Upanishads

Bhavana Upanishad

Atharvaveda
group of Upanishads – Shakta

The Being, the Supreme Cause, Sri Guru – is Shakti. /1/

How? Sri Chakra filled with nine Shaktis is the form of (Her) body with nine gates. (In Her reside): divine Mothers; Varahi, Pitrirupa, Kurukulla, Bali. The four goals of human life are (four) oceans. The nine supports are Shakti mudras. The seven components of the body, beginning with the skin, are multifariously connected with desires (are) desire trees. Light (tejas) is the cultivation of the measure (jiva). The perceived tastes; sweet, bitter, sour, astringent, salty and astringent – are the six seasons. Kriya Shakti is Pitha. Kundalini is the home of Jnana Shakti. Ichcha Shakti is the Great Tripurasundari. The seeker is the sacrificer. Achievement is the sacrificial libation. The realized is the sacrifice. Contemplation of the non-differentiation of the realizer, the realized and the realized is the worship of the Sri Chakra. The nine rasas connected in order beginning with the love (sringara rasa) are (the eight siddhis) beginning with anima. Lust, anger, greed, delusion, madness, arrogance, sin and virtue constitute the eight Shaktis beginning with Brahmi. The transformations of earth, water, fire, wind, space, ear, skin, eyes, tongue, nose, speech, hands, feet, anus and genitals are the sixteen Shaktis. Speech, giving, walking, enjoying, defecating, hearing, seeing, thinking are the eight Shaktis beginning with Ananga Kusuma. Fourteen nadis; Alambusha, Kuhu, Vishvodari, Varuna, Hastijihva, Yashasvati, Ashvini, Gandhari, Pusha, Shankhini, Sarasvati, Ida, Pingala, Sushumna – fourteen deities beginning with Sarvasankshobhini. Ten breaths; Prana, Apana, Vyana, Udana, Samana, Naga, Kurma, Krikara, Devadatta, Dhananjaya – ten external deities beginning with Sarvasiddhiprada. The division of these ten breaths, the union and superposition (of them) with the five basic Pranas of inhalation, exhalation, drying, burning and moistening – Amrita. The body that bewilders people, (composed) of five kinds of food (which can be) chewed, gnawed, sucked and drunk (which) digests it. The ten subtle treasures are the ten deities beginning with Sarvajna and ending with them. Heat, cold, happiness and suffering, desire, gunas; sattva, rajas and tamas are the eight Shaktis beginning with Vashini. The five tanmatras; hearing, touch, form, taste, smell are the five flower arrows (of the god of love Kama). The mind is the flower bow. Desire is the arrow. Attraction is the noose. Neriyatye is the goad. The unmanifested, mahattattva, ego are the deities Kameshvari, Vajreshvari and Bhagalamalini, who reside at the apexes of the triangle. Contemplation of the change of time in the form of fifteen tithis is the fifteen nitya (shakti). The presiding deities are Shraddha and Anurupa. Over these two (presides) the Deity Kameshvari, always full of the mass of Bliss – the Form One with Its Essence. /2/

The existing active and inactive – the ocean of love associated with contemplation – is an offering (upacara). "Let there be union of forms and perception within and without the senses – this is the invocation (avahana). Perception of objects in the union of the internal and external senses – this is (the offering of) sitting (asana). Union of red and white (bindu) is the water for washing the feet (padya). The offering of abiding in the Bliss of the blazing Damoda is arghya. Spontaneous perfect clarity (of consciousness) is acamaniya. Inflow to the entire body of the Consciousness of the full moon is ablution (snana). Manifestation of Shakti, the inner Essence of the fire of Consciousness and the Supreme Bliss – this is (the offering of) clothes (vastra). Circulation along the brahma nadi (i.e. in the sushumna of the Kundalini shakti) breaking the "knot of Brahma" (brahma granthi), consisting of icchha, jnana and kriya (shakti) each divided into twenty-seven – this is brahma sutra (offering of the sacred thread). Remembrance of the union and separation of the Self-transcending Essence is ornament (bhusana). Complete clear remembrance is incense (gandha). The mind in which all states are connected with objects is a flower (pushpa). Constant identification with them is incense (dhupa). Like the split flame of fire, Being and Consciousness are firebrands. The space of the body is the sanctum (dipa). Complete negation of what comes and what goes is food (naivedya). Union in the three states (sleep, dreaming and waking) is betel (tambula). Staying in motion from muladhara to sahasrara and from sahasrara to muladhara is circumambulation (pradakshina). Staying in the fourth state of consciousness (turiya) is bowing (namaskara). Immersion in the realized emptiness of the body is the slaughter of the sacrifice. "The Being acts and does not act." Constant indifference to one's own complaints is homa. Immersing oneself in these words is complete contemplation. /3/

He who devotes himself to the Supreme Contemplation for three hours becomes liberated in life. His perfection is Identity with the Divine. Through persistent contemplation, perfection is attained. He is called one with Shiva. /4/

Such is the Upanishad.