Tara - the Goddess of Liberation (II)

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The base of dasa mahavidya is the dasa kaLA rUpa virAT as:

1) rk 2) sAma 3) yat 4) ju 5) Ava 6) vAyu 7) sOma 8) agni 9) yama 10) Aditya

respectively.

 

The Shatapata Brahmana says *dashAkSharA vai virAT*. These 10 aspects

constitute the *forces* of Virat rupa Srishti.

 

By adding Shunya (0) to the kalAs and taking *yat* & *ju* as one, all these

constitute the numbers 0 to 9 and hence 9 is taken as *purna samkhya* as this

constitute the Virat.

 

Considering these 10 forces of nature, 10 great sciences have been compiled that

represent these 10 forces in subtle form.

 

Among these, Kali represents Mahakasa tattva and Tara represents Tejas tattva in

the form of Agni / Aditya.

 

The time of Kali is from Midnight 12:00 clock till Sunrise and the time of Tara

is from Sunrise till Sunset. Tara is the Saura (Surya) Mandala Antargata

Hiranmaya Sakti. Such a Hiranyagarbha Sakti is called Tara in Veda. In Tantra

Sastra, this Hiranyagarbha is called *Akshobhya* and its Sakti is called Tara in

the form of

Eka Jata.

 

Such a Sun shines in the form of Brihati Chandas who is called *kshobha rahita*

and hence *Akshobhya* as referred in Shruti:

 

// sUryah brihatI madhyUDha stapati //

 

Shruti declares such a Surya to be an aspect of Rudra and extolls with 2 aspects

1) Ghora 2) Aghora.

 

When the entire cosmos is in dissolution and becomes jalamaya (the great

waters), there is a subtle disturbance in the

Mahasmudra (which is a throb of creation) with the help of *Sveta Varaha* and

thus takes the form of Agni. This Effulgent Agni

becomes the Surya (The Sun) which is engulfed by Rudragni. During that phase of

creation, the Surya shines as the most

brilliant form of Rudra as Ugra Surya / Martanda Bhairava. Such an Ugra Surya

in hunger looks for food (which acts as ahuti).

After finding the aushadhis & vrikshas in Prithivi, the Ugra Surya takes them as

Ahutis and gets satisfied. Thus, the Ugra Surya becomes the Shanta Surya with

his *Hunger* getting pacified.

 

The Force which was present with Ugra Surya at the time of Hunger, was the *Ugra

Tara* and after the pacification becomes *Tara*.

 

Bauddha Scholars term such a Tara as *Prajna Paramita* whose Bija is *hum*.

 

During the pralaya kala, the Tara gives forth poisonous fumes and dissolves the

entire creation by sucking away the Saura Agni & Anna Ahuti and makes the

attahasa (the laughter of destruction). Since, Tara sucks away all the rasa

like Anna & Aushadhi during pralaya from Prithivi & Chandra, this is depicted as

Tara holding the Skull which can also be interpreted as the Mano Laya Avastha.

 

The term *kapala* (Skull) is wonderfully explained in Tantra that represents the

Jagat.

 

This Tara is also mentioned in the *Sadhanamala* - a bauddha tantra which says

that Tara protects the upasakas from Sarpa-Agni-Chora-jAla-pishAcha bhaya.

 

Shri Vashishta Ganapati Muni mentions 2 forms of Tara Upasana Paddhati namely 1)

Sukla Tara 2) Chitra Tara which is Udgitopasana Vidya of Veda.

 

with regs,

sriram