Verse 31 [Place of Parāvāk]

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English commentary of verse 31:

नादबिन्दुलिपिविग्रहा गिरस्तिस्र ऊर्ध्वगविमर्शशीकराः ।
संहृतिस्थितिविसृष्टिधामसु व्याहृतास्त्वदध ईशवल्लभे ॥ ३१ ॥

nādabindulipivigrahā girastisra ūrdhvagavimarśaśīkarāḥ |
saṃhṛtisthitivisṛṣṭidhāmasu vyāhṛtāstvadadha īśavallabhe || 31 ||

Comparative analysis of commentaries and excerpts in English:

[Place of Parāvāk]

Ambā is addressed as Kāleśvari the mistress of Iśvara. She is Mahābindu, or pūrṇa bindu. She is Mahāsarasvatī, Parāvāk, sound in its unheard (anāhata) state. She stands in between one group, nāda-bindu-kalā and other group paśyantī-madhyamā and vaikharī. The powers of discrimination are of two kinds, the higher and the lower. Nāda, Bindu, Kalā, sound, sense and word are subconscious in their higher state before they are heard or uttered anāhata.. They are in āhatā state when they become components of the revealed word. Bindu shines as Paśyantī (the desire to express). Nāda becomes Madhyamā, (the process of expression). And, Kalā becomes Vaikharī which is the spoken word. The Jñāna and Kriyā sīkaras, rays, in full form become knowledge understandable by the hearer. The Nāda, Bindu, Kalā of the super plane, are subtle; as Paśyantī, Madhyamā and Vaikharī they in turn become purely material as destruction, protection and creation of the visual world. Thus in between the two forms of power she stands as Parāvāk, the pure unruffled state, constituting the seven channels of knowledge.^[1]

Śakti emerges as Bindu, Nāda and Bīja/Lipi.

Śakti in the presence of Prākāsa (Śiva) the Citrūpa, solidifies to become the Mahābindu to proceed with Sṛṣṭi in the form Bindu, Nāda and Bīja/Lipi^[2]. Citśakti being the Vimarśarūpa of Prakāśa Śiva, holds a position higher to the divisions of Bindu in Sṛṣṭi, Nāda in Sthiti and Bīja-Lipi in Saṃhāra. These three divisions are like the droplets from the ocean of Citśakti projected in the Krama of manifestation. Here Bindu is Īśvara, Nāda is Cit aspect of Citśakti called Puruṣa, Bīja/Lipi is the Acit aspect of Śakti-the Bhūtavargas. The three powers of discrimination viz., Nāda, Bindu, Kalā (Lipi) sound, sense and word are subconcious in their higher state-the Āhata state or Visarga.

Śakti is Parāvāc. Her three forms of Vāc-Paśyantī, Madhyamā and Vaikharī which are the revealed form of word. When the Bindu of Āhata state gets revealed, then it shines as Paśyantī (discrimination) and becomes the desire to express; Nāda becomes Madhyamā (the discrimination to express); Bīja becomes Vaikharī (the spoken word). Thus Nāda, Bindu and Kalā of the higher plane are subtle and as Paśyantī, Madhyamā and Vaikharī, they in turn become purely material as Saṃhāra, Sthiti and Sṛṣṭi in the manifestation of the visual universe. Śakti shines as Parāvāc in the pure unruffled state, in between the higher and lower kinds of powers of discrimination.

Notes and Sanskrit references:

[1] Cf. [Divyacakorikā] p 62-[Cidgaganacandrikā] 31.—

mahāvimarśamayavā्garūpiṇyāḥ kālikāyāḥ svasvarūpādadhaḥsthita sṛṣṭisthitisaṃhārātmaka makakriyāśaktitripuṭyā nādabindukalātmakajñāna śaktitripuṭyāśca madhyekandrasthityāpūrvoktaturīyatadatītādi sapta srotovamanena saptavyāhṛtirūpatāmapi vyākaroti.

[2] Cf. [Kramaprakāśikā] p 19-[Cidgaganacandrikā]-31.—

jyotīrūparaśivasannidhānāccinmātrā śaktirūpā prṛkati rvikṛtā ghanībhūtā binduḥ |
bindośca bindunādabījabhedena kālabhedena avasthābhedena ca rūpatrayam|
tatra bindurīśvaraḥ, nādaścinmātra śektaścinmiśraṃ rūpaṃ puruṣākhyam |
bījamacidaṃśo bhūtavarga iti |