Bhukti Devi




The seventh Devi of the Khadgamala is called BHUKTI.

"Bhukti Siddhe"(the recitation in the Khadgamala) means, "O Siddhi named Bhukti"(i.e. what Guruji identifies as the power of ENJOYMENT). She is the seventh stop on our journey to the center of Srichakra.

Again, the power represented by BHUKTI is ENJOYMENT. Here is should be explained that Shakti Sadhana is said to be the only spiritual path by which the aspirant gains both mukhti (spiritual liberation) and bhukti(earthly enjoyment). However, this is not to be understood as a kind of spiritul hedonism. Like all of the Siddhis, BHUKTI can act as either a noose (tying you to the world) or a goad (propelling you tofurther spiritual progress).

BHUKTI will indeed provide you with worldly comfort, abundance and enjoyment; but if you become attached to those things, your spiritual progress will come to a shuddering halt

Each Siddhi represents only one preliminary component of Devi's infinite totality. And so we must not fall in love with BHUKTI, or with any Siddhi, as an object outside ourselves. Instead we must absorb Her; we must become Her.That way we become infused ourselves with Devi's own innate abundance,enjoyment and pleasure; and BHUKTI ceases to be an attractive snare in the path of our sadhana. Instead, She becomes our internal guide,leading us yet another step closer to Devi's essence at the center of Srichakra.
The sadhak who becomes enmeshed in the pleasures of the world, holding and hoarding and coveting them, has essentially allowed her- or himself to become ensnared by BHUKTI, and will advance no further until they manage to wriggle free from that most difficult of nets.However, the sadhak who surrenders to Devi's will shall absorb BHUKTI with the other siddhis and shall use the resultant power only to fulfill Her will.

Each Devi of the Khadgamala-- each Devi of the Srichakra -- merges into the next as we progresstoward the center. Each Devi is internalized from Her place, and carried with us to the next Devi, and merged with Her. So when wereach BHUKTI, we are actually worshiping Her together with the powersof Her predecessors, Anima, Laghima and Mahima, Isitva, Vasitva and Prakamya.

Locations of Bhukti : Continuing to circumambulate counterclockwise around thecorner, you move past the next gate, and find Bhukti sitting at the next corner (on a flat yantra) the upper right corner of the outer enclosing wall. [ No 7, Blue ]

BHUKTI's mantra is:

aIM hrIM shrIM BHUKTI siddhi shrI pAdukAM poojayaami.


But again, please note that the beauty of the Khadgamala Stotram is that NOTHING is required for its recitation except for your time, attention and concentration: You need simply sit and recite the Stotram. The mantra given just above is not part of the stotram; itis offered merely for informational purposes. The entire stotram is self-contained.

The full pooja of these Devis takes hours, because at eachpoint we pause and do smaller, detailed poojas. Hence the sages ofyore created an ALTERNATIVE, SHORT-FORM recitation known as the Khadgamala Stotram more suitable for the demands of modern life.

According to Sri Bhasurananda Natha, an accomplished Srividya upasakas well as a member of and advisor to this group: "All of the sadhana of Srividya can be achieved by the recitation of the Khadgamala. Hours of long ritual compressed to less than half an hour of intense meditation that will give you a ticket on the same plane as the great Srividya Upasakas. Whatever your developmental stage, this is IT. "Even those who have not been initiated into Srividya can benefit from the Khadgamala.

Once again, it is important to note that the Devis representing the Siddhis are *outside* the Sriyantra proper (i.e. the RED area in this graphic). Metaphorically, this teaches that we must get past the Siddhis (powerful and/or attractive side effects of Srividya sadhana) before we can enter the Sriyantra(the higher benefits of sadhana) and reach Devi (the goal of Sadhana; even though each of these Siddhis are themselves aspects of Devi).

[With sincere thanks and appreciation to Sri Amritananda Natha and Sri Bhasurananda Natha, who kindly provided detailed and substantivecontent for this commentary.]