The Panchadashi Mantra of Goddess Lalita

Guruji's teaching, word for word

ka e i la hrīṃ – ha sa ka ha la hrīṃ – sa ka la hrīṃ

The Pañcadaśī mantra cannot be translated. It is a very powerful mantra, a channel for infinite power, wealth, health, fame, enjoyment and grace. Even in Vedas, it is given in coded form only. It is not usually written down in the mantra form because it is supposed to be transmitted from Guru to śiṣya (disciple) directly, orally. Even if it is written in books, it cannot be taken from there, as it will not yield results. Like a woman of quality, She can be had only through proper marriage, meaning, initiation from a Guru; not even any Guru, but one who has attained its fruits. It is an unthinkable asset, blessing. It is like an uncut jewel. The more you polish it the more beautiful it becomes. The more you practice it the more you get out of it.

The best commentary I can give about this mantra is to be found in the Soundaryalaharī, written by Śaṅkarācārya. The stanza starts with Śivaḥ Śaktiḥ Kāmaḥ... The meanings are given here.

ka – Śiva as creator Brahmā.
e – Śakti as pure awareness, the cosmic yoni, the word of God, Sarasvatī.
i – Kāma, the desire to create the cosmos. Since it cannot be said that cosmos exists or does not exist if there is no awareness to know it, it is the power of existence to create awareness called here the desire, the procreative drive, libido.
la – Kṣitiḥ, meaning condensation to dense solid state (through a succession of states: time, space, air, plasma, liquid, solid).
hrīṃ – Brahmā and Sarasvatī enjoying the dance and music of creation; existence and awareness together creating an interval which expands through interaction of space and time to form matter and further evolution.

This first group of five seed letters are called Vāgbhava Kūṭa, meaning relating to the source of speech.

ha – Ravi = the Sun, passion, Piṅgalā Nāḍī, the sustainer of life, aggressive male aspects, intellect, action-oriented motor organs.
sa – Sītā Kiraṇaḥ = Moon, Iḍā Nāḍī, feelings of ecstasy and depression alternating in cycles, female aspects, receptive organs of knowledge, language of gestures.
ka – Smaraḥ = Manmatha, agitations of heart and mind due to thinking about world. Haṃsaḥ (Swan) = discrimination between love, power, lust and fear, life-sustaining breath.
la – Śakraḥ = Indra, the God of heavenly pleasures, enjoyments and controller of all deities guarding the eight directions namely:
E – Indra himself,
SE – Agni = fire,
S – Yama = death,
SW – Nirṛti = chaotic forces,
W – Varuṇa = waters of life and seeds,
NW – Vāyu = air,
N – Kubera = unlimited wealth,
NE – Īśāna = controller of worlds.
hrīṃ – Viṣṇu and Lakṣmī in embrace, protecting and nourishing this world.

This second group of the mantra is called Kāmarāja Kūṭa, which protects and gives all desires of material and spiritual power while directing it wisely.

sa – Parā = transcendent Goddess, who also manifests here in this world, the source of cosmos and yoni, the source of an individual.
ka – Māra = erotic desire, who brings forth this world out of Śiva with the help of Parā Śakti.
la – Hara = Śiva, existence without awareness, like a corpse, no movement. Śiva is the phallic symbol which jumps to life on interacting with the Parā Śakti, the yoni.
hrīṃ – Śiva Śakti = copulation of male and female, fulfilment of desires, liberation from desires.

This third group of the great mantra is called Śakti Kūṭa. We should remember that these seed letters are all channels of communication. It should be reiterated here that without initiation from a proper Guru, this great mantra will not yield fruit, since it has to be coupled with a Śaktipāta, an energy flow from the Guru to the disciple. Volumes have been written on this mantra. So we will stop here and move onto the next part of the ritual.

From the teachings of Sri Amritananda Natha Saraswati (Guruji). Original post: "USCP (1998): Pañcadaśī Mantra, the most secret mantra of the Goddess Lalitā Mahā Tripura Sundarī", 19 April 2016, https://amritananda-natha-saraswati.blogspot.com/2016/04/uscp-pancadasi-mantra-most-secret.html. From Guruji's book, shared on his blog.