The Parājapavidhi (excerpts)

The evidence of the Trika among the Oriya Paippalādins appears in the Parājapavidhi ‘The Procedure for the Japa of the [Mantra of the Goddess] Parā’, a composition of 37 verses assigned to the Āṅgirasa…

What is remarkable about this text of the Trika is not so much that it appears in Orissa but that it stands apart from the mainstream of the Āṅgirasakalpa corpus in that it is not part of the repertoire for the performance of hostile rituals for royal patrons but is taught exclusively for the personal spiritual benefit of the priests themselves, as the means by which in spite of being ritualists (karmī) they may attain meditative absorption (yogaḥ ) and final liberation (mokṣaḥ ). At its beginning Pippalāda says to his teacher Aṅgiras that he has been taught no Mantra for this purpose and asks how he may achieve this ultimate goal while remaining committed to the path of rites, a role inescapable for the mythical prototype of the Atharvavedic priesthood. Aṅgiras then teaches him the rite of SAUḤ, the Trika’s core Mantra, describing it as the great Mantra-syllable for liberation that denotes the Śakti Parā, the power of Śiva on which Śiva himself meditates with devotion…

Pippalāda said: (1–2b) O venerable one, you have taught the procedures for every Mantra. [But] you have taught [me] no higher Mantra (mahāmantraḥ )[, one] that can bring about liberation. I am committed to the path of rites (karmamārge). How [in spite of that] shall I achieve liberation?

Aṅgiras said: (2c–3b) You ask well, my pupil. Out of compassion I shall tell you. There is [indeed] a higher Mantra for the purpose of liberation. It is that which denotes Parāśakti. (3c–4b) She is the single Power of Consciousness, dedicated to granting liberation to souls. It is by propitiating that Power that Sādhakas (prasādhakāḥ) achieve this goal. (4c–5b) [The scriptures] teach that this [Power], Parāśakti, constitutes Śiva [himself], since his nature is [none other than this] Consciousness, and they teach that her Mantra is SAUḤ, on which Śiva himself meditates with devotion. (5c–6b) I shall [now] teach you [the procedure of] that Mantra upon which Brahmā and the other [lesser gods] do not meditate and for that very reason are mortal. Listen, dear [pupil], with full attention…

(25–26b) Then he should visualize the Great Goddess who directly bestows liberation [by reciting the following:] “May the goddess Parā protect me, with the colour of a moon with no mark, three-eyed, with the crescent of the moon [on her hair], her [two] arms beautiful with [her right hand in] the hand-posture [of knowledge] and [her left holding] a manuscript [of scripture]”

(27–28) Alternatively, one who seeks liberation should visualize the goddess Parā in the site of Śakti [above the cranial aperture] (śaktisthāne) or in the sky, white, dressed in white, with full, high breasts, with her hands in [the gestures of granting] boons and protection, three-eyed, with the [crescent] moon on her head, her body glistening with every kind of jewelry, and seated on a lotus throne.

The Parāmantravidhi (excerpts)

Covering the same ground as the Parājapavidhi but in an abbreviated form and in prose, is the Parāmantravidhi… Its principal difference from the longer text lies in the fact that at its end it assimilates this tradition to the Vedic corpus by identifying the goddess Parā with the ‘higher knowledge’ (parā vidyā) taught in the Muṇḍakopaniṣad and the ‘supreme power’ (parā śaktiḥ) of Maheśvara taught in the Śvetāśvataropaniṣad…

Next I shall teach the rite of Parā. The Rṣi of this Mantra of Parā is Dakṣiṇāmūrti, its metre the Triṣṭubh, its deity Parāśakti, its Seed SAṂ, its Śakti AUḤ, and its application [formula] ‘For the success of my meditation’. The six Ancillaries are SĀṂ, SĪṂ, SŪṂ, SAIṂ, SAUṂ, and SAḤ. He should install S below his navel, AU below his heart, and Ḥ below his head. He should install the Pervader [i.e. the Mantra as a whole] on his whole body. He should visualize Parā on the site of Power [in the cranial aperture] or in the circle of the sky as the bestower of liberation, white, clothed in white, with full, upturned breasts, three-eyed, showing the hand-postures of generosity and protection [with her two hands], with the moon on her hair, † . . . † seated in the lotus-posture, with a tranquil expression, adorned with every form of jewelry. Alternatively, the seeker of liberation may visualize the goddess Parā as white, clothed in white, three-eyed, with the moon on her hair, holding a manuscript in her left [hand] and showing the hand-posture of enlightenment in the other, seated in the lotus-posture. The Mantra of Parā is a single syllable combining S, AU, and Ḥ. He should repeat it 12,000 times a day, drawing up the ingoing breath. [Thus] he attains enlightenment. And this is confirmed by Vedic scripture, namely “The Supreme [Knowledge] (parā [vidyā]) is that by means of which one realizes that imperishable [reality]” (Muṇḍakopaniṣad 1.5b) and “He has no body or faculties [of cognition and action]. No being is perceived who is his equal or greater. His Supreme Power (parā śaktiḥ) is taught in the scriptures in many forms. It is one with his essence and its action is the energy of [his] consciousness” (Śvetāśvataropaniṣad 6.8)’. Here ends the Parāmantravidhi.

Source: “Atharvavedins in Tantric Territory: The Āṅgirasakalpa Texts of the Oriya Paippalādins and their Connection with the Trika and the Kālīkula, with critical editions of the Parājapavidhi, the Parāmantravidhi, and the Bhadrakālī-mantravidhiprakaraṇa.” In: The Atharvaveda and its Paippalāda Śākhā: Historical and Philological Papers on a Vedic Tradition, edited by Arlo Griffiths and Annette Schmiedchen. Aachen: Shaker Verlag, 2007, pp. 195–311.