The Ṣaḍanvayaśāmbhava (also spelled Shadanvaya Shambhava) tradition is a lesser known South Indian tantric tradition that is closely related to the Kubjikā centered Kaula Paścimāmnāya, but places a greater emphasis on worshiping Śiva as Naveśvara (alias Navātman / Navakeśvara) with the goddess Kubjikā (Navātmeśvarī) as his consort, rather than worshiping Kubjikā as the supreme deity.
The Ṣaḍanvayaśāmbhava tradition understands itself in terms of the four-fold transmission of Kaula lineages (Kaulāmnāya) that recognizes the goddess Ciñciṇī within the Paścimāmnāya, just as the Ciñciṇīmatasārasamuccaya does, although seemingly places itself above them all as a supreme revelation. A well-known understanding of the four Kaula transmissions is reproduced here:
Pūrvāmnāya, the eastern transmission of worshiping Kuleśvarī
Paścimāmnāya, the western transmission of worshiping Kubjikā
Uttarāmnāya, the northern transmission of worshiping Kālī
Dakṣiṇāmnāya, the southern transmission of worshiping Kāmeśvarī
Ūrdhvāmnāya, the upper transmission associated with various traditions including Śrīvidyā, the lineage of the Kulārṇava Tantra, and others.
Ṣaḍanvaya means the tradition of six (ṣaṭ) orders, transmissions, connections, or lineages (anvaya). These six orders are envisioned as residing within the six cakras of the yogic body and correlated with sequences of worship involving the five elements (pañcamahābhūta) and the mind (manas). The six sequences of worship play a central role in the practices of this tradition, just as Śivānanda writes in his maṅgalācaraṇa (auspicious opening statement) to his Dīpikā commentary on the Śambhunirṇaya Tantra:
dharākṣīrabṛhadbhānusamīravyomamānase |
vyāpakaṃ paramodāraṃ saṃvidrūpaṃ śivaṃ bhaje ||
I worship Śiva within the earth, water, fire, air, sky, and the mind.
The all-pervading, supremely magnificent one, whose form is pure consciousness.
The Ṣaḍanvayaśāmbhava tradition is described as a path that is “easy to follow” (laghusādhyām), echoing the non-renunciatory tantric traditions that are, “like a boat designed for a light breeze” inaugurated in the oral teachings of the siddhas (perfected ones) and crystallized in sources such as the Vijñānabhairava Tantra, Svabodhamañjarī, and the Pratyabhijñā school of nondual Śaivism.
The Śambhunirṇaya Tantra, also known as the Śrī Sahasrārdhaśāsana, expounds the divine teachings of the Ṣaḍanvayaśāmbhava tradition in twenty-six chapters covering the worship of Naveśvara, the extraction of his principal mantra, types of acceptable offerings, advanced yogic and kuṇḍalinī practices, methods of worship, and other lineage specific knowledge. The shared ritual and doctrinal overlap between the Paścimāmnāya and the Ṣaḍanvayaśāmbhava traditions includes shared maṇḍalas, nyāsas, deity-mantras, guru lineages, and a number of specific doctrines. In addition to its affinity with the Paścimāmnāya, the Ṣaḍanvayaśāmbhava also shares in a number of important features with Trika Śaivism (sometimes referred to as the Kaula Pūrvāmnāya tradition), popularly known as “Kashmir Shaivism.”
In contemporary Śrīvidyā practice, Ṣaḍanvayaśāmbhava often refers to a special ritual worship that venerates the Śrīvidyā guru lineage (Śrīvidyā Gurumaṇḍala Pūjā). It is largely unknown, even amongst adepts and teachers, that Ṣaḍanvayaśāmbhava isn’t just a special ritual, mode of worship, or higher set of initiations within Śrīvidyā, but a complete tantric tradition with its own tantra, deities, mantras, and practices.
The Ṣaḍanvayaśāmbhava tradition actually permeates Śrīvidyā. Salient examples include the Śuddhajñānamayī Śāmbhavī Vidyā from the Raśmimālā of the Paraśurāmakalpasūtra, the Śrīvidyā Gurupādukā mantra, Ratnapañcakanyāsa, and perhaps most clearly Śrīvidyā’s Ṣaḍanvayaśāmbhava-raśmikrama. In this practice, Tripurasundarī is worshiped as the sun of consciousness who fills the practitioner’s cakras with various numbers of rays of light that emanate from her feet and total 360—a complete circle and solar year according to the Vedic calendar. A simplified version of this complex practice, also known as Tripurāraśmikrama, is briefly described within the fourteenth verse of the Saundaryalaharī, amongst several other tantras and ritual manuals.
Read more about the Ṣaḍanvayaśāmbhava tradition in the Pañcaślokaja Paraguhya Stotra (Supremely Secret Hymn of Five Verses) from the Śambhunirṇaya Tantra.
