A frequent question that seems to come up: what is the Pūrvāṅga vidyā of Pañcadaśī – ṣaḍakṣarī Bālā or Tryakṣarī?
Paramaśurāma Kalpasūtra states:
dakṣiṇakarṇē bālāmupadiśya paścādiṣṭamanuṁ vadēt |
1. Some authorities like Gōpāla Sūrin or Subhagānandanātha insist on the use of Navākṣarī Bālā due to sūtrānuktatva of either ṣaḍakṣarī or tryakṣarī. Rāmēśvara refutes this claim and insists on the use of tryakṣarī Bālā as the Navārṇa vidyā of Bālā is termed as Yōgabālā, which is explicitly declared in the Sarvasādhāraṇa Krama chapter of the Kalpasūtra as śriyō’ṅgaṁ by Lord Bhārgavarāma. The former vidyā of three letters is known as Bālā, śuddhabālā or Kumārī.
2. During the prakāśa of the mantras for the fifteen Nityā-s, the Kalpasūtra says: kumārī kulasundarī. The commentary on this sūtra refers to tryakṣarī Bālā and not Navākṣarī as evident from tantrāntara as well as sampradāya. Thus, though there is no explicit uddhāra of tryakṣarī in the Kalpasūtra, the intent of the sūtrakāra seems clear: refer to other relevant Tantras. The following clause will thus not be of much consequence – sūtrānuktatvāt:
svaśāstrē vartamānō yaḥ paraśāstrēṇa vartatē |
bhrūṇahatyāsamaṁ tasya svaśāstramavamanyataḥ ||
3. There is a reference to Bālā in the śrīkrama: bālādvirāvr̥ttyā klr̥ptaṣaḍaṅgaḥ. It is quite obvious that the reference here is to tryakṣarī again.
Based on these interpretations, some are of the opinion that the pūrvāṅga vidyā of Pañcadaśī should be tryakṣarī Bālā. Support for this assumption also comes from Paramānanda Tantra, used almost universally to compliment the contents of the Kalpasūtra:
sā tu tridhā sthitā dēvi tatrādyā tryakṣarī smr̥tā |
dvitīyā pañcadaśyuktā tr̥tīyā ṣōḍaśī bhavēt ||
Tantrarāja, incorrectly identified by some as a part of śaktisaṅgama Tantra, again does the uddhāra of tryakṣarī and not ṣaḍakṣarī:
śuciḥ svēna yutastvādyō rasāvahnisamanvitaḥ |
prāṇō dvitīyaḥ svayutō vanahr̥cchaktibhiḥ paraḥ |
;itīritā tryakṣarī syādityādi ||
A manuscript dealing with the details of Pūrṇābhiṣēka, supposedly a part of Kahādi mata (some others like Mahēśānandanātha replace kahādi by sādi here and explicitly state: sādimatē uktatvāt, etc.) speaks of the upadēśa of Gaṇapati, Bālā, and Laghu Pādukā before Mūlavidyōpadēśa. Paramaśiva reminds Bhagavatī of an earlier chapter dealing with Kulasundarī where Bālā tryakṣarī vidyā was already revealed (probably referring to the tr̥tīya paṭala of Kādimata or Tantrarāja as it is available today).
Jñānārṇava, accepted as the ‘svanatra tantra’ (indicated by ācārya Bhagavatpāda in Saundaryalaharī) by some authorities, again does the uddhāra of tryakṣarī alone:
tripurā trividhā dēvi bālāṁ tu prathamaṁ śr̥ṇu |
yasyā vijñānamātrēṇa sākṣātsuragururbhavēt ||
sūryasvaraṁ samuccārya bindunādakalānvitam |
svarāntaṁ pr̥thivīyuktaṁ tūryasvaravibhūṣitam ||
bindunādakalākrāntaṁ saragavān bhr̥guravyayaḥ |
śakrasvarasamōpētō vidyēyaṁ tryakṣarī matā ||
Nāgabhaṭṭa who probably represented a prevalent and flourishing Sampradāya at some point in time, speaks of tryakṣarī again in his Tripurāsārasamuccaya:
atha trilōkārcitaśāsanāyāḥvakṣyāmi bījatrayamambikāyāḥ |
gōptavyamētatkuladharmavidbhiḥamuṣya hētōrnijasiddhayē ca ||
Dakṣiṇāmūrti Saṁhitā again does the uddhāra of tryakṣarī as the mukhyavidyā of Bālā:
vāgbhavaṁ prathamaṁ prōktaṁ dvitīyaṁ kāmarājakam |
tr̥tīyaṁ śaktibījaṁ ca mantrōddhāraḥ prakīrtitaḥ ||
The ṣaḍakṣarī is discussed only as one of the thirteen prastāra bhēdas of the mukhyavidyā:
anulōmavilōmābhyāṁ bālāmantraḥ ṣadakṣaraḥ ||
Rudrayāmaḷa, while describing the Pañcaratnēśvarī vidhi for Mahāṣōḍaśī, again talks of tryakṣarī followed by sambuddhi.
śr̥ṇu dēvi pravakṣyāmi pañcaratnēśvarī manum |
yaṁ japtvā sādhakaḥ kṣipraṁ vicarēdbhairavō yathā ||
trikūṭā ṣōḍaśī caiva bālikā sumukhī tathā |
tāriṇī pañcamī dēvi pañcaratnēśvarī smr̥tā |
vāgbhavaṁ śaktibījaṁ ca kāmarājaṁ tr̥tīyakam || etc.
Bhāskararāya identifies the name tryakṣarī as referring to Bālā in his Saubhagyabhāskara. Gauḍapādīya sūtra states the same thus: kumarī varṇatrayaviśiṣṭā. Most Tantras thus seem to give greater importance to tryakṣarī. Even the uddhāra of ṣaḍakṣarī is seen only in a few Tantras.
But it is incorrect to assume that there is no pramāṇa (one is listed below) for the use of ṣaḍakṣarī Bālā. The question though is whether its use is more appropriate in the case of mukhyōpāsyatva of Bālā rather than as pūrvāṅga of Srī Lalitāmbikā.
A chief tantra of śrīkula is the Parā Tantra which deals with Bālā, Pañcadaśī and ṣōḍaśī. The following is a statement from this Tantra:
kulajñaḥ kaścidyō yajati kulapuṣpaiḥ kulavidhau
kulāgārē dhyāyan kulajanani tē manmathakalām |
ṣaḍarṇaṁ pūrvōktaṁ japati kulamantraṁ tava śivē
sa jīvanmuktaḥ syādakulakulapaṅkēruhagatē ||
The reference here is clearly to ṣaḍakṣarī Bālā and not tryakṣarī. The same Tantra also prescribes initiation into the kramōtkrama vidyā of Bālā before P~ancadaśī. Thus, though it seems that there is much more pramāṇa for the use of tryakṣarī as the pūrvāṅga of Brahmavidyā, the following needs to be considered:
1. There are also pramāṇas (like from Parā Tantra) which prescribe the use of ṣaḍakṣarī vidyā.
2. Most living sampradāyas today that I have interacted with seem to use ṣaḍakṣarī Bālā along with Mahāgaṇapati as the pūrvāṅga vidyā Srī of Lalitā.
3. Like the case of ṣōḍaśī which includes Pañcadaśī in itself, some opine that the use of ṣaḍakṣarī is warranted on account of it including the tryakṣarī. This argument need not be technically correct as pointed out by Rāmēśvara in the case of Navākṣarī Yōgabālā. Moreover, a hierarchical relation is non-existent between ṣaḍakṣarī and tryakṣarī like in the case of P~ancadaśī and ṣōdaśī.
There are three aspects to upāsanā of Bhagavati Bālā Tripurasundarī within the context of śrīvidyā.
Firstly, as the pūrvāṅga vidyā of Lalitā which is considered mandatory in some sampradāyas. Both my Gurus, Srī K P Shankara ShāStrī and Srī Chinmudrānandanātha were of the opinion that this was recommended but not mandatory for uttamādhikārin-s.
Secondly, as uttarāṅga vidyā of Lalitā, the navākṣarī Yogabālā is prescribed.
For those initiated into higher abhiṣēkas involving the upāsanā of more than one Mahāvidyā, Bālā is worshiped in the ūrdhvāmnāya using nine mantras: Bālā, Bālā Tripurā, Tripurā Bālā, Bālā Sundarī, Bālā Tripurasundarī, Siddhabālā, ṣaḍakṣarī, Bālā Bhairavī, Mahābālā.