– Dr. Balajinnatha Pandit
The peculiar type of Shaivism, for which Kashmir is famous, entered there sometime in the eighth century and developed as a distinct school of philosophy in the ninth century. But it appears that the tradition of the use of the alphabet in theological practices of Siddhas was already prevalent there long before the development of Kashmir Shaivism. It was adopted by the Shaiva Siddhas to the system of worship with the help of Bīja mantras. The worship of Shiva in the form of phallic figures and idols, the use of the repetition of śiva mantra, the tradition of the worship with the help of the Bīja mantras, and many other Tāntric traditions of sādhanā had become popular in Kashmir right from the prehistoric periods of history. The peculiar type of Kashmir Shaivism contributed a special type of theistic, monistic, and absolutist philosophy of Shaivism to it and developed its elaborate Trika system of Tāntric theology. Both such elements, combined into one, are being known now as Kashmir Shaivism. It adopted many theological elements already prevalent among the Shaivas and one of such highly important elements, which was of Tāntric origin, was the system of using letters and syllables as the targets of contemplative meditation. Siddha Mātṛkā, the alphabet of the Siddhas, was adopted by the authors of Kashmir Shaivism to their theology of the Trika system and it appeared there in the forms of Mātṛkā, Mālinī and Bīja mantras. The word ‘Mātṛkā’ attained the highest popularity in its use for an alphabet and manuscripts are even now known in Sanskrit as Mātṛkās, the works appearing in the written alphabetical form. It is thus more ancient than the appearance and growth of Kashmir Shaivism which adopted and popularized it in its practical aspect. The ancient Siddhas of Kashmir propagated it in the hoary past. Siddhas in other parts of India adopted it and it became thus the alphabet of Siddhas throughout the whole of India and continued to maintain such position at least up to the time of śaṅkarācārya and some generations of his followers. It spread in South East Asia in the early centuries of the Christian era and continues there even now as the alphabet used in writing Tāntric mantras of mystic character and in the system of meditation conducted with their help.
A colored photograph of an idol of the Fire God, Vahni, established in a temple in Japan, appeared in ‘Hindu Vishwa’, in its issue of April 1977. The appearance of the idol is Tāntric in character. It bears the name of the deity written in Japanese and Sanskrit as ‘Vanhan’, a corrupted form of the word ‘Vahni’. Such a form of the word reveals another Tamilian linguistic tradition evident in names like Raman, Krishnan, etc. The name of the deity is written in two different scripts. In Japanese, it is written in the script of that country, but in Sanskrit, it is written in an Indian script the letters of which belong, without any doubt, to the śāradā script of Kashmir, as it is prevalent at present, though these are written vertically and not horizontally in accordance with the Japanese system of writing. It proves that Siddhamātṛkā, the alphabet of the Siddhas, had reached up to Japan in ancient times. The tradition of the use of siddhamātṛkā in all religious matters must have been carried to such faraway countries by Buddhist monks who practiced Zen yoga which is a corrupted form of śāmbhavayoga of the Tāntric Shaivism of Kashmir. śāmbhavayoga in Kashmir Shaivism, being aided by the impression of the theistic absolutism of that school of Shaiva monism, leads a practitioner to the realization of the innermost nature of the self as it shines at the highest step of Turyā, the state of spontaneous self-revelation. But the same yogic practice, supported by the impressions of Buddhist nihilism, cannot lead beyond apavedya suṣupti, a state of deep sleep. That is the main difference between śāmbhava yoga of the Trika system and the Zen Buddhism of Japan. It was carried to Japan, China, and Mongolia by a Buddhist monk of Tamilnadu who was named Bodhidharma. That explains the Tamilian influence visible in the name ‘Vanhan’.
The Bīja mantras like hrīṃ, śrīṃ, klīṃ, aiṃ, etc., do not denote any conventional meaning based on saṅketa. The same is the fact with regard to the letters of Mātṛkā and Mālinī. Such letters and syllables do not even indicate anything through lakṣaṇa, because the conditions necessary for its working do not arise there at all. Just as some peculiar sounds and their peculiar combinations, existing in poetic art, arouse certain feelings in the listener and illuminate certain poetic peculiarities like madhura and ojas guṇas in him through the majestic power of such sounds (known in the alaṅkāraśāstra as vyañjanā vṛtti), so do the Bīja mantras, contemplated upon through specific methods of Tāntric theology, reveal and illuminate certain aspects of pure I-consciousness, and arouse certain hidden spiritual powers in a practitioner.
Bīja mantras give rise to certain wonderful powers in a practitioner and fulfill his worldly wants in addition to leading him towards self-realization. These are commonly used by all sects and schools of Tantra. Mātṛkā and Mālinī are the elements of higher Yoga not known to all the Tāntric sects and schools. These are the special property of the Trika system of the Shaiva monism of Kashmir alone. A practitioner of śāmbhava Yoga, using the fifty letters and sounds of Mātṛkā, realizes himself as the only existent infinite and pure I-consciousness, not egoistic in character, but shining as an absolutistic self-awareness, bearing in it the manifestation of the whole phenomenal existence as a reflection of its own divine powers brought about by its own playful and divine will. He visualizes his divine powers as the sixteen vowel-sounds and letters from a to aH and discovers all the phenomenal tattvas from earth to śakti, shining as the consonant sounds and letters from ka to kSha. Such yogic practice to see one’s pure I-consciousness as the absolute infinite reality beautified by the wonderful reflections of all phenomena, shining as identical with it, without even the slightest manifestation of diversity, is the Mātṛkā Yoga of Kashmir Shaivism. The ancient Shaiva Siddhas of Kashmir discovered it, practiced it, attained perfect success in its practice, and taught it to curious aspirants without any restrictions. Siddhamātṛkā was already prevalent among the ancient Siddhas in Kashmir, even before the elaborate development of the yoga of Mātṛkā and Mālinī and was used in Tāntric sādhanā practiced with the help of mystic syllables called Bīja mantras. It had already been carried to other regions of Kashmir by such ancient Siddhas and had become popular with Tāntric practitioners in the South and śaṅkarācārya practiced such sādhanā in the 8th century A.D. Kashmir is this the original home of the use of alphabet in the theological practices of Mātṛkā, Mālinī, and Bīja mantras.
Note: Mahāmaheśvara ācārya Abhinavagupta, in his Soḍaśa Mātṛkādhīśvara Stava (you can find that on our Stotras page), describes the Mātṛkā Prakriyā of Mahāśāmbhava yoga. The sixteen forms of śiva represent the sixteen vowels (a to aH) manifest in various śakti-spandas and encode in them the mysteries of śāmbhava yoga sādhanā. These sixteen forms are: amṛta, amṛtapūrṇa, amṛtābha, amṛtadrava, amṛtaugha, amṛtormi, amṛtasyandana, amṛtāṅgada, amṛtodgāra, amṛtāsya, amṛtatanu, amṛtaniṣecana, amṛtamūrti, amṛteśa, sarvāmṛtadhara. It is a Siddha Stotra that can free one of the various bodily afflictions, diseases, and poisons – Sri Kamakoti Mandali