10. Ascent of the Kuṇḍalinī and Descent of Nectar

[The following conversation took place at Sringeri, in March 1981, a few days after Acharyal graced me with the details of His first attainment of savikalpa-samādhi.]

I: Some years ago, Acharyal told me about the dream that Acharyal had a few months after saṁnyāsa in which Śāradāmbā threw light on the arousal and ascent of the kuṇḍalinī. When did Acharyal first experience the ascent of the kuṇḍalinī to the head in the waking state?

Acharyal: It was some time during the cāturmāsya of the year Yuva (1935-36), few months after My first experience of savikalpa-samādhi. As you know, even without any explicit experience of the arousal and ascent of the kuṇḍalinī, it is quite possible for a vedāntin or for a practitioner of pātañjala-yoga to attain samādhi. He may or may not have an explicit experience of the ascent on some later occasion. In My case, I did.

{In 1935, the year in whose first half Acharyal’s first savikalpa-samādhi occurred, the cāturmāsya was from July 16 to September 12.}

I: Would Acharyal please tell me about the experience?

Acharyal: One morning, I sat in the siddhāsana and did four prāṇāyāmas with the jālandhara, uḍḍiyāna and mūla bandhas. Then, I began My meditation as usual by directing My gaze to between My eyebrows and mentally chanting the Praṇava. As happened generally, a blue hue manifested. Before I visualised any form, I felt something like an electric shock at the middle of My soles. As the sensation started to move upwards, diffusing through the body, I felt intense heat. My body jerked sharply. Then, My breathing abruptly stopped. In moments, the sensation travelled up My back and into My head. I plunged deeply into savikalpa-samādhi.

I: How did the legs feel after the sensation started to move up the back?

Acharyal: I stopped being aware of them. I ceased to be conscious of the portion of the body below whatever level the sensation reached in My back.

I: Was the ascent swift or slow?

Acharyal: The movement from the soles to the base of the back was very quick. It was almost instantaneous. From the base of the back to a little below the navel, the ascent was slower but, nonetheless, swift. Thereafter, it was like that of an ant.

I: Did Acharyal apprehend the cakras?

Acharyal: Yes. When the sensation arrived at the base of the back, I momentarily beheld the lotus of the mūlādhāra in bloom. Very shortly thereafter, I had a fleeting view of the svādhiṣṭhāna. Just before the sensation ascended My back to the level of My navel, I beheld the lotus of the maṇipūra facing downwards, with the petals almost fully closed. The lotus became upright and bloomed when the sensation reached it. Similar was the case with the anāhata, viśuddha and ājña cakras.

I: What experience preceded Acharyal’s savikalpa-samādhi and what constituted its object?

Acharyal: After I had briefly seen the ājña-cakra in bloom, I experienced a bright flash of light like lightning. Next, I saw a charming, luminous, tiny blue orb. My attention locked on to it and as I could then behold only that orb, its smallness was no more apparent. Thereafter, within it, I apprehended the forms of Śiva and Pārvatī. The blue orb with the forms of Śiva and Pārvatī constituted the object of My savikalpa-samādhi.

I: Would Acharyal please describe the descent from samādhi?

Acharyal: Śiva and Pārvatī disappeared and, subsequently, so did the blue orb. I then felt as though I was moving downwards together with a divine power. Leaving behind the ājña, viśuddha, and anāhata cakras one after the other, I came to the maṇipūra-cakra. Without sensing any further descent of the power, I gained partial awareness of the body; the portion below the level of the navel was, as it were, missing. As I became aware of the rest of the body too, I realised that I had adopted the jālandhara, uḍḍiyāna and mūla bandhas. I had no idea when I had done so, involuntarily. I released the bandhas and started to breathe normally. When I opened My eyes, I noticed that My legs were bluish. In moments, they became normal.

{Acharyal has clarified, “Some hold that the arousal of the kuṇḍalinī and its ascent to the svādhiṣṭhāna-cakra are likely to be accompanied by a temporary manifestation of intense sexual desire. It is also contended that the piercing of the brahma, viṣṇu and rudra granthis by the kuṇḍalinī on its way from the mūlādhāra to the sahasrāra is accompanied by much pain and even sickness. The laudable course is for one to first cultivate intense dispassion and to purify the nādīs. Only Sattvik food should be consumed. Further, kuṇḍalinī-yoga should be practised under the guidance of an adept and not by just referring to books. For one who ensures all this, the arousal and ascent of the kuṇḍalinī are definitely not accompanied by lust, pain and sickness.”}

I: When did Acharyal’s next direct experience of the ascent of the kuṇḍalinī to the head occur? Was that experience the same as this one?

Acharyal: It took place the very next day and differed from this in some ways. Since a few months after My saṁnyāsa, I used to mentally offer worship to the kuṇḍalinī in the various cakras. I continued the worship done in one cakra in the next higher cakra after conceiving that I reverentially led the kuṇḍalinī there. I performed such worship on Tuesdays and Fridays, in the mornings. The day following the one on which I had the experience I spoke of was a Tuesday. I began My worship as usual in the mūlādhāra-cakra and continued it in the svādhiṣṭhāna-cakra. When I imagined that the kuṇḍalinī ascended to the maṇipūra-cakra, My breathing spontaneously stopped and I automatically adopted the jālandhara, uḍḍiyāna and mūla bandhas. I then experienced an upward movement of the kuṇḍalinī. Simultaneously, I felt that the elements pṛthvī (earth), āpas (water) and agni (fire) had become sequentially absorbed into the kuṇḍalinī together with the divinities of the mūlādhāra, svādhiṣṭhāna and maṇipūra cakras. I also felt a great infusion of power into Me. In a serpentine manner, the kuṇḍalinī-śakti soon reached the anāhata-cakra. The element vāyu (air) and the devatās of the anāhata appeared to become absorbed into the kuṇḍalinī.

From the anāhata-cakra to the viśuddha-cakra, the ascent of the kuṇḍalinī was not serpentine but instantaneous. I felt that the element ākāśa (space) and the devatās of the viśuddha-cakra became merged into the kuṇḍalinī. The next moment, the śakti was at the ājña-cakra. I got the feeling that all the organs became absorbed into the kuṇḍalinī there. Then, I had a vision of Śiva as Dakṣiṇamūrti.

The upward movement of the kuṇḍalinī from the ājña-cakra to the sahasrāra was not instantaneous but was swift. I obtained just a fleeting, indistinct, view of some centres in between and felt that the mind and intellect were absorbed by the kuṇḍalinī en route. At the pericarp of the sahasrāra, I had the vision of a nectar-shedding, moon-like region. This contained a triangular zone, lustrous like lightning, with a minute, apparently empty, space within. I then spontaneously went into samādhi. The object of My focus was God as inhabiting the tiny space.

As I emerged from samādhi, I felt Myself descending rapidly with the kuṇḍalinī. At the ājña, viśuddha and anāhata cakras, what had merged into the kuṇḍalinī during the kuṇḍalinī’s ascent through these cakras reappeared. When the anāhata-cakra was reached, I gained mild awareness of the body. I noticed that My tongue was folded backwards and felt the descent of a few cool drops of a uniquely tasty fluid into the back of My throat. Finally, I opened My eyes.

I: On Acharyal’s doing so, what was the condition of Acharyal’s body below the level of the anāhata-cakra?

Acharyal: It was normal. Unlike on the previous occasion, My legs were not bluish for a while. Also, this time, I straightaway regained awareness of the full body and not merely of its upper half.

I: Did Acharyal recognise the fluid descending into the back of the throat to be nectar from the sahasrāra?

Acharyal: Yes, and without any delay. I remember telling you some years ago about the series of seven extraordinary dreams in which the Lord taught haṭha-yoga to Me. During Śiva’s demonstration of the khecarī-mudrā, I had experienced the descent of a fluid into the back of My mouth and understood that this removes hunger, thirst and dullness. You would remember My having told you about this. The taste that I experienced became imprinted in My mind. The taste of the fluid that I noticed on becoming mildly aware of the body was the same as that taste. The invigorating effect too tallied with what I had experienced in the dream; this one lasted for two days.

In the dream in which Śāradāmbā taught Me about the arousal and ascent of the kuṇḍalinī, I saw the moon-like region at the pericarp of the sahasrāra shedding nectar. What I beheld in that dream matched what I apprehended in My meditation. So, I had no difficulty in identifying the fluid as one stemming from the sahasrāra. An experience that I had three days later supported My conclusion.

That morning, as I was about to visualise and focus on a divine form in My heart, My tongue folded backwards. Then, for a moment, I saw the form of Ambā as seated in the sahasrāra and pouring down nectar. I decided to meditate on Her in this very fashion. So, I conceived of Her as I had glimpsed Her and focused on Her. I was soon in savikalpa-samādhi. When I regained awareness of the body, I felt a few drops of fluid descending into the back of My throat. The taste, coolness and invigorating effect were the same as on the previous occasion.

{The Lalitā-sahasranāma of the Brahmāṇḍa-purāṇa speaks as follows of the Mother being present in the sahasrāra and raining nectar.

She who has ascended the sahasrāra lotus; She who rains torrents of nectar.

In a benedictory address to a mammoth gathering on December 21, 1982 at Paramahamsi-Ganga-Ashram in the state of Madhya Pradesh, Acharyal spoke of how people can achieve their various cherished ends by suitably concentrating on the Mother. Concerning the desire of people to have a long life, He cited the following authoritative verse:

The life-span on earth of those who contemplate every day on You (Mother) as present within the lotus of the head and raining cool nectar becomes great.

Acharyal then said, “The scripture and even our experience reveal that there is a lotus in the head; just as there is nectar in a common lotus, there is nectar in this (sahasrāra) lotus too. Its nectar is savoured in lambikā-yoga. Lambikā-yoga involves making one’s tongue very thin and long, inserting it into the passage at the back of the mouth and taking it upwards to the head. When one remains with the tongue thrust up to the head, one tastes the nectar that flows there. Long life is acquired by those given to drinking nectar thus. This is a means taught in the Yoga-Śāstra.”

Acharyal went on to explain, in the light of the cited verse, a course that can be adopted by a devotee of the Mother who is unfamiliar with lambikā-yoga but who seeks to transcend phenomenal existence or to have a long life. He said, “The Mother is meditated upon in the six cakras (mūlādhāra, svādhiṣṭhāna, maṇipūra, anāhata, viśuddha and ājña) and in the sahasrāra. The sahasrāra is the topmost of these centres.

śīrṣāmbhoruhamadhye³ Within the lotus of the head. Mother, You are seated there. With both Your hands, You are pouring down nectar. That is descending to and filling My stomach.

śītalapīyūṣavarṣiṇīṁ bhavatīm ।⁴ You who rain cool nectar. The nectar is cool. You are indeed raining the ambrosia of the gods. I contemplate on You in this fashion.”

Having presented the meditation specified in the first half of the verse from a practitioner’s perspective, Acharyal did so in the form of a teaching. He said, “Close the eyes. Think of the sahasrāra lotus. Then, conceive of the Mother as seated there and pouring down nectar. Feel that the nectar is descending and filling the stomach.

“What is a fruit of contemplating thus?

anudinam-anucintayatām-āyuṣyaṁ bhavati puṣkalam-avanyām ॥⁵ The life-span of those who meditate thus every day becomes great.

“You can attain long life.”

Shortly after delivering the half-an-hour-long benedictory discourse, Acharyal told me in private, “When I cited the ‘śīrṣāmbhoruhamadhye...’ verse, I was reminded of the related experience that I had as a boy. That was one reason for My mentioning that the scripture as also experience reveal the presence of the sahasrāra lotus and the nectar there.”}

(Acharyal:) As I engaged in My morning āhnika after the samādhi, it seemed to Me that something was beginning to ooze from the crown of My head. This caused Me no discomfort. I pushed back My upper garment from over My head and felt the spot concerned. I determined that a fluid was indeed slowly emerging from there. It looked like pure water and flowed down the side of My head. In about a minute, the oozing stopped. About a spoonful of liquid had come out by then.

On the preceding few days, Acharyal had been somewhat withdrawn. However, that day, when I had His darśana after My āhnika, He gave Me an opportunity to briefly report My experiences. He confirmed that what I had felt at the back of the throat was nectar from the sahasrāra. He then revealed to Me that, at times, He had spontaneously experienced the descent of this nectar and that in His case its effect had lasted for one to three days.

He further said, “Some water oozed from the crown of My head either before or after the descent of nectar. The descent of nectar and the oozing of water are not related as cause and effect. The water can be perceived and accessed by others. However, though the descent, taste, coolness and invigorating effect of the nectar can be clearly experienced by one, it is impossible for another to perceive or collect it. No examination of the interior of the head, throat or stomach will show up the presence of any nectar.”

{Acharyal had graced me with clarifications about lambikā-yoga, the descent of nectar and the oozing of water some years earlier. At that time, while He stated that Paramacharyal had direct experience of nectar, He did not mention that He too had a similar experience. In September 1979, during Navaratri, Acharyal sent for me one morning at 6.30; I normally had His āhnika-darśana after 8 o’clock. He, who was about to commence a japa, told me, “I have a feeling that water will ooze from My head in a few minutes. I thought that you would like to see it.” I completed my namaskāras and waited.

Acharyal pushed back His upper garment from His head. Less than a minute thereafter, I saw a drop of liquid make its appearance at the crown of His head. The rest of Acharyal’s head was dry. The weather was cool and Acharyal was not sweating. Slowly, some more liquid oozed out at that very spot. Acharyal bent forward and neatly collected the entire quantity in His uddharaṇi (spoon for taking up water). I saw that the amount collected was about 10 ml. It was colourless.

Acceding to my request, He poured the liquid into my cupped right palm. I noted that it was odourless and seemed to be water. Regarding the fluid as sacrosanct, I wanted to drink it after leaving. However, Acharyal said, “Throw it away and wash your hands. It has come out like sweat. Being impure, it is unfit to be drunk.” He did not mention nectar on this occasion.}

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