rogaviida
(therapeutic
alchemy),
52,
55,
130,145-46,161,267,271,431
Rohil!i:
name
of
a
star-maiden,
24,
44,
363;
red
cow,
36
Rosu,
Arion,
xiii,
370,
40
I
royal
consecration,
304,
309,
322
royal
consumption.
See
riijayaks:ma
203
KUI!<;l.
See
waters,
magical
1Ju-siitmya,
23
Rudra-Siva.
See
Siva
Rudrayiimala
Tantra,
130,
145,417,
428,452.
See
also
Dhiitukalpa;
Gandhakakalpa;
Piiradakalpa;
kalpa
Sabara
Tantra,
98
Sabaracintiima1!i
of
Nityanatha
Siddha,
12
9
Sabara-pa,
84
sacrifice:
blood,
29,
89;
Vedic,
10-II,
15-20,
23-24,
28,
36,
184, 189,
215,245,269-71,281,283,466
(see
also
agnicayana);
into
mouth
of
kU1!4alini,
220,
234;
viiyu
as
three
elements
of,
II-13,
21-26,32,45,184-85,187,283,
362,445,
See
also
dik{ii;
ization
of
the
sacrifice
Sadasiva,
152,
162,206,416,438,450,
496,
501;
and
divinization
of
vas,
35;
portrayed
as
mahiipreta
in
Kaula
iconography,
176-78,442.
See
also
five,
faces;
Saiva
Siddhanta
sadbhiiva.
See
clan
nectar
siidhana
(realization,
practice),
2,
185,
23
6
,244,
26
4,
26
5,
288,
335,
345;
bila-siidhana,
59;
nidhi-siidhana,
59.
See
also
reversal,
yogic
Siidhanamiilii,
65,
81,
314, 371,
385
sahasriira
(the
"thousand-petaled"
cakra),
41,
242-43,
245, 293,
4
8
9
failodaka.
See
waters,
magical,
Rock
or
Peak
Water
Saiva
sects
and
sectarianism,
7,
9,
60,
80,87,9°,93,96-102,1°4,111-
12,
II9,
171-83
passim,
193,
213,
282, 284,
286,
305, 306, 309, 310,
3
21
,3
2
5,33°,
333, 340, 345,
347,
357,393,39
8
,445,49
6
,5
1
3,5
1
5,
See
also
Aghoris;
Dasnamis;
kas;
Pasupatas;
Saiva
Siddhanta
Saiva
Siddhanta,
37,
60,
95-98,
102,
134,
14
6
,
162,
17
2
-73,
177, 182,
213,397,416,424,426,439,44°,
462.
See
also
Mrgendriigama
fiikta
pifhas.
See
pifhas
Sakta-Saiva
devotionalism.
See
ship,
tantric
Sakta
sects
and
sectarianism,
2,
79,99,
101,
IIO-II,
140,
146,
171-83
sim,
235, 260,
355,
357,4°5.
See
also
Krama;
Srividya;
Trika
Kaula;
Western
Transmission;
Yogini
Kaula
fakti
(feminine
energy),
35,
61,
177,
218,222,23°,243,257,3
12
,355,
367,423;
visarga-fakti,
256;
in
left
side
of
subtle
body,
485
(see
also
liilga,
western);
rasa-faktis,
442.
See
also
femininity;
kU1!4alini
Sakti
(name
of
the
Goddess),
36,43,
92,14
2
,202,247,25
1
,253,27
8
,
289,317,368,421,427,432,439,
44
2
,45
2
,473
Saktisailgama
Tantra,
394,
42
I
Saktivijiiiina
of
Somananda,
501

5
86
Index
Salivahana;
Salwan.
See
Satavahana,
king
falyatantra
(surgery),
55
samiidhi,
tumulus
of
Nath
Siddha,
94,
288,333,338,350,396,407,450,
519;
total
yogic
integration,
45,
61,215,218,221,253,265,290,
3
6
9,47
2
,4
8
3
samarasa
(fluid
equilibrium),
185,201,
218,253,445,455,4
8
3,5
06
fiimbhavi,
481.
See
also
Sambhu;
mudriis
Sambhu:
name
of
a
Rasa
Siddha,
82,
124,
I26,
160;
name
of
Siva,
248,
4
8
1.
samhiira
(universal
retraction),
227,
232-33,
240.
See
also
pralaya
Sa1!lkhya,
17,20-21,27,32-36,185,
206-10,213,240,270,458,510;
Sii1!lkhya
Kiirikas,
357.
See
also
Pralq-ti;
tattvas
sampradiiya.
See
Nath
sampradiiya
sampu!a
(interlocked,
encased),
145,
25
6
-57,268,282,294,299,454,
4
86
, 5
0
9
sa1!lskiiras:
alchemical
operations,
44,
145,
147-4
8
,
155,
15
8
,
159, 166,
169, 181, 198,
259, 260,
263-302
passim,
314,
368,427,428,442,
461,492,494;
term
kurpa
used
for
in
Rasopanifat,
155;
life-cycle
rites,
43-44,264,271,491,493·Seeako
names
of
individual
sa1!lskiiras
Samundranath,35
0
Sanderson,
Alexis,
xiii,
136,
389,417,
4
2
4,439,444,445,4
6
5,5
0
9
Sangitaratniikara
of
Sanigadeva,
408
Sangye
Sonam,
483
sanjivanijalam.
See
waters,
magical
SaIikara:
Advaita
Vedanta
philosopher,
30-31,87;
name
of
Siva,
163
Sankaravijaya
of
Anandagiri,
Il2,
392,
4
08
,4
18
fankini(conch
duct),
254-57,
322,484,
4
8
5,4
8
7,4
8
9
Sankrtyayana,
Rahul,
404
sannyiisa,
281,497
Santideva,
35
Siiradatilaka
of
31
2
Saraha-pa,
68-70,
7
6
,
399
siira"!a
(flowing,
potentialization
of
mercury),
268, 299,
300,
316
Sarasvati
River,
225-227,468,470,480
farira
yoga.
See
transubstantiation
Siirilgadhara
Paddhati,
96,
IF,
141,
39
6
Siirilgadhara
Samhitii,
13
I,
39
6
,4
I
5,
4
20
,437
SarIiganath,
94,
39
6
Sartre,
Jean-Paul,
5
II
Sarvadarfana
Sa1!lgraha
of
Madhava-
carya,
56,
102, 131,
187,372,400
Sarvaja,
151,
157,
167,430,432
Sarvajfia.
See
Sarvaja
Sarvefvararasiiyana
383
Sastri,
Radhakrishna,
437
Satavahana,
name
of
several
kings,
67,
69,104,114,298,381,409,504
Sao,
195,
196,451.
See
also
pi!has
fa!karmii,,!i
(six
purificatory
practices
of
hathayoga)
265,
271
Satrufijaya
(Mount),
114-15
!$a!Siihasrasamhitii,
88,
9
I,
180,
234,
260,3
8
5,39
2
,4
88
sattva.
See
gu,,!as
sattvas.
See
minerals

5
8
7
Index
Satyanath,
87,
93,
9
8
,
II2,
39
2
,473
saumya.
See
year,
solar
Schoterman,].
A.,
4
81
,
483
seeds.
See
bijas
semen.
See
sexual
fluids
Seneca,
189
Serpents,
58-60,
67,210-17,218,24°,
324,327,333,35°,462,463,496,
501,
504;
Nagalata
("Serpentina"),
308,
322;
Caraka,
Pataiijali,
and
Nagarjuna
as
incarnations
of,
2
15.
See
also
Ananta;
lead;
charming;
Vasuki.
59,
21
5-
16
,
218-
1
9,
28
4,
28
9,
374,4
6
3
sexual
fluids,
II,
13-14,
16,
28,
32,
135-40,
146, 163, 172,
183,
18
4-
202
passim,
210, 212, 216, 235,
245,247,
25
2
,
253,
25
8
,
269, 286,
294,3°9,312,316,438,447,45°,
452,455,460,486,489,491;
as
fuel
of
yogic
transformations,
4-5,
27,39,41,45,72,173,2°7,232-
33,237,243,25°,274,285,289,
293,320,321,351,360,363,425,
430
(see
also
adhoretas;
tas);
as
end
products
of
digestion,
21,25-26,339-42,360,363;as
source
of
kula
continuity,
79,
137
(see
also
clan
nectar);
ritual
sumption
of,
137,424,455,483,
509;
used
in
treating
mercury,
153,
158,433.
See
also
cycles,
strual;
ku"!4agolaka;
power
stances;
yonitattva
sexual
union,
4-5,28,
31,
135-39,
157,
15
8
,
162, 194, 198, 199,
220,
234,
235,25
2
,25
8
,323,34
1
,44
1
,453,
464,465,483,487,490.Seeako
erotico-mystical
techniques
Shah
Abdul
Latif
Bhitai,
311-12
shamanism,
295-99
Sharma,
Dharmananda,
39°,481
Sharma,
Hari
Shankar,
xiii,
I
17
Sharma,
P.
v.,
105-6,
126-28,414,419
Shastri,
Haraprasad,
1°5,4°2,416
Shastri,
Krishna
Pal,
336-37
Sialkot.
See
Jhelum
"Siddh
Vandanarp.;'
list
of
Siddhas
in,
83,
85-
86
,
39
1
Siddha:
defined
by
Tirumular,
61;
mology
of
term,
2
Siddha
alchemy,
52,
55-57,
77-78,
100,
109-22
passim;
141-44,
146, 162,
168-70,
188,
263-302
passim,
314-18,327,372,439
Siddha
Cakra,
89,
133, 135,
137, 181,
356, 386,
388,444.
See
also
niithas
Siddha
Kaula,
74,
88,133-34,17
1
,
4
2
3;
Siddhamrra
Kaula,
13
3
Siddha
of
Rasaratniikara.
See
Rasaratniikara
Siddha
maidens.
See
Siddhas
Siddha
medicine,
102,
208,
37
2
,
457
Siddha
Siddhiinta
Paddhati,
attributed
to
Gorakh
and
Nityanatha,
129,
141,
201,260,418,460,485,488,496
Siddhacaryas.
See
Mahasiddhas
siddha-deha.
See
Siddhas
(Perfecti),
destructible
bodies
of
siddhadravya.
See
power
substances
Siddhanatha,
73,
88,
230,
386,418,
5
1
3
siddhiifijana.
See
afijana
Siddhas
(Perfecti):
abode
of,
3,
150,

5
8
9
Index
(see
also
ArdhanariSvara);
ship
to
the
moon
(see
moon);
vealer
of
Tantras,
54,127,142,
145,161,17
2
,223,225,229,23
6
,
447,468;
Siddhas
in
retinue
of,
331,512;
Siddhesvara
(temples
of),
6o,
95-96,1°3,110,367,375,
398;
Tripurantaka,
438.
See
also
Bhairava;
Kalagnirudra;
linga;
and
names
of
deities
identified
with
Siva
Siva
Samhitii,
3
2
4,
325
Sivahood,
4,
6,
4
2
,5
2
-53,
143, 157,
163, 166, 173, 181,
188,
220,
228;
234,240,312-25
passim,
33
1
,
3
22
,43
2
,439,4
6
5
Sivakalpadruma
of
Sivanatha,
130,
448
six:
metals,
189,
190;
months,
170,
294;
rasas,
185;
schools
ofIndian
philosophy,
174
sixteen,
17,
36-44,
365, 368,
392;
hiiras,
366;
expansion
to
eighteen,
43-44,
37,366;
number
of
women
in
Plantain
Kingdom,
475;
iiras,
43-44,
265-69;
Siddhas,
85,
91,
16
9
Skanda,
131, 159,
18
9-9
1
,
224,
329,
359,376,44°,441,447,448,472
snake
charming,
99,
222,
350, 399,
5
1
9
So<;Jhala,
106, 114.
See
also
graha
fodhana.
See
purification
soma:
as
herbal
medicine,
365,
366;
as
moon
god,
II,
16,
184,
359
(see
also
moon);
as
sacrificial
oblation,
24,3
6
,
365,455,478;
as
Vedic
draft
of
immortality,
IO-
I
I,
25,
28,
189,
232,
242,
243,
259,
28
5;
theft
of,
19°,462.
Somnath.
See
Gujarat
sorcery,
tantric.
See
Kriya
Tantras
soteriology,
7
2
,
385
soul,
individual.
See
iitman
soul,
universal.
See
brahman
sound,
body
of,
72;
substrate
of,
291,
293,477
south
India,
49,53,55,61,67-68,77,
80,105-6,
110-II,
124,
I26,
131,
168,
169,
307, 372,
376, 379,
3
82
,
393,
43
I.
See
also
Andhra
Pradesh;
Kadri;
Karnataka;
Kerala;
kal}a;
coast;
Sittars;
lam;
Tamil
Nadu
Southeast
Asia,
exchanges
with
India,
48,55,61,64,1°3,369,384,389,
4°
1
,457,4
8
7
Southern
Transmission.
See
SrIvidya
Spanda
Kiirika
of
Vasugupta,
222
sparfamarJi.
See
transmutation
spitting.
See
initiation
SrI
Cakra
or
SrI
Yantra.
See
marJqalas
Sri
Lanka,
55,60-61,
II9,
I26,
236,
260,262,299,4
1
5,4
8
9
Sri
Niith
Tfrthiivali
of
Singh,
496,
5°0
SrIkal}!h
a
,
73,
97-98,
I26,
I28-
2
9,
131,133,158,23°,25°,416,418,
442,465;
revealer
of
arJa,
140,
14
2
,
15
6
,
157,
15
8
Srimatottara
Tantra,
156,
157,386,
4
2
5,433
Srinatha,
73-74,
9
1
,
12
9,135,23
0
,
255,33°,4
18
SrIparvata.
See
Srisailam
Srisailam,
49,
53,60,
68-
6
9,
7
6
-77,
92,
103-4,
IIO-I2,
136, 152,
161-
62,
164-65,
168,
196,238,245,
260,331,375,398,4°5,4°8,4°9,

Srisailam
(continued)
4
22
,
434;
site
of
Mallikarjuna
jyotidi7iga,
III,
162,
398,4°5,
4°7,480,488
79,I39,17
8
,Ij;
!!Iso
Balatripurasul1+"
,""mission),
47,
25
1
lllso
emanation;
wid"
,md
return,
yogic
stabilization
and
stability:
of
breaths,
45,232,27
8
;
of
body,
137, 174,
26
4,
26
5,273,274,294,295,439;
of
mercury,
202, 258, 266, 277,
Sec
also
bandhana
323.
See
also
Roh
d,3
0
9
",tabilization
and
'>"ee
gross
body
subtle
body,
4-5,19,138,185,207,
218-62
passim,
280, 288, 291,
3°1,321,327,328,333,385,414,
422,44°,45°,47°,480,482,485,
506;
lunar
nature
of,
18,
30-3
I;
sa-
of,II2,2
,akras;
cranial
vault
t;,;dy;
linga,
western
matsyodm-a;
Mel
pithas;
tenth
dpp""
trikuta
Sufism,
109,
405
sZlks;ma
sarfra.
See
subtle
body
sulfur,6,
II,
16,5°,143,146,154,
Ie
co"
174, 187, 189,
IjO
Iij2
198, 199,
202,
211
268, 291, 292,
3
8I
,4°9,44
I
,4j>;
S0l;
as
Goddess\
ine
blood,
5,
191,
193, 194;
mology
of
term
gandhaka,
193;
flowers
of
(pu!fJita
gandhaka),
199,
440;
origin
myth
of,
148,
168,
19
2
-9
3,
2
2
I,
234,
325;
springs
(see
geothermal
phenomena;
waters,
magical).
See
al";;,
21,23-
2
5,28-2
l
}.
202, 205, 226,
2
248,
250-54,
28u
3
1
5,3
18
,3
2
3,
r
;;6,
457,468,481,482,504,514;god
of
generates
copper
from
seed,
190.
See
also
moon
Sundarnath
Siddha,
339
:unya
(void),
43,
106"
20;
2
I I
2
11-42,
253,295,4
0
3,4
mahiiszlnya,
456;
302,
5
06
Smlyasampiidane
of
Gl1hn"
"
l!arayu,
406
Surasena,
82,104,125,433
Surpanath,
86
Susruta
Sarhhitii,
52,
76,
ZIO,
356,
37°,373,375,387,415;
dating
of,
3
61
,;jumz!ii.
See
medial
(name
for
mercup;
208,
26
5,44
6
,4'J'""
);cchanda
Bhairava.
>9,
14
2
-43,15
6
-57,175,17
6
,17
8
-
179,417,424,432,434,442,514;
svacchandabhairava
rasa,
160,417,
436.
See
also
Bhairava
Svacchanda
Tantzll,
I2n"
17
8
,3
2
9-3
1
,4
1
"""
!>chandasaktyavatiill!
karana
(sweating,
trim
cury)
,
266,
273
swallowing.
See
gz-iisa

59
1
Index
Swami
Sevananda,
517
swooned,
killed,
and
bound
mercury,
6,
144,14
6
,149,15
8
,159,162,274,
384.
See
also
bandhana;
miira1!a;
mercury;
murcchana
syncretism,
Hindu-Buddhist,
53, 55,
57-59,61,66,7°-7
1
,74,7
8
,94,
lo4-II,
II8,
136, 148,
152, 187,
19
6
,
206,
361, 373, 375,
3
8
3,
390,
5
I
3
(see
also
Buddhist
alchemy;
rayana
Buddhism;
Highest
Yoga
Tantra);
Hindu-Jain,
57,
80,
93,
99,
114-
1
9,
33
1
-34,
399,4
10
,
475,479,498,
SIS
(see
also
ism,
Siddha
and
tantric
traditions
of;
NeminathlNimnath;
nathlParSvanath);
Hindu-Muslim,
80,99,106,121,17
1
,
2
°5,228,
23
8
, 3
II,
399,403-5
(see
also
Bauls;
Jogis,
Muslim;
Rawals);
Hindu-Sikh,
I
26;
Hindu-Taoist,
62,
71,
196
Tahqiqiit-i-Ciftf,
395,
501
Taishang
suling
dayou
miaojing,
250
Taittiriya
Sa'lhhitii,
24,
359
Tamil
Nadu,
2,
60-61,
63-64,
77,
87,
97,106,124,178,34°,357,376,
378,392,398,4°7,415,447,45°,
5
0
4
Tanjur,
70-71,
81,1°5,108,125,224,
380,383,386,387,39°,4°3,416,
4
2
5
Tanti-pa,
in
Siddha
lists,
81,
83-84,
86,
9
1
-9
2
tantra,
etymology
of,
1-2
Tantra
91,
II3,
394,4°8,
4
2
5
Tantriiloka,
73,
88,137,225,3
12
-
1
4,
329,33
1,395,424.
See
also
vagupta
Tantrariija
Tantra,
9
1
,
394,
5
1
4
tantric
alchemy,
51-55,
72,
78,
104,
109-22
passim,
145,
171-83
sim,
187,
372;
"tantric
element"
in,
139,
14
1
-44
Tao
te
ching,
62,
377
Taoism
and
Hinduism.
See
syncretism,
Hindu-Taoist
Taoist
alchemy.
See
Chinese
alchemy
tapas
(ascetic
ardor),
18,
27,
39,
184,
243,270,28I,284,295·Seeako
thermal
energy
Tara,
64-65,
69-70,
IIO,
378, 380,
387,465,516;
larii
Tantra,
394,
412
Taranatha,
70,
107-
8
,
383,4°3
tattvas,
33-36,43,210,214,317,365,
477,510.
See
also
five,
elements;
Pralqti;
Tayumanavar,
340
Telugu
literature,
92-93,
II
1-12,
369,
429.
See
also
Navaniitha
Caritra
of
Gaural].a;
Sunyasampiidane
tenth
door,
252, 254, 256, 260, 261,
483-85,489,
504.
See
also
nine
doors
thermal
energy,
13,39,
284.
See
ako
geothermal
phenomena;
tapas
Tibet,
exchanges
with
India,
2,
55,
64-
66,69,80,
105,
196,247,251,
379, 380,
3
8
4
Tibetan
literature,
64,
67-7
I,
80,
2
18,
447.
See
also
bCud
len
gyi
man
ngag
bshad
pa
of
Bo
dong;
Chos
hbyung
of
Bu-ston;
Dragpa
jets
'en;
(;rubthob;lGanjur;
Tar.ifur;
natha

59
2
Index
time,
23,
28,42;
units
of,
46,317.
See
also
death;
kalpa;
miitra;
pala;
hiiyuga
See
Tirumular,
61,
76,
87,
375,412.
See
also
Mulanatha
Tod,
ColonelJames,
122,
344, 345,
4
12
-
1
4
To4ala
Tantra,
164
transmigration,
18,29-30,38,
185,
201,239,24°,3
26
,3
6
7
transmutation,
7,
I
I,
14,
53-55,
68,
III,
122,
137, 147,
149-50,
160,
16
5,
166,
177,
199,
202,
244, 245,
24
6
,
25
8
,
259,
26
5-
68
,
29
2
, 3
0
3,
311,314,320,
3
22
,
330,
33
6
-39,
352,371,375,4°7,452,5°6,511.
See
also
dhiituviida;
paras
patthar;
vedha
transmutational
alchemy.
See
viida
transubstantiation,
7,
II,
14,
53-55,
159,166,258,265,267,268,282,
3
1
4,3
1
5,3
2
4,375,49
1
Trika
Kaula,
4,
3
6
,
73, 79,
89,
135-3
8
,
172,176,178,214,255,314,389,
424,427,441,464,465,477.
See
also
Abhinavagupta;
Parapara;
Siddha
Cakra
trikufa
(triple-peak
configuration
lo-
cated
in
cranial
vault),
471,5°6
Tripathi,
Bhagiratha
Prasada,
371,433
TripurasundarI.
See
Balatripurasundari
Tristhalisetu
of
Naraya1].a
Bhana,
469
Trita,
465
Trivikrama.
See
Vikramaditya
Tryambaka
Pant,
396
Tucci,
Giuseppe,
80,
312,470
Tvam,
189
twelve:
Nath
panths,
90,
93-IOO,
110,
113,
II9,
121, 129,
398-99;
years,
rii,
239, 244, 288,
294, 295,
299,
3
00
,345
Buddhistpffha,
260,495,
See
also
bandhana
and
bandhas;
pffhas
Ujjain,
49,
62, 64,
3
II
,
335
ula!ii
siidhana.
See
reversal,
yogic
Uma,
I26, I28,
140,
157, 177, 197,
441
unicorn,
203,
205
unmanii
(beyond
mind),
45,
178,302
Upadhyaya,
Nagendranath,
404
Upadhyaya,
Yadunandan,
336
U
Aitareya,
5
I
I;
yaka,
17,
2
13;
Chiindogya,
27,
30,
207,
367,459;
Kii!haka,
206,
2
I2,
241;
Maitrf,
20,
28,
185,
253;
One
Hundred
Eight,
13
I,
420;
gnihotra,
497;
Prama,
20;
tirfya,
32;
Yogadarfana,
469;
ku"!4
alf
,
16
9,
3
13;
Yogaffkha,
13
I,
420;
Yogatattva,
371
uparasas
(secondary
alchemical
agents),
145,
147-4
8
,
154, 155,
159, 160, 164, 166, 168,
187,384,
43
1
,44
6
,449,4
61
iirddhvapiitana
yantra.
See
piitana
iirddhvaretas,
233,
240,
248, 251, 284,
341,483,
See
also
adhoretas
urethral
suction.
See
vajrolf
mudrii
uterine
blood.
See
sexual
fluids
Uttar
Pradesh,
98,112,121,245,
3IO,
346-47,392,406,4I4,435·See
also
Ayodhya;
Benares;
hpur;
Hardwar
Uttarakurus,
Land
of,
355

593
Index
uttariiya1Ja.
See
year,
solar
utthiipana
(resurrection
of
swooned
mercury),
267, 275,
290
Vacaspati
Misra,
58
Vagava,
472;
birthplace
of
Gorakh,
422,472;
name
of
a
Rasa
Siddha,
82;
vaqaviimukha-biqa,
449;
mukha-rasa,
436.
See
also
biiqava
Vagbhan
a
,
the
Elder,
52,
65,
379, 390,
415
(see
also
Af!iiizga
S01'!lgraha);
Vagbhaga
the
Younger,
390
(see
also
Af!iiizga
Hrdaya);
Vagbhaga
II,
82,
127,
167,411
(see
also
Rasaratnasamucchaya)
vaidyas
(Ayurvedic
physicians),
13,
22,
II
3,
33
6
,
359,42
I
Vaikhiinasa
Smiirta
Sutra,
491
Vairag
panth,
93,
97,
39
6
,
399
sects
and
sectarianism,
99,
159,
357
viijikara1Ja
(sexual
rehabilitation
apy),
25-26,
266,
518.
See
also
rodisiacs
Vajrasattva,
70,
3
6
5,
373,
3
82
,
394,449
Vajrayana
Buddhism,
35,
65,
66,7°-
72,80,
101, 126, 171,
196,
201,
221,234,
247,
25
1
-5
2
,
260,
379,
3
81
,3
82
, 3
8
4,
3
8
5,
3
8
9,
397,
399,
454,455,483,5°9;
Highest
Yoga
Tantra,
136,
386, 390,
404;
betan
Nyingma
school,
65,
71,
105,221,
379,
385.
See
also
dhist
divinities;
Mahasiddhas
vajrolimudrii,
198-201,
253, 276, 282,
322,341,454,455,473,482,483,
498;
in
Mahayana
sources,
63,
201;
parallel
Chinese
technique,
63,7
2
ValabhI[-saila],
115-16,
119,300,409-
10,
505
Viimakefvara
Tantra,
163
Viimamiirga,
256
vampires
(siddhi
of
control
over),
305,
piresses
(women
and
demonesses
characterized
as),
341-42,441,
473
Van
der
Veer,
Peter,
345
Van
Kooij,
Karel
R.,
295
Varal).a
River.
See
Benares
Var7Jaratniikara
of
Kavisekaracarya
Jy-
otlsvara,
80,
391, 393,
395;
list
of
Siddhas
in,
84
var7Jas
(castes
or
colors
of
minerals),
100, 154,
19
2
,
198,
208-9,
214,
43
1
Viisavadattii
of
Subandhu,
60, 64,
110,
4
0
5
Vasuki,
114,
190,214,
221,
289,447,
4
6
4,
5°5
viiyu
(wind).
See
sacrifice,
Vedic
Viiyutattva"!l
Bhiivanopadefa
of
404
Vedanta,
18,
20,
32-36,
189,
206, 222,
357,4
26
vedha[na}
("piercing;'
transmutation
of
metals
by
mercury),
265, 268,
303,313-15,321,490,507;
vedha,
312;
five
types,
159,
209,
459;
ko!avedhi-rasa,
409;
linguistic
alternation
with
bedhanalbhedana,
313;
mahiivedha
(yogic
practice),
282,3°3,319,511;
rasavedha,
259;
rasaviddhi,
507;
fabda-vedha,
209,
212,
320,
511;
vedha[mayi
dikfii},
182,312-14,321,368,5°8,5°9.
See
also
piercing

594
Index
Vetiilapaficavi1!lfati,
306,
309.
vibhuti.
See
siddhis
Vidya
PIJ:ha,
79,
135-37,
15
6
,
173,
176-77,386,389,4°4,416,424,
44
1
,444
Vidyadharas
(Wizards),
3,
52,
56-58,
74-75,99,118-
1
9,
12
4,247,259,
29
2
,3
0
7,323-34
passim,
355,
373,415,512,514,
516;
Jain
tions
of,
387,
516;
rig
'dzin
in
betan
traditions,
387;
three
levels
of,
329-30;
vidyiidhara
yantra,
248-51,480,482,49°,494;
adharls,
192,
325;
Vidyarajas
in
Buddhist
traditions,
373,
387,
516.
Vidyesvaras,
168,
177-78,213,416,
44
2
,4
62
Vijayanagara
(Hampi),
102,
383, 396,
4°
6
,4°7,4
1
9
Vikramaditya,
name
of
several
kings,
115,236,3°6-7,311,313
Vimalananda,
WI,
341,454
Vimalaprabhii.
See
Kiilacakra
Tantra
vimarfa.
See
light
Viniifikha
Tantra,
432,
472
Vinayaka.
See
Gal).eSa
Vindhyas,
157,
381
viparita,
reverse
sexual
position,
308,
3
I
3;
viparitakara1Ji
(yogic
posture),
249,4
82
,49°
vira,
239,
323.
See
also
pam
Vlrabhadra,
286,417
Viramiihefvariigama,
III
Vlrasaivas,
46,
97,
102-3,
I
II-12,
129,
237-38,314,375,391,393,4°6,
477
Viriiva-pa
(Viriipa),
252
46,59,
III,
12
4,
14
1
,
14
6
,
159,
162,224,227,
28
9,294,29
6
,3
1
5,
317,318,327,347,415,451,495;
identified
with
Dattatreya
in
harashtra,
92,
41
I;
Narayal).a,
the
cosmic
yogin,
2I
5,
221
(see
also
pralaya)
Visva
Hindu
(Hindu
World
Council),
347,
5
1
9
Visvamitra,
304-7
Visvanath,
226,
398
Visvariipa,
189,
315
Vivekamiirta1Jefa
of
Gorakhnath,
141,
16
9
Vividhattrthakalpa
of
Jlnaprabhasuri,
II7,479
volcanos.
See
geothermal
phenomena
Vrnda,
76,
382, 386.
See
also
dhiyoga
Vya<;ii,
71, 74,
81-82,
86,
91,125-26,
199,311,383,39°,416
vyiipana.
See
emanation
Vyasa,
57-58,422
vyoma
(term
for
both
mica
and
ether),
210-12,24
1
,459-
60
,477
W'akan
[Ho
han}
sans
ts'ai
t'ou
hoei,
203
Walleser,
Max,
67
waters,
magical,
113,
205,
23
8
,
245,
261,4°9,44
6
;
Amrt
KUl).<;i,
246;
Cleaver
Water
(kartari
jalam),
384;
resusci
tatingwater
lam),
113;
Ret
KUl).<;i,
246;
Rock
or
Peak
Water
(failodaka),
153,
316,
355,4
0
9,5
10
;
ntu
KUl).<;i,
245.
See
also
Candrakiipa;
geothermal
nomena.
Wattelier,
Alain,
478
Wayman,
Alex,
382

595
Index
385,
387
weights
and
measures,
5
IO.
See
also
pala
VVeikzas.
See
Zawgyis
and
VVeikzas
VVeinberger,
Steven,
404
VVeinberger-
Thomas,
Catherine,
5
I
7
VVellcome
Institute
for
the
History
of
435
wells,
237,
239,
240-53
passim,
280,
288,
28
9,294,297,344,449,47
8
-
79,
5
0
5;
dedicated
to
Goddess,
245;
inverted,
24
2
-44;j
i
kiipa,
244;
of
mercury,
II5,
117,
159, 162, 168,
191,202,205,208,
212;
VVell,
245,
299-300,
47
8
;
romakiipa
(pores),
273,495;
water
pots
represented
as,
242-43,
478;
VVell
of
Truth,
457
VVest,
Indian
exchanges
with,
2,
87,
20
3-
6
,
376,
45
6
western
India,
IIO-22,
422,
476
VVestern
Transmission,
2,4-5,73,79,
87-9
0
,94,
II2-
1
3,
126,
12
9,
133-
35,139-4°,143,15
1
,180-81,
228,23°,255,389,423,481.
See
also
Samhita;
Kubjika;
Kubjikamata;
Manthiinabhairava
Tantra;
$atsahasra
Samhita
VVilkinson,
Chris,
386
wine,
ritual
use
of,
137,220,231,234,
252,455.
See
also
pancamakara
VVink,
Andre,
412
withdrawal
and
return,
yogic,
33,
38-
39,42,46-47,185,221,251,263,
29°,293,3
18
,4
6
3
VVork
in
Two
Parts,
14,
57,
173,
26
3-
65,266,274,275,277,281,294,
3
1
5,37
2
worship,
of
chemicals.
See
rasacikitsa
worship,
tantric,
4,54,79,89,131,
135-4
0
,143-45,15
0
,15
2
,157,
163, 167, 168, 169, 172, 173, 176,
179-
81
,
24
1
,
25
8
,
28
4,
3
06
, 3
2
4,
355,391,424,430,440,441,442,
443,450,454,473,488.Seeako
erotico-mystical
practice;
makara;
yoni-piija
written
transmission,
xii,
145,
16I.
See
also
oral
transmission
VVujastyk,
Dominik,
xiii,
104,
II5,
4
IO
,435
Yadavas
of
Devagiri,
94,
I04-6,
I
12-
14,
12
7,
147,
16
7,
393,4°8-9.
See
also
Devagiri;
Singhal)a
Yadavji
Trikamji
Acarya,
117
Yiijnavalkya
Sm7Ji,
37,494
Yajur
Veda,
18
9,
499
(Dryads),
58-59;
I04,
153,475
Yama,
II,
23,46,171,259,280,295,
340,409,429,475,497;
iron
arises
from
seed
of,
190
Yamantaka,
220-2
I.
See
also
Bhairava
Yamuna
River,
225-26,
277,480
yantras
(alchemical
apparatus),
78,
145,
160, 169, 181,
183,241,248,25°-
51,257-58,327,333,426,480;
cameral
configuration,
247-52,
25
6
,
328,
479.
See
also
4amaru;
tana;
Vidyadharas
Yasodhara
[Bhana],
82,
159.
See
also
Rasaprakafa
Sudhiikara
year:
solar,
23-25,
28,
362,469;
ters
of,
22-26,
3°,41,46,318,
363;
seasons
of,
23-24,
29,
362

59
6
Index
yoga:
ati-yoga
in
Ayurveda,
23;
a-yoga
in
Ayurveda,
23;
sama-yoga
in
urveda,
20,
23;yogiigni
(see
fire);
yoga-kfema
in
Rg
Veda,
19-20.
See
also
Nath
Siddhas;
Pasupatas;
Yoga
Siltras
Yoga
Siltras
ofPatafijali,
57-58,
373,
422,
494;
classic
definition
of
yoga
in,
273
Yoga
vasirtha,
239,439
Yogabija
of
Gorakhnath,
100,
14
1
,
255,
4
2
5,5
12
,513
Yogadtpikii
of
Gorakhnath,
141,
407
yogiigni.
See
fire
YogamiirtaTf4a
of
Gorakhnath,
141,
16
9,4
82
Yogananda,
338
Yogaratnamiilii
of
Nagarjuna,
76,
II
2,
II4,
12
5,
13
1
,
165,4°8,419,43°
Yogaratniivalt
of
Srlkal}!ha
Siva,
13
I,
4
6
5
Yogafataka
of
Nagarjuna,
75-76,
387,
3
88
Yogavifaya
of
Matsyendra,
484,
485
Yogi,
Surya
Kumar,
xii,
4
01
,
479,517
YogIndras,
440
YoginI
Kaula,
5,
73,
88-89,
134-3
6
,
17
2
,200,223,229,235,261,4
2
3,
4
66
,47
1
YoginIs,4,
134-35,
13
8
,
15
2
-53,
15
6
,
157,159,168,
16
9,173,17
6
-77,
180,182,199-
200
,223,229,235,
261,323,324,334,442,466,512,
5
I
7;
Buddhist
Kapalika-
YoginI
cult,
136,
386,
390,
404;
four,
421, 424,
483;yogint-bhu
gic
child),
200.
See
also
QombI;
Duo;
mouth
Yogis.
See
Jogis
Yogisampradayiivifk1:ti,
attributed
to
Jfianesvara,
II3,
134,236,391,
4°8,411,466,474,5°0,5°4
yoni,
194-96,
234,
247,
26
9,
296,485;
yonicakra
(fire-pit),
258;
sulfur
called
umii-yoni
in
BhiltiprakaraTfa,
157,
197,432;
upper
and
lower
in
subtle
body,
256,
443, 467,
482
(see
also
mouth,
YoginI's
upper
and
lower);
yoni-piljii,
195,
473;
tattva,
454,
455
yuganiithas,
135,
137,
181,4
16
,513.
See
also
Siddha
Cakra
Zawgyis
and
Weikzas
(Burmese
mists),
48,
12
4,
354,
3
8
4
Zimmerman,
Francis,
22
Zulmat,
238