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92 : Śramaņa, Vol. 64, No. 4, Oct.-Dec. 2013
According to Subhacandra this practice was revived by Sañjayant and other ascetics from the Tenth Pūrva called Vidyā-nuvāda and “is the highest abode of enjoyment and mokșa” and is used "for pacification of great pains of birth”(i.e. samsāra).20 The Yogaśāstra claims that this practice was taken from the Vidyāpravāda by Vajra Swāmi and preached as “the seed of emancipation” and that “the circle of the Siddhas should always be learned from the guru and meditated upon for the destruction of karma."21 The Yogaśāstra instead says the Vidyā should be contemplated on “according to the precept of the scripture.” 22 The motivation of making the Namokāra mantra into an acronym seems to largely be based on the practicality of being able to install the seed syllables onto the lotuses/chakras of the body. The installation of seed syllables representing divinities onto the body is foundational to Tantric systems throughout India and is known by the term nysāsa. An excellent example of nyāsa used as a tantric method is outlined in Jayākhya-Samhitā, available in the appendix to The Tantric Body; The Secret Tradition of Hindu Religion, by Gavin Flood. In this text one is reminded that the divinization of the body which takes place with Nyāsa can only be performed when it directly follows the bhūtasuddhi, or purification of the body procedure. Very important and revealing is that the installation of the five worshipful beings in the Siddhacakra practice also can only be performed after first purifying the body. Both the Yogaśāstra and the Jñānāraṇava describe this bhutaśuddhi process in detail throughout their chapters on piņdastha meditation. The Jain pindastha and classic tantra bhūtaśuddhi both involve envisioning the elements earth fire water and air as being purified in a nearly identical manner. For instance in both the Yogaśāstra and Jñānāraṇava the practitioner visualizes that his body made of earth along with its karmas are burnt to ashes with fire, washed away with water, and swept away with wind, and Gavin flood gives a nearly identical presentation of Bhutasuddhi from the tantric texts Jayākhya and Somaśambu in saying "the adept burns the body in imagination and then floods it with the water
