The Padyavāhinī is an unpublished and important ritual manual (paddhati) that survives in a single extant manuscript at the Government Oriental Manuscripts Library in Chennai. A paper Devanāgarī transcript of this work is currently held at the French Institute in Pondicherry. Likely composed in South India, the Padyavāhinī was written by one Śaṅkara (fl.c. 1300-1350)who describes himself as someone of refined intellect (viviktadhī) and who is free from desire (vītarāga). The colophon repeated at the end of each of its four chapters, entitled currents (vāhinī), mentions that Śaṅkara is a disciple of Somānanda (śrīsomānandaśiṣya śaṅkareṇa śarīriṇā). Later in the text, we are given further clues as to his guru lineage that clearly links him to the tradition of Śivānandamuni (fl.c. 1225-1275) the famous commentator on the Nityāṣoḍaśikārṇavatantra. Śaṅkara was clearly an adept in multiple Kaula tantric traditions including the Mahārtha (Kālīkrama), Anuttara Trika, Saubhāgyasaṃpradāya (alias Śrīvidyā), and the South Indian Ṣaḍanvayaśāmbhava lineage of Navātman and Kubjikā.
In the Padyavāhinī’s opening verses, Śaṅkara proclaims (translation by Professor Sanderson)
śaṅkaro ‘yaṃ dvijaḥ kaś cid vītarāgo viviktadhīḥ |
karoti paddhatiṃ padyaiḥ srotasām aikyavāhinīm ||
“This Śaṅkara, an enlightened brahmin ascetic, is now going to create in verse a Paddhati that will unite the streams.”
Professor Sanderson further explains that within the Padyavāhinī, “we encounter a novel form of syncretistic Śākta devotion in which the cult of Tripurasundarī, the Anuttara’s cult of Parā, the Ṣaḍanvayaśāmbhava variant of the cult of Kubjikā, and the pantheon of the Krama system, that is to say, the elements that as distinct systems constitute the Śākta domain known to Śivānanda and Maheśvarānanda, are woven together into a single course of regular and occasional worship.”
The relevance of the Padyavāhinī for understanding the practice of early, as well as contemporary, Śrīvidyā cannot be overstated. Several crucial elements of Śrīvidyā doctrine and practice are revealed and discussed in its chapters including: how to offer the nine mudrās in the worship of Tripurasundarī; descriptions of the Nityā yoginīs (including their principal mantras); the worship of the Śrīcakra (navāvaraṇa pūjā); a rare hymn to Sampatkarī, who figures prominently throughout the text in conjunction with the Saubhāgyavidyā of Tripurā), as well as her principal twenty-six syllabled mantra; the mantras of the eight Vāgdevatās (a grouping of goddesses unique to the Śrīvidyā tradition); meditation upon the Kāmakalā; and a rare (encoded) mantra of the goddess Kālasaṅkarṣaṇī from the Mahārtha tradition which is also found within the Raśmimālā, a secret litany of Śrīvidyā mantras recited by those in lineages following the Paraśurāmakalapsutra. Based on the mantras that Śaṅkara provides, it is clear that he hails from the Hādividyā lineage of Śrīvidyā.
In addition to his expertise in worshiping Tripurasundarī, Śaṅkara also includes ritual prescriptions, mantras, and liturgical elements from several other Kaula lineages, all integrated, as Professor Sanderson mentions, into a single ritual manual. Deep influence from the Ṣaḍanvayaśāmbhava tradition can be seen in the form of rare “gāyatrī” mantras for Navātman and Kubjikā that are not found in other more well-known Kubjikā centered traditions. In addition, Śaṅkara shares a secret hymn to be recited during Kaula ritual practice that salutes the supreme goddess of the Paścimāmnāya and has direct textual parallels with the unpublished Paścimacaruvidhāna. The influences from the Mahārtha and Anuttara Trika traditions are just as remarkable and warrant a comprehensive study. Unfortunately, the Padyavāhinī is nearly unknown to contemporary practitioners and has very few published citations, or even mentions in print, aside from those of Professor Sanderson. Briefly cited in the Tārābhaktisudhārṇava, of Narasiṃha Ṭhakkura, as well as the first published volume of the Puraścaryārṇava edited by Muralidhara Jhā, the Padyavāhinī’s citation history amongst traditional Śrīvidyā commentators, and other primary source tantric materials, also seems to be rare.
Read more about the Padyavāhinī in the Saṃvinmarīcickara Stotra.
