The Brahma, Vishnu, Rudra, Ishvara and Sadashiva Kalas

Guruji's teaching, word for word

Invocation of the Jīva Kalās — the 99 Kalās of the Celestial Lights

Once again we invoke the ten kalās of fire, the twelve kalās of the sun and the sixteen kalās of the moon as before, but this time in the icon or the female.

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The Brahmā Kalās

Then we invoke the kalās of Brahmā, the creator, in the Mūlādhāra chakra. The ten kalās are:

sṛṣṭyai (creation),
ṛddhyai (growth),
smṛtyai (memory),
medhāyai (intelligence),
kāntyai (glow),
lakṣmyai (prosperity),
dyutyai (sparkling),
sthirāyai (fixity),
sthityai (firm placement),
siddhyai (transcendent).

The first eight kalās go around the Mūlādhāra in a clockwise direction. The ninth kalā (sthityai) goes inside the Mūlādhāra. The tenth kalā (siddhyai) goes up to the tip of the liṅga or to the outward edge of the cervix.

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The Viṣṇu Kalās

The ten kalās of Viṣṇu are distributed:

Six in the Svādhiṣṭhāna chakra —
jarāyai (old age),
pālinyai (protective),
śāntyai (peace),
aiśvaryai (control),
ratyai (enjoyment),
kāmikāyai (lust);

Three at the Ājñā chakra and eyes —
varadāyai (blessing),
hlādinīyai (happiness),
prītyai (loving);

One at the Sahasrāra chakra —
dīrghāyai (long).

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The Rudra Kalās

The ten kalās of Rudra are the sun located in the Maṇipūra chakra. That is the thermonuclear fusion reaction which is the brightness itself. That is why the chakra is called Maṇipūra, filled with jewels. Up to this point, you cannot see any lights. But when you come to Maṇipūra chakra you begin to see lights in your meditation.

The mantra for Rudra is:

Tryambakaṁ yajāmahe sugandhiṁ puṣṭi-vardhanam
urvārukam iva bandhanān mṛtyor mukṣīya māmṛtāt namaḥ.

Tryambakam — the lord of the three mothers, Gaurī, Lakṣmī and Sarasvatī. Parameśvara is the lord of Mahātripurasundarī at all the three levels. They are all the same. You say, “This is my hand and this is my eye.” They are all your body.

Pārvatī is known as the “Sahodarī” of Rāma. If you identify Rāma with “Puruṣa”, the “Prakṛti” is the yoni, it is the Sahodarī. It is the same place.

The Rudra kalās are:

tīkṣṇāyai namaḥ (sharp),
raudryai (anger),
bhayāyai (fear),
nidrāyai (sleep),
tandrāyai (coma),
kṣudhāyai (hunger),
krodhinyai (flames of anger),
kriyāyai (active),
udgāryai (uplifting),
mṛtyave (death).

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Īśvara Kalās (Anāhata Chakra)

There are four kalās for Īśvara at the Anāhata chakra. In the body, imagine that the left portion is the female, the right portion is the male. This is the Ardhanārīśvara form.

The female breast is yellow in color (pītāyai namaḥ);
the male breast is white in color (śvetāyai).
The nipple on the female side is red (aruṇāyai);
the nipple on the male side is blue (asitāyai).

That is what is being described here with the kalās.

In the mantra you say:

Tad viṣṇoḥ paramaṁ padam sadā paśyanti sūrayaḥ
divīva cakṣur ātatam tadviprāso vipanyavo jāgṛvāṁsaḥ samindhate
viṣṇor yat paramaṁ padam namaḥ.

Death is the ultimate abode of Viṣṇu. Viṣṇu is supposed to be sitting on his vehicle Garuḍa along with Lakṣmī. If you look at the breasts like this, they look a little like a bird in flight.

Viṣṇu is sitting in the middle in between the two breasts. He is the heart of the Mother. Since Viṣṇu is female, the right breast is called Śrī and the left breast is called Bhū. Śrī Devī and Bhū Devī. Śrī Devī gives protection and Bhū Devī gives nourishment. And protection ultimately takes the form of protecting your true nature to yourself.

Śrī means anugraha. Anugraha is like laya, dissolution. That is why some people think of Lalitā as very “ugra” (fierce). It is not the individual laya but the Mahā-pralaya, the dissolution of the worlds at the end. Śaṅkarācārya says:

“When the whole world is burning, you alone with your husband are dancing. And this burning of the world is showing a nīrājanam, a lighted camphor lamp to you.”

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Sadāśiva Kalās (Viśuddhi Chakra)

Up to this point, attachment to the world is there. The Mūlādhāra and Svādhiṣṭhāna chakras are connected to sṛṣṭi — creation. Sthiti — preservation is connected with Maṇipūra and Anāhata, and laya — annihilation is connected with the Viśuddhi and Ājñā chakras. The dominant point in laya is vairāgya, detachment.

Once you come to the Viśuddhi chakra the withdrawal starts. If you are functioning mainly from here, then you will not come back into a physical form on the earth. If you are functioning from the Anāhata chakra you will come back because of your love and attachment to the world, or for helping others in the world. But from the Viśuddhi you are not bound anymore to the world.

If you look at the meanings of the kalās you will see that they do not deal with individuality but the actions speak of internalization of knowledge, of vidyā and realization.

The kalās of Sadāśiva are:

nivr̥tyai namaḥ (withdrawal),
pratiṣṭhā (fame),
vidyāyai (internal knowledge),
śāntyai (peace),
indhikāyai (fuel),
dīpikāyai (light),
recikāyai (exhaustive),
mocikāyai (liberating),
parāyai (transcendental),
sūkṣmāyai (light),
sūkṣmāmṛtāyai (pervasive),
jñānāyai (knowledge of the immanent, what you see),
jānāmṛtāyai (intuitive knowledge of the transcendental),
āpyāyinīyai (filling),
vyāpinīyai (expansion),
vyomarūpāyai (space).

From the teachings of Sri Amritananda Natha Saraswati (Guruji). Original post: "USCP (1998): Jīva / Brahmā / Viṣṇu / Rudra / Īśvara / Sadāśiva Kalās", 21 April 2016, https://amritananda-natha-saraswati.blogspot.com/2016/04/uscp-jiva-brahma-visnu-rudra-iswara.html. From Guruji's book, shared on his blog and posted by Vira Chandra.