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Rudrayāmala Uttara Tantra
A Yāmala of the Vidyāpīṭha, a Śākta compendium of the eastern schools, and a title cited far more often than it can be found — the text the Vijñāna Bhairava names as its source.
Few titles are quoted more often in tantric Sanskrit than the Rudrayāmala, and few are harder to hold. Abhinavagupta cites it; Jayaratha cites it; the Bengali Śākta digests cite it constantly; the Vijñāna Bhairava names it as its own parent. The book that now circulates under the name will not account for most of what is credited to it — and that discrepancy is itself one of the more instructive facts about how this literature travelled.
What a yāmala isयामल
Yāmala means a pair, a couple, a union; the ordinary Sanskrit word for twins stands beside it. A Yāmala tantra is revelation arising from the union of Rudra and his Śakti rather than from Śiva alone, and the consequence is formal as well as doctrinal. Texts of this class are dialogues throughout — Bhairava and the Goddess in alternating question and answer, neither of them merely the audience. The teaching that Śakti and the possessor of Śakti are never separate is, in a Yāmala, a statement about the shape of the book as much as about the nature of things.
Within the Bhairava stream the Yāmalas belong to the Vidyāpīṭha, the goddess-centred half of the revelation, and the canonical lists count eight of them — a yāmalāṣṭaka. Which eight varies from source to source. Brahmayāmala, Viṣṇuyāmala, Rudrayāmala, Skandayāmala, Ruruyāmala, Vetālayāmala, Svacchandayāmala, Ātharvaṇayāmala are among the names that recur, in shifting combinations and sometimes with others in their place. As with the twenty-eight Āgamas and the sixty-four Bhairava tantras, the number describes how the tradition conceived its canon rather than what can be counted on a shelf.
One Yāmala survives in something close to its early form, and it shows what the class was. The Brahmayāmala, also called the Picumata, is preserved in a Nepalese palm-leaf manuscript copied in the eleventh century, and it is uncompromising: its deity is Kapālīśabhairava with the goddess Caṇḍā Kāpālinī, its practitioner carries the skull-staff and the skull-bowl, and its rites belong squarely to the cremation ground and the cult of the yoginīs. That is the world the Yāmalas came out of — older, fiercer and far more concretely ritual than the philosophical Trika that grew from the same soil.
Two Rudrayāmalas
The Rudrayāmala that the Kashmirian authors knew is not extant. Abhinavagupta and Jayaratha quote a text of that name; later digests quote it at length; and no manuscript answering to those quotations has been identified. What does survive, printed repeatedly in Calcutta and Varanasi since the later nineteenth century, is the Rudrayāmala Uttara Tantra — the "latter" Rudrayāmala, a long Śākta work whose language, cast of goddesses and ritual assumptions place it in eastern India and centuries after the Kashmirian citations. Estimates of its date differ and none is secure; few would put its present shape earlier than the fifteenth or sixteenth century, and portions of it are probably later still.
What the Uttara Tantra contains
None of that makes the surviving text uninteresting. It is a substantial and wide-ranging Śākta compendium, and it is one of the places where a reader can watch several currents run together.
- Mantroddhāraमन्त्रोद्धार · extraction
- The drawing-out of mantras from a lettered diagram. The syllables are not simply given; they are extracted from a grid by a stated procedure, so that a mantra arrives as an operation rather than as a word. A great deal of the text is taken up with this, and it is the most technical thing in it.
- The Goddess
- Tārā above all, but also Kālī, Bhairavī and material belonging to the Śrīvidyā, together with the hymns, protective kavacas and thousand-name litanies that attend them. The theology is that of the Mahāvidyās, the eastern Śākta cult of the ten great goddesses — one of the clearest indications that the text as we have it is not an early Kashmirian Vidyāpīṭha work.
- Cīnācāraचीनाचार · the way of Mahācīna
- The text carries the well-known story of Vasiṣṭha, who fails to propitiate Tārā by orthodox austerity, is directed to Mahācīna, and finds there a teaching conducted in wine and flesh and the company of women, which he is made to accept before he can succeed. It is one of the tradition's own accounts of why a transgressive rite exists at all, and it is largely through this text that the story is known.
- The subtle body
- The channels, the centres, the ascent of kuṇḍalinī, the retention and movement of breath. This is the material that made the book useful far outside its own school, and it is the physiology that the breath teachings assume throughout.
- Yoga and observance
- Long stretches on posture, prāṇāyāma and mudrā, on the discipline and the grades of the practitioner, and on initiation, the qualifications of the guru, and the calendrical and domestic ritual of a Śākta household.
A conduit
The Uttara Tantra's real historical importance is as a channel. Material passed through it into compilations that had a far wider circulation than any Vidyāpīṭha scripture ever enjoyed — the Bengali Śākta digests, the ritual handbooks that depend on them, and from there into the printed devotional literature of the nineteenth century and after. A very large number of hymns, armours and mantra-prescriptions in ordinary use carry a colophon assigning them to the Rudrayāmala. Some of them are in the printed Uttara Tantra. Many are not, and were attached to the name for the authority it conferred.
That is worth stating plainly rather than treating as a scandal. Attribution in this literature is a claim about lineage and legitimacy, not a bibliographical statement, and a tradition which holds that its scriptures are fragments of an unbounded revelation has no difficulty at all with the idea that a teaching may be from the Rudrayāmala without being in any particular copy of it. The historian's problem and the tradition's self-understanding are simply not the same problem, and the honest course is to keep them apart.
The Vijñāna Bhairava's claim
The most consequential of these attributions is the Vijñāna Bhairava's. Its colophons place it within the Rudrayāmala and the tradition has always cited it so: one hundred and twelve dhāraṇās, a dialogue between Bhairava and the Goddess, presented as an extract drawn from the greater Yāmala.
What the claim is worth needs care in both directions. It cannot be verified, because the Rudrayāmala it refers to is lost; and it cannot be refuted from the surviving Uttara Tantra, which does not contain the Vijñāna Bhairava and is in any case too late to be the text meant. But the Vijñāna Bhairava's own antiquity does not rest on the attribution. It was known and quoted in Kashmir in the tenth and eleventh centuries; Kṣemarāja began a commentary on it, the Uddyota, which breaks off after the opening verses; and Śivopādhyāya completed the exegesis long afterwards with his Vivṛti. The text stands on that evidence whatever its parentage.
What the attribution does tell us is what its transmitters took its pedigree to be, and the choice is exact. A Yāmala is revelation issuing from the union of the two; and the Vijñāna Bhairava's opening argument, before it reaches a single practice, is that Śakti and the holder of Śakti are never in fact two, so that to enter Śakti is to enter Bhairava. A text that begins there names as its source the one class of scripture defined by precisely that union. Whether or not the descent is historical, the claim is doctrinally well judged — and that, in a tradition where lineage is a statement of what a teaching is, is not a trivial thing to have got right.
7,694 verses
परा श्रीपरमेशानीवदनाम्भोजनिःसृतम् | श्रीयामलं महातन्त्रं स्वतन्त्रं विष्णुयामलम्
parā śrīparameśānīvadanāmbhojaniḥsṛtam | śrīyāmalaṃ mahātantraṃ svatantraṃ viṣṇuyāmalam
शक्तियामलमाख्यातं ब्रह्मणः स्तुतिहेतुना | ब्रह्मयामलवेदाङ्गं सर्वञ्च कथितं प्रिये
śaktiyāmalamākhyātaṃ brahmaṇaḥ stutihetunā | brahmayāmalavedāṅgaṃ sarvañca kathitaṃ priye
इदानीमुत्तराकाण्डं वद श्रीरुद्रयामलम् | यदि भाग्यवशाद् देवि तव श्रीमुखपङ्कजे
idānīmuttarākāṇḍaṃ vada śrīrudrayāmalam | yadi bhāgyavaśād devi tava śrīmukhapaṅkaje
यानि यानि स्वतन्त्राणि संदत्तानि महीतले | प्रकाशय महातन्त्रं नान्यतन्त्रेषु तृप्तिमान्
yāni yāni svatantrāṇi saṃdattāni mahītale | prakāśaya mahātantraṃ nānyatantreṣu tṛptimān
सर्ववेदान्तवेदेषु कथितव्यं ततः परम् | तदा ते भक्तवर्गाणां सिद्धिः सञ्चरते ध्रुवम्
sarvavedāntavedeṣu kathitavyaṃ tataḥ param | tadā te bhaktavargāṇāṃ siddhiḥ sañcarate dhruvam
यदि भक्ते दया भद्रे वद त्रिपुरसुन्दरि महाभैरववाक्यञ्च पङ्कजायतलोचना
yadi bhakte dayā bhadre vada tripurasundari mahābhairavavākyañca paṅkajāyatalocanā
श्रुत्वोवाच महाकाली कथयामास भैरवम् | शम्भो महात्मदर्पघ्न कामहीन कुलाकुल
śrutvovāca mahākālī kathayāmāsa bhairavam | śambho mahātmadarpaghna kāmahīna kulākula
चन्द्रमण्डलशीर्षाक्ष हालाहलनिषेवक | अद्वितीयाघोरमूर्त्ते रक्तवर्णशिखोज्ज्वल
candramaṇḍalaśīrṣākṣa hālāhalaniṣevaka | advitīyāghoramūrtte raktavarṇaśikhojjvala
महाऋषिपते देव सर्वेषाञ्च नमो नमः | सर्वेषां प्राणमथन शृणु आनन्दभैरव
mahāṛṣipate deva sarveṣāñca namo namaḥ | sarveṣāṃ prāṇamathana śṛṇu ānandabhairava
आदौ बालाभैरवीणां साधनं षट्कलात्मकम् | पश्चात् कुमारीललितासाधनं परमाद्भुतम्
ādau bālābhairavīṇāṃ sādhanaṃ ṣaṭkalātmakam | paścāt kumārīlalitāsādhanaṃ paramādbhutam
कुरुकुल्लाविप्रचित्तासाधनं शक्तिसाधनम् | योगिनीखेचरीयक्षकन्यकासाधनं ततः
kurukullāvipracittāsādhanaṃ śaktisādhanam | yoginīkhecarīyakṣakanyakāsādhanaṃ tataḥ
उन्मत्तभैरवीविद्या कालीविद्यादिसाधनम् | पञ्चमुद्रासाधनञ्च पञ्चबाणादिसाधनम्
unmattabhairavīvidyā kālīvidyādisādhanam | pañcamudrāsādhanañca pañcabāṇādisādhanam
प्रत्यङ्गिरासाधनञ्च कलौ साक्षात्करं परम् | हरितालिकास्वर्णविद्याधूम्रविद्यादिसाधनम्
pratyaṅgirāsādhanañca kalau sākṣātkaraṃ param | haritālikāsvarṇavidyādhūmravidyādisādhanam
आकाशगङ्गा विविधा कन्यकासाधनं ततः | भ्रूलतासाधनं सिद्धसाधनं तदनन्तरम्
ākāśagaṅgā vividhā kanyakāsādhanaṃ tataḥ | bhrūlatāsādhanaṃ siddhasādhanaṃ tadanantaram
उल्काविद्यासाधनं च पञ्चतारादिसाधनम् | अपराजितापुरुहूताचामुण्डासाधनं ततः
ulkāvidyāsādhanaṃ ca pañcatārādisādhanam | aparājitāpuruhūtācāmuṇḍāsādhanaṃ tataḥ
कालिकासाधनं कौलसाधनं घनसाधनम् | चचीकासाधनं पश्चात् घर्घरासाधनं ततः
kālikāsādhanaṃ kaulasādhanaṃ ghanasādhanam | cacīkāsādhanaṃ paścāt ghargharāsādhanaṃ tataḥ
विमलासाधनं रौद्रीत्रिपुरासाधनं ततः | सम्पत्प्रदासप्तकूटासाधनंचेटीसाधनम् | शक्तिकूटादिषट्कूटानवकूटादिसाधनम्
vimalāsādhanaṃ raudrītripurāsādhanaṃ tataḥ | sampatpradāsaptakūṭāsādhanaṃceṭīsādhanam | śaktikūṭādiṣaṭkūṭānavakūṭādisādhanam
कनकाभाकाञ्चनाभावह्न्याभासाधनं ततः | वज्रकूटापञ्चकूटासकलासाधनं ततः
kanakābhākāñcanābhāvahnyābhāsādhanaṃ tataḥ | vajrakūṭāpañcakūṭāsakalāsādhanaṃ tataḥ
तारिणीसाधनं पश्चात् षोडशीसाधनं स्मृतम् | छिन्नादि उग्रप्रचण्ड्यादिसाधनं सुमनोहरम्
tāriṇīsādhanaṃ paścāt ṣoḍaśīsādhanaṃ smṛtam | chinnādi ugrapracaṇḍyādisādhanaṃ sumanoharam
उल्कामुखीरक्तमुखीसाधनं वीरसाधनम् | नानाविधाननिर्माणशवसाधनमेव च
ulkāmukhīraktamukhīsādhanaṃ vīrasādhanam | nānāvidhānanirmāṇaśavasādhanameva ca
कृत्वा देवीसाधनञ्च कृत्वाहिसाधनं ततः | नक्षत्रविद्यापटलं कालीपटलमेव च
kṛtvā devīsādhanañca kṛtvāhisādhanaṃ tataḥ | nakṣatravidyāpaṭalaṃ kālīpaṭalameva ca
श्मशानकालिकादेवीसाधनं भूतसाधनम् | रतिक्रीडासाधनञ्च सुन्दरीसाधनं तथा
śmaśānakālikādevīsādhanaṃ bhūtasādhanam | ratikrīḍāsādhanañca sundarīsādhanaṃ tathā
महामालासाधनञ्च महामायादिसाधनम् | भद्रकालीसाधनञ्च नीलासाधनमेव च
mahāmālāsādhanañca mahāmāyādisādhanam | bhadrakālīsādhanañca nīlāsādhanameva ca
भुवनेशीसाधनञ्च दुर्गासाधनमेव च | वाराहीगारुडीचान्द्रीसाधनं परमाद्भुतम्
bhuvaneśīsādhanañca durgāsādhanameva ca | vārāhīgāruḍīcāndrīsādhanaṃ paramādbhutam
ब्रह्माणीसाधनं पश्चाद् हंसीसाधनमुत्तमम् | माहेश्वरीसाधनञ्च कौमारीसाधनं तथा
brahmāṇīsādhanaṃ paścād haṃsīsādhanamuttamam | māheśvarīsādhanañca kaumārīsādhanaṃ tathā
वैष्णवीसाधनं धात्रीधनदारतिसाधनम् | पञ्चाभ्राबलिपूर्णास्या नारसिंहीसुसाधनम्
vaiṣṇavīsādhanaṃ dhātrīdhanadāratisādhanam | pañcābhrābalipūrṇāsyā nārasiṃhīsusādhanam
कालिन्दीरुक्मिणीविद्याराधाविद्यादिसाधनम् | गोपीश्वरीपद्मनेत्रापद्ममालादिसाधनम्
kālindīrukmiṇīvidyārādhāvidyādisādhanam | gopīśvarīpadmanetrāpadmamālādisādhanam
मुण्डमालासाधनञ्च भृङ्गारीसाधनं ततः | सकलाकर्षणीविद्याकपालिन्यादिसाधनम्
muṇḍamālāsādhanañca bhṛṅgārīsādhanaṃ tataḥ | sakalākarṣaṇīvidyākapālinyādisādhanam
गुह्यकालीसाधनञ्च बÁगलामुखीसाधनम् | महाबालासाधनञ्च कलावत्यादिसाधनम्
guhyakālīsādhanañca baÁgalāmukhīsādhanam | mahābālāsādhanañca kalāvatyādisādhanam
कुलजाकलिकाकक्षाकुक्कुटीसाधनं महत् | चिञ्चादेवीसाधनञ्च शाङ्करीगूढसाधनम्
kulajākalikākakṣākukkuṭīsādhanaṃ mahat | ciñcādevīsādhanañca śāṅkarīgūḍhasādhanam
प्रफुल्लाब्जमुखीविद्याकाकिनीसाधनं ततः | कुब्जिकासाधनं नित्यासरस्वत्यादिसाधनम्
praphullābjamukhīvidyākākinīsādhanaṃ tataḥ | kubjikāsādhanaṃ nityāsarasvatyādisādhanam
भूर्लेखाशशिमुकुटा उग्रकाल्यादिसाधनम् | मणिद्वीपेश्वरीधात्रीसाधनं यक्षसाधनम्
bhūrlekhāśaśimukuṭā ugrakālyādisādhanam | maṇidvīpeśvarīdhātrīsādhanaṃ yakṣasādhanam
केतकीकमलाकान्तिप्रदाभेद्यादिसाधनम् | वागीश्वरीमहाविद्या अन्नपूर्णादिसाधनम्
ketakīkamalākāntipradābhedyādisādhanam | vāgīśvarīmahāvidyā annapūrṇādisādhanam
वज्रदण्डारक्तमयीमन्वारीसाधनं तथा | हस्तिनीहस्तिकर्णाद्यामातङ्गीसाधनं ततः
vajradaṇḍāraktamayīmanvārīsādhanaṃ tathā | hastinīhastikarṇādyāmātaṅgīsādhanaṃ tataḥ
परानन्दानन्दमयीसाधनं गतिसाधनम् | कामेश्वरीमहालज्जाज्वालिनीसाधनं वसोः
parānandānandamayīsādhanaṃ gatisādhanam | kāmeśvarīmahālajjājvālinīsādhanaṃ vasoḥ
गौरीवेतालकङ्कालीवासवीसाधनं तथा | चन्द्रास्यासूर्यकिरणारटन्तीसाधनं ततः
gaurīvetālakaṅkālīvāsavīsādhanaṃ tathā | candrāsyāsūryakiraṇāraṭantīsādhanaṃ tataḥ
किङ्गिनी पावनीविद्या अवधूतेश्वरीति च | एतासां सिद्धविद्यानां साधनाद्रुद्र एव सः
kiṅginī pāvanīvidyā avadhūteśvarīti ca | etāsāṃ siddhavidyānāṃ sādhanādrudra eva saḥ
अलकाकलियुगस्थाशक्तिटङ्कारसाधनम् | हरिणीमोहिनीक्षिप्रातृष्यादिसाधनं तथा
alakākaliyugasthāśaktiṭaṅkārasādhanam | hariṇīmohinīkṣiprātṛṣyādisādhanaṃ tathā
अट्टहासाघोरनादामहामेघादिसाधनम् | वल्लरीकौरविण्यादिसाधनं परमाद्भुतम्
aṭṭahāsāghoranādāmahāmeghādisādhanam | vallarīkauraviṇyādisādhanaṃ paramādbhutam
रङ्किणीसाधनं पश्चाद् नन्दकन्यादिसाधनम् | मन्दिरासाधनं कात्यायनीसाधनमेव च
raṅkiṇīsādhanaṃ paścād nandakanyādisādhanam | mandirāsādhanaṃ kātyāyanīsādhanameva ca
रजनीराजतीघोनासाधनं तालसाधनम् | पादुकासाधनं चित्तासाधनं रविसाधनम्
rajanīrājatīghonāsādhanaṃ tālasādhanam | pādukāsādhanaṃ cittāsādhanaṃ ravisādhanam
मुनिनाथेश्वरीशान्तिवल्लभासाधनं तथा | मदिरासाधनं वीरभद्रासाधनमेव हि
muninātheśvarīśāntivallabhāsādhanaṃ tathā | madirāsādhanaṃ vīrabhadrāsādhanameva hi
मुण्डालीकालिनीदैत्यदंशिनीसाधनं ततः | प्रविष्टवर्णालघिमामीनादिसाधनं महत्
muṇḍālīkālinīdaityadaṃśinīsādhanaṃ tataḥ | praviṣṭavarṇālaghimāmīnādisādhanaṃ mahat
फेत्कारीसाधनं भल्लातकीसाधनमद्भुतम् | उड्डीयानेश्वरीपूर्णागिरिजासाधनं तथा
phetkārīsādhanaṃ bhallātakīsādhanamadbhutam | uḍḍīyāneśvarīpūrṇāgirijāsādhanaṃ tathā
सौकरीराजवशिनीदीर्घजङ्घादिसाधनम् | अयोध्यापूजितादेवीद्राविणीसाधनाद्भुतम्
saukarīrājavaśinīdīrghajaṅghādisādhanam | ayodhyāpūjitādevīdrāviṇīsādhanādbhutam
ज्वालामुखीसाधनञ्च कृष्णजिह्वादिसाधनम् | पञ्चवक्त्रप्रियाविद्यानन्तविद्यादिसाधनम्
jvālāmukhīsādhanañca kṛṣṇajihvādisādhanam | pañcavaktrapriyāvidyānantavidyādisādhanam
श्रीविद्याभुवनेशानीसाधनं कायसाधनम् | रक्तमालामहाचण्डीमहाज्वालादिसाधनम्
śrīvidyābhuvaneśānīsādhanaṃ kāyasādhanam | raktamālāmahācaṇḍīmahājvālādisādhanam
प्रक्षिप्तामन्त्रिकाकामपूजिताभक्तिसाधनम् | श्वासस्थावायवीप्राप्तालेलिहानादिसाधनम्
prakṣiptāmantrikākāmapūjitābhaktisādhanam | śvāsasthāvāyavīprāptālelihānādisādhanam
भैरवीलसितापृथ्वीवाटुकीसाधनं तथा | अगम्या आकुलीमौलीन्द्राञ्जनमन्त्रसाधनम्
bhairavīlasitāpṛthvīvāṭukīsādhanaṃ tathā | agamyā ākulīmaulīndrāñjanamantrasādhanam
कुलावतीकुलक्षिप्तारतिचीनादिसाधनम् | शिवाक्रोडादितरुणीनायिकामन्त्रसाधनम्
kulāvatīkulakṣiptāraticīnādisādhanam | śivākroḍāditaruṇīnāyikāmantrasādhanam
साधनं शैलवासिन्या अकस्मात् सिद्धिवर्धनम् | मन्त्रयन्त्रस्वतन्त्रादिपूज्यमानाः परात्पराः
sādhanaṃ śailavāsinyā akasmāt siddhivardhanam | mantrayantrasvatantrādipūjyamānāḥ parātparāḥ
एताः सर्वाः कलियुगे कालिका हरकोमलाः | मन्त्राद्या येन सिद्धयन्ति सत्यं सत्यं न संशयः
etāḥ sarvāḥ kaliyuge kālikā harakomalāḥ | mantrādyā yena siddhayanti satyaṃ satyaṃ na saṃśayaḥ
महाकाल शिवानन्द परमानन्दपारग | भक्तानामनुरागेण विद्यारत्नं पुनः शृणु
mahākāla śivānanda paramānandapāraga | bhaktānāmanurāgeṇa vidyāratnaṃ punaḥ śṛṇu
आदौ वैष्णवदेवस्य मन्त्राणां नित्यसाधनम् | ततस्ते मङ्गलं मन्त्रसाधनं परमाद्भुतम्
ādau vaiṣṇavadevasya mantrāṇāṃ nityasādhanam | tataste maṅgalaṃ mantrasādhanaṃ paramādbhutam
अकस्माद्विहिता सिद्धिर्येन सिद्ध्यति भूतले | बालभैरवयोगेन्द्रसाधनं शिवसाधनम्
akasmādvihitā siddhiryena siddhyati bhūtale | bālabhairavayogendrasādhanaṃ śivasādhanam
महाकालसाधनञ्च तथा रामेश्वरस्य च | अघोरमूर्त्ते रमणासाधनं शृणु यत्नतः
mahākālasādhanañca tathā rāmeśvarasya ca | aghoramūrtte ramaṇāsādhanaṃ śṛṇu yatnataḥ
क्रोधराजभूतराजएकचक्रादिसाधनम् | गिरीन्द्रसाधनं पश्चात् कुलनाथस्य साधनम्
krodharājabhūtarājaekacakrādisādhanam | girīndrasādhanaṃ paścāt kulanāthasya sādhanam
बटुकेशादिश्रीकण्ठेशादिसाधनमेव च | मृत्युञ्जयस्य रौद्रस्य कालान्तकहरस्य च
baṭukeśādiśrīkaṇṭheśādisādhanameva ca | mṛtyuñjayasya raudrasya kālāntakaharasya ca
उन्मत्तभैरवस्यापि तथा पञ्चास्यकस्य च | कैलासेशस्य शम्भोश्च तथा शूलिन एव च
unmattabhairavasyāpi tathā pañcāsyakasya ca | kailāseśasya śambhośca tathā śūlina eva ca
भार्गवेशस्य सर्वस्य महाकालस्य साधनम् | सुरान्तकस्य पूर्णस्य तथा देवस्य शङ्कर
bhārgaveśasya sarvasya mahākālasya sādhanam | surāntakasya pūrṇasya tathā devasya śaṅkara
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