Chakras into the west: BK Majumdar, Arthur Avalon and Serpentine conundrums – II
This is the second of a series of posts examining the work of Baradā Kānta Majumdār, a Bengali author who was a member of the Theosophical Society in the 1880s and later collaborated with Arthur Avalon (Sir John Woodroffe) in his English translations of Tantric texts.
In the first post of this series I looked at Majumdār’s April 1880 article Tantric Philosophy in The Theosophist. This time I’m going to discuss his essays which appeared in the July and October 1880 issues of that Journal, which contain what is probably the first attempts to translate into English sections of the Ṣatcakranirūpaṇa (“The System of the Six Chakras”), a text which is widely considered to be one of the foundational sources for Western understandings of Chakras (along with Charles Webster Leadbeater’s The Chakras) and was later translated and published by Arthur Avalon in 1918. It now seems likely that although he was not credited by Avalon, Majumdār assisted Avalon in his work on this text. I will try and cover the possible influence Majumdār had on Avalon’s The Serpent Power in a future post.
So without further ado, let’s turn to BK Majumdār’s A Glimpse of Tantric Occultism which appeared in The Theosophist of July 1880 (pp244-245).
Majumdār’s introduction discusses the limitations of scientific investigation and directs the attention of the reader to the faculty of the mind’s role in the perception of subtle phenomena. He points out that the “clairvoyance of the mind” was known to Indian ancients thousands of years ago, and that Yogis, through their inner vision were able to see the “mysterious agents of nature” that underlie the universe. He quotes v61 of chapter XVIII of the “Bhagabatgita” rendering it as: “Oh Arjun, God turns the machinery by his Máyá.” But goes on to say that there is no mention of what this “machinery of Máyá” is, and how it operates. He then turns the subject to Tantra:
“Purnananda Gaswami, an eminent Tantrik Yogi, who lived more than two hundred years ago, has left a book in Sanskrit, the name of which is Shat Chakra-bhed, in which he treats of the occult nerves and forces in the human body. Mention of these nerves and forces, however, is to be found in the Brahmánda Purána (Uttragita, Chapter II, verses from 11 to 18), but credit is due to the Tantrik author for having described them at length. It is to be regretted that the author has used figurative language throughout the work which renders it valueless, except to such as have the key to the allegories.
The six revolving wheels of force, mentioned in the sequel, are connected with one another and are further connected with the grand machinery of Máyá’s pervading the Universe. It is not to be supposed that there is, in reality, any wheel or lotus in the human body; the author means only to point out the active centres of certain forces.”
Note here that there is no mention of Pūrnānda’s larger work – the Srītattvachintāmanī (“the Jewel-essence of consciousness”) of which the Shat Chakra-bhed is only one chapter. It’s possible that only this section of the text was in circulation.
Majumdār then presents some verses from the Shat Chakrabhed:
“Outside the spine, to the left is the Ida nerve, resplendent like the moon, and to the right is the Pingalá nerve, resplendent like the sun. Between these nerves, that is, within the canal of the spine, is the Sushumná nerve, effulgent like the sun, moon and fire, and possessing the three attributes of Swatwa, Rajas and Tamas. Assuming the shape of a full-blown Datura metel towards the Muladhar Padma (radical substratum of the psychological forces) it extends to the crown; and within the aperture of this nerve is a nerve called Bajrá extending from the pudendum virile to the crown. The interior of this latter nerve is perpetually blazing.
“Within this blaze of the Bajrá nerve is a nerve called Chitrini, girdled by the Pravana (that is, the three powers explicated by it) and as fine as the spider’s web. This nerve permeates the six lotuses (the trijunction points or cells where the Ida and the Pingalá nerve meet with the Sushumná nerve) on the Sushumná nerve. Within the Chitrini is an nerve called Brahma nerve, which extends from the mouth of the great positive force (Mahádeva) in the first cell to the crown.
“There is a very delightful place (the fissure of Sylvius?) where the mouth of the Brahma nerve emits nectar. This place is the junction of the frontal lobe with the temporal lobe of the cerebral hemispheres and is the mouth of the Sushumná nerve.”
The author now proceeds to describe the seven systems of psychological forces pervading the body through the cerebro-spinal cord. There are seven points where the spinal accessory nerves, Ida and Pingalá, meet with the Sushumná nerve. Each of these points is called a lotus. I will in the sequel call them cells.”
So here we have one of first English attempts to get to grip with the Nāḍīs in a tantric context, with Majumdār translating Nāḍī as “nerve”. I am not sure if this translation is unique to him, or whether or not this was, by the 1880s, a common translation of the term (Monier Williams translates Nāḍī as “flowing water”). It’s my contention that the identification of the Nāḍīs as “nerves” was a key factor in the early correlations made between the subtle body complex and the nerve plexus (and somewhat later, glands) or at the very least, that the Nāḍīs were fixed pathways in the same way as nerves in the body are. And in fact, we can see an attempt at making these correlations above, as Majumdār shifts between the “figurative language” of Pūrnānda (for example, a Datura Metel) to his mappings of these elements onto “the fissure of Sylvius” (in the brain), the spinal cord and the “pudendum virile” (i.e. the penis). Note also his use of the term “psychological forces” and the reference to the lotuses as “cells”. Majumdār does state at the outset that the wheels or lotuses he is about to describe do not actually exist in the human body, but nonetheless, his language leans towards the medical as he interprets the “figurative language” in the text. He then moves on to give the verses detailing of the first two centres – the chakras now referred to as Mūlādhāra and Svādhiṣṭhāna.
“The first cell, called Adhár Padman
This cell is situated on the Sushumná nerve below the pudendum virile and above the fundament. It is bright as gold and has four petals if the color of Bignonia Indica, symbolised by the four letters ba, ṣa, sa and sha. It is situated topsy-turvy.“Within this cell is the quadrangular mundane discus surrounded by eight spears, soft and yellow as the lightning. Within this discus is deposited the procreative semen virile.
“This semen virile is decorated with four hands and is mounted on the elephant of India. In its lap is the creator-boy, having four hands and holding the four Vedas in his mouth.
“Within the quadrangular discus above referred to is a goddess (passion, I believe) named Dákini with swinging four hands and blood-red eyes. She is glorious like twelve suns rising at the same time; but visible only to the pure-minded yogi.
“Within the pericarp of the Bajrá nerve, bright as the lightning is the philoprogenitive triangular discus of Tripurá Devi. Within this discus is the air of Kandarpa (Cupid) which is capable of passing freely through all the members of the body. It is the sovereign lord of animals, is blown like the Bánduli flower and glorious like hundreds of millions of suns.
“Within it is the phallus of a Siva, facing west, his body soft like melted gold, embodiment of wisdom and communion, red like a new twig, and soft as the beams of the moon. It lives in the sacred city (Kasi), is full of felicity and is round like a whirlpool.
“Fine as the string of the stalk of the lotus plays above this phallus the charmer of the Universe (Kulakundalini) extending to the nectar-flowing fissure of the Brahma nerve. Like the lightning playing in new clouds and the spiral turn of a shell, she rests over the phallus in three and a half circles as does the sleeping serpent over the head of Siva.
“This Kulakundalini, residing in the Muládhár Padma, hums like the bee inebriated with the nectar of flowers, and by distributing the inspiration and respiration of animals keeps them alive.
“Within this Kulakundalini, subtiler than the subtilest, and resplendent as the lightning is Sri Parameswari (that is Prakriti or mundane source), whose brightness manifests the Universe like a caldron.
These verses correlate to verses 4-12 of Avalon’s translation of Ṣatcakranirūpaṇa. Note that, as I mentioned in the previous post, Svayaṁbhu-liṅga is translated here to mean “phallus”. The phrase “quadrangular mundane discus” I take to indicate that he is referring to the square associated with Mūlādhāra. This rather odd phrase semen virile is puzzling. He seems to be using it to indicate the dharā-bīja or seed syllable of the chakra, the meditation-form of which is Brahmā. Another word odd to modern ears is “philoprogenitive” – meaning ‘fond of children’ or ‘producing many offspring’ by which Majumdār renders the Sanskrit kāmarūpam.
Tracking back between Majumdār’s rendering of these verses and those presumably by Avalon in his book, The Serpent Power, I get the sense of Majumdār being somewhat frustrated by the “figurative language” time and time again, as though he’s trying to find something that can be made rational and scientific and not having much success. On to the second chakra.
The second cell, called Swadhisthtan Padma
“On the Sushumna nerve is another cell at the root of the pudendum virile, which is red like vermillion and bright as lightning. It has six petals symbolised by the six letters ba, bha, ma, ya, ra, and la.“Within this lotus is the white discus of Baruna (Neptune), in which is the seed * [the text shows the Sanskrit seed syllable Vaṁ], argent like the autumnal moon, having crescent on its forehead and mounted on * [another Sanskrit letter which the author says he doesn’t know the meaning of – presumably the Makara].
“In the lap of this seed, blue like the cloud, young, and wearing red cloth is Hari (positive force) having Sribatsa and Konstava-mani on his breast, and holding the four Vedas in his four hands with Lakshmi (negative force).
“Within said discus is a goddess, Rakini, her colour is like the blue lotus, holding many arms in her hands ready to attack, wearing many ornaments and apparel, and his mind inebriated.
“He who can realise the discus of Baruna in his mind becomes in a moment freed from individual consciousness and emerging from the darkness of folly shines like the sun.”
These passages correlate to verses 14-18 of Ṣatcakranirūpaṇa. Note “Sribatsa” is Śri-vatsa “that which is beloved by Śri” which, according to Avalon is a particularly auspicious curl of hair on the breast of Viṣṇu. “Konstava-mani” is Kaustubha, a powerful gem worn by Viṣṇu.
I’m going to hold it there for now, and continue with Majumdār’s passages on the other chakras, which were published in the October 1880 issue of The Theosophist in the next post.
Sources
BK Majumdār A Glimpse of Tantric Occultism in The Theosophist (July 1880, pp244-245)
Kathleen Taylor Sir John Woodroffe, Tantra and Bengal: ‘An Indian Soul in a European Body?’ (Routledge Curzon 2001)
Sir John Woodroffe The Serpent Power (Ganesh & Co., 1972)
Online
Karl Baier, ‘Theosophical Orientalism and the Structure of Intercultural Transfer: Annotations on the Appropriation of the Cakras in Early Theosophy’ in Julie Chajes and Boaz Huss (eds) Theosophical Appropriations: Esotericism, Kabbalah, and the Transformation of Traditions (Ben-Gurion University of the Negev Press, 2016)
Academia.edu
Index of the Theosophical Journal
Digital Archive of The Theosophist
