Namaste Bhairavat. Your question is one that has been asked by many who have come before. The Siddhayogeśvarīmata Tantra, the root scripture of the Trika, begins with this very subject. Devī says to Bhairava: "You have explained the systems of mantras several times, O Lord of Gods, but people do not succeed in the practice of yoga and such other practices however hard they try. They do not succeed even with the prescribed rituals; the proof of success is lacking. You have fooled the minds of those who have performed sacrifices, O Great Lord, and even the minds of those who have been reciting the mantras making great effort, no doubt. How is it that these extraordinary mantras given by you do not succeed? You have confused the whole world and even your disciples with this, O Śaṅkara. What can you gain from deluding the world, O Best of Gods?" Bhairava replies thus: "The mantras I have taught can can fulfill all desires, but they are all protected through my power, O Goddess... I have seen that ignorant people have abandoned their purificatory initiatory rites everywhere, and that mean people have violated the established rules of conduct. Therefore, the vigour of all mantras has been protected, and through this protected vigour, the mantras themselves are protected; and the letters left without this vigour have become solitary. Their vigour is thus hidden even if they are used according to prescription, O Great Goddess. This is why they do not succeed even if one recites them 1,000,000,000 times." The word 'mantra' is traditionally understood to derive from 'man-', meaning 'to think', and 'trai', meaning 'to save'. So, mantra is 'salvific thought'. So the Mahārthamañjarī says: "Reflection (manana) upon one's own omnipresence, 'protection' (trāṇa) against the fear of one's limitations, an indescribable experience wherein all dichotomized thought is dissolved, such is the meaning of the word mantra." Normally, the mind is engaged in externalized cognition, perceiving duality everywhere. This is "reflection" in the mode of bondage; vikalpa. The Spandakārikā says: "The rise in the bound soul of all sorts of ideas marks the disappearance of this bliss of supreme immortality. On account of this, he loses his independence. The appearance of ideas has its sphere in the sense objects." And, "Brahmī and the other powers are ever in readiness to conceal his real nature, for without the association of words, ideas cannot arise." Consciousness is inherently linguistic in nature, that is, its nature is referentiality. It is Parāvāc which is the a-priori basis of all other knowledge, including ignorance, for even ignorance is ultimately nothing more than a sort of knowledge. Were it not so, it would simply be nothing at all. Vikalpa is discursive consciousness. Mantra, however, is pure reflexive awareness in the sense that it does not denote an external, objective referent. Thus, the mantra and the reality which it denotes are one and the same, hence the understanding that the mantra IS the deity. Even though ultimately all cognitions are empowered by Parāvāc, the difference between mantra and discursive mentation is that the latter concerns objectivity, while the former is awareness turned back on itself. The external form of the mantra composed of letters is like a vessel through which the mind becomes attuned to the inner energies which they represent. The mind of the practitioner and the mantra are one and the same, and the mantra is only efficacious to the extent that the practitioner comes to realize that that is so. The Śivasūtra says: cittaṁ mantraḥ; "Mind is mantra". The mind is the pure awareness of the Self in a contracted mode. The Spandakārikā: "Being deprived of his glory by kalā, he becomes a victim of the group of Powers arising from the multitude of words, and thus he is known as a bound one." Through mantra, however, it can re-cognize its true nature. Amṛtānandanātha says in his Cidvilāsastava: "There is an undivided and pristine reality that should be realized, from which speech, together with the mind, turn away. The repetition of the mantra, in tis ultimate form, is bringing speech and the mind to rest in that luminous reality that transcends the mind and conventional language." Even if the mantra does have an intelligible meaning in Sanskrit, its essence is an awareness beyond the discursivity of common language and the mind. I bring all of this up because it contextualizes what Bhairava says next in the Siddhayogeśvarīmata: "For those who know how to obtain this hidden vigour and know the liberation of the soul, the guru and the mantra, success is not far off. If practitioners who desire the rewards taught in the doctrine turn to a guru without śakti, they will not succeed, even if they practice very hard. Therefore, if someone initiated by the rite of Śiva wishes success, he should know how to be possessed by Rudraśakti and should perform the grasping of the mantra." Rudraśakti is the inner reflexive awareness which is the vitality of mantra. Given everything I have already said, you can understand that mere words on a page (or screen) or mere articulated sounds are not efficacious. This is what Bhairava means when He says the vigour of mantras is guarded. They must be alive, pulsing radiantly with this vigour. And Bhairava explains that the source of this vigour is the guru. However, there is some nuance that needs to be explained regarding this. A guru is necessary for those of us who cannot intuit this vigour, the essential nature of all things, on our own, which is most of us. However, if (key word here: IF) one can do so, then even a mantra from a book can become vitalized. If you see a mantra somewhere and feel an urge to practice it, but have even the slightest doubt about its efficacy, then what I just described did not happen. If this intuitive vitalization does happen, it will be exceedingly obvious. The guru and the disciple are not separate. The same Self appears as both, reflecting on the level of mundane reality the referentiality of awareness. It is because of this that the guru's vitality becomes the disciple's vitality, like a lamp used to light another lamp without the former losing its potency and which is preserved unaltered in the latter. When the disciple is able to intuit the supreme reality in the "other", it then becomes possible to intuit it everywhere. As the Śivasūtra says: "As it is here, so is it elsewhere." The mantra transmitted is the receptacle of the guru's vitality and indeed is that vitality itself, the destruction of pauruṣa ajñāna. To attempt to practice japa otherwise would be, as Bhairava says, is a violation of the rules of conduct. More than just practical rules, the Rule of the scriptures and the teacher is the liberating power they hold. To violate it, to take it unjustly and without permission, is to deprive it of its true potency. This was Dakṣa's mistake, you know. Through it, he incited the Lord's wrath. The Rājarājabhaṭṭāraka Tantra states: "The mantra does not consist of phonemes. It is not the ten-armed or five-faced body of a deity. It is the flashing forth of the subtle resonance arising at the starting point of the intention to utter it." The starting point of any cognition is the non-discursive state of paśyantī, becoming attuned to which one is then able to perceive the unfolding of the discursive levels that follow in the light of their source. Moreover, in the Īśvarapratyabhijñāvivṛttivimarśinī: " Surely, if the repetition of mantra is a continuous round of words, how can the activity of repetition of mantra take place within the nature of Supreme Speech which, being undivided, is not affected by temporal division? The utterance of a round of sounds takes place by separating one sound from another repeatedly, and that itself is its nature. In the supreme state, the repetition takes place once (i.e. atemporally) like a single flash, and repetition of mantra is like a continually repeated action there when it has just arisen. The word 'once', that denotes something that takes place a single time or one that is synonymous with 'always' removes the doubt that there is a break. As was said before, 'Speech arises spontaneously.'" Thorugh japa, the mantra and the mind become one and, their outer form dissolving away into the pure light of consciousness, all things become infused with that same supreme reality. Or, describing from my own experience, one recognizes that a thing and the knowledge/awareness of that thing are in fact one and the same, like how the mantra and the deity are one and the same. The Śivasūtra says: "Common talk is his recitation of mantra." The Tantrāloka explains: "A lover, who is beautiful with the delight of discourse and joyful union with his beloved, and so too etched with the memories of it, whatever else he happens to be doing, he is satisfied and joyful within himself. Likewise, one who is sanctified by this mantric discourse, even when saying anything else, it is spontaneously identified with it even if he does not wish it, and it most certainly produces the same results." He recognizes that all things are essentially the light of consciousness, the "object" of mantra, even in the midst of discursivity. And, in the Ūrmikaulārṇava Tantra: "And when his mind is elsewhere and his gaze too has fallen elsewhere, even in that case the yoga of such yogis continues unabated." And in the Svacchanda Tantra: "One whose mental disposition is firm and unwavering, full (i.e. without craving) all around and made of the supreme reality which is to be known, his mind, although he is in all the states of consciousness, does not move. For such a great yogi, wherever his mind goes, he thinks of the supreme reality which is to be known. As everything is Śiva, having moved from one place, where will it go? Present in all the fields of consciousness and objects of the senses, wherever one pays attention, there is no place where Śiva is absent." The deities do not reveal mantras; the mantras ARE the deities. And the deity/mantra is the awakened awareness which the practitioner comes to embody through practice. So says the Kaulasūtra: "There is but one deity, the Reality perceived by virtue of the transmission." This Reality is the Brahman of the Upaniṣads, Śiva/Śakti of the Tantras. You ask about the deities' (i.e. Brahman's) indifference. I have gone on much too long already (even so, I have barely scratched the surface of this beautiful maṇḍala of teachings), so I will not explain the details of grace and concealment here. So, I will leave you with a passage from the Ānandabhairava Tantra for you to contemplate, and perhaps later I can go into details if you wish: "The Lord is without bias and acts in a manner contrary to the common worldly norms. The cause of His bestowal of grace is not the purity of the recipient. Similarly, the goddesses (i.e. the retinue of Bhairava) are satisfied by the sacrifice of bloody meat, not by applying the rules of purity. Brahmins and those belonging to the lowest castes should be made equal. Thus, the rays of consciousness radiating through the senses, although savouring their objects, are freed from agitation. Hell is the result of dualistic thought. It is clear that the body of all living beings, irrespective of caste or other conceived differences, is made of all the gods."

Dear bhairavat, although I am not as knowledgeable as Dylan is, I may be able to give a simple answer to your doubts. First, you wrote "What is the reason that the deities cannot build a channel into our world of suffering and manifest in it?" The deities do not ever exist in some realm separate from ours. They are, like everything including ourselves, simply different pulsations of Consciousness (which we may call Bhairava) which is both the sole cause and nature of the universe. That is to say, Consciousness alone exists, and this universe is the self-illumination of Consciousness within Itself. By virtue of being perfect, Consciousness lacks nothing. By lacking nothing, it is completely full of everything. We can conceptualize this by simply thinking and imagining by which things that are both logically possible and impossible are manifest within the field of our own awareness. Why did Consciousness manifest reality as we know? It is because Consciousness is supremely free and the resultant play of absolute freedom is this universe and other universes (which are again all contained within Consciousness and hence is Consciousness alone) where innumerable realities are manifest in because of the infinite nature of Consciousness. Good, evil, happiness, sadness, bliss, and suffering, from the perspective of absolute Consciousness is unreal as only It exists in relation to Itself. Hence the various deities which are nothing but the pulsations of the one Consciousness simply enjoy this infinite play of absolute freedom which can manifest from our relative perspectives as bliss and suffering or good and evil. To make it easier to digest, a good theatrical play must involve all sorts of activities and feelings (which are called "rasa" in Sanskrit). The reality we live in is no different. So it's not that the deities are not compassionate, as in actuality any subject that realizes its true nature as nondual Consciousness will only act out of compassion, but it's that from their perspective which is established in absolute nonduality, there is no suffering, only God shining as God in the field of God. "Mananāt trāyatē iti mantraḥ". This translates to, "Mantra is the sustained contemplation (mananāt) of that which protects (trāyatē)." In essence, a mantra is recited so that discursive thought constructs or concepts (which are superimpositions on the true Reality/Consciousness) are dissolved from the mind through repeated contemplation of Śakti (which is the essence of mantra, and again Consciousness Itself). Why does it get dissolved? When you become so absorbed in something, everything around you disappears and finally even your sense of "you" disappears. Only the object of contemplation remains with no concepts to the reality of that object. Since mantra is contemplation upon Consciousness, it is one of the ways by which mind is dissolved and the Self shines clear. They are not supposed to be miracle cures for worldly sufferings but are meant to shield your mind from discursive thought constructs and finally to dissolve even your egoic mind itself. We are definitely not worms in a pile of manure for the deities. Remember, the various forms of the deities are but pulsations of one Consciousness, our Self, hence they are not separate from us but our very unitary Self. As Ravi ji wrote in the past, when results are promised for different mantras and even stotras/hymns, these are usually written so that the aspirant actually puts them into practice and experiences the Reality behind everything. This is not to say that the Tantras were lying, because when you realize nondual Consciousness through practice, this entire world becomes You, simply put. And so the entire wealth of the world is yours, because You (your Self) are that very wealth which is sought after. You attain the highest position among men and gods precisely because You are their very Self. I hope you understand where I am going with this. Best wishes.

Kindly let us know the scriptural source of these mantras and sadhana krama.

Dylan, why don't the deities simply give such a mantra, after reading which the goddess will manifest and give all the knowledge about the highest reality herself. All these multiple tantras, methods, convictions, statements and beliefs seem not effective enough. After all, they do not give quick results, but only promise them. What is the reason that the deities cannot build a channel into our world of suffering and manifest in it? Are they not strong enough, or do they not have such an intention? Maybe they are not close to compassion and do not care at all, just as we do not care about worms in a pile of manure? Sometimes such questions visit me and doubts arise about the advisability of wasting time and effort on worshiping this or that deity. If it were not for this wonderful resource, on which Krishnaji, whom I deeply respect, has made available to the public a lot of what is usually hidden and concealed, then I would hardly have returned to Indian tantra. I have answers to these questions and I will of course try to justify the indifference of the deities to the world of people, but sometimes I really want to read the most secret mantra several times, after which the Goddess will come to me and tell me all the secrets about the highest reality.

Namaste Prince. "Churning" is the act of bringing something about. The "Churning Bhairava" is the supreme reality of consciousness which churns within itself the totality of all things so as to manifest them. He is also a prominent Bhairava in the Kālīkrama. It is said in the Mahārthamañjarī: "God is capable of churning this reality and so is the Lord of Kula who is the ultimate fixed ground of all things. It is He who, churning His own energy, brings about creation and the other cosmic processes. And so, I salute the venerable Manthānabhairava who is such." Moreover, He churns within Himself the teachings to bring them about. For that reason, it is taught that He churns the streams of Kulāgama in order to extract their essence. So says the Kālīkulapañcaśataka (a.k.a. Devīpañcaśataka): "O God, the most excellent and well-hidden Kula teaching, it is present everywhere like scent present in a flower or oil in sesame seeds and the like, in the same way, Kula is well-established within all the Śaiva scriptures." The topic of the scriptures and various spiritual traditions understood in this way is a complex topic, but for now this will suffice. The "churning" can be understood to be that between Śiva and Śakti. The Manthānabhairava Tantra itself says: "Thus, reality, transcendent and immanent, is divided by the division brought about by the churning of power and its possessor. In this way, Passion present within emanation, the Passion that is the destruction of desire. And that is Haṁsa, the Great Soul which is the nectar generated from the primordial fire. These two are called Śiva and Śakt. The triple universe is woven warp and woof with them. This is the secret called the 'Great Churning.'" As a general rule, Śiva is understood to be Akula, the transcendental reality of consciousness, and Śakti is Kula or Kaulikī, the "emission" of Akula and so is immanent reality. They are inseparable, and in actual fact are really one and the same. However, in the sense that consciousness, in the act of emanation, brings about the universe within itself, it is "churned from above", that is, the transcendental reality of Akula (i.e. "above") enacts Kaulikīśakti. Conversely, in withdrawal, Akula is "churned from below", that is, Kaulikī, aroused, returns to Akula, the Goddess reuniting with the God. So, we see that the dynamism of the supreme reality is in fact this "churning", the God and Goddess perpetually flowing into and out of each other yet remaining in Stillness.

Namaskaram, please could you let us know if OM syllable can be added at the beginning of this laghu shodashi mantram (which will make it a 17 syllable mantra) ? Pranams

good day to all, I would like to ask about the meaning and the significance of the term 'Manthāna' as from, 'Manthānabhairava Tantra'. It directly translates to churning bhairava, but im confused on what it actually means and signifies. thank you

Ravi Guru Ji has unequivocally stated, as previously commented, that the Panchadashi Mantra may be recited mentally throughout the day, with unwavering concentration on Lalita Amba. It's worth noting that a realized guru's pronouncements supersede scriptural injunctions, particularly in this modern age of Kali Yuga. Given what Ravi Guru Ji has said, I believe the Panchadashi Mantra can be chanted in a manner similar to how one would internally repeat "Rama Rama" or "Krishna Krishna."

I like to think he is still very actively serving the world and Divine Mother somewhere, continuing his tireless work. It is hard not to miss him. At least, we can aspire to be like him. Ravi Guruji was really like another parent to anyone, he was the most loving and selfless person I have ever encountered, even when he was very ill. Three days before his passing, I had wanted my father to meet him, and asked if we could come see him. Guruji said something like, “your father is having trouble with his knees so the steps of my home will be difficult for him,” so he said he would come to us instead (phenomenally speaking, he had no way of knowing of my father’s knee injuries, which is very interesting). Unfortunately the rains in Chennai became very heavy and Guruji I think went to his nephews wedding, while we planned to reschedule. We never did. within 72 hours of leaving his body, he seemed to only be thinking of helping others, of taking care of everyone possible. We can always feel close to him by following his brilliant example.

It will always break my heart to know, that Ravi in whom i trust and worship in my heart has left this world and i was not able to meet him and accept him as my guru..