The Cult of Tara

WORSHIP 123
Thus, too, the sixteen vowels above the central throne symbolize
the "sixteen portions of semen which are the inner places of the
body": these are divided into Means and Wisdom, making thirtytwo,
the number of the bodily "signs of Buddhahood", and for that
reason the vowels too are doubled. Abhayakaragupta quotes the
following verses:
The syllable A is at the base of the thumbs,
the syllable A on the calves of the legs,
the syllable I on the two thighs,
the syllable I on the secret place,
the syllable U on the base of the navel,
the syllable 0 on the belly,
the syllable R between the breasts,
the syllable R on the hands,
the syllable L on the neck,
the syllable L on the lips,
the syllable E on the cheeks,
the syllable AI on the eyes,
the syllable 0 on the nase of the ears,
the syllable AU on the heads,
the syllables AM and AH on the crovvn.
Let the wise man contemplate in this way:
he will be placed in the whiteness of fortune
and turned from the blackness of adversity.
These are the sixteen portions of semen, the thought of enlightenment
within the body; they are similarly placed in the Tantra of
the Appearance of Cakrasa/pvara, 2
and Ratnaraksita says in his
commentary thereon: 183
"The left side..." means that the "whiteness of fortune" is taken
as the left side of the body, from the thumbs to the head [the
order of the verses above], and the "blackness of adversity" enters
in on the right side, from the head to the thumbs.
Thus the sixteen portions are divided into thirty-two, according
to their position on the left or right side of the body, and the two
halves of the body are correlated again with Means and Wisdom,
as Ratnaraksita quotes the Hevajra Tantra [I.vtfi-50]:
The Blessed One is the form of senien,
and the Lustful Lady is the Bliss thereof.
Then, again, there are thirty-four consonants above the central
throne, from KA to KSA; and to these are added six more(YA RA