The Ten Great Cosmic Powers: (Dasa Mahavidyas)

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About the Book:

THE TEN GREAT COSMIC POWERS

S. SHANKARANARAYANAN

The Ten Great Cosmic Powers are ten great mahavidyas, Great Sciences mentioned in Tantra Shastra, the Powers and Personalities of the Mother of the Universe. Each is a particular cosmic function and each leads to a special realisation of the one reality. The might of KALI, the sound force of TARA, the beauty and bliss of SUNDARI, the vast vision of BHUVANESHWARI, the effulgent charm of BHAIRAVI, the striking force of CHINNAMASTA, the silent inertness of DHUMAVATI the paralysing power of BHAGALAMUKHI, the expressive play of MATANGI and the concord and harmony of KAMALATMIKA are the various characteristics the distinct manifestations of the Supreme Consciousness that has made this creation possible. In fourteen luminous chapters, the author delves into the dateless past of the Tantric mysteries and brings to light the verities relevant even in the actual present dominated by empirical science.

About the Author:

Though his academic attainments are in Mathematics and his professional interests lie in a specialised field of industrial management, Sri S. Shankaranarayan has retained his first love for Sanskrit. In his childhood he was introduced to the ancient Sanskrit lore by his grandfather, Sri S. Narayana Iyer, who was himself a deep initiate in Sri Vidya, Later he came under the dynamic influence of Sri Kapali Sastriar. Shankaranarayanan cherishes a special regard for this tradition of the worship of the Divine Mother and his treatises on Devi Mahatmyam-both in Tamil and English have acquired an authenticity of their own. The present work on Sri Cakra, revealing as it does the depth of his scholarship, practical insight and occult knowledge, promises to be a classic on the subject. Endowed with luminous intellect, well-versed in the modes of esoteric worship and awake with an active spiritual aspiration, Shankaranarayanan is marked out to play a singular role in the resuscitation of the spiritual and occult tradition of India in terms of modern thought and understanding.

-M. P. PANDIT

Preface:

In his classic exposition of sri vidya and the sri cakra, Sri Shankaranarayanan has dwelt upon the manifestation of the Primal Divine Shakti in the form of this variegated, many-planed Universe. In the present work he explains the process of this manifestation. For, as he points out, creation is not a sudden precipitation; it is a graded self-revelation. The transcendent and ultimate Mother of the Universe puts out several Powers and Personalities of herself, each missioned to work out a particular truth of her Being. Of these, some are the major, Cardinal Powers, mentioned variously as Four, Six, Ten, Twelve etc, according to the standpoint of the Seers of old. The Tantra celebrates the Ten as the maha vidyas. Great Sciences, that hold the creation in their celestial grasp.

What are these mahavidyas? Why are they distinguished from one another though they al proceed from and lead to the same one Reality? The author explains with his usual lucidity: "Each is a particular Cosmic function and each leads to a special realisation of the One Reality. The might of Kali, the sound-force of Tara, the beauty and bliss of Sundari, the vast vision of Bhuvaneshwari, the effulgent charm of Bhairavi, the striking force of Chinnamasta, the silent inertness of Dhumavati, the paralysing power of Bhagalamukhi, the expressive play of Matangi and the concord and harmony of Kamalatmika are the various characteristics, the distinct manifestations of the Supreme Consciousness that has made this creation possible. The Tantra says that the Supreme can be realised at these various points."

The secrets of these vidyas are buried deep in Sastras and oral traditions. To Sri Shankaranarayanan we owe gratitude for his intuitive grasp of these fundamentals, deep learning and conscientious scholarship in working out the clues and the facility with which he has been able to link up the dateless past of the mystics with the actual present dominated by empirical Science. He also integrates this Thought of the Tantra with the Doctrine and Practice of Life Divine as presented by Sri Aurobindo in his Epic, Savitri.

It has been more than a delight to follow the author in his studies of the dasa mahavidyas and I am doubly happy that with this publication a larger number of readers and seekers will share in this felicity.