The Serpent Power. Arthur Avalon

great man has successfully worked the Kundalinī to the Sahasrāra, and effected her union with the Sat and Chit. Of these stands foremost the great and far-famed Shangkarāchārya, a humble pupil of one of the students of Gaudapādāchārya, the author of the well-known ‘Subhagodaya’ (52 slokas). Having well acquainted himself with the principles contained in this work, Shrī Shangkarāchārya received special instructions based upon the personal experience of his Guru. And adding his own personal experience to the above advantages, he composed his famous work on the Mantra-shāstra, consisting of 100 slokas; the first forty-one of these forming the ‘Ānanda-Laharī,’ and the rest forming the ‘Saundarya-Laharī’; the latter apostrophizes the Devī as a being who is beauteous from head to foot.

      “‘Ānanda-Laharī’ may be said to contain the quintessence of the Samayāchāra. The work is all the more valuable because the author teaches it from personal experience. Lengthy commentaries are written on almost every syllable of the text. The value attached to the work may be adequately understood by the following theory. Some hold that Shiva is the real author of ‘Ānanda-Laharī,’ and not Shangkarāchārya, who was but a Mantra-drashtā or Rishi—i.e., one who realized the process and gave it to the world. No less than thirty-and-six commentaries on this work are now extant. Among them we find one written by our great Appaya Dīkshita. The commentaries are not entirely different, but each has its own peculiar views and theories.

      “As for the text of ‘Ānanda-Laharī,’ it contains forty-and-one shlokas. According to some commentators, the shlokas are 35 in number; some recognize only 30, and according to Suddhāvidyotinī and others only the following shlokas constitute the text of ‘Ānanda-Laharī’: 1-2, 8-9, 10-11, 14-21, 26-27, 31-41. In my opinion, also, the last statement seems to be correct, as the other shlokas treat only of Prayogas (applications of Mantras) for worldly purposes.{36} Only a few of these Prayogas are recognized by all the commentators; while the rest are passed over as being entirely Karmic.

      “As has been remarked already, ‘Ānanda-Laharī’ is but an enlargement of the work called Subhagodaya by Gaudapāda, who is the Guru of the author’s Guru. That work gives only the main points, without any of the characteristic admixture of illustrations, etc., above noticed.

      “Of all the commentaries on ‘Ānanda-Laharī’ Lakshmīdhara’s seems to be the most recent; yet in spite of this it is the most popular, and with reason, too. Other commentaries advocate this or that aspect of the various philosophical schools; but Lakshmīdhara collates some of the views of others, and records them side by side with his own. His commentary is in this way the most elaborate. He sides with no party;{37} his views are broad and liberal. All schools of philosophers are represented in his commentaries. Lakshmīdhara has also commented on many other works on Mantrashāstra, and is consequently of much high repute. So his commentaries are as valuable to both ‘Ānanda-Laharī’ and ‘Saundarya-Laharī’ as Sāyana’s are to the Vedas.

      “Lakshmīdhara seems to have been an inhabitant of Southern India; the observances and customs he describes all point to this conclusion; the illustrations he adduces smack invariably of the South, and even to this day his views are more followed in the South than in the North. He has also written an elaborate commentary on Gaudapāda’s Subhagodaya. The references to that in the commentary to this work, and the commentator’s apology here and there for repeating what he has written on the former occasion, lead to the inference that the author had for his life-work the commentary on the original book.

      “Achyutānanda’s commentaries are in Bengali characters, and are followed as authority in Bengal even to this day.{38} Various commentaries are followed in various places, but few have risen to be universally accepted.

      “There are only three or four works treating of Prayoga (application); I have had access to all of them. But here I have followed only one of them, as being the most prominent and important. It comes from an ancient family in Conjeeveram. It contains 100 slokas. The Yantras (figures) for the Mantras contained in the shlokas, the different postures of the worshipper, and similar prescriptions, are clearly described in it to the minutest detail.

      “There seems to be some mystical connection between each shloka and its Bijākshara.{39} But it is not intelligible, nor has any of the Prayoga Kartas{40} explained the same.

      “The following is a list of commentaries written upon ‘Ānanda-Laharī’; some of them include ‘Saundarya-Laharī’ also:

      “1. ‘Manoramā,’ a Commentary. 2. A Commentary by Appaya Dīkshita (Tanjore Palace Library). 3. ‘Vishnupakshī.’ Perhaps this may be the same as No. 14 given below. 4. By Kavirājasharman—about 3,000 granthas (Deccan College Library). 5. ‘Manjubhūshanī,’ by Krishnāchārya, the son of Vallabhāchārya—shlokas about 1,700. He says in his Introduction that Shrī Shankarāchārya praised the Brahmashakti called Kundalinī when he was meditating on the banks of the Ganges. He gives the purport of this work in his first shloka: ‘I praise constantly the Kundalinī, who creates innumerable worlds continuously, though She is like a filament of the lotus, and who resides at the root of the tree (Mūlādhāra) to be roused and led (to Sahasrāra).’ This is popular in the Bengal Presidency. 6. Another Commentary, called ‘Saubhāgyavardhanī,’ by Kaivalyāsharma. The Adyar Library has a copy of it. This is popular throughout India, so we can get as many MSS. of the same as we require from different places. It contains about 2,000 granthas. 7. By Keshavabhatta. 8. ‘Tattvadīpikā,’ by Gangahari, a small commentary based on Tantrashāstra. 9. By Gangādhara. 10. By Gopīramanatarka-pravachana—granthas about 1,400. Seems to be of recent origin. 11. Gaurīkāntasārvabhaumabhattāchārya—granthas about 1,300. Of recent origin. 12. By Jagadīsha. 13. By Jagannātha Panchānana. 14. By Narasimha—granthas 1,500. The chief peculiarity of this commentary is that it explains the text in two different ways, each shloka being applicable to Devī and Vishnu at the same time. Though some commentators have given different meanings to some of the verses, yet all of them apply to the different aspects of Devī alone, and not to the different Devatās. 15. ‘Bhāvārthadīpa,’ by Brahmānanda{41}—granthas about 1,700. 16. By Mallabhatta. 17. By Mahādevavidyāvāgīsha. 18. By Mādhavavaidya (Deccan College Library). 19. By Rāmachandra—granthas about 3,000 (Deccan College Library). 20. By Rāmanandatīrtha. 21. Lakshmīdhara’s; which is well known to the public, and needs no comment. This has been brought out excellently in Deva Nāgara type by the Mysore Government lately. 22. By Vīshvambhara. 23. By Shrīkanthabhatta. 24. By Rāma Sūri. 25. By Dindima (Adyar Library). 26. By Rāmachandra Misra—granthas about 1,000 (Deccan College Library). 27. By Achyutānanda (printed in Bengali characters). 28. Sadāshiva (Government Oriental Library, Madras). 29. Another nameless Commentary (Government Oriental Library, Madras). 30. By Shrīrangadāsa. 31. By Govinda Tarkavāgīsha Bhattāchārya—granthas 600. He seems to give the Yantra also for each verse. Further, he says that the god Mahādeva specially incarnated as Shangkarāchārya to promulgate the science of Shrīvidyā. 32. Sudhāvidyotinī, by the son of Pravarasena. This commentator says that the author of this famous hymn was his father, Pravarasena, Prince of the Dramidas. He tells us a story in connection with Pravarasena’s birth which is very peculiar. As he was born in an inauspicious hour, Dramida, the father of Pravarasena, in consultation with his wise Minister, by name Suka, threw him out in the forest, lest he (the father) should lose his kingdom. . . . The child praised Devī by this hymn, and, pleased with it, the Devī fostered and took care of him in the forest. The story ends by saying that the boy returned to his father’s dominion and became King. By his command, his son, the present commentator, wrote Sudhāvidyotinī, after being fully initiated into this mystic Shāstra, Shrīvidyā. The account, however, appears to be rather fantastic. This MS. I got from South Malabar with much difficulty. It gives the esoteric meaning of the verses in ‘Ānanda-Laharī,’ and seems to be a valuable relic of occult literature. 33. The book of Yantras with Prayoga. This is very rare and important.

      “Besides the above commentaries, we do not know how many more commentaries there are upon this hymn.”

      The celebrity of “Ānandalaharī” and the great number of commentaries upon it are proof of the widespread and authoritative character of the Yoga here described.

      To conclude with the words of the Commentator