then manifests these letters, with ha, the letter of immortality (amṛiṭavaraṇa,) as the last of the series and of creation.

50. Ksha. After this she manifests the letter that is the life-seed (prāṇabīja). It is filled with the shakti of a (anuṭṭarā) and ha (called here, anāhaṭa). The union of a + ha, i.e., aham is the name and meaning of all this (world), filled with the light of the six paths (aḍhva). Thus, by taking the first and last letters, a and ha, the world is formed by the shaktis of shiva, called anuttarā and anahața. This is the secret of the Ahamvimarsha, which is manṭravīrya. As said by Paeshthi Sri Utpalaḍeva, the venerable, "when Prakasha (pure consciousness) is tranquilised in self, it is called Ahambhāva, consciousness of self; it is called tranquility, because (then) all desires are known (and conquered). Its characteristics are self-dependence, activity, and lordship."

The secret of the Matrika explained so far has been shown to be ksha, (here called Kūta-bīja,) formed by the union of the first and last (consonants) ka and sha, which are formed by the shaktis proceding from anuṭṭarā. Thus has been expounded a very secret teaching. †

[Now is resumed the commentary on the Sățra.] The Knowledge of Maṭrīkāchakra, is the entering one's own nature which is a mass of the bliss of consciousness. Chakra is the totality of the shaktis, (above) described, anuṭṭarā, ānanḍā, ichchhā, etc., Matṛikā, is that which is referred to in the Veda, in, " there is no knowledge superior to that of the Matṛikā." This knowledge has been but hinted at here. It is extensively described in Parātṛim shikā-vivarṇa, Tantrāloka, etc., by my Guru [Abhinava Gupta]. It is said in Shri Siddhan rite, "The Kundalini, who is of the nature of consciousness, is the life of all seed-letters. From her, is born the three called, Dhruva (the shakti, called anuṭṭarā), Ichchha, Unmesha; then are (born) the letters from a, i, u, ri, li up to visarga. From visarga

* Krishnaḍāsa explains these six to be Māyā, Kāla, Viḍyā, Rāga, Kalā, Niyați. †The Paratrimshikā, quoted by Krishṇaḍāsa, very clearly explains the matrikā chakra thus:

The 15 vowels are the 15 tithis. The visarga are the sun and the moon. Ka to Ma are the 25 tattvas, beginning with the earth and ending with Purusha. Ya to Va are Vayu, Agni, Varuna and Indra. Sha to Ha are the five Brahmās. Krishnaḍāsa quotes another series of shlokas from an unknown source, where Ya to Va are referred to the universe as acted on by the six taṭṭvas from Māyā to Niyați, and the five letters from Sha, to the five faces of Shiva, Sadyojāta, Vāmaḍeva, Aghora, Tatpurusha and Ishana, corresponding to Shuḍḍaviḍyā, Īshvara, Sādākhya, Shakti, and Shiva the five highest tattvas.

(are born) ka to ma, fivefold, outer and inner, in the heart, in sound, and in the Cosmos. The bindu works from the heart to the head. Mantras without (any letters from) a to ma are (as useless) as the autumn cloud. The characteristics of a to ma are to be learnt from the Guru, who is learned, who is bhairava, who is Godlike, and is to be reverenced like myself (Shiva). Then, knowing it, one sees everything as mantra." In the Spanda, this is indirectly shown in the passage which begins with " This Shakti of Shiva is chance, tinged by Kriyā, works in Pashus (jīvas) and causes bondage" and ends with "He who knows (her) in (her) own path, she causes success."

INTRODUCTION TO 8TH SŪṬRA.

To the man who has acquired a knowledge of matṛikachakra, artit gfa: || 6 ||

VIII. The body is the sacrificial food; what is constituted as the means of knowledge of the world, i.e., the body, of gross, subtle, etc., forms, is the sacrificial food thrown by great yogis in the supreme fire of consciousness, for when this function of the body is over, (he is) always absorbed in pure consciousness. It is said in VijЛāna Bhairava, "when, in the fire in the temple of the Great Void, elements, organs and objects with the manas are sacrificed, that is homa (sacrifice); chetana (consciousness) is the ladle (sṛik.)". In the Timiroḍghata, " who is dear, who is a friend, a relative, a giver, who is most dear, by the eating of their limbs, O Devi, one flies in the hall of the sky." The meaning of this is that the function of the body in subserving cognition should be ended. In the Gița, too, "All the actions of the organs, etc." In the Spanḍa (9), it is referred to in "when the agitation is quelled, that is the final stage." Here, 'agitation' is the identification of 'I' with the body, etc., as explained by Bhatta Kallata in the Vritti on it (the Spanḍa).

of him, ज्ञानमन्नम् ॥ ९ ॥

IX. Knowledge is food.

That' knowledge' which is described as 'bondage' is the food of yogis, because it is eaten, swallowed, as discussed already (Vide I. 6), "He then swallows all (these), Death, Time, the totality of Kalās, the sum of all changes, cognitions, the totality of differences of one Aṭmā and many Aṭmās.

[ANOTHER INTERPRETATION.]

Or, the knowledge which consists in the meditation on one's own nature, is his food, being the cause of the peace of the self, because it produces full satisfaction. In the Vijana shairava, it is said, "what rises day after day, when seated in one stage (Yukti), is the consciousness of fullness, the bliss due to that fullness."

Yukţi is, here, the knowledge of 112 stages.* In the spanḍa, too, it is explained in the Kārikā (44) "Let him stand everywhere, enlightened."

P. T. SRINIVASA IYENGAR.

(To be continued.)

Mr. Geo. R. Sims, the well-known writer who for so many years has contributed weekly articles to the Referee under the pseudonym of "Dagonet" included the following lines in his contribution of September 13th:

WHEN I COME BACK.

A SONG OF REINCARNATION.

When I come back another man
To have another time on earth,
I'll go upon another plan

Of making Life the living worth.
I'll ne'er to keep the pot a boil
Rely on work I do myself,

But just look on while others toil,
That I may laugh and take the pelf.
I'll roam the earth with one intent,
To find its pleasant places out,
And there my days shall all be spent
With but myself to think about.
When I come back to play a part,
And face again the footlight flare,

The only ills to touch my heart

Shall be the ones I have to bear.
Ah, no! these thoughts come only when
The Devil whispers in my ear;

God grant if I come back again

The hearts of others I may cheer;
That I may walk where Life is grey,

To see and know and understand,
And help the weary on their way,
And take the lost ones by the hand.

* Perhaps the seven of Yog. Suţ. II..27, each sub-divided into 16 sub-divisions,

SOME THOUGHTS UPON THE "ELIXIER OF LIFE."

(Concluded from p. 61.)

HEN the great importance of deep breathing and pure air must

THE

not be overlooked. The lungs should be developed to their fullest capacity, and pure air breathed throughout their entire tract night and day, abdominally. The chest walls should be kept raised, and, as stated, the breathing begin in the lower part of the lungs, which has the advantage of causing a constant, rhythmic motion of the digestive organs. Oxygen in the greatest quantities in which it can be assimilated is needed to recuperate the vitality, and burn up the waste products. In fact, a very careful watch must be kept over the body and all the laws of health must be conformed to. But it is a foregone conclusion that with utmost care and forethought, times will come, as suggested by our authority first quoted, when the neophyte is altogether exhausted, and if he would save himself alive and sane must rest, absolutely rest. There is scarcely another department of human endeavor wherein such judgment and care are so essential, so imperative, as in occult religious practices. Time is needed to effect a change of state, and such a radical one as that. The race is not to the swift, but to the enduring and strong; to those who are in no hurry, but calmly and steadily pursue the proper course to freedom, courageously bearing the burdens imposed upon them by the condition of their lower vehicles

meantime.

So far the aspirant appears to be depending entirely upon himself, or rather upon his natural relationship to the invisible, active forces of nature, and his ability to effect such changes in his complex constitution as will bring it into a condition of oneness with the various etheric zones. But is it not a fact that the goal for which he strives is a condition of being which is outside of, beyond and independent of these zones, above life—a state of inaction, in short? Such being surely the case, is not the "unswerving resolve" " to liveto live" destructive of the very purpose for which he literally crucifies himself? In other words self-destructive? It may be objected that the contradiction here referred to is in terms only; but as will be seen presently, this is by no means the case. First, however, let it

"

be fully borne in mind that "action and reaction are equal and opposite," and that therefore, as long as an individual performs action, as long as he associates himself with instead of "presiding presiding" over it, he is absolutely bound to manifested life, to the unenduring, changeful worlds, and can no more escape them and final extinction than the jelly-fish can physically survive its element. "The inner men writes our first authority "are still composed of actual particles and subject to the law that an action has a tendency to repeat itself;" but later on he says: "the consciousness of power is itself the most exquisite of pleasures, and is unceasingly gratified in the progress onward." In the first place, however, have we not seen, that the neophyte and the adept have absolutely no power of themselves, but that they simply transmit the power of the Supreme according to the condition of their organisms? The highest Adept, even the Christ or the Buddha, are similarly situated in this regard—whence arises the humility of the Great Master, who exclaims: "It is not I who doeth the works; but the Father in Me." As the Christ represents the crown and glory of human endeavor, and He thus, in denying the authorship of His works, renounces action, what must we think of an adept who obtains exquisite pleasure from the exercise or the consciousness of derived power?

But (as may now be surmised) this is not all some seekers after power overlook, in their strange if not wilful blindness to the fact that they can never, at any time, rightly claim to have any power to exult over at all. Do we not know that three is a reaction to every sensation, to all "motion within limits"? That pleasure causes pain, and that above all things we must be freed from "the pairs of opposites" to attain to the absolute calm and peace of Eternal Life? And moreover, is it not the common experience of humanity that all pleasures, even the most exquisite, pall in time? and that satiety, that wretched state, awaits every pleasure-seeker? Further comment is almost needless. But here it may be queried by the uninitiated: If we are debarred from enjoying the pleasure of acting, if in exercising power beneficently we must be indifferent to the natural feelings of delight, be dead to the gratitude of the recipient, and thus perform righteous deeds as spontaneously and indifferently as the eternal round of daily physical motions, wherein lies our happiness and what joy is there in living? We do not doubt that this question has puzzled