The Tantric Secret Seed Syllables of the Seven Hundred Verses to Durga

In the vast Upanishadic literature, many Upanishads are proponents of Tantra-Yoga and Shakta worship, and they contain detailed descriptions and discussions of seed-letters and seed mantras.

However, the eleven Upanishads on which Acharya Bhagavatpada Adi Shankaracharya wrote commentaries have been studied only at a philosophical and intellectual level. Except for the Shvetashvatara Upanishad, the meditative aspect of the other Upanishads has been ignored, and continues to be ignored even today.

During my study and contemplation of 'Tantra Durga Saptashati', my attention was drawn to the meditative aspect of the Upanishads (especially the Kathopanishad). I felt that the dialogue between Yama and Nachiketa discusses the path of worship of Goddess Mahamaya. I found the 'seed-names' of Goddess Mahamaya peeking out here and there in the Shruti scriptural passages of this Upanishad. I also felt that 'Tantra Durga Saptashati' is not a seed-transformation of 'Durga Saptashati', but rather 'Durga Saptashati' is the sprouted and blossomed form of the seed-like 'Tantra Durga Saptashati', like a banyan tree developed from a banyan seed. In reality, the root-form is the seed-names of the Goddess, and the entire narrative of 'Durga Saptashati' is its developed form. The story is for encouragement or for easy understanding. I have provided strong evidence for this concept of mine in the context of the discussion of the five seed-names of Tantra Durga Saptashati: 'Hreem', 'Kleem', 'Shreem', 'Aim', and 'Streem'.

After the book was finally typed, I obtained an ancient (fragmented) copy of the 'Durga Saptashati' from the famous ascetic and astrologer Pt. Girish Chandra ji, in which the seed mantra is mentioned before each verse. With the acquisition of this book, the clouds of doubt regarding authenticity/inauthenticity that were swirling in my mind about 'Tantra Durga Saptashati' vanished.

The acquisition of the copy from Pt. Girish Chandra helped significantly in removing the deficiencies of the photocopy of Pt. Shivadatta Shastri's copy.