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MANTRA SASTRA LALITA SAHASRANAMA BHASKARARAYA’S COMMENTAl rT, TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH f A OJik. R. ANANTHAKRISHNA SASTRY (Second Edition) _ Revised and Enlarged Published by the Author (BLANK PAGE-NO CONTENTS) . PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION As a Sanskrit student at Bangalore, my attention was first drawn to a Poona manuscript of the Lalitftsahasrana- mabhashya in 1886. Five years later, while collecting old Sanskrit manuscripts for the Theosophical Society Library, where f was the pandit between 1891 and 1902, more manuscripts came into my hands. During that period, I had to translate the Bhashya into English for the use of the late Dr. Subramania Iyer (then Mr.) whose pandit also I was. And in 1899, it was printed for the use of the public who, I thought, would be very few, belonging to the Theosophical Society and understanding such an abstruse subject drawn from Mantra S'astras. The difficul¬ ties of securing old manuscripts and the dilapidated con- ■ dition of those secured, rendered the work of translating very difficult. Since then the subject has become very popular due to increased knowledge in every department and to the publication of Sir J. G. Woodroffe’s works on Tantras in which my English translations of Lalitasahasranama- bhashya and Anandalaharl were freely quoted and criticised. Then while collecting MSS. for the Mysore Government Oriental Library for the next ten years under Mr. A. Maha- deva Sastri, a great Sanskrit scholar, I took specif interest LALITA SAHASRANAMA in securing the rare manuscripts referred to in the commen¬ tary. Next I worked for the formation of a Sanskrit Library for the State of His Highness the enlightened Maharaja Gaikwar of Baroda. Almost ail the important manuscripts connected with the study of mantra S'astras are available now in the Baroda, Mysore and Adyar Libraries. Many of these have since appeared in print. The S'ivastltras frequently referred to for occult doctrine in the commentary especially from names 64 to 84 are printed in the Kashmere series. The ParastirSma Kalpa Sutras on which the whole Tantra works are based are printed in the Gaikwar Oriental series. And almost all the Tantric works current on VSmamarga can be procured in Bengal, printed in Bengali Script. (For the names of the Tantras, Agamas and SamhitSs see No. 17 Gaikwar oriental series 1466 to 1820.) Though the demand for this work was very great for the last 10 years or so I could not undertake a second edition owing to pressure of work. For on the 5th October, 1922, when I closed my work with the Baroda Government, the great Poet Rabindranath Tagore engaged me as an Honorary worker to help in forming the Viswa- Bharati Library at Santiniketan. Another cause for delay was the financial consideration. The great occult work of Lalita could not be made a commercial concern. The 2,000 copies of my tamil translation of the Stltasamhita printed a few years back at the expense of the late lamented Zamindar of Andipatti who wanted to distribute them gratis among deserving devotees, unfortunately fell into other hands for sale. Then my endeavours to give the proceeds thereof to the Ramakrishna Students’ Home at Mylapore, proved futile. I was anxious that my present work should not meet with the same fate. A few earnest devotees have now come forward, among whom are a ruling chief in Kathiawar and two Maharanis, to meet the expenses, considering it a LALITA SAHASBANAMA ** Punya ” to spread the spiritual knowledge, and we have together undertaken the work. The sale proceeds of the work after meeting the expenses of printing, etc., will go to a charitable institution as did the proceeds of my English translation of Vishnu and S3va Sahasranamas* in the last stage of the sale to the T. S. funds. Mr. Ramachandra Iyer, a true disciple of that great Yogi, the late Maha Swami of Sringeri Mutt was also urging me to bring out a second edition and offered me his notes prepared under the guidance of that Great occultist. I was corresponding with him on the matter but before anything could be arranged, unfortunately (for us) he became a mukta, a liberated soul. However, familiarity with the subject and a number of manuscripts connected with it passing through my hands for the last 35 years gave me confidence that if I had time enough I could revise and re-edit it. Having dedicated my life wholly for manuscript works I could not spare any time for other work without breaking my vow. But while touring for MSS. in Malabar last March in connection with Santiniketan Library Mr. Madhava Raja, the President of the District Board, Malabar, himself a devotee of Lalita, suggested on account of the terrible heat then prevalent there that I should suspend my MS. work till the monsoon broke in. He kindly offered me a house in Ooty where I could stay and bring out the 2nd edition, which I accepted. The work is now thoroughly revised ; many obscure passages have been made clear and certain others left out in the 1st edition have been included. It is a happy coincidence that both the editions have come out from the Nilgiri Hills. The 1st one was brought out a quarter of a century ago at Bhavani House, the summer residence of the late Sir K. Seshadri Iyer. And now the second edition has made its appearance from Gulai Hind belonging to Mr. V. I. Mannadiar Av). of Vadasseri. The Superintendgtt of the Yasantha Press has undertaken to expedite the pwming of LALITA SAHASRANAMA the book. It is due to Devi’s influence that I am able to publish the 2nd edition in such a short time. May Devi bless him and others referred to above in their spiritual advancement ! Commentator’s Life BhSskararaya, the second son of GambhirabhJrati and his wife Konamamba, was born in the village of Thanuja, in the Vijaya district in the Maharashtra country. He was brought up in his early days in the town of Bh&ga but his father soon took him to Benares for his education. He learned all the eighteen Vidyas under one Nrisimha and was. initiated into the S'rlvidya by Sivadatta Sukla at Surat. Then he made a number of pilgrimages travelling as far eastwards as Kamarup in Assam, as far south as Sethu, in the west up to Gandhara and in the north up to Kadar in the Himalayas. He initiated all the Rajas of his time into the STividya, built temples in' all important centres, and dug up tanks near them. He married and lived for some time at Benares with his wife Anandl, where he defeated all the other Pandits in assemblies as was then the custom. He left Benares and spent some time on the banks of the Krishna River and later moved to the banks of the Caveri. On the northern bank of the river at a place called Bhaskarapura in the Tanjore District he established his own Ptlja. He died at Madhyarjuna near that place. His contemporaries were Kunkumananda- swaipi of Benares, the great devotee of Devi, Narayana Bhatt, etc. In one of his works he incidently refers to Sri S'ankaracharya’s time, (making adoration to him) as six years after the Saka Era, i.e., 1844 years ago. This affords a new clue to ascertain the date of our great Acharya, the incarnation of S'iva, admired at all times by all scholars. This hi«tM-y of his life is extracted from a Kavya of one hundredjpd thirteen slokas composed by his direct Sishya LALITA SAHASRANAMA of the same family by name Jaganatha (printed in the Nirnaya Sagara Press, Bombay, and added in the Lalita Sahasran&ma Bhashya). This Kavya also gives the names of thirty-eight of the many works of Bhaskarariiya. Lalitasahasranama Bhashya was composed in 1785 8am- vasara Era, i.e., nearly two hundred years ago at Benares. Setobandha was written four years after, at Saptakotls'vara- kshetra in Goa, the site of the present church at Panjim. where St. Xavier’s body is preserved. His S'ishya Uma- nandanatha speaks of him in his work Umanandapadhati on ParasUrSma KalpasQtra thus : “ There was not any part on earth unvisited by him, not any king known uninitiated •by him, and not any science unknown to him. Indeed his form itself is the Paras'akti.” Before him came the great Kavindra another Maharashtra brahmin who lived at. ■Benares and was the teacher to Darashaoko (see Kavindra list No. J.7 Gaikwad’s oriental series). These great and typical brahmins have incarnated themselves to help those less advanced in spirituality. Amongst Bhaskararaya’s works on different subjects, the PrasthSnatraya works on Devi are VarivasySrahasya. Lalit-isahasranSmabhashya and Setubandha which are held in high esteem for their literary merits and spiritual thoughts. The Cult of S'rIvidya Anyone going through this present work patiently from beginning to end, though he will find the idea scatter¬ ed about and not condensed at one particular place, as was the case in all our old writings, will easily understand what our spiritual practice was in ancient days. The Kundaiinl S'akti should be aroused from its place which is at the beginning of the spinal cord (Mflladhiira) and be led to the cerebrum (Sahasrara). The next stage is Sami^ii where* Devi is realised in one's own self. This was the experience I.AMTA S AHASBANAWA of all our great AchSryas (see Saun. slo. 10, and the com¬ mentary on the names 90 to 111 of this book). It would be superfluous on my part to write an essay on this occult subject swelling the pages of this book, as promised in the introduction of the first edition. So the pious and earnest readers are referred to this great work, where all the essential cults of our ancients, are carefully recorded. In this connection I njention for the benefit of the children of our Aryan Beligion the following practices preparatory to the above process. One should get up very early in the morning and after finishing the morning ablutions should take breathing exercise in a well venti¬ lated place. This is done by inhaling and exhaling the breath deeply through one or both nostrils for about ten minutes, sitting cross-legged and facing east or north. This must be followed by the “ Kumbhaka ” practice for five minutes. According to this one should, after inhaling, retain the breath as long as possible without straining himself before he breathes out again. The third practice is the “ Bhasra ” (Bellow) practice. This is done for the next five minutes by automatically pressing the belly backwards in quick succession by con¬ tracting the muscles of the stomach for exercising the smaller intestines. This may be repeated at sunset also by one with an empty stomach. It improves greatly the digestive powers and keeps the bowels in order. It helps the free circulation of blood and is good for the lungs. These practices do not require any special instructions from a teacher and are quite harmless. They ought to be continued systematically every day in one’s life. This may be practised by all persons irrespective of age or sex, ex¬ cepting women in a family way who should not attempt the “ Bbasra ”. But chronic patients afflicted with bowel or lung diseases should be carefully guided by a scientifically trained instructor. Before starting to do it he may pray for protection the universal mother repeating the first name of LALITA SAHASRANAMA this work, viz., S'rlmAthA and at the finish he may conclude by prayer to LalitAmbikA (the last name). Among the schools started lately for the benefit of our degenerated youth—degenerated under a faulty system of education and dissipating habits, what with artificial stimulants such as, coffee and tea and what with an artificial standard of living —is the famous one at Lonavla, a beautiful sanatorium in Poona district. Its experiments supported by X-rays are recorded in its Quarterly Journal called the Yoga-MimAmsa. May our young generation take up these practices and become a healthier nation, is the pious wish of the author ! Text LalitAsahasranAma containing 320 S'lokas in three chapters occurs in the second part of the BrahmAnda PurAna which is ‘the last of S'ri Veda VyAsa’s 18 PurAnas. Even a cursory reading of this will impress one with the impor¬ tance attached by S'ri Veda VyAsa to the subject of Mantra SAstra in the last of his PurAnas. The PurAnas have come to ns as an explanation to Some abstruse Yedic passages, elaborated with some histories of past students. Of course, Some accretions naturally crept in in the long run which make Some scholars think lightly of them. For instance a two hundred year old manuscript entitled the Brahma Gita YyakhyA on Suta SamhitA, by VidyAranya on Aitareya Upanishad (No. 24, 1895—1902 collection) which reached my hajgds while examining man n sort pts last November and December as an honorary worker for the Bhandarkar’s Oriental Institute, Poona, contains only thirty S'lokas whereas the present printed one contains more than hun¬ dred S'lokas dealing elaborately with the subject and touch¬ ing a little on other subjects as -well. Our ancient Kishis have attached more importance to the passages of the PurAnas than those of the Vedas where the PurAnas were treated as part of them and not as separate literature (see LAL1TA 9AHASRANAMA Br. Up., II-4-10). It -will be seen from Pa uranic manuscripts of the tenth to thirteenth centuries which are very rare to secure that the PnrSnas were intended to explain the Vedic doctrines to lay minds. But like every other subject, they have degenerated to such an extent that they have loBt their real significance and have come to be treated as some childish story. In these days both the reader and the hearer of the Puranas are generally uncultured. The former especially has no spirituality in him and the reading has become a profession for him as a means to his livelihood. With the revival t>f our spirituality, I hope, the Puranas will regain their original place. Commentators 1. The commentator Vimars'anandanatha is a pupil of Vimalanandanatha whose commentary is a Short one containing about 2,000 granthas. We do not know much about his history. The MS. was lately discovered in Conjeevaram, the old centre of learning and it was much injured by worms and was given to the Adyar Library. 2. Vidyaranya Munlsvara is another commentator who was a disciple of Anantiiranyaptljya. His commentary contains about 1,500 granthas. We do not know whether this Vidyaranya Muni is the same person who commented upon the Vedas under the name of Sayana. But according to tradition S'ri Vidyaranya Swami wrote a great treatise on Mantra S'astra (may be the book Vidyarnava, a ctgaplete MS: of it is in the Jammu Library, Kashmere) and built the Sringeri Matt and S'richakra tower over it. His commentary is for the thousand names only, and a complete copy of his work has not been secured yet. 3. BhaM.anarfiyana. His commentary consists of 2,500 granthas. Little is known of him excepting that he was born of Venkaiadri, the ineulcator of Advaita Vidya to bis wife Narayanamba and that he was the pupil of