9. PRAPTI: The Khadgamala Devis Series

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The ninth Devi of the Khadgamala is called PRAPTI. "Prapti Siddhe"

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

(i.e. what Guruji identifies as the power of ATTAINMENT, or

"getting"). She is the ninth stop on our journey to the center of

Srichakra.

 

[To catch up on the Khadgamala Devis Series, or to find the resources

to begin, simply click on the photo of PRAPTI! Our archives is a work

in progress, in which we are compiling 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 PRAPTI is ATTAINMENT. She enables us

to achieve our goals, to reach anything or anyplace we desire, and to

extend ourr realization to any location, on every plane in each of the

three worlds. The Shiva Samhita says the siddha of PRAPTI will find

all that s/he wishes for to be always at hand; the Markandeya Purana

says s/he will get "that which, having been obtained, leaves nothing

to be desired." Also, some add that PRAPTI includes the power to

transport yourself to any place in any world at any time.

 

It may sound far-fetched to the untrained mind, but we should actually

strive to understand PRAPTI Siddhi as a completely natural, even

scientific process. Those familiar with esoteric Shakta philosophy

know that it expounds a natural sequence of material unfolding – the

36 Tattvas, descending from pure unmanifest consciousness, through

divine immanence, and on down through the various manifestations of

energy and matter.

 

PRAPTI siddhi enables us, through the use of mantra, to reverse this

downward flow, thereby transforming gross physical objects into

ethereal or subtle objects having no quality other than sound (i.e.

mantra). This ethereal object may then be moved through space and time

by the trained mind. Finally, the entire process is reversed to

re-materialize the original physical object in the sadhak's hand.

 

As with all of the Siddhis, these powers are ultimately neither

magical nor mystical – they are simply advanced methods of

manipulating nature law on the subtle plane. However, that is not to

say they are easy or obvious; their acquisition requires large amounts

of mantra japa and long-term, intensely serious sadhana to acquire.

 

As noted in previous posts of this series, each Devi of the Khadgamala

-- each Devi of the Srichakra -- merges into the next as we progress

toward the center. Each Devi is internalized from Her place, and

carried with us to the next Devi, and merged with Her. So when we

reach PRAPTI, we are actually worshiping Her together with the powers

of Her predecessors, Anima, Laghima and Mahima, Isitva, Vasitva,

Prakamya, Bhukti, and Iccha.

 

Thus we have, in essence, destroyed or overcome these seven siddhis by

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

Siddhis and other Devis of the Khadgamala. Now let us review the

locations of the Khadgamala Devis as we continue to circumambulate the

SriChakra:

 

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, Mahima sits to the right side of the gate on the next wall.

 

4. ISITVA - Continuing to circumambulate counterclockwise around the

corner, Isitva sits to the right side of the gate on the next wall.

 

5. VASITVA - Continuing to circumambulate counterclockwise around the

corner, you return to the first wall (the one closest to you), move

past the gate, and find Vasitva sitting at the next corner (on a flat

yantra, the lower left corner of the outer enclosing wall).

 

6. PRAKAMYA - Continuing to circumambulate counterclockwise around the

corner, you move past the next gate, and find Prakamya sitting at the

next corner (on a flat yantra, the upper left corner of the

outer enclosing wall).

 

7. BHUKTI - Continuing to circumambulate counterclockwise around the

corner, you move past the next gate, and find Bhukti sitting at the

next corner (on a flat yantra, the upper right corner of the

outer enclosing wall).

 

8. ICCHA - Continuing to circumambulate counterclockwise around the

corner, you move past the next gate, and find Bhukti sitting at the

next corner (on a flat yantra, the lower right corner of the

outer enclosing wall).

 

9. PRAPTI - Continuing to circumambulate counterclockwise around the

corner, you immediately encounter Prapti, sitting on the righthand

side of the next gate (on a flat yantra, She sits to the right of the

gate of the outer enclosing wall closest to you).

 

BHUKTI's mantra is:

 

aIM hrIM shrIM PRAPti 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 can be

found by clicking the photo on the front page of this Group.

 

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://shaktisadhana.50megs.com/images/Khadgamala/first.jpg

). 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).

 

[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