A study on the six obstacle removing mantras in Parasurama kalpa sutra Our most humble salutations at the feet

of our revered Guru A person is always in search of bliss throughout his life. In this pursuit he comes across the Vedas and shastras. They unequivocally reveal that he is the everlasting state of bliss and only that this blissful state is forgotten by him. He studies all the Vedas and shatras and practices them to attain this blissful state, but the real experience deludes him. Thus the aspirant now goes in search of a means to attain the experience, finds a surrenders to him. His uru and uru guides him to the experience through a !adhana. This is the

meaning of "Atha#, which is at the start of the $alpasutras. . "A# is the word for !hiva, the auspicious one. Hence a start with the auspicious one. "Atha# means afterwards. %Afterwards& of what' after searching all the Vedas, shastras, puranas, texts. &(ee$shaam vya$hyasyamah&) one reaches a guru and gets dee$s$a)the initiation and guidance in getting the experience. The !adhana given by the uru has three limbs) *. The Tantra + procedure or manual of the rites ,. The -antra + the word form of the chosen deity .. The /antra + an ob0ect for concentration1 these three are interdependent 2ord (attatreya has given a form of !adhana called "!riVidya# to !ri 3arasurama, who has codified them in his 4alpasutras. In the section on 5apa, the sutras declare that six obstacle removing mantras are to be chanted before the daily repletion of the !ri Vidya -antra. They are as follows6 a. Iri mili $iri $ili pari mirom b. 7m hrIm namo bhagavathy mahatripura bhairavi mama traipura ra$shAm $uru $uru c. !amhara samhara vignara$sho vibhIsha$An $alaya hum phat svaahaa d. 8l9m ra$thAbhyo yoginIbhyo namah e. !AmsAra sAya bhahvasanAya namah f. (umulushumulushu hrIm camundAyai namah

This is a study on the presiding deities and the real meaning of the above mantras. 7n deep meditation see$ing guidance, we were directed to refer the 2alithopa$hyana of 8hramhanda purana. In the thirteenth chapter we come across the following description on the march of the !ri 2alitha (evi&s armies in the war with 8handasura. !lo$as ::);* 2alitha ca$ra raa0aa$hya ratha naathasya $iirtitaah !hat saaratayah uddanda paasagrahana $ovidaah Iraavati ptathamasca tatha tripura bhairavi !amhaarabhairavascanyo ra$thayogini vallabhah !aarasah pancamascaiva caamondaa ca tathaaparaa <taasthu devataastatra rathasaarathayah smrutaah eya ca$ra rathendrasya saarathistu hasanti$aa 4iri cahra rathendrasya stambhini saarathiih smrutaah A translation would run thus6& of the laitha ca$ra, six charioteers who are well versed and s$ill full are there. Iravathi, tripurabhairavi, samharabhairava, ra$thayogini vallaba, sarasa and camunda. These deities are the charioteers of this great ca$ra. The charioteer of eya c$ara =of (evi >a0ashyamala? is hasanti and that of $iri ca$ra =of (evi Varahi? is stambini. In the 2alitha trisati third chapter =phala sruti? it is said "!ri @a$ram sivayoh vapuh#) i.e., the sree ca$ra is the body of the !iva couple =2alitha $amesvara?. Ae also see in the 2alitha sahasranama "-oola matratmi$a#, "sreemat vagbhavaBBB$atyadhobhaga dhaarinii# Ci.e., the three parts of the pancadasi the mulamatra is verily the word form of the (evi 2alitha and 4amesvara Thus the unity of 2alitha)4amevara, !ri Vidya -antra and the !ri ca$ra is established. It follows that the charioteers of the gross sree ca$ra ra0a ratha, who help in the smooth movement, are the obstacle removing mantras in the daily movement =repetition? of the subtle sree ca$ra =!ri Vidya mantra?

The deities: A close loo$ into the names to identify the deities of these mantras was attempted to. The first mantra is unintelligible D confusing so does the name. The rest five seem to be familiar. Iravati: 7n a wide search "Ira# had two meanings C *. <arth1 ,. (evi saraswati !ince the mantra consisted on only the short %i# C which denotes (evi saraswati, it led to the assumption that this was a mantra of her. Ahen we tried to reconcile both the meanings, it dawned that the element of muladhara ca$ra is the <arth, also being the source of the most subtle form of speech )the parA vA$. Hence it was concluded this mantra refers to the presiding deity of muladhara ca$ra)The sa$ini. >emoving the %i& from all the syllables in the mantra we find %ra ma la $a ra $a la pa ra ma ra& . The first %ra1 represents the $undalini in the muladhara ca$ra which is enclosed by mala) impurities such as anava mayi$a and $armi$a, removing them by %$ara& which is the sadhana with saparya 3oo0a and %$ala& which is sound the constant 0apa with awareness attaining the %parama& the highest state %ra& and %om& which represent the paramasiva in the sahasrara. %i& is the iccha sa$ti =will power? of 2ord !iva which manifests the world and is thus said first , next all consonants have %i& which is to say that thru this ichha sa$thi all these are ta$ing place. The rest now fell into line with the successive mantras referring to the next ca$ras from svadhistana ca$ra to Agn0a. Tripura bhairavI: The mantra of svadhistana =at the root of genital organ? is a prayer to the tripura bhairavi C the presiding deity of sarvandamaya ca$ra =the central bindu?, as seen in saubhaghyaratnaa$ara ) to protect the aspirant&s three bodies) the gross, subtle and the causal. This is relected as the ecstasy =sarvandamaya ca$resvari? during the male and female union resulting in progeny =AtmA vai putrnAmAsi) The self is verily the son?. 3rogeny implies continuous existence which is the protection of the gross, subtle and casual body. HrIm at the beginning of the mantra is the creative seed sound.

Samhara bhairava: The mantra at manipura$a =navel center? requests protection from obstacles and annihilation of evil frightening powers by the samhara bhairava. The stomach has the fire element that digests the food and sends it to various parts of the body for power. >emoval of obstacles in getting the required food and of dullness and sloth from eating unconsecrated food is the annihilation of the evil powers is the prayer here. Raktayogini vallabha: The mantra in anahata =heart center? is a salutation to the lord of %blood maidens& to sub0ugate them. %8lood& denotes the red colour and is associated with fear. -aidens are personification of the higher powers, which cannot be annihilated, present amidst our vicinity. Eear of them is over come by sub0ugating them with the attraction seed sound =vasya bee0a? %bl9m#. SArasa: Ae can admire the mantra in vishudhi ca$ra Cthe throat) of !aarasa. The mantra says %8hahu asanAya& C eating a lot of food1 %!Arasa#) the essence. Hence we can see that this mantra helps us in removing an obstacle C the craving for food by controlling it while absorbing the essence of the parta$en food. CAmundA6 It is clear that the deity of Agn0a C @AmundA) is the one who instills humbleness1 love and surrender, on ma$ing us realiFe that neither body strength =munda? nor intellectual strength =canda? can bring about the experience. A complete surrender is necessary. In the mantra consonants are da, ma, la and sha 1 vowel )seed sound) is %u&. Vishnu, whose doctrine extols unequivocal surrender, is represented as %u&. %da& is daharA$Asa, the heart center and hence the vishunu granti C the $not at the heart which limits the universal self to an individual. %sha& is the poison=visha? and is indicative of -aya. %-ala& refers to the three impurities C Anava, $Armi$a and mAyIya.. Together the above proposes the cutting of the heart $not and removal of the three impurities by upadesa =%u%is the alphabet placed in the right ear indicates initiation? and total surrender, thus reaching eternal bliss. >epetition of %mala& denotes emphasis on the path for removal of the impurities.

2et us salute both the compassionate 2ord (attatreya and his pupil !ri 3arasurama in directing us to chant these six mantras, the deities on their invocation remove the different form of obstacles in the six ca$ras for the $undalini in muladhara to reach the sahasrara and unite with her 2ord 3aramesavara, thus paving a way for the aspirant to meditate on this union while doing the daily repetition of the !ri Vidya -aha mantra 3ancadasi or !odasi. . Hail ! the "ovable Guru #ho resides both inside and outside of us for having guided us in this resear$h and helping us to rea$h this $on$lusion%