[Advaita-l] Modern science and Vedanta (meaning of the word 'vinAyaka)

[Satish Arigela]

>There is a prayoga in this tantra that is deployed to counter the attack of 
>vinAyaka, sapta mAtrikAs and >chatur bhaginis.  

By the way, the chaturbhagini-s i.e jayA, vijayA, ajitA & aparAjitA the four 
sisters of shiva as tumburu rudra, represent the shAnti, vidyA, nivR^itti and 
pratiShThA kalA-s of shiva while the fifth the highest i.e. shAntyAtIta kalA is 
represented by shiva himself as tumburu shiva/rudra. So the chaturbhagini-s are 
not malevolent spirits but some "higher energies" of shiva. Alternately, they 
are also the names of the sakhI-s of pArvatI or even the names of pArvatI 
herself. See the devI/chaNDI kavacha where the upAsaka invokes these four 
devata-s to protect in the four directions.

In the devI purANa, jaya and vijaya destroy the two demons which try to attack 
durgA when she is situated on the vindhya parvata as vindhyavAsinI/kaushikI.

To boost the earlier statement of the tantra-s of vAmasrotas with the 
possibility of including and excluding vAmAchAra practices, I may mention the 
nayottara, another tantra of the vAmasrotas, which they say is devoid of 
vAmAchAra...though i cannot vouch for it at the moment.