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Dpa Devi

In the r vidy ritual manual we are directed to place two lamps on either side of the

pja pTham. The Lamp on right side of pTham should be filled with ghee and have a

white wic! the one on left side should be filled with sesame oil and have a red wic.

This is a small open thought on placement and choice of material.

The pja pTham is facing sdhaa. The deity is invoed on the pTham and is meditated

as facing sdhaa. Thus we find right side of sdhaa is the left of the deity and vice

versa. The deity invoed is r Lalit"#me$vara %ouple. r Lalit &evi is meditated as

being seated on left lap of r #me$vara. Thus we find Lamp on right side of pTham'filled with ghee and having a white wic will be on r #me$vara(s side and on left side

filled with sesame oil and with a red wic will be on r Lalitmbi(s side.

)e are immediately reminded of the *uru(s +oot stool as said in verse ,rata $ula('

where $ula(refers to r #me$avra is diguru - pointing to source of nowledge and

,rata( to r Lalitmbia' who is his vimar$a $ati' eperience of this nowledge.

/amining ,&pa( with secret code aTapaydi will show number eighteen' total number

of 0idys and 1pa"0idys as per pur as' thus pointing to #nowledge 2light3 and its

eperience' which is also seen above.

The %ow(s ghee , ( is used to fill right side lamp' ,( means cow' the most

venerated' in whose body all divine forces of this universe reside-sarva devat svarpa'

in short containing in it the divine energy of this entire universe", ( by #aTapaydi code

is ,three( which point to the three worlds" visible universe 2bh14' bhuva4 and suva43!

This word also means ,senses(" liened to a cow' which goes out to gra5e and then retiresunder a shade to masticate' similarly all the senses go out to gather nowledge from

universe and then later remembers that eperience 2this is called vsan3' number three

will allure to three sates of awaening' sleep and deep sleep. , ( will mean ghee. The

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process of producing ghee is a long one' one has to get mil' boil it' cool' mae it sour

and turn into curds' churn the curds to get butter and finally heat 2melt3 butter to get ghee.

These processes described also give and idea on the ac7uisition of nowledge' which

again is a long process. 8ne has to wander lie a cow and gra5e 2read 9 hear3' internali5e

fodder 2heard9read information3 to get mil' which is the essence 2learning3' 8ne has to

eternally discuss or debate with lieminded people' which is liened to souring and get

curds' then churn curds' which is internal debate and process to mae these learning

inside us' which is liened to the butter' heat again is to implement these learning in our

daily routine 2anu Tna3 to get ghee 2bliss3. :s per #aTapaydi code , (will translate

to sity four' total number of all branches of nowledge" catu a Ti"al. +urther' we

find same in our guru ma dala veneratory verse as ,sity four siddhs(. Looing

holistically' we find total nowledge in this entire universe is represented by lighting thislamp.

The left side lamp is with a red wic and filed with , (" sesame oil. :ccording to the

scriptures Lord 0ishnu is pleased with worship of sesame seeds' which we also use in our

forefather(s worship. Lord 0ishnu is the ever pervasive consciousness in both animate

and inanimate objects. +orefather(s represent the cumulative nowledge of eperience by

which we further find our way to the land of eperiential nowledge. , and by

#aTapaydi code will mean number thirty si. This is the number of tattvas in the

eperiential universe. The color red is eplained in bhvanopani at as ,lauhityam etasya

sarvasya vimar$a4( - red color is eperience of identity of sadhaa' r Lalit and r

#me$vara. r ;hsararya puts is lucidly as< :tman without any attributes is r

#me$vara and with an attribute called ,bliss( is called Lalitmbi and with attributes of

four preceptor internal organs" manas' buddhi' ahamra and citta is called sdhaa. This

identity is described in this verse. Looing above ideas on a whole' we find the

eperiential nowledge lined to thirty si tattva" universe is the message in lighting this

lamp.

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:dding both numbers seen will result in centum' 2>?@A>3. The total number of rays

2ra$mi(s3 inside si dhra cara counted both ways' up and down. 2?@>@6B@6=@6>@=

CDBE=C6BB3. The up and down movement of u dalini is described beautifully in two

verses of saundaryalahari" ,mahm mldhre..( and ,sudhdhr srai4..(. Thus a total

blissful eperience of u dalini movement is eplicitly seen in establishing these lamps.

)e usually light the dpa with the hlleha bjam - ,hrm(. This is the verbal form of the

initial creative movement of Lord $iva. The ,h( is Lord $iva and ,I( is the primordial

energy which instigates creation and ,r( is the life energy - heat energy which resulted in

created universe. Taing numbers for individual alphabets - ,4( is eight! ,r( is two! ,I(

the vowel is four and ,m( 2anusvara3 is one. Thus we find a total of fifteen in parts and

considering the whole bja as one we get a total count of siteen', o a$a al( which is ever present and ever illuminating all aspirant(s intellect for eperience of this world.

In this manner' we find a very deep inner guidance in understanding and eperiencing of

$iva"$ati in all aspects for a simple ritual lie establishing and lighting of lamps during

sapary.

More light from Lalit sahasranma and triati

There are two names in both of these stotr with the word - ,dpa(. They are

,agnnadhvnta dpi(and trio ntara dpi( in sahasranma! ,hrmr gaFa dpi(

and hrmra ma idparci4( in tri $ati.

6. ,agnna( - the ignorance of the true nature of self is compared to ,dhvnta( -

darness of night' which is lit up by lamp"light ,dpi(. )hen we bring a light

into a dar room' we need not as 9 re7uest the darness to move away. &arness

itself is absence of light' so when light is lit' it spreads its glow and reveals all.

,gnna( as defined in aula upani ad by ;hsararya is ,avivecana abhva( - not

being unaware 2note the double negative3. :s seen from above #aTapaydi code'

agnna is 5ero signifying absence of nowledge - Ignorance' dpa is numeral

eighteen' this refers to the light and eperience as said in the eighteen vidy.

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=. trio a is a triangle' symbol of ula' the inseparable aspect of triads. 4ence &evi

is the light that shines and illumines the triads 2gnna gnt and gneya3! also we

can see another name ulntasth' inside the ula' pointing to the same aspect. In

r cara' inside the central triangle is the bindu' hence this name also points to

&evi as shining from the centre of r cara.

A. In tri$ati the bja ,hrm( is compared to court yard in front of the house' while devi

is described as the light illuminating the path way to house. %onsidering from

above' if dpa can be thought of as the eighteen vidy and the eperiential

nowledge' then we are ama5ed to see that to reach 2now3 the bja ,hrm(' devi is

the personification of all nowledge in the form of Gri *uru to reach 2eperience3

that mantra.

?. :gain bja ,hrm( is liened to a crystal and devi is the rays of light gushing fromthe jewel. ,ma( and , i( as per code is five and five' representing organs of

cognition and motor' light from inside 2devi"tm3 illumines them' leading to

eperience of universe' which is again &evi. ,ma i( also is a secret code of

sdhana of five ,H(. Thus &evi is bliss 2sadnanda3 eperienced as sdhana

progresses under guidance of Gri *uru.

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