Bindu Shuddhi By Sri Kamakoti Mandali on Oct 11, 2011 | In Srividya, Yoga

sAdhanA is of various kind in Tantra. However, in essence, the primary goal of tAntrika sAdhanA is bindu-siddhi. The Buddhists term the bindu as bodhichitta and this is associated with the manomaya-kosha whose essence is the mind. The essence of prANamaya-kosha is prANa or ojas, whereas that of annamaya-kosha is vIrya or shukra-dhAtu. In an ignorant or pashu sAdhaka, these three are unsteady (chanchala) and unrefined (malina). Based on the prasthAnabheda of sAdhanA, some approach the mind, some others the prAna and some, the bindu. By the effect of yogic kriyA, bindu attains purity (nirmalatA) and sthiratA (steadiness).

In the Vedic age, the secret of bindu-sAdhanA was awarded utmost importance during the stages of brahmacharya and gArhasthya Ashramas. The goal of brahmacharya was to attain bindushodhana and bindu-pratiShThA. During this stage, all types of bindu-kShobha were prohibited as chyuti or patana of Bindu was considered equal to death:

maraNaM bindupAtena jIvanaM bindudhAraNAt.h |

If a yogin accomplishes dhAraNA of the bindu and its Urdhvagamana, he attains the siddhi of amaratva (immorality). The necessary condition for attaining the state of UrdhvaretA is UrdhvagAmitva of the bindu. An UrdhvaretA puruSha is ever established in the state of divinity and brahmavidyA.

In the case of grhasthAshrama, this sAdhanA was accomplished with the partnership of ones dharmapatnI:

sastrIko dharmamAcharet.h |

For such a grhastha, pArivArika jIvana was helpful towards rasa-sAdhanA. However, for a naiShThika brahmachArin, samyama and kaThora brahmacharya are the approaches to accomplish rasasAdhanA, and nothing else. The mahAsukha sAdhanA of the Buddhists is simply a part of this gupta rasa-sAdhana. aupaniShada sAdhanA illustrates the famed panchAgni vidyA, where starting with annamaya-kosha to Anandamaya-kosha, Urdhvagati is accomplished by offering Ahuti into various Agnis. At each stage, the sattva-vastu or sArAmsha therein is offered to the fire at the same stage, as a result of which purity is attained and UrdhvonmukhatA is achieved. Eventually, after the various stages, the shuddhi is completed when no mala remains and at this stage, there remains no need for any more Ahuti. The need for a fire is also dropped then. At this stage, vishuddha amrita is obtained. Technically, at each of the five stages, five kinds of nectars are obtained, but the fifth amrita is considered the most important as it is the upAdAna and upajIvya of anandamaya-kosha.

Those in bhakti marga do not discard this amrita. This is indeed bhaktirasa, prema etc. The dispassionate jnAnin however exhibits vairAgya even towards this amrita and remains immersed in svasvarUpa alone.

In the scheme of Tantric sAdhanA, in the initial stages of pashu bhAva, samyama, brahmacharya, yama, niyama etc, are considered to be absolutely necessary. In this bhUmi, the bindu attains shuddhi and sthiratA. After this stage, having attained vIra bhAva, one attains adhikAra for prakrti-samyoga or prakrti-sambhoga as may be the case. The vIratva in this stage is necessary on account of the samgharSha of puruSha with prakrti. Siddhi of vIratva lies in the victory of puruSha over prakrti. The vIra stations himself as the svAmI, bhartA or adhiShThAtA of prakrti. If a sAdhaka is unable to conquer prakrti, he is considered fallen, a bhraShTa sAdhaka. After successfully attaining vIra-bhAva, sAdhaka attains sahayoga with prakrti, gradually attaining divyabhAva. In the state of divyabhAva, there is only pUrNa advaita and not a trace of dvaita.

Like it is important to let go of prakrti in the first stage, during the second stage when yogyatAlAbha is attained, it becomes essential to undertake the grahaNa of prakrti. In the third stage, there is neither grahaNa nor tyAga. At this juncture, both puruSha and prakrti attain a combinational harmony and enter an akhaNDa sattA. At this stage, there remains no separateness between puruSha and prakrti. This indeed is the sAmarasya of shiva and shakti.

Bindu-sAdhanA of the Buddhists is in essence a branch of rasa-sAdhanA. After the udbhava of bindu, to prevent the patana of the bindu or the skhalana of the vajramaNi, it is to be protected within the nirmANachakra situated at the navel. Though bindu is mercurial in nature, yogic kiryA is employed to make it steady. This is called chanchala-bindu or savrta-bodhichitta. When made stable through yoga, it comes to be called vivrta bodhichitta. When bodhichitta becomes vivrta, then it transforms into mahAsukha. Thus, the essence of annamay-akosha (shukra bindu), transforms into the paramAnanda of Anandamaya-kosha. In other words, kundapuShanibha savrta bodhichitta attains Urdhvagati to transform into mahAsukha. It must thus carefully be noted that only within the mahAsukhachakra or uShNIsha kamala does the bindu remain steady, not in any other place.

The Buddhist tantras have used ShaDanga-yoga of the nAtha sampradAya in many ways. ShaDanga-yoga, while prominent in nAtha sampradAya, was also adopted by the ancient vaiShNavas as stated by bhAskarAchArya in his gItAbhAShya. guhyasamAja and sekoddesha TIkA list six of these: pratyAhAra, dhyAna, dhAraNA, anusmR^iti and samAdhi. It is well-known that the charama lakShya of a yogin is the attainment of nirAvaraNa prakAsha. This charama lakShya cannot be attained with any of the Avaranas existent in perception. The tantra propounds that mukti from all AvaraNas is through the awakening of the prabhA-maNDala and the yogis entrance into this mandala. However, entering the prabhA maNDala is not an easy task even for the greatest of yogis. Till an avasthA named vajrasattva is not attained, entry into prabhAmaNDala is impossible. Without the accomplishment of bodhichitta, vajrasattva avasthA cannot be attained. For becoming a bodhisattva, abhijnA panchaka is a necessity and abhijnA will not arise till mantra siddhi is attained. Thus, the tAntrik yogin first begins to accomplish mantra siddhi, which is attained through the first yogAnga named pratyAhAra. Then, through dhyAna, abhijnA are awakened. The bhAva of the bodhisattva is attained through prANAyAma and dhAraNA grants the vajrasattva-bhUmi. Anumsrti has its fruit in the entering of the prabhAmaNDala and the fruit of the sixth and final yoga of samAdhi is dissolution of all AvaraNas.

Bindu needs to be awakened and brought from nirMANachakra to uShNIshakamala. The udbodha of the Bindu and the awakening of kuNDalinI are essentially the same, described differently in Astika and Nastika parlance. The Buddhists term this as the awakening of svashakti chANDAlinI the nirmANachakra. The moment chANDAlI awakens, the chandra-bindu on the head begins to secrete amrita.

The knowers of the secret of kAmakalA explain that when agni and soma are brought together, due to the heat of the agni, the soma bindu begins to swell and secretes amrita. As explained in haTha yoga shAstra, the somadhArA falls into agnikuNDa and burns away, resulting in dehakshaya, jarA, vikAra and mrtyu. If the yogin prevents the burning away of the amrita thorough techniques such as the khecharI mudrA and ingests the amrita, his physical body is enriched by chandrakalA and kAyAkalpa is accomplished.

While skhalana of bindu from nirmANachakra downwards can result in a physical being, its Urdhvagati facilitates the path of nimna srShTi. The bindu within the nirmANachakra is panchabhUtAtmaka but predominance is of pR^ithvI tattva. Thus, it displays an affinity towards downward skhalana. However, when bindu becomes Urdhvonmukha, predominance is of jala tattva into which the prthvI tattva dissolves. The solidity or rigidity of the Bindu is lost and it moves upwards. After raising further, the predominance of tejas tattva takes over and jala tattva dries up. It consequentially becomes AkAsha pradhAna (and finally chitta or jyoti pradhAna), merging into uShNIsha kamala. After the bindu becomes stationed on the uShNIsha kamala, the body of the upAsaka becomes siddha-vajra, and he is blessed with divyadrShTi and divyashruti.

While ArohaNa of the bindu is of great importance, avarohaNa is equally important. Without the shuddhi of the bindu, there is no possibility of shuddha deha or jnAnadeha or baindava sharIra.