saundaryalaharI - 9 (part 3)

[Guest guest]

shrIdevI of the macrocosm has an exact prototype in the kunDalinI

of the microcosm. In the macrocosm, paramashiva is described in

shloka 1 as being powerless and actionless in the absence of

conjunction with the shrIdevI. Similarly, in the microcosm, the

jIva is very much a corpse without the operation of kunDalinI.

The vital force, the life which is inherent in every limb, muscle,

nerve centre which causes the entire frame to function is one

aspect of kunDalinI. By waking the kunDalinI and directing Her

from the mUlAdhAra cakra to the sahasrAra, the jIva (here we

define the jIva as without name and form) can realize its true

SELF. Waking up kunDalinI and getting Her to sahasrAra is the

bedrock of the yoga system. This shloka describes the route of

the kunDalinI from the mUlAdhAra to the sahasrAra.

 

kunDalinI shakti

 

shrIdevI gives power to the macrocosm. The functioning of the

jIva is because of kunDalinI, which is none other than shrIdevI

in the microcosm.

 

The equilibrium of the universe is maintained by a polarity of

positive and negative, male and female, the static and the

dynamic. Whatever exists in the universe, the macrocosm, also

exists in man, the microcosm. The masculine passive ground force,

shiva, resides in the sahasrAra, located in the crown of the head

[please see the description below of the "physical" location of

the various cakras]. Shakti, the feminine active power, lies coiled

at the base of the spine, in three and half coils. It is the

manifestation of the cosmic power in the body and is in a dormant,

potential state. It is not a material force but it is the pristine,

psychic and spiritual power that underlies all organic and inorganic

matter. Because of its spiral-like upward motion when awakened, it

is referred to as serpent power, and is described iconographically

as a serpent coiled at the base of the spine. The arousal of

kunDalinI leads to union with Lord shiva.

 

Although the resting location of kunDalinI is described as mUlAdhAra

cakra at the base of the spine, it would be an error to suppose

that kunDalinI and the cakras are simply gross structures of the

physical body. KunDalinI and her channel for movement are not to

be found in the physical body. Every portion of the physical body

has its counterpart in the astral body, and both bodies (the physical

and the astral) are interdependent on the material plane. It is to be

understood that, in the description of the location of the cakras in

the following paragraphs, the astral body is meant.. The seven

psychic centres, or cakras, and suShumna nADi, the passage through

which the kunDalinI rises, are in the astral body and correspond to

the nerve plexuses and the spinal cord. These cakras cannot be

"seen" without sAdhana.

 

 

 

Regards

Gummuluru Murthy

------