Srividhya, the Secret Knowledge

[Sriram R]

Srividhaya is the upasana with lot of controversies in every aspect.  Why there are so many controversies in this upasana of attaining Brahmam?  The controversies are necessary because of the state of sadhaka.   Each sadhaka is not same as the other. So only the upasana itself is kept as secret. One’s upasana method may not suit the other. This can be judged only by a Guru.
The Guru must be in a position to analyse a sishya. The analysis should happen on various grounds like  the character of the sadhaka, inclination towards pancha makaras, ishta devadha of the sadhaka,  spiritual position etc.
Before getting into why this analysis is needed we should know few things about Moksha, the salvation.  A aathma attains Mukthi only when the karma bag is empty. How one acquires karma? Karma is acquired by the “wanted “ activities. If we do a activity, may be intentionally or unintentionally, and thinks the activity is done by me the karma is added up.  If the activity is good we acquire good karma! And if it is a Bad it gives bad karma. How to stop acquiring karma?  We have to surrender all our activities in the holy feet of Divinity to stop acquiring the karma. The knowledge of surrendering of all our activities is the Srividhya, the ultimate knowledge.
Let us continue with the original topic where we left.  Why Guru need to analyze each and every one of his sishya?  We have a Hospital. So many patients come to the Hospital with different problems. Doctor has to analyze each one of them and give medicine specific to each problem.  
Based on the Character and spiritual position, one has to identify his aachara of srividhya.  if a person is good at converging his thoughts and good at contemplation without deviation he should be in Samayachara.  When a person not inclined towards pancha makara he has to follow dhakshinachara.  Such a person need not be involved in vama/koula because already he is away from pancha makaras. He is not going to pursue any of the pancha makara in any form in his life. So no bonding he has with the pancha makaras.  This type of sadhaka has to be trained to surrender all the good activities he does towards the divinity. When a person is inclined to any of the pancha makara or even traces of temptations is found, he has to be advised to follow Kaulam or vamacharam.  Then only the pancha makaras will slowly be done as surrender towards the divinity and can stop acquiring karmas through that. Also there is a thumb rule that the dravyaas used for pooja should not be taken as Boga vasthu. Only as a part of pooja it can be pursued. We cannot go by varnashrama rule for choosing the aachara or the drawyas for all the persons. It differs person to person.  
Why to analyse on the ishta devatha of a sadhaka?  If the surrender  is done to the ishta devatha the bondage will be more for the sadhaka.  Lalitha and Kameshwara are the ParaBrahamam. They exists as anything and everything in this world.  Even the sadhaka can contemplate on “Mother  Marry” and chant the shodasi mantra and attain Moksha(the salvation).
All these factors will definitely not be common for a group of people.  If same treatment is given for stomach pain and head ache, it will not solve the problem for all.

[ramkumarn]

Everything is fine anna.. But the lines "When a person is inclined to any of the pancha makara or even traces of temptations is found, he has to be advised to follow Kaulam or vamacharam.  Then only the pancha makaras will slowly be done as surrender towards the divinity and can stop acquiring karmas through that."

This is exactly not the reason why Kaula / Vama dikshas are given... Though this might be one reason this is not at all the reason.. There are few other reasons to give this....

[Sriram R]

Actually Ram .. i just tried to say how srividhya works as a path of moksham. There may be many reasons for kaula or vamachara deekshas.

My subject is to say for different people - different streams of srividhya. ur sadhana way cannot hold good for me and my sadhana need not be fruitful to u. that is the basic thing i thought to convey in this article. Each stream of srividhya is not inferior or superior to other streams. only adhikari bedam decides the stream.

Even if i share my way of sadhana... it  may not yield the same results to u... that y srividhya is secret.. only sadhana mechanism can be shared but not the anubhavam we get.

[Sriram R]

Sri and Kali

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Before the process of creation, ParaBrahmam alone exists. Veda and vedanta itself say, it cannot comment on the state of Brahmam. "Na sath aaseed, No A-sath aaseed" Brahmam's state is neither Chith nor Achith. it is beyond words. so we say it as it exists as "Eashwaran", "Aporusheyam" etc.,

For no reasons, Brahmam start the Creation phase of the universe. it first create the Maya. Parashakthi is symbolisation of this MahaMaya. After Bringing out the Mahamaya, the Brahmam Becomes ParamaSiva and Parashakthi. i.e., a state in which the difference is observed. One is Brahmam and other is Maya. Now the Brahmam and the Maya indulge in divine union which creates the five elements. the Space, Air, fire, water and land. This is explained with the divine union of Paramashiva and Parashakthi. Their cosmic union/ cosmic dance created everything. in this phase Both Paramashiva and Parashakthi are personified with great beauty, pleasant, sweet etc., in short as Kameshwara and kameshwari. Kameshwari is the Mahamaya, who is explained as ever sixteen, beautiful lady, playing the crucial role in creation. As she created the universe as a play she is called as Lalitha. As creation is always pleasant to us, the Brahmam and Mahamaya are personified as a charming young couple. Brahmam is always inert. it is only She, the Mahamaya plays the role of creation. hence she is symbolised as seating over kameshwara in eternal union.



Again for no reasons Brahmam start the destruction of the universe. All the five elements which came out of the union of Paramashiva and Parashakthi is taken back into them. At the end all the elements merge into each other in the reverse order of creation and finally enters into the Mahamaya. it is the second time when only Paramashiva and Parashakthi alone pervades. Now it is the time for the Brahmam to absorb even the Mahamaya and become the single entity to complete the cycle. This Eternal union is symbolied as union of Mahakala and Mahakali. As destrution is always seen as a sign of fierce nature, even Mahakala and MahaKali are explained with a fearful look.



In Both the cases, Union is the word synonymous to a state that they are/becoming one and the same. It is the eternal union between the Brahamam and Maya. Sri and Kali are just two states of Mahamaya! The name given to them s based on the phase they involve in. if it is creation it is Sri (sundari) and if it is destruction she is called as Kali. Srikula and KaliKula lead the sadhaka to realize the same MahaMaya! , And attain the only Moksha!.

[ramkumarn]

Rightly phrased... True in what you have said anna...

[nksbala]

Hi SriRam

Thanks for explanation.I have a query.

Is there any difference in Self-realization obtained through worshipping Kali and Tripurasundari.I mean more of level of consiousness,content..etc.

I know couple of upasakas on both Kali Kula and Sri Vidya .They are not self-realized but noticed couple of differences on their experiences.I have given them below.

1)Kundalini arousal : Very fast in case of Kali upasakas when compared to Sri vidya Upasakas.(exceptions are always there)

2) Heat : Kali upasakas experience lot of heat in their head while it is cooling sensation for sri vidya upasakas once their kundalini reaches higher chakras. May be due to Kali mantras generate heat as she is more of ugra devata.

3)In Kali kula,we worship Kali directly while in Sri kula one should go cross lot of Yoginis to reach Lalita.Hence there is a possibility of one carried away by some Yoginis in sri vidya(in terms of siddhi,consiousness diversion).Im not sure how much true it is but im just posting what i learnt from those people.


Happy to get fellow upasakas feedback on this.

[Sriram R]

Hi Nksbala,
Thanks for your response.

    Actually the cause of mantra is different for different beejaksharas. some create heat and some create cool sensation on sadhaka's body. But on the whole, what does the heat and cool sensation determies is the flow of energy. Both kali and sundari mantra cause some heat on the upasaka body. This heat inturn awakens the dormant kundalini and make it assend towards the sahasrara. As kali mantras has more Agni Beejas the sadhaka could feel more heat. whereas in sundari mantra, the bjaksharas are balanced to eable the upasaka to withstand it. This could be the reason for the fast assending of kundalii for kali upasakas and a slowness felt in sundari upasaka's case.

    The Self realization is different from the mantra sidhi and kundalini sidhi. Sri matha is Sivagnana pradhayini. she imparts the knowledge of siva. the knowledge of brahman. That is why we call this upasana as Brahma vidhya. As vedhantha say there is only one Brahmam. if you do this upasana of the Mahamaya she will remove the veil of maya which stops us understanding the Brahmam.Technically, there should not be difference in self realization in both ways(sundari/kali) of srividhya as the Brahmam we realise is one and the same.

   Both Sundari and Kali margas has its own difficlties. only focused sadhakas reach the stage of self realization in both the margas.

 Hope I tried answering your question. please correct me if am wrong.

[nksbala]

Hi SriRam

Thanks for reply.I understand.

I have one more query.I see many upasakas doing Panchayatana puja along with Sri vidya upasana.

Is that better to concentrate On one deity rather than doing puja for many deities?

Why Adi Sankara recommended that?Will that fasten the mind purification which is needed for self-realization process?

[Sriram R]

Dear Nkbala,

you are correct. poojas only help in fastening the purification of mind.

Sri HH Sringeri Aacharyal used to Quote, "the Poojas are like Rubber, which erases all the hurdles towards self realisation and gets vanish by itself" we should see these poojas as initial steps to attain the realisation. people in preliminary level need them to build strong base for their journey towards realization.

Now a question arrise, then why adi shankara sang so many stotra granthams even after attaining jeevan muktha (self realized) state?. The answer is he had/has somany followers to follow his foot. For the people in premliminary level he stood as a example because of his karuna towards them. That is why all aacharyas of the Mutts performing various poojas. they want the common people to follow them to start building the base. Adi shankara has done All those bhakthi granthams just for the sake of doing Bhakthi.. he need not attain anything by doing this, as he already attained everything (jeevan mukthi).

self realization is not attained by doing poojas, it is a big evolution starting at performing poojas. it is evolution of the soul to realize the brahman.

[nksbala]

Hi Sriram

Is there any compulsory reason for one to worship Kali or Tripurasundari or any mahavidya for attaining self-realization?

Why cant we worship Siva directly as Maya is controlled by Siva.There are lot of saiva vidyas which gives way to reach self-realization like Siva Pancakshari,Aghora Vidya..etc

http://www.hindupedia.com/en/Saiva_Vidyas

[Sriram R]

Dear nksbala,

sorry for the late reply. I was out of station for couple of weeks.

It is not a conpulsory to worship any specific deity or to follow a specific vidhya for self realization. These are just a path way to reach the ultimate point of sprituality. you can choose your own way. In this thread, i just tried to explain how Srividhya is working in self realization. There can be many other vidhyas which lead to self realization. All these affinity towards a deity/mantra will vanish at the end of self realization and you will only feel the Brahmam.

[Nkumar]

ramkumarn Ji,

if possible please post the reasons..

OM