The mantra of aghorA according to the tradition of the kAlI-kula The devI aghorA, as we have seen before, emerged

first as the shakti of aghora i n the root tantra-s of the bhairava srotas. She was described under several rela ted names such as aghoreshvarI and appears to be the foundation from which the p rimary devI-s of the trika and pashchimAmnAya emerged. Under the name aghorA its elf she was worshiped in the tradition emerging from the glorious yoginI-jAla-sh aMvara tantra. The worship of the great bhairava yoginI-jAla-shaMvara and his pa rivAra is taught as an auxiliary a~Nga of the system of the brahma-yAmala, which gives his highly secret mantra as a means of achieving khecharI siddhi and this yoga is declared to be amitAtmaka, i.e. of unlimited nature. This tradition was e xpanded in the yoginI-jAla-shaMvara tantra and from that text transmitted to the yoginI-samchAra tantra. The tradition of this latter tantra was then incorporat ed into the composite jayadratha-yAmala. The yoginI-saMchAra lays out worship th e devI aghorA in the company of the great bhairava. The YS states that the tAntr ika after undergoing dIkSha and abhiSheka performs vrata-s such as the bhairavavrata, the kapAla-vrata or the chAmuNDA-vrata. In the rite of dIkSha which is pe rformed in the shmashAna the AchArya wearing an osseous garland and smeared with the bhasma from the funeral pyres draws the maNDala of the great bhIma-vikrama bhairava (yoginI-jAla-shaMvara) conjoined with the devI aghorA. Then the student after a bath is lead to the maNDala where the AchArya touches him on the head w ith a skull and performs the nyAsa on his body with the khaTvA~Nga. Then in the typical tAntrika fashion the student is lead to the image of shiva with face cov ered and is asked to cast flowers on it, standing to its right, after a pradakSh iNa. Based on which face the flower falls he is given his dIkSha kula. After rec eiving the mantra he finally worships aghorA accompanied by the 63 yoginI-s of t his system. The devI aghorA in this aspect as a shmashAna deity with kApAlika attributes has b een retained as is in the kAlI kula. Here mantra is taught in the kAmakalA kAlI (8.277-283) of the pa~nchAshat sAhasryAM mahAkAla saMhitA ~ khaNDa res: athaaghorA manuM vakShye yena siddhyanti sAdhakAH | karaamlaka-vad vishvaM yasya saMsmaraNAd api || mAyA-ramA.a~Nkushaana~Nga-vadhu-vAgbhava-gAruDaiH | yoginI-shAkinI-kAlI-phetkArI-krodha-bIjakaiH || saMbodhanam aghorAyAH siddhiM me dehi choddharet | tatash cha dApayet yuktvA svAhAnto munir iShyate || pa~nchaviMshaty akSharo .ayaM mantro vA~nchita siddhikR^it | atha dhyAnaM vyAharAmi yena mantraH prasiddhyati || susnigdha-kajjala-grAva-tulyaavayava-rochiShaM | viShAla-vartulA-rakta-nayana-tritayAnvitAM || shveta-nrasthi-kR^itAkalpa-samujjvala-tanuc-ChaviM | digambarAM muktakeshIM nR^i-muNDa-kR^ita-kuNDalAM || shavopari samArUDhAM daMShTA-vikaTa-darshanAM | dvi-bhujAM mArjanI-shUrpa-hastAM pitR^ivana-sthitAM || ~ . ~ ~ . ~

The 25-syllabled mantra of aghorA specified here is: hrIM shrIM kroM klIM strIM aiM krauM ChrIM phreM krIM hskhphreM huM aghore siddh iM me dehi dApaya svAhA ||

The devI is meditated upon as residing in the cremation ground with limbs gliste ning like a moist mountain of black collyrium, with three large red eyes, with a shapely body decorated with sparkling ornaments of white human bones, space-cla d, with free-flowing tresses, with earrings made from human skulls, standing on a corpse, with dreadful saber teeth and with two arms holding a broom and a winn owing fan. While the general description of her matches the ancestral state as i n the tradition of the YJS, the broom and the winnowing fan are unusual. This ap pears to be the prototype on which emergent deities like dhUmAvatI were partly b ased. http://manasataramgini.wordpress.com/2008/08/22/durgesmrita-mahamantra-prayogah/