4. ISITVA: The Khadgamala Devis Series

[Guest guest]

The fourth Devi of the Khadgamala is called ISITVA. Isitva Siddhe

(the recitation in the Khadgamala) means, "O Siddhi named Isitva"

(literally, the power of CREATIVE CONTROL). She is the fourth stop

on our journey to the center of Srichakra.

 

[To review our presentation on the first two Siddhis, Anima and

Laghima, simply click on:

 

http://www.shaktisadhana.org/Photo%20Gallery/khadgamalamain.html

 

This page is a work in progress in which we are in the process of

compiling the all Khadgamala Devis Series posts for easy reference.

Please contribute your thoughts, experiences, impressions, knowledge

and questions on the series to enhance its usefulness to others!]

 

Again, the power represented by Isitva is CONTROL. She

denotes the Creative Power; that is, ability of the sadhak to

manipulate the elements in their five forms to produce objective

realities -- thus creating on the physical plane.

 

It occurs to me that I may have failed to mention the locations of

some of the Khadgamala Devis we've encountered so far. So please

review the below information closely (I'll put it in its proper

place when I update the Khadgamala page that Nora has so kindly

created). The progression you will visiualize is counterclockwise as

follows:

 

1. ANIMA - Looking at Srichakra, Anima sits to the right side of the

gate closest to you on the square, outermost enclosure wall (i.e.,

the white line).

 

2. LAGHIMA - As you circumambulate counterclockwise around the

outermost square enclosure, Laghima sits to the right side of the

gate on the next wall.

 

3. MAHIMA - Continuing to circumambulate counterclockwise around the

corner, Lahima sits to the right side of the next gate on the

square, outermost enclosure wall.

 

4. ISITVA - Continuing to circumambulate counterclockwise around the

corner, Lahima sits to the right side of the next and last gate on

the square, outermost enclosure wall.

 

Isitva's mantra is:

 

aIM hrIM shrIM isitvA siddhi shrI pAdukAM poojayaami

 

But again, please note that the beauty of the Khadgamala Stotram is

that NOTHING is required for its recitation except for your time,

attention and concentration: You need simply sit and recite the

Stotram. (The mantra given just above is not part of the stotram; it

is offered merely for informational purposes. The entire stotram is

self-contained, as explained in earlier posts. The full text is

located here: http://www.chinmudra.com/SKS.htm ).

 

OTHER NOTES:

 

Again, the full pooja of these Devis takes hours, because at each

point we pause and do smaller, detailed poojas. Hence the sages of

yore created an ALTERNATIVE, SHORT-FORM recitation known as the

Khadgamala Stotram more suitable for the demands of modern life.

 

According to Sri Bhasurananda Natha, an accomplished Srividya upasak

as well as a member of and advisor to this group: "All of the

sadhana of Srividya can be achieved by the recitation of the

Khadgamala. Hours of long ritual compressed to less than half an

hour of intense meditation that will give you a ticket on the same

plane as the great Srividya Upasakas. Whatever your developmental

stage, this is IT." Even those who have not been initiated into

Srividya can benefit from the Khadgamala, which is why we chose to

offer it to our members here.

 

Once again, it is important to note that the Devis representing the

Siddhis are *outside* the Sriyantra proper (i.e. the RED area in

this graphic: http://www.chinmudra.com/s9.gif ). Metaphorically,

this teaches that we must get past the Siddhis (powerful and/or

attractive side effects of Srividya sadhana) before we can enter the

Sriyantra (the higher benefits of sadhana) and reach Devi (the goal

of Sadhana; even though each of these Siddhis are themselves aspects

of Devi).

 

It's important to note that, when we first do the pooja of Isitva,

we do not simply complete the pooja and move on to the next Devi,

Vasitva. When we are doing the pooja we are standing in front of Her,

facing Her. After completing Her pooja, She is internalized from

that spot, carried with us to the next Devi, and merged with Her. So

when we reach Isitva, we are actually worshiping Her together with

the powers of Her predecessors, Anima, Laghima and Mahima. Thus we

have, in essence, destroyed or overcome these three siddhis by

merging Them into Isitva; and it will continue thus, through the

Siddhis and other Devis of the Khadgamala.

 

That's why, when we start the pooja from the outer enclosure, it is

called samhara karma, or the dissolution method. In samhara karma,

each Devi is worshiped and is absorbed into the next Devi, and it

continues until we reach Lalita, in whom, by that time, all the

Devis will be absorbed. (In srishti karma, or the creation method)

Lalita is worshipped first, and from her the next Devi is extracted,

and from her the next one, and onward until all the Devis are in

their rightful places.)

 

[With sincere thanks and appreciation to Sri Amritananda Natha and

Sri Bhasurananda Natha, who kindly provided detailed and substantive

content for this commentary.]

 

Aum Maatangyai Namahe

[adam stallings]

i read in a book there is 12 steps 2 enlitenment prana the power of the sole lahigma to become heavy isitva to lift nixama ? paranixama?harness life energy asana? yama control of my mind. i cant remember the rest at this moment this book i red along time ago and it ment alot to me it helped me i cant remember the others and i wish 2