– S P Upadhyay
Jayaratha, in his commentary named ‘Viveka’ on the Tantrāloka of Mahāmāheśvara Abhinavagupta, quotes śrīkaṇṭhīsaṃhitā to illustrate the origin of sixty-four Bhairava āgamas (non-dual in nature) from the southern face of Lord Paramaśiva, which is the combination of śiva and śakti, also known as Yoginīvaktra. Names of seven yālamas are listed in this context: Brahma, Viṣṇu, Svacchanda, Ruru, ātharvaṇa, Rudra and Vetāla. Though not included in this list, one can consider Devīyāmala as the eighth on account of its frequent mention by Abhinavagupta and Jayaratha.
The word ‘yāmala’ is explained thus by Abhinavagupta:
यामलं सङ्घट्टः |
This word means dual, paired, combined, couple, in an embrace, etc. – and the pair here is of śiva and śakti or Prakāśa and Vimarśa. Shabdakalpadruma, in addition to these general meanings, also describes it as a specific form of Tantra, whose characteristics are defined as below:
सृष्टिश्च ज्योतिषाख्यानं नित्यकृत्यप्रदीपनम् |
क्रमसूत्रं वर्णभेदो जातिभेदस्तथैव च |
युगधर्मश्च संख्यातो यामलस्याष्टलक्षणम् ||
By the popular pramāṇa of Vārāhī Tantra, six yālamas are generally listed: ādi, Brahma, Viṣṇu, Rudra, Gaṇeśa and āditya. The same Tantra also describes the number of verses in each of these yālamas.
यामलाः षट् च संख्यातास्तत्रादावादियामले |
द्वाविंशच्च सहस्राणि त्रयस्त्रिंशच्छतानि च ||
द्वितीये ब्रह्मसंज्ञे ते द्वाविंशतिश्च संख्यया |
सहस्राणि शतान्यत्र तान्येव कथितानि च ||
तावत्संख्यसहस्रानि शतानि परिसंख्यया |
विंशतिश्च तथा संख्या श्लोकाश्च विष्णुयामले ||
कालसंख्यसहस्राणि वेदसंख्यशतानि च |
पञ्चषष्टिस्तथा श्लोकाः कनिष्ठे रुद्रयामले ||
नवश्लोकसहस्राणि त्रयोदशशतानि च |
द्वाविंशतिस्तथा श्लोका गणेशयामलोत्तमे |
रविसंख्यसहस्राणि आदित्याख्ये तु यामले ||
Lakṣmīdhara, in his commentary on the Saundaryalaharī, glosses over yālamas thus:
यमला नाम कामसिद्धाम्बा, तत्प्रदिपादिकानि तन्त्राणि यामलान्यष्टौ | तेषां गणो यामलाष्टकम् |
Baladeva Upadhaya illustrates Agamas of sāttvika nature as Tantras, those of rājasa character as yālamas and names ḍāmaras as tāmasika in nature.
Various compendiums on Tantra śāstra describe three divisions of tāntric scripture: Agama, Yāmala and Tantra. Vārāhī Tantra adds ḍāmara to this list:
आगमं त्रिविधं प्रोक्तं चतुर्थमैश्वरं स्मृतम् |
कल्पश्चतुर्विधः प्रोक्त आगमो डामरस्तथा |
यामलश्च तथा तन्त्रं तेषां भेदाः पृथक् पृथक् ||
The twelfth chapter of Kūrma Purāṇa describes Yāmala as belonging to the category of Tantras that are aimed at Mohana:
कापालं भैरवं चैव यामलं वाममार्हतम् |
कापिलं पाञ्चरात्रं च डामरं मोहनात्मकम् |
एवं विधानि चान्यानि मोहनार्थानि तानि तु ||
The prathamollāsa of Sarvollāsa Tantra descries the origin of Yāmala from āgama:
सूऽक्ष्मेऽपि निर्मला या च स्थूले सा यामलं शिवे |
यामलोक्तं स्थूलरूपं सर्वशास्त्रस्य बोधनम् ||
चतुःषष्ट्यागमः प्रोक्तः पञ्चधा निगमस्तथा |
यामलं च चतुर्थोक्तं तस्माच्छास्त्रं प्रकाशितम् ||
निगमादागमो जात आगमाद् यामलो भवेत् |
यामलाद् वेदसञ्जातं वेदाज्जातं पुराणकम् ||
Nārāyaṇī Tantra takes the concept of Nigama, āgama and Yāmala further by describing Yāmala as the Jīvātmā, āgama as the Paramātmā, purāṇa and smṛti as aṅgas etc.
निगमात्मा महेशानि परमात्मागमो ध्रुवम् |
जीवात्मा यामलं प्रोक्तं बाह्यात्मा भेदरूपकम् ||
अङ्गानि च पुराणानि अङ्गस्याङ्ग स्मृति प्रिये |
अन्यानि यानि शास्त्राणि तनुरूहाणि पार्वति |
शास्त्रेण देवतारूपं जायते युगभेदतः ||
Shaḍāmnāya Tantra also talks of the origin of āgama from the Veda, and yāmala from āgama. This Tantra describes that Brahma, in its aspect of Saccidānanda is described in the Veda through the Brahmasūtra; āgama illustrates the Paramātmā through Prājña-puruṣa whereas the Yāmala reveals the sakala and niṣkala aspects of Brahma.
Though the Tantra talks of Nigama as the origin, it also traces the origin of the four Vedas to the Yāmala. According to this Tantra:
– Rgveda is triguṇātmaka in nature and originates from Brahmayāmala
– Sāmaveda is jñāna-vijñānātmaka and originates from Viṣṇuyāmala
– Atharvaṇaveda deals with deva and pitṛ kriyā and propagates the knowledge of śakti, it originates from śaktiyāmala
– Yajurveda originates from Rudrayāmala
This Tantra then goes on to describe the characteristics of Nigama, āgama, and Yāmala, describing four kinds of Yāmala literature. It also talks of a class of literature called the ‘upayāmalas’ which are listed as 192 in number. The topic is concluded by stating that Nigama is cidātmā, āgama is vidyātmā and Yāmala is antarātmā.
Yāmala Tantras certainly belong to the group of older Tantras but not all of them are available today. The word ‘yāmala’ indicates the non-dual state of śiva and śakti, as also certain esoteric concepts and practices of Tantra. However, it is rather difficult to practically differentiate a Tantra from a Yāmala. It can however be said that most of the known Yāmalas resemble Bhairava Tantras in terms of lakṣaṇas. But there are also several Yāmalas that differ from the Bhairava Tantras which are Shaivite in nature.
Scholars accept the antiquity of Yāmalas and point to the fact that the famous Vijñānabhairava is considered to be an appendix to Rudrayāmala. Abhinavagupta, in the context of Devīyāmala and Brahmayāmala, discusses the meaning of the word ‘yāmala’ at length in his Tantrāloka. This work of his is considered to have been written before the ninth century.
Most of the Yāmalas are named after specific deities. The aforementioned eight Yāmalas are also listed amongst the sixty-four Tantras named by Jayaratha. The author of Artharatnāvalī (a commentary on Nityāṣoḍaśikārṇava) names: Brahma, Viṣṇu, Rudra, Skand, Umā, Lakṣmī, and Gaṇeśayāmala. Both Laṣmīdhara and Bhāskararāya accept the list of sixty-four Tantras from Vāmakeśvara Tantra which provides a different list of eight Yāmalas: Brahma, Viṣṇu, Rudra, Lakṣmī, Umā, Skanda, Gaṇeśa and Jayadrathayāmalas. Though this list follows a different order in Bhākararāya’s Setubandha, the names remain the same. In the bhūmikā to Kulacūḍāmaṇi, Grahayāmala is added to this list.
Sarvollāsa Tantra provides the list of sixty-four Tantras from Toḍala Tantra, but this list does not include any Yāmala. Similar is the case with the second chapter of Dāśarathī Tantra which deals with sixty-four Tantras. In the list provided at the beginning of Raghunātha Tarkavāgīśa’s Agamatattvavilāsa, the Yāmalas named are: Brahma, Adi, Rudra, Bṛhat and Siddhayāmala. Samayācāra Tantra lists Brahma, Viṣṇu, śiva, śakti, Gaṇapati, Skanda, Sūrya, Chandra and other Yāmalas. Shaḍāmnāya Tantra names Brahma, Viṣṇu, śakti and Rudrayāmalas. In Svarodaya of Narapatijayācārya, Brahma, Viṣṇu, Rudra, Adi, Skanda and Devīyāmalas are listed. Thus, there is no unanimity among various Tantras either regarding the number of Yāmalas or their names.