1. अथ विद्या अष्टाविंशतिवर्णविशिष्टा – The Vidyā is composed of twenty-eight letters. The reference here is to Mahāṣōḍaśī mahāmantra. This is the mantra that is represented in Gauḍapādīya śrīvidyāratnasūtra as the Queen of all vidyās. The rest of the mantras emanate from this supreme Mahāvidyā.
Note: The version of śrīvidyāratnasūtra prepared by Mike Magee that is to be found on the internet has many mistakes, and the important one is right here with his sūtra. His version reads: अथ विद्या एकविंशद्वर्णविशिष्टा. His translation is also off the mark and faulty at many places.
2. पञ्चदशवर्णविशिष्टा सौभाग्या – The Kādi Pañcadaśī śrīvidyā mantra is composed of fifteen letters.
3. तथैव पश्चिमादिविद्या – Here, Paścimādi vidyā refers to Hādi Lōpāmudrā vidyā, which is the first among the mantras of paścimāmnāya. Her vidyā is also composed of fifteen letters (like the Kādividyā discussed in the previous sūtra).
4. शतवर्णयुता श्यामा – The mantra of Rājaśyāmalā or Rājamātaṅgī is composed of one-hundred letters. We have discussed elsewhere the technicalities of this sūtra.
5. अष्टाविंशतिवर्णविशिष्टा शारिका – The mantra of śārikā śyāmalā is composed of twenty-eight letters.
6. पञ्चोत्तरत्रिंशदक्षरविशिष्टा हसन्ती देवता – The mantra of Hasantī śyāmalā is composed of thirty-five letters. Paraśurāma Kalpasūtra describes a slightly different mantra composed of thirty-one letters.
7. अक्षरत्रयविशिष्टा शुद्धविद्या – The śuddhavidyā is composed of three letters.
8. कुमारी वर्णत्रयविशिष्टा – The mantra of Kumārī or śuddha-bālā is composed of three letters.
9. अष्टादशवर्णविशिष्टा द्वादशार्धा – The mantra of Dvādaśārdhā is composed of eighteen letters. Again, Magee’s version of this sūtra incorrectly reads – दशवर्णयुता द्वादशार्धा. Though the mantra of Dvādaśārdhā, which is a derivative of Bālā, Lōpāmudrā and Navanātha mantras, appears to be tryakṣarī or trikūṭātmikā, in essence, there are eighteen letters within the mantra.
10. षट्त्रिंशद्वर्णविशिष्टा सौभाग्यासन्निहिता – The mantra of Bagalāmukhī is composed of thirty-six letters. This vidyā is described as Saubhāgyā-sannihitā as the vidyā is listed right after Saubhāgya-vidyā in the Dakṣiṇāmnāya:
सौभाग्यविद्या बगला वाराही वटुकस्तथा |
11. अष्टाविंशतिवर्णसमुच्चयो महाहेरम्बस्य मनुः – Though the reference here is to Hēramba, it should be inferred as simply a name for Gaṇapati and not specifically referring to the tantric form of Hēramba. Thus, the reference here is to the mantra of Mahāgaṇapati which is composed of twenty-eight letters.
There is a near-absolute consensus among all tantras on the structure of the Mahāgaṇapati mantra.
12. चतुर्विंशतिवर्णसमुच्चयो वटुकस्य मनुः – The mantra of Vaṭuka Bhairava is composed of twenty-four letters.
13. अथ अष्टोत्तरनवत्यक्षरविशिष्टा कोलवदना – The mantra of Mahāvārāhī is composed of nighty-eight letters. This is a lesser-known mantra attributed to Dharaṇīvarāha. Bhagavān Durvāsā states in his Lalitā Stavaratna – दशोत्तरशतार्णमनुराजकमलकलहंसी – the mantra as being composed of 110 letters. Paraśurāma Kalpasūtra describes this mantra as composed of 112 letters – द्वादशोत्तरशताक्षरा.
14. षट्पञ्चाशदक्षरैर्विशिष्टा यवनिका तिरस्करिणी – The mantra of Tiraskariṇī is composed of fifty-six letters. Paraśurāma Kalpasūtra describes an alternate form of this mantra composed of thirty-seven letters.
15. एकवर्णविशिष्टा भुवनेशी – The mantra of Bhuvanēśvarī is composed of a single letter.
16. सप्तविंशतिवर्णविशिष्टा अन्नपूर्णा – The mantra of Annapūrṇā is composed of twenty-seven letters. The Paraśurāma Kalpasūtra describes a slightly different mantra composed of twenty-five (twenty-six) letters.
17. अकारादिपञ्चाशदक्षरसंयुता हादिपञ्चदशी खण्डद्वयविशिष्टा चतुर्थस्वरविशिष्टा कामकला – The mantra of Kāmakalā is composed of sixty-three letters. Again, Magee messes up this sūtra, splitting it into two and providing a corrupted version. The first khaṇḍa of this mantra is composed of the letters of the Sanskrit alphabet, aṁ to kṣaṁ. That the letters are to be used with bindu is understood from sampradāya. Also, though the letters amount to 51, the logical count is 50 so to say due to the rule – लळयोरभेदात्. The next khaṇḍa is composed of the first two kūṭas of Hādi Pañcadaśī mantra, which amount to 5+6 = 11 letters. The final component is the chaturtha svara, which is a single letter. Thus, the mantra is composed of 51 + 11 + 1 = 63 letters. Shaṅkarāraṇya confirms the same thus – इत्थं त्र्यधिकषष्ठ्यक्षराणि. It can be observed here that the śruti, चत्वार ईं बिभ्रती क्षेमयन्तः comes to materialize this way even for Hādi vidyā.
18. एकाक्षरविशिष्टा मुख्या – The main mantra of Kāmakalā is composed of a single letter. By using the word mukhyā here, ācārya Gauḍapāda clarifies that this is the mantra of Mahākāmakalā (the previous one being Kāmakalā).
19. त्रयोदशवर्णविशिष्टा तुरीया – The mantra of Turīyā is composed of thirteen letters. Paraśurāma Kalpasūtra refers to this mantra as śrīpūrtividyā. While the sūtra of Paraśurāma has been interpreted by votaries as applicable to both Kādi and Hādi vidyās, Turiyā vidyā strictly refers to the thirteen lettered mantra derived from Hādi vidyā alone. Apart from Paraśurāma Kalpasūtra (or Umānandanātha’s Nityōtsava to be specific), there seems to be no practical use of Kādi śrīpūrtividyā. On the other hand, Turīyā vidyā derived from Hādi Lōpāmudrā mantra is extremely popular and is a prominent part of Gurupādukā mantras of most lineages, be it Hādi or Kādi.
20. एकोननवत्यक्षरविशिष्टा महार्धा – The mantra of Mahārdhā is composed of eighty-nine letters. Paraśurāma Kalpasūtra discusses a similar mantra called Kālasaṅkarṣiṇī but the popular Mahārdhā mantra is longer and employs Kādi vidyā within its structure.
21. द्वादशाक्षरविशिष्टा अश्वारूढा – The mantra of Aśvārūḍhā is composed of twelve letters. Paraśurāma Kalpasūtra formulates a similar mantra but composed of thirteen letters, by adding a Praṇava at the beginning of the mantra.
22. एकाक्षरविशिष्टा मिश्रा – The mantra of Miśrāmbā is composed of a single letter, vāgbhava bīja.
23. वाग्वादिनी त्रयोदशवर्णविशिष्टा – The mantra of Vāgvādinī is composed of thirteen letters. Paraśurāma Kalpasūtra concurs here and lists the same mantra.
24. एकवर्णविशिष्टा परा – The mantra of Parā is composed of a single letter. Paraśurāma Kalpasūtra accords great importance to this mantra and devotes an entire chapter to it, for in the form of Tripurā does one find remains of the triad, Parā, Aparā, and Parāparā.
25. पराप्रासादरूपिणी वर्णद्वययुता पदैकविशिष्टा – The great mantra of Parāprāsāda
is composed of two consonants and a single vowel. Also, it includes three bindus (two from a visarga and one from a bindu).
26. तथैव प्रासादपरा – Similar is the case of Prāsādaparā mahāmantra (as with Parāprāsāda discussed in the previous sūtra).
27. अथ ह्रस्ववर्णपञ्चक दीर्घषट्कसमुच्चयो दशैकवर्णविशिष्टः पराशम्भुः – The mantra of Parāśambhu is composed of eleven letters.
28. अथ ह्रस्वाक्षरषट्क दीर्घपञ्चकसंयुता तथैव संख्या पराशाम्भवी – Similar to the manu of Parāśambhu, the vidyā of Parāśāmbhavī is composed of eleven letters.
29. अनुत्तरसङ्केतप्रधानविद्या सप्तदशवर्णविशिष्टा – The mantra of Anuttarāmnāya Samaya Vidyēśvarī is composed of seventeen letters. This mantra of great glory is famous in the tantras as Anuttaravimarśinī, which facilitates the contemplation on that which is without a beyond.