20 - Discourses on Tantra Volume Two
Chapter 3
Tantra and Sádhaná (6)
The Crude and the Subtle Paiṋcamakára (2)
Máḿsa sádhaná: Similarly, to a Tantric, máḿsa does not mean meat.
Má shabdádrasaná jineyá tadaḿsán rasaná priye; Yastad bhakśayennityam sa eva máḿsa sádhakah.
[Má means “tongue”, and it is through the tongue that words are uttered. One who “eats”, or controls, those words is a máḿsa sádhaka.]
Má means “tongue”; máḿsa means “speech”; máḿsabhakśańa means “control over speech”.
There is yet another interpretation of the word máḿsa.
Evaḿ máḿsanotihi yatkarma tanmáḿsa parikiirttitaḿ; Na ca káyaprati vántu yogibhimasimucyate.
That is to say, “One who surrenders all one’s actions, good, bad, righteous, sinful, wicked – even the attainment of prolonged penance – to Me, is called máḿsa.”
Meat is in no way considered by yogis to be a useful item of food.
Gauṋgá Yamunayormadhye matsyao dvao caratah sadá; Tao matsyao bhakśayet yastu sah bhavenmatsyasádhakah.
The matsya sádhaná of a Tantric yogi can be interpreted in this way: “One who eats the two fish that swim, one through the Ganges (representing the id́á nád́ii) and the other through the Yamuna (the piuṋgalá nád́ii) – that is, one who takes the breath flows of the left nostril and the right nostril to the trikut́i [concentration point of the ájiṋá cakra] and suspends them there by purńa kumbhaka [holding the inhalation] or shunya kumbhaka [holding the exhalation] – is a matsya sádhaka.”
In connection with matsya, Lord Shiva further said,
Matsamánaḿ sarvabhúte sukhaduhkhamidaḿ devi; Iti yatsátvikaḿ jiṋánaḿ tanmatsyah parikiirttitah.
“When a person feels all the pains and pleasures of others as one’s own pains and pleasures, this sentient feeling is called matsya sádhaná.”
Mudrá sádhaná: Crude mudrá sádhaná involves the use of a certain type of food. Subtle mudrá sádhaná has nothing to do with food.
Satsaungena bhavenmuktirasatsaungeśu bandhanam; Asatsauṋgamudrańaḿ sá mudrá parikiirttitá.
“Bad company leads to bondage; good company leads to liberation. Having understood this supreme truth, one should avoid bad company. This shunning of bad company is called mudrá sádhaná.”
Maethuna sádhaná: Many people comment adversely on the fifth M. Through this process of sádhaná [i.e., through crude maethuna sádhaná], people of cruder propensities can gradually develop self-restraint. This is the teaching of Tantra, and nobody should object to it.
And regarding subtle maethuna sádhaná, it has been said,
Kulakuńd́alinii shaktirdehináḿ dehadhárińii; Tayá Shivashya saḿyogah maethunaḿ parikiirttitaḿ.
The lowest vertebra of the spinal cord is called kula. In this part of the múládhára cakra [basic plexus] is located the kulakuńd́alinii, or daevii shakti [divine energy]. The purpose of maethuna sádhaná is to raise the kulakuńd́alinii and unite it with Paramashiva [the Nucleus Consciousness] at the sahasrára cakra [corresponding to the pineal gland].