CHAPTER SIX.

DA^AMAHAVIDYAS

Our n e x t e n q u ir y i s tn e w o rsh ip o f Dasamahavidyas.

The c o n c e p t o f Dasamahavidyas i s o f t a n t r i c o r i g i n . But

o e f o r e g o in g t o d i s c u s s the r i t u a l o f Mahavidyas le t us

know what Mahavidya i s . A c co r d in g to the Yo g i n i T antra

th e s c ie n c e o f m antras i s d iv id e d i n t o two c a t e g o r i e s

( i ) M antra, ( i i ) v i d y i . Tnose are m antras which a r e

S '.* A . C c- \ \ k r 1 1 - .

a p p lie d t o the w orsh ip o f gods^an-! th o s e a p p lie d to g o d d e -

- 1
s s e s are known as V id y a s . when we a p p ly the a d je c t iv e

1Maha* t o i t we mean g r e a t god d ess o r c h i e f g o d d e s s .

The p op u la r myth behind th e o r i g i n o f Das^amahavid-

yas i s t n a t when S a t i came t o know t h a t her fa c n e r Daksa is

g o in g t o p e rfo rm a s a c r i f i c e and t o which Daksa has

in v it e d a l l bu t ^ iv a and Sat3T, she wanted co go th ere in

s p i t e o f h a v in g any i n v i t a t i o n . She begged p e r m is s io n from

S iv a to g o t o the s a c r ific e . ^ iv a fo r b a d e h er and

e x p la in e d the con seq u en ce s o f a t t e n d in g the s a c r i f i c e , w ith ­

o u t b e in g i n v i t e d . A t t h is S a t i becam e f e r o c i o u s and angry.

1 . man^Sravidya v ib h a g e tu d v iv id h a m jiy a t e p r iy e /

mantr'ah pumdevatah p r o k ta v id y a h s t r id e v a t a h smrtah / /

YT. 2 / 7 /2 7
 104

At the sight of her anger Siva became perplexed and wanted

k* —
to fle e hither and tith e r . Sati obstructed him by shouting
'do not be a fr a id '. S^va was not comforted. In the mean
_ xf r ' •)
time Sati expressed h erself in ten images in ten d irection s.
Siva was perplexed and accorded permission to go to Daksa’ s
2
place.

The modern interpretation is d iffe re n t. Some

scholars (wanted to say that these ten images of the mother
9prziJLtriO ' ’ _ _ _ -z

worshi p - though t hey are d ifferen t forms of Devi Kalika.

The follow ers of Kalikula; worship the ten Mahavid-

yas. They are Kali, Tara, Sotjasi, Bhuvanesvarl, Bhairavl,
Vagala, Cinnamasta, Dhumavati, Matangi, Kamala. These
Mahavidyis are worshipped along with their Bhairavas, i . e . ,
Siva with d ifferen t names a's fpllp& s.

2. tam dhavamanam girisatn drstva daksayani sa ti /

ma bhai ma b h a iriti gira ma palayetyuvaca sa / /
tathapyanyam palayantam hyanivrttam vilokya ha /
dasamurtivabhau devi dasa diksu s^iveksita / / • #

VDP,MadhyamaKhanda, 6th Chap. pp.13-14

3. dasamahavidyar sadhana saktisadhanar ksetre

/ *

kramoccastar y is e s , TTS, p .42

4. kali tara mahavidya sodasi bhuvanesvarl /
bhairavl chinnamasta ca vidya dhumavati tatha / /
vagala siddhavidyi ca matangi kamalatmika /
eta dasamahavidyassiddhavidyah prakirtitah / /
CT
 105

The 3iva-.3akti union is best explained by Dasa Maha

-vidya's concept. Except Dhumavati who is represented as a
widow the other nine Mahavidyas are to be worshipped along
with their Bhairavas. Because ^iva^without £akti is passive
or dead. To quote Dr. Radha^risihnah, ’ Siva is th is system
is of the nature of omnipresent (akhilanugata) pure consci­
ousness (Prakasha) , impersonal and in active. It is pure
being devoid of any r e la tiv ity . The active personel being,
Sakti, includes a ll individual sou ls’
The opening verse of VSaundaryyalahari'' states tnat
Siva when he is united with S a;tti,is aDle to creat, otherwise
he is unable even to move*. Siva and Sakti are related as
Praxasa and '/imarsa. Bhas:<ara Raya defines vimarsa as the
spontaneous vibration of the ultimate r e a lity . The fir s t
tough of rela tion is the pure Absolute is Vimarsa which give
ris e to the world of d istin ction s. Vimarsa or sakti is the
s

power latent in the absolute or pure consciousness. I f Siva

is consciousness (C it), Sa.<ti.is the formative energy of
conciousness, Cidrupinl. Brahma, Visnu and Siva oerform
their functions of creation, preservation and destruction ir
obedience to Sakti. In the perfect experience of ananda,jiva
and Sakti✓ are indistinguishable, The two coalesce in one
being. Siva answers to the indeterminate Brahman in a state
<r

of quiescence, Sakti is determinate Brahman endowed with

iccha (w ill), Jnana (.-knowledge) and Kriya (action)projecting
✓ r

the whole objective universe. Siva and Sakti are one, since
force i s inherent in existence. The force may be at rest or
in action, but i t e x ists none the le ss in both the states;
The p oten tia lity of the whole object world ex ists as the
Sakti of Siva.
Sakti i s differentiated as gross and subtle. She is
the mother of a ll things. The fiv e functions of illumina­
tion (abhasa), coloration (ra k ti), examination (vimarsana ),
showing the seed(vijavasthana) and lamentation(vilapanata)
 106

are attributed to her. There is also t h e n o n -coripious

matter which corresponds to the PrakAti of t h e samkhya

5
system*.

According t o Dr. S.B. Dasgupta, Sati, t h e daugh­

ter of D a k s a is r e p r e s e n t e d as Dasamahavidyas.Besides,

the Devi is t u r n e d into Dasamahavidyas through yd the

Daksa*s sacrifice e p i s o d e .5
6 According t o Dr. P. Kumar

the concept of D a s a m a h a v i d y a s is evolved to match with

ten chief incarnations of V i s« n•u .

The t e n goddesses have different images depicted

in the respective Dhyanas. Over an d above, the

goddesses have their own mystic diagrams (yantras) on

w h i c h they are also worshipped. The d iagrams (yantras)

j JLa * -
represent k
the deity J r f their very subtle form.However,
r
the subtlest form is t h e seed Mantra (Bija Mantra) with

which the d e i t y is w o r s h i p p e d . Images, seed mantras

and mysiic diagrams are equally effective.

The worship of Dasamahavidyas is p r e v a l e n t a m o n g

the tantrics and specially the Saktas. We furnish below

the d e s c r i p t i o n of them. T h e ten Mahavidyas temples are

5 . H IP , p p . 7 3 5 -7 3 6

6 . BSSSS, p p . 1 - 2 ( I n t r o d u c t i o n )
 107

situ a te d on the h illo c k .

[1 ] Kali : Kali i s the f i r s t o f a l l Mahavidyas. She i s

worshipped both f o r ea rth ly enjoyment and s a lv a tio n .

The Mahanirvana Tantra, a s cr ib e s her as the

p rog in a tor including both animate and inanimate

o b je c t s .

She i s standing on a /cropse (^ a v a ), she i s black

i
y

in co lo u r (shyim a). She grants boons t o a l l . She is

th ree eyed. She bears a sk u ll and a sword.She wears

a n eck lace of human s k u ll. Her Bhairava i s Mahakala.

[2 ] Tara : Taira i s another form o f K a li. She p la ces her

/
l e f t le g on the bosom o f S iva. She i s o f dark blue
c o m p le x io n . She possesses fou r hands. She i s
worshipped in Buddhism a l s o Akscu/bL*,.

[3] S od as!: Sodas! i s a lso known as S rlvid ya as w ell as

Kainakhya. She i s worshipped both f o r enjoyment and

s a lv a tio n . Her seat i s borne by Brahma. Visnu and

S iva. She can also g iv e both enjoyment and s a lv a tio n .

She i s o f sixteen years o f age. Her!Bhairava is

Kamesvar# #

[4 ] Bhuvane^varl: Bhuvanesvari has fo u r hands. In her

hands she holds the noose and the goad with the other
two hands she pauses to grant boon. She i s a lso the
 108

/
consort of Siva. She is the owner of the three worlds.
Her Bbairava is Tryamvaka-siva.

[5] Bhairavi : Bhairavi is ever young. In her four hands

she holds a rosary of beads* a book, the pause of
granting boons and assurances. She also possesses a
crescent on her forehead. She has three eyes. Her
Bhairava is Daksinamurti.
• •

[6] Chinnamasta : The goddess Chinnamasta is terrible.She

■

is drinking the blood springy®out from the cutting of

her own throat. She i s associated with two nayikas
named Dakini and Varnini. They also drin* blood
springing out of the throat of the goddess. She is
also known as Pracanda candika.
• *
Her Bhairava is
Kalarudra. Swami Prajnanananda has stated th at, the
image is a symbolical representation of Kula
- 7
kundalini. Kula^undalini is supposed to be in the
base centre (Muladhara-cakra).
T his power lying latent in the
basic centre in the form of a serpent is aroused and
lead to the Zenith centre (sahasrara-cakra). Thereby
the devotee unites Kundalini with supreme Siva(parama
Siva). This is the suhium bonum of Tantric worship.

7. TTS, p . 85
 109

The image o f chinnamasta in d ica te s that she has stopped

th e rev ers d ir e c t io n o f Kundalini which i s resp on sib le
f o r fu tu re b ir t h . other w ofvisfh e devotee capable of
Visiting Kundalini with Paramas'iva is f r e e from any

fu tu re b ir t h , in other words a tta in s a lv a tio n , unity with

alm ighty. .

[7 ] Dhumavati: Dhumavati i s represented as a widow. So

she has no Bhairava. she r id e s on a c h a r r io t on which a

crow s i t s . By one o f her hands she grants boon on the

other h old s a winnowing fq p . She i s represen ted as a
goddess o f m isfortune and m isery.

[8] Vagala : vagala Devi s i t s on a th ron e. She helds

th e tongue of an enemy with her l e f t hand and with her
r ig h t hand a mace. She i s o f yellow countenance and wears

a yellow c lo t h . Her Bhairava is Ekavakttra Siva.

[9] Matangi : Matangi s i t s on a throne o f gems. He has

fo u r hands h old in g sword, khetaka, noose and goad. Her
» /
Bhairava i s Matanga S iv a .

[10] Kamala; Kamala Mahavidya is represented with two

elephants h olding two p itc h e r s o f n ectar by th e ir trunk

coronating th e goddess. In her hands she h old s two lo tu s e s
and shows postures o f gran tin g boons and assurances. The
com plextion of goddess Kamala is as b rig h t as g o ld . She i s
 110

seated on a lo tu s. Her Bhairava is S ri-V isn u .

We are discussing the concept of Mahavidyas as

because there are Dasamahavidyas, temples on the Nila-
cjtfala h illo c k . Regular worship i3 performed here from
time immemorial. It is said that the worship of the
Das'amahavidyls is equally ancient as that of Kamakhya.

The Kali temple is situated between the Kamakhya

temple and Kamesvara temple. It is popularly known as
the Dirghesvarl Pitha.

The temple of goddess Tara is situated between

the Kamakhya and Kali temple.

The Bhuvanesvari temple is situated at the pea*

of Brahmaparvata.

The Bhairavl shrine is on the southern side or

Kamlkhya temple. This Pitha has been divided into Kara,
Heruka and Tripura Bhairavl. Hara is worshipped on the
north, *Visva Rupi* Heruka on the western and Tripura
_ crvt,2*u^ __
Bhairavi/ southern d irection of the Pitha. On a hu^.e
stone nearby there is an image of Vala Bhairavl.

On the eastern side of the Kamakhya temple there

is the shrine of Bagallmukhl. The temple is situated on
a huge stone.
 Ill

M other D h Snavatl’ s tem ple is on th e southern side

of Kam akhyi tem p le. T h is is p o pularly known as K a 't e s v a r l

p ith a.

The C h in n am asta tem ple, po p ularly known as ’Gupta

Durga’ is on the southern side of Kam esvara tem p le.

K am ala and M atangi p ith as are situ ated on t h e

M anabhava cave alo ng w ith Kam akhya Y o n ip ith a .

We m a y refer here that the w o rsh ip of D a sam a h a v id y a s

and th e ir re sp ec tiv e p ith as are perhaps the c re a tio n of a

later age. C o n sid e rin g the d ifferen t tastes of d ifferen t

persons the H in d u re lig io n has re c o g n ise d the w o rsh ip of

v ario u s gods and goddesses. S im ila rly , the w o rsh ip of

v ario u s M a h ia v id y a s are propagated to su it the needs of

d ifferen t devotees.

Seco n dly, the existen ce of the D a s 'a m a h a v i d y a ^ s '*

p ith as on the N ila c ^a la h illo ck proves that it was out and

out a centre of T a n tric w o rsh ip , fo r a lo ng tim e .

Let us now turn in to the w o rsh ip of K a m eiv a ri D e v i„

In a p re v io u s o ccasio n we have quoted a *stotra* nam ed

' Kam esvari stu ti’ from Y o glni Tantra. Now we refer to

— — — 8
her ’ Dhyana’ as describ ed in the K alik a purana.

8. KP, p p . 644-645
 112

Kamesvari s i t s on a lo tu s on a white dead body (S ita p reta )

ly in g on a l i o n . She has s ix fa c e s , tw elve hands and

eighteen eyes. On her r ig h t hands books, siddha- su tra ' ,
f i v e arrc&, sword, sakti-w eapon, tr id e n t (s u la ). While on
her l e f t hand ’ Aksamala*, Mahapadma*, Kodanda, Abhaya,
Charma and Pinaka.

TlA - t — - —
Swarai Prajnananda s ta te s that S rivid ya , L a lita ,
Kamesvari and Sfldasl r e fe r t o the same goddess.^
/ /
We have r e fe r re d t o KamesvariSiva on an e a r lie r
o cca s io n . His temple i s on th e eastern sid e of the
_ _ _ _ /
Kamakhya sh rin e. He i s a ls o known as Vamadeva S iv a .A fte r

a l l , as sta ted above Kamesvari and SOdasi r e fe r s to the

same goddess.

Perhaps the worship o f Kamesvari is follow ed by

*Kranui pad d h ati’ . According t o th is method the worship

/
cen tres round sak ti as a g a in st ’ Trik p ad d h ati' where the
c h ie f d e ity i s Siva. Again *Kram&' system i s w orldly and
1 O
T rik system i s heavenly. u

The worship of Tripura is also prevalent in

Kamarupa. The Kalika purana fu rn ish es th e 'dhyana^s ’
d e s cr ib in g th ree asp ects o f the goddess T ripu ra. The

9 . TTS, p . 43
10. Ib id , p . 28
 113

devotees may pray with three 'dhyanas' se p arate ly and at

la s t the three is to be united to one. Of these three

aspects the f i r s t i s c a lle d 'vagbhava*, second is

’ Kamaruyaka/m and the th ird i s 'damara' and 'mohanq!

We s h a ll now make a b r i e f referen ce about the

p rin c ip a l form of Tantric w orship.

In the f i r s t place, there are three ways of wor­

ship v i z . pasubhava, Virabriava and Divyabbava.

The devotees fo llo w in g 'Pasubhava1 are those who

have not a tta in control over th e ir p assio n s. Virabhiiva

devotees a re of heroic temperament, who have f u l ly

c o n tro lle d th e ir passions and the devotees belonging to

'Divyabhava' are of d fvin e nature.

Besides, the devotees are a ls o d ivid ed into

( a ) Vedacara, ( b ) Vaisnavacara, ( e ) , Vamacara (d )S a iv a -

_ _ ___ ___ ___ •

cara , (e ) Siddhantacara (£ ) Kulacara^ Dr. S.C. Banerjee

12
d efin es these acaras as per fo llo w in g d e s c rip tio n .

( a ) Vedacaraj Vedacara r i s i n g in the 'brahma muhurta’ ,

sa lu ta tio n of guru, worship of d eity, mediating upon it

11. adyantu vagbhavam rupam dvitiyam kamarajakam /

damaram mohanancapi trtiyam p a rik irtita m //

KP, 63/169
12. TIB, pp. 186-187
 114

in the Sahasrara-lotus with five articles. Vagbhava vlja

is to ba recited and Paramakala to be mediated upon. On

another authority it is stated that, after finishing m o r n ­

ing duties, he should again be on bed, meditate on guru

and the desired deity in the thousand pattled lotus in the

head. According to various authorities, the following

practices are recognised ; meditation on ugratarini in the

form of a lotus fibre from the muladhara to brahmarandhra,

she has the brilliance a crore of suns and the coolness of

a crore of moons etc. Mental worship (manasa puja) o: the

Guru has been commended. Different dhyanas and stotras of

the Guru are laid down by different authorities.

(b) Vaisnavacara; Sexual intercourse and talk of it, vio­

lence, speaking ill of others, cnooksdness and meac

eating should be avoided. The rosary and yantra should

never be touched at night. One should worship yisnu, aifer

all actions to Him and always look upon the world as

p ef»v£tc$.ed. by him .

(c) Vamacara - The supreme goddess is to be worshipped

according to vedacara. By day one should be austere like a

brahmacarl and practises concentration. At night the

goddess should be worshipped with the substitutes of panca-

tattva.

(d) Saivacara: It is the same as Vedacara with only

difference that, in the saktac^aras animal sacrifice is

 115

prescribed while i t is prohibited in the saivactfara.

(e ) Siddhantacara; It appears that fo r people practising

i t animal s a c r ific e is allowed in a re lig io u s performance.
I t is further said that what is pure and what is impure
are purified by Sudhara (purifactory r i t e s ) . One should
be engaged in devapuja and mediiate upon Visnu.

( f ) Kulicara ; For a person practising i t there is no

re strictio n relating to direction , tim e ,tith i, etc. Nor
there is any fixed rule about the Sadhana of mahamantra.
Such a man is sometimes virtuous, sometimes fa lle n from
the right path, at times lik e a ghost or goblin . Such
persons move about in various grabs. They make no d is t in c ­
tion between mud and sandel paste, son and enemy,cremation
ground and home^gold and grass. One observing Kulacara
practises whatever Icara is ordained in respect of d e itie s .
A Kaula is sometimes regarded as belonging to the f if t h
acara. _ .
-7>LU /VC ",
Moreover, tantra mentions three Cakras, like
Devacakra, Rajacakra, Viracakra. These are mystic
practices and only the in itia te d can re a lize it s real
sign ifican ce.

To quote Bose and Haider - 'The sign ifican ce of

these cakras is that the female agent referred to should be
 116

worshipped as the great mother by the devotee unruffled

by passions and temptations of meat of birds or beasts

which is nothing but sacrificing of attachment and

animality.

These mystic practices pertain to t^ntric sadhara

or yoga (such as Panca Makara,Asana e t c .): they do not

form any indispensable part of daily or common form of

lo
Tantric worship.

The worship of Kamakhya and Dasamahavidyas

according to Viracara or Vamacara cannot be ruled out.

Because secret worship was said to be prevailed here

perhaps, at one time of history, there was a hillock on

the Manobhava Guha and somebody practised here penance

or worshipped mother goddess. In course of time topogra­

phical changes have destroyed the hillock. At such a^,

time devotees may dug out the cave and remained open for

people. And subsequently, temples have been built over

it. Some scholars believe that it was centre of Vamacara

worship. I*

The followers of Vamacara practises 'Sat Karmas'

Stambhana, Vidvesana,Uccatana,

13. TPSO, p . 125

14. TTS, pp. 26-27

 117

and Marana, The former f i v e a re p ra ctised in forest^ tein-

p le or uninhabited (Sunya) house and th e la s t at crema­

t i o n ground.1^

By d e scrib in g the o r ig in o f Vamacara we s h a ll

conclude t h is d iscu ssion . A ccording to K alikI Purana,

Kamarupa became so virtu ou s c i t y due t o h oly ba th ,drin k ­

ing holy water and worship that th e god o f death (Yama)
cou ld not to r tu r e anybody f o r th e ir v i S o he once

approached Visnu and intim ated h is sorry p lig h t . Visnu

then went t o the abode of Siva and requested him to
/
p ro te ct the in t e r e s t of Yama. Siva along with his
ra tin u e went to Kamarupa and d ire cte d them t o d rive
16
away the in h a b ita n ts.

A ccordin gly, they drove away everybody and at

la s t went t o Vasistha who was doing penance a t

15. santi-vasya-stambhanani vidvesoccatane tatha /

maranam parame^ani sat karmedam prakirtitam //

YT. 1/4/3

16. ugrataram tato devim gananca praha sankarah /

utsarayantu sakalani m a l l o k a n gana drutam //
ugratare mahadevi tvam capyutsaraya drutem /
tato ganah kamarupad devi capaparajita //

KP. 81/16-17
 113

Sandhjjacala. Vasistha being enraged cursed \fgratara by

saying that she would be worshipped by ’ Vamacara*.which
i s con trary t o Vfljtdic system o f worship and sin ce then
- — - 17
th e Vamacara method o f worship o rig in a te d .

17 . so *pyugrataraya devya utsarayitum isaya /

ganaih saha dhrtah praha sapam kurvan sudarunam /

yasmadaham dhrto vame tayotsarayitum munih /

tasmattvam vamabhavena pujya bhava samandrika / /

KP. 81/19-20