Verse 37

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of verse 37:

ज्वलद्दीपाकारं तदनु च नवीनार्कबहुलप्रकाशं ज्योतिर्वा गगनधरणीमध्यमिलितं |
इह स्थाने साक्षाद् भवति भगवाङ् पूर्णविभवोऽव्ययः साक्षी वःनेः शशिमिहिरयोर्मण्डल इव ॥ ३७ ॥

jvaladdīpākāraṃ tadanu ca navīnārkabahulaprakāśaṃ jyotirvā gaganadharaṇīmadhyamilitaṃ |
iha sthāne sākṣād bhavati bhagavāṅ pūrṇavibhavo'vyayaḥ sākṣī vaḥneḥ śaśimihirayormaṇḍala iva || 37 ||

He then also sees the Light^[1] which is in the form of a flaming lamp. It is lustrous like the clearly shining morning sun, and glows between the Sky and the Earth.^[2] It is here that the Bhagavān manifests Himself in the fullness of His might.^[3] He knows no decay, and witnesseth all, and is here as He is in the region of Fire, Moon, and Sun.^[4]

Commentary by Śrī-Kālīcaraṇa:

Yogīs such as these see other visions beside the sparks of light. After seeing the fiery sparks they see the light.^[5]

“Then” (Tadanu)—i.e., after seeing the sparks spoken of in the preceding Śloka.

He then describes this Light (Jyotiḥ).

“Glows between the Sky and the Earth” (Gagana-dharaṇī madhya-milita).—This compound adjective qualifies Jyotiḥ or Light.

Gagana (sky) is the sky or empty space above Śaṅkhinī-Nāḍī (see verse 40, post), and Dharaṇī (Earth) is the Dharā-maṇḍala in the Mūlādhāra. This light also extends from the Mūlādhāra to the Sahasrāra.

He next speaks of the presence of Parama-Śiva in the Ājñā-Cakra.

“It is here” (Iha sthāne)—i.e., in the Ājñā-Cakra; Parama-Śiva is here, as in the Sahasrāra. Bhagavān is Parama-Śiva.

“Manifests Himself” (Sākṣād bhavati)—i.e., He is here.^[6]

“In the fulness of his might” (Pūrṇa-vibhava).—This compound word which qualifies Bhagavān is capable of various interpretations.

Pūrna-vibhava may also be interpreted in the following different ways:

(a) Pūrna may mean complete in Himself, and vibhava infinite powers, such as the power of creation, etc. In that case the word would mean: “One who has in Him such powers, who is the absolute Creator, Destroyer, and Supporter of the Universe.”

(b) Vibhava, again, may mean “the diversified and limitless creation,” and pūrṇa “all-spreading”. In this sense Pūrṇa-vibhava means “He from whom this all-spreading and endless (vast) creation has emanated.” Cf., “From whom all these originated, and in whom having originated they live, to whom they go and into whom they enter” (Śruti).^[7]

(c) Vibhava, again, may mean: “omnipresence,” and Pūrṇa “allspreading”. It would then mean: “He who in His omnipresence pervades all things.”

(d) Pūrṇa^[8] may also mean the quality of one whose wish is not moved by the result and is not attached to any object. Pūrṇa-vibhava would then mean one who is possessed of that quality.

All things except Ātmā pass away. The omnipresence of the ethereal region (Ākāśa), etc., is not ever-existent. The Nirvāṇa-Tantra (Ch. IX) speaks of the presence of Parama-Śiva in the Ājñā-Cakra in detail.

“Above this (i.e., Viśuddha) Lotus is Jñāna Lotus, which is very difficult to achieve; it is the region^[9] of the full moon, and has two petals.” Again: “Inside it, in the form of Haṃsa [Haṃsaḥ], is the Bīja of Śaṃbhu”; and again: “Thus is Haṃsaḥ in Maṇi-dvīpa,^[10] and in its lap is Parama-Śiva, with Siddha-Kālī^[11] on his left. She is the very self of eternal Bliss.” By lap is meant the space within the Bindus which form the Visarga at the end of Haṃsaḥ.^[12]

So it has been said in describing the Sahasrāra: “There are the two Bindus which make the imperishable Visarga.^[13] In the space within is Parama-Śiva.” As It is in the Sahasrāra so It is represented here.^[14]

We are to understand that these two, Śiva and Śakti, are here in union (Bandhana) in the form of Parabindu, as the letter Ma (Makārātmā), and that they are surrounded (Āccādanā) by Māyā.^[15] “She the Eternal One stays here (Ājñā-Cakra) in the form of a grain of gram,^[16] and creates beings (Bhūtāni).” Here the Parama-Śiva as in the form of a gram dwells, and according to the Utkalādimata^[17] also creates.

“As He is in the region of Fire, Moon and Sun” (Vahneḥ śaśimihirayor maṇḍalamiva)—As the presence of Bhagavān in these regions is well known, so is He here. Or it may be that the author means that as He in the shape of a grain of gram dwells in the regions of Fire, Moon, and Sun, in the Sahasrāra, so does He dwell here also. We shall describe the Arka, Indu, and Agni Maṇḍala in the Sahasrāra later. In Pīṭha-pūjā the Pūjā of Paramātmā and Jñānātmā should be performed on the Maṇḍalas of Sun (Arka), Moon (Indu), and Fire (Agni). By Paramātmā Parama-Śiva is meant, and by Jñānātmā Jñāna-Śakti. The Bindu should be meditated upon as like the grain of gram, consisting of the inseparable couple^[18]—namely, Śiva and Śakti.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Jyotiḥ.

[2]:

See Commentary, post,

[3]:

Pūrṇa-vibhava, which, however, as Kālīcaraṇa points out post, may be interpreted in various ways. According to Viśvanātha, the second chapter of the Kaivalya-Kalikā-Tantra contains a verse which says that the presence of the all-pervading Brahman is realized by His action, as we realize the presence of Rāhu by his action on the sun and moon.

[4]:

That is, the triangle on Manipīṭha within the A-ka-tha triangle- See v. 4 of the Pādukāpañcaka.

[5]:

The practicle vā in the text is used in an inclusive sense.

[6]:

He is seen here.

[7]:

Tait. Upaniṣad, 3. I. I.

[8]:

Phalānupahita-viṣayitānāspadecchākatvaṃ: He whose wish is not moved by the result, and is not attached to any object; or, in other words, He whose ways are inscrutable to us, subject as we are to limitations (Māyā).

[9]:

Pūrṇa-candrasya maṇḍalaṃ.

[10]:

The isle of gems in the Ocean of Ambrosia. The Rudra-Yāmala says that it is in the centre of the Ocean of nectar outside and beyond the countless myriads of world systems, and that there is the Supreme abode of Śrī-vidyā.

[11]:

A form of Śakti.

[12]:

i.e., the two dots which form the aspirate breathing at the end of Haṃsa [Haṃsaḥ].

[13]:

Imperishable visarga—Visargarūpaṃ avyayaṃ.

[14]:

That is, the Para-bindu is represented in the Ājñā by the Bindu of the Oṃkāra, which is its Pratīka.

[15]:

Bindu is the nasal sound of Ma, which is a male letter. Bindu is here the unmanifest Ma.

[16]:

Caṇakākāra-rūpiṇī. See Introduction.

[17]:

Apparently a school of that name.

[18]:

The grain referred to is divided in two under its encircling sheath.