Body: Dimensions of Understanding - Premlata Sharma

Prem Lata Sharma

Perhaps in no other system of Indian thought has the body received greater symbolical and spiritual meaning as in Tantra and Hathayoga Here the body is not considered as an obstacle on the spiritual path, but as an instrument which is described and used in all its subtle dimensions. Thus:

(1) The body is included in meditation or worship.

(2) Not only gross and subtle levels, but also a transcendent level of the body is accepted.

(3) A cosmic view of Śiva's body is expounded.

1) Contemplation on or worship of the body in worship 

Abhinavagupta describes the role of the body in worship thus [TA XV 284cd- 286ab] :

galite viṣayaunmukhye pārimitye vilāpite || 15-284 ||

dehe kimavaśiṣyeta śivānandarasādṛte |

śivānandarasāpūrṇaṃ ṣaṭitraśattattvanirbharam || 15-285 ||

dehaṃ divāniśaṃ paśyannarcayansyācchivātmakaḥ |

When the intentness on worldly objects is shed off and limitation is discarded, what remains as the residue in the body, except the rasa or Śiva’s bliss? The body is completely full with the blissful essence of Śiva and is the very abode of thirty-six principles. One should behold it (in this way) day and night and worship it as such. Then one will be identical with Śiva.

Tantraloka 5 6-7:

evaṃ viśvādhvasampūrṇaṃ kālavyāpāracitritam / (6.1)

deśakālamayaspandasadma dehaṃ vilokayet // (6.2)

tathā vilokyamāno 'sau viśvāntardevatāmayaḥ / (7.1)

dhyeyaḥ pūjyaśca tarpyaśca tadāviṣṭo vimucyate // (7.2)

Thus one should view the body as being full of all the adhvā (lit. paths) and painted or variegated with the activity of time. It is the abode of vibrative pulsation that has assumed the nature of space and time. When the body that is filled with the divine that shines in the core of the universe, is being viewed like this, it is to be meditated upon, to be worshipped, to be propitiated and the one who becomes fully possessed of it, gets liberated.

The Siva-Sūtras describe the reabsorption of all the tattvas in the body [3.4]:

śarīre saṃhāraḥ kalānām || 4 || 

Dissolution of the various parts of the tattvas in the body (should be practised by bhavana).

Commentary of Kshemaraja: 

mahābhūtātmakaṃ puryaṣṭakarūpaṃ samanāntaṃ yat sthūlaṃ sūkṣmaṃ paraṃ   śarīraṃ tatra yāḥ pṛthivyādiśivāntatattvarūpāḥ kalā bhāgāḥ tāsāṃ   saṃhāraḥ svakāraṇe layabhāvanayā dāhādicintanayuktyā   vā dhyātavyaḥ iti śeṣaḥ | 

By śarira is meant the gross body consisting of the five gross elements, the subtle body (consisting of the five tanmātrās, manas, buddhi and ahahkāra) and the highest or the causal body consisting of prana and subtle manas upto samanā. In this body dissolution has to be contemplated upon all the constitutive parts from the earth upto Śiva into the preceding causes by bhāvanā or by the device of burning etc. This should be taken as the remaining part of the sutra

In the Śiva-Sūtras the whole world is to be meditated upon as the body [1.14]:

dṛśyaṃ śarīram

The whole visible world becomes (is) like the body (of the yogin).

Commentary of Kshemaraja: 

yadyad dṛśyaṃ bāhyamābhyantaraṃ vā tattat sarvam ahamidam iti  svāṅgakalpaṃ viśvaṃ svaśaktipracayo'sya viśvam (3-30) iti  vakṣyamāṇanītyā svasvabhāvāvyatiriktameva parāmṛśataḥ |] sphurati na  bhedena | 

Whatever is perceptible whether inwardly or outwardly all that appears to this yogin like his own body, i.e. identical with himself and not as something different from him. This is so because of his great accomplishment. His feeling is 'I am this’ just as the feeling of Sadāśiva with regard to the entire universe is ‘I am this’.

Siva-Sutra 2.8: 

 śarīraṃ haviḥ |

(Of such a person) the body becomes an oblation (to be poured in the fire of highest consciousness).

Kshemaraja commentary: 

sarvairyatpramātṛtvena abhiṣikaṃ sthūlasūkṣmādisvarūpaṃ śarīraṃ tat  mahāyoginaḥ parasmin cidagnau hūyamānaṃ haviḥ 

Of that great yogin, all this gross, subtle and causal body which is affected with the idea of knower or 'I' becomes an oblation to be offered to the highest consciousness-fire.

Siva-Sutra 3.39: 

cittasthitivaccharīrakaraṇa-  bāhyeṣu || 39 || 

As in the case of the states of the mind, so also in the case of the body, organs of sense and external things, there should be vitalisation with the bliss of the transcendental consciousness.

The body is described as the best place of worship. Tantraloka 29.171: 

deha eva paraṃ liṅgaṃ sarvatattvātmakaṃ śivam |

devatācakrasañjuṣṭaṃ pūjādhāma taduttamam || 29-171 ||

The very body is the highest linga, being of the essence of all tattvas (principles) and it is Śiva himself. It is endowed with the cakra (cycle) of the gods and is the excellent place of worship.

The body is the ‘house’ of the divine, where He enjoys with his consort. Tantraloka 29.176: 

tvāṃ devyā saha dehadevasadane devārcaye'harniśam

O god! I worship you day and night, along with the divine consort in the body, the abode of the divine.

2 ) The transcendental body

Svacchanda Tantra 4.407: 

tattvatrayaṃ paraṃ yacca sarvatattvādhvavajītam || 4-407 || 

tena cāpūritāśeṣaṃ sā tattvādhvaparā tanuḥ |

The surpreme triad of tattvas is free from all tattvas (principles) and adbvās (paths). Everything is entirely filled by it. That is verily called the highest body- transcending all tattvas and adhvās

According to Ksemarāja, the triad is:

(1) the pure self, 

(2) the unmanāśakti and 

(3) Śiva. 

The body is of two types, the one is made of thirty-six categories and the second is known as nādaśaktyātmā tanuh (body made of nādaśakti). The bodies of Brahma, Visnu and śiva have been said to be made of triāda in Sahgitaśāstra under the influence of Tantra

The attainment of a divine body by the spiritual seeker is thus described [Saradatilaka 5.118]:

svājñayā devatābhāvād vidhinā deśikottamaḥ |
tadā vilīnatattvo'yaṃ śiṣyo divyatanurbhavet || 

The excellent spiritual guide on account of the divine nature dissolves, in the reverse order, the syllables that have been placed in the body of the disciple by his command and when all the categories have thus been dissolved, the disciple attains the divine body.

How the body of the spiritual seeker becomes different from ordinary bodies is stated in the following passage: Tantraloka 15.236: 

nahi sadbhāvamātreṇa deho'sāvanyadehavat |

ahantāyāṃ hi dehatvaṃ sā dhvastā taddahed dhruvam || 15-236 ||

By the very fact of existence, the body (of the seeker) is not like any other body. Dehatva (the ordinary state of being body) exists only because there is ahantà (I-ness, self-identification). When that (ahantā) is destroyed, it (dehatva) is burnt out.

The process of purification of the body is interesting because it associates the five elements at their subtle level where specific letters embody them. Akāśa would seem to be identified with Śiva and getting established in Śiva-bbāva is the first step. Then comes concentration on prthvi, followed by vāyu for drying, agni for burning, again vāyu for sweeping away and varuna for washing away.

The transcendental body of the Lord is thus described: [Mrgendrāgama 3.8] 

 malādyasambhavācchāktaṃ vapurnaitādṛśaṃ prabhoḥ || 

The bodily form of the Lord consisting of (divine) energy (śākta) is not similar (to our bodies), since it is free from origin (original impurity ) etc.

Thus in the attainment of the divine form the gross body is a laudable instrument, but if this objective is not fulfilled, the body is nothing but a burden. Laghuyogavāsistha 2.30: 

bhāro'vivekinaḥ śāstraṃ bhāro jñānaṃ ca rāgiṇaḥ | 

aśāntasya mano bhāro bhāro'nātmavido vapuḥ || 13 || 

The śāstra (textual tradition of any discipline) is a burden for one who does not have the discriminative faculty (viveka) and knowledge is a burden for one who is attached (to worldly objects). The mind is a burden for one who is not at peace. The body is a burden for one who has no knowledge of the self.

Hathayoga speaks of dehasiddhi (the perfection or accomplishment of the body) at the biological and psychic level.Hathayogapradipika 3.103: 

dehasiddhiṃ ca labhate vajrolyabhyāsayogataḥ 

One attains perfection of body by practising vajroli (a mudrā of hathayoga).

According to the commentary, deha siddhi means four bodily qualities, viz. beauty, charm or grace, strength and adamant hardness.

3) The cosmic body of Śiva

According to Śaiva theology, the whole universe is the body of the Divine. This metaphor throws light on the understanding of both, body and universe. Tantraloka 2.15: 

kiṃ ca yāvadidaṃ bāhyamāntaropāyasaṃmatam / 

tatprakāśātmatāmātraṃ śivasyaiva nijaṃ vapuḥ // 

Moreover, whatever shines in the view of external and internal means ( upāya) is nothing but in essence the light which is the very body of the Lord Śiva himself.

Śivamahimnastotra 17: 

jagaddvīpākāraṁ jaladhivalayaṁ tena kṛtamiti

anenaivonneyaṁ dhṛtamahima divyaṁ tava vapuḥ|| 17||

The world seems only an island girdled by the ocean. By that alone your divine body with its enduring greatness can be imagined.