Lalita Tripura Sundari Laghu Ṣoḍhā Nyāsaḥ (ललित त्रिपुर सुन्दरी लघु षोढा न्यासः)

Prologue:- In the tantric tradition of Śrī Vidyā, Lord Śiva is the manifested Brahman (Super-consciousness), who is self-illuminating (prakāśa) and static. He expresses Himself through His power called Śakti, who is the dynamic super-consciousness and She reflects the aspects/light of Śiva and is therefore called vimarśa. Śiva and Śakti are not different, but appear as such, due to the cast of the virtual cosmic reality (māyā) that envelops the entire manifested Creation, which is the first act of Śakti as the Creator. The super-consciousness as Śiva cannot relate to Himself, without the reasoning, knowledge and other cognitive faculties, that are part of Śakti.

During the stage of Creation, Śakti devolves Herself from the Highest Super-conscience state to other states of higher consciousness and energy, represented as forms of Gaṇeśa with relevant energies (śakti-s), material states represented as heavenly bodies such as planets, star systems/constellations etc. The powers of Śakti are also masked by Her lower states as Yogini-s, which enforce the karmic rules on the individual souls (jīvātma-s) or conscience. All the powers of Śakti manifested as sound frequencies are governed by mātṛkā-s that are represented by the Sanskrit alphabet. These aspects also allow for the act of Sustenance and Preservation, as well as Destruction, Annihilation and Resurrection, by the Divine Mother Śakti.

In the human body, the Sanskrit letters ‘a’ (अ) to ‘aḥ’ (अः) indicating the aspects of Śiva, represent the head region. The letters ‘ka’ (क) indicating the aspects of Śakti, up to ‘va’ (व) represent the rest of the body. The letters ‘śa’ (श) to ‘kṣa’ (क्ष) are the inner essence of the body. The letter ‘a’ represents Śiva and ‘va’ represents Śakti. In the human body, the kuṇḍalini ascends for ‘va’ to meet ‘a’ and this happens through the vindu(bindu) meaning the letter ‘’ṃ” (ं) or dot, also called Candravindu “m̐” (ँ), which represents the fulfillment of all desires and removal of all misery. When the kuṇḍalini reaches the top (śikharam) of the head, the combination of ‘a’, ‘va’, ‘ṃ’ and ‘śi’ becomes ‘śivaṃ’ and the vimarśa aspect of it is ‘kṣaṃ’, thus ending the mātṛkā-s and the associated letters (akṣara-s). Noticably, the word ‘akṣara’, is also consisting of ‘a’, ‘ka’, ‘ṣa’ and ‘ra’. The latter is the energy or fire aspect in the body running in the blood.

The word nyāsa, means “to place”. The Lalita Tripura Sundari Ṣoḍhā nyāsa has been described by various tantras such as Kulārṇava Tantra as the wish-fulfilling and liberation-bestowing process, by itself. No further mantra or any other tantric rituals are required. However, it is also part of the daily worship of Śrī Vidyā devotees (sādhakā-s), to recite the laghu (lower) and/or mahā (higher) Ṣoḍhā nyāsa-s.

Within each of these nyāsa-s, there are slight variations between those following the Daśamahāvidya Ṣoḍaśi tantra and the Śrī Vidyā tradition. One can follow either of these traditions and obtain the same benefits. Presented here is the tantric version. Combining the mātṛkā-s with the various aspects of Śakti as The Lalita Tripura Sundari Ṣoḍaśi and understanding the deeper meaning of the mantras in all the six (ṣoḍhā) nyāsa-s, will surely accrue all the benefits to the devotee, if performed on a regular basis. They help dissipate or lessen the effects of our karma and eventually lead us to self-realization and by Her grace, liberation itself.

The six (ṣoḍhā) nyāsa-s are gaṇeśa-mātṛkā nyāsa covering various aspects of Lord Gaṇeśa with His śakti-s (powers), graha-mātṛkā nyāsa covering the various planets, sun, moon and the intersections of the earth’s orbit by the moon – the “shadow planets” known as the dragon’s head (rāhu) and dragon’s tail (ketu), nakṣatra-mātṛkā nyāsa covering the constellations (asterisms) that govern an individual’s fate, yogini-mātṛkā nyāsa covering the cakras manifested in our body that are to be asended by kuṇḍalini, rāśi-mātṛkā nyāsa covering the twelve houses of the zodiac and finally the pīṭha-mātṛkā nyāsa covering all the power spots associated with the Divine Mother Śakti.

It is to be understood, that the essence of the macrocosm is also in the microcosm and that all the power is also manifested within our own selves and we have the ability to realize it and evolve our consciousness to higher states, to become one with the Divine Mother Śakti, who alone can lead us to the Divine Father Śiva, thus merging our individual consciousness in the ocean of the super-consciousness, which is the state of liberation and ultimate state of bliss.

Click here for Part 1: Ganesh Matrika Nyasa

This article is written by Krishna Vallapareddy and can be contacted at Krishna@manblunder.com