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Hinduism: Hymn to Kali
VERSE 16
O KaLi, 1 whoever 2 on Tuesday at midnight, 3 having uttered Thy mantra,
makes offering even but once with devotion to Thee of a hair of his
Sakti 4 in the cremation-ground, 5 becomes a great poet, a Lord of the
earth, and ever goes mounted upon an elephant. 6
COMMENTARY
'Kali'
Dispeller of the fear of Kala or Death.
'Whoever'
Here a Divya Sadhaka.
'Midday' (Madhyahne)
At noon.
'Devotion' (Premna)
That is Parabhakti.
'Offers' (Vitarati)
Merges in Thee, that is, attains Nirvikalpa-Samadhi. Patanjala-Sūtra
says that Nirvikalpa-Samadhi is attained by suppression of the Vṛtti of
mind.
'In the cremation-ground' (Citayam)
In thee as Consciousness (Cit).
'Bija'
That is here nectar which issues on the enjoyment of the union of Kula-kundalini
and ParamaSiva. The Gandharvamalika-Tantra says, 'Oh beloved One, the
Queen of Devas unites with ParaSiva and
p. 81
in a moment, Oh Devi ParameSvari, nectar is forthwith produced. That
nectar, Oh Devi, is like the juice of lac. With it, Oh, Mistress of the
Devas, libation (Tarpaṇa) should be offered to the supreme Devata.'
'At home' (Gṛhe)
In the thousand petalled Lotus (Sahasrara).
'Hair with its root' (Cikuraṁ samūlaṁ)
The mind with its functions. It is such Sadhaka who gains both enjoyment
and Liberation.
p. 82
Footnotes
80:1 p. 81 Kali is destroyer of Kala (V).
80:2 'Whoever' is here a Vira Sadhaka.
80:3 Madhyahne. Noon or (here) midnight, Kakarakūtarahasya says,
'Whoever naked and with dishevelled hair, on a Tuesday, at midnight,
does Homa in the cremation-ground with hair, nails, seed and whatever
adheres to the Sammarjańi and offers them after having uttered the
Mūlamantra and recited Thy name a thousand times attracts to him
the Lord of the Earth' (V).
80:4 The offering is stated in the words grihe sammarjanya
parigalitabijam hi chikurang samūlang madhyanhe vitarati chitayang
kujadine. These words have received various interpretations, of which
the two chief alternatives are given. Gṛhe is by some translated as 'at
home,' in distinction from the cremation-ground to which, according to
this rendering, the sadhaka subsequently goes to make his offering.
This, however, is said to be erroneous, as the sadhana takes place not
in the house but in the cremation-ground. Others (see Calcutta edition)
translate it as the equivalent of grihini, or wife. Sammarjani is by
them read to mean 'comb.' Parigalita is translated 'removed,' in the
sense that the curling of the hair of the wife is 'removed' or
straightened with the comb. Bijam given either its primary meaning, or
as the equivalent of virya is said to mean kautilyam, or curl of the
hair. Cikuram is hair,' and samūlam qualifies it, meaning pulled out,
taken off at the root. The meaning is, then, an offering is made of the
wife's hair, the curls (kautilyam) of which have been straightened out
with the comb (sammarjanya), and some of which has come off at the root
(samūlam). The correct rendering, however, is according to K. B.
Saktisadhakayoh gṛhe maithunasamaye p. 82 yoniliṁgasaṁgharṣavaSat
Saktiyonipatitaṁ viryaliptaṁ loma devyai samarpitaṁ bhavati. Gṛhe thus
does not mean 'at home,' but manmathagrihe. The hair is from the same.
Saṁmarjani = SiSna. Samūlaṁ qualifies cikuram in the sense of 'come off
at the root' under the circumstances stated. Parigalita is
'dropped'—referring to the virya.
According to Vimalananda, Gṛhe parigalita-viryaṁ, is that produced by
union with the Sadhaka's svaSakti or wife (V).
Of the words Gṛhe saṁmarjanya parigalita-viryaṁ cikuram samūlaṁ the
Commentator Durgarama SiddantavagiSa gives the two following alternative
expressions: (a) Sammarjanya means with a comb with which the hair is
put in order. Parigalitaviryam chikuram means hair of which the Virya or
crookedness has been removed. Gṛhe means in the wife: for it is said the
wife is the home. The whole phrase then means Wife's hair, root and all,
combed out straight with a comb or (b) Sammarjanya Parigalita-viryaṁ
means Sukra produced by Sammarjani here meaning Liṅga of the Sadhaka;
gṛhe means in the abode of Kama that is Yoni of Sakti together with
hair, root and all.
The English translation is somewhat abbreviated with the object of
giving only so much as all renderings are agreed upon. But in practice
Virya is used by most in its literal sense, this is the gross meaning.
The inner sense is given in the Svarūpa-vyakhya which follows.
80:5 According to some, the offering is made on the built-up pyre, and,
according to others, on the fire after the body has been consumed. Cita,
however, is really used as a synonym for the burning ground (SmaSana).
The Niruttara-Tantra (Ch. I) speaks of two Kinds of SmaSana:
SmaSanaṁ dvividhaṁ deva cita yonih prakiṛtitaṁ.
80:6 That is, he becomes a Raja, and has no longer to go on foot like
common folk.
from Hinduism: Hymn to Kali
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