The Heart of the Yogini

...makes the Virachakreshvara lord of the hero's circle equivalent to the Supreme Shiva (Parashiva). Here, the names of the nine mantras (knowledges) of the nine Nityas eternal goddesses are given first, and the recovery of the seventh manifestation-knowledge is also performed, because the recovery of the other eight knowledges has already been explained in the Nityashodashikarnava. From the names of the nine knowledges themselves, one can know where they are to be employed. Incidentally, the arrangement of external and internal placement (nyasa) for these knowledges is provided, and it is said that these nine Nityas should be worshipped in the previously mentioned nine chakras. The primal Shakti herself assumes nine forms during worship. In reality, this power is one, and it makes the practitioner ageless and immortal, that is, identical to the Supreme Shiva.

It appears that in the statement of the Sanketa-paddhati quoted in Artharatnavali (p. 107) and in Shivananda Muni's Subhagodaya (verse 49), only eight Nityas are named. However, it is known from other verses of the Sanketa-paddhati quoted there (p. 107) that the seventh knowledge is Tripura Siddha and the eighth is Tripuramba. Therefore, in the verse of Subhagodaya discussed above, considering the word Siddhamba as a compound, the words Siddha and Amba should be considered separate. Thus, the number of Nityas becomes nine. According to the Sanketa-paddhati, adding the ninth primary knowledge to the eight limb-Nityas makes their number nine. A statement from the work called Navanityavidhana is quoted by Jayaratha in the Tantraloka-viveka (15.281). The name of this work also confirms the nine Nityas. Therefore, based on this clarification, the note provided there (on page 105) should be appropriately corrected.

The author of the Yoga Sutras (1), the divine Patanjali, has prescribed the contemplation of meaning along with the chanting of the mantra. In the Nirukta (2), one who recites Vedic mantras without knowing their meaning is condemned, and one who knows their meaning is praised. Bhaskararaya has said the same thing in a different way in the Varivasyarahasya (3). Therefore, in the mantra-significance section of the Yogini Hridaya, after the general foundation, the sixfold meaning of the Saubhagya Vidya is explained.

1. "The repetition of it, with meditation on its meaning." (1.28)
2. "He who has studied the Veda but does not know its meaning is just like a post carrying a load. He who knows the meaning attains all good fortune; purified of sins by knowledge, he attains heaven. What is received without understanding is merely spoken by rote; like dry wood in an unlit fire, it never ignites." (6.1)
3. "The utterance of a word without knowledge of its meaning yields no fruit. Like an offering thrown into ashes without fire, it does not burn."