2023-02-16 06:27:20 by ambuda-bot
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INTRODUCTION
of man and indicating the various psychological levels
to be reached in his progress towards God. It goes
further and employs diagrams called yantras for repre-
senting these Śaktis. It is but appropriate that a Sakti,
which is of the nature of force or energy, should be
represented by lines and curves and their combinations.
For surely a diagram consisting of mere lines and
points is a more spiritual symbol of a divinity than an
anthropomorphic image of it in the round or a picture
of it in colours. That is why the Tantra regards
yantropāsana as being superior to the older pratikopā-
sana. And the greatest of all yantras, according to
it, is the famous Sri Chakra, which is the central object
of worship in Sri Vidya.
The Sri Chakra, again, like the Pancadaśākşarī
mantra, is considered a form of the Goddess. If the
mantra is a revelation of the Mother in sounds, the
yantra is a revelation of her in lines. And it is a
symbol of the Devi not only in her true form as Siva
and Sakti in one, but also in her three phenomenal
forms the universe of mahābhūtas and the two minia-
ture universes of the human body and the alphabet of
articulate speech (varṇamālā).
The Sri Chakra is that rather complicated diagram
of interlocked triangles with which we are all more or
less familiar. It consists of a circle with a Bindu at
the centre. On the vertical diameter of this circle are
arranged five triangles with their apexes pointing down-
1. चक्रस्यापि मद्देश्या न भेदलेशोऽपि भाव्यते विबुधैः-
Kamakalā-vilāsa.
INTRODUCTION
of man and indicating the various psychological levels
to be reached in his progress towards God. It goes
further and employs diagrams called yantras for repre-
senting these Śaktis. It is but appropriate that a Sakti,
which is of the nature of force or energy, should be
represented by lines and curves and their combinations.
For surely a diagram consisting of mere lines and
points is a more spiritual symbol of a divinity than an
anthropomorphic image of it in the round or a picture
of it in colours. That is why the Tantra regards
yantropāsana as being superior to the older pratikopā-
sana. And the greatest of all yantras, according to
it, is the famous Sri Chakra, which is the central object
of worship in Sri Vidya.
The Sri Chakra, again, like the Pancadaśākşarī
mantra, is considered a form of the Goddess. If the
mantra is a revelation of the Mother in sounds, the
yantra is a revelation of her in lines. And it is a
symbol of the Devi not only in her true form as Siva
and Sakti in one, but also in her three phenomenal
forms the universe of mahābhūtas and the two minia-
ture universes of the human body and the alphabet of
articulate speech (varṇamālā).
The Sri Chakra is that rather complicated diagram
of interlocked triangles with which we are all more or
less familiar. It consists of a circle with a Bindu at
the centre. On the vertical diameter of this circle are
arranged five triangles with their apexes pointing down-
1. चक्रस्यापि मद्देश्या न भेदलेशोऽपि भाव्यते विबुधैः-
Kamakalā-vilāsa.