The Heart of the Yogini

Shivananda uses this term in a broad sense. In the Kadimata (Tantraraja) 1. "And all nine Nitya Tantras" (1.2), nine Nitya Tantras are mentioned, and their commentator, Subhaganandanatha, has provided their names in his commentary 2. "The nine Tantras are: Sundarihridaya, Nityashodashikarnava, Chandrajnana, Matrukatantra, Sammohanatantra, Vamakesvara, Bahurupashtaka, Prastarachintamani, and Meruprastara" (Manorama Commentary, p. 2). Among these nine Nitya Tantras, the Sundarihridaya (Yogini Hridaya) is one. We believe that these, or perhaps even older texts of the Tripura tradition, were included under the name Vamakesvara Shastra, within which the Nityashodashikarnava was considered to hold a special position.

The Bahurupashtaka is counted among the 64 Tantras, and Vidyananda says that the Chatushati Shastra (Nityashodashikarnava) is a summary of the Bahurupashtaka Shastra 3. "Summarizing the Bahurupashtaka Shastra into four hundred verses, intending to extract its essence..." (Artharatnavali, p. 4). Regarding the Bahurupashtaka, we are not in a position to say anything more than what is already provided in the introduction to the Nityashodashikarnava (p. 25). Consequently, the distinctness of the Nityashodashikarnava and the Yogini Hridaya must be maintained. Based on Shivananda's evidence, we may consider both of them to be under the Vamakesvara Shastra, but in that case, the question arises: what is the name of that part of the Vamakesvara Shastra that predates the Nityashodashikarnava? We will have to leave this matter undecided for now.

Commentaries on the Yogini Hridaya

We are all familiar with the two commentaries on the Yogini Hridaya. Both have been included in the second and third editions of the Yogini Hridaya published by the Sanskrit University, Varanasi. The first of these is named Dipika and the second is Setubandha. The author of the Dipika (p. 3) states that no commentary had been written on this before his own. Bhaskararaya, considering the Nityashodashikarnava and the Yogini Hridaya to be one single work, wrote the Setubandha commentary on the eight-chapter Nityashodashikarnava. According to his statement, many commentaries had been written on it (p. 8). It is true that many commentaries were written on the five-chapter Nityashodashikarnava, but we have not yet received any information regarding the availability of an ancient commentary on the Yogini Hridaya.

In addition to these two commentaries, there is a third commentary on this text by Kashinatha Bhatta. The manuscript numbered 6144 at the Asiatic Society, Calcutta, is titled Chakrasanketachandrika. Dr. Chintaharan Chakravarti has introduced it in his essay titled "Kashinatha Bhatta and his Works," published in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Bengal (Letters), Vol. 4, No. 3, 1938, pp. 455–465. He states that it provides an explanation of some selected verses of the Yogini Hridaya and follows Amritananda's Dipika commentary. Dr. Teun Goudriaan has also expressed the same view.