49 - Discourses on Tantra Volume One
Chapter 13
Krśńa Unparalleled (2)
The kulakuńd́alinii resides in the kula, that is, in the last bone of the vertebral column. In Sanskrit kuńd́alinii means “coiled”, “serpentine loop”, “serpentine coil”. Jilipii [a fried sweet] is also called kuńd́alinii in Sanskrit because it is coiled. The poet Vidyápati has said: Hari gelá Madhupurá háma kulabálá [“The Lord is in Madhupur, that is, in the sahasrára cakra; I am kulabálá”].
Where is Hari [the Lord]? He is in Madhupur. “Madhupur” means the sahasrára cakra. In Vaeśńava Tantra, the sahasrára is “Madhupur”. From “Madhupur”, “Madhura” and “Mathura” have been derived. So Mathura is not only the town in Uttar Pradesh, it is also the sahasrára cakra. Háma kulabálá – “I am kulabálá,” that is, “I am the jiivashakti [divinity of the individual] sleeping in the last vertebra.” Kulabálá does not here mean “the daughter of a family”.
Nayanak nind gel gayának hás
Sukh gel piyásauṋga dukh morá pásh.
“Hari lives very far above, Parama Puruśa or Paramashiva is so far above, and the jiivabháva is so far below, at the lowermost point. For that reason it has no sleep, no happiness. It has only suffering, pain and suffering.” When will this suffering come to an end? When the jiivabháva merges in the Shivabháva. This is the ultimate end of sádhaná, the sweetest end. The separate existence of the individual is no more.
The reality of things has to be understood. The above kind of suffering is known philosophically as spiritual suffering. The jiiva experiences three types of suffering – ádhibhaotika, ádhidaevika, and ádhyátmika. Ádhibhaotika suffering is mundane, that is, it derives from shortages of food, clothing, medicine, education, shelter, etc. If we change the structure of society this misery will be ended. So we must do this, we should do this. Regarding ádhidaevika suffering – if we prepare our minds through sádhaná, all the mental cares and worries that result from a defective mental structure will come to an end. And the ádhyátmika, or spiritual, suffering is that Hari or Krśńa, who is my own and my dearest, is far off, far away from me. He is in the sahasrára cakra, the pineal gland. And the sleeping jiivashakti is in the lowest cakra, the múládhára cakra. This feeling of separation is ádhyátmika suffering. This can be eliminated by spiritual sádhaná, that is, by dhyána, dhárańá, práńáyáma, pratyáhára, etc.
In Vaishnavite philosophy the controlling point of the sahasrára cakra is known as “Krśńa”. This Krśńa is not only the nucleus of the universe, He is the nucleus of each and every unit, so all Krśńas are one and the same. However we try to explain Him, we will arrive at the same point. 3500 years ago in Dvápara Yuga there was another Krśńa. You may say, “Puruśottama, Parama Puruśa, Shiva and Krśńa – on the spiritual level, all Krśńas are one and the same. Is the historical Krśńa different from these?” No, He is not.
I raise this topic because I want to emphasize that human society moves ahead through clash and cohesion. It moves ahead through ideological unity and disunity, through ideological clash. It has moved ahead, it is moving ahead, and it will move ahead. To stop this movement means destruction, a great destruction – hence we have to advance with great speed. When the speed of this advancement gets slowed down, people will face trouble at every step. (Human beings do not want any such undesirable action, for which they may later have to repent, to be taken individually or collectively.)
But if the time does come when the advancement becomes too slow, someone will be needed who can give society a hard hammering. Whether people like this person or not, love him or not – whether they feel love, devotion, respect or fear – under his fast-tempoed hammering the society will move ahead. People basically want to feel the blow that will move them ahead. The blow will be painful, people fear it, but in their minds they want it, because only under this hammering will they decide to move forward. It is a strange condition – “I feel afraid, yet at the same time this is what I want. Or, no, I don’t want to move ahead – I’ll go a little later” – but then one is forcibly pulled ahead. The feet do not want to move ahead, they tremble, but the minds want to move ahead. The need for this kind of treatment arises when people collectively are not able to advance towards the goal under their own internal power.