Source: here.
oM ugraM vIraM mahAviShNuM jvalantaM sarvatomukhaM |
nR^isiMhaM bhIShaNaM bhadraM mR^ityu-mR^ityaM namAmyahaM ||
How did these mightiest mantras of viShNu come into being? Beyond
pa~ncharAtra promulgated by the chitrashikaNDins are the tantras of
viShNu made apparent by the shANDilyas. The root tantra of these is the
glorious viShNu yAmala. From here stem the ugra viShNu, halAyudha,
ugrachakra and other formulations. After bhairava had been quenched by
the draught of viShNu’s blood he asked sadAshiva to narrate the glorious
vidyAs of viShNu. The lineage goes thus:
sadAshiva-> kapAlabhairava-> svachChanda bhairava->krodhabhairava->
uchChuShma-> ruru-> chaNDabhairava-> unmatta-> vIrabhairava->
anantanAga-> bhAskara -> manthAna -> nIlakaNTha -> bhIma -> vAmaka ->
mahAkAla. Asked by bhR^igu it was revealed to him by viShNu. And he
revealed it to shANDilya.
The core of the viShNu yAmala is made up of the following saMhitAs:
- trimuNDiNI
- bahurUpa
- uchChuShma
- chaNDa
- pronmatta
- vIrabhairava
- anantamata
- anantabhAskara
- tR^iNaka
- anantavijaya
4 saMhitAs are auxilliaries of anantavijaya know as : 1) bhImA with mAraNa and uchChATana rites; 2) vAmA- the left-handed path of viShNu; 3) mahAkAlI- nArAyaNi pratya~NgirA and associated rites; 4) gR^idhrapAtI- the rites of garuDa.
The remaining viShNu tantras that were taught by the shANDilyas along with the viShNu yAmala are:
- kAlavadana-saMhitA which was enormous 21,000 shlokas
- viShnupasaMhita, with 6000 verses
- sudarshana tantra, with 3500 verses