CHAPTER 104 — मण्डलाः | Mandalas

महामार्गीय-परम्परायां मण्डलाः प्रायशः ज्यामितीय-आरेखाः सन्ति ये महत्त्वपूर्ण-विचारान् संकेतयन्ति॥१॥

mahāmārgīya-paramparāyāṃ maṇḍalāḥ prāyaśaḥ jyāmitīya-ārekhāḥ santi ye mahattva-pūrṇa-vicārān saṅketayanti॥1॥

In the Wayist tradition, mandalas are typically geometric drawings that symbolize important concepts.

एषाम् आरेखाणाम् अध्ययनं मनः तेषां विचाराणां मनने प्रवर्तयति॥२॥

eṣām ārekhāṇām adhyayanaṃ manaḥ teṣāṃ vicārāṇāṃ manane pravartayati॥2॥

Studying these drawings directs the mind toward contemplation of these concepts.

मण्डलाः ध्यान-रूपाय मनसः पुनः-संस्कारणाय च साधनं भवन्ति॥३॥

maṇḍalāḥ dhyāna-rūpāya manasaḥ punaḥ-saṃskāraṇāya ca sādhanam bhavanti॥3॥

Mandalas serve as a form of meditation and a means of reconditioning the mind.

अज्यामितीय-मण्डलाः अपि, यथा जलपद्मस्य चित्रणानि, महत्त्वपूर्ण-शिक्षाणाम् अनुस्मारणाय उपयुज्यन्ते॥४॥

ajyāmitīya-maṇḍalāḥ api, yathā jalapadmasya citraṇāni, mahattva-pūrṇa-śikṣāṇām anusmāraṇāya upayujyante॥4॥

Non-geometric mandalas, too — such as depictions of the water lily — can be used to recall important teachings.

जटिल-ज्यामितीय-मण्डलाः प्रायशः मनः सूक्ष्म-जगत्सु, बहु-ब्रह्माण्डे, महामार्गस्य प्रवाहे च प्रणयन्ति॥५॥

jaṭila-jyāmitīya-maṇḍalāḥ prāyaśaḥ manaḥ sūkṣma-jagatsu, bahu-brahmāṇḍe, mahāmārgasya pravāhe ca praṇayanti॥5॥

Intricate geometric mandalas often direct the mind toward microcosms, the multiverse, and the flow of theWAY.

मण्डलस्य निर्माणं मननं वा स्वयमेव ध्यान-अभ्यासो भवितुं शक्नोति॥६॥

maṇḍalasya nirmāṇaṃ mananaṃ vā svayameva dhyāna-abhyāso bhavituṃ śaknoti॥6॥

Creating or contemplating a mandala can itself become a meditative practice.

मण्डलाः विश्वव्यापि महामार्गीय-अभ्यासे उपयुज्यन्ते, विविध-सांस्कृतिक-परिप्रेक्ष्येषु अनुकूलिताश्च॥७॥

maṇḍalāḥ viśvavyāpi mahāmārgīya-abhyāse upayujyante, vividha-sāṃskṛtika-pariprekṣyeṣu anukūlitāśca॥7॥

Mandalas are used worldwide in Wayist practice, adapted to various cultural contexts.

मण्डल-निर्माण-प्रक्रिया समाप्त-कृति-समा महत्त्वपूर्णा भवितुं शक्नोति॥८॥

maṇḍala-nirmāṇa-prakriyā samāpta-kṛti-samā mahattva-pūrṇā bhavituṃ śaknoti॥8॥

The process of creating a mandala can be as significant as the finished product.

मण्डलाः जटिल-आध्यात्मिक-विचाराणां दृश्य-प्रतिनिधानानि भवन्ति॥९॥

maṇḍalāḥ jaṭila-ādhyātmika-vicārāṇāṃ dṛśya-pratinidhānāni bhavanti॥9॥

Mandalas serve as visual representations of complex spiritual concepts.

मण्डलानां नियमित-मननं महामार्गीय-तत्त्वानां स्व-अवबोधनं गाढयितुं शक्नोति॥१०॥

maṇḍalānāṃ niyamita-mananaṃ mahāmārgīya-tattvānāṃ sva-avabodhanaṃ gāḍhayituṃ śaknoti॥10॥

Regular contemplation of mandalas can deepen one’s understanding of Wayist principles.

व्याकरण टिप्पणियां | Grammatical Notes

Chapter Title and the Tantric Absorption-Vector:

• मण्डलाः (maṇḍalāḥ) — the Sanskrit term is used directly, as it is the correct word and is already used universally in Wayist practice worldwide; however, maṇḍala in Tantric Buddhist and Tantric Hindu traditions carries a weight entirely foreign to the Wayist usage: in those traditions the maṇḍala is a cosmogram in which a deity resides, a sacred space constructed through ritual, charged with power through abhiṣeka (initiation), and capable of transmitting that power to the initiated practitioner; the maṇḍala is not merely pointed to in those systems — it is the deity’s palace, and the practitioner enters it through specific ritual preparation
• The Wayist position is categorical on this point, and every Sanskrit choice in this chapter is made to establish the contrast: the maṇḍala indicates concepts, it does not contain power; it directs the mind, it does not transform the practitioner; the practitioner’s own manana (contemplative work) is the active agent — the maṇḍala is the passive instrument
• Students reading this chapter in Sanskrit who carry Tantric background will feel the distinction in the vocabulary: the verb saṅketayanti (they symbolize, they point-to) in verse 1, the nouns sādhanam (instrument/means) in verse 3 and pratinidhānāni (representations) in verse 9 — none of these grant the object inherent status; all of them name it as a pointing-device

Verse 1 — Symbol, Not Substance:

• संकेतयन्ति (saṅketayanti) — “they symbolize, they indicate” — from saṅketa (agreed-upon sign, indication, symbol); the term belongs to the Indian philosophy of language (śabda-śāstra) where saṅketa is the conventional relation between a sign and what it points to — the relation is established by agreement, not inherent in the sign itself; this is precisely the Wayist position: the maṇḍala points to the concept by established teaching-convention, not because the concept resides in the maṇḍala
• Saṅketayanti was chosen over pratīkayanti (which can imply the symbol participates in the nature of what it represents) and over pratipadayanti (which implies direct teaching) — saṅketa keeps the pointing-relation functional and conventional, not ontological
• ज्यामितीय-आरेखाः (jyāmitīya-ārekhāḥ) — “geometric drawings” — jyāmitīya (geometric, from jyā root + miti measurement) is a clean descriptive without sacred-technical implications; ārekhā (drawing, delineation, from ā-rikh to mark/draw) names the physical artifact neutrally; taken together the compound names what a mandala is as a physical object — a geometric drawing — before the chapter establishes what it does as a practice instrument

Verse 2 — The Mind as Active Agent:

• मनः… प्रवर्तयति (manaḥ… pravartayati) — “directs the mind” — the grammatical structure of verse 2 is deliberate: adhyayanaṃ (studying/the act of study) is the subject; manaḥ (the mind) is the object; pravartayati (directs, sets in motion toward) is the verb; the mandala and its study are thus instrumental — they set the mind in motion toward contemplation; the practitioner’s mind, once set in motion, does the contemplative work; the maṇḍala does not do it for the practitioner
• मनने (manane) — “in contemplation, toward reflection” — locative of manana (reflective pondering, turning-over-in-the-mind, from the root man); manana in the Indian philosophical tradition is the second of the three stages of wisdom-acquisition (śravaṇa hearing → manana contemplating → nididhyāsana meditating deeply); using manana here locates the mandala-practice precisely in this schema — it is a śravaṇa/manana instrument, not a nididhyāsana instrument; it initiates and supports reflection, it does not substitute for the deep meditative integration that is the practitioner’s own work

Verse 3 — Reconditioning, Not Transformation by Object:

• पुनः-संस्कारणम् (punaḥ-saṃskāraṇam) — “reconditioning, re-patterning” — a careful compound: punaḥ (again, re-) + saṃskāraṇa (the act of making well, refining, conditioning, from saṃ-kṛ); the term draws on saṃskāra — the impressions and conditionings accumulated in the mind — and names the process of deliberately re-patterning those impressions; this is a Wayist psychological concept: the mind has been conditioned by māyā-contact and habitual patterns, and the mandala practice assists in re-conditioning it toward better orientations; the reconditioning is done by the practitioner through the practice, not by the object on the practitioner
• साधनम् (sādhanam) — “instrument, means, tool” — from sādh (to accomplish, to bring about); sādhana in its general sense is simply a means to an end; it is also a technical term in Tantric practice where it refers to a complete spiritual discipline including ritual, mantra, maṇḍala, and initiation; the Wayist use is deliberately the simpler, non-technical sense: a means, an instrument, a tool for accomplishment; the grammatical notes name this so that the Sanskrit-trained reader who would immediately hear the Tantric sādhana resonance understands it is not operative here — the maṇḍala is a sādhanam in the sense of “a useful instrument,” not in the sense of “a complete Tantric discipline”

Verse 4 — The Water Lily as Paradigmatic Non-Geometric Mandala:

• अज्यामितीय-मण्डलाः (ajyāmitīya-maṇḍalāḥ) — “non-geometric mandalas” — a- (privative prefix) + jyāmitīya; the compound names the category by contrast with the geometric, without requiring a separate positive definition; the chapter thus treats the geometric and non-geometric as species of the same genus, unified by their function (pointing the mind) rather than their form
• जलपद्मस्य (jalapadmasya) — “of the water lily/lotus” — jala (water) + padma (lotus flower); the water lily is used as the example here for good reason: it is the central Wayist symbol (Om Mane Padme Hum — the jewel in the lotus — is the Lord Avalokiteśvara’s mantra; the lotus appears in multiple Wayist contexts as a symbol of the soul’s journey through murky waters toward the light); as a mandala it points the mind toward the teaching without being a geometric construction; the naturalness of the flower itself is the instruction — it grows from mud, rises through water, and opens in light, all without striving, which is the teaching it embodies
• अनुस्मारणाय (anusmāraṇāya) — “for the purpose of recalling, as a recall-device” — anu-smāraṇa (following-remembering, recollection that brings teachings back to mind); the term names the maṇḍala’s function with precision: it is a recall-trigger, a mnemonic for teachings already received; it does not deliver new teaching autonomously — it calls back to mind what the practitioner has already been taught

Verse 5 — The Wayist Cosmology in the Intricate Mandala:

• सूक्ष्म-जगत्सु (sūkṣma-jagatsu) — “in/toward microcosms” — sūkṣma (subtle, fine, small) + jagat (world, universe); the locative plural names the contemplative destination: intricate geometric mandalas direct the mind toward the inner worlds within worlds, the fractal structure of reality that the Wayist tradition recognizes; this is not merely the modern scientific concept of the microcosm but the Wayist understanding that each level of reality mirrors and contains deeper levels, right down to the practitioner’s own body which contains soul-minds, body-minds, and spirit-mind
• बहु-ब्रह्माण्डे (bahu-brahmāṇḍe) — “in the multiverse, toward the many-universes” — bahu (many) + brahmāṇḍa (universe, lit. “Brahma’s egg”); bahu-brahmāṇḍa is a deliberately constructed compound naming the Wayist cosmological position: there is not one universe but many; Sukhāvatī (our spirit-heaven) is one spiritual realm among many; the multiverse is not an idle speculation but a doctrinal commitment — the Absolute Source manifests across many cosmoses, and the practitioner’s soul will eventually have access to more than one; the intricate mandala can direct contemplation toward this vastness
• महामार्गस्य प्रवाहे (mahāmārgasya pravāhe) — “in/toward the flow of theWAY” — the three contemplative destinations of verse 5 move from inner to outer to foundational: microcosms (what is within), multiverse (what is beyond), the flow of theWAY (what pervades and underlies both); the Sanskrit locative pravāhe (in the flow, in the current) connects to Chapter 94’s pravāha teaching and Chapter 103’s relational pravāha — the maṇḍala at its deepest pointing brings the contemplating mind to the flow-itself that all the chapters have been describing

Verse 6 — Making as Meditation:

• स्वयमेव ध्यान-अभ्यासो भवितुं शक्नोति (svayameva dhyāna-abhyāso bhavituṃ śaknoti) — “can itself become a meditative practice” — the svayameva (itself, by itself, in its own right) marks the verse’s teaching: the act of creation is not merely preparation for contemplation of the completed object; it is already contemplation; the making and the meditating are not sequential (first make, then meditate) but simultaneous; this understanding removes the Tantric hierarchy in which the completed maṇḍala is sacred while the process of construction is preparatory; in the Wayist understanding, the practitioner who is making the mandala with manana (reflective attention) is already in meditative practice — the finished object is valuable, but the making was not less-valuable
• निर्माणं (nirmāṇam) — “creating, constructing, forming” — from nir-mā (to measure out, to construct, to bring into being); nirmāṇa is the general term for constructive making; it carries no ritual-construction implications (as maṇḍala-nirmāṇa might in Tantric contexts where the construction is itself a ritual act involving mantras, purifications, and deity-invitations); the Wayist nirmāṇa here is simple making-with-attention

Verses 7 and 8 — Universality and Process-Value:

• विविध-सांस्कृतिक-परिप्रेक्ष्येषु अनुकूलिताः (vividha-sāṃskṛtika-pariprekṣyeṣu anukūlitāḥ) — “adapted to various cultural contexts” — vividha (various, many-kinds) + sāṃskṛtika (cultural, pertaining to civilization) + pariprekṣya (context, surrounding-view-framework) + anukūlita (adapted, made-congruent-with); the compound states the Wayist position on sacred art: the maṇḍala-function (directing mind to concept) is universal; the specific geometric forms, natural symbols, and artistic traditions used to fulfill that function are legitimately varied by culture; no single cultural maṇḍala-form is the authoritative one; the Tibetan thangka maṇḍala, the Navajo sand painting, the Celtic knotwork, the water lily drawn by a child — all can function as Wayist maṇḍalas if they direct the practitioner’s mind toward Wayist teaching
• समाप्त-कृति-समा (samāpta-kṛti-samā) — “equal-to the finished product” — samāpta (completed, ended) + kṛti (product, work, deed) + sama (equal, the same-as); the compound makes verse 8’s claim without overstating it: the process is equal in value to the finished object — not superior, not inferior, but equivalent; this is important because it guards against two errors: dismissing the process as mere preparation (Tantric hierarchy where the completed consecrated object carries the power), and dismissing the finished object as irrelevant (the opposite error that would say “just making it was enough, the object doesn’t matter”); the Wayist teaching holds both in balance

Verse 9 — Representation, Not Presence:

• दृश्य-प्रतिनिधानानि (dṛśya-pratinidhānāni) — “visual representations” — dṛśya (visible, able-to-be-seen) + pratinidhāna (standing-in-place-of, representation, from prati-ni-dhā to place in the position of); pratinidhāna is the key term: a representation stands in place of what it represents, it points toward it, it recalls it to mind — it does not contain it, embody it, or manifest it; this is the theological distinction the entire chapter has been building: the maṇḍala represents the concept visually, it does not make the concept present as a power or entity in the object itself; the Sanskrit philosophical term is precise because Indian theories of pratinidhāna (representation) carefully distinguish the sign from the signified

Verse 10 — Deepening as the Practitioner’s Work:

• गाढयितुं शक्नोति (gāḍhayituṃ śaknoti) — “can deepen” — gāḍhayitum (causative infinitive of gāḍha, deep, profound) + śaknoti (is able to, can); the śaknoti (can, is capable of) matters: the mandala can deepen understanding — it enables, it makes possible, it potentiates; it does not guarantee, compel, or automatically produce depth; the deepening is what the practitioner’s niyamita-manana (regular contemplation) accomplishes through the maṇḍala instrument; the object enables, the practice actualizes
• नियमित-मननम् (niyamita-mananam) — “regular contemplation” — niyamita (regulated, made-regular, disciplined, from ni-yam to restrain/regulate) + manana (reflective pondering); the compound names the practice-form: not occasional glances at the mandala but disciplined, regular engagement with it as a contemplative instrument; niyamita carries the sense of a practice held to a schedule and a standard, the same word-root as niyama (the second limb of Aṣṭāṅga Yoga, the personal observances) — here it names the practitioner’s self-regulation of their own contemplative schedule
• महामार्गीय-तत्त्वानां स्व-अवबोधनम् (mahāmārgīya-tattvānāṃ sva-avabodhanaṃ) — “one’s own understanding of Wayist principles” — sva (own, personal, one’s own) + avabodhana (the act of understanding, comprehension); the sva is not accidental: the deepening contemplation produces sva-avabodhana — personal understanding, one’s own comprehension — not a received doctrine or a transmitted power; the maṇḍala is the instrument; the practitioner’s own growing understanding is the outcome; the fruit of practice belongs to the practitioner’s developing wisdom, not to the object that assisted it

The Three-Chapter Sacred-Tools Unit:

Chapters 104, 105, and 106 form a deliberate triad in the corpus — Maṇḍalas, Yantras, and Mantras — the three primary Wayist sacred instruments. Reading them together reveals a consistent Wayist position: all three are instruments of mind-direction, all three derive their efficacy from the practitioner’s engagement rather than from inherent power in the object or sound, and all three are explicitly distinguished from the Tantric understanding in which these same instruments carry autonomous transformative power through initiation and ritual charging. Chapter 104 establishes the framework (the maṇḍala as pointing-device for punaḥ-saṃskāraṇa); Chapter 105 will state it most explicitly (yantras “hold no magical powers”); Chapter 106 will complete it with the mantra as mnemonic device and mind-conditioning tool. The three chapters together form the Wayist practitioner’s toolkit for sacred attention — objects and sounds that assist the contemplative mind without replacing its work.

The Sanskrit of Chapter 104 consistently places the maṇḍala in the role of instrument (sādhanam), pointer (saṅketayanti), and representation (pratinidhānāni), while placing the practitioner’s mind in the role of active agent (manana, niyamita-manana, sva-avabodhana). The Tantric maṇḍala is the deity’s palace — power and presence reside in it. The Wayist maṇḍala points toward concepts that reside in teaching — the power resides in the practitioner’s disciplined engagement with what is pointed to.

Colophon: This translation represents the collaborative restoration work of the Wayist collective Salvar Dàosenglu, based on the ancient mahāmārga teaching tradition, rendered into contemporary English and restored to classical Sanskrit for posterity.