Amongst the claims that Brill’s Encyclopedia of Hinduism (BEOH) makes about itself are the following: 1) It presents the latest research on all the main aspects of Hindu traditions, with essays written by the world’s foremost scholars on Hinduism[1]; and 2) the depth and breadth of information in this work are unmatched by any other reference work on Hinduism.[2] Let us return to these points after the analysis that follows, about Śrīcakra in BEOH.
For those who may not know about the place of Śrīcakra in Tantra and Tantric Traditions[3], here is part of what ChatGPT had to say in this regard:
ChatGPT’s response to the question—Which is the most important symbol of Tantra tradition?—appears even more categorical:
Table 1, below, summarises the occurrences of Śrīcakra and Śrīyantra, that I could find, in BEOH:
‘Śrīcakra’ is found atleast 36 times across 6 entries {Cakra (5), Maṇḍalas and Yantras (12), Mantras (1), Śaiva Texts (2), Śrīvidyā (15), Yoginīs (1)} while ‘Śrīyantra’ is found atleast 11 times across 5 entries {Cakra (2), Kālī (1), Maṇḍalas and Yantras (4), Śrīvidyā (1), Tantra (3)}. All 47 attestations (36+11) alluded to above have been collated below:
Cakra
“Among the worshippers of the Great Goddess (Mahādevī), particularly Lalitā Tripurasundarī (see Śrīvidyā), the maṇḍala of the śrīcakra (sacred cakra), better known as the śrīyantra (the sacred instrument) is very popular. The śrīcakra is actually a set of nine interlocking triangles – four facing upward (symbolic of the male principle) over which we find a set of five, interlocking, downward facing triangles (said to be symbolic of female energies), all set within a stylized, lotus-shaped circle. At the center is the still point, the bindu, which has been variously interpreted as the nondual union between Śiva and Śakti or as the ineffable point of transcending all thought. The śrīcakra is central to many esoteric yogic and meditational exercises, and devotees are initiated into the mediational structures that govern this symbol of the cosmos. When śrīcakra is seen in a three-dimensional image, it is said to represent Mount Meru, a mountain sacred in Hindu, Jain, and Buddhist cosmologies. The śrīcakra is installed in several temples that are dedicated to the manifestations of Devī in various parts of India and is also said to be the design on which some temples such as the Kāmākhyā Temple in Assam are modeled.”
“While the political and religious meanings of the cakravartin are marginal in religious usage, the centrality of the śrīyantra in the Śrīvidyā tradition, the recognition of cakras as energy centers in new religious movements, and the performance of sudarśanahoma or worship of the Sudarśana wheel among South Indians in the subcontinent and in the diaspora for protection against all evil have become valorized in popular discourse since the late 20th century.”
Kalī
“In South India she is better known as Śrīvidyā or Lalitā, and she is the most important of the mahāvidyā goddesses there. … In the Śrīvidyā tradition, she is a goddess of vedantic knowledge, ruler of the states of consciousness and the goddess of the śrīyantra, which arises from the mantra oṃ and is the pattern that lies below the visible universe. .”
Maṇḍalas and Yantras
“While they certainly function as meditational devices in some traditions (as e.g. the śrīcakra frequently does), this use of maṇḍalas is but one aspect of a larger picture.”
“A navagrahamaṇḍala pattern inspired him to design the Jawahar Kala Kendra, a cultural center in Jaipur, while his Surya Kund in Delhi is said to be based on a maṇḍala plan featuring the śrīcakra in its center.”
“Yantras can be two- or three-dimensional. Two-dimensional yantras are outlined on paper, textiles, and other materials. Three-dimensional yantras are raised structures usually made of metal. The well-known śrīyantra or śrīcakra (see fig. 7) can be represented either two- or three dimensionally.”
“In this category of yantras I would also include the śrīcakra, alternatively called śrīyantra (see fig. 7), which represents the goddess Tripurasundarī and is of great significance in the Śrīvidyā system (Padoux, 2007a).”
“Special terminology is used in connection with the śrīcakra (see fig. 7), which is employed in the ritual worship of Tripurasundarī.”
“Most descriptions and interpretations of the constituent parts of yantras found in the literature concern the śrīyantra or śrīcakra, the most important and influential of yantras.”
“In connection with the śrīcakra (see fig. 7) authors such as Bhāskararāya refer to the downward-pointing (adhomukha) triangles as Śakti triangles and the upward-pointing (ūrdhvamukha) triangles as fire (vahni) or Śiva triangles. Both types of triangles are intertwined to form a hexagram (see below).”
“The śrīcakra or śrīyantra (see fig. 7) is widely worshipped in contemporary India and Nepal. It is installed and worshipped, among other places, in the Sringeri Mutt, which claims to uphold Śaṅkara’s tradition. In Nepal, it decorates roofs of shrines. The śrīcakra is now also sold as a pendant to be worn around the neck, and is printed on wall calendars.”
“It also explains why the parts of the śrīcakra, which display a variety of shapes (such as triangles and lotus petals), are referred to as the nine cakras.”
“Fig. 7: The śrīcakra”
“Padoux, A., “The Śrīcakra according to the First Chapter of the Yoginīhṛdaya,” in: G. Bühnemann et al., Maṇḍalas and Yantras in the Hindu Traditions, Leiden, 2003, rev. ed. 2007a, 239–250.”
Mantras
“For instance, the letter h refers to two sets of ten triangles and the outer layer of 14 triangles of the śrīcakra (see maṇḍalas).”
Śaiva Texts
“Rather it claimed from the beginning that it transcends the Āmnāyas as the essence and embodiment of all four; and this stance was elaborated in the learned exegesis in the claim that the constituent parts of Tripurā’s maṇḍala of nine intersecting triangles, known as the śrīcakra, are the embodiment of these four, equated with the four phases of emission (sṛṣṭi), stasis (sthiti, avatāra), retraction (saṃhāra), and the nameless (anākhya), a tetrad borrowed from the Krama, thus transforming the maṇḍala into a proof, as it were, of the cult’s claim to encompass and surpass all the other Kaula traditions.”
“This claim that the four Āmnāyas are embodied in the constituent parts of the śrīcakra is purely theoretical or rhetorical, since no deities or mantras from those traditions are incorporated.”
Śrīvidyā
“At this time, not much can be said about the dating of this antecedent cult with certainty, except that it flourished prior to the 11th century and perhaps significantly earlier than that, based on the references to the worship of nityās in the Kubjikāmata and the later Jayadrathayāmala (see Sanderson, 2010, 47–48; see also below). … Although this connection has been deemphasized in the later Śrīvidyā scriptures and exegesis, references to love magic have been preserved in the names of the subordinate goddesses (e.g. the 16 deities of attraction [ākarṣa], worshipped in the outer petals of the śrīcakra [VāMa. 1.138- 141]), the descriptions of the physical beauty of Tripurasundarī (who is portrayed as red, the color most vested with amorous connotations), and the expected results of worship, which encompass the amorous attraction of women to the ritualist (e.g. VāMa. 4.38-41).”
“The Vāmakeśvarīmata incorporated the subordinate deities of the antecedant nityā cult as part of a much larger ritual system comprising 78 deities, arranged on the nine levels of the śrīcakra (see maṇḍalas and yantras). The text included a detailed exposition on the vidyās (mantras of feminine deities), that is, the mūlavidyā, given in the coded form, the supplementary vidyās, and the bījas (the so-called seed syllables; see mantras). Detailed instructions for the drawing of the śrīcakra, its worship, the practice of nyāsa (installing the divinity in the body of the ritualist), and additional practices for attraction, subjugation, protection, and the attainment of various siddhis (supernatural powers) were also provided.”
“The Yoginīhṛdaya, introduced as an esoteric elaboration on the points that have not been sufficiently clarified in the Vāmakeśvarīmata, was evidently composed after the time of Abhinavagupta and Kṣemarāja, probably in the mid-11th century or soon after. The text incorporated terminology and doctrinal concepts derived from Trika and Krama Pratyabhijñābased metaphysics and cosmologies that updated the cult with the Śākta-Śaiva nondualist paradigms, dominant from the 11th century onward. While retaining the configuration of the subordinate deities to be worshipped in the śrīcakra discussed in the Vāmakeśvarīmata, in addition to the external ritual, the Yoginīhṛdaya introduced a number of sophisticated meditative practices and ways of mapping the śrīcakra onto the subtle body of the practitioner, reflecting the trend toward the esotericization and internalization in this tradition. The śrīcakra in the Yoginīhṛdaya is viewed not only as an external ritual diagram, but also as a map of cosmic emanation (YHṛ. 1.36–49; see also Padoux, 2003, 240). The text describes the cosmic consciousness, which has the nature of [pra]mātṛ (cognizer), [pra]meya (object of cognition), and [pra]māṇa (cognition itself) coming into being in the form of the universe (YHṛ. 1.9–12; 1.50–51). This cosmic consciousness in the śrīcakra is fourfold, manifesting as Vāmā, Jyeṣṭā, Raudrī, and the Great Goddess, Ambikā (YHṛ. 1.36–40). The four goddesses are equated with the four levels of speech, inherited from Pratyabhijñā — paśyantī, madhyamā, vaikharī, and the transcendent fourth level of parā vāc, the supreme word in its primeval, undifferentiated state (YHṛ. 1.36–40; for a detailed exposition on Kashmirian conceptions of the levels of speech, see Padoux, 1990, 166–223; see also mantras). Among the extant commentaries on this text, the 14th-century Yoginīhṛdayadīpikā by Amṛtānanda and the 18th-century Setubandha by Bhāskararāya have been published.”
“Stotras (hymns) and other devotional literature of the tradition not only describe the popular image of the goddess, but often encode technical meanings pertaining to the cult’s doctrine and ritual. In the short text of the Khaḍgamālāstotra, the arrangement of names of the subordinate deities mirrors the ritual in which these goddesses are worshipped in the śrīcakra or internally in the order of evolution (sṛṣṭikrama). The text lists the subordinate goddesses worshipped in the nine levels of the śrīcakra ritual and the emanations of Tripurasundarī controlling each level. Among the groups included in the Khaḍgamālāstotra are 15 nityās, the Lopāmudrā Sampradāya (Khanna, 1986, 49), 11 siddhis beginning with aṇimā, and the 8 matṛkā goddesses. The daily chanting of the Khaḍgamālāstotra is understood to have the same efficacy as the complete pūjā of the śrīcakra (Khanna, 1986, 11).”
“The Lalitāsahasranāma is a popular Stotra containing one thousand names of the goddess Lalitā. It is widely used in contemporary devotional practice. Many people chant it daily and know the hymn by heart, while others use it for a simple pūjā, in which an offering, usually a pinch of red kuṃkum powder or flower petals, is offered to the śrīcakra with each name of the goddess. The Stotra is included in the Lalitopākhyāna section of the Brahmāṇḍapurāṇa.”
“Another popular Stotra widely used devotionally is the Saundaryalaharī (The Wave of Beauty). While containing devotional expositions on the oneness of Śiva and Śakti and descriptive passages on the physical beauty of the goddess, the text also encodes technical information on śrīcakra ritual and internal worship. The first part of the text is known as the Ānandalaharī (The Wave of Bliss) and is considered to be the essence of the hymn (Brown, 1958, 1). In highly poetic and evocative language, the many facets of śakti, the feminine divine energy, are carefully laid out, and the goddess’s mystic union with Śiva, who cannot accomplish anything without her, is described: … The Saundaryalaharī is attributed by tradition to Śaṅkara, who is usually dated to the 8th century – however, the text must have been composed significantly later (for a summary of the scholarship on the authorship and dating, see Brown, 58, 25–30).”
“From the earliest texts, the worship of Tripurasundarī has been described as tripartite, that is, centered on pūjā, mantra, and cakra (e.g. YHṛ. 1.6). These three types of worship correspond to the three forms of the goddess, which are her physical form (sthūlarūpa; represented in anthropomorphic images), her subtle (sūkṣma) or mantra form, and her transcendent, supreme (parā) form, worshipped in the śrīyantra, or the śrīcakra, a two- or three-dimensional aniconic representation of Tripurasundarī (Brooks, 1992, xviii; see also Dempsey, 2006, 53). The geometrical design of the śrīcakra is formed by the bindu (dot) in the middle of the nine intersecting triangles, surrounded by two concentric rows of lotus petals and a threefold circle within an enclosure with four gates.”
“Khanna, M., “The Concept and Liturgy of the Śrīcakra Based on Śivānanda’s Trilogy,” diss., Oxford University, 1986.”
Yoginīs
“The yoginīs and other goddesses of the Tantras were semanticized into the phonemes and graphemes of the Sanskrit language and the Devanagari and other alphabets, with their energies condensed into the powerful spells known as mantras and vidyās (female wisdom spells). Elsewhere, they were abstracted into geometrical forms on tantric diagrams called maṇḍalas and yantras. This is the case, for example, with the śrīcakra, which is, according to the esoteric Śrī Vidyā Kaula, the most subtle and powerful representation of the godhead in essence and manifestation.”
Tantra
“The youngest of the four transmissions, the southern, is especially devoted to the cult of the goddess Tripurasundarī…. This tradition is highly distinctive inasmuch as rather than a divine image or mantra, the divine dyad is ideally venerated and visualized as a highly complex diagram comprisings (sic.) multiple sets of intersecting triangles, called the śrīyantra. This diagram and its worship program are described at length in the principal scriptures of this transmission, the Tantrarājatantra, Vāmakeśvarīmata, and the Yoginīhṛdaya.”
“In other cases, they are abstracted into the intersecting lines and triangles of geometric diagrams like the śrīyantra.”
“Now, the practitioner projects the deity within outside of himself, onto the concrete icon that is to serve as his worship support – a liṅga-yoni for Śiva, a śrīyantra for Tripurasundarī, an incised skull (tūra) for Bhairava, and so on.”
The original sources one sees in the excerpts above (in the order that they appear) are:
- Vāmakeśvarīmata
- Yoginīhṛdaya
- Khaḍgamālāstotra
- Brahmāṇḍapurāṇa
- Saundaryalaharī
- Tantrarājatantra
According to BOEH’s Śrīvidyā article 1) the Vāmakeśvarīmata is from the “early 11th century CE or earlier” 2) the Yoginīhṛdaya was composed “probably in the mid-11th century or soon after,” and 3) the Tantrarājatantra is from a time after the Yoginīhṛdaya (the third point is inferred from the fact that the Tantrarājatantra is mentioned in “The Later Tantras” and the Yoginīhṛdaya in “The Early Tantras.”).
Insofar as I have seen, none of the entries in the BOEH—not just the eight tabulated above—shed any specific light on the epoch of the Khaḍgamālāstotra (which occurs only once in all of the BEOH, in the Śrīvidyā article).
Brahmāṇḍapurāṇa occurs at least 21 times in the BEOH, across 12 entries: 1) Durgā {1}, 2) Foreigner (Mleccha) {2}, 3) Historical Perspectives – Between 400 BCE and 600 CE (Mauryas, Kushanas, Guptas, Satavahanas, Etc.) {1}, 4) Liṅga {1}, 5) Pārvatī (Satī, Umā) {3}, 6) Purāṇas {3}, Sāṃkhya {1}, Sarasvatī {3}, Śrīvidyā {1}, Stotras, Sanskrit Hymns {1}, Tilaka and Other Forehead Marks {3}, and Yama {1}. Out of these entries, two of them— Historical Perspectives – Between 400 BCE and 600 CE (Mauryas, Kushanas, Guptas, Satavahanas, Etc.) and Pārvatī (Satī, Umā)—contain excerpts that are related to the epoch of the Brahmāṇḍapurāṇa:
“The Purāṇas are the other major category of texts that vividly reveal the ongoing religious processes and syntheses (see Hazra, 1940; Rocher, 1986) and reflect a powerful attempt of their Brahman composers to revitalize, recast, and propagate Brahmanical religious and social norms. …. R.C. Hazra (1940, 175–189) and other scholars have suggested a chronology for certain sections of the Purāṇas, but these texts are extremely difficult to date. Some parts may belong to circa 200–500 CE, but these mingle with later additions. Certain Purāṇas, such as the Bhāgavatapurāṇa (usually dated between the 8th and the 10th cent.) and the Skandapurāṇa, seem to be later.” [Emphasis added]
“What does appear to be the earliest evidence for the story of Satī’s death is found in the Brahmāṇḍapurāṇa and in the Vāyupurāṇa, dated to the 4th century CE (Mertens, 1998a, 83ff.).”[Emphasis added]
Hazra (1940) and Rocher (1986), both of which appear in one of the excerpts immediately above, have the following to say about the epoch of the Brahmāṇḍapurāṇa:
Śrīcakra occurs atleast 9 times in the Brahmāṇḍapurāṇa[6]:
dīptāyudhadyutitiraskṛta bhāskarābhirnityābhiraṅghrisavidhe samupākyamānā /śrīcakranāmatilakaṃ daśayojanātituṅgadhvajollikhitameghakadaṃbamuccaiḥ // BndP_3,18.10 //
iti śrībrahmāṇḍamahāpurāṇe uttarabhāge hayagrīvāgastyasaṃvāde lalitopakhyāne śrīcakrarājarathajñeyacakrarathaparvasthadevatānāmaprakāśanaṃ nāmaikonaviṃśo ‘dhyāyaḥ
hayagrīva uvāca
kiricakrarathendrasya pañcaparvasamāśritāḥ /
devatāśca śṛṇu prājña nāma yacchṛṇvatāṃ jayaḥ // BndP_3,20.1 //
śrīcakraratharājasya rakṣaṇārthaṃ niveśite /
śatākṣauhiṇikāṃ senāṃ varjayitvāstrabhīṣaṇam // BndP_3,28.17 //
itthaṃ vidhāya surakāryamanindyaśīlā śrīcakrarājarathamaṇḍalamaṇḍanaśrīḥ /
kāmeśvarī trijagatāṃ jananī babhāse vidyotamānavibhavā vijyaśriyāḍhyā // BndP_3,29.145 //
tasyā mantramiti proktaṃ śrīcakraṃ cakrūṣaṇam /
navāvaraṇamīśānī śrīparasyādhidaivatam // BndP_3,39.4 //
trimūrtijananīmaṃbāṃ dṛṣṭvā śrīcakrarūpiṇīm /
praṇipatya tu sāṣṭāṅgaṃ bhāryayā saha bhaktimān // BndP_3,40.119 //
hayagrīva uvāca
mantraṃ śrīcakragevāsyāḥ seyaṃ hi tripurāṃbikā /
saiṣaiva hi mahālakṣmīḥ sphuraccaivātmanaḥ purā // BndP_3,41.3 //
sākṣātsaiva mahālakṣmīḥ śrīcakramiti tattvataḥ /
yadabhyarcya mahāviṣṇuḥ sarvalokavimohanam /
kāmasaṃmohinīrūpaṃ bheje rājīvalocanaḥ // BndP_3,41.5 //
kāmākṣyaiva mahālakṣmīścakraṃ śrīcakrameva hi /
śrīvidyaiṣā parā vidyā nāyikā gurunāyikā // BndP_3,41.15 //
evaṃ vinyastadehastu devatāvigraho bhavet /
tataḥ ṣoḍhā puraḥ kṛtvā śrīcakranyāsamācaret // BndP_3,44.102 //
The only original source remaining from the list of 6 seen above is the Saundaryalaharī. Here is what BEOH entry Śrīvidyā informs us about the epoch of Saundaryalaharī:
“The Saundaryalaharī is attributed by tradition to Śaṅkara, who is usually dated to the 8th century – however, the text must have been composed significantly later (for a summary of the scholarship on the authorship and dating, see Brown, 58, 25–30)”
Brown (1958) has the following to say about the authorship and epoch of the Saundaryalaharī:
Having covered the information in BEOH about the chronological epochs of all original sources seen in the excerpts about Śrīcakra and Śrīyantra (listed above), let us move on to two secondary sources that appear: 1) “Padoux, A., “The Śrīcakra according to the First Chapter of the Yoginīhṛdaya,” in: G. Bühnemann et al., Maṇḍalas and Yantras in the Hindu Traditions, Leiden, 2003, rev. ed. 2007a, 239–250.” and 2) “Khanna, M., “The Concept and Liturgy of the Śrīcakra Based on Śivānanda’s Trilogy,” diss., Oxford University, 1986.” Here is what I could find about the origins of Śrīcakra/Śrīyantra[8]:
While Padoux alludes to a South Indian origin having been suggested by “some,” there is no mention of who constitutes that “some.” In another article found in the same book, one finds the following about the epoch of the development of Śrīcakra:
Brooks (1992:33-4) contain the following vis-a-vis the epoch of Śrīcakra:
Brooks (1990:47) would interest those tracing the earliest written record of explicit Hindu Tantric teaching:
While the BEOH entry Śrīvidyā accords Tirumantiram a place before Vāmakeśvarīmata in The Early Tantras, it also includes a statement of about the epoch of the Tirumantiram (in bold below) which indicates that BEOH could be in favour of positing an epoch much later than seventh century, for Tirumantiram:
“While the majority of these texts have been composed in Sanskrit, some literature relevant to the tradition, which is yet to be fully examined, is in vernacular languages. The foremost among these is the Tamil Tirumantiram. Although the text is traditionally dated quite early, and some have dated it as early as “the fifth, sixth, or seventh century,” it “may have been dated six or seven centuries too early” as it “contains a complex of concepts with Sanskrit labels the development of which one can trace in Sanskrit (not Tamil) literature that must certainly post-date the fifth century.” (Goodall, 2004, xxix).” [Emphasis added]
The following statement, in another BEOH entry—Śaiva Texts—reconfirms the view BEOH is advancing regarding the epoch of Tirumantiram:
“The Tirumantiram has been assigned various early dates, but its contents render a date long before the closure of this canon in the 12th century very unlikely.” [Emphasis added]
Tables 2a-b (below) is one way to summarise all the above vis-a-vis the epochs of texts related to Śrīcakra in the BEOH entries:
From Tables 2a-b above, a clustering around the tenth century (and after) becomes evident. This clustering will likely face a chronological challenge when the Taittirīyāraṇyaka—a source not mentioned in any of the BEOH entries in the context of Śrīcakra and Śrīyantra—is included for consideration. How so? Consider the following commentary by Lakṣmīdhara[16], on a verse (verse 11) of Saundaryalaharī, which includes his discussion of lines from the Taittirīyāraṇyaka[17], which he explicitly connects with Śrīcakra:
The lines from Taittirīyāraṇyaka (TA) that Lakṣmīdhara invokes and connects to Śrīcakra are अष्टाचक्रा नवद्वारा देवानां पुरयोध्या, found in TA 1.27:
S.K. Ramachandra Rao, in his 1983 book The Tantra of Śrī Chakra – Bhāvanopanishat, posits the connection between nine outlets of the body {the नवद्वारा (navadvārā) seen in Taittirīyāraṇyaka and the नवरन्ध्ररूपो देहः (navarandhrarūpo dehaḥ) in the Bhāvanopanishat[21]} with the Śrīcakra when he writes “the idea that the human body illustrates the design of the Śrī-chakra; the nine outlets of the body corresponding with the nine units of the Śrī-chakra”.
Niraj Kumar, in his 2014 book Śrī-Yantra and the Geophilosophy of India, has written the following vis-a-vis the human body with its nine holes and the Śrī-Yantra:
“Nine holes in the human body correspond to nine wheels. These becomes cakras as enunciated in verse 2 (tena navarandhrarūpo dehaḥ) and verse 3 (navacakrarūpam śrīcakram) of Bhāvanopaniṣad.[2] The human body with its nine holes itself was imagined to be the ultimate guru in the sixth verse of the Bhāvanopaniṣad. Śrī-yantra is believed to be a geometric form of the human body.” (Kumar 2014:82) [Emphasis added]
The authors of BEOH are free to decide what sources they should (and should not) include when presenting their take on the origins of Śrīcakra. It is possible that they don’t see the connection between Śrīcakra and Taittirīyāraṇyaka (TA)—not mentioned anywhere in the BEOH in the context of Śrīcakra—as seen by Lakṣmīdhara, just as they seem to have chosen to unsee (or at least chosen not to mention, if seen) the connection between Ṛg Veda 5.47.4 and Śrīvidyā seen by Bhāskararāya, a nuance which has not been missed by Douglas Renfrew Brooks in his 1990 book The Secret of the Three Cities: An Introduction to Hindu Śakta Tantrism (see relevant excerpts from the book below):
To miss including views of luminaries of Tantra, such as Lakṣmīdhara and Bhāskararāya—views with potential implications for the origins of Śrīcakra and Śrīvidyā respectively—does not seem to, in my view, sit well with at least some of the claims (pertaining to depth, breadth and recognition of divergent perspectives) BEOH has made for itself, the claims being: 1) It presents the latest research on all the main aspects of Hindu traditions, with essays written by the world’s foremost scholars on Hinduism[25]; and 2) the depth and breadth of information in this work are unmatched by any other reference work on Hinduism.[26]
This paper is indebted to the doctoral thesis of Dr. K.S. Nagarajan (Contribution of Kashmir to Sanskrit Literature) for introducing me to the existence of a connection between Taittirīyāraṇyaka and Śrīcakra (see Nagarajan 1970:453) and to the author/s of the Śrīcakra entry (Rao, Kapoor, Mishra, Shukla 2011:43-52) in the tenth volume of The India Heritage Foundation’s (IHR) Encyclopedia of Hinduism (page 48 in Vol X, to be precise). I would like to thank Mr. Bommireddy Sridhar Reddy (his Guru: Bonumaddi Ramalinga Siddhanti), for enabling access to IHRF’s Encyclopedia of Hinduism.
References
A, Kuppuswami, Ramakrishna Sastri T.A., and Radhakrishna Sastri S.V., eds. 1976. Saundaryalaharī of Śrī Śankarabhagavatpādācārya. Madras : Sri Chandrasekharendra Seva Samajam. https://archive.org/details/pLAU_saundarya-lahari-of-shankaracharya-with-many-commentaries-by-a.-kuppuswami-bhara/page/n7/mode/2up.
Brooks, Douglas Renfrew. 1990. The Secret of the Three Cities: An Introduction to Hindu Śakta Tantrism. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
———. 1992. Auspicious Wisdom: The Texts and Traditions of Srividya Sakta Tantrism in South India. Albany: State University of New York Press.
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[1] “The five-volume Brill’s Encyclopedia of Hinduism is a thematically organized encyclopedia presenting the latest research on all the main aspects of the Hindu traditions. Its essays are original work written by the world’s foremost scholars on Hinduism. The encyclopedia aims at a balanced and even-handed view of Hinduism, recognizing the divergent perspectives and methods even in the academic study of a religion that is both an ancient historical tradition and a flourishing tradition today.” (Jacobsen et. al. 2009:Book Cover) [Emphasis added]
[2] “This is the first of the five volumes of Brill’s Encyclopedia of Hinduism. The goal of the Encyclopedia is to present the latest scholarship on all aspects of the Hindu religious traditions. The Encyclopedia makes available in-depth critical scholarship, and the depth and breadth of information in this work are unmatched by any reference work on Hinduism.” (Jacobsen 2009:xxxiii) [Emphasis added]
[3] Tantra and Tantric Traditions is part of the title of the INDICA conference for which this paper has been written: https://indica.in/call-for-papers-thirtha-yatra-conference-on-tantra-and-tantric-traditions/
[4] Hazra (1940:175)
[5] Rocher (1986:157)
[6] https://gretil.sub.uni-goettingen.de/gretil/corpustei/transformations/html/sa_brahmANDapurANa.htm
[7] Brown (1958:29)
[8] I could not access Khanna (1986)
[9] Padoux (2003:247-8)
[10] Bühnemann (2003:27)
[11] Brooks (1992:33)
[12] Brooks (1992:34)
[13] Ibid.
[14] Brooks (1990:47)
[15] Brooks (1990:226)
[16] “Also to be mentioned as major developments of this period are the expurgated and internalized cult that called itself the Samayamata, expounded by Lakṣmīdhara, a courtier of Pratāparudra, the Gajapati ruler of Orissa, in the first decades of the 16th century, in his commentary on the Śākta hymn Saundaryalaharī, …” [Emphasis added]
[17] In the BEOH Durgā entry, Taittirīyāraṇyaka is dated to 1200-800 BCE: “For instance, the Taittirīyāraṇyaka (10.1.7), dating from about 1200 to 800 BCE, contains a variant of the gāyātrīmantra, addressed to the goddess Durgī, who is identified with the goddesses Kanyākumārī and Kātyāyanī.”
[18] A, T.A., and S.V. (1976:119)
[19] A, T.A., and S.V. (1976:125)
[20] https://vedicheritage.gov.in/flipbook/Taittiriya_Aranyakam_I/#book/114
[21] Bhāvanopanishat is seen to be related to Atharva Veda (AV). Incidentally, AV 10.2.31 too attests to अष्टाचक्रा नवद्वारा. See Kashyap (2011:187) for AV 10.2.31. Alexey Pavlovich Kaulaichev writes in his paper Śrī Yantra and its Mathematical Properties:
“Thus the hymn from Atharva Veda[3] (c. 12th century B.C.) is dedicated to a Śrīyantra-like figure composed of nine triangles.” (Kulaichev 1984:79)
In his end-note [3], Kulaichev includes Atharva Veda X, v. 31-4. Most versions of AV I could access contains अष्टाचक्रा नवद्वारा in X, ii. 31 though, not in X, v. 31-4.
[22] Rao (1983:44-5)
[23] Brooks (1990:20-1)
[24] Brooks (1990:219)
[25] “The five-volume Brill’s Encyclopedia of Hinduism is a thematically organized encyclopedia presenting the latest research on all the main aspects of the Hindu traditions. Its essays are original work written by the world’s foremost scholars on Hinduism. The encyclopedia aims at a balanced and even-handed view of Hinduism, recognizing the divergent perspectives and methods even in the academic study of a religion that is both an ancient historical tradition and a flourishing tradition today.” (Jacobsen et. al. 2009:Book Cover) [Emphasis added]
[26] “This is the first of the five volumes of Brill’s Encyclopedia of Hinduism. The goal of the Encyclopedia is to present the latest scholarship on all aspects of the Hindu religious traditions. The Encyclopedia makes available in-depth critical scholarship, and the depth and breadth of information in this work are unmatched by any reference work on Hinduism.” (Jacobsen 2009:xxxiii) [Emphasis added]
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