Soundarya Lahari Sloka -31

[64 tantraas and Sri-Vidya]
[sarva vaseekaram]

Catuh-shashtyaa tantraih sakala-matisandhaaya bhuvanam
Sthitastattat-siddhi prasava paratantraih pasupatih
Punastwa-nnirbandhaa dakhila-purushaarthaika ghatanaa-
Swatantram te tantram kshititala mavaateetara-didam

Catuh-shashtyaa tantraih - by 64 tantrasaastraas
Sakalam - all
atisandhaaya - after filling up
bhuvanam - world
Sthitah - kept quiet
Tat - tat - siddhi - prasava - bestowing that siddhi alone which one wants
paratantraih - other tantraas
Pasupatih - Lord Paramasiva
Punah - further
twat-nirbandhaad - by your compulsion
akhila-purushaartha-yeka ghatanaa - for giving all the four purushaarthas like dharma, artha, kaama and moksha
Swatantram - capable of
te tantram - your tantra
kshititalam - [in this] world
avaateetarat - brought to practical principle
idam - this srividya

People in the world of different types and different tastes wish different types of fruits of actions and they pray god for getting the results. Paramasiva gave them the concerned fruits according as the actions and correspondingly filled up the whole world with 64 different tantra saastraas for getting different types of results of actions, and kept quiet further. But on your [goddess’s]compelling, he gave further the srividya and the pancadasaakshari mantra which bestows the divine wealth or spiritual wealth for a person [along with the four purushaarthaas], who is deserved and a staunch devotee. Thus Sree Vidyaa and Panca – Dasa -Aakshari mantra came to the world. (Panca-Dasa-Akshari mantra and Sri Vidya will be covered in the next sloka - 32)

these 64 tantraas give siddhi for a person who uses the same. The method followed in these is the propitiation of the different devataas by yantra, mantra, homadravya, oushadhaas and get the corresponding [boon] siddhi from them. All these 64 tantraas are described in the scriptures as narration by Lord Paramasiva to his partner Parvati. They became famous in the world through the rishis who heard it directly on meditation and then from the gurus who got from the rishis. There is no mention in these that the person should use the siddhi for the welfare of the world only. Hence, the siddhaas who get the same may need fame and name; may use it for selfish purpose; and then for troubling others also; in such a case, it will lead him to trouble like the characters in puraanaas like hiranyaaksha, kamsa, raavana etc. he may lose it in that case; also he may forget his original goal of life and get permanently trapped in the chain of birth and death and get immersed in bhava saagara which is full of sorrows and travails. These are mainly for getting the kaama and artha and not moksha, especially for example, walk in the waters of the rivers and ocean, walk through the space or aakaasa, indrajaalavidya, parakaayapravesa, chiranjeevitwam, make the body strong or light, seeing the materials below the ground or far far away in some other place, controlling the flow of water, agni or air in the environment. These always give the corresponding results only and sometimes for this one has to apply different other tantraas also. That is why in the sloka it is referred as “tat tat siddhi prasava paratantraih”.

In this sloka, it is referred that Lord Paramasiva does the process of atisandhaanam of the whole world. Atisandhaanam means cheating or vengeance. This may seem to be yuktirahita. The devotee or bhakta who starts the saadhana with his mind on the god but on getting the tantravidya and the cheap results and gets trapped and forgets the ultimate goal of life and thereby gets total destruction as we see in puraanaa characters. Hence, the word is correct. Otherwise, the Bhagavad Gita quote –

“Ye yathaa maam prapadyante taanstathiva bhajaamyaham” goes wrong.
For the normal functioning of the prapanca, this is a must. In the prapanca, the sun rises every day in the morning and sets everyday in the evening following the correct cycle for millions and millions of years; all the others gods earth, air, fire, water, yama, indra, are all discharging their duties. The seven days in a week follow systematically; the 12 months follow every year systematically; the number of days in a year including the leap year follow systematically; the days in a month follow systematically including the correction to February for leap year. The four yugas follow correctly one after another. This normal functioning of the world will be affected by a saadhaka getting the siddhis and misusing the worldly powers like the pancabhootas, sun, moon, stars, etc and making the world malfunctioning is most dangerous and hence, Lord Parmasiva has done such a thing. Such a devotee who follows wrong principles, troubles insects, creatures, birds, animals unnecessarily and even men by nishiddha karama and tries to upset the balance of the world functioning, may land himself in trouble, unaware of what to do and face destruction.
These tantras are not to be abandoned; they can be used for good purpose instead of for destructive purposes. Weapons serve both good and bad purpose. Fire serves good and bad purpose. Atomic energy even is used for good and bad purposes. The tantraas should not reach the hands of terrorists or militants which may cause havoc; they themselves may find in trouble, even if they get it. Hence it is told that Lord Parama Siva did the same.

Siva Gita refers as –

kartaapi sarvalokaanaam akshaiyyaiswaryavaanapi
sivah sivohamasmeeti vaadinam yanca kancana
aatmanaa saha taadaatmya bhaaginam kurute brisam.

Swatantram te tantram –
This is named as samayaacaaram, [the first method]. The five great saints -

Vasishta, suka, sanaka, sanandana, sanatkumara together wrote five samhitas [each one
wrote one] called “Subhaagama Pancakam”

Vasishta samhita,
suka samhita,
sanaka samhita,
sanandana samhita,
sanatkumara samhita

In which this samayaacaaram is referred, which will be referred in the next sloka 32..

There is another method [second method] referred in “kaula maarga” using 64 tantraas.
1. mahaamaayaatantram
2. sambaratantram
3. yoginitantram
4. jaalasambaram
5. tatwasambarakam
6. bhairavaashtakam
7. braahmee
8. maheswari
9. kaumaari
10. vaishnavi
11. varaahi
12. indraani
13. caamundaa
14. sivadootee
15. brahma
16. Vishnu
17. rudra
18. lakshmee
19. umaa
20. skanda
21. ganesa
22. jayadratha
23. candrajnaanam
24. maalineetantram
25. mahaasammohanam
26. mahocchushyam
27. vaatulam
28. vaatulottaram
29. hrilbhedam
30. tantrabhedam
31. guhyatantram
32. kaamikam
33. kalaavaadam
34. kalaasaaram
35. kubjikaamatam
36. tantrokhyam
37. veenaakhyam
38. trotalam
39. trotalottaram
40. pancaamritam
41. roopabhedam
42. bhootoddhaamaram
43. kulasaaram
44. kuloddheesam
45. kulacoodaamani
46. sarvajnanottaram
47. mahaakaaleematam
48. mahaalakshmeematam
49. siddhayogeswareematam
50. kurupikamatam
51. devaroopikaamatam
52. sarvaveeramatam
53. vimalaamatam
54. poorvaamnaayatantram
55. pascimaamnaayatantram
56. dakshinaamnaayatantram
57. uttaraamnaayatantram
58. oorddhwaamnaayatantram
59. vaiseshikatantram
60. jnaanaarnavam
61. veeraavaleetantram
62. arunesam
63. mohineesam
64. visuddheswaratantram

There is yet another method [third method] called “misra maarga” which uses eight tantraas called candrakalaa vidhyaashtakam.

Candrakalaa
Jyotsnaavatee
Kalaanidhi
Kulaarnavam
Kuleswari
Bhuvaneswari
Baarhaspatyam
Durvaasamitam

Out of these three methods, samayaacaara is the best suited one for vaidikaas and capable of getting all the four purushaarthaas and will be referred in the next sloka 32.
The above sloka 31 has referred about the 64 tantraas which is unimportant for a real devotee whose goal is spiritual and can skip to sloka 32 and give more attention to that, where reference about Sri Cakra and Sri Vidya is referred.
Any devotee can adopt any of the three methods according to his taste and necessity.

All people of all groups accept that the whole prapanca is the work of sakti.

Even the saankhyaacaarya says “prakritih kartree” and accept thereby the kartritwa of the jagat for the prakriti.

The oupanishadaas who are vivartaas accept that prapanca is maayaa kaarya or sakti kaarya.

Taarkikaas say “eeswarecchayaa paramaanushu kriyaa jaayate” and thereby accept kriyaa sakti and icchaasakti.

The upaasana of the goddess who is :-

“Shrishti sthiti upasamhaara tirodhaana anugrahaika
rata sarva caitanya roopa
sarvatatwaswaroopini sarvatatwaateeta
paramaamritasakti roopini”

is done in 3 ways :-

baahya roopa pooja for those who are not having the intellectual strong conviction about the mind or intellect or aatman can make the sricakra in silver or gold or other metals and do the pooja of the same thinking it as the devi and do external pooja or baahya pooja.

the same baahya pooja referred in 1 done using madhu maamsaadi and is called kaula maarga. In this method or group of followers, there is no siva and sakti separate. Sivatatwa is antarbhoota in sakti tatwa. Sakti has transformed into jagat. The same is kundalini. Trikona is also the bindusthana. This bindu is to be worshipped. This itself is of two types :-

uttara kaula - pooja for sricakra trikona done
poorva kaula – pooja for the actual yoni of the goddess done.
One who follows this kaula maarga has to keep in mind and follow the three points –
one – nishkalanka sadaacaara nishta is required.

Bhavishyottaram says –

“Na kulam kulamityaahuraa caarah kulamucyate”
Paramasiva says to Parvati like this :-
“Kulamargarato devi na maayaa ninditah kwacit aacaara rahitaayetra
ninditaastena cetare”

two – atirahasyatwam :-

Sri Parasuraama says :-

“Gupto muktah prakato brishthah anyaastu sakalaa vidyaah prakataa
ganikaa iva iyantu saambhavee vidyaa gupta kula vadhooriva
praakatyaannirayah”
three – strong jitendriyatwam like hanuman :-

ajitendriya can not get into any one of these methods.
If the kaula maarga tat para is strong in these three – he gets kshana siddhi.

[Soutraamani, jyotishtomam, vaajapeyam are the yaagaas performed by the kaula maarga tatparas.]

the description of the method and the effects achieved can be seen particularly in the “Devi Bhagabvatam” in Suka Janaka Samvaadam. In this kaula marga method, all the four varnaasrama group can perform but should follow the method prescribed for each of them:_

“vipraa kshoni bhujovisastaditare kshee raajya madhwaasavaih
Twaam devih tripure paraaparamayeem santarpyapoojaavidau
Yam yam praarthayate manah sthiratayaa teshaam ta yevadhruvam
Taam taam siddhim avaapnuvanti tara saa vighnairavighneekritaah”

[ Brahmins should do pooja with ksheera [milk ] as offering to devi.
Kshatriyaa should do pooja with aajyam [ghee] as offering to devi.
Vaishyaa should do pooja with madhu [honey] as offering to devi.
Soodra should do pooja with madyam [drink] as offering to devi. ]

The third is the samayaacaara contained in the five samhitaas referred above and is the most simplest and safest one and supreme one and easiest to adopt and will be covered in the next sloka number 32.