Last night, a gentleman asked me a question about ṣōḍaśī vidyā. He was referring me to a Bhāṣya on Lalitā Sahasranāma in Kannada by one Yedathore Subbaraya Sharma. Sharma, said to have no knowledge of Sanskrit, composed a commentary on Lalitā Sahasranāma in Kannada, supposedly through the grace of śrīdēvī. It is even said that Ambā herself dictated the commentary to him. Smt. Ramā of our Maṇḍalī had personally seen him during his last days (in the 1970s) and he had seemed to be mentally imbalanced and most of his time was spent in drawing pictures of śrīmātā on walls and floor of his house using a piece of charcoal. Incidentally, Sharma’s commentary has been re-published by Ganapati Sacchidananda Swamiji of Mysore.
We are completely unqualified to judge the level of attainment of this gentleman for a realized soul can appear as a crazy fool to the ignorant eye, as can be learned from Bhāgavata. However, there are some things in his Bhāśya that seem a little strange. The specific thing our friend pointed to was the commentary on the name śrīṣōḍaśākṣarīvidyā. Sharma writes that there is nothing called ṣōḍaśī vidyā, there is simply only Pañcadaśī. He states there is no śāstra-pramāṇa for ṣōḍaśī and even more so for Mahāṣōḍaśī. He dismisses Mahāṣōḍaśī mantra as some perversion practiced by the tāntrikas. His bhāṣya chiefly aims at criticizing the Saubhāgyabhāskara of Bhāskararāya, which is aśuddha according to him, as it is tāntrika in nature. Well, what else can it be considering śrīvidyā is all about Tantra? Of course, elements of śrīvidyā have been absorbed into the Purāṇas but the original source of the Mahāvidyā is Tantra. That being the case, it seems highly illogical that one rejects tāntrika pramāṇa for a vidyā that is revealed by the Tantra. Rejecting the existence of a tāntrikī vidyā because of lack of pramāṇa in the Veda (or even Purāṇa) is hardly sensible, even if one were to apply the vēdāviruddha clause of Dēvībhāgavata Mahāpurāṇa. By the same argument, then one should discard ṣaḍaṅganyāsa, daśa mudrās and most other aspects of śrīvidyā as none of them are described in the Veda.
What then is ṣōḍaśī vidyā according to Sharma? He illustrates this vidyā as composed of the sixteen vowels (along with bindu). His version of ṣōḍaśākṣarī seems rather dubious for there seems to be no such vidyā revealed in the tantra. And he provides no pramāṇa frōm thē śruti either for such a formulation.
While commenting on the same name, Bhāskararāya says:
श्रीति षोडशमक्षरं यस्यां तादृशी सा |
Here, the nirdeśa of is Laghu-ṣōḍaśī, which Lakṣmīdhara also reveals in his commentary on SaundaryalaharI. Bhāskararāya talks of the Gauḍapādīya sūtra (or śrīvidyā ratnasūtra) next – अथ विद्या अष्टाविंशतिवर्णविशिष्टा – clarifying that though this vidyā is composed of twenty-eight letters, by considering the three kūṭas of Pañcadaśī as three letters, the mantra still honors the structure of ṣōḍaśī. This is the mantra popularly known as Mahāṣōḍaśī and Bhāskararāya’s approval of the mantra is clearly seen here.
Further, his praśiṣya Rāmēśvara, while commenting on the Paraśurāma Kalpasūtra ( दक्षिणकर्णे बालामुपदिश्य पश्चादिष्टमनुं वदेत् ) – clarifies that iṣṭamanu here can be Pañcadaśī or śōḍaśī and concludes thus:
तस्मात् षोडश्युपदेशः आवश्यकः सूत्रानुयायिनामपि |
Then we have dozens of Tantras such as Tripurārṇava, Jñānārṇava, Gandharva, Rudrayāmala, Paramānanda, etc. which deal with Mahāṣōḍaśī in great detail.
Many sampradāyas follow the scheme of thirty-two dīkṣas where Pañcadaśī and ṣōḍaśī are two specific and distinct dīkṣās. We have listed the thirty-two dīkṣas elsewhere. The prāśastya of ṣōḍaśī is described thus:
त्रेतायां ललिता शस्ता द्वापरे पञ्चकूटगा |
षट्कूटा च कलौ शस्ता सर्वतन्त्रेषु गोपिता ||
Here, it is indicated that in Trētāyuga, Pañcadaśī is most suited, Pañcamī vidyā in Dvāpara and ṣaṭkūta-vidyā, which is Mahāṣōḍaśī, is most suited in Kaliyuga. While Pañcadaśī is trikūṭātmikā, Pañcamī is pañcakūṭātmikā. In the increasing order of kūṭa samkhyā, Mahāṣōḍaśī is ṣaṭkūṭātmikā.
Elsewhere, the abheda between these mantras is also indicated:
पञ्चमी षोडशी चैव तथा सर्वाङ्गसुन्दरी |
एकदोक्ता महेशानि ब्रह्महत्यां व्यपोहति ||
वर्णानां भिन्नतो वापि मिलित्वा कूटतो यथा |
एकवारं स्मृता देवी पातकान्मोक्षमाददौ |
शतं जप्त्वा शिवं देवि ददाति ध्रुवमैश्वरम् ||
Even in the caryākhaṇḍa which details the Nityakr̥tya of a upāsaka after pūrṇadīkṣā, ṣōḍaśī (which is clearly clarified as Kādi ṣōḍaśī here) finds a prominent position:
बाला पञ्चदशी कादिषोढाविद्या परा ततः |
पराप्रासादनिर्वाणौ षडन्वयक्रमस्ततः ||
Apart from Laghu-ṣōḍaśī and Mahāṣōḍaśī, Tantras discuss various other forms too. It is said that Laghu-ṣōḍaśī formed as explained by Lakṣmīdhara and Bhāskararāya pertains to Kēralācāra. In Kāśmīrācāra, the same is formed by adding Bhuvanēśvarī bīja at the beginning of Pañcadaśī.
चन्द्राद्यं वरुणान्तं च शक्रादिसहितं पृथक् |
वामाक्षिबिन्दुनादाढ्यं विश्वमातृकलात्मकम् |
विद्यादौ योजनादेव जगद्रूपा च षोडशी ||
Lakṣmīdharācārya seems to hold the notion that the popular form of Laghu-ṣōḍaśī is aptly called śrīvidyā because of the presence of ramābīja. However, Bhāskararaya entertains no such restriction as he comments on the name śrīvidyā thus: श्रीविद्या पञ्चदशीस्वरूपा |
Another form of ṣōḍaśī called Kāmaraja ṣōḍaśī is formed by adding Kāmabīja before the second kūṭa of Pañcadaśī:
दत्त्वा गोपालबीजं तु कामराजस्य पूर्वतः |
षोडशी कामराजाख्या कन्दर्पाराधिता मता ||
While some Tantras state that Mahāṣōḍaśī can be formed using Kādi vidyā only, there are some others that allow the use of Kādi or Hādi within the Mahāṣōḍaśī, based on sampradāya:
सान्तान्तं शिवपूर्वसप्तमयुतं सूक्ष्मान्तमन्त्रान्वितम् |
देवीं दक्षिणबाहुशक्रनयनं कामं कलालाञ्छितम् ||
दन्तन्तोर्ध्वमुखं सजीवदशनं शेषं मुखेनान्वितम् |
बीजं पञ्चकमित्थमेवमुदितं सर्वार्थसिद्धिप्रदम् ||
वेदाद्यं त्रिगुणां रमामथ वदेत् कामेन संसेविताम् |
लोपां वा पुनरेव पञ्चकमथो पूर्वं विलोमक्रमात् ||
Here, it is said, kāmēna samsēvitām lōpām vā, indicating either Kādi or Hādi can be used within the Mahāṣōḍaśī mantra.
Elsewhere, it is said that in the place of Kādi, one can also form the vidyā by using the other forms revealed by Dakṣiṇāmūrti, such as Nandi vidyā, Sādividyā, Kubēra-vidyā, etc.
अस्या मध्यात् कामराजं लोपां व सन्त्यजेत्ततः |
दक्षिणामूर्तितन्त्रस्य सर्वविद्याः क्षिपेत् क्रमात् |
तदा च सकला भेदास्तुरीया षोडशी भवेत् ||
The Lalitā Sahasranāma states – śrīṣōḍaśākṣarīvidyā, which, due to the presence of śrī, is to be interpreted as Laghu-ṣōḍaśī (discussed by Lakṣmīdhara) or as Ramādi Mahāṣōḍaśī (discussed by ācārya Gauḍapāda in his śrīvidyāratnasūtra). Again, Bhāskararāya specifically illustrates these two vidyās in his commentary on this name. In any case, the ‘श्रीति षोडशमक्षरं यस्यां तादृशी सा’ statement holds good for Mahāṣōḍaśī as well.
To summarize, there is enough pramāṇa for the validity of ṣōḍaśī vidyā mahāmantra.